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The Hissem-Montague Family  |
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The Hissem-Montague Family |
Isabella, the daughter of Dr. John Heysham and Elizabeth Mary Coulthard, was baptized on 23 October 1800 at Saint Mary, Carlisle, Cumberland.
Isabella married George Gill Mounsey, Esq., of Rockliffe, Castletown House, county Cumberland, Carlisle on 6 September 1827 in Saint Cuthbert's Church. The church, while of ancient foundation, dates from 1778. Isabella's father was a close friend of the Mounsey's.
| Saint Cuthberts, Carlisle
In 685 AD St. Cuthbert visited Carlisle and founded a monastery. This was rebuilt in 870, and again in 1095. In 1644 Cromwell closed the Carlisle Cathedral, so St. Cuthbert's was the only church in Carlisle for a period. In 1778 the fourth rebuilding of the church took place in the Georgian style. All that remains of the older buildings is a 14th Century stained glass window. It is the principal parish church and is located on St. Cuthbert's Lane. |
George Gill Mounsey was born on 27 May 1797 and christened on 5 January 1798 in Saint Cuthbert Church, Carlisle, Cumberland, England, the eldest son of Robert Mounsey, of Castletown, Cumberland, the friend of Dr. John Heysham, and Mary Gill, the daughter of Captain Joseph Gill of Carlisle. He attended the Appleby Grammar school, as had his grandfather. He later attended Westminster, being admitted on 19 January 1810, and then entered the family law business. He was associated with his father as deputy registrar of the diocese, eventually becoming chief registrar. I have an R & GG Mounsey, secs to Bishop of Carlisle, located on Castle Street in Carlisle in 1829. Secretary to the Right Reverend Hugh Percy, Bishop of Carlisle and Deputy Registrar of the diocese.
The heir of Castletown, he was elected the first "Reform" mayor of Carlisle. Member of the city council from 1836 until his death in 1874 at the age of 76. In the 1847 census he was living at Castletown House, Rockliff Castle (In 1847 I also have a George Mounsey, att/master in chancery, at Devonshire Street, Carlisle).
| The Mounsey Family |
Arms for Mounsey of Castletown: "Chequy, or and gu., on a chevron, erm., two lions, passant, counter-passant, az. Crest: A demi-griffin, with a wreath of oak round the neck, and bearing, with three claws, a banner, erect. Motto: Semper paratus." - from "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry" by Sir Bernard Burke.
Of their home it was said, "Here, on the banks of the Eden, is Castletown House, the splendid mansion of George Gill Mounsey, Esq., beautifully ornamented with woods, shrubberies, &c., and commanding delightful panoramic views." George also apparently inherited the Gilsland estates of his uncle, Major George Stephenson Mounsey, upon the latter's death in 1838.
George was an attorney residing at Castletown House, Rockliffe Castle in 1847. His famous patrons included the Duke of Portland. Amongst documents dealing with the case of Hollingsworth v Dobson (vicarial tithe of Haltwhistle) dated 1824-1826 from the Howard family files are various letters of G. and G.G. Mounsey, of Carlisle, attorneys. G.G. is clearly George Gill, but is G our George?
Rockcliffe Parish - The principal owners of the soil, which is nearly all freehold, are Sir James R. Grant [whose daughter married Charles James Mounsey], George Gill Mounsey, Esq., and Richard Ferguson, Esq.
| Rockcliffe
Lies on the northbank of the Eden river in Cumbria county and extends to the Solway firth. It is about 5 miles NNW of Carlisle. Rockcliff Castle comprises the greater part of the parish, and contains the small hamlets of Castletown, Redhill, Floristown, Garistown, Cross, Croft End, Todd Hills, and Wetheral. In the 16th century there was here "a little castle built not long since by the Dacres, for their private defence." Nothing, however, now remains of this structure, the river Eden having washed away a great part of its foundations. From: "A Short History of Rockliffe Cumberland" by James. W. Watt.
The manor itself, coextensive with the parish, is mentioned early in the records of the county. At the beginning of the 13th century it was held from the King (in capite) by the Lord of Burgh, Hugh de Morvill, who built the castle on Burgh Marsh in which King Edward the First died. At Rockcliffe the Lord of the Manor held his land, which included a fishery in Eden, from his chief, the Baron of Burgh. It was held by homage and service. The service was military (cornage) and by suit at the court of Burgh. The service was valued differently at different appointments. Early in its history it was two shillings or a sparrow hawk. In the 14th century the cornage value is given at seven shillings and eight pence halfpenny. The court service was at the three weeks' court at Burgh, comparable with our petty sessions. During the 13th century we find a family called de Bray acknowledged as Lords of Rockcliffe under Hugh de Morvill or his heirs. From the de Brays the manor passed, for a consideration, to John Ie Fraunceys (or French), a member of a family who held considerable tracts of land both in Cumberland and Westmorland. It went from this family to Thomas Danyers, but always under the paramountcy of the de Morvills or their successors, and when the de Morvill estates passed to the Dacre family Rockcliffe reverted to them as Lords paramount of Burgh. The Dacre estates were shared by the sons of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, who, himself a widower, married Dacre's widow, and dowered his sons with the properties of the Dacre heiresses. By 1682 Burgh, including Rockcliffe, was possessed by Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, and the Duke sold Rockcliffe Castle and the demesne for the sum of £15,000 to the Rev. Charles Usher. Three years later the 7th Duke of Norfolk sold Burgh Barony to the then Earl of Lonsdale. At Rockcliffe most of the lands were enfranchised in 1760, on payment of three years rent to William Strong, of Peterborough, who had inherited the estate from Miss Hannah Usher. The remaining tenements and the demesne were sold by William Strong's descendants to Robert Mounsey in 1802, and the estate and demesne are held today by his descendant, Major R. H. Mounsey-Heysham, of Castletown House.  Mr. Robert Mounsey obtained the consent of the then Earl of Lonsdale, as Lord of the Manor, and also that of the other commoners, to agree to enclose the vast manorial waste, 2,000 acres in extent, which made up half of the parish. The articles of agreement were drawn up in 1805, later to be amended in some measure by the Award of 1815. Rockcliffe marsh, once a portion of the waste of the manor, now forms a valuable part of the Castletown estate and is the private property of Major R. H. Mounsey-Heysham. It is rather more than 1,500 acres in extent, having increased considerably in the past century and its formation is due to alluvial deposit from the River Eden. This deposit, and the contiguity to the Solway has caused the marsh to be admirably suited to stock feeding, a fact that would be known to aspirants to stinting rights at the time of enclosure, and one that would be a legitimate source of satisfaction to those who could claim right of user. The CastleRockcliffe Castle was one of the latest fortified defences to be built to protect the English Border. It commanded the "Peatwath," the chief ford on the traditional route used by the Scots, and was built in the early years of the 16th century by the Dacre family, then Lords of the Manor of Burgh, probably to replace the stronghold in that village. In 1539 when Leonard Dacre, disappointed at the disposition of his nephew's property, rebelled against Queen Elizabeth and supported Queen Mary of Scotland, Dacre seized Rockcliffe and garrisoned it for the Scottish Queen, but the following year he fled to Scotland on the approach of Lord Hunsdon, who wrote to Queen Elizabeth that Roklay Castle was as strong or stronger than the principal Border Castle of Naworth. The Union of the Crowns in 1707 removed the cause for which the castle was erected and it was probably in a ruinous condition when the Rev. Charles Usher purchased it in 1682. Roads, Rivers and WellsNear the boathouse was a maze or labyrinth, one of a number that have been cut on the marsh at different times. Captain W. H. Mounsey, who lived at Castletown a hundred years ago, and who had a strong bent for Celtic studies, believed these to represent Caerdroia, or the Walls of Troy, and to be restricted to land occupied by Celtic people. The Parish and the ChurchThe spire of the church that was built in 1848 at a cost of £1,400, most of which was given by George Gill Mounsey, was almost completely destroyed by lightning in November, 1899. It was rebuilt the following year at a cost of £2,000. The dedication is to St. Mary, as could be expected of a daughter of the Priory of Carlisle. The structure consists of a nave, chancel, and north transept, the last virtually a Mounsey chapel, and a handsome spire. The windows are filled with stained glass rich in colour and of good design. It can hold about 200 people. Regular church-going is out of fashion; many people are walking about to-day without either hope or fear of a future life, but most of them might be better for some of the faith their fathers had. The Big HouseCastletown House, the home of Major R. H. Mounsey-Heysham, is a beautifully sited and well proportioned mansion, in the Grecian style. It was built about the year 1809 by Peter Nicholson, a distinguished architect who, whilst in the neighbourhood, also remodelled Corby Castle and supervised the erection of the Court Houses in Carlisle. Nicholson was commissioned by Robert Mounsey who, as I have said earlier, purchased the Castletown estate in 1802, and the mansion has been occupied by members of the family, sailors, soldiers, diplomats and lawyers, since the time of its erection. |
| Peter Nicholson, Architect (1765-1844)
Largely self taught as an architect, Nicholson practiced variously in London, northern England, Edinburgh and Glasgow. He was more widely known as an architectural historian and theorist than as a designer. He was the author of "The Carpenter's New Guide," "Architectural Dictionary" and "The Principles of Architecture." However, the influence of his many books and papers on Classical architecture exerted a profound influence on the development of the Neo-Classical style in Scotland, and in Glasgow in particular. Settling in Glasgow around 1800, he established himself as the most important post-Adam classisict in the city, before the emergence of David Hamilton, with his palace fronted terraces in Carlton Place, Yorkhill House, Overtoun, and the Doric, Hamilton Building, Old College, Glasgow University. Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, employed him to lay out the town of Ardrossan, Ayrshire, at the same time as harbour works were progressing under the direction of Thomas Telford. His appointment in 1808 as Surveyor to the County of Cumberland was possibly due to Telford's influence, and he supervised work on the new Assize Courts in Carlisle, to a Telford design. His country house commissions included two in Cumberland, Castletown House, Rockcliffe, and Corby Castle, both in the Greek Revival style. |
| Rockcliffe, cont.
The family is an old one, but I can refer only to a few of the outstanding men and women. One member, Walter Mounsey, was present at Carlisle in the year 1300, at the command of King Edward, to take part in the siege of Caerlaverock on the Scottish side of the Border. His coat of arms, chequy, argent and gules (silver and red squares) is still used by the family, though the first square is now gold instead of silver. Another member, Amand, sixty years later, probably leased the fishing at Rockcliffe from Margaret Dacre, the Lady of Naworth. During the next three centuries we hear of Mounseys in various districts of Cumberland and Westmorland. A well-known branch was that of Greystoke, from whom descended the " Kings of Patterdale." Their place in local history derives from the successful defence organised by them against the Duke of Hamilton in 1648. The Castletown people stem from a branch that was settled at Askham in Westmorland in the 16th century, where they spent their lives on the land. The Lowthers were important people then, as now, and Robert Mounsey, who was born in 1696, was educated at the college erected by John, first Viscount Lonsdale, in the adjoining parish of Lowther for the benefit of the northern counties. Robert Mounsey was ordained at Carlisle in 1719, and ten years later was appointed to the benefice of Ravenstonedale, a post which he held for 51 years. His son, George, who was educated at Appleby Grammar School, came to Carlisle in 1744 as clerk to Joseph Nicolson, the Bishop's Registrar. This was probably brought about through the friendship that existed between his father and Dr. Richard Burn, then rector of the neighbouring parish of Orton who, along with Nicolson, wrote the well-known " History of Westmorland and Cumberland," which was published in 1777. Carlisle, during the time that George Mounsey was an active citizen, was making rapid progress in every direction, and doubled its population in the half-century he was there. He was connected with the manufacturing developments that were taking place, and his legal position, a successful attorney and the founder of the firm of Messrs. Mounsey, Bowman and Morton, brought him into direct contact with many of the leading families connected with the neighbourhood: The Duke of Portland, the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of Carlisle, amongst others. We get a glimpse of social life, as lived in Carlisle during the latter half of the 18th century, from the Gilpin family memoirs; and George Mounsey, who was of a gregarious turn, was in a special position to enjoy the opportunities open to him. His wife was Margaret Stevenson, the only daughter and heiress of John Stevenson, Master Gunner, really de facto governor of Carlisle Castle, so that his son-in-law had an entry to each of the three groups into which Carlisle society was divided, Church, Army and Civic. He lived to the ripe age of 76 years, and is buried in St. Cuthbert's churchyard, Carlisle. Of his fourteen children all but one, the eldest son, attained maturity, and most of his seven surviving sons had distinguished careers. It is in the time of George that we hear again of a Rockcliffe connection. This came about when Robert, who was born in 1762, was put out by his parents to a wet-nurse. He was the seventh child, and third son, and doubtless his parents, who lived in English Street, Carlisle, would be glad to find a healthy woman and a pleasant village in which their baby could grow up. The child never lost his affection for the village, regarding it as his earliest and natural home. Robert was forty years of age when, a successful lawyer like his father, he purchased the Castletown estate, and he was to enjoy it for a similar length of time. His elder brother, George, was a member of the same profession, but was unable to settle to office life either in Castle Street, Carlisle, or in London with his uncle Robert, who had a legal business there. In 1781 George went to India as a cadet in the service of the Honourable East India Company, where he had a successful military career, one suited to his love of daring and adventure. Illness caused his retirement from the Army, but on his return to Cumberland his health improved and he lived a colourful life at Rockcliffe; at Gilsland, where he had purchased The Shaws estate and spent the summers; and at Carlisle, where he had a house in Abbey Street. His interests were many and varied; he was a patron to many a struggling artist, but was often imposed upon. He died in 1838 and his sale was " town's talk " for a long time after his death. The inscription in Rockcliffe church reads: "To the memory of Major George Stevenson Mounsey, who entered the Honourable East India Company's service in 1781, served in Sir R. Abercromby's and Lord Cornwallis' campaigns, and attained the command of the 6th Regiment of Native Cavalry under Lord Lake." The exploits of William, his sailor brother, would need a book in which to relate them. His memorial in the village church runs: " To the Glory of God and in memory of Post Captain William Mounsey, C.B., Royal Navy, who, during 35 years of faithful and distinguished service to his King and Country, captured 35 of the enemy's ships, including the frigate La Furieux, for which last action he received the thanks of the Admiralty and a special gold medal from King George III." Some of his letters at Castletown give particulars of the Emperor Napoleon after the Battle of Waterloo. The influence exerted by the Mounsey family locally has naturally been of greater interest to me than the part that they have played in world affairs. Thus I have an affectionate regard for the memory of George Gill Mounsey. Few, if any men, have given greater service to Cumberland than Robert's eldest son, whose marriage to Isabella, the daughter of Dr. John Heysham, in 1827, joined two notable local families. George Gill's early education was obtained at Appleby Grammar School where his grandfather had been, and he left there to go to Westminster, where his neighbour and friend, the great Sir James Graham, of Netherby, had preceded him. After leaving school young George went into the family business and, on qualifying as a solicitor, was associated with his father as deputy registrar of the diocese, becoming chief registrar later. For a generation he was the driving force in the municipal life of Carlisle. A keen advocate of parliamentary and municipal reform, his voice and pen were potent forces in moulding public opinion, and his selection as the first "Reform" Mayor in 1836 was a well-earned tribute. A portrait of him at this time, by Ramsay, hangs in the main room of the Town Hall; a later portrait, which depicts his intellectual force, hangs in another room along with others who have worn the Mayoral chain. He was a member of the City Council from 1836 until his death in 1874 at the age of 76. Rockcliffe also claimed his attention. He was a devout churchman and as I have written earlier, provided most of the money for the erection of the church in 1848. Three of the windows there are memorials to his parents and to his wife. The history and antiquities of his native county provided life-long interests which were reflected by the contents of the library at Castletown. For a man of his gifts and powers it is surprising that he chose to publish so little of the fruits of years of study. One brochure on "Gillesland " appeared anonymously, but "The Authentic Account of the Occupation of Carlisle in 1745 by Prince Charles Edward Stuart," carries his name. This appeared in 1846. He was a useful servant to the Diocese of Carlisle and his memory was honoured by the lectern which, until rcently, was used in the Cathedral church. His sons achieved distinction in the Army, Diplomatic Service and in the legal profession; the additional surname of Heysham being added by George William, grandfather of the present owner, who succeeded to the Castletown estate on the death of an elder brother. Many of Carlisle citizens will have enjoyed the friendship of George Gill's grandchildren; the genial and generous hearted George Arthur, a friend to every needy sportsman and the last to share the work of the family business. Sybil, probably the best loved woman of her generation in Cumberland; and her sister, the Baroness. It has given me much pleasure to put these notes together, and I have to thank my friend and landlord, Major R. H. Mounsey-Heysham, for permission given to inspect some of his family documents. See also Castletown House, Cumbria. |
Inglewood Forest, Cumberland - the Honour of Penrith, has paramount authority over the manors of Inglewood Forest. George Gill Mounsey, Esq. of Carlisle is the chief steward. In 1846 he published "The Occupation of Carlisle in 1745, by Prince Charles Edward Stuart."
He was a Director of The New Brewery Company Carlisle Ltd. His signature on share certificates may merely mean he was their counsel. Note that James Mounsey was also involved with a brewery.
In one document he is referred to a "Bro. George Gill Mounsey, a member of the Lodge of Harmony . . ." - from the "History of Craft Masonry in Cumberland and Westmorland from the Year 1740" by W.F. Lamonby. In relationship to this, in 1833 he was appointed to the dual office of Treasurer and Secretary for the Province.
The book, "The life and works of Musgrave Lewthwaite Watson" by Henry Lonsdale, was dedicated to him. Lonsdale also wrote the biography of Dr. John Heysham, of Carlisle.
Isabella Mounsey-Heysham died on 14 May 1848, leaving numerous issue.
In the census of 1851 of Castletown House, Casletown, Rockcliff as George Gill Mounsey, a 53 year old Solicitor and widower. Living with him were his children, Elizabeth Mary, 21, Robert Heysham, a 22 year old attorney and clerk, and John Giles, 18 and also noted to be an attorney and clerk. Surely they mean apprentice attorney? George had 8 servants. These included a House Servant, [garbled], Gardener, Under Footman, House Maid, Cook, Kitchen Maid and a Dairy Maid.
George was a member of the Surtees Society, antiquarians. From a "List of Officers and Members, June, 1865."
George Gill Mounsey, Castletown, Carlisle. 17th March, 1855 [when first elected]. (Local Secretary, 1858-1865.)
In the 1861 census of Castletown, Cumberland as George Gill Mounsey, a 63 year old soliciter and widower. Living with him were his children, Robert Heysham, a 32 year old soliciter, John Giles, a 28 year old soliciter, Elizabeth J. Lambert, 9, a grand niece, Anna Heysham, 65, a visitor, and seven servants.
In the 1871 census of Castletown and Rockcliffe, Cumberland as G.G. Mounsey, a 73 year old landowner and widower. Living with him were his children, Robert H., a 42 year old solicitor, Isabelle D. Heygate, 31, his brother, William Henry Mounsey, a 63 year old Army Captain, and a visitor, Anna Heysham, 75. He had 8 servants.
George Gill Mounsey died on 23 February 1874, in Carlisle. The England and Wales Civil Registration Index: 1837-1983 lists a George Gill Mounsey who died in the quarter of March 1874 [actually 23 February] in Carlisle at the age of 76.
George Gill and Isabella Heysham Mounsey had seven children, four of whom were surviving at Isabella's death.
(23) Robert Heysham Mounsey (1828)
(23) Elizabeth-Mary Mounsey (1829)
(23) George-William Mounsey-Heysham (1831)
(23) John Giles Mounsey (1832)
(23) Augustus-Henry Mounsey (1834)
(23) Charles-James Mounsey Grant (1835)
(23) Isabella-Dorothea Mounsey (1839)
Of Castletown, Carlisle. The eldest son, he was born on 20 July 1828 and christened on 2 August at St. Mary's, Carlisle. He was admitted to Christs College Oxford in 1847. A lawyer.
"B.A. (10th sen. opt.) 1851; M.A. 1854. Admitted scholar 25 Oct. 1848. Son of George Gill Mounsey, solicitor, of Castletown on the Eden, near Carlisle, by his wife Isabella, daughter of John Heysham, M.D. Solicitor, with his father. Died 20 April 1881." - from "Biographical Register of Christ's College"
In the census of 1851 of Castletown House, Castletown, Rockcliff as Robert Heysham Mounsey, a 22 year old attorney and clerk. He was living with his father, George Gill Mounsey, and siblings, Elizabeth Mary, 21, and John Giles, 18 and also noted to be an attorney and clerk.
In the 1861 census of Castletown, Cumberland as Robert Heysham Mounsey, a 32 year old soliciter living at home with his father. Below are two wills by Robert and his brother, John, also a lawyer:
Will of William Rawes of Newby, Morland, Westmorland. Made 11th May 1875. Proved 20th November 1875 at Carlisle. Robert Heysham Mounsey and John Giles Mounsey Solicitors, CarlisleIn the 1871 census of Castletown and Rockcliffe, Cumberland as Robert H. Mounsey, a 42 year old solicitor. He was living with his father, G.G. Mounsey, sister, Isabella D. Heygate, uncle, William Henry Mounsey, and aunt [?], Anna Heysham.
Will of William Rawes of Spittal, Hewer Hill, Castle Sowerby, Cumberland. Made 10th November 1875. Proved 13th March 1876 at Carlisle. Robert Heysham Mounsey and John Giles Mounsey Solicitors, Carlisle.
He inherited the family estate upon his father's death in 1874. This estate included over 3,145 acres of land, generating an annual value of 4,485 pounds. - from "The acre-ocracy of England, a list of all owners of three thousand acres" by John Bateman.
Robert, a confirmed old bachelor, died unmarried on 20 April 1881 at the age of 52.
"Mounsey (Robert Heysham), Soliciter, Registrar of the Diocese of Carlisle, b. 1828, d. at Castletown, Cumberland, Apr. 25 Soliciter's Jour. XXV. p. 512." - from "Index of Obituary Notices for the Year 1881"Upon his death his brother George inherited the family estate. (23) Elizabeth-Mary Mounsey (1829)
She was born on 3 November 1829 at St. Mary's, Carlisle. In the census of 1851 of Castletown House, Casletown, Rockcliff as Elizabeth Mary, 21. She was living at home with her father, George Gill Mounsey, and brothers, Robert Heysham and John Gill. She died on 9 June 1856.
(23) George William Mounsey-Heysham (1831)Esq., of Castletown, Cumberland. He was born on 3 April 1831 at Carlisle and christened on 16 June 1831 at Saint Mary, Carlisle, Cumberland, England. He was the second son of George Gill Mounsey, Esq., of Castleton, Cumberland and Isabella Heysham, the daughter of Dr. Heysham.
He was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 28 February 1849. He received his B.A. in 1853 and his M.A. in 1856. In 1854 he won the Whewell prize, named for William Whewell, the Master of Trinity College and twice its Vice Chancellor. On 19 April 1852, at the age of 20, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn and was Called to the Bar on 30 April 1857 (Barrister-At-Law). An Equity Draftsman and Conveyancer. He road the Northern Circuit representing Branksome, Bournemouth and Castletown, Carlisle.
On 15 August 1860 he married Agnes Cope, the daughter of of Isaac S. Cope, Esq., of Castlewhite, county Cork, at Crosby Upon Eden, Cumberland, England and had issue.
George assumed the name of Mounsey-Heysham in 1871 by royal licence as a requirement of an inheritance.
"George Gill Mounsey married Isabella Heysham, brother of James Heysham of Borrans Hill, and in 1871 their son George William Mounsey was left his uncle's estate and changed his name to Mounsey-Heysham. His daughter Agnes married Richard . . ." - from "Country Life."This is stated again in the next reference which also makes clear that George William Mounsey took over James Heysham's home on Borran's Hill.
"May 31 [1871]. George William Mounsey, of Brunswick Gardens, Kensington, co. Middlesex, Borran's Hill in the parish of Sebergham, Cumberland, and of Lincoln's Inn, esq. barrister-at-law, son of George Gill Mounsey, of Castletown House, in the parish of Rockcliffe, co. Cumberland, esq. by Isabella his wife, daughter of John Heysham of Carlisle, M.D., and sister of James Heysham of Borran's Hill, esq. (in compliance with the will of said James Heysham) to take the name of Heysham after Mounsey." - from "The Herald and Genealogist" of 1871Ten years later George succeeded to the family estates on the death of his brother, Robert H. Mounsey, in 1881.
I have a George W.M. Heysham in the 1881 census born in about 1832 in Carlisle. He was a 49 year old barrister in practice, living at No 15 Stanhope Gardens S.W., London. Living with him were his daughters Agnes E. M. Heysham, 15, and Millicent M. Heysham, 9, both born in Kensington. He had four servants listed. It appears that when the 1881 census was taken it was truly a 'snapshot' of the population at that moment. George's wife, Agnes M. Heysham, was enumerated at the Queens Hotel in Poole along with her daughter Sybil. Poole is in Dorset, so while she was perhaps on a vacation at this seaside resort at the time of the census, note that George W. was residing in Parkstone parish, Dorset at the time of the 1901 census. His daughter, Milicent, was also married in Dorset. Agnes was listed as a Barrister's wife, aged 41 [1840], born in Ireland. She had a Ladies Maid, Emily Brown, with her.
George was a J.P. and D.L. for Cumberland. An alderman of the Cumberland County Council and High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1893. His seat was Castletown, Carlisle, while he also maintained a residence in London at 15 Stanhope Gardens, S.W. He may also have had a vacation home in Poole, Dorset, see above. He belonged to the Oxford and Cambridge Club.
| Oxford and Cambridge University Club
The foundation of the Oxford and Cambridge University Club dates from a meeting of Members of the two Universities held at the British Coffee House, 27 Cockspur Street on 17 May 1830, with Lord Palmerston in the chair. The meeting resolved that a Club consisting of Members of the two Universities should be formed `for the association of gentlemen educated at those Universities, and for promoting and continuing a mutual interest and fellowship between them'. The original membership was limited to 600, but this was increased to 1000 in 1838. The Pall Mall Club house was originally designed for the Oxford and Cambridge University Club in 1836 by the architect Sir Robert Smirke. In 1907 (Sir) Reginald Blomfield lined the walls of the staircase with yellow marble from Scyros. In 1952 a Crown lease was taken of the neighbouring house, 77 Pall Mall, to accommodate lady associates. Substantial alterations to the interior of the Club house were carried out following its 1972 amalgamation with the United University Club. |
Armorial bearings - Chequy or and gules, a chief of the first, thereon between two estoiles sable, a pale also sable, charged with a mullet gold. Mantling gules and or; and for Crest, upon a wreath of the colours, a demi-griffin gules, collared and chained or, holding in the dexter claw a flagstaff in bend proper, therefrom flowing to the sinister a pennon azure, and resting in the sinister claw on a mullet sable. Motto - Semper paratus
In the 1901 census, as George W. Munsey-Heysham, he was a 69 year old man, "of Carlisle," "living on own means," in Parkstone parish, Dorset. Living with him were his wife, Agnes, 61, "of Ireland," Millicent, 29 and Sibyl, 25.
George William Heysham, aged 79, died on 7 June 1910 in Carlisle. The following appears to assign Richard Rolls Gubbins and William Henry Booth as executors. George's eldest son, George Arthur, inherited.
"Mounsey-Heysham George William of Castletown near Carlisle esquire died 7 June 1910 Probate Carlisle 9 September to Richard Rolls Gubbins esquire a major in the Shropshire Light Infantry and William Henry Booth esquire retired major in His Majesty's army. Effects L137205 19s. 10d. [written in:] Resworn L130,769 19. 6." - from the National Probate Calendar
In the 1911 census of Carlisle, Cumberland as Agnes Mounsey Heysham, 71. I don't believe Agnes died until after 1928, when her son George Arthur died "a bachelor with parent still living." Agnes died in 1920
"Mounsey-Heysham Agnes of Castletown near Carlisle widow died 21 August 1920 Probate Carlisle 27 June to Sibyl Mounsey-Heysham spinster. Effects L7346 9s. 4d." - from the National Probate Calendar
Of 'numerous issue,' only the following is known:
(24) George Arthur Heysham Mounsey-Heysham (1862)
(24) Agnes Edith Mounsey-Heysham (1866)
(24) Robert Cecil Mounsey-Heysham (1869)
(24) Millicent Mounsey-Heysham (1871)
(24) Laura Mounsey-Heysham (1874)
(24) Sybil Mounsey-Heysham (1875)
The eldest son. Gentleman, Major. He was born on 25 May 1862 in Kensington, London, Middlesex, England, the "son of G. W. Mounsey Heysham, Esq., 3, Stanhope Gardens, W." - from the "Haileybury Register" of Haileybury college. He attended Haileybury and Eton. In the 1881 census, at the age of 18, he was a pupil living with Mr. John Cole, Assistant Classical Master MA, at Eton College, Keats Lane, Buckingham, England. He was admitted to Trinity College, Oxford on 13 June 1881. He received his B.A. in 1884 and his M.A. in 1891.
Geo. A. Mounsey-Heysham was a Captain in the 4th Battalion of the Border Regiment (formerly the Royal Westmoreland Light Infantry), a militia force, with a date of rank of 1 February 1888. They were headquartered in Carlisle under the command of Colonel Thomas Earl of Bective, M.P. - from "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List" by H G Hart.
In 1890 George's uncle, John Giles Mounsey, died and left a considerable estate.
"Probate of the will of the late Mr. John Giles Mounsey, of Carlisle, solicitor, who died on the 20th Oct. 1890, leaving personal estate of the net value of £128,038 4s. 4d., has been granted to the sole executor, his nephew, George Arthur Heysham Mounsey, Carlisle. Testator bequeaths to his brother General Charles Mounsey Grant, £10,000; to his sister Mrs. Isabella Dorothea Heygate, £10,000; to his niece, Agnes Edith Mounsey Heysham, £5000; to his nephews and nieces, Robert, Cecil, Millicent, and Sybil Mounsey Heysham, and Charles James Grant Mounsey Grant, £1000 each; . . ." - from "The Law Times" of 1891
In the 1891 census of Hawkesdale, Cumberland as George A.H.M. Heysham [Keysham in Ancestry.com], a 28 year old solicitor, a single man, of South Kensington, London. He was visiting the house of Louis C. Salkeld of Holen Hill, Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th Batt. Border Regiment.
A country gentleman of sporting persuasions, in 1894 he became Master of the Carlisle hounds. - from "A History and Description of the Modern Dogs of Great Britain and Ireland" by Rawdon Briggs Lee. The book notes that these dogs "were as invincible on the show bench as by the river."
He was the last to enter the family business of the law. In 1901 he was listed as a Major, living at 12 Cavendish place, Carlisle. A Solicitor and partner in the firm of Mounsey, Bowman and Graham, of Carlisle, from 1891 to 1898. A Major in the 4th Battalion, the Border Regiment of the Militia, probably the Royal Cumberland Regiment of Militia. During his period of service the regiment fought in the Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902), including the relief of Ladysmith in 1900 and the guerilla war that followed, operating under Generals Clements and Cunningham. However, I don't have any information that George served there.
| The Border Regiment
This unit, housed in Carlisle Castle, traces its history back to 1702 and remains a unit of the British military today still drawing its recruits exclusively from the border region. It was organised in 1881 as the county regiment of Cumberland and Westmorland, encompassing its Militia and Volunteer infantry and uniting two regular battalions, the 1st, a redesignation of the 34th Cumberland Regiment of Foot, and the 2nd, a redesignation of the 55th Westmorland Regiment of Foot. Amalgamated with The King's Own Royal Regiment of Lancaster to form The King's Own Royal Border Regiment in 1959. The First Border Regiment took part in the Boer War from October 1899 to the end of the war. It fought at Willow Grange, Colenso, Spioenkop, Vaalkrans, Hart's Hill, Nooitgedacht, and Western Transvaal, as well as at Ladysmith. |
A principal landowner and inhabitant of Gamblesby, Cumbria in 1901 was a GHH [I think they mean GAH] Mounsey-Heysham.
In 1910 George inherited the family estate.
George died on 7 November 1928, at the age of 65, at Silloth and was buried at Rockcliffe. A newspaper obituary:
"The Whitehaven News, 15 November 1928He had been "Lord of the Manor," but was a bachelor and left his estate to his nephew, Richard Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham, below. From the UK Archives, Court Book (Manor of Cumwhinton and Cotehill), dated 26 December 1861 - 25 October 1950
Promiment Cumberland Sportsman.
_____
Death of a Major Mounsey Heysham.
The death has occurred at Silloth of Major George Arthur Mounsey-Heysham, formerly of the Cumberland Militia (4th Borders), aged 66 years.
Educated at Rugby and Cambridge, he was later admitted a solicitor and became a partner in the firm of Mounsey and Co., Castle Street, Carlisle, from which he retired in 1898.
He was the elder son of the late Mr. G. W. MOUNSEY-HEYSHAM, of Castletown, Cumberland, and one of the best known sporting men in the county. He was interested in fox hunting, otter hunting, and many other forms of out door sport, but of late he had suffered from poor health. He had considerable literary ability and his artistic temperament found expression in cleverly drawn pen and ink caricatures of people with whom he came in contact.
He was vice-president of the old Carlisle Philharmonic Society in the 90s when they produced a series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Thirty years ago he was a regular contributor to a humorous publication called "Brayton Blossoms," edited by one of the Lawson family, which was widely read amongst the County families in Cumberland."
"On page 166 is a memorandum that Mr George Arthur Heysham Mounsey-Heysham, Lord of this Manor, died on 7 November 1928 intestate, bachelor, with [living] parent; letters of administration granted (1929) to his nephew Richard Heysham Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham, who is thereby now Lord of this Manor."(24) Agnes Edith Mounsey-Heysham (1866)
Eldest daughter of G.W. Mounsey-Heysham. She was named after her mother, Agnes Cope, and born in Kensington in 1866. She was living with her father in London at the time of the 1881 census. She married Captain Richard Rolls Gubbins, D.S.O., 85th Regiment, Shropshire Light Infantry, on 16 December 1902 at Castletown, in Carlisle. Richard R. Gubbins was born in Upham, Hampshire in 1869, the first son of Richard Shard Gubbins, the Primate of Upham.
| The Gubbins Family |
Richard was recalled to duty during World War I and was subsequently lost at sea due to enemy action on 25 January 1918. Agnes E. Gubbins died in the 1st quarter 1918, at home in Carlisle, Cumberland.
Their children were,
(25) Richard Heysham Gubbins Mounsey-Heysham (1904)
(25) William John Mounsey Gubbins (1903)
R.H.G. Mounsey-Heysham of Castletown, Carlisle. He was born in 1904. Richard was orphaned in 1918. While still a minor he was under the guardianship of his aunt, Sybil Mounsey-Heysham.
Gentleman and 2nd Lieutenant Scots Guards. Richard H. Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham married Barbara Balfour in the first quarter 1928 in Kensington, London.
He inherited the Castletown estate at Rockcliffe in 1928 upon the death of George Arthur Mounsey-Heysham, his uncle, and adopted the Mounsey-Heysham name. A Major [of?], of Carlisle.
Richard divorced Barbara Balfour in 1931:
"Divorce Court File: 9496. Appellant: Barbara Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham. Respondent: Richard Heysham Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham. Type: Wife's petition for divorce [WD]. . Divorce Court File: 9496. Appellant: Barbara Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham. Respondent: Richard Date: 1931."A friendly researcher, Lauren Jones, wrote,
"Hi,I ended up on your website while searching on GMH, after reading this engagement announcement :
The engagement has been announced between Robert Henry M. Davies-Jones (b 1979), son of Capt Peter Michael Davies-Jones, of Langley on Tyne, Northumberland, by his wife the former Gentian Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham (b 1946), & Victoria Ann Inskip (b 1983), descended from a brother of the 1st Viscount Caldecote, daughter of Mr Owen Hampden Inskip (b 24 May, 1953), by his wife the Hon Clare Elizabeth Anne Inskip (nee Noel-Buxton), daughter of the 2nd Baron Noel-Buxton (1917-80)You had a Barbara GMH divorcing Richard and I found this marriage record for you.
Name: Richard H Gubbins-mounsey-heysham
Spouse Surname: Barbara Balfour
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1928
Registration district: Kensington
Inferred County: Middlesex
Volume Number: 1a
Page Number: 159"
Richrd then married Margaret Isabel Barne, the daughter of Brigadier William Bradley Gosset Barne, C.B.E., D.S.O.
"R. H. G. Mounsey-Heysham now uses A demi-grimn Or, wreathed Vert, holding erect a banner Azure thereon on a fess Argent the word ' Furieux ' (signboard of the Mounsey Arms). The origin of this crest may be learnt from the inscription on the monument to William Mounsey (d. 1830) in St. Cuthbert's Church, Carlisle, ' who (it states) on the 6th July, 1809, in the command of Bonne Citoyen, captured the Furieuse, a French frigate of the first class, and of greatly superior force, after an engagement of nine hours, attended with circumstances of skill and bravery which need not be repeated here, as they are already recorded in the naval history of the country.' The Motto has remained throughout, Semper Paratus." - from "An Armorial for Cumberland" by Frederick James Field.
Richard H. G. M. Heysham died on 10 December 1960 in Border, Northumberland and left a considerable estate to Isabel Margaret [sic] Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham, widow.
"He changed his name to Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham, but preferred to be called
Mounsey-Heysham. On his death in 1961 he was succeeded by his son Mr Giles Mounsey-Heysham, the
present owner. Mounsey, Bowman and Sutcliffe [a Carlisle firm of solicitors] remain one of Carlisle's leading . . ." - from "Country Life: London"
Richard and Margaret Isabel's children were,
(26) Margaret Anne Gubbins Mounsey-Heysham (c1936)
(26) Gentian Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham (1946), she married Capt Peter Michael Davies-Jones, of Langley on Tyne, Northumberland in 1969
(26) Giles Herchard Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham (1948)
The daughter of Major Richard Heysham Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham. She married Hugh William Lawson, the second son of Sir William Howard-Lawson (1905), fifth Baronet of Brough, in 1961. Hugh was born in 1936. The Lawson's lived in Corby Castle, also designed by architect Peter Nicholson, just 15 miles upstream from Castletown House.
(26) Giles Herchard Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham (1948)Giles H. Gubbins Mounsey-Heysham was born in the third quarter, 1948, in the Border registration district, Northumberland. His mother's name was Barne, that is she was Isabel, the wife of (25) Richard Heysham Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham.
Of Castletown House, Rockcliffe, to the right. Esq, Warden, now Master, of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, part of the Fishmongers Company, of London. He appears to have dropped the use of Gubbins in the name, though in one spot I saw him referred to as Giles Gubbins Mounsey-Heysham.
The Worshipful Company of Grocers
The Worshipful Company of Grocers, who rank second of the City Livery Companies was originally known as The Guild of Pepperers whose earliest records date from 1180. The Company was formed as a religious and social fraternity of merchants and moneyers trading in spices, gold and other luxury goods from Byzantium and the Mediterranean. Later they became more involved in the import and export of all kinds of goods which they bought and sold in gross and in 1376 changed the name if their guild to The Company of Grossers of London. Over the centuries the Company has lost its close connections with the import and trade of goods, its former function of controlling weights and measures in the Port of London having been taken over since the Great Fire of 1666 by H.M. Customs and Excise. In the twentieth century the Company, along with the other Livery Companies, continues to play its part in the daily life of the City and in the election of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs. |
The Fishmongers' Company
One of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London and amongst the most ancient of the City Guilds, with an unbroken existence of more than 700 years. The Fishmongers of London are known to have been an organised community long before Edward I (AD 1272) granted them their first Charter. That, and others granted in the reigns of Edward II and Edward III, provided that no fish could be sold in London except by the Mistery of Fishmongers; they also limited the markets at which fish could be sold in the City and made it the duty of the Wardens of the Mistery to oversee the selling of fish and to ensure that none but sound fish was offered. Until the end of the fourteenth century the Fishmongers had their own Court of Law (Leyhalmode) at which all disputes relating to fish were adjudged by the Wardens, whether such disputes were between members of the Company amongst themselves or with "foreigners", i.e. non-members of the Guild. The Company's present-day duties are still largely concerned with Fisheries and Fishing. Under a Charter of James I officials of the Company (known as "Fishmeters") still examine all fish coming into Billingsgate Market and "survey wither the same be wholesome for Man's Body, and fit to be sold or no", seizing that which fails to pass this test. |
The Director of CN Group, a newspaper chain in northern England, he also serves on the Cumbria and North Lancashire North West Industrial Council. On the Board of Directors of the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company. Third Warden of Governing body of Oundle School, founded in 1556. All of Giles' children went through this private school in Peterborough, England, about eighty miles north of London, in the small market town of Oundle. Member, Branch committee for Cumbria, CLA North West Branch Committees.
Giles Gubbins Mounsey-Heysham was invested as a Fellow, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (F.R.I.C.S.).
He lives at the ancestral home of Castletown House - "This Georgian House set in attractive gardens is owned by Giles Mounsey-Heysham. Viewing is by appointment only." In the Lake District. His farm advertizes its produce on the web and has a small outlet in Cumbria. Giles is also a real estate broker specializing in rural properties. He was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (F.R.I.C.S.). Unfortunately his farm was hit by the foot & mouth disease that ravaged England just a few years back - "Confirmed cases of Foot & Mouth Disease reported at Mr. G. Mounsey-Heysham, Floriston Rigg 4 Trust, Castletown Estates, Rockcliffe, Carlisle, Cumbria."
He married Penelope Auriol Twiston-Davies on 24 April 1982. She was born on 12 February 1959 and is the daughter of William Anthony Twiston-Davies and Rosemary Archdale. She is a horse woman, rider and owns show horses which appear to be Arabs. I also read that she was a breeder. Her brother is Nigel, a leading National Hunt racehorse trainer. Penelope is on the Chair of Governers, Rockcliffe CE Primary School, Carlisle. Type of school: Infant and Junior, age 4-11. I assume her children went through this school. They have four children:
(27) Toby Herchard Mounsey-Heysham (1984)He was born on 23 January 1984. His birth was registered in February 1984 in Lambeth, London.
(27) Benjamin Giles Mounsey-Heysham (1986)He was born on 3 March 1986. His birth was registered in March 1986 in Carlisle, Cumberland.
(27) Rory Mounsey-Heysham (1989)He was born on 2 February 1989. He is currently attending Radley College, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
(27) Anna Mounsey-Heysham (1991)She was born on 29 May 1991. Her online comments at "bebo" let you know that she thinks Cumbria is the "coolest but randomist place ever." I think that's a compliment.
(24) Robert Cecil Mounsey-Heysham (1869)Robert C. M. [Mounsey] Heysham, who was born in 1869 in Kensington, Middlesex, England, was a student-boarder in 1881 with Herbert W. S. Kynnersly, Master Of Lane Church Of England, In Charge Of St George School, at the St George School, Sunninghill, Berkshire, England. This is near Ascot. He went to Eton.
Robert was noted in the Eton College register,
"Capt. Robert Cecil [Mounsey-Heysham (J.C.)], J.P. 2nd son of G.W.M.-H. of Castletown House; 1881-1882 [attendance at Eton]; formerly Capt. Salop [Shropshire] Light Infty.; J.P. for Cumberland. Castletown House, Carlisle." - from "The Eton Register" of 1908, by Eton College, Old Etonian associationI assume he went on to Oxford or Cambridge.
Robert Cecil Mounsey-Heysham was a Lieutenant in the King's (Shropshire Light Infantry), formerly the 53rd (Shropshire) with a date of rank of 29 August 1885. They were under the command of Sir Henry Percival de Bathe, baronet. - from "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List" by H G Hart. This force had fought in Eqypt in 1882 and at Suakin in 1885. Suakin is a Red Sea port in northeastern Sudan. Robert may have been with the regiment at these times.
| The Egyptian Campaign
The Suez Canal was opened on 16 November 1869 and its centrality to England's control of India meant that the British would become deeply invovled in Egyptian politics. This gave rise to unrest between the Egyptians and Europeans, and nationalist feelings grew. Riots in Alexandria in June 1882 convinced the British that their interests were at risk and the army was sent in. The Egyptian army was finally defeated at Tel-el-Kebir on 13 September and the country occupied. The Mahdist WarThe Sudan was a client state of Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire, and the revolt in Egypt resulted in drift in Sudan. A prophet who called himself the Mahdi arose with the goal of expelling the foreigners, Europeans and Turks alike, and returning Islam to its primitive purity. By the end of 1883 his forces controlled most of Sudan and had annihilated an Egyptian force sent to restore order. A 4,000 strong British force under Major-General Gerald Graham intervened in the Suakin region, along the Red Sea, to contain Osman Dinga, leader of the Beja tribe and a powerful supporter of the Mahdi. The extravagant hairstyles of the Beja earned them the nickname "Fuzzy-Wuzzies." On 29 February Osman Digna was defeated at El Teb, but two weeks later the British were almost defeated themselves at Tamai. The British fought in two brigade squares, one of which was temporarily broken by the Mahdist forces. The situation was only retrieved when the second square moved up in support. Whilst these two victories were a boost to public morale, they had little long-term effect. Osman Digna was able to recover from his losses and Graham's force was withdrawn. More famously, Major General Charles Gordon, commanding an Egyptian force, was besieged in Khartoum by the Mahdists. Gordon had become famous as "Chinese" Gordon during the Boxer rebellion in China and the headlines of his predicament forced the government to intervene. A flying column of British troops under General Wolseley was dispatched, but arrived two days too late. Gordan was killed and the garrison slaughtered in the city's fall. The war continued for another 4 years. |
On 30 November 1891 Robert was made a Captain in the Shropshire Light Infantry. He may have joined his elder brother, George Arthur, in the Boer War in South Africa.
| The Shropshire Light Infantry
|
Captain Robert Heysham then went to Australia in 1904.
"Passenger List:Omrah was a steamer built in 1899 for the Ocean Steam Navigation Company for passenger service between England and Australia. Robert continued to sail on the Omrah from Port Said, Eqypt for Australia.
Ship: Omrah, Master: F. S. Symons, Tons: 8,282 Where Bound: Australia
A voyage of 56 days Date: 21 October 1904
No. of Contract Ticket: 82
Name: Mr. R. C. M. Heysham, English, aged 60 [?]
Contracted to Land: Sydney"
"Passenger List:Was this just a visit, because he ended up, literally, back in England.
Ship: Ommrah, Master: F. S. Symons, Tons: 8,282 Where Bound: Australia
A voyage of 75 days, Date: 2 December 1904 [Voyage 2 December 1904 - 11 March 1905]
Port of Embarkation: Port Said
Name: Captain Heysham, English, aged 34 [1870]
Contracted to Land: Sydney"
Robert Cecil M. Heysham died in Poole, Dorset on 14 July 1909, at the age of 42 and therefore did not inherit upon the death of George Arthur in 1928.
"Mounsey-Heysham Robert Cecil of Castletown near Carlisle Cumberland captain (retired) His Majesty's Shropshire Light Infantry died 14 July 1909 at Grata Quies Branksome Park Bournemouth Administration Carlisle 3 November to George William Mounsey-Heysham esquire. Effects L7324 16s. 11d." - from the National Probate Calendar(24) Millicent Mounsey-Heysham (1871)
She was born in December 1871 in Kensignton, Greater London, Middlesex, and was living with her father in London in 1881. She became a Baroness upon marrying Karl Franz Max Von Boeselager [Charles Francis M (Baron) Von Boeselager in the Marriage Index] on 30 May 1899 in Poole, Dorset. Karl was born on 25 October 1864 in Munster Stadt, Westphalia, the son of Baron Karl Maximilian Von Boeselager and the Countess Klementine Von Bochholz-Asseburg.
| Hesseen Castle
|
After the elder Baron died Karl Jr. became Baron, but died himself on 30 May 1900, in Bournemouth, Hampshire, just a year after marrying. He left Millicent with a title, but no children. In the census of 1901 Millicent, a 29 year old widow, was living with her mother and father in Parkstone parish, Dorset. Millicent was living in Rockcliffe in 1913. Some sort of settlement must have been made with the family in Germany because for the rest of her life she appears to have lived the life of a Grand Dame in Northern England.
Upon Karl's death his brother, Dietrich Hubertus Peter Von Boeselager, became Baron and immediately returned to Germany, becoming a Prussian citizen in 1900 and "Schlossherr in Heessen," or Lord of Castle Heessen [zu Heesen]. He married the Baroness Alexandra Von Vittinghof-Schell zu Schellenburg on 9 October 1900. He died on 10 March 1920 at the age of 53 at Locarno-Minusio. They appear to have had no children.
During World War II, in 1943, the current Baron Von Boeselager and his younger brother were involved in a conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. In recognition of their bravery there is a street in Bonn named for the Baron.
From a website about the Banning family:
"Dad [Raymond Banning, who was born in 1929 and lived near Brampton, Cumberland] made the acquaintance of this lady in later boyhood. She lived in a large stately home and had a fabulous collection of musical instruments. I think that Dad originally did odd jobs around the estate and then because of their mutual interest in music, he would be invited into the house to accompany her in playing music. Apparently he often had instruments on an almost permanent loan and she owned some of the finest violins ever made. When he was leaving to join the Royal Marines Band Service she told him that if he ever needed to borrow any instrument for any reason, he just had to write. A year or so later, he was going to play in a concert and he remembered the offer. He wrote a letter asking to borrow his favourite violin, a Stradivarius, from her. By the time he reached the mailbox, his conscience was troubling him and he tore up the letter, not wishing to impose on an old friend. A few weeks later he heard that she had died, and in her will she had made a provision that anyone in possession of any of her instruments could keep them. I have since found several references to this wonderful lady and her collection on the internet."
The Boeselager violin is described below:
"Sleeping Beauty"- 1720The Wilma above was probably Wilhelmine Maria Von Boeselager (born 1871), the old Baron's daughter and Millicent's sister-in-law. My best guess is that, as a child, Wilma found the violin as stated above, but brought it with her to England when she accompanied her father and brothers in their exile in 1881. It came into Millicent's hands when she was, briefly, the Baroness. Upon her death it reverted to the family in Germany where it was put promptly put into a bank vault.
Because of its close resemblance to the "Betts" it is believed that this instrument dates back to 1704. It was bought by a noble German family, von Boeselager in 1720. It was soon relegated to the attic in their castle, where it remained forgotten for over a century. Thus the name "Sleeping Beauty." The Baroness Wilma von Boeselager found it there at the end of the 19th century and played it a little before putting it away in bank safe where it remained until 1990. In 1990 it was lent to a Zurich Maestro. In 1995, Isabelle Faust fell in love with it and persuaded a bank to buy it for her. And so "Sleeping Beauty became the Prince charming!"
Millicent delivered an Illustrated Lecture, "HMS Cumberland - Then and Now," on 17 January 1913 to the Children of Rockliffe and Cargo. She is referred to as the late Baroness Max Von Boeselager (Miss Millicent Mounsey-Heysham). The lecture was first published in 1914.
I recently received the following email,
"I’m writing from West Cumbria England about the above, just to mention that she [Millicent] appears to have been quite an accomplished poet: I’ve just bought in Carlisle a book of her poems published in 1914 by Thurnams of Carlisle who were one of the areas premier printers and publishers of the time. Most interestingly, it has an affectionate inscription on the front cover from Sybil Mounsey Heysham who appears from your website to have been her sister along with a little service sheet pinned to it from it seems a memorial service held in 1913 I think to commemorate her death and becoming ‘reunited’ with her late husband Baron von Bouselager.See also Handed On, which contains more about the family and the estate as wells as an exerpt of Millicent's poetry. (24) Laura Mounsey-Heysham (1874)
I note all the connections with the Carlisle area outlined on your most impressive and informative family website ( I fondly recall buying very fresh very large River Eden salmon from ‘haf net’ Rockcliffe fishermen in the past.)
If you’re interested, I’ll gladly scan them for you: let me know if needs be." - from David Boyd
She was born in April-June 1874 in Kensington, London, Middlesex. I suspect she was the daughter of George, born in Kensington like Millicent and Sybil. She died in the same period in 1874 in Kensington.
(24) Sybil Mounsey-Heysham (1875)She was born in December 1875 in Kensington, London, Middlesex. In the 1881 census Sybel [sic] M. Heysham was a boarder, with her mother Agnes M. Heysham at the Queens Hotel in Poole, Dorset. She was listed as a Barrister's daughter, aged 5 [1876], born in Bloomsbury [London], Middlesex, England.
In the 1901 census Sibyl [sic], a 25 year old single woman, 'of London,' was still living with her father, George W., in Parkstone parish, Dorset. Her widowed sister, Millicent, was with them. She apparently never married.
"Sybil Mounsey-Heysham, known to her friends as "Ba," became a friend of the Soames family in about 1900. Her father owned Branksome Park - a magnificent house in Bournemouth - and a substantial estate in Cumberland [Castletown] where Olave [Soames, future wife of Robert Baden-Powell] went to stay for the first time in 1903. In that year Katherine Soames wrote of Sybil as 'a clever, original, gentle, manly, astonishing and altogether delightful thing called Ba, who charms equally, sportsmen, child, and critical woman - to which sex she officially belongs! This is, however, only a fact she care to emphasize on rare occasions.' In that psychologically unsophisticated era, even women as prettily feminine as Katherine Soames could accept without embarassment members of that stalwart breed of English women whose collars and ties, cropped hair and tweeds made them instantly recognizable during the first two decades of the present century. 'Ba' would add to this basic masculine equipment webbing puttees like those later worn in the trenches. When Olave met her, she was widely reputed to be one of the three finest duck shots in the country - the others being the Earl of Leicester and Lord William Percy, who once stayed out all night with her on the Solway marshes bagging with her a record 64 geese before morning. She used to say that her father's head gamekeeper had taught her all she knew - and she was undoubtedly a knowledgeable ornithologist. She had a gaunt, sharp-featured face and was rather unkempt, with buttons missing from her jackets and shoelaces trailing dangerously. An accomplished amateur violinist, she would swear volubly when she played false notes. Among other eccentricities she used to stuff her pockets with cigarettes, so that she could give them to any soldiers she happened to encounter at railway stations. 'Ba' struck everyone as a vivid and unique character of whom people would say quite matter-of-factly that she ought to have been a man. Indeed, in her house there is to this day an attractive portrait of her dressed in a naval officer's uniform." - from "Baden-Powell: Founder of the Boy Scouts" by Tim JealSo, I suppose this explains her never marrying. By the way, Olave Soames, Baden-Powell's wife, was equally masculine in her habits and it was this that drew the 55-year old Baden-Powell to her.
In the 1911 census of Carlisle, Cumberland as Sibyl Mounsey Heysham, 35.
An amateur musician and collector, Sybil owned two outstanding musical instruments; a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini cello, made circa 1783 in Turin, which she held for a year, in 1913, and, from 1935 to 1949, an Andrea Amati violin, made circa 1566 in Cremona. Built for King Charles IX of France, the latter is now in the Tullie House museum in Carlisle.
Sibyl died on 23 March 1949.
"Mounsey-Heysham Sibyl of 52 Scarsdale Villas Kensington London W.8 spinster died 23 March 1949 Probate Carlisle 2 June to Richard Heysham Gubbins-Mounsey-Heysham and William John Mounsey Gubbins both of no occupation. Effects L59935 17s 6d." - from the National Probate Calendar(23) John Giles Mounsey (1832)
The third son, he was born on 22 August 1832 at St. Mary's, Carlise. A lawyer and partner of his older brother Robert.
In the census of 1851 of Castletown House, Casletown, Rockcliff as John Gill Mounsey, 18 and noted to be an attorney and clerk. Surely they mean apprentice attorney? He was living at home with his father, George Gill Mounsey, and his siblings, Elizabeth Mary and Robert Heysham.
In the 1861 census of Castletown, Cumberland as John Giles Mounsey, a 28 year old soliciter living at home with his father.
I haven't found him in the 1871 census. He wasn't at home with his father, George Gill Mounsey.
In the 1881 census he was living at his brother's home, Castletown House, Rockcliff, Cumberland, England. He was a soliciter, unmarried at the age of 48. Like his elder brother, he was apparently a crusty old bachelor who never married.
John died on 20 October 1890.
"Probate of the will of the late Mr. John Giles Mounsey, of Carlisle, solicitor, who died on the 20th Oct. 1890, leaving personal estate of the net value of £128,038 4s. 4d., has been granted to the sole executor, his nephew, George Arthur Heysham Mounsey, Carlisle. Testator bequeaths to his brother General Charles Mounsey Grant, £10,000; to his sister Mrs. Isabella Dorothea Heygate, £10,000; to his niece, Agnes Edith Mounsey Heysham, £5000; to his nephews and nieces, Robert, Cecil, Millicent, and Sybil Mounsey Heysham, and Charles James Grant Mounsey Grant, £1000 each; . . ." - from "The Law Times" of 1891(23) Augustus Henry Mounsey (1834)
He was born on 27 August 1834 and christened on 14 October at St. Mary's, Carlisle. A member of the diplomatic corps. In 1865 he left London and traveled to Vienna by rail. At Trieste he took ship for Constantinople. From there he sailed for Sinope and Trebizond, on the Black Sea, then by road through the Causcasus to Baku, on the Caspian Sea, and on to Tehran, in Persia, where he took up residence for "a considerable period." I assume this was a diplomatic posting.
Aug. Henry Mounsey, Esq., was a member of the British Legation at Florence in 1868. He was also a member of the Royal Geographic Society (Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, F.R.G.S.).
Around 1872 he wrote "A Journey Through the Caucasus and the Interior of Persia," published in London in 1872. He was billed Second Secretary to Her Majesty's Embassy at Vienna.
On 16 December 1874 he married Margaret Elizabeth Noyes at Reigate, Surrey. She was the second daughter of Russell George Noyes, of Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, and Elizabeth Tracy. Some sources show her to be the daughter of Henry Maunsell Bradhurst, Esq., of New York City, but he was her step-father.
He was promoted to be Secretary at Yedo, Japan on 10 February 1876. On 24 May 1876 Augustus H. Mounsey, gentleman, of England, arrived in New York City onboard the ABYSSINIA. He was enroute to Japan. With him were his wife, called Isabella [sic], 46, and infant daughter, Evelyn, aged 8/12. A nurse and maid accompanied them. I suspect Augustus was including a tour of his wife's home before continuing on to his next diplomatic posting.
Secretary of the British Legation to Japan at Yedo in 1876, he wrote "The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History," published in 1879, based on documentation and interviews he gathered from Japanese who had "taken an active part in the suppression." He also described the 1868 Meiji Restoration, Satsuma's role in the Restoration, and the particular roles of prominent Satsuma men during the lead up to the Satsuma Rebellion.
"Augustus Henry Montague was promoted to be Secretary at Yedo (Tokyo), February 10, 1876, and transferred to Athens, July 22, 1878." - from "The Correspondence of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Japan, 1895-1900.""Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of Legation in Athens," under the Envoy and Minister, Edwin Corbett. His son, George Augustus, was born in December of 1879. "Aug. Hy. [Hysham] & Margt. Elizt Mounsey" christened their son on 2 February 1880 at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Athens.
He was then transferred as British Minister Resident to Bogota, the United States of Columbia, as the British Resident-Minister. Augustus died on 10 April 1882 in Bogota, Columibia at the age of 48.
His children were,
(24) Evelyn Isabella Mounsey (1875)
(24) George Augustus Mounsey (1879)
(24) Margaret Elizabeth Anna Mounsey
He was born on 24 December 1879 and christened on 2 February 1880 at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Athens, Greece. His parents are listed as Aug. Hy. [Hysham] & Margt. Elizt Mounsey. In 1882 his father died in Bogota, Columbia and, I presume, the family returned to England. Perhaps feeling the absence of his father, George copied his career as a diplomat.
In 1905 George translated "The Acropolis" by Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky, a Russian novelist and poet.
From the Gertrude Bell archives, I have a letter, written from Constantinople on 3 June 1911 when Gertrude was a young girl, that mentions that "I lunch or dine almost daily with Mr. Mounsey," and then mentions the embassy. I'm guessing that this is our George and that he was a secretary of the Legation and was assigned the duty of squiring around the daughters of the rich and powerful.
He was later the Head of the Chancery of the British Legation to the Holy See [Rome] from at least 1913 to 1919. There are letters from George Mounsey, in Rome, covering the period 1913 to 1916 in the Personal Papers of Eugenie Strong. This would have made him the number two man, after the Ambassador, responsible for the daily running of the embassy. Would this have been a good position / plum job? Afterall, as Stalin famously asked when it was suggested that the Pope be given a seat at Allied conferences in World War II, 'How many divisions has the Pope?'
One reference indicates he "had long service in the Treasury." This may be in reference to his service as secretary designate to the Ministry of Economic Warfare.
"Mounsey can hardly bring himself to say "Secret Service." It is like an old lady trying not to say "W.C." He calls it, in a hushed voice, "certain arrangements." He had, he says, always been taught, while he was in the Treasury Department, to regard the maintenance of these "arrangements" as his first duty, to which everything should be subordinated." - from "Intelligence and the War Against Japan" by Richard James AldrichHe did have his issues with spies.
"They have a secret mission and they must justify it," he said. "If nothing comes to hand for them to report, they must earn their pay for finding something."
He became head of the Northern Department in 1926 and head of the Far Eastern Department in 1927, where he had to manage the issue of growing Japanese militarism. Sir George Augustus Mounsey, KCMG, CB, OBE was appointed an Assistant Under-Secretary of State on 15 July 1929. In 1936 he was the Assistant Under-Secretary responsible for the League of Nations and Western Department. Referred to as "uninspriring" by Martin Thomas, but this was in regards to his lack of support for the communists in Spain.
George was a classic appeasor of the pre-war period. MI6, Britain's intelligence service, was accused by senior Foreign Office diplomats of undermining the policy of appeasement with alarmist predictions of Adolf Hitler's war-mongering intentions. In January 1939 an agent reported that Hitler planned to bring France to heel by sending troops through Holland and Switzerland to get round the Maginot Line defences. This report was passed to America and other countries to the fury of Sir George Mounsey, the Foreign Office Assistant Under-Secretary. He complained, "If action is taken on them [the reports] the whole international atmosphere may be poisoned and the policy of appeasement jeopardised."
Sir George Mounsey, an Assistant Under Secretary of State at the time, was chosen as Ambassador to General Franco's Spain upon their recognition by Neville Chamberlain's England on 29 March 1939. The Spanish Civil War had just ended with Franco's forces in command. During the civil war George, a "non-interventionist," had been notably opposed to the Communist supported rebels and warned one diplomat about being "clearly so entirely prejudiced in favour of the rebels."
In 1939 he was promoted from Superintending Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office to the Secretary of the Ministry (1939-1940). "The Foreign Secretary spoke for the Minister of Economic Warfare in the War Cabinent, where the latter did not have a seat." - from "Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and the World Crisis" by Richar A. Smith and Anthony Carty.
The papers of Sir George Augustus Mounsey are located at the Cambridge University Library. Does this indicate that he attended Cambridge? He translated a Russian book for what its worth. He died in 1966. His suffixes were KCMG, CB, CBE.
Claude George A. Mounsey was born in June 1903 in Bedforshire Hertfordshire. A son?
