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smolvenger · 2 years ago

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Stella of Essex or The Vicar's Wife Betrayed Series. Chapter 14- Lemon Blossoms

A Fix-It Fanfiction Series based off of The Essex Serpent

Pairings: Stella Ransome/Male OC: Harry Cavaradossi, some Stella Ransome/William Ransome but focusing on the angst of his cheating and the tragedy of their marriage. Mainly Stella Ransome/Happiness and Will/Facing Consequences for Cheating.

Series Summary: The Essex Serpent is reimagined and told from the perspective of Stella Ransome. And with a new ending. Stella must come to terms with not only her mortality but her husband's heartbreaking affair. A portrait of a woman who became The Ideal Lady her time and marriage required her to be. A picture of a marriage of love and bliss torn apart by a husband's infidelity. And Stella herself in the center of it all, torn between a wife's duty and her own quiet but present rage. Where in the midst of devastating heartbreak she gains her strength, finds her voice, and dares to seek freedom, hope...and even revenge.

Chapter Summary: Stella becomes a widow. She is reunited with her children and then goes to a Sanatorium for her tuberculosis. She is haunted by the memories of her late husband and her dangerous secret concerning his death. Her In-Laws pose her with an impossible ultimatum. And Harry Cavaradossi has a solution for her.

Prologue//One//Two//Three//Four//Five//Six//Seven//Eight//Nine//

Ten//Eleven//Twelve//Thirteen

Warnings: Major Character Death and discussions of it. Discussions of cheating and the trauma it causes, funerals, grief, mourning, families, children, trauma, sex, sex workers, illness, doctors, and a Sanatorium. Mentions of blood. Canon Divergence. Some angst, but lots of fluff ESPECIALLY at the end :) Hurt/Comfort and getting to the comforting and healing section of whump. Being Anti-Will Ransome and Anti-C*ra so if you like the pairing or the characters themselves, you have been warned.

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COMMENTS AND REBLOGS AS WELL AS MESSAGES AND ASKS ABOUT THIS FIC ARE APPRECIATED!

“Theseus abducted Minos’ daughter (Ariadne) and sailed to Dia, where he cruelly abandoned his companion to her wailing. Bacchus brought love and comfort to the girl, and so that she would shine among the stars, he sent her diadem up into heaven; it flew its precious stones were turned to brilliant fires…”- Ovid, Metamorphoses, Translated by Charles Martin, Book VIII, lines 240-249.

The next day, Dante and Edith returned with a purchase made from the safe money- two black dresses, black gloves, and a veil. They went upstairs to deliver it and Edith helped me change into my first black dress.

“You’re a widow now, you need to wear these for two years and a day…And you must isolate yourself except for church…” she instructed.

“I have been isolating myself since I fell sick. Or trying to. And Edith…”

I felt her help button up the dress from the back.

“Yes?” she added.

I turned around my head to look at her as she finished the last button.

“If anyone asks, I’m not moving back to Aldwinter. I don’t want to go back to the place I fell in love with him. There are too many memories there, happy and sad ones and happy ones made sad after this. also, with the house and William’s property there…I’d like to sell it.”

She looked around at me, nodding. I sat down on the bed, and she sat on a chair.

“The money I’ve been given, and the sale will be given for two things- one, for my children, and second, so I can go to a Sanatorium to stay to recover. But I want the house and property sold and for my children and the dog to reside in London,” I instructed.

“Then we’ll send a telegram, ask the children to pack their things. But Stella, I was thinking…” she began shyly.

“What is it, Edith?” I asked.

She walked around as I adjusted the long sleeves to reach to my wrists. Then she placed her hands in front of her, twiddling her thumbs, glanced down, and then looked at me.

“Stella…Dante’s house only has so much room…could the children stay with me? You can too!” she suggested.

“Why, of course!” I answered.

She smiled and placed her hands on her cheeks. Her eyes darted as her thoughts poured out of her mouth one by one.

“Oh yes! Our own house is big enough for three children and a dog, Stella! After all, I and Edgar have always wanted to have a big family. But…I’ve just had trouble getting pregnant….and at least, Eddie’s fond of dogs!”

“Yes, how wonderful!”

She then took my hands and her eyes looked sincerely into mine.

“And Stella…if you should pass. Edgar and I will adopt the children.…”

“Oh, of course!” I agreed.

We both embraced and then I went over to the looking glass on the desk. I hardly recognized myself not in blue, but in black. My own face looked even paler contrasted with the dark color. Once Edith placed the veil on top of my head and draped the black lace, so it fell long over my face, I wondered if what I saw was even human.

“May I lift the veil if I see my children or someone I love?” I asked.

“I think so,” Edith answered with a shrug. ▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬ A week passed and I received a telegram saying the children were coming to London. I kept waiting and waiting every day, dressed in my black with a veil behind my face every afternoon. I was waiting to hear those three voices I loved so dearly.

Dante and kindly enough, Harry himself sat by my side each day to talk with me and distract me from my anxiety. I kept wanting to ask those impossible questions: where were they? What were they doing? Did something happen? God forbid, have they been hurt?

Finally, one afternoon I heard a dog bark, and a gaggle of familiar voices at the door. And then a knock. Dante took my hand and squeezed, and Harry went over to open the door.

Turning, there they were with Edith and Edgar in the opening parlor of Dante’s house. They all looked at me and their chatter stopped. Joanna, John, and James were all dressed in black and looked at me like a phantom in my veil. The dog however continued to wag his tail and tugged at the leash eager to greet me.

We stared at each other in our black. Then I threw off my veil to see them clearly.

They all cried “Mama!!” and ran up to me.

There all hugged me, and I even heard some tears. I too was crying despite myself. I said their names and followed each by kissing the tops of their heads. Edgar, keeping the dog on his leash, allowed him up, barking, whining, smiling and I was reacquainted with his cold nose and wet kisses on my cheek.

After this was done, I put a hand on John’s shoulder and another on James, Joanna standing in the middle.

“Darlings, I must tell you. I’ll stay with you for a little while in your Aunt Edith’s house. Then when the funeral is done, I’m going to a Sanitarium. Your aunt and uncle will look after the three of you. once either the money runs out or I have finished my time and declare myself healthy. I will go back to live with all of you with your aunt and be your mother like normal. Please…I’m not abandoning any of you. Please don’t think that…it’s my health…”

Joanna went up and hugged me again, shaking her head.

‘Of course not, Mama!” she insisted.

“It’ll help you feel better!” James said.

John leaned down and petted the dog.

“I just can’t believe Papa’s gone…” he sighed.

“Neither can I…” I agreed soberly. ▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬ The funeral was a small affair. The veil I wore was able to hide the many tears I cried over William during the service. Crying about what became of him, my Will. The Love of My Life and The Serpent of Aldwinter. Crying from what I had to do. Yet I kept looking around at each corner with my throat tightening and breath hitching. I was watching out for her: Her. Her. Her. Thankfully, I did not see Her in attendance throughout the day.

But then my father and mother-in-law approached me during the reception. Their eyes were red with tears and their faces pale. My Mother-In-Law spoke in a voice low enough that heads wouldn’t turn.

“We hear you’re going to the countryside for your health. Here…take this check to finance your stay. But other than that, don’t expect a penny more from us!” she hissed, practically throwing a check into my hands.

“Thank you, it will be of help to me,” I said with a calm smile. ▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬ It was hard to leave my children again. But I promised I would write to them every day and they promised they would visit once the train arrived at the station. Harry and Dante helped me up into the car and to our seats. Dante was next to me, and Harry was across from me, I looked out the window and lowered it to listen and say more parting words to James, John, and Joanna. Edith got out handkerchiefs to wave out for me. John practically ran after it until he got to the end of the walkway, waving his arm goodbye and me waving goodbye at the window towards him until he vanished.

“Oh, I have a gift for the two of you…” I began.

Harry jumped in his seat; his hand pulled to his chest.

“Me too? A gift for me!?” he asked.

“Yes, here, in my bag…” I said.

I reached inside the bag I had and got out two pairs of the dark blue gloves I had knitted during my time in London.

“Here for each of you, the first one to shelter me and the first friend I made in London, the first one to help me when Will died. Edith already has hers. I know it’s spring now, but perhaps you can use them next winter,” I reasoned.

Dante smiled, already fitting them onto his hands.

“Why, how kind, Stella! Thank you!” he said.

“I’ll be glad to wear them when it gets colder again. London’s brutal in December,” Harry confirmed.

He placed both into his large hands and held them on his lap, his thumbs feeling the texture.

“Harry,” I started.

He turned his curly head towards me. It was the same color as Will's with Harry's being a little blonder. Also, Harry's wasn't as long as Will's and had a smoothness and shine to it I saw on the top of his head as he took off his hat to be seated beside him.

“I forgot to ask, how is your father now? Wasn’t his health bad?”

“I’ll tell you this. I kept to your word when we parted at your husband’s place. I spoke to my father. I apologized for what I had done in the past. He apologized for making me think he didn’t love me for the times I made mistakes. We cried a lot and then he embraced me, and I called him “papa”- me, a grown man! We speak to each other almost every day and for once not to squabble. As for his health, his heart is weakened, but he seems to be alright for now.”

It was a long, dull train ride. I was grateful for boredom. Fields rolled by us and were replaced by mountains. Mountains so massive they broke through clouds. The train stopped and we took a little carriage to get to the Sanatorium at last.

Nurses and doctors ran out of the entrance to greet us and gather my things. One of the nurses with grey hair and dark eyebrows brought forth a wheelchair.

“Our patients must first and foremost- rest! Sit here, Mrs. Ransome!”

Harry and my brother helped me into the cushioned seat. They walked by me as the nurse wheeled me inside.

“When are visiting days?” I asked.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays. You will meet in the parlor,” she informed me.

I looked over at them.

“Dante, can you visit?”

“Of course, Stella!” he reassured me.

“Write to Aldwinter and tell them they can write to me here for the time being,” I requested.

We heard some giggles from the hallway and a cough from another. I noticed almost every window in the building was open. We paused before a door.

“I’ll go in and make sure your bed is ready- not sure the new girl remembered to make it!” she complained before slipping through the door.

I could feel that the air was crisp, and cooler despite the spring sunshine and being indoors. You could hear some birdsong right on the roof over us. Dante met with another nurse and carried my two bags over to the next room.

Harry looked at me.

“Can I visit you too, Stella?” he asked.

A part of me stuttered out the words. My mouth felt dry.

“Um, yes. I’d like it…”

He smiled as the nurse returned and rolled me on and he followed, hands in pockets.

“Do you remember that joke we managed to pull on Dante those weeks ago? The hat?!” he recalled.

I smiled and nodded, “Yes! I remember! The one with the hole! Switched and he never noticed it! And right when he walked out the rain got right onto his head, and he ran back inside like a cat! I never laughed that hard in ages!”

“I’m glad I could make you laugh, Stella.”

It is a large room filled with beds against white walls. I could place my bags and suitcase beneath it. Nurses and doctors floated by, and patients coughed in their beds, slept, or laid down reading or watching around them. Luckily, my bed was across a large window that overlooked the mountains.

“But you will visit, will you Harry?” I pleaded.

“Yes, whenever I can, Stella, I promise. I’ll even bring the children over with me if I can,” he said. ▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬ The fresh air was everywhere. It seeped between the windows and through the floors inside. Once you were outside, you could almost drown in it.

For a whole month, doctors in white coats with glasses and pretty nurses of at least eighteen advised me to a rest cure. To have four days of the week where I only lay in bed. As hearty as my meals were, it was awkward drinking and eating the rich food they fed us while lying down. The nurse would tip over a glass of milk from me to drink but was careful not to spill it on me. I became used to the taste of the raw eggs they fed us as a side to our meals. They insisted it was good for tuberculosis. The other three days I was allowed to sit up, I could read or write or sew or knit, but I was not permitted to move a foot from the bed. Sometimes a doctor would only pass me by with a “hmmm, aha…” while observing me and then continue on to the next bed. However, there were days the doctors would look at me carefully for hours and write down notes on what I needed next. The nurses would pass by daily with whatever treatments they had to administer to the others.

Often, I noticed doctors and nurses cleaning up the blood. Sometimes, I would see a dead body- its shape covered by a white sheet on a bed- down the hall or in the room being taken away.

“Please God, I’m so lonely, please let someone visit! Please give me someone to talk to! Please let me get better, please!” I would pray every day.

I didn’t dare ask when I could leave but kept up with the treatments and rested as much as I could.

I could be wheeled outside in the wheelchair to sit outside no matter what the weather was. I had several experiences of staying in a bed that was outside on the yard or balcony on days that were completely clear, the mountain air surrounding me.

I mainly wore white nightgowns when I was in bed. For my hours outside in a wheelchair or rocking chair or seeing visitors, my wardrobe consisted of mourning dresses. As the month of May began, I was sweating profusely beneath it all even in the shade. It was bliss to feel the cool wind.

Sometimes in the distance of nature, the rolling mountains, hills, and forests from my hours sitting outside, I would think of William. I would picture him walking about these valleys and how he would have loved reaching his chin up to look at the mountains. I could see him, hands in his pockets, his long, curly hair flying back with the wind.

To think that I, above all people, could and did end a human life! My husbands!

Sometimes I could still see him, hands in pockets, his long coat, his green scarf, admiring the view in front of him and his lips rounding to the words he’d call me “Stella! Look at the mountain- you could make a sermon out of this!”

Then I’d see a tree and a different picture returned to my eyes. I'd see what I saw that day in Aldwinter. The picture of Will retreating his hand from The Woman’s skirt, placing his fingers to his lips, and licking them. Being with Her. Her. Her. Her.

I would stare at it, into the oblivion of nature so long, that I wouldn’t feel the tears fall quietly from my eyes nor one of the nurses shake me after the air bath was over.

