Marymount International School, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England - Interesting History of the Marymount House and School

 

Interesting Historical Perspectives on the Marymount House

March 4, 2020

Diana (Kirchen) Kelly, Ph.D. (Marymount 8^th grade class 1967-68)

 

The Marymount house is such a beautiful and historic house.  In the summer of 1967 my mother took me there when I first enrolled at Marymount, just after we moved to England.  After my 8^th grade year at Marymount, we moved back to California.  But over the years I’ve visited Marymount whenever I’ve been in England, and always enjoyed being welcomed in the lovely old house by Sister Mary Catherine Walsh, and later Sarah Key, Alumnae Coordinator.  In October 2004, I visited Marymount with my best friend from 8^th grade, Joanne (Hamel) Ross.  Sarah Key welcomed us and showed us a special stained glass window in the house, next to the staircase.  She said this was the Guinness family crest and that members of the Guinness family had owned the house many years ago.  Well, I got curious and started researching this lovely old house.  In the process I found that in addition to the Guinness family, a few other interesting families lived here before it became Marymount in 1955.  I also learned that the Coombe area has a more ancient history.  Here is a brief history of what I found in my research.

 

Coombe Area History

Kingston has documented history of Romans in the area, and some Roman artifacts have been found on Kingston Hill.  Early British Kings were crowned in Kingston.  William D. Biden documented the ancient history of the Kingston area in his 1852 book The History and Antiquities of the Ancient and Royal Town of Kingston-upon-Thames.  One section of his book specifically addresses “Combe” (later spelled “Coombe”), the area on Kingston Hill where Marymount is located.  Biden states (page 95) “Combe is derived from the Welsh or British word “cwm,” a ravine or hilltop, a term generally applied to the part of a hill in which the highest springs rise.” He also described the entry of Combe in the “Doomsday Book” (Domesday Book 1086) as 200 acres of land held by Humfrid the Chamberlain. During the reign of King Edward I (1272-1307) the united manors of Combe were held by William de Nevil and were called “Comb-Nevil.”  King Henry VIII annexed Coombe to Hampton Court, and Cardinal Wolsey selected the Coombe Spring to supply the water to the Palace at Hampton Court.  This spring is located on Coombe Lane West, just south of the Marymount school grounds.

Over the years, the Coombe estate had a number of different owners.  For the complete description of owners up to 1852, see The History and Antiquities of the Ancient and Royal Town of Kingston upon Thames by William D. Biden, published in 1852.  Young King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, granted Comb-Nevil and Combe-Park to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. After the Duke of Somerset was beheaded in 1552, the Coombe estate reverted to the Crown.   Queen Elizabeth I later granted the Coombe estate to William Cecil, Lord Burleigh.  In 1753 the Coombe Estate was purchased by the trustees of John Spencer, Esq (later first Earl Spencer, ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales). Earl Spencer still owned the Coombe Estate in 1761 and was later shown as the owner of “Coombe Nevil” in the 1815 Crosby Gazetteer of England and Wales (p.262). By 1852, when Biden’s book was written, the Combe estate was the property of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge (a cousin of Queen Victoria).

 

John Galsworthy family in Coombe

In the latter part of the 19^th century, Kingston was a desirable suburban retreat from London for well-off families of solicitors and other professionals.  John Galsworthy (1867-1933), author of “The Forsythe Saga” and many other novels and plays, was born in Kingston in a home called “Parkfield” which is now known as the “Galsworthy Care Home,” located at 177 Kingston Hill.  He grew up in the Coombe area in a home built by his father, a London solicitor also named John Galsworthy.  The name of their house was “Coombe Warren,” later called “Coombe Court,” and it was located between two other grand houses built by Mr. Galsworthy: “Coombe Ridge” (the current Holy Cross School) and “Coombe Croft” (the current Rokeby School).   “Coombe Court” was demolished in 1933 and today there are houses in this location on a street called “The Drive.” 

The Galsworthy family is shown living at “Coombe Warren” in the 1871 and 1881 census records, and a June 25, 1870 newspaper article in the Surrey Comet shows that Mrs. Galsworthy was hosting a special benefit concert at “Coombe Warren” on July 6, 1870.

