W is for West Bay: the Mountbatten connection

West Bay is a small coastal town in west Dorset, formerly known as Bridport Harbour. The name was changed on the coming of the railway in 1884, with the hope of attracting tourists to the fledgling resort, previously little more than a fishing village and harbour for exporting the ropes and nets from Bridport for which the town was famous.

Clarence House Refreshment rooms, West Bay [MS62/MB2/N3/p12_n10]

In 1914, Prince Louis Francis of Battenberg, later to become Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was a cadet at Osborne Naval College on the Isle of Wight. At that time naval cadets spent a couple of years at Osborne before going on to Dartmouth. Dickie seems to have enjoyed his stay at Osborne, where he took many photographs of the activities there and of his special friends (see album MS62/MB/2/N2.) However, conditions for the boys were not good, and there appears to have been health problems including frequent outbreaks of “pinkeye”, or conjunctivitis, more serious in the days before antibiotics. In early 1914 young Battenberg became ill with bronchitis and whooping cough, so it was decided to send him to West Bay with a tutor to recuperate. Miss Nona Kerr (later Mrs Richard Crichton) was lady in waiting to Prince Louis’s mother, Princess Victoria of Battenberg, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Nona’s sister was married to Canon Wickham, the rector of Bradford Abbas, a parish in north Dorset, and the owner of a cottage called “The Bunker” in West Bay which he was happy to lend. A temporary tutor, F. Lawrence Long, was engaged and Dickie moved into his holiday home. Mr Long, a friendly young man, had previously been a master at Gladstone’s School in London.

“The Bunker” West Bay, near Bridport, from the south, 1914 [MS62/MB2/N3/p35_n33]

The cottage was built right on the shingle beach, and still exists, now called Gull House. It adjoins a smaller cottage called The Dinghy. Dickie took many photographs, both inside and out, as well as of the nearby beach, harbour and cliffs. He put them into a small cloth-bound album with an art nouveau style cartouche, along with 10 commercial postcards of West Bay. This is now part of the Broadlands Archive [MS62/MB/2/N3]. Mountbatten would still recognise the exterior of the cottage, now painted a deep pink, but the thatched roof has been replaced with tiles. Property websites suggest it could now be worth nearly a million pounds, recognising the great popularity of West Bay, partly due to the “Broadchurch effect”; Broadchurch being a recent ITV detective series starring David Tennant, Olivia Coleman and Jodie Whittaker. This ran to three series altogether, all set in and near West Bay. Series two included Charlotte Rampling as a barrister, while series three starred Julie Hesmondhalgh as the victim of a serious assault.

An attic bedroom at “The Bunker”. This room was probably used by Dickie and shows his spaniel (Aera) asleep on the floor [MS62/MB2/N3/p14_n12]

Some years earlier West Bay was also used as the location for the television series Harbour Lights, starring Nick Berry as the harbour master. Back in the 1970s the beach was the setting for the credits at the beginning of The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin, starring Leonard Rossiter. Reginald was shown rapidly divesting himself of his clothes, including underpants, and swimming out to sea to fake his own death and start a new life. East Cliff is clearly visible in this scene but Gull House is out of shot.

Dickie with the fish he has caught, neatly displayed [MS62/MB2/N3/p33_n31]

East Cliff, West Bay
The main feature of the landscape of West Bay is the iconic East Cliff, a striking landmark of vertical Bridport sandstone. This was photographed to good effect many times during the filming of Broadchurch. The sandstone is notoriously unstable and there have been many major rock falls in recent years, some sadly resulting in fatalities. The geology of West Cliff is different, but also unstable, and Dickie photographed small examples of landslips here, caused by the juxtaposition of permeable and impermeable rocks, as in the Lyme Regis area further west. Dickie did not photograph East Cliff, probably because the best shots need to be taken out at sea. Dickie did go out in a boat, but probably decided it was safer to leave his precious camera behind. He would not recognise the harbour now. It has been remodelled in recent years, to protect it from the south-west swells which had been a serious problem for earlier shipping. Originally it was approached from the sea by two moles or piers protecting the entrance channel, but this was never very satisfactory so it was decided to completely redesign it. Work finished in 2004.

Pier Terrace
Dickie’s visit wasn’t the first time that members of the Battenberg family had stayed in West Bay. Some years previously Dickie’s parents, Prince Louis and Princess Victoria, had stayed in an apartment forming part of Pier Terrace, when Prince Louis’ ship was stationed at Weymouth. Pier Terrace is a rather incongruous large building of four storeys with a mansard roof, right in the middle of the small town. It was built in 1885 by the Arts and Crafts architect E. S. Prior, in the hope of attracting more tourists. It still dominates the harbour though it is now balanced by modern luxury flats on the far side of the harbour.

Mr Lawrence Long with Dick George, a fisherman [MS62/MB2/N3/p.38_n36]

Jo Draper describes West Bay as “an odd place, difficult to define. A village sized seaside resort in a fine situation” (Dorset, the complete guide). John Hyams expressed similar sentiments in his book Dorset, published in 1970: “West Bay one must confess to be a curiosity, however seriously it takes itself. For centuries attempts were made to establish a port at the mouth of the Brit, only to be frustrated time and time again by by the sea’s annoying habit of silting it up.“ Eventually a harbour was constructed in the 18th century, though silt was always a problem, controlled by hatches on the river allowing the silt to be scoured away. Hyam goes on “it sets out determinedly to become another Blackpool, complete with kiosks of garish merchandise and ice cream…. westward an esplanade creeps like a choking tendril along the foot of West Cliff.”.

Dickie riding on the shoulders of his tutor Mr Lawrence Long [MS62/MB2/N3/p.41_n39]

A number of celebrities have made their homes in or near West Bay, including the widow of Cubby Broccoli, the producer of the James Bond films, who once owned a large house there. The actor Pauline Quirke was so taken with the area while filming for Broadchurch that she acquired an apartment. West Bay was the victim of serious winter floods during the 1990s, so many tons of
shingle were recently imported to create a high barrier against the sea, ensuring the safety of the little town for the time being. The harbour is still used by fishing boats including small trawlers from as far afield as Padstow, which explains the strong smell of fish! Lobster and crab pots are piled up on the quayside. There are also many pleasure craft moored there.

West Bay harbour, 2022

Today the small chapel has been converted into a museum for the town, with activities for children and other events. There was a shipbuilding industry here in the 19th century. The historic Salt House was used to store salt, acting as ballast on the outward voyage to Newfoundland, returning with salted cod. Substantial warehouse buildings remain as reminders of West Bay’s former
importance as a port. As one would expect, there are numerous cafes and restaurants, while many small shops cater for the needs of holidaymakers. Parking is predictably expensive, but there is plenty of it.

