Reginald Cholmondeley

The Hon. Alice Mary Egerton, The Hon. Mrs Reginald Cholmondeley (d.1868) George Richmond

On 17 October 1867 at Rostherne, Cholmondeley married Alice Mary Egerton (1836–27 November 1868), daughter of William Egerton, 1st Baron Egerton of Tatton and Charlotte Elizabeth Loftus, daughter of John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely.[11] His younger brother, the Reverend Richard Hugh Cholmondeley, officiated at the ceremony.

His new wife was an artist and a poet and the couple were well-suited but the marriage would be short-lived. Alice died in childbirth on 27 November and was buried on 3 December 1868; her infant daughter, Alice, died three weeks after her mother, on 11 December and was buried on 19 December in the parish church at Condover.[1]

In the Church of St Mary and St Andrew, Condover, there is a very affecting monument to Alice Cholmondeley that was sculpted by her husband of one year. It features a recumbent effigy of Alice, with her infant daughter by her side and an empty cradle at her feet.[9][10]

Cholmondeley also sculpted the recumbent effigy of his cousin, Blanche Heber (d. 1870), at St Luke's Church, Hodnet.[14][15]

In 1871 he published Poems by A.C., a volume of poems by his late wife and dedicated to Robert Browning, and in 1875, Emblems, a volume of her drawings. A presentation copy of the latter was given to the banker, George Rae.[16][17]

• 
  Monument to Alice Cholmondeley by Reginald Cholmondeley, Church of St Mary and St Andrew, Condover
• 
  Monument to Alice Cholmondeley (detail)
• 
  Monument to Alice Cholmondeley (detail)

Sir Theodore Martin (1816–1909), Lawyer and writer, by Reginald Cholmondeley

Cholmondeley was "a man of powerful personality and fine taste", an accomplished artist and talented amateur sculptor as well as an enthusiastic collector of books, manuscripts, paintings and curiosities.[5][18] He had exhibited at the Royal Academy and counted many of London's artists such as G.F. Watts and John Everett Millais (1829–1896) as personal friends.[5]

His circle of friends also included the poet and playwright, Robert Browning (1812–1889), poet, biographer and translator, Sir Theodore Martin (1816–1909), whose portrait he painted, and Lady Martin as well as the American writer, Mark Twain (1835–1910) and his wife, who visited Condover in 1873 and 1879.[19][20][21][22]

On 2 July 1881 (the day that President Garfield was shot) Olivia Clemens received from their friend Reginald Cholmondeley a letter of condolence on the death of her husband in Australia; startling enough, though in reality rather comforting than otherwise, for the reason that the "Mark Twain" who had died in Australia was a very persistent impostor.[23]

When he wrote to Twain to apologise for the mistake the humourist graciously replied:[23]

"Being dead I might be excused from writing letters, but I am not that kind of a corpse. May I never be so dead as to neglect the hail of a friend from a far land."

• 
  Condover Hall, engraving by E.I. Roberts after J.P. Neale
• 
  Condover Hall, south-west view
• 
  Condover Hall, front view

Cholmondeley owned a number of rare books as well as valuable paintings, among them Elizabethan, Old Masters and many more; armour and Birds of Paradise that he purchased from the ornithologist, John Gould.[5][20][21]

Armorial Bookplate of Reginald Cholmondeley of Condover Hall (1826-1896)

The most important books in his library were:[24]

• Nicholas Cox, The Gentleman's Recreation, 1674
• Robert William Eyton, The Antiquities of Shropshire, 1854–1860
• Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield, 1766
• Jean de la Fontaine, Contes et Nouvelles, 1762
• Longus, Les Amours Pastorales de Daphnis et Chloe, 1745
• George Stanhope, Parson's Christian Directory, 1716
• Dean Swift, Gulliver's Travels, 1726
• Voltaire, Œvres, 1735
• Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, 1791
• Las Quarto Libros de Amadis de Gaula, 1533
• Richard Hakluyt, Principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, 1589
• Carl Schütz; Johann Ziegler, Vues de la Ville de Vienne et de Vues en Tyrol, Styrie, 1785
• An imperfect copy of the first folio Shakespeare, 1623
• David Wilkins, Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ et Hiberniæ, 1737

• Documents letters and papers written by the lawyer and antiquary, John Smith of North Nibley, Gloucestershire, steward of Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley (1534–1613) and MP for Midhurst, Sussex in 1621. There is a well-filled volume of notes made by Smith when he sat in Parliament but they do no contribute anything beyond what is already known.[25]
  • A fine early copy (on a roll of parchment) of the poem called The Stacions of Rome, giving an account of the various churches and shrines at Rome, of the relics there, and the indulgences consequent on visits to them.[25]
• Collections of the 18th-century, by the physician and antiquary, William Cowper (1701–1767), of Overleigh Hall, Chester, for the history and antiquities of Chester and the Isle of Man. Cowper's niece, Dorothy Cowper, married Thomas Cholmondeley (1726–1779) of Vale Royal, bringing with her the Overleigh estate. She was Reginald Cholmondeley's great-grandmother.
  • Sanctus Tewdricus sive Pastor Bonus. A Latin drama, with illuminated title page by Henry Matthew Chamberling[26]

16th-century and 17th-century portraits of English kings, queens and courtiers, including:

• Henry VIII[27]
• Mary I[28][29]
• Elizabeth I[30]
• Charles I[31]
• Henrietta Maria[32]
• Jane Seymour[33]
• Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley: Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour, 16th century, by unknown artist[34][35]
• ?Elizabeth Seymour: Unknown woman, formerly known as Catherine Howard, late 17th-century, after Hans Holbein the Younger[36][37]
• William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley[38]
• Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester[39]
• Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel[40]
• Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu[41]
• Henry Sidney: Sir Henry Sidney, 1573, by unknown artist[42][43]
• Francis Walsingham[44]

• 
  Sir Henry Sidney, 1573, by unknown artist[42]
• 
  Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour, 16th century, by unknown artist[34][35]
• 
  Unknown woman, formerly known as Catherine Howard, late 17th-century, after Hans Holbein the Younger[36][37]

English School:[45]

• Paintings by William Dobson, Thomas Lawrence, Godfrey Kneller, Philip James de Loutherbourg, George Stubbs, Anthony van Dyck,
• George Frederic Watts:
  • ?A Study with the Peacock's Feathers, c. 1862–1865[46]
  • Paolo and Francesca, 1872[47] and
• Francesco Zuccarelli.

French School:[48]

• Paintings by Juliette Peyrol Bonheur and Antoine Watteau.

Dutch School:[49]

• Paintings by Paul Bril, Pieter Casteels, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Lucas de Heere, Jan Gossaert, Daniël Mijtens and others.

Spanish School:[50]

• Paintings by Claudio Coello, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz,
• Antonis Mor: Elisabeth de Valois, 1560,[51]
• Jusepe de Ribera, Diego Velázquez, Federico Zuccaro and Francisco de Zurbarán.

Italian School:[52]

• Paintings by Leandro Bassano, Jacopo Bellini, Boccaccio Boccaccino, Agnolo Bronzino, Canaletto,
• Antonio Maria Vassallo: The Larder, probably c. 1650–1660,[53][54]

and others.

Venetian School:[55]

• A painting by Paolo Veronese

• 
  ?A Study with the Peacock's Feathers, c. 1862–1865, George Frederic Watts.[46]
• 
  Paolo and Francesca, 1872, George Frederic Watts.[47]
• 
  Elisabeth de Valois, 1560, by Antonis Mor[51]
• 
  The Larder, probably c. 1650–1660, by Antonio Maria Vassallo[53][54]

By the 1890s Cholmondeley found himself in debt as a result of his extravagance.[5] Over the years he had spent on Condover Hall, its contents and gardens, what was needed for the estate, which became "so neglected and encumbered" that he was planning to sell it when he died in 1896.[56]