Status, Scandal and Subterfuge

Friends and family of George Richard St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke have tried to defend their errant ancestor. Apparently a faithful husband to his second wife Isabella Hompesch and a doting father to his third family, his defenders heap all the blame for his wrong doings on the women in his life, especially first wife Charlotte Collins.

Charlotte has been variously described as a conniving much older woman and of 'unequal blood;' the marriage a morganatic one. Charlotte, the daughter of George Richard's tutor Thomas Collins, was no more than two years older than the young nobleman and it is doubtful any untoward pressure was placed on him to marry her, a man who appears to have done exactly as he wished throughout his lifetime.

The marriage took place in 1783 at Compton Rectory, the home of Charlotte's elder sister Sarah and her husband Rev Philip Williams, the rector of Compton. Sarah died in 1787 but several letters from Charlotte to her nieces survive. This one was written while Charlotte was taking the waters at Bristol the year before her death.

To Miss Williams, Compton, Winchester.

Hotwells Bristol

Octr 3d, 1803

My dearest Girls,

Tho' I can have nothing to say that can amuse you, (I know you will like to see my hand writing -) especially as I take Sedatives, & Opiates to keep the nervous system quiet & all anodynes have a contrary effect to stew'd pruens - my Ladies are gone to the Church this morn: to be present at fine doings etc etc -

I was sadly disappointed at not going to Lydiard but Dr Gibbes would not hear of it, & there was so much good sense in his arguments against it, that he very soon beat me to the ground - I really flatter myself that I am better since I have been here already - with the assistance of Miss Byron, & Missy, I have walk'd twice up & down a gravel walk just before the House; Hocky thinks my Lady looks more spraker about the Eyes, & they say that I am losing a most beautiful lemon colour complexion that I have had many months.

Poor Harry has met with a sad disappointment He had made his mind up to go to Oxford on the 10 of this month & I have had a letter from the Dean to say that he can not admit him this Jany. term - this is a disappointment to us all - your grandfather is I believe quite tir'd of School keeping, nothwithstanding the divinitiship of the Pupil -

Pray let us know how your Rheumatism goes on, I hope it does not go on at all, & that you are quite well - Adieu God Bless you all with my kindest love to all

Believe me Ever my dearest Girls your most affly

The story of Charlotte's difficult life and sad death is told in The Lady St Johns of Lydiard - Charlotte Collins

Transcription published courtesy of The Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Reports.
1955 view of Dowry Square, Hotwells courtesy of Paul Townsend
1870 view of Compton Rectory courtesy of http://www.winchestermuseumcollections.org.uk

The hamlet built on waste land on the edge of Lydiard Millicent has certainly come up in the world. With property prices nudging half a million pounds, Lydiard Green is today a particularly sought after area.

The settlement at Lydiard Millicent had a tumultuous early history. Seized by the new Norman king in 1066 the estate at Lydiard was given to William FitzOsbern for his part in the Conquest, while the hamlet at

Lydiard Green was the result of the 17^thcentury enclosure of common land, bringing wealth to the already rich and new levels of poverty to the poor. By 1766, Frederick St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke owned about 800 acres in the parish in addition to most of neighbouring Lydiard Tregoze.

published courtesy of Wiltshire Community History

But by the mid 19^th century life at Lydiard Green was relatively peaceful if not prosperous. In 1851 Jacob Morse farmed eight acres with the help of his wife, his sister and his four children. Alongside the spinster Sly sisters who ran a grocers shop, the cottages at Lydiard Green were home to agricultural labourers employed on local farms.

A Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1863. Lay preacher and local farmer J.J. Webb hosted the traditional Whit Monday tea party for the congregation at Church Farm and the adjoining Manor Gardens.

The 1910 Inland Revenue records available for consultation at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham, list property owners and occupiers in the parish of Lydiard Millicent, among them local butcher Harry Howard at number 7 Lydiard Green.

Just across the road from Harry’s shop undertaker Thomas Peer rented a property from Viscount Bolingbroke, which Harry later bought in the 1930 sale of the Lydiard Park estate. The business closed when Harry retired in 1962, the counters, marble slabs, hooks and scales still in place when the new owners took possession in 1986.

In the summer of 1940, less than a year into World War II, the quiet hamlet at Lydiard Green was to unexpectedly find itself in the front line of the country’s defence system.

With Hitler occupying much of Europe, a German invasion of Britain became a very real threat. Built to protect London and Britain’s industrial heartland, the General Headquarters Line (GHQ) ran from near Highbridge in Somerset, along the Kennet and Avon canal to Reading and around the South of London to Essex, before heading north to Yorkshire. A stretch of this 14ft wide and 6ft deep anti tank trench passed through Lydiard Green.

published courtesy of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery

To further fortify the network of anti tank trenches a series of concrete pillboxes were constructed, approximately 28,000 across the country. Three pillboxes were built close to the road at Lydiard Green, two FW3/28’s and a smaller F/24 model. Designed to withstand a direct hit by any shell up to 6”, these pillboxes were pretty much indestructible.

A FW3/28 pill box at Tidmarsh, Berks.

At the end of the war the anti tank trench was filled in but many of the pillboxes still remain, some protected by English Heritage, but many are vandalised and becoming increasingly more dilapidated.

For more information about the threatened invasion of Britain and the UK World War II defence structures log onto http://www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk/

These two cousins, born just six years apart, bear an uncanny resemblance.

The portrait of Henry Bolingbroke by Jonathan Richards the Elder hangs in the dining room at Lydiard House where he was born in 1678, the only surviving child of Henry St John and his first wife Lady Mary Rich. His mother died within weeks of his birth upon which the infant Henry was moved from Lydiard to Battersea Manor where he was raised by his puritanical grandparents Sir Walter and Lady Johanna St. John.

Henry, statesman, writer and libertine was undoubtedly the most brilliant and probably one of the most notorious members of the St. John family. He served as Queen Anne’s Secretary At War from 1704-1708 and Secretary of State from 1710-1714 and numbered satirist Jonathan Swift and the poet Alexander Pope among a wide, eclectic group of friends.

