MUNTHAM COURT 1946 - 1957

ALBERT AND JESSIE HARDS

by Pam Stepney of Findon

Albert and Jessie Hards lived and worked at Muntham Court, as butler and housemaid for a period of eleven years, until the death of Colonel Thynne in 1957.

Albert Hards, who was one of seven children, born in East Sussex, had been a butler for much of his working life.   His wife, Jessie, was a Scotswomen from Ayr.  They met while both were working in London.  Albert was a butler at a house in Wimpole Street and Jessie worked in nearby Welbeck Street.

When they arrived at Muntham in the late Forties, Mrs Marjory Thynne offered them the North Lodge to live in.   In those days, North Lodge was very small with only a scullery and sitting room downstairs, two rooms upstairs and an outside toilet.  Jessie, no doubt, finding it rather primitive after their previous accommodation, wondered if it would be large enough to house all their furniture.  Mrs Thynne, therefore, suggested they came to live in the main house.   Here they had two rooms downstairs, one overlooking the terrace and gardens, as well as an upstairs bedroom, bathroom etc.  They used the side entrance off the back drive on the south west corner of the house, opposite the stable block.

Albert's job was to look after the Colonel himself as well as the usual butler's duties, keeping the wine cellar, cleaning the silver etc.  Both he and Jessie seem to have been very happy at Muntham, having great respect and affection for their employers.  At that time, other staff were employed at Muntham including a chauffeur, cook, lady's maid etc.  Tuesday was generally Albert and Jessie's day off.   They often visited Albert's relatives in nearby Findon Valley, their mode of transport being a motorcycle and side car.

The Colonel had always kept dogs and in his later years his companion was an elderly golden labrador called Pharaoh.  Jessie remembered well, feeding this dog huge meals in a dish the size of a washing-up bowl.  She also used to walk him of an evening the short distance to the lighthouse and back.

A photograph exists of a Meet of foxhounds at Muntham taken about 1948/9.  It shows huntsmen and hounds outside the front entrance.   Albert is carrying a tray of drinks and the Colonel is dressed in hunting clothes, but unmounted, is talking to his guests together with Mrs Thynne, who is wearing a tweed suit.  Two small girls are patting the hounds and from an upstairs window, looking down on the scene are Jessie and her sister-in-law and young niece.   Another photograph (date unknown) shows the Colonel on horseback on the Downs behind Muntham.   He was said to have been a fine horseman.

In 1950, Mrs Thynne died very suddenly.   She and her husband were entertaining guests at dinner one evening when she appeared to feel unwell.  Excusing herself from the table, she managed to climb the stairs to her bedroom where she collapsed and died.   She was 77.   As Miss Marjory Wormald, she had been one of a wealthy family of sisters well known for their beauty.

The Colonel's second marriage to the Lady Invernairn took place in Scotland in 1951.   The couple spent much of their few years together living in Scotland, and Lady Invernairn died in 1955.   Jessie, herself a Scot, was of the opinion that the marriage had been a real love match, the couple having known each other in their youth, when the Colonel was a young solicitor.

In later years, the Colonel gained a reputation as being sometimes "difficult".   A tenant farmer remembered being summoned to the house to discuss some problem with the Colonel.   He rang the front door bell and waited somewhat apprehensively, his eyes wandering up to the inscription in the stone over the front door, "Peace and Grace be in this place".   Albert opened the door and guessing the man's thoughts, said with a smile, words to the effect that there was very little peace and grace around that day.

Over the years, a Worthing firm of cabinet makers was called upon from time to time to repair items of furniture.   On one occasion, the Colonel required them to make a small box to hold a particular medal.   He produced a small piece of material with which he wanted the box lined.   Unfortunately, this material was so unremarkable that the apprentice inadvertently used it to wipe his tools on.   The cabinet maker then had the unenviable task of explaining to the Colonel that his precious piece of cloth had "been lost".   Predictably the old gentleman was furious and accused the man of employing thieves.   This incident did not, however, stop the Colonel from using the firm's services again.

As the Colonel got older he found the effort of climbing the main staircase tiresome, so he had installed a motorised chair on a rail in which he could sit and glide effortlessly up and down.   This proved quite a novelty at the time, especially with Albert and Jessie's young visitors, strictly in the Colonel's absence of course.

At the time of the Colonel's death in 1957, Albert and Jessie were the only remaining staff at Muntham.   Together they cared for the old gentleman until the end.   They alone stayed on at the house until it was sold, Albert holding the keys and showing round prospective buyers.

When the estate was finally sold in 1958, Albert and Jessie moved on to Reading, where they took up a similar position with a Mr. Palmer of Huntley and Palmers.   It was while here that Albert eventually became ill and died.   He has been described as the perfect "gentleman's gentleman".   It was his wish that his ashes should be scattered at Muntham where he had been so happy.    Jessie duly came back to Muntham to perform the task.   Now retired and having no children, she lived for a while with her relatives in Findon Valley, but eventually she returned to her native Scotland to live with her sister.    She died there.

Pam Stepney