Images Dated 2018 April

Ince Castle, Elm Gate, St Stephens by Saltash, Cornwall. 1961

The main facade of Ince Castle, seen under scaffolding, during alteration work which included the addition of French windows to allow more light to the dark ground floor and extension of the service wing. The Grade I listed mansion house is thought to be the earliest brick house in Cornwall and overlooks the River Lynher, near Saltash. It was built by Henry Killigrew, Member of Parliament for West Looe, in the mid 17th century. The house was then bought by Truro merchant Edward Norsworthy in 1652. In 1722 the house was owned by John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire, before being sold to Pendock Neale, husband of Harriot Eliot of St Germans. In 1805, Ince was sold to Edward Smith. The house was inherited by his stepdaughter, Mary Smith, who lived there with her husband, Captain Henry Crease of the Royal Navy, and family until the 1850s. The house became rundown until it was bought and substantially remodelled by Montague Eliot (later to become 8th Earl of St Germans) in 1918. Between 1922 and 1937, Ince was owned by H.R. Somerset (known as Bobby), a well known yachtsman and founder member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. His yacht, Jolie Brise, was the first winner of the Fastnet Race and was housed in the boathouse at Ince. Mr and Mrs James Bryce Allen owned the house between 1937 and 1960 when it was sold to Patricia, Viscountess Boyd, who was married to former Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton. The gardens were created in the 1960s by Patricia, Lady Boyd, a keen plantswoman and vice-president of Cornwall Garden Society. Their son, Simon Lennox-Boyd, 2nd Viscount Boyd of Merton, and daughter in law, Alice, Lady Boyd, lived in the house between 1994 and 2018. Photographer: Charles Woolf

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf

The Victualling Office, Plymouth, Devon, from Mount Edgcumbe, Maker, Cornwall. 23rd September 1845

Fox Talbot sun picture or Talbotype view from Mount Edgcumbe looking over to the Royal William Yard, Plymouth, Devon. The image shows a gentleman looking through a telescope and three ladies standing beside some cannon. The gentleman in the picture is possible Captain Corry and members of the Edgcumbe family. William Henry Fox Talbot's sister, Lady Caroline Augusta was married to the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and he was staying there when the photograph was taken on 23rd September 1845. This is one of the earliest photographs taken in Cornwall and is the first photograph to be used as an illustration in a periodical. It is contained in The Art Journal, Volume 8, 1846, to illustrate a description of Fox Talbot's process of using sunlight on sensitised paper to create multiple copies of an image and it was a start of photo-journalism. Photographer: William Henry Fox Talbot

© From the collection of the RIC

Aftermath of fire at Tehidy, Illogan, Cornwall. February 1919

Side view of the house after the great fire of 26th February 1919. The fire is still smouldering and firefighters with the Redruth fire engine can be seen tackling the blaze, watched by many onlookers. The manor of Tehidy was owned by the Basset family who prospered from mining and their vast estate. The 40 bedroom mansion house seen in the photograph was built in 1855 to replace the earlier mansion of 1734. The manor was sold in 1916 ending 700 years of Basset rule. The house was acquired for the treatment of tuberculosis sufferers and handed over to Cornwall County Council on Whit Monday 20th May 1918. The fire devastated the building two weeks after the hospital opened and it was rebuilt by the County Council. Photographer: Arthur William Jordan

© From the collection of the RIC