Earl of Chester

“ Richard earl of Chester, and his brother Otuell, the tutor and preceptor of the king's son: the countess of Perche, the king's daughter, and his niece the countess of Chester, sister to Theobald: and indeed almost every person of consequence about court, whether knight, or chaplain, or young nobleman, training up to arms. For, as I have said, they eagerly hastened from all quarters, expecting no small addition to their reputation, if they could either amuse, or show their devotion to the young prince. ”

“ The advowson was anciently vested in the Barons of Montalt, now called Hawarden, with which barony it passed to the Crown, by whom it was given to the Earls of Salisbury, from whom it passed to the Stanleys of Lathom, whose representative, the Earl of Derby, is the present patron. In 1401, Henry, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester (afterwards Henry the Fifth) , confirmed to the citizens of Chester a charter, whereby they were relieved from payment of tithes for the Roodeye to the parson of Trinity parish. ”

“ In the early difficulties of the reign the place of the leader of constitutional opposition was occasionally taken by the Earl of Chester, a man in whose conduct the desire of rule was stronger than the love of liberty; and after his death it was occupied with higher principles and nobler purposes by the Earl Marshall Richard. After Richard’s death no great lay baron for a long time stood out from the rest as a leader. The bishops proclaimed their grievances and the oppressions of the court, but the bishops were forbidden by their order to take up arms against the king. ”

“ Crossing over the Bridge Gate, we have now a better view of the Dee Mills, a massive pile of buildings, resting on the south-west end of the Old Bridge. The Dee Mills existed on this very spot shortly after the Norman Conquest, and were for centuries a source of immense revenue to their owners, the Earls. Edward the Black Prince, as Earl of Chester, granted them for life to Sir Howel-y-Fwyal, constable of Criccaeth Castle, for his gallant conduct at the Battle of Poictiers ”

“ Of all the great nobles, the one whom both parties were most anxious to win to their own interest was the earl of Chester. His earldom was no empty title, no mushroom creation of the last few years, but a great palatine jurisdiction inherited in regular succession from Hugh of Avranches, on whom it had been conferred by the Conqueror, and comprising the sole government and ownership of the whole of Cheshire. Within its limits the earl ruled supreme; every acre of land, save what belonged to the Church, was held under him; every man owed him suit and service ”

“ And in proportion to the soundness of his training, and the goodness of his heart, is he embarrassed when the time of his great happiness arrives.’ The Professor bowed, and spread her hands as if in agreement with so much wisdom so beautifully expressed. ‘Lord Chester,’ continued the Duchess, ‘I have long watched you in silence; I have seen in you qualities which, I believe, befit a consort of my rank. You possess pride of birth, dexterity, skill, grace; you know how to wield such authority as becomes a man. You will exchange your earl’s coronet for the higher one of a duke. ”

“ He remained at Calais until the following year, assisting in the administration of the town. On 8 Dec. 1348 he was presented by the Black Prince, as Earl of Chester, to the living of Stockport; but this did not prevent his continuance at the wardrobe. ”

“ St. Mary’s Church is in all probability of Norman foundation; and is in old writings termed indifferently St. Mary’s of the Castle, and St. Mary’s upon the Hill, to distinguish it from the handsome Church of the White Friars, which was also dedicated to that saint. Randle Gernons, fourth earl of Chester, presented the advowson to the Monastery of St. Werburgh; but shortly after the dissolution it was wrested from the dean and chapter by that rapacious spoiler of churches and religious houses, Sir R. Cotton, who afterwards sold it for 100l. to John Brereton of Wettenhall. ”

“ In the year 1212, during the reign of King John, and at the time of this fair, Ranulph, last Earl of Chester, traveling into Wales, was attacked by the Welsh, and compelled to retire to his castle of Rothelan, in which they besieged him. He succeeded in informing Roger, or John de Lacy, the constable of Chester, of his position; this nobleman interested the minstrels who had come to the fair in the cause of the earl; and they so powerfully excited, with their songs, the multitude of outlawed persons then collected at Chester beneath the safeguard of the privilege of St. ”

