Lady Ursula Ridley

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This blog has been researched and written by Shelley Lanser, one of the volunteers on our maternity care project. Project volunteers are researching maternity care in Northumberland with particular focus on Castle Hills Maternity Home, Berwick, and Mona Taylor Maternity Home, Stannington. In 1943, Lady Ridley gave an address at the opening of Mona Taylor Maternity Home. She was also heavily involved in the Newcastle Babies Hospital for many years and organised the evacuation of the Hospital to her home, Blagdon Hall, during World War Two. This is the second of several blog posts about Ursula Viscountess Ridley, who married the 3rd Viscount Ridley. The first post can be found here – Lady Ursula Lutyens Ridley (1904-1967) – Northumberland Archives

NRO 8415/31

Ursula Lutyens, daughter of noted architect Edwin “Ned” Lutyens and Lady Emily Lytton Lutyens,  was born 31 Oct 1904 in the parish of St. Giles in London1 and baptised at St. Giles in the Fields church on 12 December of that year.2  She was a sickly baby born with webbed feet. “Ursy’s” illness and Ned’s lack of support for Emily – he was, as usual, disappearing into his work – was the first crisis in her parents’ marriage.3 It has been mooted that fears for Ursula’s initial poor health sparked Ned’s protective feelings and this was a factor in making her his favourite child. This is a preference he never attempted to hide.4

Ursula was named after St. Ursula, seen in paintings by Carpaccio, which were held in Venice. Having searched for evidence that their parents had been to Venice prior to Ursula’s birth, her sister Mary concluded this influence was by reproductions of the Carpaccio series. In addition to his daughter’s name, they inspired Ned to design a couple of beds made of mahogany with wicker work head and foot. Barbie and Ursy slept in what they always called the St. Ursula beds.5

The first home of the Lutyens family was a Georgian house at 29 Bloomsbury Square, in London. This house was once the office of renowned architect, Norman Shaw. Ned described it as “a country house, but with good architecture.” It was really beyond his means, but he splashed out on the £200 rent. When they moved in, his priority was arranging his basement office.6 When he got around to decorating upstairs, he did not follow the trends set by contemporaries Charles Rennie Mackintosh or Baillie Scott, but painted the dining room walls red and the floor green, colours that went with the simple 17th century English oak furniture he designed. The drawing room walls were painted black.7

After the first two children came along, Barbie and Robert, the children were confined to the nursery on the top floor; the basement was off limits. In addition to the day nursery and the night nursery, where Nannie slept with Ursula, Mary and Elisabeth, there was also a small bedroom in which three maids slept. This included a well loved nursery-maid, Annie McKerrow, who joined the family when Ursula was four or five. The cook slept in the basement. A sewing woman came three days a week and made all of children’s clothing and most of Lady Emily’s. (Ned nicknamed her Miss Sew-and-Sew).8 The family lived in this house until the 1914, when the lease ended and the house was scheduled to be demolished.9

One gathers that Ursula was a boisterous child. When she was only two and a half, Ned wrote to Emily about her nephew, Tony, being so obedient when their own children were so rude and disobedient. “[Tony] came to see me in my room and told me he could make more noise than the whole of my family. I said not more than Ursula – he said No, not more than Ursula.” Ned’s comment was “Oh dear.”10 In one of her letters Emily commented that Robert (aged seven) “looked like a guttersnipe” while eating a bacon sandwich. As a “determinedly progressive mother” she was pleased about this. “I’m glad to think that there is no trace of played-out aristocracy about Robert or indeed any of the children – Ursula the most.”11 While the wording is a bit confusing it would appear that, at the age of three anyway, Ursula’s manners did not predict she would marry into a titled family.

