SOME MEMBERS OF THE STANHOPE FAMILY

This brief notice of some members of the Stanhope family is a precis of a larger work, which allows for a more concentrated view of the subject matter, and one which highlights a central theme – that the education of children ( of whatever gender) in some families from the post-medieval period onwards produced exceptional people; ones gifted in the broader sense of education, encompassing art, literature, and philosophy, which nurtured ‘expansive minds’; not ones becalmed in the dodrums of a particular degree.

Three members of the Stanhope family will be featured:

Firstly:

Lady Hester Stanhope: “Education is all paint – it does not alter the nature of the wood that lies under it, it only improves its appearance a little. Why I dislike education so much is, that it makes all people alike, until you have examined into them; and it sometimes is so long before you get to see under the varnish!”.

It is often claimed of her that her ‘Bohemian’ spirit must have been suppressed before the ‘nomadic’ phase of her life commenced in 1810, and being the ‘social hostess’ for her uncle, William Pitt, the British Prime Minister, may not have been equal to her gifted intellect. This view is not evident in her letters, written to such as the diplomat, Francis James Jackson (1770 – August 5, 1814); appointed ambassador at Constantinople, July 23 1796, and a diplomat in Berlin, 1802-1806; who married there in 1804.

Lady Hester was estranged from her father, as her siblings, and was living with her grandmother in 1800, aged 24, until her death in April 1803; afterwards, she lived with her uncle, William Pitt. She often expressed great anxiety about his health, and wanted to use her “talents as a nurse” on his behalf.

She initially expressed happiness in the company associated with her uncle, but by the Spring of 1805, after writing that “my looks are gone”, she added: “I dispense with their civility and society”.

She was then approaching her 30th birthday, and her romantic relationship with the politician Granville Leveson Gower had ended, rumoured to have left her suicidal, with him informing his mistress, Lady Bessborough, of this affair. He was of higher social status than intellect – the second son of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford – described as “a drab figure, the original stuffed-shirt – starch outside, sawdust within” (David Wetzel, A Duel of Giants: Bismarck, Napoleon III, and the Origins of the Franco-Prussian War, p. 217, 2001).

He was known as being handsome, William Pitt comparing him to “Hadrian’s Antinous”. He married Lady Harriet Cavendish (1785–1862), daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and Lady Georgiana Spencer, in 1809.

After Pitt’s death, Lady Hester lost the influence and excitement derived from being the Prime Minister’s hostess, but gained an annual pension (£1,200 per annum, equivalent now to £100,00), arranged by Pitt, to enable her to live comfortably and independently, which she did, living in London, where, in 1807, she developed a romantic relationship with the soldier, General Sir John Moore. He was killed in January 1809 at the Battle of Corunna in Spain, along with Lady Hester’s half-brother, Charles. She was grievously scarred. She kept Moore’s bloodstained glove for the rest of her life.

The chance of a “good match” (a major theme of the novels of her contemporary, Jane Austen), was passing her by, and she chose to travel in the Middle East, in 1810, with the physician, Dr. Charles Meryon, as her medical attendant and companion. She never returned. She travelled with Meryon and Michael Bruce, a friend of Lord Byron, who greeted her arrival in Athens by diving into the sea to meet her boat. They subsequently fell out, Byron describing her as “that dangerous thing, a female wit”. (More dangerous, pehaps, because it was superior to his).

The statuesque Hester (nearly six-foot tall), lived with Michael Bruce for three years; their affair ending in 1813. Bruce (1787–1861), the son of a Bombay merchant, was educated at Eton College, and matriculated at St John’s College, Cambridge in 1806. He had proposed to Hester; the reason she gave for her refusal was that she did not want to detract from his career.

Lady Hester was politically conservative, vigorously opposing her father’s republican views. Of a French invasion, she wrote: “I should break my heart to be drove up the country like a sheep when everything I most love was in danger”.

When Meryon visited his companion in Dar Dijoun (5 miles from Sidon, Lebanon), in July 1837, he was shocked at her poverty (her pension had been stopped in 1827*), and nearly everything she had had ben stolen by her servants, that she resorted to beat. He noticed her severe and rapid mood swings (not unlike those of her father). She had lost her teeth, had tuberculosis, and was losing weight. She rested in her bedroom during the day, and, at night, smoked her Turkish pipe, that a servant renewed every quarter hour. Meryon observed her deep feelings of despair; instead of sobbing, she howled. Her dusty, cobwebbed house resembled that of Dickens’ Miss Haversham. Her creditors hounded her. She died on June 23, 1839, aged sixty-three. The British consul, Mr. Moore, supervised her burial in her garden at Dar Dijoun, which she had designed. He placed a Union Jack on her plain coffin. R.I.P.

*”My grandfather and Mr. Pitt did something, I think, to keep the Brunswick family on the throne, and yet the grand-daughter of the old king, without hearing the circumstances of my getting into debt, or whether the story is true (for it might be false), sends to deprive me of my pension in a foreign country, where I may remain and starve. If it had not been for my brother Charles and General Barnard, the only two who knew what they were about when the mutiny took place against the Duke of Kent at Gibraltar, she would not be where she is now; for her father would have been killed to a certainty”. (‘Memoirs’, vol. 2).

Lady Hester Stanhope to F. R. Jackson, Esq. Walmer Castle, Sept. 21, 1802. Even the illness of my dear uncle has not made me quite forget the request you made me; but the first thing I must say is, that, thank God, he is quite recovered; and if he was to be ill, perhaps my having the opportunity of showing him I have talents as a nurse is better than his having had to nurse himself. I am enchanted with everything here. But I leave them all on Thursday.* This was Lady Hester’s first appearance at Walmer Castle. She was then preparing to cross from Dover to Calais, having been invited to accompany her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Egerton, of Cheshire, in a Continental tour.

Lady Hester Stanhope to F. R. Jackson, Esq. His Majesty’s Minister at Berlin. Walmer Castle, Oct. 1803. You can easily figure to yourself that I have not much time to spare from the charming society I now live in. To express the kindness with which Mr. Pitt welcomed my return,* and proposed my living with him, would be impossible. One would really suppose that all obligation had been on his side! Here then am I, happy to a degree, exactly in the sort of society I most like. There are generally three or four men staying in the house; we dine nine or ten almost every other day. … if Mr. Pitt does not overdo it and injure his health, every other consideration becomes trifling. You know me too well not to be aware of the anxiety I am under upon this account; and the extreme care I take, or rather endeavour to take, of this blessing (so essential to him in his present active line of conduct, and therefore invaluable to his country), is kindly rewarded by his minding me more than any other person, and allowing me to speak to him upon the subject of his health, which is always an unpleasant one, and one he particularly dislikes. There is no use in flattering a man who is not ill from fancy and makes but too light of his complaints. Therefore I pursue quite a different plan; and I am happy to be able to tell you sincerely I see nothing at all alarming about him: he had a cough when I first came to England, but it has nearly or quite left him; he is thin, yet certainly strong, and his spirits are excellent.

*From the Continent, with Mr. and Mrs. Egerton, in the previous August. Lady Hester was then wholly without a home, owing to the continued unkindness of her father, and to the death (in April, 1803) of her grandmother, Lady Chatham, with whom, since early in 1800, she had for the most part resided at Burton Pynsent.

