Vierville de Crespigny 1882 – 1927

Claude Vierville Champion de Crespigny, one of my 5th cousins twice removed, was born at Heybridge, Maldon, Essex, on 25 January 1882. He was the seventh of nine children and fourth of five sons of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny the fourth baronet and Georgiana Lady Champion de Crespigny née McKerrell. The five sons of the fourth baronet were all given the first name Claude. The younger four sons each had a middle name: Raul, Philip, Vierville, Norman.

On 25 January 1900, just a few weeks after it was established, Vierville joined the Imperial Yeomanry, a volunteer light cavalry force, to serve in the war in South Africa. On the record he claimed to be 20 years old; he was actually 18. Two of his older brothers were already serving in the army, the other was in the navy.

Vierville was initially a trooper with the 21st Lancers but in February 1901 was appointed 2nd Lieutenant with the Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire Regiment). He was made Lieutenant in 1903 and in 1904 became aide-de-camp to Sir D. W. Stewart, Commissioner, East Africa Protectorate.

From January 1906 to September 1909 he was employed with the King’s African Rifles. He was said to have spoken Swahili fluently. In 1908 he was tried and acquitted of the charge of causing the death of his native servant by a rash and negligent act.

Image from Europeans in East Africa database entry for CHAMPION DE CRESPIGNY, Claude Vierville (Major)

In 1910 he was promoted to captain. From 1912 he served in the Special Reserve, a force established on 1 April 1908, responsible for maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war.

On 19 July 1911 Vierville married Mary Nora Catherine McSloy on 19 July 1911 at the Brompton Oratory in Kensington, London. They had one daughter together, Mary Charmian Sara Champion de Crespigny (1914 – 1967).

British (English) School; Captain Vierville Champion de Crespigny (1882-1927); Kelmarsh Hall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/captain-vierville-champion-de-crespigny-18821927-49105

In December 1916 he was appointed Assistant Provost Marshal, with rank equivalent to staff captain. He was promoted to major in 1917. In December 1918 he incurred the Army Council’s displeasure when he turned a water hose on men who were attempting to rush the doors of the Albert Hall during a boxing tournament. He was demobilised in July 1919.

In June 1919 he sailed for Canada with his wife and daughter intending to settle there. They lived on a ranch near the remote settlement of Wilmer, British Columbia. However, Vierville left in December 1920 and returned to England.

In February 1921 he joined the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC). With the RIC, the Auxiliary Division was disbanded in 1922.

In February 1924 Vierville was appointed game ranger, at a salary of £300, in the Game Preservation department of the Tanganyika Territory Government.

In March 1924 his wife divorced him.

Daily Mirror 18 March 1924 page 11

On 6 December 1924 at Mombassa in present day Kenya, Vierville married for a second time to Elspie Madge Salmon, daughter of the Rev. Frank and Mrs Salmon of Langton rectory, Blandford.

On 17 July 1927, well-mauled by a leopard, Vierville died in Singida, Tanganyika. His usual residence was recorded as Arusha, 325 kilometres to the north-west, near the border with Kenya.

Essex Newsman 30 July 1927 page 3

Probate was granted to his widow in March 1928. His effects were less than £350. Elsie later lived with his brother Raul at Champion Lodge, Essex, acting as his housekeeper.

Memorial in St Peter’s Church, Great Totham, Essex.
Photographed by Simon Knott and reproduced with permission.

RELATED POSTS

• Extinction of the de Crespigny baronetcy

Vierville’s four brothers:

• Claude de Crespigny 1873 – 1910
• Claude Raul: Raul de Crespigny the 5th baronet
• Claude Philip: The sailor and the princess
• Claude Norman: C is for Compiègne on 1 September 1914

Wikitree: Claude Vierville Champion de Crespigny (1882 – 1927)

Raul de Crespigny the 5th baronet

Claude Raul Champion de Crespigny, one of my 5th cousins twice removed, was born at Durrington, Wiltshire on 19 September 1878. He was the fifth of nine children of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny the fourth baronet, and Georgiana Lady Champion de Crespigny née McKerrell. The five sons of the fourth baronet were all given the first name Claude. The younger four sons each had a middle name: Raul, Philip, Vierville, Norman.

Raul was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire. He joined the army and served in the prestigious Grenadier Guards regiment. He became a 2nd Lieutenant on 17 January 1900 and was promoted Lieutenant two years later, on 1 April 1903. Raul was awarded the Queen’s Medal with four clasps in the South African War. He became a Captain in 1908.

On 24 Jun 1913 Raul married Violet Rose (Vere) Sykes in the Royal Military Chapel (The Guards’ Chapel) on Birdcage Walk opposite St James Park. Vere’s brother Claude Alfred Victor Sykes was also an officer in the Grenadier Guards.

Over the course of World War 1 Raul was promoted from Captain to Brigadier-General. He was Commanding Officer of the 2nd battalion Grenadier Guards at the Somme and remained in command until 22 Sep 1917, when he replaced Brigadier-General G. D. Jeffreys as commander of the 1st Guards Brigade. Raul de Crespigny was mentioned seven times in despatches. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, D.S.O., in 1916, invested with the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, C.M.G., in 1918, and the Companion of the Order of the Bath, C.B., a year later. In 1916 he was also decorated with the Montenegrin Cross (Order of Danilo 4th class).

Sprinck, Leon; Major Claude Raul Champion de Crespigny (1878-1941), 5th Bt; Kelmarsh Hall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/major-claude-raul-champion-de-crespigny-18781941-5th-bt-49166

An article in a New Zealand newspaper called the ‘Dominion‘, dated 29 January 1918, with the headline ‘The Perfect Soldier’ described Raul’s distaste for staff work and eagerness to return to his battalion. He was:

'One of those commanding officers who believe in being in the thick of the fighting, he used to lead his men over the top with a 'loaded stick' as a weapon. In one of the recent engagements in Flanders he charged a Hun machine-gunner who was scattering death right and left with his stream of bullets. With one mighty swing of his stick he broke the neck of the Hun, and the regiment went on. The Hun's gas mask and steel helmet are in England now hanging on the walls of Brigadier-General de Crespigny's Essex home among innumerable trophies of the chase, grim relics of a man whose hobby is fighting.'

The article goes on to list his sporting accomplishments in steeple-chasing, boxing, cricket, shooting and aquatic sports.

Though Champion Lodge was certainly cluttered with sporting trophies, bashing a Hun to death then then mounting a trophy of the occasion on your wall seems more likely to have been a literary trope than solid fact. Nancy Mitford’s ‘Uncle Matthew’ comes to mind, in ‘The Pursuit of Love‘:

"THERE is a photograph in existence of Aunt Sadie and her six children sitting round the tea-table at Alconleigh. The table is situated, as it was, is now, and ever shall be, in the hall, in front of a huge open fire of logs. Over the chimney-piece plainly visible in the photograph hangs an entrenching tool, with which, in 1915, Uncle Matthew had whacked to death eight Germans one by one as they crawled out of a dug-out. It is still covered with blood and hairs, an object of fascination to us as children."

Trophies at Champion Lodge in the early 1900s. Image from opposite page 295 of the 1910 edition of Forty Years of a sportsman’s life by the 4th baronet.

Raul’s marriage ended in divorce in 1926.

