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Bertram Ashburnham, 5th Earl of Ashburnham (28 October 1840 – 15 January 1913) was a
British peer A Peerage is a form of crown distinction, with Peerages in the United Kingdom comprising both hereditary and lifetime titled appointments of various ranks, which form both a constituent part of the legislative process and the British hono ...
. He was the English agent for the Spanish
Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
cause, and a supporter of
Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...
. He sold off the Ashburnham collection of manuscripts which the 4th Earl had collected.


Early life and family

Bertram Ashburnham was born on 26 October 1840, the eldest son of Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham. He was educated at Westminster School and in France. He was a convert to Roman Catholicism, and was formally received into the Church in 1872. On the death of his father in 1878, he became the 5th Earl of Ashburnham, Viscount St. Asaph and Baron Ashburnham, and inherited the family property of about 24,000 acres in England and Wales, including the main family seat of
Ashburnham Place Ashburnham Place is an English country house, now used as a Christian conference and prayer centre, five miles west of Battle, East Sussex, Battle, East Sussex. It was one of the finest houses in the southeast of England in its heyday, but much o ...
in Sussex. In 1888 he married Emily Chapman, whose father was a tradesman. Their only child, Lady Mary Catherine Charlotte Ashburnham, was born in 1890. His wife died on 12 February 1900. His daughter became a nun, entering the Sacred Heart Convent at
Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, sharing its SW15 postcode with neighbouring Putney and Kingston Vale, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large counc ...
in 1912.


Sale of the Ashburnham manuscripts

Soon after inheriting his titles and property in 1878, the 5th Earl began negotiations for the sale of his father's collection of manuscripts. The 4th Earl of Ashburnham had been a
bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...
who amassed an important collection of books and manuscripts, most of which were acquired in the 1840s in three separate large purchases. The Stowe collection consisted of almost 1,000 items from the auction of the contents of
Stowe House Stowe House is a grade I listed building, listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of the Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Stowe School and is owned by the Stowe House Preserv ...
in 1847, and the Libri and Barrois collections, numbering 1923 and 702 respectively, had been purchased in 1848. Another group of 250 manuscripts, called the Appendix, was acquired over the course of the 4th Earl's life. The sale was complicated by the fact that many of the items in the Libri and Barrois collections had been stolen from French libraries by Count Libri, who then sold them under false pretences to the 4th Earl. Lord Ashburnham originally offered to sell the whole collection to the British Museum for £160,000 in 1879. He refused to consider lowering the price or selling off part of the collection, and the British Museum trustees declined his offer. When he renewed it in 1883, the French government objected on the grounds that between 160 and 170 of the manuscripts, valued at £24,000, had been stolen from French public libraries and therefore belonged to France. Ashburnham denied that any of the manuscripts were stolen, but was obliged to sell the collections separately, starting with the Stowe collection, which the British government purchased for £45,000 in 1883. The other manuscripts were sold off over the following years, with most going to the French and Italian governments and to the collector
Henry Yates Thompson Henry Yates Thompson (15 December 1838 – 8 July 1928) was a British newspaper proprietor and collector of illuminated manuscripts. Life and career Yates Thompson was the eldest of five sons born to Samuel Henry Thompson, a banker from a lea ...
. The last of the Barrois collection was finally sold in 1901.


Political activities

The 5th Earl of Ashburnham was a leader of the Carlist cause which aimed to restore the Spanish throne to the descendants of
Infante Carlos, Count of Molina Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...
. He acted as the British agent and spokesman for the claimant Carlos, Duke of Madrid (known as Don Carlos) and later his son Jaime, Duke of Madrid. He was generally an adherent of Jacobite and
Legitimist The Legitimists () are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of t ...
views, and in 1886 he founded the
Order of the White Rose The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official Order (decoration), orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all ...
, which became "the main public face of British Legitimism". and started the brief
Neo-Jacobite Revival The Neo-Jacobite Revival was a political movement active during the 25 years before the First World War in the United Kingdom. The movement was monarchist, and had the specific aim of replacing British parliamentary democracy with a restored monar ...
. Carlist activity increased during the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
of 1898 and its aftermath. With the Spanish government weakened by its defeat in the Spanish–American War, the Carlists hoped to depose the king, by force if necessary, and replace him with Don Carlos. Ashburnham gave his opinion that the Spanish army would not defend the defeated king against the Carlist forces, and that "there will not be a real war, but perhaps a little fighting here and there". In preparation for the expected hostilities, Ashburnham allowed part of his Welsh estate to be used for military training. Among the recruits who learned to operate a machine gun and rifle and "studied drill, tactics and strategy" was the young
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
. Ashburnham bought a yacht, the ''Firefly'', to carry arms and ammunition to the Carlist rebels in Spain in the summer of 1899. It was seized on 17 June at the southern French port of
Arcachon Arcachon (; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for p ...
carrying a crew of 15 and a cargo of rifles. In early August the ''Times'' reported that the vessel had been "allowed to leave on payment of a small deposit" but that the 3,664 rifles it had been carrying had been "detained as security for the fine which may be imposed upon her". Despite Ashburnham's efforts, a Carlist coup d'état did not take place. Lord Ashburnham was also a supporter of Irish Home Rule. He was a founding member and the first president of the British Home Rule Association, which held its first public meeting in London in 1886, the year of
William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
's unsuccessful
First Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Bill 1886, commonly known as the First Home Rule Bill, was the first major attempt made by a British government to enact a law creating home rule for part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was intr ...
. According to his obituary in the ''Times'', the meeting which he chaired was "one of the earliest public meetings ever held in Great Britain to advocate that policy".


Later life, death and succession

After the failure of the Carlist uprising and the death of his wife in 1900, Lord Ashburnham largely withdrew from public life and spent more time at his country properties. Don Jaime, the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne, was a frequent guest at Ashburnham Place. Lord Ashburnham died in Paris on 15 January 1913. He was succeeded by his youngest and only remaining brother,
Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
, as 6th Earl of Ashburnham, Viscount St. Asaph and Baron Ashburnham.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashburnham, Bertram Ashburnham, 5th Earl of 1840 births 1913 deaths British expatriates in France 19th-century British landowners Earls of Ashburnham Neo-Jacobite Revival Carlists 20th-century British landowners