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John "Mad Jack" Mytton (30 September 1796 – 29 March 1834) was a British
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and
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of the
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who was briefly a
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Member of Parliament.


Early life

John Mytton was born on 30 September 1796, the son of John Mytton and Sarah Harriet. His family were
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. Terminology ''Squire'' ...
s with a lineage that stretched back some 500 years. His father died at the age of 30, when Jack was two years old, and he inherited the family seat of Halston Hall, Whittington, near
Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...
, which was worth £60,000 (), as well as an annual income of £10,000 () from rental and agricultural assets generated by estates of more than at
Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy (; ) is a town in the Community (Wales), community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470 road, A470, and consequently many visitors pass the ...
and in Shropshire. Mytton was sent to
Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
, but was expelled after one year for fighting a master. He was then sent to
Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
, from which he was also expelled after three terms. He was then educated by a disparate series of private tutors whom he tormented with
practical joke A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...
s that included leaving a horse in one tutor's bedroom. Despite having achieved very little academically, Mytton was granted entry to
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
. He
matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...
in January 1816 but, according to ''
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'', it is doubtful that he took up his place, although there are claims that he took 2,000 bottles of
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
to sustain himself during his studies. He certainly was not awarded a degree, having found university life boring, and embarked on a Grand Tour.


Military service

Mytton saw both part-time and full-time military service. In 1812, when he was 16, he was commissioned as captain in a local
yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. History Origins In the 1790s, following the ...
regiment, the Oswestry Rangers. In 1814 it was merged into the North Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry, into which Mytton transferred. After Mytton's return from the Grand Tour, he was commissioned in the regular
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
and joined the
7th Hussars The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in ...
. As a
cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
, he spent a year with the regiment in France as part of the army of occupation after the defeat of
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, spending his time gambling and drinking before resigning his commission. He rejoined the North Shropshire Yeomanry after his subsequent return to England and was promoted to major in 1822. He had attempted in vain to lobby its colonel for an even higher rank in the place of an uncle, William Owen, who had left the regiment. Despite his later periods abroad and imprisonment, he was still on the regimental strength at the time of his death twelve years later.


Life as a squire

Mytton later returned to his country seat and took up the duties of a squire in preparation for coming into his full inheritance when he became 21. In 1819 he entertained ambitions of standing for
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, as a
Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
, following family tradition. He secured his seat by offering voters £10 notes, spending a total of £10,000 (). He thus became MP for
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
. He spent just 30 minutes in the House of Commons in June 1819, but found the debates boring and difficult to follow because of his incipient deafness. When Parliament was dissolved in 1820 he declined to stand at the next election. However, he attempted to re-enter Parliament in 1831, this time for one of the two
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
seats and as a Whig candidate. He withdrew on the fifth day of the poll and came bottom with 376 votes. He then issued an address stating that he would contest the next parliamentary election, but by the time of that election, in 1832, he had gone into exile to escape his creditors. He instead served as
High Sheriff of Merionethshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Merionethshire (or Sheriffs of Meirionnydd). The historic county of Merioneth was originally created in 1284. The administrative county of Merioneth was created from the historic county under the Local Government Act ...
for 1821–22,
High Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The high sheriff, sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...
for 1823–24; Mayor of Oswestry for 1824–25 and as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary at Shrewsbury in 1822. Meanwhile, he indulged his enjoyment of horseracing and gambling, and enjoyed some success at both. He bought a horse named Euphrates, which was already a consistent winner, and entered it in the Gold Cup at
Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
in 1825, and it duly won. Its portrait, commissioned by Mytton from the painter William Webb, was exhibited at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
the same year. Mytton also became a well-known character at Oswestry Race Course, an increasingly disreputable local racetrack. It is said that in 1826, in order to win a bet, he rode a horse into the Bedford Hotel opposite the Town Hall in
Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...
, up the grand staircase and onto the balcony, from which he jumped, still seated on his horse, over the diners in the restaurant below, and out through the window onto the Parade. He also held contests for local children at
Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy (; ) is a town in the Community (Wales), community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470 road, A470, and consequently many visitors pass the ...
, giving sums ranging from half a crown to half a guinea to those who rolled all the way down the hill Moel Dinas.


