The inscription reads: ‘Presented to the Rt.
Hon. Charles
Bathurst, one of the representatives of Bristol, in five successiv e
Parliaments, by the Inhabitants of that City who, however
differing in political opinions, cordially united in this testimony
of regret at the close of a connection which they had always
regarded with satisfaction and pride of respect for public and
private worth and of gratitude for the unwearied activity and
benevolence with which his services were extended to every cla s
of his constituents
MDCCCXII’
Charles Bathurst was the elder son of Charles Bragge of Cleve H ill,
Gloucestershire (1715?-1777)
a port and shipbuilding centre, had greatly profited from the
country’s participation in the Napoleonic Wars and from the
Slave Trade.
The circumstances leading to the creation of this
testimonial are recorded in contemporary newspapers.
‘A respectable and numerous meeting of Merchants, Traders,
&c.,
took place on Wednesday last [5 August 1812].
at the
Commercial Room[s] [Corn Street, Bristol], to consider of
adopting some means to shew their high respect and gratitude
for the zeal and ability manifested by the Right Hon.
C.B.
BATHURST, Esq.
while Member for this City.
The Resolutions.
were moved by Michael Castle, Esq.
and seconded by John Cave,
Esq.
The utmost unanimity prevailed, and a subscription was
entered into to present Mr.
Bathurst with a piece of Plate, which,
at the suggestion of S.
CAVE, Esq.
was limited to five guineas
each individual; it being conceived that the compliment would be
more flattering when proceeding from a great number, than from
the magnitude of the sum.’
(The Bristol Mirror, Bristol, Saturday,
8 August 1812, p.
3e)
A similar, longer account was published by William Cobbett
(1763-1835) in his Three Letters to the Independent Electors of
the City of Bristol (Bath, 1812).
and his second wife, Anne (b.
1718)
who were married at St
James, Bath, Somerset on 14 January
1753.
Bragge was sometime a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice
of the Peace for Gloucestershire.
(The Bath Chronicle, Bath,
Thursday, 27 November 1777, p.
3b) Mrs.
Bragge was a daughte r
of Benjamin Bathurst (1691?-1767)
of Lydney, Gloucestershire,
who was an M.P.
for various constituencies between 1713 and his
death; and a granddaughter of Sir Benjamin Bathurst (1635-1704)
politician, slave owner and sometime governor of the East Indi
and Levant companies
One of the latter’s sons, Allen (1684-1775
was elevated to the peerage as Baron Bathurst in 1712 and furth e
ennobled as 1st Earl Bathurst in 1772
Charles Bathurst was Christened Charles Bragge on 28 Februa ry
1754 at St.
James, Bath.
He attended Winchester School and
New College, Oxford, then studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, being
called to the bar in 1778.
On 11 May 1804 he assumed the
surname of Bathurst by Royal License, when he inherited Lydn ey
Park, Gloucestershire, following the death on 5 May 1804 of An ne
Bathurst, widow of his mother’s elder brother, Poole (1717-1794)
A widely-read popular journalist
who wrote his first Bristol letter from Newgate Prison, Cobbett
criticized the conservative Bathurst for supporting Pitt and the
Napoleonic War, opposing Parliamentary Reform, and for being
merely a ‘placeman’ with a rich sinecure.
‘Some months since, at a meeting of Merchants and other
Inhabitants of Bristol, it was resolved to present a Piece of
Plate to Mr.
Bathurst, their late worthy Representative.
It is now
finished, and will be presented in a few days, It is a beautiful
tripod Candelabrum, of 30 inches high – the feet are chased
dolphins, with shell corners – at its base frosted unicorns, with
wreaths of flowers.
The pedestal consists of three sides – the
first of which bears the.
inscription [see above].
‘On the second side, the Bristol Arms – on the third his own, with
the motto – ‘’Tien ta Foy.’’
This is surmounted with three elegant
female figures, with mural crowns, holding in conjunction circles
of flowers, to represent union; between them rises a chased
pillar, curiously wrought, from which branch three arms for lights,
supporting a cut-glass dish, with a silver net for flowers.
The cost
was 700 guineas, and the weigh 523 ounces.’
(The Manchester
Mercury, Manchester, Tuesday, 7 September 1813, p.
3d)
Bathurst (Bragge) was married at Reading, Berkshire on 1
August 1788 to Charlotte (1762-1839), daughter of Dr.
Anthony
Addington (1713-1790), a specialist in mental illness, among
whose patients was William Pitt, first earl of Chatham (1708-
1778).
They had two sons and two daughters.
After sitting as M.P.
for Monmouth from 1790 to 1796, Bathurst
(Bragge) served Bristol in the same capacity from 1796 to 1812
receiving this testimonial on leaving that position
He later sat a s
M.P.
for Bodmin and Harwich.
In addition he was Treasurer of t he
Navy from 1801 to 1803 and Secretary of War in 1803/04, Mas ter
of the Mint in 1806/07, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancast er
from 1812 to 1823.
It was following this last appointment that h e
declined to stand again as M.P.
for Bristol.
Bathurst died on 13 The dolphins, shells and unicorns in the design of this
August 1831 at Lyndney Park, Gloucestershire’ candelabrum are all allusions to Bristol and its place in
mercantile history, the latter forming the supporters to that
When Bathurst stepped down as one of the two M.P.s for Bristo l,
City’s coat-of-arms.
the city was the third largest in England by population and, as
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