Percy Scawen Wyndham DL JP MP (30 January 1835 – 13 March 1911) was a British soldier,

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician, collector and intellectual. He was one of the original members of

The Souls The Souls was a small loosely-knit but distinctive elite social and intellectual group in the United Kingdom from 1885 to the turn of the century. Many of the most distinguished British politicians and intellectuals of the time were members. Th ...

, and built

Clouds House Clouds House, also known simply as Clouds, is a Grade II* listed building at East Knoyle in Wiltshire, England. Designed by Arts and Crafts architect Philip Webb for Percy Wyndham and his wife Madeline, it was first completed in 1886, but an 1 ...

East Knoyle East Knoyle is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, in the south-west of England, just west of the A350 and about south of Warminster and north of Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was the birthplace of the architect Sir Christopher Wren. The parish ...

, Wiltshire.

Background and education

Wyndham was a younger son of

George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield (5 June 1787 – 18 March 1869), was a British soldier and peer. A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he was the eldest natural son of George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, and Elizabeth Ili ...

, and his wife Mary Fanny Blunt, daughter of the Reverend William Blunt, and was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

. He served in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

and achieved the rank of captain.

Political career

In 1860, Wyndham was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for

Cumberland West Cumberland West was a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elected one member to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It was formed in 1949 when Cumberland County was divided into three new districts, the other two being Cumbe ...

(succeeding his uncle Sir Henry Wyndham), a seat he held until 1885. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. He owned the

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

manor of

Pertwood Pertwood is an ancient settlement and former parish, near Warminster in the county of Wiltshire in the west of England.Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire County Council (established in 1889) was the county council of Wiltshire in the South West of England, an elected local Government body responsible for most local government services in the county. As a result of the 2009 restructur ...

and was

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

for 1896.

Family

Wyndham married Madeline Caroline Frances Eden Campbell, daughter of

Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet, CB (22 January 1786 – 26 January 1849), was a British Army officer, the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Colin Campbell and his wife Mary, daughter of Guy Johnson (or Johnstone). His branch of the ...

, and his wife Pamela FitzGerald, daughter of

Lord Edward FitzGerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

. They were both prominent members of

. They had two sons and three daughters who were also members of The Souls.

George Wyndham George Wyndham, PC (29 August 1863 – 8 June 1913) was a British Conservative politician, statesman, man of letters, and one of The Souls. Background and education Wyndham was the elder son of the Honourable Percy Wyndham, third son of Ge ...

was a politician and man of letters, while Guy Wyndham was a soldier. Their eldest daughter

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

married the 11th Earl of Wemyss and March, and their second daughter Madeline married

Charles Adeane Charles Robert Whorwood Adeane (2 November 1863 – 11 February 1943) was a British army officer. Background Adeane was the only son of the politician Henry John Adeane and his wife Lady Elizabeth Philippa Yorke, eldest daughter of Charles York ...

. Their third daughter

Pamela Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname * Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

married firstly Lord Glenconner and was the mother of among others Stephen Tennant, and secondly

Sir Edward Grey Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War. An adhe ...

. Wyndham commissioned the now-famous painting of his daughters, '' The Wyndham Sisters'', by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

. The trio are the centre of the 2014 book '' Those Wild Wyndhams'' by Claudia Renton. Percy Wyndham died in March 1911, aged 76. His wife survived him by nine years and died in March 1920.

Spiritualism

Wyndham was a spiritualist who took interest in

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...

. He was a friend of the medium

Stainton Moses William Stainton Moses (1839 – 5 September 1892) was an English cleric and spiritualist medium. He promoted spirit photography and automatic writing, and co-founded what became the College of Psychic Studies. He resisted scientific examination ...

and a member of the

London Spiritualist Alliance The College of Psychic Studies (founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance) is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena. History British National Assoc ...

. Wyndham was an early member of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

. In 1884, he attended a séance with the medium

William Eglinton William Eglinton (1857–1933), also known as William Eglington was a British spiritualist medium who was exposed as a fraud.Hereward Carrington. (1907). ''The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism''. Herbert B. Turner & Co. pp. 84–90 Massimo Po ...

and was impressed by his slate-writing phenomena. However, Eglinton was exposed as a fraud by other researchers.Edmunds, Simeon. (1966). ''Spiritualism: A Critical Survey''. Aquarian Press. p. 105.

References

Brief biography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyndham, Percy 1835 births 1911 deaths People educated at Eton College Coldstream Guards officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy Lieutenants of Sussex English spiritualists Members of Wiltshire County Council Parapsychologists UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Younger sons of barons

Percy The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...