Daily Mirror 22 March 1926 page 1 retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive via FindMyPast

“A Retired Army Officer Divorced.” Times, 3 June 1926, p. 6. The Times Digital Archive, retrieved through Gale Primary Sources
I notice that Raul signs himself Crawley to his wife; his older brother’s nickname was Creepy.

Raul became the 5th baronet after the death of his father in 1935. He died on 15 May 1941. His obituary in the Chelmsford Chronicle noted that he “settled at Champion Lodge, and took a kindly interest in the affairs of the neighbourhood, especially the British Legion. His last public duty was performed a few months ago, when he opened the gift sale of the Maldon Farmers’ Union in Maldon Market on behalf of the Red Cross.” Members of the British Legion provided a guard of honour at his funeral.

Claude Raul had no children. Of the five sons of the fourth baronet, only Claude Vierville had a daughter, but women could not inherit the baronetcy. The title passed to a cousin, Henry Champion de Crespigny (1882-1946), son of Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny (1850-1912). Philip was the younger brother of the fourth baronet, second son of the third baronet.

RELATED POSTS

• Extinction of the de Crespigny baronetcy

Three of Claude’s four brothers:

• Claude de Crespigny 1873 – 1910
• Claude Philip: The sailor and the princess
• Claude Norman: C is for Compiègne on 1 September 1914

Wikitree: Claude Raul Champion de Crespigny (1878 – 1941)

Claude de Crespigny 1873 – 1910

Claude Champion de Crespigny, one of my 5th cousins twice removed, was born in London on 11 September 1873. He was the oldest of nine children of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny the fourth baronet and Georgiana, Lady Champion de Crespigny née McKerrell. The five sons of the fourth baronet were all given the first name Claude. The younger four sons each had a middle name: Raul, Philip, Vierville, Norman.

Claude was the oldest of five sons, all of whom were named Claude. From the Black and White Budget of 19 May 1901.

Claude was sent to Eton College, and from there to the Army College at Aldershot. On 13 April 1891 he graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, joining the 2nd Life Guards on 3rd July 1895.

Claude served in the South African war, and was mentioned twice in despatches, once for special bravery at Rensburg, where he saved the life of a wounded trooper by mounting him on his own horse. For this he was recommended for (though not awarded) the Victoria Cross. On 3 February 1900 Claude was promoted to captain. A month later on 7 March in the Battle of Poplar Grove—a rout for the Boers—he was severely wounded. In 1901 he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his services in South Africa.

From December 1900 to January 1902 he served as aide-de-camp to Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India. In 1903 he was appointed to the British colonial garrison West African Frontier Force in Southern Nigeria. There he was again wounded.

Sutton, Isobella M.; Captain Claude Champion de Crespigny (1873-1910), DSO; Kelmarsh Hall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/captain-claude-champion-de-crespigny-18731910-dso-49167

Redworth, William Josiah; Captain Claude Champion de Crespigny on ‘Fillipeen’; Kelmarsh Hall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/captain-claude-champion-de-crespigny-on-fillipeen-49156

Claude was an accomplished polo player, on his regiment’s team until his retirement from the army in 1909.  In 1907 and 1908 his team the Leopards won the Roehampton Cup, in England the game’s most prestigious trophy. In 1909 he played for England against Ireland, and in 1910, for the English Hurlingham Club touring the United States.

Polo match at Hurlingham between Hurlingham and the Freebooters. Captain C, de Crespigny, “a strong player”, was playing for the Freebooters.
From The Bystander 20 May 1908, page 403. Retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive through FindMyPast.

Collier, Imogen; Claude Champion de Crespigny (1873-1910); Kelmarsh Hall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/claude-champion-de-crespigny-18731910-49118

“JOHN WHACKS JONATHAN: Captain Bellville’s English Polo Team do Brilliantly in America.” Tatler 27 April 1910 page 41. Retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive through FindMyPast.

On 18 May 1910 Claude, then thirty-seven, was discovered dead by the side of the road at Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire. A friend lived nearby. The coroner found that Claude had killed himself in a temporary fit of madness which may have been caused by influenza and repeated heavy falls while playing polo. The New York Times however, noted that he had been named as co-respondent in a divorce case, and speculated that Claude had believed the only way to save the woman’s name and honour was to commit suicide. This explanation was not offered at the inquest.

Related posts

• Extinction of the de Crespigny baronetcy

Two of Claude’s younger brothers:

• Claude Philip: The sailor and the princess
• Claude Norman: C is for Compiègne on 1 September 1914

Wikitree: Claude Champion de Crespigny DSO (1873 – 1910)

The sailor and the princess

Claude Philip Champion de Crespigny, one of my 5th cousins twice removed, was born on 3 August 1880 in Maldon, Essex. He was the sixth of nine children of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny the fourth baronet, and Georgiana Lady Champion de Crespigny née McKerrell. The five sons of the fourth baronet all had the first name Claude. Accordingly the four younger sons, including Philip, went by their middle name.

In 1896 Philip joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. He was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant on 15 November 1899 and a year later, on 31 December 1901, he became a Lieutenant. From 28 May 1906 to 1 August 1909 he served as captain of the destroyer HMS Dove. On 31 December 1909 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander. Philip was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 17 August 1910, but he remained eligible to apply for the rank of Commander on reaching the age of 40. While retired he attended several short Mine-Sweeping Courses.

During World War I he came out of retirement and was initially engaged in mine-sweeping operations. On 6 June 1915 Claude was appointed to command of the monitor M.32 (a monitor was a small heavy vessel designed for shore bombardment). He was Captain of the patrol boat HMS P13 from January to July 1917, and in command of the monitor M.24 on 24 July 1917 until April 1919. He was mentioned in despatches and in 1919 was awarded the Croix de Guerre. On 11 December 1919 he became Commander (Retired).

THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN, APRIL 1915-JANUARY 1916 (Q 13541) Lieutenant Commander Claude Champion de Crespigny, who was in command of one of the monitors engaged in the Dardanelles operations.
Copyright: IWM. Original Source and reused under the IWM Non-commercial Licence: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205248723

Philip is mentioned in various memoirs as well as in the social pages of newspapers and magazines. In 1914 he was photographed by Tatler with Princess Hatzfeldt, an American heiress and the widow from 1910 of a German prince, attending the National Hunt Steeplechases at Cheltenham.

Tatler 18 March 1914 page 303. British Newspaper Archive.

The Princess knew the de Crespigny family; a dinner party she gave at Claridge’s Hotel in 1904 included Philip’s oldest brother Claude, who was also at a shooting party the Prince and Princess held on their estate at Draycot Cerne in Wiltshire. Several other social occasions included various members of the de Crespigny family and the princess, and she was also at the 1910 funeral for Claude. In 1913 the princess lent her Draycot Cerne manor for the honeymoon of Raul de Crespigny. In 1919 Commander Philip de Crespigny and the princess were seen dining at the London Flying Club at Hendon.

In 1923 The Bystander reported a number of English guests at the Imperial Hotel at Menton in January, including Commander P. de Crespigny and Princess Hatzfeldt. In October 1925 Princess Hatzfeldt and Commander P. de Crespigny, the Duke of Devonshire and various others were reported in the Derbyshire Advertiser to be taking the treatment at the spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire.

