When Richard Mead married his second wife, Anne Alston, he widened his connections with some of the most important aristocratic families of the period.

His wife, Anne, was the daughter of Sir Rowland Alston of Odell and Temperance Crew of Stean Park in Northamptonshire. She was baptised on 28th December 1689 in Odell and was one of eleven children (click here to see the direct ancestors of Anne ). No doubt Richard Mead met her when attending her parents, either socially or professionally. Anne and Richard were married on 14th August 1724 in Odell.

Sir Rowland’s family had owned Odell Castle and Manor for many years. His father, Thomas Alston, was created a baronet in 1642 and was the brother of Edward, a knight; William, the Keeper of the Briefs of Kings and John of Pavenham. Sir Rowland’s mother, Elizabeth St. John, was the daughter of Rowland St. John of Bletsoe Castle.

Temperance Crew, Anne’s mother, was the daughter of Thomas Crew and Mary Townshend, who came from Norfolk. Temperance had a sister, Anne, who married James Joliffe of Staffordshire. (click here to see the family tree showing these connections)

After Sir Rowland Alston died in1698, Temperance Crew married Sir John Wolstenholme of Forty Hall, Enfield. He had thirteen children from a previous marriage and, in order to accommodate her huge family of twenty four children ( eleven of hers and his thirteen),Temperance built Odell Castle on the site of the keep of the ancient castle. As Lady Wolstenholme, Temperance gave plate and a crimson altar cloth to Harrold Church.

Thomas Crew, Temperance’s father, married a second time after the death of his first wife, and had a daughter, Jemima, who married the Duke of Kent in 1697 and they lived at Wrest Park.

With the help of the family tree and this information it is possible to see clearly the relationship between Anne Joliffe and Anne Mead. In 1714 William Farrar “alienated a messuage and land “ in Harrold to Mrs. Anne Joliffe and when she died in 1732 her estates passed to her niece, Anne Mead. Included in the estate was Harrold Hall, which was visited often by Richard Mead and his wife when they were not in London. After Richard’s death in 1753, Anne continued to live at the Hall until her death in1763. She was buried within St Peter's Church in1763 (entered in the parish records as a “relict” of Dr. Mead ).

There are two known portraits of her, one by Allan Ramsay and the other by Sir Godfrey Kneller. The present whereabouts of these portraits is unknown (if anyone does know where these may be in either public galleries or in private collections we should be delighted to hear from you).

Harrold Hall

Harrold Hall was built 1608-1610 by Francis Farrar for £160 for his daughter, Anne Farrar. According to the accounts in the Wingfield Trust Collection, it was built on the grange yard of the priory to the south East of St. Peter's Church. The principal front faced the river.

It was originally an E shaped house (typically Elizabethean - click here to see the 1690 layout of the house) built of rubbble stone with an ashlar dressing. In June 1608 work began on digging stone from a pit in Harrold.This was probably rubble stone, the better quality stone being brought from quarries in Olney and Warrington (some 70 loads). Special stone came from Weldon in Northamptonshire, from the quarries of the Master Mason, Thomas Grumbold. This was used for the porch, some windows and for toppstones. Three storeys high, the house had mullioned and transomed windows, moulded string courses dividing the storeys. The entrance porch was the full height of the house and would have been the most ornamented part of the building.

Anne Farrar married Thomas Boteler in 1602 when she was 15 years old. She and her husband lived at Harrold Hall for only a short time for Thomas was knighted and they moved to the family seat in Biddenham. In 1651 Helen, granddaughter of Sir Thomas Boteler, married her second cousin, Thomas Farrar, and the property, exclusive of the rectory, formed part of the marriage settlement. In 1680, when there was another intermarriage between the Botelers and Farrars, William Farrar (son of Thomas) married Mary Boteler and the rectory and other lands in Harrold formed part of her dowry.In 1714 said William “ alienated a messuage and land in Harrold” to Mrs. Anne Jolliffe, half sister of Jemima, wife of the Duke of Kent, who at that time owned the Manor of Harrold.

When Anne Jolliffe died in 1732 she left Harrold Hall to her niece, Ann Mead, who died in 1763. After Anne's death the house was occupied by various people, including MPs, Masters of the Oakley Hunt and others. In 1816 the porch and recessed centre were obliterated by the addition of a large two storey extension between the two wings of the E shape, built by Thomas Alston. Before this, many of the original windows had been replaced by sash windows.

It was leased to other individuals until in 1930 it was left derelict. The Jacobean staircase and the interior were stripped and the gates were removed to the Mansion House at the end of the village. They bear the Alston Coat of Arms.

During the Second World War the Hall was used as army billets and became a prisoner of war camp for Italians, in the main. It was Camp Number 611.

Today, all one can see of the original house (which was demolished in 1959) and garden is the aconites which bloom in profusion at the end of Hall Close. They were on features either side of the drive to the house.

Stean Park

Stean Park, near Brackley, Northamptonshire, is still a private house but no longer belongs to the Crewe family. The original house was much larger than the present one but was mostly demolished after 1730. That which stands today is partly Victorian but also has some of the original mansion. The chapel nearby contains monuments to Sir Thomas Crewe, Speaker of the House of Commons; John, the first Lord Crewe and other members of the family. The Communion Table, of marble, was given by Bishop Crewe in 1720. He was the Bishop of Durham.

The family was instrumental in the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and of great influence and importance. Anne Aston’s mother, Temperance Crewe, was a member of this distinguished family.

Odell Castle

Odell Castle was originally a motte and bailey castle. It was leased to William Alston who bought the estate in 1633. Rebuilt by Temperance Crewe, the family lived there until February1931 when fire gutted the building. It was again rebuilt and is the house we know today but is no longer lived in by the Alstons.

Bletsoe Castle

Like Odell Castle, Bletsoe was originally a motte and bailey castle. It had many notable occupants, including Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII. It was once the home of the St. John family. The remains of the moat can still be seen.

Forty Hall, Enfield

Forty Hall was built by Sir Nicholas Rayton between 1629 and 1636. Alterations were made to the house by the Wolstenholmes in1700. It passed through many families, the last being the Parker Bowles, who sold the house to Enfield Council in 1951.

Wrest Park, Silsoe

The Manor of Wrest was held by Reginald de Grey as early as the late C13. During the reign of Edward IV the de Greys were made Earls of Kent. The original house was re-modelled for the twelfth earl, who became the Duke of Kent in 1710. He died in 1740 and the estate went to his grand-daughter, Jemima, Marchioness de Grey. The house as it now stands was built in the 1830’s to replace the previous one.