Travelling north with lunch at Whitmore

On Wednesday 8 May we drove north from Bath, calling in at the village of Whitmore in Staffordshire, near Stoke-on-Trent, to visit some of my cousins. On the way we stopped at Tewkesbury, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, to look at the abbey there. From Whitmore we went on to West Didsbury near Manchester, our next base.

One of my fifteenth great grandfathers, William Vaux (1435 – 1471), who fought in the War of the Roses for the Red Rose of Lancaster, was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471. He is said to have been buried at the Abbey, but I have been unable to find any record of this in the Abbey archives, and the list of inscriptions in the Tewkesbury Abbey church does not mention his name. This didn’t matter, for if you had an untraceable ancestor said to have been buried somewhere you couldn’t do better than not have him in Tewkesbury. It’s a lovely old church, said to be the one of the finest Norman abbeys in England.

 

We drove on to Whitmore and had lunch and an edifying chat with my cousins about Brexit, which turns out to be a plot to deprive England of its sovereignty, like 1066. At least one Australian present was reminded of the joke about a headline in an English newspaper that read, ‘Fog in Channel. Continent cut off’. On the other hand, the German car we had hired was showing unmistakable signs of having been designed and assembled by a committee of bureaucrats in Brussels, so who knows?

The Eureka flag was flying, a present we had sent to England some time previously. There is a family connection other than cousins from Ballarat; a Cudmore cousin fought at Eureka (on the Government side).

Lunch was served on the family’s Minton china, commissioned by my great uncle Rafe Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1906 – 1995), a copy of a setting that his great great grandfather (my fourth great grandfather) Rowland Mainwaring (1783 – 1862) had ordered. Time moves slowly in the pottery towns, and Minton apparently still had the records from the first commission to run up a second one. When you got to the bottom of your plate, there was the family crest, an ass’s head on a crown. The motto is ‘Devant si je puis’ [Forward if I Can], a useful reminder to wait for the next course.

We had a tour of the house and stables and saw many family portraits. The house, now listed with Historic Houses, is open to the public. Our guide seemed very knowledgeable on the family history. In one or two places a section of the modern wall had been removed to expose the original structure. This had an interesting consequence. Breaching the wall had allowed a ghostly lady from an earlier era playing ghostly old music to wander into the present. There has been a house on the same site for over 900 years and it has belonged to the same family since the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, so I suppose you’d expect an apparition or two.

 

 

 

My fourth great grandfather Rowland Mainwaring kept a diary, now stored and displayed in an upstairs sitting room. Several volumes have been stolen unfortunately, probably souvenired by visitors. While we were at Whitmore my son Peter photographed some pages of the diary for me, including, sadly, the last entry, written by Rowland Mainwaring on the day he died.

 

 

Before we left we visited the churchyard and some family graves.

 

 

Related post

• D is for Domesday

A spa in Bath and visit to Clifton

We were staying in Bath. One of its attractions is the Thermae Bath Spa, built on the site of the Roman baths, and supplied, as were the Roman baths, by warm spring water.

On Sunday Charlotte and I walked down Widcombe Hill and across the River Avon to the Spa for what we expected would be a nice hot plunge. The spa opens at nine o’clock. We arrived at ten past. This meant a queue – the English queue for everything – and so we stood in line for an hour waiting for a change room.

Why hadn’t we booked? You can’t, except for special treatments. And we couldn’t leave the queue for a cup of coffee because we’d have lost our place.

At £40 each I expected something better, but perhaps the Sunday of a Bank holiday weekend in May was not a good time to go. Oh well, the rooftop pool was fun.

The rooftop pool at the Thermae Bath Spa photographed in 2010 from Bath Abbey – image from Wikipedia; photograph by user:Simple Bob CC by 2.0

The Cross Bath adjacent to the Thermal Bath Spa

Looking down Bath Street toward the South Colonnade entrance of the Grand Pump Room. Bath was almost deserted on the Sunday morning except for the queue at the Thermal Bath Spa.

In the afternoon we drove to look at the Clifton Suspension Bridge (designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, completed after his death) near Bristol.

Nearby in Clifton, we found the house of John James (1808 – 1855), the first husband my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte Dana.

John James divorced Charlotte in 1849. At the time of the 1851 census he was living with his mother, brother, and daughter Constance aged 10, at 24 The Mall, Clifton. They had 4 live-in servants. The house overlooks a pretty garden, where I imagine Constance played.

1851 English census Class: HO107; Piece: 1952; Folio: 383;Page: 33; GSU roll: 87352 retrieved through ancestry.com

24 The Mall Clifton

The Mall Gardens, Clifton , Gloucestershire

A visit to Cheltenham

My 4th great grandparents are buried at Leckhampton near Cheltenham. On Friday 3 May I met one of my Hughes cousins at the churchyard. She had previously photographed the graves for me. I was pleased to see them in person.

 

The inscriptions are starting to wear. In the casket are buried my 4th great grandparents Eliza Julia Champion Crespigny nee Trent (1797 – 1855) and Charles Fox Champion Crespigny (1785 – 1875), and their grandson Constantine Trent Pulteney Champion Crespigny (1851 – 1883). The daughter of Eliza and Charles, Eliza Constantia Frances Champion Crespigny (1825 – 1898), is buried nearby with a simple cross marker.

 

The church was open and, inside, surprisingly warm. There was soon to be a wedding and the ladies of the church were doing the arrangements.

Over lunch at a pub nearby my cousin and I chatted about family history.

Then we visited Cheltenham, very close to Leckhampton, where we saw the house of my 4th great grandparents at 11 Royal Parade. Cheltenham, a Regency spa town, is pretty with many Georgian terraces.

On the way back to Bath we stopped at Chedworth, a National Trust Roman villa site.

 

We drove through pretty countryside and along more narrow lanes.

Back in Bath Peter and I bought some local gin from a distillery not far from where we were staying. Delicious.

