Lancelot Rolleston was the young Nottingham magistrate who sounded
the alert when the Pentrich marchers crossed the border from Derbyshire into
Nottinghamshire. He then rode out at the head of a detachment of Dragoons to
intercept them. During his lifetime, the canals, the railways, the industrial revolution and even photography came to Nottingham. The country's population doubled and Great Britain under Queen Victoria came to rule a quarter of the planet. His own life was to be a series of triumphant highs and tragic lows but on that day in June 1817 he was about to make his name for the first time on the national stage.
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| Colonel Rolleston as MP in 1838 |
The Pentrich RebellionIt was early on the morning of June 10th 1817 and the bedraggled,
rag tag remnants of the Pentrich marchers had already started to flee as magistrate Rolleston and the soldiers came
over the hill and down to Giltbrook towards them. Their ill-fated protest march had started the day before but now the game was up and their leaders would be charged with high treason. During their trial Rolleston, under oath, recounted
the morning’s events…
“On the morning of Tuesday 10th I went on the road
towards Eastwood, where I met a considerable body of men armed with pikes; I
returned to Nottingham and procured some troops from the barracks ... eighteen
privates ... and a subaltern officer... . When we got as far as Kimberley, a
village about four miles from Nottingham and about two miles short of Eastwood,
the people told us that the mob, on hearing of the soldiers coming, had
dispersed; we followed the route they had taken, and found a quantity of arms,
pikes and guns, scattered about on the road.”
 |
View over Nottingham from the Barracks
near the top of Derby Road c.1830 |
Rolleston and his men spent the rest of the day
rounding up the
stragglers over the fields between Kimberley and Langley Mill before taking a
cart load of them to the Nottingham Gaol. At the end of the day Rolleston wrote
a quickly penned report to the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Lieutenant of the county…
“Six O Clock. My Lord Duke, We have just returned to Nottm after a most
successful chase bringing 28 men prisoners and 17 stand of small arms and about
15 pikes; those taken are Derbyshire but say they were led on by the Nottm. The
country people were violent against them. I hope your grace will excuse this
postscript as I am in a great hurry and rather tired. Believe me to be, Your
Grace’s most obedt. Serv., Lanct Rolleston.”
One cannot help but notice that the language of the hunting
field is employed, and one suspects that Rolleston thoroughly enjoyed his day
of glory; but it should be remembered that the gentry and the government too
were genuinely worried that this might have been the beginning of a general
rebellion. The events of the day established his name in the highest echelons of the government in London as a highly capable and reliable young magistrate. Rolleston's actions may seem very hands on for a mere magistrate but the role of the Georgian magistrate included what would today be regarded as police and detective duties. "The suppression of affrays and riots and the apprehension and committal of felons" as well as local government admin. It was a full time job. The arrest of the Pentrich rebellion leader Jeramiah Brandreth, after several weeks on the run, illustrates the threads of Rolleston's police work successfully coming together. One of the magistrate's undercover informants, Henry Sampson of Bulwell, was trusted by Brandreth as a leading co-conspirator. So when a 50 Guinea reward was placed on his head where better for Brandreth to hide than the safe house of his old friend and fellow committee-member? His treacherous friend informed Rolleston of Brandreth's place of concealment. The result was, on July 20th, two gamekeepers were sent to Sansom’s house under the pretence of searching for snares, and poor Brandreth was seized. A £100 reward was given to Rolleston's police constable Benjamin Barnes and his four assistants.⁴
Another high profile success for Rolleston had come just a week earlier. Again it was his dynamic Constable Barnes who pursued and arrested Charles Rotherham in Bunny for the infamous murder of Bessie Sheppard on the Nottingham road near Mansfield.
Detective RollestonThe Home Secretary and former Prime Minister, Lord Sidmouth, had already been
impressed with Rolleston’s dogged detective work the previous year. Rolleston
had investigated, arrested and prosecuted a violent gang of Luddite “frame breakers” who
had plagued the Nottingham area for the last 5 years. After one raid, where George Kerry, a poor
frameworker, was shot at, Rolleston’s team acted decisively, identified all the members
of the gang and literally stopped them dead. A series of hangings and
transportations brought an end to the gang and to Luddism in general for good. Rolleston even appealed to the Duke of Newcastle to pay the Kerry family's living expenses as without their stocking frame they could not work.
Sidmouth wrote
“…Mr Rolleston, who altho a young
magistrate has certainly on this, & every other occasion shewn great
intelligence & resolution, if your Lordship should be pleased to aid him
with particular instructions, How further to proceed under these difficult
circumstances.”
Formation of the Watnall Troop of Yeomanry
With Sidmouth’s endorsement, Rolleston got his reward and was
allowed to raise and command his own troop of mounted Yeomanry cavalry, the Watnall
Troop of the South Notts Hussars, and was promoted to Captain with the full
approval of the Prince Regent himself. Sidmouth had written to him praising the
"Prompt and decisive conduct of … Mr Rolleston in putting down recent
disturbances".
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| Watnall Hall |
His star was certainly on the rise. He was 31 years old, born July 20th 1785, son of Christopher Rolleston of
Watnall Hall in Nottinghamshire,
a moderately landed family of country squires. He and his brother Christopher had inherited the family estates when their father had died 10 years earlier and ran them together but
Christopher was sickly and had never married so Lancelot and his young family
occupied the hall while his brother lived in an estate cottage⁵. In 1808, aged
23, he had married
Caroline Chetwynd the 22-year-old daughter of Sir George
Chetwynd of Brocton Hall in Staffordshire and over the next few years they had 3 young daughters and, crucially for the next generation of Rollestons, a
young
son and heir also called Lancelot³.
Tragedy strikes
So as he approaches comfortable middle age, life is good.
His young son ensures the family line is established, his magisterial and military
career with the South Notts Yeomanry is blossoming and his prosperity is
reflected in the full staff of servants employed at Watnall Hall. However, on
26th March 1826 tragedy hits the Rolleston family as Capt. Rolleston’s only son
and heir Lancelot dies aged 14 years. One can only wonder how he must have felt
as his wife was then 41 years of age and he would have thought further children
were probably out of the question. It was a devastating blow.
