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| Henry, 1st Count Cottrell |
When researching my family history one day I noticed in the
1911 UK census one of my great grandmother's was employed as a parlour maid for
Agnes Isa Sophia Hill, the wife of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Robert Hill, at
her home in Heacham, Norfolk.
Looking into the background of Agnes Hill I discovered a
rather unusual noble background for her.
Born in Florence, Italy in 1866, Agnes was the daughter of
an Englishman called Henry Cottrell and his wife Sophia Augusta (née Tulk), the
youngest child of the British politician Charles Augustus Tulk, member of parliament
for Sudbury 1820 to 1826 and Poole from 1835 to 1837.
The Cottrell’s were part of the Landed Gentry in Great Britain
with their family seat being located in Hadley, near Barnet, in Middlesex (now
part of London). Agnes’s father Henry Cottrell was born 5 March 1811 at North
Walton, Hampshire, the fourth son of the Revd Clement Cottrell (1773–1814),
Rector of North Walton, and his wife Georgiana (née Adams) the daughter of John
Adams, member of parliament for Carmarthen from 1774 to 1780. The eldest son
Charles Herbert Cottrell (1806-1860) inherited the family’s Hadley estate upon
the death of his uncle Charles in 1829.[i]
The Cottrell family had a long history of royal service,
Henry’s direct ancestors Sir Charles Cotterell (1615-1701) and Sir Charles
Lodowick Cotterell (1654-1710) served as Master of Ceremonies at the courts of
the English and British monarchs Charles I, Charles II, James II, Mary II,
William III and Anne. Sir Charles Lodowick’s eldest son Sir Clement
Cottrell-Dormer (1686-1758) succeeded as Master of Ceremonies followed by his
eldest son Sir Charles Cottrell-Dormer (1720-1779), his son Sir Clement
Cottrell-Dormer (died 1808) served until 1796 when he was succeeded by a cousin
Sir Stephen Cottrell (died 1818), who was the last Cottrell to hold the post of
Master of Ceremonies.[ii]
As a younger son, Henry had to find his own path in life pursuing
a naval career. Enrolling in 1824 at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth,
Henry went on to ultimately reach the rank of lieutenant before retiring in
the 1830’s.[iii]
In 1838 Henry revived the Cottrell family's tradition of royal
service, however it wasn't the British court that he served at. Instead, Henry
was appointed a chamberlain to Carlo Ludovico di Borbone (1799–1883), the
sovereign duke of Lucca in Italy. Amongst his duties as chamberlain, Henry was
responsible for selling parts of the duke’s art collection.[iv]
He himself became a collector of art and was responsible for saving large
numbers of art his friend George Frederic Watts had left behind at his Careggi studio.[v]
Duke Carlo Ludovico awarded Henry the noble title of count
on 9 July 1846.[vi]
Just over a year later on 4 October 1847, Lucca became a part of the grand
duchy of Tuscany at which point Henry left his post within the household of the
former duke Carlo Ludovico.
However the former duke Carlo Ludovico was soon to inherit another Italian throne. Having long been promised the throne of Parma upon the death of the incumbent, the Duchess Marie Louise, following her death on 17 December 1847, Duke Carlo Ludovico succeeded adopting the regnal name Duke Carlo II of Parma, however he only reigned for a year and a half before abdicating in favour of his son, Carlo III, on 17 May 1849.
On 22 November 1853, Duke Carlo III, issued a new decree
(#412) re-recognising the title of count for Henry and his legitimate
descendants within the sovereign duchy of Parma.[vii]
Following the death of Carlo III on 27 March 1854, his 5 year old son Roberto
(1849-1909) succeeded under a regency headed by his mother, and reigned until 9
June 1859 when he was deposed during the wars of Italian unification and the
duchy of Parma was annexed to the kingdom of Italy.
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| Countess Cottrell (nee Sophia Augusta Tulk) |
Despite having left the service of Duke Carlo Ludovico (Carlo II) in 1847, Henry would spend the remainder of his life in Italy. It was during a visit to England that he had first met Sophia Tulk and the couple were married on 25 September 1847. The couple set up home in Florence, capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in the Piazza Maria Antonia[viii] where they were friends with the English literary couple Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Sophia was a member of the New Church (Swdenborgism) which Henry also became involved with becoming a member of its Florence Society.[ix]
In late 1870 Henry moved with his family to Nervi, near Genoa
for a milder climate due to his failing health. He died here on 16 March
1871 and was buried in the English Cemetery in Genoa.[x]
Henry was survived by his wife Sophia who returned to England a couple of years
after his death and by their children, Henry Edward
Plantagenet, Violet Amy and Agnes Isa Sophia.
