Friday 28 March 2014

Joseph King vs. Edwin Lutyens on New Delhi

The other reason why it is of interest that Joseph King's brother, Ernest Powell King, was seemingly a good friend of Edwin Lutyens (as discussed in this post), is that Joseph King "conducted a well-informed Commons campaign throughout 1912, culminating in a wide-ranging attack on the (New Delhi Town Planning Committee) project on 20 December" (Dictionary of Scottish Architects).  I wonder how relations between Joseph King and Lutyens were impacted by this architectural disagreement?  Although Joseph's brother, E.P. King died in 1905 and so would not have been party to this situation.

North Block Facade, Sir Edwin Lutyens,
New Delhi from World of Stock
Joseph King's 20th December 1912 speech highlights is strong belief in preserving Indian craftsmanship and architecture.  This provides further insight into the Haslemere Peasant Arts' respect for the skills of different cultures.  A position which whilst more widely held today, was not the norm in a time where our King was referred to as "King Emperor".  The last two paragraphs below are particularly enlightening.

Hansard (20 December 1912 vol 45 1945-55) records this event:
"I invite the House to make a complete change of atmosphere and subject, and from the tobacco fields of Ireland to proceed with me to the site of the new Delhi. It is a proud thought to remember that it is a year and four days ago that His Majesty, the King Emperor, laid the foundation stone of the great new capital which those of us who live long enough and have the money to go out there hope to witness one day. On the same day that the great announcement of this change was made by the King himself in Delhi it was announced here in the House by the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition at once stated that this must obviously be a matter to be fully discussed, whereon, with his usual courtesy and decision, the Prime Minister said obviously this must be the subject of Parliamentary discussion. 

"I propose to give the House the leading questions connected with this great Imperial question. The King Emperor himself, in the course of his speech, said that the new creation must be a city in every way worthy of this beautiful ancient city of Delhi, and a little later the Viceroy in Council announced his strong personal interest in the subject, stated that he had given a great deal of personal attention to the question of this new Delhi, and expressed the opinion that the buildings should be in Indian style and should be carried out by Indian craftsmen. In doing so, he was understood at the time to speak as Viceroy, and to convey the opinion and considered judgment of the very highest authority in the land. What has happened since? The Government of India sent out a Town Planning Committee. It was stated that this Committee should be one of the very highest authority. It was to consist, we were told, of a sanitary engineer, a town planner, and architect, and a landscape gardener. The three gentlemen who were sent out were Mr. Brodie, an engineer, against whom I have not a word to say, and a most eminent man in his profession. Then there was Captain Swinton, a man very well known as Whip of the Moderate party on the London County Council, a former aide-de-camp of the Viceroy of India and no doubt a man of the world, who knew his way well about India, but I contend not cither an expert in town planning architecture or landscape gardening. The third member of this Town Planning Committee was Mr. Lutyens, an excellent architect, a gentleman who has built country houses and work of that description for people who can appreciate artistic architecture, but who has had no experience whatever of large public buildings or town planning.

An aerial view of the completed city of New Delhi with the war memorial at the end of Kingsway. Photo courtesy of Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge


"Some criticism was naturally directed to the composition of this Committee, and it was promised to us again and again, both by question and answer across the Floor of the House, and also on the occasion of the Indian Budget last year, I hat (hope?) their report should be published with all expedition and that their plans should be ex- hibited in the Tea Room. Whatever we may have seen in the Tea Room, we have not seen their plans, and whatever we have been able to get in the Vote Office, we have not yet got their report, and this is all the more remarkable because, as soon as this Town Planning Conimittee returned after its first visit to India in July last, what purported to be a summary of their Report appeared in the "Pall Mall Gazette" of 24th July…

"I wish to utter my protest against a decision being taken thus early, and in this manner, against Indian art and architecture. If anyone would wish to know what Indian art and architecture can do, let them go to South Kensington in the holidays—they can take their wives and families or anybody else with them—and see the magnificent architectural examples exhibited there, and the beautiful work which is being done in perfect tradition with the best old times of India. I wish also to call the attention of the House to the fact that we are going to set up in Delhi buildings which might as well be set up in New York or Rio de Janeiro. We shall be giving no national expression to the great nation of India, but really be slighting the national art, architecture, and craftsmen in our great Empire. There is another most important point, namely, that after all we are governing India as trustees for the Indians, not on our own account, but because we believe we have a great Imperial mission. The bill is to be paid by the Indians. The whole cost of the new Delhi is to be paid entirely out of the revenues of India. I want emphatically to protest against the revenues of India being made the servants of British or Italian art. I want the Indians to have a chance of working out the splendid craftsmanship and the splendid genius they possess, very different from our own—a genius that cannot be denied.

