expulsion from college, to the breaking off of a match with his cousin,
and to his being discarded by his father. Soon afterwards young Shelley
married Miss Westbrook, at Gretna Green, and resided first at Keswick,
next in Ireland (where he published some political pamphlets), and
afterwards in Wales. After three years of married life and the birth of
two children, Shelley and his wife separated in 1814, and he went to
Switzerland, where he formed the friendship of Lord Byron, which closed
only with his death. In 1816 he was recalled from Switzerland by the
tragic fate of his wife, who committed suicide by drowning; and shortly
afterwards, her father, Mr. Westbrook, succeeded in an application to
deprive him of the guardianship of his children. Soon after the death
of his wife, Shelley married Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, daughter of
the notorious free-thinker William Godwin, and herself the authoress of
“Frankenstein,” and they settled at Great Marlow, where he published
his “Alastor” and “The Revolt of Islam.” In 1818 they quitted England
for Italy, and from that time to his death every year “gave evidence of
Shelley’s untiring intellectual energy in the production of numerous
poems and other pieces,” including “Adonais,” “The Cenci,” “Prometheus
Bound,” &c. After spending some time in Rome and Naples and various
places, “Mr. and Mrs. Shelley engaged a house at Lerici, on the Bay of
Spezzia, and it was here that he met his premature and lamented death.
On the 8th of July, 1822, he set sail in his little schooner-yacht,
a vessel wholly unfit to encounter the squalls of the Mediterranean,
accompanied by his friend Captain Williams, to meet Leigh Hunt, who
was with Lord Byron at Pisa. A few days afterwards Shelley left his
friends, intending to return with Captain Williams, and set sail, in
spite of the unfavourable change in the weather, with an English boy,
named Charles Vivian, added to the party. They were off Via Reggio,
at some distance from the shore, when a storm was driven over the sea
which enveloped all in darkness; the cloud passed onwards, but the
little schooner had vanished. At the end of a dreadful week of suspense
the worst fears of his friends were confirmed. The body of Shelley was
washed on shore near Via Reggio, that of Captain Williams at a spot
about four miles distant, but that of Charles Vivian was not found for
three weeks afterwards. The bodies were burnt in accordance with the
Italian laws of quarantine, in the presence of Lord Byron and Leigh
Hunt, and Shelley’s ashes were afterwards enclosed in an urn, and
deposited in the English cemetery at Rome, by the side of his infant
son William.” “You will have heard by this time,” says Byron, when
writing to Moore on the 2nd of August, 1822, “that Shelley and another
gentleman (Captain Williams) were drowned about a month ago (a month
yesterday), in a squall off the Gulf of Spezzia. There is thus another
man gone about whom the world was ill-naturedly, and ignorantly, and
brutally mistaken. It will perhaps do him justice _now_, when he can
be no better for it.” Dying before his father (Sir Timothy), Shelley
did not, of course, succeed to the family estates; but, on the death of
Sir Timothy in 1844, the son of the poet succeeded, and is the present
head of the family, Sir Percy Florence Shelley, Bart., of Field Place,
Warnham.
Around Warnham the neighbourhood is one unbroken succession of pleasant
scenery and of delightful “nooks and corners;” and the district is
studded with many pleasant residences. Within a few miles, too, are
Horsham, with its fine old church and other objects of interest; St.
Leonard’s Forest, Longhurst, Graylands, Rusper, and a score or two
other places that are full of beauty and interest, and show well what
charms are furnished by the scenery of Sussex.
LOWTHER CASTLE
WHETHER from its own nobleness of character, the innate beauty and
loveliness of its situation, the magnificence and even sublimity of its
surroundings, the grandeur and sumptuous richness of its appointments,
the extent of its domains, the historical incidents with which it
is connected, the interesting and stirring events which have been
associated with its history, or the true nobility of character of its
long line of illustrious owners, Lowther Castle may indeed be classed
as one of the finest, most important, and most stately of the “Stately
Homes” of this favoured land of ours. Situate in one of the most lovely
of shires—Westmoreland—and surrounded on all sides by the most
magnificent of scenery, Lowther is indeed a “favoured spot”—a spot
where Nature has been profuse in her gifts, and where Art has found a
fitting shrine. Here
“hills on hills, on forests forests rise;
Spurn the low earth, and mingle with the skies.”
Mountain and dale, hill and valley, fell and lake, moor and meadow,
wood and stream, are spread around in such lavish profusion that the
eye wanders on from one to another in constant change of scene, and the
mind vainly endeavours to grasp their varied beauties. Its situation
is, indeed, a scene of loveliness not easily conceived, and which but
few “earthly Edens” surpass.
The castle itself, as it now stands, is modern; but it was erected
on the site of an older mansion, belonging to the same family, which
was taken down by Sir John Lowther in 1685, who enlarged and rebuilt
it on a scale of much magnificence. The greater part of this second
building, Lowther Hall as it was called, was destroyed by fire in 1720,
the wings only being left standing; but these were sufficient “to show
the ancient magnitude and grandeur of this formerly noble structure.”
In 1808 Lord Lonsdale, whose predecessor for very many years had been
making preparations by cutting down timber and collecting together
materials for the work, commenced the erection of the present edifice.
In January, 1808, the first stone was laid, and by the summer of
1809 a portion of the mansion was inhabited by the family. This new
structure, which is of castellated character, was dignified by the name
of “Lowther Castle,” in place of the old designation of “Hall.” It was
erected from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke, at an enormous cost, and
is considered to be his _chef-d’œuvre_ in that style of architecture,
in which, however, he was not at all times happy. The north front
is thoroughly castellated in its style, the south more ornate and
ecclesiastical in its character; the whole, however, from whichever
side it is seen, or from whatever point a glimpse is obtained, has a
picturesque appearance and an air of princely magnificence about it
that are eminently striking and pleasing to the eye.
Lowther Castle stands in a grand old well-wooded park of some six or
eight hundred acres. In front, at a little distance, runs the lovely
river Lowther, with its rocky bed and its wildly romantic banks; at the
back (the south front) are the Lawns and the Deer Park; to the west are
the Terrace and Pleasure Gardens and wooded walks; and to the east the
Stables, Kitchen Gardens, and village.
The family of Lowther, of which the present Earl of Lonsdale is the
noble head, is of considerable antiquity in the border counties of
Westmoreland and Cumberland.
The names of William and Thomas Lowther appear as witnesses to a grant
as early as the reign of Henry II., and in the reign of Henry III. were
Sir Thomas de Lowther, Knight, Sir Gervase de Lowther, Knight, and
Gervase de Lowther, Archdeacon of Carlisle. Succeeding them was Sir
Hugh de Lowther, Knight, who was Attorney-General in 1292, represented
the county in 1300 and 1305, became Justice-Itinerant and Escheator in
Eyre north of the Trent; and was in 1331 made one of the Justices of
King’s Bench. Sir Hugh married a daughter of Sir Peter Tilliol, Knight,
and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Hugh Lowther.
This Sir Hugh was married twice: first, to a daughter of Lord Lucy, of
Cockermouth; and, secondly, to Margaret, daughter of William de Quale.
At his death, after serving in many important offices, he was succeeded
by his son(?) Sir Robert Lowther, Knight, who died in 1490, leaving
issue by his wife, Margaret Strickland, a son, Sir Hugh, who succeeded
him, and three daughters, married respectively to Sir Thomas Curwen,
Sir James Pickering, and William Lancaster.
[Illustration: _Lowther Castle, North Front._]
Sir Hugh de Lowther married Margaret, daughter of John de Derwentwater,
by whom he left, with other issue, his son and successor, Sir Hugh de
Lowther, Knight, who represented the county of Cumberland. He married
Mabel, daughter of Sir William Lancaster, of Sockbridge, by whom he had
a son and heir, Sir Hugh de Lowther, Knight of the Bath, who married
Anne, daughter of Sir Launcelot Threlkeld, and died _circa_ 1511.
