John Vane 12

From: Philip Wright, 9th July, 2011
I have read with interest the Vane family history on your website.

Although possibly only of indirect interest to you, I am researching the background to a pair of duelling pistols which are thought to be a coming of age present to William Harry Vane, then Viscount Barnard.

The pistols by Egg were made in the mid-1780's and bear the insignia inscribed in silver on both stocks.

This bears a close resemblance to insignia on a screen at Raby Castle, and additionally on glassware displayed therein. As the Viscount Barnard came of age in 1787, this appears to correlate very closely to the date the pistols were made.

I would greatly appreciate any information or contacts that you feel would either benefit from this information or could assist in furthering my research into the pistols. I can send detailed pictures of the pistols should any be required.

Many thanks in advance, and kind regards,

[This inquiry was forwarded to John Gowar and Neil Jackson - Ed]

From: John Gowar, 9th July, 2011
Richard Thorn has kindly passed on your enquiry to me as someone who has been very interested in the Vane family and their connections to Wrington. But I fear I'll not be much help to you!

William Harry Vane was already Earl of Darlington when he inherited the Wrington Estate in 1811 and apart from giving his name to an inn on the coach road and performing one or two duties as Lord of the Manor and Patron of the Living, I'm not aware that the estate commanded much of his attention.

There was no residence here that he or his family might occupy. I notice that, as well as coming of age, he married Katherine Powlett in 1787, so I wonder if the pistols might have been a wedding present.

I do hope that your quest is successful.

Neil Jackson, 11th July, 2011
Similarly, Richard passed your email to me, too, and like John, I'm not sure whether I'll be that much help to you - but we shall see.

Firstly, I've compiled some rather scatalogical notes about William Harry Vane (b. 27-Jul-1766 d. 29-Jan-1842) on my site at: http://techno.demon.co.uk/Fitzroy-Vane-Pulteney/ but I must confess they are a tad outdated in some respects now, due to lack of time for maintenance (specifically the question mark over the parentage of Rev. John Vane, rector of Wrington, which I think has now been answered in the negative!)

Anyway - some perhaps useful dates:

William Harry Vane would not have been Baron Barnard in 1787 - he didn't inherit the title of 5th Baron Barnard until 8-Sep-1792 - upon his father's death - and he became 3rd Earl of Darlington on the same date (according to Burkes Peerage, I think, though my notes here are absent of the attribution).

Whether he would have been Viscount Barnard or not, is questionable... technically, a Viscount ranks ABOVE Baron! In my opinion, this is a misattribution - he would've have been a Viscount, but not of Barnard. Read on for the explanation...

His father's (Henry Vane b. 1726-1792) noble titles comprised (all from 6-Mar-1758 to his death):

2nd Earl of Darlington
4th Baron Barnard
Viscount Barnard of Barnard's Castle

I'm not sure (at this juncture) what the technical difference was between the Viscountcy of Barnard Castle, versus the Baroncy of Barnard itself - but will endeavour to look into it.

In any event, in the 1780s Henry was still alive, so William Harry would not have been the 'anything' of Barnard (there being no lower title than Baron), but he may have been bestowed the courtesy title of Baron of Barnard's Castle (Baron being one step lower than Viscount, and him being the eldest son).

William Harry would however, most definitely have been Viscount Darlington in the 1780s - Viscount being one step lower than Earl, and thus would have been granted to him as a courtesy title while his father was alive.

That aside, let's look at some other dates:

Another date that may have been relevant, in terms of 'gift-giving' was William Harry's matriculation from Christ's College, Oxford, which occurred 25-Apr-1783. It might be worth looking into this to see whether any gifts are recorded - Raby Castle may prove a useful source (it is still the residency of the current Baron Barnard, and he has proven useful to other researchers locally, from what I have heard).

John's comment about the pistols being a possible wedding present (although in my view, a rather macabre one!) is perfectly valid: I have a date of 17-Sep-1787 for his marriage to Katherine Margaret Powlett (aka Paulet), at Hackworth, Hants. Katherine Margaret was his maternal cousin; William Harry's mother Margaret Vane (née Lowther) was sister to Katherine's mother also called Katherine Powlett (née Lowther).

This detail may be useful insofar as Katherine (the mother) was Duchess of Bolton, by way of her husband Harry Powlett who was 6th & last Duke of Bolton. Now, although he didn't die until 1794 and was alive at the time of daughter Katherine Margaret's wedding to William Harry Vane, it was known that the Bolton title would die with him through lack of male heirs.

Is there any possibility that the B on the pistols (if indeed it were a wedding present) could have had a double significance? Bolton AND Barnard? Just a shot in the dark (if you'll pardon the terrible pun).

Other than agreeing that yes, William Harry would have reached 21 in 1787 also, and thus come of age (and the pistols would seem a more likely gift for a 'manly birthday' than a wedding, but that's merely my opinion), I've not got a great deal to add at this point. I will try and refer to my other (as-yet unpublished) notes to see if there are any other useful (or conflicting) bits of information to be gleaned.

Good luck with your quest. Please do keep us posted on what happens to the pistols - given all I know about William Harry's rather 'larger-than-life' outlook on things, and his deep love of all things sporting and hunting, I can well imagine him brandishing a set of duelling pistols at the drop of a hat!