Lady Hester Stanhope to F. R. Jackson, Esq., at Berlin. Walmer Castle, Jan. 14, 1804; prior to his marriage. We are in almost daily expectation of the arrival of the French, and Mr. Pitt’s regiment is now nearly perfect enough to receive them. We have the famous 15th Light Dragoons in our Barracks; also the Northampton and Berkshire Militia. The first and last of these regiments I command, and have an orderly dragoon whenever I please from the former and the band of the latter. I never saw any Militia regiment so well officered, or composed of such pleasant men, as the Berkshire. A Northamptonshire squire is not pleasant in his own country, and does not improve with transplanting, but the regiment is a fine body of men. I am at this moment alone here with my little brother James, who has left the Navy for the Army; he is too clever for a sailor, too refined, I mean. I do not regret the change, as higher powers approve it. He is now in the Guards, and is to join I believe soon: the time will be decided when Mr. Pitt returns. I expect him in a few days. He was perfectly well when he left me; his most intimate friends say they do not remember him as well since the year Ninety-Seven. Nothing can please me better than the pleasant footing I am upon with all those most attached … Oh, such miserable things as the French gun-boats! We took a vessel the other day loaded with gin — to keep up their spirits I suppose: another with abominable bread and a vast quantity of peas and beans, which the soldiers eat. One of the boats had an extreme large chest of medicine, probably for half their flotilla. Their guns are ill-mounted, and cannot be used with the same advantage as ours, but are fine pieces of ordnance. Buonaparte was said to be at Boulogne a few days ago; our officers patrolled all night with the men, which was pleasant. I have my orders how to act in case of real alarm in Mr. P.’s absence, and also a promise from him never to be further from the army than a two hours’ ride. This is all I wish: I should break my heart to be drove up the country like a sheep when everything I most love was in danger.

Lady Hester Stanhope to Sir Walter Farquhar, Bart. (William Pitts physician). Walmer Castle, April 15, 1804. I hope soon to have the pleasure of seeing you, but in the mean time must just state to you what I think about Mr. Pitt’s health, not omitting to say how very uneasy his constant cough has lately made me, which till within these last six days he would take no care of, exposing himself to these easterly winds late in the evening, attending his duty not as a soldier and Colonel of a regiment, but more like a drill-sergeant. I have also to beg that you will most forcibly dwell upon all directions you think necessary to give him. Nobody is so like an angel when he is extremely ill, and few persons less tractable when a little ill; always urging it is nothing, and taking no care in the world of himself.*

Lady Hester Stanhope to Mr. Pitt. Walmer Castle, January 24 (1805). Burfield went to Maidstone yesterday for the last lot of trees and shrubs, which he expects will be all planted in ten days, unless a frost prevents it. I had a conversation with him about what was likely to grow in the chalk-pit. I proposed a few evergreen oaks, which he says will answer there, but nowhere else about the place. We both agreed upon filling it with a variety of creepers, furze, broom, or about anything that will grow and make it look less barren.

Lady Hester Stanhope to W. D. Adams, Esq. (William Pitt’s private secretary). Walmer Castle, Feb. 3, 1805. Last spring and part of the summer I bore in the great world much more than my value for talents, looks, &c. Everything was over-rated, and although I was perfectly aware of it at the time, then I own I enjoyed it. Now if I could command it, it would be indifferent. to me; but my looks are gone, as they always do in the absence of health; and I have been recommended to come into the country to regain them; and here I have been three weeks. … I am not dull, or rather not idle, as I have the charge of improvements here, plantations, farms, buildings, &c. The grave and the gay Generals pay me all due respect and attention, and so would all the garrison if I would allow them; but as I did not come here to be gay, I dispense with their civility and society.

Lady Hester Stanhope to W. D. Adams, Esq. Sunday (Walmer Castle, 1805). I was frightened to a degree when the messenger arrived. I thought at first Mr. P. was ill, and when I saw his handwriting, that he was out of office; but was delighted to find it was only papers he wanted. I hope he found what he wanted, but they are in great confusion. I wish you would ask him some day if he would like me to bring any more to town when I come, for at this moment perhaps it is difficult to say what are those he may want.

Lady Hester Stanhope to W. D. Adams, Esq. Wednesday (Walmer Castle, 1805). Some persons write me Mr. P. looks well, others that he does not; I feel a constant anxiety about his health, and fear that business without end must be too much for him or any one else. It often, indeed, occurs to me that you are likely to suffer from so much confinement. Let me give you one piece of advice, which is, to attend to your meals as regularly as possible, even if you sit up or rise the earlier for it to get through business. I have often been told that half Mr. P.’s complaints were originally brought on by fasting.

Lady Hester Stanhope to W. D. Adams, Esq. Sunday (Walmer Castle, April, 1805). I am pretty well, but I am not allowed to go out yet, which vexes me, as I wish to attend to a plantation Mr. P. knows nothing of. Lord Guilford has left his place in this part of the world, † and is cutting down trees, and making all the money he can of it. He has allowed me to take a great many shrubs (these he gives to me), and, as anything green in this part of the world is a treasure, I have been employing myself to cultivate a frightful barren bit of ground behind the Castle, as it may be years and years before such an offer of plants might again be made; and buy them you cannot, of a considerable size at least; and little twigs make no show; and should Mr. Pitt come the end of the week, I should like the plantation to be finished. Her dalliance with archeology will be discussed hereinafter.

Secondly:

Her father, Charles (“citizen”) Stanhope, of which was said: “He maintained, during a long political life, those principles of freedom which be had imbibed from his education, and inherited from his paternal and maternal ancestors, without the slightest desire of office, emolument, or dignity, or the most distant imputation of any interested motive; and yet, with an ardour which is now but seldom excited, unless by the personal passions of ambition, avarice, pride, or resentment”. (See as follows).

Although he was the subject of eulogy, his ‘enlightened mind’ concealed complex and darker corners. Lady Hester Stanhope, recalled her father: “often has said that from the hour I was born I had been a stranger to fear. I certainly felt no fear when he held a knife to my throat – only pity for the arm that held it“. (Duchess of Cleveland,* The Life and Letters of Lady Hester Stanhope, 1914, p. 16). *Her niece, the historian, Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Stanhope.

Thirdly:

John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, “the painter of dreams“, who was the uncle of Evelyn Pickering De Morgan, wife of the potter, William De Morgan. De Morgan’s sister, A.M.W. Stirling, wrote a collection of biographical essays called A Painter of Dreams, including reminiscences of her uncle, “the Idealist, the seer of exquisite visions”. (A.M.W. Stirling, A Painter of Dreams, pp. viii and x., 1916). Roddy’s father was John Spencer Stanhope, F.R.S. (1787–1873), the antiquarian, and writer about classical architecture, who, in 1816, when in Greece, purchased a a piece of Parthenon frieze, which was displayed with the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

Lady Hester Stanhope would have been aware of this.

John Spencer Stanhope married, in 1822, Elizabeth Wilhelmina Coke, daughter of Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester. He was the son of Walter Spencer Stanhope, a member of the ‘Society of Dilettanti‘, “a club, for which the nominal qualification is having been in Italy, and the real one being drunk” (Horace Walpole). They met at the Star and Garter in Pall Mall, where they discussed classical culture and art. It was the ‘Society of Dilettanti’ which had loaned the Elgin Marbles (and John Spencer Stanhope’s frieze) to the Royal Academy in 1816. These were donated to the British Museum in May of that year. At this time, the ownership of history in general, and the Elgin Marbles, in particular, was a controversy which divided opinion (as now).

Walter Spencer Stanhope was a friend of both Prime Minister, William Pitt, Hester’s uncle, and with the anti-slavery campaigner, William Wilberforce, both of whom regularly stayed at Walter’s abode of Cannon Hall.

A BRIEF ANCESTRY OF THE STANHOPES

1. Walter de Stanhope. That he was the progenitor of those decribed hereafter is affirmed in a letter from Charles, Lord Stanhope, to his sister, Lady Tollemache, dated October 12, 1608. This letter was accompanied by an emblazoned pedigree of the Stanhopes, from Walter de Stanhope, father of Richard, who died in 1338, to James, first Lord Stanhope of Elvaston (Harl. MSS. no. 1555).

The following lineage is given by 5th. Earl Stanhope, better known as Lord Mahon, an eminent historian, who, in 1835, was Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He was the son of Lady Hester Stanhope’s half-brother.

