The Stately Homes of England

by Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt; S. C. Hall

The eldest son, Henry Manners, succeeded his father, in 1543, as second Earl of Rutland. He continued the rebuilding of Belvoir Castle, and was made Constable of Nottingham Castle, Chief Justice in Eyre of Sherwood Forest, &c. He was married twice: first, to Margaret, daughter of the fourth Earl of Westmoreland, by whom he had issue; and second, to Bridget, daughter of Lord Hussey, by whom he had no children. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward Manners, as third Earl of Rutland, who, dying without male issue, was succeeded by his brother, John Manners (the second son of the second earl), as fourth Earl of Rutland. This nobleman married Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Charlton, of Apsley, by whom he had issue, with others, three sons—Roger Manners, Sir Francis Manners, and Sir George Manners—who successively became fifth, sixth, and seventh Earls of Rutland. All these dying without surviving male issue, the title passed to the descendants of the second son of the first Earl, as we shall now show.

Sir John Manners, second son of the first Earl of Rutland, and great-grandson of the sister of King Edward IV., became, before he was knighted, attached to Dorothy Vernon, the youngest daughter and co-heiress of Sir George Vernon of Haddon Hall, known as “the King of the Peak,” and so effectually wooed and won her, that he at length carried her off on horseback into his own county of Leicester, and there married her. By this marriage Haddon Hall, and the Derbyshire property of the “King of the Peak,” passed into the family of Manners. Sir John Manners had issue by his wife, Dorothy Vernon, three sons—Sir George, who succeeded him; John, who died at the age of fourteen; and Sir Roger, of Whitwell; and one daughter, Grace, who married Sir Francis Fortescue, of Salden. Sir George Manners, their son, married Grace, daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepoint, and sister to the Earl of Kingston, by whom he had issue, with others, John Manners, his eldest son, who not only succeeded him, but also succeeded his cousin George, seventh Earl of Rutland, in his title and estates, and thus became eighth Earl of Rutland. He married Frances, daughter of Edward, Lord Montague of Boughton, by whom he had issue four sons and seven daughters. He was sheriff of Derbyshire in the ninth and eleventh years of Charles I., and also represented that county in Parliament. His lordship was attached to the Parliamentary interest during the civil wars, and was one of the twenty-two peers who remained at Westminster when the King summoned both Houses to attend him at Oxford. As a consequence, his castle of Belvoir was seized by the Royalists, and was held by them and Sir Gervase Lucas, and here the King frequently resided. It was finally surrendered to the Parliamentarians in January, 1645-6. In 1649 the castle was demolished, by consent of the Earl, who soon afterwards set about rebuilding it, which he completed in 1668. During this time the Earl lived principally at Haddon Hall, where he died in 1679, and was succeeded by his third and only surviving son, John Manners, as ninth Earl of Rutland.

This nobleman was born in 1638, and, in 1679 was created a peer in his own right by the title of Baron Manners of Haddon; and in September of the same year, his father dying, he became Earl of Rutland. When twenty years of age he had married the Lady Anne Pierrepoint, daughter of the Marquis of Dorchester, from whom he was afterwards divorced; and he married, secondly, Lady Diana Bruce, widow of Sir Seymour Shirley, and daughter of the Earl of Aylesbury, who died in child-bed. His lordship married, thirdly, Catherine, daughter of Baptist Noel, Viscount Camden, by whom only he had surviving issue. In 1703 the Earl was raised to the highest dignity in the realm, by the titles of Marquis of Granby and Duke of Rutland. He died in January, 1710-11, aged seventy-three, and was succeeded by his only surviving son, John Manners.

John, second Duke of Rutland, when scarcely seventeen years of age, was married to Katherine, second daughter of Lord William Russell, who was beheaded in 1683. He then bore the title of Lord Roos; and the wedding festivities seem, judging from some curious letters still extant concerning them, to have been of the most lavishly extravagant character. This lady, who was sister to the Duchess of Devonshire and to the Duke of Bedford, gave birth to five sons and four daughters, and died in child-bed in 1711. The Duke married, secondly, Lucy, daughter of Lord Sherard, and sister of the Earl of Harborough, by whom also he had issue six sons and two daughters. His grace died in 1721, and was succeeded, as third Duke of Rutland, by his eldest son, John Manners. This nobleman, who was born in 1696, married, in 1717, Bridget, only daughter and heiress of Robert Sutton, Lord Lexington (an alliance that gave him a large accession of estates), by whom he had issue thirteen children, nearly all of whom died young. He it was who built the hunting-seat at Croxton, and made many improvements at Belvoir Castle. He was the last of the family who made Haddon Hall a residence. The estates of Lord Lexington having been settled upon the younger branch of the family, the second and surviving sons, successively, took, by Act of Parliament, the additional surname of Sutton, and thus founded the family of Manners-Sutton.

