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Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane, 2nd Baronet (27 February 1760 – 26 February 1832), was a British politician, landowner and aristocrat. He was MP for the pocket borough of
Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...
, between 1792 and 1794, the borough of Carlisle, between 1796 and 1802, and again for
Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...
, between 1806 and 1807. Sir Frederick was the 2nd Baronet of Hutton and a descendant of Sir Henry Vane the Elder. In 1788 he served as
High Sheriff of Cumberland The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...
. In the words of his grandson, Sir Frederick Fletcher Vane ‘was not without the faults and passion of youth’.''Agin The Governments''. Memoirs and adventures of Sir Francis Fletcher Vane Bt. Published
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
by Sampson, Low, Marston & Co., Ltd., 1929 He has also been described as a ‘colourful and difficult character’. Notwithstanding the last remark, expressed after Sir Frederick's death, his character and personality while alive were interesting enough to see him successfully proposed for membership of
Brooks's Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world. History In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James ...
in 1796 by the Whig politician and wit,
Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...
,
Brooks's Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world. History In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James ...
being a club where the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
was a member. Sir Frederick joined the
Whig Club Whig or Whigs may refer to: Parties and factions In the British Isles * Whigs (British political party), one of two political parties in England, Great Britain, Ireland, and later the United Kingdom, from the 17th to 19th centuries ** Whiggism ...
on 11 April 1797 and, in 1798,
Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...
and
Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's '' ...
made use of Sir Frederick's library at Hutton.''William Wordsworth, A Life'', by Stephen Gill. Published by Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989, p.166 Bobus Smith was the inspiration behind the
Whig Club Whig or Whigs may refer to: Parties and factions In the British Isles * Whigs (British political party), one of two political parties in England, Great Britain, Ireland, and later the United Kingdom, from the 17th to 19th centuries ** Whiggism ...
and would later be a trustee on the resettlement of the Fletcher-Vane estates ahead of the marriage in 1823 of Sir Frederick's son, Francis, to Diana Beauclerk, the granddaughter of
Topham Beauclerk Topham Beauclerk ( ; 22 December 1739 – 11 March 1780) was a celebrated wit and a friend of Dr Johnson and Horace Walpole. Life Topham Beauclerk was born on 22 December 1739, the only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk and a great-grandson of King ...
and
Lady Diana Beauclerk Lady Diana Beauclerk (''née'' Lady Diana Spencer; other married name Diana St John, Viscountess Bolingbroke; 24 March 1734 – 1 August 1808) was an English noblewoman and artist. Early life Beauclerk was born into the Spencer family as the da ...
.Copy of ''The Will of Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane, Baronet''. Dated 25 July 1832 Sir Frederick changed his surname to Fletcher Vane in 1790. He was the father of
Sir Francis Fletcher-Vane, 3rd Baronet Sir Francis Fletcher-Vane, 3rd Baronet (29 March 1797 – 15 February 1842), was a British landowner and aristocrat who served as High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1837.E. M. Swinhoe, editor, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, ...
, and the grandfather of both Sir Henry Fletcher-Vane, 4th Baronet, and
Sir Francis Fletcher-Vane, 5th Baronet Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher-Vane, 5th Baronet (16 October 1861 – 10 June 1934) was an Irish-born British military officer and aristocrat. Francis became the 5th Baronet of Hutton on the death of his first cousin, Sir Henry Ralph Fletcher-Va ...
.