He was interested in antiquities, being a trustee of the British Museum, and in 1869 founded the Historical Manuscripts Commission. His works continue to be of great importance on account of his unique access to antiquarian manuscripts. I have every faith in the accuracy of what he reports. He worked closely with his friend, the eminent academic and antiquary, Sir Henry Ellis. 5th. Earl Stanhope (Notices of The Stanhopes As Esquires And Knights and Until Their First Peerages In 1605 And 1616, 1855), quotes from The History of Durham by William Hutchinson, 1794, vol. iii. p. 295, to state that: ‘The first of the name Stanhope we find holding lands in Stanhope was Richard de Stanhope, the son of Walter de Stanhope, who died seised of a messuage of 22 acres of land in the fifth year of Bishop Bury, 1338-1339.

2. Richard Stanhope, obit. 1338.
3. Sir Richard Stanhope, 1300-1370, son of Richard, and grandson of Walter, fixed his residence at Newcastle-upon Tyne. He possessed ‘ample estates in Northern England’ (MS. Veel, p. 973). He was chosen mayor of that town in 1364, and obtained, in 1350, a grant of the third part of the village and fishery of Paxton on the Tweed, in consideration for services against the Scots. Sir Richard married the heiress, Alice de Houghton. Houghton lies between Clumber and East Retford, and formed part of the domain of the Longvilliers, being initially called Houghton Longvilliers, and more recently called Haughton.
4. Sir John Stanhope, M.P. for Newcastle in 1359, and its mayor in 1366. He was also Escheator for Notts. and Derbyshire in 1365, and Sheriff of Notts. and Derbyshire in 1373. He gained, post May 30, 1369, Rampton, Notts., by marriage (1366) to the heiress Elizabeth Maulovel. In 1350, he is mentioned in a list of persons who had the King’s permission to travel to Rome: ‘Johannes de Stanhope, cum uno garcione et uno equo’ (Rymer’s Foedera, vol. v. p. 683, 1704-1735).
5. Sir Richard Stanhope, was Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Henry IV., 1399, and also M.P. for Nottingham. He was also Sheriff of that county and of Derbyshire. He died on Easter Monday, 1436, seised of the manors of Rampton, Egmanton, Skegby, South Cotham; the third part of the manor of Tuxford, and the manor of Ansty, Warwick.
6. Sir Richard Stanhope, m., firstly, Johanna de Staly, 1370-1410, daughter of Robert de Staly: Inscript. Rampton Chuch, as recorded ca. 1850: ‘Hic jacet Ric. Stanhop Miles et Johanna uxor ejus quae fuit filia Rob. de Staly qui obiit primo die Aprilis Anno Domini Mccc … et predicta Johanna obiit die Septembe Anno Domini Mccccx, quo. These Stalys had anciently been important Anglo Saxon thegns, and had regained their lands through a marriage between Adam de Staly and Alice de Percy, daughter of William de Percy, of Kildale.
7. Sir Richard Stanhope, obit. March 2, 1432, married Elizabeth Markham, daughter of Sir John Markham, the younger, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, and Margaret Leeke, daughter and coheir of Simon Leeke of Cotham, Notts (Throsby’s edition of Thoroton’s History of Notts, vol. iii. pp. 226-233, 1797). Sir Richard Stanhope was buried in Tuxford Church.
8. Sir John Stanhope, 1412-1473, dates as inquis. post mortem, not to be confused with his cousin so named, was many years M.P. for Notts., and thrice was the Sheriff of Nottingham and Derby. He succeeded his grandfather in 1436. In the civil wars of the time, he took part with the House of Lancaster. He married, secondly, Elizabeth Talbot, daughter of Sir Thomas Talbot, grandson of Sir Gilbert Talbot and Petronella Butler, of Bashall, in the county of York, parish Mitton Magna, and Alice Tempest, daughter of Sir John Tempest of Bracewell. See ‘Notices’. The ancestor of these Talbots first obtained the manor of Bashall in 1256, by grant from Edmund Lacy, Constable of Chester. They became extinct in the male line temp. Charles I. (Dr. Whitaker, History of Whalley, p. 402, 1801). Earl Stanhope observed that Sir John Stanhope had erected “a tombstone on the south side of the chancel of Rampton church, to the memory of his wife”. It read: ‘Hic Jacet Elizebetha … filia Thos Talbot Milit de Bashall … Septemb. Anno Domini mccccli … Cujus animae propitietur Deus. Amen”. Sir John Stanhope is shown in a deed (May 4, 1467), of Sir William Chaworth, who grants Sir Robert Markham, “John Stanhap”, Gervase Clifton, et al. the manor of Medburne (Leics.), all lands in Weston on Welland, Sutton, Dyngley and Assheley (Northants.), a close called Great Edwode in the manor of Bulwick, and a part of the manor of Blatherwick, Northants.; the deed being witnessed by “Rob. Strilley”.
9. Sir Thomas Stanhope, ob. ante 1493, of Rampton, was, in 4 Edward IV., 1475, “retained by indenture to attend the king in person in his wars with France, with one man-at-arms and ten archers, receiving £20 19s. 6d. in band towards his wages on that account” (Rymer’s Foedera, vol xi. p. 844, 1704-1735). Sir Thomas married Mary Jerningham, daughter of John Jerningham of Somerleyton, in Suffolk.
10. Sir Edward Stanhope, obit. 1511, of Rampton and Houghton, was a principal commander of the army that beat Simnel’s followers, at Stoke, in 1487. Ten years later, Sir Edward Stanhope fought against the Cornish rebels at Blackheath, and was knighted on the field of battle. In 1502, he was Steward of Wakefield and Constable of Sandale Castle, in the county of York. Like his predecessors, he was also Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. On the 4th. October, 1509, he “imparked 240 acres at Houghton by enclosing them with a paling for the purpose of rearing wild animals” (Nottingham Enclosures Commission, 1517). Sir Edward Stanhop’s first wife was Adelina Clifton, daughter of Sir Gervase Clifton, obit. 1491, of Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, esquire to King Edward IV. and Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of King Richard III, and Alice de Neville, widow of Richard Thurland; daughter of Thomas de Neville, 1405-1485, and Elizabeth Babington (Thoroton’s original History of Notts, p. 392, 1677). The ancestor of these Cliftons was Sir Robert Clifton, of Clifton, Notts., obit. 1327 (Esch. i. Edward III. nos. 33). He married Emma Moton, daughter of Sir William Moton (Herald’s Visitations of Nottinghamshire, MS. Brit. Mus., 1614).

11. Sir Michael Stanhope, obit. Feb. 26, 1552, succeeded to the family estates on the decease of his brother, John, and was placed on the Commission of Peace for Notts. in 1537. On the dissolution of the monasteries, that is, the forced taking and redistribution of the vast and valuable lands of the Catholic Church, Michael Stanhope was granted Shelford priory, rectory, and manor; and also the priory of Lenton, together with the rectories of Gedlyng, Burton Jorze, and North Muskham, in the county of Nottingham; Rouceby and Westburgh, in the county of Lincoln, and Elvaston and Okbrook in Derbyshire.

When heads of monastic houses refused bribes of pensions to give up their estates, they were often imprisoned, tortured, or hung. This was the basis of Sir Michael Stanhope’s wealth He was a courtier and parasite of the king, one of those who surrounded him, like vultures, gorging themselves on the fallen carcase of the Catholic Church. The result of such redistribution of wealth was mass poverty and homelessness, for many relied on the monastries for their living. The new land-grabbing Protestant aristocracy were hated. Riots, especially in the North, severely threatened the power of the regime, whose response was drastic. Defeated rioters were hanged and disemboweled, their bodies being left to hang in their villages as a warning to others. (English history not shown by Hollywood or mentioned in school curriculum).

The rioters hatred did not abate, for such as Sir Michael Stanhope were the allies of one of the most despotic rulers that ever lived. To merely disagree with Henry VIII. was to invite unpleasant death. Sir Walter Raleigh said: “If all the patterns of a mercilless tyrant had been lost to the world, they might have been found in this prince“. He was the first King of England that brought women to the block, and caused them to be tortured and burned. He was the only king who sought consolation for the imagined offences of his wives by plundering their relatives of their money.

