Burlington House (The Victory Club)

Burlington House (formerly Suffolk Lawn) became the Suffolk Hall Preparatory School for boys during the second half of the nineteenth century. It was here that Wilson’s future wife, Oriana Souper, or Ory for short, became a matron. Wilson made several visits here to see Ory and once stayed overnight, shortly before their wedding on 16 July 1901, as the guest of the James sisters who ran the school.

Although Ted and Ory’s happy marriage was cut tragically short, Ory overcame her husband’s death partly through the outstanding services she provided to the New Zealand Red Cross during the First World War, which were later recognised through the award of a CBE. It is most appropriate, therefore, that Suffolk Hall itself was later converted into a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital from 1914 to 1919, a fact that is recorded on the panel displayed on the right hand side of the porch.

Now retrace your steps back to the roundabout, this time taking the second exit into Montpellier Spa Road.