Famous People of the Barleywolds

Jamie Oliver. The Naked Chef from Clavering

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Oliver

Jamie Oliver OBE (born 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reached the public eye when his series The Naked Chef premiered in 1999. In 2005, he opened a campaign, Feed Me Better, to introduce schoolchildren to healthier foods, which was later backed by the government. He was the owner of a restaurant chain, Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, which went bankrupt in 2019. Oliver’s cookbooks made him one of the best-selling British authors of all time, generating over £200m for the chef. Jamie was born and raised in Clavering, and his parents, Trevor and Sally Oliver, ran the pub/restaurant, the Cricketers, where he practised cooking with his parents. 

Sam Smith. Singer/songwriter from Great Chishill

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Smith

Smith is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Samuel Smith grew up in Great Chishill, where they attended Primary School, and their Secondary school and Musical Theatre training were at Bishop's Stortford. Smith released his first single at age 16.

Official Charts named Smith’s debut album ‘In the Lonely Hour’ (2014) as the biggest selling debut album of the decade, as well as the sixth most successful album of the decade in the UK. Billboard ranked Smith as the 12th most successful male solo artist of the 2010s decade (25th overall). Smith has scored 8 number-one singles and 3 number-one albums in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, Smith has reportedly sold 49 million albums, 300 million singles and over 84 billion career streams, becoming one of the best-selling British pop artists of the past decade. 

In 2017, Smith came out as genderqueer, saying, "I feel just as much a woman as I am a man" and speaking of a period in their youth where they "didn't own a piece of male clothing and would wear full makeup while attending school". In 2019, Smith came out as non-binary and changed their pronouns to they/them, stating, "After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out... “

Jaye Griffiths. Actress from Barley

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaye_Griffiths

After playing Ros Henderson in the BBC series Bugs and D.I. Sally Johnson in the ITV procedural drama The Bill, she landed the role of Elizabeth Croft in the BBC soap opera Doctors. She has since portrayed roles including Janet Mander in Silent Witness, Elle Gardner in Casualty and its spin-off series Holby City, and Yavalla in The Outpost.

Griffiths trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Since her graduation, she has appeared in many television dramas, including a starring role as Ros Henderson in the BBC series Bugs, which ran for four series. She can often be found in police or hospital dramas, where she has appeared in The Bill, Doctors, Always and Everyone, Instinct, and Silent Witness. Her other credits include Between the Lines, Drop the Dead Donkey, Kingdom and Skins. She has also presented two BBC Schools television series, Watch and Storytime.

In 2015, she guest starred in an episode of the medical drama Holby City. She played Jac in two episodes of the ninth series of Doctor Who. She later returned to Doctor Who through Big Finish Productions as the Eighth Doctor's companion Lady Audacity Montague. Griffiths played consultant Elle Gardner in Casualty from 2016 to 2019. Griffiths has also starred in theatre productions of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, where she played the role of Lady Macbeth.

Sir Richard Evans. Historian from Barway

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Evans

Sir Richard Evans (born 1947) is a British historian of 19th- and 20th-century Europe with a focus on Germany. He is the author of eighteen books, including his three-volume The Third Reich Trilogy (2003–2008). Evans was Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge from 2008 until he retired in 2014, and President of Cambridge's Wolfson College from 2010 to 2017. He has been Provost of Gresham College in London since 2014. Evans was appointed Knight Bachelor for services to scholarship in the 2012 Birthday Honours. 

Doreen Hornsblow (c. 1936 – 2001). 

Romance novelist of Braughing

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Wentworth

Sally Wentworth was the pseudonym used by Doreen Hornsblow, a British romance writer of 70 romance novels in Mills & Boon's from 1977 to 1999. Her novels were principally set in Great Britain or in exotic places like the Canary Islands or Greece. Her first works are stand-alone novels, but in the 1990s, she decided to create her first series. In 1991, she wrote a book in two parts about the Barclay twins and their same great love, and in 1995, she wrote the Ties of Passion trilogy about the Brodey family. She lived with her family in Braughing. 

Fairport Convention. 

The birth of Folk Rock in a Little Hadham Commune

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairport_Convention

Fairport Convention started in 1967 are still going strong 67 years later, having invented Folk Rock in a hippy commune in Little Hadham. The band's bass player Dave Pegg remembers: "It was an old pub, The Angel in Little Hadham in Hertfordshire, where the band could rehearse and live. There were about 18 of us in there in the end, with one kitchen and one toilet. The kitchen was occupied 24 hours a day, as was the toilet." One afternoon the band were relaxing in the back garden with various mind-expanding substances, when they had a visit from five of Little Hadham's boys-in-blue who had been watching the commune for several weeks. "We all thought, `Oh, Christ, it's a bust'," Pegg recalls. "But they'd come to ask if we'd play at the Police Dance in a field opposite the Nag's Head. It was our first outdoor gig, it cost six shillings to get in and they gave us a washing machine as payment."  Violinist Dave Swarbrick, guitarists Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg, and drummer Dave Mattacks were resident in the building, along with their wives and the band's road crew. The band's residence there ended in February 1971 when a lorry crashed into the Angel, severely damaging the property and destroying Swarbrick's bedroom. Violinist Dave Swarbrick, guitarists Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg, and drummer Dave Mattacks were resident in the building, along with their wives and the band's road crew. The band's residence there ended in February 1971 when a lorry crashed into the Angel, severely damaging the property and destroying Swarbrick's bedroom. The bands 6th album “Angel Delight” is named after the Angel of Little Hadham.

Stephen Marriott (1947 – 1991). 

Small Faces musician, died in Arkesden.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Marriott

Stephen Marriott (1947 – 1991) was an English musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over 20 years. Marriott died in 1991 when a fire, which was thought to have been caused by his cigarette, swept through his 16th-century home in Arkesden, Essex. Marriott's blood was found to contain quantities of Valium, alcohol and cocaine. He was 44 and posthumously received an Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for his "Outstanding Contribution to British Music", and was listed in Mojo as one of the top 100 greatest singers of all time, and was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Henry Moore (1898 – 1986). Artist of Much Hadham

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Moore

Henry Moore (1898 – 1986) was by the end of his career, the world's most successful living artist at auction. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore also produced many drawings, including a series depicting Londoners sheltering from the Blitz during the Second World War, along with other graphic works on paper. After their Hampstead home was hit by bomb shrapnel in September 1940, Moore and wife Irina moved out of London to live in a farmhouse called Hoglands in the hamlet of Perry Green near Much Hadham, Hertfordshire. This was to become Moore's home and workshop for the rest of his life. 

After the war and following several earlier miscarriages, Irina gave birth to their daughter, Mary Moore, in March 1946. Subsequently, he produced many "mother-and-child" compositions, although reclining and internal/external figures also remained popular. In the same year, Moore made his first visit to America when a retrospective exhibition of his work opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

In the 1950s, Moore began to receive increasingly significant commissions, including for the Festival of Britain in 1951, and in 1958 the UNESCO building in Paris. With many more public works of art, the scale of Moore's sculptures grew significantly and he started to employ an increasing number of assistants to work with him at Much Hadham. Following the pioneering documentary 'Henry Moore', produced by John Read in 1951, he appeared in many films. By the end of the 1970s, there were some 40 exhibitions a year featuring his work, and the number of commissions continued to increase.

Moore died in1986 at his home in Perry Green, and his body was interred at the churchyard of St Thomas's Church. His house, gardens, workshops, and many works are open to the public at Perry Green, near Much Hadham. Moore also designed and produced some of the windows at Much Hadham church.

Vera Dowling (1918 – 2015). Pilot from Braughing.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Strodl_Dowling

Vera Dowling was a Danish pilot who gained fame in the Second World War as the only Scandinavian woman to fly for the RAF's Air Transport Auxiliary. Later, based in Alberta, Canada, she instructed pilots under the Commonwealth Training Programme. In May 2000, she was honoured with membership of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. Born in Braughing in 1918, Vera was the daughter of Danish parents, who had moved to Braughing, England to run a cattle farm but ran into financial difficulties complicated by her father's problems with alcohol. As an eleven-year-old, Vera dreamt of becoming a pilot after she first experienced flying for the first time. And at the age of 16, she trained as a pilot, and then worked as she worked as an aircraft inspector and test pilot. In 1941, she volunteered for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) where she had the job of ferrying many different types of new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories and airfields until the end of the war in 1945.[3] It was dangerous work as the ATA pilots were frequently targeted by German fighters but could also be shot down by British anti-aircraft batteries who sought to destroy German bombers. The pilots also risked flying into barrage balloons. They had to fly all types of aircraft from Spitfires to four-engined bombers, some of them so badly damaged that they were almost flying coffins. Although the ATA ferrying work was not as dangerous as mainstream RAF missions, there were many casualties, with one out every six pilots losing their lives. After the war, she was a flying instructor in England, Sweden and Canada, where she died.

Francis Cammaerts (1916 – 2006). A hero of Stevenage

From:: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Cammaerts

Francis Cammaerts, code named Roger, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe and Asia against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. In France, SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Cammaerts was the creator and the organiser (leader) of the Jockey network (or circuit) in southeastern France in 1943 and 1944.

At the beginning of World War II in 1939, Cammaerts declared himself a conscientious objector, but in 1942 he joined the SOE. He recruited and supplied with arms and training a large number of resistance networks and cells over an extensive area east of the Rhone River extending to the border with Italy and north from the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Grenoble. Despite being very careful in his work, Cammaerts was captured by the Germans in August 1944, but saved from execution by his courier and lover, Christine Granville. He was apparently one of the best SOE agents in France, and was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel.

After the war, he was headmaster of Alleyne's Grammar School in Stevenage for nine years, at a time when Stevenage New Town was growing rapidly. In 1959 he appeared for the defence in the notorious trial of Penguin Books over the publication of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. The trial, at the Old Bailey was front-page news and Cammaerts' statement under cross-examination that he had let members of his 6th Form read the book and they did not appear to have been corrupted or become depraved, was widely reported. The publisher won the case. He subsequently moved to Kenya, and then Botswana, to develop teacher training and post-colonial education there.

Sir Humphrey Trafford (1891 – 1971). 

4th Baronet, soldier and creator of Newsells Stud

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Humphrey_de_Trafford,_4th_Baronet

Humphrey Edmund de Trafford was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards as an officer in 1911, and fought with distinction in the First World War, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. Trafford was an amateur rider and racehorse owner and a member of the Jockey Club and its National Hunt Committee. In 1926, he purchased the Newsells Park Estate, near Barkway, as a home for his family and established a stud farm there, from which he bred most of his famous racehorses including Alcide who won the 1958 St. Leger Stakes and the 1959 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Parthia, who won the 1959 Epsom Derby. Other notable horses included Papillio who won the 1953 Goodwood Stakes and Approval who won the Observer Gold Cup at Doncaster in 1969 and the Dante Stakes at York in 1970. Trafford also served as Steward of The Jockey Club from 1934 to 1937 and then again in 1944 and 1951. On the death of his father in 1929, Trafford became the fourth Baronet. Trafford served as a justice of the peace and as High Sheriff of Hertfordshire.