Instrumental in negotiating the Treaty of Utrecht which helped to end the War of the Spanish Succession Henry was created Viscount Bolingbroke, a huge disappointment as he was hoping for the earldom.

In 1714, with the Queen desperately ill and fading fast, Henry rapidly allied himself with the Jacobites and the Queen’s Catholic half brother James, the Old Pretender. Henry plotted with the Pretender while taking the oath of allegiance to the Hanovarian successor. However, the new King George, hammered the final nail in Henry’s political coffin, informing Henry that his services were no longer required. Henry walked to the Cockpit accompanied by the Duke of Shrewsbury and Lord Cowper to watch the sealing of his papers. It was, quite obviously, all over. On March 27, 1715, Henry set sail for exile in France.

A Bill of Attainder was served upon Henry that same year charging him with privately negotiating a dishonourable and destructive peace with France while a Secretary of State for Queen Anne and accusing him of advising the surrender of Tournai to the French and Spain and the West Indies to Philip of Spain. Deprived of his title, his estates and his wealth, Henry was considered by many as a traitor twice over.

Henry married twice, firstly to Frances Winchcombe whom he deserted and secondly to Marie Claire de Marci whom he adored. He eventually returned to England and his childhood home at Battersea. He died on December 12, 1751 and was buried with his second wife in the parish church of St. Mary's, Battersea.

Henry's younger cousin John Fitzgerald Villiers, 5th Viscount Grandison, was born at Dromana House in County Waterford in 1684, the son of Brig Gen Edward Villiers and wealthy Irish heiress Katherine Fitzerald. The two lookalikes were third cousins, tracing their ancestry back to Sir John St John and his wife Lucy Hungerford. In this portrait painted in 1743 by Allan Ramsay John could be sharing the same jacket as well as the same face as Henry.

John got off to a good start following his succession to the Grandison title and the Fitzgerald land. He transformed the Dromana estate, planting thousands of trees, building new stables and engaging in a modest bit of DIY on Dromana House. His greatest achievement was probably the construction of Villierstown village to accommodate the workers in his newly instituted linen industry. He built 24 houses, a schoolhouse, church, police barracks and a quay on the river.

But 'Good Earl John' found it difficult to live within his means - a common St John failing he would have appeared to inherited along with his features.

An account of the Villers-Stuart archive held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland describes John as having a 'pride of ancestry' - shades of Henry 5th Viscount Bolingbroke here - and that his 'somewhat limited intelligence caused him to be ripped off by unscrupulous agents who flattered and deferred to him' when he was forced to sell some £50,000 worth of land.

John served briefly as MP for Old Sarum May-December 1705. In 1721 he was made Privy Counsellor for Ireland when his title was upgraded to an earldom and in 1733 he was Governor of Waterford. He married Frances Carey and they had five children. John died on May 14, 1766 and was buried at Youghal, County Cork.

What better subject for a post today than tales of ghostly happenings in Lydiard House. Like any self respecting ancient property Lydiard House boasts a spectral presence or two. But like a thing of beauty, could the Lydiard House phantoms be just an imaginative figment in the eye of the beholder.

There have been sightings of a 17th century gentleman roaming the grounds and giving directions to visitors, supposedly Sir John St John, first baronet, who died in 1648. Sir John is depicted in portraits in the house and in St Mary's Church he can be seen recumbent on the magnificent marble monument and portrayed in the St John polyptych he commissioned in memory to his parents.

Sir John St John 1st Baronet - published courtesy of Lydiard Park

Now I'm not saying that Sir John wasn't a thoroughly nice man, but my feelings are that he would be more likely to point a musket at visitors wandering about his estate rather than give them a guided tour.

In 1996 Margaret North contributed an article to The Friends of Lydiard Tregoz annual report recalling her time living at the Rectory on Hay Lane when her father Rev William Henry Willetts was Rector at St Mary's. In February 1940 Lady Bolingbroke lay close to death in the crumbling mansion. Margaret was a young student nurse training at the Victoria Hospital, Swindon and visiting her parents when Lady Bolingbroke's condition deteriorated.

The Rectory - photograph courtesy of Roger Ogle

"I was at home for a few days and Doctor Oakley Brown who was the Bolingbroke's doctor, called at the Rectory to see if I would spend a night at the mansion as Lady Bolingbroke had had a stroke. I agreed to do so and went to see Lady Bolingbroke with Doctor Oakley Brown. He told Lord Bolingbroke and Mr Hiscock that I would be there all night and as I was young and would need feeding in the night. I did what I could for Lady Bolingbroke, at midnight Lord Bolingbroke came to tell me some supper was ready. I joined the two men in the sitting room. The house was lit by oil lamps and candles and some how the conversation got around to hauntings and queer happenings. I was so scared I did not know how to get up from the table and return to Lady Bolingbroke's room. at last I forced myself to get up and walk up the eerie staircase. Half way up the staircase was a model of a knight in armour and I was supposed to see a hand covered in blood on the wall quite near him, where a murdered man fell and his hand struck the wall. From that day the imprint of the blood stained hand is supposed to be seen. My heart was beating with fear by the time I reached Lady Bolingbroke's room, I closed the door behind me and remained in that room until morning. Lady Bolingbroke died during the following day. I do not think Lord Bolingbroke and Mr Hiscock realised how frightened I really was."

Lady Bolingbroke - published courtesy of Lydiard Park

By the 1950s the house and parkland had been purchased by Swindon Corporation and the St John family long departed - or had they?

Joyce Vincent formerly Gough , the daughter of the first caretaker at Lydiard House recalled how - "On another occasion, my sister and I were taking a small party of ten around a tour of the house. It was a late summer's evening and the light was just beginning to fade. Two members of the party were Americans, one was most inquisitive and had to open every door and drawer that he saw, particularly in the library. In the meantime my mother had come in through the back way, with two other people who wanted to join the party. As the nosy American opened the next door in the library, what should he see but the unexpected figure of my mother framed in the doorway, with her snowy white hair and clothed in a pale grey dress! His hands flew up into the air, he gave forth an almighty yell, then collapsed in a heap on the floor, in a deep faint. To add insult to injury, our terrier dog did not take kindly to anyone dancing or running or falling about and proceeded to bite the poor fellow on the rear. I often wonder if this cured him of his nosiness."

