As with any family, there are bound to be individuals and relations who don’t always conform to the accepted norm. The following pages give a couple of bizarre or entertaining anecdotes.
Since such events occured a long time ago, we can afford to be relatively sanguine about the whole business.
The selection begins with Richard of Little Grimsby, who was executed at Newgate for treason in 1685 as a result of his involvement in the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II on his way to Newmarket. It’s a story of ineptitude and naivity on his part.
The second is The Reverend Robert Carter-Thelwall, a clergyman of the late 18th century, who lived at Redbourne Hall, some five miles south of Scawby, he was an intimate of Sir John, 6th Bt, and apparently spent much time at Scawby Hall. Indeed, he married Sir John’s sister Charlotte. Their only child, also named Charlotte, married Lord William Beauclerk (1766—1825) who later became 8th Duke of St Albans.
Next up is Henry Nelthorpe (1821—1860), who represents another example of the family’s adventurous spirit and contrasts with the relative insularity of the Nelthorpes up to that point. As the younger brother of Sir John, the 8th and last baronet, he was expected to make his way in the world and chose military service in India.
The fourth character is Robert Nassau Sutton-Nelthorpe, the reluctant pub landlord who merits inclusion— not for his eccentricity or bizarre approach to life, but because of the extraordinarily varied life he led. As the eldest son of the Rev Robert and Charlotte Sutton, Robert Nassau came from a wealthy, privileged and comfortable background.
Like many other members of the family, he spent four years at Eton. But clearly he was determined to widen his horizons and, on 29 November 1869, was commissioned Ensign to the 70th Foot . On 9 April the following year he transferred to the 8th Hussars as Cornet. By September 1875, he had reached the rank of Captain. Towards the end of 1878 he embarked with his regiment for India and his adventures began.
Finally,we have One-Arm Sutton, an early 20th century adventurer and arms manufacturer to Chinese warlords and a grandson of the Rev Robert Sutton and Charlotte Nelthorpe. His highly colourful account is typical of a man whose zest for adventure and talent for self promotion ensured that his life would never be mundane. However, Charles Drage in his biography General of Fortune: The Fabulous Story of One-Arm Sutton provides a more balanced account of this colourful character’s life and amply demonstrates that Frank’s bouts of wild optimism were often countered by periods of gloom and depression. It was a rollercoaster pattern that dogged him throughout his life until his death on 22 October 1944 in a concentration camp in Hong Kong.
