Kelly / Grayer genealogy pages
Kelly / Grayer Family History
First Name:  Last Name: 
[Advanced Search]  [Surnames]
General John Money

General John Money

Male 1740 - 1817  (77 years)

Personal Information    |    Media    |    Notes    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name John Money 
    Title General 
    Born 1740  Trowse Newton, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Christened 16 Jan 1741  Trowse, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Residence 1784  Crown Point. Trowse, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Built a new house at Crown Point, better known today as Whitlingham Hall. 
    Event 23 Jul 1785  Norwich, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    On the 23rd July, 1785, at four o'clock in the afternoon, Major Money, of Crown Point, near Norwich, ascended from the public gardens in that city, in a car suspended from an air balloon. When arrived at a considerable height, he was not only carried above the clouds, but by a change in the current of air, was driven over Lowestoft, and forced many miles over the sea. About six o'clock, the Major with the balloon fell upon the water, where, after experiencing the most astonishing dangers with the greatest fortitude and presence of mind, he was taken up by a cutter between eleven and twelve o'clock that night, about eighteen miles to the east of Southwold; and the next morning landed safe at Lowestoft, to the great surprise and joy of his friends and the country in general.  
    Died 26 Mar 1817  Trowse Hall, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried 1 Apr 1817  Trowse Newton, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I363  Kelly / Grayer
    Last Modified 15 May 2020 

    Father William Money,   b. 1703, Whitlingham, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1772  (Age 69 years) 
    Mother Elizabeth Carpenter,   b. 1713, Aldeby, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1806, Aldeby, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 93 years) 
    Married 7 Apr 1740  Wheatacre, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F206  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Unknown Fraser,   d. 1778, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Lieut General Archibald Money, CB KC,   b. 1778,   d. 25 Aug 1858, Henstead, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 80 years)
    Last Modified 4 Oct 2014 
    Family ID F173  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Jemima Freeman 
    Children 
     1. Reverend Frederick Money,   b. 1796, Trowse Newton, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 26 Apr 1869, Southsea, Southamton, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 73 years)
    Last Modified 5 Sep 2016 
    Family ID F261  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 3 Sarah Dennington,   b. 1772 
    Children 
     1. John Dennington Money Palmer,   b. 25 May 1806, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 21 Aug 1886, Hill End, NSW, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 80 years)
    Last Modified 5 Sep 2016 
    Family ID F132  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    Whitlingham Hall home of General John Money
    Whitlingham Hall home of General John Money
    Known as Crown Point in John Money's time
    The perilous situation of Major Money
    The perilous situation of Major Money
    The perilous situation of Major Money, when he fell into the sea with his balloon on the 23 of July 1785 of the coast of Yarmouth. Artist: John Murphy (Irish, b. ca. 1748)

  • Notes 
    • MONEY, JOHN (1752-1817), aeronaut and general, born in 1752, began his military career in the Norfolk militia, but entering the army became cornet in the 6th Inniskilling dragoons 11 March 1762, captain in the 9th foot 10 Feb. 1770, major 28 Sept. 1781. He went on half-pay in 1784, and never rejoined the active list, but was made lieutenant-colonel by brevet 18 Nov. 1790, colonel 21 Aug. 1795, major-general 18 June 1798, lieutenant-general 30 Oct. 1805, and general 4 June 1814. Money saw a good deal of active service. He was present at the battle of Vellinghausen in 1761 and in various skirmishes with Elliot's light dragoons. He served in Canada in 1777 in General Burgoyne's disastrous descent on Albany from the north, and was present at several engagements. He was taken prisoner in September, and does not appear to have been released till the end of the war.

      Money was one of the earliest English aeronauts, making two ascents in 1785, that is, within two years of Montgolfier's first aerial voyage [cf. Lunardi, Vincenzo]. On 22 July in that year he made an ascent from Norwich; an 'improper current' took him out to sea, and then, dipping into the water, he 'remained for seven hours struggling with his fate,' till rescued in a small boat. In 'A Treatise on the Use of Balloons and Field Observators' (1803) he advocated the use of balloons for military purposes (Royal Engineer Corps Papers, 1863).