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| Henry Edward Plantagenet, 2nd Count Cottrell |
Succeeding as the 2nd Count Cottrell was Henry Edward Plantagenet Cottrell, the only surviving son of Henry and Sophia. Henry (or Hal as he was known) was born in Florence where he received his initial education before studying at Harrow.[xi] His third given name Plantagenet was a nod to the Cottrell family's descent from the Royal House of Plantagenet via Henry, 1st Count Cottrell's grandmother Elizabeth Chute who was descended from King Edward III of England via his son John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster.[xii]
The 2nd Count Cottrell trained as a civil engineer and
worked on projects in many parts of the British Empire including British
Hondurus (Belize), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), South Africa and Palestine, as well as
in mainland China and Taiwan and on an early Panama Canal expedition.[xiii]
The 2nd Count served as the British representative at the
Brussels International Exposition in 1897, the Milan International in 1906 and
the Franco-British Exhibition of 1907 and was decorated with the rank of
Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy and the rank of Knight of the Order
of Leopold of Belgium. During the First World War he served as an advisor at
the Ministry of Munitions.[xiv]
The 2nd Count Cottrell was married to Susan Jane Regessa
Westwood with whom he had one daughter, Margaret Sophia. The 2nd Count who died in 1938 was the last male member of the family, upon the death of his only daughter in 1971 the
family of the counts Cottrell became extinct.
The Counts
Cottrell, of Lucca and Parma
Henry (Enrico), 1st Conte Cottrell (born 5
March 1811, North Walton; died 15 March 1871, Nervi). Second Class of the Order
of Civil Merit under the title of Saint Lodovico (Lucca). Married 25 September 1847 at Totteridge, Sophia Augusta Tulk (born 1824; died 26 February
1909)
Contessa Alice Enrica Augusta (born July 1848, Florence, died 8 November 1849, Florence)
Conte Charles Louis (14 May 1850, Florence; died 18 Jun 1850, Florence)
Henry Edward Plantagenet (Enrico Edoardo Plantageneti), 2nd Conte Cottrell (born 1 August 1851, Florence; died 10 March 1938, Hull). Officer of the Order of the Crown (Italy), Knight of the Order of Leopold (Belgium). Married 1878, Susan Jane Regessa Westwood (born 1859, Wolverhampton; died 12 April 1933, Hull)
Contessa Margaret Sophia (born 23 January 1884, Hammersmith; died 28 March 1971). Married 1920, George Kryn Spruit (born 24 September 1890, Hull; died 3 April 1975, Hornsea)
Conte Clement (born 16 Mar 1855, Florence; died 17 March 1855, Florence)
Contessa Violet Amy (born 15 January 1859, Florence; died 1936, Milan) Married 13 August 1878 at Richmond, Arthur Edward Hight (born 1856; died 4 April 1928, Rome)
Contessa Agnes Isa Sophia (born 1864, Florence; died 31 December 1945; Heacham). Married 21 August 1894 at Kensington, Joseph Robert Hill (born 1863; died 28 February 1950)
[ii] Burke, John B (1850). ‘Dormer of Roulsham’ in A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland for 1850. Volume I. Henry Coburn. p. 342-343
[iii] The Brownings’ Correspondence. Henry Cottrell. Available at: https://www.browningscorrespondence.com/biographical-sketches/?nameId=2021
[iv] The Brownings’ Correspondence. Henry Cottrell. Available at: https://www.browningscorrespondence.com/biographical-sketches/?nameId=2021
[v] Watts, M. S. (1912). George Frederic Watts. Volume I. The Annals of an Artist's Life. MacMillian and Co Ltd. p. 55
[vi] Raccolta Generale Delle Leggi per Gli Stati Parmensi Anno 1853. Tipografia Reale. pp. 420-421
[vii] Raccolta Generale Delle Leggi per Gli Stati Parmensi Anno 1853. Tipografia Reale. pp. 420-421
[viii] The Brownings’ Correspondence. Henry Cottrell. Available at: https://www.browningscorrespondence.com/biographical-sketches/?nameId=2021
[ix] 'Death of Count Cottrell' (1871) The New Jerusalem Messenger. Volume XX. General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States. p. 211
[x] The Brownings’ Correspondence. Henry Cottrell. Available at: https://www.browningscorrespondence.com/biographical-sketches/?nameId=2021
[xi] 'Hull man's work all over world' (11 March 1938). Hull Daily Mail. p. 12
[xii] Burke, John B (1850). ‘Cottrell of Hadley’ in A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland for 1850. Volume I. Henry Coburn. p. 269
[xiii] 'Hull man's work all over world' (11 March 1938). Hull Daily Mail. p. 12
[xiv]
