On 23 May 1949, Lady Clare Hartnell of The Wilderness, St Swithin’s Road, Sherborne, offered herself as candidate for Sherborne East in the Dorset County Council by-election and set out her manifesto:
‘Ladies and Gentlemen. I beg to offer myself as your Candidate in the forthcoming County Council By-Election… I have now lived for over four years in Sherborne and am personally known to many of you. I have some experience of Local Government work, having been a member of the Chelsea Borough Council for eighteen years – during the first two years of the War I was their Mayor. I do not believe in running Local Government on party lines, but should always stand for efficency, economy and the best interests of my fellow citizens in this town. If you should do me the honour of electing me I shall gladly put my time and experience at your service.’ [1]
Lady Clare Hartnell was returned with a large majority[2] and went on to represent Sherborne East as an independent member of Dorset County Council for the next 13 years, finally stepping down in 1962, aged 77.
A biographical study of Lady Clare’s life reveals the extent and success that a woman in the twentieth century could achieve in the fields of public service, voluntary organisations and politics. Her life’s work falls into two distinct time frames and contrasting locations: 1920s-1940s Chelsea and postwar Sherborne. Behind her successful career lies the intriguing question of what motivated this upper-class woman born in the late Victorian era to devote her life to the public service of the citizens of Chelsea and Sherborne?
Clare Isma Pierrepont was born on 2 September 1884 at Cotesbach Hall near Lutterworth, Leicestershire, the second daughter of the Hon. Evelyn Henry Pierrepont (1856-1926) and Sophia (née Arkwright) (1855-1941). Through her distinguished ancestry, which included French aristocracy[3], inventor and industrialist Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-1792)[4] and acclaimed actress Sarah Siddons (1755-1831), Clare inherited a sense of noblesse oblige, a strong work ethic, and the art of public speaking.
In 1886, when she was two years old, the Pierrepont family moved to nearby Higham Grange at Nuneaton, Leicestershire,[5] where Clare lived a privileged life with her brother Gervas (1881-1956) and sisters Eva (1882-1971) and Ida (1886-1894). In 1891 the live-in staff at Higham Grange included a governess, a cook, a ladies’ maid, two laundry maids, two housemaids, a kitchen maid, a nurse maid, a footman and a butler.[6]
Clare’s parents believed that their daughters should be well-educated and by 1900 Clare was a pupil at Wycombe Abbey School in Buckinghamshire.[7] The School had been founded in 1896 by Dame Frances Dove DBE (1847-1942), a suffragist who championed women’s rights and believed that girls should receive an education equivalent to that of their brothers. Dame Frances imbued in her girls a sense of duty and public service, together with the belief that women were in every way equal to men.[8] These were important formative years for Clare and Dame Frances Dove’s influence can be traced throughout the rest of Clare’s life.
On 4 August 1914, a month before Clare’s 30th birthday, the UK entered the First World War. With her brother serving in the army, Clare was keen to support the war effort and joined the nursing staff of the Princess Marie Louise Military Hospital in Bermondsey.[9] This experience brought Clare into direct contact with wounded soldiers and no doubt further influenced her resolve to care for and improve the lives of those less fortunate than herself. The experience would also prove useful to her during the Second World War.
