A Remarkable Old Gentleman
By Peregrine Solley
This article was published in the December 2024 edition of Soul Search, the Journal of The Sole Society
Richard Heaton Solly was the fifth and the last in the line of Richard Sollys from Sandwich in Kent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. While his predecessors were all successful merchants and important figures in the town, “Squire Solly”, as he was known locally, was a very eccentric man who wasted his money, apparently on unsuccessful lawsuits, and died a bankrupt. Yet, ironically, he is probably the most famous (or infamous) of all the Richard Sollys and has had more written about him than his forebears. His eccentric behaviour was such that he was the subject of a profile in a local newspaper during his lifetime. First printed in the Dover Express in1806 and then reprinted in 1907 [see end of article] it paints a picture of an erudite but highly unusual man, aged about 50, with a strong streak of miserliness and an almost obsessive desire to sue those he felt had wronged him. Although there are some inaccuracies, the article seems to be a true portrait of a genuine eccentric. One example of Richard’s odd behaviour was that in 1797 (a few years before the first newspaper article was printed) he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Dover but resigned the same day without taking up his seat, as he had no interest in being an MP, but did want to become a Freeman of Dover as this brought various lucrative privileges with it. The irony is that Richard had no need to be miserly. He was born into wealth and comfort and had many opportunities to be successful; yet he died a bankrupt, without an heir, and his remaining assets were sold at public auction. All of which makes him an unusual and intriguing figure, very different from the other Richard Sollys. His ancestry is below.
Richard Heaton Solly’s father, Richard Solly ‘the Younger’, was a successful woollen draper, whose business had benefited from the influx of Huguenot weavers from Flanders to Kent in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and whose products were much in demand. In 1735, at the age of thirty-two, he married the daughter of one of his business partners, Joseph Heaton, who was a prosperous wool stapler in London. Joseph Heaton seems to have been both a friend and an important business partner as the wedding to his only daughter, Mary, took place in St Paul’s Cathedral, rather than in Bermondsey where Joseph lived, despite having a large new church there. Mary Heaton was just twenty, twelve years younger than her husband; however, it would be another eleven years in 1746 before she gave birth to a son, Richard Heaton Solly, at Sandwich, and a daughter, Maria, three years later.
When Richard Heaton Solly was born, his father (Richard ‘the Younger’) was forty-three and an important figure in Sandwich becoming mayor in 1749 and again in 1778 and carrying Queen Charlotte’s canopy at George the Third’s coronation in 1760. He was clearly well respected and in 1760 was appointed the Receiver and Collector of Ship’s Money for the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, a duty that he carried out until 1786. Among its responsibilities was the running of two lighthouses at North and South Foreland in Kent.
Mary Heaton died the year after the coronation in 1761 when she was forty-six and her husband was fifty-eight. They had been married twenty-six years. I know little about her other than the fact that she was wealthy woman in her own right. She had inherited £500 pounds (£92,000 today) and an annuity of £25 (about £3,000) from her father on his death when she was only twenty-two to use “in such manner and such purpose as she shall see fit”. It is possible that she paid for her son, Richard, to go to Eton, as he was taken away at the age of fifteen on her death; and she may well have left some of her wealth to her children, as among Richard Heaton Solly’s assets were three houses in Bermondsey.
Despite his mother’s death, all seems to have been well in these early years of Richard’s life, at least on the surface. When he reached the age of twenty-one in 1767, his father began involving him in in his affairs, making him the Deputy Receiver and Collector for the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, taking over the responsibility of the collection of Ship Money “from the masters of ships in the Downs…for the lights at North and South Forlands, Dungeness, Portland, Casket, Lizard, Milford, and Sherry”.
Richard seems to have taken his duties seriously as the ledger of accounts show his name and signature on every page of the lighthouse account book from 1767 through to Christmas 1775 when he suddenly stops, and his father takes over the running of the lights. It seems that there was a problem with the accounts earlier that summer with Richard blaming Mr Fisher, his agent in Deal, for failing to collect enough money. The matter was sorted by his father, but this may have turned into a family row, as his father writes to Greenwich on 16th November saying, “my son not being returned, you herewith receive Mr Fisher’s and our accounts”. Richard ‘the Younger’ was now seventy-three and not in great health, but he continues to manage the lighthouses for another eleven years, dying three years later in 1789 at the very respectable age of eighty-six.