Sir John de Lowther, his eldest son, succeeded him, and having married
Lucy, daughter of Sir Thomas Curwen, of Workington, had issue by her
a son, Sir Hugh, who, having married Dorothy, daughter of Henry, Lord
Clifford, had issue as follows:—Sir Richard Lowther, who succeeded to
the estates (of whom presently); Gerard Lowther, a bencher of Lincoln’s
Inn; Margaret Lowther, married to John Richmond, Esq., of Highead
Castle; Anne, married to Thomas Wybergh, Esq., of Clifton; Frances,
married to Sir Henry Goodyer, Knight of Powlesworth; and Barbara,
married to Thomas Carleton, of Carleton. Sir Hugh, dying during his
father’s lifetime, the estates passed to his eldest son—
Sir Richard Lowther, Knight, who succeeded his cousin, Henry Lord
Scrope, as Lord Warden of the West Marches. Sir Richard “was three
times commissioner in the great affairs between England and Scotland
under Elizabeth.” He had also the unfortunate and ill-fated Mary Queen
of Scots under his charge, and conveyed her to Carlisle. He died in
1607, leaving with other issue, by his wife, Frances, daughter of John
Middleton, Esq., four sons—viz. Sir Christopher (of whom presently);
Sir Gerard Lowther, Chief Justice of Common Pleas and Lord Chancellor
of Ireland; Sir Launcelot Lowther, Knight, a Baron of the Exchequer in
Ireland; and William Lowther, Esq., of Ingleton.
Sir Christopher Lowther was knighted by King James at
Newcastle-on-Tyne. He married Eleanor, daughter of Sir William
Musgrave, of Hayton, by whom he had a family of eight sons and four
daughters. He was succeeded by his son, Sir John Lowther, M.P. for
Westmoreland (married to Eleanor, daughter of William Fleming, of
Rydal), who, dying in 1637, was in turn succeeded by his son, Sir John
Lowther, M.P. for the same county, who was created a baronet in 1640.
Dying in 1675, he was succeeded by his grandson, Sir John Lowther,
who was “the thirty-first knight of the family in nearly direct
succession.” In 1689 he was made Lord-Lieutenant of Westmoreland and
Cumberland, and the following year appointed First Commissioner of the
Treasury. In 1696 Sir John was created Baron Lowther of Lowther and
Viscount Lonsdale, and, in 1698, was made Lord Privy Seal, and held
many other offices. Dying in 1700, he was succeeded in his titles and
estates by his son—
Richard, second Viscount Lonsdale, who died in 1713, when the titles
and estates devolved on his brother Henry, third Viscount Lonsdale, at
whose death the barony of Lowther and viscountcy of Lonsdale ceased,
the estates and baronetcy devolving upon his great-nephew, Sir James
Lowther, eldest son of Robert Lowther, Esq., Governor of Barbadoes.
Sir James was M.P. for Cumberland and Westmoreland. In 1782 he offered
to build and completely to furnish at his own expense a man-of-war
of seventy guns, but the coming peace rendered this unnecessary.
Sir James was, in 1784, created Baron Lowther of Lowther, Viscount
Lowther, and Earl of Lonsdale. He married a daughter of the Earl of
Bute, but, having no issue by her, his lordship, in 1797, obtained a
new patent, creating him Baron and Viscount Lowther, with remainder to
the heirs male of his cousin, the Rev. Sir William Lowther, Bart., of
Swillington. Dying in 1802, the earldom and other titles of the first
creation became extinct, those of the second patent descending to Sir
William Lowther, who thus became Baron Lowther and Viscount Lowther,
and was, in 1807, created Earl of Lonsdale. His lordship married the
Lady Augusta Fane, daughter of John, ninth Earl of Westmoreland, by
whom he had issue—William, Viscount Lowther, by whom he was succeeded;
the Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther, M.P.; the Lady Elizabeth Lowther, who
died unmarried; the Lady Mary Lowther, who married Major-general Lord
Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck, third son of the third Duke of Portland,
and was mother of Mr. G. A. F. Cavendish-Bentinck, M.P. for Whitehaven;
the Lady Anne Lowther, married to the Right Hon. Sir John Beckett,
