Residents and Owners
Who has lived at Harlaxton Manor?
| 1832 | Building the manor begins. |
| 1851 | Gregory Gregory moves to his new home from Hungerton Hall; fourteen servants also live in the manor (Census records of 1851). |
| 1854 | Gregory dies in June; the manor reverts to the family line of succession, passing to an elderly cousin called George Gregory, who likely never lived at the manor. |
| 1860 | George Gregory dies; John Sherwin, family solicitor and very distant relative inherits despite Gregory Gregory’s attempts to prevent this; Sherwin takes the Gregory name, becoming John Sherwin Gregory. |
| 1869 | John Sherwin Gregory dies, leaving his wife, Catherine living at Harlaxton Manor; Catherine supports the local school and church. |
| 1892 | Catherine Sherwin Gregory dies; the named heir is their godson, Thomas Sherwin Gregory, a widower, well known cricketer, sportsman, and civic leader (he supports the Grantham Hospital); in his time, a World War I trench warfare school was carried out in the manor grounds. |
| 1935 | Pearson Gregory dies in November; for the first time, there is a direct heir, Pearson Gregory’s only son, Philip Pearson Gregory, himself a widower with four children. |
| 1937 | Philip Pearson Gregory remarries in January, deciding not to live at Harlaxton Manor; house contents, village houses, woodlands, and tracts of agricultural lands sold at auctions. |
| 1937 | Following an advertisement of the manor’s imminent demolition, the house is purchased by entrepreneur and social campaigner, Violet Van der Els.t |
| 1937-39 | Mrs. Van der Elst spends a fortune renovating, modernizing, and furnishing the manor, only to be confronted with the beginning of World War II. |
| 1942-43 | 1st Battalion of the British Airborne Division in residence at the manor. |
| 1948 | Mrs. Van der Elst auctions interior contents, and sells the house and 500 acres to The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) for use as a novice center. |
| 1949-50 | Jesuits make necessary renovations, including placing the Refectory and kitchens in present locations; first novice class arrives, along with retired priests who live in the State Rooms. |
| 1950-65 | Jesuits occupy the manor for two separate time periods, leaving the manor in the hands of a caretaker for extended years. |
| 1966 | Manor leased by the Jesuits to the new overseas study program of Stanford University, California. |
| 1970 | Manor sub-leased by the University of Evansville for President Wallace Graves’ plan for an overseas study center. |
| 1971 | First class of University of Evansville students arrive at Harlaxton. |
| 1978 | University of Evansville trustee, Dr. William Ridgway, secures the manor for continued use by UE, purchasing the manor and leasing back to the University; Dr. Ridgway makes an outright gift of the manor in 1986. |
| 1972-present | Harlaxton College welcomes thousands of students and faculty from UE and a variety of partner colleges. |