George Orwell (1903 - 1950). The author  at Wallington

From: https://www.wallington-nherts.com/george-orwell

The author George Orwell lived in a small cottage  in Wallington from 1936 to 1940, and at occasional weekends (when he was otherwise mainly in London) until he gave up the lease on the cottage in 1947. There is a blue plaque on the cottage.  Orwell first arrived in Wallington in April 1936, having walked the three miles from Baldock train station across the fields (there being only two buses per week and this not being a bus day) to find the cottage that he had leased, sight-unseen, and in which he planned to write, away from the noise and distractions of London.  Orwell had quit his job in a London bookshop earlier that year and headed north to do research for a book about unemployed coal miners, for which he'd been given a £500 advance by his publisher. The year from April 1936 was a busy one: Orwell wrote Road to Wigan Pier, got married to Eileen in the St Mary's Church, Wallington, in June, continued his journalism career and wrote Shooting An Elephant. They ran a store from the front room of the cottage and kept chickens, geese and goats.

In early 1937 the Orwells left Wallington for Spain, to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, After a time at the Lenin Barracks in Barcelona, he was sent to the relatively quiet Aragon Front, but he saw action and was subsequently wounded in the throat by a sniper's bullet. Back in Barcelona he experienced factional fighting between different Republican groups. Orwell has fighting under the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), but this was attacked by the Stalinist Communist Party. The Orwells were charged with "rabid Trotskyism" and being agents of POUM, and had to escape from Spain. They returned home to Wallington in July 1937 and he wrote Homage to Catalonia based on his war experiences, which also shaped his political views, expressed in Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four.  When WW2 broke out in Europe, Eileen took a job in London and came home only on weekends. A few months later - after finishing Inside the Whale - Orwell followed Eileen to London and they leased Wallington to friends and relatives.

E.M. Forster (1879-1970). Howards End author in Forster Country

From: https://www.stevenage.gov.uk/documents/planning-policy/examination-of-our-local-plan-2011-2031/examination-documents/ed159-forster-country-booklet-2016.pdf

E.M. Forster was the author of Where Angels Fear to Tread, The Longest Journey, A Room with a View, Howards End, A Passage to India and Maurice, as well as short stories, essays and other work. From 1883 to 1893 he lived at "Rooks Nest" a house past St. Nicholas church in Stevenage on the old winding road to Weston. It was memories of his time here that formed the setting for Howards End published in 1910.  The house had originally been owned by the Howard family, and had previously been known as "Howards", the inspiration for Howards End. The country north of this is now known as Forster Country. The name 'Forster Country' was coined by the Guardian newspaper on 19 October, 1960, in recognition of its influence on the writer E.M. Forster. In a BBC broadcast, in May 1946, he had described this countryside, which stretches from St Nicholas church in old Stevenage towards Chesfield and Graveley. He said: "I was brought up as a boy in one of the home counties in a district which I still think the loveliest in England. There is nothing special about it - it is agricultural land and could not be described in terms of beauty spots... I have kept in touch with it, going back to it as to an abiding city... " Maurice (1971), published posthumously, is a homosexual love story, and Forster was, at least for most of his life, homosexual. He was also a humanist, who advocated individual liberty and penal reform and opposed censorship by writing articles, sitting on committees and signing letters.

Sir James Cantlie (1851 – 1926). Pioneer of first aid and tropical medicine from Cottered.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cantlie

Cantlie trained at Charring Cross Hospital in London to become a surgeon. He spent some time in Egypt, then took a position in Hong Kong. While in the crown colony, he co-founded the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, which later grew into the University of Hong Kong. One of his first pupils at the college was the future Chinese leader Dr Sun Yat-sen. Cantlie's work in Hong Kong included investigations into leprosy and into various tropical diseases; in 1894 he encountered an outbreak of plague. In 1896, poor health forced Cantlie to return to London and Clottered. Later that year, Dr Sun visited him there, and was kidnapped by the Imperial Chinese secret service. Sun was tied up in the Chinese Legation, and might well have been shipped back to China and executed had it not been for Cantlie, who led a media campaign which not only succeeded in releasing Dr Sun, but made Dr Sun a hero in Britain.

Sun Yat-sen (1866 – 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who served as the provisional first president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang (KMT). Uniquely among 20th-century Chinese leaders, Sun is revered by both the Republic of China on Taiwan (where he is officially the "Father of the Nation") and by the People's Republic of China (where he is officially the "Forerunner of the Revolution") for his instrumental role in the 1911 Revolution that successfully overthrew the Qing dynasty, and installed a republic, of which he was the first president.

Cantlie was involved in the setting up of the Journal of Tropical Medicine in 1898, and the founding of the London School of Tropical Medicine in 1899. He was a founder in 1907 of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. During the early years of the twentieth century, and particularly during the First World War (1914–1919), Cantlie's work centred on the provision and training of ambulance services. He was a pioneer of first aid, which in 1875 was unknown: even the police had no knowledge of basic techniques such as how to stop serious bleeding and applying splints.

Cantlie’s country home was the Kennels in Cottered, and Sun Yat-sen stayed there during part of his exile in 1896. Cantlie is buried in St John the Baptist church in Cottered.

A priest, a cardinal and a mystic at Hare Street House

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Street_House

Robert Benson (1871 – 1914) was an English Catholic priest and writer. He was ordained as an 

Anglican priest, by his father, the Archbishop of Canterbury, but then switched to the Catholic Church in 1903, and he progressed through the hierarchy to become a chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911 and gain the title of Monsignor before his death a few years later.

He was also a prolific writer of fiction, writing the notable dystopian novel Lord of the World, as well as Come Rack! Come Rope!. His output encompassed historical, horror and science fiction, contemporary fiction, children's stories, plays, apologetics, devotional works and articles.

Benson purchased Hare Street House in Hare Street House in Hare Street in 1903 for "an extraordinarily low sum". Benson carried out many internal alterations, with the help of the artist Gabriel Pippet. Monsignor Benson died in 1914 and was buried in a chapel in the garden, left the house to the Archdiocese of Westminster.

Subsequently, Cardinal William Godfrey (1889 – 1963) used Hare Street House as his country retreat, and he asked the mystic John Bradburne to act as caretaker of the house, which he did 1959-61. 

John Bradburne (1921 – 1979) was an English lay member of the Third Order of Saint Francis, a wandering mystic and a prolific poet. During WW2, Bradburne was posted to India and British Malaya to face the invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army. After the fall of Singapore in 1942, Bradburne spent a month in the jungle with another Gurkha officer, trying to sail a sampan to Sumatra but they were shipwrecked. A second attempt was successful, and Bradburne was then saw active service in Burma. Bradburne had a religious experience in Malaya that resulted in him becoming a mystic of sorts, and for about 20 years he wandered through England, France, Italy, Greece and the Middle East with only a Gladstone bag, visiting a variety of religious houses. In 1979, Bradburne was killed by nationalist guerrillas in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, while acting as warden of a leper colony there, and he is a candidate for canonisation, with the current title of 'Servant of God'. He left behind 6,000 poems, making him the most prolific poet in the English language.

Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902).  Diamonds and Dark Deeds in Southern Africa

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes from Bishop’s Stortford, founded the De Beers diamond company, the state of Rhodesia, and the Rhodes Scholarship. The son of a vicar, Rhodes was born at Netteswell House, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. A sickly child, he was sent to South Africa by his family when he was 17 years old in the hope that the climate might improve his health. He entered the diamond trade at Kimberley in 1871, when he was 18, and with funding from Rothschild & Co, began to systematically buy out and consolidate diamond mines. Over the next two decades he gained a near-complete monopoly of the world diamond market. His diamond company De Beers, formed in 1888, retains its prominence into the 21st century.

Rhodes entered the Cape Parliament at the age of 27 in 1881, and in 1890, he became prime minister. During his time as prime minister, Rhodes used his political power to expropriate land from black Africans through the Glen Grey Act, while also tripling the wealth requirement for voting under the Franchise and Ballot Act, effectively barring black people from taking part in elections. After overseeing the formation of Rhodesia during the early 1890s, he was forced to resign in 1896 after the disastrous Jameson Raid, an unauthorised attack on Paul Kruger's South African Republic (or Transvaal). Rhodes's career never recovered; his heart was weak, and after years of ill health he died in 1902. He was buried in what is now Zimbabwe; his grave has been a controversial site.

In his last will, he provided for the establishment of the international Rhodes Scholarship at University of Oxford, the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. Every year it grants 102 full postgraduate scholarships. It has benefited prime ministers of Malta, Australia, and Canada, United States President Bill Clinton, and many others.  With the strengthening of international movements against racism, such as Rhodes Must Fall, Rhodes' legacy is a matter of debate to this day. Critics cite his confiscation of land from the black indigenous population of the Cape Colony, and false claims that southern African archeological sites such as Great Zimbabwe were built by European civilisations.

Joseph Beldam (1795-1866). Lawyer, Historian and Abolitionist from Royston.

From: https://www.roystoncave.co.uk/post/joseph-beldam

Joseph Beldam was born in Royston in 1795, studied at Cambridge and then the Middle Temple, London, before setting up as a lawyer in London. In 1827, Beldam joined the Anti-Slavery Society in London and for many years devoted his time and attention to obtaining freedom for slaves throughout the British Empire. He wrote or edited most of the Society’s publications and papers, sat on numerous committees and later became their official legal advisor. This resulted in the Slave Emancipation Act of 1833, which gave all slaves across the British Colonies their freedom, but there was an interim period of apprenticeships, and the working conditions of apprentices were in some cases even worse than those of slaves. Beldam was at the centre of the legal battle to address this and was tasked with collecting and analysing evidence from all sides. Parliament was forced to act and abolish apprenticeships in 1838, three years before the date set by the Emancipation Act. Beldam was the appointed by the Anti-Slavery Society to examined colonial law, with a view to prevent further oppression. He published a pamphlet about the principles on which future free men of the colonies should be governed. These ideas were praised by the House of Lords and, with some alterations, successfully passed as the Slave Trade Act of 1839. However, not all of Beldam’s idea were what we would now regard as enlightened: he advocated a process of ‘civilising’ the Africans, including Christianisation.