“Mrs. Ransome! Mrs. Ransome! Get out of your head and into the wheelchair! It’s time to go inside!” a sharp, shrill voice would scold me.

I noticed one time as my children were visiting, accompanied by their Uncle Edgar, that Joanna had her hair curled. I told her she looked lovely, and she smiled in admiration of them.

Rarely, the visitor would be an old friend from Aldwinter and I would greet them with happy tears and urges to embrace and we would spend hours talking. I would recall the old church and ask if it was still doing its Woman’s Bible Study. They’d tell me all about the new curate and vicar after William’s passing and what daring thing Martha said about the social classes.

I would spend hours admiring the views from my window on my bed: I could see a large lake and rolling green hills. Even nearby farms let their white sheep graze across it like little white clouds on a green sky.

I could write and read letters. I read whatever books or newspapers or magazines I could to pass the time. Of everyone, I most often got letters from four people: my three children, and Harry.

By June, I became more and more chatty among my fellow patients. With hours of being outside and having tuberculosis, such trials bring people together. I asked who they were and where they came from. I’d tell them that I am Mrs. Stella Ransome, originally from Aldwinter, and I was mourning my late husband, hence my black. There was harmless, fascinating gossip I indulged in hearing and relaying of course. Who was talking with so-and-so, who was sneaking away to drink? What each of my neighbors’ lives was like before this- they were happy to tell me. Who left feeling like new? Who died?

I noticed at the times Harry visited, my mouth would still go dry, and my stomach fluttered. I brushed it off as feeling sick.

In July, I began to speak most often with one woman named Mrs. Elvira Carson. She was a tall woman with chestnut hair and large green eyes that seemed to match the fields and liked to wear pink, soft cotton on hot summer days. Even with the hollowness in her cheeks, she was pretty. We both had an interest in flowers. We discussed what we noticed grew in the gardens, and then what plants and flowers. By August, we remembered our old homes, and then our husbands. Hers was still alive.

“But…I must confess something, Mrs. Ransome…” she said one day, her eyes dripping down.

“What is it?” I asked.

She took out a handkerchief and twisted it in her thin hands.

“I mustn’t complain about you being in mourning,” she muttered.

“No, you can complain to me,” I assured her.

“Part of me is grateful to get away because…years ago…it broke my heart so much but…my-my husband had…had another woman…”

I looked right at her, yet I felt frozen where I sat.

“I did my best to maintain a brave face at home. I bit back everything I felt and let him carry on. Thank God he passed nothing onto me but…I feel so…so hurt…” I reached out a hand.

“Well, I know how it feels. I am so sorry. You must be suffering terribly…"

I looked at her and tried to smile, despite a few tears escaping me.

“I can tell you this…you are not alone,” I promised.

We would spend hours and I’d listen to her, letting her mourn and discuss it. We would cry and then laugh at some foolish business or bit of humor that was picked up. We laughed about how silly men and women can be and the ridiculousness of it all. Of course, I did not discuss my own husband’s affair, much less the truth concerning my husband’s end. I had to be careful about who I confided in. But it felt nice to comfort someone.

“June 1st would have been our fifteenth anniversary,” I recalled sadly.

“I’ve been married to mine for about ten years, our anniversary will be October 10th,” she traded back.

I was then moved to the second class of patients. I could get up but if I promptly returned to bed afterward. I could move and walk around a little bit, but the rest came first no matter what. I was grateful once the air chilled and became Autumn. My mourning and the constant blankets over me made me warm.

In October, Harry came by with Dante. Harry even brought over an open bottle of wine and poured us each a glass. As we all three sat in the parlor and caught up over a cup, I noticed Harry was wearing the gloves I gave him all the way back in April.

I found myself suddenly self-conscious, despite wearing a veil that covered most of my face. Harry’s smile made me hold my breath. I was glad that the veil hid me, so it would hide the fact that my eyes would continually dart back to admire his soft, lovely features. Sometimes he seemed so pretty, it was as if he stole them from the face of a lady. I felt as if lightning struck my stomach whenever he would address me.

“I will write to you shortly,” he promised, gathering the empty glasses.

“You write to me constantly!” I replied.

“Only because I bet you must be bored out of your mind here, Stella!” he joked.

Then I looked at him again. And I froze again, seeing a ghost.

Harry had high cheekbones, curly hair, and blue eyes.

William had high cheekbones, curly hair, and blue eyes.

The nurse brought me to a wheelchair and back to the room where I was sleeping in.

“No, no, no, no!” I thought to myself once I returned to my bed.

You are a complete and utter fool! Haven’t you learned your lesson by now?! No, don’t you dare! I scolded myself. Don’t you know what happened the last time you fell deeply in love with a man? With Will? Can’t you see it shall happen again and again! And you recall how that ended! I scolded myself.

I began to recall and reassess our old interactions and his words as I lay awake on the bed at night. But once I woke up the next morning, I would shake my head and bury myself under the pillow childishly.

If none other than a priest tossed you aside for another woman, then what do you think says how undesirable you are, Stella? You’re making up some silly fantasy and can’t face the real world! Can’t you learn to content yourself with friendships and your children and family and nothing else? Besides, even if he did like you, you’ll be the prisoner of an apprehensible man again!

I kept trying not to think of Harry. But I did. So, I tried to easily swap Harry out with my memories of images of Will in my mind. Then I would let myself cry.

I considered destroying Harry’s letters to not pour over and obsess over every word. But I could never manage to even rip one tear into them. They made me so happy. And I was a sick woman at risk of death. And any happiness I could find was better than none. Even happiness from a silly infatuation.

As November passed by it was starting to snow more often. Despite the chill, I was made to sit outside for hours and hours. I had at least five blankets piled on me, and I was quite grateful to be decked all in black. Although, I did miss my old blue clothes.

In December, one doctor was helping treat my symptoms when he asked about the doctor I had when I was diagnosed. I was moved to another room and had more freedom to stand, move about and walk some, including some walking and exercising outside. I could now be moved up to the third class if there were no relapses.

“When were you first diagnosed, Mrs. Ransome?” he asked kindly at the end of his visit.

“That was all the way back in March. And that doctor said I was dying…” I answered.

He took off his glasses, cleaned them, and returned them to his face.

“Well, although there’s no cure yet, your symptoms seem to be slow, and they seem to have improved since then. Looks like whoever that gentleman was in Aldwinter underestimated how tough you really are, Mrs. Ransome!” he said with a little laugh.

“Yes, I agree. But honestly, I think it’s the air here. The air has helped me,” I replied with a nod.

“Though, you will need a little bit more time before you return to society. But now we can recommend you move far more. We’ll move you to the next quadrants. And more exercise will be recommended. You can stand up for a little bit and walk a little longer and farther- but no running!”

I placed my hands on my lap and looked into him.

“Sir, may I ask, when will I be back to normal? When can I leave?”

He let out a sigh, placed a hand over his mouth, looked at his notes, and then at me.

“Maybe six months. You might relapse, and we can’t risk that,” he answered. ▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬ In the last week of December, I received two letters. The first one was from Edith which made me gasp aloud reading it.

“Pregnant! Yes, pregnant! Oh, what joy! What relief! I never in a hundred years thought so! But three months along- the doctor confirmed! I know Eddie’s worried now about how to provide for not only a wife but now four children and soon perhaps you, we know we can make it work. We have waited far too long for our own child. But your children are all well and healthy, I assure you! John’s cheeks have grown plumper and redder. His hair is even darkening now to a brown once you look at him. As for James, he has said the funniest things to me this past week, and I must tell you about them. As we were making plans for the nursery for the new baby…”

When I opened the second letter, I saw it was from my in-laws. But the words made the letter shake in my hand.

“Should you prove that you do not have sufficient funds to provide for Joanna, John, and James, we shall gladly take them off your hands. After all, we are concerned since William’s death about your suitability of you to be their mother. They need to grow up in a place beyond your influence- of such a lack of peace in a home that drove William to his death. The girl we agreed for him to marry was a sweet, selfless creature named Stella. Where is she now? Why can’t you become her again? She was the woman we wanted our grandchildren to be raised by. Not this current, selfish woman who drove our son to sin and death by his own hand! If you had made the home peaceful, warm, and loving despite his infidelity, he would not have been driven to kill himself in the first place!”

The letter fell from my hand and the world became foggy with the tears building up in my eyes.

Oh God, either I was going to have to leave the Sanatorium before I was healthy, or they would take them away! Forever! And who knows, I may never see them again. But I knew the doctor would not permit me to leave an inch from the place yet.

What was I to choose- to risk death and head out? Not that I could even sneak out of how strict they were and how there were nurses everywhere. Say I was to die- that would be the best option- Edith could quickly adopt them. But then…the Ransomes were a well-off, influential family. After I was gone, they could out-buy their way to claim the children as theirs.

Either way, I lost.

I told my fellow patients, and together we would cry together. I wrote a telegram to be sent to Dante. I begged the nurses to send it at their soonest convenience.

“MY IN-LAWS WANT MY CHILDREN. STOP.

RUNNING OUT OF MONEY. STOP.

PLEASE SEND HELP. STOP.”

At that point, perhaps I would welcome death. I could maybe make an illusion for myself that my children would be in Edith’s care once I was gone. I would no longer fear being one of the bodies carried out. But so far, each day I opened my eyes. And each day, I knew, the money was slowly running out.

The calendars on our walls shifted. “JANUARY 1894. HAPPY NEW YEAR!” they read cheerfully, filled with images of snow, parties, and celebration. ▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬

The next Thursday around the evening, a nurse announced that Harry was here to visit me.

“Oh, is he here with the children?” I asked the nurse.

“No, he’s alone! Here Mrs. Ransome…I’ll help you into your mourning dress…and here…here’s your veil,” she offered.

She helped me dress into one of my black dresses and then took the veil and draped it over my face.

“Let me help you into the guest parlor. If you ask for coffee and dessert, we’ll be glad to bring it.”

We walked over to the parlor, she opened the door for me to enter and then closed it, staying right outside.

Harry was sitting in the little chair by the roaring fireplace. He was wearing a new, well-tailored black suit and a black armband around one arm. On the little table were black gloves and a hat with a black ribbon tied around it. He had a little book in his hand that was blue with an illustration of a goat on the cover. Once I walked in, he got up and bowed in greeting.

“Stella!” he greeted.

“Harry!”

“Here…a gift for you. Late Birthday and Late Christmas,” he offered.

He put the book in front of me and I accepted it.

“In your honor, your children and I would find flowers in the park or grow them and press them in a book in your honor. It was a little project for the four of us. and now…now here they are for you…even when it’s winter, you can have flowers.”

Outside I noticed it was snowing heavily, but the paths were cleared out to allow travel for guests and employees of the Sanatorium. You could see the snow as it blanketed the evergreens and kissed the tips of the mountains.

“Why, thank you! How sweet of you and the children!” I replied.

I kept smiling at him, grateful for the veil.

But no…no…no, not again. No, I won’t allow this to myself. I cannot. I cannot. I thought. I made myself frown. Harry swallowed, the lump going down his throat.

“Stella…I’d like to see your face, please…” he requested.

I put the book down on the little table.

“Then remove my veil and look at me…”

He then walked forward and tenderly, gingerly, lifted the veil from my face and over my head. It was a slow, sacred movement- as if he was lifting the lid to the Ark of the Covenant. I looked up at him, my view cleared from the blockage of black lace. His eyes were bright and shiny.

“Soon, you won’t have to wear veils and blacks. You can wear greys and lavenders, I think you’d look nice in grey or lavender,” he commented.

“How is your father?” I asked.

“My father…he passed four days ago from his bad heart.” He gestured to the black armband and then bowed his head. “Oh, Harry, I’m so sorry…” I sighed. “I now am set to own and run a whole bank myself on top of losing him…but enough of my troubles-I was there at Dante’s when your telegram arrived,” he said.

“I’ve paid for this with donations, the sale of the house and the property. Most of the other money I have inherited I have sent to Edith to care for my children. My friends and family and even the one check my in-laws permitted me has been funding my stay.”

From my pocket, I got out the letter from them and gave it to Harry to look over.

“Look here- they’re going to take them the second I run out of money from my stay here. But they’re right on one account…it’s my fault William died,” I explained.

Harry shook his head, setting the letter down.

“He died from his own faults. That’s what always happens in plays. Macbeth died from ambition. Oedipus his stubbornness. Agamemnon his selfishness. Richard the Third, Lear, and Coriolanus are all monsters cruel to others. Now William his lust, indecisiveness, and not acknowledging how his adultery would hurt you. That was what drove him to his death. He made a choice. And suffered the consequences of it. And when there seemed to be no other way-he drank poison.”

“You are right about that…” I nodded.

You heard a patient from outside coughing and a squeaky path of a wheelchair with a doctor chatting. The fire continued to crackle. Outside the sun was setting and the world was turning to a dark grey.

“But I…I’m so worried about losing my children. And the Sanatorium won’t let me leave yet but require money for my stay…” I spoke.

Harry walked over to the fireplace. He leaned against the mantle looking into the flames. It made an orange glow against his handsome face.

“Do you…do you know what you can do about it?” he asked.

“I have two options. I can try to find a way to make money here- sew or clean or cook or garden in the spring to earn my keep. I might be a patient, but they say I can walk, stand, and move some. Second, I can write to my family and friends and hope their donations are enough or in time…” I listed, counting them off with my fingers.

“You have another choice…” he suggested quietly.

His eyes turned from the fire to me. He sat back down on the couch and gestured for me to be next to him. I followed and sat where his hand was. I followed him and sat down.

“What other choice is there?” I asked.

