Timeline: Winter Manor and Its Inhabitants
1746 – Lord William Fitzsimmons Winter inherits an old Tudor manor house from his father, has it demolished and rebuilt in Palladian style.
1751 – The new Winter Manor is complete. Lord William invites his friends to visit in June.
c.1780 – Lord William dies with no children. Winter passes to his cousins, the Richmond family.
1848 – Though his father still lives, Edward Richmond moves into Winter, with his wife Kitty and his children, Francis and Catherine, then aged nine and five.
1862 – In autumn Maeve Greville comes to tea at Winter and meets Catherine for the first time.
1863 – Maeve returns to Winter in spring, as Francis Richmond’s fiancée.
c.1865 – Catherine Richmond drowns in the river in Winter’s park.
c. 1893 – Francis Richmond inherits Winter from his father. He does not marry and has no children.
c. 1900 – Francis Richmond dies, Winter passes to his distant cousins.
1917 – The legitimate male heir to Winter, Wilfred, is killed in World War I.
1925 – Simon, master of Winter, dies with no living children. Winter passes to his sister, Mary.
1926 – Mary, mistress of Winter, dies and her daughter, Evadne Burns, inherits the house.
1927 – Evadne Burns has a liaison with John Potter, the neighbouring farmer, and falls pregnant. That summer Evadne invites her school friends to Winter for a reunion. Later in the year, John Potter marries May Shipley, the housemaid. Their daughter, Maggie Potter, will eventually inherit her father’s farm.
1928 – Evadne gives birth to a baby girl she names Edith, Edie for short.
1930 – As a result of the global economic meltdown, Evadne is forced to abandon Winter for a smaller house and find work.
1940 – Winter is requisitioned as a place for wounded soldiers to recuperate during World War II.
1945 – Winter is given back to Evadne, in terrible condition. She cannot afford to renovate it, but refuses to sell.
1965 – Evadne Burns dies, and Edie inherits Winter but cannot live there.
c. 2010 – Edie dies and leaves Winter to Ros, then aged 30.