While there were understandable reasons for Ursula not getting along with her youngest sister, Mary, later in life, even as a small child she was jealous and scrapped with the next youngest sister, Elizabeth, a pattern that continued. One night, Betty and Ursula were watching infant Mary in her mother’s arms. Betty announced to Ursula, “That baby is mine.” Ursula’s response was to ask her mother, “Don’t you think Betty would feel much better if she didn’t talk?”12

Part of this rivalry may have been sparked by the fact that soon after Mary’s birth, their mother turned her attention away from home and family. She initially put her energy into a variety of interests, including social work and the Women’s Suffrage Movement,13 but in 1910, when Ursula was five or six, Emily’s real passion became the Theosophy Society.14

If Edwin Lutyens was absorbed by his work and Lady Emily by Theosophy, it may be of interest to consider other adults who were present during Ursula’s youth. As stated previously,15 Nannie (Alice Louisa) Sleath played an important role in the children’s lives. Once Nannie joined the Lutyens family she remained with them until her death, largely supplanting Emily as their mother. Even when Barbie was older Emily never felt she was able to get close to her eldest daughter. It was Nannie who taught the children Victorian songs,16 helped Ned pack for India when Emily was away with friends from the Theosophical Society17and who attended a speech by a Labour candidate with Emily, because she expected rowdiness. Nannie wrangled the children’s birthday £1 out of Ned: ‘Come on now, Sir, I want a pound from you for Mary’s birthday.’ ‘Not now, Nannie – later – I’m in a hurry, and it’s not her birthday yet.’ ‘ No, now, Sir – you know what you are – and we shall be away on her birthday.’ She got the £1. Nannie wasn’t in awe of Ned and Mary observed that he didn’t really like her. Mary attributed it to his being jealous because the children all adored Nannie,18 except perhaps Betty, who sounds as though she might not have liked anyone.19

As the children outgrew needing a nannie, sometime in the early 1920’s she changed her clothing to fashionable attire, wore nail polish and an engagement ring, though the engagement apparently never developed.20 Mary remarks that “Far from becoming the old family retainer she had grown very smart and looked years younger.”21 After the children were grown Nannie was only really happy when she went to look after Barbie’s children, while their own nannie was on holiday. In 1935, with the birth of Mary’s first child, she found the perfect nannie for Mary, one who like her ‘never wanted a day off.’ Nannie Sleath died age the age 65 from liver cancer. She was nursed for months by Emily and a nurse. Alice Louisa Sleath was buried in the churchyard at Knebworth.22

1 England, General Register Office, PDF copy of an entry of birth, for Ursula Lutyens, born 31 Oct. and registered 6 Dec. 1904; a copy of an entry in the certified copy of a register of births in the registration district of St. Giles, County of London, Vol. 01B, p 579.

2 London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; London Church of England Parish Registers, accessed on Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1924 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1558/records/14775939?tid=&pid=&queryId=7e267ac1-a648-4529-a2b0-3cd33a4a2777&_phsrc=UmY615&_phstart=successSource accessed 19 Mar 2025.

3 Ridley, Jane. The Architect and His Wife – A Life of Edwin Lutyens (London, Chatto & Windus, 2002) p 159.

4 Lutyens, Mary, Edwin Lutyens by his daughter (London: John Murray, 1985), p 148.

5 Lutyens, p 61.

6 Ridley, Jane. The Architect and His Wife – A Life of Edwin Lutyens (London, Chatto & Windus, 2002) , p 121-2.

7 Ridley, p 137.  

8 Lutyens, p 61-2.

9 Lutyens p 128.

10  Percy, p 138.

11 Ridley, p 169.

12 Ridley, p 179.

13 Lutyens, p 87.

14 Lutyens, p 89.

15 https://northumberlandarchives.com/2024/09/03/lady-ursula-lutyens-ridley-1904-1967/. Accessed 19 Mar 2025.

16 Lutyens, p 205.

17 Ridley, p 212.

18 Lutyens, p 71.

19 Ridley, p 243.

20 Ridley, p 322-3.

21 Lutyens, p 223.

22 Lutyens, p 267.

Berwick Advertiser, 7 May 1925

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BERWICK BOUNDS RIDING

Record Attendance

The annual Bounds riding of the Borough took lace from the Parade on Friday, at mid-day, when a large number of people assembled to see the commencement. Mr Moffat, junr., formerly of West Edge, acted as horseman for his seventeenth time and proceeded round the bounds on the usual course which cannot be followed by the cars. The procession taking the road was formed of twenty-four cars, a motorcycle and sidecar, pedestrians, and two pedal bicycles. The weather was quite genial and last year’s numbers, a record, were exceeded for 131 people partook of the refreshments provided at Whitadder Bridge (Corporation Arms), as compared with 122 last year, and the cars were two more than 1924.