My eyes scattered around, trying to think what he was talking about. He never dropped his eyes on me. Then it struck me what he was talking about. I felt my own heart stop in my chest for a minute. Harry folded his hands together, but his fingers kept twitching. His eyes glanced down.

“Stella…I…I…uhm, I realized. There was a reason why that night I gave you that cup of wine after you cried over The Serpent. Why I offered myself to duel your husband. Why I joined accompanying you to him. Why I followed your advice. Why I sent those bottles to you when you were at William’s place? Why I ran once I heard you scream? Why I offered to bring you home. Why do I keep visiting you? Why do I keep writing to you almost every day.”

“And why do I reply to each,” I blurted in reply.

We looked at each other. I pulled out my handkerchief and put it to my mouth as if to restrain myself from another outburst, not from a cough.

“Stella it’s because…I want you to be happy. I want you to be happy. And I would love it if you could be happy with me…can’t you see? I can’t pretend like I don’t feel anything or feel a little about you, not anymore! I love you, Stella!” he confessed.

I saw Harry was crying a little bit, yet a smile broke on his face.

“Harry, When did you fall in love with me?” I asked quietly.

“I loved you the moment I saw you, I think. Seeing you there…in your blue, your pale face, your hair. I was hungover, I was even questioning if you were real or the fantasy of a drunken man. Yet your image struck me! Yes, you’re beautiful, but I saw something else in you and it chilled and awed me. You were a woman who had seen hell and emerged from it with your heart broken, but not destroyed. You had been to the underworld and emerged changed, but alive. And that amazed me.”

He was sucking in quivering breaths, rambling on.

“Then I found out you were still married. And married to a man who did not hurt your body but broke your heart. I wished I could save you from him then. I knew it would be wrong for me to even speak aloud such things.”

“You’re right- if you even suggested it, it would land me into deep trouble. And an affair on my end would only make things worse” I agreed.

“So, I kept my silence and did what I could to know you were safe, you were alright. But you’re gentle, you’re caring, and you appreciate and look for things no one else does. Even when I was that drunken rake, some overindulged cad, you cared about my well-being and didn’t scoff at me as others would. You gave me wisdom and advice…advice that I followed! It rekindled my father and me before he could die! And it was all thanks to you! Now…now you’re free. You’re free from William…” “So even back then, you still loved me?” I asked.

“Yes, Stella, I love you and I want to marry you!” he declared.

I let out a gasp and put my hand again over my mouth.

“I don’t want to sit to the sides with this through your pain! I will face this as your next of kin! We will brave your consumption together! Plus, once we’re married, the Ransomes will have no claim over the children because I will be their father! I have far more than enough money from the bank and my new position to feed and shelter Joanna, John, James, and you! And you can use my money to stay here and recover if you’d like!”

“I want to, but I…I’m afraid, Harry…” I confessed.

“Do you know what I’m afraid of? I’m afraid of watching you wither and die miserable and alone and without help! I’m afraid of facing this next part of my life alone with no one by my side. Being alone. Then pushed into a loveless marriage for the sake of image- If I don’t marry you, I’ll be forced to marry a wife who just wants to waste money when it could be spent helping someone, someone like you! What lady do I know is Stella Ransome? None!”

He took both of his hands and clutched them gently onto mine. He looked right into my eyes, pleading, promising.

“If you accept my hand, I promise you- I’ll be loyal to you, and I will provide for you and your children. They will want for nothing. So shall you.”

I teared up. Another pair of blue eyes years ago made similar promises that I leaped into eagerly. But I was wiser now.

“But…the thing is Harry…I look at you and sometimes I see Will! I see William’s eyes in your own, looking at me, William’s face smiling at me. I fear…I’m so afraid of marrying another William…of just loving, making myself that open again, and then…” I trailed off.

I pulled out a handkerchief to wipe my tears, not finishing the obvious end of that thought.

“I swear to you, I am not William Ransome- I am Harold Cavaradossi! I am not Will, I am Harry! And Harry will be the most faithful, honest, and loving husband to you…”

I began shaking my head, looking around for Dante or someone to leap out on me in the surprise of this trick.

“You’re…you’re tricking me. This has to be one of your pranks. You just… you want to…want to collect me like one of your courtesans and paint me and leave me for someone else!” I forced myself to say.

He shook his head.

“No, Stella…. I’m not…” he refused.

He reached a hand over to wipe the tears from my face.

“Where were you going before this? Who were you seeing?” I asked angrily.

“Your children, right before I got on the train and left.” He answered.

“And what were you discussing?”

“I was telling them that I was going to propose marriage to you, and they were excited about it! They’ll have me as their stepfather! They want you to be happy too! Here- I have a letter in my pocket from James to you listing all the reasons you should marry me!”

He pulled it out. Sure enough, it was James' childish, loopy handwriting.

“Dear Mama,

Please marry Mr. Harry. For one reason, he tells me all the best stories about the plays he saw. Two, he makes me laugh. Three, he takes me to the park and…”

I let out a little laugh. I kissed the paper from my darling James and pressed it to my heart. And then he laughed too. We caught our breaths, and we went on. The wind whistled and some snow blew with it, creating a wind of dancing snow, and then it stopped.

“When was the last time you saw a lady of the night?” I asked carefully.

“Six months ago! Do you know why? I could pay some poor woman who needed the money and imagine it was you. And because you were in deep mourning and any marriage proposals to a widow within that time were out of the question! But now… I can’t see them. I can’t even step in a brothel anymore because I…I keep thinking of…of what you would think of me. What you would have me be and do…and I thought you would be ashamed of me and now…I can’t anymore…” he answered.

I put the letter from my son into the book. Then I crossed my arms, looking down.

“Harry…I’m not some innocent virgin anymore.”

“Well, neither am I!” he replied.

We both let out another laugh that made my stomach hurt. But once it stopped, I dropped my smile. I felt a little dizzy and I was trying not to shake as the words came out of me, quietly but clearly.

“But you don’t understand…when I was married, I was loved by my husband only for the good parts of me. The sweet, proper lady who thought of others and never herself- a woman who was pure, good, and kind and Harry…I’m not that sweet or kind, not anymore.”

“No! You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met, Stella!”

“I mean it! I’m a monster, a villainess! A sinner!” I protested.

“Who isn’t a sinner!? What is it? Why do you think you’re a monster, Stella?” he asked.

I let out a sigh. I wanted to explode into pieces. I wanted almost to run. The moment had come to tell someone. Finally, finally, tell someone. The secret that could cost me my fragile life. The secret I kept for months and months.

“Well…I shall tell you. Do you swear...swear you will never tell…” I begged.

“Of course, not…”

“Prick your finger on my sewing needle and swear. I am choosing to confide something in you. Something dangerous. If you want to be my fiancée and husband, you must know this about me. You must consider what I really am before you even think of marrying me.” I warned.

“Alright, I will.”

I took out the sewing needle from my pocket and we both pricked our forefingers until a little circle of blood poked out. Then we used our handkerchiefs to press it in to keep the blood from spilling too much anywhere.

I knocked on the door and it opened to the nurse.

“Could we have that coffee and dessert brought to us, please?” I asked.

She nodded and then ran down the hall. Once she was at a safe distance and I was sure no one was around to listen, I closed the door. I leaned in close- his ear to my mouth.

“William’s death was not a suicide…” I whispered.

His eyes went large.

“You mean it was-“

I interrupted him.

“I asked him for a divorce. He said no. I asked him to end things with her. He said no. He was going to make me go back to Aldwinter to die as his angelic wife who would tolerate his betrayal with no thought for her own happiness.”

“I wonder if Will wanted a wife or a martyr!” Harry commented softly.

“I had only one option left…”

“You mean…you…you…”

“So, I put cyanide into his sherry and killed William Ransome myself, Harry. And the police never suspected a thing.”

Harry’s eyes darted around. The corners of his lips curved up to a shaky smile.

“So! The holy man poisoned by his own bloody sherry!” he said.

“Shhhh!” I urged him.

Scurrying back to the entrance, I opened the door again and saw no one was around. Letting out a sigh of relief, I returned to him and kept my voice low.

“Please tell no one!” I begged.

“Of course not!” he promised.

I shook my head and lowered my gaze to the floor.

“What do you think of me now, Harry? Am I…am I a monster to you? I will not hold you back or beg for you. I can understand not wanting to marry an evil woman,” I said.

“You’re not an evil woman, Stella,” he denied.

I blinked. My eyes went up to him. He walked close to me, then opened his arms. I walked into them, accepting the embrace. Warm, soft, gentle- I felt safe. I clutched onto his arms, and I felt him rock me back and forth slightly.

“Even…. even though I…” I was mumbling.

“No, not at all! You tried every other option. You did what you had to. In fact, it makes me admire you.” He whispered.

I paused to look up at his face.

“Admire? Why?” I asked.

“You chose to kill a bad man. When you’re a soldier, as I was, you are required to kill people you are told are bad. You must kill them for the greater good without question. You were a soldier, Stella. You killed for the greater good. Only you tried every option before you had to end a life. Not even soldiers in a battlefield have the luxury of other choices,” He answered quietly, right into my ear.

There was a knock on the door that made me jump and let out a small shriek.

“Here you are- the refreshments!” the nurse announced.

Harry laughed and opened the door, waving his hand to allow it in. The nurse brought coffee and two slices of buttermilk chess pie and set them on the table. We thanked her. Harry gave me my cup and we both took the first sip and then set it down.

“Harry…I cannot tell you how relieved I am that you still like me,” I confessed.

He took another drink with a smile.

“I don’t just like you, Stella, I love you.”

“And I love you too,” I finally said.

Then he got down to the floor on one knee and gently took my two bare hands, kissing them. I smiled as he spoke and had to keep myself from crying again, but tears of happiness this time.

“Stella Ransome…you are a woman as sweet as you are strong, beautiful as you are brave…you could have become a villain yourself from everything you had been forced to endure, but you did not. My Isabella of Valois who needed her deserved happiness. My little fairy, or maybe a little witch who happily put me under her spell. My princess with both a diamond diadem and a sword beneath her silks.”

I let out a little giggle and felt my face become warm, and not just from the comforting crackle of the fire.

“You are an inspiration to me, a comfort, and a constant. I promise and swear to you on my sore, bleeding finger, if you choose to marry me, I will be a faithful husband to you and give you and your children anything you will need.”

A little gasp went out of me in response, and I wiped my tears with my free hand. My heart was beating in my chest.

Maybe, just maybe…I would be stupid to deny the chance to secure my claim over my children as well as support myself. And maybe…just maybe…though I had been hurt by the love from a man, I forgot the joy and bliss of it. Not from bad men, but good men. A good man. A man who knew the worst of me and wanted me anyway. A man who likely- very likely!- would not toss me aside, as Will Ransome, the Vicar of Aldwinter had done.

Yes, there was a risk. That chance I could be proven wrong. But it was one I knew I could take.

“Yes, Harold Cavaradossi, I’ll marry you. But one more thing you must remember…”

I released a hand to gently touch the black cloth tied around his right arm.

“You…you could be a widower in a month, Harry.”

He took my hand in his and kissed it again. He looked at me with the sweetest, the most loving smile I had ever seen, and my heart was filled to the brim as he spoke.

“I would rather have a brief heaven with you than years of the hell I would be in without you.”

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architectnews · 3 years ago

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LWK + PARTNERS Architects, Hong Kong

LWK + PARTNERS Architects, Building, HK Design Studio Images, Architecture Office China

LWK + PARTNERS Hong Kong Architects

Contemporary HK Architect Practice – Chinese Design Studio Info + News

post updated 24 September 2021

LWK + PARTNERS Architects News

24 Sep 2021 Two LWK + PARTNERS projects earn esteemed recognitions at The Global RLI Awards 2021

LWK + PARTNERS is pleased to announce that two of the firm’s design projects in China won distinguished acclaims at world-renowned The Global RLI Awards 2021. The awards were announced in a hybrid presentation ceremony held in London on 23 September.

Zijing Paradise Walk, Hangzhou, China • RLI Most Innovative Retail & Entertainment Project (Highly Commended)

Designed with culture and wellness themes, this shopping mall freshens up the local retail scene with playful references to village life, Hui-style architecture and traditional Chinese gardens. Not only is the building aesthetically pleasing, but it also provides cool shades for passers-by with shifting and cantilevered forms.

image courtesy of architects Zijing Paradise Walk, Hangzhou

MixC Dongguan Songshan Lake District Mixed Use Development, Dongguan, China • RLI Future Project (Highly Commended)

The project is conceived as a catalyst of urban transformation turning a sub-urban industrial landscape to a robust lifestyle and cultural hub. Featuring diverse energising public spaces and multifarious greenery, the project also benefits the community with premium apartments and commercial facilities.

Ferdinand Cheung, Director of LWK + PARTNERS, joined the ceremony online and noted: “I would like to thank RLI and the jury for the recognition. Credits to the team for their continuous efforts through the challenges in both projects. We also look forward to the completion of the MixC project in Dongguan.”

The Global RLI Awards celebrates the most visionary and innovative retail and leisure concepts from across the globe. Since its inception 16 years ago, it has been regarded as one of the world’s most representative award programmes in the sector.

8 Sep 2021 LWK + PARTNERS Zero energy buildings design image courtesy of LWK + PARTNERS LWK + PARTNERS Zero energy buildings design Building construction and operations make up 38% of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions, according to the 2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction published by UN Environment Programme. To significantly decarbonise our buildings, one of the key innovations being actively explored by architects is the idea of a ‘zero energy building’, which has attracted much discussion across the building industry and academia and is now increasingly seen as critical for the future sustainable smart cities.

