Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville
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Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville (15 November 1743 – 10 December 1822), styled Lord Ossulston from 1753 to 1767, was a British nobleman, a collector of shellsA catalogue of the shells contained in the collection of the late Earl of Tankerville
, arranged according to the Lamarckian conchological system; together with an appendix, containing descriptions of many new species... London, E.J. Stirling for G.B. Sowerby, 1825
and a famous patron of Surrey
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
in the 1770s. He agreed a set of cricket rules that included the first mention of the
Leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an appeal by the fielding side, the umpire may rule a batter out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was instead in ...
rule. His wife, Emma, Lady Tankerville, was notable as a collector of exotic plants. The first tropical orchid to flower in England is named for her as it was it flowered in her greenhouse. Her collection of over 600 illustrations were purchased by
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
in 1932 and are still available today.


Biography

Tankerville was born in 1743 and 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 ...
between 1753 and 1760. He succeeded to the Earldom on the death of his father on 27 October 1767 and married Emma, daughter of
Sir James Colebrooke, 1st Baronet Sir James Edward Colebrooke, 1st Baronet (21 July 1722 — 10 May 1761) sat in the House of Commons from 1751 to 1761. Early life He was the son of James Colebrooke, of Chilham Castle, Kent, a very prominent private banker in London, and his wif ...
, in 1771. He and his new wife settled at
Walton on Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...
at his house, Mount Felix overlooking the
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 Topographical History of Surrey''
by
Edward Wedlake Brayley Edward Wedlake Brayley (177323 September 1854) was an English historian and topographer. Brayley collaborated with his life-long friend, John Britton, on the first 6 volumes of ''The Beauties of England and Wales''. Early life Brayley was ...
, John Britton,
Gideon Algernon Mantell Gideon Algernon Mantell MRCS FRS (3 February 1790 – 10 November 1852) was a British obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist. His attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of ''Iguanodon'' began the scientific study of dinosaurs: in ...
, and
Thomas Allom Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many buildings in London, in ...
Lady Tankerville amassed a large collection of exotic plants at Mount Felix.Gifts from the Gardens of China
By Jane Kilpatrick, , accessed 10 June 2008
Lady Tankerville's collection was thought to be the largest in the London area. Specimens named after Lady Tankerville include the ''Nun's Orchid'' or
Phaius tankervilleae ''Phaius tankervilleae'', commonly known as the greater swamp-orchid, swamp lily, swamp orchid, nun's-hood orchid, nun's orchid, veiled orchid, Lady Tankerville's swamp orchid or 鹤顶兰 (he ding lan), is a species of orchid native to areas fr ...
. Artists were employed to create botanical drawings on vellum of the specimens. Tankerville often played cricket and seems to have been a very good fielder, though he was not especially noted for batting or bowling. He was the employer of Edward "Lumpy" Stevens, who was a gardener at Tankerville's
Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...
estate; and William Bedster, who was his butler. It was the accuracy of "Lumpy" Stevens that led to the introduction of a middle stump. Prior to 1776 there were only two stumps and Lumpy's deliveries could go through the hole. A permanent memorial to Lumpy Stevens has been proposed. In 1774, Tankerville sat on the committee that formulated some early
laws of cricket The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...
. They were settled and revised at the Star and Garter in Pall Mall on Friday 25 February 1774. The meeting was chaired by Sir William Draper and the committee included the
Duke of Dorset Duke of Dorset was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1720 for the politician Lionel Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset. History The Sackville family descended from Sir Richard Sackville. His only surviving son, Thomas Sa ...
,
Harry Peckham Harry Peckham (1740 – 10 January 1787) was a King's Counsel, judge and sportsman who toured Europe and wrote a series of letters which are still being published over 200 years later. Peckham was a member of the committee that drew up early l ...
and other "Noblemen and Gentlemen of
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, Hampshire,
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, Sussex,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, and London". This meeting was one of the earlier sets of cricket rules and is acknowledged as being the first where the
Leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an appeal by the fielding side, the umpire may rule a batter out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was instead in ...
rule was introduced.'Pall Mall, South Side, Past Buildings: Nos 94–95 Pall Mall: The Star and Garter', Survey of London: volumes 29 and 30: St James Westminster, Part 1 (1960), pp. 351–352
URL
Date accessed: 8 June 2008.
Tankerville continued in his interest in cricket with Chertsey and Surrey Cricket club until 1781 when he retired from the sport and went into political office through the House of Lords. He was appointed joint
postmaster general A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...
and a
privy councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
in 1782, but he resigned his office in April 1783. However Tankerville was again appointed under Mr Pitt's administration in January 1784. He died on 10 December 1822 and was succeeded by his eldest son Charles Augustus.


