On This Day in Wembury — 12 November 1895
The Duke of Coburg arrived in Plymouth as part of a visit to England. He was scheduled to shoot with leading Westcountry landowners including the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe at Mount Edgcumbe, the Earl of St Germans at Port Eliot, and Mr Cory at Langdon Court near Wembury.
At the time Langdon Court was owned by William Cory, a wealthy coal merchant and shipping magnate who had purchased the estate in 1876. Entertaining royalty was a mark of status, and hosting the Duke of Coburg placed Cory among the foremost society figures in Devon. Such country house shooting parties were an important part of aristocratic and landed social life in the late Victorian period, cementing ties between the royal family, the peerage, and successful industrialists.
Source Western Times, 1 November 1895
Entries are summaries and interpretations of historical newspaper reports.