8 July 2021 Green Shore Residence Phase II, tip of Luoxi Island in Panyu, Guangzhou, south eastern China image courtesy of architects office Green Shore Residence, Luoxi Island Cities, as they develop, are known to leave their mark on the skylines. Green Shore Residence Phase II, a top-end luxury residence in Guangzhou, China designed by LWK + PARTNERS, is an architectural response to the relationship between the island and city where it resides.

31 May 2021 Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021-2022 News

Five projects by LWK + PARTNERS have attained honourable titles, including three 5-Star and two Winner, at Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021-2022. One of the projects, Tsuen Wan Sports Centre, Hong Kong, China is also Nominee of Best Leisure Architecture Asia Pacific, competing with other top projects for the region’s best. The virtual ceremony was held on 28 May 2021.

Tsuen Wan Sports Centre, Hong Kong, China: image courtesy of architects

LWK + PARTNERS Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021

29 Oct 2020 Radisson Collection Resort, Nanjing, China Design: LWK + PARTNERS image courtesy of architects Radisson Collection Resort Nanjing The low-rise resort complex consists of 151 deluxe guest rooms and suites, accompanied by comprehensive amenities like a lobby bar, all-day dining restaurant, Chinese restaurant, executive lounge, function rooms, meeting rooms, a fitness centre, swimming pool and spa.

20 October 2020 Streets as the impetus of community life image courtesy of LWK + PARTNERS Streets as the impetus of community life LWK + PARTNERS Director HC Chan sees immense opportunities in excavating the power of street life to preserve cultural diversity and walkability. Fostering a liveable city requires the engagement of various stakeholders. Policy makes up one side of the story, but the participation of residents in placemaking is equally important for achieving urban spaces truly fulfilling for the local people.

4 August 2020 LWK + PARTNERS Lighting Design image courtesy of LWK + PARTNERS LWK + PARTNERS Lighting Design

6 July 2020 LWK + PARTNERS Saudi Arabia Office The new LWK + PARTNERS Riyadh studio will be led by Kerem Cengiz, Managing Director – MENA (right), and Usama Aziz, a new Director. LWK + PARTNERS Saudi Arabia Office

1 June 2020 Shijiazhuang Zhao Hua Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, North China image courtesy of architects Shijiazhuang Zhao Hua Hospital in China Our planet’s population is now going through the biggest shared experience in decades due to COVID-19, and the way people think about life and illness today is incomparable with any time in history.

Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre Temporary Quarantine Facilities photo : Paul Y. – iMax Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre Facilities

OCT Caoqiao Cultural Commercial Street, Hunan Province, China image courtesy of architects Hunan OCT Caoqiao Cultural Commercial Street

27 Apr 2020 Zhongshan OCT Harbour Development, Shenzhen area – west coast of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China image courtesy of architects office Zhongshan OCT Harbour Development

31 Mar 2020 Hebei Grand Hotel, Anyue, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, North China image courtesy of architects office Hebei Grand Hotel, Anyue in Shijiazhuang, China When it comes to aesthetics and simple living, the past can be a rich source of inspiration. LWK + PARTNERS recently completed Hebei Grand Hotel, Anyue in a new Central Business District of Shijiazhuang; part of the fast-growing Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan region.

23 Feb 2020 Xichen Paradise Walk, Chengdu, China image courtesy of architects practice Xichen Paradise Walk Retail Complex in Chengdu, China Retail spaces are evolving into lifestyle complexes that are inspiring, diversified and immersive to surround visitors with a curated experience to fulfil various lifestyle and social needs. Xichen Paradise Walk encourages social interaction and community life with high transparency and accessibility to bring together people, their neighbourhoods and nature.

25 Nov 2019 Kei Cuisine, Hong Kong, China photography : iMAGE28 Kei Cuisine Restaurant Hong Kong Successfully marriage of Japanese and Chinese cultures to create an elegant ambience for Kei Cuisine, a luxury Cantonese restaurant located in one of Hong Kong’s core retail areas. Out of client’s passion for Japanese culture, the team took inspiration from the Yoshida Fire Festival.

12 Nov 2019 TIANFU ONE Exhibition Gallery, Chengdu, China photograph : Guanhong Chen Tianfu One Exhibition Gallery Chengdu Building Comfortably perched at the eastern end of a green corridor in Chengdu’s Tianfu New District, TIANFU ONE Exhibition Gallery enjoys panoramic views of the Luxihe wetland park just across the road. The architecture firm leveraged its proximity to both urban life and natural greenery to craft an observation deck culminating at the end of the city’s main artery.

20 Oct 2019 The LOOP, Chongqing City, southwest China photo : WOHO The LOOP in Chongqing The LOOP is the sales gallery for Shun Shan Fu, a low-density residential development composed of various luxurious villas and houses.

16 Oct 2019 Vanke Forest Park Sales Gallery, Chongqing City, southwest China photo : Guanhong Chen Chongqing Vanke Forest Park Sales Gallery Scenery is beauty; nature is grandeur. Abandon screams and self-expression, and embrace silence and tranquillity… ‘Retreat’ is a design attitude.

13 Oct 2019 Spiritual Bay Pavilion, Qingdao, China photography : Xuesong Zhang & Guanhong Chenn Spiritual Bay Pavilion in Qingdao Spiritual Bay Pavilion in Qingdao recently opened. Just 120 metres off the Yellow Sea coast, the project is endowed with perks of nature at Guzhenkou’s Lingxi Bay near the intersection of Yingshanhong Road and Haijun Road, enjoying distant views of the Dazhushan Scenic Area.

14 Oct 2019 Legend Gallery, Chongqing City, southwest China photography : Guanhong CHEN, Lian HE Chongqing Jiangshan Yun Chu As a lifestyle gallery, Chongqing Jiangshan Yun Chu – Legend Gallery is a trial for and response to localised architecture. It explores the spatial interaction between nature and urban space on a site close to Chongqing’s Jialing River bank, where the waterscape forms a rare natural setting for the urban area.

26 Sep 2019

LWK + PARTNERS Architects – Key Projects

LWK + PARTNERS Recognised with Four Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets 2019

26th September 2019 – Four projects by LWK + PARTNERS have been recognised in the Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets 2019, at a presentation ceremony that took place in Dubai yesterday, an event attended by e-architect founder and co-Editor Adrian Welch.

Landmarks Riverside Park – Phase II Danzishi Old Street, Chongqing, China, by LWK + PARTNERS: images courtesy of architects office

Shijiazhuang’s Zhengding Li Mixed-use Development is Winner of the Retail Project Award (Future), Chongqing’s Landmark Riverside Park – Phase II: Danzishi Old Street was made Winner of the Retail Project Award (Built), while Hangzhou’s Gallium Valley Science Park and The Pavilia Bay in Hong Kong are Highly Commended respectively for the Commercial Project Award (Future) and Residential – Medium to High Rise Project Award (Built).

Gallium Valley Science Park, Hangzhou, China, by LWK + PARTNERS Hong Kong: image courtesy of architects

Zhengding Li Mixed-use Development is located in the new central business district adjacent to the historical city of Zhengding in Shijiazhuang of China’s Hebei province. This retail-led development comprises SOHO offices, serviced apartments as well as a resort hotel, all linked up by pedestrian-friendly retail streets. Such a model of mixed-use development will promote a sustainable and zero-carbon community which is a main theme for future living.

LWK + PARTNERS Architects, Hong Kong:

Landmarks Riverside Park – Phase II: Danzishi Old Street in Chongqing, China, sits on a rejuvenated riverside heritage site. A retail complex by nature, Danzishi Old Street now offers a comprehensive cultural commercial experience that bridges the old and new, the oriental and the western. While many traditional spots were preserved and historical buildings refurbished, new structures were built with a modern Chinese architectural style so the old and new assimilate impressively well.

Zhengding Li Mixed-use Development, Shijiazhuang, China:

Gallium Valley Science Park is at the heart of the Cloud Valley technology cluster in Hangzhou, China, aimed to promote the development of e-commerce and the artificial-intelligence sector. It is located to the south of the new Xihu University and adjacent to a river, encouraging synergy with the tertiary institution while enjoying scenic surroundings. The project advocates a new office-park typology that blends greenery and communal spaces in the work environment, encouraging work-life balance in a professional industry.

The Pavilia Bay, Hong Kong, China:

The Pavilia Bay is a seafront residential development in Hong Kong, China, facing the serene Rambler Channel and surrounded by dense greenery of a nearby park. Its architecture invokes the beautiful image of a yacht embarking its journey towards the waters, with this theme carried all the way from macro building form, elevation right through to the interiors.

The Pavilia Bay, Hong Kong, China:

To take full advantage of the site, residential towers are oriented to maximize sea views for each residential unit. Residents have access to a host of clubhouse amenities such as an infinite pool, gym, and children’s play area.

Landmarks Riverside Park Chongqing:

As Hong Kong-based architectural practice LWK + PARTNERS continues to expand in China, Asia and MENA, the Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets are the latest testament of international recognition towards its diverse design expertise. In addition to the awards, LWK + PARTNERS takes part in the exhibition and conferences of Cityscape Global, which is an annual real estate investment and development event, to shed light on the latest developments of the industry. LWK + PARTNERS Directors Ivan Fu, Ferdinand Cheung and Corina Leung gave insightful presentations offering perspectives and knowledge illustrated by powerful built-environment solutions.

Gallium Valley Science Park buildings in Hangzhou, China: image courtesy of architects

The Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets recognises and celebrates excellence across real estate developments and architecture. Covering a range of categories, the awards offer international architects and leading real estate developers a prestigious platform to collaborate and share their vision for the future, from culturally integrated city skylines to sustainable urban communities.

Zhengding Li Development, Shijiazhuang, China:

More projects by LWK + PARTNERS online soon

Address: LWK + PARTNERS (HK) Ltd, 6-8/F & 15/F, North Tower, World Finance Centre, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Phone: +852 2574 1633

Architects Practice Information

LWK + PARTNERS are a HK-based architectural design studio

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LWK + PARTNERS is a leading design architecture practice rooted in Hong Kong. They are a platform with design specialists who deliver world-class solutions to the built environment.

Their 1,000+ creative minds collaborate across a network of 11 offices around the globe providing services including architecture, planning & urban design, interiors, heritage conservation, landscape, building information modelling (BIM), lifestyle and lighting design.

LWK + PARTNERS creates infinite possibilities.

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lepeintre-louis-david · 4 years ago

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Chapter 4: The Marat

Here begins David’s political career. An epoch of feverish momentum which, despite its short duration of twenty-two months, exercised such a considerable influence over the artist's entire life, and whose terrible repercussions, nearly a century later, persists in harming his just fame.

Thus newly elected, he entered the Convention with the representatives of the most progressive opinion. He sat on the benches of the Mountain; yet his political adversaries separated him from those of his colleagues who were already marked by too sinister a reputation.

A generous ardor, an honoring of Athens, of Sparta and of Rome, the hope of reviving their republican splendors as he tried to renew their artistic splendors, urged him to join in the struggle; but in the combats which were fought in the name of liberty, he knew how to deal only with that which came within his art, and, apart from a few violent exclamations, left to the eloquence of others the task of conquering the political and social reforms of which they had made themselves the champions.

The Assembly, moreover, from its first sittings, had placed him in this direction by appointing him, on October 2, to the Committee of Public Instruction, then, on the 18th, to member of the Arts Commission which he had come to reform.

It is to obey this feeling of generosity that we have already pointed out that David, on October 26, 1792, spoke for the first time. He claimed, for the towns of Lille and Thionville, which had repulsed the attacks of the Austrians, the honor of a national award:

Citizens. On the 8th of this month, Citizen Gossuin presented you with the following decree:

The National Convention declares that the city of Lille serves the fatherland well; the Convention applauds the civility and bravery of the inhabitants and of the garrison. A three-colored banner will be donated to the municipality of Lille, bearing the inscription:

A LA VILLE DE LILLE, LA RÉPUBLIQUE RECONNAISSANTE.

A provisional indemnity of two millions will be granted from the proceeds of the sale of émigré property.

This draft decree has been deferred and sent back to your united committees for war, diplomacy, finance and relief. However glorious may be the banner and the inscription that Citizen Gossuin proposed to you to award to the inhabitants of the city of Lille, you have no doubt thought that this monument is too perishable to prove to posterity and to the universe the feelings of recognition and admiration of the Republic for the courage, disinterestedness, heroism, and the generous patriotism of the brave and intrepid citizens of the city of Lille.

I therefore propose to erect in this town, as well as in that of Thionville, a large monument, either a pyramid or an obelisk in French granite from the quarries of Réthel, Cherbourg or those of the former province of Brittany.

I ask that, following the example of the Egyptians and other Ancients, these two monuments be erected in granite, as the most durable stone, which will carry to posterity the memory of the glory with which the inhabitants of Lille as well as those are covered. from Thionville.

I also ask that the debris of the marble coming from the pedestals of the statues destroyed in Paris (note: statues of former kings), as well as the bronze also coming from each of these five statues, be used in the ornaments of these two monuments, so that the most remote posterity learns that the two first monuments raised by the new Republic were built with the luxurious debris of the last five French despots.

I believe that you will think, like me, that it is a testimony of the equity of the National Convention, as of the glory of all French republicans, that the names of each of the inhabitants of the city of Lille and Thionville, who there died defending their homes, be inscribed on said monuments.

I suggest that Félix Wimpfen and other officers, soldiers or inhabitants, either of Thionville or of Lille, who distinguished themselves the most during these two sieges, receive a wall crown upon these monuments until such time as their names may be inscribed after their deaths.

I also propose that, in the manner of the Ancients, the National Convention add to the name of these two cities an epithet which will characterize the glory that their defenders have acquired; and in order to give each individual of any sex, any age, a permanent symbol of these two sieges, I suggest that you strike a bronze medal, with a different highlight for Lille and for Thionville, in order to distribute these medals to each individual living in these two cities. This medal will also be made with bronze from the five destroyed statues.

