The Lort Family Genealogy Web Site: William Lort Biographical Notes

The original essay by Mr. Ackroyd has been edited for brevity, clarity and some stylistic changes have been made. My apologies to the author for any changes with which he disagrees. The reader should note that as there are three William Lorts mentioned in the text the following conventions will be used: The subject of this essay William Dewson Lort will be referred to as William; his father as William Senior; and the son of our essay's subject will be referred to as Will.

It was a dark and stormy night on the north Atlantic. The screaming gale hurled the small brig Hecla without mercy. Chief Officer William Lort fought the pounding of the tiller with all his strength. Hecla rolled her port deckrail under as a huge wave thundered across the deck washing Captain Babbage into the icy Atlantic. Lort lashed the tiller into position and dived overboard to rescue his captain, ^1. dragging him safely back to his ship. The storm was not yet done. Through that night and all the next day the situation became more desperate; by nightfall all hope had been abandoned of seeing the gale out. Lort by yet another clever and daring piece of seamanship ^2. preserved the integrity of the ship and a successful voyage was completed. ^3. Captain Babbage presented Lort with an engraved snuffbox which reads:

Gallantry was certainly one characteristic of an English Gentleman. Gentle Birth was also a requirement and Lort had the good sense to choose caring wealthy parents. He had the means to lead the Good Life without having to actually work for a living. It meant also that he could devote time to the more pressing matter of ridding "the country of worthless curs . . . to have these annual [dog] shows and educated public taste in regard to the importance of pure blood and fine breeds." ^6. He was a breeder of the world's finest pointers and setters and a leading judge for forty years in the dog shows of Britain.

His keen eye for fine form also included judging cattle, thoroughbreds, and trotters. This striving for an ideal, a perfection of form in the world did not stop with our four-footed friends too were included in his critical gaze. A gentleman had to be a gallant, attentive to the consideration of women.

Last, but above all else, a gentleman was honourable and devoted to his ideals above the concerns of the material world. ^7. Lort tried always to do the decent thing in his personal and public personas. His striving to behave correctly during his marriage was a source of intense personal conflict: the realities of life which seemed to ambush him versus his ideal of a fair break for everyone.

was all these things that an admirer had in mind as he sorrowfully wrote Lort's obituary: His life has been that of a
"'Fine Old English Gentleman' a grand specimen of the pluck, goodnature and love of sport of an Englishman coupled with the gentleness and thoughtful kindness for others of a woman." ^8.

It's not easy to conform to the high standard of correct behaviour expected of a Gentleman. Lort had his troubles. It's fascinating to see how my great-great-grandfather triumphed, at least publicly over his private turmoil and personal shabby morals.

William Dewson Lort was the only son of the most genuine sportsman ^9. in the country, William Lort Senior and his wife Elizabeth Dewson. ^10. He was probably born in 1823 at Lort's Yard, 21 Lancaster St., near Aston Road in Birmingham, England. He was christened February 6, 1824 at St. Martin, Birmingham. His was a prosperous Birmingham family who had manufactured glazier's vices; ^11. trusses, and the special spring steel used in them; artificial arms and legs; ^12. and surgical instruments. ^13. By 1820 the Lort family had been in business for almost 50 years. ^14. The costly war in Europe against Napoleon was over by 1815. An economic depression now swept Britain worsened by the 400,000 demobbed soldiers. There was a great demand to fit men with artificial limbs and the Lorts were there to help.

Birmingham had a population of about 80,000. ^15. Lort Senior, in addition to his business, also owned several dozen buildings about town ^16. to house some of the rapidly growing population. Having more than enough money to spend founded in 1836, with his partners, the Birmingham and Midland Bank. ^18.

About 1841, genteel young William Lort went off to King's College, Cambridge University. ^19. Like Tom Tulliver in "Mill on the Floss" he was sent to board with a clergyman: he was a private student of Rev. C. H. Maturin, and qualified as a surgeon. ^20. A friend wrote that:
"During his student career, whatever scholastic abilities he may have displayed, he certainly gained the knowledge of how to make and to retain some of the finest and fastest friendships of his life." ^21.