Riding of the Bounds, 1985. Ref No: BRO 2103-1-1985-7513-004

The occupants of the vehicles were as follows:- The Mayor, Ald. T. Wilson, the Sheriff, Coun. H. Stuart, the Mayor’s Chaplain, the Rev. G. R. Russell, and the Town Clerk, Mr J. W. Porter; the Mayoress, Mrs Wilson, Mrs Souden, Mrs Redpath and Coun. Mrs Edminson; Ald. Boston, Mrs Boston, Miss Boston, and Mrs Bolus; Coun. And Mrs Lyal, Mrs Lyal, senr., Miss Lyal and Miss Nan Lyal; Couns. D. Redpath, W. Anderson, J. C. Campbell, T. Bolus and Davis; Coun. Liddle, Coun. Thorburn, Mr J. Gray, Coun. Morrison, and Mr T. Buglass; Mr Aird, Mrs Aird, Miss Aird, Mrs Simpson, Mrs Henderson and Mr T. Hogg; Counc. Dickinson, Mrs Dickinson, Mrs Ironside, and Mrs Hamilton; Mr Gibson, Mr D. Boyd, Mr seals, Supt. P. Halliday, and Mr R. Smeaton; Mr S. Brown, Mrs Thorburn, Mrs Williams, Mrs Wells; Coun. How and Mr George How and party; Mrs Carmichael and Mr J. W. Carmichael, Treasurer; Mrs Sloan, Mrs Elder, Miss McConville, and Mrs Fulton; Mr J. Huffam, Mr Davidson, Mrs Buglass, Mr Davison; Miss Edminson, Mrs Gibson and Miss Gibson; Coun. Dudgeon, Mrs Dudgeon, and Miss Ross; Mrs Evans, Mrs Mace and Mrs Purves; Mr and Mrs Hair, master Hair, master Boston; Mr Short, Mr Rowley, Messrs P. Boston and James Temple; Mr and Mrs Young, Mr and Mrs A. M. Garden.

AT MORDINGTON

In the course of the annual riding of the Bounds of Berwick on 1st May, by the Mayor and his Councillors, the old custom of presenting the Mordington school children with oranges was carried out. The long procession of cars halted at the School, and the Mayor handed over the oranges to the accompaniment of hearty cheers from the children. A few of the children had also the pleasure of being photographed along with the Mayor and Mayoress. The Rev. Hugh Fleming moved a hearty vote of thanks to the Mayor for his thoughtfulness in keeping up the old custom and for his kindness in providing the oranges.

MR BORTHWICK’S LAST DAY IN SPITTAL SCHOOL

Presentation From Scholars And Staff

On Thursday, April 30th, Mr T. W. G. Borthwick completed his engagement as headmaster of Spittal Council School and bade farewell to his scholars and staff. There were also present three of Mr Borthwick’s former assistants – Mrs Johnston (head teacher of Duddo School), Miss Johnson (now retired) and Mrs McCallum, his first pupil teacher, and Mrs R. Thompson, wife of the Assistant Master.

At the outset Mr R. Thompson, Assistant master, addressed the scholars, and in a few well-chosen words expressed the sorrow of scholars and teachers in parting with their Headmaster, who had not only been an inspiration in his teaching, but also a good friend. He reminded the scholars of some of the mottoes which Mr Borthwick had so often kept before them, from amongst which he chose two – “The Best I can,” to keep before them while at their daily lessons and their work in after life; and “Play the Game,” with its wide application to all activities whether in the playing field, in the workshop, or in every other sphere in contact with their fellows. After drawing the analogy between the captain leaving the vessel of which he might well be proud, he concluded by reading the inscription on the bureau, the gift to Mr Borthwick from the scholars and staff. This was: – “Presented to Mr T. W. G. BORTHWICK by the Staff and Scholars of Spittal Council School in recognition of faithful service as Headmaster for 43 years. April 30th, 1925.

