John Crombleholme (1766 - 1838)

Birth & Early Life :

1766 - 25th December : John Crombleholme [Cro0152] was born in Kirkland, Garstang, Lancashire on Christmas Day, the son of Thomas Crombleholme [Cro0146] and Agnes [Cro0147] (nee Teebay). He was the eldest of eight children. His family descends (as the writer does) from Richard Crumbleholme [Cro0058] of Dutton, Lancashire via Richard Crombleholme [Cro0103] of Crombleholme Fold, Goosnargh, Lancashire. As can be seen below, the family were recorded as Roman Catholic in the 1767 Return of the Papists. , John being listed age 1 year !

The initial information relating to John Crombleholme [152] came from The History of Garstang, Chetham Old Series Volume 105, Chapter 7 Old Halls & Families p 261 - hereafter source ref §§). Much of this information was submitted to the publication in 1879 by John William Bone BA FSA (whose mother was a Crombleholme) from some sixty letters written by John Crombleholme [152] that were in his possession at that time. Unfortunately, despite extensive searches the writer (RC) has been unable to locate any of John Bone's papers or family letters.

However, in March 2019, I visited Douai Abbey in Berkshire and the archivist, Abbot Geoffrey Scott very kindly let me study and photograph his extensive card index in which John Crombleholme’s times in Paris are recorded. (noted as ±± below) is extensive correspondence between the Priors of the various houses. All this correspondence belonged to Augustine Walker, President of the Bendictines from 1777 to 1794. However, it was all confiscated by the authorities during the French Revolution who removed ecclesiastical property but fortunately, it was preserved as a collection at Lille.

1767 - Return of the Papists : {158} Garstang, Lancashire

Thomas Crombleholme [146] Dyer aged 32 years Kirkland resident 4 years

Agnes [147]his wife aged 32 years resident 2 years.

John Crombleholme [152] aged 1 year resident 1 year

(Source : CRS 1980; Worrall p105)

John's father, Thomas Crombleholme [Cro0146] was a dyer and farmer and in a letter written in 1801 to his eldest son John Crombleholme [Cro0152] (who was then living in Bordeaux, France), he is describes himself as ....”being in a comfortable position, carrying on the business of dyeing, as well as farming with his son in law William Bamber.

Education :

John Crombleholme [Cro0152] attended a local school at Garstang Church Town near his home in Lancashire until he was 14 years old. In 1779, he was sent abroad to France and attended the College of Dieulouard in Lorraine §§.

1779 - 27th June : In the accounts of the Preston Catholic Society (Appendix A) there are frequent payments for young men “going abroad” - no doubt to study for the priesthood and as a rule they bear good old catholic Lancashire names. They were assisted financially by their brethren ........

Thos Crombleholme’s [Cro0146] son going abroad £1.1s.0d

Note : It seems that John Crombleholme [Cro0152] was able to attend the French college initially due to assistance given by a wealthy clerical relative (Mr Butler). This probably refers to an earlier marriage in the family of Rev William Cromleholme [Cro0121] to Ann [Cro0122] daughter of Alexander Butler of Kirkland Hall, Lancashire. Rev William Cromleholme was not a direct relative of John Crombleholme [152] (See 1792 below)

Above : School and College of Dieulouard - part of the monastery c1793

The Benedictine run school at Dieulourd educated boys mainly between the ages of 8 and 15 years old. John Crombleholme [152] would have been 14 years old when he arrived in 1780. The year before, a college had also been established here due to French educational reform. This allowed boys from the school to continue their education at the same site.

1780 : In a letter written to his neice Mrs Bone in 1829, John Crombleholme [152] recalled his first Channel crossing in 1780 (aged 14) in a packet boat which was ......"driven on to the shoals between Dunkirk and Ostend; where we lay, and were fired at by two French privateers for half an hour, the balls flying over and on each side of us, and some dropping short and skipping on the surface of the water. We got off clear, but the other packet boat, our consort, was captured and taken to Dunkirk” (Source :ibid §§) Note : See also another letter extract written in 1801

Many boys from Lancashire went sent to this school and the journey was quite challenging for the youngsters. The journey in England to an English Channel port would have been about 340 miles and was recorded in the accounts costing about £7. The channel crossing (like John’s above) could be very dangerous especially during war periods. Once on the continent, the boys travelled between the various Benedictine establishments in Lille, Douai or Cambrai before moving on to Champagne and Lorraine. They travelled in small groups accompanied by a monk or another staff member. The number of pupils in the school when John arrived was about 20. The education lasted some 5 years and very few boys were able to travel home for visits.

There was a monthly letter exchange with English being spoken in the school and other English habits maintained including presents on their birthdays and at Christmas. Humanities and divinities were studied together with Latin, Greek and French. Mathematics and Physics were also studied and fee paying students also studied music. Books were largely imported from England in bulk. Students were able to leave the school with the monks for short trips to neighbouring towns. Fees were quite modest at £50 for five years and due to the success of the monastery’s beer sales (!), it was less than 2% of the income by the 1780’s. About half the students went on to a religious life. (Source : Forming Catholic Communities Scots and English College Networks in France by Liam Chambers & Thomas O’connor - Chapter : The English Benedictines in C18th Lorraine p117 on)

1780 - 17th August : In a letter from Corby to Walker, John Crombleholme [152] is noted to be in the 3rd school at St Laurence. (Source : Index card 1 rear item 8 ±±)

1783 : John Crombleholme [152] is recorded in a list of boys at St Gregory’s, Douai. (Item 2 Index Card 1±±)

(Note : St Gregory’s was the common Noviciate for the other Houses and thus listed pupils at Dieulourd)

1786 - 9th January : John Crombleholme [152] entered St Edmunds an English Benedictine Monastry in Paris aged 20 years and 15 days. He was rather older than a postulant’s usual age of 16. On the same day, in a ceremony known as "clothing” the Benedictine Habit was given to him. In John’s case his “clothing" was witnessed by Claude Couerer and Louis Defontaine, advocates. (Source : Monks in Motion project with primary sources Allanson AN LL1420; Scott. Solemn Profession Book, Douai Abbey, Liber Graduum 314-17 + St Edmund’s Clothing Book (Index card 2 item 5 ±±)

Above : The former monastery building of St Edmunds in Paris c1616. (demolished & rebuilt ??)

The building that John Crombleholme lived in still exists today at 268 / 269 Rue St Jacques which is a famous conservatoire the Schola Cantorum.

1787 - 18th January : John Crombleholme [152] professed (affirm one’s faith & allegiance) at St Gregory’s for St Edmunds during the Priorship of Gregory Cowley. This monastery was the common Noviciate for the other Houses in France including St Edmunds. (Source : Monks in Motion (MIM) project with primary sources Allanson AN LL1420 (Biography Pt 3 489-743) . Scott. Solemn Profession Book, Douai Abbey, Liber Graduum 314-17)

Prior Gregory Cowley was to have some very difficult times due to John Crombleholme ! Cowley had professed at Dieulouard in 1749 before becoming Professor of Philosophy and the Prior of St Laurence between 1765 & 1773. He then became the Prior of St Edmunds in Paris (Source : Forming Catholic Communities Scots and English College Networks in France by Liam Chambers & Thomas O’Connor - Chapter : The English Benedictines in C18th Lorraine p117 on)

Above : A ancient bible belonging to John Crombleholme (pub 1609) and signed by him inside cover. (Letto per - belongs to) This was left in St Edmunds in Paris by John and was finally stored at Douai in Berkshire in 1903 when all property was brought back to England. Abbott Geoffrey Scott of Douai kindly showed to me during my visit in March 2019. (RC photos 032019)

John Crombleholme appears to have got off to good start and having professed, a few days later his superiors are full of praise :

1787 – 22nd January : Doway – J Sharrock to (President) Walker at Paris (Lille 18 H 57) (complete letter)

I have longed for a leisure moment to trouble you with a few lines on a point or two on which I should be glad to have your sentiments. The return of Br John Crombleholme [215] is an opportunity too favourable to be neglected. I have great hopes he will make a very useful acquisition to St Edmund’s by his piety & regularity. I know not whether you will recollect that you were kind enough to Permit Br John Culshaw to recommence his noviceship with him. He has, of course, finished it at the same time with him and went likewise with him through all the formalitities of admission to profession, which ceremony however cannot be performed till next year for want of due age and without your permission. Ought this permission, think you, to be asked for now or only some little time before he arrives at the age of one & twenty ? If you think the former, to prevent any unnecessary trouble and expense, I request you would send it me when convenient. He was unanimously admitted by my counsel and the rest of the community........ (Source : Index Card 2 item 10 ±±)

However, for some reason, John Crombleholme’s attitude to his vocation changes. Perhaps having lived quite a sheltered life and then moving into the centre of Paris, he began to lose his way ....

(Note : The following letters are all from the Lille archive (±±) and were transcribed onto typed index cards by Geoffrey Scott (now Abbot of Douai in Berkshire). These were then indexed and all this hard work enabled me to extract the letters relating to John Crombleholme very easily.

1787 – 10th September : Paris – Cowley to Walker at Dieulouard (Lille 18 H 32)

...........I fear that you will find things on your return hither little or no better than when you left us. Br Crombleholme’s case in particular is precisely the same. I spoke to him about it yesterday in the most friendly manner I could, but could not prevail on him to return me one single answer to any question I made him, and although my questions I think ought to have excited in him many sentiments of a very serious nature and tendency yet he had scarcely left my room when I found chatting with the other in a stile which I apprehend expressed very little concern. ................(Source : Index Card 2 item 10 ±±)

1788 - 13th October : D. John Crombleholme of Lancashire recorded (among several persons from Lancashire) in a listing of professed monks of St Edmunds in Paris. (Note : John would have been 22 years old)

(Source :English Congregation from archives of the houses of Douay in Flanders, Dieulwart in Lorraine, Paris in France and Lambspring in Germany - John Hodges London 1881 Google digitised)

1789 – 19th February : Paris – Cowley to Walker (Lille 18 H 32) .....Crombleholme continues much as you left him. .........±±

1789 – 25th February : Paris - Cowley to Walker at Cambrai (Lille 18 H 32).

It troubles me much to importune you so soon with another melancholy and afflicting letter. Last Monday morning about 8 o’clock, Br Jo

hn Crombleholme castrated himself in his room. He performed the operation with a razor, and as the surgeon tells me, has mangled himself in a most amazing manner. When he found from the great quantity of blood which he lost that it would be impossible for him to conceal what he had done, he gave himself a very deep gash in the calf of his right leg, went out of his room to the porter’s lodge, said that in shaving himself he had let his razor fall, that he attempted to catch it and had thrown it – against his leg which occasioned a very deep wound in his calf. Fr John Atkinson happened to be in the way; he immediately sent for the surgeon and carried Br John to the room over same.

I was at Mass during all this time. When I left the sacristy, I went down the stairs and remarked that a sponge had been passed over every other stasil (?) and had left a red head of an hue behind it. I came up floors to my room almost immediately and remarked again that these marks went up towards the Infirmary. I conjectured that the boy who waits on Dom Bernard had splt something in going down stairs and wiped it up. A few minutes after I was in my room, Dom John Atkinson came to tell me that Br John Crombleholme had wounded himself very dangerously with a razor in his leg and that he had put him over and sent for a surgeon but that as the surgeon might not perhaps be at home, he sent for the Barber to bind up the wound.

I immediately went up with Dom John to see him and found him in a dibilitated (sic) state. He shewed me his leg which was then bound and expressed his desire of having a surgeon as soon as possible. But said no more. The surgeon was here by good luck in less than half an hour. When he arrived Br John told Dom John Atkinson that he wished to speak to the surgeon in private on which Dom Atkinson left the room, He then told the surgeon what he had done and shewed him the wound. He told him that for some time past he had been molested with violent temptations against chastity and had taken that method to quell them. He begged the surgeon would keep the thing secret and lend him all the assistance he could.

The surgeon told him that he was indispensably (sic) obliged to inform the superior of what had happened but that he might depend on his secrecy in every other respect. The surgeon had not with him the instruments which he judged necessary in so unexpected a case. He returned home and was back again in about a quarter of an hour and stayed with him assisted by the barber about three quarters. He then came down to me and told me what had happened. He saw him again at two o’clock and let him blood. Told he would call upon him again that evening and should be glad to bring a confrere with him that they might advise together on the matter.

Accordingly, he brought Mr Moreau the surgeon of the hotel Dieu. They were with the patient about three quarters of an hour and completed the operation. All this happened on Monday. The poor man passed a bad night. The surgeon waited on him three times yesterday; in the afternoon he found a little fever coming on and at night he gave him a Clyster. He has passed a very bad night and the fever is rather higher. This morning the two surgeons and Mr Bourru are to see him together. We must wait for the event with resignation to the Almighty will of Heaven. I have informed D. Sub prior and Dom John Atkinson of this particulars but have not mentioned the accident as it really is to anyone else. I thought it my duty to inform your Rd. Paternity of every circumstance relating to it. Fr Procuratur is not yet returned. I have had no news from him. Give me leave to recommend myself to your best prayers. Assure Mr Welsh and Mr Kennedy of my best comptes, Regards to the good Ladies. Dom Gr Cowley. ±±

1789 – 26th February : Paris Cowley to Walker (Lille 18 H 32)

I hope you will have received my letter of yesterday. My mind was so affected with the melnacholy (sic) subject of it that I thought I had several other things to mention ........ Crombleholme has past a bad day and a bad night . The surgeons and Mr Bourru are to see him again tomorrow. They have hopes of his recovery but the consequences of his folly, perhaps of his pride, must be hard on him through life. It seems the ignorant fellow thought he would heal himself, or at most, that he would only stand in need of the barber, whom he first informed of what he had done. ...... ±±

1789 - February : From Fr Welsh’s Diary written 17thOctober 1797 : Feb 1789. Brother John Crombleholme lately professed, disgraced himself by self castration; a young man of a weak capacity, a refractory spirit, grossly ignorant, without any trace of sentiment of virtue, religion or duty. ±±

1789 – 6th March : Paris - Cowley to Walker at Cambrai (Lille 18 H 31)

..........I believe we shall not be under a necessity of revising the Canon Laws to see what ought to be done in the case of our poor unhappy Br Crombleholme. On Monday last the two surgeons who attended him and Mr Bourru declared his case to be without remedy. On Tuesday however and Wednesday, the strength of his constitution seemed rather to gain ground on his complaint, but yesterday he fell into a state of debility which leaves no hopes whatsoever of a recovery. He has received all the Rites of the Church and is much resigned to the will of God. Fr Richard is his confessor, but I won’t fail to see him frequently till God disposes of him. Give me leave very Rev Sir to recommend him to your good prayers. The gangreen (sic) is making great progress notwithstanding all the means that have been employed to prevent it. Yesterday Dom Basil brought in his Bills of Poverty. .............±±

1789 – 9th March : Paris – Cowley to Walker at Cambrai (Lille 18 H 32)

...........I was in the greatest apprenhension for Br John Crombleholme when I wrote to you my last. The strength of his constitution seems to have got the better of the consequences which attended his late sanguinary action. The two surgeons and Mt Bourru have seen him today and are of opinion that the danger is past. He has undoubtably incurred an irregularity and cannot be promoted to Orders, without a dispensation from the Holy See. I have ....alled (?) many authors on his case but in those whom I have looked into I don’t find any excommunication mentioned. I will examine further into this case; he has received the sacraments but they were given him as in articulo mortis. His case is in some manner secret; I have only mentioned it to youre Rev. Paternity, to the Council here and to his Confessor. I am inclined to ask Mr Water’s advice upon the subject. How the poor unhappy man can be disposed of God knows. I apprehend it is not in my power to degrade him to the state of a laybrother. The privation of the Cowl and the Clerical tonsure is a penalty annexed to a culpa enormis; the conginzance of these faculties is reserved to your Rev. by No 7, Chap 5 Constitutiones. .........±±

1789 – 15th March : Paris – W Cowley to Walker at Cambrai (Lille 18 H 32).

.......Crombleholme has been fluctuating between life and death ever since I wrote to you. Yesterday morning the surgeon remarked a Depor (?) in his side; it was opened last night and a great quantity of matter extracted. The five surgeons and Mr Bourrez who assisted at the operation have hopes of his recovery. We must wait for the will of God. He himself has been always in high spirits andseems to be quite unfeeling of the misfortune he has drawn upon himself and the shame he has drawn on us. He is not only subject of my concern........... ±±

1789 – 6th April: Paris – Gregory Cowley to Walker (Lille 18 H 32)

..........Crombleholme is still confined to his bed. The day before yesterday a fresh incision was made in his side; I believe it is the seventh or eighth. Impostumes have successfully formed themselves bewteen the muscles of the belly as high as the ribs. The surgeons are of opinion that that which was opened on Saturday night will be the last. The unhappy man undergoes these operations with a degree of insensibility which is peculiar to him. He is rather com-ent (?) to recover but appears totally insensible of his misfortune. He is silly enough to think that the matter is a secret whereas it is unfortunately however by many, and has been the subject of conversation in many places. I do not .... ? that the civil law annexes any penalty to the fact which one executes on oneself, but am inclined to think that the irregularity attending such actions is suffickient (sic) to rank them among the culae enormes of our Constitutioins. .........±±

1789 – 13th June : Paris – Cowley to Walker at Douai (Lile 18 H 32)

........Crombleholme is still confined in the infirmary. He is indeed much better, but in a state of weakness which he can only get the better of by time and patience. He is in no great concern about what has happened. J Turner and Beswick were ordained subdeacons on last Saturday.±±

1790 : In Paris, John Crombleholme [Cro0152] is recorded as being in the Convent des Benedictins, Anglois which was located in the Rue du Faubourg, Saint Jacques. (Source : Physical, civil & moral history of Paris by Jacques Antoine Dulaure)

Note : It had been formed by English Catholic Benedictines in 1674 when the new Prior for the community was Father Joseph Shirburne. He had the private means to demolish the old buildings and build a new establishment including an adjoining church. The church later contained the body of James II of England who had died in exile in 1701.

