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33-620: The pedigree of Verney of Middle Claydon commences with Ralph de Verney ( fl. 1216–1223), but the fortunes of the family were made by Sir Ralph Verney (c. 1410–1478). After settling in Buckinghamshire in the 13th century, the family had purchased Middle Claydon by the 1460s and it was during this period that Sir Ralph Verney became Lord Mayor of London in 1465 and M.P. for the city in 1472. Sir Ralph Verney's eldest son, Sir John Verney, married Margaret, heiress of Sir Robert Whittingham of Pendley. In 1525, Sir Ralph Verney's fourth son, of

66-454: A baronet in 1818. He assumed the name of Verney in compliance with the will of Mary Verney, 1st Baroness Fermanagh , mentioned above. This lady died unmarried, leaving the paternal estates and the Verney portraits to her half-sister, Catherine Calvert (Mrs Wright), known thenceforward as Mrs Verney, on whose death in 1827 they came into the possession of her cousin, Sir Harry Calvert, who assumed

99-472: A divan. Also on this floor is a small museum dedicated to the nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale , the sister of Parthenope, Lady Verney. In her later years Nightingale regularly stayed at the house. The present Verney family , are the descendants of Sir Harry Calvert, 2nd Baronet who inherited the house in 1827. He was very tenuously related to the Verneys only through marriage. However, he adopted

132-454: A new central rotunda entrance hall and ballroom wing. The original conception was of a mansion to rival the richer Earl Temple 's huge mansion at Stowe , a few miles away near Buckingham . However, the house as it stands today is a fraction of its original planned size as the ballroom and rotunda were dismantled in 1791-92 after the Earl's death. Lord Verney ran into financial problems before

165-437: A person's birth or death dates are unknown, but some other evidence exists that indicates when they were alive. For example, if there are wills attested by John Jones in 1204 and 1229, as well as a record of his marriage in 1197, a record concerning him might be written as "John Jones (fl. 1197–1229)", even though Jones was born before 1197 and died possibly after 1229. The term is often used in art history when dating

198-460: A posthumous daughter, Lady Mary Verney (1737–1810), who was created Baroness Fermanagh in 1792. His second son, Ralph, 2nd Earl Verney (c. 1712–1791), was a friend of Edmund Burke , who entered parliament as Verney's nominee for Wendover . Earl Verney was an ardent supporter of the Whig interest, but received no reward from the party leaders. He rebuilt Claydon House with great splendour from

231-416: A three-bayed central prominent elevation surmounted by a pediment . The fenestration is of sash windows . (The ground floor windows are crowned by small round windows suggesting a non-existent mezzanine.) The centre bay contains a large central venetian window on the ground floor. By contrast to the exterior the interiors are an extravaganza of rococo architecture in its highest form. The principal rooms:

264-816: Is a country house in the Aylesbury Vale , Buckinghamshire, England, near the village of Middle Claydon . It was built between 1757 and 1771 and is now owned by the National Trust . The house is a listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England , and its gardens are listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens . Claydon has been the ancestral home of the Verney family since 1620. The church of All Saints, Middle Claydon lies less than 50 yards (46 m) from

297-460: Is reflected in placenames such as Verney Avenue and Lady Verney Close in High Wycombe . Floruit Floruit ( / ˈ f l ɔːr u . ɪ t / ; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor. ; from Latin for " flourished ") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicating

330-460: The 16th baron , inherited the title. Robert took the title 17th Baron Willoughby de Broke , adopted the surname Verney and was the grandfather of Richard Greville Verney who sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1900 for SE Warwickshire and succeeded to the title in 1902. The family had left Compton Verney House by 1887 and it was finally sold in 1921. For the final quarter of the 20th century

363-742: The Memoirs of the Verney Family during the Seventeenth Century , which contain a charming picture of the life and manners of the country gentlemen of that day. A second edition, abridged and corrected by Margaret Verney , appeared in 1904. An all-girls grammar school was named after her in the 1960s, the Lady Verney High School in High Wycombe , Buckinghamshire . The Verneys who hold the barony of Willoughby de Broke descend from Richard Verney (1683–1711), who