Richard Heaton was now forty-three and was living at the Manor House (St Margaret Mains) at St Margaret’s at Cliffe which his grandfather, the third Richard Solly (Richard Solly ‘the Elder’ of Sandwich) had bought seventy-five years earlier. He seems to have moved there in 1776, shortly after taking on his role with the North and South Foreland light which was close by. With his father at long last out of the way Richard Heaton should now have been in his element, but in fact this is when whatever tensions there were between them exploded into the open, as Richard ”the Younger” left most of his property to his housekeeper, Ann Cork. She is described as Richard’s stepmother in the Dover Express article, although in his father’s will she is only his housekeeper. However, she must have been much more than a housekeeper as Richard’s father provides her with an annuity of £70 (about £9,000 today) as well as the rental income from three properties in and around Sandwich, and he leaves her some of his prized possessions :
I bequeath unto the said Ann Cork my Crimson Bed with the Crimson Furniture now being in or belonging to the Chamber over my back Parlour And also all the China in the said Chamber or Closet in the same And also the Yellow Bed and Furniture now being in or belonging to the Chamber where she usually lies called the Nursery and all other the Furniture of and belonging to the said two Chambers. Also I give and bequeath unto the said Ann Cork one new fashioned Silver Mugg or Can, two half pint Silver Mugs, one Silver Pepper Castor and one small Silver Salt and Six Silver Table Spoons. Also I give and bequeath unto the said Ann Cork one Quarter or fourth part of all my China being in the Closet in my best Chamber, one Moiety or half part of all my Linen and of all the residue of my Household Goods and Furniture (Plate and China excepted), And of all my Wine and other Liquors.
Richard Heaton’s sister, Maria, had died unmarried a few years before, so other than a legacy to a niece, Ann Rose, and some small bequests to servants, the main beneficiary is Ann Cork. Richard “the Younger” does not cut his son completely out of his will but receives the residue of his father’s possessions. In addition the will allows that he will receive the remainder once Ann Cork died.
Despite these legacies, Richard clearly felt thoroughly aggrieved, as he commissioned a tombstone for his father’s grave in Deal that accused Ann Cork of seducing his father and swindling him out of £700 (£88,500) and half his father’s estate. With phrases like “the jade that did him kiss and persuade” it was not surprising that “the vicar and churchwarden at Deal refused to allow the stone to be erected in the churchyard and so it remained at St Margaret’s, where it was put in a corner of Solly’s garden behind the present Sea Street cottages.” Interestingly, the article also says that Richard inherited £2,000 a year (roughly £250,000 today), although there is no mention of this in his father’s will. It may be that the writer may have been referring to an earlier bequest or was just making a general assumption that Richard was a wealthy man in 1790, which makes it all the more surprising that he should be declared a bankrupt just twelve years later. Despite the terms of the will, there is no obvious reason why things went so badly wrong.
Richard Heaton had one foray into politics in 1797 when he stood against Charles Pybus to become the MP for Dover. Richard’s candidacy came out of the blue; but, having somehow, persuaded the Freemen of Dover to elect him, he immediately resigned for no apparent reason. It was assumed that he was either “out for a lark” or that he just wanted to be made a Freeman of Dover as they received many lucrative privileges. As well as adding to Richard’s reputation for eccentricity, it does show that he was sufficiently influential (or wealthy enough) to be able to get the Freemen to elect him.
Yet by early 1802, Richard’s finances appear to be in poor shape as he was having to chase debts and to sell property. One of his legal cases went as far the High Court and was an attempt to recover a loan for £120 (worth £16,000 today) made by his father almost 40 years earlier in 1767 [Note 1]. Richard’s argument is very long-winded and thoroughly confusing, and I suspect failed, partly because of the time elapsed but more because his argument is strong on emotion, but weak on evidence. His situation gets very much worse a few months later, as on 4th October 1802 he was declared bankrupt. I can find no obvious reason for this that, other than (as the article says) Richard may have been spending a great deal on legal cases, however, I suspect that he could also have been caught out by some failed investment – a common predicament at the time. He is described in the London Gazette notice of the bankruptcy as a “merchant and ship-owner” and he was listed at Lloyds as the part owner of a brig named the “Hygeia” [Note 2]. I can’t find any disasters associated with this “Hygeia” but it may not have been Richard’s only risky venture. Sadly, Richard’s problems continued, and three years later in there was a public sale of his goods, and a year later in 1806 he sold his house at St Margaret-at-Cliffe and moved to Camden. However, despite his financial problems, Richard was not destitute, and the records show that he continued to be involved in land transactions and a long list of legal cases.
