Clophill House

Richard Cumberland never lived at Clophill. He had already sold it instead to his friend Charles Dilly, the famous bookseller, publisher and friend of Dr Johnson, for £1,050. After the death of Mary Reynolds, Dilly installed his elder bother John Dilly at Clophill. This is the famous 'Squire Dilly' referred to by Boswell in his 'The Life of Samuel Johnson LLD' as having been visited at his home in Southill by Boswell and Johnson on their travels through Bedfordshire in June 1781 of which he says 'he found himself very happy at Squire Dilly's, where there was always an abundance of excellent fare and hearty welcome.'

John Dilly had been High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1783 and no doubt practiced the same hospitality at Clophill for which he was famous. There is only one recorded incident in Clophill concerning Dilly, who by that time was an old man.

Ezekiel Rouse died in March 1792 aged 84 having been Rector for 57 years. The living, then worth £150 p.a. was granted by the de Greys to his son William Rouse. His younger brother, another Ezekiel, held the much smaller living at Pulloxhill, where there was no proper parsonage and the stipend was just £50 p.a. In 1790 the young Ezekiel Rouse had published a collection of poems entitled 'The Theriad' for which the subscribers names included Mary Reynolds and Dilly of The Poultry, Booksellers. William, however, did not even last a year and died aged 58 in November to be succeeded by Ezekiel as Rector of Clophill and Pulloxhill.
One of the most important people in Clophill at that time was the bailiff and the two land agents who lived at Wrest Park and managed the estate. Many of the letters in the collection are between the bailiffs or agents and the de Greys regarding various village matters. From 1772 this was one Joseph Pawsey, the son of a farmer from Ludgate in Sussex who was recruited by the bailiff, Hadley Cox, at the request of His Lordship.

Thus it was that in April 1799 Pawsey writes to Amabel, now Lady Lucas after the death of her mother Jemima, informing her of the death of Ezekiel Rouse Jr, the Rector, aged 60, in London at the home of Mrs White in Soho Square and that he was to be buried at St Paul's Covent Garden. Two previous curates from Clophill, William Nethersole and Montagu Rush, applied for the living as Rector. The situation of Miss Rouse, Ezekiel's sister , and her cousin Meliora Sheffield, was a sad one as it meant them leaving their home of many years. Mrs Rouse the widow was in a better position as she had a house at Welwyn.
There was obviously some friction previously between Miss Rouse and William Nethersole for his treatment of her, probably in relation to her having to leave the Rectory, forms the basis of an annoymous letter sent to Amabel strongly attacking Nethersole and advising against giving him the living at Clophill. In a brilliant piece of detective work, Mary Phillips (who owned Clophill House from 1936 to 1965 and was a local historian of some note and whoes work forms the basis of this history) deduced that the author must have been John Dilly.

The letter begins, 'Madam. I am a gentleman of good property in the neighbourhood, have nothing to ask or fear from her Ladyship therefore will speak my mind and the truth. It is the astonishment of everyone your Ladyship's giving away your livings so quick and to the man you have given he has deceived you Madam . . . (here follows a lengthy diatribe against Nethersole) Madam, had your good mother been living she would not have been so hasty nor would she have turned the worthy daughter of her much esteemed friend from a place that her good father and brothers had dearly bought by what they had done to it. I have dined with your good father and mother many times, and knew their partiality to the worthy and respected Mr Rouse; to that family Nethersole has behaved like a rascal, never till he left the curacy did he know how much he was disliked, nor how shamefully the duty was neglected at Pulloxhill . . . It is true Madam, and your tenenats will have reason to curse the day he first set foot into the parish, he means to double their tithes . . . it is in everybody's mouth that you ought to recall what you have done at least one living, his diabolical behaviour to Miss Rouse demands it the speeches he has put out towards her but says she played his cards well with you . . .'

It concludes, 'Excuse bad writing and spelling I am greatly advanced in years my eyes fail me much, my servant whom I can depend on writes this, he has lived a great number of years with me.'

The letter, however, was ignored and Nethersole was installed as Rector on 10th July 1799 by the Bishop of Lincoln. A letter from the Bishop, dated 23rd June, advises him not to raise his tithes, probably in consequence of the letter.

Miss Rouse and Miss Shefford were provided for by the Greys with annuities of £60 p.a. each and both lived to ripe old ages, regularly contributing to the poor of Silsoe and writing to thank Her Ladyship as late as 1828. Miss Rouse had also written in July 1799,

'Your Ladyship will I hope accept my most grateful thanks for your present to me, the manner in which your Ladyship mentions my dear father give me great pleasure and I hope I shall always remember it with gratitude. I will not trouble you, Madam, with assuring you how much I am obliged.'

There was also a letter from Amabel's sister Mary Grey, Lady Grantham, who lived in Putney and refers to,
'Miss Rouse's queer ungrateful behaviour on that subject I do sincerely pity you and wish I could do more, but you scout my opinion . . . You will allow me to join in the gift, presuming also that you mean to tell her of Mr. Rush's letter . . .'

Rush, the immediately previous curate, in his application had suggested that he would look after Miss Rouse within the means of the Rector's living at Clophill.

Nethersole, as it turned out and contrary to Dilly's letter, was by general agreement a good Rector in Clophill for 45 years. Within a year of taking the incumbancy he had opened the first Sunday School to educate the poor of Clophill, something the Rouses had not achieved. He was followed in 1844 by his curate John Mendham, who had worked with him on the schools since 1836.

The servant referred to in the letter was James Bedford, whom Dilly leaves a legacy to in his will. John died in 1806, aged 75. Charles, at the time of his own death in 1807 was negotiating for the sale of the house and two cottages together with ten acres of land to John Horton, the miller, and several other acres of land from the estate to James Bedford, probably funded by the legacy from his former master. As part of the sale of the estate we have the map prepared for Charles in 1806 which show detail of all the properties, including the layout of the garden at Clophill House.

The sale of the estate in 1807 broke it up again for the last time. It basically consisted of three large fields running parallel up the hill from the High Street. The left field, number 3 on the Dilly map and known as Home Close, was sold with Clophill House to John Horton, the miller. The middle field was subdivided into a smaller field at the front, number 7 on the map and bordering the High Street and a larger one behind it, number 4 on the map. The front field, known as Shop Close and the larger field behind it, known as Middle Close or Hill Close, were sold to James Bedford who also bought the shop that had been the Nathaniel Samm cottage. The right hand field was sold to John Morris, who owned the Compasses Inn near the corner of High Street and Great Lane.