The Manor & Grounds » A symbol of a special relationship

The opening to the public in 1921.

Sulgrave Manor shares with no other historic house the distinction of its symbolic role, expressed at its opening to the public in 1921 by the Marquess of Cambridge, the King’s brother-in-law, as “a centre from which sentiments of friendship and goodwill between the British and American peoples will for ever radiate.” This role received concrete expression in the arrangement made for the Manor’s ownership – it is held in trust for the peoples of the United States and the United Kingdom. For the peoples, not the governments, not large organisations. It has survived without government or large organisational funding for nearly a century through unremitting efforts to earn its own living.

The initiative for the purchase of Sulgrave Manor came from Peace Centenary Committees set up in 1911 to devise a commemoration of the centenary of the Treaty of Ghent (1814), which had established peace between the USA and Britain. Those Committees had strong establishment patronage and included Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie, Mackenzie King, Earl Grey, the Marquess of Cambridge and Ramsay MacDonald. The list of donors for the purchase and refurbishment was headed by HM the King and HRH the Prince of Wales, and included many of the senior businessmen and major businesses of the day - Lord Beaverbrook, Lord Cadogan, Lord Cowdray, Lord Revelstoke, Lord Rothermere, Sir Henry Wellcome, Anglo-American Oil, Cunard, Imperial Tobacco, Midland Bank, National Provincial Bank, Selfridge’s. In the USA, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (“NSCDA”) raised a similar sum to provide for the upkeep and operations.

President Theodore Roosevelt

The Marquis of Cambridge

Andrew Carnegie

Ramsay MacDonald

During the 19th century the interests of Britain and the United States had gradually converged. Enmity and uneasy relations gave way, in a world of competing imperialist nations, to a sense of a common ‘Anglo-Saxon’ mission and duty in a world of competing imperialisms. Bonds between the two nations were expressed at many levels: cultural through, for example, the novels of Henry James; personal through marriage links like those of Jennie Churchill and Nancy Astor and political as the premonition of upheaval in Europe in the early part of the 20th century thrust British and American statesmen and educators together. The story of Sulgrave Manor fits into a larger picture of Anglo-American initiatives established at that time, with a heavy educational content, including the founding of the English-Speaking Union and establishment of the Harmsworth Professorship of American History at Oxford University, which were soon to be given substance by the entry of the USA into the Great War.

Henry James

Jennie Jerome (Churchill)

Lady Astor

Symbolising “friendship and goodwill between the British and American peoples” is not an easy role. The ups and downs of the politico-economic relations between the two nation states have resembled a roller-coaster ride through the decades and will continue to do so. But, beneath the transient tensions created by changing international circumstances, there is a network of links between the two peoples based on a shared language and culture. The links are not totally pervasive nor unquestioned in either country; they are seldom strong enough to be the determining factor in the many decisions which both nations face. The easy congruence of values, and heritage of the early 20th century has been diluted in the early 21st with both nations now multi-cultural and both drawn in different directions by other ties. But the fundamental truth of a shared language, a shared culture with past, present and future shared blood-lines means that the rich network of links between the two peoples offers many opportunities to enhance understanding of the past and the present and to build, meaningfully, for the future.

The links between the two nations are manifested now in a range of organisations and associations, the majority of which have a political, business or academic focus. In Sulgrave Manor seeks to embody this shared heritage and to make it meaningful for all its visitors – not only those from the US and the UK since the existence of such links is not confined to these two nations and the understanding of these networks and these relationships underlies a true appreciation of international relationships.

The relationships fundamentally come down to ties of blood – the continual and continuing exchange of peoples from one land to another. Sulgrave Manor’s unique role arises essentially from the movements – both philosophical and actual – of one family – the Washingtons. The Manor was established in 1539 by Lawrence Washington who emigrated from the north of England and his great-great grandson, John, emigrated to Virginia in 1657. John’s great grandson, George, grew up as a loyal subject of King George II and became the leader of the first nation to break free from the British Empire. Since the final ending in 1814 of the conflict between the United States and Britain, the two nations have been at peace. Despite the difficulties arising in a changing world, the relationship, described as “special” for the first time by Winston Churchill, himself half-American and yet the epitome of Great Britain, continues. So too, will Sulgrave Manor, a tangible and lively monument to a rare and lasting friendship between nations.

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