Description:Pictured standing is Lord Nelson (George Horatio Nelson), 1st Lord Nelson of Stafford, Managing Director of English Electric between 1930 and 1956, taking afternoon tea with his Housekeeper, Mrs Belcher (seated on the left) and guests. On the table there is an assortment of sandwiches, biscuits, cakes with swiss roll or roulade and cigarettes.
The other people in the photograph are Mr and Mrs Bob Chamberlain - he was the gardener at Hilcote Hall. They lived at Keeper's Cottage.
When in Stafford Lord Nelson lived at the New Hough or at Hilcote Hall, near Eccleshall. Important visitors to the Stafford Works would often be invited to stay at these properties or at Broc Hill another property owned by the company located between Brocton and Milford.
When English Electric merged with GEC in 1968 there was a major rationalisation of the various sites around the United Kingdom and many of the company owned houses and buildings were sold including Broc Hill which later became a private residence. Hilcote Hall has been a residential care home since about 1987. The New Hough closed due to the redevelopment of the Lichfield Road Site in Stafford, the contents were sold by Auction on Saturday 20 July 2002. Following this the New Hough was stripped of the wood panelling in the hall, stairs and landing and the staircase removed. All the ground floors rooms were knocked into one large area. The New Hough opened November 2007 as a Frankie and Benny’s New York American Diner/Restaurant.
Additional information on the Lichfield Road Site: Siemens Brothers purchased the land in 1901 and built the factory and offices which were ready to start production in 1903. In 1918 Siemens merged with several companies, including Dick, Kerr and Co., to become the English Electric Co. Two years later in 1920, The English Electric Co bought the Stafford Works. The English Electric Co merged with GEC (The General Electric Company) during 1968 and the Lichfield Road Site became part of GEC Power Engineering Ltd. On 22 March 1989 became part of GEC ALSTHOM, an Anglo French Joint Venture. On 22 June 1998 became part of ALSTOM with global HQ in Paris and to date (June 2014) continues to be part of the ALSTOM Group.
Harry Poole was gamekeeper to Lord Nelson and lived at Hilcote Cottage.