Colonel Thomas Bradney Shaw-Hellier (1836–1910), 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, of

The Wodehouse The Wodehouse is a grade II* listed English country house near Wombourne, Staffordshire, notable as the family seat of the Georgian landscape designer and musicologist Sir Samuel Hellier and, a century later, Colonel Thomas Bradney Shaw-Helli ...

near

Wombourne Wombourne is a large village and civil parish located in the district of South Staffordshire, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Wolverhampton and just outside the county and conurbation of the W ...

, Staffordshire, and of Villa San Giorgio (now Hotel Ashby) in

Taormina Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, was Director of the

Royal Military School of Music The Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) trains musicians for the British Army's fourteen regular bands, as part of the Royal Corps of Army Music. Until August 2021, the school was based at Kneller Hall in Twickenham, however it moved to HMS ...

. He was a

gentleman farmer In the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, a gentleman farmer is a landowner who has a farm (gentleman's farm) as part of his estate and who farms mainly for pleasure rather than for profit or sustenance. The Collins English Diction ...

, described as a leading breeder of

Jersey cattle The Jersey is a British list of cattle breeds, breed of small dairy cattle from Jersey, in the British Channel Islands. It is one of three Channel Island cattle breeds, the others being the Alderney (cattle), Alderney – now extinct – and th ...

Origins

The

family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families ...

, an ancient

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

in Staffordshire. The estate has passed down within the family, or has been bequeathed to friends, for many generations, and has not been for sale. Thomas Shaw-Hellier was the grandson and direct heir of the Reverend Thomas Shaw, minister at St John's Church, Wolverhampton Shaw, Stebbing. ''The History and Antiquities of Staffordshire'' p164 and

perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly du ...

Claverley Claverley is a village and civil parish in east Shropshire, England. The parish also includes the hamlets of Beobridge, Hopstone, Upper Aston, Ludstone, Heathton and a number of other small settlements. Claverley village is east of the market to ...

''circa'' 1765–1810.Shropshire Archives "Some Notes on the Living of Claverley, Salop, based on the personal account book and other papers of the Rev Thomas Shaw, later Shaw Hellier" typescript by J S Allen
/ref> Reverend Thomas Shaw was the adoptive heir of Sir Samuel Hellier (1737-1784),

High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...

, only son and heir of Samuel Hellier (died 1751), who acquired The Wodehouse before the 1720s, a man with a passion for eclectic knowledge with a substantial library and an important collection of musical instruments. A condition of inheritance was that the recipient should change his name to that of his benefactor, and in 1786 Reverend Shaw became Shaw-Hellier. He lived at the Wodehouse with his wife Mary, worked at St. John's Wolverhampton and at

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

, and died in 1812. His son James, manager of Netherton

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, died in 1827; he had also been known to steward the races at nearby Penn Common. The family continued its close ties with St. John's Wolverhampton; in addition to Sir Samuel's endowment and his successor's work there, in 1820 a daughter of the house, Parthenia, married the minister. Sons of the house went into the ministry, including several successive generations named Thomas.

Sir Samuel Hellier (1737-1784)

Sir Samuel Hellier (1737-1784) collected beautiful or unusual objects: a gold cane-handle depicting the intertwining of the emblems of several local families was bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum. He spent a great deal of money on collecting a musical treasure trove of instruments and newly published works.Catherine Frew and Arnold Myers, "Sir Samuel Hellier's 'Musicall Instruments'", ''Galpin Society Journal'', vol. 56, June 2003. Includes a full-page colour portrait
JSTOR link
/ref> He was particularly interested in Handel; indeed, the catalogue accompanying the National Portrait Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls Sir Samuel, and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

Granville Sharp Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first British campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle black ...

, two men of the late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm". He was also a "prominent figure at the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

", one of the world's oldest classical choral music festivals.Three Choirs web site
Retrieved 15 August 2009 Sir Samuel Hellier endowed both the ancient Church of

Benedict Biscop Benedict Biscop (pronounced "bishop"; – 690), also known as Biscop Baducing, was an Anglo-Saxon abbot and founder of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory (where he also founded the famous library) and was considered a saint after his death. Lif ...

, Wombourne and the new St John's Church, Wolverhampton, which opened in 1760. He provided an organ for his

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, and his correspondence with this organist regarding playing techniques has recently been rediscovered, and is cited approvingly. Sir Samuel's grandmother lived to be 99, and he survived not two years longer, dying in the autumn of 1784. He never married and left his property to his lifelong friend Rev. Thomas Shaw, minister at St John's Wolverhampton and

''circa'' 1765–1810.

Career

Country pursuits

He was a

, described as a leading breeder of

. For a period in the middle of the century Thomas Shaw-Hellier, being a keen huntsman, preferred the country seats of Packwood House and latterly Rodbaston Hall. He let The Wodehouse to tenants including

Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Weardale Philip James Stanhope, 1st Baron Weardale (8 December 1847 – 1 March 1923), was a British Liberal Party politician and philanthropist. Background and early life Stanhope was born in Marylebone, London. A member of an important political fami ...

, the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician, pacifist, and philanthropist, and his wife Alexandra Tolstoy apparently lived for a time in the Wodehouse.

Musical career

He made a career in military music, spending several years as commandant of the

Kneller Hall Kneller Hall is a Grade II listed mansion in Whitton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It housed the Royal Military School of Music, training musicians for the British Army, which acquired the building in the mid-19th century. I ...

