PALMERSTON DISCUSSING THE SALE OF EMBLEY PARK WHICH BECAME THE HOME OF FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PALMERSTON (Henry John Temple, 1784-1865, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, 3rd Viscount)

Excellent Autograph Letter Signed to "My dear Stanley" telling him that he "ought to buy Wellow it would be a very Important addition to your Estate, & is so directly adjoining as to belong to your Natural Boundaries as Buonaparte would have said. Some part of Embley wuold be very convenient & desirable to me - we will act in in concert upon this subject and I trust may be able to effect arrangements satisfactory to ourselves - I have not heard how the Property is to be sold & probably this will be settled by the Executors, but I should think that the whole would be too large a mass to be offered in one lot, because there can be but few competitors for so large a Purchase, as Wellow alone cost Heathcote 60,000, including the living. I should think the next probable & advantageous arrangement for the family would be to put up Wellow & Embley separately & in that case the probability is that Emley as being a Place & a Residence would sell the dearest but we will talk over all these matters when we meet which I conclude will be in Hampshire at Easter ...", 3 sides 4to

Embley Park, in Wellow (near Romsey, Hampshire), was the family home of Florence Nightingale from 1825 until her death in 1910. It is also where Florence Nightingale claimed she had received her divine calling from God. The Nightingale family made substantial changes to the Manor House with the creation of the West Wing, a new porch on the north side of the House and a bay and balcony which extends almost the entire length of the front of the house. Over the past half century, the internal arrangements have changed in order for the main building to be used as a school and boarding house. The Florence Nightingale Chapel was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on 14 November 1953. The 1825 sale particulars record that 1,300 acres were planted, criss-crossed by many miles of gravel drives. There was a walled garden, a grotto and a pyramidical fountain. The Nightingales introduced the Wild Gardens, with their Long and Short Walks and were stocked with species which are still rare. At the top of the Long Walk stands the semi-circular stone seat popularly known today as 'Cromwell's Seat' – so called because it was reputedly brought here by the Heathcotes from Hursley. Richard Cromwell, son of Lord Protector Oliver, was a former owner of Hursley Park.
Thomas Freeman Heathcote (1769-1825) was an MP and owner of Embley before its sale to the Nightingale family.
Palmerston's Broadlands Estate is next door to the property that was coming on the market but it appears he was not successful in acquiring the land.

Item Date:  1854

Stock No:  41487      £475

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