Anyone who has walked the grassy fields above Watnall has probably discovered the lonely and deserted graveyard up on the hill top surrounded by an old holly hedge. It is the family plot of the Rolleston family of Watnall Hall which used to stand nearby. But who exactly is remembered there and what are their stories?
The Watnall Hall graves are shown here on 9th Nov 2021. A great job has been done tidying them up, they've not looked so good in years. We'll look at the lives of the individuals buried here below (and what a story it is!) but first some background information. To skip directly to the grave details click here (left to right in the above picture). Grave1 - Vice-Admiral Rolleston; Grave2 - Eleanor Rolleston; Grave3 - Col Sir Lancelot Rolleston
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Colonel Lancelot Rolleston MP |
The 3 graves are from one generation of the Rolleston family of Watnall Hall, fathered by Colonel Lancelot Rolleston M.P. (1785-1862), shown here on the right, and his second wife Eleanor Fraser (1816-1894). To avoid confusion I'll refer to him as L6 and his son, also called Col. Lancelot Rolleston, as L7. The Rolleston family had lived at the hall since Tudor times but this was the first time any of them had been buried here⁵. Previous generations lie in the large vault, now sealed up, of the Rolleston family under the south aisle of Greasley church. Watnall Hall itself stood 50m away from the graves tucked just below the hillside where the modern houses on Rolleston Crescent now stand. The hall and gardens were demolished in 1962 to make way for them. It's a beautiful spot with views to several counties and it's nice to think of the siblings lying in peace together under the glorious overarching heavens. |
Watnall Hall |
The burial plot first appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1900. On the previous map of 1880, it is not there. So perhaps Lancelot 7 had it created when he returned to the Hall to begin his new dynasty around 1880. The hall had been leased out since the mid 1850's and the Rolleston family were living away in Brighton. His mindset was perhaps to re-establish the hall as a family seat for many generations to come. Sadly it did not turn out that way. Lancelot’s family burial plot would be used only 6 times – in 1917 for his little sister Eleanor Anne (aged 64); 1919 for his brother in law Robert Tennant (67); 1926 for his young brother Robert Sidney (76); 1941 for himself (93); 1949 for his wife Lady Maud (90); and finally in 1957 for his sister in law Fanny Lilian (83).
Using the picture above, the graves are, from left to right...
Grave 1 - Vice-Admiral Robert Sidney Rolleston and Fanny Lilian Rolleston (nee Fraser)
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Transcript of the gravestones is below... |
- Vice-Admiral Robert Sidney Rolleston was Colonel Rolleston's (L7) young brother, b.15 Sep 1849 d.16 Mar 1926 - In 1863 at the tender age of 13 he was packed off to join the Navy. That may appear rather young but it was the typical age for younger sons of aristocratic families to go to sea. His father had also died the year before so he would have had to grow up fast. He had an eventful career, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1873, trained the young King George V and his brother Prince Albert Victor as naval cadets on HMS Britannia at Dartmouth, sailed the world in command of numerous ships, was Commander of the battleship HMS Royal Oak from Feb 1903-Sep 1904 and eventually retired as a Vice-Admiral in 1920. He is also the father of Eleanor Maud Rolleston, known as "Elma", the only child from this entire Rolleston generation. Elma, as niece of Colonel Rolleston (L7), went on to inherit the hall and the local farmland (incl. the Watnall allotments) in 1949 after the death of the Colonel's wife, Lady Maud.
- Fanny Lillian Rolleston
Vice-Admiral Rolleston's young wife Fanny Lilian Rolleston, nee Fraser, was born in 1874 in Madras, India. She died in 1957 and was the last person to be buried in the family graveyard. She was the daughter of Major-General Alexander Robert Fraser of Torbreck and Edinburgh (1820-1900) and Fanny Mary Squire (1839-1919) daughter of Captain William Squire, 2nd Life Guards of Barton Place, Mildenhall, (and Barton Mills) Suffolk.
Rob Roy's sword and Indian Mutiny...
Her father Alexander Robert Fraser gained the rank of Major-General in the cavalry of the Madras Staff Corps (that's what M.S.C stands for on his daughter's gravestone) and as the young laird of Torbreck (near Inverness in Scotland) in 1833, reputedly owned the old claymore sword of Rob Roy¹.
Life in India was not easy, her father's first wife Catherine Wilson Sandys had died aged 28 in June 1857 at Masulipatam in India. How did she die? It was a year of violent revolution across much of India. The British-led native troops called sepoys, who were paid soldiers fighting for the British, staged a bloody revolt. The sepoys in the strategic port area of Masulipatam had a
history of mutiny but this rebellion was mostly in north and central India. As an officer in the
Madras Cavalry her husband was in charge of a large number of sepoys.
Exceptional cruelty was inflicted on both sides, on British officers and civilians including women and children by the rebels and on the rebels, including sometimes entire villages, by British reprisals. However, it's more likely
she died in childbirth as her daughter Charlotte Ann was born the same year. Major-General Fraser
subsequently married his second wife Fanny Mary Squire in India and their daughter Fanny Lilian Fraser was born in 1874. He then retired and returned to England with his family in 1875.
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Fanny Lilian Rolleston nee Fraser ("Lil")
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Saving the family line (again)...When they married in 1901, Fanny Lilian Fraser was 27 and Robert Sidney Rolleston, now a Royal Navy captain, was almost 52. The 1901 census (dated April 1st) shows them living with Fanny's recently widowed mother in at 2 Catherine Place, Bath and both are still single so they must have married later that year. Her father had died the year before.
They were 1st cousins and none of Robert's ageing siblings had yet managed to have any children. So was this a marriage of convenience to save the Watnall Rolleston line? The Rolleston family must have been desperate to produce an heir and marriages between cousins were not so frowned upon as they are today, especially for the aristocracy. It still took them 11 years until their daughter Elma (Eleanor Maud) was born in Fulham on 11th April 1912. By then Robert was 63 and Fanny was 38. Elma was the thin thread that kept the family line going to this day. The whole Rolleston family must have been so delighted when she finally came along.
Nor was this the first time that the venerable old Scottish family of Clan Fraser had saved the Rolleston family line. In 1846 after the death of his first wife and of his only male heir, Robert's father Lancelot 6 aged 61 re-married to Eleanor Charlotte Fraser (Fanny Lillian's aunt) of Torbreck, a small farming hamlet by Loch Ness just outside Inverness. Her mother was of noble Scottish blood, the 8th Earl of Lauderdale's daughter Lady Anne Maitland, who had had infamously eloped² with the wild and dashing young laird Robert Fraser of Torbreck in 1807. In Torbreck they built their love-nest, Ness Castle. Eleanor Fraser and Lancelot 6 became the parents of the generation of Rollestons buried at Watnall. Eleanor Fraser was Fanny Lilian Fraser's aunt. The Fraser girls of Torbreck had saved the Rolleston's twice over.
Elma Rolleston was only 14 when her father Robert died in 1926. He was buried at Watnall and presumably she came up from Bath for the ceremony with her mother, although they are strangely not mentioned in the funeral report¹³. Afterwards she grew up in the rectory at Bere Ferris near Plymouth in Devon living with the Fraser side of the family - her mother and her mother's sisters and brother-in-law who was rector. She was in the WAAF during WW2 and was at one time stationed at RAF Watnall, which requisitioned Watnall Hall and the grounds, quite a co-incidence. Her uncle Lancelot (L7) died in 1941 but her aunt, Lady Maud was alive until 1949 so Elma no doubt spent time with her up at the hall.
The Burma railway...
Elma's mother Fanny, who was called Lilian or "Lil" by her family, died in Ipswich in 1957 where she was living with her Elma and Elma's husband, the marvellously named Elphinstone Richard Edmund Dayrell. She was the last person buried at the family plot at Watnall. Her husband been an army major during WW2, was captured by the Japanese in Singapore and was a jungle prisoner of war on the notorious Burma death railway⁶. We all know what horrors he and his men would have experienced there. In 1947 his affidavit helped to successfully convict several high-ranking Japanese officers for war crimes. Their only daughter was Georgina born just after the war. She married Moray Scott-Dalgleish b.1943, a well-known horseman, born in Jersey, who has been a strong promoter of cross-country races such as the Melton Hunt Club Ride. Colonel Rolleston, a keen horseman himself, would have approved. He's also custodian of a unique and extensive book collection on hunting history dating from 1576 to 1950 called the Rolleston Collection. It includes the Colonel's own collection of hunting literature from the Watnall Hall library. Elma died in 2001 aged 88 in Suffolk. Moray and Georgina have a large family and grandchildren and they represent the only present day offspring and inheritors of the Watnall Rollestons. Sadly, it was announced that Moray too had died in 2019.
On front…
IN MEMORY OF
VICE ADMIRAL ROBERT
SIDNEY ROLLESTON
SECOND SON OF
COLONEL LANCELOT ROLLESTON M.P.
AND ELEANOR CHARLOTTE HIS WIFE
HE DIED ON THE 16TH MARCH 1926
AGED 76
A MODEST AND GALLANT GENTLEMAN
WELL KNOWN AND WELL BELOVED
On side…
AND OF HIS WIFE
FANNY LILIAN
ROLLESTON,
DAUGHTER OF
MAJOR GENERAL
ALEXANDER ROBERT
FRASER M.S.C
OF TORBRECK
SHE DIED ON THE 27TH JUNE 1957
AGED 83
Grave 2 - Eleanor Anne Tennant (nee Rolleston) and John Robert Tennant
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Transcript of the gravestones is below... |
- Eleanor Anne Tennant (nee Rolleston) was Colonel Rolleston's (L7) young sister, b.1853 m.1878 aged 25 d.1917 aged 64 - daughter of Colonel Lancelot Rolleston (L6) and Eleanor Charlotte Fraser. When her father (L6) died in 1862 the Rolleston family were living in a row of seaside townhouses in Brighton. The 9-year-old Eleanor and her mother stayed on in Brighton during her teenage years while her older brothers were sent away to boarding school and the Navy. She married John Robert Tennant, son of Robert Tennant, on 15 November 1878 aged 25.
- John Robert Tennant⁹, her husband, b.13 Sept. 1851 m.14th (in Burkes Peerage) Nov 1878 aged 27 d.10 Jan 1918 (or 1919) aged 67 - eldest son and heir of Robert Tennant the M.P. for Leeds and captain in the Yorkshire Hussars. He was from a modestly landed but entrepreneurial old Yorkshire family of Chapel House, Conistone-with-Kilnsey in beautiful Wharfedale. His father Robert, according to his obituary "was at one time a very large landowner in his native county, being possessed of five or six estates in Yorkshire, including three or four parishes in the North Riding. In Scotland, too, he owned an extensive estate at Auchnashellach, in county Ross, where he once entertained the Prince of Wales for a couple of days' shooting; and his possessions also included a large property at Rose Hall, Sutherlandshire, and the Ballochulish Slate Quarries". |
Christmas 1910 - headed notepaper signed by the family party |
He held interests and shares in various mines around the world as well as factories and railway companies. Such were his diverse business interests that the 1881 census, struggling to categorise him, had him as "Mine Serv Flax Spinner Coal Owner Railway Director J.P.". His son John became a London-based company director, perhaps in the family businesses? John and Eleanor lived most of their married life in London in elegant Knightsbridge and Kensington townhouses and visited Watnall Hall for family get togethers. One such visit was over the 1910 Christmas holidays when the family all signed their names on Watnall Hall headed notepaper. John and Eleanor are also commemorated on a plaque at Conistone church in Yorkshire but there is a discrepancy in his death year. Conistone says 1918, Watnall says 1919.
On front…
IN
LOVING
REMEMBRANCE OF
ELEANOR ANNE TENNANT
THE MOST DEARLY LOVED WIFE OF
JOHN ROBERT TENNANT
DAUGHTER OF
COLONEL ROLLESTON M.P. OF WATNALL
SHE DIED 12TH AUGUST 1917
REGRETTED BY EVERYONE WHO KNEW HER
On right side…
SACRED
TO THE
MEMORY OF
JOHN ROBERT TENNANT
OF CHAPEL HOUSE YORKSHIRE
BORN 13TH SEPTEMBER 1851
DIED 10TH JANUARY 1919
Grave 3 - Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston (L7) and Lady Maud Rolleston (nee Dalzell)
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Transcript of the gravestones is below... |
- Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston KCB DSO (L7 himself)
Born 19 Aug 1847, married 25 Feb 1882 aged 34, died 26 Mar 1941 aged 93.
Lancelot Rolleston was the archetypal Victorian landed gentleman and the well-respected local squire of the village of Watnall. Born on the 19th of August 1847 at Watnall Hall, he was the son and heir of Colonel Lancelot Rolleston (L6), MP for South Notts from 1837 to 1849. His mother was Eleanor Fraser of Torbreck, near Inverness in Scotland, born into the combative and soldierly Clan Fraser of Lovat. He married Lady Charlotte Emma Maud Dalzell, daughter of Colonel Hon. Robert Alexander George Dalzell and Sarah Bushby Harris, on 25 February 1882. He was educated at Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire and at Christ Church College, Oxford University. He held the office of High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1877.
Huntsman - In 1889 he takes up the prestigious post of Master of the Rufford Hunt. It moves him and his wife into high society. They rent out Watnall Hall and move to Wellow Hall near Edwinstowe where they are closer to the Rufford Hunt's area. They host the very first elaborate hunt balls in the Duke of Portland's enormous underground ballroom at Welbeck Abbey and he makes influential contacts that will last him all his long life. Soldier - He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel between 1896 and 1908 in the South Nottinghamshire Hussars Yeomanry. He fought in the Boer War, where he was badly wounded and was mentioned in despatches. As reward for bravely saving his life that day, Lancelot made Trooper Joe Haywood permanent landlord of the Queens Head pub in Watnall.He was Second in command of the 3rd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Nottinghamshire. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Nottinghamshire. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) in 1902. He was Colonel of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade, Territorial Forces between 1908 and 1912. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (T.D.) in 1909. He was appointed Knight Commander, Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) in 1911. Most importantly he was a well-loved local squire, particularly by his local villagers and tenant farmers. Amongst his many schemes, he set up a farming cooperative to help them get their goods to market.
This is a very brief biography of a fine Victorian gentleman. There are plenty more tales about him at the Tales from Watnall Hall website. Click here
- Lady Maud Rolleston, his wife
was born 2 Sep 1859 in Bruges, Belgium as Charlotte Maud Dalzell, married 25 Feb 1882 aged 33 and died 13 Nov 1949 aged 90. She was the granddaughter of Colonel Hon. Robert Alexander Dalzell 6th Earl of Carnwath, sister of 11th and 13th Earls of Carnwath, daughter of Colonel Robert Alexander George Dalzell, CB (b.19/8/1816 d.19/10/1878 buried Torquay, Crimea veteran, Honorary Colonel of the Grenadier Guards; Knight of the Medjidi) and Sarah Bushby Harris¹², daughter of Captain John Harris, RN, of Eldon House, Ontario, Canada. They met when he was serving with his regiment in Canada and they married in 1846 in London, Ontario. After living a year in Toronto, she accompanied him when his regiment returned to England in 1847. He sees action in the Crimea. His beard is unusual for a British army officer but the freezing conditions in the Crimea they were allowed to grow and then keep their beards almost as battle honours. In 1857 he retires having been severely wounded at Sevastapol. Maud was born in 1859 in Bruges.