1790 - 13th February : The Civil Constitution of the Clergy made all clergy employees of the state and the Catholic Church became a subordinate part of the government.

The Convent des Benedictins Anglois (ie English Benedictines) was suppressed and on the 13th February 1790 the Directory of the Municipality fixed the salaries to which each one of the sixteen religious persons named below is entitled :

Sr George Augustin Walker, Prior having reached the age of 70 on 21/5/1791 at the rate of Fr 1000; (note : President)

Sr Henry Parker, 2nd Superior aged 39 at the rate of Fr 900; (note : became Prior in Sept 1789 - )

Robert Augustin Kellet, Bishop aged 60 at the rate of Fr 1000; (note : The Bursar)

Sr Guillaume Bernard Nechills priest, aged 79 at the rate of Fr 1200;

Sr Richard Harris age 60 at the rate of Fr 1000;

Sr Benedict Caucer priest, aged 44 at the rate of Fr 900;

Sr Jean Atkinson aged 32 at the rate of Fr 900;

Sr Jean Turner aged 26 at the rate of Fr 900;

Sr Francois Edouard Berwick at the rate of Fr 900;

Sr Jean Joseph Placide Naylor aged 67 at the rate of Fr 1000;

Sr Richard Benoit Sympson aged 63 at the rate of Fr 1000;

Sr Raoul Maurus Shaw aged 52 at the rate of Fr 1000; (note : refused to become Prior in 1789)

Sr Daniel Spencer aged 24 at the rate of Fr 900;

Sr Pierre Marsh at the rate of Fr 900;

Sr Jean Crombleholme [Cro0152] aged 26 at the rate of Fr 900;

Sr Alexandre Catterolle aged 66 (note he died 31/6/1791), choir master;

Sr Joseph Valentine aged 68 older lay brother at the rate of Fr 400;

Sr Jacques Minns aged 45 at the rate of Fr 300.

Total Sum Fr 16,300.

(Source : Memories de la society de L’Historie de Paris et de L’lle de France Vol 39 p180/1 pub 1912)

1790 - 20th March : Coupe to Walker : John Crombleholme wants a reference whilst here under me as prefect – why? ±±

1790 – 14th October : Paris – H Parker to Walker at Cambrai

...........Crombleholme has been at me to know of he can accept a place provided one should offer. I tell him that neither I nor you have any such leave to give and that he may, if he will, apply to Rome. He is such a strange headed fellow that there will be no lots but for himself. I see no hopes of bringing him to better reason. ..±±

1791 – 28th May : Paris - Cowley to Walker at Doway (Liile 18 H 33)

Mr Brewer and I arrived here (St Edmunds) yesterday morning .............I lay in the Prior’s room and at this moment I hear over me Master Crumbleholme attempting to execute the famous song of Marlborough S’en vait en Guerre.* This confirms me in my old notion that he committed the horrid act on himself with a view of becoming a musician. I say nothing to you of the observance of this house. Mr Parker will give you a better account of them than I can...........±±

* "Marlborough Has Left for the War” was one of the most popular folk songs in France. The burlesque lament on the death of John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) was written on a false rumour of that event after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, the bloodiest battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. It tells how Marlborough's wife, awaiting his return from battle, is given the news of her husband's death. It also tells that he was buried and that a nightingale sang over his grave. For years it was only known traditionally but around 1780 it burst out and became the rage. The name, the simplicity of the words, and the melodiousness of the tune, interested the queen, and she frequently sang it. Everybody repeated it after her, including the king. The song endured for many years, slowly fading after the French Revolution, although, it is said that Napoleon liked to hum the tune, for instance when crossing the Memel (June 1812) at the beginning of his fatal Russian campaign. (Source : Wikipedia)

The French Revolution :

Unfortunately, as yet, there is little source material about John Crombleholme’s experiences whilst in the Revolutionary Army apart from the couple of notes below :

...."he was forbidden by the General Chapter held during the summer of that year to be promoted to Holy Orders unless with the unanimous consent of the President and Regimen [*Acts of Chapter 22nd July 1789]. On the breaking out of the French Revolution he was "carried away with the cries of Liberty and joined the Republican Army in which acted as a drummer".

(Source : Allanson, Biography Part 3 (489-743) - English Benedictine History) Note : What is * above ?

The background of this drastic act was the start of the French Revolution. St Edmund’s in Paris suffered many internal disagreements and with a breakdown of discipline became very unstable. By 1790, there were only 16 monks and several (including John Crombleholme) appear to have embraced revolutionary ideals. One monk, Bennet Cawser had been imprisoned, Cutherbert Wilks was excommunicated due to his liberal beliefs and Peter Marsh apostatised when the house finally broke up in 1793. John Crombleholme and John Turner were probably the most extreme both joining the Republican Army. Comment is made that .....”he (John) castrated himself in probably in an act of madness”.

(Source : Responses to Revolution : The experiences of the English Benedictine Monks in the French Revolution 1789-93 by Cormac Begadon, University College Dublin : Catholic History (2018) Vol 34(1) pp106-128)

In the Biography of the English Benedictines (St Laurance Papers IV, Ampleforth Abbey 1999 pp XV+476) L Gooch British Catholic History Cambridge 2000) (I cannot access on line !!) - there is a small glimpse in the internet search title of another possible reason for his drastic act .......John Crombleholme .... chose not to run the risk of romantic attachments by castrating himself and when the French Revolution broke out, he was carried away with cries of liberty and joined the Republician army in which he acted as a drummer"

(Note - where did this information about his actions come from ?? - had he met his future wife Eleonore ?)

1789 - 1799 : The French Revolution : This lasted some 10 years having started on the 14th July 1789 when revolutionaries stormed the Bastille prison. Prior to this, the French population were divided into three social groupings known as “Estates”. The first estate included the clergy / church leaders; the second included the Nobles and the biggest, the third, were the commoners.

During the Revolution the government was in constant turmoil. Initially, representatives of the 3rd Estate established a National Assembly and demanded that King Louis XVI give them certain rights. This group soon took control of the country and changed their names to the Legislative Assembly, then The National Convention and finally the Directory.

The darkest period known as the Reign of Terror lasted from 1793 to 1794 when Robespierre lead the National Convention and stamped out any opposition. Laws were passed allowing anyone suspected of treason to arrested and executed by guillotine. Thousands including the King and Queen were executed. The Revolution completely changed the social and political structure of France. It ended the monarchy and took political power from the Catholic Church. The revolution ended with the rise of Napoleon but the ideals of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" remained.

The French Army was one institution that greatly altered. The ancien regime Officer class was turned on its head with only 3% being aristocrats in 1794 compared with 90% beforehand. There was a large influx of enthusiastic but untrained and largely undisciplined volunteers who became known as the sans-culottes - they wore peasants trousers rather than the knee-breeches used by the regular army.

Note : As recorded above (1789) [from Responses to Revolution ibid] :........"John Crombleholme and John Turner were however two are extreme examples, both embracing the revolution and its promises of "liberte et egalite et fraternite". Crombleholme joined the Republician Armies, where he acted as a drummer just a few years after castrating himself, probably in an act of madness. Turner’s embrace of radicalism was more fleeting enlisting in the National Guard for a time and even taking the so called “little oath” in August 1792, before eventually reconciling with the Church and the Congregation.

At least one other monk took the Civic Oath along with Turner in 1792

(Note : was this John Crombleholme ? - he left Paris for Bordeaux in September 1792 see below).

However, on 3rd October 1793, Turner was imprisoned at Sainte-Pelagie near Jardin des Plantes and remained there for some 14 months until his release on 10th December 1794. Later in 1801, he wrote to his brother recalling his horrendous experiences ......."I can say I was near it (death) once, besides having my clothes stripped off my back and my bed taken from under me .... Never since the beginning of the world was seen so much bloodshed, slaughter and destruction of the human species; and if I am still alive, I must acknowledge it as a particular providence of God.”

