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"Out of the Long Ago" by Maud Milgate |
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Cornwallis-West
In the early summer of 1967, instead of going to Norfolk, I went to Boscombe to stay with my cousin Winnie Swecting. I had been ill and needed a rest. I travelled down by coach as this way I passed Porchester Castle which stands beyond marshes on the coast near Portsmouth Harbour. My interest in the castle was because of what my sister Blanche had told me, of how while on holiday in Waterlooville, she had gone alone one afternoon to visit the castle. As she approached the entrance she had an overwhelming conviction she had been there before and knew all about it. She was so emphatic about this, that it impressed it upon my mind and aroused my interest. Some years after her death I sent for a Guide Book of Porchester. It was originally a Roman Fort and later a protection for Portsmouth Harbour. Down the ages it had been put to various uses, but I was surprised to learn that a two storey range of buildings had been built by Sir Thomas Cornwallis early in the 17th century, to house officials in charge of the castle and it was also used for French prisoners. Taken in the light of reincarnation I wondered if she had ever been imprisoned there. She had a very great fear of confined places. I tried to visit Porchester a number of times from Bournemouth but never succeeded.
On this particular holiday it rained solidly for a fortnight and then the day before I returned home the sun shone and Winnie and I were able to go to New Milton which was an easy bus journey away. Some cousins had told me there was a "Cornwallis Road" in New Milton and I remembered reading Admiral Cornwallis had lived at "Newlands" in Hampshire and had been buried in New Miiton churchyard. We found ‘‘All Saints’’ church and there also the stone vault of the old Admiral’s grave and beside him the grave of his great friend and Flag Captain — John Whitby.
In side the church was a large memorial tablet of pleasing design setting out in the best Victorian manner, the family history qualities and achievements of the Cornwallis Wests.
I photographed this memorial and the graves in the churchyard and sat in the porch in the sun and pondered on what I had read of the gallant old Admiral William Cornwall is was the fourth son of the 1st Earl Cornwallis and went to sea when he was 11 years old. He spent all his life at sea and rose to be an Admiral. He was a bachelor and in the later years of his life formed a great friendship with John Whitby who was his Flag Captain and whom he regarded as a son. It was said he would never put to sea without him. In 1802 Captain Whitby married Miss Theresa Simmonds, 19 years old but a very cultured and accomplished young lady. The marriage was a very happy one, the young couple living with the Admiral at Newlands. Unfortunately 6 years later Captain John Whitby died leaving his young wife and baby daughter in the care of the Admiral. They continued to live with him until his death in 1819. In his will he left his entire fortune to Mrs. Whitby in trust for her daughter Theresa. He gave directions that he was to be buried by the side of his friend John Whitby, without a tombstone or memorial of any kind. This last injunction Mrs. Whitby obeyed to the letter. Her daughter Theresa however ignored it, for she not only built the family vault to which she caused the coffins of her parents and the Admiral to be transferred, but she also erected the large memorial in the church. Theresa had married the Hon. Frederick West and under the terms of her will she instructed her son Col. William West to add the surname Cornwallis and to be known as Cornwallis — West although there was no actual relationship between the Wests and the Cornwallises. Colonel Wm. Cornwallis — West lived mainly at Ruthin Castle in N. Wales and his son Major George Cornwallis -West married at the age of 26 in 1900 Lady Randolph thus becoming Winston Churchill’s stepfather. They were divorced in 1913.
The next day I returned home but felt I had filled in a little more background detail to my ancestry tapestry.
| Owner of original | Maud Milgate via Gerry Langford |
| File name | shard/myfolio_02/14_chapter.html |
| File Size | 4.77 KB |
| Media ID | 1361 |
| Dimensions | n/a |
| Folio version | v13.0.0.22 (28 Mar 2021) |
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