Politics in the 1950s: Suez and Mountbatten

This week’s 1950s-themed blogpost revisits the 1956 Suez Crisis, drawing on the records of Lord Louis Mountbatten, which are held in the archives here at the University of Southampton’s Special Collections.

The crisis began on 26^th July 1956 when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company – at that time a largely foreign-owned company whose shareholders were mostly British and French. Nasser’s decision to nationalise the dam was partly motivated by a desire for revenue, due to the high costs of funding construction of the Aswan High Dam. The Suez crisis took place in the context of Cold War rivalry between the Western bloc and the USSR and Nasser’s attempts to play a balancing act between them; Nasser’s earlier decision to recognise the communist People’s Republic of China angered the Americans and left an opening for the Soviet Union to provide weapons to Egypt as well as a loan for the Aswan High Dam project.

The Suez canal was, and still is, a major route for international shipping and much of Europe’s oil supplies passed through the Red Sea into the Mediterranean through the canal. The British, the French and the Israeli governments conspired to launch a military strike to seize the canal, re-open it to shipping and remove Nasser from power. Their military attack was launched in late October and early November of 1956. At first Britain and France called for a ceasefire between Egypt and Israel but it later transpired that this had been a rouse, designed in order to allow them to enter into the conflict. The Egyptians sunk more than 40 ships in the canal in order to render it impassable and the three aggressors faced heavy condemnation from the United States, the United Nations and the USSR for their invasion of Egypt and the fighting that had begun. Under such strong condemnation, the three powers withdrew from Egypt. Nasser survived and was strengthened by the crisis. The episode is regarded as a defining moment in British history, signalling the decline of Britain’s status as a major global power. The British Prime Minister who had decided to launch military action, Anthony Eden, lost the confidence of many in his own party due to the debacle and, amidst ill health, resigned as Prime Minister in January 1957. Nasser remained in office as President of Egypt until 1970.

In 1966 Lord Mountbatten accumulated together his various papers from the time of the crisis and also recorded his recollection of the events of Suez, from a distance of almost ten years. At the start of the crisis in July 1956, Mountbatten was at the heart of events as acting chairman of the Chiefs of Staff committee and also as First Sea Lord – the military leader of the Royal Navy. Mountbatten claimed to have warned those around him in government against military action by Britain, as it would undermine Britain’s global status, provoke instability in the Middle East, undermine the United Nations and create needless division in the Commonwealth. His antipathy towards the course of action taken under Eden and his later characterisation of events damaged his long-term friendship with Eden.

In his papers from 1966 he recollects the effect that the crisis had on him personally as well as the influence he had once enjoyed over his old friend Eden: “I do not believe I have ever been so embarrassed, distressed and put in such a painful position as I was during the 3 or 4 months that the Suez crisis lasted, from the 26^th July until well into November 1956. The Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, was one of my oldest and closest friends […] he started with a rather reactionary Tory outlook and gradually came round more to my point of view.” [MS62/MB1/N/106]

Reaction in Britain to Nasser’s nationalisation of the canal was fierce, with some even comparing Nasser to a Hitler or Mussolini and the historical spectre of appeasement was raised, amidst fears that Nasser would dominate the Arab world unless he were resisted. There were calls for restraint, however, and many observers emphasised that military action should only be sanctioned with UN approval.

Mountbatten relates a telephone conversation between Eden and himself made on 31^st July 1956 wherein he “[…] used every possible opportunity to try and indicate how much I disapproved of what he was doing and he soon realised my disapproval. Nothing, however, I could do could shake his policy nor apparently shake his friendship for me.” [MS62/MB1/N/106]

 Mountbatten then describes how he tried to write a formal letter to the Prime Minister outlining his dissent, but this was blocked by others in government on constitutional grounds, as it was deemed improper for an officer to meddle so explicitly in political matters. In a draft of the personal letter that he apparently wrote for Eden on 1^st August 1956, which according to Mountbatten was vetoed and thus never sent, he asks to be forgiven for speaking frankly and ‘letting his hair down’: “I feel very strongly that the absolutely paramount consideration is the marshalling of world opinion on our side. We have six weeks in which to do this – so has Nasser […] we should apply economic sanctions and pressure in the ways best calculated to goad him into further high-handed actions, which would antagonise the world at large, and also British opinion […] It seems to me that the surest way to enlist support for our cause is to offer terms to Nasser which it would be patently unreasonable and provocative for him to reject […] it should be clear to everyone that we are not aiming primarily at re-asserting ourselves in Egypt, but at securing the greatest benefit for all other potential users of the canal as well.” Mountbatten adds that the marshalling of world opinion on the British side through reasonable negotiations is paramount, in order to avoid being seen as ‘imperialistic’ by the Americans, the Soviets or the world at large.

Draft of a letter from Mountbatten to Eden on Suez, 1 Aug 1956 [MS62/MB1/N/106]

Between the nationalisation of the canal in late July and the launching of military action in October, there were indeed attempts to negotiate a settlement; with the UK, France and the US supporting the notion of a canal under international operation, whilst other nations approved only of international supervision of the canal under Egyptian control. These negotiations were ultimately fruitless, however, as Nasser rejected notions of joint control as a violation of Egyptian sovereignty.

All the while that negotiations were ongoing, military preparations were being made by the British, French and Israelis. In a memo of 27^th July 1956 on a cabinet meeting sent to the First Sea Lord and others, it was noted that “The Prime Minister stated that his object was to get rid of Colonel Nasser personally and his regime whom he regarded as the principal enemies.” A range of military preparations are also revealed in this memo at the very earliest stage of the crisis, including the reinforcement of the Mediterranean; Royal Marine Commandos to be relieved from Cyprus so that they can be embarked in an amphibious warfare squadron, and “as regards the Al Fateh [an Egyptian ship] anything that can be done with the builders at Southampton to ensure delay should be done on a very secret and personal basis”. [MS62/MB1/N/107]

In late 1956, as the British Assault Convoy was mobilising and preparing to head to Egypt, Mountbatten tendered his resignation, asking for an ultimatum on whether he should remain as First Sea Lord or go, only to be told he was to stay in post. 