But stories of a ghostly presence continued and Joyce adds - "I did not ever see the ghost - but my mother did on many occasions, but only my mother. She said he was very small, dressed in what appeared to be a dark brown cloak. She saw him entering the gun room, sometimes half way up the back staircase in the room that was our kitchen. She said he always seemed to be mischievous."

Beware, visitors to Lydiard Park today - especially nosy Americans!

My Memories of Lydiard Tregoz by Margaret North published in Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Report No. 30 1996 - Life in Lydiard Mansion by Joyce Vincent published in Lydiard Life

Regular readers will know of my continuing interest in Wick Farm, once owned by the St John family and situated close to the Hay Lane entrance to Lydiard Park. The Clark family who lived there for more than fifty years have proved an interesting bunch and the Victorian mystery of 1880-1 has occupied many hours of research.

Jonas Clark senior arrived at the farm in the 1830s with his common law wife Alice and their growing family. Unable to wed due to the presence of a former wife, Jonas and Alice lived together for more than thirty five years. Their second son, also named Jonas, took over the tenancy of the farm following his father's death in 1862.

Like his father, Jonas junior ended up with an unwanted and inconvenient wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Bathe Humphries, more than ten years his senior, had not been a success and by the late 1870s they had separated.

The 1881 census recorded Jonas junior living at Wick Farm with his cousin Kate and their three children. Further research revealed the absence of a father's name on the children's birth certificates.

This arrangement might appear unusual for our perceived ideas of Victorian social etiquette, but actually it wasn't that outrageous. With divorce unavailable to the average couple, cohabitation was usually the only option when a marriage broke down and a new relationship was forged. Jonas senior had done the same thing, marrying Alice Pinnell after the death of his first wife.

The only problem with this 1881 arrangement was that I had already found the death of Jonas Clark junior, which took place at Wick Farm the previous year - or had it? This week writer and local historian Mark Child, author of Swindon Old Town Through Time eventually got to the bottom of the mystery.

Kate Trinity Clark, the daughter of Benjamin Clark, was born in Hullavington in 1830 and was indeed the cousin of Jonas Clark junior. Her father's elder brother was also called Jonas, a popular family name. Born in 1823 and 1826 respectively there was only a few years difference in the age of Uncle Jonas and Jonas junior, which lies at the heart of the confusion and a brilliant piece of detective work by Mark.

Kate and Jonas junior's relationship began in the late 1870s with Kate's uncle Jonas and his son William joining the family at Wick Farm around the same time. Mark's research reveals that it was Uncle Jonas who had died in 1880, his death certified by Dr William Baines Dawson and not Jonas junior as I had previously deduced. I had searched for Kate and the children following Jonas junior's supposed death - problem was I didn't widen my net far enough!

So what happened to our elusive Jonas Clark junior?

The following ten years proved eventful for Kate and Jonas junior. The couple left Wick Farm in 1882 and moved to Darby Green Farm at Yately, Southampton where in November of that year Jonas junior was declared bankrupt. Six months later the family moved to Bleddington and at the time of the 1891 census Jonas, then aged 65 was living in Pebworth, Gloucestershire with Kate and their six children. But the family was still far from settled and within a few years moved yet again to Haselor Hill in Warwickshire. It was here on their small holding that Jonas junior died in 1898 aged 73. They had never been able to marry and Jonas's wife Elizabeth outlived him, dying in 1903 at the age of 92.

Kate continued to farm the property at Haselor Hill with the help of her elder sons and in 1911 she was still there with Clarence, her youngest son and the only one still living at home. Kate died in 1924 aged 66.

Mark's persistent research has proved a cautionary tale in the danger of jumping to genealogical conclusions.

Former farm labourers cottages on Wick Farm

By the mid 19th century the Palladian mansion house at Lydiard Tregoze was a little the worse for wear. Generations of St John's had chosen to spend their declining fortunes on racehorses, fine porcelain and grand tours rather than a bit of DIY and the ancestral home was beginning to show its age.

Radical politician William Cobbett rode through the parish in September 1826 and later wrote:

'Here is a good old mansion-house and large walled-in garden and a park, belonging, they told me, to Lord Bolingbroke. I went quite down to the house, close to which stands the large and fine church. It appears to have been a noble place; the land is some of the finest in the whole country; the trees show that the land is excellent; but, all, except the church, is in a state of irrepair and apparent neglect, if not abandonment.

William had pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The house had served as a holiday home for the family for close on 150 years. Despite a major make over in the early 18th century subsequent St John's had elected to live in London close to where the action was, popping back to Wiltshire for a spot of shooting and partying. By the 1830s Henry, 4th Viscount Bolingbroke, was renting out the house and parkland. His wife, Maria, Lady Bolingbroke was in Aberystwyth at the time of her death in 1836 and Henry was in Scotland at the time of his in 1851.

So, who was living in a house like this?

Not any old family, but one that had extended links to the St John's. At the time of the 1841 census Thomas Orby Hunter was the tenant at Lydiard House with his daughter and son-in-law Charles and Charlotte Orby Wombwell and their baby daughter.

On June 6, 1841 the servants quarters was pretty much full with sixteen members of staff living in on census night and a further three recorded in the stables. Most gave their birthplace as out of the parish, so presumably Thomas brought his own staff with him.

Ten years later and Charles Orby Wombwell had taken over the tenancy. He had cut down on the indoor servants but there were still an impressive eleven in residence on census night, including a governess, butler, housekeeper, cook, kitchen maid, two housemaids, a nursemaid, a footman and a groom. This time there were more local folk on the pay roll - Elizabeth Hiscocks, the daughter of Lydiard gamekeeper Robert Hiscocks, Ann Dobson from Lydiard Tregoze, Richard Weeks from neighbouring Lydiard Millicent and Jesse Turner who would later become butler to Lord Bolingbroke.

