The Shipley Estate - Studies in History

Chapter 7 - The first Edward Miller Mundy - owner of Shipley 1767 AD to 1822 AD

Stephen Quill

Edward Miller Mundy, born l750, was the eldest son of Edward Mundy and his wife, Hester; who had inherited the Shipley Estate -from her mother, Hester Leche, wife of Humphrey Miller.

The first of the line to bear the double name, Miller Mundy, Edward was to become one of the longest serving Members of Parliament. He represented his County, Derbyshire, at Westminster for 39 years, from 1784 until his death in 1822.

Edward Miller Mundy, MP

In those days and wherever possible, parliamentary representation was shared between the Whigs and the Tories. These arrangements saved considerable trouble and expense and explain why so few elections were actually contested (only 6 out of 31 between 1700 and 1832). The potential expenses of an election were enormous and, if a contest took place, could be ruinous. In 1784, three Tory candidates were nominated for the two positions available in the Representations of the County of Derbyshire. They were Lord George Cavendish, Nathaniel Curzon and, for the first time, Edward Miller Mundy Esq., of Shipley. An initial show of hands appeared much in favour of Mr. Mundy but, nevertheless, it was deemed necessary to hold a poll. A warm contest was expected. On the evening, however, Mr. Curzon sent a written message to declare his intention of giving no further trouble and his decision not to stand after all, giving way to Edward Miller Mundy. Thus, the election of 1784 was an example of the "peace of the county" being preserved at the last moment and Lord George Cavendish and Edward Miller Mundy were chosen without opposition.

Ironically, Edward had been advised against standing for Parliament and warned of the evils of "electioneering" by Lady Denbigh, a great friend of the Mundy Family. She wrote, "There is a branch of expense almost as dangerous as gaming and perhaps more immoral from the perjury, drunkenness and other vices which usually attend it. I mean electioneering. The honour which a seat so obtained can confer is certainly not worth the purchase. The man who has no further aim in hurting his fortune than to be a member of Parliament is a fool. He who means to repair it again by selling his vote - is a knave; and considering the little dependence to be placed on ministerial promises and the fluctuations which for several years past have attended ministerial power, probably will find himself in the end a fool also....."

Edward, unfortunately for his immediate successors, disregarded this sage advice and, when the tempting prize was set before him, it proved too difficult to decline the honour of a seat in Parliament. In the end, 39 years of parliamentary life proved so costly that he all but ruined his family. For instance, in 1802 he had to mortgage three estates (in Mapperley, Kidsley and Smalley) to pay his election expenses and was unable to redeem them until 1807.

During his many years in office, Mundy was returned to Parliament unopposed on all occasions except in 1820, when an unexpected contest took place. The Reverend C.S. Holden, in proposing E.M. Mundy, said, "...The duty I now have to discharge, is to recommend to your kindest attention, and to your warmest solicitudes your faithful friend, and trusty old servant Mr. Mundy, as a proper person, into whose hands you may again, as you have been in the habit of doing for nearly forty years, tranquilly and confidently entrust the guardianship and protection of those great rights and privileges, which are most dear and valuable to you as Englishmen." Lord George Cavendish also was nominated and it was anticipated that both men would be returned without opposition.

They were surprised, however, by Dr. Percy Crompton of Nottingham, a well-known radical and troublemaker, described by the "Derby Mercury" as an "electioneering celebrity", who had challenged the borough in 1796. Undismayed by the uniform failure of his previous electioneering efforts, Crompton was determined to nominate, as a third candidate for the county, a Samuel Shore Esq., of Meersbrook. Shore was seconded but was not present nor did anyone seem to know who he was. The "Derby Mercury" (22 March 1780) reported - "It appeared, however, from the replies made by Dr. Crompton to some questions put to him by Sir Robert Wilmot, that he (Crompton) had nominated Mr. Shore without any authority from that gentleman, and that this most respectable individual was totally unacquainted with the Doctors' intentions".

A poll was demanded and begun. On the following day, before polling recommenced, a letter from Shore was read out to those gathered around the hustings. It revealed that he was not interested in the slightest in becoming a member, that he was 82 years of age and that he was ill in bed. Voting went on, however, and was recorded as :-

Lord G.A.H. Cavendish, 196 votes
E.M.M. Mundy, Esq....... 195 votes
Samuel Shore, Esq........... 20 votes

Hence, despite the disreputable and disrespectful dealings of Dr. Crompton, Lord Cavendish and Edward Miller Mundy were returned with little problem. Both expressed the hope that such events would not be repeated.

Edward did not finish his term in office, since he died at Shipley Hall on his 72nd birthday, 18 October 1822.

Shipley under the ownership of the first Edward Miller Mundy

On the death of his father, in 1767, Edward Miller Mundy took up his rightful place as Lord of the Manor of Shipley. During the next 55 years, he was to bring about profound changes to the life and landscape at Shipley.

On Shipley Hill

On Shipley Hill, the Hall was but 17 years old and probably was a fairly modest square building in the fashionable Georgian style. During the life of his first wife, Frances, the main additions were to the gardens. In 1772, William Emes, then becoming a popular landscape "improver" made a quotation for extensive relaying of the area around the Hall. This included the filling in of the "hollow road on the north of the house". It was some three years later, however, that the necessary legal powers were granted to actually move the line of the road and it was 1782 before Emes was paid for his work. Also in 1762, a hothouse and a conservatory were constructed.