Not content with this, as any true tyrant, he sought to control opinions. He declared that the bible should not be read in public, and could only be read in private by people of noble or gentle birth, not wanting the “lower classes” to form ideas of emancipation.

It was to this regime that Sir Michael Stanhope owed his ascendency. This is not to pass judgement. There is always the case for saying that people should be judged by the standard of their times, and, in this sense, Sir Michael Stanhope was no different from many of his fellows who believed in a natural order in society: “In London the rich disdaineth the poor. The courtier the citizen. One occupation disdaineth another. The merchant the retailer. The retailer the craftsman. The better sort of craftsman the baser. The shoemaker the cobler”. (Thomas Nashe, 16th. Century poet).

His career had begun in the household of Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland, and he became, after two years in the royal stables, esquire to Henry VIII. Soon after the accession of Edward VI., Michael Stanhope was knighted, serving in Parliament as one of the knights of the county of Nottingham; appointed Lieutenant of Hull, keeper of the royal parks in Nottinghamshire, Suffolk, and Surrey; chief gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and deputy to his brother-in-law, Edward Seymour, the Protector Somerset, in the guardianship of the king.

The young king, Edward VI., was the son of Henry VIII., and his third wife, Jane Seymour, Edward Seymour’s sister, and was like a shuttlecock in a game of rival courtiers. Thomas Seymour, Edward’s younger brother, cited precedent for dividing power more equally between the leading men of the kingdom when the monarch was not of age to rule alone. For this, and encouraging senior courtiers to intercede on his behalf, he was beheaded.

Kindred counted nought. Michael Stanhope was the link between Edward Seymour and the court. He controlled the royal purse. He also controlled access to the king: Michael Stanhope had “issued a commaundment that if eny man shuld knock at the dore (of the king’s chambers) thei shuld call hym up and waken hym before thei did open the dore”. (Cecil Papers. Hatfield House Library). He did this on the command of his brother-in-law. He also, in 1547 and 1548, took items from the king’s rooms in Whitehall Palace, and sent them to the chambers and houses of Edward and Anne Seymour.

All such power was lost on the Protector’s fall. On the 16th of October, 1551, Somerset was arrested, and on the following day, Sir Michael Stanhope and other adherents were sent to the Tower, on a charge of conspiring against the life of Dudley, Earl of Warwick.

Again, it is important to look behind the official reasons given for this charge. Dispite the acquisition of Church lands, the treasury was empty. The currency had been debased, and all over the country, especially in the Eastern and Midland counties, there was seething discontent on the issue of enclosures.

Not content with stealing land, and attracted by the profits to be made by the sale of wool, the aristocracy were turning ploughland into pasture; and as sheep needed less labour than tillage, there was an army of unemployed, some of whom took up the trade of brigandage. Riots followed. The most serious of these was in the Eastern counties, where a squire named Robert Ket took the lead of a mob which pulled down enclosures and tried unpopular landlords.

Somerset hesitated to move against them, resulting in the rebellion becoming more dangerous. This made him the enemy of very powerful people. The rebellion was only dispersed through the ruthless action of Dudley, Earl of Warwick, Somerset’s chief rival in the Council.

An example of how worried the ruling class were at this time is given in a sermon preached in all English Churches in 1547:

“Almighty God hath created and appointed all things in heaven, earth, and waters, in a most excellent and perfect order. In heaven he hath appointed distinct or several orders and slates of archangels and angels. In earth he hath aligned and appointed kings, princes, with other governors under thern, in all good and necessary order. The water above is kept and raineth down in due time an season. The sun, moon, stars, rainbow, thunder, lightning, clouds, and all birds of the air, do keep their order. The earth, trees, seeds, plants, herbs, corn, grass, and all manner of beasts, keep themselves in their order: all the parts of the whole year, as winter, summer, months, nights, and days, continue in their order: all kinds of fish in the sea, rivers, and waters, with all fountains, springs, yea, the seas themselves, keep their comely curfew and order: and man himself also hath all his parts both within and without, as soul, heart, mind, memory, understanding, reason, speech, with all and singular corporal members of his body, in a profiltable, necessary, and pleasant order: every degree of people in their vocation, calling, and office, hath appointed to them their duty and order: some are in high degree, some inlow, some kings and princes, some inferiors and subjectgs, priests and laymen, masters and servants, fathers and children, husands and wives, rich and poor; and every one hath need of other; so that in all things is to be lauded and praised the goodly order of God, without the which no house, no city, no commonwealth can continue and endure, or last. For where there is no right order, there reigneth all abuse, carnal liberty, enormity, sin, and Babylonical confusion. Take away kings, princes, rulers, magistrates, judges and such estates of God’s order, no man shall ride or go by the highway unrobbed, no man shall sleap in his own house or bed unkilled, no man shall keep his wife, children, and possessions in quietness, all things shall be common; and there must needs follow all mlschief and utter destruction both of souls, bodies, goods, and commonwealth”. (An Exhortation Concerning Good Order, and Obedience to Rulers and Magistrates). (Know your place, or else!).

Sir Michael was tried on a charge of felony, condemned at a mock trial, and sentenced to be hanged, and on the commutation of this sentence, he was beheaded on Tower Hill, killed with three other Knights, Sir Thomas Arundel, Sir Miles Partridge, and Sir Ralph Vane. The warrant for his execution was dated February 25, 1552. (Rymer’s Collection, vol. xv., 1704-1735). He was beheaded the next day, strongly protesting his innocence. In modern terms, he was the victim of a mafia family power struggle. Both Somerset and Dudley were ruthless and grasping people. Somerset ruled through a group of carefully chosen administrators, of lesser social standing, including his brother-in law, Sir Michael Stanhope. Somerset was “looked down upon by everybody as a dry, sour, opinionated man”. (Van der Delft, Dutch Embassador, 1547). Dudley’s ascendency cost him dearly, and readily condemned Sir Michael Stanhope.

Dudley’s ascendency was, however, short-lived. He realised his position was insecure. To make it safe, he contrived to have a sovereign under his influence. For that purpose, he chose Lady Jane Grey to be the successor of her cousin, Edward VI. He married her to his son, Guildford Dudley. The young king was persuaded to make a Will in her favour, and this was scarcely made when Edward died.

Lady Jane, a gentle and learned girl of 16, was declared queen on July 10th., 1553. Her father-in-law and other members of the Protestant nobility were, however, shocked to see that Mary, a staunchly Catholic daughter of Henry VIII., had the support of both the old Catholic nobility, and that of the new Protestant nobility, who feared Dudley.

Mary marched to London with an army to claim the throne. Lady Jane was deposed without a struggle, and imprisoned. Dudley and many of his kind renounced Protestantism. This did not save Dudley from the scaffold. Protestant Bishops, such as Hooper, Ridley, Cramner, and Latimer, were burnt at the stake, “lighting that day,” as Latimer bravely said, “a candle that would not be put out”. Three hundred humbler victims also lost their life in the fires of Smithfield. The story of these people was enshrined in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, 1563. It became a common possession of the English people, and made “Bloody Mary” an unforgettable name.

Lady Jane was also killed. About 10 o’clock on the morning of February 12th., 1554, Jane watched from her window in thr Tower as her husband was led on his way to Tower Hill. She was still watching when his body was brought back into the Tower, his head wrapped in bandage at his side. Those in her company reported later that she wept openly at the sight, and was heard to utter his name.

Jane then made her way to the scaffold. Yeoman of the Guard surrounded the wooden structure that had been built the day before. At the scaffold, Jane was joined by several Tower chaplains. She said to one of them: “God grant you all your desires and accept my own hearty thanks for all your attention to me. Although indeed, those attentions have tried me more than death can now terrify me”. She then climbed the stairs, “nothing at all abashed …. neither her eyes moistened with tears, although her two gentlewomen …. wonderfully wept”.

She recited the fifty-first psalm in English. She then gave her gloves and handkerchief to her lady-in-waiting, Mrs Ellen, who helped her to remove her headdress and neckerchief, and dispense with her heavy outer garment.

