Brentwood Prep Incipe 2019

Secrets of the School Countess Tasker and Middleton Hall Helen Ann Tasker was the daughter of Joseph Tasker. The Taskers were from an old Roman Catholic family, her mother died when Helen was very young and her younger brother Joseph Louis sadly died at sea when he was twenty five. Countess Tasker’s father, Joseph, was a successful businessman and owned a great deal of property throughout England, but his main home was Middleton Hall, Brentwood. In 1861, aged sixty four, Joseph died from a heart attack at his London home. Most of his fortune was inherited by Helen who came to live permanently at Middleton Hall. She never married, but enjoyed the company of her god-daughter Ellen Willmott, whose family bought Warley Place in 1875. Under Ellen’s guidance, Warley Place became internationally known in horticultural circles. Regarded as a quiet, deeply religious, gentle lady, Helen attended church in Brentwood without fail, but often sat away from the congregation for fear of catching a contagious disease! The Sisters of Mercy in Brentwood experienced her great generosity when she had a Convent built for them beside the Church (later to become the Cathedral). In appreciation of her very generous gift, the Convent was dedicated to St Helen. Using her considerable fortune, she also contributed greatly to schools, orphanages, hospitals and church of The Holy Cross and All Saints at Warley as well as many other churches around Essex. In 1870, Pope Pius IX even bestowed on her the title of Countess of the Holy Roman Empire for her generosity and love of her church. Countess Tasker died at Middleton Hall in January 1888. Some say she died from shock after a daring burglary, others say she jumped off the balcony but this is highly unlikely. She was buried in Hammersmith with her father and a requiem mass was held for her in Brentwood. Middleton Hall was inherited by her cousin who sold it for £14,000. Since then there have been accounts of a mysterious lady in blue who appears when the house is undergoing alterations… Brentwood School Preparatory 16 They say it isn’t good to keep secrets so we have decided to open the lid on some of the School’s intriguing stories and hidden past...