Prior to his release, he had pleaded unsuccessfully with the authorities to be transferred to St Edmund’s where his room was still held for him. Knowledge of his movements from 1795 until he returned to England in 1814 are scarce. He did work with the two remaining members of St Edmund’s, the Prior Henry Parker and the bursar Augustine Kellet and together they managed to re-purchase the property in 1799. From 1796, he had been teaching English in a “ public college” in addition to giving private lessons.

(Note : as John Crombleholme had done until he left Paris for Bordeaux in 1792).

In 1798, Turner records that he was earning a decent living and by 1800, he was living in an apartment at 30 Rue des Fosses, Saint Victor. He wrote and edited a couple of student text books. However, his prison experiences were to haunt him for the rest of his life later being described by a colleague ..."as rather of an unhappy turn of mind, not very easily eased”. In 1805, he records himself as being in a poor state of mind with frequent headaches and depression.

In 1814, he returned to England and lived at Woolton until he was sent to a recently established catholic school at Ampleforth to teach French. After only 3 months, he asked to be moved and from living "on top of each other" at Ampleforth, he found his next move to a chaplaincy at Holme-on-Spalding Moor the exact opposite being “an extremely lonesome place”. He died a year after finally moving from Spalding Moor aged 80 in 1844 at Ampleforth, Yorkshire. (Source : Dom Geoffrey Scott, English Benedictines and the Revolution : The case of Dom John Turner (1765-1844) guardsman and grammarian. Liberalism and Benedictinism. English Benedictine Congregation History Commission 1993)

The English Benedictine establishments that had not been decreed to incur suppression, nevertheless, had to maintain a resident community of at least 12 monks and this may have been a factor in John Crombleholme being welcomed back into the community. At this time, it is thought that about half of all the monks in the Paris area took the opportunity to laicise and take up a life in the secular world. However, only a few English monks living in France took this option but it would seem that John Crombleholme was ultimately one of them having taken up lecturing for the next two years. (Source : Responses to Revolution : The experiences of the English Benedictine Monks in the French Revolution 1789-93 by Cormac Begadon, ibid)

By the summer of 1790, Prior Parker wrote .......”all heads are turned and very little form remains of conventional life”. The promise of generous pensions would tempt a number of the members of the religious community to live a secular life in civilian dress within the monastery building treating it as “lodging gratis”. The monastery itself would have been confiscated had it not been a foreign establishment that also protected it from being subject to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy of November 1790. However, this was short lived, due to war being declared with Britain and a decree of October 1793 that seized the property and imprisoned the remaining monks with it for over a year.

John Crombleholme - Lecturer in Paris and Bordeaux :

(Source : Paris National Archives - Archives Nationales - Department de l’ accueil des publics de Pierrette-sur-Seine, Paris Ref 1 012 156 - Crombleholme F.171358 (678) 5 sheets) Note : RC finally obtained these sheets electronically and free of charge in Dec 2018 from the Archive after several months of emails etc ! Note : The new years of the Revolution started 22nd September 1792

31st October 1791 - extract from : Gazette Nationale ou Le Moniteur Universal (3rd Year of Freedom - ????)

Review :

Opening of various courses at the Musée des Quatre Nations, in front of Rue Dauphine at present No 24 J J Rousseau Street.

At the beginning of next month, Mr. Hue of several academies will open his French language course to foreigners and ladies in particular.

Mr. Crombleholme known as a member of the English Benedictine Home will begin an English language course and a reading course for those who want to perfect their pronunciation. Mr. Abbe Gagliani of several academies will give an elementary course of Italian language.............

(Source : Reprint of the former Monitor : from the meeting of the States General to the Consulate May 1789 - November 1799 Volume 10 - pub by The Central office Paris 1842)

1790/91 - John lectured at the Paris University and the Musee during 1790 and 1791 and soon found himself amongst influential circles in the city. (Source : §§) Note : This comment coming from a letter written home may be slightly embellished !

1792 : 3) (Two single sheets - one document)

Copy of the English Literature Course Certificate held at the Paris Museum.

I certify that Mr Crombleholme taught English Language at the Museum of the Four Nations for one year with much zeal and intelligence. That is why when leaving Paris, it was with the regret of all his pupils and of the Director of the said Institution.

Done at Paris the 4th November 1792.

Signed Galignany Director, Seal of the Museum.*

Copy of the Certificate of courses held for the University of Paris

Educated by the citizen Crombleholme from his next departure from France, we hasten do justice to his talents and have thought of his devotion Public Affairs. Citizen Crombleholme held for the University of Paris during the years 1791 and 1792, two public courses of English Language and Literature. One at the College of the French Pantheon and the other at the English College, Rue Faubourg St Jacques. His lectures were on a new plane and more intense than those which had taken place before. This attracted to this course many lecturers and school teachers from different colleges. His zeal, his exactness, his enlightenment and his commitment made him interested in his pupils advancement by the method and clarity with which he explained the principles of his language. In the space of six to seven months his pupils were wanting to read and leave in a satisfactory manner and thus feel the beauties of English poetry which many of them have rendered in our area of Paris. They also carry with them the regrets of all those who had the advantage of knowing him. That is why we have been hastening to give this last testimony.

In witness whereof we have issued this certificate to him for the use and benefit of reason

Signed Coisnon - principal of the College of Unity

Signed Crauzet - principal of the College of French Pantheon

Signed Dupuy - who was in charge of the boarding school at the College des Grassins (Section of French Pantheon).

We, commissioners of the said sections certify that the signatures of citizens Coisnon and Crauzet are true

The committee the nine prairial and second of the French Republic one and indivisible

Signed Blanchit Comme Larousee President

(Source : Archives Nationales - Department de l’ accueil des publics de Pierrette-sur-Seine, Paris Ref 1 012156 - Crombleholme F.171358 (678) sheet 3 of 5)

1792 : 4) (One single sheet)

Extract from the certificate of the President of the Academy of Sciences in Paris.

I, the undersigned, former Astronomer of the Observatory, former Director of the Institute at the Academy of Sciences in Paris, certifies and with pleasure to know a good citizen Crombleholme in front of my neighbour street of the observatory. I also testify that he has published language courses in Paris which have done honour to the education research that he received and that probably the young Crombleholme will become a distinguished subject and that he will be appreciated by those who know him and who will have opportunity know him.

In witness whereof, I have signed this certificate in favour of the above named Citizen of the Republic of France

Signed : Teaurant, Paris 10 prairal and 2nd year of the Republic of France (Note Year 2 : 1794)

I attest that the copies of the certificates conform with the original that at lodged in petitionaire at Bordeaux Signed

(Source : Archives Nationales - Department de l’ accueil des publics de Pierrette-sur-Seine, Paris Ref 1 012 156 - Crombleholme F.171358 (678) Sheet 4 of 5)

1792 - September : John Crombleholme left Paris for Bordeaux. (Source : §§)

By this time, the Revolution had generated a lot of anti-Catholic feelings and violence in Paris. Many French clerics including nuns were executed during what was to become known as the September Massacres. This, no doubt, prompted John to move from Paris without any hesitation ! As noted below, he may have already met his future wife and decided to move out of the city to the Bordeaux area rather than returning to England.

After 1792 : 2) (A small single sheet)

Crombleholme - an English language teacher in Bordeaux asks the Chair of the Committee of English in this city, the laws of the new organisation where he holds certificates that attest his talent and patriotism. (note undated) (Source : Archives Nationales - Department de l’ accueil des publics de Pierrette-sur-Seine, Paris Ref 1 012 156 - Crombleholme F.171358 (678) Sheet 2 of 5)

1792 In a letter written to his father from Bordeaux in 1792 John writes .........."If you should see Mr Butler, please to present to him my respectful gratitude for all his kindness to our family. His bounty is ever present to my mind, and I could wish to acknowledge it to him personally” (Source : §§)

It seems that John Crombleholme [Cro0152] was able to attend the French college initially due to assistance given by a wealthy clerical relative. This probably refers to an earlier marriage in the family of Rev William Cromleholme [Cro0121] to Ann [Cro0122] daughter of Alexander Butler of Kirkland Hall, Lancashire. Rev William Cromleholme was not a direct relative of John Crombleholme.

1793 - September : The English Benedictine Houses in Paris were seized and closed by the authorities. France was at war with England and Austria and all foreigners were then required to leave the country or be imprisoned. Those monks who had not managed to secure passports, were duly arrested and imprisoned although they were released later and most houses re-established themselves later in England.

