The owners of Castle Ward and Ballywhite and those who lived on their estates found that their idyllic lives were changed for ever by the advent of the Second World War. These estates were on either side of Strangford Lough.

This remarkable biography of Colonel William Brownlow and Agnes White and their families is a chronicle of two different lives; one lived in public life and one lived more quietly behind the scenes, but both the faces of working lives well-spent. All the more remarkable for being true. Colonel William Brownlow,

'The Major' was well known in Northern Ireland Society becoming Lord lieutenant for County Down. He was a Second World War veteran who campaigned for local issues and championed horse-racing and country sports. Agnes White lived a more quiet life behind the scenes as a working mother and wife, choir member and talented artist. Her superb recollections of life in the 'Big House' are a precious addition to the local history of Northern Ireland.