(565) Benson of Lutwyche Hall

Benson of Lutwyche Hall

The story of this family begins with Moses Benson (1738-1806), who came from a yeoman farming family in the Furness district of Lancashire. He found employment as the captain of a vessel belonging to Abraham Rawlinson, a Lancaster merchant who was engaged in the 'triangular trade' between England, West Africa and the Caribbean. He later settled in Jamaica as Rawlinson's local representative, and became a senior figure in the English community there. Although he cannot be identified as a plantation owner himself, he certainly owned slaves, and continued to make money from the importation and trading of slaves. While in Jamaica he formed a relationship with a woman (described as 'a Mustee' or octaroon) called Judith Powell, and they produced four sons and two daughters in ten years. They never married, but at some point after 1781 they moved to Liverpool, where Moses established his own merchant house, which was responsible for at least eighty slaving voyages over the next twenty-five years. His surviving sons, Ralph Benson (1772-1845) and Moses Benson (1780-1837) were also associated with the business, which was continued by Moses junior alone after his father's death. Moses senior left an estate worth some £265,000 at his death in 1806, and his immensely complex will appointed five trustees to administer it. In 1807 they purchased the Lutwyche Hall estate in Shropshire for Ralph Benson, who left the mercantile house at this time and set himself up as a landed gentleman, openly devoted to hunting, racing and gambling and more covertly to dalliance. In 1808 he was convicted in the civil courts of adultery and paid damages of £1,000, but both his reputation and his marriage seem to have survived. As early as 1807 he stood for Parliament, and he was twice elected for Stafford, serving as MP for the town in 1812-18 and 1826-30. A combination of gambling and election expenses meant that he quickly ran through the substantial fortune his father left him, and after leaving parliament in 1830 he went abroad to avoid his creditors, though he returned to England at the end of his life. Lutwyche Hall was let, and seems later to have been handed over to his son, presumably to avoid it being sold to pay his debts, which amounted to more than £76,000 by 1841.

Ralph and his wife Barbara produced two sons, Moses George Benson (1798-1871), who succeeded to the Lutwyche estate, and the Rev. Ralph Lewen Benson (1799-1849), who became rector of Easthope, one of two livings in the gift of his brother. In 1826, M.G. Benson married Charlotte Riou Browne, whose father had been killed in rioting in Dublin in 1803. The unusual name Riou was a family surname which was adopted by subsequent generations of the Benson family. During the 1830s and early 1840s, Moses and Charlotte lived at Malvern Wells (Worcs.) and most of their children were baptised at Hanley Castle, in which parish their house actually stood, but they moved back to Lutwyche after 1845 and during the 1850s remodelled the house so as to re-establish and emphasize its Elizabethan character. Their eldest son, Ralph Augustus Benson (1828-86) was educated at Oxford and the Inner Temple, and became a barrister and later a judge, serving as both Recorder of Shrewsbury and a Metropolitan Police magistrate. He evidently had a strong desire to enter Parliament, and stood for election three times, in each case unsuccessfully. He married a daughter of the architect, C.R. Cockerell (1788-1863), and her brother, Frederick Pepys Cockerell, was responsible for completing the alterations to Lutwyche around 1860. Ralph and his wife had three sons and two daughters. The younger sons pursued careers in the armed forces, while the eldest son, Ralph Beaumont Benson (1862-1911) attended Oxford and the Inner Temple. Unfortunately, he did not show the same appetite for his studies as his father had done, and he neither took a degree nor was called to the bar. His wife, Caroline Cholmondeley, came, however, from a notably literary family, and their delicate and troubled daughter, Stella Benson (1892-1933) became a writer whose novels were admired by Virginia Woolf, while their younger son was a barrister and judge like his grandfather.

When Ralph Beaumont Benson died in 1911 he left an estate valued at nearly £70,000, but the financial pressures on landed estates in the early 20th century were already making themselves felt. His elder son and heir, George Reginald Benson (1888-1961) pursued a career in the army which was cut short by ill-health at the end of the First World War. He progressively dispersed the estate through a series of sales, and the contents of the house were sold in 1928. After the Second World War the house was let to a school, and in 1952 the freehold of the house and the last part of the estate was sold, bringing to an end the family's status as landed gentry after around 150 years.

Lutwyche Hall, Rushbury, Shropshire

The house stands on Wenlock Edge at the northern end of Rushbury parish, but much closer to Easthope, where many of the Bensons are buried. The Lutwyche family, who took their name from the manor, were established here by the 14th century, and by the early 16th century the manor house was evidently a gabled structure of coursed limestone rubble. Two gable-ends on the rear (north-west) elevation and the cellars may be survivals from this time. Edward Lutwyche, a Chancery cursitor, who had inherited by 1586, largely rebuilt it as an H-plan manor house, and a datestone of 1587 (though not thought to be original) may provide the approximate date of construction. The new work was in fashionable red brick, decorated with a diaper pattern in blue bricks. As first built, the house was very similar to nearby Shipton Hall, built for Edward's brother John a few years later: it had a short central hall range with symmetrical gabled cross-wings and tall thin towers in the re-entrant angles on the entrance side. The base of the northern tower formed a porch leading into a screens passage with a stair turret at its far end. The house was taxed on fourteen hearths in 1672. Little is known about the original interiors of the house, but in 1735 the Rev. William Mytton visited Lutwyche and described and made sketches of heraldic glass in the windows which survive among his papers at Birmingham University.

Lutwyche Hall: watercolour by Moses Griffiths, 1793, showing the 18th century alterations. Image: Miles Wynn Cato.

In the mid 18th century, the house was remodelled and modernized for William Lutwyche (d. 1773), apparently in a series of campaigns spread over a considerable period. A new two-storey brick block was added behind the hall range, with a fine new staircase at its west end, and the principal rooms were given new panelling in a contemporary style. The south-west side elevation became the entrance front and was given a new sash windowed facade of five bays, with a three-bay breakfront rising to a pediment enclosing a Diocletian window. The hall and screens passage were merged and redecorated in a fashionable Rococo taste, with a fine plaster overmantel and overdoors of unusually fanciful form. In the grounds, a new stable block of red brick was built north-east of the house, with a central carriage arch beneath a large pediment, and the grounds were landscaped, with a stone temple built south-west of the house.  

Lutwyche Hall: the entrance hall in 1974. Image: Historic England.

Although differences in style proclaim that the work was not the result of a single coherent campaign, there is sadly no documentation to show conclusively who was involved. However it does seem likely that Lutwyche sought design and craftsmen from the major Midlands building concern, based in Warwick, that was run successively by Francis Smith (d. 1738), his son, William Smith (d. 1747) and their former employees, William (d. 1776) and David (d. 1758) Hiorn. The late Andor Gomme suggested there were three phases of work on the interior: firstly the building of the rear block, the construction of the staircase, and the refitting of the library in the south-west corner of the house; secondly, the refitting of the drawing room in a plainer, neo-Jonesian style; and finally, the plasterwork decoration of the hall. The library panelling and staircase he attributed confidently to the joiner, Thomas Eborall, who worked closely with Francis and William Smith, and the richer, more elaborate style of these rooms than the other interiors does suggest they are earlier. 

Lutwyche Hall: staircase in 1974. Image: Historic England 

Gareth Williams has pointed out that the Diocletian window on the new south-west front at Lutwyche was a feature particularly favoured by the Hiorn brothers, who built nearby Delbury Hall in 1752-56. The staircase at Delbury was constructed by Benjamin King and employs balusters that are nearly identical to those at Lutwyche, but the general form of the staircase seems very different and distinctly later in feel. Nonetheless, the Hiorn Brothers seem very likely candidates for Gomme's second phase of work, including the refitting of the drawing room at Lutwyche. The elaborate plasterwork decoration of the hall feels later again, and has some similarities to the Rococo overmantel in the hall at Shipton Hall. Although T.F. Pritchard (d. 1777) was working at Shipton in 1757-59, there is no mention of Lutwyche in his surviving album of drawings. An alternative suggestion, made first by Andor Gomme, is that the very free plasterwork at Lutwyche and in the overmantel at Shipton might be the work of Thomas Roberts of Oxford. That feels plausible but not totally convincing, but whoever was responsible, it seems likely that the work was amongst the last to be completed, in the late 1750s or even the 1760s.

