John Dunn Gardner
Encyclopedia
John Gardner formerly of Soham Mere and later of Chatteris House, Isle of Ely, in the county of Cambridge, known as John Townshend until 1843 and sometimes styled "Earl of Leicester", was a British
Member of Parliament
from 1841 to 1847, elected to represent Bodmin
as a Conservative. He was also a Justice of the Peace, a Deputy Lieutenant
, and High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1859 .
He is otherwise notable for the tangled marital history of his mother, the Marchioness Townshend.
Baptised John Townshend on 26 December 1823 at St. George's Bloomsbury, he was the eldest surviving son of the brewer John Margetts and the heiress Sarah (née Dunn Gardner), estranged wife of George Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend
.
All the children of this union were declared illegitimate by a private Act of Parliament in 1843. Dunn Gardner, who had styled himself "Earl of Leicester" (the courtesy title
used by the heir apparent to the marquessate of Townshend
) before his election to parliament, then assumed his mother's maiden name of Dunn Gardner.
Dunn Gardner died in January 1903, aged 91.
in October 1809. Her first marriage was never dissolved, which became a legal problem for the succession of the Townshend peerage. In 1811 her legal husband became the 3rd Marquess Townshend, but after leaving him, she did not use his name for over a decade, calling herself Mrs. Margetts; and Margetts gave his name to their children. Sarah survived both Margetts (d. 1842) and Marquess Townshend (who died abroad in December 1855), remarrying a few weeks after her legal widowhood to James Lairder on 10 January 1856, and died on 11 September 1858.
Soham Mere was given to the second brother William Dunn-Gardner, of Fordham Abbey, and descended in the family until 1974 when it was sold to the present owner.
(d. 11 September 1858), who died as Mrs James Lairder. Jane Gardner was herself the only surviving child and heir of her father John Gardner, Esq., of Chatteris House (d. 1804), who married his cousin, the daughter and heir of John Marriott, Esq., of Chatteris House by Barbara Johnstone, sister of his mother. When John Gardner died in 1804, his son-in-law was obliged to change his name from Dunn to Dunn-Gardner to inherit Chatteris House and the other Gardner estates. Burke's says that the grandson inherited Chatteris in 1839, after his maternal grandmother Jane had died that year.
Although A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain (1862) fails to mention Mr Dunn Gardner's parentage (as the eldest illegitimate son of a brewer John Margetts and his bigamous spouse Sarah Dunn-Gardner, Marchioness Townshend), it credits him with two surviving brothers (William and Cecil) and two sisters:
, and granddaughter maternally of the late Sir Thomas Gooch, Bt., of Benacre, co. Suffolk. By her, he had issue, one son and one daughter.
His second wife, whom he married in 1853, was Ada Piggott, daughter of William Pigott, Esq., of Dullingham House, Newmarket, co Cambridge, and granddaughter of Sir George Pigott, Bt., of Knapton, Queen's County. By his second wife, he had further issue, a second son and a second daughter.
Children:
Dunn-Gardner died circa 1904–1905, being still living and residing at 37 Grosvenor Place, London, when Ruvigny compiled the Anne of Exeter volume.
In 1872, John Dunn Gardner was the sixth largest landowner in the county of Cambridge, ranking immediately after the Earl of Hardwicke
, the Duke of Bedford
, John Walbanke Childers MP, the Duke of Rutland
, and William Hall. He was the second largest landowner to be resident principally in Cambridgeshire, and owned 3676 acres (14.9 km²), or about 0.7% of all land in that county.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from 1841 to 1847, elected to represent Bodmin
Bodmin (UK Parliament constituency)
Bodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983. Initially, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England and later the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1868 general...
as a Conservative. He was also a Justice of the Peace, a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
, and High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1859 .
He is otherwise notable for the tangled marital history of his mother, the Marchioness Townshend.
Baptised John Townshend on 26 December 1823 at St. George's Bloomsbury, he was the eldest surviving son of the brewer John Margetts and the heiress Sarah (née Dunn Gardner), estranged wife of George Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend
George Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend
George Ferrars Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend , known as The Lord Ferrers of Chartley from 1782 to 1807 and as The Earl of Leicester from 1807 to 1811, was a British peer....
.
All the children of this union were declared illegitimate by a private Act of Parliament in 1843. Dunn Gardner, who had styled himself "Earl of Leicester" (the courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
used by the heir apparent to the marquessate of Townshend
Marquess Townshend
Marquess Townshend is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain held by the Townshend family of Raynham Hall in Norfolk. This family descends from Roger Townshend, who in 1617 was created a Baronet, of Raynham in the County of Norfolk, in the Baronetage of England. He later represented Orford and...
) before his election to parliament, then assumed his mother's maiden name of Dunn Gardner.
Dunn Gardner died in January 1903, aged 91.
Sarah, Marchioness Townshend
Sarah and her husband had been married on 12 May 1807, at which time they were known as Lord and Lady Chartley, a courtesy title from his grandfather, the 1st Marquess Townshend. In September 1807, on the death of the 1st Marquess, the couple became the Earl and Countess of Leicester (also by courtesy). They separated a few months later, in May 1808, and she filed an ecclesiastical suit for annulment, alleging non-consummation. While the suit was still pending, Lady Leicester eloped with John Margetts, a brewer, and married him in a bigamous ceremony at Gretna GreenGretna Green
Gretna Green is a village in the south of Scotland famous for runaway weddings. It is in Dumfries and Galloway, near the mouth of the River Esk and was historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green has a railway station serving...
in October 1809. Her first marriage was never dissolved, which became a legal problem for the succession of the Townshend peerage. In 1811 her legal husband became the 3rd Marquess Townshend, but after leaving him, she did not use his name for over a decade, calling herself Mrs. Margetts; and Margetts gave his name to their children. Sarah survived both Margetts (d. 1842) and Marquess Townshend (who died abroad in December 1855), remarrying a few weeks after her legal widowhood to James Lairder on 10 January 1856, and died on 11 September 1858.
Settling of the grandfather's estate in 1831
In August 1831, her father William Dunn-Gardner, formerly Dunn, Esq., of Chatteris House (d. 10 November 1831) devised the estate of Soham Mere, bought with the funds originally settled on his daughter and her husband, to his eldest natural grandson John Dunn Gardner, described in 1863 as a stranger in blood under the law. However, at the time (1831), John Dunn Gardner was his legitimate grandson, as the son born to his daughter within wedlock (albeit not by her husband). William Dunn-Gardner apparently devised the estate by name to ensure that his grandson would not be disinherited by any future legal steps taken by the Townshend family, which in fact happened in 1842.Soham Mere was given to the second brother William Dunn-Gardner, of Fordham Abbey, and descended in the family until 1974 when it was sold to the present owner.
Formal Bastardization in 1843
Sarah, Lady Townshend, and John Margetts had several children who bore their father's name until 26 December 1823, when there was a wholesale christening under the Townshend name, but they were all declared illegitimate by a private Act of Parliament brought in 1842 and passed the next year. (One child, being a minor and having no legal guardian, was exempted from the act's provisions, but was similarly excluded from succession to the peerage by a second private bill as soon as he came of age.) The eldest son, John, is the subject of this article. In 1843 (after the Act of Parliament declaring him illegitimate was passed) he assumed his mother's surname of Dunn Gardner.Family
The Dunn-Gardners were descended via William Dunn-Gardner, originally Dunn (d. 1831) and his wife Jane Gardner, heiress of Chatteris House (d. 1839), who married in 1783 and had an only surviving daughter Sarah Gardner, Marchioness of TownshendGeorge Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend
George Ferrars Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend , known as The Lord Ferrers of Chartley from 1782 to 1807 and as The Earl of Leicester from 1807 to 1811, was a British peer....
(d. 11 September 1858), who died as Mrs James Lairder. Jane Gardner was herself the only surviving child and heir of her father John Gardner, Esq., of Chatteris House (d. 1804), who married his cousin, the daughter and heir of John Marriott, Esq., of Chatteris House by Barbara Johnstone, sister of his mother. When John Gardner died in 1804, his son-in-law was obliged to change his name from Dunn to Dunn-Gardner to inherit Chatteris House and the other Gardner estates. Burke's says that the grandson inherited Chatteris in 1839, after his maternal grandmother Jane had died that year.