Related posts

• L is for Leckhampton
• Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny (1785 – 1875)
• Constantine Pulteney Trent Champion de Crespigny (1851 – 1883)

L is for Leckhampton

A family history trip would not be complete without a visit to a cemetery.

A cousin of mine has very kindly sent me photographs of the graves at Leckhampton near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, of my fourth great grandparents Eliza Julia Champion de Crespigny nee Trent (1797 – 1855), and Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny (1785 – 1875), and their grandson, Constantine Pulteney Trent Champion de Crespigny (1851 – 1883), my 3rd great uncle. Also the grave of their daughter, my fourth great aunt, Eliza Constantia Frances Crespigny (1825 – 1898).

The Gloucestershire Family History Society have transcribed the tombstone inscriptions for the burials in St Peter’s Churchyard, Leckhampton.

St Peter’s Leckhampton. I think the Champion Crespigny tomb can be seen on the right hand side underneath a cyprus.

..

The south side of the grave of Eliza and Charles Fox Champion Crespigny can be seen in the background – it is a large casket. In the foreground is the grave of their daughter Constantia, a cross on a three stepped plinth. The inscription on this side of the chest tomb has been transcribed: M11 Chest-tomb, on base, inward sloping sides, worn, once painted. Sc: LEWIS.Sc. South: IN MEMORY OF / CHARLES FOX CHAMPION CRESPIGNY, / BORN AT HINTLESHAM HALL NEAR IPSWICH 30TH AUGUST 1785, / DIED AT CHELTENHAM 4TH MARCH 1875. / IN SURE AND CERTAIN HOPE OF BEING RAISED WITH THE FAITHFUL IN CHRIST / TO EVERLASTING LIFE. / ALSO OF CONSTANTINE TRENT PULTENEY CHAMPION CRESPIGNY. / LATE OF H.M. 69th REGT BORN 5TH MAY 1851. DIED 26TH JANUARY 18–. / YOUNGEST SON OF PHILIP ROBERT CHAMPION CRESPIGNY / OF ST KILDA, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / – – – – – – LL YE THAT LABOUR AND – – – HEAVY LADEN – – – WILL OF – – –

The verse under Constantine’s inscription is Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The verse for his grandfather is derived from the Book of Common Prayer but is not a direct quote.

The inscription on the tomb of Eliza wife of Charles Fox Champion Crespigny. Transcribed as IN MEMORY OF / ELIZA JULIA, THE BELOVED WIFE OF / CHARLES FOX CHAMPION CRESPIGNY ESQUIRE, / WHO DIED THE 17TH DAY OF JULY 1855, AGED 59 YEARS. PURE AND INNOCENT OF MIND, KIND AND BENEVOLENT, “HER WAYS WERE WAYS OF PLEASANTNESS, AND ALL HER PATHS WERE PEACE.” PROVERBS. III.17. UNTO YOU THAT HAVE MY NAME SHALL THE SUN(sic) OF RIGHTOUSNESS ARISE WITH HEALING IN HIS WINGS. MALACHI IV 2 I WILL RANSOM THEM FROM THE POWER OF THE GRAVE I WILL REDEEM THEM FROM DEATH. HOSEA XIII.I. – -EL- – – – NOT SHARE OUR SORROW, S——– THE -OT-E— BLESSED – – – – – – – A FUTURE LIFE – – – – – – – – – -SAVED – – – – – .

L164 Cross on three plinths with kerbs, all of very worn concrete and extremely difficult to read. In the Registers was found: Eliza Constantine Frances Crestigey buried May 26 1898 aged 73 of 29 Kingsholm Road, Gloucester. The grave plan has Eliza Constantia Frances Crespigny, died 1898. Cross: JESU MERCY East. Plinth 1: IN LOVING MEMORY OF – – – – – – – – – – YOUNGER – – – – – – OF – – – – – – Plinth 2:——CHARLES?CRESPIGNY? ————R BORNATBO——-1825? DIED AT GLOUCESTER 2- — OF MAY 1898 AGED 75? Eliza was born July 1825 at Boulogne, France. She died 23 May 1898.

 

I am grateful for the photographs of the grave and I look forward to seeing it in person. I enjoy being at a place I’ve heard about and of course part of the fun is the journey there.

Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny inherited a considerable fortune but it dwindled away. I don’t know how he lost his money. Perhaps some of his investments failed or a bank collapsed. He does not appear to have been a gambler. Perhaps he was extravagant. The grave he erected for his wife and was later interred in certainly seems more overdone than most.

I am not sure why the family was living in Cheltenham, nor what the connection was to Leckhampton and why it was chosen for the grave of Eliza. Charles grew up in Suffolk. They married in London, and their children were born in Suffolk, Belgium and France. In 1841 they were living in Cheltenham, and although they were at Harefield Surrey in 1851 living with Charles’s brother Philip, they returned to Cheltenham after Philip’s death and were living there at the time of Eliza’s death. Leckhampton is only two miles south of Cheltenham. Perhaps it was the nearest graveyard to their residence, at 11 Royal Parade.

Around 1908, Charles Stanley Champion de Crespigny (1848-1907), another of the grandsons of Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny, wrote of his grandfather:

Ah well he lies buried in an old world Churchyard in the shadow of the Cotswold Hills & may the turf lie lightly upon him. I do not think he left an enemy behind him & if he had as many thousands a year at the beginning of his life as he had of fifty pounds at its close I believe he lived the life.

I look forward to visiting the old world churchyard in the shadow of the Cotswold Hills where my fourth great grandparents rest in peace.

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade, 

         Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap, 

Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, 

         The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. 

Extract from “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray (1716–1771).

Related Posts

• Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny (1785 – 1875)
• Constantine Pulteney Trent Champion de Crespigny (1851 – 1883)

Sources

• http://leckhamptonlhs.weebly.com/tombstone-inscriptions-at-st-peters-church.html

E is for enterprise

One of my fifth great grandfathers was Thomas Plaisted (1777 – 1832), who owned a wine bar in Deptford (I have written before about this, at Plaisteds Wine Bar). Deptford was a dockyard district on the south bank of the River Thames in south-east London.