In 1861 aged 1 Maud and her family had moved from Bruges to St.Leonards near Hastings and in 1871 and 1881 (aged 21) they were in Torquay, Devon.
She married Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston (L7) on 25 February 1882 in Newton Abbot, Devon and she moved to Watnall Hall. She held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Nottinghamshire. She was appointed Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in 1919 for her charity work.
In 1900, aged 40, she followed her husband, who she calls Lance, to war in South Africa where using her skills at managing country houses and estates and her wide range of contacts she set up a convalescent home for wounded soldiers. She helped nurse Lance back to health after he was shot through the back during fighting near Lindley. Her many adventures there are documented in her book "Yeoman Service : Being the diary of the wife of an Imperial Yeomanry officer during the Boer War".
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Lady Maud Rolleston nee Dalzell |
The conflict saw a lot of society ladies travel out to the Cape to offer their amateur "nursing" assistance. The majority were seen as interfering busy-bodies by the army medical staff but the well-regarded Lady Maud astutely succeeded in creating a genuinely useful facility for recovering soldiers and relieved the burden on the front-line field hospitals. Also serving out there was her brother Arthur Dalzell the future 13th Earl of Carnwath who also signed the Christmas 1910 Watnall Hall notepaper pictured above. Like Sir Lancelot, Lady Maud was also very keen on public service and village affairs. Apart from being County Commissioner of the Girl Guides, her interest in the children of the village also showed in her trying to educate them on to the "straight and narrow path" with her locally famous Sunday School at Watnall Hall. She had a weekly attendance of over 40 and it was rare indeed for another teacher to be needed to help her in her class. She was a local magistrate too and a feisty, no nonsense one at that. One amusing village tale tells of her hearing a case brought by the local bobby, desperate for a few prosecutions, against a "deliquent" young cyclist Joe Wilcox. Lady Maud eyed the young culprit, who was there with his father.
“Don’t I know you?”, she said.
“Yes, Lady Maud, I live at Nuthall,” replied young Joe.
“You are in the church choir, aren’t you,” continued the Magistrate.
“Yes Lady Maud” said the young “criminal”.
“Case dismissed” said Lady Maud abruptly, and young Joe left somewhat astonished.
Both Lady Maud and Sir Lancelot were much-loved in the village for all their good works. The local papers even calling them the fairy godparents of the village on their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Sadly, Sir Lancelot and Lady Maud never had any children of their own. They were the last generation of Watnall Rollestons and the last of their family to live at the hall.
IN
LOVING MEMORY OF
COLONEL SIR LANCELOT ROLLESTON
K.C.B D.S.O.
OF WATNALL
BORN AUGUST 19TH 1847
DIED MARCH 29TH 1941
AND OF HIS WIFE
LADY MAUD ROLLESTON
C.B.E.
BORN SEPTEMBER 2ND 1859
DIED NOVEMBER 13TH 1949
Sir Lancelot also has rather more poetic memorial on the south east corner of Greasley church. It's a beautifully designed stained glass window, The Rolleston window, with the family crest, heraldic symbols and an aerial image of the old Hall snuggly nestled into the hillside above the Watnall woods. It was dedicated in 1960 and incorporates pieces of glass taken from Watnall Hall, the Rolleston family home, prior to it being demolished. Below is his thoughtfully worded dedication that perfectly sums him up... TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LOVING AND HONOURED
MEMORY OF LANCELOT ROLLESTON, K.C.B., D.S.O.
COMMANDER OF THE SOUTH NOTTS. HUSSARS
SOUTH AFRICAN WAR, 1899 - 1900, MAGISTRATE FOR 70 YEARS
CHAIRMAN OF QUARTER SESSIONS, 1911 - 1926, BORN 1848
DIED 1941, THE LAST OF HIS NAME LIVE
AT WATNALL HALL, UPRIGHT AND FEARLESS HE
SERVED HIS DAY AND GENERATION
Mysteriously missing is the youngest brother of L7, Henry Edward Rolleston b.1851 who is the only one of the siblings not buried at the family plot. He was the first of the siblings to die in 1910 aged 50. I can find no trace of him except his birth, the census in 1861 aged 10 when the family were living in Brighton and his death. His life remains a mystery. There are no military records or newspaper announcements about his marriage or anything else. Update Jan 2024 - Find a Grave website has his burial plot listed and a different death date. See note 11 below.
Before the tidy up the graves looked like this...
Originally they looked like this... They were vandalised in about 1980 and all the crosses pushed off their pedestals. They've been laid out and secured on the floor now but it would be great to see them restored too.
Finally, the appropriately named old "Squire" padlock on the now holly-covered cemetery gates...
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Colonel Lancelot Rolleston MP of Watnall Hall, the father of the 3 Rolleston siblings buried here. |
Please note, the graves are on private land although several footpaths run close by and the area is a popular local dog walking spot. In summer there are also cows with young ones in the field and a bull so you have been warned!
The Watnall Hall Rollestons are a rich source of some very interesting and intriguing local tales. All the other tales in the series are available from the following website :
Including...
For more information contact me, Chris Appleby at chrisappleby@yahoo.co.uk
Thanks.
Sources : Various public genealogy resources; public-access university archives; Horse and Hound magazine; "Watnall Hall and the Rolleston Family" - RA Horton 2000; Watnall Woods Facebook group user's pictures; South Notts Hussars website and museum; Royal Artillery website and war records; "Yeoman service : being the diary of the wife of an imperial yeomanry officer during the Boer War" - Lady Maud Rolleston 1901; Historic England archive; The Great Houses of Nottinghamshire and the County Families - Leonard Jacks 1881; Nottinghamshire History archive; History of the Frasers of Lovat, with genealogies of the principal families of the name: to which is added those of Dunballoch and Phopachy by Mackenzie, Alexander, 1838-1898. Published 1896 (see Note 2 below)
Notes
1 - From the "Inverness Courier." Sept 4th 1833. It is stated that Rob Roy’s favourite claymore had been presented by Mr Ryder, of the Aberdeen Theatre, to Mr Alexander Fraser, the young laird of Torbreck. The present was accompanied by the following certificate of its authenticity:—"This was the favourite claymore of Rob Roy. It was presented by him to his particular friend and near relative, Mr Campbell of Glenlyon, and remained in that family until Francis Gordon Campbell of Troup succeeded to the title and estates of Glenlyon." [The "theatrical" context perhaps does not lend much weight to the credence of the story or provenance of the sword!]
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Rob Roy in the middle and his claymore sword |
2 - From History of the Frasers of Lovat, with genealogies of the principal families of the name: to which is added those of Dunballoch and Phopachy by Mackenzie, Alexander, 1838-1898. Published in 1896
THE FRASERS OF PHOPACHY AND TORBRECK
IX. Robert Fraser, of whom Mr Fraser-Mackintosh says, that he "was, in most respects, the reverse of his father." His elopement in 1807 with Lady Anne, daughter of the eighth Earl of Lauderdale, in the style and the manner of young Lochinvar, is well known. The same writer adds — "The present generation has no conception of the effects produced in Scotland by the agitation preceding the Reform Bill (of 1832). No question could, in these times, by any possibility involve such commotion or stir up such feeling. Among others in the North, Torbreck became a violent reformer, and in the great contest for the Inverness Burghs in 1832, he stood as a candidate, and incurred great expense." The numbers polled for the respective candidates in this contest were, for Colonel Baillie of Redcastle, 250; John Stewart of Belladrum, 243 ; and for Robert Fraser of Torbreck, 6. Robert and Lady Anne built Ness Castle, afterwards bought, beautified, and long occupied, along with the lands on which it was erected, by Marjory Lady Saltoun. He sold Torbreck and Balrobcrt in 1834 [just after she had died].