Legacy

Tankerville's other interests included maps and shells. At the end of his life his collection was sold for an undisclosed sum, but thought to be between three and four thousand pounds. There are a number of flowers, shells and gastropods with the Latin name ''tankervillii''. The gastropod named '' Amalda tankervillii'' (Swainson, 1825) is probably named for Tankerville (or less probably his son). Tankerville married Emma Colebrooke on 7 October 1771 in Gatton, Surrey. She was co-heir to her father Sir John Colebrooke. Lady Tankerville's collection of botanical illustrations are at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Phaius tankerville was named in her honour by Sir
Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...
. It was the first tropical orchid to flower in England. Their daughter Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet (21 May 1785 – 27 February 1861) worked with their gardener (William Richardson) to cultivate new strains of tri-colored viola
pansy The garden pansy (''Viola'' × ''wittrockiana'') is a type of large-flowered hybrid plant cultivated as a garden flower. It is derived by hybridization from several species in the section ''Melanium'' ("the pansies") of the genus ''Viola'', p ...
flowers that were presented to the botanical society and horticulture groups in 1812. Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet was a watercolour artist included in many exhibitions. She was trained by London artist John Varley. Her works are on exhibit and in private collections including a composition of her home at Belsay Castle rendered in 1834 after her marriage on 26 July 1831 to Sir Charles Miles Lambert Monck, Bt. The painting of her home at Belsay Castle in
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...
by Lady Mary Elizabeth Monck was found to be included as part of the Monck estate in 1912 and now resides in a private collection in the United States. Another of her works is the "Burial Place of the Breadalbanes from the Churchyard at Killin" done in 1826–1827 on a trip to the Scottish highlands with her brother. This haunting graveyard work may have been inspired by the seat of her father's estate as the Earl of Tankerville being at
Chillingham Castle Chillingham Castle is a medieval castle in the village of Chillingham in the northern part of Northumberland, England. It was the seat of the Grey and Bennett (later Earls of Tankerville) families from the 15th century until the 1980s, when it b ...
which was said to be haunted. From 1815 to 1823 (before her marriage) artist Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet also trained and worked with the genius London artist John Linnell in engraving as well as miniature painting on ivory. They together produced a set of (12) engravings about Chillingham Castle that were started in 1815 and not finished and published until 1818. The Hon
Henry Grey Bennet The Honourable Henry Grey Bennet FRS (2 December 1777 – 29 May 1836) was a British politician. Life Bennet was the second of three sons and fourth of eight children of Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville, and his wife, Emma, Lady Tank ...
, their second son, became the member of parliament for
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
in 1806 whilst their third son, The Hon John Astley Bennet, became a captain in the
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
but died in September 1812. The 5th Earl,
Charles Augustus Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political uni ...
, who was born on 28 April 1776 was
treasurer of the household The Treasurer of the Household is a member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The position is usually held by one of the government deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons. The current holder of the office is Ma ...
during the short administration of Mr Fox in 1806. Their daughter, Corisande Emma Bennett, married
James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury, GCB, PC (25 March 1807 – 17 May 1889), styled Viscount FitzHarris from 1820 to 1841, was a British statesman of the Victorian era. Background and education James Howard Harris was born on 25 Mar ...
on 13 April 1830.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tankerville, Charles Bennet, 4th Earl Of Deputy Lieutenants of Northumberland Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain English cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People educated at Eton College Surrey cricketers 1743 births 1822 deaths Hampshire cricketers United Kingdom Postmasters General Cricket patrons