A revolutionary – in France and on farm

Behind the curious pub is a curious cottage, with oversized arched windows crammed beneath its eaves. This cottage has intrigued us as long as the pub has fascinated us, so now we are pleased to learn that the two are connected by a member of the Milbank family, who is even more wonderful than either of the buildings.

Augustus Sussex Milbank converted the cottage, which is behind the Milbank Arms pub, into the Barningham News Room in February 1866, for the use of the villagers. At least 250 books were at their disposal in the news room, as were copies of all the local papers – perhaps that accounts for the arched windows, letting in as much light as possible on the dense type.

Old Village Hall, Barningham. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

A Penny Bank was also set up in the news room, encouraging locals to save their pennies rather than spend them in the pub.

Augustus was known by everyone by his middle name. His father was Mark Milbank, of Barningham Park, and his mother was Lady Augusta Vane, the daughter of the 3rd Earl of Darlington – the fox-hunting duke whom we met in Memories last week.

However, Augustus’ godfather was the Duke of Sussex, the son of King George III, and so everyone knew the Barningham boy as “Sussex”.

Aged 20, in 1847, he went to Paris to further his education, only to become swept up in the French Revolution of 1848 – a heady time for a young man who found it enormously exciting to be manning the barricades.

His diary for his months in Paris survives, and has been studied by the award-winning Barningham Local History Group.

On February 24, 1848, he wrote: “It was a dreadful sight in the Place de la Concorde to see the dead and dying, as well as pools of blood. At one o'clock I saw the king, Louis Philippe, run away. He was surrounded by an escort of 4,000 cavalry. The king came out of the Tuileries garden in a fly surrounded by soldiers.”

This was the day the French king fled to England for safety, and a few days later, Sussex records that a minister in the new republican government had presented him with a red ribbon in recognition of his personal bravery during the fighting.

He needed to be brave. On March 26, he wrote: “A drunken man insulted me for being ‘un sacre coquin Anglais’ upon which I immediately knocked him down.” The Barningham historians have translated the colourful insult as “one hell of a naughty Englishman”.

As well as these affairs of state, Sussex had affairs of the heart to attend to. On May 30, he wrote: “I amused myself in the evening at the Cirque. I sat by Mademoiselle Palmyre Annato and fell violently in love with her. I never saw a more elegant nor lovely girl – age 17 years.”

Palmyre was the equestrienne star of the National Circus in Paris, and Sussex was so smitten by her that when he returned home, he bought a horse for £65 and named it after her.

However, back home, he soon found other amorous avenues to explore.

Milbank Arms, Barningham. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

On November 7, he recorded how he visited George Hudson, “the Railway King” who was just months away from his fall from grace. Hudson lived at Newby Park, near Thirsk, with his daughter, Anne. “I was much struck by Miss Hudson and I went at her manfully and was not repulsed,” wrote Sussex.

Despite taking Miss Hudson the following day on a fox-hunting trip and presenting her with the brush of a kill, the relationship didn’t go much further, and so on January 2, 1849, he wrote: “We had a servants’ ball night. I danced with the stillroom maid four times and kissed her often on the sly.”

Sussex’s other pleasure was his new-fangled velocipede, an early boneshaking bicycle, probably powered by pedals on the front wheel. Sussex, though, tied a rope between it and his sister’s pony to provide some extra horsepower while he was staying at Thorpe Perrow, another of his family’s homes.

“I went along famously,” he recorded. “The Bedale people were much astonished to see me go through their town on such an engine.”

Despite such reckless behaviour, Sussex was beginning to settle down. He spent some time with his grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Cleveland, at Newton House, Londonderry, near Bedale – the house which, by coincidence, featured in last week’s Memories as its parkland was used to create RAF Leeming.

Sussex became a pioneering agriculturist, establishing a model farm at Hawsteads, near Barningham. The farm was set on fire in 1873 by some itinerant Irishmen, and The Northern Echo reported: “The whole of the machinery was completely destroyed, including a steam threshing machine, a steam engine, several mowing machines, and a large quantity of agricultural implements, all of which were nearly new...”

He became very well regarded locally, and because of his own love of reading, tried to encourage the villagers – hence his founding of the Barningham News Room.

He suffered, though, from asthma, and so spent the winters on the French Riviera. In March 1887, the region was struck by a series of earthquakes which killed 2,000 people and rendered many more homeless. Just as he had rolled up his sleeves to join the revolution 40 years earlier, so Sussex rolled up his sleeves to help the earthquake victims.

Sadly, he caught a fever, and died in Monte Carlos, aged 59. His body was brought home to Barningham for burial.

Members of the Local History Group have told his story in their richly-packed Archive magazine. Their article concludes: “Sussex was a remarkable man who strived to make a difference to the lives of his fellow men (and women!). He was never afraid to help by deeds or words in any way that he could. He made the most of a life that was blighted by asthma, and he travelled the world, witnessing some momentous occasions, and leaving it a richer place.”

In the 20th Century, his reading room was used as the village hall until 1950. It has since been converted into two rather curious looking homes.

With many thanks to the Barningham Local History Group