Lucy’s Brothers, Alexander, William and Francis

William Copland (1798-1836)

Francis Copland (1801-1848)

“Frank”, as he was known in the family seems more unconventional than his two older brothers, with an artistic side to him that appears in one of his miniatures, where he is depicted as a theatrical Moliere, and with a skill in painting as is shown in a number of his works in Lucy’s scrapbook. After his initial education at Eton, he studied for three years as an apprentice architect in the office of Professor John Soane, one of the most inventive Neo-Classical architects of his time who, having started life as a bricklayer’s son, was knighted for his architectural services in 1831 . At the age of 17, whilst still a student, he assisted his father in designing a thatched cottage orné of 1818 built on his Langham estate in Norfolk in the “Elizabethan style”.

Whether he lost interest or just was not cut out to be an architect we do not know but ultimately he chose a military career, a common occupation for the younger son of a landed gentleman. He asked his father for an advance of £6,000 (probably in the region of £521,400 today) to purchase a commission in the Queen’s Bays, a Regiment he remained with for the rest of his life, reaching the rank of Lt Colonel. Like his brother William he was unmarried at the time of his untimely death on 19th May 1848 at the age of 47.

We can only surmise that Frank’s career in the Queen’s Bays provided an opportunity for Lucy to meet a fellow officer in the same Regiment, Major Frederick Charles Griffiths, who she married on 25th July 1838.

Alexander Copland (1797-1845)

The eldest son of Alexander and Lucy, “Alex”, as he was known in the family, was born on 8th March 1797. He was educated at Eton and, we learn from Lucy’s diaries, he frequently accompanied his father when meeting his father’s business associates, bankers and aristocratic connections. In 1820 his father sent him off on an unusually comprehensive European tour that was completed in 1822. On 3rd May 1826 he was married to Maria Ursula, the youngest daughter of George Garland of Stowe, Wimborne Minster, High Sheriff of Dorset and sometime M.P. for Poole and his wife Amy Lester of Poole. His father Alexander gave a grand reception for 350 guests at the wedding and settled on him the sum of £300 a year (£26,070 today). Their daughter Maria Lucy was soon born - on 16th March 1827 - and a second daughter, Amy Ursula, followed two years later, on 23rd June 1829. A son, Alexander Lester, was born on 23rd December 1831.

Maria Lucy Copland: Maria’s was an unhappy marriage and, rare for the times, she secured a divorce after 17 years, remarrying the following year in 1861. She died on 11 January 1875.

Alexander Lester Copland: Alexander married Rowena Ronald in 1860 but died on 23rd February 1869 without having born a direct heir. His widow Rowena remarried and had children of her own but this left his sister, Amy Ursula, the sole heir to his estate.

Amy Ursula Caillard, formerly Hanham, née Copland (23 June 1829 - 14 January 1909): On 11 August 1853 Amy Ursula married Captain John Hanham of Deans Court, Wimborne, the 4th son of the Rev James Hanham and 7th Baronet.

In spite of having survived some of the bloodiest battles of the Anglo—Sikh war in the 1840’s, John was shot at Preston by a disgruntled 18 year old private named McCafferey from a barracks window. John Hanham was not the only one to die from the one bullet- the commanding officer, Colonel Hugh Crofton was hit first and killed almost immediately but the bullet travelled right through him and lodged in John Hanham’s lung. John died in agony two days later, on 16 September 1861 with Amy Ursula beside him throughout his torment. Her touching letter to their two sons (John Alexander, 9th Baronet; Phelips Brooke) and two daughters (Amy; Eliza Frances), remains in the Hanham family archives. She married again, on 17th August 1872, Camille Felix Desiree Caillard, a Wiltshire County Court judge of Wingfield House, near Trowbridge, by whom she had a son (William Maurice Du Quesne).

John Alexander Hanham, 9th Baronet: John, born 5 July 1854, succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his uncle, William, who died 27 March 1877 without an heir. His marriage to Hon. Cordelia Lucy Lopes, 2nd daughter of 1st Baron Ludlow of Heywood, was to bring into the world two sons and one daughter, John Ludlow Hanham, 10th baronet (1898-1955), Henry Phelips Hanham (1901-1973), 11th baronet and Cordelia Amy Maud (died February 1974), but none of their children were to have children. John died on 21 February 1911.

Phelips Brooke Hanham: Phelips, born on 27 March 1858, married Gertrude Frances Paget on 9 September 1884. They had three sons and two daughters, Richard John Phelips who died aged 5, Esmond Henry Paget (1887-1954), who had no heirs, Patrick John Hanham (1893-1965) who had one son, Michael William Hanham, 12th baronet, Amy (1855-1945) who married Duncan William Hume Skrine and had children, and Eliza Frances (1859-1926) who married Sir Vincent Henry Penalver Caillard and had a son and a daughter. Phelips, a Colonel in the Royal Artillery, died 20 February 1917 of illness contracted during the Great War.

Michael William Hanham, 12th Baronet: Michael, born on 31 October 1922, inherited the title from his cousin, Henry Phelips Hanham, in 1973 and later became lifetime tenant of the family estate, Deans Court, Wimborne Minster. He married Margaret Jane Thomas on 27 February 1954.