As First Sea Lord Mountbatten was kept busy throughout the latter half of 1956 with these military plans and preparations but he still took the time to write to a woman, possibly the wife of a sailor disgruntled at his loss of shore leave or the like, when he wrote on 27^th September 1956: “I am always glad to hear what the feelings of our sailors in every part of the world are and appreciate the spirit in which your letter was written. I feel sure, however, that you will not have overlooked the object of joining the Royal Navy is to serve one’s country in time of trouble. However carefully our programme of reliefs and cruises is worked out in normal times when there is no tension, when the Government orders precautionary measures all such programmes must be scrapped, and ships must be stationed where they are required.  I should be sorry indeed to think that the spirit of our sailors had sunk so low as to put personal comfort and plans before the primary duty of the Navy in times of stress.” [MS62/MB1/N/107]

As these military preparations were underway the government and military commanders were also attempting to deal with enquiries from the press. In a memo sent to the First Sea Lord dated 3^rd August 1956, we learn that the Prime Minister made it clear in a ministerial meeting that press releases were not to be released by the War Office or the military. When it was made known that ships could not be brought forward or loaded or sailed or even have their refit accelerated without it becoming common knowledge to civilians, Eden’s own press information officer concurred and stated that some information would have to be supplied to the press, in order to prevent rumours and stories getting out of hand. The Prime Minister conceded that he would “see all editors this morning and appeal to them to withhold operational news” and would consider resuscitating the ‘D’ notice procedure, whereby the government requests that the press not publish stories that may have a detrimental effect on national security. [MS62/MB1/N/107]

Before the invasion was launched Mountbatten was raising pertinent questions on military plans for the post-invasion period. In the minutes of a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff held on Tuesday, 14^th August 1956, Mountbatten asked the following questions: “Lord Mountbatten raised the question of what steps were being taken to ensure that in the event of successful operations against Egypt and the downfall of the present Government [Nasser’s, not Eden’s], a new Government could be formed which would not only support our policy for the operation of the Canal but which would also have the support of the Egyptian people. He feared the Egyptian people were so solidly behind Nasser that it might be impossible to find such a Government […] Lord Mountbatten said that he felt there was a very real danger that Operation Musketeer would cause serious and continuing disorders in the Middle East countries and necessitate the long term retention of considerable forces in the area to maintain law and order.” [MS62/MB1/N/106]

Mountbatten’s worries were not heeded by the British government under Eden, however, and on 31^st October 1956 British and French forces began a bombing campaign and troops were subsequently launched into Egypt. Despite his political objections, Mountbatten continued to conduct his military duties, as shown in his correspondence.

The reaction in Britain to this surprise invasion was hotly divided, with arguments in parliament and on BBC television programming almost resulting in fisticuffs. The anger felt in July in Britain at Nasser’s unexpected nationalisation of the canal had subsided somewhat by the autumn. Facing huge pressure from the United States and world opinion at large Eden was persuaded to call a ceasefire on 6^th November 1956, with British troops still in Port Said and the canal within reach. The Anglo-French occupiers were to begin their withdrawal from Egypt, to be completed by 22^nd December 1956. In a letter dated 12^th November 1956 addressed to the Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, Mountbatten supports the suggestion that the Suez Canal Company Engineers should be brought in to advise on clearing the canal under the auspices of the United Nations [after Egypt had blocked it by sinking ships] and he comments on the military operation in Egypt: “From a military point of view the operation could not have gone better and the major share of everything was really done by the Navy, for the Royal Marines were the assault troops and virtually the whole of the ground support and ground attack was done by the Fleet Air Arm. I was particularly pleased that we have at last been able to get over the landing of marines by helicopter which I have long wanted to do.”

Letter addressed to the Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope from Mountbatten, 12th Nov 1956 [MS62/MB1/N/107]

In a memo dated 23^rd November 1956 concerns are raised about ‘bad behaviour’ among the para-troops and amongst troops at Port Said. Reports of looting by commandos and attacks on Egyptian civilians are considered. Some historians estimate that 1,000 Egyptian civilians died as a result of the invasion. Mountbatten’s papers also include letters of thanks issued to the various naval officers who participated in the invasion, after having returned to the UK in December 1956. There are also some letters discussing promotions and a lot of ‘patting-on-the-back’ between service members for the military operation.

Mountbatten’s framing of events was contested by others who were in government at the time and it provoked a bitter controversy with Eden himself, who lived until 1977. Dr Adrian Smith of the University of Southampton, utilising the archives in Special Collections, explored Mountbatten’s role in the Suez crisis and his subsequent recollection of events in his 2012 paper titled ‘Rewriting history?  Admiral Lord Mountbatten’s efforts to distance himself from the 1956 Suez crisis’.

Smith claims that, although “The need for ultimate vindication demanded a necessary distortion of the narrative, as Lord Hailsham pointed out after the great man’s death. The irony is that Mountbatten had no need to rewrite history in that his opposition to military intervention was largely vindicated […] Yet to enjoy quiet satisfaction in being proved right was never an option – as with every other aspect of Dickie Mountbatten’s career, he had to be seen to be right.”

Today, the Suez Canal Authority, an Egyptian state-owned authority, owns, operates and maintains the Suez Canal.

A new Archive catalogue for a new era

This week marks a special time for the Special Collections at the University of Southampton, as we launch our new integrated Archive Catalogue. We have worked with the Metadatis, the team that created Epexio, to deliver an archival discovery platform that brings together for the first time all catalogue descriptions of the archive collections in one online system.

Home page of Archive Catalogue

Before looking forward, however, it is perhaps appropriate to look back and consider Southampton’s long involvement in automated archive catalogues. The Wellington Papers Database marked the first foray into computerised cataloguing and it could claim to be one of, if the not the earliest, online archive catalogue in the UK. Investigations into a system to support this were already underway in December 1982, prior to the arrival of the papers of the first Duke of Wellington at Southampton in March 1983. In July 1983 the University decided to develop a manuscript cataloguing system using STATUS software and it was in use for cataloguing material early the following year. The cataloguing was done “offline” by the archivists on BBC microcomputers equipped with rudimentary word-processing packages – but no memory – all text was saved onto floppy discs. It was subsequently transferred to an ICL mainframe computer for incorporation into the database by batch programme. This being the days prior to the WWW, the initial database was made available by the Joint Academic Network (JANET) and the public switched telephone network. It was initially scheduled to be made available 156 hours a week, rising to 168. How times have changed!

Cataloguing of the Wellington Papers mid-1980s using a BBC microcomputer

The introduction of the new Epexio Archive Catalogue marks the most significant change of all for the online archive catalogues at Southampton. Drawing together and replacing the databases that Southampton has hosted via a website since the 1990s – a Guide to the Archives and Manuscripts, the Wellington Papers Database, the Mountbatten Papers Database and the Palmerston Papers Database – it is an integrated system that includes catalogue descriptions of all collections across the hierarchical structure of archival records. The Archive Catalogue enables keyword searches across the breadth of the archive holdings and the archive descriptions, allowing you to delve deep into the fine detail of a collection.

