Herbert Stocker
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Herbert Stocker (abt. 1750 - 1833)

Herbert Stocker
Born about in Clewer, Berkshire, Englandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 28 Sep 1788 in Parish Church, Windsor, Berkshire, Englandmap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 83 in Clewer, Berkshire, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 26 Jul 2023
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Contents

Biography

Introduction

Herbert Stocker or Herbertus Stockhore, the son of Thomas Stocker and Beatrix Stevens, was baptised at Clewer St Andrew on 14th October 1750.[1] He was variously a soldier, labourer, builder and poet.

Early working life

A printed copy of one of his supposed poems (see below) describes him as follows:

The Loyal Windsor & Eton Poet,
and an
offspring of an old warrior
Herbertus Stockhore
Late of
The Earl of Faulkenburgh's N.R.Y.V.
And also of the Buckinghamshire Militia under the command of Lord Le De Spencer, Colonel, Landsman on board the Prudent Man of War, commanded by Captain Alexander Shambrook.[2]

The Earl referred to is almost certainly Henry Belasyse, 2nd Earl Fauconberg (13 April 1742 – 23 March 1802), a British politician and peer, who commanded the North Riding of Yorkshire Volunteers (NRYV). As Herbert seems was born and spent much of his life in the Windsor area it is not at all clear how he would have joined the North Riding of Yorkshire volunteers.

The Royal Buckinghamshire Militia (King's Own) was a militia regiment in the United Kingdom from 1758 to 1881. "Lord Le De Spencer" was the notorious Francis Dashwood, Baron Le Despencer (1708-1781), founded Hell-fire Club or Society of the Monks of Medmenham Abbey, He was Colonel-in-chief of the Bucks Militia from their inception until about 1770.

HMS Prudent was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 September 1768 at Woolwich.[3] but no record has been found of Captain Shambrook. The "landsmen" on board would have been Marines and Shambrook was probably captain of this company of men, rather than of the ship itself. The Prudent took part in an engagement with the French at the island of St Kitts, but it is doubtful that Herbert was present at that time--he would surely have mentioned it.

Family life

He married Sarah Shefford (or Shepherd), 23 Mar 1788 in the Parish Church, Windsor. Both marked X for their signatures.[4] She was born 1771 and was buried 18 Aug 1844 in Clewer churchyard. This may have been a second marriage as there were earlier children of a Herbert and Maria Stocker. There was also a marriage of a Herbert Stocker, of New Windsor, & Hester Colshill 25 Apr 1774, at High Wycombe.[5]

Building project

From his will, made in 1832, it is clear that he leased a piece of land in Clewer Lane (which later became Oxford Road, Windsor) from Sir Arthur Vansittart, for £8 a year. On this land, he built eleven cottages, which he rented out. These must have been an important source of income for himself and (after his death) for his daughter Venus Britannia who ended up being left with a young family and a husband transported to Australia! We haven’t been able to identify exactly where these cottages were located, but they seem to have been in the Clewer Fields area. The cottages, known as “Stockhore’s Buildings” may have demolished in the 1960s Windsor slum clearance or they may remain but not be individually identifiable

It is something of a mystery how someone, mostly described as a labourer, would have raised the capital to lease a piece of land and build eleven houses. No evidence has been found of any legacy from an earlier ancestor and the earnings of a labourer were not at a level that allowed for significant savings.

It is possible that he received some prize money arising from the capture of enemy ships by the Prudent. In particular, he might have been on board the Prudent on 20 January 1795 when she was at Plymouth, along with other vessels, including a number of Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other Dutch merchant vessels. During their stay in the port, war was declared between Britain and the Netherlands and, under the rules of the Royal Naval, the British ships in the harbour were deemed to have captured the enemy ships and so shared in the proceeds.[6]

Stockhore the poet

Herbert's poetic career seems to have started when he was in the army—the British Library has a copy of a poem by him entitled A new song calld Hark to Winchester; or, the Yorkshire volunteers farewell to the good folks of Stockton, published in Stockton in 1780.

When he settled in Windsor he continued to compose poetry, particularly with regard to Eton College's Montem ceremony. This took place every three years and consisted of a ceremonial procession of the boys of the college to a small hill--the Montem, or Salt Hill, a little over two miles away. The route was attended by parents Old Etonians and others, from whom the the boys tried to demand money (referred to as "salt") which would be collected and contribute to the costs of senior boys going to university. There are various accounts of Herbert Stockhores "Montem Odes" which he composed celebrations, and declaimed them from a donkey cart at this ceremony for the benefit (and no doubt amusement ) of his audience. He sold printed copies, in the form of broadsheets, a number of copies of which still survive. Newspaper accounts of the Montem celebrations sometimes make mention of Stockhore as the Montem Poet: for example an account of the 1826 Eton Montem in The Morning Chronicle.[7]

There is no evidence that Herbert Stocker could read or write and it is thought that his poems were written down by some of the boys from Eton College. The History of Eton College casts doubt on the claim of Stocker as the writer of these odes: it attributes them, instead, to some of the “youthful wags” in the school.[8] However, it provides a description of Herbert Stocker, (quoting from The English Spy, vol. I, pp69-71): “An eccentric individual who had begun life as a bricklayer. Arrayed in a tunic and trousers of patchwork, an old military coat, and a chintz-covered conical head-dress, with rows of fringe on it like the crowns on a papal tiara, he drove about in a donkey-cart, reciting his Ode, and flourishing copies of it in the air to attract the attention of possible customers”.

