Halsall House & Spence Family
Derek Spence was born in Sale, Cheshire in 1908 to Edith and Howard Spence. Both Howard and Derek worked for the family company, Peter Spence & Sons Ltd., manufacturing alum in Manchester.
Natalie was born in 1909 and her father was Charles H. Walker who was the owner of Messrs. Walker’s Ltd, tanners of Litherland, Liverpool. No doubt the Walkers and the Spences were business associates as alum, a colourless astringent compound, was used in the dyeing and tanning processes.
Natalie and Derek were married in 1930 and were fortunate enough to receive a house as a wedding present – The Lodge, Toft Road in Knutsford – from Mr. Walker and his brother as well as a cheque and furniture from Mr. and Mrs. Spence – not bad for a first home!
With the outbreak of WW2 shortly after they moved into Halsall House, it seems the Spences did what they could for the war effort. According to the 1939 Register for England and Wales, Natalie Spence was a member of the Women’s Voluntary Service and the couple had taken in approximately 8 evacuees. Not all the evacuees details can be seen as they were still alive when the 1939 Register was published.
The Halsall school log book also mentions the fact that Mr. Spence had bought a radio for the school children.
In addition, he opened the gardens at Halsall House on numerous occasions for charity – in aid of the Nursing Association for instance in 1940.
The Spences enjoyed many trips abroad to New York and Jamaica to name a couple. However, after 28 years of marriage, Natalie and Derek Spence divorced in 1958.
The following year, Derek married Ruth Kitty Bryan Owen Leavitt (Kitty) GBJL-6N6 in Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey, USA. Kitty was the daughter of William Leavitt, an American society portrait painter and Ruth Baird Bryan, an American politician and ambassador to Denmark during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Kitty’s maternal grandfather was William Jennings Bryan, an American politician, lawyer and orator. When Kitty’s parents divorced there was a heated custody battle over who should raise Kitty and her brother. The result was that their grandmother and grandfather William J. Bryan received custody of the children and raised them in lieu of their parents.
Derek Spence was Kitty’s fourth husband. Kitty had been a model, notably for the painter and illustrator Maxfield Parrish. His famous painting, ‘Daybreak’ (for which Kitty was one of the models) made in 1922 is regarded as the most popular art print of the 20th Century, based on the number of prints made: one for every four homes in the USA. Parrish himself referred to ‘Daybreak’ as his ‘great painting’ as it was the epitome of his work.
After their marriage, Derek and Kitty moved to St. Ann’s in Jamaica. Derek became known as a prominent breeder of Hibiscus plants and both Kitty and Derek were actively involved in social work.
The following extracts are taken from the magazine, ‘Home Sweet Jamaica’, August 2012. They give an insight into the luxuriously fascinating lifestyle Derek and Kitty Spence lived during the 1960s at High Hope Estate. In addition, a documentary was made about the life of Kitty, one of the producers being her grandson.
Frank Derek Spence died on 10th June 1971 at home, High Hope, St. Ann’s Bay, aged 63 years.
Kitty Owen Spence passed away in 1984 in New York, aged 79.
Natalie Spence, nee Walker, Derek’s first wife, died on 7th January 1988 in Northamptonshire.
