Hughenden Manor

I spent yesterday afternoon at Hughenden Manor in High Wycombe (pronounced Wick-um), Buckinghamshire. Hughenden was the former home of Benjamin Disraeli, the British prime minister under Queen Victoria.

Disraeli was the first (and only) person of Jewish descent to hold the office of British prime minister. Although Jews were excluded from Parliament until 1858, Disraeli's baptism into the Anglican Church at the age of 12 enabled him to pursue a political career.

As a young man, he was an admirer of Lord Byron and fancied himself a Romantic writer. He later became a Conservative politician best known for bringing India and the Suez Canal under British control.

  

Here's his Georgian house, which was later gothicized as was popular in Victorian England. 

Queen Victoria adored Disraeli (unlike her other prime minister, William Gladstone) and actually came to visit his home a few times. On one occasion, he ordered his staff to shorten the legs of one of his chairs to accommodate the Queen's small size. If you ever visit Hughenden Manor, you will notice that Disraeli thought so highly of Victoria that he actually hung portraits of the Queen and her family in his bedroom.

Disraeli married a widow 12 years older than himself and they had no children. I got a kick out of this quote from his wife, Mary Anne, who said, "Dizzy married me for my money, but if he had the chance again, he would marry me for love."

Here are the gardens of Hughenden Manor. The property also includes a pasture for cows and sheep, woods, and a church where Disraeli and his wife are buried.

After Disraeli's death, the property was passed to his nephew and then to the National Trust. During World War II, Hughenden Manor was used as a secret intelligence base and a German bomb shattered one of the windows of the church. They had a new exhibit about this in the basement of the home.

Herky and Judith enjoying the gardens of Hughenden Manor.