By Lady Anne Maitland, who died in 1829, Torbreck had issue —
1. Alexander Robert, of whom presently.
2. Anne, who died unmarried.
3. Eleanor, who married Colonel Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall Hall, Notts, with issue — (i) Lancelot, born on the 19th of August, 1847, now of Watnall Hall. He married Lady Maud, daughter of the Hon. Colonel Robert Dalzell and sister of the Earl of Carnwath, without issue. (2) Robert Sidney, born on the 15th of September, 1849, Captain R.N. (3) Eleanor Anne, who married John Robert Tennant, without issue. Mrs Rolleston died in 1894. [Not according to her gravestone]
Robert died in London, on the 3rd of October, 1844, when he was succeeded as representative of the family by his only son,
X. Major-General Alexander Robert Fraser, now residing at Bath, in his 76th year. He was in the Madras Cavalry and retired from the service in 1874. He married first, Catherine Wilson, eldest daughter of General Sandys of the Madras Cavalry, with issue —
1. Eleanor Theresa, who, on the 3rd of September, 1867, married Sir Gilbert Augustus Clayton East, Baronet of Hall Place, Berks, with issue — Gilbert William, born on the 7th of May, 1869; George Frederick Lancelot, born on the 3rd of September, 1872 ; Eleanor Alexandra, and Agnes Emma.
2. Catherine Anne, still unmarried.
General Fraser, whose first wife died at Masulipatam on the 11th of June, 1857, married secondly Fanny Mary, daughter of Captain William Squire, 2nd Life Guards and of Barton Place, Maidenhall, Suffolk, with issue —
3. Alexander Robert, born in 1875.
4. Simon William, born in 1876.
5. Mabel Anne.
6. Fanny Lilian.
7. Gertrude Eleanor.
3 - The Rolleston Collection
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/hunting-book-collection-offer-six-figure-sum-674773
The Rolleston Foxhunting Collection, a gem of a book collection about early foxhunting is available for purchase for the first time. Begun in the 19th century, it is probably the largest in private hands and was much enlarged by the originator’s family to its present 534 titles, of which the great majority are first editions. “It was started by my wife Georgina’s family – she is a niece of Sir Lancelot Rolleston,” said Moray Scott-Dalgleish, a well-known hunting man who has been a strong promoter of cross-country races such as the Melton Hunt Club Ride. “It is a fascinating collection which contains much important social history, and is worth a six-figure sum.” The Rolleston Collection features just about everything to do with hunting from 1650 to 1950, biographies, advice on hunting, cartoons, poetry, care of hunters, songs, great runs, fiction and more. Moray said: “Any serious hunting man or woman should seriously consider it as an investment. This is a field where prices rise very quickly and rarely decline.” The collection includes a number of extremely rare publications, such as the earliest imprint of The Meynellian Science by John Hawkes. “Many books are beautiful. Some are just very special, such as Nicholas Coxe’s The Gentleman’s Recreation of 1674 and Peter Beckford’s Thoughts on hunting of 1781. It is unlikely that the collection will ever be matched, except at great cost.” A feature of the collection is a complete set of RS Surtees’ hunting novels in first edition, featuring famous hunting characters such as John Jorrocks, Soapey Sponge and Lucy Glitters. The collection may currently be viewed by appointment with Nicky Dunne, telephone number 0203 9504763, of Heywood Hill, 10 Curzon Street, London W1J 5HH.
4- Email from Georgina Scott-Dalgleish - On Wednesday, 20 April 2022, 17:34:16 BST, Georgina Scott-Dalgleish "This is an amazing piece of history! It’s a real shame in a way that they had no children. And my mother their only niece who was always so far away. She grew up in the Rectory at Bere Ferris in Devon (living with the other side of the family, my grandmother Lilian and her sisters and brother in law who was rector) after her father, LRs brother Robert died when she was 14. When my mother was in the WAF during the war she was at one time stationed at the Campsite in Watnall, quite a co-incidence. Remarkable about Frank G"
5 - The vicar of Greasley church makes an intriguing reference to the large Rolleston family vault buried under the church in his 1901 History of Greasley
"There are, to the best of our knowledge and belief, no vaults now existing in Greasley Church except that of the Rev. John Mansell and his wife, in nearly the centre of the chancel, and the large vault, now sealed up, of the Rolleston family at the east end of the south aisle."
Rodolph Baron von Hube, Griseleia in Snotinghscire, (1901)
So presumably the older generations of the Rollestons before Colonel Rolleston (L7) are in here. He goes on to refer to a new Rolleston vault... "The Rolleston family, since their vault in the Church has been sealed up, have a new family vault in the churchyard sufficient for eight burials". This cannot have ever ben used as since 1901 the Rolleston burials took place in he graveyard by the hall that is the subject of this article. I have no record of the burial location of his father (L6) who died while the family were living away from Watnall in Hove, Sussex. There are memorials to the earlier Rolleston, presumed to be in the vault, on the south aisle wall, that von Hube's history book relates. One memorial would appear to confirm that as it says "Near this Place Remains The body of Christopher Rolleston". This is the extract from the book...
In the south aisle of the church are the Rolleston series:
1.—A marble monument, with a large niche containing a bust. The monument is surmounted with a crest and coat of arms. The Inscription is:
In Memory of Lancelot Rolleston,
of Watnall in ye County of Nottingham, Esq., who was one of ye
Branches of ye Family of the Rollestons of Staffordshire. He
married one of the daughters of Geo. Poole of Hege, in the
County of Derby, Esq., with whom Hee liv’d very haypily many
year until his death. And for his Knowne and Steddy loyalty to
his Prince, he was made
High Sheriff of this County in the year 1682.
A Gentleman Generally belov’d in this Country, but especially by
his particular acquaintance.
He was a great lover of the Person y once Contracted
friendship with,
And not given to change,
His carriage was Affable and his Conversation Ingenious and
Pleasant, very courteous and Friendly to his Neighbours, and
Charitable to all he knew in want.
He died in the year 1685, in the 35th year of his age,
Making his loving Cousin, Edw. Rolleston of Toynton, in the
County of Lincoln, Esq., His Executor, who erected this monument.
The small head of an angel with outspread wings is under the Monument, as though supporting it.
2.
Near this Place Remains
The body of Christopher Rolleston
Of Watnall, Esq., and Hannah his wife,
Daughter of Samuel Holden of Aston,
in the County of Derby, Esq.
She departed this life on the 29th of Ap…
In the 49th year of her . . .
He died on the 21st March of . .
in the 67th year of his age.
They had issue, Lancelot, Mary . . .
Christopher, Frances, Edward, Robert,
Elizabeth and Thomas.
This monument was erected in 1749.
Here Lie also the bodies of
Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall, Esq.
3.
Sacred to the Memory
of Revd. John Rolleston, M.A.,
LI. years the worthy and consciencious minister of Aston,
in the County of Derby.
The fourth and last surviving son of
Christopher Rolleston, Esq., of Watnall,
in the County of Nottingham,
and of Hannah his wife,
The daughter of Samuel Holden, Esqr., of Aston.
He married
Dorothy, the youngest Daughter
of Robert Burdett, Esqr., of Foremarke,
in the County of Derby,
and had issue by her
Six sons and one daughter.