One cold winter when at Cambridge he raced to victory over the top ice skater, Drake, ^22. a feat which would be remembered all his life. He also won many swimming and diving contests in England and other countries. ^23. He swam 268 feet underwater at Newcastle. ^24. When he was almost 50 he won the Two Mile Champion Ocean Swimming Race at Brighton in 1870. ^25.

"Having qualified for a surgeon, he was urged by his father to embark on a tour round the world, and on quitting college he visited most of the best hunting grounds of the American continent - Labrador, the Red River settlements, the plains and prairies to the east of the Rocky Mountains, the Brazils, and many other countries celebrated . . . for sport." ^26.

His medical career was abandoned for the gentlemanly pursuits of sport and travel, maintained by his wealthy father. It was during these adventures that the good ship Hecla nearly foundered.

Hunting, fishing and shooting were not the only sports William enjoyed. He had been back home in England two years later when his friend R. L. Bampton in New York wrote to him:

. . . Mrs. Miller is well but no increase as yet. You must come over, and gratify her in this respect. Jerusha has only one child, her Husband has sold out, and now paints blinds in Greenwich St. Madame Restall is now in Prison, the Judges refusing to liberate her on bail under a change of causing abortion . . . I thought from what Mr. Bradbrook told me, that your Wedding was expected to come off in a month after he left, that I should have the pleasure of wishing you much happiness. Mrs. says, Why delay any longer, get married right off & bring your dear little Kitty on the first Steamer and spend the Honey Moon in New York. The rooms are ready and wait your arrival - -

The young gentleman had already fathered a son in 1843, out of wedlock, Sidney Groutage who was adopted by William Senior and named Sidney William Lort. ^28. All was respectability once again. The descent/decent thing was done, not by him, but by his father. ^29.

The time came however for the impetuous youth to settle down. On February 3rd 1849 William Lort married Catherine Hutton at Sts. Peter & Paul, Aston. The tow families had been neighbours, their fathers business associates. ^30. That Catherine came with a handsome dowry did not escape Lort's attention. In fact, he had to sign an agreement before their marriage that the hundreds of properties she inherited were to remain hers alone. ^31. The income generated was to be hers.

About 1846 William Lort had his photograph taken in the company of two women. What strikes one right off is that one of the women has had her face scratched out. She is Harriet Hutton, Catherine's sister and the damage to the picture has been there for at least a hundred years. If one looks closely Harriet and William are holding hands! Maybe she fancied him too? Anyway Harriet now leaves the picture, literally and figuratively, with her move to Portugal. December 9, 1881 William and Catherine's daughter Emmy arrived in Lisbon to stay with her aunt.

The photo shows Catherine in a fine dress, long dark hair parted from front to back, her dark eyes gaze shyly at the camera and her mouth wears a Mona Lisa smile which later developed into a fearsome scowl. William leans over her shoulder protectively, his equally long dark hair brushed straight back but piled high on the top and sides; his chin whiskers are merely a strap to hold his hairdo in place. With time his whiskers grew to chest length and appear to be the beard which Edward Lear wrote about. His bow tie is just slightly askew. ^32.

His first letter to Catherine shows courtesy rather than the heated emotion which later letters exhibit: "My Dear Wife
This is the first letter I have written to you since you have been my wife as letters are only necessary in case of absence I hope you will have but few of mine." ^33.

Catherine had lived all her life in the exclusive Birmingham suburb of Saltley; Lort moved there as a teenager. Their fathers did some business together. Her father Samuel was a paper wholesaler and Alderman who died just before their marriage. Did they become partners because each saw in the other qualities and emotional attitudes they were familiar with and had been brought up to admire? Or did the parents push them into it? Maybe Pa encouraged William to settle down and Catherine appeared comfortably endowed?

They started married life in her parent's big square stone house with the funny awkward additions on each side. Catherine leased her inherited village of Laisters HEF to her father-in-law. They had the first brace of an eventual dozen kids there. Lort was back and forth to his parents who had now moved to Leicester LEI where Lort Senior had invested his capital exclusive of trade. ^34. He moved there at the same time, 1841, that Thomas Cook started his tour company in Leicester. His sister Emma who was now Mrs. William Bedells was also living in Leicester.

About 1854 they moved into the rural countryside of Great Heath in Laisters. They lived the life of country gentry and tried very hard to make the farms pay off. Lort Senior was constantly sending letter offering advice on everything from picture restoring to gun care to planting laburnums and brussels sprouts. ^35.

Lort was also acting as Race Steward at Tenbury. ^36. He was breeding dogs, traveling and judging at dog shows. He was a founder of The Kennel Club and its stud books and of the Birmingham Dog Show. ^37.

They moved before October 1864 ^38. away from Laisters to The Cotteridge, a 152 acre farm in King's Norton near Birmingham. Catherine had now made 4 babies in each house and was to make 4 more here: a new one about every 20 months. All 12 children lived to be adults.

It's funny how family deaths seem to come in clusters: William Lort Senior died in 1867; a few months later his favourite cousin Lucy Lort Williams died. Then the ultimate tragedy which devastated them. Their first born, Willie aged 20 suffered a long painful death from an abscess, ^39. then pneumonia, which finished him off. ^40.

An old family friend, hearing of the illness, offered condolences, little suspecting the worst:
"We are very sorry indeed for the sad account you give. The last I heard from Mrs. Callow alarmed us, & your fuller explanation about the abscess tells us how very serious an illness it must be - and so very painful - We can only hope & trust that it will break safely and before long & that Willie will have strength to bear him through - and you yourself in this sad & awful nursing have need of all your strength." ^41.

Still dealing with all this emotional grief, his mother "The old Damsel" ^42. died in 1873.

These stressful years began to weigh heavily on them and brought out qualities which neither wanted to see in the other. It was about this time the marriage started to go sour. Catherine's business agent, Callow, who collected her rents and oversaw the day to day affairs of the tenantry seems to have mismanaged. Rumours were spread about Catherine's conduct and William's affairs. They fought over the next few years. Catherine wrote to her lawyer:
"After the cowardly & infamous scandal Mr. Lort has circulated concerning me I do not care to be mixed up with Herefordshire at all. - I refer to what he has said concerning Mr. Callow & myself." ^43.
Catherine knew he had been cheating her financially, taking all the rent money himself; and romantically in taking a little pleasure on the side.

They moved yet again in 1874 to Yockelton Hall near Shrewsbury but the war continued. Lort was furious with those whom he thought to have started the rumours. He worried constantly about the chaos at home:
"Before I left home Mrs. L. was most anxious for a reconciliation: but, my feelings would not allow of my thinking of it - as matters stand: - and yet, I was not unmindful of Pope's line 'Forgiveness to injured doth belong'
I have been used badly: & I feel certain I shall be driven to shape my course in a way that will be ruin to my family" ^44.

Making the transition from the personal hell he was in to the public man was difficult:
"I had to come to London to judge at the Crystal Palace: and, a week, or more, ago, I asked my wife to consider herself as invited to join me: & I asked repeatedly to prepare her own clothes & mine for the visit - She would do nothing but sulk until I was leaving the house to come here, when she commenced a volley of vile & senseless abuse that would have been a disgrace to Billingsgate. Apologising for the trouble I am imposing on you in this wretched business." ^45.

His peace of mind and health were suffering. Sleeping was a real problem:
". . . I have felt very unwell for several days - I cannot sleep - I have not had a night's sleep for a week, although I have tried a glass, or two, of grog at bed time. Tonight I shall resort to my old friend Laudanaum to see what it will do. If I don't sleep tonight I'll try a change of scene: & perhaps, a little dissipation in the shape of theatre &c." ^46.