The executioner then knelt and asked for Jane’s forgiveness, which she gave “most willingly”. There followed a five minute silence, whereby officials awaited a last-minute reprieve from Mary.
The executioner then told Jane where to stand. She replied, “I pray you despatch me quickly”. She began to kneel, then hesitated and said, “Will you take it off before I lay me down?” The executioner answered, “No madame”. Jane then tied the handkerchief around her eyes. Unable to locate the block, she became anxious, asking in a faltering voice “Where is it? What shall I do? Where is it?” Those who stood upon the scaffold seemed unsure of what to do. Someone climbed the scaffold and helped her to the block.

Her last words were, “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit”.

According to tradition, her head was then held aloft with the words, “So perish all the Queen’s enemies. Behold, the head of a traitor“.

Michael Stanhope’s half-sister, Anne Duchess of Somerset, was kept a prisoner in the tower until July, 1553, not being released until the accession of Queen Mary, her great friend. She died Easter-day, April 16, 1587. Earl Stanhope, in his ‘Notices’, wrote: “Anne of Somerset is said by some writers to have had much pride and arrogance of temper; which may the rather be believed, since it appears that, during the Protectorate of the Duke, she was engaged in some dispute for precedence with the Queen Dowager, Katherine Parr. Something of the same spirit might be imputed to the first line of her epitaph: “A Princess descended of noble lignage”.

Sir Michael Stanhope’s widow, Anne Rawson, 1516-1587, was the daughter of Nicholas Rawson of Avely, more anciently written Alveley, a small village near Purfleet on the Thames. “Alured Rawson, citizen of London, and merchant of the Staple of Calais, was Lord of this Manor of Aveley in 1509. His son, Nicholas Rawson, of Giddy Hall, Romford, Essex, married Beatrix Cooke, obit. 1554, daughter of Philip Cooke, and Elizabeth Belnap, and left one daughter and heir, named Anne, who was married to Sir Michael Stanhope” (The History of Essex, Rev. Philip Morant, pp. 76-78, 1768. See also Thoroton’s Notts., Throsby, vol. 1., p. 290). She was buried in Shelford Church.

“Lady Anne Stanhope lived widow 35 years, in which time she brought up all her younger children in virtue and learning, In her life-time she kept continually a worshipful house, relieved the poor daily, spent the most time of her latter days in prayer and using the church where God’s word was preached. She died in the faith of Christ, in hope of a joyful resurrection’ (Inscription on the monument of Sir Michael Stanhope, elder of the name, in Shelford Church, as existing in 1841).

12. Sir Thomas Stanhope, 1532-1596, Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in 4 Eliz., and Nottingham alone in 16 Eliz.; who died at Stoke, and from whom the later peers of the Stanhope family are descended. Sir Thomas Stanhope was the eldest of eight surviving children. He was determined that his family would regain and then maintain their status. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in one of her stately progresses at Kenilworth Castle in 1575. A peerage from James I. ranked no higher, for she was “Queen Elizabeth of famous memorie, that ever carried a sparing hand in the bestowing of honour” (Extract from the monument to Sir George Hart, in the Church at Lullingstone, in Kent). Sir Thomas Stanhope increased his wealth by purchasing the manors of Whatton, Bingham, and Toveton, and, significantly, by marrying the heiress Margaret Porte, 1542-1597, daughter of Sir John Porte of Etwall and Cubely, one of the Justices of the King’s Bench, and Dorothy Montgomery, second of three daughters and coheirs of Sir John Montgomery, obit 1513, of Cubely in Derbyshire. By this way, the Earls of Chesterfield became Lord of the Manor and patron of the Rectory of Cubley, the ancient seat of the Montgomery family. Sir Thomas was interred in Shelford Church on September 26, 1596. He and Margaret Porte had issue: Sir John Stanhope of Shelford. An Oxford University entry, Col. Magd., dated June 20, 1574, states “John Stanhopp arm. fil. in com. Not. nat. an. 15”.

13. Sir John Stanhope, 1559-1611, dates as inquis post mortem, who on meeting King James in his way to Belvoir castle, on his first coming into England, had the honour of knighthood granted him, on the payment of £10,000!

He married, firstly, Cordelia, daughter and co-heir of Richard Alington, and Jane Cordell, obit. 1602, daughter of John Cordell, and sister of Sir William Cordell, Master of the Rolls.

The Alington family obtained the Manor of Wymondeley, near Hitchin, from the Argentines, by the marriage of Sir William Alington, 1392-1450, of Botisham, Cambridgeshire, with Elizabeth de Argentine, 1401-1463, eldest sister and co-heir of Sir John de Argentine. Their descendant, Richard Alington, as shown, married Jane Cordell. “By this lady he had three daughters, of whom, the second, Cordelia, married Sir John Stanhope. The Argentines were a very ancient and eminent family. They held the lordship of Wymondeley by Grand Serjeanty, that is to say, it came with the duty of serving the monarch with ‘their first cup upon the day of solemn Coronation” (Clutterbuck’s History of Hertfordshire, vol. ii., p. 542, 1821).

He married, secondly, Catherine Trentham, 1566-1623, daughter of Thomas Trentham of Roseter, Staffordshire, having issue:

14. Lady Catherine Stanhope, 1582-1694, who became the second wife of the close friend of King Charles I., Sir Thomas Hutchinson of Owthorpe, and step-mother of the famous Colonel John Hutchinson, Governor of Nottingham for Cromwell’s Parliament. Lady Catherine survived to the great age of 102, and was buried, as was her husband, at St. Paul’s, Covent-Garden. The Rev. Julius Hutchinson, one of her descendants, and editor of her memoirs, 1808, says, in his preface, that during her later years “this lady dwelt in splendour in Nottingham”.
14. Cordelia Stanhope, 1585-1627, who married, firstly, Sir Roger Aston, and, secondly, John, Baron Mohun of Okehampton, 1592-28/3/1641. Suffice it to say, Cordelia Stanhope and John Mohun were the ancestors of a most fascinating family.
14. Sir John Stanhope, married secondly Mary Radclyffe, 1605-1675, daughter of Sir John Radclyffe of Orsdal. He was knighted in 1607; elected Knight of the Shire of Derbyshire temp. 18 James I., and also in the first parliament of Charles I. He was Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1629.
15. John Stanhope, “the elder”, of Elvaston, 1620-1662, married Jane Curzon, 1625-1652, daughter of Sir John Curzon, 1st. Bart. of Keddlestone.
16. John Stanhope, “the younger”, of Elvaston, 1642-1684, married Dorothy Agard, 1657-1705, daughter of Charles Agard, of Foston.
17. William Stanhope, 1681-1756, who, in 1729, was created Lord Harrington, Co. Northampton, and, in 1742, 1st. Earl of Harrington, and Viscount Petersham, County Surrey. He married Anne Griffith, 1695-1719, daughter of Col. Edward Griffith. William Stanhope was a British statesman and diplomat. Educated at Eton, he joined the army and served in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession. When peace was made between England and Spain, in 1720, Stanhope became British ambassador to the latter country. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1747 to 1751.
18. General William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington, 1719–1779, was an English politician and soldier. He took up a military career, joining the Foot Guards in 1741. He was wounded at the Battle of Fontenoy, and shortly after was appointed Colonel of the Second Troop of the Grenadier Guards, an appointment he held for the remainder of his life. In 1747, he became MP. for Bury St Edmunds, and, in 1755, was promoted to major-general. He succeeded to the Earldom in 1756, and was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1758, and general in 1770. He married Lady Caroline FitzRoy, 1722–1784, daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, on August 11, 1746.

19. Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington, was appointed, in 1778, Captain and Lieut.-Colonel of the 3rd Foot Guards. In 1792, he was transferred to the Colonelcy of the 1st Life Guards. He was promoted to Major-General in 1793, and to Lieut.-General in 1798, finally to the rank of General in 1803. In 1806, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Forces in Ireland; and at the Coronation of King George IV was bearer of the Great Standard. General, The Earl of Harrington, was subsequently appointed Governor and Constable of Windsor Castle.

