"Perhaps nothing will give a better idea of the wild spirit of his character than an occurrence that took place in his youthful days. At a time when Battues and a system of the preservation of game as it is now carried on in Norfolk were little known in this part of the country, he undertook the entire management of the game at Fryston, and succeeded in stocking the Plantations there with abundance of Pheasants. Not content with giving his orders to the keepers, he used frequently to accompany them in their nightly watches.
"On one of these occasions they fell in with a party of poachers, who took to their heels.
"Milnes, who was the foremost in the chace, succeeded in grappling one of the fugitives. The man struggled on to the brink of a deep quarry and finding that Milnes did not slacken his grasp, determined to dare the jump, calculating, as he afterwards confessed, that as his limbs were strong and well knit, that he should suffer no damage, but that Milnes, being slight, would break his leg. Milnes, nothing daunted, kept his hold, and went down with the poacher, whose calculations were reversed, for he broke his legs, and Milnes escaped, comparatively speaking, unscathed."
Rodes Milnes, the younger brother of Pemberton, though gifted with less natural genius, at first bid fair to be of a more dependable character; and while his mother retained an interest in the firm of Milnes, Heywood & Co., he continued to go into Wakefield regularly two or three times a week to look after the business, driving himself in a phaeton drawn by a pair of beautiful black ponies. But later he became closely connected with the turf, and many lively stories are attached to his name. He and Mr Peter of Stapleton were racing associates, and their stable won the St Leger no fewer than five times in eight years; he was also a turf comrade of Lord Glasgow, and after a successful day at York Races, it is said that these two friends would station themselves at the window of the inn where they were staying and stop every passenger to insist that he or she should drink a glass of wine with them.
Rodes Milnes was exceedingly handsome, but later in life became very stout, after which he used to enjoy the pleasures of sport in a somewhat original fashion. In the middle of the plantations at Fryston was a mound on which he used to seat himself in a revolving chair; the keeper would then beat the neighbouring woods in order to drive the birds in the direction of the mound, and as they appeared, Rodes Milnes used to spin round in his chair and take rapid shots at the flying game.
As the Milnes withdrew themselves more and more from their former business, the Naylors came to the fore. For long this later firm was represented by two brothers, John and Jeremiah. The former was the ornamental partner, the latter the useful. John, clad in faultlessly cut clothes and a carefully powdered wig, was an impressive figure, and was well supported in his picturesque rôle by his wife, a handsome and stately dame. Jeremiah, the working bee, was less polished in manner and more careless in dress. As Rodes Milnes drove into Wakefield twice a week, so did Jeremiah Naylor drive into Leeds Market regularly every Tuesday and Saturday morning, in order to buy white and coloured cloth in its unfinished state. Thence he would return followed by one or two large waggons full of the cloth so purchased, which was subsequently finished, partly at the works of his firm and partly by cloth dressers in the town. Indeed, Jeremiah, who was noted for his shrewd business capacity and frugal tendencies, was said to have bought one-third of all the cloth manufactured in the West Riding.
Only on one occasion is it reported that the shrewd Yorkshireman was outwitted in a bargain. The story is thus amusingly told by the late Mr Clarkson of Alverthorpe Hall:—
"Mr Jeremiah Naylor had a favourite mare which used to take him to Leeds twice a week; but at last, from age, she got past her work, and he unwillingly consented to sell her. He drove her himself to Doncaster fair, and early in the day met with a customer; but at a very low price. After this shabby way of disposing of an old favourite he had to look out for a successor, and after dinner went again into the fair where, after a critical search, he saw for sale an animal likely to suit him, which took his fancy from its resemblance to his old favourite of twenty years before. The price was a stiff one, but the bargain was concluded at last, and the new purchase put into the harness, which seemed exactly to fit.
"Mr Naylor was delighted with the pace at which his fresh steed took him home to Wakefield; but on arriving at his house, was met by his old groom, who, after scanning the new acquisition, said dryly: 'Well, Sir, you've brought the old mare back again!' Mr Naylor rather rebuked the man, who replied by loosening the mare from the harness, when she walked straight to her own stand in the stable, and doubtless felt there was no place like home. The poor thing had been cropped and docked and groomed so as completely to deceive her old master."
As the Naylors waxed in wealth they considered themselves to be the successful rivals of the former great merchants of Wakefield, the Milnes and Heywoods, so that it is said a favourite toast of theirs was—"The Milnes were, the Heywoods are; and the Naylors will be"; a toast destined never to be realised, for in 1825 the mercantile house of the Naylors collapsed.