Lord Ernest McDonnell Vane Tempest (1836-85), was born February 29, 1836, the son of Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry & Lady Frances Anne Emily who was the daughter of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest & Anne Katherine MacDonnell, Countess of Antrim. (1)
He was first commissioned into the 57th Foot, November 11 1853, and was then transferred first to the 2nd Life Guards on April 21, 1854 and then on October 8, 1855 to the 4th Lt Dragons.
His connection with "our war" was slight since he joined the regiment in Turkey on January 14, 1856 and embarked for home on May 3, 1856 aboard HMS Assistance, but he was a part of the army sent out in 1854 (albeit during its final months of existence) and warrants a place in British Officers. (2)
Five months later this entry appeared in The London Gazette, October 17, 1856:
MEMORANDUM
Cornets Lord Ernest Vane Tempest and William J. Birt, of the 4th Light Dragoons, are dismissed from Her Majesty's Army, in consequence of conduct unbecoming Officers and Gentlemen, and subversive of good order and military discipline, as reported to Her Majesty by His Royal Highness the General Commanding-in-Chief. - Dated 17th October, 1856. (3)
But what did they actually do?
This was for their bullying of Cornet Thomas H. Ames and a particular incident at Brighton on September 21, 1856 which fully reported in The Times, on October 9, 13, 17, 18, 1856. Vane Tempest had already been convicted by magistrates of another assault a year earlier.
[PB: Add info about the 1855 assault.]
The story starts with an account in The Times on October 9, 1856:
THE 4TH LIGHT DRAGOONS. A correspondent sends us (Brighton Herald) the following "particulars of the freaks indulged in by the officers of our army," which he says have come to his knowledge:
"The first case was that of a young officer who, in consequence of not joining in the extravagance of his companions in arms, was forcibly placed in a chair, a napkin tied tightly round his chin, and in that position he was fed with pap, and, on resisting, he was slapped behind and treated in every respect like an infant. Another victim, who refused to join the mess, went to bed at a reasonable hour, and feeling satisfied that his rest would be disturbed he took the Precaution to barricade his bedroom door. But that did not avail, for about midnight his persecutors went upstairs, broke in the panels of the door, and forced themselves into the room. They then, as we are informed, forcibly placed him under or in a fountain, with nothing on but his shirt, thus giving' him a cold bath.
Another young officer they wanted to get rid of but found in him a very troublesome customer. So, in order to ridicule him, they procured an effigy, dressed it in the young officer's clothes, and then suspended the figure from a dome in the barracks."
A report (says the Sussex Express) has been for some days current that some disgraceful proceedings had taken place among the officers at the barracks, and the following particulars are given as facts, but they are not absolutely to be relied on. It appears that recently a gentleman has joined the regiment as cornet, named Aimes, the son, we believe, of a clergyman, and who, from either having no taste for practical joking or joining his fellow-officers in what they might term innocent freaks of fancy, or from the circumstance of not wishing to run himself into unnecessary extravagance, has been subjected to repeated annoyances, which he has borne with tolerable patience.
A few nights since, however, these annoyances reached their climax, for it is reported that a party of his comrades in arms set upon him by force, and, we suppose from what followed, incapacitated him by numbers from making resistance. They denuded one side of his face of his whiskers and moustaches, broke his furniture, damaged his clothes, and, we hear, took his bed and put it into a quantity of water, for the purpose, as they alleged, of seeing whether it would float or not. From the difficulty of ascertaining minute details where considerable secrecy is observed, we cannot at present more than state the above general and cursory particulars, which have come to our knowledge through several sources.
Suffice it to say, in consequence of a certain report to the Horse Guards on Monday last, General Lawrenson, the general of brigade, came down to Brighton, and the following officers were ordered under close arrest: viz., Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, Captain Burt, and Cornet Winstanley, and their swords taken from them. One or two others, who either aided or countenanced the affair, it is said, have slipped themselves out of it. The whole matter, however, will of course undergo strict investigation, and we hope that the parties implicated will receive such measure of punishment as is their due. Upon inquiry yesterday we learnt that a court-martial is to be held on Monday to examine into the matter. (4)
The story appears next in The Times, on October 13, 1856:
The Military Fracas at Brighton. It was stated in our impression of Thursday, on the authority of two local newspapers, that a series of "freaks," as they were mildly termed, had of late been practised by certain of the officers of the 4th or Queen's Own Regiment of Light Dragoons, now stationed at Brighton, on, some of their own number, and particularly upon one Cornet Ames, which had resulted in a report to the Horse Guards, a special inquiry into the circumstances by General Lawrenson, the General commanding the brigade of which the regiment forms part, and the close arrest of three officers - namely, Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, Cornet Birt, and Lieutenant Winstanley, preparatory, as it is supposed, to a court-martial.
