lt..--..-.^*:..lt jl

...^.>^.

*.> 5.t

■fir V*.

<»?« ;?•■.

%'f h ' H

^^■>*t

:^'- "vtv'' '■fn-' li'

'woruapn

^\-;f'^

.t^<:^

w - ■ . 5'

:;■;;■ ;"*• M

.;;H.;'!;'n-. ■!/,.

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

n»Tcu

DEVON SHIEB PARISHES,

OR THE

ANTIQUITIES, HERALDRY AND FAMILY HISTORY

OF TWENTY-EIGHT PARISHES

IN THE ARCHDEACONRY OF TOTNES.

CHARLES WORTHY, ESQ.,

LATE H.M. 82nd RBOIMENT.

AtTHOB OF " ASHBURTON AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD," " HUNDRED ,0F WINKLEIOH," "notes on BIDEKOBD, and TIIK HOUSE OP OBANTILLE," ETC., ETC.

In Two Volumes.

VOLUJIE I.

EXETER : PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM POLLARD & Co., PRINTERS, NORTH STREET.

LONDON : GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STIiEET, COVENT GARDEN.

1887.

D.

I DEDICATE THESE VOLUMES

TO

THE RIGHT HON, AND RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON,

IN MEMORY OF

HIS USEFUL AND H A T 1' Y CONNECTION

WITH THIS DIOCESE

AS LORD BISHOP OF EX K T K R

FOR SIXTEEN YEARS.

1887.

LISRARf

PREFACE.

In my preface to *' Ashburton and its Neighbourhood," which appeared more than eleven years ago, I said that I hoped " t(j be permitted at no distant day to publish a second volume of Devonshire Parishes."

I had at that time visited most of those which are included in the present volumes, but shortly afterwards my residence in the district was terminated by the lamented death of my father, the late Vicar of Ashburton. Since then various cii'cumstances have delayed the aj)pear- ance of this work, and I caimot altogether regret these since they have afforded me an opportunity of procuring more extended inforn^ation than I could otherwise have obtamed.

My Papers on Parochial history, which originally appeared pei'iodically in the columns of the " Western Morning News" and the " Exeter Gazette, " in the former journal between the years 1875-77, and in the latter between 18y3-4, have been now almost re- written, and

vl DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

m many iustuiices, especially iu the earlier ones, have received very considerable additions and necessary cor- rections; besides .which the account of Dartmouth, including the Hawley Family, the life and genealogy of Newcomen the Inventor and the description of the Churches of TowustaD, S. Savif)ur's and S. Petrock's is now prmted for the first time, and the same may be said of the parishes of Wolboroi;gh with Newton Abbot, High week with Newton Bushel, Kingsteignton, and Torquay which includes Tor Mohun and S. Marychurch.

I have done my best to substantiate my statements by reference to public and private documents, to the Episcopal and Parochial Registers, to the Municipal Arcliives of Exeter and to the WiUs at the Court of Probate, and I have also devoted a considerable time to searches at the PubUc Record Office and British Museum, and have obtained much of my genealogical information from Heraldic MSS. preserved at the CoUege of Arms and else- where. I have endeavoiu'ed by these means to reconcile and correct as far as possible the diverse statements of our old County Historians, whose works, though undeni- ably valuable, are notoriously somewhat untrustworthy. Very probably I havfe not always been successful, and there are one or two points to which I should wish to direct the reader's attention. The pedigree of Slanning was compiled several years ago, and was founded, as will

PREFACE. vii

be seen, chiefly upon Heraldic and monumental evidence. It has been recently shown^ that the latter is altogether misleading, the Slanning Memorial at Bickleigh, having sutt'ered from the effects of the " restoration " of the Church in 1838. It is therefore necessary to correct some of the statements in the text as to the descent. Nicholas, son of Jolin Slanning married Margaret Champernowne, but he did not die in 1580 ; he {not his son Gamaliel) was killed in a duel mth Sir John Fitz, June 4th, 1599. The son Gamaliel married his kinswoman Margaret Marler, not Maynard, and had issue a son Nicholas as I have said. Since the account of the family of Redvers, Earl of Devon, was in print, I have also discovered that the Heralds were in all probabiUty mistaken as to Constance daughter of the Earl of Devon and her marriage into the Worth family. I have never been able to find any mention out- side the Heralds' College Records of this Constance de Redvers, but I have lately seen an original deed of William de Vernon, fith Earl of Devon, by which he grants land to Robert, son of Ilmmse Worth. This Hawise seems to have been a daughter and ultimately heir of Richard the 3rd Earl and a niece of the said William de Vernon, so that my subsequent remarks a.s to the descent of the Earldom to Courtenay, will equally apply to her, because WiUiam de Vernon only succeeded to the Earldom » Trans. Devon Assoc, 1887, vol. xix., p. 4-54.

viii DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

in defoult of heirs male, !ind when these tailed, tlie descen- dants of Hawise, daughter of the 3rd Earl would certainly seem to have had a prior claim to those of her cousin Mary the wife of Sir Robert Courtenay.

In conclusion, I have to thank my subscribers for the kind interest they have taken in my work, and I jJso have to express my very gi*eat obligations to the Clergy of the several paiishes, and to many other kind friends and correspondents, who have not only given me their ready assistance, but have facilitated my labours, by affording me access to documents in their custody or under their control. And I can only hope that this book will be found to add something to what is already knowai of the twenty - eight parishes of which it treats and that It will not dis- appoint the expectations of those who have encouraged me to produce it.

CHARLES WORTHY.

Exeter, December, 1887.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Chapter I. Pakts I, II, III.

PAGES.

The pari.sh of BlCKLElGH — General Hi.stoiy — Families of Slanning and Lopes — Bickleigh Church — Heraldry, &c. ... ... 1—23

Chapter II. Parts I, 11, III.

The parish of Sheepstor — General Description and History— Elford's Cave— The Pixies— The Elford Pedigree — Sheepstor Cliurch — Hci-aldry — The Chui'ch House — The Vicarage House— Sir Jauics Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak. . . . 24 — 54.

Chapter III. Parts I, II, III.

The parish of Walkhaiipton — General History— The Family of Redvcrs, Earls of Devon— Isabella ile Fortibus — The descent of the Courtenays and their succession to the Earldoui — Constance Wortli Appropriation of Walkhaiuptou Cliurch anil De- scription of the Fabric — John Dunning, First Lord Ashburton. ... ... oo — 76

Chapter IV. Parts I, II, III, IV.

The parish of Buckland Mf>NAf:noHUM — General History — Baldwin de Brioniis Sheriff of Devon — His descendants — Amicia de Rod vers — Foundress of Buckhmd Abbey — Account of the Alibi 'y — The dissolution— The Grenvilles — Tlie Abbey Buildings — The Drake Peiligree — The Drake Ann- — The Church of S. Andrew, Buckland — The Charities of Buckland. ... ... 77—120

DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Chapter V. Pai!Ts I, II. III.

Tlic parisli oi' .AIkavv — General JJistory — The Lords ol' Meavy — The Millatoiis — The Strofles ot'Enning- ton— The Woiths of Wortli in W'a.shiiekl and of Com pton in Marl don —Heavy Chuich — Mrs. Bray and the Borders of the Tamar and the Taw. 121—147.

Chapter VI. Parts I, II.

The parish of S. Peter TAVT—Oeneral History and l)e.scription — The Parish Chnrcli. ... 14S — 15S.

Chaptkr VII. Parts I, II.

Tlie pai-i.sh of S. Mary Tavy — General History — Siward, Karl of Northunib(;rland • — Robert de .\ Ibemark— Bnller of Mnrvall— Tlie Parish Church. 1 J'J— 1(J7.

Chai'ter VIII. Parts I, II, III.

Thu rniisli of ilARiSTOW — General History — The Manor of Sydinham — The Hamptons and Trenchards — The Wise Family — Tlie Tremaynes — Sydenham House — Bescription — Account of the Pictures — The Pedigree of Wise — The descent of Aj'shford Wise — Maristow Church — The Vicars of Maristow — Thorne Land.s. .. ... IfiS— 190.

CiiACTKi; IX.

The parish of Thrushklon — Chapclry dependant on Mari.stow — The Family of Vipont— The Trenchards — The parish Chuich — License for a liurial (i round A.D lo()4. ... ... 191—195.

Chapter X. Paris 1, II, HI.

Tlie pra-ish of LameRTON— Goheral History— The ]'"ovte.scues — The Kumlles — Dr. Tliomas Itundle, Bishop of Deny — The Kdgeumbes of Lamertou — 'JMie Kowe Family — Nicholas Rowe, the Poet — Tlie Ti'emayne Family and Pedigree — Lamcrton Church — Description of the Building and details as to the Monuments — The destruction by h're — Rebuilt 1S79. ... ... " 196—227

CONTENTS. xi

Chapter XI. Parts I, II.

The Boi-ouyh of LmroRn — The Kingof the Romans — Kintj John — Prince Town — The Convict Prisons — Dartmoor Forest — Wistmans Wood — Post Bridjjjo — Crockcm Tor — The Stannary Towns — Liilforrl Castle— Lidibrd Church " ... 228—248.

Chapter XII. Pahts I, II, III.

The parish of Milton Abbot — Dependant on Tavistock Abbey — The Fortcscues — The Edgcumbe Family — Dr. Gilbert, Archbishop of York — The House of Russell— Tlic Parish Church— The Bundles of Milton Abbot— The Hammick Pedigree. 249—300,

Chapter XIII. Parts I. II.

The Parish of Ashpkington — General Historj' — Ciinonslcigh Priory — The family of Boty or Bowden — The Manor of Painsford — The Kelland Family — Sharpham — The Drewes— The Bastards — The Parish Church — An account of the Carwithen Family. ... ... .301—325

Chapter XIV., Parts I. II. III.

The History of Dartmouth — General description — Its extreme an tic I uity — King Richard I — Departure of J)artmouth Ships to join the King at ilarseilles — King John — His invasion of France — Clifton — Ilardnesse or Sand-quay— Townstall — Dartmouth .sends Burgesses to Parliament — A Municipal Borough — Charter of Queen Elizabeth — Recites former Charters — Attack on Dartmouth by the French— "The Crescent and the Ilarte"— The (ireat Rebellion — Dartmouth succuudis to Fairfax — Wm. La Zo\ich, Baron of Totnes— Percy, Karl of Noi-thumberland — Descent — Erroi's and iliscrepaii- cies of County Historians as to the Borough — The Scales of Mount Boon — Charli's Fit/.-Charles, Farl of Plymouth and Baron of ])artmoiith — Legge, Earl of Dartmouth — The Hawleys — Newcoinen, the in- ventor of the Steam Engine — Bra.ss at Stoke Fleming — Arms and Pedigree of Newcomen. .'52C — 376.

DEVONSHIEE PABISHES.

CHAPTER I. PAET I. The Pakish of Bickleigh— General History.

The pleasant village of Bickleigli in the south-western portion of this county, is situated about seven miles north of Plymouth, in the hundred of Eoborough, the Deanery of Plyrapton, and the Archdeaconry of Totnes. Until the recent alteration of the ecclesiastical divisions of the Diocese, Bickleigh belonged to the ancient Deanery of Tamerton, now altogether suppressed. The parish consists of 2,323 acres of land with under 362 inhabitants.

I believe the Manor to be the " Bichenelie" of Domes- day, which under the Saxons belonged to Brictric, the son 'of Algar, and which, although it was at one time appendant" to Tavistock, was ultimately held by him as pertaining to the Manor of Bickington, in the hundred of Teignbridge, ichich teas a jwriion of his honour oj Gloucester} In common with the rest of his land, Bickleigh was after- wards appropriated by Matilda, the wife of the Conqueror,

1 This alienation is alluded to both in tho Exeter Domesday and also in the Exchequer copy. With the remark in the former that it, " Biche- nelia " has been taken away from Tavistock. "Et modo est injusto m mansionc quce vocatur Lichcntona." In the Exchequer Domesday it ia called " Bichenelie," and the entry concerning it ends " Haec terra jacet injuste in Bichentone." B

2 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

and I will not here repeat the romantic history of this alienation, since I have already more than once referred to it elsewhere.'

In the year 1278, Amicia, wife of Baldwin de Eedvers, seventh Earl of Devon, and daughta' of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, founded the Abbey of Buckland for monks of the Cistercian order, and endowed it with the Manor of Buckland, and with the Hamlets (" cum haraelettis ") of Columpton, Walkhamp- ton, and Bykeley. The foundation deed, printed in^ the Monasticon of the Diocese, p. 382, sets forth that the Countess had founded and endowed this Abbey for the health of the souls of Henry, King of England, and his wife Alianor and their children ; of King Edward, son of the said King Henry, and of his wife AUanor and their children ; of Gilbert de Clare, formerly Earl of Glou- cester and Hertford, her father ; and of the Countess Isabel, her mother ; as well as for her husband, Baldwin, Earl of Devon and her daughters, Isabel, Countess of Devon and Albemarle, and Margaret, a nun of Lacock. Tlie confirmation by her said daughter Isabella de Fortibus, is recited by " Inspeximus."^ And the per- mission to bestow the land on the Abbey had been duly obtained from the Crown by deed dated 8th Aug., 1276, still to be held, however, " de nobis et heredibus nosti'is in capite." This interesting document, which Dugdale calls the Charter of Edward II, may be thus translated : —

" Edward, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord

^ History of ^Vinkloigll (Devon seat of Honour of Gloucester), p. 10. » Kot. Pat. 9th Hy. IV, pt. 2, ra. 18. Monas. Dioc. p. 383.

PARISH OF BICK LEIGH. 3

of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, to all, &c. Know ye that we have yielded and confirmed to Amicin, cle SeclverSj Countess of Devon,' the Manor of Bocland, with the hamlets of Columpton, Walkhampton, and Bykele, together with all and singular their appurtenances everywhere existing, to be had and held to the said Amicia, according to the form and tenour of the deeds which she holds from hence, from the gift (or concurrence) of the Countess of Albemarle, her daughter ; and if it should happen that the aforesaid Amicia should wish to give and assign the said manor and hamlets, &c., to certain religious men, and hence to found a new religious house, know ye that we, for ourselves and our heirs, would esteem the said gift grateful and acceptable, so that however, the said house, after the decease of the said Amicia, ma}' be held from us and our heirs-in-chief. And we promise in good faith, when it shall have been constructed or appro- priated, to confirm it in pure and perpetual alms. Of which, &c., witness ourself, at Odiliam,^ 8th Aug., in the fourth year of our reign."

1 The Countess died in 1282.

2 Odiham Castle in Hampshire the residence of the King's aunt Alianore wife of Simon de Jlontfort, Earl of l^cicester, and widow of William ^Marshal the younger, Earl of Pembroke. The houseliold KoU of tlie Countess in the British JIuseum which commences in 1265, shows that she went to Odiham on the 22nd of February in that year and on the 17th of the following month she was joined by her son Henry, wlio brought with him his two cousins, Prince Edward, and the son of the King of the Romans, escorted by a strong guard. The " Countess of Gloucester " was also one of the visitors. Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, mother of Amicia, was sistcr-in-Iaw to the Princess, by her first marriage as she was one of the daughters and ultimately coheirs of William ^lar- ehall, 1st Earl of Pembroke of that name.

B-

4 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

I have ventured to use the word " concurrence " in connexion with Isabella de Fortibus, although the usual expression, " de dono," is employed in the original, since I believe that the Bickleigh property, as part of the honour of Gloucester, was the paternal inheritance of Amicia.

When John de Lydeford, Archdeacon of Totnes," visited " Bickleigh church in October, 1392, he found the chancel in a very bad condition, and recommended extensive repairs both to the roof and windows.' On the 12th of the month, the Abbot of Buckland, " Walter," and " Sir Eichard," the Vicar of Bickleigh, appeared before him in the choir of the Conventual Church, when the Vicar excused himself from his liability on account of his poverty and the inadequacy of his preferment. But the Abbot exhibited the endowment, or composition, of the Vicarage which had been settled by Bishop Grandisson by his deed, dated at Chudleigh, 11th Nov., 1356 ; and from which it appeared that upon the admission by that Prelate of " John Day, of Shenesbi," Priest to the Perpetual Vicarage of Bickleigh upon the presentation to the Abbot and Convent, it had been arranged, with the consent of the patrons, that the Vicars of Bickleigh for the time being were to have all the houses, lands, orchards, courtlages, meadows, pasture.s, and moors which " Master Eobert Pye," while he lived Rector of this Church, had and held in the name of the Church. That the said Vicars were also to have twenty acres of the adjacent laud of " J3ickerigge," common pasture over the whole waste there with certain restrictions, and sufficient timber for necessary repairs

1 Grandisson's Keg. vol. i, inter fol. 30, .31.

PARISH OF BICKLEIGH. 5

from Bickleigli wood ; the tithe of wheat of Bickleigh and Dedesham, and all the smaU tithes pertaining to the Church of Bickleigh and its dependant Chapel of " Schetelestorre " (Sheepstor). The Vicars were to duly celebrate at their own expense, to repair the chancel, books, ornaments, &c., and to be responsible for all other burthens which usually belonged to the Rector. But the Monks were to pay any subsidies to the King or to the nuncios or legates of the Apostolic See, and they were also to supply the annual pension of 20s. due to the Cathedral of Exeter. By virtue of this instrument the Patrons were adjudged exempted from making the requisite repairs.

Tlie Chapel of Sheepstor appears to have been always dependant on Bickleigh ; it is so mentioned in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, 1288-1291.

Dr. Oliver,* speaks of an estate known as " Le Torre," as being situated in JBicIdei</h. The Patent EoU 9th, Henry rV., however, to which I liave already referred, clearly shows that it was in the neighljouring parish of Sheepstor, " Et terram et viUanos de la Torr apiid Shitestorr.''' There were certain tithes of wheat, (fee, reserved to the Patrons, and on October 25th, ISSfi, John Toker, the last Abbot of Buckland, leased these Kectorial tithes of Bickleigh with Sheepstor, together with those of Walkhampton, to his brother Robert and his nephews William and Hugh Toker for sixty years, at the annual payment of £7 10s.

It is to be noticed that the tithe of " Dedesham," a farm now known as " Didham," in the parish of Buckland Monachorum, was appropriated to the Vicar of Bickleigh. Although somewhat unusual, this endowment of one

1 " Monas. Dioc." p. 381.

6 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

parish, with a portion of the tithe of another, was at one time occasionally adopted in similar cases where a religious communit}^ were the common patrons.'

At the dissolution of Monasteries, the Manor of Bickleigh with Shaugh, was valued at £30 18s. 4^d. per annum, after deducting the pension of 20s. paj^able to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. Of this sum Shaugh contributed £9 18s., and is described in the "Valor " as being situated in the Deanery of Tamerton. It is referred to in the " Confirmation " " with metes and bounds " of Isabella de Fortibus ;"- " per-transeundo viam que ducit de ponte de Cadaworth ad Pljanpton ^)er terrain de Schagh versus orientem usque ad Shitaburgh," It must not be con- founded, therefore, with the neighbouring manor known as " Shaugh Prior," which was, and still is, in the Deanerj- of Plympton, and which belonged to the Priory of the same name.

Eleven lines only are devoted hy Lysons^ to the parish of Bickleieh. * Risdon refers to it in the following words : — " This manor, with other lands, was given to the Abbey of Buckland in the time of King Edward I, A.D. 1278, and after the surrender was sold to the ancestors of Sir Nicliolas Slannin", Knight." Westcote's account'* is even more unsatisfactory : — " Ryckley alias Buckley is not to be neglected, although we had almost passed it unseen. The Abbot of Buckland held it together with Buckland

1 Kelson, " Riglits of tlic Clcrgj' " p. 547.

' Kot. Put. 9 Hon. IT. part 2. m. IS per iiispcx. Printed in " Mouas. Dice." p. 383.

^ Mag. Erit. Devon, vol. ii, p. 46. * Risdon Edit. 1811, p. 210. f* Survey of Devon, p. 375.

PARISH OF BICK LEIGH. 7

and Walkhampton in the reign of Edward III. In King Edward I's. time I read of Sir William and Sir John Bickleigli, but whether of this place or of Bickleigh by Tiverton, or of both, I say not."

On September 24th, 1546, John Slannynge, of London, gentleman, and Anthony Butler purchased of the Crown the capital messuage of Heale, with the land of Mayburgh, in the parish of Bickleigh, the land which had belonged to Buckland Abbey in " Shilstorre" and Rynmore, and the tithes of Bickleigh and Heale, together with the manor and advowson of Walkhampton. The same to be held in fee at the yearly rent of 6s. 4d. for the property in Shil- storre (Sheepstor) and Eynmore ; 15s. for Bickleigh ; and £2 4s. 7M. for Walkhampton.

The entry in the " Valor" relative to a portion of this purchase may thus be translated : —

"Ileyle, Sliittistor, and Eynmore in the aforesaid Deanery and Diocese." " Return of Assize of Heyle of free as well

as of customary lioldings in the same p.a. £7 Os. Od. Eeturn of Assize of Shittistor, of free as well

as of customary holdings p.a. £2 13s. 3d.

And for Guldage of the same manor, 8d.

Eeturn of Assize of E3nimore in the afore- said p.a. 10s. Od.

Total £10 3s. lid." There was an annual payment of a fee of £1 6s. 8d. to " Walter Knyghton, bailiff of the aforesaid manor of Byklegh."

DE V0N8HIEE PA RISHES.

CHAPTER I. PAET 11.

The Paiush of Bickleigh — Families of Slanning AND Lopes.

The first property held by the Slanuings in this county seems to have been " Leys," which, according to Prince, and others who have followed him, was situated in the parish of Plympton St. Mary. This author corrects the assertion made by Westcote,' who, when speaking of Shaugh Prior, remarks, " Therein is Ley, the inheritance of the generous tribe of Slanning. This gentlemen matched with Champernon, his father Maynard next before Harestone." But it is to be remarked that in his pedigree of Slanning, Westcote contradicts himselP since it com- mences with " Slanning of Ley, in the parish of Bickleigh, gentleman." There is a foot-note relative to Ley in the 1810 Edit, of Prince, p. 715, which expressly, and erroneously, states that " Ley is in the parish of Plympton St. Mary," to which I shall again have occasion to refer.

The Pedigree inserted by Dr. Colby, in his Edition of the 1564 Visitation of Devon, commences with Nicholas Slanning, who married the d. and h. of Nicholas At-Jjeye, issue William and John. William Slanning, eldest son, had a wife Joan, d. and h. of " William Horstons, of De la

^5

1 View of Devonshire, p. 384. • Pedigrees — Ibid., p. 563.

PARISH OF BIGKLEIGH. 9

Will," Co. Devon, and had two sons, Nicholas and John ; and two daughters, Nichola, wife of Eobert Snelling, of Plj-mpton, and Elizabeth, who mai-ried Thomas Cliffe of S.

Cliffe (Westcote calls him ClylT ). I believe that John

Slanning, the yonnger son, was the purchaser, 24lh Sep- tember, 1546, from the Crown, of the Bickleigh property, and that he also bought Maristow, in Tamerton Parish, of the Champernownes in 1550. In 1546 he is described as of London, gentleman ; and in 1550, as John Slanning, Esq., of Shaugh. I have fonnd no record of his marriage, and I presume, therefore, that his propertj^ passed to the repre- sentatives of his elder brotlier, Nicholas Slanning, " of Ley," who married Elizabeth, d. of Thomas Maynard, of Sherford, and left four sons, Nicholas [Mi. 56 in 1579), William, John, and Thomas. Nicholas married Margaret, d. of William, son of John Amadas, Sergt.-at-arms to King Henry the Eighth, and had issue one daughter Anne ; he is described by Prince as of Bickleigh, Esq., but the assertions made by Prince' and Westcote'' that he married Margaret Champernoicn, of Modhury, and had a son Gamaliel, who continued the elder line, are manifestly quite incorrect. His second brother William married Wilmot Baldwyn, and had a son Nicholas, who cannot have left issue, since heraldic evidence points clearly to the fact that the family property descended to the sons of his third brother John, whose wife was Jane, d. of Wm. Cruse, of Crusa Morchard, and who had two sons, Nicholas and John. It was Nicholas, the eldest of these {and not his uncle Nicholas) •who married Margaret, d. of Henry Champernown ; his younger brother John appears to have resided at Ley, and

1 Edit. 1810, p. 713. 2 View of Devon, 563.

C

10 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

he it is probably who is referred to in a foot-note,' to the 1810 Edit, of Prince in the following paragraph : —

" Ley, which is in the parish of Plympton St. Mary, continued to be the residence of the family of Slanning after the purchase of the Bickleigh Estate at the dissolu- tion of monasteries ; but after that period was probably the residence of a younger branch, the elder having removed to Bickleigh and Maristow. So late as 1632 died John Slanning, of Ley, who had married Jane, d. of WiUiam Woollcombe, of Pilton, and whose armorial ensigns were distinguished by a crescent. How long this branch continued we know not, but their estate of Ley became the property of the Parkers, and was latety sold by John Lord Boringdon, to Mr. Snell,"

Nicholas Slanning, who died in 1580, by his marriage with Margarat Champernown, had a son Gamahel, who married Maynard. He was killed in a duel in the year 1599 with Sir John Fitz, of Fitz-ford, near Tavistock.

It is related that at the commencement of the encounter a reconciliation was about to take place, but Fitz, in consequence of a taunt from his attendant to the effect that the meeting savoured somewhat of "child's-play," again drew his sword, when Slanning tripped over his spur, and was killed unfairly when at a disadvantage. Fitz had interest enough at Court to obtain a pardon from the Queen for the death of Slanning, whose widow, however, is said to have brought an action against him for the loss of her husband, and to have procured the surrender of a portion of the Fitz Estate to herself and her family. Some time afterwards Sir John is said to have again placed

1 pp. 715-16.

PARISH OF BICKLEIGH. H

himself in a similar predicament, and while on his road to London he halted for the night at Salisbury and upon retiring desired to be called at daylight in order that lie might continue his journey. He awoke suddenly from his sleep, and heard someone knocking at the door of his room. It was quite dark, and forgetting the orders he had given on the previous evening, he conceived that it must be the officers of the law in pursuit of him. Acting on a sudden impulse he armed himself, rushed to the door, struck wildly around him, and with fatal effect, for when lights were brought he found that he had killed the unhappy servant who had been endeavouring to fulfil his commands of the previous evening. The dreadful mistake occasioned him such horror and remorse that he at once terminated his existence by throwing himself on his own sword.

The Slanning memorial in Bickleigh Church, and which I shall again mention, has several shields of arms which will help" to prove my conclusion as to the genealogical mcorrectness of Prince and West cote : — 1st. Slanning impaling Cruse. 2nd. Slanning impaling Champeruowu. 3rd. Slanning impaling Maynard.

I would further remark that in the account of the duel given by Mrs. Bray' it is stated that Fitz fought with Nicholas Slanning.

Gaiualiel Slanning left issue a son, Nicholas, who became celebrated for his loyal adherence to King Charles I., and for his frequent acts of bravery in front of the enemy. He appears to have been educated at

1 Trad, of Devon, vol. ii, 323. See also Prince, Edit. 1810, p. 715, Moore's Devonshire, vol. ii, p. 485.

2 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

O-xfortl, and to have followed the law as a profession, since in the 15th Charles 1st we find him Eecorder of Plympton and M.P. for that borough ; in the next year he represented the borough of Penrj-n. On the 29th May, 1621, he married Philippa, d. of John Coplestone (Bap. 6th Dec, 1590) ;' and, secondly, in 1631, Gertrude^ daughter of Sir James Bagge, of Little Saltram, so that his first wife cannot have long survived. In the latter j-ear he received the honour of knighthood, and is described by Lord Clarendon as being in 1643 " the gallant governor of Pendennis Castle," and in conjunction with Sir Bevil Grenville, Sir Ealph Hopton, John Arundel, and Col. Trevanion, he undertook to raise troops at his own expense for the Eoyal cause. Por numerous interesting details of his career I would refer my readers to the accounts of him given by Prince, to Moore's Biographies^ and to the pages of Clarendon. Mrs. Bray"* gives some curious extracts from his " muster roll," the names of the oflicei'S (Sir Nicholas Slanning,* Lieut-Col. ; Joseph Drake, Esq., Captain-Lieutenant ; John Jacob, gentleman. Ensign ; four sergts ; eight corporals ; 156 men ; of which about two

1 Ped. of Coiplestone. — She was Eister of Amias Copplestone of Tamerton Foliot, and aunt of Elizabeth, wife of John Elford, of Sheepstor.

2 She was mar. secondly toEichard Arundell, Esq.; her son, 2sicholas Slanning, was a minor, April 1662.

2 Jloore's Devon, vol. 2. p. 484. * Trad, of Devon, vol. 3, p. 37.

^ " The ^Muster Roll of Sir ^.'icholas Slanning is still in existence, in fact it is at this time in our house; mj- brother copied it and inserted it in his notices of Tavistock Abhej-, in the " G<:ntJcman's Ma(jazine." It is entitled " a perfect Muster Kcill, containing the several hundred parishes and hr.mlets," together with the officers and souldicrs within the said Stannary — It is signed Kicholas Slanning, Edw. Yarde, Josejih Drake, and another, the first name has been erased." Ibid.

PARISH OF BICK LEIGH. 13

thirds bore luuskets and the rest pikes) are included in this document, and on the back of it are some memoranda respecting the arms of the company. For the horse, " a backe, brest, and pot, pistol proofe, a sword and case of pistells, the barrel not under 14 inches in length." Horse furniture, " a great saddle or pad with bars and straps to affix the holster." Footman's arms, " musquett ban-ell not under three foot, the gage of the bore for twelve bullets (new), but ye old way fourteen to ye pound ; a collar of bandaliers, with asworde." Pikeman's amies, " a pyke of ashe not under 15 foot, head and foote included, with a backe, brest, head piece, and sworde, ye old pyke fifteen (feet). Musquetier, halfe pounde poudder, and three yards of matche, half a pounde of bulletts."

At the battle of Lansdown, in 1()43, Col. Slanning is recorded to have performed prodigies of valour, to have led on his followers in the mouth of cannon and musketry, and to have apparently borne a charmed life. lie accompanied Prince Paipert to the attack on Bristol, and fell before the walls of that city 2Glh of July, 1643. Ilis friends, Godolphin and Trevanion, perished in the same encounter, Sir Bevil Grenville had been mortally wounded at Lansdowne, and the contemporaneous verses upon the death of these heroes, of which Prince has given us two lines, is commented upon by Mrs. Bray, who truly says, "Certainly such men deserved to be celebrated in better verse " —

" The four wheels of Cbarle's wain,

Grenville, Godolphin, Trovannion, Slanning slain."

The body of Sir Nicholas is supposed to have been buried on the field. " His helmet, gauntlet, and pennon were

14 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

suspended in Bickleigh Church."* I saw nothing of the pennon, but I found the helm and glove were duly hung over the Slanning memorial in July, 1874.

The statement made by Lord Clarendon, and repeated by others, that Sir Nicholas was not more than twenty- eiiiht years of age when he died must be incorrect, since his father, Gamaliel, v-ns killed by Sir John Fitz in 1599, and, moreover, as I have already remarked, he married PhiUppa Coplestone in 1621, when, if Lord Clarendons statement he true, he could have only been six years old. He left two children — Nicholas and Ehzabeth. His son had to pay the Roundheads £1,197 13s. lid., as a com- position for his estate, but upon the Eestoration he was made a Knisfht of the Bath, and was created a Baronet in 1662. By his wife, Anne, he left a son Andrew, who suc- ceeded as sf.cond Baronet, and died without issue. He was killed in a duel at the " Golden Key," in Fleet-street, in 1695. His mother, Anne Lady Slanning, married after- wards Hugh Stafford, who had then recently purchased the Pyne Estate from the Coplestones which passed by the marriage of Sir Henry Northcote, 15th Bart., with Bridget Maria Stafford, to the ancestors of its present possessor the Earl of Iddesleigh. Li the Church of Ui^ton Pvne mav be seen the memorial of '• Dame Anne Slannins reUct of Sir Nicholas Slanning, Bart., and third wife of Hugh Stafford, 1697—"

Upon the death of Sir Andrew Slanning, Second Bart., without issue, in 1695, the property of Bickleigh and Sheepstor, together with the beaiitiful estate of Maristow, on the banks of the Tavy, and just above its confluence

1 Moore, vol. ii, 486.

PARISH OF BICK LEIGH. 15

with the river Tamar, were inherited by his aunt Eliza- beth {daughter not sister, as stated by the editors of Prince') of the great Sir Nicholas. This lady, who had been born in 1633, married Sir James Modj^ord, Lieut.- Governor of Jamaica, who was created a Baronet by King Charles II. in 1661.

In the indexes to the Patent Rolls at the Record Office is a notice of the license to Sir James " to distintjuish the island of Providence alias St. Katherine, into counties, towns, manors, &c.* Sir James left at his decease, in 1675 {not an onli/ child Grace, as stated by Burke), but two daughters, co-heirs, Grace and Mary ; the latter married Dean. She died in 1734, and her arms, impaled with those of her husband, may be seen at Bickleigh, where also there is an inscription to her memory ; and also to that of Lady Modyford, " relict of Sir James Modyford, Bart., and dawjhter of Sir Nicholas Slanning, who teas killed at the siege of Bristol, ob. 1724, yJ-J. 91." The Bickleigh property descended to Grace, whose husband was Peter Heywood, of a Lancashire family, and their grandson, James Modyford Heywood, had a son James, who pre- deceased him in 1784. At his own death in 1798, he left four daughters, co-heirs — Sophie Catherine, Wife of John Musters ; Ennna, wlio married Albemarle Bertie ; Maria Henrietta, whose husband was Lewis Montolieu ; and Frances, the wife of Thomas Orby Hunter. The Monto- lieus came from Languedoc and their coat-armour, " az. a fleur de lis or, betw. 3 crescents " in chief, and as many mullets in base, and supported by two eagles, was borne by virtue of a diploma granted by the Emperor Joseph in

' r. 716, Xote, Edit. 1810. = 18th Chas. II., part 4.

IG DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

1706 to David de Montolieu, Baron de Saint Hippolite of the Holy Eoraan Empire, and a general in the British Arm}', and to his heirs for ever; he died in 1761.

The four co-heirs above mentioned sold the whole property in Tamerton, Bicldeigh, Walkhampton, Sheepstor, and Shaugh, in 1798 to Manasseh Lopes, Esq., M.P., for the borough of New Eomney, and he and his successors have ever since resided at IMaristow.

In the hst of the " Tickets," granted out of the Secre- tary's office of the island of Barbadoes in the year 1678-9,' and preserved among the State papers at the Eecord Office is the license for the departure of Abraham Lope^ in the ship Hope for London, Joseph Ball, commander. On the 31st December, in the same year, Telles Abraham Lopez is permitted to leave the island for Jamaica in the ship Recovery, James Brown, commander. In the list of the inhabitants in and about the town of St. Michael, Barbadoes, with their children, hired servants, negroes, &c., 1680, I find the name of Abraham Lopes, who had two children and one slave ; of Eliah Lopez, with a family of five " persons" and two slaves, and of Eachell Lopez four " persons" and one slave. There is a memorandum at the foot of the hst to the effect that the town of St. Michael only had returned an account of children.

Mr. Lopes, M.P. for New Eomney, a descendant of the Jamaica family referred to above, was created a Baronet 1st November, 1805, with remainder to the son of his sister, Esther Franco. He married Charlotte, d. of John Yeates, of Monmouthshire, and for many years represented Evesham, Barnstaple, and 1 Edited by John Camden Hotteu, 1874.

PARISH OF BICK LEIGH. 17

Westbury in Parliament; he died without issue 26th March, 1831,' when the Baronetcy devolved, according to the limitation, on liis nephew, Ealph Franco who assumed by sign-manual the surname of Lopes only, and the arms of that famih', quarterly with those of Franco.

Sir Ealph, 2nd Bart., who was born 10th September, 1788, represented Westbury and South Devon in Parliament for several years, and was a Magistrate and Deputy- Lieutenant for Wilts and Devon. He married, 8th May, 1817, Susan Gibbs, eldest dau. of A. Ludlow, Esq., of Hey- wood, Wiltshire, by whom he had issue five sons — Massey, present Baronet ; Ealph Ludlow, M.A., J.P., and D.L., HighSherifffor Wiltshire, 1869, and of Sandridge Park in that county ; Sir Henry Charles Lopes, one of the Judges of the High Court of Justice, and at one time Eecorder of Exeter, and late M.P. for Launceston ; Edmund Francis Lopes, b. 19th October, 1833, died 28th February, 1867 ; and George Ludlow Lopes.

Of the four sisters of Sir Ealph, Lydia was the eldest. Eebecca, the second, married Captain Barton, E.N.* Abby Emma, the third was the wife of the Rev. Walter

^ !Manassch Massey Lopes, Estj., crciited a Bait, as above was tlie son of Mordecai Rodrigues Lopes, of Clapham (l)y his wife Rebecca, dau. of Manasseh Pnrera), and Grandson of Abraham liOpcs, of Jamaica, where he was born 27th January, 1755. He was High Sherifi' of Devon 1810, Recorder of AVestbury, and Lieut-Col. Commandant Roborough Volun- teers. His sister Esther, m. in April 1785, Abraham Franco, of London, Merchant, and died Februaiy 1795, having had issue Kalpli tlio 2nd liart. and four daughters as stated in thi; text.

- Her husband is buried in th(! nave of Salisbury Cathedral. His .stone is inscribed " Robert Oitts Barton, Captain Royal Xavj', eldest son of Vice- Admiral Robert Barton, ob. 23rd October, 1S27. .V. 39— 1)

18 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

liadcl'ifte, of Warleigh ; and Esther, the youngest, died in 1819. Sir Ralph departed this life 26th March, 1831, but Lady Lopes survived until 26th March, 1870. He was succeeded in his title and estates by Sir Massey Lopes, M.P., the present respected Baronet of Maristow.

PARISH OF BICK LEIGH. 1»

CHAPTEE L— PART III.

BicKLEiGH Church.

Bickleigh Church consists of a chancel, nave separated from north and south aisles by an arcade of four bays supported upon octagonal columns, a south porch, and a tower at the western end containing six bells, five in the cage and one suspended over. The tenor is inscribed with the legend, " Ego sum vox clematis."

The whole of the structure, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt by the late Sir Ralph Lopes in 1829, and restored by the present Baronet in 1861 .

The bell-shaped octagonal font has an early mouldmg and is enriched with carvhig ; it is placed opposite the

south door.

The handsome Perpendicular tower is square and embattled, is ornamented with gi'otesque gargoyles, and is surmounted by four handsome crenelated pinnacles, adorned with crockets and finials. The doorway is square headed with a deep moulding in the jambs and has quatre- foiled spandrils, and the staircase in the north-western angle is supported by two buttresses. The fittings of the church are neat and appropriate; the pulpit is of stone. The Slanning memorial, or rather what is left of it, is preserved over the south door. The inscription remain- incr which has been more than once printed, is under a

D^

20 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

circular arch placed against the wall, and commemorates the death of Gamaliel Slanning by the sword of Sir John Fitze—

" Idem caedis erat nostras simul auctor et ultor, Trux homicida mei mox homicida sui. Quemquo in me primum, mox in se condidit ensem. O ! nostrum siimmi Judicis arbitrium,"

which has been thus done into English by John Prince —

" He author of my murder was, and the avenger, too, A bloody murderer of me, and then himself he slew. The very sword, which in mine first, he bathed in his own blood, 0 ! of the highest Judge 'twixt us the arbitration good."

There were originally arabesques and figures in plaster, among which was a skeleton attacking a corpulent person- age, and a label with the words —

" Stout as thou art, I will pierce thy heart. "^

But when the tablet was removed for restoration all this fell to pieces.' The arms, which show the descent of this Gamaliel from John, third son of Nicholas Slanning, of Ley, were, however, still in good preservation when I visited the church.

Above the inscription I noticed the arms of Slanning.

1st. — Arg. two pales engrailed Gu. over all on a bend Az., three gryphons' heads erased Or, Impaled wth a bend between six escallops. Cruse, of Cruse Morchard. (The arms of tliis old Devonshire house, written Cruse and Cruwys, are Az. a bend indented, point in point Gu. and Arg. betw. G escallops Or.)'

1 Murray's " Hand-book for Devon," 1879.

2 Harl. MS., 10i4, f. 5.

PARISH UF BICK LEIGH. 21

2nd, Slanning as before, impaling Champernowne, Gu. a saltire vair, betw. 1 2 billets Or.

3rd, Slanning, alone, as before.

4th, Champernowne alone, as before.

5th, Slanning as before, impaling, Arg. a chevron betw. 3 sinister hands, couped Gu. — Maynard.

Overhead is the helmet and gauntlet of Sir Nicholas Slanning, the Royalist.

Prince speaks of a "fair altar tomb," almost come to decay in his time, which was surmounted with two effigies of the Slannings, with remains of almost oblitera- ted inscriptions, and he adds, " Only under the arch is fixed in the wall a fair marble table about five feet square, upon which is seen a death's head, having the following motto around it : —

0, man, remeiiilier tliy enil."

Underneath are these English verses :

" As time with swiftpst wing Joth haste and make no stay, So th' life of man is short, and liasteth soon away."'

I noticed an old altar tomb on the south side of the exterior of the church without date or inscription, which appears to have been raised over an ecclesiastic, as the Cross flory is incised upon it.

There are several other interesting coats of arms in various parts of the sacred structure, on old hatchments in the vestry, and in the eastern window. In the latter may be seen the arms of the See of Exeter {keys reversed, — Impaling those of the late Bishop Phillpotts), the Royal arms, and those of Lopes. Elsewhere I remarked Mody-

1 ""Worthies," p. 715. Edit. 1810.

22 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

ford. Erin on a bend Az. a mullet Arg. betw. 2 garbs. Or., impaling Slanning, 1724.

And Dean impaling Modyford, 1734. And Dean impaling Sa. a fesse Or. betw. 2 mullets in chief, and 2 gates is base (Yeates).

Also Lopes impaling Yeates, as above, in memory oi Charlotte (Yeates), Lady Lopes, ob. 1833.

I likewise remarked two finely-executed mural tablets to members of the present Maristow family.

There is no entry of Bickleigh in the " Valor Eccle- siasticus " in connexion with Buckland Abbey, probably because the last Abbot of that house, Toker, had pre- viously leased the tithes to his relatives; tilthough in the case of Walkhampton the value is set down, and the similar alienation is mentioned. The latter, however, is bracketed with the chapelry of Sheepstor, with which it was never connected, and is valued at £7 10s. The mistake may have arisen from the fact that when the valuation was made Wm. Coles, or CoUe, held the three parishes, and in the general "valor" Bycklegh, "cum capella ibidem" is estimated at £11 4s. 7d. per annum. The patronage of the Vicarage is in the hands of Sir Massey Lopes, and the present Vicar is the Rev. G. R. Scobell, who has a good residence and 32| acres of glebe. Sir Massey erected an almshouse here in 1873 in memory of Lady Lopes, and he also built schools in 1862.

Elizabeth, Lady Modyford, by her will, dated 17th March, 1718, gave to the Vicar, churchwardens, and overseers £50, the interest to be bestowed in bread every Sunday among the poor not in receipt of parochial rehef. John Hen-ing, in 1778, gave £10 for a similar purpose,

PARISH OF BICKLEIGH. 23

and these two sums have been consolidated, and the interest is spent as prescribed by the donors.

On the village green, west of the church, the ancient cross has been restored and re-erected ; the upper portion is original, but the lower part of the shaft is, I believe, modern.

/

24 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER II.— PART I.

The Parish of Sheepstor — General Descriptiox AND History.

The magnificent scenery on the road to Sheepstor can scarcely be surpassed. The contemplation of the wooded valley with the shining river winding through it, and the succession of abrupt hills each sui-mounted by a granite tor, induces the hitherto weary pedestrian to forget the roughness of the path and the steepness of the ascent, although, as Mrs. Bray remarks, the aj^proach certainly appears to have been constructed " to bid defiance to all things in this world, save a broad-wheeled waggon or a pair of Irish legs." A grand panorama, is gwulually unfolded ; which includes an extensive portion of the Dartmoor range, of the lovely valley of Meavy, and of Roborough Down, and the waters of the Hamoaze, while, as the traveller ascends higher, it is possible for him to look completely over Mount Edgcumbe and the Cornish hills until his range of vision becomes bounded by the ocean beyond them. The hill or tor rises immediately over the village ; and the ascent to it, although rough and precipitous, is not particulai-ly difficult ; the granite of which it is composed is per- fectly bare, except where it is covered with messes or lichens ; and it lies about in enormous masses for

F ARISE OF SIIEEPSTOR. 25

the latter portion of the distance, between the church- yard and the summit of the liill, Avhioh is flat ;ind particularly steep towards the south.

The tradition connected with what is known as the " Elford Cavern" ov Pixie house has lonsf attracted visitors to this romantic spot, but strangei-s should not fail to procure the service of a guide since the entrance is not easily discoverable. One fissure ia {^articular on the north side of the Tor has been more than once mis- taken for the entrance to this sino'ular retreat, which there is a local supei-stition against visiting unless a pin or some small offering, be left to propitiate the fairy folk who are believed to make it their abode. A very small entrance, on the further side of some especially rugged rocks, gives admittance to a hollow about six feet long and four wide, which is formed Ijy two boulders which rise ag-ainst each other in a slanting position. It has somewhat the appearance of a hut, and the form is regular. The noise of dripping water, the cause of which is out of sight, and therefore at first occasions a feeling of surprise, may have possibly occasioned the belief to which I have referred as to the Cavern being the resort of invisible beings. But here, with the rock to serve him for a seat, we are told that John Elford, the Lord of the Manor, used frequently to conceal himself from the search of Cromwell's soldiers. Polwhele informs us that Mr. Yonge, of Puslinch, had been told by a friend who had seen them that certain pictures on the sides of the Cavern, which Elford is said to have painted in order to pass the time during his seclusion here, were still veiy fresh v/hen he visited the cave, but there are no remains

E

26 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

of them now. ' Mrs. Bray concludes her account of her own visit there by remarking : " Aloft, amidst the most confused masses of rock that looked as if they had been tossed about by the fiends in battle, in a place which seemed (so it appeared to me at least) as if inaccessible to any mortal creature, there was seen a somewhat pro- jecting stone like a pent house. Beneath was a cleft between two low rocks. This is the entrance to the Palace of the Pixies and the Cavern where Elford is said to have found a retreat from persecution. How Elford ■could Uve there ; how food could be conveyed to him ; or how any living thing but a raven, a crow, or an eagle could make his home in such a spot is to me, I confess, a puzzle, and had not the paintings on the interior sides of the rocks executed by Elford been seen in these latter days to bear witness to the fact I should have doubted the tradition altogether." The Elfords figiu-e as characters in " Warleigh," one of this gifted lady's Devonshire novels. A wide-spread superstition as to the existence of a minute race of invisible beings, possessed of more than mortal power, sometimes exercised for good and often for evil, amid those who inhabited the neighbourhood of the groves, mountains, and hUls among which they were supposed to dwell, was prevalent in this and other countries from a very early period, Deduced by some from the Lares and Larvae of the Romans, it has been con- jectured by others that a Ijelief in these sprites was introduced into Europe by the Crusaders from the East,

1 Traditions of Devon, vol. iii., p. 108.

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 27

as they iu some sort resemble the Oriental genii with whose wonderful doings the " Arabian Nights " have made us familiar.

The " Lares," whom mythologists assert to have been the offspring of Mercury and of the Naiad Laranda, are with good reason supposed to have originated from the ancient custom of the Romans and other nations of burying their dead in their dwelUngs, and from the belief that their spirits continually hovered over their houses for the protection of the inmates. The idea as to these Roman household gods being the spirits of the departed appears to me to somewhat accord with the ancient Devonshire belief that our Pixies were the spirits of infants who had died before baptism. Brand,^ supposes the word " Pixy " to be a corruption of " Puckles, which anciently signified Uttle better than the devil." Although Mrs, Bray, in her long and interesting account of Devon- shire Pixies questions the above derivation, yet the Anglo- Saxon word " Psec," which by the mere change of the vowel becomes "Puc," is the past participle of the verb " Psecan," which, as interpreted Ijy the late Dr. Richardson, signifies " to deceive by false appearances, imitation, or resemblance ; to counterfeit, to delude, or to impose upon."

The Pixies were beheved to have all the passions and wants of human beings, to have been great lovers and patrons of cleanliness and propriety, and for the observance of it they used frequently, it is said, to reward good servants by dropping money into their shoes at night, or

e'

Popular Antiquities, vol. ii, p. 359.

28 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

else by assisting them in their house-work ; while on the other hand,

" If by maidens' oversight, Within doors water was not brought at night, Or if they spread no table, set no bread ; Tliey shall have nips from toe unto the head."

Some of the Pixies appear to have been of a benevolent disposition, as I have stated, and these are supposed to have passed a great deal of their time in dancing in the meadows and on the southern sides of the hills, where the traces of their feet were considered to remain visible on the grass long afterwards, and to form what are still called " Fairy Kings."

I need only allude to the numerous plausible attempts which have been from time to time made to accoimt for these well-known rings ; some have ascribed them to the effects of electricity, and others to the operations of moles. There was a rooted belief that the good Pixies required to be propitiated ; and for this reason, as already men- tioned, a pin, or similar small offering, was usually left in the places they wei'e supposed to haunt.

The bad Pixies were " dwarfish and thievish " elves, who were believed to squint horribly. They were credited with numerous atrocities, such as torturing cattle then said to be " Elf-shot," or stealing children from the cradle, and substituting those of their own species. " When Elf-shot, a cow, or other animal, falls down suddenly dead ; no pai't of the. skin is pierced, but often a little triangular flat stone is found near the heart, as they report, which is called the EP" arrow." Mrs. Bray has given us so many entertaining stories about the Pixies

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 29

and their doings tliat I will only add one more to them here, and I am induced to do this on account of its con- nexion with the family ti'eated of in the previous chapter.

A rare tract concerning Fairies, being a letter addressed by Moses Pitt to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Gloucester; (London, printed for Richard Cumberland, 1696) 'contains an account of Anne Jefferies, living in the county of Cornwall, and of the strange and wonderful cure she performed with salves and medicines she received from a small sort of airy people called fairies," by whom she was fed for six months. She was born in the parish of St. Teath, in December, 1 62G ; and was living in 169G, when her husband, William Wan-en, was hind to Sir Andrew Slanning, of BicMeiijh.

In the year 1645, whilst sitting knitting in her garden, there came over the hedge " Six persons of small sto.ture, all clothed in green, which frightened her so much as to throw her into a great sickness." The narratoi-, in whose family she then lived as a servant, proceeds to state that these elves continued to frequently appear to her in even numbers, never less than two nor more than eight at a time. She left off eating her usual meat, and " was fed by the fairies from harvest to Xmas, but upon Christmas day she came to tlie family table, and said that on account of the day she would eat some roast beef, which she did," says Mr. Pitt, " I myself being present at the table."

" One day," he adds, " she gave me a piece of her fairy bread which I did eat, and think it was the most delicious bread that ever I did eat, either before or since. '

" Again he says " these fairies gave my sister Mary a silver cup which held about a quart, and desired her to

80 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

give it to lay mother, but my mother would not accept it. I presume this was the time my sister owns she saw the fairies ; I confess to your Lordship (Dr. Fowler, BishoiJ of Gloucester) / never did see them. I have seen Ann dancinw amon^ the trees, and she told me she was then dancincr amoncj the fairies."'

Despite the superstition of those days, however, and of the wonderful cures which she is said to have effected with her ointments and nostrums, and for which she never took a penny from her patients, poor Ann Jefteries was ultimately thrown into prison as an imposter, and Bi'and says,' whilst commenting upon the remarkable circum- stances related in the letter,' " even the friendly nari'ator of her singular story fails to give us any plausible account why the fairies, like false earthly friends, forsook her in the time of her distress."

Sheepstor is situated in the Deanery of Plympton (late Tamerton) and Archdeaconry of Totnes, and is variously written Shittlestorre, Shitistorr, and Schetilestorre in ancient documents, and takes its name from the high " Tor" of which T have been speaking and which domi- nates the village. As I have already remarked, the church of Sheepstor was from an early date a chapelr attached to the vicarage of Bickleigh, from which it was separated as recently as 1877; in 1871 there were but 20 houses in this little moorland parish, with I OS inhabi- tants. Although the Abbots of Buckland were the owners of property in Sheepstor, yet the manor never

' Popular Antiquities, vol. ii, p. 329.

* Reprinted " PhoJiiix Britannicus," p. 545.

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR 31

appears to have belonged to them. I will first, however, refer to the prhited notices of this parish, contained in the pages of our county historians, and will then lay be- fore my readers what little I have been able to discover relative to the ancient proprietors of its soil.

The authors of the Magna Britannia^ state that the manor " belonged in the reign of Henry III. to the family of Herbert of Combe, who were succeeded by Scudamore. A co-heiress of Scudamore, about the end of the 15th Cen- tury, brought it to the Elfords, in which family it con- tinued till after the death of the last heir male of the elder branch in 1748." Walter North more, Esq., gave a deputation for it in 1792 ; it was in the same name in 1822. Longstone, the ancient residence of the Elford family, is now a farm-house.

When speaking of Elford, of Bickham, the same authors remark :'■' " This ancient family is said to have been of Cornish extraction. Robert de Elford was Siieriff of Devonshire in 1302" (I presume that Cornwall is in- tended). "Before the year 1400 they settled at Longstone, in the parish of Shipstor. John Elford of Longstone, in 1517, married the heiress of Scudamore. John, thefottrth in descent from the last-mentioned John, married a co-heir of Copplestone, by whom he had four daughters."

Risdon tells us :^ — " Sheepstor or Shetlestor, is situated by this stream (the Plym), the old inheritance of Herbert Combe, where the name of Elford enjoyeth lands ;" and we are further informed, in a note bv the Editors of his

^ Devon, vol. ii, p. 439. * Ibid. vol. i, 118.

' Survey, p. 195.

32 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

book, that Longstone passed from the family of Combe to Scudamore, and from the latter to Elford, towards the latter end of the 15th Centnrj.

Westcote merely says : ^On the left side is Shepstor, alias Shutstor, possessed by Elford, who married Gale, Copleston, and Northcote, his father, Crocker."

* View of Devonsliiic, ji. S8-I

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 33

CHAPTER II.— PART II.

The Elford Pedigree.

The pedigree of Elford at the Heralds' College, has three extracts from deeds attached to it, with copies of seals.

The first, which is dated at Shittistore Friday next, after the Feast of S. Catherine the Virgin, 13th Richard II. (1390), is the commencement of a grant to Richard Middleworry, by John Scudamore, Lord of Shittistore. Witnesses — John Millward, Walter Sacche, and John Wrendon.

In the second, dated the following year, John Scudamore, on Friday next, after the Feast of the Con- ception, recites, by inspeximus, the grant of John Herbert, Lord of Shittlestorre, to a certain John Sanders. Witnesses, John Millward, John Coppinhed, and Walter Sacche.

The third, of the date of the 10th October, llth Henry VI. (1483), is likewise an " inspeximus" by John Scudamore, Lord of Shittlestore, of a grant made by Herbert de Cumba, formerly Lord of Shittlestore, his kinsman, and ancestor (" consanguineus et antecessor meus") in favour of Ralph de Veterlponte (Vipont). Witnesses, Peter Eggescumb, John CoUeworth, and Henry Winnisland.

These interesting extracts, which are merely preambles,

F

34 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

and therefore contain no particulars whatever as to the land conveyed by them, nevertheless, show that Herbert, de Camba was at an early date the Lord of the Manor of Sheepstor, and that from liim it descended to his relatives, the Scudamores, before the year 1390, and that a certam John Scudamore was the owner thereof in 1483.

There are seven descents given in this pedigree from the Elfords who married a co-heir of Scudamore to John Elford, of Widecombe and Sheepstor, alive at the period of the Visitation of Devon in 1620. It commences with the following preamble.'

" The pedigree, arms, and creast of Walter Elford, of Shepstor, in the County of Devon, gentleman, collected out of his evidences and monuments, belonging to his family, by which it appeareth that his ancestors married the co-heii's of Scudamore near 200 years since, by Avhich marriage they became possessed of the manor of Shittis- tore, alias Shepstor, which they possess and enjoy to this day, all which is approved and allowed by me Ri St. Geor'ge Clarenceux, King at Arms."

"Examined, J. Heard. Entered by order of Chapter 19th April, 1784."

I have been able to make additions to this pedigree, evei-y quotation from which, therefore, is 'printed in italics, and to carry it from 1620 to 1837, when the Baronetcy conferred upon WiUiani Elford, in 1800, became extinct.

John Scudamore had two daughters coheirs — Dionisia

who married Cole, and had issue John Cole, of Addiscombe,

in county Devon, and Johanne, who man-led John Elford,

and had issue John of Shittistore,died 6th Februai-y, 1517,

1 Coll. Ar. C. 1.

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 35

buried under a /aire stone in Shittistore Church. Every trace of this " fliire stone" has now disappeared. His arms, on the family monuments, erected at a later date, and to which T shall have occasion frequently to refer, are impaled with a bull passant, which are attributed to Bevill,' in an Heraldic MS., which gives the Blazons and names of these Elford shields, at Sheepstor, but it is more probable that his wife was a daughter of Cole, althovigh there is certainly no trace of the bordure bezantce, which constitutes the difference between the arms of Bevill and Cole. His son was B.oger Elford of Shittistore, who married, according to Heraldic evi- dence, a daughter of Adams, and had issue John, whose wife was Margery Langsford, and their off- spring, John Elford, of Shittistore, married Elizabeth

Gregory.

The succession, however, from Roger, as given in the pedigree appears to me to be incorrect.

From the pedigree of Luppingcott of Wibbuiy. Visit

1564 (Colby), I find that Anne, daughter and coh. of

Roger Elford, of " Shalesmere," gentleman, married John

Luppingcott, and between Elford with Langeford and

Elford with Gregory, on the memorial at Sheepstor, there

is a shield which shows Elford impaled with Bury or

Bickleigh, which man-iage the pedigree gives no account

of. I think, therefore, that Roger, son and heir of John,

had no male issue, that he was succeeded by his brother,

{not son,) John, who married Margery Langford, and that

his son, by a daughter of Bickleigh or Bury had issue,

first John Elford, son and heir; second, Thomas of

1 Coll. Ar. (I. H. Misc. Peds.)

36 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Mawnan in Cornwall, alive in 1620, who married Alicia, daughter of Binney, and relict of Edward Spry ; third Hugh Elford, who was probably the " Hugh Elford, of Devon," " fil-pleb." who matriculated at Exeter College,' 17th November, 1581, and since his family did not enter their pedigree before the year 1620, I am not at all surprised to find him thus described in the register of the College.

John Elf ord, son and heir, who died 20th August, 1584, and was buried at Sheepstor,* married Elizabeth Gregory^ of Flympton St. Mary. She afterwards married Thomas Drake, brother and heir of the great Sir Francis, died March 18 th, 1631, and was buried at Sheepstor.^ Her will was proved P.C.C, 23rd June, 1632 (68 Audley), and there is mention in it of her issue by both marriages. By her first husband she had two sons, Walter and William, the latter of whom resided at Bickleigh ; his will is dated July 10th, 1641. He married Marian, daughter of Anthony Furlong, and had issue William, John, Walter and Francis Elfoi'd, and a daughter.

Walter Elford (eldest son of John and Elizabeth Gregory) married Barbara, daughter of John Crocker of Lynam. He died May 9th, 1649, M 12* She died 1655, M 83, and was buried at Sheepstor. They had nine children, viz. ; Francisca who married Richard Lang- worthy, of Hatch ; Anna ; Johanne, wife of John Barret ; John Elford, of whom presently ; Hugh, died 1 636,'" married Francis Watson ; Walter, married Anne, daughter of Mr. Alderman Chambers, of London ; William, who

^ Keg. Coll. Exon. (Boase). ^ Mem. Insc. at Sheepstor.

3 Ibid. * Ibid. ' Ibi.l.

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR 37

died at Smyrna ; Elizabeth, whose husband was Arthur Shepherd, and Maria.

John Elford, eldest son, yE 14, 1G20, was executor to his grandmother's will. He did not succeed his father Walter until 1648, and he appears to have resided for a period at Widecorabe-in-the-Moor, in which parish others of his name, and doubtless his connexions, lived for some years. He is chiefly notorious for his supposed attach- ment to Kintr Charles durinor the great I'ebellion and for the persecution he is stated to have experienced on that account from the Puritan soldiers, and it is said by Polwhele and others that he was frequently compelled to hide himself from their pursuit in a cavern or fissure among the rocks which crown the summit of the lofty liill which overlooks the village, now called the Pixy Cavern. He has certainly left a curious evidence of his devotion to the lloyal cause in the registers of the parish of Meavy, in which, beneath his JIagisterial signature, in the year 1654, he has added the v/ords " A sasvitia et ignorantia Puritanica, libera nos Domine."

He was four times married.' His first wife, Elizabeth, third daughter and co-heir of Amias Coplestone, of Warleigh, in the parish of Tamerton, was baptised 14th Februaiy, 1607, and her marriage license was dated 2Gth March, 1631. She had five daughters, four of whom are mentioned by the editors of Prince and others. Susanna died unmarried 1647, -^E 16. Gertrude married Roger Wollocombe, of Combe ; Eli?;abeth, Edmund Forteseue, of London ; Barbara, who, by lier marriage with Arthur Forteseue, of Wear, became the ancestress of the present

' Episcopal Registers.

38 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Lord Fortescue ; and Joan, baptised at Widecombe, 18th, December, 1G36. His license to many liis second wife, " Anne Northcote, of Newton St. Cyres " (sister of tbe 1st Sir John Northcote, of Hayne), is dated 28th April, 1637.' By her he had three sons, Walter, Jonathan and Richard, and a daughter, Anne, baptised at W: de- combe, 16th December, 1638 ; of Walter, the eldest son, I shall treat presently. Jonathan, second son, married Amy, sister and co-heir of Matthew Hals, of Keynedon, in the parish of Sherford, and had three sons and four daughters. The sons wero Jonathan, M.P. for Saltash (who married a daughter of Thomas Neville, and died without issue). Matthew and William, who both also died s.p. the last was buried at Halwell, near Har- berton, in 1670,^ from which I conclude that his father, described by the editors of "Prince" as of Bickham, at this time resided at Washbourne Bawson, which was long the jjroperty of the Elfords. Richard, the third son, was baptised at Widecombe 8th August, 1641 ; buried there 27th December, 1G42. John Elford's third wife was Mary Gale, but she died in childbirth, just twelve months after her marriage, February 16th, 1642. She left behind her twin daughters, Maiy and Sarah, who soon followed her to the grave. I have already described the curious' inscription on the mural tablet which was erected to her memory at Widecombe in 1650. After the melancholy demise of his third wife, " the staunch old Royalist" took unto himself Sarah, daughter of John Wollocombe, of Combe, and thus allied himself to another of our county famihes, with which his second daughter,

' Episcopal Kegisters. ^ Mem, lusc.

5 " Ashburton and its Neighbourhood," p. 68.

PARISH OF SHEEP STOR. 3!)

in right of her mother, a co-heir of Coplestone, after- wards became connected by her marriage with Roger WoUocombe. By Sarah AVollocombe, John Elford had seven sons. John, buried at Widecombe 2nd September, 1646 ; Nathaniel, Joseph, Samuel, ^yilliam, who carried on the line after the extinction of the elder branch, and who will be again mentioned ; Jonathan, and Benjamin. Before I leave him it seems necessary to remai'k tliat Polwhele's romantic story of liis persecution daring the Civil War, and the graphic description of his hiding-place among the rocks of Sheepstor, included by the late Mrs. Bray in her " Traditions of Devon," together with the apparently indisputable evidence tis to his political feeling insci'ibed in the Meavy Kegistei', encourage the sup- position that he must have been an ardent Royalist. It is, therefore, rather conflicting to find that his name is not contained in the Commission of 1630, the quiet portion of the reign of Charles T, nor is that of his father, Walter Elford. But ho was a Magistrate in 1G47 when power was in the hands of the Parliament, arid again in 1653. In the next year v.-c find his signature as a Magistrate at Meavj', when the Conmiissions were ad- dressed by " Oliver Lord Protector to his trusty and well-beloved." Then, again, he resided at Widecombe, many miles distant from Sheepstor, until 1648, when his father died ; and as he was a Magistrate in 1G47, he could not have been oi^enly opposed to the Parlia- ment when he went to live on his paternal estate. Unfortunately, there is no existing Register at Sheeps- tor until 1691 ; and I have been hitherto unable to recover the date of his death. But if his

40 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

pei'secution and consequent seclusion is anything more than tradition, it is quite open to question whether he was troubled by the Puritans or by the Crown after the Restoration. In any case, were he Royalist or Puritan, he must have " sued out his pardon " when the King came home again, for having served a Commission during the power of the Parliament, and for condonation he would have had to pay heavily. If he failed to seek such forgiveness he must have been a marked man, and liable to sequestration and imprisonment and to a heavy fine as well — a very serious matter for one with a rather unpro- ductive property, who had been married four times, and had become the father of eighteen children. He could have only been 54 years of age in 1 660, as the " Visitation " states that he was "aged 14 in 1620."

His eldest son Walter, by Anne Northcote, his second wife, married Elizabeth, only daughter of John Quicke of Newton St. Cyres, and had issue John, Walter, (died 1674), and Elizabeth. John Elford, eldest sou, married Admonition daughter of John Prideaux, of Padstowe (according to Betham, "Eng. Barts."), but she is described as of Plymouth in the Sheepstor Register, where the wedding took place July 29th, 1697. She was interred there 16th October, 1717, but her husband survived her for some years, and was buried August 8th, 1748, M. 78. His death terminated the elder branch of the family.