Field sports

Mytton had hunted foxes with his own pack of hounds from the age of ten and went hunting in any kind of weather. His usual winter gear was a light jacket, thin shoes, linen trousers and silk stockings, but in the thrill of the chase he sometimes stripped off and continued the hunt naked, even through snow drifts and rivers in full spate. He also continued hunting despite being unseated and sustaining broken ribs -"unmurmuring when every jar was an agony", and sometimes led his stable boys on rat hunts, each stable boy being equipped with ice skates. He had a wardrobe consisting of 150 pairs of hunting breeches, 700 pairs of handmade hunting boots, 1,000 hats and some 3,000 shirts. Mytton kept numerous pets, including some 2,000 dogs. His favourites among them were fed on steak and champagne. His favourite horse, Baronet, had free range inside Halston Hall and lay in front of the fire with Mytton. It was said of "Mad Jack" that "not only did he not mind accidents, he positively liked them". Mytton drove his gig at high speed and once decided to discover if a horse pulling a carriage could jump over a
tollgate A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a Toll (fee), toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll p ...
(it could not). On another occasion he asked his passenger whether he had ever been upset in a gig. The man said he had not and Mytton responded, "What!! What a damn slow fellow you must have been all your life!" He promptly drove the gig up a sloping bank at full speed, tipping himself and his passenger out.


Decline and death

Mytton was an extravagant
spendthrift A spendthrift (also profligate or prodigal) is someone who is extravagant and recklessly wasteful with money, often to a point where the spending climbs well beyond their means. ''Spendthrift'' derives from an obsolete sense of the word ''thrift'' ...
. Visitors to his estates sometimes found banknotes secreted around the grounds, whether left on purpose or simply lost. Over the course of fifteen years he managed to spend his inheritance and then fell into deep debt. His agent had calculated that if he could but reduce his expenditure to £6,000 a year for six years his estate would not have to be sold, but Mytton declared that "I wouldn't give a damn to live on £6,000 a year!" In 1831 he sold his estate at Dinas Mawddwy to John Bird, and fled to
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
to avoid his creditors. He had met an attractive 20-year-old woman named Susan on Westminster Bridge and offered her £500 a year to be his companion. She accompanied him to France and stayed with him until his death. During his stay in Calais he tried to cure his
hiccups A hiccup (scientific name singultus, from Latin for "sob, hiccup"; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction ( myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. The hiccup is an involuntary action involvi ...
by setting his shirt on fire. Charles James Apperley, who wrote under the pseudonym of "Nimrod", was present at this event: "'Damn this hiccup!!' said Mytton as he stood undressed on the floor, apparently in the act of getting into bed 'but I’ll frighten it away'; so seizing a lighted candle applied it to the tail of his shirt – it being a cotton one – he was instantly enveloped in flames. A fellow guest and Mytton’s servant beat out the flames: 'The hiccup is gone, by God!', said he and reeled, naked, into bed." In 1833, Mytton returned to England, where, still unable to pay his debts, he was confined at Shrewsbury Prison, then transferred to the
King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from the Middle Ages until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were he ...
in
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. He died there in 1834, a "round-shouldered, tottering, old-young man bloated by drink, worn out by too much foolishness, too much wretchedness and too much brandy". The cause of death was
delirium tremens Delirium tremens (DTs; ) is a rapid onset of confusion usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol. When it occurs, it is often three days into the withdrawal symptoms and lasts for two to three days. Physical effects may include shaking, sh ...
. He was buried in the vault of the private chapel at Halston on 9 April. In 2023, a
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...
investigation sent a camera down into the vault, which discovered his intact coffin had what appeared to be the skin of his beloved pet bear draped over it. A print of a portrait of John Mytton by
Rudolph Ackermann Rudolph Ackermann (20 April 1764 in Stollberg, Electorate of Saxony – 30 March 1834 in Finchley, London) was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman. Biography He attended the Latin school in Stollberg, ...
was published in 1847, 13 years after their deaths. These were marked "JOHN MYTTON ESQ. HALSTON SALOP ~ from an original picture in the possession of John Bishton Minor Esq. Astley House Pradoe, guardian of J. F. G. Mytton, this engraving of his ward's late father" When the print was published John jnr would have been 24 years old and would have inherited what was left of the estate. There is also a portrait of Mytton on horseback, by William Webb, and numerous illustrations, by
Henry Thomas Alken Henry Thomas Alken (12 October 1785 – 7 April 1851) was an England, English painter and engraver chiefly known as a caricaturist and illustrator of sporting subjects and coaching scenes.R. R. TatlockHenry Alken(The Burlington Magazine for Conn ...
and T. J. Rawlins, appear in Nimrod's ''Life of John Mytton''.