The account in question was in several respects imperfect, and we are now in a position to throw additional light upon the whole transaction, so far at least as regards the outrage upon Cornet Ames, for outrage it undoubtedly was, if the attendant circumstances are capable of being established in evidence, which led immediately to the official inquiry before General Lawrenson. Lord Ernest Vane, one of the officers implicated in the affair, is already known to fame in connection with a serious assault he committed just about a year ago upon the manager of the Windsor Theatre, for which he was fined 5l before the local magistrates, and had afterwards to pay 25l in damages in an action of trespass tried in the Court of Queen's Bench, arising out of the same transaction.
Mr. Thomas Harling Ames, the cornet on whom the "freak" in question so-called was practised, is about 22 years of age, and the son of an independent gentleman - not of a clergyman, as was erroneously stated, residing in the neighbourhood of the Regent's Park, London. He only joined the Regiment so recently as the 13th of August last, and, almost from the very day he did so, he has been subjected to a continual series of "practical jokes", as they are designated in common parlance. These he bore good - humouredly for the most part, and to show that he was not wanting in esprit de corps it may be stated that on one or two occasions when he entered his room, and unexpectedly found some of his brother officers there-at present it does not appear whom, taking liberties with his property, he quietly pocketed the affront, and sat down and entertained them for the remainder of the night.
Recently, on returning to his quarters, he discovered that his room had been forcibly entered in his absence, and his stock of candles melted in a vessel on the fire, and hung outside the window, with some of his regimentals. Even this, which was only one of a great number of affronts, does not seem to have exhausted his forbearance; and it was not until an assault and great personal indignity had been played off upon him that he appealed to his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Low, for protection. It happened in this way, according to the best information that can be obtained in a matter on which so much secrecy is observed in military society at Brighton.
It ought first, perhaps, to be stated that Cornet Ames is said to be a young man of a frank, pliant disposition, but, though the son of a gentleman in good circumstances, not having either the means or the inclination to launch into extravagant courses, he seems to have given umbrage to some of the younger among his brother officers by personal habits little in accordance with their own in some respects.
The regiment to which he belongs is stationed at two separate places in Brighton, one being the Preston Barracks, on the outskirts of the town, and the other the Pavilion Barracks, in its centre, and about a mile and a-half distant from the former. The officers' mess is at the Preston Barracks, and there, too, are the quarters of the three officers now under arrest. Cornet Ames, on the other hand, though called on to do duty daily at the Preston Barracks and to dine at the mess there, has rooms, in which he lives and sleeps, at the Pavilion Barracks. on Sunday, the 21st of September last, he dined as usual at the mess, where, as he has complained to his friends, he received some insulting language from Lord Ernest Vane.
On that occasion, we believe, Lord Vane sat at table, with Birt on his left hand and Ames on his right, while Winstanley was seated opposite, but not immediately. During dinner, it is said, Lord Ernest Vane kept up a constant fire of taunts against Ames in an under tone, accompanied with many offensive expressions, which we forbear repeating at the present stage of the inquiry. After dinner Ames took two or three glasses of wine, and then, about half-past 9 o'clock, rose to depart. He was followed, however, into the passage by Vane and Birt, both of whom seized hold of him and dragged him into Lord Vane's room, Lieutenant Winstanley and Cornet Fyfe following.
There he was forcibly held down on a sofa by Birt and Vane, while Winstanley went into Vane's bedroom and brought a pair of scissors, which he gave to Vane, and with which Vane completely denuded him of his whiskers on the left side of his face, Winstanley and Fyfe looking on. This escapade over he (Ames) was dragged along the passage to the antechamber adjoining the mess-room, in which coffee is served after dinner, and in this condition pushed violently in, where some of the rest of the officers were, by Birt and Vane.
He appears to have made what resistance he dared to this treatment, but was overpowered by superior force. Here, however, one is inclined to ask what use he made of his legs and arms while subjected to all this violence? He is a young man, well-nigh six feet high, and surely he might have employed all his great natural means of defence with far more effect to ward off this indignity. To do him justice, we believe he states that he so far controlled his feelings as to forbear to strike men who were his superior officers, even under that amount of provocation, knowing that to do so was a high military offence under the articles of war.
