1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. And before we get 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: into today's topic, we have a little housekeeping, which is 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: to mention that we have our Stuff you Missed in 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: History Class international trip ready to go. Yep. The dates 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: for that trip are November two to the eighth, twenty 8 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: twenty four. You can sign up if you want and 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: if you want to go to the wonderful and delightful 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: country of Iceland. Very excited about Iceland. I love Iceland desperately. 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: We are going to spend time in Rayyivic, but we 12 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: are also going to vic which is where the beautiful 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: black beaches are. We are going to do some fun activities. 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: There will be glacier time. Yeah, there will be interesting 15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: fun things to eat. There will be visiting Blue Lagoon. 16 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: There will be visiting a different lagoon that's an actual lagoon, 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: lagoon with glaciers in it. Yes, we're gonna do walking tours, 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: you know. We'll see the oldest parliament site in Europe, 19 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,199 Speaker 1: which is pretty fun. We have both been in recent 20 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: years and I am obsessed with Iceland. I had the 21 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: best time in raykievic Yeah, way more than I ever anticipated. 22 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: I really fell in love with it. Yeah. We went 23 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: for our honeymoon in twenty sixteen, and our intent had 24 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: been to return for our five year anniversary, but instead 25 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: that was COVID incredibly excited about returning in November of 26 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four instead. Yeah. There will be waterfalls, There 27 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: will be I mean probably rain There are a lot 28 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: of rainbows in US. Yeah, and if if all things cooperate, 29 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: we have a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights, 30 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 1: which I did get to see completely at a random 31 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: time of year. But it was quite My understanding is 32 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: it was the Northern lights light like, it was not 33 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: as intense as it normally would be. Yeah, So it 34 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: was quite late in the season and a little surprising 35 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: that we could see them at all. So I am 36 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: very excited to go and spend time. All of these 37 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: trips are always so incredibly fun and delightful, and the 38 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: people that go with us are just as much a 39 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: part of making the experience great as anything that we 40 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: have planned for it. So if you think this sounds 41 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: interesting to you as well, you can check it out 42 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: with all the details at Defined Destinations dot com slash 43 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: Iceland twenty twenty four. You can also just go to 44 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: define Destinations dot com and they will have the Iceland 45 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,839 Speaker 1: Tour listed on their homepage that you can click into 46 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: and get all of the details, including photos of some 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: of the beautiful things we're going to see. We will 48 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: mention it several more times, but if this sounds really 49 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: interesting to you, you might want to jump on it. 50 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: If you have any specific questions about what's going to 51 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: be going on on the tour, you want to go 52 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: through Defined Destinations. Our tour organizer, Michael, who has been 53 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: with us on all of our trips, is really really 54 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: wonderful and he does all of the planning. We kind 55 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: of get the benefit of having Michael do all the 56 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: legwork so that we can just go and have fun 57 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: with all of you. So if you have questions or 58 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: need clarification on anything, that is your place to go. 59 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: And now we can hop right into today's episode. So 60 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: perhaps exactly correctly, I don't know how I stumbled across 61 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: this person. It's John Mitton. He is one of those 62 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: figures who is pretty well known in some places. He 63 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: is at times funny other times to me kind of insufferable. 64 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: He's definitely the kind of person who is like a 65 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: poster child for having more money than since Mitton is 66 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: often called an eccentric that doesn't really capture his story. 67 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 1: And despite his very wild stories of like incredibly bad 68 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: behavior in some cases, he's also something of a local 69 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: hero in the area where he lived, and I ran 70 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: across several instances of people talking about his story in 71 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: kind of a comedic way, and some of it is funny. 72 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: It's so outlandish that I can understand that approach, but 73 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 1: like in the bigger picture, if you look at his 74 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: whole life, it's also really sad in some ways. So 75 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: I also want to include a brief heads up here. 76 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: This person kept a lot of animals, but some of 77 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: his behavior towards and with those animals are things we 78 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: would consider animal cruelty. Today, we're not going to linger 79 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: on any of that, but just know if you're especially 80 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: sensitive to it, it's yucky. I'm leaving out the worst parts. 81 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sensitive to that stuff, and I think I 82 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: think we have a pretty cleaned up version of it 83 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: where you you're not going to get any any gory details. 84 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: So but heads up just as we go in the 85 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: best way to introduce John Mitton maybe to look at 86 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: how he was talked about after he was gone and 87 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:20,679 Speaker 1: people were looking at his short life as a whole. 