Churchill's Grandmama

by Margaret E. Forster

  By the time Charles and Frances Anne had spent a week of their honeymoon at Cray in Kent, the Castlereaghs’ delightful country house, and for a second week at Wildernesse, Lord Camden’s property, where the estate workers strewed the ground with flowers to welcome the new bride, they were expected at the Pavilion in Brighton to stay for a few days with the Prince Regent. Returning to town, they prepared for their visit north. The journey took four days, but they were given the traditional splendid reception: the tenantry took the horses from the carriage and drew it themselves to the tremendous accompaniment of bells. Frances Anne sadly recorded in her diary that she had not seen Wynyard for five years, when she had left it at 14, after her father’s death; she was appalled to see that her mother had stripped it, selling all the plate and many other valuable things.

  This did not, however, prevent them giving a magnificent ball to the county and visiting Durham and Sunderland, where again they were received with great enthusiasm. It took a considerable time to restore the estates and collieries, which had been neglected and plundered during her minority; they had to write off whatever money was owed to them by her mother and appoint new agents. Finally back in London, having been presented at court by Lady Castlereagh and having attended a fancy dress ball at Carlton House, they were ready to leave England in July 1819.

  Frances Anne soon had plenty of adventures to reflect upon, beginning with the long, slow journey to the British Embassy in Vienna, where her husband was to return to his ambassadorial duties. They reached Paris in the middle of August, where they spent three weeks dining with the ‘corps diplomatique’, which Frances Anne found ‘boring’, and being presented to the Bourbon monarch, Louis XVIII and ‘Madame’, his queen, and the other members of the Orleans family, who were ‘very kind’ to her. In early September 1819 they crossed the inhospitable Jura mountains to Geneva, where Frances Anne discovered she was pregnant. Resting here for a few days, she was delighted at the scenery, the high mountains and the blue waters of the Rhone.

  On through Schaffhausen, Augsburg, Munich and Salzburg, where Frances Anne became ill and where they decided to push on to Vienna, arriving on 10 October. A miscarriage soon followed, and the newly decorated, newly furnished British Embassy, a large house in the Minoriten Platz, was no consolation to the unhappy young bride.

  Time passed, however, and Charles and Frances Anne gradually settled down to embassy life. There was entertaining to do and balls to attend. Vienna, the musical capital of Europe, resounded with melody. Frances Anne, used to a high standard of living, and Charles, who loved fine clothes, were soon the centre of local discussion. The observations of Martha Bradford, wife of the Reverend William Bradford, embassy chaplain, have been recorded:

  ’Tis plain she is not free from caprice, and ‘tis equally plain that she is a completely spoilt child with fine natural qualities and excellent abilities, and with a quickness of perception and sense of the ridiculous, which makes her at once entertaining to a degree and perhaps a little dangerous.2

  Certainly, the fact that Frances Anne was only 19 years of age and in possession of a huge fortune attracted attention and some degree of envy wherever the couple went. Charles’s diplomatic position gave plenty of opportunities for the display of finery and jewellery and Frances Anne was later to record her regret that she had not spent her leisure time more profitably in furthering her education. There was also the strange story of Tsar Alexander I of Russia …

  In 1820 the Russian Tsar Alexander I called on them on his way to the Congress of Laibach in Slovenia and thus gave rise to the rumour of an affair between himself and Frances Anne that was to persist and become an important part of both their lives. He was to be a familiar figure to our Frances in her early years. It so happened that two years previously the Tsar had sat for his portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence and had been greatly taken by an unfinished portrait of a lady which stood on an easel in the studio. Since Sir Thomas refused to identify the lady or to sell the picture, Alexander insisted on having the portrait placed in front of him as he sat and later confessed that he felt a great disquiet about it. Now, two years later, in the British Embassy in Vienna, he came face to face with Frances Anne, Lady Stewart, and recognised her as his mysterious lady in the portrait of two years earlier. This was to lead later to a much closer association.

  Notes

  1. Castlereagh to his father, Lord Londonderry, April 1819, cited in Ladies of Londonderry by Urquhart, p.16.

  2. Martha Bradford to Viscountess Ennismore, and to Lady Bloomfield, December 1819, cited in Ladies of Londonderry by Urquhart, p.17.