So what is the connection with the Wombwell and the St John families?

Charles Orby Wombwell was the son of Sir George Wombwell and his second wife Eliza Little. He and his elder half brother George both married daughters of Thomas Orby Hunter. As we have seen Charles married Charlotte, his brother married Georgiana.

Sir George and Georgiana's son George married Julia Sarah Alice Child Villiers - are you keeping up - now Julia was the daughter of George Augustus Frederick Child Villiers 6th Earl of Jersey and his wife Julia Peel. The young Mrs Wombwell could trace her ancestry back eight generations to Sir Edward Villiers and his wife Barbara St John who grew up at Lydiard House, one of the six daughters on the magnificent St John polyptych in St Mary's Church.

My work here is done!

Some snowy scenes at Lydiard Park taken earlier this year.

The Ice House

The Ha-Ha

St Mary's Church

Ghostly footprints from the church to the house

Following persistent heavy rain throughout the previous day, Lydiard Park wasn't looking its best on Saturday. But as I walked along narrow Hay Lane, once open to traffic but now the province of dog walkers and cyclists, a sudden movement in the parkland caught my attention.

In the blink of an eye they were there and then gone - three deer - leaping through the trees just yards away from a modern housing estate.

Ancient Bradon Forest, a vast expanse of woodland, waste ground, moor and common, once extended across Purton and into the parishes of Cricklade, Ashton Keynes, Charlton, Lydiard Millicent and Lydiard Tregoze. Writing in The Story of Purton published in 1919 Mrs Story-Maskelyne suggested that ancient oaks, then still surviving on Blagrove Farm, probably marked an outlying part of a black grove of the old forest.

Records reveal that by 1135 Bradon Forest was a Royal forest and by 1228 enclosed an area of some 46 square miles. In the mid 13th century the Tregoz family at Lydiard House obtained a Royal licence to enclose woodland to create a private deer park and Henry III made them a gift of 11 deer to get the enterprise established.

During excavation work undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 2008 evidence was discovered of a medieval park pale constructed near the present park boundary with Lydiard Park Academy. The ditch and bank topped by a wooden park pale allowed deer to enter the park but prevented them from escaping.

For a fleeting moment the glimpse of those three wild and wonderful animals transported me back more than 700 years to the park's medieval history.

Up at the house Christmas celebrations were in full swing where the St Mary's Ukulele Ladies were entertaining visitors with some Victorian Carols.

Visit the house all dressed up for Christmas in traditional greenery and handmade decorations. Normal museum entry charges apply. Open Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 4pm see the website for further information.

Two watercolours of Lydiard House interiors by Canadian war artist George Campbell Tinning were recently purchased by Swindon Borough Council for Lydiard House with grants from The Art Fund and the Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund. Two paintings of the main entrance hall and the dining room (pictured here) were commissioned to accompany an article by Aldous Huxley published in the Lincoln Mercury Times in 1951

Decorated mantelpiece in the State Bedroom.

St Mary's Ukulele Ladies playing in the elegant hall at Lydiard House

Handmade decorations in the Dressing Room

Fireplace in the Morning or Ante Room

Table laid for Christmas Dinner

You may wonder what a five star Mayfair hotel, popular with Posh and Becks, has got to do with Lydiard House on the outskirts of Swindon.

Claridges is built on the site of 45 - 57 Brook Street - seven properties constructed between 1723 and 1725. One of the early tenants at number 51 was Sir Gustavus Hume of Castle Hume in County Fermanagh. The next was John and Anne St John who moved in soon after their marriage in 1729. For the next ten years the couple divided their time between Brook Street, the manor house at Battersea and building work at Lydiard House.

In 1812 Lord William Beauclerk bought the lease of number 51 and applied to Lord Grosvenor for permission to use the property as a hotel. Although the request was initially turned down on the grounds that there were already too many hotels in Brook Street, Beauclerk pressed his case. He stated that he intended to incorporate an existing hotel at number 43 thereby ensuring that the number of hotels on Brook Street would not be increased, and that 51 was already in use as 'a Private and distinct Lodging House.'

During the ensuing objections Beauclerk's tenant, a Mr Mivart, pleaded that the apartments were always held by the month or similar periods of time, and not let by the night to casual comers and that 'there is neither Coffee Room, Club Room, nor any sort of accommodation for Business of a Public Description.' In later decades the hotel had a reputation for supplying discreet accommodation for royalty, quite apt as Lord William Beauclerk descended from Charles Beauclerk, an illegitimate son of Charles II and Nell Gwyn.

Mivart won his case and soon set the standard for the next 185 years. In 1827 he numbered distinguished statesman and writer Baron Alexander von Humboldt from Hanover and the Count and Countess Woronzow from St Petersberg among his residents. By 1838 had acquired the leases on 51-57 Brook Street and 48 Davies Street, a large corner house with stabling.

Within ten years of vacating the property John and Anne's former home at number 51 had undergone considerable internal alterations whilst retaining its old brick facade.

The present hotel takes its name from William Claridge who took over the enterprise following Mivart's retirement in 1853. Number 49 - 53 received a mini makeover following the grant of a new 30 year lease on John's old home.

In 1881, with William Claridge in failing health, the hotel became a limited company and by the end of the decade there were plans for a comprehensive rebuilding project. John and Anne's old home was demolished along with it neighbours in November 1894 and shortly before Christmas that year Countess de Grey laid the foundation stone for the new hotel. Today the site of John and Anne's former home is roughly in the middle of Claridges front door.

In 2012 the BBC spent a year behind the scenes at Claridges where staff make extraordinary efforts to ensure the comfort of their wealthy guests. The last episode screened this week covered the excitement of the summer Olympics and the arrival of the exclusive Noma restaurant. Celebrated Nordic chef Rene Redzepi opened a pop up restaurant in the ballroom with a menu reading more like a bushtucker trial from I'm a Celebrity ... but the diners seemed to like it.