(23) Charles-James Mounsey Grant (1835)Major General. He was born on 13 December 1835 at St. Mary's, Carlisle, the youngest son of George Gill Mounsey of Castletown, Carlisle. He joined the 71st Highlanders, a Scottish Regiment of the British Army, and was commissioned on 20 September 1853. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 29 December 1854. He fought in the Crimean War (1854-1856), he was on garrison duty on the island of Malta,
"July 1857. 71st (Highland) Light Infantry. Officers with the 71st Regiment were: . . . Lieutenant Charles James Mounsey." - from the website "The British Army Garrison in Malta 1828-1865"he fought in the Central Indian Campaign (1858-1859) and in the series of engagements with the Afghan tribes (1863-1864).
| The 71st Foot, Highland Light Infantry
In the mid-19th century the 1st Battalion, which had been based on Corfu, and the 2nd Battalion, which had been in Canada, were sent to the Crimea where they were amalgamated. The 71st served in the trenches before Sevastopol during the long seige and subsequently at its capture. They were later engaged in operations on the Kerch Peninsula. In 1856 the Regiment was put on garrison duty in Malta. Although the 71st were a Highland regiment they did not wear the kilt. Their uniform consisted of scarlet tunic, with buff facings for the 1st battalion and green facings for the 2nd, and shako instead of the usual feather bonnet of Scottish regiments. |
The regiment received orders to proceed to India on 2 January 1858 and on the morning of the 4th it embarked on board HMS PRINCESS ROYAL, a 91-gun screw-propelled 2nd rate, and HMS VULTURE, a steam-powered paddle-wheel frigate. They arrived in Bombay in February. Under the command General Sir Thomas Erskine Napier, they were in the thick of things in the quelling of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1858 and 1859. They fought at the seige of Delhi, the relief of Lucknow and Cawnpore. Lieutenant Mounsey was awarded the Indian Mutiny Medal for his services during this period. They later took part in the Gwalior campaign, pursuit of Tantia Topee, and the North West Frontier.
He was promoted to Captain on 4 March 1859.
On 3 December 1862 Charles married Mary Tirzah Grant, the daughter of James Robert Grant, Esq., of The Hill, Cumberland, and had a son. The name Tirzah is biblical. Also, wasn't Tirzah the sister in the movie "Ben Hur?"
| The Grant Family of "The Hill"
(20) Duncan Grant (1729) Of Mulochaird [Mullochard], Strathspey, afterwards Lingresston, Morayshire. He settled in Forres and conducted a business there, becoming propersous. Provost of the town. He married Jean, the daughter of Robert Grant, esq., of Kylimore, Banffshire. She was said to be "well born of the Arndilly Grants, and very proud she was of her lineage." Duncan died in Bath on 1 January 1788, aged 59. The couple had a surviving family of eight sons and three daughters. Of the sons, "Two were knighted, one became a Judge in the Supreme Court of Madras, one a Colonel in the Madras Army, and another, Colquhoun Grant, lives in the pages of Napier as the most capable intelligence officer in the army of Wellington." Jean died on 11 October 1825, aged 82. (21) Sir James Robert Grant (1773)(20) Duncan Grant (1729) M.D. "[T]he second son [but eldest surviving] and third child of Duncan Grant, and was born about 1773. At nineteen he became Assistant Surgeon of the Armies and twenty years later (1812) at the age of thirty-nine, he was Inspector General . . ." - from "Annals of the Royal Burgh of Forres" by Andrew Beaumont Robertson. "He served as a medical officer of the army throughout the whole of the war [the Napoleonic], and was chief of that department at Waterloo, as well as on several over important occasions; has received the Waterloo medal; was one of the few who served in the first and last campaigns of the war, viz. that of 1793 and that of 1815; in 1814 was appointed inspector-general of army hospitals; received the order of St. Anne of Russia in 1811, from the Empereor Alexander in person, for his services to the Russian army in France under Count Woronzow. Seat--The Hill, Cumberland." - from "The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland" by Charles Roger Phipps DodHe married the daughter of Henry Birkett, esq., of Etterby, Cumberland in 1795. By the way, his younger brother was Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Grant, K.C.H., Knight Commander of the Guelphic Order, see below. K.C.B, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and K.H., Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order. The Royal Guelphic was a short-lived order founded by the Prince Regent, George IV, in 1815. It ceased to be awarded by the British crown in 1837 when the union with Hanover ended. It was named after the House of Guelph to which the Hanoverian kings belonged. Sir James' lawyers were, not surprisingly, the "Messrs Mounsey in Carlisle." Sir James died on 12 January 1864 at Basford, near Nottingham, having outliving his son by 20 years. (22) James Robert Grant (c1795)(20) Duncan Grant (1729) (21) Sir James Robert Grant (1773) Esq. The eldest son of Sir James. He married Jane-Eleanor, the daughter of John Dixon, esq., of Knells, Cumberland in November 1841, at Rockcliffe, Cumberland. He died on 31 August 1844 at Houghton Hall, aged 38. (23) Mary Tirzah Grant (c1842)(20) Duncan Grant (1729) (21) Sir James Robert Grant (1773) (22) James Robert Grant (c1795) Her name was from her maternal grandmother, Mary Tirzah Stordy. She married Captain Charles James Mounsey. See also A Forres Family of Grants. |
The 71st was engaged in the Umbeyla Campaign on the North West Frontiier against Afghan tribesmen from 1863 to 1864. When a road crew was being harassed by the enemy, Charles took a 50 man unit to their assistance:
6 November 1863. "On several days the regiment furnished a strong working party to make a new road, leading from the right flank to the village of Umbeylah. On the 6th of November an armed party, under Ensign C.B. Murray, was ordered out to cover the working party, and about a mile from the nearest post it soon became evident that the enemy intended to molest the party. Accordingly, about 11 A.M. a reinforcement of 50 men, under Captain Mounsey, proceeded to the threatened point. Captain Mounsey was placed by the commanding officer, Major Harding, at a point considerably higher than that occupied by Ensign Murray, and nearer to camp, where he materially assisted in protecting Ensign Murray's left flank, which was threatened. Soon after 1 o'clock the working party was withdrawn. Corresponding orders were, however, omitted to be sent to Ensign Murray's party, which consequently held its ground along with a party of the 20th Native Infantry; and Captain Mounsey having been ordered to take up a fresh position still higher up the hill, the party under Ensign Murray, no longer assisted by the flank fire of the other, could only hold its ground, and was nearly surrounded."
"About 2 P.M. Ensign Murray was killed, and other casualties having occurred, Major Harding, who had joined soon after, decided on holding the ground till dark, when he hoped to be able to carry off the wounded, which could not be done under the enemy's fire. Major Harding finally retired without the wounded, but was killed in the retreat. Captain Mounsey having proceeded to the point to which he was directed, assisted by parties of the Guide corps and 1st Punjab Infantry, twice charged and drove the enemy off; and, without casualty to his own party, protected some wounded officers and men until they could be removed. For this service he was specially mentioned to the Commander-in-Chief, as was also Lieutenant Davidson of the Indian army, attached to, and doing duty with the list, for gallantry in assisting a wounded officer. In addition to the above-named officers, sergeant J. B. Adams and 2 privates were killed, and 5 wounded." - from "Lord MacLeod's Highlanders 1818 - 1873"
"Capt. C. J. Mounsey, 71st High. Lt Inf" was a subscriber to the "Journal of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies."
By 1865 the 71st had been ordered home to Scotland. He was promoted to Major on 20 June 1868. The regiment later served in Gibraltar from 1868 to 1873, Malta from 1873 to 1878, Cyprus in 1878, Gibraltar from 1878 to 1880 and then returned to Scotland in 1881 when they merged with the 74th Foot to form the Highland Light Infantry.
Charles probably inherited the Grant estate of The Hill in Cumberland in 1864 when Mary's grandfather died, her father having predeceased him. Charles assumed the surname Grant in 1882, in honor of his wife's grandfather.
There was a court case, Grant v Heysham (56 L.T. 852; 57 L.T. 828), on 28 March 1887 in which the plaintiff, Charles James Mounsey Grant was apparently suing George William Mounsey Heysham, his brother, for his share of a legacy. The issue appears to have centered around a bequest of a tenancy for life, with the remainder to a class, apparently nephews and nieces, "then living." Dr. Heysham died on 23 March 1834. His sister Mary had a son, Thomas Jones Milne, who d.s.p., leaving a tenancy for life to his aunt Dorothy.
". . . and to pay the interest, dividends, and profits, as and when the same shall become due and be received, unto my dear aunt, Dorothy Heysham, for and during the term of her natural life, and from and after the decease of my said aunt upon trust as to the said net residue of my personal estate and the unpaid interest (if any) for all the children of my uncle, John Heysham, Esq., and the lawful issue of such of them as may be then dead, in equal shares and proportions, to take per stirpes and not per capite." - from "The Law Times Reports: Containing All the Cases Argued and Determined in the House of Lords."Dorothy Heysham, the tenant for life, died in 1837, pre-deceasing Thomas Milne. Upon Thomas Milne's death on 5 June 1885 the legacy flowed to the children of Dr. Heysham. However, none of them were then living so it flowed on to their issue. The only children to have heirs were William, whose children in India were ignored by the court since they were Eurasian, and Isabella. Isabella having died in 1848 and her husband, George Gill Mounsey, in 1874, her portion of the legacy went to their 4 surviving children.
"In 1827 Isabella Heysham was married to G.G. Mounsey, by whom she had seven children, four of whom survived the testator [T.C. Milne], viz., the defendant G.W. Mounsey Heysham, he having assumed the name of Heysham; J.G. Mounsey; the plaintiff C.J. Mounsey Grant, he having assumged the name of Grant; and Isabella Dorothea, the wife of R.H.J. Heygate. Of the remaining children two died in the lifetime of the testator without having been married; the third, A.H. Mounsey, died in the lifetime of the testator leaving three children, all of whom were now living and infants." - from "The Law Times Report"Letters of administration had been granted to the defendant, George, upon Milne's death, the executors of the will having died in the testator's lifetime. C.J. Mounsey Grant argued that the estate should be divided into five parts, one each for the surviving four children of G.G. Mounsey, and one for the infant children of A.H. Mounsey. Justice Stirling held that the word "then" referred to the death of the tenant for life, Dorothy Heysham, and that consequently there was an intestacy, that is, intestate, there was no will. So, I believe the result was that all of the estate went to Mounsey-Heysham and none to the other heirs.
His obituary:
Died. "On the 19th [June 1893], at Inverness, aged 57, Major-General Charles James Mounsey-Grant, youngest son of George Gill Mounsey, of Castletown, Carlisle. Joined the 71st Highlanders, 1853; served through the Crimean War [sic], the Central Indian Campaign, 1858-9, and in the series of engagements with the Afghan tribes, 1863-4. Married, 1863, Mary Tisrzah, daughter of James Robert Grant, of The Hill, Carlisle, whose name he took." - from the "Annual Register of World Events."His estate was valued at £30,780.
"Mounsey-Grant, Mary T., widow, of The Hill, Cumbeland. Times, d.p. 29 Oct.. 1896." - from "An Index to Changes of Name: Under Authority of Act of Parliament Or Royal Licence" by William Phillimore and Watts Phillimore.
I have another citation in the same document above which is confusing. "Mounsey Grant : Mounsey, C. J. and M. T., of Inverness, N.B., and of the Hill, Cumberland. Times, d.p. 25 July 1882." Does this perhaps refer to Charles' name change?
Mary Tirzah Mounsey died on 7 August 1910. Her beneficiary was her son, Charles.
(24) Charles James Grant Mounsey Grant (1866)Esq., of The Hill, Cumberland. He was born on 18 December 1866 in Carlisle, the only child of Major-Gen. Charles James Mounsey-Grant . . . by Mary Tirzah." - from "United Kingdom Families."