All they could do
was to continue with their lives, which would be for him, a round of army
duties, hunting, magisterial tasks, and later on politics. In 1820 he
unsuccessfully
stood as MP for Nottingham losing by just 33 votes. The South Notts Yeomanry and his squadron, the
Watnall Troop, were also facing problems.
Resurgence of rioting
The long years of war against France had crippled the
nation’s finances, and cuts in the armed forces were deemed necessary. The
Yeomanry was the first to suffer and early in the autumn of 1827 it was decided
to disband all the Yeomanry regiments which had not been called out in the past
ten years. This included the South Notts even though their very presence had
been of enormous value as a deterrent. However, further national unrest
followed with various Reform Bill protests and early in 1831 it became
apparent to the Government that it would be necessary to re-raise the disbanded
Yeomanry regiments. The fear of revolution still stalked the British ruling
class. This was particularly acute in the century which followed the America
War of Independence (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-99) both so fresh
in the collective memory. The officers and men of the disbanded units were
still available and merely had to carry on as before, but the government were
not generous with funds so the local commanders like Capt. Rolleston had to
supply arms and equipment from their own pockets. Capt. Rolleston, now aged 46,
was promoted to Major and soon after to Colonel in charge of the entire County Militia¹.
Within the year, political
unrest had exploded onto the
streets of Nottingham when Nottingham Castle, home of the anti-Reform Duke of
Newcastle, was
burned down in the Reform Bill riots of October 1831. Rioters
were enraged that the House of Lords had rejected the bill, passed by the House
of Commons, to give wider political representation to the lower classes. The
combined Troops of the South Notts, including the Watnall Troop, were called
upon once again, riding through the night in stormy weather from their various
Troop centres. Col. Rolleston and his men are involved in some
difficult
skirmishes as the local newspaper coverage explains…
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| Reform Bill riots 1831 |
“A troop of Hussars, with Colonel Rolleston, met the mob
on the Nottingham side of Lenton, and the Riot Act was again read. Near the Sir
John Borlase Warren [at Canning Circus], the rioters ensconced themselves
behind a wall in Chimley's close, which served them as a breast-work; and from
thence they threw stones and bricks at the Yeomanry as they approached, and
several of them were much cut and bruised. The Yeomanry fired their pistols,
but without effect, as the mob, as soon they had thrown, covered themselves
behind the wall. This skirmish occupied some time, and soon afterwards the
Hussars guarded the prisoners into the town. Whilst crossing the Market-place,
the throng pressed upon them, and turning into the Poultry, much abusive
language was used, and stones were thrown. The officer who brought up the rear
was greatly insulted, and struck by a stone, and finding the mob press upon
him, he deliberately returned his sword to the scabbard, drew his pistol from
the holster, and fired in the direction of High-street. The ball struck a man
named Thomas Auckland, in the chest, passed out at the shoulder, and then
grazed the forehead of Joshua Hopkinson, of Arnold. The prisoners were lodged
in the County Gaol, and the consequences of the firing produced a very sensible
effect on the conduct of the mob.”
Member of Parliament
In 1835 he turns 50. Family life at Watnall Hall moves on, 2 daughters soon marry³, an expensive dowry undertaking for him no doubt, and
in 1837 at the second time of trying he is elected to Parliament...
“The
Castle-yard was the scene of a brilliant and animating festivity, to celebrate
the election of four Conservative members for the county. A large marquee was
erected for the occasion, on the spacious green at the western front of the
Castle, and two smaller marquees, decorated with blue ribbons, were pitched
near the boundary-wall overlooking the Park. After dancing and out-door
amusements, tea was partaken of in the large marquee, and H. G. Knight Esq.,
Colonel Rolleston, and Mr. John Hicklin delivered addresses. Dancing was
resumed. About three thousand persons, most of them in gay and fashionable
attire, joined in the festivity.”
In 1838 a strikingly life-like portrait of him⁹ is painted by Nottingham artist Thomas Barber to celebrate his election. Thomas's son Alfred will open Nottingham's first photography studio in the attic of the Bromley House Library in September 1841.
In 1840 his brother Christopher dies so he now controls all the family estates cementing his place in the local establishment. However, the June 1841 census shows no Rollestons in residence at Watnall Hall and just 3 servants holding the fort. His family is actually by now much eroded, with his son dead and the last of his 3 daughters now married off³, it's likely he and his wife with a few servants have decamped to London while he is on duty as MP. Perhaps they went by train as in 1839 the railways reach Nottingham with the opening of the Midland Railway's Carrington Street station and Lancelot Rolleston is on the committee². The Midland even provided facilities to transport your horse and carriage by train. 25 carriage trucks and 18 horse boxes were provided for those bringing their road coaches with them to facilitate road travel to the station and to their final destination. In 1841 Lancelot Rolleston is re-elected as MP for another 5 years and Hansard records show that he is quite an active Parliamentarian. In addition, back home in Nottinghamshire, he still has his magistrate and militia duties to perform too. His Watnall Troop had been growing and in 1836 there is a Lieutenant J. Rolleston and a Cornet W. Rolleston under his command - his brother John (aged 49, Reverend at Burton Joyce) and nephew William (aged 20, soon to be Reverend at Great Dalby in Leicestershire). The South Notts Yeomanry volunteers were called out to quell Chartist protests once more in 1839, 1842, 1844 and 1848. In that year the strength of the regiment was 397 officers and men.
Controversy strikes the Colonel In 1842 another wave of Chartist protests find him trying to
keep the peace in the Battle of Mapperley Hills leading a party of the 2nd
Dragoon Guards. His actions that day in rounding up and arresting peaceful
protestors antagonises the crowd and trouble briefly flares. It could easily
have turned into another Peterloo massacre but Col. Rolleston and the Dragoons manage
to keep their cool. A few weeks later, at the next Quarter Sessions, he himself tries the arrested men
in his capacity as magistrate and controversially finds them all guilty. Embarrassingly
for him questions are asked in Parliament about the "conduct of the
magistrates" at the Nottingham and other Chartist rallies in the
North. Many of his fellow MPs are supportive and reflect the prevailing mood of
fear amongst the ruling classes.