One cannot but smile at the notion of a man ever being charged with such an offence under the circumstances. He finally left the Preston Barracks about half-past 10 o'clock, and returned to his quarters at the Pavilion. He had reached the top of the stairs leading to his apartments, and was about to apply the key to the door of his sitting-room, which he had locked on leaving in the earlier part of the day, when he heard voices at the foot of the stairs which he recognised, but who the voices were it would not be desirable to state here, for obvious reasons.
Not wishing to encounter the parties, knowing who they were, he retired by another way to a part of the court-yard, from which he heard them burst open the door and afterwards saw a light in his room and the shadows of people inside upon the window-blinds.
On their retiring from the barracks, which they did in no long time, he proceeded to his room, where he found that the furniture had been turned topsy- turvy, his drawers pulled out of their places, and his linen thrown about the floor, two of his hats smashed, and his bed completely saturated with water. He slept on the floor of his room that night. Other damage was done, but it is unnecessary to give the details.
Next morning he related the whole circumstances to the adjutant of the regiment, Lieutenant Jennings, with a request that he would report them officially to Lieutenant-Colonel Low, in command of the depot, which he did. Lieutenant-Colonel Low, in his turn, reported them to the Horse Guards, which led to the special inquiry by General Lawrenson, and to Lord Ernest Vane, Cornet Birt, and Lieutenant Winstanley being called on to deliver up their swords and being placed under close arrest, in which they have remained since Monday week, when the visit of General Lawrenson was made.
It is stated, as a matter of course, that either a court-martial or what is called a "court of inquiry" will be held to investigate the transactions in question, as the Judge-Advocate or his Deputy shall decide, it remaining, we believe, with him, according to custom, to decide by which of those tribunals the offence is cognisable.
This statement of facts has been collected with great pains and care, and in the main we believe it is such as will be given in evidence before any military tribunal by which the matter may be investigated. Much of it is necessarily and unavoidably, under the circumstances, of an ex parte character, and it must be read with that qualification; but it is substantially that on which the advice of counsel has been taken, before whom it was laid by an eminent solicitor, acting as the professional adviser of Mr. Ames and his father.
To do Lord Ernest Vane justice, we understand he denies using the language imputed to him by Mr. Ames. The other officers implicated may also, possibly, disclaim having taken the part in the transactions in question with which they are charged. These are all questions to be investigated by the proper legal tribunal. In the meantime, with no wish whatever to prejudice the case in the slightest degree, we publish this statement of the circumstances, having previously used all the means at our command to insure the greatest approach to accuracy.
It remains to be stated that Cornet Ames has felt it right to take the course he has done in the matter on public grounds alone, feeling, with his friends and professional advisers, that if he overlooked such an outrage he would have rendered himself amenable to the censure implied in a memorandum in the hands of every officer in the army, and written on the 5th of July, 1853, by Lord Hardinge, the late Commander-in-Chief, in reference to an indignity offered to an ensign in the 50th Regiment, at Preston, in that year.
"If," said Lord Hardinge on that occasion, "Ensign - , had tamely submitted to the gross and insulting language applied to him or to the personal indignity of pumping upon him, and if the facts had come to the General Commanding in Chief's knowledge, he would have considered Ensign - as unworthy to hold a commission in Her Majesty's Service." "Every officer," he continued, "whatever his rank, is the guardian of his own honour, his conduct being governed and controlled by the article, of war.
It is clearly laid down in the Judge Advocate's letter to the Secretary at War of the 17th of April 1844, and circulated by the Secretary at War, in transmitting the Mutiny Act and the articles of war of that year to every regiment, that if an officer passes over without notice an insult offered to him, he is liable to be brought to a court-martial, not because he declined to fight a duel, but because he shrink from availing himself of those means which the articles of war and the justice of his brother officers place at his disposal when [to do so he is not] prevented by his own misconduct. (5)
The story continued next day:
It might have been supposed that the serious business in the Crimea would have sickened our young officers of the mimic fights of the practical joker; but this unfortunately is not the case. At Brighton, it seems, these discreditable practices have been renewed. We printed yesterday a resumé of the reports, which are current upon the subject. This must be taken simply as an ex parte statement, and therefore for as much as such a statement is worth.
One of the young officers whose name is to be brought before the public had already distinguished himself in the annals of practical joking. Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, for it is the hero of the Windsor Theatre who has recently been endeavouring to cover himself with fresh glory at Brighton, has just been placed under arrest, and with him a certain Cornet Birt and a Lieutenant Winstanley, whose names are as yet unknown to fame.
