THE LATE THOMAS CALDECOTT, ESQ., LORD OF THE MANOR OF RUGBY.
The motto “Prodesse quam conspici,” prefixed by Addison to his character of Lord Somers, may fitly be applied to the career of one recently taken from us, of one whose position in this parish of Rugby may be fairly call for a few brief remarks.
The Manor of Catthorpe, in the County of Leicester, was purchased by Thomas Calcott, or Caldecott, of Barrow and Whitwell, in the County of Rutland, Esquire, in the year 1617. This Manor continued in the possession of this family till a comparatively recent period, and many of the ancestors of the late Thomas Caldecott, Esq., resided at, and were buried at Catthorpe. The deceased was born in 1798, and was baptised at Cotesbach, in Leicestershire. He succeeded his father, the late Abraham Caldecott, Esq. – who in 1801, purchased the Manor of Rugby – in September, 1829, so that the deceased was Lord of the Manor of Rugby for upwards of 46 years. Although he lived a comparatively retired life, for many of the inhabitants of Rugby had no personal knowledge of him, he was not insensible to those claims which he, as Lord of the Manor, had to consider. He rebuilt that range of shops in Sheep-street, called the Shambles, and he built the Schools at the east end of the town, near to the Church of the Holy Trinity. He was a very liberal benefactor to St. Matthew’s Church, where for some years past he was accustomed to attend Divine service, and of which Church, we believe, he was a patron; and there was hardly a good work going on in the parish to whcih he did not contribute liberally. In the sanitary state of the town he was not unintreated, and he gave up certain of his manorial rights in order that well-needed requirements might be the more effectually carried out.
Beyond his own family circle he was indeed initimately known but by a few, but by all who knew anything of him he was held in high respect. Educated at Rugby School, he proceeded to Oxford, and thence entered one of the Inns of Court, but as a barrister, we believe, he rarely practised. One of his uncles the late Thomas Caldecott, Esq., of Dartford, a literary character, who was born in 1744, 130 years ago, and who entered Rugby School in 1750, died in 1834, in the 90th year of his age, leaving behind him a most remarkably and costly library, which was, however, dispersed at his death.
The deceased had been ill and gradually sinking for some months, but we have reason to believe his illness was unaccompanied with pain. Worn out by age and infirmity he succumbed on the 29th September in the 77th year of his age, having spent a long life, “useful rather than conspicuous.”
On Monday at noon, the remains of the late Mr. Thomas Caldecott, of the Lodge, Rugby, Lord of the Manor, Justice of the Peace and Deputy-lieutenant of the county of Warwick, were conveyed to their last resting place in Holy Trinity churchyard, Rugby. Mr. Caldecott, whose demise took place on Wednesday last, was second son of Mr. Abraham Caldecott, and was born in Rugby on the 6th of October 1798. As a token of respect to the deceased gentleman the principal shops in the town were closed, and in private houses the blinds were drawn. The churchyard, and along the line of route the procession had to pass, was thronged with people. The corpse was preceded by the Rev. J. Murray, rector of Rugby; Rev. Canon Dixon, D. D., vicar of St. Matthew’s, Rugby; Revs. R. Allen and P. Boultler; Dr. H. Bucknill, deceased’s medical man; Mr. M. Hands, and the tenantry on deceased’s Rugby and Northamptonshire estates. The pall-bearers were also tenats, and the coffin was carried by late and present servants of his. The chief mourners were relatives of the deceased, and included Mr. C. M. Caldecott, Holbrook Grange; Miss Caldecott, Miss C. Caldecott, M. J. S. M. Hulme, Mr. E. Bannister, Mr. E. Harris, Mrs. C. M. Caldecott, Captain J. Caldecott, Miss Norris, Rev. F. A. Marriott, Rev. J. Watson, General Marriott (London), Mr. John Marriott, Mr. Charles Marriott, and Mr. George Marriott (Cotesbach). The butlers and maid servants also followed. The funeral service was performed by the Rev. Canon Dixon. On the coffin, a simple one of polished oak, a cross of flowers was laid by the relatives.
Leave a Reply