A short history of Hillside

Formerly the New Inn

Mitchell Avenue, Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Gert Bach and Alan Champion.

2009

Introduction

The major refurbishment of Hillside in the spring of 2009 has resulted in a renewed interest in the history of this imposing building.  Records from the archives and memories of the past owners of the house and residents of the town have been used to compile an interim account of  its history.

 

The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight

The undercliff of the Isle of Wight is a "land slip" terrace between the sea cliffs and the high wall-like cliffs which form the northern escarpment of the area forming the southeast coast of the Island.  It is a fertile area of varying width between a few hundred yards and half a mile wide and about six miles long, which extends from Luccombe in he east and Blackgang in the west The geology of the area explains how this has occurred. In very simple terms the area can be considered as a jam sandwich.

 

The Chalk and Upper Greensand  strata ( the top slice of bread ) slipped seaward, between 8000 and 2500 years ago, on a layer of  Gault Clay  i.e." blue slipper" ( the jam )  The Lower Greensand rock (the lower slice of bread )  forms the sea cliffs . ₁ The chalk downs and the cliff to the north protect the area from cold north winter winds making a 'sun-trap' and  with the Gulf Stream's warming effect on the terrace, produces a microclimate that is favourable to vegetation and human habitation. It has been occupied by humans since the Stone Age (neolithic -i.e. 2500-2000 B.C ).

 

The  early hunter-gatherers cleared small farms were from the debris on the terrace and they lived well as farmers on crops and animals from fertile land and from sea.  An account of the early inhabitants of the area is given by Whitehead _2. and Davenport Adams _3.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066 the Island was given by King William to William Fitz Osbern.

"Be it known to all present and to come, that I, William, Earl of Devon and Lord of the Isle of Wight,  have given... all the tithes of my Lordships of the Island, which are known to belong the same monks of Bovcombe, of Wrockeshale and of Underwathe, in corn ....

William de Vernon, the Earl of Devon's Charter of ... to the Monks of Lyra. 1193

The monks of this monastery of Lyre, in Normandy, landed at Monk's Bay, Bonchurch each year to collect their Island tithes.

Battle of Bonchurch

 

In 1545 the defence forces of the IoW inflicted a defeat on the French near the site of Hillside. _1.2.3.

The Battle of Bonchurch.

For the full text see appendix I

 

The manor and the parish of Bonchurch of must be considered next, (it should be noted that a 'parish' is defined as land which is committed to the charge of one patron, vicar, or minister, having charge of the souls of the residents. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon and dates from the time of King Edgar. The manor is a Saxon and Norman concept used in the Domesday survey and was a landowner's estate.)

 

After the Norman conquest, the Fitz-Azor family were given lands by William Fitz-Osbern including Wootton and Bonchurch _. At an Inquisition Post Mortem in 1341, Bartholomew de Insula, a descendant by marriage, owned Bonchurch and his descendants, the Denys family, succeeded to them. In 1688 John Popham inherited the land in Bonchurch, from them, also by marriage.  In 1729 his estate was surveyed by W. Dodge and his map is reproduced here.

 

The Denys Family.

 

The Denys family held the estates till 1688, the connection coming to an end in a daughter and sole heiress. Ultimately the "Pophams", by marriage, had possession of the estates, and retained them for about a century, to 1800. The several properties were then divided between two families, the "Popham Hill " taking the Undercliff property, and the

"Popham White" the Shanklin estates., both families being descendants of Mr. John Popham, the former by his first marriage, the latter by the second.

Taking into consideration the intimate associations the " Hill " family had with the Ventnor and Steephill estates it may be interesting" to trace the descent more at length. Mr. George Popham, the third son of Alexander Popham, of Littlecote, married a Miss Dulcibella Ford, and had issue an only son, John Popham. He married as his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Redstone, of Newport, I.W., and had issue an only daughter, Elizabeth. She married Lieut.-Colonel William Hill, and left, with other children,-

I.- Charles Fitzmaurice Hill.                                       
II.- Henry Hill, Rear Admiral, r.n.

III.- Justly Hill.

 

The first named married Margaret Buckley, and had issue, a son, Charles Popham Hill, who inherited the Ventnor and Steephill estates, and a daughter, Rosa Hill, who married the Rev. James White, and succeeded to the Bonchurch properties.

In the year 1729 a plan of the Undercliff estates belonging to Mr. Popham was drawn up (see map).    The Ventnor section comprised two farms, having an area of 370 acres, representing the ancient manor of Holeway, and the Mill with five acres of land annexed to it.

The early land owners had used the uncultivated areas for hunting for food and sport and  the land-owning gentry of the 17th. and 18th.century discouraged visitors to the region  The roads of access were poorly constructed and gated but some  reports by  the early visitors were glowing in their accounts of the picturesque and wild beauty of the area._4.5.6.7. Sir Richard Worsley of Appuldurcombe developed a marine residence at Steephill and governor of the Isle of Wight, Sir Hans Stanley, had a villa nearby. After his death, Wilbraham Tollemache, the 6^th. Earl of Dysart developed this villa.

 

The division of the Popham Estate and the sale of land by Rosa Hill and her husband in Bonchurch and her brother Charles Popham Hill selling his land in Ventnor, enabled the building of many houses in the area .

 

The purchase of the Osborne estate by Queen Victoria also contributed to the popularity of the Island and the Undercliff as did the seaside holiday and the seaside second home.

 

In 1829, Sir James Clark ₈ wrote his book extolling the virtues of the district_8. and soon after Dr G. A. Martin ₉ and his brother came to the developing Ventnor. Dr Hill Hassell then founded what was to become the Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest._10.

_{1. An account of the geology in  modern terms is given in `Ground  Movement in Ventnor , Isle of Wight  be E. M. Lee, J. C .Dorncamp, D. Brunsden, and N. H .Noton, 1991 and The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight. A Review of Ground Behaviour, South Wight Borough Council and Rendell Geotechnics, 1995}

_{2. Whitehead John L. The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight. Past and Present. 1911.}

_{3..Adams W. Davenport. The Garden Isle. The History, Topography  and Antiquities of the Isle of Wight. 1856.}

_{4..Hassell, J. Tour of the Isle of Wight..1790.}

_{5..Wyndham, J.P. A Picture of the Isle of Wight. 1794}

_{6. Warner. Rev.R. The History of the Isle of Wight..1791. p192.}

_{7.Tomkins, C..A..  A Tour in the Isle of Wight in 1793. 1796}

_{8. Clark, Sir James . The Influence of Climate on the Prevention and Cure  of Chronic Disease.   2nd ed. 1830.}

_{.9. Martin, George Anne. The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight. 1849}

 

 

 

In 1800 Ventnor consisted of a few fishermen's cottages on the cove, the corn mill, and the farm house in the Grove. The Crab and Lobster was an old hostelry at the foot of Spring Hill.

The  building of Steephill Castle on the site of  Dysart's Cottage had been started for John Hambrough, His mason, Daniel Day, had just built Cove Cottage in Belgrave Road.

 

The Original building on the down.

The New Inn, Newport Road, Ventnor was built  for Mrs Mary Groves of Steephill, on a site leased from the estate of Charles Popham Hill the Lord of the Manor, in 1830..

 

Drudge's tithe map of the Popham Estate, Ventnor 1729.

Groves and her 'old' inn at Steephill.

 

The Inn at Steephill

 

 

Mrs Groves old Inn at Steephill.

The Inn at Steephill. Rowlandson.

© IOW County Council.

 

 

 

The View from the inn at Steephill. Charles Tomkins 1805.

The inn at Steeple John Nixon.

Mrs Groves  in her kitchen

© The Trustees of Carisbrooke Castle Museum.

Mrs Groves and her 'new'  inn.

 

Eng'd by T. Higham.  c. 1824.

 

'Old John Green', the parish clerk of St Lawrence, recounts the story of her move to Ventnor in his memoirs.₄ "There was a house built for an inn for the late Widow Groves by the side of St Boniface Down, now called Hillside House, began to be built in the year 1800. Mrs Groveskept a smaller inn close by the south side of Steephill Castle. It was her own property (lifehold), but when the lives dropped, it fell to the Earl of Dysart. Though Mrs Groves had but a small house for an inn at Steephill, she accommodated the greater part of the gentry that came to the Undercliffe in those days. She had many fine shady trees and arbours around the inn, the gentry could walk through the late Earl of Dysart's grounds and into this cottage. Mrs Grove's was the only accommodation for gentry between Shanklin and Niton, except what little was sometimes done at the Crab and Lobster (old } Inn at Ventnor. Parties of trades-people sometimes happened to stop there to refresh themselves, bringing refreshments with them.

 

Mrs Groves, being highly respected, had many friends, and her licence was transferred to a small cottage close by the inn, that she built under St Boniface Down."

business, though there was plenty to do at Steephill, at times, as I was informed by my sister, who was a cook for Mrs Groves three years-living with her before she left Steephill- that she had cooked 19 dinners in one day, for different parties. While the preparations were being made for the building of the large inn under St Boniface Down, Mrs Groves carried on the business in the small cottage above mentioned . She had a shed for her kitchen and tap-room, and tents pitched by the side of the down to accommodate company.

 

I was in her tap-room on a day when General Don the Commander-in-Chief, of the army in the Isle of Wight, came with a party of officers to inspect the places where there could be any defence made against the enemy.₁₀ When they dismounted near the entrance of the tap-room, we who were there began to go out to give place for them; but the General ordered us to keep our seats, saying he would not come in if we left on his account. Mrs Groves made an apology, but the General said that he had meet with many worse accommodations than that shed was and he ordered a lunch for his party and two gallons of beer for us. He asked for a guide to direct him to find some suitable places for the purpose (defence). An old man ( James Saunders of Bonchurch ) ,was his guide, and the General retuned highly gratified with his guide's information, saying Bonchurch outdone all the places he had ever seen before.

In the beginning of the century St. Lawrence Shute was improved by the late Right Hon. Sir Richard Worsley, then living at St. Lawrence Cottage, who employed some soldiers belonging to the Cornish miners, a detachment of them being in this Island, one of whom was a very active man and an officer's servant - John Pascoe. He married a woman, of some property, of the village of Newchurch, and was a waiter at Grove's New Inn, under St. Boniface Down, and afterwards landlord of the Crab and Lobster (old ) Inn.

I believe `twas in the year 1800 that the skeleton of a man was found in the quarry when the New Inn, called Groves Hotel ₂₅ , was being built. It was in a chasm, in a standing position as though the man stood there and died. It was found near Alpha Villa by a man who was digging stone.; his name was Stephen Fallick. It was said by old men, then living in Ventnor, that a man had disappeared a great many years before; his name, as they said, was Jonathan Grimwood.

