Read Online Diamonds at Dinner by Hilda Newman and Tim Tate - Free Book Online
Authors: Hilda Newman and Tim Tate
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Pembroke. The family seat was Amroth Castle, a grand 18th-century house, built on the remains of Norman ruins, with expansive grounds stretching down to the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast.
His eldest daughter grew up surrounded by wealth and eligible young men, and the man she chose to be her husband was the Honourable George William Coventry, the grandson of the 9th Earl. By the time of the wedding, a lavish affair in Carmarthen in September 1921, the Earl of Coventry was 83 years old but still hale and hearty and in residence at Croome Court. Since his son was the next in line and, therefore, would inherit the title and all that went with it, George William can’t have had any expectation of coming into his own inheritance for decades to come. But within a decade a series of family catastrophes would change everything.
The troubles started in 1926 and it was the Great Depression that began them. Lord Kylsant was facing increasing difficulties in repaying government loans to his shipping empire: he had been expecting an improvementin world trade following the First World War but, after a decade of peace, this had not materialised. Increased competition from foreign companies was making life very difficult for his businesses. Despite this, Kylsant bought two more companies, apparently taking an unrealistically rosy view of the future. As trade slumped, his economic woes mounted.
A year later the Coventry family was hit by what newspapers termed ‘The Curse of The Deerhursts’: the 9th Earl’s son and heir – George William Coventry’s father – died unexpectedly. It was the second time in living memory that the sitting Earl had outlived his son. George William and his young wife Nesta now knew that before long they would have to take on the title and, with it, the escalating costs of Croome Court.
It can’t have been easy: although gentry such as the Coventrys seemed to have much more wealth and many more resources to fall back on than ordinary folk, they also faced huge inheritance-tax bills on top of the constant haemorrhaging of money at Croome. And, for Nesta, financial troubles at home were looming ever larger.
In 1929 the Bank of England was so concerned about the solvency of Lord Kylsant’s combined shipping companies that it sent one of the most famous accountants in the country in to examine all the business records. Within two months he discovered that thegroup had liabilities of more than £30 million – that’s £3 billion today.
As the crisis mounted throughout 1930 and 1931, speculation grew in the press about Lord Kylsant’s future. Despite this, he and Lady Kylsant left England at the start of February for a two-month holiday in South Africa. But almost as soon as they returned, Lord Kylsant was arrested and charged with criminal offences of fraud. The case was transferred to the Central Criminal Court – known to you and me as the Old Bailey – and after a 9-day trial Kylsant was convicted and sentenced to 12 months in prison. It must have been a nightmarish time for Nesta, not only to see her family fortunes evaporate but to watch as her father was led away to spend the next year as a common criminal in Wormwood Scrubs. There could be no greater disgrace.
But if things were bad for Nesta, her husband had also suffered a double tragedy. On 13 March 1930, following an illness that lasted 12 days, the 9th Earl of Coventry passed away, aged nearly 92. His death – which, as we saw, was reported in newspapers and in cinema newsreels – had a fatal effect on his wife. The couple had been married for 65 years and Lady Blanche told her grandson that she could not bear to be without the man she loved. The Countess of Coventry immediately took to her bed. Within three days she, too, was dead. A joint funeral wasarranged and tenants from Croome and the surrounding villages crammed into the family church on the estate and lined the way for the cortège.
And that is how George William became the
His eldest daughter grew up surrounded by wealth and eligible young men, and the man she chose to be her husband was the Honourable George William Coventry, the grandson of the 9th Earl. By the time of the wedding, a lavish affair in Carmarthen in September 1921, the Earl of Coventry was 83 years old but still hale and hearty and in residence at Croome Court. Since his son was the next in line and, therefore, would inherit the title and all that went with it, George William can’t have had any expectation of coming into his own inheritance for decades to come. But within a decade a series of family catastrophes would change everything.
The troubles started in 1926 and it was the Great Depression that began them. Lord Kylsant was facing increasing difficulties in repaying government loans to his shipping empire: he had been expecting an improvementin world trade following the First World War but, after a decade of peace, this had not materialised. Increased competition from foreign companies was making life very difficult for his businesses. Despite this, Kylsant bought two more companies, apparently taking an unrealistically rosy view of the future. As trade slumped, his economic woes mounted.
A year later the Coventry family was hit by what newspapers termed ‘The Curse of The Deerhursts’: the 9th Earl’s son and heir – George William Coventry’s father – died unexpectedly. It was the second time in living memory that the sitting Earl had outlived his son. George William and his young wife Nesta now knew that before long they would have to take on the title and, with it, the escalating costs of Croome Court.
It can’t have been easy: although gentry such as the Coventrys seemed to have much more wealth and many more resources to fall back on than ordinary folk, they also faced huge inheritance-tax bills on top of the constant haemorrhaging of money at Croome. And, for Nesta, financial troubles at home were looming ever larger.
In 1929 the Bank of England was so concerned about the solvency of Lord Kylsant’s combined shipping companies that it sent one of the most famous accountants in the country in to examine all the business records. Within two months he discovered that thegroup had liabilities of more than £30 million – that’s £3 billion today.
As the crisis mounted throughout 1930 and 1931, speculation grew in the press about Lord Kylsant’s future. Despite this, he and Lady Kylsant left England at the start of February for a two-month holiday in South Africa. But almost as soon as they returned, Lord Kylsant was arrested and charged with criminal offences of fraud. The case was transferred to the Central Criminal Court – known to you and me as the Old Bailey – and after a 9-day trial Kylsant was convicted and sentenced to 12 months in prison. It must have been a nightmarish time for Nesta, not only to see her family fortunes evaporate but to watch as her father was led away to spend the next year as a common criminal in Wormwood Scrubs. There could be no greater disgrace.
But if things were bad for Nesta, her husband had also suffered a double tragedy. On 13 March 1930, following an illness that lasted 12 days, the 9th Earl of Coventry passed away, aged nearly 92. His death – which, as we saw, was reported in newspapers and in cinema newsreels – had a fatal effect on his wife. The couple had been married for 65 years and Lady Blanche told her grandson that she could not bear to be without the man she loved. The Countess of Coventry immediately took to her bed. Within three days she, too, was dead. A joint funeral wasarranged and tenants from Croome and the surrounding villages crammed into the family church on the estate and lined the way for the cortège.
And that is how George William became the
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