Edmund Alexander Champion de Crespigny (1890 – 1905 or 1967?)

When reviewing records associated with the surname Champion de Crespigny, I came across records which I had not been able to associate with a member of the family. There were a number of twentieth century records that I could not link until I reviewed the United States naturalization records and from these I was able to assemble the family history. There was one small problem, the man who was the head of this family appears to have died in 1905 before he married.

Edmund Alexander Champion de Crespigny, youngest child of Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny (1850-1912) and Annie Rose Charlotte Champion de Crespigny nee Key (1859-1935), was born 12 July 1890 and baptised at Bramshaw, Hampshire, England, on 14 October 1890.

At the time of the 1891 English census he was 8 months old and living at Round Hill, Bramshaw with his parents. His father was a retired Royal Navy officer. Edmund’s two brothers and sister were also at home as well as two adult cousins of his parents and three servants.

In 1901 he was at boarding school at Bramshaw.

There is a 1905 Irish death index record for a 14-year-old EAC de Crespigny who died at Ballycastle, Antrim. There is a memorial at Bramshaw, Wiltshire for him stating he was buried 30 May 1905 and that he was Edmund, son of Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny and Rose Charlotte. He is not on the 1911 census. His mother, moreover, declares she gave birth to four children and one had died. The two brothers of Edmund and his sister were living in 1911, so the dead child was almost certainly Edmund.

On 30 December 1919 an Edmund Alexander Champion de Crespigny aged 29 (born 1890) married Elise Emma Richard at Lausanne, Switzerland. He stated he was the son of Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny and Annie Rose Key and that he had been born at Lyndhurst. Lyndhurst is less than six miles from Bramshaw.

I have come across people who have assumed the surname Champion de Crespigny because it would appear they claimed to be an illegitimate child of a member of the family. This case seems to be different as the man has stated that his mother is the wife of Philip. He is claiming to be the son who had died in 1905.

This man continued to assume the identity though his first name evolved to Claude and his wife, Elise, was known as Lilette. I was only able to reconcile the records when reviewing his 1960 naturalization papers. What follows is the chronology of his life as told in records that have been digitised and can be found through genealogy websites, in particular through ancestry.com.

In August 1920 Claude de Crespigny, engineer and director, arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, on the SS Canopic via Canada. He stated that he was born in London and his wife was Lillette. She had a Swiss address.

On 9 August 1922 Claude and Lilette had a child, Michelle Rosamonde Champion de Crespigny, born in Switzerland. She came to America in 1928. According to Michelle’s 1941 application for naturalization the family settled in Chicago.

In 1923 Claude Edward Alexander de Crespigny, mechanical engineer, living at Scranton Pennsylvania, declared his intention to apply for naturalization.

On 25 November 1927 Claude Edmund Alexander Champion de Crespigny applied for naturalization in Chicago. He stated he was born 12 July 1890 at White Lodge Lyndhurst. He was currently a typewriter salesman, living in Chicago. He had arrived on the SS Canopic in 1920. He had been living in Illinois since 1924. His wife was Lillette and they had married in Switzerland. She was currently living in Toronto. They had a daughter who was currently living in Switzerland. The application was denied by the court in December 1928 due to “want of prosecution; unable to obtain depositions”. It would seem Claude failed to follow through on his application.

At the time of the 1930 US census Claude, Lillette and Michelle were living at 1546 Farwell Avenue, Chicago. Claude was a typewriter salesman.

In December 1930 the Blue Island Suburban Star of Blue Island, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, reported that Professor Claude Campion de Crespigny (sic), a local resident, would talk on “Britain in India today”. Professor de Crespigny was a member of the faculty of Loyola University and had served with the British Legation in India. (As this was before 1947 when India gained independence, the term British Legation in India makes no sense.) I have found no evidence of a Professor de Crespigny at Loyola University and given that Claude was living in Chicago, Illinois, I believe this lecturer is Edmund Claude. There are a number of universities with that name including Loyola University, Chicago.

On 26 September 1935 Claude R Crespigny married Ruby V. King in Manhattan, New York.

When Claude’s wife Lilette applied for naturalization in 1944 she stated she and Claude had divorced in 1940.

In 1940 Claude and Lilette’s daughter Michelle was at school at Morgan Park High School, Chicago. I have not been able to locate any member of the family on the United States 1940 census.

In 1942 Claude was living at 14 East 54 Street New York when he registered for the draft as Claude Crespigny. He was 52 years old and stated he was born 12 July 1890 at Lyndhurst, England. A person who would always know his address was Fred W Peterson of same address. His employer was Fashion Center, Dechard, Tennessee and business was Travel for Dechard, Tennessee. On the reverse of the card it stated that Claude had a gunshot wound on his forehead and a bayonet wound on his right hand. He was 5’9″ tall with hazel eyes and brown hair.

In 1960 Claude again petitioned for naturalization. He was living at 414 Fannin, Houston Texas and was a hotel clerk. He had one daughter, Michelle, wife Ruby who had been born St Vincent British West Indies and that he had married in 1945 in New London, Connecticut, but since divorced. He stated his name had changed to Claude Edmund Crespigny but his full true and correct natural name was Edmund Alexander Champian de Crespigny (sic). He stated that he had arrived in America under the name Claude Emil de Crespigny.

Claude died 31 January 1967. The informant was Mrs Ella Roland. She stated his date of birth was 12 July 1890 and that he had been born in England. She did not know the names of his parents. She stated he was a US citizen, his occupation was hotel clerk of Houston Texas. His usual address was 811 Sul Ross appartment number 3 in Houston Texas. He had been living in Houston for 20 years. He died at Ben Taub General Hospital of hypotension due to upper gastrointestinal bleeding. There was an autospsy. His body was donated to medical research.

In 1947 Frederick Philip Champion de Crespigny died. Frederick was the older brother of Edmund and was also the seventh Champion de Crespigny baronet. Theoretically Edmund would have become the eighth baronet. The man known as Claude de Crespigny did not come forward. Not least, no doubt, because the family knew that Edmund had died in 1905 and would have exposed him as an imposter. The title of baronet passed to Frederick’s nephew, Vivian. On Vivian’s death the title became extinct.

Had the title passed to the man who had assumed the identity of Edmund, the title still would have become extinct as Edmund, later known as Claude, had no sons, only a daughter.

Michelle married in 1944 and died in 1998. She had at least one child.

Family tree showing the male line of descent from Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734-1818) the 1st baronet. The eight baronets are highlighted in yellow.

I do not know who Claude de Crespigny, the man who died in Texas in 1967, really was, nor what he gained out of assuming the identity of the son of Philip and Rose de Crespigny.

Related blog post

• Extinction of the de Crespigny baronetcy

References – unless otherwise stated the references were retrieved through ancestry.com

• Baptism record FHL Film Number:6343375
• 1891 England census Class: RG12; Piece: 910; Folio 73; Page 15; GSU roll: 6096020.
• 1901 England census Class: RG13; Piece: 1050; Folio: 80; Page: 9.
• 1905 death of EAC de Crespigny aged 14 registered Ballycastle Antrim Apr-Jun 1905 vol 1 page 58 retrieved from index of Irish deaths 1864-1958 through FindMyPast.com.au
• 1905 memorial at Bramshaw from Wiltshire Memorial index number 27214 retrieved through FindMyPast.com.au
• 1911 England census Class: RG14; Piece: 5904; Schedule Number: 69
• 1919 marriage from Great Britain, selected marriages FHL Film Number: 1494402 Reference ID: Bk #8, p. 13, no. 23
• 1920 arrival Book Indexes to Boston Passenger Lists, 1899-1940 Roll Description: (065) Jan· 6, 1920-Oct· 17, 1920 and Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924
• 1923 naturalization declaration Illinois, Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: 593882; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21
• 1927 petition for naturalization Illinois, Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: 593882; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21
• 1928 naturalization application denied from US Naturalization records Roll Description: D-250 through D-320 Otto
• 1930 census Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 493; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 1861; FHL microfilm: 2340228
• Article in Blue Island Suburban Star of 12 December 1930 retrieved through FindMyPast.com.au
• 1935 marriage to Ruby King (Certificate 23578)
• 1941 declaration of intention to apply for naturalization by Michelle Rosamonde de Crespigny Petitions for Naturalization, 1906 – 1991; NAI Number: 6756404; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21
• 1944 naturalization for Lilette de Crespigny Illinois, Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: 593882; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21
• 1940 Morgan Park High School Year book
• 1942 US World War II draft registration cards Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147 image 4129
• 1960 petition for naturalization Petitions for Naturalization, 1907-09/30/1991; NAI Number: 571499; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21
• Texas Department of State Health Services; Austin Texas, USA; Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982 certificate number 10095

Extinction of the de Crespigny baronetcy

The Champion de Crespigny baronetcy was created in 1805. The first baronet was Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734-1818), Receiver -General of the Droits of Admiralty and a director of the South Sea Company. The last, the eighth, was Sir Vivian Tyrell Champion de Crespigny, who died in 1952. With his death the baronetcy became extinct.

There were no eligible heirs among the Australian de Crespignys. As my great grandfather Trent de Crespigny explained to the press, the Australian branch of the family belonged to a collateral line and the title could not pass sideways.

BARONETCY EXTINCT (1952, March 7). News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129870063

 

The second baronet was William (1765-1829), only son of Claude and his wife Mary (1749-1812).

William’s oldest son Augustus (1791-1825) died in Jamaica before he could inherit, but he had married and had children, and his son Claude (1818-1868) succeeded to the baronetcy when his grandfather died.

The fourth baronet, also called Claude (1847-1935), was a well known sportsman and much written up in the newspapers. He had five sons, all also called Claude.

Sir Claude and his five sons pictured in the Black and White Budget of 19 May 1901

 

The fourth baronet’s second son Claude Raul (1878-1941) became the fifth baronet. Claude Raul had no children; his brother Claude Vierville had a daughter but there were no other children from the five Claudes.

On the death of the fifth baronet in 1941, the title passed to his cousin, Henry
Champion de Crespigny (1882-1946), son of Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny (1850-1912). Philip was the younger brother of the 4th baronet, second son of the third baronet. Henry died unmarried.

On the death of the sixth baronet in 1946 the title passed to Henry’s brother, Frederick Philip (1884-1947), who became the 7th baronet. Frederick died without issue and the title passed to his nephew Vivian.

Vivian Champion de Crespigny was born in 1907 in Kent, England. He was the son of Tyrell Other William Champion de Crespigny (1859-1946). Tyrell was the third son of the third baronet.

On the death of Vivian there were no male descendants of the first baronet who could inherit the title. All men surnamed Champion de Crespigny descend from Philip Champion de Crespigny (1738-103), brother of the first baronet.

Family tree showing the male line of descent from Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734-1818) the 1st baronet

Related posts

• A toxophilite – Mary de Crespigny née Clarke (1749 – 1812)

R is for Rosydyon Tower the seat of Sir W. de Crespigny Bt

Among a collection of images relating to the Champion de Crespigny family, I came across an image of a drawing of Rosydyon Tower, the seat of Sir W. de Crespigny Bt. The drawing is said to have been done by Mary Catherine Champion de Crespigny (1810-1858), the youngest of Sir William and Lady Sarah de Crespigny’s ten children. Mary married John Brigstocke (1791-1858).

Sir William de Crespigny (1765-1829) was the second baronet, succeeding in 1818 to the baronetcy on the death of his father Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734-1818).  In 1786 William  married the Right Honourable Lady Sarah Windsor (1763-1825), a daughter of the 4th Earl of Plymouth.

Sir William’s entry in Burke’s Peerage of 1830 mentions Rhosydyon Tower, Carmarthenshire in Wales, as one of Sir William’s three country seats. His town residence was Champion Lodge at Camberwell.

Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, Volume 3, 1830, page 204

Rhosduon Tower is mentioned in Buildings of Wales,  referring to a plaque memorialising Lady Sarah de Crespigny:

Her husband built Rhosduon Tower in the parish c. 1820, a castellated toy fort, long demolished.

Rhosduon Tower was near the village of Pencarrag, in south-west Wales.

In 1825 Lady Sarah de Crespigny died at Rhosdyon Tower.

“FASHIONABLE ARRIVALS.” Morning Post, 27 Sept. 1825. British Library Newspapers, tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/4bRUr9. Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.

Sir William de Crespigny died on 28 December 1829 in London.  The estate was advertised for sale a few months later.

“Multiple Classified ads.” Morning Post, 22 May 1830, p. 4. British Library Newspapers, tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/4bRXy0.

Notes

I have spelt the name of the tower in the various ways it appears in each of the sources.