He died June 13th, 1770,
aged 65 years.
This small tribute to his Memory and worth
Is paid by his truly affectionate
and sorrowful widow.
Also to the Memory of Dorothy Rolleston, Widow of
the Revd. John Rolleston, M.A.,
who died the 20th Octr., 1794,
in the . . . . year
of her age.
4.
Sacred to the Memory of
Christopher Rolleston,
of Watnall, Esqr.,
second son of
the Revd. John Rolleston
and Dorothy his wife.
He died April 3rd, 1807,
Aged 67.
Also to the Memory of
Ann Rolleston,
Relict of Christopher Rolleston, Esq.
She died Feb. 4th, 1809,
aged 60.
5.
Also to the Memory of
Ann Rolleston,
Daughter of Christopher and Ann Rolleston,
who died Feb. 16th, 1813,
aged 30 years.
Sacred to the Memory
of Lancelot Rolleston, Esqr.,
of Watnall,
in the County of Nottingham,
eldest son of
The Revd. John Rolleston, A.M.,
and Dorothy his wife.
He departed this life the 25th April, 1802,
Aged 65
6.
Sacred
To the Memory of
Caroline,
Wife of Lancelot Rolleston, of Watnall, Esqr.,
and Daughter of
Sir Christopher Chatwynd, Bart., of Granden Hall,
in the County of Warwick.
She died March 10th, 1844,
aged 57 years.
Also in Memory of
Lancelot,
Son of Lancelot and Caroline Rolleston.
He died March 20th, 1826,
aged 14 years.
6. Under the east window of the south aisle:—
Sacred to the Memory of
Lancelot Rolleston, of Watnall, Esqr., son of Christopher
Rolleston and Ann his wife,
Daughter of Captain Nicholas, R.N., Colonel of the Nottingham
shire (Sherwood Foresters) Militia, Chairman of Quarter Sessions.
and from 1837 to 1849 member in three successive parliaments
for the Southern Division of this County.
He died 18th May, 1862, aged 76.
Also to the Memory of his Wife Eleanor Charlotte, Daughter of
Robert Fraser, Esqr., of Torbrek, Invernesse, and the Lady Ann
his Wife, Daughter of James the 8th Earl of Lauderdale,
who died 2nd June, 1894.
Note 6 - Major Dayrell gets mentioned in the Roll of Honour for Gunner Byford, a POW of the Japanese in Thailand...
1943/03/23 - Overland to Thailand with ‘D’ Force
Commander Captain Smith, Royal Artillery
New PoW No. IV 12393
Attached to Group 4 22 (Matsu) Bn. under Major Dayrell 118 F/R. and worked at:-
Kinsaiyok Main, Kinsaiyok Jungle No. 1 Camp, Possibly further up the railway
Then back to Tha Sao, Tha Muang
1944/06/24 - Transported back to Singapore
Kinsaiyok Main, Kinsaiyok Jungle No. 1 Camp -
Kinsaiyok Jungle Camp No.1, 161.40km – Thailand
In the Kin Sai Yok area were four working camps for prisoners of war occupied during the construction of the Thailand-Burma Railway in world war II. The camps were: Kin Sai Yok main with prisoners of mixed nationality and the site of shooting of British prisoners; Kin Sai Yok Jungle Camp 1, Kin Sai Yok Jungle Camp 2, a rock quarry for rail ballast and Kin Sai Yok Jungle Camp 3.
more information here
His affidavit helped to convict several high ranking Japanese officers of war crimes:
War crimes trials
At the end of World War II, 111 Japanese military officials were tried for war crimes for their brutality during the construction of the railway. Thirty-two of them were sentenced to death.[63] The most important trial was against the general staff. Major Dayrell's affidavit was part of their trial. Lieutenant General Eiguma Ishida, overall commander of the Burma Railway, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. His subordinates Colonel Shigeo Nakamura, Colonel Tamie Ishii and Lieutenant-Colonel Shoichi Yanagita were sentenced to death. Major Sotomatsu Chida was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.[64] Hiroshi Abe, a first lieutenant who supervised construction of the railway at Sonkrai where 600 British prisoners out of 1,600 died of cholera and other diseases,[65] was sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison, as a B/C class war criminal. He served 11 years.[66][67] No compensation or reparations have been provided to Southeast Asian victims.[32]
7 - The Devon Connection and the Fraser sisters...
THE FRASERS OF PHOPACHY AND TORBRECK (published 1896). p.735
Major-General Alexander Robert Fraser (1820—1900) , now residing at Bath, in his 76th year. He was in the Madras Cavalry and retired from the service in 1874. He married first, Catherine Wilson, eldest daughter of General Sandys of the Madras Cavalry, with issue —
1. Eleanor Theresa, who, on the 3rd of September, 1867, married Sir Gilbert Augustus Clayton East, Baronet of Hall Place, Berks, with issue — Gilbert William, born on the 7th of May, 1869; George Frederick Lancelot, born on the 3rd of September, 1872 ; Eleanor Alexandra, and Agnes Emma.
2. Catherine Anne, still unmarried.
General Fraser, whose first wife died at Masulipatam on the nth of June, 1857, married secondly Fanny Mary, daughter of Captain William Squire, 2nd Life Guards and of Barton Place, Maidenhall, Suffolk, with issue —
3. Alexander Robert, born in 1875.
4. Simon William, born in 1876.
5. Mabel Anne.
6. Fanny Lillian. (born in Madras in 1874 the year before the family came back to England.
7. Gertrude Eleanor.
These must be the sisters who lived at the rectory at Bere Ferriss AKA Ferrers. The Rev James Sharpe was living at the Rectory in 1916 and also in 1938 so he must have been the brother-in-law of Elma's mum Fanny Lillian that Georgina mentions in her email about Elma's upbringing in Devon. Which sister did he marry?
He started the Bere Ferrers parish magazine in Jan 1916...
https://www.bereanglicans.org.uk/church-other-info/bere-link-parish-magazine
Reverend Frederick Thomas William Wintle was Rector of Bere Ferres from 1875 to 1913, succeeding Reverend Walter Ponsonby, who later became Earl of Bessborough, Reverend Wintle was interested in the history of his church and parish and corresponded with many of the notable antiquarians of the day. He was succeeded by Reverend James Sharpe who was Rector until after the last war.
8 - The Rollestons in Coat of Arms book
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies. Armorial families : a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour (Volume 2) online. (page 157 of 282)
https://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/arthur-charles-fox-davies/armorial-families--a-directory-of-gentlemen-of-coat-armour-volume-2-dxo/page-157-armorial-families--a-directory-of-gentlemen-of-coat-armour-volume-2-dxo.shtml
ROLLESTON ( H. Coll. )). Argent, a cinquefoil sable, on a chief gules a lion passant guardant or, a crescent for difference. Mantling sable and argent. Crest — On a wreath of the colours, an eagle's head erased proper, beaked or, with a crescent for difference. Motto — "Ainsi et peut estre meilleur."
Sons of the late Col. Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall, by his second wife Eleanor Charlotte, only surv. d. of Robert Fraser of Torbeck, co. Inverness : —
Col. Sir Lancelot Rolleston, K.C.B., D.S.O., Commanding Notts, and Derby Mounted Brigade (T.F.) 1908-12, J. P. (High Sheriff 1877) Nottinghamshire, Chairman of Quarter Sessions from 1912, b. 1847 ; m. 1882, Lady Charlotte Emma Maud Dalzell, sister of Robert, 15th Earl
of Carnwath. Seats — Watnall, co. Nottingham; Toynton, co. Lincoln ; and Wellow Hall, Ollerton, Newark. Clubs —Carlton, St. James's, Royal Yacht Squadron (Cowes).