The high number of male casualties in the First World War resulted in a generation of ‘surplus women’ who would never marry. Now over what many considered marriageable age, it was probably assumed by many that Clare would remain a spinster. However, on 20 September 1919, 19 days after her 35th birthday, Clare was married at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, to 37-year-old Australian journalist Fred Somerset Hartnell (1881-1947).[10] Their 28-year marriage proved to be an ideal partnership in which Fred was happy to take the back seat supporting and encouraging Clare in her public work, firstly at Chelsea and later at Sherborne.[11]
How Clare and Fred met is a mystery. Fred’s father George William Hartnell (1839-1906) was born in Taunton, Somerset, and emigrated to Sydney, Australia, where he married Matilda Catherine Connolly (1846-1922) and where Fred was born on 12 December 1881. Fred was educated at Sydney Public High School and by 1903 was working as a journalist.[12] He moved to London as a young man,[13] where he worked as a journalist specialising in articles about Australia[14] and in 1910 published a book, All about Railways. A Book for Boys.[15]
In the UK, the post-First World War years witnessed a tranche of significant legislation which strengthened and empowered the role women could play in national life. The 1907 Qualification Act had already enabled women to be elected to and serve on county and borough councils and to be elected mayors. In 1919 the Sexual Disqualification Act enabled women to enter the legal and civil professions, to serve on juries and to pursue higher education, and in 1928 the Equal Franchise Act lowered the voting age for women to 21 years and granted them the vote on the same terms of men.
From 1919 to 1944 Clare and Fred lived happily in Chelsea amongst sophisticated, wealthy and artistic neighbours. Their first home was at no.3 Carlyle Square, Chelsea,[16] where they lived until 1930 when they moved to no.20 Carlyle Square. Located just off the King’s Road, this garden square had been laid out in the 1830s by the Cadogan Estate who named it Oakley Square, but in 1872 it was renamed in honour of former Chelsea resident Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881).[17]
Over the years Carlyle Square has attracted an interesting variety of residents. Clare and Fred Hartnell’s neighbours at no.2 Carlyle Square were literary brothers Osbert (1892-1969) and Sacheverell Sitwell (1897-1988) and composer William Walton (1902-1983). One wonders whether Clare and Fred were in the audience at the Aeolian Hall on 12 July 1923 when Osbert and Sacheverell’s sister Edith Sitwell (1887-1964) gave the first performance of her controversial production Façade during which she recited poems through a megaphone over an instrumental accompaniment by William Walton? No.6 Carlyle Square was home to actors Sybil Thorndike (1882-1976) and her husband Lewis Casson (1875-1969), and at no.21 lived the 9th Duke of Portland, Victor Cavendish-Bentinck (1897-1990), who was chair of the Intelligence Committee during the Second World War. From 1944 the double-agent Kim Philby (1912-1988) and his family lived at no.18.
Financially independent, Clare was able to employ household servants, freeing her from domestic chores and allowing her to work. With her keen sense of public service it wasn’t long before Clare became involved in Chelsea politics. Working for the Conservative cause she served as vice-chairwoman and treasurer of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Chelsea Conservative and Unionist Association, and from 1928 to 1939 was a member of Chelsea Borough Council representing Cheyne Ward and later Church Ward. For eight years Clare chaired the Baths Committee, she was also a member of the Executive Finance and General Purposes Committee, the Public Health Committee and Children’s Safety Committee.
Possibly because she had no children of her own Clare was particularly interested in child welfare, serving on the committee of the Violet Melchett Infant Welfare Centre in Chelsea which supported infant health, mothercraft training and a day nursery. The Centre opened in 1931 and was named in honour of Violet Mond, Baroness Melchett, whose husband, the industrialist and politician Sir Alfred Mond, financed its work. Clare was also manager of the Ashburnham and Park Walk Schools and the Marlborough Evening Institute in Draycott Avenue, and supported the work of the Chelsea Imperial Club for maids in private service.
On 2 September 1939 Clare celebrated her 55th birthday. The following day the UK declared war on Germany. Many women in Clare’s position might have decided that this was a good time to retire to the country, but not Clare who in October 1939 put her name forward as a candidate for the Chelsea mayoralty, to which position she was elected in November 1939, becoming only the second woman to hold the post in Chelsea.[18] Clare went on to serve for two terms as mayor of Chelsea, from November 1939 to November 1941, critical years in the borough’s history during what became known as the Chelsea Blitz.