Early life

Frederick Vane-Fletcher was born at
Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) and is located some half a mile south of the mod ...
on 27 February 1760 and baptised on 6 March 1760 at St Mary's Church in that parish. He was the son of Sir Lionel Wright Vane-Fletcher, 1st Baronet, and Rachel, daughter of David Griffith of Llankennen, Camarthenshire. There are few public records of Sir Frederick's early years and education; given his position it can be assumed at that time he was educated at home. He was made a lieutenant in the 7th Regiment Dragoons in 1781 and later cornet. Sir Frederick took 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 ...
in 1787 and extant letters outline conditions in France and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
before the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
, describing the splendours of
Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château built around 1560 for Anne de Montmor ...
where they stayed but then outline the problem of travelling in a land ‘infested by crowds of beggars’ in places where horses needed to be changed making travel by carriage difficult, the economic cause of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
. On Monday 27 August 1787, ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' reported that:
The following melancholy accident happened last week at
Raby Castle Raby Castle () is a medieval castle located near Staindrop in County Durham, England, among of deer park. It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390. Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Ed ...
, the seat of the Earl of Darlington: - His Lordship’s eldest son, Viscount Barnard, invited his relations and friends to celebrate his birthday. Amongst the former were Sir Frederick Vane and his youngest brother enry was the youngest who, during the time of the glass going jovially round, was suddenly seized with a violent fit of coughing, and broke two blood vessels. The Faculty recommended him to Bath waters, for which he immediately set out, but was taken so ill in going through Knightsbridge, on Sunday last, that he was carried to a lodging house, where he now lies in a very dangerous state. He is attended by Dr Warren and Sir George Baker.
Sir Frederick's brother, Henry, died shortly thereafter.