The Coopers Arms, also known as Plaisteds Wine Bar, in 2008 (photograph from Wikimedia Commons taken by Ewan Munro and uploaded by Oxyman) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 ]

According to my cousin Helen Hudson in “Cherry Stones“, her history of her forebears, Thomas Plaisted was born in Newnham on Severn in west Gloucestershire. His Plaisted ancestors were connected with the village of Castle Combe in Wiltshire. Helen describes an excellent ploughman’s lunch she had there.

Helen’s research was largely based on the work of Arthur Plaisted, who published “The Plaisted Family of North Wilts” in 1939. With the benefit of direct access to many more records and with the power of indexes and digitisation, current family history researchers differ from some of Arthur Plaisted’s conclusions.

Two records of my fifth great grandfather I feel confident about are:

• his marriage to Lydia Wilkes in June 1797 at St Bride’s Church Fleet Street
• his will of 1832 and associated codicil, where he names his wife and children. In the codicil to his will he stated: “I Thomas Plaisted do hereby acknowledge that the house known as the sign of the Coopers Arms Woolwich Kent has been from the taking of the above house and is now the property of my son John Plaisted and I do hereby direct that the Licences be transferred to him or to whom he shall appoint witness my hand this twenty ninth day of May one thousand eight hundred and thirty two”. John Plaisted (1800 – 1858) was my fourth great grandfather who in 1849 emigrated to Australia.

The wine bar survived under different owners to about 2010. According to Google Street View in 2018, the building was is being used as a laundrette. Although it looks Georgian, the facade of the building apparently dates from a renovation in the 1920s. The distinctive lamp may date from the original building.

I don’t know why my 5th great grandfather migrated from Gloucestershire to London, or if in fact it was his parents who migrated. London’s population grew from about three-quarters of a million people in 1760 to 1.1 million people in 1801, when the first reliable census was taken. The Plaisted family were among those migrants to London. Some of London’s population growth was due to reduced infant mortality: by the 1840s children born in the capital were three times less likely to die in childhood than those born in the 1730s. However, population growth attributable to reduced infant mortality was outweighed by increased migration and rising fertility.

Thomas Plaisted ran a successful business, which survived and was run by his descendants for most of the nineteenth century. The building was bought in 1890 by a Mr E.J. Rose, who continued to use it as a wine shop and bar. It changed hands several times in the twentieth century and finally closed about 2010.

Related posts

• Plaisteds Wine Bar
• P is for phthisis (tuberculosis)

Sources

• Hudson, Helen Lesley Cherry stones : adventures in genealogy of Taylor, Hutcheson, Hawkins of Scotland, Plaisted, Green, Hughes of England and Wales … who immigrated to Australia between 1822 and 1850. H.L. Hudson, [Berwick] Vic, 1985.
• Plaisted, Arthur Henry (The) Plaisted family of North Wilts, with some account of the branches of Berks, Bucks, Somerset, and Sussex. The Westminster publishing co, Westminster, 1939.
• Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973  Name: Thomas Plaisted Marriage Date: 10 Jun 1797 Marriage Place: Saint Bride Fleet St, London,England Spouse: Lydia Wilks
• 1832 will of PLAISTED Thomas, Kent, Jul 463 [PROB11/1803 (451-500) pages 100 R&L] transcribed by Jeanette Richmond
• http://www.dover-kent.com/2016-project/Plaisteds-Woolwich.html
• https://www.chrismansfieldphotos.com/RECORDS-of-WOOLWICH/Woolwich-High-st-/i-4RT9wb2
• Clive Emsley, Tim Hitchcock and Robert Shoemaker, “London History – A Population History of London”, Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 04 April 2019 ) retrieved from https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/Population-history-of-london.jsp
• Google street view

I is for Ichabod

One of my 8th great grandfathers was Ichabod Chauncy (1635 -1691), a Dissenter and Puritan, whose father, Charles Chauncy (1592-1672), was a long-serving President of Harvard College.

Harvard president Charles Chauncy

Charles Chauncy graduated at Cambridge in 1613, and became a fellow of his college and a professor of Hebrew and Greek. In 1627 he was appointed Vicar of Ware, Hertfordshire, and from 1633 to 1637 he was vicar at Marston St Lawrence, Northamptonshire.

Chauncy had Puritanical opinions that placed him in opposition to the church hierarchy, including its most senior member, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. He asserted in a sermon that “idolatry was admitted into the church” and he opposed, as a “snare to men’s consciences” placing a barrier – the altar rail – around the communion table. He was suspended by Archbishop Laud for refusing to read from the pulpit the “Book of Sports”, which set out permissible Sunday recreations. He was brought before the Court of High Commission in 1629 and again in 1634. In 1634 he was imprisoned. He made a formal recantation in 1637 (which he later regretted).

In 1638 Charles Chauncy emigrated to America, and from 1638 to 1641 he was an associate pastor at Plymouth, Massachusetts. However, the Plymouth church community was dissatisfied with his advocacy of the baptism of infants by immersion. From 1641 to 1654 he served as pastor at Scituate, Massachusetts. From 1654 until his death in 1672 Charles was President of Harvard College.

Charles Chauncy and his wife Catherine Chauncy nee Eyre (1604-1667) had six sons and at least two daughters. All six sons were said to have been “bred to the ministry and graduates of Harvard”. Ichabod was the third child and second son.

The unusual name ‘Ichabod’ appears to be an allusion to an Old Testament story. In 1 Samuel 4, the Philistines defeat Israel and capture the Ark of the Covenant. At this news the wife of the high priest Phineas falls into labour and gives birth to a son whom she names ‘Ichabod‘, conventionally translated as ‘the glory has departed’. Charles Chauncey was very likely giving expression to his rather strong opinion of the the lapsed and degenerate state of the Church of England.

Ichabod was brought to Massachusetts in 1638, when he was about three years old. In 1651, at about the age of 16, he and his older brother Isaac graduated from Harvard College.

