Landowner, Warrior, Adventurer or Rogue, there is much to be said for the Essex Man.  It was an Essex Doctor who performed one of the country’s first mastectomies in the 1800’s and the patient lived. Humphrey Repton landscaped some of the finest gardens in Essex. Warlocks Murrell and Pickingill bewitched Essex countryfolk and Matthew Hopkins sent witches to their deaths. Dickens and Defoe captured Essex in word and deed and heads of great Essex families administered its laws and kept the county in order.

The men of Essex have battled Viking marauders; defied Norman warlords, sailed with ‘hearts of oak’ against the Spanish Armada and vanquished Napoleon on both land and sea. A man of Science, Letters and Literature, the ‘Essex Boy’ has also burned for his beliefs, smuggled, swindled and seduced. Both a gentleman and a rogue he is a man of many guises.