He had two sons, Walter, born July 1st, baptised July 22nd, 1698, and who jn'edeceased him August 8th, 1747 ; John, baptised April 9th, 1708, buried February 6th, 1710 ; and four daughters — Elizabeth, baptised November 2nd, 1699 ; Bridget, February 19th, 1701 ;

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 41

Ann, July 29tli, 1704 ; buried June 23rd, 1705 ; and Susannah, baptised July 8th ; buried October 4th, 1710.

I must now return to William Elford, third surviving son of John Elford, by his Jourth wife, Sarah Wollocombe (not by his second wife Anne Northcote, as stated by the editors of "Prince.")' He was baptised at Widecombe, 2nd of June, 1644, and is afterwards described as "of Plymouth, merchant." He married Mary, daughter of John ToUard, whose family subsequently changed their name to Trefry, and had issue John, and William, captain K.N. (who married Miss Haviland, and had issue Harry Elford, of Hele, in the parish of Cornwood, who was buried there July 23rd, 1748, leaving a son, William Harry Elford, born 1744, married May lOth, 1769, Frances daughter of Waltham Saveiy, of Slade, in Cornwood (she had been baptised April 6th, 1748), by whom he had seven children, Robert Elford Saverij, baptised May 12th, 1768 ; buried November 10th, same year, Waltham, December 21st, 1770 ; William Harry, March '24th, 1776 ; Robert, January 1st, 1784 ; Luke, June 6th, 1789 ; and two daughters, Frances, January 20th 1772 ; and Elizabeth, March 9th, 1777.)

John Elford, eldest son of William and Mary Tollard, married Jenny, daughter of Thomas Crapthorne, and was buried at Topsham, March 26th, 1732 ; (will proved May 12th.) They had issue five sons and two daughters, who all died in infancy, besides Agnes, who married William Wyatt ; Jenny, wife of Thomas Seal, of Coffleet ; Lucretia married John Bedford; and Lancelot, baptised at Ply- mouth, September 6tb, 1718, clerk in holy orders and

1 Prince Edit. 1810, p. 457 n. * Par. Reg. of Comwood. Q

42 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Vicar of Plympton, who became the head of the family upon the death (without surviving male issue) of his father's first cousin, John Elford, of Sheepstor, in 1 748. •

At this period the Sheepstor property appears to have been sold, probably in order to make a provision for his predecessor's daughters, and the Manor was for some years the property of the Northmores, as stated by Lysons ; it now belongs to Mr. John Bayly, but a great portion of the soil to Sir Massey Lopes.

Longstone, the ancient seat of the Elfords, was held by Mrs. Ames in l8ll,' but I am informed that a daughter of Elford married into the Crymes family, of Buckland Monachorum, and the latter into the Crebers, and that Mr. John Creber is the present occupant of the estate.

The Rev. Lancelot Elford resided at Bickham, and was buried at Buckland in 1782. By his marriage with Grace, daughter of Alexander Wills, of Kingsbridge, he left Jonathan, of Plymouth Dock, who married Mary, dau. of Heniy Luxmore, of Okehampton ; Jenny, wife of George Leach, of Plymouth ; and William Elford, his eldest son, M.P. and Recorder of Plymouth, Lieutenant- Colonel South Devon MiHtia, who accompanied the Regiment to Ireland where it was permanently embodied duiing the Peninsula War, created a Baronet November 2Gth, 1800. He married Mary, dau. of the Rev. John Davies, of Plympton St. Maurice by his wife Mary, dau. of John Chard, and had issue Jonathan, born November 5th, 1776, Grace Chard, and Elizabeth. Sir William, who married secondly a dau. and co-heir of Humphrey Hall, of Manadon, and widow of Lieut-Colonel Maine Swete Walrond, sold Keynedon about the end of the 1 Additions to Eisdon's " Survey."

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 43

eighteenth century. Jonathan Elford, married Charlotte, dau. and heir of Wra. Wynne, of Abercynlleth, co. Denbigh. He for some months represented Westbury in Parliament, but resigned in November 1820 to make way for the late Sir M. M. Lopes. He predeceased his father, and died at Uplands, in Tamerton Foliott, March llth, 1823 -n^thout issvie.

Sir William Elford survived until 30th November, 1837, when be died at the age of 89, and the Baronetcy became extinct.

His youngest daughter Elizabeth, married Sir George Pownall Adams, K.C.B. Then* son Henry Cranstoun Adams, Esq., of Exmouth, Lt.-Col. 1st Devon Artillery Volunteers has a valuable collection of family porti'aits by James Northcote, R.A. They include : — Full length portrait of Sir William Elford ; Another of John Elford, his brother ; Another of Mary (Luxmore), wife of the said Jonathan

Elford ; Another of Jenny his sister, wife of Mr. George Leach ; Another of her husband Mr. George Leach ; Another of Sir William Elford, in advanced age ; Another of Mary, wife of Sir William Elford, and of their

son Jonathan when a child ; Another of the Rev. Lancelot Elford, Father of Sir

William, 1718; And another of Grace Chard Elford, eldest daughter of

Sir William. She died unmarried 1856.

These pictures are all fully desci'ibed by Mr. Robert Dymond, F.S.A. in the Trans. Devon Association vol. xviii. p. 114-120.

g'

44 DEVONSflIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER II.— PART III.

Sheepstor Church,

The Parish Church, which stands in a quiet churchyard, pleasantly situated m the higher part of the village, consists of a chancel, nave separated from south aisle by an arcade of five bays supported upon clustei-ed Per- pendicular, columns, north transept, south porch, and a western tower, containing five bells. Tlie ancient screen, which was seen by Mrs. Bray, and which she describes as " finely carved, painted, and gilt," has, unfortunately been removed, but the exterior projection on the north side, which contains the stairs which once led to the rood loft still remains.

There is a Plain Pointed piscuia of Early date on the south side of the chancel, a view of wliich is aftbrded from the north transept by means of a good example of a hagioscope, or " squint " as it is usually called. The octagonal font is ornamented mth shield.-, and with the flat four-leaved flower characteristic of the Decorated period of Pointed architecture, and there are deeply- moulded chancel and tower arches. The eastern end of the south aisle at one time contained a chantry altar, and the cinque-foUed piscina may still be seen there.

At the period of my visit, in 1874, the square-headed Perpendicular window which lights the transept was about to be filled with stained glass, to the memoiy of a

PARISH OF SHEEPSrOR. 45

former schoolmistress of the village, and the subject was to include figures of S3. Cecilia and Katherine. The windows generally iire of Late Decorated or Early Per- pendicular date; the tracery is of the latter period. The entrance into the porch is beneath a square-headed door- way, with a deep weather moulding and quatre-foiled spandrils, and there is a similar doorway to the tower, which is embattled and surmounted by four pinnacles adorned with crockets and tinials. The belfry staircase is carried up in an octagonal turret on the north-eastern

side.

The church is supported by strong buttresses, and over the porch, in a recess, which may have at one time con- tained the figure of the Patron Saint, is a " death's head" with ears of corn sprouting out of the holes for the eyes ; above is the mscription, " Mors Janua Vitse," and below an hour-glass, with the words " Anima Pxesurgat " and " Ut Hora Sic Vita." The date is 1640.

There are two interesting )nemorials to the Elfords here ; one, at the western end, without inscription, cer-^ tainly commemorates Anne Nortlicote second wife of John Elford, and sister of Sir John Northcote, of Hayne. The principal figure represents a lady in a rechning position, with a child beneath her arm (her youngest son, Richard, who died in inlancy) ; at her head is an angel ; at her feet a skeleton figure of Death with the scythe. Three children kneel at the foot of the monu- ment (Anne, Walter, and Jonathan), and in front of them is a " Pho3nix," It will be seen from my description that the composition strongly partakes of the hideous taste which our ancestors of the seventeenth century were so

46 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

fond of displaying. This must be the tablet " without date " ascribed by Lysons to " Elizabeth Coplestone." Ai'ound it it are shields of arms similar to those I have already described elsewhere^ as existing ou the tablet at Widecombe, and which was placed in that church in memory of her successor, Mary Gale (John Elford's third wife).

An inscription at the eastern end of the aisle mentions earlier members of the Elford family, but includes the name of the Royalist. It affords much valuable informa- tion both genealogical and heraldic : —

" Here lycth the bodies of John Elforde, of Shitstor gentleman, who died the xxvii ; day of August, in the year of our Lorde God one thousand five-hundred fourscore and foure.

And also the body of Elizabeth Drake, first the wife of the said John Elforde, and last the vnie of Thomas Drake, of Buckland Drake, Esquier" Brother and heire to Sir Francis Drake, Knight, who died !March ye 18, ye year of our Lord God one-thousand six-hundred 31. And also the bodye of "Walter Elford, gentleman, sonne and heir of the foresayde John and Ehzabeth, who died in the yere of our Lord God,

[May ye 9th, one-thousand six hundred 48, aged 72.

(Tcmpora ne culpes cum sis tibi causa doloris.) Who married Barbara, daughter of John Crocker of Lynam, Esq., and

[had issue by her foure sons — John, Hugh, Walter, William, and five daughters — Frances, Anne, Joane, Elizabeth, and Mary. She died 1656. Aged 83."

Below this inscription are the arms of Drake. Sa. a fesse wavy betw. 2 pole stars Arg. Impaled with Gregory ; Az. within 3 increscents, or as many mullets Arg.

Above the inscription are seven shields —

1 " Ashburton and its Neighbourhood," p. 68.

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 47

1. Quarterl}' 1 ami 4, per pale wavy Arg. and Sa. a lion ramp. Gu. (Elford), 2 and 3 Arg., 3 stirrups with leathers, Sa. (Scudamore.)

2. Elford, as before, impaling — a bull passant. (Bevil.)

3. Elford, as before, impaling — a lion rampant between five crosses flory fitehee. (Adams.)

4. Elford, as before, impaling — Paly of 6, on a chief a lion passant guardant. (Langsford.)

.5. Elford as before impaling, a chevron betw. 3 ravens? (Bury.)

6. Elford as before impaling Gregory, as above.

7. Elford, as before, impaling a chevron engrailed betw. 3 crows. (Crocker).

I have given the names of the families to which these arms belong from the MS. collection of miscellaneous pedigrees at the Heralds' College before referred to.*

I fancy, however, that No. 5 Elford, impelling a chevron betw. 3 ravens, refei-s to a marriage with a daughter of a younger branch of Bickley instead of Bury. The arms of the latter family, originally of " Buiy," in Lapford, and afterwards of Coleton, in Chuhnleigh, and of Doniton in Swymbridge, were Erm. on a bend, Az. 3 fleur de lis Or. but there is a coat of the Bickleys which gives Ar. a chevron engd. betw. 3 martlets Su., while the old family of Bickleigh of Bickleigh, whose heiress mamed De Belfago, bore, according to Lysons,* Ar., a bend engd., Sa. between 3 crows.

The church-house, at one time used as a school-house, is situated close to the churchyard ; parts of it are sup- posed to date from the seventeenth century, but a con- siderable portion of it appears to be earlier. It retains its ancient panelling of oak, and possesses other interest-

> CoU.Ar. I. H. iMisol. Teds. ' Mag. Brit. Devon, 1, clxii.,

48 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

ing architectural features. The present parish school was built in 1866.

When Sheepstor was separated from Bickleigh the Kev. Warneford Gompertz became the Vicar, and the patron afterwards arranged for the purchase (for the Vicarage) of Bi'ook Cottage, close to the church, and which was the property, and had been the residence of the Rev. W. Y. Daykin (subsequently Archdeacon of Maritzburg), who was the Curate-in-charge of the parish on the occasion of my visit, and whose courtesy and attention to my inquiries I have by no means forgotten, and I am glad to be now able to acknowledge.

The house known as the Church-house appears to have been the gift of John Elford about the year 1570. Since by a new trust deed made in 1811 (between the only sur- viving trustees, Peter Nicholls and Thomas NichoUs, and ten others, and in order " to perpetuate the charitable disi^osition and intention of John Elford the elder, there- tofore of Sheepstor, mentioned and contained in a certain deed of feoffment dated the 2nd January, 12th Eliza- beth.") The Church-house, and a piece of ground called the Church-place or Bowling-green (on the south side of the churchyard, on the west side of a well called St. Leonard's Well, on the north side of a water called Sheepstor brook, and on the east side of a garden, near the Vicarage garden) are reconveyed for the only use of the parishioners of Sheepstor for ever.

This deed appears to me to furnish two fragments of evidence of an interesting nature —

First^That the church-house was not built in the reign of Charles I, according to the prevalent idea, but

PARISH OF SEEEPSTOR. 49

in the early part of that of Elizabeth, as indicated by the style of the architecture.

Second -That a well, called St. Leonard's Well, existed chse to the church, as to the dedication of lohich there is no reference in any of the documents I have seen. Mciy it not have been named after this saint also ?

There are some lands called Cawte lands, with a right of common upon Yannadon, which belong to the poor of this parish. They were let in 1826 for £11 15s, but in 1879 their rental was only £9 10s. a year.

Before I conclude this chapter I should like once more to refer to the Elfords, so long the owners of the soil of Sheepstor.

It is certain that they were of ancient extraction, yet their pedigree is not recorded in the Visitations of 1531 or 1564, and it is noteworthy that a certain Hucrh Elford of Devon, who matriculated at Exeter Colt 17th November 1581, is described as "plebei filius.'' They probably resided quietly upon their land at Sheepstor, and thought little of coat armour or heraldic fees, until they began to form alUances with such well-known county families as the Crockers, Cople- Btones, and Northcotes ; and it appears more than prob- able that all the shields which I have blazoned in this article were placed at Sheepstor, as they certainly ivere at Widecombe, by John Elford, the Royalist, after his father's death in 1648. On the first of May, 1582, an inquiry was held at Tavistock, under a commission from the Lord Bishop of Exeter, by the Vicars of Whitchurch and Tavistock, to inquire into certain scandalous conduct

50 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

which had been alleged against Richard Tooker and one Pascha Elford, both of Tavistock.^ With respect to the Elfords of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, it is to be remarked that the members of the family of John Elford, of Sheeps- tor, have their names written " Ihbrd " in the registers of that parish, Peter, son of Peter Elford was baptised there 22nd August, 1G47; Eichard Elford was buried there 15th June, 1647 ; Richard, son of Richard, 16th April, 1667; and Richard Elford, 22nd April, 1673, A certain William Elford was also buried at Wide- combe, January, l2th, 1677.

His marriage with " Richord" (surname not given) had been solemnised there 22nd October, 1662, and they had two children: John, bap. March, 1663, and Mary, 11th March, 1672. They may have been, and most probably were descended from a younger son of the Sheepstor house, but I am unable to identify them.

Amongst some published extracts from Mr. James Hilton's collection of '' Chronogi'aphs " is included a portion of the inscription at Widecombe to the memory of John Elford's third wife, which appears to have been copied from " Notes and Queries," 5th s., vol. 9, p. 337. A note to this extract states that " the date in ' Notes and Queries' is erroneously given as 1642." I would therefore remark that this date is perfectly correct; and that the mistake has occurred in con- sequence of the omission of the word " ex " between " Obiit " and " Puerperio." Tlie absence of tills word would make the date 1632, but, as a matter of fact,

1 Bp. Woolton'8 Reg. P.R Exon. A.l. « " Western Antiquary " October, 1882.

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 51

John Elford's marriage license for his first wife, Eliza- beth Copplestone, was not granted until March 26th, 1631.

In the parish registers of Tavij St. Mary, September 12th, 1756, is the following curious entry "Robert Elford, child of Susannah Elford, by her sister's husband, to whom she was 'married with the consent of her sister the wife, who was at the wedding."

In connexion with the Elfords of Cornwood, a certain Thomas Elford (who does not find a place in the pedigi-ee was buried there January 26th, 1790. On November 1 8th, 1800, BuiTington Elford mamed there Anne Dodridge, of the same parish, and it is worth remarking that Maria Savery, who married the Rev. Gilbert Burrington March 1st, 1749, was the aunt of Frances Savery, who became the wife of William Harry Elford in 1 769, " Henry William Elford, of Iv-ybridge," buried at Cornwood July 10th, 1834, aged five months, was probably their grandson.

I beo- to offer my cordial thanks to the Rev. C. H. Crooke, the Vicar of Sheepstor, for the assistance he has so readily afforded me by sendmg me extracts from his registers, and rubbings from the Elford shields of arms.

He tells me that the overseers' books were signed by "J. Elford, J.P." between the years 1810 and 1822 (Jonathan, son of Sir WQliam Elford). The parish registers date from 1691, but are in bad preservation.

The old Vicarage house, with the date 1648, still stands, but is very much out of repair, and the church- house, which was habitable when I visited the parish, is

52 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

now, I regret to hear, in ruins. The church vessels have nothing very distinguishing about them. The chalice and flagon are of beaten silver, the former with a plain scroll pattei-n.

Within the last thirty years, Sheepstor has been distinguished from having been the residence of a very distinguished and remarkable man, who displayed as much liberality and was as much loved and valued in his remote Devonshire home as he had been in the colony which he had previously formed, and which has become identified -wdth his name. Sir James Brooke, better known as " Eajah Brooke," was born atBandel, in Bengal April 29th, 1803, and was educated at Norwich Granmiar School. He was descended from an ancient Somerset- shire family, and commenced life with a commission in the Indian Ai-my, and served during the war in Burmah, where he was wounded in tlie lungs. He was long in a precarious state of health, and during his consequent furlcuo-h in 1830, he made a voyage to China and in his passage through the Eastern Archipelago became convinced that if the Island of Borneo could be acquired it might be made a powerful and wealthy dependency of the British Crown. He afterwards went there at his own cost, assisted the Malay ruler, Muc':ili Hassim, in suppressing an insurrection, and became Eajah of Sarawak, and forthwith exerted himself to suppress pii'acy, to facilitate European commerce, and to introduce civiUsa- tion among the Dyak tribes.

In 1647 the British Government took possession of the Island of Labuan, and Mr. Brooke was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief, and was made a

PARISH OF SHEEPSTOR. 53

D.C.L. by the University of Oxford, and a Knight of the Civil Division of the Bath.

During his long residence abroad he gradually extended his influence and authority until he became the petty ruler and Prince and practically the King of Sarawak. He was the pioneer of civiUsation in the Eastern seas, and diffiised through these Asiatic tribes a reverence and respect for the British name ; and the administration of the province having been ceded to him, the English private gentleman thus became virtually a monarch. There is no second opinion as to the judiciousness ot his mode of government, which was eminently successful. He advised and guided his "subjects," but he neither governed nor directed them ; he placed the country in a position of the most perfect freedom, and its affairs in the hands of a native Council for the benefit of its native inhabitants. He had to run for his life during our war with China, when his house and valuable library, together witli other property, were seized by the enemy, and immediately after his return to England in 18.58 he was seized with a paralytic stroke, for the second time.

A. meeting was then held m London, and a large sum was collected by private subscription in order to repair in some mes'.sure his great losses in the East. With the money thus raised Sir James purchased an estate in the parish of Sheepstor, known as Burrator, to which he retired, but his health having become somewhat restored he found himself unable to remain idle. In the autumn of 18G1 he again returned to Boi-neo to suppress a dangerous rebellion which had broken cut on the nortli-

54 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

west coast of that country. He accomplished it and returned to his adopted village, but fresh complica- tions in his government necessitated his once more crossing the seas, when he received the reward of his life by obtaining from England the recognition of the independence of Sarawak, and by having a British Consul accredited to his government. He was spared to return to this country, but did not long survive. He died at Burrator in 1868, and was buried under a large beech tree on the north side of Sheepstor Church. The massive tomb of red Aberdeen granite was erected by his nephew, who succeeded him as Rajah of Sarawak.

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. 65

CHAPTER III.— PART I.

The Parish of Walkhampton — Description and General History.

The parish of Walkhampton, pleasantly situated on the western escarpment of Dartmoor and in the valley of the little river Walkham, includes within its limits 6,600 acres of waste and open common out of a total of 10,540 acres of land. In 1831 the population amounted to 691 ; in 1871, to 631 (312 males and 319 females, living in 118 houses), and according to the last census the population has again decreased to the number of 70. A portion of this parish, however, became absoi'bed in the new district knowi:i as Horrabridge, which was an old chapelry depen- dent uponBuckland Monachorum until 1867, when it was separated from the mother church.

Walkhampton is in the Hundred of Roborough and originally belonged to the suppressed deanery of Tamerton. The Manor, which appears to me to be " The Wachetona" of the Exeter Domesday, written Wachetone in the Exchequer copy, was held in the reign of Edward the Confessor by the King, who held there one " ferling " in demesne, and there was land for four ploughs. The wood was one league in length, and half a league in breadth, there was an acre of meadow, and a hundred

56 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

acres of pasture. The description in the Exchequer Domesday is hardly as complete as that in the Exeter volume, which is as follows : —

" Rex habet i mansion em qua3 vocatur Wachetona quam tenuit rex Edwardus ea die qua fuit vivus et mortuus et reddidit gildum dimidia virga. Hanc possunt arare iiii carrucce. Inde habet rex i ferlinum in dominio et viUani i ferlinum et iiii carructe. Ibi habet rex vi viUanos et iii^ bordarios et ii servos et iii animalia et 1. oves et i leugam in longitudine nemoris et diirddiam leugam in latitudine et i agrum prati et c agros pascua3 et reddit per annum iii libras ad pondus."

This land for many generations afterwards was in the hands of the powerful family of Rivers, or Redvers. Richard de Ripariis, or Redvers, brother of Baldwin known as the Sheriff, is said to have obtained from King Henry the 1st, the whole honour of Plympton. Plympton, like Walkhampton, was at the period of the Sul•^'ey, Royal demesne, and although it is absolutely certain that it was soon afterwards the property of the Earl of Devon, yet it is equally apparent that Baldwin held it previously to its coming into the hands of his brother. This is shown by an entry in the Exeter Domesday, which is not contamed in the Exchequer Copy. " Rex habet i mansionem quse vocatur Plin-

tone" " Haec reddit xiii Hbras et x solidos ad

pensum, et quando Balduinus recepit xii hbras et x solidos ad pensum." The land paid geld for two hides and a half and apart from these the Canons of Plymp- ton held two hides.

Baldwin the eighth Earl incorrectly called " William

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTOX. 57

de Eipariis'" presented Elias de Herteford to WalkLamp- ton Church, August 1259 as shown by Bishop Brones- combe's Register. His mother, the Countess Amicia, ah-eady mentioned exercised a like power in favour of John de Mohun in December 1276, and two yeai-s later she included this manor and the advowson of the Rectory, with Bickleigh and Columpton in her pro- vision for the Cistercian monks whom slie had brought from her husband's ancestral property at Quarrer, and settled at Buckland. I have already given details from a grant of the fovmdress, m which her son's name does not occur.^ But in another document' I find these words, in addition to those I have previously quoted : " pro salute animse nostrie et animarum Baldwini fihi nostri quondam comitis Devonie," &c. The confirmation by Isabella de Fortibus contains the metes and bounds of the three adjacent manors, and is dated at Brom- mor, St. Edmund's Day, 1291, two years before her death. Another charter by the same Isabella, in which she grants or confirms these lands to her mother, is dated 1273, and is wtnessed by Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, the King's son, Edmund Earl of CornwaU, and others.

Thomas Whyte, Abbot of Buckland, granted December 1st, 1511, the reversion of a lease to William and Jane Dunster of an estate at " Lader Torre " (Leather Tor), with a stamping-mill—" cmn uno molendino pulsatih ad stannum pulsandum." Lysons says that "the manor was given by Amicia, Countess of Devon, to the Abbot

1 Ante, p. 2. * "Inspex." 9tli Henry IV.

I

58 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

aiid Convent of Buckland except the portion of Dittis- ham Rowe which is annexed to the Vicarage of Bick- leigh. The present Vicar of Bickleigh tells me that he receives a certain sum annually from the Walkhampton, tithes in respect of this apportionment.

Ciyptor (Criptor), Middleworthy, Le Parke (Parktown) Pyke (Peek Hill), and Dencombe (Deancombe), with several other estates, are noticed by Dr. Oliver as occur- ring in ancient leases.

The church of Walkhampton, in the Deanery of Tamer- ton, was valued at £4 per annum, and taxed at 8s. by Pope Nicholas IV. in 1291. In the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VHI. it is bracketed, for some unaccountable reason, with Sheepstor, and the Rectorial tithes are valued at X7. The manor of Walkhampton returned, at the dissolution of religious houses, £21 13s. 3d per annum.

The Rectorial tithes of this parish together with Bickleigh, and Sheepstor were leased by the last Abbot, of Buckland, October 25th, 1536, to his brother, Robert Toker, and his nephews, William and Hugh, for sixty years, at the rent of £7 10s.

On September 24th, 1546, John Slannynge, of London gentleman, purchased of the Crown the manor of Walk- hampton and the advowson of its church, with other property in Bickleigh and Shaugh, the estates to be held in fee at the yearly rent for Walkhampton, of £2 4s. 7id.

The o^vner8 have since been identical with those of

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. 59

Bickleigh, and a full account of them will be found in my previous notice of that parish. Sir Massey Lopes, Bart., of Maristowe, is the present owner.

I'

GO DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER III.— PART II.

The Family of Eedvkrs, Earls of Devon.

Richard " Le Bon," Duke of Normandy, besides his sons Richard and Eobert, the latter of whom was the father of Wilham the Conqueror, had a natural son, who is known in history as Godfrey, Earl of Ewe, or Owe in his native country. Godfrey, Earl of Ewe, had a son, Gilbert, Earl of Brion, first cousin to the Conqueror, who was the father of Baldwin De Brion, Lord of Okehamp- ton, and also of Richard Fitz-Gilbert ; the latter held one manor in demesne, that of Levaton, in Woodland, at the period of the Domesday Survey (IDS'?), besides six under his brother Baldwin, one under William Portitor, or the doorkeeper, one under Ralph de Pomeroy, and five, among which was Cotlega, or Cotleigh (afterwards given to St. James's Prioiy), under Robert, Earl of Moreton, or Mor- taigne, the uterine brother of King William. This Richard Fitz-Gilbert assumed the name of De Ripariis, and was the same Richard de Ripariis who received from that monarch the Lordships of Tiverton and Plympton.

His first property here appears to have been the impor- tant lordship of Tiverton ; he was afterwards created Earl of Devon, and received, in addition to the third peimy of the county, the revenue of which then amounted to thirty marks, a concession of the Barony of Plympton, with aU

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. 61

the manors and other property belonging to it ; ultimately he obtained large possessions in the Isle of Wight, and his style and title was Earl of Devon and Lord of the Isle, as is shown by the MS. History of the Foundation of Ford Abbey. " Post hec. insiilam Vecte a dicto rege obtinuit unde comes Devonie et dominus Insule nuncu- patus erat.^ This Richard de Eedvers died in the year 1107; and was buried in Normandy at the Abbey of Montibourg. By his wife, Adeliza, he left a son, Baldwin, who succeeded him as second Earl of Devon, and whose wife was also called Adeliza or Adeline. The second Earl was the illustrious founder " Inclytum fundatorem " of the Cluniac Priory of St. James, in the suburbs of Exeter : of Christ Church, Hants, which is described as " Timmor {i.e. Bremore) canonicorum et Twina ubi est Christi Ecclesia," of the Monastery of Quarrer, in the Isle of Wight ; and of Lira in Normandy. Upon the death of King Henry I. this powerful noble, mindful of the favours which had been heaped upon his father and upon himself by the deceased monarch, was the veiy first to take up arms in the cause of the King's daughter, Maud, wife of the Emperor Henry IV of Germany. He shut himself up in the Castle of Exeter, and hastened to strengthen its foitifications during the time that elapsed between his hostile declaration and the arrival of the beleaguering army imder the usui^per Stephen, who during the year 1 1 3G pressed the siege with great vigour for three months, and expended thereon the enormous sum of over 15,000 marks. We are told that the garri-

1 MS. Hail. Xo. 1176, fol. 97.

62 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

son ultimately capitulated for want of water, and King Stephen is said to have treated not only his adversaries, but the citizens generally, with the utmost clemency.

He indemnified the canons of the Cathedi-al for the damage which their property had experienced, and he permitted the Earl himself to retire to his Castle of Nehon, in Normandy, but very soon afterwai'ds allowed him to return and to reassume his English honours, which he enjoyed until his death. This event occurred "pridie Nonas Junii " (4th of June), 1155, at Quarrer, where he was laid to rest by the side of his wife, who had been previously buried there. He left issue, a son, Richard, who succeeded him as third Earl ; Henry, who died in his infancy, and was also buried at Quarrer ; William, usually known as De Vernon "quia Vernone scolaris fuerat," and who succeeded ultimately as sixth Earl. Besides these sons, I find' mention of two daughters, Maud, wife of Ralph Avenel, Lord of Okehampton, and Avis, mother of Mabilla de Solariis. Richard the third Earl confirmed the gifts of his father, Baldwin, to the Priory of St. James, and he was also a considerable bene- factor to the Abbey of Quarrer, in the Isle of Wight. He died at Cenemonia (Le Mans) in 1162. In his deed, dated at Exeter and execiited in the presence of the Bishop (Robert Warelwast) in 1157, he makes mention of his wife Dionisia ; Risdon says that she was called Avice, and was daughter and coheir of Reginald, Earl of Cornwall. He left two sons — Baldwin, who succeeded as fourth Earl, and who man-ied Alice, daughter of

1 MS. Harl. Ull.f. 47.

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON.

63

(Kalph) Dale, of Bovey' de Dolis, according to Kisdon. He left no issue, and was succeeded by his brother Kichard. Westcote says that his widow married secondly Andrew de Chauvens.

Richard Rivers, fifth Earl, married Margaret, daughter and coheh' of John Lord Bisset, but according to West- cote, who cites " The Book of Plympton," Emma, daughter of Roger de Pont Arches. Westcote also says that he was the first of the family who used the arms (now quartered by the Earl of Devon)— Or, a lion rampant. Az. and " that his predecessors had borne—" Gu., a griffin seizing a little beast, Or— "^ It appears, how- ever,' that the original coat— Gu. a griflin segreant Or— a coloured sketch of which is given in the MS., was employed by the first seven Earis, and that Baldwin the eighth and last Eirl of his name, was the first to adopt the blue lion on the gold field. He seems to have been a benefactor to Tor Abbey ; but did not long sur- vive his brother, dying at Le Mans, without issue, in

1166.

He was succeeded by his uncle, William de Vernon, as sixth Earl, who married Mable, daughter of Robert, Earl of Mellant, by ]\Iaud, daughter and coheir of Reginald, Eaii of Cornwall. He died on the 4th Ides

1 MS. Harl. 1411.

» Tkis device occurs on a seal attached to a deed of Baldwin the second Earl, (in wliich ho describes himself as " Ego Baldwinus Exoui- ensis Comes.") The legend being " Sigillum. Baldvini. Com. Xonib."— The griffin is standing on the smaller animal and both arc towards tho sinister. This seal, copied from Dugdale, Mon. Aug. is reproduced by the late CoL Harding in his history of Tiverton, voL i, Book 2, p. 22.

9 MS. Harl. 1411.

64 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

of September (10th of that month), 1217. He left issue two daughters. Joan, married to William Briwere the younger, of Tor, to whom he gave land " apud Crust in manerio de Cruk " and the advowson of the church there ; while to his younger daughter, Maiy, he gave the residue of the said manor, with the hundred and chace of Crux, and she, by her marriage with Sir Robert Courtenay, became the ancestress of the present Earl of Devon.

Besides these daughters, Wilham de Vernon had a son Baldwin, who predeceased him on the 1st September, 1216, and who by his marriage with Margaret, daughter of Warren Fitz-Gerald, Chamberlain to King John, left issue a son, Baldwin, who succeeded his grandfather in his estates and honours. He probably also had a daughter, Constance, wife of Sir Richard Worth, of Worth, in Washfield, who was in possession of the estate there, on which his descendants still reside, in the year 1243. This marriage is referred to in the Rawlingson MS. {Visit. Devon, 1564), where Sir Richard Worth, third in descent from Reginald, is stated to have married Constance, daughter of the Earl of Devon.

In the Visitation of 1620 the maniage is also referred to ; but in the latter case Sir Hugh Worth of Worth, Kt., fifth in descent from the said Reginald, marries Constance, daughter of the Lord Rivers, afterwards Countess of Devon. But this Hugh Worth is given as father of Sir Richard and thii'd in descent from Reginald in the Visitation of 1564.^ In the latter MS. she is called "Constants, daughter of ye Erie of Devon." The dates seem to show that she must have been the

1 Coll. Ar. H. 18. f. 88.

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. 65

daughter of Baldwin and grand-daughter of WilJiam de Vernon ; but if so she was sister, not daughter, of the seventh Earl ; and in any case there is abundant evidence that she was never (Countess of Devon, de facto, although she may have been so, de jure and the note to that effect in the Visitation of 1620 must be an en-or.

Baldwin, the seventh Earl, succeeded his grandfather in 1217. He was created lord of the Isle of Wight by the King at Winchester, but not until Christmas Day. 1240.' He married Amicia, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, died in 1245, and left issue, Baldwin (8th Earl), Margaret, who was a nun at Laycock Abbey, and Isabella, married to William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, and eventually Countess of Devon.

Baldwin the eighth Earl married Avlce,^ a relation of Queen Eleanor, and had a son, John, who died an infant in France ; consequently, upon his own death in 1262 he was succeeded by his sister, Isabella de Fortibus.

Countess Isabella had three sons, John, Thomas and WiUiam all of whom died before her, and without off- spring ; her daughters were Ann, who was never married, and Aveline whose first husband was Ingram de Percie, and who consoled herself in her widowhood by an alliance with Edmimd, Earl of Lancaster, second son of Henry HI., but she also died childless. In the year 1283, therefore, Hugh Lord Courtenay, Baron of Oke- hampton, in right of his descent fi'om Hawise de Averanches, claimed to be ninth Earl of Devon by

1 MS. Harl. 1411. f. 47. ^ Dau. of Peter of Savoy. K

66 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

inheritance from his grandmother, Mary, daughter of William de Vernon, whose sister, Joan Briwere, had died without issue.

The claim to the Earldom of Devon was by no means admitted, and the Bishop of Exeter, Walter Stapledon, Lord Treasurer to Edward II., utterly denied it and it was not until the 9th of Edward III., 1336, that Hugh de Courtenay by a peremptory order from the Crown was summoned to Parliament as Ear] of Devonshire, as the last Earl in order having been that year only restored to the dignity in right of his Great Grandmother Mary, dau. of William de Redvers, Earl of Devon."^ If however Constance wife of Sir Richard Worth was the sister of Baldwin, the seventh Earl, it would appear that she and her des- cendants had a prior claim, to the Earldom since they were a generation nearer than the Court enays to the last possessor of the title, and it will be noticed that with all the powerful influence the latter had at Court, they did not succeed in estabUshing their title for Jorty- three years. Although Hugh de Courtenay is usually described as the ninth Earl, yet he should really be styled the tenth, since the Countess Isabel, who held the Earldom in her own right, was the ninth in succession from Richard de Ripariis.

1 By letters patent dated Xowcastle-upon-Tyuo, February 22nd 1336. The King declares it to be his " Royal Pleasure " that Hugh Courtenay the elder, Earl of Devon, should thenceforth assume the title of Earl as his ancestors had done, and he ccmimanded the Sheriff to call him Earl of Devon, " quod tarn in comitatu tuo, quani in aliis locis in Baliva tua facias publicari quod omnes de caetero prajfetum Huzenem Comitem Devon nominent," and the next day he further directed the Barons of hie Exchequer to cause the sum of £18 6s. 8d. to be annually paid to him " nomine comitis."

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. C7

CHAPTER III.— PART III.

The Appropriation of WALKHAiiPTOX Church, and Description of the Fabric.

The licenses of our Bishops for the appropriation of the rectories of benefices to religious houses are con- stantly met with ; these were more especially granted in cases where the monastic community happened to be the patrons — all such appropriations required the Royal Assent, in addition to the Episcopal sanction, before they coidd become valid ; and the reason usually assigned for thus diminishing W\e income of the parochial clergy was to enable the patrons to live more decently and to exercise more lil^eral hospitality and charity ; and, as the late Dr. Oliver truly remarks,' " When inns were rarely met with and poor-rates were unknown, this practice was not ^v^th- out its advantages." The lead mines of Devonshire and Cornwall have always given evidence of containing an unusual quantity of silver ; and the produce of the mines of Combmartin and Beer Alston is said to have been very remimerative during the latter portion of the thirteenth century. In the year 1293 William de Wymondham accounted to the Treasury for 270lbs. of silver raised in this county, and this was given towards the portion of Lady Eleanor, daughter of the King (Edward I.) then

^ Monas. Dioc. p, 155.

68 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

married to the Duke de Ban*. Lysons, and Fuller both tell us, quoting from the public records, that in the year 1296 thi-ee-hundred-and-sixty men wei'e impressed out of Derbyshire and Wales in order to work these mines. In the year 1326 it appears that the mine of " Byrlande " (which Lysons identifies as Beer Alston, in the parish of Beer Fen-ers) was in the Kuig's hands, and the men em- ployed there appear to have trespassed considerably upon the Abbot of Buckland. This mine was situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the Abbot's property at Buckland Monachorura, who in the 31st Edward I. (1303) appears to have petitioned the Crown on account of losses which he had sustained on this account. An inquisition into the facts was ordered under the Great Seal, and Richard de Abindon and Thomas de Raleigh were appointed to adjudicate, and they found that the Abbot had experienced damage to the amoimt of £642 13s 4d. The Lords of the Treasury ordered that he should receive the sum of £400 in full acquittance.

The matter was reopened upon a writ of ''De allocatione facienda" in the following reign, 13th July, 1309, when it was shown that Thomas de Sweyneseye, the custodian of the King's Mine in Devon, had duly paid the Abbot the £400, and he produced the receipt for the amount. It was also found that the damages to the Abbot were occasioned by the " Lumbards " who had the custody of the mine, but that no mention of them was made in the inquisition, so the said Thomas was asked who these " Lumbards " were, and what loss they had occasioned. He replied that they were merchants, "de societate Frisco-

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. 69

haldorum," who had the said mine at farm in the 29th of Edward I. (1301), and it appeared that they had taken timber from the Abbot's Wood, vahied at £313 7s. 4d. (out of the total amount of £400 awarded him), and that they should be answerable to the Crown. These proceed- ings are printed in Latin in the Monasticon of the Diocese and Dr. Oliver remarks, in a foot-note, that " the petition against the Crown for damages, and the right of the King to recover over against his Lombard lessees, present some curious points for the legal antiquary." The proximity of these mines formed the excuse f<jr an application to Bishop Bitten to appropriate the Rectory of Walkharapton to the Abbot and Convent as patrons of tlie hving. The Bishop's deed, dated 30th January, 1305, at Chudleigh, was assented to by the Dean and Chapter on the follow- ing day ; m it the name of one William appears as Rector of the parish, and the reasons alleged for diverting the income of the living were, the great losses which had been sustained by the community through the enormous devastation of their woode and destruction of their lande " on accoiuit of the silver mine," worked by the hands of a large multitude of artificers — " ijisis terrU vestris et circa eas." And it moreover appeal's that the community had frequently felt bound to exercise great hospitality not only to these workmen, but to the King's servants and others coming into the neighbourhood upon matters connected with the mine, which, as will be readily imagined, had cost the Monks a very great deal of fnoney.

The " Taxation and Appointment " of Walkhampton Vicarage was settled by Bishop Bytton's successor

70 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

(Stapledon), from Tavistock, 3 1st October, 1311, when " Sir Walter " is shown to have been the Vicar.

The said Vicar and his successors were to have the whole sanctuary of the said Church, " except a cei-tain close piece of land which lies near the Cemetery on the north side of the Church, which is appropriated to the patrons " for the construction of a tithe-barn. The Vicar also is to have the small tithes and the tithe of hay and the alterlage, except the small tithes of Gnatham and the Manor lands adjacent, which were in the hands of the Pati'ons, in demesne, at the time of the institution of " Sir Walter " to the Vicarage. The patrons were to pay the Vicar a half-mark of silver every year at Christmas. The Vicar and his successors to pay the " procuration," to keep up the books, &c., and the glass in the chancel windows, after it had been once put in proper order and repair by the patrons. But the patrons were to bear the other expenses connected with the chancel and other bui'thens imposed, or which might be imposed, upon the church.

It is to be noticed that Gnatham is particularly men- tioned as a Manor in this deed (Lysons and others call it a Barton) " excepto manerio de Gnatham ut premititur volumus comprehendi."

The parish church, which stands upon high ground at a little distance from the village, is situated among some pai-ticularly fine moorland scenery. It consists of chancel, nave, north and south aisles, supported by arcades of four bays, with clustered Perpendicular piers (the north aisle rims further westward than that on the south side) a south porch, and a fine western tower

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. 71

containing six bells. I noticed two image brackets re- maining in the interior, one on the north side of the chancel over the vestry door, and another at the junction of the chancel with the nave. The font is octagonal, and is ornamented with shields for arms, while its pedestal has quatrefoiled recesses.

The eastern window of the north aisle is blocked by a modem vestry.

The church wfis neatly restored throughout in 1860, at a cost of £750, of which sum the parish raised £400 by a rate. Sir Massey Lopes gave £300, the Rev. David G. Stone (the then Vicar) £25, and the Trustees of the Charity School a like amount. The lofty tower arch springs from corbel heads which represent a King and Queen ; the ancient screen has been removed. The chancel was embellished in memory of the late Lady Lopes in 1872. The Crucilixion forms the subject of the eastern window, and there is a neatly carved reredos of oak. The church is strongly buttressed on the north side. The south porch has a square-headed doorway, with quatrefoils in the spandrllls and deeply moulded jambs. The tower has a pointed doorway and good Perpendicular windows, and a grotesque gargoyle projects over the upper window on its western face. The pinnacles are excessively efi'ective, having a sort of corona or battle- ment out of which they spring in a taper form ; they are octagonal, ornamented with crockets and finials, and are Burmounted with crosses. The Vicarage is valued in the King's Book at £9 14s. 7d. per annum ; the small tithes were commuted, in 1863, for £l41 a year.

The present Vicar is the Rev. Charles Henry Walker^

72 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

who was instituted in 1863. He has a good residence and 22 acres of glebe.

In the church-house near the churchyard I noticed a gargoyle which had apparently been brought from the Church. I saw here also the initials K S. J. W., with the date 1698. The old oak roof and the square-headed entrance are of interesting character.

Lady Modyford, by her will dated 17th March, 1718, gave £200 to be equally divided among the respective Ministers, Churchwardens, and Overseers of the four parishes of Buckland Monachorum, Walkhampton, Bick- leigh, and Shaugh Prior ; the interest to be expended in bread, which is distributed every Sunday after morning ser%ace, among such of the poor as are not in receipt of parochial relief.

She also founded a school, in 1719, and endowed it with 162 acres of land, let in 1879 for about £160 a year, when there was also a sum of £1,100 which had arisen from surplus school income, and was then vested at interest.

Particulars as to this school occupy many pages of the report ot the Charity Commissioners. Its affairs appear to have been the subject of Chancery proceedings, the petition to the Court being dated 4 th of December, 1817. The Rev. William Gee " Mmister of Walkhamp- ton," was a party to the first trvist, dated 9th September, 1719 : and the Rev. Richard Hughes, "Vicar of Walk- hampton," to another deed of the 16th July, 1800.

Mr. Hughes (afterwards Sir Richard Hughes, Bart.,) was constantly non-resident, and from 1812 to 1817 he had not lived in his parish at all. At the period of the

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTOK. 73

report of the Commissioners the Uving was under seques- tration.

The early registera have been lost ; those now in exis- tence were commenced by the Rev. Charles Pyper, who was the Vicar in 1675.

This moorland parish is distinguished as having been the residence of the immediate ancestors of that eminent lawyer John Dunning, first Lord Ashburton. John Dunning, who resided at Gnatham (an estate to which I have already particularly referred), had by Mary his wife four sons and three daughters, and died in 1706. The second son, called after him, was born in 1701, and was by profession a solicitor. Soon after his mari'iage with Agnes, daughter of Henry Jutsham, of Modbury — marriage licence dated 17th May, 1726 — he went to practise as an attorney in Ashburton, where he remained until liLs death.

Upon his fii'st arrival there he is believed to have resided, probably for convenience, with the Perry's, of Gulwell, a copyhold estate, which, although close to Ashburton, is actually in the parish of Staverton, and has been for many centuries in the Perry family, and here his son John (the future Lord Ashburton) was born, and baptized in Ashburton church on the 29th October, 1781 — another son, also called John, had been buried at Ashburton in 1729,

The house in which Lord Ashburton is said to have been born is still in existence behind the modern residence of the Perry family. It is a remarkably good example

• Epis. Reg. * Ashburton Registers.

74 DEVOID ^Hl BE FA HI SEES.

of a yeoman's house of the olden times, and portions of it date apparently from the fifteenth eentuiy. It is built partly of Devonshire " cob," and the whole of the inteiior woodwork is of oak. There is a good Tudor window in one of the rooms, and several square-headed Late Per- pendicular doorways still remain. Some of the wood- work bears traces of elaborate carving, and upon the interior of one of the partitions there are still signs of chromatic decoration of an unusual character. Tliere are remains of six figures in all, and they appear to have been painted on leather, and fastened afterwards to the panels on which they occur. They have become very indistinct from dust and neglect, as the apart- ments in this old building have been for many yeai'S used only as store-rooms. Still, I was able to make out the semblance of a man in armour holding a sword ; another vnth. red and gold crown, and a winged figure of Justice, with scales depending from the neck. After- wards John Dunning became a householder in Ashburton and in 1836 I find his name on the rates there as the owner of a house in West street, in which he resided for the rest of his hfe, and which has descended to the Baroness De Verte as representative of the last Lord Cranstoun, whose family succeeded by will to a large portion of the Dunning property upon the death of Richard, second Lord Ashburton, without issue, in 1823.

John Dunning, the younger, was sent to Ashburton Grammar School at the age of seven. He received his instniction from the Rev. John Bayly, whose Epis- copal permit, "ad docendum in arte grammatacali in

PARISH OF WALKHAMPTON. 7»

libera schola in AshbuHon in Com. Devon," is dated 13th Jamuuy, 1728.' The ''Master Hugh Smerdon," ■to wliom has been accorded the honour of havmg been the early instructor of the future Peer, was never Master of the Grammar School. His licence for an ordinary school (teaching "permits" from the Bishop of the Diocese were then requisite), is dated 8th Dec. 1709,' and William Gifford was sent to the latter to learn to read and write and cypher in 1764. In 1771 Hugh Smerdon was still a schoohnaster at Ashburton when the Rev. Thomas Smerdon was Master of the Gi-animar School ; and, upon his death a year or two afterwards, Gifford remarks ;' " Smerdon ^v■as succeeded by a person not much older than myself."

John Dunning was taken from school at the age of thirteen and placed in his father's office. He never pro- ceeded to the University, but by the liberality of Sh- Thomas Clarke, Master of the Eolls, he was brought to London and entered at the Middle Temple on the 8th May, 1752. He was called to the Bar on the 2nd July, 1756, and went on the Western Circuit for some years ; until, in 1765, a speech he made on the validity of general warrants established his reputation on a firm basis, and he became the acknowledged leader among his compeers. He was Eecorder of Bristol m 1766, and we find him Sohcitor General and M.P. for Calne in 1768.

The following year he purchased the residue of a

1 Epis. Rog.

» Ibid.

8 Gifford Auto. Biog. Baviad. Edit. 1828, 12rao.

76 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

lease of 99 years (of which about 76 were unexpked) of the Manor of Spitchwick, about three miles from Ashburton, and this property became his future country residence. On the 3lst March, 1780,* he mamed Eliza- beth, daughter of John Baring, of Larkbeare, by whom he had two sons. John, who died before him, and Richard Barre. On the 8th of April, 1782, he was raised to the Peerage as Baron Ashburton, and on the 14th he was preferred to a seat in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. But his frame never veiy robust, was worn out by over-exertion, and after several paralytic attacks he died at Exmouth on the 18th August, 1783.

His remains were brought back to Spitchwick, and were interred at Ashburton in a vault near the eastern end of the south aisle of the parish church.

His son Richard died without issue in February, 1823, when the title became extinct ; but it was re- vived in 1835 in the person of Alexander Baring^ nephew of Elizabeth, 1st Lady Asburton, whose elder nephew. Sir Thomas Baling, second Bart., was the grandfather of the present Lord Northbrook.

^ Keg. S. Leonard's, Exon.

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 77

CHAPTER IV.— PART I.

The Parish of Bucklaxd Monachorum. — General History and Description.

Buckland Monachovum in the hundred of Roborouwh the deanery of Tavistock (late Tamer ton), and the arch- deaconry of Totnes, is about two miles distant from its post town, Horrabridge, and about four miles from Tavistock. The parish, which extends over 6,333 acres of land, and includes the hamlet of Milton — remarkable for its singular and very romantic scenery — returned in 1881 a population of 1020 persons.

A portion of Horrabridge was formerly included in this parish, and a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist was licensed as a daughter church to Buckland during the episcopacy of Bishop Lacy on the 23rd January, 1438 ; it was rebuilt in the year 1835, and is now separated from the mother church, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Exeter.

There are no less than sixteen Manors mentioned in the Exeter Domesday under the name of Buckland, variously written Bocchelande, Bocheland and Boche- lant, and it is difficult now to name their original owners with any degree of certainty. In this instance, however, there appears to be every probability that in the reign of Edward the Confessor this particular manor

78 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

belonged to Alnod or Edwin, the king's thane, and that it passed upon the redistribution of property at the Conquest, to the redoubtable Baldwin de Brion great grandson of Eichard I, Duke of Normandy and the husband of Albreda, niece of the reigning Sovereign of England, who made him heveditaiy sheriflE" of Devon and settled him at Okehampton and under him it was held by Ansger, the king's servant.

Baldwin was succeeded in his honours by his son Richard who left no issue. Upon his death therefore his sister became Viscountess of Devon and Lady of Okehampton.

Some historians aver that this Adeliza, icas the m'fe of Richard de Redvers, \st Earl of Devon. A com- parison of dates — to say nothing of the fact that he is sho%\Ti to have been her uncle' — wUl prove the incorrect- ness of the statement. The generally accepted account is that Adeliza, sister of Richai-d de Brion, died ^^ithout issue, and that she had a sister called Emma, who was twice married— 1st, to William Avenel, by whom she had a son called Ralph ; 2nd, to Robert de Averanches, whose issue was another son, called Robert. She nomi- nated her elder nephew, Ralph Avenel, her successor in the Barony of Okehampton, and Reginald, Earl of Corn- wall, offered him liis daughter in maiTiage, but Ralph declined this proposal on account of his prior engagement to the daughter of the Earl of Dcvun. The Earl of Corn- wall, out of revenge, brought over Matilda, daughter of Robert de Averanches the younger, and commenced an action of ejectment against Ralph Avenel, on the plea that Richard, the second Baron of Okehampton, had in

1 P. 60 ante.

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 79

his lifetime caused the tenants of tlie Barony to swear lealty to his nephew (the aforesaid Robert), and that therefore MatUda, .is heir to her father, had a prior claim to that of Ralph. The action at law was successful ; Ralph Avenel lost the Barony, and Matilda was after- wards twice marrled-fii-st to the Lord D'Ayncourt, by whom she had a daughter called Hawise, who brought the Barony to her husband Reginald Courtenay (the first of his name in this country) ; and, secondly, to Robert, Fitzroy, a natural son of King Henry I. By this last aUiance she had a daughter called after her own name, whose husband was WiUiam, hrothei' to the said Reginald. The further assertion made by Sir William Pole, and Kennett, that Hawise, the elder daughter, was the wife of William Courtenay (not of Reginald) is contra- dicted by Bridges,' and by Cleveland in his Genealogy of the Courtemy Family,

Sir William Pole expressly affirms that the careiully written account of the succession, as given by the Monks of Ford, is inaccurate; still, it appeai-s to me to merit very careful attention.

There are certain discrepancies in both his account and theirs but many of the statements in the latter are more probable than those made by Sir William and those who

have followed him.

The account of the foundation of Ford A.bbey and the history of the founders was copied by Dugdale from a manuscript in the Cottonian Library, which has been lost. It has been reproduced by Dr. Oliver in the Monasticon of the Diocese, where it occupies over nine closely-prmted columns. It is printed in the original Latin, and contahis 1 Okehampton, pp. 16-17.

80 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

a few slight variations from the MS. in the Harleian Collection,' from which one or two trifling corrections have been made. I propose here to epitomise this history and to offer a few i-emarks upon it. It commences by stating that Sir Baldwin de Brion, an illustrious Norman soldier, married Albreda, niece of William le Bastard, Duke of Normandy, and begot, among others, one son called Richard, and one daughter called AdeUcia ; that after the said Duke had conquered England he gave to his cousin Richard, the son of Baldwin, the whole honour and Barony of Okehampton, the Castle of Exeter, and the custody of the whole County of Devon.

This statement does not agree with the Domesday record, in which we are told : — " Balduinus vicecomes tenet de Domino Rege Ockmentum et ibi sedet casteUum et habet ibi burgenses qvxatuor, et mercatum."

I will pass over the foundation of the monastery at Brightley by Bichai'd de Brion. The monks state that he died and was buried there on the seventh of the Kalends of July (June 25th), 1137, and that after the translation of their community to Ford his bones were removed and were buried in the presbytery of the latter abbey " beyond where the high altar is now erected." The record proceeds to state that Richai'd had no off- spring, but left all his heritage to his aforesaid only sister AdeUcia. If Adelicia was really the only sister of Richard, the fact at once upsets all the different authors who give the descent from Emma, sistei' of Adelicia, but it will be remarked that the monks themselves say that Baldwin had, " inter alios," two children, Richard and Adelicia, and they seem to confine their attention to these

1 Xo. 1178, f. 97.

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 81

and founders, the one of Brightley and the other of Ford. The expression, therefore, "eidem AxleUcie soli sorori sue," can only be explained by the assumption that the lady Emma mentioned by Sir William Pole, if she existed at all, must have been, as he says, the child of a second marriage.

The chronicle, after relating the gift of the Manor of Thorncombe by Adelicia, and the removal of the monks to Ford, telLs us that the Lady Adelicia conceived, by the noble man her husband lohom she had previously married (he is said to have been a " Knight of Kent,") and bore one dauofhter called Alice, her heir. She died on the ninth of the Kalends of September (24th Aug.) 1142, and was buried near her brother, at Ford. It will be remarked that the name of Adeliza's husband is not given — " de nobili viro domino suo quern prius acceperat in conjugem et peperit unam filiam nomine Aliciam sui ipsius hei'edem.'

" The Lady Alice, wife of Sir Randolph Avenell, her aforesaid daughter, succeeded her in the lordship of Oke- hampton," and had an only daughter called Matilda. Although Adeliza could not have been the wife of the 1st Earl of Devon, for the reasons I have already given, yet it is remarkable that Baldwin, the Second Earl, whose daughter Maud, is stated in the Bedvers pedigree to have married Ralph Avenell, should have fomi<led the Priozy of St. James about the year 1143, "pro remedio anime mee et precipue pro anime uccoris mee Adelize — for the safety of my soul, and especially for the soul of Adeliza, my wife." Adeliza, of Okehampton, having died just previously, and her daughter, whose paternity is un- discovered, being mentioned by the monks as the wife

M

82 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

of Ralph Avenell ; and although they give her name as Alice, and not Maud, yet they tell us that she had an only daughter called Maud. These statements, emanat- ing as they do from perfectly different sources, would almost seem to infer that the nameless husband of the Lady Adeliza must have been Baldwin, and that the confusion has arisen from the similarity of names. In his grants to St. James' Prioiy the Earl alienated liis property with the consent of Eichard, his son ; to one of these grants, his other sons, Henry and WiUiam, are witnesses. Richard, after he had succeeded to the Earldom, in his confirmation-deed, dated Exeter, 1157, mentions his mother, Adelicia ; but it is noteworthy that she is called Adeline in the Exchequer Enrolment of the same deed, and, in any case his mother could not have been the lady of Okehampton, for had she been so he would, of course, have succeeded to her Barony as well as to his father's Earldom.

Upon the death of Alice Avenell her daughter Matilda or Maud, svacceeded in due course to her mother's Barony. She was first married to Robert de Aubrincis, or Avarinches, by whom she had a daughter called Ha wise, and two others, afterwards nuns, which last were twins. It is further stated that after her husband's death she married Robert, son of King Henry T, but that she continued to be known as Matilda de Avarinches as was also her daughter Matilda, the offspring of her second marriage with the King's (natui-al) son, who died "pridie Kaleudas Junii " (31st May), 1172, His wife followed him to the grave on the llth of the Kalends of October (21st September) in the following year. The

/

PARISH OF BUCK LAND MO X AC HO RUM. 8$

Bang — Henry II. then assumed the wardship of the two daughters, Hawise and Matilda, and gave the custody of them to Sir Reginald de Courtenay, and in the same year that their mother died their hands were bestowed upon this Reginald and upon his brother William. By this man-iage, Hawise D'Avarinches (whose father with strong probability is said to have been the son of the Lady Emma De Brion Baldwin's youngest daughter) brought the Barony of Okehampton and the rest of her estates to her husband Reginald Courtenay, and was succeeded in them by her son Robert* Baron of Okehampton. He man-ied Mary, daughter of William Redvers, sixth Earl of Devon, and by this maiTiage the estates and title of the latter family were ultimately acquired by the Courtenays, after the death of Isabella de Fortibus as I have shown in the previous chajster.

It is remarkable that Powderham (which was only acquired by the Courtenay family through marriage with Margaret Bohun, wife of Hugh Courtenay, second earl of that name) was given to WiUiam de Owe, the son of Robert., Earl of Owe, in Normandy, and the kinsman of Baldwin the Sheriff; it was then written " Poldreham," and was forfeited in the reign of William Rufus, or it would probably have descended directly to the above-

1 Adeliza died Aug. 24th, 1142, and was buried in the Chapel of Ford Ahhey. It has been stated that she appointed Randolph Avenell, her sisfoi- Emma's elded son to succeed her in the barony, but that it was found at an assize that Richard her brother had made the knights swear fealty to MawVs father, then dead. It will be seen that the descent I have given difiVrs from Sir Wm. Pole, who absolutely contradicts the Monkish Chronicle and makes Maud the daughter, not wife of Rol)ert D'Avarinches ; and Hawise therefore his grand-daughter.

84 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

mentioned Robert Courtenay. It was held for some descents by a family to whom it gave its name, under the powerful house of Bohun, Earls of Hereford and Essex^ Upon the death of Margaret Bohun, on the 16th De- cember, 1391, it was settled on her younger son. Sir Philip Courtenay, and the heirs male of liis body. It is therefore impossible to credit Camden's statement " that the Castle was built by Isabella de Fortibus," to whom it never belonged, and who died in 1293.

Amicia, widow of Baldwin de Redvers, seventh Earl of Devon, and mother of Isabella de Fortibus, founded, as I have already said, at Buckland, upon the eastern bank of the river Tavy, a magnificent monastery for monks of the Cistercian Order in the year 1278, and endowed it with the manors of Buckland, Biokleigh, Walkhampton, and CoUumpton. She perhaps fixed upon Buckland for the site of her abbey, since the land, both there and at CoUumpton, belonged to her husband's uncle, by marriage, Robert Courtenay, and she may have therefore, obtained a grant of it upon favourable terms.'

The Cistercian i-ule, which was but a revival of the institution of St. Benedict in its ancient purity and primitive rigour, was commenced in France by St. Robert at Molesme as early as the year 1075 ; and twenty-three yeai's later a Devonshire man, Stephen Harding, enrolled himself under his standard, retired to Citeaux, a marshy wilderness, a short distance from Dijon, and became abbot there in 1109, and the followers of the order were thence- forward known as " Cistercians." Buckland Abbey was

1 Dr. Oliver remarks that Amicia probably acquired land for the purposes of her new foundation.

PARISH OF BUCK LAND MONACHORUM. 85

dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and to St. Benedict, and was colonized from Earl Baldwin's Monastery of Quarrer or Quarr, in the Isle of .Wight.

The abbot and community, upon their arrival at Buck- land, presumed at once to celebrate mass and to exercise other spiritual functions without applying for permission to Walter Bronescombe, Bishop of Exeter ; that proceed- ing entailed the displeasure of the diocesan, who proceeded to lay the community under suspension and interdict. At the intercession of Queen Eleanor, he eventually re- laxed the sentence until Pentecost, 1280, and again by letters, dated London, May 27th, until Michaelmas in that year. In the interim, he became satisfied with their submission, and on the day of his death at Bishopsteign- tou, July 22nd, 1284, lie finally authorized them to follow their rule without inter uption.*

The endowment of the Countess Amicia was confirmed by her daughter Isabella de Fortibus, and also by King Edward I, and in process of time several other estates accrued to the community, either by grant or purchase- Thus the rectory of Bampton, near Tiverton, was alien- ated from the priory of Bath by Act of Parliament in 1464, and given to the abbot of Buckland as a compensa- tion for surrendei-ing his jurisdiction in Plymouth as lord of the hundred of Roborough, and the burgesses of Ply- mouth agi-eed to pay ten marks per annum to the prior of Bath as an acquittance. The right of embattling Buckland Abbey was allowed by King Edward III. in 1328.*

1 Bronescombe's Reg Fol. SG, 97. .Momis. J)ioc. p. 380. » Rot. Lit Pat. 2ncl, Ed. iii.

86 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

The abbey inserted the name of the foundress in ita common seal, a drawing of which taken from an impression attached to a deed dated in 1310, represents the blessed A-ii'gin and child; underneath is the word AMICIA, and a shield of arms bearing a lion rampant. The legend is

SIGILLVM. ECCLESIE. LOCI. SCI. BENEDICTI DE BOCLAN.

As lists of the Abbots of Buckland, and particulars coimected with them have been more than once published it is here only necessary to refer my readers to the Monasticon of the diocese, and to the seventh volume of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association.'

Robert is believed to have been the first Abbot ; his name appears as defendant in an action brought against him by Thomas de Gyreband, forester of the Abbot of Tavistock, who stated that he had found the Abbot of Buckland and others felling and destroying the trees at a certain place called " Ivy oak," and that he, consideiing that the said trees were the property of his master, had endeavoured to hinder him from so doing, whereupon the Abbot of Buckland and certain of his monks, with darts, hatchets, &c., assaulted, beat, and robbed him, and with a bow and arrow made of ash, and headed with iron and steel, wounded him in the right arm, and afterwards robbed him of an outer garment against the peace, &c.

The Abbot of Buckland, in his defence, contended that he had a right to timber from the said wood, to repair his weir on the river Tavy, and admitted that he sent certain of his monks to procure the said timber, upon

1 Cistercian Houses of Devon. Brooking Kowe. F.S.A.

PARISH OF BUCKLAXD MONAGHORUM. »7

wliich the said Thomivs iissaxilted them and " drew blood," and that they therefore defended themselves, and that one of them certainly shot his assailant in the arm, upon which he left his coat, bow, and hatchet and fled.

The monks of Buckland then carried away the coat, bow, and hatchet, not as a robbery, but because they con- sidered that they had been left in their custody, for the trespass and assault committed against them. The court havino- heard all the evidence, dismissed the charge againltthe Abbot and community of Buckland, and com- mitted Thomas de Gyrehand to gaol for luaiiig made a

false claim. .

The revenues of the abbey at the dissolution were valued at £241 l7s. O^d., the last abbot was John Toker or Tucker who w.is a native of Moreton Hampstead, and he was admitted June 7th, 1528. With twelve of his monks he surrendered his abbey to King Henry VITI and received a pension of £G0 a year. He was still living in 1553, and in receipt of his pension. He is not supposed to have died until the year 1564.

The lands of the Abbey ot Buckland being ot the yearly value of £200 are regarded as discharged ot tithes by operation of the statue of the 31st of Henry VIII. _

On October 25th-27th Henry VIII., Abbot Toker, in order to prepare for the evil times which were threatenmg his house, leased for sixty years to his brother. Robert Toker (afterwards Mayor of Exeter), and to his nephews, William and Hugh, the rectorial tithes of St. Andrews Church, Buckland, tbr £18 ; and of Walkhampton, Bick- lei£rh and its dependent chapel of " Shittlestorre (Sheepstor) for £7 lOs- On July 24th in the same year

88 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

(1536), he leased to the same parties the tithes of Bampton for £14 12s. 7d. per annum.

He also leased various property ^vithiM the manor of Collunipton, together with the watercourse and fishery there, '"' cum omnibus retibus ac aliis ingeniis," for a term of eighty years, at the yearly rent of £3 4s. 4d.

The Abbey had also property at Shaugh, in the parish of Bickleigh ; a tenement returning £l 6s. 8d. a year at Exeter ; and another yielding 8s. per annum at Saltash in the comity of Cornwall.'

The site of the Abbey, together with its vai'ious build- ings, and its church, belfry, and biu'ial ground, were granted by King Henry VIII., May 26th, 1541, to Sir Richard " Greynfeld," of Bideford, knight, " in consideration of his true and faithful services, and of the sum of £233 3s. 4d. which he has paid to the treasurer of the Court of Aug- mentations."'

The name of " Greynfeld," or Grenville, like those of all our older famiUes, has at different times been variously written, but the prevailing usage has been to write the first syllable with an E. It is so in the Roll of Battle Abbey, and in the list of the knights who conquered South Wales in which his ancestor was included.

