worfield and bridgnorth
Worfield and Bridgnorth in the Napoleonic Wars
Morfe Loyal Volunteers
Brimstree Loyal Legion
Morfe and Royal Oak
What started the interest in this period of history (1799-1815) was these three Volunteer Regiment badges which were found by Frank Taylor whose book ‘A Life’s Work,’ is available from Worfield Post Office priced £8.00. When I saw these I didn’t realise that people specialised in the study of such items but the descriptions given below by Dixon Pickup are very comprehensive. Morfe Loyal Volunteers When hostilities broke out again in 1803 this part of the county immediately raised a unit of battalion strength, at its zenith 672 effectives plus officers; taking its name from the old territorial division, the Morfe Volunteers. The button is 16.5mm, convex with a finely raised design but bearing no back mark. There is a mint example in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery collection. The Commanding Officer was Lieut-Colonel Commandant Edward Gatacre (Junior), the Major was William Yelverton Davenport, there were 7 Captains (including another Gatacre and a Whitmore), 9 Lieutenants 7 Ensigns and a QuarterMaster William Skelding. This battalion were deemed 'efficient' in 1808 when the Local Militia Act was introduced, and thus remained an independent corps. Morfe and Royal Oak Volunteers Alongside the Morfe LVs was a unit of Company strength , the Royal Oak Volunteers. With the officers' commission dates the same as those for Morfe (22nd August 1803), the unit was 108 strong. The officers were Captain George Baylis, Lieutenants Chappel Woodhouse & John Meeson, Ensign Richard Ward. There will be a button for this corps, presumably the crown over 'ROV' or similar. However the one illustrated is that of the post amalgamation unit, the Morfe and Royal Oak Volunteers.' This took place at some time in 1806 or early 1807 as the War Office list 31st March 1807 shows the new title. By this time Thomas Whitmore has succeeded to the command as Lieut- Colonel Commandant, W.Y. Davenport (William Yelverton Davenport) is the Lieutenant-Colonel and Farmer Taylor is the Major. These changes are dated 18th November 1805. The button is in silver plate, 16mm, convex and without a back mark. The design is raised and shows the crown over M & RO over V. The corps was stood down in 1814/15.
Worfield and Bridgnorth in the Napoleonic Wars
Brimstree Loyal Legion This an officer's plated specimen of the Brimstree Loyal Legion. It is convex and measures 15.5mm, the simple back mark is 'PLATED'. The design of the crown over 'BLL' is incised. This unit was raised on the 20 June 1798, and although the intention must have been for for an infantry and cavalry unit, the listed officers bear infantry ranks only. In the 1799, 1800 and 1801 War Office list of Volunteers, Militia and Yeomanry it was shown incorrectly as 'Brenstree'. The officers were the same throughout the short period, Major Commandant Robert Slaney, Captain M. A. Slaney, Lieutenant W. Yonge, Ensign S. Bennet. As with the vast majority of volunteer infantry and Associations the corps was disbanded in 1801 upon the signing of the Peace of Amiens. Volunteers were subject to certain rules imposed by government and there were pros and cons of joining. The command of the Volunteers was in the hands of the local gentry who inevitably recruited their family and friends to the cause. Volunteers were exempt from being called up into the army and they were paid for their services. For each day of 100 days training the volunteer received army pay and an exemption from army service for five years. By 1804 the volunteer regiments were swollen to bursting point and the army didn’t have a big enough pool to recruit from. In addition, industry was affected badly because the amount of time dedicated to training meant that craftsmen and small tradesmen were struggling to carry on their trade. So we need to bear these facts in mind when we read that the Royal Oak and Bridgnorth Volunteers volunteered their services to the government and agreed to find their own clothing. ‘Their commander Colonel Whitmore has, at his own expense, generously provided each man with a jacket and cap. This well-disciplined and fine regiment consists of nearly 700 men.’ Reading between the lines, did the men of the Royal Oak and Bridgnorth Volunteers say that unless they have uniforms provided they wouldn’t join - perhaps. 700 men is a huge number of men who would probably never do more than put on a good show in training. It must have caused a huge resentment between the volunteers and conscripts but the volunteers probably had almost as little choice as the army recuits. If the Lord of the manor said ‘would you like to join,’ you probably did, if you knew what was good for you. These Eastern European crosses are odd items to find in Worfield Parish. They were shown to Peter Reavill the Portable Finds Officer for Shropshire and Hereford and he wondered if there might have been a Napoleonic Wars connection.
