509

CUTHBERT TUNSTALL, afterwards CONSTABLE, Esq.

AND HIS SUCCESSORS AT BURTON CONSTABLE.

Francis Tunstall, Esq. of Scargill Castle, in the North Riding of the County of York, married the Honourable Cecily Constable, eldest daughter of John Constable, second Viscount of Dunbar; and had several children, two of whom, Cuthbert and Marmaduke, were men of singular eminence and merit. Cuthbert, the eldest son, succeeding, soon after 1714, to the estates of his uncle William, fourth Viscount of Dunbar (on whose death, without issue, that title became extinct), took the name of Constable; and married the Honourable Amy Clifford, fifth daughter of Hugh second Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, and sister of Elizabeth, the Lady of the fourth Viscount of Dunbar.

Mr. Peck, in the Preface to his "Life of Milton,” 1740, says: "I may not conclude without my grateful acknowledgments to the Honourable Cuthbert Constable, of Burton Constable, in com. Ebor. Esq. who generously gave me the plate of Milton." The plate, a fine mezzotinto, is thus inscribed:

"Johannes Miltonus,

circa annum ætatis xxv.

Cedite, Romani scriptores, cedite, Graii. PROPERTIUS. Viro ornatissimo CUTHBERTO CONSTABLE, de Burton Constable, in Com. Ebor. Tabulam hanc meritò votivam, D. D. D. FRANCIS PECK, A. M."

Mr. Gough, in his "British Topography," says: "The late Cuthbert Constable, Esq. spared no expence to procure whatever would illustrate any branch of the History of Yorkshire; nor is the County less obliged to his son *, William Constable, of Burton Constable, Esq. who seems to inherit his father's taste for preserving its antiquities."

* Mr. Gough pays the same compliment to Marmaduke Tunstall, of Wycliffe, Esq. the younger brother of Cuthbert Constable, and of whom hereafter, in p. 511.

Mr. Constable died March 14, 1747, at Burton Constable, where he was "remarkable for his hospitality and encouragement of learning." He left one son, William, who succeeded to his father's estates, and two daughters.

William Constable, Esq. was elected F. S. A. in 1775; F. R. S. in the same year. He purchased from the indefatigable Dr. Burton his large Collections relative to Yorkshire, consisting of sixteen volumes in folio and thirty in quarto, which are particularly described by Mr. Gough, in his "British Topography," vol. II. pp. 409-416, and the original charters gathered out of the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey at York, amounting to 1868 in number, contained in thirty bundles.

Mr. Constable died in his 70th year, in May 1791; and bequeathed his estate to his nephews, of the name of Sheldon, then resident at Liege.

Edward, the eldest of these nephews, assumed the name of Constable, and was generally styled "the Lord of Holderness," being possessed of the richest part of that fine grazing district situated on the Humber, to the extent of £16,000 per annum.

This Mr. Edward Constable was highly accomplished; had lived in the best societies, both at home and abroad; and annually expended £2000 in benevolences of the most disinterested and liberal kind. Dying March 23, 1803, without issue, he was succeeded by his next brother, Francis Sheldon, Esq., who, with this fine estate, became possessed also of one of the best-furnished houses and libraries in England, as heir-looms appertaining thereto.

Mr. Francis Sheldon married, in January 1792, at Tichborne, Hampshire, Frances, daughter of Edmund Plowden, of Plowden, in Shropshire, Esq. On succeeding to the estate, he assumed the name of Constable; and his death is thus recorded * :

* Gent. Mag. vol. XCI. part i. p. 281.

"Feb. 12, 1821, died at York, aged 68, Francis Constable, Esq. of Burton Constable and Wycliffehall. Though possessed of an almost princely income, the chief (we may add the only) enjoyment he found in riches, was to benefit and relieve the wants of others. He has often been heard to bless and praise Divine Providence for giving him not only the means, but also the will of serving his fellow-creatures. He found more difficulty in refusing than many had in bestowing a favour. Every tale of woe, from whatever distant quarter it came, spoke irresistibly to his heart; and many who knew nothing of him but from his extensive charities, will have to bewail the loss of their common benefactor. He looked upon himself in the light of a steward under Divine Providence, and acted through life as such. Sir Thomas Hugh Clifford, of Tixall in the county of Stafford, Bart. succeeds to the property of Burton Constable and Wycliffe-hall." The relict of Mr. Constable died April 1, 1826, in George-street, Portman-square.

