Theodore Wratislaw
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Theodore William Graf Wratislaw 1871-1933 Count of the Holy Roman Empire (ancestral tombs to be seen in St George's and St Jakob's,Prague)his great grandfather Count Marc Wratislaw von Mitrovitz came to England about 1770 and taught foreign languages at Rugby school, was also educated, at Rugby. He then entered his father's office and in 1893 passed his solicitor's final exams. In 1892 he published at his own expense two slim volumes of poems - 'Love's Memorial' and 'Some verses'.
In 1893 he published 'Caprices' (now available unexpurgated) the same year that Lord Alfred Douglas persuaded Oscar Wilde to rent a house at Goring-on-Thames- 'a most unhealthy and delightful place ' in the opinion of Wilde. 'The poet Theodore' as Oscar called him, having stored his summer clothes - it was the end of August- appeared in a tail coat and new straw hat - to the surprise of the all in white Wilde. Wratislaw was published in the Strand Magazine and the Yellow Book along with such as Henry James, Arnold Bennett, Oscar Wilde and other fin-de-siecle contributors.'Orchids' (a double entendre for the Greek word 'orchis' - meaning 'testicle') was published in 1896. He had to work to earn his living as a solicitor at Somerset House describing life there as 'penal servitude'.
In 1927 he moved to York Lodge, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (commemorated now by a blue plaque- the house has recently been restored by the current owner, Barry Taylor-Gregson) and his last work there was an account of his visit to Oscar Wilde's - this was just before his death in September 1933. A 1979 edition with foreword by Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman edited by Dr Krishnamurti and entitled 'Oscar Wilde-a memoir',has been published. Other works include 'The Pity of love' a tragedy based on the love story of Sophia Dorothea, the wife of King George I, and Philip von Konigsmark, also, 'Algernon Charles Swinburne: a study'(1900)which was his best known work in his lifetime. Wratislaw's own epitaph might well be some lines he wrote - now framed in the room named after him at his final home, York Lodge, sic
"These rhymes of mine, wrung forth by weariness Of weary life among these fools, may bring Me in my lifetime nothing; let it be. But God! I pray Thee in after time to bless Me with some poet-lover who may sing My name, my lady's and our memory"
THEODORE WRATISLAW, York Lodge, Walton-on-Thames. The poet's grandfather William Ferdinand, practised as Solicitor and Attorney in Rugby until his death in 1853. The eldest of his five sons (the poet's uncle) the Reverend Albert Henry Wratislaw (1822-1892) was headmaster of Felsted School from 1850-1855. He was a Slavonic scholar well known in Bohemia for his translations of Czech poems. Another son became a lawyer, one became a doctor and the fifth and youngest (Henry Rushworth) was an admiral. The poet's own father, Theodore Marc, is best remembered, along with Dr Frederick Temple (headmaster of Rugby School, before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury) for founding the Rugby Freehold Land Society, promoting owner occupation in Rugby well above the national average. Theodore (the poet) was described after his death by George Cecil Ives in 1933 as 'one of that wonderful Pembroke set (at Oxford)'. He outlived most of the brilliant 1890's writers and artists with whom he freely mixed but his acerbic wit is evoked in his poetry and letters, the latter recently collated and published by Professor R.K. Thornton. YORK LODGE, Walton-on-Thames, is a Surrey County listed building, with uniquely surviving iron ornamental railings and facade (East front) with trellis decorated windows. A 17th century core lies concealed beneath the William IV alterations. It may have been a keeper's , or hunting lodge, which low ceilings and flagged floors indicate, while the spacious rooms of the piano nobile with curved ceilings are more appropriate to a gentleman's residence of the 1830s. When Wratislaw's wife bought the property in 1927 from the widow of Lieutenant Colonel Ubsdell DSO, the estate was undivided with extensive gardens, not having then been built upon. It looked out upon the great house, Ashley Park, which was pulled down about 1931 and then split up and developed. When widowed in 1933, Ada Wratislaw continued living at York Lodge until 1939 when she sold the property to Hans Michael von Folsach. Owners or 'rentiers' of York Lodge are recorded from 1838 (Surrey History Centre, Woking).
Sources: A K R Thornton: 'The search for Wratislaw' 2003. Richard Ellman: 'Oscar Wilde' 1987. S M Ellis: 'A Poet of the Nineties' from 'Mainly Victorian' 1924. Theodore Wratislaw: 'The Pity of Love' 1895 (ex Libris, YORK LODGE). OXFORD DNB.