The Duke, who was familiarly known as “Old John of the Hill,” dying in 1779, was succeeded by his grandson, Charles Manners, son of the celebrated Marquis of Granby, Commander-in-chief of the British forces in Germany, and Master of the Ordnance, who died during his father’s lifetime. Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland, married Mary Isabella, daughter of Charles Noel, Duke of Beaufort, by whom he had issue four sons—viz. Lord John Henry (who succeeded him), Lord Charles Henry Somerset, Lord Robert William, and Lord William Robert Albini; and two daughters—viz. the Lady Elizabeth Isabella, married to Richard Norman, Esq., and Lady Catherine Mary, married to Lord Forester. His Grace died while holding office as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and was succeeded by his eldest son—

John Henry Manners, as fifth Duke of Rutland, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Earl of Carlisle, and by her had issue six sons and five daughters. The sons were—Lord George Henry Manners, to whom King George III. stood sponsor in person, but who died in infancy; Lord George John Frederick Manners, to whom the Prince Regent and H.R.H. the Duke of York stood sponsors in person, but who also died in infancy; Lord Charles Cecil John Manners (the present Duke of Rutland); Lord Adolphus Edward Manners, who died in infancy: Lord John James Robert Manners, M.P., the present eminent statesman and man of letters; and Lord George John Manners, M.P., who married in 1855 the Lady Adeliza Matilda Howard, daughter of the thirteenth Duke of Norfolk, and died in 1875. The five daughters were—the Lady Caroline Isabella Manners, who died in infancy; the Lady Elizabeth Frederica Manners, now the widow of Andrew Robert Drummond, Esq.; the Lady Emmeline Charlotte Elizabeth Manners (deceased), married to the Hon. Charles Stuart Wortley; the Lady Katherine Isabella Manners (deceased), married to Earl Jermyn; and the Lady Adeliza Gertrude Elizabeth Manners, married to the Rev. Frederick John Norman, Rector of Bottesford.

The present noble head of the House of Manners is, as we have just stated, his Grace Charles Cecil John Manners, the sixth Duke of Rutland, Marquis of Granby, fourteenth Earl of Rutland, Baron Manners of Haddon, Baron Ros of Hamlake, Baron Trusbut, Riveaulx, and Belvoir, K.G., &c., the “King of Belvoir,” as he may not inaptly be called, for his is a regal residence, and he reigns in the hearts of the people around him. He is, therefore, the direct descendant and representative in unbroken succession of the grand old standard-bearer of William the Conqueror, Robert de Todeni, and of the families of De Albini, Espec, De Ros, and Manners; and by equally direct descent he has royal blood coursing through his veins. His grace was born in 1815, and was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his M.A. degree in 1835; was M.P. for Stamford from 1837 to 1852, and from that time to his accession to the titles in 1867, for North Leicestershire; and he was a Lord of the Bed-chamber to the late Prince Consort. His grace is not married, the heir to his titles, estates, and revenues being his brother, Lord John Manners, who is a worthy representative of the long and illustrious line from which he has sprung. The Duke is patron of twenty-four livings, of which one is in Rutland, fifteen in Leicestershire, two in Lincolnshire, two in Cambridgeshire, two in Nottinghamshire, and two in Derbyshire. His seats are—Belvoir Castle, in Leicestershire; Haddon Hall and Longshawe Lodge, in Derbyshire; and Cheveley Park, in Cambridgeshire.

Lord John Manners was born in 1818, and in 1851 married Louisa Catherine, daughter of Colonel Marlay, by whom he had issue one son (the present Henry John Brinsley Manners), and another who died in infancy. This lady, dying in 1854, was buried at Rowsley, where a magnificent monument—one of the happiest efforts of W. Calder Marshall—has been erected to her memory. His lordship married secondly, in 1862, Janetta, eldest daughter of Thomas Hughan, Esq., by whom he has issue several children. Lord John Manners has held many important offices. He was sworn a Privy Councillor, and appointed First Commissioner of Works and Buildings, which office he held many years, and in 1874 was appointed Postmaster-General.

Arms of Duke of Rutland.