Taplow Court - Was the home of the Grenfell family from 1852 when the 5th Earl of Orkney
sold it to Charles Pascoe Grenfell . The Grenfell family came from Cornwall and made their money
out of Copper Mining. It was Charles Pascoes grandson William Henry Grenfell who inheited the
estate at the age of 11 (1855 - 1945) who became Lord Desborough ( the present days Grandfather
on his mothers side) when he inherited the estate in 1867. He was an accomplished all-round athlete,
and was dedicated to promoting peace between nations through sport. He was responsible for
organizing the first Olympic Games to take place in this Country in 1908. He
Known as Willy Grenfell he entered Parliament as a Liberal MP for Salisbury in 1880 and
Became Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1885, he served as Mayor of
aidenhead between 1895 - 97 and was raised to the peerage for services to sport and local
government in 1905. In 1887 he married Ethel Fane.
Who became the hostess of Taplow court. Their visitors included Prince of Wales, Oscar Wilde,
H.G. Wells, Henry Irving, Edith Wharton and Vita Sackville-West to name but a few. In the Early
19th Century trees were planted in an extension of the Cedar Walk by Edward VII , Queen
Alexandra, Winston Church and the Cedar Walk is still there today.
Lord and Lady Desborough had three sons , Julian & Billy tragically died in Flanders in 1915.
The eldest was Julian who was the author of the famous war poem “Into Battle”. The third son
Ivo died in a car accident in 1926. They had two daughters Monica and Imogen ( who was the
present Lord Gages Mother. They inherited the Cowper collection which is now housed at Firle.
