EDWARDS, GEORGE ROWLAND (1810 - 1894), soldier and enlightened landowner

Born in Ness Strange, Shropshire, the elder son of John Edwards (Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant, etc.) and Charlotte, grand-daughter of the 3rd Duke of Atholl. He was educated at Donnington School, Shropshire. When he was 16 he joined the East India Company. He returned before 1837 and became secretary to Lord Clive at the time of the Chartist riots in Montgomeryshire. He became known in Montgomeryshire as 'the man in the great coat with the heavy oak stick who would go at any fence.' He returned to India in 1839 and served in the 2nd Madras Cavalry. He retired from the army as a colonel in 1862 and returned to Shropshire. He married in 1847 Catherine Jane, the daughter of Major-General Armstrong, C.B., and in 1850 he inherited his father's estate - Ness Strange and Cefnymaes, near Oswestry. He was a good landlord who believed that all of his workers should have a portion of land to cultivate. He was a strong supporter of Jesse Collings ' plan - 'three acres and a cow' - and he wrote extensively on this particular subject. He died on 3 March 1894 and was buried in the graveyard of Great Ness church.

Author

• Robert (Bob) Owen, (1885 - 1962)

Sources

• Bye-Gones, relating to Wales and the Border Counties, 1894, 303

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20751804

Published date: 2001

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