The Pelham family of Stanmer owed their good fortune to the patronage of the great political operator, their relative Thomas Pelham-Holmes, Duke of Newcastle.  From that came some of the wealth required to buy and to develop the Stanmer estate.  After Newcastle’s death, the family had to carve its own niche in the fiercely competitive world of Georgian society.  We shall look at what happened.  Meanwhile, the family spent a huge amount on their houses at Stanmer and in London and on enlarging the Park.  Not all relatives approved, especially when the debts ballooned. The family letters show what preoccupied the Georgian landed class.  

Sue has an article which covers some of the topics in the talk which she will happily send to anyone who wants to read about the saga of the house and park.  

A specialist in the social and economic history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Sue Berry has articles on the period published in journals and has also written two books. She uses our county as her case study area because its history reflects many national trends. Her work is cited in other books and articles.