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MASKELYNE DYNASTY
My main focus is the wartime career of Jasper Maskelyne. However, some of the information gleaned about other members of the Maskelyne family is worth recording, particularly the dubious Astronomer Royal connection, the rivalry between Jasper and his brothers and the recurrent financial problems. Here are some comments by Alistair Maskelyne culled from his earlier letters: "I am the first born of two children, father Jasper Maskelyne and mother Evelyn Enid Mary Maskelyne ( nee Home Douglas). The interesting thing about these facts is that neither family on both my fathers and mothers side rightfully used the names under which they were married: my father had claims to the Maskelyne family estate "Basset Down", in Wiltshire. As a small boy I was taken to see the old mansion (long since burned down and given over to industrial use) which both my father and my mother were convinced was theirs by right. On my mothers side, the name of Home Douglas was assumed by her father, whose family name was Klopp, just prior to the outbreak of the first world war. Done for obvious reasons. He was a successful civil engineer in Edwardian England , and did not wish to have racial prejudice added to his other problems: an expensive mistress in London and a large legitimate family in the country. Contrary to the textbook accounts of conjuring history, Alistair points out that his famous great-grandfather John Nevil Maskelyne was not strictly descended from the Maskelyne lineage! This tends to undercut the legend promulgated in White Magic and the opening chapter of The War Magician, that the Maskelyne family would only possess special powers for ten generations and that Jasper Maskelyne , alas, was the tenth generation. John Nevil fought and lost a court case over what he regarded as his rightful share to the Maskelyne estate at Basset Down. Alistair Maskelyne wrote :"When , again as a small boy , I was shown books of press cuttings from the era of the 1880's , with dramatic accounts of my paternal great grand father's court case to regain rights to "Basset Down" I could only puzzle why he wasted so much money in such a, to me, useless pursuit." "It was while he was still the leasee of the Egyptian hall that my great grandfather had the idea of claiming the rights to his "family estate." Unfortunately, although he was a very talented illusionist, his knowledge of the laws of inheritance was very low. In court it was proved that his side of the Maskelyne family, if indeed it was of that family at all, was not legitimate , and he was, literally , laughed out of court." "He succeeded in wasting away most of the profits accumulated during his years as an illusionist, and when he died, his son Nevil was obliged to continue the Maskelyne and Cooke, later Maskelyne and Devant shows, at rented premises : finally the St. George's Hall in Langham Palace. This venue was at last acquired by the BBC before the second world war, and in that ownership was totally destroyed by bombs during the blitz." "This fundamental failure to acquire freehold property seems to have been the eventual fall point for the continually popular magic show. " "As a small boy I well recall the fascination of watching from a privileged stage side box my various aunts and uncles demonstrating impossible feats of levitation, escape or transformation. Behind the scenes it was equally engrossing for a small boy to see how some of the illusions were prepared." "This place, St. George's Hall had become a London institution. Unfortunately there were some jealousies within the family: my father, Jasper was the youngest of four sons, Jack, Clive and Noel. By the time Jasper was born, funds were insufficient to educate him as had the older boys been privileged. He attended only state schools, and was never given the opportunity of tertiary education. He gained a place in the family theatre, but to him not his rightful position, as the most stage presentable and cooly talented illusionist." "It must be emphasised that he never was able to achieve feats of manipulative dexterity, certainly not with cards." "My knowledge of the causes for the final split between my father and his brothers is not good; it had much to do with the permanent chip on my father's shoulder about his comparative lack of education, and the apparently superior voting rights of his brothers in the conduct of the business.."
CLASH OF DYNASTIES "At all these times my earliest recollections give memories of both financial hardship together with a gift for lavish living : two rather impracticably combined ways of life..." "...both my father and mother, to my juvenile eyes, showed no signs of lessening their convictions that they were to be numbered in the ranks of the well known and fortunate in British society. Certainly not in society itself, but acquainted with many of the more worldly of its members, and familiar in society ways." "This attitude was translated into my own schooling: when finances permitted, I was a pupil at Gibbs School, a popular upper bracket primary school in Sloane Square , where I rubbed shoulders with Peter Ustinov and young Bobby Kennedy. In fact more than rubbed shoulders with Kennedy; we had a mutual dislike and took it out in fisticuffs, where I was the loser." In a later letter, Alistair gave more details of his clash with Bobby Kennedy: "The Kennedy family, all twelve of them, had arrived in London upon the appointment of Joseph Kennedy as Ambassador in 1937. Young Bobby, although older, and much bigger than me, was installed in my form at Gibbs. We had English class sessions prior to putting on a performance of "As You Like It", and Kennedy had been allocated to read the part of Orlando. His inability to read coherently, coupled with his accent, caused me to laugh at him. During morning tea break he set on me in good Kennedy fashion and was bashing my head on the wooden classroom floor, when the form master , attracted by my howls, appeared to stop the brawl. Being British, he settled matters in typical fashion: he directed us both to the gym, where we donned boxing gloves, and Kennedy proceeded to beat the be-Jesus out of me again."
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