Kelmarsh Hall is in Northamptonshire. It is presently operated by a trust set up in 1982 by Valencia Lancaster (1898-1996),  Valencia was the grand daughter of the fourth baronet. Many Champion de Crespigny pictures and records are held at Kelmarsh Hall.  Some of the pictures can be viewed at https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/collection:kelmarsh-hall-713

Carmarthenshire and CeredigionVolume 6 of Buildings of Wales by Thomas Lloyd, Julian Orbach, Robert Scourfield published by Yale University Press, 2006.  page 363.

Tropical Hotel – Kissimmee, Florida

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is an elegant view of a hotel.

In his 1910 book Forty Years of a Sportsman’s Life, Sir Claude de Crespigny (1847 – 1935), my fourth cousin three times removed, mentions his 1887 visit to the Tropical Hotel Kissimmee, Florida.

View of the Tropical Hotel – Kissimmee, Florida, 1890s, retrieved from State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/26138

Sir Claude also mentions the Ponce de León Hotel, St Augustine, Florida. The hotel was  completed in 1887. Sir Claude would have been one of its first guests.

Ponce de Leon Hotel – St. Augustine, Florida, 1893, retrieved from State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/147777

“Hotel Ponce de Leon, St. Augustine, Florida”, postcard about 1909, retrieved from Wikipedia

From Chapter 7 of his book:

In these days of universal travel it is a difficult matter to strike what may be termed new ground. Indeed, it is almost impossible, and the nearest approach one can make to novelty is to pick out the spots least frequented by those two ubiquitous specimens of humanity, the sportsman and the British tourist. Bearing this in mind, and having received an invitation from an ex-sailor, I determined on a short tour through Florida, with Cuba to follow. So having written to S— to meet me at Douglass’s Tropical Hotel at Kissimmee, set about collecting my impedimenta, and engaged a berth by the Cunard boat from Liverpool to New York. Of course there are many ways of getting to the Stars and Stripes, and the traveller can have his choice of which line he will elect to travel by. Mine fell on the Cunarder, and there was no cause to repent it ; everything on board was most comfortable, and with fine weather we made a rapid passage, arriving at Sandy Hook almost before we had well cleared the Mersey — at least so it seemed.

From New York there is again a choice of routes. You can take the luxurious vestibule train or the steamer to Jacksonville, where it will not be amiss to spend a couple of days at St. Augustine, in the palatial hotel, Ponce de Leon, built after the style of old Moorish architecture. From Jacksonville you will take the train to Kissimmee ; or, better still perhaps, the steamer down St. John’s River to Sandford, and then on by rail.

Arrived at Kissimmee, Mr. Douglass will, assuming that he is still in the land of the living, make you thoroughly comfortable in the Tropical Hotel at an exceedingly moderate outlay, and will put you in the way of obtaining either a steamer or boat to the best sporting ground, which is in the neighbourhood of Fort Bassenger and Lake Arbuckle.

On arrival at Kissimmee, I found all arrangements had been made by S— , who had also got punt and everything in readiness so that there was nothing for me to do but overhaul the shooting-irons and kit, and prepare for a start. While on the subject of shooting-kits, it may be mentioned there is no necessity to bring out cartridges, as a gun- maker in Kissimmee, called Farringdon, can supply every requisite ; and, what is more, is particularly careful in loading. When ordering cartridges I found American wood powder by far the best, and can recommend it strongly. Flannel is the best material for clothing, and a stock of quinine should not be forgotten. These, however, are details.

On Tuesday, December 13, we left St. Elmo at 7.15 a.m., arrived at the south end of Lake Tohopekaliga at 1 p.m., and passing quickly through the canal into Lake Cypress, and on through a second canal, came into Lake Hatchineha, just as daylight was vanishing. Here we were lucky enough to hit off a sandbank studded with oak copse, and dry wood being plentiful, soon had our camp fire under way, and supper. The whiff of tobacco, and glass of Bourbon whisky which followed the evening meal, were both mighty acceptable, for we had had nine hours’ hard rowing under a blazing sun, and were both fairly tired out. At least I can answer for it that it was with a feeling of deep satisfaction I curled myself up in my blankets for the night, and was quickly lulled to sleep by a chorus of frogs, with the occasional ” ouf, ouf! ” of a somewhat consumptive alligator.

Map showing Kissimmee and St Augustine, Florida

I was thinking of Sir Claude this week, following the sad news of a lion being shot for sport in Africa.  Sir Claude was an active hunter who killed many animals for his own amusement.

Rhino shot by Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny from opposite page 291 of Forty Years of a Sportsman’s Life

Trophies at Champion Lodge from opposite page 295 of Forty Years

I deplore game shooting. I can’t understand why people want to kill animals for sport, now or a hundred years ago.

An article by J A Mangan and Callum McKenzie in the International Journal of the History of Sport about the Shikar Club, offers some clues as to why Sir Claude was so keen on hunting:

Patriotism obsessed de Crespigny. He was of the view that every able-bodied Briton had an obligation to defend his country and could not be considered a ‘man’ till he had done so. He practised what he preached. He served in both the Royal Navy (1860–5) and the Army, (1866–70) and later, despite his advancing years, was keen to play an active part in the Boer War. Sporting pleasures and military duties, in his rigid opinion, went hand in hand. Hunting was an ideal training for warfare. He was dismissively contemptuous of all ‘gentlemen of England now abed’ types. He likened such ‘feather-bed aristocrats’, particularly those who declined military duty, to effeminate French aristocracy, and, considered they had no place in the English social hierarchy. His son’s military success was, in his certain view, the result of the family’s predilection for hunting: ‘Men who have been good sportsmen at home are the men who will do best and show the greatest amount of resource when on active service.’ (page 258 of Forty Years) De Crespigny was a pragmatist as well as patriot. Hunting was more than training for war, as noted elsewhere; it assisted military promotion and to this end, de Crespigny used it as a means of consolidating friendships with high-ranking military officials and useful politicians.