Sir Thomas Hugh Clifford was not descended from a Constable, but was great-nephew to the two sisters, the Honourable Elizabeth and Amy Clifford, whose alliances with the Constable family are already noticed in p. 509. He was born December 4, 1762, the eldest son of the Hon. Thomas Clifford (fourth and posthumous son of Hugh third Lord Clifford of Chudleigh,) and the Honourable Barbara Aston, youngest daughter and co-heiress of James fifth Lord Aston of Forfar. He was educated at Liege, and afterwards at the famous College of Navarre, in Paris (since converted to the Polytechnic School); and then travelled on foot over Switzerland, where he formed an acquaintance with the late Mr. Whitbread. Having lost his mother in 1786, and his father in 1787, Mr. Clifford settled at Tixall in Staffordshire, the fine old estate of the Astons, which he inherited from his mother; and married 2K 8

VOL. V.

June 7, 1791, Mary-Macdonald, second daughter of John Chichester of Arlington in Devonshire, Esq. by his second wife Mary Macdonald of Tiendrish, North Britain. By patent dated May 22, 1815, Mr. Clifford was created a Baronet, at the particular request of King Louis the Eighteenth, to whom he had paid great attention, and who gave this testimony of the sense he entertained of Mr. Clifford's services during his residence in this country. In 1821, on acceding to the Constable estates, Sir Thomas Clifford, by royal sign manual, was allowed to take the name of Constable only.

Like his predecessors of that name, Sir Thomas had an unequivocal taste for literature and science. On his return from his travels, he conceived an ardent passion for the study of botany, which became his favourite pursuit. Of the extensive and accurate knowledge which he acquired in this pleasing branch of science, he has left an honourable proof in the Flora Tixalliana, which is appended to the "Historical and Topographical Description of the parish of Tixall," which he composed in conjunction with his brother Mr. Arthur Clifford, and of which he furnished almost all the materials. This amusing and instructive work was published at Paris in 1818. At a later period Sir T. Constable imbibed a taste for the study of history, antiquities, topography, heraldry, and genealogy, in all of which he was conversant. He had conceived the plan of a History of the Normans," and had made considerable progress in it. He frequently amused his leisure hours with lighter pursuits. He translated into English verse the fables of La Fontaine; and he had contrived to hit off, with remarkable felicity, the almost inimitable naiveté and indescribable arch simplicity of that original author. In his latter years Sir Thomas completed a new Metrical Version of the Psalms. He produced also a work in French, intituled, "L'Evangile Médité.”

From this religious work he extracted forty Meditations on the Divinity and Passion of Christ, for the forty days of Lent, which he translated into English, and published at his own expense.

Sir Thomas Constable died at Ghent, aged 60, on the 25th of February 1823, leaving by his lady above mentioned, who died at Brighton in October 1825, two daughters and one son: 1. Mary-Barbara, married April 13, 1826, to Capt. Charles Chichester, of the 60th regiment; 2. Mary-Isabella, married Oct. 2, 1827, to Henry eldest son of Raymond Arundell, Esq. of Kenilworth, cousin to Lord Arundell; and 3. Sir Thomas-Aston Constable, Bart. who succeeded to his father's title and estates, and is the present owner of Burton Constable *, but resides at Tixall. He married, on the same day as his sister last-mentioned, Mary-Ann, daughter of Charles Chichester, Esq. of Calverleigh Court, Devonshire, and sister to his above-named brother-in-law.

MARMADUKE TUNSTALL, Esq.

Who has been repeatedly noticed in the "Literary Anecdotes," was one of the sons of Francis Tunstall, Esq. and a younger brother to Cuthbert (noticed in p. 509). He was elected F. S. A. in 1764; and F. R. S. in 1771. To the Society of Antiquaries he does not appear to have made any communications; but to the Philosophical Trans

* The mansion of Burton Constable occupies a flat situation, and is a spacious, antient, and magnificent structure, displaying two superb fronts. A very good view is engraved in Pennant's Tour in Scotland, and an ample description is printed in the Beauties of England and Wales, for Yorkshire, pp. 431-2. The park is spacious, ornamented with clumps of trees and extensive walks.—It is worthy of remark that there is in Yorkshire another mansion which bears the very similar appellation of Constable Burton. It is situated in Richmondshire, and is the antient seat of the Wyvills. See Whitaker's History of that District, vol. I. p. 321; and the Gentleman's Mag. XCVI. ii. 304. † See vol. III. p. 688; and the numerous passages referred to in vol. VII. p. 695.