Princess Clara Hatzfeldt died in 1928. In her will she left bequests to friends. Philip was one of the principal heirs. She left nothing to her relatives.

“£100,000 for ‘one of the Best.” Chelmsford Chronicle, 12 Apr. 1929, p. 7. British Library Newspapers.

The will was contested by her nephew but a settlement was reached.

When Philip died in 1939 he left his estate, including his interest in the estate of the late Princess Hatzfeldt, shared equally between his brother Raul and his niece Valencia Lancaster. Philip’s estate was probated at £37,902 ( millions in today’s pounds).

Valencia Lancaster inherited Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire from her brother and set up a trust in 1982 for its conservation. Many portraits of the Champion de Crespigny family hang on the walls, including a portrait of Claude Philip Champion de Crespigny.

British (English) School; Claude Philip Champion de Crespigny (1880-1939); Kelmarsh Hall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/claude-philip-champion-de-crespigny-18801939-49108

Related posts

• V is for Valencia
• A visit to Kelmarsh Hall

Wikitree:

• Claude Philip Champion de Crespigny (1880 – 1939)
• Claude Raul Champion de Crespigny (1878 – 1941)
• Cicely Valencia Lancaster (1898 – 1996)
• Clara Elizabeth (Prentice) von Hatzfeldt (1860 – 1928)

L is for Lewes Priory

Richard, 3rd Earl of Arundel, 8th Earl of Surrey (c. 1314 – 24 January 1376) was an army commander and admiral who served under King Edward III (1312 – 1377, reigned from 1327).

Arundel fought in Scotland during the Second War of Scottish Independence and in France during the Hundred Years’ War. In 1337, he was made joint commander of the English army in the north, and the next year its sole commander. Between 1340 and 1342 he fought with the title Admiral in the 1340 naval Battle of Sluys. In 1345 Arundel was made Admiral of the Western Fleet. He was one of the three principal English commanders at the Battle of Crécy in 1346.

Battle of Crécy between the English and French in the Hundred Years’ War. The victorious English are on the right. From an illuminated manuscript of Jean Froissart’s Chronicles.
Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

Arundel was still in military service towards the end of his life; in 1375 he was involved in the destruction of the harbour of Roscoff in Brittany.

Arundel married twice. His first marriage was annulled by Pope Clement VI on 4 December 1344 on the grounds that he had been underage and unwilling. His second marriage, in 1345, was to Eleanor of Lancaster (1318 – 1372), widow of John de Beaumont, 2nd Lord Beaumont (died 1342). Eleanor had one son by her first marriage and five children by her second marriage.

Eleanor died in 1372 and was buried in Lewes Priory. In 1375, a sculpture for her tomb and that of her husband, carved by the master mason Henry Yevele, was shipped from Poole Harbour in Dorset to London, then transported to Lewes. Arundel probably saw the completed effigies before his death.

Arundel Tomb in Chichester Cathedral

He died on 24 January 1376 at Arundel Castle, aged about 61, and was buried in Lewes Priory. Arundel wrote his will on 5 December 1375, a few weeks before his death, asking to be buried at Lewes Priory next to his wife ‘Alianore de Lancastre’ and he left specific instructions that his tomb in the Chapter House of Lewes should not be higher than that of his wife.

Richard Earl of Arundel and Surrey, at Arundel Castle, December 5, 1375.
My body to be buried in the Chapter-house of the Priory at Lewes, near to the tomb of Eleanor de Lancaster, my wife; and I desire that my tomb be no higher than hers ; that no men at arms, horses, hearse, or other pomp, be used at my funeral, but only five torches, with their morters, as was about the corpse of my wife, be allowed ; and that no more than D marks be expended thereon.

Nicholas Harris. ”Testamenta Vetusta”, Vol I, 1826, page 94

[D Marks = 500 marks = £333 which would be worth at least £200,000 today]

At the time of Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries from the mid 1530s, the sculpture of Arundel and Eleanor was saved and moved from Lewes Priory to Chichester Cathedral. The earliest certain record of its presence there dates from 1635. Only the monument, without the bodies, was moved when the priory was dissolved. The bodies of Richard and Eleanor were not reinterred. The Priory is now in ruins.

Lewes Priory in 2017

Map showing places associated with the Arundel monument

Unfortunately there is no unbroken chain of transmission beyond this, and the popular belief that the Chichester sculpture is that of Arundel and his wife Eleanor has no certain basis.

The cathedral carvings have no names, and the attribution is based on the lion on the knight’s crest and the style of his armour (which is very similar to the armour on the effigy of Edward, the Black Prince, who died in 1376 and is memorialised in Canterbury Cathedral.)

In 1635 a Lieutenant Hammond of the military company in Norwich wrote of Chichester Cathedral in an account of a tour to the south and west of England:

In the North Ile by the wall lyeth a Prince in Armour, who (as they say) liv’d i the woods in Edward 3d time, with a Lion at his Feet, and his Lady by him.

A Relation of a Short Survey of the Western Counties : made by a lieutenant of the military company in Norwich in 1635

In 1820 James Dalloway, the English antiquarian, wrote in “A history of the western division of the county of Sussex” :

The man has the sharp conical helmet and the chain gorget, and on his surcoat a lion rampant. Such were worn by Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, in the early part of that reign, and to whom a coenotaph was erected in the chapel of Lewes Abbey;. Might it not have been brought here at the suppression, and then so divided for convenience of space.

Chichester Cathedral. Northern Aisle. Drawn by H. Brown and engraved by B. Winlkles. From Winkles’s Architectural and Picturesque Illustrations of the Cathedral Churches of England and Wales volume 2 page 36 published 1838.

By the 19th century, the Arundel effigies had become badly mutilated, and were separated, with the knight placed against the north wall of the Cathedral and the woman at his feet. In 1843 the sculptor Edward Richardson (1812–1869) was commissioned to restore them. His restoration is regarded as faithful to the original pose.

The stone used for the monument is very soft, and in the 1980s the effigies were again showing signs of decay.

The Chichester Cathedral memorial effigies supposedly depicting Arundel and his wife Eleanor are the subject of a 1956 poem by Philip Larkin “An Arundel Tomb”, which begins:

Side by side, their faces blurred,
The earl and countess lie in stone,
Their proper habits vaguely shown
As jointed armour, stiffened pleat,
And that faint hint of the absurd –
The little dogs under their feet.

The last stanza, with all Larkin’s wistful, hopeless (and, some would say, posturing and very funny) pessimism on show in its final lines, reads:

The stone fidelity
They hardly meant has come to be
Their final blazon, and to prove
Our almost-instinct almost true:
What will survive of us is love.

Richard and Eleonor were my 18th great grandparents. I am descended from them by 177 different paths. (Many many people, of course, are descended from the couple.)

Source:

• Foster, Paul; Brighton, Trevor; Garland, Patrick (1987). An Arundel Tomb. Otter Memorial Paper. Vol. 1. Chichester: Bishop Otter College Trustees. ISBN0-948765-29-1.

Wikitree:

• Richard (FitzAlan) de Arundel (abt. 1314 – 1376)
• Eleanor (Plantagenet) de Arundel (1318 – 1372)

J is for Jedburgh

My 7th great grandfather Thomas Champion de Crespigny (1664 – 1712) was a Huguenot refugee.

In 1676, when he was twelve years old, Thomas was sent from Normandy in France to London, where he was taken into the care of family friends and relatives.

