John Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock

John Allan Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock (19 February 1837 – 24 September 1912), the only son of John Etherington Welch Rolls and his wife Elizabeth Mary Long (herself a granddaughter of William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk), was a Welsh politician and benefactor to the Chailey Heritage.

His country seat was The Hendre, a Victorian architecture mansion north of Monmouth.

Career

Rolls was educated at Eton and Christ's College, Cambridge, later becoming Captain in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry Cavalry, and was afterwards appointed honorary colonel of the 4th Welsh Brigade R.F.A.

He served as MP for Monmouthshire from 1880-85, and was raised to the peerage in 1892. He was elected High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1895 and served as Mayor of Monmouth 1896 - 1897. He was also a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of that county.

He was a breeder of Shire horses and acquired a reputation amongst agriculturalists for his shorthorn cattle and Hereford and Shropshire breeds of sheep. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and restored several Monmouthshire churches at his own expense. [Obituary, The Times 25 September 1912]

Family

In 1868 he married Georgiana Marcia Maclean in London, the daughter of Sir Charles Maclean, 9th Baronet of Morvaren. They had four children:

* The Hon. John Maclean Rolls (1870-1916) 2nd Baron Llangattock
* The Hon. Henry Alan Rolls (1871-1916)
* The Hon. Eleanor Georgiana Rolls (1872-1961) m. Sir John Courtown Edward Shelley (6th Baronet Shelley of Castle Goring, Sussex and great-nephew of the author Mary Shelley)
* The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls (1877-1910) of Rolls Royce fame.

Royal visitors

The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary) stayed with Lord and Lady Llangattock at the Hendre in late October - early November 1900. The Duke and Duchess were taken on motor car excursions by their son Charles, probably the first time that the royal couple had been in a car. The Rolls family had become more and more successful during the nineteenth century, and their wealth was based on land and property in south London as well as their Monmouthshire estates. The royal visit was an important event for them; it confirmed their elevation to the top level of society locally.

All three of Lord Llangattock's sons died unmarried and the barony became extinct at the death of his son the 2nd Baron, who died of wounds received at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

References