William Lutwyche died, deeply in debt, in 1773 and legal disputes between his illegitimate son and one of his sisters and co-heirs led to the sale of the estate in 1785. Before 1793 a long, two-storey service wing had been built on to the northern end of the house. A little later, the gables on the entrance front were removed and the house was stuccoed. Thus the house stood in 1807 when it was acquired by the trustees of Moses Benson (1738-1806) for the latter's son, Capt. Ralph Benson (1773-1845), who is not known to have made any changes to the house. However, his son, Moses George Benson (1797-1871) brought in Samuel Pountney Smith (1812-86) of Shrewsbury in about 1851 to begin returning the house to its Elizabethan form. The 18th century stucco was removed, the classical south-west elevation was replaced by mullioned and transomed windows and a new bay window was built; at the rear, the 18th century block was extended in a crude and heavy manner. Inside, less was done, but the dining room was repanelled, and stained glass was restored to the windows of the hall, and it is possible that the ceiling of the hall - remarkably keeping in keeping with the Rococo plasterwork below - was created at this time. A fuller restoration of the entrance front took place in 1860, when Frederick Pepys Cockerell, who was related by marriage to the Bensons, added two-storey bay windows and gables to the wings, and created a three-storey porch between the towers with a first-floor oriel window. The result is a rather crowded and heavily ornamented, but undeniably effective, design.

Lutwyche Hall: the entrance front as remodelled in the mid 19th century by F.P. Cockerell. Image: Historic England

In the early 20th century, the usual taxation and other pressures on landed estates led to the sale of over 1,000 acres of the estate in 1921. The contents of the house were sold in 1928, and further sections of the estate were sold in 1937-38. After the Second World War the remainder of the estate was sold and the house was leased as Wenlock Edge School from 1948. In 1966 the school closed and it became an hotel. Institutional use was accompanied by progressive physical decline, and by the 1970s it was in poor shape. In the 1980s a major restoration was undertaken for a new American owner, Dr. Roger Pearson, but a major fire in 1989 all but gutted the north-east wing of the house, which was subsequently re-roofed as a shell. The stable block, which had long since lost its cupola, was given a new one designed by the owners' son.

Lutwyche Hall: the house today

Descent: Richard Lutwyche (d. by 1586); to son, Edward Lutwyche (d. 1614); to son, Edward Lutwyche (d. 1639); to daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah Lutwyche, with remainder to grandson, Sir Edward Lutwyche (d. 1709), kt.; to son, Thomas Lutwyche (d. 1734); to son, William Lutwyche (d. 1773); to sisters, Elizabeth Lutwyche (d. 1776), Anne Fazakerley (d. 1776) and Sarah Winford (d. 1793), of whom the first two left their shares to William's illegitimate son, William Lane (later Lutwyche), who sold 1785 to Bartlet Goodrich; sold 1794 to Thomas Langton (d. 1805); sold after his death to trustees of Moses Benson (1738-1806) for his son, Ralph Benson (1772-1845); to son, Moses George Benson (1798-1871); to son, Ralph Augustus Benson (1828-86); to son, Ralph Beaumont Benson (1862-1911); to son, Maj. George Reginald Benson (1888-1961), who sold most of the estate by 1947 and the house in 1952 to Wenlock Edge School; sold 1966 to Lutwyche Hall Hotel...Mr & Mrs M.F. Jones sold 1975... sold 1979 to Dr. & Mrs. Roger Pearson; sold 2000... Simon Vincent Lloyd-Jones (b. 1968).