88 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: A memoir of John Mitton that was published just after 89 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: his death, written by a friend, opens this way after 90 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: noting a similar effort by another writer, quote, as no 91 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,280 Speaker 1: subject is so interesting to man as man, I have 92 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: a good theme for my pen inasmuch as there is 93 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: one present to my mind who's equal as a private 94 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: English gentleman the world never before saw. Neither is it, 95 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: for some reasons desirable that the world should ever again see. 96 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: My only fear is that I may be deficient in 97 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: strength of pencil to draw the picture to the life 98 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: and to represent the anomaly in human nature which the 99 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: character of the late John Mitton presents, at one time 100 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: an honor to his nature, at another a satire on humanity. 101 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: What more can be done than to strike the balance 102 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: with an even hand, And as the brightness of the 103 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: sun hides its blemishes, let me hope the greater part 104 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 1: of his faults will be lost amid the virtues with 105 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: which they are mingled. At all events, my purpose is 106 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: not to hold up the torch to the failings of 107 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,840 Speaker 1: my old and never forsaken friend, my chief object being 108 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: to account for them, and leave his virtues to speak 109 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: for themselves. I owe him pity on the score of 110 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: human nature. He claims it by his own acts and deeds, 111 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: and above all by one act of him, to whose 112 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: will all men must bow, and by whom all men's 113 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: deeds will be weighed. Let not the lash of censure 114 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: then fall too heavy upon one who himself carried charity 115 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: to excess. Let the greatness of his fall be unto 116 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: him as a shield. Let it be remembered he died 117 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: in a prison, an epitome of human misery. A glance 118 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: over his history, however, may not be unprofitable. It will 119 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: point a moral if it do not adorn a tale. 120 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: So that friend who wrote that memoir titled Memoirs of 121 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: the Life of the Late John Mitton, Esquire of Halston, Shropshire, 122 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: formerly MP for Shrewsbury, hi Sheriff for the Counties of 123 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: Celup and Marioneth and Major of the North Shropshire Yeoman Recavalry, 124 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: with notices of his hunting, shooting, driving, racing, eccentric and 125 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:46,119 Speaker 1: extravagant exploits. So on one title that was The Writer 126 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: who Goes by Nimrod. His actual name was Charles James Apperley. 127 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: He was a sporting writer. He used the pen name Nimrod, 128 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: presumably after the biblical king who commissioned the Tower of Babel, 129 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: and as he noted, Apperly was a friend of John Mitton, 130 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: who was also known as mad Jack because he was 131 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: a lot. Minton is typically described as an eccentric and 132 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: a rake. His life history plays out like a William 133 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: Hogarth morality engraving on bad behavior, although Mitton was born 134 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: about one hundred years after Hogarth. I note that because 135 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: when I was first reading his stuff, I was like, wait, 136 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: did Hogarth base all of his work on him? No? 137 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: Came wait before he seems to have learned absolutely nothing 138 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: from that artist's works. When a new biography of Minton 139 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: was written more than one hundred years after he was gone, 140 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: a review of the book, which was titled mad CAP's Progress, 141 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: said this quote, mad Cap is a kindly word to 142 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 1: use for John Mitton. In his short life, he got 143 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: through an immense amount of money, did many reckless and 144 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: foolish things, and did as far as one can see 145 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: very little good to anybody. It is true that he 146 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: was popular for a time, but even in the idle 147 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: and extravagant society in which he turned, John Mitton seems 148 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: to have been regarded as a man who carried things 149 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: too far. John Minton was born on September thirtieth, seventeen 150 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: ninety six, two months premature, at Halston Hall in Shropshire, 151 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: not far from the Welsh border. His father, who was 152 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: also named John Mitton, died when his son was still 153 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: a baby, and Nimrod and other friends and biographers have 154 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: made the case over the years that his mother's inability 155 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: to say no to the young child was to some 156 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: degree the source of his eventual ruin parent blamey, but honestly, 157 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: he clearly never learned boundaries. One writer and friend going 158 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: by the name J. W. C, who published his version 159 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: of Mitton's life after his death, wrote quote, is it 160 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: a marvel that his career should be erratic whose infancy 161 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: was never subjected to restraint? The death of John Mitton 162 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: Senior left little John, who wasn't yet too incredibly wealthy. 163 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,719 Speaker 1: He was named inheritor of Halston Hall, and he got 164 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: a cash bequeathment of three hundred thousand pounds and an 165 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: annual allowance of one hundred thousand pounds. The family estate 166 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: he inherited included land in England and Wales. He was 167 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: not just given all of this as a child, of course, 168 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: the Mitten family had solicitors who looked after the fortune 169 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: until John came of age. As for schooling, he was 170 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: expelled from both Westminster and Harrow for bad behavior. As 171 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: an example of that bad behavior, he once wrote to 172 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: the chancellor at Westminster to explain that he was about 173 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: to be married and he was going to need to 174 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: have his annual allowance increase to support his wife. This 175 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,959 Speaker 1: was before he was getting that huge sum. I have 176 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: seen various amounts reported, but it was something like six 177 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: thousand pounds a year, which was a lot. The chancellor 178 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 1: replied to him, quote, sir, if you can't live on 179 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: your allowance, you may starve, and if you marry, I'll 180 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: commit you to prison. If that sounds like an extreme response, 181 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: is because Minton was enjoying far more money than anyone 182 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: else in his class. And also he was thirteen at 183 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: this time, so marriage was preposterous. And while this was 184 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: kind of a pretty benign prank to basically make the 185 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: case to the Chancellor Westminster that he needed more money, 186 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 1: and I guess he wanted him to intercede with his family. 187 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,320 Speaker 1: This was apparently the kind of thing he did constantly, 188 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: which led to a lot of ongoing friction with the Chancellor. 189 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: There is even a story that this kind of culminated 190 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: in him putting a horse in the Chancellor's bed and 191 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: that that was the final straw. I don't know if 192 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: that's a true story or not. He did move on 193 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: to higher education though, and enrolled at Cambridge, but that 194 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: didn't hold his attention and he decided to try a 195 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: military career. He joined a local volunteer regiment in Oswistree 196 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: when he was sixteen, then moved to the Shropshire Yeomanry 197 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: Cavalry after a reorganization that folded in his prior unit. 198 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: To be clear, this was a part time commitment and 199 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: it did not stop Mitton from taking a grand tour 200 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: of Europe, which was a custom for wealthy young men 201 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: at the time. Yeah, he definitely had an attention issue 202 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: and it was like I'm going to do this. Wait now, 203 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: I want to go on a ground tour and then 204 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: when he was nineteen, Mitton went to France to join 205 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,800 Speaker 1: the seventh Husser Cavalry in the Napoleonic Wars. The fighting 206 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: was pretty much over by the time he got there, 207 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: although he was reportedly, according to some accounts, writing with 208 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: them when that regiment joined the Army of Occupation. And 209 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 1: although this was a brief foray into a military career, 210 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: Mitton apparently talked about it for the rest of his life. 211 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: According to an account written by a friend other than Nimrod, quote, 212 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: he used to talk of those days with rapture. I 213 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: remember while at breakfast in his drawing room he took 214 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: from a wardrobe a uniform jacket of the seventh and 215 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: holding it before me, he exclaimed, Ah, if this old 216 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: skin could speak, as the Swan of Avon say, it 217 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: could a tail unfold. We mentioned that John Mitton was 218 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: in France after most of the actual action of the 219 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: war was done, so he found other ways to amuse himself, 220 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: which were mostly exactly the sorts of things that a 221 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: spoiled rich kid would be expected to do. To give 222 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: a sense of the reckless lifestyle that Mitton engaged in 223 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: from a young age during his time in France, he 224 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:30,079 Speaker 1: lost a billiard's bet so extravagant that it was talked 225 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: about in sporting circles for years. In one match of billiards, 226 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:38,079 Speaker 1: he lost ten thousand pounds. That is a lot. Today 227 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: we always talk about how converting currency over such a 228 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: stretch of time is really guesswork at bests, but the 229 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,240 Speaker 1: UK National Archives converter puts that at close to six 230 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: hundred thousand pounds in modern value, So no wonder this 231 00:13:56,280 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 1: became legendary. Yeah, on one billiard's match. He also got 232 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: into a lot of fights, seemingly for fun. Mitton was, 233 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: by all accounts naturally very strong and courageous to an 234 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: almost stupid degree. He was not a skilled fighter, but 235 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: he was powerful enough that he often won fights despite 236 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: his own clumsiness, and was robust enough that he was 237 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: able to easily shake off the ones he lost. His 238 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: friend Nimrod wrote of his incredibly hearty nature quote, never 239 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: was constitution so murdered as mister Mitten's was. For what 240 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: but one of adamant could have withstood the shocks independent 241 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: of wine, to which it was almost daily exposed. His 242 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: dress alone would have caused the death of nine hundred 243 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: of one thousand men who passed one part of the 244 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: day and night in a state of luxury and warmth. 245 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: He never wore any but the thinnest and finest silk stockings, 246 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: with very thin boots or shoes, so that in winter 247 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: he rarely had dry feet. To flannel, he was a 248 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: stranger since he left off his petticoats. Even his hunting 249 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: breeches were without lining. He wore one small waistcoat, all 250 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: was open in the front from about the second of 251 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: the lower buttons, and about home he was as often 252 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: without his hat as with one. His winter shooting gear 253 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: was a light jacket, white linen trousers without lining, our 254 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: drawers of which he knew not the use, and in 255 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: frost and snow he waded through all water that came 256 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: in his way. Minton may not seem like the type 257 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: to start a family based on these descriptions, but he did, 258 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: and we will talk about that right after we pause 259 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: or a sponsor break. After leaving the army and returning 260 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: home to England, Minton got married to a young woman 261 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: named Harriet Emma Jones on May twenty first, eighteen eighteen, 262 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: at Saint George's Hanover Square. Harriet was, like John, from 263 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: a family of means. Her father was Baronet Sir Thomas 264 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: Cherwitt Jones. The couple had a daughter a year into 265 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: the marriage, but Harriet died after an illness in eighteen twenty. 266 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: During his marriage, Mitton ran for MP as a Tory 267 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: and was elected to Parliament to represent Shrewsbury. He was 268 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: twenty three at the time. This role got even less 269 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: attention and discipline than his other endeavors. He reportedly spent 270 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: exactly thirty minutes in the House of Commons before he 271 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: got bored and left and never came back. Yeah, and 272 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: he may have purchased those votes, like he may have 273 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: promised everyone who voted for him ten pounds. That's one 274 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: version of how he got elected. The year after Harriet's death, 275 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: Mitton became interested in Caroline Mallett Gifford, the seventeen year 276 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: old sister of one of his friends, and he suggested 277 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: a marriage to Caroline's mother, Lady Charlotte Gifford. This was 278 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: something that was actually pretty difficult to decide for the 279 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: Gifford family. John was good friends with the family and 280 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: they adored him. A lot of people seem to really 281 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: love him, but there had also been a lot of 282 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: unsavory rumors about him mistreating Harriet during their short marriage, 283 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: and he already had a reputation as a rake who 284 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: had little regard for money. When his friend Charles Apperly 285 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: was asked by Caroline's mother if he would marry off 286 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: his own daughter to Mitton, his reply was quote, in 287 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: my opinion, Lady Charlotte, mister Minton has no business with 288 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: a wife at all. But should he marry your daughter, Caroline, 289 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,360 Speaker 1: there is a greater prospect of his making a good 290 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 1: husband to her than any other woman in the whole world. 291 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,719 Speaker 1: The wedding went ahead and the couple were married in 292 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: October of eighteen twenty one. In the beginning of the marriage, 293 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,719 Speaker 1: they do seem to have been doing all right. Caroline 294 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,040 Speaker 1: is described by Mitton's friends as being an incredibly good 295 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: wife who did seem to love her husband. That eventually changed, though. 296 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: The couple had five children together from eighteen twenty two 297 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: to eighteen twenty seven. These were Barbara John, Charles Euphrates, 298 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:10,159 Speaker 1: and William John. Was Sheriff of Mariannath in Wales starting 299 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty one. You will also see him reported 300 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: as high sheriff for shrupture, and he was, but that 301 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: was after he served his first high sheriff role for 302 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 1: two years. And to be clear, he was not really 303 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: a lawman. This is a little bit, you know, one 304 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: of those things where the words mean different things, because 305 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: by this point that title was largely ceremonial, but it 306 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: did lend an air of respectability to Mitton, at least 307 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: for a time. After that, he seems to have thrown 308 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: himself headlong into amusements. One of his very favorites was 309 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 1: fox hunting. In that earlier quote we read about his clothes, 310 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,719 Speaker 1: it mentioned how he would completely disregard any kind of 311 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: normal human needs for being out in the brush chasing 312 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: down foxes or other prey. It seems as though hunting, 313 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: like box was something that he did with more enthusiasm 314 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: than skill. He had done it since he was a boy. 315 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 1: But he seemed to actually love when things went wrong 316 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: as much or even more maybe than when things went right. 317 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 1: He got injured pretty frequently and did not seem to mind. 318 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: Just about every account written by people who knew him 319 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: notes that he never even complained when he had injuries, 320 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: like broken ribs after being thrown from a horse. Yeah, 321 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: there are. I don't even dozens, at least his stories 322 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: about him like going out hunting and his clothes get 323 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: torn in the brush, so he just keeps hunting naked, 324 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: and he doesn't even care that it's cold or you know, 325 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: getting swacked by something while he's out, and he just 326 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: keeps going. He definitely had a high tolerance for discomfort. 