The homicidal Earl : the life of Lord Cardigan

356 Pages·1997·4.02 MB·English

by  David Saul

Table of Contents
Contents
Prologue
1 - A Chequered History
2 - Early Promise
3 - Mrs Johnstone
4 - The Arch-Conservative
5 - Court-Martial
6 - A Change of Fortune
7 - The ‘Black Bottle Affair’
8 - Intent to Murder
9 - ‘Plague-spot of the Army’
10 – Criminal Conversation
11 - The Sick Man of Europe
12 - Off to War
13 - Crimea
14 - ‘Charge!’
15 - ‘See! The Conquering Hero Comes!’
16 - ‘Was Lord Cardigan a Hero?’
17 - One Last Scandal
The Homicidal Earl

The Life of Lord Cardigan

Saul David

Little, Brown and Company

First published in Great Britain by Little, Brown and Company 1997
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0 316 64165 0
Little, Brown and Company (UK) Brettenham House Lancaster Place London
WC2E 7EN

To Juliet

Contents
Acknowledgements
Maps
Prologue
1 A Chequered History
2 Early Promise
3 Mrs Johnstone
4 The Arch-Conservative
5 Court-Martial
6 A Change of Fortune
7 The ‘Black Bottle Affair’
7 The ‘Black Bottle Affair’
8 Intent to Murder
9 Plague-spot of the Army
10Criminal Conversation
11The Sick Man of Europe
12Off to War
13Crimea
14‘Charge!’
15‘See! The Conquering Hero Comes!’
16‘Was Lord Cardigan a Hero?’
17One Last Scandal

Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I must thank Mr Edmund Brudenell and the Honourable Mrs
Marian Brudenell of Deene Park for their kind hospitality and permission both to
reproduce family paintings and to quote from the family papers in the
Northampton Record Office. Without their cooperation, this book could not have
been written.
I would also like to thank Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for permission to
quote from the Royal Archives; the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland
for permission to quote from the Brown Papers; the Trustees of the British
Library for permission to quote from the Peel Papers; the Trustees of the
National Army Museum for permission to quote from the Blunt, Forrest,
Harrowby and Raglan Papers; and Wiltshire Record Office for permission to
quote from the Ailesbury Papers.
During the course of my research I wrote to and visited many institutions. The
following individuals were particularly helpful and I am grateful; Lady de
Bellaigue, Registrar of the Royal Archives; Dr Peter Boyden, Head of the
Department of Archives, Photographs, Film and Sound at the National Army
Museum; Judith Curthoys, Assistant Archivist, Christ Church, Oxford; Alasdair
Hawkyard, Archivist, and Mr P.D. Hunter, Librarian, at Harrow School; Mrs
Hawkyard, Archivist, and Mr P.D. Hunter, Librarian, at Harrow School; Mrs
J.M. Johnston, Archivist, Wiltshire Record Office; Julian Russell, Research
Assistant at the National Library of Scotland; Colonel Robin Merton,
Regimental Secretary of the King’s Royal Hussars; Rachel Watson, County
Archivist, Northamptonshire Record Office; Dr C.M. Woolgar, Archivist and
Head of Special Collections, University of Southampton.
I must also acknowledge the help given to me by the Marquess of Anglesey,
Viscount Colville, and the staffs of the British Library, the Cardiff Central
Library and Monmouth Library.
Finally, I would like to thank three people who have been behind this project
(almost!) every step of the way. Julian Alexander, my literary agent, for
convincing me that it would sell; Richard Beswick, my editor at Little, Brown,
for proving Julian right and for much useful advice besides; Louise, my wife, for
indulging my choice of a somewhat precarious career.