When Clare was first elected mayor in November 1939 she made two announcements, the first was that on becoming mayor she had resigned all her political appointments and the second was that, unlike a man whose wife was expected to act as mayoress, she would not be appointing another lady to act as mayoress because her husband would be assisting her in her duties.[19] With his journalistic contacts, Fred no doubt also acted as Clare’s unofficial Press Officer and throughout her term of office the Press published very favourable and encouraging reports of her mayoralty.
The first eight months of the Second World War were known as the Phoney War because the anticipated air raids did not materialise, but Clare used this time to ensure that the Borough of Chelsea was in a state of preparedness. In November 1939 she visited Chelsea’s ARP first aid posts where, with her experience of nursing during the First World War, she was impressed by the thoroughness of their preparations and the keenness of the nurses. Clare’s easy ability to connect with others, no matter what their age, sex or class, was often remarked upon. While visiting the first aid post at St Mark and St John’s College in King’s Road she stopped to speak to Mrs Griffin who was scrubbing the floor. Afterwards Mrs Griffin told a reporter ‘As I got up off my knees she offered me her hand and I shook hands with her. It was lovely of her to think of an ordinary cleaner.’[20]
In February 1940 Clare took another significant step in support of the war effort and founded the Chelsea War Comforts Department. Presiding over their first meeting in Chelsea Town Hall Clare was supported by her neighbour the actress Sybil Thorndike who paid tribute to Clare’s organising ability and said Chelsea was lucky in possessing such a leader. Clare told the assembled knitters that their branch would provide ‘comforts for the less known units, such as the Indian troops, balloon barrage men, minesweepers, fishermen, and anti-aircraft gunners. Theirs, perhaps, was a greater need than that of the men on a famous battleship, or in a famous regiment.’[21] The Royal Hospital Chelsea would later come to the rescue of the Chelsea War Comforts Department allowing them to use their State Drawing Room,[22] and in 1946 the Department proudly announced that during the war they had provided 32,553 knitted garments for service personnel.[23]
The Royal Hospital Chelsea was also the setting for another important event during Clare’s mayoralty when on 28 May 1940 the inaugural meeting of the Chelsea Local Defence Volunteers was held in the South Grounds.[24] The Town Clerk recalled how from the top of a heap of sandbags Clare, the only woman present at the meeting, addressed the assembled crowd of 200 men and ‘with her personality and well-chosen words’ gripped their attention and earned their applause.[25]
In April 1940 Clare’s brother Gervas succeeded to the title of Earl Manvers. Clare and her sister Eva were granted the style and precedence of the daughter of an Earl by Royal Warrant with the effect that Clare was now to be addressed as Lady Clare Hartnell.[26]
The Chelsea Blitz which began on 9 September 1940 paid no heed to status, wealth, age or sex, and at 6 pm that evening the first bombs fell on Chelsea, damaging Swan Court in Manor Street and destroying properties in Bramerton Street. Four days later at 3.15 am on 13 September 1940 six people were killed when a bomb hit an air raid shelter at Chelsea Manor Buildings. At 6 am the next morning Clare visited the Hall of Remembrance in Flood Street where the survivors were being cared for. The Town Clerk recalled ‘I shall always remember that picture of her, striding along King’s Road at the early hours of the morning through drenching rain, and of the kindly way in which she spoke to the sufferers from the bombing.’[27] When on 19 September 1940 Chelsea received an unofficial visit from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Clare accompanied them to Bramerton Street where 14-year-old Mildred Castillo had been rescued after four days and nights buried under the rubble of her home.[28]
The following month The Queen magazine published a morale boosting article about how Chelsea Borough Council was working to help local residents cope with the effects of the bombing campaign. Clare, it said, was known and trusted by the people of Chelsea for whom she worked unceasingly. The article went on to report in detail the extent and importance of Clare’s wartime work in the borough:
‘On every side I heard of her competency and kindness, and of the enormous amount of work she has to do. She is very accessible, interviews a great many people, visits daily the different centres, and has often been far afield to see the evacuated children. She believes in seeing things for herself, and her energy seems to be unceasing. Chelsea is probably one of the best organised London boroughs; there seems to be no overlapping, no red tape, no muddles. Women are very practical, and it may be that at this moment the Mayor’s practical gifts have proved of immense value… The WVS are doing splendid service. I visited them at the Town Hall, where they were chiefly occupied with billeting arrangements, and was told by the Mayor to go and see the emergency hospital just opened for the reception of homeless people from the first aid posts, too ill for the rest centres, and with no one to look after them, and patients from hospitals who have been bombed and need further observation… The spirit of kindness inspires the helpers of Chelsea, combined with a practical efficiency that gets things done as speedily as possible. From the Mayor and the Town Hall, the nerve centre of activities, all are eager to help each individual who has suffered in the attack on Chelsea.’[29]
Following such a successful first term of office it is not surprising that in November 1940 Clare was elected for a second term as mayor. Now 56 years old, Clare’s energy and enthusiasm for serving the people of Chelsea was unflagging. In her rousing acceptance speech, Clare thanked the many voluntary workers, the officers, staff and workmen of the Council, saying ‘probably few Mayors in the past have known the Council employees – senior and junior alike – so well, and I am confident that no borough has ever been better or more loyally served. It is good to know that if times of trial are to come to Chelsea we shall be all friends together working through the dark hours and perhaps sooner than we think or dare to hope the dawn will break. I pray that before the end of my year of office joy bells may be ringing and that we may be celebrating the coming of victory and peace.’
Sadly, Clare’s second term as mayor did not see the end of the Second World War. Due to its proximity to Battersea Power Station and Westminster, Chelsea continued to suffer considerable bomb damage. The night of 16 April 1941 saw one of the heaviest nights of bombing in the War, when Chelsea Old Church and the east wing of the Soane’s Infirmary at the Royal Hospital Chelsea were destroyed by enemy action and there were numerous casualties. Today, a memorial plaque in Dovehouse Green on the King’s Road remembers the 457 civilians killed in Chelsea by enemy action between 1939 and 1945, with another at the Royal Hospital remembering those officers, in-pensioners and residents who lost their lives within the precincts by enemy action during the First and Second World Wars.
In June 1941 Clare’s mother, the Hon. Mrs Sophia Pierrepont, died at Cirencester after being knocked down by a lorry when crossing the road during the blackout. Her funeral took place at Higham-on-the Hill, Leicestershire, where she was buried alongside Clare’s father and younger sister Ida.[30]
One of Clare’s final actions as Mayor of Chelsea was to give her blessing for the formation of the Chelsea unit of the Women’s Home Defence Corps. Dr Edith Summerskill (1901-1980), Labour MP for West Fulham, had campaigned for women to be allowed to join the Home Guard and trained in musketry, bombing, field craft and unarmed combat. At the inaugural meeting of the Women’s Home Defence Corps in Chelsea Town Hall on 4 February 1942, Dr Summerskill said that all women wanted was to know how to use a rifle so that in the event of an invasion they could replace the men who would be needed for combatant work.[31] Initially, the Home Guard thought it ‘undesirable for women to bear arms’, but in April 1943 they relented and allowed women to join ‘to perform non-combatant duties such as clerical work, cooking and driving’, but they were not allowed to wear a uniform (apart from a plastic badge) or to receive weapons training. [32]