“ In the east walk of the cloisters is the entrance into the Chapter House. The stone vaulting rests in clusters of slender shafts, with foliated capitals; notwithstanding the soft nature of the stone, the carving is all in a good state of preservation. The Chapter House was built in the beginning of the twelfth century, by Randle, Earl of Chester, who removed hither, from the churchyard, the body of his uncle, Hugh Lupus, whose remains were found enclosed in a stone coffin in 1723, by persons employed in digging in the Chapter House. ”

“ It was a magnificent building, nearly 90 feet in length, and 45 in breadth; the height very lofty, and worthy the state apartment of the first Norman Earl, Hugh Lupus, who required a hall suitable to the greatness of his hospitality. Adjoining to this hall was the Court of Exchequer, or Court of Chancery, of the county palatine of Chester. It was the Parliament House of the little kings of the palatinate, and had neat gothic seats for the abbot and eight barons.
The east side of the esplanade is appropriated to Barracks, which contain excellent and spacious accommodations. ”

“ He sought the advice of the saintly Anselm, and [p. 9] sent for him from Normandy to Chester, and so brought to England its future Archbishop of Canterbury. By his counsel Earl Hugh converted the Nunnery of St. Werburgh into an Abbey, replacing the nuns by monks of the Benedictine Order. His Welsh neighbours caused endless trouble. He built a castle at Halton, and gave the barony to Nigel, on condition that he should be Constable of Chester, and by the service of leading the vanguard of the Earl’s army whenever he should march into Wales. ”

“ Of these Norman Earls of Chester the distinguished pre-eminence of Earl Randle Blundeville during his long and active rule has been noticed by all writers on Cheshire history. That he was a strong man is evidenced by his [p. 24] refusal in 1232 to comply with the demand for money from the county made by Henry III., as well as by his resistance to that King’s permission given to the Pope’s officers to collect Peter’s Pence in his Palatinate, and his expulsion of those officers from the county, whereas all England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales paid. ”

“ The incessant passing of the military connected with the settlement of the Irish confiscated estates and of soldiers oscillating between the Low Countries and Ireland, and the constant presence of fierce, reckless adventurers, kept alive a martial spirit and made the county extremely lively. The following examples may suffice to show how great a thoroughfare Chester had become:⁠—
1594.—There came into Chester at several times 2200 footmen and 1000 horsemen to go to Ireland for the suppression of the rebellion of Hugh Fardorough, Earl of Tyrone. ”

“ Lord John Russell, in the Bedford Correspondence, which he edited, charges this nobleman with conducting the French nobility to the guillotine and to emigration. But Lord Chesterfield died on the 24th March, 1773, sixteen years before 1789, and nineteen years before 1792. To any man of reading and research—to any man of a decent acquaintance with literature, it is unnecessary now to vindicate the character of the Earl of Chesterfield. ”

“ The Earl of Chesterfield spoke with connoissance de fait, when he treated of the theme; and his lordship, whose complacency on this occasion, does not permit him to see that his wit is pointed against himself, tells a story without the slightest recollection of the pithy saying of the old bard, “De te fabula narratur.”
“A man of honor,” says Lord Chesterfield, “is one who peremptorily affirms himself to be so, and who will cut anybody’s throat that questions it, even upon the best grounds. ”

“ Both in manner and person he is said to have greatly resembled the Earl of Chesterfield, and his diary as well as his portrait show him to have been at once sensitive and virile; quite the man, indeed, very effectually to fascinate the low-born beauty he had taught to love him. ”

“ Municipal institutions were first introduced into Britain by the Romans. York was one of the first towns in England on which they were conferred. We can discover very little to aid us in tracing the progressive history of the municipal government of the ancient city of Chester until the time of Ranulph, the third Earl Palatine, and nephew of the Earl Hugh; but being a Roman colony, the inhabitants no doubt were regarded as Roman citizens, and as such entitled to the same privileges which Rome itself possessed. Pennant supposes that the Roman prætorium occupied p. ”