Richard Heaton Solly died ten years later in London aged sixty in October 1816 and was buried back in Sandwich where he was born. Rather surprisingly for someone well versed in the law and who understood the importance of wills but typical of his eccentricity, he died intestate; but still owning properties in and around St Margarets and three houses in Bermondsey. As neither he nor his sister Maria had married, his estate was finally shared in 1819 between four distant cousins (John Hodges and Edward, Stephen and John Jacobs). Another cousin, George Solly (my great, great, great grandfather), was cut out of any inheritance by the trustees despite being the only surviving Solly cousin. Although we have plenty of evidence that George had been formally adopted by Joseph Solly before he died in 1806, it probable that the Trustees will have decided that he was illegitimate.
The disposal of Richard Heaton Solly’s estate would normally be the end of his story, but as we know, such was his reputation as one of East Kent’s most eccentric individuals, that it was resurrected by the Dover Express almost a hundred years ago and then rediscovered by Hamish Robertson in 1995. I hope to be able to find out more about Squire Solly and what really happened to turn him into such a complicated character, but for now I am just pleased that the reputation of one the more remarkable and eccentric members of the Sollys lives on.
Note 1: Solly v Lewin: The original loan of £111 was made to a John Cock, Cordwainer of Wigham near Sandwich. He died in 1783 and the loan (now for £120) passes to his daughters, Ann and Elizabeth and their husbands. It is possible that John Cock/Cork may have been the brother of Richard Solly the Younger’s housekeeper, Ann Cork, hence RHS’s desire to recover the debt [National Archive register C13/2066/18]
Note 2: The Hygeia: The Lloyds Registers for 1802-4 show two brigs named the Hygeia, one based in London and the other in Whitby. RHS was a part-owner of the London vessel of 168 tons, registered to S. Redmond. Neither was recorded as wrecked.
Below is the transcript of the article from Dover Express, 13th December 1907 with its description of Richard Heaton Solly.
Dover Express Article of 13th December 1907
He is about 50 years of age and is a gentlemanly looking man when decently dressed. He was educated at Eton, is well acquainted with Latin, and can converse in French. His favourite topic of conversation is lawsuits, of which he is never tired. He says he has spent £20,000 [about £2.5m today] in litigation and will talk for hours of his suits in various courts. As Lord of the Manor of St. Margaret’s he claims the wreck of the sea thrown up on the shore of his property. Some poor fishermen espied pieces of wreckage, not worth £5, about a league from the shore; they went for it, and after great danger and labour, brought it to the land. As Lord of the Manor, he claimed it, but the men having taken it away, he commenced actions against every one of them. Some defended it, some ran away, and others broke his windows, destroyed his fence, and with ropes overturned the large stone and leaden images in his garden. He never speaks of politics or religion, although he frequently quotes Scriptures in his letters to his attorney, one of his quotations being, ‘A certain man fell among thieves,’ etc. Some of his letters to his attorney are written in French or Latin, with quaint puns upon names, and a few quotations in Greek. Some of his letters are in verse. He has spent much money in St. Margaret’s, but in no useful improvements.“
“He has a very high conservatory commanding a view of the coast of France and also a telescope worth a hundred guineas. He has kept in his house for many years pianofortes, harpsichords, fiddles, bass viols, harps, flutes, drums and other musical instruments, which have been very costly, lying with dust over them, and gradually going to decay. He cannot play any of them.” “His servants do not sleep in his house, but in the adjoining village; he has but two, a man and an old woman. The man says he will not stop all night there again for two years wages for he did so once when Mr. Solly was gone to London, when he heard strange noises and banging of doors all night. Mr. Solly keeps in the house a collection of human and other skeletons. The doors and windows are full of springs and curious inventions and if any person attempt to open one of them, most likely a skeleton of human form will start from a secret spring. It is scarcely surprising that the servants declined to sleep in the house”
“He has a large museum of stuffed birds, beasts and reptiles, as well as a curious collection of old armour and war implements. He has a costly library, but never reads any of the books; this room is always kept locked. He also has a collection of things to perform experimental tricks in natural philosophy, also a printing house and a printer always at work the whole year round, printing his letters and the answers he receives. He also has a carpenter’s shop and tools; also drugs and chemicals in abundance, all mouldering away. He carefully locks up all his rooms except three, and it is a great favour for him to show his collection to any person. He seldom rises until 2 o’clock in the day, and never goes to bed until 4 in the morning. He smokes tobacco from 8 in the evening until he retires to rest. He dresses slovenly, his hair being tied with a bit of twine without powder.