THE story of naval hero and former owner of what is now an historic 16th Century manor house will be told at an illustrated talk.

James Warden bought the Manor of Charmouth - today known as The Old Manor House - in 1788.

He will be the subject of a talk in Charmouth next month, so we thought we'd take brief look back at his life.

The story of James Warden begins in 1736, when he was born in Limehouse near the Tower of London.

James lost both his parents by the time he was four and was brought up by his aunt and uncle, Hannah and Captain William Parks.

James was educated at Greenwich Hospital School, which now forms part of the National Maritime Museum, and was trained to be a midshipman between the ages of 12 and 14 before taking up this position in one of the ships docked in the Port of London.

There is a gap in the knowledge of his career until 1759, when he would have been 23, but the inscription on his tomb provides a clue, which says, ‘he was in 19 engagements during the memorable expedition against the French fleet under the gallant Hawke and was there at the surrender by the French of Bell Isle off their coast.' This was during the seven-year war with the country. As a result of his reputation and success he was created Lieutenant in 1760.

When at shore he was living at Wyke Regis, near Weymouth. He married Elizabeth in 1762, and they had three children, William, Sarah and Hannah.

Tragically Elizabeth died in 1773, leaving James with three young children to bring up.

His naval career now changes, and he commands ‘H.M. Adventure’, which was a 6gun Cutter, along the east coast of England and Scotland apprehending smugglers. A number of letters found in the Dorset Record Office between 1774 and 1775 show him later working for Edward Weld at Lulworth Castle sailing his Cutter between Weymouth and Newcastle carrying goods including lead, glass and wine.

By 1779 he is commanding ‘H.M. Wells’ intercepting neutral merchant ships as part of the Downs squadron. This appears to be the last of his naval engagements and, now aged 43, returns to Lyme Regis, where he meets and later marries Elizabeth Crowter, a young widow.

She comes from the wealthy Puddicombe family who own a number of properties including Wood Farm in Charmouth. They choose to live in Charmouth and in 1781 are renting a property that is now known as The Well Head.

His Aunt, Hannah Parks dies in 1788 and she leaves substantial properties and money to James, his wife and family. It coincided with the sale of the Manor of Charmouth which included many of its houses and fields. He was not able to afford all of it and sold all the fields to the north of the Street, to the village Rector, Brian Coombes, which was renamed Backlands Farm. This was the same gentleman he took to court the following year with other villagers for removing sand and stones from his beach.

His two daughters, Ann and Hannah married into the wealthy Liddons of Axminster and his son William went on to be a Captain in the Royal Navy.

James then had an incident regarding a dog, which led to a fierce argument with his neighbour Norman Bond, which culminated in a duel at Hunters Lodge, near Charmouth. James missed on the first shot and Norman killed him on the return and scared of being charged with murder he fled the country, although he later returned.

The inscriptions and verses around his tomb lament the loss of his life by his wife, Elizabeth which led to early death just a few years later.

Their lives are recorded in inscriptions carved into panels around the memorial to them and the chest tomb is now more than 200 years old and in a bad state and funds are hoping to be raised to restore it before it is too late. Donations for which will be gratefully received at the free talk.

Ann Liddon, the daughter of James inherited his estate and lived for a time at Langmoor Manor with her family. This was eventually rented, and she moved to the Stone House, now called Melbourne House in Charmouth with her two unmarried daughters. Another daughter, Ann married Sir Richard Spencer and helped found Albany in Australia. It was her brother, Captain Matthew Liddon who eventually sold their Charmouth Estate in 1853 to George Frean, whose son was famous as founding Peak Frean, the biscuit firm.

Descendants of James Warden still hold him in high regard and in 1944, Prudence F.Liddon Tosetti was christened in Charmouth church on October 15 the same year. She was the great great granddaughter of Captain Matthew Liddon, grandson of James Warden and niece of Harry Liddon, an RAF killed in action on 5th May 1943 whose name is on the War Memorial. A keepsake has come down to her in the form of a beautiful ring with the inscription, 'To the Memory of James Warden Esq. Who fell in a duel, The 28th of April 1792 in the 56th year of his age'. This is the same as appears on his tomb today.

The talk will take place at 7pm in St Andrews Church in Charmouth on Thursday, March 7.