(Source : Responses to Revolution : The experiences of the English Benedictine Monks in the French Revolution 1789-93 by Cormac Begadon, Catholic History (2018) Vol 34(1) pp106-128)

1793 - However, Bordeaux was not completely safe either, it was the third largest city in France at the beginning of the Revolution. It was the most important Atlantic seaport in the country and had grown rich through its trade links. It was significant in the Revolution as many of the leaders of the Girondin faction came from the city and its district Gironde. It suffered its own Terror with over 300 people being executed in 1793. Over half of the French priests in the area refused to swear an oath of loyalty to the new constitution and suffered as a result. Later, it turned on the Girondins and became a centre for those favouring a return of the monarchy. However, the Revolution shattered the area’s economy and it never regained its earlier prosperity.

(Sources : Romances of the French Revolution - G Lenotre (1855-1935) & Politics, Protest & Violence in Revolutionary Bordeaux 1789-1794 - S Auerbach, Georgia State University USA)

Marriage

1794 - 12th November : John Crombleholme [Cro0152] married Mademoiselle Eleonore Louise de Balay,[Cro0153] in Bordeaux.

(Source : Municipal Archives of Bordeaux, Section Centre Year 1795; marriage No 56; pages 25/26. Revolutionary Calendar 22 Brumaire Year III)

(My thanks to Christian Gros and Jean-Francois Class both via Geneanet - May 2019 for this information)

Eleonore de Balay was born in Montmorot, in the Jura Department of France on 17th April 1766. She is named Louise Eleonarde on her birth certificate.

(Source : Jura Archives, Montmorot; Coast 3E / 642 years 1762 to 1767; page 129/170)

Note : To be transcribed & translated - however, it can be seen that her parents names etc agree with the records below)

Montmorot is a small commune of 4.39sq miles in the Long-le-Saunier canton of Jura in the Bourgogne-Franche Comte region of France. The salt springs of the Jura foothills gave rise to the main resource and income of the area.

Eleonore was thus about 8 months older than her husband and she was 28 years old when they married. She was the elder daughter of Seigneur Charles Maximillien Joseph de Balay, Baron de Jousseau in Franche Comte. (Source : §§ & above) .

Her father was born in 1729 and the family home was the Chateau Rouilland, Jura, France-Comte. Her mother was Dame Antoinette-Suzanne de Fabri and the family estate was in Arbois about 35 miles from Dole, the Burgundy area near the Swiss border. They were a staunch Royalist family.

(Source : Political conspiracy in Napoleonic France - The Malet Affair - 2007 Thesis by Kelly Diane Whittaker Louisiana State Univ USA)

Earlier in 1788, Eleonore’s [153] younger sister, Denise Felicite de Balay (1768-1829), aged 17, had married General Claude Francois de Malet (1754 - 1812) who was then aged 34. His family lived on a neighbouring estate in Arbois. Her parents had refused permission to marry initially as he was seen as a strong liberal so she had decided to became a nun. However, at the ceremony in Arbois, cries from the audience prompted Claude to talk to her parents again and they then married a few days later on 9th January 1788. They settled in Dole and their son Aristide was born in 1790. An older son had died as a baby.

Claude Malet had risen to a high level in the army and held various posts abroad. However, he was outspoken and gradually got demoted in the army, becoming opposed to the rise of Napoleon. In 1790, he cut his hair in the Jacobin fashion and dropped the “de” from his name. Having been imprisoned on a number of occasions, he gradually began to devise a complex plan to overthrow Napoleon whilst he was out of the country on his campaign of Moscow. He declared him dead and managed to take over some of the army and government before he was recognised and arrested. He and his co-conspirators were shot by firing squad on the Plain of Grenelle in Paris on 31st October 1812.

Prior to his execution, his wife, Denise (nee de Balay) was evicted from her house and arrested on 23rd October 1812 at her home at 46 Rue de l'Universite in Paris. She was imprisoned being released on 24th September 1813. Napoleon himself offered her a monthly stipend and a scholarship for her son to attend military school. She refused both gifts and replied to the Emperor “ I would rather work to provide for myself, and leave my son to the charge of his friend, than to have any obligation to my husband’s murderer”. (Source : The Times [London] 13th December 1814; Dourille “Histoire de la conspiration" 69-70; Gobineau Les Memoires 9).

She retired to live at Douai. Their son Aristide would have been 22 years old. Denise de Balay died aged 61, on 15th May 1829 in Paris (Source : via Ancestry Archives de Paris Etat Civil 1792-1902)

(Source : Malet, Claude-Francois de (1754-1812) General initiator of the conspiracy against Napoleon in 1812 - History of two empires) + Political conspiracy in Napoleonic France - The Malet Affair - Thesis by Kelly Diane Whittaker Louisiana State Univ USA - my thanks to Kelly for her correspondence)

Below : Claude Francois de Malet and his execution in Paris in 1812. He was shot for conspiracy on the Plain of Grenelle in Paris and buried in the Vaugirard Cemetery. This no longer exists and in 1885 his body was moved to Buffon.

It is possible that John Crombleholme [Cro0152] had perhaps met Claude Malet during their time in the Revolutionary Army in Paris in 1789/90. As noted above, Claude Malet had married Denise de Balay earlier in 1788 and John Crombleholme [Cro0152] may have meet her elder sister, Eleonore Louise de Balay,[Cro0153] through this acquaintance prior to marrying her later in Bordeaux in 1794.

1795 : 1) (a single sheet) 10682 1st Section

To Members of the Public Education Committee.

Citizens

I have been working for five years in English Language teaching. For two consecutive years, I held a public course in English Language and Literature for the University of Paris and for one year at the Museum of that city. I taught there in various institutions. I held another public course for the city of Bordeaux that circumstances oblige me to suspend momentarily. I ask the Public Education Committee to be concerned about the candidates for the Chair of the English Language in Bordeaux during the new organisation of Public Education. Signed Crombleholme Lemeurant (??) at the former Academie des Sciences in Bordeaux this 19th day of May Year 3 of the Republic. (Note Year 3 : 1795)

(Source : Archives Nationales - Department de l’ accueil des publics de Pierrette-sur-Seine, Paris Ref 1 012 156 - Crombleholme F.171358 (678) Sheet 1 of 5)

1801 : In another letter written from Bordeaux to his brother Richard in 1801, John Crombleholme [Cro0152] says ... I don't know what is become of our kinsman, Mr Kitchen, Director of the English Secular College at Douay: but if he still be alive, and if his College still exists, you will never want in him a trusty friend to take care of your sons during a few years of college education". The College was overthrown and its scholars expelled during the Revolution. (Source : §§)

Note : "Passe-Port" is a French word, literally a pass to be used at a port. Originally intended to ensure safe conduct, it became a means of the authorities to record movements of its citizens. The French passport in C19th was a sheet of paper that separated into two parts along a curved line. One part was kept by the voyager and the other in the issuing authority. Hence the long shape of the left hand side of the record on the 1826 passport below. This 1802 is an early one without the above split. Many were destroyed by over zealous archivists in the late C19th ! Unfortunately a major fire in Bordeaux in 1919 destroyed the majority of it’s Port records and it therefore seems unlikely that any record of John Crombleholme’s sailings from Bordeaux in 1802 or 1826 etc will be found.

The move to Mauritius :

1802 : As the above passport shows, in 1802, during the short lived Peace of Amiens*, John Crombleholme and his wife set sailed for Mauritius (known in France as I'lle de France or I’lle Maurice) which at that time was still a French Colony in the Indian ocean. The journey lasted exactly one hundred* days and must have been reasonably dangerous due to the British Naval presence in the Indian Ocean. (* Source : ibid ^^)

Given that John’s passport above was dated 25th November 1802 and the journey took 100 days, he could not have arrived on the island until May 1803. It is interesting to note that the date of his passport is the day that the Treaty of Amiens was signed !! Unfortunately, shipping records from Bordeaux for this period have been lost but there is the following record :

Saturday 26th August 1803 : A 74 gun warship with 3 frigates and 2 corvettes arrived in Mauritius with some 1400 troops abroad. This would have meant that it set sail from France on 18th May 1803 a far safer time to travel. These troops supplemented the 300 - 400 already on the island. More were expected but the increased population began to strain the food supply and money for exchange was very short. There were French, Danish and American merchant ships in the port of St Louis and it was a very busy port at this time.

(Source : A peoples history 1793-1844 from the Newspapers - France in Asia by Roger Houghton)

Above : Port St Louis, Mauritius (c 1830) Mauritius in the Indian Ocean

Below : An early French map of Mauritius :

This rather isolated French colony had been largely isolated from the French Revolution and earlier in 1796 when two agents of the new Directoire arrived in splendid orange cloaks to announce the new regime and the abolition of slavery, they had to flee for their lives.

