Robert Smith and Redcliffe Towers Case Study: Background and Training

Robert Smith and Redcliffe Towers Case Study: Background and Training

Background and Training Robert Smith’s early family life not only shaped the direction of his later career, but also the locations and houses in which…

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General Duff Case Study: At home in India

General Duff Case Study: At home in India

At home in India Although Patrick made the arduous voyage between India and Britain five times, most of his adult life was spent in India….

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Osterley Case Study: Family Commerce

Osterley Case Study: Family Commerce

Three generations of the Child family at Osterley, much like the Taylor brothers who are illustrated left, were intimately involved in the East India Company….

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Shugborough Case Study: Two Brothers

Shugborough Case Study: Two Brothers

The story of Shugborough as we now know it is essentially that of two brothers: Thomas Anson (1695-1773) and his younger brother George (1697-1762).  Thomas…

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Englefield House Case Study: The East India Company Arrives (1745-1776)

Englefield House Case Study: The East India Company Arrives (1745-1776)

Englefield’s imposing structure stands within rolling grounds near the village of Englefield in Berkshire, on the site of an earlier house, which belonged to the…

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Aske Hall Case Study: Dundas and the Nabob Interior

Aske Hall Case Study: Dundas and the Nabob Interior

Dundas and The Nabob Interior If one of the attributes of a nabob was to live with pretention and ostentation, then the furnishing of the…

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The Indian Seal Case Study: The Sykes Family

The Indian Seal Case Study: The Sykes Family

The fortune brought back from India by Francis Sykes was reckoned by his contemporaries to be one of the largest, indeed second only to that…

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Swallowfield Park Case Study: The Making of an English Country House

Swallowfield Park Case Study: The Making of an English Country House

Henry Russell moved his family to Reading and then to Brighton while extensive renovations were undertaken at Swallowfield between 1824 and 1826. The long-suffering Charles, unsurprisingly, stepped in to supervise in Henry’s absence, as he had done at the Hyderabad Residency. Although Sir Henry Russell received rents from Swallowfield and was an occasional guest there, it was Henry and Clotilde Russell – together with their six surviving children – who made this house their home. Charles, who served as a Tory MP for Reading for many years, was a constant visitor, and continued to work in harness with Henry to made Swallowfield a venerable English family seat.

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