He married Jane Fleming (23 May 1755 – 3 February 1824); a society hostess and heiress who served as a lady of the Bedchamber to the British queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Lady Harrington became noted for her fashion sense and physical attractiveness; she and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, were singled out as “the best dressed ladies” at an all-night party held by the Duchess in September 1782. A somewhat talented painter, Lady Harrington helped establish John Glover’s career as art instructor in the early 1790s, and may have taken lessons from him. She was well acquainted with Sir Joshua Reynolds, who painted two famous portraits of her.

20. Charles Stanhope, 4th Earl of Harrington, 1780–1851. He married Maria Foote, 1792-1867, a celebrated actress, daughter of Samuel Foote. He was better known throughout the Regency period as Lord Petersham, as he did not succeed to the earldom until 1829. Tall and handsome in appearance, he was a popular character in society. Renowned as an eccentric – he dressed like the French King Henry IV., and had other personal peculiarities – dandy, connoisseur of snuff and tea, he was also a liberal patron of the opera and theatre. He designed the Petersham overcoat. When he died without leaving a male heir, the title went to his brother. Such as Lady Hester Stanhope would have been acquainted with him. Although the various bramnches of the Stanhope family were increasingly distanced from their most recent common ancestor, they corresponded with and visited each other; their name acting as an ongoing magnet of connectivity.

Returning to the issue of Sir John Stanhope, 1559-1611, and his first wife, Cordelia Alington:

14. Philip Stanhope, 1584-1656, created, in 1628, first Earl of Chesterfield, who died as a prisoner of Cromwell’s Parliament. In the Civil War, he and his family supported the King. As a result, his estates were sequestered, and, in 1645, he petitioned the House of Lords for maintenance. He was granted £5 per week, and fined £8,698 for having chosen the wrong side. He died in London on the 12th. September, and was buried in the church of Saint-Giles-In-The-Fields. He married, firstly, his second cousin, Catherine Hastings, 1586-1636, daughter of Francis Hastings, Lord Hastings, obit. 1595, of Huntingdon, Berwick, and Sarah Harington, of Exton, Rutlandshire. Francis Hastings was the eldest son of George Hastings, obit. 1604, 4th. Earl of Huntingdon, and Dorothy Porte, obit. 1607, sister of Margaret Porte, who was the wife of the aforementioned Sir Thomas Stanhope.

(My family descended from Philip Stanhope, first Earl of Chesterfield, as accounted for in previous notices. His great-grandson, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 1694-1773, 4th Earl of Chesterfield; who was known as Lord Stanhope until his father’s death in 1726, was a British statesman and man of letters. He was educated at Cambridge and then went on the Grand Tour of the Continent. He acquired a competent knowledge in Geometry and Architecture, a field of interest of many later Stanhopes. His relative, James Stanhope, the favourite minister of George I., procured him the position of gentleman of the bedchamber to the Prince of Wales. In 1715, he entered the House of Commons as Lord Stanhope of Shelford. A noted wit and orator, his long public career included an ambassadorship to The Hague, 1728-32, and a tenure as lord lieutenant of Ireland 1745-46. According to Horace Walpole, Philip Dormer Stanhope, as Embassador to Holland, ‘courted the good opinion of that economical people by losing immense sums at play.’ His literary fame rests upon his letters to his illegitimate son, Philip Stanhope, first published in 1774, designed for the education of a young man. Excerpt from this work show his keen insight into human nature:

“As kings are begotten and born like other men, it is to be presumed that they are of the human species; and perhaps, had they the same education, they might prove like other men. But, flattered from their cradles, their hearts are corrupted, and their heads are turned, so that they seem to be a species by themselves …. Flattery cannot be too strong for them; drunk with it from their infancy, like old drinkers, they require dreams“.

“Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them“.

Chesterfield was writing from first-hand acquaintance with George I. and II. These small quote does not give full justice to his remarkably penerative insights. Chesterfield’s letters are more worthy than his treatment of family heirlooms, which he treated with contempt. Towards the year 1750, as Horace Walpole tells us, he had “placed among the portraits of his ancestors two old heads, inscribed Adam de Stanhope and Eve de Stanhope”.

Philip Dormer Stanhope died without leaving a male heir. When his son, also named Philip Stanhope, died prematurely in 1768, his title went to his kinsman and godson, Philip Stanhope, 1755-1815, 5th Earl of Chesterfield, who was the direct descendant of the first Earl of Chesterfield’s youngest son, Arthur.

The 1st Earl Chesterfield married, secondly, Anne Pakington, having issue:

15. Alexander Stanhope, who married Catherine Burghill.
16. James Stanhope, commander-in chief of British forces in Spain in 1708, and an advocate of offensive tacticts. Perhaps as a result of this prediliction, he was captured, and was a prisoner in Spain for a year. On his return, in 1712, he abandoned the army for politics, and played a major role in establishing the House of Hanover on the throne. He masterminded the defeat of the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. He was principal minister of King George I.
17. Philip Stanhope, 2nd. Earl Stanhope, was a mathematician and a fellow of the Royal Society. He married Grizel Hamilton, sister of Thomas Hamilton, 7th Earl Haddington, and daughter of Charles Hamilton, lord Binning, and Rachel Baillie, daughter of George Baillie of Jerviswood.

CITIZEN STANHOPE

18. Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope (1753-1816), married (1) on 19 December 1774, Lady Hester Pitt, sister of Prime Minister, William Pitt, having issue:
19. Lady Hester Stanhope.
(2), in 1781, Louisa Grenville (1758–1829), daughter and heiress of Henry Grenville, Governor of Barbados, having issue:
19. Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope (7 December 1781 – 2 March 1855), a Vice-President of the Society of Arts, who married, on 19 November 1803, Catherine Lucy Smith, daughter of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington. His eccentricity was understandable according to his daughter, the Duchess of Cleveland (Life and Letters of Lady Hester Stanhope), as his father refused to send him to school, keeping him at the family home of Chevening, and exhorting him to agree to terminating the family estates, which would then have sold. On 4 Apr. 1800 he informed his half-sister Lady Hester Stanhope that he must throw himself on her uncle the prime minister Pitt’s protection, for “as long as I continue to exist … so long will I continue in steady and determined opposition to Jacobin principles”.

He wondered whether his father might be certified insane. (Another label for radical). His wish then was for a military career, but when Lady Hester engineered his escape from home in 1801, it was to a German university. On his return Pitt took up his cause against his father’s exploitation of his entailed estates and granted him a place worth £500 p.a., in his gift as warden of the Cinque Ports. Under Pitt’s aegis he further improved his prospects by marrying Lord Carrington’s daughter, with £20,000, in 1803. Philip built his own wealth through business partnerships such as the co-ownership of a sugar plantation in Jamaica. This was worked by 222 enslaved Africans for whom Stanhope was awarded compensation after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833. Francis Horner wrote of him, 10 Jan. 1810: Mahon is of an affectionate temper, and his character is not without softness naturally; but he has no head, and I am told is lately become suspicious. That had not come upon him, when I knew him, but I should have said at that time that though one never could make any way with his understanding against an opinion he had once taken, he was equally susceptible of benevolent impressions as of the contrary and where he liked, was confiding and sanguine. I do not know of late years what the circumstances of his life have been, probably not so favourable for the blood he was born with, as the situation in which I used to see him. (The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986).
20. Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope (1805–1875), the historian, and author of Notices of The Stanhopes As Esquires And Knights.
20. Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Stanhope (1819–1901), the historian known as the “Duchess of Cleveland”, author of the Battle Abbey Roll.