In 1845, Beldam retired due to ill health, and returned to live in Royston, where he set about studying local antiquities. He began investigating Royston Cave in 1852 and introduced the theory that the carvings dated from the period of the Crusades, though perhaps carved within an existing cave of greater age. His report and book on: The Origin and Use of The Royston Cave, was very influential. 

Hugh Rose ( 1801 – 1885). Field Marshal and 1st Baron Strathnairn of Newsells

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Rose,_1st_Baron_Strathnairn

Field Marshal Hugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn, GCB, GCSI, PC (6 April 1801 – 16 October 1885) was a senior British Army officer. He served as a military adviser to the Ottoman Army who were seeking to secure the expulsion of the forces of Mehemet Ali from Syria during the Egyptian–Ottoman War. He then fought with the French Army at the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Inkerman and at the Battle of Mamelon during the Crimean War, and was awarded awarded the French Legion of Honour. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Rose was given command of the Central Indian Field Force and was successful at the battle of Jhansi in April 1858, at Lahar in May 1858 and at Gwalior in June 1858. He went on to be: Commander of the Bombay Army, and Commander-in-Chief, India and Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, and then Field Marshal and 1st Baron Strathnairn. 

Rose also had various diplomatic roles. He was British consul-general for Syria and Lebanon in August 1841 and found himself preventing feuds between the Maronites and Druzes. On one occasion in 1841, he rode between them at imminent risk to his life and by the sheer force of a stronger will stopped the conflict. On another occasion he rescued 700 American missionaries from Mount Lebanon and took them to Beirut walking himself all the way so that his horse could be available to old women. Lord Palmerston appointed him secretary of the embassy at Constantinople in 1851, where he foiled a Russian attempt to force a secret treaty upon Turkey.  He retired to Newsells Park in Hertfordshire, and had an obelisk erected there in memory of his favourite charger which he had ridden during the Indian Rebellion. 

William Benn (c. 1682 – 1755). Merchant, Mayor and Jacobite from Hare Street

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Benn_(Lord_Mayor_of_London)

William Benn was an English merchant, from Hare Street, who served as Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Lord Mayor of London in 1746. Benn was a Jacobite, and he sent a message of support to Charles Stuart while Lord Mayor. Charles Stuart (also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie) was the grandson of James II, who had been forced into exile by William and Mary, so according to Jacobites, Charles was the true king: Charles III. Charles Stuart raised a rebellion in Scotland in 1745/46, which was initially reasonably successful, so the support of the Mayor of London was significant. He was the originator of the so-called 'Benn's Club', consisting of himself and five other aldermen who were all Tories with Jacobite sympathies. In 1749 he was involved in a drunken fight with another Alderman at a London City feast after proposing a toast to the health of Charles III. Benn died, aged 73 years, in 1755 and was buried at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard Braughing, Hertfordshire.

Admiral Sir John Jennings (1664 – 1743). Navy officer and Whig politician from Newsells

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jennings_(Royal_Navy_officer)

In 1690, as captain of the HMS Experiment, he intercepted vessels being used as transports by James II's forces. In 1696, he commanded the Plymouth off France, and captured a St Malo privateer (pirate ship). Shortly afterwards, together with the frigate HMS Rye, he fell in with three French ships: one quickly surrendered, and Jennings, leaving the Rye to look after their prize, pursued the other two and succeeded in compelling one to strike her flag after a vigorous defence. Having conducted their prizes to port, the Rye and the Plymouth fell in with the Severn, a British man-of-war, and the three ships steered together for the coast of France, where they took five vessels laden with wine from Bordeaux, and a small ship of war

On the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Jennings commanded HMS Kent (of 70 guns) under Admiral Rooke at Cadiz and Vigo in 1702, where he played a part in the destruction of the Franco-Spanish fleet. He took part in the capture of Gibraltar, and was captain of the 96-gun HMS St George at the Battle of Málaga in 1704. He was knighted for his exploits by Queen Anne on 9 September 1704, and having been promoted to rear admiral in 1705, became Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station in 1706.[5] He was promoted to vice admiral in 1708 and admiral in 1709. His attack on Tenerife in 1706 was unsuccessful. He commanded the fleet off Lisbon from 1708 to 1710, and was later Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. He continued to cover naval affairs when an MP, and when the Whigs were in government he was a senior figure in the Admiralty, appointed Senior Naval Lord and rear Admiral. He was also Governor of Greenwich Hospital, and one of the original backers of the Royal Academy of Music, and established a London opera company which commissioned numerous works from Handel and others. In 1721, he acquired Newsells Bury at Barkway in Hertfordshire. Jennings died at Greenwich in1743, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. A separate monument exists at Barkway Parish Church sculpted by John Michael Rysbrack.

King James I of England and IV of Scotland (1566-1625)

James Stuart stopped off in Royston in 1603, on his way from Scotland to be crowned king of England at Westminster. And he came back to found a palace/hunting lodge in Royston, which he enjoyed as an escape from court life up until his death in 1625. Apartments were maintained for his male lover, the Duke of Buckingham, but not for the King's wife, who only visited once. The palace complex included a bowling green, cock pit, dog kennels and pleasure gardens. The King and court enjoyed hunting and shooting over the Barleywolds, and there was golf and horse racing on Therfield Heath. The locals may not have been happy as others were banned from hunting, and goods were requisitioned at below market price. One of the King's favourite hunting dogs was taken and returned with a note begging the King to leave Royston. The King did not comply, and his son Charles I continued to use the palace until the civil war.

