Radnor Road would be named, firstly, after ‘Radnor Ward’ at Salisbury District Hospital 1, and, secondly, after the Earls of Radnor who have lived at Longford House.
Radnor Ward
I am fairly confident that the derivation of Radnor Road is from Radnor Ward at Salisbury District Hospital (Odstock Hospital).
Many of the other roads in the are are named after wards at either Odstock or at the old Infirmary:
- Beatrice Road – still exists as Beatrice Ward at Odstock 2
- Bartlett Road – existed as Bartlett Ward, probably at the Infirmary 3
- Queensberry Road – existed as Queensberry Ward, a male surgical ward at the Infirmary4
- Feversham Road – existed as Feversham Ward, at the Infirmary. Feversham Ward itself would be named after Lord Feversham who endowed Salisbury City Council with money to build the Infirmary in 17765
- Attwood Road – existed as Attwood Ward, probably at the Infirmary 6
Radnor Ward itself still exists at Salisbury District Hospital.
A significant connection between the Earls of Radnor and the Salisbury hospitals is that the Infirmary was built on land belonging to the Radnors 7
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The Earls of Radnor
There have been two ‘sets’ of Earls. The first line was created in 1606 and died out in 1757.
As far as I am aware the first ‘set’ of Earls had no connection with Salisbury.
The title of Earl of Radnor was created for a second time in 1765 for William de Bouverie, who was also Viscount Folkestone.
William de Bouverie is referred to as the ‘First Earl’ even though, there had been previous ‘Earls of Radnor’ during the first incarnation of the title. 8
William de Bouverie, 1st Earl of Radnor (1725-1776)
The first Earl benefited from the family fortune established by, I think, his great-great-great-grandfather Laurens des Bouverie a 16th century silk merchant who lived in Threadneedle Street in London.
I may have the number of ‘greats’ wrong here – Laurens des Bouverie was great grandfather of the First Baronet des Bouverie (of St Catherine Cree Church 9), and the first Earl was the Third Baronet10
The First Baron was a Governor of the Bank of England, which is now in Threadneedle Street, where his great-grandfather had been a silk merchant.
Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor (1750-1828)
Velasquez’ ‘Juan de Pareja’
The second Earl of Radnor bought the painting ‘Juan de Pareja’, by Diego Velasquez in 1811. It had been sold 10 years earlier for 39 guineas. The painting is not very well known, largely because it remained the private property of the Pleydell-Bouveries for the next 159 years. It was sold in 1970 for 2,200,000 guineas, which was then a record sale, by some distance. 11
The painting had also been owned by Sir William Hamilton, the husband of Lord Nelson’s mistress Emma.
Exchange of letters with George Washington
Particularly interesting in view of the famous radicalism of his successor, the Second Earl wrote a letter to George Washington, in which he declared that despite having no political party himself, he looked at Washington with veneration, and at ‘the beginning of your career against England with approbation, because I felt England was unjust’.
The exchange between Lord Radnor at Longford and George Washington is reproduced on the American Heritage magazine’s website
The Council House
The second Earl funded the building on a new Council House (now typically called the Guild Hall), after the previous building was destroyed by fire in 1780 12.
William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor (1779-1869)
The third Earl of Radnor has been called ‘The Radical Lord Radnor’ 13.
This is certainly a fair title, but he was also known for feuds with other politicians and public figures of the day.
He forced Frederic, Duke of York to resign from his roles as Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Radnor alleged that the Duke of York’s mistress, Mary Ann Clarke, had been selling commissions (officer-level posts in the forces).
This was a significant scandal at the time – the Duke of York was the second son of the King George III, and a significant military figure in his own right – he is believed some to be the original ‘Grand Old Duke of York, who had 10000 men’. Radnor was therefore attacking both the military and the monarchy.
The Earl of Radnor himself might have gained political capital from his role in the scandal. Any kudos gained however was diminished, when, as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography puts it, Radnor’s ‘own subsequent dalliance with Mrs Clarke became public knowledge and undermined his credibility and stature’
Mary Ann Clarke was an ancestor of Daphne du Maurier, who wrote the book ‘Mary Ann’ about her.
Radnor espoused radical causes. He supported parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery, the rights of religious minorities and the disestablishment of the Church of England.
Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 4th Earl of Radnor (1815-1889)
The fourth Earl established what became the Wilton Hunt in 1869. 14
William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor (1841-1900)
The fifth Earl was Member of Parliament for South Wiltshire from 1874 until the constituency was abolished in 1875 15
Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 6th Earl of Radnor (1868-1930)
Jacob Pleydell Bouverie was Member of Parliament for Wilton from 1893 until 1900
William Pleydell-Bouverie, 7th Earl of Radnor (1895-1968)
Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 8th Earl of Radnor (1927 – 2008)
The 8th Earl was an active member of the House of Lords, and chaired the Board of the Dyslexia Institute.
He wrote a family history, called “A Huguenot Family 1536-1889: Des Bouverie, Bouverie, Pleydell-Bouverie”, the author being listed, on Amazon at any rate, as ‘Jake Radnor 16
William Pleydell-Bouverie, 9th Earl of Radnor (born 1955)
The 9th Earl, is like his father, the Governor of ‘The French Hospital’ – sheltered housing for people of French Protestant descent. This links back to the family’s Huguenot heritage. 17. The French hospital is in Rochester in Kent.
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
Footnotes
- radnorwardv11a4tseptember2006.pdf (application/pdf Object) [↩]
- Salisbury Hospital NHS Foundation – Wards [↩]
- ‘Celebrating Salisbury nurses : a series of personal reflections and stories’ p37 ; edited by M Stride Published Salisbury Nurses League, 1999 ISBN/RCN W000006659 [↩]
- ‘Celebrating Salisbury nurses : a series of personal reflections and stories’ p54 ; edited by M Stride Published Salisbury Nurses League, 1999 ISBN/RCN W000006659 [↩]
- ‘Celebrating Salisbury nurses : a series of personal reflections and stories’ ; edited by M Stride Published Salisbury Nurses League, 1999 ISBN/RCN W000006659 [↩]
- ‘Celebrating Salisbury nurses : a series of personal reflections and stories’ p49 ; edited by M Stride Published Salisbury Nurses League, 1999 ISBN/RCN W000006659 [↩]
- ‘Celebrating Salisbury nurses : a series of personal reflections and stories’ ; edited by M Stride Published Salisbury Nurses League, 1999 ISBN/RCN W000006659 [↩]
- Earl of Radnor – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [↩]
- Sir Jacob des Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [↩]
- The Earl of Radnor – Telegraph [↩]
- Time Magazine December 1970 [↩]
- Salisbury – Politics and parliamentary history since 1612 | British History Online [↩]
- The Radical Lord Radnor: The Public … – Google Book Search [↩]
- Wilton Hunt – History [↩]
- South Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [↩]
- A Huguenot Family 1536-1889: Des Bouverie, Bouverie, Pleydell-Bouverie: Jake Radnor: Amazon.co.uk: Books [↩]
- French Hospital – Governor [↩]
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