Hellier Stradivarius [SEP] creator
Hellier Stradivarius
The Hellier Stradivarius of "circa" 1679 is a violin made by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy. It derives its name from the Hellier family, who might well have bought it directly from the luthier himself.
The "Hellier Stradivarius" has had a convoluted ownership history. It seems to have been in the possession of the Hellier family from the beginning of the 18th century. Samuel Hellier, High Sheriff of Staffordshire 1745, probably brought the violin to England. However, two Cremona violins are first
The Wodehouse
The Wodehouse (formerly also Woodhouse) is a grade II* listed English country house near Wombourne, Staffordshire, notable as the family seat of the Georgian landscape designer and musicologist Sir Samuel Hellier and, a century later, Colonel Thomas Bradney Shaw-Hellier, director of the Royal Military School of Music. For almost 200 years the family owned the Hellier Stradivarius. It is claimed that the Wodehouse has not been sold for over 900 years, though more than once the family has died out.
House,