Cotmania. Vol. X. 1934-5

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Oxford Times, October 1934
A Kidlington Inquiry
I recently received a letter from a London reader inquiring whether any reader of the "Oxford Times" could give her some particulars of the property at Kidlington known as Thornbury House. My correspondent suggests that this is the house which was formerly known as The Elms and which, under this designation, is noted in an early history of Kidlington as having been left in trust to one Robert Russell, who was born at Begbrooke Manor in 1788. I have not been able to trace the early history of Thornbury House or The Elms - if the two names relate to the same property-but there are, in the Registers of Yarnton, a number of references to the Russell family.
The Russells of Yarnton seem to have been descended from a Worcestershire family. Their connection with Yarnton and Kidlington appears to have had its origin in the marriage of Sir Thomas Russell with a daughter of Sir William Spencer, then residing at Yarnton Manor. The Russells who are referred to by my correspondent would probably be descended from this marriage. I can find no record of the Russells having held the Manor of Begbroke during the 17th or 18th centuries. The heiresses of the Spencers appear to have sold the manorial estate in that parish to one Benjamin Swete in the middle of the 18th century. About 1810 the Manor House at Begbroke became a school and was so used for 11 or 12 years. It was then purchased by Mr. Thomas Robinson, a banker, of Oxford. The property subsequently came into possession of the Dukes of Marlborough.
There was another estate in the parish, known as Begbroke Hill. In the early part of the 17th century this property was acquired by a branch of the ancient family of Fitzherbert. A later member of that family is traditionally said to have been killed in a duel at Middleton Storey. The Begbroke Hill property passed to a niece, Mrs Taylor, in whose will there is some reference to a house and land then known as The Elms. This property was bequeathed to a neighbour named Bayliss, who seems to have befriended Mrs Taylor at a time when she was on strained terms with her husband. Is this the property referred to by my correspondent and, if so, is it identical with Thornbury House? Perhaps some reader who is conversant with the history of Begbroke and Kidlington will enlighten us.
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Daily Telegraph, 15.11.1934
National Gallery - Mr H.I. Kay The New Keeper
The Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury have appointed Mr. Harold Isherwood Kay an assistant in the National Gallery, to be Keeper and Secretary of the National Gallery, in the room of Mr. Edwin Glasgow, who retires on Dec. 5.
Mr. R. R. TATLOCK writes:
Mr Kay's appointment as Keeper of the National Gallery will be generally welcomed in art circles. His contribution to a volume of Spanish art, published by the Burlington Magazine in 1927, established him as an art historian to be reckoned with, although he had previously excited interest with his study of Cotman's letters, published by the Walpole Society in 1926.
The fact that Mr. Kay is a comparatively young man emphasises the progressive policy of the authorities.
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The Times, Nov.30. 1934
Dr. J. S. COTMAN AND MISS SHARP
The engagement is announced of John Sell, elder son of the late Dr. and Mrs H.H. Cotman, and Dorothy Granville, only daughter of the Rev. W. C. and Mrs. Granville Sharp, of Barming Rectory, Maidstone.