Sir Richard Grenville (to use the modern spelling) was born at Bideford, where his race had been settled for many generations. He was of Norman origin, being descended from " Hamon Dentatus, Earl of Carboyl, Lord of Thorigny and Granville, in Normand}- ; who was lineally

^ Valor Ecclesiasticus.

• Pat. Enlls 33r(l Henry VIIT.

PARISH OF BUGKLAND MONACHORUM. 89

descended from the warlike RoUo, sometime duke of that temtory.'

He seems to have closed an honourable and useful life in the service of his Queen, and country for as vice- admiral of the EngUsh navy he commanded his ship, the Revenge, and maintained an action with but two hundred men against fifty Spanish galleons. Eighty of his crew were sick, but nevertheless he is stated to have killed over a thousand Spaniards, and to have sunk four of their largest vessels. At last, however, his powder was aU expended, and he himself mortally wounded, so he was compelled to strike his flag, but he died two days afterwards, and his ship sunk with numerous Spanish prisoners on board of her, before she could an-ive in Spain. His portrait, engraved by James Fittler, A.R.A., and published Dec. 5th, 1809, by Messrs. Eees and Curtis, of Plymouth, may be seen in the last edition of the " Worthies of Devon."

His descendant, Sir Bevil Grenville (as is well known), with a stand of pikes repelled a charge of Puritan cavalry at the battle of Lansdown, and by this means all historians agree he preserved the Royal army from destruction at the most critical period of that indecisive battle. He lost his own life, however, and a spirited representation of him, attired in a cuirass and holding a truncheon, may also be seen in Prince. Above him on a scroll are the following words, equally applicable to many other members

s I shall not here speak at any length of his illustrious famil}-, of which I have already treated elsewhere. See notes on Bideford with a Genealogical History of the House of Grenville. Trans. Devon. Assoc; 1884. Republished Heard and Co., Chancery Lane, London, 1884 N

90 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

of this famous Devonshire house : " Deo, patriae, auiicis, victima."

On December 1st, 1580, Queen EHzabeth licensed Sir Richard Grenville and his wife, Mary, to alienate the site of the Abbey and the demesne lands to John Hele and Christopher Hams ; and eighteen days later the convey- ance was made to them for the sum of £3,400.

Sir Richard Grenville, in the year 1575, converted the Abbey Church into a dwelling house, and the present hall appears to have been a portion of the ancient building. Its great Central Tower remains in its original position, it is square, massive, and emljattled, and its arches may still be seen in a room in the upper part of the dwelling. The cage of a large beU still remains, but the bell itself has been re-hung in the parish church. The corbelled terminations of vaulting shafts on the south side appear to indicate the former existence of a transeptal projection. They can be examined from the exterior of the house, where a fine perpendicular window may also be noticed, and near the same spot, built into the wall over a modern doorway, is an ancient boss, carved into the simili- tude of a head which has been considered to have been intended to represent the foundress of the Abbey. It once formed the centre of some groining. The hair is plaited on both sides, and the head is encircled with a coronet surmounted by a low mitred head-dress. The butti-esses still remain and support the eastern wall of the building, from which I infer that it is included within the limits of the Chancel of the Abbey Church. On the north side there is a low vaulted building, now used as a larder, which appears to have been once the

PARISH OF BUCK LAND MONACIIORUM. 91

entrance to a side chapel. The great barn of the Abbey 8tm remains. It is 180 feet long and profusely but- tressed ; and adjoining the stables is a low tower ot Perpendicular date : the doorway of which opens beneath a very debased arch, but another in the upper portion has a good ogee arch and a deep moulding ornamented with the Tudor rose.

It will be seen the gi^eater portion of the Monastic buildings at Buckland have been removed, and it is said that this W.1S effected by Sir Richard GrenvlUe when he adapted them to residential purposes in 1575.

John Hele and Christopher Harris upon the 3rd ot October, 1581, sold Buckland Abbey to Sir Francis Drake, the celebrated circum -navigator, but this alien- ation having been made without license from the Crown from whom the estate was held in capite, it was confirmed and pardoned, June 7th, 1583, on the payment of a fine

of £10. . 1 c f Cl-

in the house are preserved many relics of the first bu Francis Drake, including his portrait, by Cornehus Jansen, inscribed "^tat. su^ 53, anno 1594 ;" his ship drum, and another drum, painted blue, decorated ^vath the Fleur de lis of France and inscribed " Regiment D'Angoinois, Compagnie, Bordeaux ;" a table made out of his ship the Pelican; a chair made out of the planks of the same ship, and presented to the University Library at Oxford by John Davies, of Deptford. There is also a paintincr of the Sir Francis Drake of lfi62 ; others repre- senting" King Charles II ; his Queen, Catherme of Portucral, and his favourite. Nell Gwynne, in the stau:-

case.

92 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

An engraving (incoiTectly called the " Ruins of Buck- land Priory ") was published by Messrs. Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, in 1734.

In addition to the seal already refen-ed to as pertain- ing to the Abbey, there is another extant, bearing quarterly Arg. and Gu, a crozier in bend Or. These arms were formerly to be seen in Ottery Church, and are mentioned by Scipio, Squier, A.D. 1607.

The Abbot of Buckland had power of Hfe and death within the manor of Collumpton.

PARISH OF BUOKLAND MONACHORUM. 93

CHAPTEE IV. PART 11.

BucKLA-ND MoNACHORUM.— Sir Francis Drake, Kt.

Although Camden informs us that Drake personally gave him particulars as to his parentage and e.irly history, yet the accoimt of him by that author is very perplexing. He says that he was born near Tavistock in Devonshire, of mean parents, that his Godfather was Francis Russell afterwards Earl of Bedford. That his father was in trouble during the reign of Henry the VIII, for non-subscription to the Six Articles, and that on that account he left the county and retired into Kent. But after the death of King Henry in the time of Edward VI, he obtained a place m the Royal Navy to read divine service, and after awhile he was ordained deacon and made vicar of the Church of " Upnor "^ upon the river Medway.

As Moore remarks, it is evident that there must be some mistake in this account of Camden's, for if Drake was a boy when his father was persecuted on account of the Six Articles he must have been born a considerable time before 1539, and Sir Francis Russell, who was born in 1527, could not have been his godfather.

Drake appears actually to have been born in the year 1541 (as shown by the date on his picture at the abbey),

' Moore's Devon, vol. ii, 185.

94 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

at Crowndale, in the pavlsli of Tavistock ; whatever might have been their connections, or real social position, his parents were probably veiy poor, and his father's finances could not have been materially imjjroved by his clerical preferment, for it has now been ascertained that he died vicar of Upchurch (not Upnor) near Sittingbourne, a living in the patronage of All Souls' College, Oxford, which was then worth about £ll a year ; probably his journey into Kent was in connection with his duties as a naval Chaplain, to which his son refers in the account he gave Camden of his origin.

It is undeniably certain that Francis Di-ake owed all his success in life to his own energy and determination of character, and it is not surprising, when the day came that his country was proud of him, and his Queen delighted to honour him, that he should have found no difficulty whatever in establishing a connection with the ancient house of his name, whose members had long flourished in Devonshire in the position to which he had now by his own merits, become entitled himself, nor is it difficult to believe the written statement of Cooke then Clarenceux King of Arms, to the effect that he had been credibly informed by Bernard Drake and others of that family of worship and good credit, that " the sayd Sir Fraunces Drake may by prerogative of bu-th and by right descent from his auncester bear the arms of his surname and family to wit Ai'gent a waver dragon Geules."

It is equally clear too that the great Sir Francis Drake was the son of a beneficed clergyman, with an income of about £55 a yeai* according to the present value of

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 95

money, and as one author teils us, a family of twelve children to support — Francis, the eldest wtis naturally thei'efore placed out eai-ly in life to seek his own fortune, and the sea was fixed upon as his profession ; whether he was bound apprentice to the " master of a small barge," or whether he was educated and ultimately taken to sea by his kinsman Su- John Hawkins is immaterial — that he made the best of his opportunities, whatever they may have been, is evident — he seems to have first acquired celebrity' in the year 1567, as Captain of the " Judith " when he behaved in the "most gallant manner" in Hawkins' action with the Spanish Fleet at S. Jean d'Ulloa, in the Gulf of Mexico. Upon this occasion the Spaniards so disgusted him by their treacherous conduct, that he conceived the idea that reprisals upon the king of Spain would be perfectly justifiable, and as soon as this design became known in England, numbers were found ready to join in the enterprise. He made there- fore his first independent expedition in 1570 with two ships the " Dragon " and the " Swan," and the next year, another with the latter ship alone. He obtained so much credit from his conduct of these two voyages, that he experienced no difficulty in raising men and money for a more important enterprise in 1572, when he was wounded at !N ombre de Dios.

'After his return from Ireland, \vhere he had distin- guished himself as a volunteer under Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, he was introduced to the Queen by Sir Christopher Hatton, and, with her Majesty's consent

1 Moore, vol. iL 187. - Stow >'s Annals.

96 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

he acquired the means of undertaking the great expedi- tion which has iramortahzed him. He then succeeded in obtaining sufficient funds to fit out five ships, and with them he left Plymouth Sound upon the l5th November, 1577, but in consequence of bad weather the expedition was delayed until the 13th of the folio wmg December when it finally set sail.

Two years later, in the year 1579, Philip of Spain, though he had not yet come to an open rupture with England was every day, both by the injuries which he committed and suftered, more exasperated against this country and that he might retaUate for the assistance which Englishmen had given to his rebels in the Low Countries, he had sent under the name of the Pope a body of troops into Ireland for the pui-pose of fomenting a rebellion. When the EngUsh ambassador complained of this invasion, he was answered by like complaints of the 'piracies committed by Francis Drake, who had assaulted the Spaniards in the place where they deemed themselves most secure in the new world. In order to explain this complaint, it must be admitted, that Drake when he left Plymouth, with the Queen's authority in 1577 immediately passed into the South Sea by the Straits of Magellan, and attacking the Spaniards, who expected no enemy in those quarters, he took many rich prizes, and prepared to return with the booty which he had acquired. Apprehensive of being intercepted by the ememy if he took the same way home- wards by which he had reached the Pacific Ocean, he attempted to find a passage by the North of California, and failing in that enterprise, he set sail for the East

PARISH OF BUGKLAKD MONAGHORUM. 97

Indies, and returned safely by the Cape of Good Hope. He was therefore the first Englishman who sailed round the globe, for Magellan whose ship executed the same adventure, died in his passage. Ehzabeth, who admired valour, and was allured by the prospect of sharing in the booty, would not disavow the enterprise in accordance with the advice of her council, but dined with him at Deptford on board his flagship, the " Pelican " on the 4th April 1581, on which occasion she confen-ed upon him the honour of knighthood, and declared her unreserved ap- probation of all he had done. His voyage round the globe detained him from this country for two years ten months and twenty days.

It was during this voyage that he exercised a power which had been entrusted to him by commission, although his ships did not belong to the Royal Navy, and tried for insubordination the second in command of his own vessel, the " Pelican." This officer, John Doughty by name, was, upon his court martial, found guilty, and the punishment awarded was death. It is added that he made a full confession, and Drake gave him his choice, either to be executed where they then were, in the harbour of S. Julian, to be set on shore on the continent, or to be brought back to abide the justice of his country.

After due consideration. Doughty accepted the first alternative, and after receiving the Sacrament, with Drake himself, he was beheaded by the Provost Marshal of the Fleet. The Madrid Correspondent of a daily paper recently made interesting reference to tins execution ui the following words : —

" In a remarkable historical work on Central Ameiica, o

98 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

and Its early annals of Spanish Conquest, about to be published by Don Manuel de Piralta, Minister of the Republic of Costa Rica to several European Courts, I have read several documents of great interest, casting light upon our naval struggle with Spain off the coasts of the Spanish main, and one remarkable letter from a Spanish officer of rank who was a prisoner of Sir Francis Drake, having been captured with his ship and afterwards set free. He describes most pithily the daring exploits of the British corsairs, and tells how he heard Drake himself relate that, directly after passing the Straits of Magellan, he was obliged to put in irons for twenty-four hours, and then to behead, his Lieutenant — Doughtye — much as he regretted to have to chastise so good an officer, for giving an example of insubordination, and for express- ing a desire to turn back from what afterwards proved to be a voyage round the world. It is curious to read in these quaint letters of eye-witnesses, the tale of the wild and roving adventures of our Somersetshire and Devon- shire seamen on the Pacific shores of America, braving such seas in vessels of 200 tons, with 80 scurvy-stricken and fever-ridden hands. Their Spanish prisoner gloomily deplores at the end of his epistle that if the Corsair heretic is not caught, he will take home at least 40 pilots for others to follow in his wake. Senor de Piralta assiu-es me that the archives of the Indies at Seville and the Royal Library, are full of unexplored data of interest to Englishmen ; and he believes years would be necessary to classify and catalogue the treasures of Spanish archives at Seville, Alcula, Simancas, and Madrid, to say nothing of private collections, hkethat about to be sold, of the Duke de Ossuna."

PARISH OF BUCKLAXD MOXACHORUM. 09

The adventures of Drake, both real and mythical, have been so frequently enlarged upon, that it is unnecessary to o-ive more than a very brief sketch of them here. As is well known he was vice-admiral in the attack on the Spanish Armada, under Lord Howard of Effingham. He was instrumental in bringing water from a spring on Dartmoor, more than seven miles from Plymouth, by means of a leat upwards of seventeen miles long, for which benefit, whatever may have been his motive, the inhabitants of Plymouth are still indebted to him.' He died at sea, and his remains were enclosed in a leaden coffin and thrown overboard amidst the thunder of cannon on the 26th January, 1795.

The old barn-looking cottage in which he was born with its antique windows, and all its character of past times about it, was pulled down some years since by some workmen of a late Duke of Bedford. A slight sketch of the house was made by the late Mr. Bray, not long before its destruction, and this was incorrectly

1 Mr. K. N. Worth has conclusively proved (Trans. Devon Associa tion. vol. xvi. p. 525.) by reference to the Receiver's Accounts of the Corporation of Plymouth, which were missing some years, and were not recovered until 1881, that Sir Francis Drake, was him- self much interested in the matter of the Plymouth water works since he was the lessee of the ancient Manor MiUs of Plymouth. He was not the donor of the water as has been generaUy supposed but under an Agreement or Composition with the municipal author- ities he undertook to carry out the necessary operations for £200, and he also agreed to procure the necessary land for the sura of £100 more. "Also this yere," 1589-90, the composyton was made betweene the towne and Sir Francis Drake for the bringinge of tlie river of Mewe to the town for w"^ the towne have paied hym ijc" ; and more c" for w«^ he is to compounde w"' the 11' of the land over w'" it runneth.

100 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

copied in the etching which appeared in Lewis's Views of the Tavy.

Sir Francis Drake who was twice married, left no children and Buckland passed to Thomas Di-ake, of Ply- mouth, gentleman, his brother, who died April 4th, 1606 and was succeeded by his son Francis, by his wife Eliza- beth Gregory, as will be seen by the following pedigree.

Pedigree of the Drakes of Buckland Abbey.

Edmond Drake, of Tavistock, subsequently Vicar of Upchurch, in the co. of Kent, married and had with other issue, Francis, John, and Thomas — Francis, knighted by Queen Ehzabeth in 1581, married first in 1569, Mary Newman, of S. Budeaux, in the Co. of Cornwall ; secondly he married (post nuptial settlement, dated 25th Aug., 1595) Eliz., dau. of Sir Geo. Sydenham — Sir Francis died without issue, Jan. 28th, 1596. He was the owner of Buckland Abbey, and was succeeded in his estate by his brother Thomas, who married Elizabeth Gregorie, of Plympton S. Mary, and widow of John Elford, of Slieeps- tor. She died Mar. 18th, 1631, and was buried at Sheepstor.' They left issue, a son, Francis, and a daughter Elizabeth, married to John Bampfylde, of Poltimore.

The son, Francis Drake, of Buckland Abbey, born Sep- tember 16th 1588, was sometime M.P. for Devon. He was created a Bai-t. 1622, and died March 11th, 1637. His descendant, Mr. Francis Drake Pearce, of Kings- bridge, hfis a picture, of him taken the year before his

1 Her will was proved P.C.C. (68 Audley), 23rd June, 1632, and in it mention is made of her issue by both marriages.

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHOEUM. 101

death and which gives his age as 48. He was twice married. By his first wife, Jane, daughter of Sir Amyas Bampfylde, of Poltimore, settlement dated 22nd Sept. 1602, he had a daughter, Dorothy, who died in infancy. He man-ied secondly, Joan, daughter of Sir Wm. Strode, of Newnham, knight. Their marriage licence is dated 5th Oct. 1615, and their post nuptial settlement twelve years later, 17th Jan. 1627. She survived her husband and married secondly, John Trefusis. By Sir Francis she had issue, five sons and two daughters.

First, Sir Francis Drake, M.P. born 1G17, who succeeded to the title, and married Dorothy, daughter of John Pym, of Brymore, co. Somerset, in 1640. He died without issue 6th Jan., ]662,

Second, Thomas Drake, bapt, at Buckland Monachorum 13th July, 1620, he married Susanna, daughter of Wm. Ciymes, of the same parish, marriage licence dated 19th July, settlement 21st of the same month, 1641, and had issue. Sir Francis Drake, third bart., of whom presently.

Third, John, Drake, of Ivy bridge, who married Prudence — and had issue, two sons, Francis, Captain R.N., and Henry. This branch is believed to be extinct.

Fourth, Wm. Drake, of Netherton, died unmarried. Will proved 20th June, 1709.

Fifth, Joseph Drake, of Buckland Monachorum, whose painting is also in the possession of Mr. Francis Drake Peai'ce aforesaid. He was married twice. By his first mannage with Margaret Crymes, of Buckland Monachorum Februarj' 11th, 1668 (she died 1682), he had issue, Bampfylde Drake, Clerk in Holy Orders, who was the

102 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

father of John Drake,' Mayor of Plymouth, whose son, John Savery Drake, claimed the baronetcy upon the death of the fifth baronet in 1794, and died March 4th, 1810. His sister, Anne Pollexfen Drake, married Captain Prosser, of the Royal Marines, and their daughter, Sarah Anne Prosser, was the wife of Wm. Lyfe Pearce, of Killaton, in the parish of Stokenham in this County. They had, with other children, the late Francis Drake Pearce, whose son of the same name, and to whom I have referred above'' is now of Brook House, Kingsbridge.

The two daughters of the first Bart, were Sarah and Joanna.^

Upon the death of Sir Francis second bart., without issue, in 1662, his nephew, Francis (son of Thomas Drake and Susanna Crymes), succeeded to the title and to Buckland Abbey. He married first Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Bampfylde, of Poltimore, — post-nuptial Bftttlement 30th Aug., 1673, — and by her he appears to have had a daughter of the same name.

His second wife was Anne, daughter of Thos. Boone of Mount Boone, and by deed dated lOth Jan., 1683. He makes provision for his " three daughters, Dorothy,

1 John Drake Mayor of Plymouth, married Anne, daughter of James Spicer, by Jane daughter of John Pollexfen, of Wembury ; she died October 21st, 1786 and Admon. was granted to her daughter, Anne Pollexfen Prossor.

s Joseph Drake, married secondly Grace — of the parish of Menhoniot, CO. of Cornwall, by whom he had a daughter Elizabeth, bapt. at Buck- land, May 17th, 1705. He was buried at Buckland, October 12th, 1708, and his will was proved in London, October 13th, 1709.

' Joanna married Sir Hugh Windham, and had issue seven daughters, ■who each had legacies of £50 from their uncle William Drake, of Netherton.

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONAGRORUM. 103

Gertrude and Francis," and of these Gertrude afterwards married Henry Pollexfen. Sir Francis, by his third wife, EUzabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Pollexfen, of Nutwell Court, in the parish of Woodbury, in this county. Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas (settlement dated 17th Jeb., 1G89), had issue, three sons, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Martin.

The eldest son was Francis Henry, to whom reference is made below. The second, George, married Sopliia Bugden, and had three daughters who all married, and a son Dawsonne Drake, Governor of Madras, who died unmarried.'

The third son was Henry Drake.

Sir Francis died in 1714. He had represented Tavis- tock during the reign of Charles II. He was succeeded in his estates and title by his eldest son. Sir Francis Henry Drake as fourth Bart., who married Anne, daughter of Samuel Heathcote, died 26th January, 1784^0. and left issue three sons and a daughter Anne Pollexfen, who married Sir, G. A. Eliott. His eldest son, Sir Francis Henry Drake, fifth Bart., was bom 25th August, 1722.

1 The daughters were Anne, Jane, and Sophia ; Anno married Samuel Barlow, and their only child, Cornelia was the wifo of James Bean, whoso daughter and co-heir Sophia, became in 1804, th* second wife of the Rev. Robert Stronge, of Notherstronge, and had with other issue George Stronge, Esq., j\I.D. now of the Chase, co. llercford. Jane, married CoL Temple West, and their son, Admiral Sir John West, K.C.B died 18th March, 1872.

Sophia, who married first Commodore Digby Dent, was afterwards the wife of Admiral Sir George Pocock, K.B., by whom she had a son Sir George Pocock, created a Bart, 18th August, 1821, Grandfather of the present Sir G. F. C Pocock, Bart., and a daughter Sophia married to John, fourth Earl Poulett.

104 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

He was Clerk Comptroller of the Board of Green Cloth in the reigns of George II and George III, and for the last twenty years of his hfe filled the dignified position of Master of the Household. His memorial in Buckland Church which has " Truth depicted upon it leaning upon an Urn " was erected by his nephew the second Lord Heathfield. The inscription upon it however, erroneously states that his " descent was illustrious since he was lineally descended fi'om the great Naval warrior of the sixteenth century." He died unmarried on the 19th February, 1749, aged 70.

The second son, Francis William Drake, of Hilhngdon, CO. Middlesex vice-admiral of the red, was baptised 22nd August, 1724. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Heathcote, Bart., by whom he had two daughters: viz. Marianne who married Mr. Evance, and Sophia eventually heir to her father's property. The latter became, 1st June, 1797 the first wife of Jerome, Count de Salis, H.R.E. and died in 1803 leaving issue, a son and heir, Peter, who succeeded his father as Count de Salis, 20th Oct. 1836, and was a Deputy-Lieut, for the co. of Armagh and J.P. for Middlesex. He died in 1870, and was succeeded in the title by his son, John Francis William, who only survived him a few months, and was the father of John Francis Charles Fane, present Count de SaUs.

The third son. Rear Admiral Francis Samuel Drake, was himself created a Bart. I2th of August, 1782. He married the only daughter of George Onslow, M.P., in 1788, but upon his death, without issue, in 1789 his baronetcy expired.

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 105

The daughter Anne Pollexfen married as I have already- mentioned Sir George Augustus Eliott, K.B., celebrated for his gallant defence of Gibraltar, and who was created Baron Heathfield 6th July, 1787. She never became Lady Heathfield, but died l3th Feb., 1772, leaving two children a son and a daughter. The son Francis Augustus, succeeded his father as second Lord Heathfield in 1790, and died unmarried 26th Jan., 1813, when the title became extinct.

His sister, Ann Eliott, married John Trayton Fuller, of Ashdown House, Sussex. She died 24th Feb., 1835, leaving six sons ; the eldest of these took the name and arms of Meyrick by Royal licence, the second and fourth died without issue, and the sixth had no male issue— to the third and fifth of these sons I shall have to refer again.

Upon the death of Sir Francis Heniy Drake, fifth bart., in 1794, Buckland Abbey, with other property, passed by devise to his nephew, the second Lord Heath- field, only son of his sister, Anne Pollexfen Eliott. The title was claimed as I have already said by John Savery Drake, great-great-gi'andson of Sir Francis Drake the first Bart., as the right heir of line failing issue, male of Admirals Francis Wilham or Francis Samuel Drake, brothers of the fifth bart. This gentleman who was bapt. at St. Andrews Plymouth September 2nd, 1737, was a Lieut. 33rd Regt. and is said to have received the freedom of the city of Glasgow as heir-at-law of Sh' Francis Drake, fifth Bart, who gave him his Commission. He died unmarried March 4th, 1810, and was buried at Dodbrooke, in this county.'

* His claim of course could only have been established by proving the

P

106 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

The title seems to have been assumed, by a certain Francis Henry Drake, who is described in Stockdale's Baronetage of 1806 "as the sixth and present bart."

1 beheve that he asserted himself to be the son by a first marriage of Admiral Francis William Drake, of Hillingdon, whose property, however, went to his daugh- ters, and the late Count de Salis when applied to for particulars, stated that this claim was never admitted, nor did these ladies ever acknowledge such a marriage. He married and resided at Cheltenham, and died without issue in 1839, Sir Bernard Burke, in his pedigree of Drake, does not carry out the Ime of Joseph Drake, fifth son of the first Bart., but merely remarks that he left a son, " Francis," nor does he mention the Francis Henry Drake, whom Stockdale describes as sixth bart., at all, but merely remarks that upon the death of the fifth Bart, in 1794, the title expired.

The second Lord Heathfield dying unmarried in 1813 his sister became his heir, and her third son Thomas Trayton Fuller, was ultimately the owner of Buckland Abbey, and resided at Nutwell Court, in the parish of Woodbury. Mr. Fuller, who as an officer in the army served with distinction during the Peninsular war

extinction of the male line of John Drake, of Ivybridge, who had several sons, William, John, Francis, Henry, and another ; bapt. June 24th, 1673. As well as the extinction of that of William Drake, of Netherton, who is believed to have died unmarried at the age of 83. Besides which John Drake, Mayor of Plymouth, 1m father, was only the fourth son of the Rev. Bampfylde Drake the Rector of Farway, his elder brothers were, Joseph, bapt. at Buckland August 11th, 1694 ; Francis, bapt. at Farway, August 21st, 1701 ; and Bampfylde, bapt. at Farway, October 23rd, 1704, and who was residuary legatee under the Rector's will

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 107

assumed by sign manual, under the settlement of Sir Francis Henry Drake, Bart., the additional surnames and arms of Eliott and Drake, and was himself created a Bart. 22nd August, 1821 with remainder, failing male issue, to his brothers WiUiam Stephen Fuller and Rose Henry Fuller. Sir Trayton, as he was usually styled, married 5th August, 1819 Eleanor, only daughter of James Halford^Esq. of Laleham, Middlesex ; she died in 1841, without issue. Sir Trayton survived until the 6th June, 1870, when he had attained the ripe age of S.-j, having been'born 18th February. 1785. He was succeeded in his title and estates by his nephew, only son of his brother Captain Rose Henry Fuller, E.N., who had pre- deceased him in 1860. Sir Francis George Fuller, second and present Bart., was born 24th December, 1837, and was a Captain in the Royal Horse Guards ; on the 3rd October, 1870 he assumed by Royal Licence the surname and arm's of Ehott and Drake. He is the present owner of the ancient abbey of Buckland, but resides at Nutwell Court. He married m 1861 EUzabeth, daughter of the late Sir Robert Douglas, Bart., of Glenbervie, and has had issue a daughter, Elizabeth Beatrice who married at S. Paul's, Knightsbridge, June 22nd, 1887, The Hon. John Reginald Upton Colborne, eldest son of James, second Baron Seaton, of Seaton, in this county.

The great Sir Francis Drake previously to his being knighted by Queen Ehzabeth, appears to have used for his arms a red " waver dragon" upon a silver field, and for his crest an eagle displayed. These charges I beheve occur upon two ancient deeds to which principal members of the Drake family were parties, and which

108 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

were seen and copied by Le Neve. Subsequently when he had acquired distinction by his circum-navigation of the globe, a new coat was assigned to him (which he appears to have considered as an augmentation of his origmal coat), Sa. a fesse wavy between two pole stars Arg. and for crest, a ship, her sails reefed, drawn round a globe with a cable rope by a hand issuant from the clouds all ppr.

Sir Francis, however, never seems to have used this crest, but to have retained the eagle, and to have quartered the wyvem with the fesse and pole stars, and his right to do this has been recently seriously questioned. After his death the grant of Robert Cooke, Clarenceux, which I have blazoned above was adopted by his brother Thomas and his descendants, and the dragon as well as the eagle crest have been ever since abandoned. There appears to be Indisputable evidence that the Heralds of 1581 considered that Sir Francis was authorized to use the wyvem, cadenced with a mullet, which was of course intended to show his descent from the third house of the Drakes of Ash, of which family Bernard Drake was then the head. The words which I have quoted at a Ibrmer page, and which substantiate Drake's claim " to bear the arms of his surname and family" do not occur in the original draft of the grant itself which is still preserved at NutweU, and this omission would seem to point to the conclusion that the evidence of descent could not ultimately be established to the satisfaction of the Kings of Arms. But an original memorandum of Cooke's has been found in the Bodleian library amongst Ashmole's MSS (Ash- mole, was Windsor Herald in 1660, and this note pro-

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 109

bably found its way out of the coUege amongst his private collections when he resigned his office in July, 1C76.) In it Cooke states that he had dehvered one grant to Sir Francis, and that he next day personally handed hun another jn-operly interpolated— thut is to say, that a final copy of the grant containing Bernard Drake's evidence as to the connection between himself and Sir Francis had been given to the latter in place of the one still preserved at Nutwell. Unfortunately this amended gi-ant cannot now be discovered ; it may have been destroyed, or it may very possibly be stUl in existence, and like the memoran- dum which refers to it, will perhaps some day be discovered in some totally unexpected quai-ter. In the mean time m the face of the Kecord at the Heralds' College substan- tiated by Cooke's memorandum, I think that there can be no reasonable doubt but that the "coat of everlastmg honour" as Prince calls it, was merely an augmentation of a coat to which Sir Francis had established his right by virtue of his name and descent.

Sii- Francis Drake (the second Bart.) having been engaged on the side of the Parliament in the Civil War, his" estates were sequestrated, and BucUand was given to Sir Richard GrenviUe (grandson to the former owner of the same name), who made it his occasional residence during the blockade of Plymouth. The house, which was garri- soned by Sir Richard, was quitted after the capture of Dartmouth, and Sir Francis recovered possession of it.

110 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER IV.— PART III.

S. Andrews. — Buckland Monachokum.

The lordship or manor of Buckland with its rectory and church, were purchased of the Crown April 12th, 1546, by Richard Crymes, of London, haberdasher, and his wife for £1,551 Os. lOd. By his will, dated September 12th, 1565, and proved January 2nd following, he left this property to his eldest son, Ellis Crymes, then aged 24 years or more.

Queen Elizabeth presented William Vaughan to the vicarage, April 8th, 1564. His Institution is recorded in Bishop Alley's Register. Ellis Ciymes presented Edmund Lyll at the next avoidance, June 27th, 1573. Wilham Crymes died in 1621, seised of this manor: he is mentioned in the will of his brother Phillip Crimes, of Me\'y, in Cornwall (proved October 8th, 1595), with whom he held in fee an estate in Islington, London, and to whom he granted a lease of Lower and Higher Elford, Shiptor Wood and Maber.

Thomas Drake, the second son of Sir Francis Drake (the first baronet), by his second wife, Joan Strode, having married in 1641 Susan, daughter of Elizseus Crymes, settled the manor by deed on his nephew, Sir Francis Drake, Baii/., but afterwards revoked it.

The patronage of the vicarage continued in the Crymes

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. Ill

family certainly down to 1710, and according to Lysons, Amos Ci-ymes, Esq., was the patron in 1822. In 1850 it was in the patronage and incumbency of the Ilev. W. L. Nichols, M.A. ; it is now vested in the family of Hayne, The manor in 1660 passed from the Crymes' to the Slannings, and by the marriage of Elizabeth Slanning it went to Sir James Modiford, Bart , and by their daughter Grace's marriage it passed to the Heywoods. On the death of James Modyford-Heywood, Esq., in 1798, it was sold by his four daughters and co-heirs to the late Sir i\I. M. Lopes, Bart., and is now the property of the present Sir Massey Lopes, of Maristow.

The charter rolls prove that a market at Buckland on Tuesday, and a fan- for three days at the festival of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist were granted to the abbot in the year 1317.

This market has long been discontinued, but a cattle market, held at irregular inteivals, was established about the year 1822. I believe that the ancient fair is still held on Trinity Monday.

Bickham, in this parish, was for several generations the residence of the Elfords. Crapstone, the residence of the Crymes, was sold by the Rev. Amos Crymes to John Elford, at the commencement of this century.

The parish church dedicated to St. Andrew, and stand- ing in a large churdiyard, is situated in the centre of the village, and is about a mile distant from the abbey. It is a very handsome cruciform structure, and comprehends chancel, nave opening into north and south aisles beneath five narrow pointed arches, supported upon clustered colimins, north and south transepts, south porch, and a

112 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

fine tower at the western end, containing six bells. The eastern window, of Perpendicular date, is very fine, and was originally filled with painted glass, representing the life and mai-tyrdom of the patron saint. A few fragments of the ancient glass are included in the new window, which tixhibits the figures of our Blessed Lord, with the legend " Ego Sum Pastor Bonus," those of the four Evangelists, and of St. Andrew. The south window of the chancel is also of third Pointed date, but much later and much inferior to the other in style. The south chancel chapel which has a groined roof of stone, and which is lighted by very debased windows, is supposed to have been either erected or rebuilt in the reign of James I. The nodi in the roof of this chapel appear to be of Late Decorated or very Eai-ly Perpendicular character, and I should think it probable that the end of the aisle, having fallen into a state of decay, was rebuilt by some member of the Drake family, and that the roof was constructed out of stone brought from the ruins of the abbey. It is quite different from any other portion ot the church, but there are evidences on the outside which clearly prove that it must have been erected at a very much later period than the rest of the structure.

On the south side there is a priest's door of the same debased character as the windows, and at the eastern end is a large white marble monument by the elder Bacon to the memory of the gallant Sir Gilbert Eliott, created Lord Heathfield in 1787 for his bra"ve defence of the im- portant garrison of Gibraltar. There are two life-size allegorical figures : one holds the fortress of Gibraltar over his lordship's arms (Gu. on a bend Or, a baton

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 113

Az.), whilst the other, representing Victory, carries the laurel wreath. There is a large medallion of the deceased warrior, and a fine has relief representing the memorable destruction of the gunboats. Beneath is a long inscrip- tion, which is printed m Lyson's " Magna Britannia," which states that he was the seventh son of Sir Gilbert Eliott, Bart, of Stobs, co. Koxbiu-gh.

The chancel arch is curiously stilted on this side of the church, perhaps to afford entrance to the rood loft, which, together with the screen, has been removed.

The organ occupies the north chantry chapel ; the windows here also are very debased, and the one at the eastern end is blocked, and the recess filled with a paint- ing of the Royal arms of King Charles II. bearing date 1660, and it appears to me that at this time the present vestry was built in prolongation of this aisle. In the south transept which is lighted by two good third pointed windows there are three image brackets. The roof of this part of the church retains some bosses carved in foliage and one or two grotesque heads. There are image brackets also in the north transept and in the south- eastern angle of the nave. The church has been lately restored, and the plaster which for some years covered and concealed the handsome perpendicular roof of the nave has been happily removed. It is ornamented with handsome bosses at the intersection of the ribs, one of them representing our Saviour with the Blessed Virgin crowned Queen of Heaven.

At the extremity of the hammer beams are sixteen singularly curious corbels, representing angels, each bear- ing a musical instrument of antique form. Q

114 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

The ancient stall ends of carved oak, and fifteenth, century date, enriched with ogees, trefoils, and square- headed recesses, are preserved in both the aisles and transepts. On the north side I noticed a figure of a bishop with his pastoral staff, and another of St. Andrew the patron saint of the church, leaning on his saltire. The initial letters which occur amongst the carved work in this aisle are modern. In the tower, which has a good pointed arch and an ancient oak ceiling, I found evidences of an earlier roof of higher pitch than that which now covers the nave.

I was told that the ancient Norman font had been re- moved to the new church at Horrabridge. The present one is of Perpendicular date, and stands at the western end of the south aisle. It is octagonal, and adorned with Perpendicular flowers, human faces, and armorial shields within quatrefoils. The stem is ornamented with square headed trefoiled recesses. The ancient and richl}'^ carved rood screen of Sheepstor Church, was removed here a few years since, and is placed across the tower archway.

The tower is possibly of earlier date than the present church, and appears to have been altered to the Perpen- dicular style when the church was rebuilt in the fifteenth century. It is rather nan-ow, but is well buttressed to the second string course. It is also embattled, and has four handsome crocketted, and finialed pinnacles, sur- mounted with crosses. The belfry windows are large and handsome, and of third pointed character, as are also the great western window and doorway. The latter is square-headed, with quatrefoiled spandrils.

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONACHORUM. 115

The south porch, which may have once had a parvise over it, has an image recess with rather a curious canopy on its southern front. The doorway is square-headed and is ornamented on both sides with quatrefoiled span- drils and deep mouldings.

The ancient stone seats are covered with wood, and a low pedestal from which the aspersorium has been re- moved, still remains on the eastern side. I remarked here several gravestones belonging to the family of Crymes viz. William Crymes, 1641 ; another, with the date effaced, but exhibiting the arms of Crymes ; another has the arms of Drake, impaled with those of Crymes' ; from their position at the en '..ranee of the church these stones have become so much worn that they are very difficult to decipher.

The interior doorway is also square-headed, with ornamented spandriis, and is also surmounted by an empty image tabernacle the chestnut door, with massive hinges, is probably of fifteenth century date. The church is strongly buttressed, the buttresses running off into hand- some pumacles, ornamented with crockets and finials The chancel is well defined, and the north door, which is square-headed with foliated spandriis, has deeply moulded jambs. The string course around the church is bold, high and well executed until it reaches the south chancel chapel, where it is much lower and of inferior workman- ship. In the south-western corner of the churchyard I noticed a portion of a slender pillar with the cable mould- ing, forming a pedestal for a small sundial ; it does not

1 Cryiues, Or. on three bars Gu. as many martlets of the field, on a chief Arg. Two bars, nebulae Az.

] 1 6 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

appear ever to have been a portion of a cross. There is a fine yew tree on the north-western side of the church- yard, and an excessively ancient chestnut. The lower part of the ancient village cross, needed some attention when I visited the parish which, it has T hope, since received. The base is octagonal and very massive, but I could not perceive any signs remaining of the shaft.

There are considerable remains of the ancient vicarage still standing in tha gardens of the present house, consist- ing chiefly of a tower and a portion of the lower part of the walls. It was still occupied as a residence at the latter end of the last century and the present stables are almost entirely constructed of the old materials, and many good Perpendicular windows and doorways are there preserved. In a building now used as a barn, but which was once a kitchen, there is an enormous fireplace. This house is beheved to have been the ultimate residence of John Toker, the last Abbot of Buckland, who was admitted to the vicarage of Buckland Monachorum on the presentation of its new patron, Richard Crymes, April 4th, 1557.

In the taxation of Pope Nicholas IV, 1288, the vicarage of Buckland is valued at £6 13s. 4d. per annum ; accord- ing to the " Valor Ecclesitisticus " of King Hem-y VIII. Richard Hals, the then vicar, received XI 9 8s. B^d. less £1 IBs. 10|d. for tithes.

The present vicar, who is also the patron, is the Eev. Richard J. Hayne, to whose attention and kindness I am much indebted. He has a glebe of over 49 acres. The registers are amongst the earliest in the diocese, and com- mence in the same year in wliich the record was fii'st

PARISH OF BUCKLAND MONAGHORUM. 117

ordered to be kept duriiig the episcopacy of Bishop Veysey. They are, moreover, in good preservation. Burials, commence December 3rd, 1538, Marriages, October, 24th, 1540, Baptisms, December, 18th, 1552. In the first page of the book is the following curious record in Latin, of a post Reformation licence to eat flesh meat, granted during the reign of King James I. by Bishop Cotton.

" Let it be remembered that on the 27th day of March, 1614, there was shewn to us a licence or dispensation, "■ranted under the seal of the Reverend Father William,

o

Bishop of Exeter, to William Cryines, of this parish, and Margaret his wife, for eating flesh meat in this Lenten time, which licence, is now ex])ired, it was granted on the 14th of tins month. — Ed. Lawrey, Minister of the Word ; John Dunrige, Warden."

The parish of Buckland was early celebrated for its cider, and some writers contend that orchards were first planted here in England, but it appears to have been clearly proved that cider was the ordinary drink of the labourers on the manor of Axmouth as early as the year 1286. I noticed, however, at Buckland, several ancient stone trouofhs, in some instances built into walls which were doubtless once used in its manufacture.

There was an ancient inscribed stone also in this village which was removed some years since by the late Mrs.

The following note in rcforence to this license is copied from ])ishop Cotton's Act Book : —

1 " Eininavit licensia vescenJi carnibus concessa Willielmo Crymes de Buckland Monachorum. Armig. et IMargarcto ejus uxori haud aliquos quos convocare volueiint 14th March, 1G13."

118 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Bray (to \yhom it was given by the lord of the manor), and it now stands in the Vicarage garden, at Tavistock.

By indenture dated 2nd March, 1702, between Dame EHzabeth Modyford of Marysto^ve of the one part, and Henry Drake (youngest brother of the 4th Bart.), and five others, trustees of the second part, the former conveyed a messuage called the C4reat House, or Church house, and another called " David Kennard's house, and a yearly sum of £10 issuant from the manor of Buckland, for 1,000 years upon trust, to appoint a Schoolmaster during good behaviour, who was to have the eaid tene- ments and an annual salary of £7 10s., out of the said £lO, as part remuneration for instructing children of the parish in reading, writing and arithmetic, and in the Church Catechism. The schoolmaster was to keep his school in the village, and was to repair the premises left by the donor. The children were to remain at School for three years. The donor or trustees were to have the power of nominating six poor children whose parents might be unable to pay for their education, and the annual residue of the said £10 was to be spent in buying for each of the said scholars, " A Bible with the Common Prayers of the church of England in the same," at the end of every three years, and " a coat and breeches of good blue woollen cloth, with a towel or cravat for each of them once in three years ; the overplus, if any, to be given amongst the parents of the said six poor scholars for their use.

This educational provision was added to in the year 1859 by the erection of a new Girls' School at the cost of £400 raised by subscription.

PARISU OF BUGKLAXD MONACUORUM. 119

Matthew Elford, Esq. by will dated 5th March, 1723, gave to the poor of this parish £20 for ever, the Interest to be laid out every year at Christmas in bread, and distributed among them. He also bequeathed to the Buckland School £100, the interest to be paid yearly for ever towards the clothing of four of the Scholars at the nomination of the Churchwardens.

This charity was established by a decree of Chancery 12th November, 1740. Previously to 179G the sum of eleven shillings and sixpence, as the interest ot £20, which had been absorbed together with the said £100 and accumulations in the purchase of £200 stock, was annually given in bread ; subsequently to this date the ivhole sum was spent in providing clothes for the children, which, as the commissioners remark was not in accordance with the bequest.

Catherine Ilbert, widow, by a codicil to her will dated 17th August, 1759, gave £100 to the poor of this parish to be invested at the discretion of the Vicar and Vestry ; the interest to be given annually to such poor house- holders as are not in receipt of parochial relief.

John Burrows, Lieut. R.N., by will dated 22nd June, 1818, gave the interest of £100 (less legacy duty) to the poor of the parish, which is laid out in bread and distributed according to the necessity of the applicants.

Another sum of £27, wliich was stated in the return of 1786 to have been given to the poor of the parish, was then vested in the parish stock. Entries of the annual payment of £1 7s. supposed to be m respect of this sum are found in the overseer's accounts for nearly 100 years, and continued down to Lady-day 1815, when

120 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

it was resolved at a vestry meeting to discontinue the payment, as no one knew how it originated. It was usually distributed to the poor in small sums at Lady-day.

Lady ]\Iodyford by her vnll gave the sum of £50, the intei-est of which was to be bestowed weekly in bread amongst poor people not in receipt of parochial rehef.

The ecclesiastical district of Horrabridge was formed in 18G7 out of the parishes of Sampford Spiney, "Whit- church, Walkhampton, Buckland Monachoram and S. Peter Tavy. It had 748 inhabitants in 1881 living upon 726 acres of land. The Church of S. John, was erected in lS35, but was not consecrated until 1866; its cost amounted to £700 which was raised by subscrip- tion. It is now a vicarage in the patronage of the Bishop of Exeter,

A new district Church, dedicated to the Holy Spirit was erected by the vicar the Eev. E. J. Hayne, in 1S7S, in the hamlet of Milton. It is a handsome building with bell turret.

PARISH OF MEAVY. 121

CHAPTER V. PART I.

The Parish of Mea.vy.— General Description AND History.

The village of Meavy, lying in a picturesque valley at the foot of Ringmore Down, and (as Mre. Bray says) " watered by a stream so clear that every pebble may be seen in its bottom," takes its name from the little river Mew, or Meavy, a tributary of the Plym.

It is situated in the hundred of Roborough and the Archdeaconry of Totnes, and inclusive of the hamlets of Loveton and Brisworthy, has a population of 234 . persons, distributed over 3,289 acres of land. This parish, like those described in the preceding chapters, belonged until the commencement of 187G to the ancient deanery of Tamerton, and is now included in that of Tavistock from which it is about seven miles distant.

Lysons says, that " the manor of Meavy, under the name of Metwi, belonged to Robert Bastard at the time of the Domesday survey." This information is manifestly copied from an assertion contained in Risdon, sines the latter author makes " Turgis " hold the land " anciently " (I presume him to mean in the reign of Edward the Confessor), and Robert le Bastard in "William the Conqueror's time."

B

122 DEV0N8HRIE PARISHES.

I can find no evidence to substantiate either of these statements. In the first place " Metwi " which is not referred to at all in the Exeter Domesday, is declared in the Exchequer copy of that record to have been the pi'operty of Alwin, the Kinsj's Thaue, tempore regis Edwardi, and not of Turgis. At the Conquest this particular property was certainly bestowed upon Robert Bastard (the ancestor of Mr. Bastard, of Kitley and Bucklanid), but I fancy that it was that manor and parish now known as Meeth or Meethe, in the hundred ot Shebbear, the early history of which is not referred to by our historians, but which seems in the reign of Edward the Third to have been held by the Giffards, who may have succeeded the Bastards there.

Meavy, Good-a-Meavy, High Meavy, and Maker Meavy seem to be identical with four manors known as Meavy, written " Mewi " and referred to in the Exeter Domes- day as being all the property of Jidiel or Judhsel, Baron of Totnes under whom they were held by sub- tenants ; one of these latter being Turgis. In the Confessor's reign these estates had been respectively owned by four Saxons, namely Alward and Alwin two of the King's Thanes, Edward and Osolf.

Juhel of Totnes was a trusted servant of the Conqueror but does not appear to have been equally favoured by that monarch's successor, for having laid himself open to suspicion during the reign of Rufus he was banished the kingdom, and his confiscated estates in this part of the county were bestowed on Roger de Nunant or Novant. A charter deed of Henry II.,' reciting and confirming the ^ Inspeximus, 2nd Ed., iii.

PARISH OF MEAVY. 123

various grants of property which had been made from time to time to the priory of Plymptim, shews that Roger de Novant w;is a considerable benefactor to that monas- tery, and amongst other gifts he yielded to them the right of the sluice on the river, a7id the whole of Briiworthy within the parish of Heavy, " et exclusagium de aqua de Mewy et totam Brutereswurdam, ita liberas sicut carta Kogeri eis testatur." The Priory of Plympton, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, was founded in the year 1121 by Bishop Warlewast, and under the auspices of that prelate's successors it acquired so much property that it exceeded even the Abbey of Tavistock in annual value, and was found at the dissolution of such houses to possess a revenue of £912 12s. 8d.

Heavy gave name to an ancient family whose ancestors at a period subsequent to the Conquest obtained possession of the property and resided there for seven generations ; they appear to have had a large estate in the parish of Maker which Westcote says was in his time called " Maker Meavy, after the sometime possessor thereof;" and they are likewise said to have been the owners of Good-a-Meavy and High Meavy ; they also appear amongst the early benefacrors to Plympton Priory, and a deed is in existence which, although undated, was probably executed during the superiority of Robert de Ilsington, who was elected prior of this house in the year 1202.

This document is a confirmation only, and recites the gift of a former donor, one " Walter de Mewi," and it is particularly interesting inasmuch as it proves that the descendants of '• Alwine," the Saxon Thane, were stiU resident upon the land which had belonged to then- fore

124 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

father many years after it had been aHenated from him by force of arms. It has been pubUshed in the original Latin both in the " Archaeological Journal ; " and in the Monasticon of the Diocese'

Tlie following is a translation : —

" To all the faithful to whom the present writing shall have come, William de Mewi health in the Lor.1. Your community should know that Walter de Mewi, the grand- father of Gilda, my wife, by the assent and consent of Wido, his son and heir, the father forsooth of the afore- said G., my wife, for his safety and for that of all his ancestors and successors gave to the church of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul of Plimton, and to the canons serving God there, two furlongs of land from his manor of Mewi, in free and in all respects quiet and perpetual alms, and eight acres of land which ought to do the service of the King only. Forsooth as much as eight acres of the same manor of Mewi ought to make. And four men then holding the same land, forsooth the sons of Alwin, whose names are Osbert, Sti'eswold, Edwin, and Seward, with their wives and children. But T, WUliam de Mewi, now with the consent and assent of the said G, my wife, by the intuition of charity yield the donation of the same Walter to the aforesaid church and canons of Plym- ton, and by this deed being sealed with my seal confirm it in perpetual alms. By this agreement that I, AVilliam, and my heirs ought to hold the same land from the church of Plymton for six shillings, quietly and honestly to be paid to the same church yearly at the two terms, forsooth at the feast of St. Micha3l three shUhngs, and at Easter

^ Additional Supplement, p. 15, No. 2.

PARISH OF MEAV7. 125

three shillings. From thence also I have made homage to Robert, prior of Plymton. Moreover, I have taken a corporal oath that I will return or cause to be returned the same six shillings annually at the same terms faith- fully and honestly. My heirs also after me shall make Uke homage to the prior of Plymton for the time being and shall perform the same security of faith and oath, and shall return a reUef fiom thence, forsooth twelve shillings and sixpence as a recompense to the prior. And I like- wise, as well as my heirs, by our deed will acquit the same land from every burthen which by whatsoever means shall happen to fall upon the same land. But if by chance it should happen tliat the three shillings at the term of Easter should not have been paid before the feast of St. John, or the three shillings at the tevm of St. Michael before Christmas, the prior and canons of Plymton shall receive into their jurisdiction without any contradiction or hindrance, the aforesaid two furlongs and eight acres of land, and afterwards may retahi them as their proper pos- session to their peculiar uses, or may deliver them to whom they will, without hope of regaining them, to me, William, or my heirs for ever. Of this agreement the Avitnesses have been Samson, clerk, Wido de Bretevilla, Andrew lenfont, Robert de cnolle, William talebot, William de langewis, Helias de leiga Benedict bonenfont, Hugo oisun, and many others."

With respect to the decendants of Alwine, the ancient lord of the soil, together with their wives and children having been given with the land to the prior of Plympton, I A\ould remark' that between the thane and the serf, or slave, was the churl or freeman (sometimes also called

126 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

frigman ; in Latin, villanus ; Norman, villein). Every- man -was bound to place himself under the protection of some lord, failing which he might be seized as a robber. The ceorls, or churls, held a recognized estate in the land to which they belonged, and were not to be I'emoved from it or to have a higher rent imposed on them ; they cultivated it for their lords, and were bound to reside upon it and could not quit it, though in other respects they were freemen, but as pai't of the propei'ty they might be given bequeathed or sold along with it as in this instance. There were several conditions of chui'ls, who in the Domesday Book form two-fifths of the registered inhabitants ; they were permited to acquire lands, and if they obtained as much as five hides they forthwith became thanes. There are seventeen Saxon thanes and three Saxon ladies mentioned in Exeter Domesday as holding land in demesne in this county after the Norman redistribution of property, but they appear to have only been permitted to occupy one or two manors respectively, excepting in the cases of Colvin and Godwin, the former of whom acquired eleven, and the latter eight. To obtain this concession, however, they all doubtless had to give up the greater portion of their original inheritances, since (with the exception of those belonging to ecclesiastics) nearly, if not all, the estates in Devonshire changed hands immediately after the Conquest. I believe that the family of Mewi became extinct about the tenth year of the reign of Richard II (1387). Their ai-ms were Gu, 3 sea mews Arg, beaks and legs Or.

PARISH OF 2IEAV7. 127

CHAPTER v.- -PART II.

The Lords of Heavy.

Heavy afterwards belonged to the Hillatons and the first of this family recorded in the Heralds' Visitation of 1564, is John Millaton who married and had issue John, and Joan married to John Wise of Sydenham.

John ^lillaton married Alicia, and had issue Thomas Millaton whose wife w^as Jane Dymock, and their son John married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Worth, of Worth, and of his wife Isabell, daughter and co-heir of Humfrey Bevill, of Wolston, and had issue John, and gnes who married Richard Strode. John Millaton, by his wife Avys Dennis had issue William who married Honora Godolphin, and who were probably the parents of Alice, wife of Otho Worthe of Compton Pole, in the parish of Marldon, and also her kins- man. The property at Heavy was probably the dowry of Agnes MUlaton wife of Richard Strode, and the latter family were for many years subsequently its owners. They were originally of Strode, in the parish of Erming- ton, where they are traced as early as the reign of Henry III, and subsequently removed to Newnham, in the parish of Plymton St. Hary after they had acquired

128 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

it by the marriage of John the seventh in descent with MeUor Solman, the co-heir of Newnham in right of her mother, early in the fifteenth centuiy. It is said that when King Edward I, (A.D., 1294) summoned sundry gentlemen from this county to attend him to Scotland, the herald amongst other names returned that of " Adam Strode of Strode, Esq." It was in this memorable expedition that the English monarch gained a decisive victory over the Scots near Dunbar, subdued all the southern parts of tlie country, and received the solemn and irrevocable resign utio a of the Scottish Crown from the hands of Baliol, whom he made prisoner. It was on this occasion also that the English soldiers carried with them on their return the stone on which the Scottish Kings were inaugurated and to which popular superstition paid th3 highest veneration in consequence of the prophecy — " That wheresoever that chair should be removed, the kingdom should be removed with it."

Reynold, or Reginald, Strode, of Ermlngton, married Florence, daughter of — , and had issue John, who manied Meliora, daughter and co-heir of Simon Newnham, of Newnham. This Simon Newnham was the grandson of Simon de Plympton, wlio liyed in the reign of Edward I. The Strodes thus became settled in Plympton at an early date ; and, as I have already mentioned, several members of their family were buried in the conventual church. William, son ot Richard Strode, of Newnham, and of his wife Margaret, daughter of Henry Fortescue, of Wood, was thrice married ; his second wife was Agnes, daughter of Thomas Worth, of Worth, in the parish of Washfield, and sister of Roger " Worth," who was Mayor of Exeter in 1482.

PARISH OF MEAV7. 129

Her father, Thomas Worth, by his first wife, a daughter of John Scolemaster. had a son, Anthony, whose posterity have continued at Worth, and whose direct descendant, the Rev. Reginald Worth, died possessed of it in 18S1, the property there having been trans- mitted in regular succession certainly from the reign of Hem-y II, and very probaUy from the time of " Ralph," the sub tenant of the Manor of Worth, under the Norman

William de Pollei.

By his second maiTiage (with Eleanor, daughter ot George Mydelton, of Coker, county Somerset), Thomas Worth became the father of several other children besides Agnes and Roger above mentioned.

Roger whose name is usuaUy written with a final e, was, as I have said. Mayor of Exeter in 1482. He may have inherited property at Barnstaple from his relative Walter "Worthy," of Barum, who is mentioned m connexion with an enquiry as to the boundaries _ be- tween that parish and Pilton, in Bishop Lacy's register wherein he is stated to have been 60 years of age, 15th July 1435. John son of Roger who is described m the visitations as of Compton Pole, married a co-heir of Do,lescombe, of Compton. and thus acqun-ed an estate there, which descended to ^Otho Worthe, who married as I have already shown Alice Millaton of Meavy, and from him to his eldest son, John, who married Agnes Bodley of Crediton, and whoso posterity were residing at Compton when Risdon wrote his Survey. 1605-1630. Roger " Worthe," second son of Otho, married Joan

i°probably called after his neighbour Otho Gilbert, of Compton who may have been his sponsor.

1.30 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Drew, and represented Barnstaple in the Parliament of 1553, he became the father of three sons, viz., Paul, who continued the line of Barnstaple, and was probably the grandfather of John "Worthy," one of the County Commissioners for the Parliament in 1643 — Walter, second son, mentioned in the visitations both of Devonshire and Somerset, and whose marriage is not recorded ; and John, the ancestor of the " Worthes," of Timberscombe, in Somersetshire, whose son, Richard, acquired property in Lancashire, by his marriage with Mary, daughter and co-heir of William Harrison, of Luccombe (he was hving in 1623). He left Timberscombe to his second son, Richard, whose arms are duly differenced with a mullet, charged with a crescent, and who died 17th August, 1673.'

The family of Worthe, also written Worthy, of Suffolk; were derived from the marriage of Peter Worthe younger brother of Roger, Mayor of Exeter, with Alice, daughter of Michell, of Monks Eleigh, in that county. His arms are differenced by an annulet. George " Worthy" great grandson of Otho Worthe and Alice Millaton, and third son of John " Worthe " of Crediton by his wife Joan daughter of Robert Clarke, resided in the parish of S. Sidwell's Exeter. His wUl was proved in the Arch- deacomy Court of Exeter, January 21st, 16|f he mentions his son John " Worthy." Stephen Worthy of St. David's, Exeter, died 1727, and Admon. to his estates was granted to Anne his wife, 8th November, in that year. He was

1 CoU. Ar. I. 24, f. 101.

2 MS. Harl. 1445

PARISH OF HEAVY. 131

grandfather of the late Jonathan Woi'thy,' Mayor of Exeter, 1799 who is honourably mentioned by Jenkins In his history of that city for his energy, and attention to the wants of the citizens, many of whom were during his year of office reduced to great poverty in consequence of the scarcity of provisions, occasioned by the war with France, and by a partial failure in the harvest. '"

Several other cadets from the ancient house of Wash- field settled from time to time in Exeter, and I find from the municipal records that Eichard Orenge, Mayor of Exeter in 1455 (who was not only a great benefactor to the H()spital of S. Mary Magdalene ^vithout the south gate, but who ultimately retired to it and ended his days there), obtained the land he gave to that foundation from Richard " Worthy " and his wife Katherine. Their first two deeds relate to the property in Magdalen-street, and to a garden called " Paradys " there, and are dated respectively 3rd April, 1424, and 18th February, 1425-6.

The next, dated 1st of March, 1436-7, is a grant by the aforesaid Richard " Worthy " and Katherine his wife, to Richard Orenge of their Toft and garden in Maudelyn- street, between the Hospital of St. Mary, on the east south, and west, and the street on the north.

1 His youngnst son was my own father ; the late Kov. Charles Worthy Vicar of Ashburton, died September 23rd, 1879. My sister Elizabeth, EUen Wortliy, may be mentioned here, since she has died whilst tlio proofs of this portion of my work are before me, having spent twenty-two out of the forty years allotted to her in visiting the sick, and afflicted and doing good amongst the poor, first in the parish of S. James, Exeter, then at Ashburton, and lastly at Nowton Abbot in the parish of Wolborough where sliu was laid to rest July ■1th, 1887.

2 Jenkins Hist. E.xon, p. 225.

132 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Tlie last is dated 1st Februaiy, 1437-8, when Katherine,

before mentioned, makes a similar grant to John PoUowe,

who was Gustos of the said Hospital, as shown by Dr.

Oliver.' The release by Hichard Orenge of the property

is referred to in the report of the Charity Commissioners

and is also mentioned by Isaac and others but neither

of them makes the slightest allusion to the original

grantors. Then, again, Francis and Alexander, sons of

Henry Worth, of Worth, by his marriage with Elizabeth

daughter of Nicholas Fry of Yarty,' he buried in St,

Petrock's Church. Francis was a member of the Common

Council of Exeter, and died 9th of July, 1675, and his

wife Anna mentioned in the will of her father-in-law is

shown by the memorial inscription to have followed him on

the 3rd of April 1686. Alexander Worth was buried 18th

October, 1680, and the monument w^as erected by their

sister, Mary Worth.* A branch of this family was

settled also at Holdridge, in the parish of Ideford,

which passed from them to the Heles, in 1702. In Bishop

Stafford's register is the hcense, dated AprQ 17th, 1419,

to WiUiam " Werthe" and his wife Elizabeth for a chapel

or oratory within their mansion there. A Walter

" Worthy " was resident at Dartmouth in 1302, and is

a party to a deed relative to S. Saviour's Church, as it is

commonly called, but which was dedicated to the Holy

1 Monas. Dice, p. 402.

2 Visit of Devon.

* She had been made heir to her brother Alexander, who under liis father's will proved 19th ^lay, 1680, had inherited " the lyvinge of Wood in the parish of Uplo^vman, then lately purchased together with X300 to stock it " to him and his heirs for ever.

PARISH OF MEAV7. 133

Trinity October 13th that same year, between the Abbot of Tor, of the first part; Thomas Burgeys, Vicar of Townstall, and John Hawley, founder of the new chancel, of the second; and Walter " Worthy," and other lYArish- ioners of Townstall of the 3rd.

The Strodes Uke their kinsfolk at Washfield have continued to reside amidst their ancestral property at PJympton to the present time, although the old seat at Newnham Is now occupied as a farm, and the present mansion, called Newnham Park, was built in the first part of the eighteenth century, " upon an adjoining manor called Loughtor x\hich at an early period had belonged for some descents to the family of Le Abbe, and was afterwards acquired by marriage with a daughter of a younger branch of the Courtenays.*

It is a coincidence worth noticing that a branch of the family of Le Abbe, or Abbot, were also lords of the manor of Waslifield at a very early date, and it wa^ certainly their property in the reiga of Henry TIL, Anno. 1242 ; at which period the Worths are also shown to have been resident on the manor there, from which their name is derived, the " Wrde " or " Worde," of Domesday which from Saward the Saxon passed at the Conquest to William de Poillei, under whom it was held by " Ralph," thenceforth " De Worthe." Walter Abbot, however, pre- sented to the Rectory in 1335, 1342, and 1343, but in 1368 Hugh Beauchamp, of White Lackington, appears to have succeeded them, since Gregory Joyet was mstltuted on his presentation on the 12th of June in that

1 Mag. Brit. Devon, 2 iU.

134 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

year.' The advowson came to the Worth family by the marriage of Robert Worth (whose son, Thomas, had the patronage in 1410) with the daughter, and ultimately the heir of William Beauchamp, of White Lackington afore- said.

Mrs. Lloyd Worth, only daughter and ultimately heir of the late John Worth of Worth, exercised this right of patronage as recently as 1884, when, upon the death of her husband, the late rector she presented the Hon. and Rev. A. F. Northcote to the rectory of Washfield.

Richard Strode, son of William and Elizabeth Courte- nay, made an illustrious alliance, since he married Frances, the daughter of Gregory, Lord Cromwell, and Elizabeth Seymour, his wife, sister to Edward, Duke of Somerset, and cousin german to King Edward VI, whereby his issue became related to the Royal family.

In a note to the 1810 edition of Prince it is stated that "it appears by an ancient book dated 1579, that William Strode by Elizabeth Courtenay, his wife, had eleven sons and seven daughters, but it is not probable that they all lived to maturity.'

His second grandson, Sir WiUiam Strode, " of Meavy Church," (Risdoil^wrote his history) was twice mamed, first to Mary, daughter of Thomas Southcote, of Bovey Tracey, and secondly to Dyonisia, a daughter of Glanville.

1 Ep. Register? Exon.

2 I have endeavoured to correct this note where necessary. Richard Strode vas the eldest, and imheritcd Newiiham and also Chalmington in Dorset. Julm Strode the third son, was of Tavistock. He spent much of his time ahout London, and was accounted the best bowler in England.

PARISH OF MEAVY. 135

He died on the 27th of June, 1637, iu the 76th year of his aee. His second son Wilham, who erected a menu- ment to his memory in the church of Plympton St. Mary, acquired some celebrity as a poUtician during the troublous times in which he lived. Many of his family, from the reign of Henry VI. downwards, had represented Plympton in Parliament, and he sat either for that borough or for Beer Alston during the short Parliaments of the com- mencement of the reign of Charles the First, and he had BO far particularised himself by his opposition to the Crown as to be included m the number of those members who were simimoned with Sir John Eliot before the Privy Council inmiediately after .the dissolution of the third, of these (March 10th, 1629). Strode did not answer, but a proclamation was issued for his apprehension, and upon Ms capture he was first committed to the King's Bench, and was afterwards removed to the Tower. At the sub- sequent trial all of them (Eliot, HoUis, Valentine, and Strode) refused to plead at the bar of an inferior court in defence of their conduct in a superior, and they were condemned, some to fine, and all to imprisonment during the King's pleasure. Sir John Eliot died in custody, and the duration of Strode's imprisonment is uncertain, but it is stated that no fine was inflicted upon him.