Vice-Admiral Robert Sydney Rolleston, R.N., b. 1849; tn. 1901, Fanny Lilian, d. of late Major-Gen. Alexander Robert Fraser, M.S.C., of Torbreck ; and has issue —
Eleanor Maud. Res. —
Henry Edward Rolleston, Gentleman, b. 1851. Res. —
9 - John Robert Tennant - John Robert (Robert) Tennant 1851 - 1918
http://genealogy.links.org/links-cgi/readged?/home/ben/camilla-genealogy/current+c-tennant1215+2-2-0-1-0
John Robert (Robert) Tennant, late of Chapel House, which he disposed of and of Arncliffe Close, which he acquired, formerly Capt. 2nd Yorkshire Militia. Educ. Rugby and Christ College, Oxford. s.p. Secretary (1891). A plaque in Coniston Church - " To the memory of the family of Robert Tennant of Chapel House, Kilnsey. John Robert B: 1851.... also of Eleanora H.S. Tennant D 1956 Aged 90 last surviving member of the family of Robert Tennant." In 1937 Burke's L:G he was described as M.P., of Seacroft Lodge, Yorks, and Rose Hall, Sutherland. Ellis Islands records: Tennant, John Robert Gt. Britain, English London, Eng. April 01, 1905 52y 3m M M Campania Liverpool, England, UK on his way to Montreal and last in the US in 1897. ----------------- a2a database Reference Code: DD201 John Robert Tennant, D.L., J.P., Captain 3rd West Yorks Militia of Chapel House, Kilnsey and Kildwick Hall, diaries Creation dates: 1847-1873 Creator(s): Tennant, John Robert, fl 1847-1873, Captain in Militia, of Kilnsey Held at: Yorkshire Archaeological Society Scope and Content Diaries
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Campania
His father https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tennant
Siblings
1. Geoffrey Garnett Tennant 1852 - 1889
2. Marian Isabel (Isabel) Catherine Tennant (Cumberland) 1854 - 1928
3. Laura Frances Harriette Tennant 1855 - 1933
4. Cecil Arthur Tennant (Crosse) 1857 - 1916
5. Hilda Margaret Tennant (Edwards) 1859 - 1928
6. Robert Hugh (Hugh) Tennant 1860 - 1936 Chairman of NatWest Bank
7. Frederick William Tennant (Nickols) 1862 - 1934
8. Gilbert Edward Tennant (Garnett) 1863 - 1921
9. Eleanora (Nell) Hope Shaw Tennant 1865 - 1956
10. Philip Charles Tennant (Heydemann) 1867 - 1936
Spouses
1. St. Michael's, Chester Square, London, , , England 14th Nov 1878 Eleanor Ann(e) Rolleston (Tennant) 1853 - 1917
Descendants [ Options ]
Sources
Family Archivists: see Tennant formerly of Arncliffe, Yorks.
Census
1861 census (son - Grove House Mansion, Scarcroft, Yorks., , England)
1871 census (son - Scarcroft Lodge, Scarcroft, Yorks., , England)
1891 census (head of household - 21 Sheffield Terr., Kensington, London, , , England)
1901 census (head of household - Montpellier sq, London, , , England)
Timeline
??? Buried (burial) Conistone, Burnsall, Yorks., England
13th Sep 1851 Born (birth) Leeds, Yorkshire, England
1861 Son in 1861 census (census) Scarcroft, Yorks., England
1871 Son in 1871 census (census) Scarcroft, Yorks., England
14th Nov 1878 Married Eleanor Ann(e) Rolleston (Tennant) 1853 - 1917 (marriage) London, England
1891 Head of household in 1891 census (census) London, England
3rd Sep 1899 Executor of the will of Robert Tennant (Garnett) 1827 - 1900 (will)
1901 Head of household in 1901 census (census) London, England
Dec 1918 Died (death)
|
Funeral of Sir Lancelot's mother, Eleanor Nottingham Guardian June 9th 1894 |
|
Alexander Robert Fraser, Eleanor Charlotte's young brother, is mentioned on the graves at Watnall Hall as he is the father-in-law of Robert Sidney Rolleston who married his daughter Fanny Lillian Fraser. The bride and groom were 1st cousins. |
11 - Henry Edward Rolleston
BIRTH 1851
DEATH 1924 (aged 72–73)
Virginia Water, Runnymede Borough, Surrey, England
BURIAL Christ Church Churchyard,Virginia Water, Runnymede Borough, Surrey, England
MEMORIAL ID 260229843 · View Source
12 - Sarah Harris and Col Dalzell from her mother Amelia Harris's diary...
When John Harris died in 1850, Amelia’s family at Eldon House comprised eight children ranging in age from twenty-seven to eleven. Two of them had married: Sarah, the eldest, had married Captain Robert Dalzell [81st Reg] in 1846 and, after living a year in Toronto, had accompanied him when his regiment returned to England in 1847.
They met when Dalzell was posted to the British Garrison in London Ontario, part of Sarah's family's wider social scene... "Being the home of ten young people, there were always enough family members to improvise entertainment, but a shortage of visitors was never a concern. With its array of young people of marriageable age, Eldon House was a popular location for social gatherings and entertainment – provided one respected the social proprieties of visitation and invitation. It was not difficult for the young women at Eldon House to get acquainted with the British officers of “Garrison London.” These single, lonely, and eligible men in barracks were prominent members of the London social scene and frequent visitors at Eldon House. Indeed, four of the Harris girls met their partners among those officers while the civilians who found Harris partners had been introduced as friends of visiting officers. Matchmaking was a common procedure, young men and women meeting their partners through friends or members of the family. An organized riding party or an invitation for tea or dinner could be an excuse to introduce two people to each other."... "The three other daughters, Sarah, Mary, and Eliza, left Canada with their husbands for England shortly after their marriages and lived there. They travelled within Europe and each of them returned once to Canada to visit their mother.
Members of the military were frequent and prominent callers at homes such as Eldon House. One of the consequences of Mackenzie’s uprising in 1837 had been the decision of the British government to station a succession of British regiments at London. They were to be a visible and vital part of the town’s society from 1838 until their withdrawal in 1852. Clearly, many Londoners shared in Amelia’s lament that “London will be very dull without the red coats.”
The British Garrison in London - In one of several concentrations of British troops in Upper Canada, various infantry and artillery units were stationed on a military reserve here during the mid-19th century. The garrison, which contributed significantly to the economic growth of London, was first established in 1839 to guard against border raids following the Rebellion of 1837. Although its troops were withdrawn in 1853 to serve in the Crimean War and military duties were assumed by pensioners, it was re- occupied by British regulars in 1862 when the American Civil War posed a threat to the province. To help repulse an expected invasion of Fenians, militant Irish sympathizers, the garrison remained active until 1868. Six years later, this part of the old military reserve was set aside as Victoria Park. (Harris, Robin, S.; Harris, Terry, G.. Eldon House Diaries: Five Women's Views of the 19th Century (Heritage) . University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing. Kindle Edition. )
In 1863 they went back to Canada to Sarah's family home Eldon House, London, Ontario, Canada for what proved to be a dramatic visit. Her mother Amelia's diary reveals a lot about their tight finances, the Colonel's poor heath and an un-gentlemanly falling out they had over money and love issues and also the marriage of Col Rolleston and Lady Maud and his financial health in 1882...