Inside Claridges is available to watch on BBC iplayer.

Staff at Claridges Hotel

John, 2nd Viscount St John

Anne Furnese

The remodelled 18th century Lydiard House.

Now if only Anthony, Lord Mildmay of Flete could have met his distant kinsman Frederick, St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, what a conversation they would have enjoyed.

Anthony Bingham Mildmay, Lord Mildmay of Flete

They could have discussed the pedigree of Frederick's horses, all seventy of them, while admiring the portraits of Hollyhock, Lustre, Turf and Gimcrack painted by George Stubbs. On a tour of the stables at Lydiard they could have discussed the finer points of racing on the flat as opposed to steeplechasing, a sport growing in popularity during the 18th century.

Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke

The Rt Hon Anthony Bingham Mildmay, 2nd Lord Mildmay of Flete, was born on April 14, 1909, the only son of Francis Bingham Mildmay and his wife Alice Grenfell. Educated at Eton and then Trinity College, Cambridge, Anthony was an amateur jockey, a gentleman rider, just like Frederick.

He was descended from the Farley Chamberlayne branch of the St John family. His great grandfather was Humphrey St John Mildmay, the son of Henry St John who married wealthy heiress Jane Mildmay and took her surname as part of the marriage contract. Their daughter Maria married Henry St John, 4th Viscount Bolingbroke, Frederick's grandson.

Frederick's portrait of Gimcrack painted by George Stubbs

With more than 100 winners to his credit, it was always Mildmay's ambition to land the Grand National at Aintree and in 1936 it looked as if he might succeed until the reins broke and his horse, Davy Jones, ran off the course.

During the Second World War Mildmay's career was put on hold while he served with the Welsh Guards. Back in the saddle once again, Mildmay took a serious fall during a race at Folkestone in 1947. An injury to his neck left him with disabling attacks of cramp, which were to ultimately prove fatal.

Then in 1948 he came within a whisker of winning of the National on his horse Cromwell, but the injury sustained the previous year saw him come in third - with a dislocated spine!

Lord Mildmay on Cromwell

On May 13, 1950 The Times sadly reported that the well known steeplechase rider, Lord Mildmay, "was reported missing yesterday after his usual early morning bathe at the mouth of the River Yealm at Newton Ferrers, Devon." His clothes and a bucket of fresh water were found on Mothecombe beach close to his Devonshire home. The search party of estate workers was joined by police, coastguards and a naval craft from Plymouth until the search was eventually called off when darkness fell. It was believed that an attack of cramp had caused the 41 year old Lord Mildmay to drown.

The young Anthony Bingham Mildmay pictured with his parents and sister Helen - painted by Sir Alfred J. Munnings

Following his death The Times published this tribute from an unnamed friend.

Generosity, courage, sportsmanship, and personal charm were his to an exceptional degree. There was something more - a complete lack of any form of self conceit, coupled with a superb sense of humour and the most perfect natural manners. These last were not reserved for special occasions, for whether he was in the company of the highest in the land or the youngest stable boy in the yard he was exactly the same - natural, courteous, and unselfish. By his valour and integrity on the racecourse he became the hero of many. He will remain an example to us all of what the word 'gentleman' should really mean.

More than 60 years after his death, Lord Mildmay can be seen in action on the British Pathe website. Riding the favourite Castledermot, Mildmay romps home to an impressive win at the Cheltenham Wills Hunt Chase in 1949.

The Mildmay Course at Aintree was opened in 1953 and named in his honour.

Mr and Mrs Gough

In 1943 Harry Gough sold the properties he owned at Washpool and with his wife and two daughters moved into the mansion house at Lydiard Park, the first caretaker to be appointed following the purchase of the house and parkland by Swindon Corporation.

Joyce Vincent, Harry's daughter, recalled the first night the family spent in their new des res:

Moving to a house of that size, from a small house, was, to say the least, somewhat overwhelming and nerve racking The first night I thought my father was the most cruel person on earth taking us there because there were no conveniences, we had candles and aladdin oil lamps, and instead of a cooker mother had to use what was known as a Triplex. It was like a fire place with an oven to one side. The downstairs wasn't too bad but the upstairs was in a terrible state. I don't think there was a bedroom ceiling that didn't have a huge hole in it somewhere. You could look through right up into the attic.

Harry was in his mid forties when he took on the role of caretaker. He had served in India during the First World War and in the second was Senior ARP Warden in the Lydiards. Among his duties at Lydiard Park was 'to keep an eye' on the American soldiers based there at a camp on the fields off Hook Street. No easy task as they were renowned for getting up to mischief, leaving their graffiti in the attic, damaging the staircase and when they left attempting to take the Henry Cheere Carrara marble fireplace in the Drawing Room with them.

Joyce recalls how much her parents loved living at Lydiard House.

When the Mansion was first opened to the public, in 1955, I thought what a fantastic job they had made of the house. Also the lake because when we were there you couldn't walk round it at all, it was so overgrown. However I must confess the first time I returned I resented so many people being there, and yes, it was a little selfish of me, but I remembered Lydiard Park with just my father and my mother, sitting on a seat on the front lawn - with the daffodils out, they both so adored living there.

Harry spent more than ten years as caretaker at Lydiard Park. When his wife took ill Harry decided he could no longer manage his job and reluctantly the couple moved to Broad Hinton. Following Mrs Gough's death Harry returned to Lydiard Millicent and worked as gardener at the Rectory.

He died in June, 1973. The Rev Carne wrote about his memories of Harry in the Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Report published the following year.

He was the kind of person no one could ever forget - a real character. His infectious good humour, his high sense of loyalty and responsibility and his great gentleness made up the delightful person he was, one whom one feels better for having known.

rotting ceilings

billiards table in the hall

rotting floorboards

catch a glimpse of the almost purloined fireplace reflected in the mirror

Lydiard House today - beautifully restored.