In Florida Sir Claude shot and wounded a moccasin snake, bagged half a dozen snipe (for eating), fruitlessly tramped after deer and turkey, but later seems to have shot some venison for eating. (pages 188-193 of Forty Years)

Reference:

• (2008) Imperial Masculinity Institutionalized: The Shikar Club, The International
  Journal of the History of Sport, 25:9, 1218-1242, DOI:
  10.1080/09523360802166162 retrieved through the State Library of Victoria eJournals service – link :http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523360802166162

Similar text appears in Mangan, J. A. Reformers, Sport, Modernizers: Middle-class Revolutionaries. : Routledge, 2013. viewable in Google books https://books.google.com.au/books?id=xedSAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA186. Also in Mangan, J. A. and Callum McKenzie Militarism, Hunting, Imperialism: ‘Blooding’ The Martial Male. : Routledge, 2013. viewable in Google books https://books.google.com.au/books?id=9TmPAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA168

Note the article, and the books, incorrectly refers to Sir Claude as a Brigadier-General. The fourth baronet did not achieve that rank. His son, Sir Claude Raul Champion de Crespigny, the fifth baronet, was a brigadier-general.

M is for muddle

For years I wondered why my great grandfather Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny had been taken away from his duties as a doctor during World War 1 to be aide-de camp to General Birdwood.

I had been misled by photographs on the Australian War Memorial website:

• E00083 Photograph December 1916: General Sir William Riddell Birdwood (back left) and Captain Trent Champion De Crespigny ADC, seated in General Birdwood’s car, passing an Australian transport column on the Mametz-Montauban road. 

Australian War Memorial image E00083

• E00094 Photograph December 1916: Pictured in conversation after a church service at Heilly are, left to right: General C B B White; General Sir William Riddell Birdwood and Captain Trent Champion de Crespigny.
• E02011 Photograph March 1917: General William Birdwood with the Assistant Provost Marshal Lieutenant Colonel W. Smith, and Aide-de-Camp Captain Trent Champion de Crespigny of the 1st Anzac Corps Headquarters, riding through the Chateau gates.
• E00540 Photograph March 1917: Group portrait of the General Staff of the Australian Corps Headquarters outside the Chateau at Henencourt. Left to right, back row: Captain (Capt) C R E Jennings, Deputy Assistant Adjutant General; Capt N Clowes, SCRA; Capt C Sheldon, Staff Officer to the Chief Engineer; unidentified; Lieutenant M… … Capt Trent Champion de Crespigny, Aide de Camp (ADC) to General Officer Commanding (GOC). …
• E00541 Photograph March 1917: Group portrait of the General Staff of the Australian Corps Headquarters outside the Chateau at Henencourt. Left to right, back row: Captain (Capt) C R E Jennings, Deputy Assistant Adjutant General; Capt N Clowes, SCRA; Capt C Sheldon, Staff Officer to the Chief Engineer; unidentified; Lieutenant M… … Capt Trent Champion de Crespigny, Aide de Camp (ADC) to General Officer Commanding (GOC). …
• E00451 Photograph May 1917: General Sir William Riddell Birdwood decorating an officer for bravery in the first attack on the Hindenburg Line. The ceremony took place at Ribemont. Left to right: Captain (Capt) O’Regan MC, Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC); General Birdwood; Capt H Thomson MC; unidentified (partially… … Capt Trent Champion de Crespigny …
• E02360 Photograph May 1918: General Sir W R Birdwood presenting medals to members of the 4th Division. Standing in the centre, left to right: unidentified; Major H. Thompson MC, Staff Captain, 4th Brigade; unidentified; General Sir William Birdwood; Captain de Crespigny, Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to General Birdwood; Lieutenant…

My great grandfather was, as far as I know, the only person of his generation who had the forename Trent with the surname Champion de Crespigny.  I could not think who else Birdwood’s aide-de-camp could be. It must have been Constantine Trent. I was wrong.

I found the correct answer in Trove, the digitised newspaper collection  of the National Library of Australia..

.

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND ARMY CORPS. (1916, June 22). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6473059

This was confirmed by a notice in the London Gazette, that Captain Henry Champion de Crespigny of the 56th Punjabi Rifles had been appointed aide-de-camp to the Commands and Staff area of the Regular army with effect from 6 August 1915. (London Gazette of 28 September 1915, supplement 29311, page 9625)

Henry Champion de Crespigny (1882 – 1946) was my great grandfather’s fourth cousin once removed. He was the son of Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny (1850 – 1912) and Rose de Crespigny née Key (1859 – 1935).

Henry de Crespigny became the sixth baronet following the death of his cousin Claude Raul Champion de Crespigny (1878 – 1941). None of the five sons of the fourth baronet  Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny (1847 – 1935) had sons. Henry de Crespigny’s father Philip de Crespigny was the fourth baronet’s younger brother.

Henry de Crespigny died unmarried and the baronetcy passed on to his brother Frederick Champion de Crespigny (1884 – 1947).

Chelmsford Chronicle 1 November 1946 page 3

……………

Update: I have been in contact with the War Memorial  who advised

Thank you for your email drawing our attention the incorrect identification of Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny in several of our Official photographs. I apologise for the confusion this has caused you. The cataloguing of these images was carried out decades ago, before access to so many excellent digitised records were available. I have looked at the original captions and noticed that only General Birdwood was named except for one caption where “Captain de Crespigny” was named. I can only surmise the error must have occurred here when someone interpreted this partial identification as being Trent rather than Henry – Henry’s service record would not have been visible to them having served with the Indian Army.

I am working to correct the cataloguing for these photographs now and the updated records should refresh to the website by the end of the week.

Related posts

• R is for Rouen
• No 3 AGH (Australian General Hospital) Lemnos Christmas Day
• Arthur Murray Cudmore World War I service  (which also covers the appointment of Constantine Trent Champion de Crespigny)
• A confusion of Sir Henry Mainwarings another muddle on a different branch of my family tree

C is for Compiègne on 1 September 1914

Claude Norman Champion de Crespigny (1888–1914), oil painting in the collection of Kelmarsh Hall, image retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/claude-norman-champion-de-crespigny-18881914-49104

Claude Norman Champion de Crespigny (1888 – 1914) was the fifth son and the youngest of nine children of the fourth baronet, Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny (1847 – 1935), and his wife Georgiana née  McKerrell (1849-1935). The 4th baronet named all his sons Claude.

Sir Claude and his five sons pictured in the Black and White Budget of 19 May 1901 retrieved in 2012 from http://www.wartimesindex.co.uk/pubs/books/blackwhitevol3.htm (link now broken) Claude Norman sitting on his father’s lap would have been 12 in 1901 but looks younger in the photo  which must have been taken in the early 1890s. The other sons are Claude (1873-1910), Claude Raul (1878-1941), Claude Philip (1880-1939), Claude Vierville (1882-1927)

Norman joined the 1st Dragoon Guards as a 2nd lieutenant in 1907. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in 1908 and transferred to the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays) in 1910. He had been aide de camp to General Allenby in 1913.

