Edward Weld (1705 8 December 1761) was an English gentleman of the
landed gentry and a member of an old
recusant
Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
family. Weld is notable for two trials, one when he was accused of impotency, the other for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
at the time of the
Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...
.
He also made significant improvements at
Lulworth Castle.
Early life
Born at
East Lulworth
East Lulworth is a village and civil parish nine miles east of Dorchester, near Lulworth Cove, in the county of Dorset, South West England. It consists of 17th-century thatched cottages. The village is now dominated by the barracks of the Royal ...
, Weld was the third and oldest surviving son of Humphrey Weld (died 1722) of
Lulworth Castle, a great-nephew of
Humphrey Weld
Sir Humphrey Weld (died 29 November 1610) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1608.
Career
Weld's family roots were in Eaton and Congleton, Cheshire. He was the fourth son of John Weld of Eaton and his wife Joanna FitzHugh. ...
, a
Member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
who in 1641 had bought the
Lulworth Estate
The Lulworth Estate is a country estate located in central south Dorset, England. Its most notable landscape feature is a five-mile stretch of coastline on the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site, including Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove.
...
on the
Jurassic Coast
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-Decembe ...
.
His mother was Margaret Simeons, a daughter of Sir James Simeons of Chilworth. He was descended from
Sir Humphrey Weld
Sir Humphrey Weld (died 29 November 1610) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1608.
Career
Weld's family roots were in Eaton and Congleton, Cheshire. He was the fourth son of John Weld of Eaton and his wife Joanna FitzHugh. ...
, a
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
merchant who was
Sheriff of London
Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...
in 1599 and
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...
in 1608, originally from a family in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
.
Weld succeeded his father in 1722. On coming of age, he was the fourth generation of Welds to own the Lulworth estate.
A practising
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
and a member of the gentry, Weld took care to maintain good relations with his peers. He was esteemed for his "amiable character" and was a good landowner.
Architectural designer
Having inherited Lulworth Castle, a
country house attributed to
Inigo Jones, Weld spent thirty years improving it. The Castle’s interiors were decorated by the Dorset firm of architects
Bastard brothers of
Blandford Forum.
['Lulworth, East', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east (London, 1970), pp. 144–151. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp144-151 ccessed 31 August 2020] Weld also continued laying out the grounds, begun by his father, extending the castle's southern balustraded terrace and making a walled garden.
He was responsible for initiating the internal
Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (17 ...
decor
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
and 18th-century furnishing of a rare example of an early 17th century
mock Jacobean castellated
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
hunting lodge.
Personal life
In 1727, Weld married Catherine Elizabeth Aston (1708–1739), a daughter of
Walter Aston, 4th Lord Aston of Forfar
Walter Aston, 4th Lord Aston of Forfar (1660 or 1661 – 4 April 1748) was the eldest surviving son of Walter Aston, 3rd Lord Aston of Forfar, and his first wife Eleanor Blount of Soddington, daughter of Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baronet.
Biogra ...
and of Lady Mary Howard, daughter of Lord Thomas Howard and Mary Savile, a sister of
Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk
Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk (5 June 1686 – 20 September 1777), of Worksop Manor in Nottinghamshire and of Norfolk House in London, was a British peer, politician and hereditary Earl Marshal.
Origins
He was the third of the five sons o ...
. After three years they had no children. Weld became the subject of a sensational lawsuit taken out by his wife in the ecclesiastical
Arches Court at
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
on the grounds of
non-consummation of their marriage, in effect accusing him of
impotence
Erectile dysfunction (ED), also called impotence, is the type of sexual dysfunction in which the penis fails to become or stay erect during sexual activity. It is the most common sexual problem in men.Cunningham GR, Rosen RC. Overview of mal ...
. Having consulted a range of surgeons in London, and undergone a simple surgical procedure, Weld successfully countersued. The couple resolved to live apart, which continued until the death of Mrs Weld in 1739. A sensational report of the lawsuit was published in 1732 by the pseudonymous Crawfurd.
In 1740 Weld married secondly Dame Mary Theresa Vaughan of
Courtfield in
Monmouthshire, with whom he had a daughter and four sons. The eldest of these was
Edward Weld
Edward Weld (1740–1775) was a British recusant landowner.
Biography
Edward Weld was the eldest of the four sons and one daughter of Edward Weld (1705–1761) and his second wife, Dame Maria née Vaughan.''Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic ...
