Beaulieu

The Hunting Lodge: Family Ownership

Beaulieu passed into the ownership of my ancestors in 1538. Sir Thomas Wriothesley, later Earl of Southampton, was granted 'the whole close of Beaulieu' by Letters Patent, dated 29th July 1538, (this document is shown on the lef t). He paid £1340 6s 8d for the 8,000 acre estate. He acquired other monastic estates in Hampshire including Titchfield, which became the principal family home. Beaulieu was owned by the Wriothesley family for 129 years, yet their influence on the Estate was slight; it was regarded as a source of income, not a home. Other people who have played an important part in Beaulieu's history can be seen in the Portrait Gallery.

The history of the house until the early 17th century is a matter for conjecture for no extant records survive. However, once admitted through the Outer Gatehouse the visitor was taken to a square building, known as the Great Gatehouse. It consisted of an entry porch an d inner hall with a porter's lodging on its eastern side and two chapels above. In monastic days, the abbot would receive guests here before taking them upstairs for prayers. Wriothesley altered it into a modest manor house, probably by enclosing the entr ance arches, and adding an attic storey to provide servant accommodation.

After the Dissolution the Great Gatehouse became known as 'Palace House' but the reasons are unclear. The first reference is in a document of 1595 which mentions a tenement 'un der the walls of the palace' but in a rental of 1645 it is called Bewley Place. Their house at Titchfield was known as 'Place House' so it is possible that the name is a corruption of 'place'.

Henry, the 2nd Earl, was brought up as a Roman Catholic a nd spent four years imprisoned in the Tower of London following implications in plots to depose Elizabeth 1.

On his early death in 1581, he was succeeded by his son, another Henry, 3rd Earl of Southampton, an enigmatic character but brought up as a P rotestant. Imprisoned like his father in the Tower, Henry was lucky to escape execution for his part in the Earl of Essex's plot of 1601 and was only released with the accession of James I in 1603. He spent large sums of money on the patronage of writers, including William Shakespeare, a close friend who dedicated two of his plays to Henry. It is also possible that Henry was the famous and elusive subject of Shakespeare's sonnets. He also maintained an interest in the colonisation of Virginia, and was a d irector of the Virginia Company.

James I and his son Charles I paid frequent visits to Beaulieu for sport and hunting. James made nine visits between 1606 and 1623, his secretary being moved to comment 'His Majesty. . . is so well pleased with his hu nting here as he seems to have a purpose to visit it often', whilst Charles made six visits between 1625 and 1631. On James' visit in 1613 it is recorded that he was entertained by the first royal command game of football and bull-baiting, a popular pasti me of the day.

The death of Henry and his eldest son in 1624 meant the estate passed to his second son, Thomas. A Royalist during the English Civil War, Thomas' estates were sequestered by Parliament and he had to pay a fine to get them back on Charl es II's restoration. Thomas died in 1667 leaving no male heir. His three daughters drew lots for their portion of the estate; Beaulieu was drawn by the youngest, Elizabeth, who married into the Montagu family, whilst her older sister, married to the owner of Woburn, the Duke of Bedford, received the family property in London.

The Wriothesleys were constantly on the periphery of State affairs without ever managing to play a decisive role in determining the course of national policy. Another family ros e alongside them, the Montagus.