OBITUARY
CALDECOTT. – Of one who has been so well-known as an Old Rugbeian, and whose public life has been of no ordinary interest, it is difficult to treat. The late Mr. Charles Marriott Caldecott, of Holbrook Grange, was descended from an old Leicestershire family, an ancestor purchased the Manor of Catthorpe, near Rugby, and settled there in year 1617, upwards of two centuries and-a-half ago. Here the seat of the family continued for several generations, and within five years of the commencement of the School Register, viz., in 1679, we find one of that family entered at Rugby School.
Seventy years intervened, when in 1750, 133 years ago, we find the name of an uncle of the deceased entered at the School, and in 1758 another uncle of the deceased was entered; to both length of years were given, the first died in 1833, aged 90, the second in 1839, aged 87. The father of the deceased, Mr. Abraham Caldecott, born in 1763, was entered at Rugby School in 1770. On leaving School he entered the Civil Service of the East India Company, in which he attained a high position, that of Accountant General to the Bengal Presidency. Returning to England after a lengthy service, he married in 1793, and in 1801 he purchased the manor of Rugby, on which he built a mansion, where he resided. In 1821 he became High Sherriff for the County of Warwick; he died at Rugby in 1829. He had by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Marriott of Cottesbach, six sons, of whom Charles Marriott Caldecott was the youngest, and two daughters; one of the sisters, Arabella, of Mr. Abraham Caldecott, married the Rev. Dr. James, sometime Headmaster of Rugby School.
The late Mr. C. M. Caldecott was born at Rugby on the 9th June, 1807, and was entered at Rugby School at Midsummer, 1815, the insertion of his name in the Rugby Register being as follows:- “Caldecott Charles Marriott, son of Abraham Caldecott, Esq., Rugby Lodge, aged 8, June 9.” His five brothers had previously entered the School, three at the age of 7 years each, and two at the ages of 8. In the School List for October, 1815, Mr. C. M. Caldecott’s name appears about the middle of the first form; in that for October, 1816, in the second form; in that for October, 1817, he appears as head of the upper third form; in October, 1819, in the lower fourth form; in October, 1820, in the Upper Remove; in October 1821, he appears in the fifth form; and in 1823, in the sixth form; on his leaving in 1824, he was tenth in the School. It will thus appear that during his nine years at Rugby School, he made the average movements upwards, neither more or less. His abilities were, however, far above the average, and , had he exerted himself as he might have done, there is no doubt but that his promotion would have been much more rapid. He could master his lessons without difficulty, and that was all he apparently cared for. Then, however, few inducements were held out to boys, except in the very highest forms, to distinguish themselves. Whilst somewhat high up in the School, a severe accident befel him. His father’s house was being enlarged, and he fell from a scaffold near the roof and broke one of his legs; this kept him out of School for some time. On the 9th of June, 1824, being his seventeenth birthday, he went into school to first lesson as usual; on his return home to breakfast, his father shewed him a letter received that morning, containing the offer to promise of a post in the East India Company’s Civil Service. After breakfast he went up to the Headmaster to announce his immediate leaving the School, to which he did not again resort.
Shortly after leaving Rugby School, Mr. Caldecott proceeded to the East India Company’s College for the Civil Service, at Haileybury. Here he met with competition, and greatly distinguished himself. In the two latter terms of 1824, he gained the Bengali and Hindustani prizes, and the Persian prize in 1825. He gained also two medals for rapid progress. These gave him precedence in India before all other writers leaving college at the same period as himself. In the latter half-year of 1826 he proceeded to India, and at a public examination at Fort William College, Calcutta, in December, 1826, in the Bengali and Persian languages, he was reported fit for the public service, and was appointed Magistrate and Collector of Bareilly, an extensive and very populous district. In May, 1837, he returned to England for a few years, but in 1842 he was to be found at a most important station, that of Cawnpore, in India, to which he was appointed Magistrate. In Montgomery’s Statistical Report of the District of Cawnpore, published in 1848, frequent references are made to the services of Mr. Caldecott, and the estimation he was held in by the highest rank in Bengal. In May, 1846, he returned, for the last time, to England, and from thence to his death he has resided at Holbrook Grange, a period of 37 years. In 1840 he became a Magistrate for the County of Warwick, of which county he was also a Deputy Lieutenant, and in 1863 he served the office of High Sheriff. His services as a magistrate for the county were considered most important, and much deference was paid to his opinion on all county matters. In his neighbourhood, especially at Rugby, he took the lead in many matters of a social and beneficial character, nor was he unmindful of his old School, to the social qualities of which in the games both of cricket and football he shewed a great personal interest. He was for many years a regular attendant at the Old Rugbeian Dinner in London, when one of the toasts was allotted to him to propose.
For some years past, Mr. Caldecott has given annually a prize of three guineas for reading a portion of English prose. The competition has been open to the whole School. He also took an interest in the Rugby School Rifle Volunteer Corps, the members of which were entertained by him some years ago at Holbrook Grange.
During the last three years, the health of this deceased Old Rugbeian has gradually suffered from the effects of an insidious and incurable complaint, to which his constitution at length succumbed on the 30th of November last, he being then in the 77th year of his age, having retained his full mental faculties to very near the close of his life. On Wednesday the 5th of December 1883, his mortal remains were consigned to the grave in the churchyard of Newbold-upon-Avon, in the presence of a large concourse of the gentry and others, not only of the neighbourhood, but also from a distance, assembled, not out of vain curiosity, but to evince their respect for his memory. Amongst these were Old Rugbeians who had known him since his earliest career at Rugby School. It is impossible in an article like the present, necessarily limited as to space, to do other than scant justice to one whose life was usefully spent, ever working, though unobtrusively, in the service, and for the good of his country.
M.H.B. – From the Rugby School Meteor, 19th December, 1883
Featured image credit – Heritage and Culture Warwickshire, Warwickshire County Council
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