The Home Secretary Sir James Graham says there
was...
"serious danger of an insurrection of a most formidable character,
widely spread, and threatening not only property but life—if this country
escaped such danger without much loss of life, without the infliction of
serious injury upon property, its escape was mainly attributable to the support
which her Majesty's Government received from the magistracy." The guilty sentences stood but the
Chartist-led reform of working class conditions did continue and the Battle of
Mapperley Hills was commemorated as a
landmark in the Labour movement for many
years.
Fighting for children and working class rights
He would remain as MP for 12 years, until 1849, supporting various worker's
reform bills. During the reading of the Hosiery Bill he stated "The
object of the Bill was to secure to the poor man a fair day's wages for a fair
day's work." In 1846 he proposed the Lace Factories Bill with the radical pro-Chartist reformer Thomas Duncombe to outlaw the use of underage child labour in Nottingham's notorious lace factories. This cannot have endeared him to the factory bosses of Nottingham (or some of the parents who were keen to send their children to work) so for a local Conservative MP, it was a bold and principled move. He'd
inspected the factories in person and found out "...that in these lace
factories children from 6 to 8 years old were employed; that they were up all
night, and, in fact, many of them never saw their beds. They were employed in
winding the bobbins, and in preparing the machines; they lay upon the floor;
and they slept as well as they could“. He told the House of Commons “…that
the consequence of all this was the continual tear and wear of the physical
constitution of those children, who were besides deprived of all opportunities
of getting education except on Sundays, when their exhausted condition entirely
disabled them from receiving any benefit from it".
Infant school pioneers
He was no doubt influenced by his ancestors as the Rolleston family were infant school pioneers. His great aunt Rosamund had set up and financed one of the world's first infant schools on the doorstep of Watnall Hall at Bog End in 1752. His cousin Miss Frances Rolleston set up 4 other schools around the country and taught at the Bog End school while living with Lancelot and his family in the late 1830's. She'd seen for herself the effect of factory work on
her children in Matlock "from the door of my infant school, with a feeling of
horror since I witnessed the sad suffering of the factory children...Oh, the
sad sight of the sallow, bending, rickety, dwarfish children, rushing out of
the palace-like manufactory on a fine balmy summer’s evening, bringing a sickly
pestilential taint to the air along with them". The Rolleston schools taught children "to read write and account" with a gentle touch at a time when most church-run Sunday schools just studied the Bible with a harsh code of discipline designed to reinforce the child's place in society.
A family re-born
Col. Rolleston’s life soon took another tragic turn when in
1844, his wife Caroline died aged 57 years. He did not stay alone for very long,
in fact in terms of the survival of the family line it was actually a fresh
opportunity so in 1846 he married Eleanor Charlotte Fraser, daughter of Robert
Fraser of Torbreck, Inverness, and Lady Anne Fraser. He was then 61 years old,
and the bride was aged 25, younger than all his daughters. The following year, 1847, the marriage was blessed
by the birth of a son, who was inevitably named Lancelot. One can only imagine
his joy and relief at the birth of his new heir. Two more sons would follow in
quick succession and a daughter³.
News of the births would have travelled fast, the
new Electric Telegraph came to Nottingham in 1847, the telegraph wires running alongside the train tracks. Previously, news from London to Nottingham took days to arrive. Even the Express Mail using
bright yellow, state-of-the-art "post-chaise" carriage and horse teams only averaged 8-10mph over the poor roads. In 1805
news of the Battle of Trafalgar took over two weeks to get home (Oct 21st to Nov 6th). The last leg from Falmouth to London was a
mad dash of 271 miles in a post-chaise involving 21 changes of horse taking 37 hours until Lt. Lapenotière reached the Admiralty in London and
delivered his exhausted words "Sir, we have gained a great victory. But we have lost Lord Nelson." The 1851 census shows the 65-year-old Col. Rolleston living
at Watnall Hall with his new family in some style with 11 house servants and
more outdoor staff. His daughter Charlotte has produced him 3 grandsons. However, the 1861 census shows a much different story. Watnall
Hall is leased out and the Rolleston family are living hundreds of miles away in
a town house in Brighton. There’s been another tragic twist in his life. Since
1851 all 3 of his daughters from his first marriage have died³ meaning he has
lost his entire first family. Only his 3 grandsons remain to comfort him. Perhaps
the old hall contains too many memories. The 1861 census also shows one of
their house staff in Brighton is a nurse. Perhaps his heath was suffering in the
damp, draughty old hall too. In 1855 the hall is leased out and Nottingham banker Ichapod Wright is in residence.
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The 1855 Post Office directory for Watnall shows the Rollestons
have moved and leased out Watnall Hall.
It also shows ill-fated colliery owner James Morley (see note 7). |
On 18th of May 1862 Col. Rolleston dies at the age of 76.
His 14-year-old eldest son, who was still a minor, inherited an estate that was
mysteriously almost bankrupt. The Rolleston family never held a great deal of
land in Watnall, so their income was not large. Furthermore, unlike many Manor
owners in the area, they did not own coalmines. Several companies bought mining rights to the Watnall estate but none had proved viable long term⁷. Col. Rolleston had recently
acquired three sons whose education had to be paid for. The Watnall Troop of
Hussars was no doubt expensive to keep up. There would be expenses involved in
hunting, becoming an MP which at the time did not come with any salary and
being an officer in the Hussars, especially promotion, which in those days had
to be paid for. His 3 daughters from his first marriage all eventually
married twice³. Was he expected to provide a dowry each time?
Whatever the answers, he had lived a remarkable life, left his
legacy in his children and was the epitome of the local landed gentry. His
memorial in St. Mary’s Church, Greasley details his service to the county of
Nottinghamshire as:
Colonel of the Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Foresters) Militia,
Chairman of the
Quarter Sessions, and from 1837 to 1849
Member in Three Successive Parliaments
for the Southern Division of this County.
His young wife (and saviour of the family line), Eleanor, died 32 years later in 1894. Her body was brought back to the ancestral seat of Watnall where she became the last person to be buried, in modest unostentatious style, in the Rolleston family vault at Greasley Church⁶.