Spittal Council School – Standard V Class

Mrs Johnston (Miss Mary Noble), who was a scholar, pupil teacher and certificated teacher under Mr Borthwick, spoke of the great esteem in which he was held. He was not only their headmaster; he was also their friend and was always ready to continue their education. School, under Mr Borthwick, was always more of a family circle than merely a conventional combination of headmaster and staff, and he always showed great consideration for others. She would never forget the valuable lessons she learned from Mr Borthwick.

MR BORTHWICK’S REPLY

Mr Borthwick, in relying, said: I must first of all thank Mr Thompson for the kind things he has said about me, and I also thank Tom White, the scholars, and the teachers for presenting me with this handsome bureau. I cannot think of anything which would have been more useful. Every time I open the bureau and sit down to write with the superb Swan fountain pen you have given me, I shall think of you all, remembering especially this afternoon and our most touching expression of affectionate regard. How proud, too, shall I be when I show the bureau to my friends and watch them read the inscription on it. I cannot say I feel happy this afternoon; indeed, for several days I have felt quite sad at heart at the thought that my work among you is at an end. We have been so happy together. Never again shall I have the pleasure of meeting you every morning to go through an interesting day’s routine of delightful lessons. When you go home this afternoon I would like you to tell your parents how deeply I regret giving up my work; and also tell them that I shall always remember how loyal they have been to me. When I happen to meet you I hope you will continue to give me your usual pleasant smile of recognition.

The children then sang the master’s favourite hymn, beginning “New every morning id the love our wakening and uprising prove.” Though some parts of this hymn were rather difficult for the children to understand, he advised them all to learn it by heart, because as the grew older and pondered over the meaning of the various verses they would find great help and solace if they tried to carry out every day the teaching of this hymn.

PRESENTATION TO MRS BORTHWICK

Mr Thompson then called on Annie Renton, one of the senior girls, to present a handsome leather hand-bag to Mrs Borthwick.

Borthwick Family Ref: 13-1-32-3

Mr Borthwick, in replying for his wife, said there was no one more loyal to the children of Spittal than Mrs Borthwick. It was no use going home to her and making a complaint about them. She would never admit that it was their fault. To Annie Renton, the scholars and the staff she tendered her heartiest thanks.

FAREWELL TO SCHOLARS

The 300 children, beginning with the youngest, then filed past, and Mr Borthwick shook hands with each in turn bidding them good-bye. Many of the girls, and not a few of the boys, were in tears, and Mr Borthwick himself found it very difficult to conceal his emotions.

Mr and Mrs Borthwick afterwards entertained the staff and visitors to tea.

FAREWELL TO STAFF

In saying farewell to his staff, Mr Borthwick expressed himself as follows:  – This is my last session as your headmaster, but before I go I would like to thank you al for your loyal and willing co-operation at all times. No one could have had more agreeable colleagues. Of our united success I need say very little. You have all seen His Majesty’s Inspectors’ reports from time to time and can share with me the satisfaction of knowing that our work has on every occasion been appraised at a high value. We have been a very happy family, for I cannot recall a single occasion when there has been any unpleasantness. I am sorry to say good-bye, but it is a great satisfaction to be assured that I part from you knowing that, in days to come when we look back on the years we have spent together in this school, it will be a fragrant and delightful memory.

Spittal School- Ref No: P45-11

The members of the staff present were Mr Robert Thompson, Mrs Clements, Miss Lee, Miss Brewis, Miss Harris, Miss Davidson, and Mr John Rutter. Miss Rea, who is absent on sick leave, expressed regret at not being present.

Blog One: Everyday life in a Northumberland Manor.

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This is the first in a series of blogs written by Peter Atkin, our placement student from Strathclyde University. Peter has been researching our manorial records and using our new online resources to learn about Northumbrian manors (https://northumberlandarchives.com/manorial-project/). Keep an eye on this blog for future posts on his findings!

(A postcard of Norham Manor and Norham Castle (which was itself a manor) on the Scottish Borders)

When approaching the manorial documents housed by Northumberland Archive, it can at first seem quite daunting. Thousands of court rolls and as many of the similarly named, but historically very different call rolls, can keep you reading well past your bedtime without feeling like you’ve found anything of use at all. At least that’s how I felt, as a history student on a work placement with the Everyday life in a Northumberland Manor Project. But once the nerves settle and you begin to break these documents into chunks, it becomes a fascinating peephole into, well, everyday life in a Northumberland manor.