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396-487: The 1818 baronetcy was held by Major Sir Ralph Verney . As of 2018, it is held by Sir Edmund Verney (born 1950). The family still has its home in Claydon House. A second and separate Verney baronetcy (of Eaton Square ) was created in 1946. As of 2018 the third baronet of this creation does not use the title; officially it has been dormant since the death of the second baronet in 1993. The family's local history

429-704: The Covenant, and his estates were sequestrated in 1646. He returned to England in 1653, and, though he refused to act against Oliver Cromwell , was subsequently reconciled to the Restoration government. His brother, Sir Edmund (1616–1649), had taken the king's side, and commanded the troops of the Royalist infantry at the Siege of Drogheda and was slain during the final assault. Sir Ralph Verney's estates and honours descended to his son, Sir John (c. 1640–1717), who

462-499: The Verney surname. Sir Harry Verney entered the British House of Commons for Buckingham in 1832, and remained a member of the House with two short intervals for fifty-two years. He married in 1835 Eliza, daughter of Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope , K.C.B., M.P., and secondly Frances Parthenope Nightingale , sister of Florence Nightingale . Frances, Lady Verney , collected from the mass of papers preserved at Claydon House

495-435: The career of an artist. In this context, it denotes the period of the individual's known artistic activity, which would generally be after they had received their training and, for example, had begun signing work or being mentioned in contracts. In some cases, it can be replaced by the words "active between [date] and [date] ", depending on context and if space or style permits. Claydon House Claydon House

528-502: The ceiling and the niches in the walls. The adjoining saloon is slightly more restrained in its decoration. However the ornate carving continues into the dado rails, and onto the Corinthian columns supporting the huge Venetian window . The third principal room was redecorated as a library by Parthenope, Lady Verney in 1860. The plaster rococo ceiling remains in all its splendour. A staircase of inlaid ivory and marquetry leads to

561-476: The first floor. The walls of the staircase hall are ornamented with medallions and carved garlands reflecting the theme established in the main reception rooms. The wrought iron balustrade of the stairs contains ironwork ears of wheat, which rustle like the real thing as one ascends the flights. The marvel of the first floor is the Chinese room: one of the most extraordinary rooms in the house if not England. Here

594-580: The garden at Windsor Castle . At the Scottish court Lady Verney's two maiden attendants were given 11 gold coins strung as necklaces for a New Year's day gift in 1506. Sir Ralph died in 1528 and is buried at Kings Langley in Hertfordshire; his chest tomb with effigies of the couple survive in All Saints' Church . The other contemporary and younger Ralph Verney, according to some sources,

627-637: The house and contains many memorials to the Verney family: among them Sir Edmund Verney , who was chief standard bearer to King Charles I during the English Civil War . Sir Edmund was slain at the Battle of Edgehill on 23 October 1642, defending the standard. His ghost is reputed to haunt the house. In 1661, following the Restoration of the Monarchy , Sir Edmund's son ( Sir Ralph Verney )

660-407: The latter two wings were entirely completed, and had to spend the final years of his life on the continent to escape his creditors. The estate was inherited by his niece, Mary Verney, 1st Baroness Fermanagh in 1791, who sold off much of the family's land and sold the unfinished wing of the house off brick by brick. The exterior of the house is quite austere – seven bays in total, on two floors, with

693-697: The name Verney on inheriting. The house was given to the National Trust in 1956 by Sir Ralph Verney, 5th Baronet . His son, Sir Edmund Verney, 6th Baronet , a former High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire , lived in the house until 2019. Annually (usually the last weekend in July) at Claydon House, there is a hovercraft race meeting organised by the Chilterns Branch as part of the HCGB (UK) National Hovercraft Racing Series. Claydon House has appeared in

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726-428: The north hall, a double cube room (50 ft × 25 ft × 25 ft high (15.2 m × 7.6 m × 7.6 m)) may have lost its adjoining hall under the lost dome. However, its magnificence remains. The broken pedimented door cases are adorned with rococo carving, by Luke Lightfoot , the most talented wood carver of the era, who worked extensively on the great mansion. His work can be found on

759-413: The plans of John Adam , but, with his financial ventures, this brought him to bankruptcy. He died with no children of his own. The present Verney family, of Claydon Hall, Buckinghamshire, is descended in the male line from Felix Calvert (1596–1674) of Little Hadham , Hertfordshire. The Right Hon. Sir Harry Verney, 2nd baronet (1801–1894), was the son of General Sir Harry Calvert , G.C.B., created

