Henry Cunliffe Shawe bought Weddington Castle from Henry Kay in 1874. He and his wife were active in the local community and in 1875, he inserted three windows in the nave of St. James' Church. He also paid for reconstruction work on the Church in 1881. A new organ was installed in 1882, and the following year a stained glass window was inserted, dedicated to his two sons (Henry Nigel Pole Shawe and Charles Shawe). During Mr. Shawe’s ownership the Castle and pleasure gardens were well known for local fetes and garden parties. A particular feature of Weddington at the time was the annual Horticultural Show held in the Hall grounds. This was attended by thousands of Nuneaton townspeople and must have been a wonderful event with all the stalls of colourful flowers set out in the landscaped gardens of the Hall, with its specimen trees and extensive shrubberies. You can read an account of the 1889 show from the Leamington Spa Courier at this link. The Weddington Grove grounds were also home to local fetes courtesy of H. C. Shawe, for instance the Forester's Fete - you can read a contemporary account of this event from the Tamworth Herald in 1876 here.
Mr. Shawe had the distinction of holding the office of High Sheriff of Warwickshire* on two occasions: from 1892-1893 and from 1895-1896.
The influence of the Shawe family can still be seen today, and one of the principal roads of Weddington (ironically, built upon the site of Weddington Castle) is named ‘Shawe Avenue’. Indeed the first house in this avenue has the original stone crest from the Castle incorporated into its frontage to this day.
Shawe was married to Georgina Wilmot Shawe - second daughter of Sir William Nigel Gresley, of Netherseal Hall, Leicestershire - and had two sons (Henry Nigel Pole Shawe and Charles Shawe) and three daughters - Edith Mary Shawe (who married Colonel Francis Capel Manley), Eleanor Grace Shawe (who married Lt. Colonel Egerton Stanley Pipe Wolferston of the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment) and Laura Georgina Shawe, who died in 1875 aged just 9 years.
Charles Shawe, who was born on 15th November 1878 at Weddington Castle, had a brief career in first class cricket playing for the 'HDG Leveson-Gower's XI'. His first class career it seems, was limited to a single innings in 1919 with no runs, and two overs bowled at an average of 16 runs for no wicket. Charles was also a military man, who reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Rifle Brigade (a precursor of the Royal Green Jackets) and was later made a CBE***.
Charles moved away from the area and died in 9 February 1951 at The Hermitage, Witham Friary, Frome, Somerset aged 72 years and 86 days. It appears he spent some time in New Zealand, working at Government House there. Records show that he sailed out from Southampton with his Groom from Weddington Castle, Sergeant Sydney John Vine, on 13th November 1912. They arrived in Auckland just over a month later. The Evening Post, 17 December 1912 records: "Auckland, This Day. Passengers by the Makura included Captain Shaw (sic), A.D.C. who joins the Governor here; also the members of the Australian football team, which recently toured America."
Charles was obviously still in New Zealand in two years later as the Shipping Departures section of the Evening Post of 15 Jan 1914 record "January 14 - Wahine, s.s. (8 pm) foe Lyttelton. Passengers: Saloon" includes Captain Shaw (sic), Vine." Sergeant Vine was at this time listed as Captain Shawe's "chauffeur and manservant", although he enlisted in the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force during this year. You can read more about Sydney Vine here.
The altar base of nearby Statfold Chapel**, 3 miles North-East of Tamworth, carries a memorial plaque to the memory of "Eleanor Grace wife of Egerton Stanley Pipe Wolferstan Lieut. Col. S. Staffs. Regt. daughter of Henry Cunliffe Shawe of Weddington Hall Nuneaton d. 1925. Lieut. Col. Egerton Stanley Pipe Wolferstan 1st Batt. The S. Staffs Regt. d. 1937". Lt. Col. Wolferstan's medals are implanted into the plaque.
In 1889 Henry C. Shawe added Lower Farm to the Estate, purchasing it from Ebenezer Brown for £3,900. In 1891 a census was carried out which showed the Weddington population as 100 (up from 81 the previous decade). Inhabitants detailed include Henry Cunliffe Shawe at the Castle, Alfred French at the Grove, Charles Pendry at Gardener's Cottage, Henry Badger at the Lodge and David Blythe at the Wardens.
On the 3rd of August 1911 Henry Cunliffe Shawe died, leaving the Estate to his son, Henry Nigel Pole Shawe, who went to live in the Grove in 1912. It appears that Henry Shawe senior had been somewhat ill prior to his death, with the Tamworth Herald reporting a fall in the month prior to this. His obituary from the Herald on August 5th 1911 can be read here. You also read an account of his funeral from the Coventry Herald here.
An abstract of his will can be found in the Miscellanea section of this website. In 1916 a stained glass window dedicated to Henry Cunliffe Shawe was placed in St. James' Church.
His wife Georgina survived him by 16 years, dying in 1927 at the age of 88. You can read a local newspaper obituary of her here in column one (Lichfield Mercury Friday 21 October 1927).
Mr. Shawe had the distinction of holding the office of High Sheriff of Warwickshire* on two occasions: from 1892-1893 and from 1895-1896.
The influence of the Shawe family can still be seen today, and one of the principal roads of Weddington (ironically, built upon the site of Weddington Castle) is named ‘Shawe Avenue’. Indeed the first house in this avenue has the original stone crest from the Castle incorporated into its frontage to this day.
Shawe was married to Georgina Wilmot Shawe - second daughter of Sir William Nigel Gresley, of Netherseal Hall, Leicestershire - and had two sons (Henry Nigel Pole Shawe and Charles Shawe) and three daughters - Edith Mary Shawe (who married Colonel Francis Capel Manley), Eleanor Grace Shawe (who married Lt. Colonel Egerton Stanley Pipe Wolferston of the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment) and Laura Georgina Shawe, who died in 1875 aged just 9 years.
