History of Dunham Massey

1694

An opportune inheritance

In 1694, George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (1675–1758), inherits the Dunham Estate, alongside his father's debts of £50,000. With few resources to settle them, the threat to the financial ruin of the estate was real. George tightens control of his finances and bows out of political involvement in an effort to save the estate for future descendants, insisting his tenants honour their commitments and pay their dues. 

George's problems were finally eased when, on 9 April 1702, he marries Mary Oldbury (d. 1740). Mary was the daughter of John Oldbury, a London merchant. Recent research has revealed that John successfully amassed a great fortune toward the end of his life as a result of astute business deals, trading currants, fish and citrus fruits. Mary and her sister Dorothy both received an equal and sizeable inheritance on his death, reputed to be £40,000, Unfortunately, after their marriage George found this figure was actually £24,000 (still about £2.5 million in today’s money). It helped secure the estate finances, enabling George to resolve some significant financial obligations. He decided to plants hundreds of trees across the park as a timber resource.

1736

The Booths and the Greys unite

Mary Booth (1704–72), the sole heir of the 2nd Earl and Countess, marries Harry Grey (1715–68), uniting the Dunham Massey estate with the estates of the Earls of Stamford. Mary and Harry’s movements are inspired by their own distinct priorities, and they spent time both together, and alone at their respective ancestral homes.

Despite being unable to inherit Dunham, Mary is charged solely with coordinating and caring for the Dunham estate in her father’s will. Her work is integral to the management and shaping of it, for example, co-negotiating the building of the Bridgewater Canal, establishing Little Heath School for the poor, and building new churches to serve the growing population of residents on her estate.

1751

The deer park is enclosed

The final bricks are put in place to complete a 3-mile-long wall enclosing the deer park, keeping intruders out and animals in. Originally commissioned in 1748, the project took 3 years to complete.

1855

A long tenancy

In 1855 the 7th Earl George Harry Grey (1827–83) marries his second wife Catherine Cox, a skilled horse rider and exhibitor. Her independence and business minded approach as a self-supporting female caused a stir amongst Cheshire aristocrats who considered the love match to be highly inappropriate for an extremely wealthy young Earl. The media relished the opportunity to spread scandal, prompting the decision for the couple to leave Cheshire and take up their main residency in Staffordshire at Enville Hall.

After this, Dunham Massey was cared for by land agents and occasionally tenanted, whilst George Harry and Catherine resided at Enville Hall. 

Catherine was an intelligent and astute businessperson, and after her husband’s death she managed Dunham Massey remotely during a time of significant change, as the agricultural revolution instigated the estate’s farming shift from arable to dairy. 

1884

The Greys and South Africa

At the time of his death, the 7th Earl George Harry Grey had fathered no children, meaning his 3rd cousin, Harry Grey (1812–90) inherits the Stamford peerage. At the time of his ennoblement, Grey was working as a farm labourer in the Cape Colony, which is today South Africa. Grey had been deported after being found guilty of gambling and drinking.  

Grey was married to his 3rd wife Martha Solomon, the black daughter of an emancipated enslaved person. They had two children before marrying, and then a daughter after their betrothal. Harry and Martha, the 8th Earl and Countess, chose not to return to England.

1891

Lineage, racial prejudice and the inheritance

When Harry died, the Earldom of Stamford – its titles and hereditary seat in the House of Lords – was disputed. According to Dutch law in South Africa, Harry’s first son John was the heir but, because he was born outside of marriage – and of mixed ethnic background – House Peers in Westminster challenged the inheritance. Today we question if the racial prejudices at the time played a part in the decision. 

Instead, Harry Grey’s nephew William Grey (1850–1910), a Canadian colonial teacher, was elevated to the title. New research has shown that William Grey kept in regular contact with his South African family. The letters exchanged provide important insights into the education and upbringing of Harry Grey’s children and their relationship with the 9th Earl, who financially supported them, as well as the complexities of South African responses to the Second Boer War (1899–1902).  

1906

The Greys return to Dunham Massey

In 1906 William Grey takes up residence in the family seat with his wife Penelope Theobald and their children, Lady Jane Grey and the future Earl, Roger. Cheshire society greet the family's carriage as it travels through Hale and Altrincham and onto Dunham Massey. 

