Of the historical anecdotes connected with Wolfeton House, the visit of the King and Queen of Castile is, perhaps, of the greatest interest.
In the early part of the sixteenth century, Philip, Archduke of Austria and King of Castile, set forth with a great armada, with the intention of surprising the King of Aragon, but he had scarcely left the coast of Flanders when, encountering a violent storm, he was compelled to put into Weymouth in distress. King Philip and his Queen were invited to Wolfeton House by Sir Thomas Trenchard, then High Sheriff, and were hospitably entertained. And with this visit the origin of the Duke of Bedford’s family is curiously mixed up; for on the arrival of the King and Queen, Sir Thomas Trenchard, being unacquainted with the Spanish language, found a difficulty in conversing with his guests. In his dilemma he had recourse to his cousin, John Russell, of Kingston Russell, who, being a good linguist, became a favourite with the King, and was recommended by him to Henry VII., who appointed him to an office in the royal household. In the succeeding reign Russell was also popular, and the confiscation of Church property during this period rendered it possible for Henry VIII. to bestow upon him extensive lands. And thus was founded the great Bedford family.
In acknowledgment of his hospitality Sir Thomas Trenchard was presented by the King and Queen of Castile with some very valuable china vases, together with their portraits, all of which are now at Bloxworth House, near Wareham. They also presented to him the carved chimney-piece and doorway still standing in the drawing-room at Wolfeton House, as before described.
Engraved copies of the oil-paintings of the King and Queen of Castile hang on the left-hand side of the staircase, alongside of which is a Spanish engraving of the poor Queen Joan, when sorrow at the death of her husband had sent her mad. On their way to the Royal Mausoleum the funeral cortège had to pass a night at a nunnery. In the middle of the night the poor mad Queen suddenly asked where they were. “In a nunnery,” was the reply. “I will not have my husband surrounded by all these women,” exclaimed the Queen; so the cortège immediately removed, and spent the remainder of the night, until daylight, in the open country.
In the ancient gatehouse of Wolfeton the winding staircase of forty-one oaken steps appears to be quite unique: there are nine stone steps at the base, twenty-four of oak to the first floor level, and seventeen leading to the garret above. For years (some think one hundred) this staircase must have been a complete ruin, as is easily seen by the decayed state of those steps opposite to the two windows, the wind and the rain having beaten in on them for many years.
In addition to the King and Queen of Castile, other royal visitors have from time to time honoured Wolfeton House with their presence, and during the residence of George III. at Weymouth the King and Queen paid it frequent visits. On one occasion, when George III. admired a marble table that used to stand in the drawing-room, the Trenchard of that day immediately presented it to His Majesty, and the table is now in the royal dairy at Frogmore, Windsor.
No account of Wolfeton House would be complete without some allusion to the story of the Roman Catholic priest. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, when it was the object of the then Government to stamp out in every way the Papal influence in England, the Weld family had a Roman Catholic priest concealed at their house at Chideock, in Dorset. Sir Thomas Trenchard, who then resided at Wolfeton House, and was a personal friend of Mr. Weld, of Chideock, happened to be High Sheriff of the county of Dorset for that year, and received orders to go over and search for the priest therein concealed. On account of his friendship with Mr. Weld, Sir Thomas, on reaching Chideock, made a most cursory search, and left with the intention of reporting to the authorities that he could find no signs of the priest; but, unfortunately, as he was leaving, the villagers, whose sympathies were Roman, not aware of his benign intentions, began hooting and calling the High Sheriff and his constables a pack of blind owls for not being able to find the concealed priest. “If that’s what you want,” exclaimed Sir Thomas, losing his temper, “I’ll soon show you I am not so blind as you think!” and, surrounding the mansion with his constables, a real search was made, and the poor priest was soon discovered and brought over to Wolfeton House as a prisoner. The priest, a highly-educated French gentleman, made himself so agreeable that Sir Thomas Trenchard did all in his power, by writing to the authorities, to save his life; but the Government of that day was so desirous of making an example, that all entreaties were in vain—the poor priest was executed, and, it is said, was also drawn and quartered in the High Street of Dorchester.
THE LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF DORSET
By Miss M. Jourdain
