Delapre Abbey - The Bouverie Country Estate (1764 - 1946)
Following the sale of Delapre in 1764, the new owner was Edward Bouverie, second son of Sir Jacob Bouverie and his wife Mary Clarke (of Hardingstone). The Bouveries were Huguenots who had come to England in 1568. Sir Edward was married to Harriet Fawkener, considered a beauty of the day (she was painted by Joshua Reynolds) and a companion of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Edward became MP for Northampton in 1780, a post he held for 20 years, and it was he who added the Abbey to the name to reflect the religious history of the site (and no doubt add a sense of romance, history and status).
The orangery (now the billiard room) and its flanking wall to the kitchen garden, including the rusticated gateway, were also built during Edward Bouverie’s time.
The Bouverie window displaying the Bouverie Coat of Arms with its double-headed eagle and the family motto - translated as "My country is dear to me but more precious still is my freedom."
On Edwards death in 1810 Delapre was inherited by his eldest son, also named Edward, and shortly after in 1811 Harriet married Lord Robert Spencer, son of the third duke of Marlborough. The main surviving building work during the second Edward Bouverie’s time was the construction of the “Gothic” library block – which is now thought to have been built sometime in the 1820s. Other alterations included the building of another floor on the East range.
Following Edward Bouverie II’s death in 1858 the house was inherited by his son Everard Bouverie (by then 69) who had a distinguished military career including fighting with the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. Everard endowed schools in Hardingstone and Far Cotton and had a keen interest in local affairs but undertook little in the way of work on the Abbey itself. Everard Bouverie had no children and after his death Delapre was inherited by John Augustus Sheil Bouverie (son of Francis Kenelm Bouverie, the third son of Edward Bouverie II. It took a court case to establish his right to the estate but he took ownership and moved in with his family in 1871.
John Augustus Sheil Bouverie was to undertake substantial decoration of the South Range, building a glass conservatory to link the orangery and dining room, converting the orangery to a Billiard room and redecorating the Dining room, withdrawing room and salon with the painted wallpaper cameos of family members and wildlife set off by marbled fireplaces. His monogram can be seen on the ceiling of the Saloon.
JASB was also responsible for the building of a family vault in Hardingstone church. A fire in 1893 saw much damage to the upper floors East wing. JASB died in 1894 and was succeeded by his son also called John Augustus Sheil but the estate was not in good financial state, all of his sisters except Mary had married and there was not the money needed to maintain the Abbey.
The decision was made to let the house and he and his mother and his sister Mary moved to Hardingstone House in the village. Delapre was let to John Cooper, a local Boot and Shoe manufacturer.
Following John Augustus Shiel Bouverie's death in 1905, his unmarried sister Mary Bouverie inherited the estate but remained living in Hardingstone. The following year John Cooper died and his family gradually moved out of Delapre and the house was then empty for a few years until Mary Bouverie returned in 1914. She was a benevolent lady, became a JP and was involved in many local causes, notably the Women’s Institutes. Mary won many awards at agricultural shows around the Midlands for her Jersey and Red Poll cattle, and for her large white pigs which she began breeding in 1937.
In September 1940 the Abbey was requisitioned by the War Office and Miss Bouverie moved to Pond House, Duston. In 1941 all the furniture from the Abbey was auctioned at a three day sale. The following year Miss Bouverie sent for her bailiff and told him she wanted to die at Delapré. Rooms in the stable block were prepared for her and she died on 20th January 1943, leaving the estate to her nephew Major Uthwaite Bouverie.