327 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: He also loved, loved, loved a bet. Horse racing was 328 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: an especially engaging sport for him. It was one in 329 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: which he loved to wager. We mentioned earlier than he 330 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,400 Speaker 1: had a son named Euphrates. That child was not named 331 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: for the river. He was named after a race horse 332 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: that Minton owned that won a lot of races and 333 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: continued to compete until that horse was thirteen. Just as 334 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: with his other enthusiasms, though Minton didn't really know a 335 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: lot about horses, he was an excellent rider and he 336 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: knew them really well in that way, and he would 337 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: spend a lot of money to purchase a horse if 338 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,199 Speaker 1: someone he trusted recommended it. But he didn't know anything 339 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 1: about breeding. So while he had a stable that was 340 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: incredibly large and could have potentially produced a lineage of champions, 341 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,400 Speaker 1: he never managed it like he never got that part 342 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: of it together, which a normal person would do if 343 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,159 Speaker 1: you were making those investments. He also apparently had a 344 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: similar problem with the hounds that he used for fox hunting. 345 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: At one point had said he had two thousand dogs, 346 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 1: but he never put a breeding program together. That's so 347 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: many dogs. It's so many dogs. He had so many 348 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: of everything. As a young man, Mitton is said to 349 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: have drunk six bottles of port every day. As he aged, 350 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: he switched from drinking port to drinking brandy, but the 351 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: volume that he consumed remained the same. And there are 352 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,959 Speaker 1: innumerable tales of Mitten's intense and careless behavior, some of 353 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: which was surely the result of drinking all that alcohol. 354 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,160 Speaker 1: His friend Nimrod wrote to this behavior, quote that John 355 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: Mitton saw his thirty eighth year must either be attributed 356 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,679 Speaker 1: to the good genius that accompanied him or to the 357 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: signal interposition of providence. For scarcely a day passed over 358 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,159 Speaker 1: his head in which he did not put his life 359 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: to the hazard. Some of his escapes indeed border closely 360 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,960 Speaker 1: on the miraculous, but it would fill a volume were 361 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,640 Speaker 1: I to enumerate them. How often has he been run 362 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 1: away with by horses in gigs, how often struggling in 363 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: deep water without being able to swim. How was it 364 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,919 Speaker 1: that he did not get torn into peace? Is in 365 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: the countless street broils in which he was engaged. And lastly, 366 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: how did he avoid being shot in a duel? The 367 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: latter question is soon answered he never fought one. Nimrod 368 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: goes on to say that while Mitton loved a brawl, 369 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: he had a rather gentle spirit and never could have 370 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: fired on a man if he was called to in 371 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: one of these wild stories. This is like one of 372 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: the most famous. He was riding with a friend in 373 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: a gig, and he asked that friend if he had 374 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: ever been hurt by a gig flipping over, And when 375 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 1: the friend said he had not he had never been 376 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: in such an accident, Minton suggested that he had not 377 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: really lived unless he had had that experience, And then 378 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: he purposely and violently wrecked the gig that they were 379 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 1: in by running one of the wheels up a steep embankment, 380 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: so it flipped. Luckily, both of the men walked away 381 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,439 Speaker 1: from that incident. On another occasion, Mitton was testing a 382 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: horse he was considering buying by running him in tandem 383 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,679 Speaker 1: in front of an another horse that was attached to 384 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: a gig. But as they were traveling, he started wondering 385 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: if this new horse could jump, and gave him a 386 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: whip on the flank as they approached a gate. This 387 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: horse cleared the jump, but the second horse, Mitten, and 388 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 1: the horse dealer were all left behind with the gig 389 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,440 Speaker 1: in the process. He also liked to do a trick 390 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: with one of his horses that was basically the gig 391 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: equivalent of popping a wheelie. So on command, the horse 392 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: would rear up while attached to this gig. The cart 393 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: would then tip back until the back touched the ground. 394 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: When it came to money, he was not only cavalier 395 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: about spending it, but also about handling it at all. 396 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:45,200 Speaker 1: This sounds completely bananas, so brace he has said to 397 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: have put high denomination pound notes on sandwiches and eat them. 398 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: Given how dirty money is, we always see these discussions 399 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,640 Speaker 1: about if you test a bill of money, that makes 400 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: me completely nauseous. It's disgusting. Also left money lying everywhere everywhere. 