Lort poured out his soul about how hard-done-by he was:
"All day yesterday Mrs. L. was writing notes to me of a quasi-conciliatory character - the result, I believe of a recent visit to a solicitor. Today her violence has been such as to force me to send to Shrewsbury for a police officer - I can assure you that I am half-dead with worry to annoyance." ^48.

"My Dear Sir,
. . . Things here go no better - Mrs. L. gets more difficult to manage every day: & I have to witness the children being daily trained in every art of deceit. You could not imagine the things that I have to allow to pass unnoticed. I often wish I had not a child!" ^49.

His honour was on the line. The internationally respected dog Judge and breeder was wading through the morass of a messy marital dispute. Threats by Catherine that he would be shunned by colleagues didn't worry him at all:
"I may say that I don't think I am losing many friends for this morning's Post brings me invitations from no less personages than Geo. Brewin, Sir Rutherford Alcock & Lord Hill." ^50.

He was tormented about the family. How could he maintain his sanity? He still could not sleep:
". . . I can assure you that I am half-dead with worry to annoyance. I get no sleep, & I'm in constant dread that she will do something at me - what am I to do? There seems no end to it. Verily, those who have caused all this mischief will have something to answer for." ^51.

Catherine too was very upset and tried to appear to be in control of her feelings but it wasn't easy as she wrote:
"I can understand your unhappiness in me as know I have always been misrepresented by my husband. No one has borne their injuries more patiently than I have. & I am not afraid that I have lost one inch of respect from my husband as he always believes & knows me in spite of what he says. Through all this trouble I believe it is for the best & I will look out what is good in the end. I note your remark about scandal & think it uncivil although strictly moral & in future will only write as business requires." ^52.

Looking after herself and all those kids was too much for her:
"I shall after Xmas have my boys under different management as they are too many for me to control & quite neglected by their father. The treatment I have received from Mr. Lort has been most unfeeling & unmanly." ^53.

William was consumed with trying to do right by all concerned but increasingly felt the only solution was to separate. By 1877 ^54. he had made the decision to leave Catherine and most of his children behind him. He publicly disowned her in this newspaper ad:
"I William Lort, late of Yockleton Hall, in the county of Salop, and now of Fron Goch Hall, Montgomeryshire, Esquire, do hereby give notice that I will not be Answerable for any Debt or Debts which may be contracted after the date of this notice by Catherine Lort, my Wife, without my express authority, the said Catherine Lort having a separate income, amply sufficient to enable her to discharge any pecuniary claims and obligations she may incur --dated this Second day of April, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven." ^55.

He took their four youngest with him to the isolated Welsh farm of Fron Goch Hall, in Montgomeryshire. He and the four children were quite content:
"Four children, the youngest, are with me & we really get along very comfortably - I am at the farm during the day, & at night we sit round the fire & read, or I tell them tales, which seem to be appreciated highly." ^56.

To another associate who inquired a out his well being:
"You are kind enough to write & ask me how I am getting on. Well, of course my mind is not at rest, but I find it no slight relief to be free from the constant annoyance to which I have so long been subjected: - and to feel that, when the house is closed for the night, I am secure from robbery by those within it. I have not heard a word of my amiable spouse. I trust she is not worse employed than in exalting over & arranging her plunder: yet, an inward feeling of fear suggests itself that the silence may be like that of the rattlesnake, only the precursor of a bound & a bite!" ^57.

And strike she did:
"You are an infamous rascal to rid yourself of your children this you shall not do I will do to have you made to do your duty by them and recompense me for your neglect I will do no more the peace business your conduct makes me hate and despise you if I were strong enough I would horse whip you what a nice example to your children you are a wicked unprincipled badman do what you like people tell me to let you take your chance." ^58.

Catherine struck again:
"Don't think I have heard one person approve of your conduct they think you a cool calculating rascal not worthy of your wife or children who will despise the course you are following you want no peace only want the money for your women a bad son & a bad husband & an infamous father." ^60.

The money was a sore point. From the beginning the three trustees had paid the rents to Lort and not as they should have to her. She threatened them with making good on the missing rents, 2,000 pounds per year for the past 25 years, for which they were personally liable.

Catherine says he only wants the money for his women. So did Lort's granddaughter Marty:
"He was quite a gay character and had several 'wives' in various parts of England and Wales. But as my mother always said "He was faithful to all of them - supported them well and saw that all the children went to good schools" so I guess he had his good points. When he died the Kennel Club approached Grannie [Catherine] about putting up a plaque in his memory explaining that they could not do it without Mrs. Lort's permission. Grannie remarked that that would be rather difficult as there were so many Mrs. Lorts and that she would have nothing to do with it." ^61.

His older seven children banded together as a support group to each other and one by one alienated their father in support of their mother. This action so struck at Lort's honour that he sought vengeance against them in the only way he could. He disowned them as he had done his bastard child Sydney Groutage. They were deleted one by one from his will. The last to go was my great grandfather John Anthony, whom he had been willing to go out of his way for: "I am here winding up my Welsh business preparatory to John's leaving for school."

But then:
"I have asked Mr. Adcock to forward the codicil to my will to you for safekeeping - in it- I cut out John Anthony Lort for his disobedience (willful) & ingratitude - I have now only 4 children out of 11 who will benefit by my will. Is it not sad? - Those who are excluded will have something to thank their mother & their Uncle for." ^62.

Unfortunately for his dignity Lort was dubbed 'Old Codicil' as his will was constantly updated. ^63. Finally by 1882 he was almost done with his constant revisions. The youngest four, in the beginning were too young to be involved in treachery. They stayed true to their dad and lived with him until his death.

Lort wasn't quite through yet. The four little Lorts were not alone with their dad at Fron Goch. Elizabeth Griffiths, also known as Mademoiselle Godfrey and also as Mrs. Lloyd was living with them. The last codicil was added later in 1882 making provision in his estate for Elizabeth Griffiths and her/their ^64. three children. His outrage against his legal wife Catherine was so great he added the reason why he was making this provision:
"because she has during last four years acted in the capacity of a good and faithful wife in the place of one who during the quarter of a century I lived with her oft times broke the vows she made at our marriage . . ." ^65.

In the quiet Welsh countryside Lort pondered on the whole miserable business had come about and came to a conclusion in which he sees himself not as a perpetrator but as a victim:
". . . I have heard since I saw you that which proves to me that Callow [the business agent] was at the bottom of the mischief in the commencement. He got to know that I was not going to keep him on. And he knew he should stand a better chance under Mrs. L. & the trustees & so he misrepresented everything to serve his own ends. Verily, he is a devil!" ^66.

His friends in the doggy world had arranged a tribute dinner and presentation for him in 1878 which provided a very real morale booster when he must have been feeling rather low. His emotional thank you speech:
"I would most earnestly and gratefully thank you for the great honour you have done me today, but words are too poor and expressions too tame to convey one hundredth part of the pleasure I feel at this exhibition of your friendship. I was told that in public life I should make many acquaintances but few friends. I can assure you it gladdens my heart to be able to claim after years of public life, so many good true, genuine, and open-hearted friends - ought I not to say open-handed? For is not the munificence of this day a touching proof of it? So touching that it makes me on the verge of breaking down in my endeavours to express to you only a very small part of what, as a man, I feel, and what I should not be a man if I did not feel. I will hasten to say that I have reason to be proud - I am proud - of a testimonial that would do honour to the noblest in the land. As years roll on, if I am spared, I may now and then be tempted to look at this portrait, to see what manner of man I was in 1878; and if I do I shall soon lose sight of the individual, and shall seem to see beyond a crowd of joyous kindly faces - shall seem to hear again the welcome voices of the friends I love and value. I would say more, but I cannot go on. I can only repeat the words I thank you - from the bottom of my heart I thank you." ^67.

