Tighes in Woodstock

Mary Tighe

Painting of Mary Tighe by John Comerford, author of 'Psyche'

Mary Tighe

Mary Tighe

Painting of Mary Tighe by John Comerford, author of 'Psyche'

Enlarge image

Map of Woodstock Estate

Scan of map of Woodstock Estate from 1839 edt. OS maps

Map of Woodstock Estate

Map of Woodstock Estate

Scan of map of Woodstock Estate from 1839 edt. OS maps

Enlarge image

Sarah married William Tighe of Rossana, and on the death of her parents in 1778 she inherited the Woodstock Estate.

Four years late in 1782 her husband William Tighe, died suddenly at a relatively young age. Sarah transferred her estate to her eldest son William 'Statistical' Tighe, in the early 1790's.

William was the most gifted member of the family, though his first cousin and sister-in-law, Mary Tighe, nee-Blachford, the poet whose famous poem 'Psyche' was perhaps the most celebrated family member of their day.

William was largely brought up at Woodstock by his Fownes grandparents, followed by a more formal education at Eton College. He undertook the Grand Tour, in the late 1780's and early 1790's, then obligatory for all gentlemen who aspired to a finished education. His travels extended to France, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, and Hungary but also Poland, Sweden, and Russia.

William married his wife Marianne in 1793 and began carried extensive works at Woodstock. The Swiss Cottage was built in near the existing Red House, and two single-storey wings to the design of William Robertson were added to the main house.

William died on 12th March 1816 in London after a long illness. He was succeeded at Woodstock by the elder of the two sons William Frederick Fownes Tighe, while his second son, Daniel Bunbury-Tighe inherited his estate Rossana.