Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, 20th Earl of Waterford, 5th Earl Talbot,
KCVO (13 November 1860 – 7 May 1921), styled Viscount Ingestre from 1868 to 1877, was a British
peer. Unusually for a wealthy nobleman of the period, he began several businesses connected with road transport, with mixed success.
Family background
Shrewsbury, who was born at Eaton Place,
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...
, London,
was the only son and heir of
Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury and 4th Earl Talbot. His grandfather,
The 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, had inherited the earldoms from a very distant cousin, and had to prove his claim to the premier earldoms of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
on the Roll in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
by demonstrating his descent from the
2nd Earl of Shrewsbury and 2nd Earl of Waterford. Shrewsbury was the nephew of: Constance, who married The 8th
Marquess of Lothian
Marquess of Lothian is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, which was created in 1701 for Robert Kerr, 4th Earl of Lothian. The Marquess of Lothian holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Lothian (created 1606), Earl of Lothian (created again 1 ...
; Gertrude, who married
The 13th Earl of Pembroke; and Adelaide, who married
The 3rd Earl Brownlow, the brother of Theresa, a notable hostess, who married
The 6th Marquess of Londonderry.
Inheritance
Shrewsbury's very rich father died when Shrewsbury, then styled as Viscount Ingestre, was a schoolboy of 16. All his father's property and personal wealth were left to the young Lord Shrewsbury's mother. She lived until 1912, when he was aged 51.
Education and marriage
Lord Shrewsbury was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
and inherited his titles when only 16 years of age. At the age of 19, he eloped with an older married woman, Ellen, ''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Palmer-Morewood, wife of commoner,
Alfred Edward Miller Mundy of Shipley Hall, whom she had married in 1873. Ellen was a granddaughter of
The 7th Baron Byron (a cousin of
The 6th Baron Byron, the famous poet), and already had a daughter. Shrewsbury's heir, Lord Ingestre, was born less than three months after the marriage of his parents. Ingestre died in the lifetime of his parents, but had several children, including
The 21st Earl of Shrewsbury and 21st Earl of Waterford, the father of the
current Earl.
Public offices and honours
In right of his
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
, Lord Shrewsbury became Hereditary
Lord High Steward of Ireland
The Lord High Steward of Ireland is a hereditary Great Officer of State in the United Kingdom, sometimes known as the Hereditary Great Seneschal. The Earls of Shrewsbury (Earls of Waterford in the Peerage of Ireland) have held the office since th ...
, in which capacity he took part in the coronations of Kings
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
and
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
, and accompanied the former on his state visit to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in July 1903. He was made
KCVO in 1907.
He also became High Steward of the Borough of
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
in 1892.
Equestrian interests
He started his own
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
club in 1893.
[Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in Britain: A History'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2012, p. 29] In 1895, Lord Shrewsbury founded the Staffordshire Polo Club at his house,
Ingestre Hall
Ingestre Hall is a Grade II* 17th-century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England. Formerly the seat of the Earls Talbot and then the Earls of Shrewsbury, the hall is now owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Bor ...
.
Players included
The 8th Earl of Harrington, Algernon Burnaby, Captain Daily Fergusson, Captain
The Hon. Robert Greville, Gerald Hardy, Albert Jones, Captain "Wendy" Jones, Edward and George Miller, Norman Nickalls, Bertram Portal, Captain Gordon Renton, Jasper Selwyn and John Reid Walker.
''Greyhound'' coach
![Alton Towers from Morris's Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen (1880)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Alton_Towers_from_Morris%27s_Seats_of_Noblemen_and_Gentlemen_%281880%29.JPG)
A devotee of
coach driving, for several seasons Lord Shrewsbury ran the daily ''Greyhound'' (i.e. fast) coach service the 20 miles from fashionable
Buxton Spa to his house,
Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, ...
, now the site of a theme park.