An account was given in Knights Quarterly Magazine, 1823 and reproduced in Notes & Queries 1867.[9] See also Hone re Stockhore. An account in The English Spy gives some other hints about his origins:

Herbert appeared to understand the idea, and immediately proceeded to give us a history of his heraldic bearings, or, as he said, what his coat of arms should be, which, he assured us, the gentlemen of Eton had subscribed for, and were having prepared at the Heralds College in London, on purpose for him to display next Montem. "My grand-father," said Stockhore, "was a hatter, therefore I am entitled to the beaver in the first quarter of my shield. My grandfather by my mothers side was a farmer, therefore I should have the wheat-sheaf on the other part. My own father was a pipe-maker, and that gives me a noble ornament, the cross pipes and glasses, the emblems of good fellowship. Now my wifes father was a tailor, and that yields me a goose: those are the bearings of the four quarters of my shield. Now, sir, I am a poet--ay, the poet laureate of Montem; and that gives me a right to the winged horse for my crest. Theres a coat of arms for you," said poor Herbert; "why, it would beat every thing but the kings; ay, and his too, if it wasnt for the lion and crown."[10]

The 1829 Montem was reported in The Standard, including Stockers Montem ode.[11]

Final years

Herbert Stocker, then of Clewer Lane, died in May 1833 and was buried on 19 May 1833, aged 84. His death was reported in Jacksons Oxford Journal[12] and the Reading Mercury,[13] and a brief obituary was published in the Gentlemans Magazine.[14] His will was dated 26 Jan 1832 and proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1 May 1834.[15]

Sources

  1. Berkshire Marriage Index (Berks FHS): St Andrew, Clewer: 14 Oct 1750 Herbert son of Thomas & Beatrix Stocker
  2. Montem Ode, ca. 1820s, published by C. Knight, Windsor
  3. Wikipedia article
  4. New Windsor marriage register, Berkshire Record Office: 23 Mar 1788 Herbert Stocker and Sarah Shefford both otp by banns. Both X. Witnesses Charles Prentice & Joseph Crad Centrell
  5. http://archive.org/details/buckinghamshirep06phil Phillimores Buckinhamshire Parish Records
  6. The London Gazette, 15 September 1801 Issue: 15407 p.1145
  7. Morning Chronicle
  8. Sir H. C. Maxwell Lyte, A History of Eton College, 1440-1875, Macmillan, 1875

    No account of Montem Day would be complete without some notice of the Ode, which was composed for the occasion, and which, irrespective of its merits or demerits, always had a large sale among visitors and Etonians. It was a broadside of doggerel punning rhymes, giving the names of the chief personages in the procession and alluding to their individual characteristics. It professed to be written by a worthy styled the "Montem Poet", but in reality it was the production of some youthful wags in the school. The office of Montem Poet was held throughout the reign of Keate [Headmaster 1809-1934] by Herbert Stockhore of Windsor, an eccentric individual who had begun life as a bricklayer. Arrayed in a tunic and trousers of patchwork, an old military coat, and a chintz-covered conical head-dress, with rows of fringe on it like the crowns on a papal tiara, he drove about in a donkey-cart, reciting his Ode, and flourishing copies of it in the air to attract the attention of possible customers. After his death, there was a contest for the vacant office, and a certain Edward Irwin was elected, the boys recording their votes as they came out of Church one afternoon.
  9. Notes & Queries 3rd S. XII. Nov.9, 1867. A full transcript is available of the Notes & Queries account.
  10. The English Spy, 1825
  11. The Standard 15 Jun 1829: Eton Montem
  12. Jacksons Oxford Journal
  13. Reading Mercury 20 May 1833:
    Died on the 14th inst. in the 84th year of his age, in Clewer Fields, the well-known Herbert Stocker, Montem Poet.
  14. The Gentlemans Magazine 1833
    Obituary
    Bucks—Lately. At Eton aged 84, Herbert Stocker the well-known Montem Poet. His rhymes on those occasions were usually supplied by the senior scholars of the college, and generally possessed much humour and drollery. His portrait, drawn in his dog-cart, has been published.
  15. Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. TNA Ref: PROB 11/ 1832
    A complete transcript of the will of Herbert Stocker is available.
  • Clewer, Berkshire baptism register. Berkshire Record Office.




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Categories: English Poets