Belgrave Square

Belgrave Square is the setting of the mansion Paul McGill bought for Emma Harte in the late summer of 1925 and refashioned as a home for their discreet shared life. Its two separate flats, linked by a private elevator, give physical form to the arrangement Emma sought: a household with Paul close at hand, but with the outward appearance of separate residences. The house later accommodates Emma’s children and their changing family relationships, and becomes the setting in which they gather after Paul’s death.

The mansion and its arrangement

Paul purchased an unusually beautiful mansion in Belgrave Square and immediately gave the deeds to Emma. He then had it remodelled into two flats. The smaller bachelor quarters on the ground floor were reserved for Paul; the three floors above became a furnished maisonette for Emma, Daisy, a nanny, a housekeeper, and a maid. Each flat had its own entrance and was self-contained, while a private interior elevator connected them. The design made separation visible from outside and allowed intimacy within: the occupants could share a household without presenting it as one.

The arrangement reflected Emma’s reluctance to flaunt her relationship with Paul while her other children and her responsibilities as a mother remained central to her concerns. Although she was fearless in business and unconcerned with public judgment in many matters, she remained sensitive about the appearance of her private life. The house therefore gave their companionship a practical architecture of discretion. Its separate entrances maintained the proprieties Emma wished to observe; the internal connection made their closeness possible without requiring them to abandon that caution.

A home for Emma’s enlarged family

The house’s role changed after Emma’s divorce from Arthur Ainsley. Once the decree nisi was granted, she brought the twins, Robin Harte and Elizabeth Harte, to live with her at Belgrave Square. Arthur raised no objection, and Emma welcomed the chance to bring them up without his influence. Kit, still at boarding school, spent half terms and holidays with her. He approved of Paul and was devoted to him, and he did not grieve the abrupt disappearance of Arthur from his young life.

Paul gradually became the household’s titular head and a father figure to Emma’s children. His strength and gentleness earned their respect and affection, while Emma and Paul remained careful about their unusual living arrangements, particularly in front of the children. In time, the family seemed less concerned by the unconventional household. Paul argued that their combined wealth placed them beyond ordinary social conventions, and Emma gradually accepted that assurance. Belgrave Square thus housed not simply a couple living in adjoining flats, but a family assembled from Emma’s relationships and responsibilities, with Paul increasingly at its centre.

London base and divided responsibilities

The move to Belgrave Square accompanied a broader reorganization of Emma’s life. After the divorce, she altered the management of her businesses so she could spend most of her time in London. Winston Harte became managing director of the Yorkshire shops and mills, while Emma supervised the northern industries from her headquarters at the Knightsbridge store. She travelled to Leeds monthly, spending five demanding days working with Winston. The contrast between the London home and the Yorkshire enterprises marks a change in how she exercised control: she remained responsible for the businesses, but delegated their daily management and worked from a London base.

Belgrave Square was also the setting from which Emma endured Paul’s absences. When he left Australia intending to make sure his holdings would continue to run smoothly if war kept him away for longer than usual, she accepted the necessity of his decision, though she was deeply depressed by their separation. She put on a cheerful appearance before he sailed, but her foreboding persisted on the voyage to England and after she had settled back into their house. The mansion was therefore both the centre of their shared life and a place in which separation could be keenly felt.

The house after Paul’s death

Paul’s death drew family and friends to Belgrave Square. Nearly all Emma’s children came home to support her; Edwina was absent. Frank Harte’s wife, Natalie, arrived immediately, while Winston’s wife, Charlotte, travelled from Leeds with their son Randolph. Blackie O’Neill and his son Bryan came with them, accompanied by David Kallinski. After briefly visiting Emma in her bedroom, the group assembled in the library, anxious and unable to reach her through her grief.

For several days Emma remained prostrate, incoherent, and overwhelmed by loss. The movement between her bedroom, where she lay in grief, and the library, where the others gathered to worry over her, gives the house a final, sharply altered function. The rooms that had organized a private domestic arrangement now held a family confronting its absence. Belgrave Square’s significance lies in this movement: from a carefully divided residence designed to protect a relationship from scrutiny, to the home of a blended family, and finally to the setting where that family witnesses the depth of Emma’s bereavement.