Part 18
William Roberts Thomas Penson COUNCILLORS—1836: Thomas Penson Edward Edwards (in the room of James Williams, deceased) John Miles Hales William Williams Robert Edwards John Tomkies John Croxon John Hayward Francis Campbell Thomas Rogers George Dorset Owen Edward David Bennion Francis Lucas Charles Thomas Jones Griffith Evans John Jones, jun. James Howell Charles Sabine 1837: Francis Lucas Charles Thomas Jones
Griffith Evans Thomas Jones Rogers
James Howell John Davies
Thomas Penson Edward Edwards
John Miles Hales William Williams
Robert Edwards John Tomkies
John Croxon John Hayward
Francis Campbell Thomas Rogers
George Dorset Owen Edward David Bennion ALDERMEN—RE-ELECTED IN 1838:
Peploe Cartwright, T. L. Longueville, and John Jones, jun. COUNCILLORS—1838: George Dorset Owen John Hayward
David Thomas Thomas Rogers
William Smale Nathaniel Minshall
Francis Lucas Charles Thomas Jones
Griffith Evans Thomas Jones Rogers
James Howell John Davies
Thomas Penson Edward Edwards
John Miles Hales William Williams
Robert Edwards John Tomkies COUNCILLORS—1839: Thomas Penson William Williams
John Miles Hales John Tomkies
Robert Edwards Edward Edwards
William Price (in the room of G. John Hayward D. Owen, deceased) Thomas Rogers David Thomas Nathaniel Minshall William Smale Charles Thomas Jones Francis Lucas Thomas Jones Rogers Griffith Evans Richard Cross (in the room of Richard Salter (in room of James John Davies, deceased) Howell, deceased) 1840: Francis Lucas Richard Powell (in the room of Thomas Jones Rogers) Griffith Evans Richard Cross Richard Salter Thomas Hughes (in the room of Thomas Penson Charles Thomas Jones, appointed Alderman) John Miles Hales John Tomkies Robert Edwards William Williams William Price Edward Edwards David Thomas John Hayward William Smale Thomas Rogers
Nathaniel Minshall ALDERMEN—1841: Thomas Penson (in the room of Charles Thomas Jones John Croxon, who had left the borough) John Jones COUNCILLORS—1841: John Miles Hales John Hayward
William Price Thomas Rogers
David Thomas Nathaniel Minshall
William Smale Richard Cross
Francis Lucas Thomas Hughes
Griffith Evans Richard Powell
Richard Salter William Williams
Robert Edwards John Tomkies
Charles Osburn (in the room of Edward Edwards Thomas Penson) COUNCILLORS—1842: John Miles Hales William Williams
Robert Edwards John Tomkies
William Price Edward Edwards
David Thomas John Hayward
Griffith Evans Thomas Rogers
William Smale Nathaniel Minshall
Richard Salter Richard Cross
Charles Osburn Thomas Hughes
Pryce Morris (in the room of Richard Powell Francis Lucas) Henry Hughes appointed Coroner June 20th, 1842. 1843: Griffith Evans Richard Cross
Richard Salter Thomas Hughes
Charles Osburn Edward Williams
John Miles Hales William Williams
Thomas Hill (in the room of R. John Tomkies Edwards, deceased) Edward Edwards Pryce Morris John Hayward William Price Thomas Rogers David Thomas Nathaniel Minshall William Smale ALDERMEN—RE-ELECTED NOVEMBER, 1844:
T. L. Longueville, Peploe Cartwright, and John Jones, jun. COUNCILLORS—1844: John Broughall (in the room of Thomas Rogers David Thomas) John Hayward William Smale Nathaniel Minshall Griffith Evans Thomas Savin (in the room of Richard Salter Richard Cross)
Charles Osburn John Jones (in the room of Thomas Hughes) John Miles Hales Edward Williams Thomas Hill William Williams Thomas Minshall (in the room of Pryce Morris) John Tomkies
Edward Edwards 1845: Thomas Hill John Phillips
John Miles Hales Edward Edwards
William Williams Charles Humphreys
William Price Thomas Rogers
Edward Morris (in the room of John Hayward John Broughall, who had left the borough) Nathaniel Minshall
William Smale Thomas Savin
Griffith Evans Edward Williams
Richard Salter John Jones
Thomas Minshall 1846: Thomas Edwards John Jones
Thomas Minshall Edward Williams
William Isaac Bull Edward Edwards
William Williams James Weaver (in the room of Charles Humphreys, deceased) John Miles Hales John Phillips Thomas Hill John Hayward William Price Nathaniel Minshall Edward Morris Thomas Rogers William Smale Edw. Wynne Thomas (in the room of Mr. Savin, deceased) ALDERMEN—ELECTED NOVEMBER, 1847: John Hayward, Thomas Penson, and William Williams. COUNCILLORS—1847: Edward Morris David Lloyd
William Price Nathaniel Minshall
Jeremiah Jones Thomas Thomas Rogers
