Lording it up in Farnham’s Library
Jonathan Smyth's latest Times Past column was inspired by a recent weekend at the Farnham Estate hotel.
In February, my wife and I spent a lovely weekend at the Farnham Estate Spa and Golf Resort, because of a kind gift we had received from our eldest son and his partner. We were blessed with mild weather, and it was an opportunity to embrace a little of the historic atmosphere, since the resort is on the old Farnham Estate and for lovers of old houses, the former home of the Farnham family is attached to the hotel building, while the original frontage of Farnham House is now handsomely incorporated into the hotel lobby. The present day hotel is situated on a 1300 acre country estate and boasts an 18-hole golf course.
The drawing room and library room provided me with a nostalgic sense of what the local landlord and his family experienced during their time there. Reaching up to the magnificent bookshelves, that Sunday morning, I took down a copy of Walter Scott's ‘Ivanhoe’ and read for a while before ambling towards the drawing room, book in hand, where a fine fire was lit and a repurposed gramophone emitted the melodic music of George Hamilton's Lyric FM programme. All in all, sitting by the fire with a book was a pleasant way to begin the day. I later wondered, that if I should ever win the lottery, what kind of house I would like. While Farnham’s gaff might be tempting, a small, thatched cottage with a good fireplace would probably be my first choice for cosiness. Nonetheless, in these palatial surrounds where I was enjoying the tale of Ivanhoe was a recommended experience and if a lottery win came my way, I might be tempted to buy a house of this proportion.
Library Baron
Back in the day, Lord Farnham's library was a great deal larger and more in depth than the selection of books currently displayed. In particular, the 7th Baron Farnham, Henry Maxwell, requires a special mention, for he was a book lover extraordinaire whose lifetime collection consisted of almost 9,000 volumes. He and his wife's untimely death in 1868 resulted in the demise of his library at Farnham House when all was dispersed at auction in April 1869. A booklet compiled by Thomas Arthur following the Baron’s death listed the books put up for auction. It was titled, Catalogue of Fine Books from the Library of the Late Lord Farnham: Unfortunately Killed in the Sad Accident at Abergele.
Henry Maxwell's political career as Tory MP for Cavan ran from 1824 to 1838 until he succeeded his father Henry Maxwell senior as the 7th Baron. His father had only served in the baronetcy for less than a month when he died. The 7th Baron was a cultured master of his lot in life, steeped in reading and study, he took pleasure in the solitude of his library. A keen genealogist, he traced the noble descent of the Farnham family back to the line of the Tudor household on the female branch of the royal family. The Baron suffered ill health most of his later life and both himself and his wife were regular visitors to beauty spots around Europe, journeying to the various spas and health resorts. Prior to the train accident that claimed their lives in the awful fireball at Abergele, Wales, they had stayed in the spa town of Buxton, Derbyshire, to assist the ailing Baron's ongoing recuperation.
If omens are anything to go by, and although not much are thought of them by most people these days, perhaps it is worth mentioning the awful foreshadow of things to come that befell Lord and Lady Farnham several months before Abergele, when a terrifying incident occurred outside Cavan railway station. Dr. Hazel Pierce notes on the website historypoints.org that the horse drawn carriage in which they were travelling from Cavan Railway Station was practically smashed to bits when the horses shied and bolted, causing a trail of destruction in their midst and leaving the Lord and Lady very shaken.
The statue of Henry Maxwell, 7th Baron, outside Johnston Central Library depicts him clothed in the garb of the Knights of St. Patrick; an honour apportioned to him in 1845. In fact, the statue was arranged and willingly paid for from subscriptions raised amongst the estate's tenants. Both Henry and his wife were fondly remembered it is said for their kindness during the Great Hunger of the 1840s when he had deer on his estate slaughtered to provide food for a soup kitchen at Farnham. Apparently, this Lord Farnham did not charge rack rent, nor was he fond of carrying out evictions as other incarnations in the role had shown themselves to be. Incidentally, Henry Maxwell's statue in front of the Johnston Central Library, has him with his hand resting on books, and probably captures something of the interest the individual had for reading and scholarly pursuit.
The County Archives, at the Johnston Central Library and Farnham Centre are now home to the important and wide ranging Farnham Archive, kindly donated by the late Lady Diana Marion Maxwell, Baroness Farnham. On the occasion I met her, I found her to be a pleasant person with an enthusiastic interest in the Local Studies section of the County Library where she wanted to know what records were available and she listed a variety of towns and villages throughout Cavan.
In 1869, the auction of Henry Maxwell, the 7th Baron's collection of books, art works and ‘objects of vertu’ was conducted by Messrs. Christie, Manson and Woods and The Anglo-Celt recorded that the sale, including the ‘fine art portion of the late Lord's library realised upwards of £5000. Thankfully, Public Libraries can nowadays offer us all the opportunity to experience libraries for ourselves. Access to interesting reading material is no longer just the preserve of the local gentry who inhabited the ‘big house’ as it was in centuries past. Now, where did I leave down that Lotto ticket.
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