Loughborough and Shugborough

Another exciting week goes by and this time I'm out at the Shugborough Estate, a National Trust property that was once home of the Anson family, and one of their most notable descendants, photographer Patrick Lichfield.

I've never been to Shugborough before, so I was quite looking forward to the trip, and on the journey there I realised how similar were the names Shugborough and Loughborough! Apparently, I'm not the only person who has thought about this, as back in 2011 after her visit to Shugborough, a lady called Katy considered the sometimes bizarre pronunciation associated with English place-names, and quoted Loughborough and Shugborough as examples.  

Idly wandering around the grounds of this magnificent estate, I did actually wonder if I was going to find any connections at all with Loughborough ... but I did, and almost as soon as I entered the grounds, for there were a couple of beautiful long-horned cows, reminding me of the work of Robert Bakewell on the Dishley estate between Loughborough and Hathern. The sheep, however, were most definitely not the Leicester Longwool descendants! Just a quick reminder at this point that Loughborough public library has a Bakewell display on until the end of April!

The house itself was rather splendid, and the servants quarters reminded me of visits I'd made a while ago to Belton House in Lincolnshire, Belvoir Castle and also to the Workhouse at Southwell.

A further connection between Loughborough and Shugborough, which I found after I returned home, in a book called "Follies of Leicestershire & Rutland" are the follies on the Garendon Estate and those at Shugborough. Sir Ambrose Phillipps owned the Garendon Estate, between Loughborough and Shepshed, from 1829-1837. As a direct result of his 'grand tour' of Italy he became a member of the Society of Dilettanti. The author, Gwyn Headley, compares the monuments at Shugborough, created by James "Athenian" Stuart, a fellow member of the Society who was sponsored by the Society to study the remains of classical Greek civilisation in Athens, with those by Phillipps. Shugborough has a shepherd's monument with columns by Stuart, a Doric temple made of coade stone, also by Stuart, a triumphal arch and a structure called the Tower of the Winds, both by Stuart, and a Lanthorn of Demosthenes. As we know, Garendon has the Temple of Venus, modeled on the Temple of Sybil in Tivoli and the triumphal arch emulating the Roman arch of Titus. 

   
Interestingly, in another book, one called "Divergent paths: family histories of Irish emigrants in Britain, 1820-1920" there is an interesting story of the Giltrap family. Henry Giltrap, born in 1827, came to England in about 1846-7, where he and his brother John joined the Staffordshire police and Henry became a railway policeman. He lived about 3/4s mile from the Shugborough Estate, until moving to work at a signal box the other end of the Shugborough Tunnel in Milford, where he stayed for about 12 years. Here he operated the signal box and the level crossing on what was a busy stretch of railway. One of Henry and his wife Ann's sons, also called Henry (born 1850) worked his way up the railway from being a goods clerk to station master, which involved a move first to Llanberis, than to Abergele, but later left the railways to work for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in London. One of the other sons, William, born in 1851, became a footman at Shugborough Hall, where he married a nursery maid and was promoted to butler. After his death, his wife became a dresser to Queen Alexandra at the Sandringham Estate. 

Back to Henry the elder. By 1880 the signal work was getting a bit too much for Henry, so the LNWR moved him to a quieter location, where on 16 April 1883 Henry signalled the first trains into the new Charnwood Forest Railway, Loughborough. After his wife died in 1888, Henry moved to 145 Paget Street where he lodged with the family of a fellow railway worker, clerk Charles Atkinson. Retiring in 1895, Henry moved to live with another of his sons, Thomas in Lancashire, where he died in 1902.

And, back in Shugborough, at the far end of the grounds was a stunning stone bridge which led to another bridge, the latter which went over the canal. Just beyond this was the railway line, which, unlike Loughborough's, was electrified.

What I also hadn't realised until I actually went into the apartments was that Patrick Lichfield had lived here. And what a set of apartments they were too! Dressed in 1950s-1970s style and with his photographs adorning the walls, his personality was plain to see. Now, I've always known this photographer as Patrick Lichfield, but on this visit to Shugborough I discovered that he was actually Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, and was a descendant of the Anson family of Shugborough. A distant relative was George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, a former First Lord of the Admiralty. Apparently, there have been 7 ships named after Anson, and Horatio Nelson wrote the following letter to William Marsden of the Admiralty:

"Victory in Gibraltar Bay, July 21st 1805 Sir, I herewith transmit you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, a copy of an Acting-Order, which I have given to Mr. John Chrystie, Midshipman of the Victory. to act as Lieutenant of his Majesty's Ship Guerrier, in the room of Lieutenant William Tiller, invalided. Mr. Chrystie is an Admiralty recommendation, and received a severe wound in his left cheek in an action between Anson [the ship] and La Loire [a ship], by having a musket-ball shot thorugh it. He is also a very deserving young man. I am, Sir, &c. Nelson and Bronte"

I think the connection here is that the memorial to Nelson in Trafalgar Square was created by WIlliam Railton who was also responsible for some of the lodges to the Garendon Estates, as well as for Beaumanor Hall. 

Further connections to Loughborough include the jewellery maker, Jane Moore, who studied at Loughborough College of Art and Design and has exhibited her work at Shugborough. A couple of artists from Staffordshire, or who have displayed in Staffordshire, who studied at Loughborough also include Sally Matthews and Jonathan Mulvaney.

Older connections include some entries in The Monthly Magazine on 1st August 1817 (Vol.44, No.301) all appearing on page 90, where it is reported that "At Loughborough, Lieut. Land, late of the Devonshire-militia married Miss Susannah Harley; Mrs Spittlehouse of Loughborough, aged 39, died; and Mr Kent of Shugborough married Mrs Allen of Radford-bridge, Berkswich."

If I think of any more connections, I'll be sure to let you know!!!

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2019). Loughborough and Shugborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/03/loughborough-and-shugborough.html

[Accessed 31 March 2019]

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