The many glowing accolades Clare received at the conclusion of her second term as mayor demonstrates the high esteem in which she was held by all residents of Chelsea. At the annual meeting of the Borough Council in November 1941, it was agreed that never had the Council been under a greater obligation to a mayor and that ‘with the passing of the years they would appreciate more and more how much they owed to her.’[33]
The following year Clare was further honoured when on 25 February 1942 a portrait of her wearing the mayoral robes and chain of office was unveiled in the Council Chamber in Chelsea Town Hall. The portrait was presented to the Borough Council by Hungarian artist Martin de Hosszu (1894-1953) who said he wanted to show his appreciation of the kindness he had received in Chelsea and decided to paint the portrait of Lady Clare Hartnell because she had done so much for the people of Chelsea, saying ‘he hoped that the picture would in some way commemorate the bravery of British women who carried on with such courage during the blitz.’[34]
In December 1944, in what appears to have been quite a sudden decision, Clare and Fred left Chelsea and moved to The Wilderness in St Swithin’s Road, Sherborne.[35] Why they decided to leave Chelsea is unclear, but it is possible that the strain of the war years had impacted on Fred Hartnell’s health because, just over two years later, Fred died from a heart attack at The Wilderness, aged 65.[36]
Just five months after Clare and Fred moved to Sherborne the nation celebrated when on 8 May 1945 Victory in Europe Day was declared. At Sherborne the bells rang out from the Abbey tower and at 3 pm amplifiers installed in the Pageant Gardens relayed Prime Minster Winston Churchill’s live radio broadcast to the nation, followed at 9 pm by King George VI’s radio broadcast from Buckingham Palace. Sunday, 13 May 1945 was declared Thanksgiving Day and thousands of people lined Sherborne’s streets to cheer members of the Services as they marched past on their way to a service in the Abbey.[37]
Moving to The Wilderness did not consign Clare, in any sense, to the ‘wilderness years’, for following her husband’s death she worked enthusiastically to provide facilities for the youth of Sherborne, to raise the profile and membership of what would become the West Dorset Conservative Association, and to represent the people of Sherborne East on Dorset County Council.
In February 1946 Clare was elected chair of the recently formed Sherborne Youth Club, which was then based in Newland at the former Macready Institute next door to Sherborne House. On her appointment as chair Clare declared that Sherborne had taken the Youth Club to its heart, saying that ‘a year ago the old Macready Club was not in very high repute. There were only 15 members left, but today Sherborne Youth Club, which had taken its place, has a membership of 110 and that number could be increased at any time if they had larger premises. It was going to be a very valuable institution to the town.’[38] When Clare stepped down as chair in June 1949 the benefit of the Youth Club to the town was evidenced by the low level of juvenile crime in the area.[39] Although female membership of the Youth Club was still low, a concerted effort was made over the course of the next year to attract more girls by holding a weekly girls’ evening which included activities such as cookery, needlework, dressmaking, bread-modelling, talks, and Scandinavian dance.[40]
Clare also achieved great success with Sherborne Women’s branch of the North Dorset Conservative Association (later the West Dorset Conservative Association), serving as chair from 1945 to 1965 and then as deputy chair. Using the extensive experience she had gained at Chelsea, Clare created at Sherborne ‘a model which could be followed all over the country’, raising branch membership from 30 to 700 and making it the largest body of its kind within the constituency.[41] Such was Clare’s success with Sherborne Women’s branch that in April 1948 the Sherborne and District Young Conservative Association was formed, and in July 1948 when they held a fundraising dog show on Foster’s School Field Clare was invited to present the prizes and her brother Lord Manvers gave a generous donation to the branch.[42]
In May 1949, now 64 years old and widowed for just over two years, Clare decided to stand for election in the Dorset County Council by-election. With her zeal for public service undiminished she went on to represent Sherborne East as an independent candidate for the next 13 years, finally retiring in 1962, aged 77.