 

Ballard, Coombe Warren (Marymount House) – William Edgar family 1873-1884

In 1873, “Ballard” house at Coombe Warren was built for William Schindler Edgar, a magistrate with offices in Piccadilly. This is the house that later became Marymount International School.

The William Edgar family lived in this house from 1873 until 1884 and sold the house following Mr. Edgar’s death at “Ballard” house on August 13, 1883.  Unfortunately, a very tragic event took place in this grand house in 1876.  Henry Ingle Edgar, 25-year-old son of William Edgar, committed suicide in the nursery of the “Ballard” house on Monday, March 13, 1876.  Henry was a retired Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenant, and his death inquest was described in great detail in the Surrey Comet newspaper of March 18, 1876.  The inquest was held at the “George & Dragon” pub (currently the Kingston Lodge Hotel).  After hearing all of the testimonies and evidence, the jury rule that Henry’s death was “Suicide while in a state of Unsound Mind.”

 

Ballard, Coombe Warren – Captain Benjamin Lee Guinness family 1884 - aprox. 1906

In 1884, Captain Benjamin “Lee” Guinness (1842-1900) purchased “Ballard” house from the estate of William Edgar. Lee Guinness was the son of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, M.P. and great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, founder of the famous Guinness Brewery in Dublin. He was a member of the Royal Horse Guards and retired at the rank of Captain.  In 1881 Captain Lee Guinness married Lady Henrietta St Laurence at Howth Church near Dublin, Ireland.  Henrietta was the daughter of Thomas, third Earl of Howth. Lee and Henrietta Guinness had three sons:  Algernon, Kenelm, and Nigel.  Captain Lee Guinness and his wife were active in London society and were frequently included in the society pages of various newspapers, documenting their attendance at social events and their travels.

Ten years after moving into “Ballard” house, Captain Lee Guinness hired architect Mr. W.F. Potter to expand the house.  According to an article in The American Architect and Building News (July 21, 1894), the house was expanded with a new wing, coach houses, lodge, and stabling.  The front of the house was extended from 200 feet to 400 feet across.  Captain Lee Guinness died of pneumonia in 1900 in Bournemouth at the age of 57.

In 1902, an estate ad for “Ballard” appeared in the Surrey Comet newspaper as follows “Ballard Coombe, Kingston Hill.  This charming residence, standing in 15 acres of beautiful wooded ground, and with stabling for 15 horses, to be let furnished, unfurnished, or sold.”  Apparently it was not sold because two years later, in March of 1904, another estate ad for “Ballard” was in the London Standard, stating that the auction would be held on April 12, 1904.  Here is the detailed description of the house from the ad:

“Ballard,” Coombe Warren, delightfully placed, 170 feet above sea level, on gravel soil, commanding magnificent views, approached by a carriage drive 300 years in length, with lodge, entrance, and containing 21 bed and dressing rooms (additional bedroom accommodation if needed), bath-rooms, a fine suite of entertaining rooms comprising large entrance and sitting hall, drawing, morning, dining, billiard, and smoking rooms, boudoir, a complete set of domestic offices, with menservants’ accommodation; modern stabling for 15 horses, including several loose horses, extensive coach houses and 5 men’s rooms; exceedingly delightful pleasure grounds, with terraces, sunk gardens, wilderness, wild gardens, and small paddock, ranges of glass houses, and a covered tennis court, the whole extending to about 15 acres; the property in situate in a favorite residential district, midway between Norbiton and Malden stations on the London and Southwest Railway and in close proximity to Richmond Park, Coombe Wood, and Wimbledon Common.

The house was sold to William Cleaver sometime between September of 1904 and June of 1906.

 

Ballard, Coombe Warren – William Cleaver family - aprox. 1906 - 1922

According to the 1911 census, William Cleaver was a “West African Merchant.”  He and his wife, Ida, two adult sons, two adult daughters, and six servants were living at “Ballard” Coombe Warren.  Two daughters celebrated their marriages at “Ballard” house and one daughter gave birth to a son at home at “Ballard.”  In 1919 Ina Cleaver died at home, and in 1920 William Cleaver also died at home at “Ballard” house.  Around 1922 the house was sold to Charles Fletcher Lumb.

