The First Duke and Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne — Background and Themes

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Authors: Longueville, Thomas, 1844-1922 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2020 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Newcastle, William Cavendish, Duke of, 1592-1676; Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of, 1624?-1674; Great Britain -- History -- 1625-1676 Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 74,728

Reading time 325 min

Text sections 30

For The First Duke and Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne — Background and Themes, the stored edition analysis reports 74,728 words, 5 hr 25 min estimated reading time, and 30 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 24.9 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Newcastle, William Cavendish, Duke of, 1592-1676,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #62091

Thomas Longueville's dual biography of William and Margaret Cavendish assembles contemporary documents and letters to trace their lives through the Civil War and Restoration, with a distinctive editorial method that lets sources speak directly.

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Clarendon’s _History_ and the Duchess’s biography—Pepys—Family history—A wonderful grandmother—Boyhood—Hobbes—Wotten—The Court of Savoy—Said to have been disliked by Buckingham—Marriage 1

Raised to the peerage—Purchases of peerages—Correspondence with Buckingham—Cousin Pierrepont—Created Earl of Newcastle—Money-squeezing—Newcastle’s rent-roll—Letters among the Portland MSS. 12

Personality of Newcastle—Charles I goes to Scotland—Dinner to the King at Welbeck—Wentworth made Lord Deputy in Ireland—Correspondence about the post of Governor to the Prince of Wales—The King stays at Welbeck—Newcastle discouraged in London—Letters to his wife 22

Appointed Governor to the Prince of Wales—His pupil will not take his medicine—Advice of the Governor to the pupil—Resigns the Governorship—Sir Walter Scott on the Prince’s Governors—Hampden, Prynne and others—Expedition against the Scots—Newcastle’s troop of gentlemen—Quarrel with Lord Holland—Letter from Sir John Suckling 34

Fears of civil war—The Short Parliament—Awkward position of Strafford—Conway—The King goes to York—The Long Parliament—Executions of Strafford and Laud—The Queen—Suckling’s plot—Threatened impeachment of the Queen—The five members—The King leaves London—Charles appoints Newcastle Governor of Hull—The Parliament appoints Sir John Hotham Governor of Hull—Newcastle summoned to London by the Parliament—Sir John Hotham—The King goes to Hull—Newcastle appointed to the command of the four northern counties, and made governor of the city of Newcastle 50

Charles raises his standard at Nottingham—Appointment of Fairfax as Newcastle’s opponent—Sedition in Durham—Newcastle raises an army—Weapons of the period—Supplies sent by the King of Denmark—Army of the North—Insurrection in Yorkshire—Newcastle goes to York—A battle _à la_ Don Quixote—Winter quarters—Newcastle as a General 64

The General of Infantry—The General of Cavalry—The General of Artillery—Tadcaster—Correspondence with Hotham—Propositions of Parliament—Objections to Catholics in Newcastle’s army—The Parliament specially excepts Newcastle in case of a general amnesty—The coming of the Queen to Yorkshire 75

Boynton Hall—The Queen carries off the plate—Sir Hugh Cholmley—Position of the Hothams—Hotham tells Newcastle that he is being traduced at Court—Cholmley’s Memorials of the Hothams 86

Goring’s victory at Bramham Moor—Goring’s defeat at Wakefield—Newcastle takes Rotherham, Sheffield and Howley House—Newcastle’s great victory at Adderton Moor—Newcastle contemplates going South to the assistance of the King—He is created a Marquess—He besieges Hull—The King wishes him to go to the South—Newcastle raises the siege of Hull 99

Newcastle goes to Chesterfield, and from thence to Bolsover and Welbeck—News of an approaching Scottish invasion—Newcastle encounters it at Newcastle—A battle—Skirmishes—A dispatch of Newcastle’s—Disaster to some of Newcastle’s troops at Selby—He retreats to York—Asks to be relieved of his command—A letter from Charles—Hume on Newcastle 113

An army comes from Ireland to relieve the Royalists—It relieves their enemies—Newcastle besieged at York—He sends Goring with his cavalry to manœuvre in the adjoining counties—Attacks, counterattacks, and sallies, at York—Newcastle appeals to the King for reinforcements—Progress of the siege of York—Newcastle asks the conditions of surrender—The army of the Associated Counties—The Earl of Manchester—Oliver Cromwell—State Papers about the proceedings of Goring’s horse—State Papers about the siege of York 124

Newcastle’s feeling towards Rupert—Rupert reaches York—Problems before each army—Councils of war—Retirement of the enemy—Return of the enemy—Marston Moor—Soldiers refuse to fight until paid—The order of battle—Ill-feeling between Ethyn and Rupert—Psalm-singing and preaching—Rest, a pipe, and a sleep 137

Opening of the battle of Marston Moor—Newcastle in the fight—Success of his horse on the left wing—Reports of a Royalist victory spread throughout the country—Success of the Roundhead horse on their own left—Action of Cromwell—Heroism of Newcastle’s Whitecoats—Defeat 148

Newcastle determines to fly the country—His journey—His condition at Hamburg—Clarendon’s opinion of his flight—Surrender of York—Quarrels among the Parliamentary Generals—Manchester visits Welbeck—Death of Lady Newcastle—Letters from Hamburg—Borrowing money—Journey to Paris—Meets Margaret Lucas 162

