Strachey

A John Strachie was knighted in 1337 when Edward, the ‘Black Prince’, was invested as the Duke of Cornwall.  The Strachie family were subsequently the sherrifs of Somerset and Devon. The Strachey appear as Justices of the Peace in many records of Chewton Mendip and a member of that family briefly lived in what is now the Old Vicarage.

A member of the Strachey family  was a Justice of the Peace (JP) in the 18th century who was supervising the Chewton Mendip vestry committee in the 18th century. His signature looks like HR Strachey. There are several references of  the overseers traveling to Stowey. The assumption wass that they were visiting Mr Strachey JP. The Strachey family were elevated to the peerage in the 18th century when Henry Strachey was awarded a baronetcy. He was probably the son of the JP.

Edwar, the 1st Baron Strachie married Constance Braham in the Victorian era which bought him into the extended Waldegrave family

The right Honourable Thomas Anthony Edward Towneley Strachey bought what was then called Navestock from Lt Col John Albert of the Somerset Light Infantry in 1946. The Alberts were ‘evacuees’ from London during World War Two. Lady Mary Strachey was a lady in waiting to princess Elizabeth, the future queen. There have been many ‘unofficial’ visits by royalty to the village  as well as som official ones.  One of the worst kept secrets was when Princess Elizabeth visited Lady Mary in Navestock. The children from Chewton Mendip, and other villages were lined up on the hills across the road to catch a glimpse of Princess. The Strachey’s sold Navestock to the church in 1954 and moved work as the land agent for Lady Mary’s father, Lord Selborne.

Lay Mary’s biography, from which the photograph was taken refers to her husband as Anthony and just says he did in 1955. The Wikipedia record of his son, Charles_Strachey,_4th_Baron_O’Hagan, states he committed suicide.