Lewis Tregonwell

Lewis Dymoke Grosvenor Tregonwell (1758-1832); captain in the Dorset Yeomanry and historic figure in the early development of what is now Bournemouth.

Early life

Born 1758 in Anderson, Dorset, Tregonwell lived at Cranborne Lodge as the squire. His second wife was Henrietta Portman. When Henrietta’s second child Grosvenor Tregonwell died, having been accidentally given a double dose of medicine, Henrietta sank into a melancholia, which resulted in the Tregonwells holidaying at Mudeford, near Christchurch, Hampshire to recuperate. During their holiday they visited ‘Bourne’ which they found so delightful that they bought land, in 1810, built a house and so precipitated the growth of Bournemouth.

Less than 150 years earlier, Tregonwell’s direct ancestor, Henry Hastings, the eccentric Dorset sportsman (son of George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon), had controlled the land that his great-great-great grandson bought, when he was Lord of the Manor of Christchurch, until his death in 1666. Hastings’ youngest daughter Dorothy married Thomas Tregonwell.

Military career

By 1796 Tregonwell was Captain of the Dorset Rangers and led cliff top patrols of the Dorset Yeomanry in the area of Bourne Heath between 1796 and 1802 during the Napoleonic Wars. The eastern part of Dorset was under the command of Henry Bankes of Kingston Lacy; Bankes divided his area into several smaller parcels, and allocated officers to each area. Tregonwell was matched with the easternmost region, which took him up to the Liberty of Westover (now the site of Bournemouth). The rangers’ duty was to keep watch for smugglers, particularly along the cliff-tops, where Chines (wide fissures in the soft cliffs) allowed potentially easy access for smugglers and French invaders.

Tregonwell was also a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Dorset. After the Battle of Trafalgar the threat of invasion by the French lessened and so in 1810 he felt the was now able to retire from the service.

Later life

Summer Mansion

In 1810 the Tregonwells decided to build a house near Bourne Heath to live in over the summer months, their main residence was Cranborne Lodge. Tregonwell was able to buy convert|8.5|acre|m2 of what is now Bournemouth town centre for just £179 11s (£179.55) from Sir George Ivison Tapps, the Lord of the Manor of Christchurch.

On July 4, 1810, Tregonwell and his wife took their friends, the Grove family, on a visit to Bourne Mouth. [Diary of Harriet Grove] Quotation|We all walked on the sands. The Tregonwells are here and very kind to us. We went after dinner to see a place Mr T has bought and talks of building on called Bourn. It is very barren but [has] a pretty sea view.|Harriet Grove|Diary of Harriet Grove

They slept in the new house for the first time on April 24, 1812. [Diary of Henrietta Tregonwell]

The house survives to this day as a wing of the [http://www.royalexeterhotel.co.uk/history-of-bournemouth.htm Royal Exeter Hotel] .

Portman Lodge

Tregonwell built his butler Symes his own cottage, original known as Symes' Cottage, but later renamed Portman Lodge, after Henrietta's maiden name. This building was badly damaged in a fire in 1922 and later demolished in 1930.

Legacy

In 1832 Tregonwell died at the age of 74 and was buried in Anderson, but in 1846 his widow had his remains transferred to a vault in St Peter's Churchyard at Bournemouth. For many years Tregonwell was revered as 'The Founder' (of Bournemouth) the Mayor of Bournemouth would attend an annual Founder's Service at Saint Peter's, during which he would lay a wreath on Tregonwell's tomb.

When Portman Lodge was demolished in 1930 suspicions were raised that Tregonwell, or Symes at the very least, were involved in some way with smuggling. A secret chamber was found convert|3|ft|m|abbr=on below the ground surface, with an arched roof convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on above the floor. It was convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on in length and convert|7|ft|m|abbr=on in width, and was accessible through a trapdoor. The Symes clan of Cranborne, Verwood and Sixpenny Handley had long been involved in smuggling, and the butler never appeared to travel with Tregonwell, so it is possible that he looked after his master's smuggling activities while he was away.

There is documentary evidence, mostly in private diaries, for instance of the Earl of Malmesbury, that the gentry colluded in sumggling activities; Tregonwell's smuggling connections, however, remain entirely speculative. Underground rooms were often used as ice-houses, as the only available form of refridgeration; it is largely wishful thinking that links such structures with smuggling. When Bournemouth was mostly heathland, it was small gravelly hollows surrounded by gorse bushes which were most likly to be used as hiding places, as contraband made a swift journey inland.

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