Object Details

From:NHerts

Name/TitlePhotograph of Henry Rogers Snr of Stagenhoe

About this objectA photograph of Henry Rogers of Stagenhoe in 1856. The white haired Henry, sits at a table and holds a quill to paper. In the 1851 census Henry Rogers is a Justice of the Peace aged 67, making him aged around 72 in the photo dependent on his exact date of birth and the date in 1856 the photograph was taken. The website PrestonHerts.co.uk records that Henry Rogers purchased the Stagenhoe Estate for £29,500 from the previous owner Lord Feversham, in 1841. Rogers added a entry into the Stagenhoe Estate near Hitch Wood called Thornhill's Lodge, presumably where Richard Thornhill the Groom and Coachman of Stagenhoe as seen in photo 2024.62.2 lived.

The Preston Herts website talks of the changes Rogers made to the estate to be enjoyed by himself and his four sons 'an artificial warth for foxes, built; a lake was dug in the park that contained pike and a light railway was engineered. The brick and lime kilns were put into working order, chalk pits were utilised to lime the land, sand was discovered and dug at Stagenhoe Bottom and an archery ground was laid out beyond the Wilderness. The Rogers’ brothers also played cricket on the home pitch sited on Dovehouse Close (known affectionately as Duffers’ Close)

The Rogers attended St Pauls Walden Church and had two Stagenhoe faculty pews that stood together on the right-hand-side of the nave and ran through to the south aisle. They were ‘high box’ pews and were supplied with a charcoal stove which Henry poked vigorously if the sermon was too long. The pew also had green baize curtains to allow slumber unobserved.'

The website also details a controversy following Henry Snr's death. "There was an inheritance controversy following Henry Roger’s death. His eldest son, Henry jnr, swore a declaration that he recalled destroying in a fire three deeds of conveyance from his father to his three younger brothers and that a charge on the estate to his brother Thomas of £200 pa was also burnt. He claimed it was his father’s wish."

The donor of this photograph was one of the final people to live in Stagenhoe Manor whilst it was a private house. She recalled living in this house with her grandfather during the Second World War and riding through Bowes-Lyon land with her grandfather to the butchers in Whitwell.

In 1969 Stagenhoe became part of the Sue Ryder Foundation as one of several neurological care centres set up across the country by Sue Ryder. Prior to her charity work Sue Ryder was noted for service in the Second World War. Lying about her age to join the Special Operations Executive (SOE) at the age of 15, she was posted to Poland and assisted in driving SOE agents to airfields. With a fond attachment to Poland which continued beyond war service, she was made a life peer and created both Baroness Ryder of Warsaw in Poland and of Cavendish in the County of Suffolk in 1979.

Date Made1856

Inscription and MarksText written on the mount reads 'Henry Rogers of Stagenhoe 1856'

Measurements255 x 209 mm mount
118 x 114 mm photograph

Period19th Century (1801-1900)

Object TypePhotograph

Medium and MaterialsPhotograph on card

Named CollectionNorth Hertfordshire Museum

Object number2024.62.3

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved