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Interesting memorial

One of the most intriguing memorial plaques in the church of St. Lawrence in Castle Rising is in memory of Isabella Parry who died in 1836 aged six. She was interred in a vault near to the memorial tablet. There is little to known about her short life but there is a great deal known about her father, Captain Sir William Edward Parry R.N. He was born in 1790, joined the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen and went on to become one of Britain' most renowned Arctic explorers. He commanded several expeditions trying to discover a Northwest passage and was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society in 1821. He married Isabella Louisa Stanley, the mother of the child commemorated in this tablet, in 1826. He was knighted in 1829. After returning from a four year spell in Australia in 1834 he was appointed assistant commissioner for the county of Norfok under the new Poor Law Amendment Act. He remained in that post until ill health caused him to resign in 1836. It was during his time as assistant commissioner that his daughter Isabella died and was interred in Castle Risinrg church. His later other appointments included Captain Superintendent of Haslar Naval Hospital and Governor of Greenwich Hospital. He attained the rank of Rear-Admiral in 1882. He travelled to the spa town of Emms in Germany to undergo treatment for health problems but died there died in 1855.His body was returned to England and was interred in the mausoleum ay Greenwich Hospital

The circumstances surrounding Isabella's death and internment in Castle Rising is a subject for further research.

The Parliamentary Borough of Castle Rising. 1558 - 1832

Castle Rising had a mayor as early as 1275 and as borough was entiled to send two MPs to Parliament but it was not until Howard the IV Duke of Norfolk inherited the Manor in 1588 that the first elections were held . The first two MPs were Sir Nicholas L'Strange, a member of the Duke's household and Sir John Radcliffe, a relative by marriage.

Elections in those days were very public affairs with the electors having to openly declare their choice. Secret ballots were not introduced until 1872. For many years the candidates were effectively chosen by the lord of the manor, and thus the result was a foregone conclusion.It was not until the latter years of the 17th century that the status quo was challenged by the Walpoles who had bought up sufficient burgesses i.e. properties, in the parish to enable them to challengr the Howards monopoply. Thereafter the two seats were shared by the Howards and the Walpoles . Contested elections were very rare and in the case of Castle Rising only occurred twice. One of the occasions was when Samuel Pepys stood for election. He did win the seat. In 1832 The Great Reform Act was passed, after many setbacks, by Parliament. It resulted in 56 Pocket and Rotten Boroughs being disenfranchised. Castle Rising was one of them.

Coincidence

Sir John Trevor (1637-1717) MP for Castle Rising

Recently, because of news of the decision of parliament to ask the Speaker of the House, Michael Martin to step down, attention has been drawn by the media to the previous occasion when a similar momentous and historic decision had been taken. It was more than 300 years ago when the then speaker Sir John Trevor had been found guilty 'of a high crime and misdemeanour' namely taking a bribe of one thousand guineas from the London Council to ensure passage of a bill through the Houses of Parliament. This occurred in 1695. When I saw the name Sir John Trevor in the press, it rang a bell and I therefore looked in the list which the Castle Rising History Group had prepared documenting MPs who had represented the Pocket Borough of Castle Rising. In the parliament of 1673-1677, the so-called "Cavalier" Parliament, Castle Rising Borough was in the "pocket" of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, who among his various titles was also Lord of the Manor of Castle Rising from 1652-1677. The two members representing the Borough in the Cavalier Parliament were Sir John Trevor and Samuel Pepys. The Dictionary of National Biography reports that Sir John (he was knighted in 1671 by ingratiating himself to Charles II) had acquired the seat at Castle Rising for £60. His involvement with Castle Rising was short lived and there is no evidence that he ever visited the Borough. In the next Parliament he represented another Pocket Borough Bene Alston in Devon. A Welshman, he finally represented his own region in 1681 by becoming representative for the county of Denbighshire, where he had been born. Trained at the Inner Temple, he was called to the Bar in 1661 at the early age of 24. He became an expert in handling gambling transactions and appeared to concentrate on seamier aspects of the law. He appears to have been good at his profession and advanced rapidly, becoming a King’s counsel in 1673. He was a Tory, anti-Catholic and giving strong support to the monarchy.In physical appearance he was strongly cross-eyed, which gave members of parliament problems in "catching his eye"Michael Martin may be interested in knowing that Sir John continued to have a successful career in politics after his embarrassments in the House of Commons in 1695. He died at the age of 80 with a wealth estimated at £60,000, an enormous sum in those days.

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