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Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice Admiral R.N.

L >> Lady Biddulph of Ledbury >> Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice Admiral R.N.




'J. S. YORKE.'

Finished April 3, 1831.

'This was my dear father's last letter. He lost his life on the 5th,
visiting the _St. Vincent_ at Spithead, which ship had Lord
Hotham's flag bound for the Mediterranean. This letter was given to me
at sea by Sir H. Hotham on my way home, having read in _Galignani_
my Father's death.

'(Signed) H.'

* * * * *

The following note by my late brother gives all that is known of the
accident:

* * * * *

'I have no record of the accident that caused Sir Joseph Yorke's death,
but I know he was in his small sailing yacht coming over from Portsmouth
with Captain Bradby and Captain Young and one or two men of the crew,
when the boat was struck by a heavy squall in a thunderstorm somewhere
off the Hamble river, and they are all supposed to have been struck by
lightning. Sir Joseph's body was found floating, the boat was picked up
derelict in the West Channel. No one was left to tell the tale; the
tablet in Hamble church, which is the only record I know of it, merely
states he was drowned by the upsetting of a boat. I believe he had a
blue line going down his body, and the fact of his being found floating
gives the impression that he was killed by lightning, as I suppose all
the other occupants shared the same fate.

'HARDWICKE'

SYDNEY LODGE, HAMBLE:

October 14, 1908.

* * * * *

I may perhaps add that on the day Sir Joseph Yorke was drowned, Miss
Manningham, the sister of Mrs. Charles Yorke, was at one of the Ancient
Music concerts in the Hanover Square Rooms, and during the performance
fainted and was carried out. On coming to herself and being questioned
as to the cause, she said she had seen before her the dripping form of a
man whose body was covered with a naval cloak, and although she could
not see his face, she knew it to be the body of Sir Joseph Yorke. There
were of course neither telegraph nor daily posts in those days, and the
news of his death only reached the family some two days later, when it
was found that the day and hour corresponded with the vision Miss
Manningham had seen.

From certain remarks in his letters from Sweden it appears that Captain
Yorke had long the intention of entering politics so soon as there was
any interruption of his active service at sea, and shortly after his
arrival in England in 1831, he carried out this intention by offering
himself as candidate for Reigate, for which borough he duly took his
seat. In October of the same year, however, a vacancy occurred in the
representation of Cambridgeshire upon the resignation of one of the
sitting members, Lord F. G. Osborne. Captain Yorke at once decided to
offer himself as the representative of a county with which his family
had been long and closely associated. His opponent was Mr. R. G.
Townley, who was the Ministerial candidate and had the support of Lord
John Russell on his committee and at the hustings.

The politics of those strenuous times of the Reform Bill are well known,
and need no more than a passing reference here. The election began on
October 27, only a little more than a fortnight after the Ministerial
bill had been rejected by the House of Lords. It is needless to say that
Captain Yorke stood in the Tory interest. In his address and speeches he
expressed himself in favour of a moderate scheme of reform which would
abolish such constituencies as were proved to be saleable and corrupt,
and as ready to support a proper extension of the franchise. But he
refused altogether to sacrifice the agricultural interest to that of the
manufacturer, and took his stand upon the necessity of affording
protection to the farmer by the maintenance of the existing Corn Laws.
Lord John Russell declared that he and his party had no objection to
Captain Yorke as a man, but exhorted his hearers to bear in mind that
this was no personal contest, but one which would decide the question of
Reform or no Reform. There were the usual hearty proceedings which we
associate with the elections of that period at the hustings on Parker's
Piece, Cambridge; Captain Yorke was escorted by a body of freeholders on
horseback, and there was the customary cheerful fighting to celebrate
the conclusion of the poll. This resulted in the captain's defeat.

He was not long excluded from Parliament. Upon the passage of the great
Reform Bill in the following year he was again nominated, and taking his
stand upon his old principles, and declaring himself resolutely opposed
to the poisonous and revolutionary ideas which France was promulgating
in Europe, he was returned by a large majority and took his seat in the
first reformed Parliament, where he represented his county until called
to the House of Lords by the death of his uncle.

Meanwhile, Captain Yorke had been most happily married on October 18,
1833, at Ravensworth Castle, Durham, to the Hon. Susan Liddell, daughter
of the first Lord Ravensworth, and sister to the Countess of Mulgrave,
Viscountess Barrington, Lady Williamson, Mrs. Trotter, and the Hon.
Georgiana Liddell, afterwards Lady Bloomfield.

