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Charles Slingsby

Charles Slingsby

Male 1824 - 1869  (44 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Charles Slingsby 
    Birth 22 Aug 1824  Loftus Hall, Knaresborough Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 4 Feb 1869  River Ure, Newby Ferry, Rippon Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 2 Siblings 
    Person ID I269566  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 12 Aug 2001 

    Father Charles Slingsby,   b. 17 Mar 1777   d. 20 May 1832 (Age 55 years) 
    Mother Emma Atkinson,   b. Abt 1800   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage 1 Oct 1820 
    Family ID F108960  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 



    • Charles SLINGSBY [later to become Sir Charles SLINGSBY, the tenth baronet of Nova Scotia] was born on August 22, 1824 at Loftus Hall, near Knaresborough.

      His mother was Emma Margaret ATKINSON], the grand daughter of George GARNETT of Nantwich. His father was Charles SLINGSBY owner of Loftus Hall, and the second son of Sir Thomas Turner SLINGSBY [the eighth holder of the baronetcy].

      With the death of Sir Thomas Turner SLINGSBY, the title and family estate at Scriven Park, Yorkshire, had passed to his eldest son, also named Sir Thomas SLINGSBY [the ninth baronet].

      On February 2, 1835 this Sir Thomas SLINGSBY died unmarried and left the peerage title along with the Scriven estate to his young nephew, Charles SLINGSBY. [Charles' father, the next in line of succession, had died two years previously, in May, 1832].

      At the remarkable age of just eleven, Charles SLINGSBY thus became the tenth Baronet of Nova Scotia and owner of all the Slingsby lands and the great estate house at Scriven Park (known as the Redhouse) built in 1606 by his direct ancestor, Sir Henry SLINGSBY.

      Charles Slingsby inherited the taste of both his father and uncle for hunting and "the chase".

      At the age of 14, young Charles found himself at the head of a pack of harriers. He was a keen rider and sportsman--- pastimes in which he could indulge himself by virtue of his wealth, social position, and in not being obliged to attend public school as a boy.

      A brief regimental career was a natural choice resulting from his interests in riding and sportsmanship. In 1843 at age 19, Sir Charles SLINGSBY was gazetted as a Cornet in the Horse Guards (known as the "Blues"), promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1845, and left the service in 1847.

      He continued his lifelong interest in hunting and horsemanship, breeding his own pack of harriers and fox-hounds and acquiring a stable of horses.

      In 1853, after ten years of managing his own kennel and stable, he was offered the honorary post of Master of the York and Ainsty Hunt...a position he held until his untimely and fateful death just fifteen years later.

      As a Master of the Hunt, Sir Charles SLINGSBY is said to have been amply qualified. He possessed all the attributes requisite for this honored office---patience, discrimination, perfect self-control, and determination.

      From an article in the March, 1869 edition of Baily's Magazine of Sport and Pastimes, we have this description of him:

      "Sir Charles Slingsby was a very remarkable man---a good and charitable neighbour, a kind landlord, residing nearly the whole year at his seat, Scriven Park: he was loved by rich and poor.

      Keen about all sport; could break a pointer, train a hawk, shoot game or pigeons. But to see him in his glory, where he was most known, was with his hounds. His manner with them was a lesson to most huntsmen: he never lost his head or his temper. Hounds had great confidence in him...

      His very gentlemanlike manner towards his field will never be forgotten: no hasty expression escaped him. He rode well to his hounds and was showing very good sport. The York and Ainsty pack belong to the country. Sir Charles Slingsby had had the management of them for fifteen years, and bred them with great care. They are persevering, quick, close hunters."
      [Baily's Magazine, March 1869, page 206]

      With the farmers in the area, Sir Charles Slingsby was very popular---his quiet demeanour and non-interference with the field made his leadership of the York and Ainsty a highly regarded position among the hunters and landowners alike.

      During his twenty years as a local landowner and as Master of the Hunt, Slingsby probably lived much the lifestyle of the idle rich. His time was consumed largely in pursuing the noble life of a sportsman, a gentleman landowner, and as a breeder of prize winning hounds and horses.

      In the Great Wetherby Hound Show of August, 1868, three of Slingsby's hounds won top prizes [Nestor, Nosegay and Novelty].

