Gunnersbury Park, Lucy’s home

In 1801 Lucy’s father, Alexander Copland, purchased land that had formed the major part of Princess Amelia’s Gunnersbury estate in Ealing for £10,000. He immediately set about erecting the house in which Lucy was born, Gunnersbury Park, and surrounded 72 of the 78 acres of his new Estate with walls for his gardens and parkland. He enlarged the house in 1816.

Gunnersbury Park was largest landed property in the parish and Lucy grew up in a lavish environment, with grand gardens, lakes, ponds and Romantic classical architecture. Her parents, Alexander and Lucy, entertained extravagantly at Gunnersbury and became active members of Ealing society. We can glean a little of their social life from the diaries of John Quincy Adams, later to be America’s 6th President, who lived close to Gunnersbury during his tenure as America’s representative in Britain. His diaries of 1815-17 mention that Lucy (senior) was accustomed to sing and play the piano and harp at social gatherings. This she shared with Adams’s wife Louisa, an accomplished musician whose portrait, like one of Lucy’s, is painted alongside a harp as illustrated in Little Ealing History Group’s wonderful publication, An American President in Ealing - The John Quincy Adams Diaries 1815 - 1817. This wonderful little book is filled with insights as the Group explore the life of Adams and his family and the community in which they lived during their time in Britain. Lucy grew up in an exclusive environment that hosted grand garden parties, festivities and activities such as cricket and archery.

John Quincy Adams records in his diary of 21 September 1816 how he “walked to Mr Copland’s at Gunnersbury. There was a cricket match of about twenty young men upon his grounds”. He describes partaking of a lavish cold lunch, returning to watch the cricket till dusk and then repairing “to the portico, a detached building near the house where they have a billiard room” where “an elegant dessert was there set out, and the ladies, wives and daughters … and some others joined the party.” He continues with a walk around the grounds, set “in the most beautiful style of English ornamental gardening”, and returns to watch the fireworks over the lake. Whilst he played whist with friends, the “young people danced country dances until midnight” .

Lucy would have been 13 at the time of Adams’s visit and by 1819 may have had the opportunity to enjoy the dances for herself. She would certainly have been in attendance during the small social events in which her mother sang or played the harp or piano.

The portrait above of a younger Lucy, aged 9 in 1812, sets her in Gunnersbury Park’s classical gardens

One of two arches leading to Gunnersbury Park, the above painted during the occupancy of the Copland family, one of the author’s favourite paintings of Gunnersbury, and below photographed by the author on a visit in April 2019.

Today the “Temple” remains one of Gunnersbury Museum’s many attractions. In Lucy’s day it was used as a pavilion for billiards and music for his guests.

In the picture above, Lucy (Senior) is shown alongside her harp with the Temple in the background. Below, the author’s two children look across the lake to the Temple in April 2019. The lake was restructured after a stray German bomb inflicted damage during World War II.

At Alexander Copland’s death on 12 July 1834 his Will came into effect. He had directed that his estates and monies to be sold for the benefit of his family, all three sons receiving equal shares, and that his widow Lucy, to whom he had bequeathed 3/10ths of his estate, should receive not less than £2500 per annum during her lifetime. Gunnersbury had to be sold.

The house, gardens and estate were bought by the banker, Nathan Mayer Rothschild. His wife Hannah handled all domestic matters and it was she who undertook the transaction, for £17,000, in 1835. Arrangements were immediately made to enlarge the house and Lucy’s cousin, the architect Sydney Smirke, was commissioned to design the work. Although Nathan died in 1836, Hannah continued to enlarge and improve the estate, including the orangery which was rebuilt, and lands that had not been purchased by Alexander Copland were added. When she died in 1850 her eldest son Lionel took on the shares of his three other brothers and continued to develop the estate, adding lands and converting leaseholds and in 1889 he added the house next door, finally unifying Princess Amelia’s original Gunnersbury estate. The famed Rothschild’s gardens received national awards, the Japanese gardens were opened by the Japanese ambassador, exclusive garden parties were held for social and charitable events and the tradition of cricket matches continued.

In the 1920’s the Rothschild’s Gunnersbury estate became ripe for development. This had started in the 1890’s, with the building of residential properties by the family but when the Great West Road was built across Gunnersbury land in the south the setting became less exclusive and the Gunnersbury estate was put on the market. In 1925 the boroughs of Acton and Ealing fought against considerable opposition to acquire the Park for the benefit if the community, with the Urban Districts of Brentford and Chiswick joining the board in 1927. Gunnersbury Museum was formed in 1929.

War years followed and funding was harder and harder to come by. Subsequent times have proven to be really challenging, but the Park and Museum have survived. Smirke’s derelict Orangery was restored, the Rothschild’s Italianate Gardens were brought back to life and the Victorian kitchen gardens are again in use. Permission was refused by the Greater London Council to pull down the decaying Temple but it was preserved when they grant aided its restoration in 1973. The grand Popes Lane entrance built by the Rothschild’s has been restored and remains the main point of entry to the Museum, with a lively children’s playground, busy cafe and small carriage display alongside.

Gunnersbury 2026 is the current transformation project in preparation for the centenary of the public park. A £21 million phase restoration of Copland’s main house has been completed, with the Museum occupying the whole building. The historic arches, walls, grotto, temple and orangery have been brought back to life, the ponds secured and nature trails lead the visitor round the park. Investment in new sporting facilities is well under way and will attract the interest of people from further afield and further phases are about to reveal even greater transformation over the next six years. (The author has sourced almost all of the information from the sale of Gunnersbury in 1835 to the present day from the wonderful booklet Gunnersbury Park - The Place and People available from the Museum)

For more about Gunnersbury Museum, present and future, follow this link