 

Ballard, Coombe Warren – Charles Fletcher Lumb family 1922 – 1955

The Charles Lumb family lived in “Ballard” Coombe Warren longer than any other family.  Charles Fletcher Lumb (1872-1964) bought the house from the estate of William Cleaver.  In a ship passenger record dated May 3, 1922, Charles Fletcher Lumb’s home address is “Ballard” Coombe Warren, Kingston-upon-Thames.  His nationality is listed as “Canadian.”  Prior to this, in the 1911 census, Charles and his wife Margarita and their first son Charles were living in Weybridge.  However, Charles Fletcher Lumb previously lived in Philadelphia and in 1901 was a Major in the Battalion of the 6^th Infantry of the National Guard in Pennsylvania.  He was also involved in the Spanish American war, and he met his Cuban wife, Margarita Johnson (1880-1959), on a passenger ship as she was returning to Europe from Cuba.  Charles Lumb was a businessman who was the Director of a company, “Petroleum Storage and Finance Corporation, Ltd.”  Charles and Margarita Lumb had a family of five children who lived in the “Ballard” house:  Charles (1910-1977), Margot (1912-1998), Theodore (1913-1942), Raymond (1915-1940), and Bernice (1917-1977).

At two in the morning on Wednesday, July 15 1925 a terrible fire broke out at “Ballard” which destroyed part of the house.  According to newspaper reports, only the servants’ wing was spared from the fire.  Fortunately, everyone in the house at the time was able to get out, but the estimated damage to the house was 20,000 – 30,000 pounds. According to daughter Margot (Lumb) Gordon’s obituary, renovations included the addition of a ¾ size Squash Court and badminton and tennis courts in the garden.  In the history of Marymount described in the Marymount 50^th Anniversary booklet (2005), photographs show that the house was rebuilt with different color bricks on the upper level, which can still be seen today.

In the spring of 1932, “Ballard” Coombe Warren was listed for sale in several London newspapers.  Here is the description from the estate ad in the Times on June 21, 1932:

 

An Outstanding Residential Property of Merit.  In excellent condition throughout.  The beautiful freehold manor-style country house, enviably placed on high ground, gravel soil, facing South, enjoying a wide expanse of magnificent view, is approached by a long and imposing drive with Lodge Entrance from Warren Road and a secondary drive from George Road. Vestibule lounge hall, 3 reception rooms, billiard room, dance or music room 9all with polished oak flooring), boudoir, school room, 14 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, and complete offices.  Electric light, Central Heating, Constant Hot Water, and all services.  Excellent stable and garage premises, with groom’s and chauffeur’s flats over.  Particularly fascinating gardens and grounds in terrace formation, adorned with a variety of well-grown ornamental and flowering trees and shrubs.  Grass and hard tennis courts, glass-covered Badminton court, squash racquets court, kitchen garden, small range of glass [blurred], orchard, woodlands and paddock, the whole embracing nearly 15 acres of which part is freehold and part leasehold held for a long term at low ground rent.  To be sold by auction in the Estate Auction Hall, 22 King Street, St. James’s, S.W. 1 on Wednesday, 15^th June, 1932 at 2.30 pm, unless previously sold privately.

 

However, the property did not sell, and Charles Lumb and his family continued to live at “Ballard.” Charles and Margarita Lumb, two daughters (Margot and Berniece) and one son (Raymond) were listed at “Ballard” in the 1939 Register, and Charles Lumb provided his home address as “Ballard Coombe” on several ship passenger lists between 1946 and 1951.

In the summer of 1937, the future Queen of Egypt, Sasi Naz “Farida” Zulficar, age 17, and her future mother-in-law, Queen Nazli of Egypt, stayed at “Ballard” Coombe Warren while the young King Farouk was staying at another country house nearby. Farida and Farouk were married in Egypt on January 20, 1938.  They had three daughters, then divorced in 1948.