Investing in personal transportation
Hansom cabs de luxe
![Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, Vanity Fair, 1903-07-30](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Charles_Henry_John_Chetwynd-Talbot%2C_Vanity_Fair%2C_1903-07-30.jpg)
For many years he was in business as a
hansom cab
The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn carriage designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, ...
owner, his vehicles marked "S.T." (for Shrewsbury and Talbot) and the horses "being of the best possible quality",
and he was the first owner to have cabs that were fitted with noiseless tyres operating in London and Paris.
To begin with, drivers paid £1 a day for the use of the horse and cab, keeping the remainder of their takings. In slack periods the drivers would strike, asking Lord Shrewsbury for a price reduction. In the summer of 1888, he floated a public listed company, The Shrewsbury and Talbot Cab and Noiseless Tyre Company Limited, to buy two businesses. Firstly, the business of cab proprietor and job master worked by the earl himself, and secondly the business of The Noiseless Tyre Company Limited, manufacturers of steel and rubber tyres in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and London.
In the spring of 1891, following almost annual strikes by his cab drivers, Lord Shrewsbury put his company's 300 horses up for sale, under police protection, in the company's
Battersea
Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park.
History
Batter ...
premises. At that time they operated from a number of yards in different parts of London. The press reported the terms offered to drivers in detail, then the prices of the horses, and advised that every animal put up for sale had been sold. Strong competition from other rubber tyred cabs seems to have become a serious problem. The business was restarted in October 1891 with cabmen friendly to the company.
Motoring
In November 1900, Lord Shrewsbury formed another public listed company, Shrewsbury S T and Challiner Tyre Company Limited, to manufacture and deal in cabs, carriages, motor cars, cycles, vehicles, tyres, tubes, wire, India rubber and gutta percha goods, etc. In December 1903, he was described in a court action brought by
Dunlop over the importation of
Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
tyres as "proprietor of the business known as Maison Talbot in London's
Long Acre
Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its coach-makers, and l ...
managed by Mr Weigel."
["Daniel M Weigel, managing director of the British Automobile Commercial Syndicate Limited. Started motoring in 1893 and has been a prominent figure in the business side of the industry ever since. In 1900 in conjunction with the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, he formed the British Automobile Commercial Syndicate Limited. Introduced the first "Clément-Talbot" car into England in 1901. In 1902 formed the firm of J Rothschild et fils Limited opening a London branch of that famous firm of Parisian motor-carriage builders. Is now connected with the firms of J Rothschild et fils Limited and the Maison Talbot, of the latter of which he is the managing director. Club A.C.G.B.&I." ''The Motoring Annual and Motorist's Year Book, 1904'']
In March 1901 he formed British Automobile Commercial Syndicate Limited "with objects sufficiently indicated by the title". The shareholders were not people of note but provided addresses in the then almost semi-rural
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also a name given to ...
,
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...
,
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
areas and
Hatton Garden
Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...
EC. One of the shareholders was a Mr R. Weigel of 25 Maxilla Gardens,
North Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Kensington is w ...
. Lord Shrewsbury was the first chairman. The other first directors were M. Chabert, president of the ''Société Commerciale d'Automobiles'', Paris, and Mr D.M. Weigel, managing director. The new premises, (formerly occupied by carriage builders) at 97-98
Long Acre
Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its coach-makers, and l ...
(adjoining 1 Endell Street), covered "four large floors". Twelve months later, Lord Shrewsbury was made chairman of Messrs J. Rothschild and Son Limited, incorporated to carry on the business of making motor car bodies by expanding the London activities of the well-known French businesses of
Clément-Rothschild
Carrosserie Clément-Rothschild produced a series of Clément-Rothschild bodied automobiles in 1902, based on the Panhard-Levassor 7 hp chassis.
History
Carrosserie Clément-Rothschild were based at 33 Quai Michelet, Levallois-Perret, either adja ...
and Messrs J. Rothschild and Son. The second floor of the same building was to be ''Maison Talbot'', suppliers of Talbot tyres (as fitted by The Hon. C.S. Rolls), the third floor to be automobile clothing. In March 1909, Shrewsbury made a formal announcement that he would close the business which could be seen to be competing with his
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...
agents.
