Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/140

 134

NOTES AND QUERIES. tn s. x. AUG. is, 1914.

"by Mr. Sanford of Nynehead. It was re- solved that,

<( to perpetuate the memory of the military achieve- ments of the Duke of Wellington, a monument be raised on the highest point of Blackdown, near the town of Wellington and upon the estate of the noble Duke."

A committee of influential men in the county was formed, and on 19 Jan., 1816, a meeting was held at " The Thatched House Tavern," St. James's Street, to discuss the ame subject. The foundation stone of the first Wellington monument was laid on 20 Oct., 1817. It was not completed for more than a year afterwards, and the struc- ture was, in a large measure, rebuilt on a more worthy scale in 1860.

Many years ago, the late Mr. R. A. King- lake sent me the following letter from the great Duke to Lord Somerville :

Paris, February 1st, 1816. MT DEAR LORD SOMERVILLE,

I received by last post your letter of the 22nd, and I assure you that 1 am much flattered by the measures which have been adopted with a view to erect a monument for the Battle of Waterloo -on the estate at Wellington. I have received Mr. Kinglake's report. I have so little knowledge of my own affairs, and possessing no former report to which I can refer, I can form no opinion of it. My opinion has long been that I have either too much or too little property in the neighbourhood, advice in increasing it by way of enclosure". I shall be obliged to you if you will give such direc- tions as you may think necessary respecting the same.
 * and I will readily as depends on me follow your

Ever, my dear Lord Somerville,

Yours most sincerely,

WELLINGTON.

When the monument had been completed on the Blackdown Hills, a man who was known as Doubledanger organized a plea- sure fair to be held annually on the open space surrounding the pillar, and to be called Waterloo Fair. This was con- tinued for a year or so, and was the occasion for much rowdyism.

Next year (1915) the town of Wellington intends to have a pageant to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and other episodes in the history of the town.

A. L. HUMPHREYS. 187, Piccadilly, W.

I take the following information from an unpublished source, and with some reserve, as I cannot find any other reference to "Wellsleigh":

" Wellington, S. Somerset. This is the Welling- ton from which the Duke chose his title, and is so -called from its springs or wells, as at Holywell or Rockwell, or from having belonged to the See of

Wells Wellington Court replaces the house of

Chief Justice Popham (1531 - 1607), which was destroyed in the Civil War. It gives the titles of Viscount (1809), Earl and Marquis (1812), and Duke of W. (1814) to the Wellesleys, through the Duke ; whose family name is derived from a place called Wellsleigh, in the neighbourhood."

WM. H. PEET.

For the victories of Oporto and Talavera Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the peerage on 4 Sept., 1809, as Baron Douro of Wellesley and Viscount Wellington of Tala- vera. The title was chosen by his brother William Wellesley-Pole (afterwards third Earl of Mornington and first Baron Mary- borough), apparently to minimize the change of name. A. R. BAYLEY.

CHANDOS (11 S. x. 49). Chandos or Chandois is a French place-name, and was borne for three centuries by a family of knightly rank in Herefordshire. (See ' The Gallant Sir John Chandos ' in Walford's ' Chapters from Family Chests,' vol. ii. p. 312.) In 1554 John Brydges, Knt., was created Baron Chandos of Sudeley, and in 1719 James Brydges became first Duke of Chandos. In 1789 the third Duke of Chandos died, leaving no male issue, although thrice married. His daughter and heir (Lady Anne Eliza Brydges) married the second Marquis of Buckingham, and this nobleman, in 1822, was created the first Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. RICHD. WELFOKD.

Neweastle-upon-Tyne.

Chandos is the more modern spelling of Candos or Chaundos. Robert de Candos was a companion in arms with the Con- queror (Banks, ' Extinct Peerage/ i. 256, and ' The Battle Abbey Roll,' by the Duchess of Cleveland). The place where the family is earliest found in l]ngland is in Herefordshire (Robinson's ' Castles of Here- fordshire,' p. 1 2 1 ). Chandos, near Much Marc le (Herefs. ), now a farm, was held by John de Chandos in 1285. But the name is, of course, French, and Candos, from where the family came originally, is between Barentin and the Seine. It is in the commune of St. Pierre de Varengeville (Seine Inf6rieure). The most authoritative account of the Chandos family is Mr. G. W. Watson's contribution to the last edition of the G. E. C. ' Complete Peerage.' The reason why the Duke of Buckingham has " Chandos " added to his title is because Earl Temple took by royal licence, 15 Nov., 1799, the additional surnames of Brydges- Chandos, having married the heiress of