A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WESTERN FAMILY

THOMAS WESTERN was an arms dealer who profited by the rebuilding of the English Navy at the time of the Restoration of the monarchy. In 1666 he supplied large quantities of timber to the Navy Commissioners and by 1670 he was head of one of the government ordnance foundries making guns. His marriage to Martha, daughter of Samuel Gott "ironmonger" of London helped him achieve his position.

In 1692 he bought the Rivenhall estates after the death of Sir William Wiseman. Thomas was something of a protestant martinet. He disliked John Rawlins, the Rivenhall rector, and would not have him take his funeral. His eldest son, Samuel, M.P. for Winchelsea, predeceased him, and when he died 11 Jan 1706/7 aged 83, (1707 by our dating) this left a problem.

WILLIAM WESTERN, descended from Samuel William Western, grandson of Thomas and son of Samuel was a minor. Ten bishops and twenty lords reported to parliament and a special Act was passed in 1712 "to enable William Western, an 'infant' to settle his ancestral acres, and betake unto himself a wife." This he did and he married Anne, daughter of Sir James Bateman who was Lord Mayor of London in 1717. She brought money to the family and was the donor of the Rivenhall Church communion silver. William had a surveyor draw up accurate maps of the ten Rivenhall farms (Boars Tye, Park Pale, Rivenhall Place, Park Gate, Whiteheads, Ford, Rivenhall Hall, Stoverns, Hoo Hall & Pond). We still have them today.

William died of small pox in August 1729 and James, his only son, died aged 14, only seven months later. This meant that the succession went over to old Thomas's second son, yet another Thomas, who had been born in 1692. Anne married again a Mr. Doliffe, and came into possession of the farm at Hoo Hall.

THOMAS WESTERN, descended from Thomas Western Senior and Thomas Western Junior, had a very short-lived tenure of the estates. The second son of 'old' Thomas, he was born about 1693. He was a lawyer and a friend of pipe-smoking King George I, who once offered him an Irish peerage which he thought 'proper to refuse'. Thomas Whiston, the astronomer was another of his friends.

This Thomas Western married Mary SHIRLEY in 1713; she was the sister and co-heir of Sir Richard SHIRLEY Bart. Thomas died in 1733; having been in possession of the estates from the year 1730.

His only child was - THOMAS (No.3) - a minor at the time of his father's death - came into the inheritance in 1735. His was a lengthy tenure of ownership since he did not die until 1766, aged 52. He married Anne, the daughter of Admiral Callis about 1735 and they had 9 children. A friend from college days wrote that Western became "peevish, suspicious and uneasy, both to his wife and daughters, hardly ever suffering them out of his sight and never carrying them to London or public places." He was "always disposed to be fat while a young man at college, and (grew) very unwieldy with gout to torment him." Guests at Rivenhall Place at this time included the artist, Hogarth and the playwright, Garrick.

CHARLES WESTERN, the 6th child and eldest surviving son succeeded to the inheritance but his tenure of ownership was brief: 1766 - 1771. He married Frances Shirley BOLLAN at Rivenhall in 1766. The family were down near Brighton in 1771 and Charles decided to try out a new carriage. Frances is thought to have frightened the horses with her handkerchief whilst they were stopped at a watering trough. The horses bolted and the carriage ran Charles over and killed him. Frances threw her child into a gorse bush in order to save him. He was the heir to the estates, the future Lord WESTERN; CHARLES CALLIS WESTERN and he had a younger brother, SHIRLEY WESTERN.

THOMAS WALSINGHAM WESTERN, Charles' younger brother, although trained in the law, took Holy Orders and was Rector of Rivenhall from 1772 until 1820. Born at Rivenhall Place, he lived there all his life. He married Mary daughter of Admiral Osborne and died in 1823. They were childless. Thomas Walsingham Western may have intended his nephew, Shirley, to have followed him as rector quite early in the 19th century but there was a scandal; Shirley was attracted to a local girl called Sarah Bridge. When she named thher illegitimate son "Shirley" in 1791, it marked the beginning of a lengthy exile for Shirley Western. He took Holy Orders and went to a parish in Suffolk. He came back to Rivenhall as rector from 1820-1824, when Sarah had married and moved away. Shirley Western was responsible for the placing of the present church bell in the tower. He died in 1824 aged 56.

CHARLES CALLIS WESTERN, was created Baron Western of Rivenhall by William IV, after the passing of the Great Reform Bill in 1833. He was born at Rivenhall Place and was baptized at Rivenhall Church at the old font on 9th August 1767. He was educated at Newcombe's School, Hackney, and Eton and at Queen's Cambridge. At Hackney he was a friend of John Lewis and Thomas Creevey. John Lewis, the parsimonious rector of Ingatestone, 1796 to 1853, was presented by Charles C. Western as pluralist and largely absentee rector of Rivenhall in 1824, after the death of Shirley Western. Thomas Creevey, a fellow M.P. tells us much about Lord Western in the "Creevey Papers".

From 1827 to 1833, Creevey's step-daughters were Western's tenants at Rivenhall Place. In 1790 Charles C. Western was returned to parliament as M.P. for Maldon and for his total of 42 years in the House he fought very fiercely for the agricultural interest and for parliamentary reform. He was a Whig, in politics and in the matter of King George IV versus Caroline, the 'injured Queen of England'. He was on the side of the Queen, although privately he felt each deserved the other!

On becoming 21 in 1788, he commissioned Humphry Repton, the landscape gardener to redesign Rivenhall Place & Park, giving the Tudor mansion a new facade and diverting the public road from the western side of the property. But in 1790 he left his uncle living in Rivenhall Place and bought Felix Hall in Kelvedon. This may have been influenced by his brother's affair with Sarah Bridge. Charles C. Western lost his seat at the 1832 elections and in return for all his work was raised to the peerage. The Tories thought it a great joke for a man to be so elevated because he had been beaten at the election! Lord Western became disillusioned with politics and was somewhat embittered towards the end of his life. He never married. He gave a lot of his time producing a better breed of sheep and to practical improvements in farming. He died at Felix Hall on 4th November 1844, aged 77.

THOMAS BURCH WESTERN, descended from Maximilian Westernm 3rd son of the original Thomas Western, began his career in the Navy under his father, followed by Trinity College, Cambridge, BA 1818; MA 1823. 0n succeeding to the estate he became exceedingly popular as a landlord; he studied law to fit himself for a magistrate. In 1865 he was returned as first Liberal MP for North Essex. His political adversaries praised him for his courtesy. He was created a Baronet in 1864 and he died aged 77 at Felix Hall on 30th May 1873 buried Tattingstone, Suffolk. His wife was Margaret Laetitia nee Bushby.

The succession posed some difficulty to Lord Western. The senior member of the third line had been the Rev'd Charles Western, rector of Kingham in Oxfordshire and reputed, at one time, to have been the richest parson in England; but he had died on 1st October 1835 aged 75 and his eldest surviving son had not achieved his majority at the time of Lord Western's death. For some time Lord Western had toyed with the idea of naming Frederick Wood, eldest son of his friend Sir John Page Wood, his heir - but he had poor health.

Finally he turned to Thomas Burch Western, eldest son of Rear Admiral W.; this cousin had done Lord Western a favour when the shy MP had shrunk at the idea of driving in a coach through the Braintree crowds. Thomas Burch Western had impersonated Charles and he got away with it. Lord Western wrote: "He who sits in my chair when I will not, Shall sit in my chair when I cannot."

From the death of the Rev'd Shirley Western at Rivenhall in 1824, no Westerns were in permanent residence in Rivenhall. The successors in the 3rd line lived at Felix Hall, Kelvedon (now burned to the ground).

THOMAS SUTTON WESTERN, his only surviving son, MP for Maldon 1857-65 succeeded as 2nd Baronet but died on 20th June 1877. His wife Giuletta Romana nee Buller had died in 1850.Their only child, Sir T.C.C. Western became the 3rd Baronet and at his death the title became extinct.

David Nash 17 March 2001