Prologue
When Harold Hurst was growing up, his family was not landed. In fact, his father, Ignatius, worked as a civil servant in the offices of the Navy Board, which used to be located in Seething Lane, until they were moved to the Strand in 1786, where the board’s new offices were inside of Somerset House.
The Hursts lived in a new townhouse just north of Tottenham Court Road in one of the newer areas of houses for those deemed not tradesmen but also not part of the gentry. Harold’s mother, Leticia, was very happy in their new home, which was rather spacious compared to the one they had before. That house had been closer to Tower Hill, where the Board used to be.
One thing young Harold, who had been born in July 1781, knew was never to question his father regarding his work. Sometimes when Harold was younger, Father would be gone for weeks at a time—as it was now—and when asked where he had been, all he would tell his son was that it was his work and not to ask about it. The son did notice that when Father was away for an especially long time, Mother would get anxious, no matter how much she attempted to hide that fact from him.
As a youth, Harold had tutors who would come to the house to teach him. Although he did not partake in too much physical activity, the young Hurst enjoyed learning, and he seemed to excel with art. He could draw a face with a very good likeness after seeing it once or twice. Even though drawing was considered a female accomplishment, Father encouraged Harold to hone his skills.
Harold began his schooling at Eton during the school year after his fourteenth birthday in 1795. It was also the year that the Hursts’ life changed in a most significant way.
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Ignatius Hurst was part of a group of men assigned to assess internal threats against the King, Queen, their family, and the kingdom. They worked out of the offices of the Navy Board and not one of the palaces, so they would not be seen by one who was watching the royals.
In November 1795, the Hurst patriarch uncovered a plot to kidnap the Prince of Wales and ransom him to his family. According to the information gleaned, if his Highness saw the faces of any of his captors, they would send him back dead so they could not be traced. The commander of those investigating potential issues, Sir Lewis de Bourgh, did not believe the threat was credible, so he refused to pursue the matter and ordered Hurst to stop wasting his time and cease investigating.
Something did not sit well with Hurst. He did not doubt Sir Lewis’s loyalty to the crown, but he suspected that, due to the fact the knight was hoping to be elevated—something his wife was demanding of him—he would not pursue anything he had not personally discovered. Hence, Hurst kept looking into the information.
He discovered the date and time that the attempt would be made, so he bypassed Sir Lewis and went to see the general in charge of the Royal Guard at St James’s Palace.
General Hamish was well aware that Hurst would not raise this kind of alarm unless he was certain. They arrested one of Prince George’s private secretaries who was in league with the criminals. Once they had the man in custody—so he couldnot send information to the kidnappers—Hurst and four heavily armed soldiers rode in the coach, while the Prince of Wales was at Carlton House with two companies of Royal Guard, far from harm’s way.
Safe to say, the miscreants were either killed or captured, as were all of the co-conspirators.
At first, King George III wanted to charge Sir Lewis de Bourgh with treason, but Hurst had convinced the monarch that it had been a poor decision based on blind ambition rather than malice. De Bourgh had been dismissed, his knighthood stripped, and he was sent back to his estate of Rosings Park in disgrace. He had been lucky the Crown had not seized his land.
The King had wanted to elevate Hurst more than he ended up doing. The latter had respectfully explained that if he was elevated to the peerage like His Majesty wanted, it would be harder to be of service. As such, Ignatius Hurst was awarded a hereditary baronetcy, the estate of Winsdale—a relatively large estate with an income of six thousand pounds per annum—in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and a house on Curzon Street, just outside of Mayfair. If all of that was not enough, Hurst was appointed to replace the disgraced de Bourgh as the head of the group of men.
Another thing the King agreed to was that the elevation would not be published, and it would not be spoken of until Sir Ignatius retired from the protection service. The new baronet was grateful His Majesty had agreed to his suggestion that his title was not to be publicly known.
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Even though the nickname had, thanks to William Shakespeare, been used for Henry, Harold had been namedHarry by his friends at Eton. He did not object to the name; in fact, he quite liked it.
Towards the end of November, an epistle arrived from his mother, which he thought rather strange given that it was less than a fortnight until the Christmastide term break. In her previous missive, received about ten days past, Mother had written that she would not be posting another, as she would be able to tell all the news in person when he arrived home.
He broke the seal and began to read.
27 November 1795
My dear son, Harold,
I know you prefer Harry now, and I will become sanguine about calling you that soon, but for the first 14 years of your life, you have been Harold.
I am sure you are asking why there is no return direction scribed on this letter. That is because we are moving to an estate in the West Riding of Yorkshire—about 12 miles west of York—called Winsdale.
You must have, I am certain, many questions, but my son, they can only be answered in person. Your father will explain much to you.
A coach will arrive to collect you, as by the time you receive this, your father and I will be arriving in Yorkshire (I posted this at an inn along the way), and we will attempt to have the house ordered before you arrive.
This way, when you are collected by men you do not know and travel north, you will not think it is for a nefarious reason.
I am impressed that a noble, who is one year ahead of you, stepped in to assist you with some boys who tried to disdain you because (at that time) your father was not a landed gentleman.
You will, I am sure, tell me all about your new friend when you see me.
I look very much forward to your arrival at Winsdale.
