Catalogue description Photographs and papers concerning Beechland, Newick, its ownership by the Blaauw family in the 19th century and the ownership of Centre House, Beechland, by Daphne MacDonald and Naomi Whittle

For deeds and plans of Beechland and the Blaauw family, 1721-1894 see SAS/FB 659, 660, 684-686, 700 and SAS Acc 1357. For an abstract of title to Beechland, [1886]-1920 and a sale particular for the estate, 16 Mar 1920 see AMS6060/5-6

Documents deposited 22 Mar 1993 (ACC 6051)

The Beechland estate, Newick, was purchased by William Henry Blaauw from William Thompson for £7000 in 1834. According to the Victoria County History of Sussex 7 (1940) the older parts of the house may be Tudor, heavily disguised by later alterations. Horsfield's History of Sussex (1835) shows a print of the house before the addition of two wings. An article on the origin of the place-name 'Beechland' by Thomas Baden Powell states that the name was revived around 1830 for premises previously designated as Mount Pleasant and before that as Fuller's Lands (Sussex Notes and Queries 5 (1935) 222)

William Henry Blaauw (1793-1870) was the son of William Blaauw, an eighteenth-century Dutch settler. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1850 and was a founder-member of the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1846. He edited the Society's Collections until 1856 and was its honorary secretary until 1867. Many of his papers are published in the Sussex Archaeological Collections and a portrait and account of his life is given in SAC 22 (1970) ix-xii. There is also an entry for him in the Dictionary of National Biography 2 567

William Henry Blaauw married Margaret Emily Gillman and had two sons Henry William Gillman Blaauw (1834-1857) and Thomas St Leger Blaauw, who succeeded him to the Beechland estate. His only daughter, Emily Hannah Blaauw, married Charles Cornwallis Chetwynd, the fourth son of the 6th Viscount Chetwynd, in 1860. During this period the living of Newick was held by Rev Thomas Baden Powell and his son, William Powell, was the curate. In 1868 Thomas Baden Powell left the advowson to William and in 1884 William bequeathed the rectory and advowson to his trustees. The Rev Clement Powell held the living during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Rev Francis Robert Hepburn was the rector of Chailey during the second half of the 19th century

By the late 19th century, Kelly's Directories of Sussex show that Beechland was let by Mrs Blaauw to Edmund Deacon (1895), Captain Harcourt Rose (1899) and Mrs Harcourt Rose (1915). Entries for Beechland in 1927 and 1938 describe it as the seat of Charles L Bower. By 1962 the house had been divided and converted into small residences. Centre House, Beechlands was sold by Dr Blake to Daphne MacDonald and Naomi Whittle, aunt of the depositor, in January 1962. Daphne MacDonald and Naomi Whittle ran the Warden Court School at Cuckfield from 1934 until its closure in the summer of 1961. They purchased Centre House, Beechland, on their retirement. Daphne MacDonald died at Beechland in November 1977 and is buried in Newick churchyard. In May 1980 Naomi Whittle sold the property to Mr and Mrs Poffle and moved to Littlehampton. On her death in April 1985 she was buried with Miss MacDonald at Newick

Daphne MacDonald's diplomas and diary relating to her visit to Europe at the end of the First World War are deposited at the West Sussex Record Office