A humble abode? Having house-hunting difficulties? Looking for a vacation retreat? Just consider the woes of Britain’s greatest hero. All he wanted was just a little place in the country…
At the end of the war that began in 1914 Britain promised its returning soldiers “homes for heroes.” Not all of them were forthcoming. A hundred years earlier, in 1814, when the Napoleonoc wars seem to have ended, Britain had made a similar promise to its hero Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. That time, fulfillment appeared easy. The money was there- indeed, it had lapt from an original grant by Parliament of 100,000 of which one-tenth was for the “Mansion and Park or Pleasure Grounds” in 1812, after “the glorious Battle of Salamanca,” to 400,000, of which one-fourth was for the mansion etc., two years later, when Wellington became a duke. Parliament voted this sum to “support the Dignity and the Dukedom” and to create “a lasting Memorial” of the nation’s “Gratitude and Munificence.”
—A Plan of Uppark, the 17th-century house and gardens in South Harting, Petersfield, West Sussex. The house, set high on the South Downs, was built for Ford Grey (1605-1701), the first Earl of Tankerville, c.1690, and was sold in 1747 to Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh. A plan from “Britannia Illustrata” by Johannes Kip and Leonard Knyff are significant for providing reliable records of the development of the formal English garden in the Dutch-French style. The vast lands associated with these houses are now part of villages which as in this case carry the name of the manor house. It came to the National Trust in 1954. —Read More:http://www.grosvenorprints.com/stock.php?pageNum_rs_stock=2&totalRows_rs_stock=28&artist=Knyff%2C+L.&WADbSearch1=Submit
The architects were there, too, eager to compete for such a plum-John Soane, who had built the new Bank of England; Robert Smirke, future designer of the British Museum; and Benjamin Dean Wyatt, member of Britain’s most illustrious family of architects, born with a golden trowel in his mouth. Magnificent estates abounded also, conveniently encumbered with debt. Yet eight years and a procession of at least twenty-five possible palaces passed before Wellington’s mind was irrevocably made up.
On July 15,1814, Wyatt, who had formerly been Wellington’s clerk in India and now combined the roles of architect, surveyor, and estate agent, sent in his first report on country properties available. Standlynch in Wiltshire, wrote Wyatt, was unsuitable for one of “high rank and fortune.” Its grounds were ordinary, it had not a single really fine apartment, and there was no space for sideboards in the dining room. Above all, Lord Radnor’s neighboring estate of Longford Castle would always dwarf Standlynch.
—Burlington House in Pickadilly Belonging to the Rt. Hon.ble Charles Boyle Baron Clifforde of Londesburgh, and Earle of Burlington Baron of Youghall & Bandon, Viscount Kynalmeaky, & Dungarvan, Earle of Corke in the King.dom of Ireland, Chief Governour of the County of Corke, and of the Citty, and County of the Citty of Corke, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, Lord high Steward of the Royalty of Knaresburgh in the County of Yorke, & one of the Gentlemen of his Maj.s Beddchamber. —Read More:http://www.grosvenorprints.com/stock.php?artist=Knyff%2C+L.&WADbSearch1=Submit
During the rest of that year three more “possibles” were produced by Wyatt. Great Tew in Oxfordshire, however, he considered neither sufficiently handsome in itself not far enough away from Blenheim Palace, which Parliament had bestowed on an earlier military hero, John Churchill, first duke of Marlborough, of which building had begun only six months after his victory. To found a ducal home only ten miles from the Churchills, Wyatt asserted, would be infinitely worse than adjoining the earls of Radnor. In Kent, Somerhill was very beautiful but too much enclosed. On the other hand, Sir George Bowyer, at Radley, was prepared to sell on conditions so advantageous to Wellington as to be “extraordinary.” Provided St. John’s College at nearby Oxford would add to Radley its estate of Bagley Wood, and provided the course of the turnpike road from Oxford to Abingdon was changed – the town clerk of Oxford was “quite willing-, Radley could become a place of suitable magnificence. Alas, by December Sir George Bowyer’s “extraordinary offers” had dwindled away.
—Take a look at this cartoon by Isaac Cruikshank. It was drawn in 1819, when the duke had become Master General of the Ordnance:
Duke of Wellington cannon cartoon
Is That a Cannon or Are You Just Happy to See Me?
He’s straddling a cannon, which is pointed at three ladies. One of them is saying “Bless us! What a spanker!—I hope he won’t fire it at me—I could never support such a thing!” (In case you didn’t already know it, Regency society was a hell of a lot looser than the later Victorian era.)
Arthur also had the Regency rake’s disregard for tender romantic feelings. He usually gave his officers just two days’ leave to visit sweethearts out of the firm belief that no man would want to spend more than two days in bed with the same women.
In sum, Arthur Wellesley was as charismatic, intelligent, honorable (let’s ignore the adultery thing, okay? thanks), witty, randy, and manly as any Regency hero.
And when he left India in 1805, he went back to Ireland to marry Kitty Pakenham, the girl he’d loved and lost 13 years earlier.—Read More:http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2011/02/how-wellngton-was-definitely-not-a-regency-hero-part-2
As 1814 passed into 1815 there was still nothing but disappointment. Lord Fitzwilliam’s Harrowden was not even his principal estate, and it was just out of reach of all the great packs, and hunting was the Duke of Wellington’s favorite sport. Busbridge, belonging to Lord Egremont, was too small; while a property in Herefordshire called Hampton Court was ruled out because of its deep woods and flooded rivers. “The Duke of Wellington,” wrote Lord Essex confidentially to Wyatt, “might as well attempt to hunt Foxes in London as Hereforshire.” The only surviving hope seemed to be Mr. Clarke Jervoise’s large estate in Hampshire. Its views of Spithead and the Isle of Wight were “very imposing,” and the hunting was excellent….
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