There is so little of imagination or invention in the tricks of these overgrown schoolboys that we can scarcely hope to gratify the curiosity of the public by a recital of their enormities. It is just the old story of breaking into bedrooms at night, throwing the patients clothes into water, pouring water into his bed, shaving the hair, whisker, and moustache on one side of his head, so as to convert him into an emblem of peace and war, in fact, just what occurred a year or two ago at Windsor and Canterbury.
This time, to be sure, there has been no mock duel; but, as a set-off, there was a new trick, which may be called the pap-trick, played of the other day at Brighton. The young officer who was marked out as the subject of this pleasantry was forced into a chair and firmly strapped down in it, a napkin was tied under his chin, and when he was in that position pap was thrust into his mouth with a spoon. The young rioters, it seems, must have studied the manipulations of nurses with peculiar zeal. They had observed that when infants refused their food the ladies who are most deeply versed in the mysteries of nursing are in the habit of slapping the backs of their interesting charges, and of accompanying these slaps with cries which seem to stimulate the powers of deglutition. This system was imitated in the case of the Dragoon-baby who had been fastened in the chair at Brighton the other day. We read that he was fed with pap, and, on resisting, was "slapped behind, and treated in every respect "like an infant."
It may, perhaps, also be esteemed something of a novelty in the annals of practical joking, as understood at military messes, that in the case of another young officer who had been marked out by his associates as a fit subject for forcible ridicule they stole some of his clothes, with them dressed up a manikin in the resemblance of their companion in arms, and suspended it by the neck from a dome in the barracks.
These are the only two points of novelty in the recent transactions at Brighton which appear to deserve particular notice. Nothing is alleged to the prejudice of the young gentlemen who have been the victims of these cruel absurdities but that they refused to join in the pranks and bear's play of their comrades.
The late Lord Hardinge in the last years of his life set his face very determinedly against the system of practical joking. It is true that it was not until he had been stimulated into forcible action by the indignation which had been so generally and vehemently expressed on the subject of the Windsor Court-martial that he was roused to exertion. The point of honour with the military authorities seems to be to show that they are independent of public opinion. This is called preserving the army from the "dictation" of civilians, and redounds greatly to the honour and glory of the advocates of the theory, who, we may remark, are chiefly composed of fussy old. Generals, who maunder about "anonymous" writers, and think themselves at liberty, so far as the press is concerned, to violate all the decencies of society. We question, however, if the system would be maintained if its professors could at all appreciate the amount of disgrace and ridicule they bring upon that which should be a noble profession. When civilians stand by and see such a mockery of justice as that which took place in the case of Lieutenant Perry at Windsor, or the farce at Chelsea Hospital the other day, an amount of contempt for military men and military administration is aroused which will one day most surely make itself felt. Meanwhile it operates to bring the military character into discredit and to lower the prestige of every officer who wears the British uniform.
With the appointment of the Duke of Cambridge as Commander - in- Chief, we hope, for the sake of the army, to see an end of these absurd and mischievous traditions of military rule. He has entered upon his administration with clean hands; let him avoid the counsels of the self-opinionated old gentlemen who would. persuade him to disconnect the ideas of military and of ordinary justice.
Whenever an offence or a crime is brought under the notice of the Commander-in-Chief-whether it be committed by officer or by private-let his simple rescript be "Fiat justitia", and let justice be rendered at once in the broad light of day, without mystery and without prejudice. If what the advocates of our present military system tell us be true, they have everything to gain, nothing to lose, by the utmost amount of publicity.
We are informed by them that the young officers who disgrace themselves and their profession by the perpetration of these practical jokes are infinitely few in number, that they constitute but a small percentage even of the younger officers. Why, then, allow wealthy and titled libertines to bully a young man of a different disposition out of a regiment, and thus ruin his military career for ever? Above all things avoid secrecy in these inquiries. No one supposes that the 28,000,000 of people who constitute the population of the British Isles are habitual pickpockets because a certain number of persons are openly condemned for the commission of that offence every year.
If they were tried in secret, and before judges whose first principle it was to set the opinion of the public at defiance, it may be that speculation would run in the other direction. After all, the judges of the land contrive to get through a good deal of business in the year in the broad light of day, and to give general satisfaction. Whenever cases are tried before them, the press, that nightmare of General officers, preserves a religious silence, because we are all aware that they will do their duty.
