Dead Wood

We spent a day reaping the benefit from a local aristocratic family having fallen on hard times. A scion of a noble family from Lucé, in Normandy, followed William the Conqueror to England and became a settler. Inevitably, the family were referred to as 'de Lucé'; with variations in spelling, that became 'de Luci', and eventually 'de Lucy'. After a few centuries, they dropped the French form, and simply became the Lucy family, acquiring wealth through marriage and royal patronage and becoming an established noble family, owning a large estate outside Stratford-upon-Avon

In the 16th century, they were wealthy enough to build a large, brick, multi-wing country house, surrounded by a deer park - Charlecote Park. The house and family were grand enough to attract a visit by Elisabeth I, 20 years after it was built, which will have cost the family a great deal, but burnished their prestige. This was probably their apotheosis, but the cost may also have been the first pebble in the slow avalanche of their decline. Eventually, they were selling land to pay for their lifestyle 

By the middle of the 20th century, the game was up; the taxes due following the death of the latest owner were more than could be raised, and the family cut a deal with the state - handing over ther property in lieu of tax, in return for the right to remain living in part of the house

I tried looking through the lives of some of them, to see what they had achieved. They were lawyers and judges, lords lieutenant, churchmen, the occasional army officer, minor politicians; one of them persecuted Catholics (including some of Shakespeare's family) - the sorts of things you would find in any aristocratic history. To their credit, I haven't found any links to the slave trade or the excesses of imperial exploitation or oppression. In 900 years of family history, I didn't really find anything very remarkable at all - they rode their luck until their luck ran out, and didn't much change the course of history while doing it. A cynic might say they were a fine advertisement for inheritance tax

Nevetheless, we had a lovely day enjoying their house and the artefacts they collected. The National Trust have done a light-hearted and skillful job of dressing the house up for Christmas and weaving in a little light history. I learned what 'pietra dura' is, as well as discovering that there is such a thing as a 'postillion-driven' (as opposed to 'coachman-driven') horse-drawn carriage. You never know when that knowledge might be useful. This is England