By the death of the third Earl of Hardwicke on November 18, 1834,
Captain Yorke succeeded to that earldom, to which he had long been heir-
presumptive. As already mentioned, the third earl's elder son, Viscount
Royston, had been lost in a storm in the Baltic in 1808, and two younger
sons had died in infancy. Captain Yorke therefore succeeded to the
estates in Cambridgeshire and to the historic mansion of Wimpole. These
came into the possession of his family by purchase, the Lord Chancellor
having acquired them from Edward Lord Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford,
for £100,000. I print here a letter describing Wimpole in 1781, written
by the Countess of St. Germans to her aunt Lady Beauchamp, [Footnote:
Wife of Sir William Beauchamp of Langley Park, Norfolk, sister of Mrs.
Charles Yorke.] as illustrating life at a country house at that period.

* * * * *

'MY DEAR AUNT (writes Lady St. Germans from 'Wimple' October 1781), We
came to this place last Monday about half-past three o'clock; just time
enough for dinner and found all the good family in perfect health. Lady
Bell Polwarth is now here, also my brothers. P. Y. had been here before,
Charles came yesterday on purpose to meet Mama, and goes away again to-
morrow. He is not at all the worse for his journey but looks remarkably
well. Here is likewise an unhappy victim of a clergyman on a visit. His
name is Rouse and he is minister of some place near Wrest. This is the
society here at present, and now I shall tell you of our journey, and
how I like the place. Mama had desired my brother Phil as he passed
through Hertford to order four horses to come to Tytten after six
o'clock and four more to be ready at the Inn to change, but knowing the
forgetfulness of the young gentleman, Mama and I were in a peck of
troubles lest he should forget the horses, and then we could not have
gone. However, they did come, and at eleven o'clock after various
directions and orders given we packed off and got to Hertford safely.
Changed horses without alighting and proceeded to Buntingford, where we
changed again. As we passed by Hammells we saw the new Lodges which are
built at the entrance of the Park, and look very pretty; at present they
are only brick, but are to be painted white. When we entered
Cambridgeshire, I confess I was not struck with the beauties of the
country, but thought it very ugly, disagreeable, and uninteresting.
However, when we approached the environs of Wimple, I was in some
measure repaid by the delightful appearance of the Park and country
round it, for the ugliness of that we had passed through. I assure you I
was very much pleased with the beauty of the grounds and the grandeur of
the house itself. Most part of it is furnished in the old style, as for
example, Mama's and my apartment are brown wainscots, and the bed-
curtains and hangings are crimson damask laced with gold most dreadfully
tarnished. The rooms below stairs are excellent, and very handsomely
furnished. Lady Grey, the Marchioness, has just fitted up some new
apartments, that are beautiful, particularly the new dining-room which
is very elegant indeed. Her Ladyship was so kind as to take us yesterday
morning to see the new park building, which is very pretty. It commands
a very fine and extensive prospect and is seen at a great distance. I
have not yet seen the ruined tower which I can behold from my window.
Everything here is quite new to me, as though I had never seen it
before, for you know it is at least seven years ago since my brother
drove us over at full gallop, all the way from Hammells. The State Bed,
which you may remember stood below stairs, is now moved upwards into one
of the new rooms. The paper with which the walls are covered is common
and white to match the bed, and there are two dressing-rooms belonging
to it. In short, I like the place exceedingly. Lady Grey is very kind to
me, and I am much obliged to her for permitting me to come. One thing
here, however, is disagreeable to me as I have never been used to it,
and that is, the sitting so long after breakfast and dinner. We
breakfast at ten o'clock and sit till twelve. Then if the weather is
fine, which it is not to-day, we take a walk, if not, retire to our own
apartments. From half-past two till four is spent in dressing. From four
till past six at dinner. Then coffee, afterwards working, looking at
prints, talking and preaching till ten. Then I go to bed, and supper is
announced. Everybody is in bed at eleven; before breakfast Mama and I
have some little time, as we get up at eight. I always take a walk in
the garden before breakfast. Before that time everyone but Lady Grey and
my Lord go into the Library, which is a noble apartment.

