Neil Mullineux
Shrigley Hall - 1826
Despite the warning given in this newsletter that the talk was not for the faint-hearted, an impressive 96 people turned up on a cold January evening. A dastardly crime that took place almost 200 years ago but what sort of crime was it? Taking a young girl from her school by false pretences, whisking her away to Gretna Green, marrying her under false pretences and then fleeing to France must have broken innumerable laws but when the authorities finally caught up with them they could not even decide if it was a felony or a misdemeanour. Nevertheless, there was no doubt about the motive - the young victim was the richest heiress in Cheshire.
But to start at the beginning. Ellen Turner (right) was the daughter of a wealthy cotton manufacturer. Originally from Blackburn, he had bought Shrigley Hall and the estate adjacent to Lyme Park in order to establish his credentials as a country gentleman and man of substance in the county. Ellen was his only child and heir, not just to her father’s estate but to her uncle’s as well because he was not married. This had not escaped the notice of an impecunious adventurer who, although coming from a well-connected family, had big ambitions but not the means to carry them out. The obvious thing was to marry a rich heiress because, once married, her money would, by law, be at the disposal of her husband. The only problem was that he would not be regarded as a suitable match for such a woman.
However, Edward Wakefield (right, below) had faced this problem a decade previously and his solution was to elope with his chosen victim, marry her and then hope that the family would make every effort to avoid a scandal when he presented them with his fait accompli. It worked just as he had planned. He won over his mother-in-law, he avoided prosecution for marrying a ward of court without permission and he secured a job at the British Embassy in Paris. All seemed set fair, particularly when they had two children but soon after their son was born his young wife, Eliza, died. He was back where he started but with two young children to support.
He was not completely penniless but his ambitions were just as extravagant as before, particularly when he set his heart on a seat in parliament. What to do? The answer was not long in coming. After all he had done it once and succeeded so why not do it again. And this time he had some help. His father had just married a much younger wife; Frances Davies, the daughter of the headmaster of Macclesfield School. She identified the target with her local knowledge whilst he planned the abduction.
A servant with a plausible tale collected Ellen from her school but Wakefield and his brother soon took over and took her on a long and wearisome coach ride to Gretna Green. It took more than 24 hours to travel from Liverpool to Gretna via Manchester, Huddersfield, Halifax, Kendal and Carlisle. It must have been a very stressful time for young Ellen, despite the best efforts of the smooth talking charmer accompanying her.
En route he convinced her that her father was in financial trouble and could only be saved by the two of them getting married. Once married, they embarked on an even longer coach journey and ended in Calais, where they waited for Ellen’s family to catch up.
After all, Wakefield wanted to see them so that he could negotiate a satisfactory conclusion. Unfortunately for him, the Turner family were tougher nuts than the family of his first wife. The two brothers faced a preliminary trial at Lancaster which attracted national attention, so much so that accommodation was booked for miles around and the coach fare from Manchester to Lancaster increased from twelve shillings to one guinea. The legal matters under contention were resolved and the case sent to the Quarter Sessions in Lancaster the following March, a year after the original abduction. Both brothers were sentenced to three years in prison but Frances, although found guilty of conspiracy, was not sentenced and appeared to get off scot-free, an appropriate term for an offence carried out in Scotland. And that was the end of the matter, or at least the end of the talk. A gripping tale and an insight into the mores of Georgian society.
Lancaster Azzies trial of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, 1826 by Dawson Watson
(click the image to see Lancaster Castle, circa that time)
Neil Mullineux - January 2025
POSTSCRIPTWe start with our heroine, Ellen Turner, or Ellen Wakefield as it was claimed that she was now married. The two brothers might be behind bars but she was technically Mrs Edward Wakefield. Reversing a marriage was not easy at that time. Just one day after sentences were passed, a petition was presented to the House of Lords to declare the marriage null and void. The lawyers anticipated a field day. It was referred to a committee where, despite Wakefield’s last ditch argument from his prison cell, it received a second reading. The third reading was a formality and it was passed to the Commons where Robert Peel introduced it. It was passed overwhelmingly by the Commons and went on to receive the Royal Assent on 14th June 1827. Ellen was free at last. Free and seventeen years old, but was there still a taint of scandal associated with her? Fortunately she had attracted the attention of Thomas Legh, her neighbour at Lyme Park and the magistrate who had first ruled that Wakefield had a case to answer. They were married six months later on 14th January 1828 at Prestbury church, as good a marriage as her parents could have wished. The newly married couple took a full role in the social round and they were the main patrons involved in raising funds to build Stockport Infirmary. Thomas Legh and Ellen’s father, William, had business dealings as well as social contacts; William was a steward at Newton Racecourse which was owned by Thomas. The couple tried to start a family soon after they married but the first pregnancy resulted in the birth of a still-born son in November 1828. A daughter, Ellen Jane, was born in February 1830 and a year later, in January 1831 Ellen went into labour and gave birth to a son. Sadly, it was not to be. Both mother and baby died, just four weeks before her twentieth birthday. Thomas Legh, her husband, remained a widower until 1843 when he married Maud Lowther. She came from a large family and had many brothers and sisters. In 1845 Thomas appointed one of these brothers, Brabazon, to be vicar of Disley. The following year Brabazon, aged 35, married sixteen year-old Ellen Jane Legh and so Mr and Mrs Lowther came to own Shrigley Park. She wasn’t eligible to inherit Lyme but this was a very acceptable consolation prize. Shrigley Hall/Hotel 21st century And what about her abductor - what happened to him? Both Edward and his brother William were sentenced to three years in prison, Edward in Newgate, William in Lancaster Castle. If you had money a confinement in Newgate was not quite as disagreeable as one might imagine. For a fee you could have a larger cell, bring in your own furniture and arrange for all meals to be brought in. Not only that but he arranged for Nina and Jerningham, his two children, to visit him each day and he gave them lessons. Once he was released in 1830 he knew that, as a convicted criminal, a political career was not feasible in England. However, the colonies were another matter entirely. Already while in prison he had published two pamphlets on new ways of colonising and he had established himself as something of an expert. In 1836 he gave evidence to the House of Commons which led to the founding of the New Zealand Society. When Lord Durham was appointed Governor General of Canada he took Wakefield with him and Edward was able to put some of his ideas into practice. He returned to England in 1844, and applied himself to the newest colony, New Zealand, emigrating there in 1852. Six months later he was elected to the General Assembly. However, his health was not good and he had to take a less active role, playing the part of an elder statesman until his death in 1862. He had a loyal following in New Zealand and he is remembered even today as a key influence in the founding of both that colony and also South Australia. His fulsome obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine perhaps summarises the influence he had. “There is no part of the British Empire which does not feel the effect of Edward Gibbon Wakefield’s labours as a practical statesman.” Not a bad legacy for a convicted fraudster. Neil Mullineux 2025 |