Bart.; and the Lady Caroline Lowther, married to Lord William John
Frederick Poulett, son of the Duke of Cleveland. Dying in 1844, the
Earl was succeeded by his eldest son—
William, second Earl of Lonsdale, Viscount and Baron Lowther, and
a baronet, who had been summoned to the House of Peers during his
father’s lifetime as Baron Lowther. He had sat as M.P. for various
places from 1801 to 1841, and, among other appointments, successively
held those of a Lord of the Admiralty, a Lord of the Treasury,
First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, Treasurer of the Navy,
Vice-President of the Board of Trade, Postmaster-General, and President
of Council. His lordship died unmarried on the 4th of March, 1872, and
was succeeded by his nephew—
Henry Lowther, as third Earl of Lonsdale and Viscount and Baron Lowther
of Whitehaven, of the second creation, who was the son of Colonel the
Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther (second son of the first earl, by Lady Lucy,
daughter of the fifth Earl of Harborough). He was born on the 27th
of March, 1818, and succeeded his uncle at his death in 1872. His
lordship was educated at Westminster and at Trinity College, Cambridge,
where he took the degree of M.A. in 1838. He was appointed cornet and
sub-lieutenant in the 1st Life Guards in 1841, became lieutenant in
1843, captain in 1849, and retired in 1854. For twenty-four years he
retained the confidence of the electors of West Cumberland, sitting
uninterruptedly for this division from 1847 to 1872, when he succeeded
his uncle in the title and estates. The seat thus vacant by the late
earl’s accession to the House of Lords was obtained without a contest
by Lord Muncaster. His lordship was Lord-Lieutenant and _Custos
Rotulorum_ of Cumberland and Westmoreland, a magistrate for Rutland,
Hon. Colonel of the Royal Cumberland Militia and of the Cumberland
Rifle Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Westmoreland and Cumberland
Yeomanry Cavalry, and a member of the Carlton, Boodle’s, Jockey, and
Turf Clubs. Lord Lonsdale married, in 1852, Emily Susan, daughter
of St. George Francis Caulfield, Esq., of Dunamon Castle, county
Roscommon, by whom he left issue living four sons and two daughters.
These are—St. George Henry Lowther, the present Earl of Lonsdale; the
Hon. Hugh Cecil Lowther, born in 1857; the Hon. Charles Edwin Lowther,
born in 1859; the Hon. Lancelot Edward Lowther, born in 1867; the Lady
Sybil Emily Lowther; and the Lady Verena Maud Lowther. His lordship
died somewhat suddenly on the 15th of August, 1876, and was buried the
Saturday following in Lowther Church.
The present noble head of the House of Lowther, St. George Henry,
fourth Earl of Lonsdale and Viscount and Baron Lowther of Whitehaven,
and a baronet, was born on the 4th of October, 1855, and therefore
succeeded to the titles and estates a few weeks before attaining
his majority. His lordship was, in 1875, appointed Sub-Lieutenant of
the Royal Cumberland Militia, and shortly afterwards transferred to
the Nottingham Royal Sherwood Rangers. He is patron of forty-three
livings—viz. Aikton, Armathwaite, Bootle, Bolton, Bowness, Brigham,
Buttermere, Cockermouth, Cleator, Corney, Distingdon, Embleton,
Gosforth, Hensingham, Haile, Kirkandrews-upon-Eden, Kirkbride, Lorton,
Loweswater, Moresby, Mosser, St. Bees, Threlkeld, Whicham, Whitbeck,
St. James, Christchurch, St. Nicholas, and Holy Trinity, Whitehaven;
Askham, Bampton, Barton, Kirkby Stephen, Lowther, Patterdale, Clifton,
Ravenstonedale, Shap, Startforth (Yorkshire), Bampton Kirk, Orton, St.
John’s-in-the-Vale, and Crosthwaite.
[Illustration]
The arms of the Earl of Lonsdale are—_or_, six annulets, three, two,
and one, _sable_. Crest, a dragon, _argent_. Supporters, two horses,
_argent_, gorged with wreaths of laurel, _vert_. His seats are Lowther
Castle, Westmoreland; Whitehaven Castle, Cumberland; Barleythorpe, near
Oakham, Rutland; and Carlton House Terrace, London.