Public life

Sir Frederick was made
High Sheriff of Cumberland The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...
in 1788, and changed his surname from Vane-Fletcher to Fletcher-Vane in 1790. Around this time George Romney was commissioned to take his portrait. At the age of 31, he entered Parliament in the pocket borough of Winchelsea when his kinsman, Viscount Barnard, entered the House of Lords on becoming the 3rd Earl of Darlington in 1792, later first
Duke of Cleveland Duke of Cleveland was a title that was created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The dukedoms were named after Cleveland in northern England. The first creation in 1670 (along with the barony ...
. Winchelsea was considered one of the notorious rotten boroughs of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, abolished by the
Great Reform Act of 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
but at the time under the control of the Earls of Darlington. In 1793, Sir Frederick was Steward of the Races in Penrith. An advertisement was printed in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' on 17 April 1793 for the 58th Anniversary of the Cumberland Society to be held on Saturday the 27th at the Crown and Anchor Tavern on The Strand, London. The Crown and Anchor was also the venue for the
Whig Club Whig or Whigs may refer to: Parties and factions In the British Isles * Whigs (British political party), one of two political parties in England, Great Britain, Ireland, and later the United Kingdom, from the 17th to 19th centuries ** Whiggism ...
. The advertisement was made on behalf of Sir Frederick F. Vane, Henry Howard Esq, Major Gale, William Brummell Esq, father of Beau Brummell, Joseph Porter Esq and Moses Wm Staples Esq, with tickets to be had at the Bar, 7s 6d each, and ‘Dinner on Table at Half past Three o’Clock'. In February 1794, Sir Frederick was appointed Steward of East Hendred in Oxfordshire, a technical device to enable Members of Parliament to resign their seat after which he left Parliament. In 1796 Sir Frederick purchased Armathwaite Hall on the shore of
Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately long and wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about . It is the only body of water in the Lake ...
in the county of Cumberland. It was, perhaps, to improve living conditions for his young family, Hutton being in a parlous state according to contemporaneous accounts. Lord Inglewood, the current incumbent of
Hutton in the Forest Hutton in the Forest is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Skelton in the historic county of Cumberland, which now forms part of the modern county of Cumbria, England. It has belonged to the Fletcher-Vane family, latterly t ...
, stated at a 2014
John Cornforth Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jr., (7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013) was an AustralianBritish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, becoming the only Nobel l ...
lecture that Sir Frederick contemplated the sale of Hutton. It is clear that Sir Frederick and his young family largely based themselves at Armathwaite. Sir Francis Fletcher Vane, 5th Baronet, describes Armathwaite in his memoirs:
There on the lake is Armathwaite Hall, the favourite house of my grandfather, where my father spent his early life, and Scarness also on the lake-a favourite of my people 4th_Baronet_also_enjoyed_Armathwaite_Hall.html" "title="Sir Henry Ralph Fletcher-Vane, 4th Baronet">4th Baronet also enjoyed Armathwaite Hall">Armathwaite Armathwaite is a village in the English ceremonial county of Cumbria. Historically within the county of Cumberland, Armathwaite lies on the River Eden, forms part of Eden district and is served by Armathwaite railway station. The majority of t ...
and his widow, Lady Margaret, died at Scarness Cottage]. After his move to Armathwaite, in 1796 Sir Frederick was elected MP for Carlisle, replacing Wilson Gale-Braddyll as the partner of John Christian Curwen in the anti-Lowther interest. The anti-Lowther faction in the North West of England concerned the control of the parliamentary dual member borough of Carlisle that was contested by three old Cumberland families: the Howards, Earls of Carlisle, the Musgraves and the Lowthers. In the north west of England, the
Lowther family This article summarises the relationships between various members of the family of Lowther baronets. *Sir Christopher Lowther **Sir John Lowther, of Lowther (d. 1637) *** Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet (1605–1675) **** John Lowther (of Hackthorpe ...
also controlled the pocket borough of Cockermouth, like
Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...
a rotten borough abolished by the Great Reform Act of 1832, together with the double member borough of Westmorland. By 1761, the Howard's control of Carlisle was weakening and Sir James Lowther took the opportunity to take control of the borough. The freemen of the city of Carlisle were upset by this and agreed to fund any candidate prepared to challenge the Lowther's position. On election day, a Lowther candidates, John Stanwix, decided to withdraw from the election and the electorate of Carlisle chose Curwen, an independent, together with a Lowther candidate, Raby Vane. In 1796, Sir Frederick was elected to
Brooks's Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world. History In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James ...
on the proposal of
Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...
and voted with the Whigs on four occasions before the end of Parliament that year. He joined the
Whig Club Whig or Whigs may refer to: Parties and factions In the British Isles * Whigs (British political party), one of two political parties in England, Great Britain, Ireland, and later the United Kingdom, from the 17th to 19th centuries ** Whiggism ...
on 11 April 1797, whose future members included
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
. Bobus Smith was the inspiration behind the
Whig Club Whig or Whigs may refer to: Parties and factions In the British Isles * Whigs (British political party), one of two political parties in England, Great Britain, Ireland, and later the United Kingdom, from the 17th to 19th centuries ** Whiggism ...
and would later be a trustee on the resettlement of the Fletcher-Vane estates ahead of the marriage of
Sir Francis Fletcher-Vane, 3rd Baronet Sir Francis Fletcher-Vane, 3rd Baronet (29 March 1797 – 15 February 1842), was a British landowner and aristocrat who served as High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1837.E. M. Swinhoe, editor, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, ...
, to Diana Beauclerk. In 1798,
Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...
and
Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's '' ...
made use of Sir Frederick's library at Hutton. Sir Frederick's anti-Lowther sentiment took a more violent turn in 1798 when he challenged
Lord Lonsdale Earl of Lonsdale is a title that has been created twice in British history, firstly in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1784 (becoming extinct in 1802), and then in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1807, both times for members of the Low ...
to a duel.''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', 31 January 1798, p.3 The duel took place in Hyde Park and, without an outcome, again in Bayswater. The quarrel was eventually called off by a magistrate. Sir Frederick regained the seat of Winchelsea in 1806 but retired in 1807 when the seat was taken by Sir Oswald Mosley. In the General Election of 1818, Sir Frederick failed in his attempt to win the pocket seat of
Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...
as part of the 'anti-Lowther movement' spearheaded by Henry Brougham. In one of his last political acts, Sir Frederick signed the requisition of a county meeting in Cumberland in October 1819 to consider the
Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...
having written to Henry Brougham on 30 September:
I made this addition opposite my name, ‘and also to consider of the necessity of a reform in Parliament’. If that question is not brought forward, it might appear that a change of ministers was our only object, but I suppose most of us will be of opinion that no change can be of much use without a reform in the borough system.


