Thursday, August 15, 2013

How Eyres Monsell got its name

When Patrick Leigh Fermor died I mentioned that the Leicester suburb of Eyres Monsell is named after his father-in-law.

Artemis Cooper's biography of him, which I quoted from about Weedon the other day, says of Fermor's wife Joan:
Her mother, Sybil Eyres, had inherited a fortune in woollen manufacturing. On marriage, her husband Bolton Monsell added her name to his, becoming Bolton Eyres Monsell. He pursued a successful career in politics, holding the posts of Chief Whip for the Conservatives and First Lord of the Admiralty; he was created the 1st Viscount Monsell in 1935.
The land for Eyres Monsell was acquired by the corporation of Leicester for housing development by compulsory purchase order in the early 1950s.

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