He next appears as a candidate for the representation of Beer iUston, and was returned for that borough in 1640, and thus became a member of that fimious assembly known in history as tiie Long Parliament. Associated with some of his former friends he soon rendered himself conspicuous, and was one of those who formed the un- precedented committee appointed in September, 1G41,

130 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

" to sit during the recess and transact such business as they should be authorised to do by their instructions." When the House re-assembled Strode at once assumed an hostile attitude towards the Crown, and Clarendon (who it is almost needless to say especially disliked him), re- marks that " he was one of the fiercest of the popular party, and of the party only for his fierceness." And, again, when commenting on the arrest of the five members the noble historian remarks " that if the measure had been justifiable the individual selection was indiscreet, for Hazlerig and Strode were but persons, of too low an account and esteem." As T have shewn, Strode was not of low consideration as far as birth was concerned, but although a ready speaker, he was ^^erhaps inferior to his renowned colleagues, Plym, HoUis and Hampden. On the 30th January, 1642, the Attorney- General came to the House of Lords, and in his Majesty's name entered an accusation against Lord Kimbolton. and five members of the Commons — Hollis, Sir Arthur Hazlerig, Hampden, Pym, and Strode. The speech of the latter in his own defence is preserved in the History of the Parliamentary proceedings.

It is not known whether he joined the army, at the outbreak of the civil war, in a military or Parliamentary capacity, however he was present at the battle of Edge- hill, in Warwickshire (October 23rd, 1642), and can-ied the dispatches relative to that indecisive contest to the Parliament, and by his description of the fight aflbrded the house a pretext for ascribing to themselves the \'ictory. His name does not afterwards occur in connection with this eventful period, nor did he live to witness the death

PARISH OF HEAVY. 137

of the King or the conclusion of the contest in which he had been engaged. He died in September, 1G45. He was twice married, and had in all ten children, and of these Sydney (his fifth son by his second wife) alone left male issue.

It is shown by an indenture, dated 20th March, 1673, that this Sir WiUiara Strode granted to his son Charles the capital messuage and tenement known as "Truelove," situated in the parish of Shaugh, for a term of 140 years, to commence immediately after the death of the grantor, under a i-ent of £3 1 9s. 4d. The term afterwards came to a Mr. Mabbott, who is believed to have married Ellen, the only child of Charles Strode, and it afterwards be- longed to the Mabbots, of Bulmarsh, Berks.

The elder line of Strode terminated 27th August, 1767 when Newnham Park passed to the heir male Richard Strode, of Boterford, son of William Strode by his wife Mary Anne Cholwich grandson and heir of George Strode, of Boterford, son and heir of John Strode of London, second son of William Strode of LTgborough, son and heir of Sampson Strode, rector of Dittsham, ob. 1631, who was tenth son of William Strode, of Newnham and of his wife Ehzabeth Courtenav.

Eichard Strode married Admonition, daughter of Thomas Lear, of Sandwell, co. Devon, and had issue four sons and two daughters ; 1st William Strode his heir. 2nd, Richai'd ; 3rd, George, who both succeeded to the pi'operty ; 4th, Thomas Lear Strode died unmarried.

Mary Anne married Rev. John Arscott.

Admonition married Valentine Hewlett.

Upon the death of Mr. Strode in 1790 — He was suc-

T

138 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

ceeded by liis eldest son William, who died uiimarried iu 1802 and was succeeded by his brother the Rev. Richard Strode, who married Harriet, eldest daughter of Sir Frederick Leaman Rogers, Bart., and had issue four daughters. He was followed by his brother George Strode, born l9th of January, 1780, manied TZth September, 1821, Dorothy Bird, daughter of WiUiam Symons, Esq., of Chaddlewood and had issue, a son and two daughters, George Sidney Strode born 4th October, 1829 ; married 1858 Mary, daughter of Sir W. C. Medlycott, Bart., of Ven House, co. Somerset and died 8.p. 1874.

The Misses Strode now reside at Newnham.

I should mention another and an earlier member of this ancient family, although he lived at a date anterior to the possession of the manor of Heavy by his race ; I mean Sir Richard Strode, one of the Parliamentary repre- sentatives of Plympton in the year 1512, and I suppose him to have been the grandfather of Richard, the husband of Agnes Millaton. He endeavoured to procure an Act for the protection of the western harbours from the injuries caused by the stream works. He himself had an interest in the tin mines of this county, and he thus rendered him- self peculiarly obnoxious to the stannators, who prosecuted him for imputed crimes against the Stannary laws in the Court at Crockern Tor, and fined him in heavy penalties which he refused to pay. He was thereupon thrown into the prison of Lidford Castle, which was descriljed in the order of Parliament by which he obtained redress for his ill-treatment as " one of the most hanious, contagious, and detestable places in the realm." He was kept in this

PARISH OF MEAVY. 139

dungeon for more than three weeks, and fed only on bread and water. But as Lysons remarks, " This case of daring outrage gave occasion to the establishment and main- tenance of some of the most important privileges of Pai-liameut."

Prince, in the Worthies of Devon, gives us an account of William Strode, D.D., Public Orator of the University of Oxford, who was born about the year IGOO. He appears to have been the son of Philip, sixth son of William Strode and Elizabeth Courtenay. Unlike his cousin, of whom I have spoken, he seems to have been faithful to his King, who had procured his installation as a Canon of Christ Church on the 1st July, 1638. When the King reassembled his first Parliament at Oxford in consequence of that dreadful epidemic known as the plague which threatened the capital in 1625, Dr. Strode welcomed bis Majesty to Christ Church, and his oration on that occasion commenced with the words " Maximorum optime et optimorum maxime Rex," and on the same night after supper the college entertained the Royal party with a comedy from his pen, entitled " The Passions Calm'd ; or the Settling of the Floating Island,' (Lon. 4to, 1655.) He resided at the University for the rest of his life, and died on the 10th April, 1644, aged 43 ; he was buried in the Divinity Chapel of Christ Church Cathedral, without any sepulchral monument.

The manor of Good-a-Meavy (anciently God-Mewy), belonged formerly to the Pomeroys but is no^^' the property and residence of Mrs. Scobell.

The two manors of Callisham and Durance which still belong to the Drakes were possil)ly acquired by the

r

140 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

marriage of Jane, one of the daughters of Sir William Strode, who resided at Meavy, with Sir Francis Drake, 1st Bai't. The Drake manor house now used as a farm has been partly taken down. It was built in the reign of Elizabeth, and once presented the form of the letter E. Sir Francis Drake is the present owner.

PARISH OF HEAVY. 141

CHAPTER v.— PART III.

The Parish of Meavy.— Meavy Church. The parish church of Meavy is dedicated to St. Peter, and comprehends chancel, nave opening into the south aisle beneath three arches of different widths, supported upon clustered perpendicular columns; a transept, separated from the aisle by another arch ; a south chancel chapel, probably origmally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, but now known as the Drake aisle ; a south porch and a tower at the western end containing six bells. The chancel appears to be Early English, and the eastern window is of this date, but during the recent restoration the north pier of the chancel arch was deiuided of its many coatings of plaster and whitewash, and was found to be a relic of a church much earlier than ai^y portion of the present fabric. It is in alternate quoins of dunstone and red sandstone, and is carved with rams' heads, a mode of decoration much practised by Norman builders. The new organ chamber immediately to the east of this pier is separated from the chancel by an Early English arch, also recently discovered and re-opened.

A piscina with a credence shelf and the ancient priest's

142 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

door remain in tlieir proper positions. There is a hagio- scope between the chancel and the south chantry chapel, which latter has been rebuilt, but all the stones were numbered and reset in their former positions.

Two of its windows are Early English, and amongst the bosses in its roof I noticed a woman's head with a mouse coming out of her ear, a lioness, a dying stag, and a head of the Saviour with square nimbus.

This portion of the church was for some years used as a place of interment by the family of Drake, and Sir Francis Drake, third Baronet was buried here, and hence it has acquired the name of the " Drake aisle." The stairs which anciently led to the rood loft and the doors of ingress and exit still remain on the north side.

The font, of Decorated date, is octagonal, and is orna- mented with shields charged with the sword in bend, and the keys in saltire.

The ribs of the oak roof all slope inwards towai'ds the sanctuary, and the windows on the north side are late Per]3endicular.

The porch contains a fine example of an aspersorium, in the form of a grotesque head ; the ancient stone seats are still preserved, and the doorways open beneath acutely pointed ai-ches, the interior one is still surmounted by an image bracket.

The tower of 15th century date, is square and embattled and has four small pinnacles ; the western doorway is square-headed, with quatrefoiled spanch'ils and a pecu- liaily deep weather moulding ; the stairs are carried up in a square external turret, and there is a similar pro- jection on the north side of the church provided for

PARISH OF MEAVY. 143

admission to the rood loft. Through the exertions of a late rector, the Rev. J. W. Catton, this interesting church was restored in 1874 at a cost of £704.

In front of the lych gate is a very ancient oak tradi- tionally reputed in this county to be thirteen hundred years old. I do not believe that there is any authentic information in existence as to its age, although many con- jectures (some of them apparently extravagant) have been hazarded in connection with it. The circumference of the trunk is very great, but it is so hollowed that it appears to be supported by the outward shell connected with the roots. The top appears to be dead, but the wide spi"eading branches are still " verdant yearly." Mrs. Bray " doubts not that It witnessed the Saxon heptarchy if not the Roman conquest," and in support of her theory adduces the now well known fact that in the survey of Dartmoor, made soon after the conquest, the oaks in Wistman's Wood are described very much as they appear at present.*

The stepped base of the village cross still remains under this tree. The prevalent idea that the long stone built into the wall over the south transept is its missing shaft is absurd. The stone in question, which is marked with a long croSs crosslet, was originally a gravestone, and once doubtless covered the last resting place of an ecclesiastic, most probably of an early rector of Meavy.

A chapel dedicated to St. Matthew was licensed in this parish by Bishop Lacy, November 23rd, 1333.

In an episcopal confirmation of churches and chapels to

' Trad, of Devon, vol. iii. p. 97.

144 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

the " Monastery ofPlympton"' there Is mention made of one mark paid from the rectory of Meavy to the prior, who received this pension up to the period of the dissolu- tion, as shown by the " Valor." " Rectoria de Mewy. Percipit annuatim unam annualem peucionem de rectoria predicfca per annum xiiis. iiijd."

In the taxation of Pope Nicholas, a.d. 1291, the rectory of Meavy was valued at £4 13s. 4d, per annum, and the pension of 13s. 4d. was then likewise paid to the Prior ofPlympton. In the year 1535 Thomas Hardying was the rector, and the then yearly value of his j^i-efer- ment after the outgoings had been paid, amounted to £13 5 s. The Eev. J. W. Catton was instituted to the rectory of Meavy in 1872, and I have to thank him for his kindness and attention when I visited his parish and church during the progress of the work of restoration. There is a good parsonage house and twenty-five acres of glebe. The tithe-rent charge amounts to £228 per annum, and the patronage of the rectory belongs to the Lord Chancellor. Mr. Catton vacated Meavy upon appointment to the rectory of Norton Malreward in diocese of Bath and Wells, 1870; The present rector is the Rev. W. A. G. Gray. The eax-ly registers are missing. Those which have been preserved commence alike in 1654, and are not carefully entered.

At the end of the year 1G.52 an order was received fi'om the Parliament requiring the existing register books to be discontinued, and orderirg the j^rovisiun of a new book for the reception of" births, marriages, and bimals." Marriages were then made civil contracts, and were 1 Grandison's Keg. vol. ii., fol 12.

FARISH OF MEAVY. 145

required to be celebrated before a justice of the peace. The preamble of this Act is pieserved in the earliest register at Meavy, and is signed by John Elford, of Sheepstor, akeady referred to in these pages, in his magisterial capacity. To a man who frequently, we are told, was compelled to secrete himself amongst the rocks of Sheepstor to avoid capture, this order must have been pecuUarly distasteful, and he has left us certain proof that it was so since beneath his signature he has boldly written the following words : — '^ A scevitia et ignorantia, Puritanica libera nos domine." ("From cruelty and Puritanical ignorance, O Lord deliver us.")

This little parish appears to have had its full share of the troubles of this period. The then rector told the author of " The Sufferings of the Clergy " (published 1714), "that his immediate predecessor, Mr. Joseph Shute, Cambridge bred," was at Meavy sixty years, and was continually harassed by the Puritans, and was once seized and carried prisoner to Plymouth and plundered of his possessions.

On a particular Sunday many of his parishioners con- spired, to keep him out of his church, and upon his endeavouring to enter by the chancel door a man called John Blanchard caught his leg in it. Another person, Richard Moses, pushed him back from the porch and nearly killed him ; and the intrepid priest, finding that he was unable to effect an entrance, went to the village cross and preached there a sermon alluding to the plot against St. Paul, " That there were more than forty who made this conspiracy." Mr. Shute does not appear to have ever been actually dispossessed. He lived to u

146 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

witness the restoration of King Charles II., and brought an action against the aforesaid Eichard Moses, in which he was successful ; but his biographer says : " That out of his religious nature he forgave him upon easy terms."

Blanchard is stated to have " been smitten with an incurable ulcer in his leg, which brought him to his grave " immediately after his assault on his rector.

There ai'e several interesting examples of early domestic ai'chitecture to be found in this village.

The charming account given by the late Mrs. Bray in the Traditions of Devon, both of this village and of Sheepstor, wUl be familiar to many of my readers, and I may mention that I sent her my two first articles upon Meavy in 1876 which she acknowledged in the following letter which as every tiling from her pen is now valuable, I make no apology for inserting here. At the time she wrote 16th November, 1876, she was eighty-seven years of age.

" I beg you to accept my best thanks for your papers received this morning on the parish of Meavy — well do I remember that most interesting lovely valley, and the venerable oak in the last stage of its decay. My old friend Sir Robert Collier, amongst his many and great gifts being that of fine feeling and skill with the pencil, very lately bi'ought me one of his most beautiful drawings of Meavy. Your gift mvist remain tiU I can get some one to read it to me, for in addition to considerable indisposition I am sadly suftering from an afiection of the eyes. I am under very skilful surgical care and at present (indeed for some time past) am allowed, on very bright days to use my eyes only about three hours by

PARISH OF ATEAVY. 147

day-light, and not at all by candle light, all pale printing, all small type absolutely forbidden. If 1 obey these orders it is hoped my left eye may be spared to me if God spares my life ; the right tho' not blind is useless to me for reading. This must be my apology for thanking you for what you have so kindly sent to me when at this moment I have not attempted to read it.

From age and declining health I shall never more see lovely Devon, that land of flowers and song, but I love it in my heart, and I hope am thankful to a good providence for the many happy years I passed in it. Pardon all this about self, and wishing you all health to enjoy your literary pursuits allow me to remain very tridy yours,

Anna Eliza Bray.

This letter is in the gifted lady's hand-writing through- out. She survived until the 2 1st January, 1883, and her sight must have considerably improved, for in 1879 when ninety years of age she undertook, and carried through the press a revised edition of her well known work " The Traditions of Devon."

Tliere is a National School at Meavy built in 1837, and attended by about 40 children.

V'

148 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER VI.— PART I.

The Parish of St. Peter Tavy. —General Description and History.

Tavy St. Peter, commonly called Petertavy, situated, in the hundred of Roborough, the deanery of Tavistock late Tamerton and in the same archdeaconry, is nearly four miles north-east of Tavistock. It is a picturesque village, lying in the valley of the river Tavy, and its situation in the midst of one of the most important mining districts in the county enables it to aftbrd ready accommodation for miners and other operatives, and consequently the number of the inhabitants constantly varies. In White's History and Directory of Devonshire, published in 1850, it is stated that " it has in its parish 587 souls and about 6,000 acres of land, of which 91 souls and about 2,450 acres are in Willsworthy hamlet, a high moorland district in Lifton Hundred, six miles from Tavistock." Accordmg to the parochial records a survey, made in 1781, proved that the population then numbered 222 ; houses 47 ; families 40 ; whilst the census returns for 1881 give 288 persons dispersed over 2,605 acres of land.

In the reign of Edward the Confessor the manor of Tavi appertained to one Bristwit Camesone, and (accord- ing to the Exeter Domesday) passed at the Conquest into

PARISH OF S. PETER TAV7. 149

the hands of Judhel under whom, it appears to have been held by Nigel. Judhel or Juhel, a trusted follower of William the Conqueror, and high in his master's favour was rewarded with the important barony of Totnes, and is always styled Judhel or Juhel de Tot^nais ; he was accused of treason, banished the realm, and outlawed by William Rufus, and all his estates were of course seques- trated. Petertavy afterwards became one of the members of the important barony of Hurdwick, or as it was anciently written Wrdiete. Hurdwick from time immemorial belonged to the Abbey of Tavistock, and when Richard Banham, abbot of that magnificent monas- tery, obtained from King Henry VIII. on the 22rd January, 1513, the right of sitting in Pai-liament and the honoui-s, pi-ivileges, and liberties belonging to spiritual lords he was called to the upper House by the title of Baron of Hurdwick.

In the Valor Ecclesiasticus we read that the abbot and convent of Tavistock derived an income of £221 lis. 4^d from the Manor of Hurdwick alone, and it is thus de- scribed in that document : — (Translation) — " Manor of Hurdwick with the Hundred, and its members, forsooth Milton Abbot, Wyke Dabernon, Wliitchurch, Hele, Peterstavy, Brentor, in the county of Devon ; and Antony, in the county of Cornwall."

The Abbot had the right of inflicting capital punish- ment within the Manor of Hurdwick, and that he occasionally exercised it is proved by another entry in the above mentioned "Valor." (Translation)— " With 12s. 4d. (from the return of one messuage and from the moiety of one furlong of land in Hele, within the parish of Tavi-

150 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

stock) per annum, which lately fell into the hands of the

aforesaid abbot by reason of sequestration through the

death of Elizeus Hanworthy, lately hanged for felony

committed by him."

" In the Manor of Hurdwick, in the same Hundred, i.e.

Tavistock, they have gallows, from what date is beyond

memory."'

The abbot of Tavistock had assize of bread and beer, a pillory, and ducking stool (" Tomborellam"), in the aforesaid borough (Tavistock), from time immemorial.*

The Hundred of Tavistock was sometimes styled the Hundred of Hurdwick, as proved by the conveyance of the lands of the Abbey to John, Lord Russell — " Ac hundredum nostrum de Hurdewyke, alias dictum Hun- dred de Tavistoke." The Manor of Huntingdon, within the parish of Tavy St. Peter, was also an appendage of Hurdwick, and likewise belonged to the abbot and convent above mentioned. Huntingdon must have been the " Uhu-edintone " of Domesday which passed from the hands of Earl Harold into those of William the Conqueror.

The Manor of Willsworthy (anciently ^\^'itten Wages- felle), an appendage of Petertavy, was the property of Judhel du Tot^nais in 1086, and, like " Tavi " itself, was held under him by Nigel.

Upon the suppression of the Abbey of Tavistock, on March, 20th, 1539, King Henry VIII. granted a principal part of the estates, including the Manors of Petertavy and Huntingdon to John, Lord Piussell, to be held by him and his heirs, from the king and his successoi's, by the

1 Rotuli Hundredorum, 3rd, Ed. 1st.

2 Placita de quo Warn

PARISH OF S. PETER TAVY. 151

service of oue knU^ht's fee ; and by paying yearly, at Michaelmas, the sum of £3G, these manors have descended in an mibrokeii line to his Grace the present Duke of Bedford.

The Manor of Willsworthy, according to the authors of the additions to Risdon, was some years in the possession of the family of Tremayne. I am unable to say whether that family obtained it at the dissolution of monasteries, but I do not find its name in the list of the property sold to Lord Eussell. Westcote states, " Here Fohot anciently, and Fountain lately, were seized of lauds " ; as regards the latter, they probably obtained them by a marriage with a daughter of Carswell, since early in the seventeenth century William Fountain, of Ugborough, married Mary, daughter of John Carswell, of Petertavy, and had issue — Hugh, Margai-et, and Elizabeth.

There is no proof, however, that they lived at "Wills- worthy, nor have I found any clue as to the actual name of their estate.

I am not sure whether I ought to include the adjacent Manor of Cudlipptown in this account of Petertavy. There were many debates in Parliament concerning it in the session of 1832, and it was finally thought proper to cut out that extensive property from the parish of Tavi- stock (to which it then belonged), so that the new fran- chise under the Reform Bill then about to pass should not be extended to the people there residing.

Cudlipptown, without doubt the "Culitone " of Domes- day, was ancient Crown land, and held by the King in ^ View of Devon, p. 366.

152 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

demesne in the reign of Edward the Confessor. It was most probably given to the abbot and convent of Tavi- stock by William the Conqueror — it was certainly in the hands of the monks in the reign of William Rufus, who confirmed the grants of some of their land. Abbot Wymund or Guimund, the abbot, in his reign alienated unjustly a portion of the abbey property, and bestowed " Cudelipe " upon his brother WilUam. He was deposed by St. Anselm for simony in the year 1102.

King Henry I, between the years 1114 and 1120, restored Cudlipp to the Abbot. The following is a transla- tion of the portion of the Charter bearing upon this subject : — " Henry, King of England to William, Bishop of Exeter (WilKam Warelwarst), and to Eichard, son of Baldwin, the sheriff, and to all his faithful (subjects) of Devon and Cornwall, greeting. I will, and order you and absolutely insist that you instantly return to the domain of my church of Tavistock, Rueberge (Roborough) and Cudelipe, which Wymund unjustly delivered to his brother William."

This Manor was in the EoUe family in the 17 th century, and was afterwards successively in those of Sawle and FeUowes. Henry Arthur Fellowes, Esq., in 1789, conveyed it to Peter Reddichffe, yeoman, from wdiom it was purchased in the year 1808 by the late Mr. Bray, and descended from him to his son, the Eev. Edward Atkins Bray, late vicar, of Tavistock.

PARISH OF S. PETER TAV7. 153

CHAPTER VI.— PART II.

Thk Pahish of S. Peter Tavy. — The Parish Church.

The parish church, standing in a well-kept church-yard in the centre of the village, is dedicated to S. Peter and comprises chancel, nave opening into north aisle beneath three obtuse arches supported upon clustered pillars of late Perpendicular date, and into a south transept under what is generally known as a " horse shoe arch," a south porch, and a handsome octagonal tower at the western end containing five bells.

Upon entering the sacred structure I was glad to find that it had been carefully restored, but regretted that it had been thought necessary to remove the ancient screen. Some portions of the lower part of it, however, are still preserved at the western end of the building, and I was able to recognise the well-known figures of several Saints and apostles, and amongst others those of S. Mary Magdalene, S. Joseph, S. Peter, S. Joseph, S. Andrew, S. Matthew, with the carpenter's square ; St. John, with the chalice ; St. Paul, with the sword ; St. Thomas, with the arrow ; St. James-the-Less ; and St. Philip, with his spear.

The chancel, which is defined by a well-proportioned

V

154 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

arch of apparently Second Pointed date, has the ancient priest's door remaining on the south side.

Within it I noticed a memorial for the 'Rev, Thomas

Pocock, for forty years rector of the parish, ob. 1722.

Upon it are the arms of Pocock chequy Sa and Arg ; a

lion rampant Or. Impaling Or ; a fess Sa. Waddon. This

portion of the church seems to be the oldest ; the rest of

the fabric appears to have been rebuilt between 154G and

1553, the very worst period of Perpendicular archltectui'e.

The font, which is octagonal, has two keys addorsed in

saltier carved on one of its sides, but with this exception

it is perfectly plain. Some of the windows are square

headed, whilst others are narrow and pointed, and filled

with good Perpendicular tracery. The tower screen of

oak, carved with grotesque heads, is supposed in the

parish to have been constructed from the fragments of the

ancient rood screen. This however, can hardly have

been the case. It is utterly unlike any screen work

I have ever seen, but has all the appearance of old

wainscot. Woodwork that is known to have been

wainscot from the parish church, and cai'ved with precisely

the same heads, is still in existence at Ashburton, and is

known to date from the reign of Philip and Mary, 1553.

About the commencement of this reign the restoration

of St. Mary's Tavy was doubtless completed, and I

think it probable that the south transept was then

added and wainscoted with oak according to the usual

custom at that period. Upon the accession of Queen

Elizabeth this wainscot was probably plastered over, not

to preserve it, but to avoid the trouble and expense of

removing it, as the churchwardens were required to do

PARISH OF S. PETER TAV7. 155

by her Majesty's Commissioners. Perhaps during some repairs now long since forgotten, it may have bf^en dis- covered and taken down, and possibly such portions of it as remained free from decay may have been used to repau- the screen, and thus in latter times it has obtained the credit of having formed an original part of it.

I am inclined to think that the beautiful tower, although without doubt included in the restoration of the fabric in the 16th century, was not rebuilt. As I have said above, it is octagonal and strongly buttressed, the buttresses terminating in four crocketted pinnacles, sur- mounted by crosses. It was struck by lightning on the 2nd of November, 1803 ; the north-west pinnacle was thrown over, and that on the north side shattered, and many of the stones were hurled to a great distance. It was restored and repointed in 1827, and this date was inscribed on its south face, but the upper portion of the figure 8 having perished the figures when I saw them appeared to be 1027, and my special attention was directed to them by one of the villagers who seemed fully satisfied that they formed the actual date of its construction.

It is pierced by five good windows filled with Peqien- dicular tracery, and has a square-headed western door way, with deep mouldings and trefoiled spandrils ; the stair turret is in the north-west angle.

The walls of the church are suppoited by plain cushioned buttresses, and the south porch has a square-headed doorway similar to that at the western end, whilst the entrance to the church is beneath a third pointed archway with the dripstone following the course of the arch.

v'

156 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

I noticed a curious tomb on the south side of the exterior of the building, conisting of a massive slab sup- ported by four moorstone blocks rudely carved with cinquefoils. The inscription proves that it covers the grave of Walter Cole, who died in 1663.

At the dissolution of the monastery of Tavistock, WiEiam Denyell was the rector of St. Peter's Tavy. The abbot had leased the rectory for a term of years to Henry Langifford, and it was valued at £17 Is. 8d. per annum.

King Henry VIII, excepted this rectory and some others from the various possessions he granted to John, Loi'd Russell, in consideration of the annual payment of £36 (to which I have already alluded), but in the same deed it is stated that for the further svun of £248 5s. his Majesty granted him, with a great deal of other lands and advowsons, " Advocaciones, donaciones, et jura patrona-

tuum ecclesiarium parochialium de Peterstavy,"

&c.' The Lord Bishop of Exeter is now the patron of the rectory.

It is stated in several of the county histories that " There was an ancient chapel at Willsworthy, now used as a cow-house." I have been unable to discover to whom or when it was dedicated, or to find any reference to it in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, or in the accounts of the various churches and chapels pertaining to the abbey.

The present rector of Tavy St. Peter is the Rev. F. J. Bryant, who was instituted in 1879 upon the death of the Rev. Thomas Gibbons. The latter was unfortu- nately absent from home when I visited his church

' Lit. Pat. Monasticon Dioecesis, Exoii. p. 104 No. xiv.

PARISH OF S. PETER TAVY. 157

and parish, but he afterwards, informed me that the early register books are in fair condition, and commence

Baptisms, 1674.

Marriages, 1679.

Burials, 1679. The rectory house is situated some little distance from the church, and there ai-e 73 acres of glebe.

One of the parish books contains a complete list of the rural deans of the suppressed deanery of Tamerton from the year 1736. At tl\at period this deanery included the parish of Stoke Damerell, which now belongs to Plympton.

Mrs. Bray, in her " Traditions of Devon " makes men- tion of this picturesque village. She says " that a mill there hc\s been drawn and painted over and over again, has been hung in Somerset House and the Water Colour Exhibition, and was never yet returned unsold on the hands of an artist." She also says, " The schoolhouse displays, too, a large assembly of the rising generation ; it stands near the church ; the tower and pinnacles of the latter form a beautiful point in the surrounding landscape from whatever direction it may be viewed. The chm-ch- yard is surrounded by a number of lai-ge old lime trees that cast a sombre shadow around, quite in harmony with the spot consecrated to the repose of the dead."

She, moreover, repeats a story about a judge " who on a trial being held concerning some land in the two parishes confounded the names of the villages with those of the witnesses ; and gave an order for ' Peter and Mary Tavy to be summoned into court.' " Peter Tor (the highest stone of which was split in pieces by lightning)

158 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

was perhaps once a foi-tified stronghold, as it is sur- rounded by a mound of stones, and in the midst three or four rocks are encompassed with the same. Tlie tor is composed of black granite, covered with moss. The strata are not as usual horizontal, but jagged and generally Perpendicular. Below it is a large oval ridge of stones, 133 paces long, with seven small internal circles. Rowe, in the Perambulation of Dartmoor, says — " Still following the course of the Tavy downwards we shall soon reach Tavy Cleave, a magnificent range of castel- lated tors." "Imagination, too, with little effort may figure a natiural outwork or barbican in the lower pile." The whole chff presents a remarkable resemblance to the dilapidated walls of a time-worn edifice."

PARISH OF S. MARY TAVY. 159

CHAPTER VII.— PART I.

The Parish of S. Mary Tavy — General Description ^vnd History.

The parish of Tavy St Mary, or as it is usually called Mary Tavy, is situated in the Deaneiy of Tamerton and Archdeaconry of Totnes, and lies on the western side of Dartmoor, in a picturesque valley watei'ed by the river Tavy, about four miles north-east of Tavistock. It con- tains 4,150 acres of land, including about 2,100 acres of open moorland ; the village of Horndon, the high land of Black Down and other parts of the moor. There are several valuable copper, tin, and lead mines in this parish and one of them (Wheal Friendship) has, I believe, been profitably worked for nearly three-quarters of a century.

The manor of " Tavei " is not noticed in the Exeter copy of Domesday book. In the Exchequer Domesday, however, we read that in the reign of Edward the Confessor, it was the property of Siward, who also possessed the manor of " Wifleurde," which latter was, doubtless, that which is now called Waven or Warne, and which is situated in the same parish.

Siward, Earl of Northumberland, was a man of great note m his time, and deservedly a favourite of his king. Besides his other merits he acquired honour in England

160 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

by his successful conduct in the only foreign enterprise undertaken during the reign of Edward.

Duncan, King of Scotland, the successor of Malcolm, was a prince of a gentle disposition, but had not the genius requisite for governing a country so turbulent, and so much infested by the intrigues and animosities of the great. Macbeth, the chief thane, and nearly allied to the Crown, not content with curbing the King's authority, carried his ambition still further — he put his Sovereign to death ; chased Malcolm Kenmore, his son and heu-, into England, and usurped the crown.

Siward, whose daughter was married to Duncan, embraced by Edward's orders the protection fo this distressed family ; he marched an army into Scotland, and having defeated and killed Macbeth in battle, together with several Normans who had taken refuge with him, he restored Malcolm to the throne of his ancestors.

Siward died soon after this achievement in the year 1055 ; he left a son called Waltheof, who did not succeed to his father's honours, Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, having influence enough at Court to procure the Lordship of Northumberland for his own brother Tosti upon the plea that Waltheof was too young to be entrusted with its Government.

Whether Earl Harold also obtained for himself or his brother the lands of his rival in this county does not appear. It is very probable that he succeeded in adding these manors to the large property he ah-eady possessed here, for it is certain that nineteen of the Devonshire manors, which upon the Noi-man conquest became the pi'operty of the King, had originally belonged to him.

PARISH OF S. MARY TAVY. 161

In the general redistribution of property at the com- mencement of the reign of William the Conqueror, the manors of " Tavy and Wifleurde " {i.e., Mary Tavy and Waven) fell into the hands of Alured Brito, one of the King's Norman followers. He must have stood high in his master's favour, since he obtained possession of twenty- two very valuable estates in this county.

Amongst them was the manor of Milton, now called Milton Damai-ell, which Lysons says (In his account of that place) belonged in the Conqueror's time to Robert de Albemarle.

Eobert de Albemarle was the ancestor of the Damarells and may have succeeded Alured Brito both at Milton and Mary Tavy, since Johannes Damerel is men- tioned by Westcote' in connection with the latter place. Albemai'le, however, cannot have been the possessor at the early date mentioned by Lysons, since the Domesday survey was not completed till A.D, 1086, the year prior to King William's death, and at that time Alured Brito was actually the possessor.

The Damarells sold Milton Damarell to Courtenay, Earl of Devon in the reign of King Edward the Second, and, according to Lysons, the elder branch left Devon- shu-e in the same reign.

It appears, however, that " a younger branch, which had been of Stone, in Ugborough, was in existence in Sir William Pole's rime in a reduced condition, and the name is stUl to be found among the yeomanry in the south- west part of the county."'

1 View of Devon, p. 365. ' Mag. Brit. Devon, ii, 164. X

162 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

I am satisfied, however, that the elder branch did not leave this part of the country, but about the time they sold Milton Damarell to the Courtenay family they inherited Gidley Manor and Castle (situated about six miles from Moretonhampstead), and removed there, still retaining possession of Mary Tavy.

The Gidley estate passed with the daughter of Prouz or Prous, in the reign of Edward IT. to Mules, and the latter brouerht it to Damarell. Mr. Wilham Damarell left it to his daughter, the wife of William Coade. Walter Coade was of Morvall, having inherited that estate through his maternal ancestress, daughter and heir of Glynne.

The daughter and heir of Coade married BuUer, and ;Mr. John Buller, of Morvall, is the present lord of the manor and patron of the rectory of Mary tavy.

Mr. Buller is the representative of an ancient Somerset- shire family who settled in Cornwall m consequence of a marriage with the heiress of Trethurfe, one of the repre- sentatives of Courtenay, Earl of Devon.

In the year 1538 Henry, eleventh Earl of Devon (who had been created Marquess of Exeter in 1525) was tried for high treason, convicted and executed ; his son, Edward, who had been restored to the earldom in 1554, died s.p. in 1556, on which event the descendants of the four daughters of Sir Hugh Courtenay, of Boconnoc, in Cornwall, sisters of Edward, ninth Earl of Devon, became heirs-general to the elder branch of this noble family, and Elizabeth, the second daughter maiTied John Trethurfe. One of the co-hehs of Trethurfe, married Vyvyan, the other, Buller, as I have said above. The elder line of the Bullers became extinct by the

PARISH OF S. MARY TAVY. 163

death of Mr. James Buller, of Shillingham, M.P. for Cornwall in 1710, and Mr. John Buller, of Morvall, then became the head of the family.

Lysons mentions the Manor of Waven, or Wame, in this parish (to which I have alluded above.) It appears to have been dismembered, and when the " Magna Britannia " was published in 1822 was the property of Arthur Edgecumbe and other.

I can find no mention in the hundred roll of either of the manors, and the lords do not appear to have had any peculiar privileges.

X*

164 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER VII. -PART 11.

Tavy S. Mary Church.

The parish church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin stands in a small churchyard in the midst of the village, and consists of chancel, nave opening LDto a south aisle beneath three moulded arches supported upon clustered columns of third pointed date, a south porch, and a tower at the western end.

Some of the wndows are square headed, and apparently coeval with the erection of the present fabric in the 15th century, whilst others have been badly restored. The screen has been removed, but I noticed an obtuse arched piscina in the south aisle, and an image bracket in the jamb of the adjoining window. This portion of the church, once screened by a parclose from the chancel, was probably the Lady Chapel, and contained an altar and a statue of the Blessed Virgin.

There is also a fine image bracket or tabernacle on one of the chancel piers.

The font is plain and octagonal, and the nodi or bosses in the roof are of good Perpendicular foliage.

There is a piscina, of similar character to that in the south aisle, on the south side of the chancel.

The tower, which contains five bells, is low, square, and embattled, and htus four plain pinnacles, a good

r ARISE OF S. MARY TAVY. 1G5

Perpendicular window, and a square-headed doorway, with

deep mouldings and foliated spandrils. The south porch

has a square 'headed doorway, with moulding and trefoUed

spandrils. The interior door opens beneath a very

obtuse arch. I noticed that the stocks (anciently the

teiTor of evil-doers) were stiU kept in the church porch.

There is an external rood turret on the north side The

architecture of the whole fabric is plain and unpretending.

I can find no trace whatever of any building of earlier

date than the first half of the fifteenth century, when the

present church appears to have been built.

The old structure probably had become so ruinous that it was then found necessary to entirely re-bulld it, and although many of our Devonshire churches were renewed in this century, yet it is very unusual not to find some vestiges of the more ancient building, either m the tower, the arches, or in the construction of some of the windows. Here, however, everything is of the Perpendicular style, and certainly not of earlier date than the reign of Henry VI (1422-1461). I was glad to see an ancient and hand- some cross remaining outside the churchyard on the south side. It is elevated on four steps or paces, the upper one being carved with the three nails (emblems of the crucifixion), trefoils, and a cross pat6 and (like the church) seems to be of third pointed date.

When the valor ecclesiastlcus was made in the reign of King Henry YIII, William Dynham was the rector, and his °ectory was valued at £13 5s. 7d. per annum.

During the great rebellion the Rev. Thomas Jackson was ejected from this church by the Puritans, but it seems doubtful whether he was the lawful rector, since

160 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

his name is not mentioned, or his institution recorded, in the bishop's registers.

Walker says,i " I make some question whether he had any other title than such as the confusions woidd admit of ;" " he was dispossest by the committee of this county, and so much afflicted with his loss that he broke his heart in less than a fortnight's time. He was first succeeded by one Hatch, and afterwards by one Berne, who, it is said, had never seen any University."

Hatch was probably the Clement Hatch, of Lidford, who in 1647, obtained an order of committee for ejecting the rector of Lidford (the Rev. B. Potes), and retained the preferment from 1 647 to 1662. After the Restoration he thought proper to " conform," and Mr. Potes was therefore obliged to turn him out by legal process.

When I visited this parish the x-ector was the late Rev. Anthony Buller, who was instituted in 1833, and whose courtesy and hospitality upon the occasion of my visit to his church and parish I have much pleasure in acknow- ledging. He permitted me to inspect the registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials ; they are fairly kept, and in good condition, and commence alike in 1560.

In 1621, in consequence of the plague being at Tavi- stock, several baptisms from that parish were administered here. The baptismal register, with the marginal remark, " Tempore pestilentise," has the following : — 1621. " Baptisms from Tavistock.

" Franciscus fil Domini Francisci Glanvili Militis, bapt.

fuit xxi. Jan."

1 Sufferings of the Clergy, 279.

PARISH OF S. MARY TAV7. 167

This name is followed by those of John Bruen, John Vinten, and Peter Pike, from the same parish.

The population of Mary Tavy in 1871 was returned at 1,035 persons, and in 1881 at 895, including north Black- down now attached to Brent Tor. The rectory house is pleasantly situated some little distance from the village. There are thii-ty-eight acres of glebe, and the i)rofitable mine Wheal Fi-iendship is situated upon it. There are a few acres of parish land, I believe, situated in the parish of Lidford. A school for the instruction of the children of the inhabitants was opened some years since, and quite suffices for the educational requirements of the district.

The church was thoroughly restored in 1879 chiefly through the exertions of the late rector, who had at the time resigned his jjreferment. It will now seat 150 people, although tlie old box pews of the last generation have been removed and replaced with open benches of pitch pine. The other fittings are of a similar character.

The total cost of the restoration amounted to about £1400. Whilst it was in progress, some ancient roughly carved gi-ave stones were discovered, bearing dates between the years 1691 and 1766, and the initials, pre- sumablv of those interred.

168 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER VIII.— PART I.

The Parish of Maristow. — General Description AND History.

The little parish of Maristow, or Stow St. Mary, was

named after the Blessed Virgin, to whose honour in very

early ages its church was dedicated, and means literally

' the place of St. Mary," since the Saxon word Stow bears

the former interpretation.

It is situated in the hundred of Lifton and in the deanery of Tavistock, from which it is distant about seven miles, and it includes the hamlets of CholweU and Dipford Town. At the census of 1881 its population consisted of 390 persons residing upon 2,895 acres of land.

Most of the property in this parish (now united in one owner) appears originally to have been divided between the two estates of Raddon Allerford and Sydenham, and although John de Hampton is stated to have possessed the manor of Maristow at an early period, there is no mention in Domesday of any such manor, nor is any now known by that name.

The manor of Raddon, anciently written Ratdone, was held in the reign of Edward the Confessor by the Saxon " Osulf," and was afterwards acquired by that powerful Norman baron Juhel de Totnais, who was also rewarded

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 169

by his warlike master with the adjoining manor of Sidel- ham or Sidraham, now called Sydenham, which property appears to have been originally held by four Thanes or Saxon nobles whose names have not been preserved.

As already stated, Juhel de Totnais was banished the kingdom by William Rufus, and his property was of course confiscated, and then in all probability the family of Hampton became possessed, not of the manor of Maristow, bat of that of Raddon AUerford.

The Hamptons were succeeded by the Trenchards, whose principal residence was at Collacomb, in the parish of Lamertoa. This famUy became extinct in the male line about the reign of King Edward III. when the heiress married a member of the Cornish family of Tremayne, and thus brought the manor of Raddon to the ancestor of its present possessor.

Sydenham, after the disgrace of its Norman owner, gave its name to a family who possessed it in the reign of King Henry HI and who were succeeded by that of Mauris ; from them it came by marriage to Trevage, and through Allreda Trevage to her gi-andson John Wise of Sydenham who married Joan, dau of Jno. Milliton of Heavy in the reign of Henry IV (1399 to 1413). Sir Bernard Burke tells us that he was Sheriff of Devon in the fifth year of that monarch, which is incoi-rect, since Thomas Gorges was in office during the years 1404-5, and moreover the name of Wise does not occur at all in the lists of Sheriffs of this county until the tenth year of the reign of James I, when Sir Thomas Wise, Knt. was high sheriff.

John Wise, the first of his name at Sydenham (and

T

170 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

eighth in direct descent from WiUiam Wise or Gwiss, who was living about forty years after the Conquest), left a son Thomas, who married Margaret, daughter and heir of Robert Brett, of Slottiscombe, and acquired the manor of Stoke Damerel, where the Wises afterwards built a mansion called Mount Wise.

His descendant was John Wise, of Sydenham, who by AUcia, his wife, daughter of John Harris, of Hayne, serjeant-at-law in the reign of Henry VIH, had two sons, Thomas and John. Of the latter I shall treat in the 2nd portion of this chapter. Thomas Wise, married Mary, daughter of Richard BuUer, of Shillingham, in Cornwall, and had male issue, and the estate descended from him in direct succession until the death of Sir Edward Wise in 1675, when (in consequence of the demise of her only brother St. John Wise) his daughter Arabella became his heir, and also co-heir in right of her mother to her grand- father Oliver Lord St. John. She had married Edmund Tremayne, of CoUacombe, in the parish of Lamerton in 1673, and their descendants continued there until the failure of the direct line in 1808.

Mrs. Bray says ' that the gallant Colonel Arthur Tremayne (who lived in the reign of Charles I, and who suffered much for his loyalty) acquired the estate of Sydenham by his marriage with Bridget Hatherleigh, who at that period was the herress of Sydenham, she being grand -daughter in the female line to Sir Thomas Wise. This statement, however, has no foundation in fact. Colonel Arthur Tremayne (youngest son of Edmimd Tre- mayne, who had become by the deaths of his four brothers 1 Trad, of Devon, iii, 79

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 171

without Issue the heir of Collacombe) certainly married Bridget, daughter of Nicholas Hatherleigh, of Lamerton, gentleman, but it was by their son Edmund's marriage that this property came into the latter family as I have

shown.

The family of Wise were devoted adherents to the Koyal cause during the great rebellion, and suffered much for their loyalty both by fine, sequestration, and imprison- ment. Thomas Wise, Esq., was high sheriff of Devon in 1639, and although the elections of 1640 ran in favour of the popular party, yet he had influence enough in his native county to obtain his return as one of its representa- tives in the memorable " Long Parliament " which met on November 3rd in that year, and which struck what in a manner may be considered two decisive blows in favour of anarchy and rebellion by the immediate impeachment of the Earl of Strafford and of Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury,

The descent of the Tremaynes, will be found in the next chapter which contains the history of Lamerton, a parish in which they had been seated for nearly five hundred years previously to the acquisition of Sidenham. Edmund Tremayne and Arabella Wise, had issue, Arthur Wise his successor, Edward who died s.p., Arabella and Bridget.

Arthur Wise Tremayne, married Grace, daughter of Sir Haswell Tynte, of Somersetshire, and was high sheriff of Devon in the year 1700, and left a son born in 1708, who resided at Sydenham, and who succeeded to the Collacombe estate upon the death of his great- grandfather, Colonel Arthur Tremayne. He married

172 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Dorothy Hammond of Wiltshire, and lived to the age of 100. He had one son, born in the year 1735, who never, married, and who died soon after his father, in December, 1808, and by his will left his estates to Henry Hawkins Treraayne, of Heligan. in the county of Cornwall, the representative of the younger branch of the family, from whom is descended the present owner of Sydenham, J. H. Tremayne, Esq., who but seldom resides there.

The heir at law, John Tremayne, of CoUacombe, great- grandson of Thomas Tremayne who had acquired it by marriage with Trenchard, married a daughter of Warr and had issue, John Tremayne of CoUacombe, 1485, and Richard Tremayne, of Tregonnan in the county of Corn- wall, who was the ancestor of Colonel Lewis Tremayne, Lieut. Governor of Pendennis Castle for king Charles, who had two sons, Sir John Tremayne, King's Serjeant and author of " The Pleas of the Crown " who died s.p., and Charles, second son who maiTied and had issue Lewis Tremayne, who by his wife Mary, daughter and co-heir of Clotworthy of Clotworthy had a son John, who married Grace, youngest daughter and co-heir of Henry Hawkins of St. Austell, and left issue Henry Hawkins Tremajaie, and a daughter Grace, wife of Charles Rashleigh.

Henry Hawkins Tremapie, Clerk in Holy Orders succeeded to Sydenham upon the death of his distant kinsman Arthur Tremayne, in 1808. He was born 27th July, 1741, he married in 1767 Harriet, daughter and co-heir of John Hearle of Penryn, and died 10th February, 1829. He was succeeded by his only son John Hearle Tremayne of Heligan and Sydenham,

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 173

J.P. D.L. born l7th March, 1780, High Sherifl' of Coxiiwall 1831, and M.P. for that county for some years. He married Caroline Matilda, ninth daughter of Sir William Lemon, Bart., and died 27th A.ugust, 1851, when he was succeeded by his eldest sou the present owner of Sydenham.

Sydenham House, which is a fine example of the domestic architect\ire ot the reign of Queen Ehzabeth, is built in the form of the letter E, a compliment often paid to the Queen by builders of that period. It was erected by Sir Thomivs Wise, who was created a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of King James I, and was, as Risdon describes it, " beautified with buildings of such height that the very foundations were ready to reel under the burden."

It lies in a vdley, and is surrounded by a wall, access being afforded to the court through a pair of very high open worked iron gates. Above the central doorway, within a niche, are the arms of Wise, Sa. three chevronels erm. It is to be regretted that the gable to the right of the entrance has been despoiled of its transom windows, for which common modern sashes have been substituted ; those remaining prove that the original windows must have been very large and handsome.

The hall bears the date 1G58, when the house was repaired in consequence of the injuries it had received during the Civil War, when having been garrisoned for the King it was taken after a siege by the Parliamentary forces under Colonel Ilolbourne, in January, 1G45. One gable of the building is still in a very ruinous condition and there is a tradition that it was never finished ; but

174 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

this is improbable and I imagine that the family having suffered so much in the late troubles could not afford to restore the whole house to its original condition, and that the dilapidated state of this portion of the structure is probably due to the storm it experienced in behalf of royalty. There is a great deal of oak panelling in the various rooms, and in one of them, the wainscot conceals a flight of winding stairs constructed in the thickness of the wall, and leading to the top of the house, being also secretly connected with other chambers. In this old mansion is a quantity of ancient furniture, and a large number of family pictures remain on its walls.

They include the nine daughters of Sir Thomas Wise. One of them Mary, married Sir Samuel RoUe, Knt., and was the mother of Robert and Dennis RoUe.

These pictures are all on separate canvasses and the figures are represented with the hair low on the forehead, and hanging in full and thick clusters on the neck. The di'esses of the period of Charles I are \ery interesting. There is a likeness also of Colonel Arthur Tremayne and another of his wife Bridget Hatherleigh ; of Margaret dauofhter of Edward Chichester, the ancestor of the Marquess of Donegal, who was created Viscount Chichester of Carrickfergus, 1st April, 1625 ; another picture represents Arabella, daughter and one of the four co-heirs of Oliver Lord St. John, who, as I have already said, was the wife of Sir Edward Wise. Mrs. Bray, who shows by her remarks relative to the owner- ship of this property, that she was altogether ignorant of the St. John marriage, says, when describing this picture " Amongst others there was a very good one in the School

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 17-5

of Vandyke, probably by a pupil of that great muster, which represented the Sister of the famous Mr. St. John, who acted so much in concert with Hampden and Pym during the rebeUion. This Lady icas hy marriage connected with the famHy of Tremayne hence ws find her picture preserved at this house. The Mi-. OUver St. John referred to is said by Clarendon to have been "anatural son of the house of Bullinghrooh ; but Oliver, Lord St. John, the father-in-law of Sir Edward Wise, was the eldest sou of Oliver, created Earl of Bolingbroke, 22nd James I. He died vita patris, being kUled at Edgehill, 23rd October, 1642, and as I have said left four daughters co-heirs. It is scarcely probable that the Wise estate benefited much from this alliance since Clarendon remai-ks in the manuscript of his work, when speaking of his vmtimely death : " The lord Samt Johns, son and heir apparent of the Earl of Bullingbroke, a man known by nothing, but having run into a vast debt to the ruin of his own and many families whom he procured to be engaged for him whom the King shortly after the beginning of this Parliament at the importunity of the Earl of Bedford, and some others unhappily created a peer, and by that rendered his person free from the arrest of his creditors, and added one to the number of those lords who most furiously revolted from their allegiance."

Mrs. Bray mentions a chamber in this house hung with what ai-e known as " Watchet hangings," being of damask stretched within a frame of oak, and suspended in the compartments of the wainscot; and also remarks— " that horse furniture of red velvet ornamented with silver lace, and a pair of embroidered pistol holsters, were shewn to

176 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

her at Sydenham, and that she was told that they were used by one of the Tremaynes when he was sheriff of the shire. She further says that the red velvet of the housings apjjeared to her to be nearly new, it had been so well taken care of, although the fashion of all tbe articles proved that they must have been in use in the reign of William and Mary.

These must have been provided for the shrievalty of Arthur Wise Tremayne in 1761.

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 177

CHAPTER VIII.— PART 11.

The PiSDIGREE OF THE WiSE FaMILY.

The Wises are a Saxon race who are believed to have been resident in the West of England before the Norman Conquest, at which period one Oliver Wise, Gewis, or Gwis is stated in their pedigree to have heen living at Greston.

He was followed by William Wise, whose son Serlonius Wise was of Greston, as were his three descendants Oliver, Sir John and Henry. The son of the latter (the great-great-grandson of Serlonius), Sir William Wise Knio-ht. who flourished in the first quarter of the thirteenth century married Ela de Veteriponte, and ni rio-ht of his mother, their son, Serlonius Wise became possessed of the manor of Thrushelton, adjacent to Maristowe. The latter's son Thomas Wise, was the father of John Wise of Sydenham, an estate he inherited in right of his grand-mother, Allreda Trevage.

This John Wise married Joane, daughter of John Millaton of Heavy, and their son Thomas by his alliance with Margaret, daughter and heir of Robert Brltt, acquired property in the manor of Stoke Damerel, where his descendants built a " fair house " which they called Mount Wise, and where for several generations they resided in much splendour.

]78 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

John Wise, son of Thomas and ]\Iargai-et Britt, married Thomazine, daughter of Sir Baldwin Fulford, of Great Fullbrd, and had issue a son Olivei", and a daughter Alice, who was the mother of John Russell, first Earl of Bedford.

Her brother Oliver, married Margaret, daughter of John Tremayne of Collacombe, and was the father of John Wise, who by his first wife Mary, daughter of James Chudleigh of Ashton, had issue James, Nichohis, and Ann ; by his second wife Dorothy Leigh he had two sons, Thomas and Piers ; and by his thii'd marriage with Ann, daughter of Sir George Matthew, Knight, he had two more children, Leonard and Elizabeth. His eldest son James Wise, married Alice Dinham, daughter of John Diiiham of Northam, and had issue John, William, George, Philippa, and Margery.

William received the honour of knighthood for liis gallant conduct at the skirmish, known in history as the battle of the Spurs, August 16th, 1513. His elder brother Sir Jolin ^yise married Alice, daughter of John Harris of Hayne, serjeai:t at law, and had issue Thomas Wise, son and heir, Jolm Wise, of whom hereafter, James, Charles and Arkenold, and five daughters, Eliza- beth, Alice, Dorothy, Maiy, and Anne.

Thomas W^ise, married Maiy, daughter of Richard BuUer of Shillingham, co. Cornwall, and was the father of Sir Thomas Wise, K.B., M.P., High Sherifl' of Devon, 1612, who built for his residence the " fair house " at Mount Wise, in the parish of Stoke Damerel of which I have previously spoken. He married Margaret, daughter of Robert Stafford or Stowford, and great grand-daughter

PARISH OF MARISTOW. ^^ 179

of Thomas Tremayne of CoUacombe, by whom he had issue Thomas Wise, High Sheriff 1638, M.P. for Devon 1640, and nine daughters whose pictures are preserved at Sydenham as I have before noticed. Of the latter, Mary, married Sir Samuel Rolle, born 1590, and left issue by him two sons, Robert and Dennis KoUe.

Thomas Wise, married Margaret, daughter of Edward, created Viscoiiat Chichester of Carrickfergus, and had issue Sir Edward Wise of Sydenham, K.B., M.P., who sold Mount Wise to Sir WiUiam Morice in 1667 for £11,000,' and died in 1675. He married Arabella, daughter and coheir of OHver, Lord St. John and had issue a son, St. John Wise who died without issue, and a daughter Arabella, who brought Sydenham to her husband Edmund Tremayne of CoUacombe, and thus ended the elder house of Wise. Sir Edward Wise appears to have married secondly Radigund, daughter of John Eliot of St. Germans (her grandmother was Radigund, daughter and co-heir of Richard Gedey of Trebursey), she survived her husband and died at Maris- tow of the small po.x in 1694, aged 42.

Although its connection with Sydenham has long been severed, yet it is satisfactory to feel that this ancient family yet flourishes, and that its members still enjoy the same social position, and fill similar offices to those they did of old.

John Wise, who manied Alice Hams of Hayne, besides

his eldest son Thomas, of Mount Wise and Sydenham,

had, with other issue a second son John, already mentioned

in his proper place. He married Emmota or Emmot

1 Mag. Brit., ii, 457.

Z

180 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Vavasour, and had a son William Wise of Totnes, born 15 GO, died 1626, whose son John Wise of Totnes, married in 1631 Susanna, sister and heir of T. Prestwood, and died 6 th September, 1670. He left issue John Wise of Totnes, who married twice ; first Maiy, daughter of Lewis Full of Ash, by whom he had a daughter ]\Iary who married first 1697 her Other's neighboiu- Arthur Champernowne of Dartington Hall, and afterwards Sawle of Penrice.

^Mr. Wise, by his second wife Dorothy, daughter of J. Brookinge of Totnes (mamed 1684), had issue three sons; John Wise, died s. p. 1743, Lewis Wise, died s.p, 1744 and Samuel Wise thh'd son, who mamed Trephina, daughter of Thomas Coplestone of Bowden, and carried on the line. He had three sons John, Lewis, and Samuel who died in 1746, and a daughter Mary, who married W. Payne.

The eldest son John Wise of Totnes, married ]\Iargaret, daughter and heir of John Ayahford of Wonwell Court, in the parish of Kingston, co. Devon, and had in addition to six daughters, first, John Wise, born 27th August, 1751 ; second, George Furlong Wise of Woolston, in the parish of Loddiswell, who married Jane, sister of Admiral Dacres, and had issue ; third, Arthur Wise of Langston, in the parish of Khigston, who mamed Miss Andrews. His son Arthur Wise, married Mary Tonkin, and had with other issue, the Jate Vice-Admiral Charles Wise of WonweU Villa, Newton Abbot.

John W^ise, eldest son of John and Margaret Ayshford, was of Wonwell Court, he married EHzabeth, daughter of Robert Froude, and was Recorder of Totnes, he died

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 181

19th May, 1807, and left issue a son Ayshford Wise, J.P., D.L., and also M.P. for Totnes. He was born 20th April, 178G, and about the year 1820 he sold Wonwell Court to the Duke of Somerset. He married Mary, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Whitby of Staffordshire in 1809, and had with other issue John Ayshford Wise, and a daughter Lucy, who married her kinsman Vice-Admiral Charles Wise, of Newton Abbot.

John Ayshford Wise eldest son was born 10th Ajnil, 1810. He was J.P. and D.L., High Sheriff co. Stafford 1852, and M.P. for Stafford for some years. He married first, 18th March, 1837, Mary Lovatt, daughter and heir of Hugh Booth by Anne liis wife, daughter and heir of Thomas Lovatt of Clayton, whose predecessors had resided there since the reign of Henry VIII.

Mrs. Wise died 6th of May, 1844, and left with other issue Lewis Lovatt Ayshford Wise, the present owner of Clayton Hall, a Magistrate for Stiiffordshire, Major in the Staffordshire Yeomanry, and late Lieut., 8th (the King's) Regiment.

Mr. Wise succeeded his father (who manied secondly, 18th July, 1848, Anna Mary, daughter of the Rev. Lewis Way), in 1870. He married in 1871 and has two daughters.

The late Vice-Admhal Wise informed me in 1875, that he was then the last Wise alive born at Wonwell Court, in which his branch of the family from Arthur of Langston were permitted to reside by Mr. Ayshtbrd Wise until the property was sold. The latter gentleman long resided at Ford House in the parish of Wolborough (Newton Abbot).

182 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER Y III.— PART III.

Maristow Church.

Marlstow Church, dedicated as the name hnpHes to the Blessed Virgin, is an isolated building, situated on the summit of a steep hill, and standing in a small church- yard surrounded by trees.

It consists of a chancel, nave opening into a north aisle beneath six debased moulded arches, supported upon clustered perpendicular columns, a south porch, and a toAver at the western end containing six bells, which were recast out of the five old ones in 1829. The screen has been removed, and the eastern end of the aisle was widened in the seventeenth century by the owners of Sydenham House to compensate for the space required for a very heavy and cumbrous erection of the Corinthian order to the memory of Sir Thomas Wise.

Ugly and incongTuous as the monument is — it stands in the centre of what was once the Lady Chapel, and consists of two life-size figures reposing under an enormous canopy, supported by four pillars — it does not appear to have escaped the " axes and hammers " of the Puritans, for the principal figures have been hacked and mutilated in the most determined manner.

This tomb is noticed by Mrs. Bray, who remarks that

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 183

" the female head is very characteristic, and that it is a pity her nose has been knocked off." She adds that "some- one (in order to repair the damage done to the principal figures by the amputation of their hands) has made the small mistake of placing the large rough hands of the good knight on the lady, and has also joined to and deco- rated his stumps with her slender and delicate fingers." The figures of four children are placed on a deep ledge round the structure, together with those of two infants in curious square cradles, not made to rock, and of another sitting in a chair, and dressed in lace from head to foot.

The knight and his lady look to the east, and at the back of the monument a youth and a damsel, facing each other, are seen praying at a desk. These effigies are like- wise in the dress of the time of Charles I, and they appear also to have afforded amusement to Colonel Holbourne's soldiers in the intervals of the siege of Sydenham.

The church has been neatly restored by the patron. On the south side of the altar there are two trefoiled sedilia of decorated date, and the south chancel window has geometrical tracery of the same period. A flat stone in this jiart of the sacred structure marks the last resting place of the Rev. Edward Tuke, Prebendary of Exeter and Vicar of the parish, who died about the year 1613. Each line of his long epitaph commences with a letter of his name thus —

" Entombed, interred, here learned Edward lies, Dies not but wayts to hear, ' Come, Tuke, arise !' "

The font is a fine example of pure Norman work. It is square with a circular bason, is in good preserva-

184 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

tion, and is profusely ornamented with grotesque heads at the anofles, and with an arcade of circular arches inter- secting each other. This arrangement is frequently found in the Norman style of the twelfth century, and from it Dr. Milner supposed the pointed arch to have had its oi'igin. It has also what is known as a star moulding, which is further decorated with a small flower not unlike the four-leaved flower of the Second Pointed style.

The interior of the south porch has also another relic of the original church. Over the door the form of the Norman arch may be distinctly traced, and above it the ancient weather moulding, ornamented with stars and billets, still remains ; and over all a circular niche of twelfth century date, with a portion of a projecting bracket, may still be seen. The present doorway, which is much lower than the old one. is of Perpendicular character, pointed, and with moulded jambs ; and the porch itself was doubtless constructed at the same period. On its western side is a small fire-place, with a chimney, which would lead one to suppose that it had been at some time or other used for other purposes than as an entrance into the church.

The tower appears to be coeval with the first erection of the building, although it has been ornamented in the style prevalent in the fifteenth century. It is square and massive, with a Perpendicular western window and a Pointed doorway, with deep mouldings. It is strength- ened with solid angular buttresses, which seem to have been placed there more for effect than use, since the walls are very massive, and the staircase is included in their thickness. It is embattled, and has four pinnacles

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 185

tei-minated by finials. The church itself is unbuttressed, but there is a shght external projection on the south side which contains the stairs which anciently led to the I'ood

loft.

A violent storm of thunder and lightning on the 17th October, 1729, threw down a portion of the tower and the four pinnacles. These were preserved in the vicarage garden (near the church), and restored to their proper position by the late Rev. T. Robyns, the vicar in 1829. This church wtis probably originally built by Juhel de Totnais, its Norman owner, concerning whom little is known ; but it is certain that he was a pious and rehgious man, and that he founded the priory of St. Mary Magdalen, Barnstaple, and also the priory of Totnes. Judo-ing from certain expressions he makes use of in the foundation deed of the former, it would almost appear that he at one time contemplated retiring from the world and embracing a religious life. He does not seem, however, to have done so, and, as already said, he was ultimately banished the realm by William Rufus, and his estates confiscated. I believe that a great deal of the Norman church is still standing, but there are evidences that it was much altered in the fourteenth, and again in the sixteenth century, and doubtless at both those periods extensive repairs had become necessary.

From a very early period up to the Reformation Maristow church, with its dependent chapel of Thrushelton, belonged to the priory of Plympton ; and the confirmation charter of Kino- Henry II to that monastery, shows that the former was originally given to it by Fulk, the son of Answer and it is there ctdled " the church of St. Mary of ° ' 2a

1&6 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Sideuham." " Et ecclesiam Sancte Marie de Sidenham quam Fulco filius Ansgeri et Adeliz uxor ejus eis dederuiit ; et Hordrunelaiidam Horndon) quam Rob. til Fulconis eis dederunt." Fulk and his wife Alice were great benefactors to the priory and community of Plympton, and also gave them the manor of Shirford, in Brixton parish, which Lysons wrongly asserts " to have been the ancient inheritance of the Maynard's," when in point of fact they only held it as lessees under the prior and convent " Et Scyi'eford quam Fulco filius Ansgerii et Adeliz uxor ejus eis dederunt." A copy of this interest- ing deed may be seen in Dugdale, and it has also been reprinted in the Monasticon of the Dioceses,

In a charter executed by Bishop John (the Chaunter) between the years 1186 and 1191 this church is also called •' Ecclesiam Sancti Marie de Sidaham," but in the " confirmation of the churches and chapels of the monastery of Plympton"' it is described thus: — "Eccle- siam Sancte Mariestowe cum capella de Thrishelston et Sancti Jacobi Inchewode ab eadem dependentibus." This deed is dated from the manor of Clyst, 3rd March, 1334. No mention is made of Thrushelton chapel in either of the earlier deeds, but this one shows that there was another dependent chapel dedicated to St. James, and Dr. Oliver notices the names of two others in honour respectively of St. John and St. Nicholas.'^

In the taxation of Pope Nicholas, A. D. 1291, the church is described as " Ecclesia de Stowe Sancte Marie," and is valued at £l2 per annum. In the " Valor Ecclesiasticus"

1 Grandisson's Keg., vol. ii, fol. 20. * Erantyngham's Reg., vol. i., fol. 89.

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 1S7

we read that the rectorial tithes amounted to £8 a year in 1535, and that they had been leased for a term of years to Henry Langifford. The lease was made by John Howe, the last prior, in anticipation of the dissolution of his house, which took place on the 5th of August, 1534, to Edmund Langifford, for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of £S.

In the year 1535 Ralph Harison was vicar, and the vicarial income, which had not increased much since the thirteenth century,* was computed at £12 16s. Oid.

The \ncarage was endowed with the great tithes of that pai-t of Marystowe, which lies south of the river Lyd.

At the reformation the patronage of the living became the property of the Wise family, and by arrangement with the lessee or otherwise they eventually became possessed of the rectorial tithes. The present patron is J. H. Tremayne, Esq., of Sydenham.'

There is no record of the sequestration of the vicar of Mar\'stowe during the Civil Wars ; but it is unhkely that the Parliamentary soldiere (especially since they were masters of the village) permitted him to retain (piiet possession of his church. The records of the parish contain no mention of his name, and the early register books have disappeared. John Crabbe is mentioned in 1665, and very probably he obtained this preferment at the restoration. The present vicar of Marystowe is the Rev. H. B. Grylls, who was mstituted in 1874 ; and I have much pleasure in acknowledging the kindness and attention he shewed me when I visited his parish. He

1 South Sydenham church is also dedicated to S. Maiy, hut did not helong to Plj-mpton. 2 A'

188 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

has a good residence, pleasantly situated close to the church, and 114 acres of glebe. As I have already said» the early register book has disappeared. Those still in existence commence —

Baptisms, 1648 (irregularly kept for a few years). Marriages, 1G54. Burials, 1G54. In 1694 the small pox raged with great violence at Marystowe. Twenty people were buried in that year, eleven of whom were women, and amongst them was Radigund Lady Wise, second wife of Sir Edward Wise, K.B., as previously mentioned.

