Hanford House In Wartime

A Memory of Child Okeford.

HANFORD HOUSE


In the early years of the war, I taught at the school which was part of Hanford House. The rest of the house was occupied by a family I remember as the Listers (Colonel and Mrs.). My son-in-law, however, thinks it might have been Captain and Mrs. Sandys, the parents of Duncan Sandys. Mr. Sandys was, of course, later a cabinet minister in Harold Macmillan’s government, and later still, became Lord Duncan-Sandys.
Duncan Sandys and his family certainly came to stay, and also lived at Hanford House for some time. As a consequence of the illness of their children’s nanny (Grace), I was asked to help with the children, especially, Julian, then about 4, who later became a barrister, and died in 1997.
I used to read to him and his sister, Edwina, and I particularly remember being asked to sing Julian The Skye Boat Song (‘Speed bonny boat, like a bird on the wing’). I also remember him saying to me ‘My grandpappa smokes a big cigar!’. His ‘grandpappa’ was, of course, Winston Churchill, and his mother was Diana, Winston’s daughter, who led a rather tragic life, and died of barbiturate poisoning in her fifties.
I also remember a girl called Katie, who I think was fostered by the ‘Listers’. I taught her to swim, but sadly she also died young, of pneumonia, at her boarding school in Yorkshire.
I remember Mrs.Riddle, the cook-housekeeper, who made valiant efforts to feed us, despite war shortages.
The house was very impressive: I remember the oak panelling on the walls, and a carved rose on the staircase which was a disguised door handle, which if turned, would reveal secret passages used, we were told, in the Civil War. The grounds seemed to me huge, though few staff were employed probably due to wartime restrictions.
If anyone can add to, or comment on these memories, please get in touch through my son-in-law at martin.johnson@virgin.net
Jean Barsley (formerly Vickers)