, where a prize for composition—a gold-mounted baton—was named in his honour. He was responsible for the Musical Division of the Royal Military Exhibition at Chelsea in 1890. Over the five-month exhibition, he brought 74 military bands from all over the country to perform by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. A large collection of musical instruments, particularly

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitc ...

s, was displayed, and a catalogue was issued the following year under his direction. He was also a liveryman of the

Worshipful Company of Musicians The Worshipful Company of Musicians is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. Its history dates back to at least 1350. Originally a specialist guild for musicians, its role became an anachronism in the 18th century, when the centre of ...

, donating a banner and co-organising the tercentenary celebrations at the beginning of the 20th century.

Military career

His military career saw him rise to command the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards.

Patron of the Church

Like his predecessor, he supported the established church, in his case commemorating the quincentenary of

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

by endowing

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

with altar and fittings. He is listed in ''The Charitable Ten Thousand''.

Marriage

In the words of one local historian who has documented the

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

families of the area, "The whole inter-marrying and single child families came to a sterile conclusion in 1898 when Thomas Bradney Shaw-Hellier married Harriet Bradney Marsh Evans". They were distant cousins; he was over, and she was almost, 60 years old: they had no children. The marriage was characterised as "disastrous, wild, brief" and his response was to leave England and set himself a new project in Sicily.

Life in Taormina, Sicily

Following the break-down of his marriage he moved to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, then in its heyday for the British visitor, and settled in

, a place welcoming to artists and homosexuals, and made more so by the artistic nude photographs of

Wilhelm von Gloeden Wilhelm Iwan Friederich August von Gloeden (September 16, 1856 – February 16, 1931), commonly known as Baron von Gloeden, was a German photographer who worked mainly in Italy. He is mostly known for his pastoral nude studies of Sicilian bo ...

. One of his expat friends there was the homosexual artist Robert Hawthorn Kitson; another in his circle was the writer

Robert Smythe Hichens Robert Hichens (Robert Smythe Hichens, 14 November 1864 – 20 July 1950) was an English journalist, novelist, music lyricist, short story writer, music critic and collaborated on successful plays. He is best remembered as a satirist of the " ...

. In 1907 Shaw-Hellier commissioned

Charles Robert Ashbee Charles Robert Ashbee (17 May 1863 – 23 May 1942) was an English architect and designer who was a prime mover of the Arts and Crafts movement, which took its craft ethic from the works of John Ruskin and its co-operative structure from the soc ...

, a leader in the English Arts and Crafts Movement who in the late 1890s had made additions at The Wodehouse, such as a billiard room and a chapel,Victoria County History, vol. XX,(1984) pp.205-6, quoted in the English Heritage list entry
/ref> as well as many decorative external features. to build him a marble villa on a Taormina hilltop to rival Kitson's Casa Cuseni. He named it Villa San Giorgio, after the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of England, and with a nod to

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

Guild of St George The Guild of St George is a charitable Education Trust, based in England but with a worldwide membership, which tries to uphold the values and put into practice the ideas of its founder, John Ruskin (1819–1900). History Ruskin, a Victorian ...

, which had been set up to re-value art and craftsmanship. (Shaw-Hellier asked

John Beazley Sir John Davidson Beazley, (; 13 September 1885 – 6 May 1970) was a British classical archaeologist and art historian, known for his classification of Attic vases by artistic style. He was Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at the Un ...

, later a world expert but then newly graduated from Oxford, to catalogue all the potsherds unearthed by the construction.)

Fiona MacCarthy Fiona MacCarthy (23 January 1940 – 29 February 2020) was a British biographer and cultural historian best known for her studies of 19th- and 20th-century art and design. Early life and education Fiona MacCarthy was born in Sutton, Surrey in ...

, the biographer of the architect, judges it "the most impressive of Ashbee's remaining buildings". It survives as the Hotel Ashbee. MacCarthy also gives some insight into the life and spirit of the ''Colonelle inglese''. Ashbee was gay or bisexual, and she thinks Shaw-Hellier may have been too. ''"Taormina was an obvious place for Colonel Shaw Hellier, retired soldier as he was with some artistic leanings, as susceptible as Ashbee - if not more so - to the glories of Sicilian boyhood, to choose to end his days"''. MacCarthy quotes a description by Ashbee of Shaw-Hellier's "bevy of Sicilian boy retainers...with large dreamy eyes". The Ashbees saw him as childlike, "perpetually young" and sprightly even in his 70s, enthusiastic, unpompous, devoted "to all the little simple helpful things of life", and erratic in his musical taste.

Death and succession

He died in Sicily in 1910 when the estate passed to his nephew Evelyn Simpson, who changed his name to Shaw-Hellier; his ancestors had owned a brewery in

Baldock Baldock ( ) is a historic market town and unparished area in the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire, England, where the River Ivel rises. It lies north of London, southeast of Bedford, and north n ...

since the 1770s. On his death in 1922, the English estate passed to Evelyn's daughter Evelyn Mary Penelope Shaw-Hellier, his son having been killed in

World War I 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 ...

. The two surviving Shaw-Hellier sisters lived in the Wodehouse (and possibly also in the Villa San Giorgio), maintaining their connections with the church and village (e.g. donating a substantial sum of money towards the building of a second church) and were described as "delightfully

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

a taste for fast motoring".Review of Ledsham's 1999 catalogue, by P. Ward Jones. ''Music and Letters'' 2001 82(2):312-314
The last of the pair died in 1980, and the Wodehouse—still without being sold—passed to distant relatives, the Phillips, who live there privately, occasionally opening the house and grounds to the public.South Staffordshire Conservative Association reception, September 2011
/ref>

References

External links

*A diagram of the descendants of Rev. Thomas Sha
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw-Hellier, Thomas 1836 births 1910 deaths 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards officers British military musicians English expatriates in Taormina, Sicily English landowners English male musicians Stradivari instruments