Old images taken from 1980s Lydiard Park & Church guidebook
Joyce Vincent's memories of Lydiard House were published in Lydiard Life (date unknown)
Rev Carne's memories of Harry Gough were published in the Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Report No 7 1974

If you're like me you probably loathe the graffiti tags left on walls and fences, decipherable only to those who have put them there. Marker pen or spray painted, I hate them all. But show me initials carved with serifs and there I am, tracing my fingers across the gouged mark and wondering who this person was.

St Mary's Church at Lydiard Tregoze has a considerable amount of old graffiti, most of which has been left by tradesmen who have completed work on the fabric of the building. Roof leading in the south aisle contains the initials T.F. 1780, R.K. 1780 and F.B. 1791. Lead flashing on the former windows shows tradesmen working more than 200 years apart, from WW & RW in 1738 to D. Tull in 1949.

The mansion house also bears the scars of ancient graffiti, but don't you just wonder who WW was and could that date really be 1799?

T Tanner Plumber

Glazier & Painter

New Leaded This Light

June 10th 1819

W Bassett

Wilts

John Cook

Plumer Glazer Painter

Wootten Basett Wilts

1814 December 12

Edwin Edmonds

March 21/48

Not so aesthetically pleasing

Nor this

1799?

New or old? Any ideas.

At the March meeting of the Swindon Society guests Duncan and Mandy Ball urged us all to take photographs, lots of them. Their talk was entitled 'They didn't tell us they were knocking it down' and began with an intriguing set of photographs of piles of rubble. A salutary lesson in taking photos of buildings that sometimes have a lifespan of less than fifty years and quickly become history.

The couple's hobby began when they set about photographing the churches where their own family members had been married, brought their children to be christened and eventually were buried in the churchyard. Then they began to travel around Wiltshire taking photographs of local buildings, monuments and in particular churches, memorials and gravestones. In 1999 they built a small website to upload their photos to share with other people researching their own family history. And like Topsy the website grew and grew and grew and today comprises 2,336 pages with more than 36,000 photos.

Along with the photos of buildings past and present, Duncan and Mandy showed us gravestones to which they had made a return visit. Some they had photographed just a couple of years ago were already so weathered that the inscriptions were lost.

The message that came across loud and clear was get out there and take some photos - which is exactly what I did this week. I returned to St Mary's Church, Lydiard Tregoze and instead of looking up and around, I looked down and found some fascinating features I'd not noticed before.

But just to emphasise the point, here are some gravestones where it is impossible to get even a glimpse of any inscription.

Over the years gravestones have been used to patch and repair the footpath

Including one marking the death of John Jeremiah St John, the infant son of George Richard 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke and his wife Isabella.

A look at last year's visit by the Woodvilles.

The Woodville re-enactors won over the locals at Lydiard Park this weekend when they set up camp on the edge of the front lawn.

Head of the household gave us a top to toe run down on those all important fashion accessories. The lady wearing a black hat was flaunting her wealth as was the woman in white, neither did much housework apparently. And we were told not to be fooled into thinking the man rattling his armour was a knight - none of his bits matched and the provenance was questionable too.

The archer checking his equipment told some gory stories of the wounds inflicted by the various arrow heads while the talk on 15th century medical practices sounded marginally more painful.

A display of archery in the walled garden revealed that women were equal to the job and did you know it was the Victorians who named the famous 15th century weapon the longbow. At the time bow was considered a perfectly adequate name.

Here are some photographs from the weekend. If you would like to know more about the Woodvilles visit their website on www.woodvilles.org.uk

The encampment in the woods

A pint sized crossbow apprentice

Wealthy black hat wearing lady

Two posh ladies

A one knight stand - check out his armour!

At home with the Woodvilles

Musician

Handy tips - visitors were being instructed on how to get a knife through the visor of a helmet

Arriving in the Walled Garden for the archery display

Getting dressed for the part.

Warming up.

A view of the Butts

Bow versus crossbow contest experiences technical hitch - crossbow 5, bow 'I wasn't counting.'

In recent years the vagaries of the British weather have taken their toll on the trees at Lydiard Park. The latest casualty is a mature horse chestnut on the main lawn now cordoned off following the collapse of a major branch. Later in the year the crown of the tree will be reduced, which wardens hope will prolong the life of this magnificent tree.

Some of the lakeside trees are believed to be nearly 250 years old, dating from the mid 18th century redevelopment of the parkland. In 1743 John, 2nd Viscount St John, remodelled the medieval mansion house with his wealthy wife's inheritance before turning his attention to the parkland. He swept away the old formal gardens and introduced the new, 'natural' looking landscape popularised by leading English landscape artist Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.

When this majestic tree close to the house was brought down in heavy winds several years ago, I was told the sad story of a grieving mother who planted two trees for the sons she had lost fighting in the Civil Wars.

I wondered why I had never heard this poignant story before ...

The mother in question was Anne Leighton, Lady St John, the wife of Sir John St John, 1st Baronet. But there were a few inconsistencies in the story - firstly, three sons, not two fell during the 17th century wars. William was the first to die, killed in action fighting alongside Prince Rupert at Cirencester in 1642/3. John was killed when the Royal garrison at Newark was blockaded during the winter of the same year. The third of Anne's sons to die fighting for the Royalist cause was Edward, wounded at the Second Battle of Newbury on October 27, 1644. Edward returned to Lydiard House where he lingered, eventually dying from his wounds more than five months later.

But there was an even greater problem with this heart rendering story. The mother in question, Anne Leighton, died following the birth of her 13th child in 1628, long before the outbreak of war. But then, I reflected, perhaps it was the action of a grieving stepmother, Sir John's second wife Margaret Whitmore, Lady Grobham. She had married Sir John two years after the death of his first wife and played an active part in raising his young family. But Lady Margaret died in 1637, several years before the death of her Cavalier stepsons.

I duly reported all this back to the teller of the tale. 'Ah well,' he said, 'it makes a good story!'