In 1689 he joined the English army, with his first commission in Lord Cardross’s Regiment of Dragoons. This regiment, which had been formed in response to the 1689-1691 Jacobite Rising in Scotland, fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie on 27 July 1689, with severe losses. de Crespigny joined as a Cornet, equivalent to the present-day rank of 2nd Lieutenant. (I suspect he had been in the army before this post but have not found any records.)

(Dragoons were mounted heavy infantry who sometimes fought on foot. From the early 17th century dragoons were employed as conventional cavalry, trained for combat on horseback with swords and firearms. Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were less expensive than cavalry.)

In December 1690 army reorganisation saw Lord Cardross’s Regiment of Dragoons taken under the command of Colonel Richard Cunningham. A regiment was commonly designated by the name of its colonel; the expanded regiment was called Colonel Cunningham’s Regiment of Foot.

In 1694 the regiment transferred to Flanders, where from July to September 1695 it joined the forces of the anti-French coalition, the Grand Alliance, in the Siege of Namur. The commander of chief of the Grand Alliance was William of Orange. The recapture of Namur was the major Allied achievement of the Nine Years’ War (1688–1697).

The uniforms of the 7th Dragoons worn for the Flanders campaign of 1694-97 were likely to have been red with white facings. Illustration originally from A History of The Uniforms of The British Army (vol I) by C C P Lawson (1940) and retrieved from https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyuniforms/britishcavalry/7thdragoons1697.htm

The Siege of Namur, 1695 painted by Jan van Huchtenburg. Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

In 1696 Thomas transferred to be Captain-lieutenant in Lord Lorne’s Regiment of Foot. Within a month he transferred back to his former regiment retaining, however, his new rank. Both regiments were stationed in Flanders. Captaincy of the first company of a regiment was formally held by the regimental colonel, and a captain-lieutenant commanded that unit on his behalf.

In February 1696 Thomas returned to London and married a fellow Huguenot, Magdelaine Grainger (1664 – 1730), who appears to have accompanied him on his military postings. Late in 1696 Magdelaine was issued a pass to travel to Flanders, presumably to join Thomas who was posted there.

They had six children:

• William 1698–1721 born at Bruges, Belgium
• Marie 1699–1700 born at Dumfries, Scotland
• Jeanne 1700–1776 born at Jedburgh, Scotland
• Claude 1701–1703 born at Jedburgh
• Philip 1704–1765 born London
• Claude 1706–1782 born London

There was little military activity after the fall of Namur. On 1 October 1696, Cunningham was promoted to Brigadier-General. William Kerr, Lord Jedburgh succeeded him and the regiment became Jedburgh’s Regiment of Dragoons.

In 1697 the regiment served in the campaign in Flanders under Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. After the Treaty of Ryswick, which ended the Nine Years War, the regiment returned to England and was first quartered in London. Numbers were reduced to a peace-time establishment. The regiment moved to Scotland in February to March 1698. The regimental history is silent on its activities from 1698 to 1702.

Three of Thomas’s children were born in Scotland in that period: Marie in Dumfries in 1699, and Jeanne and Claude at Jedburgh in 1700 and 1701.

When Queen Anne ascended to the throne in 1702, the Regiment remained in Scotland to suppress any Roman Catholic resistance to her rule. At that time, the Regiment’s establishment was 6 troops, each with about 30 mounted troopers.

Thomas Crepigny was recorded as Captain Lieutenant on the Muster-Roll of the Marquis of Lothian’s Regiment of Dragoons, Marquis of Lothian’s Troop, at Jedburgh, 11th September 1703.

In 1703 William Ker became Marquess of Lothian and the regiment’s name was changed to acknowledge his new title.

From English army lists and commission registers, 1661-1714 by Charles Dalton volume 5 page 207 retrieved through archive.org

The seat of the Marquess Of Lothian is Ferniehirst Castle about a mile and a half south of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders area. The castle, first built in 1470, was reconstructed from 1598 having been attacked by King James VI in 1593 in response to the Kerr family’s role in a conspiracy against him.

Ferniehurst Castle photographed by Nigel Brown in 1963 when it was being used as a youth hostel. Image retrieved from geograph.org

Jedburgh is 10 miles (16 km) from the border with England. Jedburgh Abbey, which followed the Rule of Saint Augustine, was founded in the 12th century. When the Protestant Reformation arrived in 1560, the monks were allowed to stay but the abbey was used as the parish kirk for the reformed religion. However, by 1671 the church was decaying and unsafe, and worship was moved to the western part of the nave. The town of Jedburgh is dominated by the Abbey ruins.

Thomas de Crespigny’s regiment spent most of the 1702-1714 War of the Spanish Succession in Edinburgh. In 1704 Thomas sold his commission and returned to London. His will, dated 24 June 1704, was written there.

In 1705 he rejoined the army as a Gentleman Volunteer in Sir Charles Hotham’s Regiment of Foot. Thomas was subsequently promoted to Lieutenant, and in April 1710 to Captain.

Thomas died in 1712. His widow received a military pension.

A photograph of Jedburgh taken in 1847 by George Washington Wilson and in the collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

In 2019 on our visit to England and Scotland we drove through Jedburgh but did not have a chance to stop. We will next time.

Related posts:

• F is for fleeing from France
• R is for refugees
• Will of Thomas Champion de Crespigny made 1704 probated 1712
• The Youngs invade Scotland

Further reading:

• Cannon, Richard (1842). Historical Record of the Seventh, or the Queen’s Own Regiment of Hussars: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in 1690, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1842 retrieved through Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53900/53900-h/53900-h.htm
• de Crespigny, Rafe. (2017). Champions from Normandy : an essay on the early history of the Champion de Crespigny family 1350-1800 AD Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2899050253 pages 119 – 124

Wikitree:

• Thomas (Champion) Champion Crespigny (1664 – 1712)

Mainwaring younger sons go to India

Rowland Mainwaring (1745 – 1817), one of my fifth great grandfathers, was the fourth of the five sons of Edward Mainwaring (1709 – 1795) and his wife Sarah Mainwaring nee Bunbury (1709 – 1798). As a younger son, Rowland was unlikely to inherit the Mainwaring estates. Expected to make his own way in the world, he joined the army, becoming a captain in the 1st Regiment (Royal Scots) and later a major in the Staffordshire Militia.

Rowland married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Mills of Barlaston, died soon after their marriage in 1777. There were no children. In 1780, three years later, he married Jane Latham, daughter of Captain Latham (d. 1762) of the Royal Navy. From this second marriage there were seven children, with four sons:

• Edward Henry Mainwaring 1781–1807
• Rowland Mainwaring 1782–1862
• Thomas Mainwaring 1784–1834
• Charlotte Margaretta Mainwaring 1785–1836
• Elizabeth Mainwaring 1787–1869
• Susannah Jane Mainwaring 1788–1871
• George Mainwaring 1791–1865

Three of the sons joined the Honourable East India Company. Rowland (junior) enlisted in the navy.

Edward Henry Mainwaring

Edward Henry Mainwaring began his military career in the Staffordshire militia. In 1795, at the age of fourteen he became an ensign without purchase in the 13th Regiment of Foot (Light Dragoons). He became a lieutenant by purchase in 1796 but retired 9 months later. He is recorded as a cadet in the Bengal Army, appointed ensign from 23 September 1797. On 10 September 1798 he was made a lieutenant. He died unmarried in 1807.

