New-York tribune., 1910-07-27
LAST OF HIS LINE
End of the Historic Charley
Herd of Wild Cattle,

orvation Of oldtinle features of English
,ife will experience a certain feeling of sad
,ess on learning of the death of the only
remaining bull of the famous Charley herd
of wild cattle. and the head of the grand
looking old beast, the last Of an historic
line. is now being prepared for preserva-
,ion in the Museum OF Natural History,
sofI1h Kensington. The bull belonged to
,be Duke of Bedford, but the latter, al
,bo,Ieh he had in 1903 transferred the herd
IN Woburn Abbey. was moved by a sense
Of the fitness Of things TO send back the
animal some months ago to Charley, TO die
,n the park where IL had been calved and
where its ancestors had roamed for SO
many centuries.
OF the origin of the celebrated Charley
herd Of wild cattle. which were always Of
cream color. with black ears and muzzles.
nothing definite is known. except that they
were driven into Charley Park from the
reishboring forest OF Needwood during the
reign Of Henry III. and contemporary rec
ords dealing with the sojourn of Mary
Queen of Scots at Charley Hall. which is
fl Stafordshire, refer to the wild cattle In
tho park of Charley as being of very
ancient descent.
This herd Of cattle may be said to have
raen identified for many hundreds of years
with the fortunes of the house of Shirley.
who are on record as having been estab-
Iished at Neither Ellington in the reign Of
King Edward the Confessor and the Chris
1ian name Sewelius, borne by the Shirleys
81 the court of that monarch. is still borne
to-day by the Earl of Ferrers. the head
Of the house. For there has been a legend
TO the effect that whenever the hue of the
herd was sullied by the Introduction of
black OF colored kline, or whenever any Of
the CONS OF the herd gave birth TO calves
that were black or colored. misfortune
would overtake the Shirley family
The first instance of the kind is record
90 10 have taken place in 1922, when the
birth of black calf was followed by the
ruin Of the owner OF Charley Hall Of the
day The consignment Of the fourth Earl
i'errers to the gallows. in May. 1850. for
the cold blooded murder of his steward
and his execution at Tyburn by means Of
siIken rope was likewise according to the
annals Of the family, Immediately preceded
by the birth OF black calf in the herd
Fl Chartlev- The present earl. finding
that, owing 10 interbreeding, the herd was
in a bad way. scoffed at family tradition,
snd with the object of strengthening the
breed placed 4 black bull among the herd
snd deliberately bred black calves from
THE cream colored cattle. The peasantry
of the district some of whose families had
kept their holdings for hundreds of years,
shook their heads ominouSly, predicting
fresh disasters for the master of Chart
lev Hall. Their prognostications were full
filed lie was overtaken by financial
troubles, which forced him TO sell both
his ancestral home and the famous herd
Of cattle. which was purchased by the
r,
WobuTn Abbey estate.
The present Lord Ferrers is childless
r-idower. and the next heir is Walter Shir-
lev. a son of the late Bishop Of Sodor and
Man. VINO is obliged to go back 10 the
first earl from whose fourth son, Law
renee he is descended. in order to estab
lsh mis- relationship Walter Shirley il
very rich man. thanks to his wife who
IS daughter and heiress of the late Rob
bert Moon. He can boast of the same de-
scent as the first President of the United
states. for the first Earl Ferrers married
Elizabeth Washington only child and
heiress Of Lawrence Washington Law
rences elder brother. Robert Washington.
vas lord Of the manor Of Sulgrave from
vhon George Washington. the first Presi
hent Of the United States, is lineally end
ta the rnele line descended.
It IS likewise worthy Of note that con-
nection Of the fourth Earl Ferrers. who
r-ss hanged for murder. and q nemesake
of the future Earl Ferrers, namely Wal
ter ShirleT. vas Colonial Governor Of
Massachusetts and commander in chief Of
the British forces in America at the time
cf the beginning of those troubles between
the American colonies and the mother
country which eliminated in the Revo-
l,1tionarv Eer and in the Declaration of
Independence
The Ferrers peera &c came into the Shirley
ferrilv through the marriage Of Sir Henry
Shirley. Of Charley Park, TO Lady Dorothy
Devereux. younger daughter Of Queen
Elizaberhs fsvorite. Robert Revereux, Earl
ef Essex. who was likewise Lord Ferrers.
On the death Of Lord Essex his barony Of
ferrers fell into ebeyence, whence II was
recalled by Charles II in favor of Sir
Robert Shirley, Of Charley Park, grandson
of the Lady Dorothy Devereux above
mentioned. Subsequently King Charles ad-
vsnced him TO the dtgnitfes of Etscount
Tsmworth and Earl Ferrers.
II is unnecessary 70 recall here the de-
scription Of the crimes Of the fourth earl,
Who after trial by his peers in the House
II Lords in ITs5, and sentence to death,
drove 10 the gallows at Tyburn, where the
Marble Arch now stands, IN London, in his
state coach h-and-six-nanaely, the carriage,
eli gilded and garlanded, that was other
wise used at court functions. at corona
tions and for the opening OF Parliament.
IT was al his execution that the drop
was used for the first time in England, in
the place Of the old system OF the cart and
ladder The drop. it is reported. did not
work very well Il IS on record that 'the
esrIs toes touched the ground. and that
he suffered little. having time TO raise the
'ap, but the eIecutoner pulled il down
again, and then they pulled his legs, that
he was soon out of pain and quite dead In
four minutes" After he had been left
hanging for hour he buried in old
81 Pancras Churchyard, where twenty
Years later his body disnterred and
conveyed TO the family mausoeum at
-,aUnton Harold, near Ashby-de-la-Zouche
where il now reposes.
This particular earl was separated from
hs wife. and as she refused to hold any
communication with him after his arrest
and trial he cursed her on the scaffold
Sna predicted for her a terrible death by
Ire After his execution she married
Lord Frederick Campbell. brother of the
Duke If Argyll. and lived for nearly fftY
fesrs. But she was always haunted by the
terrible curse Of her first husband, and her
Years Increased with age. much so that
she caused a suite OF fireproof rooms TO be