Charles Stanhope was educated at Eton and the University of Geneva, where he devoted himself to the study of mathematics, and acquired from Switzerland an intense love of liberty. He was the chairman of the Revolution Society, whose members expressed their sympathy with the aims of the French Revolution. Indeed, Earl Stanhope referred to himself as “Citizen Stanhope”. In 1795, he introduced into the Lords a motion opposing any interference with the internal affairs of France. He was in a “minority of one” – a sobriquet which stuck to him throughout life. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1772, and spent much of his income conducting experiments in science. He invented a method of securing buildings from fire, a printing press, the lens which bears his name, and two calculating machines.

Lord Charles Stanhope died in his family seat in Chevening, Kent, on December 17, 1816, and was buried at Stanhope Chantry in St. Botolph Churchyard, Chevening. Friend and foe agreed that in the third Earl Stanhope one of the most striking personalities of his time had passed away.

“Dec. 15, 1816. Died, at Chevening, Kent, in his 64th year, Charles Stanhope, Earl Stanhope. Though we did not coincide with the political principles of this distinguished Nobleman, we admired his talents, and hesitate not to admit the eulogy of a partial friend. His death is justly considered as a public Ioss. He had indeed eccentricities in public, and peculiarities in private life; but his claims on public gratitude on the score of services are, perhaps, as rare, as those powers of intellect with which he was unquestionably endowed. He uniformly and zealously promoted the extension of human knowledge, by devoting a large portion of his ample fortune, and a yet larger portion of his time and thoughts, to experiments in Science and Philosophy.

He maintained, during a long political life, those principles of freedom which be had imbibed from his education, and inherited from his paternal and maternal ancestors, without the slightest desire of office, emolument, or dignity, or the most distant imputation of any interested motive; and yet, with an ardour which is now but seldom excited, unless by the personal passions of ambition, avarice, pride, or resentment.

If his objects in public were sometime impracticable, they were neither sordid nor selfish. If he occasionally resorted to unusual methods for rendering others subservient to his views, those views, were at least directed exclusively to some end, which was, in his judgment, beneficial to his fellow-citizens, and useful to mankind.

His public speeches were full of matter, ingenious in argument, perspicuous in arrangement and language; and if his delivery was not graceful, and his illustrations not elegant, they were not deficient in force, spirit, or effect, it is true they were neither persuasive nor judicious. It was often more difficult to answer, than easy to agree with them; for he seldom adapted his views to the state of public opinions or parties, and the forms of his reasoning were in themselves more scholastic and subtle than practical or convincing.

When, however, questions arose which required a practical-knowledge of the exact sciences and their application, he was, if not the only, at least the foremost and ablest man in our Legislature, to expound, discuss, and decide them.

On such occasions lie acted with judgment; on all, his conduct was regulated by a strict sense of public duty, and it may be questioned whether he has left behind him a man more sincerely atttached to the principles of popular government, or more deeply imbued with hatred of every thing that savours of tyranny or superstition.

It cannot be forgotten, also, that though from connexion he was one of the earliest friends of Mr. Pitt, when he conceived he had discovered that the system adopted by that Minister would be ruinous to the Country, he ever after as strenuously opposed the system, as he at first supported the man.

His loss will, on many accounts, make a chasm in public life, which will not be easily supplied. The great and useful work, for which he was peculiarly qualified, and to which he had for a long time applied the most earnest attention, will, we fear, now fall to the ground: we allude to a Digest of all the Statutes — a work of such stupendous labour, as well as information, that few persons can be expected to set about it with vigour, unless, like Lord Stanhope, they had acquired a sort of parental fondness for the subject, by brooding over it for years.

The various mechanic inventions and improvements which he brought forth or countenanced, have justly raised his name as a man of genius and a patriot: he not only cultivated the amelioration of the useful arts, as Architecture, Navigation, and Printing, but suggested some improvements in the more refined and elagant science of Musick.

His plain, unaffected, and amiable manners conciliated as much affection, as his extensive and unimpeachable integrity commanded respect from all who knew and observed him. He was a kind landlord; and a liberal benefactor to the poor.

His Lordsliip was born Aug. 3, 1753; and received his education at Geneva, which gave, it is supposed, its tincture to his politics”. (The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 86, pt. 2, p. 563, 1816).

Substance of Earl Stanhope’s Speech: Delivered from the Chair, at a Meeting of Citizens, at the Crown and Anchor, on the 4th of February 1795. To Celebrate the Happy Event of the Late Trials, for Supposed High Treason –
“Citizens, Notwithstanding the haughty self-importance of certain Aristocrats in this Country, I solemnly declare, that I would rather Undergo a long and close Imprisonment, similar to that of the worthy Citizens, who lately have been tried; and suffer all the hardships they have experienced: I would rather also, bear all the obloquy, which Malice, and a spirit of Calumny, and slander have heaped upon them: in short, I would much rather be one of those honest and ”acquitted Felons”, and enjoy their quiet Conscience, and their tranquil Peace of Mind: than, for one single, dismal hour, be tormented with the unquiet, and disturbed Reflections of some of their Accusers. Citizens, Would you really believe, that one of their supposed Offences was stated to have been, that, when those Men happened to address each other, they were (even) so abominably wicked., as to call one another “Citizen?”. It was seriously termed a kind of Indication of an Evil Intent!”.

He removed the Stanhope coat-of-arms from the gates of Chevening, Kent, which he renamed ‘Democracy Hall’.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE’S ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION (As recorded by her physician and companion, Charles Lewis Meryon).

ASCALON

“The very day of our arrival, a gang was immediately set to work and I shall now proceed to detail, day by day, what the excavations brought to light. As a beginning, nothing more was done than just to remove the surface of the ground”.

April 2nd. After digging down three or four feet, some foundations were laid open, running east and west. On removing the earth between them nothing was found but mould and loose stones, with two or three human bones. Three fragments of marble shafts of pillars were bared and a Corinthian capital. There were appearances showing that the ground had been disturbed at some former period, particularly in the south-east corner, where there was a ditch of a very recent date … Two small earthen phials, about three inches long, some fragments of vases, and a bottle of lapis specularis, or talc, were dug up: shards of pottery were found here and there, but none of them of fine workmanship.

On the 3rd day, the excavations were continued along the south wall. The men worked with great animation. The idea of discovering immense heaps of gold seemed to have an effect upon them, although they could not hope for a share in it. On this day there was a great fall of rain and hail, and the weather was so tempestuous as much to impede the labourers. A pipe and tabor were therefore brought, to the tune of which they worked, sung, and danced. Cross foundations were met with, running east and west, seeming to have served for the support of rows of pedestals. About fifteen feet from the centre of the south wall were discovered several large fragments of granite columns, which lay one on another in such a manner as to render it probable that they were placed there.

On the 4th day the work was continued nearly in the same direction. At three in the afternoon, the workmen struck upon a mutilated statue. I was immediately called, and felt exultation at the sight of a relic of antiquity, which I thought might give celebrity to our labours. The soil around it being removed, it was drawn up by ropes, without damage. There were at the same spot some imperfect remains of the pedestal on which it had stood. The depth of the mould and rubbish which lay over the statue was six or eight feet.

On examination, it proved to be a marble statue of colossal dimensions and of good execution. It was headless, and had lost an arm and a leg; but was not otherwise disfigured. It seemed to have represented a deified king for the shoulders were ornamented. It appears that the sculpture on the Gate of the Lions, as it is called, at Mycenæ, had a strong resemblance to the centre ornament of the statue (See Hughes’s Travels, v. i. p. 229), with the insignia of the thunderbolt, and the breast with the Medusa’s head. There was every reason to believe that, in the changes of masters which Ascalon had undergone, the place in which we were now digging had originally been a heathen temple, afterwards a church, and then a mosque. The statue probably belonged to the age of the successors of Alexander, or it might be that of Herod himself. At the depth where the statue lay was a marble pavement and also a tympanum of a porch of the Corinthian order. To the East, close to the South wall, was found the trunk of another statue. As the mould was cleared away, a modius was discovered, which probably had surmounted the head of one of the two statues. It was chipped off at the top, and evidently, at the bottom, had been forcibly separated from the head to which it had belonged: it was nine and a half inches long. The statue, from the acromion to the heel, was six feet nine inches.

