Believed to have been built in 1821 at Weston under Penyard by John Partridge, a wealthy land owner (in fact he owned a great deal of the village), Penyard House is in the Italian style and sits in 9 acres of beautiful gardens and parkland.
John Partridge was guilty of pulling down the remaining ruined walls of Penyard Castle in order to use the stone for his building projects.
In 1856 William Stubbs bought the house and went on to have eight children with his wife Jane Charlotte. Jane had a special interest in the hospital at Ross on Wye, and paid entirely for a ward there for severely ill people as well as donating land adjoining the recreation ground for the use of the patients ; she also freely gave to other local charities.
William Stubbs died in 1871 and left the house to his children, but after the death of his son Major General William Henry Stubbs, the house passed into the ownership of his five sisters, and it was then that they changed the name from Lower Weston to Penyard House, as shown on the census returns – it can be confusing because there is a separate Lower Weston House, which is a much older mansion.
The sisters lived at Penyard House for many years, but eventually they decided to leave and in 1900 the house was put up for sale but it repeatedly failed to achieve its reserve; it was a further two years before it was bought by Robert Law Harkness.
Sales Particulars for the sale of Penyard House
Penyard House – containing handsome and lofty drawing room; dining room, morning room; panelled business room; vestibule; hall and corridor; chief and secondary staircases; 17 capacious, lofty and airy bed, dressing and workrooms; modernly fitted WCs; bathroom and lavatory with hot and cold; laundry; store rooms; servants hall; dairy fitted with up to date milk coolers and walls lined with white porcelain tiles; larders; pantries and complete culinary offices; lofty arched cellars with fitted wine bins; the whole bountifully supplied with water.
Approved drainage system.
Detached and modern stabling for 8 horses; harness room; hay and corn rooms; Coachhouse area for 6 carriages and 2 cottage residences.
At a separate sale in 1902, the following effects belonging to the Misses Stubbs were also on offer:
Superior Broughham Waggonette; pony carriage, station cart, donkey gig, London and Ross-made saddlery; capital Cob gelding; mare donkey; 2 store pigs; in calf dairy cows and heifers etc.; poultry, runs and coops; light road waggons; carts; gears; 96 iron hurdles; farm implements; garden appointments; cucumber frames; greenhouse plants etc.
Also 500 volumes of books; a grand harmonium in walnut case; Spanish mahogany book cases with escritoire; wardrobes; chests of drawers; washstand; dressing and other tables; cheval glass; clocks; china and glass; iron and brass bedsteads; feather beds; mattresses; linen and glass cupboards; box mangle and kitchen and culinary requisites.
Robert Law Harkness was born in 1852 in Malvern, and married Mary Robina Tregonwell, but they had no children. He died in 1914, but Mary stayed in the house until her death in 1824.
Robert Alfred Lowth inherited the house, and he and his wife Nancy Eva Aikin Sneath lived there until 1935 when they sold it and it became the Wye Hotel.
In 1984 the house was bought by the charity The Leadership Trust Foundation, and they sympathetically restored the building and grounds.
Penyard House is now once again a hotel and wedding venue
1851 – Penyard House Household (known as Lower Weston)
| Thomas Butler | 68 | Farmer, widower | b. Sandhurst, Gloucestershire |
| Martha Butler | 34 | Daughter | b. Monmouthshire |
| Elizabeth Hook | 35 | Housekeeper | b. Gloucestershire |
| Eliza Wite | 18 | General Servant | b. Gloucestershire |
1861 – Penyard House Household (known as Lower Weston)
| William Stubbs | 63 | Widower, | b. London, Middlesex |
| Eliza Jane Stubbs | 41 | Daughter | b. India |
| Jane Charlotte Stubbs | 37 | Daughter | b. India |
| William Henry Stubbs | 35 | Son, Captain Bengal Army | b. India |
