Rolls Park, Chigwell and Sir Eliab Harvey

Rolls Park was built in the 17th century and is best remembered as
the family seat of the Harvey family who owned it for many
generations.
Among their famous members was Dr William Harvey who
discovered the circulation of the blood in 1628, but perhaps the most
famous occupant of the home was Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey.
During his time at Rolls Park the manor house was one of the most
richly furnished in England and housed a collection of world-class
paintings. Its rococo interior decoration was much heralded. The
music room at the mansion contained oval paintings of the seven
brothers of the first generation of Harvey’s, and the portrait of
William Harvey now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
Rolls Park’s last famous resident was Lieutenant General Sir Francis
Lloyd who organised much of the defences and recruitment
campaigns in London during the First World War.
During Sir Francis’s time at the estate, Winston Churchill was a
visitor and the future prime minister stayed over during his 1924
election campaign for the Epping seat in parliament.
Rolls Park was requisitioned by the army during the Second World
War, and its troops caused considerable damage to the interior. The
building was also affected by blast damage from bombs dropped in
its garden.
The house’s final owner Andrew Lloyd took the decision to demolish
it in 1953. He described the £8,000 compensation offered to him by
the government as not enough to repair one tenth of the damage
caused to the building.
All that remains of the site today is the stables, a cottage and the
orangery, which was rebuilt, although the area of the estate, near the
end of Chigwell High Road, is still known as Rolls Park Corner.
Rolls Park is mentioned in historian Giles Worsley’s ‘England’s Lost
Houses’ as one of the great stately homes to be demolished after the
war.

Admiral Sir Eliab
Harvey GCB was an
eccentric and hot-tempered
officer of the Royal Navy
during the French
Revolutionary and the
Napoleonic Wars who was
as distinguished for his
gambling and dueling as
for his military record.
Although Harvey was a
significant naval figure for
over twenty years, his
martial reputation was
largely based on his
experiences at the Battle of
Trafalgar.

He was born in 1758 at Rolls Park, the second son of William Harvey
MP. He was educated at Harrow and Westminster schools and at the
age of 14 entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman aboard the sloop
HMS Lynx and spent the next two years in the West Indies.
He was Commander of the Essex Sea Fencibles between 1798-9.

By 1795 he had taken command of the ship of the line HMS Valiant,
initially in the Channel Fleet and later in the West Indies under Sir Hyde
Parker.
In 1803 he was appointed Captain of HMS Temeraire2

, and he took part
in the Battle of Trafalgar. At the onset of Trafalgar, as Nelson's two
columns sailed slowly towards the French and Spanish combined fleet
newly come out of Cadiz, it was nervously suggested to Nelson that he
shift his flag from the "Victory". It was obvious, from his plan of battle
that the first ship to break the enemy line would be subjected to massive
fire. Nelson refused to change his ship but he did -for a while- agree that

the "Temeraire" should lead "Victory" into battle. Then he counter-
manded his order. Meanwhile Captain Harvey of the "Temeraire"

struggled to overtake the "Victory". In Carola Oman's account: "when,
half an hour before the "Victory" opened fire, the "Temeraire", having
been signalled at 12.15 to take her place astern, ranged up on the
Victory's quarter, Nelson, said, “I'll thank you Captain Harvey, to keep
in your proper station, which is astern of the "Victory".
Captain Harvey was advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral; and on the
change of administration in the ensuing spring, he hoisted his flag on
board the Tonnant, of 80 guns, in the Channel fleet, under the orders of
Earl St. Vincent. He attended the funeral of Lord Nelson, and appears to
have been one of the supporters of the pall on that melancholy occasion.

In his civilian life, Harvey pursued political interests and spent three
spells as a Member of Parliament for Maldon and later Essex3
. During
this period he was also knighted. However, Harvey was not a peaceable
man and his life both in and out of the Navy was frequently punctuated
by disputes with fellow officers and politicians. One such dispute, a
consequence of the Battle of Basque Roads, eventually cost Harvey his
career. Following a bitter exchange with Lord Gambier in 1809 he was
court-martialed for insubordination and dismissed the service, although,
in recognition of his great services, was later reinstated by Order in
Council.

He was made a full Admiral in 1819. Although reinstated a year later,
Harvey was never again employed in an official capacity and further
promotions were only bestowed as a matter of seniority.
He was a Verderer of Waltham Forest and Governor of Chigwell
School.
Harvey was also notable in his time for his extravagant lifestyle. The
deaths of his father and elder brother while he was still a young man
provided Harvey with a considerable fortune, much of which he
squandered gambling in London. Harvey's exploits at the gaming
tables became legendary, one story claiming that he once bet
£100,000 on a single game of chance and lost, only to win most of it
back on the following throw. Despite his dissolute lifestyle, Harvey
was married and had numerous children; he was survived by six
daughters and had three sons who predeceased him.
Harvey died in 1830 at his family estate of Rolls Park and was buried
in the Harvey family crypt at St Andrews Church at Hempstead in
Essex, which contains the remains of over 50 family members,
including his ancestor's brother, Dr. William Harvey. His coffin is
still in the crypt. On the wall of church is a hatchment in his honour
originally placed shortly after his death and restored in 1958 after it
was destroyed in the partial collapse of the church in 1884. A large
wall memorial to him is also visible in the church.