"If hon. Members will take the trouble to look into the current number of the "Sphere," they will see a magnificent set of illustrations of modern Indian works of architecture—buildings erected recently throughout the Indian Empire. I venture to say that for beauty, skill, craftsmanship, and magnificence of design, totally alien as they are to our art, and totally inappropriate as they would be for buildings to be erected in London, these buildings cannot be surpassed throughout the world. I feel deeply on this subject, not only as a man who loves art, but as a man who loves the British Empire. I would like to feel that we are doing a great act of justice, and advancing the progress and prosperity of our great Indian Empire, and therefore I conclude by asking hon. Members whether it is fair that the Indians, who have great genius, a great history, and a great tradition, should be asked to pay out of their revenue in order that some architects—excellent men, no doubt, and gifted and accomplished artists too—may have the opportunity of erecting in the new Delhi palaces of Italian art. The idea, though furthered by one paper, and promoted by another, is in itself absurd and unjust. I hope we shall have the Report of what the Town Planning: Committee has been doing, and that we-shall have some plans and drawings, exhibited in the Tea Room, and that at any rate, we shall not be told that the decision-has been taken to put up modern western-palaces in the great capital of our Eastern. Empire."

Thursday 20 March 2014

Wainsford and Downton, near Lymington - some E.P King houses


Following on from my previous post, the size and location of Ernest Powell King's house on the 1901 census is intriguing.   King being Joseph King's brother.

1901 'part of Milford', Lymington census

The census papers call the area part of Milford parish, in the rural district of Lymington.  Wainsford House is the second home on the census, after Wainsford Lodge and before Wainsford Stables.  The Lodge has the head of the family as a gardener, and the Stables has the head as a coachman.  That suggests that the two surrounding households are in the employment of Wainsford House, where the head of the household, Ernest Powell King is living on his own means.
Extract of Wainsford, Lymington 1901 census


Googling Wainsford House does not yield a result (I think!) but Wainsford Lodge and Wainsford Stables do appear to currently exist, whether they are the same properties as those on the 1901 census I am not clear.  Wainsford itself appears to be an area above Efford, which is next on the census, with Efford House, Lodge, Drive and Farm, and seems to be the area between Everton and Lymington.  The road between Pennington and Everton is called Wainsford Road, and above this the map shows a Wainsford Copse and a Lower Wainsford Copse.  There appears to be some large buildings set in the countryside there, so perhaps these include Wainsford House.

Wainsford, Lymington 

Map showing Wainsford Copse and Lower Wainsford Copse

Interestingly, Jackson (F.W.Troup: Architect 1859-1941, Building Centre Trust, 1985) records FW Troup, who designed most of Haslemere's Peasant Arts houses, as designing a house in 1905 for E.P. King.  I don't believe the book makes the link to Joseph King, who Troup designed the Haslemere buildings and Sandhouse in Witley, but this is doubtless Ernest Powell King.  With this architectural connection I think it therefore especially interesting that Ernest Powell King had Edwin Lutyens staying with on the 1901 census.  Jackson records the 1905 Troup design as being "for a five-room cottage, built for E.P. King, was to be the model he used at Letchworth and Lingfield, and that which Schultz, Arnold Mitchell, Curtis Green and doubtless others were later to employ".  Interesting also here that Jackson refers to Arthur Romney Green's architect brother Curtis Green.  I'm not sure whether this building is still in existence, if so it sounds like it would have once looked very much like the Letchworth 'cheap cottage' he designed later.
Downton and Hordle on the left of the map,
Wainsford is located to the right by Newlease Copse

Jackson goes on to describe "the attraction of this cottage was its compact planning and, at just over 4 1/2d per cubic foot, its remarkable cheapness.    The design was essentially that of a single-storey building, with two bedrooms in the roofspace and one of the floor below.  A scullery, living room and entrance lobby completed the ground floor, the earth closet being located away from the building.