Returning to England Ichabod Chauncey became an army chaplain to Sir Edward Harley’s Regiment at Dunkirk. However, in 1662, at the time of the Act of Uniformity, Ichabod was one of some 2,000 Puritan ministers who were forced out of their positions by Church of England clergy, following the changes after the restoration to power of Charles II. The Act of Uniformity prescribed that any minister who refused to conform to the Book of Common Prayer by St. Bartholomew’s Day (24 August) 1662 should be ejected from the Church of England.

With his clerical career at an end Ichabod took up the practice of medicine. On 13 October 1666 he was admitted an Extra-Licentiate of the College of Physicians. He settled at Bristol, Gloucestershire.

In 1682 Ichabod Chauncey was prosecuted for not attending church and was convicted and fined. In 1684 he was again prosecuted, imprisoned for 18 weeks, and was sentenced to lose his estate both real and personal, and to leave the realm within three months. He went to Leiden, Holland,and practiced as a physician there until 1686 when he returned to Bristol. There is a suggestion that Ichabod’s persecution may have originated in the private malice of the Bristol town clerk.

Ichabod married Mary King (c. 1646-1736) on 12 August 1669 at St Michael’s Bristol. They had eight children. Three sons survived him:

• Stanton, who died in 1707
•  Charles 1674-1763 (my seventh great grandfather, who became a London merchant)
• Nathaniel 1679-1750

Ichabod Chauncey died at Bristol on 25 July 1691 and was buried on 27 July at St Philip’s Bristol.

References

• Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889, Volume 1, Charles Chauncy, page 594 retrieved through ancestry.com
• Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed.; London, England: Oxford University Press; Dictionary of National Biography, 1921-22, Volumes 1-20, 22;Volume: Vol 22; Page: 230 retrieved through ancestry.com
• Farmer, John. A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New-England; Containing an Alphabetical List of the Governours, Deputy-Governours, Assistants or Counsellors, and Ministers of the Gospel in the Several Colonies, from 1620 to 1692; Graduates of Harvard College to 1662; Members of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company to 1662; Freemen Admitted to the Massachusetts Colony from 1630 to 1662; With Many Other of the Early Inhabitants of New-England and …, page 57 retrieved through ancestry.com
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 10, Chauncey, Ichabod, by Augustus Charles Bickley
• Munk, William. “Ichabod Chauncey.” Munk’s Roll Details, Royal College of Physicians, munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/828.
• John Langdon Sibley (1642). Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Johnson Reprint Corporation. pp. 308–9.

Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny (1785 – 1875)

Charles Fox Champion Crespigny, son of Philip Champion Crespigny and Dorothy Scott was born on 30 August 1785 in Hintlesham Hall, Hintlesham, Suffolk, England. He died on 4 March 1875 in 11 Royal Parade, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. He married Eliza Julia Trent (1797-1855) on 20 March 1813 in St. George Hanover Square, London, England. He was my fourth great grandfather.

Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny about 1858, aged about 73, cropped from a photograph taken with his grandson Constantine Pulteney Trent Champion de Crespigny

 

I have inherited through my father a photocopy of nine hand written pages written about Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny by his grandson Charles Stanley Champion de Crespigny (1848-1907) in about 1908. The photocopy has a brief annotation by Charles’s son Charles Leonard C de C (1898-1977). My father received his copy from our cousin Stephen C de C who made annotations in 1964.

Charles Stanley was the child of Charles John Champion de Crespigny (1814-1880) and Emma Margaret nee Smith (c 1820-1848). Emma died just over two months after Charles Stanley was born and Charles Stanley was brought up by his grandparents.

To my Readers
Every word in This Booklet is true. Much is suppressed & names are changed that neither pain nor shame may attach to the dead who are beyond reach of ink or pen or to those living whom I love.
But in every essential particular it is true & in no single fact is it untrue or imaginary in this history of a Human Document.

My first memories are of a large country house not many miles from London.(1) I can just see its lovely grounds its quaint old world house. I can still see & hear the old Parson of the Parish (2) who would come across every Sunday after his honest but dreary discourse to dine at my Grandfather’s Table. A worthy man – a Doctor of Divinity- doing his little – his very little best — but still his best according to his lights, in his Master’s name. I still sleep the troubless innocent sleep of a child lulled by his dreary diatribes. I remember that village choir, that vacillating violin that terrible treble. And I remember asking my

dear old Grandmother if that holy man in white surplice & hood & afterwards in black gown & white bands was the God whom I was taught to love & fear.
For I was living with my Grandparents then. My father had left me in their loving care for my Mother died within two months of my Birth. And I doubt if it were not for her at least for the best. Of my Grandfather what can I say? The greatest Gentleman, the truest Simplest most lovable man, I ever knew. Sustained in my boyish memories still at my nearly sixty years of age, I have never looked upon his like again – A grand old head – with the whitest of

white hair, the Silken Touch of which my childish fingers loved to feel & which the fingers of an old man still dream the can feel now as in the long ago. A grand old man hating shams of all kind, gentle to a woman whatever her degree, politer to his tradesman than his peers, loved by his servants & hated only, if hated by anyone, by some parvenu upstart who would presume that a well lined pocket entitled its owner to be braggart & bully. “What is not good enough for my servants is not good enough for me” – I have often heard him say & the fare of the Servants’ Halls was every whit as good as the fare of the Master’s table