Benson family of Lutwyche Hall

Benson, Moses (1738-1806). Son of John Benson (1684-1766) of Ulverston (Lancs), yeoman, born 1738. He became a captain in the West Indies trade for Abraham Rawlinson of Lancaster, merchant, and the latter's representative in Jamaica (where he held office as a Lt-Col. of the militia and was first treasurer of the Kingston Chamber of Commerce) before returning to Liverpool to establish his own trading house, becoming one of the most successful Liverpool merchants in the 'triangular trade' and amassing a substantial fortune. Although he is not known to have owned any plantations in the Caribbean himself, he did own slaves, advertising a reward for information leading to the capture of a slave sailor who had absconded in 1780. He is said to have been a liberal patron of the fine arts, and of educational and religious objectives in Liverpool. He had illegitimate issue by Judith Powell 'a free Mustee woman':

(X1) Ralph Benson (1772-1845) (q.v.);

(X2) James Benson (b. 1773), born 23 October and baptised at Kingston (Jamaica), 30 October 1773; probably died young in the lifetime of his father as he is not mentioned in the latter's will;

(X3) John Benson (b. 1775), baptised at Kingston (Jamaica), 2 December 1775; probably died young in the lifetime of his father as he is not mentioned in the latter's will;

(X4) Mary Benson (1777-1858), born 10 February 1777 and baptised at Kingston (Jamaica), 3 February 1779; married, 4 November 1817 at St Mark, Liverpool, Rev. Charles Thomas Gladwin (c.1786-1846), vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Liverpool; died 7 August 1858; will proved 24 August 1858 (effects under £25,000 but later resworn as under £450!);

(X5) twin, Moses Benson (1780-1837), born 13 February 1780 and baptised at Kingston (Jamaica), 3 April 1781; merchant in Liverpool, who succeeded to his father's business and was bankrupted, 1828; an officer in Royal Liverpool Volunteers (Capt. 1803); married, 23 September 1803 at Christ Church, Liverpool, Margaret (c.1778-1854), daughter of Capt. John Kendall, and had issue; died 1 March, and was buried at St James, Toxteth, Liverpool (Lancs), 7 March 1837;

(X6) twin, Jane Dorothy Benson (1780-1861), born 13 February 1780 and baptised at Kingston (Jamaica), 3 April 1781; married at St Peter, Liverpool, , 29 April 1800 and again 15 February 1801, Richard Elmhirst (1771-1847) of West Ashby Grove (Lincs), and had issue five sons and six daughters; died 11 August 1861; will proved 13 September 1801 (effects under £800).

He lived in a mansion house with extensive gardens in Duke St., Liverpool. After his death, his trustees bought the Lutwyche Hall estate in 1807.

He died 5 June and was buried at Liverpool, 11 June 1806; his immensely long will was proved in the PCC, 29 November 1806 (estate under £265,000), but eventually required an Act of Parliament in 1830 to resolve its complexities. His partner, Judith Powell, is said to have accompanied him to Liverpool, but her death has not been traced. Since she was not mentioned in his will, she may have died before 1806.

Benson, Ralph (1772-1845). Elder illegitimate son of Moses Benson (1738-1806) and Judith Powell, 'a free Mustee woman', born 21 July 1772 and baptised in Kingston (Jamaica), 8 March 1773. Educated at Manchester Grammar School. An officer in the 85th Foot (Capt. 1793; ret. 1795 as a result of a fever caught at Walcheren in 1794) and in the West Shropshire militia (Capt., 1808). After leaving the army he joined his father's business as a merchant in Liverpool, but after his father's death his brother took over the management of the business (which became bankrupt in 1828), although he maintained some links with the Liverpool merchant elite, serving on the committees of the Ship Owners’ Association, the Royal Institution for Literature, Science and the Arts and the Mechanics’ Institute. Bailiff of the Borough of Sefton, 1804 and Mayor of Sefton, 1806. DL and JP for Shropshire and Staffordshire. In politics he was a Conservative and a supporter of Canning; he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Stafford, 1807 and Bridgnorth, 1820, but was elected MP for Stafford, 1812-18, 1826-30. His wife was said to host 'delightful parties' but Benson was addicted to horse-racing and gambling and was considered 'too much of a Lothario'; and in 1808 he was convicted of 'criminal conversation' (adultery) with the wife of a fellow Liverpool merchant, and had to pay damages of £1,000. As time went by, he suffered from increasing financial difficulties. His election expenses went unpaid for long periods and in 1826 and 1829 he lost civil actions for debts incurred in the elections of 1820 and 1826. After leaving Parliament he moved to France to avoid his creditors, and probably transferred the Lutwyche estate to his son. He is said to have been outlawed for non-payment of taxes, 1835, but returned to England in 1840, where he appeared in the insolvent debtors court in 1841 and admitted to debts over £76,000 and was discharged. He married, 22 July 1794 in Limerick (Ireland), Barbara (c.1777-1852), third daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Lewin (d. 1797) of Cloghans (Co. Mayo), and had issue:

(1) Moses George Benson (1798-1871) (q.v.);

(2) Rev. Ralph Lewen Benson (1799-1849), born 6 May and baptised at St Stephen, Byrom St., Liverpool, 5 June 1799; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1819; BA 1823; MA 1825); rector of Easthope; married, 28 August 1827 at St Mary, Bryanston Sq., St Marylebone (Middx), Amelia St. George Browne (1807-73), daughter of John Dyer, surgeon with the East India Co., and had issue two sons; died 23 August 1849.

His father's trustees bought Lutwyche Hall for him, but he let it from 1830, when he went to live in France, and he seems later to have handed it over to his son. His widow lived latterly in Cheltenham (Glos).

He died 23 October and was buried at St James, Toxteth, Liverpool, 31 October 1845; his will was proved at Chester, 15 May 1851. His widow died in Cheltenham, and was buried at Toxteth, 19 January 1852.

Benson, Moses George (1798-1871). Elder son of Ralph Benson (1772-1845) and his wife Barbara, third daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Lewin of Cloghans (Co. Mayo), born 20 January and baptised at St James, Toxteth, Liverpool (Lancs), 26 January 1798. Educated privately and at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1819). JP for Shropshire from 1834 (Chairman of Church Stretton Petty Sessions and for some years of the County Police Committee) and for Worcestershire; DL for Shropshire from 1835. A Conservative in politics. He married, 11 April 1826 at Great Malvern (Worcs), Charlotte Riou (1800-75), only daughter and heiress of Col. Lyde Browne (d. 1803), and had issue:

(1) Dora Georgina Harrington Benson (1827-80), born 27 May and baptised at Hanley Castle (Worcs), 1 June 1827; married, 22 November 1853 at Easthope, Rev. Frederick Jonathan Richards (1824-96), vicar of Boxley (Kent), 1853-96, second son of William Parry Richards, and had issue one son and three daughters; died 3 June and was buried at Boxley, 9 June 1880; administration of her goods granted to her husband, 9 September 1880 (effects under £200);

(2) Ralph Augustus Benson (1828-86) (q.v.);

(3) Charlotte Julia Mary Benson (1830-94), baptised at Cheltenham, 26 July 1830; lived latterly at Llanfyllin (Montgomerys.); died unmarried, 13 October, and was buried at Easthope, 18 October 1894; will proved 15 November 1894 (effects £7,960);

(4) twin, Mary Elizabeth Benson (1832-93), baptised at Hanley Castle (Worcs), 7 March 1832; lived latterly with her twin sister at Leamington Spa (Warks); died unmarried and was buried at Easthope, 20 April 1893; administration of goods granted to her sister, 15 June 1893 (effects £3,326);

(5) twin, Fanny Mary Benson (1832-1901), baptised at Hanley Castle, 7 March 1832; lived latterly with her twin sister at Leamington Spa (Warks); died unmarried, 11 February 1901; will proved 2 May 1901 (estate £9,872);

(6) Rev. Riou George Benson (1834-96), born 1 December 1834 and baptised at Hanley Castle (Worcs), 26 January 1835; educated at Durham University (L.Th, 1859); ordained deacon and priest, 1860; rector of Hope Bowdler (Shrops.), 1860-96; JP for Shropshire; married, 11 April 1861 at Honley (Yorks WR), Mary (1840-1913), daughter of Thomas Brooke of Northgate House, Honley, merchant, and had issue seven sons and six daughters; died 18 January and was buried at Hope Bowdler, 21 January 1896; administration of goods granted 8 May 1896 (estate £10,254);