Although A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain (1862) fails to mention Mr Dunn Gardner's parentage (as the eldest illegitimate son of a brewer John Margetts and his bigamous spouse Sarah Dunn-Gardner, Marchioness Townshend), it credits him with two surviving brothers (William and Cecil) and two sisters:
- William Dunn-Gardner, of Fordham Abbey, nr Newmarket, co. Cambridge, JP (23 June 1812 – 1879), known as Lord William Townshend from 26 December 1823 until 1843 (as the alleged second surviving son of the 3rd Marquess Townshend), when he and his siblings were declared illegitimate by private act. He inherited the Fordham Abbey estate from his maternal grandfather, but came into possession only in 1839 when his maternal grandmother died, and was at first an unpopular landlord. He married Angelina N (d. 1923), by whom he had one surviving son and heir Cyril.
- Cyril Dunn-Gardner, of Fordham Abbey (d. 1911). Cyril was of age in 1895, and owned about 1570 acres (6.4 km²) in Fordham in 1910. He died without issue in 1911, leaving a life interest in the Abbey estate to his mother and former guardian, who died 1923, as above. The Fordham Abbey estate then passed in 1923 to Algernon Charles Wyndham Dunn Gardner (d. 1929), apparently by then the next heir male. (The estate fell to about 1140 acres (4.6 km²) by his death).
- Cecil Mina Bolivar Dunn-Gardner (b. 1827, possibly d. by 1880), formerly of the 13th light Dragoons. It is probably this Cecil Dunn-Gardner who was the father of four daughters - (Lucy) Cecilia or Cissie, Maude, Violet, and Flora:
- (Lucy) Cecilia Dunn-Gardner, or Cissie (d. 24 November 1931), who married 1stly in 1887 Col. Robert Ashton (1848–1898) by whom she had one son and one daughter, and 2ndly in 1899 the 10th Earl of ScarbroughAldred Lumley, 10th Earl of ScarbroughMajor-General Aldred Frederick George Beresford Lumley, 10th Earl of Scarbrough, KG, GBE, KCB, GStJ was a British peer and soldier. His first name is sometimes rendered as Alfred, not Aldred....
(16 November 1857 – 4 March 1945), by whom she had an only daughter. According to her daughter's obituary (2000), the Countess ignored her daughters, and was known for her vulgarity, solecisms, and malapropisms. - Violet Dunn Gardner, the artist.
- Maude Dunn Gardner, aged 15 in 1881 (born circa 1865)
- Flora Dunn Gardner.
- (Lucy) Cecilia Dunn-Gardner, or Cissie (d. 24 November 1931), who married 1stly in 1887 Col. Robert Ashton (1848–1898) by whom she had one son and one daughter, and 2ndly in 1899 the 10th Earl of Scarbrough
- Rosa-Jane Dunn-Gardner (b. 2 January 1814)
- Frederick Thomas (b. 3 July 1816)
- Lavinia-Charlotte-Sarah Dunn-Gardner (b. 5 June 1820)
Marriages and children
Dunn Gardner married twice. His first wife, whom he married in 1847, was Mary Lawson (d. 13 April 1851), elder daughter of Andrew Lawson, of Boro Bridge, Boroughbridge, co York formerly MP for KnaresboroughKnaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Knaresborough was a parliamentary constituency which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, and then one MP until its abolition in 1885.-Before the Great Reform Act:...
, and granddaughter maternally of the late Sir Thomas Gooch, Bt., of Benacre, co. Suffolk. By her, he had issue, one son and one daughter.
His second wife, whom he married in 1853, was Ada Piggott, daughter of William Pigott, Esq., of Dullingham House, Newmarket, co Cambridge, and granddaughter of Sir George Pigott, Bt., of Knapton, Queen's County. By his second wife, he had further issue, a second son and a second daughter.
