The article on the La Thangue painting in News, ATG No 2553.
He was one of the country’s wealthiest men, having made his huge fortune in manufacturing textile machinery in his home town of Keighley, West Yorkshire.
With his profits he built a huge mansion in Keighley between 1896-1913: Whinburn Hall.
It is situated on the outskirts of the town, away from the towering mill chimneys that dominated the town with their plumes of smoke and had made the Prince Smith family enormously wealthy.
The mansion features a contrast of architectural styles and is centred around a huge double-height great hall.
The house retains many of its original fixtures and fittings of the period from fireplaces to door furniture.
Whinburn sits in one of the most important Art Nouveau gardens and grounds, which are also listed along with the hall.
The house has a chequered history, having been sold by the Prince Smith family in the 1940s. It became a reform school, then was sold in the 1990s and reinstated as a private house by a local businessman who took his own life throwing himself from the tower.
The house is still a private home but sadly the impressive grounds and a very grand lodge/gatehouse are in a poor state of repair.
Tim Hogarth