THE END
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c.1860 - Nottingham, Carrington Street crossing & Queen's Bridge over the Tinkers Leen.
One of the first photographs⁹ of Nottingham taken c.2 years before Col. Rolleston's death.
The old Nottingham Station (far left with flat roof) and level crossing gates.
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There are more articles on Watnall Hall and the Rolleston family here at the "Tales from Watnall Hall" website https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/
Sources:
Nottingham university archive collection; Burkes Landed Gentry https://archive.org/details/genealogicalhera02byuburk/page/1372/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=rolleston; The English Magistracy 1700-1850 by Clive Emsley; Letters of Frances Rolleston by Caroline Dent; Watnall Hall and the Rolleston Family by RA Horton; Greasley church memorials; Depositions of Rolleston, Mundy and Phillips in UNMASC, Ne C 4996/1-6, c.13 June 1817; State Trials Testimony, Pentrich, vol. 32 p.860; The County Regiments By Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston, K.C.B., D.S.O., D.L., T.D.; The History of the Midland Railway by Clement E. Stratton 1901
Picture credits: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_2010-7081-4422; https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/A012174-01/Workers-attack-the-Blackburn-home-of-James-Hargreaves-to-destroy-his-invention-the-Spinning-Jenny; http://mssweb.nottingham.ac.uk/elearning/view-image.asp?resource=DukeofNewcastle&theme=2&subtheme=Luddism&view=image&page=1&ref=emsc-not1.h64.alb.diggle; http://www.lostheritage.org.uk/houses/lh_nottinghamshire_watnallhall_info_gallery.html (prefer this earlier one without the pond); Election poster from Nottingham Poll Book of 1820; 'NOTTINGHAM CASTLE.' by T. Allom / R. Sands c.1836 https://picturenottingham.co.uk/image-library/image-details/poster/ntgm020473/posterid/ntgm020473.html; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1831_Bristol_riots#/media/File:Queens_square_on_the_night_of_30_October_1831.jpg; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottingham_Carrington_Street_railway_station#/media/File:Notts_stn.jpg or http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1929/itinerary1929p5.htm; https://www.swangallery.co.uk/view-image.php?sid=ab13973a7fa87d1b238b1b7eea65ef26&itemid=1000458; The House of Lords by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (via Wikipedia Commons) https://cdn2.mhpbooks.com/2016/02/House_of_Lords_Microcosm_edited.jpg; http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/vonhube1910/watnall4.htm; https://www.flickr.com/photos/dorisnight/18021356446
Notes:
1 - "Militia" is defined as "a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency". Rolleston's "Watnall Troop" and the other local volunteer Troops e.g. Mansfield, Wollaton, Bunny, etc. would all be classed in general terms as militia. The term "Yeomanry" refers to the fact that many of the horse-riding units of militia or mounted cavalry were commanded and manned mainly by the yeoman farmer/landowner class who had experience of horsemanship, command of men, etc. A yeoman was a person of respectable standing, one social rank below a gentleman, and the yeomanry was initially a rural, county-based force. Members were required to provide their own horses and were recruited mainly from landholders and tenant farmers, though the middle class also featured prominently in the rank and file. Officers were largely recruited from among the nobility and landed gentry. A commission generally involved significant personal expense, and although social status was an important qualification, the primary factor was personal wealth. From the beginning, the newly rich, who found in the yeomanry a means of enhancing their social standing, were welcomed into the officer corps for their ability to support the force financially. Col. Rolleston (L7) wrote a article about the Nottinghamshire militia here http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/nottsmagazine/regiments.htm
2 - November 1833 - "AN EARLY RAILWAY PROSPECTUS - MIDLAND COUNTIES RAILWAY. PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE... NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. Lancelot Rolleston, Esq. John Musters. Esq. John Wright, Esq. John Coke, Esq. Francis Wright, Esq. William Trentham. Thomas Barber, Esq. Samuel Parsons, Esq. Richard Renshaw, Esq. H. B. Campbell, Esq. William Wilson, Esq." - reproduced in The History of the Midland Railway by Clement E. Stratton 1901
3 - Lancelot's complicated family is outlined below. He outlived all his first brood of children and his first wife before started his second brood in the ultimately successful goal of siring his son and heir, Col Sir Lancelot (L7). Source - The Peerage website www.thepeerage.com/p5777.htm#i57761 and FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHP9-RV8
Colonel Lancelot Rolleston was born on 20 July 1785. He was the son of Christopher Rolleston and Anne Nicholas. He married, firstly, Caroline Chetwynd, daughter of Sir George Chetwynd, 1st Bt. and Jane Bantin, on 17 November 1808. She died on 10 March 1844 at age 57. He married, secondly, Eleanor Charlotte Fraser, daughter of Robert Fraser and Lady Anne Maitland, in 1846 at London, England. He died in May 1862 at age 76.
Brood 1 - Children of Colonel Lancelot Rolleston and Caroline Chetwynd
- Caroline Jane Rolleston b. c 1809, d. 1858. She firstly married Lt.-Col. J. Hancox⁸ of Woodborough Hall shortly prior to 1835. No children. They were visited there by her cousin, the poet and writer, Frances Rolleston who writes about it in her letters. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 7th Dragoon Guards and fought at Waterloo. She secondly married Sir Richard George Augustus Levinge, 7th Bt. No children., son of Sir Richard Levinge, 6th Bt. and Hon. Elizabeth Anne Parkyns, on 20 March 1849. He succeeded as the 7th Baronet Levinge, of High Park, co. Westmeath on 12 September 1848. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for County Westmeath between 1857 and 1865.1 He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Westmeath Rifles. He wrote the book Historical Records of the Forty-third Regiment, published 1868.She died in 1858.
- Louisa Maria Rolleston b. c 1811, d. 6 Sep 1857. She married William Joseph Berens in 1837. No children. She married, secondly, John Coventry, No children. son of Hon. John Coventry and Anne Clayton, in 1857. He lived at Burgate House, Hampshire, England. She died on 6 September 1857.
- Lancelot Rolleston b. c 1813, d. Mar 1826. Died aged 14 unmarried. Sole male child from the first marriage.