Children:
- (by 1st wife) Arthur Andrew Cecil Dunn-Gardner, J.P. (b. 8 January 1851), apparently a notable book collector like his father. He married 1890 Rose Lawrie, daughter of Andrew Lawrie. She was apparently the Rose Dunn-Gardner, who was active in 1895 in the Society for Organising Charitable Relief and Repressing Mendicity (formed 1869), known later as Charity Organisation Society (COS).
- (by 1st wife) Mary Marianne Mariana, later Mrs William Robinson (b. 1848–1850) md 1870 her stepmother's brother (Christopher) William Robinson (23 January 1830 – 23 June 1889), of Dullingham House, Newmarket, co Cambridge (the house formerly owned or rented by her stepmother's father) and Denston Hall, co. Suffolk; he was son of William Pigott, Esq., of Dullingham House, Newmarket, co Cambridge (see above) by his wife Harriet Jeaffreson. He changed his name twice from Pigott to Jeaffreson to inherit Dullingham House under the terms of his grandfather's will, and then again to Robinson to inherit Denston Hall, Suffolk, from another relative. He died 23 June 1889, apparently leaving no issue.
- (by 2nd wife) Algernon Charles Wyndham Dunn-Gardner, of Denston Hall, co Suffolk, and Chatteris (b. 12 December 1853; d. 1929); he married Harriet Compton of the Minstead family of that name, itself a branch of the Marquesses of Northampton. They had issue, one daughter
- Miriam Dunn-Gardner (b. 1905; d. after 1977), married by 1934 to H. C. Leader, a racehorse trainer. She sold her manorial rights in Fordham Abbey in 1972. The Abbey itself with about 245 acre (0.9914807 km²) remaining mostly parkland, was sold between 1933 and 1937.
- (by 2nd wife) Ada Marietta Dunn-Gardner
Dunn-Gardner died circa 1904–1905, being still living and residing at 37 Grosvenor Place, London, when Ruvigny compiled the Anne of Exeter volume.
In 1872, John Dunn Gardner was the sixth largest landowner in the county of Cambridge, ranking immediately after the Earl of Hardwicke
Earl of Hardwicke
Earl of Hardwicke is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1754 for Philip Yorke, 1st Baron Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1737 to 1756. He had already been created Baron Hardwicke, of Hardwicke in the County of Gloucester, in 1733, and was made Viscount...
, the Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford
thumb|right|240px|William Russell, 1st Duke of BedfordDuke of Bedford is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time...
, John Walbanke Childers MP, the Duke of Rutland
Duke of Rutland
Earl of Rutland and Duke of Rutland are titles in the peerage of England, derived from Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. The Earl of Rutland was elevated to the status of Duke in 1703 and the titles were merged....
, and William Hall. He was the second largest landowner to be resident principally in Cambridgeshire, and owned 3676 acres (14.9 km²), or about 0.7% of all land in that county.
Sources
- Burke, Bernard. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain (1862). See pp. 531–532 for "Dunn-Gardner of Chatteris House".
- Stephen, Sir Leslie; Lee, Sir Sidney (editors). The Dictionary of National Biography, From the Earliest Times to 1900: Volume XIX, Stow-Tytler. Oxford University Press.
- 'Soham: Manors', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10: Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (north-eastern Cambridgeshire) (2002), pp. 500–507. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18960. Date accessed: 28 December 2007.
- Obituary: Lady Serena James The Telegraph 23 August 2001.
- Landy, Darryl. The Peerage database.
- Rayment, Leigh. Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
- Theroff, Paul. Descendants of King Henry VII of England: Part Eight.
External links
- 'North Witchford Hundred: Chatteris', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4: City of Ely; Ely, N. and S. Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (2002) pp. 103–109. Date accessed: 13 February 2008. In this entry, the family is called (Dunn) Gardiner not (Dunn) Gardner. Chatteris House (No. 17 High Street), built in 1828, and now private apartments, is described as "a fine early-19th-century building, with portico porch sheltering a good doorway and door, an iron balcony above, and a central pediment. Inside, the staircase is of stone with an iron balustrade, and there are some moulded plaster ceilings."
- Pictures of Chatteris House