Family life

It is not known when Sir Frederick began an affair with Hannah Bowerbank, a ‘companion’ to Sir Frederick's mother at
Hutton in the Forest Hutton in the Forest is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Skelton in the historic county of Cumberland, which now forms part of the modern county of Cumbria, England. It has belonged to the Fletcher-Vane family, latterly t ...
, according to the memoir of Sir Frederick's grandson, later Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher Vane, 5th Baronet. On 22 August 1794, Hannah Bowerbank gave birth to a daughter, also named Hannah. A son was born on 9 July 1795, Walter Vane, and the ‘intimacy between Sir Frederick and Hannah continued and they lived together at various places in Cumberland and among others at Broughton Hall in the parish of Bridekirk’. The children were baptised on 16 July 1795 at St Mary's Parish Church, Marylebone, London. Sir Francis describes Hannah Bowerbank as coming from a ‘good though impoverished family’. It is not clear that they were in fact impoverished. The obituary of Hannah Bowerbank's father, John Bowerbank, in the National Register in 1808 describes him as a ‘most respectable farmer under His Grace the Duke of Norfolk for upwards of 60 years and father of the present Lady Vane of Armathwaite’. In fact, John Bowerbank also managed the lands of the Hassells of
Dalemain Dalemain is a country house around 5 miles south-west of Penrith in Cumbria, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Dalemain is part of the Lake District UNESCO World Heritage Site. History There is evidence of a settlement at Dalemain in Sa ...
and the Fletcher Vane family at Hutton. The Bowerbank family had been settled at Johnby in the parish of Greystoke, County Cumberland, for several centuries and had intermarried with some of the leading Cumberland families of the time including the houses of Fetherstonhaugh and Musgrave. The descendants of John Bowerbank (bp. 1598) and Grace Malleson (bp. 1601), John Bowerbank's 2x great grandparents, include
George Stanhope, 8th Earl of Chesterfield George Philip Stanhope (29 November 1822 – 19 October 1883) was the 8th Earl of Chesterfield, succeeding to the title on the death of his third cousin, the 7th Earl, in 1871. He was the son of George Charles Stanhope and Jane Galbraith. Sta ...
(1822-1883), Thomas Bowerbank (1686-1768), Barrack Master of Portsmouth, Architect and Overseer of the Ordnance Board who amassed a considerable fortune, and the daughter of Thomas Bowerbank, Catherine ‘Kitty’ Bowerbank (1717-1804), a ‘lady of merit and fortune’, who married Captain Cotton Dent, one of the first Captains of the Royal Greenwich Naval Hospital and scion of the great Dent naval family which included Commander Digby Dent, best man to
Lord Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought a ...
at his wedding to Mrs Nisbet on the Island of
Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...
. Dent served with Nelson on HMS Boreas. Another kinsman, John Bowerbank, a lieutenant on HMS Bellerephon, accompanied
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
to exile on St Helena and he wrote an extant account of his observations during the voyage.''Napoleon and His Fellow Travellers'', by
Clement Shorter Clement King Shorter (19 July 1857 – 19 November 1926) was a British journalist and literary critic. After editing the '' Illustrated London News'', Shorter founded and edited ''Sketch'', ''The Sphere'', and ''Tatler''. Biography Clement S ...
, Appendix II. Published by Cassell And Company Limited,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, New York,
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
and
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, 1908 The Bowerbank family were also notable in the church and academia, James Scott Bowerbank FRS being another kinsman. On 9 March 1797, Sir Frederick married Hannah Bowerbank at the church of St George the Martyr, Holborn, London. At this point Hannah was pregnant with a third child, Francis Fletcher Vane, who was born on 29 March 1797; the precise date of the birth would be a future bone of contention, resulting in an unedifying lawsuit initiated by Sir Frederick's youngest son in 1872.''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', Wednesday, 15 November 1876, p.10 After Francis's birth, it appears that for the next four years Sir Frederick and Lady Vane resided at
Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...
, then in Surrey, and ‘at other places in or about London’. Sir Frederick's first son, Walter Vane, was educated at Eton from 1805 to 1807 and thereafter at
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...
between 1808 and 1809 when the school was based at Smithfield, London. Walter was enlisted as a lieutenant in the 1st Foot Guards on 11 September 1811 and served in the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
s fought between
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and the allied forces of Britain, Spain and Portugal to gain control of the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
. He fought between March 1813 and April 1814 at the battles of
Bidassoa __NOTOC__ The Bidasoa (, ; french: Bidassoa, ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the pro ...
,
Nivelle Nivelle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department * Nivelle Offensive The Nivelle offensive (16 April – 9 May 1917) was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front ...
,
Nive The Nive (; eu, Errobi; oc, Niva) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by t ...
and Adour.Napoleonic War Records
/ref> Walter Vane attained the rank of captain on 15 March 1814. At the time of Napoleon's capitulation in 1814, shortly before Napoleon's first exile to Elba, Walter Vane was in the camp of the Grenadier Guards at Bayonne. The French General refused to believe that
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
could have conceded and the result is best summed up by Walter's nephew:
The British learnt from their ships that Peace had been signed and sent word to the French General at Bayonne that this was so but the latter would not believe it, thinking it a ruse, perfide Albion and all that. But we, knowing the fact, relaxed in military precautions, and I expect had a jollification. Then the French made an effective sortie from the town to the west towards the sea and caught us napping – result, many hundreds of our men killed and thirteen officers. I do not suppose there was any treachery in it, but rather the incredulity of the French.
