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the 'great and the good' of the Vale History books written seventy or more years ago often seemed like a list of elite males ndash; so-called 'the great and the good'. This Chronicle largely aims to avoid personal histories. But the Vale's history is tied in with the dynasty associated with Belvoir Castle. And a few other folks have called the Vale their home, at least for part of their lives. The Dukes of Rutland The Dukes of Rutland, otherwise known as the Manners family, are directly related to the de Roos family who owned Belvoir Castle from soon after its contruction at the end of the eleventh century. Such unbroken ownership over nearly a millennium is exceptional. The successive Earls, later Dukes, were fairly astute at managing their extensive estates in the south of the Vale – neither too innovative nor too conservative. By the eighteenth century much of the arable land had been enclosed and was used for rearing livestock. Only in the middle of the twentieth century did mechanised farm machinery make arable crops the more profitable option again. Arms of Manners: Or, two bars azure a chief quarterly azure and gules; in the 1st and 4th quarters two fleurs-de-lis and in the 2nd and 3rd a lion passant guardant or So far in this Chronicle I have only discussed the effigies of the Manners in Bottesford church. Wikipedia has more details about the Dukes. Thomas Cranmer Keeping more or less to chronological order, the next most notable resident of the Vale was Thomas Cranmer (born 1489, executed 1553). He spent the first fourteen years of his life in Aslockton before 'moving on' to Jesus College Cambridge where he spent eight years getting a BA. and eventually becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. He then compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, a complete liturgy for the English Church in the vernacular language. Cranmer's paternal canting arms: Argent, a chevron between three cranes azure. Canting means a visual pun on the surname. Thomas's parent's cottage is still standing near the church. However Thomas and his father didn't cross the road to worship, because Aslockton did not have a church until the 1890s, so went to the church in the neighbouring village of Whatton. Wikipedia has more details about Cranmer. Colonel Francis Hacker Francis Hacker was born about 1618 and executed in 1660. I have already described his life at Stathern in this entry: the Vale's very own regicide Colonel John Hutchinson Hacker wasn't the only regicide in the Vale. Colonel John Hutchinson (1615–64) was an English politician and army officer who played a significant role during the English Civil War. He was a Member of the House of Commons of England from 1648 to 1653 and briefly in 1660. Hutchinson was a prominent Puritan leader and served in the parliamentary army. As a member of the high court of justice in 1649, he was one of the fifty-nine Commissioners who signed Charles I's death warrant. He died in prison before being tried. Wikipedia has more details about Colonel John Hutchinson. Lucy Hutchinson John Hutchinson married his wife, Lucy, in 1638 and they lived at Owthorpe. They had nine children but she still found time to be the first named person to translate the complete text of Lucretius's De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things) into English verse (an anonymous prose version was written about the same time). Hutchinson's other works included Order and Disorder, arguably the first epic poem written by a woman in the English language. The work is a verse paraphrase of the Book of Genesis, alkin to John Milton's Paradise Lost which was written about the same time Hutchinson was writing Order and Disorder. After her husband died Lucy wrote a biography of him which reveals many details of living as a Puritan in the seventeenth century. Wikipedia has more details about Lucy Hutchinson and the village of Owthorpe and it's intriguing church with one-handed clock. Thomas Daffy Thomas Daffy (circa 1620 to 1680) was appointed Rector at Harby but allegedly offended the Countess of Rutland so was demoted to vicar at Redmile where he invented the once very famous Daffy's Elixir. Robert Thoroton Robert Thoroton (1623–78) reveals that the so-called 'great and the good' were sometimes 'great and evil'. See Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP. Marquis of Granby Sometimes 'great and the good' lived up to the epithet. Certainly the case with Lieutenant-General John Manners, Marquess of Granby, who was a British Army officer and politician. He was born in 1721 and died in 1770. See Marquis of Granby. George Crabbe George Crabbe (1754–1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. His poems are admired for their early use of the realistic narrative form and descriptions of middle and working-class life. He spent the first twenty-five years of his life in Suffolk and Norfolk before moving to London in 1780 where he gained support from Edmund Burke, one of the most influential thinkers and political writers of the time. Thanks to Burke's sponsorship in 1782 Crabbe was appointed domestic chaplain to the Duke of Rutland and moved himself and his family to the castle. Crabbe had already established a reputation as a natural historian – he was especially interested in beetles. John Nichols commissioned Crabbe to write The Natural History of the Vale of Belvoir which was published in 1790 as part of Nichols's Bibliotheca Topographia Britannica, Vol.VIII, Antiquities in Leicestershire. Crabbe was also appointed curate at Stathern for four years before moving to Muston in 1814, then to other parishes in the Vale. Michael Honeybone reports 'He was not happy at Muston, where he was besieged by aggressively evangelical Primitive Methodists.' Wikipedia has more details about George Crabbe and there is also a YouTube video devoted to him. Ethel Gordon Fenwick Ethel Gordon Fenwick, née Manson (1857–1947), was born in Morayshire but her father died when she was a baby. Her mother remarried, to the Member of Parliament George Storer, and Ethel was brought up at Thoroton Hall in the Vale. In 1878, at the age of twenty-one, Ethel started training as a nurse and spent most of her life living in London. After she married in 1887 she was compelled to resign from nursing. But, along with Isla Stewart, she campaigned for a nationally-recognised certificate for nursing, to safeguard the title 'nurse', and lobbied Parliament to pass a law to control nursing and limit it to 'registered' nurses only. However it took until 1919 for the Nurses Registration Act to be passed. Jenny Main has witten a biography of Ethel Gordon Fenwick (Pen & Sword History 2022). Wikipedia also has more details about Ethel Gordon Fenwick. Grateful thanks to Karen Winyard for bringing Ethel Gordon Fenwick to my attention. So far as I am currently aware Lucy and Ethel are the only women of the Vale to have entered the annals. Although in other parts of Nottinghamshire there were remarkable women. Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2025 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/chronicle

Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland