Tichborne Dole

Last updated
The Tichborne Dole (1671) by Gillis van Tilborgh Tichborne dole.jpg
The Tichborne Dole (1671) by Gillis van Tilborgh

The Tichborne Dole is a traditional English festival of charity which is held in the village of Tichborne, Hampshire, during the Feast of the Annunciation. The festival is centered on the handing out of donations of flour, which have been blessed by the local parish priest, from the front of Tichborne House.

Contents

The festival dates back to the 12th century (c.1150) and was started by Lady Mabella Tichborne who, on her death bed, instructed that a donation of farm produce be made to the poor each year. Presently, the terms of the Dole stipulate that adults from the parishes of Tichborne and Cheriton are entitled to claim 1 gallon of flour, and children half a gallon each. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

The Crawls

The area of Tichborne which donates to the festival is known as the Crawls.

According to local tradition, Lady Tichborne's husband, Sir Roger Tichborne, did not approve of her charity and agreed to her bequest on the condition that the Dole consisted only of produce from land that she was able to encircle under her own power while carrying a burning torch in her hand. Lady Tichborne, who was in poor health, is said to have successfully crawled around a 23-acre (93,000 m2) field before the torch went out, and this area became known as the Crawls. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

The painting

The painting was commissioned by Sir Henry Tichborne, the 3rd Baronet. In recent years Sir Henry has come to more prominent notice owing to his commission of and inclusion in the painting 'The Tichborne Dole' (1671) by the Flemish artist Gillis van Tilborch after it was displayed in the 'Treasure Houses of Britain' exhibition in 1985. 'The Tichborne Dole' depicts Sir Henry and his family together with his servants and family priest during the annual distribution of loaves to the poor of Tichborne. The portrait features Sir Henry and his family standing centre left in front of Tichborne House. The portrait was perhaps intended to proclaim Sir Henry's successful rebuilding of the family fortunes after being left heavily in debt by his father, Sir Richard Tichborne, the 2nd Baronet as well as the deeply religious family's attitude towards charity. The painting has been described as '...a document of social history [that] has no peer'. [6] .However, considering the trouble Sir Henry suffered as a result of his Catholic faith perhaps instead the painting should be viewed less in the context of a 'document of stark realism' [7] than as a reminder of the social hierarchy of the time, and in particular of that of the place of the Catholic landed gentry in society. [8]

The curse

The story of the Dole holds that Lady Tichborne placed a curse on it to ensure that her request would never be abandoned. According to the curse, if the Dole were to stop, the Tichborne family would bear seven sons, and, in the next generation, seven daughters, leading to the family's name being lost and the house falling into ruins. [1] [3] [5]

The Dole continued from the time of Lady Tichborne's death until 1796, when disturbances during the handing out of the Dole led to local officials ordering it to cease. The Baronet at that time, Sir Henry Tichborne, 8th Bart. was the eldest of seven sons. He had seven daughters but no sons. However his brother Edward did have a son, Henry, born in 1829 but he died in 1836 aged six years old. At this point, fearing that the curse had come to fruition, the Dole was resumed. Edward became the 9th baronet but had no sons. Another of the seven brothers, James, became the 10th baronet. He had two sons, Roger, who was born in 1829 (before the Dole was resumed) and Alfred, born in 1839 (after the resumption of the Dole). Roger was shipwrecked and lost at sea (1854) and Alfred eventually became the 11th baronet on his father's death in 1862. Sir Alfred died in 1866 leaving his wife pregnant with a son, Sir Henry Doughty-Tichborne, 12th Bart.

The dole and curse set the groundwork for the infamous Tichborne Claimant trial of the 19th century. [1] [3] [5]

The Seven Sons
The Seven Daughters of Sir Henry Tichborne, 8th Bt and Anne (daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, 1st Bt)

The Tichborne baronetcy became extinct in 1968 for lack of male-line descendants.

Media

The Dole was the subject of a 1926 silent movie, The Legend of Tichborne Dole, written by George Banfield and directed by Hugh Croise. [9] It is also the subject of 1671 painting; entitled The Tichborne Dole by Gillis van Tilborch. The dole, and the Titchborne family, feature prominently in the novel The Fraud by Zadie Smith,

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tichborne case</span> Legal case that captivated Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s

The Tichborne case was a legal cause célèbre that captivated Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s. It concerned the claims by a man sometimes referred to as Thomas Castro or as Arthur Orton, but usually termed "the Claimant", to be the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy. He failed to convince the courts, was convicted of perjury and served a long prison sentence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Seymour</span> English noble family of Welsh origin

Seymour, Semel or St. Maur, is the name of an English family in which several titles of nobility have from time to time been created, and of which the Duke of Somerset is the head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broughton baronets</span> Title in the Baronetage of England

The Broughton, later Broughton-Delves, later Broughton Baronetcy, of Broughton in the County of Stafford, is a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 10 March 1661 for Sir Brian Broughton, of Broughton Hall, near Eccleshall, Staffordshire, High Sheriff of Staffordshire from 1660 to 1661 and the member of an ancient Staffordshire family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Orton</span> English imposter

Arthur Orton was an English man who has generally been identified by legal historians and commentators as the "Tichborne Claimant", who in two celebrated court cases both fascinated and shocked Victorian society in the 1860s and 1870s.

