2 4 



GARDENS OLD AND NEW. 



and their great variety show that the modern art of 

 gardening prevailed, it might all be thought to belong 

 to another century. Nor is the impression lessened 

 when wandering in the endless alleys among the 

 groves that lie behind the magnificent domed 

 pavilion (a perfect example of English Palladian 

 art) at the end of the long vistas and canal 

 leading from the present house ; for there, again 

 and again, we read inscriptions and memorials to the 

 first and last of the Dukes of Kent of the De Grey 

 family, and to his children and friends, all of whom 

 passed away in the early eighteenth century. The 

 builder of the present house, and creator of the 

 greater part of the garden architecture surrounding 

 it, was Earl de Grey and Baron Lucas, whose elder 

 daughter, Lady Anne Florence Baroness Lucas, married 

 the sixth Earl Cowper. The De Greys of Wrest have 



England in 1463, and was created Earl of Kent by 

 Edward IV. in 1465. In this family the earldom 

 continued for 250 years, when it was merged in the 

 dukedom. It fell to the lot of the tenth Earl to have 

 to take a side in the Civil War. He took that of the 

 Parliament, but retired to Wrest after the execution 

 of the king. His wife Amabel, " the Good Countess," 

 lived there till her death at the age of ninety-two. 

 She greatly improved the estate and redeemed 

 mortgages during the minority of her only son, 

 Anthony. She erected a fine monument in Flitton 

 Church during her lifetime in memory of her " Dear 

 Lord, Henry, Earl of Kent, to signifie her resolution 

 to dye with him to the rest of the world, and to live, 

 after so great a loss, only to God, and to the interest 

 of his noble family. This she made good by her 

 exemplary piety, and regular devotion in her chappell, 



ON THE TERRACE. 



a history as ancient and distinguished as their home is 

 beautiful. Much of the story can be gathered from 

 the silent memorials in Flitton Church close by, 

 where the monument of the last Earl de Grey may be 

 seen as the last in a long series, the earliest of which 

 is comparatively recent in the annals of this ancient 

 race. Reginald Lord de Grey of Ruthin, who held 

 the office of Lord High Admiral of England, and 

 probably built the nave and tower of Flitton, was, 

 by a court of chivalry held in 1410, adjudged the 

 right to bear the arms of Hastings (which are 

 quartered with his own upon the porch) against Sir 

 Edward Hastings, Knight. He was a direct descen- 

 dant of Reginald, sometimes called Reginald Grey of 

 Wrest, who traced from an Anchitel de Grey, holding 

 land in Oxfordshire in 1086. Edmund, fourth 

 Baron Grey of Ruthin, was Lord - Treasurer of 



whereto she obliged all her domesticks every morning 

 and evening to attend her." An inscription added 

 by her grandson says that she "continually added to 

 the profit and ornament of the place," and refers 

 to her "advantageous disposal" of her only son, 

 Anthony, in marriage with Mary, the sole daughter 

 and heiress of Baron Lucas of Shenfield in Essex. 

 It was in the person of Earl Anthony's son that 

 the grandeur of the De Grey family reached its 

 height, in regard to precedence in the peerage. 

 Henry, the eleventh and last Earl of Kent, was 

 born in 1671, and succeeded his father in the 

 earldom in 1702. He was one of the most trusted 

 of Queen Anne's counsellors, and was created 

 Marquess, and then Duke of Kent, and before 

 her death was most active in aiding to secure the 

 succession of George I. All his eleven children 



