Secrets & Lies (?)

My cousin, Sally, paid an unexpected visit on last Saturday. I was busy in the kitchen but overheard a conversation she was having with my brother.

My Dad researched the family tree and Sally said that our grandmother would not give him much information because of the family scandal! She said there was an illegitimate child resulting from an affair between a family member and the Earl of Ham House,

Whilst dropping off to sleep, I remembered this photo and my mum telling me that the dark haired child being restrained was brought up by her mother's mother as she was the illegitimate child of the woman behind the last bridesmaid on the right. (I wonder who the father is!)

I googled Ham House:

The 9th Earl travelled widely, rode despite blindness, invested successfully in the stock market and whilst eccentric and difficult, nonetheless was hospitable and supportive of the local community. His cantankerous nature proved too much for his wife who left him in the early 1900s but he lived on with other family members at Ham for many years. In the 1920s and 1930s he employed a staff of up to 20 including a chauffeur for his four cars including a Lanchester and Rolls Royce. When he died in 1935 he left investments worth £4,800,000 but had no direct heir. He was the last Earl of Dysart to live at the house.


It makes you wonder. My mum is the bridesmaid far left. She looks about 6 so this must be about 1935. The photo was taken in the garden of the family home in Waldergrave Rd, Teddington. ( I visited the house last summer with 2 of my sisters - see extra photo)


Sadly, the child took her own life when a young woman.

UPDATE!!!
Further info from the family is that the father was the Earl of Huntingdon. So my guess is that he met my relative when she was employed at Ham House and he was a visitor. (Hopefuly he visited more than once!!!!) From a google search Earls of Huntingdon reside in Scotland. I doubt we shall ever know!