 

The Undercliff of the IOW .

Dr Whitehead, in1912 says :

One other building was located on the Littletown estate-the "New Inn", one of the two " ancient hostelries " mentioned in the earlier Guides to the Isle of Wight. Situated under St. Boniface Down, close by the then narrow, steep, rugged, and very dangerous " Shute," coming down from" Sloven's bush"; one of the two entrances to this part of the Undercliff. The cause of its erection is given by John Green in his Recollections

 

An early reference to the house occurs in a letter of Thomas Webster (quoted in Englefield's Isle of Wight) : " New Inn, Ventnor, May 2ith 1811, which I propose to make my headquarters. The hill of chalk immediately behind the Inn, called St. Boniface Down, presents a remarkable appearance. Along its whole length, the perpendicular wall of sandstone rock is wanting. The slope of the down is of that steep­ness beyond which a heap of loose materials will not lie without slipping on which account patches of the grass are continually coming off."

The plans of the Montpelier hotel are extant . ? medical connection.

 

 

John Sterling

In June, 1843, John Sterling, the friend of Carlyle, purchased the property and took up his residence here, "which still retains the improve­ments and adjustments on a grand scale of its highly gifted owner" He was then suffering from a pulmonary affection, and did not long survive, dying in the September of the following year. He was laid to rest within the sacred precincts of the churchyard at Bonchurch, his brother-in-law, the Rev. F. D. Maurice, reading over his grave the Church's words of hope and comfort. The house was afterwards the residence of Captain Newall, who, with his gifted sons, did so much to enliven the social life of the neighbourhood in their time.

 

The clergyman and writer, John Sterling next bought the freehold June 1843, to establish a home in this area which was had been recommended  as conducive to an improvement  to his health. He had an upper floor built and he took up residence later in 1843.

 

John Sterling

John Sterling died on 18^th September 1844 from tuberculosis, at the age of 38 leaving 6 children.

 

Dr Harry Keele

1851 Dr Harry Keele. MRCP 1832 Physician to the Carisbrooke Lunatic Asylum listed as living there.

 

Captain David Rae Newall, R.N.

Captain David Rae Newall,R.N. was the next occupant  ₈ with his 9 sons

1851 census David and his wife, Mary lived at Grove House with his sons, William George and Henry.

 

1861 census shows him at Hillside with sons James, Thomas and Frazer.

His wife died at Hillside in 1854.  1871 shows him at Hillside with James Thomas and Frazer.  He let Hillside furnished? to:

 

Mrs. Harriet Heal

Mrs Harriet Heal appears as the occupant in the 1871 Census.Mrs Heal owned the Railway Tavern (now Sun Lodge) Mitchell Avenue.  Note 3 Newport Road ( Hillside House)

 

Captain Newall

Captain Newall died in 1874 and the family moved to Devon in 1875.

 

 

 

 

 

George Henry Mitchell

George Henry Mitchell 1889- and his wife  Mary in 1881 census.  Georgina Mitchell, his second wife .In the 1891 census. John Monks letter 2007.   He was a keen congregationalist and he allowed the church held Garden Fetes in the Hillside gardens.  He had a lease on the land from Colonel William Edwyn Evans in 1877, 1891 and Martin Llewellyn Evans in 1912.

 

 

George Henry Mitchell

 

 

Georgina Mitchell.

Percy Mitchell

Percy Mitchell, his half brother and Percy's wife took over Hillside in 1921-1924.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HILLSIDE PRIVATE BOARDING ESTABLISHMENT, Ventnor

 

principals: mr. and Mrs. G  H. mitchell.

 

this beautifully situated house possesses a special interest as having, at one time, been the residence of the late John. Sterling, a man of letters,,well known in the forties, end of whom both Archdeacon Hare and Thomas Carlyle (who were his personal friends) wrote biographies. Subsequently, the late Captain Newall, C.B.*, lived here, and after his death the house remained closed and unoccupied for about two years. ' It was then (some eighteen years ago) taken by Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Mitchell, and opened, by them as a private boarding establishment. The house is a three-storey building of very attractive external appearance, and has a charm­ ing situation on the most desirable part of the Undercliff. It stands in its own prettily laid-out grounds, and is within five minutes' walk from the railway station. There are upwards of fifteen bedroom in the house, in addition to the dining, drawing, sitting, and smoking rooms.  The requirements of indoor amusement are met by an excellent piano­ forte and a first-rate bagatelle board, while outside there are splendid croquet lawns, tennis courts, greenhouses, conservatories, &c. Very fine views of the town and of -the sea may be had from the windows of " Hillside," and the house forms one of the most agreeable and pleasant, places of residence that a visitor could desire. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell do not confine their attention to promoting the comfort of their guests within
the house only.- They study their convenience and entertainment in various other ways, and at one o'clock each day they send a private con­veyance down to the Esplanade, so that any of their patrons who may- prefer driving up the hill to walking, may do so, free of charge. This is only one of the many evidences displayed of careful consideration for the interests and comfort of guests. The cuisine and attendance at " Hillside" are excellent, and a liberal table is provided, many delicacies being served in season. la short, " Hillside " may bo strongly recom­ mended as a first-class boarding establishment, where every home comfort awaits the visitor. "With a reputation extending over eighteen years, this house, we need hardly say, is well .and favourably known, and it enjoys the patronage and recommendation of a very select and influential connection.

 

* C.B. Companion of the Order of the Bath. A military decoration .

 

 

SEPTEMBER 12, 1908.

Congregational Church

GARDEN FETE AT "HILLSIDE.

A garden fete and sale of work was held on Wednesday afternoon and evening in the delightful grounds of Hillside-by the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Mitchell, organised by the local Congregationalists in aid of the Congregational Church Aid Fund and the Manse Fund. The weather on Wednesday morning did not look iu any way promising, the wind was high, and there were intermittent showers. But the promoters were brave and decided to risk matters, and their decision was justi­fied, for iu spite of the 'nigh wind and occasional showers, the fete and sale^! proved to bo a big success, financially and otherwise. The grounds were very prettily decorated with flags, and the dis­play of bunting, the beauty of the grounds, the bright dresses and smiling faces of the ladies made up a scene that was beautiful in the extreme.

The opening ceremony was performed by that generous, warm-hearted lady who is .always to the fore when any good cause is in lined of assistance-Mrs. J. Morgan Richards, who was accompanied by Mr. J. Morgan Richards and Mrs. Cumrnings.

Others present included Col. Seaton, Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Hey wood.

The Rev. H. E. Heywood presided, and said that as most of those present were aware that fete was organised to assist the Church Aid Fund, by which the small country churches of the county of Hampshire-to which the Isle of Wight, congregationally speaking, be­longed-were assisted. They had pledged themselves as a church to the raise the sum of £20 for this fund, and towards this they | had already got £15-thus leaving but £5 I to be raised. With regard to the Manse ' fund-that was, as the name implied, for the purpose of providing a house for the pastor of the church. It had been thought that the time had arrived when such a house should be provided, and Mrs. Merriman generously given an incentive to the church to commence a fund for the purpose by promising to add a certain specified sum to every given amount con­tributed. This had started them working, and they were very grateful to her for her generous ofier. After remarking that the uncertainty of the weather had been re­flected in their own minds up to a late hour that morning and this would] account for any little unpreparedness apparent, the pastor introduced Mrs. Richards, whom he said had with her family so splendidly supported the work of the Congregational Church in Ventnor.

In the evening the grounds were Very prettily illuminated by fairy lights and Japanese lanterns, the effect of the lights among th6 . foliage being particularly beautiful. The very excellent band of the Ventnor Battery of the 2nd Wessex (Howitzer) R.F.A., under Bandmaster J. Hess, played selections in the grounds from seven o'clock to ton, and their pro­gramme included the " contest" piece which recently won them the first prize in the Island Bands Contest at Shanklin -a piece that was, needless to say, very much enjoyed by the listeners. By the kind thoughtfulness of Mr. Mitchell, a large electric arc lamp was temporarily erected in the charming avenue in the grounds, under which the baud gave its perfor­mance. Despite the wind and the showers the position of the grounds is such, and the shelter of the trees so complete, .that very little inconvenience was experienced with the illuminations or by the promonaders.

Among those rendering valuable assistance during the day, in addition to those, already mentioned, were Messrs. F.H. Sheppard, W. J. and W. Knight, J.P. Brown, J. Williams, L. Eldridgo, C. Layton, J. N. Cater, J. H. and W. Westmore, Hoad, and several of the younger members of the church. That the effort was a success may be gathered from the fact that the Pastor W.&.S. able to announce at the close of the day that about £30 had been realised.

Dickenson

The Dickenson family took over in Spring 1934 Dick Dickenson died in September 1934 Mrs C.V. Dickenson  1930s-40. She had to relinquish the lease in 1940 when the Government declared the Island a 'Defence Area', and visitors were prohibited. She wrote to Mr Smart the leaseholders solicitor explaining this and he wrote to Mr W. M. L. Waller of Camberley ( the ground landlord)  to pass this news on.

 

Martin Plumridge

Later owners were Mr & Mrs Martin Plumridge who moved in in 1946 after World War II . He then bought the freehold  at auction in 1951.  He had proposed building Garages in 1963-a swimming pool Jan. 1976- an old peoples Home Aug 1976- Which were all rejected by  the planning committee of the IOW County Council. He purchased the Dower House as an annex. He used it for staff quarters and overflow guests. Martin died in 1986. His wife then lived in Alpine Road and his son Robert founded Acorn Antiques and Acorn Pianos.

 

Donald Read

Donald & Marie Read and family came to Hillside in 1968.  Parents to 6 daughters and 1 son.  After selling Hillside they moved to Southcliff, Niton Undercliff.  Donald died in April 1995.

 

John R. May

John  and Shirley May and family purchased Hillside in 1979.

 

Eve

Eve family

 

Peter and Brenda Hart

Peter and Brenda Hart jointly purchased Hillside in partnership with her sister and her husband.  They quoted G. H. Mitchell as saying: "Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and Thomas Carlisle all enjoyed the warmth ad tranquillity of Hillside" in an advertisement. Peter & Brenda took over the hotel as sole proprietors and Peter died in 2005?  Brenda sold Hillside in December 2008.