401 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,480 Speaker 1: Apparently he didn't like paper currency. People who visited Halston 402 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,159 Speaker 1: Hall would often find it just on the ground or 403 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: in bushes. It's unclear nobody knows to this day whether 404 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,439 Speaker 1: he was dropping money accidentally because he was just so 405 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: completely casual about handling things, or if he purposely was 406 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:24,479 Speaker 1: throwing it on the ground because of his disdain for it. 407 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 1: And then there's the bear. Mitten had a pet bear, 408 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: as much as one can have a pet bear. He 409 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: purchased this bear, along with a monkey, for thirty five 410 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,520 Speaker 1: pounds when both of them were quite young, and raised 411 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: them in the house. He also had a horse that 412 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 1: routinely slept in the house, as well as innumerable dogs. 413 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 1: We just mentioned the extraordinary number of dogs. He's said 414 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: to have ridden this bear, using spurs to drive it 415 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,439 Speaker 1: into the middle of one of his parties while yelling 416 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: tally hoe. His guests were panicked, and rightly so. This 417 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,399 Speaker 1: bear is described in this incident as pretty calm until 418 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 1: Mitton got her with a spur, at which point the 419 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:12,200 Speaker 1: bear whipped around and bit Mitton right through his calf. 420 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:17,400 Speaker 1: Minton thought this was hilarious, even though he was seriously wounded. 421 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,640 Speaker 1: At one point, he also got a horse dealer drunk, 422 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: and when the man passed out, Mitton put him to 423 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: bed with the bear and two bulldogs, and he liked 424 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: to have dogfights in the dining room to entertain guests 425 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: while they ate. Yeah, he he had boundary issues. When 426 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: a horse dealer named George Underhill visited Mitton in search 427 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: of money that he was owed, Mitton gave him a 428 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,640 Speaker 1: sealed letter with instructions to take it to an address 429 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: in Shrewsbury to see a banker who would give him 430 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: the money. This is basically an order of payment, but 431 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: that banker was also a governor in the Lunatic Assylum, 432 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,639 Speaker 1: as it was called, and the note was not in 433 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: order for payment, but a letter which read quote admit 434 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: the bearer, George Underhill, into the Lunatic Asylum, your obedient servant, 435 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: John Minton. It appears that the banker knew this was 436 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,439 Speaker 1: a joke and George Underhill was not in any real danger. 437 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,199 Speaker 1: But oh Man and Minton also could be kind in 438 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:24,679 Speaker 1: his own way. He was lenient with the tenants on 439 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: his land when they struggled financially. He gave away grain 440 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: so people could eat. He would borrow money only to 441 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: give it or lend it to someone else, and he 442 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,679 Speaker 1: often got in hot water because the recipient would vanish 443 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 1: with no intention of repayment. Coming up, we're going to 444 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: talk about how Minton's life shifted considerably to one far 445 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: less grand. But first we will pause for a sponsor break. 446 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 1: Minton's cavalier attitude about my me, both in spending it 447 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: for his own amusements and in giving it to others, 448 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: led to his great fortune dwindling away. And as this 449 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: happened and his drinking became more and more problematic, his 450 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: behavior with his wife Caroline became unkind. In the stilted 451 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: writing of the day, it is never spelled out exactly 452 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: what happened between them. The Nimrod biography we've been talking 453 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 1: about includes the information that Caroline confided in the writer 454 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 1: about it once quote recounting some of his acts which 455 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: only a madman would have committed, But it doesn't state 456 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 1: what any of those acts were, only that from the 457 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: biographer and friend's point of view, quote, were my life 458 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,199 Speaker 1: to endure a thousand years? I could never lose my 459 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: recollection unless I lost my reason. Of that distressing scene, 460 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,719 Speaker 1: Caroline left Mitton in eighteen thirty. She's often described as 461 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: running away, and the two of them never reconciled. By 462 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: this point, Mitton had accrued a massive debt, and he 463 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: had started selling off property to meet his obligations. But 464 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: in the wake of Caroline's exit, he decided he might 465 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: once again like to attempt to run for parliament, this 466 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 1: time representing Shropshire. His first address to the voters was 467 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:20,719 Speaker 1: as follows, quote, Gentlemen, domestic affliction of no slight or 468 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,240 Speaker 1: common nature has latterly limited my intercourse with you. My 469 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: wishes for the prosperity of my native country have ever 470 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: in absence held their usual sway, Having once had the 471 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,719 Speaker 1: honor of representing your county town in Parliament. Feeling that 472 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 1: various avocations precluded the conscientious performance of my duty to 473 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 1: my constituents, I declined the representation that the dissolution of 474 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: that parliament. I have now no wife, no family, no hounds, 475 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: no horses. Some will say no steadiness of purpose. But 476 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: feeling that I can devote myself to your service, should 477 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: you honor me with your support and confidence, I venture 478 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 1: to offer myself to your notice as a candidate for 479 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: the county, totally unshackled by prejudice or otherwise, and a 480 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: strenuous advocate for reform, Relying upon the strength of the cause. 481 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,479 Speaker 1: I shall advocate, I throw myself upon your favor, and 482 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: shall assuredly take the sense of the county. I shall 483 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: look to the vote of every independent freeholder, without making 484 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: further professions. Uh. He did not win the seat. It 485 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 1: was not long after that Mitton fled his creditors, landing 486 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 1: eventually in France and Calais, specifically where he had spent 487 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: most of his brief military career. When his friend Apperly 488 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: saw him there, he found Mitten to be a much 489 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 1: changed man. He described him as quote a round shouldered, decrepit, tottering, 490 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 1: old young man, if I may be allowed such a term. 491 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 1: There was a mind as well as a body in ruins. 