Margaret Lucas—A duel—A perfect family—Love-letters—Opposition by the Queen—Marriage—Six per cent—Raising the wind 174

The Queen shows favour to Newcastle—A regal snub—Henrietta gives Newcastle £2000—He keeps a large stud—His creditors’ tender farewell—Rotterdam—Antwerp—More borrowing—Lady Newcastle sent to England to raise money—Execution of Charles I—Literary tastes of Lady Newcastle—She returns to her husband—The starving man has a large stud—Death of Sir Charles Cavendish—Correspondence of Newcastle—Calls himself Prince 190

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Longueville opens his preface with a disarming confession: he does not claim to have written a book, but rather to have invited his reader to an armchair in his study, placing before them a succession of open volumes and manuscript copies. This conceit is not mere modesty; it announces a method that governs the entire work. The biography proceeds by assembling contemporary testimony—letters, memoirs, official papers—with the author acting as a guide who occasionally offers introductory or retrospective remarks. The reader is thus positioned as a witness to the evidence, not a passive recipient of a finished narrative.

The excerpts reveal how this method shapes the account of the Battle of Marston Moor. Longueville departs from his usual practice of letting witnesses speak for themselves, acknowledging that the accounts are so conflicting that he must attempt to give the substance of the story after studying various authorities. This rare intervention highlights the tension between his stated method and the demands of coherent storytelling.

A Method of Open Volumes

Longueville's preface establishes a distinctive editorial stance. He describes his labour as placing in the reader's hands a succession of open volumes and copies of manuscripts containing passages that throw light on the lives of the Duke and Duchess. This is not a conventional biography but a curated archive. The author's remarks are described as easily skipped at will, suggesting that the primary material is meant to speak for itself. The preface also notes assistance from Walter Herries Pollock, hinting at collaborative scholarship. This method has a signal advantage: if it fails to attract the reader, it succeeds in affording an object for reading to the writer. The self-deprecating tone belies a serious historiographical approach, one that prioritises documentary evidence over narrative fluency.

Marston Moor: The Limits of Testimony

The account of Marston Moor in Chapter XIII exemplifies the challenges of Longueville's method. He notes that the accounts of the battle are so conflicting that, for once, he departs from his usual custom of making his witnesses speak for themselves. Instead, he attempts to give the substance of the story after studying various and very varying authorities. This explicit acknowledgment of conflicting sources is rare in Victorian biography. The narrative that follows is built from multiple perspectives: Clarendon's history, the Duchess's biography, and local histories like Leadman's Battles Fought in Yorkshire. Longueville even speculates about the soldiers' language, wondering whether Roundhead warriors remembered Cromwell's ban on bad language when it came to push of pike. Such asides reveal the author's engagement with the texture of the past.

The Pipe and the Sleep: Anecdotal Detail

A striking anecdote recurs in the excerpts: Newcastle, after a long anxious day, returns to his coach, lights his pipe, and falls asleep on the cushions. Longueville cites Leadman and notes that Clarendon gives a rather different account of the pipe incident. This small detail becomes a focal point for the author's method. The pipe and the sleep are not merely colourful; they are evidence of Newcastle's exhaustion and the human reality behind military command. Longueville then describes the sensation of being suddenly disturbed after deep sleep, comparing it to the bewilderment and languor Newcastle must have felt when awakened by the noise of battle. This psychological speculation is grounded in the anecdotal record, showing how the author uses specific evidence to reconstruct subjective experience.

Voices of the Participants

The excerpts include direct speech from Newcastle himself. At Marston Moor, he calls out to gentleman volunteers: Gentlemen, You have done me the Honour to choose me your Captain, and now is the fittest time that I may do you service; wherefore if you'll follow me I shall lead you on the best I can, and show you the way to your own Honour. This quotation, preserved in the Duchess's biography or other sources, gives the reader access to Newcastle's voice in a moment of crisis. Longueville also includes verse from Scott's Rokeby to evoke the atmosphere: Would'st hear the tale? On Marston Heath / Met, front to front, the ranks of Death. The juxtaposition of primary quotation, literary allusion, and authorial commentary is characteristic of the work's layered texture. The reader is constantly moving between different registers of evidence.

Longueville's biography rewards readers who enjoy working with sources rather than consuming a finished narrative. The excerpts suggest that the most valuable approach is to attend to the documents themselves—the letters, the conflicting battle accounts, the quoted speeches—and to observe how the author negotiates between them. The preface's invitation to an armchair in the study is literal: this is a book to be read with a critical eye, weighing evidence and noting where the author intervenes. For those interested in the Cavendishes or Civil War historiography, the work offers a rich case study in nineteenth-century biographical method.

Leafing through Longueville’s quiet curation of William and Margaret’s letters, I remembered sitting with Sketches and Tales Illustrative of Life in the Backwoods of New Brunswick Gleaned from Actual Observation and Experience During a Residence of Seven Years in That — Context and Discussion last winter. Both books let the raw voices carry the weight. I stopped annotating. There is a particular warmth in watching strangers endure, their own words unfiltered, like someone speaking softly across centuries.