Zuleika Henry & Igor Kennaway Oral History

Audio Transcript

Narration:
Zuleika Henry and Igor Kennaway are descendants of the Smythe family who built and lived at Ashton Court.

Igor Kennaway:
Lets look at these photographs. This looks like a photographic backdrop, don’t you think Zuleika.

Zuleika Henry:
In the studio…

Igor Kennaway:
This is Henry Greville Smythe and this is my great great , her great, grandmother, Henrietta Mary Way. She married colonel Wilfred Fitzallen Way and he was born here at Ashton in 1845. It was very much the era of Edward Vllth. So this is my grandmother Sheila born in 1905, the next sister Judy born in 1907. Those are the 2 that came to live here after their mother died. This is Patti, Zuleika’s mother, born in 1912, and this is Betty born in 1910. Those 2 didn’t live here but they would have been photographed here, and come to stay here.

Zuleika Henry:
And the fifth sister Dickie hadn’t been born yet.

Igor Kennaway:
She was born in 1916. But they obviously always dressed in identical clothing.

Zuleika Henry:
This is by Esme as well.

Igor Kennaway:
The mother of all these girls…

Zuleika Henry:
My grandmother…

Igor Kennaway:
Your grandmother, my great grandmother. Ethel Emily Hamilton Way. Who died at the age of 44 – breast cancer. Here we are in the Winter Garden filled with hothouse plants, with my grandmother Sheila, and one of the inevitable Pekes.

Zuleika Henry:
How did they heat those Igor?

Igor Kennaway:
Boilers with coal and wood I would have thought.

Zuleika Henry:
Well plenty of coal in the family.

Igor Kennaway:
Just dig up a bit more of the garden (laugh). And there’s a mirror.

Zuleika Henry:
Esme is standing just here taking the photograph.

Igor Kennaway:
And this is cousin Esme in a drawing when she got married. And this is cousin Esmes daughter, poor little child. Sylvia.

Zuleika Henry:
Poor Sylvia. Poor neglected woman. She hated the place.

Igor Kennaway:
And when cousin Esme died she did everything she could to get rid of it.

Zuleika Henry:
That was when she converted to Catholicism, as Catholics were not allowed to own Ashton Court, so she was immediately free of the burden. So it went to her son.

Igor Kennaway:
Who was under age. The Trustees of which his mother was one, then made a decision to sell all the contents. Here’s my Ma, photographed by Esme Smythe. About 1937 so my mother would have been 10 and a half, eleven. And she was bridesmaid to her aunt Dickie who was married from Ashton. And I remember that dress as we had it in out dressing up box as children. My sister used to wear it and it was ivory silk. Mummy was totally fearless of cousin Esme and wasn’t in awe of her status or age or sense of authority. And cousin Esme rather responded to the fact that here was a young girl who didn’t bow and scrape her way to her. I mean she was formidable, there’s a story that the then mayor of Bristol arrived at Ashton for dinner, by motorcar and the only people allowed to drive on the Estate was the family itself. And cousin Esme said You’ve disobeyed my house rules and for that you’ll miss the whole of the first course. This is just a wonderful piece of artwork. That as a photograph I think is stunning. We are on our way to India but it has all that self confidence of the British upper classes in a world they considered belonged to the. We are at the Taj Mahal. Emily Smythe, Gilbert, 2 manservants, and not a tourist in sight. She’s sitting there as confident as Queen Mary. That to me says everything, that one. Oh, there’s a total fascination with animals. I think they preferred animals to their children.

Zuleika Henry:
Oh look at this dog.

Igor Kennaway:
And this is Ashton, from the park. Looking still very well looked after. And then here, look at this, there’s the entrance, which is glazed, that’s Emily. Coachman still in livery if you please. Nothing’s changed since the 18th century. And this is what I love – the governess cart. And here’s George Vth, and I don’t know whether this is a military parade or if it’s the Bath and Weston show which I know for a time they did have here at Ashton. Mummy remembers going through the grounds when there was some vast agricultural show and cousin Esme saying to my mother ‘Child, if the people are good enough to wave to you, the least you can do is have the courtesy to wave back’, you know, one of those sort of regal waves.

Zuleika Henry:
I’d love to know who all those people were.