(Michael Richard) West de Wend-Fenton, 75, of Ebberston Hall
Michael Rhodes
Yorkshire, 6 July, 2002, aged 75, was the delightfully eccentric
squire of Ebberston Hall, a Palladian mansion in miniature in North
Yorkshire, once described as England's smallest stately home.
Michael Richard West de Wend-Fenton (he was always known as West), was
the only son of William Ross de Wend-Fenton, of Ebberston Hall.
The de Wend name has an intriguing history. A tribe wended its way
from the other side of the Urals into Europe, he claimed, and settled
in Poland, then Germany, and at the end of the 18th Century Michael
Wend came to England from Holland and put a *de* in front of his name.
His son married an heiress, Miss Fenton.
His unusual christian name -West- derives from an ancestor in the
family of the Earls De La Warr, whose surname was West.
Young West led a fairly uproarious life: five schools including a year
at Eton, and five regiments including an officer cadetship in the
Scots Guards.
He worked as a film extra, an agricultural student and farmer. But
then in May, 1954, he left home in Yorkshire for a Continental holiday
and startled his family by joining the French Foreign Legion.
He had fallen for the aristocratic Margaret Lygon, and thinking that
he was out of her league, he fled to the Foreign Legion to forget.
First news of his joining the Legion (he signed up for five years) was
received in Britain in a letter to his mother, Margaret de
Wend-Fenton. She asked the Foreign Office to ask whether he son really
had joined, and they gave confirmation after checking with the British
Embassy at Paris.
He was posted to the Third Battalion du Marche in Tunisia. He soon
deserted, and in six days he walked 100 miles making the Libyan
frontier without the aid of compass or map. He spent two months in a
Tunisian jail.He was picked up by the gendarmes, and returned to the
Third Battalion, and was made to dig his own grave and forced to sit
in it for three days under the keen eyes of an armed guard with only
one blanket. He was given ordinary rations. Some months later, he was
*sprung* from the Legion by a friend - a relative of Field Marshal
Earl Alexander of Tunis -operating an import-export business.
On his return to London West de Wend-Fenton bumped into a girl in a
pub. It was his old flame Margaret Annora Mary Lygon, a relative of
Earl Beauchamp.
They married at St Margaret's, Westminster, in April, 1955. West's old
friend, William Cavendish-Bentinck, cousin of the Duke of Portland,
was his best man.
They had four children, Jonathan, Ross, Rosalie and Emily.
His next enterprise was running minibus tours to the Soviet Union. The
upshot was that he was suspected by both MI5 and the KGB of being a
spy and was interogated by both.
In 1983 the eccentric de Wend-Fenton was arraigned before magistrates
when he stopped a crowded holiday train by pulling the communication
cord so that he could meet his wife.
West had boarded the wrong train at York on his 17-mile journey to
Malton.
When the Glasgow to Scarborough train did not stop, he pulled the
cord. Magistrates did not think that it was an emergency that his wife
was waiting for him at the station. He was fined £33.
West de Wend-Fenton is survived by his wife, and his four offspring.
A funeral service and interment takes place at St Mary's Church,
Ebberston, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, on Saturday 13 July, 2002,
at 2 p.m.
--
Michael Rhodes.
Louis Epstein
: (Michael Richard) West de Wend-Fenton, who died at Scarborough, North
: Yorkshire, 6 July, 2002, aged 75, was the delightfully eccentric
: squire of Ebberston Hall, a Palladian mansion in miniature in North
: Yorkshire, once described as England's smallest stately home.
So how small was it?
: He had fallen for the aristocratic Margaret Lygon, and thinking that
: he was out of her league, he fled to the Foreign Legion to forget.
: On his return to London West de Wend-Fenton bumped into a girl in a
: pub. It was his old flame Margaret Annora Mary Lygon, a relative of
: Earl Beauchamp.
: They married at St Margaret's, Westminster, in April, 1955. West's old
: friend, William Cavendish-Bentinck, cousin of the Duke of Portland,
: was his best man.
This would be the eventual final Duke?
-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.