      It was not only on the hunting field that Slingsby gained local notoriety, but also on the racetracks at Doncaster, Malton, Thirsk, and the derbys at Epsom, where be distinguished himself as both a breeder and a rider. [Baily's Magazine, February, 1864, pages 271-2].

      He was active in politics in a staunchly Conservative way, and campaigned on behalf of the Tory candidates for Knaresborough and West Riding. He was "essentially a Yorkshireman in his tastes and habits...a liberal landlord, a thorough sportsman, and a true friend." [The Gentleman's Magazine, March, 1869 vol. 226, pages 500-501].

      It was through sport that Sir Charles Slingsby gained some local renown---but, ironically, it was also by sport that he came to his tragic and fateful end.

      Tragic death by drowning...

      "Accidentally drowned, by the upsetting of a ferry boat!" is the concise epitaph that headlined Sir Charles Slingsby's Obituary Memoir in the March, 1869 edition of The Gentleman's Magazine [pages 500 and 501].

      This was an event as dramatic and as sad as any ever recorded in the history of sport.

      It took place on the morning of February 4, 1869. The York and Ainsty foxhounds together with a noble entourage of riders, assembled shortly after eleven o'clock at Stainley House, situated half-way between Harrogate and Ripon.

      The weather that day was fine, as "mild as a morning in May", and the congregated field of horsemen was large. In addition to Sir Charles mounted on his horse "Saltfish", the party included Sir George Wombwell (one of the "gallant Six Hundred" whose ride into the Valley of Death at Balaklava was immortalized in heroic poetry) and many other members of the local aristocracy.

      Present too were Lord Lascelles, Viscount Downe, Mr Edmund Robinson of York, the Honorable Henry Molyneux, Captain Key, Captain Caryl Molyneux (of the 10th Hussars), and Mr. White (of the 15th Hassars).

      No fox was encountered until the party reached Monkton Whin, but once the chase started, the fox gave dogs and riders a hearty run of an hour's duration heading finally in the direction of Newby Hall, the residence of Lady Mary Vyner.

      At that point, the fox took to the river Ure, opposite the Hall, with the hungry pack in full pursuit. The river, swollen by recent rains, was impassable although several riders tried to cross it at the ford some distance up stream.

      Slingsby and about fifteen or sixteen of his more adventurous companions took a different course.

      Galloping to Newby Hall, they command- eered a ferry boat together with the gardener of Newby Hall and his son (the Warreners by name) to pilot them across the turbid water.

      Sir Charles along with William Orveys, his kennel huntsman, E. Lloyd, Edmund Robinson, the two Molyneux brothers, Clare Vyner, Captain Mussenden, Captain Key, Mr. White and Sir George Wombwell hastily scrambled into the boat, all in high spirits, taking no note of the proper number that could go across the river in safety.

      Danger never entered their minds. Eleven horses and thirteen men pushed off from the embankment.

      Within moments of leaving shore, water started to pour into the boat, which was riding low in the water from the overload.

      A third of the way across the river, the horses frightened by the incoming water, began to agitate about, and the boat lurched and bobbed from side to side.

      Captain Key jumped from the boat before it capsized and safely swam to shore.

      "Saltfish" in panic jumped overboard, pulling Sir Charles after him. The horse got caught up in the chains, but Sir Charles landed clear.

      The boat pitched to one side then flipped over, hurling all passengers into the turbulent waters.

      Slingsby was one of the first to rise to the surface. Clear of the boat, he struck out for the shore, his faithful horse Saltfish paddling like a dog at his side.

      Slingsby appeared to swim strongly for some strokes, then suddenly his exertions ceased and he sank beneath the surface not far from shore, probably seized with a cramp.

      Mr. Vyner pulled himself on top of the overturned boat and was able to drag Sir George Wombwell (who could not swim) out of the swirling current, as well as Captain Mussenden, who had been cut on the head by a blow from one of the horses.

      Captain Caryl Molyneux and also Mr. White were able to scramble onto the boat and so saved themselves.

      From the shore, a small party of helpless spectators could only watch in horror. Horse whips were knotted together in a vain attempt to throw out a life line to their drowning companions.

      Orveys, Mr. Edmund Robinson, and the two Warreners sank from sight, never to be seen alive again.

      By late afternoon the body of Sir Charles Slingsby was found some three hundred yards down-river from the site of the accident.

      So ends the sad tale of how Slingsby fell, in the heat of the chase that he loved so well--- a tragedy headlined in news accounts throughout the county of Yorkshire for months afterwards, and which inspired the pamphleteers and ballad-mongers to do their worst.

      One such piece of heroic doggerel, in eighteen heart-rending stanzas, by balladeer R.E. Egerton-Warburton [appearing in print in the April, 1869 edition of Baily's Magazine] is reproduced below.

      Newby Ferry.
      __________________________________________
      By R.E. Egerton-Warburton.

      The morning was mild as a morning in May,
      Slingsby on Saltfish was out for the day;
      Though the Ure was rain-swollen, the pack dashed in,
      Follow'd close on the fox they had found at the Whin.

      Swept o'er the weir, they were running full cry,
      But too deep was the ford for the horsemen to try;
      So to Newby they sped, like an army dispers'd
      Hoping each in his heart to be there with the first.

      Lloyd, Robinson, Orvis, and Slingsby the brace,
      Pressing on to that ferry to find there a grave;
      Little thought the four comrades when, rivals in pace,
      With such glee they spurr'd on that they rode a death-race.

      'The pack far ahead, and the river past,
      With no one to cheer them and no one to cast,
      Quickly, good ferrymen, haul to the shore,
      Bad luck to your craft if we catch 'em no more!'

      Thus shouting, old Orvis leapt down to the bank,
      And with Lloyd alongside led his horse to the plank;
      There stood they, dismounted, their hands on the rein,
      Never more to set foot in the stirrup again!

      Eleven good men in the laden boat,
      Eleven good steeds o'er the ferry float;
      Alas! ere their ferrymen's task was done,
      Two widows were weeping o'er father and son!

      So sudden, what meaneth that piercing cry
      Wrung from those they had left on the bank hard by?
      The shadow of death seem'd to pass like a cloud
      O'er the stream----on its brink, terror-struck, stood the crowd.

      The chestnut is overboard---Slingsby now,
      To his bridle-rein clinging, hangs over the prow;
      The barque, overburden'd bends down on her side,
      Heels o'er, and her freight is engulf'd in the tide.

      In that moment an age seem'd to intervene
      Ere Vyner was first on the surface seen;
      The plank scarcely won ere his arm he extends
      To reach and to rescue his sinking friends.

      Whips knotted fast in the haste of despair,
      Reach not the doom'd who were drowning there;
      Swimmers undauntedly breasted the wave,
      Till themselves were nigh sunk in their efforts to save.

      Robinson---he who can bird-like skim
      O'er fence and o'er fallow---unpractis'd to swim,
      Powerless of arm, must now trust in this need
      To his own stout heart and his own good steed.

      Slowly that horse from the river's bed,
      Still back'd by his rider, uprais'd his head;
      Overtax'd in his stride as he cross'd the deep plough,
      Oh! that strength had been spar'd for the death-struggle now.

      Fearless and calm, as if hounds were in sight,
      Sat his rider, unmov'd, in the saddle upright,
      One moment, then heard they his heartrending scream,
      As down, still unseated, he sank in the stream.

      Slingsby meanwhile from the waters rose,
      Where deepest and strongest the mid-current flows;
      Manfully stemming its onward course,
      He struck for the boat with his failing force.

      Then feebly one arm was uplifted, in vain,
      Striving to snatch at the chestnut's mane,
      For that faithful steed, through the rolling tide,
      Had swum like a dog to his master's side.

      At length by the stream, he can buffet no more,
      Borne, bleeding and pale, to the farther shore,
      There, as the Slingbys had ofttimes lain,
      Lay the last of that House in his harness slain!

      Sprung from a knightly and time-honour'd race,
      Pride of thy county! and chief of her chase!
      Though a stranger, not less in his sorrow sincere,
      Who now weeps o'er the close of thy gallant career.

      Let Yorkshire, while England re-echoes her wail,
      Bereft of her bravest, record the sad tale,
      How Slingsby of Scriven at Newby fell,
      In the heat of that chase which he lov'd so well.

      [Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes,
      Volume 227, April, 1869, pages 239-241].


      Death, the Gate of Life...

      Today at Redhouse, the great manor house of the Slingsby family at Scriven Park, remenants of Sir Charles Slingsby and his fateful conclusion to the family line of Slingsby, still remain.