During the French sortie at Bayonne, Walter suffered wounds on 14 April 1814 and died shortly thereafter on 20 April 1814. He was nineteen years of age and was buried in one of the Guards’ Cemeteries, North West of Bayonne. There are two Guards’ Cemeteries at Bayonne, one in the woods next to their original camp and another larger one, where Walter was buried, further North West between Bayonne and
Boucau Boucau (; eu, Bokale;BOKALE
, mainly for officers of the
Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...
; as he was wounded at the original camp of the
Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...
, it's likely he was moved, injured, to his burial place. Walter's extant weathered gravestone is simply inscribed 'W.V.'. Walter Vane is also remembered at the English Church in Biarritz, the first on the list of British Officers killed in the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
. He was further commemorated on Memorial Panel VII for Bayonne, Royal Military Chapel,
Wellington Barracks Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards battalions on public duties in that area. The building is located about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to ...
,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, although this was destroyed by a flying bomb during the Second World War. Sir Frederick himself commissioned a memorial tablet for St Bega's Church, Bassenthwaite, close to Armathwaite Hall, Cumberland:
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY SIR F. F. VANE BART. IN THE MEMORY OF HIS SON WALTER VANE ESQ. LATE CAPTAIN IN THE 1ST FOOT GUARDS, OR DUKE OF YORK’S REGIMENT WHO WAS MORTALLY WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF BAYONNE ON THE 14TH OF APRIL, 1814 AND DIED ON THE 19TH IN THE SAME MONTH, IN THE 19TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. HIS REMAINS WERE INTERRED WITH MILITARY HONOURS BETWEEN THE CITY OF BAYONNE AND THE VILLAGE OF BOUCAT ALONG WITH MANY OF HIS BROTHER OFFICERS WHO BRAVELY FELL IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY, ON THE SAME MEMORABLE OCCASION
Letters written by Walter to his parents passed to Walter's nephew, Francis:
I have letters from an uncle of mine, who joined as a young officer of the Guards when our troops attacked San Sebastian in Spain. We had then driven the French, with the aid of the Spaniards and the Portuguese, almost out of the two countries. He writes home in these words: ‘What a dull thing soldiering really is. We fight every month or so, and meantimes we rot’.
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
visited the cemetery in Bayonne on 20 March 1889 and
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 and ...
on 20 March 1909. It is not without irony that Walter Vane's kinsman, John Bowerbank, as a lieutenant on HMS Bellerephon, escorted Napoleon to his final exile on St Helena. Lady Hannah Vane gave birth to a daughter, Sophia Mercy Vane, on 18 March 1802. On 22 March 1802, Sophia was baptised at St Bega's Church, Bassenthwaite. On 1 August 1839, at the age of 37, she married the Reverend Forbes Smith, later Forbes Smith de Heriz, at the Parish Church in Cheltenham, her address stated as Park Place, Cheltenham. The Rev. Forbes Smith was then residing at Wolseley Lodge, Cheltenham and the witnesses were Carlisle Spedding and Sarah Spedding. Sir Frederick and Lady Vane had a further son, Frederick Henry Vane, born on 10 May 1807 at Armathwaite Hall.Obituary in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', 15 December 1894, p.6. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' describes him as the second son of Sir Frederick Fletcher Vane when he was in fact the third He was initially sent to Laleham School, then under the control of Dr Arnold who would later develop the Victorian public school ideal of muscular Christianity while headmaster of Rugby. After prep school, Frederick was sent to Eton, under Dr. Keate, where he was a contemporary of the young Gladstone. Keate was known as the ‘swishing headmaster’ and Frederick was ‘one of seventy victims’ punished for breaking bounds to attend the Windsor Fair. The boys were caned alphabetically and Frederick was thankful that by the time his turn came, the headmaster was losing strength. In his memoirs, Frederick's son, Francis, describes a scene at
Armathwaite Armathwaite is a village in the English ceremonial county of Cumbria. Historically within the county of Cumberland, Armathwaite lies on the River Eden, forms part of Eden district and is served by Armathwaite railway station. The majority of t ...
when his father, then a boy at Eton:
witnessed a battle which must have been one of the last feudal ones in England. My grandfather owned most of the feudal lands round the lake, but Lord Egremont, who lived at
Cockermouth Castle Cockermouth Castle () is in the town of Cockermouth in Cumbria on a site by the junction of the Rivers Cocker and Derwent. It is a grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. History The first castle on this site was built by the ...
, had some special rights over the water and the foreshore, and desired to build a pier for some purpose or other. This was opposed to my grandfather’s wishes as the park of Armathwaire runs down to the lake. In spite of this, Egremont sent a body of workmen from Cockermouth to erect it-and when this was known there was a call to arms of all our tenants and foresters. So rapidly did they mobilise that some of them had not time to put on their boots, but rode to the fray in their stockinged feet. The townsmen were badly beaten by the dalesmen, some thrown into the lake-and the pier was never built.
After Eton, Frederick was commissioned into the
12th Lancers The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war ...
serving with the expeditionary force sent to Portugal in 1827 after which he retired from the Army. He then served in the Consular Service at
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, and at
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in America. He died in Brighton in December, 1894.


