Close by is a very fine alabaster tomb on which lie three full-length recumbent figures, being the effigies of Robert Brooke of Madeley Court, who is described as "Recorder of London, Speaker of P'lyament, and Chiefe Justice of Com'on Pleace," and his two wives, one of whom was a daughter of Gatacre.[[7]]
[[7]] See Shropshire, by A. C. Hare, p. 319.
Thomas, brother to Francis named above, was destined by his parents for the law; but he "diverted his mind from the most profitable to the most necessary study, from law to divinity," and, much to the grief of his parents, who were of the old persuasion, embraced the Reformed Faith, and became Rector of St. Edmond's, Lombard Street. He died in 1593; but his son and grandson followed the same profession. The former, Thomas (1574-1654), was a friend of Archbishop Ussher, and a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. He took part in preparing the annotations to the English Bible, and published a work on Marcus Aurelius; in 1648 he subscribed the Remonstrance against the trial of Charles I. His son, Charles, was Chaplain to Lucius Gary, Viscount Falkland, and was also the author of many books.[[8]] This younger branch of the family settled at Mildenhall, in Suffolk, and has always spelt the name Gataker. Though there has never failed a male heir to the senior line, this is the only cadet branch that has survived.
[[8]] See quotation by A. C. Hare, from Thomas Fuller, 1662.
The house inhabited by this ancient family was a unique survival of very early times.[[9]] Where we should now use iron girders our ancestors used oak-trees; they erected them upside-down, so that the roots made arches on which to lay the roof. Large stones were hewn to fill in the walls, and in this particular building the outer surface of the stones was incrusted with a transparent green glaze, very similar to what is now seen on rough pottery. This curious specimen of domestic architecture survived in a habitable condition till the early part of the eighteenth century, when it was wantonly destroyed, and replaced by a brick mansion of the dark and uninteresting type of the early Georges. Portions of the glazed stones are still preserved in the house amongst many other relics of more obvious value.
[[9]] See The Severn Valley, by John Randall, 1882, and Archæologia, iii. 112, quoted by him.
Colonel Edward Gatacre and his only son, born in 1806 (who figures as the Squire in this narrative), were specimens of the best type of country gentleman of their day. The former was twentieth in direct descent from Sir William de Gatacre of the twelfth century, and was grandfather to Sir William, the hero of this story. The pedigree shows that through the centuries the family had maintained their status as gentle-folk, and had allied themselves with other families of the same standing in the neighbouring counties. Both were men of remarkable activity and considerable cultivation. With the advent of railways came the facility for travel, of which the younger man was quick to avail himself. He visited London every year, and among other men of renown knew Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A., and persuaded him to come and paint the portrait of his father that still hangs at Gatacre—a beautiful picture. He also went abroad, and made a pilgrimage to Rome in the old days when people travelled in their own carriages, making a long stay at many places of interest in Switzerland and Italy.
Forbes
At the age of eighty-one the Colonel died, sincerely mourned throughout the county; and thus in 1849 the young Squire came into his inheritance. About ten years earlier he had married Jessie, second daughter of William Forbes of Callendar, in the county of Stirling. Mr. Forbes, who sprang from a cadet branch of the family of that name, started his career in a shipping office; by his enterprise and inventions he built up a considerable fortune, with which he bought the Callendar estate. His elder son, William Forbes, who succeeded him, represented Stirlingshire in Parliament for many years; and his younger son became Colonel John Forbes of the Coldstream Guards. Their sister Jessie must always have been a beautiful woman, rather Scottish, perhaps, in the vigorous outline of her face, with a depth about her blue eyes and a symmetry of feature that reappeared in her third son; a look of "all-comprehensive tenderness" is the dominant note of the portrait. Indeed, we are told that while Mrs. Gatacre was a very able woman, she had a singular gentleness of manner.