Speakers and Topics - SPRING 2012

CURT DICAMILLO
Executive Director, The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA

Mr. DiCamillo is an architectural historian and authority on the British country house. He has written and lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad on the subject. Since 1999 Curt has maintained an award-winning database on the web, The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses: www.dicamillocompanion.com. The database seeks to document every English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish country house ever built, standing or demolished.

Curt has served as Executive Director of The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA since 2004. Previously he worked for 13 years at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and taught on the subject of British historic houses at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In recognition of his work, Curt has been presented to the late Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales. He is a member of The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, an alumnus of both the Royal Collection Studies program and The Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Speed, Style and the English Country House

Fast living surrounded by bright young things; that’s the image we have today of the Interwar Years, between 1918 and 1939, when fast cars, fast women, lots of alcohol, and an abundance of glamour and glitter was the order of the day for England’s upper classes. However, there is much more to the story. This lecture will go back hundreds of years, beginning in the 17th century, when the turf ruled the aristocratic taste for racing and horses were de rigueur for gentry and upper class.

From Goodwood House in Sussex, home of the Glorious Goodwood festival (Thoroughbred horse racing), one of the highlights of the English social season, to Higham Park in Kent, one of the first centers of auto racing in the early 20th century, this lecture will cover horse, auto, and airplane racing at English country houses.

Stories of lions, murder, and movies, all mixed carefully with soaring ambition and stunning houses filled with sublime art comes together to reveal fantastic stories that have left a residue for us to marvel at today.From James Bond’s ancestry to the Flying Duchess – it’s a wonderful and exciting world that would be recognized by Charles II and Evelyn Waugh.

Reserve for: Woodside, CA

JONATHAN FOYLE
Chief Executive, World Monuments Fund Britain

Jonathan Foyle became Chief Executive of World Monuments Fund Britain in 2007. He trained as an architect and art historian, and holds a PhD in Archeology. He developed a practical knowledge of historical monuments first as an assistant surveyor of Canterbury Cathedral and then as Buildings Curator at Hampton Court Palace and Kew Palace.

He has contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Architects’ Journal, Current Archeology, and Building Design. Formerly Course Director for the University of Cambridge’s Summer School, he continues to lecture worldwide. He is well known as a television presenter on architectural topics for the BBC and The History Channel.

“A Work to Wonder At”: Stowe House and the American Revolution

Stowe House, in Buckinghamshire, is a forgotten palace set within a beautiful Arcadian landscape owned by the National Trust. The list of the talented architects and garden designers who worked at Stowe is a veritable Who’s Who of the 18th century: Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, Capability Brown, Sir John Vanbrugh, James Gibbs, Robert Adam and Sir John Soane. For over 300 years it was the country seat of the Temple-Grenvilles, a family of prominent 18th-century politicians that included two prime ministers, William Pitt the Elder and George Grenville, both key figures in events leading to the American Revolution.

Such was Stowe’s fame in the 18th century that Thomas Jefferson visited the estate in 1786; however, soon thereafter the estate fell into decline along with the family’s fortunes. This lecture will delve into the rise and fall of Stowe in the context of American Independence and the demise of the English aristocracy, and will chart its rediscovery and ambitious restoration as one of the major current projects of World Monuments Fund.

Reserve for: Washington, D.C.

DR. JOHN HALL
Dean of Westminster

The Very Reverend John R. Hall was appointed Dean of Westminster by The Queen of England in 2006. He is responsible to Her Majesty for the mission and ministry, the maintenance and the daily life of Westminster Abbey. Previously, Rev. Hall taught at schools in Kenya and in England before being ordained as a priest. For 17 years he served in London parishes before moving to Lancashire to take responsibility for the Church’s educational work in 200 schools and parishes.

In 1998 he was appointed Chief Education Officer to the Church of England, with responsibility for the Church’s strategy and practice in 5,000 Church of England schools and universities. He has written and broadcast widely on education and on the life and work of the Abbey, including his latest book Queen Elizabeth II and Her Church: Royal Service from Westminster Abbey (2012). Recently he oversaw the Abbey’s arrangements and conducted the service for the wedding of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on April 29, 2011.