On the fifth day the outline of the foundations of the entire building was made out. … On the outside of the West foundation, three subterraneous places were opened, which at first, it was thought, would lead to the object we were in search of. But they proved to be cisterns or reservoirs for rain water, with no appearance of antiquity about them.

On the eighth day from the commencement of our labours, the cisterns were emptied. Digging in the line of the West wall, two stone troughs of considerable length were discovered about four feet under the surface, and upon them lay, cross-wise, four gray granite columns, closely packed to each other, as if done methodically. This discovery revived the people’s hopes; for it was supposed that huge masses of granite could not have fallen in such a position accidentally, and would not be laboriously placed so, unless to conceal something. The removing was deferred until the morrow, the men requiring ropes to do it, because horses are never put into harness in Syria. Near the North East angle was also found a marble pavement, and by it seemed to have been another door. Under the pavement ran a continuation of the same canal which conducted water to the cisterns.

I had by this time made a pen sketch of the statue, and had represented to Lady Hester that her labours, if productive of no golden treasures, had brought to light one more valuable in the eyes of the lovers of the fine arts, and that future travellers would come to visit the ruins of Ascalon, rendered memorable by the enterprise of a woman, who, though digging for gold, yet rescued the remains of antiquity from oblivion. What was my astonishment, when she answered “This may be all true; but it is my intention to break the statue, and have it thrown into the sea, precisely in order that such a report may not get abroad”.

When I heard what her intentions were, I made use of every argument in my power to dissuade her from it; telling her that the apparent vandalism of such an act could never be wiped away in the eyes of virtuosi, and would be the less excusable, as I was not aware that the Turks had either claimed the statue or had forbidden its preservation. But no idle notions, I insisted, ought to have weight on her mind; and I begged hard that, if she could not with decency carry it away, she would at least leave for others to look at. She replied:

“Malicious people may say I came to search for antiquities for my country, and not for treasures, so, go this instant; take with you half a dozen stout fellows, and break it in a thousand pieces!”
(She would have been acutely aware that another Stanhope, John Spencer Stanhope, (1787–1873), heretofore mentioned, had controversially purchased a a piece of Parthenon frieze, which was displayed with the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum).

Her resolution was not a thing of the moment: she had reflected on it two days; and knowing her unalterable determination on such occasions, I went and did as she desired. When Mohammed Aga saw what had been done, he could not conceal his vexation for it is probable that Lady Hester had read what was passing in his mind, and had thus prevented many an insinuation against her.

(Thus, it is not the case that Lady Hester’s act was of a temperamental manner, one symbolic of smashing the rigid confines of English society that she had endured (as sometimes suggested); it was, rather, a calculated act, designed not to sully her repuation. How we may now judge it is another matter. It seems, sadly, to detract from the importance of the archeology associated with it).

The North foundation wall had been traced throughout its whole length; and, in that direction, the shafts of two small marble pillars, about six feet in length, and with rude capitals, had been the only reward. Other masses had been broken up, to see if they had concealed anything. But, when every research was fruitless, the closing hand was, by Lady Hester’s consent, put to our labours on the 14th of April, being a fortnight from the commencement. The conclusion that her ladyship came to was, that when Gezzar Pasha embellished the city of Acre, by digging for marble and other materials in the ruins of Ascalon, he was fortunate enough to discover the treasure. That Gezzàr enriched his coffers by wealth so got was generally affirmed and it is probable that his pretended mania for building was no more than a cloak to conceal this real motive for excavating.

Oddly enough, the failure of the Ascalon expedition did no harm to Hester’s standing in the area; rather, it enhanced it. The fact that she had destroyed a 2,000 year old statue proved that she was not a thieving European.

I am enabled to subjoin Lady Hester’s own account of these excavations, which she sent to Lord Bathurst, then Secretary of State. 

“My Lord, A curious document, once in the hands of the church, fell by accident into mine. It was an indication to considerable treasures in Syria. Having made this known to the Porte, a confidential person belonging to the sultan’s household was sent from Constantinople to investigate the business. I proceeded with him to Ascalon: but the mosque, in which the treasure was said to be hidden, was no longer standing. One wall only remained of a magnificent structure, which had been mosque, church, and temple at different periods. After having traced out the South West and North foundation walls, and after digging for several days within them, we came to the under-ground fabric we were looking for: but, alas! it had been rifled. It was, as nearly as one could calculate, capable of containing three millions of pieces of gold – the sum mentioned in the document. Whilst excavating this once magnificent building – for such it must have been by the number of fine columns and fine pavements we discovered under ground – we found a superb colossal statue without a head, which belonged to the heathens. It was eighteen feet below the surface. Knowing how much it would be prized by English travellers, I ordered it to be broken into a thousand pieces, that malicious people might not say I came to look for statues for my countrymen and not for treasures”.

THE STANHOPES OF CANNON HALL

10. From John Stanhope, a younger brother of Sir Edward Stanhope,* are descended the Stanhopes of Horsforth, who became settled at Cannon Hall, Cawthorne, West Yorkshire. *Sir Edward Stanhope, obit. 1511, father of Sir Michael Stanhope, as given. The Stanhopes of Cannon Hall and of the Earls of Chesterfield regularly visited each other.
11. John Stanhope, of Lancashire
12. John Stanhope, of Horsforth. In 1565, a branch of the Stanhopes came from Lancashire into Yorkshire, and eventually settled at Horsforth, Low Hall, near Calverley Bridge.
13. Walter Stanhope, of Horsforth.
14. John Stanhope, of Horsforth.
15. John Stanhope, of Horsforth.
16. John Stanhope of Horsforth, married Margaret Lowther, daughter of Sir William Lowther of Swillington.
17. Walter Stanhope, of Horsforth, married Anne Spencer, heiress of William Spencer of Cannon Hall, Barnsley, Yorks.
18. Walter Spencer-Stanhope, 1749-1821, of Horsforth and Cannon Hall, who assumed, by sign manual, 1776, the additional surname and arms of Spencer, as heir to his uncle, John Spencer, of Horsforth, barrister-at-law, familiarly known as “Lawyer Stanhope” obit. 1769; a bold rider, a hard drinker with a violent temper and speech, but open and warm hearted, with good manners, and a paternalistic approach. He was scholarly and possessed a large library. He was never interested in politics, but became a racehorse owner and ran cockfights on Sunday in Cawthorne Park. Walter Spencer-Stanhope was educated at Bradford Grammar School, the University College, Oxford, and studied law at the Middle Temple. He took an active part in politics, and. through his family connection with the Lowthers of Lowther Castle, and was elected Member for Carlisle in 1774. He spoke frequently in the House, and with much humour.

He was a close supporter of William Pitt, and William Wilberforce, the Yorkshire anti-slavery campaigner. He married, in 1783, Mary Winifred Pulleine, obit. 1850, of Carlton Hall, Richmond, Yorks; daughter of Thomas Babington Pulleine Esq., and his wife Winifred, daughter of Edward Collingwood, of Dissington Hall, Esq., by Mary his wife, daughter and co-heir of John Roddam Esq., of Roddam; from whence the family of Hilary Clinton.

19. John Spencer Stanhope, Of Cannon Hall; heretofore mentioned, m. Elizabeth Wilhemina Coke, third and youngest daughter of Thomas William Coke, first Earl of Leicester. She and her sisters studied art with Thomas Gainsborough.

 JOHN RODDAM SPENCER STANHOPE, PAINTER OF DREAMS

20. John Roddam Spencer Stanhope (January 20 1829 – August 2, 1908), artist, and friend of Burne-Jones. He was invited by Dante Gabriel Rossetti to participate in the Oxford Union murals project, painting Sir Gawaine and the Damsels.

To these “eccentrics” (to society) could be added many more from the Stanhope Family, but of them, and their equal intellects, I say nothing, but God Rest; the time of your kind as sadly long passed, to be covered by a dust of mediocrity – a pretence of substance.

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