Lord Sudeley - 1st President

Lord Sudeley, a remarkable man with a part in National history.

The Sudeley connection with Montgomery was no coincidence. The family fortune came from the woollen industry and thus the family businesses employed a significant number of the electors of Montgomery. In addition, while there is a common myth that the 1830 Reform Act eliminated corruption the reality was that until the secret ballot and the widening of the franchise in 1880 by Disraeli's Government, corruption and influence was still common.

Sudeley's troubles began with the mechanisation of the woollen business in the late 19th Century. His tenants had by and large made up their goods at home, but the factories had destroyed their business. By the time of his bankruptcy in 1893, he had lost over £100,000 in the woollen business .

Marriage

In 1868, five years after entering Parliament, he married Ada, the daughter of Frederick Tollemache a younger brother of the Earl of Dysart who owned Ham House.While the Earl was exceedingly odd, living in two rooms in the Strand, his brothers, the Tollemaches were making great amounts of money, mainly by lending to settlers in New Zealand and other countries. When Algernon Tollemache died in 1892, he left Ada half of his £815,000.

Ada Sudeley

Ada was brought up at Ham House by her father and Uncle Algernon and modelled herself upon Queen Victoria, always dressing in black. She produced three sons and five daughters. Of them, Alice married into the family of the Earls of Albemarle, and Eva into the Barons of Balcaskie. Eva's daughter Joyce, writing under the pen name of Jan Struther, wrote "Mrs Miniver" which was so important in winning over the hearts of the American public in the Second World War.

Ada had given guarantees for her husband. When he was made bankrupt, she lost a great deal of her fortune. The family retired to Ormeley Lodge, near Ham, which, until recently was the home of Sir James Goldsmith. Ada, having been brought up at Ham considered it as no more than a villa and was not happy to be so cramped.

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