In 1909, he floated Homoil Trust Limited, leading a board of the late engineer-in-chief of the Navy, another colliery owner and a well-known consulting engineer. The company was formed to purchase and develop various patents for the production of a cheaper home-produced and more efficient substitute for petrol made from
coal-tar
Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psoriasis ...
. It was voluntarily wound up at the end of 1910.
Talbot motorcars
![Clement Talbot Works North Kensington (2944231009)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Clement_Talbot_Works_North_Kensington_%282944231009%29.jpg)
Lord Shrewsbury founded
Clément-Talbot Limited in 1902. He built for it the United Kingdom's first purpose-built automotive-manufacturing plant in London's
North Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Kensington is w ...
with his own personal
crest
Crest or CREST may refer to:
Buildings
*The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York
*"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York
*Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...
set high above the entrance to the administration building. He involved
Adolphe Clément-Bayard
Gustave Adolphe Clément, from 1909 Clément-Bayard (22 September 1855 – 10 March 1928), was a French entrepreneur. An orphan who became a blacksmith and a ''Compagnons du Tour de France, Compagnon du Tour de France'', he went on to race and m ...
as his "engineer" and began by importing his popular French
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard, Bayard-Clément, was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by entrepreneur Gustave Adolphe Clément. Clément obtained consent from the Conseil d'Etat to change his name to that of his b ...
cars into Britain.
At
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...
in November 1912, Lord Shrewsbury's Talbot car of only 25.6
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
rating, driven by Percy Lambert, attained a speed of 113.28
miles per hour
Miles per hour (mph, m.p.h., MPH, or mi/h) is a British imperial and United States customary unit of speed expressing the number of miles travelled in one hour. It is used in the United Kingdom, the United States, and a number of smaller countrie ...
and broke many other class records. The only faster car on the Brooklands track was a
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
of 84.8 horsepower rating.
Military service
The Earl served entirely on home service in Britain during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He was a
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in the
Army Remount Service
The Army Remount Service was the body responsible for the purchase and training of horses and mules as remounts for the British Army between 1887 and 1942.
Origins
Prior to 1887, the purchase of horses was the responsibility of individual reg ...
of the
Army Service Corps from 1914 to 1915,
and temporary Major with the
Royal Welch Fusiliers
The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...
1916 to 1917.
In January 1915, his only son, Viscount Ingestre, a reservist in the
Royal Horse Guards
The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues) (RHG) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.
Raised in August 1650 at Newcastle upon Tyne and County Durham by Sir Arthur Haselrigge on the orders of Oliver Cr ...
at
Regent's Park Barracks
The Regent's Park Barracks, commonly known as the Albany Street Barracks, is a British Army barracks located on Albany Street, London, near Regent's Park.
History
The barracks were constructed in 1820-1821 as cavalry barracks for the Life Guard ...
, died in London of
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
followed by
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
.
[Deaths. ''The Times'', Thursday, 14 Jan 1915; pg. 11; Issue 40751]
Later life
Lord Shrewsbury died in May 1921, aged 60, and was buried at the parish church of
Ingestre
Ingestre is a village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 194. It is four miles to the north-east of the county town of Stafford.
Ing ...
.
There then ensued an inheritance battle for his estate between his wife and his grandson. His grandson, John, 21st Earl of Shrewsbury, claimed the late 20th Earl had not been of sound mind when his last will was written and won a court settlement. Ellen left the house the late Earl had built for her, 'Cariad' in
Goring-on-Thames
Goring-on-Thames (or Goring) is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about south of Wallingford and northwest of Reading. It had a population of 3,187 in the 2011 census, put at 3,335 in 2019. Goring ...
, moving to 'Cariad Cottage' in an equally tranquil setting. Prior to Lord Shrewsbury's death, he had already bequeathed her the sum of £2,000 per month until she died.
Ancestry
Notes
References
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20040607043755/http://www.sunbeam.org.uk/Talbot.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrewsbury, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl Of
1860 births
1921 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Charles Talbot
English polo players
Earls of Shrewsbury
Earls of Waterford
Talbot
Automotive businesspeople
Barons Talbot
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Army Service Corps officers
Royal Welch Fusiliers officers
Earls Talbot