Deaths

The following obituary has been written by Hugh Stafford Northcote:

In 1966, the 99th anniversary of the battle of Hastings, various newspapers looked around to see if there were any families who could say, without doubt, that they were here before the conquest. After an exhaustive search they came up with two families whose claim could be justified . Both families lived in Staffordshire - one was the Clifford’s, the other one was the Wolseleys.”

“In 1944, Charles’ father, Stephen, met one of his oldest friends in the officers’ bath house in Caen. He had just heard from his wife that they had a son. He told Jack Evans, his friend that he was sure that he would never see him. Jack told him he was being silly. Stephen asked him to look after the family and the estate. Little did either realise how accurate Stephen was in his fears. Stephen was a forward spotter for the artillery.
He was doing his job and returning to his regiment when he was shot - alas by what is now described as friendly fire. He was carried by an heroic companion back to the dressing station. Poor Stephen died leaving a widow, Pamela and two children, Patricia and Charles.”

“In 1954, when his grandfather, Edric died , Charles became the 11th Baronet aged ten. He was at my family’s prep school, St Bede’s Bishton and my father, the headmaster discovered that Charles was incapable of telling a lie - thus he never asked Charles if he had done something because he felt it was unfair. At 13 he moved to Ampleforth and joined Fr Walter in St Cuthberts house , where he made many life long friends.
From Ampleforth he went to Cirencester Agricultural College and earned a Fellowship of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, ( F.R.I.C.S.) He had a far too good time at Cirencester but nevertheless left well qualified for the job he wanted to do.
In 1974 he became an associate Partner at Smiths Gore having joined them at Lichfield. It was at this point that he left Staffordshire to become Lord Egremont’s agent at Petworth. He not only had to manage the Estate at Petworth , but also the estate in Carlisle.”

“There were ocasional forays into Staffordshire. During the shooting season Charles would drive up to attend the fortnightly shoot meets at Wolseley. Jack Evans, George Riley and Maurice Field ran the shoot. There was seldom anything shot, it did not matter. It was undoubtedly the best shoot probably anywhere. The reason was the company - just wonderful. The lunches, teas and drinks were renowned all over the county, the regular guns being joined by people from other shoots joining in the fun.”

“Charles joined the Staffordshire Yeomanry in the late 60s . He was a member for five years and called himself the ‘armchair lieutenant ‘ featured in a contemporary painting.”

“In 1987 he took a very bold step. Jack Evans, who had run the estate until Charles reached his majority and my own father acknowledged that he was taking a great risk. Charles could not see why what had happened in the south with great success should not work in Staffordshire. He decided to leave Petworth and return to his own estate and turn it into a famous garden. He had to leave behind his wife, Anita, from whom he had parted and his lovely children, Annabelle, Emily, Lucy and Stephen. Charles married Jeannie, an American authoress and together they moved up north.

The Garden was opened by Lord Rothschild in 1990. Why it all went wrong is not for this moment and I couldn’t possibly comment. Charles was declared bankrupt and the estate which had been in the family for about a thousand years passed out of the family.”

“The people of Rugeley were wonderfully kind and supported them in many ways. Frequently they discovered gifts of food, money and even a car delivered to the house. They needed support and got it from the ordinary people of Rugeley who did not want a thousand years of local history to end so appallingly!”

“So, what was Charles like? Well I confess I was somewhat in awe of him. He talked about my weak attempts at gardening and gave the Latin names of all the plants. He was never wrong, at least that is what I and several others felt. I continued to do so until Charles came up against my own children. Uncle Charles, for that is what they called him, was a man of whom they were incredibly fond. All of them when he pontificated about some subject would tease him without mercy, and he loved it. He would grin from ear to ear, take another sip from his pink gin and tonic and launch on another tack. Oh they will miss him, as will we all. Underneath all the bluster lay a heart of gold.
He was kind, considerate, loving and a great friend and in spite of all the knocks which would have downed a lesser man, he never changed. He is no more - safe journey - you deserve a place in the best of mansions!”
 

Rest in eternal peace