Reginald CholmondeleyJPDL (20 April 1826 – 10 February 1896) of
Condover, Shropshire, was an English landowner, artist and collector. He was a
Justice of the Peace and
Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire and held the rank of
Major, 1st
Batt. 28th
Salop Royal Volunteers. The Condover estate passed to him on the death of his brother, Thomas, in 1864.[1][2]
Early life and education
Arms of Cholmondeley of Vale Royal: Gules, 2 esquires' helmets proper in chief, garnished Or, in base a garb, Or[3]
Cholmondeley was born on 20 April 1826 at
Hodnet, the third son of Charles Cowper Cholmondeley (1795–1831) of
Chester,
rector of Hodnet,
Shropshire and Mary Heber (d. 1846).[2] His eldest brother, Thomas, was a
Major of the first Administrative Battalion of the Shropshire Rifle Volunteers; another brother, Charles, was a
Catholic priest; his youngest brother was the
Reverend Richard Hugh, the
rector at Hodnet, whose daughter was the novelist
Mary Cholmondeley.[1][2]
He attended
Trinity College, Cambridge where he matriculated in 1845, obtaining a
B.A. in 1849,
M.A. in 1856 and was admitted at the
Inner Temple on 18 January 1850, but not
called.[4] He trained as a painter and sculptor in the 1850s.[5]
In March 1863, following the death of his cousin, Edward William Smythe Owen (1793–1863), Thomas Cholmondeley (1823–1864) inherited
Condover Hall and the large estate adjacent, and took the name of Owen as a condition of the inheritance.[6] A year later he married Victoria Alexandrina Cotes, daughter of
John Cotes and Lady Louisa Jenkinson, daughter of
Charles Jenkinson, later 3rd Earl of Liverpool and a
godchild of
Queen Victoria.[7] He travelled to Italy for his
wedding tour and in
Florence he was "seized with a malignant fever" on 10 April and died there on 20 April 1864.[8] His brother, Reginald, who had met him in Florence, carried back his remains to England, and he is buried in Condover churchyard.[8]
In the
parish church at Condover there is a marble monument to Thomas Cholmondeley by
George Frederic Watts (1817–1904), featuring a kneeling bearded figure of the deceased, wearing boots, a cloak and a soldier's tunic, with his hands clasping a sword, looking out across the choir stalls in front of him, into the chancel.[9][10]
Condover
The Condover estate devised to Reginald on the death of his brother, Thomas, in March 1864.[7][11] His country seat,
Condover Hall, is generally regarded as "the finest stone manor-house in Shropshire."[12] He also owned a house in London. Originally in single occupation as No. 37
Palace Gate, this large red-brick house at the corner with Canning Place was built in about 1869–70 for Reginald Cholmondeley, to whom
Cubitts granted a ninety-nine-year lease from September 1870, at £100 per annum. The architect was
Frederick Pepys Cockerell, who also worked for Cholmondeley on the restoration of his country seat, Condover Hall, Shropshire. As well as being a considerable landowner, Cholmondeley was an enthusiastic amateur sculptor of some accomplishment. Many of the elaborate sculptural decorations at Condover Hall are his work.[13]
Marriage
The Hon. Alice Mary Egerton, The Hon. Mrs Reginald Cholmondeley (d.1868)
George Richmond
His new wife was an artist and a poet and the couple were well-suited but the marriage would be short-lived. Alice died in childbirth on 27 November and was buried on 3 December 1868; her infant daughter, Alice, died three weeks after her mother, on 11 December and was buried on 19 December in the parish church at Condover.[1]
In the
Church of St Mary and St Andrew, Condover, there is a very affecting monument to Alice Cholmondeley that was sculpted by her husband of one year. It features a recumbent effigy of Alice, with her infant daughter by her side and an empty cradle at her feet.[9][10]
Cholmondeley also sculpted the recumbent effigy of his cousin, Blanche Heber (d. 1870), at
