Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty

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A compelling new history . . . fascinating insights into the dynasty that once ruled this Yorkshire roost' Daily Mail

Black Diamond Rings - Diamonds Factory Black Diamond Rings - Diamonds Factory

This is the extraordinary story of how the fabric of English society shifted beyond recognition in fifty turbulent years in the twentieth century.

In the 1970s for days on end piles of family papers were burned in bonfires at Wentworth house in Yorkshire taking with it most of the late 19th and early 20th century history of the earls of Wentworth. This is the reconstructed story of the aristocratic Wentworth family from their glory days, flush with coal wealth at the end of the 19th century to their decline and fall in the 20th century.

Black Diamonds: The Rise And Fall Of A Great English Dynasty

His first play, We Shall Sing for the Fatherland, won the first Amstel Playwright of the Year Award in 1978, a feat he repeated the following year. He worked as a bank clerk, a teacher and in marketing before the publication of We Shall Sing for the Fatherland and Other Plays in 1980 enabled him to be admitted to the Ohio University for a three-year Master's degree in theatre. He completed a Masters Degree in Theatre at Ohio University, after which he obtained a Master of Arts Degree in Mass Communication. By 1984 his plays were performed in the USSR, the USA, and Scotland as well as in various parts of southern Africa. Wentworth in Yorkshire was surrounded by 70 collieries employing tens of thousands of men. It is the finest and largest Georgian house in Britain and belonged to the Fitzwilliam family. The Wentworth Estate is located between Rotherham and Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England, northeast of Sheffield. In 1902, when the historical narrative commences, it was the largest privately owned house in all of England. The fall of the Fitzwilliams’ dynasty spanned a mere fifty years. We start with the sixth earl and conclude with the tenth. That which we are promised in the book description is delivered. The nationalization and demise of the British coal industry is a central theme too. The book moves forward chronologically beginning with the funeral of the sixth earl in February 1902. At first I was really excited about this book, but just over half way I got quite fed up with it and found finishing it a struggle. Considering how I started with it I am left feeling quite disappointed. I loved reading about the rich and famous of the British aristocracy, anything with the worlds elite is always interesting since it’s out of the realm of everyday life.Fans of "Downton Abbey" are led to believe that the Crawley family wealth comes from the earnings of the bucolic farms that surround Downton Abbey. However, if Julian Fellowes were more honest, he'd let viewers know that, in all probability, their large income was derived from coal just as it was for the Carnavon family in whose Highclere Castle the show is set. This book is the story of an even wealthier aristocratic family, the Fitzwilliams, who at the beginning of the twentieth century were the wealthiest family in England and whose wealth was derived from the labor of men and boys (some as young as eleven) who toiled underground for twelve to fifteen hours a day. Their county estate in south Yorkshire was called Wentworth and it was England’s largest private home, with 1,000 windows, and its park wall running for nine miles. When the sixth Earl Fitzwilliam died in 1902 he left four sons and his dynasty and fortune seemed secure. But the class war of the twentieth century combined with the family's own follies, brought it all crashing down around them. This book was a little different for me than The Secret Rooms. With The Secret Rooms we jumped right into the story and the family history/scandal etc. Pre WW1 the British aristocracy would do whatever was necessary to protect themselves. Post WW1 they all came home to a very different Britain and so begins a slow and painful demise of one the most powerful families in Britain. Add to that the incredible links and direct connections to an incredibly rich, young, up and coming American Dynasty called The Kennedy's and you have an absolute must read book! Our goal is to make shopping easier and safer - smooth. That is why we take drastic measures to protect you as a buyer against fraud and unreliable online retailers. Whenever you see the Klarna logo in an online store, you can be sure that the store is trustworthy and meets our strict requirements. This book is primarily about an English Dynasty built on coal, but it is more about a period than about any one household. The family at the core of this book is one that is hard to get a good picture of because they have systematically burnt all their personal archives. Ms Bailey adds social and political events that were occurring during the period of the book (late 1800s to mid 1900s) to help flesh out the story of this dynasty.

Black Diamonds Tour - Wentworth Woodhouse

I can't remember why I got this book from the library - I think another goodreader mentioned it in a review and it sounded interesting. And it was. I have a bit of a fascination with mining, coal in particular - try reading "Rose" by Martin Cruz Smith - excellent book - and the peculiarities of the English aristocracy. Although he spent his early childhood in Soweto (where he knew political figures such as Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela) he had to finish his education in Lesotho where his father went into exile since 1963. This change of setting also meant a change of language for Mda: from isiXhosa to Sesotho. Consequently Mda preferred to write his first plays in English.If you enjoy history, particularly British history, this is a great read. It has a little bit of a Downton Abbey feel which I liked and if you are interested in the period of lifestyles of the rich and aristocratic than this is a wonderful read. The male Wentworth line ran dry and the title passed matrilineally to the FitzWilliams. Ludicrously rich, the money came from coal. The 'Estate' employed and housed the people who worked the coal; most boys went 'down't' pit'. I recall slag heaps and mine shafts scarring the countryside and an almost feudal mentality. The class system was alive and thriving.