Description
A line of families connected with Ombersley Court, Worcestershire over a period of four centuries is what constitutes House of Sandys.
Sandys gentry arrived around 1600; they rebuilt the Court in the 1700s and were ennobled; the Barony was revived in the 1800s, and in the 1900s a ‘torn and desolate’ inheritance was held together for longer than predicted.
With the death of the 7th Baron’s widow in 2015, the time of Sandys ran out, and gathered-together fragments of the house’s history made their way to Worcestershire Archives: in sampling those fragments, this book assembles a large cast of men and women with walk-on parts (sometimes more) in Britain’s historical pageant. Some members of the privileged House of Sandys, as is par for the course, behaved badly, but in the main, having undertaken and discharged responsibilities, endured sadnesses and lavished love, they merit this epitaph.
Anthony Eyre –
“A model of its kind, and deserving of very wide notice”
This is a superb book, scholarly and comprehensive, but with a narrative drive that makes it a lively and accessible read. It is also a model of family history, which makes excellent use of the Sandys family archive to illustrate in text and pictures (the book is lavishly illustrated) a fascinating account of Ombersley Court, Worcestershire and its distinguished occupants, relating many of them to the course of national history.
It is a great Worcestershire house that has generally been hidden from view, its architectural development and magnificent interiors never properly examined in book form, until now. This case-study is clearly a labour of love, and a must-have for all who appreciate Midlands history.
David Whiting, Art Critic, Writer and Curator