General

Craster is small village on the Northumberland Coast, famed for its kippers and with a long heritage of fishing. At first glance it would appear to have little connection to country of Tibet. But on closer inspection of the Harbour, a plaque reveals that there is a connection.

 

By George Robinson, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13678994

 

The Crasters have lived in the area since the 11^th Century and built the Tower that bears their name and it was there that John Craster lived after his birth in 1871. His father, also John, had been born in Ireland and his wife Charlotte in Scotland. As well as John they had five other children Thomas [born 1860]; Amy [1862]; Edmund [1863]; William [1867]; and Walter [1874].

John joined the Northumberland Fusiliers and was appointed 2^nd Lieutenant in 1892, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1899 and finally Captain in 1901. He had joined the Indian Army staff in 1895 and throughout the later part of the 1890s took part in campaigns all along the Northwest Frontier. By 1903 he was an Adjutant, the rank he held when he volunteered for the expedition to Tibet.

The reasons for the trade mission to Tibet, which became effectively an invasion, are obscure. But it is argued that the British Government was concerned about potential Russian influence in the area. Rumours were circulating that the Chinese Government, which ruled Tibet, were intending to allow the province to be taken over by Russia. This would have allowed the Russians a direct overland route to India, the jewel in Britain’s imperial crown. Credence had been lent to these rumours by a Russian exploration mission to Tibet, which had taken the first photographs of Lhasa some four years earlier. Tensions between Britain and Russia were high due to the recent conclusion of what was known as ‘The Great Game’, a struggle between the two powers for control of territories in Central and Southern Asia.

Whatever the reasons, the expedition pushed into the interior, inciting a response. Despite the Tibetan forces best efforts, they were grossly outgunned and their flintlock muskets were no match for Maxim Guns. They had particular trouble firing down onto British Forces as their muskets lacked sufficient wadding, causing the musket ball to simply role out of the weapon when at an angle. Most of the Tibetan Muskets were also Matchlock, using a simple lit taper to ignite the powder, a process that became virtually impossible in the rain. It’s estimated that 2000-3000 Tibetans were killed while the British lost some 200. Of one engagement, Lieutenant Arthur Hadow, commander of the Maxim guns detachment, wrote “I got so sick of the slaughter that I ceased fire, though the general’s order was to make as big a bag as possible. I hope I shall never again have to shoot down men walking away.”

It was during fighting at Tsechen, that John Craster was killed. Tsechen consisted of a village, overlooked by a monastery and fortress. Gurkhas stormed the monastery, defended by some 1200 monks mostly armed with rocks, while Craster’s regiment cleared the town. The fighting was all but done, with a only small band in one house giving any resistance. The British forces suffered only two casualties, one of which was John Craster, who was shot through the head at almost point blank range by a musket.

 

 

After his death it soon became apparent that Captain Craster had no Will and that his military service and travelling meant he had assets scattered throughout the British Empire. The task of administering these assets must have been considerable. However, once it was done his estate proved considerable and it was decided to use some of it to fund the building of Harbour, something that had Captain Craster had been a keen advocate of.

Plans were drawn up by Mr J Watt Sandeman of Newcastle and the legal and parliamentary issues were dealt with by Charles Percy & Son, Solicitors of Alnwick. Formal Application to the Board of Trade for a provisional order was made in Autumn 1904 and this received Parliamentary sanction in 1905. The work excavating the rock on the site of the Harbour began in October of that year, and in July 1906 the first concrete for the piers was put in place. The North Pier was completed in September 1907 with work commencing on the South pier the following December.

 

 

It was originally intended to be a smaller Harbour than was eventually built, but extra money was obtained from the Fishery Board for Scotland and from the Treasury. The excavation was out of solid basalt and much of the work had to be done at low tide, which might account for the delay in completion of the South Pier. The Harbour was finally completed in 1910.

 

Horace and Anna Maria’s eldest child, Anna Maria Charlotte St. Paul [always known to the family as Charlotte], born in 1805, seems to have been the family hypochondriac.  Much of the correspondence from her to various family members discusses her various ailments, and the lack of attention and sympathy she receives from her brother and sisters.  She married into a well-known local family when she wed Reverend Leonard Shafto Orde in 1832.  Leonard was the personal vicar to the Duke of Northumberland, so much time was spent in Alnwick.

Elizabeth Katherine and Frances Agnes St. Paul, the middle daughters, are still mysteries to us.  What has been gleaned so far is that Elizabeth and Frances were deemed ‘imbeciles’.  The girls lived with Charles Maximilian and Anna Maria at Ewart Park, under constant supervision because of their so-called violent behaviour.  Letters from their sister, Anne, suggest that the girls were kept in their own private apartments at both St. Ninians and Ewart, and they were not allowed out of their rooms without attendants. An intriguing letter written in 1849 by Anne to her brother Horace about their sisters, notes that Elizabeth is cunning, prone to fits of rage, used violent language as well as violence itself, and that she was deficient in intellect.  The two sisters were also defrauded by their aunt and uncle.  Anna Maria got the girls to sign folded pieces of paper, and the girls did not know they were signing promissory notes, technically handing over their inheritances and allowances to their aunt and uncle, presumably to pay debts.  Frances died in 1862, Elizabeth not until 1881.

