{"id":1016,"date":"2025-12-08T10:55:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=1016"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:55:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:55:56","slug":"july-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=1016","title":{"rendered":"July 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is indeed a dream to me that I should be writing to you on this delicious afternoon, under the oak-tree on the lawn of my grandmother\u2019s garden \u2013 the bees humming, the birds hopping, the children capering around me \u2013 the sheep-bells drowsily tinkling from the distant Park \u2013 and Budget dozing in the mossiest turf at my feet, and the air bathed in the manifold scents of an English August.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Robert Lytton, 1880.<\/p>\n

My great-great-grandfather wrote these words the day he returned to Knebworth from four tumultuous years governing the Indian Raj as Queen Victoria\u2019s Viceroy.\u00a0 He had hosted 63 Indian princes and maharajas for the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi; he had faced the challenges of severe famine affecting 60 million people; he had survived an assassination attempt and lands still riddled with deadly cholera; he had ordered troops into Afghanistan when the British Mission in Kabul was massacred\u2026 and now he was sitting under this oak-tree in the peace of Knebworth House Garden with his little dog Budget (who\u2019d accompanied him back from India) and his children playing around him.
\nIt puts life into perspective when I sit under this oak-tree and contemplate what I\u2019ve been up to for the last four years!\u00a0 But a visit to this oak-tree was a fitting end to the conference we hosted in May for the University of Singapore to discuss Robert Lytton\u2019s challenges in India.\u00a0 And, goodness, what peace and tranquility this magnificent tree still spreads across this garden.<\/p>\n

Henry Lytton Cobbold
\n@HenryCobboldKH<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is indeed a dream to me that I should be writing to you on this delicious afternoon, under the oak-tree on the lawn of my grandmother\u2019s garden \u2013 the bees humming, the birds hopping, the children capering around me … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-25"],"yoast_head":"\nJuly 2025 - Henry Lytton Cobbold<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=1016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"July 2025 - Henry Lytton Cobbold\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIt is indeed a dream to me that I should be writing to you on this delicious afternoon, under the oak-tree on the lawn of my grandmother\u2019s garden \u2013 the bees humming, the birds hopping, the children capering around me … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/?p=1016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Henry Lytton Cobbold\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T10:55:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/knebworthhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Knebworth-House-Oak.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1629\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=1016#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=1016\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f15e48bf5e00572a561d40bb2c4078b5\"},\"headline\":\"July 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-08T10:55:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=1016\"},\"wordCount\":253,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=1016#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/Knebworth-House-Oak-1024x834.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"2025\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=1016\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/knebworthhouse.com\\\/blog\\\/?p=1016\",\"name\":\"July 2025 - 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