The history of Baddesley Clinton

1517

The first Ferrers 

Sir Edward Ferrers married Constance, Nicholas Brome’s daughter, in 1497 and on Nicholas’ death in 1517, Baddesley Clinton passed into the hands of the family who owned it through 12 generations and nearly 500 years.  

Who were the Ferrers?  

They were descended from Henri de Ferrières, a nobleman who was Master of the Horse to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. As a reward for his bravery, King Norman granted him 210 manors and he went on to become one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman magnates. 

1570

Henry the Antiquary inherits

The Ferrers were a Catholic family in a time of great religious upheaval. Sir Edward and Constance’s son Henry (1549-1633) was born during the reign of Edward VI, a Protestant, and lived through the reigns of the Catholic Mary, Protestant Elizabeth I and James I. He was 14 when his father died, and unable to inherit Baddesley until he came of age in 1570. 

He became known as Henry the Antiquary because of his extensive knowledge of heraldry, genealogy, and antiquities, having studied at Oxford and the Middle Temple.   
Most of the south/east range of the house, including the Great Hall, was built in Henry’s time. New chimney pieces and panelling were added, and the tradition began of heraldic stained-glass windows showing the Ferrers coat of arms, often with other arms to commemorate marriages.  

1600

Henry Ferrers returns to Baddesley

Following his mother’s death in 1582, while Henry Ferrers was living in London, the Baddesley estates were mortgaged to release cash. Henry also sold his London house to Thomas Percy, one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, who used it for Guy Fawkes to store the gunpowder. 

Henry came to live at Baddesley in 1600 giving up his legal and political careers to become Lord of the Manor. Henry managed to secure a profitable marriage for his son, Edward, to Anne Peyto in 1611.  

Henry kept half of the house, had fishing rights in the moat and the right to collect firewood. Edward and his wife lived in the other half of the house and Edward managed the estate. Henry died in the early years of the reign of Charles I. 

The 17th century

The Civil War and its aftermath

Two generations of Ferrers held Baddesley during the English Civil War and its aftermath, the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. They were Edward (1585-1651) and his son Henry (1616-81). 

During the Civil War most Catholics supported the King, but Edward Ferrers managed to appear neutral. His alliance with his wife’s family, the influential and Protestant Peytos, probably helped him, and his building work at Baddesley church maintained the image of a Protestant gentleman.  

It was the practice by both sides during the war, the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, to raise funds by levying taxes and raiding large houses and estates. Baddesley was raided twice in 1643 by the Parliamentary forces. 

Compensation claim

After the war, Edward submitted claims for compensation for over £40,000 in today’s money. There is no record of him ever receiving anything. Demand for taxes continued throughout the 10 years of the Commonwealth, and Edward’s son, Henry (1616-81), had to continue to find the money to pay them.  

During this time practising the ‘old religion’ was hazardous. The law stated that everyone must attend Church of England services, with failure to do so causing a fine of £20 (£1,500 today). This became a severe drain on the finances of Henry and his wife Bridget, who missed seven services over 18 months resulting in fines of £140 (over £10,000 today). 

Henry rented out parcels of land and advanced mortgages to raise money. In 1682 he died, and Bridget took over the management of parts of the estate and continued the work petitioning for compensation. In 1687 their son George (1647-1712) again petitioned the King for compensation. It isn’t known whether they ever received anything. 

The 18th century

Building work and money troubles

The start of the 18th century saw Baddesley Clinton in a sad state of disrepair. The ravages of the Civil War and series of lawsuits had left the family poor.  

Making changes

Edward Ferrers (1678-1729), who inherited in 1712, married well and invested money in the dilapidated estate. He replaced the drawbridge with the stone bridge and, following a fire in 1722, cleared away farm buildings from the front of the house and replaced them with the barn yard, entrance court and walled garden we see today. He also added the brick facing to the south range which overlooks the walled garden.  

Thomas Ferrers (1713-60) moved the fireplace which Henry the Antiquary had installed in the Great Parlour into the Great Hall. He also probably demolished the medieval north range and installed a false ceiling in the Great Hall.

Under Thomas’s heir Edward (1740-94) there was little need, or money, to do much more building work on the house, though it’s possible that Edward constructed the Drawing Room and the rooms above it.  

Selling property to pay debts

His will left most of his money and property to his son, but also made provision for property to be disposed of to repay his debts. His son, another Edward (1765-95) inherited Baddesley on his father’s death in 1794, but died a year later aged 30.  

His son, yet another Edward (1790-1830), was only five when he inherited Baddesley, and couldn’t take control until he was 21. The estate was still having to pay out on the wills of both his father and his grandfather as well as marriage settlements for many younger children. Much of the estate was put on the market in 1799. 

Although he managed to pay the debts from the wills of his father and grandfather, Edward was insolvent at his death in 1830.

The 19th century

The Quartet

To tell the story of Baddesley in the 19th century we need to bring four people together. 

• Marmion Edward Ferrers (1813-1884) inherited the house in 1830. He was a devout Roman Catholic.  
• Wealthy and well-connected Lady Georgiana Chatterton (1806-1876) lived in the highest of high society with her husband Sir William Chatterton, often in the company of royalty.  
• Lady Georgiana and Sir William became close to their niece Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen (1829/30-1923) after her father’s death when she was about six. She came to live with them at Castle Mahon, their home in County Cork.  
• Edward Heneage Dering (1827-1892) met Georgiana Chatterton, by then a widow, and Rebecca at a private concert in London in 1858. The story goes that Edward fell for Rebecca and went to Georgiana for her blessing to ask Rebecca for her hand in marriage. Georgiana misunderstood, thought he was proposing to her and accepted. Edward, being too much of a gentleman to correct her, married her in 1859. 

For the next 10 years Edward and Georgiana, along with Rebecca, travelled extensively, lived in Mayfair for the London ‘season’, went to Kent for their summer retreat and rented grand houses in England where they entertained lavishly. Religion was important to them, and they were received into the Catholic Church in 1865. 

Edward and Marmion Ferrers became close friends, and through this Marmion met Rebecca. They were married in 1867 and The Quartet was formed.  

The Quartet arrive at Baddesley

Baddesley Clinton wasn’t in a fit state for newlyweds to set up home in. Georgiana and Edward came to the rescue, renting nearby Wootten Wawen Hall for the four of them while Baddesley was repaired, paying for the work and the £25,000 (£2.5 million) mortgages which had been taken out on the estate.  

The four moved into the house and became known locally as ‘The Quartet’. Georgiana became a highly successful author; Edward tried writing but wasn’t as successful as his wife; Rebecca took up painting, creating over 78 works of art; Marmion was a rural squire with a great interest in the welfare of his tenants and staff. 

Seven years later Georgiana died, followed by Marmion eight years after. Rebecca and Edward were left on their own. For the sake of propriety, a priest, Father Kelly came to live with them for 13 months. They were married, still dressed in mourning clothes, the following year.  

The 20th century

The estate is sold off

Marmion and Rebecca had no children, so on Marmion’s death the estate passed to his nephew, Henry Ferrers Croxton (1848-1923), who assumed the name of Ferrers in 1885. He never inherited the property as the will entitled Rebecca to live at Baddesley, and he died just before Rebecca in 1923. It passed to Henry’s son Edward (1881-1934) in a very impoverished state, then to Henry’s brother Cecil (1887-1957).  

Cecil didn’t have the means to maintain the house and so much of the furniture was sold off during the 1930s. In 1939 Baddesley Clinton was advertised for sale followed by a large sale of the contents in 1940. Baddesley was bought by Coker Iliffe as a 'holding operation' until a distant relative of the Ferrers stepped in. 

1580

Anne Vaux

Born around the year 1562, Anne was the youngest of four children born to Elizabeth and Sir William, 3rd Lord Vaux of Harrowden, Northamptonshire. Anne never knew her mother as she died soon after giving birth to her and her father soon married Mary Tresham and had five more children. All of Anne’s family were devout Catholics and she was no different. 

In a century which had seen the country break from Rome, set up the Protestant Church of England, revert fiercely back to Catholicism and then convert once again back to Protestantism, anti-Catholic views ran high. 

Aged about 25, Anne became the protector of Father Henry Garnet, Jesuit Superior of England, a very high profile target for those protecting the Protestant faith. Posing as his sister under the false name ‘Mrs Alice Perkins’, the pair travelled around the country via the network of safe houses which her brother had helped to set up. 

Baddesley Clinton was one of these safe houses. Its owner, Henry Ferrers, was working in London and rented his home to Anne and her sister Eleanor in 1588. The women employed Nicholas Owen (‘chief designer and builder of hiding-places in England’) to create hiding places for up to 12 priests. 

In 1591 Garnet arranged a Jesuit meeting at Baddesley. In the early hours of the following morning, Baddesley was surrounded by some unwelcome visitors – priest-hunters looking for the very priests who were in hiding in the house.  Anne challenged them:

Do you think it right and proper that you should be admitted to a widow’s house before she or her servants or her children are out of bed? Why this lack of good manners? Why come so early? Why keep coming to my house in this hostile manner? Have you ever found me unwilling to open the door to you as soon as you knocked? 

For the next few hours, the house was thoroughly searched. everything was turned upside down and closely examined. Finally, Anne invited the pursuivants to breakfast; the house was searched once more, Anne paid them for their ‘trouble’ and the pursuivants departed. 

On this day alone Anne had saved the lives of the five priests she had hidden in her home. Evidently, she had been visited by these pursuivants before and we can only guess as to how many times she went through this harrowing ordeal, risking everything. Her status and femininity did not guarantee her safety - three women were executed during Anne’s lifetime for the harbouring of priests. The Vaux sisters’ tenancy of Baddesley is believed to have ended soon after this whence they moved closer to London, their faith never wavering. 

1640

Bridget Willoughby

Bridget Willoughby was born in Nottinghamshire to Catholic parents in or about the year 1620. Nothing is known of her childhood or how she met Henry Ferrers, whom she married in 1639 at Baddesley Clinton Hall, which was to be her home for the next 58 years. 

It’s known that Bridget bore up to 11 children but several of them died very young and two more died in their twenties, leaving only three outliving their parents. 

During the English Civil War (1642-1651) the countryside around Baddesley Clinton attracted the attention of both Parliamentarians and Royalist troops which put the house at risk of being raided. We know, in fact, that Baddesley Clinton was raided at least twice. 

During the Commonwealth (1649-1660) practicing the ‘old religion’ was hazardous. Edward Ferrers, Bridget’s father-in-law, a Protestant, lived with Bridget and her family until his death in 1650, and one can only imagine what it must have been like for Bridget, the devout Catholic. 

In 1656 a mission of Franciscans was sent to England to maintain the Catholic faith. One of them was Leo Randolph, who began a long relationship between the Franciscans and Baddesley which was used as a safe house. 

The law stated that everyone must attend Church of England services, with failure to do so, recusancy, causing a fine of £20 (£1500 today) for each occasion. This became a severe drain on the finances of the family at Baddesley. Records indicate that they failed to attend services on seven occasions in an 18 month period, necessitating the payment of £140 (over £10,000 today). 

Obviously, Bridget’s family were no strangers to the law courts, and this continued throughout her life. Most of the legal conflicts centred around the felling of trees on the estate - timber was a valuable asset and needed to be wisely managed. 

When Bridget was 62 in 1682 her husband died, and she took over the management of parts of the estate. She seems to have been a shrewd businesswoman. 

Bridget lived and raised a family in a period of tremendous upheaval. Throughout religious persecutions she remained loyal to her Catholic faith and refused to attend a church she didn’t believe in; her activism shows through her pursuit, through the courts, of what she believed was right. 

1860

Lady Georgiana Chatterton

Henrietta Georgiana Maria Iremonger was born in 1806, the daughter of Reverend Lascelles Iremonger, a senior member of the clergy at Winchester Cathedral. The family moved frequently living with different relatives, commonly with her aunt Margaret and uncle William Pitt MP, who was to become Prime Minister. King George III often dropped in for luncheon with her uncle. 

In 1824 Georgiana ‘came out’ by being presented at Court to the King and Queen. During her debutantes’ ball at Arlington Street, she met Sir William Chatterton, many years her senior, whom she married when she was just 17. The couple spent the early years of their marriage at his home at Castle Mahon, County Cork, Ireland and Winchester with Georgiana’s parents, spending winter months abroad. 

After the death of Georgiana’s father, the couple moved to Seamore Place in Mayfair along with her mother. When in town the Chatterton’s were regular guests of King William IV and when in the country Georgiana often visited Princess Victoria at Tunbridge Wells. In 1837, Georgiana anonymously published her first novel Aunt Dorothy’s Tales. This was followed by her second novel, Rambles in South Ireland, in 1839, the first edition receiving great acclaim and selling out within weeks. 

Georgiana, now in her mid-thirties and having no children of her own, took great joy in having Sir William’s niece, the 12-year-old Rebecca Orpen, to stay with them regularly. The potato blight, or ‘Great Famine’, which hit Ireland meant financial ruin for Sir William and the couple moved back to England and finally settled in Rolls Park in Essex. Rebecca was now living with them and the watercolours she painted depict this as a very grand house. Three years later, when Georgiana was 49, her husband Sir William died. They had been married for 31 years. 

Two years later the worst of Georgiana’s grief had now passed, and she began to entertain again. She and Rebecca attended many parties, concerts and other social occasions together. It was at a private concert that Georgiana first met Edward Heneage Dering and they continued to meet at other events accompanied by Rebecca. 

Georgiana was now 53, Rebecca 29 and Edward Dering 33. Edward went to Georgiana, and it is said that his intention was to ask her permission to marry Rebecca. Georgiana, being supposedly hard of hearing, misheard and thinking it was herself being proposed to, accepted. Edward, being an honourable man, accepted the situation and married her. The pair now became a trio which Rebecca christened the ‘Three Little Bears’. They travelled widely round the country and abroad. 

During this time Georgiana became interested in Roman Catholic doctrine to the extent that she started a correspondence with Doctor, later Cardinal Newman. All three of them were received into the Catholic church in 1865 in the presence of Newman. 

The trio became the Quartet in 1867 when Rebecca married one of Edward’s military friends, Marmion Ferrers. The two couples moved to Wooton Wawen Hall in Warwickshire, as Marmion’s home, Baddesley Clinton, which he had inherited in an impoverished state, was undergoing repair works, which were probably paid for out of Georgiana’s considerable literary earnings. 

When the works were complete, the two couples moved to Baddesley, which became a haven for Georgiana during the last years of her life. She would set up easels in the Great Parlour and paint with Rebecca, whilst Edward wrote, and Marmion walked his estate. 

One interruption to this harmonious life was Georgiana’s struggles with her new faith which had begun a few years earlier. Her doubts about aspects of the Eucharist caused her distress that Cardinal Newman could not ease. Furthermore, the Catholic history of the Ferrers family and Baddesley made her feel she was betraying their faith. Cardinal Newman was shocked to discover Georgiana had left the Church, and it’s likely that Georgiana worshipped at the Anglican church of St Michael. She spent a great deal of money making alterations to this church, which can still be viewed a short walk from the house today. 

Georgiana continued her writing and published a book approximately every two years. These included over 25 novels, translations of Plato and Aristotle from ancient Greek which received great critical acclaim, religious works, poems, diaries and letters. She painted beautifully in both oils and watercolours as well as creating detailed sketches from her extensive travels. She spoke several languages, composed music and played the harp - for the future Queen Victoria no less. 

She continued to correspond with Cardinal Newman and was eventually reconciled with the Church. A result of this was the restoration of the Chapel you can see today in the house where Georgiana and her friends attended Mass. The triptych hanging to the left of the altar today was painted by Georgiana. 

Georgiana died peacefully in 1876 at the age of 70. As a highly successful author, she died a very wealthy woman leaving a sum in the excess of £4 million in today’s money to various trust funds. She was buried at the local Catholic Church of St Francis of Assisi where the other three members of the Quartet would also be laid to rest. 

Many of Georgiana’s books are still available over 150 years since their first publication. She struggled with a pious upbringing that was surrounded by excess; her moral sense perceived, ‘the atmosphere of sin which hung about this great city’. She was to draw heavily on her own experiences of high society in her novels and was often critical of it. Her activism can be seen through her break from the faith of her family, in her support of Sir William, her influence on Rebecca, the restoration of Baddesley, and through her own ‘masculine intellect’. We cannot say with any certainty that Baddesley would have survived without Georgiana. 

1860

Rebecca Dering

Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1829 or 30, records vary as to the exact date. At an early age Rebecca started to spend more and more time with her uncle and aunt, Sir William Chatterton and Georgiana, Lady Chatterton at their home in Ireland, probably eventually going to live with them. Sir William and Georgiana seemed to have held great affection for Rebecca, with Sir William referring to her as ‘his pearl’. 

Georgiana makes several references in her diary to Rebecca’s education; she makes an excellent translation from German and learns French from a governess while staying in Paris. She attended school in London, where she would have been taught a neat hand, a practical appreciation of drawing and literature and given a moral education. 

In 1855 Sir William died, and four years later Georgiana married Edward Dering, whom she met at private concerts given by friends. The three travelled extensively in Europe over several years, sketching and drawing wherever they went. 

In 1867 Rebecca, then aged 37, married Marmion Edward Ferrers of Baddesley Clinton, described, in the Catholic newspaper The Tablet, as ‘a genuine type of the old English squire, open handed and kind hearted and generous to excess’. Georgiana and Edward Dering moved to Baddesley two years later to join the couple. 

The four became known as ‘The Quartet’, and immersed themselves in the arts – writing, poetry, fine art and music, as well as the restoration and upkeep of the house and estate. In the evenings they read Tennyson together and played the “Round Game”, sometimes with guests, where each person in turn had to compose a poem from a list of words given by the other players. 

At least 78 of Rebecca’s paintings are known to exist today, and many of them can still be seen on the walls of Baddesley Clinton. She filled sketchbooks, drawing sketches and making preparatory drawings for larger pieces. She wrote to a dressmaker requesting a plain dress to paint in, so that she didn’t have to worry about getting it dirty. We know she was painting until she was at least 90, and that when she became confined to her room her maids not only brought her meals up to her, but also her paints and easel. 

This idyllic life of the Quartet had only lasted for seven years when Georgiana died, followed eight years later by the death of Marmion. Georgiana had left money in trust for Rebecca, and Marmion left her all he owned, together with the tenancy of the house until she died. Rebecca and Edward remained at Baddesley, but it wasn’t socially acceptable for the two people to live alone unmarried, so a local priest came to stay for 13 months, until, still in mourning clothes, they were married. 

Seven years later, in 1892, Edward died, aged 64. Rebecca lived at Baddesley for another 31 years. She seems to have come into her own in her widowhood, remaining involved in local affairs, painting prolifically, and maintaining a strong Catholic faith. 

During the First World War she hosted visits of wounded soldiers, from all ranks, from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. It’s interesting that she welcomed soldiers of all ranks, as some other ladies only invited officers. 

Rebecca’s Catholic faith was strong to the end, with a priest from Warwick coming to the hall every Wednesday afternoon to say Mass, and prayers said in the Chapel every evening at 9 o’clock. 

An article in the Catholic publication The Universe contained the following: ‘She was one of those old time figures who to extreme old age preserved the charm of gracious courtesy and old-world dignity… grand dame to her fingertips… never seemed to grow old, always the same, always gracious, always cheerful, always busy at her painting, beautiful in her old age as a piece of Chelsea china… never known to refuse help to anyone in need’.