(7) Madeline Barbara Benson (1837-1909), born at Brussels (Belgium), 28 July 1837; married, 31 January 1882 at Easthope, Rev. Louis Arthur Cockerell (1836-1929), rector of North Weald (Essex), son of Rev. Henry Cockerell, but had no issue; died 12 March 1909; will proved 11 May 1909 (estate £4,063);

(8) Philip Riou Henry Benson (1842-66), born 4 June and baptised at Hanley Castle, 28 July 1842; farmer at Stoneburn Station, Dunedin (New Zealand); drowned in the sinking of the steamship London in the Bay of Biscay, 11 January 1866; administration of goods granted to his father, 4 July 1866 (effects under £1,500);

(9) Lyde Ernest George Benson (1845-1924), born 27 May and baptised at Hanley Castle, 19 July 1845; educated at St John's College, Oxford (matriculated 1864) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1868; called 1872); barrister-at-law; JP for Shropshire; lived at Larden Cottage (Shrops.); married, 5 May 1885 at Rushbury (Shrops.), Emily Harriet (1858-1932), daughter of Rev. Frederick Harry Hotham, rector of Rushbury, and had issue one son; died 12 September 1924 and was buried at Easthope; will proved 8 December 1924 (estate £14,892).

He inherited Lutwyche Hall from his father in 1845 and also maintained a house at Malvern Wells (Worcs).

He died 11 April, and was buried at Easthope, 18 April 1871; his will was proved 3 May 1875 (effects under £25,000). His widow died at Malvern Wells, 8 July 1875; her will was proved 27 July 1875 (effects under £4,000).

Benson, Ralph Augustus (1828-86). Eldest son of Moses George Benson (1798-1871) and his wife Charlotte Riou, only daughter and heiress of Col. Lyde Browne, born at Malvern Wells (Worcs), 11 August and baptised at Hanley Castle (Worcs), 16 August 1828. Educated at Winchester, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1846; BA 1850; MA 1864) and Inner Temple (called 1854). Barrister-at-law. A Metropolitan Police magistrate in Southwark, 1867-79 and Recorder of Shrewsbury, 1866-79. A freemason from 1848. An officer in the South Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Cornet, 1850; Lt., 1871; retired 1879). A Conservative in politics, he stood unsuccessfully for parliament in the Reading (Berks) constituency in 1859 and 1860 and at Wenlock (Shrops.), 1880. He married, 7 August 1860 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Henrietta Selina (1836-82), daughter of Charles Robert Cockerell (1788-1863), architect, and had issue:

(1) Ralph Beaumont Benson (1862-1911) (q.v.);

(2) Frederica Mary Benson (1863-1928), baptised at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), 19 June 1863; married, 14 January 1891 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Francis Edward Prescott-Decie (1861-1927) of Bockleton Court (Worcs), barrister-at-law, son of Col. Richard Prescott-Decie, and had issue one son and three daughters; died 5 September 1928 and was buried at Bockleton (Worcs); will proved 20 December 1928 (estate £3,407);

(3) Vice-Adm. Robert Edmund Ross Benson (1864-1927), born 23 April and baptised at St James, Dover, 5 June 1864; joined the Royal Navy, 1877 (Midshipman, 1879; Sub-Lt., 1883; Lt., 1887; Cdr., 1900; Capt., 1906; retired as Rear-Adm., 1918; Vice-Adm., 1923); appointed CB, 1916; married 1st, 25 May 1897 at Kingswear (Devon), Williama Margaret (1871-1924), eldest daughter of Lt-Col. St. John Edward Daubeny of The Beacon, Kingswear (Devon) and had issue one son (who died young); married 2nd, 5 August 1926 at Pyrford (Surrey), Alice Helen (1882-1980), only daughter of Charles Echlin Gerahty of The Yews, Whitchurch (Hants); died 3 February 1927; will proved 12 April 1927 (estate £6,422);

