Arthur Tompson Michell (16 September 1852 – 13 August 1923) was a Church of England clergyman who played a part in a notable Victorian scandal, and an antiquarian noted as an editor of early modern records. In his youth he was a notable sportsman: an English international rugby union player, as well as an oarsman.
Birth and background Arthur Tompson Michell was born in Oxford, the sixth child and fifth son of Richard Michell, a clergyman and academic, and of his wife Amelia Blair. They lived on the major thoroughfare St Giles'. Arthur was born on 16 September 1852, when the family was resident at number 38. His sister, a few years older than him, was Mary Caroline, who was to become Duchess of Sutherland and for a time to play a major part in his life as a clergyman.
Arthur's father, Richard Michell, was a prominent academic and was elected Public Orator of Oxford University in 1849, the same year as he delivered the Bampton Lectures. As vice-principal of Magdalen Hall he argued for it to become a full college and later, as principal, he was able to steer its transformation into Hertford College, Oxford. He delivered the Bampton Lectures in 1849. Broadly --Evangelical, he was a committed Conservative and helped organise the party in Oxford. He died in his office at Hertford College in 1877.
Education
Arthur Michell was educated from the age of 13 at Rugby School, part of the intake of September 1866. For most of his school years, the school was headed by Frederick Temple, then noted as a liberal theologian, a contributor to the influential Essays and Reviews, and later to become successively Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. Michell then moved to Oxford University, matriculating at Oriel College on 7 February 1871, achieving BA in 1874, and awarded MA in 1877. He was one of the earliest graduates from the honour school of theology, which had been set up as late as 1869, mainly through the work of Edward Pusey and Henry Liddon, key figures in the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Church of England. However, Arthur Michell graduated with a fourth class honours in theology.
Sportsman Michell was a varsity sportsman and won a University Sculls championship as an oarsman. He had the most success in rugby, with three blues and captaincy honours. He played rugby for England 1874–1876 and in 1875 alone, Michell gained three England caps playing halfback. He was also captain of the university football team.
Early clerical career Michell was ordained deacon in 1879 and served as curate of Burghclere in Hampshire, where he married Edith Margaret Fox. He was ordained priest in 1881 and the following year moved to a curacy at St Laurence's Church, Upton-cum-Chalvey in Slough, where their son Gilbert was born.England and Wales, Census, 1891, at FamilySearch
In March 1885 Michell was instituted Rector of Brampton, Norfolk, presented by Rev Henry Philip Marsham of Rippon Hall, Hevingham. The Marsham family, mostly descended from Robert Marsham of Stratton Strawless, were the dominant landowners in the area. Henry Marsham, now retired, was a former rector of both Brampton and Stratton Strawless and was himself the patron of both rectories, as well as that of Wramplingham, to the west of Norwich. Evidently the Marsham family took good care of the Michells as their first daughter Mary was born at Marsham Hall on 22 October 1885, a fact widely advertised in the regional and national press. A month later, Michell was prosecuted by the Inland Revenue and fined 10 shillings by the Aylsham magistrates for employing a servant without obtaining the necessary licence.
In April 1889 Michell was made inspector of Church schools for the Diocese of Norwich in the Deanery of South Ingworth. now part of the Deanery of Ingworth and Sparham. In July he was initiated at the Black Boys hotel in Aylsham as an honorary member of the Loyal Marquis of Lothian Lodge of the Manchester Union Independent Order of Oddfellows. This was well-financed lodge of the friendly society, founded in 1847 and initially based on the small tradesmen of the town.
Presentation to Sheriffhales
On 1 May 1891 The Morning Post, a London Conservative newspaper, announced: "The living of Sheriffhales, Shropshire, in the gift of the Duke of Sutherland, has been offered to the Rev. A. T. Michell, rector of Brampton, Norfolk, and Diocesan Inspector of Schools." There was an obvious sense of urgency, as the offer came immediately after the funeral of Charles Randal Bradburne, the previous incumbent. St Mary's Church, Sheriffhales, although only a vicarage, offered him a slightly better-paid post. The rectory of Brampton was worth £660, while Sheriffhales offered £690 (), a minute increase, compared with the problems inherent in a long-distance transfer for his young family. Sheriffhales was not at that time in Shropshire, as the Morning Post asserted, but in Staffordshire, and about 200 miles from Brampton. The real motivation for the move, on Arthur Michell's part, was almost certainly to support his sister, Mary Caroline Blair, who had married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, two years earlier, after an affair lasting more than five years.