492 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: The one had partaken of the injury done to the other, 493 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: and it was and at once apparent that all was 494 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: a wreck. In fact, he was a melancholy spectacle of 495 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,840 Speaker 1: fallen man, of one over whom all the storms of 496 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 1: life seemed to be engendered in one dark cloud. But 497 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: Minton didn't seem dejected or sad, and he seemed to 498 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: think his finances were on the brink of turning around. 499 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,360 Speaker 1: But Apperley saw through all of this, and he noted 500 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: to Mitton's valet and their mutual friends that he feared 501 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: that John may quote either go mad or die, and 502 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: very shortly too. Mitton's behavior was as erratic as ever 503 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: in France, and sometimes even more so. In an infamous story, 504 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: he set fire to his night shirt in an effort 505 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: to scare his hiccups away. When Apperly asked him why 506 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: he did such a thing, he said quote that he 507 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: wished to show me how he could bear pain. According 508 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: to Apperley's account, he drank even more heavily to medicate 509 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: as he was badly burned. In this episode. His doctor 510 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 1: thought he could die at any moment, but he somehow recovered, 511 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: at least physically. But in the Nimrod biography, Applely described 512 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 1: spending days with Mitten as he behaved in ways that 513 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:16,400 Speaker 1: were just inscrutable and sometimes terrifying. This included an incident 514 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: where he took six knives into bed, believed to be 515 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: with the intent of self harm. His mother and his 516 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: friends went to great lengths to nurse him back to health. 517 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 1: They eventually moved him to a chateau in the country, 518 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: where he very much improved, both physically and mentally, until 519 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 1: he escaped from his friends and managed to get his 520 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,080 Speaker 1: hands on a bottle of brandy. Eventually he was able 521 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: to connect with some of the less noble characters he 522 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,440 Speaker 1: had been associating with in his Calaet circle, who thought 523 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,960 Speaker 1: they should take him back to England so they could 524 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: sign over his remaining property to them. Yeah, he had 525 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: clearly fallen in with people that wanted to take advantage 526 00:31:54,880 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: of his not robust and healthy state of mind. Of course, 527 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: once he was back in England, Mitton was arrested and 528 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 1: he was taken first to Shrewsbury Jail and then to 529 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: the King's Bench Prison, which was a debtor's prison in London. 530 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: He was released after serving his sentence, and right after 531 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: that he met up on Westminster Bridge with a young 532 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: woman that he had never seen before named Susan, and 533 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: right there, at the moment they met, he told her 534 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 1: he would give her five hundred pounds a year if 535 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: she stayed with him, and she did. This is a 536 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: weird thing. Sometimes it's described as he fell in love 537 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: with her at first sight, but it honestly reads as 538 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: just something of like a lonely desperate person. But she 539 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: is described by his friends as being incredibly kind to Mitton. 540 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,280 Speaker 1: She even kind of won the favor of his mother, 541 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: who thanked her later on for having been so invested 542 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,560 Speaker 1: in caring for him. The two of them left for France. 543 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,720 Speaker 1: He was then arrested in France for his debts. Once 544 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: he was released from his prison time there, he went 545 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: back to England and then he was back in King's 546 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 1: Bench prison almost immediately. John Mitton died in prison on 547 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: March twenty ninth, eighteen thirty four, at the age of 548 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: thirty seven. A coroner's inquest was called to determine his 549 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 1: cause of death. According to the notice in the Gloucester Chronicle, quote, 550 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: two medical attendants stated that the immediate cause of death 551 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 1: was disease of the brain delirium tremens caused by the 552 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: excessive use of spiritust liquors, verdict natural death. Mitton's mother 553 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,520 Speaker 1: was with him when he died and arranged for his 554 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 1: remains to be buried at the Halston property. Three thousand 555 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,719 Speaker 1: people attended his burial at the family crypt, and the 556 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 1: shops in Shrewsbury were closed that day in his honor. 