Another sister, Jane Isabella, ran off to Ireland at a young age, where she took up with a Captain, before meeting and marrying Dr. Evans.  He died soon after and Jane married again, to another doctor, Dr. Martin Hamilton Lynch, with whom she eventually moved to France.

Horace’s youngest daughter, Anne, was quite an adventuress for her time.  She showed a wilful streak, and followed her sister Jane to Ireland.  Writing in November 1834, she notes that she fled to Jane because two people had informed her that her brother-in-law, the Reverend Leonard Shafto Orde, had declared she was,

…in a state of derangement, that a strait waistcoat was the fittest thing for me, and that he had been advising my relations at Ewart to have me taken care of as a deranged person.

Her father must have looked upon her favourably though, as she seems to have gone unpunished for her exploits.  Anne died in 1883, having never married.

 

 

Sir Horace’s son, Horace St. Paul, was his heir.  The only legitimate son, born in 1812 at St. Ninian’s, Northumberland, he served as MP for East Worcestershire from 1837-1841, and the collection includes extensive political records relating to his campaigns.  He was a Justice of the Peace, advocated teetotal principles, and served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland.  A somewhat wholesome image of the man is presented when viewing his papers.  A legal document shatters this.  At the age of 50 years, Sir Horace seduced the seventeen year old Fanny Russell of Highgate, after she was sent to his abode by her mother to curry his favour for the family boarding house.  The affair continued for some years and Fanny bore him two children, both of whom died in infancy.

Sir Horace eventually married Jane Eliza Grey in 1867.  She was the daughter of George Annett Grey, and niece of Josephine Butler.  The couple had only one child, Maria (or Mia) St. Paul, born in 1868.  Jane died in 1881, and Mia and her father lived at Ewart until his death in 1891.  The baronetcy then became extinct, although Mia was still entitled to bear the title of Countess of the Holy Roman Empire.

Mia loved Ewart and Northumberland deeply.  At the age of two she had laid the foundation stone for the new nurseries at Ewart. She was an enthusiastic member of the Berwickshire Naturalist’s Club, and greatly enjoyed travelling the county, and talking to her tenants on the estate.  Her godmother was her great-aunt, Josephine Butler, and these great family ties led to the marriage of Mia to Josephine’s son, George Grey Butler, a Senior Examiner to the Civil Service, in 1893.

 

 

George treated Mia as an equal, discussing estate business with her, as well as art and literature.  The couple had three children, Hetha, Horace and Irene Maria Butler.  Their story unfortunately does not have a happy ending.  A diary kept by George after the birth of Irene in 1901 charts Mia’s short illness and death.  It seems that she suffered from blood poisoning after childbirth, and suffered hallucinations for days before she died.

There is an oral history recording of Hetha Butler held within the archives [ref. T/20].  Recorded in 1972, Hetha reminisces about her idyllic childhood on the Ewart estate.  We also hold many of her watercolour sketches of the estate, which cast light on the privileged childhood the children had.  Irene became Private Secretary to Lord Robert Cecil in 1927, and she seems to have continued in this position until 1942, two years before her death.

Hetha and Irene’s brother, Horace was born in 1898.  He served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery during the First World War, and among the collection we have some of his trench maps for Belgium and France. After the War, he struggled to receive an army pension after suffering from “shell shock” or post-traumatic stress disorder.  He married Dorothy Torlesse and the couple moved to Canada before eventually returning to England.  During the Second World War, he served as a Captain in the 1st Battalion Northumberland Home Guard.  Because of the role he held, we have in the collection files relating to the Home Guard.

Although hardly touched upon so far, the hidden gem of the St. Paul story is Ewart Park itself.  The house is Grade II listed, and though constructed by Count Horace, does have nineteenth century additions.  The grounds and parkland in which Ewart sits were also designed by the Count.  The house was sold by the family in 1937, after the death of George Grey Butler.  His son, Horace, did not have the means for the up-keep of the house, especially after death duties.  It was occupied by the military during the Second World War, and has not been inhabited since.

 

 

The St. Paul/Butler collection is one that tells a story of European politics, British aristocracy and human behaviour.  Neither families originated in Northumberland, yet both had an impact on its history.  The first member of the St. Paul family that is noted amongst the collection – held by Northumberland Archives – is Thomas Paul of Coventry, but more is known about the family starting with Thomas’ great grandson, Robert Paul.

