Following the death of Phebe Budd Budd her estate passed to the family of Frederick John Budd Budd. One of the first properties to be disposed of was the Mansion at Twickenham Park as it was surplus to requirements as the family were living in Sussex.
Twickenham Park Mansion auction
The auctioneers Chancellor & sons of Richmond acquired the property and by 1898 were using the Mansion as a temporary auction room.
1900 Mansion becomes Ravensbourne School
1901 census Twickenham Park Mansion
Around 1900 Bedford Park High School near Chiswick were looking for larger premises. They appear to have taken a short lease on the Twickenham Park Mansion around 1900. Chancellor & Son remained owners.
The 1901 census above shows Ravensbourne School located between The Elms St Margarets and Russell Villas, both of which are now in Duck’s Walk and shown on the 1915 map below.
1902 Twickenham Park Mansion
The Electoral Register above shows Mary Alice Lyster, Head Mistress of this private girls boarding school. She ran the school with her sister Elizabeth Hester Lyster until they relocated to larger premises at Crofton Grange near Orpington in 1903.
The 1902 directory below shows the school at the end of Riverdale Road. This was because the nearest road to the mansion, Ravensbourne Road had yet to be named.
The above photo shows the original gated entrance into the Mansion grounds. This dates from the 1920’s when Thames Sand & Gravel Co Ltd were operating from this site.
The picture below shows an enlarged detail of the left hand gate pillar.
Underneath, the Thames Sand & Gravel sign can be seen the name Ravensbourne which dates back 20 years before when the mansion was used for a short period as a private girls school.
The original gate pillars still stand although the cast iron gates are long gone.
1907 Twickenham Park Mansion auction
By 1907 Messrs Chancellor & Son advertised the Mansion and Grounds for auction again.
The two photographs show the fountain in the mansion grounds in the 1890’s and below in the 1920’s by which time the fountain had been removed.
In the above picture the building in the distance is Asgill House which is on the opposite bank of the Thames at Richmond.
1911 census Twickenham Park Mansion
The 1908 auction appears not to have been successfull as Chancellor’s are still shown as owners in 1912. When the census was taken the previous year in 1911 the Jackson family were listed as resident at the mansion, now called Twickenham Park House. Charles Jackson was a 50 year old married police sargeant who presumably was renting the property from Chancellors.
The above photo from the 1890’s shows the conservatory adjascent to the fountain in the mansion grounds. This outbuilding dates back to when the Todd family built the mansion in the 1820’s. They commisioned the architect J B Papworth to design additional features.
This conservatory was originally sited on the front side of the mansion and abutted to the building but was later moved to the position shown.
1915 De Trafford family Twickenham Park Mansion
Chancellor’s appear to have sold the mansion by 1915 to the De Trafford family of Richmond. They had recently lived at Queensberry House Richmond but seem to have acquired the mansion as an additional home.
The family comprised of Galfried Aloysius Cathcart De Trafford and his wife Cecile. They had three children; Cecil Noel born 1888, Ralph Eric Galfrid Antony born 1892 and Daphne Ruth Elizabeth Adelaide Mary born 1903.
De Trafford’s son Ralph was killed in action during the Great War.
1920 auction Twickenham Park Estate
In 1920 the remainder of Phebe Budd Budd’s estate was auctioned by Messrs Tyler & Co of London. The advert below details the individual lots which include the two original entrance lodges.
1923 Twickenham Park Mansion
By 1923 the De Trafford family are living solely at Queensberry House Richmond. Galfrid De Trafford died in 1924 at Rapallo Italy. The mansion which was now known as Twickenham Park House moved into it’s final phase of ownership.
Firstly the property was acquired by Thames Sand and Gravel Co Ltd who had purchased the surrounding land for gravel extraction.
Click on above images for larger pictures.
At the same time an architect named Robert Lowry of 33 St James Street SW1 is listed on electoral registers as living at The Mansion.
The Lowry family previously had lived at 5 Park Road Twickenham Park. Their stay at the mansion was short as in 1926 they had moved to Denham Hill Higher Denham Bucks. We are uncertain of the arrangement between Thames Sand and Gravel and the Lowry family as they both seem to have occupied the property at the same time.
1929 Twickenham Park Mansion Demolition
By 1929 Thames Sand and Gravel had extracted most of the available gravel. All that remained was directly beneath the mansion which was soon removed after the house was demolished. The photo below was taken in the mansion’s final days where it had stood for roughly 100 years.