The names of the following Vicars have been pre- served : —

As already said the patronage since the Reformation has been with the owners of Sydenham.

John Bere occurs as Vicar A.D. 1504

Ralph Hareson „ „ 1534

Samuel Walter died „ 1571

Edward Tuke „ „ 1613

John Crabbe occurs as Vicar „ 1665 William WiUiams „ „ 1676

John Hening „

Thomas Rose „ „ 1696

Edward Hawkins „ ,, 1713

John Teasdale „ „ 1755

T. Robyns „ „ 1829

H. B. Grylls „ „ 1874

Certain lands m the parish of Maristow, which formerly

belonged to the Carwithen family were sold to Sir Thomas

Wise, reserving the sum of ICs. lOd., payable on the

PARISH OF MARISTOW. 189

altar table of the church of Sydenham Damerel (south Sydenham), before twelve o'clock noon on Easter Monday

annually."

There "kre some lands called " Thorne lands " belonging to the parish, and the earliest deed connected with them (and which I believe is preserved in the parish chest) is dated 16th February, 40th Elizabeth, whereby George Birkell and William Shellye granted to Thomas Wise and others and their heirs a messuage or tenement called Thome, m the parish of Marystow, with common of pasture upon Holster Down, in trust; the rents and profits to be applied to the reparation and maintenance ot the parish church, and the overplus to be distributed, at the discretion of the trustees and churchwardens, amongst poor people dwelling in the parish.

In a memorandum, dated 1G77, of deeds at that time preserved in the parish chest, there is mention of an earlier feoffment of the 24th Henry VI (AD. 144G) from John Cholwill to Eobei-t Stacey and others.

There is a tradition in the parish that these lands were given by John de Thorne, but the date of the donation is unknown. The ancient family of Thorne or de Spineto were settled in this part of Devonshire at a very early period at Sampford Spinney, in the hundred of Roborough.

Robert de Spineto occurs in the beginning of the reign of Henry II, and was succeeded by Gerard, who is mentioned as a benefactor in the Tor Abbey Chartulary. One branch of this house were settled at Thome, in the parish of Holsworthy, from the reign of King John to the early part of the seventeenth century, when the 1 Mag. Brit., ii., 4GS.

190 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

heiress married Holland ; and there were other Thornes of Thome (which may have been situated in the parish of Maristowe, where there is still a farm of this name), whose heir married Cooke. It is imcertain at what period their male line became extinct.

The estate called Thorne Lands consists of a farmhouse and buildings, and forty-seven aci-es of land. Manganese was some years since discovered there, which increased the rent of the property £172 in the year 1819. According to the report of the Charity Commissioners the average rent of the farm is between £30 and £40 a year.

The poor are also entitled to an annuity of £20 under the will of Mr. Arthur Tremayne of Sydenham, dated 24th May, 1808, full particulars of which will be found at the end of the tenth chapter.

PARISH OF THRUSHELTOX. 191

CHAPTER IX.

The Parish of Thrushklton.

The cliapelry of Thrushelton is distant between three and four miles from the mother church of Maristow, from which it is separated by the parishes of Lewtrenchard and Sto^vford; it is situated in the hundred of Lifton and deanery of Tavistock, and in 1881, returned a population of 427 persons, scattered over 3,7 U acres of land.

This place, which takes its name from the little River Thrushill, Ls variously written Thruselton, Thriselton, and Thrushelton. In Domesday it is called Tresetone, and in the reign of Edward the Confessor was the property ot " Grimes."

Juhel de Totnais succeeded him. The reign of Henry II found William Talbot the lord of the manor. The family of Vepont, or De Veteriponte, were the owners for some generations, and Robert Vepont was High Sheriff of Devon in the 12th of King John. After ages brought land in Thrushelton to the Trenchards, and Sir Michael Trenchard, in the reign of Edward I left property there to Walter, his younger son ; and another of the same name gave the manor of Canabarne, in this parish, to the priors of Plymptou. Fronx the Trenchards the manor passed to Serlonius Wi.se, son of Sir William Wise, and Ela his wife, the daughter of De Veteriponto, and an

192 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

ancestor of the Wises of Sydenham ; and after the Reformation this family also became possessed of the manor of Canabarne, which according to the Valor Eccle- siasticus, yielded the monks of Plympton £8 6s. Ifd per annum.

Mr. Tremayne now holds both these manors. The authors of the additions to Risdon are wrong in thtir statement as to the ownership, by the Calmadys, of Langdon. I believe, however, that that family possesses several estates in the parish, derived (I have been informed) by the marriage of a Calmady with the daughter and heir of Sir Peter Courtenay, There seems to have been another manor, called North Thrushelton, held with Sourton from the reign of Henry II to that of Edward III by the Talbots, but I cannot learn that any such manor is now known.

The parish church or chapel is dedicated to St. George, and consists of chancel, nave opening into north and south aisles beneath three arches, a south porch, and a western tower containing five bells.

There is a piscina remaining in the south wall of the chancel, and another in the south aisle, in what was once the south chancel chapel, but the parclbses, together with the rood screen, have been removed. The font, of Roborough stone, is octagonal and unornamented.

There is an aspersorium, or holy water stoup, on the eastern side of the porch, and the stairs, which anciently led to the rood loft, are still remaining on the south side. The erection of this chapel was probably due to the exertions of the monks of Plympton, and the fact that no reference is made to it in the earher records proves that

PARISH OF THRUSHELTON. 193

it is of much later date than the parish church. As I have ah-eady said, the first mention I have found of it is in a deed dated March 3rd, 1334.

The earher records prove that the whole parish was at first called Sidenham, and Maristowe was doubtless after- wards adopted in order to distinguish it from Sydenham Damerel, which to this day is distinguished by the prefix of " South," and there would have been no occasion for the use of this word had there not been another parish in the neighbourhood bearing the same name. Moreover the principal manor is, and has always been, called Sidalham, or Sidenham, and, as already stated, there is no mention in Domesday, or elsewhere, of any manor of Maristowe.

In the year 1504 a license was granted to the inhabitants of Thrushelton by the authority of the Arch- bishop of Canterbury (the see of Exeter being then vacant by the death of John Arundell, whose successor, Hugh Oldham, was not then consecrated) to inclose a burial- ground round the chapel. The parishioners had petitioned for this privilege in consequence of the distance, " three miles and more," from the mother church of Maristowe, and the " hazard from inundations and other lets and hindrances."

The prior and Convent of Plympton, the patrons and appropriators, and the vicar of Maristow, consented to the petition upon the following conditions, dependent upon the fultilmeut of which the necessary authority was given.

The parishioners of Thrushelton were to pay the ex- penses of the enclosure of the new burial ground and of its consecration, they were to repair and, if necessary, re- build the residence near the church where the chaplain 2 b

194 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

resided, and keep it in good condition for ever, and were to exonerate the rectoiy from all charge of the said residence.

AU the inhabitants above fourteen years of age were to pay on the feast of dedication, besides the accustomed offerings, one penny each towards the maintenance of the chaplain, to lighten the charge of the vicar who appointed and maintained him. They were also to main- tain in proper condition the chapel of St. George, and if necessary at any time they were to rebuild it, they were to provide all books and other tJaings necessary for divine service there, and to supply everything necessary for the new burial ground, and they were to do all this without damage to the mother church of Maristowe, to the repair and fencing of whose churchyard they were to continue to contribute, and they were to abstain from interfering with the grass and trees of the new churchyard of Thrushelton, and they were lastly to pay "Petei's pence " annually.

In case of non-fulfilment of the contract, they were to be deprived of all benefit of the licence, and compelled to resort to their old place of bm-ial in the churchyard at Maristowe ; they were to be fined £5, to be paid by the churchwardens within a month after the offence, to the vicar of Maristowe, their proctor, Master Richard Symons being responsible, and further they were to be deprived of all burial in church or churchyard until the money was paid. John Bere was at this time vicar.

There is a copy of the original deed, dated 3rd of March, 1625, in the possession of the vicai" of Maristowe, which is certified as a true copy by John

PARISH OF THRUSHELTON. 195

Prest and two others. Members of the Prest famUy are buried in the north aisle of Thrushelton ; there is an inscription there on a flat stone for Roger Prest, gent., 1658. A translation of this deed (the original being in Latin) was made at the expense of Mr. J. H. Tremayne,

in 1821.

As at Maristowe, the early registers of the parish of Thrushelton have been lost or destroyed ; those which have been presesved commence aUke in 1654.

2 B=

196 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER X.— PART I.

The Parish of Lajierton — General Description AND History.

The scattered village of Lamerton lies about seventeen miles north of Plymouth, and is in the hundred of Lifton, the archdeaconry of Totnes, and deanery of Tavistock. In 187] it possessed a very ancient and interesting church, and a population of 1,333 inhabitants, living in 2G7 houses on 7,232 acres of land.

It is shown by ' ' Domesday " that in the reign of Edward the Confessor Lamerton, then written Lambertone belonged to the Saxon Ordulf. At the I'edistribution of property under Norman rule it was apportioned to the Conqueror's follower Ruald Adobed, together with twenty- nine other manors in Devonshire, twelve of which, inclusive of Lamerton, he held in demesne, while the remaining eighteen were farmed under him by sub-tenants.

It has been suggested that this Ruald, or as Risdon calls him Reginald Adobed, or Adobat, may have been the ancestor of the GiSard family, w^ho eventually succeeded, to a large portion of his lands in this coimty, sis Lysons says, either by inheritance, sale, or Royal grant. He appears to have given his name to Bridge-rule, in the

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 197

hundred of Black Torrington, which manor he also retained in his own hands.

Sir Walter Giffard, of Wear-Giffard, and Lamerton, who flourished in the reign of Henry III, left an only daughter, Emma, who was married firstly to Sir Hugh Widworthy, secondly to Sir William Trewin, and thirdly to Sir Robert Dynham.

She had issue only by her second husband whose name seems to have been derived from the long residence of his family at Treioin or Train in the parish of Modbury. Their son William, when he had inlierited Wear Giffard in right of his mother, similarly assumed the name of Wear. His grandson, William Trewin alias Wear, in the reign of Henry IV married Ehzabeth, daughter and heir of John de Filleigh, and died at the commencement of the following reign. His daughter Joan brought Lamerton and the rest of her paternal inheritance to her husband Richard Denzell, and was in due time succeeded by Richard their son, who left issue an only daughter, Elizabeth, who married Martin Fortescue, described in the Visitation of 1564, as of " Philley."

He was the son of the famous Sir John Fortescue, Chief Justice and Chancellor of England in the reign of Henry VI, an account of whom is given by Prince,' and in the same edition will be found a very long and ex- haustive footnote on this ancient and noble family. We have most of us read how they became settled at Whimpstone, in Modbury, at a very early date

Sir William Pole, and others who have followed

him, say from the reign of King John. The records of

1 Worthies of Devon, p. 33, Edit. 1810.

198 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

the family, however, go back further than this reign, and refer to Sir Richard le Forte,^ who accompanied the Con- queror to England, bore the shield before him at Hastings, and had three horses killed under him on that memorable day, and thus originated their name and theii- famous motto —

" Forte scutum salus ducum."

The record of Domesday shows that Whimpstone, then written " Winestone," belonged to the Earl of Mortain in 1087, and this appears to favour the statement that it came to the Fortescues by the gift of King John.

The almost uniform tradition, however, is that it was the gift originally of the Conqueror to Adam, son of !P,ichard le Forte, who was also one of his principal com- manders, and that it was confirmed only by King John, in the tenth year of his reign, to Sir John Fortescue, of Whimpstone. The pedigree is given (both in Westcote, and in the Heralds' Visitation of 1564) from John Fortescue, of Whimpstone. who married Joan (or Alice?), daughter and heir of John Pruston, of Pruston — Westcote only carries the line (which is continued in the Visitation) to William, fourth in descent, who married Katherine Welsh.

Collins,' quoting from Sir William Pole, refers to Adam Fortescue, 30th Edward I, styled " son and heir of Adam Fortescue," and then gives the descent from William (son of William and Katherine Welsh), who married Elizabeth (Isabel?) Beauchamp.

Sir Bernard Burke mentions the traditional descent of

1 Peerage of England, vol. 4, p. 28. Edit. 1741.

PARISH VF LAMERTON. 199

the family on the authority of Lord Clermont — " Histoiy of the Fortescues " — alludes to Adam le Forte* as the original grantee of " Wymondeston," and also gives the descent of his race from William, and his wife Elizabeth(?) Beauchamp, who was living in 1406.

Since Elizabeth Denzell brought Lamerton to her husband, Martin Fortescue, more than 400 years ago, it has remained with their descendants, and long may it continue to do so. Lord Fortescue is the present lord of the manor.

Lysons says' the manor of Willestrew, which belonged to the Tremaynes, is now (1822) the property of John Carpenter, Esq., of Mount Tavy ; that of Waterfall belongs to a minor of the name of Cundy, in whose family it has been for a considerable time."

The manor of Wilavestrew, or Willestrew, is mentioned in Domesday as the property of " Bulgert" in the reign of Edward the Confessor. As far as I am aware, his name does not occur in any other portion of the survey as an owner of land in Devonshire. It probably came to the Tremaynes by inheritance from Trenchard, about the reign of Henry IV.

For some years it appears to have been in the family of Roundell, or Bundle. In the north aisle of the parish church wtis an inscription to " William Roundell, of Willestrewe, buried in the year 1532. In Chancery* proceedings in the reign of Elizabeth, there is a record of " Relief as to forcible possession, &c., meadow grounds in Lamerton, co. Devoir. Plaintiff, John Satchfield ; defen- dants, John Bennett and Phillip Ruudell " " cause to

J Mag Brit., ii, 306. ^ Public Record Office.

200 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

protect title by purchase, land in Lamerton, co. Devon ; plaintiff, John Satchfield ; defendants, John Bennett and Phillip Rundell." In the parish registers there are a great number of entries relative to members of this family, variously spelt Roundell, Rondel, Rundell, and Rundle ; and the name occurs more frequently than any other between the years 1631 and 1641. Among the earlier entries may be found : —

Thomas Rondel, sonne of Nicholas, baptised 4th Maye, 1572. Thomas Roudel and Agnes Gaunter married 12th October, 1607.

And in 1677 there is an entry of the marriage of Richard Rundle and Ffrances Edgecumbe.

John Satchfield, to vphom I have referred as plaintiff in Chancery proceedings v. Rundel, in the reign of Elizabeth, probably resided at the house in Lamerton now known as Pittiscombe. I have also seen an agreement, c. 1539, between Richard Mayhow, jun., gentleman, and William Sachefeld alias Sachevyle, " concerning a tenement in Pottiscombe, in the parish of Lamerton." He may have been a descendant of the old county family of the same name which became extinct, in the elder line at all events, in the foiui.eenth century, when the heiress married Yeo ; his position in Lamerton appears to have been that of a yeoman.

Dr. Thomas Rundle, Lord Bishop of Derry in 1734-5 (is believed to have been a member of this family), bvit he appears to have been born in the neighbouring jjarish of Milton Abbot.

It may not be out of place, however, if I venture to say a few words relative to the branch of the Edgecumbe family, which became settled at Lamerton, since they

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 201

have received but scant notice from our county historians. John "Edgecomb," ofLamerton, in the county of Devon, who appears to have been fourth son of Edgecumbe of Edcrecumbe, in Milton Abbot married and had issue George " Edgecombe " (who married and had issue Roger). Walter Edgecomb de Lamerton, third son, and John Edg- comb de Mary Tavy, who also married. Walter Edgcomb, of Lamerton, married Jane, daughter of Richard Deems, of Luppit, in county Devon, and had issue— Roger Edgcombe, of Lamerton, son and heir, aged 26 ; Arthur, aged 23 ; John, aged 20 ; Richard, aged 1 0 ; James, aged 7 ; and Margaret, aged 4, in the year 1620. The arms in " Trick," appended to the copy of the Visitation in the Harl. MSS., are :— Gu. on a bend Sa., cotised Or, three boars' heads couped Arg.' A martlet for difference.

Frances, wife of Richard Rundle, was the daughter of Roger Edgecomb, of Lamert(jn, and was baptized there 22nd November, 1650. I may remark that the above pedigree of Edgecumbe is not included in the Visitation of 1564, published by Dr. Colby in 1881.

The family of Rowe appear to have resided in this county from a very early date. The first I find mentioned is Robert Rowe, who gave land at Barum, in 1353, to the hermit brethren of St, Augustine, for the purpose of erecting thereon a churcli and other necessary buildings for their habitation.^ The original grant of an area for this purpose" in villa Barum," by Sir James Audeley, Knight, \\'as approved and con-

1 Yisitatiuu 1G20, Camden, M.S. Hail. 11G3 ; Visitatiou 156-1, Harvey MS. Harl. 1080, f. 13-1

1 Inq. ad quod damnum, 27th Ed., iii. Mag. Brit., ii., 36. 2C

202 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

firmed by Bishop Grandlsson on June 9th, 1348.' Dr. Oliver refers to the " Inquisitio ad quod damnum," which I have quoted, but states that the donor of the land, five acres in extent, vras " Robert Bowie."

There is a tradition that this family came into Devon- shire from Kent, but Prince, in reference to this, remarks on the authority of the " Pole Evidences," that the name of John Row occurs as witness to a deed with Gilbert Harlewin in the 18th of Richard 11(1395). The coat armour of the Rowes of Lamerton, Gu. three Holy lambs Arg., is somewhat similar to the arms of Rurde, Az. a chev. Or, betw. three paschal lambs couchant argent, and it is to be remarked that a pedigree of Rowe, of Kingston in Staverton, commences "Ricardus Row, De Cantii," nup. " fil et hered, Phillipi Rurde," This suggests the possibility that the descendants of the heir of Rurde partially adopted her arms in lieu of their paternal coat, a practice by no means singular, and of which we have another local example in the case of Huyshe of Clisthidon, who, since the marriage of Oliver Hywish, in the reign of Edward III with the heiress of De la Roche, have used the arms of the latter i'amily, Arg. on a bend Sa., three roaches ppr., instead of the ancient coat of Hywis a chevron between three roundles. Prince gives us the History of John " Row " Sergt.-at-law, and states, on the authority of Sir William Pole, that he was a son of Wm. Row of Totnes. He married Agnes, daughter and co-heir of William Barnhouse of Kingston, in the parish of Staverton, and thus became the founder of the Staverton branch of the Rowe family, which continued

' Ep. Reg., Brantyugham, ii. 23. Grandisson, i. 154.

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 203

there for many descents, and whose representative ultimately took the name of Hussey upon succeeding to the estates of Hussey of Marnhall in Dorsetshire. John Row was called to the degree of Serjt. on the 1 8th Nov. 1511, and his name occurs as witness to a deed in the Pole Evidences, Ao. 1527. He was evidently contem- porary, if not identical with, John liowe, Serjt. -at-law, of Howes Place, Co. Kent, who sold that estate and dis- appeared from Kent in 1532. He was ninth in descent from Everard de Rowe of Roking, near Romney, Temp. Hy. iii, and 6 th in descent from Robert de Rowe of Rowes place, 38th Ed. iii, 1365.

Although Lysons says* that the " three paschal lambs " are wronyly appropriated to Rowe of Kingston in the neio (1810) edition of Prince's Worthies, yet, as I have already stated elsewhere, these arms most certainly occur at Staverton, on the brass of John son of Serjt. Row, 1562, and the bearings subsequently used by the Rowes of Kingston Arg. a chevron Az. between three trefoils slipped p.p. Gu. and vert, were only granted in 1595.'^

There are three descents of the Rowes of Lamerton in the Visitation of 1620. The first-mentioned there married the daughter and heir of Hill, the second a co-heir of Fitz of Tavistock. The line is continued in a Pedigi-ee at the Heralds' College (2 D. 14) to 1789, the date of death of Charlotte, only daughter of Nicholas Rowe, Poet Laureate, by his second marriage. She was the wife of Henry Fane, brother of Thomas Earl of West- moreland.

1 Mag. Brit., i. clxxjc

* " Ashburton and its Neighbourhood," p. 143-4. 2 C*

204 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

The elder branch of the family in the male line became extinct by the death of the only son of Nicholas Ex)we, above referred to, an account of whom will be found in Johnson's " Lives of the Poets." His Father, John Eowe, appears to have been the first of the family who quitted the paternal acres to practice any profession ; he was a Sei-gt.-at-law and legal Author, died April 30th, 1692, and was buried in the Temple Church. There is a local belief that the Son was born in Lamerton, of which place Mrs. Bray describes the Father as the " Eector."'^ His birth-place, however, is known to have been the house of his maternal grandfather, Jasper Edwards, at Little Barford, Bedfordshii-e, in the year 1673.

He was educated at Westminster, under Dr. Busby, and was entered at the Middle Temple at the age of 16.

He produced his first tragedy, " The Ambitious Step- mother," at the afire of 24. Dr. Johnson considers his version of " Lucan's Pharsalia " to have been his master- piece, but it was not published until after his death. He was made Under-Secretary of State by the Duke of Queensberry, and on the accession of George I he suc- ceeded Tate as Poet-Laureate, and he was also one of the surveyors of the Port of London, Clerk of the Closet to the Prince of "Wales, and Secretaiy of Presentations under Lord Chancellor Parker.

He died in December, 1718, iu his 45th year, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, and his widow Anne, daughter and heir of Jos. Devenlsh, erected a fine monument to his memory. His first wife was Antonia, daughter of Anthony Parsons and by her, who died 10th

2 Trad, of Devon, 3. 92.

PARISH OF LAMERTOK. 205

January, 170(), and was buried in the church of S. Dun- stan's in the West. He had a son, John, who left an only daughter who first married Lock, and afterwards Pyle, by both of whom she had issue.

A collected edition of his works was published in 1792, two vols., 12mo.

In the parish church of Stoke Gabriel there is a memorial to a James Rowe and his children, who Avas a Medical Practitioner there. He was born in 1659, and died 16th September, 1743. By his wife Mary, who died 14th March, 17r)4, aged 95 he had the following issue whose deaths are recoi'ded : — George Rowe, died 5th November, 1745, aged 47 ; Ann, died 5th December, 1774, aged 68 ; Catherine, the wife of John Teage, died 24th June, 1790 aged Slj, and Dorothy, who married William Gary, a merchant, fourth son i)f Edward Gary of Tor Abbey. She died 13th February. 174, aged 43, and her son George vdtimately succeeded to Tor Abbey and other estates of his family. There was evidently a branch of the Rowe family .settled in this neighbourhood ; administration to the effects of John Rowe, of Stoke Fleming, was granted by the Archdeacon of Totues, April 1668 and April 1()(;9. Tlie will of John Rowe, of Stoke Fleming, A\as proved in the same court, Auo-ust 1672. Administration to estate of John Rowe of the same parish, was granted September 1678, and the will of Thomas Rowe, of the same was proved in December 168.5. The Rowes of A Iverdiscott in this county believe themselves to be desceudauls of the Lamorton branch of the family. In 1G99 James Rowe was one of the Stewards of the City of E.xeter, :rnd a certain James Rowe was Mayor of the same city in 1764.

20G DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

About the latter ])eriod, viz.,. 175G, a certain James Howe, who may have been identical with the Mayor, purchased the Barton of Alverdiscott, and subsequently in 1760 became possessed of the Manor and the Advowson of the Parish Church there. He died in 1785, having had by his wife, Mary Allan, of Jamaica, a son Thomas, who pre- deceased him, and three daughters. His brother, William Rowe, died the same year IV 85, leaving four sons, William, Charles, James, and John. The last was Rector of Alverdiscott for many years and died in 1833.

The thi'ee elder sons all settled in Jamaica. William Rowe had two sons, viz., James and William. The latter was the father of the late Venerable Archdeacon Rowe of Cornwall, Jamaica, and was himself President of the Jamaica Assembly.

The former, James Rowe, sold Alverdiscott about the commencement of this century to Mr. Richard Preston, M.P. He had two sons and the eldest of these was the late Rev. James Rowe, born November 19, 1795. He commenced life as an officer in the 45th Regiment ; served with distinction in the Peninsular War, and was with the allied aniiies in Paris hi 1815. He was ordained in 1827, and w;is ibr many years rector of St. Mary Arches, Exeter. Upon the death of the late Archdeacon Bartholomew in 1865, he was presented to the rectory of Morchard Bishop in this county, and died there 15th May, 1884, aged 88. He left male issue. Charles Rowe, second son of William, who died 1785 also resided in Jamaica. He was born at Bideford c. 1754, and was educated at Oxford. There was a branch of the Rowe family settled at Tavistock at an early date.

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 207

Botweeii the years 1{»14 and 1802 there are 160 biiptisms, lOG marriages, and 1.97 burials la this name on the Parish Registers ; indeed, the Howes wex-e scattered so tliickly over the county from a very remote period that the constant occurrence of the name in Paraclu;d and other Registers makes It next to impossible to trace the connection of the various branches of tills fruitful race with any degree of certainty.

James Rowe, the elder, of Totnes, saddler, by his will, dated 10th May, 1G94, and proved in the following month, gives to his kinsman, William Rowe, of Otterton, clerk, two of his books, viz., " Calvin's exposition on the New Testament, and Dr. Owen's treatise upon Regenera- tion." lie leaves the residue of his estate to his son, James, who is sole executor.

Robert Rowe, of Lamerton, who appears to be son of Robert Rowe, 2nd son of Nicholas Rowe and of his wife Agnes, daughter of the co-heir of Robert Fitz of Tavistock, Vjy his will dated 27th February, 1G73, and proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Totnes, 2nd December, 1674, makes small bequests to his sons Nicholas and Richard, and to his daughter Jon;is Fursman. He leaves the residue to his daughter Eli;^a- beth, who is sole executrix.

George Rowe, of Lamerton, " Husbandman," son of the last, gives to his father Robert Rowe, his interest in the lease of Widdislade, in Lamerton parish ; he leaves his brother Nicholas " his best cloak, his best coat, and his best breeches, and to tlie children of his said brother, and of his brother Richard " one sheep apeece." To his brothers and sisters NichoLis, Richard, Elizabeth, and

208 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Jonas Rowe, he bequeaths " the cubbord which my father gave me, and all the goods which my grandfather John Colhng gave unto me by his last will."

To his brother Francis ho leaves the sum of sixpence, and a like amount to his servant Margaret Cudlipe.

Residue, to Mary, his wife, who is sole executrix. Will dated 3rd April, 1662, proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Totnes, 4th of June the same year.

Administration to the effects of John Rowe, of Lamer- ton, was granted in the above court to Nicholas Rowe, described as " de Lamerton in Cora, predic. Generosus," 15th July, 1685.

A certain John Rowe, of the Diocese of Exeter, was ordained Deacon 20th December, 1432, by Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, and priest llth April, 1433, on title from the Abbey of Tavistock. He was probably the same who had been admitted a Fellow of Exeter College, Lent term, 1426, and who held his Fellowship until 1441. Rector of Exeter College, 1433-1440. He was installed a Canon of Exeter and collated to the sub-deanery there 28th August, J441 (Le Neve). He was admitted rector of Exminster on the resignation of Clement Row, 31st January, 1447-8. By his will, made 8th September, 1462, and proved 24th December, 1463, he left 40s. to his parish church.

There was a John Row, of Crediton, born about 1627. Entered batler of New Lin. Oxford, 1642. Fellow of Corpus C, 1648 [by the Parliamentary vi.'titoi-s). He was a Presbyterian, and was afterwards a preacher at Tiverton and an assistant to tlie Devonshire C'oumiissi oners for the " ejection of scandalous ministers." He was the

PARISH OF LAMERTUN. 209

author of numerovis tracts and sermons, and he collected most of the materials for the account of " The Life and Death of John Rowe, of Crediton " (his father), London, 1673. He died in 1G77, and was buried in Bunhill Fields on 12th October in that year. The inscription on his tomb stated that he was some time 'preacher in the Abbey at Westminster.'

Mr. J. Brooking Rowe, of Plymouth, in his paper on the " Rev. Samuel Rowe, vicar of Crediton. 1835-53," who was the author of the Perambulation of Dartmoor, tells us that this branch of the Rowe family was seated at Brixton as early as the 10th of Richard II, " when John Rowe was at Winston, a hamlet in the parish." Mr, Rowe also claims for them a connection both '-with the familij of Nicholas Rowe, the poet, and with the Rowes of Staverton.

Collacombe, in this parish, for many generations the seat of the Tremaynes before they removed to Sydenham, belonged in 1242 to Ralph de Esse of Ash-Ralph, or as it is now called, Rose Ash. 1 presume that he alienated it to Michael Trenchard, since it was the property of the latter in 1295, and the pedigree of the former, contained in the visitation of 1564, shows that the family of Ash, or Esse, did not become extinct in the male line until Thomas, grandson of Sir Ralph Esse, died without issue early in the fourteenth century, when liis sisters and co-heirs, Ingretta, Elizabeth, and Margaret, married Andrew Gilford, of Thewborough, in the parish of

* Athen. Oxon. vol. ii, p. 596.

' Trans. Devon Associ:ition, xiv, 395-6.

2d

210 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Sntcombe ; John Gitibrd, of Helowne, In Cornwall ; and Richard Halse, of Kenedon, in the parish of Sherford.

Isabella, daughter and heir of Trenchard, of Collacombe brought the property to her husband, Thomas Tremayne. Prince says that he was the descendant of a good Cornish family, and was the son of Richard (who died 1354), son of Perys, lord of the manor of Tremain, near Penryn, by his second marriage with Onera Trevartea. The family doubtless took their name from their property although Mi'S. Bray says when speaking of their patronymic and arms, " 1 amuse myself with fancying the origin of these bearings must liave been that three brothers fought gallantly in the Holy Land, and having overcome by their united efforts some fierce Saracen chief, they brought his head in triumph to Richard' of the Lion Heart. Hence he gave them their arms and the surname of Tremaine, as the three hands that had united to do him such good service in the Holy Wars." The arms of Tremayne are Gu. three dexter arms conjoined at the shoulders and flexed in triangle, Or.

Crest : Two ai-ms enbowed, vested Or., holding betw^een the hands a head pp. thereon a high crowned hat Sa.

Collacombe house is a good example of an Eliza- bethan mansion, and on one of the chimney-pieces is the date 1574. In an u-regular room, twenty feet in height, there is a large and lofty transom-window, which contains above 3,500 panes of glass. Although after the Tre- maynes acquired the Maristowe property they ceased

1 Worthies of Devon, 739, Ed. 1610. - Traditions of Devon, iii, 90.

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 211

to reside there, it continued to belong to them until it was sold by Mr. Arthur Tremayne, who died in 1808, to Sir William Pratt Call, second Bart., and it is now the property of his grandson. Sir William George Call, of Whitford House, Launceston. Collacombe has been for many years occupied as a farm-house. The patronage of Lamerton, however, is still vested in Mr. Tremaynt, of Sydenham.

2 D'

212 DEVOXSHIRE PARISUEH.

CHAPTER X.-PART 11.

The Parish of Lamerton. — Pedigbee of Tremayne. There are discrepancies in several of the existing pedigrees of Tremayne of Collacombe which are hard to reconcile ; that contained in Westcote," commences with Nicholas Tremayne, who married a daughter of Sir John Damarel, and had issue Thomas, who took to wife a daughter of Carew, and had issue John, who mai'ried a daughter of Warr and had issue John, married to Emma Bear, of Huntsham, and had a daughter who was wife to Sir Richard Edgecumbe, of Mount Edgecumbe. But it is noteworthy that the Rawlinson MS." begins " John Tremayne, of CoUynton, married Jane, daughter of Thomas Carew and Joan (his wife) daughter of Carminow, and had issue John, who married Emma, daughter of John Beare, of Himtsham." Thomas Tre- mayne, by his wife Isabella Trenchard, had, with other issue, Nicholas, Thomas and John. She consoled herself in her widowhood by a mai-riage with a second husband, Sir John Damerell, Knt., who gave to her heirs, by Tremayne, North Huish, Sydenham Damerel and Whitchurch, and made her executrix to his will dated Friday before the feast of SS. Simon and Jude, 1392. Prince states that her son Thomas was "canon of St. Peter's, Exeter, and rector of

> View of Devon, p. 587

2 Colby's Visit, of Deron, 1564 p. 198.

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 213

Aveton GifFard." John was admitted Fellow of Exeter College' in the winter of 1365, and he was probably the same " John Tremayne, of S. Martin's," who occurs in the list of strangers buried in S. John's Hospital, at Exeter in the first half of the fifteenth century.^ It must have been in his time that the Hospital, stated by Westcote to have been founded " by the ancestors of the Tre- maynes," was dedicated to S. George, at the west end of the town of Tavistock.

The foundation was restored by George Courtenay, of Walredou, in the reign of William and Mary.'

Nicholas Tremayne, son and heir of Thomas and Isabella, married Joan, daughter of Sir John "Dodescombe" of " Dodescombeleigh" and Compton, by whom he had a son called Thomas. Another coheir married Worthe, who thus acquired the Compton property.* At an inquisition held 21st October, 1464, it was found that Thomas Tremayne and Roger Worth were the true patrons of Doddiscombleigh, and they accordingly preseiited to that Rectory.

Nicholas Tremayne married a second time, and had, with other issue, another son, also called Thomas, who was admitted Fellow of Exeter College 25th June, 1491, vacated 1504. Rector of Exeter 1502-3. Vicar of Witheridge, Devon, 15th February, 1417. Died 1521, His successor was admitted 23rd September in that year. ' Reg. Coll. Exon (Boasc). 2 Monas. Dioc. p. 308.

^ Report of the Charity Commissioners, vol. i, 334. Lj'sons, vol. ii, p. 47G. Wliite's Devon, p. 758. Moore's Devon, vol. ii, p. 344. Westcote, p. 371. « Ante, p. 129.

214 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Thomas Tremayne, son and heir of Nicholas and Joan, married Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas, second son of Nicholas Carew of Muleford and gi-andfather of Nicholas de Carew of Bedyngton, co. Surrey. Inq. p.m. 14th Ric. II. — In the year 1448 Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, granted to her husband and herself license for the performance of Divine Service within their mansion of Cullacombe.

Their son John, who married Jane, dau. of Sir Francis Warre, had, with other issue, Thomas, John and Richard, who married Jane, dau. and coh. of Oliver Wise of Greston and widow of Deviock, and was ancestor of the present head of the family, and Margaret, married to OUver Wise of Sidenham.

John Tremayne, 2nd son, married Emlyn, dau. of John Beare of Huntsham, and had issue.'

His elder brother, ^ Thomas Tremayne, married Philip pa, eldest dau. of Eoger Grenvile of Stow and Bideford, they had sixteen children, eight boys and as many girls. Roger was the eldest, who in due time succeeded to the paternal estates, Edmund, the second son, was in the service of " Edxoard, Marquess of Exeter, according to Piince, who gives as his authoi'ity a Rev. Mr. Granger, rector of Lamerton." It was Henry Courtenay, not Edward (the error is also perpetuated in the Courtenay genealogy contamed in Burke's Peerage), who was created Marquess of Exeter by Henry VIII, and who was afterwards beheaded by that Monarch. Edmund Tremayne appears to have

1 This John was admitted Fellow of E.xcter Coll. 16th Oct. 1537. ' Visitations of Cornwall (Col. Vivian).

PARTSH OF LAMERTON. 215

followed the fortunes of his son Edward, who was never Marquess of Exeter, and who did not even succeed to his fVither's other honours by virtue of the old Patents, although he was certainly created Earl of Devon by Queen Maiy by patent dated Eichmond 3rd September, 1553. He seems to have had some command in suppress- ing Wyatt's rebellion, but he nevertheless incui-red the Queen's suspicion in connexion with it and was thrown into the tower together with his faithful follower. Edmund Tremayne was placed on the rack, and his inviolable fidelity on tliis occasion is refen-ed to in his epitaph on the quaint monument which stood at the end of the south aisle of the parish church.

" Tlio next for keeping master's secresy, And loyalty profound unto our Queen Upon the rack sat life in jeopardy Whereby his tried constancy was seen, Who graciously her sovereign ^Majesty ^ladu Council-Clark tliat had so faithful been."

He suceedcd to Collacombe on the death, without male issue, of his brother Eoger, and he was iii his turn suc- ceeded by Iiis third brother Digory ; and it was this Dit'ory wlio erected the monument to which I refer, in the year 1588.

Richard and John Tremayne, twins, were the next oft- s])rlng of this fruitful couple. Richard, like others of his family, was sent to Exeter College, where he graduated in 1547. He was admitted Fellow o'l his college, vice Hercules Ameredith, 28th March, 15.")3, and took his M.A. degree on the 17th July the same year. In 1.556 he and his brother Nicholas were declared traitors, and a

2!G DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

copy of the proclamatioii is stated' to be " among the Bertie papers." Deprived of his Fellowship he resided out of England until the accession of Queen Elizabeth enabled the advocates of the reformed religion to resume their preferments. Upon his return in 1559 he was Treasurer of Exeter Cathedral on the 10th February ; and on the 7 th of April the same year he was collated to the Archdeaconiy of Chichester. Dr. Oliver says that he was deprived of his office of Treasurer for a time, and was reinstalled 27th October, 1561. He was proctor for Exeter in Convocation, 1562, and his signature appears to the document establishing the thirty- nine articles, 156'i.^ He was seventh vicar of Menheniot, in the county of Corn- wall ; and on the 15th February, 1565-6, he obtained the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Divinity by accumula- tion, after which he removed to Broadgate's Hall.' Prince says that he was ' ' accounted a famous preacher in his time ; one of his sermons, preached at Paul's Cross, re- maineth yet with the fiunily, I suppose, in manuscript. He was a benefactor to Exeter College library, and bestowed upon it the King ot Spain's Bible." The copy, " printed at Antwerp, by the cost of Philip II, King of Spain, and by the care of Ben. Ar. Montanus, in eight volumes, folio." He died without issue, having married Joan, eldest daughter of Sir Piers Courtenay, of Ugbrooke, in 1584, and his will was proved on the 15th December in that year. He was succeeded in the Treasurership of the Cathedral by the Venerable Robert Lawe, Archdeacon of Barum, who was also Vicar of Ashburton.

1 Moore's Devon, ii, 346.

^ Wilkius's Concilia.

* Reg. Coll. Exon (Boase) Atlienoe O.xon. Fasti Eccl. Ang., Le Neve.

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 217

He must have been in temporary disgrace immediately after his return to England on the accession of Elizabeth, since about the period of his deprivation at Exeter he also vacated his Archdeaconry, to which he was never restored ; he was succeeded at Chichester by John Spencer, M.A., in 1560.

His twin-brother John, was alive in 1588, since his existence at that time is especially remarked upon by Digory, the third son, who had then succeeded to the Lamerton property, in the inscription on the Tremayne monument.

Nicholas and Andrew Tremayne were also children of one birth. The former, as I have stated already, appears to have been outlawed with the Treasurer in 1556. Bisdon who lived soon after them has left an extraordinaiy account of these brothers, which has been frequently copied by other historians. They appear to have been so much alike that their friends could only distinguish one from the other by some difference of dress, and they had such an amount of sympathy with each other that " if Nicholas happened to be sick or grieved Andrew felt the like pain though far distant from one another and it was also observed that if Andrew was merry Nicholas was similarly affected, although in different places." In the year 1564 they were both killed at Newhaven — Havre de Grace — where one was serving as a Captain of Horse, and the other as a Volunteer. They are also mentioned in the long inscription on the Tremayne monument in the following words : — These likened twins in fonu and fancy one Were like affected, and like habit chose, Their valour -at Newhaveu's siege was knowi, 2 E

218 DEVONSHIRE FARISHES.

Where both uncountei'J fiercely with their foes ; There one of both sore wounded lost his breath, And t'other slain revenging brother's death. Robert, their youngest brother died young ; of their eight sisters, Bridget married PhiUp Dennis, of Padstow; her daughter Zenobia, Robei-t Stowford, of Stowford, and her daughter Sir Thomas Wise ; Katherine married John Harris, of Lanrest ; Jane, John Southcot, of Southcot ; Margaret, Thomas Dennis. The other sisters died unmarried.'

Roger Tremajnie, the eldest son, married Ann, daughter of Richard Coffin, of Portledge, and had issue four daughters and a son wlio predeceased him. He was succeeded by his brother, Edmund, (whose imprisonment and torture in the Tower I have already mentioned), who mamed Eulaliii, daughter of Sir John St. Leger, and had two sons, both called Francis, who died young, and two daughters.

Thus Digory, the third brother, acquired the paternal

inheritance. By his 1st wife, Elizabeth, daughter of

Thomas Vacy of Tamerton, he had two sons, Lewis, who

died in infancy, and Arthur, who married Mary, daughter

of Sir Richard Grenvile, of Stow by whom he had seven

sons and nine daughters. His eldest son, Edmund,

bap. 17th Oct. 1587, married Bridget, daughter of Sir

John Cooper, of the county of Dorset. He was tme to the

King during the troublesome times, " and was several

hundred pounds deep in their books at Habeixlashers Hall

for his loyalty." He is also stated to have repaid a

considerable portion of the money borrowed for the

' Mary married Wm. Samuel of Restormel (" Visit, of Cornwall," Vivian).

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 219

necessities of the Queen during her sojourn at Exeter at the time of the birth of the Princess Henrietta, and to have never had it refunded ; he became too the victim ot sequestration, and even of imprisonment.

It was in his time that the aged and infirm vicar ot Lamerton, the Rev. John Cooper, was ejected from his Vicara<re by the Puritans. After an imprisonment at Ply- mouth" he returned to his parish, where Mr. Tremayne appears to have supported him until the Restoration, when Walker believes that he was replaced m his prefer- ment, although he does not appear to have retained it lone since his successor E^ond Candy was admitted to the'hving vacant by the death of Cooper in 1660. Mr. Tre- mayne had issue five sons, and died in 1667. His two eldest sons, Thomas and John, died unmarried, the latter in infancy. The third, also called John, married Elizabeth, dau-hter of John Courtenay, of MoUand, and died in the lifethne of his father, and without issue. Upon the death of Edmund, (the fourth son, who never married), in 1667 the property came to the youngest of the family, Colonel Arthur Tremayne, who married Bridget, daughter of Nicholas Hatherleigh, of Lamerton, and his son Edmund, by his marriage with Arabella, daughter and heir oi Sir Edmund Wise, acquired the Sydenham property and a larcre accession of income. Prom this period the Tremaynes cea'^ed to reside at Lamerton and the continuation of their pedigree has been already given in a previous chapter'.

iSee anto pp. 171-2. ^ „■ tt , ii

Arthur Tremayne, married Anne, not Grace, dau. of Sir Halswell

Ti-nte and dying in 1709, left a. son Arthur, hap. 6th March 1700-1.

who died at the age of 96, instead of. 100. as stated in the t.xt.

('•Visit. Cornwall," Vivian.) 2 E'

220 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHATER X.— PART III.

The Parish of Lameeton. — Lamekton Church.

The church of Lamerton, dedicated to St. Peter, con- sisted when I visited it 21st July, 1 875, of nave, separated from north and south aisles by six narrow-pointed and moulded arches, supported upon clustered columns.

Tne chancel was a continuation of the nave.

In the eastern window I noticed many interesting remains of fifteenth century glass — the figure of a kneeling abbot, with his crozier, and with a label ; three female figures, also with portions of labels,, and several fragments of canopies — while the arms.. Or \^Ar. ?) a lion rampt. Gu., clearly pointed to John, Lord Russell, who became patron of the rectory in the year 1540.

The piscina remained on the south side of the altar.

The font, which stood at the end of the nave, was octagonal and of Decorated date. It was formed of Roborough stone, and was ornamented with the flat four- leaved flower, the keys of St. Peter in saltire, and the cross flory. At the end of the south aisle stood the ancient monument of the Tremaynes, erected by Digoiy Tremayne in 1588, with theefiigies of his brothers Roger Edmund, Richard, Nicholas, and Andrew, and a long inscription in verse, from which I have already given

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 221

extracts. Overhead I remarked the crested helm, sword, and gauntlet of some member of their family. The memorial, which was encircled with an iron railing, was repaired by Col. Arthur Tremayne, to whom probably the sword, and other trappings belonged. There were other inscriptions to A. Tremayne, 1709, Arthur Tre- mayne, aged 95, 1794, and Arthur Tremayne, 1S03. The priest's door was on the south side of this aisle.

The windows were of late Perpendicular date. One of them, had a very debased arch, but was ornamented with shields for arms and t\iejleur de lis.

In the north aisle was the monument of Hugh Fortesciie with hLs wife, a daughter of Coffin, of Dorsetshire, and their effigies. Underneath were the Fortescue arms, impaled with Ar. a chev. between three mullets pierced Sa. (Coffin, of Portland, co. Dorset) ; and above, Fortescue, quartering ; first Densell, Sa. an estoille of eight points, issuant out of a crescent Ar. ; second Trewin, Ar. on a bend Or (vert ?) between three crosses, crosslet fitchee Gu, three crosiers ; third Filleigh, Gu. A fesse vaire between six crosses pattce Or. Date 1G50.

The stairs which anciently led to the rood loft remained 0)1 the nortli side.

The bosses of folliage in the roof, interspersed with nodi, were rather poor, but of Perpendicular date. Their appeai'ance was not improved by the yellow paint with which tliey were covered. The cross ribs were of oak, enriched with carved moulding.

The south porch had a square-headed doorway of late Third Pointed date, with quartrefoils in the eastern side of the interior door, which had olso a moulded arch.

222 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

I jjarticularly remarked the appearance of a small blocked arch, which led me to conclude that an Aspersorium, or holy water stoup, had once existed thei'e.

There was some interesting old ironwork on the door, and in the centre was a curious example of a Sanctuai'y clasp or knocker. In the Middle Ages the privilege of Sanctuary was admitted by the Princes of Christendom very extensively, and venerat'on ultimately ran so high that churches, churchyards, monasteries, and Bishop's houses became asylums to all that fled to them, let the crime be what it would. Within forty days, however, the culprit was compelled to acknowledge his faults before the Coroner, and to submit to banishment. To take a person from Sanctuary was considered unheard of wicked- ness. At Durham two men were formerly stationed in a chamber over the north door, and when any offenders knocked they let them in, and tolled a bell to announce that some person had taken Sanctuaiy. In the end Sanctuaries Avere abused, and became the customary resort of the very worst criminals, at last. This general privilege was abolished in England by the Statutes 2Gth, 28th, and 32nd Henry VIII, and 1st and 2nd Edward VI, and the plea of, " Sanctuary with abjuration " was taken away by 21st James I. Finally, the privilege was withdrawn from various well-known places in London, where the custom still lingered, in 1697.

The tower, which contained six bells, was pliin, but solid and handsome ; it was strongly buttressed at the angles, and there were remains of orocketted pinnacles rising from embattled turrets. The western doorway had a good Pointed arch, and the tower arch, nearly circular.

PARISH OF LAMERTOX. 223

was of the true Devonshire type so frequently described by the late Mr. Grey. There was an octagonal tun-et containing the stairs which led to the belfry on the north side. Over the north door I noticed a plain square niche, and the rood stairs, to which I have referred, were carried up in a double buttress.

It is sad to be obliged to record the destruction of this venerable and interesting buUding. When I visited it, the vicar, the Rev. H. J. Pliilpotts, was doing his best to restore it, and with untiring energy he afterwards accomplished his object at a cost of about £1.400. On the 20th July, 1876, the church was re-opened. The worii had included the reseating of the edifice wath pitch- pine, and the almost entire renovation of the roof; and that parishioners and friends gave freely is evidenced from the fact that when the work was over the vicar had £100 to spare. A new organ at the cost of £180, was also provided, and in order to keep tlie instrument free from damp a small lamp, specially constructed, was kept burning just inside the case. Some have considered that an accident to this lamp was the cause of the lamentable fire which occurred on the night of Monday, November, 19th 1877 ; but whatever the cause, in a few hours the church was nearly level with the ground. At the very first it was seen that the fire liad obtjiined a omplete mastery over the organ, the pipes of which acted as conductors, and conveyed the flames to the roof, and the wooden beams were speedily ignited. In less than three-quarters of-an-hour the whole fabric was an imnaense furnace, the roof fell in with a terrible crash, and soon afterwards four of the bays of the north aisle, with the massive Moor-

224 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

stone columns which had supported the arcade, fell back against the north wall. In the tower the heat was so intense that the bells were entirely melted, and the metal ran down in streams to the ground, all the woodwork having been entirely destroyed. The next day revealed the melancholy fact that, although the pillars and arches at the western end of the building were still standing, yet they were much cracked with the heat. Nothing but the four walls and the skeleton of the tower remained entire ; all else was in ruins, and only two or three of the memorials of the dead were to be seen on the walls. The Tremayne monument, although injured by the heat, was saved.

The building was only insured for £2,200, and the vicar, with the same determination which he had evinced in the restoration, set about rebuilding, and he also had the satisfaction of being able to accomplish this task. The new edifice, which, by his care and exertions, arose from amidst the ashes of the ancient church in which, through long ages and succeeding generations, their ancestors had worshipped, was opened to the people of Lamerton in 1879.

The first notice I have found of St. Peter's, Lamerton, occurs in a Bull of Exemption and Confirmation of Pope Celestine III of all churches and tithes belonging to the monastery of Tavistock, and bears date 4th Kal. Junii (29th May), 1193. I give the extract in its entirety, since it conclusively shows how the abbey originally became possessed of this rectory : —

" Ecclesiam de Lamberton cum omnibus pertlnentiis suis a domino fundi W. Giffard in puram et perpetuam

PARISH OF LAMERTON. 225

elemoslQam vobis et monasterio vestro coUatam et a bone meinorie B (Bartholomew) Exoniensi Episcopo Confir- matame« de iobis ad mandatum de tribus pauperibus cotidie patcmdis et ad alia pietatis opera exequenda, J (John the Chanter) quondam ExoniensisEplscopi Assensu

Assignatam."

In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, finished in 1291, the Rectory is valued at £9 6s. 8d., and in the valor of Henry VIII. at £11. Both the land and the church are referred to in the letters patent, dated Westminster, 4th JiUy, 31st Henry VIII, by which this and other property is given to John, Lord Russell, to the Lady Anne, his wife, and to their heirs male-" Ac dominia sive maneria nostra Milton Abbot aUas dictum Milton Legh, Lamerton, &c., &c. The land would thus seem to have been held from the abbey. It was of course a mere seignory, and yielded nothing to the lord save the usual feudal service, and therefore it does not appear in the rental.

Lord RusseU, by the same letters patent, is constituted Patron of this and other rectories lately belonging to Tavistock Abbey :— " Advocaciones, rectorias appropriatas et non appropriatas decimas, &c.. &c. Et alia profiscua et emolumenta ecclesiarum parochiaHum, de Witchurch, Lamerton, Milton Abbot, &c."

Although it is long since I visited the parish, I have by no means forgotten the courtesy and attention I then received from the Vicar, (who is a grandson of the late Bishop Phillpotts,of Exeter) which I am glad to acknow- ledge. He tells me that he is unable to find any date upon the church plate, which consists of a "salver" chalice, with paten, which fits on to it and forms a cover, 2f

22G DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

and an old engraved paten ; a flagon, which appears to him to be more modern than the rest ; and an alms-box of wood, with a piece of silver inserted in it, and which bears the date 1752.

The only remaining portion of the old church is the stonework of the tower ; it was found that the granite and slate throughout the building were generally destroyed by fire and heat ; the freestone did not suSer so much and was replaced. The chancel has been extended a few feet eastwards. The eastern window was taken out, and has been replaced ; and the most eastern one on the south side was protected by the Tremayne monument, which stood in front of it. The latter has been restored by Mr. Tremayne of Sydenham, together with another memorial of his family, which was split with the heat. All the other monuments in the church were destroyed. Mr. Phillpotts also informs me that the very interesting Parochial Registers commence —

Baptisms, 1547.

Burials, 1549. •

Marriages, 1538. It will be noticed that the marriage register is of the earliest date. The Vicarage is pleasantly situated close to the churchyard, and there are twenty-four acres of glebe.

Arthur Tremayne, by will dated 24th May, 1808, directed his executors to convert his personal property (except certain articles given as heir looms), into money, and to invest in the names of the Rector of Coryton and the Vicars of Lamerton, South Sydenham and Marystow for the time being so much thereof as would produce an

PARISH OF LAMERTOK. 227

annual income of £80 clear of property tax. The said annuity to be equally divided between the four said parishes for the use and benefit of the Rector or Vicar and the Churchwardens of the respective parishes, but not to be applied in aid of the poor rates.

There is to be no intei-ference of one parish with another, a book is to be kept in each parish for entering the accounts, and the four persons who enter it are entitled to fees of 1 Os. each annually. On the death of the clergyman of either parish the trust fund is to be transferred to liis successor, as soon as he is instituted. The owner of Sydenham for the time being is appointed visitor of the charity with power to control, in order that Testator's intentions may be faithfully carried into effect.

2 E'

228 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER XI.— PART I.

The Borough of Lidford. — General Description AND History.

The ancient borough of Lidford or Lydford (according to Westcote anciently written Lighatford), which in the days of the Saxon Heptarchy was one of the most important towns in the west, and a seat of a mint wliicli appears to have survived the union of the Seven Kingdoms, and to have been constantly worked during the reign o^ King Ethelred II. (called by historians the " Un- ready "), is situated in the archdeaconry of Totnes, from which place it is about eight miles distant.

In the year 997, during the reign of the above mentioned king, the Danes sailed up the river Tamar, effected a landing, ravaged the country as far as Lidford, burnt the Abbey of Tavistock, and committed dreadful devastations until they were bought off by the payment of a large sum, equivalent to £24,000 of the present currency ; a few years prior to this raid under the command of Swe3'n, King of Denmark, and Olave, King of Norway, they had entered the Thames in ninety-four vessels, laid siege to London, and threatened it with total destruction, and were only induced to depart by the subsidy of sixteen thousand pounds of silver ; these successive tributes gave rise to

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 229

the odious and oppressive tax called Danegelt, or Dane money, which continued to be levied on the people long after the occasion for its imposition had ceased.

The manor of Lideforde was ancient demesne of the Crown of England, and the following is a translation ot the paragraph referring to it at page SO of the Exeter

Domesday : —

" The King has one borough, which is called ' Lide- forda,' which King Edward held in that day on which he was aUve and dead. There the king has twenty-eight burgesses witliin the borough and forty-one without, and these return yearly three pounds by weight to the king, and there are forty houses laid waste since King William held England, and the aforesaid burgesses^ have land for two ploughs without the city. And if an expedition goes by land or sea it returns as much service as Totnes or Barnstaple returns.'"

There is another manor of Lidefort mentioned in Domesday, which in the reign of Edward the Confessor was held by a Saxon " Waddels," and afterwards formed part of the property of Ralph de Pomerai, under whom it was held by Roger.

This was probably a small manor within the Royal borough, and tliere is proof that the Pomeroys long pre- served their connexion with Lidford, and that at le:ist one of the fiimily represented it in Parliament.

1 The Exchequer Domesday says :-" Rex habet burgum Lideforde Kex Edwardus tcnuit in do.uinio, Ibi suht xxvii burgenscs intra burgum et xli extra. Inter omnes reddunt regi Ix sob-dos ad pen.sum et habont ii camicatus terr.^ extra burgum Ibi sunt xl domus vast.e postquam rex venit in AngUam. Quod si expeditio vadit vel per teiTam, vel per mare tautum servitii redit quantum Barnestaple vclTotenais."

230 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

From the year 1265 up to the 33rd of Edward I. (1295) the representatives of the cities and boroughs were occasionally summoned, but they were not per- manently engrafted upon Parliament until the latter date, when the expenses of Edward, arising from his foreign wars, led him to have recourse to this means for raising supplies of money. The success of the experiment ensured its repetition, and it is shown from tlie " Parlia- mentary Writs" that on the 26 th September, 1300, the king from Rose Castle, in Pembrokeshire, issued (amongst others) a mandate to the electors of Lidford to return two representatives within eight days of the festival of St. Hilaiy (I3tli January), and accordingly John Porter and Geofry Pomeroy were chosen, and the retui-n made upon the 20th January, 1301, and the knight and burgess elect were ordered to attend the Lent Parliament to be holden at Lincoln that year, unless dead or prevented by illness.

The manor of Lidford remained in the hands uf the Crown until the year 1238, being the twenty-third year of the reign of King Henry III, when that monarch granted it to his brother E-ichard, whom he had created Earl of Poitou and Cornwall thirteen years before.

This Prince is commonly called king of the Romans or of Germany ; the former title he acquired in the year 1256.

His immense opulence having made the German pnnces cast their eyes upo)i him as a candidate for the empu-e, he was tempted to expend vast sums of money on his election, and he succeeded so far as to be chosen king of the Romans, which seemed to render his succession in- iallible to the imperial throne, but he ultimately found

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 231

that he had lavished away the frugahty of a whole life in order to procure a splendid title. He obtained a grant in the year 1267 for a market at Lidford, to be held on Wednesday, and a fair for three days at the festival of St. Patrick. He died about seven months before the king, in the year 1272, having never really attained the rank of Emperor of Germany.

Upon the death of the king of the Komans the manor ai.pears to have reverted to the Crown again, and was gi-anted by King Edward II upon his accession in 1307 to his notorious favourite, Piers Gaveston, who, after pandering to his master's vices and pleasures for five years, w^is at last brought to the scaffold by the indignant barons, and beheaded at Warwick Castle by the immediate orders of the lords Lancaster, Hereford, and Arundel, A.D. 1312. ^,

In 1382, during the minority of Kmg Richard 11, Mr Richard Abberbury was made keeper of Dartmoor Castle and Forest-the manor, including the Chace and Castle of Dartmoor, had been pennanently annexed to the Duchy of Cornwall by Edward III, in the tenth year of his reign. A.D. 1337 ; and in the year 1404 King Heniy IV revoked a grant which had been made of this property to Peter de Courtenay, because it had been united to the aforesaid duchy. His Royal Highness the Pruice of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall, is the present lord of the manor and patron of the rectory.

The hamlets of Downton, Hex worthy, Huckaby, Denna Bridge and Post Bridge, together with the whole of the extensive district of Dartmoor proper, contaunng about 130,000 acres, are situated in this parish. In 1881

232 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

the population amounted to 2,908 persons, distributed over 56,333 acres of land.

Princetown, now usually called the capital of the moor had its origin in the exertions of Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, who was Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the reign of George III, and who built a mansion for his own resi- dence at Tor Eoyal, where he made extensive plantations.

The prisons were commenced in 1808, at his suggestion for the confinement of the numerous prisoners of war who till then crowded the prison ships at Plymouth. The barracks were erected at the same time for the accommodation of the soldiers required to guard them.

A chapel with a handsome tower and a parsonage house were then erected a little way apart from the front of the prison ; and Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt also procured the privileges of a market and fair for the infant town, which was named after the royal donor of the soil, afterwards George IV. The convict prison (which is about thirteen miles distant from the parish church of Lidford) was converted to its present use in 1850, and the entrance to it is beneath a Cyclopean gateway of moor stone, inscribed with the quotation from the CEneid, "Parcere subjectis.'' This gateway is a portion of the original building, but the prison itself has undergone very many necessary additions and improvements ; many acres of land around it have been successfully cultivated by the convicts and more are constantly being re-claimed and produce abundant crops of corn, roots, and grass.

The Duchy Hotel is a most comfortable residence, and

1 Hae tibi erunt artes pads que imponero moreni Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos." Virgil JEn. vi, 853-4.

BOROUGH OF LI DWORD. 23»

every accommodation is afforded there for visiting the numberless objects of interest in the neighbourhood.

Lidford, but not Dartmoor Forest, is mentioned in Domesday ; and this may be accounted for by the fact that it was in the hands of the Sovereign, and was besides Hable to pay none of tliose taxes which land under tillage was subject to. The tin mines also are not referred to, yet there is abundant evidence' that they were in full activity in the twelfth century.

King John, when Earl of Mortain, in Normandy, granted certain immunities as Earl of Cornwall to free tenants out of the " regard " of the forest ; that is he admitted their common law rights. After he became king he disafforested all lands in Devonshire except the antient regards of the forests of Dartmoor and Exmoor ; this document bears date the 18th of May, A.D., 1203.

In the second year of Henry HE, A.D. 1217, a writ was issued, directing the sheriffs of the different counties to cause perambulations to be made between the old and new forest lands, and the charter itself was found in Durham Cathedral in 1806 ; perambulations were made in the ninth year of the same king, and they were repeated in this and the following reigns. The charter of the 9th of Henry HI. provided for disafforesting all lands which had been afforested by Heniy II, Richard I, and John.

llisdon quotes a document to prove that Dartmoor was a forest at the Conquest, but unfortunately does not say where the same is to be found. The commencement is like the entry in Exeter Domesday, but it concludes as follows : — " And the manor of Lidford extends through

1 Pipe Roll, 2nd, Henry ii. 2 G

234 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

the whole town and parish of Lidford, and througli the whole forest of Dartmoor."

" Et raanerium de Lidford se extendit per tutam villani et parochiam de Lidford et per totam forrestam de Dart- moor."

Wistman's Wood (consisting, as the last-mentioned author says, " of some acres of wood and trees that are a fathom about, and yet no taller than a man may touch the top with his hand ") i? £!*^^'iated about two miles from Princetown. Tradition says that these curious trees were planted by Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, in the thirteenth century.

But this is nothing but tradition, for in the perambula- tion of the moor preserved in the duchy office, this wood is shown to have presented the same appearance just after the Conqviest as it does now. I pass over all the Druidical traditions in connection with it as I have already referred to them elsewhere.' I merely intend now to describe it as it is. It lies on the side of a steep hill known as Bairdown in the neiofhbuurhood of Princetown, it is certainly weird in appearance, and all the trees are more or less stunted and misshapen. The slopes of the hill are covered with blocks of granite, and the oaks, which average only from ten to twelve feet in height, are interspersed with mountain ash, and all the trees are covered vdth fern and lichen. The oak trees branch at the top considerably although their height is so diminu- tive, but their bulky appearance is principally due to the parasitical plants with which they are covered. The moormen tell you that the wood consists of five hundred

' IntroiJ. to White's Devonshire, p. 41.

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 235

trees, five hundred feet high — that is to say that each tree averages a foot m height. They always appeared to me to be from seven to ten feet, taking one with another. It is said that more than seven hundred concentric rings have been counted in a section from the trunk of one of these trees. Anything more weird or melancholy than their appearance, even in the height of summer can scarcely be imagined. It is impossible to tell how they are rooted, for they stand in the midst of gigantic boulders in a perfectly barren soil which of course accounts for their immature growth, but if for no other reason they are to be admired for their extreme old afire, and it is satisfactory therefore to know that they are properly protected by the Ducliy authorities.

The lord of Skeradon, in BuckfastJeigh, held his land by the tenure of providing the king with three arrows "quando curreret in foresta de Dertimore," and the manor of " Leningstone," or Lympstone, was held upon nearly similar terms, viz., two arrows and an oaten loaf

A chapel, dedicated to St. Raphael, was built some years since near the hamlet of Hexworthy, and another, St. Gabriel's chapel, was provided about the same time for the inhabitants of the hamlet of Post Bridge ; both these districts are sixteen or seventeen miles distant from Lidford Churcli.

Adjoining Post Bridge stands a venerable rehc of abori- ginal times, a granite bridge of primitive Cyclopean architecture, which must have withstood (as Rowe says) " the fury of the vehement Dart in his most turbulent moods, for twenty or thirty centuries." The piers, three in number, consist of six layers of granite slabs above

236 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

the foundation ; the imposts well adapted for the pm-pose to whicli they wei'e applied, are about fifteen feet long and six wide. The bridge can still be used, though one of the superincumbent stones, either by accident or design, has become displaced, and now lies in the bed of the river.

The foundations of the walls surrounding the town and some remains of the gates were still to be seen in Risdon's time, and it is stated by Polwhele tliat several of the coins from the Lydford Mint were preserved in the late Dr. Hunter's cabinet.

Several authors state that this town had the honour of entertaining Julius Caesar and his whole army on his second arrival in this island, and we read in " Maton's Western Counties " that the biu-gesses were excused from sending representatives to Parliament (after the reign of Edward 1) on account of poverty, " propter paupertatem."

The remains of the castle of Lidford (which must have been built subsequently to the Conquest with a similar intention to that which caused the construction of the fortresses ot" Liiunceston, Okehampton, Tiverton, and Beriy, namely, to guard the inland passes and vulnerable points of the county), consist chiefly of the ruins of the keep, a square building, standing on an artificial mound of great age, with an entrance at the north-west. Before it is a spacious area, with a gradual slope, enclosed by two pai'allel mounds. At the end of this, the ground begins to be very precipitous in its descent until it joins the river, the other bank of which is almost equally steep.

It must have once been a place of very considerable

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 237

strength, and approachable only towards the noi*th-east, and there can be little doubt that it was built on the site of an early British camp, and that the ancient inhabitants availed themselves of its local advantages at a very remote period.

By a charter of Edward I. Lidford Castle was appointed as the Stannary Prison, where alone all offenders against the Stannary laws were to be incarcerated ; and it was here that an ancestor of the Strodes of Newnham — as I have previously remarked— was confined in 1512, by order of the stannators assembled in court at Crockern Tor, because he refused to pay the fine they had inflicted upon him as a punishment for his having procured an Act of Parliament to prevent injury to harbours by mining operations.

Each of the four stannary towns, viz., Ashburton, Chao-ford, Plymton, and Tavistock, sent twenty-four men to represent the general body of Devonshire tinners, and after the commission was opened and the jurors sworn in the open air at Crockern Tor, the Court was adjourned to one of the four towns.

The table and seats of moorstone mentioned by Ilisdon have unfortunately been destroyed, but the judge's chair may still be seen inside a gate near Brownberry Farm, on the high road between Ashburton and Princetown.

At tlie commencement of the reign of Edward I. the assizes are said to have been held at Exeter and Lidfurd alternately.'

The pit now shewn as the dungeon or prison is about sixteen feet by ten, and the descent must have been by a

1 Polwhelo, i. 270.

238 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

ladder ; there is no window in it, and the chamber above is lighted only by a single narrow loophole.

Lidfoi'd appeal's to have obtained an unenviable notoriety as a place where justice was unfairly administered, per- haps in consequence of the unscrupulous conduct of Sir Eichard Grenville, King Charles's General in the West. This man employed the authority delegated to him by his king as a means of obtaining revenge upon his private enemies ; and, according to Clarendon, " his licentious and violent courses not less than his loyalty rendered him abhorrent to the godly, whilst his reckless intriguing and tyrannical disposition did the most irreparable injury to the King's cause." It is said that many unfortunate victims were imprisoned by him in this castle, and that several of them were afterwards hanged without trial ; he was reported to his superiors for " having committed very many honest, substantial men, and all the constables of the east part of the county," to this prison ; and he was ultimately removed from his command, imprisoned by the Prince of Wales, and at length died in self-imposed retirement at Ghent, in Flanders, and was buried there.

Judge Jeffries is repoi'ted to have been the last who presided at Lidford and until within the last thirty years the judge's chair, %vith the royal arms over it, and the table were still preserved. The castle now, however, is quite open to the weather, and the person who rented the enclosure when I visited the parish believed that these articles of furniture wei'e removed to Oke- hampton. Some candlesticks (also belonging to the court-room) were purchased by a L.ndowner of the paris'i since dead, and -whose daughters reside at Tavistock and Princetown respectively.

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 239

From a survey of the borough I gather that the castle " was very much in decay, and almost totally ruuied," in the year 1650, although it had then but lately been repaired by the prince. However, it appears to have had a good roof covered with lead, and to have been in some smtdl degree habitable withm the last half century, since the late vicar of Tavistock (the Rev. Atkyns Bray) recollected being able " to tread the stairs and floors," although not without danger, as he adds " m^st of the boards were wanting."

It is stated in Chappie's collections (and the statement was confirmed to the authors of the " Magna Britannia") by the testimony of living persons, that a separate coroner was elected from time immemorial for the parish of Lid- fore, and that it was the invariable and very extra- ordinaiy custom to choose the oldest man in the parish to that office, whatever his rank or situation in life.

There is an interesting collection of historical docu- ments relative to Lidford and Dartmoor contained in the appendix to the " Perambulation of Dartmoor," published by the late Rev. Samuel Rowe, vicar of Crediton.

240 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER XL— PART II.

The Parish of Lidford. — Lidford Church.

The parish church of Lidford, dedicated to St. Petrock, stands upon high ground to the north west of the village, and consists of a deep chancel, a nave sepai-ated from the south aisle by three well proportioned through rather obtuse arches, with plain mouldings, and supported by clustered columns, a south porch, and a tower at the western end containing five bells.

The ancient screen has been removed, but I noticed an interior rood staircase still remainino- in the thickness of the western wall of the aisle, although the upper door which once led from the church on to the rood lofb has been blocked by a hideous pulpit and sounding board, ei'ected immediately under the chancel arch. ^

This end of the aisle was doubtless once a chapel dedicated to our Lady, and a curious example of a glazed hagioscope, or squint, is still to be seen, the opening being made through the rood stairs and affording a perfect view of the eastern end of the chancel. The word " Hagioscope " has only of late years been applied to these openings, and, as a well-known author observes, " it seems undesirable to give Greek names to the parts of Enghsh buildings." Still there does not appear to be

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 241

any good or ancient authoricy for the name of " Squint " also bestowed upon them, but it has been long in use. They were very commonly provided in our churches before the Reformation, although but comparatively few of them now remain, many of them having been plastered over, although their existence may frequently be dis- covered by a projection on the outside similar to a low buttress, which was originally made to cover the opening. They are supposed to have been provided for the use of the attendant who had to ring the sanctus-bell at the time of the elevation of the Host ; and there can be little doubt that this was the case at Lidford, since from the formation of the exterior of the building it is probable that a sancte-bell cot or turret once stood over the chancel arch.

The ancient priest's door, on the south side of the chancel, has been partially blocked and replaced by a small square-headed window ; the arch of the old door can still be discerned on the outside. Some of the windows have also been built up ; that at the eastern end of the church is filled with Early Perpendicu- lar tracery ; I noticed also a good square-headed window, with geometrical quatrefolled tracery, seemingly of the transition from second to third pomted. There is a small but very curious and ancient circular font of granite of apparently Early English date, which Rowe remarks " is of such antique simplicity that it may have been coeval \ni\\ the departed glories of Lidford in Saxon times ;" at the eastern end of the aisle the window is filled with geometrical tracery of about the middle of the 14th

centuiy.

2 H

242 DEVOl^SHIRE PARISHES.

The porch, of Early EngUsh date, is of high pitch, and has a good example of an aspersorium or holy water stoup on its eastern side ; the outside door is pointed, and has deep mouldings, whilst the jambs of the door leadmg into the church ai'e plain and octagonal ; the ancient stone seats still remain, and at the entrance a granite slab, without mscription, marks the grave of an ecclesiastic (probably a former vicar), distinguished by a cross flory. The window immediately to the west of the porch is an Early English lancet ; and the tower, which is rather low, is square and embattled and strongly buttressed, the buttresses terminating in four crocketted pmnacles, which wei'e anciently surmounted with crosses ; but three of these have disappeai-ed. It is well known that the ornamental stone crosses used as finials to the gables and pinnacles of our churches were considered as superstitious by the Pui-itans, and that they seldom spared them.

The western window is large and well proportioned, and the doorway beneath it is square-headed with plain foliated spandrils and deep mouldings in the jambs ; the tower staircase is carried up between two buttresses in its north-western angle.

The church appears to have been partially rebuilt about the middle of the 14th century; but, there are many traces of Early English or 12th century work, par- ticularly in the porch and the parts westward of it, and even the chancel seems to me to be older than the nave and aisle (which are apparently of the period of the transition from Decorated to Perpendicular architecture. It has however been so much altered by the blocking and

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 243

insertion of windows and doorways, and by the lavisti employment of plaster and whitewash, as to render it impossible to form a positive opinion ; the separation between it and the nave on the outside is well defined. With the Prince of Wales for their landlord I should imagine that the parishioners would have little difficulty in effecting the much needed restoration of their venerable and historically interesting church.

In the year 1236 " The king gave and yielded to God and the Church of St. Petrock of Ludeford and to the chaplain ministering in the same Church for his sustenta- tion as long as he shall be chaplain there, the tithe ox grass of the moor of Dartmoor. Witness the king at Wudestok 12th day of July." "And Herbert, the son of Matthew, is commanded to cause the aforesaid tithes to be held by the parson of the same Church.'"

Bishop Bronescombe on the 20th August, 1260, trans- fen-ed the hamlets of " Pushyll and Balbeny " (now Pishill and Babeny) to the parish of Widecombe from Lidford for the convenience of their inliabitants. The transfer is only partial. For some purposes they were to remain parcel of the mother parish of Lidford, but they were to pay their tithe-lambs and three parts of their offerings to the parson of Widecombe, and the remainder to the parson of Lidford (see Bishop Bronescombe's Register, Folio 16b). This instrument is printed in the appendix to Rowe's " Perambulation of Dartmoor." I believe that the arrangement to which it refers is still in

force.

In the year 1291 the ecclesiastical valuation (made by

> Rot. Pat. 2l8t Hy. iii, ni. 6.

2h'

244 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

order of Pope Nicholas IV.) of all the English parishes was completed. The bishops chai'ged with making the survey were Oliver Sutton, of Lincohi, and John de Pontissare, of Winchester ; the latter was peculiarly fitted for his office, having been canon of our cathedral, rector of Tavistock, and Archdeacon of Exeter.

The first fruits of the church of Liddeford, " Ecelesia de Liddeford," were then valued at £1 lOs. per annum.

This survey must not be confounded with the taxation made by Walter de Suffield, Bishop of Norwich, in 1253, and which is usually called the Norwich Taxation. That prelate acted under the ordei-s of Pope Innocent IV., who gave all the first fruits and tenths for three yeai'S to King Henry III.

It is shown by the " Valor Ecclesiasticus " of King Henry VIII that in 1536 George Caiew was rector of this parish, and that the tithes, &c., were then leased for a term of five years to John Drewe and Henry Hogge, and that they were valued at £15 13s. 7d. per annum.

In the reign of King Charles I the Rev. Richard Pote (who had been born at Broadwoodwiger, in this county, and was a graduate of Gloucester Hall, Oxfoi'd), was ^^ealously afi'ected to the Established Church and the monarchy. When fii'st ordained he was appointed chaplain to Sir James Smith, a colonel in his Majesty's army, but was soon prefeiTed to the vacant i-ectory of Lidford, into which he was legally instituted and inducted, the income from several sources then amounting to about £140 a year. His finn adherence to the Royal party and his friendship with many of the king's supporters, particularly Colonel Tremayne, gave offence to some few

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 245

of his disatfected parisliioners and some of the inhabitants of the neighbouring parishes, and at last one Valentine Cake endeavoured to incite a person called Potter to make a desperate attempt to turn him out of bis rectory. This attempt failed, but some particulars of it are to be gleaned from a letter (published in " Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy,")i and addressed by Ricliard Potter to the aforesaid Cake.

" JIu. Cake,—

Happeneise attend you. I have been latelye at Lydford, thinking to have mett wth you ; but according to your wife's direction I passed Dart, and unhappily missed you where I supposed to have found you. The Forresters in the Moorn are backward in Artickling against the Party ; you know whome I moane, and they tell me they never framed any Articles as yett, and I perceive a Backwardnesse in the home dwellers, sue that my incouragemeut is but smale to procede in the businesse which you have sette me upon : iSIr. C — willcth me to proceed and some of the Committee have incouraged me, befdro whome I should have appeared the beginning of the insewing weckc ; but finding such letts and hinderances in those whom I expected most forward and a backwardness in such as seemed most willing and desirous, I are in doubt what course to take. Artickles must be invented and produced, as tliat the man hath been Chaplin unto Woode, how that hee is an illiterate man and profane and scandalous to the Ministery. Many more you must procure to be drawn up against him, for the displacing of him. What you doe heerin for mee, I will freely reward you in your future tythes, thus with my true aflfection I remayne your unfayned friend,

RICH. POTTER, llarlacombe (( Iwlecombe), Feb. Glh, 1G46. Superscribed For Mr. Valentine Cake, These at Lydford.

This letter came to Cake's house in his absence, and fell into the hands of his son, who, unlike his father, was well affected to the king and Church, and he, therefore,

iPart ii, p. 329.

246 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

handed it to the rector. It remained for many years with Mr. Pote, and was given by his widow to her husband's successor, in whose possession it was when Walker copied it.

At length a Puritan called Clement Hatch obtained an Order of Committee for the rectory of Lidford, which he forcibly took, and held for fifteen years, namely, from 1647 to 1662, during which time the true rector was forced to shift from place to place in Cornwall, and to teach a few children (when pemiitted to do so) for sustenance.'

Jn 1662 Hatch, not wishing to restore the rectory, thought fit to conform, but Mr. Pote, through some of his old friends, succeeded in bringing an action of ejectment against the intruder, and, obtained a fair veidict, and soon after the repossession of his church.

Hatch then persuaded the foresters of Dartmoor that " their tithes were not due to the parish of Lidford, and that they were great fools if ever they paid one farthing- more there ; and that Pote was grown veiy poor and old, and not able to contend with them " (this was after- wards given in evidence in a suit for the recovery of these same tithes). The advice was followed by the Moor men, and, leaguing together, they succeeded in defrauding Mr. Pote of the larger portion of his forest tithes up to his death, and his income of £140 a year was reduced to less than £50. Walker concludes his notice of this unfortunate rector by remarking that the

1 Hatch was assisted in his usurpation of the Kectory by " Mr. Iticholan Row of Lamerton, a man oj great sicay in those days in that part of the country.

BOROUGH OF LIDFORD. 247

refusal to pay the tithes did not cease with Mr. Pote's death, but devolved infinite difficulties upon his successor, whii made to a certain extent successful attempts for their recovery, but he was unable to settle the question as to the tithe wool on Dai-tmoor, and it remained con- tested at the time the " Sufferings of the Clergy " was published, in 1714. According to this authority there were at that time by computation upwards of 30,000 sheep on Dartmoor in summer time, and it had then become exceedingly difficult, if not altogether im- possible to recover what was justly due from their owners to the rector, upon whom the iniquities of the age had brought this great injustice.

In the year 1727 Thomas Burnaford was the rector. A terrier made in this year states " that the inhabitants witlun the manor pay theii- tithe-lambs, surphce fees, and mortuaries to the vicar of Widecombe ; all other tithe is due and payable to the rector of Lidford, ex- cepting the tithe herbage of barren cattle depastured on Dartmoor, for which he receives a composition of £3 per annum out of the Prince's high rents."

The late rector of Lidford, the Rev. Morris Fuller, resided at Princetown parsonage ; to a former curate of Lidford (the Rev. W. K. W. Chafy Chafy, who then occupied the rectory) my best thanks are due for his kind attention to my inquiries — the latter informed me that the registera commence : — baptisms May 21st, 1716 ; marriages, May 5th, 1719; burials, June 7th, 172G ; the early books, therefore, must have been lost or destroyed. Mr. Chafy also told me that he had discovered a lancet-headed niche at the eastern end of the south wall

248 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

of the aisle, and that it was blocked by the mutilated i-emains of a white alabaster figure, with drapery in- dicating it to be that of a female. This discovery had not been made when I visited the church, but as I have already said, there can be no doubt that this portion of the aisle was anciently the Lady chapel, and from the situation of the niche (as it was described to me), I fancy that it was the piscina on the south side of the chapel altar. Probably a " bracket " (which quite possibly may still be in existence, although hidden by whitewash) was provided for the reception of the statue of the Blessed Virgin, of which these disjointed fragments, still bearing traces of colour, may be the mutilated remains. The ancient open roof of English oak (now much needing careful restoration) must have once been very beautiful.

" I have stayed you here over long, I must confess ; I fear you have either taken cold, or the cold hath taken you." These are the words of those quaint, "painstaking " historians Westcote and Eisdon, and I have nothing to add to their apology, save that in the glorious summer time Lidford is delightfvil, but that I should not much care to sojourn there during the prevalence of those winds alike beloved by, and fatal to, poor Canon Kingsley, who regarded them as men usually regard all things peculiar to the scenes of their birth, although the picturesque vicarage of Holne, where he was born (almost suiTounded by hill and waste, and nestlmg under the bleak table land of the Moor is not included in the perambulation of the " Royal Chace and Forest of the Dartmoors."

FARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 249

CHAPTER XII.— PART I.

The Parish of Miltox Abbot. — With some AccouyT OF THE Noble Families of Eqssell and Edgcumbe.

The parish of Milton Abbot, or as it is sometimes written, " Milton Abbots," which includes about 6,617 acres of land with a population of over 1,000, is distant but a few miles from Lamerton. It is situated midway between Tavistock and Launceston, in the hundred and deanery of the former, and in the Archdeaconry of Totnes. Eisdon,' says that " MQton Abbot did belong to the Abbey of Tavistock by the gift of a Knight that dwelt in Daversweek," while Lysons tells us,^ " This Manor was given to the Abbot and Convent of Tavistock, together with the Barton of Leigh, by Ordulph, its founder." Both these statements are unsubstantiated by their authors. There is a discrepancy noticed by Dr. Oliver,^ m the description of the possessions of the Abbey of Tavistock at the period of the Domesday Survey given in lioth the Exchequer and Exeter copies of that record, but we learn from the latter that the Abbot held it under the name of Middeltona in the days of the Confessor,

' "Sm-v'ey "p. 218. 2 Jfag. Drit. 2, 339. " Monas. Dioc. p. 90. 2 I

250 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

and that in 1087 it was still the property of Galfridus, the then head of the Benedictine community, whose Monastery, commenced by Ordgar, Earl of Devon, m the year 961, had afterwards been completed l)y his son Ordulph at a somewhat later date.

By whatever means the Abbot and Convent became possessed of it, it is certain that they held it through succeeding ages, until the dissolution ; and Bishop Bartholomew, of Exeter, shortly before his death, 1134, confirmed to Abbot Herbert, among other churches, that of Milton, which had been dedicated to S.S. Constantine and Giles.

Milton Abbot is a pleasaiit and well-built ^iIlage, and includes several other Manors, Hamlets, and Bartons, namely, Foghanger, Guither, Edgcumbe, Week Dabernon, Liddaton, Innisleigh, or as it is now called Endsleigh, Ford, and Chillaton.

Of these the Manors of Lego, or Leigh and Lideltona, or Liddaton, are mentioned in the Survey as the property of the Abbot. The former, which had belonged to Ailric, the King's Thane in the time of King Edward, was held at the Conquest under Abbot Galfridus by sub- tenants, Nigel and Robert ; while the Manor of " Lideltona," or Liddaton, was occupied by Godfrey, under the same Lord.

The Manor of West Liddaton, mentioned by Lysons, which is situated in the same parish, became the property of the Abbey at a much later date, since it appears to have been the gift of Odo L'Ercedekne, or Archdeacon, in the year 1288.

Three years afterwards, April 2nd, 1291, Abbot Eobert

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 251

Champeaux, or Campell, appropriated the whole profits of this estate, together with its mill, to the providing of Christ's poor (" ad opus pauperum Christi ") with clothes and shoes, the annual dLstribution of which was made in the cloisters of the Abbey on November 2nd, the day of the commemoration of all the ilxithful departed.

Risdon's assertion as to the conveyance of Milton to the Abbey by a " knight who dwelt in Daversweek " is to be accounted for by the gift to the Convent of the Manor of " Wick," afterwards called Week Dabernon, by John Dabernon, of Bradford, in the year 1353.

He was descended from Ingram de Abenion, who, in King Henry the Third's reign, gave the Manor of Brad- ford to his younger son William.'

The pedigree of Dennys, of Holcombe Burnell, shows that Wilham Dabernon married Matilda, daughter and co-heir of Mathew Giflford, who was descended from Anne, daughter and co-heir of Sir William Brewer, of Buckland Brewer. Their issue was John Dabernon, before mentioned, whose only daughter and heir, Joan, married John, son of William Dennys, of Gidicot.

The Manor of Ford, some time in the family of Spooner, belonged, with Chillaton, to the late Mr. John Phillips-Cai-penter, of Mount Tavy. The former is still the property of his representative, Mr. Carpenter-Garnier, hut the latter is now held by Mr. W. H. Chichester.

A branch of the Fortescue family at one time resided at Milton Abbot. James Fortescue, second son of John Fortescue, of Buckland Filleigh, by his marriage with Thomazine Prideaux, was born in 1625 and bapt. 12th

1 Survey of Devon, p. 250. 2 r

252 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

December in that year. He married Mary WooUocombe, of Eoborough ; resided at Ford, in Milton Abbot,au I was succeeded there by his eldest son, " George Fortes- cue of Ford," who by his wife Mary, daughter of John Barratt, of St. Tudy (Eval ?), Ijecame the father of four sons, James, George, John, and William, who all died unmarried, and t\\o daughters, Anne, who married Thomas Luxmore, and Mary, the wife of Nicholas Venning, of Broadhempstone.

James, the eldest son, matriculated at Exeter College", 9th February, 1732-3, aged 16 ; B.A. 14th October, 1736; M. A. 22nd June, 1739; full FeUow l2th July, 1738 (vacated 176.5); B.D. 11th April, 1749; D.D. 20th January, 1750-1 ; elected Chaplain of Merton 29th September, 1738, and again in October, 1743, and December, 1746 ; Senior Proctor 1747-8. He was pre- sented to the Eectory of Wotton on the 29th June, 1764, on the last day of the two calendar months within which the presentation was to be made. He died in July, 1777, unmarried, and his libraiy was dispersed two years afterwards. He was the author of " Essays Moral and Miscellaneous," pub. in 1759 in 2 vols, (which are not referred to by Lowndes). His works appear to have no particular value, but they include three descriptive poems, of local interest, on " Castle Hill and Devonia." His second cuusin, the Right Hon. William Fortescue, of Buckland Filleigh, Master of the Kolls, by his marriage with his kinswoman Mary Fortescue, of Fallopit (daughter and co-heir of her father, Edmund), had an only child, Mary, who married John Spooner, of Beachworth, and

1 Keg. Coll. Exon. (Boase).

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 253

died ill 1722, having had issue one daughter, named after herself, who died an infant.

In this parish is the seat of the elder branch of the ancient family of Edgcumbe, who have resided there " ever since the reign of Henry III." By a deed of the second year of Richard II, printed in Dugdale and ex- tracted from the Maynard Cartulary, WiUiam Edgcumbe, of Cothele, releases to the Abbey all his lands lying in the Abbot's Park of Innisleigh (Endsleigh), in the Manor of Midelton, dated Monday after the feast of St. Clement, November, 1378. The same Cartulary also contains the grant of West Lydeton by Odo L'Arcedekne, 17th Ed. 1st, and that of " Wyke Juxta Brenttorre," and the re- version of lands in Holywill, by John Dabernon, of Bradford, 2Gth Edward III.

The Manor of Edgcumbe extends for about a mile- and-a-half along the side of a valley which stretches from the church of Milton to the banks of the Tamar, and without doubt the family took their name from their residence. Prince conjectures that they came from Cheriton Fitz-Pain, near Crediton, " where in that church," he says, " I met with Edgecombe's isle adorned with divers coats belonging to them ; in protract of time this family removed over the Tamar, where it settled at Cuttall, in the parish of Calslock, separated from Devon only by the In'eadth of that river."

The records, however, in possession of the family show that in the reign of Edward I, Edgcumbe in Milton was the property and residence of Richard, of Edgcumbe, and some stones over one of the entrances still have the initials " R.E," with the date 1292. He had two

254 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

grandsons, John and William. The eldest inherited this property and transmitted it in lineal succession to the late Richard Darke Edgcumbe, Esq., of Edgcumbe, who was succeeded iu 1862 by his son. Piers Edgcumbe, Esq., 44th Regiment, but for the last few years the family have not resided upon this ancient property.

William, the second son of Richard of Edgcumbe, was the donor of the land at Endsleigh to the Abbot (Stephen Langdon) of Tavistock in 1378. He had become possessed of Cothele in or about the year 1353 by his marriage with Hilaria, daughter of Wilham, and sister and heir of Ralph de Cothele.

The date usually assigned to this marriage is confirmed by several entries in the minutes of the Duchy Council, a copy of which, written in Nonnan-French, was discovered a few years since at Mount Edgcumbe, and was mentioned by Lord Mount Edgcumbe at the meeting of the British Archseological Association in 1876. His Lordship, by reference to these entries, then proved that on the death of Hilaria's father, her brother Ralph was ward of John de Eltham, brother of Edward III, and Earl of Cornwall, who died in 1336, and further remarked that " they also refer to the sale of her own wardship and marriage by the Black Prince for 40 shillings, so that she be man-ied without cUsparagement, and subsequently to a contention between two claimants for her wardship, and a petition from herself, praying to have letters of inquiry as to her age, with directions from the Prince to have the matter carefully investigated. This was in 1353, and as it seems clear from the dates that she must then have been of full age, we may flatter ourselves that she bestowed her hand

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 255

on William of Eclgcumbe by her own free-will and not by any compulsion." The origin of the present noble house of Edgcumbe is clearly shewn by these minutes.

Prince's error, relative to the situation of Edgcumbe in Cheriton Fitz-paine, was perpetuated by Collins', and it is also repeated in the 1880 edition of Burke.

Prince's note, which I have already given, is accom- panied by a marginal reference, " Mr. Westc, Surv. of Devon in Ghent. Fitz. MS." The copy of Westcote's Survey, transcribed by Prince, and to which ha made additions within brackets, was bought by Mr. Adam Holden, of Exeter, at the Ford Abbey sale in 1846. Another copy in the possession of the Rev. J. Templer, of Dorsetshire, was the one used for the edition of this work published by the late Dr. Oliver and Mr. Pitman Jones, and the editors remark in their preface that " it is evident that he (Westcote) is chargeable with some egi-egious mistakes and errors, to which Mr. Prince has added many more." There is nothing, as far as I can find, in the printed edition, however, to substantiate Prince in his assertion as to the connection of Edgcumbe with Chei-iton Fitz-paine. Westcote disposes of that parish^ in the following words : — " Not far from Brem- rido-e we receive a good large tribute " (to Greedy river) " from a riveret coming from Stockley-Luckham, in the parish of Gheriton Fitz-pain. Luckham was the seat of Sir Hugh de Luckham, in the time of Edward I. Now Arundel possesseth it."

The same author, when speaking of Milton Abbot,

' Peerage of England. Sup. vol. 2, Edit. 1750. 2 View of Devon, p. 119.

25G DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

merely says^ : — " Milton, with the addition of Abbot, shows that the Abbey of Tavistock had right unto it. Daversweek : which Week belonged unto an ancient Knight of the family of Davers, or Danvers, or Danvirs."

Excepting in Prince and in those authors who have copied from him, I have failed to find anything to connect the Edgcumbe family with the parish of Cheriton Fitz- paine. It is^ of course, possible that a younger branch of this house may have been at some time seated there, as they were at Lamerton, to which I drew attention in my last article. Lysons' gives the succession of the owners of Cheriton Manor from the Stantons in the reign of Henry III, through heiresses to the Fitz-paines, Anstills. and Kellys, after which it was divided in moieties, Lucombe, within the parish, passed from the family of the same name to S. Amand, and Ai-undell, of Trerice, and then, by settlement, to the Wentworths, \\ hile the property of the Upcotts, of Upcott, belonged afterwards to the Radfords, and was with the Courtenays in the reign of Henry VIII.

Richard Edgcumbe, M.P. for Cornwall, and tenth in direct succession from William Edgcumbe, of Edgcumbe, and Hilaria de Cothele, was elevated to the Peerage as Baron Edgcumbe, 20th April, 1742. He was succeeded by his elder son, Richard, who died unmarried in 1761, when the estates and title came to his younger brother, George, as 3rd Baron. His Lordship was created Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Volletort, 17th Febuiary, 1781, and Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, 16th August, 17S9.

1 View of Devon, p. 364. « Mag. Brit. 2, 100.

FARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 257

He married, in 1761, Emma, daughter and heir of Dr. John Gilbert, Archbishop of York, who had been con- nected with this county for some years, both as Dean of Exeter and Vicar of Ashburton.' He died 4th February, 1795, and was succeeded by his son Richard as 2nd Earl, whose son, Ernest Augustus, 3rd Earl, was the father of the present Lord Mount Edgcumbe, who is therefore seventeenth in direct descent from the Kichard of Edgcumbe whose initials, with the date 1292, remain at Edgcumbe, and whose arms are cut in stone over a gate- way behind the present house.^

The extracts " E. libro nigro scaccarii," printed by Dr. Olivei',' inform us that in the reign of Henry II, Reginald de Liddeton held two Knights' fees, and Geoffrey de Leghe one, from the Abbey. It appears, moreover, that " in tempore gwerrae " GeoflFrey de Leghe and William, his son, " had wrested a half-fee from the Church."

An inspection of the " Valor Ecclesiasticus " of Henry YIII shows that at the period of the dissolution Milton Abbot was reckoned with the Manor and hundi'ed of Hurdwick — " Manerium de Hurdewyk cum hundredo et membris suis, viz., Milton Abbot, Wyke Dabernon, Whitchurch, Hele, Peterstavy, Brentor, in comitatu

1 Dr. John Gilbert, vicar of Ashburton, 1721 ; Dean of Exeter, 1726 ; Bp. of Llanflafl, 1742; Bp. of Salisbury, 1748; resigned Ashburton, 1749 ; Archbishop of York, 1757. His Grace married Margaret, daughter of Bennut Shorard of Whessindine, co. Rutland, sister of Philip, 2nd Lord Harborough.

- Worthies of Devon, p. 350 n., Edit. 1810.

• Monas. Dioc., p. 96, Hist. Coll. .\xi. 2 K

258 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Devonie, et Antony in comitatu Cornubie." The total nett value of these lands appears to have been £231 lis. 4^d. per annum. Eichard Banham, who, as Abbot of Tavistock, was, of course, Lord of the Manor of Milton, was elected in 1492; on January 23rd, 1513 King Henry YIII granted to him and to his successors the right to sit in Parliament, and the honours, privileges, and liberties appertaining to spiritual lords.

This Abbot became involved in a dispute with Bishop Oldham as to the right of Episcopal Visitation at Tavi- stock, and although, upon being excommunicated by that Prelate, he submitted to him on 10th May, 1513, and, after an appeal to Warham, the Primate, agreed to submit his case to arbitration, yet, nothing daunted by the adverse decision of February 8th, 1513-14, he after- wards carried his complaint to Rome.

He obtained a Bull of such extraordinary privileges from Leo X, on September 14th, 1517, as to completely indemnify him for all his expenses and trouble. It has been said that Bishop Oldham would not submit to this " Bull ;" and that in consequence he (the Bishop) died excommunicate. It is so stated by Godwin' ; and also in Hoker's "Catalogue of the Bishops of Exeter." Bp. Godwin says " Paulo ante mortem excommunicatus est ac nondum absolutus, diem obiit Junii 25th, 1519 ; while John Hoker remarks that he " could not be suffered to be buried until the absolution from Rome was procured for him; others, too, have stated that for tills reason the Bishop was intended without the choir underneath the eastern bay of the south aisle of his Cathedral. Both Bishop Godwn

1 De Praesulibus Ang. p. 473, Hoker (Brice) p. 137. De Prses, p. 474.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 259

and Dr. Oliver tell us, liowever, that tlie chapel dedicated to our Saviour, in which the Prelate was interred, was constructed for this very purpose during his lifetime — Jacefc turaulatus in Oapella a se dum viveret extructa, in Australi parte Ecclesiee, paulo supra suinmum altare." " From a document in his register, dated 30tli December, 1513, it appears that he had then completed S. Saviour's Chapel in his Cathedral to receive his remains." Dr. Oliver does not refer to the excommunication, and I scarcely know how to reconcile it with the fact that on the very day of his death our Bishop instituted Bernard Travesse to the Church of S. Mary Major. This is shown by his register, which concludes with the following words: — "Ipso que eodem die (2.3th June, 1519), in palatio suo Exon. Dominus ab hac luce migravit, cujus animse propitietur Deus. Amen."

Bishop Veysy, his successor, April 20th, 1525, formally admitted the exemption granted to the Abbey by the Bull of Pope Leo, at which time Banham had been suc- ceeded Ijy John Per}^!, who \\-as destined to be the last Abbot of Tavistock since he, with twenty of his brethren, surrendered his monastery into the hands of the King, March 20th, 1539. His will, dated at Tavistock ten years later, was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, April 30th, 1550. Upon the surrender of his house he received a pension of £100 a year. There is a statue of him at Endsleigh. Among his pensioners I notice the name of " Richard Edgecumbe, Esq." The Abbot of Tavistock had power of life and death within the manor of Hurdwyk.'

1 Rot. Himd. 2k=

260 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER XII.— PART 2.

The House of Russell.

The noble House of Russell, descended from the Du Rozels of Normandy, are stated to have been settled in Dorsetshire immediately after the Conquest. Fuller, when treating of the various cojoies of the Roll of Battle Abbey, adduces various reasons both for and against the authenticity of that record and remarks — " Yea, we may confidently rely on this Roll, where we find a concurrence of ancient Enghsh historians therewith ; and this will appear in the generality of names which that Roll pre- senteth unto us."

The name " Rushell " occurs in the list extracted from Holinshead, and written "Russel," in that of Stow. There is one catalogue, however, contained in Fox which recoi'ds the names of those persons who, after the Battle of Hastings, were advanced to Selgniores in this country in which the name of Russell is not included. The " Pipe Roll," 3rd King John, however, shows that the family were living in Dorsetshire in the year 1202, when John Russell, who, afterwards in 1221 was Governor of Corfe,' gave fifty marks for licence to marry the daughter of Bardolf.

1 Rot. Claus. 5th Hen. III.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 261

The Close Rolls, 8th Henry III, show that Sir Ralph Russell, son and heir of John, married Isabel, daughter and coheir of James de Newmarsh, or Newmarch ; and in the year 1224 he had livery of his wife's share of her paternal inlieritance in the counties of Somerset, Wills, and Dorset; and some years later, a.d. 1238, it is shown that he possessed powerful influence at Court, since he tlien obtained remission of certain " Scutages " due upon the moiety o!" the honours he held in right of his wife. He had three sons, and was succeeded by his son William,' who obtained a grant for a market on Thursdaj's, and a fair for three days— the eve, day, and moiTOw of St. Matthew — in his manor of Kingston, commonly eddied Kingston Russel, in the said county of Dorset.

This manor was held from the Crown by " Sergentry " to be cup-bearer to the King at the four principal feasts in the year.

He was one of the Knights of the Shire for the county of Southampton, Tst Edward II. By his marriage with Jane, daughter of Robert Pevei'el, he had issue Theobald, his son and heir, who was destined to be the ancestor of the long hne of the Dukes of Bedford.

Theobald Russel married first Eleanor, daughter and coheir of Ralph de Gorges, a Parliamentary Baron of the rei<m of Edward II. His issue was Theobald, his eldest son, who succeeded to his mother's property, took the name of Gorges, and from whom descended the family of that name, a branch of which was settled at Tamerton Foliot, in this county, which registered four dosceuts

I Rot. Cart. 12fch Ed. I.

202 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

after 27t]i Henry III, when the heir married Bonville'. The family of Warburton, of Cheshire, objected to the assumption of the coat of Gorges by Theobald Russell, and in the 2nd Edwai-d III the former established their right to it in the Court of the Earl Marshall — Henry, Earl of Lancaster — and Gorges had assigned to him lozengy. or and az., a chev., gu., in lieu of the well known Gurr/e, or Whirlpool, which the Gorges had hitherto borne, and from which charge, very possibly, their some- what peculiar surname had been derived. Sir Ralph Russell was the younger son of Theobald, the husband of Eleanor Gorges, although he is eiToneously stated by Sir Bernard Burke to have assumed the name of Gorges with his mother's property ; he inherited Kingston Russell ; he nied in 3rd Edward III, and his two sons (Theobald and John) both died unmarried ; consequently, the paternal estate descended to his brother Maurice, who was succeeded by his son Sir William, whose daughter Margaret died without issue, when her propei"ty devolved upon her aunts — Isabel, wife of Stephen Hatfield, and Margaret, wife of Gilbert Dennys.

This terminates the line of RusseU of Kingston Russell. Upon the death of Eleanor Gorges, Theobald Russell took to wife Eleanoi", daughter and heir of John de la Tour, and by her he had William, who married the daughter and heir of Mustian, and had issue Henry, whose son John, by Elizabeth, his wife, daughter and coheir of John Heringham, was the father of Sir John Russell knight, who was Speaker of the House of Commons in the second and tenth years of King Henry

^ Jlag. Brit. Devon, 1, clxv., Visitation of Devon, 1564. Colby, p. 116.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 263

VI, and who married Alice, daughter of "Freuxmere" {John Froxiaere, according to Sir Bernard Biu-ke) and had issue James, his son and heir, and two daughters, Alice, and Christian, wife of Walter Cheverell. The former married Trenchard, and their issue was Sir Thomas Trenchard, of whom more anon.

James llussell, son and heir of the Speaker, " married Alice, daughter of John Wyse.'" His will, made 30th November, 1505, was proved in the Prerog. Court of Canterbm-y. By it he ordei's his body to be buried in the Church of the "Holy Trinity ot Swyre," and he bequeaths his whole estate to Joan, his wife ; John, his son ; and Thomas, his brother, whom he makes his executors. The witnesses are Sir Henry Russell and Nicholas Boremont, who had married liis dauo-hter Elizabeth. Another daughter, Thomasin, was wife of Robert Hussey, of Shapwick, Dorset. His sou John, mentioned in the will, is stated to have been born at Kingston Russell, the ancient seat of the family in Dorsetshire. He resided at Barwick, near Bridport. He appears to have been a man of varied accomplish- ments, and to have shown early promise of that celebrity to which he afterwards attained. He was present with the Army in the expeditions to France in the reign ot Henry VII, and ultimately became a trusted servant of that monarch. His immediate introduction to the King's notice, however, was in some degree accidental. The Archduke Philip of Austria, son of Maximilian, the Emperor, upon his man-iage with Joan, daughter of Ferdinand of Castile, was driven uito Weymouth by

^ Wise red., p. 178, ante.

2C4 DEVOFSHIRE PARISHES.

stress of weather during his passage from Flanders to the Spanish Court. He was received and hospitably enter- tained by Sir Thomas Trenchard, with whom he remained until notice of his arrival on these shores had been com- municated to Windsor. John Kussell who had but recently returned from abroad, was invited by his cousin, Sir Thomas, to attend the Archduke during his stay in Weymouth. The Prince was so much impi-essed with his convei'sation and deportment that when lie received an invitation irom the King to join the Court at Windsor he asked Mr. Russell to accompany him, and, upon their arrival, he most strongly and warmly recommended him to his Majesty " as a gentleman fitly qualified to serve him in some considerable station," and he was at once appointed a "Gentleman of the Privy Chamber." Upon the accession of Henry VIII he was continued In this appointment. In 1517 he obtained certain lands in Tournay as a reward for his services in France, and in 1523 was knighted by the Earl of Surrey after the capture of Morlalx. The next year Sir John Eussell was made Marshal of the Marshalsea, and was afterwards em- ployed in several negotiations to the Emperor Charles V, to the French King, to the Pope, and to the Duke of Lorraine ; and in the 16th of Henry VIII he was present at the battle of Pavia. He became Comptroller of the Household, and one of the Privy Council in 1538. On the 9th March, 1538-9, he was raised to the Peerage by the title of Baron Russell, of Cheyneys, in the county of Buckingham, an estate which he had acquired in right of his wife Anna, daughter and heir to Sir Guy Sapcott, knight, and widow of Sir John Broughton, of Tudington, Bedfordshire.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 2G5

By lettei-s patent, dated Westminster, 4th July, 31st Henry VIII (1539), the King granted to " Sir John Russell, otherwise called Lord Russell, and to the Lady Anne, his wife," the entire house and site of the late Monastery, Abbey, or Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Tavistock, lately dissolved, and the whole Church, CampanUe, and Cemetery of the same, and all messuages, &c., as well within tis without the site and the whole borough and town of Tavistoke, together with the manors of Hurdewyke, Morwell, and Morwelham, with all their members and belongings.

The hundred of Hurdewyke, otherwise called the hun- dred of Tavistoke, as well as the Bartons or Granges of Hurdewyke, Morwell, and Morwelham, and the Lordships 07' Manors of Milton Abbot, otherwise called Milton Legh, Lamerton, Hele, Brentor, Wykedavernon, Peterstavy, Ottrew, otherwise called Ottery, Whitchurch, and New- ton, together with the Rectory and Vicarage, the advowson an.l right of Patronage of the Parish Church and of the Vicarage of Tavistock, and the whole Manor of Antony, in Cornwall, and all other messuages and tenements, &c., whatsoever in Tavistoke, lately belonging or pertaining to the Monastery aforesaid, to be held as they were held and enjoyed by John, late Abbot of the

said Monasteiy.

These letters further grant them " The whole borough of Denbury and all the manors of Denbury, Plymstock, Woryngton, Cowyke, Barleigh."

1 Francis Earl of IkJford and William Lord Russell, his hcir-apparciit, sold much of their property in St. Thomas's parish, Exeter, comprising Barley and Fi-anklyn about the year 1611. (Oliver Hist. CoU.) 2 L

266 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Olderich, Cavelynche, Whymple, Woodmanston, Chris- tenstowe, Boryngton, and Cornewood, and the Manor of Hawkewell, in the county of Somerset, and all other hereditaments, &c., in the aforesaid " ac in parochia Thome Bekket, quondavi vulyanter muncupata Sajjnt Thomas Parisshe Extra Portam Occidentalem Civitatis Exoniae," lately belonging to the aforesaid Monastery, " and the advowsons of the Rectories " of the Parish Churches of Whitchurch, Lamerton, Milton Abbot, other- unse called Milton Legh, and Boryngton, and the Chapel of Oldei'idge, St. Thomas, without Westgate, Exeter, Christenstowe, Okehampton, and Sprayton in Devon, Antony, Peterwyn, otherwise called Northepetherwyn, in Cornwall, lately appropriated to the Monastery of Tavistocke.

And the Rectories, &c., of the Parish Chmxhes of " Old Donkyswell and Awllscombe," and the free chapels there, lately belonging to the Monastery of " Donkyswell, and the Rectory of Blakaveton," lately belonging to Plympton ;" also those of Virgenstowe, Denbury, and Whimple. The whole site of the Abbev of " Dinikys- well " with its appurtenances, the Water-Mill, two gardens, and four courtleges in Olde Donkyswell, four other closes of arable land called " Beyn Crofts," one close of arable land called " Yeoman Leysse " and one other close of land called " Debere Crofte," in all 17 acres, in " Dunkyswell," and all our other meadows called Brytport meadow, Culverhey ball, Leyrehouse mede, Mylbale mede, Churchehaye mede, Swyne mede, Synr mede, and Polmede, in all 24 acres, and situated in " olcle Donkyswell," together with numerous other fields.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 2G7

woods, &c., all similarly specified, situated in the parish of Dunkeswell, in all about 451 acres. And the grange and barton of " Brodeheraby," with its belongings in " Brodehemby," with 298 acres, two fields called " Le Great or Grangemede and Lodpytt mede," containing 25 acres. The moor called Kouge Mershe, 10 acres, the woods, parke, grangewode, and the grove, in all 13 acres, situated in Broadhembury, and late belonging to Dunkeswell.

Three arable fields called " Shapcombe Filde," 1 00 acres ; the meadow known as " Shapcombe Mede," 24 acres ; and the wood called "Shapcombe Wootl," 20 acres — all in the parish of " Luppyt " — with the bartons and gi'anges of Bowreheys, Bywoode, Sheldon, and Brode- hemby, to be held as they were held and enjoyed by the late Abbot of Dunkeswell ; the manor of Blakeaveton (Blackawton), lately belonging to the Abbey of Tor.

Then follows the grant of what was afterwards known as " Bedford House," in words of which the following are a translation : — " The whole house and site lately of the Brothers Preachers, within the city of Exeter, lately dissolved, and the whole church, campanile, and cemetery of the same house, late of the Brothers Preachers, and aU messuages," &c., to be held as the rest of the property ah'eady specified.

Then comes the tenure.

The secular property of the Abbey of Tavistock,

including the rectory and advowson of the Parish

Church, is to be held from the King, his heirs and

successors in chief, by the service of one Knight's fee, and

by the annual return of £36 to the "Coni-t of Augmen- 2 L'

268 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

tation," to be paid at Michaelmas. The remaining grants, both secular and spiritual, are to be held by like service by the additional payment of £248 5s. annually at the same feast.

These " letters patent " were published in extenso, and in the original Latin from the copy in the collection of the late Mr. Jones, of Franklyn, by Dr. Oliver, in his Hist. Coll., p. xxviii., et seq.

The same author afterwards reprinted them from an " examined copy " of the oi'iginal, in tlie Monasticon of the Diocese, p. 104.

By other letters patent, dated December 20th, 1539, and which refer to those I have quoted, it is ordered that since the Abbot of Tavistock had allowed Sir William Saunder Clerk, the Vicar there, and his prede- cessors X20 a year ; that the said Lord Russell, Anne his wife, and his heirs male, shall pay the said Vicar £10 annually, to be allowed upon the said grant of the former letters. The Kinof is further to allow another £10, and the whole sum of £20 is to be deducted from the £36 payable to the Crown, according to the terns of the said letters of the preceding July.

Besides these Abbey lands in Devonshhe, Lord Russell, as most of my readers are aware, had large grants of others in other counties, such as Northamptonshire, and in Bedfordshire, where " Woburn Abbey " is still the principal seat of his race. It would be apart from my present purpose, however, to do more than refer to them.

At the period of the grant to Lord Russell the net annual value of the lands, &c., of Tavistock, amounted to £812 Is. 0|d., that of the manor of Blackawton

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 269

£54 Us. 8id., and of Duiikeswell £255 8s. 8d. The last property appears to have speedily reverted to the Crown. Dr. Oliver says, " Most probably by exchanges, since in 1545, we find the King granting the manor of Sheldon to John, Earl of Bath, while his successor in 1549 granted the rectory of the Church there to Keilway."

In the year 15'i9 Lord Russell was admitted into the most noble Order of the Garter ; he had been nominated for this dignity some years previously ; and in 1540 he was constituted Lord Admiral of England. He was also Lord Warden of the Stannaries, and President of the Comicil established for the better government of the western parts of the Kingdom, for the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Dorset ; and in conjunction with the Earl of Southampton, he then proceeded to Picardy to oppose De Vendome, who was raising forces there.

On the 3rd December, 1543, he was appointed Lord Privy Seal, and in 1545 he commanded the vanguard of the Army in the attack upon Boulogne, made by the King in person.

It is sho^\Tl by the will of King Hemy VIII, which is dated Westminster, 30th December, 1536, that Lord Russell retained to the last the confidence of the capricious master he had so long and honourably served. He is constituted one of the Royal Executors, is bequeathed a legacy of £500, and is appointed one of the sixteen Counsellors or Governors to the young Prince Edward " until he shall have fully completed the eighteenth year

of his age."

The King died on the night of Januaiy 27th, 1547, and at the Coronation of King Edward VI, Lord

270 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Russell was constituted Lord High Steward of England for the day, and in the same year he was granted the house and estates of the dissolved Abbey of Woburn.

On Whit Sunday, 1549, the Act for reforming the Church Service was put in force, and a very large section of the community was violently opposed to the change of Ritual ; consequently disturbances were speedily threatened all over the country ; but in Devonshire these riots soon acquired the appearance of an insurrection. Upon the receipt in London of the news of the serious manifestation at Sampford Courtenay, and of the march of the rioters towards Exeter, Sir Peter and Sir Gawen Carew were at once despatched to " quiet the people," and they were speedily followed by Lord Russell with siroUar instructions.

The circumstances of the subsequent events at tliis period, which culminated with the siege of Exeter, are too well-known to need repetition. Suffice it that after the dis]:iersion of the rebels at Clist-heath Lord Russell was enabled to advance to the relief of the city, which had been beleaguered upwards of a month, and the in- habitants of which had been reduced to great straits for want of provisions. This was on the 6th of August, 1549, and in memory of their deliverance the Magistrates appointed that day to be observed annually, and thus originated the custom of the annual visit of the Mayor, Chamber, and Incorporated Trades to the Cathedral to hear a sermon from the Mayor's Chaplain.

On the 19th January, 1549-50, Lord Russell, as a fui'ther reward for his services, was created Earl of Bedford.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 271

The Earl went to Fi-ance in the following year, as one of the Ambassadors to " Guisnes," to treat for peace between the two kin;3^doms, which was concluded, and upon the accession of Queen Mary, 1553, his lordship obtained a new patent, dated November 3rd, for his office of Privy Seal. But the career of this illustrious man was fast drawing to a close, and it is remark ible that his last public act was to conduct and attend to this country Philip of Spain, the grandson of the Archduke Philip, his early patron.

His Lordship died at his house in the Strand, London, on the 14th March, 1554, and was buried at Chenies, m the Bedford Chapel, on the north side of the Parish Church, wliere the remains of his descendants have ever smce been deposited. His figure, in alabaster, clad in mail, and with the collar of the Order of the Garter, with that of his Countess, habited in a mantle, and both wearing Coronets, may be seen on the tomb at the eastern end of the chapel. The wiU of the Countess is dated 19th August, 1558, and by it she bequeathed Iier Manor of Thornhaugh to her grandson, Lord " Edward " Russell who married Jane SibiUa, daughter of Sir Richard Morrison, graduated at University College, Oxon, December IGth, 15G7, and died without issue vita patns, and was succeeded at Thornhaugh by his youngest brother, Sir William Russell, afterwards raised to the Peerage by the title of Lord Russell of Thornhaugh. Patent dated 21st July, 1G0.3, 1st James I.

Francis, second Earl of Bedford, the only son of the first Earl, was 28 years of age at the time of his fathei-'s death. The Heralds' Coll. Records sho^v that he had

272 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

been, with others, created a Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of Edward VI ; and upon the King's death we find him, with Berkeley, Fitz-WiUiam, and Neville, proclaiming Queen Mary, and taking up arms against the supporters of Lady Jane Grey. In 1556 he was present at S. Quintin, and in the 1st Elizabeth he was sworn a member of the Privy Council.

During the next few years he was tmce Ambassador to the Court of France, and by Patent, 6th Elizabeth, he was constituted Governor of the Town and Castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed ; and on the 14th May in this year he was installed, by his proxy, Sir George Howard, a Knight of the Garter, and Sir Gilbei't Dethick, Garter, King of Arms, was sent to him with the ensigns of that most noble Order.

In the 7th year of Ehzabeth he treated with the Scotch Commissioners relative to a projected marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots and the Earl of Leicester ; and three years afterwards he was proxy for the English Queen at the baptism of Prince James, afterwards King James I, and he carried with him a " Font of pure gold " as a complimentary gift on this occasion.

In 1570 he obtained from the Crown the wardship of George, Earl of Cumberland, and the curious letter which he addressed to the Queen at this time will have its interest.

" It may please j-our most excellent Majestic to be advertised that heretofore (as it is well known to many) there hath been communication betweene my Lord of Cumberland and mee for the marriage of Ms sonne to one of my daughters ; and being now informed that he is in some danger, T do presume to be a suter to your Highness, that I may have the wardship of his sonne, if it shall see stand with youre INIajestie's

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 273

pleasure, and therein I shall think my selfe most bounden (as I have every way good cause) to your Highness. And thus I beseech God to send unto your Majestic a most prosperous heithfuU Raignc to God's Glory, and your Heart's desire, &c.

From Russel-Place, this 3rd January, 1570." He is said to have been Godflither to Sir Francis Drake — "That ever-famous circumnavigatoi-." He founded a school at Woburn, and by his will, dated 7th April, 1583, he gave an annuity of £20 to found two Divinity Scholar- ships at the University of Oxford. It is stated that his hospitality was so great that the Queen used to say of him, that " he made all men beggars." The inscription on his monument at Chenies shows that " he departed this life with much comfort, in assurance of a better," the 28th day of July, 1585, aged 57.

By his wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir John St. John, and sister of Oliver, 1st Lord St. John of Bletso, he had issue four sons and three daughters. Of his eldest son, Edward, I have already spoken, and also of his youngest, Sir William, created Lord Russell of Thornbaugh. It remains, therefore, for me to state that John, Lord Russell, after the death of his eldest brother, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, and widow of Sir Thomas Hobby, of Bisham, Berks, and had issue two daughters. He was summoned to Parliament, by writ, in the lifetime of his father, but died before him, when Sir Francis, his brother, assumed the Earl's second title, and is stated by Sir Bernard Burke to have been also called to the Upper House. He married Julian, daughter and coheir of Sir John Foster, Knight, and was killed on the Borders of Scotland, 27th July, 1585— the

day before his father's death. ■2u

274 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

His only son, Edward, succeeded his grandfather as third Earl, and maiTied Lucy, daughter of John, Lord Hai'ringtou, and died without issue, 3rd of May, 1627- Of the daughters of the second Earl, Lady Anne married Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Wai-wick.

liady Elizabeth, the second daughter, maiTied, at St. Stephen's Church, Exeter, three years before her father's death, 7th August, 1582, William Bourchier, Earl of Bath.

This lady had been born in Bedford House, and there- fore the citizens of Exeter gave her a wedding present, consisting of a bason and ewer of silver, richly gilt.

There were also high festivities on Southernhay in honour of the said mamage'. The Guild of Merchant Adventurers^ provided "105 calyvers, 34 corslettes, and 5 almon Ryvetts " — the latter for the captains — " with the requisite number of men m annour for a muster or shewe " in honour of the occasion. She afterwards resided ot Tawstock Court, where her eldest son, Lord Fitzwarren, died suddenly, aged sixteen months, 11th March, 1587; and on the loth August the same yeai- another son, called Robert Godfar, was e.iristened, the sponsors being " Su- Richard Greynfylde, for the Lord Chancellor ; Sir William Marsh, for the Earl of Essex ; Lady Denys, for the old Countess of Bedford."^

Collins says thct she left at her death, 24th March, 1604, one son, Edward, Lord Fitzwanen, and one daughter, the Lady Frances, who died unmarried, and

' Izacke, Hist, of Exeter, p. 137 ; Juiikins' Hist, of Exeter, \\ 125.

2 Elizabethaji Guild of City of Exeter, y\\ 44 and 119 (Cotton).

3 Diary of Pli. Wyot, Tuwii Clerk, Baruni. Edited by J. K. Chanter

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 275

was burled at Chenles. Philip Wyot's diary shows that EUzabeth, Countess of Bath, died at Tawstock Court on Pahn Sunday, 24th March, 1605. " That night following she was buried, but the solemnization of her funeral was deferred until some time after." The " solemnization " referred to appears to have taken place on the 6th of the following May, when the ceremony was superintended by three officers of the College of Arms, who came down from London for that purpose. The Lady Frances Bouchier was chief mourner, and says Wyot, "much meate and drinke eate and drank at Tawstock Court."

There are in existence two Interestmg printed accounts of Lady Margaret Kussell, the youngest daughter. The first appeared In, I think, the Exeter News, early m this century. The second, which is a reprint of the firat, in another paper, at a much later date. Both are, unfortu- nately, unsigned and undated, but they both include a biography of the Princess Henrietta, daughter of King Charles I, and are both headed " Illustrious Ladies of

Exeter."

These articles state that, " Tliis lady may take prece- dence in the order of time as the brightest ornament of her sex that has graced this ancient city. She was the third and youngest daughter of Francis Russell, second Earl of Bedford, by his first wife, Margaret, daughter to Sir John St. John, of Bletnesho."' At Bedford House (formerly the Dominican convent here), and which had been gi-anted by King Henry YIII. to her grandfather,

1 Her father married, secondly, Biidget, daughter of John, Lord Hussey, and widow of Sir Richard Morison, s.p., and this hidy is the " old Countess of Bedford, referred to in Wyote's diary." 2 M'

276 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

4th July, 1539, Lady Margaret Russell was born 7th July, 1560, and two days later was baptised in St. Stephen's church. At the tender age of two years she had the misfortune to lose her mother, who died of the small-pox at Wobourn. After an education suitable to her birth, and when she had attained her 17th year, she married her cousiti George de Clifford, third Earl of Cumberland, at St. Maiy Overy's Church, South wark. This union was anything but a source of happiness ; for she had much to endure from a husband naturally of an austere and unamiable charactei-, who greatly neglected her, was highly extravagant, and most dissolute in his morals.

She bore him two sons, Francis and Robert, who both died before they had completed their sixth year, and one daughter Ann, who was born 30th January, 1590. Her husband died at the Duchy House, Savoy, London, 30th October, 1605, regretting his unbecommg treatment towards his virtuous and accomplished Countess.

This illustrious widow had an unexpected enemy in her husband's only brother, Francis, who I; id succeeded to the Earldom of Cumberland. He basely attempted to deprive her only daughter of the hereditary rights, tithes, and estates of the CHfFord family, and his sovereign King, James I, meanly supported such illegal and unworthy pretensions.

But the mother's spirit triumphed over all opposition ; she ably vindicated, and effectually secured to her daughter, the ancient Baronies of Vipont, Clifford, and Vescy. She had the comfort shortly after, on the 29th February, 1609, of seeing her attentive and grateful

PARISH OF MILTOX ABBOT. 277

daughter married to Richard Sackvllle, Earl of Dorset. Seized with her last illness at Brougham Castle, she expired 24th May, 1616, M 56, in the very chamber where her husband had been born. Her mortal remains were deposited in the Church of Appleby."

In the second of these articles the following is inter- polated : — " On the roadside between Penrith and Appleby stands a small pillar with this inscription, 'This pillar was erected in the year 1656 by Ann, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother, Margaret, Countess Dowager of Cumberland, on the 2nd April, 1616, in memory whereof she hath left an annuity of £4 to be distributed to the poor of the pai'ish of Brougham every 2nd day of April for ever, upon the stone-table placed hard by. Laus Deo.' " Both accounts then proceed with a narrative of the after life of the Countess of Dorset, who married secondly, Philip, 4th Earl of Pembroke and ]\Iontgomeiy.* She survived until the 22nd March, 1675, and desired by her will to be interred near her mother. In 1654 she gave in memory of her mother a field of tour acres and a-half, situated near " St. Ann's Chapel, in the parish of St. Sidwell's," Exeter, the annual jirofits to be disposed in apprenticing to some honest trade or employment a child horn and residing in the parish of St. Stephen. She was

' The two daughters of Lady Dorset were Isabella and Margaret — the 1st marrii'd 5tli July, 1627, James Coniptou, Earl of Northampton, and the latter, 21st April, 1629, John Tufton, afterwards Earl of Thauet. Their mother's second marriage took place June 3rd, 1630, but she had no further issue.

278 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

buried at Appleby, 1 4th April, 1675, when Dr. Raiabow preached the sermon.

Sir William Russell, the youngest son of Francis, second Earl of Bedford, was knighted for his military service ; he was employed by Queen Ehzabeth in the wars in the low countries, and was afterwards Lord- Deputy in Ireland in 1594.

He had previously, in 1580, commanded 150 horge in that countiy, which had been raised for the " reduction of the Queen's rebellious subjects" by the clergy of England. On the accession of King James 1st he was, as abeady stated, raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Russell, of Thornhaugh, County Northampton. He had been educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and in July, 1594, the University conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In 1581, when the French King's brother was in England with the Prince D'Ausine, and a Royal combat and fight on foot was performed before Queen Elizabeth, wherein the French Piince, with the Prince D'Ausine and others, were challengers, the Lord Thomas Howard and Sir WilUam Russell were the two fii'st that were called out as defender?.' Lord Russell man-ied Ehzabeth, daughter and heir of Henry, son and heir of Sir Richard Long, of Shenghay, county Cambridge, and died 9th A.ugu8t, 1613. His only son, Francis, second Lord Russell, of Thornhaugh, upon the death of his cousin Edward, Earl of Bedford, succeeded to the title and estates of the elder branch of his family as fourth Earl, 3rd May, 1627.

As might be expected from his eminent position, he

1 Hon. Mil. and Civ. Sir Wm. Segar, Garter.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 279

became intimately associated with the distractions of this kingdom immediately prior to the Great Rebellion.

In 1630 his Lordship, with the Earl of Clare, Sir Robert Cotton, Seldon, and St. John, was committc;d to prison for circulating a book written by Sir Robert Dudley, but upon the discovery of the real author by Sir David Fowlis he was released.

Lord Clarendon tells us that in the House of Peers he was the " great contrivor and principal agent of those who were for according the liberty of the subject, but a wise man and of too great and plentiful a fortune to wish a subversion of the Government."

He was a member of the Privy Council, and the King offered to make him Lord Treasurer, but the Earl declined this honour. He appears to have been much opi)osed to the attainder of Strafltord, although Arch- bishop Land makes a virulent and unfounded attack upon him in its connection, and says : — " But God would not let hun live to take joy therein, but cut him off in the moi-ning, whereas the bill for the Earl of Strafford's death was not signed till night."

His untimely death was, without doubt, a very serious loss to the King, since his good sense and moderation, coupled with his higli position and interest, largely helped to " calm and compose the people." He died of small-pox on Sunday, the 9th of May, 1641, and was bui-ied at Clieyneys.

By his marriage with Catherine, only daughter and heir of Giles Bridges, Lord Chandos (who died 29th Januaiy, 165|), he had four sons and four daughters. Catherine, the eldest, married Robert, Lord Brooke ;

y

280 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Anne, George, Eai-1 of Bristol ; Margaret, James, Earl of Carlisle ; and Diana, Francis, Lord NeA^'port, ancestor of the Earls of Bradford. Of the sons, Francis died a month before his father, in France, and unman-ied. John held a Colonel's commission on the King's side during the civil war, and upon the restoration was given the command of the 1st regiment of Foot Guards ; he also died unmarried. Edward, the youngest son, mariied Penelope, daughter of Sir Moses Hill, of Hillsborough, in Ireland, and widow of Sir William Brook, K.B. ; he had five sons and two daughters. Letitia, the eldest, mamed first Thomas Cheek, of Pergo, Essex. (Their daughter and heir Anne, Sir Thomas Tipping, Bart., of Whitfield, Oxon.) She, married secondly her cousin. Lord Eobert Russell, fourth son of the first Duke of Bedford, s.p. Catherine mamed Captain William Harbord, a younger son of Sir Charles Harbord. (The ancestor of the present Lord Suffield, Sir WUliam IMorden, K.B., created a Bart. 1745, took the name of his maternal grandfather Harbord in 1742.)

WUham, his eldest son, who was standard-bearer to King Charles II, died unmarried. Edward was a naval ofiicer, and was a member of the Household of Kmg James II, when Duke of York ; but upon the execution of his cousin. Lord Russell, in 1683, he retired from Court, and was afterwards one of the most ardent sup- porters of the Revolution, and gi-eatly distinguished himself as a naval commander, more particulai'ly by his victory over the French Fleet at La Hogue in 1692. He ■was Vice- Admiral of Enofland under Kinof Wilham, and a Privy Councillor to George I. He was raised to the

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 281

Peerage 7th May, 1697, as Baron Shengay, Viscount Barfleur, and Earl of Orford. By his marriage with his first cousin, Lady Margaret Russell, he had no issue, and at his death, in 1727, his titles became extinct. His other brothers were John, Francis, and James.

William, the eldest son of Francis, fourth Earl of Bedford, became head of the family upon the melancholy demise of his father in 1641. He had been born in 1614, was educated at Magdalen, and was a member of the " Long Parliament." He declared aofainst the measures of the Court, and commanded a reserve of horse at Edge-Hill, which force is stated to have been the only portion of the troops that stood firm on that memorable day. He never appears to have been a cordial supporter of the'ParUamentary faction, and in 1643 he joined the Royal Standard and fought with great bravery at the battle of Newbury, together with Lords Holland and Clare. Although treated kindly by the King, yet the behaviour of the Court so irritated these three noblemen that they wert; induced to retire to the Earl of Essex at St. Albans, and soon afterwards Lord Russell was arrested by " Black Rod" and his property was sequestrated, but in 1644 this sequestration was removed.

In 1645, however, the Devonshire property was

granted by the Kmg to the notorious Sir Richard Gren-

ville, but the Earl never afterwards sat in the House of

Peers or conciu-red ui any of the Parliamentary Councils

during the Commonwealth. He heartily joined in all the

measures for the Restoration, and resumed his attendance

in the Upper House in 1660; on April 21st, 1661,

he had the honour to carry St. Edwai'd's Sceptre at the 2 N

282 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Coronation of Charles II ; and on the 29th May, 1672, he was made Knight of the Garter.

He married, much against his father's wish, Anne, daughter and heir of Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, who was a most admirable wife. The names of their children who arrived at matuxity are over the tomb at Clienies as follows : —

Francis Russell, eldest son, died 1679, JE 41, un- married,

William, of whom presently.

Edward, married, 1688, Frances, widow of — Lloyd, and died s.p., 30th June, 1714, JE 72. Elected nine times Knight of the Shire for the county of Bedford.

Robert, fourth son, whose mai-riage with his cousin Letitia I have already mentioned.

James, fifth -son, educated at Magdalen, M,A., 4th February, 16G6-7. He resided at Maidwellin the county of Northampton, and died 22nd June, 1712. His only child, a daughter, married Thomas Scawen, Esq., M.P. for Surrey, and her mother's second husband was Sir Henry Houghton, of Houghton Towers, Lancashire. She died at Reading, September 1st, 1736.

George, youngest son, M.A., Magdalen Coll., Oxford, 4th February, 1666-7, married Mary, daughter and heir of Mr. Pendleton, of the City of London, and died in 1692. His only son, William, died unmarried.

Of the daughters. Lady Anne, the eldest, died un- married.

Lady Diana married twice, first in August, 1667, Sir Orevil Verney, K.B. ; secondly, William, Lord Allington.

Lady Margaret, as I have said already, was the wife of her cousin, the Earl of Orford.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 283

In the year 1683 a fearful calamity came upon the Earl by the attainder and subsequent execution of his second son and heir-apparent,WUUam, Lord Russell. This eminent and distinguished nobleman was first returned to Parliament as member for Bedford, in 1678-9, and gave offence to the Court by the action he took when the Duke of York was presented as a " Recusant." and he subsequently carried up the Bill of Exclusion of that Prmce to the Upper House at the head of 200 members of the Lower. He was afterwards accused of participa- tion in the Rye House conspiracy, and was indicted for high treason, and was tried at the Old Bailey 13th June, 1683, and convicted. It seems certain that the law was stretched to his destruction, and his condemnation was deemed iUegal by Judge Atkins and other authorities.

