The Astonishing Life & Times of a Waterloo Hero

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Sunday 25 January 2015

Guided tours at 2pm & 3.30pm. Adults £5 | Concessions £4. FREE parking

This is one of the first event in Nottinghamshire comemorating the Battle of Waterloo in 2015 the year of the official government endorsed Waterloo 200 Comemorative Events.

This guided tour of Kelham Hall will be informative and entertaining and reveal the real Colonel Thomas Wildman whilst also taking in the stunning Victorian Gothic architecture of the location and the family who received him as an honoured guest in 1850.

Colonel Thomas Wildman (1787-1859) was the aide-de-camp to Lord Uxbridge at Waterloo who was one of the Duke of Wellington's commanders in the famous battle against Napoleon. Wildman was present during the famous moment when Lord Uxbridge received a canon shot from the French artillery smashing into his leg causing hims to exclaim, "My God! I've lost a leg!" to which Wellington sadonically replied, "My God Sir! I do believe you have!" It was Wildman who stauched the flow of blood from Uxbridge's leg and conveyed him to the field surgeon. The leg was removed and despite no anaesthic or anteseptic Uxbridge survived. The bloodied glove and hankerchief used by Colonel Wildman is in the National Army Museum, London.

Wildman demonstrated bravery at Waterloo and in the Peninsula War and suffered a slight wound. His two brothers also took part in Waterloo, one receiving severe head and arm wounds.

Wildman after the battle purchased Newstead Abbey from his school friend, Lord Byron the poet and spent a fortune on alterations and preserving the building for future generations. Wildman's wfe, Louisa was from Switzerland. Among his friends were the great pianist Franz Listz and the American author, Washington Irving (who wrote the famous stories of, 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.'

The money that enabled Colonel Wildman to purchase Newstead Abbey and add additions and alterations to it cost in today's terms circa £5million. He inherited from his lawyer father the sugar plantations in Jamaica that were among the largest in the Caribbean. Wildman never visited his plantations since family relatives oversaw the estate. Despite his ambivalent attitude to the manner of his huge fortune he was a kindly man to all of his farmers and workers on the Newstead Abbey estate. He visited Kelham Hall as a guest of the Manners-Sutton family in 1850 aged 63.

Wildman also became the head of the Masonic Lodge in Nottingham and his close friend was a member of the Royal family - the Duke of Sussex. Wildman also headed the local Sherwood Rangers military group.

Thus you can see the many connections with Nottingham figures such as Lord Byron, the wealthy political family of Manners-Sutton in Newark, the Duke of Sussex (who was a regular guest of Wildman at Newstead Abbey) really make him such an interesting and fascinating local historical figure.