      Money offered his services to the rebel party in the Austrian Netherlands in 1790, when, after experiencing some successes, their prospects were growing critical. After a first refusal his offer was accepted. He was given a commission as major-general, and was placed in command of a force of about four or five thousand men at Tirlemont. His troops were half-hearted, and in the end, after one sharp engagement, he had to join in the general retreat on Brussels, a retreat which ended the rebellion. He utilised his knowledge of the country in his 'History of the Campaign of 1792,' 1794, 8vo. He died at Trowse Hall, Norfolk, 26 March 1817.

    • Whitlingham Hall

      An estate in Trowse Newton was purchased by the Money family towards the end of the C17. In 1772 it passed into the hands of John Money (later to become General Money), who in 1784 built himself a new house on the site which he called Crown Point, a name he chose following his involvement in the taking of Crown Point in America. He surrounded the new house with a small park, which is depicted on Faden's county map published in 1797, and extended it further to the south and west following the re-routing of the public road in 1806. The General also leased surrounding land from the Dean and Chapter of Norwich which included Trowse Newton Hall to the north of the park and Whitlingham White House to the east. By the time he died in 1817, a map published the same year (NRO) shows that his house was surrounded by a c 75 acre (c 31ha) park, a large lawn to the south, and a new walled kitchen garden linked by woodland walks to the house. Following a dispute, the estate was inherited by his illegitimate son, Colonel Archibald Money who planted Long Wood along the ridge north of Crown Point and extended the park as far as Trowse Newton Hall to the north and Whitlingham White House to the east. Colonel Money died in 1858 and the estate passed to a second illegitimate son, the Rev Frederick Money who in 1861 put it up for sale. It was purchased by Sir Robert Harvey who commissioned the architect H E Coe, a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, to build a large Elizabethan-style mansion with an ornamental conservatory on a new site. At the same time he employed the garden designer William Broderick Thomas to furnish it with a suitable formal garden (Nierop-Reading nd). The building work was supervised by the local firm Edward Boardman and Son. Sir Robert extended the park by the closure of a public road to the south of the new house, using the road to create a new drive, while to the north he reduced Trowse Newton Hall to a picturesque ruin and planted a double lime avenue up to it. The expense of this work proved too great for Sir Robert who, following a run on his bank, committed suicide in 1870, before his new house and conservatory were complete. In 1872 the estate was purchased by a successful local businessman J J Colman. It passed to Russell James Colman in 1901 who re-employed Boardman and Son to enlarge the house and bring the gardens up to date. The estate stayed within the Colman family although in 1955 they sold the house and its grounds which became the Whitlingham Hospital. During the 1980s the Norwich southern bypass was built, cutting off a section of park, the walled garden, south drive and lodge from the main body of the park. In the 1990s the hospital was closed and in 1999 was purchased by property developers. It is currently (2000) undergoing conversion into private apartments. The site remains in divided ownership.
    • General John Money was quartermaster-general under Burgoyne in NY State. He lived at Crown point Estate in Trowse Newton, Norfolk, UK. He had 2 sons, Archibald and Frederick, and died in 1817. His will is available for reading as well as more reading material.
    • There are some good stories about Norfolk people actually named Money, particularly the Moneys of Trowse. In the 1766 food riots, a mob broke in and stole everything they could get from rich Mr. Money in Trowse; twenty or so years later, Major John Money, also in Trowse, had a liking for hot-air ballooning, and in 1785 he went up in one to raise money for Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. But he had trouble steering the balloon, and managed to steer himself out to sea, where the balloon ditched and floated on the surface, scaring a Dutch vessel into thinking they'd come across a sea monster. Major Money eventually reached dry land in Lowestoft the next day.
      And finally a more sobering Money story. In 1807, a sixteen-year-old boy who'd stolen a horse from General Money in Trowse and been transported for seven years for his theft made the long sea journey back to England and to Trowse, especially to set fire to General Money's barn and barley. That boy, that very young man, Thomas Sutton, was hanged this time. His father before him had been hanged too, for stealing horses. There's a chilling true story, one about legacy, in that.