1846 - Overwhelmed by her daughter’s [Sarah] happiness and her own, Amelia expressed her feelings on the forthcoming marriage of her oldest daughter in a letter to her brother Edward Ryerse: “We are all in a state of the greatest excitement. Sarah is to be married … he is going to take her to England, Ireland, Scotland and all over the Continent. … You can easily imagine what a state of confusion we are in with all her things to get ready.”
1858 Jun 11 … English mail came … [Sarah] wrote from Baden Baden. Col Dalzell and Sarah are in search of a school for their children.
Dec 14 We had letters from Sarah, Shuldham and Mary. The Dalzells are in constant worry about their money matters.
1859 Sep 23 … Sarah [Dalzell] has a daughter and is doing well, they call her Charlotte [Carrie] after dear Chasse.
Oct 29 I was all the fore noon endevouring to write to Col Dalzell who fidgits too much about his money, which John has invested for him. It is all safe and well invested, but he is always fearing something wrong if his accounts and remittances are not to the day. …
Amelia's daughter's diary - 1861 Sep 12 Received two letters from my dear husband & one from Mary. … He seems to have enjoyed his visit at the Dalzell’s very much. … I thought Edward would take to Sarah. She certainly succeeded in making Papa & me like her extremely when we saw her five years ago at Tunbridge Wells, & Col Dalzell too was very kind. They both go to Malta this month which is to be their residence for the present on account of Col Dalzell’s health.
1863 Jun 16 Amelia received a very nice kind letter from Capt Dalzell of the Guards. … He is engaged to Mary Ross and although he expects opposition from his family yet he hopes when he pleads his case personally to gain his consent and to be able to return in a few months to be married. … Mary Ross is very young, only just from school. She is the daughter of clever parents and I believe a very nice girl but she is a colonist and that will be an objection and if she has no money that will be a very great objection as Capt Dalzell’s father looks very sharp after money. … This is told in confidence & not to be repeated at present.
Jun 20 … poor Col Dalzell has had another attack of hemorrhage from the lungs, but not so severe as the last, but I very much fear that he is not long for this world, as several of his family have died in the same way.
Jul 14 I got a letter from Col Dalzell & Sarah from Montreal. They will not be here for some days as they intend going to Ottawa and they intend stopping at Kingston and Toronto.
Jul 15 I was very busy all the morning making cherry brandy, etc and had quite given up the Dalzells for another day or two, when Edward called me and told me that Sarah was here. I was less affected than I thought I should be at seeing her after 16 years absence but she is so changed that I could not for some time realize that she was my Sarah. She is looking wonderfully well and has grown very stout. After a short time one feature after another seemed to return to me, even her voice is changed. Col Dalzell looks delicate and of course older but he is very little changed. His voice is the same and I should have known him anywhere but Sarah I should not. … There was a most splendid borealis tonight. There was a bright path all across the heavens from west to east.
Jul 31 We had a dinner party today. Mr & Mrs Wilson, Capt & Mrs Leslie, Capt Fitzroy & Mr Griffin and Amelia. The dinner went off very well, thanks to Sarah and Col Dalzell. Sarah took the trouble of seeing to everything about the dinner and she makes people talk and sees that every body is amused in some way and Col Dalzell is always so gentlemanlike. … Mrs Wilson wishes to go to Nice with the Dalzells, or rather she wishes to go as far as Paris with them.
Aug 1 … Col Dalzell not well, … Sent for Dr Landor who told him that he had tubercles on the lungs which alarmed him very much. Dr Landor thought them so slight and unimportant that he did not hesitate to speak of them and when he spoke to us he assured us that Col Dalzell had no ailment as far as he could tell to prevent his living to a good old age. He said diet, air, and exercise was all that he required and the more cheerful he kept the better.
Oct 5 Edward & the Dalzells have gone to Long Point. … Oct 13 Sarah came into my room this morning in a great state of alarm. Col Dalzell had a hermorrage [sic] of the lungs. This is the third attack in three years. … Dr Landor thinks that he will be as well as usual in the course of a week but it tells us very plainly how uncertain his life is; poor fellow. Lord my heart ached for him as he lay trembling between this world and the next. Sarah behaved very well and commanded her feelings better than I could under such circumstances and she is a devoted and tender nurse. …
Oct 17 … Edward returned from Long Point not well and out of spirits. There were a good many disagreeable things took place between him and the Dalzells on their way to and when at Long Point. They were all to blame but Edward the most so because they were our guests. I am very sorry. Edward said he would do whatever I and Amelia thought he ought to do. I told him to say nothing to Robert [Dalzell] about what had passed as it would not do to excite him but to offer him his hand and say that he was sorry to see him ill but to Sarah he should say that he was sorry for what had passed. I believe he did as I told him but all tender love and intimacy is over between them. …
Nov 6 … When we were at breakfast Sarah said something about their accounts. I said that I felt it my duty to tell her that if Col Dalzell drew for a thousand pounds and said that he must have it that Edward would send it to him. She said that Edward would be very wrong to let him overdraw his account. I said that Edward could not help it, that Col Dalzell was the last man in the world that would allow any one to tell him that he was not to do as he liked with his own money. She flew into such a passion and told me that I was unjust to Robert. She forbade my speaking and said she would not hear what I had to say, that she had rather not hear it and begged that I would not say another word and rose to leave the table but sat down again. When she calmed down a little I told her that if Col Dalzell told Edward to send him all the interest that was due him he would send that amount and no more, or if he said let me know if the sum I want will encroach upon my principle, of course Edward would tell him. But when he writes and says that he must have such a sum and that he cannot do without it, that he is ill and has doctor’s bills to pay besides rent, education and various other things, Edward has no right to say that he will not send it. Not one of his clients would allow him to exercise that power over their money and I am quite sure that Col Dalzell would not. Sarah said she thought her brothers were friends but she found they were only men of business, and I should not like to write down what else Col Dalzell said Edward was. The Griffins spent the day here. … There were the Dalzells, Amelia, Ellen Hamilton, George & myself at Table. There was something said about Mr King & Jackson and some allusions to their quarrel. Some one spoke of Mr Jacksons having struck Mr [E.A.] King. I do not know how the remark happened to be made nor do I know who made it but Col Dalzell took it up warmly and said that Canadians certainly had a code of laws that would not pass in England. He wanted to know what Mr King did. George said Mr Jackson was very sorry for it and apologized. Ah, he [Dalzell] said, that would not do amongst English gentlemen. We said they were both Englishmen and not Canadians, that Mr King had an Oxford education and was highly respected at Oxford. He still said that such a thing could not be got over in England. George tried to explain and defend Mr King and told Col Dalzell that he did not know anything about it (that is, the quarrel between Mr Jackson & King) and that circumstances altered cases. Col Dalzell turned upon him looking perfectly furious and said that he, a gentleman by birth, and who had lived amongst gentlemen all his life, knew what gentlemen ought to do, … implying that George was no gentleman. … George at once apologized and said that he did not intentionally say any thing to offend him. Col Dalzell’s face was perfectly frightful but the subject was dropped, but any one would have said that George had behaved more like a gentleman than Col Dalzell. Col Dalzell afterwards spoke to Mr Griffin about it and said that George had attempted to tell him what gentlemen ought to do and that he had found it necessary to set him, George, down. As they were to leave the next day, we tried to look as pleased with everything as we could, but that sort of temper would kill me. I was so ill that I could scarcely hold my head up. It was our last dinner together and we all tried to be as cheerful as we could. Mr Griffin was here nearly the whole day doing anything that he could in the way of getting the packages ready and spending the last day with Maurice. The dear little pet, how hard it is to part with him. I was head and heart weary when I went to bed.
