Lady Margaret Meade-Fetherstonhaugh
27th March 2025
Welcome to the fifth and final blog in our month of celebration for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. Title image to this blog shows Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh (second from the left) greeting the Queen Mother (second from the right) on her arrival at the Society of Herbalists, London, 1960s.Words by Laura Pardoe
The Herb Society was founded in 1927 as The Society of Herbalists, by Hilda Leyel who remained Chairman until the 1940s alongside The Lady Londonderry as President and Viscount Plummer as Vice President. By the 1940s, among their committee members, there included Lady Margaret Meade-Fetherstonhaugh. In the 1950’s the archives show the three leading roles of the Society to be held by Mr Christmas Humphreys Q.C. (Chairman), The Hon. Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh (President) and Her Grace the Duchess of Hamilton (Vice President). Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh proved to be the key figure heading the Society through the mid part of the 20th Century. She carried the flame from the founder members through to the 1970s when she acted as a joint Director to the Society, guiding it to a period of stability under the Chairmanship of her son, Mr J. Meade who remained in post for thirteen years (1971 to 1984). A little bit of digging among the Herb Society archives and a valuable contribution from curators at the National Trust has helped provide insight into the spirit of this engaging and entrepreneurial woman.An introduction to herbs
Having lived at twenty houses in twenty years (across England, Scotland and Malta), in 1931 a surprise inheritance from a barely-known aunt led Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh and her husband, Admiral Sir Herbert Meade-Fetherstonhaugh, to the romantic 17th Century mansion of Uppark in Surrey, an experience she describes as ‘the fairy story of our lives.’ It was a place in need of restoration but, though proclaiming herself a ‘mere woman’ Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh was ‘sure that nothing was impossible, and that feats of restoration must be tackled without too much hesitation.’
The Festoon Curtain in the Little Parlour, fully let down circa 1930
“A bundle of herbs was sent for from Norfolk. Pascal, the chef, provided a cauldron for the initiation in the old Still-room kitchen. It was impossible not to think of Macbeth’s witches as we watched muslin bags bobbing on the seething spring water in the cauldron, but – as the ritual proceeded – my faith knew no bounds as the air became pervaded with the subtle unforgettable scent that filled my nostrils for the first time, and proved to be my novice introduction to the miracles of nature therapy. The soap was a brown liquid with a meaningful lather, which covered the surface of the copper like a foaming tankard of beer. The scent that arose to eager nostrils was aromatic and rather exciting. The Prince Regent’s bed and a curtain from the Little Parlour were tackled at once. An alarming process of what was called ‘loosening the dirt’ took place in a big bath. The water turned inkpot black, and dustbin dirt hid the objects of ablution. If the ragged curtain had entered the bath a sorry mess of powdered rags, it emerged looking more than ever like seaweed which had been dragged from the bed of the ocean! The little old lady was never daunted and was an inspiring teacher. Would she meet her Waterloo over this Stygian mass of weeds, red and dripping? I was relieved to find she appeared quite unmoved. I was reminded of being told to ‘Throw your heart over the fence’ when it seemed high to me and my pony out hunting. By the time our lives were once more disrupted by war we had mended and re-hung twenty-eight brocade curtains, three Queen Anne four poster beds, and a set of chairs, besides much other restoration”
Curtain on the south east corner window in the Saloon at Uppark, West Sussex. The curtain has been repaired and shows the old and new material at top and bottom.
One of a set of three original 18th Century gold silk festoon curtains repaired by Lady Meade.
Evangelical convert
This experience began a lifetime of dedication to Saponaria – commonly known as soapwort – in particular, and herbs in general, with items being sent from around Britain, Europe and America to Uppark for restoration. Over time new techniques were developed for applying the soapwort. With enterprising spirit, Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh travelled extensively in the United States giving lectures and talks about herbs, and especially the marvellous properties of saponaria. Various transcripts of these speeches are held in the Society’s archive and make for interesting reading. Her travels included talks at Washington DC (including the Smithsonian), Pittsburgh, New York (Colonial Dames of America), Philadelphia and possible Baltimore, Williamsburg and Boston.Wealth of archive material
Understandably, given her long association with the Herb Society, our archives have a lot of correspondence to, and from, Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh – a whole project in itself to review and draw out the concerns and interests of Herb Society members and correspondents during that time!Examples of her proactive support of herbs and their use, are seen in the letters she sent in the 1960s as President of the Society of Herbalists. These include a 1964 missive to the Ministry of Health requesting that dispensing of all medicines should be allowed only by members of the Pharmaceutical Society. This can be seen alongside other documents relating to the collaboration between the Society of Herbalists, National Institute of Medical Herbalism (NIMH) and other herbal organisations who sought reform of laws regarding prescribing. This collaboration was strong throughout the 1960s and 1970s as Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh brought people to her cause.
Devoted to restoration
Her Uppark days ended in 1968, six years after her husband’s death and 14 years after Uppark was handed into the care of the National Trust, leaving them as tenants of their former home. Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh gave up the Uppark tenency to her widowed daughter-in-law and her young family, and moved to the village of Selborne where she remained deeply involved in practicing the techniques of textile restoration, supporting the revival of historic textiles from many other country houses, until her death in 1977.
In epilogue to her story, twelve years on from this, in 1989, a fire took hold at Uppark, an accident caused by a workman using a blowlamp to restore lead flashings on the roof. Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh had always feared fire (knowing the house was seven miles from the nearest fire station). When candles were lit on the Christmas tree for the annual present-giving to local children, she would station the Admiral nearby with a wet sponge to douse any candles that burnt low! Some of the textiles that had been so carefully restored by Lady Meade-Fetherstonhaugh (and her saponaria) were salvaged and can be seen by visitors today, though many were lost and have now been replaced with replicas.
Modern (20th century) replica of one of a set of five ivory silk damask festoon curtains. All original curtains in this set were damaged in the fire at Uppark on 30th August 1989, and while four were repaired using a mixture of original and new materials, one had to be completely replaced with a modern replica.
One of a pair of dark red woollen festoon curtains, modern copies of original 19th Century curtains which were lost in the fire at Uppark on 30th August 1989.