Lady Selina, the Duke & the Queen
On Monday, January 20th 1845 Sir William Heathcote attended an event, hosted by Sir Arthur Wellesley the Duke of Wellington, to meet Queen Victoria.
The story of how Sir William, but not his wife Lady Selina Heathcote, came to be at that event is a fascinating glimpse into 'Victorian' attitudes through the chance survival of three documents, each providing a slightly different part of the story and how it affected the Heathcote family.
To give some background to the story, on 18th May 1841 Sir William Heathcote, 5th Baronet of Hursley, married Selina Shirley, daughter of Mr Evelyn Shirley of Eatington Manor [or Ettington] in Warwickshire. Selina was Sir William's second wife and helped bring Sir William out of the depression he had felt in the years following the death of his first wife, Caroline Frances Perceval, in 1835.
Although history has largely focused on her husband and his friend and mentor, the Reverend John Keble, Selina Heathcote was certainly a person of great character and widely respected and loved, not least by Sir William’s children including those of his first marriage. No mean feat for a step-mother in any age.
Fortunately, in the months before her marriage and for the following eight years she kept a diary detailing her day-to-day life. The diary forms a fascinating insight into life for the Heathcotes, with accounts as diverse as formal balls and country dances on Hursley Park's south lawn to journeys through Scotland and Switzerland.
Amid mundane day-to-day events, sandwiched between "a little Twelfth Cake Party for the children" and "Evy vaccinated” (Evy was Evelyne Dawsonne Heathcote who was later to write a detailed history of the entire Heathcote family but when he was vaccinated he was only a two month old baby) was an entry for 20th January 1845 mentioning that,
“Sir William went to Stratfield Saye to meet the Queen & Prince Albert ...”
Stratfield Saye was the home to Sir Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington and hero of Waterloo (the battle which finally defeated Napoleon and after which the "Waterloo Plantation" on the western side of Hursley Park was named).
Although interesting, if it was not for a small collection of letters written by Sir Arthur Wellesley the Duke of Wellington and Sir William that were recently sold at auction the story would have ended there.
Both men had much in common, not only from their Parliamentary roles (in 1845 Sir Arthur was one of the leading politicians of Peel’s Tory government whilst Sir William was MP for North Hampshire) but also from their close association with the North Hampshire Yeomanry that they had both helped to reinstate in 1834, following the social unrest of “The Swing Riots”. Because of their close ties it was no surprise that when plans were being made for Queen Victoria to visit Stratfield Saye the Heathcotes were on the invitation list.
On 11th November 1844, only a few days before Sir Arthur’s letter, Lady Selina wrote in her diary that
“I was confined 10 minutes before 10 o’clock a.m. of a Son, not a very large child,”
The birth of Evelyne Heathcote was William and Selina’s third child but was also to concern Sir Arthur and prompted him to write to Sir William.
In the letter, written from Walmer Castle on 13th November 1844, Sir Arthur went to great lengths to explain to Sir William, and via him Lady Selina, what he believed were Queen Victoria’s feelings towards children, and particularly infants who might require feeding. He concluded his advice saying that it was up to Lady Selina to decide whether to attend,
“However that is her affair. I shall be delighted if she should come with her infant, and will facilitate everything that she wishes. But I have thought it best that you should know all that of which I have a knowledge which might possibly have an influence...”
On the 24th January 1845 Sir William wrote a short account of the Queen’s visit.
“On Monday, January 20th 1845, I went by the invitation of Arthur, the great Duke of Wellington, to Stratfield Saye to meet Queen Victoria & Prince Albert. I arrived between 2 & 3 o’clock.”
The account went on to list the names of those attending on the Royal visitors, from Maids in Waiting to the Royal escort guard. Mentioned are the soldiers of his regiment, the North Hampshire Yeomanry. However, missing from the account was his wife.
Back in Hursley, Lady Selina added her entry describing the day. The visit merited a relatively large entry, describing what happened but, rather sadly, particularly in the light of the Duke of Wellington’s letter, it is clear the Duke’s advice prevailed:
“I was unable to go, not being able to leave my baby which I was very sorry for as I should have much liked to have met the Queen at the house of the Hero of Waterloo”