Thomas Howard (1561- 1626). Pirate, Lord High Treasurer and Embezzler of Audley End 

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Howard,_16th_Earl_of_Suffolk

What a life! Thomas Howard was born and brought up at Audley End, and pulled down the Tudor house to build the present Jacobean house, the largest private house in the Kingdom. His father, the Duke of Norfolk, was executed for High Treason, when Thomas Howard was 10, but Thomas junior was restored a Lord in 1584. In 1588, he commanded the Golden Lion that successfully attacked the Spanish Armada, and he was knighted the next day. In 1591 he was sent to the Azores to waylay Spanish Treasure ships, but escaped a trap by the skin of his teeth. In 1596, Howard served as vice-admiral of an expedition that defeated a Spanish fleet and captured Cadiz. Queen Elizabeth rewarded him by installing him as a Knight of the Garter in 1597, then an admiral, then Constable of the Tower of London. James I made him Lord Chamberlain, then a Privy Councillor, then Earl of Suffolk. In 1605, he uncovered the Gunpowder plot and tried the plotters. In 1614, he was appointed Lord High Treasurer, and was one of the most powerful men in the country. However, his downfall began in 1615 when he tried to undermine the King’s lover the Duke of Buckingham. The Duke retaliated by revealing the dodgy dealings of Howard and his wife, Lady Suffolk, who had harassed creditors of the crown, and extorted bribes from them. Lady Suffolk apparently had traits in common with Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, and was paid £1,000 a year by the Spanish Ambassador to influence the Earl. They were both tried for coruption, and in 1619 found guilty on all counts, fined and imprisoned in the Tower of London. However, on pleading to the King, they were allowed to retire to Audley End.

Sir Ralph Sadler (1507 – 1587). 

Tudor statesmen of Standon

From:: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Sadler

Sir Ralph Sadler was an English statesman, starting as Thomas Cromwell’s secretary, then Henry VIII’s Privy Councillor, Secretary of State and ambassador to Scotland. Sadler went on to serve Edward VI. Having signed the device settling the crown on Jane Grey in 1553, he was obliged to retire to his estates at Standon during the reign of Mary I. Sadler was restored to royal favour during the reign of Elizabeth I, serving as a Privy Councillor and once again participating in Anglo-Scottish diplomacy. He was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in May 1568. Queen Elizabeth spent 3 days with Sadler at Standon in 1561, and he retired to Standon, reputedly, "the richest commoner in England", and his tomb lies beneath a magnificent wall monument, including his effigy, in St. Mary's Church, Standon. He left the majority of his vast landholdings, including Standon and Buntingford, Hertfordshire, to his eldest son and heir, Thomas Sadler. In 1603, King James VI of Scotland, stayed two nights with Thomas Sadler at the Standon Lordship, on his way to claim the English throne.

Sir Walter Lee of Albury (c. 1350-1395) and the Peasants’ Revolt

https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/lee-sir-walter-1350-1395

Sir Walter inherited the family seat and estates at Albury, together with the manors of Clothall, Wallington, Patmore Hall, Brent Pelham, Furneux Pelham, and many others, when he was young. Lee first went abroad in 1368, when he received permission from the King to travel from Dover to Milan with an escort of eight horsemen. His mission probably concerned Lionel, duke of Clarence’s marriage to Violante Visconti, although no further evidence of his activities in Italy has survived. In the following year he accompanied John of Gaunt on his expedition to France, where he fought and was probably knighted, but the army was decimated by plaque and dysentery. In July 1370 he contracted to serve with Sir Robert Knolles, whose plans for a freebooting campaign against the French ended in failure soon afterwards. Sir Walter spent the next few years at home, dealing with various lawsuits and other problems arising from his inheritance. His affairs took a more violent turn by 1375, when he was released on bail after appearing in Chancery on a charge of disturbing the peace. Notwithstanding this brush with the authorities, Sir Walter began his long and distinguished parliamentary career as an MP representing Hertfordshire in January 1377; and within a matter of months had extended his interest in local government to include service on both the Hertfordshire bench and a fairly active round of royal commissions. This was a period of great social, economic, military and political tension, leading up to the Peasants Revolt in 1381, caused by and contributing to the collapse of feudalism and serfdom (triggered by the Black Death in 1349), and exacerbated by the huge cost of the Hundred Year War in France, which was partly financed by the unpopular Poll Taxes.

