Nat Gould

William Moss King 1795-1864

Long Crichel Church

William Moss King was born in 1795 in the parish of St George's, Hanover Square in London, the son of the John King and his wife nee Harriot Margaret Moss. His father was an Under Secretary of State (1), held several other senior government posts, and was a member of Parliament in 1806. He built Coates Castle near Fittleworth in Sussex in 1820 (2). His London address was Grosvenor Place.

William Moss King was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He matriculated on 22 December 1813 aged 17 years, and was Student of Christ Church from 1813 to 1821. He graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1817 and Master of Arts in 1820. He was ordained into the ministry of the Church of England, and served as Rector of Long Crichel and Moor Crichel in Dorset from 1822 until his death in 1864 (3). He was known as Moss King.

The parish church of St Mary was rebuilt in 1852, almost certainly at his own expense.
The medieval tower was retained but the nave was rebuilt in gothic style (4).

On 7 March 1825 he had married Elizabeth Margaret Coddington at St George's parish church, Hanover Square in London (5).
She was born on 22 November 1800 in Meath, Ireland (6).

They had the following children:

James King. He was born in 1826, and died in 1843 aged seventeen years at Coates near Petworth in Sussex (7).

Florence Martha King. She was born at Nice in 1828 (7) and baptised at Long Crichel on 22 September 1828. She was unmarried. In 1871 she was living at 82 Gloucester Place in London with her widowed mother and unmarried sister Caroline Jane King. Also with them was her married sister Elinor Mary Frances Smith. In 1881 Florence Martha King was living as a boarder at Montrose, Holdenhurst, Christchurch in Hampshire. She died in 1884.

Harriet Penelope King. She was baptised at Long Crichel on 8 October 1829. When the 1871 Census was taken she was visiting Henry Bridgeman-Simpson and his family at Babworth Hall in Nottinghamshire. In 1881 she was living at 12 St Peter's Street, Winchester in Hampshire, and her sister Caroline was then visiting her there. She was unmarried, and died in 1891.

Charles John King. He was baptised at Coates church in Sussex on 19 July 1831. He married Fanny Rosina Sullivan in 1856. They were divorced in 1863, and he married Frederica Frances Mure on 5 May 1870. He died in 1886.

Robert Moss King 1832-1903. He was baptised on 29 November 1832 at Long Crichel. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Bruton in Somerset, where he was a pupil aged 8 with his brother Charles John King aged 9 when the Census was taken in 1841. He went on to Eton and Merton College, Oxford, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1855 (8). On 5 August 1869 at Swanley in Kent he married Elizabeth Augusta Egerton 1843-1917, the daughter of the Reverend John Egerton 1796-1876 and his wife née Ellen Gould 1802-1862.

Caroline Jane King. She was baptised at Long Crichel on 29 April 1834. She was unmarried. In 1871 she was living at 82 Gloucester Place in London with her widowed mother and unmarried sister Florence Martha King. Also with them was her married sister Elinor Mary Frances Smith. She died on 23 November 1890 at Wokingham in Berkshire (9).

Ann Elizabeth Venables King. She was baptised at Long Crichel on 8 January 1836. She was known as Lilla (10). On 1 July 1862 she was married at Long Crichel to the Reverend Addington Robert Peel Venables 1827-1876, the son of Thomas Venables and his wife nee Anne King, daughter of John King and brother of William Moss King. He was the godson of Lord Sidmouth and Sir Robert Peel, Lords of the Admiralty, for whom his father was Under Secretary of State, being named after them (11). In 1863 he was appointed Bishop of Nassau in the Bahamas. His wife nee Ann Elizabeth Venables King died in 1891.

Walter Edward King. He was baptised at Long Crichel on 6 October 1837. He married Isabella Nicholl, and they had a daughter Lilla King. He died in 1917.

Elinor Mary Frances King. She was baptised at Long Crichel on 8 November 1846. She was married to the Reverend Francis Alfred Smith on 14 January 1868 at St Mary's church, Bryanston Square in London (12). He was then the Rector of Rushton in Dorset. Later they lived at the Manor House, Pamphill in Dorset. She died there in 1913, her husband having predeceased her in 1877.

William Francis Henry King. He was baptised at Long Crichel on 3 September 1848. He was educated at Christ Church in Oxford and ordained into the ministry of the Church of England. After serving several curacies from 1869 to 1883 (13), he was appointed Commissary to the Bishop of Nassau (his brother-in-law) in 1875, and wrote several books including the biography of the bishop. He died in 1909.

Their father William Moss King died on 14 July 1864 at Long Crichel (14), and was buried there having served for 44 years in the parish (15).

In 1871 his widow Elizabeth Margaret King was living at 82 Gloucester Place in London with her unmarried daughters Florence Martha King and Caroline Jane King. Also with them was her married daughter Elinor Mary Frances Smith and granddaughter Elizabeth Margaret King (daughter of Charles John King), together with a cook, housemaid, lady's maid and kitchen maid.

Elizabeth Margaret King died in 1880.

(1) He was appointed Under Secretary of State in 1791: The European magazine, and London Review volume 20 (1791) page 478. For a detailed account of his political career see History of Parliament Online - Members 1790-1820 by R.G. Thorne www.historyofparliamentonline.org and the article in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by S. M. Lee.
(2) Coates Castle was built in 1829 by John King in Strawberry Hill "gothick" style. He sold it in 1858, and thereafter it passed through the hands of several owners. The castle was once the home of Princess Diana's grandmother, Countess Cynthia Spencer, and was visited by the young Winston Churchill and also by Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was made into flats and became dilapidated, but has recently been restored: The Argus (Brighton, Sussex) 2 January 2004.
(3) Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 volume 2 page 797.
(4) The beautiful and evocative photograph of Long Crichel church is by Dave Napier, and is reproduced here by his kind permission under the Creative Commons protocol.
The church was closed as being redundant in 2003, and surrounded by a protective fence in 2005. Local efforts to save and maintain the church were made, and the building was acquired by the Friends of Friendless Churches in 2010.
(5) Morning Post 8 March 1825. The marriage service was conducted by her father the Reverend L. Coddington.
(6) Descent and Alliances of Croslegh, or Crossle, or Crossley, of Scaitcliffe; and Coddington, of Oldbridge; and Evans, of Eyton Hall C. Crossley (1904) page 292. In addition to the children listed, she and her husband had a son James King who died in infancy.
(7) Oxford Journal 25 November 1843.
(7) Nice was then part of the Italian kingdom of Piedmont.
(8) Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 volume 2 page 796.
(9) Reading Mercury 29 November 1890.
(10) Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 16 July 1862.
(11) Addington Venables, Bishop of Nassau William Francis Henry King (1877) chapters 1 and 2.
The family surname of Lord Sidmouth was Addington.
(12) London Standard 16 January 1868; Oxford Journal 18 January 1868.
(13) Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 volume 2 page 797.
(14) Probate of his Will was granted at the Principal Registry in London on 1 September 1864 to his widow. Effects under £25,000. National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1966 (1864) page 55.
(15) Many clergy and local people attended the funeral. "The late rector was greatly beloved by his parishioners and neighbours, and was eminently a good preacher and an exemplary Christian." Dorset County Chronicle 28 July 1864.