The relationship was surrounded by scandal and relentless press coverage. It began while the Duke was still married to Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland. Mary Caroline Michell, a few years older than Arthur Michell, had first married Arthur Kindersley Blair, a former army officer, who became an estate manager for the Duke of Sutherland. Blair died on 4 October 1883, in a shooting accident, around the same time as Mary began an affair with the duke. Duchess Anne died on 25 November 1888. The press immediately began to speculate that the duke would marry "the fascinating Mrs. Blair." and become an expatriate in the United States, selling off his London home, Stafford House, and other major holdings in Britain.
The couple actually married in Florida at the beginning of March and the press, was quick to rehearse the background story and to stress that the couple had lived together for two months unmarried on the duke's hunting estate in Florida. Over the next few years the unfolding story was regularly run next to that of Charles Stewart Parnell, who was also under public pressure over his suspected adultery: both stories were used to undermine the moral reputation of the Liberal Party and its allies. The word "scandal" was widely used, the brevity of the mourning period was commented upon and some papers alleged, without evidence, that the duke himself had shot Arthur Blair. On 5 March 1889 it was reported that the wedding had happened: a quiet event, with Bishop Edwin Gardner Weed officiating.
The Duke of Sutherland held numerous advowsons but Sheriffhales parish contained one of his most palatial country homes, Lilleshall Hall. Arthur Michell accepted his presentation to the benefice of Sheriffhales and was inducted on 15 July 1891 by William Maclagan, the Bishop of Lichfield, at the end of period of office before being translated to York.
Press and public interest in the ducal marriage had subsided considerably by the time Arthur Michell took up the vicarage of Sheriffhales. However, the Duke of Sutherland's death little more than a year later, in September 1892 at Dunrobin Castle, released another cycle of press coverage and prurient interest. Every detail of the death itself, the aftermath and the funeral was reported by local, regional and national newspapers. Lengthy obituaries repeated the story of the Duke and his second wife, and reports dissected the public behaviour of the dowager duchess and of the duke's own children and their families. The Evening Mail, for example was able to hint at family tensions, noting that Mary had been at the Duke's side when he died, while his second son was ten minutes late, having been forced to travel some distance. It noted that his death might be seen as sudden, an entirely groundless hint at foul play. It claimed that there had been hopes he might be buried at Dornoch Cathedral, which his grandmother and first wife had favoured, but the family had to "acquiesce" in Mary's desire for a burial at Trentham in Staffordshire: in fact, both his father and grandfather lay in Trentham Mausoleum. Arthur Michell accompanied his sister to the funeral, reading the lesson in the service and steadying her during the procession to the burial place.
Division and discontent Michell soon became embroiled in the conflict that resulted when the deceased duke's family, led by his eldest surviving son, Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland, decided to challenge the will, which they considered made excessive provision for Mary Caroline, the dowager and Arthur Michell's sister. She now found herself excluded from Tittensor Chase, a substantial mock-Tudor home dating from about 1856, on the southern edge of the Trentham estate, that she claimed as a dower property. The next Sunday, 9 October 1892, Arthur Michell preached a sermon from the pulpit at St Mary's supporting his sister. Some of his congregation considered that he made disparaging remarks about the new Duke of Sutherland. The church wardens met Michell and tried to persuade him to withdraw of his remarks, which he refused to do. On 31 October a meeting of 300 in the school rooms resolved that Michell's remarks were "uncharitable, unjust and untrue" and expressed sympathy for the duke. It also called for Michell's removal from the benefice because "the ministrations of the Vicar are not acceptable to the parish, and prays the Bishop of the diocese to use his influence to bring about a return of the happy relations that always existed between the vicars and the parishioners." Although Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower was now the patron of St Mary's Church, Michell continued to support his sister against him. Initially she seemed to be losing the struggle. Mary had been left the use of the family jewels during her lifetime and she had taken them into her own keeping. The Duke of Westminster, her late husband's brother-in-law, who was trustee for the jewels, now demanded she return them so that they could be properly accounted for. She refused to do so unless Tittensor was handed over, until she was compelled to hand them over compelled by an injunction.
A local newspaper, the Lichfield Mercury, noted that Mary was staying with Arthur at Sheriffhales vicarage in March 1893, just before the more scandalous aspects of the case came to a head in April. The Probate Division of the High Court authorised a search of Stafford House to find all documents relevant to the case. During the search, Mary pulled a letter from a file and threw it into the fire. She apologised to the court, claiming that it was a private note. However, she was fined £250 and sentenced to six weeks imprisonment for contempt of court. The dowager duchess was released from HM Prison Holloway at the end of May . Despite initial setbacks, partly of her own making, Mary Caroline emerged from the probate processand negotiations vindicated and extremely rich. In 1907 she was to commence construction of her own Scottish castle in Sutherland.