Tatton Sykes was born in March 1826, the elder son of Sir
Tatton Sykes, the 4th Baronet of
Sledmore House in the East Riding.
His father, a colourful character, known as “Tat” was one of the
greatest horse breeders in England. He was an amateur jockey and a bare knuckle
fighter who insisted on wearing 18th
century costume until his dying day. He farmed sheep on his 34,000 acre estate
but the racing stable was his passion. He kept up to 200 animals and on one
occasion paid as much as £3000 for a fine horse. To support his stables and
hounds, he sold a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, priceless today.
The younger Tatton did not succeed to the baronetcy nor his father’s estate until 1863. He had however, already inherited his eccentric behaviour. He believed that the body should be kept at a constant temperature. When ordering a new coat, he would have his tailor make eight versions, each slightly larger than the other. Of a morning he would wear them all, one on top of another. They would be discarded as time passed, left wherever he happened to be. The coats would always be returned by the local children thanks to a shilling a time reward.
On inheriting Sledmore, he forbade the growing of flowers.
He regarded them as nasty untidy things and told his tenants that if they
wished to grow flowers, they should plant cauliflowers. If he encountered a
bloom, he would thrash it to destruction with his stick.
He forbade his tenants from using their front doors and when
building new houses, would have a trompe l’oeil frontage painted and the
entrance consigned to the rear.
His father hadn’t married until the age of 50, and likewise,
the younger Tatton was 48 before he took a wife, the 18 year old Jessie Cavendish-Bentinck, who
became known as Lady Satin Tights. It
was not a happy marriage and numerous lovers, drinking and gambling nearly
ruined the family finances. They eventually separated and Sir Tatton disowned
his wife’s debts.
The racehorse stud was sold and Sir Tatton invested the
proceeds in building and restoring eighteen churches.
The 5th Baronet lived on a diet of little other than cold rice pudding. Even when travelling the world, he would be accompanied by his rice pudding chef.
When, in 1911, Sledmore House caught fire, Sir Tatton was
enjoying his repast which he insisted on finishing before escaping the flames.
He then sat on a chair in the grounds for the next 18 hours whilst the fire
burnt itself out.
Sir Tatton Sykes died in May 1913, aged 87. His son, Mark, succeeded to the baronetcy. A prominent politician, Sir Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes oversaw the restoration of Sledmore.
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