Fifteenth Century
Front and Back of Pressed Cross
Nineteenth Century
Apparently soldiers returning from the Wars would bring back souvenirs, so that could have been a possibility or they might have belonged to one of the prisoners of war held in
Worfield and Bridgnorth in the Napoleonic Wars
Bridgnorth. I must say I was astonished to hear about this. What on earth were prisoners doing in Bridgnorth, where did they live, what were their lives like? I asked Gwynne Chadwick, Bridgnorth historian, if he had any information and this was the reply: It's said that Fort Pendlestone was occupied by French prisoners of war in 1812 - 1813 (source -28th April 1995 Bridgnorth Journal Article about a letter dated 29 July 1813 from a French prisoner in Fort Pendlestone. Auctioned for £380.) I can also recall reading that French prisoners of war were housed in a building called 'The Barracks' opposite where the Bandon Arms now stand but have no source for the information Bridgnorth Journal issue dated 21 Oct 1983. For my next book, I summarized the article as follows; "Charles Fothergill's article about the memorial to General Charles de Preux. In 1812 1813, 500 French prisoners lived in Bridgnorth including a Colonel who lived in Hillside House - then called D' Arenberg House, on St Mary's Steps - then called Churchway" My own book "Bridgnorth - News and Events between 1852 and 1900" shows that the Bridgnorth Journal issue dated 27 Aug 1892 has an article; "Old resident recalls the funeral of the French General Charles de Preux in 1813. Buried in St Mary's churchyard." [comment - the headstone is still in the churchyard] Then I found this account in a book called, ‘Prisoners of War in Francis Abell (Oxford University Press 1914)
Britain 1756-1815’ by
The Marquis d'Hautpol was taken prisoner at Arapiles, badly wounded, in July 1812, and with some four hundred other prisoners was landed at Portsmouth on December 12, and thence sent on parole to ' Brigsnorth, petite ville de la Principaute de Galles clearly meant for Bridgnorth in Shropshire. Here, he says, were from eight to nine hundred other prisoners, some of whom had been there eight or nine years, but certainly he must have been mistaken, for at no parole place were ever more than four hundred prisoners. The usual rules obtained here, and the allowance was the equivalent of one franc fifty centimes a day. Wishing to employ his time profitably he engaged a fellow- prisoner to teach him English, to whom he promised a salary as soon as he should receive his remittances. A letter from his brother-in-law told him that his sisters, believing him dead, as they had received no news from him, had gone into mourn ing, and enclosed a draft for 4,000 francs, which came through the bankers Perregaux of Paris and ' Coutz ' of London. He complains bitterly of the sharp practices of the local Agent, who paid him his 4,000 francs, but in paper money, which was at the time at a discount of twenty-five per cent, and who, upon his claiming the difference, ' me repondit fort insolemment que le papier anglais valait autant que Tor frangais, et que si je me permettais d'attaquer encore le credit de la banque, il me ferait conduire aux pontons '. So he had to accept the situation. The Marquis, as we shall see, was not the man to invent such an accusation, so it may be believed that the complaints so often made about the unfair practice of the British Government, in the matter of moneys due to prisoners, were not without foundation. The threat of the Agent to send the Marquis to the hulks (ie the prison ships) if he persisted in claiming his dues, may have been but a threat, but it sounds as if these gentlemen were invested with very great powers. The Marquis and a fellow prisoner, Deche vrieres, adjutant of the 59th, messed together, modestly, but better than the other poorer men, who clubbed together and bought an ox head, with which they made soup and ate with potatoes.
Worfield and Bridgnorth in the Napoleonic Wars
A cousin of the Marquis, the Comtesse de Beon, knew a Miss Vernon, one of the Queen's ladies of honour, and she introduced the Marquis to Lord ' Malville ', whose seat was near Bridgnorth, and who invited him to the house. I give d'Hautpol's impression in his own words : * Ce lord etait poli, mais, comme tous les Anglais, ennemi mortel de la France. J'etais humilie de ses prevenances qui sentaient la protection. Je revins cependant une seconde fois chez lui ; il y avait ce jour-la nombreuse compagnie ; plusieurs officiers anglais s'y trouvaient. Sans regards pour ma position et avec une certaine affectation, ils se mirent a deblaterer en frangais contre 1'Empereur et 1'armee. Je me levai de table indigne, et demandai a Lord Malville la permission de me retirer ; il s'efforce de me retenir en blamant ses compatriotes, mais je persistai. Je n'acceptai plus d'invitations chez lui.' (I will translate the gist of this.On the surface there is courtesy but the distance between the two men because of their nationality is so great that d’Hautpol can bear it no longer and begs to leave. ‘I will not accept any more invitations from this man.’) All good news from the seat of war, says the Marquis, was carefully hidden from the prisoners, so that they heard nothing about Lutzen, Bautzen, and Dresden. But the news of Leipsic was loudly proclaimed. The prisoners could not go out of doors without being insulted. One day the people dressed up a figure to represent Bonaparte, put it on a donkey, and paraded the town with it. Under the windows of the lodging of General Veiland, who had been taken at Badajos, of which place he was governor, they rigged up a gibbet, hung the figure on it, and afterwards burned it. At one time a general uprising of the prisoners of war in England was seriously discussed. There were in Britain 5,000 officers on parole, and 60,000 men on the hulks and in prisons. The idea was to disarm the guards all at once, to join forces at a given point, to march on Plymouth, liberate the men on the hulks, and thence go to Portsmouth and do the same there. But the authorities became suspicious, the generals were separated from the other officers, and many were sent to distant cantonments. The Marquis says that there were 1,500 at Bridgnorth, and that half of these were sent to Oswestry. This was in November, 1813. There may be inaccuracies in the Marquis’s account but could he really have mistakenly counted 1,500 prisoners instead of the 400 there should have been? One doubts it, perhaps this is why barracks were needed and Fort Pendlestone, too. The changes in British society at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Enclosures squeezing people off the land and the start of the Industrial revolution pushing people into towns, have led me, at least, to completely overlook the Napoleonic connection and yet a fascinating one it is.
Morfe Loyal Volunteers
Brimstree Loyal Legion
Morfe and Royal Oak
What started the interest in this period of history (1799-1815) was these three Volunteer Regiment badges which were found by Frank Taylor whose book ‘A Life’s Work,’ is available from Worfield Post Office priced £8.00. When I saw these I didn’t realise that people specialised in the study of such items but the descriptions given below by Dixon Pickup are very comprehensive. Morfe Loyal Volunteers When hostilities broke out again in 1803 this part of the county immediately raised a unit of battalion strength, at its zenith 672 effectives plus officers; taking its name from the old territorial division, the Morfe Volunteers. The button is 16.5mm, convex with a finely raised design but bearing no back mark. There is a mint example in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery collection. The Commanding Officer was Lieut-Colonel Commandant Edward Gatacre (Junior), the Major was William Yelverton Davenport, there were 7 Captains (including another Gatacre and a Whitmore), 9 Lieutenants 7 Ensigns and a QuarterMaster William Skelding. This battalion were deemed 'efficient' in 1808 when the Local Militia Act was introduced, and thus remained an independent corps. Morfe and Royal Oak Volunteers Alongside the Morfe LVs was a unit of Company strength , the Royal Oak Volunteers. With the officers' commission dates the same as those for Morfe (22nd August 1803), the unit was 108 strong. The officers were Captain George Baylis, Lieutenants Chappel Woodhouse & John Meeson, Ensign Richard Ward. There will be a button for this corps, presumably the crown over 'ROV' or similar. However the one illustrated is that of the post amalgamation unit, the Morfe and Royal Oak Volunteers.' This took place at some time in 1806 or early 1807 as the War Office list 31st March 1807 shows the new title. By this time Thomas Whitmore has succeeded to the command as Lieut- Colonel Commandant, W.Y. Davenport (William Yelverton Davenport) is the Lieutenant-Colonel and Farmer Taylor is the Major. These changes are dated 18th November 1805. The button is in silver plate, 16mm, convex and without a back mark. The design is raised and shows the crown over M & RO over V. The corps was stood down in 1814/15.