For anyone interested in just gaining an overall idea of what sort of material we hold, then the Browse collections feature is for you, offering a great introduction to our collections.

And if you wish to look at some of the significant holdings of archive, then why not look at the Featured collections.

To coincide with the launch of the Archive Catalogue we have produced a short series of four films:

Introduction to the Epexio Archive Catalogue https://youtu.be/rzHDJ3FurZA

Archives and their catalogue structure using the Epexio Archive Catalogue https://youtu.be/8YGn9wjEUsA

Search the Epexio Archive Catalogue  https://youtu.be/iCc6qoKWwo0

Features and functionality of the Epexio Archive Catalogue  https://youtu.be/gCEHNq8HUaU

So do check out the introductory films and most of all enjoy searching the richness and breadth of the archive holdings at Southampton. We would welcome to hear how you get on. Please send any feedback to Archives@soton.ac.uk.

“When life was free and easy”: looking back at women’s fashion of the roaring twenties

As we enter 2020 we use the opportunity to look back at what fashion was like for women during the original roaring twenties, using material from the collections of Edwina Mountbatten (née Ashley), Lady Swaythling, and Montse Stanley.

Edwina Ashley and friends, 1929 [MS62 MB2/L5/121]

World War One left many women with a greater sense of self-confidence, particularly after being employed in factories and being given a wage. In 1918 women over 30 had been granted the vote through the Representation of the People Act, and by 1928 women were granted the same voting rights as men.

Edwina Ashley, 1920 [MS62 MB3/63]

Women’s new sense of assurance and empowerment can be seen in 1920s fashion. Women had their hair cut shorter, dress and skirt hems were raised to allow the body to move more easily, and it became more socially acceptable for women to smoke and drink.

Edwina Ashley with the Owen Magnetic Car, Moulton Paddocks, Newmarket, Suffolk, 1920 [MS62 MB2/K4/100]

A woman’s key outfit during the 1920s was a dress. Day dresses had a drop waist, which consisted of a belt around the low waist or hip and a skirt that hung anywhere from the ankle up to the knee. Tops had long to mid-bicep sleeves and a skirt that was straight, pleated, hanky hem, or tiered.

Example of a day dress with a drop waist worn by Gladys, Dowager Lady Swaythling, c.1920s taken by Hay Wrightson [MS383 A4000/6/1/5 Folder 2]

The 1920s brought the adoration of jazz music, leading to the Charleston replacing the slow waltz as the most popular dance of the decade. Jazz music was seen to be exotic and faraway from the outdated societal values of the Victorian era. Jazz music and dance are responsible for the origin of the term “ flapper”, which is defined as “a young woman in the 1920s who dressed or behaved in an unconventional way”. The word came from the idea that the fast movement of the feet and swaying of the arms during the Charleston dance resembles the flapping movements of a bird.

Photograph of Olga Baclanova by Ross Verlag showing typical dress for the Charleston from the Montse Stanley collection [MS331/2/1/17/199]

Jazz music and jazz dancing required looser clothing for women to move around in. Dresses and skirts were produced with shorter hems and embellishments such as fringe threads to swing with the movement of the body. Glossy and elaborate textiles were used to reflect the light. Corsets were replaced with straight-line chemises to flatten the bust line, and low-waisted dresses with fullness at the hemline allowed women to kick up their heels in dances like the Charleston. In 1925, “shift” type dresses with no waistline emerged. At the end of the decade, dresses were being worn with straight bodices and collars, as well as knife-pleated skirts with a hem one inch below the knee.

Photograph of Olga Baclanova by Ross Verlag showing another typical dress for the Charleston [MS331/2/1/17/197]

Women were still expected to change from a morning to afternoon dress. These afternoon or “tea gowns” were less form-fitting than evening gowns, and featured long, flowing sleeves and the waist embellished with artificial flowers, bows, or sashes. For evening wear the term “cocktail dress” was invented in France for American clientele. With the “New Woman” also came the “Drinking Woman”. The cocktail dress was styled with a matching hat, gloves, and shoes. The cocktail dress could be worn from 3pm to the late evening with a simple manipulation of accessories. The hems of evening gowns were slightly longer than tea gowns, in satin or velvet, and adorned with beads, rhinestones, or fringe.

Edwina Ashley in day wear, 1922 [MS62 MB2/K6/28]

Women “bobbed”, or cut their hair into the Eton crop to fit under the Cloche Hat, a popular garment in the 1920s. The hat was bell-shaped which is how it got its name (cloche means bell in French), and was invented in 1908 by milliner Caroline Reboux. The hats were usually made of felt, but also made of sisal or straw for the summer or beads or lace for the evening. They were designed to be worn low on the forehead. Women cutting their hair short was a radical move at the beginning of the decade, but soon became standard.

Photograph of Kathryn Crawford taken by Ross Verlag showing the Cloche Hat [MS331/2/1/17/201]

Jewellery of the 1920s was influenced by the 1890-1910 Art Nouveau movement. Geometric shapes became popular to celebrate the machine age, along with contrasting textures and colours inspired by the Far East, such as the use of amethysts put together with jade. One of the signature pieces of 1920s fashion was the long rope pearl necklace.

Edwina Ashley showing the long rope pearl necklace fashion, 1922 [MS62 MB2/L1/34]

As well as jewellery, make up also became a more important factor in fashion. Women felt no shame in caring about their appearance. It was seen instead as a declaration of self-worth. Hollywood actresses such as Clara Bow popularised the cupids bow lip, which was a self-shaping lipstick invented by Helena Rubinstein, that formed the perfect cupid’s bow upon application. Dark red lipstick was a common shade worn during the 1920s, with flappers wearing it to signify their independence. Dark eyes were also popular, which was easier to achieve during the middle of the decade when mascara was made available in wax, tube, cake and liquid form. Kohl eyeliner was also used to complete the look. The use of rouge (made available in the forms of creams, powders and liquids, and later as a compact) finished off the artificial appearance.

Photograph of Edwina Ashley showing examples of 1920s jewellery and makeup [MS62 MB3/63]

Before the 1920s women’s outfits were often floor length and hid the shoes being worn. This new decade gave shoes prime importance; they were made for all sorts of events such as walking, dancing, and sports. During the start of the 1920s Mary Janes were still popular, and inspired the design of other shoes, such as the T-strap heel shown in the image below. The design was the same as a Mary Jane shoe with the strap going around the heel and down to the top of the shoe in a T shape. Bar shoes fastened with a single strap and button were most popular in the 1920s as they could be worn with short skirts and were practical for fast dancing, such as the Charleston.