William modernises the mansion with electricity and a new plumbing system and engages the furniture historian Percy Macquoid to help redesign its interiors. 

The garden sees regular parties for charities and tenants, complete with lemonade and ices.

1910

The last Earl

The 10th Earl of Stamford, Roger Grey (1896–1976), inherited the estate at the age of 13. Passionate about re-assembling the collections that had been dispersed by the 7th Earl, Roger dedicated his adult life to preserving Dunham Massey.

1915

Sanctuary from the trenches

Sanctuary from the trenches 

After the First World War broke out, Dunham Massey was offered for military use and became the Stamford Hospital.

Transforming Dunham Massey 

The Saloon was transformed into a ward complete with around 25 beds. The Great Hall became the recreation room, where soldiers could relax with music on the gramophone and play the piano, cards or board games as well as read, draw and write letters or poetry. Wounded soldiers could find solace in the calm surroundings of the garden. 

The Billiard Room became the nurses’ station and the area at the bottom of the Grand Staircase became an operating theatre. 

Treating soldiers 

Nearly 300 patients were treated at Dunham Massey by a team of professional and volunteer nurses that included the daughter of the house, Lady Jane Grey. The shortest stay was seven days and the longest was ten months.

'I am writing this letter to express my gratitude for allowing me to remain in your House as I have got exceedingly well since I have been here by myself, and I have been well looked after and I feel as well as I have ever been.'

– Private H Jenkins in a letter to Lady Stamford, dated 2 February 1919

1938

A visit from Haile Selassie

Haile Selassie was emperor of Ethiopia from 1930–1974. He had expressed his concern about the rising threat of fascism to the League of Nations in 1936 but had been ignored. Selassie was forced to live in exile in Britain from 1936–1941 because of the Italo-Ethiopian war (which justified his earlier plea).  

Roger Grey (1896–1976), 10th Earl of Stamford, a member of the local League of Nations branch and sympathetic to the cause of Ethiopia, invited Selassie to Dunham Massey in 1938. This led to a lifelong friendship, and Roger flew the Ethiopian flag on the rooftop of the house on the emperor’s birthday (23 July) each year until his death. 

1945

A garden in disarray

With Dunham's gardeners called up to serve during the Second World War and the lawn ploughed up to grow potatoes (unsuccessfully), the garden was in far from prime condition by the time peace was declared.

1976

A new beginning for Dunham Massey

The 10th Earl left Dunham Massey in its entirety to the National Trust. At the time, the 3,000-acre estate, the house and all its contents was the largest bequest in the Trust's history. 

1978

A very special park

The park gains status as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Along with the herd of fallow deer the park is home to owls, bats, buzzards, woodpeckers and meadow ants. Of the 227 species present in the park, some of the UK's rarest species of beetle can also be found there. 

2008

The state bed goes on display

After an eight-year conservation project, Dunham Massey’s state bed is displayed after nearly a century in store. 

2009

The Winter Garden opens

The Winter Garden is officially opened. Designed with expert plantsman Roy Lancaster, the Winter Garden provides a wealth of colour all year round.  

Over 200,000 bulbs have been planted in this area of the garden alone and seasonal spectacles include snowdrops, daffodils and bluebells.

2015

Art Fund Museum of the Year finalist

Dunham Massey is a finalist for the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2015 in recognition of ‘Sanctuary from the Trenches’, an experience which saw the house transformed to immerse visitors in the story of Dunham Massey as the Stamford Hospital during the First World War. 

2016

The mill's 400th birthday

The mill celebrates its 400th birthday. The oldest building at Dunham Massey, the mill was originally used for grinding corn before being converted into a sawmill. The waterwheel is still in action for visitors to enjoy today. 

2020

Addressing our histories of slavery and colonialism

Working with the University of Leicester, the National Trust furthered research into the connections between its places, slavery and colonialism. 

In June 2020 the sundial that sits in front of the house at Dunham Massey was moved to protect it from damage after direct threats were made against the sundial. The sundial has caused upset and distress because of the way it depicts a black person and because of its prominence at the front of the house.  

We are now taking the time to further research the history of the sundial and consult with a number of stakeholders to help inform how we sensitively interpret and redisplay the sundial in the future.