18th and 19th century England provided a welcome haven for many refugees from the turbulent politics of pre- and revolutionary France. Amongst several distinguished dissenters who eventually made their home in the leafy village of Wimbledon was one whose vision – had it been achieved – might have helped to avert the tragic bloodshed of the Terror.
Though born to wealth, Charles Alexandre, Vicomte de Calonne (1734-1802) had fought from his privileged position to make France a more egalitarian country. Calonne’s father occupied the prestigious post of Premier President of the Parlement of Douai and the young Charles followed him into the legal profession. From here, his business ability and entrepreneurial spirit propelled him into the financial core of the French administration and, as the protégé of the Comte de Vergennes, he eventually reached the pinnacle of the financial community, in 1783 becoming Controller-General of Finances.
It was something of a poisoned chalice. France had been nearly bankrupted by the continual wars of the 18th century and Calonne inherited debts of 600 million livres and an empty Treasury. Whilst France was potentially rich, its methods of extracting wealth had hit the bourgeoisie hard and a series of poor harvests compounded the problem. The crisis required all the diplomatic and financial acumen for which Calonne was renowned – he being the tactician who coined the phrase "If something is difficult it can be surmounted, the impossible may take a little longer", when asked a favour by Marie Antoinette!
Calonne decided that the way forward was to distract the population and spend – waiting, like all good economists, for the downward spiral in the market to halt and reverse. He re-coined the gold coinage and developed the Caisse d’Escompte (cash discounts). His ambitious master plan was to give the nobility a greater political voice and radically transform France’s fiscal system.
The nobility and the clergy, by virtue of its estate (a term that continues to exist), had always avoided tax on property. In the Assemblée des Notables in 1785 Calonne proposed that nobles and clergy be taxed on their properties like everyone else; unsurprisingly, his revolutionary suggestion was met with derision and thrown out.
Calonne had tried to implement a system that would have made France one of the first world powers to tax all individuals, regardless of status, and return finances to the central government. Due to the power of the entrenched feudal system, he failed. Monsieur Déficit, as he was known, was publicly derided and dismissed. His plans for reform of the tax system, somewhat too novel for France, could have saved the monarchy and averted the bloodbath that ensued. Only one man had the power to stand up to the political factions and help push Calonne’s policy forward; and the king lacked the vision to support such a radical change.
Calonne was sacked and replaced by Lomenie de Brienne. He was then exiled to Lorraine and, after a brief trip to Coblenz, moved to England in 1787.
Wimbledon House, Parkside, was a comparatively modern mansion with 100 acres of land, now bounded by Calonne Road and Marryat Road. Whilst the house was not especially grand its gardens, dominated by a magnificent tree-lined avenue, commanded ‘magnificent panoramic views’ towards London. Here, from 1790, Charles de Calonne lived in comparative splendour with his wife and her money, refuting the accusations of his enemies (until the Revolution provided a grim endorsement of his views) and fêted by notables such as the Empress Catherine of Russia. Calonne courted all the politicians of the day and was a friend of Jacques Necker, but he never recovered from his career setback and the devastation that overcome his country. He was allowed back to France in 1802 but died a broken man later that year. Though his Wimbledon home is no more, the memory of the French nobleman with an egalitarian vision lives on in the nearby road bearing his name.
Sources: Greater London and Old and New London by Edward Walford