John Lade
Encyclopedia
Sir John Lade, 2nd Baronet (1 August 1759 – 10 February 1838) was a prominent member of Regency
society, notable as an owner and breeder of racehorses, as an accomplished driver
, associated with Samuel Johnson
's circle, and one of George IV
's closest friends. At the time he caused some sensation both because of the extent of his debts and the scandal attached to his marriage to his wife Letitia, a woman who was generally supposed to have been previously the mistress of both the executed highwayman
John Rann
and the Prince Regent's brother, the Duke of York
.
Henry Thrale
. He inherited from his father a vast fortune, also founded in brewing.
According to Abraham Hayward
, Samuel Johnson was consulted regularly on his upbringing; unfortunately Dr. Johnson had no very high opinion of the boy's intellect. His original advice to Henry's sister, Lady Lade, was "Endeavour, Madam, to procure him knowledge; for really ignorance to a rich man is like fat to a sick sheep, it only serves to call the rooks about him." However, as Lade grew up, Dr. Johnson found himself disappointed; so much so that Hester Thrale
reports that when Sir John asked Johnson for advice on whether he should marry, the reply came as:
This did not stop Johnson, however, from proposing "half in earnest" a marriage between Sir John and Fanny Burney
while the boy was still a minor.
On his attaining the age of twenty-one, he received control of his vast fortune. The event moved Dr. Johnson to write his poem "One-and-twenty": which began:
.
which was one of the first thoroughbreds to be imported into America, and "the most important horse of the last quarter of the eighteenth century". His colours, which unlike most others were piebald or "harlequin
" were a familiar sight at races throughout the British isles.
Criticised for spending so much time in the stables and at race-meetings, Lade clearly did not help matters by dressing in riding clothes at all times - with many capes - and carrying a whip everywhere. According to the dandy
Thomas Raikes
, his "ambition was to imitate the groom in dress and in language". Raikes reports:
As possibly the finest horseman and driver of his time (in honour of which he was nicknamed 'Jehu
'), he was a leading light, and one of the founding members, of the 'Four-Horse Club' - also known as the 'Four in Hand Club', after the number of horses' reins held in one hand. His slapdash style of dressing gave rise to the simple knot for which the Club is remembered. He himself famously drove a team of six greys, except when he sat up with the Regent in place of the latter's coachman, driving six matched bays on the road from Brighton
to London.
His fondness for the track and for driving, as well as for gambling caused him to wager vast sums of money on horses as well as on inconsequential feats of skill; he once bet a thousand guineas on one such performance against the Duke of Queensberry
The money was incidental, however, as he was equally willing to wager trifling sums on some absurdity: he once bet Lord Cholmondeley that he could carry him on his back, from opposite the Brighton Pavilion twice round the Old Steine that faced it. Most of the bets revolved around feats of skill: he "would back himself to drive the off-wheels of his phaeton
over a sixpence, and once for a bet successfully took a four-in-hand round Tattersall's Yard at Hyde Park Corner." Tattersall's cramped premises were in fact inextricably linked to Lade's social pre-eminence, the phrase he used to describe "settling-up" day at Tattersall's, when debts for the quarter were paid - "Black Monday" - has passed into the language as a descriptor for a day when fortunes are lost.
district, and possibly a servant in a brothel. Subsequently she befriended and was probably the mistress of "Sixteen String Jack" Rann. After that notorious highwayman was hanged in 1774, she became the mistress of the Duke of York. Soon enough, however, her looks - and her seat on a horse and skills as a driver - attracted Lade's attention and they were married, after a long affair and in spite of familial disapproval, in 1787. It is conjectured that Lade and Rann knew each other well, as Rann patronised races and had once been coachman of Hester Thrales's sister.
Letitia Lade was a great favourite with the Regent and his set; she was more than willing to join in the culture of excess that they were infamous for, and once wagered on herself in a driving-contest at - scandalously - the Newmarket races; and also once bet five hundred guineas on an eight-mile race against another woman She took after her husband in dress and demeanour, and eventually overtook him: her casual use of profanity was so "overwhelming", in fact, that it came to be acceptable to say of someone using particularly strong language that "he swears like Letty Lade." She is the subject of a famous equestrian portrait by Stubbs
in the Royal Collection
, that was commissioned by the Regent to hand in his chambers; Lade and she were also the subject of a well-known pair of portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds that now hang in the National Gallery.
; subsequently Lade was forced to accept the Regent's generosity, and received a pension of three (later four, then five) hundred pounds a year as George's "driving tutor"; to save face, the money was made out to the name of "the Rev. Dr. Tolly".
Lade's marriage and his debt, together with his disdain for the conventions of society caused him to be generally disreputable. Many of the stories of snubs that the Regent received on behalf of his friends centre around Lade, and most of them appear to have been delivered by the redoubtable Lord Thurlow
, a friend of George III. On one occasion, when Thurlow met the Prince, Sir John, and Lord Barrymore
in Brighton, the Prince asked Thurlow to come and dine with him one day; whereupon Thurlow, in the sight of all present said "I cannot do so until your Royal Highness keeps better company". On another occasion, the words were more private but no less scathing:
The Lades, like so many leaders of Regency society, eventually faded from the scene when their money ran out and George IV was crowned and grew preoccupied with affairs of state. Letitia died in 1825, and is buried at St Mary's, Staines
. Lade, who lived quietly on his stud farm in Sussex, continued to receive his pension, though it tended to be a near-run thing on each change of reign; his relative Dorothy Nevill, the writer and horticulturist, wrote of him that "my poor crazy cousin" was dependent on the kindness of a court functionary and on hints dropped in suitable ears; Victoria
, when a young girl fresh to the throne, records in her diaries that she discovered that she was paying "a Sir John Lade, one of George IV.'s intimates".
They live on, however in literature: for example, in Arthur Conan Doyle
's celebrated Regency novel Rodney Stone
, the mature Sir John Lade, a leader of the "Corinthian" set of gentleman-sportsmen, serves to represent the London life the pugilist-hero immerses himself in, and is introduced by means of a race from Brighton to London. Letitia, with her unusual life story and unconventional manner, is an even more common character: in 1864 she was a central character in the first great potboiler, George William MacArthur Reynolds' Mysteries of the Court of London.
English Regency
The Regency era in the United Kingdom is the period between 1811—when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son, the Prince of Wales, ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent—and 1820, when the Prince Regent became George IV on the death of his father....
society, notable as an owner and breeder of racehorses, as an accomplished driver
Driving (horse)
Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way...
, associated with Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
's circle, and one of George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
's closest friends. At the time he caused some sensation both because of the extent of his debts and the scandal attached to his marriage to his wife Letitia, a woman who was generally supposed to have been previously the mistress of both the executed highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
John Rann
John Rann
John "Sixteen String Jack" Rann was an English criminal and highwayman during the mid-18th century. He was a prominent and colourful local figure renowned for his wit and charm, he would later come to be known as "Sixteen String Jack" for the 16 various coloured strings he wore on the knees of his...
and the Prince Regent's brother, the Duke of York
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...
.
Early life
He was born the posthumous child of the first Baronet, also named John. His mother was the sister of the brewer and MPMember 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,...
Henry Thrale
Henry Thrale
Henry Thrale was an 18th century English Member of Parliament and a close friend of Samuel Johnson. Like his father, he was the proprietor of the large London brewery, H. Thrale & Co....
. He inherited from his father a vast fortune, also founded in brewing.
According to Abraham Hayward
Abraham Hayward
Abraham Hayward was an English man of letters.-Life:He was son of Joseph Hayward, and was born in Wilton, near Salisbury, Wiltshire....
, Samuel Johnson was consulted regularly on his upbringing; unfortunately Dr. Johnson had no very high opinion of the boy's intellect. His original advice to Henry's sister, Lady Lade, was "Endeavour, Madam, to procure him knowledge; for really ignorance to a rich man is like fat to a sick sheep, it only serves to call the rooks about him." However, as Lade grew up, Dr. Johnson found himself disappointed; so much so that Hester Thrale
Hester Thrale
Hester Lynch Thrale was a British diarist, author, and patron of the arts. Her diaries and correspondence are an important source of information about Samuel Johnson and 18th-century life.-Biography:Thrale was born at Bodvel Hall, Caernarvonshire, Wales...
reports that when Sir John asked Johnson for advice on whether he should marry, the reply came as:
"I would advise no man to marry, Sir," replied the Doctor in a very angry tone, "who is not likely to propagate understanding;" and so left the room.
This did not stop Johnson, however, from proposing "half in earnest" a marriage between Sir John and Fanny Burney
Fanny Burney
Frances Burney , also known as Fanny Burney and, after her marriage, as Madame d’Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. She was born in Lynn Regis, now King’s Lynn, England, on 13 June 1752, to musical historian Dr Charles Burney and Mrs Esther Sleepe Burney...
while the boy was still a minor.
On his attaining the age of twenty-one, he received control of his vast fortune. The event moved Dr. Johnson to write his poem "One-and-twenty": which began:
Long-expected one-and-twenty/Ling'ring year, at length is flown/Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty/Great Sir John, are now your own./ Loosen'd from the minor's tether,/Free to mortgage or to sell.Wild as wind, and light as feather/Bid the sons of thrift farewell.....Lavish of your grandsire's guineas/Show the spirit of an heir.The poem, which ended with a - presumably satirical - reminder to "scorn the counsel" of "the guardian friend", proved both prophetic and influential; the former in anticipating Sir John's career, and the latter in influencing A.E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad
A Shropshire Lad
A Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman . Some of the better-known poems in the book are "To an Athlete Dying Young", "Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now" and "When I Was One-and-Twenty".The collection was published in 1896...
.
In society
Sir John swiftly proved Dr. Johnson right by losing large amounts of money at the races and at gambling; however, he simultaneously developed a reputation as a remarkable judge of horseflesh. Particularly notable in retrospect was his discovery and ownership of the horse Medley, a greyGray (horse)
Gray or grey is a coat color of horses characterized by progressive silvering of the colored hairs of the coat. Most gray horses have black skin and dark eyes; unlike many depigmentation genes, gray does not affect skin or eye color Their adult hair coat is white, dappled, or white intermingled...
which was one of the first thoroughbreds to be imported into America, and "the most important horse of the last quarter of the eighteenth century". His colours, which unlike most others were piebald or "harlequin
Harlequin
Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
" were a familiar sight at races throughout the British isles.
Criticised for spending so much time in the stables and at race-meetings, Lade clearly did not help matters by dressing in riding clothes at all times - with many capes - and carrying a whip everywhere. According to the dandy
Dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self...
Thomas Raikes
Thomas Raikes (dandy)
Thomas Raikes was a British merchant banker, dandy and diarist.- Biography :Raikes was born in 1777, the eldest son of Thomas Raikes the Elder and his wife, Charlotte...
, his "ambition was to imitate the groom in dress and in language". Raikes reports:
"I once heard him asking a friend on Egham racecourse to come home and dine. 'I can give you a trout spotted all over like a coach-dog, a fillet of veal as white as alablaster (sic), a pantaloon cutlet, and plenty of pancakes - so help me!' "
As possibly the finest horseman and driver of his time (in honour of which he was nicknamed 'Jehu
Jehu
Jehu was a king of Israel. He was the son of Jehoshaphat, and grandson of Nimshi.William F. Albright has dated his reign to 842-815 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 841-814 BC...
'), he was a leading light, and one of the founding members, of the 'Four-Horse Club' - also known as the 'Four in Hand Club', after the number of horses' reins held in one hand. His slapdash style of dressing gave rise to the simple knot for which the Club is remembered. He himself famously drove a team of six greys, except when he sat up with the Regent in place of the latter's coachman, driving six matched bays on the road from Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
to London.
His fondness for the track and for driving, as well as for gambling caused him to wager vast sums of money on horses as well as on inconsequential feats of skill; he once bet a thousand guineas on one such performance against the Duke of Queensberry
Duke of Queensberry
The title Duke of Queensberry was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1684 along with the subsidiary title Marquess of Dumfriesshire for the 1st Marquess of Queensberry...
The money was incidental, however, as he was equally willing to wager trifling sums on some absurdity: he once bet Lord Cholmondeley that he could carry him on his back, from opposite the Brighton Pavilion twice round the Old Steine that faced it. Most of the bets revolved around feats of skill: he "would back himself to drive the off-wheels of his phaeton
Phaeton (carriage)
Phaeton is the early 19th-century term for a sporty open carriage drawn by a single horse or a pair, typically with four extravagantly large wheels, very lightly sprung, with a minimal body, fast and dangerous. It usually had no sidepieces in front of the seats...
over a sixpence, and once for a bet successfully took a four-in-hand round Tattersall's Yard at Hyde Park Corner." Tattersall's cramped premises were in fact inextricably linked to Lade's social pre-eminence, the phrase he used to describe "settling-up" day at Tattersall's, when debts for the quarter were paid - "Black Monday" - has passed into the language as a descriptor for a day when fortunes are lost.
Letitia
Letitia Derby (or Smith, the sources are unclear) was a woman of unclear origins who, prior to being discovered by the royal circle, was fairly definitely a member of the working class in the Drury LaneDrury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
district, and possibly a servant in a brothel. Subsequently she befriended and was probably the mistress of "Sixteen String Jack" Rann. After that notorious highwayman was hanged in 1774, she became the mistress of the Duke of York. Soon enough, however, her looks - and her seat on a horse and skills as a driver - attracted Lade's attention and they were married, after a long affair and in spite of familial disapproval, in 1787. It is conjectured that Lade and Rann knew each other well, as Rann patronised races and had once been coachman of Hester Thrales's sister.