Richard II became king in 1377 at the age of 10, and government was run mainly by his uncles, in particular John of Gaunt, who was unpopular for losing the war in France and imposing the Poll Tax. In 1381 revolts against the authorities of manor, church and state broke out all over the country. On the 13 June, a revolt started in St Albans against the Abbey there, which had extensive privileges and manorial rights over this area of Hertfordshire. On the 14 June, protestors met with the Abbot to demand their freedom from the Abbey. A group of townsmen travelled to London, and appealed to the King to abolish the rights of the Abbey. Wat Tyler, who was then in control of the city of London, gave them authority to take direct action against the abbey.  By 1381 Sir Walter had become a Knight of the Body (courtier/bodyguard) to Richard II, and he dissuaded the young King from personally going to St. Albans with an army, and convinced the king that he, Lee, could be relied upon to deal with the revolt. Sir Walter may have been genuinely anxious to prevent the surrounding area from being decimated by the army, but he may also have been hoping for self-advancement which success might offer. Possessed of a royal mandate to mediate between the townspeople and the abbot, Sir Walter arrived at St. Albans on 28 June. His speech to the insurgents at Derfold wood on the following day (at least as reported by the author of the Historia Anglicana) contained a mixture of bombast and flattery which, although well enough received, failed totally to achieve its purpose. Being unable either to secure the return of certain charters which the abbot had been forced to concede to his tenants, or to persuade the townspeople to abandon their ringleaders, he was driven to subterfuge, and as a result sparked off an even worse outbreak of rioting. His plan to arrest the leading rebels and escort them secretly to Hertford provoked such a violent reaction that even the earl of Warwick and Sir Thomas Percy were unable to restore order in the town. Paradoxically, it was not until Richard himself visited St. Albans with an armed force of 1,000 men that the rebellion was finally put down. Despite his inept handling of the situation, Sir Walter received £20 to cover his expenses, and was, moreover, appointed to two commissions for the general suppression of unrest in Hertfordshire. He took up arms again in 1383, when he campaigned in Scotland under his former captain, John of Gaunt. He returned there once more in 1385 with a contingent of six esquires, six men-at-arms and eight archers to take part in Richard II’s ill-fated expedition against the Scots. His loyal service was rewarded two years later with the keepership of the royal parks of Cropley and Badmondisfield in Suffolk. He died in 1395 and is buried in Albury church under an imposing monument depicting himself in armour and his wife in a flowing dress.

Sir John Thornbury (d. 1396). 

The Pope’s Mercenary of Little Munden

From: http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1386-1421/member/thornbury-sir-john-1396

Little is known of Sir John Thornbury’s origins, but lack of prospects at home probably led him to seize the opportunity for success abroad offered to so many landless young men by the Hundred Years’ War. Having gained a considerable amount of military experience on campaigns against the French, he hired out his services (from about 1372-76) as a mercenary captain to the Avignon papacy, which since 1369 had been at war with the Visconti family of Milan. Pope Gregory XI praises Thornbury's ‘strenuous labours’ against ‘the damned, pestiferous and cruel tyrants’. By June 1373 he had become a marshal of the English forces in Italy, leading important expeditions to Piacenza and Parma and other missions of a highly confidential nature. However, Sir John (who was knighted during these years) found it increasingly difficult to get paid. He was back in England by 1377 when his first action was to secure royal letters of pardon and thus insure himself against the consequences of his somewhat irregular conduct overseas. The royal letters patent accorded to him pardon him for:

‘all seditions, adhesions to the King’s enemies and favour shown them, within or without England, captures or deliveries of towns, castles and fortresses without licence, breaches of truces and safe conducts, sales of castles, cities, etc., in England, France, Brittany and Gascony, violations of the King’s Seal, and all other offences against the Crown and the Common Law or in the King’s wars and for all captures of ships on the high seas and in port in time of truce.’

Clearly, Sir John had been up to no good, but had gained a fortune sufficient to buy his pardon. By 1380 he had acquired the manor of Little Munden, together with land at Watton-at-Stone and Bennington. Sir John represented Hertfordshire as MP in at least five Parliaments from May 1382 onwards, at time of great conflict between crown and parliament. However, by November 1388, he had risen to become a Knight of the Body (courtier/bodyguard) to Richard II. Sir John died in 1396 and was buried in the church of Little Munden, alongside his wife Naverina, who seems to have been Italian. Their monument and impressive effigies are still to be seen in the church of Little Munden, together with a monument to his son Sir Philip Thornburry. Sir Philip inherited his father's manors and martial tendencies, being at war in France almost continuously from 1404 to 1416, with Henry V.

Henry fitz Ailwin (c.1135– 1212) 

The first Lord Mayor of London, from Watton-on-Stone. 

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_fitz_Ailwin

Henry fitz Ailwin was an English merchant, who served as the first Lord Mayor of London from 1189 to 1212. His business interests probably centred on making, finishing, and selling cloth. In politics, he was an alderman by 1168 and became one of the most influential men in the city. Under King Richard I and his brother King John, the crown's need to raise finance from London businessmen resulted in the grant of greater autonomy to the city, which previously had been governed by an officer of the crown. Instead, the office of mayor emerged, which was elected by merchants, with Fitz Ailwin first named as such in 1194. As mayor, he negotiated for the use of ground outside the walls as a city burial ground. After the great fire of 1212, he issued a code governing new building that emphasized fire prevention and building in stone. He also first introduced the offence of trespass and a variety of political innovations. FitzAilwin inherited the manor of Watton-on-Stone in 1165, and built a hermitage chapel, and new manor house as his country residence, so he presumably hunted on the Barleywolds.

Matilda (c. 1105 – 1152). Countess of Boulogne and Queen of England, from Chrishall

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_I,_Countess_of_Boulogne

Matilda was born in Boulogne, France. Her father was Count Eustace III of Boulogne. Her mother, Mary, was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland. Count Eustace was given lands in England, including the manor of Chrishall, where he built and occupied a house, named Flanders, thought to be on the site of the present Chiswick Hall. And it was here that his daughter, Matilda, was raised. A letter survives that the queen wrote to Hubert the Chamberlain, ordering that the residents of Chrishall be looked after. In 1125, Matilda married Stephen of Blois, Count of Mortain. On Eustace III's death, Matilda and her husband became joint rulers of Boulogne, but they both also had extensive lands in England. 

On the death of Henry I of England in 1135, Stephen rushed to England, taking advantage of Boulogne's control of the closest seaports, and was crowned king, beating his rival, the Empress Matilda. Matilda of Boulogne was heavily pregnant at that time and crossed the Channel after giving birth to a son, William. Matilda was crowned queen at Easter, on 22 March 1136. 