On 1 September 1914 the Queen’s Bays, were bivoucked with two other cavalry regiments and L Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery. There were about 550 men in each Cavalry regiment and 205 men with the artillery. There was thick fog; they were surprised by Germans.

Artist’s impression of the last 18-pounder gun of “L” Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, in action at Néry, 1 September 1914. from The Times History of the War, Volume X, 1917 retrieved through Wikimedia Commons

The action at Néry near Compiègne was part of the Retreat from Mons, the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force from the Marne in August and September 1914. During the battle the role of the Queen’s Bays was to assist L Battery and to secure Néry ‘s sugar factory and the southeast of the village. Lieutenant de Crespigny of the Queen’s Bays led his troop in an assault on the Sugar Factory.   All the soldiers in the troop became casualties and de Crespigny was killed.

At around 9am, with the assistance of the 1st Middlesex, the Queen’s Bays captured the Sugar Factory and most of the Germans defending it were killed or taken prisoner. (http://www.britishbattles.com/firstww/battle-of-nery.htm)

From the diary of Captain Edward Stone – Queen’s Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) (retrieved from http://www.qdg.org.uk/diaries.php?dy=42 ):

1st September 1914
At Nery the Bays with ‘L’ Battery Royal Horse Artillery were caught in a valley by a German force and hammered with artillery fire. The epic three-VC action that followed is famous: “…absolute chaos for a minute or two every horse stampeded but I managed to collar my old mare and hand her over to Nye. We then went up into the firing line… Whilst in the firing line, and as soon as the mist cleared, we could see 12 German guns about 900 yds. Away on which we at once opened fire, and in the end captured 8 of them. I, Walker & Hall went down to protect our right flank which we were afraid of being turned. Whilst next to Ing and Cawley poor String got one in the hand and Cawley was killed. Poor ‘L’ Battery RHA have been practically blotted out as the Germans opened on them first whilst they were in bivouac and they did not have a chance… At about 10.45am the infantry came up and relieved the pressure… So for five and a half hours the regiment was under as hot a shell and rifle fire as one could wish for. When we looked around at about 11am the Regt. consisted of about 40 men and six officers. The rest have strayed or been wounded…” Eventually the BEF turned about and advanced to the Aisne, where the Germans made a stand.

Map of the battle drawn by John Fawkes retrieved from http://www.britishbattles.com/firstww/battle-of-nery.htm The sugar factory is at the bottom of the map.

The recollections of Private William Clarke – Queen’s Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) (retrieved from http://www.qdg.org.uk/diaries.php?dy=40 ):

1st September 1914
NERY 1st September 1914. I still remember that day because it was the first time, apart from some skirmishes during the withdrawal from Mons, that I participated in a real battle. I remember we were one of the last regiments to each Nery on the 31st August. There were a couple of other regiments there, one was the 5th Dragoon Guards. We were positioned on the west side of the village and our horses were in a field to the west of us. We had reached Nery on the 31st August from Verbier, where we had stopped to water our horses. We came to Nery because, I remember, other villages on our march had been occupied by French cavalry and we had to have somewhere to rest. The cavalry was needed in that area to protect the flank of the retreat from Mons. ‘L’ Battery Royal Horse Artillery was positioned in a field south of the village near the sunken road running to the sugar factory. I remember the morning as being very misty. We had earlier orders to saddle-up, but because of the mist we could not move, so we were dismissed and had breakfast and watered the horses. Suddenly we heard an explosion and then a barrage of shells, I am sure it was about 5am in the morning. We rushed to see what was happening and found that shells had burst amongst our horses, which belonged to ‘C’ Squadron. A lot of them were terribly injured and killed and many of them had stampeded off with fright. There were men trying to hang on to them but they couldn’t stop them bolting. We had no idea what was really happening, just that we had been shelled. Then it seemed that everybody got into action. Gunners dragged their guns into action, and Troopers improvised a firing line. By this time the horses of ‘B’, and ‘A’ Squadrons were stampeding after the other horses. Lieutenant Lamb, the machine gun officer got some of his men together and got a couple of guns going along the sunken road, helping other gunners with their guns. I think another enemy battery started firing on the village then the 5th D G’s engaged them. I was one of a small party of about 15 men who were ordered forward to try to stop the German advance towards the sugar factory. The Germans had occupied some buildings alongside it. Lieutenants de Crispigny, and Misca and a Sgt Major led the attack. We managed to stem the German advancing for a time but due to casualties we had to withdraw. The Germans were machine-gunning us from the sugar factory and I remember that the Germans were finally shelled out of the factory and outbuildings by ‘L’ Battery RHA. Our casualties were heavy, Lieutenant de Crispigny was killed, and so were two or three other men and the rest wounded. Lieutenant Misca, myself and one other man were the only ones to come back unwounded. I was incredibly lucky. From that day to this I cannot remember how long we were actually engaged during our attack on the sugar factory. Then cavalry reinforcements arrived, they had come across our stampeding horses, and they opened fire on the German guns. I remember one regiment was the Middlesex Regiment. ‘L’ Battery RHA were firing from higher ground. When the battle had ended, somewhere about 10am we helped to collect the wounded and cleared up, collecting bits and pieces of useful equipment. It was my first sight of multiple death in battle. Many men and horses, both German and English dead and abandoned guns. At the count I think the Queens Bays lost 150 horses, at least half of that amount killed the rest by stampeding. One officer and four men killed and perhaps 50 wounded. That’s not counting men and horses of other units such as ‘L’ Battery RHA the heroes of the day. Everything seemed to happen so quickly, events were out of control. I know that I felt frightened and excited at the same time. We were a very highly trained and efficient regiment and we did as we were trained to do, responding quickly to situation without question. And if you wanted to live you had to kill. I never saw my own horse again. She was called ‘Daisy’ and she was a lovely, docile, intelligent girl. I had a quick look for her but I suppose she had either been blown to bits or stampeded and ended up as someone else’s mount in another regiment. The next mount I had was a pretty nasty one, a fussy, groaning, moaning rather spiteful creature. I lost that one somewhere near Albert later on in the war. We learned about the tremendous, heroic stand made by ‘L’ Battery. Can’t tell you about that part because we were busy with our own part in the battle, but we saw the carnage after. I think our Colonel Wilberforce had spoken to Captain Bradbury RHA just before he died, both his legs had been shattered by fire. It’s a funny thing but very little was made of the Nery battle. For many years it was, you could say, made little of in official war histories, and now, so much later its significance has been recognized in the Battle of the Marne.