Deaths

July 22 1807 At Dacca, in the East Indies, Lieut. Edward Henry Mainwaring, of the 3d Regiment of Native Infantry, eldest son of Rowland M. esq. of Northampton. While out at exercise he complained of a sudden attack in the head, and died in a few minutes, in consequence of a rupture of a blood-vessel in his brain.

Death notice in The Gentleman’s Magazine of 1808

Rowland Mainwaring

I have written elsewhere about Rowland’s career:

• Midshipman Rowland Mainwaring
• Rowland Mainwaring: from midshipman to rear-admiral

Thomas Mainwaring

Thomas Mainwaring was educated at Mr Kelly’s Northampton Academy, with emphasis on writing and accounts. In late 1800 or early 1801, at the age of sixteen, Thomas petitioned to become an East India Company Writer, the organisation’s most junior rank. He arrived in India on 23 August 1801.

A view of Calcutta from Fort William (1807). Aquatint from a set of prints published by Edward Orme. New arrivals sailing to the city first passed Fort William. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

The Writer’s Building Calcutta in about 1860 photographed by Francis Frith. The building was where the writers (clerks) worked in Calcutta). Image from Wikimedia Commons.

At this time, a considerable part of the revenue of the British East India Company derived from its monopoly on salt. In the 1780s salt was its second largest revenue source, and in 1858 10% of its income was still from salt. Many of Thomas Mainwaring’s appointments were in the Company’s Salt and Opium Department.

• 1804, 15 March Second Assistant to the Superintendent of the Western Salt Chowkies. (Chowkies are stations for collecting customs on all branches of trade)
• 1805, 20 May Assistant to the Superintendent of Eastern Salt Chowkies
• 1808, 2 August In Charge of the Office of Superintendent of the Eastern Salt Chowkies
• 1810, 5 July In Charge of the Office of Superintendent of the Salt Golahs at Sulkea (A golah is a warehouse. Sulkea was opposite Calcutta on the west bank of Hooghly River; Sulkea was originally a place where salt was brought and stored in warehouses. Present day Salkia)
• 1811, 1 November Sub-Secretary to the Board of Trade, Salt and Opium Department
• 1814, April Nominated to Endorse Stamp Papers
• 1815, 11 March Collector of Tipperah (the princely state of Tripura now located in the present-day Indian state of Tripura.)
• 1815, 21 March Acting Superintendent of the Western Salt Chowkies
• 1819, 1 March Collector of Juanpore (present day Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh)
• 1824, 19 March Collector of Inland Customs and Town Duties of Calcutta
• 1824, 8 July One of the Magistrates of the Town of Calcutta
• 1831, 15 February Commercial Resident at Cossimbazar
• 1835, 22 January Acting Salt Agent at Tumlook (present day Tamluk)
• 1835 He was granted furlough to Mauritius and died on the way there on 6 May.

Deaths: On the 6th of May, on board the ship the Duke of Roburgh, on his way to the Mauritius, where he was proceeding for the benefit of his health, Thomas Mainwaring, Esq. of the Bengal Civil Service

English Chronicle and Whitehall Evening Post of 24 October 1835

Map of Indian places mentioned in the careers of Edward, Thomas and George Mainwaring

George Mainwaring

George Mainwaring was accepted as a Writer in 1807. His petition to join the civil service of the Honourable East India Company was dated 23 December 1806. He was about fifteen years old. He attended Haileybury College from 1807 – 1809. He was appointed to the company in 1810 and arrived in India on 30 July 1810. Some of his early appointments also included the administration of salt:

• 1815, July 18: Assistant to the Salt Agent at Tumlook.
• 1815, Oct 27: Officiating Superintendent of Eastern Salt Chowkies.

He became a Civil and Session Judge of Benares and agent to the Lieutenant Governor of Benares. He retired in 1841 and died in England.

Benares, A Brahmin placing a garland on the holiest spot in the sacred city. 1832 Lithograph, by the Anglo-Indian scholar and mint assay master James Prinsep. Image taken from Benares illustrated, in a series of drawings. Calcutta : printed at the Baptist Mission Press, Circular Road, 1830-1834. Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
In 1832 George Mainwaring was Officiating Judge of the Provincial Court of Appeal at Benares

Salt agents in Bengal

In Bengal salt was not made by solar evaporation—the usual process—but by boiling concentrated brine, extracted from salt-rich soil by washing with seawater. Bengal salt was known as panga. The Bengal method followed a boiling process because Bengal’s extreme humidity made it difficult to crystallize brine by solar power alone and readily available fuel such as grass and paddy straw made panga production possible there. The brine was boiled for long hours in small earthenware pots at low temperatures producing fine white salt.

The interior of a boiling house in Tamluk, with two malangis (salt labourers) boiling brine with grass or paddy straw. Source: Notes on the Manufacture of Salt in the Tamluk Agency, by H.C. Hamilton, Salt Agent, Dated September 23, 1852, Appendix B, BPP, vol. 26, 1856.

At the end of the 18th century, the East India Company divided the salt-producing areas of Bengal into six agencies run under salt agents — Hijli, Tamluk, the 24-Parganas, Raimangal, Bhulua and Chittagong. In the early 19th century, to make the salt tax more profitable and reduce smuggling, the East India Company established customs checkpoints throughout Bengal and an inland customs line was built across India from 1803 to prevent smuggling of salt from coastal regions in order to avoid the substantial salt tax; it was initially made from dead thorny material.

The agents would contract with the malangis, salt labourers, and pay advances to them as well as supervise the entire process of salt production, the storage of salt in the Company’s warehouses, and its delivery to merchants. Agents were also required to be on the lookout for illegal production and smuggling. A chain of native officers at different stages in the production process enabled a salt agent to manage the entire scope of commercial activities within his region. The salt agents were responsible for producing the authorized annual quota; success or failure in production would determine the Company’s salt revenues. Salt agents were active in production. For example, salt agents advanced money to the malangis, the salt labourers, and occasionally helped the malangis procure fuels in order to prevent delay to production.

Relatives in high places

When looking at the Writers’ petitions for Thomas and George, in both cases I noticed that in presenting the nomination to Henry Strachey the petitioner was a grandson of Lady Strachey. Jane Latham’s widowed mother Jane Latham nee Kelsall (1738 – 1824), had married Henry Strachey in 1770. Henry Strachey was private secretary to Lord Clive from 1764. Jane Strachey nee Kelsall, was first cousin to Margaret, wife of Lord Clive.

From the petition by Thomas Mainwaring to join the East India Company (file viewed through FindMyPast)

From the petition by George Mainwaring to join the East India Company (file viewed through FindMyPast); Henry Strachey was a baronet from 1801 and hence his wife was now Lady Strachey.

Sir Henry Strachey. Image from the University of Michigan which holds many of his papers including correspondence with his wife Jane.

As younger sons of a younger son, Thomas and George Mainwaring did not expect to inherit the estate. A career was necessary and it seems their maternal grandmother’s second husband, Henry Strachey, helped with their introduction to the East India Company.

