Midhurst, West Sussex in 1865

 

Extract from an Old Book

Extract from "Rambles Round Midhurst and Neighbourhood, Giving a Full and Interesting Account of All the Chief Places of Interest: the Ruins of Cowdray, the Park, the Walks, and the Churches; Being a Complete Guide and Companion to the Visitor", by D. Wolferstan

Published in 1865

Pages 9-12

But all earthly glories must have a term . Sir
Anthony Browne diéd , and was laid in Midhurst
Church by the side of his two noble wives , whose
virtues and his own services are still recorded upon
the family mausoleum , which has been removed from
Midhurst to a small chapel erected for its reception ,
and that of later monuments of the family near the
church of Easebourne .

The Lords Montague who
succeeded Sir Anthony seem to have remained sted
fast to the old religion until the seventh of the line ,
and he became a Protestant .

He also enlarged the
park , and tradition still points to one magnificent
clump of chestnuts , close to the town , as having been
planted by him .

He left two children - a daughter
and a son - the last Lord Montague .

The story of
this young nobleman's death has often been told ;
but such incidents never lose their hold upon the
mind .

The last Lord Montague then , whilst still in
the prime of youth , left England ( in 1793 ) on a
Continental tour . His companions were a Mr. Bur
dett and an old and faithful servant . On arriving
at the famous falls of Schaffhausen , he and his friend formed the rash project of passing the falls in a boat
-a feat which had never been accomplished , or even
attempted , by any visitant .

The project , it seems ,
came to the knowledge of the authorities of the
place , and they , knowing that inevitable destruction
would overtake the rash adventurers , placed guards
to prevent the attempt .

Lord Montague , however ,
and his friend found means to elude these , and were
entering the flat - bottomed boat they had provided ,
when the young nobleman's servant instinctively
seized his master by the collar , declaring that he
should forget the respect of the servant for the duty
of a man .

His efforts , however , were in vain ; the
young nobleman extricated himself from his retainer's
grasp , with the loss of part of his collar and necker
chief , and the two young men pushed off .

They got
over the first fall in safety , and began to shout and
to wave their handkerchiefs in token of success .
They then pushed down the second fall - by far
more dangerous than the first - after which they
were no more seen or heard of .

The supposition is
that they were carried away by the violence of the
cataract and their boat jammed between the two
rocks .

The servant of Lord Montague remained
three weeks near the falls , bewailing the fate of his
beloved master , who had thus , in the prime of life ,
fallen a victim to a spirit of rash adventure .

The intelligence of this melancholy accident , by
which the line of the Viscounts Montague became extinct , had not yet reached England when the
family mansion at Cowdray was destroyed by fire ,
originating , it is supposed , in the carelessness of the
servants engaged in cleaning it .

There are yet old
men living ( the day was September 24 , 1793 , ) who
remember seeing the reflection of the fire at many
miles ' distance .

Little or nothing was saved of the
magnificent pictures and valuables - the accumula
tion of ages - with which the house was filled .
Many of these , impaired by the flames , are said to
have been concealed by the country people who
flocked to the spot ; some few , of little value , are
still preserved in the houses of the steward and the
gardener .

The frescoes , with which the walls were
covered , of course perished with them ; and all that
now remains of the magnificent edifice , erected by
the Earl of Southampton , are the ivy - covered frag
ments of the walls , by which the extent of the build
ing may still be judged .

The letter , bearing the intelligence of this calamity
to Lord Montague , crossed , on its way to Germany ,
another letter , bearing to England the news of the
death of the Viscount at Schaffhausen .

The calamities of the race did not end here . We
have said the seventh Viscount left a daughter as well
as a son . This young lady , on the death of her brother ,
inherited the vast property of Lord Montague . She
became the wife of W. S. Poyntz , Esq . , and the
mother of two sons and three daughters .

Although no attempt was made to re - build Cowdray House ,
Mr. Poyntz lived on the estate in a lodge which he
built , going at certain periods with his family down
to the sea - coast , where he had a pretty place , called
the Pavilion , at Aldwick , near Bognor . It was
here that a catastrophe occurred which put the
climax to the misfortunes of the Montague family .
Mr. Poyntz and his two boys were fond of boating ,
and were in the habit of making excursions in the
vessel of an experienced boatman named Allen . So
close was the house to the water , that from the draw
ing - room windows Mrs. Poyntz and her daughters
could watch the course of the boat .
They were doing so one fine day , in the summer
of 1815 , when , to their horror , they beheld the boat
upset and disappear . A sudden gust of wind had
capsized it , and the whole of the occupants were
struggling in the water . Allen was a first - rate
swimmer , and , seizing hold of Mr. Poyntz , he was
able to sustain him until help arrived , but the two
unfortunate youths perished beneath the eyes of their
parents .