Sacred

to the

Memory of

Noah Ody

Who died Aug 22 1831

Aged 60 Years

Also of Ann

Daughter of the Above

Who died Oct 27 1820

Aged 3 Years

Also of

Jane daughter

who died Feb 24 1829

Aged 11 months

Also of Mary daughter

who died June 12 1837

Aged 23 Years

Sacred

to the

Memory of Sarah Wife of

Noah Ody

Who died May 30 1872

aged 86 years

Until the western development of Swindon swallowed up part of the parish, Lydiard Tregoze was a small, agricultural community. Farms in the area, most of which were owned by the St John family at Lydiard House, had been occupied by members of the same families, generation after generation. They worshipped at St Mary's, married and had their children christened there and were eventually laid to rest in the small churchyard. One such family was the Ody family. This is the first in a series of blog posts about some of the people buried in the churchyard at St Mary's, Lydiard Tregoze.

The earliest reference to the Ody family in Lydiard Tregoze is recorded in the Churchwardens Accounts dated 1742 and by the turn of the 19th century the name regularly appears in the parish registers and rate books.

In 1811 Noah Ody married Sarah Clarke at St Michael's and All Angel's Church, Brinkworth - their sons and grandsons would eventually occupy many of the farms in Lydiard Tregoze, Lydiard Millicent and Purton at sometime or other.

At the beginning of the 20th century there were still plenty of Ody's farming in North Wiltshire. Trade directories list a George Ody at Herring Stream Farm, Purton in 1901 while George William Ody is at Wick Farm opposite the entrance to Lydiard Park; Nelson Ody is at Blagrove Farm and George Ody at Pry Farm, Purton in 1911. Another of Noah's great grandsons, Charles Victor, born at Church's Hills Farm in 1888 was the tenant at Lower Snodshill Farm. Owned by the Westminster Church Commissioners, Charles farmed there in 1912. The 75 acre dairy farm in the parish of Chiseldon was one of the casualties of the 1970s eastern expansion of Swindon and now lies beneath the Post House Motel at Coate.

Swindon's Hammerman poet Alfred Williams mentions Noah's grandson Charles Albert Ody in his book about South Marston - A Wiltshire Village published in 1912.

'Farmer Ody was alive then; to-day the farm is conducted by his widow. He was short, fat and corpulent. He would have been better and might have lived longer if he had worked harder...There was a big family of children. When any of these had got into mischief they were tied up to the posts in the yard with a loose cord all afternoon. They feared their papa very much; if he only looked at them severely when they were young they burst into tears.'

Noah and Sarah's gravestone is badly weathered but thanks to transcriptions collated by the Rev Brian Carne in the 1970s it is possible to read the details on this and many of the other gravestones in the churchyard at St Mary's. The list is published in The Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Report No 12 published May 19, 1979. Copies are held in the Local Studies Collection at Swindon Central Library, Regents Circus.

Wick Farm - home to George William Ody in 1901

Mary Ody pictured outside Pry Farm, Purton.

Lower Shaw Farm, home to George and Elizabeth Ody and their eight children in 1871.

Alfred Williams - for more information about his life and work visit the Alfred Williams Heritage Society website.

As a writer on Swindon Heritage I get to visit some beautiful places such as the enchanting Ashdown House, pictured above and featured in the Autumn edition of the magazine, out at the end of August.

And as I am beginning to appreciate, everywhere I go seems to have a reference to the St John family and Lydiard House.

Here is the Ashdown and Lydiard House connection …

William, 1^st Earl Craven and builder of Ashdown House, was the son of Sir William Craven and his wife Elizabeth Whitmore. Elizabeth’s younger sister Margaret married Sir John St John, 17^th century owner of the Lydiard Estate. In 1630 he was recently widowed with 11 children to care for, she was a 54 year old widow and ten years his senior. Her portrait hangs in the dining room at Lydiard House and her effigy lies next to Sir John and his first wife Anne Leighton on the magnificent marble memorial in neighbouring St Mary’s Church.

More than 80 years later and Sir John’s great grandson Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke was to seek refuge at Ashdown House. In 1714, as the country awaited the death of Queen Anne, Henry allied himself with the Jacobites and Catholic James, the Old Pretender. William, 2^nd Baron Craven allowed his fellow Tory to use Ashdown House as a bolt hole where he plotted and planned to restore James II’s Catholic son to the English throne.

For more about this charming house visit the Ashdown House website written by historical novelist Nicola Cornick.

And better still - pay a visit. For information on how to subscribe to Swindon Heritage and where to buy a copy visit our website.

Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia by Gerard Van Honthorst

Four of her thirteen children whose portraits hang in Ashdown House

Rupert, Prince Palatine, Studio of Honthorst

Sophia, Princess Palatine by Gerard Van Honthorst

Sophia's son by Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover succeeded to the British throne as George I

Elizabeth, Princess Palatine Studio of Honthorst

Henrietta Maria, Princess Palatine Studio of Honthorst

In Affectionate Remembrance of

Charles Hale

Died March 18th 1876

Aged 63 Years

Also of Martha his beloved wife

died January 11th 1890

Her remains are interred in Swindon Cemetery

Also Jane

Youngest daughter

of the above

and beloved wife of James Coward

Died February 4th 1874

Aged 24 years

Martha daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Philmore, grew up at Creeches Farm, the long time home of the Philmore family. After her marriage to Charles Hale the family lived first at Toothill Cottages and then in a cottage next to the Sun Inn at Lydiard Millicent before returning to Creeches to look after Martha's elderly parents.

The farm remained in the tenancy of the Hale family until 1924 when Charles and Martha's son Owen was forced to retire following an accident.

Charles and Martha's youngest daughter Jane married James Coward, a gas fitter's labourer, in 1868. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the couple didn't wed in the parish church at Lydiard Tregoze but instead at the church of St George the Martyr, Southwark. Charles had to give his consent to the marriage as Jane was just 18 years old and therefore a minor.

Jane and James returned to Swindon where in 1871 they were living at 53 Cheltenham Street with their two young children and two lodgers. Jane was just 24 years old when she died in 1874.