William and Elizabeth and seven kiddies lived quietly at Fron Goch. He continued breeding pointers and setters and horses. He traveled to America as Judge. He made two lengthy trips to Russia on sporting holidays with his pal and soon to be employer Duff Assheton Smith, the richest commoner in the United Kingdom. It was upon his return after 3 months away that his pal and solicitor Frank Adcock presented him with this bit of doggerel:

"Oh Willie we have missed you from show of Dog and Horse,
At Birkenhead she kissed you, 'ere you took your northern course,
Tho' she said you were a bete, and might have added noir,
But she didn't like to do so, as you'd ne'er run off before,
Still now you have returned, never more, we trust, to roam,
Oh bearded Will We've missed you but just aren't you welcome home.

The days were long without you and flat appeared the beer,
Our dreams have been about you, for your safety we've felt fear,
With that bold bad Geordie Ean and that Smith of playful joke,
We hardly thought you'd come back with the where with all to p---,
But t'would drop off with the frost and be buried with you nose,
In that nasty arctic region where we're told it always snows,
But you've come back safe and whole, never more from us to roam,
Oh Willie we have missed you, Gentle William welcome home.

The edict of the Kennel Club you have not had to brave,
And at others the Exhibitor has had a chance to rave.
But your "Water Closet Hat Box," and the garb we knew of yore,
We are hoping very shortly will be muchly to the fore,
With those grizzled unkempt locks which your lawyer loves to tend,
Oh Billy we have missed you, stay with us now to the end. ^68.

In 188 Lort was hired as Private Secretary and Agent at Assheton Smith's estate at Vaynol near Bangor, Wales. This idyllic life at Vaynol was rumoured to have come about so Lort's youngest daughter could have a shot at becoming Mrs. Duff Assheton Smith. The Squire wrote her into his will to the tune of 20,000 pounds! Lort died only four years later, 23 May 1891.

"To the already long list of those who have recently departed from among us, we have to add, with deep regret, the name of William Lort, whose signature will be familiar to most of our readers, and who must have been personally acquainted with many of them.

After a brief illness of only two days, Mr. Lort succumbed to an attack of congestion of the brain at Vaynol Park, near Bangor, the seat of Mr. Assheton Smith, on Saturday last, May 23." ^69.

The tributes poured in to the newspapers as admirers expressed their grief:
"'You have heard poor old Lort died on Saturday last at Vaynol?' Such was the opening remark of one of the most prominent members of the kennel world in a communication to us this week. The kindly feeling which prompted those words will be re-echoed, with but few exceptions, by all who had the privilege of being acquainted with one of the biggest-hearted men who ever lived.

The name of Mr. William Lort is a household word amongst those who are interested in dogs; but kennel matters occupied only a very small part of his life, which was thoroughly devoted to sport." ^70.

Another writer:
"His enthusiasm in sports gave him a great aversion to poachers, for whom he has been know to lie under hedges for as long as three nights in succession until he had arrested at least one of the gang, and he often stated that nothing gave him greater pleasure than a good 'up and down' with a plucky poacher. Mr. Lort was a tall and well-built man, and was never known to allow a poacher to escape when he once came up with him. He was much esteemed by his friends, and will be greatly missed at the Birmingham shows." ^71.

Three of his friends:
"We, the undersigned, wish to express, through the medium of your paper, our deep sorrow at the death of our old and very esteemed friend and acquaintance the late William Lort. The sudden and unexpected announcement of the death of Mr. Lort in your last week's issue filled us with surprise and grief, and we feel sure that all the doggy men and women who knew him, as we did, will have many a kindly recollection of the gentle and courteous judge, well-know as 'dear old Lort.' Almost ever since the 'first dog show' [which was held in Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1859] our acquaintance with him has been an unbroken link. Alas! That link is now severed. None of us can ever forget the many very happy meetings at dog shows held throughout the kingdom in years gone by, when William Lort and late John Walker were the judges, when exhibitors met in honest rivalry, thinking more of the honour of winning a prize than of its money value. Many pleasant evening were then spent, and lasting friendships made in discussing the points, characteristics, and qualities of the various breeds of dogs, and none gave more valued information on these subjects than Mr. Lort." ^72.

