4th November 1812: Dinner held for Captain Francis Raynes in Mottram-in-Longdendale

On Wednesday 4th November 1812, a dinner was held in Mottram-in-Longdendale, Cheshire to pay tribute to Captain Francis Raynes, the special forces commander who had previously been stationed in the area.

Held in the Angel Inn at Mottram, which was also the local Orange Lodge, the dinner was attended by the local bourgeoisie and ruling class. William Rhodes, a local manufacturer, presented Raynes with an engraved silver plate with the Caledonian Mercury described as 'a tribute of respect to his merit'. An inscription on the plate read:

“Presented, November 4th, 1812, to Capt. Francis Raynes, of the Stirlingshire Militia, by the inhabitants of Mottram in Longdendale and its vicinity, as a testimony of their gratitude, for the eminent services rendered them, in his indefatigable and successful efforts to suppress the spirit of disaffection, rapidly extending itself through that country.”

The plate was valued at 100 Guineas (£105).

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The dinner was reported in the Caledonian Mercury of 30th November 1812, and the Leeds Mercury of 21st November 1812. Raynes (1817, p.94-95) also has details. The Leeds Mercury's version of the inscription on the plate adds 'principal' before 'inhabitants', which is a more accurate description of those at the dinner, but I have chosen to use the version Raynes himself wrote about.

The Angel Inn was demolished in 1855, and replaced by the Manor House, which still stands at the junction of Ashworth Lane and Market Place in Mottram. The Angel Inn's existence as an Orange Lodge is revealed by Frank Neal's 'Manchester Origins of the English Orange Order' in Manchester Region History Review, Vol 4, No.2, p.17.