The Elms, Abberley

The Elms Hotel in Abberley, Worcestershire is a building of historical significance and is Grade II listed on the English Heritage Register.

[1] It was built in 1710 by the architect Thomas White (1674-1748) of Worcester who was a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren.

His parents were Thomas and Anne Bury whose memorials can be seen in St Michael's Church in Abberley.

[5] The couple had no children and when Thomas died in 1778 he left all of his property including “The Elms” to Cecilia.

The 1841 Census shows that they were living on the Elms estate with their family and eleven servants.

In 1836 Jemima's father Henry died and Abberley Hall was bought by John Lewis Moilliet who came from Geneva in about 1844.

His first wife Lucy Harriot Galton by whom he had six children died in 1848 a year before he bought “The Elms”.

While he was living at the Elms he provided in 1850 the funding for the new St Mary's Church and his eldest daughter Miss Lucy Amelia Moilliet was asked to lay the foundation stone.

[16] Henry died in the Indian Mutiny in 1857 so the two widows Sarah and Fanny took out a lease on the Elms.

The 1861 Census shows them living at the Elms together with three of Fanny's children, a governess and seven servants.

Sarah's great grandson Hesketh Pearson who was a British actor wrote his autobiography and in it he mentions his ancestor's residence at the Elms.

He said that his father Thomas Henry Gibbons Pearson often visited the Elms and told him that: After Fanny left in 1890 Lieutenant Compton Charles Domvile (1868-1906) rented the house[18] with his wife Eleanor[19] and family.

He was the eldest son and heir of Sir Richard Marcus Brooke 8th Baronet of Norton Priory.

[21] They decided to turn The Elms into a horse racing stud and the Brookes family was frequently mentioned in the newspapers.