It is because there is a feeling abroad of a diametrically opposite kind with regard to military tribunals that their proceedings ordinarily excite clamour and discontent. They are not trusted, and hence the public attention is keenly alive to their proceedings. A change of policy on their part would soon lull to rest all this jealousy and suspicion. At present the received opinion is that the morality of a military tribunal is lower than that of any other judicial board in the kingdom. Let us hope that the Duke of Cambridge will introduce changes in the military administration in this particular, for it closely concerns the honour of the profession of which he is the recognised chief.
To pass from this more general view of the case to the particular instance now before us, can there be anything more lowering in the public estimation to the younger officers of the army than this system of practical joking?
The Duke of Cambridge, who has an extensive experience of the usages of foreign services, must be well aware that had such an affair as the one which has recently occurred at Brighton happened in any regiment in the employment of France, Austria, or Prussia, the unfortunate young man who had been the subject of the practical joke could not have remained in the service unless he had successively met and slain every one of the officers who had so grievously insulted him.
We doubt if any minor wound would have been held sufficient to atone for the offence; but at least the offended officer must have challenged his assailants to mortal combat, and risked his own life to purge his honour. Now, we have no wish to see the army turned into a school for duellists, but at least let it not be a cockpit for unmannerly schoolboys. Blows and practical jokes are not for those who have arrived at man's estate, be they soldiers or civilians. Rough play begets rough play, and there is an end of all dignity and self-respect. Should the charges against Lord Ernest Vane Tempest and his associates be proved, we trust that they will not be allowed to remain a day longer in the service. (6)
Then:
LATE FRACAS AT BRIGHTON.
No official step has yet been taken with respect to the institution of an inquiry into the circumstances under which Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, Lieutenant W. Winstanley, and Cornet Birt, of the 4th Dragoons, have been ordered into custody. The delay, we believe, has arisen in consequence of the absence from England of Lord George Paget, colonel of the regiment. The ordinary course of proceeding in cases requiring the intervention of a court-martial is for the Commander-in-Chief, on consideration of the facts, to notify to the Adjutant General his desire that such a tribunal should be convoked. The Adjutant General then communicates with the Judge-Advocate-General, whose duty it is to appoint a convenient day for holding the inquiry, and to arrange all the necessary details. The specific charges are in all cases framed by the authorities of the War-office, and, although the complainant or defendant is at liberty to avail himself of professional assistance, it is not consistent with the practice of the service that counsel or solicitors should be heard before the Court, or take any overt part in the proceedings, The charges generally that Cornet Ames prefers against Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, Lieutenant Winstanley, and Cornet Birt are, in substance, that they grossly insulted him, treated him with personal violence, subjected him to various indignities, and destroyed his property. Pending any inquiry that may be instituted by the War-office Lord Ernest Vane Tempest and the other officers against whom Cornet Ames has made his complaint are kept in close custody. They are not permitted to attend the officers mess, but facilities are afforded them for consulting with their professional advisers. Lord George Paget's return is daily expected. (7)
On the same date as this article (October 17th), the dismissal of Cornets Vane Tempest and Birt was published in The London Gazette.
Next day The Times published this letter from Vane Tempest:
Sir, My name having appeared in your paper in connection with a "practical joke" at Brighton, I must request you to be impartial enough to allow my version of the circumstances of the case to come before the public in your columns.
Cornet Ames dined on the night in question at mess when nothing that could be construed into an insult was addressed by me to him, although his peculiar English and his reckless misplacement of the letter "H" produced some remarks in joke, and caused a good deal of laughter. A civilian who sat on his right hand, and with whom I was very slightly acquainted, will corroborate this; while Mr. Ames is unable to produce any one who can confirm his story of having been insulted out of a party of 15, among whom were the major of the regiment, the senior officer at the Preston Barracks, and two or three civilians.
After dinner I asked him to come to my room to smoke, to which he consented; when there, he sat down on a sofa smoking. I remarked that "his whisker wanted trimming," and a pair of scissors being brought I cut off a part of one whisker. Far from showing the resistance that a man of his height (6 feet) might have done, or even protesting energetically, he laughed, and actually cut off a little of the other side "to make them alike," to use his own words. I may here mention that when General Lawrenson arrived, two or three days after, he requested to know whether any had been taken off, as he still possessed a large pair.
Cornet Ames has brought three separate charges against me, none of which he owns to being able to prove, except by his own evidence, while I can bring evidence to refute each. All the stories of feeding him with pap, hanging him in effigy in the barracks, and pumping upon him have no foundation, and, so far from being the butt of the regiment, he was treated with great kindness by every one in it.