John Lacon (in the room of W. Williams, Alderman) 1848: John Lacon Edward Roberts
Thomas Hill George Morrall Bickerton
William Hodges David Jameson John Miles Hales appointed Coroner, and Robert Simon Clerk of the Peace, April 27th, 1848 (in the room of Henry Hughes, deceased). 1849: Thomas Minshall John Jones
William Isaac Bull Edward Williams
Walter Edwards Edw. Wynne Thomas ALDERMEN—ELECTED NOVEMBER, 1850: T. L. Longueville, Peploe Cartwright, and Thomas Rogers. COUNCILLORS—1850: Edward Morris Thomas Jones
Jeremiah Jones Thomas David Lloyd
William Edwards William Morris 1851: John Lacon George Morrall Bickerton
William Roberts Thomas Edwards
William Hodges George Harvey Williams 1852: William Isaac Bull Jackson Salter
Thomas Minshall Francis Roberts
Walter Edwards William Hayward ALDERMEN—ELECTED NOVEMBER, 1853:
Thomas Hill, John Jones, and Edward Morris. COUNCILLORS—1853: Edw. Wynne Thomas James Thomas Jones
William Edwards David Lloyd
William Morris William Morris 1854: John Lacon Thomas Edwards
William Roberts George Morrall Bickerton
William Hodges George Harvey Williams
Benjamin Churchill (in the room of Walter Edwards, resigned)
[For the above List of Aldermen and Common-Councilmen, up to and including 1846, we are indebted to the Representative of a gentleman who filled the Civic Chair, and who for many years recorded the changes in the Municipal Body. The subsequent List is from the Corporation Poll Books.]
Antiquities.
OSWESTRY CASTLE.
OUR readers will have already learnt that Oswestry, from an early period in the history of the nation, bore no undistinguished part. Fixed in the midst of an arena of fierce and convulsive conflicts for many ages; its early state of warlike defence, rendered so complete by the sagacious Edward I., and forming a powerful post on the Border Lands, the eyes of monarchs and their gallant nobles were frequently directed towards it for succour or defence. The Castle, in its primitive state, may have been a palace fit for regal splendour. The honour of erecting it is assigned, as we have previously mentioned, to Madog, descended from an illustrious Welsh Prince, the strenuous ally of Henry II., in his Welsh wars, and whose sire was the constant confederate of Randel the Third, and of his son, Hugh Cyveiliog, the fourth Earl of Chester. Madog was a man of high distinction in his day, and, being Prince of Powys, of which division Oswestry formed a part, there is presumptive evidence that the Castle was built by him, as the Welsh historians maintain, or very considerably enlarged or repaired. The English records fix its existence even before the Norman Conquest, and show that “Alan, a noble Norman,” received it immediately from William the Conqueror, on his accession. “This Alan,” adds Dugdale, the historian, “was the stock of the Fitz-Alans, Earls of Arundel; a potent race that flourished (with fewer checks than are usual with greatness) for near five hundred years.” It may be necessary to mention here, to aid the reader as to dates, that Madog died A.D. 1159, and that the Norman Invasion occurred in 1066. If Dugdale is to be relied upon, the Castle of Oswestry was built at a period anterior to the Conquest, but he makes no mention of Madog. He says, “There was a Castle at _Oswaldster_ at the time of the Conquest;” and Pennant, a good authority, adds to this note of Dugdale, “I think it very probable.” The able Welsh tourist further remarks, “The artificial mount on which it was placed indicates it to have been earlier than the Norman era. The Britons and the Saxons gave their fortresses this species of elevation. The Normans built on the firm and natural soil or rock, but often made use of these mounts, which they found to have been the site of a Saxon castle. I believe this to have been the case with that in question. A Fitz-Alan repaired or re-built, and added to that which he met with here: a tower also (as is not unfrequent) might receive the name of _Madog_, complimentary either to the son of _Meredydd_ (Madog’s father), or some other great man of the same title.” We have collected all the authorities we could find on this vexed question; but the actual date of the building of the Castle, and the veritable party to whom the honour of founding it is due, are still among the undiscovered facts of ages past.
