John Allan Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock, DL (19 February 1837 – 24 September 1912) owned The Hendre, a Victorian mansion north of Monmouth.
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He was the only son of John Etherington Welch Rolls and his wife Elizabeth Mary Long. Elizabeth was a daughter of Walter Long of Preshaw and granddaughter of William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk.
Rolls was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford,[1] later becoming Captain in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry Cavalry, and was afterwards appointed honorary colonel of the 4th Welsh Brigade R.F.A.
In 1868 he married Georgiana Marcia Maclean in London. She was the daughter of Sir Charles Fitzroy Maclean, 9th Baronet of Morvaren (1798-1883). They had four children:
He served as MP for Monmouthshire from 1880-1885, and was raised to the peerage in 1892. He was appointed High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1875 and served as Mayor of Monmouth 1896 - 1897. He was also a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of that county. He was a Freemason, rising to the position of Provincial Grand Master in 1894. The Masonic Llangattock Lodge (No.2547) was created in his honour in 1895 and took the Rolls motto, Celerias et Veritas (Speed and Truth). [3]
He was a breeder of Shire horses and acquired a reputation amongst agriculturalists for his shorthorn and Hereford cattle and Shropshire breeds of sheep. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and restored several Monmouthshire churches at his own expense.[4]
Lord Llangattock was a prominent member of the Anti-Vivisection Society, a position that caused some controversy as illustrated by a letter of 18 May 1901 published in the Journal of the British Medical Association:
SIR,-I see that Lord Llangattock, who presided at the annual meeting of the Antivivisection Society on May 9th, gave credence to 'the horrible stories of what takes place in the laboratories of physiology,' denounced vivisection as 'misleading, immoral, and degrading,' and professed 'a sentiment for animals.' Now, I recollect reading in the newspapers last autumn a description of a battue on a large scale, given by Lord Llangattock at his place in Wales, at which a phenomenal number of pheasants were shot for the recreation of Lord Llangattock and his friends, and I should like him to study this little picture of his own dealings with animals, for which he has 'a sentiment' drawn not by a vivisector, but by a man who is a keen and trustworthy observer, and who is in genuine sympathy with all senitient beings.[5]
The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary) stayed with Lord and Lady Llangattock at the Hendre in late October - early November 1900. The Duke and Duchess were taken on motor car excursions by their son Charles, probably the first time that the royal couple had been in a car. The Rolls family had become more and more successful during the nineteenth century, and their wealth was based on land and property in south London as well as their Monmouthshire estates. The royal visit was an important event for them; it confirmed their elevation to the top level of society locally.
All three of Lord Llangattock's sons died unmarried and the barony became extinct at the death of his son the 2nd Baron, who died of wounds received at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lord Henry Somerset and Frederic Morgan |
Member for Monmouthshire 1880 – 1885 With: Frederic Morgan 1874-85 |
Constituency divided |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New title |
Baron Llangattock 1892–1916 |
Succeeded by John Rolls |