Trelissick House, Who Was One of the Earliest Women Members of Parliament

Introducing Ida A biographical account of Ida Copeland, former owner of Trelissick Estate by Mark Pugh Produced on behalf of the National Trust, Telissick 2017 Introducing Ida A profile of Ida Copeland, a Woman in a Man’s World. An Outline and Rationale Meet Ida Copeland – A brief intro. Early Days – The Fenzi Family and Italy The Galton Family On Century’s Eve – Leonard Daneham Cunliffe The Copeland Family Ronald Copeland and Ida Fenzi Ida and the Guides The Politics of Ida Copeland Women, Parliament and the Vote A Cousin Petitions Ida Copeland, the Women’s Unionist Association and the Conservative Party 1931 – Beating Mosley After the Election Victory The Churchill Letters Pottery and Prisoners Inheriting Trelissick An American Occupation – WWII and Trelissick It’s not over yet – Julian Kulski Life after the Second World War The Death of Geoffrey Copeland The Death of Ronald Copeland International Ida The Hungarian Letter The Polish Pianist Ida’s Legacy – Family, Philanthropy and Trelissick Sources Acknowledgements Introducing Ida An Outline and Rationale The National Trust, Trelissick is engaged in a series of creative programming and interpretation that aims to improve the visitor experience which will result in an increase in visitor numbers. In 2018 the National Trust is undertaking a major celebration of the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. To support this I was contracted to produce a piece of research and writing that would tell the story of Ida Copeland, the former owner of Trelissick House, who was one of the earliest women members of Parliament. The work produced combines information from available and accessible materials plus new research. I aimed to resolve some of the contradictions that appear in published and unpublished work. The research involved many online resources, including The National Archives, The British Newspaper Archive, parliament online and the Women’s Library (London School of Economics). I also interviewed members of the Copeland family. Visits to the Cornish Studies Library and the Cornwall Record Office were also undertaken. At the time of writing there was no access to National Trust Trelissick archive and limited access to the Lotherton Hall Copeland Loan. In addition, I received help from a wide variety of organisations including the Conservative Party Archive, Lotherton House (Leeds), the Anglo-Polish Society and the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum. The work is intended to help highlight the positive impact that Ida Copeland, the former owner of Trelissick Estate, had on the communities she served and on the wider world. Mark Pugh July 2017 Ida with her dog. Date unknown.Supplied by Lotherton Hall (Copeland Loan) Meet Ida Copeland – A brief intro. n 1955 Ida Copeland, donated Trelissick time. Evelyne’s new husband was Leonard to the National Trust. She had owned Daneham Cunliffe, another financier, who it for less than two decades, having was a partner in the Cunliffe Bank alongside Iinherited it from her step-father, Leonard his brother, Walter, who eventually became Cunliffe, in 1937. the Governor of the Bank of England. What was it that prompted this act of Leonard Daneham Cunliffe was also a generosity? Of course, the decision may well member of the board at the Hudson’s Bay have been partly financial but as everyone Company. who came to know Ida Copeland would In contrast to her mother, Ida went on to probably testify, she had always been known marry Ronald Copeland, a man whose life at as a very generous individual. the time revolved around the production of Ida was born in Florence, Italy, in the latter pottery, supporting the needs and concerns part of the 19th century. Her mother, Evelyne, of the people of Staffordshire, and promoting had married into a wealthy banking family the newly created Scout Association. Quite named Fenzi. Following the death of her separately Ida also supported the Scout father, Count Camillo Fenzi, in a shooting Association and the Girl Guides Association. accident, Ida and Evelyne left Italy and During the First World War Ida Copeland headed for England. Evelyne was the daughter worked for a Voluntary Aid Detachment with of Sir Douglas Strutt Galton, the British the British Red Cross Society. VAD volunteers railway engineer and Marianne Nicholson, a performed various duties including nursing cousin of Florence Nightingale. in military hospitals and convalescent homes. In 1898, fifteen years after her father’s Following the war Ida continued her death, Ida’s mother wed for the second involvement with the Guides, serving as a division commissioner for the northwest of and her family stayed at Trelissick whenever the county of Staffordshire from 1918. Ida was they had the chance. later to serve on the International Council of During the war, Trelissick