In her new official capacity, in December 1949 Clare attended the opening by Major Simon Wingfield Digby, MP for West Dorset, of Sherborne’s first public library at The Julian in Higher Cheap Street. [43] Clare remained a loyal supporter of Sherborne library and Judy Nash, a former member of library staff, remembers Clare visiting the library in the 1960s & 1970s, providing us with a captivating image of Clare during her later years:
‘I knew little about her, but she was a frequent visitor and an avid reader – mostly fiction I think. She had her hair in a bun, wore little circular glasses and in the 1960s-70s old fashioned clothes and carried a small handbag… she was one of those Sherborne ladies with a wicker wheelie shopping basket – we used to have problems parking them all when the library was at The Julian!’[44]
Lady Clare Hartnell died at The Priory, Roehampton, on 10 May 1975, aged 90,[45] and was buried on 15 May 1975 alongside her husband in Sherborne Cemetery where their grave is marked by a Ham Hill stone cross.[46]
On 11 February 1975, three months before Clare’s death, Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) was elected leader of the Conservative Party and became the first woman to lead a major British political party. Four years later when the Conservative Party won the 1979 general election she became the first female Prime Minister in the Western world. Margaret Thatcher’s path to the top was undoubtedly eased by women such as Lady Clare Hartnell who proved that women could succeed in politics. Clare’s life is testament to her single-minded determination to make a difference to the lives of those she served, whether in public service, voluntary organisations, or political appointments.
Rachel Hassall
With grateful thanks to George Tatham and Judy Nash for their help with this article.
7 July 2026
Footnotes:
[1] ‘Election Notices’, Western Gazette, 27 May 1949. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 6 April 2026)
[2] The results of the by-election were declared at Long Street Schoolroom, Sherborne. Lady Clare Hartnell received 560 votes and Mr Benjamin T. Trott of South Street, Yetminster, who stood as a co-operative and Trades Union candidate, received 249 votes.
[3] Lady Clare’s great grandfather was Augustin Louis Joseph Casimir Gustave de Franquetot (1788-1865), 3rd Duc de Coigny, whose daughter Georgine Jane Elizabeth Fanny de Franquetot (1826-1910) married Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont, 3rd Earl Manvers (1825-1900), whose second son was Clare’s father, the Hon. Evelyn Henry Pierrepont (1856-1926).
[4] Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-1792) was Lady Clare’s 3x great grandfather. Sir Richard Arkwright’s grandson Robert Arkwright (1783-1859) married Frances Crawford Kemble (1787-1849) and their granddaughter Sophia Arkwright (1855-1941) married Clare’s father, the Hon. Evelyn Henry Pierrepont (1856-1920).
[5] Clare had three siblings: Gervas Evelyn Pierrepont MC (1881-1956), JP for the County of London who was London County Councillor for Brixton 1922-1946 and in 1940 succeeded his cousin as 6th Earl Manvers and became a member of the House of Lords; Eva Mary Pierrepont (1882-1971) who married Captain Elliott Scott MacKirdy (1881-1938) 5x Mayor of Malmesbury, Wiltshire; and Ida Helen Pierrepont (1886-1894) who died at Higham Grange, aged 8, as the result of a riding accident.
[6] TNA: RG12/2504, 1891 census for Higham Grange, Higham-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire. Ancestry (accessed 6 April 2026)
[7] In June 1900, Clare Pierrepont performed two scenes from Henry V at the Wycombe Abbey School Speech Day. South Bucks Standard, 29 June 1900. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 6 April 2026). Clare is also listed as a pupil, aged 16, in the 1901 census for Wycombe Abbey Ladies School, High Wycombe, TNA: RG13/1347.
