High Elms Manor is a grade II listed Georgian country house located near Garston in Hertfordshire, England. It was built in around 1812, and was originally known as "High Elms", but from the 1890s to 2010 it was called Garston Manor.
In the post World War II years the house was a rehabilitation centre, but it later fell derelict. In the 1990s an American named Sheila O'Neill bought and restored it and it was used by her as a Montessori School until her death, and then subsequently by her daughters, who have now put it on the market.
Augustus and Mary Ann Cavendish Bradshaw
Augustus Cavendish Bradshaw was the originator of High Elms. He appears to have purchased the estate in the early 1800s and either built High Elms or made very substantial alterations to a small existing building. He and his wife Mary Ann were a very notable couple at this time.
Augustus was born in 1768. His father was Sir Henry Cavendish of Doveridge Hall in Derbyshire and his mother was Sarah Bradshaw, who later became Baroness Waterpark. He was educated at Cambridge University.
In 1796, he married Mary Ann (sometimes written Marianne) Jeffreys who was the daughter of James St John Jeffreys of Blarney Castle in Ireland. Mary Ann had previously been married to George Frederick Nugent, the Earl of Westmeath and she became the Countess of Westmeath. In 1796 in a sensational court case she divorced Nugent and soon after married Augustus.
Mary Ann had considerable literary talent and published two novels. The first, Maria Countess of D’Alva (1808), is set at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 16th century. The second, Ferdinand and Ordella: A Russian Story (1810), is set in the time of Peter the Great. Both novels were written during the period that the couple lived at High Elms. In 1806, Sir Thomas Lawrence painted the portraits of both Mary Ann and Augustus.
Augustus became a member of Parliament in 1805 and continued in this position until 1817. When he completed his parliamentary career he put High Elms on the market. The advertisement in The Times in 1817 read as follows and is shown on the right.
The singularly elegant freehold villa called High Elms situated near the picturesque cross road leading from Watford to St Albans, Hertfordshire is in a beautiful country abounding with field sports lately the admired residence of the Honourable A. Cavendish Bradshaw from whom the same has received the most substantial additions and many elegant improvements at a very great expense.
Residents of High Elms between 1820 and 1890
John Ryley bought High Elms soon after this and he and his wife Charlotte remained there until he died in 1845.
John Ryley was born in 1786. In 1806 he married Charlotte Catherine Coxe, who was the daughter of General Coxe of Cavendish Square. He worked for some years in the Bengal civil service and after that was a magistrate for Hertfordshire for thirty years.
After he purchased High Elms it appears that he acquired a large amount of the surrounding land so that the estate was increased from 82 acres in 1817 to 170 acres in 1847. He also bought Fortune Farm and Winch Farm which were adjoining properties. The advertisement which sold all of these estates after his death and gives further details was in The Times of 1847. A map which shows these properties is at the right.
The next owner of High Elms was Arthur Currie. The 1851 census shows that he and his wife Dora were living on the estate and states that Arthur was a magistrate and distiller. Arthur was born in 1804 at Bromley by Bow. He was first married to Charlotte Judith Smith but unfortunately she died in 1840. In 1845 he married Dorothea (Dora) Seymour who was the daughter of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour. The couple seem to have lived at High Elms for about ten years.
In 1863 Robert Pryor acquired High Elms after he retired from the Bar. He was born in 1812 in Hamstead. His father was Thomas Marlborough Pryor. He was educated at Cambridge and graduated in 1834 after which he was called to the Bar and for many years practiced as an Equity Barrister and conveyancer. In 1844 he married Elizabeth Caroline Birch the daughter of Wyrley Birch of Wretham Hall, Norfolk.
After Robert came to live at High Elms, he became Chairman of the Quarter Sessions at St Albans in 1867 and was made a deputy lieutenant of the County in 1874. For over 20 years he was Chairman of the Watford Board of Guardians and occupied many other public positions. He died at High Elms in 1889 at the age of 78. In 1890 the property was advertised for sale in The Times.