In the 1881 census of Eton, Buckinghamshire as Charles J. Mounsey, a 14 year old scholar. "1883 Mounsey, Charles James Grant (aft. Mounsey-Grant)" - from "The Eton Register" by Eton College, Old Etonian association.
At the time of the 1891 census Charles Grant Mounsey was a 24 year old Lieutenant of the Militia, and single, visiting at the Palace Hotel, St George, Hanover Square, London, which is in the West End.
He was a Magistrate for Cumberland and a Captain in the 3rd Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, his father's old Regiment. In 1893 his father died and his mother surrendered The Hill to him.
In the 1901 census . . .
On 13 February 1905 Army Major Charles James Grant Mounsey Grant [sic], was issued a passport, destination Turkey. He was residing in Palermo, Sicily at the time.
On 10 February 1910 Charles James Grant Mounsey Grant, Justice of the Peace for Cumberland, applied for a passport. He gave his birth as 18 December 1866 in Knells, Houghton, Cumberland.
In the 1911 census . . .
Major Chas. J. G. Mounsey-Grant, 44, of Carlisle, England, a militia officer, entered the U.S. at Vermont on 8 November 1911, enroute to Boston. "Was in NY Nov 1910." He had originally landed in Montreal. Two years later he was back, with his new wife, Honoree.
In 1912 Major Charles James Grant Mounsey Grant, of the Hill, Carlisle was High Sheriff of Cumberland.
In 1913 Charles married Honoree Van Zandt in Battle, Sussex.
"Van Zandt--Mounsey-Grant. Hon. Mrs. Van Zandt, of Chesnuts House, Winbeldon Common, England, widow of the late Mr. F. S. Van Zandt. of New York, announces the engagement of her eldest daughter to Major C. J. G. Mounsey-Grant, of the Hill, Carlisle." - from "Form: An Illustrated Weekly" of 1 November 1913Honoree, the daughter of Ferdinand Suydam Van Zandt, of New York, and Amy Harriet Lubbock, was born in San Francisco in 1885. Ferdinand, Amy's second husband, was from an old Knickerbocker family of New York. He owned silver mines in the western United States. He died in 1892.
In 1901 Honoree and her mother were living at 56 Elm Park Gardens, Chelsea, London [nice neighborhood]. Amy had been born in Down, Kent in 1857. In the electral registers of 1907-1909 Amy is shown as "Hon," which ought to mean she was the daughter of a life peer (a viscount or baron). I believe Amy's father was John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, and that her mother was Ellen Frances Hordern.
"John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury PC (Privy Councilor), FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was a polymath and Liberal Member of Parliament. He was a banker and worked with his family's company, but was also involved with entomology, botany, biology, archaeology, and ethnography. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was also influential with nineteenth-century debates concerning evolutionary theory."John's father was Sir John William Lubbock, 3rd Baronet of London.
Charles James Grant Mounsey-Grant, a 72 year old retired Army officer, and Honoree, his wife, entered into the United States at Vermont, enroute to Boston, in 1938. They had last resided at Chateau Frontenac, Quebec. Charles next relative was his cousin, Sir George A. Mounsey of the Foreign Office, London. Charles noted that he had been in the U.S. before on "var. short visits" to New York. He was 5' 8" tall.
Charles died on 5 December 1944.
"Major Charles James Mounsey-Grant, late 3rd H.I.F., son of Major-Gen. and Mrs. Charles Mounsey-Grant, of Knells, Carlisle, Cumberland, England, at Paget, Bermuda, on Dec. 5th [1944] in his 78th year." - from "The Bermudian" Volume 15-16His will was probated on 20 October 1945 in Cumberland.
In 1948 Honoree returned to England from the West Indies on 22 June 1948 onboard the EMPIRE WINDRUSH. She was one of about 100 English people onboard. Also onboard were almost a thousand West Indians who were the first to emigrate to England.
Honoree died in 1959 in Border, Northumberland.
Bill Hern, a fellow researcher writes,
"Passenger number 373(23) Isabella-Dorothea Mounsey (1839)
Honoree Mounsey-Grant nee Van Zandt age 63 was born in California. Her address was shown as Hyde Park Hotel, London SW1. Honoree had most recently lived in Bermuda but stated she was going to remain in England. [Name shown by Goldsmiths as Moun- Honoree.]
Honoree was the daughter of Ferdinand Suydam Van Zandt of New York and Kent-born Amy Harriet Lubbock. Ferdinand was Amy's second husband and owned silver mines in the western United States. He died in 1892.
It is not known when Honoree first came to England but she was certainly there in 1892 as she sailed from Liverpool to New York that year as an eight-year-old.
Honoree, her mother, and sister Dagmar, were very much part of high society in London. Both girls were fluent in Italian, German and French and Honoree was a talented musician. Honoree was presented to the King and Queen in March 1905. Honoree was living with her mother at The Chestnuts, Parkside, Wimbledon, England when she married Eton-educated Major Charles James Grant Mounsey-Grant of The Hill, Carlisle on 21st October 1913 in Battle, Sussex. Charles had been born in Houghton, Cumberland on 8th January 1867. Charles was 18 years older than Honoree.
Charles was a Magistrate for Cumberland and a Captain in the 3rd Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, his father's old Regiment. In 1893 his father died and as an only child he inherited The Hill.
Charles entered the United States at Vermont on 8th November 1911 en route to Boston. We know it was not his first visit to North America but have no detailed knowledge of any earlier trips.
In 1912 Charles was High Sheriff of Cumberland.
In 1901 Honoree had been living with her mother at 56, Elm Park Gardens, Chelsea, London.
Honoree's grandfather was John Lubbock the 1st Baron Avebury. Lubbock was a Member of Parliament and an incredibly talented person. He was also a banker and a scientist. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline. John became a friend of, and was influenced by, Charles Darwin who lived near the Lubbock family home in Kent. After leaving Eton College John joined the family bank Lubbock & Co which later amalgamated with Coutts & Co. At the age of 22 John became a partner in Coutts & Co. John Lubbock was an active and successful MP. He founded what would become the Electoral Reform Society and was influential in having Bank Holidays introduced. They were initially known as St Lubbock Days in honour of John Lubbock.
Three of Honoree's great uncles played cricket for Kent - Alfred Lubbock, Nevile Lubbock and Edgar Lubbock. Edgar and Alfred also played for Old Etonians in the 1875 F A Cup Final (the first-time brothers had played together in an FA Cup Final). Edgar was on the losing side but he also played for Wanderers in the 1872 FA Cup Final which they won. In all Edgar played in four FA Cup Finals winning two - the other win was with Old Etonians in 1879."
She was born on 17 June 1839 at St. Mary's, Carlisle. On 14 June 1866 she married.
"At Rockcliff, Cumberland, Robert Henry John, youngest son of the late Sir William Heygate, bart., of Rockcliff, Leicestershire, to Isabella Dorothea, only dau. of George Gill Mounsey, esq. of Castletown, Cumberland." - from "The Gentleman's Magazine"and,
"Heygate, Mrs., of Oaklands, Herefordshire. Isabella Dorothea, only surviving dau. of George Gill Mounsey, Esq., of Castletown, Cumberland, by Isabelle, dau. of John Heysham, Esq., M.D. of Carlisle; m. 1866 Robert Henry John Heygate, Esq., J.P. for cos. Essex and Hereford, who was youngest son of Sir William Heygate, 1st Bart., and who d.s.p. 1890." - from "Walford's County Families of the United Kingdom or Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland," 1899He was the 4th son of Sir William Heygate, 1st Baronet, of Roecliffe [Rockcliff?], Leicestershire. Robert H. J. was born in 1830 in Middlesex, London, however I show a christening on 30 May 1830 at North Mimms.
Robert and Isabelle don't appear to have spent much time together. In the 1871 census of London, Middlesex Robert H. Heygate, a 41 year old Magistrate, was living at 7 Royal Terrace. In the 1871 census of Castletown and Rockcliffe, Cumberland Isabella D. Heygate, 31, living at home with her father, G.G. Mounsey.
At the time of the 1881 census Robert was living in Oaklands House, Docklow, Herefordshire. He was listed as married, but Isabella was not living with him. The only other people in the house were servants. He was the Justice of the Peace for Essex and Heresford counties. In the 1881 census Holdenhurst, Hampshire, England Isabella D. Mounsey, a married woman born in Carlisle in about 1840, was living as a boarder in the house of Margaret Phillips. Not unsurprising, no children were listed for either Isabella or Robert.
Robert d.s.p., in 1890. The painting of Isabella by Vera Christie, to the right, dates from 1894.
In records from 1903, it is noted that the church of St. Bartholomew in Docklow, Herefordshire, was an edifice of stone in the Early English style. The whole of the old church, with the exception of the north wall and the lower part of the tower, was pulled down in 1880, and rebuilt at a cost of £1,100. The greater portion of the cost was defrayed by the "late Robert Henry John Heygate esq."
In 1903 a Mrs. H. C. Heygate resided at Buckland, an ancient mansion of red brick. She was the chief landowner in Docklow and Humber, in Herefordshire. I assume she's a descendent of Edward Nicholas Heygate. A short distance to the east was Docklow Court, the residence of Mrs. Mounsey Heygate.
Isabella died in 1929.
| The Heygate Family |
I also have a Major H. R. Mounsey-Heysham who served in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in World War I. I thought this might be R.H. Mounsey-Heysham, but he appears to be too young.
Born about 634 AD, Cuthbert became a monk, first at Melrose, then Ripon, then as prior of Lindisfarne island. He grew up in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria which then stretched north to the Forth and west into Cumbria and south-west Scotland. 
A regiment of the British army formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 53rd and 85th Regiments of Foot. The 1st Battalion of the new Regiment took part in the campaign in the Sudan in 1885 and, in 1894, while stationed in Hong Kong aided the colony during its plague, burying the dead and disinfecting housing. The 2nd Battalion served throughout the Boer War, 1899-1902, taking part in ten general actions. At right, members of the regiment celebrate the victory over the Boers at the Battle of Paardeberg in February 1900.
The Boeselager Family's ancestral seat is Castle Hesseen in Westphalia. Originally an independent state, after the Napoleanic Wars it became a province within the Kingdom of Prussia. At the entrance to a small tower within the castle is a motto, "Caelum non animum mutant, qui trans mare currupt?" Meaning, "the horizon, not the spirit change those which hurry over the sea." This refers to the time after the [Kultur Krieg, culture war?] of 1881 when Karl Max Von Boeselager emigrated to England for political reasons.
Also known as McLeod's Highlanders. The 71st Foot was a regiment of two battalions, first raised in the North of Scotland for service during the American Revolution. They fought throughout the war and were at the capitulation at Yorktown. They fought in the Penisular War under the Duke of Wellington during the Napoleonic Period, receiving honors for numerous battles. 
