Remarkable family tales That the Delavals should be remembered through one of the North-East's most spectacular mansions is in keeping with a family history lacking for nothing in terms of incident and achievement. In the 11th Century Guy de la Val built a castle in France. Son Hamo was part of the Norman invasion and Hamo's son wed a daughter of William I's half-brother. The family's lands included Hartley next to the site of the hall. Robert de la Val died at the Battle of Stirling in 1297 and his cousin, eight, also Robert, was captured. He grew up to be granted custody of places between Tynemouth and Blyth. A later Sir Ralph Delaval had 20 children and his grandson, also Ralph, married the daughter of General Leslie, leader of the Scots army which sided with Parliament in the Civil War. Another grandson - and yet another Ralph - was one of the Lords of the Admiralty and is buried in Westminster Abbey. George Delaval also became an admiral and diplomat and it was he who asked Vanbrugh to design Seaton Delaval Hall. He never lived to see it completed, dying in 1727. The hall passed to his nephew, Captain Francis Delaval. His eight sons and five daughters, were perhaps the most remarkable generation in the family's history. Eldest son Sir Francis inherited Seaton Delaval in 1752 and was the one who staged Othello in London. He was also a great practical joker. Guests would find their beds lowered into cold baths in the dead of night. Brother John, later Lord Delaval, was MP for Berwick but still found time to appear in Othello. When the 60-year-old John's wife died in 1783, he took a 16-year-old mistress. Of Francis and John's remaining siblings, Edward was a distinguished chemist, scholar, philosopher and inventor of the lightning conductor, and is also buried in Westminster Abbey. Brothers Henry and Robert were soldiers who died in battle and Ralph, is reported to have been killed in an earthquake in Lisbon. Sister Rhoda, painter, music composer and poetess, married Sir Edward Astley. The reign of the Delavals ended when Seaton Delaval passed to Rhoda's son, Sir Jacob Henry Astley. If the Delavals lived remarkable lives, then they were certainly matched by Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Seaton Delaval Hall. In 1686, Vanbrugh took an officer's commission in the Earl of Huntingdon's regiment and also worked undercover as part of the movement to replace James II with William of Orange. Returning from taking messages to William in the Netherlands, he was arrested in Calais on a spying charge and imprisoned, aged 24, for four and a half years in France, partly served in the Bastille. On his return to London, Vanbrugh tried his hand at theatre management and then turned dramatist, writing two Restoration comedies: The Relapse and The Provoked Wife landed him in trouble for their sexual frankness. As an architect, Vanbrugh's projects included Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. In 1719, a year after the start of building at Seaton Delaval, Vanbrugh, at the age of 55, married Henrietta Yarborough, 26, and they had two sons. He died in 1726 and, like Admiral George Delaval, never saw the completion of Seaton Delaval Hall. Seaton Delaval Hall is off the coastal road at Seaton Sluice, between Whitley Bay and Blyth. The hall's central block, East Wing stables, gardens, coach house, and ice house are open to the public from June 1-September 30 on Wednesdays, Sundays and August Bank Holidays from 2pm-6pm and also on May Bank Holiday. Admission is £4 adults, OAPs £3.50, children £1. Telephone (0191) 237-1493. | 
