Goldthorn Park is a suburb of Wolverhampton , West Midlands . It is situated 1½ miles south of the city centre within the Blakenhall ward. It mostly consists of private houses built from the 1930s onwards.
22-604: The area is historically located within the Manor of Sedgley. In 1935, the Earl of Dudley offered building plots for sale by auction; the advertisement gave the total area of the estate as 230 acres (93 ha) and was expected when fully developed to provide over 2,000 houses. The original plan for the estate included bowling greens, croquet lawns and a golf course, but none of these developments were ever built. A proposal in 1962 to move Goldthorn Park from Sedgley Urban District to Wolverhampton
44-635: A "mere appendage" of a larger Wolverhampton ward, where their voice would not be heard. Nevertheless, reorganisation in 1966 resulted in Goldthorn Park being incorporated into Wolverhampton despite most of Sedgley being incorporated into the County Borough of Dudley . It could be argued that the Seven Cornfields dividing the rest of the Sedgley built up area from Goldthorn Park as being a factor. However,
66-636: A Holford married the heiress Sarah Crew. Robert inherited the fortune of his uncle and namesake Robert Holford (d. 1838) of over one million pounds and in 1839 he inherited Westonbirt House from his father. Holford married Mary Anne Lindsay , a daughter of Lt. General Sir James Lindsay of Balcarres (himself grandson of James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres ) by his second wife Anne Trotter, daughter of Sir Coutts Trotter, 1st Baronet . (Mary Anne's sister Margaret had married their second cousin Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford ). Holford and his wife had
88-649: A number of industrial concerns in the Black Country region of England, notably the Round Oak Steelworks and Baggeridge Colliery . In 1937, he set up Dudley Zoo within the grounds of Dudley Castle , once the seat of the Barons of Dudley. Dudley was commissioned into the Worcestershire Yeomanry in 1912. In 1914 he transferred to the regular 10th Hussars . He was promoted lieutenant in 1915 and ended
110-608: Is said to have fathered a daughter, Judy Montagu, in 1923 with the aristocrat and socialite Venetia Stanley , although the legal father was her husband Edwin Samuel Montagu . She grew up to befriend Princess Margaret during World War II and marry the American photographer Milton Gendel , with whom she created an artistic salon in Italy. Mandy Rice-Davies claimed that the Earl was one of
132-556: The A459 road , which forms the suburb's eastern boundary. In 1969 Wolverhampton Corporation supported a plan to build 1,500 houses on land adjoining the estate to the south, however the Minister for Housing and Local Government vetoed the development over Green Belt concerns. The Park Hall Hotel, a popular venue for private functions, was originally Sedgley Park Hall, built circa 1705 for the Lords of
154-579: The Under-Secretary of State for India , Lord Winterton , between 1922 and 1924. He also held the honorary post of High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1930. In the House of Lords , Dudley was notable for opposing the Sexual Offences Act 1967 , which partially decriminalized male homosexuality. He stated, Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell said, "The Earl of Dudley's contribution in the Lords sums up
176-750: The World War I as a captain , and had been awarded the Military Cross . After the war, he joined the Staffordshire Yeomanry , becoming a major and receiving the Territorial Decoration . In 1933 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 51st (Midland) Medium Brigade, Royal Artillery . Dudley sat as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey from 1921 to 1924 and for Wednesbury from 1931 to 1932 and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to
198-572: The Georgian mansion erected only decades earlier by his father, and founded the Westonbirt Arboretum after succeeding his uncle and father between 1838 and 1839. His London home was Dorchester House . Holford served as MP for East Gloucestershire from 1854 when he was elected in a by-election on 19 December on the death of the member Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 8th Baronet (d. 22 November 1854), and continued in that office for eighteen years. He
220-505: The Manor of Sedgley. In 1757 the 6th Baron Ward vacated Sedgley Park and took up residence at Himley Hall , 3 miles (4.8 km) away. From 1763 until 1868 the building served as the Roman Catholic Sedgley Park School — the first post- Reformation Catholic boarding school for boys whose parents were 'in more confined circumstances'. The Hall is grade II listed and has had significant alterations and extensions over
242-426: The Sedgley links are still there in street names on the original 1930s part of the estate as they are named after members of the Earl of Dudley's family (including Ward Road, Ednam Road, Rosemary Crescent, Jeremy Road) and Dudding Road is named after one of the Earl's staff. The original estate was built upon farmland but in the 1960s and 1970s further housing was built on land of the disused Sedgley Park Colliery up to
SECTION 10
