Nocton Hall - Revelations of an Imp - Chapter 11

Lord and Lady Ripon

Frederick John Robinson - Born 1.11.1782 - Died 28.1.1859
Lady Sarah Albinia Hobart - Born 22.2.1793 - Married 1.9.1814 - Died 9.4.1867

Lady Sarah Hobart was born the year before her parents went out to Madras at the time her father took up his appointment as Governor for this state in the south east of India. Madras was an important commercial port with a growing population centred on the East India Company's commercial initiative throughout eastern Asia. Sarah's mother found the heat oppressive and as time passed, her vitality languished. Slowly her health declined. Her thoughts and memories centred on the home of past years in Co. Cork. The cool breezes and refreshing rain of south west Ireland could have lifted her spirits but in Madras she succumbed steadily to the hot humidity. Margaretta desperately fought her private battle with her failing health, to look after her daughter and support her husband, but after three years, all was lost. She died in 1796 after the birth of her baby son John, who passed away just after his mother's death. Robert was left a widower with only Sarah to remind him of his lovely wife. Perhaps in this difficult time, his little daughter, although so young, developed the beginnings of her strong character which was to give her strength in the battle of life ahead.

Two years before her father's fatal accident in St. James's Park, Sarah married Frederick John Robinson on 1st September 1814, the second son of the Earl of Grantham. In 1815 Robert, the fourth Earl, became a proud grandfather when Sarah gave birth to a daughter, Eleanor Henrietta Victoria, on 22nd May. Their second child, a boy, born the following year, lived only two days.

Her husband was member of Parliament for Ripon and Joint Paymaster of the armed forces. Born in February 1782 he was 11 years older than Sarah. In high society and as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he had acquired the nickname of 'Prosperity Robinson'. Educated at Harrow and St. John's, Cambridge, his career in politics as a Tory moved rapidly up the ladder of success. When only 41, he went to No. 11 Downing Street, the post he held for four years. Tragedy once again struck Sarah, in 1826 their eleven years old daughter Eleanor died. On 28th April 1827 he became Viscount Goderich of Nocton. The title of Goderich descending from the Duke of Kent, through Jemima, his aunt, the countess of Grantham. In August of the same year, George IV offered him the Premiership.

In Lord Liverpool's administration of 15 years from 1812-1827, Frederick constantly held a senior cabinet post. It was, therefore, natural that the King, on George Canning's death, would call on Frederick to lead the government. Within six months, Goderich realised he could not command the full loyalty of his cabinet. The King's statements were an added embarrassment. Instead of giving the Prime Minister his full support, his remarks were publicly critical of the Tory party. The Duke of Wellington was at hand. A father figure of the nation, and who better than this famous soldier to take the Tory leadership into his safe keeping. Goderich recommended Wellington to the King as his successor. The Duke continued to lead the Tory party for the next three years. The most notable achievement and a unique first which will be remembered for all time, during the Premiership of Goderich was when Sarah, having conceived in No. 11, gave birth to their third child in No. 10 Downing Street on the 4th October. The nation rejoiced with the Prime Minister and his wife on the arrival of George Frederick Samuel Robinson who was to become one of our country's greats.

After the Viscount's resignation from office, he was created Earl of Ripon on 13th April 1833. He served in Sir Robert Peel's cabinet on the return of the Tory party to power and continued in politics until 1847 when he withdrew from public life during the Whig Premiership of Lord John Russell.

Sarah and Frederick had a devoted love for Nocton which she had inherited on her father's death as his only surviving child. The management of the estate and welfare of the villagers in Nocton and Dunston created several problems. The first being the little Church built by her grandfather. St. Peter's in Nocton required major modifications and maintenance. The Robinsons ordered the work to go ahead and was paid for by the villagers and tenants with a large donation from the Hall.

Secondly, the Fen, always a farming problem, had further drainage difficulties. The old wind engine was replaced with a steam engine costing £4,000, against strong opposition from different authorities who doubted the Witham banks would withstand the force of water ejected by a more efficient method of drainage.

Nocton's Mill, between the village and the Sleaford Road, was burnt down in 1833. A further fire in the village alerted the Earl's steward who then doubted whether these disasters were the result of accidents. The Earl ordered a fire engine of the latest design to safeguard the estate property in the future.

The House of Commons was burnt down in the disastrous fire of 16.10.1834. The same year, on 15th July at 9 o'clock on a Tuesday evening, Richard Semper with other estate craftsmen were walking up from Nocton Fen when, in the failing light, they saw flames licking out from under the eves on the Hall roof. Nocton Hall was ablaze. Not a single man on the estate failed to turn up and lend a helping hand in a vain battle to save this magnificent building.

The new fire engine proved useless. The fire spread as lead and straw in the roof formed a volatile mix to accelerate the spread of flames. It was soon clear that nothing could save the Hall and every attempt must be made to get out the contents. A salvage operation was immediately mounted and with considerable risk, the fire fighters carried out the major part of the Hall's furnishings including pictures, tables and a chest which contained the toys of Lady Eleanor, the only daughter of the Earl and Countess, who had died so young only a few years before. All the books, a quantity of wine, bed linen and blankets were passed by a human chain away from destruction. 150 years later, the same blankets saved from the fire are still in use. What a testimony to the quality of Lincolnshire longwool ewe that after so long, the wool can still provide comfort to human beings!

Was the Nocton Hall fire an isolated disaster? Was there somebody who was hell bent on the destruction of the House of Commons as well as Nocton Hall?

