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

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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 paris ...

, 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 hereditary peer. Early life A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he was born in 1787, the eldest natural son of George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egr ...

, and his wife Mary Blunt, daughter of 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 depa ...

. 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 of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

and achieved the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Political career

In 1860, Wyndham was returned to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as one of two representatives for Cumberland West (succeeding his uncle Sir Henry Wyndham), a seat he held until 1885. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. He owned the

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

manor of

Pertwood Pertwood is an ancient settlement and former civil parish, near Warminster in the county of Wiltshire in the west of England. Its land and houses now lie in the parishes of Brixton Deverill, East Knoyle, Sutton Veny and Chicklade, and have fe ...

from 1877 until his death, and he became a member of

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters at County Hall in Trowbridge. Since 2009 it has bee ...

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 (22 January 1786 – 26 January 1849), was a British Army officer. His branch of the Campbell baronets is referred to as St Cross Mede. Early life Campbell was born on 22 January 1786. He was the eld ...

, and his wife Pamela FitzGerald, daughter of

Lord Edward FitzGerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary proponent of Irish independence from Britain. He abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Ind ...

. 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 G ...

was a politician and man of letters, while

Guy Wyndham Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Percy Wyndham, (19 January 1865 – 17 April 1941) was a British Army soldier. Background and family Wyndham was born on 19 January 1865 as the son of Hon. Percy Wyndham and Madeline Caroline Frances Eden Campbell. He wa ...

was a soldier. Their eldest daughter

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

married the

Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss and 7th Earl of March DL (25 August 1857 – 12 July 1937), styled Lord Elcho from 1883 to 1914, was a British Conservative politician. Early life He was the fifth but eldest surviving son of The 1 ...

, 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 (born 1833), Henry John Adeane and his wife Elizabeth Biddulph, Baroness Bi ...

. Their third daughter Pamela married firstly

Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner Edward Priaulx Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner (31 May 1859 – 21 November 1920), known as Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet from 1906 to 1911, was a Scottish businessman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. In 1911 he was raised to the p ...

and was the mother of among others

Stephen Tennant Stephen James Napier Tennant (21 April 1906 – 28 February 1987) was a British socialite known for his decadent, eccentric lifestyle. He was a central member of the socialite group referred to as " Bright Young Things" by the tabloid press of t ...

, and secondly Sir Edward Grey. Wyndham commissioned the now-famous painting of his daughters, '' The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennant'', by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

. 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, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...

. 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 examin ...

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 Ass ...

. 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 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 English justices of the peace Members of Wiltshire County Council British parapsychologists UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Younger sons of barons Percy High sheriffs of Wiltshire