Charles Shawe, who was born on 15th November 1878 at Weddington Castle, had a brief career in first class cricket playing for the 'HDG Leveson-Gower's XI'. His first class career it seems, was limited to a single innings in 1919 with no runs, and two overs bowled at an average of 16 runs for no wicket. Charles was also a military man, who reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Rifle Brigade (a precursor of the Royal Green Jackets) and was later made a CBE***.
Charles moved away from the area and died in 9 February 1951 at The Hermitage, Witham Friary, Frome, Somerset aged 72 years and 86 days. It appears he spent some time in New Zealand, working at Government House there. Records show that he sailed out from Southampton with his Groom from Weddington Castle, Sergeant Sydney John Vine, on 13th November 1912. They arrived in Auckland just over a month later. The Evening Post, 17 December 1912 records: "Auckland, This Day. Passengers by the Makura included Captain Shaw (sic), A.D.C. who joins the Governor here; also the members of the Australian football team, which recently toured America."
Charles was obviously still in New Zealand in two years later as the Shipping Departures section of the Evening Post of 15 Jan 1914 record "January 14 - Wahine, s.s. (8 pm) foe Lyttelton. Passengers: Saloon" includes Captain Shaw (sic), Vine." Sergeant Vine was at this time listed as Captain Shawe's "chauffeur and manservant", although he enlisted in the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force during this year. You can read more about Sydney Vine here.
The altar base of nearby Statfold Chapel**, 3 miles North-East of Tamworth, carries a memorial plaque to the memory of "Eleanor Grace wife of Egerton Stanley Pipe Wolferstan Lieut. Col. S. Staffs. Regt. daughter of Henry Cunliffe Shawe of Weddington Hall Nuneaton d. 1925. Lieut. Col. Egerton Stanley Pipe Wolferstan 1st Batt. The S. Staffs Regt. d. 1937". Lt. Col. Wolferstan's medals are implanted into the plaque.
In 1889 Henry C. Shawe added Lower Farm to the Estate, purchasing it from Ebenezer Brown for £3,900. In 1891 a census was carried out which showed the Weddington population as 100 (up from 81 the previous decade). Inhabitants detailed include Henry Cunliffe Shawe at the Castle, Alfred French at the Grove, Charles Pendry at Gardener's Cottage, Henry Badger at the Lodge and David Blythe at the Wardens.
On the 3rd of August 1911 Henry Cunliffe Shawe died, leaving the Estate to his son, Henry Nigel Pole Shawe, who went to live in the Grove in 1912. It appears that Henry Shawe senior had been somewhat ill prior to his death, with the Tamworth Herald reporting a fall in the month prior to this. His obituary from the Herald on August 5th 1911 can be read here. You also read an account of his funeral from the Coventry Herald here.
An abstract of his will can be found in the Miscellanea section of this website. In 1916 a stained glass window dedicated to Henry Cunliffe Shawe was placed in St. James' Church.
His wife Georgina survived him by 16 years, dying in 1927 at the age of 88. You can read a local newspaper obituary of her here in column one (Lichfield Mercury Friday 21 October 1927).
Visiting card (carte de visite) of Mr Cunliffe Shawe from the 1870s using the albumin print technique. Each photograph was the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards were commonly traded among friends and visitors in the 1860/70s. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian parlours. (6.5x10.5cm)
Oval photograph of H. C. Shawe above from series of portraits (probably from the studios of Clare Speight, Nuneaton) of local worthies, taken to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. Image is (c) Nuneaton Civic Society & Nuneaton Local History Group.
* The Office of High Sheriff is at least 1,000 years old, having its roots in Saxon times before the Norman Conquest. It is the oldest continuous secular Office under the Crown. Originally the Office held many of the powers now vested in Lord Lieutenants, High Court Judges, Magistrates, Local Authorities, Coroners and even the Inland Revenue. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the Counties until the reign of Edward VII, when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord Lieutenant the prime Office under the Crown as the Sovereign's personal representative. Lord Lieutenants were created in 1547 for military duties in the Shires. The High Sheriff remains the Sovereign's representative in the County for all matters relating to the Judiciary and the maintenance of law and order. (source: High Sheriffs' Association of England & Wales (The Shrievalty Association)
** Statfold Chapel is in the grounds of Statfold Hall, which is still in the possession of the Wolferstan family, who succeeded to it through the marriage of Humphrey Wolferstan to Katherine, the Stanley heiress in 1565.
*** Commander of the British Empire (a chivalric honour bestowed by the British monarch).
* The Office of High Sheriff is at least 1,000 years old, having its roots in Saxon times before the Norman Conquest. It is the oldest continuous secular Office under the Crown. Originally the Office held many of the powers now vested in Lord Lieutenants, High Court Judges, Magistrates, Local Authorities, Coroners and even the Inland Revenue. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the Counties until the reign of Edward VII, when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord Lieutenant the prime Office under the Crown as the Sovereign's personal representative. Lord Lieutenants were created in 1547 for military duties in the Shires. The High Sheriff remains the Sovereign's representative in the County for all matters relating to the Judiciary and the maintenance of law and order. (source: High Sheriffs' Association of England & Wales (The Shrievalty Association)
** Statfold Chapel is in the grounds of Statfold Hall, which is still in the possession of the Wolferstan family, who succeeded to it through the marriage of Humphrey Wolferstan to Katherine, the Stanley heiress in 1565.
*** Commander of the British Empire (a chivalric honour bestowed by the British monarch).
