Catalogue description William Frederick Hicks Beach (1841-1923) and Emily Susan Hicks Beach [nee Christian] his second wife (1866-1958)

[For records of the Witcombe Park estate, and further research papers of Mrs Hicks Beach, see D1866]

William Frederick Hicks Beach was the younger brother of Sir Michael Edward Hicks Beach, and inherited Witcombe Park on the death of their first cousin twice removed, Lady Ann Rachel Cromie [nee Hicks] in 1885. His first wife, Elizabeth Caroline Hicks Beach [nee Tyrwhitt Drake], the mother of his children, died in 1901 and in 1903 he married Emily Susan Christian. She was a published author and went on to write a book about the Hicks and Hicks Beach families and several novels. She maintained her interest in the history of the family for the rest of her life, and much of the material she collected for her research is in this collection; she was known among the rest of the family as "the family historian" and "the family archivist". She was known in the family as Susan, but to avoid confusion with her niece Susan Evelyn Hicks Beach, she is referred to throughout this catalogue as "Mrs Emily Susan Hicks Beach"

William Frederick Hicks Beach became MP for Tewkesbury after the death of his nephew, Michael Hugh Hicks Beach, the previous MP, and held the seat until his death in 1923