"The cottage, measuring but 21ft. 6 ins by 24ft. was a timber frame, faced with steel laths and cement render and plastered inside.  Set on a concrete raft foundation, it had a brick chimney core and flat, roll-edged, interlocking tiles on the half-hipped roof.  It cost £148 to build."

Jackson identifies the house as being at Downton, Hordle, near Lymington.  Downton and Hordle appear to be two separate places located to the left of Wainsford.  I wonder if there is a house thereabouts that meets this description?  Although the Letchworth cheap cottage has changed markedly from the 1905 photograph as I explored in this post, as seen below, so it may be difficult to identify!


F W Troup's 'Cheap Cottage' 124 Wilbury Road, Letchworth, 1905
from the Garden City Museum


F W Troup's 'Cheap Cottage' 124 Wilbury Road, Letchworth,
present day


Friday 7 March 2014

The Lutyens Family Connections

The similarities and cross overs of Gertrude Jekyll that I've covered in previous posts with the Haslemere Peasant Arts movement are made all the more interesting by the Edwin Lutyens family connections.  Lutyens partnered with Jekyll on numerous house and garden projects, including a number in the near neighbourhood, such as Jekyll's own house at Munstead Wood, outside Godalming.

extract of 1901 census
showing Edwin Lutyens as a visitor at Ernest Powell King's house

Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, the famous architect, was staying at Joseph King's brother's house at the time of the 1901 census.  Lutyens, then aged 32 is described as a visitor and is listed amongst the other inhabitants of Wainsford House, Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, who were:

  • Ernest Powell King, aged 39, living on own means
  • Charlotte Lillian King, his wife aged 34
  • Charles Johnston, Charlotte's father, a retired colonel
  • Martha John, the cook 
  • Emily, parlour maid 
  • Elsie Busby, housemaid 
  • Elizabeth Lancaster, kitchen maid
  • Mary, an attendant
The number of servants that Joseph King's brother had at Wainsford House, living on his own means, reinforces the notion that the King family were financially comfortable.  

This is not the only connection to the Haslemere Peasant Arts movement, although this second connection is admittedly a bit more current.  There is also a connection with Godfrey Blount.  It gets a bit complicated:

Lutyens controversially married Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874-1964).  According to wikipedia: "Two years after she proposed to him and in the face of parental disapproval, Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964), third daughter of The 1st Earl of Lytton, a former Viceroy of India, and Edith (née) Villiers, married Lutyens on 4 August 1897 at KnebworthHertfordshire. They had five children, but the union was largely unsatisfactory, practically from the start. The Lutyens' marriage quickly deteriorated, with Lady Emily becoming interested in theosophy, Eastern religions and a fascination — emotional and philosophical — with Jiddu Krishnamurti." 

Lady Emily's brother Victor (1876-1947) had four children: Edward, Margaret, Davina and Alexander.  Margaret, Lady Margaret Hermione Millicent Bulwer-Lytton (1905-2004) married Cameron Cobbold, who became Governor of the Bank of England (1949-1964), and became the First Baron Cobbold in 1960. They had three children, Jane, Susan and David (the second Baron Cobbold).  Susan married Christopher Blount in 1957.  Christopher Blount was the grandson of Godfrey Blount's elder brother, Charles H B Blount (1855-1900).  A great great grandson of Charles H B Blount is reported to be James Blunt, the singer.  When Godfrey Blount died in 1937, in his probate he left his estate of £9,904 12s 11d between his publisher, Arthur Charles Fifield, and his nephew Charles H B Blount (1890-1940), his brother Charles' son, and Christopher Blount's father.

extract of Godfrey Blount's family tree,
Ancestry.co.uk, which shows the 'Lutyens' connection

Thank you to duncmacg for this family tree information.

Saturday 1 March 2014

Peasant Tagxedo Fun

I have just worked out how to use Tagxedo, and I thought I'd share what it made of the 'Introduction' page.

Tagxedo of Peasant Arts - Haslemere's 'Introduction' page

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...