References

• Chaudhuri, Moumita. “Come Be Told, Salted Tales.” Telegraph India | Latest News, Top Stories, Opinion, News Analysis and Comments, 23 Nov. 2019, https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/come-be-told-salted-tales/cid/1721472
• Kanda, S. (2010). Environmental Changes, the Emergence of a Fuel Market, and the Working Conditions of Salt Makers in Bengal, c. 1780–1845. International Review of Social History,55(S18), 123-151. doi:10.1017/S0020859010000520 retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-social-history/article/environmental-changes-the-emergence-of-a-fuel-market-and-the-working-conditions-of-salt-makers-in-bengal-c-17801845/EFF95B979EA1BC59C12DAFD1E623FB58

Related posts:

• Midshipman Rowland Mainwaring
• Rowland Mainwaring: from midshipman to rear-admiral

Wikitree:

• Rowland Mainwaring (1745 – 1817) my fifth great grandfather
• Jane (Latham) Mainwaring (abt. 1755 – 1809), Rowland’s wife, my 5th great grandmother
• Edward Henry Mainwaring (1781 – 1807), oldest son Rowland and Jane
• Rowland Mainwaring (1782 – 1862), second son of Rowland and Jane, my 4th great grandfather
• Thomas Mainwaring (1784 – 1835), third son of Rowland and Jane
• George Mainwaring (1790 – 1865), fourth son of Rowland and Jane
• Jane (Kelsall) Strachey aka Latham (1738 – 1824), Jane Mainwaring’s mother, grandmother of Edward, Rowland, Thomas, and George, my 6th great grandmother
• Henry Strachey (1737 – 1810), Jane Mainwaring’s step father, 2nd husband of Jane Kelsall
• Margaret Clive formerly Maskelyne aka Lady Clive of Plassey, first cousin of Jane (Kelsall) Strachey

Major William Duff 1754 – 1795

One of my fifth great grandfathers was William Duff (1754–1795), the second natural son of James Duff, later Earl Fife of Banffshire (1729–1809).

William Duff was baptised on 16 March 1754 at Fordyce. His mother, Margaret Adam of Keith, was the personal maid of the Countess Fife, the mother of James Duff, that is, the mother of William’s father.

James Duff acknowledged William and his brother James and sister Jean as his children and all three received a good education at his expense. Care of the children was entrusted to William Rose, the factor (agent) of Lord Fife . The correspondence on this matter between William Rose, Lord Fife, and the three Duff children is extant, some being published in the 1925 book Lord Fife and his Factor.

William Duff was educated at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich in southeast London, a training college for commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. There is a letter from William in 1770 when he was about 16 years old describing his course of studies:

Rise at 6 and go for a walk. Breakfast 7.30. Study from 8 to12. After dinner, military exercises. 3 to 6 study.

The book of the Duffs Volume 2 page 516

The Old Royal Military Academy, in use 1741–1806. The cadets were taught in the left-hand half of the building, the right providing a Board Room for the Ordnance Board. Image by George Rex – Image from Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/rogersg/5198302406/, CC BY-SA 2.0

On 11 December 11 1770, William obtained a commission as Lieutenant in the 7th Royal Fusiliers, and in September 1771 he wrote from Chatham Barracks to his father at Duff House :

Since I wrote your Lordship last I have been detailed, with twenty men, for a week, to Upnor Castle, a place about four miles from here. This is a duty we take by turns. All this marching about of late has been very expensive to me, and within these two months (during which time I have never been settled in one place) it has cost me upwards of eighteen pounds. Our regiment, I believe, will remain as it is for the winter, but it is generally thought we shall march some other way before February next. My brother sets off for Scotland, with the first ship. I wanted to get to London, for a day or so, to see him before he went, but I really could not get leave. We are now so thin, that I have the Sash every other day almost. I understand your Lordship is killing the Deer just now, and I dare say you will have good diversion. I have just got another step in the Regt., so that there is now five under me.

The book of the Duffs. Volume 2 page 517

Eighteen pounds in 1771 is probably equivalent to more than 30,000 pounds today. The website MeasuringWorth states to compare the value of a £18 0s 0d Commodity in 1771 there are four choices. In 2020 the relative:

• real price of that commodity is £2,413.00
• labour value of that commodity is £32,180.00
• income value of that commodity is £35,310.00
• economic share of that commodity is £273,500.00

On 15 April 1773, William Duff embarked with his regiment for Canada, the journey taking 11 weeks. He was still in Canada in 1775, when the American War of Independence broke out. He wrote to his brother, Sir James Duff of Kinstair, on 21 May 1775 from Quebec. The 7th Royal Fusiliers were stationed with the 26th Foot in Lower Canada; the two regiments were loosely scattered among frontier posts, and both were at very low strength, together mustering only seven hundred men.

At the time of the American invasion of Canada in 1775, most of the regiment was forced to surrender. The 80 man garrison of Fort Chambly, Quebec, attempted to resist a 400-man Rebel force but ultimately had to surrender in October 1775 and the regiment lost its first set of colours.

The King’s Color of the British Seventh Regiment of Foot. It was captured by American forces at Fort Chambly, Canada, in October of 1775. As the first flag captured by the new American Army it was sent to Congress as a trophy. and is now in the West Point Museum. (Photo from West Point Museum Facebook page).

William Duff was taken prisoner by the Americans, probably at Fort Chambly in October 1775. Though it was hoped he might be returned in an exchange of prisoners, he was not released until early 1777.

In February 1777 he wrote to his father from Staten Island about the purchase of a company in the Regiment. William foreshadowed the expense stating “There is not a Company that has sold for less than Seventeen hundred pounds.” He asked his father to confirm that his father would purchase it for him and requesting security.

Seventeen hundred pounds in 1777 was probably equivalent to three million pounds today . From the website MeasuringWorth:

• real price of that commodity is £224,600.00
• labour value of that commodity is £2,858,000.00
• income value of that commodity is £3,110,000.00
• economic share of that commodity is £22,870,000.00

William left the 7th Regiment and was promoted to captain in the 26th Foot on 9 April 1777.

On 4 January 1786, William Duff now Captain of the 26th Regiment of Foot was promoted to Major; at the time he and the regiment were serving in Ireland.

On 9 April 1787 at Redmarshall, Durham, Major Duff of the 26th Regiment married Miss Skelly, of Yarm, daughter of the late Gordon Skelly Esq., Captain in the Navy. The book of the Duffs describes Dorothy as niece of Lord Adam Gordon, and the third Duke of Gordon; her grandmother Lady Betty Skelly (1717 – 1769) was sister to Cosmo, 3rd Duke of Gordon (1720 – 1752. Dorothy’s great uncle, Lord Adam Gordon (1726-1801) was colonel of the 26th Regiment of Foot from 1775 – 1782.

In May 1787 William wrote to William Rose from Cork :

We expect to sail to-morrow for Quebec. After various delays we reached this place a fortnight since. I am, as you often told me I should be, happier than ever in possession of a real, confidential friend. Everyone likes her. Were we richer it would be better.

The book of the Duffs. Volume 2 page 522

The headquarters of the regiment in July 1787 at Quebec was under the command of Major William Duff. The regiment moved to Montreal in 1789, and then to the frontier posts along the Niagara River in 1790. It moved to St. John in 1792.

William took his wife Dorothy to Canada. They had one daughter, Sophia Henrietta, born about 1790. It seems likely she was born in Canada.

William Duff retired from the army in March 1793.