Hillside House Ventnor Limited

Gert Bach and Anna Pink came in Spring 2009

The Triangular piece of land

The Triangular piece of land south of Hillside was purchased by the Water Board as it has a well in it that feeds the Ventnor Brewery which pays the peppercorn rent of 6d. per annum  for the water it extracts for brewing .Later it was used by Ventnor Council Parks Department to grow plants such as wallflowers for bedding. The land on which the tennis courts stand was originally Drover's Nursery.  The 'Tap' was demolished in 1938 when the junction of Mitchell Avenue, St Boniface Road and Spring Hill  was re-designed.  This triangular piece of land was reunited, by purchase, with Hillside in spring of 2009 and has been landscaped in the new developments.  Several oak ships timbers were removed during the reconstruction that had been used as floor joists.

 

 

 

Old oak ship's timbers used as floor joists in the original House.

 

 

The Triangular piece of land.

Appendix 1.

 

The Battle of Bonchurch.

 

THE BATTLE OF BONCHURCH

by C. T. WITHERBY

 

" A French Soldier with an early hand gun.     The gun is supported in a rest and is fired by a slow match."

(Picture supplied by Mr. R. Dukesill Moore).

NOTE : The text has been kindly checked and commented on for military accuracy by Brigadier Peter Young, d. s .o., m. c.; Head of the Military History Department at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

1962.

INTRODUCTION

In this note, the writer has attempted to describe or explain some of the events in July 1545 when French soldiers landed in the Isle of Wight. This account is not intended as an authoritative historical treatise, but rather is for holiday reading, to help visitors to interest themselves in the Isle of Wight. At the same time, the writer has tried to draw on all historical sources available to him and has endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

Background. At the end of his long reign, King Henry VIII was at war with France and in 1544 the English Army had captured Boulogne. (Fierce and costly siege warfare continued round Boulogne throughout 1545). The French planned a counter-stroke and hoped to occupy Portsmouth or Southampton, or failing that, to sieze and fortify a part of the Isle of Wight. They collected in France a large fleet of over 200 ships plus 26 galleys. This fleet probably carried more than 6,000 soldiers as well as many pioneers for building forts. In 1545 the mediaeval methods of sea warfare by grappling and boarding were giving way to the use of the big gun, but in many of the French ships (and in the English fleet also) fighting men were the "main armament". The galleys were "sailing and rowing" ships which carried two big guns forward but had a complement of soldiers for boarding. They had the advantage of being able to move about in a calm and could, if necessary, row straight into the wind (as they seem to have done for the Bonchurch landings).*

When the French fleet appeared off the Isle of Wight, the English fleet came out of Portsmouth and for two days there was sea fighting in the Spithead and St. Helens area, but the result was inconclusive. The English fleet remained in narrow waters, where the superior numbers of the French were of no avail and the French admiral realised that unless he could draw the English fleet out into the open sea and there destroy it, he would achieve little. He thereupon decided to land part of his army in the Isle of Wight and by burning the houses and slaying the inhabitants before King Henry's very eyes, the Admiral hoped to force the English fleet to intervene.

*A description of the Galley, and the problems of its design and motive power is given in "Drake and the Tudor Navy" Volume One, page 8.

 

The Commanders

King Henry VIII. This little campaign is of interest because the King evidently commanded his sea and land forces in person from a headquarters on Southsea Common.* The King arrived in Portsmouth just before the French appeared and took charge. He was actually having dinner on board the flagship on Sunday, the 19th July, 1545 when the French ships were sighted and he had to disembark hurriedly.** He had already reinforced the small Isle of Wight garrison (which included about 1,600 men from the Isle of Wight Militia) by bringing over from the mainland the whole of the Hampshire Militia numbering about 2,800 men and also by bringing in about 850 men from Wiltshire. Probably the King was respon­sible for the careful and detailed arrangements that were made in building forts, preparing bridges for demolition, etc. King Henry's control of his sea forces was especially strict since the Navy was a department in which he was expert. (In a dispatch at this time Lord Lisle, the English Admiral, said that "he" (the admiral) "will enterprise nothing without his Highness' privity from whom he has learnt all he knows").

Sir Richard Worsley. Captain of the Isle of Wight. A native of the Island, having his family estates at Appuldurcombe, near Bon-church. He had been Captain since 1538 in succession to his father, and had worked hard to improve the defences of the Island.

Sir Edward Bellingham. The Commander of the Field Army in the Island and serving under Sir Richard Worsley. Perhaps a professional soldier, who had served under King Henry in the previous year at Boulogne and had also fought with English soldiers in Hungary. He may have been one of the Gentlemen Pensioners (the King's personal guard) and although at this time referred to as "Sir Edward", was not in fact knighted until 1547, after King Henry's death. Sir Edward Bellingham brought with him to the Island a headquarters staff, since neither Sir Richard Worsley, nor the Militia companies which formed the garrison, could supply trained staff officers and headquarters personnel.

There is a most detailed picture of this scene entitled "The Encampment of the English Forces near Portsmouth 1545". A copy is in the Portsmouth Public Library and also at Newport. It is known as the "Cowdry Picture".

**The dates in this account are those suggested by the author. It is not easy to be certain when particular events occurred.

 

Claude D'Annebault. Admiral of France. The French Admiral. The accounts of the fighting give the impression that he may have been over cautious. He certainly failed to keep strict control of the French Fleet and of the men in it.

Le Seigneur de Tais. Colonel-General of the Infantry of France. An experienced soldier and General of the French foot soldiers. He was a veteran of the Wars in Piedmont and Italy. As a com­mander in the Isle of Wight he seems to have been unable to control his men unless he was present among them in person. Consequently he seems to have been unable to retain command when his army was operating in separate groups.

The Soldiers taking part

The English soldiers were men of the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Wiltshire Militia, non-professional soldiers called out by the King for the war. Before the fighting started, the Island garrison was about 5,500 men, including 250 "labourers" at Sandown, and in­cluding also about 1,600 militia men from the Island itself. There were almost no Regular Soldiers, except for gunners in the coastal forts. Some of this garrison, particularly the officers who were the local country gentlemen, may have had experience in battle, and each separate company was a unit of neighbours, trained together. They were local men fighting on their own ground with a high morale. For missile weapons they still retained the long bow, which greatly outranged, could "fire" more quickly, and was more accurate than the arquebus, or hand-gun. King Henry had encouraged military training with hand guns and a few gentlemen and gentlemen's servants may have carried the arquebus (probably rather out of date models). There were some pikemen but the ordinary soldier in the English ranks was armed with the bill, (as he had been for centuries). This was a kind of halbert-a staff weapon. In the hands of a strong and active man the bill must have been formidable and men skilled in the sport of quarter staff could use it without special training. Small field guns may have been used but they are not specifically mentioned in the accounts of the fighting (although an Ambassador who was with King Henry in Portsmouth, reported that on Wednesday, 22nd July and the previous night "nothing could be heard but artillery firing"). (The Cowdry Picture shows guns at the palisade at Yarbridge). The Militia had no cavalry, but on one occasion they did improvise some horsemen by using cart horses from their transport wagons. No doubt many officers were mounted, and mounted messengers, known as "hobblers", were part of the militia force.

The French soldiers had a number of arquebus men. These "hand guns" had a range of less than 100 yards and loading was complicated and slow. The weapon seems to have been most effective when used in defence from behind an obstacle. The French soldiers may have had more protective armour than the English. The French had no field guns but where the fighting took place close to the shore the French ships guns were used to support the soldiers (as happened at Shoreham in Sussex when the French landed there a few days later). The morale of the French was high and obviously they longed to attack the English and were frustrated by their Admiral's apparent lack of action. (This feeling of frus­tration on the part of the French may well have been their undoing). Certainly the French soldiers displayed their usual courage, dash and military skill.

The French are believed to have landed a total force of about 2,000 men in the Island. They are said to have carried in the fleet about 500 light horsemen with their horses but these did not disembark.

 

THE  COMMANDERS  AND  THEIR TASKS

Sir Richard Worsley's Problem

His army of 5,500 men was outnumbered by the total number of French soldiers in the fleet, and the French could come ashore at any suitable beach in the South of the Island. Island communications were poor, and in particular the movement of guns over the rough tracks and lanes must have been very slow. Once the French land­ings had begun Sir Richard was cut off from Brading Harbour and could 'not use the coastal track Sandown-Shanklin-Luccombe. Perhaps Sir Richard kept a small reserve in Carisbrooke Castle (whither he would have retired if he had suffered defeat) and he would have had some forces at Freshwater, Yarmouth and Cowes (as well as small parties on hills, reinforcing the watchmen at the beacons such as Shanklin beacon). His main body of about 3,000 men would have been in the Brading area (or perhaps divided between Sandown and Brading). The most serious threat to the Isle of Wight would have come from Brading Harbour or from Sandown Bay, and by keeping a force at Brading, he could quickly meet such threats and at the same time was in touch with Carisbrooke over the Downs, and could move South West towards the Bonchurch area by crossing the River Yar at Newchurch. He had to keep con­tact with Yarmouth, because the rest of the Wiltshire Militia were at Lymington, ready to come over to the Isle of Wight if they were needed.

There were several permanent forts on the Island, but the only ones situated in the area of the fighting were a small fort at Seaview (which was destroyed by the French when they landed there) a timber palisade at Yarbridge, and the stone fort at Sandown Bay. The building of the Sandown Bay fort was commenced in 1540 and presumably was completed by 1545, but field works of some kind were under construction there when the French landed, since Sir Edward Bellingham, in a report after the fighting, referred to "labourers" at Sandown. There was also a timber palisade at Morton, to protect the road from Brading to Sandown.

As part of his general plan of defence Sir Richard also had out­posts. A substantial outpost must have been at the fort at Sandown Bay and there were small forces on the tops of the hills. Sir John Oglander (a Deputy Governor of the Island who wrote some

seventy years later) mentions English soldiers at the top of Bern-bridge Down. The writer believes that there was a similar garrison at the top of St. Boniface Down, above Bonchurch. Probably this force was grouped round Shanklin Beacon, and would initially have consisted of the ordinary militia watch for the Beacon, later re­inforced by messengers and guards. From the actions and behaviour of these hill top forces it may be deduced that they had strict orders to keep out of sight and not to move off the hills, but that the French were not to be allowed to establish themselves on the high ground. These strict orders appear to have been the King's personal com­mand since the King himself afterwards cancelled them during the fighting at Bembridge. The Isle of Wight garrison at this time must have been stretched to the limit in holding such a large area.

 

 

Sct.li.     fOUH MIUET TO   0«C.   INU1

 

Crmm Copyright Reserved

 

Scale eight miles to one inch.

Sir Edward Bellingham, like all commanders who have to resist a landing from the sea, had to judge very accurately the moment for launching his counter-attack. If he hesitated or was slow, the French might come ashore in strength, while if he were hasty and moved too soon, his army might be caught, strung out, marching down the wrong road.

