Great Packington, Warwickshire: One Place Study.
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Oddities of Great Packington.
Great Packington is a small parish, but has many unusual stories to tell! Below is a selection of interesting and unusual occurrences from the past, from local currency to a man who was struck by lightning to newsworthy Chinese vegetables!
Hemlingford Penny.
In the 1668 and 1669, Edward Taylor of the Hemlingford Hundred minted his own currency.
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Images credit: Rare Coins and Tokens.
Handel Organ
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The small chamber organ in Great Packington’s church was designed for Handel’s librettist Charles Jennens, the cousin of the 4th Earl of Aylesford, and was built in 1749 by Thomas Parker. It has reverse coloured keys (black keys and white accidentals), two handles but no pedals, and 4 sections of pipes. It is in a rosewood case carved with cherubs and has a bespoke interior design.
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The organ was originally located at Gopsal Hall, Leicestershire (the building was demolished in 1951), then in the music room at Packington Hall. It remains mostly unaltered and is now housed in St. James Church on the estate. The organ is still played at candlelit concerts and during church services, plus 16 Handel concertos were performed and recorded on it in 1959 by the famous organist Edward George Power Biggs and the London Philharmic Orchestra .
Credit: Flickr.
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Death by Lightning Strike.
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Transcription from Saunders News-Letter, 15 September 1789:
‘On Thursday afternoon, about 4 o’clock, during a violent storm of rain, thunder, and lightening, one Caussey, a smith, going through the Earl of Aylesford’s Park, at Packington, Warwickshire, sought shelter under an oak tree, which struck by lightning, he was instantly killed, his clothes were entirely consumed, and the body terribly burnt. This serious accident, with many other similar ones, calls upon us to repeat the caution we have so frequently given, against persons exposed to a storm of lightening taking shelter under trees., which, being the full objects upon which the electric fire falls, are of all places most dangerous and insecure.
Caussey was on his way to Birmingham, being obliged to leave his family in London, on account of some embarrassment in his concerns. The lightning was extremely vivid, and attracted by the top of the tree, it flew down upon the poor man, set his clothes on fire, and a stick in his hand serving as a conductor, it formed a large hole in the ground.
Two men, at a few yards distance, perceiving the poor man’s situation, his clothes being in a blaze, notwithstanding the rain that came down in torrents, ran to his assistance, and laded water in their hats to extinguish the flames, but soon perceived their good offices were of little avail – he was already a lifeless corpse and one of his sides burnt to a cinder.
What adds to the melancholy event is, the deceased has left several helpless young children, and an affectionate wife, to lament his untimely loss, and who were enjoying the happy expectations of his speedy return, as a well-written letter from the wife was received at Coventry the following day, couched in the most affectionate terms, informing him of a friend’s stepping forward to their assistance, who had paid the debt for which he had left home, and that she then hoped all their sorrows were at and end; therefore begged his immediate return, as business stood in particular need of his presence.'
On 26th October 1789 a monument was erected where he died to commemorate the death and warn others of the dangers of sheltering under trees during a lightning storm. The inscription read: ‘On Thursday September 3, 1789, William Cawley, of London, Farrier, was on this spot struck dead by lightening. To commemorate this awful event, as well as to warn others from exposing themselves to the same danger, by taking shelter in a thunder storm under trees, this monument is erected.
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The memorial is coursed and squared sandstone pier on sandstone plinth and on one side a stone is carved with crossed bolts of lightning. It is now a grade II listed building.
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Images credit: FindMyPast.
Unusual newspaper articles.
Credit: London Morning Post, January 1793, via Gale Primary Sources.
Credit: Leamington Spa Courier, September 1823. via FindMyPast.
Credit: Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser, September 1919, via FindMyPast.
Credit: General Evening Post, August 1804, via FindMyPast.
Credit: Coventry Standard, August 1870, via FindMyPast.
Ebay finds.
Ebay can be an unexpected resource for both local and family history, with many unusual objects, ephemera and photographs listed for sale! Here are some of the weird and wonderful items with Great Packington connections that I've found on the site.
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Engraved Milk Bottle of E. J. Peer, Outwoods Farm, Great Packington. Credit: scduf38 on Ebay.
Postcard of Packington Hall, 1909, by Sidwell & Co.
Credit: music-ad-world on Ebay.
Postcard sent from the Greenwood Scout camp at Packington Hall, 1967
Credit: 21st-century-auctions on Ebay.
Sources:
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Bicknell, Stephen. (1996) The History of the English Organ. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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British Listed Buildings.
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Ebay.
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FindMyPast Collection: British Newspapers, 1710-1965.
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Flickr.
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​Gale Primary Sources: British Library Newspapers Collection.
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Historic England.
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National Registry for Historic Organs.
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Rare Books and Tokens.