Michael Rhodes
> In alt.obituaries Michael Rhodes <michaellawr...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> : (Michael Richard) West de Wend-Fenton, who died at Scarborough, North
> : Yorkshire, 6 July, 2002, aged 75, was the delightfully eccentric
> : squire of Ebberston Hall, a Palladian mansion in miniature in North
> : Yorkshire, once described as England's smallest stately home.
>
> So how small was it?
Very small. More of a folly really. It was built in 1718 by Colen
Campbell, pioneer of the Palladian revival in England. The house was
commissioned by William Thompson, MP for Scarborough and Master of
Queen Anne's Mint, for a mistress who never even visited it. Later it
was sold to George Osbaldestone, a Regency buck who gambled away most
of his money. He demolished the house's two little wings, meaning to
replace them with larger ones, but he never did. The house then passed
to the Cayley Baronets, and Sir Kenelm Cayley demolished the cupola
just before WWI to make money from the lead. The tiny house remaining
is set in fine parkland & attracts many visitors. Guests arrive and
think it is the lodge or gatehouse. I cannot locate a website, or
picture to illustrate.
>
>
> : He had fallen for the aristocratic Margaret Lygon, and thinking that
> : he was out of her league, he fled to the Foreign Legion to forget.
>
>
> : On his return to London West de Wend-Fenton bumped into a girl in a
> : pub. It was his old flame Margaret Annora Mary Lygon, a relative of
> : Earl Beauchamp.
>
> : They married at St Margaret's, Westminster, in April, 1955. West's old
> : friend, William Cavendish-Bentinck, cousin of the Duke of Portland,
> : was his best man.
>
> This would be the eventual final Duke?
No. He was William James Cavendish-Bentinck, b. 6 July 1925, only son
of Victor, the 9th Duke (1897-1990). William was thrice wed. His third
wife was Eleanor Barbara Muriel Lygon, sister of West de Wend-Fenton's
wife, Margaret. Cavendish-Bentinck dsp 4 September, 1966, before his
father had succeeded to the peerages. William's father was the last
Duke of Portland.
The Bibliographer
Michael Rhodes <michaellawr...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>Louis Epstein <lep...@PUF.FCC.NET> wrote in message news:<9UHW8.358210$_j6.16...@bin3.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com>...
>> In alt.obituaries Michael Rhodes <michaellawr...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>> : (Michael Richard) West de Wend-Fenton, who died at Scarborough, North
>> : Yorkshire, 6 July, 2002, aged 75, was the delightfully eccentric
>> : squire of Ebberston Hall
shows an 18th-century landscape view, before the loss of the two tiny
wings.
--
Regards, Frank Young
tip...@wam.umd.edu 703-527-7684
Post Office Box 2793, Kensington, Maryland 20891
"Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate... Nunc cognosco ex parte"
Jay Linn
news:agh1ii$2...@rac2.wam.umd.edu...
> >I cannot locate a website, or picture to illustrate.
>
> http://www.ebberston.com
>
> shows an 18th-century landscape view, before the loss of the two tiny
> wings.
There appears to be a contemporary photograph at
http://www.ebberston.com/hall.htm#top
--
Jay Linn
"Oh what bliss it was in that dawn to be alive,
But to be young was very heaven"
Michael Rhodes
> "The Bibliographer" <tip...@wam.umd.edu> wrote in message
> news:agh1ii$2...@rac2.wam.umd.edu...
>
> > >I cannot locate a website, or picture to illustrate.
> >
> > http://www.ebberston.com
> >
> > shows an 18th-century landscape view, before the loss of the two tiny
> > wings.
>
> There appears to be a contemporary photograph at
> http://www.ebberston.com/hall.htm#top
Thanks for that. Told you it was small!
Michael Rhodes
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-353394,00.html
--
Michael Rhodes.
Michael Rhodes
> West de Wend-Fenton's Times obituary:-
>
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-353394,00.html
The Times says: *It was only a few years ago, with his sight beginning
to fail, that he invited his elder son and his family to take over the
hall, and retired with his wife to a cottage in the grounds*.
...So he actually moved into a larger property?
--
Michael
Michael Rhodes
--
Michael