A gentleman as the French say to the tip of his fingernails – never discourteous to anyone, in his quarrels of word or pen attacking with the rapier of an honourable foe not with the dagger of the Assassin. In his youth an officer of Dragoons (3) – present at that celebrated Ball in Brussels on the Eve of Waterloo anent which he told me a curious tale.(4) He was dancing in a Quadrille & in one of the figures he noticed a Colonel of British Cavalry suddenly turn pale & stagger as if about to faint. In the dance my Grandfather asked what ailed him. “My dear C” said the Colonel, “I had a dreadful vision I saw my body dressed as I am now without a head.” Not long afterwards

the Bugles sounded & the British officers marched off to that Battle, which was the triumph of Wellington & the Downfall of Napoleon – Waterloo.
The Colonel’s body was found decapitated the head having been carried off by a round shot – & never being found.
He had faults, but such faults as has a child, such faults – as I believe are better than some men’s virtues. He did not know the value of money (5) – “dirty money” as he called it. But no tramp passed his house that could not get a glass of beer & a hunk of bread & cheese – & no beggar asked for alms in vain if he seemed feeble or was short of limb or had not the capacity – to work-

“You Encourage imposters” I once heard a friend say to him. “Perhaps I do”, said the dear old man, “ but if I help one poor devil in real distress out of ten who beg the other nine may go hang & my dole is well given. Had I waited to make enquiries & get characters & references the one deserving man would have suffered & the nine imposters would have cared not one jot.”
A hint that the Charity organizations might well take! To me there is something incongruous between the idea of “Charity” & “organization” – As well “Purity-Chastity” & say “Insurance”!

A grand old man too – a breed that is dying out if it be not already dead. He could tell & hear & enjoy a good story of even what is termed today a blue one but he could not treat a woman save as a woman. Peasant or Duchess had equal measure of courtesy from him & even to courtesan he would speak as if she might be his Daughter or sister – & was certainly the one or the other to some other man. He would drink his fill of good old Port too & enjoy his liqueur of good old Brandy but even after I held her Majesty’s commission I remember his saying to me – “Don’t drink spirits in the Daytime like a groom my boy.”

Ah well he lies buried in an old world Churchyard in the shadow of the Cotswold Hills & may the turf lie lightly upon him. (6) I do not think he left an enemy behind him & if he had as many thousands a year at the beginning of his life as he had of fifty pounds at its close I believe he lived the life. I have often heard him talk of “Be brave & a Gentleman” heard say “wd you can do no wrong that God will not forgive.”
And they are wise words. For all punishable crime is cowardly & no other crimes could be committed by any one who claims the gentleman’s only motto “Sans peur et sans reproche”. [fearless and above reproach]

He was nearly a centenarian when he died & remembered & recite the odes of Horace but a few days before the End & to his loving tuition do I owe a knowledge of Latin & Greek & the English Language which made me successful in Army & other examinations.
I must note before I regretfully pass from my memories of my grand old man refrain from repeating oft told test of a real gentleman “Ask him to dinner” he would say & I will quickly tell you if he is a real gentleman -”
And when I see the Youth of today – the “about town” youth – not the “Sort” that fought & died in South Africa – but the

[it ends here, either pages missing or never completed – annotation by Charles Leonard Champion de Crespigny, only son of Charles Stanley].

(1) the large country house not many miles from London is probably Harefield House. On the 1851 census Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny was living there with his half-brother Philip (1765-1851), wife Eliza, son Charles John, daughter Eliza (1825-1898) and grandson Charles Stanley (aged 2). There were 12 live in servants. Charles Fox lived at Harefield until about 1856/7. 1851 census for Harefield, Middlesex (2B) page 35: Class: HO107; Piece: 1697; Folio: 376; Page: 35; GSU roll: 193605

(2) On the 1851 census the perpetual curate (incumbent) of Harefield is John Lightfoot then aged 66. 1851 census for Harefield, Middlesex (2B) page 21: Class: HO107; Piece: 1697; Folio: 369; Page: 21; GSU roll: 193605. He was still at Harefield in 1861 aged 76 Class: RG 9; Piece: 768; Folio: 23; Page: 4;GSU roll: 542698. He died in 1863 aged 79.

(3) Stephen Champion de Crespigny note that Charles Fox entered the Army, 1st or Royal Regiment of Dragoons became a cornet 16 January 1806, Lieutenant 1808, Captain in 1810. He resigned in 1811 as a Lieutenant by sale of Commission.

(4) He may have been in Belgium in a civilian capacity but is not mentioned in the Waterloo Muster rolls. His second child George was born at Antwerp, Belgium on 31 October 1815, just over four months after the Battle of Waterloo which was fought on 18 June. The Duchess of Richmond’s Ball held on 15 June has a known invitation list and Charles Fox is not on that list. However, Sir Hussey Vivian (1775-1842) was on the list and did attend, writing about the ball to his wife Eliza, who was the sister of Charles Fox. Perhaps Vivian took his brother-in-law Charles Fox. The sources for Vivian’s attendance are:

Sir Hussey Vivian confirms that he attended the ball in:
– his letter to his wife dated 23rd June 1815. In: Vivian, Cl. R.H.Vivian, first baron Vivian p.264
– his diary, cited in: Vivian, Cl. R.H.Vivian.First baron Vivian etc. p.263
– his undated letter to E.Vivian, in: Vivian, Cl. R.H.Vivian, first baron Vivian p.266

Claud Vivian’s memoir of Richard Hussey Vivian, digitised and available through archive.org, shed no light light on Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny’s presence in Belgium, he is not mentioned by his brother-in-law.

(5) Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny inherited a considerable fortune but it dwindled away during his life. At this stage I don’t know how, perhaps there were some significant failings in investments or a bank. He does not appear to have been a gambler.

(6) Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny is buried at St Peter’s, Leckhampton, Gloucestershire with his wife and his grandson Constantine Pulteney Champion de Crespigny (1851-1883)

Related posts

• Philip de Crespigny in the French Revolution
• Constantine Pulteney Trent Champion de Crespigny (1851 – 1883) He was the cousin of Charles Stanley and also brought up by his grandfather Charles Fox

Constantine Pulteney Trent Champion de Crespigny (1851 – 1883)

Constantine Pulteney Trent Champion de Crespigny was born at St Malo, France, on 5 May 1851, the son of Philip Champion Crespigny and his wife Charlotte Frances née Dana. He was christened on 28 May at the Anglican Chapel, Saint-Servan-sur-Mer, which is two miles from St Malo.  He was the third child of the couple; his older sister Ada was born in 1848 and his brother Philip was born in 1850.