Westminster Abbey: A Place for Royal Celebration

Westminster Abbey is an architectural masterpiece of the 13th to 16th centuries steeped in more than a thousand years of history. Benedictine monks first came to the site in the middle of the 10th century. The present church, begun by King Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the country, although the iconic west towers are an 18th-century construct by architect Nicholas Hawksmoor and still remain unfinished today. In addition to its stunning architecture, the Abbey is a treasure house of paintings, stained glass, monuments, textiles and other artifacts. John R. Hall, Dean of Westminster, will explore the Abbey’s fascinating history and design, and also focus on the important Royal events that have taken place there.

Dr. Hall will explain how Westminster Abbey has been the setting for every coronation since 1066 and the site of 16 royal weddings. The Abbey is also the final resting place of 17 monarchs as well as notable statesmen and philanthropists; soldiers and explorers; scientists including Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin; musicians including Handel; actors including Laurence Olivier—and many more. Dr. Hall will offer an insider’s account of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in September 2010, the first visit of any Pope to the Abbey and stories of many special services attended by HM The Queen. He will also give a preview of the celebrations being planned for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, to mark sixty years of Her Majesty’s reign.

Reserve for: New York   Philadelphia   Boston   Washington, D.C.

In New York additional funding for this lecture was provided by The Reverend Terrence Blackburn
In Boston additional funding for this lecture was provided by Mr. and Mrs. Mark Rickabaugh.
In Phildellphia additional funding for this lecture was provided by Diana J. Mackie, and Mr. and Mrs. P. Coleman Townsend.

SIR SIMON JENKINS
Chair, the National Trust of England, Wales & Northern Ireland

Sir Simon Jenkins is a noted journalist and author. He attended St. John’s College, Oxford and began his career at Country Life magazine. From 1976 to 1978 he was editor of the Evening Standard, before becoming political editor of The Economist. From 1990-1992 he was the editor of The Times. Currently, he is a regular columnist for The Guardian and the Evening Standard. He received a knighthood for services to journalism in 2004.

In 2008 he was appointed Chair of the National Trust of England, Wales & Northern Ireland. He has written several books on politics, history and architecture, including England’s Thousand Best Churches and England’s Thousand Best Houses. His latest book is A Short History of England (2012).

Resurrecting the English Country House

Over the last two centuries Britain’s historic houses have faced waves of threats. Those that have survived have largely been taken into the guardianship of charities as museums, or been put to alternative uses, such as schools or hotels. In this lecture, Sir Simon Jenkins will discuss the circumstances, values and opportunities of great houses in the 21st century with a particular focus on the National Trust’s new program, "Bringing Places to Life."

In the past he has spoken out against what he termed "museumitis" in the Trust and other preservation organizations. He stated, "A house lived in by the family which built it, or at least whose story can be traced in its walls, furniture and pictures, is worth a dozen sterile museums."This lecture will explore the importance of engaging visitors with the history and life of the English country house as well as discuss strategies being employed toward this end at a range of the Trust’s most iconic historic houses, such as Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, Kingston Lacy in Dorset, and the Trust’s newest acquisition, Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland.

Reserve for: New York City   Boston or Ipswich   Los Angeles

Parking Info: Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Parking is available at the Getty Center. The cost is $10/car after 5 p.m.; or $15/car before 5:00 (for those wishing to visit the museum in conjunction with the lecture). Please note that there is a 15-minute tram or shuttle ride from the parking lot to the museum auditorium. Necessary additional time should be allowed for this connection.

In Boston additional funding for this lecture was provided by Mr. and Mrs. Mark Rickabaugh.