Lowther Castle is entered by a massive porch in the centre of its north
front, the door, which is garnished with magnificent bronze knockers,
giving access to the grand Entrance Hall. This is a noble Gothic
apartment, some sixty feet long by thirty feet in width, ceiled with
panelled oak. The entrance doorway is in the centre of the north side,
and immediately in front is the Grand Staircase, across the landing of
which is a noble arcade of three lofty pointed archways rising from
clustered columns. From the angled corners of the Hall doorways open
to passages leading to the domestic offices. At each end of this fine
apartment, and again in front of each pillar between and adjoining
the flights of stairs, are suits of ancient armour standing on lofty
pedestals, ranges of the old “Black Bess” guns of the old Cumberland
Militia and other trophies of arms decorating the walls.
The Grand Staircase, sixty feet square and ninety feet in height,
leads up from the Entrance Hall to the various suites of apartments.
It is entirely of stone, and has a richly groined ceiling rising from
clustered columns. Facing the entrance, on the first landing, is a
magnificent vase, and in canopied niches in the wall are exquisitely
sculptured figures, the arms of Lowther and the alliances of the family
also appropriately decorating the walls. The Staircase is of four
heights, the upper forming a triforium passage, over which are windows
filled with rich Gothic tracery and stained glass. The centre of the
elaborately groined ceiling is panelled, and bears the inscription:
“+ Edif^t. Cul^s. Com. de Lonsdale an^o. Regni L^o. R^s. Geo^i. III.
A^o. D^i. MDCCCX: cur^e. Rob^o. Smirke.” Arms and banners decorate the
walls, and plants and flowers, arranged to line the staircases in every
direction, add immeasurably to the beauty and the comfort as well as to
the stateliness of this fine portion of the edifice.
[Illustration: _Lowther Castle, South Front._]
It will not be necessary to enter fully into a description of the
various apartments of this noble residence; they are all sumptuous in
their furnishing, admirable in their appointments, and replete with
everything that can make a “home of taste” enjoyable. Some of the
apartments, however, require special notice, and to each of these we
proceed to devote a few lines—not taking them in any given order, but
as we saw them on our recent visit.
Passing to the second landing through an “ante-room to the sleeping
apartments,” in which are preserved a valuable and extensive collection
of Ceramics arranged in glass cases, and also a number of antiquities,
are the State Bed-room and its suite of dressing-rooms. These are all
hung with remarkably fine Gobelins tapestry. These noble apartments
occupy the space in the centre of the south front, and from the windows
are lovely views of the Grounds and Deer Park. The state bed, which is
hung with white satin richly embroidered, is of black and gold, the
massive cornice, solidly gilt, being surrounded by angels, five on each
side and four at the foot, and reminding one of the charming nursery
rhyme of our childish days:—
“Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round me spread;
One to sing, and one to pray,
And two to carry my soul away!”
The appointments of the room are of the most sumptuous character, the
toilet service of silver gilt adding much to its magnificence.
On the landing of the Grand Staircase, among other Art treasures are
Lawrence’s full-length portrait of George IV., Greenhill’s Walpole,
Kneller’s Duke of Marlborough, Addison, and other paintings; and in the
east ante-room leading to the sleeping apartments in that part of the
castle are various objects of note.
On the first or ground floor landing of the Grand Staircase, to the
right, between the private apartments, is a corridor leading to various
rooms, and to the left a similar corridor, from which open the Library
and other apartments, leads to the Gallery of Worthies, and gives
access to the Sculpture Gallery; it has a groined ceiling, and contains
a large and powerful organ, wall-cases of books, and some valuable
paintings and busts.
The Library is in the north front, and is a noble and well-appointed
room, fitted in a style of quiet sumptuousness that is in full accord
with the rich collection of rare literary treasures with which
the walls are lined. The ceiling is of panelled oak of suitable
Gothic character, heightened with gold, and the presses for books
are also of oak richly adorned with cinquefoil cusps. Besides its
literary treasures, the Library is hung with a fine collection of
family portraits of surpassing interest. These are (beginning at the
north-east corner of the apartment)—Sir John Lowther, of Lowther,
Bart., 1657; Sir John Lowther, _fils_, 1675; James, Earl of Lonsdale,
known as “the eccentric earl;” Sir Christopher Lowther, Bart.;
Eleanor, wife of Sir John Lowther; Henry, third Viscount Lonsdale;
Richard, second Viscount Lonsdale; Sir John Lowther, Bart.; Hon.