Robert Paul, born c.1697, was married to Judith Collins.  Robert purchased Yeavering and Coupland estates in Northumberland from Henry Grey of Howick, and Judith’s brother, John Collins, bought Ewart Park estate, which passed to Robert on the event of John’s death.  Judith and Robert had eight children.  When Robert died in 1762, Judith had the Paul name canonised by an Act of Parliament (1768), ensuring future generations of the family were known as St. Paul.

The eldest son, Horace St. Paul, was born in 1729.  He entered Gray’s Inn in 1749, but his career in law was ruined in 1751.  Horace quarrelled with a Mr. Dalton, and a duel was fought between the two men in Dalton’s home.  A servant heard the sounds of fencing and upon entering the Parlour, he found his master dead. The coroner came to the verdict of wilful murder and Horace fled the country and was outlawed.  He lived for a time in France before moving to Brussels.  Here, Horace found himself in the company of the Archduke Prince Charles of Lorraine, Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, who, on outbreak of the Seven Years War, returned to the Austrian Empire, with Horace as his Aide-de-camp.  On 20 July 1759, Horace was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire for “having devoted himself to arms, and having followed the Royal-Imperial Standards in the last two Campaigns at his own expense, and having therein displayed pre-eminent fortitude and proved beyond doubt his soldierly valour and his exalted zeal in the arts if war…”

After making the acquaintance of Lord Stormont in Vienna after the end of the war, the wheels were put in motion for Horace to receive a Royal Pardon, which occurred in July 1765.  Around 1770, Horace petitioned to retire from Austrian military service, and in 1772, he was appointed Secretary of Embassy to the Court of France.  He stayed in this position until 1776. Although he was appointed Envoy to Sweden in October 1776, he subsequently declined the post in 1777, and retired from diplomatic life, moving to Chertsey in Surrey.

 

 

By this time, Horace had married and started a family.  In 1774 his marriage to Miss Anne Weston took place in the Embassy Chapel, Paris, and their first child, Horace David Cholwell St. Paul, was born in Paris in 1775.  Horace purchased Ewart from his brother Robert in 1775 and completely redeveloped the Estate, also redesigning the house that stood on the site.  Horace found inspiration for this from many sources, including Twizell Castle, the project of his close friend Sir Francis Blake.  The Estate must finally have been fit to inhabit in 1787, when the family made Ewart Park their main abode.

Whilst at Ewart, Horace raised the Cheviot Legion in 1798, from volunteers in the neighbourhood of Wooler, as a home defence force to combat the threat of a French invasion due to the Napoleonic Wars.  He was its first commandant, becoming Lieutenant Colonel in 1799, whilst one of his sons, Henry Heneage, was appointed Major.  It was disbanded in 1808, and the men transferred to the Northern Regiment of the Northumberland Local Militia, which included recruits from the disbanded Berwick Volunteers.  Henry Heneage continued his involvement, acting as Lieutenant Colonel of the Northern Regiment until 1816.

Henry Heneage St. Paul, was born in London in 1777.  He joined the 60th Foot, rising to the rank of Captain.  His career, as the Private Secretary to Sylvester Douglas, Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, led to his involvement in local politics, and he was MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed from 1812-1820, and served as Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland in 1817.  Although Henry was not married, documents within the collection suggest he had an illegitimate son, Henry Morris, born in 1813 in Edinburgh.  In 1820, Henry fell ill, died, and was buried in Doddington Churchyard.

Count Horace’s daughter, Anna Maria, was born in 1782 in Chertsey, but lived most of her life on the Ewart estate, with her bachelor brother, Charles Maximilian.  Although he never married, Charles was another St. Paul who had an illegitimate child.  He had an affair with a Mrs Martha Elizabeth Edington, who gave birth to twins at the beginning of 1825, but the children only lived for three weeks.  On 17 September 1829, Martha gave birth to Elizabeth (Bessy) Charlotte Moore.  Martha moved to Jedburgh with Elizabeth (known to her family as Charlotte), where she died in 1835.  A letter within the collection, addressed to Charles Maximilian from an Andrew Spiers, informs him of the death of his lover after her clothes caught fire in the east apartment of the flat she lived in.  Charlotte was not in the flat at the time, and she was eventually placed under the guardianship of her grandmother, Mrs Anne St. Paul, who sent her to boarding school.  She stayed in touch with her father and aunt, writing to them often from her place of work at Marshall Meadows, Berwick-upon-Tweed, where she cared for the children of a Mrs Swanston.

 

 

Horace David Cholwell St. Paul, Count Horace’s heir, married Anna Maria Ward, daughter of John Ward, 2nd Viscount Dudley and Ward, in 1803 at Doddington; it was through this marriage that the Staffordshire estates (including coal mines and farming land) came into the possession of the family.[1][10]  The couple had six children together, but Horace also had illegitimate children with his two mistresses, Ann Isaacson (alias Ann Jones) and Henrietta Campbell Cupples (alias Harriet Cooper).  In 1812, he was created a baronet, and obtained royal licence to accept and use the honour of Count of the Holy Roman Empire within England, and for it also to pass on to his descendants.