LKE Law and Finance

DATE: 1915-1977

LEVEL: Box

Legal and financial records of the establishment, operation, and dissolution of various international trusts and private companies. Also includes records of the administration of American properties owned by Dorothy Elmhirst. Houses included Apple Green (formerly the Mott House), Old Westbury, Long Island, and a townhouse at 1130 Fifth Avenue, New York, designed by Delano and Aldrich in 1915. Real estate holdings included a half share in the Whitney Realty Company, which administered what is today the William C Whitney Wilderness Area, also known as Whitney Park in the Adirondack Mountains. Also mentioned are tracts of land in Montgomery County, Maryland, which were developed in the 1930s with the advice of architect William Lescaze.

Other material includes personal and Dartington Hall Trust legal correspondence. Correspondents include Osmer Gorton, an administrator for the Elmhirsts in New York. There are many letters from Robert Young and Milton Rose, attorneys and partners in the Manhattan law firm of Baldwin, Todd & Lefferts. There is extensive correspondence with British solicitors, especially Fred Gwatkin of McKenna & Co, who was one of the first trustees of Dartington Hall.

There are also extensive tax records and legal appeals in the matter of taxes in both America and Britain.

Other matters which didn't come to court include libellous allegations about Dartington Hall and the practice of black magic. The charges were made by Lady Alexandrina Domville and Captain Arthur Rogers. There is evidence of other verbal attacks against Dartington Hall made by fascists in Britain and America.

A born archivist, Leonard Elmhirst saved hundreds of personal receipts dating from 1915 through the 1940s. These have also been saved here. It appears that Leonard Elmhirst's Law and Finance folder for 1925 with correspondence with McKenna & Co was taken by Leonard Elmhirst on the 10 Mar 1972 and not returned.

Information for Researchers

All papers belonging to The Dartington Hall Trust Archive (with the exclusion of Dartington Hall School pupils individual records) are held at the Devon Record Office. All enquiries relating to research should be made to Devon Records Office, Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton, Exeter, Devon EX2 7NL
+44 (0)1392 384253
+44 (0)1392 384256
devrec@devon.gov.uk
www.devon.gov.uk/record_office

The following requests should be made direct to the Archives & Records at The Dartington Hall Trust as shown below:
Copies of images as seen on The Dartington Hall Trust online catalogue with appropriate reference number (Ref No.)
Permission to publish or quote from any document held in the Dartington Hall Trust Archive
Former pupils of Dartington Hall School wishing to view their records
Archives & Records
The Dartington Hall Trust
Dartington Hall
Totnes TQ9 6EL
01803 847200
yvonne.widger@dartington.org

This information is copyright The Dartington Hall Trust