Photograph of Edwina Ashley wearing T-strap shoes [MS 62 MB2/L1/188]

Look out for our next blog post, which will tell you about the resources we hold on vegetarianism and veganism as part of Veganuary!

Travel and Voyages: Britain and the Far East

This week, our travels take us to the Far East, where we will be exploring the development of Britain’s relations with the region. Items displayed are from the MS64 Congleton manuscripts and MS62 Broadlands Archives.

Nagasaki, Japan, 1881-2 [MS 62 Broadlands Archives MB2/A20]

The Far East is a term used to describe the geographical, economic, and cultural region that encompasses Eastern Russia (Siberia in particular), East Asia, and Southeast Asia, and in some cases, Pacific island nations. Use of this phrase dates back to twelfth-century Europe, when the ruling class, explorers, traders, and travelers took an eastern route to reach this area and so the term the Far East was used to refer to the region because it is the farthest of the 3 Eastern Asian areas, which are the: Near East, the Middle East, and the Far East. The expression became favoured during the reign of the British Empire, and was used to refer to any area east of British India.

The English Quarter, Shanghai, China [MS 62 Broadlands Archives MB2/A20]

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Western knowledge of the Far Eastern powers increased markedly. Trade with Japan was opened up, and further ports in China were made accessible: some ninety-two places in China were open for British trade by 1914. British business dominated the trade with China until the 1880s, especially through Shanghai, but was less successful later. In parallel with treaty arrangements guaranteeing access to trade, the British formally acquired territory. From a political point of view, this was a safeguard for British interests in India; and it was also a component in creating further economic growth. Accompanying this came the trappings of empire, especially its military presence. This was critical to ensure the security of trade where more informal relations existed. Territorial acquisition was also driven by rivalry with other Western powers, particularly the French and the Dutch; and it advanced as much by treaty with local rulers as it did by military action and annexation.

Samurai practising with double-handed swords, Japan 1881 [MS 62 Broadlands Archives MB2/A20]

Singapore was ceded to Britain in 1819 and the Malay archipelago was divided into Dutch and British areas of influence in 1824. The British areas — the future Straits Settlements — were administered as part of British India. Later in the century, Singapore became of central importance in the China trade, as a coaling station. It was a major entrepot in the trade from the Netherlands East Indies, and its strategic position ensured that it was well-garrisoned. Its administration passed from the Indian government to the Colonial Office in 1867. There was then an expansion of British influence in the Malay peninsula through the establishment of a system of residencies — creating the Federated Malay States — and, as elsewhere, a blurring of distinction between those parts that were formally part of a British empire and those outside it. From the close of the nineteenth century, the development of rubber plantations in the Malay States created an additional element in the economy.

Programme for the Singapore Races, Autumn 1880 [MS64/292]

The image above shows a Singapore Races event programme, which belonged to the servant of the empire, Henry Parnell, fourth Baron Congleton (1839-1906), who was also a member of the Singapore Races organising committee. He had a military career, serving in the Crimea and the Zulu war of 1879. In 1880-3, his battalion of the Buffs (the Third Regiment of Foot) was posted to Singapore, where he was commandant of the garrison and president of the Singapore Defence Committee.

A draft of a report on the defences of Singapore, from Parnell’s papers as president of the Singapore Defence Committee, with his annotations and notes on business [MS 64/291]

We also hold the journal of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Parnell. The image below shows a section of the journal describing his trip to Japan in September and October 1883. On 12 September he was at Kyoto, where he visited the imperial palace and, in the evening, had a demonstration of fighting with a two-handed sword.

Section from the Journal of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Parnell, describing his trip to Japan in September 1883 [MS 64/278]

The British imperial presence was reinforced by official tours. In August 1880, a detached squadron, led by the iron frigate, HMS Inconstant, embarked on a world cruise to show the flag, in a journey lasting more than two years. On the Inconstant was Prince Louis of Battenberg, who was to become First Sea Lord immediately prior to the First World War and who was to marry a favourite grand-daughter of Queen Victoria; two sons of the Prince of Wales, one of them the future George V, also served with the squadron. In 1921-2 another Prince of Wales, later to become Edward VIII, toured India and Japan, visiting Burma and Singapore en route.

Singapore: the route to Government House lined by head hunters (Dyak tribesmen) from Borneo, March 1922 [MS 62 Broadlands Archives MB2/N7, 187]

During the same trip, the party was able to visit the Malay-Borneo exhibition as well as unveil the Straits Settlements War Memorial.

Unveiling of the Straits Settlements War Memorial, with the Prince of Wales’ staff on the right, March 1922 [MS 62 Broadlands Archives MB2/N7, 189]

Join us next week for our third travel and voyages themed blog post, which will focus on South America and Central America.

British Polo Day: Lord Mountbatten and Polo

To mark British Polo Day on the 9th December, which takes place at Jaipur in Northern India, we take a look at our sources relating to polo in the Mountbatten Papers.

“I’ve gone completely dippy about polo, which in my opinion is the best game in the world” [Mountbatten to Prince Albert, 25 January 1922]

Lord Louis Mountbatten on a polo pony, New Barnet, 1923 [MB1/L2/92]

Polo is a horseback mounted sport, and was invented in northeastern India. The sport was promoted by officers of the British military in the mid-19th century, and is now internationally popular.

The sport is played by two opposing teams with the aim of scoring goals by hitting a small hard ball with a long-handled wooden mallet through the opposing team’s goal. Each team consists of four riders, and the game usually lasts for 2 hours, divided into periods called chukkas.

Lord Louis Mountbatten and the rest of the Warspite polo team, Mandelieu Polo Club, c. January 1927 [MB2/L4/210]

In 1921, Mountbatten played his first game in Jodhpur, India. He learnt that it would take practice to become good at polo, which included being a good equestrian. In 1923, he took a month’s course in military equitation with the Life Guards. This, along with coaching by specialists, and a scientific study of his weaknesses, helped him become an exceptional player. As a captain, he helped teams reach achievements that they had not previously, such as the Bluejackets nearly winning the Inter-Regiment trophy twice. The success was a result of detailed discussion and practice. One rule Mountbatten implemented was the team calling each other by their Christian names, which gave the players the opportunity to interpret what the caller was thinking, and to respond appropriately.