William Duff, major in the 26th foot, died on 5 July 1795 at Fulford near York. He has a memorial in the Duff House Mausoleum at Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The inscription reads:

Sacred to the memory of William Duff of the 26th Regiment, a meritorious officer, a most sincere friend, an affectionate husband, an indulgent parent. He lived esteemed and respected. He died regretted and lamented in the 41st year of his age in the year of the Lord 1795.

“The Annals of Banff.” New Spalding Club, 1893, Issue 10, page 369.

Duff House Mausoleum retrieved from geograph.org.uk/p/5701382

William’s daughter Sophia was about five years old when her father died. Sophia and her mother stayed in contact with William’s family.

Sources

• Alistair Tayler & Tayler, Helen Agnes Henrietta, 1869-1951, joint author (1914). The book of the Duffs. Edinburgh W. Brown. Volume 2 pages 516-524 retrieved through archive.org
• Carter, Thomas (1867). Historical Record of the Twenty-Sixth, or Cameronian Regiment. London: W.O. Mitchell. page 84 retrieved through archive.org

Related posts

• Sophia Duff

Wikitree:

• James Duff Second Earl Fife (1729 – 1809), father of William
• Jean Duff (abt. 1751 – 1840), William’s sister
• James Duff (abt. 1753 – 1839), William’s brother
• William Duff (1754 – 1795)
• Dorothy (Skelly also known as Duff) Tobin (1768 – 1840), William’s wife
• Sophia Henrietta (Duff) Mainwaring (abt. 1790 – 1824), William’s daughter

Rowland Mainwaring: from midshipman to rear-admiral

One of my 4th great grandfathers was a British naval officer, Rowland Mainwaring (1782 – 1862). I have written about the early years of his career in my post Midshipman Rowland Mainwaring.

At the Battle of the Nile, Rowland Mainwaring was a midshipman on HMS Majestic, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line, George Blagdon Westcott, captain. Westcott was killed, and Mainwaring moved to the Thalia, a 36-gun frigate.

In about 1799 Mainwaring moved to the Defence, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line, commanded by Lord Henry Paulet. Mainwaring completed his time as midshipman under Paulet.

The Defence served off Lisbon and Cadiz, and in the Mediterranean. During 1800 the boats of the Defence were active in inshore operations, capturing the Nochette and several gunboats at St. Croix on 11 June, and assisting in the capture and destruction of boats in Bourgneuf Bay on 1 July. Head-money (a reward paid per head of captured enemy personnel) was distributed 25 years later to those involved in the action of 1 July and for capturing the ship La Thérèse of 20 guns, a lugger of 12, a cutter, and two schooners of 6 guns each.

Mainwaring was present on the Defence at the Battle of Copenhagen of 2 April 1801. The Defence was in the reserve and did not see action.

Nelson Forcing the Passage of the Sound, 30 March 1801, prior to the Battle of Copenhagen painting by Robert Dodd in the collection of the Royal Museums Greenwich.
The leading British ship, the ‘Monarch‘, 74 guns, is in the right foreground. She is followed to the right by the ‘Elephant‘, 74 guns, with Nelson flying his flag as Vice-Admiral of the Blue. These leading ships and several others following to the left have passed the batteries of Kronborg Castle. Although the Defence is not pictured it was also a 74 gun ship.

Mainwaring was made lieutenant on 7 December 1801 and was appointed to the Harpy sloop. His later appointments were:

• 4 August 1802 to the Leda, Captain Robert Honeyman, 38 guns
• 8 November 1804 to the Terrible, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line, serving again under Lord Henry Paulet
• 7 October 1806 as first lieutenant to the Narcissus, a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate

On the Leda, Mainwaring was entrusted with the command of a boat fitted with what was called an ‘explosion-machine’ in an attack upon the Boulogne flotilla.

The attack on Boulogne Oct 1804: ‘A S. E. View of the Town and Harbour of Boulogne with the Encampments on the Heights. Shewing also the situation of the French and English Squadrons as taken at anchor by E. D. Lewis H.M.S. Tartarus off Boulogne’. The flagship, centre bottom is identified as the ‘Monarch‘, 74, Admiral Lord Keith, then in charge of the anti-invasion blockade. The Leda is the second in from the bottom left-hand corner.
Drawing held in the collection of the Royal Museums Greenwich.

In August 1806 the Terrible was caught in a hurricane and dismasted. The Terrible was at the time in pursuit, in the West Indies, of a French squadron under the command of Jérôme Bonaparte, the youngest brother of Napoleon.

An account of the dismasting of the Terrible from The Annual Biography and Obituary, Volume 17 (1833) retrieved through Google Books.

In later life Mainwaring commissioned seven marine paintings. These are mentioned in his will. Two have been mislaid; five are at Whitmore Hall. One is of the extant paintings is ‘The Battle of the Nile’ (mentioned in an earlier post). Another appears to be of a dismasted ship, perhaps the Terrible.

One of the marine paintings at Whitmore Hall

Mainwaring had been on continuous service from 1795 to the end of 1810. In December 1810, he took leave to marry Sophia Duff. This was followed by eight months of half-pay. On 16 August 1811 he was appointed to the Menelaus, a 38-gun fifth rate frigate.

His service on the Menelaus included the following:

• the capturing, without loss, of the St. Josef, a French brig, pierced for 16 guns, lying within pistol-shot of one battery, flanked by another, and also by musketry from the shore, near the Bay of Fréjus in the south of France. The account was gazetted on 25 April 1812.

From The London Gazette Publication date: 25 April 1812 Issue:16597 Page:781

• in 1812, Menelaus was part of the blockade of Toulon in the Mediterranean and operated against coastal harbours, shipping and privateers off the southern coast of France with some success. Mainwaring was noticed for the following:
  • the attention and assistance he afforded on the occasion of the Menelaus (together with the Havannah and Furieuse frigates and Pelorus brig) being chased by the French Toulon fleet
  • by his admirable gallantry and good conduct when the Menelaus, having pursued the French 40-gun frigate Pauline and 16-gun brig Ecureuil under the batteries in the vicinity of Toulon, once more effected a masterly retreat from the fleet that had come out to their protection, by passing through its line ahead of one 74, and astern of another
  • by the manner in which, under circumstances peculiarly honourable to him, he boarded and brought out the French xebec or zebec La Paix, mounting 2 long 6-pounders, with a complement of 30 men, from within pistol-shot of the towers of Terracina, under a galling fire
  • by his highly creditable behaviour in cutting out, under a heavy fire from the batteries in the river Mignone, near Civita Vecchia, the French letter-of-marque St. Esprit, pierced for 12 guns, but with only 2 6-pounders mounted
  • by his conspicuous gallantry in burning the enemy’s vessels in the port of Mejan (Méjean), Marseilles, in September 1812.

Watercolour Painting by Nicholas Pocock of the British ship, HMS Menelaus. HMS Eclair is on the left, Menelaus, right of centre in in starboard bow view. To the far right is a Mediterranean setee. Pocock served as a lieutenant in the Adriatic from 1811 to 1814. From the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, UK.