Anthony Lowther; Jane, wife of Sir John Lowther; Rev. Sir William
Lowther, Bart.; Sir James Lowther, Bart.; Robert Lowther, Esq.; Sir
John Lowther, Bart.; and William, Earl of Lonsdale, K.G. Among other
objects of interest preserved in this room is a table formed of the
wood of one of the piles of old London Bridge, with a small portion of
the “Abdication Tree” of Napoleon inserted. It bears this inscription,
“Made out of one of the piles supporting the chapel arch of London
Bridge. Supposed date, 1176. The gift of John Rennie, architect, 1829.”
“Le cinq d’avril dix-huit cent quatorze Napoleon Bonaparte signa son
abdication sur cette table dans le cabinet de travail du Roi, le 2^{me}
après la chambre à coucher à Fontainebleau.” “Wilkinson & Sons, 14,
Ludgate Hill, 6881.”
The Billiard-room, not on account of any architectural features or of
the use to which it is assigned, but from the remarkably interesting
character of the collection of pictures contained within its walls,
is one of the most important features of the castle. Its walls are
hung with portraits of “Westmoreland Worthies,” forming a gallery of
celebrities of which not only the county, but the nation may indeed
well be proud, and the founding of which is a lasting honour to the
House of Lowther. Well indeed would it be if the example of forming
local Galleries of Worthies, so nobly set by the second Earl of
Lonsdale, were followed by the Lords-Lieutenant of other counties
whose high functions and important positions point them out especially
as the right parties to honour native worth, and their mansions as
the right and proper and only place in which such a gallery should be
enshrined. The collection of “Westmoreland Worthies” at Lowther Castle
is a noble beginning in the right direction, and it is to be hoped
the spirit and feeling that caused its foundation by one of the noble
heads of the House of Lowther may still actuate his successors, and
cause what is now a glorious nucleus to become a full and complete
collection. The portraits at present contained in this gallery
are—Queen Catherine Parr, wife of Henry VIII., born at Kendal Castle;
Christopher Baynbrigg, Cardinal of St. Praxede, Legate to the Court of
Rome, Archbishop of York, Master of the Rolls, &c.; George Clifford,
Earl of Cumberland; Sir Gerard Lowther, Lord Chief Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas, Ireland; the Marquis of Wharton; the Right Hon.
Joseph Addison; John, First Viscount Lonsdale; the Hon. Justice Wilson;
Sir Alan Chambre; Dr. Burn, LL.D., the historian of Westmoreland and
Cumberland, and author of the “Justice of the Peace;” Lord Langdale;
Alderman Thompson, Lord Mayor of London; Sir George Fleming, Bishop
of Carlisle; Gibson, Bishop of London; John Bell, Chancery barrister;
Richard Braithwaite, author of the “English Gentleman,” &c.; Dean
Addison; Dr. Shaw; Waugh, Bishop of Carlisle; Duke of Wharton;
Admiral Sir Charles Richardson; John Langhorne, D.D.; Watson, Bishop
of Llandaff; Bernard Gilpin; General Bowser; Thomas Barlow; William
Hogarth, whose ancestors belonged to the county; Dr. Fothergill; the
Countess of Pembroke, who once wrote, when pressed to put in a court
candidate for the borough of Appleby, “Sir, I have been bullied by an
usurper, I have been neglected by a court, but I will not be dictated
to by a subject. Your man shan’t stand;” Admiral Pearson, famous for
his engagement with Paul Jones; John Robinson, Surveyor-General of
Woods and Forests, who is represented holding in his hand a “Report of
Acorns planted in and about Windsor Great Park,” &c.[49]
It may be named _en passant_ that in various parts of the castle are
a number of paintings—supposed to be veritable Hogarths—which were
brought from the old Vauxhall Gardens.