The majestic Felbrigg Hall just outside Cromer, is today a jewel in the National Trust’s impressive portfolio of properties that can be found across Norfolk. Although in the past its stunning hall had its fair share of scandals and intrigue. The Windham family acquired the estate in the 1400’s and it was passed down through successive generations until one William Frederick Windham, while studying at Eton was given the nickname ‘mad Windham’ foretold of the strife to come. William managed to incur heavy debts, so much so that he was forced to sell the estate to the Ketton family in 1862. This was foreseen by his Uncle, General Charles Windham, who had previously campaigned to have William declared insane. During the trial which lasted for 34 days in 1862, the jury was treated to evidence from 140 witnesses, with the press having a field day providing sensational stories from the house of the ‘mad’ lord. The sordid side of the stories was not always welcome by some in Victorian society. The Times described the case as being ‘…unprecedented for its duration, for the scandalous waste of money’.
The evidence presented to the judges at the lunacy trial covered the whole period of Windham’s short life; he was just 21 years old at the time. Relatives and members of the household recalled that a young Windham, would dress up in the livery of servants and wait on guests and he would even bribe staff of the Great Eastern Railway to let him drive the trains. However, it was his relationship Agnes Willoughby who really raised eyebrows. Agnes branded a ‘pretty horsebreaker’, a Victorian expression for a ‘high class escort’. It appears that William was besotted with, spoiling her with expensive gifts. He eventually married her in 1861 when aged 20 years-old, but this was the spur that prompted his relatives to petition for the lunacy, probably due to the fact that when he reached the age of 21, he would inherit the Felbrigg estate, his father having died in 1854.
Centuries later another controversy arose linked to the Felbrigg estate. National Trust was accused of assassinating the character of the very man who had bequeathed the hall to them. In a short film, produced by the Trust and narrated by Stephen Fry, Robert Ketton-Cremer was ‘outed’ as a gay man, many years after his death. It was suggested his sexuality was an open secret in the locality during his life, but his relatives complained about the suggestion in the national press. The title of this controversial film was ‘The Unfinished Portrait’ which refers to a painting of Ketton-Cremer by Allan Gwynne-Jones that hangs in the Great Hall of the National Trust property.
