The Hinckley Volunteer Infantry - 1803.

The Hinckley Volunteer Infantry - 1803.

In 1803 there was a real fear that Napoleon would cross the channel and invade England. This was a very real threat as the French had landed in Ireland in 1796, Wales (Fishguard)  in 1797 and Ireland again in 1798-99. The regular army had been built up, the militia called out and local Fencible Regiments raised. Leicestershire’s Fencible Regiment was raised in November 1794 and disbanded prematurely in 1801-2 as a result of the Peace Treaty of Amiens signed with France in March 1802.

In 1803, the inhabitants of Hinckley subscribed £678 15s. 6d. for the support of the Hinckley Volunteer Infantry, a new volunteer unit raised on 7th September probably to replace the Fencibles. There were 19 such units raised at that time in the county.

The Hinckley Volunteers were commanded by 27 year old Dudley Baxter Esq (from Stoke Golding, 1776 - 1837) as Major-Commandant.  He was later Lt Colonel-Commandant of the 2nd Battalion or West Leicestershire Regiment of Local Militia and Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Leicestershire.

There were four Captains, John Green, Charles Jervis, John Hill and John Derrington, Esqs.
Four Lieutenants, Francis Critchley, James Cooper, Nathaniel Estlin and George Perry, Gents.
And four Ensigns, John Browne, Thomas Needham, John Gutteridge and William Nurse, Gents.
So the Volunteers were a unit made up of four Companies. In theory the unit could have been up to 400 strong, (the population of Hinckley was 5200 in 1801).
 

The figure shows the uniform of the volunteers. The facing colours (collar and cuffs) are white as per the Leicestershire Regiment.

Such was the fear of Napoleon’s threatened invasion of Britain that in 1804 480,000 men (nearly 1 in 5 of the able bodied men) were in uniform. It was not until Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar that the threat was removed once and for all and only after Waterloo could the country return to normal and all the Militias and Volunteers stood down.

A Princess in Hinckley.

Part 1 Her Arrival.

April 25th 1814. 212 years ago today.

Think of this as a scene from a Jane Austen drama. A smart carriage with a ‘B’ emblazoned on the door and with outriders accompanying it, trots through Hinckley Market Place and turns up Castle Street. Inside is a girl aged 15 and her mother, who looks worried as her daughter is ill. She wants her daughter to see the best Doctor in the country. And the best is in Hinckley, Dr Chessher.

The girl in the carriage is Princess Christine Egypte Bonaparte - yes Bonaparte - niece to the Emperor Napoleon. And the reason they have outriders is because they are prisoners of war.

Her father Lucian had fallen out with his brother Napoleon when he crowned himself Emperor and moved his family to Rome under the protection of the Pope.  He then tried to escape to America with his family in August 1810. He had hired an American ship that could take 40 people, his family of eight children and all their staff. They were not long at sea before they were captured by the Royal Navy and taken first to Malta and then England in December.  

Part 2 Her Stay.

So that is why the whole family were prisoners of war. They had spent nearly four years in prison and some prison it was! Thorngrove House near Worcester. A mansion with 50 apartments (not rooms - apartments!) and a 130 acre estate. During this time Christine had started to show symptoms of developing curvature of the spine. Hence the need to see Dr Chessher.

She spent 14 months in Hinckley, but I cannot find out where she stayed. All the family were Catholics so it is possible she stayed with the Priest. The White Fathers had founded a small chapel in Hinckley in 1767 and a small priory in1814.

Dr Chessher was also treating the future Prime Minister George Canning’s son and took him to Sapcote Spa for part of his treatment so she may well have gone there too.

Robert Chessher was the first British Orthopedist and invented the double-incline plane for treatment of lower body spinal problems. She had been using two of these at Thorngrove House before starting her full time treatment in Hinckley.  The equipment used in those days was very basic and only made minor improvements as in later life she was still referred to as ‘hunchbacked’

Also in April 1814, Napoleon was defeated for the first time and the war with France was over.

Her family immediately returned to Rome, she was left alone (probably only with a maid) in Hinckley.

Dr Chessher.

The inclined plane

Spinal correction apparatus.

Part 3 Her Departure and Adult Life.

In 1815 Napoleon’s escape from exile and return to power caused a return to war with France. This was the 100 Days (Waterloo) campaign. This created quite a political problem as Chritine was still in Hinckley and would have been a prisoner of war again. Lucian must have had some influence still as an escort was arranged for her and she travelled to Dover. It had also been arranged for her to cross the Channel to Calais. And she did, on the day of the Battle of Waterloo. The ship was the Wensleydale, a troop ship capable of transporting over 1,000 men (it had recently carried the 95th Rifles - Sharpe’s Rifles - over the channel to join Wellington’s army. Yet she was the ONLY passenger and at a time when Wellington was desperately creating an army to stop Napoleon.

She then travelled across Europe to join her family in Rome, who were still living under the protection of the Pope.

In 1818 she married a Norwegian Count who she later left because it was believed he had died (he hadn’t). She remarried a wealthy Englishman, Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart, in 1824. She lived in London for many years but also left him eventually, returning to Italy where she died in 1847 aged 49. She had quite a life.

Sources.

Robert Chessher - R T Austin

A Brother in Exile - Emma Tyler

A Gilded Cage - B Rolf-Smith

The News From Waterloo - B Cathcart

Rifle Green at Waterloo - Caldwell and Cooper

Christine in later life.

The Battle of Hinckley

 It is 382 years since the Battle of Hinckley, 4-5 March 1644.

About 350 Royalist cavalry, from Ashby de la Zouch, were combing this part of the county for supplies and had collected a huge herd of cattle, oxen and horses to take back to their base. They had also taken 26 men and clergy hostage. They had arrived late afternoon and planned to stay in Hinckley overnight, locking all their prisoners in St Mary’s Church.  Parliamentarian forces from Leicester decided to rescue the prisoners and free all the livestock.  The Parliamentarian force, about 170 cavalry, advanced from Barwell and along Derby Road and clashed with the Royalists in the Market Place.  The Royalists were scattered and galloped up Castle Street, out of town, followed by the Parliamentarians.  The Royalists reformed in the fields where the Parliamentarians attacked them, shooting at them first with their Dragoons (mounted infantry). The Royalists turned and fled.  The prisoners were then freed from the church and the livestock returned to their original owners.  13 Royalists were killed and 48 taken prisoner. We are told that no Parliamentarians were killed and only four wounded so they must have totally surprised the Royalists.

I decided to make this a bit more visual as it was for Facebook.

The Parliamentarians arrive from Barwell, the Dragoons dismount and advance.

The loot and the prisoners were held at St Mary’s Church.

They battle in the Market Place.

The scattered Royalists are chased up Castle Street.

But reform in the fields where they are attacked again, the Dragoons shooting at them first. 

Hastings 960 Project

 This year is the 960th anniversary of the battle of Hastings.

Peter's Paper Soldiers have decided to create a 1:1 scale model of the battle for a wargames show in October, very near to the date of the battle. I, along with many others from all round the world, volunteered to help create this army. I was give the task of producing a single stand of 330 Saxon Fyrd.

It was quite a task but I soon got into the swing of it. I also had to make a base for them to stand on and a box for them to be posted off in.

The scale of the figures is 18mm.

I chose to make mine the local Sparkenhoe Fyrd of Mercia.

Printing them out.

Cutting them out.

The first rank on their base board.

The box for sending them off.

The completed unit.

Close up of the command figures.

Regency Leamington Spa.

The Regent Hotel Royal Leamington Spa.

We stayed here after Liam's 30th. It has a few Regency and Napoleonic contections.

When it was built in 1818 it was the largest hotel in Europe.

On the list of famous visitors are three Napoleonic Generals. Wellington, Lord Hill and Lord Uxbridge.

Years later, Napoleon III stayed here as well!

The grand looking entrance.

The main staircase.

Royal and Prince of Wales crests.

Queen Victoria and Napoleon III, who's son was in the British army and was killed in the Zulu wars.

The Duke of Wellington.

A full list of famous visitors.

The Santa Special 2025.

 First Santa Special, at the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway.

This railway way built in 1919 with a lot of ex WW1 trench railway track and locos from France.

I was used to transport sand from local quarries.

No 4 Doll, with our train.

Sebastian got to colour in a picture while waiting to see Santa.

GWR Castles and our family history.

 The GWR Castle Class Express Passenger Locomotives.

Clun Castle at New Street 2025.

My great Uncle Tom Reeves was a coppersmith for the GWR at Swindon and worked his way up to be a foreman. He told me that early Castles had a problem with the main steam pipe cracking and he had to help investigate it with senior Engineers. This involved tests travelling at full speed on the front footplate behind wooden shutters to measure pipe movement, expansion and deflection. No health and safety in those days. Note, his father, David Reeves (also a Foreman coppersmith) was killed in an accident in Swindon works.

A loco running under test.

Note, The main steam pipes contained super heated steam at 350 deg C and 225 psi.

The resulting design modification was a more curved pipe without a straight section in it.

Apart from WW1 (he served on HMS Royalist at the battle of Jutland) he worked all his life for the GWR and was very proud of it. He also said that when a loco came in for overhaul, it went out 'as good as a brand new one'.

Nanny Lesson, Tom and Flow.

As a child my favourite model railway loco was my Denbigh Castle. A Hornby Dublo diecast model. The story goes that the local toy shop was closing down when I was about to be born. As I turned out to be a boy, Dad rushed down and bought the castle!! 

The model was produced between 1959 and 1962 and also sold as a 'named train' set The Red Dragon (the Paddington to Carmarthen express), with two chocolate and cream coaches. I had four, each with a name board on the side (the loco had a head board as well). When I can get at it I will set it up for a photo.

Funnily when James was born, Barnaby's toy shop in Coventry was closing down and he did the same thing and stocked up for James as well!! 

Clun Castle.

Post script.

Spotted again at Moore Street station this week end.