Lord Braybrooke
(1823-1902)
28 July 1862
Volume 8, page 331, sitting number 10,946.
Born on 29 August 1823 at Billingbeer House in Berkshire, the Neville family seat, Charles Cornwallis Neville was the second son of Richard Griffin Neville, 3rd Baron Braybrooke, and his wife Lady Jane née Cornwallis, daughter of the 2nd Marquess Cornwallis. He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge (MA, 1845).
On 9 October 1849 he married Florence Priscilla Alicia Maude, daughter of Cornwallis Maude, 3rd Viscount Hawarden and sister of the Earl de Montalt. The marriage produced only one child, a daughter named Augusta Neville (1860-1903), who married Richard Strutt, a younger son of the 2nd Baron Rayleigh.
On 4 February 1861 he succeeded his brother, becoming the 5th Lord Braybrooke, Baron of Braybrooke, and inheriting Audley End near Saffron Walden in Essex, one of the finest Jacobean houses in England. He took a great interest in local affairs and served as a Justice of the Peace, as well as Deputy Lieutenant and Vice-Lieutenant of Essex. He was also captain of the 17th Essex Rifle Volunteers.
Lord Braybrooke died at Audley End on 7 June 1902. The barony was inherited by his younger brother, the Reverend and Honourable Latimer Neville (1827-1904), rector of Heydon and Little Chishall and honorary canon of St Albans Abbey.
‘Lord Braybrooke died at Audley End, Saffron Walden, on Saturday morning. He had attended service in the mansion chapel, and died shortly afterwards at the breakfast table, death being attributed to heart affection. Lord Braybrooke was 79 years of age. He is succeeded by his brother, the Rev. the Hon. Latimer Neville’ (Tewkesbury Register, 14 June 1902).
‘Twenty years ago or more, the late Lord Braybrooke’s name was very prominent in agricultural matters. He possessed at Audley End the oldest herd of Jersey cattle in the kingdom. Audley End has the distinction of being the finest residence in Essex. There are few to match it for size and magnificence in the Eastern Counties. The splendid lawn which lies in front of the whole length of the house was made into a cricket ground many years ago. It is the finest cricket ground in the United Kingdom, far exceeding Lord’s in extent, and on it many famous matches have been played, the deceased Peer having been a keen patron of the national game’ (Essex News, 14 June 1902).