LESLIE KLINGNER Curator of Interpretation, Biltmore Estate

Leslie Klingner is a social historian and in 2006 became the Curator of Interpretation for the Biltmore Estate, the family home of the late George W. Vanderbilt. After studying design history and material culture at The Bard Graduate Center, Leslie lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and served as Senior Educator and Coordinator of Adult Programs at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

She was later appointed Curator of Collections for The Women’s Museum of Dallas, where she helped to create more than a dozen of their inaugural exhibitions. Recent Biltmore projects have included the restoration of a suite of four grand guest bedrooms.

A Look Back: Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

In June of 1897, the world’s attention focused on the grandest celebration of the 19th century – Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The occasion marked not only the longest reign of a modern British monarch, but was a poignant patriotic display, a symbolic celebration of the vast empire which ruled close to a quarter of the earth’s inhabitants.

Seemingly overnight, souvenir pamphlets were published expounding on the lineage of the royal family and highlighting the glories of Victoria’s 60 year reign. While great works of art and architecture were being created in her honor, enterprising merchants capitalized on the event by printing the Queen’s countenance on everything from porcelain beakers to picture postcards, cocoa tins to bottles of cod liver oil.

On June 22nd, thousands lined London’s streets hoping to catch a glimpse of the imperial procession. Meanwhile, the British, American and expatriate elite enjoyed exceptional views of history in the making from their personal carriages and private boxes.

Book collector and young American millionaire George Vanderbilt eschewed his usual suite at Long’s Hotel, preferring to take in the regal pomp and circumstance from a private apartment on Pall Mall. While the Queen passed beneath his balcony, he entertained close friends and courted his future bride-to-be.

Ms. Klingner’s lecture will give us a bird’s eye view of Victoria’s Jubilee, detailing everything from the initial planning to the Queen’s own impression of this spectacular event. Along with sharing rarely-seen footage, Klingner will draw from private letters, archival sources and survey the vast array of souvenirs that served to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

Reserve for: New York City

This lecture has been generously sponsored by an Anonymous Donor.

PAUL F. MILLER
Curator, Preservation Society of Newport County

Paul F. Miller has been with the Preservation Society of Newport County since 1977, becoming Associate Curator in 1989 and Curator in 1995. Paul received a Masters degree in International Relations from the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Relations. He also attended the University of Paris IV, Institut d’Art et d’Archeologie, with a concentration in 19th-century French art and architecture.

He has acted as a consultant on related questions for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Corcoran Gallery; Hillwood; Vanderbilt Estate, Hyde Park and the Ringling Museum of Art. He is the author of Lost Newport & Gothic Art in the Gilded Age (2010).

Vanderbilt Taste meets the English Country House—Blenheim

The transformation of the early-18th century state rooms at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, undertaken by the 9th Duke and his American wife, Consuelo Vanderbilt, is a subject shrouded in mystery and misconception. The 1895 marriage of Charles Spencer-Churchill to the 18 year-old daughter of William K. and Alva Vanderbilt remains one of the most legendary and glamorous of the trans-Atlantic unions of the Gilded Age.

Within their first year of marriage, the couple began a first phase of refurbishment of the palace’s state rooms in preparation for a stay by the Prince and Princess of Wales; the ensuing campaign would last through 1901 and resulted in high style French decoration throughout the three principle rooms.

The Duke would later state that he regretted these interiors as a lapse in taste saying that he was young and uninformed. Regardless of subsequent disavowal, the 9th Duke had been much impressed with the Vanderbilts’ opulent version of French classicism that he had observed in New York and Newport, and became a willing participant in this transformation.

Paul F. Miller will discuss the redecoration and reveal the major players in this re-gilding of one of Britain’s most celebrated stately homes.

Reserve for: New York City

Additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by an Anonymous Donor.

JAMES PEILL
Curator, Goodwood House

James Peill is a Curator of Goodwood House in West Sussex. He grew up in the Welsh Marches and graduated from Edinburgh University in 1994. Mr. Peill was formerly a director of Christie’s, New York where he was a specialist in the European Furniture Department.

He is co-author with the late Knight of Glin of Irish Furniture (Yale University Press, 2007) and The Irish Country House (Vendome Press, 2010). He currently lives with his wife and daughter in an 18th-century folly in Sussex.