, future husband of
Maria Fitzherbert; the youngest was
Thomas Weld, who with his wife Mary Stanley had fifteen children, a philanthropist and friend of
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, whom he entertained at Lulworth.
[''Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry'', Volume 2. H. Colburn, 1847. pp. 1545–6 view on lin]
/ref> Their eldest grandson was Thomas Weld (cardinal), Cardinal Thomas Weld.[Pollen, John Hungerford. "Weld." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 18 January 2019
Treason trial
In 1745 Weld was accused of being associated with the Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...
, then raging in Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and the northern counties of England, due to a letter allegedly found on the road to Poole. He was taken into custody and taken before the magistrates, but they deemed the letter to be a hoax. While the case against him was dismissed, he was ordered to surrender his coach horses, on account of their strength and size, as potentially useful equipment to the rebels. To clear his name, Weld visited the Duke of Newcastle
Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle ...
, older brother and minister of the then Prime Minister, Henry Pelham
Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as 3rd Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who ...
. Upon his death at the age of 56, Weld, by then widowed a second time, received many tributes including eulogies in verse.
Legacy
As Catholic members of the English gentry in the Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, Edward and his second wife, Mary, chose to have their three surviving sons educated by English Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
on the continent. Accordingly, Edward, John and Thomas were despatched to the College of St Omer, later at Bruges in the Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...
, where their relatives, the Simeon Welds had settled, and which aside from providing a good education, prepared them for the Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...
with social openings in the power centres of Paris and Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. These connections would later feature prominently in the life of their son Thomas and his descendants' lives, by enabling the repatriation, after over two hundred years, of the English Jesuits to Stonyhurst College donated to them by Thomas, and the Welds' continuous connections with French religious and surviving members of the French royal family. Thomas' subtle influence may have eased the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1791, (Thomas was a supporter of bishop John Milner
John David Milner (December 28, 1949 – January 4, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from to for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal E ...
), eventually leading to Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
. While their sons were being schooled abroad, first Mary died in 1754 followed by the middle son, John in 1759 and finally by Edward himself late in 1761.
Edward's grandfather, William Weld, reclaiming Lulworth after its forcible occupation by Roundhead
Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...
s in the English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, came close to insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet ...
. It was saved mainly through the dowry brought in by Edward's mother, Margaret Simeons, and later by Edward's own skills, which set it on a course to prosper for two centuries in the hands of the Weld family. In 1929, however, during the tenure of Herbert Weld Blundell
Herbert Joseph Weld Blundell (1852 – 5 February 1935) was an English traveller in Africa, archaeologist, philanthropist and yachtsman. He shortened his surname from Weld Blundell to Weld, in 1924.
Life to 1922
He was educated at Stonyhurst C ...
, Lulworth castle was completely gutted by fire. Edward's and all subsequent improvements to the eighteenth century Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (17 ...
interiors, furnishings and pictures, including the magnificent library, were lost, except for a quantity of valuable pictures, books and furniture which were rescued with the help of two teams of Girl Guides
Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...
who happened to be camping in the park. Fortuitously, a photographic and documentary record of the castle had been made in 1926 by the publication, '' Country Life''. The castle lay a derelict ruin for seventy years until one of Edward's descendants, Wilfrid Weld, undertook a painstaking restoration in partnership with Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
to bring it to its current status as a museum. Very occasionally, furniture and pictures from Lulworth have appeared in auction rooms, which by their provenance and mid-eighteenth century dating suggest their original acquisition was by Edward Weld.
Edward Weld is the subject of an extant portrait in oil attributed to the painter Adrien Carpentiers
Adrien Carpentiers, also known as Carpentière or Charpentière (fl. 1739, d.1778) was a portrait painter, possibly from the Low Countries, active in England from about 1739.
Life
Carpentiers, who was possibly of Flemish origin, was active i ...
.
References
External links
Weld Family tree from 1599 to c. 1840
Attributed to Adriaen Carpentiers: "Portrait of Edward Weld (1705–1761) of Lulworth Castle, in a Garden, a Statue of Minerva Beyond"
Edward Weld's final resting place at Lulworth Castle
Description and illustration of the "Lulworth Castle Dragon Chairs"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weld, Edward (senior)
1705 births
1761 deaths
British Roman Catholics
18th-century art collectors
18th-century English landowners
English Roman Catholics
People from Dorset
Recusants
Edward Weld (Senior)