Once upon a time in the county of King, a select group gathered at the Diocesan House to hear a tale told by an expert signifying much.
The audience, all members of the English Speaking Union (ESU), included many Queen Anne and Magnolia residents - all with a common interest in education, antiques, architecture, British heritage and the art of gracious living. Many with interesting backgrounds and stories that would fill at least a half a dozen columns.
The late-afternoon program started with a short tour of the historic Diocesan House. The stone mansion at 1551 Tenth Ave. E. was originally designed to be the dream house of John Leary and his second wife, Eliza Ferry, daughter of the first elected governor of Washington. The place was sold in 1948 to the Diocese of Olympia - hence the name.
The purpose of the event was a fundraiser to benefit the ESU scholarship and education fund. The program commenced with a social hour, followed by a light supper. The latter was laid in the magnificent paneled dining room, with its full-length portraits of past bishops in full ecclesiastical regalia, who seemed to gaze down on the long refectory table covered with white linen and resplendent with silver candelabra and a floral arrangement in an impressive, two-handled silver wine cooler.
After the supper, which was more substantial than light, we retired to the baronial splendor of the great hall complete with carved cornices and a minstrel's gallery. Program chair Don McKenzie introduced Jerry Rockhold, current president of the Seattle ESU Branch, who called in turn upon Mark Failor to introduce Brian Coleman. Mr. Coleman presented a large, ornately framed, enlarged letter, which had been found in a Queen Anne antique shop. The formally worded letter, dated 1936, offered congratulations and good wishes to George IV and Queen Elizabeth on their upcoming coronation in 1937 from the president and members of the Seattle branch of the ESU.
The president in 1936 was Mr. Bernard Pelly - only one of several times the Pelly name appears as that of an ESU president. There also have been Sen. Thomas Pelly, in 1946, and Francis Pelly, 1974. Francis Pelly, who also served as British Consul General in 1974, is now retired but still an ESU member.
Elizabeth Miller opened the program with an interesting talk about the evolution of gentlemen's clubs in Britain and how they influenced clubs over here. Most informative. She was followed by Clint Miller, the featured speaker, who presented a program and slide show on houses designed by Joseph Conté, the almost-forgotten architect who designed some of the finest neoclassical homes in Seattle (including one on Magnolia Bluff, featured in the Architectural Record of 1916).
The talk was enthusiastically received, to be followed by dessert and coffee back in the dining room. The whole evening was a great success and much enjoyed by all in attendance. Everyone agreed that the ESU, now in its 77th year, was alive and well.
Here's a list of the night's supporting cast of ESU members and Magnolia and Queen Anne residents: our three Queen Anne grande dames, Helen Price, Ethel Kemp Slaughter and Sarah Reed Plum; Betty Pearl, culinary expert, Magnolia; Patricia Haggerty, keeper of the Privy Purse (ESU Treasurer), Magnolia resident; James Kemp Slaughter, antique and art appraiser FRSA (Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, London), Queen Anne resident; William B. Maschmeier, ultimate anglophile, expert on Georgian silver, English history and Regency furniture, Magnolia; George Wesley Williams, retired New York actor, TV soap star and acclaimed Seattle artist, Queen Anne resident; Elizabeth A. Buzzell, accredited senior appraiser and jewelry expert and Queen Anne resident.[[In-content Ad]]