Worfield and Bridgnorth in the Napoleonic Wars
Brimstree Loyal Legion This an officer's plated specimen of the Brimstree Loyal Legion. It is convex and measures 15.5mm, the simple back mark is 'PLATED'. The design of the crown over 'BLL' is incised. This unit was raised on the 20 June 1798, and although the intention must have been for for an infantry and cavalry unit, the listed officers bear infantry ranks only. In the 1799, 1800 and 1801 War Office list of Volunteers, Militia and Yeomanry it was shown incorrectly as 'Brenstree'. The officers were the same throughout the short period, Major Commandant Robert Slaney, Captain M. A. Slaney, Lieutenant W. Yonge, Ensign S. Bennet. As with the vast majority of volunteer infantry and Associations the corps was disbanded in 1801 upon the signing of the Peace of Amiens. Volunteers were subject to certain rules imposed by government and there were pros and cons of joining. The command of the Volunteers was in the hands of the local gentry who inevitably recruited their family and friends to the cause. Volunteers were exempt from being called up into the army and they were paid for their services. For each day of 100 days training the volunteer received army pay and an exemption from army service for five years. By 1804 the volunteer regiments were swollen to bursting point and the army didn’t have a big enough pool to recruit from. In addition, industry was affected badly because the amount of time dedicated to training meant that craftsmen and small tradesmen were struggling to carry on their trade. So we need to bear these facts in mind when we read that the Royal Oak and Bridgnorth Volunteers volunteered their services to the government and agreed to find their own clothing. ‘Their commander Colonel Whitmore has, at his own expense, generously provided each man with a jacket and cap. This well-disciplined and fine regiment consists of nearly 700 men.’ Reading between the lines, did the men of the Royal Oak and Bridgnorth Volunteers say that unless they have uniforms provided they wouldn’t join - perhaps. 700 men is a huge number of men who would probably never do more than put on a good show in training. It must have caused a huge resentment between the volunteers and conscripts but the volunteers probably had almost as little choice as the army recuits. If the Lord of the manor said ‘would you like to join,’ you probably did, if you knew what was good for you. These Eastern European crosses are odd items to find in Worfield Parish. They were shown to Peter Reavill the Portable Finds Officer for Shropshire and Hereford and he wondered if there might have been a Napoleonic Wars connection.
Fifteenth Century
Front and Back of Pressed Cross
Nineteenth Century
Apparently soldiers returning from the Wars would bring back souvenirs, so that could have been a possibility or they might have belonged to one of the prisoners of war held in
Worfield and Bridgnorth in the Napoleonic Wars
Bridgnorth. I must say I was astonished to hear about this. What on earth were prisoners doing in Bridgnorth, where did they live, what were their lives like? I asked Gwynne Chadwick, Bridgnorth historian, if he had any information and this was the reply: It's said that Fort Pendlestone was occupied by French prisoners of war in 1812 - 1813 (source -28th April 1995 Bridgnorth Journal Article about a letter dated 29 July 1813 from a French prisoner in Fort Pendlestone. Auctioned for £380.) I can also recall reading that French prisoners of war were housed in a building called 'The Barracks' opposite where the Bandon Arms now stand but have no source for the information Bridgnorth Journal issue dated 21 Oct 1983. For my next book, I summarized the article as follows; "Charles Fothergill's article about the memorial to General Charles de Preux. In 1812 1813, 500 French prisoners lived in Bridgnorth including a Colonel who lived in Hillside House - then called D' Arenberg House, on St Mary's Steps - then called Churchway" My own book "Bridgnorth - News and Events between 1852 and 1900" shows that the Bridgnorth Journal issue dated 27 Aug 1892 has an article; "Old resident recalls the funeral of the French General Charles de Preux in 1813. Buried in St Mary's churchyard." [comment - the headstone is still in the churchyard] Then I found this account in a book called, ‘Prisoners of War in Francis Abell (Oxford University Press 1914)
Britain 1756-1815’ by