Henry Tichborne, 1st Baron Ferrard, known as Sir Henry Tichborne, Bt, between 1697 and 1715, was an Irish peer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spye Park</span>

Spye Park is a former country estate in Bromham parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies north of Chittoe, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Bromham village and 2.5 miles (4 km) east of Lacock. The historic house which stood there, near the Roman road from London to Bath, had been twice destroyed by fire, most recently in 1974. The new owner, as of 2005, was planning to rebuild a Palladian house.

The Fletcher, later Aubrey-Fletcher Baronetcy, of Clea Hall in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 20 May 1782 for Henry Fletcher, a Director of the Honourable East India Company and Member of Parliament. He was a descendant of Philip Fletcher, whose brother Sir Richard Fletcher was the father of Sir Henry Fletcher, 1st Baronet, of Hutton in le Forest. Fletcher was succeeded by his son, Henry, the second Baronet. He was High Sheriff of Cumberland from 1810 to 1811. His grandson, the fourth Baronet, was a prominent Conservative politician. In 1903 he assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Aubrey on inheriting the Aubrey estates on the death of Charles Aubrey. Aubrey-Fletcher died childless and was succeeded by his younger brother, Lancelot, the fifth Baronet. He assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Aubrey on succeeding to the title in 1910. His eldest surviving son, Henry, the sixth Baronet, was Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire from 1954 to 1961. He was succeeded by his son, John, the seventh Baronet. He was High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1961. As of 2008 the title is held by his son, Henry, the eighth Baronet, who succeeded in 1992. He is Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire since 2006.

This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959.

There have been four baronetcies created for people with the surname Lee, all extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillis van Tilborgh</span> Flemish painter (1625–1678)

Gillis van Tilborgh or Gillis van Tilborch was a Flemish painter who worked in various genres including portraits, 'low-life' and elegant genre paintings and paintings of picture galleries. He became the keeper of the picture collection of the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and travelled in England where he painted group portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort</span> Irish politician

Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort, styled Viscount Headford from 1766 to 1795, and known as The Earl of Bective from 1795 to 1800, was an Irish peer and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Cook</span> British art historian and patron

Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd Baronet was an English art patron and art historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Cook, 1st Viscount of Monserrate</span>

Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet, 1st Viscount Montserrate was a British merchant and art collector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tichborne baronets</span> English title from the 17th to 20th centuries

There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Tichborne, both in the Baronetage of England. Both creations are extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Richard Tichborne, 2nd Baronet</span> English politician

Sir Richard Tichborne, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1597. He was a Royalist commander in the English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa Doughty Tichborne</span> Daughter of Claimant in the Tichborne Case

Theresa Mary Doughty Tichborne or Orton (1866–1939) was the daughter of Arthur Orton, a claimant in the 19th century Tichborne case, who continued her father's claim into the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Henry Tichborne, 3rd Baronet</span>

Sir Henry Tichborne, 3rd Baronet was a Hampshire landowner and Roman Catholic baronet of the later Stuart period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Henry Tichborne, 4th Baronet</span>

Sir Henry Joseph Tichborne was the 4th Baronet of the Tichborne baronets. He inherited the title in 1689 on the death of his father.

John Hermengil Tichborne was a Jesuit priest and the 5th Baronet Tichborne. He succeeded to the title on the death of his older brother Henry Joseph Tichborne, the 4th Baronet in 1743.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Henry Tichborne, 7th Baronet</span>

Henry Tichborne was the 7th Baronet Tichborne of Tichborne in Hampshire.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Tichborne Dole, Historic UK (2007-07-28)
  2. 1 2 Legacies - UK history local to you - Southampton: The Tichborne Dole, BBC (2007-07-28)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Tichborne Dole, Strange Briton (207-07-28)
  4. 1 2 The Tichborne Dole Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (2003-03-26), Independent Catholic News (2007-07-28)
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hendricks, George D (1996) "Curse of Tichbornes Finally Comes to Pass", Western Folklore, V28#2. pp. 146-147
  6. Harris, J. The Artist and the Country House: a History of Country House and Garden View painting in Britain, 1540–1870, (1979) p. 43
  7. Harris, p. 40
  8. Tichborne, Sir Henry, 3rd Baronet, (bap. 1624, d. 1689), John Walter https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/66939 Published in print: 23 September 2004 Published online: 23 September 2004
  9. The Legend of Tichborne Dole (1926), IMDB (2007-07-28)