On 13 August 1812 Mainwaring was awarded a second promotal commission to the rank of commander for gallantry and valor.  He later served in these vessels:

• Edinburgh, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line
• Gorgon, a hospital-ship at Malta
• Undaunted, a Lively-class fifth-rate 38-gun frigate
• Euryalus, a 36-gun Apollo-class frigate
• Caledonia, a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line; she was Admiral Pellew’s flagship in the Mediterranean.
• Kite, a 16-gun brig-sloop
• Paulina, a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Seagull class

Rowland Mainwaring kept a diary all his life. He published several books based on his diary. One of these was ‘The First Five Years of My Married Life‘ (1853), a record of Mainwaring’s activities afloat and of his domestic life. The book includes a detailed account of 1815, his last year of active service.

In 1815 Mainwaring was engaged in operations against American privateers operating in the Mediterranean against English shipping as a consequence of the ongoing Anglo-American war of 1812. Although the war officially ended in December 1814, Mainwaring received communication only on 26 April of the ratification on 17 February of the treaty of peace with America, and thus all hostilities in the Mediterranean ceased 40 days after that date, that is by 29 March.

In February 1815 on the Paulina Mainwaring was directed to proceed from Palermo to Corfu with dispatches and from there to Zante (Zakynthos, Greece), with the transport (chartered vessel) Enterprise, and embark the Phygalian Marbles, later known as the Elgin Marbles or Parthenon Marbles, for conveyance to Malta; they were then to be transported England. Mainwaring was annoyed by the orders for he had hoped to collect bounty from capturing privateers instead. He estimated his loss as £2,000 (between £150,000 and £1.5 million in today’s money).

There was a flurry of activity after Napoleon escaped from Elba in late February 1815. The Paulina was first involved in escorting a convoy of transports from Bona, present-day Annaba in Algeria, and Cagliari in Italy. The Paulina then proceeded to Naples and Gaeta in charge of a convoy with arms and ammunition for the Austrian forces. On arrival there was news of the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and Gaeta surrendered.

He proceeded to Genoa and Marseille and at Marseille attended a grand civic ball. In September he was back in Valetta and reunited with his wife and her third child who had been born on 14 August. This son was named in honour of Edward Pellew, Lord Exmouth, who was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean, and who had consented to be the child’s godfather. The Paulina was then ordered to proceed to Plymouth. He sailed on 30 September with his “family, goods and chattels, a milch goat, and various little comforts and luxuries for the voyage home.”

Map showing the Mediterranean ports mentioned by Mainwaring in 1815

Mainwaring was paid off in November 1815 and did not serve afloat again.

On the accession of William IV, Rowland Mainwaring was one of the old war-officers selected by Lord Melville as deserving of promotion. He was posted by commission–made captain–on 22 July 1830, one of 18 commanders elevated to the rank at that time.

On 29 September 1855 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral. He was one of 11 Captains on the Retired List promoted to be Retired Rear Admiral without increase of pay, on terms proposed in the London Gazette of September 1, 1846. Of the 11 captains promoted on 29 September 1855, 9 had been promoted to captain at the same time as Mainwaring.

Portrait of Captain Rowland Mainwaring painted by Mr. John Phillip, afterwards R.A., at Whitmore in May 1841

Sources

• O’Byrne, William R. A Naval Biographical Dictionary: Comprising the Life and Services of Every Living Officer in Her Majesty’s Navy, from the Rank of Admiral of the Fleet to that of Lieutenant, Inclusive. 1849. Page 711. Retrieved through archive.org.
• Marshall, John. Royal Naval Biography : Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-officers, Superannuated Rear-admirals, Retired-captains, Post-captains, and Commanders, Whose Names Appeared on the Admiralty List of Sea Officers at the Commencement of the Present Year, Or who Have Since Been Promoted, Illustrated by a Series of Historical and Explanatory Notes … with Copious Addenda: Captains. Commanders. 1832. Pages 126 – 130. Retrieved through Google Books.
• Mainwaring, Rowland. The First Five Years of My Married Life. 1853. Retrieved through Google Books.
• Cavenagh-Mainwaring, James Gordon. The Mainwarings of Whitmore and Biddulph in the County of Stafford; an account of the family, and its connections by marriage and descent, with special reference to the manor of Whitmore, with appendices, pedigrees and illustrations. 1934. Pages 104 – 115. Retrieved through archive.org
• Cavenagh-Mainwaring, Christine and Britton, Heather, (editor.) Whitmore Hall : from 1066 to Waltzing Matilda. Adelaide Peacock Publications, 2013. Pages 82 – 92.

Related posts

• Midshipman Rowland Mainwaring
• Trove Tuesday: Obituary for Admiral Mainwaring
• Jemmett Mainwaring and the start of a Mainwaring naval tradition – part 1
• Jemmett Mainwaring and HMS Babet

Wikitree: Rowland Mainwaring (1782 – 1862)

Peggy de Crespigny and Ruth Smith in the Australian Women’s Army Service 1942

A week ago I received an email about a photo in a family collection: “I have come across a photo of Peggy Champion De Crespigny with my mother, Ruth Smith, circa 1942, both in Army uniform.

They enlisted in the army around the same time and were good friends. I don’t know if this friendship pre-dated the war, but mum used to talk about the Champion De Crespigny’s with great affection. I don’t think they ever met up in future years even though they both eventually lived in Adelaide – mum since the mid-1950s. Mum passed away in 2005. [Peggy died in 1989.]

Mum has written on the back of the photo: Peggy de Crespigny and Ruth coming from the Torrens Parade Ground along King William Road near Govt. House, Adelaide.”

Peggy de Crespigny and Ruth Smith 1942

The Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) was formed in August 1941 to release men from less important military duties so that they could serve with fighting units.

Isobel Ruth Smith (Service Number – SF64955), 23 years old, enlisted at Adelaide on 21 May 1942. Her occupation was clerk.

Margaret Champion de Crespigny (Service Number – S65003) enlisted at Adelaide on 26 May 1942. Her occupation was coding and deciphering, she had just started the signals course the day before.

From 25 May 1942 to about August Ruth and Peggy attended a communications course called the Australian Signals Course No. 41.

On 13 August 1942 Ruth was transferred to a special wireless school at Bonegilla near Albury. Ruth was graded as a Group 1 Wireless Telegraph Operator and later promoted to Sergeant. She was discharged in January 1946.

Ruth’s son sent another photo of Ruth “Also a photo of my mum, Sgt. Ruth Smith, who served in signals with the Australian Special Wireless Group a somewhat secretive outfit who were told that they were never mention their role, or mention the Aust Special Wireless Group, and were never to march in ANZAC Day parades (and she didn’t). Interestingly the ASWG became the Defence Signals Directorate.” He also recalled that his parents “would talk fluently in high speed Morse code, especially if they didn’t want [him] to know!”

Sgt. Ruth Smith

On 17 August 1942 Peggy de Crespigny became a Sig [Signaller] Wm Gp 2 with SA L of C [South Australian Line of Communications Area]. In July 1943 she attended the LHQ [Land Headquarters] School of Military Intelligence at Southport, Queensland. In December 1943 she was discharged at her own request on compassionate grounds. Peggy’s mother Beatrix had died 11 November 1943.

I was interested to see that the attesting officer on Peggy’s forms was Captain May Douglas. I met May Douglas many years later. She was a friend of my grandmother Kathleen—both played golf—and she was also much involved in the Girl Guides.

Wikitree:

• Margaret (Champion de Crespigny) in’t Veld (1919 – 1989)