[8] Dame Frances Dove: A Wycombe Abbey History (accessed 6 April 2026)
[9] The Princess Marie Louise Military Hospital for wounded soldiers was established in 1914 by Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein. The Tatler, 21 October 1914. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 6 April 2026)
[10] ‘HARTNELL-PIERREPONT. A quiet wedding took place on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, when Miss Clare Isma Pierrepont, younger daughter of the Hon. Evelyn and Mrs Pierrepont, of The Quorns, Cirencester, was married to Mr F.S. Hartnell, younger son of the late Mr G.W. Hartnell, of the New South Wales Civil Service. Only near relatives and a few friends were present, and the ceremony was performed by the Rev. W. Pennington-Bickford, vicar of St Clement Danes, Strand. The bride, who was given away by her father, looked well in her pretty dress of deep ivory coloured georgette, the skirt arranged with flounces of lace and the corsage to correspond swathed round the waist with gold tissue. With this she wore a gold lace hat wreathed with small pink roses. Capt. Hollins supported the bridegroom as best man. Later Mr and Mrs Hartnell left for their honeymoon in Cornwall’. The Queen, 25 October 1919. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 6 April 2026)
[11] ‘DEATH OF MR F.S. HARTNELL. The, death took place suddenly at his home, The Wilderness, on Saturday, at the age of 65, of Mr Fred Somerset Hartnell, who since coming to Sherborne less than two years ago, has taken such a great interest in local organisations. Born in Australia, Mr Hartnell settled in England when he came of age, and his marriage to Lady Clare took place in 1919. For many years they lived in Chelsea, taking a prominent part in public work, and Mr Hartnell did particularly fine service during the first two years of the war when Lady Clare was Mayor. Without taking an active part in local affairs, Mr Hartnell interested himself in a number of good causes and supported and encouraged his wife in her work as chairman of the Sherborne Branch North Dorset Conservative Association, and as a very active official of the Youth Club. The funeral took place privately at Sherborne Cemetery on Tuesday [21 January 1947], the Vicar (Canon J.P.W. Lovett) officiating. Arrangements for the funeral were carried out by Messrs. R. Eason & Sons.’ Western Gazette, 24 January 1947. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 6 April 2026)
[12] New South Wales Electoral Roll, 1903: 43 Ormond Street, Fred Somerset Hartnell, journalist, George William Hartnell, clerk of works. Findmypast (accessed 6 April 2026)
[13] 1911 census, St Clement Danes & Liberty of the Rolls. Fred Somerset Hartnell, Journalist (Editorial), is listed as living at Flat 121, 4 Clements Inn, Strand WC, London. Ancestry (accessed 6 April 2026)
[14] Articles written by Fred Somerset Hartnell include ‘Australia’s Need for An Army’, The Bystander (1 August 1906), ‘The Colonial Cinderella. A Word in defence of Australia’, Pall Mall Gazette (27 December 1907), and ‘The Land of the Golden Fleece’ Cassell’s Magazine (July 1909)
[15] F.S. Hartnell, All about railways. A book for boys (London: Cassell & Co., 1910)
[16] Charlie Duffell, ‘Where one Chelsea mayor made his home’, 25 June 2025, Russell Simpson website (accessed 9 May 2026)
[17] Carlyle Square, Wikipedia (accessed 9 May 2026)
[18] ‘CHELSEA MAYOR DESIGNATE’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 27 October 1939. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 10 May 2026). The first woman to hold the post of Major of Chelsea was Clare Hartnell’s American-born next-door neighbour at no.21 Carlyle Square, Lady Margaret Percy Phipps (née Duncan) (1877-1944) who served as Mayor of Chelsea for two consecutive terms from 1929 to 1931.
[19] ‘CHELSEA’S MAYOR DESIGNATE’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 27 October 1939. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 16 May 2026)
[20] ‘CHELSEA’S FIRST-AID POSTS’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 17 November 1939. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 16 May 2026)
[21] ‘WAR COMFORTS. Inaugural Meeting of Chelsea Depot’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 23 February 1940. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 16 May 2026)
[22] Martin Cawthorne, The Royal Hospital Chelsea at War (The History Press, 2024), p.139.
[23] ‘SOMETHING TO BE PROUD ABOUT’, Westminster and Pimlico News, 15 March 1946. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[24] Martin Cawthorne, The Royal Hospital Chelsea at War (The History Press, 2024), p.107.