My reason for not having stated these circumstances before was, that I thought it probable they might be matters for a court-martial; but, after being placed under arrest for more than a fortnight, the colonel of my regiment read me a letter from the Horse Guards, requesting me to send in my papers. This I did, but heard nothing more till to-day, when I am informed that they will take time to consider.
Three weeks have nearly elapsed, and the Horse Guards have had plenty of time to do anything they wanted; but I do protest at keeping a man under close arrest, after he has acted up to their own wishes, for such a length of time without any exercise, and I cannot but feel that liberty is worth having at any risk.
Apologizing, Sir, for taking so much space in your columns, I am, Sir your obedient servant, ERNEST VANE TEMPEST Brighton Barracks, Oct. 17.
P.S. A paragraph in one of the morning papers states that the officers under arrest are allowed to receive professional advice. So far from this, a case which has just occurred will give the public an idea that this is not so. The father of one of the officers under arrest being very ill sent his own confidential friend and legal adviser to see his son. This gentleman was refused admittance. Is this fair or right ? (8)
Note The London Gazette said he had been dismissed, and ere we have his account of innocent unproven pranks, Ames almost being called a liar, that simply led to his resignation. Vane Tempest would be at home in modern British politics! Elsewhere in that issue however the editor published this:
We have received a letter from Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, in which, after giving his version of the recent exhibition of practical joking at Brighton, where he played so prominent a part, his Lordship complains of the state of suspense in which he has been kept while the military authorities are making up their minds as to the proper step to be taken with reference to his conduct. We publish Lord Ernest Vane Tempest's letter with great satisfaction, especially as it denies some of the more serious charges made against him, but we also publish a memorandum from the War-office, which appears in last night's Gazette, with still greater pleasure. It is to the following effect:
"Cornets Lord Ernest Vane Tempest and William Birt, of the 4th Light Dragoons, are dismissed from HER MIAJESTY'S army, in consequence of conduct unbecoming officers and gentlemen and subversive of good order and military discipline, as reported to HER MAJESTY by his Royal Highness the GENERAL COMMANDING IN CHIEF"
This is a decision, which must give satisfaction to all parties. Lord Ernest Vane Tempest complains of the suspense in which he has been kept. This memorandum relieves him from that anxious. feeling, and enables him to devote his energies to other fields of action. The public complained that any time should be wasted in the lengthened preliminaries and formalities of a court martial or court of inquiry when the case seemed so clear. In this memorandum the public see that the Horse Guards can do speedy as well as tardy justice, and that the new GENERAL COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF can lop off an offending member of the aristocracy whose repeated acts have shown that he is unfit to associate with the gentlemen who have the honour of serving HER MAJESTY in the honourable profession of arms.
Cornet Ames and his friends must be satisfied, for we suppose that young gentleman will continue to remain in the 4th Light Dragoons, and that he will not be made the victim of any fresh impertinencies on the part of his associates. Again we say, when all are satisfied who can complain? We need only, therefore, congratulate Lord Ernest Vane Tempest of being rid of his suspense, the 4th Light Dragoons of being rid of Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, and his Royal Highness the Duke of CAMBRIDGE on having had the good sense to apply a speedy remedy to a crying evil. (9)
Later in the month there was some talk of Vane Tempest taking up a clerical career:
TOO BAD TO BE TRUE
It is believed that the dismissal from Her Majesty's service of that misguided young man, Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, is of more serious consequence as far as he himself is concerned than is generally supposed; it not only entirely precludes him from ever again entering the army, but will, it is understood, be a total bar to his employment in any civil capacity, whether in this country or in the colonies. This, it is now said, his Lordship-freed hence-forward from the evil examples which in their results have proved so injurious to his prospects-feels both deeply and acutely.
