Description:The cottage was sited in Belle View Road, Leek in a predominantly industrial area. It was the parental home of Miss Harriet Brooks or Brookes (1873-1916) who in 1894 married Ralph de Tunstall Sneyd. Ralph was the only son and heir of John William Sneyd (1862-1947) of Basford Hall and his wife Agnes (nee Cotton), and when he married against his father's wishes he was disinherited.
Ralph had been an avid collector of curios, ephemera, coins, stamps and natural objects since childhood. In 1894 he heard that Sergeant-Major Brookes, recently returned from India, had Indian artefacts to sell. He arranged to meet at the soldier's parent's house - Belle Vue Cottage. When Ralph arrived Brookes was not in but his sister Harriet invited him to await his arrival. Ralph must have been smitten at first sight. The marriage was of unequal status (Harriet had worked in Sheldon & Fenton's silk mill in Leek doing book-keeping and allocating work) so they married almost secretly in Stockport, Cheshire in October of that year. The affair was nationally and somewhat sensationally covered by the press.
The couple moved to Fair View House near Onecote in 1900. Harriet is interred in the Sneyd family vault in Cheddleton church.