“He was the perfect captain, both on and off the field… On the field he never got rattled or bad-tempered. And no matter how silly one was he was always forgiving and encouraging.” [‘Mountbatten and Polo’ by Sir Robert Neville, pp.23-4, MB1/L291]

Lord Louis Mountbatten kissing Queen Mary’s hand at the prize-giving ceremony after the Duke of York’s Cup polo match, Ranelagh, 1 July 1931 [MB2/L4/211]

Mountbatten was not only interested in playing polo, but also improving and refining the sport, going so far as to construct and patent an oval-shaped head to the polo stick which provided “loft and length and a strong head.” [‘Mountbatten and Polo’ by Sir Robert Neville, p.14, MB1/L291] The head was named the R.N.P.A. head, which stands for Royal Naval Polo Association. Mountbatten gave the patent rights to the RNPA, which resulted in them receiving large quantities of royalties for many years.

Frustrated with the existing books on polo not meeting the requirements of a complete beginner, Mountbatten decided to write his own, with the assistance of Peter Murphy. An Introduction to Polo by ‘Marco’ was translated into Spanish and French, and became the bible for all polo-players. Referring to what he learnt when he first started playing polo, Mountbatten begins the first chapter on horsemanship with the following lines:

“Before you start to play polo, make sure that you are able to concentrate on your hitting without having to be busy riding. If you have never ridden in your life, begin by taking lessons from someone competent to give them, for you can’t satisfactorily teach yourself.” [An Introduction to Polo by ‘Marco’ (1931, London), p.3.]

An Introduction to Polo by ‘Marco’ (1937, London) MB6/K3a

Mountbatten was also interested in the regulations of polo, which is reflected by the correspondence we hold between Mountbatten and key persons on the proposed international rules of polo. Mountbatten was Chairman of the International Rules Committee between 1939 and 1940, and his role in ensuring one set of international rules was played worldwide involved collecting the International Rules himself, in person. As a result of Mountbatten holding this position, one set of polo rules is used all over the world, whereas previously, the Hurlingham, American and Indian Polo Association rules all differed.

“Your letter dated October 18th with regard to the proposed International Rules and the International Rules Committee arrived here at a very opportune time. The ground that you laid down when you edited the first drafts of a set of International Rules have borne fruit in this country already. I might say that your draft of rules was entirely responsible for the greatest activity that our own Rules Committee has shown in several years. It inspired them to review our own rules completely and at our last meeting numerous changes, none of them fundamental, were suggested.” [Letter from Robert E. Strawbridge, Jr., United States Polo Association, to Lord Mountbatten, 22 November 1939, MB1/L310]

Proposed International Rules of Polo, 1938 [MB1/L310]

Thinking of ways that Naval Officers could have their polo interests addressed in the same way that the Army Saddle Club did for Army officers, Mountbatten decided to set up the Royal Naval Polo Association. Organising meetings, funds, and questionnaires, the RNPA was formed in 1930. By 1939 membership of the Association had already reached five or six hundred. The Association changed its name to Royal Naval Saddle Club in 1958.

As well as being the first honorary secretary of the RNPA in 1937, Mountbatten also took up many other committee positions in connection to polo, such as Chairman of the London Polo Committee, Secretary of the Malta Polo Club (and later patron); and in 1955, Patron of Rhinefield (New Forest) Polo Club.

Malta Polo Club Rundle Cup Programme, 4 March 1967 [MB1/L292]

The Mountbatten Papers provide a rich resource for those interested in polo, with material including papers on the early days of the Royal Navy Polo Association and Hunt Club, lists of Royal Naval Saddle Club members and Club minutes, correspondence between different countries on the decision-making of international polo rules, and notes and manuscripts for Mountbatten’s An Introduction to Polo.

“I do hope that you are going to be able to give a little time in your television series to the Admiral’s polo. I believe that you might find that this would be a very popular section of the series with the television viewers. We have had many portrayals of the deeds of the great military Commanders but I think that the combination of outstanding Military leadership with his prowess on the field of sport not only highlights Mountbatten’s amazing ability to keep so many balls in the air at once but makes his exploits of more human and general interest.” [Letter from Major General Sir Robert Neville to Mr Morley, 10 September 1968, MB1/L292]

Lord Louis Mountbatten’s polo team, the “Shrimps”, after winning the Keyes Cup, Malta, 31 December 1928 [MB1/L4/166]

American Adventures Month: The Mountbattens’s honeymoon tour of the USA

This month is American Adventures Month, and to mark this occasion, we take a look at the Mountbattens’s honeymoon trip to the USA.

Edwina and Louis Mountbatten at the World Series Yankees versus Giants baseball game with professional player George Herman “Babe” Ruth [MB2/L1/33]

After marrying on 18 December 1922, the Mountbattens spent the first nights of their honeymoon at Broadlands. They then travelled to Paris, Spain, and Germany, before boarding the Passenger Ship, the RMS Majestic, for the United States of America.

The RMS Majestic [MB2/L1/30]

Beginning with New York, the Mountbattens attended baseball games and the Ziegfeld Follies theatre productions. They were hosted by American composer, Jerome Kern, and American actor, screenwriter, and producer, Douglas Fairbanks.

Keen to see everything, the Mountbatten’s sightseeing tour was to include (following New York): Washington and Chicago; Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon and Hollywood; Florida; and the Far West. The aspiring tour was to be arranged for them by Colonel Robert M. Thompson, President of the Consolidated Arizona Smelting Company, who was a friend of Aunt Victoria’s.

Louis and Edwina Mountbatten with Freddie Neilson at the Grand Canyon [MB2/L1/90]

Following a trip to the Grand Canyon, the Mountbattens were taken to Hollywood, where they visited Paramount Studios. Here, Cecil B. de Mille showed them the sets for his new film.

Edwina Mountbatten with Cecil B. de Mille and Louis Mountbatten at Paramount Studios, Hollywood [MB2/L1/134]

As well as having access to a private railway carriage, the Boston, Colonel Thompson also had a House Boat, which was used to give the Mountbattens a grand tour of Florida across the Atlantic.

A day’s catch on Colonel Thompson’s house boat trip across the Atlantic, Florida [MB2/L1/203]

After visiting the Far West, the Mountbattens made their way back to New York and returned to England on 9 December 1922.

To find more about the Mountbatten papers, please click on the following link:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/cataloguedatabases/mb/index.page

“He shoots, he scores”: Lord Mountbatten and his associations with football organisations

Today begins the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and to mark this occasion, we take a look at Lord Mountbatten’s associations with Southampton Football and Athletic Company Limited, and the Football Association.

