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John Christian de la Chesnaye - A midshipman at the Battle of Trafalgar and the Austen connection

My client's great great grandfather was also a John Christian de la Chesnaye (1791-1854) descended from John Christain II the only child of his first marriage. This earlier John Christian was a midshipman on the Orion in the Battle of Trafalgar. His naval career was probably influenced/patronised by his uncle Admiral Cochet. His father was Jean Baptiste Maximilien Moulon De Le Chesnaye (1760-1830) a French radical, poet and author of fables who visited England in the 1790s and married Sarah Cochet (1762-1834). Whilst in England he was arrested for his radical views but escaped or was set free and returned to revolutionary France leaving behind his wife and child (John Christian I) where he married again and had another family. Sarah also married again to one Harbin Elderton (1776-1841) in 1800 either bigamously or Sarah truly believed she was a widow. During the Naploeonic wars communication and travel between France and England was difficult if not impossible.

A midshipman is an officer cadet or a commissioned officer of the junior-most rank, in the Royal Navy. They often began their career at 12 years old. A successful career in the navy was possible for boys of lowly origin or little money (like Jane Austen’s brothers) but who had ability, unlike the army which required money in order to buy a commission. John Christian may have had the help of his Uncle John Cochet who later, like his nephew became an admiral.

Nelson as a midshipman in1775

John Christian de la Chesnaye, born 29 April, 1791, was the nephew of Admiral John Cochet. This officer entered the Navy, 28 Sept. 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Dryad under Capt. John Giffard, on the Irish station; became Midshipman, 29 July, 1805, of the Orion under Capt. Edward Codrington, one of Nelson’s Victorious fleet in the ensuing battle of Trafalgar. The Orion took a decisive part in the battle forcing the surrender of the French 74-gun ship Intrépide.There are many mentions of HMS ORION at Trafalgar at for engaging enemy ships and perhaps altering the course of the battle due to the brilliant seamanship of it’s captain Edward Codrington.

John Christian later joined  the St. Alban’s under Captain Francis William Austen, (Jane Austen’s youngest brother who had a very successful career in the navy ultimately becoming an admiral – he is thought to be the model for Captain Wentworth in Persuasion) 

His Britannic Majestys 74 gun ship of the line HMS Orion, launched Deptford 1787. Battle honours for HMS Orion: Glorious 1st June 1794, Groix 1795, Cape St Vincent 1797, Battle of the Nile 1798, Battle of Trafalgar 1805, Baltic 1807.

John Christian Chesnaye was made an Admiral of the Blue in 1841, he died in Dublin and was buried at Glasnevin by his second wife Frances Caffrey in 1854. But much earlier on in his life he had been married to a woman called Charlotte who had been born at Nazeing Essex. Their son the second John Christian de la Chesnaye was born in 1824 in Hackney, London. John junior is not mentioned in his father’s will (his father named a son from his second marriage John Christian). 

A plan of the British fleet at Trafalgar. The Orion is 8th in the line behind the Victory, nelson's ship

John Christian II made his own way in the world as a painter and then compositor in London, he was in a lower social sphere to his Irish half brothers and sisters who had careers as surgeons in the Indian Army or navy if they were male, and married gentlemen if female. This raises the sad question why did John Christian I neglect his first born son?

2015 Hewell Grange, Worcestershire

The house was the focus of the planned landscape at Hewell. The idealised smooth green parkland which contained drives and paths from which to view the house was created by Brown but was seen as old fashioned and lacking in interest by Repton who introduced incidents such as garden buildings, ornamental plantings and an island. However, his brief remained similar, the landscape was only modified essentially in order to display the house to its best advantage.

 Three key images of the house from 1799 (Sandby), 1812 (Repton) and 1818 (Neale) show the intentional significant view across the lake to the north front of the house. In all three images there is a boat on the lake, and in two of them are groups of waterfowl. Trees frame the house and the lawns sweep down to the water creating the archetypal view of the English country house nestled in its sylvan and serene surroundings.

The cultural landscape at Hewell Grange is an important record of social history enacted on the ground. The estate village; the old and new mansions, the pleasure grounds and the consolidation of farmland and the enclosure of open fields to create parkland in the early 17^th century leading to further changes in the 18^th and 19^th centuries reflecting changing fashions in architecture and landscaping, followed by its radical change of use in the 20^th century, all combine to create a palimpsest of societal change and reuse of the land over half a millennium.

2015 Tewkesbury Abbey Lawns

The Abbey lawns overlook the site of the most important battle in the Wars of the Roses and witnessed the bloody struggle of the Lancastrians to gain sanctuary in the Abbey. Local place-names have preserved the memory of historical events and land use in the landscape.It is possible that the Abbey Lawns have been used intermittently as an orchard from the dissolution, which was replanted periodically. An orchard was certainly in existence from the early 17^th century. 

2015 Rhiwadamôn Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire

Rhiwadamôn is a small farmhouse that nestles underneath Garn Goch, the largest hill fort in Wales. Nowadays the area is in the parish of Llangadog and the nearest village is Bethlehem. The village of Bethlehem was named after its chapel which was first built in 1800. Before then the area was known as Dyffryn Ceidrich and was part of the Manor of Fabon. Dyffryn Ceidrich, (Ceidrych’s valley) after a local stream said to be named after Ceindrych one of the daughters of Brychan, king of Brycheiniog.
  These names in the landscape are eloquent with the shades of local history and memorialise many layers from the Iron Age and the time of Roman rule followed by an Irish dynasty subject to a Romano-British culture whose heirs ruled the land until 1066, which was quickly followed by Norman incursions and a millennium of English dominance. 

  Rhiwadamon is part of this complicated web; was it the house of an early medieval petty king or chieftan as one former owner believed and tried hard to prove? Or a one roomed farmhouse whose history only began in the 15^th or 16^th century? 

2014 Golden Grove Arms Llanarthney, Carmarthenshire 

The Golden Grove Arms has at least a 200 year history of providing hospitality to locals and travellers between Llandeilo and Carmarthen which is being ably continued by Wright's Emporium who took over the Inn in January 2014. This pub has always been at the centre of village life hosting horse racing, village sports and show on its fields. During the 19th century the local vicar lodged there for half a century!