The French government did however start "L'Ecole Centrale" with 300 pupils in a building known as Vaux Hall in Port Louis in the Champ de Lort area (now Jeetoo Hospital) in September 1800.

However, in 1803, at approximately the same time as John's arrival on the island, Napoleon Bonaparte appointed General Charles Decaen as governor and tasked him with bringing the island back in line. He was an Anglophobe and perhaps this was the reason that he was posted to Mauritius given the proximity of the British Fleet. He had originally been sent a year earlier to restore French power in India after the earlier collapse of the French East India Company. He had previously had a reasonably distinguished military career in Europe.

He became governor of the island as well the other French islands of Rodrigues, Reunion and The Seychelles. Although welcomed by the French community, he did have to compromise with the elite of the island in allowing them to continue their highly profitable slavery and privateering activities.

In time, Charles Decaen also managed to establish primary schools and transformed the L'Ecole Centrale into a Lycee managed by a Proviseur. (now the Jeetoo Hospital ?). Its primary aim appears to have been to provide a military education for the children of the white population. There were 11 fully residential and salaried masters. There were 192 pupils from 7 to 14 years old some of whom slept in dormitories at the school.

From the "Revue Historique & Littéraire de L'Ile Maurice (Archives Coloniales)" published 16 February 1893 by Dr H D Vitry there is an extract relating the laying of the foundation stone of the new college :

Extract from the Gazette of the islands of France and Bonaparte, No. 51 Wednesday 17 December 1806.

PORT NAPOLEON

Sunday, December 7 1806, the double anniversary of the coronation of LL. Mr II., and the battle of Austerlitz, was raised on behalf of the Emperor, by Mr. De Caen, Captain General, and lightweight, prefect Colonial, the first stone of the new main building of high school in the islands of France and Bonaparte.

The undersigned members of the office of general administration of hotel and public education of the two islands have, by order of the Colonial prefect, in this Act, the circumstances of this ceremony.

After the solemnity of the double anniversary, celebrated in the parish church of this city, the parade, at the head of which were Captain General, the prefect Colonial and Mr. Crespin, of Justice, acting Commissioner - composed of civilian and military settlement body, and major-general Vandermaessen being at the head of the troops - went to the high school, at 10 o'clock in the morning.

The members of the General Administration Office, hotel, professors, and the battalion of high school students, gathered with the Captain General and the Colonial prefect, as head of the public statement of the two islands, delivered the following speech:

"This day, dedicated by the French to celebrate the anniversary of the coronation of Napoleon the great, Emperor and King, and trace to future generations the wonders of the day of Austerlitz, is still, to these colonies, the time of a particular happiness." "Our august Sovereign grants them, today, the most flattering reward of their affection for the person of their attachment to the metropolis. At the moment, we will ask in his name, the first stone of the Colonial high school, intended to prepare for all kinds of success, in all kinds of glory, the interesting youth of these two islands, so generously equipped by nature. "Residents of these happy regions, young students who receive a precious guarantee of protection of the S M.

"France, this day brings together in this place, unite our transport to those sounds, today, the metropolis, and repeat with the accent of the feeling that drives us:

"Long live the Emperor, bright Napoleon the great." General and repeated Vive L'empereur, Vive Napoléon, acclaim expressed the unanimous feeling of the French for their Auguste Sovereign.

The president of the office of administration has had to witness public recognition for the heads, bodies of paternal goodness of the Emperor, for the inhabitants of loyal colonies of the islands of France and Bonaparte.

Captain General and the Colonial prefect, then laid, on behalf of the Emperor, the first stone, to the South East of the new building angle, immediately below the base which must cover it. They have placed and deposited in the Interior of the stone, Napoleon coins of 5 francs each, all these coins in the year XII .

Military music played during the ceremony, which ended by new General of Vive L'empereur cheers, and wishes for all those who exercise authority he has entrusted their clientele.

Battalion leader Mr. Richemont, Director of Fortifications has given the plans of the building and to follow the execution which was undertaken by Mr. J. Dayot.

The members of the bureau of internal administration were

M. Lagrave Vernejoul, headmaster; Laprie, censor of the studies and military teacher, an infantry captain; Gada, Attorney Manager;

Professor of French literature, language, latin and history : COUDRAY; Mathematics and geography. brLEVEQUE; French grammar : DABADIE & DUGORNE

English language : BOULANGER & CRUMBLEHOLME [Cro0152]; Drawing : SOUFFLOT; Reading, writing and arithmetic : LECUDENNEC

The number of high school students was 197 including 108 external pupils.

At the time of the ceremony, other officers to the île de France:

Mr. ROFFMAN, Apostolic headmaster. ALLANIC, President of the Court of appeal. Harvey : under prefect Colonial. JUDGE : Inspector of the Navy to île Bonaparte.

DESBRUEYT : Brigadier General, Lieutenant of the Captain General. WALKING : under prefect Colonial.br

This Act established, closed and stopped in the office of the high school, Port Napoleon, the île de France, the day month and year above and signed

.brRUDELLE : Chairman of the Board of Administration and public education. brMALAVOIS : Member of the bureau said. brMARTINMONCAMP : do. do.

brGUERIN : do. do. ; brLAGRAVE VERNEJOUL : headmaster. brC. M. of UNIENVILIE : Member of the bureau, was absent due to service.

DS of France and Bonaparte, No 51 Wednesday 17 December 1806.

PORT NAPOLEON the year one thousand eight hundred and six, Sunday, December 7 1806.

Subjects taught included reading, writing, French Grammar and Language, English language, Rhetoric Latin, Mathematics,Geography and Drawing. Military skills were taught progressively with the pupils age. John Bone relates that John Crombleholme was appointed to the Lycee by the new governor and from a later record (relating to one of John's slaves) he is recorded as "Professor of English".

A brief description is also given in a present day history of the College :

Under Governor Decaen the purpose of the institution was to provide military education to the children of the white population. It had eleven teachers, all employees and residing within the establishment. The school welcomed students aged between 7 and 14 years old. Some were boarders and lived in dormitories. The school then served for Isle de France and Bonaparte Island. At that time, the school enjoyed a high reputation in both islands.

For the record, the registers of the time indicate that the administration was ensured by Mr. Lagrave Vernejoul, the schoolmaster, assisted by a censor, Mr. Laprie and the infantry captain Gada, for the military education. Literature, Latin and history were taught by M. Coudray, mathematics and geography by Brother Lévêque, French grammar by MM Dabadie and Dugorne, English by MM. Baker and Crumbleholme, drawing by M. Soufflot, reading writing and arithmetic by M. Lecudennec .

During the brief battles between French and British for the conquest of the island, the school was closed and served for six months as a military hospital after the British takeover.

Writing to the London Missionary Society in November 1823, Charles Telfair stated ..."this school is doing more for extending the use of English in this island than any institution I know of".

The number of pupils increased until in 1806 it was necessary to build a new school on the same site. This was opened on 15th March 1808 as the "Lycee des Iles de France et de Boubon" (the latter being nearby island of Reunion). Governor Dacean later decreed that was was to be called "Lycee Colonial" and equipped it with a swimming pool and riding ground adding Arabic and Persian as subjects. A colour bar was reintroduced and a small group of Government scholars, who wore red collars known as "Collets Rouges”, were introduced as star pupils.

Decaen managed to revive French society on the island, with fine houses being built and lavish functions held where fashion and dress became important. He was fortunate in having a beautiful wife who was also a very good hostess. It is reasonable to think that John Crombleholme and his probably well connected French wife Eleonore may have been part of this elite group.

The new governor extended Government House, created Mahebourg near Grand Port and encouraged intellectual societies and agriculture development. He also codified the Napoleonic laws which are still in force today. Under his governorship, Port Louis became Port Napoleon and Mahebourg became Port Imperial.

It was a time of great opportunity on the island and from 1764 the French had developed a good sugar industry together with plantations of coffee and cotton. The island's population grew rapidily with 59,000 inhabitants in 1797, only 6200 being white, 3700 free persons and 49,100 slaves.

The Crombleholme Estate :

It would appear that John and his wife soon become owners of a coffee and cotton plantation. In 1805, only a few years after his arrival, he relates that he owned some 300 acres of land about 14 miles from the capital Port Louis. In the fast growing capital, he also owned land and houses. (Source : ibid ^^)

It is not known how he financed this but is it possible that his wife had money via her wealthy French family. The writer has been to Mauritius but failed to find any record of these possessions or plantation whilst there in 2003 - however there is more information now so perhaps one day ........ !

