Henry Adolphus Simonds (1823-1910) moved to Red Rice, Abbots Ann, Andover, from Barton Court, the manor house of Kintbury, near Amesbury and lived there from 1886 – 1900
Leased from the family of Thomas Best who died in 1886, Henry lived here until soon after his wife Emily [née Boulger] died in 1897. In 1900 he moved to Audleys Wood, just south of Basingstoke, to accomodate Louis de Luze Simonds & his growing family and to be be closer to the Reading Brewery.
Red Rice was a fine Georgian home with a sporting estate, so that he could indulge his passion for shooting. It was said to have been the hideaway of one of Charles II’s mistresses.
On 31 July 1897, The Reading Mercury reported: ‘On Monday afternoon a fire broke out in the servant’s wing, the residence of Mr. H. Adolphus Simonds.’
The house is now a boarding school.
Interesting to note that there appears to be no electric light in this drawing room image.
There is more about the house HERE: It is now Farleigh School, a Catholic Prep School.