Lewis Tregonwell
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Lewis Dymoke Grosvenor Tregonwell (1758-1832) Captain in the Dorset Yeomanry and historic figure in the early development of what is now Bournemouth.
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[edit] Early Life
Born 1758 in Anderson, Dorset. Tregonwell lived at Cranborne Lodge as the squire. His second wife was Henrietta Portman.
[edit] Military career
By 1796 Tregonwell was Captain of the Dorset Rangers and led cliff top patrols of the Dorset Yeomanry in the area of Bourne Heath between 1796 and 1802 during the Napoleonic Wars. Their duty was to keep watch along the clifftops for smugglers and French invaders. He was also a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Dorset. After the Battle of Trafalgar the threat of invasion by the French lessened and so in 1810 he felt the was now able to retire from the service.
[edit] Later life
[edit] Summer Mansion
In 1810 the Tregonwells decided to build a house near Bourne Heath to live in over the summer months, their main residence was Cranborne Lodge. Tregonwell was able to buy 8.5 acres of what is now Bournemouth town centre for just £179 11s (£179.55) from Sir George Ivison Tapps, the Lord of the Manor of Christchurch.
On July 4, 1810, Tregonwell and his wife took their friends, the Grove family, on a visit to Bourne Mouth. [1]
We all walked on the sands. The Tregonwells are here and very kind to us. We went after dinner to see a place Mr T has bought and talks of building on called Bourn. It is very barren but [has] a pretty sea view.
– Harriet Grove, Diary of Harriet Grove
They slept in the new house for the first time on April 24, 1812.[2]
The house survives to this day as a wing of the Royal Exeter Hotel.
[edit] Portman Lodge
Tregonwell built his butler Symes his own cottage, original known as Symes' Cottage, but later renamed Portman Lodge, after Henrietta's maiden name. This building was badly damaged in a fire in 1922 and later demolished in 1930.
[edit] Legacy
In 1832 Tregonwell died at the age of 74 and was buried in Anderson, but in 1846 his widow had his remains transferred to a vault in St Peter's Churchyard at Bournemouth. When Portman Lodge was demolished in 1930 suspicions were raised that Tregonwell, or Symes at the very least, were involved in some way with smuggling. A secret chamber was found 3ft below the ground surface, with an arched roof 6 ft above the floor. It was 10 ft in length and 7 ft in width, and was accessible through a trapdoor. The Symes clan of Cranborne, Verwood and Sixpenny Handley had long been involved in smuggling, and the butler never appeared to travel with Tregonwell, so it is possible that he looked after his master's smuggling activities while he was away.