- Charlotte Frances Anne Rolleston b. 1818, d. 29 Jan 1853. She married, firstly, Edward Fieschi Heneage, son of George Robert Heneage and Frances Anne Ainslie, on 11 April 1840. He lived at Stag's End, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. 3 grandsons were produced for the Colonel although one died young. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHP9-RL9 She married, secondly, Sir Henry Bromley, 4th Bt., son of Admiral Sir Robert Howe Bromley, 3rd Bt. and Anne Wilson, in 1848.He was born on 5 December 1816 at East Stoke, Nottinghamshire. She died on 29 January 1853. The Bromley marriage produced Col Rolleston a grandson...
Bromley, Sir Henry, 5th Bt (1849-1905), landowner, born 6 August 1849, only son of Sir Henry Bromley, 4th Bt (1816-1895) and his first wife, Charlotte Frances Ann (d.1853), yst dau of Col Lancelot Rolleston, MP, of Watnall, Notts, Captain, Notts Yeo Cav, formerly 27th Foot, marr (23 January 1873) Adela Augusta (died 23 September 1926), only child of Westley Richards, 4 sons (Robert, 6th Bt (1874-1906), Maurice, 7th Bt (qv sub Bromley-Wilson), Rear Admiral Sir Arthur, KCMG, CVO (1876-19xx), and Herbert Assheton (1879-1915)) and 1 dau (Esther, wife of Charles Robert Tryon, qv sub Tryon-Wilson), acted as main trustee of Dallam Estate during minority of his 2nd son, Maurice, came on special train from his seat at Ashwell in Rutland to Sandside station in July 1894 for a two-month visit to Dallam Tower (WG, 12.07.1894), involved in Haverbrack Common dispute in 1893-94 by asserting his rights as trustee to privacy on his estate land (CM, ch.13), gave plain brass altar cross to Beetham church and later one to Milnthorpe church (which caused a bitter ‘popery’ dispute with churchwardens and Easter Vestry in 1897), photographed with Dallam Otterhounds at Underley Hall in c.1900 (CM, 404), died 11 March 1905 https://www.cumbrianlives.org.uk/lives-index.html Charlotte's page here https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHP9-RL9
Brood 2 - Children of Colonel Lancelot Rolleston and Eleanor Charlotte Fraser
- Colonel Sir Lancelot Rolleston b. 1847. He married Lady Charlotte Emma Maud Dalzell, daughter of Colonel Hon. Robert Alexander George Dalzell of Torbreck, Inverness and Sarah Bushby Harris of London, Ontario, Canada, on 25 February 1882. No children.
- Vice-Admiral Robert Sydney Rolleston b. 1849, d. 16 Mar 1926. He married Fanny Lilian Fraser, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Alexander Robert Fraser, on 10 April 1901. One child Elma from whom subsequent inheritors of the Watnall estate would come..
- Henry Edward Rolleston b. 1851, d. 1910. No children.?
- Eleanor Anne Rolleston b. 1853, d. 1917. She married John Robert Tennant, son of Robert Tennant, on 15 November 1878. No children.
4 - Rolleston's pursuit of Brandreth lasted several more days and made use of the detective magistrate's paid informant network. The Nottingham Date Book and accounts from the Notts Archives fill in the picture...
The miserable men were actively pursued, and between Kimberley and Langley Mill, Colonel Rolleston and the soldiers with him succeeded in apprehending about thirty. Securing them in a waggon and cart, along with a quantity of pikes and guns found on the road, at six o'clock, p.m, they were lodged in our County Gaol. In the course of the next two or three days, others of the deluded
insurgents were arrested, and taken to Derby. Brandreth managed to elude his pursuers longer than most of them. On the desertion of his men, he left the highway, and proceeding over hedge and ditch, secreted his gun in the fence of a field occupied by a Mr. Green, of Kimberley. After a variety of narrow escapes, he was concealed at Bulwell, by an acquaintance named Sansom, until a reward of 501 was offered for his discovery, when it is understood he was betrayed by his treacherous friend, who informed Colonel Rolleston of his place of concealment. The result was, two gamekeepers were sent to Sansom’s house, under the pretence of searching for snares, and poor Brandreth was seized.
Having escaped the Light Dragoons at Gilt Brook, on the morning of Tuesday 10 June, Brandreth made for Bristol, where he twice boarded, and was turned off, ships destined for the United States. Returning to Nottinghamshire, he was re-united with his wife at her father’s house in Sutton. But with a 50 guinea reward on his head, he needed a safe house in which to hide. Where better than the home of his old friend and fellow committee-member Henry Sampson? When two gamekeepers subsequently called at the house, in Bulwell, [on July 20th] under the pretence of searching for snares, they proceeded to take the biggest catch of their lives. Stevens, pp. 76-7. A £100 reward was given to Constable Benjamin Barnes and his four assistants.
Constable Barnes is famous as the arresting officer in the Bessie Shepherd murder case just a few weeks earlier on July 8th. He arrested the suspect Charles Rotherham in Bunny, south Notts. Rotherham was hanged for the crime. Brandreth was tried for High Treason in Derby in an echo of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion...
The Special Commission convened at Derby between 16 and 25 October illustrates the government’s determination to exact the harshest and most exemplary form of punishment from the Pentrich Rebels, starting with Brandreth. The prosecution secured a press blackout throughout the trials and brought the men up on the severest possible interpretation of High Treason, both as to ‘levying war against the King’ and maturing ‘plans and measures to subvert and destroy the Constitution’. It was the first time that the charge of ‘levying war against the King’ had been brought against anyone since the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 – a fact which was not lost on the residents of Derby, which was occupied by Scottish rebels in that year The prosecution, which was led by the Attorney General Sir Samuel Shepherd, empanelled a Grand Jury of the well-to-do and brought in 300 specially chosen jurymen, largely comprised of farmers from the heart of the county. Charles Mundy, one of the magistrates who had ridden with the 15th Hussars to Gilt Brook, had previously advised the prosecution to avoid selecting jurymen from areas bordering Nottinghamshire. The government also made sure to delay proceedings until the harvest was over, for fear of aggravating farmers called up for jury-service.665 For the government’s case against the rebels, see TNA, TS 11/131-134; for memories of the ’45, see Gurney, I, pp. 190-3
The Trials of Jeremiah Brandreth are available online here and include Rolleston's word for word testimony...
https://archive.org/details/trialsjeremiahb00ludlgoog/page/178/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=rolleston
5 - The 1832 Gazeteer of Notts lists Watnall's principal residents and their addresses. Christopher is at Watnall Cottage (where Frances Rolleston stays with him. See the article on the Rolleston links to Pirates of the Carribean) and Lancelot is at the hall.