In fact, it is whispered that his more matured and chastened inclinations now incline towards the church, a field in which he may be employed as honestly, as honourably, and as usefully, both to himself and others, as in that of Mars. As the noble family to which he may still prove an ornament have more than one living in their gift it is not improbable that this may be his ultimate and not ungraceful destination, however distressing may have been the events, which led to it. (Newcastle Guardian). (10)
In fact this was not to be. In 1861 he journeyed to the United States and was given a commission in the United States Army adopting the name of Stewart for the purpose. He served during the early days of the Civil War as an Assistant Adjutant General with the rank of Colonel and according to his obituary "was present at many of the engagements on the banks of the Potomac". (11)
Vane Tempest was with the 2nd Durham Artillery Volunteers for 9 years but first the Queen's permission was required before he could take up a commission in the volunteers. This he obtained in September 1867:
MEMORANDUM
Her Majesty has been most graciously pleased to signify Her Royal pleasure to remit so much of the effect of the sentence of summary dismissal of Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, 4th Light Dragoons, from the Army, notified in The London Gazette of the 17th October, 1856, as will allow him, to serve Her Majesty as a Volunteer in the Artillery Brigade at Seaham under the command of the Earl Vane. (12)
On January 12, 1869, Vane Tempest married Mary Townsend, daughter of Thomas Hutchinson of Howden House, Stockton-on-Tees. In 1877 she caused a scandal by eloping with a Mr Hungerford. The story, by the London correspondent to The New York Times, appeared in that paper on July 12, 1877:
Special Dispatch by Cable to the New York Times. LONDON, July 11. As supplementary to my recent letters to THE NEW YORK TIMES on society in London, and illustrative of the unhealthy tone of aristocratic life in the metropolis, I may communicate a social incident, that came to my knowledge today.
This is the elopement of Lady Ernest Tempest with Mr Hungerford. Lord Tempest swears he will shoot Mr Hungerford, and a duel between persons of prominence of the parties involved in this scandalous affair will tend to make it more than a nine day's wonder. Mrs Hungerford, whose husband has been guilty of this violation of social and moral law, is a great friend of the Prince of Wales. This is unquestionably the most startling scandal of the season. (13)
[PB: Where is the text corresponding to note (14)?]
Notes and sources
1.Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage, 1882, page 412
2.The London Gazette, Oct 9, 1855, p. 3721, April 21, 1854, p. 1253 & Oct 9, 1855, p. 3721 and Muster Rolls, 4th Lt Dragoons, WO12/660, Regimental rolls, April 1, 1855 to March 31, 1856 7 & WO12/659, Regimental rolls, April 1, 1856 to March 31, 1857. HMS Assistance left Scutari May 4, 1854 and sailing via Malta (May 10th) & Gibraltar (May 19th) it arrived at Spithead May 23, 1854 & disembarked the regiment at Portsmouth on May 24, 1856. The Times, May 15, 1856, p. 5, column D, May 24, 1856, p. 12, column B & June 2, 1856, p. 10, column A.
3.The London Gazette, October 17, 1856, page. See also The Times, October 18, 1856, page 4, column E.
4.The Times on October 9, 1856, page 6, column E.
5.The Times, Oct 13, 1856, page 10, column A.
6.The Times, October 14, page 6, column B.
7.The Times, October 17, 1856, page 9, column D.
8.The Times, October 18, 1855, page 7, column F.
9.The Times, October 18, 1856, page 6, column E.
10.The Times, October 28, 1856, page 10, column A..
11.Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage, 1882, page 412 & The Times, August 15, 1885, page 7, column A. Francis B Heitman's Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, from its organisation, September 29, 1879 to March 2, 1903, lists all Federal officers down to date of publication (1903) but no oficer by the name of Stewart, can reliably be related to Vane Tempest.
12.The London Gazette, September 14, 1867, page 6053. Entries in The London Gazette, show he served with the 2nd Durham Artillery Volunteers from Sept 7, 1867 to Sept 23, 1876, holding the ranks of Captain, Sept 7, 1867, Maj., Jan 11, 1868, and Lt Col, June 24, 1869. He resigned, Sept 23, 1876. (See The London Gazette, on or about these dates)
13.This same report also surfaced in the Southland Times, New Zealand, September 27, 1877, under the title ANOTHER SCANDAL. Elsewhere also I guess.
14.The Times, August 15, 1885, page 7, column A. Probate to his will was granted on October 19, 1885, The London Gazette, Jan 29, 1886, p. 471.
Crimean War Newsletter No. 29 (10/2011, October)
The American Civil War
Two Crimeans who later served in this war came to my attention this month. The first is Lieutenant Gilbert Alfred Nicholetts, of the 68th Foot. He I have dealt with in depth, above.
The second was Lord Ernest McDonnell Vane-Tempest (1836-85), of the 4th Light Dragoons. Born February 29, 1836 to Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquis of Londonderry & Lady Frances Anne Emily daughter of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest & Anne Katherine MacDonnell, Countess of Antrim, he was commissioned into the 58th Foot on November 11, 1853. Passing to the 2nd Life Guards (April 21, 1854) he passed to the 4th Light Dragoons on October 8, 1855. He served in the east (Turkey not the Crimea) with his regiment, in the early months of 1856.
