Introducing the Sandys Family of Ombersley, Part Two

2nd December 2024

Born in 1764, Mary Marchioness of Downshire and Baroness Sandys (1764-1836) was the middle child of Colonel The Honourable Martin Sandys (1729-1768) and Mary Trumbell (1741-1769). Playmate to the Prince of Wales, she knew little of her parents as they died young. An orphan aged six, and with her maternal grandparents also deceased, Mary and her bothers William and Edwin went to live with their great-aunt Mary Blundell (1719-1798). William and Edwin also died prematurely, leaving Mary as the last surviving grandchild of Samuel 1^st Baron Sandys, meaning she inherited the family estates when her aunt Anna Maria – widow of Edwin 2^nd Baron Sandys – died in 1806. Through her mother, she also inherited properties as part of the Trumbull and Blundell estates, making Mary one of the foremost heiresses of her day.

Colour painting of a young woman in a black dress with bonnet sat on a chair in a grand house

Mary Marchioness of Downshire & Baroness Sandys © Trustees of the Ombersley Conservation Trust

In 1786, she married Arthur Hill (1753-1801) and eventually became Marchioness of Downshire, which refers to the county of Down in Northern Ireland where Arthur’s father Wills Earl of Hillsborough (1718-1793) was made a marquis by King George III. One of the richest counties in Ireland, Down was the centre of the Hill family’s influence, and Arthur was its MP. Interestingly, Wills had risen to membership of the British Cabinet, holding office as 1st Lord of Trade shortly after Samuel Sandys.

Mary, too, had an interest in politics, remaining true to the British Whig Party. A popular London regency hostess with impressive friendships, when widowed, she was created Baroness Sandys in her own right. When she died, it was her second son Arthur Moyses William Hill (1792-1860) who became 2^nd Baron Sandys of the 2^nd creation.

A cousin of Wellington through his father, ‘Atty’ fought in the Peninsular War. As a junior cavalry officer, he wrote letters reporting on the progress of the Napoleonic wars including the Waterloo campaign. ‘We yesterday fought the hardest battle that ever yet was known’, he writes to his mother on the evening of the Battle of Waterloo. When his military career came to an end, Arthur turned to politics. In 1816, he became an MP for County Down – perhaps unsurprising since his brother as Marquess there was responsible for the nomination of members to the seat. Arthur never married and so the Sandys title passed to his brother Arthur Marcus Cecil Hill (1798-1863).

Better known as Marcus, the 3^rd Baron Sandys worked as a young diplomat in Madrid, in the Foreign Office and as Secretary to His Majesty’s Extraordinary Embassy to Lisbon and Rio di Janeiro, where he aimed to secure peace between Portugal and its colony in Brazil following the 1822 declaration of independence there. Another MP, this time for Newry and then Evesham, he married Louisa Blake (1815-1886) in 1837, and they had ten children. When Marcus retired from politics prior to the 1852 general election, he cited commitments to his young family. His eldest son Augustus Fredrick Arthur (1840-1904) became the 4^th Baron Sandys.

Augustus was a sociable man with a love of shooting parties, attended on occasion by the then Prince of Wales (who it was rumoured was romantically linked to his sister Mary (1838-1903) – herself, a pioneer in the art of photocollage). During his time at Ombersley Court, Augustus turned the library into a billiard room. In 1864, he took his seat in the House of Lords, though he rarely voted, and no record has ever been found of him contributing to political debates. In 1872, he married Augusta Anne des Voeux (1844-1903) – a young woman plagued by rumours she had given birth to a child prior to their marriage. Rumours which saw members of the Sandys family refuse to attend their wedding. With no children (or at least no legitimate heir) when Augustus died, it was his brother Michael Edwin Marcus 5^th Baron Sandys (1855-1948) who succeeded him.

A stockbroker, Michael married Marjorie Morgan (1858-1929) and the couple lived a sheltered life in London and Surrey before moving to Ombersley. ‘Morgie’ was a former Gaiety Girl, and it seems likely she and ‘Mikey’ would have been shunned socially as a result, particularly since the same was true for their friend Lady Orkney – formally Connie Gilchrist, the ‘original Gaiety Girl’.

In 1905, Michael too joined the House of Lords, and although better than his brother’s, his contribution was largely insignificant – a somewhat reoccurring theme with Sandys politicians. His primary interests were boxing and coach-driving and he even managed some fighters who had brushes with the law. Marjorie had no children, and Michael’s younger brother also died childless. This meant the Sandys title passed to the grandson of Michael’s uncle, Lord George Augusta Hill (1801-1879), whose wife Cassandra (nee Knight) was Jane Austen’s neice.

George and Cassandra had four children, but on the birth of the last, Cassandra sadly died. Upon which her sister Louisa (1804-1889) – Austen’s Goddaughter – moved to Ireland, where the family lived, to take care of her nieces and nephews, and eventually married her brother in law. It was George’s grandson Arthur FitzGerald Sandys Hill (1876-1961) who came to inherit the Sandys title through his father, Arthur Blundell George Sandys Hill (1837-1923) – an army Captain who helped suppress the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and George and Cassandra’s eldest.

Black and white photo of a man in a suit with glasses and a woman in a dress outside

Lord Arthur FitzGerald Sandys Hill and Lady Cynthia Sandys at their daughter’s wedding, 1954 – Reference: 899:156 WPS5183

A soldier like his father, Arthur FitzGerald served as an Engineer in India, Afghanistan and Burma, and in France during the First World War. In 1924, he married Cynthia Trench-Gascoigne (1898-1990) – a distant cousin whose mother was the goddaughter of Florence Nightingale. Cynthia inherited through her mother’s line Himbleton Manor near Droitwich, which is where she and Arthur chose to live and raise their children. Their youngest child and only son, Richard Michael Oliver Hill (1931-2013), became the 7^th Baron Sandys in 1961.

A service man in his youth, Richard was a well-travelled and charitable man who married Patricia Hall (1926-2015). Together, they lived at Ombersley Court – bringing back to life a once forgotten home. An active member of the House of Lords, Richard gave his first speech during a debate on refugees, having previously worked for OXFAM. Under Margaret Thatcher, he was appointed Deputy Government Chief Whip. He died childless followed shortly by Patricia, and it is here that the era of the Sandys (and subsequently Hill) families at Ombersley Court comes to an end. Only Richard’s sister Meriel and her children, and two first cousins once removed survived them.

Prior to their passing, Richard and Patricia set up a charity for the Ombersley estate and gifted it the large quantity of historical material left there when they died – belonging to that charity and now held in our archive. From a distinguished member of the clergy to a steady succession of MPs and cousins who fought on opposing sides of the English Civil war, the Sandys Archive sheds light on the history of a house and the fascinating cast of characters who inhabited it.

Black and white photo of the top half of a man with a moustache wearing a flat cap standing on a street with houses on

Richard Hill, the 7th Lord Sandys on Ombersley High Street, 1984 – Reference: 899:156 WPS59987

Wondering where everyone fits? See our Sandys and Hill Family Tree

If you would like to access any of the records mentioned in this blog, please submit an enquiry at ArchiveEnquiry (worcestershire.gov.uk) or speak to a member of archive staff on Level 2 of The Hive.