Admiral D'Annebault's task. Without risking the loss of his soldiers, he had to land them in such a way that they would cause maximum loss and destruction to the English.   It seems that the main English Forces were stationed in more than one place and the Admiral planned to keep the English divided by landing at different  points. The French galleys were short of water, and as an incident of the landing, the French intended to find suitable watering points. (They apparently could not take on water from St. Helens). Like Sir Edward, the French Admiral also had to judge carefully how to proceed. If he landed too many soldiers he might weaken his fleet.

 

THE ACTUAL FRENCH LANDINGS

The first was at Seaview, where the French destroyed a small fort that had been firing at their galleys during the sea battle. The second landing was near Sandown, where the French were repulsed, but where there was heavy fighting, and the third was at Bonchurch. Finally there was a confused, large scale landing at Bembridge by French soldiers who were disobeying orders. It seems clear that the Seaview and Sandown landings were designed to open up the approaches to Portsmouth and to test the defences at Sandown respectively, but, more important still (in the view of the author) they were to keep Sir Edward Bellingham and his army engaged while the main French raiding force landed at Bonchurch.

The Bonchurch Landings

Martin du Bellay, a French Officer (to quote the account of the fighting provided by Mr. Percy G. Stone) says "In another place there landed the Seigneur de Tais, General of the Foot Soldiers, and with him the Baron de la Garde, Commander of the galleys. Meeting with no opposition they pressed on to reconnoitre and spy out the country, but they had not gone far before they came across some companies of footmen, who by hidden ways and screened by the wood had assembled in the most advantageous spots to give us battle. These, confident in their position showed a bold front to our men and wounded some of them-among others Monsieur de Moneins had his right hand pierced by an arrow, but the rest of our men, marching in array, made them abandon their position and retire precipitately by the same way they had come, where we could only follow them in loose order and in single file".

Sir John Oglander, of Nunwell, near Brading, who must have spoken to old men who had taken part in the fighting, says "Le Seigneur de Tais, General of the Foot, landed at Bonchurch, where there was a hot skirmish between them and us and many were slain. We had there most of the Companies of Hampshire, where Captain Fischer, being a fat gentleman and not being able to make his retreat up the hill (for they put our men to rout) cried out "£100 for a horse", but in that confusion no horse could be had, not for a kingdom".

11

The following explanation of the above accounts is necessarily unproved, but is based on a study of the Bonchurch neighbourhood and on an analogy with the known accounts of the Bembridge fighting.

Sir Edward Bellingham must have felt that the Bonchurch area needed special measures of defence. He knew that there were no good harbours in the South of the Island and except for the Newport Road running up from Bonchurch no good roads leading out of the Undercliff. He must also have known about the fresh water supplies available at Luccombe, Bonchurch and Ventnor. He would also have seen that the possession of St. Boniface Down, above Bonchurch, would give an enemy observation and control over a great tract of the Island and probably he concluded that Bonchurch was a likely point for a landing. Sir Edward therefore placed a small force at the top of St. Boniface Down, with orders to hold the high ground and to block the Newport road, but apart from this to leave the French alone. This small defending force could have camped North-West of the place now occupied by the National Trust Collecting Box, screened from the sea, and would probably be a re-inforcement of the Shanklin Down Beacon party who were already there.

The Commander of the English at St. Boniface must, in his turn, have decided that the Newport Road was the obvious route for any attacking force. This road runs up from Bonchurch, through the cliffs at what is" now the Ventnor C.E. Junior School (and what was then Littletown Farm) and going along a kind of shelf it climbs to the top of the Downs past the Hillside Hotel and the modern Railway Station and up Ventnor Shute. The best place to block this road was at the gap in the cliffs, where also the defenders could block the old Shanklin Road (an old track which runs above the cliffs, but below the Downs, to Luccombe). No doubt the English Commander stationed a small outpost near what is now the Ventnor Junior School. He would also have had a smaller party at the top of White Shute, the other track leading out of Bonchurch through the cliffs. (White Shute began near the Old Church by the W.T;A. Hotel at East Dene, and climbed very steeply up the Cliffs to emerge near the Rectory arid Bonchurch Inn). Apart from these little outposts, the local English force must have remained at the top of St. Boniface Down,:

Where  they had to watch a great area from Shanklin across to Appuldur-combe and Whitwell.  It is evident that the French General de Tais regarded the Bon-church landing as the most important, because he led it himself. Perhaps he hoped to sieze St. Boniface Down, and from there to burn Wroxall and Shanklin, and, more important still, to burn Appuldurcombe House, the family estate of Sir Richard Worsley himself, the Captain of the Island, where King Henry VIII had been not long before. De Tais may have hoped also to burn Godshill and if he were lucky to threaten towards Carisbrooke and Newport, using his horsemen, which he might have landed in Sandown Bay. De Tais must have felt sure that such painful blows would provoke King Henry to send out the English fleet.

 

The French fleet was at St. Helens and Bembridge and the French landing force travelled to Bonchurch in some of the galleys. There had been a Westerly gale the night before and only the galleys could reach Bonchurch against the wind. It is impossible to say how many Frenchmen landed at Bonchurch, Du Bellay suggests that there was an advance guard and a main body. The writer believes that 300 landed and another 300 or 400 remained in reserve in the galleys off shore. After searching the village of Bonchurch the French set off up the Newport Road, this being the obvious route to the top of the Downs. Baron de la Garde, a French Naval Officer and Com­mander of the Galleys, accompanied the march. Perhaps he hoped from the summit of St. Boniface Down to see the movements of the English fleet.

 

From the accounts quoted above it is possible to identify the scene of the battle with some certainty. The English defence position which made the English "Footmen" so confident was above Hillside Hotel from the steep Down to the cliffs by Altofts Gardens. The outpost fell back as the French advanced. After the fight the surviving English were dispersed in part up the Old Shanklin Road (behind the Ventnor C.E. School) while the main retreat went back up the Newport Road (then a steep and rocky track). What may have happened was that the French landing was seen from the Downs and the English Commander at once descended with a party of men down the Coombe above the Railway Station into the Newport Road and along to the "Hillside Hotel" position, his out- post joining him there. He would have had just enough time to reach his position before the French. Waggons may have been used to block the Newport Road (or by analogy with the fortifications shown in the "Cowdry Picture" it may have been closed by a timber palisade at this point). The "Hillside Hotel" position was quite a strong one, at the top of a steep hill, and flanked on each side by cliffs. It was almost beyond the reach of even the biggest guns on the French ships, which would have an extreme range of one mile.

From the account of Martin du Bellay, it seems that the English were able to halt the French advance guard, but that the main body of the French eventually burst through. Fighting must have gone on over the area extending back past the Hillside Hotel and up the Newport Road to the Railway Station Coombe, where the French pursuit died away in face of the remaining English defenders of St. Boniface Down. Somewhere on the Newport Road Captain Fischer gave his desperate shout. There are several steep paths on the hillside above the Junior School where the English may have re­treated and where the French would have found it impossible to follow. The Old Shanklin Road is such a path (it is now broken by a cliff fall).

From the French landing to the end of the fight one or two hours would have elapsed, and afterwards the French would have required a few more minutes to "sort themselves out" before advancing further. They would also have had to send a party as a flank guard to search the Old Shanklin Road and to watch the Downs. Mean­while, of course, the other French landings at Sea View and Sandown must have been in full swing, and tempted by their apparent success, French soldiers had landed at Bembridge without orders and were in serious trouble and difficulties there.

Martin du Bellay makes no further mention of the Bonchurch fighting and the inference is that the French did not go any further up the Newport Road. This seems very strange seeing that they had up to then achieved little; that the Newport Road was their main line of advance and they had not yet reached the top. As soon as the fighting ended, one would have expected General de Tais to send an urgent message that his reinforcements were to be landed from the galleys, so that there could be a rapid march up to the top of St.

 

Boniface Down, brushing aside any English soldiers that might try to block the road.  The explanation (suggested by the author) is that General de Tais had by this time learned of the unauthorised French landings at Bembridge, which had endangered the French Fleet there and com­pletely upset his plan.* He must have hurried back to his galley leaving the local French commander at Bonchurch with orders to wait where he was and to stand his ground. (The French would hardly have withdrawn at this stage just after they had won their first little battle). When de Tais stepped into his boat at Bon­church he imagined that a few short orders would clear up the situation at Bembridge and that in an hour or so he would be again in Bonchurch directing the advance.

 

However, the Admiral, who was evidently also at Bonchurch, thought the situation at Bembridge so serious that he sent de Tais off to Bembridge to take charge there. When the General arrived at Bembridge he must have realised that his whole plan was in ruins, and the French army and fleet in actual danger. French soldiers had landed on the Bembridge Peninsula, had been ambushed, and were involved in confused, quite large scale, fighting in the very face of the main English army. It took General de Tais the rest of the day to withdraw his men, and by then he must have known that his plan had miscarried and that all hope of a rapid march inland was over.

 

Meanwhile, the English Commander at St. Boniface Down must have felt satisfied that he had carried out his orders. The French had still not reached the top of the Down and the Newport Road remained blocked.

 

This was really the end of the French attacks. In the evening the French Admiral called a conference at which various plans were discussed and next morning, Wednesday, July 22nd, the conference was renewed. It was finally decided to withdraw and no doubt the French re-embarked from St. Helens (already they had been driven out of Sandown). The French may have continued to hang on to a beach-head at Bembridge for a short while longer. General de Tais and the Admiral returned to Bonchurch, both remaining on board ship.

*He would have learned of the Bembridge landings either from a message carried in a boat, or else by hearing gunfire from Bembridge.

 

Martin du Bellay continues "Meanwhile the galleys took in water. The spot they found most handy for filling the casks was a place at the foot of a hill, opposite Havre de Grace. Having arrived there, Chevalier D'Aux, a Provencal Captain of the galleys, not to be stopped from getting fresh water by fear lest his men should be attacked at a disadvantage while thus occupied, landed to set a guard, and having no confidence in his convict-master, placed him with a band of men who had followed him on leaving his galley, and climbed to the top of a hill to overlook them the better. Here he fell into an ambuscade of Englishmen, who made him run so briskly that his men, having no leisure to reconnoitre, were put to flight and deserted him. At this moment, the Chevalier was struck in the knee by an arrow, which made him stumble and on rising he was struck on the head by a bill, which are the arms of the English, so severely that it beat his morion from his head, when another blow dashed out his brains. While some of the enemy occupied themselves in stripping him of his armour, the rest pursued our men, who did not recover themselves or stop till they got to the shore. On seeing this the Admiral sent the General de Tais to rally them and make them hold out in some neighbouring dwellings so as not to throw in disorder those who were getting the water. On his arrival, a number of good and tried soldiers he had brought with him and others who formed .the escort of the water carriers, formed up and marched straight at the enemy and drove them back to the hill".

