Richard William Howard Vyse
Encyclopedia
Major-General Sir Richard William Howard Vyse, KCMG (25 July 1784 – 8 June 1853) was a British
soldier, anthropologist and Egyptologist. He was also Member of Parliament
for Beverley
(from 1807 to 1812) and Honiton
(from 1812 to 1818).
, Buckinghamshire
, was the only son of General Richard Vyse
and his wife, Anne, the only surviving daughter and heiress of Field-marshal Sir George Howard.
Richard William Vyse, assumed the additional name of Howard by royal sign manual dated 14 September 1812, on inheriting the estates of Boughton
and Pitsford
in Northamptonshire
through his maternal grandmother, Lucy, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1672–1739).
Vyse was knighted, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, year unknown, though late in his life.
Vyse died at Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, on 8 June 1853. He married, 13 Nov, 1810 Frances, second daughter of Henry Hesketh of Newton
, Cheshire
. By her he had eight sons and two daughters. His will was proved on 13 August 1853 at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
in 1801 and was promoted Captain
in 1802 and Major
in 1813. In 1815 he transferred to the 87th Foot and in 1816 to the 2nd Life Guards, and then also to the 1st West India
in 1819. He was promoted brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 1825, later nominated to rank put onto half-pay in 1825, Colonel
in 1837, and Major-General in 1846.
In 1809 he acted as aide-de-camp to his father on the staff of the Yorkshire district, and on 5 July 1810 received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from Oxford University. On 2 October 1840, Vyse undertook an official duty as the Colonel of the Life Guards in the mourning party for HRH Princess Sophia-Augusta
.
in 1830.
worked with gunpowder forcing their way into several monuments, including the burial chamber of the pyramid of Menkaure.
Vyse's gunpowder archaeology made one highly notable discovery in the Great Pyramid of Giza
. Giovanni Battista Caviglia had blasted on the south side of the stress-relieving chamber (Davison's chamber) on top of the King's chamber, a chamber discovered by Nathaniel Davison in 1765, hoping to find a link to the southern air channel. But while Caviglia gave up, Vyse suspected that there was another chamber on top of Davison's chamber, since he could thrust a yard long reed though a crack up into a cavity. He therefore blasted straight up on the northern side, over three and a half months, finding four additional chambers.
Vyse named these chambers after important friends and colleagues; Wellington's chamber (Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
), Nelson's chamber (Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson
), Lady Arbuthnot's chamber (Anne Fitzgerald, wife of Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot
, 2nd Baronet) and Campbell's chamber (Patrick Campbell
, the British agent and Consul General in Egypt).
Just as amazing as the chambers were Vyse's discovery of numerous graffiti in the chambers, in red paint, dating from the time the pyramids were built. Along with lines, markers and directional notations were work gangs names, including cartouche
s of several pharaohs, concentrated in Lady Arbuthnot's and Nelson's chamber, but all four chambers contained graffiti. The previously discovered Davison's chamber contained no graffiti.
The now famous single instance of Pharaoh Khufu
's name, compounded in a work gang inscription is found on the south ceiling towards the west end of Campbell's chamber. Today this chamber also contains a fair amount of 19th and 20th century graffiti. The other similar famous "Khnum-Khuf", also part of work gang graffiti, is found in Lady Arbuthnot's chamber. Several other compound cartouches can be found in this chamber.
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
soldier, anthropologist and Egyptologist. He was also 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,...
for Beverley
Beverley (UK Parliament constituency)
Beverley has been the name of a parliamentary constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for three separate periods. From medieval times until 1869, it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the market town of Beverley, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons...
(from 1807 to 1812) and Honiton
Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)
Honiton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Honiton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two Members of Parliament until it was...
(from 1812 to 1818).
Family life
Born Richard William Vyse on 25 July 1784 at Stoke PogesStoke Poges
Stoke Poges is a village and civil parish in the South Buckinghamshire district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, about three miles north of Slough and a mile east of Farnham Common....
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, was the only son of General Richard Vyse
Richard Vyse
General Richard Vyse was a British general, and briefly a Member of Parliament for Beverley.Vyse was born at Lichfield, Staffordshire the younger son of William Vyse , of Lichfield, and younger brother of William Vyse , canon residentiary and chancellor of Lichfield...
and his wife, Anne, the only surviving daughter and heiress of Field-marshal Sir George Howard.
Richard William Vyse, assumed the additional name of Howard by royal sign manual dated 14 September 1812, on inheriting the estates of Boughton
Boughton, Northamptonshire
Boughton is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire, England, about from Northampton town centre along the A508 road between Northampton and Market Harborough. The parish area straddles both side of the road but the main part of the village is east...
and Pitsford
Pitsford
Pitsford is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the non-metropolitan county of Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 636 people...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
through his maternal grandmother, Lucy, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1672–1739).
Vyse was knighted, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, year unknown, though late in his life.
Vyse died at Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, on 8 June 1853. He married, 13 Nov, 1810 Frances, second daughter of Henry Hesketh of Newton
Newton, Chester
Newton is a suburb in the north-east of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. By her he had eight sons and two daughters. His will was proved on 13 August 1853 at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
Military career
Howard Vyse was commissioned as cornet into the 1st Dragoons in 1800. He transferred to the 15th Light Dragoons as a LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1801 and was promoted Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
in 1802 and Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in 1813. In 1815 he transferred to the 87th Foot and in 1816 to the 2nd Life Guards, and then also to the 1st West India
West India Regiment
The West India Regiment was an infantry unit of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. The regiment differed from similar forces raised in other parts of the British Empire in that it formed an integral part of the...
in 1819. He was promoted brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 1825, later nominated to rank put onto half-pay in 1825, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in 1837, and Major-General in 1846.
In 1809 he acted as aide-de-camp to his father on the staff of the Yorkshire district, and on 5 July 1810 received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from Oxford University. On 2 October 1840, Vyse undertook an official duty as the Colonel of the Life Guards in the mourning party for HRH Princess Sophia-Augusta
Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom
The Princess Augusta Sophia was a member of the British Royal Family, second daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was a Princess of the United Kingdom and a Princess of Hanover....
.
Parliamentary career
Vyse was returned to parliament for Beverley on 8 May 1807. In October 1812 he exchanged this seat for Honiton in Devonshire, which he retained till the dissolution of 1818. He served as High Sheriff of BuckinghamshireHigh Sheriff of Buckinghamshire
The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times...
in 1830.
Egyptologist
At Giza he and John Shae PerringJohn Shae Perring
John Shae Perring was a British engineer, anthropologist and Egyptologist, most notable for his work excavating and documenting Egyptian pyramids...
worked with gunpowder forcing their way into several monuments, including the burial chamber of the pyramid of Menkaure.
Vyse's gunpowder archaeology made one highly notable discovery in the Great Pyramid of Giza
Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact...
. Giovanni Battista Caviglia had blasted on the south side of the stress-relieving chamber (Davison's chamber) on top of the King's chamber, a chamber discovered by Nathaniel Davison in 1765, hoping to find a link to the southern air channel. But while Caviglia gave up, Vyse suspected that there was another chamber on top of Davison's chamber, since he could thrust a yard long reed though a crack up into a cavity. He therefore blasted straight up on the northern side, over three and a half months, finding four additional chambers.
Vyse named these chambers after important friends and colleagues; Wellington's chamber (Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
), Nelson's chamber (Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
), Lady Arbuthnot's chamber (Anne Fitzgerald, wife of Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot
Arbuthnot Baronets
There have been two creations of baronets with the surname Arbuthnot, both in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom and both are extant.-Arbuthnot Baronets of Edinburgh :...
, 2nd Baronet) and Campbell's chamber (Patrick Campbell
Patrick Campbell (British Army officer)
Major-General Patrick Campbell was a Scottish army officer and diplomat born in Duntroon.Patrick Campbell was born into a military family. His father was Neil Campbell , and his two older brothers were James Campbell and Neil Campbell , all of whom served in the military...
, the British agent and Consul General in Egypt).
Just as amazing as the chambers were Vyse's discovery of numerous graffiti in the chambers, in red paint, dating from the time the pyramids were built. Along with lines, markers and directional notations were work gangs names, including cartouche
Cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...
s of several pharaohs, concentrated in Lady Arbuthnot's and Nelson's chamber, but all four chambers contained graffiti. The previously discovered Davison's chamber contained no graffiti.
The now famous single instance of Pharaoh Khufu
Khufu
Khufu , also known as Cheops or, in Manetho, Suphis , was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 BC. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of...
's name, compounded in a work gang inscription is found on the south ceiling towards the west end of Campbell's chamber. Today this chamber also contains a fair amount of 19th and 20th century graffiti. The other similar famous "Khnum-Khuf", also part of work gang graffiti, is found in Lady Arbuthnot's chamber. Several other compound cartouches can be found in this chamber.
Publications
- Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837, published London, 4to., two volumes, 1840.
- Appendix to Operations carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837 published London, 4to., 1842, volume three, 1842. Devoted to Perring's researches. Full text at Google Books.
External references
- Howard-Vyse Manuscripts at the Centre for Buckinghamshire StudiesCentre for Buckinghamshire StudiesThe Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies is the county record office for Buckinghamshire, England. It houses the former Buckinghamshire Record Office and the former Buckinghamshire Local Studies Library. It is located in Aylesbury, in the base of County Hall....
.