Nov 7 This morning I was so ill that I could scarcely sit up. It has been a sad day to me. My poor baby is gone, the last earthly tie with Helen is broken. The poor little health become worse he would have thought it the winter here that caused it and after his impressing upon me that neither Edward nor George were gentlemen and that they did not know how to treat a gentleman, it could not be pleasant for them nor for him. Sarah is a strange compound of right and wrong, affectionate, warm hearted and generous to a fault, passionate, constantly saying and doing many foolish things, extravagant and economical, capable of any self sacrifice, and with all she has had a hard lot and much to bear. I think either of her sisters would have sunk under what she has borne and her future has nothing bright in it as far as I can see. The leave taking was painful. They left at 12. Mr Becher got the Directors’ car for them as far as the Suspension Bridge.212 My poor Baby, how solitary the house is without him … that I am never to see again.
Dec 16 … The Dalzells and Baby had arrived at Chelsea and all well. Mr Portman was overjoyed to see his boy. …
Dec 31 1863… I had a letter from Sarah. She is in Italy. Col Dalzell is very weak, bleeding at the lungs. The probability is that he will not live very long & she, poor thing, is poor & unhappy & wretched. Poor, dear Sarah, it is not in my power to do anything to comfort or assist you.
Jan 2 1864 - I had letters from Teresa and George had one from Col Dalzell. George had given him an overcoat to wear on board ship. It was not a very good one but it was the only one George could give. … George wished him to take his plaid which was new, thick and warm but Col Dalzell declined as it was an overcoat that he wanted. Col Dalzell sent the coat back by nurse and tonight his letter to George was cool, sarcastic and impertinent. He says he has returned the coat as the cut and style would not do in England and that he thinks it would be a sin to deprive George of it and that it is a pleasure to him to think how comfortable George will be in it this winter. The truth was he wanted John’s beautiful fur coat which Edward has. Both him and Sarah gave a great many hints for it but it was the last coat that John bought and wore. … Col Dalzell wanted [it] and he was bitter that he did not get it. … Col Dalzell is a frightfully selfish and bad tempered man and Sarah has had a hard life with him. …
daughter's diary 1868 Jun 13 Major Dalzell called to bid us good bye. The 53[rd] go on Monday to Quebec. … No other news of any sort. …
Harris, Robin, S.; Harris, Terry, G.. Eldon House Diaries: Five Women's Views of the 19th Century (Heritage) . University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing. Kindle Edition.
1871 Jun 10 … Mrs W. Meredith dangerously ill with measles. I had a letter from Sarah. Mary Dalzell was presented at the last drawing room.282 Her mother was much pleased with her appearance and thought her almost handsome. …
1873 Mar 29 … Lord Carnwath is dead. The title is almost certain to come to my grandson as there are only two old men without sons between Robert Dalzell & the title.
1874 Jul 17 - Mary Peard doubts the marriage of Mary Dalzell taking place. Col Dalzell & Sarah are most foolishly making a difficulty about the settlement which is most liberal, it sounds like madness to me on the part of the Dalzells. Jul 24 … Major Leith has been most liberal. She has £500 a year pin money & twelve hundred a year & a … house to live in should she be left a widow. …
Jul 28 I got a letter from Eliza, Mary Dalzell was to be married today, we have all reason to rejoice that she is making such a good match. …
Aug 4 I had letters from Mary Peard & Mary Dalzell. The Dalzell family have been most generous upon the occasion of Mary’s marriage. Lady Emma gave £300 towards the trousseau, Lord Carnwath gave the wedding breakfast & the Hon Col Harry Dalzell gave £80 toward the lace wedding dress. I am so glad. …
1875 Jan 3 … Edward sent nearly all the Dalzell’s money home by tomorrow’s mail. …
1877 daugter's diary - in London UK - May 31 … We met Maud Dalzell,51 Mary Leith and Robert.
Harris, Robin, S.; Harris, Terry, G.. Eldon House Diaries: Five Women's Views of the 19th Century (Heritage) . University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing. Kindle Edition.
1878 Nov 5 I had letters from Mary Leith, Mary Peard & Teresa. Col Dalzell died on the 19th of October & was buried on the 24th. I have so long expected his death that I thought I was prepared for the news, but it came like a blaze, and I have been ill all day. He died very peacefully, surrounded by all who were most dear to him, his wife, his children & his brother & sister. They all took the communion together. …
1881 diary of Amelia Ryerse Harris - 1881 Oct 28 … Sarah tells me that [her daughter] Maude is to be married to Launcelot.361 She is much pleased with the match. She likes him very much. He has three or four thousand £s a year. She, Maude, refused a much better match in point of money, a gentleman worth 30,000£s a year. …
1882 Feb 15 My cold better. I had letters from Sarah, Mary & Teresa, all well and appear to be well pleased with Maude’s approaching marriage. Feb 17 Wrote to Maude Dalzell.
Feb 25 Heard from Sophia. She is not coming home for another week. Maude Dalzell is married today to Mr Rolleston of Watnell Hall, Nottinghamshire. I pray God to bless them. Mrs Beddome & Miss Glass called. Mr Griffin called. Edward came to dinner. I sent papers to all my daughters in England containing a biographical sketch of Dr Ryerson’s life.364
[Amelia Harris closed her diary on 25 February 1882. She died four weeks later on 24 March 1882.]
She was Lady Maud's grandmother.
Harris, Robin, S.; Harris, Terry, G.. Eldon House Diaries: Five Women's Views of the 19th Century (Heritage) . University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing. Kindle Edition.
13 - Vice Admiral Rolleston's funeral
Saturday - Gazette and Echo - March 27th 1926
FUNERAL AT WATNALL.
The remains of the late Vice-Admiral Robert Sidney Rolleston, brother of Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston, of Watnall Hall, were laid to rest on Monday, in the private burial ground of the deceased's family at Chapel hill, on the Watnall Hall estate there being a large following of family mourners and friends of the Rolleston family.
The coffin arrived from Hove on Monday, and, covered with the white ensign, was rested in Greasley Parish Church to await the service which was held later in the day, shortly before the actual interment. The south wall of the Greasley Church contains tablets to the memory of members of the Rolleston family.
At this service there was a large gathering of people from the district and more distant places to pay a final tribute of respect to the deceased.
The service was choral, the choir leading the singing, with Mr. W. Taylor at the organ.
The Rev. J. S. Galloway, Vicar of Greasley, conducted the service and also officiated at the graveside.
The service consisted of prayers, the 23rd psalm, and the hymns, "On the Resurrection Morning." "Nearer My God to Thee," and "Now the Labourer's Task in O'er." The bearers were all employees on the Watnall Hall estate.
The chief mourners were Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston (brother), Lady Maud Rolleston, Mr. Alexander Fraser (brother-in-law) [must have been representing his sister Fanny Lilian (Robert Rolleston's wife) and 14 year old daughter Elma], Sir Humphrey Rolleston (cousin) [from the Robert Rolleston/Maltby Hall branch], Lady H. Rolleston [Sir Humphrey's wife Harriet?], Mr. Ian Rolleston (cousin) [Sir Humphrey's remaining son, his other was killed in WW1], Admiral John Rolleston (cousin) [of the Burton Joyce branch], Mr. Stanhope Rolleston (cousin) [of the Burton Joyce branch], Miss Helen Rolleston (cousin), and Miss Mary Chaworth-Musters (Lincoln).
Among others who followed were Colonel P [Percy]. and Mrs. Clifton (Clifton Hall), Capt. J. W. Horner (Nuttall), Mr. H. Houghton (Hempshall), Mr. R. A. Hanson, Mr. W. R. Hanson, and Mr R. M. Holden (representing Rev R. Holden, of Nuttall Temple)
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