'My brother has come home delighted with having found in Ireland a hard
name to puzzle everybody to death with. This was the name of a young
lady at Limerick, not more than 6 foot 4 inches without her shoes. What
do you think of Miss Helena Macgillokilycuddy? This name is always in
his mouth, but I believe he has added four syllables to the real word.
As to Charles, he was charmed and captivated with another young lady at
Limerick, a Miss Fitzgerald, whom he danced with and thought the most
amiable of the company. In short, they are much pleased with their
journey, and are ready to break a lance with anyone in favour of the
Irish. I must not forget to tell you that they ran away from Dublin with
two new coats, without ever paying for them. I have no news to send
you.'

* * * * *

Lady Grey mentioned in this letter married the second Lord Hardwicke,
who had no son.

There is an interesting allusion to Wimpole and its associations in one
of Lord Melbourne's published letters to Queen Victoria. After giving
Her Majesty some particulars of the place, and mentioning incidentally
that he was 'very partial to Lord Hardwicke,' Lord Melbourne says:

'The cultured but indolent Lord Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, had
married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, who brought him £500,000, most
of which he dissipated. Their only child Margaret, "the noble, lovely
little Peggy" of Prior, married William Bentinck, second Duke of
Portland. Lady Oxford sold to the nation the Harleian Collection of
Manuscripts, now in the British Museum (to hold which the gallery at
Wimpole was built). There is much history and more poetry connected with
it. Prior mentions it repeatedly, and always calls the first Lady
Harley, daughter of the Duke of Newcastle, "Belphebe." If Hardwicke
should have a daughter he should christen her "Belphebe." The Lady
Belphebe Yorke would not sound ill.'

Thus Lord Melbourne to Queen Victoria. I may perhaps add that my father
had three daughters, but it did not occur to him to give either of them
that name. Prior died at Wimpole in 1721, and his portrait was hung in
the library, and on the table are framed the following lines by the
poet:

'Fame counting thy books, my dear Harley,
shall tell
No man had so many who knew them so well.'

At Wimpole accordingly my father, after an active life at sea which had
continued with scarce an interruption for sixteen years, settled to the
quieter life of a country gentleman; he was a good agriculturist,
identifying himself with all the interests of the land, and resolutely
opposing any changes which he considered detrimental to the prosperity
of the country. I should add that he became a successful breeder of
shorthorns, and that he was President of the Royal Agricultural Society
in 1845, when the show was held at Derby.

In 1834 he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. Sir Robert
Peel recommended his name to King William, as he explained in a letter
to Lord Hardwicke, as an exception to the rule 'which disinclines the
minister to continue a member of the same family in succession in the
office of Lord-Lieutenant of a county ... a rule by which in ordinary
cases I should wish to abide, but not for the purpose of depriving me of
the real satisfaction of making an exception in the case of the present
vacancy in the county of Cambridgeshire, and naming you to His Majesty,
which I have done this day for the appointment of Lord-Lieutenant.' Upon
the return of Sir Robert Peel to power in 1841, Lord Hardwicke's great
influence and loyal principles were recognised by his appointment as
Lord-in-Waiting to Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

It was in that capacity that my father was appointed to attend King
Frederick William IV of Prussia, the elder brother of the Emperor
William I, upon his visit to England in the early months of 1842. An
interesting letter from Mr. John Wilson Croker to my father shows that
Lord Hardwicke took pains to inform himself as to the character and
tastes of his Prussian Majesty before entering upon his period of
waiting. Mr. Croker was staying with Sir Robert Peel, where the minister
was entertaining the Duke of Cambridge:

'I have as I promised you' he writes, 'turned the conversation on the
subject of the K. of Prussia, and as the Duke of Cambridge happens to be
here, we have heard a good deal on the subject of H.M. The sum is that
H.M. is a good and enlightened man, well read in books and well versed
in current literature and affairs; a Christian in heart and rather fond
of theology, so much so, that he has read twice over, they said,
Gladstone's book on the Church.

'I am not surprised at the "twice over," if H.M. really wished to
understand the author. I found that one reading left me as much in the
dark as I was at the first, and I only doubt whether a second perusal
would have made me any wiser.'

As illustrating the King's religious feeling I may mention that among
His Majesty's experiences with Lord Hardwicke was a visit they made
together to Newgate, where they were present in the chapel at a service
Elizabeth Fry was holding for the prisoners. The King knelt and was
deeply affected, and my father always described the scene as 'deeply
touching' and said that he left the prison with an ideal memory of that
great and holy woman.

