Charlecote
and Belton
Further to the recent piece in Fast News and the local press re Sir
Ed’s paintings that are now hanging in the Drawing Room and
the mention of his works being displayed elsewhere, I was interested
to note that there is one at Belton House, a National Trust property
near Grantham. The interest arose because in the family archives here
at Charlecote are letters written by the Brownlows of Belton and it
is interesting to relate how they came to be here.
Sir Ed’s painting at Belton is of the silver gilt on the table
in the Hondecoeter Room which he painted in 1987 and is featured on
the cover of the Belton House guide.
Three of the letters
were written by Adelaide Brownlow, one by her husband, Adelbert Cust,
3rd Earl Brownlow and another by Adelaide’s sister Constance.
The letters were written in April and May 1885 and addressed to Adelaide’s
brother, Colonel Reginald (Regy) Chetwynd-Talbot who was encamped
by the Nile in Sudan following the failed attempt to Rescue Gordon
of Khartoum.
Although perhaps
of little relevance, some background information on Adelaide’s
family may be of interest. Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of
Shrewsbury (1803-68) married Sarah Elizabeth Beresford, daughter of
the 2nd Marquis of Waterford. They had eight children, four of whom
have written letters that are at Charlecote. Here we are concerned
with Adelaide and the letters she wrote from Belton to her brother
Reggie.
Colonel Reginald Chetwynd-Talbot married Margaret Jane, 2nd daughter
of James Stuart Wortley, in 1877. They had no children. The Stuart
Wortleys were an influential family in the 1800s and James was destined
to become Speaker of the Commons but a back injury which confined
him to a Bath Chair prevented this. James and Jane S.W. also had eight
children and the five daughters all married well. The eldest, Mary,
married Ralph King Milbanke, son of Ada Lovelace, Byron’s daughter
but there was no issue. The 3rd daughter, Blanche, married Captain
Frederick Firebrace and the 5th Katherine, married General Sir Neville
Lyttelton whose brother Alfred was apparently the first man to represent
England at both football and cricket.
However it is the 4th Stuart Wortley girl, Caroline, that concerns
us here. Caroline married Norman Grosvenor, whose mother Charlotte
is one of the miniatures in the Ebony Bedroom. She was the daughter
of Henry Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington. Norman and
Caroline had two daughters, Susan and Margaret, Susan marrying the
author John Buchan. It seems that Margaret Talbot being childless
passed the Stuart Wortley and Chetwynd-Talbot correspondence in her
possession to her sister Caroline who in turn passed it down to Susan,
who in turn passed it down to her daughter Alice, wife of Sir Brian
Fairfax-Lucy. From correspondence from Margaret to Regy, she and Adelaide
were quite close and enjoyed continental holidays together.
Hence the letters arrived at Charlecote. Most of the families mentioned
have entries in Wikipedia and other useful information can be found
on Main Page (thepeerage.com)
Frank
Storr.
Len Mullenger was a Sunday volunteer guide. Any comments
are welcome and can be sent to len@musicweb-international.com