Michael and Jane had two children, Victoria Jane and William John Edward. Victoria married David L Gross and they have two children, Hugo Augustus William and Dulcie Harriet Jane. Michael died on 30 May 2009, when his son William succeeded to the baronetcy as the current 13th baronet.

Amy Hanham married Duncan William Hume Skrine in 1875 and had three sons and two daughters, Alexander Duncan (father to Ralph Lambert Duncan and Joan Elizabeth), Ralph Hanham, Arthur Wallace, Catherine Ursula and Amy Edith.

Eliza Frances Hanham ( Lily)

Amy Ursula’s youngest daughter, Eliza Frances, who was born on 15th September 1859, married her stepfather’s eldest son, Vincent Henry Penalver Caillard on 16th June 1881.

Lily and Vincent took over responsibility for Wingfield House, the seat of the Caillard family, after the death of her father in law Judge Caillard in 1898. Although he spent a fortune creating gardens and updating the house with a music room to satisfy his passion for organ music, his business and international political interests often led to long absences. Their two children, Bernard Langton Penalver born on 11 May 1882 and Emma Esmah Magdalen born in 1890 spent their early years in Constantinople.

Vincent was knighted in 1896 and received several Ottoman honours for his work as a financier and President of the Ottoman Debt Council representing England, Holland and Belgium in Constantinople , but his interest in engineering led to him chairing Vickers, which constructed ships and aircraft, and along with questionable dealings in the Arms Trade with characters like Sir Basil Zaharoff, godfather to his grand daughter Mary, he has been credited for ensuring Britain had access to armaments at the start of and during the Great War. During the war Lily turned Wingfield House into a Red Cross Hospital for wounded soldiers, opening the “Sunshine Ward” in 1914 for the first influx of Belgian soldiers at the start of the war. As Commandant of the hospital, with her daughter Esmah at her side and accompanied by visiting Copland-Griffiths nieces offering their services, she had a steady flow through of soldiers who were regularly entertained in Vincent’s Music Room, with stage plays and visiting singers often accompanied by the magnificent organ that now lives in Wingfield Church. Lily received the O.B.E. in 1918 for her services at the hospital and Dame of Grace of the Order of St John.

Bernard Langton Penalver Caillard: Born on 11 May 1882 to Sir Vincent and Lily Caillard, Bernard and his sister Esmah spent their early years in Constantinople where their father was acting as a diplomat and financier to the Ottoman Empire representing Britain, Holland and Belgium and he became fluent in Turkish and Arabic.

He married Hylda Blagrove Paton on 14 July 1913 and they had one daughter, Margaret Frances the following year. He inherited the family Wingfield estate at the death of his father on 18 March 1930 and moved into Wingfield House that year. It was not a happy time and their daughter died on 10 April 1935. This prompted them to move to a smaller property on the estate, Trowle House, and Wingfield House was let to a school for disadvantaged children to teach them trades and life skills. When Hylda died tragically on 22 August 1949 Bernard sold the Wingfield estate to a developer. Trowle House and its associated land was later sold by the developer to the husband of his niece, Charles Copland-Griffiths. Bernard remarried Evelyn, sister of his late wife. They survived the sinking of the cruise ship TSMS Lakonia off the coast of Madeira on 22 December 1963 when 128 lives were lost and, at the age of 81, Bernard took the oars of the lifeboat when he and a retired army officer were found to be the only two persons on board who could row, having learned to row at Eton in his youth. Bernard died in 1966.

Emma Esmah Magdalen Fry, née Caillard: Esmah married Capt Harold Fry on 31 July 1919. With a beautiful baritone voice, Harold had visited Wingfield House Hospital to entertain the staff and patients. Intentionally leaving his music behind he had the ideal opportunity to revisit and strike up a closer relationship with Esmah.

Their only daughter, Mary Esmah Elizabeth Fry followed. With a father “in trade” (a ship owner), Harold never felt fully accepted by the Caillard family who liked to vaunt their aristocratic origins, some of which may have been a little over-exaggerated. The marriage was probably made easier for the family as Esmah had been kept in quarantine with a soldier and “nature had taken its course”. Shipped off to London, ostensibly to work here as a nurse, she gave birth to a daughter, Rosemary, who was adopted through the intervention of her cousin Trickie (Marie) Copland-Griffiths by Sir Douglas and Lady Aimée Dawson. Marrying Lt General Vernon Forbes Erskine Crum, Rosemary had one son, Douglas, who with his wife Jacqueline have three children, Henry, Lily and Grace. Bankrupted during the economic crash of the late 1920s, Esmah and Harold set up an exclusive chocolate shop in Newbury which they ran until her untimely death from cancer in 1942.

Mary Fry: married her 2nd cousin Frederick Charles Brandling Copland-Griffiths on 14th April 1944. Her husband Charles’s Great-Grandmother was our diarist, Lucy, so their children, Michael and Alexandra, share descent from Lucy’s father, Alexander Copland, through both Mary and Charles (see Lucy’s son and descendants).