He also qualifies for the "Black sheep" column below since on October 17, 1856 his dismissal from the service was announced in The London Gazette:
Cornets Lord Ernest Vane Tempest and William J Birt of the 4th Light Dragoons are dismissed from Her Majesty's Army, in consequence of conduct unbecoming Officers and Gentlemen, and subversive of good order and military discipline, as reported to Her Majesty by His Royal Highness the General Commanding-in-Chief.
This was for the bullying by Vane-Tempest & Birt of Cornet Thos H Ames and a particular incident at Brighton on September 21, 1856 fully reported in The Times, Oct 9, 13, 17, and 18, 1856. He had already been convicted of another assault a year earlier.
However five years later he arrived in the USA where he was appointed as an Assistant Adjutant General in the federal army. His obituary in The Times says he left England during the Civil War in America, that he served in this capacity in the Federal army under the name of Colonel Stewart, and that he was present at many of the engagements on the banks of the Potomac. (The Times, Aug 15, 1885) His entry in Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 1882, says he was an Assistant Adjutant General in the US Army in 1861.
It is regrettable from an historian's point of view that he served under a pseudonym since it may well be impossible to identify him further. (I may have a go anyway).
He came further to the attention of his peers when his wife Mary Townsend, the daughter of Thomas Hurchinson of Howden Ho, Stockton-on-Tees eloped several years after they were married with a Mr Hungerford.
Vane Tempest died August 15, 1885.
Margrave
Here is an example of an early Victorian notice, from The London Gazette, January 29, 1886, with regard to the death of Lord Ernest McD Vane-Tempest the subject of the article "The Bully" above:
Lord ERNEST McDONNELL VANE TEMPEST, Deceased.
Pursuant to the Statute 22 and 23 Victoria, chapter 35, entitled "An Act to further amend the Law of Property, and to relieve Trustees."
NOTICE is hereby given, that all creditors and other persons having any debts, claims, and demands upon or against the estate' of the Honourable Ernest McDonnell Vane Tempest, deceased, late of Filey House, Scarborough, in the county of York, and commonly called Lord Ernest Vane Tempest (who died on the 14th day of August, 1885, and whose will was proved on the 19th day of October, 1885, in the Principal Registry of the Probate Division of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice by the executor therein named), are requested to send particulars, in writing, of their respective debts, claims, and demands to us the undersigned, the Solicitors for the said executor, on or before the 26th day of February, 1886, after which date the said executor will proceed to deal with the assets of the deceased, having regard only to the debts, claims, and demands of which he shall have had notice.
Dated this 26th day of January, 1886.
STRETTON and BILLIARD, 75, Cornhill, E.C.,
Solicitors for the said Executor.
Having learnt of further information (particularly from Wendy Leahy), Tony Margrave returned to TVM [Newsletter date and number?]
These newsletters sometimes throw up useful leads. Thanks to Philip Boys I made contact with a gentleman in Virginia and a lady in NZ who have both been helping me on Lord Ernest Vane Tempest.
Vane-Tempest was with the 4th Light Dragoons in Turkey in 1856. He had a very colourful life, including running away from home (1853) to enlist in the 4th, a magistrates court action (1855) for attacking a theatre manager, knocked down Sarah Kenton (1856) while driving his rig which was "decidedly "fast" in character" en route to a race meeting at Lewes (Sussex) (1856) - he did at least allow her £1 a week, besides securing to her good medical attendance (A fact of this nature deserves publicity), dismissal from the 4th - he was later commissioned, for bullying a fellow subaltern (1856), an attack (1856) in the street on the subaltern he bullied, a civil action (1857) for money wasted on jewellery (he was a bit of a stage door Johnny), exile aboard, service in the American Civil War in 1861 (creditably it must be added), belated imprisonment (1867) for bullying the subaltern, and a civil action (1871) for shooting someone - for reasons of negligence rather than by design, etc. etc.
A true "Officer of the Month". He was even related to Winston Churchill. The connection was sister Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane, who married John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. He was father to Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill, who was father to Winston Churchill. Did Vane-Tempest and Churchill ever meet? They might have done. Churchill was born in 1874 and Vane-Tempest died in 1885. They had an eleven years window of opportunity. So far I have identified over 200 newspaper accounts of the man and his misdemeanours.