I observe that it will be expressly forbidden to use this medal for use as an exterior decoration (i.e. to wear it as jewellery or for the sake of vanity).

I desire that my proposal to strike medals take place for all the glorious or happy events already having happened, and those which will yet happen to the Republic, and that in imitation of the Greeks and Romans who, by their metal symbols, not only gave us the knowledge of remarkable events, or of great men, but also that of the progress of their arts.

As our French artists were the first to engage in the outbursts of the Revolution, and as several of them neglected their peaceful occupations to abandon themselves to all that the support of the public good could require, and that many of them among them preferred, by going to the frontiers, the glory of the Republic to their particular glory, the National Convention can, it seems to me, give them a testimony of gratitude, neither more glorious nor more satisfactory than by employing , in the name of the entire Republic, these same artists, to bring its glory and satisfaction to the entire universe and to pass it on to posterity.

Allow me to observe that it is to a fire that the city of London owes the width, the beauty and the regularity of a large part of its streets, as also the convenience of its sidewalks; Would it not be as convenient as it would be advantageous to have a general plan drawn up in Lille, as well as in Thionville, before taking care of the reconstruction of destroyed buildings or the restoration of damaged ones?

It is in this general plan that we would include the most suitable premises of a public place, to erect in these two towns the granite monuments that I have proposed.

I will sum up by asking to appoint commissioners to examine my proposals with their ammendments, in order to report them to the National Convention as soon as possible. These commissioners will be able to come to an agreement with the Committees to which you have referred Citizen Gossuin's draft decree. "

#jacques-louis david #révolution française #art history #ch4_lpld #long post

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veryfineday · 4 years ago

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Quick Access & Summaries

Assigned batches could be scattered. Here is a quick glimpse of the sections covered by this blog. You can read a specific entry by clicking on the cells. Enjoy!

1822 November 27 - 1823 January 2 (Langton; York; Shibden)

Tib's improvement. Consulted Dr. Simpson and Mr. Duffin about venereal discharge. Mariana’s insurance plans. Lending money to Nantz caused awkwardness with the Belcombes. Miss Marsh got sulky for Mr. Duffin and Anne's going first on the way of a calling. Aunt Anne wearied Anne with complaining with the servants, in letters and after she returned to Shibden. Pothering over the accounts of this whole year on New Year's Eve (and the day after).

1825 April 6 - 1825 May 8 (London; Shibden)

Short stay in London on the way back to Shibden from Paris. Investgate Mr. Hancock’s mother with a false identity. A Visit to veterinary collage and professor Coleman's view on grooming. Watch "Der Freischütz" by von Weber. Start letter exchange with Maria Barlow. Reports to correspondents on life in Paris. Work on new foot path.

1829 April 16 - 1829 May 5 (London; Paris)

Leave London for Paris with Vere. Set about finding another apartment. Discuss whether Aunt Anne should return to Shibden. Meet Mrs. Barlow, Lady Stuart de Rothesay, Madame de Rosny etc. Attend the Ball at British Embassy. Begin to take lectures.

1829 August 24 - 1829 August 30 [travel journal] (Belgium)

Coming soon...

1830 May 25 - 1830 June 19 (Paris)

Take lectures in botany, nervous system, mineralogy, and of course anatomy, all given by great French scientists (explore at #AnneListersPeople ). Aunt Anne is deeply hurt by Marian’s selling a property(owned by Jeremy, and Anne through her aunt) without telling her and Anne till the last step. Socialize with embassy-related people. Look after plants. Study a brain and a baby. Think of going to Pyrenees and discuss it with Lady Stuart de Rothesay etc. Letter exchange with Vere, Sibella, Lady Stuart and Lady Gordon.

1831 April 1 - 1831 May 1 (Paris)

Anne and aunt Anne will be returning to England. Several evening’s book-shopping (~100 volumes “great and small") at the sale. The fate of the Reform Bill and different people’s attitudes towards it. Little Louisa Stuart’s 13th birthday. Marian claims in letter that Anne has too many servants, calling poor Cameron the “stumbling block”, and Anne decides to keep her stay at Shibden short.

1831 November 10 - 1831 December 5 (Hastings)

Anne and Vere have just settled in Hastings, a place not good for Anne’s bowels. Their flirting goes on, though Anne at times puzzled at Vere’s blowing hot and cold. After her “pride or affection?” gets hurt by Vere, Anne can’t get over her annoyance, determines to withdraw all her tenderness, and writes poignantly of her solitude. In the following week she keeps saying to herself, that she shall be “indifferent enough” “care nothing about her”by and by.

I was happy to find that Jane Kendall is posting the batch adjacent to mine (after Dec 5). I too want to know what happened next! Surely it will be a great ride to read the both in sequence : )

1832 February 8 - 1832 February 29 (Hastings)

Return from a little excursion to Eastbourne. Tiffs, huffs, and reconciliations between Anne and Vere. George has been seen several times drunk in the street and frightening children. Cholera has been confirmed near London, which may prevent Anne from sailing to the continent. Advertising for a new lady's maid turns out in vain, for none of the applicants will suit. Francesco Bado, an Italian courier, is to be hired for Anne’s travelling in future.

PS: You can read transcripts from March 1 to March 20 at Jane Kendall's blog

1832 September 28 - 1832 October 15 (Shibden)

Renovations to Shibden Estate with tenants. Anne agreed to wait six months for Miss Walker’s answer to her proposal. Revealation to aunt Anne her thoughts about Ann Walker. Their intimacy soon got noticed by Eliza Priestley, ending up with Eliza running into them kissing. Aunt Anne being miserable about Anne’s returning so late at night, on which Anne and Marian had a quarrel. Miss Walker consulted Anne about her tenant and cousin. Though telling Anne not to have too much hope, her conducts shows encouragement. Anne wondered if she is a deep hand. They agreed to go to Doctor Belcombe in York for Miss Walker’s health.

What happened next: Transcripts of Oct.16 - Nov.22 by Steph Gallaway

1833 January 13 - 1833 February 6 (Shibden)

Estate work: trees-planting, letting Pickersgill’s farm to Greenwood, selling stones, adding clause to coal-lease, buying cottages, building new roads (and the latter Adney Bridge). Reverend Ainsworth was still writing! Looking after Ann with Catherine. The Scotch plan was taking shape. Catherine owned she had thought Anne disagreeable, but “how wrong she was”.

PS: You can read transcripts from February 7 to March 4 at Jane Kendall's blog

1833 November 9 - 1833 December 6 (Copenhagen)

Previously: transcripts of Sept 19 – Nov 8 can be read at Jane Kendall's blog

German learning and socializing. Eugenie went out almost every night without Anne’s permission. Moving into a new apartment. Joint letter from Marian and Dr. Kenny telling aunt Anne’s precarious state. Saint Petersburg plan abandoned. Prince William’s birthday night. “Real and flattering kindness” from the Danes on Anne’s leaving. A rushed (but enjoyable to read) journey from Copenhagen to Hamburg.

1835 January 28 - 1835 February 18 (Shibden)

Previously: Transcripts of Jan.2 - Jan.27 by Jane Kendall

Coal rivalry against Rawson and Low Moor Company. Ann annoyed at Lidgate tenant’s manner when discussing his lease. Staff and neighbours on 1835 election. Philip’s “A treatise on indigestion and its consequences” was attentively read twice. Division of Walker property about to kick off. Odd Fellows Club, having been meeting at Stump Cross Inn, claimed itself unpolitical and asked for Anne’s approval. A rabble of hunters’ trespass through Whiskum and Joseph Gill’s stealing hedge stakes at yewtrees wood. Anne seeked to get them all summonsed. 1st anniversary. Parting with Cordingley. Eugenie and Matthew’s intimacy was noticed.

1837 April 29 - 1837 May 23(Shibden)

Ann's will republished. Estate work. Shibden renovation with Mr Gray. Domestic moments. Tiff with Ann about Cookson (servant). Ann joined Anne to sleep in the Kitchen Chamber. Ann went to Leeds to bring back little Mary.

#pinned post

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rysler · 5 years ago

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Lesbian Regency for Sale

Like Gentleman Jack?

Daring and Decorum is on sale for $0.99.

Elizabeth Collington, the twenty-year-old daughter of a country vicar, longs for more than the circumscribed life of her 18th-century Devonshire village. When a highwayman steals a kiss along with her mother's necklace – provoking feelings of which her father would never approve – she suddenly has a secret no one must know. But the highwayman also has a secret: "he" is actually a woman. Will the story of the highwayman's past – complete with a tyrannical husband, a gloomy castle, and a daring escape into London's underworld – persuade Elizabeth to abandon propriety in favor of passion? In the end, can the lovers make an independent life in a world where women are little more than property, evading both the redcoats and the jealous young lord who would tear them apart? Daring and Decorum is comedy of manners wrapped around a gothic tale; a mashup of Jane Austen, Alfred Noyes' poem The Highwayman, Robin Hood, and Moll Cutpurse; and a passionate case for the freedom to love whom one chooses, Daring and Decorum: A Highwayman Novel should appeal to fans of Ellen Kushner's Riverside series, Emma Donoghue's Life Mask, and Michelle Martin's Pembroke Park (billed as the first lesbian Regency).

https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Decorum-Highwayman-Lawrence-Hogue-ebook/dp/B0728N4MP9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=daring+and+decorum&qid=1577467974&sr=8-1

#gentleman jack #lesbian regency #ebook sale #lesbian novels

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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Check out breathtaking examples of adaptive reuse in five Indian cities - art and culture

When a structure is saved, it can transform a neighbourhood. That’s the principle of adaptive reuse — that when you restore a crumbling building, turn the insides into something completely different and make it relevant again, you shine a light on the space, the area, and its history.We haven’t got that far yet. In Kolkata, a 93-year-old residence is now a boutique bed-and-breakfast, but all around it are crumbling historic homes.In Delhi, the rooftop Walled City Café overlooks a crumbling and neglected Shahjahanabad. In Mumbai, a once-iconic mill now hosts yuppie beer-guzzlers and theatre lovers, but most of the mills in the city stand forlorn.Still, it’s a start. “Adaptive reuse projects become an example for others to emulate,” says conservation architect Kirtida Unwalla. In south Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda art district, she points out, what started as isolated incidences of heritage reuse have turned into a flood of cafés, restaurants, retail stores and art spaces housed in bits of history.Unwalla helmed one such transformation — when the high-street brand Zara moved into the five-storey, 110-year old Ismail Building that now lights up the street it’s on.

The entrance to The Walled City Cafe, situated in a 200-year-old haveli in Old Delhi. The principle of adaptive reuse is that when you restore a crumbling building, turn the insides into something completely different and make it relevant again, you shine a light on the space, the area, and its history. ( Sanchit Khanna / HT Photo ) “The new spaces coming up in heritage structures has really changed the area, making it livelier and more visited,” she says.Some of the earliest examples of adaptive reuse in India involved the palaces of Rajasthan. The 15th-century Neemrana Fort was once of the first; it was converted into a luxury hotel in 1991. Other examples include the 18th-century Lake Palace in Udaipur and the 19th-century Falaknuma palace in Hyderabad, both now ultra-high-end hotels.In the cities, the practice is still fairly new. But it’s happening.A decrepit 90-year-old four-storey house in Kolkata was recently in the spotlight after its owner put it up for sale, but only to buyers who committed to not tearing it down.“The enhanced value of a restored and adapted structure is yet to be fully appreciated in India, as it is in the UK, Europe and even the US,” Unwalla says.

Built as an orphanage in 1876, this Bengaluru building now houses the boutique store Cinnamon. ‘We picked the space because restoring it would be a way to remember Bangalore as it was,’ says owner of the brand Radhika Poddar.Money is a key factor, of course. Restoration, renovation and maintenance are significantly more expensive for old structures that typically need specific types of wood, roofing and tile, and need near-constant attention. The new tenants then take longer to turn profitable or make back their investment.“Big investments in restoration also often mean that the demography of a place changes,” says conservation architect Aishwarya Tipnis. “To make up for the money put in, if one runs a café, it has be a high-end one. This leads to more such places in the area, often changing a middle-class neighbourhood into a gentrified one. So one needs to ask what we are preserving,” she says.It doesn’t help that the government offers virtually no incentives, instead turning red tape into another deterrent.As Tipnis puts it: “We could’t really have a gallery like London’s Tate Modern or Paris’s Musee d’Orsay because the flexibility of using an abandoned power station or railway station for something so different simply does not exist here.”Delhi: Coffee, literature, history...On the first floor of a 200-year-old old haveli in Old Delhi, is a café that looks out over the Jama Masjid and the sprawl of Shahjahanabad.

Chandni Chowk’s Haveli Dharampura was restored by BJP MP Vijay Goel, a heritage enthusiast and activist. It is now a luxury heritage hotel and offers kathak and classical music performances. ( Sanchit Khanna / HT Photo ) “The house belongs to my sister-in-law, Zeenat Shafi, and was practically abandoned for over 12 years, after she moved to Canada,” says Sheeba Aslam Fehmi, who lives next door and is food curator for the Walled City Café. “By 2016, it was in such bad shape, it needed urgent repairs. When we were halfway through we realised that this nice open space on the first level would be a good place for people to meet, hangout and eat. It reminded us of the beautiful cafés of Istanbul.”The building had what she calls an ‘Anglo-Muslim’ ambience, with fireplaces, chimneys and a courtyard. It is now a popular venue, especially for literary and cultural events.Not far from WCC, is the splendid Haveli Dharampura — a grand home from 1887, with intact marble jaalis and wide courtyard, now a luxury hotel. It’s owned by the BJP MP Vijay Goel, a heritage enthusiast and activist. “The idea was to restore a part of it as a museum to set an example for others to emulate,” says his daughter, Vidyun, who handles marketing for the space.Once restoration began, the spacious rooms and corridors seemed perfect for a hotel. Work that was planned for six months went on for over six years; the hotel opened its doors in 2016. In addition to rooms and dining, it offers Kathak and classical music performances. “Turning it into a hotel has really helped with funding of the upkeep of a structure like this,” says Vidyun.Kolkata: Check in, check it outThis building was saved as a result of another interesting urban heritage phenomenon — the heritage walk.

