Talbot-Loveluck-Marendaz Legends

Compiled and edited  by James Loveluck, March 1999

The Loveluck Version
    Sources
    The Pirate Legend
    Notes
The Marendaz Version
    Source
    Origins of the Marendaz Family
    The Shipwreck Legend
    Marendaz in Glamorgan, and his marriage to Ann Loveluck
    Descendents of Emmanuel Marendaz and Ann Loveluck 
    Capt. Marendaz

The Loveluck Version

Sources

The basic source for this version is Janet Hearle. However, bits of the story came to me in various ways: via my Aunts, Rose and Gwen, a copy of Janet's notes obtained from John E. Loveluck, son of William Rees Loveluck, and from Gwen Eastment (née Lovelock), who was a friend of Janet Hearle and had an extensive correspondence with her about the Loveluck and Lovelock families.

In a letter to Capt. Marendaz (see below) Dr. John Thomas cites an article in the Transactions of the Port Talbot Historical Society, which it seems also refers to this story, and mentions that Graham Loveluck of Torquay remembers his father, Griffith Loveluck JP, referring to it in a speech given by him at a dinner attended by the (Talbot) Fletchers.

The Pirate Legend

Talbot wanted Italian statues from Italy to decorate the park of Margam Castle and he took John Lovelock with him to Italy. Their ship was attacked by Barbary pirates off the coast of North Africa and John Lovelock and another young protege, David Emmanuel Marendaz, saved Talbot's life. In gratitude they were each allowed to have a farm rent free for the extent of their lives.

Notes:

One problem with this version is the question of dates. John Lovelock married Ann John 23 Nov 1765 and their children were born between 1768 and 1783. According to Joanna Martin, The Penrice Letters, Thomas Mansel Talbot did indeed purchase statues and other works of art on two occasions: in the period November 1771 to June 1772, during his grand tour of Europe, which  took place during the period July 1771 to August 1772; and during a second visit to Rome in April 1773.  Was John Lovelock really gallivanting around Europe just after his marriage to Ann John, during the period when several of his children were born? Note however, that the period in question fell between the birth of Martha (bap. 23 Dec 1771) and Edward (bap. 26 Sep 1774).

The Marendaz Version

Source

Notes by Capt. D.M.K. Marendaz, attached to a letter dated January 1978 to Dr. John D. Thomas of 12 Eastgate, Lincoln.
At the end of the note Capt. Marendaz signs himself as:

Captain D.M.K. Marendaz
M.I. PROD.E., M.S.A.E.,
Asterby Hall,
Asterby, Lincolnshire

The notes concern an article, pages 108, 109 and 110, no date given, in the Transactions of the Port Talbot Historical Society. Marendaz mistakenly attributed the article to Dr. John Thomas, who, in his reply to Marendaz, states that it was in fact written by the historian Leslie Evans.

Origins of the Marendaz Family

Capt. Marendaz states that David Emmanuel Marendaz came to England in the 1700's from Mathod, near Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The Marendaz family had been established in Switzerland since 1200, and were descended from the Marendaz du Douro of the town with the same name in Portugal. There was also a branch of the family which gave their name to Marende de Sol in northern Spain, close to the French border.

There is a walled and locked small cemetery at Mathod containing the graves of many of the Marendaz family.

In 1978, the family home of the Marendaz family in Switzerland was a large chateau at Mathod, and was occupied by M. Jacques Marendaz, a judge, his mother, his wife Raimonde and their two sons. The Marendaz family were granted a coat of arms in 1446, and members of the family had been presidents of the canton of Vaud. Jacques Marendaz was an expert horticulturist and was a Swiss advisor to the Indian government, for the cultivation of apples in India.

Capt. Marendaz states that the Swiss and Welsh parts of the Marendaz family were separated until 1975, when he, Capt. Marendaz, went to stay in Switzerland and met Jacques Marendaz and his family, and his cousin Jean Pierre Marendaz, who lived with his family in Lausanne and was director of a large Swiss bank.

The Shipwreck Legend

David Emmanuel Marendaz was the youngest of seven sons, and could not count on an important inheritance. However, he was well educated and spoke seven languages. He met Thomas Mansel Talbot in Lausanne during the grand tour of Europe of the latter. According to Joanna Martin, The Penrice Letters, this took place during the period Autumn 1768 to August 1772. According to Capt. Marendaz, they became friends, and Talbot invited Emmanuel Marendaz to spend a holiday at Margam Castle. [According to Joanna Martin, Marendaz was Talbot's valet, which is somewhat at variance with Capt. Marendaz' version.Note that Joanna Martin spells the name Merandez.]

Talbot and Marendaz sailed for England in Talbot's yacht, but they were shipwrecked during a storm in the Mediterranean. The only survivors were Thomas Mansel Talbot, Emmanuel Marendaz and the yacht's captain, who found themselves together in a lifeboat.

After some time, food and water were running out, and the three decided that the only solution was for one of them to sacrifice himself to provide food for the other two. They cast lots as to who should be the unlucky one, and it fell to Thomas Talbot. However, Emmanuel Marendaz insisted that he should take the place of Talbot, since he was the younger. Fortunately, they were all rescued shortly afterwards, so no sacrifice was necessary.

Marendaz in Glamorgan, and his Marriage to Ann Loveluck

Mansel Talbot persuaded Emmanuel Marendaz to stay and settle in Wales. Their similar education, upbringing and outlook making for an ideal friendship (again, this is at variance with the relationship described in The Penrice Letters). Talbot was overjoyed when Emmanuel Marendaz fell in love with Ann Loveluck, daughter of a yeoman farmer in the Vale of Glamorgan, and offered them Tydraw together with some land for a token rent of three peppercorns a year. According to Capt. Marendaz, this agreement extended only during the lifetime of Emmanuel Marendaz or Thomas Talbot.

Capt. Marendaz claims that Emmanuel Marendaz would have liked to have taken Ann back to Switzerland, and implies that Talbot went to great lengths to discourage him from this, including making a loan to him of £400 under a repayment agreement. Capt. Marendaz considered this, together with the limited extent of the nominal rent agreement, to be ingratitude "approaching Shylock's pound of flesh", and implies that it was unfortunate that Emmanuel did not return to Lausanne.

Descendents of Emmanuel Marendaz and Ann Loveluck

Capt. Marendaz states that Ann Loveluck died at the age of 33 (this does not agree with Janet's records). He states that Emmanuel had two sons: David Emmanuel Marendaz II and Francis Marendaz. He states that David Emanuel Marendaz went on to Jesus College Oxford, obtained an M.A., was ordained into the Church of England, and became the vicar of St. James's Westminster where he died on 10th June 1842. He denies that Emmanuel and Ann had a son named John Loveluck Marendaz. This is at variance with Margam PR birth records, according to Dr. John Thomas, who also quotes Leslie Evans as stating that this individual had a brush with the law in 1843.

He also cites as grandsons Edward Thomas the poet and Sir Theodore Thomas, one time General Manager of the London General Transport Board.
[This should read gg. grandsons].

Note: The poet Edward Thomas was born in Lambeth, London to Welsh parents on 3 March 1878. Philip Edward Thomas studied at St Paul's school and Oxford before earning a living as a freelance journalist and author. He was killed in the battle of Arras on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917 at 7.36 a.m. He is buried in a military cemetery at Agny, south of Arras (see, for example, this Wikipedia article).

Capt. Marendaz himself was a gg grandson of David Emmanuel Marendaz (1752-1823). His notes describe some of his considerable accomplishments, including: