The story of Sir John, 8th baronet, pictured with his dog (left), is dealt in detail within the baronets section. With his death, the baronetcy ceased and the Nelthorpe name went into abeyance — to be revived in a slightly different form by Robert Nassau some 19 years later.
The Estate now passed into the hands of the Rev Robert Sutton, who had married Sir John’s sister, Charlotte, in 1847. In very quick succession, the couple produced eight children. From the Rev Robert’s point of view, life was sweet. Indeed, he began to entertain feelings of grandeur. In 1867, he commissioned an elaborate set of plans from E F Lawland & Sons, a firm of architects from Northampton, to remodel Scawby Hall quite dramatically. The net result bore a remarkable similarity to Sir George Gilbert Scott’s St Pancras Station in London (see below). Fortunately, this wildly inappropriate scheme never came to fruition!
The Rev Robert and his brood photographed at Harrogate in the early 1880s. His wife, in the back row second from the left, clearly shows the toll such a volume of child-bearing had taken upon her.
For the first time in over two and a half centuries, Scawby Hall was full of Nelthorpes as well as a large staff to cater for their needs.
The Rev Robert died in 1885 to be succeeded by his third born — Robert Nassau Sutton.
