Another Look At History

What is thought to be "history" has changed down the years and today not only are there many schools of history but a debate on the sources, their meaning and reliability. As a great deal of "history" is to create a new past or bolster an old one or to impress one theology or philosophy there is plenty of debate.

Something however we do not know is what exactly who said what to whom and where and to what effect. Necessarily, this has to be second hand and what is on paper may differ either in content or meaning. But people did meet and talk. They had family and connections and it is often these about whom we are unsure.

In the 18th and 19th Century in Europe the meeting places were often in private, in homes and as a consequence among the rich and powerful in "salons". Men may have been men etc. but in the salons it was a different matter. We know of a few where an intelligent and well informed lady may well at the centre of talk and debate, but often little about her or her connections.

You will not find Harriet Sneyd, 1795 to 1871, above, in the history books Her first marriage was to Turner Macan of Carriff, Armagh, he died in 1836, and second to William Henry Whitbread in 1845, head of the Whitbread family but it is the story of a remarkable woman.

Born in 1795 as one of the family of a clergyman in Ireland, the Rev. Wetenhall Sneyd, BA, was noted for his descent from Bishop Jeremy Taylor of the 17th Century. He moved to the Isle of Wight in the early 1800's from Hampshire, where he married again, having been widowed in 1797, his first wife, Margaret Cullen dying at Bristol Hotwells, possibly as a patient of Dr. Thomas Beddoes.  He began as the Curate at Newchurch, although Chaplain to the local military, becoming Vicar in 1816.

The family and their connections, were known to Jane Austen, who mentions them in "Mansfield Park". "Sense And Sensibility" might also be a reference. Given that Wetenhall's uncle, Jeremy Sneyd, with an estate in Hampshire, had been Private Secretary to Prime Ministers, Head of the Northern Department and effectively chief of the then Civil Service, as well as being a close friend of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, it would be difficult not to.

Harriet Sneyd married Turner Macan at Calcutta Cathedral on 14 November 1822, aide and interpreter to the Governor General.  Three of her brothers were in India, and a fourth, Nathaniel, had died there earlier of fever. As well as being a cavalry officer and Master of the senior Freemason's Lodge of Bengal, Turner Macan was a scholar who was instrumental in saving works of ancient Persian literature, notably the Shanameh of Firdausi.

Also he had studied the "Arabian Nights" in the original before Sir Richard Burton, who drew on his work. Later apparently the Shah of Persia and Princes of India when in London would visit her to pay their respects.

Harriet's elder brother, Ralph Henry Sneyd, had commanded the Governor General's Bodyguard in Calcutta, later Viceroy's now President's, and had been with Skinners Horse. He retired to Hampshire as neighbour of the Duke of Wellington, another old India hand. A daughter, Emma Katherine Julia Sneyd (Kate), became a Lady at Court and one of the six beauties of England according to J. Hayter in his 1851 "The Court Album Of The Female Aristocracy".

Harriet was widowed in 1836 and returned to England. In 1845 she married William Henry Whitbread head of the brewing family who had been widowed a little earlier that year.  He was chief executor of Turner Macan's will, as an esteemed friend. Whitbread was prominent in the Royal Asiatic Society and in politics. There were no children but Harriet was a major hostess. He died in 1867 making provision in his will for her family.

 This was the same Whitbread who had been executor to the will and estate of Hester, the second wife of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the land holding having been at Polesden in Surrey. In later life Hester had lived for a time in the parish of Newchurch. William was the son of Samuel Whitbread and Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey

One daughter, Caroline Nesbitt Macan, married Captain Charles Conrad Grey of the Grey's of Howick, nephew of Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister, both dying young, the widowed Caroline in 1855. Their daughter, Maria Grey, was taken up by Charles Grey, Private Secretary to Prince Albert and later Queen Victoria.

She became Countess of Home in 1881 marrying Charles Alexander Douglas-Home who succeeded as 12th Earl of Home in that year.  Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Prime Minister, 1963-1964, also Lord Home, was her grandson.

Another daughter of Harriet's, Jane Emma Hannah Macan, became Countess of Antrim in 1855, having married Mark Seymour Kerr in 1849, later McDonnell. He became 5th Earl of Antrim and had family who were later at court.

A son, Schomberg Kerr McDonnell was Personal Private Secretary to Lord Salisbury, when Prime Minister, and prominent in the Conservative Party. He died in action in 1915 serving with the 5th Cameron Highlanders in France, aged 54.

A granddaughter, Fenella Stuart Forbes Trefusis daughter of the Baron Clinton who had married Lady Jane Grey McDonnell, married John Herbert Bowes-Lyon, elder brother of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later Queen Elizabeth.

Harriet's son, Arthur Turner Macan, backed by Whitbread money was Master of the Elstow Hunt, a leading one its day and was "out" with other hunts. Was he ever with the famed Bay Middleton and perhaps "Sisi", Empress Elizabeth of Austria?

Arthur married one of the Longs and his son Ralph Edward Macan in 1907 in the wedding of the year married Dorothy Howard of the Earl of Suffolk's family. His best man was Francis Curzon, brother of Lord Curzon. General Redvers Buller gave away the bride.

A younger half-sister of Harriet's, Emma Sophia, married John Russell Colvin, Wikipedia, Lieutenant Governor of the North West Provinces of India who rests in a magnificent tomb in the Red Fort of Agra where he died at the time of The Indian Mutiny of 1857. Emma Sophia was regarded as the heroine of the Siege of Agra.

They were parents of Auckland Colvin, Wikipedia, later Treasurer of India at the time of The Fall Of The Rupee (silver) when the City of London declared for a gold standard. Rudyard Kipling wrote an acerbic critical poem about Colvin's introduction of Income Tax but left India very soon afterwards.

Harriet had an older sister, Marianne who married Sir Arthur Brooke, Wikipedia and DNB, 1772 to 1843.  He was Deputy Commander, later Commander, of the British Expedition to the Chesapeake of the USA which burned Washington DC in 1814. A son, Arthur Beresford Brooke married Frances Wemyss earlier in 1843.

Marianne was not faithful to her husband with the scandal of having a child out of wedlock, Juliana, who died in 1836 for whom Arthur cared, by the heir to the Earldom of Belmore, she having had other lovers.  The Belmore Estate allowed annuities from rental income to Marianne from certain properties into the 1850's.

There is little doubt that Harriet was a major figure in her time but we can only guess at the extent of her influence in society and perhaps wider matters. Bedfordshire County Council Archive has a great deal of material from the Whitbread Estate, the picture above is one.

Around 1850 a neighbour along the street was Joseph Locke, the Barnsley railway engineer, was he ever a guest among the company kept at her Drawing Room?

Also, if there was music played, what might it have been? It is likely that the Philharmonic Society of London might have had a say, so perhaps Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn and Beethoven?