After Frances died, the house stood empty and Edward's sister, Lady Hester Newdigate described it as "the empty melancholy house at Shipley". His remarriage to the widowed Lady Middleton brought a revival of activity and in the summer of 1768 Lady Hester wrote about the new walls and progress, or rather lack of it, in building "ye Great Room", the architect of which was her husband, Sir Robert Newdigate. To the annoyance of the Middleton family, Lady Georgina brought most of the contents of Wollaton Hall, including family plate and jewels, with her to Shipley. This marriage was tragically short, and, in 1789, Edward again was plunged into grief.

The next report of building activity seems to be the "Derby Mercury" report, of December 1809, when the new Ball Room apparently had its first use. There took place "the most elegant and best conducted fete which has been witnessed for many years within this county". The estate accounts for 1803, however, had showed a total expenditure of £9161/1/7d for "The building of the new hall at Shipley", of which £522/15/6d was spent on the ground levelling and gravel.

Other Estate Developments

Although coal mining had been a feature of the activities at Shipley, for instance, coal mines were mentioned in the 1657 will of John Lowe of Owlegreave, or Algreave, a separately owned part of the Shipley Manor; it was not until the mid-18th century, when Edward Mundy took over the lordship, that major mining seems to have taken place. For example, in 1725, Barber and Walker had mined 250 tons of coal at Shipley for the Leche family. In 1749, however, Edward Mundy had awarded a mining agreement to Anthony Tissington of Swanwick. Tissington, whose mines were on the east side of Shipley Hill, held the lease until 1765.

On taking over from his father, it seems that Edward Miller Mundy considerably increased the output of coal, as, first, he had a wooden railway built to transport the minerals over the ridge and down to the Erewash Canal, which opened in 1779. Then, a plan to build a canal branch linking Shipley down the Nutbrook valley to the Erewash Canal at Stanton was conceived with Miller Mundy as one of the promoters. The route was surveyed in 1792, by Nuttall, and the full length of the new canal came into use in 1796. To ensure sufficient water to operate the canal, with its 15 locks and a drop of 84 feet down the 4 1/2 mile valley, a large reservoir had to be constructed. This was Shipley Lake. A further large reservoir, Mapperley Reservoir, was completed in 1821.

The coal-rich land at Owlgreave was purchased from the Fletcher family in 1765 and Edward Miller Mundy further expanded the Shipley Estate by buying farms in Smalley and Mapperley. In Smalley, these were Johnson's, or Whitehouse Farm, in 1769; Prospect Farm, in 1797; Bell Lane Farm, in 1799; and Heanor Gate Farm, in 1797. At Mapperley, the Willoughby lands (Manor Farm) were acquired in 1793; the Chapel Farm was purchased in 1792; the Ferneyford Fields and West Headhouse farm were bought in 1617. On the enclosure of Heanor Common, in 1797, Mundy added still more land to the overall estate. Although the income from farm rents on all this land was quite considerable, there can be little doubt that the main motive for the great expansion, some 1000 acres, in the total land holding was to acquire the coal mining rights.

The settlement drawn up on the death of the first Edward Miller Mundy relates that the total value of the annual rents, for the main Shipley estate of over 2072 acres, was £5562. The average quantity of coal mined in 1817 was well over 43000 tons, at a cost of around £12000. This was sold for nearly £21000, giving a profit of over £9000. The colliery, however, was almost exhausted and a new one had to be sunk. Only three years later, the output was up to 62968 tons, mined at a cost of £16941/l6/8d and sold for £28272/2/5d, leaving a net profit of £11330/5/9d. Extensive mortgages had been raised to finance the mining operations and there was only £15418 in actual cash for the second Edward Miller Mundy to inherit. Nevertheless, during his long life the first Edward Miller Mundy had gone from a being a relatively small landowner to being a major coal master.

The Family of the first Edward Miller Mundy

The first Edward Miller Mundy was married three times:

Firstly to Miss Frances Meynell, d.l783 aged 30, by whom he had one daughter; Frances, Lady Charles Fitzroy, m.1795 but who did not long survive her marriage; and five sons; Edward Miller, b. 1774; Godfrey Basil Meynell, b. 1776; George, b. 1777; Frederick, b. 1776; and Henry, b. 1779.

Secondly, on 14 June 1788, to Georgina, dowager Baroness Middleton, widow of Thomas Lord Middleton, d. 1789, by whom he had one daughter, Georgina Elizabeth, Duchess of Newcastle, m.l807 and d. 1822.

Thirdly, in 1811, to Catherine, widow of R. Barwell Esq., d. 1822, by whom he had one son, Robert Miller, b. 1815.

An obituary to Edward Miller Mundy

A fitting tribute to Edward Miller Mundy appeared in the "Derby Mercury", 25 October 1822;

"In private and domestic life he was beloved and respected by all ranks of persons. To an exterior more than commonly pre-possessing, he united the elegant manners and accomplishments of the perfect gentleman. His temper was placid and even, his disposition cheerful, affable and courteous to all around him. He was zealously attentive to the business of the County, in which during the recess in Parliament, he constantly resided, and he was a liberal friend and contributor to all its local establishments and institutions".

Sources

C.E. Hogarth. "Parliamentary Elections in Derbyshire, 1832-1865". Thesis in Derbyshire Local Studies Library, Matlock.
Lady Newdigate. "The Cheverels of Cheverel Manor".
Frederick Boase. "Modern English Biography".
Derby Mercury.

Godfrey Charles Mundy (died 1860), Soldier; author of 'Pen and Pencil Sketches in India' Sitter in 1 portrait (National Portrait Gallery) NPG 4026(42) Godfrey Charles Mundy by Alfred, Count D'Orsay pencil and chalk, 1844 Not on display 

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