Not long after his birth his parents emigrated to Australia from England with their two older children. They left Constantine in England in the care of his grandparents and aunt. The Champion Crespigny family embarked from Plymouth on the Cambodia on 3 December 1851 when Constantine was not yet 7 months old. They must have determined he was too small and not strong enough to make the journey.

The family stayed in touch by letters and copies of some of this correspondence survives. For example:

undated but before July 1856

My dearest little Ada and Loup Loup:
     A thousand thanks for your nice little letter which delighted me.  Little Conny could not read them but Charlie learnt them by heart and repeated them to the little darling. I hope Ada has received the little books I sent her by this time and that you have both had a ride in Papa’s new carriage. Grandpapa will send you some seeds for your garden by the Great Britain Steam Ship and I hope you will have as much pleasure in growing your mustard and cress as Charlie has. Conny and Charlie are always talking of you and longing to have you both as playfellows. Do send me word what I can send you my little darlings to amuse you. I am very glad the boots fitted so well. Goodbye to you both. Conny and Charlie send you many kisses and I am ever your Affte. Gd. Mama.
     Gd. Papa and Aunt send you many loves and kisses.

The letter is from Eliza Julia Champion Crespigny  née Trent (1797 – 1856), wife of Charles James Fox Crespigny (1785 – 1875), and mother to Philip senior. Loup Loup was a nick name for Philip junior and means wolf. Charlie is the cousin of Constantine, Charles Stanley Champion Crespigny (1848 – 1907), the son of Philip’s older brother Charles John Champion Crespigny (1814 – 1880). The aunt was Philip’s sister, Eliza Constantia Frances Champion Crespigny (1817 – 1898). It was Constantia who spent much time caring for young Con.

from letter of 9 January 1858 from Charles James Champion Crespigny at Cheltenham to his son Philip

… The care she [Philip’s sister Constantia] takes in your dear Con and the delight she has in him is not to be described. It will be a great loss and pain to us to part with him when the time comes that he must go to school. He says positively that he will not go till he is eight and gets on so well with us that it will be time enough. I much wish to live long enough to see him grow up and started in the world but this is hardly to be expected.

When old enough and if we think it will be best to send him to the College here – 600 boys! but it is very good and terms very moderate, within sixty pounds a year – if a boy is at a boarding house, the last forty and twelve or fourteen to the college and about twelve per annum to hire the presentation or pay about one hundred in purchase of a presentation which is always saleable when you want it no longer. I have offered to pay for Charlie’s if Charlie will send him there and I think Charles has made up his mind to do so. I much wish the two dear boys to be brought up together. They are exceedingly fond of each other. Conny is of course exceedingly fond of Constantia but he will say that he likes me but “except you know my Papa and Mama and my brothers and sisters, I like them best of all.” He is often talking of you all and asking various questions about you. He has excellent qualities and gets on well in everything. He never will be idle a moment but must read or write or draw, but it would be needless to speak of him as I am sure Constantia has told you all about him. He is delighted now with Charles with us for his holidays. …

I must give you Conny’s last remark to Constantia just reported: He said: “Grand P was sent to school at 5 years old because he was not loved. Now I am so much loved you will not bear to part with me at 8. You will not know how to let me go to school.” The fact is I was so hideous they could not bear the sight of me and till 5 I was left always with servants in the country.

 From about 1858 there was a photograph of Con taken with his grandfather. The original is in my father’s possession.

From: Constantine Pulteney Trent ChC

To: Philip Robert [his father]

[London]

April 9 1859

My dear Papa

I beg you will write to me next time. I am sorry Mama had rheumatism when you wrote. Charlie has got the measles. I have seen a panorama * of Delhi with the Massacre of Cawnpore! My Aunt did not go as she could not stand that, so I went with Payne.
I am too busy pasting in my scrap-book to finish this myself. Charlie and I had no more pictures to paste, but Grd.papa went out and brought us home 4 dozen old “Punch’s”. I send my love to all and remain

Your affecte

Con

What fearfully hot weather you have had! I am very glad you are en permanence at Amherst. We have your letters up to Feby.12.¹

In 1861 Con was living with his grandfather, aunt and three servants (cook, parlour maid and house maid) at 11 Royal Parade Cheltenham.

 Contemporary photos of a Royal Parade house currently for sale given an indication of their home:²

Letter 4

From: Eliza Constantia Frances ChC [Aunt Constantia]

To: Ada ChC [age 14]

[Cheltenham ?]

May 19th, 1862

My dearest Ada

I was delighted to receive your very nice note and to read such a cheering and pleasant account of you all and I am sure it must fill you with joy to see your dearest Papa’s health so wonderfully improved. I hope both he and your dearest Mama continue well. It was also a great comfort to me to find you were all getting the better of that dreadful whooping cough. Your dear brother Con is not looking well just now and I shall be glad when we can go to the sea or somewhere for a change next month and when you receive this I hope we shall be not here. Perhaps we shall go to Malvern as that is much nearer than the sea-side and the mountain scenery is very beautiful. Con would enjoy it I think even more than the sea.

A young friend of ours at College here has asked Con to take a long walk with him on Saturday and he is looking forward to it with great joy! The young Collegian is much older than Con who is rather proud of being patronised by him but I don’t much like Con going out in the scorching sun and shall persuade them to put off their walk to the evening.

I have nothing more to tell you, my dearest Ada, except to beg you to write to me as often as you can and to tell me all about each one of the family at Daisy Hill. [Daisy Hill was the name of the goldfield by Amherst.] With fondest love to all

Ever yr Affte Aunt E C F Crespigny

On 14 July 1869 Con joined the 69th (The South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot as an Ensign.  He is listed in the 1870 Hart’s Army list.³

 In 1871 Con was still with his grandfather and aunt at 11 Royal Parade Cheltenham.  There were still 3 servants, one of whom, Susan Tolman had been in the household ten years ago. Con was an ensign with the 69th Regiment.