"Glorious" Goodwood: A House of Ducal Splendour

James Peill, Curator of the Goodwood Collection, will explore the history and art collection at Goodwood House in West Sussex, the seat of the Dukes of Richmond & Lennox for over 300 years. This lecture will tell not only the history of a grand house and its resplendent contents, but also present a lively account of an aristocratic family often in the forefront of the intellectual life of the day.

The 1st Duke of Richmond was an illegitimate son of King Charles II and his French mistress, Louise de Keroualle who purchased the original house as a hunting lodge in 1697. His descendants have lived at Goodwood ever since; among them are the famous Lennox sisters including Emily, Duchess of Leinster and Louisa Conolly of Castletown.

The house has been enlarged by successive generations, employing the work of prominent architects such as Matthew Brettingham, Sir William Chambers and James Wyatt. Mr. Peill will also illustrate Goodwood’s splendid art collections formed by the family, particularly by the 3rd Duke in the 18th century. Among the treasures are celebrated paintings by Stubbs and Canaletto and fabulous Sèvres porcelain bought in 1765 when the 3rd Duke was British Ambassador to Louis XV’s court in France. The 3rd Duke is also responsible for the first horse race that took place in 1801.

Today the racing tradition continues with the annual "Glorious Goodwood" festival. Each year, Goodwood also plays host to the Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival, motorsport events that attract a world-wide following.

Reserve for: New York City   Philadelphia   Washington, D.C.

Additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by The Stoddart Family.

MARK PURCELL
Libraries Curator, the National Trust

Mark Purcell has been Libraries Curator to the National Trust since 1999, responsible for the Trust’s 168 historic libraries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. He presided over the cataloguing of the Trust’s vast collection of books and the digitization of the catalogue in 2010. He originally studied History at Oriel College, Oxford and trained at University College, London. He has published extensively on the istory of books and libraries in early modern Britain and Ireland, including The Big House Library in Ireland: Books in Ulster Country Houses (2011).

He is a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society. This is his second lecture tour for the Royal Oak Foundation, whose Campaign for Country House Libraries underwrites much of the National Trust’s libraries program.

"A Great Number of Useful Books": The Country House Library

When the Duchess of Northumberland visited Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire in the 1760s, she noted that the Robert Adam library designed for the Curzon family was filled with "useful" rather than "curious" books. Her comments conveyed a distinction that would immediately have made sense to any contemporary country gentleman or gentlewoman.

Books and libraries were developed in British country houses for one of two distinct reasons. They may have been quite self-consciously acquired as collectibles, perhaps by a connoisseur who even in the 18th century might have had the advice of a professional librarian. But more often than not, country house owners bought new (or nearly new) books to use as part of the everyday business of living—books which today we think of as desirable or collectible.

This lavishly illustrated lecture will explore different British country house libraries with books both useful and curious. Mr. Purcell will show fine examples from the National Trust including an early 15th-century Chaucer manuscript at Petworth as well as the book collection at Anglesey Abbey, acquired by the 1st Lord Fairhaven, a member of the British House of Lords who was born in New York City in 1896.

He will look at libraries belonging to a Puritan scholar, a Georgian connoisseur with New England connections, Lakeland sheep farmers, two British Prime Ministers, Anglo-Irish women, and even bored schoolboys.

Mr. Purcell will highlight these collections, considering not only the libraries with their glittering scientific instruments and fine furniture, but also the homes themselves that often featured Long Galleries, paneled cedar closets and Gothic halls.

Reserve for:
New York City    Philadelphia   Chicago   San Francisco   Los Angeles

In New York, additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by Mr. William Lee Younger
In Philadelphia, additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by Diana J. Mackie and Mr. & Mrs. P. Coleman Townsend
In San Francisco, additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by Mr. and Mrs. John L. Warden.

