Wormwood scrubs

When lord William Beauchamp Nevill was first sent to prison it was to wormwood scrubs.

These magnificent gates met Lord William in 1897.

What meaning do you think the Victorians had in creating such magnificent architectural gates ?

Researching The peerage

Can not recommend enough thepeerage.com for researching members of the aristocracy and their families. Well researched and interesting. Factual yet easy to use.


This is Lord William Beauchamp Nevill s entry. It has a really lovely feature that means with just the touch of a button the family tree is revealed.

The site covers all of the British peerage and an invaluable resource for the historian researching the upper classes

Starting at the beginning ...... again

I have been unable still to locate the final resting place of Lord William Beauchamp Nevill. I have decided to retrace my footsteps and revisit some of the fireplaces I tried. The archivists have all been extremely helpful.
Having extensively searched the Brompton cemetery, I can definitely say he is not buried there.

Lord William Beauchamp Nevill died at 37 Onslow Gardens in Kensington. This was the closest cemetery.

There was a requiem mass held a t the Brompton oratory, however there are no burials there. The archivist father McHardy has been helping me though to revisit this potential lead and has found at least a mention in their records .

 prior to this it was believed all the records had been destroyed in the second world war

The bankruptcy file of a lord

 One of the documents I was privileged to queue with the bankruptcy file of Richard Nevill, brother of Lord William Beauchamp Nevill. he was declared bankrupt in 1926 and all of his creditors had to write a individual claim against his remaining wealth . What is fascinating is that he openly admits in his documents that his bankruptcy was due to overspending and living an extravagant lifestyle. He was still ordering hand embroidered socks and sending gifts to the Palace and other royals

Lord Richard's signature

national archives at kew

the national archive in  Kew is definitely worth a visit for anyone interested in their own family history or a specific area of history.

I have been able today on my visit to view the 1939 index and locate Lord William Beauchamp Nevill's Widow , Lady Luisa Nevill and find the name of her staff.

the 1939 index is similar to a census and taken at the start of the 2nd world war so everybody could be issued with a national identity card. whereas the census for this period are still closed (and will be for 100 years from date of origin) this is available to the public. normally you have to pay but at Kew it is free. the documents can be printed as well on A3 for only 30p

I also managed to locate some great aunts in Birmingham!

the documents I ordered to view and handle were related to the bankruptcy of Lord William's brother Lord Richard Plantagenet Nevill.

2/3/1922

I have this picture in my collection on my living room wall. He was undertaking diplomatic work in America at the time the picture was taken

It was such a thrill to see his signature and I learned a lot about the circumstances of his bankruptcy. notably that he openly attributed it to "extravagance of living"

Famous next door neighbours!

privileged to be researching at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London . Whilst I was researching a number of topics I did however make quite an exciting discovery that Lord William Beauchamp Nevills next door neighbour was in fact a famous historian . William Nevill lived most of his life at 37 Onslow Gardens in Kensington and at number 38 Onslow Gardens there lived the historian William Lecky !

William Edward Hartpole Lecky, OM (26 March 1838 – 22 October 1903) was an Irish historian, essayist, and political theorist .  William's major work was an eight-volume History of England during the Eighteenth Century.

 Onslow Gardens in Kensington where Lord William Beauchamp Nevill lived

 down the road at  number 24 lived the Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law ! prime minister in 1922 ,he lived at 24 Onslow Gardens from 1858 till 1925 .

 One of the things I am now going to look into is the possibility of having a blue plaque put up outside number 37 Onslow Gardens to show the world that Lord William Beauchamp Nevill, prison reformer lived here.

The tablet

 Lord William Beauchamp Neville converted to listen to them in his early 20s . One of the best resources that any catholic research is The tablet. The adverts however show that living a catholic lifestyle meant not giving up certain and earthly pleasures as you can see!