was requisitioned Girl Guides from 1920 to 1928 and again in by a United States Anti Aircraft Artillery 1949. In what could be seen as a forerunner (Automatic Weapons) Battalion. Ida and her to her generously donating Trelissick to the family were able to stay in a small part of the National Trust in 1955, Ida and her husband house, whilst the Americans made ready their gave Kibblestone Hall Estate to the Scouting plans to protect the River Fal and Falmouth movement in 1927. itself. Although Ida was never a suffragette, her The rest of the house was returned to Ida political work was part of the ever growing and family by the Americans following the push for the increased empowerment of end of hostilities and it was in 1948 that Ida women. Her own interest in British and and her husband Ronald, moved to Cornwall. foreign politics led to her fighting an election Ida still kept her hand in with Staffordshire in which she stood against Sir Oswald Mosley, society through her work with the counties’ the well known establishment figure and allotment society and her connections with admirer of Hitler and Mussolini, who was the politics of Staffordshire. on his way to being a fully fledged fascist. In 1952 Ida Copeland was awarded the Through her knowledge of and her empathy Polish Gold Cross of Merit by the exiled for the people living in her constituency Ida Polish President for her work on behalf of beat Mosley and contributed the demise of Poland and its people. the New Party. Ida died in June 1964 at Highlands, Ticehust, During her time as an MP she went on a Sussex. fact finding trip to Poland a few years before the Second World War. During this trip she met Julian Kulski, the Deputy Mayor of Warsaw (and the future Mayor of Warsaw), who would go on to help lead the defence of the city during the German invasion and occupation. Several years later Ida was able to help Kulski’s son, also named Julian, who had ended up as a refugee in Great Britain following a dramatic escape from Poland. Ida helped Julian come to terms with his experiences and provide him with an education, which in part lead to him becoming a world renowned architect. Although Ida inherited Trelissick from her step-father Leonard Cunliffe in 1938; Ida and her family didn’t leave Staffordshire until after the war had finished. During this time Ida Above: Evelyne and Leoni in Garden. RIght: Letter to Evelyne from Florence Nightingale. Supplied by Lotherton Hall (Copeland Loan) Early Days – The Fenzi Family and Italy n the latter part of the 19th century, Ida the overseas export of Tuscan products Copeland was born into the wealthy including straw hats to Great Britain. The Fenzi family, whose influence and Fenzi Bank was founded in 1821 by Ida’s Isuccess at the time were well known in Italy great-grandfather, Emanuele Fenzi, whose life and beyond. There is some discrepancy as to has been described as ‘extremely significant the exact year of Ida’s birth. Based on the age ‘ thanks to his being able to ‘accumulate a recorded at her death she was born in 1875, formidable fortune’. but her marriage certificate indicates either Anecdotes from the time describe Fenzi as 1880 or 1881. 1* having ‘enviable real estate’ and ‘benefit(ing) Ida’s father was Count Camillo Fenzi from every economic activity he faced. He (1852-1883), a member of the Fenzi banking used his fortune to establish a tobacco firm dynasty, and her mother was Evelyne Isabella and this in turn provided him with enough née Galton (1853-1938), who was originally capital to establish Banko Fenzi. 3* from England. Evelyne was the daughter of The Banco Fenzi invested in public Sir Douglas Galton (1822-1899), the well- initiatives including the Livorno-Florence known railway engineer and Marianne railway, known as the Leopolda Railway, Nicholson (1819-1909). named after Grand Duke Leopold. Banko Count Camillo Fenzi and Evelyne were Fenzi fought off fierce competition from married at Hadzor Hall, Worcestershire on 21 other banks by winning the confidence of July 1875, the very place Evelyne’s father was the Italian government with serious and born in 1822. 2* Congratulations came from convicing plans. 4* Italy and from England including her cousin, The Banko Fenzi also had financial dealings Florence Nightingale, who wrote to Evelyne with the Oppenheim family, which resulted to wish her well (see pictures next page). in them becoming central players in the The Fenzi family’s wealth came from financing of the Suez Canal. 5* banking, iron production, railways and According to Ida’s grandson, William Copeland (b.1966), his grandmother had a twin sister called Camilla, who died when she was only six years old. Ida also had two brothers, one called Carlo, who died in infancy, and another called Leone Galton- Fenzi (1880 - 1976) who went on to run a coffee estate in Nairobi, Kenya.

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