General Allenby wrote to Lady de Crespigny:

From the obituary of Lord Allenby A REMARKABLE CAREER. (1926, January 9). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 – 1929), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64318737

 From a letter transcribed on the Great War Forum from The British Roll of Honour, – The Personal Tribute  (http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7749):

Dear Madam,(The Lady Champion de Crespigny)
In answer to your letter, I will explain all that occurred on the 1st of September at Nery.The 1st Cavalry Brigade were surprised about 5.30 am.; our horses were picketed down and we were drawing rations when the Germans opened fire on the camp with 12 field guns and several Maxims.Your son was in charge of the Queen’s Bays, who were told to hold an important position, which they did, mowing the advancing Germans down.Your son alone advanced from that position with revolver drawn with the fixed idea of getting behind the enemy’s guns and shooting down the gunners, as they were playing havoc with our men and horses, but he fell hit by shrapnel.I saw him and another officer carried away into some houses nearby.I served under your son in India when in the 1st (Kings) Dragoon Guards, and knew him as a gentlemen and thorough sportsman, and if ever a VC was won he won it that morning. I think this is all I can say. Thanking you for all your kindness to me,
I am Madam,
Yours respectfully,
Cpl A. F. Wills
5th Dragoon Guards

Marriage

On 7 September 1913 Norman married Olivia Rose Gordon, a grand-niece of ‘Chinese Gordon’, General Gordon of  Khartoum. Olivia and Norman had no children. Olivia remarried in 1917 and died in 1927.

Burial

Norman was first buried at Néry with seventeen other men killed there. In November 1914 his body was exhumed and reburied in the family mausoleum in Essex. A full description of the funeral is in the article reproduced below. Repatriation of bodies was unusual. It was done at the family’s expense and was expensive. As a result the bodies of only about 60 officers were repatriated. In March 1915 British Government policy put a stop to the practice in March 1915.

Norman’s body was reburied in a family mausoleum in the grounds of Champion Lodge in Essex. The lodge was sold and the mausoleum no longer exists.  The grave of Norman and other members of the family is now in the churchyard of St Andrews at Hatfield Peverel, Essex.  Hatfield Peverel is about six miles north-west of Maldon where Champion Lodge and the family mausoleum was. The second reburial is said to have taken place in the 1950s. (According to the Oxford Dictionary of Biography entry for Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny)

Photograph of the mausoleum at Champion Lodge about 1913 from Essex historical biographical and pictorialedited by John Grant. page 156 retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/essexhistoricalb00gran#page/156/mode/2up “ A view of the beautiful dark grey granite Mausoleum, with oak door and carved cross thereon, in the park, standing on a quarter of an acre of ground, erected to the memory of that gallant officer, Captain Claude Champion de Crespigny, D.S.O., formerly of the 2nd Life Guards, who was born September 11th, 1873, and died May 18th, 1910. Planted with trees and roses, encircled with an iron railing, a flagged path leading up to it, with rock plants in between, the Mausoleum is constructed to hold eight coffins, so that this will be the last resting place of all that is mortal of Sir Claude and Lady Champion de Crespigny in time to come. "

Additional sources 

• Action at Néry. (2015, February 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:48, April 2, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Action_at_N%C3%A9ry&oldid=649003073
• Not strictly related to the action involving Norman but a great perspective on the war at that time including terrific images and footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoGjv3U-AP8
• Private Edward Leonard Felgate also of the Queen’s Bays who also died on 1 September 1914 http://www.geocities.ws/abbertonroh/felgate.htm
• 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards / History/ World war 1 – part 1 http://www.qdg.org.uk/pages/WW-One-Part-1-118.php
• L(Néry Battery) & N Battery(The Eagle Troop) Members Association(OCA) various pages on the battle including http://www.lneryoca.org.uk/page_1419465.html 
• Laqueur, Thomas. “Empires of the Dead: How One Man’s Vision Led to the Creation of WWI’s War Graves.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 22 Nov. 2013.  <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/22/empires-dead-vision-david-crane-review>. 
• http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/wargraves.htm
• Picturing the Great War: The First World War Blog from Mary Evans Picture Library – A son brought home to rest – Lieut. Norman Champion de Crespigny http://blog.maryevans.com/2013/04/an-officer-brought-home-to-rest-lieut-norman-champion-de-crespigny.html 

From the Essex County Chronicle Friday 13 November 1914 retrieved from FindMyPast.com.au (Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)

Sepia Saturday: coach rides

Lady Sarah Champion de Crespigny (1763-1825) was the wife of my 1st cousin six times removed, Sir William Champion de Crespigny (1765 – 1829), the second baronet. She was the daughter of Other Lewis Windsor, fourth Earl of Plymouth.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt reminded me of a newspaper report of an attack by the London mob on Lady Sarah and her child while they were travelling in her carriage. The incident was reported in the London Morning Post of 20 April 1801.

 

In 1801 Sarah had seven children. There had also been an eighth child who had died in infancy. The oldest child was 14 and the youngest was one year old. I do not know which child was travelling with her. Lady Sarah had two more children after this incident.

 

Charing Cross and Northumberland House from Spring Gardens: 18th century. View shows Northumberland House in the centre with its turrets with lead cupolas and Percy Lion above parapet of frontispiece. The monument on the right is the bronze equestrian statue of Charles I. Among the shops seen are: jewellers, instrument makers, hosiers, trunkmakers and saddlers. The sign of the Golden Cross Inn appears on the left. Its yard was one of the principal starting points for mail coach services. Painted c. 1776-1800. Image retrieved from http://www.museumoflondonprints.com/image/139509/british-school-charing-cross-and-northumberland-house-from-spring-gardens-18th-century

I am not quite sure what Lady Sarah’s coach would have looked like.

 

A stage coach in 1801 was painted by John Cordrey. The passengers in this picture include a wedding party. The milestone apparently shows this coach is eight miles from London.