The Tory party had passed the Poor Law Amendment Act, a measure to tighten up Government expenditure which even in 1834 was necessary to balance the nation's budget. In Dorset, a quiet country area of southern England, the farm workers were striving for an improvement in their way of life, but the now famous group 'The Tolpuddle Martyrs' were harshly victimised to discourage a working class revolt that might get out of hand. Could these events have a connection with the Nocton Fire?

In politics an individual in high office and a faithful servant of our country can become the target of vengeance for a vindictive 'nut case'. Such a person may be prepared to destroy the structural heritage of a democratic nation, in a mean effort to satisfy a personal hatred. Such an imaginative obsession grips the mind of a man or woman and there is no easy way of knowing when a government action can trigger a human reaction that ends in disaster to both property and person that are hurtful and callous.

The Nocton Hall fire was extinguished 15 hours after the flames had been seen and only a small part of the north wing remained intact. This part was later joined to the new Hall as a lasting memory of the original Manor building which dated back to the early centuries. It was also an ancestral link between two historical families in the Earl's heritage.

A certain Metcalf Robinson, created Baronet in 1661, united D'Arcy to Robinson on his marriage to the daughter of Sir William D'Arcy of Witton Castle, Co. Durham. Nocton had completed the link to join the ancestry of the D'Arcys with the present owners.

Sarah felt the loss of her home deeply, so with their young son, only 7 years old, they all moved to a house on the Branston estate to remain near the burnt out home. Plans were slowly formulated for the restoration of their property. Priceless antique furniture had been scorched or severely damaged - pictures destroyed or stained. The salvage work was enormous, but everybody, including tenants on the estate, set to with total dedication to restore the contents of the Hall.

The Noble family, with their special skills in woodwork, took on the repairs to the furniture which had been distributed in vacant dry barns until required for skilled surgery by cannibalising undamaged wood from burnt furniture and repairing the slightly damaged pieces.

A full inventory was completed and the responsibility of restoration designated to specialists in the village and in Lincoln who would undertake the repairs.

Sarah was a born administrator and only a few weeks after the fire, the estate knew it was only a matter of time before a new Hall would again stand in the park to house the contents now scattered around the barns on the estate. Henry Lewis, Sarah's uncle and Vicar of Nocton, lent his full weight to encourage and rebuild the family home. What an inspiration the Dean's sympathy and deep understanding were to everybody and not least, to his dear niece who had now suffered so much with the death of two children and the loss of her family home.

Sir George Gilbert Scott, the famous Victorian architect, one of Sarah's close friends, graciously offered his services free and acted as an adviser to William Sherbourne of Dorking, the son of an estate carpenter, in designing the present Hall.

There were still problems to overcome before the new Hall could be built, but the tenants offered as an inducement to get the work underway, the haulage of all materials as well as assistance in the actual construction of the new building. The greater part of the stone for the Hall came from the estate quarry close to the Lincoln-Sleaford Road, but the principals were of a harder and more durable quality from a stone supply near Ancaster. On 26th October 1841, just seven years after the destructive fire, Frederick and Sarah's son, George, at the age of 14, laid the foundation stone on the north side bearing the inscription of essential facts relating to past history. The new Hall, seen in all its glory, is a fitting tribute to George Gilbert Scott. His countryhouse masterpiece.

In gratitude for help and sympathy given from the estate and tenants after the loss of the Hall, Lord and Lady Ripon set about rebuilding almost the entire village of Nocton. In 1862, the Countess pulled down the 18th century Church of St. Peter. It was far from compatible with the new Hall and in token of Sir George Gilbert Scott's past generosity, she commissioned him to design and supervise the construction of the new All Saints. This beautiful village Church in a unique country setting is now regarded as one of the finest modern churches, not only in Lincolnshire, but in Great Britain. The steeple towering into the heavens acclaims its presence to those who wish to visit such a marvellous and sacred holy building. When you walk down the footpath to All Saints, a feeling of awe lifts one's eye to the heavens. The spire points your vision to the sky and on entry to the Church, a feeling of peace descends to give fulfilment to your soul.

All Saints was consecrated by Bishop Jackson 16th December 1862 and Lady Ripon, through her resolve, had made a consecrated home the last resting place for her husband who died on 28th January 1859 a fitting Church for a Prime Minister.

The Countess outlived Frederick by eight years. Beloved Sarah, to whom Nocton owes so much, died on 9th April 1867. Not only was the Poor House rebuilt by her generosity, but many of the present homes in the village. Their construction in Nocton stone was always in character. The rows of houses and cottages blended with the surrounds, giving the village a gentle appearance when softened with views of hardwood trees standing proudly at the sides of the roadways.

Towards the Church and old school, Lady Ripon left ample space for lawns broken by footpaths leading to the houses and school. Steddles were placed at regular intervals to protect the grass from wagons rutting the lawn with their wheels and confine transport to the roadway which leads down to the Church and vicarage.

According to the season of the year, much of the churchyard and surrounds glory in large carpets of snowdrops, followed as the year unfolds by a massive display of wild daffodils. In the eye of a small child seen looking at nature's spring beauty, enhanced by the care of man, gives this part of Nocton Village a glimpse of their 'Garden of Eden'.

The Countess regarded the village with the same critical eye that influenced her work in developing the natural charm of the park and flower borders surrounding the Hall. She set the highest standard with the result that everybody tended and cared for their own gardens with equal enthusiasm. An air of friendly competition prevailed that made Nocton one of the most lovely villages in Lincolnshire. Today, this spirit lives on and the gardens are just as beautiful.

When Lady Sarah Ripon died, the estate lost a gallant and courageous friend. In her will, she placed on record her love for her home and people who had stood affectionately and firmly with her in times of adversity. She declared her interest in the future, now in the hands of her son George.
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