It's 1895 and a writer diligently records the legend of a 'phantom' at Tadley Place in Hampshire, belief in which is, he says, 'universal amongst the peasantry of the neighbourhood'. Villagers tell stories of the random and violent opening and shutting of doors and windows, 'unearthly' sounds and a group of phantom mourners at a spectral funeral at St Peter's Church, that quickly vanishes on sight.
The source of all these unusual events was believed to have been the imposing figure in life of Sir Henry Ludlow, a man whose trace in the historical record only serves to underline the legend of his fearful and tempestuous character in death.
The Ludlows were prominent royal servants during the medieval period, and had acquired the village of Tadley through the marriage of William Ludlow and Jane More in the early sixteenth century. The estate, in which the considerable building of Tadley Place was the family's residence, passed through various heirs and ended up in the hands of Sir Henry Ludlow, born in 1577.
As expected for a young heir to a wealthy and established family, Henry embarked on a formal education at the University of Oxford, graduating there at around the age of fourteen in October 1591. He had a large family of siblings and half-siblings. His father Edmund first married Bridget Coker and they had three sons (including Henry) and seven daughters. After his second marriage to Margaret Manning he fathered a further four sons, one of whom, Edmund, was killed during the Siege of Corfe Castle during the English Civil War. Later, one of Henry's descendants would take the Parliamentarian side of the war against Charles I and the Royalists, voting for the execution of the king in 1649.
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| Frans Hals, Merrymakers at Shrovetide, 1616-1617, Metropolitan Museum of Art (no portrait of Sir Henry exists so this one of the period is added for context) |
He was also associated with a flagrant display of disrespect, when he farted loudly in a display of arrogance during a meeting of Parliament. The episode inspired a comedic poem, The Fart Censured in the Parliament House, where in reaction to a speech made by Sir John Crook, 'Harry Ludlow's foysting Arse cry'd no'. The poem pokes fun at the event, detailing each MP's reaction in turn, but it ultimately showed a disregard for authority and his fellow council.
In December 1630 Henry was in trouble with the courts over a payment he had previously been ordered to settle. His son Edmund and Edmund's wife Elizabeth had petitioned the council in January of that year for Henry to pay an annuity to Henry's mother-in-law Dame Margaret Ludlow. The court, after consideration, believed that he should pay up. In November, Elizabeth and Edmund appealed to the Hampshire Assize, stating that Henry had still not paid, and that Edmund was now imprisoned as a result of the debt and Elizabeth 'is in much distress'. Despite Edmund languishing in prison, Henry chose not to acknowledge the council's order until 26 July 1632, when he sent £75 towards the outstanding debt of over £200, telling them that he had previously offered Edmund £25 but the couple had refused it, saying they didn't want the money 'unless they have all'. Henry pointedly told the commissioners that 'if they had followed his directions', they could have 'compounded most of the debts for which he is prisoner'.
On 14 November 1634 he was under scrutiny again, this time for 'misdemeanours and oppression', charges brought against him by Tadley residents. They accused Henry of withholding wages, causing them to incur further costs travelling to London to seek help from the council. When anyone approached Henry, they were met with 'reviling and threatening words', along with taunts that he would employ people to lie against them in court. This wasn't Henry's only brush with perjury, the residents pointing out helpfully that he had already been fined £500 for 'subornation of perjury' in 1606 during the reign of James I. He also pulled down, presumably without permission, 'ten or twelve houses in Tadley and Pamber', including one named Church House, the rents for which were used to keep the twelfth century Norman church in good repair. The following day, the case was heard in the Star Chamber at Westminster, and Henry was ordered to pay the residents their debts, plus their travel expenses, although some of their more 'doubtful' claims remained pending until 'further proof' was provided.
I can find no trace of these payments being fully settled, but in any case, Elizabeth Merryweather was still not satisfied seven months later. She petitioned the council on behalf of money owed to her now dead husband Stephen on 7 June 1635. The council ordered Henry to appear on 25 June for a hearing and to settle the dispute. However, Henry wrote to say that he had urgent business to attend to in Wiltshire, because his clerk there, Luke Simpson, was near death and he had to reach him in time to settle his own affairs before he died. The clerk of the court, Thomas Willis, suspected this was a lie, although Simpson had actually written to Henry telling him that he was very ill and didn't expect to live. In any case, Henry's reputation preceded him, and his actions were called publicly into doubt, to the horror of both Henry and Simpson, who wrote to the council to soothe doubts over his reputation. Simpson, who had now recovered, gave his own version of events, but the matter was still unresolved in February 1636. In 1639 Henry wrote to Thomas Willis, telling him that he was still refusing to pay Elizabeth's money, and that 'if I owed these people anything they should not need to trouble anybody to seek after their own, but the opinion that they have that they may obtain anything they demand of me has put them on to attempt this by the assistance of one Diggs, who is a stranger to me'. Painting himself as the victim of a conspiracy to extract money out of 'greedy' villagers didn't work, and the council, once again, ordered him to pay up. However before Henry could settle any of his outstanding legal or financial business (or continue to dodge demands) he died, just a few months later. His son Edmund inherited his estates at Tadley and conveyed them in 1641 to a member of the well-known Reading-based family, Joseph Blagrave.
Henry Ludlow's trace in the sources shows that he was a hostile land owner and resident, safe in his luxurious mansion while villagers petitioned for debts owed to them. He had no regard for authority, was stubborn to the end and many would have dreaded having to deal with him. However he is one of the often-forgotten characters of the Elizabethan and Stuart periods, and his story shows how self-importance and hostility could affect others. He impacted residents that depended on income for their livelihood and to feed their families, and forever changed the landscape of Tadley by demolishing buildings which were never rebuilt, close to the ancient St Peter's Church. Even worse, modern historians believe that these buildings may have been traces of the old medieval settlement that initially sprang up around the church, now lost forever, the site today documented as a Deserted Medieval Village.
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The era that Henry and the residents of Tadley lived through was one of immense change, and I explore the period in my third book Power Couples of the Renaissance. It features relationship dynamics that went against accepted norms of the period and power-hungry couples who ruled, fought and spread the patronage of art, science and culture across the globe during one of the most tumultuous periods of history. Find it on the Pen and Sword Books website.
Sources:
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, edited by William Page, F.S.A. A History of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Volume 4. 1900, p220.
Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club, edited by Walter Money, F.S.A. Volume 4. Northbrook Street, Newbury 1895.
The Muses Recreation, Volume 1, John Camden, 1874.
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