I am happy to have D.W. Bradbridge with a special guest post today. He is the author of The Winter Siege (which I really enjoyed) and his latest release of A Soldier of Substance.
How Did We Ever Forget about Lathom House?
If you stand with your back to the Chapel
of St John the Divine at Lathom Park you can see the area of raised ground
where it is believed Lathom House, the Earl of Derby’s huge fortified mansion
once stood, a building, according to an old ballad, ‘so spacious that it can
receive, Two Kings, their trains and all.’ Today, however, not one stone
remains of the original building besieged by the Parliamentary forces of
Colonel Alexander Rigby during the English Civil War. This is a major irony,
not least because Rigby, humiliated by his failure to capture the house and
shown to be as incompetent a commander as he was vindictive, had initially set
out to reduce Lathom “as if it had never been.” Although he was defeated by the
indomitable will of his nemesis, the unwavering and impressive Countess of
Derby, Lady Charlotte de Tremouille, the house was eventually pulled to the
ground, as he would have wished.
Considering the
dramatic nature of Lady Charlotte de Tremouille’s valiant defense of Lathom
House with only three hundred men against a vastly superior parliamentary
force, it is a wonder that the story is not more widely known today. Unless you
grew up in Ormskirk or are a Civil War enthusiast, it is unlikely that you will
ever have heard about Lathom. This was, however, not always so.
Indeed, up until
the end of the 19th century, the tale of Lady Derby’s exploits
retained a much more prominent place within the national consciousness,
spawning a number of books and poems, the best known of which is William
Harrison Ainsworth’s novel The Leaguer of
Lathom. Even at the time of the siege, Lady Derby was eulogized by those on
the royalist side, the Scottish Dove newspaper,
for example, famously pointing out that she had ‘stolen the earl’s breeches’.
Over the last hundred years, however, the details surrounding the First Siege
of Lathom House (there were, in fact, two sieges) have gradually drifted into
the backwaters of history.
This is a shame,
because the events which took place between March and May 1644 form the basis
for a captivating adventure story (or alternatively, given the abject
incompetence of the parliamentary forces at times, an engaging comedy film or
mini-series – I can imagine a series of Blackadder
being set here).
The reason, in
my opinion, why the Siege of Lathom House offers such rich pickings for a
novelist or screenwriter, lies in the fantastic array of characters involved in
the siege.
There is Lady
Derby herself, described by historian Colin Pilkington as being ‘as devious as
Elizabeth I, as inflexible as Mrs Thatcher and with the physical presence of an
Amazon.’ She is backed up by a portly, scheming cleric (The Reverend Samuel
Rutter – her main advisor), a brave and committed seventeen year old ensign
(Edward Halsall – author of the Siege Journal), an experienced Scottish
mercenary (William Farmer – the Captain of the House) and the wise old
politician William Farrington.
The severe and
humourless Rigby, on the Parliamentary side, was supported by a similar
collection of fine characters such as the respected commander Ralph Assheton,
who saw Rigby for what he was. There was the arrogant vertically-challenged
Welshman in charge of the artillery, Thomas Morgan (uncle of the famous
buccaneer, Captain Henry Morgan), an incompetent engineer called Browne and the
enigmatic William Bootle, an ex-porter in the Earl of Derby’s household, and
employed as Rigby’s resident expert on the interior of the house.
The myriad
possibilities offered by such a fascinating array of characters are something,
which I, personally, found hard to resist, and from a selfish viewpoint I have
been grateful (if somewhat surprised) that Lady Charlotte’s story has remained
in relative obscurity in recent years. Surely, however, this should not remain
so. Isn’t it time that this Iron Lady of Lancashire was recognized once again?
1644. The smoke of parliamentary musket, cannon, and mortar fire is
in the air around the royalist stronghold of Lathom House. Though guards
still stand atop its walls, it is besieged on all sides, and it is only
a matter of time until the house, along with its embittered and
unwavering countess, Lady Charlotte de Tremouille, falls to Parliament’s
might. Yet somehow, a royalist spy still creeps, unseen, through its
gates, and brings the countess Parliament’s secrets.Barely recovered from the trials of the last few months, Daniel Cheswis is torn from his family and sent north, to uncover the identity of the traitor; though before he can even begin, Cheswis finds himself embroiled in a murder. A woman has been garrotted with cheese wire in her Chester home, suggesting there is more than just the usual hatreds of war at play.
As lives are lost and coats are turned on both sides, Cheswis is tasked with finding the murderer, uncovering the traitor, and surviving his soldierly duty long enough to see Lathom House fall.
D.W. Bradbridge was born in 1960 and grew up in Bolton. He has lived
in Crewe, Cheshire since 2000, where he and his wife run a small
magazine publishing business for the automotive industry.“The inspiration for The Winter Siege came from a long-standing interest in genealogy and local history. My research led me to the realisation that the experience endured by the people of Nantwich during December and January 1643-44 was a story worth telling. I also realised that the closed, tension-filled environment of the month-long siege provided the ideal setting for a crime novel.
“History is a fascinating tool for the novelist. It consists only of what is remembered and written down, and contemporary accounts are often written by those who have their own stories to tell. But what about those stories which were forgotten and became lost in the mists of time?
“In writing The Winter Siege, my aim was to take the framework of real history and fill in the gaps with a story of what could, or might have happened. Is it history or fiction? It’s for the reader to decide.”
For more information please visit D.W. Bradbridge’s website. You can also find him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