The most well-known of Charles Lumb’s children was his daughter, Margarita “Margot” Lumb.  She and her siblings were very athletic, but Margot achieved great success in Squash (called “Squash Racquets”) and Tennis in the 1930’s.  In 1934, at the age of 22, Margot became the amateur Squash Racquets champion at Queen’s Club.  In 1935 she was the captain of the British ladies’ Squash Racquets team.  She won the Squash Racquets championship five years in a row, and had a winning record in tennis at Wimbledon, too, playing 1934-39 and again in 1949 and 1951.  She made it to the ladies singles quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1949 and the finals of Wimbledon in 1937.  Margot also played ladies doubles at Wimbledon with her sister Berniece from 1935-39, winning the quarterfinals once.  Margot was a left-handed Squash and Tennis player who played aggressively and quickly, overwhelming her opponents with her speed and hard shots.  After her marriage to Bill Gordon in 1944, they moved to Africa where he was in the petroleum industry.  While in Africa, Margot became very involved in Ugandan and Nigerian political life.  When they returned to England, Margot continued to play Squash into her 70’s and Tennis into her 80’s.  She was often called to Wimbledon to participate in pre-tournament exhibition matches.  Margot Lumb Gordon died in 1998 at the age of 85, just one month after her husband’s death.  Margot and Bill Gordon had four children:  one daughter and three sons. 

In 1955, Charles Fletcher Lumb sold “Ballard” Coombe Warren to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary who were looking for a London area location to start another Catholic girls’ school as a sister school to those in Rome and Tarrytown, New York.

Marymount International School

On February 8, 1955, the Times published a notice that “Ballard” Coombe had been sold to “a religious order” for “a finishing school.”  The house and six acres (of the 15 acres) were sold for 40,000 pounds.  The Derry Journal published a small article on June 20, 1955, showing that the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary purchased the house, which was a “former home of King Farouk of Egypt.”  This was not accurate – King Farouk’s mother stayed briefly at “Ballard” with her future daughter-in-law.  The article went on to say that the house was staffed with six nuns “last Thursday” and that their motherhouse is in Tarrytown, New York.

A brief history of the beginning years of Marymount is included in two anniversary booklets:  25^th Anniversary Silver Jubilee booklet published in 1980 (researched and written by Sister Mary Catherine Walsh) and 50^th Anniversary booklet published in 2005 (compiled by Alumnae Coordinator, Sarah Key).  According to these histories, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary started looking for a location for a school in 1954.  They purchased the house and six acres of grounds in 1955.  The house was initially used for offices, classrooms and dormitories, and over the first few years, changes were made to the grounds.  The chapel was built in 1956 where the former squash court had been.  The greenhouses and horse stables were torn down to build Gailhac and Butler Halls, which opened in spring of 1959.  Later, in December 1959, Gerard Hall was opened.  It was built on the site of a former orchard.

The very first graduate of Marymount International School was Marta Carrizosa, who graduated in 1956.  In 1957, Jerry Lee Bishop graduated.  The first graduating class was in 1958, and included the following seven graduates:  Joan Dickinson, Maria Eulalia Guillamet, Carol Kirchhoffer, Jo Ann Newton, Maria Isabel Picornell, Sally Stone, and Adelaide Wiley.  The subsequent graduating seniors are listed in the 1980 Silver Jubilee Booklet, year by year, through the class of 1980.  However, this list does not include the many students who attended Marymount for only a year or two. 

 

Conclusion

The history of the Marymount house is much longer and more complex than most current and former Marymount students may realize.  The Coombe area of Kingston has a fascinating history, starting with ancient Roman times, going forward to Henry VIII, and then to the time of author John Galsworthy. The “Ballard” house at Coombe Warren, built in 1873, has been home to several interesting and prominent families, including a world-class squash and tennis player, a future Queen of Egypt, and members of the Guinness family, before being sold in 1955 to start the Marymount International School.  This history may help us to more fully appreciate the beautiful and historic environment of our school.