“ King Henry III. then gave it to his son, Prince Edward, probably in 1245 (together with other possessions) , on his marriage with the Princess Eleanor of Castile. Two years after this the new Earl—the first of the royal Earls of Chester—made his public entry into his county palatine, and in its ancient metropolis received the homage of his officers and military tenants. The entry in the Chronicle of St. Werburgh’s Abbey recording the event runs thus:⁠—
“1236. ”

“ The prospectus of the Dictionary he addressed to the Earl of Chesterfield. Chesterfield had long been celebrated 188for the politeness of his manners, the brilliancy of his wit, and the delicacy of his taste. He was acknowledged to be the finest speaker in the House of Lords. He had recently governed Ireland, at a momentous conjuncture, with eminent firmness, wisdom, and humanity ”

“ Before this time Chester was little less distempered than Wales. The inhabitants, without rights themselves, were the fittest to destroy the rights of others; and from thence Richard II. drew the standing army of archers with which for a time he oppressed England. The people of Chester applied to Parliament in a petition penned as I shall read to you:
“To the King our sovereign lord, in most humble wise shown unto your excellent Majesty, the inhabitants of your Grace’s county palatine of Chester ”

“ She married John Bridgeman, Bishop of Chester, famed alike for his piety and his loyalty, by whom she was the mother of five sons:—1. Sir Orlando, afterwards Lord-Keeper; 2. Dove, Prebendary of the Cathedral Church of Chester; 3. Henry, Dean of Chester; 1904. Sir James, Knight; 5. Richard, a merchant in Amsterdam, whose grand-daughter married her kinsman, Orlando Bridgeman, fourth son of the second Baronet, and grandson of the Lord-Keeper.
Mrs. Bridgeman was buried in Chester Cathedral.
No. 19. ORLANDO BRIDGEMAN, ESQUIRE.
Black coat. ”

“ In the reign of Æthelstan a mint was set up at Chester, and in 973 it was the scene of Edgar’s truimph when, it is said, he was rowed on the Dee by six subject kings. Chester opposed a determined resistance to the Conqueror, and did not finally surrender until 1070. On the erection of Cheshire to a county palatine after the Conquest, Chester became the seat of government of the palatine earls. ”

“ For many years previous to the Norman Conquest, Chester was governed by Dukes or Earls; but William, perceiving the danger of entrusting so large a territory in the hands of any one of his barons, curtailed the provinces within narrower limits, and thereby crippled the power which had often proved dangerous to the throne, and at the same time augmented his own, by having a larger number of gifts and emoluments to bestow on his followers. ”

“ So Sir Guy Chester, coming with his bride to court, Hermoine, by the graces of her mind, which are enchanting, and by her beauty, which is grand and winning, sends Shene and Westminster wild with admiration.
Looking on this, Queen Bess remarks sadly: “Good fortune has made this Chester a carpet knight; he now eats with that Italian abomination called a fork. Still, he has an eye for treasure; his lady’s diamonds are finer than my own. Perchance he may make a good Lord of the Treasury, for he’ll do no more fighting—unless he is a fool.” ”

“ Situate on the northern banks of the River Dee, the deified stream of the Ancient Britons,—built upon, or, as we ought rather to say, built into the solid rock, for the principal streets within the Walls are almost wholly excavations of several feet in depth—the city of Chester stands forth before the world certainly the most curious city in the British Isles, second to none of its fellows in martial strength or historic importance, and as a faithful and enduring relic of the past, “peerless and alone!” ”

“ The Saxons in turn, perceiving the weakness of the unfortunate Britons, determined on possessing themselves of the country; and, during the conflict that ensued, Chester was frequently taken and retaken by the respective belligerents, and many a fierce and bloody battle raged beneath its Walls. In 607, for instance, Ethelred, King of Northumberland, laid siege to the city; and, after a sanguinary struggle outside the Walls, during which he put one thousand two hundred British monks to the sword, wrested the city from its native defenders. Again, however, the Britons returned to the rescue ”