Primrose League

[lynn cates]

thanks

Hello Maria. Muchas gracias. Thanks also to Debs. Actually, you answered one question even before it was asked.

Now, I think I had better go look into the Soames chap.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello Lynn and all.
Yes, I noticed the “Parnellism and crime“ announcement in the Primrose brochure.
Lynn, could you explain to the uninitiated about the identity swap between Lord Singh's father and Patrick Casey (AKA, Maurice Murphy) as described in the Campbell book? I'm interested in Casey/agent Murphy almost as much as you.
As for Soames, no clue if they are a “prominent“ British family, but there has been a Lord Soames, British cabinet minister and the last governor of Rhodesia (in the 1980s) as well as a Nicholas Soames, a British Conservative MP today.
I took notes about it and will keep my eyes open for a Soames journalist from The Times when going through newspapers.

[Lechmere]

Phoenix Park

William Cavendish, married Lady Charlotte Boyle
4th Duke of Devonshire
1720-1764
Had four children of whom

Lord George Cavendish married Lady Elizabeth Compton
1st Earl of Burlington
1754-1834
Had eleven children of whom

William Cavendish married Louisa O’Callaghan
1783-1812
Had four children of whom

William Cavendish married Lady Blanche Howard
7th Duke of Devonshire
1808-1891
Had five children of whom

Lord Frederick Cavendish
1836-1882
Was murdered at Phoenix Park

The Barons of Bolsover

William Cavendish, married Lady Charlotte Boyle
4th Duke of Devonshire
1720-1764
Had four children of whom

Lady Dorothy Cavendish married William Cavendish-Bentinck
He was the 3rd Duke of Portland
1738-1809
They had six children of whom

Lord Charles Bentinck married Lady Abdy
1780-1826
They had four children of whom

Lieutenant-General Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck
1819-1877
He married firstly Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed and had a son
William John Arthur Charles James Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland and 2nd Baron Bolsover (1893)
He married secondly Augusta Browne (1834-1893)
She was created Baroness Bolsover in 1880
They had three children

Cleveland Street

William Cavendish-Bentinck married Lady Dorothy Cavendish
3rd Duke of Portland
1738-1809
Had six children of whom

Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck married Mary Lowther
1781-1828
Had ? children of whom

George Cavendish Bentinck MP married Prudentia Penelope Leslie
1821-1891
Had four children

[lynn cates]

Singh a song of Soames

Hello Maria. The story is quite murky and I am not certain I've grasped all the particulars.

Singh senior achieved notoriety by giving up Sikhism and being baptised a Christian. Then (if I recall properly), as a middle aged chap, he fell in love with a teenage English woman (again, if I recall properly, she was a chambermaid), about mid-1886. At any rate, he went to Paris and renounced his faith and considered England his sworn enemy. There he met Patrick Casey.

Soon he wound up in Russia using Casey's passport. He seems to have been collaborating with Clan-na-gael. There is also a tie in with the Parnell business and Piggott.

I'm sure I don't fully grasp all the implications. I believe Simon Wood and Debs Arif have it figured out. Sorry if this is less than adequate.

The Soames character seems to be Joseph. Have found an S. Soames and a Temple Soames.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

my head

Hello Lechmere. Thanks. I think, however, that my head is reeling now.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Many thanks to Lechmere (AKA Charles Cross?) for all the information on the different CB family branches. Might I inquire if all this is available online, from a census search? Or does it come from several books?
(I have to admit I'm completely awful at researching family trees. I totally lack the patience. Similarly to Lynn's commentary about his head reeling.)

Lynn, are there any implications that Patrick Casey/agent Murphy has ever been employed by the Okhrana? I haven't followed up your recent research on this.

[lynn cates]

Murphy and Soames

Hello Maria. Sadly, I cannot corroborate that Patrick Casey/Maurice Murphy is Rachkovski's Murphy. That may require good skills in Kyrillic script and a month or two in Palo Alto.

Did find a bit about Joseph Soames, however. Found the snippet in The "Guardian" February 20, 1889.

Now, for the PL.

Cheers.
LC

[Lechmere]

The various Cavendishes are so prominent I just checked through Wikipedia!

[mariab]

To Lechmere: I didn't know wiki featured the CBs...

To Lynn Cates:
Quick find, Lynn! The Times' sollicitor and, apparently, an impartial involved party in the Parnell investigation. Are we supposed to buy Le Grand's claim that Joseph Soames hired him to PE Labouchere and Pigott? It simply needs more research...

As for Palo Alto, we might end up finding someone conscientious reading Russian to hire – eventually.

[lynn cates]

research

Hello Maria. More research indeed.

But surely he did not pull those names out of a hat? At least, he may have been invited to a PL fete and met them there.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

But surely he did not pull those names out of a hat? At least, he may have been invited to a PL fete and met them there.

Hello Lynn,
Le Grand might have just picked up those names from the newspapers. But maybe he was involved, who knows? Tom and Debra will have a better clue about this, and maybe we can find more hints, if we look around. (Just between us, I wish Le Grand were involved in the Parnell matter, so that we can find about it and have a cool story to tell.) As for Le Grand having been invited to a PL party, do you really think? Was he “high class“ enough for that?

[lynn cates]

thug

Hello Maria. Probably not. I still wonder about his father and his connections.

Of course, he would be a good thug to hire and his PI establishment was on the Strand where the first PL Habitation was formed.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello Lynn, I agree about the Strand vicinity having possibly been convenient.
As for his father, I'll most definitely research Danish diplomats. Just need about a week to finish some other work first.
By the way, Tom should be happy. Lots of people are starting considering Le Grand already. Not just...stationionary shops.

[lynn cates]

resume

Hello Maria. Sounds good.

Yes, I am quite interested in Le Grand. Would love to see his work resume--find out who employed him.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Lynn,
I find it very interesting what you're saying about Le Grand's ad for his detective agency having ceased appearing in the newspapers in the summer of 1888, after Piòtr Rachkovsky settled down in London. I think this requires a systematic, comprehensive search in all newspapers, and I'll try to do this in a couple weeks. But we need even more information.