Personal life

In 1818, Mytton married Harriet Emma Jones, a daughter of Sir
Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones, 1st Baronet FRS (1 September 1765 – 26 November 1811) of Stanley Hall, Shropshire, was a British politician. Early life Tyrwhitt was born on 1 September 1765. He was the eldest son of Captain John Tyrwhitt, RN, o ...
, in London. Before her death in Cliffden,
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, on 2 July 1820, they were the parents of: * Harriet Emma Charlotte Mytton (1819–1885), who married Clement Delves Hill, a nephew of Maj-Gen. Clement Delves Hill. His second marriage was to Caroline Mallet Giffard from
Chillington Hall Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house near Brewood, Staffordshire, England, four miles northwest of Wolverhampton. It is the residence of the Giffard family. The Grade I listed house was designed by Francis Smith in 1724 and John Soane ...
in October 1821 at
Brewood Brewood is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Brewood lies near the River Penk, north of Wolverhampton and south of Stafford. Brewoo ...
,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
. She ran away in 1830 and lived the rest of his life estranged. Before their estrangement, they were the parents of a daughter and four sons: * Barbara Augusta Norah Mytton (1822–1870), who married Col. Poulett George Henry Somerset, son of
Lord Charles Henry Somerset Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton, England, was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator.Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volu ...
, a younger brother of the 6th
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, in 1847.Charles Mosley, editor. ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes'' (Crans,
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:
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(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, pp. 221–223.
* John Fox Fitz-Giffard Mytton (1823–1875), who married Jane Latham. * Charles Orville January Mytton (1825–1834), who died young. * Euphrates Henry Mytton (1826–1834), who died young. * William Harper Mytton (b. 1827). Euphrates and Charles both died within months after their father and were also buried at Halston, as was Caroline upon her death in 1841. His two other sons and both daughters survived him.


Legacy

*Mytton appears prominently in Dame
Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...
's 1933 book ''English Eccentrics'', which draws largely on the Nimrod account. *The
Jack Mytton Way The Jack Mytton Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway for horseriders, hillwalkers and mountain bikers in mid and south Shropshire, England. It typically takes a week to ride on horseback. For much of its length it passes through t ...
, a long-distance
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for riders, mountain bikers and walkers, runs for through South and Mid-Shropshire *There is a
public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
named after Mytton in the canalside village of Hindford near Halston Hall * A hotel, the Mytton and Mermaid Hotel, on the
River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...
at
Atcham Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5 road (Great Britain), A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the villag ...
, near Shrewsbury, and has a bar called Mad Jack's Bar. His funeral cortege halted there on its way to the chapel at Halston * The Jack Mytton Run, an annual event by students, was held on the
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campus in
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across Northrup Mall on the first class day following spring break. It is reported to have begun in 1999. The event was discontinued in 2009 when campus police deterred it * He is mentioned in the book ''
The French Lieutenant's Woman ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' is a 1969 Postmodern literature, postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles. The plot explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist Charles Smithson and Sarah Woodruff, the for ...
'' by
John Fowles John Robert Fowles (; 31 March 1926 – 5 November 2005) was an English novelist, critically positioned between modernism and postmodernism. His work was influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, among others. After leaving Oxford Uni ...
, beside Casanova * Jack Wenlock, the lead character in The Case of the 'Hail Mary' Celeste by
Malcolm Pryce Malcolm Pryce (born 1960) is a British author, mostly known for his Hardboiled, ''noir'' detective novels. Biography Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive Schoo ...
is revealed as being named after John Mytton. * There is a race horse named after him *He is the earliest known person to use the phrase "easy come, easy go" in an earlier form as "light come, light go".


See also

*
Thomas Mytton Major General Thomas Mytton, also spelt Mitton, (1597-November 1656), was a lawyer from Oswestry who served in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and as MP for Shropshire in the First Protectorate Parliament. Pa ...
*
Garth (Guilsfield) Garth was an important early gothic revival house in the Townships in Montgomeryshire, township of Garth in Guilsfield in Montgomeryshire. In the 18th century it became the home of the Mytton family who had originally been Shrewsbury drapers, wh ...


References

Notes Citations


Other sources

* * Jean Holdsworth, ''Mango: the Life and Times of Squire John Mytton of Halston 1796-1834'', 1972 * Richard Darwall, ''Madcap's Progress: the life of the eccentric Regency sportsman John Mytton''.


Further reading

*


External links


Article in Daily Telegraph on eccentricity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mytton, John 1796 births 1834 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London People educated at Harrow School Mayors of places in Shropshire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies 7th Queen's Own Hussars officers UK MPs 1818–1820 High sheriffs of Merionethshire High sheriffs of Shropshire Shropshire Yeomanry officers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Dinas Mawddwy