Resettlement of the Fletcher-Vane estates

In anticipation of the marriage of his second son, Francis Fletcher-Vane, to Diana Olivia Beauclerk in 1823, the Fletcher-Vane estates were resettled, the trustees being many of the leading Whig politicians and lawyers of the time: *
Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland of Holland, and 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley PC (21 November 1773 – 22 October 1840), was an English politician and a major figure in Whig politics in the early 19th century. A grandson of Henry F ...
, the nephew of
Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...
; *
Sir Philip Musgrave, 8th Baronet Sir Philip Musgrave, 8th Baronet (12 July 1794 – 16 July 1827) was an English baronet and politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Petersfield from 1820 to 1825, and for Carlisle from 1825 to 1827. He succeeded to the baronetcy ...
, a political ally of Sir Frederick; *
Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet Sir James Robert George Graham, 2nd Baronet (1 June 1792 – 25 October 1861) was a British statesman, who notably served as Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty. He was the eldest son of Sir James Graham, 1st Baronet, by Lady Ca ...
GCB PC; * Reverend Fergus Graham; * Edward Hassell of Dalemain Castle who married Julia Musgrave, daughter of Sir Philip Musgrave, Bart; * Charles Smallwood-Fetherstonhaugh (d. 7 March 1839), son of the Rev. Charles Smallwood, Vicar of Kirkoswald by the sister of Timothy Fethersonthaugh who died in 1797. Charles Smallwood assumed the additional surname of Fetherstonhaugh when he inherited the Kirkoswald College estate; *
Harry Powlett, 4th Duke of Cleveland Harry George Powlett, 4th Duke of Cleveland (19 April 1803 – 21 August 1891), styled The Honourable Harry Vane until 1827 and Lord Harry Vane from 1827 to 1864, who in 1864 adopted by Royal Licence the surname and arms of Powlett in lieu of Va ...
KG (19 April 1803 – 21 August 1891); * Charles Robert Beauclerk (6 January 1802 – 22 February 1872), brother of Diana Beauclerk (who married Sir Francis Vane, 3rd Bt), a Barrister at Lincoln's Inn and a Senior Fellow of
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
. He was married to Joaquina, second daughter of H.E. Don Jose M. de Zamora, Chief Magistrate of Cuba; * Philip Henry Howard (22 April 1801 – 1 January 1883), a Whig politician; and *
Robert Percy Smith Robert Percy Smith, known as "Bobus" Smith (7 May 1770 – 10 March 1845), was a British lawyer, Member of Parliament, and Judge Advocate-General of Bengal, India. Smith was eldest son of Robert Smith, and brother of the writer and clergyman Sy ...
, known as "Bobus" Smith (7 May 1770 – 10 March 1845), a British lawyer, MP, and Judge Advocate-General of Bengal, India. In reference to the marriage, Sir Frederick reputedly spoke of the Beauclerk family as a very good one (descending from Charles II), before commenting: "Yes; there is plenty of blood, but no
groats Groats (or in some cases, "berries") are the hulled kernels of various cereal grains, such as oat, wheat, rye, and barley. Groats are whole grains that include the cereal germ and fiber-rich bran portion of the grain, as well as the endospe ...
".