557 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 1: As a coda to John Mitton's story, in The Standard 558 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 1: Newspaper of London in nineteen hundred, a reader wrote in 559 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:54,920 Speaker 1: regarding an encounter they had had with his son some 560 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: years earlier. This letter to the editor included the setup 561 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: that he'd the writer and a friend had dined one 562 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: evening at the Bedford Hotel, but at the end of 563 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,080 Speaker 1: the meal they found that they were short on the bill, 564 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 1: and the manager was kind enough to overlook the small gap. 565 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,880 Speaker 1: It wasn't a big a big short on the bill, 566 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:14,720 Speaker 1: but they did have to move out of the fancy 567 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 1: or private dining room and into the coffee room, which 568 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:20,879 Speaker 1: was a little less fancy, and there they met John 569 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,759 Speaker 1: Minton junior. He, according to this account, bought them each 570 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: oranges from the waiter, and then gave each of them 571 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,800 Speaker 1: half a sovereign for pocket money. And then he left. 572 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 1: And the writer of this tale, identified as SFH, said 573 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: they heard that he had just ridden a horse up 574 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 1: a flight of hotel stairs on a wager, without injury 575 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:43,959 Speaker 1: to himself or the horse. This account summarizes this entire 576 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 1: incident by saying, quote, though he had a kind heart, 577 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 1: he was not free from his father's faults and follies, 578 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: nor I fear did he escape from the ruinous results 579 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 1: which were the natural consequence that story, incidentally about riding 580 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,000 Speaker 1: a horse up the hotel stairs is something that his 581 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,640 Speaker 1: father definitely did. It is a little unclear whether his 582 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 1: son repeated that same act or if this was a 583 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 1: confusion of local lore on the writer's part since they 584 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: were both named John Mitton. But this does kind of 585 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 1: explain why he has this strange hero status because everyone 586 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 1: recognizes that he was completely out of control, that he 587 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:25,279 Speaker 1: also had this desire and proclivity to be kind to 588 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,840 Speaker 1: people when he could, and apparently his son was also 589 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: similarly living his life. I have so many thoughts about 590 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:38,160 Speaker 1: him that we could talk about on the behind the scenes. Okay, 591 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,719 Speaker 1: I have a listener mail from our listener, Shanila. I 592 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:45,799 Speaker 1: hope that's how she pronounces it. I live next to 593 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,359 Speaker 1: someone with this name growing up who pronounced it that way, 594 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,000 Speaker 1: so if I got it wrong, I apologize. Schwritz Hi 595 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:53,719 Speaker 1: Alian Tracy. I discovered your podcast several years ago and 596 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: have been intermittently listening to episodes in any quiet moment 597 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,239 Speaker 1: when my kids weren't around. Now that the youngest in 598 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,759 Speaker 1: full time non virtual school, I am starting at the 599 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:05,440 Speaker 1: beginning and working my way through all your old episodes. 600 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,399 Speaker 1: I recently listened to the one about how a war 601 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,280 Speaker 1: between Canada and the US was almost started over a pig, 602 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,879 Speaker 1: and was delighted to hear Holly mentioned she had lived 603 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,000 Speaker 1: in the pew wall Up, Tacoma area as a child. 604 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 1: Qe all Up is my hometown, and it brings me 605 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 1: so much joy to hear of someone else from here, 606 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,799 Speaker 1: especially someone I listened to and admire. Several years ago, 607 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: I moved to my husband's hometown of Boise, Idaho, and 608 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,400 Speaker 1: I deeply missed the Pacific Northwest. Thank you for the 609 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,480 Speaker 1: unexpected smile you gave me. My husband and I are 610 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:35,240 Speaker 1: regular watchers of Jeopardy, and I feel compelled to suggest 611 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: that you both should apply to be on the show. 612 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,280 Speaker 1: Hardly an episode goes by that I don't say, oh, 613 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:42,560 Speaker 1: I know that I just listened to this history podcast 614 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 1: about it, regarding at least one clue if I am 615 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 1: ever on Jeopardy and when it will be because of 616 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:52,160 Speaker 1: your podcast. She mentions another interesting story we might talk about, 617 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,840 Speaker 1: and then some sum mates by saying, thank you always 618 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,399 Speaker 1: for being so delightful. We don't have any pets because 619 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,239 Speaker 1: keeping four children alive is all I can handle. They 620 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,000 Speaker 1: are pretty cute, even if they're not free, so I 621 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,400 Speaker 1: attached a picture of them. Cheers. I'm so so delighted 622 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 1: that you have this beautiful family. I kind of wanted 623 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:11,320 Speaker 1: to say this to say I could never be on Jeopardy. 624 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: I choke in the moment of being questioned. I have 625 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 1: taken the Jeopardy test a couple times and didn't pass it. Yeah. 626 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:21,120 Speaker 1: I would be like, I don't know about that, but 627 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:22,879 Speaker 1: do you want to hear about this other weird thing 628 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,000 Speaker 1: I know? And then they'd be like, no, man, please 629 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:31,440 Speaker 1: go away. But you know, always good to hear someone 630 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,720 Speaker 1: from pewall Up. People in pewall Up don't tam they rest. 631 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,879 Speaker 1: That's one of the many slogans you can usually find 632 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:41,840 Speaker 1: on a T shirt there. I too miss the Pacific Northwest. 633 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,480 Speaker 1: It's so beautiful and I love it so I hope 634 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,839 Speaker 1: you get to visit often and take your kids. If 635 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:48,400 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can do 636 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,880 Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can 637 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:54,400 Speaker 1: also find us on social media as Missed in History, 638 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,000 Speaker 1: and if you have not yet subscribed, that is easy 639 00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: as pie to do. Just do it on the iHeartRadio 640 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: app or anywhere else you listen to your favorite shows. 641 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:09,840 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 642 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:14,799 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 643 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:16,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.