| Caroline Charlotte Stubbs | 33 | Daughter | b. India |
| Emily Bonadash Stubbs | 24 | Daughter | b. India |
| Mary Stubbs | 21 | Daughter | b. Epsom, Surrey |
| Ann Williams | 31 | Cook | b. Michaelchurch, Herefordshire |
| Emma Watkins | 21 | Parlour Maid | Peterchurch, Herefordshire |
| Anne Parson | 15 | Kitchen Maid | b. Woolhope, Herefordshire |
1871 – Penyard House Household (known as Lower Weston)
| Ellen J. Stubbs | 50 | Sister | b. India |
| Jane Charlotte Stubbs | 47 | Sister | b. India |
| Caroline Charlotte Stubbs | 43 | Sister | b. India |
| Emily B. Stubbs | 34 | Sister | b. India |
| Mary Stubbs | 31 | Sister | b. Epsom, Surrey |
| Bertha Edwards | 23 | Cook | b. Brockhampton, Herefordshire |
| Margaret D. South | 19 | Parlour Maid | b. Lugwardine, Herefordshire |
| Agnes Hodges | 18 | Housemaid | b. Newent, Gloucestershire |
| Henry Lloyd | 25 | Servant | b. Brockhampton, Herefordshire |
1881 – Penyard House Household
| Ellen J. Stubbs | 62 | Lady | b. India |
| Jane Charlotte Stubbs | 57 | Lady, sister | b. India |
| Caroline Charlotte Stubbs | 53 | Lady, sister | b. India |
| Emily B. Stubbs | 44 | Lady, sister | b. India |
| Mary Stubbs | 41 | Lady, sister | b. Epsom, Surrey |
| William J. Eastwich | 72 | Visitor, Widower, retired Captain, H.M. Indian Army | b. London |
| Sarah | 70 | Domestic Servant | b. Felton, Herefordshire |
| Bertha Edwards | 33 | Cook | b. Brockhampton, Herefordshire |
| Mary Probert | 30 | Housemaid | b. Sellack, Herefordshire |
| Sarah Williams | 23 | Laundry Maid | b. Woolhope, Herefordshire |
| Elizabeth Cuthbert | 47 | Housekeeper | b. Maldon, Suffolk |
| Henry Lloyd | 33 | Coachman | b. Brockhampton, Herefordshire |
1891 – Penyard House Household
| Ellen Jane Stubbs | 71 | Living on own means | b. India |
| Jane Charlotte Stubbs | 67 | Living on own means | b. India |
| Caroline Charlotte Stubbs | 63 | Living on own means | b. India |
| Emily B. Stubbs | 54 | Living on own means | b. India |
| Mary Stubbs | 51 | Living on own means | b. Epsom, Surrey |
| Eliza Mullon | 30 | Parlour Maid | b. Brockhampton, Herefordshire |
| Jane Rees | 21 | Cook | b. Cardiff, South Wales |
| Annie Andrews | 21 | Housemaid | b. Ross on Wye, Herefordshire |
| Sarah Williams | 35 | Laundry Maid | b. Tarrington, Herefordshire |
| Elizabeth Price | 21 | Kitchenmaid | b. Newent, Gloucestershire |
1901 – Penyard House Household
| Caroline Charlotte Stubbs | 73 | Living on own means | b. India | |
| Jane Charlotte Stubbs | 77 | Living on own means | b. India | |
| Emily Bonadash Stubbs | 64 | Living on own means | b. India | |
| Mary Stubbs | 61 | Living on own means | b. Epsom, Surrey | |
| Lydia Allen | 37 | Cook | b. Madely, Shropshire | |
| Louisa Walton | 24 | Parlour Maid | b. Inkberrow, Warwickshire | |
| Ada Mary Walton | 22 | Housemaid | b. Worcestershire | |
| Edith Elizabeth Wo;ce | 18 | Kitchenmaid | b. Kington, Herefordshire |
1911 – Penyard House Household
| Robert L. Harkness | 58 | Farmer | b. Malvern, Worcestershire |
| Mary Robina Harkness | 56 | Wife | b. Cambourne, Dorset |
| John Watts | 65 | Butler | b. Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire |
| Sarah Bowers | 34 | Cook | b. Dorset |
| Amelia Wright | 26 | Housemaid | b. Dorset |
| Florence Eleanor Stallard | 16 | Housemaid | b. Much Marcle, Herefordshire |
| Gladys May Harris | 16 | Kitchenmaid | b. Drybrook, Gloucestershire |
1921 – Penyard House Household
| Mary Robina Harkness | b. Cranborne, Dorset 1853 | Head, widow |
| John DeCourcy Dashwood | b. Woolwich, Kent 1855 | Visitor, Lt. Colonel Retired, Indian Army |
| Madelein Annie Meade | b. Bath, Somerset 1865 | Visitor |
| Mary Catherine Battams | b. Brampton Ash, Northamptonshire 1878 | Lady’s Companion |
| Sarah Bower | b. Dorset, 1885 | Cook |
| Amelia Fanny Wright | b. Shaftsbury, Dorset 1885 | Housemaid |
| Doris Amelia Barrington | b. Leominster 1906 | Under Housemaid |
| Rose Ethel Williams | b. Ross on Wye, Herefordshire 1905 | Kitchen Maid |
| John Watts | b. Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire 1845 | Butler |