A clipping from the journal [The Bro]ad Arrow of 13 May 1871, in my father’s possession, notes the promotion, by purchase, of Constantine Trent Pulteney Champion-Crespigny from Ensign to Lieutenant in the 69th Foot. According to Stephen de Crespigny, Con had served with the 69th Foot against the Fenian invasion of Canada in 1869. The London Gazette of 14 November 1871 page 4664 announces that

Lieut. Constantine Trent Pultenay Champion Crespigny from 69th Foot to be Lieut from Charles Stanley Champion Crespigny who retires from 41st Foot. 

Less than a year later the London Gazette of 18 October 1872 page 4939 notes the retirement of Lieutenant Constantine Trent Pulteney Champion-Crespigny of the 41st Foot, “receiving the value of his commission” dated 19 October 1872. From Letter 10 below, it appears he suffered from tuberculosis.

 Con’s grandfather died 4 March 1875.  Con joined his parents and siblings in Australia.  He arrived in Melbourne on 16 November 1875 on the iron clipper ship Melbourne which departed London on 17 August.  It was the maiden voyage of the ship and a report of the ship and the voyage appeared in The Argus of 17 November 1875 on page 4.

Letter 10

From: Eliza Constantia Frances ChC [sister of Philip Robert]
To: Rosalie Helen Beggs [her niece]⁴

Priory Street

Cheltenham

12th May, 1876

My dear Rose

I have not written to you since your marriage but I very often think of you all and especially of you and your dear Frank, and believe you are all very dear to me for yr loved parents’ sake tho’ so far away and unknown. Con being amongst you seems to bring you all even nearer to my heart than ever, and you, the youngest of all my nieces, yet the first to marry, you of whom your dear Mother has so often written in deep sorrow and anxiety when you have been laid upon a bed of sickness, – you can hardly imagine the tender interest I take in you, or how earnestly I wish and how fervently I pray that your married life may be blessed with true happiness, for dear Con assures me your husband is one of the best fellows he ever met and sure to make you happy! And the satisfaction and comfort yr parents feel in seeing their darling married to one they have so long known and esteemed must, I think, render yr happiness as perfect as it is possible to be in this world.

Con had been enjoying himself immensely in your house when he last wrote to me. It was such a pleasure to him to see his little sister in her dignified matronly character! Poor Con! ‘Twas a sad fate for him to lose his profession and to be an idle man at 25. But the love of parents, brothers and sisters which you have all so freely and fondly bestowed upon your newly imported brother, has brightened his life, hitherto so sadly clouded, and if only his hopes of employment are realised, I trust his life may yet be a happy and useful one.

I feel so grateful to everyone of those who have been so kind to Con and I know how kind and hospitable your father-in-law has been and how he has enjoyed himself at Eurambeen (I don’t know if I spell the name right!). I suppose Con rides with you sometimes when you are together. Mount him on a good horse and he is at the summit of felicity! He has told me of the rides he has enjoyed. He must be dreadfully missed in your old home, particularly, I should think, by Vi, as she is nearest yr age. I hope she enjoyed the ball at Woolaston to which she was enabled to go by yr dear Frank’s kindness.

Try and find time now and then to write to yr old Aunt, my dear Rose, and with much love to you both

Believe me always

Yr affte Aunt

E C F Ch. Crespigny

In June 1877 Con was appointed truant officer for the Education Department: From The Argus of Friday 15 June 1877 page 4:

Mr. T. C. Crespigny has been appointed truant officer for the St. Kilda district.

 From The Argus of Saturday 16 June 1877 page 7:  

Mr. Crespigny’s appointment as truant officer, announced in Friday’s Argus, includes the district of Prahran as well as St Kilda.

In July 1877 Con wrote a letter to the paper concerning an attack on his dog, a terrier, in Albert Park.  He was living in Gurner Street, St Kilda. The letter was published by The Argus on 7 July 1877 page 8.

Map showing Gurner Street and Albert Park retrieved from Google maps 7 April 2013

In 1879 there was an assault case in which Constantine seems to have been involved.  Waiting on newspaper report digitisation to be completed. Will update this post then:

FRIDAY, MARCH 14. 

The Telegraph, St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian (Vic. : 1866 – 1888) Saturday 15 March 1879 p 3 Article

LrConstainines ” Crespigny summoned Mathias Lyons for assault. The evidence. showed that the plaintiff and walking near the South Beach last Sunday

The Sydney Morning Herald of 10 August 1880 reported the arrival of the Wotonga at Sydney on 9 August having sailed from Melbourne.  Passengers included CP Crespigny and P C Crespigny.  This may well have been father and son, C P being Constantine Pulteney, or possibly Con was accompanied by his older brother Philip.  This appears just to have been a visit to Sydney.  CP Crespigny left Melbourne on board the Sobraon  in February 1881.

From The Argus of 14 February 1881, Shipping Intelligence on page 4:

Letter 11

From: Eliza Constantia Frances ChC

To: Rosalie Helen [her niece]

29 Kingsholm Road

Gloucester

4th Aug, 1881

My dear Rose

Con wishes me to tell you how glad he was to get your letters and how much he regrets his inability to answer them. He has been very weak and ill ever since his return. A few weeks ago there was some slight improvement. The intense heat we had seemed not only to benefit his lungs but to relieve his fever. Certainly he ceased during those extremely hot days to suffer from daily attacks of fever, tho’ in some ways the intense heat tried him severely. But with a sudden change in the weather and fall of temperature his fever returned with increased severity. One of the lungs got worse and had to be treated with repeated blisters. It is now better but the daily attacks of fever are terrible, lasting sometimes 8 hours during which he suffers acute headaches, shortness of breath, cough and nausea. He seems sometimes ready to die, so very ill is he.