The King of Prussia became much attached to Lord Hardwicke during this
visit to England, and made him promise a return visit to Prussia. This
took place in June of the same year, when my father went to Berlin and
accompanied the King on a visit he made to the Czar Nicholas at St.
Petersburg. My father wrote a series of letters to my mother while upon
this journey, describing much that he saw and did, and as these give
many interesting particulars of the Czar and his Court, and describe
some of the old towns in North Germany in a way which may tempt many a
wanderer to visit some of them even to-day, I here print some extracts
from them.

The first of these is dated June 20, 1842, from Hamburg, where my father
was detained by a short illness, during which he had the help of Mr.
Schetky, the marine painter to Queen Victoria, whose acquaintance he had
made years before at the Naval College at Portsmouth. It gives some
interesting particulars of the great fire which raged in that city on
May 4, 1842, and two days following, and destroyed 2000 dwelling-houses
as well as many churches and public buildings.

* * * * *

'I send you some little sketches of parts of the dilapidated town
showing the ruins of the great church of Saint Peter. The history of the
fire is told in a few words; no one knows how it began, the want of
order, power, and a commanding head was the cause of the great
devastation ... the mob said "in a free town we can do what we like."
They pumped spirits from the engines instead of water by mistake, and
thus a scene of devastation and plunder was begun which ceased only from
the exhaustion of the people and a shift of the wind.

'Then came in some troops from Prussia and Denmark, and order was
restored. The number of lives lost is not known, but not above two
hundred it is believed.

'As you well know, Hamburg is a free town and a republic of itself,
governed by the Burgomaster and a senate. It is one of the three
remaining Hanse towns.... The loss suffered here is to be now stated, it
is fairly computed at 12,000,000 pounds sterling; of this 8,000,000
falls on individuals and foreign and British insurance offices;
4,000,000 on the city of Hamburg. The foreign insurance offices have
paid very well; the Hamburg, that is the individual who had such an
office, is ruined and can pay nothing; the city of Hamburg will borrow
4,000,000, and raise the interest by a tax on the houses of the city
throughout. The cause of this is that Hamburg allowed no foreign
insurance to be made for a house, but the whole city is an insurance
office against the destruction of a house by fire. What the house
contains as furniture, &c., the city has nothing to do with. So each
individual will receive for his house destroyed by fire its value from
the city, but he will be taxed to pay the interests of the money. This
may not be quite clear, it requires rather more words to make it so. I
hope to find a letter from you in Berlin.--Yours,

'CHARLES.'

* * * * *

The next letter was written from Berlin.

* * * * *

'I arrived here this morning at four o'clock from Hamburg to
Boitzenburg, where we slept.

'I went down to the King (at Sans Souci) by railroad; he was at dinner,
I got some brought to me by his old servant. The King soon came out of
his dining-room to me and gave me a most hearty welcome, and took me
into the garden, where all the court ladies and gentlemen were gathered;
presented me to the Queen, both asked after and about you and were very
kind. I can hardly say how much interest I felt in being for a few
moments at Sans Souci again; it is a most beautiful place. It is
wonderful to think of its creation, but there will be speedy decay and
dissolution, if it is not ere long repaired. The Palace is small, and
not worthy the name of a Palace, but beautiful. I am not expected to
remain long I think, from what I gather.

'As I was staring about the town yesterday evening after my return from
Sans Souci, I was tapped on the shoulder and informed that the King
desired that I would come to sup with him at nine, so as it was half
past eight, off I went to dress. By the by I did not tell you that after
our dinner at Sans Souci the whole Court moved up to Berlin by railroad,
thus I was at the Palace at nine. The supper was served at six small
tables, without any covering, the plate and glasses standing on the
mahogany. At one table sat the King and Queen, the Princess of Prussia
and the Duke of Brunswick; the rest of the party and his household were
at the other tables. A seat of honour was kept for me by the great lady
of the Court, but I had already found myself seated by a maid of honour
whose sweet smiles had attracted me and I did not think it worth while
to move. You need not be alarmed, for the stock of beauty here is small.
The King and Queen both crossed to speak with me before and after
supper, and on taking leave for the night the King kindly shook me by
the hand. The King is gone, he visits some of his provincial towns on
his way, and takes no one with him but one Aide-de-camp and no escort. I
go tomorrow in my own carriage, thank God; a route is given me, a number
painted on the carriage, and all paid, so I go like the devil without
anything to pay. I shall be at Dantzic before the King.

