Posts by
Norman Monahan
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Caroline Stewart
In Lady Crewe’s Room, on the top floor, next to the Bird Lobby is a picture titled as Miss Stewart. Who was she? The marriage between Caroline Harpur, daughter of the 5th. Baronet, to her second husband Archibald Stewart, (she had been married, previously, to Adam Hay but had had no children by him), formed…
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Sir John Harpur, the 2nd Baronet
Of the 2nd baronet, who was born in 1616, we know very little, apart from the fact that, after the specific bequests made by his father, he did not inherit a great deal and that he had had 11 children! A post-mortem portrait of him hangs on the north wall of the saloon in Calke…
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Sir John Harpur, 3rd Baronet
John was born in 1645 and was educated at Queen’s College, Oxford. Like his father, we have little knowledge of where he went, what he did, etc. However, it is in his marriage that the chief interest lies. He married Anne Willoughby, daughter of the 6th. Lord Willoughby of Parham. Nothing spectacular about that except…
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Sir John Harpur, 4th Baronet
Although, by 1701, the Harpurs of Calke had held the title of Baronet for 75 years, it was not until John – at this time there was little imagination with first names – Harpur, 4th. Baronet, came of age that they, really, had the money to back it up. John was born in 1680. His…
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Sir Henry Harpur, 5th Baronet
Sir Henry Harpur, 5th baronet was born in 1708 and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford. He then went, as was the custom, – if you could afford it – on the foreign tour. He seems to have spent most of that time in France, where he acquired good manners and learned horsemanship. He was 26…
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Sir Henry ‘Harry’ Harpur, 6th Baronet
Born on the 6th. July 1739 – had he been born 50 years later, I think that he would have figured in one of Georgette Heyer’s novels – little is known of the 6th Baronet’s education. He went to Westminster until he was ten but, then, although we know that he went on ‘The tour’…
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Sir Henry Harpur, 7th Baronet
In his private diaries, the then Headmaster of Repton School, The Rev. William Bagshaw Stevens, called Sir Henry Harpur, the 7th. Baronet, the ‘Isolated Baronet’. (Not wisely, perhaps, since Sir Henry was a Governor of the school as the Harpurs had been since the school was founded by Sir John Port’s legacy of 1557). Research…
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The Fencible Cavalry
The civil war was raging in France in the last decade of the 18th Century and the British Government feared invasion. In 1794, Pitt brought in his first bill for measures to counter this possibility and, accordingly, a letter was sent to each county’s magistrates, asking them to raise a force of ‘volunteers’ – a…
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Sir George Crewe, 8th baronet
Well, we’ve had John the builder, Henry the thinker. ‘Harry’ the racing enthusiast, Henry the ‘isolated’ and now we have George the ‘enigma’. He saved the estate, he was religious, he had frail health and suffered mental turmoil – but let’s have a look at him. He was born on the 1st. February 1795. After…
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Sir John Harpur-Crewe, 9th Baronet
‘Farmer John’ was, I think, the affectionate epithet applied to Sir John Harpur Crewe, the 9th. Baronet of Calke Abbey. Nothing signified it more, perhaps than his speech at his son’s wedding, where he said, in effect, ‘Enjoy yourselves but, if you get fed up, come and look at my longhorn cattle – that’s where…
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Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe, 10th. Baronet
The fourth baronet left us the front elevation of the house, the fifth gave us the external stairs. The sixth, the Riding School and the tale of ‘Squirt’. The seventh took away the stairs, replacing them with the portico, as well as making considerable alterations inside the house. The eighth redesigned the Saloon and the…
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Water supplies to Ticknall and Calke
Nowadays we take a clean, constant water supply for granted. Yet it is surprising how recently this came to be the case. Twenty years ago, Roy Hammerton wrote a treatise on the water supply in Ticknall and Calke for a booklet but this was never published. In 2016 we published the section on ‘Ticknall Water…
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Calke Abbey and Park
Midway along Main Street in Ticknall is the understated entrance to Calke Abbey, one of the National Trust’s most popular properties. A scenic drive down the avenue of limes will bring you into the Park and, after maybe seeing sheep and long-horned cattle, the house will come into view. Calke Abbey has been dubbed by…
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What’s in a Name?
Visitors to Calke Abbey are sometimes puzzled by the names that occur in the last few generations of the Harpur Crewe family; for instance Airmyne and Vauncey. They seem to have been revived by Sir John, the 9th baron, who appears to have had an interest in the family background. Airmyne Most sources seem to…
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Paraffin City Services
We finished the last article warmly ensconced in the double privy in the Methodist church, which article was sent to Sharps Pottery Museum, so, if you are not at lunch, we’ll explore these ‘facilities’ a little further. I suppose the record in this country (perhaps the origin of ‘Privy Council’?) must be held by Hampton…