Lord Louis Mountbatten leaning against the rail of his ship, HMS P31, August 1919 [MB2/N4/18]

During his lifetime, Lord Louis Mountbatten was associated with many charities and organisations, as a member, patron or president. He attended numerous dinners and openings, and gave large numbers of speeches in connection with these societies; while, inevitably, he had only an honorary role in many, others took up more of his time and energy.

The archives comprise mainly correspondence with the organisations, often about invitations to dinners and openings, or to give speeches, and the papers were originally maintained in a separate sequence of files in the office of Lord Mountbatten’s private secretary. The files also contain many information booklets and annual reports sent by the societies. The papers are now arranged in files in alphabetical order by name of organisation.

Southampton Football and Athletic Company Limited

From around 1946, Lord Mountbatten was President of the Southampton Football and Athletic Company Limited. Founded in 1885, the Club started as a church football team that was part of St. Mary’s Church of England Young Men’s Association, where the Club’s nickname “The Saints” came from. The Saints joined the Southern League in 1894 and the Football League Third Division in 1920. At the time Lord Mountbatten became President; the Club had narrowly missed promotion to the Second Division and finished in third place. The correspondence from the Club that forms part of the Mountbatten papers includes Christmas wishes and invitations to home matches. Lord Mountbatten later became Patron of what is now Southampton Football Club in 1955.

Letter from Southampton Football and Athletic Company Limited, wishing Lord Mountbatten a happy Christmas, 18 December 1946 [MB1/L499]

Football Association

Dating between 1956 and 1959, correspondence with the Football Association in the Mountbatten papers includes requests for Lord Mountbatten to be Chief Guest at Cup Finals; invitations to dinners; and a request to be Honorary Vice-President of the Football Association Council.

Lord Mountbatten was also offered Royal Box seats at Wembley Stadium for himself and his family by the Football Association secretary, of which he accepted for the 1958 FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United:

“It was a wonderful crowd and a great day, and one only wishes that Manchester United could have scored a goal or two while they were pressing so strongly, so as to keep the game more in suspense to the end.” [Letter from Lord Mountbatten to Sir Stanley Rous, Secretary of the Football Association, 6 May 1958, MB1/L145]

For more information about the Mountbatten papers go to:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/cataloguedatabases/mb/index.page

Battenberg and Mountbatten

The House of Windsor was created on 17 July 1917 when King George V decided that the name of the royal house should be anglicised in response to anti-German sentiment resulting from the First World War. The name Windsor was adopted, replacing Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. At a meeting of the Privy Council on 17 July 1917, George V declared that “all descendants in the male line of Queen Victoria, who are subjects of these realms, other than female descendants who marry or who have married, shall bear the name of Windsor”. It was also decided that the various Tecks, Holsteins and Battenbergs who were British citizens should do the same. Among those affected were the family of Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg.

Letterpress halftone portrait photograph of Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg when First Sea Lord, 1914 [MB2/A12/61]

Born at Graz, Austria, in 1854, Prince Louis was the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and his morganatic wife, Countess Julia Theresa von Haucke. Family connections with Princess Alice and Prince Albert (both children of Queen Victoria) led to Prince Louis settling in England and becoming naturalized as a British subject. He entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1868, at the age of fourteen. In 1884 he married his cousin Princess Victoria, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Together they had two daughters, Alice (b. 1885) and Louise (b. 1889), and two sons, George (b. 1892) and Louis Francis (b. 1900).

Following a long and successful naval career lasting more than forty years, Prince Louis was appointed First Sea Lord in 1912 by Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty. In July 1914, with the First World War looming, Prince Louis took the initiative to ensure the British fleet was ready for combat. However, this did not shield him from attack on account of his German background and over the subsequent months his position became increasingly untenable. On 29 October he resigned from his position as First Sea Lord – a blow from which he is said to have never recovered. In his letter of resignation to Churchill he writes:

I have lately been driven to the painful conclusion that at this juncture my birth and parentage have the effect of impairing in some respects my usefulness on the Board of the Admiralty. In these circumstances I feel it to be my duty, as a loyal subject of His Majesty, to resign the office of First Sea Lord, hoping thereby to facilitate the task of the administration of the great Service to which I have devoted my life, and to ease the burden laid on HM’s Ministers. [MS 62 MB1/T48]

At the behest of the King he agreed to change his name and relinquished his German titles (of Serene Highness and Prince) in 1917. The family adopted the name Mountbatten, an Anglicisation of the German Battenberg (rejecting the alternative translation of Battenhill). Having renounced their German titles, they were compensated with British peerages of marquess of Milford Haven, earl of Medina, and Viscount Alderney. As a result, Prince Louis became Louis Alexander Mountbatten, first Marquess of Milford Haven; his eldest son George became Earl of Medina (succeeding to his father’s peerage on his death); while his second son acquired the courtesy title Lord Louis Mountbatten (remaining Lord Louis until he was created a peer in 1946).

Black and white photograph of Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg and his sons, Louis (on the left) and George (on the right), 1914 [MB2/A12/34]

Lord Louis Mountbatten (nicknamed “Dickie” by his family and friends) was serving on board the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth when he acquired his courtesy title. He had begun his naval career four years earlier, in 1913, when he entered the Royal Naval College at Osbourne on the Isle of Wight. In so doing he was following in the footsteps of his father and older brother George, both of whom he idolised. He progressed to the fledgling Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in 1915. By the time he completed his training at the Royal Naval College at Keyham the following year he was eager to see action.

He was posted as midshipman to the battlecruiser HMS Lion on 19 July 1916. A month later, on 19 August, his wish to see action was granted when the Lion was involved in a brief encounter with the German fleet. Not long after he was transferred to the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the flagship of the Grand Fleet, while his brother George was transferred to the Lion – the Admiralty not allowing two brothers to serve on the same ship. Having visiting the front in July 1918, he joined HMS P31 in October of the same year where he was involved in escort and anti-submarine work.

Black and white photograph of the officers and midshipmen of HMS Lion including Prince Louis Francis of Battenberg (later Lord Mountbatten), 1916 [MB2/A12/65]. He can be seen in the uniform of a midshipman, seated cross-legged in the middle of the front row, tenth from the left. He is holding a small dog, probably the ship’s mascot.

Following the end of the war, Mountbatten interrupted his naval career to study at the University of Cambridge in 1919. He then joined the Prince of Wale on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and India, in 1920 and 1921. On 22 August 1921, his father was made an admiral of the fleet on the retired list. However, his health was in decline and he died of heart failure following influenza on 11 September.

Mountbatten spent the inter-war period pursuing his naval career, where he specialised in communications. In 1934, he received his first command on the destroyer, HMS Daring.  In 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, he became commander of the HMS Kelly – the exploits of which were made famous by the Noël Coward film In Which We Serve. The Kelly was sunk by German dive bombers off the coast of Crete in May 1941 with the loss of more than half its crew.