When Martha died in 1890 the churchyard at Lydiard Tregoze was closed, and the burial ground at Hook not yet opened. Martha was therefore buried at Radnor Street Cemetery in Swindon. Her gravestone is exactly the same as the one on her husband and daughter's grave at St Mary's.

British School

This fine gentleman whose portrait hangs in Lydiard House is antiquarian and natural philosopher William Stukeley.

William was born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire in 1687. He worked first as an apprentice clerk in his father's law firm before going on to Corpus Christi College (Bene't) Cambridge to study medicine. Following further study at St Thomas' Hospital, Southwark, William returned to Lincolnshire in 1710 where he practised as a physician in Boston.

By 1717 he was in London again where he gathered about him a circle of eminent friends including Sir Isaac Newton, William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury and Robert Walpole.

In 1722 he founded a new antiquarian society called the Society of Roman Knights whose aim was 'to adorn & preserve the truly noble Monuments of the Romans in Britain, & the truley great & stupendous works of our British Ancestors'... His antiquarian interests saw him travel the length of Hadrian's Wall and he had a particular interest in Wiltshire's two principal stone circles, Avebury and Stonehenge.

Further details of Stukeley's incredible life can be found on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography website, but how did a portrait of this gentleman end up in Lydiard House? Records reveal that it was given as a gift in 1966 by Col Edward Richard Gordon St John - so what is the St John link.

William Stukeley married Frances Williamson in 1728 by whom he had three daughters, Frances, Anna and Mary. Eldest daughter Frances Stukeley married Dr Richard Fleming and their daughter Frances Fleming married John Francis Seymour St John in 1788. Her husband was the grandson of John 11th Baron St John of Bletsoe, from the senior branch of the St John family.

To the Memory of

Jacob Hayward

who departed this Life

the 19th Sept. 1801

in the 57th year of his Age

I was so long with Pain opprest,

That work my Strength away,

It made me long for Endless Rest

Which never can decay

Also

to the Memory of

Jane wife of

Jacob Hayward

who departed this Life

the 29th of Nove. 1828

Aged 71 years

Spare a thought for poor Jacob Hayward, whose demise appears to have been a welcome release from a long illness.

This magnificent table top memorial is one of several listed monuments in the churchyard at St Mary's and is evidence that Jacob was a wealthy man. His will reveals that he farmed at Chaddington and Bassett Down and that he owned the freehold of Cotmarsh Farm in Broad Hinton.This very matter of fact document bequeaths his property and his money to wife Jane and daughter Mary and was signed just 12 days before Jacob's death. There is no mention of any personal effects and just one reference to a person other than Jane and Mary.

This is the last Will and Testament of me Jacob Hayward of Bassett Down in the Parish of Liddiard Tregooze in the County of Wilts, Husbandman (that is to say) my Soul I command to God, my Body I commit to the Earth to be buried at the Discretion of my Executrix hereinafter named, my temporal Estate I thus order and dispose First my Will is that all my just Debts and Funeral Expenses, and charges of proving this my Will be first paid and Discharged I give Devise and bequeath unto my beloved Wife Jane Hayward all my Crop of all sorts of Corn and Stock of Cattle, Corn and Implements in Husbandry, that is and maybe on my Estates at Chaddington and Bassett Down in the County of Wilts, and also I give unto my said Wife Jane Hayward all Interest Money that maybe owing and due to me at the time of my Decease, and also all the ready money I may have at that time in my Possession, I give Devise and Bequeath unto my Daughter Mary the Wife of Richard King all Bonds and Securities for Money (of what kind or nature so ever they may be) that shall be found in my Possession, and belonging to me at the time of my Decease as and for her own Property with the Principal and Interest Money arising from the same (Except as before Excepted) and I devise my Executrix to Deliver up the said Bonds and Securities together with the Writings of my Freehold Estate unto my said Daughter Mary the Wife of Richard King immediately after my Decease. I give Devise and Bequeath unto my Daughter Mary the Wife of Richard King all that my Freehold Estate situate at Cotmarsh in the Parish of Broad Hinton and Cliff Pypard both in the County of Wilts, with the Rents, Issues and Profits of the same To have and to Hold the said Freehold Estate as aforesaid to my said Daughter Mary the Wife of Richard King and her Heirs for ever, but on this special condition that my said Daughter Mary the Wife of Richard King or her heirs, shall pay or cause to be paid yearly and every year out of the Rent, Issues and Profits arising out of my said Freehold Estate the sum of Ten Pounds unto my said Wife Jane Hayward for and during her Widowhood (that is) as long as she shall remain my Widow. I give Devise and Bequeath unto Mary Dunn the Daughter of Ann Dunn of Highworth in the County of Wilts the Sum of Fifty pounds to be paid to the said Mary Dunn within a Twelvemonth after my Decease by my Executrix hereinafter mentioned I give Devise and bequeath the sum of Ten Pounds to the second poor of the parish of Liddiard Tregooze in the County aforesaid to be Distributed according to the Discretion of my Executrix And I hereby Nominate and Appoint my beloved Wife Jane Hayward whole and Sole Executrix of this my Last Will and Testament which I hereby declare to be my Last. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this Seventh Day of September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and One.

Witnesses William Dursford, Richard Sheldon, Edward Smith

Effects under £2,000

Charlotte's letter from Hotwells

Lydiard Green - England's Front Line of Defence

Doppelganger cousins

A Lydiard House Ghost Story

Wick Farm mystery solved

Who lived in a house like this?

Snowy scenes at Lydiard Park

Medieval deerpark

Inside Claridges

Anthony Bingham Mildmay

Harry Gough

Graffiti

Gravestones at St Mary's Church, Lydiard Tregoze

Time Travelling in Lydiard Park

A Tale of Two Trees

Ody Family

Ashdown House

Charles and Martha Hale

Portrait of the Week - William Stukeley (1687-1765)

Jacob Hayward - so long with Pain opprest