The Earl of Londesborough and Miss MarigoldLubbock, Joint Masters of the Blankney Hounds,
leaving Blankney Church after their wedding.
On Thursday I published an article with the headline 'Osbert Sitwell - A Spooky Tale'. The article was about Osbert Sitwell spending his boyhood Christmases at Blankney Hall. At that time the Hall was the home of his uncle the 2nd Earl of Londesborough. Osbert talks about playing with his cousin Hugo, son of the 2nd Earl. His last Christmas at Blankney was in 1905 or 1906 and Oswald relates how he did not visit Blankney again until 30 years later. The reason for that visit, the last time ever he was to visit Blankney, was to attend the wedding of Hugo, who by that time had become the 4th Earl of Londesborough having inherited Blankney. Below is a description of the wedding as reported in excerpts from the Lincolnshire Echo on Wednesday, September 4, 1935.
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JOINT MASTERS OF THE BLANKNEY WED
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The Earl of Londesborough and Miss Marigold Lubbock
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PRETTY VILLAGE CEREMONY
Attended by seven children, two of whom carried her long train, Miss Marigold Rosemary Joyce Lubbock, of Heath House, Nocton, youngest daughter of the late Mr Edgar Lubbock and Lady Kesteven, of Shillingthorpe Hall, Stamford, walked up the aisle of St. Oswald's Church, Blankney, this afternoon to wed her fellow Master of the Blankney Hounds, the Earl of Londesborough.
It was a real hunting wedding, for the families of both bride and bridegroom have long been associated with the Blankney Hunt, the bride's father and Lord Londesborough's father, the second Earl, having both served as Masters.
Lord Londesborough's father was Joint Master with Mr N. C. Cockburn from 1902 to 1904 and it was when that arrangement was brought to an end and both Masters retired, that Mr Edgar Lubbock took over. In 1906 Mr Lubbock and Lord Charles Bentinck hunted the country for a season before Lord Charles continued on his own.
Mr. Lubbock's daughter, the bride of to-day, was born to the hunt. Indeed her name, Marigold, is that of a hound of the pack, which was a great favourite at the time of her birth.
The hunting associations of both the bride and the bridegroom had been borne in mind in the giving of presents, for the long list of gifts contained such articles as hunting horns, pictures, hunting books and a silver model of a fox-hound.
Throughout the morning guests had been arriving in the village for the culmination of this romance of the hunting field, which was only revealed early last month with the announcement of the engagement.
The bridesmaids were Lady Iris Mountbatten, Lady Enid Turnor's two children, Rosemary and Pamela, and two of the bride's nieces, Dawn Barker and Virginia Howard.
The train bearers were Daphne Fane, daughter of the Hon. Mountjoy and Mrs. Fane, and Priscilla Howard, daughter of the Hon. J. K. and the Hon. Mrs Howard. All wore white organza dresses with puff sleeves, blue sashes and blue flower wreaths in their hair. They carried bouquets of love-in-the-mist.
Lord Westmorland, cousin of the bridegroom, was best man.
The duties of ushers were carried out by the Hon. Mountjoy Fane, the Hon. James Howard, Mr. James Baird, Capt. R. H. Spooner, (agent to Lord Londesborough), and Mr W. F. Nunn (secretary to Lord Londesborough).
A thunderstorm broke out over the district about 2 p.m. and it was still raining slightly when the first of the bridesmaids arrived, and they had to be carried into the lych gate to prevent their dresses from being spoiled.
The weather was fine though dull when the rest of the bridesmaids were brought down the long drive in their car, and they had to face a battery of cameras before they all walked back again to the churchyard entrance to await the arrival of the bride.
A crowd of about 3,000 people waited in vain for a sight of the bridegroom, but the Earl of Londesborough shyly slipped into the church through a side door and the sightseers had to wait until the bridal procession came out of the church.
The sun was shining as the bride, about to become a Countess, arrived at the church with her uncle, Major Peacock, who gave her away.