  Chapter Two

  FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS

  * * *

  The period just before Duchess Frances’ birth was to prove both busy and eventful for the Stewarts. In Britain in 1820 George IV acceded to the throne and began proceedings for divorce against his wife Caroline. Since this involved gathering information from northern Italy, where she had been living, it fell to Charles to travel there, collect the necessary witnesses and ship them off to London. At the same time he was instructed to attend the Congress of Troppau as an observer. Frances Anne, now pregnant again, missed him dreadfully, with the result that at the end of each week he made considerable overnight journeys to be with her.

  More adventures followed when a fire broke out in the Embassy, starting in Frances Anne’s bedroom, next door to where she was sitting with her companion Ellen Cade, daughter of her old governess, who had come out from England to keep her company. As the flames burst into the boudoir where they were both sitting, they rushed out, but at the head of the stairs Frances Anne fainted. The two rooms where the fire began were entirely consumed; the adjoining ones were badly damaged. Her clothes and laces were burnt but her jewels were saved. As for the pregnant Frances Anne, she was carried to a nearby house, where a Dr Forbes tried in vain to bleed her in both arms but managed to give her 50 drops of laudanum. She could not rest until she returned home, to a bed on the ground floor. Violent spasms and shivers brought back Dr Forbes, this time with one hundred drops of laudanum, which ‘composed and under God’s blessing, saved me’.

  It says a great deal for the future son and heir that he survived all this; perhaps he gained the strength from it to face further ordeals ahead. He was finally born in April 1821 to his ecstatic parents. His father gave his mother a set of pearls which cost £10,000. The layette cost £2,000. He was named George (after the King) Henry Robert (after his two grandfathers) Charles William (after his father). Martha Bradford again shares her rather sour observations at the christening, recording, rather acidly, that everyone assembled at nine o’clock in the evening arrayed in gold, silver and diamonds, and was received by Lady Stewart, dressed in Brussels lace over white satin, and £10,000 worth of pearls. Charles was in full Hussar uniform, yellow boots included.

  This splendid event was followed by the journey back to London to attend the Coronation. George Henry, however, was vaccinated, a daring act for those times, and reacted by catching cold. The wet nurse ‘failed’ and he became quite ill. On his recovery they finally departed in June 1821, accompanied by the Embassy Secretary, a doctor and several nurses, too late for the Coronation but happy to arrive at Cray after a rough and boisterous crossing lasting five hours. Frederick, Charles’ son by his first marriage and now at Eton, was waiting at Cray to welcome them.

  By this time Frances Anne was again pregnant and this pregnancy was also to have its adventures. Charles’s regiment, the 10th Hussars, were stationed at Brighton and he took the opportunity to review them. She wrote to her mother that the occasion was absolutely splendid. All the officers came to breakfast and then everyone proceeded to the review. Charles, in his full General’s uniform, was mounted on a beautiful Arabian horse covered with trappings and Frances Anne followed in an open carriage, in a habit made up in the uniform of the 10th Hussars. She was delighted when the officers seized her carriage and paraded with it up and down the ranks. After Charles had reviewed them and
addressed them, to thunderous applause, everyone proceeded at five to the Riding School, where Charles gave them dinner. Frances Anne wrote to her mother to say how delighted she was, but added:

  The quantity of people, the lights, the band, the row, finished what the fatigue of the day had begun; and as soon as dinner was over I was taken ill and this was increased by the difficulty of getting me into my carriage. This increased my illness by fright so much that by the time Lord Stewart could be called to me I was almost senseless. Some other Hussars seized him, stuffed him into the carriage, shut the doors, and harnessing themselves to the carriage, flew with us all the way to Brighton through the streets to the door of the inn, screaming and hurrah-ing … Dr Turney, who very fortunately was at hand, said nothing could save me but losing fourteen ounces of blood immediately. This was done, and I have taken quantities of laudanum and as yet nothing fatal has occurred.

  She adds loyally:

  Notwithstanding all my sufferings, I have been very much delighted. Indeed, since I have been out of England, nothing I have witnessed has given me half the pleasure of seeing this magnificent Regiment receive Lord Stewart with such enthusiasm as their commander … ‘L’homme propose et Dieu dispose’ is an old proverb. Still I cannot help settling that, if I am so fortunate as to go on well and have another boy, his destiny shall be to become a Hussar.1

  It wasn’t another boy, of course; it was the future Duchess Frances. If her brother Harry had gone through fire before his birth, then Frances had experienced the celebrations of the wild Hussars. It speaks volumes for the fortitude and tenacity of both mother and daughter that they survived unharmed.

  That same year of 1822 saw the purchase of the Seaham estate from Sir Ralph Milbanke for £63,000; it was to prove a most profitable investment. The Vane-Tempest collieries, which were developed there, producing more than a quarter of a million tons a year, made Frances Anne the second largest exporter of coal from the Wear. They were situated in the Rainton and Pittington areas of Durham and it cost £10,000 per year to bring the coal in wagons to the staithes at Penshaw on the Wear; there it was loaded on fleets of keels and brought downstream to Sunderland, where it was reloaded into larger vessels for the onward sea voyage. Milbanke had originally planned to build a harbour at Seaham and to this Lord Stewart wanted to add a railway to avoid the heavy charges on these overheads. Castlereagh supported him in this because he saw the advantage to Frances Anne’s interests and there was no opposition from her guardian. Indeed, it turned out to be one of Charles’s best investments for the neighbourhood. This is only one example of how Charles Stewart was faithful to his marriage settlement and how early fears of him were unfounded. Not only did he prove a skilful manager but he also demonstrated his integrity and commitment to his adored wife’s estate.

  Meanwhile the small family had moved back to London and rented a house in St James’s Square, near the Castlereaghs. Princess Lieven, wife of the Russian ambassador, always anxious to keep everyone informed, wrote to her lover Prince Metternich in Vienna, saying that Frances Anne ‘was wearing enough jewellery to buy a small German principality’.2

  The unborn Frances had another narrow escape when her mother stumbled and fell on the steps of her sister-in-law’s house. She was taken up insensible, much cut and hurt, but the baby, Lady Frances Anne Emily, finally arrived safe and sound on 15 April 1822, ‘the most diminutive object ever seen!’ Her mother recovered very well, and they had a lavish christening on 18 May, Charles’s birthday. Frances Anne’s Journal continues:

  Considering our fine linens and plate were at Vienna, it did very well. We had 34 people, Esterhazy, Becketts, Lievens, Munster, Duke of Wellington, Camdens, Belgraves, Howdens, etc. The Bishop of Lincoln performed the ceremony, and the baby was called Frances Anne Emily, the last name being our gesture to Castlereagh’s widow, whom we love very much.3

  Charles immediately entered upon the purchase of a London residence, Holdernesse House, on the corner of Park Lane and Hertford Street. Frances Anne complained to her mother that it was dirty, but that the luxury of having a home of one’s own, with five large windows overlooking the Park, and a garden, covered many defects. The garden was on the other side of Park Lane, and Charles also purchased the house next door in Hertford Street, bringing the total purchase cost to £43,000. Later the two houses were combined into a harmonious, more convenient whole and in 1872 this was renamed Londonderry House by Harry, the 5th Marquess.

  Misfortune was to follow swiftly. It began with the King’s mistress, Lady Conyngham, who hated Emily Castlereagh and wanted her and her husband to be excluded from a diplomatic dinner being held for Prince Christian of Denmark. Although her demand was completely out of the question and the matter was swiftly dealt with, it had a profound effect on Castlereagh, who as Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, naturally expected to be present and was deeply shocked that his omission should even be contemplated. Rumours of blackmail and homosexuality followed; subsequently his nerves seemed shattered and he began to show signs of a mental breakdown. After Charles and Frances Anne had set off back to Vienna, complete with two children and a rather large retinue, word reached them of his death. The fact that he had committed suicide had to be communicated gradually to Charles, who was devastated. The rumours of blackmail and homosexuality, spread eagerly by the Whigs, were firmly dismissed by the Duke of Wellington and other close friends, but the emotional blow was a heavy one. Frances Anne, comforting and supporting her husband, not surprisingly suffered a miscarriage. The Duke of Wellington replaced Castlereagh at the Congress and subsequently George Canning, Castlereagh’s hated political rival, took his place as Foreign Secretary. Charles felt he had no alternative but to resign.

