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  Themes Homepage > Richard Bentley > The Mere, Upton Park, about 1920
   
The Mere, Upton Park, about 1920
 
   
The Mere, Upton Park, about 1920
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Brief Description: View across Herschel or "Upton" Park towards the front entrance of The Mere, about 1920
Subject Date: about 1920
Creator: Hatch and Millea
Owner: Slough Library
Contributor: Slough Library
 
Full Description: The Mere was built for George Bentley and was completed in 1887. At the time Bentley was the head of 'Bentley's', the famous publishing firm. The company was founded by his father Richard, and it published some of the works of Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, William Harrison Ainsworth, Wilkie Collins, Marie Corelli and other notable authors. Richard Bentley, George's son, took over the Mere and the family business when his father died in 1895, and in 1898 the firm was dissolved and the stock and assets handed over to the company Macmillan. Richard then focused his time on expanding The Mere estate and studying local history, meteorology, botany and other sciences. His interest in meteorology led to him being elected President of the Royal Meteorological Society in 1905-1906, and he established a weather station in the grounds of The Mere. His publications included the 'Stray Notes on Slough & Upton' (1892), 'Some Historic Inns of Slough' (1924) and the privately printed 'Some Leaves from the Past', which included biographical information on the Bentley family. Richard Bentley died at home in 1936, aged 82. There were no children from his marriage to Lucy, and Lucy continued to live at The Mere until 1961, when the house was sold. Lucy Bentley then moved to Windsor and died at the age of 95. In 1964 the Mere became the headquarters of the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and it still remains in their hands today.
 
Place: Slough; Upton Ward; Kenilworth Close
Dimensions: 15.1 x 22.6 cm
Subject: Parks ; Houses ;
Name Subject: Herschel Park ; Upton Park ; The Mere ; Bentley ; NFER
Content Type: Photo Colour
Location: Slough Library
Local Ref: I172
Unique ID: sl-sl-0172_themere-i-00-000.tif
IPR: Slough Library
 
 
  Themes Homepage > Richard Bentley > The Mere, Upton Park, about 1920
 
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