EARLY 19TH CENTURY

The present and following table were almost certainly commissioned for Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire by James Henry Leigh. Founded as a Cistercian Abbey by Henry II in 1155, Stoneleigh passed into the hands of the Leigh family when Sir Thomas Leigh and Sir Rowland Hill purchased it in 1561 from William Cavendish for £1,950. After the death of the 5th Baron Leigh in 1786, the male line of the first Lord Leigh came to an end. Following a protracted dispute over his will, the estate eventually passed to the Gloucestershire side of the family, specifically to James Henry Leigh (1765-1823) of Adlestrop. Leigh and his wife undertook extensive refurbishments at Adlestrop in Gloucestershire, Grove House, Kensington Gore and two other London houses, one on Harley Street and one on Portman Square. Seemingly undaunted, the Leighs embarked upon a large-scale refurbishment of Stoneleigh and are recorded to have employed Bond Street cabinetmakers such as John Johnstone and George Oakley.