Title:
Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White
Level: Category
Miscellaneous
Level: Fonds
WEDDING ALBUM OF DOROTHY CADWELL TAYLOR AND CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE
Scope and Content:
Comprises marriage licence (Bishop of St Albans, 30 May 1912), marriage certificate, wedding invitation, notice of special trains from and to Liverpool Street Station, London, and front of order of service; 26 photographs of the wedding and reception; 1 photograph, in the form of a Christmas card, of a portrait of Mrs D. [Dorothy] C.M. Hartman of Luckington, Wiltshire [a society hostess known by that name only from 1933]; and a large number of newscuttings reporting the engagement and marriage; all pasted in.

Includes views of demonstration flight by Blériot monoplane; large crowd outside Widford parish church and [White Horse] public house; guard of honour provided by boy scouts; Sir Daniel Gooch, his wife and daughter Phyllis on steps of Hylands House; aircraft-themed wedding cake by Messrs W. and G. Buszard of London, laid out under a model aircraft hanging in the gardens at Hylands; Blériot monoplane No. 16 and Howard Wright biplane with wedding guests on lawns at the rear of the house; Métallurgique wedding car leaving from the front portico [details taken from captions (some modern) and newscuttings].

Loose at end: letter (2 sheets) to 'The Contessa Dorothy Dentice di Frasso' in New York from 'Whitey' at Rossmore Court, Park Road, London NW.1, 30 October 1951, relating mainly to the repair of her Rolls Royce - with newscutting on prices of used cars - but referring also to his own health and that of 'Phoebe'.
[Claude Grahame-White lived with his third wife Phoebe at 38 Rossmore Court (Borough of Marylebone electoral registers).]

On front cover, crest of dove of peace with motto 'Cor unum via una' [One heart, one way].
Dates of Creation:
1912
Extent:
1 volume
Creator Name:
Unknown.
Admin History:
For the pioneer aviator Claude Grahame-White (1879–1959) see the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Born in Bursledon, Hampshire, he had opened the first London Aerodrome at Hendon in 1911. On 27 June 1912, having arrived by plane the previous day, he married at Widford parish church Dorothy Cadwell Taylor (1888-1954), an American heiress, daughter of Bertrand Leroy Taylor, the marriage being conducted by Canon Henry Lake, rector of Chelmsford. The reception was held nearby at Hylands House, home of Sir Daniel Gooch, and drew extensive press coverage; those arriving by aeroplane included a representative of the Daily Express. Both parties gave Hylands as their address, although it seems that the Gooches were social acquaintances only. The marriage ended in 1916. Dorothy Cadwell Taylor later married Carlo Dentice di Frasso, an Italian count, and was known as the Countess Dentice di Frasso.

The maker of the album is unknown. Sixteen of the total of 26 original wedding photographs carry the blindstamp of Fred Spalding, the Chelmsford photographer, and one the name of the Topical Postcard Company of Winton, Hampshire [later Dorset]; the remainder are unattributed but are probably press photographs.

At the sale of 2023 the album's provenance was given as 'by descent' from the bride.
Acquisition Source:
Donated to the Essex Record Office in May 2023 by the Friends of Hylands House, having been bought by them at auction in the United States.
Physical Characteristics:
40 sheets of brownish-green card, guarded into an album bound in white vellum with gold tooling and gilt edges; embossed endpapers. Front cover becoming loose; back cover somewhat stained by damp. Some silvering at edges of photographs (2023).
390 x 310 x 60 mm.
Existence of Copies:
Where a page includes more than one photograph, these images show first the whole page and then the individual pictures, numbered ...A, ...B etc.
Related Unit of Description:
For a description of the purchase of the album and some colourised versions of the contents see the Friends of Hylands House Newsletter, July 2023.
Not Available:
Use digital image(s).

Key terms

TypeKey termsDescription
Subjects Aviation Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and aviator Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Subjects Boy Scouts Guard of honour for marriage of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, Widford, 1912
Subjects Celebrity Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and aviator Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Subjects Marriages Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Subjects Newspapers Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and aviator Claude Grahame-White, 1912, including extensive press coverage
Subjects Railways Notice of special trains between Liverpool Street Station and Chelmsford for society wedding, 1912
Personal Names Claude
Grahame-White 		aviator, Widford, 1912
Personal Names Dorothy Cadwell
Dentice 		Countess di Frasso (formerly Grahame-White, née Taylor); Widford, 1912
Personal Names Dorothy Cadwell
Grahame-White 		née Taylor, later Dentice; wedding album, 1912
Personal Names Dorothy Cadwell
Taylor 		later Grahame-White, later Dentice di Frasso; Widford, 1912
Personal Names Dorothy Cynthia Mirabelle
Hartman 		née Wainwright, later Dalrymple; Luckington, Wiltshire, post 1933
Personal Names Mary Winifred
Monro 		later Gooch; Widford, 1912
Personal Names Phyllis Evelyn
Gooch 		later Parrish; Widford, 1912
Personal Names Phyllis Evelyn
Parrish 		née Gooch; Widford, 1912
Personal Names Lady
Mary Winifred
Gooch 		née Monro; Widford, 1912
Personal Names Sir
Daniel Fulthorpe
Gooch 		1st baronet; Widford, 1912
Place Names Church of St Mary the Virgin
Widford 		Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Place Names Hylands House
Widford 		Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Document Types Black-and-white photograph Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Document Types Marriage licence Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, Widford, 1912
Document Types Newscutting Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Document Types Photograph album Wedding album of Dorothy Cadwell Taylor and Claude Grahame-White, 1912
Institutions Fred Spalding and Sons Ltd photographers, Chelmsford, 1912
Institutions Topical Postcard Company Winton, Hampshire, 1912
Institutions W. and G. Buszard makers of wedding cakes, London, 1912