Charles Bennet
'3rd Earl of Tankerville'
From a glance at a modern map of Wooler one might suspect that the main road, the A697, skirting to the east and north of the town centre was a a recent affair, relieving the High Street of traffic. But if we look at the 1866 map we see that this is an early ring road with the service station of stage coach days, the Tankerville Arms, on the northern outskirts of the town. This is still a thriving hotel and was named after Earl Tankerville who lived at Chillingham castle, a few miles to the east. Wooler had its own castle but only a mound and some broken 15th century masonry remain.
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Charles Bennet '3rd Earl of Tankerville' |
This 18th century British School portrait was painted in 1753, the year Charles Bennett succeeded his father to become the 3rd Earl of Tankerville. Having previously served in the British Army Charles Bennet was briefly Member of Parliament for Northumberland 1748-49 but was unseated by 'Order of the House' on the grounds that his opponent Lancelot Allgood had actually won more votes. |
Lincolnshire
©Biff Vernon 2002