The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-08 00:00:00

THE WINDHAM FAMILY.

At the present moment our readers may be glad to have
placed before them a short outline of the history of the
ancient family of Windham, in reference to the important
trial which has been occupying so much of public attention
during the last few weeks.

The first point to state is, that the Windhams flourished
in Norfolk, and other Eastern counties, before the Con-
quest; and the second, that, as the Duke of Wellington
is not a Wellesley, but a Colley; the Pagets not Pagets,
but Bailys ; the Duke of Northumberland not a Percy,
but a Smithson ; and Lord Nelson not a Nelson, but a
Bolton ; just so Mr. 'William Frederick Windham, of Fel-
brigge Hall, Norfolk, the owner of estates in that county
and Suffolk to the value of from £15,000 to £20,000 a•year,
is not a Windham at all, but a Lukyn or Lukiu, We will
attempt to show how this happens.

By referring to Morant's "History of Essex, we find that
one Geoffrey Lukyn, Esq., of Dunmow, in that county—
the village celebrated by the "Flitch of Bacon" procession
—held lands in that parish by a grant from King Henry
VIII: This Geoffrey was the third son of Richard Lukyn,
Esq., of Chignall, in the same county, who had other issue,
from whom the Earl of Verulam is said to be descended by
Sir B, Burke From the above-mentioned Geoffrey was
lineally descended in the third or fourth generation one
Robert Lukyn, of Wellestye, Essex, who married Mary,
the daughter of Lionel Lane, Esq., by whom he
had a son Robert. This Robert Lukyn in his turn married
and had a son, whose son, George William, wa■ a rather
celebrated divine in his day, and rose to become a Dean of
Wells. He married Catherine, second daughter of Robert
Doughty, Esq., of Hanworth Park, Norfolk. Robert
Lukyn's wife Sarah married as her second husband ono
William Windham, Esq., by whom she was the mother of
the celebrated statesman of the reign of George 111., the
Right Hon. William Windham, M.P., the early friend, and,
subsequently, the political antagonist of Fox, and who,
having represented Norwich, Higham-Ferrers, &c., for
many years, closed his long and brilliant Parliamentary
career in May, 1810, leaving a life interest in his estates to
his relict, Frederica Cecilia, the daughter of Admiral For-
rest, with remainder to his nephew, Mr. William Lukyn,
eldest son of the above-mentioned Dean of Wells.

This latter gentleman, who had served in the war under
Nelson and Hood, and who me eventually to the rank of
a Vice-Admiral in the British Navy, on Mrs. Windham's
decease assumed, by Royal license, the surname and arms
of Windham only, in lieu of those of Lukyn, in 1821, when
he succeeded to the Felbrigge and other estates of his de-
ceased uncle. He married Anne, daughter of Peter Thel-
lusson, Esq., of Broadsworth, Yorkshire (brother of the
first Lord Rendlesham), by whom he had issue a family of
five daughters and five sons.

Tho eldest daughter of Admiral Windham married
Henry Baring, Esq. ; the second married George Wind-
ham, Esq., of Cromer, Norfolk, and after his death the late
Earl of Listowel; the third became the wife of James H
Holley, Esq., of Burgh, Norfolk ; the fourth married the
Hon. R. Hare (brother of Lord Listowel) ; and the fifth
married Sir Henry Cooke.

Of the sons the yetngast is, or was, an officer in the Ist
Foot; the fourth is Major-Gen6ral Charles Ashe Wind-
ham, C. 8., the hero of the Redan, and late M.P. for East
Norfolk, who is one of the petitioners in the present case ;
the third son is, or was, a captain in the navy ; and the
second is, or was, rector of Felbrigge ; the eldest son of
the late Vice-Admiral was the late Mr. William Howe
Windham, of Felbrigge Hall, who was a nsagistrate and
Deputy-Lieutenant for his native county, of which he
served as High Sheriff in 1812, and the eastern division of
which he represented in the Liberal interest in the second
reformed Parliament. He died in 1854, leaving by his
wife, the Lady Sophia B ervey, daughter of the late, and
sister to the present Marquis of Bristol, an only son and
successor, the present Mr. William Frederick Windham,
of Felbrigge, born in August, 1840, whose sanity is now
being called in question, and the leading events of whose
life in Norfolk, at Eton, and in London, including his mar-
riage with Miss Agnes Willoughby, alias Rogers, are now
so prominently brought before the public.