LORD ROBERT SACKVILLE-WEST

After studying History at Oxford University, Robert Sackville-West worked in publishing, in 1985 founding Toucan Books, which creates illustrated non-fiction books for an international market. He now combines that with chairing Knole Estates, the property and investment company which runs the Sackville family's interests at Knole.

In 2008, Robert and his wife and three children moved into the house which has been inhabited continuously by 13 generations of the Sackville family for 400 years. He has just finished a book called Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles, which will be published in May 2010, at a time when there is increased interest in Knole (about 80,000 visitors a year) and plans by the National Trust to raise the profile of, and access to, one its very greatest treasure houses.

The Private Life of a Public Place: 400 Years of the Sackvilles at Knole

Knole, an English country house in Kent, England, is remarkable not only for its history and contents, but for the continued presence of the Sackville family who have lived at the estate since 1604.

Reputedly a calendar house, having 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards, Knole’s public state rooms contain a rare collection of 17th century royal Stuart furniture, outstanding tapestries and textiles, portraits by Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Sir Peter Lely, and Joshua Reynolds, and a copy of the Raphael Cartoons among other treasures.

Robert Sackville-West, the 7th Baron Sackville, will explore the continuous relationship of Knole and the people–his family–who have lived there for 400 years: a family described by the writer Vita Sackville-West (who was born at Knole and wrote about her beloved childhood home) as "a race too prodigal, too amorous, too weak, too indolent and too melancholy; in short, a rotten lot, and nearly all stark staring mad".

He will look at the way his family has shaped and furnished the house, but also at the extent to which the place has shaped them, influencing their lives and their relationships. He will talk about the National Trust, which has owned the house since 1946, and bring the story right up to date, to the moment when he and his wife and children moved into Knole, describing the way the past continues to influence the present.

Reserve for: Atlanta

ANNE SEBBA
Author and lecturer

Anne Sebba is a best-selling biographer, lecturer and journalist. She started at the BBC World Services in the Arabic Department and is a former Reuters foreign correspondent. Many of her biographies focus on historical women who have carved out a life against the odds or have fought for their own rights or the rights of others. She has written short stories, introductions to reprinted novels and appeared in several television documentaries. She also wrote and presented two BBC Radio programs about the pianists Harriet Cohen (2009) and Joyce Hatto (2010).

Among her critically acclaimed books are Laura Ashley: A Life by Design (1990), Jennie Churchill: Winston’s American Mother (2007), and the latest UK bestseller That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (2011) which was the basis of a BBC television documentary called The Secret Letters.

She is a member of the Society of Authors’ Executive Committee, PEN Writers in Prison Committee and regularly lectures worldwide.

"That Woman": The Life of Wallis Simpson

One of the most vilified women of the 20th century, Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, was a fascinating and enigmatic American divorcée who nearly became Queen of England. "That woman," as she was referred to by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, became a hated figure blamed for ensnaring a British king and destabilizing the monarchy.

She was one of the most talked-about women of her generation; her actions inspired such deep love and adoration in Edward VIII that for her, he gave up a throne and an empire. She was accused of being a spy, prostitute, witch and Nazi sympathizer and conspiracy theories about their relationship grew.

Yet, after she married the ex-King and became Duchess of Windsor, she turned her exile and hatred into a platform on which to launch herself as one of the world’s best dressed women who entertained in the most elegant home fit for a King – or an ex-King.

Historian and biographer, Anne Sebba sheds new light on the character and motivations behind the actions of this powerful, charismatic and complex woman. Ms. Sebba explores the power she had over King Edward VIII and reveals Mrs. Simpson’s thoughts during the affair and crisis, drawing on newly discovered letters and archives. Seventy five years since the Abdication in 1936, it is surely time to reassess "That Woman."

Reserve for:
New York City   Boston   Philadelphia   Chicago   Memphis   New Orleans

In New York, additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by John S. Clark
In Philadelphia, additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by Diana J. Mackie and Mr. & Mrs. P. Coleman Townsend
In Chicago, additional funding for this lecture has been generously provided by Oscar Isberian Rugs