#1732852579577264-498: The customers at Murray's Cabaret Club, where she worked as a showgirl, and that he proposed to her when she was 17. "I could have been a dowager duchess by the time I was 22." she said. Robert Stayner Holford Robert Stayner Holford (1808–1892), of Westonbirt, in the village of Weston Birt, Gloucestershire, MP for East Gloucestershire , was a wealthy landowner, gardening and landscaping enthusiast, and an art collector. With his vast wealth, he rebuilt Westonbirt House from
286-442: The following children Oldlands passed to his daughter Ann (d. 1795), the wife of Peter Holford (d. 1804). Under the terms of her father’s will she was succeeded by her children Robert (d. 1838), George (d. 1839), Sarah (d. 1811), afterwards the wife of Sir Charles Hudson, Bt, and Charlotte (d. 1839), afterwards the wife of Charles Bosanquet, who held as tenants in common. In 1839 Robert Holford’s nephew and heir Robert Stayner Holford,
308-493: The former Georgina Elizabeth Moncreiffe (third daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, 7th Baronet and Lady Louisa Hay, the eldest daughter of Thomas Hay-Drummond, 11th Earl of Kinnoull ). His maternal grandparents were Charles Henry Gurney and Alice Prinsep Gurney (a daughter of Henry Thoby Prinsep of the Bengal Civil Service ). His maternal aunt was Laura, Lady Troubridge . He was educated at Eton . Ward inherited
330-523: The level of the opposition's argument [to the bill]." Dudley married firstly Lady Rosemary Millicent Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1893–1930) , only surviving daughter of Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland , on 8 March 1919. She died in a plane crash in 1930, aged 36. Their children were: He married secondly Viscountess (Frances) Laura Long née Charteris (1915–1990), daughter of Guy Lawrence Charteris and former wife of Walter Long, 2nd Viscount Long , on 25 February 1943. The marriage
352-798: The main site finally saw the Lower School close. Goldthorn Park Primary School was established in 1947 and is built over the Sedgley Park rifle range. In November 1997 poems written by the primary schoolchildren were printed and displayed inside local buses. The school is part of the Elston Hall Learning Trust group of schools. 52°33′47″N 2°07′44″W / 52.563°N 2.129°W / 52.563; -2.129 William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley William Humble Eric Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley , MC TD (30 January 1894 – 26 December 1969), known as Viscount Ednam until 1932,
374-560: The years. Colton Hills Community School is an 11-18 school, based on the estate since 1975. It replaced the Municipal Grammar School in Whitmore Reans , Penn Secondary Modern School and Graiseley Secondary School. When the school opened it was known as Colton Hills Upper School with the former Penn Secondary school (which was renamed Colton Hills Lower School) retained for use by first and second year pupils until expansion of
396-479: Was a British Conservative Party politician. Lord Dudley was the eldest son of William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley , and his wife Rachel (née Gurney) CBE. Among his siblings was George Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley , Lady Gladys Honor Ward (wife of Maj. Percival Cunningham Allan Bridgeman) and Lady Morvyth Lillian Ward (wife of Constantine Evelyn Benson, a grandson of Robert Stayner Holford ). His paternal grandparents were William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley and
418-430: Was childless and they were divorced in 1954. Laura went on to marry Michael Temple Canfield in 1960 and, after his death in 1969, John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough shortly before his death. The Dowager Duchess of Marlborough died in 1990. In 1961, Dudley married thirdly to Grace Maria ( née Kolin) Radziwill (1923–2016), daughter of Dr. Michael Kolin and Anna Tironi of Dubrovnik , Yugoslavia . Grace
440-513: Was met with opposition from residents and Sedgley Council. A spokesman for the council said Goldthorn Park had "good severance" from Wolverhampton, was not its dormitory and had no special links with the town to justify the change. Another speaker while admitting Goldthorn Park geographically was a continuation of the Wolverhampton town area added that it had "strong local community feeling" and residents did not want to lose its ward status and become
462-452: Was re-elected in 1857 with Sir Christopher William Codrington and again in 1859 with Codrington (who died 1864 forcing another by-election). He was re-elected in 1864 with the new member Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, 9th Bt. (son of the previous MP). In 1872, he vacated the seat. Holford was the son of George Peter Holford (d. 1839), himself the second son of Peter Holford (d. 1804) The Holfords had been seated at Westonbirt since 1666 when
SECTION 20
#1732852579577484-517: Was the former wife of Prince Stanislaus Radziwill (The Prince's third wife, Lee Radziwiłł , was formerly married to Michael Temple Canfield , the third husband of Ward's second wife, Laura ). This marriage was also childless. Dudley died in December 1969, aged 75, and was succeeded by his eldest son William . After his death, his widow lived with the American editor Robert B. Silvers for nearly four decades from 1975 until her death in 2016. He
#576423