      The house, though turned into a preparatory school since 1902, maintains relics of the Slingsby dynasty. Among these, a silver statuette of Sir Charles's horse, Saltfish, which caused the accident at Newby Ferry by jumping overboard pulling Sir Charles with him.

      Sir Charles's hatchment hangs on the south wall of the Slingsby chapel at Redhouse, his arms resplendent above the bold motto : Mors Janua Vitae [Death the Gate of Life].

      With the death of Sir Charles Slingsby, the last male heir in the direct line of succession of the Slingsbys, the family's title of Baronet became extinct.

      The family property and holdings at Scriven Park passed to Charles' sister, Emma Louisa Catherine SLINGSBY---who had married Captain Thomas Leslie in July, 1860. They jointly assumed by Royal License dated April 9, 1869, the additional surname and arms of SLINGSBY and took up residence at the Redhouse estate soon afterwards.

      Early in March , 1869 an aucton was held at Scriven to sell off the stable stock and equipment of Sir Charles.

      A description of this auction is recorded in the April issue of Baily's Magazine:

      At Scriven the attendance was not so great; but there were some few substantial men from all quarters of England and Scotland determined to buy Rosamond, a bay mare, bred by Sir G. Cholmondeley.

      She carried the late Sir Charles Slingsby five seasons most brilliantly. Her limbs had not a scratch on them: short legs, good shoulders, most perfect formation of back and hind quarters, good head, and game expression, looked thoroughbred, and able to carry 13 stone. She was knocked down to Mr. Bucannon for
      430 gs.

      Snow fell, and silence for a moment prevailed. The stud was not a very good one. A grey horse, a charming light-weight hunter, was bought by a 'non-jumping local' for 310 gs.

      The brothers Vyner bought two or three nice horses, at not very unreasonable prices. Many of the old screws, saddles, bridles, &c., were bought by men who were anxious to have something that had belonged to "Sir Charles".

      [Baily's Magazine, April, 1869, page 260]

      Emma Louisa Catherine Slingsby died childless on June 24, 1899, and under the terms of Sir Charles' will, the estate at Scriven then passed to their cousin, the Reverend Charles ATKINSON, Rector of the church at Kirby-Sigston, and the great grandson of George Garnett of Nantwich.

      The Reverend Charles ATKINSON assumed the surname and arms of SLINGSBY by Royal Licence on December 24, 1899 and became owner of the lands and manor house at Scriven.

      Like his cousin Sir Charles Slingsby, the Reverend Charles Atkinson Slingsby developed a taste for sport, and ironically he too came to his end in a fateful accident brought about by a crafty fox. He broke his neck in the hunting field near Thickpenny Farm, half a mile from Redhouse, on a bleak winters day in November, 1912.

      Dark-shadowed Fate continued to plague the descendents of the Slingsbys. Of the five children of the Reverend Charles Atkinson Slingsby, none succeeded in having off-spring and heirs.

      The first son, Lieutenant Charles Henry Reynard SLINGSBY, married a widowed American woman named Dorothy Morgan WARNER of Providence, Rhode Island. They unsuccessfully tried to have children. Mrs. Dorothy Slingsby---left frustrated by a miscarriage---anonymously advertised in American newspapers for a baby to adopt.

      The Slingsby couple subsequently secured [through illegal payment], the baby son of an American schoolgirl [Lillian Anderson] and a chauffeur [Paul Colvin] which had been born in San Francisco and which they tried to pass off as their own son and heir.

      This ruse was quickly challenged by other members of the Slingsby family, and taken to trial. The scandal that followed, headlined in the papers on both sides of the Atlantic as the "Slingsby Baby Case" soiled the family's name and burdened their fortunes with exhorbitant court costs.

      The Redhouse and much, if not all of the family estate at Scriven was put up for sale. Lt. Commander Charles Henry Reynard Slingsby died childless and without heirs on March 29, 1941 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

      The second son of the Reverend Charles Atkinson Slingsby, Thomas William SLINGSBY [born March 6, 1876] married Dorothy May HOLE on August 7, 1925 and died without children.

      A third son, Alan Peter SLINGSBY
      [born March 16, 1885] married Vera CATHCART of Mowbray House, Ripon on August 10, 1914. They also had no children.

      A fourth son, John SLINGSBY [born February 11, 1898] became a midshipman in the Royal Navy and was drowned aboard the H.M.S. Formidable on January 1, 1915. [This was the fourth known death by drowning in the history of the Slingsby family].