Sir John Oglander says: "The Knight De'Aux, landed somewhere in ye South part of ye Island (it is not certainly known, but most likely near Bonchurch) going ashore to take m fresh water but was assailed by us.- His company fled arid he being shot in the knee with an arrow, whereupon some country fellow (I can imagine him rip better) he calling for rarisome, clove his head with a brown bill".

The galleys, with their smaller size and large complement of men, required to take on water frequently. There were 26 galleys and they might have required 40,000 gallons of water for a month's cruise (800 fifty-gallon water casks to be filled).* ^:The casks had to

• This is largely guess work, since we do not know how many galleys took on water or how many men they carried, but they can hardy have required less than 40;000 gallons be floated ashore tied in rafts, filled, sealed and then towed back to the ships. (They would float in sea water). This must have been a slow business, taking at least half a day, and although the exact spot is not known, the French could hardly have gone anywhere than Bonchurch. Shanklin would have been rather close to the English, who would by then have been moving along the coast track from Sandown, and the other springs in the Undercliff West of Ventnor are not (and presumably were not) suitable. Perhaps at first the French drew water from Luccombe and Ventnor as well as from Bonchurch. Such a large operation would require a covering force inland and the French may well have continued to hold the line Newport Road-Old Shanklin Road-Luccombe.

The author suggests that Chevalier D'Aux, a newcomer to Bon­church, was not satisfied that this line was strong enough and he may have assumed that the downs above were not occupied by the English, since no one could be seen there. He may have wished to carry out a reconnaissance or he may have decided to establish a small French post on the top (perhaps near the site of the National Trust Collecting Box) from whence he could watch the English and be in visual touch with his ships. (Whatever he intended to do, he certainly took too small an escort with him). He and his party would have come up from Horseshoe Bay, past Bonchurch Farm (now Undermount) near the Old Church, through White Shute Cottages (near East Dene) up White Shute (from East Dene to East of the Rectory Garden) and the roads above it until they came to the old Shanklin Road near the site of the Bonchurch Letter Box and above the modern Leeson Road. Here there may have been a small French post whose soldiers would have told the Chevalier that no English had been seen on the hill above. Taking a few men with him the Chevalier set off up the spur leading North West to the spot where the National Trust Collecting Box now stands, and he ordered the rest of his men to climb straight up in line and after searching the area to re-join him on the summit. From the beach the climb to the summit would take at least half an hour. The hill is over 700 feet high. A hard climb to make in July, in armour and carrying weapons.

Meanwhile the English on the hill must have seen the galleys all moving towards Bonchurch, then men landing and finally must have seen the Chevalier and his party slowly climbing towards the summit of the hill. To the defenders this must have seemed a clear indica­tion of another French attack; but from a new direction. At once, all available men were collected to drive the French oif the summit. (The position was very similar to that at Bembridge on the previous day, about which Sir John Oglander said "They marched up as high as the top of Bindbridge Down before they were by us set on. We, lying in ambush on the other side, fell on them both with foot and some horses that we had mustered up among the carts").

As soon as the Chevalier D'Aux, quite exhausted, neared the summit, he was greeted by a shower of arrows and suddenly saw Englishmen rushing down towards him. To stand and fight was senseless and he was not a man to surrender. He therefore tried to run back to the French soldiers on the old Shanklin Road, but somewhere on the hill he was slain. (This must have been near the top, because his body remained in English hands and the French did not recover it during their counter-attack). The chase continued down the hill towards Bonchurch and the French soldiers were swept away. Martin du Bellay's account is most detailed, as if he were an eye-witness. He could indeed have watched the whole scene and have noted some of the details from the Admiral's ship, anchored just off Bonchurch, because the distance is less than three quarters of a mile, later supplementing his own observations by the accounts of survivors. To Martin du Bellay the English attackers would seem to rise" as if from ambush arid the figures running and falling on the steep downland slope could clearly be seen-but not perhaps identified. Sir John Oglander is scornful of the Englishman who killed the Chevalier and suggests that he was killed when he was trying to surrender. In fact, the Englishman was simply carrying out the express command of his Sovereign that the French were not to be permitted to establish themselves on the high ground. (On a somewhat lighter note, Brigadier Young points out that the man who killed, the: .Chevalier may .have been an inexperienced soldier. A Regular Soldier, seeing the Knight's escort had been driven off and that he was already wounded, would have hit him with the "blunt end" of his bill and have made him prisoner. The ransom would have been substantial!).

 

The French Admiral had watched the Chevalier climbing the hill and had seen the sudden English attack, and would have realised that things had gone wrong. He at once sent General de Tais ashore with the General's personal escort. Landing in haste in Monks Bay or the inlet now known as Horseshoe Bay the General collected the soldiers forming the escort of the water party on the beach and ran up past the Church and quickly placed his men in White Shute Cottages (now East Dene) in Bonchurch Farm (now Undermount) and perhaps on the rocks above. There would just be time for this before the English arrived, coming down Bonchurch Shute and then down White Shute. The French managed to stop the English and eventually advanced up the hill again, perhaps as far as the Old Shanklin Road.

 

This was almost the end of the Bonchurch fighting. By this time the French may have gone from the rest of the Island and Sir Edward Bellingham was marching hard along the coast route Sandown-Shanklin-Luccombe, and was probably bringing cannon via New-church and Appuldurcombe. Martin du Bellay mentions a fight at the end when thirty Englishmen were killed. This may have been during the re-embarkation at Bembridge, but more probably was at Luccombe or during the final withdrawal down the Newport Road.

 

The French sailed away (and after landing some 1,500 men at Shoreham in Sussex where they were roughly handled by the Militia there) they sailed to Boulogne to aid the French army besieging that town.

Sir Edward Bellingham sent the armour and weapons captured from the French Officers to King Henry, and with it sent also the man who had killed the Chevalier. This man, Sir Edward reported "hath great praise of the gentlemen and soldiers".

The King made peace with France a few months later and it was then, no doubt, that the body of Chevalier D'Aux was re-buried in France. Sir John Oglander says he was buried first at Bonchurch.

NOTES

The Title of this Work. Brigadier Young points out that the fighting at Bonchurch was only a skirmish, not a battle.

Where was the Chevalier killed? There are no clear indications except that it must have been somewhere near Bonchurch. There are good supplies of water at Shanklin, Luccombe, Bonchurch and Ventnor, but Shanklin was too close to the English and the ground there does not fit the description. The flow of water at Luccombe is quite small and there were no "habitations" there. At Ventnor there is a good supply of water and some "habitations" used to be on the cliff above the waterfall, but to climb to the Downs above Ventnor would involve going up a cliff, close to the Newport Road where English soldiers must have been. The Bonchurch neigh­bourhood conforms exactly to the description of Martin du Bellay.

Several modern writers seem to treat the Chevalier's death as a casual minor matter but this can hardly have been the case. Sir Edward Bellingham's report makes much of the incident and he may well have believed that the Chevalier was leading a new attack. The defences of the Isle of Wight had been worked out most carefully and there seems no possibility that the French could have taken on water without a covering party to hold a semi-circle at least 400 yards in radius.

Captain Fischer ? His body was not found nor was his fate ever discovered, although enquiry was made for him in France after the war. Sir John Oglander, who was a great man for personal anec­dotes, says nothing else about him and so it may be assumed that he was not an officer of the Isle of Wight Militia. Probably he was taken prisoner and died and was buried at sea.

Bonchurch. This is a very old fishing village and may once have been a small sea port. The little church dates from Norman times and the Newport Road is ancient.

The Old Shanklin Road. This certainly existed before 1818, be­cause it was cut by the Landslip of that year. It is first seen at Luccombe Chine as a metalled road, as far as "Woodend", where it disappears under the Landslip. It re-appears on the cliffs near the Tower in the Landslip Gardens, and goes on up past the Smug­glers Cafe, crossing the modern road, and over National Trust Land at the back of Leeson Road as a hollow way. It is broken by a landslide behind the Ventnor Junior School, but can be clearly seen entering the National Trust land at the back of St. Boniface Terrace.

White Shute. This was a very rugged and steep road coming up from Bonchurch towards Shanklin. Whitehead mentions it several times.* It followed the entrance drive to East Dene, went on past and above that house and then turned back up the steep hillside above East Dene (where an overgrown track is now visible) as far as the corner of the Rectory Garden, emerging into Bonchurch Shute opposite the Bonchurch Inn.

Place Names, Traditions, relics or grave pits. There seem to be none.

Books Consulted. "The Memoirs of Martin du Bellay" (County Press Extract 1907) (copy in Newport Public Library). Froude's "History of England". The writings of Sir John Oglander. Holin-shed's "Chronicles of England". "Calendar of Letters & Papers. King Henry VIII", Volumes for 1544, 1545 and 1546. "Weapons of the British Soldier" by Bassett. "Castles and Cannon" by O'Neil. "The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight" by "Whitehead. "Drake and the Tudor Navy" volume one by Corbett. Ordnance Survey Maps,

Notes on the French Landings by Mr. Percy G. Stone. (Isle of Wight County Press 1907). (Copies in Newport Public Library).

The style of this account is copied from "Battlefields of England" by Lieutenant Colonel Burne, D.S.O. and Bar.

Acknowledgements

 

In addition to the checking of the text by Brigadier Peter Young, d.s.o., m.c., the author wishes to express thanks to the Newport Library for help in obtaining reference books, to Ventnor Library".

and to Portsmouth Central Library for use of the Cowdry picture, to his wife for reading and correcting proofs and drawing plans, to Father S. F. Hockey, o.s..b., b.a., Captain G. E. C. Barton, Mr. R. Dukesill Moore, Major Oglander and to the Ordnance Survey and to the University of London Institute of Historical Research, and to Carisbrooke Castle Museum.

 

Appendix II

The Tollemache Family.

 

The third Earl of Dysart, Lionel Tollemache, 1649-1727, a son by his mother's first marriage, married Grace Wilbraham, an heiress. He owned three large estates Helmingham, Harrington and Woodhey in Cheshire. He died in 1727.and Grace died 1740. He inherited Ham House on the death of his mother.

 

Sir Robert Worsley, the fourth baronet of Appuldurcombe, 1667-1747, married Lady Frances Thynne and they had three children, Robert, Thynne and Frances. Robert died in 1714. Thynne married Maria Wither and they were childless. Frances Worsley, 1693-1743^. ₁, married Lord Carteret.(his first wife ) .She was the mother of Frances Carteret, who became the wife of the Earl Granville

 

Lionel, the fourth Earl of Dysart 1708-1770, ₂ inherited from his grandfather married Grace Carteret 1713- 1755. ₃ (Frances Carteret's daughter) 1729., and it is this marriage that gives a family connection to the Worsleys.

 

Lionel, the fifth Earl, 1708-70, ₄ died childless in 1799 in spite of 2 marriages, 1.) Walpole's niece, Charlotte ₅ Walpole 1738-89 and 2.) Magdalena Lewis, d. 1823.

 

 

 

Young Wilbraham Tollemache.

 

Lionel's brother, Wilbraham Tollemache, 1739- 1821 became the 6^th.Earl. He married Anna Maria Lewis 1745-1804 and he died childless.

 

The family relationship between the Worsley and Tollemache families on the Island..

 

In 1768 Sir Richard Worsley, 1751-1805 inherited Appuldurcombe and its estate. He lived at Appuldurcombe House, his mansion built by Sir Robert Worsley in 1701, on the site of an earlier Tudor house, and at the centre of the deer park designed by 'Capability Brown' in 1781. After an unhappy lawsuit in 1782 involving his wife Frances Neville and a neighbour Captain Bisset, of Knighton, in 'Criminal Connection', which was an expression at the time, used for adultery. Sir Richard won his case but was awarded pitiful costs .Sir Richard left the Court and spent five years in the Eastern Mediterranean, where he collected his Greco-Roman marbles, a collection of antique gems and many fine paintings purchased from Italian and French noblemen. On his return the house became more of a museum. The magnificent ruin of the house,  Freemantle Gate and  Lodge on the driveway towards Newport are still worth a visit, but the mock ruin known as Cook's Castle, designed by Brown to improve the view on the summit of the down across the valley has gone. In 1774 an obelisk was placed on the down north of the house as a memorial to Sir Robert Worsley.

 

Sir Richard moved to his Marine Villa also called 'Sea Cottage', built in 1794, in the parish of St Lawrence and at the southern end of his Manor of Appuldurcombe and his neighbour to the east was Wilbraham Tollemache.

 

The Parish of Godshill and the Manors of Rew and Appuldurcombe reached the sea at Steephill in the Undercliff of the Isle of Wight. It was here that Sir Hans Stanley, during his first period as Governor of the Isle of Wight, between 1764 and 1768, built a 'thatched cottage', which appears on a print in Worsley's History and prints by Brannon . He was a grandson of Sir Hans Sloane, ₈ who was a founder of the British Museum. The cottage was situated on the land known as Barkham`s Farm. The old farm buildings were on the south of the present road at the site of Flowers Brook and the cottage was north of the road. After he died in 1780, his sisters, Lady Mendip and Mrs Doyley, gave it to their nephew, Hans Sloane, who was M.P. for Newport. He sold it to the Hon. Wilbraham Tollemache, later the 6th. Earl of Dysart

 

Sir Richard Worsley in 1781 p.221 says that Stanley's sisters "have lately sold Steephill Cottage to the Honourable Wilbraham Tollemache of Calverley Hall in the County of Chester." Wilbraham spent most of his time at Helmingham until his wife died in 1804. He was described by the diarist, Joseph Farringdon, as  "a very shy man" who "comes into a room sideways or almost backwards" He was a patron of Reynolds and Gainsborough and had an antiquarian spirit Wilbraham's younger brother, Captain, the Hon John Tollemache, 1744-77 had died at sea and John's son, Lionel Robert, died at the siege of Valenciennes in 1793, thus ending the male line..

 

Wilbraham who died in 1821 was therefore succeeded by his sister, Louisa Manners, 1745-1840.₆ who became the Countess of Dysart in her own right. She sold the Steephill estate to Mr Hambrough, in 1828 and he demolished the cottage and built Steephill Castle between 1828 and 1832.

 

_{1. Frances Lady Worsley's painting attributed to Charles d'Agar. 1669- 1723. Picture in withdrawing room at Ham House. There is a Mezzotint by John Simon in the National Portrait Gallery. N.P.G D 2481.}

_{2. Painting of The 4th Earl in the Great Hall at Ham House by John Vanderbank.}

_{3.  Painting of Grace Carteret in the Great Hall at Ham House by John Vanderbank.}

_{4. The 4th.Earl's father was Lionel Tollemache, Viscount Hunting tower,  1682-1712.}

_{5. Painting iof Charlotte Walpole in the Great Hall at Ham House by Sir Joshua Reynolds}

_{6...Painting of Louisa Manners in the Great Hall at Ham House after a Reynolds original now in  the Iveagh Bequest}

_{7.  Painting in Great Hall at Ham House, after Reynolds Original now in Iveagh Bequest at Kenwood.}

_8. Sir Hans Sloane, 1660- 1753. Studied in London, Montpelier and Paris. M.D. Orange 1683. Lived at Thomas Sydenham's house and was encouraged by him to practise. Physician to the Duke of Albemarle, Governor of Jamaica 1687-9.  Secretary of the Royal Society 1683- 1713 President of the Royal Society 1727- 35.to succeed Newton.  P.R.C.P. 1719-35 Purchased the manor of Chelsea 1712. Founded the Botanic Garden at Chelsea.1721 He attended Queen Anne in 1712.

Physician to King George II.  First Baronet. 1716 His collections were purchased for the Nation and housed at Montague House, which became the British Museum.

 

Appendix III

 

THE GRAVE OF JOHN STERLING AT BONCHURCH.

 

From °The Life of John Sterling by Thomas Carlyle (1851)."

"Essays and Tales, by John Sterling, collected and    edited, with a memoir of his life, by Julius Charles Hare, M. A.., Rector of Herstmonceux," 1848.

 

THE grave of John Sterling at Bonchurch is in truth one of the notable spots in the Isle of Wight-the place where rest the remains of him of whom his friend and biographer, Thomas Carlyle, writes-" The noble Sterling, a radiant child of the empyrean, clad in bright auroral hues in the memory of all who knew him."

 

Shelley, writing of the Protestant Cemetery at Rome, says, "It makes one in love with death to think one should be buried in so sweet a place," and his words have been well applied to the old churchyard at Bonchurch. And here is the grave of John Sterling, but amongst residents or visitors how few know it, and fewer still, we fear, have formed an adequate estimate of the great endowments of the man whose mortal part is here entombed. "No storied urn or animated bust" marks the place of his sepulture (sepulchre). A plain head­stone bears the following brief record " John Sterling, Died at Ventnor, 18th September, 1844, aged 38."

 

There is no heaving of the turf over the "narrow cell," but covering it is a flat stone slab, with "John Sterling" deep-cut upon it, and  at the head the bay and the myrtle flourish ever green, like the memory of him who sleeps there. The grave is at the end of the churchyard, on the south side: a quiet and sequestered spot, envi­roned by the scenes for which this charming corner of the Island is famed.

 

Anear is the Landslip which, when visited by the writer, had burst into a beauty of violet and primrose tints, and was redolent of the most fragrant essences of Spring. The birds made melody in the budding bowers, and mingling `with their music were "the eternal symphonies of ocean." For Sterling's resting place is within sight of the sea, and within sound of its waves as they break and blanch on the shore, and echo the Laureate's longing

"For the touch of a vanish'd hand,

And the sound of a voice that is still."

 

Here, years ago, sat Thomas Carlyle, pondering over the past, and picturing the "brilliant human presence" whom he "lovingly walked with while the years and the hours were," but who was now gone from him forevermore, "honourably released from his toils before the hottest of the day." As of old, the flowers bloomed, and the birds sang, and the "billowy anthems" resounded along the shore, and the "stately ships" glided on to faraway havens ; but "the tender grace of a clay that is dead" comes not back. "Why write the life of Sterling?" was the question which his illustrious biographer here put to himself, and imagining that he "had a commission higher than the world's, the dictate of Nature herself," he decided "to fling down on paper" some outline of what his recollections and reflections contained in reference to "this most friendly, bright, and beautiful human soul," who, adds Mr. Carlyle, "walked with me for a season in this world, and remains to me very memorable while I continue in it."

 

John Sterling numbered among his friends such men as : Mill, Carlyle, Trench, Buller, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Maurice, Francis Newman, Thackeray, Professor Wilson, R. M. Milnes. To have gained friendships like these lie must have possessed high and splendid qualities, and have made noble use of them, and in review­ing his short and chequered career, and asking what was the outcome of all Sterling's brilliant gifts and restless energies, we must remember that in itself it is no small thing to have won the admiration and affection of so distinguished a circle. His life was not a success in the way of wide and general reputation. "All that remains, in palpable shape, of John Sterling's activities in this world," says Mr. Carlyle, "are two poor volumes; scattered fragments gathered from the general waste of forgotten ephemera by the piety of a friend." He may have made but little impression upon the public, but his life and genius stamped themselves into the heart and invigorated the minds of men whose reputations are immortal. Sterling's life would not have been lived in vain had he written and published even less than he did, for his society, his correspondence, and his very existence exerted a moral and intellectual influence whose value it is impossible to over estimate. Sterling was born at Kames Castle, in the Isle of Bute, on the 20th July, 1806, and the first eight years of his life were passed there and in Glamorganshire. From his birth he was a very delicate child, reared with much difficulty by his mother's devoted care. In his eleventh year he made his first attempt at literature, and wrote, after a version of his own, and for the amusement of a younger brother, the story of "Valentine and Orson." "Self­ forgetting energy and impetuosity" distinguished him from his childhood. " To be foremost in the hour of risk, to shrink from no difficulty, from no labour, up to his utmost strength, and even beyond it, by which a friend could be served, or good done, was ever his principle and his practice."

 

 

Sterling, we are told, was of rather slim but well-boned wiry figure, perhaps an inch or two from six feet in height ; of blonde complexion, without colour, yet not pale or sickly; dark blonde hair, copious enough, which lie usually wore short. Alacrity, velocity, joyous ardour, dwelt in his eyes, which were of brownish  gray, full of bright kindly life, rapid and frank. His head was long ; high over the vertex, and of fair breadth. His voice was of the "good tenor sort," rapid and distinct.