(4) Philippa Jessie Benson (1866-1930), baptised at St Paul, Knightsbridge, 10 March 1866; died unmarried, 19 September 1930; will proved 2 December 1930 and 21 April 1931 (estate £10,774);

(5) George Conolly Benson (1867-1900), born 12 March and baptised at St James, Dover, 5 May 1867; educated at Eton and Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1887; Lt. 1890; Capt., 1898) who was seconded to the Colonial Service in the Gold Coast; died unmarried when he was killed near Kumasi (Ghana), 29 August 1900; will proved 2 November 1900 (estate £3,228).

He inherited Lutwyche Hall from his father in 1871 and had a town house in Montagu Sq., London.

He died at his house in London, 11 March, and was buried at Easthope, 18 March 1886; his will was proved 16 April 1886 (effects £5,975). His wife died 23 August, and was buried at Easthope, 30 August 1882; administration of her goods was granted 18 April 1883 (effects £203).

Benson, Ralph Beaumont (1862-1911). Eldest son of Ralph Augustus Benson (1828-86) and his wife Henrietta Selina, only daughter of Charles Robert Cockerell RA, born 10 March and baptised at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), 24 April 1862. Educated at Harrow, Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1880) and Inner Temple (admitted 1882). An officer in the Shropshire Volunteer Rifles (Lt., 1884) and Shropshire Yeomanry (Lt., 1885; Capt. 1891; ret. 1897); JP for Shropshire. A freemason from 1892. He married, 22 June 1886 at Hodnet (Shrops.), Caroline Essex (1861-1934), second daughter of Rev. Richard Cholmondeley of Condover Hall (Shrops.), rector of Hodnet, and had issue:

(1) George Reginald Benson (1888-1961) (q.v.);

(2) Catherine Maia Benson (1890-99); baptised at Easthope (Shrops.), 10 May 1890; died young, 22 May and was buried at Easthope, 26 May 1899;

(3) Stella Benson (1892-1933), baptised at Easthope, 6 March 1892; a sickly and nervous child who received little formal education; she worked for suffragist organisations and charities in London before travelling to America and then China, where she met her husband; between 1915 and 1931 she produced eight novels of which Tobit transformed (1931) is the best-known today, as well as short stories and travel writing; she married, 27 September 1921, James Carew O'Gorman Anderson (1893-1946), a commissioner in the Chinese customs service (who m2, 1935, Veronica Beatrice (1905-88), daughter of Hon. Sir Frank Trevor Roger Bigham, a deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and had issue two sons and one daughter), only son of Brig-Gen. Sir Francis Anderson KBE CB of Ballydavid (Co. Waterford), but had no issue; died of pneumonia at Hongay (Vietnam), 6 December, and was buried there, 7 December 1933; administration of her goods granted 16 April 1934 (effects in England, £5,939);

(4) Stephen Riou Benson (1896-1961), born 11 October 1896; educated at Charterhouse and Inner Temple (admitted 1920; called 1923); barrister-at-law; Recorder of Abingdon, 1929; deputy chairman of Oxfordshire Quarter Sessions, 1958-61; a Conservative in politics, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the West Ham South constituency in 1935 and was a member of London County Council (for Wandsworth, Balham and Tooting), 1937-42; married, 28 February 1935 at St Mary, West Kensington (Middx), Phyllis Mary (1900-78), daughter of Henry Charles Hawkins of Addington (Surrey), rope manufacturer, and widow of Edwin Cawston (d. 1928) of Frinton-on-Sea (Essex), and had issue two sons; died 29 November and was buried at St Mary, Addington (Surrey), 4 December 1961; will proved 7 January 1963 (estate £500).

He inherited Lutwyche Hall from his father in 1886.

He died at Folkestone (Kent), 16 October 1911; his will was proved 14 November 1911 (estate £69,648). His widow died 19 December 1934; her will was proved 8 February 1935 (estate £1,330).