The Marquis d'Hautpol was taken prisoner at Arapiles, badly wounded, in July 1812, and with some four hundred other prisoners was landed at Portsmouth on December 12, and thence sent on parole to ' Brigsnorth, petite ville de la Principaute de Galles clearly meant for Bridgnorth in Shropshire. Here, he says, were from eight to nine hundred other prisoners, some of whom had been there eight or nine years, but certainly he must have been mistaken, for at no parole place were ever more than four hundred prisoners. The usual rules obtained here, and the allowance was the equivalent of one franc fifty centimes a day. Wishing to employ his time profitably he engaged a fellow- prisoner to teach him English, to whom he promised a salary as soon as he should receive his remittances. A letter from his brother-in-law told him that his sisters, believing him dead, as they had received no news from him, had gone into mourn ing, and enclosed a draft for 4,000 francs, which came through the bankers Perregaux of Paris and ' Coutz ' of London. He complains bitterly of the sharp practices of the local Agent, who paid him his 4,000 francs, but in paper money, which was at the time at a discount of twenty-five per cent, and who, upon his claiming the difference, ' me repondit fort insolemment que le papier anglais valait autant que Tor frangais, et que si je me permettais d'attaquer encore le credit de la banque, il me ferait conduire aux pontons '. So he had to accept the situation. The Marquis, as we shall see, was not the man to invent such an accusation, so it may be believed that the complaints so often made about the unfair practice of the British Government, in the matter of moneys due to prisoners, were not without foundation. The threat of the Agent to send the Marquis to the hulks (ie the prison ships) if he persisted in claiming his dues, may have been but a threat, but it sounds as if these gentlemen were invested with very great powers. The Marquis and a fellow prisoner, Deche vrieres, adjutant of the 59th, messed together, modestly, but better than the other poorer men, who clubbed together and bought an ox head, with which they made soup and ate with potatoes.
Worfield and Bridgnorth in the Napoleonic Wars
A cousin of the Marquis, the Comtesse de Beon, knew a Miss Vernon, one of the Queen's ladies of honour, and she introduced the Marquis to Lord ' Malville ', whose seat was near Bridgnorth, and who invited him to the house. I give d'Hautpol's impression in his own words : * Ce lord etait poli, mais, comme tous les Anglais, ennemi mortel de la France. J'etais humilie de ses prevenances qui sentaient la protection. Je revins cependant une seconde fois chez lui ; il y avait ce jour-la nombreuse compagnie ; plusieurs officiers anglais s'y trouvaient. Sans regards pour ma position et avec une certaine affectation, ils se mirent a deblaterer en frangais contre 1'Empereur et 1'armee. Je me levai de table indigne, et demandai a Lord Malville la permission de me retirer ; il s'efforce de me retenir en blamant ses compatriotes, mais je persistai. Je n'acceptai plus d'invitations chez lui.' (I will translate the gist of this.On the surface there is courtesy but the distance between the two men because of their nationality is so great that d’Hautpol can bear it no longer and begs to leave. ‘I will not accept any more invitations from this man.’) All good news from the seat of war, says the Marquis, was carefully hidden from the prisoners, so that they heard nothing about Lutzen, Bautzen, and Dresden. But the news of Leipsic was loudly proclaimed. The prisoners could not go out of doors without being insulted. One day the people dressed up a figure to represent Bonaparte, put it on a donkey, and paraded the town with it. Under the windows of the lodging of General Veiland, who had been taken at Badajos, of which place he was governor, they rigged up a gibbet, hung the figure on it, and afterwards burned it. At one time a general uprising of the prisoners of war in England was seriously discussed. There were in Britain 5,000 officers on parole, and 60,000 men on the hulks and in prisons. The idea was to disarm the guards all at once, to join forces at a given point, to march on Plymouth, liberate the men on the hulks, and thence go to Portsmouth and do the same there. But the authorities became suspicious, the generals were separated from the other officers, and many were sent to distant cantonments. The Marquis says that there were 1,500 at Bridgnorth, and that half of these were sent to Oswestry. This was in November, 1813. There may be inaccuracies in the Marquis’s account but could he really have mistakenly counted 1,500 prisoners instead of the 400 there should have been? One doubts it, perhaps this is why barracks were needed and Fort Pendlestone, too. The changes in British society at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Enclosures squeezing people off the land and the start of the Industrial revolution pushing people into towns, have led me, at least, to completely overlook the Napoleonic connection and yet a fascinating one it is.