Life was not always easy and the island suffered several cyclones during 1806 which ravaged the land and with a draught the following year caused some famine. Coffee was abandoned by the plantation owners in favour of cotton and then sugar cane. There is no record of how this affected John and his wife but it was probably fortunate that he was a Professor at the Lycee with a salary and the plantation was perhaps an investment.

There is one record relating to the plantation / estate much later in the century. Richard Blair Adam in his book Slaves, Freedmen and Indentured Laborers in Colonial Mauritius (pub 1999) (p154) relates that later in the 19th century modest Indian Merchants played an important part in the emergence of new commercial ventures.

.............In 1859, an Indian shopkeeper, Gungaram Beekoosing (No 51,158) leased 7 sugar cane plots of about 14.5 arpents (1 arpent [french land measure]= 0.8 acre) and soon sublet these to a planter at a profit. In July 1859, he leased a 30 arpent (24 acre) section of the Crombleholme Estate. The lease required him to pay the owners an annual rent of $210 for 6 years and to plant the cane by the end of the year.

This would seem to indicate that the Estate remained in being some 40 years after John had left the island. It is not known if he sold it to before leaving or if perhaps retained it as an income source. In the History of Garstang (ibid ^^) source, it is noted that John had named the estate "Richmond" after (as he related in letter) "one of the branches of our mother's family". (Source : ibid ^^) .

However, research at the National Archives in May 2019, has revealed his plantation in 1817 (see below) was named “Richemont” and being located in the Grand Port Canton (south east of the island). Modern maps do not show any sign of the Crombleholme or Richmond / Richemont Estate and it is presumed that the original 300 acre plantation was sold off in sections over the years (see above record 1859).

The name is interesting as there is a Richemont near Bordeaux where John had lived before moving to the island. Also, in the 1806 record of the new college building (above) there is ..... Battalion leader Mr. Richemont, Director of Fortifications. Could he be the former owner of the plantation ? One of the leading so called grand blancs French Families the Desbassyns de Richemont, held many lands on the island and in other French colonies as well thus becoming extremely wealthy in the process. Perhaps this estate was originally one of theirs

However, using an internet search there is a present day company in Mauritius - Famous Food Marketing which is located in Crombleholmes Road, Pont Colville, Nouvelle France. The link below shows this area in Google maps :

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=-20.383+57.558+(Pont+colville)&t=p&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=-20.405777,57.570076&spn=0.259675,0.308647&z=12&vpsrc=6

This does appear to coincide with the 14 mile radius shown on the map above and it seems likely that the estate was located in this area.

There is a potential existing property near Curepipe just to the north of the above area named Richmond Lodge. This appears to be a French colonial house and could be John Crumbleholme's original house. There are pictures and sketch on a website and contact has been made (2014) to enquire further details.

Link to above website : http://theymetinmauritius.info/?p=28

Meanwhile, from this site, a photograph, watercolour and basic location map are shown below :

Above left : Lead breastplate; middle : breastplate in situ; right : Flinder’s skeleton - it had been crushed over the years & his skull was turned.

Source : The photos above were taken by RC with an I-pad from the TV screen ! BBC 2 featured the dig in a programme entitled “Britain’s Biggest Dig” which was broadcast in Sept 2020.

1810 - 1st September : It was reported that the French have about 30,000 slaves on the island with the main crop being grain and some good quality cotton. Coffee had not been successful to this date as a local species of woodlice had killed off entire crops. Cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, indigo and pepper appear to thrive. Cattle were rare due to the terrain. Mauritius had not been self sufficient and was costing France about 4 million Lives (£167,000) a year to maintain. The British East India Company had not wanted to occupy the island due to these costs but the British Government now insisted on its invasion to remove the last French colony in the area and to free up naval protection required for their India bound shipping. (Source : A peoples history 1793-1844 from the Newspapers - France in Asia by Roger Houghton)

1810 - 3rd December : The British capture Mauritius : The island remained very isolated from France and the British were expanding their influence in the Indian Ocean. Finally, on the 3rd December 1810, the British, under General Abercrombie, marched into Port Napoleon where the French surrendered. Ile de France, Port Napoleon and Port Imperial reverted to their former names, Mauritius, Port Louis and Mahebourg respectively. The French soldiers were to be treated as civilians, not as prisoners of war and were allowed to leave the island. Settlers who did not want to stay under a British administration were permitted to return to France with all their possessions. John Crombleholme and his wife remained on the island and presumably John's English nationality made the change relatively easy. (Source : A peoples history 1793-1844 from the Newspapers - France in Asia by Roger Houghton)

1810 - 28th December : The French inhabitants of the Island were required to sign an Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown (George III). Here is John Crombleholme’s signature which is recorded in the Register of Oaths of Allegiance 1810-1811 page 9 for the capital town of the Island - St Louis. There was no record of his wife having signed although, perhaps she was deemed to be bound by her husband’s signature.

1811 : During the conflict with the British, the Lycee School was closed and became a hospital. It was, however, reopened under British rule retaining its French Lycee ethos but renamed the "College Colonial" on 30th April 1811.

1811 - 12th October : It was reported that the British wished to end slavery on the island. France had employed some 40 agents who generated conflicts between the various tribes in Madagascar and then sold off the survivors of the losing side. Some Madagascans themselves also copied this forceful trade and had some 300 boats to capture slaves from the Comoro Islands. (Source : A peoples history 1793-1844 from the Newspapers - France in Asia by Roger Houghton)

1815 : Volcanic Eruption : Interestingly, some recent research (2017) has pointed to the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on the Indonesian island of Sambawa between 5-10th April 1815 which appears to have resulted in poor harvests, famine and many deaths on a global scale.

It was a very large eruption indeed with a scale of 7 and generated 150 cubic kilometres of dust and gas. It was probably heard over 1000km (625 miles) away. The resulting sulphur dioxide produced a very fine layer of sulphuric acid / ash cloud which obscured sunlight and produced cooling on a global scale. This was about 1000 times bigger than the eruption and ash cloud caused by the Eyjafallajokull Icelandic eruption in 2010. It took 5 -6 years for things to settle down again. The effects of this reached England by 1816 and the year was known as "the year without a summer" with even frosts in July being recorded. Mauritius without doubt suffered as well being directly across the Indian Ocean from Indonesia.

In the Bay of Bengal, drought followed by violent monsoons caused crop failures, severe famine and many deaths. It is thought that a new strain of cholera may have resulted from this chain of events. The British Army in India suffered very badly. Mauritius was isolated from this until the boat from India arrived in 1819 as noted below. The cholera outbreak reached London by 1831 and New York in 1832.

1817 - 14th October : The British governor Sir Robert Farquahar (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Townsend_Farquhar) announced that the Prince of Wales had authorised the Lycée School being renamed as The Royal College. The school then gradually shifted away from a military basis to one based on the classics. The standard of teaching was high and attracted pupils from the British empire including the Seychelles, India and Djakarta. Scholarships were introduced and Alfred Bigot was the first laureate in 1818. A cyclone damaged the school in 1819 and another one partially destroyed it later in 1824. After slavery was abolished in 1832, the colour bar was lifted. Both French and English were used in teaching although the French culture remained as a strong influence on the island. The school remains to the present day and in the 1950's became known as Royal College Port Louis. (Source : Much of the above information on the history of the school above has been sourced from a history written by D. Kandasamy)

Slavery :

All plantations on the island appear to have used slave labour and it would seem that John Crombleholme was no exception. In 1806 - 1809, there were about 60,000 slaves on the island growing to some 80,000 by 1817. This figure dropped to about 63,000 in 1822 probably due to the cholera Epidemic in 1819.

Under French rule, the island was not self-sufficient and the French government had to contribute about 4 million livres (£167,000) a year to make ends meet. The East India Company did not want to run the island but the British Government insisted on invading it in 1810 to secure a vital staging post to India and to remove the French from the area. The British used the new Shrapnel shells during the invasion. They took the island quickly with the loss of only 56 men. (Source : Extracts from A Peoples’ History 1793-1804 from Newspapers (by Roger Houghton)

Plantations grew a number of crops including cotton, coffee and sugar. The latter became the most profitable with sugar cane exports growing from only 426 tons in 1812-14 to 3097 tons in 1815-19 and 11,107 tons in 1820-24.

There was an estimated 30,000 slaves brought onto the island between 1811 & 1821 despite the Act abolishing the slave trade in British Colonies in 1811. The British Government later formed an Office of Registry of Colonial Slaves Commission in 1819. This was an attempt to assess the numbers of slaves throughout their colonies and to monitor numbers of new slaves being introduced. Great Britain had been the first major European country to attempt to abolish the slave trade. With sugar cane production increasing there was a growing market for the illegal slave trade as labour became short. The British did not have the manpower to police this with many landings being made from smaller boats in isolated parts of the island.

