The Marquess of Winchester Papers

Henry William Monatagu Paulet, 16th Marquess of Winchester was the son of the 14th Marquess of Winchester, who had been an equerry to George IV and had succeeded the First Duke of Wellington as Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire. The 16th Marquess was educated at the Royal Navy Academy, Gosport, but did not follow the sea as a profession. He travelled widely, shooting big game in the Rocky Mountains, and touring India, China, Ceylon and Japan. He went out to South Africa in the 1890's: like many young men of his generation he was captivated by the glamor of Cecil Rhodes and his sporting qualities appealed to Rhodes, whom he accompanied on lion-hunting expeditions. After he returned to England, he spent much time at the family home at Amport and took active interest in county administration, serving as chairman of Hampshire County Council from 1904 - 1909 and as Lord Lieutenant for some years. In the First World War he was with B.E.F., holding the rank of major in The Rifle Brigade. The 16th Marquess died on June 28, 1962 at the age of 99, thought to have been the longest lived peer in British history.

Lord William Paulet (1804 - 1893) was the fourth son of Charles Ingoldsby Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester. He was educated at Eton and in 1821 was appointed an ensign in the 85th light infantry. By 1843 he was lieutenant-colonel of the light infantry serving at Gibraltar, in the West Indies, and North America. He went to Crimea during that war as an assistant adjutant-general of cavalry under Lord Lucan, and was present at Balakava (see Kinglake's Invasion of the Crimea), Inkerman and Sevastopol. In November of 1854 he was appointed commander of British forces "on the Bosphorus, at Gallipoli, and the Dardanelles" wnere Florence Nightingale had earlier come with her nurses. He returned to England in 1856 and became one of the first commanders at Aldershot. In 1858 he was appointed major-general, and from 1860 to 1865 was commander of the south-west district of Britain. In 1886 he became field-marshall. His life is described in detail in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Augustus John Henry Beaumont Paulet (1858 - 1899), 15th Marquess of Winchester, was educated at Eton and in 1879 became a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards. He served in the Suakin campaign in 1885 and became a captain in 1890 and a major in 1897. During the Boer War he was killed at the battle of Magersfontein. In Hall's history of the Coldstream Guards he relates the following: "When the late Marquess fell at the battle of Magersfontein, having displayed 'almost reckless valour,' his body was brought home to the churchyard of that Amport which preserves in its suffix, though the fact has been forgotten, the name of his Norman ancestor, the Hugh de Port of the Conquest."

The trustees for the estate of Lord William Paulet were Augustus Frederick Arthur (1840 - 1904), 6th Baron Sandys of Ombersley; Colonel Hon. Sir Harry Charles Legge (1852 - 1924), and Frederick Wolfe, the solicitor. Legge and Wolfe were also the trustees for the estate of the 15th Marquess as well as George Ralph Charles Ormsby Gore (1885 - 1938), 3rd Baron of Harlech.

Lord Sandys had served as a lieutenant in the Life Guards and was a Liberal in politics. In 1872 he married Augusta Anne des Voeux, whose mother was a daughter of the 13th Marquess of Winchester, thus becoming related to the Paulet family by marriage. Colonel Hon. Sir Harry Charles Legge was a son of the 5th Earl of Dartmouth and had a distinguished career of service to the royal family. He was Equerry-in Waiting to Queen Victoria in 1893, and to the King, 1901 - 1915. From 1917 - 1920 he was Paymaster of the King's Household. From 1907 until his death he was Secretary of the Order of Merit. He had served with the Coldstream Guards, 1872 -1899, and during the Sudan campaign in 1885 became brevet-major. Lord Harlech must have known the 15th Marquess both at school and in the army, having been educated at Eton and later serving in the Coldstream Guards. He was M.P. for Oswestry, 1901 - 1904; Lord Lieutenant of County Leirim in 1904; and served in World War One as Colonel-in-Chief of the Welsh Guards.

The collection deals with the administration by the trustees of both of these inter-related estates: settling probate, the estate duty, buying of stocks, selling of property, distribution of monies, etc. There is much on the Winchester property in Southampton. There are 5 items signed by the 16th Marquess; 20 letters by Colonel Sir H. C. Legge; 14 letters by Lord Sandys; and several letters by Lord Harlech. There is considrable material regarding a 1901 legal suit, Gore v. Winchester, between the trustees and the 16th Marquess over the lifeholds of his brother's property, one being held by the Duke of Cambridge, and another by Victoria Mary Louise, Princess Royal of Great Britain and Emperess Frederick of Germany. There is an interesting letter from the Garter King of Arms, Sir Albert William Woods (1816 - 1904; see DNB), thanking the trustees for sending Lord William Paulet's Order of Bath insignia. Another interesting document is the epitome of the marriage settlement, of which the 15th Marquess was a trustee, for Miss Mary Frances Seymour Dawson-Damer whose mother was Minnie Seymour, adopted daughter of Mrs. Fitzherbert, wife of George IV.

These papers are important for any history of the Paulet family and the Winchester peerage, which is the Premier Marquessate of England. They would also be of value for any biographical study of the various noted individuals mentioned above as well as for any history of Southampton county. The English legal historian and the cultural historian would find the collection useful also.

Number of Boxes: 1
Extent: 1.5 linear feet
Provenance: Gift of Nicholas B. Scheetz, 1986
Date span: June 30, 1873 - 1948
Processed by: Michael J. North
Date: October 5, 1988