His fears for the Protestant succession certainly nn- plicated him in the plan of insurrection, favoured l^y the Duke of Monmouth, the Earl of Argyll' and others,

The Dukedom of Aigyll was not created until 23rd Juno, 1701, 12tli William and Mary. The Earl, referred to in the text, was the son of Archibald, 8th Earl of Argyll, who had been advanced to the Mar- quessate, by Letters Patent, dated 15th November, 1641. Although this nobleman sided against the King, yet, after the murder of Charles I, he submitted to his son, and actually placed the Crown on his head at the Coronation, at Scone, January 1st, 1650. Sub.sequently, however, he compromised himself so seriously during the Protectorate that on the King's restoration, in 1660, His ^lajesty declined to receive h.m, and the Marquess was tried and executed at the Market Cross, Edinburgh, 27th May, 16G1. King Charles II never restored the title of Marquess, but he pe^itted liis son Archibald to inherit his father's estates and to succeed him as 9th Earl in 1663. Previously to the execution of Lord KusseU he hud b<.eu tried and condemned for high treason for refusing the Test Act, but he escaped from Edinburgh Castl. in disguise of a 2N=

284. DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

but it is also certain that Lord Russell looked only to the exclusion of the Duke of York, and that he never for an instant contemplated or countenanced the idea of the lesser conspiratoi's for the assassination of the King.

Between his condemnation and execution he nobly refused the offer of escape, by change of clothes, generously made to him by Lord Cavendish, and with equal generosity he declined the proposal of the Duke of Monmouth, then in concealment, to deliver himself up if he thought the step would be serviceable to him.

After his parting with his admirable wife — Lady Rachel, second daughter, and ultimately heir, to Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of )Southampton, and widow of Francis, Lord Vaughan, eldest son of the Earl of Carbery — he declared that the " bitterness of death was past," and his head fell on the scaffold in Lincoln's Imi Fields, after two blows from the executioner, on the 21st July, 1683.

He left issue one son, Wi-iothesley, second Duke of Bedford, born 1st November, 1680, and two daughters — Rachel, mari'ied William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire ; and Catherine, married John Manners, Marquess of Granby, afterwards Duke of Rutland.

Upon the accession of William and Mary his Lordship's attainder was reversed, and as some sort of reparation for what was then felt to be an unjust sentence, the aged Earl was created Marquess of Tavistock and Duke of

page and holding up the train of his step-daughter, Lady Sophia Lindsay. He contrived to leave the kingdom and to preserve his life until 1685, when with a few men, he invaded Scotland just before the Duke of !Monmouth landed in England, and, his force of 2,000 men having been defeated at Kilpatrick, he himself was taken prisoner, and suflered like bis father, and on the same spot, 30th June in that year.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 285

Bedford, and tlie patent, dated 11th May, 1694, after recapitulating the virtues of the deceased, says, " There- fore, to solace his excellent father for so great a loss, to celebrate the memory of so great a son, and to excite hia worthy grandson, the heir of such mighty hopes, more cheerfully to emulate and follow the example of his illustrious father, we entail this High Dignity upon the Earl and his posterity.'" In 1695 the Duke was enabled to arrange a marriage between his said grandson, Wriothesley, and Elizabeth, daughter and heii' of John Rowland, of Strethara, Esq., and upon this occasion Wriothesley Russell was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Howland, of Stretham— Pat. dat. June 13th, 1695.

The Duke died on the 7th September, 1700, aged 87, and was buried with his ancestors at Chenies. His monument there exhil^its the figures of himself and his wife. His Grace is represented sitting, habited as a Duke, and with the collar of the Garter, his head leaning on his hand ; whilst the Countess (she had died 10th May, 1684) is wrapped in a shroud. The speech, written by Lord Russell, and delivered by him to the Sheriffs on the morning of his execution, is preserved at Woburn in gold letters.

His son Wriothesley, Lord Howland, succeeded his grandfather as second Duke. After his marriage with Miss Howland, of Stretham, whose mother was half- sister to Sir Richard Child, afterwards Viscount Castle- maine and Eai-1 of Tilney, his Lordship had travelled in France and Italy until his accession to the title.

» Pat 6tli Wni. and Mary.

286 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

As soon as he became of age he was made Lord- Lieutenant of the counties of Bedford, Cambridge, and Middlesex, and one of the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber. On the accession of Queen Anne, he was Lord High Constable of England and one of the Privy Council, and was installed a Knight of the Garter March 13th, 1702-3.

Like his great-grandfather, he fell a victim at an early age to that fatal disease small-pox, in his 31st year, May 26th, 1711, and left issue by the Duchess (who died at Stretham, 20th July, 1724) two sons and two daughters. Lady Rachel married to Scroop Egerton, Duke of Bridg- water, 4th August, 1722. She was his second wife, and by him had issue five sons and three daughters. Lady Elizabeth, her sister, was also the second wife of William Capel, Earl of Essex. She was married 3rd of February, 1726, and her son, William- Anne-Holles, Viscount Maiden, succeeded as fourth Earl of Essex 8th January, 1743. Of the sons, Wriothesley, Marquess of Tavistock, succeeded to the title as third Duke of Bedford. His Grace was born in 1708, and married, 22nd April, 1725, Lady Anne Egerton, the only daughter of his brother-in- law, the Duke of Bridgwater, by his first marriage with Lady Elizabeth Churchill, third daughter and coheir to John, Duke of Marlborough. In consequence of the state of his health, the Duke was advised to undertake a journey to Lisbon, but died during the voyage, 23rd October, 1731. His body was brought home and interred in the mortuary chapel at Chenies. His widow after- wards married William, third Earl of Jersey.

His Grace having died without issue, his honours devolved on his brother, the Lord John Russell, who was

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 2S7

bom 30th September, 1710. He married October 11th, 1731, the Lady Diana Spencer, youngesc daughter to Charles, Earl of Sunderland, and a grand-daughter of John, Duke of Marlborough, by whom he had issue a son, who died on the day of his birth, 6th November, 1732.

The Duchess died 27th September, 1735, and his Grace married secondly, in April, 1737, Lady Gertrude, eldest daughter of John, first Earl Gower, and had issue one son, Francis, Marquess of Tavistock, born 26th September, 1739, and a daughter. Lady Caroline, who married George, third Duke of Marlborough. In 1756 his Grace was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; and in 1762, as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of France, he signed, at Fontainebleau, the preliminaries of peace with France and Spain.

The red deer, called in Devonshire the forester or forest deer, were once abundant on the banks of the Tavy and Tamar. Mrs. Bray remarks, when quoting from a letter on this subject whicli she had received from the Eev. Thomas Johnes — formerly Rector of Bradstone — " a solitary straggler now and then visits us from the North of Devon ; one was seen in the woods of Hornacott on the banks of the Tamar in the spring and summer of 1831." To this note I may add from personal know- ledge that a wandering and solitary stag wivs seen for several successive seasons in the Buckland woods, within two miles of Ashburton. Only a few years ago, I think from about 1870 to 1875, the extu'pation of the red deer in the neighbourhood of Milton Abbot appears to have been undertaken by the Duke of Bedford, who, upon the

288 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

petition of the farmers in the district, that they caused a great deal of injury to their crops, sent down his hounds from Wobum to hunt them. Mrs. Bray, in a foot-note, declares that Mr. Bray, the father of the late Vicar of Tavistock, well remembered this circumstance, and she adds, " so glutted was the town with venison at the time that only the haunches were saved, and the rest given to the dogs."

Upon the death of the 4th Duke, 15th January, 1771, the succession devolved upon his grandson Francis, whose father, the Marquess of Tavistock, had been accidentally killed by a fall from his horse, 22nd March, 17(>7. The Marchioness, who was a daughter of Lord Albemarle, l.ad married him in 1764, and had boi-ne him two children, Francis and John. Her youngest son, William, was not born until five months after his father's death. He attained maturity, and married, in 1789, Lady (^harlotte Villiers. They had issue three sons and two danghters, but he unhappily came to an untimely ^nd at the hands of a domestic servant (who was executed for his crime), 6th May, 1840.

Francis, 5th Duke, was but five-and-a-half years old at the period of his grandfather's death.

He bad been bom 22nd July, 1765, and was educated ut Westminster and Oxford. On his entry into public life he became intimately connected with C J. Fox and the Whig Party, and in 1791 opposed, in the House of Loi'ds, the hostilities against Finance and the designs of the Ministry to form a corps of emigrants in the pay of this country. From 1796 he was seldom in his place until after the change of Ministry in 1801. He spent a

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 289

great deal of his large fortune in the encouragement of agricultural pursuits and rural economy, and he estab- lished a public festival and the distribution of prizes for sheep-shearing on his estates. He was always a steady advocate for peace with France, but he did not live to witness it. He died unmarried on the 2nd March, 1802, when he was svicceeded by his brother John as 6th Duke. This nobleman had been born 6th July, 1766. He married, 21st March, 1786, Georgiana Elizabeth, 2nd daughter of George, 4th Viscount Torrington, and by her had issue, 1st, Frances, 7th Duke, April 2nd, Major- General Lord George Russell, born Sth May, 1790, 3rd Lord John Russell, created Earl Russell and Viscount Amberley, 30th July, 1861, died 28th May, 1878, whose history is well-known to all of us. The second son. General Lord George Russell, married, first, 21st June, 1817, Elizabeth Anne, neice of 1st Marquess of Hastings, and died July, 1840, leaving issue, Francis Charles Hastings, who is the present Duke of Bedford, and the Lords Arthur and Odo Russell. The latter teas created Lord Ampthill, 7th March, 1881, and died 1884. By his 2nd wife, Lady Georgiana, 5th daughter of Alexander 4th Duke of Gordon, his Grace had seven sons and three daughters.

On a beautiful spot in the Abbot's Park at Innisleigh, now called Endsleigh, in the parish ot Milton Abbot, this Duke built in 1810, from the designs of Sir Jeffery Wyattville, the house now known as Endsleigh Cottage, on a site which was selected by the Duchess. It is built in a very irregular manner, and has many ornamental gables, in one of which, as I have said, there is a statue of the last Abbot of Tavistock, The lawn and grounds 2 o

200 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

immediately .surrounding the house comprise about twenty acres, but there are between three and four thousand acres of plantations, and drives, in the midst of the most magniliceut scenery. His Grace once told Mrs. Bray that he had made " forty miles of road at Endsleigh." By the liberality of the present Duke, permission to view these beautiful paths, which wind along the banks of the Tamar, may be obtained on application at the Duchy Office at Tavistock.

His Grace died 20th Oct., 1839, and was succeeded by his eldest son Francis as 7th Duke, who had been summoned to the Upper House by wi-it in the Barony of Howland, 15th January, 1833. He was a Knight of the Garter, was born 13th May, 1788, and married 8th August, 1S08, Lady Anna, daughter of Charles, 3rd Earl of Harrington. He died 14th May, 1361, and was suc- ceeded by his only son William, Marquess of Tavistock, as 8th Duke. His Grace who was born 30th June, 1809, died unmarried 27th May, 1872, when the title descended to his first cousin, Francis Charles Hastings Kussell, the present Duke of Bedford, who was formerly M.P. for Bedfordshire. His Grace frequently resides upon his propex'ty at Milton Abbot.

It may be thought, possibly that the long account I have given of this great and distinguished house has caused nie to digress somewhat needlessly from my primary subject, " The History of Milton Abbot." Still I feel sure that the collected facts which have formed the matter of the preceding pages will be read with great interest by many, and 1 do not know how I could have attempted an account of this pai'ish without special

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 291

mention of those who have been the lords of the greater portion of its soil for nearly 350 years, and who have been intimately associated with the history of our county for a similar p-riod. I think that we may congratulate ourselves that, since the alienation of Ecclesiastical property became inevitable, the lands of Tavistock fell into the hands of those who have so worthily represented the original owners. The first Lord Russell obtained his honours and grants as the reward of a life literally spent in harness, in the service of his Country, under four Sovereigns, to each and to all of whom he was a most trustworthy and trusted Coiuisellor. His descendants, to use the word in its true sense, have been equally nohle as soldiers, statesmen, &nd landlords, and, although some may perhaps consider that tliey have been well rewarded for their exertions and loyalty yet it must be remembered that the value of their lands has very largely Increased in process of time, and that their original value was scarcely equal to the sums frequently gi-anted at the present day for somewhat similar service. As a correspondei^t to a London paper remarked a year or two since :— " Among all the great houses, not one has rendered to the people such noble service as the Eussells, and I believe that they bear quite as honourable a name as landlords as they do as politicians, and my own observa- tions of the farms and cottages on then- estates confirms that impression."

Tlie family residence in Exeter, the site of the

Dominican Convent, was taken down in 1773, and the

first stone of Bedford Circus was laid on May 27th in that

year. A carved shield, with angels for supporters, which

2 0=

292 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

was taken from the old dwelling, still exists over one of the modern houses there. There are, moreover, interest- ing shields of arms belonging to the family and their alliances (which I have already described elsewhere) at Dean Court, in the Parish of Dean Prior, and also in Totnes Guildhall.'

Ashburton and its Neighbourhood," pp. 136-7.

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 203

CHAPTER XII. PART III.

The Church of Milton Abbot.

The Parish Church, dedicated to SS. Constantine and Giles, is a handsome Perpendicular structure with some slight First pointed characteristics ; it appears to have been almost, if not entirely, rebuilt in the fifteenth century.

It consists of a deep chancel, nave opening into a south aisle through an arcade of four bays, supported by third pointed columns, — the arches, which are deeply moulded, are of a very debased character, a south porch, north door, and a handsome western tower, buttressed at the angles, embattled, and crowned by four pinnacles, with finials, but without crockets.

The staii-8 leading to the belfry are on the north side^ and there are six bells. The edifice was restored in 1860 ; and there are several modern memorial windows, one in the south aisle to the memory of Maria, wife of John Jago^ 1820. Dr. Jago was a former vicar.

The priest's door on the south side opens into the large seat supplied with a fire place, whieh is apportioned to the Duke of Bedford. This door has a modern j)orch, which has, unfortunately, blocked one of the windows of the aisle.

294 DEV0^'SH1RE PARISHES.

The octagonal Font is ornamented with quatrefoils, shields, and the cross quarterly. I noticed some good pei'pend\cular bosses of foliage in the roof, and there is a fine circular tower-arch.

The steps, which anciently led to the rood-loft, remain on the north side, and are contained in a turret. The entrance to the south porch is beneath a pointed arch, and the interior door also has one of similar character, with a hood weather-moulding. The entrances beneath the tower and on the north side of the church have also arches of the same form. The ancient screen has been entirely removed. There are memorials for Robert A. A. Hammick, ob. 1861, agedlO years, and for Sir Stephen Hammick, finst Baronet, who died the 15th June, 1867, aged 90. There are, or were, also inscriptiovis for various members of the families of Edgcumbe and Doidge. Thomas EdgcumlDe, 1589 ; Richard, 1642 ; Thomas, 1670 ; Richard, son of Thomas, 1702 ; Thomas, son of Richard, 1725 ; Richard, son of Thomas, 1748 ; Thomas, his brother, 1763 ; Thomas, son of Thomas, 1777 ; Pierce (or Piers) Edg- cumbe, M 94,' 1781 (the last erected by his sons, Richard Edgcumbe, of Brompton, and GUes Edgcumbe, of Canter- bury). Richard Doidge, of Leigh ob. 1584 ; Richard Doidge, 1661 ; Richard Doidge, 1717.

The living is a Vicarage, valued in the King's Books at £l9 l3s. 6^d. I first find it mentioned in the Bull of Exemption, granted to the Monastery of Tavistock by Pope Celestine 3rd, 29th May, 1193. " Middleton, et ecclesiam S. Constantmi confessoris in eadem villam constructaui." About ninety years later the double dedi- cation is proved by the letters of confirmation, per

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 295

inspeximuf:, of Peter (Quivil) Bishop of Exeter, dated 7th Ides Januii (Jan. 7th.), 1283. Ecclesiam Sanctorum Constantini et Egidii de Middleton."

I would note that at p. 450 of the Monasticon of the Diocese the church of Milton is stated to have been dedicated to SS. Constantine and Eligius, the last bein^ a misprint for St. Egidius, or Giles.

In the " Taxatio " of Pope Nicholas, 1291, the living is taxed at £lO. Lastly, in the v-dor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIII., I read as follows ; —

" Rectoria de Mylton in decanatu et diocesi predictis.

" Rectoria ibidem valet per annum £15 3s. pro decima garbarura. Inde solutum Henrico Hawkyns et successoribus suis pro quadam annuali pencione iniper- petuum £1 7s. Sd. Et remanet clare £13 l5s. 8d." It is noteworthy that the first institution to Tavistock, under the llussells, is that of JoJm Pcriiis, " ad vicariani certo modo vacantem," September 13th, 1554. Could he have been a relative of the last Abbot whose will had been proved April 30th^ 1550 ^

The present Vicar of ^Milton Abbot is the Rev. Sir St. Vincent Love Hammick, Bart., who was instituted in 1836,

He has a good residence. Iniilt in 1838, and eighty-seven acres of glelje. He has kindly informed me that the regis- ters of baptisms, marriages, and bm-ials, commence alike, 3rd December, 1635, from which date they are regularly continued. 1 Iiave described the church as I found it on the occasion of my visit, July, 1875.

The fii'st deed relating to the parish land is dated 18th July, 1659, between Richard Doidge and others, feoffees,

29G DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

aud Davad Hawkyns, lease of messuage, &c., in Tavistock for 90 years. 21st October, 1695. Grant by Richard Edgcumbe, John Tooker, and John Robins to Richard Doidge the younger, and others, tenement and garden in Tavistock, &c. Oliver Maynard is supposed to have been the donor. For the use, separation, and maintenance of the Parish Church.

The dividends of £540 stock, left by Nicholas Jewell, of Stoke-climsland, mason, by will dated 7th January, 1738, belong to the poor of this parish and of Stoke- climsland, in the proportion of one- third to the former, and two to the latter. At this date the Rev. William Salmon was Vicar of Milton Abbot, since his name occurs as one of the original Trustees.

There were several families of the name of Rundle resident at Milton Abbot, late in the sixteenth century. " The Monthly Magazine or British Register," vol. xxix., part 1, jjp. 458, 462 (A.D. 1810), contains a Transcript of the Parish expenditure there for the year 158S. There is no statement to show how it was procured, and the original document does not appear to have been returned to its rightful (Avners, and no information whatever concerning it is now procurable. But the piinted copy has been re- edited by Mr. Pengelly, F.R.S., Trans. Devon Assoc. I learn from it that in this year (1558) there was one John Rundle living on the farm known as " Wilsley," a certain Thomas Rundle resident in the hamlet of Foghanger, and another Thomas at " Yoimgecot,"

Thomas Rundle, born at Milton Abbot in the year 1 6S6, was educated at Exeter Grammar School, and in due course entered at Exeter Coll. as a sojourner, where his tutor was

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 297

Thomas, son of Thomas Rennel, of Chudleigh. He took his degree as Bachelor of Laws in 1710. In 1716 he was collated to a Prebend in Salisbury Cathedral, that of Gillinghara Minor, on the cession of John Holland, and was installed on the 20th October ; and on the 13th January, 1720-1, he became Treasurer of the same church. On the 26th April, 1720, he was appointed Archdeacon of Wilts and in the following January was preferrerl to a stall at Durham. He was consecrated Bishop of Derry 1734-5. His friend and patron appears to have been Bishop Talbot, of Oxford and Salisbury, who was afterwards translated to Durham, by whom he had been ordained, and by whose influence he would have doubtless reached the English Bench had it not been for the opposition of Gibson, Bishop of London, caused by the suspicions entertained of his orthodoxy.

According to Whiston, he had become, at an early age, "a convert to Arianism," which seems, however, doubtful. Gorton says that the resistance offered to his promotion by the Bishop of London " alone makes a notice of him necessary," and he only accords him about a dozen lines. Bishop Rundle died on the 15th April, 1743. He printed a few sermons ; and his letters, with a memoir, were pub- lished in 1790.

The family of Doldge have been for centuries settled in

this parish, and their ancestors are said to have been

tenants to the Abbot of 'J'avistock as early as the

thirteenth centuiy. In 1558 I meet with the names of

George Doidge, of Quether. Joan Doidge, widow ; Ileniy

Doidge ; John, of " Lydarow ; " John, of Newhouse ;

John, of Weke (Dabernon?) ; Roger Doidge, Tristram ; •1 V

298 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

William, of Josapke ; William, of Weke ; Edmond "Doydge," John, and Paul. In 1822 Morris Doidge, of Comb, was the representative of this family. Lysons, gives a blazon of their arms' the same as those used by the Dodge family of Kent : — Barry of six or and sa., over all on a pale gu., a woman's breast distilling milk, all ppr. This ancient name is not yet extinct in Milton Abbot.

Before I conclude this chapter it may not be out of place to say a few words as to the family of the present Vicar of Milton Abbot ; who has now been resident there for more than fifty years.

About the middle of the last century a certain Captain Stephen Hauunick of the Royal Navy resided at Plymouth. He had an only son, Stephen Hammick, Alderman of Plymouth, who by his marriage in 1776 with Elizabeth Margaret only child of John Love of Devonport, or Ply- mouth Dock as it was then called, had five children, 1st Stephen Love Hammick ; 2nd, John Love Hammick, who was an officer in the Navy ; 3rd, Frederick Love Hammick, who died in Poland ; and two daughters.

The eldest son, Stepheii Love Hammick was born 28th February, 1777. He was an eminent physician. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and Doctor of Medicine. He was the first surgeon of the Royal Naval Hospital at Plymouth and an original member of the Senate of the University of London. He was created a Bai-onet by King William IV. Patent dated 25th July, 1 884. He married 7th February 1800, Francis, only daughter of Peter Turquand by Eliza, daughter of Thomas Hicks

Mag. Brit Devon, vol. i, 162

PARISH OF MILTON ABBOT. 299

of Blackheath, Kent. She died in 1829, but Sir Stephen survived her until the 15th June, 1867. He left two sons and a daughter, Frances, who died 1871. His eldest son (who followed his father's profession, and had the degree of M.D.), was born in 1804, and died, v.p., and unmarried 9th December, 1839. His second son, the Rev. Sir St. Vincent Love Hammick, the present Baronet, was born at Plymouth, 9th July, 1806. He matriculated at, Exeter College,Oxford, 2nd February,! 824 ; B.A. 12th June 1828 ; 2nd Class Classics, and 2nd Mathematics. Fellow of Exeter College,lst July,! 829,vacated 6th January,! 837, by being instituted to the Vicarage of Milton Abbot, 6th of Januar^in the preceding year. Sir St. Vincent married, 6th April, 1837, Mary, second daughter of Robei-t Alexander of Gloucester Place, Portman Square, London, and has had issue, 1st St. Vincent Alexander of the 43rd Light Infaritry and 52nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry, born 1839 ; married 1869, Penelope Sarah Blanche, second daughter of the late Charles William Beauclerk of Winch- field House, Hants, and has, with other issue, Stej^hen Frederick Hammick, born 2nd February, 1871.

2. llobei-t Frederick Hammick, R.N., born 1843.

3. Stephen Hammick, Bombay Civil Sex-vice, born 1846.

4. William Maxwell Hammick, born 3rd March, 1848. Married and has issue.

5. Ernest Austen Hammick, Jjorn 3rd January, 1850, matriculated at Exeter College, l8th May, 1869 ; B.A., 1873 ; Rector of Thombury and Minster, in Cornwall. Instituted 1887.

G. John Eustace Hammick, born 4th November, 1852. 7. Murray Hammick Madras Civil Service, born 1854.

2r

300 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

1. Frances Grace, married G. Spottiswoode, 1863.

2. Mary Caroline.

3. Kachel, married Everard Allen Ford, 1877.

The Arms of Hammick are — Paly of fom- or and vert ; a bordure arm, charged with seven hurts, on a chief az. a lion passant arg.

Crest : A demi lion p.p. or and vert holding an escar- buncle of the tirst.

PARISH OF AHHPRINGTON. 301

CHAPTER XIII. PART L

The Parish of Ashprixgton — General Description

AND History.

The parish of Ashpiington, with its model village, and beautiful Third Pointed Church, is situated in the hundred of Coleridge, and in the Archdeaconry and deanery of Totnes, from which latter place it is two and a half miles distant. It includes about 2,790 acres of land, populated (according to the census returns of 1881) by 450 persons. Ashprington — ^written in the Exchequer Domesday, Ais- beitone, and in that of Exeter, Aisberton — was originally the property of Brictric the son of Algar, who appears unfortunately to have inspired Queen Matilda in her younger days with an attachment for him which he was quite unable to i-eturn, a circumstance which she never seems to have forgotten or forgiven, since she ultimately compassed his disgrace ard ruin after her husband's con- quest had placed her in a position to revenge herself for the slight which she conceived the Saxon noble had formerly inflicted upon her. Much of Brictric's ])roperty, including the honour of Gloucester, of whicli Ashprington was a portion, was confiscated by the crown after the Norman inv;ision and w.-is conferred upon this Queen, a circumstance to which I have fully ret'errod in the

302 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

" History of the Manor of Winkleigh " which was the seat of the Honour of Gloucester in this county.'

Under Queen Matilda, the Manor of Ashprington was held by Juhal or Judhel, (the Norman founder of Totnes Prioiy,) and the following is the entry in the Exeter Domesday which refers to it " Rex habet mansionem que vocatur Aisbertona, quam tenuit Bristricus, ea di qua rex Edvardus fuit vivus et moi-tuus, et reddidit gUdum pi'o iii hidis. Hanc possunt arrare x caiTucse. Inde habet rex in dominio i hidam et ii carrucas et villani ii hidas et iii caiTucas. Ibi habet rex vii villanos et viii bordarios et iiii servos, et i runcinum et ii animaHa et c oves et ii. piscatorias, et i salina, et i leagam in longitudine nemoris et dimidiam leagam in latitudine et iii agros prati et xli agros pascuEe et reddit per annum iiii Ubras.

Haec est mansio quam tenuit Juhellus de regina.

Lysons in the " Magna Britansia," is " evidently mis- taken " says " Devoniensis " in his newspaper account of Ashburton," Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Devon, No 38," in stating that Ashburton is the Aisbertone of Domesday and which was vested in the crown when the survey was taken ; this Manor, is Ashprington. " In Ashburton and Its Neighbourhood," which I published many years since, I uufortmiately followed Lysons' statement, which is manifestly incorrect, since Essebretone or Ashburton belonged at the Conquest to the Bishop of Exeter, and remained with his successors for many centiiries until King Edward VI in the thu-d year of his reign licensed Bishop Veysey to alienate the Manor to Fi-ancis Poole and others. " Essebretone " appears to have been converted

1 Manor of Winkleigh, p. 10.

PARISH OF ASHPRINGTON. 303

into Aisbertone or Ayshebertone at an early period and it is thus described in the mining Charter of 9th Richard I and in that of 33rd Edward I creating the Stannary Towns. But the unaccountable incoi-rectness of another public record was very possibly the means of misleading the authors of the " Magna Britannia." Since the Exemplification of the Manor of Aisbertone in " Teuetone " hundred, Rot. Pat. 3x-d Henry IV recapitulates the Domesday entiy as to Ashprington. But the mention of the " two fisheries, and the salt pit," in the Domesday entry which would naturally exist in a Manor like Ashpi'ington, situated near the estuary of the Dart must alone convince the most sceptical that the Aisbertona or Aisbertone of Domesday cannot possibly refer to the Episcopal manor of Essebretone or Ashburton ; besides which the description of the latter Manor in Domesday shows that it was of much greater extent, than " Ais- bertone " as was certainly the case, and it mentions the Bishop's demesne lands there upon which several of them, especially Bishop Stapledon, were accustomed occasionally to reside.

Judhel gave the Land of Ashprington to his priory of Totnes, and it remained with that foundation until the diss(jlution of monasteries in the sixteenth century, when it was valued at £35 per annum.

In additioji to the priors of Totnes others appear to have held land within this manor. Property was owned here by tlie ancient name of Pipard as early as the 14th of Henry III (1230), and afterwards in the 33rd Edward I (1305). They were succeeded by a member of the once powerful house of Pomeroy.

304 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

It appears that there was some connection between this parish and Canonsleigh Priory, in the parish of Burlescombe, wliich was founded for Augustinian monks by Walter Claville in the latter half of the twelfth century.

I do not find that any land within Ashprington manor ever belonged to Canonsleigh, yet it is evident from the early chai-ters belonging to the latter that the land yielded to it by the Lords of Burlescombe were parcel of the honour of Gloucester, and could not be alienated effectually without the consent of the earls of that place ; other benefactors were sub-feudatories under the Cla villas, and from these sources and from the most part contem- poraneous donations of the families of Boys, or De Bosco, Lowman, Boty, &c., the priory became possessed of lands and tithes in Burlescombe, and other places in Devon and Somerset.

Thus the barton of Bowden, within this parish, was given according to the Hundi-ed Eoll in the year 1268 to the Hospital of Bothemescombe.

Lysons refers to this gift, and a Ids that he " has been imable to discover where this hospital was situated."

The following is a translation of the bequest referred to :—

" They say also " Isabella de Bodeton freely gave by way of alms (elemosinavit) the land of Bodeton, in the manor of Harberton, which had been fief of that manor, to the Hospital of Bothemescoume, by the cor sent of Roger de Yalletort, chief lord of that manor."*

As I have ali'eady said the manor of Leige, or Leigh upon which the Canonsleigh house was situated, is within 1 " Rot. Hund.

PARISH OF ASHPRINGTOK 305

the parish of Burlescombe, which was then variously written Burghelescombe, Burthelescombe, etc., and I am convinced, therefore, that this pious gift to the Hospital of Bothomescombe meant that the land was given to the Priory of Canonsleigh, which in those early days was doubtless commonly kno\vn as the " House of Bui'les- combe."

The family of Boty, Botuston, or Boditon were great benefactors to Canonsleigh Priory, and I gather from the cai-tulary of that house that William Boty gave to the priory there a hamlet (hamel) called Butisham on the occasion of his wife's death. Another deed proves that Walter Botty, Lord of Botuston, confirmed to the canon- esses of the Church of Leigh the land in Botuston, which had been given by liis father, Balph, to their predecessors, the canons. The said priory, under the auspices of Matilda de Clare, Countess of Gloucester, having been given over by the Augustinian monks tocanonesses of the same order in 1284, and hence the place is frequently called in subsequent records Mynchinleye instead of Canonleigh, the word mynchin signifying a nun or veiled virgin.

Thus we see that this laud of Ashprington was connected with two important monastic estabUshments in the county, as I have already said. Totnes having survived the periodical suppression of many other alien priories, held the manor until the reign of Henry VI H ; but Canons- leigh lost her portion of the Land here before the dissolution, and the Valor Ecclesiasticus contains no mention whatever of these grants distinctly referred to in the early charters. The manor of Ashprington has been long dismembered, and the property is now held by various owners, 2q

30G DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

amongst whom I may mention the Durant family ; and the rector of the parish, the Rev. G. T. Carwithen,

Boditon, Botuston, or Bowden is stated to have been sold at the commencement of the reign of the eighth Henry to the ancestor of the redoubtable Sir Edward Giles, of whom I have already written.'

He represented Totnes in Parliament during the reigns of James I. and Charles 1. up to the time of his death, which happened in 1G37. In the eleventh James I. he was made lord-lieutenaut of this county, having been knighted by that King upon the occasion of his coronation in 1604. By his wife Mary daughter and heir of Edmund Drewe of Hayne, he had no issue ; he therefore adopted his uncle's son John Giles, and settled upon liim in his lifetime the Barton of Bowden and the manor of Ashprlngtun. He himself retired to the manor of Dean Prior where he died in 1637. Administration to his effects was granted at the Principal Registry, Exeter, to Lady Marie Giles, his relict, 24th January, 1637-8 the personal estate being valued at £968.

Through the daughter and heir of John Giles, who died in 167G, Bowden passed to Sir Richard Gipps ; it was afterwards ibr some descents in the Trists, and is now by inheritance the property and residence of Mr. Adams. It is situated partly in this parish and partly in the parish of Totnes.

The manor of Painsford in the Confessoi's reign was held by Edwin, or Sedwin, and afterwards became appro- priated to Baldwin the sherift', who granted it in demesne to Nigel ; it was then wiitten Pautisfoit. It was for some

* Ashburton ai.cl its Neighbourhood in Dean Prior,

PARrSII OF ASHPRINGTON. 307

years the seat of the ancient family of Plperell, whose heiress brought it to Halwell. The So.uasters purchased it of the latter family in the reign of Henry VII., and one of them, as Westcote says, " sealed with a gate." Robert Somaster, who died before his father, used the portcullis, having acquired the right to that heraldic distinction through his mother, who was daughter and heir of De

la Port.

This Robert died in his father's life-time ; he married Margaret daughter and heir of John Herward and had issue Ralph, William, and Adam. From the last of these the Painsford Branch are said to be descended through a certain Thomas Somaster who was presented by the Crown to the Archdeaconry of Cornwall 3rd January 1570-71, and died in 1 603. The last of the Somasters of Painsford, John Somaster, died in 1G81 , and was buried at Stokeuham. Rather before the latter date a certain John Kelland or Kellond had settled in Totnes as a merchant and acquired considerable property. The Kelland family had been spread over the North of Devon from an early period, and although they have no pedigree recorded in the Heralds visitations, they are known to have been people of substance and to have constantly resided upon, and formed their o^v^^ property. Their principal estate appears to have been in the parish of Lapford, where Richard Kelland is shown by the parish Registers to have been resident in 1567. His son John Kelland of Lapford, born 1588, married Charity Snell of Zeal Monachorum in 1612, and was the ancestor of the present William Henry Kelland, of Kelland, in the said parish. Although the fact does not appear to have been cleai-ly established, the said Richard 2q'

308 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Kelland is supposed to have been the grandfather of Jolin Kelland of Totnes. A certain Thomas Kelland appeai'ed before the Heralds at Tiverton in 1620, but failed to satisfy them upon some points and his name was con- sequently struck off. He may have been the father of the Thomas Kelland of Exeter, whose licence to marry Elizabeth " Courtney " dated 18th June 1632 is recorded in the Episcopal Registers.

John Kelland of Totnes, could not have been the son of John of Lapford, who was married in 1612, since he was born in 1608, four years previously to this marriage, but he may veiy possibly have been a sou of Thomas who appeared before the Heralds in 1620 and this Thomas may have Ijeen another son of Richard of Lapford.

John Kelland of Totnes born in 1601, married Susanna, daughter and heir of John Somaster of Painsford and Stokenham. She died in 1648, and her father survived until 1681 when he was buried at Stokenham where he seems to have resided. Her husband (who is said to have purchased it) lived at Painsford. The latter was a Deputy Lieut, for this County and a Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff of Devon, 19th Charles IL He died in 1679. His son John Kelland was retui-ned to Parliament for Totnes in conjunction with Sir Edward Seymour in 1678-9 when he is described as John Kelland, Junr, Esq. In 1680-1 he,was again I'eturned for the same borough together with his son Charles. He was High Sheriff of Devon in 1688, and was returned to Parliament for the last time in 1685. He died in 1691. Besides his son Charles who married JIargaret, daughter of Thomas Drewe of the Grange, he left issue a daughter, Susanna who was three times married.

PARISH OF ASHPRINGTON. 309

Charles Kelland by his wife Margaret Drewe, had issue John, and a daughter married to Colonel Arundell, who appears to have died previously to 1712 since she is not mentioned in her brother's will, by which her husband receives a legacy of .£1,000.

John Kelland of Painsford died without issue in 1712 aged 22, and the property went to his aunt, Susannah who had then married, secondly, William Courtenay and was the mother of William, and Kelland Courtenay. The elder died young. Kelland Courtenay was of Painsford. He left a son Charles Courtenay, killed in Germany in 17G6, when Painsford was carried by his sisters to their husbands, William Poyntz, of Midgham, and Edward, seventh Earl of Cork and Orrery, whose sun, the eighth ear), marrying his cousin. Miss Poyntz, they together sold the estate to the Michelmores. ]\Ir. Michelmore is the present proprietor.

After the death of John Kelland in 1712, his friend, William Kitson, whose name appears in his will for a legacy of £200, appears to have resided at Painsford. His children, as shown by the Parochial llegisters were born there, and his eldest daughter married the Hector of the Parish. His eldest son William, born 1 (599, purchased Shiphay in 1742, and was the ancestor of the Kitsons of Shiphay. A seal to a deed executed by William Kitson of Painsford in 1 729 is engraved with the arms of Kitson of Hengrave.

Washburton manor may have been the Wachetone of

Null'. — I have adopted the general mode of spelling the name but I have remarked that the Totnes KuUands are usually written " Kellond."

310 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Domesday, which was held by King Edward the Confessor in demesne.

It was for some years in the family of Lord Morley, and afterwards became the property of the Parrotts.

The manor of Sharpham may possibly be the Sepisberie of Domesday, if so it was held by Earl Harold, and was afterwards assumed by no less a personage than the Norman Conqueror liimself, and one can scarcely wonder that with his well-known predilection for other men's property, he selected this lovely spot, one of the fairest in the whole llxir county of Devon, nay, T would almost say the fairest, for wh;it can be more level}' than the alternation of hill, dale, and woodland ; or more picturesque than the sunny reaches and apparently land- locked lakes of the river Dart that Queen of English rivers. As early as the reign of Henry IV (1399) the manor of Sharpham belonged to Robert Winard. His daughter and heiress Anne married Robert French, and she had no son, consequently her daughter Amy brought this property to John Prideaux of Modbury, when she became his second wife. She had two daughters — Joan married to William Drewe, and EHzabeth to William Somaster of Painsford of whom I have already spoken, who used the Tudor badge for his Crest, and who died in vita patris. Sharpham fell to the portion of Joan, and from her was descended Edward Drewe, who is believed to have been born here. He was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law in the .S.Oth Elizabeth, together with Thomas Harris of the Middle Temple, and John Glanvill of Lincoln's-inn. Prince rem ;rks concerning them that one gained, one spent, and one gave as much as the other t^v•o, and adds

PARISH OF ASHPRIXGTON. 311

that Drewe was ou the getting side, for he acquired much land iu Combe Raleigh, Broadhembury, Broadclist, and elsewhere. Izaac tells us that he was made Recorder of Exeter in the '35th EUzabeth, 1592, and that he sur- rendered this office upou becoming Recorder of London. In 1596 he was called to the dignity of Queen's Serjeant. He sold Sharpham to John Giles, of Bowden, and took up his residence at Killerton, in the parish of Broadclist, tiow the residence of Sir Thomas Acland, by whose ancestor it was purchased from the Serjeant's son. Sir Thomas Drewe. Henry Blackhaller, justice of the peace, held the propei'ty in Prince's time, and probably succeeded the Giles here. The inscription to his memoiy in the parish church proves that he died in 1G84. The families of Yarde, Cockey, and Pownall have been successively resident here since his time, and the heiress of Captain Philemon Pownall, of the Royal Navy, brought the proj^erty to her husband, Edmund Bastai-d, M.P., a cadet of the house of Kitley. Tradition in this neighbourhood declares that Mr. Bastard eloped with the heiress, and that he provided against pur- suit by the ingenious expedient of hiring all the post horses in the whole district. Some say that he owed his success to an old wych elm still remaining in the park, and that on the occasion of a visit to Sharpham he was as much struck with the beauty of the spot as was his ancestor's Royal master, the rapacious William. Walking round this ancient tree three times he devoutly wished that he might marry the heiress of this very desii'able property, and having plenty of faith in the virtue of the proceeding, he instantly made arrangements for his successful elopement, and by his bold stroke for a wife was

312 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

enabled to leave the estate, to his son John, from whom it was purchased by Mr. Durant. Tlie cedars of Lebanon here are remai'kably fine, the rookery is supposed to be the largest in the West of England, and the heronry is believed to be the only one remaining of any extent in this or any other of the Western counties.

The wych elm to which I have referred stands on an area of 400 feet in circumference ; some of its branches in an horizontal line from the stock of the tree are eighty feet ; circumference of the stock, sixteen feet, and some of the large branches are nine feet round. Those hanging over the carriage drive are supported on huge props, while others on the opposite side are lying on the ground.

It is well known that the family of Bastard have been constantly resident in this county ever since the Norman Conquest, and that Robert Bastard appears in Domesday as the recipient of large grants of lands.

Although they have not continued upon their original land their seat was for many generations at Garstou, near Kingsbridge, until they acquired Kitley by marriage with a daughter and heir of Pollexfen, towards the end of the 17th century.

William Bastard, of Kitley, who died in 1782, had two sons, John and Edmund. Edmund the younger, was the Edmund Bastard who acquired Sharpham by his marriage with Jane, daughter and heir of Captain Philemon Pownall. He was M.P. for Devon, and upon the death of his brother John, without issue 4th Apiil 1816, he also succeeded to the Kitley property and became the head of the family.

He was succeeded at Kitley by his eldest son Edmund Pollexfen Bastard, whilst Sharpham was settled upon his

PARISH OF ASIIPRINGTON. 313

second son John, a captain in the Royal Navy and M.P. for Dartmouth. He married Frances daughter and co-heir of Benjamin Wade of the Grange, co. York, and died 11th January, 1835, leaving an only child, Frances. She married William Frederick, Viscount Chewton, who died in 1854 at Scutari, of wounds received at the battle of the Alma leaving three children the eldest of whom succeeded his grandfather in 1859 as 9th Earl Waldegrave.

2 R

314 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER XIII. PART 11.

The Parish of Ashpringtox. — The Parish Church.

The parish church, dedicated to St. David, is situated in the centre of the village, and comprehends chancel, nave, separated from north and south aisles by an arcade of four bays, supported upon perpendicular columns, a south porch, and a tower at the westei'n end containing five beEs.

The ancient screen has been removed, but the fragments are still preserved in the disused vestry on the north side of the church. The stalls and other modern decorations of the chancel have been provided by Mr. Carwithen, the present rector, who has raised this portion of the chiu'ch a step, and defined it by a dwarf screen of stone. He assured me that he should be glad to see the rood screen refixed in its proper position, and that he should have spared no pains or expense to effect this had he known of its existence at the time he restored the chancel. The eastern window (a transom of five-lights) is to the memory of Mrs. Duraut, of Sharpham. The windows on the north and south sides have been blocked, but the arches shew that they were placed further westward than is generally the case.

PARISH OF ASUPRINGTON. 315

Tlie ancient trefoiled piscina, which has been restored, is of Third Pointed date ; it is square headed, with quatre- foiled spandrils, and has a rather cvirious draui hole slant- ing backwards. »

The priest's door has been completely modernised, but the opening is in the original position. The nodi in the roof of the nave are also of fifteenth century work, but the wall plates are modern.

The font, of red sandstone, is ch'cular and of Norman date, and is ornamented with the cable moulding and rudely executed foUage. I believe it to be in its origuial position ; but the door which anciently existed near it has been closed up.

We are many of us well aware that in the middle ages

the sexes were separated during Divine worship, and

that the distance westward women were permitted to

advance (never further than the second column) was

specified by some difference in the architecture, such

as the decoration of a. pillar, or a step in the floor. That

this rule was enforced at Ashj)ring-ton is clear from the

circumstances of the capitals of two of the pillars being

perfectly plain, whilst the rest are adorned with foliage,

and as women were in the habit of entering through the

south door, the blocked up entrance on the north side

must have been provided for the accommodation of the

men. The Apostolical constitutions, supposed to have

been compiled in the twelfth century, require the sepai'a-

tion of the sexes, and females occupied therefore the

western part " in occidentali parte nos est feminis orare; "

and an inscription of the fourth century in the portico of

the Vatican Basilica describes the position of a grave near 2r"

3 1G DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

the second column, and the words " quomodo intramus sinistra parte virorum," prove that men used to enter through the door on the left, or north side of the church.

The tower arch is of plaster, and if this could be removed the ancient and much loftier arch would probably be found concealed beneath it. All the windows are of Per- pendicular date.

The church is built of dun stone, with red sandstone dressings ; It is handsomely embattled, and the walls ai'e supported by plain buttresses.

Of the two vestries, both compai'atively modern, that on the north is oldest ; they are both built in prolongation of the aisle, and block the chancel windows, unfortun- ately disfiguring and destroying the original plan of the sacred structure.

There is a fine octagonal rood turret on the north side. The handsome south porch once contained a parvise, or room for a chantry priest, which has been destroyed, but the turret containing the stairs which led to this room still remains, and is pierced with a handsome quatrefoiled light.

I believe the tower to be a relic of a much earher church than the present one, which was probably built about the middle of the fifteenth century. It is perfectly plain and unbuttressed. From the cii'cumstance of its battermg or diminishing upwards, I should consider that it dates from the twelfth century, although in some districts, such as Northamptonshire, I beheve this mode of construction was continued to a later period. The staircase is pecuhar, only ascending three quarters of its height, and terminating in a curious lean-to roof. A small wuidow on the eastern

PARISH OF ASHPRINGTON. 317

side is partially blocked by the roof of the church. Of course the western windows and doorway prove nothing ; they were jn-obably inserted when the body of the church was rebuilt.

The lower portion of the ancient cross and a magnificent yew tree still remain on the south side of the churchyard.

In this parish was discovered in the year 1605 (as Westcote and Risdon tell us) " a well which was ftimous for a short time, and the virtues of whose water was medicinal for all griefs and diseases ; to which resorted an incredible number of people from all quarters, and so many bottles thereof were carried far into the country that there was not enough to serve every man's turn ; but in a little time the people, satisfied of the novelty and the virtue decreasing, the resort also ceased." Risdon also says that this well was dedicated to St. David, and that a chapel was built there and dedicated to the same saint.

In the registers of the Bishops of Exeter mention is made of the chapels of St. David, St. James, and St. Jolm the Baptist at Painsford. The Painsford Chapel was rebuilt in 1687 by John Kelland, and consecrated by the title of St. Mary, August 4th, in that year. Divine service was performed in it to the middle of the last century, after which it gradually fell into a dilapidated state. In the Ashprington Register I find it referred to as follows : — " John Hayne, jun., clerk, and Elizabeth Blackball, spinster, both of Totues, were married 1)y license in the chapel at Painsfurd, on Thursday, xMarch 7th, 1754, by Elias Browne, curate of Cornworthy. In the presence of X , the mark of Joan Lee ; X , the mark of Elizabeth Stephens." A suit of armour, probably a relic of some

318 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

ancient owner of the manor, was for some years preserved in this chapel, which is now entirely desti-oyed. In Bishop Lamplugh's Register, I have found the following marginal note in connection with this chapel. " 17th August, 1787 paid Mr. Broomer for horse hire in attending my Lord at the consecration of Mr. Kellands chapell, 7s."

It is shown by the Chantry Rolls that there was a chantry in Ashpringtou Church founded by Thomas Coterell " To find a priest to pray for his soul and the souls of his ancestors in the parish church of Ashpringtou' and he to have for his salary 106s. 8d. per annum. To distribute to poor people, 4s. 4d. To keep an obit yearly 4s. 8d., and the surplus to find bread, wine, and wax for mass, and for repairing the ornaments."

Total value of lands, &c., £5 18s. lOd.

Outside the chancel door is a brass with the following inscription : — " Wm. Sumaster, of Pynesford, Esq., died the xxix of June, 1589, and lyeth here buried. Christ is my Hght and death my advantage." The arms are repeated upon two shields. Arg. ; a castle trij^le towered within an orle of fleur de lis sa. It is possible that the armour long preserved in Painsford Chapel may have once belonged to Sir S. Somaster, who with his four sons took an active part on the Royal side in the great rebelhon, selhng Old Port and other estates to meet the expenses of the field. Close to this brass is a stone inscribed to some members of the Cockey family, with the quaint remark that its different members repose each " m a hd chest." I noticed no mural tablets or leger stones within the church of any great antiquity. The most interesting, perhaps, is that in the north aisle to the memoiy of " John Kellond,

PARISH OF ASHPRTXGTON: 319

of P. Ford." The inscription, which is in Latin, and probably refers to the purchaser of Painsford from the Somasters, states that he was a Deputy-Lieutenant of the County and a Justice of the Peace, and that he died Gth June, l<i79. His son John (whose decease is recorded under) erected the memorial.

The rectory of Ashprington appears always to have been in private patronage, although it paid a small pension to the monastic community of Totnes, hj whose exertions the church was doubtless originally provided by some one of the neighbouring landowners. In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, finished in 1291, it was valued at £9 13s. 4d. per annum, and in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 when Richard Weston was rector, its income is stated to be £29 Is. 7:gd., and the pension to the prior of Totnes is there described as a chief rent, and amounted to 6s. 8d. a year. Durmg the great rebellion the then rector, the Rev. John Lethbridge, was turned out of his preferment and lost his private estate as well. He underwent great haixlships and was very much harassed and abused both in his person and liis family, the charge against him being that he was a malignant, and that he persisted in using the Book of Conmion Prayer. Once he was compelled to hide in tlie Sharpham Woods and to continue there fourteen days, during which tune his wife and six children wave tm'ned out of tlie rectory. He died before the restoration, Sep- tember 2nd, 1655. He lies buried in Exeter Cathedral For some time before his death he resided privately in Cornwall.

George Carwithen, 2nd son of the Rev. Thoma.s Carwithen, rector of Manaton, Devon, and of Anna his

320 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

-wife married Mary, daughter of Frauds, son of John Cooke, of Exeter, who had a grant of arms from the Hei-alds' College in 1687. " Gu. 3 crescents or, a chief of the last." His eldest son, George Carwithen, baptised January I3th, 1729, was rector of Manaton, July 16th 1766. He married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Naithaniel Terry, rector of Ashprington, and succeeded his father-in-law in the latter rectory 7th June, 1730. (His son, the Rev. G. Terry Carwithen, was of Ashprington House.) He was succeeded in the rectory by the Rev. Jacob Ley, M.A., in 1795. The Rev. G. Teny Car- withen was instituted to the vicarage of Newton St. Cyi-es 24th September 1813, and resigned it 9th October, 1817. He died in 1854. His son, the Rev. George William Carwithen, is the present rector of the parish and patron of the rectory to which he was instituted in 1859. He is also a large landowner in the parish and the owner of Ashpring-ton House, which was erected by the Rev, G. Carwithen in 1783. The Cai'withen family are of Cornish extraction, and in the time of Henry VI John Carwy than of Carwythan in that county married the eldest daughter and heir of Robert Panston, of Panston, co. Devon, and their descendants continued to reside at Panston for many generations. A branch of this family settled in Exeter. Nicholas Carwithen, was of the parish of St. Petrock, in 1630. The inscription on his stone was un- fortunately lost or destroyed duiing the restoration of St. Petrock's Chm-ch but I am fortunately able to reproduce it.

" Copy of a gi-ave stone in St. Petrock's Church, Exeter on the left of the entrance from Fore Street near the north

PARISH OF ASHPRINGTON: 321

wall, and numbered 3-2 in the plan taken of the vaults bj Mr. Charles Hedgeland, architect, January 27th, 1829." Here lyeth the body of | Nicholas Carwithen of | this city gi'ocer who | died 20th Aug. 1643. | Here lyeth also Margaret j wife of ye said Nicholas ] Car- withen who died ye | 6th Decbr. 1675. Also 1 here lyeth Elizabeth daugh ] ter of Thomas Walrond | of ye famUy of Bradfield & | wife of John Carwithen | son of ye said Nicholas \ Carwithen who died 14th of December 1692. Also here lyeth the Body of ye I s"" John Carwithen Grocer [ sometime Sheriff of this City and County who died 12th June 1693.

His will was proved Principal Registry, Exeter 19th June 1645, and Admon, granted to Margaret, his wife.

His son John married Elizabeth daughter of the Rev. Thomas Walrond of Woodflirdisworthy, and had issue Nicholas, Thomas, John and William. The second son Thomas, I have already mentioned as the great great grandfather of the present rector of Ashprmgton. He was the first of his name rector of Manaton in this county to which church he was instituted 1 9th May 1698. By his will dated 6th October 1735, and proved by George Carwithen, son and executor in the Principal Registry Exeter, 30th March 1737 he directs his body to be buried in the chancel of St. Sidwell's church, in the same grave with his wife and daughter and disposes of his share of the effects of his late brother John, who was Town Clerl^ of Exeter. He mentions his grandson George and gives the latter a " stone ring." He gives his eldest son Charles a ruby ring and a gold seal with the arms of the family cut in red Cornelian. There are legacies to his 2 s

322 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

sons Edmund, llobert, and Joseph to his daughters and EHzabeth and Maiy, and to his cousin "widow Deborah Rice, "Cousin Ann Gill, widow, and to Elizabeth daughter of " Cousin Judith Hallett."

He was succeeded at Manaton by his eldest son Charles. The advowson of the rectory of Manaton was purchased in 1720 by John Carwithen of Exeter, gentleman. Town Clerk, for the sum of £100 for a term of 1,000 yeai"s and in 1723 he bought the fee, of the said rectory fur £5 5s. of Francis Kirkham, Esq. Since Thomas Carwithen's time, there have been seven of the name rectors of Manaton and the advowson still belongs to the family. John Car- withen, son of Nicholas, eldest brother of Thomas aforesaid rector of Manaton, was rector of Willand and Woolfai'dis- worthy and vicar of Crediton. He married Hester daughter of Henry VValrond of Bradfield. Her marriage settlement is dated September 21st, 22nd, 1719. By it, in considera- tion of his intended marriage and of the sum of £600, secured to be paid to him by the said Henry Walrond as the marriage portion of his daughter he grants to certain trustees for the benefit of the first son of the contemplated marriage " All that messuage or Mansion House, wherem John Carwithen deceased, his gi-andfather lately dwelt — and the messuage or house and shop &c., &c.— in the parish of St. Petrock's. The house alluded to is the corner house in High Street, Exeter, on the east of North Street which contains m a niche or recess the ancient well known figure of S. Peter.

Hester Walrond died November 3rd, 1772. Her great grandson, the llev. John Bayly Somers Carwithen, born April 10th, 1781, was Bampton Lecturer at Oxford 1809 ;

PARISH OF ASHPRINGTON. 323

vicar of Sandhurst 1810 and of Fremley, Hants 1814. He

was the well known author of " Carwitheu's history of

the Church of England." His brother the Kev. W.

Carwlthen, D.D., who held various preferments in this

diocese, including the family living of Manaton, was for

many years well known and respected as an Exeter

clergyman, and died on the 18th April 1S50. He

was the father of the Kev. WQliam Carwithen, vicar

of Aylesbeare, and also of the Rev. George E. Carwithen

R.N., who was appointed a chaplain to H.R.H. the Duke

of Edinburgh, April 25th, 1883. The arms of this family

recorded at the Heralds' College may be seen there in a

MS. entitled " An Alphabet of Devonshire and Cornish

Arms compiled sometime about the year 1689."

" Carwithen of Exon, Arg. a Flore de lus gu. a border

ingreld of the second.

" J. Pulman " (Portcullis)

"October 22nd, 1833."

A trick of the same arms may be found in MS. No. 3532.

Deau and Chapter of Exeter.

The Charity Commissionei'S repoi-t upon an almshouse

in this parish inhabited rent free by six poor persons, and

which is reputed to have been formerly held under a deed

of feoflfment, although no such deed can now be found.

The returns made to Parliament in 1786 state this house

to have been given by Sir Edward Giles, Knt., by deed,

in 1622 ; and it is also mentioned that " from the

condition of the original deeds it was not possible to

collect any other matter." The Commissioners also report

upon " the Church House " and upon " Knowluig's Gift."

The former was once let as a public-house, and the rents 2s'

324 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

were then applied to the repair of the chiu'ch, but it was afterwards occupied by poor persons of the parish rent free. With respect to " Knowling's Gift," the ParHa- mentaiy returns above referred to mention a sum of £30 as having been given by the will of Alice Knowling in 1729 for such poor families as had not relief from the parish, and as being vested in the churchwardens and overseers, and it is added in a note " that when Peter Knowling paid in the pi'incipal to the parish the interest ceased." There is a tradition in the parish that after the principal of this legacy was paid by Peter Knowling, it was applied at a time when Ashprington was visited by an infectious disorder in the payment of bills for medical attendance to the poor not receiving parochial relief.

Jolin Kelland of Painsford, who died in 1712, gave by his will to the Bishop of Exeter and to his executors John Fownes of Tretheway, Esq., and Francis Dre we of Exeter, barrister, the sum of £2,000 in trust for the augmentation of charity schools.

The following is the inscription on the Kelland memorial, which is a large mural tablet of black and white marble and is placed over the door which anciently led to the rood loft on the north side of the church.

" MS."

" Hie jacet Johannes KeUond de Painsford Armiger nuper vice comes hujus comitatus Devonice Regis pro pace, qui obiit sexto die Junii.

Anno I ^^^^"*^« 1679. 3 ^tatis 71. Susanna uxor ejus, 1648. Pietatis ei-go posuit hoc Johannes filius.

PARISH OF ASHPRINGTON. 325

Arms of Kellond of Paiiisford. Sa. a fesse arg, m chief 3 fleur-de-lis of the last.

Crest ; A demi tiger salient or, maued arg. The Parish Registers commence alike in 1G07.

326 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

CHAPTER XIV. PAET I.

The History of Dartmouth. — General Description AND History.

The ancient borough and port town of Dartmouth, is situated at the mouth of the river Dart, about ten miles below Totnes, and its harbour was recognized as of im- portance at a very early period, since it was the chief one of the district, kno^vn as the "Littus Totonesimn" (the Totnes Strand). From thence, according to Alan, of Lisle, the passage was wont constantly to be made from the greater to the lesser Britain.

Early writers also say that this town, originally desig- nated Lud-hill, cannot boast of an equal antiquity with Totnes, and we are told that it only began to flourish when the latter haven, " by over much land brought down by the Tin Works, was so choked up that it was spoiled ; " but, be this as it may, its deep and capacious land-locked harbour, easy of access and capable of afibrd- ing a safe refuge for the largest ships, must necessarily hiiXQ merited attention at a very remote date, and, according to the Saxon chronicle, it witnessed before the Conquest the death of Earl Beorn, who was killed by order of his enemy, Swain, the son of Godwin, into whose bands be had fallen by stratagem.

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 327

This Wiis ill the year, 1049. Three years previously Sweyn had ravaged South Wales aud had carried off the Abbess of Leominster, whom he proposed to espouse, but as he was not permitted to do so he fled to Bruges, then the capital of Baldwin IV of Flanders, who had married Eleonora, the niece of Queen Emma, and who appears to have been the general protector of English fugitives, since before this he had received with hospi- tality Gunhllda, the widow of Hacon and niece of Canute, together with her sons, when they were banished from England in 1045.

When Sweyn fled to this Court his lands., were, of course, cpntiscated, and in order to obtam their restitu- tion he joined King Edward with seven ships in the fleet, assembled by that Monarch to assist the Emperor (Henry III), against the aforesaid Baldwin.

Sweyn's endeavours to recover the favour of his Sovereign, appear, to have been circumvented by his brother Harold and by his kinsman Beorn ; and the mtu-der of the latter, who is supposed to have been buried " in the church at Dartmouth," was the consequence of his interference in the plans of Sweyn, who afterwards, strange to say, again fled to Bruges, and in 1050 was once more restored to his possessions.

It is said of William llufus that, while iiunting in the year 1099, a messengei' from Normandy brought him intelligence that the city of Mans was besieged- With- out dismounting from his horse the King hastened to the neai'est seaport, and on being reminded that it was necessary to collect truo])s he said, "I shrdl see who will follow me ; and if I understand the youtli of this kingdom

328 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

I shall have people enougli." Though it was almost a storm and the wind contrary, he insisted on embarking immediately, and when the sailors pointed out the danger of putting to sea, and entreated him to wait for favourable weather, he exclaimed, " I never heard of a King that was shipwi'ecked ; weigh anchor, and you will soon see that the winds will be with vis."

Accordmg to William of Malmesbuiy and others the seaport from which the monarch sailed was Dartmouth, and, if this was the case, he was probably following his favourite pastime upon Dartmoor, the mountainous wastes of which nuist have afforded good harbour for all sorts ot wild animals at this period, even if It had not then become a Royal forest.

At this time, too, the whole Manor of LIdford still remained in the hands of the Crown, from which it was not alienated until the year 1238, when Henry Til granted it to his brother Richard, commonly called King of the Romans ; and although the visits of our early Sovereigns to ])artmoor were, perhaps, not very frequent in consequence of its distance from the capital, yet it is probable that they came there occasionally, and there is evidence that " Roger Mirabel held land " (in Skeradon, Hundi-ed of Stanborough) " from the Lord the King-In- Ohief by the Serjancy of three arrows lohen the King should hunt in the forest of Dertemore, who committed felony, for which he was outlawed," and then the said land came into the King's hands, who gave it to Master Walter, the physician, and now (temp. Edwd. I.) "John de BoyviUe, and Dionisia, liis wife, daughter and heir of the aforesaid Walter, hold it ; and moreover, two furlongs of land in

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 329

Kingdon, who gave it to the Abbot and Convent of Buffestie"' (Buckfast), "and it is vakied at 10s. a year.'

Kino- Kichard I (who had taken the cross before his accession) entered at the very commencement of his reign into an alliance with Philip of France, that they might proceed together to the Holy Land to rescue Jerusalem from the Infidels ; an enterprise which is known in his- tory as the Third Crusade. The King liimself departed from Dover and proceeded to the Continent during the month of December, 1189; and kept his Christmas at Bures, in Normandy. After a meeting with the French monarch at Eheims, and the ratification of the treaty between them, Eichard proceeded to Gascony, where he took the castle of William de Chisi, and forthwith hanged him for having plundered some pilgrims while passing through his lands ; he then proceeded to Anjou and Tours (at the latter place he received from the Arch- bishop, the scrip and staff of his pilgrimage), and he ultimately joined the King of France on the plains of Vezelay about the end of June, 1190,

But in the six months which had elapsed since his departure from England, the reckless and violent means to which he had resorted had enabled him to raise the most formidable fleet and army which had ever left our shores. These had been recruited from all parts of England, Normandy, Poitou, Brittany and Aquitaine. and were ultimately assembled at Dartmouth, where such of the Crusaders as had not accomjmnied the King, as well as the warlike engines, stores, and other material for the army, were embarked. Peter of Langtoft says : —

1 Rot. IIuiiJ.

330 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

"Thei liad in tlier route a hundretli sliippes and ten, But God thei had no doubtc, nc no defaute of men."

This large armament was to join Richard at Marseilles, from whence it was to proceed to Messina, which was the appointed rendezvous for both expeditions before sailing for Palestine. This is the earliest evidence yet discovered of English vessels having been sent on so distant a voyage ; part, if not all of them, sailed from Dartmouth towards the end of April, 1190. There were a hundred lai'ge ships and numerous smaller ones under the nominal command of Gerard, Archbishop of Aix, and Bernard, Bishop of Bayonne, assisted by Richard de Camville, Robert de Sabloil, and William de Fortz, who were styled " leaders and governors of all the King's ships," or " sea justices," and they had received their appointments at ChLnon, in Anjou, in the precedmg year.

For five days after the commencement of the voyage the wind remained fair, and this was so far fortunate, as the vessels, both from construction and equipment, seem to have been quite unfit to encounter the fury of the Atlantic Ocean ; many disasters subsequently befell them, and on Ascension Day (3rd May), while they were still crossmg the Bay of Biscay, they were dispersed by a violent storm. One of these vessels, which belonged to London, had among her passengers (who numbered 100 all told) a certain William Fitz-Osbert, supposed to have been the citizen sometimes called " William-with-the-long- beard," conspicuous in the annals of the City, and who was hanged at Tyburn in 1196.'

To this ship a special miracle is said to have been

1 Rot. Cur. Reg. Pref. Palgrave 1. vii.

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 331

vouchsafed. The temfied ci'ew having invoked tlie Divine aid, St. Thomas of Canterbury appeared to them three times and assured them that he, together with the martyrs SS. Edmund and Nicholas, were appointed protectors of their ship, and would conduct it in safety jirovided they repented of their sins and did penance. These easy terms were gladly accepted, and the Saint having vanished the storm instantly ceased, and the vessel passed Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent and finally reached Sylves. St. Nicholas was considered to be the special guardian of sea-faring men. To quote again from Peter of Langtoft —

" The Bishop St. Nicholas whos help is ny rodic, To shipmcn in alio cas whan thai on hiin crie."

Of the scattered fleet, nine soon after arrived in Lisbon, where they were joined by sixty-three other large ships under Camville and Sabloil " cum Ixiil magnis navibus de storio." The word " storium " is explained by Benedict, Abbas, " idem est quoid navagium." After sei'ious mis- understandmgs with the good people of Lisbon the EngUsh ships again put to sea on the 24th of July, and at the mouth of the Tagus thty fell in with de Fortz with thirty-three sail ; and after a favourable passage of twenty-eight days along the coast they ultimately reached Marseilles in safety on the 22nd of August ; but the King, who had waited eight days for them at the beginning of the month, had given them up in despair, and his patience being exhausted he had gone on to Messina in hired transpoi-ts, which port our Dartmouth fleet ulti- mately reached on the 14th of September.

In the early summer of the year 1205 King John was 2 T"

332 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

preparing a force for the invasion of Normandy, and although he afterwards abandoned the design yet he appears to have visited Dartmouth at this period, and may have possibly contemplated using it as a port of embarkation. His Itineraiy shows that he remained here for three days, from June 18th to June 22nd, when he returned to Dorchester.*

Nine years later this King invaded France and landed at Rochelle February 15th, 1214, and in conjunction with the Flemings his troops were defeated at the Battle of Bouvines, when the Earl of Salisbuiy and the Count of Flanders were made prisoners by Philip. On July 27th in the same month John himself was repulsed before the Castle of Roche Aux Moines, in Anjou, where he heard of the disastrous result of the combat at Bouvines. He at once returned to England and landed at Dartmouth on Wednesday, October 15th, having concluded a truce with the French King. Leland says'* : — " King John gave privilege of mairaltie to Dartmouth," This assertion is stated in the Magna Britannia, to be an error, and there still aj^pears to be nothing to substantiate it ; but Mere- wether says' that the Dartmouth Charter was confirmed in the reign of Henry HI. and the same author cites an mquisition " ad quod damnum " of 1319 which shows that the inhabitants claimed, according to the evidence then produced, to have been a free borough in the reign of Henry I.