[25] ‘CHELSEA GOSSIP’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 21 November 1941. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[26] ‘New Rank for Chelsea’s Mayor’, The Queen, 28 August 1940. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[27] ‘CHELSEA GOSSIP’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 21 November 1941. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[28] ‘KING AND QUEEN IN CHELSEA. TOUR OF BOMBED AREAS’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 20 September 1940. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[29] ‘WITH THE MAYOR TO LEAD CHELSEA IS TACKLING AIR-RAID PROBLEMS WITH INITIATIVE, COURAGE AND CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS’, The Queen, 9 October 1940. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[30] Grave of Sophia Pierrepont (1855-1941), Higham-on-the-Hill, FindaGrave (accessed 18 May 2026)
[31] ‘WOMEN’S HOME DEFENCE. FORMATION OF CHELSEA UNIT’, Westminster and Pimlico News, 13 February 1942. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[32] Penny Summerfield and Corina Peniston-Bird, ‘Women in the Firing Line: the Home Guard and the defence of gender boundaries in Britain in the Second World War’, Women’s History Review, vol.9, no.2, 2000, pp.231-257.
[33] ‘CHELSEA’S NEW MAYOR’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 14 November 1941. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026)
[34] ‘Portrait Unveiled in Council Chamber’, Chelsea News and General Advertiser, 6 March 1942. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026). Martin de Hosszu’s portrait of Lady Clare Hartnell is now held in the store at Kensington Central Library. For further details visit ArtUK
[35] ‘Court Circular’, The Times, 19 December 1944. ‘Mr F.S. and Lady Clare Hartnell have left Chelsea and arrived at Wilderness House, Sherborne, Dorset, which is now their permanent address.’ The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 17 May 2026). Wilderness House, also known as The Wilderness, was built in 1896 for Sherborne brewer Walter Herbert Baxter (1864-1917). The architect was Ernest Flint (1849-1923), 80, Coleman Street, London. Wilderness House/The Wilderness was demolished in about 1975 and a housing development known as The Wilderness was built on the site.
[36] Fred Somerset Hartnell died on 18 January 1947 at The Wilderness, St Swithin’s Road, Sherborne. Cause of death given on the death certificate: 1 (a) Cardiac Infarction; (b) Coronary thrombosis; (c) Coronary Atheroma. He was buried at Sherborne Cemetery on 21 January 1947. Probate was granted to lady Clare Hartnell on 28 March 1947, when his effects were valued at £11,715 17s 7d.
[37] Rachel Hassall, ‘VE Day Celebrations at Sherborne’, Old Shirburnian Society website (accessed 18 May 2026)
[38] ‘YOUTH CLUB’S £500 BUDGET’, Western Gazette, 22 February 1946. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 18 May 2026)
[39] Sherborne Urban District Council Archives, Dorset History Centre ref. DC/SHU 60/157, Report of Committee Meeting of Sherborne Youth Club held on 28 June 1949.
[40] Sherborne Urban District Council Archives, Dorset History Centre ref. DC/SHU 60/157, Sherborne Youth Club Annual Report 1950.
[41] ‘SHERBORNE FUNERAL OF LADY CLARE HARTNELL’, Western Gazette, 23 May 1974. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 18 May 2026)
[42] ‘DOG SHOW AT SHERBORNE. YOUNG CONSERVATIVES’ FIRST VENTURE’, Western Gazette, 16 July 1948. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 18 May 2026)
[43] ‘SHERBORNE TO HAVE CHOICE OF 5,000 BOOKS. FIRST FULL-TIME BRANCH LIBRARY IN DORSET. INTERESTING CEREMONY AT THE JULIAN’, Western Gazette, 16 December 1949. The British Newspaper Archive (accessed 18 May 2026)
[44] Judy Nash’s memories of Lady Clare Hartnell kindly shared with Rachel Hassall by email on 6 & 7 June 2025.
[45] Cause of death recorded on the death certificate: 1 (a) Broncho Pneumonia; 1 (b) Fracture (R.) Femur; 2 Senile Dementia (Arterio Sclerotic). Probate was granted on 9 September 1975 to Michael Evelyn Wallace Scott MacKirdy and Mrs Angela Mary Holder. The gross value of her estate was valued at £109,185.98, with a net value of £108,604.88.
[46] Clare and Fred Hartnell’s grave is in section 6, grave space 143 of Sherborne Cemetery. FindaGrave (accessed 15 June 2026)