1832 Gazeteer of Notts https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/136715
6 - His new bride, Eleanor Charlotte Fraser, died in June 1894, 32 years after his own death. The Nottinghamshire Guardian of Saturday 9th June 1894 carried the funeral notice...
7 - Land ownership and mining rights in Watnall was divided between "Watnall Chaworth" owned by the Chaworth/Bingham/Rolleston dynasty and "Watnall Cantelupe" owned by the de Cantelupe family of Greasley Castle who bequeathed it to Beauvale Priory then at the dissolution of the monasteries granted to a succession of families ending up with the Lords Melbourne and in 1805 by marriage to Earl Cowper.
Mining rights - The "Colliery" in Watnall Woods shown on the 1837 map below was a Barber Walker mine. The Barber Walker Company's official history book tells us that in 1829 Lancelot Rolleston Esq. of Watnall Hall and Thomas Francis Philip Hutchinson Barber of Lamb Close House entered into an agreement in writing to dig pits and mine coal in the Watnall Estate.
Certain lands near Watnall Hall were excluded from the bargain, and coal was “to be left ungot as a security to the Mansion House”. The royalty was £200/acre, the first acreage royalty payable under any of the documents in the archives.
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1837 - the two Watnalls - Watnall Chaworth with the Hall is shown above Watnall Cantelupe.
The Colliery in Watnall Woods can be seen with its tramway |
Perhaps the Barber's Watnall mining operation did not prove fruitful as the mining rights soon changed hands. In Watnall Woods in the 1850's a new but ill-fated mining operation had been started by James Morley of Nuthall centred around Woodpit Cottage (where the Watnall Hall gamekeeper lived). Morley had borrowed money from his family's hosiery business, the world-famous I & R Morley Ltd., and bought a lease from Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall Hall to access to the coal reserves. In 1853 it was described as a “house, close with workshops & yard amounting to about 5 acres”. J.M. Lee’s book about Watnall’s mining history says...
“Morley worked from old shafts which he refurbished, probably old Barber and Walker workings which originally had their outlet to the Nottingham Canal via the Giltbrook Valley. Morley wasn’t lucky. A court case took place in 1858, in which his creditors recovered all his mining and personal assets. He ended up with “the wearing apparel of him the said James Morley” – losing literally everything except the shirt on his back. The colliery apparatus was sold in 1858 and comprised amongst other items: eight steam engines, nine boilers, 150 tram wagons, 43 railway trucks, several miles of rails and a good many buildings, to be demolished within a month, as well as 30,000 bricks".
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Officer of Kings 15th Light
Dragoons 1825 |
8 - Col Hancox timeline Source is mostly his regiment's military history. See below.
1809 - Made Capt. in 15th - Skinner Hancox 11 May 1809. If we assume he is about 21 when made a captain that gives his DOB as c.1788.
1811 - During the following winter, and the summer of 1812, the regiment was employed in suppressing the outrageous proceedings of a number of persons who were combined for the purpose of destroying machinery in the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Nottinghamshire, and who were called "Luddites."
1812 - The contest in the Peninsula had, in the meantime, been carried on with varied success, and during the winter, six troops of the FIFTEEΝΤΗ Hussars were withdrawn from the north of England to proceed on foreign service. They embarked at Portsmouth in the middle of January, 1813, under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel Grant", and landed at Lisbon in the early part of February. Names of the officers of the FIFTEENTH Hussars, who embarked for Portugal, in January, 1813:-
Colonel Colquhoun Grant; Major Edwin Griffith; Captains Honourable W. E. Cochrane, Joseph Thackwell, Skinner Hancox, Philip Wodehouse, Thomas Dundas, William Booth; Lieutenants J. Buckley, Lewis During, John Carr, Edward Barrett, Ralph Mansfield, Isaac Sherwood, Honourable John Finch, Honourable Richard P. Arden, William Bellairs; Adjutant Charles Jones; Surgeon John Griffith; Assistant Surgeon Samuel Jeyes. Six troops of ninety men and horses each.
1813 - Capt Hancox embarks with the 15th for Portugal and the Peninsular War. The regiment were ordered to support Sir Arthur Wellesley’s Army on the Iberian Peninsula and landed at Lisbon in February 1813. It took part in the Battle of Morales in June 1813 and the Battle of Vitoria (Hancox is wounded) later in the month. It then pursued the French Army into France and supported the infantry at the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and at the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. On the road to St Gemier in 1814 16th March... "The regiment had one horse killed; six men and four horses wounded; one horse missing. Lieut.-General Sir Stapleton Cotton expressed in orders, "his best thanks to Lieut. Colonel Dalrymple, Captain Hancox, and the officers and "men of that part of the FIFTEENTH Hussars "which was engaged with the enemy, for their "gallant and soldier-like conduct.""
The regiment returned to England in July 1814. The regiment was recalled for the Hundred Days and landed at Ostend in May 1815: it took part in the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815 and returned to England in May 1816.
1815 Waterloo Roll - #408 Hancox, Skinner 15th Hussars (The King's), Captain, Final rank - Lieutenant Colonel, Honours for Waterloo - Brevet Major
"1815 Capt Hancox at Waterloo [aged c.27] - 15th Hussars - Arriving at the range of gentle heights in front of Waterloo, which was destined to be the theatre of one of the most important contests recorded in the history of the world, the regiment bivouacked in a rye-field exposed to torrents of rain.
On the morning of the memorable 18th of June, the regiment took its station in the first line, at the angle in the rear of Hugomont, from which the right squadron, and part of another troop, were detached to the right of the Nivelles road, and the Thirteenth Light Dragoons were added to the brigade.
