Wellington Chair

I notice that Taylor and Fletcher auctioneers have the ‘Wellington Chair’ up for auction on March 1. According to the Daily Mail the chair could fetch up to £8,000!  whilst an ‘expert’ in a local paper put an estimate on it as high as £20,000.

And this struck a chord with me, as many years ago I remember seeing such a chair at Belvoir Castle. So, I wondered, just how many pieces of furniture were actually made from the famous Elm tree that stood at ‘Wellington’s Crossroads’ on the battlefield of Waterloo? I did a quick bit of research and found an article by A.E. Gunther in the September 1977 bulletin of the British Museum, whereby it seems that in the autumn of 1818 a gentlemen by the name of John George Children purchased the tree from the Belgian farmer on whose land it had stood. Children shipped it back to England and commissioned Chippendale the Younger to make “various items of furniture out of its timber”. Three chairs were made and one, known as the ‘Wellington Chair’ was presented to King George IV and Gunther asserts that this was still to be found in the Royal Collections at St James Palace in 1967. The second chair was presented to the Duke of Wellington and according to the Daily Mail  in 2008 still resides in his private apartments at Apsley House. The third chair was last known to be in the possession of the Duke of Rutland, and I personally saw this chair at Belvoir castle about 10 years ago and indeed the Duchess of Rultand confirms its presence in her book on the castle that was published in 2009.

As the location of all three chairs has been established as late as 1967, the recent auction story in the Daily Mail asserting that the ‘Wellington Chair’ for auction was purchased by its vendor in the 1950s raises the eyebrows somewhat, especially given the values concerned. So was A.E. Gunther, who was a prominent historian at the British Museum (and incidentally, or coincidentally, J G Children was Assistant Keeper at the Natural History Museum), incorrect in stating that there were only three chairs made from the Elm Tree?

The auctioneers state that they found some provenance from an article in a 1936 edition of the Gentlemen’s Magazine, and yet that august magazine ceased publication in 1922. However my research indicated that volume 156 (p290) of the same magazine published in 1834 corrects hearsay in a book review of ‘Thomas Dykes travel memoirs’ and states that J G Children was the purchaser of the said elm tree and that he did make a chair, but that it was not for sale. So could the chair that is up for auction be of doubtful provenance? A mystery that requires further research, particularly on behalf of the potential purchaser. Certainly a question that I will be asking of eminent historian Professor Jeremy Black who will be accompanying our Waterloo Campaign tour this June.

St Mary’s Collegiate Church, Warwick

Whilst in the Midlands recently, I had an hour or so to spare in Warwick. This town has a wealth of historical places to visit, not least its famous castle. But in the short time I was there I happened across the Collegiate Church of St Mary. And what a pleasant surprise it was. Besides its fine architectural style (it was rebuilt on its Norman foundations after the great fire of Warwick in 1694) and its imposing tower (with its impressive views of the surrounding area and the castle in particular), there are a number of beautiful tombs of some very important characters from the medieval and Tudor periods.

As the church was born out of the benefaction of the Thomas Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, naturally he lies in pride of place in the chancel besides his wife, Katherine Mortimer. He was Marshall of England for 25 years until his death in 1369. He fought beside Edward III at Crecy, the siege of Calais (both 1346) and with the Black Prince at Poitiers (1356).

Inside the Baeuchamp Chapel.

The 13th Earl of Warwick (Richard de Beauchamp) commissioned the construction of the Beauchamp chapel, were he was subsequently laid to rest some years later after his death; his magnificent tomb is made from Purbeck marble and gilded latten. During his life time, the earl was the scourge of the Welsh and the nemesis of Owen Glendower. He also fought with Henry IV against Harry 'Hotspur' at Shrewsbury in 1403.

Also in the chapel can be found the Dudley brothers – Ambrose and Robert; the latter, the 1st Earl of Leicester and suitor of Elizabeth I. Both their tombs are works of art in their own right, the detail of their sculptured effigies being remarkable.

Elsewhere in the church can be found the chapel of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment with many memorial plaques to its former members, Enoch Powell (who is buried in Warwick cemetery, apparently buried in his Brigadier's uniform) and Field Marshall Montgomery included.

Whilst there are a myriad of reasons to visit Warwick (and I will provide more in future editions of this newsletter), if you only have an hour to spare, it would not be wasted at St Mary’s. See the church website for more information.