Benson, George Reginald (1888-1961). Elder son of Ralph Beaumont Benson (1862-1911) and his wife Caroline Essex, second daughter of Rev. Richard Cholmondeley of Condover Hall (Shrops.), rector of Hodnet (Shrops.), born 25 April and baptised at St Mary, Bryanston Sq., Westminster (Middx), 29 May 1888. Educated at Eton and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1908; Lt. 1911; Capt., 1914; Maj., 1916; retired on health grounds, 1919). He married 1st, 24 November 1917 at St Philip, Kensington (Middx), (div. 1938), Violet Martha Helena (1897-1990), daughter of William H. Estorffe of New Zealand, and 2nd, 17 November 1938, Jane Frances (1904-93), daughter of Thomas Hood Henderson Walker of Monifieth (Angus) and widow of Capt. William Morrice, and had issue:

(1.1) Ralph Benson (1919-94), born 17 March 1919; educated at Eton and Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; an officer in the Coldstream Guards (2nd Lt., 1939; Lt., 1941; Capt., 1946; ret. 1951); private secretary to Governor of Northern Ireland, 1952-55; married 1st, 19 November 1947, Helen Mary (d. 1951), younger daughter of Lt-Col. Charles Walter Villiers CBE DSO and formerly wife of Capt. Nicholas Richard Michael Eliot (1914-88), Lord Eliot (later 9th Earl of St Germans), and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 18 September 1952, Wanda (1924-74), only daughter of Lt-Col. Francis Leger Christian Livingstone-Learmonth CMG; died 28 November 1994; will proved 3 April 1995 (estate under £125,000);

(1.2) Georgina Benson (1921-97), born 31 August 1921; married 2 February 1947 (div. 1954), as his second wife, Claude Mowbray Berkeley (1906-78), only son of Sir Ernest James Lennox Berkeley KCMG CB (1857-1932), and had issue one son and one daughter; died August 1997;

(1.3) John Benson (1922-55), born 19 September 1922; died unmarried at Harts Hospital, Woodford Green (Essex), a tuberculosis sanatorium, 10 May 1955; will proved 24 June 1955 (estate £213);

(1.4) Riou Benson (1923-2014), born 27 November 1923; educated at Stowe; solicitor in London; married, 11 February 1950 at St Nicholas, Arundel (Sussex), Elizabeth Mary (1922-2010), youngest daughter of Ven. John Godber of West Tarring (Sussex), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 17 January 2014; will proved 22 May 2014;

(1.5) Barbara Benson (1930-2020), born 11 September 1930; married, 21 April 1958 at Berne (Switzerland), Robert Charles Frederick Eden (1916-2014), son of Frederick Morton Eden of Allmendingen, Berne (Switzerland), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 7 January 2020.

He inherited Lutwyche Hall from his father in 1911, but progressively dispersed the estate through sales of land, culminating in the sale of the house in 1947/1952. The house was let to a school from 1948.

He died 23 March 1961; will proved 29 June 1961 (estate £17,349). His first wife married 2nd, Michael Richard Lavie Robinson (1908-92) and died 18 January 1990; administration of her goods was granted 21 May 1990 (estate under £100,000). His widow married 3rd, 12 July 1962, Cdr. Robert Martin Dominic Ponsonby RN (1911-95), only surviving son of Sir George Arthur Ponsonby KCVO, and died 30 May 1993; her will was proved 29 June 1993 (estate £688,843).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1969, pp. 40-42; VCH Shropshire, vol. x, 1998, pp. 52-72; A. Gomme, Smith of Warwick, 2000, pp. 243-45; J. Newman & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Shropshire, 2nd edn., 2006, p. 388; G. Williams, The country houses of Shropshire, 2021, pp. 405-09; 

Location of archives

Benson family of Lutwyche Hall: deeds and papers, 18th-20th cents. [Shropshire Archives]

Coat of arms

Argent, a ship under sail at sea, the colours flying proper; out of a chief wavy azure, a cubit arm, vested gules, cuff or, in the hand a sword erect of the first pommel and hilt or, sustaining on the point a balance of the last, and between two pineapples of the second.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 22 November 2023.