What's in a Name - Duke Street, Clarence Street and Clarence Hill
Duke Street is a beautiful place, filled for much of its length by the stunning Butterwalk which was built in 1635. However, the street’s name came from another of Dartmouth’s royal visitors – of which there have been many over the years.
William, Duke of Clarence and Earl of Munster came to Dartmouth in 1828. He was visiting Arthur Howe Holdsworth, a member of the Holdsworth family, who were considered the most powerful family in town as well as being in control, if only marginally, of the borough council’s Dartmouth Corporation. Their house, Mount Galpin, was considerable and palatial and certainly fit for the visit of a Duke.
William, who was destined to become king when he was 64 years old, was 62 when he visited Dartmouth. He clearly already felt a strong connection with the South Hams, as he had previously considered running for parliament in Totnes. However, this near political career was not inspired by a desire to better mankind, but was due more to an ongoing spat with his father, George III. William had wanted to be made a Duke, like his two elder brothers George and Frederick, but his father had refused and so he declared he would run to be an MP for Totnes. Horrified his son would have to ‘make his case’ to voters, George III made him Duke of Clarence and St Andrews and Earl of Munster in 1789.
William was an interesting character who had served as a midshipman in the Navy, been involved in a number of sea battles, as well as being best friends with Horatio Nelson, giving away the bride at his wedding. He was also in New York during the Revolutionary War where George Washington had given orders for his kidnap and rough treatment, though in reality the plan came to nothing. The man who would be dubbed the ‘Sailor King’ also held the position of Lord High Admiral of the Navy – and he made a big impression, improving conditions for sailors and commissioning the Navy’s first steam ship.
The Duke, like his brothers, seemed to treat the strict moralising of the upper and middles classes with contempt and took an actress, Dorothea Bland, known to all as ‘Mrs Jordan’, as his mistress. The King was forced to buy his son and his mistress a large mansion to house their considerable brood of illegitimate children – ten in total and all named Fitzclarence. Prominent descendants of the couple include racing driver Johnny Dumphries, TV presenter Adam Hart-Davies and the Prime Minister David Cameron. By the time William visited Dartmouth the couple had long since separated and Mrs Jordan was dead – she fled the country to avoid debtors and died in France, penniless.
In 1828, at the age of 62, William was essentially waiting for his brother, George IV, to die. He had been second in line to the throne but in 1827 the heir, Frederick, died. William was now the ‘Heir Presumptive’.
George IV, the former Prince of Wales, had been Prince Regent due to his father’s mental illness since 1811, and absolutely revelled in his power, position and wealth. After his father’s death in 1820 he became King and, frankly, the brakes were off. At a time of war he became hated by his subjects for his bad behaviour, wanton womanising, feasting and drinking. By 1828 he was massively obese and mocked and derided by all. One of his own aides said of his King, ‘A more contemptible, cowardly, selfish, unfeeling dog does not exist....There have been good and wise kings but not many of them...and this I believe to be one of the worst.’
So, not much of an act to follow then. But William must have known that he would soon be King, and so did his future subjects. William was visiting friends and relations whilst waiting for his older brother to die.
Was the visit to Dartmouth a significant one? Did Arthur Howe Holdsworth think that the visit would help his political career? Was it simply a social visit or more important than that?
In reality, the town obviously placed a great deal of importance on the visit as each street the Duke walked along, on his way to Mount Galpin, was renamed in his honour. Thanks to this short visit we have Duke Street, Clarence Street and Clarence Hill. No visit before or since has resulted in so many name changes – so what did the people of Dartmouth want to achieve?
Well, it might be the Holdsworths were trying to curry favour. The Reform Act – which aimed to give the vote to a large proportion of the population who had not previously had it – was being discussed at this time. William was politically active in the House of Lords and elsewhere and he had fought long and hard against abolishing slavery, because it challenged the status quo in the colonies. So it was hoped, probably very reasonably, that he might not like the Reform Act.
Perhaps the Holdsworths, who were fighting tooth and nail against the Act - because there was a good chance they would lose much of their power in the town if it became law - thought that the Duke might fight on their side. If this was the case, his influence counted for nothing as the Reform Act was passed in 1832, the first small step towards our current political system. The Holdsworths were voted out of power forever at the next election and most of the family left Dartmouth following their fall from grace.
Royal Patronage doesn’t always mean you get what you want.
First Published November 2011 By The Dart