The Calcutta Bungalow is a heritage bed-and-breakfast in a restored 1920s residence. This part of the city has several such once-splendid, crumbling structures. ( Samir Jana / HT Photo ) The founders of Calcutta Walks came upon it while researching a new walk around Radha Kanta Jew Street. “There it stood, with its green lattice shutters, arched windows and generous wide balconies,” says Anirban Dutta. “We keep coming across such buildings on our walks around the city, and most of them are in a shambles. We decided to do something about this one because it had so much potential — the ornate facade, wide road in front, relaxed and friendly neighbourhood.” The plan was to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast, “because, you know, we’re already in touch with tourists all the time”.The 90-year-old structure needed much more work than they anticipated. “It was hard to raise the funds,” he says. The restoration took two years, with artisans coming in from Murshidabad to work with chuna-surkhi or lime concrete. The place opened to guests in May 2018. It will take at least until 2023 to break even, Dutta estimates. “But we hope more people will see that it is possible to work on these beautiful buildings and not tear them down.”Goa: Beer at a millThis was a project that began with architect and heritage conservationist Raya Shankwalker deciding he wanted to find an old structure and make it an example of adaptive reuse.

The Rice Mill Cafe, in an adapted rice mill in Morjim, Goa, wears a distressed look to retain a sense of what it was — as well as keep costs down. ‘In a lot of such projects, people go overboard with the spending, and then it becomes very difficult to make the venture profitable,’ says owner, architect and heritage conservationist Raya Shankwalker. ( Harshan Thomson ) His friend said he had just the think — an abandoned rice mill his family owned in Morjim, a coastal town in north Goa. “Travelling in Europe over the years, I’ve spent so many wonderful hours in quaint cafés and bars, housed in some beautiful old structure with an interesting story,” Shankwalker says. “I wanted to do a similar thing here.” So he and a relative invested in the mill.The exterior was intact, and the idea was to give the interiors a distressed look so it would feel like a mill. This helped keep budgets down. Shankhwalker says that kept the whole operation frugal too. “Our design is largely achieved by minimalism. Almost nothing expensive. Just surface treatments and simple elements of décor.” He adds that in a lot of such projects, people go overboard with the spending. “And then it becomes very difficult to make the venture profitable.”Adaptive reuse really works for commercial spaces because people like to be in a space with a story, he adds. Shankhwalker says the bar is now doing well and is well-entrenched in the area.Mumbai: Factory floor to office In Mumbai, an old soap factory is now a posh office and a buzzing café, with silos and chimneys still in place to hint at their history.

What used be the boiler space of the Godrej soap factory is now the Vikhroli Social. ( Edmund Sumner ) “When I first visited this Godrej property, which was to be redeveloped, we decided that the structure of the factory, which spoke to the group’s legacy, must be retained — but not as a museum,” says Anubhav Gupta, business head at Vikhroli and head of corporate social responsibility and sustainability at Godrej Properties. “We wanted it to be a functional space that spoke of the past but looked to the future.”So two of the structures on the plot are now the Imagine Studio, a marketing office for Godrej properties; what used to be the boiler space is the Vikhroli Social. While the structures are open-plan, with smart glass façades, the cast-iron factory equipment works as a reminder of the past.“We are going for a mixed use development approach that will have residences, offices and a five-star hotel too,” Gupta says.Bengaluru: browse with history Cinnamon, a clothing and home décor brand, specialises in products with an Indian aesthetic but contemporary design. When it came time to move from their leased store in Bengaluru, they decided to try and find a space that reflected their identity.“We came across this dilapidated bungalow at Ulsoor, in 2013. Restoration took about 10 months,” says Radhika Poddar, founder and owner of Cinnamon.Originally built as an orphanage in 1876, Poddar says she picked the space because restoring it would be a way to remember Bangalore as it was and maintain a piece of its heritage.The design suited her too — a courtyard perfect for a café; the rooms arranged around it ideal to showcase product lines. The challenge of maintenance remains. “I will say that one must be prepared to take on constant upkeep when one moves into a heritage structure,” Poddar says. “Still, it is a unique space, a piece of social history, and exactly what we were looking for. Read the full article

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resinonao3 · 6 years ago

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The Restoration Artist - Teaser Snippet

A collaboration for @cabigbang

Header Art by @cryo-bucky Traditional Art by @samthebirdbae Fic by @resinonao3 (Ao3)

Artwork rating: G Fic rating: Explicit Word count: 110,000 Relationship: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes Archive Warnings: None - Additional tags below the cut

Summary:

As a conservator of rare oil paintings for The Met, Steve Rogers thinks of himself part scientist, part archaeologist, but hardly an artist in his own right. Only when he’s faced with the daunting task of restoring a frozen painting from a recently unearthed Nazi art hoard does he start to feel his passion for the craft return. Before he has a chance to understand what that means, Steve is transported to the 1940’s, where he meets both The Winter Soldier himself, and his own destiny.

TEASER SNIPPET

New York Times - ART & DESIGN SECTION

Secrets of Nazi Art Rescue Continue as Long Lost Vault Yields Frozen Treasure By SHARON CARTER

October 6, 2016

Within days after it was discovered that an 85-year-old man had hoarded hundreds of artworks collected by his mentor during the Nazi era in an unmarked Siberian bunker, the world gasped at the prospect of rediscovering long-lost treasures.

This week, two months after the discovery of the bunker inherited by Aleksander Lukin, the vault was finally opened. Past seismic activity had damaged the structure, which delayed the excavation.

Once the three foot thick door was removed, though, workers were met with shocking conditions. It was quickly discovered that while the inner chamber remained structurally intact, a breach in the antiquated ventilation system had allowed snowmelt to flood the vault. Over time the underground facility had turned into a giant freezer, trapping the contents in solid ice for decades.

The collection contains over 500 items, including not only paintings, sculptures, sketches, and drawings but also ledgers and other documentation, most of which will not be disclosed until a full investigation on the provenance of the pieces has been concluded.

Most of the finest works in the collection were acquired by the late Mr. Lukin’s mentor, Vasily Karpov, an art dealer who began smuggling art out of Nazi Germany in 1938. Among other accolades, Karpov was also one of the original founders of Shield’s, the world-renowned auction house based out of New York. Just as Shield’s is known for conservation efforts, Karpov’s efforts mostly focused on rescuing art that had been dubbed ‘degenerate’ by the National Socialist party, and brokered deals for Jewish families attempting to exchange their collections for passage out of Nazi occupied territory. While Karpov’s motives are scrutinized by some historians as war profiteering, Karpov bypassed checkpoints by requiring the first party owners of the work to travel with it. This established an art-fueled underground railroad that allowed many Jewish families to escape persecution and they themselves considered the man a hero.

Lukin left his possessions, including the now infamous art hoard, to Shield’s, and a number of their top art historians were on site to assess the finding. Not all were disappointed in what they uncovered.

“In a way this could be a blessing,” said Philip Coulson, long time art historian for Shield’s. “Despite the level of damage and decay caused from exposure to the elements, we’ll still be able to identify much of what’s been stored here. Even if we can’t salvage anything, what we’re most excited for are some answers.”

There is evidence that the vault may contain works by Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, Fabergé, Otto Dix, and other masters, though only one piece in the collection has been identified to the press, and is perhaps the most mysterious. The single portrait was recovered from the vault while keeping it encased in ice in an effort to protect it from succumbing to rapid decay. Coulson identified the subject as a lone American soldier from the Second World War, artist is unknown.

The rest of the hoard, according to Alexander Pierce, Chairman of Shield’s, will remain on site as they are carefully excavated from their frigid prison.

“I know this sounds like a disaster,” said Pierce. “We are doing all we can to safely relocate the rest of the collection and identify more that may be somewhere in one of Lukin’s many properties and holdings. Later in life, the man became fairly eccentric. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found some kind of message that he left behind.”

Whether or not this one, frozen painting was left as some clue leading to the rest of the collection or simply abandoned due to relatively unremarkable provenance has yet to be determined.

The single recovered painting has been dubbed The Winter Soldier due to the condition it was found in. It will be transported to a world-class restoration department of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in hopes that the painting can be salvaged.

For now the mystery of the Lukin art hoard will continue to baffle the art world and historians alike, until The Winter Soldier can tell his own story.

About Shield’s

Shield’s, the world's leading art business, had global auction, private, and digital sales in first half of 2016 that totalled £2.35 billion / $3 billion. Shield’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Shield’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Shield’s also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with emphasis on Post-War & Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern, Old Masters, and Jewelry. With an origin in protecting cultural property throughout political, social, and environmental turmoil, Shield’s is the very icon of art conservation the world over.

Alongside regular sales online, Shield’s has a global presence in 46 countries, with 10 salerooms around the world in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

###

#capbb2018 #capbb #teaser #cabb2018 #cabigbang #captainamericabigbang #myfics

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earlymourninghours · 2 years ago

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Annesley Hall

Abandoned, desolate and derelict , Annesley Hall is a Grade II listed building situated in Nottingham and has seen a lot during the last few centuries. It has been been unoccupied ever since suffering a fire in 1997 which caused damage to the structure and made it uninhabitable.

The History

The Hall dates back to the mid-13ᵗʰ century and was the residence of the Annesley family. It passed to the Chaworth family when the manor's heiress, Alice Annesley married Sir George Chaworth in the 15ᵗʰ century. For the next 350 years, the Chaworth family possessed the estate and while in their possession they significantly enlarged and improved the property in the 17ᵗʰ century by Patrick Chaworth when he had to move to the hall.

Interestingly; part of the estate, Diadem hill, is mentioned in the poem "The Dream" by Lord Byron. Lord Byron had a lover named Mary Chaworth who resided within the estate. The poem details the meeting of two lovers on the hill. Byron's uncle had actually killed William Chaworth in a duel in Pall Mall, London. In future years Mary Chaworth married John Musters of Colwick Hall in 1805. The Chaworth-Musters family became one of the most powerful families in Nottinghamshire with John Chaworth-Musters eventually being appointed High Sherrif of Nottinghamshire for 1864-1865.

In the 18ᵗʰ and 19ᵗʰ centuries the hall underwent structural alterations, including the addition of a service wing in 1880. The Chaworth-Musters family remained the estates owners until it was sold by Major Robert Patricius Chaworth-Musters in 1972. After the sale, the new owners carried out extensive internal alterations and removed many of the 17ᵗʰ century fittings.

A fire ravished the hall in 1997 which caused extensive damage to the structure and it has laid derelict since. The hall is now in private ownership, in rather poor condition and is not open to the public. English Heritage have listed the building on the 'buildings at risk register' as highly vulnerable and deteriorating. Two of the three floors were severely damaged in a fire on May 16ᵗʰ 2015.

The Haunting's

There are many stories and legends of haunting's going on at the hall, from 'The Wicked Lord' to a hanged servant girl, many fear what is told to be lurking within the estate.

One of the many tales speaks of the lovers, Mary and Byron, who walk the halls in search of one another. Mary has been reported to walk in and out of her bedroom as well as walking through walls. The pair have also been spotted at nearby Newstead Abbey too. Other reports tell of Mary and John's son throwing stones and other objects at people. Byron's uncle, now known as 'The Wicked Lord' is also said to lurk within the cellar area with strange knocks emanating from the area. In 'Byron's bedroom', also known as the Blue Room, many people have experienced being pushed by an unseen force. The hall's visitors have also reported mysterious scratches and burn marks to occur within this area.

Other people have reported whispering coming from the library along with the inexplicable smell of cigar smoke.

Another apparition is said to sometimes appear peeking out of one of the upstairs windows. This ghostly figure is said to be the spirit of a servant girl who went on to hang herself off of the staircase in the laundry after her long-time suffering at the hands of a man. According to tales, she stares out of the window, watching for her abuser, fearing he will return.

A pregnant woman, who is rumored to have been murdered, has also been sighted beside a fireplace, holding her unborn child. Backing up these claims is the unearthing of human remains at the hall in the 1940's. These remains were analysed and dated to be from the 1600's and found to be those of a pregnant lady.

Lastly, many motorists have reported the sight of a shadow-like figure stepping out onto the main road that runs nearby. One woman in particular reported seeing a shadowy figure that appeared from nowhere and, upon the point of impact, vanished without a trace. The witness described the figure as a woman or monk wearing a 'swirling dress that floated in the air'. After this encounter, the woman quickly sped off as fast as she could, even disregarding various red lights along the way out of fear.

Alongside the hall there is Annesley Old Church (so known as the Church of All Saints). The Annesley Old Church is a disused church is a ruinous condition which stands on a mound extremely close to Annesley Abbey . It is Grade I listed and is seen as an Ancient Monument. This site is believed to date back to the 11ᵗʰ century and the accompanying graveyard is the final resting place of many plague victims. Although there was never a monastery at Annesley, the ghostly figure of a monk has been reported to roam the graveyard, dressed in a black garb. It is believed that this ghostly monk could be making his way to nearby Newstead Abbey and there was actually a monastery at this location. Another theory is that he could be making his way back to Felley Priory that sits only 2 miles away.

Others report a woman who sits beside a nearby well, occasionally being seen rising from within its depths.

In recent years, there have been many reports of witchcraft practices taking place here since it has become abandoned.