Following his role as Chief of Combined Operations – with the responsibility of preparing for the eventual invasion of occupied Europe – he was appointed the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command (SEAC), in 1943. Working with General William Slim, he achieved the defeat of the Japanese offensive towards India and the reconquest of Burma. In March 1947, he became viceroy of India, overseeing the transfer of power to India and Pakistan on 14 August 1947. For his services during the war and in India he was created viscount in 1946 and Earl Mountbatten of Burma the following year.

Mountbatten returned to the Royal Navy in 1953, becoming commander of a new NATO Mediterranean command. In 1954 he was appointed First Sea Lord, fulfilling his ambition to succeed to the post that his father had held more than 40 years earlier. Finally, he became Chief of the Defence Staff in 1959, a position he held until 1965 when he retired to civilian life.

The papers of the late Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, form part of University of Southampton Library MS62, the Broadlands archives. The collection includes personal and naval papers of Prince Louis of Battenberg, first Marquis of Milford Haven, 1886-1911 (MB1/T1-10).

Victoria, first Marchioness of Milford Haven (1863-1950)

One of the key collections in the Archives at the University of Southampton is that of Earl Mountbatten of Burma. His official papers are well known, covering his long naval career, his role as last Viceroy of India, and later, at the Admiralty and Ministry of Defence – but the archive also includes personal papers relating to his early life; a remarkable and extensive collection of family photographs; and archives of the German branch of the Battenberg family.

Photographs of Mountbatten’s parents on their wedding day, 30 April 1884, from the album of Prince Louis of Battenberg [MS 62 MB2/A4/4-5]

Mountbatten’s mother was Princess Victoria Alberta Elisabeth Mathilde Marie of Hesse, the eldest daughter of Ludwig IV, grand duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and his first wife Princess Alice – second daughter of Queen Victoria. His father was Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg, the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse.  Victoria and Louis were first cousins in a large and close family – Victoria tells many anecdotes of her childhood in her recollections, and she describes a happy and affectionate home-life in the ‘New Palace’ at Darmstadt.  There were frequent trips to relatives in Germany, Prussia, and England: often there was sea-bathing at Osborne in the summer. During a long stay in England in 1871/2:

“We were all at Balmoral first, while Uncle Bertie* and his family were at Abergeldie and we children saw a great deal of each other. Unfortunately all the children of both families contracted whooping cough there and I remember a dismal November at the top of Buckingham Palace shut away, coughing my head off.” [*Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VII]

When they were over the worst of the illness there was plenty of fun to be had:

“We found in the former nurseries strange sorts of bicycles with saddles, and adorned with horses’ heads and tails, which had belonged to our uncles and on which we careered down the corridor…”

All the young cousins then moved to Windsor: “and we were a very merry party of children. Our wild romps in the great corridor… were often interrupted by one of the pages bringing a message from the Queen that she would not have so much noise…”

“There were lovely corners and curtains behind which one could hide and leap out in the dark. Outside the Queen’s room there was always a table with lemonade and water and a side dish of biscuits which we used to pilfer secretly.”

These were happy years for Victoria. Tragedy struck the family at the end of 1878, when both her mother and youngest sister Marie died from diphtheria – Victoria was just 15. She wrote:

“My mother’s death was an irreparable loss to us all and left a great gap in our lives… My childhood ended with her death, for I became the eldest and most responsible of her orphaned children.”

The early loss of their mother caused Queen Victoria to take a special interest in the children – and the Queen was to become very fond of Prince Louis too – although:

“Grandmama was at first not very pleased at our engagement as she wished me, as the eldest, to continue looking after the younger ones and keeping my father company… However she consented to the engagement on condition we did not marry until the following year.”

They married at the palace in Darmstadt on 30 April 1884.

Photo of the Princesses of Hesse in 1885, from the album of Prince Louis of Battenberg [MS 62 MB2/A4/6]

This photograph shows Victoria with her sisters in 1885: from left to right: ‘Ella’ (Elisabeth), the wife of Grand Duke Serge of Russia; Victoria; Irene, who married Prince Henry of Prussia in 1888; and Alix, who became the Tsarina, wife of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, in 1889.

Victoria made many summer visits to her sisters in Russia. When Serge was assassinated in Moscow in 1905 by an anarchist’s bomb – thrown at close quarters into his carriage – Victoria went to Ella immediately to offer support. In the summer of 1914, as the political situation deteriorated, she set off on her usual trip to Moscow, travelling first to Perm and from there on a tour of the Ural Mountains, stopping off twice at Ekaterinburg; but this trip was destined to be cut short.  Alix called them back to St Petersburg as the outbreak of war threatened. They arrived on the evening of 4^th August, the day that England declared war.  Alix helped them to make hurried preparations and they took a special train to the Russian frontier at Tornio, making their escape via Finland, Sweden and Norway.  From Bergen they sailed on “the last ship” back to England.  Victoria writes:

“I little dreamt that it was the last time I should ever see my sisters again.”

Her written reminiscences end in 1914. She explains to the reader:

“I intend to finish these recollections with the outbreak of the Great War as I find it unnecessarily depressing to go through the experiences of that time during the second Great War. Anyhow my children were sufficiently grown up by then to have recollections of their own to take the place of mine.”

So she seems to have written these recollections during WWII, for the benefit of her four children:

Photograph of the Battenberg family c.1902 from the album of Victoria, Princess Louis of Battenberg [MS 62 MB2/B2/6]

This photo of the Battenberg family was taken c. 1902. Princess Victoria is seated in the middle, with Prince Louis Francis on her lap.  On her left sits her husband Prince Louis Alexander, and on her right, her eldest daughter, Princess Alice. Prince George (dressed in a white sailor suit) sits in front of his father while Princess Louise sits on the floor. Louis was born on 25^th June 1900 at Frogmore House, Windsor – and was christened Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas of Battenberg on 17^th July that year.  He was Queen Victoria’s last godson – she held him at the christening – and baby Louis knocked her spectacles off her nose.

Victoria died in 1950 after a long life. By that time she was a grandmother and great grandmother.  Her biographer states: “she remained throughout her life a determined, stalwart figure, given to progressive ideas and with an interest in socialism and philosophy.”  Mountbatten remembers her remarkable intelligence and quickness; that she was talkative and forthright, very well read, and with a phenomenal memory – her family felt her death acutely.

The reminiscences of Victoria, first Marchioness of Milford Haven, form part of the Archive of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, MS 62 MB21.