Letitia Lade was a great favourite with the Regent and his set; she was more than willing to join in the culture of excess that they were infamous for, and once wagered on herself in a driving-contest at - scandalously - the Newmarket races; and also once bet five hundred guineas on an eight-mile race against another woman She took after her husband in dress and demeanour, and eventually overtook him: her casual use of profanity was so "overwhelming", in fact, that it came to be acceptable to say of someone using particularly strong language that "he swears like Letty Lade." She is the subject of a famous equestrian portrait by Stubbs
George Stubbs
George Stubbs was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses.-Biography:Stubbs was born in Liverpool, the son of a currier and leather merchant. Information on his life up to age thirty-five is sparse, relying almost entirely on notes made by fellow artist Ozias Humphry towards the...
in the Royal Collection
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical...
, that was commissioned by the Regent to hand in his chambers; Lade and she were also the subject of a well-known pair of portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds that now hang in the National Gallery.
Later years
As Johnson predicted in verse on the day of Sir John's majority, gambling, racing, women and moneylenders eventually combined to ensure that little remained of the once-remarkable Lade fortune. So much so that he spent some time in a debtor's prisonDebtor's prison
A debtors' prison is a prison for those who are unable to pay a debt.Prior to the mid 19th century debtors' prisons were a common way to deal with unpaid debt.-Debt bondage in ancient Greece and Rome:...
; subsequently Lade was forced to accept the Regent's generosity, and received a pension of three (later four, then five) hundred pounds a year as George's "driving tutor"; to save face, the money was made out to the name of "the Rev. Dr. Tolly".
Lade's marriage and his debt, together with his disdain for the conventions of society caused him to be generally disreputable. Many of the stories of snubs that the Regent received on behalf of his friends centre around Lade, and most of them appear to have been delivered by the redoubtable Lord Thurlow
Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow
Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow PC, KC was a British lawyer and Tory politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain for fourteen years and under four Prime Ministers.- Early life:...
, a friend of George III. On one occasion, when Thurlow met the Prince, Sir John, and Lord Barrymore
Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore
Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore was an English nobleman of Ireland, as well as an infamous rake, gambler, sportsman, theatrical enthusiast and womanizer....
in Brighton, the Prince asked Thurlow to come and dine with him one day; whereupon Thurlow, in the sight of all present said "I cannot do so until your Royal Highness keeps better company". On another occasion, the words were more private but no less scathing:
The Prince of Wales in 1805 asked Lord Thurlow to dinner, and also Ladd. 'When "the old Lion" arrived the
Prince went into the ante-room to meet him, and apologised for the party being larger than he had intended, but added, "that Sir John was an old friend of his, and he could not avoid asking him to dinner," to which Thurlow, in his growling voice, answered, "I have no objection, Sir, to Sir John Lade in his proper place, which I take to be your Royal Highness's coach-box, and not your table."
The Lades, like so many leaders of Regency society, eventually faded from the scene when their money ran out and George IV was crowned and grew preoccupied with affairs of state. Letitia died in 1825, and is buried at St Mary's, Staines
St Mary's, Staines
St Mary's, Staines, is a church in the town and parish of Staines, in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and the Greater London Urban Area. Located on a rise not far from the Thames at the west end of the town, the church is part of the Diocese of London within the Church of England...
. Lade, who lived quietly on his stud farm in Sussex, continued to receive his pension, though it tended to be a near-run thing on each change of reign; his relative Dorothy Nevill, the writer and horticulturist, wrote of him that "my poor crazy cousin" was dependent on the kindness of a court functionary and on hints dropped in suitable ears; Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, when a young girl fresh to the throne, records in her diaries that she discovered that she was paying "a Sir John Lade, one of George IV.'s intimates".
They live on, however in literature: for example, in Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's celebrated Regency novel Rodney Stone
Rodney Stone
Rodney Stone is a Gothic mystery and boxing novel by Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first published in 1896.The eponymous narrator is a Sussex country boy who is taken to London by his uncle Sir Charles Tregellis, a highly respected gentleman and arbiter of fashion who is on familiar terms...
, the mature Sir John Lade, a leader of the "Corinthian" set of gentleman-sportsmen, serves to represent the London life the pugilist-hero immerses himself in, and is introduced by means of a race from Brighton to London. Letitia, with her unusual life story and unconventional manner, is an even more common character: in 1864 she was a central character in the first great potboiler, George William MacArthur Reynolds' Mysteries of the Court of London.