Lady Byron And Earl Shilton

By David Herbert
ISBN 0 9521471 3 0
An account of the Leicestershire village of Earl Shilton, together with the neighbouring parishes of Kirkby Mallory and Elmesthorpe
in the nineteenth century.
127 pages with 25 illustrations

Published by Hinckley and District Museum Ltd—Reg. Charity No 1015922
Framework Knitters’ Cottages
Lower Bond Street
Hinckley
Leicestershire LE10 1QX

After the death of her husband, the famous poet, Lady Byron contributed to many worthwhile causes, especially in Leicestershire. One particular venture was her support for the framework knitters of the large industrial village of Earl Shilton. In 1843, a petition was presented to Parliament signed by upwards of 25,000 knitters throughout the counties of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire for an enquiry to look into the severe privations of the workers in this industry.

Following the publication of this report, Lady Byron was granted a lease of Earl Shilton in 1849 for a period of thirty years by the Crown. She immediately set about improving the lot of the villagers and one of her first tasks was to set up one of her schools in the village. This was a portable building of wood and iron. Four beautiful samplers worked by girls at this school are known to have survived, one of them in Australia. Lady Byron was the granddaughter of the 1st Viscount Wentworth of Kirkby Mallory, who had played a major role in the establishment of the Leicester Royal Infirmary in 1771 and she continued her support, by making generous donations to that hospital throughout her lifetime. She had inherited the estates of her uncle the 2nd Viscount Wentworth, and enjoyed the income from those estates jointly with her husband until his death in 1824.

Lady Byron was restricted in dealing with certain matters relating to the Church, because of her cousin, Lord Wentworth’s illegitimate son, the Revd Thomas Noel, who was appointed rector of Kirkby Mallory, with Earl Shilton, by him. He was an absentee rector who took no interest in the welfare of his parishioners. When the rector died in 1853 she immediately separated these two parishes and that of Elmesthorpe, and appointed the first vicar, the Revd F.E.Tower. Within the following five years the Parish Church was rebuilt and the Church of England schools were established. Lady Byron died in 1860 having transformed the village and through her appointed vicar, the Revd Ernest Tower, had brought hope and relative prosperity to this deprived area.