(Picture from http://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_London_to_Birmingham_Stage_Coach,_1801.jpg )

The attack on the coach must have been a terrifying experience for Sarah and her child. There are reports of other attacks on coaches in the period including the murder of the occupants and highway robbery by gangs of 40 men. (Carlow County 1801  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlcar2/PPP_Doc_1801.htm) The King’s coach had been attacked several times in the 1790s. (William TOPLIS (1814). A Genealogical History of the English Sovereigns, from William I. to George III. inclusive … With … biographical notices of the families connected with the Royal Houses, etc. p. 79.) 

In 1838, some 37 years later, Lady Sarah’s youngest son Herbert had an accident when his gig collided with a donkey cart on Paddington street.  He was thrown from the gig and broke his leg.

London Standard 10 September 1838 page 4. An almost identical article also appeared in the Morning Post of the same day.

 

A confusion of Sir Henry Mainwarings

 

Sir Henry Mainwaring (1726-1797), by Allan Ramsay

There are two notable portraits of Sir Henry Mainwaring  (1726-1797), the fourth baronet of Over Peover. Unfortunately these portraits are sometimes thought, mistakenly, to be portraits of Sir Henry Mainwaring (1587-1653) the pirate. I wrote about the pirate in an earlier blog post.

The two men were related, as third cousins four times removed. Their common ancestor was John Mainwaring (1470-1515), of Over Peover, Cheshire, sheriff of Flintshire, knighted at at the taking of Thérouanne and Tournai. John Mainwaring is my thirteenth great grandfather.

There are no known portraits of the earlier Henry Mainwaring. In the introduction to The Life and Works of Sir Henry Mainwaring printed for the Navy Records Society in 1920, the editor, G. E. Manwaring, states

Before completing this volume I had hoped to discover a portrait of Sir Henry Mainwaring, but after a fruitless search in many quarters I am convinced that none exist. (page xvi at http://archive.org/stream/lifeworksofsirhe01mainuoft/lifeworksofsirhe01mainuoft_djvu.txt )

There is a cartoon image of Henry Mainwaring, the pirate, in Disneyland at Anaheim in California in the area where people wait for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Henry Mainwaring the fourth baronet was the nephew of the third baronet, Sir Thomas Mainwaring (1681-1726). Sir Thomas died leaving no children. His brother Henry (1686-1726) had married Diana Blackett (1703-1737) on 26 July 1725. They had one son, Henry, born on 7 November 1726, after his father’s death on 1 July 1726. This child inherited the baronetcy from his uncle who had died on 21 September 1726. The young Henry’s mother, Diana, married again to Thomas Wetenhall (1708-1776).

 

George E. Cokayne (1900), Complete baronetage, Exeter: W. Pollard v. 3. English, Irish and Scottish, 1649-1664 pages 129-130

 

Betham, William. The Baronetage of England, Or the History of the English Baronets, and Such Baronets of Scotland, as Are of English Families: With Genealogical Tables, and Engravings of Their Armorial Bearings. Vol. 5. London: E. Lloyd, 1805. Google. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://books.google.com.au/books?id=zKNBAAAAcAAJ>. pages 574-5.

Sir Henry Mainwaring was educated at Durham School and then at Oxford University.

Sir Henry Mainwaring’s portrait was done by Allan Ramsay, a noted portrait painter in 1748 when Mainwaring was about 22. When Mainwaring died leaving no children, this portrait probably passed to his friend George, Lord Grey, later Earl of Stamford. It was sold by the Earl of Stamford’s descendants in 1928. It was recently sold again, by Sothebys in 2007 for £18,000.

When Sir Henry Mainwaring was in Rome on the Grand Tour in 1760 he was painted with his companion Lord Grey, by Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland RA.

George Harry Grey, Lord Grey of Groby, later 5th Earl of Stamford (1737-1819) and his Travelling Companion, Sir Henry Mainwaring, 4th Bt (1726-1797)

The painting is in the collection of the National Trust and on display at Dunham Massey in Cheshire. Henry Mainwaring, standing, is showing Grey a cameo ring.  Grey and Mainwaring commissioned Dance to paint a subject from Virgil. He painted Aeneas and Venus for Mainwaring and The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas for Grey. The latter painting is now in the Tate. Venus appearing to Aeneas and Achates as a Huntress by Nathaniel Dance dated 1762 was sold by Christie’s in 1994 for £243,500.

Venus appearing to Aeneas and Achates as a Huntress by Nathaniel Dance dated 1762

Mainwaring bought other paintings on the tour for example The Bay of Naples from Posillipo by Pietro Fabris and Antiquaries at Pola by Thomas Patch.

Antiquaries at Pola: Sir Henry Mainwaring Bt (1726-1797), Jacob Houblon (b.1736), George Harry Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford (1737-1819) and the Reverend Jonan Lipyeatt by Thomas Patch 1760. The painting is at Dunham Massey, now owned by the National Trust following a bequest by the 10th Earl of Stamford. Mainwaring is seated on a Roman altar at the left; beside him Houblon stands, extravagantly dressed in check trousers and red-lined hooded black cloak, a pistol in his belt; and next to him Lord Stamford in a similar cloak; Lipyeatt in the foreground is bending over a marble fragment which he is deciphering. A fragmentary marble head caricatures the features of Patch and his spaniel, with water gushing from his mouth, appears to represent a life-like fountain; a lateen-rigged boat at the right, a servant carrying baggage and in the background the amphitheatre at Pola. Pola or Pula, is opposite Venice on the coast of Croatia.

Grey bought A Punch Party in Florence by Thomas Patch which is now owned by the National Trust at Dunham Massey.

A Punch Party by Thomas Patch with Sir H. Mainwaring; Earl Cowper; Viscount Torrington; Reverend J. Lipyeatt; Lord Grantham; Sir Brook Bridges, Bt; James Whyte; Jacob Houblon; the Earl of Moray; Mr Charles Hatfield, the landlord; Earl of Stamford; Charles S. Boothby; Sir John Rushout Bt, and Sir Charles Bunbury, Bt. The 5th Earl of Stamford is seen with his friends enjoying an evening at Mr Hadfield’s inn called Carlo’s near Saato Spirito in Florence. The artist has introduced a caricature bust of himself on the wall on the right, with the horns of a faun. Fourteen figures are depicted, engaged in various activities round a table, for example, Lord Grantham is carrying a pedlar’s tray filled with cameos from which Lord Stamford, because he wears it on his finger, has evidently acquired one; but principally they are engaged in drinking the punch provided by the patron Charles Hadfield. On the back wall are paintings of Bacchus and of Silenus in chariots pulled by leopards and tigers respectively; on the wall at the right is a caricature bust of the artist with the ears of a faun, perhaps echoing the replica of the Dancing Faun on the adjacent wall, the original of which is in the Uffizi. The socles on which the sculpture is placed are decorated with the Medici arms. Sir Henry Mainwaring is sitting at the end of the table (in blue) opposite  Sir Charles Bunbury who is proposing the toast.