 

In the autumn of 1824 he went to Cambridge, where his bright and genial intellect and unselfish generous nature soon attracted many friends. At the Union Debating Society lie was the acknow­ledged chief of men who have made their mark in the world. He had a marvellous gift of natural eloquence, and "in any arena where speech and argument was the point" be bore the bell from all competitors. In carrying on a discussion there were few to be compared with him. In addition to a rich command of language and illustration, he had the rare power of completely mastering his subject. "At times" says Mr. Hare, "he would maintain a contest against half a dozen antagonists at once, holding the reins of four or six in hand without letting them get entangled, answering all in turn, and having a sufficient answer for each." Given such qualities and we are inclined to say this of all men will be a successful man.

Genius, culture, brilliant talking power, singularly clear and penetrating insight, what more can be required?

 

Sterling's first intention seems to have been that of taking a degree in law, and with this object lie followed his friend Maurice into Trinity Hall, Cambridge. But this purpose, if ever seriously entertained, was soon relinquished, and the question of what to do in the world was staring him in the face and demanding its answer. "Of the three learned professions none offered any lifelihood" for him. He had shocked his clerical hearers at the Union debates by asking in his rash way " Has she (the church) not a black dragoon in every parish, on good pay and rations?" Law he had just renounced, and for medicine he had no enthusiasm. "The profes­sions," says one of his biographers, "require slow steady pulling, to which this individual young radical, with his swift, far-darting brilliances, and nomadic desultory ways, is of all. men the most averse and unfitted."

 

With his gifts of talk, public life would seem to have been the true field for Sterling, and it is easy to imagine what a figure lie would have made for himself in the House, where good speaking and brilliant elocution rarely fail of their mark. But he had not the physical strength for such a life, and, perhaps, we also look in vain for the steady diligence which in that career, as in all others, is indispensable to success. So Sterling chooses literature, and buys the copyright of the Athenæum, and with Maurice by his side, spreads sail on this new adventure. This was at the end of 1828. Many of Sterling's contributions to the Athenæum are well known. They were bright and attractive, and soon brought the paper into repute. But "money is the sinews of periodical literature," and the Athenæum was not likely to be a commercial success under the highly uncommercial management it had got into, and so in spite of the high aims and earnest execution of its editors, the paper soon changed hands.

 

If the Athenæum did nothing else for Sterling, it brought him into the thick -of London literature. His father had long been a favoured contributor to the Times, and was at this date "in lucrative co-proprietorship." Sterling now had lodgings in Regent Street, whither flocked during the short period of his connection with the Athenæum a miscellaneous collection of literary men, some of whom have made themselves great names in the world. Sterling was a first favourite with them all, open hearted, bright, sincere, "rich in cheerful fancies," and brimming over with energy and activity. " It was impossible to come into contact with his noble nature," says Trench, "without feeling oneself in some measure ennobled.." Many of his friends first learnt front him what their own endowments were, and the proper use to make of them. What evenings they must have been in Regent Street when the circle was complete, Sterling the light, life, and inspiration of them all. In 1828 he paid a flying visit to the Lake country, and first saw Wordsworth, and about the same time he visited Coleridge at Highgate. His letters to his brother about this date are very loud in praise of "Fanny Kemble." She is the "divine Fanny." He " hated the stage," and but for his enthusiasm for Miss Kemble, would rarely have been seen at a theatre. Mr. Carlyle says " Ster­ling much admired her genius ; nay at one time was thought to be vaguely on the edge of still more chivalrous feelings.

 

Sterling had a deep sympathy with the errors, faults, and even the sins of mankind, and this feeling may be traced through all his writings. "He yearned with passionate intensity" to improve the condition and emancipate the minds of men, and but for the languor occasioned by the encroachments of disease, he would have devoted himself with unequalled energy and zeal to the great cause of humanity. He was enthusiastic in the service of the downtrodden, and ever ready to lead a chivalrous crusade against wrong and oppression. In the Athenæum he pleaded the cause of freedom with great earnestness and eloquence.

 

About this time his visits to Highgate became frequent, and he was soon completely under the spell of Coleridge, taken captive by his marvellous eloquence. Sterling assiduously attended him with profound reverence, and was often alone with him. In writing of one visit to Coleridge, he says "our interview lasted for three hours, during which he talked two and three quarters."

 

`' No talk in his century or in any other could be more surprising," says Mr. Carlyle, but adds that "to sit as a passive bucket and be pumped into, whether you consent or not, can in the long-run be exhilarating to no creature; how eloquent severe the flood of utter­ance that is descending." What was the influence of such "tall." upon Sterling we have little means of accurately judging, but that it was for the time momentous cannot be doubted.

 

The one tragic incident of Sterling's life occurred at this time. He became intimate with General Torrijos, who was at the head of a few Spaniards, political refugees, who had sought shelter in Lon­don, and were maturing some Utopian scheme for the regeneration of their unhappy country. Torrijos was a man of culture and intrepidity, and he soon became the centre to which Sterling's many high and generous qualities were attracted. He helped the refugees with tongue and purse, and very largely assisted them in the at­tempted execution of their long brooded-over plans. A ship was hired and furnished for the adventure in the Spring of 1830. A naval friend of Sterling's caught his infatuation, and enlisted himself and his fortune in the enterprise. Adding to this the no inconsider­able funds obtained by the zeal and energy of Sterling and his friends, a substantial sum was got together. The ship was fast getting ready, and Sterling, in spite of the ominous state of his health at this time, seems actually to have determined upon accom­panying the adventurers. But better counsels prevailed. He went to take leave of Miss Barton. "' You are going, then, to Spain? To rough it amid the storms of war and perilous insurrection ; and that weak health of yours ; and we shall never see you more, then!"  Miss Barton, all her gaiety gone, the dimpling softness become liquid sorrow, and the musical ringing voice one wail of woe, burst into tears:-here was one possibility about to be strangled that made unexpected noise !  Sterling's interview ended in the offer of his hand, and the acceptance of it; - any sacrifice to get rid of this horrid Spanish business, and save the health and life of a gifted young man so precious to the world and to another! "

 

Sterling's actual presence was not at all vital to the undertaking, however, and the preparations went briskly on. " Sterling, superin­tending the naval hands on board the ship in the Thames, was to see the last finish given to everything in that department ; then, on the set evening, to drop down quietly to Deal, and there say 'Andad con Dio's,' and return. Behold! Just before the set evening came, the Spanish Envoy at this Court has got notice of what is going on ; the Spanish Envoy, and of course the British Foreign Secretary, and of course also the Thames Police. Armed men spring suddenly on board, one day, while Sterling is there ; declare the ship seized in the king's name ; nobody on board to stir till he has given some account of himself in due time and place ! Huge consternation, naturally, front stem to stern. Sterling, whose presence of mind seldom forsook him, casts his eye over the river and its craft ; sees a wherry, privately signals it : 'stop!' fiercely interjects the marine policeman from the ship's deck.-' Why stop? What use have you for me, or I for you?' and the oars begin plying

 

Stop, or I'll shoot you!' cries the marine policeman, drawing a pistol-"No, you won't", " I will"-"!If you do you'll be hanged at the next Maidstone assizes, then ; that's all,"-and Sterling's wherry shot rapidly ashore ; and out of this perilous adventure."

 

There was, of course, great confusion in the Torrijos camp, "but they got shipping as private passengers in one craft or another ; and by degrees or at once, arrived all at Gibraltar,- Boyd  (Sterling's naval friend), one or two young democrats of Regent Street, the 50 picked Spaniards, and Torrijos safe, though without arms." The whole thing was a catastrophe. Neither the "soldiery nor citizenry" showed the least inclination to join the patriotic band, and dis­appointed and disheartened they set off in two small vessels­ Torrijos and 55 companions-for Malaga. But they could not reach their destination, and ran ashore at Fuengirola, where they were soon surrounded and captured. They were all shot- British subjects and Spaniards alike- at a military execution, and Sterling, writing some time afterwards to his brother, says " I hear the sound of that musketry ; it is as if the bullets were tearing my own brain."

 

Sterling was married at Christchurch, Marylebone, 2nd Nov., 1830, and a few weeks after his marriage he fell dangerously ill, the many agitations of the last few months having completely broken him down. An uncle of his mother's had property-a valuable sugar estate-in St. Vincent. This property was worth some £10,000 a year, and a share of it would in due time come to Sterling. The warm climate of the Island was recommended as favourable to pulmonary complaints, and the property needing personal supervision, Sterling was induced to undertake its manage­ment. He had not been long at St. Vincent when the sad news of the tragic ending of the Torrijos adventure reached him. It seems to have taken such entire possession of his mind that he could think of nothing else, and he loaded himself with most unmerited self-­reproach, as though he ought to have shared the dangers and the fate of the conspirators. His letters from the West Indies now begin to reveal earnest religious study. He makes a fresh brave attempt to find in a new direction work to do in the world. A longing to be back to England again takes possession of him, and he returns home after about fifteen months' stay in the Island.

 

During his connection with the Athenæum he had commenced "Arthur Coningsby," and on his return home lie finished it, and sent it to the press. Sterling now went with his family to Germany, and in June, 1833, fell in with his old tutor and friend, Hare. It was during this renewal of an old friendship that Sterling resolved to enter the church. On returning to England lie was ordained at Chichester on Trinity Sunday in 1834, and commenced the duties of his curacy in "quiet Herstmonceux." In June, 1834, lie dates as installed at Herstmonceux, and `at once throws- all his heart and soul into the work. The man was not lost in the priest. "He was continually devising some fresh scheme for improving the condition of the parish. In visiting the people lie was diligent in all weathers, to the risk of his own health, which was greatly impaired thereby; and his gentleness and considerate care for the sick won their affection." His rector, Mr. Hare, touchingly says: "Of what it was to me personally to have such a fallow-labourer, to live con­stantly in the freest communion with such a friend, I cannot speak. Almost daily did I look out at his usual hour for coming to me, and watch his tall slender form walking rapidly across the hill in front of my window, with the assurance that lie was coming to cheer and brighten, to rouse and stir me, to call me up to some height of feeling, or down into some depth of thought. And time after tune has it seemed to me that his visit had been like a shower of rain, bringing down freshness and brightness on a dusty roadside hedge."

 

He responded to every impulse of Nature or of Art. He scorned all meannesses, all false pretences, and mere conventional beliefs. He was ever pushing on with unflagging resolve to some unattained point of duty or of knowledge, and his devotion to his work was unremitting and untiring. His official connection with Herst­monceux lasted only eight months. His "rest was not here," and driven by ill-health, among other things, we find him once again on the march. he goes to London in February, 1834, to consult with physicians, to consult also with himself and his friends, and the outcome of all is that lie writes to his rector in a tone of sorrow­ful agitation, and gives up his clerical duties. "It is," says Mr. Carlyle, "in the history of such vehement, trenchant, far-shining and volatile souls, missioned into this epoch to seek their way there, that we best see what a confused epoch it is." His later biographer says that the Coleridge cast of thought was very visible in Sterling in these days. He speaks of his theologic thunders," and describes the first sermon he ever heard him preach as "far surpassing in talent the usual run of sermons," but complains that you might have fired a musket through the city church in almost any direction, "and hit no Christian life."