An overall beautiful place that is rich in both history and haunting's, although only visible from the nearby graveyard it is definitely worth a visit just to bask in the intense atmosphere that this piece of history gives you and for the chance to witness many different spirits who stalk its lonesome grounds.

#abandoned #mystery #old house #creepy #haunted #ghost stories

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melbmemories · 3 years ago

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One of Melbourne’s two founders, John Pascoe Fawkner, pictured in Melbourne in an unknown year.

In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize. Fawkner's party sailed to Port Phillip and up the Yarra River to found a settlement which became the city of Melbourne.

He was born near Cripplegate, London in 1792 to John Fawkner (a metal refiner) and his wife Hannah née Pascoe, whose parents were Cornish. As a 10-year-old, he accompanied his convict father, who had been sentenced to fourteen years gaol for receiving stolen goods, when he was transported on HMS Calcutta,alongside his mother and younger sister Elizabeth, as part of a two ship fleet to establish a new British colony on the northern coast of Bass Strait in 1803.

For several months the colony struggled to survive. There were some 27 convict escape attempts, including that of the well-known William Buckley. Finally, Lieutenant-Governor, David Collins, was persuaded to abandon the colony in 1804 with the settlers and convicts departing for the new town of Hobart, in Van Diemen's Land.

In December, 1819, transported convict, Eliza Cobb, and John Pascoe Fawkner loaded up a cart and moved north to Launceston. They were married on 5 December, 1822, with a permit from Governor George Arthur. They established a bakery, timber business, bookshop, a newspaper The Launceston Advertiser in 1829, nursery and an orchard. Then, reading of reports back from the Hentys at Portland and Charles Sturt’s journeys further north and the good country to be found, encouraged Fawkner's resolve to head to Port Phillip and search for a suitable settlement site.

In April 1835, he purchased the topsail schooner, Enterprize, and headed across Bass Strait. John Batman had already led an exploring party to Port Phillip District in May 1835, on board the schooner, Rebecca, and had explored a large area in what is now the northern suburbs of Melbourne, as far north as Keilor, and saw it as ideal country for a sheep run, before returning to Launceston.

Fawkner, his wife and partners arrived in the Port Phillip District, on Friday, 16 October 1835, on the second trip of the Enterprize. Later, after Hoddle had surveyed the future city, Fawkner was active in the first land sales. On 1 June, 1837 he bought the No 1 Block on the corner of Bourke and William Street for £32 and another on the corner of Market and Flinders streets. He lived in the home he built in Bourke Street. He opened the first hotel on the corner of Market Street and Flinders Lane. He played a central role in the early newspaper scene of Melbourne, publishing two of the first papers. Fawkner acquired a property in 1839 as one of eleven lots in the subdivision of the Coburg district by the government, in the present day Pascoe Vale.

#founders #1830's #fawkner #convicts

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newstfionline · 3 years ago

Text

Monday, September 27, 2021

COVID-19 vaccine boosters could mean billions for drugmakers (AP) Billions more in profits are at stake for some vaccine makers as the U.S. moves toward dispensing COVID-19 booster shots to shore up Americans’ protection against the virus. How much the manufacturers stand to gain depends on how big the rollout proves to be. No one knows yet how many people will get the extra shots. But Morningstar analyst Karen Andersen expects boosters alone to bring in about $26 billion in global sales next year for Pfizer and BioNTech and around $14 billion for Moderna if they are endorsed for nearly all Americans.

So close! Iceland almost gets female-majority parliament (AP) Iceland briefly celebrated electing a female-majority parliament Sunday, before a recount produced a result just short of that landmark for gender parity in the North Atlantic island nation. The initial vote count had female candidates winning 33 seats in Iceland’s 63-seat parliament, the Althing. Hours later, a recount in western Iceland changed the outcome, leaving female candidates with 30 seats. Still, at almost 48% of the total, that is the highest percentage for women lawmakers in Europe. Only a handful of countries, none of them in Europe, have a majority of female lawmakers. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Rwanda leads the world with women making up 61% of its Chamber of Deputies, with Cuba, Nicaragua and Mexico narrowly over the 50% mark. Worldwide, the organization says just over a quarter of legislators are women.

Copenhagen’s hippie, psychedelic oasis Christiania turns 50 (AP) After a half-century, the “flower-power” aura of Copenhagen’s semi-autonomous Christiania neighborhood hasn’t yet wilted. “It has become more and more an established part of Copenhagen,” said Ole Lykke, a resident of 42 years at the enclave near downtown Copenhagen. “The philosophy of community and common property still exists. Out here we do things in common.” It all started as a stunt 50 years ago, when a small counterculture newspaper that needed an outrageous story for its front page staged an “invasion” of an abandoned 18-century naval base. Six friends with air rifles and a picnic basket entered the former military facility base, proclaimed it a “free state” on Sept. 26, 1971, took some photos and went home. The paper ran the story, urging young people to take the city bus and squat the barracks. Hippies flocked to what they dubbed Christiania—no one remembers why they picked that name—that evolved into a counterculture, freewheeling oasis with psychedelic-colored buildings, free marijuana, limited government influence, no cars and no police. In 1973, it was recognized as a “social experiment.” After more than four decades of locking horns with authorities, Christiania’s future was secured in 2012 when the state sold the 84-acre (24-hectare) enclave for 85.4 million kroner ($13.5 million) to a foundation owned by its inhabitants. The residents—nearly 700 adults and about 150 children—now rent their homes from the foundation and are financially responsible for all repair and maintenance work to the roughly 240 buildings.

UK gas stations run dry as trucker shortage sparks hoarding (AP) Thousands of British gas stations ran dry Sunday, an industry group said, as motorists scrambled to fill up amid a supply disruption due to a shortage of truck drivers. The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents almost 5,500 independent outlets, said about two-thirds of its members were reporting that they had sold out their fuel, with the rest “partly dry and running out soon.” Association chairman Brian Madderson said the shortages were the result of “panic buying, pure and simple.” “There is plenty of fuel in this country, but it is in the wrong place for the motorists,” he told the BBC. “It is still in the terminals and the refineries.” Long lines of vehicles formed at many gas stations over the weekend, and tempers frayed as some drivers waited for hours.

U.K.’s Migrant Boat Dispute Has Eyes Fixed on the Channel (NYT) Using high-powered binoculars and a telescope, three volunteers from a humanitarian monitoring group stood on the Kent coast, peering across the English Channel. The looming clock tower of the French town of Calais was visible on this clear morning, but so was the distinctive outline of a small rubber dinghy. The volunteer group, Channel Rescue, was set up last year to watch for the boats packed with asylum seekers trying to cross this busy waterway, to offer them humanitarian support—like water and foil blankets—when they land on beaches, or to spot those in distress. But they are also monitoring Britain’s border authority for any possible rights violations as the government takes an increasingly hard line on migration. For much of the year, the numbers of migrants crossing the channel in dinghies has risen, brewing a political storm in London and leading Home Secretary Priti Patel to authorize tough tactics to push boats back toward France. The authorization—not yet put into effect—has stirred anew the national debate over immigration and created a further diplomatic spat between Britain and France, whose relations were already strained after Brexit over issues including both fishing rights and global strategic interests.

German elections (AP) Germany is embarking on a potentially lengthy search for its next government after the center-left Social Democrats narrowly beat outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc in an election that failed to set a clear direction for Europe’s biggest economy under a new leader. Leaders of the parties in the newly elected parliament were meeting Monday to digest a result that saw Merkel’s Union bloc slump to its worst-ever result in a national election, and appeared to put the keys to power in the hands of two opposition parties. Both Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, who pulled his party out of a years-long slump, and Armin Laschet, the candidate of Merkel’s party who saw his party’s fortunes decline in a troubled campaign, laid a claim to leading the next government. Scholz is the outgoing vice chancellor and finance minister and Laschet is the governor of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. Whichever of them becomes chancellor will do so with his party having won a smaller share of the vote than any of his predecessors.

Basta! Romans say enough to invasion of wild boars in city (AP) Rome has been invaded by Gauls, Visigoths and vandals over the centuries, but the Eternal City is now grappling with a rampaging force of an entirely different sort: rubbish-seeking wild boars. Entire families of wild boars have become a daily sight in Rome, as groups of 10-30 beasts young and old emerge from the vast parks surrounding the city to trot down traffic-clogged streets in search of food in Rome’s notoriously overflowing rubbish bins. Posting wild boar videos on social media has become something of a sport as exasperated Romans capture the scavengers marching past their stores, strollers or playgrounds. Italy’s main agriculture lobby, Coldiretti, estimates there are over 2 million wild boars in Italy. The region of Lazio surrounding Rome estimates there are 5,000-6,000 of them in city parks, a few hundred of which regularly abandon the trees and green for urban asphalt and trash bins. In Italy’s rural areas, hunting wild boar is a popular sport and most Italians can offer a long list of their favorite wild boar dishes. Those beliefs are not shared by some urban residents.

Taiwan says China is a ‘bully’ after one of the largest PLA warplane incursions yet (CNN) Taiwan on Thursday accused China of “bullying” after Beijing sent a total of 24 warplanes into its air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the third-largest incursion in the past two years of heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including bombers, fighter jets, anti-submarine planes and airborne early warning and control planes, entered Taiwan’s ADIZ in two groups—one of 19 planes and a second cohort of five jets that came later in the day. The air incursions came a day after Taiwan officially submitted an application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free-trade pact. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs signaled its strong opposition to Taiwan’s application. “We firmly oppose official exchanges between any country and the Taiwan region, and firmly oppose Taiwan’s accession to any agreement or organization of an official nature,” ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

Taliban hang body in public; signal return to past tactics (AP) The Taliban hanged a dead body from a crane parked in a city square in Afghanistan on Saturday in a gruesome display that signaled the hard-line movement’s return to some of its brutal tactics of the past. Taliban officials initially brought four bodies to the central square in the western city of Herat, then moved three of them to other parts of the city for public display, said Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy on the edge of the square. Taliban officials announced that the four were caught taking part in a kidnapping earlier Saturday and were killed by police, Seddiqi said. Since the Taliban overran Kabul on Aug. 15 and seized control of the country, Afghans and the world have been watching to see whether they will re-create their harsh rule of the late 1990s, which included public stonings and limb amputations of alleged criminals, some of which took place in front of large crowds at a stadium.

UN and Afghanistan’s Taliban, figuring out how to interact (AP) It’s been little more than a month since Kalashnikov-toting Taliban fighters in their signature heavy beards, hightop sneakers and shalwar kameezes descended on the Afghan capital and cemented their takeover. Now they’re vying for a seat in the club of nations and seeking what no country has given them as they attempt to govern for a second time: international recognition of their rule. The Taliban wrote to the United Nations requesting to address the U.N. General Assembly meeting of leaders that is underway in New York. They argue they have all the requirements needed for recognition of a government. The U.N. has effectively responded to the Taliban’s request by signaling: Not so fast. Afghanistan, which joined the U.N. in 1946 as an early member state, is scheduled to speak last at the General Assembly leaders’ session on Monday. With no meeting yet held by the U.N. committee that decides challenges to credentials, it appears almost certain that Afghanistan’s current ambassador will give the address this year—or that no one will at all. The U.N. can withhold or bestow formal acknowledgement on the Taliban, and use this as crucial leverage to exact assurances on human rights, girls’ access to education and political concessions.

#headlines #news

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mishinashen · 3 years ago

Photo

Children Under a Palm Tree by Winslow Homer, 1885

The work was painted in the Bahamas in 1885. It is in watercolour and pencil. It measures 14 inches by 20 inches and depicts the three children of Sir Henry Blake, the colonial governor of the Bahamas at the time. They were attending a fancy dress party in Arabian costume. The party was also attended by Winslow Homer who was asked by Lady Blake to sketch the children. The central figure is Olive Blake. On either side of her are her younger brothers, Maurice and Arthur. Olive subsequently married John (Jack) Arbuthnot who wrote some of the Beachcomber columns. In her later years, Olive was described by one of her grandsons as being "a formidable looking woman of whom I was somewhat frightened".

The painting was not framed and was subsequently included among a number of works by Lady Blake who was herself an amateur artist. The family believed the painting was by her. After colonial service in Jamaica and Hong Kong, the Blakes retired to Myrtle Grove in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland.

In 1987, the painting, along with a work by Lady Blake and other material related to the Blake family, was found by Tony Varney while fishing in Ireland. It was found just outside a rubbish dump, three miles from Myrtle Grove. He gave the painting to his daughter Selina Varney. In 2008, they took it to a recording of Antiques Roadshow where it was identified by Philip Mould as a work by Homer and valued at £30,000.

The painting was featured in the second episode of the BBC TV programme, Fake or Fortune. Mr. Mould took it to New York to be sold by Sotheby's. They confirmed the attribution and valued it at over $100,000. It was included in their sale on 21 May 2009. It appeared in the catalogue without any reference to having been found; it was described simply as "private collection, 1987". A preview of the sale appeared in the Daily Telegraph. Ms. Varney was flown to New York to observe the sale.

On the day before the sale, Simon Murray (the great grandson of Sir Henry Blake) claimed ownership of the painting on behalf of the family. Tom Christopherson, European General Counsel for Sotheby's, said that the Murrays were contacted by Sotheby's, as part of routine due diligence, prior to the auction. Sotheby's were told that the family had no record of owning a painting by Winslow Homer. Mr. Murray, however, holds that Sotheby's never discussed the painting with his family and that his mother was unaware of the sale until she saw a report in the Telegraph. Mr. Murray initially offered Ms. Varney 25% of the sale proceeds as a "finder's fee". She rejected this offer and the parties initially agreed to continue the sale and resolve the dispute afterwards. On the day of the sale, however, Mr. Murray changed his mind. He offered 30% as a finder's fee, but without an agreement, he would no longer support the sale of the painting at auction. Ms. Varney rejected the revised offer and Sotheby's followed their normal policy, withdrawing the painting because they could not guarantee a good title to anyone who bought the work. The painting was withdrawn with only three lots to go - unusually close to the sale time.

