Rolls Family
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The Rolls family were substantial landowners and benefactors in and around
Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...
in south-east
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. The ascent of the family to the aristocracy was through marriage. A prominent member of the family was Charles Stewart Rolls, who co-founded the
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
car manufacturing company. The family's
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were described in 1852 as:
Quarterly: 1st and 4th, or, on a fesse, dancettée, with plain cotises between three billets, sa., each charged with a lion, rampant, of the field, as many bezants; 2nd, gu., an eagle, displayed, barry of six, erminois and az.; 3rd, or, a saltier, sa., in chief, a leopard's face, of the second.


John Rolls and "The Hendre"

The Rolls family of Monmouth derive from John Rolls (1735–1801), son of Aaron and Elizabeth Rolls, the Grange,
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, and of the Hendre, Monmouthshire, High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1794. Much of his property in both Monmouthshire and London came through his marriage to Sarah Coysh (d. 1801), heiress of her brother Richard. John Rolls died the day after his wife. John was succeeded by his son John Rolls (1776–1837) who, with his wife Martha, built the finest country estate in Monmouthshire: The Hendre (). It was a shooting lodge that was expanded throughout the next one hundred years. It is Monmouthshire's only full-scale
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
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, constructed in the
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style. It is located in the
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of Llangattock-Vibon-Avel, some north-west of the town of Monmouth. The first of three expansions by the Rolls family began with the architect George Vaughan Maddox who rebuilt parts of the south wing in 1830. John Rolls' successor, John Etherington Welch Rolls, continued the mansion's development, using
Thomas Henry Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected president of the Royal Institute of British Architects for 1870–1873 and being awarded its Royal Gold Me ...
as his architect.


John Etherington Welch Rolls

John was succeeded by his son John Etherington Welch Rolls (4 May 1807 – 27 May 1870), sheriff of Monmouthshire. In 1842 he married Elizabeth Mary Long, granddaughter of William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk. He was succeeded by his son, also named John.


John Allan Rolls

John Allan Rolls (19 February 1837 – 24 September 1912), sheriff in 1875 and MP for Monmouthshire, 1880–1885, created Baron Llangattock of the Hendre, 1892. John Allan Rolls's ennoblement brought the family, and the house, to its social apogee, culminating in a visit from the Duke and Duchess of York (later
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and Queen Mary), who stayed with Lord and Lady Llangattock at the Hendre in late October – early November 1900. The Duke and Duchess were taken on motor car excursions by
Charles Rolls Charles Stewart Rolls (27 August 1877 – 12 July 1910) was a British motoring and aviation pioneer. With Henry Royce, he co-founded the Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in an aeron ...
, probably the first time that the royal couple had been in a car. This was an important event in the family's social history, confirming their elevation to the upper echelons of society. Of John Allan's three sons, the most famous was Charles, the co-founder of Rolls-Royce.


Charles Rolls

Charles Stewart Rolls (27 August 1877 - 12 July 1910) was a motoring and aviation pioneer. Together with Frederick Henry Royce he co-founded the
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in a flying accident, when the tail of his
Wright Flyer The ''Wright Flyer'' (also known as the ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Flyer'' I or the 1903 ''Flyer'') made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Wrigh ...
broke off during a flying display near
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, England. He was aged 32. As well as his interests in cars and aeroplanes, Charles was a keen balloonist, the Flight Magazine of January 1909 recording a flight from Monmouth:
''Ballooning Home''. On Saturday last the Hon. C. S. Rolls gave an exhibition of the possibilities of ballooning by taking his mother, Lady Llangattock, home by balloon. The ascent was made at Monmouth in the balloon " Mercury," the occupants of the basket being Lady Llangattock, Hon. C. S. Rolls, Hon. Mrs. Assheton – Harbord, Mr. Claud Crompton, and Mr. Charles Freeman, and the balloon landed on the lawn in front of Lord Llangattock's house, The Hendre.


John Maclean Rolls

Lord Llangattock died in 1912. His heir was his first son John Maclean Rolls (1870–1916, dsp.), 2nd Baron Llangattock. He died at Boulogne in 1916 from wounds received at the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...
. With his younger brother, Henry Alan, having died four months previously, and none of Lord Llangattock's three sons having had children, the direct male line ended. John Maclean Rolls was succeeded by his sister Eleanor Georgiana (d. 1961), wife of John Courtown Edward Shelley. Gwent County Records Office: Reference code(s): GB 0218 ROLLS D361


Harding-Rolls

With the death of Charles Rolls, Henry Allen Rolls and John Maclean Rolls and the extinction of the barony and surname in the male line, the estate passed back up the family through the closest member of the family with surviving descendants, Patty Rolls, sister of John Allan Rolls. She had married John Taylor Harding of Pentwyn, vicar of Rockfield and Canon of Llandaff, son of John Harding of Henbury and Jane Morgan, and they had four children (John Reginald Harding, Charles Allan Harding, Francis Henry Harding and George Valentine Harding). John Reginald Harding in turn married Elizabeth Margaret Saunders (daughter of Captain John Saunders of
Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...
, China) and had five children. Upon the extinction of the Rolls branch, the estate came down to his son, John Charles Etherington Harding (born 1898,
Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...
), the first cousin once removed of the 2nd Baron Llangattock, who inherited the house, estate and surrounding farmland, changing his family name to Harding-Rolls for this purpose. The Harding-Rolls branch of the family continued to live at The Hendre until 30 August 1984 when, following a failed
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operation, it was sold to Effold Properties Limited. The mansion is now the focal point of the Rolls of Monmouth golf course.


The Rolls family tree


See also

*
Elizabeth Harcourt Mitchell Elizabeth Harcourt Mitchell (15 December 1833 – 16 September 1910) was a British writer whose writing included poetry, novels, and for the periodical press. Her work was praised, including after her death. Personal life Mitchell was born in ...


Notes


References

* * Joseph Alfred Bradney, "A History of Monmouthshire, Part I. The Hundred of Skenfrith." (1904) Mitchell Hughes and Clarke


External links


The Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club

Welsh Historic Gardens Trust

Charles Rolls with the Duke and Duchess of York

Gwent Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolls family History of Monmouthshire Welsh families