Under these circumstances I am sure you will see how difficult it is for him to write even a few lines to his Mother and I am always trying to impress upon him that he ought not to tax his strength by writing, and that if he must write, it should be onlyto his Mother and let that be considered enough for the family. I feel sure you will forgive him for deferring to write to you till he is better, altho’ it is a very great pleasure to him to hear from you. I hope this will find you and your husband pretty well. I was sorry to hear that he had not been well. With fond love from Con and much from me

Ever Yr affte Aunt

E C F Ch Crespigny

Con is only able to take a short drive for little more than half an hour on his best days when he feels his best.

Letter 12

From: Eliza Constantia Frances ChC

To: Rosalie Helen [her niece]

Tuesday, 6th March [1883]

My dearest Rose

Just one line to enclose 2nd half £5 notes. I hope you recvd first half all safe in last mail.⁵ My heart aches for yr poor Mother who would now, as I believe be receiving my letter of 25 January, telling her how near death her darling was – tho’ I scarcely knew that he must be taken from me the very next day. I miss him more and more and long to go to him.

God bless you and your husband, dearest Rose.

Your affte Aunt

E C F Ch Crespigny

Con’s death was announced in The Argus of 24 March 1883:

Constantine is buried at St Peter’s, Leckhampton, Gloucestershire with his grandparents. His grave states:

“Constantine Trent Pulteney Champion_Crespigny. Late of HM 69th Regt. Born 5th May 1851. Died 26th January 1883. Youngest son of Philip Robert Champion Crespigny of St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia”⁶

The verse under Constantine’s inscription is  Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

On 5 March 1882 Constantine’s nephew, the second son of Philip, was born at Queenscliff, Victoria and named Constantine Trent.

---

Footnotes

Letters, copy held by my father Rafe de Crespigny:

The originals of these letters were in the possession of my grandfather Sir Constantine Trent ChC/CdeC. After his death in 1952, his second wife Mary Birks nee Jolley, Lady de Crespigny, had them copy-typed by Ms W M Walsh, and distributed the copies among members of the family. I obtained a set through my father Richard Geoffrey CdeC, Constantine Trent’s elder son. It seems probable that most of the letters were collected by Ada Champion Crespigny (1848-1927), eldest daughter of Philip Robert ChC (1817-1889), for many of them are addressed to her.

^{1. Constantine ChC, born in May 1851, was now just under 8 years old.
The asterisk has a note by the transcriber: from here adult writing by Charles James Fox ChC.
The siege of Cawnpore [modern Kanpur] concluded on 24 June 1857 with the slaughter of the British defenders as they sought to leave under promise of safe conduct. Panoramas were common forms of exhibition at this time. The spectators entered a large room and the event was displayed, normally in two dimensions, on the surrounding walls, aided by special lighting.
In February 1859 Philip Robert was appointed from Justice of the Peace to Police Magistrate at Amherst in the county of Talbot, some 5 kilometres northwest of that town. Philip Robert had formerly held general posts as Assistant Commissioner for Crown Lands, Magistrate in the Colony of Victoria and Warden of the Goldfields.↩}

^{2. images retrieved from Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/66hZh retrieved 7 April 2013 and from http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/21093258 7 bedroom property for sale £1,800,000 Royal Parade, Cheltenham GL50↩}

^{3. from page 215 of The Army List Author Colonel H. G. Hart Published 1870 Original from Oxford University Digitized 15 Oct 2007 retrieved from http://books.google.com.au/books?id=C_ANAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA215 3 February 2012 ↩}

^{4. Constantia, born in 1825, was now 51 years old. Rose, born in October 1858, was now 17 years old. She had married Francis Beggs of Beaufort on 3 February 1876. ↩}

^{5. One means of sending money with some security by post was to cut bank-notes in two. Each note was printed with a number in two places. Half a note, with only one number, was valueless, but when the two halves were put together they could be credited with a bank. ↩}

^{6. Tombstone inscriptions from http://www.stpeters-leckhampton.org.uk/ retrieved 7 April 2013.
The full tombstone transcription is:}

M11 Chest-tomb, on base, inward sloping sides, worn, once painted. Sc: LEWIS.Sc.

South: IN MEMORY OF

CHARLES FOX CHAMPION CRESPIGNY,
BORN AT HINTLESHAM HALL NEAR IPSWICH 30TH AUGUST 1785, 
DIED AT CHELTENHAM 4TH MARCH 1875. 
IN SURE AND CERTAIN HOPE OF BEING RAISED WITH THE FAITHFUL IN CHRIST
TO EVERLASTING LIFE. 
ALSO OF CONSTANTINE TRENT PULTENEY CHAMPION CRESPIGNY.
LATE OF H.M. 69th REGT BORN 5TH MAY 1851. DIED 26TH JANUARY 18–.
YOUNGEST SON OF PHILIP ROBERT CHAMPION CRESPIGNY
OF ST KILDA, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
– – – – – – LL YE THAT LABOUR AND – – – HEAVY LADEN – – – WILL OF – – –
North: IN MEMORY OF / 
ELIZA JULIA, THE BELOVED WIFE OF 
CHARLES FOX CHAMPION CRESPIGNY ESQUIRE,
WHO DIED THE 17TH DAY OF JULY 1855, AGED 59 YEARS.
PURE AND INNOCENT OF MIND, KIND AND BENEVOLENT, “HER WAYS WERE WAYS OF
PLEASANTNESS, AND ALL HER PATHS WERE PEACE.” PROVERBS. III.17.
UNTO YOU THAT HAVE MY NAME SHALL THE SUN(sic) OF RIGHTOUSNESS ARISE
WITH HEALING IN HIS WINGS. MALACHI IV 2
I WILL RANSOM THEM FROM THE POWER OF THE GRAVE I WILL REDEEM THEM
FROM DEATH. HOSEA XIII.I.
– -EL- – – – NOT SHARE OUR SORROW, S——– THE -OT-E— BLESSED
– – – – – – – A FUTURE LIFE – – – – – – – – – -SAVED – – – – – .

 The verse under Constantine’s inscription is  Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The verse for his grandfather is derived from the Book of Common Prayer but is not a direct quote. ↩