Tasked with producing a couple of blogs in my eight weeks placement and armed with two friendly and welcoming advisors, I spent the first two weeks simply sifting through the paperwork. The aim of this project is to highlight the vast amounts of manorial documents in Northumberland, which I can now attest to, as well as the uses which they can be put to. (Additionally, the Manorial Documents Register (MDR) also offers an index of all the manorial documents in England and Wales –https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/finding-records-in-discovery-and-other-databases/manorial-documents-register) From my early experiences, an important aspect of such documents is showing us the parts of history which are less often given the limelight. When one visits the magnificent Alnwick Castle, the lives of the Percy family and their role throughout British history are easy to learn and imagine. The roles of their servants and subjects, essentially the position most people found themselves in, is less accessible. Manorial documents can help us rectify this. They give us an interesting insight into the way in which authority was shared at a local level, with the perhaps unexpected revelation that many people were involved quite directly in the upkeep of their manorial customs. While those free tenants who were chosen as jurors for the courts were not the lowest class of medieval and early modern society, their role in the justice system is interesting nonetheless.

(Example of a manor court roll from Tweedmouth and Spittle, interestingly referred to as ‘in the county palatine of Durham’ despite the modern Tweedmouth being in Northumberland)

Manor court rolls, the transcription of events at the manorial courts which are held once or twice annually, describe the crimes and punishments which were occurring in different parts of Northumberland. It is perhaps important to note here that ‘manors’ didn’t necessarily have a house, and the term in fact refers to the area of land governed by a lord or lady. There are two main types of manorial court: the court leet and the court baron. The former dealt with large crimes and official appointments such as constables of the manor, while the latter was involved with more trivial cases often directly relating to local issues. For example, the Morpeth Court leet of 4th October 1779 makes reference to ‘permitting and suffering one sow and twelve Pigs The property of the said Robert Reed to go loose and at large upon the Kings highstreet within the said Borough.’ (SANT/BEQ/28/1/3/147-148 – Handwritten extracts from proceedings of Lord Carlisle’s Court Leet held at Morpeth, Northumberland, on 4 Oct 1779, nd. [c.1800]) At first, this seems a rather odd ‘crime’ which from the modern day can be seen as a funny historical tidbit. However, when looking through more manorial documents, we can see that this is actually an oft repeated wrongdoing and appears to be akin in commonality to the modern-day parking ticket. Indeed, there was a similar case in Newcastle recently, so perhaps history repeating itself refers to more than just the governmental mistakes of a given period! (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-46794382)

(Morpeth Court leet of 4th October 1779, showing several persons ‘crimes’ of allowing pigs and sows to ‘go loose and at large’)

Additionally, call rolls list every person who lived within the bounds of the manor’s legal grounds. Manorial bounds can sometimes be identified using perambulations, documents which detail the specific borders and usually exist due to a disagreement by two landowners. This enables a Northumberland native, or the ancestors of one, to trace their family ties through history. This of course makes such documents incredibly useful to aspiring genealogists and those tracing a family tree, especially when used in conjunction to other sources such as Ancestry. (https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/8978/?redirectFor=db.aspx) They can also be used to trace more well-known figures, and potentially create links between places, people and events which are not already known about. This is especially interesting in the Northumberland manors proximity to the Scottish borders, where the cultural fluidity exemplified by the border reivers can be seen through the differing names and traditions compared to other English manors. This can also be seen at the Swinburne Charters Project, which focused on the documents of the Swinburne family. They were significant players in the Border Marches and such projects highlight how the manorial documents of places such as Norham Castle can offer a secondary insight into areas where other projects focus. (Swinburne Charters Project)

Some of the information gleaned from these manorial documents has been written about already, in the previous blogs on this website which can be found here (https://northumberlandarchives.com/manorial-documents-register-project/). After discussing the many uses and interesting facets of manorial documents (and ticking off a first blog which doesn’t technically use them very much), I’m excited to get stuck in and bring to light even more interesting historical findings for Northumberland’s ever-growing historiography. Hopefully you are too!

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