(Source : LICENTIOUS AND UNBRIDLED PROCEEDINGS: THE ILLEGAL SLAVE TRADE TO MAURITIUS AND THE SEYCHELLES DURING THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY. BY RICHARD B. ALLEN)

The British had captured Mauritius in 1810 and the Capitulation Treaty made shortly afterwards guaranteed the French planters their property, language, culture and religion. However, the French planters believed that this also preserved the slave trade on the island and this gave the new British Governor many problems. The island had relied very heavily on its slaves for its plantations. In addition, they had also enabled various French public works to be undertaken and had, of course, also made some private individuals very wealthy.

1817 : In preparation for the Act of 1819 establishing the Slave Register, many colonies instituted their own registers. Mauritius did this (in French) in 1817 and each plantation owner appeared in an alphabetical Index volume (NA ref T71/578). This then gave the Register volume number and the page. John Crombleholme thus appears in Volume One (premier) and is listed on pages 4 & 5 (see below). The index gives the plantation name as “Richemont” and Grand Port as the canton (county) area.

Below is a transcription (by RC) from Volume 1 of the Slave Register of 1817 :

I had a rather more unlikely suggestion (retained for interest !) Natiere - may be “natteuse” which as far as I can see means a firelighter. The sugar cane fields were burnt to remove the leaves etc to make harvesting easier. The debris generated is called "bagasse” - today is taken off by machine and used to generate electricity. Would this be a full time job ??

The Grand Port area of the island generally had smaller plantations than the northern parts of the island. Average numbers of slaves in the Grand Port area at this time was 21 - 23 so John Crombleholme’s plantations with 26 slaves was one of the larger ones. John himself relates in a letter to his father that his plantation was some 300 acres in area. (source ibid^^).

In 1820 (see below) the commandeur Alexandre Richmond married one of the female servants Julie Catamore.

1819 : The Mauritius Gazette in 1819 (ref 964) has an another slave related entry and features John Crombleholme’s domestic servant Julie Catamore who is the last person listed in the 1817 listing above :

.......... Par M. John Crombleholme, professeur de la langue anglaise : en faveur de la nommée Julie Catamore, indienne, âgé de 41 ans, son esclave Avis..

English transcription Mauritius Gazette ref. 964 :

......... By Mr. John Crombleholme, [Cro0152] professor of the English language: in favour of named the Julie Catamore, Indian, 41 years old, his slave.

This appears to be a notice of the marriage of two of John’s slaves. It is presumed that he had to give permission for this marriage. It does however prove that John (aged 53) was still a Professor of English after some 16 years on the island.

1820 - 28th July : Alexandre Richemont married Julie Catamore in the Port Louis Commune, Ile Maurice. (Source : Mauritius Archives via CGMR Ref PICT 047 page 48 Index Etat Civil 1810-1860)

Note : From the register above, Alexandre was the Commandeur (who took the name of the estate ?) aged 32 and Julie was a domestic servant aged 41. The marriage took place in the capital of the island.

Finally settles in France :

c 1830 : John Crombleholme [Cro0152] finally settles in France :

John and his wife Eleonore settled in Nantes in about 1830 and from John’s burial records their address in Nantes is given as Rue Gresset 4. This appears to still exist as a town house (or perhaps apartments) in the centre of Nantes.

The street (Rue) was named Gresset in 1818 after the poet Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset (1709 - 1777). It appears to have been a part of a development by Jean-Joseph-Louis Graslin with architect Jean-Baptiste Ceineray and then Mathurin Crucy. Rue Gresset borders the buildings on the south side. It was extended in 1846 to run between Rue des Cadeniers and Rue de Flandres. Under the second empire, the street became an area favoured by merchant shipowners.

John Crombleholme dies :

1838 - 6th May : John Crombleholme dies in Nantes, France.

"No. 66 John Crombleholme, married 72 years old. The year 1838 May 6 at 11 o'clock in the morning, before us undersigned deputy and officer of the delegated civil status of The Mayor of Nantes, Knight of the Legion of Honor, have appeared François Charles Marie Boulanger, annuitant, Aged 54, residing at Quai Cassard, and François Gautier-Rougeville, Controller of Guarantees, 54 years old, living on rue de la Verrerie, who told us that yesterday at 4 o'clock in the day John Crombleholme, annuitant age 72, born in Manchester (England) husband of Lady Eleanor of Balay, died in his home at place Saint-Louis No 2, sixth canton, the declarants signed with us the present act from reading their made.

BOULANGER GAUTIER-ROUGEVILLE CHEGUILLAUME "

(Source : Municipal Archives of Nantes, Canton 6; Death No 66; page 12)

Note : My thanks to Jean-François Class of Prefailles, France via Geneanet for this transcription and translation.

The History of Goosnargh Chapter X (Fishwick) (p178) §§ adds that he was buried in the Cimetiere de Misericorde (Concession a perpetuite No 1046) in Nantes and the tomb was a coped* tomb and that he had no children.

Note : * see photo below - the tomb has an overhanging stone coping with a “tented” top to shed rainwater)

As yet, it has not been possible to locate any French records relating to any wills made.

The Grave

My thanks to the Cemeteries Sector Manager (Agnes Lecomte) of the Dept of Citizenship, Social Life and Territories of City of Nantes who, in March 2019, was very kind in sending me the record and photographs below :

The grave of John Crombleholme is in the Cemetery Misericordia Nantes [grave ref : square BB rank 3 grave 25]

He died on 12th June 1838 but was not buried until 20th September 1838. (** see below) His wife bought the concession and this says that she was a “rentiere” (Person who receives one or more annuities). She did not die until 1844 but was not buried with her husband.

Note : The concession is perpetual - if you can justify on the basis of acts of civil status being heir to these deceased, you will become entitled to this concession.

A further email from Agnes Lecomte says :

Eléonore DE BALAY wife, CROMBLE HOLME

Concerning the place of burial of Eleonore we are not able to affirm that she does not rest beside her husband. We can say with certainity that she did not die in 1838.

(Note May 2019 - she died in Nantes later in 1844 and on her death record (see below), she is recorded in the 5th Canton rather than the 6th.)

You will find attached the photos of two registers: the accounting book of purchase of the concessions, the register of the concessions.

An "annuitant" is a person who has a periodic income from property, capital. The French and English languages ​​have many false friends.

I did not actually find your ancestor in the decadal death tables. That means she did not die in Nantes. She could very well have been buried in the Misericordia cemetery in her husband's grave. The engravings on the tombstone deserve a molding to inform us. The mayor can not carry out such an operation. It seems plausible to me that an elderly, childless widow has come closer to her family.

Funerary art: the grave

Regarding the tomb "copée". the French dictionary does not know this term. The word shavings means shine, thin detached ribbon (of a piece of wood, etc.) by a sharp instrument. It really does not match the visual. A screed does not correspond either to the visual ...

I am not a specialist in funerary architecture but I found a name of burial that seems closer to reality. It is about "pseudo-sarcophagus" typical of the 19th century.

** The difference between the date of death and the date of burial

I did notice a difference. This can be explained by the fact that the deceased was buried in a lot before the final choice was made on this site and this monument. This is possible today. I do not know how was synchronized in 1838 the erection of the monument and burial ... I can not tell you if one of our records is wrong.

The above record :

Cemetieres de Misericorde No 1046

Borne au Nord : Poulain 3808

au Sud : Apllee

au l’est :Filiol de Raymond

a’ l’Quest : Poirier 16,006

Concessionnaires

M Vve Cromble-Holme nee Louise Eleonore demeurant a’ de Balay reutiene a’ Nantes

rue Gresset 4

Above : No 1046 1838 20 Vre Cromble-Holme nee de Balay rentre rue Gresset 4;

Cromble-Holme John soir spouse

Opposite page to above :

..... ? BB-3-25 Quantité de Terrain Concede dans les Cimetières (de Miséricorde)

metres carres : 1 68 ; au profit de la caisse municipale 80F 0c ; au profit du Bureau de bienfaisance 20F 80c

Somme Totale : 100F 80c ; Observations ; none.

John's wife Eleonore dies :

1844 - 17th February : Louise Eleonore Crombleholme (nee de Balay) died in Nantes (aged 78)

(Source : Municipal Archives of Nantes, Register 5th Canton 1E / 755, death certificate No 45, page 9/49)

(My thanks to Christian Gros via Geneanet - May 2019 for this information)

To be translated & transcribed !! It looks as if her birth place is noted plus her husband John C with his profession and both her parents.

Further Research :

Mauritius possessions / records;

June 2018 : Mauritius Archives now on line but not indexed and mostly in French (slow work !!)

John C’s will ??

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