792-412: The rococo continues, but this time in a form known as chinoiserie — essentially a Chinese version of the rococo decorative style. The entire room is a fantasy of carved pagodas, Chinese fretwork, bells and temples while oriental scrolls and swirls swoop around the walls and doors reaching a crescendo in the temple-like canopy, which would have once contained a bed, but now gives a throne-like importance to

825-527: The same name, married Elizabeth, one of the six co-heiresses of John, Lord Braye. The Lord Mayor's second son was also called Sir Ralph Verney. He married Eleanor Pole , an aunt of Cardinal Pole . He was a servant of Elizabeth of York and joined the household of Margaret Tudor in Scotland as chamberlain, and subsequently Ralph Verney was chamberlain to Princess Mary . Lady Verney paid the painters Robert Fyll and John Reynolds for making heraldic beasts for

858-532: The seventeenth century, particularly in 1654 when Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Bt, returned from his political exile and began to rebuild the family fortune after the Civil War. The house was virtually rebuilt starting in 1757 by Ralph 2nd Earl Verney. Later in 1759, Lord Verney constructed a new west wing for the house faced in stone to provide a suite of state apartments . Following his election as MP for Buckinghamshire in 1768, Verney vastly expanded this house to create

891-473: The time when someone flourished. Latin : flōruit is the third-person singular perfect active indicative of the Latin verb flōreō , flōrēre "to bloom, flower, or flourish", from the noun flōs , flōris , "flower". Broadly, the term is employed in reference to the peak of activity for a person or movement. More specifically, it often is used in genealogy and historical writing when

924-404: Was awarded a baronetcy by King Charles II for his and his father's loyalty and bravery during the preceding period of unrest. Sir Ralph's second surviving son and heir, John Verney was later, in 1703, made Viscount Fermanagh and his son was Ralph Verney, in 1743, was created Earl Verney . There is believed to have been a house on the site from at least the 1400s. The manor of Middle Claydon

957-482: Was created Viscount Fermanagh in the Irish peerage in 1703 and was father of Sir Ralph Verney , created Earl Verney in 1743. Earl Verney's sister, Lady Margaret Verney , by her marriage with Sir Sir Thomas Cave, 3rd Baronet , linked the Verney family a second time with the barony of Braye , and Braye family adopted the surname of Verney-Cave. Earl Verney's eldest son, John Verney , predeceased him in 1737, leaving

990-464: Was granted the title 11th Baron Willoughby de Broke by the House of Lords in 1696. These Verneys had inherited the Verney estates at Compton Verney in Warwickshire through the marriage of Sir Richard Verney (died 1630) to Margaret Greville (died 1631), sister and heiress of Fulke Greville , 1st Baron Brooke . The male line was interrupted in 1853 when Robert John Barnard (1809–1862), nephew of

1023-435: Was his nephew, the son of John Verney. Sir Edmund Verney of Pendley (died 1600) left two sons, half-brothers, Sir Francis Verney (1584–1615), who became a soldier of fortune and a buccaneer , converted to Islam and died at Messina in hospital in extreme poverty, and Sir Edmund Verney (1590–1642) of Middle Claydon. Sir Edmund accompanied Prince Charles and Buckingham on the abortive mission to Madrid in 1623, and

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1056-546: Was knight-marshal to King Charles I . When the English Civil War broke out the royal standard was entrusted to him at Nottingham , and while defending it he was slain at Edgehill in 1642. His eldest son, Sir Ralph Verney (1613–1696), 1st baronet, sat for Aylesbury in both the Short and the Long Parliaments. He took the side of the parliament at the outset of the Civil War, but went abroad in 1643 rather than sign

1089-607: Was purchased by Sir Ralph Verney , Lord Mayor of London, in 1463. However, the land was immediately leased to Sir Roger Giffard and the first recording of the house on site describes the Tudor brick H-shaped manor house of the Giffards in 1539. Sir Edmund Verney the Standard Bearer redeemed the leased in 1620 and it became the principal country seat of the Verneys from that point onwards. The house received some modifications in

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