      The only daughter of Reverend Charles Atkinson Slingsby, Francis Dorothy [Slingsby] WILLIAMSON married William Hopper Williamson on June 12, 1901. Likewise, no children or heirs resulted from this marrige.

      So ends the colourful biography of the heroic...the somewhat scandalous...and the unfailingly tragic dynasty of the SLINGSBYs---a family driven by fate and their own failings into doomed extinction.





      Charles SLINGSBY [later to become Sir Charles SLINGSBY, the tenth baronet
      of Nova Scotia] was born on August 22, 1824 at Loftus Hall, near
      Knaresborough.
      His mother was Emma Margaret ATKINSON], the grand daughter of George
      GARN ETT of Nantwich. His father was Charles SLINGSBY owner of Loftus
      Hall, and the second son of Sir Thomas Turner SLINGSBY [the eighth holder
      of the barone tcy].
      With the death of Sir Thomas Turner SLINGSBY, the title and family
      es tate at Scriven Park, Yorkshire, had passed to his eldest son, also
      named Si r Thomas SLINGSBY [the ninth baronet].
      On February 2, 1835 this Sir Thomas SLI NGSBY died unmarried and left the
      peerage title along with the Scriven estat e to his young nephew, Charles
      SLINGSBY. [Charles' father, the next in line of succession, had died
      two years previously, in May, 1832].
      At the remarka ble age of just eleven, Charles SLINGSBY thus became the
      tenth Baronet of No va Scotia and owner of all the Slingsby lands and the
      great estate house at S criven Park (known as the Redhouse) built in 1606
      by his direct ancestor, Si r Henry SLINGSBY.
      Charles Slingsby inherited the taste of both his father and uncle for
      hunting and "the chase".
      At the age of 14, young Charles found himself at the head of a pack of
      harriers. He was a keen rider and sportsman --- pastimes in which he
      could indulge himself by virtue of his wealth, socia l position, and in
      not being obliged to attend public school as a boy.
      A bri ef regimental career was a natural choice resulting from his
      interests in ri ding and sportsmanship. In 1843 at age 19, Sir Charles
      SLINGSBY was gazette d as a Cornet in the Horse Guards (known as the
      "Blues"), promoted to the ra nk of Lieutenant in 1845, and left the
      service in 1847.
      He continued his lif elong interest in hunting and horsemanship, breeding
      his own pack of harrier s and fox-hounds and acquiring a stable of
      horses.
      In 1853, after ten yea rs of managing his own kennel and stable, he was
      offered the honorary post o f Master of the York and Ainsty Hunt...a
      position he held until his untimely and fateful death just fifteen years
      later.
      As a Master of the Hunt, Sir Ch arles SLINGSBY is said to have been amply
      qualified. He possessed all the att ributes requisite for this honored
      office---patience, discrimination, perfect self-control, and
      determination.
      From an article in the March, 1869 edition of Baily's Magazine of Sport
      and Pastimes, we have this description of him:
      "Sir Charles Slingsby was a very remarkable man---a good and charitable
      neig hbour, a kind landlord, residing nearly the whole year at his seat,
      Scriven P ark: he was loved by rich and poor.
      Keen about all sport; could break a poin ter, train a hawk, shoot game or
      pigeons. But to see him in his glory, where he was most known, was with
      his hounds. His manner with them was a lesson t o most huntsmen: he
      never lost his head or his temper. Hounds had great con fidence in him...
      His very gentlemanlike manner towards his field will never b e forgotten:
      no hasty expression escaped him. He rode well to his hounds an d was
      showing very good sport. The York and Ainsty pack belong to the
      coun try. Sir Charles Slingsby had had the management of them for
      fifteen years, and bred them with great care. They are persevering,
      quick, close hunters."
      [Baily's Magazine, March 1869, page 206]
      With the farmers in the area, Sir Charles Slingsby was very
      popular---his quiet demeanour and non-interference with the field made
      his leadership of the York and Ainsty a highly regarded p osition among
      the hunters and landowners alike.
      During his twenty years as a local landowner and as Master of the Hunt,
      Slingsby probably lived much th e lifestyle of the idle rich. His time
      was consumed largely in pursuing the noble life of a sportsman, a
      gentleman landowner, and as a breeder of prize winning hounds and horses.
      In the Great Wetherby



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