At a later date, the painting was placed on the Art Loss Register, operated by a commercial company based in London which charges a fee to register stolen paintings. The family believe it disappeared from Myrtle Grove after a series of robberies in the 1980s, although Philip Mould notes that there was no crime reported. According to Mr. Murray, his family didn't know that the painting was stolen until it was put up for auction at Sotheby's. Mr. Murray conducted further research among his family's papers and claims to have found a letter which described the circumstances under which the painting was produced.

At the date of transmission of the programme (26 June 2011) ownership was still the subject of a legal dispute. In October 2013, the London Evening Standard reported that Shirley Rountree (Simon Murray's mother and a descendant of Sir Henry Blake) was suing Sotheby's for "return" of the painting. Sotheby's responded that the ownership of the painting was still disputed and should be settled in the courts.

In November 2013, a new claimant for ownership of the painting emerged. Clifford Schorer says the painting was used as security for a loan and that he is now entitled to it, the Blake family having failed to make a claim in a US court.

A barrister represented Selina Varney (now Rendall) in the title dispute with Shirley Rountree (Rountree v Rendall) turning on the English and Irish laws of:

finding lost, mislaid, and abandoned property;

limitation, by the automatic time-barring of claims — statute of limitations or more discretionary deeming of time to have run out — laches (equity).

In 2018 a court battle was still going over ownership of the painting.

#american art

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sonofhistory · 7 years ago

Note

Please tell me info on Patsy Jefferson's children!

Children of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph Jr.:

Ann Cary Randolph Bankhead (1791–1826)

Ann was born healthy on January 23rd, 1791 at Monticello and resembled her mother greatly. Her grandfather spelled her name as “Anne”. She was named after her paternal aunt of the same name [x]. In 1808 she married Charles Lewis Bankhead who was called an “unworthy person of his name”, the Bankheads were friends of the Jeffersons. She had three sons and one daughter that lived to adult hood. She was close with her younger sister Virginia. Of his “Anne” Jefferson said:

“I think her apt, intelligent, good humored & of soft & affectionate dispositions, & that she will make a pleasant, amiable and respectable woman.“

In 1811 the Bankheads purchased Carlton, an 800 acre farm adjacent to Monticello property. Charles Bankhead was very alcoholic [x], abusive, and was prone to frequent bouts of anger. By 1816 the Bankhead’s farm in for production in corn and tobacco [x] was going to ruin and Thomas Jefferson added land to their’s to increase holdings [x]. Before her death her sister, Cornelia, wrote to their sister Mary:

“you had better come down this morning for you will never see sister Annagain if you do not, there is no hope for her. Virginia ought to be told for she must know the worst soon, and grandpapa.”

Thomas Jefferson was present at her death in an “adjoining apartment” and a man named Robley Dunglison told him she was dead. Jefferson began to cry and “abandoned himself to every evidence of intense grief.” It was following the birth of her daughter that Ann died of complications following the childbirth on February 11th, 1826. She was buried in the family graveyard at Monticello.

Thomas Jefferson Randolph Jr. (1792–1875)

Thomas was born on September 12th, 1792. His education was at home and in Philadelphia where he was sent at fifteen and was supervised by his grandfather. In 1815 Randolph married Jane Hollins Nicholas (1798–1871) and they moved to nearby Tuftton. They had thirteen children:

Margaret Smith Randolph (1816–1842)

Martha Jefferson Randolph (1817–1857)

Mary Buchanan Randolph (1818–1821)

Careyanne Nicholas Randolph (1820–1857)

Mary Buchanan Randolph (1821–1884)

Eleanor Wayles Randolph (1823–1896)

Maria Jefferson Carr Randolph (1826–1902)

Carolina Ramsey Randolph (1828–1902)

Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Jr. (1829–1872)

Jane Nicholas Randolph (1831–1868)

Wilson Cary Nicholas Randolph (1834–1907)

Meriwether Lewis Randolph (1837–1871)

Sarah Randolph (1839–1892 or 1895)

Thomas was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and served for four years. Growing up and throughout his life he was close to his grandfather and was appointed executor of his estate after his death in 1826. Because the estate’s debt Thomas ordered the sale of Monticello land and property. In 1829, Thomas published Memoir, Correspondence And Miscellanies: From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson. After Nat Turner’s slave rebellion of 1831, Thomas introduced an emancipation plan in the House but it was defeated. 1850, Randolph was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850. 1857 to 1864, Thomas served as the rector of the University of Virginia. During the Civil War, he held a colonel’s commission in the Confederate Army. Thomas served as the temporary chairman of the 1872 Democratic National Convention. He died at Edgehill following a carriage accident on October 7th, 1875 [x].

Ellen Wayles Randolph (1794–1795)

Died young.

Eleanora “Ellen” Wayles Randolph (1796–1876)

Ellen was born on October 13th, 1796. She was accomplished academically, particularly in languages, and a favorite of her grandfather’s. Ellen often accompanied her grandfather on trips to Poplar Forest. She was considered the “belle of the family” [x] and traveled vastly where she was very popular. On May 27th 1825, in the parlor at Monticello, Ellen married Joseph Coolidge. She had met when Coolidge visited Virginia in 1824. After their marriage, the Coolidges moved to Boston and did not return to Monticello until after Thomas Jefferson’s death. Ellen had six children including twin boys, she handled the family while her husband was away traveling for business. Ellen met him in London in 1838. After they went to Switzerland and spent years in Europe before returning to Boston. Ellen died in April 1876 and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts [x].

Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (1799–1871)

Cornelia was born at Monticello and as a young girl, often accompanied her grandfather on visits to Poplar Forest. She was especially skilled in architecture and drawing and practiced this skill by creating replicas of construction blueprints for the University of Virginia. When she was just a teenager Cornelia began to help John Hemings (brother of Sally Hemings) learn to read and write by giving him a dictionary [x]. Cornelia never married and lived at Tufton and then Edgehill (homes of her brother). In the 1830s a school was established at Edgehill where Cornelia taught drawing, painting, and sculpture. She later translated and edited The Parlor Gardener: A Treatise on the House Culture of Ornamental Plants from French to English. After the Civil War, Cornelia moved to Alexandria, Virginia and lived with two of her sisters at the home of her niece Martha Jefferson Trist Burke. She died there on February 24th, 1871 and was buried at Monticello in the graveyard.

Virginia Jefferson Randolph (1801–1882)

Virginia “Ginger” (some sources indicate she was coined) Jefferson Randolph was born in 1801 at Monticello. As her siblings did, she spent much of her childhood at Monticello and occasionally accompanied her grandfather on trips to Poplar Forest. Of her grandfather’s talents and interests, Virginia shared a deep enamor for music who bought her a pianoforte. After a youthful romance and long engagement with Nicholas Philip Trist, the two were married at Monticello on September 11th, 1824. They remained there while Nicholas studied law and acted as Jefferson’s private secretary. Her husband helped her older brother to settle Jefferson’s estate after his death.

In 1828, Nicholas accepted a State Department clerkship in Washington, D.C. and Virginia remained at her brother’s Edgehill home until 1829 her children and her mother rejoined him. In 1834, when Nicholas was appointed consul, the Trists moved to Havana, Cuba where they remained until 1841. Late 1840s, Nicholas was sent to Mexico to negotiate a peace treaty to end war with that country. He was fired by President James K. Polk following these negotiations and they were faced bankruptcy. Virginia began helping at the school runned by her sisters. The Trists moved to Alexandria, Virginia and a her husband’s death in 1874, Virginia lived with one of her three children until her death in April of 1882.

Mary Jefferson Randolph (1803–1876)

Mary, born in 1803, was named after her maternal aunt Maria who died from complications from birth in 1804. She was born at Edgehill on November 2nd, 1803. She occasionally accompanied Thomas Jefferson on trips to Poplar Forest. She never married and continued living at Edgehill where she helped her sister-in-law Jane supervise the household. Mary and her sister Cornelia were close served as nurses during times of outbreaks. After the Civil War, Mary moved to Alexandria, Virginia, to live with two of her sisters. She remained there until her death on March 29th, 1876.

James Madison Randolph (1806–1834)

James Madison Randolph, born in 1806 was born at the President’s House a visit from his mother to his grandfather, Thomas Jefferson, then serving as president in Washington, D.C. James was named after his grandfather’s Secretary of State. James was educated at home, in schools in Albemarle and graduated from the University of Virginia. He was described as being of a “gentle and quiet nature”, James never married and lived alone. He ran one of the smaller family farms until it was sold. He died after a brief illness at Tufton, his older brother’s estate, at the age of 28 in 1834.

Benjamin Franklin Randolph (1808–1871)

Benjamin Franklin Randolph was born in 1808 on July 14th at Edgehill. Frail, he was delicate and educated by his mother and sisters and at a nearby school. He was attending the University of Virginia but the family’s financial difficulties caused him to be forced to drop-out of college. By 1829, he was back at the University studying medicine. He had been elected three times as prize essay writer [x]. The Jefferson Society elected him as a member, and by his professors he was considered best in his class. He graduated on July 18, 1831. After, he moved to Halifax County, then to Richmond before back Albemarle. Benjamin courted Sally Champe Carter, and they were married on November 13th, 1834. He had three children: Isaetta (born March 24, 1836), Lewis (born June 13, 1838), and Robert (born April 15, 1851). They received 642 acres of land lateral to Redlands. On the side of a small mountain they built named their estate named “Sharon,” later renamed “Round Top.“

James was a physician, a farmer and involved himself in local public affairs. He became a magistrate in 1846 and served for eighteen years. He was also a state senator from 1853-1856. James was a strong supporter the Confederacy during the Civil War. Both Lewis and his son-in-law served in the Confederate Army. Early 1867, Benjamin suffered severe illness and never fully recovered. He died not long after on February 18the, 1871 and was buried in the graveyard of Christ Church, Glendower.

Meriwether Lewis Randolph (1810–1837)

Meriwether Lewis, born in 1810, was born at Monticello and named after Meriwether Lewis. He studied law, moral and natural philosophy at the University of Virginia, 1829-1831, but chose to pursue involvement in the western frontier. He worked for a short time as a clerk in the Department of State, as his brother-in-loaw did before being appointed Secretary of Arkansas Territory in February 1835 under President Andrew Jackson. On April 9th, 1835, he married Elizabeth Martin, a grandniece to President Jackson and they had one son, Lewis Jackson Randolph (1836-1840). After his commission ended, he began purchasing land, eventually gaining over ten thousand acres. He died of malaria in Arkansas, on September 24th, 1837, and was buried on his plantation Terre Noir.

Septimia Anne Randolph (1814–1887)

Septimia was born in 1814 and was referred to as "Tim,” or “Pet” by her family. She lived for twelve years of her life at Monticello. Fall of 1826, Tim accompanied her mother and younger brother George Wythe Randolph to Boston. While in Boston, Septimia attended school and studied music at the home of her sister Ellen. She learned to play the piano and the guitar (her favorite was guitar). She returned to Virginia in the fall of 1828, and then moved to Washington, D.C. with her mother to live in the house of her sister Virginia. She attended St. Mary’s convent school and accompanied her mother and sisters Cornelia and Mary back to Edgehill during the summertime. It is noted she may of contracted tuberculosis and traveled south for her health, visiting family and friends in Louisiana, Florida, and Cuba (one of her sisters).

Upon her mother’s death in October of 1836, Septimia used her mother’s bequest of $4,000 to return to Cuba, where she became engaged to a Dr. David Scott Meikleham, a Scottish graduate of Cambridge. They married on August 13th, 1838, at Edgehill and returned to Cuba together. They left Havana in 1844 for a better climate and educational purposes for their children. They visited family in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Scotland (their one year old baby died there). They settled in New York City and her husband practiced medicine until his death from malaria on November 20th, 1849. In order to support herself and four children, Septimia kept a boardinghouse. Her eldest son, William Moreland, bought it from her. She after took her two daughters, Alice Esther and Ellen Wayles, and her son Thomas Mann Randolph to live in Virginia once more. She later lived in Maryland and in Washington she died on September 14th, 1887.

George Wythe Randolph (1818–1867)

George Wythe Randolph was born in1818-1867) and was coined "Geordie”. He was named after his grandfather’s law teacher and mentor, George Wythe. He had a brief education and served in the United States Navy from 1831-1839. In 1841 he obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1841 and practiced successfully in Albemarle until 1851, when he moved to Richmond. he served there on the Richmond City Council and was an officer of the Virginia Historical Society. April 20th, 1852, Geordie married Mary Elizabeth Adams Pope, a wealthy widow, and lived in a financially nice neighborhood. They had no children together. For a short time he was a state senator for Richmond.

Geordie was elected to the 1861 Virginia Convention as a secessionist and served with Richmond Howitzers. He eventually rose the rank in the Confederate Army as Brigadier General. He was nominated Confederate secretary of war on March 17th, 1862, but had conflict with Jefferson Davis and had poor health which made him resign on November 15th, 1862. He died of tuberculosis at Edgehill on April 3rd, 1867, and was buried in the Monticello graveyard.

#flood pressles box #sincerely anonymous #patsy jefferson #thomas jefferson #ann Randolph bankhead #George wythe randolph #Thomas mann randolph #Septimia Randolph Meikleham #Meriwether lewis randolph #benjamin franklin randolph #james madison randolph #mary randolph #virginia randolph #Cornelia randolph #Ellen Randolph coolidge #thomas Jefferson randolph

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