Hunting

Sir Frederick kept a pack of hounds at his Wythop Estate close to Armathwaite Hall. In 1829 he employed John Peel, the celebrated huntsman, under whom Sir Frederick's pack had one of the longest chases ever recorded, reputedly covering 70 miles.''Caldbeck Characters, Tales of Ten Local People 1777-1974''. Published by Caldbeck and District Local History, 1995. After the event Sir Frederick commissioned a portrait of John Peel.


Death

Sir Frederick died on 26 February 1832.Inscription on Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane's vault at St Bega's Church, Bassenthwaite One account of Sir Frederick appeared in an American newspaper in 1873 describing him as:
a rather wild and lavish but well-esteemed country gentleman, who made little mark in the world, and was chiefly known in London as a good-hearted fellow, fond of truly British sport, and of the fashionable distractions of the day.
Sir Frederick was buried at St Bega's, Bassenthwaite. His tomb was commissioned by his first daughter, Hannah, who died in 1854, and was buried in the same vault: 'On the 3d inst., at Arundel Lodge, the Park, Cheltenham, Hannah, eldest daughter of the late Sir Frederick Fletcher Vane, Bart, of Hutton Hall, and Armathwaite, Cumberland. Her remains were deposited in the family vault at Bassenthwaite Church, near Keswick, on Tuesday last'. The Dowager Lady Vane died in 1866, in Cheltenham, and the news of her death even reached journalists at '' The Louisville Daily Courier''. A more detailed obituary appeared in ''The Carlisle Journal'' after her burial at St Bega's Church, Bassenthwaite:
DOWAGER LADY VANE – We have to announce the death of Hannah, Dowager Lady Vane, which occurred on Monday last, at Cheltenham, at the advanced age of 93. The deceased lady was born in 1773, and married, 9th March, 1797, Sir Frederick Fletcher Vane, Bart., who died in March 1832. She was the daughter of Mr. John Bowerbank, of Johnby, Cumberland, and grandmother of the present Sir Henry Ralph Fletcher Vane, Bart. On Friday the remains of the venerable lady were brought by rail from Cheltenham to the Keswick station. A hearse from Whitehaven was in waiting at the Keswick Hotel to receive the body. About 10 o’clock the funeral cortege, comprehending three coaches, in which were Sir Henry Vane and other members of the family, and friends of the deceased, started for Bassenthwaite, where the interment took place. On their return the mourners dined at the Keswick Hotel.
Obituaries of the Dowager Lady Vane also appeared in ''
The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...
'', and The '' Cheltenham Looker-On''.'' Cheltenham Looker-On'', Gloucestershire, England, 22 December 1866


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher-Vane, Frederick 1760 births 1832 deaths High Sheriffs of Cumberland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1806–1807 Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Cumbria MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies MPs for rotten boroughs People from Harrow on the Hill Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Carlisle Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Carlisle People from Winchelsea