[Picture: Oswestry Castle]
There is still, however, a notable event connected with Oswestry Castle that gives to its history surpassing interest, and ranks it among the more remarkable military relics of the nation. If the pains-taking researches of Chalmers, the historian of Scotland, are to be relied upon, one of the distinguished occupants of Oswestry Castle was the founder of the Stewart royal family. The real origin of that race of sovereigns had long perplexed genealogists; but the labours of Chalmers, who has minutely investigated all the written and printed records on the subject, have proved beyond further controversy that Walter, the son of Alan (the two first Norman possessors of Oswestry Castle), the son of Flaald, and the younger brother of William, the son of Alan, who was the progenitor of the famous house of Fitz-Alan, the Earl of Arundel, _was the first of the Stewarts_. Symon, and other Scotch historians, trace the Stewart family to a Thane of Lochabar. Lord Hailes disputed this and other opinions, treating them as fabulous, but it was reserved for Chalmers to establish and set at rest the long-contested question as to the origin of the Stewart race. Lord Hailes himself acknowledges that Walter, who flourished under David the First of Scotland, and Malcolm the Fourth, was _indeed_ the first Stewart of Scotland; but he is unable to determine where, and what was the commencement of this family. The subject is important to every native of our land; but to the people of Oswestry it is of paramount interest, as it connects with the town, however remotely, the genealogy of our present beloved monarch, QUEEN VICTORIA.
Chalmers’ evidence on this subject is curious and interesting. He tells us that the great exploit of Walter, the son of Alan, was the founding of Paisley monastery, during the reign of Malcolm IV., by transplanting a colony of Cluniac monks from the monastery of Wenlock, in Shropshire. Such, then, he adds, was the connection of Walter the First Stewart with Wenlock, and with Isabel de Say, who married William, the brother of Walter. Alan, the son of Flaald, married the daughter of Gwarine, the famous Sheriff of Shropshire, soon after the Norman conquest; and of this marriage William was the eldest son of Alan, and the undoubted heir both of Alan and of Gwarine. Alan, the son of Flaald, a Norman, acquired the manor of Oswestry soon after the Conquest. Alan was undoubtedly a person of great consequence at the accession of Henry I. He was a frequent witness to the king’s charters, with other eminent personages of that court. Mr. Chalmers, in his further investigations, proves the fraternal connection of William, the son of Alan, by a transaction which had before been as new to history as it is singular in itself. It has already been shown that Oswestry was the original seat of Alan on the Welsh border. Clun was added to his family by the marriage of his son William, who built Clun Castle; and John Fitz-Alan, Lord of Clun and Oswestry, by marrying Isabel, the second sister of William de Albany, the third Earl of Arundel, who died in 1196, became Earl of Arundel, and changed his residence from Shropshire to Sussex. Now, Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, being with Edward III., during the year 1335, and claiming to be _Stewart of Scotland by hereditary right_, sold his title and claim to the king for 1000 marks, which purchase he cautiously had confirmed to him by Edward Baliol; but Richard Fitz-Alan had not any right to the Stewartship of Scotland. Walter, who was the first purchaser of this hereditary office, was the younger brother of William, the son of Alan, the progenitor of Richard Fitz-Alan, the claimant; and till all the descendants of the first purchaser had failed, the claim could not ascend to the common father of the two families. But Robert the Stewart, who was born of Margery Bruce, on the 28th March, 1315–16, and became King of Scots the 2nd February, 1370–1, under the entail of the crown, was then in possession of the hereditary office of Stewart, by lineal descent. Walter, the son of Alan, undoubtedly obtained from David I., and from Malcolm IV., great possessions, a high office, and extensive patronage, and it may be reasonably asked, by what influence he could acquire from two kings so much opulence, and such an office? David I. was a strenuous supporter of the claims of his niece, the Empress Maud, in her severe contest with Stephen. William, the brother of Walter, influenced by the Earl of Gloucester, the bastard son of Henry I., and other powerful partizans of his sister the Empress, seized Shrewsbury in September, 1139, and held it for her interest. He attended her, with King David, at the siege of Winchester, in 1441, where they were overpowered by the Londoners, and obliged to flee. Such then were the bonds of connection between David I. and the sons of Alan, who were also patronized by the Earl of Gloucester. It was probably on that occasion that Walter accompanied David into Scotland. William, the son of Alan, adhered steadily to the Empress, and was rewarded by Henry II. for his attachment. Thus Walter, the son of Alan, could not have had more powerful protectors, than the Earl of Gloucester with David I., and Henry II. with Malcolm the II. When Walter, by those influences, obtained grants of Renfrew with other lands, and founded the Monastery of Paisley for Cluniac Monks from Wenlock, he was followed by several persons from Shropshire, whom he enriched, and by whom he was supported. He married Eschina, of Moll, in Roxburghshire, by whom he had a son Alan, who succeeded him in his estates and office when he died, in 1177. Six descents carried this family, by lineal transmissions, to Robert the Stewart, whose office, as already stated, was purchased by Edward III., and who became King of Scots 1371: Walter, the son of Alan, was followed by his brother Simon. Thus does Mr. Chalmers treat the history of the Stewarts, whose blood, he says, runs in a thousand channels.
This historical subject has attracted the attention of a talented resident of Oswestry, whose taste and research, united with genius and poetic imagination, have already conferred upon the town no trivial honour. That gentleman has favoured us with a notice of the CASTLE HILL, which bespeaks the enthusiasm of the writer, and adds to the interest which all lovers of history must feel on a topic so closely connected with the present amiable Sovereign of the kingdom. It is only due to Mr. SABINE to state (for to him we are indebted for aid in endeavouring to elucidate a dark and hitherto uncertain portion of Border History) that he has shed light even upon the pains-taking researches of Chalmers, and done much towards establishing a fact which, as we now consider it to be “proven,” cannot fail to confer upon Oswestry an historical importance of no common degree.
Mr. SABINE’S paper we have pleasure in quoting entire:—
“There is nothing,” he remarks, “in the appearance of this Hill very imposing or very remarkable. It is a somewhat abrupt mound, with some rude fragmentary remains of the castle, with which it was formerly surmounted. It has long been a moot question whether this mound is natural, or whether it has been raised by artificial means. Its appearance would seem to indicate that it is the work of man; but an examination of its geological composition, and a comparison of it with similar surrounding elevations, lead to the conclusion that it is the accumulated deposit of ages during a period in which the district has probably been the area of obstructed and pent-up waters, which, having been set at liberty, have left exposed the present undulated portions of the district, of which this mound forms one of the most prominent. Its present abrupt character—abrupt as compared with some of the more shelving banks—is easily and obviously accounted for by manifold encroachments, and by the military necessity for making the Castle as inaccessible as possible to hostile attacks. But if there is nothing in the appearance of the Castle Hill of Oswestry that is remarkable, this cannot be said of its history; for if there can be one fact topographically of greater interest than another in the history of a kingdom, it is that which is connected with the origin of its reigning monarch. To say nothing, then, of the numerous battle scenes of which Oswestry Castle has been the witness, and of which, it might say with Æneas, ‘_Quorum pars magna fui_,’ a note of Sir Walter Scott’s to the “Monastery” will be a sufficient warrant for saying that Oswestry, in point of historic interest, is second to no town in the united kingdom. ‘The acute pen of Lord Hailes (says the author of Waverley), which, like the spear of Ithuriel, conjured up so many shadows from Scottish history, had dismissed among the rest those of Banquo and Fleance, the rejection of which fables left the illustrious family of Stewart without an ancestor, beyond WALTER, THE SON OF ALAN. The researches of our late learned Antiquary detected in this Walter the descendant of Alan, the son of Flaald, who obtained from William the Conqueror THE CASTLE OF OSWESTRY, IN SHROPSHIRE; and who was the father of an illustrious line of English nobles, by his first son, William, and by his second son, Walter, the progenitor of the royal family of Stewart.’ Few will be bold enough, even if so disposed, to question the authority of such an antiquarian as Sir Walter Scott, especially in matters relating to his own country. Assuming, then, that Alan Fitz-Flaald is the stirp of the Stewart House, a genealogical table may not be uninteresting to the readers of this work:—
[Picture: Genealogical table] {178}