In the civil war that followed, known as the Anarchy, Matilda proved to be her husband's strongest supporter. When England was invaded in 1138, she called troops from Boulogne and its ally Flanders, and besieged Dover Castle with success and then went north to Durham, where she made a treaty with David I of Scotland in 1139.

After Stephen was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, she rallied the king's partisans, and raised an army with the help of William of Ypres. While the Empress Matilda waited in London to prepare her coronation, Matilda and Stephen's brother Henry of Blois had her chased out of the city. The Empress Matilda went on to besiege Henry of Blois at Winchester. Matilda of Boulogne then commanded her army to attack the besiegers. There was a rout in which the Empress's half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, was captured. The two Matildas then agreed to exchange prisoners and Stephen ruled as king again.

Matilda was a supporter of the Knights Templar. She founded Cressing Temple in Essex in 1137 and Temple Cowley in Oxford in 1139. In 1147 she founded the Royal Foundation of St Katharine, which still exists today.

Matilda died of a fever in May 1152 at Hedingham Castle, Essex, England, and is buried at Faversham Abbey, which she and her husband founded.

Count Eustace III of Boulogne (c. 1050 – c. 1125). 

Crusader from Chrishall.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_III,_Count_of_Boulogne

Eustace III was the count of Boulogne from 1087 succeeding his father, Eustace II. Count Eustace II was given extensive lands in England, as he participated in the Norman Conquest. These lands included the manor of Chrishall, where Eustace III built and occupied a house, named Flanders, thought to be on the site of the present Chiswick Hall. In 1088, he rebelled against William II of England in favour of Robert Curthose. While waiting for Robert Curthose's arrival from Normandy, Eustace and his fellow compatriots were besieged at Rochester castle by William II. With provisions running out and the situation becoming dire within the castle, the rebels asked for terms. William II pardoned most of the rebels allowing those such as Eustace to return to Normandy. In 1091, Eustace was with Robert Curthose when the latter agreed to terms with William II, recognizing him as king of England. Eustace married Mary, daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland. 

Eustace participated in the First Crusade of 1096 along with his brothers Godfrey (duke of Lower Lotharingia) and Baldwin. Eustace was present at the Siege of Nicaea (May–June 1097), helped rescue Bohemund of Taranto's beleaguered troops at the Battle of Dorylaeum (1 July 1097), defeated an enemy ambush during the Siege of Antioch, and was one of the commanders during the capture of Antioch on 3 June 1098. Eustace, as a member of the council held at Ruj on 4 January 1099, mediated the conflict over the control of Antioch between Bohemund of Taranto and Raymond IV of Toulouse. In early December 1098, Eustace joined Raymond's attack on Maarrat al-Nu'man and an attack on Nablus in July 1099. He gained notoriety for his actions during the Siege of Jerusalem fighting relentlessly from a siege tower along with his brother Godfrey and the crusaders they commanded. They were among the first to breach Jerusalem's city walls and participated in the ensuing massacre. Eustace commanded a division of the crusader army during the Battle of Ascalon, and was a patron of the Knights Templar. 

While his brothers stayed in the Holy Land, Eustace returned to administer his domains. When his youngest brother Baldwin I of Jerusalem died in 1118, the elderly Eustace was offered the throne. Eustace was at first uninterested, but was convinced to accept it. He traveled all the way to Apulia before learning that a distant relative, Baldwin of Bourcq, had been crowned in the meantime. Eustace returned to Boulogne, founded the Cluniac house of Rumilly, and retired there as a Cluniac monk. He died about 1125. The county of Boulogne was inherited by his daughter, Matilda, who subsequently also became Queen of England, as a result of her husband Stephen becoming King.

King Beorhtwulf of Benington?

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beorhtwulf_of_Mercia

Beorhtwulf was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia from c. 840 to 852 AD, and may have had a palace at what is now the Lordship at Benington. The Barleywolds was initially on the borders of the Anglian kingdoms of Mercia and East Anglia, and the Saxon Kingdom of Essex (East Saxons), but in 730 AD King Æthelbald of Mercia gained overlordship of Essex and East Anglia. Beorhtwulf's kingship began auspiciously. In the battle of Cyfeiliog, he killed King Merfyn Frych of Gwynedd (north-west Wales) and later sources imply that he was able to subjugate the northern Welsh after this. However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records Viking raids in 841 against the south and east coasts of Britain, including the Mercian province of Lindsey. London, chief centre of Mercia's trade, was attacked the following year. The Chronicle states that there was "great slaughter" in London, and large coin hoards were buried in the town at this time. In 851, a Viking army landed at Thanet, then still an island, and over-wintered there. A second Viking force of 350 ships is reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have stormed Canterbury and London, and to have "put to flight Beorhtwulf, king of Mercia, with his army". Beorhtwulf was reputedly at Benington when he heard of these Viking raids. The Vikings were defeated by Æthelwulf and his sons, Æthelstan and Æthelbald, but the economic impact appears to have been significant, as Mercian coinage in London was very limited after 851. Beorhtwulf died about 852 AD, and Mercia was subsequently overrun by Vikings, such that Mercia disappeared as a Kingdom in 879 AD, and was then divided between Wessex and the Vikings – the Viking part of England being known as the Danelaw. The Barleywolds was on the edge of the Danelaw, probably making it susceptible to raiding.