  All this happened within a fortnight. When Charles had said goodbye to his step-brother in London it was with the expectation of seeing him again, his normal and confident self, in Vienna on the way to the Congress in Verona. It had taken only a short time for the gossip to take effect and for Castlereagh’s mind to give way completely, causing him to put an end to his own life and also, since Canning expected to appoint his own man, to Charles’s diplomatic career. Needless to say, the political scene was rife with factions and rivalries. Castlereagh’s rapid rise to office had been facilitated by his brother-in-law Earl Camden’s appointment as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Nevertheless, his intelligence and background had enabled him to serve in the British Cabinet, where he held office from 1802 till his death 20 years later. It was largely due to Castlereagh’s firmness and energy that the war with France terminated and Europe was saved from the domination of Napoleon. As an experienced diplomat at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, he also laid the foundations of all future schemes of international government. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, where Charles, his devoted step-brother, later raised a statue to him.

  Since Castlereagh was childless, his Irish titles now passed to Charles, who became 3rd Marquess of Londonderry while Frederick, Charles’s only son by his first wife, became the new Viscount Castlereagh. Later, after Castlereagh’s widow Emily died, the magnificent jewels presented to Castlereagh by the allied European monarchs at the time of the overthrow of Napoleon would pass to Charles to be worn by successive marchionesses of Londonderry. The fact that his brother was succeeded at the Foreign Office by George Canning, an old rival, did not help mitigate his grief. Charles was requested to attend the Congress of Verona as Ambassador as originally intended and the Duke of Wellington was also appointed to attend in Castlereagh’s place. Later the Duke’s youngest brother, Sir Henry Wellesley, would follow Charles as British Ambassador in Vienna. Sharing her husband’s grief, Frances Anne sadly packed the furniture and linen and sent it back to England. Later she set out for Verona in the company of her husband, children and all their retinue.

  Notes

  1. Letter from Frances Anne to her mother, Countess of Antrim, 1822, cited in Frances Anne by Edith Londonderry, p.68.

  2. Private letters of Princes
s Lieven to Prince Metternich, 1820-6, ed. Peter Quennell 1937, cited in Urquhart, p.18.

  3. Journal of Frances Anne, cited by Edith Londonderry, p.73.

  Chapter Three

  AN EMOTIONAL FAREWELL

  * * *

  Such were the circumstances that led to this small family party crossing the Alps on that cold winter’s night in 1822, and so it was that Duchess Frances had such strange and romantic memories of the earliest months of her life. On 25 October the Stewarts, now the Londonderrys, arrived in Verona after a fatiguing journey of ten days, during which they travelled from six and seven in the morning until eight and nine at night. The weather was very cold, the roads ‘detestable’, the inns ‘execrable’; notwithstanding, the country was ‘magnificent’ and ‘so different’ that Frances Anne could only be glad that she had seen the Tyrol. She wrote, however, that this pilgrimage, as she called it, in the mountains was ‘formidable’ at that time of year, and that crossing the Alps when covered with snow was not easy.

  To her mother the Countess Frances Anne wrote:

  This town is a beastly, hateful place. Everybody is equally badly lodged, not a good house in the town, cold stone floors with dirty mats which swarm with insects. Conceive the horror of being indifferent to such pests as fleas, bugs, mosquitoes, etc. but expecting at every step to find scorpions and lizards! The former get into beds, drawers, etc. and the latter come in at the windows as they crawl up the walls. Not a door or window ever shuts, the wind comes in at every cranny, not a comfort to be had for love or money and the smells are insupportable.1

  The next letter was equally depressing, written a week later on 3 November. Frances Anne had been ill and had been bled by her doctor. She complained of the lack of comfort around her, of the fact that neither doors nor windows shut properly but provided a draught wherever she tried to settle. The house itself comprised several small rooms of various shapes: Frances Anne had two rooms, each ‘the size of a Wynyard pantry’; the mattress lay on the floor in the bedroom, with a wash-stand, two chairs and an imperial (wardrobe) providing the rest of the furniture. It was impossible to have a (wood) fire because of the smoke from it. The second room served as everything else – drawing-room, dining-room, kitchen – and was furnished with green baize carpet, white dimity curtains, 12 little high chairs and a hard sofa. Frances, Harry and their nurse had three rooms elsewhere in the house. Charles had a den situated over the kitchen with its accompanying smells. As for the food, sour bread and bad butter made it impossible to eat breakfast but they did compensate for this by having French chocolate and green tea.