This town is called in ancient records Clifton, Dart-

1 Hardy, Disc, of Rot. Pat.

' Itin. V. 2, p. 39.

» ilun. Corp. vi. p. 470.

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 333

mouth, Hardnesse, and it really comprised three adjacent vills or manors. Of these, Dartmouth, which in the year 1203, with all its dues and privileges, belonged to Totnes, seems to have passed as parcel of that Great Barony until the reign of Edward I., when it was conveyed by Willianr de Zouch to Nicholas, of Tewliesbury ; and the Patent Rolls, 35th Edward I., No. 38, show that tliLs conveyance received the Royal Assent in 1305.

Hardnesse, now known as Sand-quay, was situated in the ancient manor of Norton, which was originally the property of the unfortunate Brictric, the son of Algar, and was given at the conquest to ludhel, Baron of Totnes, under whom it was held by William.

Clifton, within " Sutime," or South Town, occupied the position implied by its name, and included St. Petrock's Church and the Castle. In the Confessor's reign it belonged to the Saxon Ulwine, and afterwards passed to William, who may well have been identical with the sub- tenant of Norton, but who in the case of South Town is particularly described as the " Portitor " or door-keeper. A certain Richard (possibly the ancestor of the Fitz- Stephens, one of whom conveyed the property at an early date to Fleming), held Soutli Town under this Royal official.

Townstall, within which the Mother Church of Dart- mouth is situated, appears to have been an appendage of the manor of Norton. It is considered by Lysons' to have been the " Dunestal " of the survey, which was taken from Ansger, who owned it " when King Edward was alive and dead," and was afterwards given to that puissant warrior, Walter De Douay, Baron of Bampton.

'■ Mas. Krit. i. 63.

384 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Dartmoutli is said to have been burnt by the French ill the reign of Richard I., but the tradition is unsub- stantiated.' A market was granted for this town in 1226 to Eichard of Gloster, son of WilHam Fitz-Stephen, to be held on Wednesday, and a fair for three days at the festival of St. John the Baptist. The Fines 28th of Henry III., cited by Brown-Willis, and Lysons, contain the agreement between WilUam de Cantilupe, Baron ofTotnes, and the burgesses of Dartmouth, for their weekly markets as early as the year 1243 ; and in the year 1301 Edward I. granted Gilbert Fitz-Stephen, Lord of Townstall, a market at " Clifton Super Dartmouth " on Thursday, and a fair for two days at the Festival of St Margaret. "

In the 21st of Edward I, Dartmouth is supposed to have furnished six ships for the King's service, their aid having been rendered necessary by a quarrel which had occurred l)etween some sailors in a foreign port, and which led to important consequences.

A coujile of the crew of a vessel from the Cinque Ports landed to obtain water, and became involved in a dispute with some Norman seamen, which ended in blows on both sides. One of the Englislunen was slain, and his comrade fled to his sliip, followed by a number of his antagonists, but the vessel left the harbour immediately. Shortly afterwards the Norman squadron fell in with six English ships which they attacked, and, having taken two of them, they hung the crews at the yard-anns.'

^ Rot. Cart. 11 th Hen. III. m. i. » Rot. Cart. 39th Edw. I. 19. Mag. Brit ii. 153-4. ' " Suspeiulentes homines in navibus ad trabes navium suarum, nuUam faciebant diiferentiam inter canem, et Anglicuni." (Knigliton).

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 335

Such outrages were not likely to be committed with impunity upon British sailors, and the nation rose to arms. The four ships that escaped from the Channel were joined by many others, and the whole fleet under the command of Sir Robert Tiptoft' were soon engaged in desultory sklmiishes. The EngUsh were helped both by the Irish and Dutch, while the Normans obtained the assistance of the French, Flemish, and Genoese. At length on the 14th of April, according to Knighton, or upon the same date in the month of May, says Trivet, the two fleets, well armed, met by mutual agreement at a spot ui mid-channel, which had been Indicated by a large and empty ship anchored there.' The weather at the time appears to have Ijeen very tempestuous.' So that the courage of the respective combatants appears to have been as imequal as the elements. The English seem only to have had sixty ships, while the enemy's fleet numbered 240, or " over 200 " according to some authorities. The thou.sands said to have been slain and drowned was

' He was son "f IK'ury de Tiptoft, who held lands in co. York and CO. Liacoln, and died >:. 1250. In 12G5 R.b.Tt dc Tiptoft was governor of Porchester Ciistle, and afterwards of Nottingham Castle.

2 " Cum-que tulia longo certamine agerentur inter cos, missis inter- nunciis placnit tandem partibus certo die congredi cum toto conomino scilicet xiiii die Apiilis, fixo standardo quasi in media maris inter Angliam et Konnanniam ibi enini cum communi assensu, ancoravcrunt navem pergrandem, et vacuam, in signum congrcssionis facieudae."

' " Et sicut in cis fuerat disparattw animorum .sic etiam in eodcm die contigit in lequalitiis maxima cleniontoriuni nivis srilioet et grandinig vcnti<iuc vali.lissimi " "et tandem victoriam dedit nostris ipse dcus omnipotus, peiiorunt que multa millia glndio, pnvtcr xnhmersos cum navihus <iua.si infinito.% redurgerunt que nostri onostAs cum proeda naves circiter ccxl." (Knighton, col. 2495.)

SliQ DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

probably a gross exaggeration on the part of Knigliton. Trivet's account varies considerably from liis ; he says that the French fleet, which amounted to 20C saQ and upwards, had gone to Gascony intending to plunder and destroy all they met with, and were, on their return, seized by sixty English ships and brought to England " on the sixth feria before the eve of Pentecost" (that is, on Friday, the 15th of May), all their crews havmg been slain or drowned excepting those who had escaped in boats. Another contemporary account of this remarkable fight is that left us by Peter of Langtoft' : —

In the year 1293, Edward I. havmg concluded a three years' truce with France, retm-ned to this country and landed nt Sandwich on the 21st of March. Shortly afterwards he marched towards Scotland, which he entered in June, and on the 22nd of July he won the battle of Falkii-k. His fleet had proceeded to the Frith of Forth, and two ships from the port of Dartmouth were included in the expedition.

The burgesses of Dartmouth first sent members to Parliament in tliis year (1298). After this they seem to have intermitted until the 14th Edward III. (1340).

1 " The batailed in the se, Normans and Inglis were slayn grete pleute, The Normans that day les for their powere was nouht, The portes had als thei ches schippes inow tham brought To Dovere and Germne cam, and unto "WynchiJse, To Romeneye and Schorham and to Poveueshe, To Gipwiche and .Saiidwiche, and to Southamptouu, Alle the portes were richc, Irays and Bayoun, The five portes thorgh powere the se had so coiKjuerd That Normans all that yere durst not be sene for ferd"

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 3 37

From then the returns were regular until 1832, when the borough lost one of its two members ; it was finally disfranchised by the operation of the Reform Bill of 1868. The right of election was vested in the freemen of the borough, who, in 1822, numbered about forty-five.

Nicholas de Tewkesbury conveyed the town and port of Dartmouth in fee-simple to King Edward III. in 1327'. As I have already remarked, considerable doubt exists as- to the exact period at which Dai'tmouth became a Municipal borough. Merewether^ says that its privileges as such were confii-med in the reifrn of Henry III ; and he further remarks that the King (Edward III.) granted a Charter in the year 1337, which was followed by a supplementaiy one conceding addi- tional advantages in 1341. The late Dr. Oliver, in his account of Tor Abbey, also mentions the latter date, while Lysons, says : — " The earliest Charter which I can fiind is that of Edward III, who, in 1341, " granted to the burgesses of Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardnesse, the power of choosing a Mayor, with other privileges, such as holding pleas,^&c."'

The " Charter of Queen Elizabeth to the borough of Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardnesse," I'ecites by inspeximus the various confirmations of her predecessors to that of Edward III, which was dated at the Tower of London, " quaiiio decimo die Aprilis, anno regni jiostri Angliae quinto decimo, regni vero nostri Franciae secundo." I am fortunate enough to be possessed of a copy of this

I JlaJox, •' Firma Burgi," 17. * Mun. Corp. i, 470. " Rot. Ciirt., 15th Rl, iii, 4, 18. 2 U

338 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Charter, whicli was printed by T. Brice, of Exeter, but is undated. T. Brice flourished as a printer in High-street, Exeter, during the latter portion of the last century and the coramencement of the present one.

The Charter of Edward III. is the earliest referred to in this document, and it appears from it that that monarch, upon the date already mentioned, in 1341, in consideration of the great losses and hardships sustained by the Burgesses of Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardnesse, by reason of the wai'S, and on account of their previous good behaviour and of their fitting out two ships of war at their own expense when requisite, granted them that they and their heirs and successors for ever should be free from toll, pavage, murage, &c.' They are also permitted to elect yearly from among themselves a Mayor, provided he be a fit person and faithful to the King and kingdom, to keep the said borough, and to hold pleas, &c., with the bailiffs of the said borough. The burgesses are to be allowed to dispose of their lands freely by will ; they are not to plead or be impleaded out of the borough by reason of their tenures, &c., within it ; and they are to have in- and-out fang-thief and the return of writs. No sheriff is to enter the borough to execute his office but in default of the mayor and bailiffs, and the latter are not to be put in assizes, juries, &c., by reason of their lands and tenements outside the borough, as long as they remain in it. Aliens are not to be placed with them in assizes and juries, and no " forestaller "'^ is to be in the borough.

^ For explanation of these law terms see " Lailey's Dictionary." " " Forestalling " is defined by jrCulloch. as " the buying or con- tracting for any cattle, provision, or merchandise on its way to market,

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 339

All these rights and privileges were approved and confirmed by King Richard II. at Westminster 14tli December, 1378, who, moreover, on the 15th of November 1394, by his letters patent granted to the said Burgesses " that they should not plead or be impleaded, but within the said town touching any matters arising therein unless the same concerned the late King and his heirs, or the Commonalty of the said Borough, all of which privileges he, King Richard, had fully confirmed. And now, con- sidering the heavy losses which the said Burgesses had sustained by occasion of war, and that by said recited letters patent they were bound to find two ships of war, two-deckers, each of 120 tons burthen as often as requisite." He further grants that the said mayor and bailiffs shall have cognizance of all pleas of lands and tenements, and of assizes of Novel Disseisin and Mort d'Ancestor, within the bounds and liberties of the said town, and that they may also elect annually a coroner, who is to take an oath similar to that of the mayor, well and faithfully to perform his office, and that no other coroner shall in future interfere in the said town and liberty, saving to the Crown all fines and amerce- ments, so that the said burgesses, their heirs and successors, ^?ic^ two ships as before required."

The bui'gesses of Dartmouth in the reign of Edward IV. appear to have complained to the King that although the village of Southtown, Dartmouth, was joined to the

or dissuading persons from sending their goods there, encouraging tliem to raise the price or disseminating false rumours to enhance the value of particular articles of commerce. The penalties enacted by old statutes were very severe, but they were all repealed in 1772. 2v'

340 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

said borough, yet that the municipal authorities kept watch and ward nightly on the confines of the said village and beyond at a certain place " called Gallions Bower " (" vocatum Gallions Bowre "), in order to discover any enemy of the King who might endeavour to enter the harbour, without receiving any assistance from the villagers, since the latter were not at all benefited by any ()f the p7'ivilegcs or immunities which had been granted to the borough of Dartmouth by previous charters. The King therefore on the 23rd of June, 1464, annexed and incorporated the said village of Southtown to the said borough of Clifton, Dertemouth, Hardnesse as parcel and member of the same, the inhabitants to participate in all municipal privileges.

All these privileges were confirmed by King- Henry Vn. at Westminster 10th December, third year of his reign (1 487), and were also ratified by his successor, by letters patent, also dated at Westminster, 10th of May,, 1510.

In the first year of the reign of Henry VII. there was an indenture made between the King " on the one partie and the mayre, bayliffes, and burgesses of the burrough of Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardnesse, otherwise called the borough of Dartmouth, in the county of Devon, on that other part." The latter (after reciting that they have " beggone to make a strong and mighty and defensive new tower and -bulwark of lime and stone adjoyning to the Castle there ") covenant and agree for them and their successors that they (will) " in all hast goodlye and to them possible fynishe the making of the said tower and bullworke in sulhcient fourme, and they and their

F ARISE OF DARTMOUTH. 341

successors the same to were uud bull works (will) " gavuishe with gouns, artillerye, and with other ordinances defensive and sufficient ; and also in all times from henceforth for ever" (will) " ordeyne and find a cheyne sufficient in length and in strength to streche and be laid over thwarte or stravers the moutli of the haven of Dartmouth aforesaid, from the one towre to another towre there, at all times necessary and conveniable, and all times hereafter the same new tower and bullworke " (will) " fortify, repair, and keep garnishe with gouns, artillerye, and other ordeynances. sufficient and con- venient for the defence of the said cheyne and porte towne and parties there adjoyning," " In supportation and relief," therefore, the King gi-ants the said mayor, &c., £40 annually for ever from the ensumg Michaelmas out of the customs and subsidies of the ports of " Excester and Dartmouth," to be paid half-yearly at Easter and Michaelmas. There is a proviso declaring that if the payment of the annuity be interrupted the burgesses are to be acquitted of their agreement. Sealed with the great seal of England, and with the seal of the commonalty of Dartmouth, 16th January, 1st Henry VII. This indenture was confirmed by Henry VIII. 24th April, 1510. The latter Monarch had, on the 4th June, 1509, granted to William Crane, gentleman {" capellfe nostrcB officium "), the appointment of water baihft^ of the tomi of" Dcartmouth, /'orcc/ of the Duchy of Cornwall, then vacant, and, Crane having resigned the appointment, the King, on the 23rd of November, 1510, granted the afore- said office to the mayor and corporation of Dartmouth for ever, to be held of the King and his heirs, Dukes of

342 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Cornwall, by the yearly i-ent of twelve marks to the Crown and ten marks to the said Crane during pleasure, and afterwards by the yearly rent of twenty-two marks to be paid to ths receiver of the Duchy at Lostwithiel every Michaelmas.

The Corporation may appoint a deputy, either one of the burgesses or any other person they please ; but express mention is to be made of the true yearly value of the office or the profits thereof These various charters, grants, and privileges were confirmed by King Edward VI, 8th August, 1547 ; by Queen Mary, 6th November, 1553, and finally by Queen Elizabeth, at Westminster, 9th November, 1558.

William Clark was the first mayor of Dartmouth under the charter of Edward III ; his name occurs as such in 1341.

Dartmouth vessels had their share in the French war of Edward III, and in 1347 they contributed thirty-one ships towards the investment of Calais, a lai'ger number than any poii; in the kingdom, save Fowey, which sent forty -seven, and Yarmouth forty- three.

I have selected these examples, amongst many others, to show the early maritime importance of Dartmouth, To jji'olong them further would be a mere I'ecapitulation of the history of England, since it wiU be at once seen that by the terms of their charter the Dartmouth burgesses necessarily participated in every important undertaking of the British Government prior to the regular establish- ment of a navy,

Walsingham speaks of a gallant exploit of the men of Portsmouth and Dartmouth in the year 1383, when they

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 343

took five French ships ; the whole of the enemy's crew, except nine persons, having been killed, in the action.

In 1404 the French burnt Plymouth and sailed to- wards Dartmouth, where they seem to have met with a warm reception. They are said to have effected a landing, but to have been immediately surrounded by the country people of both sexes, and it is stated that the bravery of ^^he women equalled that of the men. However, the French account declares that the town was garrisoned by 6000 trained soldiers, who were defended by a deep trench. The leader, Du Chatel, was killed, and numbers of his followers were slain or taken prisoners ; the names of some of the latter have been preserved, together with those of their captors. The landing of the enemy appears to have been made at Blackpool.

In the year 1588 the Crescent, of Dartmouth, is stated " to have been in fight with the Spanish Ainnada off the Start." At this period the Dartmouth bui'gesses appear to have followed a course which they had been previously obliged to adopt, and to have obtained the assistance of the neighbourmg towns towards the necessary expense of fitting-out their two ships for the Queen's service. In point of fact, ;is long previously as 1310 the inhabitants had })leaded their utter inability to provide even one ship from their own resources, and the people of Totnes, Brixham, Portlemouth, and Kingsbridge had been ordered to assist them with their contributions.

Among the archives of the Corporation of Dartmouth is an account extending over twenty pages which is endoi'sed : " 1588, the booke of all ye vittayling and all other charges bestowed upon the Crescent and the Ilartc

344 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

in settinge them forthe to serve the Queens Majestie under my Lord Admyral and Sir Francis Dracke as followyth, the first daye of Maye the Crescent for seventy men and the Harte for thirty men."

A very full and complete summary of this interesting document was made a few years since and jommunicated to the Devonshire Association at the Totnes meeting of 18S0 by Mr. Edward Windeatt.'

In the year 1599 great preparations were once more made against a threatened invasion from Spain. The Earl of Nottingham was appointed Lieutenant-General of England, as well by sea as by land.^

' Dev, Assoc. Trans, xii, 312.

'■' I find the following instructions relative to the precautions which were then taken for the safety of the kingdom amongst the Harleian manuscripts.

" Letters directed to the Maiors of the severalle porta townes here under written to sett out nimble vessells to discover intelligens of the Gominge of the Spanish fleete."

" 1599. — You are not ignorant of the dailie advertisements that are brought hither of the greet preparacons the Kinge of Spaine doth make by sea, not only of shippes of warre, but of a good nomber of gallies to invade some part of this realme, and therefore you can consider how behoofoU and necessarie it is to have certaine intelligence of the approache in the narrowe seas, and what course they doe hould. For which purpose we doe in Her ISIajesty's name, will and commande you forthwith to sett some two or three nimble vessels unto the seas out of that harbilrgh, that maye goe and plie uppe and downe between the coastes of Ffraunce and ours to learn what tliey may discover of the comminge of the said fleet, and use all diligence to advertise the same unto you, that we maye by poasts receave from tyme to tyme such newese as ye shall understand from them, herein requiring yoii to take present order, and soe we, &c„ &c."

"I'osTCRiPT. — Wee think it meete that you should keepe theis

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 45

CHAPTER XIV.—PART 11.

History of Dartmouth—The Great Rebellion,

The history of that momentous and disastrous struggle betwixt Kinor and Commons, which agitated the minds of men during the fourth and fifth decades of the seven- teenth century, has always possessed a very great charm for the general reader, and the interest it has commanded could scarcely have been greater had the period been more remote and the combat of a different character. The legendary tales of mediaeval scribes are pervaded by a kind of romantic halo, and their stories of Knight- errantry and personal prowess serve as a stimulus to exertion to go forth and emulate the mighty deeds of those who have preceded us, and who, by their valorous actions in the " long ago," made England what it is now, a country upon whose dependencies " the sun never sets."

But the stirring scenes which were enacted between the years 1640 and 1660 tended i-ather to the univei'sal destruction than to the extension of this Kingdom, for

piunaces and vesseUs at sea as you arc directed fur the space of six ivoekes."

" Periu Lymo

PljToouth Dartemoutli

Portismouth Southampton."

M.S. Had, 168, f. 149, b. 2 V

346 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

brother's hand was then lifted against brother, and father aeainst son, our land saw the " abomination of desola- tion ; " it was an unhappy and unholy time.

And the details, too, of the whole of that fatal drama have been handed down to us as absolute matters of fact ; we can most of us count back to the actual ancestor who fought and bled for his particular political or religious conviction, and who, in very many instances, bequeathed to his posterity encumbered lands and impoverished resources as the consequence of his adherence to one side or the other.

The tales have been preserved in our towns and villages of the rapine and plunder, the terror of fire and sword to which they were exposed but little more than two short centuries ago, and many a country home still bears witness by its loop-holed walls, ruinous wings, and dismantled gables, of that terrible period in our history when our hiUs and valleys resounded to the roar of cannon and to the rattle of musketry, when our churches were turned into fortresses and our land deluged in blood. The war cloud which at an early period of the contest enveloped the west country was not long in falling upon Dartmouth. In the first instance the town appeal's to have declared in favour of the Parliament, but at this period the fortifications were neither strong nor sufficiently garrisoned. Still it was able to make a sturdy defence against the attack of Prince Maurice, who, after the capture of Exeter 4th September, 1643, immediately marched his forces there Tor its reduction. However, the Prince had no sooner accomplished his march thither than a most inclement and tempestuous autumn set in, and the

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 347

Roval soldiers, who were insufficiently provided with shelter and ordinary necessaries, felt its effects very greatly. Many of them died, and according to Clarendon' " more ran away," and it was not until after a siege of a month that the place was surrendered. It was in the final assault that Colonel James Chudleigh (son of Sir George Chudleigh) was shot through the body and died in a few days. Ensign John Buckman and three soldiers of the King's were buried at St. Saviour's Church on the 4th and 9th of October, as shown by the parochial register. On the 4th, too, a certain Captain William Brooking, who was probably a Parliamentary officer, was interred there.

The Prince had no sooner established himself in the town than his men set about strengthening the fortifica- tions, and preparing for the siege to which they well knew they must inevitably, sooner or later, be themselves exposed. On the summit of the hill overlooking the Castle was the strong fort called Gallant's Bower, to which I have already dravm attention in my abstract of the indenture made between the burgesses and King Henry VII. in the first year of his reign. Kingswear Fort, on the easten\ side of the river, also received due attention, and was garrisoned by Sir Henry Gary with his own regiment. It mounted twelve guns, and was weU victualled, and supplied with plenty of ammunition. Tunstall Church was also fortified with earthworks, and supplied with a garrison of a hundred men ; ten guns were placed in position there, and four more in the West Gate, and two upon the Mill Pool. Paradise Fort and

1 History of the Great Rebellion, iv., 322. 2 v^-

348 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Mount Flaggon, and the northern part of the town called " Hardnesse," were also put into a proper state for resistance.

The narrative of the siege of Dartmouth by Fairfax will be best told in the General's own letter, addressed January 20th, 1645-6 to both Houses of Parliament, and sent to London by the hands of Hugh Peters, the chaplain.

To the night Hon. the Speaker, and the House of Peers,

pro temp.

My Lords, — After my coming to Totnes, the enemy rising in great disorder from their seige of Plymouth leaving their guns and some ammunition behind them^ I considered with those about me of attempting upon Dartmoutii, and, it being concluded affirmatively, I caused two regiments of foot to march to Ditsham, and two to Stoke Fleming, being on the west-side of Dart river ; I, having summoned the place befoi'e, resolved upon Sunday night to attempt it by storm, which was agreed to be done in three places. The first post was on the West- Gate, by Colonel Hammond ; on the north -end of the town by Lieutenant-Colonel Pride ; and on TunstaU church and works by Colonel Fortescue. The time resolved on was in the evening ; our men fell in with great resolution (to whom Cokmel Lambert's regiment Mere a reserve, and to alarm the enemy elsewhere), Colonel Hammonde entering the west gate, where four guns were planted, and two upon the mill-pool upon his flank. The enemy, firing his great guns but once, his men that had the forlorn hope did veiy gallantly (as.

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 349

indeed, they did all), and went freely on and beat off the enemy, and possessed one fort after another, viz.. Mount Flaggon, West-gate, Paradise Foi-t, and beat off the main guard, where were taken four Lieut.-Colonels, and so possessed the town frera the West-gate to Little Dart- mouth. In the interior Lieut. -Colonel Pride attempted the north part of the town called Hardness, where, beating off the enemy, he entered it and took about eighty prisoners in it, and by it possessed all the north part of tlie town unto the drawbridge wliich divided the north luu-t from the rest of the town, where Colonel Plammonde's men and his met. Colonel Fortescue with his men attempted Tunstall church which was very well manned with above 100 men, and having in it ten guns. His men, after some dispute, with good resolution, entered the place and possessed it, so that the enemy was beaten out of all except the great fort on the east side of the river called Kingsworth Fort and the castle with the fort which lay over the castle at the mouth of the harbour called Gallante Bower, to which last the Governor with the Earl of Newport and as many as escaped us fled. After they were forced from their strengths out of the town, the Governor, coming back from the Castle to see in what posture the town was, had a remarkable shot, as he was in the boat, one sitting by him, a musket shot was made at the boat, which pierced the boat and through both the thighs of one that was next to him, and about three inches into his own thigh, upon which he retreated to the castle. Our dragoons with two companies of our tire-locks and some seamen were ordered to alarm Kings- worth Fort, wherein were Sii- Henry Cary with his

350 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

regiment having in it twelve guns and twelve barrels of powder, and convenient proportion of ammunition. This had a very strong bulwark, strong enough to have made a troublesome resistance, but the enemy came wiUingly to terms, and to save time I willingly condescended to let Sir Henry Gary march away with the rest, leaving the arms, ordnance, ammunition with all provisions in the fort to me and all engaging themselves never to take up arras more against the Parliament, and which were accordingly performed. Next morning, being master of all but the Castle and Gallante's Bower, I summoned that ; the Governor was willing to listen to me ; but I held him to those terms, upon which, after some dispute, he yielded, which was to deliver himself and all officers and soldiers upon quarter. He sent me out Colonel Seymour and Mr. Denham for hostages, with whom came out the Earl of Newport, and all was this day performed accordingly. In this fort and castle were eleven guns, with proportion of ammunition and pi'ovisions. We have taken in the harbour two men-of-war, one belonging to the Governor of Barnstaple, with twelve guns, bui'den 200 tons ; the other belonging to Newcastle, formerly Captain Johnson's, of ten guns. In the town 103 pieces of ordnance and about 600 jDrisoners and 100 horse, with a good proportion of arms and ammunition, an exact particular whereof I am not able to give your lordships at present an account thereof, there being many of the inhabitants of the town soldiers in Plymouth and some officers. And, under- standing that that town had 2,500 in garrison besides townsmen, J have sent thither for 500 foot for the place, who quickly will increase to more, and to this I desire

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 351

your approbation ; for, having found more work to do, I held it not fit to weaken my army especially considering the recruits designed by you I doubt wdl be too long before they come. I have given your lordsliips a brief account of this service, which I desire might be accounted a sweet mercy of God in a very fitting season, and only ascribed unto Him who truly did direct and act it, and made all the preparations to it, both in ordering our hearts and giving health to the army which laboured two months ago extremely of sickness, but is now in good disposition generally as to health. I can say, I find it in the hearts of all here in all integrity to serve you, and that it is so is still the mercy of God ; for, surely, success of your affairs only depends upon the ordering of a gracious Providence, which is no less visible in your Councils (which we congratulate) than among us, that being the common root and spring of all, and wliich can and will carry you through the greatest difficulties, and we in serving you until God hath finished His own work ; wherein to possess the obligation of myself and army by the same good hand of God is all the undertaking of Your lordship's most humble servant,

Thomas Fairfax. Dartmouth, January 20th, 1645.

For a further relation of particulars I refer you to Mr. Peters, who was present upon the place, and did much to encourage the soldiers to do their duty.'"

1 Prisoners taken at Dartmouth, January 19th, 1645.

S52

DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

GOVERNOR :

Sir Hugh Pollard. The Earl of Xewport. Colonel Seymour.

Lieut. -Colonels (Four.)

Codriiigton. Blunt. AYadland and Searle.

Majors. (Two.)

Fulford. Hooper.

Captains. (Fifteen.)

Pollard.	Colefin.	Horton.
Woodly.	Ford.	Conway.
Sampson. Duke.	Blewitt. Start.	Reynolds Leo.
PowelL	Do-ivning.	Phillips.
Lieutenants. (Fourteen.)
King."	Drew,	Slanner.
Pollard.	Williams.	Johnson.
Hunt. Duncalf.	Eldon. Blee.	Hinlay. Searle.
Kigan.	LibuU. Ensigns. (Seven.)
Ricliard.	Dode.	Fitz-James.
Upton. Praed. |	Waggin. Vichering.

" Many country gentlemen, ministers, and inferior officers, all the common soldiers, being betwixt 800 and 1,000, are set at liberty to repair to their dwellings ; ordnance about 120 mounted, two meu-of-war in the harbour."

Lnmediately after the conclusion of this aflfair a French ship, ignorant of the surrender of the town, entered the port with despatches from the Queen, Lord Goring, and others. When the captain discovered Jiow matters stood he threw the packet overboard, as he had been directed to do ; but it was afterwards recovered and sent up to the Parliament, by which means, it is said, some of the Koyal plans became exposed.

Dartmouth had now fallen absolutely into the hands of the Parlia- mentary forces and the country people began to see that the Royal cause was utterly lost, and flocked to Fairfax in large numbers. 3,000 of them enlisted under the Puritan flag at Totnes a few days after the capitula- ion. Fairfax was awarded a pension for his services here.

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 353

CHAPTER XIV.— PART III.

History of Dartmouth — (Personal History).

William La Zouche, of Harringworth, county Bedford, inherited the whole barony of Totnes in right of his mother, MiUcent, great granddaughter of Judhel de Totnais, and co-heir to her brother, George de Cantilupe, she having obtained it in partition with her nephew, John, son of her sister's husband, Henry de Hastyngs. ' He granted the Dartmouth property to Nicholas, of Tewkesbury, who appears to have been a merchant of some eminence there, and this conveyance received the Royal assent in the year 1305. According to Madox, "Firma Burgi," Tewkesbury, in the year 1327, re- conveyed the town and port to the King, Edward III ; and it is certain that that monarch conferred the manor, or such portion of it as had belonged to Tewkesbury, upon his trusted servant and follower, Guy of Torbrian.' Sir Guy de Brien, son of the grantee, died, vitd patris, August, 1385 ; leaving by Alice, his second wife, two daughters : Phillippa (who was first the wife of Sir John Devereux, and after his death of Scrope) and Elizabeth, whose first husband was Robert Fitz-Payne, and who married, secondly, Robei-t Lovell. These daughters

» Plac. do quo W arr. 15th Ed. I. * Rot. Pat. 15th Ed. III.

2 X

354 DEVOSSHIRE PARISHES.

appeax to have succeeded to their grandfather's property :is co-heirs.

Isabel, daug Iter of Robert Fitz-Payne and Elizabeth, transmitted the Dartmouth property to her son, Robert Lord Poynuigs, whose son, Richard Poynings, pre-deceased him, but left a daughter, Eleanor, bom in 1423, who carried it to her husband, Henry, thii-d Earl of Northuml>erland.

This nobleman held high command in the Lancastrian Army at the battle of Towton, and, although slain there> in the Parliament assembled on the fourth of the following November, he was attainted, and Edward IV. seems to have divided his property among the Kevilles, since John Neville, Lord ^lontague, was create Earl of Northimiberland, and William Neville, Lord Falconberg and Earl of Kent, obtained a grant of the Dartmouth estate. Upon his death he was succe«led there by the King's brother, George, Duke of Clarence, who is said to have been ultimately suffocated in the Tower in a butt of malmsev.' The voung: Henrv Percv was a minor at the period of his father's de.ith at Towton, and the King oi-dered him to be detained in the Tower of London. Here he remained until the 27th October, 1469. when he was brought before the King at Westminster and subscribed to the foUoAving oath : — " Soveraigne Loixle,

" I, Henry Percy, becora youre subgette and hegeman and promyt to God and you, that hereafter, I Feyth and Trouth shall here to you, as my soveraigne liege Lorde, and to your Heii"es, Kynges of England, of Lyfe and

> Pat«nt 2nd Ed. IV.

FARlSIl OF DARTMOUTU. 855

Lymiiie aiid of erthely worshippe tor to lyve and die uyennst all erthely people. And to you and your com- mandements I sluUl be obeisauut, i\s God mc help and his hole Emnijelistes." Upon this submission the King ordered his release from custody.

In the 12th Edward IV. this nobleman, who had been permitteil to assume his father's title two years pre- viously, was restored in blood and honours, ami to all such hereditaments of the late Earl, whose attainder was now reverseil, as had fallen into the Royal hands. He afterwards appeai-s to have been lukewarm in his resis- tance at the battle of Bosworth, to the Earl of Richmond who, upon liis accession i\s Henry VII, at once took \\hn into flxvour. He was killed in a riot at Cocklodge, near Thirsk, eighteen miles north of York, 28th of April, 1488. He left several children by his wife, Maude, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke, and was succeeded by his son Henry as fifth Eaad of Northumberland, who in the 1 5th Henry VIII, :is cousin and heir to Sir Edward Poynings, Knt., had livery of the lands of the said Sir Edward, he l^ing " son and heir of Henry Percy, son of Eleanor, daughter of Richard, son of Robert, Lord Poynings, Fitz-Pain and Brian.' Previously to this there had been an agreement between him ai\d his wife, Catherine (Spenser), and Christopher (Bainbrigg), Cardinal of York and Archbishop, concerning lands " in Lincoln, Leicester, Gloucester, Somerset, Sutfolk, Doi-set, London, Canter- bury, Devon, Sussex, and Hereford, im-J tiding the Manor of Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardnesse.'"' The Earl died in the

» Rot. Pat. 15th Honry VIII. « Feet of FiiK-^, 6tU Ileury VIII. 2 X'

356 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

year 1523. The will of his Countess is dated 14th October, 1542. They were both buried in the Percy tomb at Beverley Minster. Their son, Henry, who succeeded as sixth Earl, was in his younger days a member of Cardinal Wolsey's household, and having conceived an affection for Anne Boleyn he is by some said to have been a suitor for her hand, although he subsequently, upon his oath, denied any contract or engagement with her. Anyway the King proved a too powerful rival for the youthful Earl, who ultimately was persuaded to marry the daughter of the Earl of Shrews- bury, but he left no issue. His brother. Sir Thomas Percy, having been concerned in the Askes conspiracy, was executed at Tyburn in the 29th of Henry VIII, and he himself departed this life in the same year. His youngest brother. Sir Ingelram Percy, died without issue. In consequence of the attainder of his unfortunate brother, Thomas, the Earl, gave away a considerable portion of his property to the King and others, and the title became extinct. It was revived, however, on the 30th of April, 3rd and 4th of Philip and Mary, when the Queen con- doned the sins of the father and advanced Thomas, son of the aforesaid Sir Thomas Percy, to the degree of a Baron, in consideration (as explained in the Patent) " of his noble descent, constancy, virtues, valour ui deeds of arms, and other shining qualifications." On the following day he was ci'eated Earl of Northumberland, with limitation of his honours, in default of his own issue, to Henry, his brother, and his heirs male,

This Earl was a trusted servant of Queen Mary, and was much favoured by Queen Elizabeth at the commence-

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 357

nient of her reign. He was afterwards beheaded at York 22nd August, 1572. His honours, like his property, would have fallen to the Crown under his attainder, but by the reversion the titles descended to his brother Henry, who thirteen years later was committed to the Tower for supposed participation in a plot for the release of the Queen of Scots.

On Monday, the 21st June, 15S5, he was found dead in his bed there with three bullets in his body which had entered near his left breast. The door was bolted on the inside, and the pistol seems to have been given him by his servant, who was examined at the inquest, together with the person from whom the weapon had beejr jmrchased. The jury found that the Earl had committed suicide.

Queen Elizabeth appears to have granted the manor and borough of Dartmouth to three persons. Downing, Ashton, and Peter, who conveyed them to the Mayor and Town Council, who still hold them.'

The statements, however, of our county historians as to when and through whom the Corporation of Dai-traouth became the owners of the property, are as irreconcilable as the various conjectures which have been hazarded relative to the date of the incorporation of the Borough. Westcote remarks" that " in process of time Michael de Tewkesbury and the Bryans did purchase this town both in lands and all manner of customs to them and their heirs to the uae of the town for ever." Risdon tells us,'

1 Mag. Brit. 2, 157.

2 " View of Devon," 424. » "Survey," p. 16.

358 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

" One Robert Tewkesbury, a merchant and inhabitant of the place, purchased them (the lands), to the use of the town, in the fifteenth of King Edward the Third's reign, at which time the King granted them power to chuse a Mayor and other liberties." The Lysons say, and rightly, "In or about the year 1341, King Edward III. granted to his servant Guy de Brian part of the Manor of Dartmouth, which had belonged to Tewkesbury." Prince cites Hoker, Pole, Westcote, and Eisdon, and informs us in his " V7orthies," under Hawle}^ " the antiquaries of tliis county do all agree that after the Lord Zouche's time, whose antiently Dartmouth was, one Tewkesbury, a merchant and inhabitant of that town, did purchase the lands and all manner of customs to him and his heu-s to the 113 ; of the said town for ever."

It is inconceivable how these eri-ors and discrepancies can have arisen, more especially since Pole and Hoker flourished in the Elizabethan age ; and Westcote and Risdon not very long afterwards. Of the two latter, Westcote was rather the elder, although he died nearly about the same time as his contemporary. He must have written his " View of Devonshire " between the years 1627-42, since he mentions Bishop Hall as the then Bishop of Exeter, and "he probably departed this life between the years 1639-44, since his death is not recorded [n the remaining portion of the Shobrook registers, where he is known to have been mterred, and the leaves which contained the entries of the above-mentioned years have been wantonly cut out of the volume." The Town Council may have owned a large amount of scattered property within the borough, and possibly were extensive

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 359

copy-holders ; but the Feet of Fines alone prove that the Percy iamily had the manorial rights as late as Easter Term, 6th Henry VIII ; and other public records, to which I have also referred, clearly show their descent and inheritance from the illustrious Royal Standard- Bearer, Guy, Lord of Tor Brian, the trusty follower of King Edward III. — and again, during the Wars of the Roses, upon the attainder of the Lancastrian Percy, this very manor of Dartmouth was immediately conferred by the Crown upon adherents of the House cf York. As far as the customs of the town were concerned we have seen that it was not until the reign of Henry VII, and only then because the burgesses had " begonne to make a mighty and defensive new tower and bulwarke,' and were about to protect the hai-bour with a chain, that they were granted an annuity of £40 cut of the customs of Exeter and Dartmouth, so that the various tales relative to Tewkesbury, called indifferently Robert, Michael, and Nicholas, and his purchase of the town and customs in conjunction with the Brians, for the use of the town, can be nothing more than pure and simple tradition. There is yet another discrepancy, which is noticed by Lysons," which is etiually inexplicable, unless, as is most probable, there has been an error as to date in some original document, either in the Inquisition after the death of Guy de Brien, the elder, or in the Escheats and Close Rolls of lOth and 17th Richard IT. The Inquisition, 14th Richard II, states that his two grand-daughters, Philippa, wife of Sir John Devei'eux, at this time Wiis twelve years of age, and Elizabeth, then the wife of 1 Mag. Brit., vol. i, p. 102, n.

360 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

Robert Lovell, only nine. The Escheats and Close Rolls, dated two years later, give the age of Isabel, daughter of Elizabeth, as thirty, when, according to the Inquisition. her mother could have only been eleven years old. Ehzabeth ivas called Lovell in the 1st of Henry IV. (1399), when the estates of Sir Guy de Brien were divided between her and her sister Philippa ; so, as Sir William Pole says. Sir Robert Fitz- Payne must have been her first husband, and, as he died, seized of certain estates in 28th Edward III. (1355) in conjunction with Ela his wife, and is moreover declared to have had an only daughter and heir, Isabel, married to Sir Richard Poynings, this lady, according to the dates quoted by the authors of the Magna Britannia, would appear to have been born seven years after her father's death, and eighteen years before the birth of her supposed mother, an impos- sibility which they do not remark ^ipon, although they di-aw attention to the circumstance that " Isabel, the heiress of Fitz-Payne, appears to have been thirty years of age at the time that the co-heiress of Brien, erroneously, as it should seem, supposed to have been her mother, was only eleven." They also add that " it appears unaccountable to them that the Earl of Northumberland should have been deemed, as Sir William Pole calls him, the heir- general of Brien, and as such should have had lands awarded to him."

But amidst these conflicting anachronisms, there is abundant evidence that Robert Lord Poynings inherited the Baronies of Fitz-Payne and Brian in right of his mother Isabel, and that his grand-daughter Eleanor, sole heir to the family, became the wife of Henry Percy, third

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 361

Earl of Northumberland, after which marriage the titles became merjjferl with tliose transmitted by her husband to their descendants, as stated by Sir William Pole. The Percys ilo not seem to have been at first admitted as the successors of the Brians la the Devonshire property, for in the year 1447 Sir Henry Percy had a special livery ot all the lands of the Poynings, Fitz-Payn and Brian in right of his wife Eleanor, and there is no mention of any pro- perty in this county in the confirmatory patent, 25th Henry VI ; but, as I have mentioned elsewhere, as eaily as the year 1498 Heiuy, Earl of Northumberland, described as Dominn.t Maneriorum de Brian ct Slapton," presented a Rector to the latter Church.''

The family of Fitz Stephen were, at a very early date, the owners of considerable property iu the vicinity of Dartmouth, being lords of the manors of Sutune, Dunestal, or Townstall, and Norton, to all of which I have referred already. In the year 1177 the King granted Robert Fitz-Stephen, in conjunction with Milo de Cogan, the kingdom of Cork, to hold of himself and his son John.

This "Robertus filius Stephani," as he describes him- self in two inidated deeds by which he conveys land iu Ireland called " Muribot-hinuliui and liabilaniioclian " to the Priory of St. Nicholas, at Exeter, appears to have been contemporary with William and Eustachius Fitz- Stephen, both of whom may have been his sons. The latter was High Sheriff of Devon iu the 22nd Menry II; the former gave Townstall Church to the Abbot and Convent of Tor, and the name of his wife Isabella occurs

* " Ashbuiton ami iU neighbourhood," p. 150. 2 Y

.102 DEVONmiRE PARISHES.

in the deed of gift which was confirmed by Richard, his son, and likewise by Simon of Apulia (1214-1224).

At a later date Bishop Edmund Lacy, 1420-1458, estimated the Vicarage of Towustall at twenty marks \aluo for the purpose of taxation. In 1251, Gilbert, son of Richard Fitz-Stephen, who, afterwards as Lord of Townstall, obtained a Market and Fair for Clifton, In Sutune, in 1301, entered into an agreement with the Abbot and Convent in respect of his Chantry Chapel of Norton; and, in 1294, his signature occurs to another deed in connexion with the advowsoi of Townstall (/hurcli. His father, Richard, appears also to have given the Monks of Tor a certain quantity of land in the Manors of Norton and Townstall ; his deed, " de quibnsdam particulis terre jacentibus apud Townstalle," was probably executed about the year 1284, and there were other conveyances of his, of subseqvient date, relative to two-acres-and-a-half of land in the Manor of Norton, and " de ii acris et dimid. jacentibus apud Townstalle." Ultimately the Abbot and Convent of Tor became the owners of the -whole ]\Ianor of Townstall, exclusive of Norton, and at the dissolution it was valued at £7 lis. 7d. a year.

" Redditus assisi de liberis ct convencionariis tenenti- bus ibidem per anniun \\\l. \\s. \\<1.

" De finibus terrarum cum j)erquisitis curie et aliis profiscuis ibidem eommunibus annis v.s. iiirf."'

Gilbert Fitz-Stephen seems to have been the last of his name at Dartmouth, and his line probably terminated in co-heirs. One of these is stated to have married Bastard, 1 " Valor Eccl,

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 363

of Garstoii (now of Kitley ) ; the other probably became the wife uf Dawney. It is eei'taiti that the Dawneys succeeded tlio Fitz-Steplieus at Norton either by i)urch;use or otherwise, and the Manor was afterwards distiii;^'iushed by the addition of their name, and was known as Norton- Dawney.

Jolui, son of EUas de Churchelle, and liis wife, Dorothy Columbers, married Joan, daughter and co-heir of Roger, son and heir of William Dawuey, and had two daughters, Margaret, the wife of HUlersdon, and Agnes, whose husband was Thomas Gilford, of Thewborough. The other co-heir of Roger Davvney, Emeline, was not married to Edw;ird, Ecul of Devon, as sttited by Risdon, but to Edward Courtenay, of Godlington, third of the eight sons of Hugh de Courtenay, second Earl of Devon ot that name, and who died, vita Fatris. The eldest son, Hugh, commonly called Hugh Courtenay le Fitz, who had married Elizabeth, sister of Guy de Brian, King Edward's Standai-d Bearer, had also departed this life, and had left issue a son, Hugh, who had married Matilda, daughter of Thomas Holland, Eiirl of Kent, hy Joan I'lantagenet, his wife (known as the " Fair Maid of Kent," granddaughter uf Edward I, and mother, by the Black Prince, of King- Richard II) ; but he died childless in 1377. Con- sequently, upon the death of his grandfather iu the latter year, whose second son, Thomas, M. P. for Devonshire, was also doiul, the title and estates descended to Edward Courtenay, known as tlie " Blind Earl," eldest son of the aforesaid Edward and of liis wife, Emeline Dawnoy. He was succeeded in due course by his son Hugh, whose wife, Aim, according to Risdon, held the Dartmouth 2 Y-^

3()4 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

property in the reign of Henry VI ; ))ut, althougli Norton-Dawney appears to have continued I'or several i^erierations in the Courtenay family, it is not referred to in tlie Exchequer record of the possessions of the said Hugh, and this omission is the more pecuhar since the account, which is long, and apparently exhaustive, particularly describes the lands, and distinguishes what, and how much, he held as belonging to his Earldom of Devon, and what as belonging to his Barony of Oke- hampton, and also the multitude of fees he held by Knight's service.

Subsequently the family of Boone resided at Townstall in a house called, after them, Mount Boone, which resi- dence during the Civil War was fortified and taken by storm, prior to the capitulation of J64G, by Col. Pride during his attack upon the north side of the town. It is said to have been armed with twenty- two guns. The last of the family was Thomas Boone, who, by his will, dated 14th March, 1677, gave to the poor of Dartmouth an annuity of £10 out of "his moiety and halfendeal, undivided of the messuage tenement and appurtenances, called Townstall, situate in the said parish." Mr. Boone died in 1G79, and shortly afterwards Norton-Dawney was purchased, under a decree of the Court of Chancery, by John Harris, whose family subsequently sold it to John Seale, who then resided at Mount Boone, which " godely heritage " his trustees had purchased for him during his minority.

About the commencement of the 17th centuiy a certaui Robert Seale, of an ancient Northumbrian stock, a member of which had reoeived a grant of arms from the

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 305

Heralds' College, 9tli July, 1599, came southwanl, and settled ill Jersey, where the Carterets, Seigneurs du St. Owen, had long " flourished iu much reputation." Thomas Seale, son of this Robert, married Anne, daughter ol Sir Philip Carteret (who was killed iu battle with the Dutch 28th May, 1(572), and sister of the celebrated Sir George Carteret, Chief Justice of the island and Governor of Mount Orgueil Castle, who became at eight years of age (9th March, 1674), the husband of Lady Grace Granville, and was raised to the Peerage as Baron Carteret of Hawnes, in the county of Bedford, iu the year 1681.

Sir Bernard Burke says that Thomas Seale was the only son of the aforesaid Robert, but it would appear that he had a ))rother called I'eter, since " Thomas Seale, sou of Peter Seale, of Jersey, gentleman," matriculated at Pembroke College, ()xford, -ind L)eceml)er, 170(3, being then aoed 16. He was afterwards Fellow of Exeter from 1709 to 1729, and died Hector of Broad Somerford, Wiltshire, iu 1771.

John, sou of Thouiiis Seale, and Anue Carteret his wife, wiis of Mount Boone, iu the parish of Towiistall, that estate having been purchased for him by Iiis trustees duriu"- his minority. He was thrice married, lirst to the only daughter of Charles Hayne, of Fuge, in the parish ol' Blackawton, whose grandfather, Cornelius Hayne, had built the house there in 172.'5. She died issueless, as did also his third wife, Anna Maria, grent-gi-and-daughter of the Rev. Vincent Rogers, of Stratford-le-Bow, and sister of Sir John Rogers, of Plymouth, M.P., for that borough and High Sherili' of Devoushiie iu the year 17U6, who

366 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

WHS created a Baronet 21st of February, 1G98, and who, by liis marriage with Mary, daughter of Mr. Alderman Vincent, of the City of London, becanie the ancestor of the present Lord Blachford, creation 4th November, 1871. By his second wife, EHzabeth, daughter of John Fownes, of Nethway, in the parish of Brixham, William Seale had three sons, of whom Thomas died s.p. 1772 ; Henry, also s.p. 1768 ; and Elizabeth niai'ried Charles Fanshaw, Recorder of Exeter. Their father expired 7th September, 1777, and was succeeded at Townstall by his second and oidy surviving son, John Seale, of Mount Boone, who married in 1775, Sarah, daughter of Charles Hayne, and sister and co-heir of Charles Hayne, of Lupton and Fuge, and had by her three sons and two daughters, who maiTied Kekewich and Lister. Of the sons Robert died unmarried in 1819, and Charles Henry, who was a captain m the navy, married in 1827, and has issue surviving. Mr. Seale died 23rd May, 1824, aged seventy- one, and his eldest son and successor, John Henry Seale, born August, 1785, represented Dartmouth in Pai'liament, and was created a Bai'onet in 1838. He married, in 1804, Paulina Elizabeth, only child of Sir Paul Jodrell, M.D., second son of Paul Jodrell, of DuflSeld, Solicitor-GeneriJ to Frederick Prince of Wales. By this lady, who died 17th April, 1862, Sir J. H. Seale had a numerous family — seven sons and two daughters. Upon his death, 29th November, 1844, he was succeeded in the Baronetcy by his eldest son, the present Sir Henry Seale, who was borne at Mount Boone 17th February, 1806, but who now resides at Norton Parks and Hill-field. His second son, Charles, inherited the Brixham property, took with it the

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 367

name of Hayne upon attaining his majority, and was the father of Lieutenant-Colonel Seale Hayue, M.P., of Fuge, and Kingswear Castle. Sir John's third son was the llev. Edward Taylor Seale, Rector of Moreleigh, near Totnes. His eldest daughter is the widow of the 1 0th Lord Cranstoun. The arms granted by the Heralds' College to Seale of Northumberland in 1599 were: Or, a fesse be tween three wolves' heads erased sa. — Crest out of a Uucal Coronet or, a wolfs head arg. embrue 1 at the nose and mouth. The coat of Sir Heiu-y Seale is somewhat similar, b\it it has been duly dirterenced, and the following is the blazon of "Seale of Mount Boone, Co. Devon, Bart. " :— Or, two barrulets az. between three wolves' heads erased Sa. in the fesse point a mural crown gu. Crest out of a crown vallery or, a wolf's head arg., the neck encircled with a wreath of oak vert.

In the year 1675 King Charles the Second raised Charles Peg, to whom he had given the name of Fitz- Charles, to the Peerage by the style and title of Baron Dartmouth, Viscount Totnes, and Earl of Plynunith. This nobleman was the King's natural son, by Catheiine, daughter of Thomas Peg, of Yeldersly, in Derbyshire, who hiwl also a daughter by him called after her, but who ilied in infancy. Lord Plymouth married Bridget Osborne (third daughter of Sir Thomas Osborne, wlio was raised to the Peerage in 1673, 1 5tli August, and was elevated to the Dukedom of Leeds 4th May, 1604), but had no issue by her. He died at tlie siege of Tangier, 17th October, 1680, when his title became extinct. His arms may be still seen in St. Saviour's Church in one of the windows ; — The Boyal Arms debruised with a baton

368 DEVONSHIBK PARISHES.

sinister, and sm-niounted by a coi'onet. His widow niaiTJed secondly Dr. Philij) Bisse, who was translated from St. David's to the See of Hereford in January, 1712-13. He died on the 6th, and was buried In Hereford Cathedral on the 11th September, 1721.

Admiral George Legge was raised to the Peerage by tlie title of Baron of Dartmouth, 2nd December, 1G82. His son, William, 2nd Baron, was advanced to the dignities of Viscount Lewlsham and Earl of Dartmouth, 5th September, 1711. The fourth son of the hrst Earl, the Ho)i. Henry Bilson Legge was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Duke of Newcastle's administration in 17ri4. He married September .Trd, 1750, Mary, only daughter and heir of Edward, last Li)rd Stawell, aiid whose peerage was revived in her person by a fresh patent creating her Baroness Stawell, of Somerton, co. Somerset, May 21st, 1760 ; her granddaughter, Mary, carried with her the Stawell property, in Hampshire, to her husband, the Hon. John Dutton, second Lord Sherborne, and at her death Hinton Anmer, in Hamp- shire, which had been derived by the Stawells thi'ougli marriage with the Stucleys, passed to her second son, the late Hon. John Dutton, who mariied Lady L. A. Parkei', youngest daughter of the 5th Lord Macclesfield, and had issue.

The name of Hawley has been so thoroughly identified with Dartmouth that some mention of the family here is absolutely necessary, although the materials for anything like a complete or connected history of this ancient Dart- mouth family are but scanty. The great ruins of Hawley 's hall were remaining in that part of the town called Hard-

PAIIISII OF DARTMOUTH. 3G9

nesse in the reign of Henry VIII, as testified by Leiand in his Itinerary, and a quaint, but by no means reliable account of John Hawlcy is given by Prince, who inchides him in his " Worthies of Devon."

It is certain that John Hawley, the older, was a most successful merchant, that he acquired innnense we;iltli, and that he appears to have used it " with great liberality and public spirit." Of his birth and extraction nothing is known. He represented his ancient borough in Parlia- ment during a great part of the reign of Henry IV. (1399 — 1408). He founded the Chancel of S. Saviour's Church, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, October 13th, 1372, as shown by Bishop Brantyngham's Register. He seems to have hired Portuguese ships at his own cost and to have descended upon the French soon after Easter 1389, when he captured thirty-two vessels laden with " wine of Rochelle '" — and last, but not le;ist, he is shown by the Close Rolls, 4th Horny IV, to have Ijeen called upon to appear before the Privy Council in 1492, to explain his connection with certain piratical proceedings. He probably did explain away the suspicion which had been raised against him, for we find that he return(,>.il to Dartmouth wheie he died, and was buried on the 30th of December, 1408. His first wife, Joanna, died 12tli July, 1394. His second, Alice, 7th January, 1403.

His son, John Hawley, who was also M.P. for Dart- mouth, during the reigns of Henry IV, V, VT, married Emma, daughter and heir of Sir Robert Tresilian, by Emmot, or Emmeline, daughter and heir of Sir h'ichard Huyshe, of Chagford, and had an only daughter and

1 Sir H. Nicholas, " History Koyal Navy," II, 329.

370 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

heii' Elizabeth, the wife of John Coplestone, who died 1458.

His second son, Nicholas, married Jane Hext, oi Kingston, in the parish of Staverton, and may have been the father of Edward Hawley, who was a benefactor to Exeter College, Oxford, of twenty marks, and who flonrished there abont the year 14G0.'

The arms of Hawley, quartered by Coplestone, were Arg. three bugle horns Sa., the lower surmounted by an arrow in pale between two mullets of the second. There is a trick of these arms in the Chapter House, Exeter, M.S., No. 3532.

There is another Dartmouth worthy who demands more than a passing notice, and concerning whom I am able to give a more reliable and connected account than has been possible in the case of Hawley. Thomas Newcomen, the inventor of the Stationary Steam Engine was a native of Dartmouth, and was baptized at St. Saviour's Church, February 28th, 1663. But very little about him has been hitherto known in Dartmouth, excejjting that he resided there in a house situated in Lower Street, and is believed to have been a Non- conformist, and a tradesman of the town, either a lock-smith or an ironmonger : —it has been also said a chemist. The house in which he lived was taken down by oi'der of the Local Board in November, 1864, and Mr. Thomas Lidstone, the present Diocesan Surveyor, became the purchaser of the most interesting portions of the old dwelling, such as carved wood-work and projecting windows. These he afterwards incorporated in a new building wliich he erected at his own expense, and called

' Reg, CoD. Exon. Boase.

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 371

Newcomen Cottage. A scientific man himself, Mr. Lidstone, became very much interested in the history of Thomas Newcomen, a;id he also interested me. He was astonished to find how very little was known about him in his own neighb )urhi)od, and how very unsatisfactory that little was. In 1871 he published a small pamphlet entitled, " A Few Notes and Queries about Newcomen," and " a drawing of his Engine, his house, and fire-place," and wiis good enough to send me a copy. Some time afterwards he discovered at the neit{hbourinf Church of Stoke Fleming, an old brass, which dirt and neglect had made very difficult to read. Of this brass he kindly gave me a rubbing, and 1 at once found that it aftbrded the necessary clue for the identification of the family and descent of the inventoi*. The inscription is as follows : —

" Elias old lies here intombed in grave But Newcomiti to heaven's habitation, In knowledge old, in zoal in life most grave, Too yood for all who live in lamentation, Whose sheep and seed with heavie plaint and mone. Will say too late, Klias old is gone." The 13tli July, 1614.

Over this inscription is a sliield of arms, with helmet, crest and mantling, which was easily explained with the assistance of the Heralds' College Records.

1. Arg. a lion's head erased Sa. between 3 crescents Gu. (Newcomen, of Saltfletby, co. Lincoln).

2. Sa. a chevron between 3 escallops Arg. (King of Gains boro).

3. Arg. a chevron cnigraled between 3 clarions Gu.

(Grenfeild, of Barnebow, co. York). 2 7/

372 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

4. Gu (?) on a bend Arg. 3 leopards' heads vert. (Stevenson, of Boston, co. Lincoln).

5. Arg. a chevron engraled between 3 lions' heads, erased Sa. (on the brass, a chevron between 3 leopards' faces a bordure engraled), (Fereby, co. YorkJ.

6. P. Pale Erin, and Gu, a rose, counterchanged (Nighthigale).

7. On a chevron engraled Gu. 3 escallops between 3 lions pass Gd. ? (Ellis.)

8. Newcomen (as before).

Crest. A lion's gamb erased and erect Sa. differenced ivith a crescent, thereon a mullet.

Gorton (Biographical Dictionary) calls "Newcommen"

"a practical philosopher distinguished for his

successful efforts towards the improvement of the steam engine. He was a locksmith at Dartmouth in Devonshire, towards the close of the seventeenth century, and notwith- standing his humble situation he engaged in scientific researches." Thomas Newcomen, however, was the direct lineal descendant of one of the oldest county families in Lincohhshire, and a Devonshire man in riofht, of beinef third in descent from his great grandfather, Elias Newcomen, rector of Stoke Fleming. The pedigree of his house is pre- served at the College of Arms (Vincent, 150, fo. 133), and commences with Hugo Newcomen, of Saltfletby co. Lincoln, A.D. 1189-99. The arms of King were acquired by the marriage of William Newcomen, of Saltfletby, (eightli in descent from Hugh), who died in 1466, with Alice daughter and heir of William King, of Gains- borough, merchant ; those of Gren field, Stevenson, and Fereby by the marriage of Brian Newcomen (grand- son of William and Alice), with Margaret, daughter and

PARTSII OF DARTMOUTH. 373

co-heir of John Grenfeld, of Barneborough, co. York, by his wife Isabella, daughter and heir of Robert Stevenson, of Garthorp, co. Lincoln. The descents of both Grenfeild and Stevenson are given in the chart. Nightingale and EUis were broiiglit in by the alliance of Charles Newcomen, of London (second son of Brian and Margaret Grenfeld), with Johane daughter and heir of Richard Nightingale and Elizabeth (Ellis?) his wife. Eli;is Newcomen, of the Bi-ass, was the third son of Charles. He was in Holy Ordera, became Rector of Stoke Fleming, as shown by the Episcopal Registers hi the year IGOO and died in 1614.

He had a brother, Robert, who went to Ireland and was created a baronet. Eight descents of this branch are recorded in Burke.

His son, Thomas, appears to have settled in the adjacent pai-ish of Dartmouth, and lived in the house in Lower Street, afterwards occupied by the inventor. He is party to a bond in the possession of Mr. lloldsworth of Kino-sbridoe, dated 27th November, 1651. His son, called after the Rector of Stoke Fleming, Elias, was the father of the inventor, whose baptism, " Thomas, son of Elias Newcomen," occurs in the S. Saviour's Baptismal Register, February 28th, 1G63. He married Hannah, daughter of Peter Waymouth, of Malburough, co. Devon, Mamage Licence, Principal Registry, Exon, dated 13th July, 1705. He died in 1729.

He left two sons : Thomas and Elias. Thomas Newcomen, son of Thomas, compiled a pedigree with a view of proving his claim to the Irish Baronetcy, which had been conferred upon Robert, brother of Elias, Rector

374 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

of Stoke Fleming, but probably abandoned the attempt from want of funds to prosecute his claim.

Elias, second son of the inventor, married Hannah, daughter of Samuel Waymouth, of Exeter. Her settle- ment, dated 27th November, 1749, conveys to her the house in Lower Street in which her father-in-law, Thomas Newcomen had lived (Waymouth, 8, D., 14, 61, Coll., Ar.) Her husband, Elias, was engaged in the erection of steam machinery. His will, dated 24th May, 17G0, was proved 22nd of November, 17G5. His seal, appended to a cancelled will, bears the arms and crest of Newcomen, of Saltfletby. They had issue, Thomas Newcomen, who died young ; Samuel Newcomen, who died at Charlesto%vn, S. Carolina M 26 and unmarried ; John Newcomen, -who died young ; Hannah and Martha. Hannah, married twice ; first, Nicholas Gibbs ; and second, William Prance, of Plymouth. Martha married John Shute, of Crediton. Licence dated 28th June, 1773, Principal Registry, Exon. See also Waymouth's Ped. Coll. Ar. as above. Li the Museum of Kinsf's College is preserved the " original " model of Newcomen's steam engine, iJthough Mr. Lidstone considers that it was not his work, but, perhaps, that of his son Elias. It is said to have been constructed for presentation to King George IH, and was exhibited at South Kensington in 1876. An older model, described as a rude one, and the identical one which " Watt was repairing when he invented his improvements " is in the Museum of the Gliisgow University. These models are in fact, models of the first machine, by means of which steam power

PARISH OF DARTMOUTH. 375

could be safely applied for mechanical purposes. Newcomeu appeai-s to have had his atteiitioa directed to this matter by the schemes and observations of" the Marquess of Worcester, the French philosopher Papin, and by Captain Savery's proposal to employ the power of steiun ill draining the Cornish mines, and he conceived the idea of producing a vacuum below the piston of his engine, after it had been raised by the expansive force of the elastic vapour. This he eftected by the injection of cold water to condense the vapour. He appears at fu'st to have been ;ussisted in his experiments by two other Dartmouth men — Calley, a brazier, and a person called How ; in a somewhat higher capacity than that of mechanics ; but ultimately he seems to have pm-sued his experiments " alone and in secret on the leads of his house." The Marquess of Worcester appears to have first adopted the idea of employing steam to work a permanent engine, and he (then Lord Herbert) had established what he termed "a water commanding enjjine " at Kaifland Castle, ill 1 040. He appears to have employed high pressure steam upon water contained in close vessels, and ■was thus enabled to force water to considerable elevations. Then Cii])tain Savery created a vacuum within the vessels by the external application of cold water. Papin, of Blois in France, proposed the use of a cylinder and piston, separate from, but connected with, the work to be done, but gave no practical effect to his suggcstion.s, which was left for Newcomen to accomplish, and a.« we all know the work was ultimately i)erfected and conqiletcd by James Watt, of Glasgow, and Birmhigham. It appears

370 DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

extraordinary, as Mr. Lidstone remarks, that " the inipor- tiuice of this invention has never been pubhcly recognized in connection with Newcomen's memory ; and that there should be in no place greater apathy on the subject than in the town where he perfected his wonder working machine."

END OF VOL. I.

	NOTICE.
	An Index to tlie	two	volumes,
;in(l	tlic! list of" Subscriber	s to	the work
^vill	be issued in the second	volume of
" Devonshihk Parishes. "

37fi DEVONSHIRE PARISHES.

extraordinnry, as Mr. Lidstone remarks, that " the itiipor- tunce of this invention has never been pubhcly recognized in connection with Newcomen's memory ; and tliat there should be in no place greater apathy on the subject than in the town where he perfected his wonder working machine."

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

Los Angeles

This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

Yfnrthv - Devonshire

parishes.

*DA 670 D49Y;8 v.l

LC SOUTHEflN flEGOKAl UBRAflY FAOUTY

' iniiiiMiiiir

D 000 452 795 8

ISf

\

'd...

•^?*v V?

\^^ivUW-^

/' r

•m

" '•^j'

•^^:

.'>'•.#-

!l '^'l'

V'i^'il *r; ^,;.

\t I'iv

illlSVI Willi v« 4ra IS

(V<f-t ^ "K,. ^ /-^

*•• iS>

^ t^

■:.''>n

'- '^^.i't At i^ ^' ^., 'V

..^■^- .^.

€'rn.

i^MJ'L

M^' w

<^ >%'

	■ ■"■
	■1 ^H Si
y	■H ^^H BMiJ ^^B iaaa H ^B i ^B
«■■■
r ■■■
kfc..- ■■ Hi ^B

\MJ^..-^'

■■xki%

, :«,is ^;;;i-

i»; ♦■»^ f

•v<^"k. .,

if?. X-

r^ m

.^. '^^

,4'-. ;!'?, ''■a*.

■"*. , ■¥.

j >' ^ , ;t

*■ 'H'v*

;^ V'€ *'' A'^-y

,. '**

.'- H iA %■

5S, if^ V: '#^ '*'' '«*

«p, ife . V

^r:%<

i^ f

. vii. Tffc '^,

f«?*xn

^%. •*»

■ '4' A-'? ■*<»• '*'*^ ''t ■;;._ ..-

^•:>-if ,^a3?;>i l>i;v» :*.!■

* « WMirWi^S^ «ftfBi

,1» W

1

I