Queer Places:
Tip Top, Via Federico Serena, 80076 Capri NA
22 Motcomb St, London SW1X 8LB, UK

Hugo Erskine-Wemyss (May 31, 1861 - March 12, 1933) was born on May 31, 1861, in St George Hanover Square, London, Middlesex, into a prominent and well-connected British aristocratic family. He was the fourth child and second son of James Hay Erskine-Wemyss (1829–1864), a Member of Parliament and landowner, and Millicent Anne Mary Kennedy-Erskine (1831–1895). Through his mother, he possessed notable royal lineage, as she was the daughter of the Hon. John Kennedy-Erskine and Lady Augusta FitzClarence, an illegitimate daughter of King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan (Dora Bland). Hugo grew up alongside four siblings: Mary Frances, Dora Mina, Randolph Gordon (who inherited the family estates), and Rosslyn, who would rise to become an Admiral of the Fleet and the 1st Baron Wester Wemyss.

Tragedy struck the family early when his father died in March 1864, leaving his mother to raise the children. Census and historical records trace Hugo's upbringing and early adult life residing across fashionable areas of London, including Kensington and Chelsea. As recorded in Debrett's and official registers, he entered professional life as an Honorary Attaché in the Diplomatic Service and later served in administrative capacities, including as Comptroller of the household of the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg in Britain.

However, against the backdrop of Victorian and Edwardian societal strictures regarding sexuality, Hugo's personal life took a distinct trajectory. As a homosexual man belonging to the British upper class, he eventually became a classic example of a "remittance-man"—sent away by his aristocratic family to live abroad on a regular allowance with the tacit understanding that he would not return to British polite society. He settled on the island of Capri, Italy, which at the time served as a famous, relatively permissive haven for expatriate artists, writers, and exiled European homosexuals.

On Capri, Hugo lived a colorful and eccentric life that became part of local lore. He resided in a villa on Tragara, where he occasionally entertained, and maintained a modest secondary cottage along the path leading up to Tiberio, which served as a private space to meet companions. He cultivated a striking and deliberately unkempt personal aesthetic, frequently seen commuting between his properties carrying a basket of garden tools over one arm and a tropical umbrella hooked over the other, set off by his silver hair, a red-spotted tie, sky-blue trousers, white shirt or tussore suit, and sandals.

Well-integrated into Capri's expatriate network, he frequented local social institutions such as the famous all-night Bierstube The Tip-Top, opened in 1920 by Michele Pagano, where he socialized alongside other notable British literary figures and homosexual expatriates like Compton Mackenzie. Despite these circles, Hugo generally kept to himself, making few permanent local friends and relying instead on visiting acquaintances and passing travelers.

Beyond his life as an expatriate and diplomat, Hugo Erskine-Wemyss also engaged in the antique trade, a facet of his career evidenced by a notable piece of furniture attributed to him. Among the few known design works linked to his name is an English Arts & Crafts modified Windsor-style chair, circa 1906. Crafted from Circassian walnut, this distinctive piece features a double-reversible "horse-shoe" form, with bent U-shape crest rails spindle-joined to a carved-shaped reversible plank seat. The chair provides a specific insight into his professional life in London; it is stamped on the back edge of the seat with the British Registry number "Rd 483013." This registration, dated July 14, 1906, identifies Hugo Erskine-Wemyss as trading under the name "Aitchem" from 22 Motcomb Street, Belgravia, London, where he operated as a dealer in antiquities. While some historical records suggest his firm, Aitchem, was active from 1910 to 1930, the registration of this chair indicates that his involvement in the trade began significantly earlier. Given that no other design patents or registry numbers linked to him are currently known, this chair is considered a potentially singular example of his work in this field.

Hugo Erskine-Wemyss remained abroad for the remainder of his later years, passing away on March 12, 1933, at the age of 71 in Grasse, France. His estate was subsequently settled through probate in London on September 4, 1933, closing the chapter on an eccentric aristocratic life shaped by the rigid social exiles of his era.

References:


Capri: Island of Pleasure Hardcover – January 1, 1987
by James Money

Other references:

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