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| The British Light Cavalry at Waterloo |
While the battle raged along the line with incredible fury, the regiment suffered some loss from the fire of the enemy's artillery; and in the afternoon the brigade advanced to charge ten squadrons of Lancers posted beyond the Nivelles road; but as the FIFTEENTH were moving to their right to cross a ravine, a large body of Cuirassiers and other Cavalry were seen carrying all before them on the open ground between Hugomont and La Haye Sainte, and their Lancers were shouting in triumph. The brigade instantly moved towards its former post, and the Thirteenth and FIFTEENTH charged and drove back the Cuirassiers, with the most distinguished gallantry, for some distance. While pursuing its steel-clad adversaries, the regiment became exposed to superior numbers on both flanks, and was obliged to rally behind the line of Infantry. From this period, until the French army was overpowered and driven from the field, the regiment made various charges upon the enemy's Infantry and Cavalry of every description. At one moment it was cutting down musketeers; at the next it was engaged with Lancers; and, when these were driven back, it encountered Cuirassiers.
Major Griffith was killed; Lieut.-Colonel Dalrymple and Captain Thackwell were wounded, and the command devolved on Captain Hancox. The officers and soldiers of the FIFTEENTH, like all their comrades in this memorable battle, evinced the most heroic bravery, and continued the fight until the French army was driven from the field; about seven o'clock they halted; and the Prussians urged the further pursuit.
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French armoured Cuirassiers at Waterloo.
"The noise of the combat between the
cuirassiers and dragoons he compared
to a number of tinkers "a-mending
their pots and kettles."" |
The regiment had Major Griffith, Lieutenant Sherwood, two serjeants, eighteen rank and file, and forty-two horses killed; Lieutenant Henry Buckley, and five rank and file, died of their wounds; Lieut.-Colonel Dalrymple,-Brevet-Major Thackwell and Captain Whiteford, Lieutenants William Byam, Edward Byam, Mansfield, Dawkins, three serjeants, forty rank and file, and fifty-two horses wounded. Lieut.-Colonel Dalrymple, Major Griffith, Captain Thackwell, Captain Booth, and Lieutenant Bellairs, had their horses killed under them.In this battle the power of Buonaparte was destroyed, and the fate of Europe decided. The British troops received the thanks of Parliament; the expressions of the approbation of the Prince Regent; and the commendations of the Duke of Wellington. Their conduct was admired and applauded by the nations of Europe, and grate- fully acknowledged by their own country. Every officer and man received a silver medal, and the privilege of reckoning two years service for that day; and the word "WATERLOO" was added to the honorary distinctions borne by the regiment. Lieut.-Colonel Dalrymple was further honoured with the dignity of Companion of the Bath; Captain Thackwell was promoted Major of the regiment, in succession to Major Griffith; and Captain Hancox was rewarded with the rank of Major in the army." From Cannon, Richard. Historical record of the Fifteenth, or the King's Regiment of Light Dragoons, Hussars containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1759, and of its subsequent services to 1841. London : J.W. Parker, 1841. (Historical records of the British Army)
https://archive.org/details/cihm_48491/page/n15/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater
Another account of Hancox at Waterloo comes from a book on Peterloo "Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester Massacre" cowritten by the film director Mike Leigh "Earlier that morning, the 5th Brigade of Cavalry, including the 15th The King’s Regiment of Light Dragoons (Hussars), had formed up less than half a mile to the rear of Hougoumont, tasked with protecting the Allied army’s right wing, while one and a half squadrons were watching the valley leading from Braine-L’Alleud.¹² The entire cavalry was under the command of Henry William Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, who was famously injured, losing a leg, while at Wellington’s side. Major-General Colquhoun Grant was at the head of the 5th Brigade, with the 15th Hussars under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Leighton Cathcart Dalrymple and Major Edwin Griffiths, ‘officers’, according to the regiment’s medical officer, William Gibney, ‘who had distinguished themselves at Vittoria [sic], Tarbes and Toulouse, and had for commanders of troops, officers second to none in the service’, including Captains Joseph Thackwell, Skinner Hancox and Lieutenant John Whiteford.¹³ Despite being considered, most notably amongst themselves, as the elite of the British cavalry, the 15th had had a few rough nights in advance of the battle. The day before, according to Captain Thackwell, as the rain thundered down, his regiment was ‘bivouacked in a field of rye on the right of the village of Mont St Jean’, which they endured as best they could, despite having ‘No rations or supplies of any description’.¹⁴"
Telegraph obituary 7th Marquis of Anglesey - The marquisate had been created in 1815 for George Paget’s great-great-grandfather, William Paget, Lord Uxbridge, an outstanding cavalry commander, in recognition of the crucial part he played in the victory at Waterloo, in which he famously lost a leg. According to tradition, Uxbridge exclaimed to the Duke of Wellington: “By God, Sir! I’ve lost my leg,” to which the Duke is supposed to have replied: “By God Sir! So you have.”
After the battle, he had the leg coffined and buried under a commemorative plaque, and was fitted with the first articulated wooden leg ever made. Later he distinguished himself as an able and liberal administrator. He served two terms as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, showing impartiality to Catholics and Protestants and inaugurating and fostering a comprehensive education scheme in a country which had hitherto possessed virtually no schools at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paget,_1st_Marquess_of_Anglesey#cite_note-tele-21
About a month after the battle Walter Scott toured the battlefield and the towns and hospitals around... "While walking about the street, we met a private of the 95th, or rifle corps, who had been servant to Major M. The regiment carries its ammunition in a sort of leather purse, which is strapped round the waist. This he took off, and showed us the marks of two shots which fortunately had struck him on this strong belt. The noise of the combat between the cuirassiers and dragoons he compared to a number of tinkers "a-mending their pots and kettles.""
1819 Peterloo - was Hancox at Peterloo with the 15th? or had he moved regiments yet? The regiment played a pivotal role in the notorious Peterloo Massacre in August 1819, when a 60,000 strong crowd calling for democratic reform were charged by the Yeomanry. Panic from the crowd was interpreted as an attack on the Yeomanry and the Hussars (led by Lieutenant Colonel Guy L’Estrange) were ordered in. The charge resulted in 15 fatalities and as many as 600 injured.
