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White Deer Land Museum

116 S. Cuyler

Pampa, TX 79065

Sir Gordan and Lady Cunard visit Pampa

Sometime after Pampa's Fourth of July celebration in 1907, M.K. Brown made a trip to England  to visit his family and to confer with some of the bondholders of the White Deer Lands.

One of the bondholders was Sir Gordon Cunard, grandson of the original founder of the Cunard Steamship Lines.

The Cunard Line of steamships had backed the organization of the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company since founder Charles G. Francklyn was a family son-in-law.

Brown was invited to spend a weekend in Sir Gordon's vast country estate in the Midlands of England where he met Lady Cunard and two sons of the Cunards.

Sir Gordon was very interested in hearing about the development of the White Deer Lands, and other proprietors insisted that he came to Pampa to consult with T.D. Hobart on matters pertaining to various improvements involving a few thousand dollars.

In 1908 Sir Gordon and Lady Cunard came to Pampa where they stayed in the old Holland Hotel in a double bedroom on the second floor.

As there were no modern conveniences, Brown loaned his portable bathtub to Lady Cunard and carried up buckets of hot water and cold water for her use.

In the mornings after Lady Cunard came down for breakfast, Brown went upstairs and poured the used bathwater out of one of the windows on the ground below.

One evening Minnie (Mrs. T.D.), Hobart came over to visit while the Cunards were sitting on the front porch of the hotel.

Minnie was very shocked and upset when Lady Cunard pulled out her cigarette holder and proceeded to smoke an English cigarette.  Minnie had never seen a woman smoke before.

The Cunards were driven over all of the property of the White Deer Lands in the company's recently purchased Buick before they returned to New York and sailed for England.

During their stay in Pampa, the Cunard's visited the school.

At that time it was the custom whenever notables visited to get as many people as possible together for a group picture.

Since most of the town's population was at the school, that was always the logical place for such a picture.