St Luke's Church, Hodnet.[14]
In 1871 he published Poems by A.C., a volume of poems by his late wife and dedicated to
Robert Browning, and in 1875, Emblems, a volume of her drawings. A presentation copy of the latter was given to the banker,
George Rae.[15][16]
Sir Theodore Martin (1816–1909), Lawyer and writer, by Reginald Cholmondeley
Cholmondeley was "a man of powerful personality and fine taste", an accomplished artist and talented amateur sculptor as well as an enthusiastic collector of books, manuscripts, paintings and curiosities.[5][17] He had exhibited at the
Royal Academy and counted many of London's artists such as
G.F. Watts and
John Everett Millais (1829–1896) as personal friends.[5]
His circle of friends also included the poet and playwright,
Robert Browning (1812–1889), poet, biographer and translator,
Sir Theodore Martin (1816–1909), whose portrait he painted, and
Lady Martin as well as the American writer,
Mark Twain (1835–1910) and his wife, who visited Condover in 1873 and 1879.[18][19][20][21]
On 2 July 1881 (the day that
President Garfield was shot)
Olivia Clemens received from their friend Reginald Cholmondeley a letter of condolence on the death of her husband in Australia; startling enough, though in reality rather comforting than otherwise, for the reason that the "Mark Twain" who had died in Australia was a very persistent impostor.[22]
When he wrote to Twain to apologise for the mistake the humourist graciously replied:[22]
"Being dead I might be excused from writing letters, but I am not that kind of a corpse. May I never be so dead as to neglect the hail of a friend from a far land."
Condover Hall, engraving by E.I. Roberts after
J.P. Neale
A fine early copy (on a roll of parchment) of the poem called The Stacions of Rome, giving an account of the various churches and shrines at
Rome, of the
relics there, and the
indulgences consequent on visits to them.[24]
Collections of the 18th century, by the physician and antiquary,
William Cowper (1701–1767), of Overleigh Hall, Chester, for the history and antiquities of
Chester and the
Isle of Man. Cowper's niece, Dorothy Cowper, married
Thomas Cholmondeley (1726–1779) of
Vale Royal, bringing with her the Overleigh estate. She was Reginald Cholmondeley's great-grandmother.
Sanctus Tewdricus sive Pastor Bonus. A Latin drama, with illuminated title page by Henry Matthew Chamberling[25]
Paintings
16th-century and 17th-century portraits of English kings, queens and
courtiers, including:
By the 1890s Cholmondeley found himself in debt as a result of his extravagance.[5] Over the years he had spent on Condover Hall, its contents and gardens, what was needed for the estate, which became "so neglected and encumbered" that he was planning to sell it when he died in 1896.[55]
Death
He died on 10 February 1896 at
Condover Hall and was buried on 13 February in the
parish church at Condover.[1][56] The Condover estate passed to his younger brother, the
Reverend Richard Hugh Cholmondeley (1828–1910).[20] The Condover estate and the collections of books, paintings, furniture and armour were sold in 1897.[20][57] The Condover estate was purchased in 1897 by
Edward Fielden, who later sold it in 1926.[12]
Barrow, J. S.; Herson, J. D.; Lawes, A. H.; Riden, P. J.; Seaborne, M. V. J. (2005).
"Manors and Estates in and Near the City". In Thacker, A. T.; Lewis, C. P. (eds.). A History of the County of Chester. Vol. 5. Pt. 2. pp. 322–330 – via
British History Online.
Blakeway, John Brickdale; Fletcher, W. G. D. (1893).
"History of Pontesbury". Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. Series 2. Vol. 5. Shrewsbury: Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. pp. 229–252.
OCLC5155820.
Cholmondeley, Alice; Nettleship, J. J. (1875). Cholmondeley, Reginald (ed.).
Emblems. Revised by J. J. Nettleship. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
OCLC29057827.