1823 - Commanded the regt. at the close of Waterloo day. Bt. maj. for Waterloo.
Appointed Lt.-col. of 7th Dgn. Gds. 18th December, 1823. Commanded the latter regt. until June, 1830. M., 23rd Aug., 1843[? must be earlier] , Caroline, eldest dau. of Lancelot Rolleston, of Watnall Hall. Resided at Woodborough Hall, co. Notts. D. before 1849. Source - THE WATERLOO ROLL CALL. WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND ANECDOTES. BY CHARLES DALTON, F.R.G.S.,
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51143/51143-h/51143-h.htm#f13.4
WAR-OFFICE, June 11,1830 - 7th Dragoon Guards—Major Alexander Kennedy Clark to be Lieutenant-Colonel, by purchase, vice Hancox, who retires.
1831 Reform Bill Riots - "After burning down a silk mill at Beeston some rioters attacked Wollaton Hall which was defended by Col. Rolleston's future son-in-law and Waterloo veteran Col. Hancox "Colonel Hancox had garrisoned the Hall with a body of [loyal] colliers, and several pieces of cannon, and the Wollaton Yeomanry were stationed near the entrance. The mob, however, attacked the gate, which was forced open; the Yeomanry immediately charged, and sixteen or seventeen prisoners were taken. The mob then retreated, and the Yeomanry soon afterwards escorted the prisoners to the Barracks, and delivered them to the keeping of the Hussars". "
1833 - Gets married [aged at least c.45] to Caroline Jane Rolleston b.1809 (aged 24, eldest daughter of Col Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall Hall). He is named as Lieut-Col J Hancox Esq. Marriage 22 August 1833 Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHP9-RKY
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Pelisse as worn by
the 15th Hussars |
Woodborough Hall, Notts [1835] - Colonel Hancox and his "..pocket-map before us, stained with the mud of Waterloo" - Waterloo veteren Colonel Hancox of Woodborough Hall gets a mention in Frances Rolleston's letters.
"Colonel Hancox is a fine military man, and likes to be led to talk a little of the campaigns; last night Caroline [his wife, nee Rolleston of Watnall Hall] and I read Scott and Byron about Waterloo, with the Colonel's pocket-map before us, stained with the mud of Waterloo, which he had in his pocket and studied on the field, and which bears sufficient marks of the haste and carelessness of the battle-day. He is just such a character as Scott would have loved to draw, so gentlemanly, so soldierly in mind and manners. Mrs. Hancox is collecting autographs; I told her I thought you might be able to get Lord Brougham's, will you try? Any person's in any way remarkable we should thank you for. To-morrow, Mrs. Hancox and I go to stay at her father's at Watnall, during the Colonel's absence in town. I have had a delightful visit here, and have many others in prospect; a great field of usefulness opens to me here, in every way."
Died sometime before 1849? as wife Caroline remarried then.
What did he wear? - Pelisse (above), 15th (The King's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars), 1820 (c)
Both officers and men of hussar regiments wore the pelisse, or over jacket, which reflected the Hungarian origins of the hussar's style of dress. To enable the pelisse to be worn over the left shoulder, there was a yellow cord loop fitted at the collar.
The 15th was raised as a light dragoon regiment in 1759 and saw service in Europe during the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). After a period of home service the regiment was reconstituted as a hussar regiment in 1807. It served in the Peninsular War (1808-1814) and fought at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. When stationed back in England the unit was involved in a number of operations to suppress civil unrest, including the notorious 'Peterloo Massacre' in Manchester in 1819.
9 - When did photography arrive in Nottingham? 1841 - Nottingham's Bromley House library was the location for the Midland's first studio... "In 1839, Frenchman Louis Daguerre presented to the world his exciting new invention, the daguerreotype, a means of producing a permanent image using a camera obscura. Nottingham businessman Alfred Barber saw great potential in this invention and just two years later he set up a photographic studio in the attics of Bromley House – the first in the Midlands. The roof was altered so that a revolving skylight containing blue glass could be fitted, which bathed sitters in a light that one customer described as ‘snapdragon blue’. He also purchased, at great expense, a licence to produce daguerreotypes together with the materials required. The first photograph taken in the Bromley House Studio was in September 1841.
Barber, the son of well-known local painter Thomas Barber, advertised that he had a ‘complete apparatus for the taking of patent photographic portraits’ by use of the Daguerreotype process. And he boasted: “The unerring fidelity of the Likeness obtained by this means, surpasses the most exquisite work of the human hand.”
However, despite great public interest and favourable press reviews for ‘a triumph of modern science’, Barber’s business was not a success and he vacated the studio within the year.
Other photographers followed Barber into Bromley House, although most didn’t stay for long. The last photographers to use the studios were the Middletons, father and son Wallace and Jack, who specialised in architectural photography. They operated out of the Library’s attics until April 1955.
Many of our members also took a keen interest in photography. Samuel Bourne, one of the great pioneers of travel photography in the Victorian era, was a member of Bromley House Library. We have copies of some of his photographs taken in India, where he led three incident-filled photographic expeditions and became the first person to photograph the high Himalayas."
The April 1838 portrait of Col Rolleston, aged 53, was actually done by the Barbers. The fine detail of the engraving approaching photo quality...
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| Close up of the engraving's detail |
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| Detail of the Barber's workmanship |
Portrait; half-length to right, looking towards the viewer, wearing a dark suit with a velvet-collared coat, and black cravat tied in a bow around a wing collar; tasselled curtain in upper left; after Barber; scratched open-letter state. 1838
Mezzotint
Print made by: Thomas Hodgetts
After: Thomas Barber
Published by: Alfred Barber
Excellent!
ReplyDeleteHaving spent most of my life in the area it's a revelation to have this amazing historic information and I also remember the delapidated state of the hall from the rear which backs onto Watnall wood, as a child.Also a schoolpal from Beauvale School used to reside in the gatehouse with his parents where I was invited to tea back in the 1950's.
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