Yet another tribute:
"Many a visitor to Vaynol will miss that cheery companion, able advisor, and all-round sportsman who has just passed away, esteemed and liked by all who knew him." ^73.

On the home front there was devastation in all quarters. Where was his will? Which version was the legitimate one? When it was finally located Catherine was furious. She issued a caveat to have the derogatory comments about her expunged before probate. ^74. Elizabeth Griffiths, known in the probate process as Mrs. Lloyd renounced her right to probate the will and turned over many uncashed cheques, given her by William, totaling hundreds of pounds. Lort's four children provided even more generously for her than their father had.

"Beaver," as the Welsh Lorts knew him, did not have his estate wound up for another 13 years. When the household effects were finally auctioned off they amounted to 674 lots of "Rare collection of finely carved oak, valuable old china, choice old silver, the library and valuable oil paintings and prints." ^75. Also included were several William Powell and Son rifles and dozens of stuffed creatures and assorted body parts. The library is notable for the hundreds of books. Prominent on the shelves are travel and sport books concerning all the places he had traveled to and his wife's inherited collection of Hutton books and memorabilia. A couple of years prior to the sale Assheton Smith died. Two of Lort's children each inherited 20,000 pounds. Compared to the other two sons' measly 1,000 pounds these two were able to purchase anything they wanted. Which they did and in turn eventually bequeathed the family stuff to other relations who would appreciate it. A lot of the heirlooms can still be located today.

He was laid to rest in the quiet little churchyard of Llanfair-is-gair. Near to Fron Goch, in Llanllugan church, there is a memorial to him:
"In affectionate memory . . . An eminent naturalist, a skillful surgeon and doctor, gratefully remembered, in this parish for his never-failing readiness to help sufferers." ^76.

There is no record with any registering body that he ever practiced as a surgeon. ^77. His good friend Dr. John Anthony noted however, that 'he dearly loves to do a little patronage in the physic line." ^78. Lort had written in his diary on June 25, 1884:
[in Long Hope Bay off Hoy Island] . . . "I went across the island at the request of a man who came on board to see an old woman who was ill - I had no sooner prescribed for her than other patients put in their claims to advice." ^79.

"Deep planted here lies William Lort
In person long in temper short
In youth impelled by fancy free
He left the land to stick to Sea
Until retributions whim
The land contrived to stick to him." ^80.

This mysterious missive, unsigned, was mailed in 1956 from London to William who had been dead since 1891!

"MAY THE CURSE OF THE GOD OF ABRAHAM FALL UPON THE FAMILY'LORTS' WHO MAY EVER RESIDE IN THE HOUSE NAMED 'BLEAK' IN THE COUNTY OF MONTGOMERYSHIRE AND THE VILLAGE OF CEFN COCH - THESE MEN LIVED ON THE MONEY OF A MR. SMITH AS THE PRICE OF THEIR SISTER'S HONOUR. AND MAY THE BASTARD BRANCH OF THE LORT FAMILY RISE TO FAME AND FORTUNE AND THIS SHALL COME TO PASS AS SURE AS THE SON [sic] RISES IN THE EAST AND SETS IN THE WEST. AMEN" ^81.

The published words about William Lort certainly indicate a much loved and admired Gentleman. He was a man's man, whose wife and women and children were generally treated rather unkindly and shabbily. Samuel Johnson says a Gentleman is a man raised above the vulgar by his character or post. Publicly William succeeded in being a Gentleman by this definition, but his personal mores were somewhat vulgar. The 'curse' letter, suggests there was a darker side to him which didn't measure up to the highly esteemed judgments of Lort's public Gentleman.

William Lort

A Fine Old

English Gentleman?

Jon Ackroyd

FOOTNOTES