Seaham Hall
Encyclopedia
Seaham Hall is now a spa Hotel in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It was once owned by George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry
George Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry
George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry KP , styled Viscount Seaham between 1823 and 1854 and known as The Earl Vane between 1854 and 1872, was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, businessman, diplomat and Conservative politician.-Background and education:Born George...

, although for much of his life he lived at Plas Machynlleth
Plas Machynlleth
Plas Machynlleth was the Welsh residence of the Marquesses of Londonderry, situated in the market town of Machynlleth in Powys , Wales...

, his wife's home in Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...

.

History

Seaham Hall was one of the many properties acquired by Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry
Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry
Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry KG, GCB, GCH, PC , styled The Honourable Charles Stewart from 1789 until 1813 and The Honourable Sir Charles Stewart from 1813 to 1814 and known as The Lord Stewart from 1814 to 1822, was a British soldier, politician and nobleman...

 through his second marriage to Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest
Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry
Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry was a wealthy English heiress and noblewoman. She was the daughter of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet and the second wife of Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...

. She was one of the greatest heiresses of the time. She stood to inherit nearly 65000 acres (263 km²).

The title Viscount Seaham was created as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the marriage, who became Earl Vane on his father's death; however, when the 4th Marquess of Londonderry died childless Earl Vane inherited the Londonderry titles and his eldest son took the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh.

The family did not spend much time at this residence but used their Irish house - Mount Stewart
Mount Stewart
Mount Stewart is an 18th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the home of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of...

, which was more impressive. In 1815 the poet Lord Byron married Anne Isabella Milbanke at Seaham Hall.

Benjamin Disraeli visited the Seaham Hall in 1861.

The Londonderrys developed one of the County Durham estates into what is now the modern harbour town of Seaham
Seaham
Seaham, formerly Seaham Harbour, is a small town in County Durham, situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. It has a small parish church, St Mary the Virgin, with a late 7th century Anglo Saxon nave resembling the church at Escomb in many respects. St Mary the Virgin is regarded as one of...

. This town was designed to rival nearby Sunderland.

The house was named after this town. The house is now no longer in the family's hands as it was sold, and is now a Health Spa housed in the same building.Having spent sometime as a NHS hospital.

From 1978 to 1985; it sat empty after being closed as a NHS hospital and remained as a derelict and deteriorating building until 1984.

In 1984, it was acquired by the Jalal family (Mr.Kusia Jalal) of Sunderland who worked at rebuilding, renovating and returning the deteriorated building to its former glory. His vision, determination and entrepreneurial spirit in using local & skilled workforce to develop an establishment that most had abandoned was key to its revival and survival today. Mr jalal of a well known engineering family was of Arab descent and married to a local girl Mrs Jean Jalal [nee Jean Donaldson]of Southwick and had 4 sons [Shamil, Sameer, Monear, Robbie] all of whom also became well known engineers. They were survivors of the war-torn Iraq of the 1980s. The family's grandchildren include [Cameron Jalal, Brooke Jalal, Oriana Jalal, Gracon Jalal, Sophie Jalal, Kieran Jalal, Kei Jalal & Luke Jalal].

It was opened in 1985 as the Seaham Hall Hotel and this remained in the hands of the Jalal family of [Anglo-Arab Descent] for nearly 6 years whereby the people of Seaham were given the opportunity to once again experience memories and the heritage of the building and its grounds.

In 1991; it was sold by the Jalal family to Dr Mullier, a local doctor who also owned Tara House [An old people's residential home]and was officially converted to an old peoples home in 1991.

See also

  • Londonderry House
    Londonderry House
    Londonderry House was an aristocratic townhouse situated on Park Lane in the Mayfair district of London, England.The house was the home to the Irish, titled family called the Stewarts who are better known as the Marquesses of Londonderry....

  • Mount Stewart
    Mount Stewart
    Mount Stewart is an 18th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the home of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of...

  • Plas Machynlleth
    Plas Machynlleth
    Plas Machynlleth was the Welsh residence of the Marquesses of Londonderry, situated in the market town of Machynlleth in Powys , Wales...

  • Wynyard Park
    Wynyard Park, County Durham
    Wynyard Park, sometimes known as Wynyard Hall is a large country house in County Durham, England. The house used to be the family seat of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry, an Anglo-Irish aristocratic dynasty, but it was sold in the 1980s.-The house:Designed by Philip Wyatt...

  • Loring Hall
    Loring Hall
    Loring Hall is a Grade II listed building and private mental health care facility in North Cray, Kent.-History:The building, originally called Wollet Hall, was first constructed in 1760, and was between 1811 and 1822 the country residence of British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh...

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