Oxton, Kenton

Oxton in the parish of Kenton in South Devon is a historic estate long held by the Martyn family, a junior branch of the Norman family of FitzMartin.

Descent

Martyn

The later descent of Martyn of Oxton is as follows:^[1]

• Sir Nicholas Martyn (1593-1654) of Oxton, MP for Devon (1646-1654) and Sheriff of Devon in 1640, whose monument survives in Kenton Church.
• William Martyn (1626-1662) of Netherexe and Oxton (son)
• Nicholas Martyn (1652-1717) of Netherexe and Oxton (son). He married Gertrude St Aubyn, daughter of John St Aubyn of Clowance, Cornwall.
• William Martyn (1680-1710) of Oxton, eldest son and heir. He inherited the estate of Holnicote in Somerset from his great aunt Susannah Martyn (d.1685), a daughter of Sir Nicholas Martyn (1593-1654) and wife of Charles Staynings (1622-1700) of Holnicote.^[2] In 1705 William Martyn married a certain Susannah (d.1749).
• William Clifford Martyn (1706-1770), of Oxton, eldest son and heir, who married Elizabeth Langton (d.1753). The marriage was without progeny and on the death of William in 1770 his heir became his first cousin Nicholas Tripe (1711-1790) of Ashburton.

Tripe

• Nicholas Tripe (1711-1790) of Ashburton, son of his sister Susannah Martyn.^[3]
• Rev John Swete (1752-1821), of Oxton, eldest son and heir, born John Tripe, the authority on landscaping and topographer of Devon.^[4] He carried out much landscaping and re-building at Oxton.^[5]

References

1. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.554, pedigree of Martyn
2. ↑ Hancock, Frederick, The Parish of Selworthy in the County of Somerset, Taunton, 1897, p.55
3. ↑ Vivian, 1895, pp.554-5
4. ↑ Vivian, 1895, pp.554-5
5. ↑ Gray, Todd & Rowe, Margery (Eds.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of The Reverend John Swete, 1789-1800, 4 vols., Tiverton, 1999, vol.1