'The road from Hamburg to Berlin lies through a portion of the Danish
territory and the territory of the grand Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin
and the Prussian, the whole way the country is cultivated, the Danish
territory of Holstein is sandy and little done with it. That of M.
Schwerin is of a better quality, though what we should call moderate
soil but very fairly cultivated. I never saw better farming in my life,
or a country more cared for, the crops looked well and not a weed to be
seen, the road-side planted, and every tree that was young staked and
tied, the side of the roads mowed and trimmed, and stone gutter on each
side of a fairly macadamized road. I felt humbled after my boasting
thoughts of England, as this pattern they have no doubt followed, but
the Prince of Mecklenburg Schwerin deserves well of his people for his
superior copy. The people are well clothed, and I have not been asked
for a farthing since I came to this country.

'Then in Prussia on crossing the frontier the authorities were most
civil, cast an eye at the carriage, made a bow, and would not look at an
article; the regulations of Prussia are in all departments most
excellent, and a painstaking discipline exists everywhere, which makes
the position of the traveller quite charming. Here only one side of the
road is macadamized, the other half is the soil, but the road is very
wide, so down hill you take the soil, very safe. All through Prussia, as
far as I have been, the farming is very good, the land very clean, but
the soil very, very poor; it is a great desert in fact, made habitable
by the perseverance and industry of the people; round this town it is
wonderful to see what can be done by the hand of man. This town stands
in a desert of driving sand, but the town has created a soil round it
which is now pushing the desert back every year, and it is now in the
centre of a large circle of fine green fields and corn lands; of course
the produce is not great but the labour is small, and the improvement
progressing. The accommodation is very fair even to an Englishman. The
innkeepers are a very respectable class, and though I have not seen a
bed that is larger than a child's crib without curtains, yet they are
clean, soft, and well made with lots of pillows for the head.

'Up to this time I have seen nothing but what I may call the outside of
Berlin, my impression is that on the whole it is a very fine city. The
public buildings are numerous. The architecture is fine, with more of
the florid ornament than the style permits; much statuary and grouping
of figures in marble and bronze. Streets wide, buildings low and large;
but more of this bye and bye.

'My friend Schetky has been very useful to me in killing much "ennui"
and comforting me when sick. He is an extraordinary fellow, sixty-three,
with the spirits and fun of a boy, and the appetite of a horse. He is
bent on going to Dantzig, so puts himself into the mail-post or public
conveyance. He thinks he can make a picture [Footnote: Now at Sydney
Lodge.] of the King's embarkation; I hope he may succeed, for he is a
worthy soul.

'I have passed my morning in the museum of statues and pictures. The
museum was founded in 1830 from designs by Schinkel; it is pure Greek
Doric (I don't like it), a double column façade, up a great flight of
steps; before the entrance stands a basin of polished red granite
twenty-two feet in diameter, one block; it was a boulder that lay thirty
miles from Berlin called the Markgrafenstein, it lay at a place called
Fürstenwald.

'The collection of the museum consists of vases and bronzes, sculpture
and pictures. My view was so very cursory, and without a catalogue, that
I must not say much about it. It is very large and the statues are
mostly antique, and I should say fine. The pictures are numerous and
many very fine, but on the whole the collection I should say was not
first rate, indeed if it were it would be the finest in the world from
its number.

'There is a very curious collection of very old church pictures by very
ancient masters of the art, but the Italian school of its best day is, I
think, small, as well as the Dutch. But I must not be supposed to give
judgment on the gallery, I must have a long day at it on my return, and
another some day with you, my love.

'I find that I am not even to pay for a potato on my journey, my beds,
breakfasts, dinners, horses are everywhere ordered. And apartments were
ready for me at Sans Souci, had I arrived sooner, and this morning I was
ordered to the Palace for to-day and to-night, but I begged off, the
Hof-Marshall not thinking my rooms here good enough; surely this is
enough honour. But it is given to the Queen's servant, to an Englishman,
and not to myself, so I do not take it all. I dine with Westmorland to-
day at five.

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