Sterling settled, permanently for him, in Bayswater in the autumn of 1835, near his father's place. His

again is the one outlet for his ever restless activities. His work is still theological: "evidences, counter evi­dences, theologies, and rumours of theologies," says Mr. Carlyle, impatiently.

 

He is again on the move in search of health, and in August, 1836, goes with his family to the South of France. His letters from Bordeaux are full of projects. He is reading Goethe, "scheming tragedies and novels," and his thoughts are running more on History and Poetry than on Theology and Philosophy. His best hours now were devoted to purely literary occupations, and lie seemed to have found the goal at which he ought to aim. After about a year at Bordeaux we find him again in England, living in a little cottage on Blackheath. He is writing for Blackwood, and writing with all his accustomed ardour, when ill health drives him away again, this time to Madeira. But lie still keeps up his connection with Black­wood, and his contributions to that periodical call forth the loud and generous praise of its distinguished Editor, Professor North, whose warm appreciation kindles a new life and energy in Sterling.

 

He returned to England again in 1838, taking a place at Hastings, and from here he wrote his first paper for The London and Westminster Review, which was now under Mill's charge. He was often running up to London, and about this time started the idea of a Club, "where monthly, over a frugal dinner, some reunion might take place." Among its first members were Carlyle, Allan Cunningham, G. C. Lewis, Lord Lyttleton, J. S. Mill, R. M. Milnes, WV. F. Pollock, Tennyson, Thirlwall, and many other distinguished men.

 

But in the autumn of 1838 Sterling had again to seek a more congenial climate, and he set out for Rome. He writes some of his charming letters from Italy, and sends home tales for his little ones. He had set his heart upon going to Naples, but was prevented by bad news from home which called him back, and he reached Hastings about the middle of April, and found his household sorrowing over the loss of a few-days-old infant. In the summer of 1839 we find him moving from Hastings and taking a house at Clifton, altogether in better health and spirits, but hardly six months were gone when his old enemy again overtook him, and he was once more driven abroad for the winter. At Clifton he wrote the article on Carlyle which appeared in Blackwood, and gave such "deep silent joy" to its world-famous subject. After this Sterling with his family settled for a while at Falmouth, and there made the acquaintance of Pro­fessor Owen, who was attending the British Association meetings. Sterling gave an address before the Association, and was well pleased at the commendations of Owen, Conybeare, and others. He says 'I got on in famous style ; and lead both pit and galleries all applauding in a way that had no precedent during any other part of the meeting. Conybeare paid me high compliments; Owen looked much pleased,- an honour well purchased by a year's hard work ­and every body in short seemed delighted. After so many years' disuse of rhetoric, it was a pleasant surprise to myself to find that I could still handle the old weapons without awkwardness."

 

The bleak Spring of 1842 again hurried him abroad, this tune to Naples, which place he bad missed in his first trip to Italy. Italy fills him with "childish wonder and delight." He returns home in about two months through Paris, and spends a couple of weeks in London. He there met Lockhart of the Quarterly Review, and saw Mill two or three times. "We met," he says, "with all the openness and freshness of school-boy friends." Sterling at this time is busier than ever, "occupied continually with all manner of Poetic Interests." In the beginning of 1843, when assisting to lift a heavy table, he broke a blood vessel, and about the same time his mother was seized by a painful disease. Sterling in some degree recovered strength, but his mother became worse, and exquisitely tender, grandly hopeful, is his last letter to her. It is dated 12th of April, 1843, and, says the son to the mother, in this communication which closes their loving intercourse on earth: "When I think of you, and know how you feel towards me, and have felt for every moment of almost forty years, it would be too dark to believe that we shall never meet again. It was from you that I first learnt to think, to feel, to imagine, to believe; and these powers, which cannot be extinguished, will one clay enter anew into communion with you." His wife was now near her confinement, and on Good Friday, 1843, she appeared to have got happily through it, but on the Tuesday following she died, just two hours after the tidings of his mother's death had reached him.

 

"Sterling has lost much in these two hours," says Mr. Carlyle. ` Twice in one morning, so to speak, has a mighty wind smitten the corners of his house; and much lies in dismal ruins round him." He had six children left to his charge, two of them infants. And now, in June, 1843, he settles at Ventnor with his children. "The heart is gone out of my life," he says, but still he goes bravely on, trying to be a mother as well as a father to his little ones, till in April, 1844, he broke another blood vessel, and was prostrated in the illness from which he never rose.

 

In his "Travels of Theodore Elbert" he speaks admiringly of Bonchurch,-" the best possible earthly fairyland, combining all the varied and fanciful beauty of enchantment, with the highest degree of domestic comfortable reality." "You meet perpetually with valleys running down to the beach, filled with the swelling forms and rich verdure of thick wood, through which the brown thatched roof of a cottage rises every now and then, exciting long trains of associations and sympathies."

 

"The cliffs with many a various-tinted scar,

The sea with isles of broad and purple shade,

The trees that in their strength so graceful are,

The weeds that wreathe each rock with gorgeous braid

The skies in blue transparent light arrayed,

The cloud that moves as slowly as a star,

In loveliness and joy they all are made.".

 

At an early period of his illness all visitors but his brother and the Maurices were excluded. "He still rose from bed ; had still some portion of his day which he could spend in his Library." To his eldest boy (now Mr. Newman's ward) for eight or nine weeks he wrote, almost daily, "letters which give beyond any he had written, a noble image of the intrinsic Sterling."

 

The end was drawing awfully near, and on the 10th of August, 1844, he writes his last letter of "Remembrance and Farewell" to, his friend Carlyle. "I tread the common road into the great dark­ness, without any thought of fear, and with very much of hope. With regard to you and me I cannot begin to write ; having nothing for it but to keep shut the lid of those secrets with all the iron weights that are in my power. Towards me it is still more true than towards England that no man has been and done like you. Heaven bless, you! If  I can lend a hand when THERE, that will not be wanting."

 

On the evening of Wednesday the 18th of September, 1844, the end came, "and all those struggles and strenuous often-foiled endea­vours of eight and thirty years lay hushed in death." "A tragic history, as all histories are ; yet a gallant, brave and noble one, as not many are," says his biographer, "and so he played his part among us, and has now ended it, and sleeps in the little burying-ground at Bonchurch ; bright, ever-young in the memory of others that must grow old."

 

Observing the somewhat neglected condition of Sterling's grave, the writer remarked upon the fact to the sexton, who replied that it "did want looking after," and "if the stone wasn't kept clean the letters would have to be re-cut," but "he hadn't received anything for years, and though Mr. Sterling was buried just before his (the sexton's) time, he had heard of him, and would tend to the grave if he got anything for it." Sentiment is not substantial enough for the remuneration of a sexton.

 

There are those still living who belonged to the club which Sterling founded in 1838, and which was awhile known by his name. Mill, Allan Cunningham, Hare, George Cornewall Lewis, and the Lord Lyttleton of that time are gone ; Maurice, Forster, James White, and other personal friends have also passed away ; but some illustrious men whose names were often on the lips of John Sterling happily remain with us, and to them, and to the thousands who know and love him in the pages of Carlyle and Hare, the sacred place where lie reposes may confidently plead for the reverent, affec­tionate care which is its due. No ordinary man was he whose body sleeps here. "He was" says Mr. Carlyle, in a grand personal tribute to the memory of his friend, "he was a man of perfect veracity in thought, word, and deed, of infinite susceptivity; who caught everywhere, more than others, the colour of the element lie lived in, the infection of all that was honourable, and beautiful, and manful in the tendencies of his Time, and whose history therefore is, beyond others, emblematic of that of his Time."

 

From The Island Quarterly. Vol.  1 1877-8,  p. 3-14

 

₁ Sir Richard Worsley. History of the Isle of Wight.

₂. Percy Stone. French landings on the IOW.  Isle of  Wight County Press. 1907.

₃. CT Witherby. The Battle of Bonchurch 1962.

He quotes i.e. the primary source. 'Du Bellay, Martin, sieur de Langey. Mémoires de Martin   et Guillaume du Bellay. Edited by V. L. Bourrilly and F. Vindry. 4 volumes. Paris: Société de l'histoire de France, 1908-19.

₄. Old John Green . The Memoirs of Old John Green. The Isle of Wight   Mercury, June and

 

July 1890 and also reprinted in  Champion Alan. 'I Remember, I Remember" 1989.

 

₅. Thomas Carlyle. The Life of John Sterling 1851.

₆ . The Grave of Sterling. The Island Quarterly. Vol.  1 1877-8,  p. 3-14.

₇.  Julius Charles Hare, M. A.. Rector of Herstmonceux,".,    Essays and Tales, by John Sterling, collected and edited, with a memoir of his life, 1848.

₈Whitehead. The Undercliff of the IOW p.116 1912

₉ Personal communication from Mr John and Rosemary Monks, Percy's grand daughter,(of East Grinstead,) to the Harts in 2007….

_{10   General Don. He later was appointed to inspect the defences of Jersey where an impressive statue was erected in his honour.}

_{General Don. Statue in Jersey.}

Some more references needing editing.

1 Worsley, Sir Richard. The History of the Isle of Wight.

2 Brannon, George.  Views in the Isle of Wight 1822-

3. Sir Hans Sloane, 1660- 1753. Studied in London, Montpelier and Paris. M.D. Orange 1683. Lived at Thomas Sydenham's house and was encouraged by him to practise. Physician to the Duke of Albemarle, Governor of Jamaica 1687-9.  Secretary of the Royal Society 1683- 1713 President of the Royal Society 1727- 35.to succeed Newton.  P.R.C.P. 1719-35 Purchased the manor of Chelsea 1712. Founded the Botanic Garden at Chelsea.1721 He attended Queen Anne in 1712.

Physician to King George II.  First Baronet. 1716 His collections were purchased for the Nation and housed at Montague House, which became the British Museum.

5 Gilpin, William. Observations on the Western parts of England relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty 1798. p.309

6. Black, Sir Frederick. A Parliamentary History of the Isle of Wight. 1929..

7. Wyndham, J.P. A Picture of the Isle of Wight. 1794

9. Hassell, J. Tour of the Isle