Sir Henry Mainwaring the fourth baronet died unmarried and the baronetcy became extinct.

Henry Mainwaring the fourth baronet is my seventh cousin seven times removed.

S is for seventy-eight

In 1926, at the age of seventy-eight, Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny (1847-1935) executed a “double dive” with Otto Hagborg, who was seventy-one, at Highgate Pond, London.

Sir Claude participated in many different kinds of sports, especially steeple-chasing and ballooning.  I have written about his ballooning exploits.

Otto Hagborg (1854-1927) born in Sweden was an artist. He moved to London in the 1890s and helped introduce the sport of artistic diving to London. He represented Sweden in the 1906 Olympic Games in Athens  and came 12th out of 24 competitors in the conbined platform diving event. He was fifty-one years old and is the oldest person to have competed in either swimming or diving at any Olympic Games.

The Highgate Ponds, also known as the Hampstead Ponds, are three large fresh water swimming ponds on Hampstead Heath. The ponds were allocated for men’s, women’s and mixed bathing.  The men’s pond had a ten-metre diving tower, erected in 1893, the first diving stage in England. The first National Graceful Diving Competition was held at Highgate Ponds in 1895. The tower was dismantled in 1982.

A REMARKABLE FEAT. (1926, January 2). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 – 1954), p. 38. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89642131

HIGH DIVING AT 78. (1925, October 13). Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93609566

——-
References:

• “Otto Hagborg Bio, Stats, and Results.” Olympics at Sports-Football-Reference.com. Www.sports-reference.com, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. <http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ha/otto-hagborg-1.html>.
• http://www.kentishtowner.co.uk/2012/04/09/why-it-matters-free-swimming-in-highgate-ponds/
• Dubey, H. C. Dph Sports Series-Diving. : Discovery House, 1999. Google EBooks.  retrieved from http://books.google.com.au/books?id=kSwO8WCfdd4C page 4.

Claude de Crespigny balloonist

Claude Champion de Crespigny (1847-1935), the fourth baronet, was my fourth cousin three times removed.

He was a notable sportsman and he wrote several books about his sporting adventures, including “Forty Years of a Sportsman’s Life”, published in 1910.

On the publication of this book, the New York Times quoted a review in the Globe which had commented that Sir Claude appeared to have never begun a day without considering in what new and unheard-of way he could put his life and his limbs in danger.

The book is at https://archive.org/details/fortyyearsofspor00decr

New York Times 9 October 1910

Claude’s first experience of balloons was shooting at them outside Paris during the summer of 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war. He was with the Prussian army at St Denis.  Small balloons were ascending from Paris for the “purpose of disseminating false information about the state of things prevailing in the front”. As they weren’t flying at a great height, “we were sometimes able to riddle them with bullets”. (page 38 of Forty Years)

Claude’s first balloon voyage was in 1882, an attempt to cross the channel from Essex to Calais. He was accompanied by Joseph Simmons, who had attempted the crossing previously. When the balloon was being launched, assistants held onto the basket for too long. The basket collided with a wall and Sir Claude broke his leg and some ribs fending off. Simmons continued without him and made it to France. According to Sir Claude, Simmons travelled one hundred and seventy miles in just over an hour and a half. This claim seems unlikely. (pages 127-131 of Forty Years)

In July 1883 Claude crossed the North Sea with Simmons, landing near Flushing.  He was awarded the Balloon Society’s gold medal for the voyage as the first man to cross the North Sea in a balloon.  (pages 134-142 of Forty Years) The journey was described in newspapers around the world. An account of this adventure appeared in New Zealand’s Timaru Herald on 27 September 1883.

In July 1909 Claude was pictured in a balloon at Hurlingham. Based on his reminiscences this was probably in the “St Louis” piloted by John Dunham (whose wife accompanied them). (page 316 of Forty Years)

There were several races that year from Hurlingham, and in May Claude also participated in the  1909 Hurlingham International Balloon Race.. Claude travelled in a balloon with H. Hassac Buist, the author of an article for the Flight Magazine published 29 May 1909. They were passengers of Mr Griffith Brewer on the “Vivienne,” of 75,000 cubic feet capacity, the biggest balloon of the afternoon.

There were five of us aboard, and everyone was busy throughout, including Sir Claude, as the self-appointed honorary look-out man, than whom none could have been better chosen for the purpose in that hereabout was all his own country, every hedge and ditch of which was familiar to him through hunting. In brief, what he did not know, had he chosen to communicate it, concerning such-and-such a hall that had been in the hands of three generations of drunkards; such-and-such a house, where is the finest cellar of port to be found in England; such-and-such a lodge, the heir to which married so many tens of thousands a year and got through the lot in as many months; such-and-such another place, where a disastrous fire had reduced a palatial residence to Goldsmith’s “four naked walls that stared upon each other,” and so forth, was not knowledge. Seemingly, our genial fellow-passenger and impromptu cicerone had advised all his friends for miles around to be on the look-out for us so that we should be sure of a hearty welcome anywhere within a wide range of the winning post, not omitting Champion Lodge.

 The “Vivienne” came fourth. His son, Captain V. C de Crespigny (Vierville 1882-1927), flew in “Kismet” with Philip Gardner but they were unplaced.

1909. Griffith Brewer’s ‘Vivienne’ balloon and Frank McClean’s ‘Corona’ balloon. retrieved from http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Griffith_Brewer

 More pictures of the balloon race can be viewed at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2483460/Rare-pictures-Victorian-gentleman-balloon-race-sale.html

Sir Claude also took part as a passenger in the race in 1908. The winner that year was Mr Griffith Brewer in the “Lotus” and Claude was a passenger in that balloon. (Race in the Air. (1908, July 18). The World’s News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 – 1955), p. 9. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133965770) (pages 312-314 of Forty Years)