Whitechapel, Bishops Nympton

Whitechapel Manor, main (south) front
Whitechapel Manor, viewed from southern approach road
Whitechapel Manor, panoramic view from south. Behind to the north is the parish of North Molton and beyond that is Exmoor
Whitechapel Manor, possible ancient remains of mediaeval chapel,[1] otherwise identified as bee boles, north-west angle of manor house
Whitechapel Manor, hall screen, oak, early 17th century,[2] with strapwork decoration. Viewed from within the great hall. The main entrance door is behind the screen to the left

Whitechapel is an ancient former manor within the parish of Bishops Nympton, in north Devon. It was the earliest known residence of the locally influential Bassett family until 1603.[3] The core of the present manor house is Elizabethan,[4] with later additions and alterations, and was classed as Grade I listed on 9 June 1952.[5]

History

The 1086 Doomsday Book entry for the very large manor of Nimetone, with land for 52 ploughs, is listed as one of 24 holdings of the Bishop of Exeter, and was held by him in demesne. It does not mention Whitechapel or any sub-manors within Nimetone.[6] The first record of Whitechapel as a member of the manor of Nymeton Episcopi (Latin for "Nympton of the Bishop") is in the records of Feudal Aids, where it is called in French La Chapele and in Latin Alba Capella ("White Chapel")[7] Coulter (1993),[8] although he found several early references to Whitechapel, was unable to find any historical record describing the founding of the Whitechapel, but discovered other licences granted by Bishop Brantingham in 1374 for a chapel at Grilstone, in the parish of Bishops Nympton, in which mass was to be said annually on St Nicholas's Day, and a further multiple licence granted in 1425 by Bishop Lacy to Sir William Champyon, vicar of Nymet Episcopi for divine service to be celebrated in the chapels within his parish of St Peter, St Nicholas, St Mary Magdalene and St Margaret.[9] There exist next to the manor house remains seemingly of a gothic window below ground level within a low building, but the evidence is not certain that this relates to the Whitechapel.[10] Some sources indeed identify this gothic niche as a bee bole.

Descent of the manor

Peverell

The Devon Historian Tristram Risdon (died 1640) in his work "The Survey of Devon" stated that Whitechapel was "the ancient inheritance of the Peverells".[11] A branch of the great Norman family of Peverell, feudal barons of The Peak in Derbyshire, was seated in Devon at Sampford Peverell[12] and held the additional Devon manors of Kerswell in the parish of Broadhembury and Aller in the parish of Cullompton.[13] The latter two manors were among the ten held by Ralph Pagnell in the Domesday Book and soon afterwards passed to the Peverell family. The manors of Aller and Kerswell were granted by Matilda Peverell, the daughter of Pagan (or Payne) Peverel, a knight who fought in the First Crusade (1096–1099),[14] to Montacute Priory in Somerset.[15]Kerswell Priory, as the latter became known, became a cell for two Cluniac monks dependant from Montacute.

Bassett

Arms of Bassett: Barry wavy of six or and gules. These arms can be seen on four 17th-century mural monuments in Heanton Punchardon Church, Devon

Risdon further related that Sir William Peverell had given the manor of Whitechapel as the dowry of his sister Lucea on her marriage to Sir Alan Basset,[16] and it thus became a possession of the Basset family for many centuries. The adjacent manor of La Hayne, today the site of North Hayne and South Hayne farms, was also part of the dowry.[17] Sir Alan Basset, according to Risdon, was the son of William Basset of Ipesden and Stoke Basset in Oxfordshire, who he states to have been descended from Osmund Basset, who lived in the reign of King Richard I (1189–1199).[18] This ancestry may be incorrect as several different Bassett families existed in ancient times which modern historians have been unable to link to a common ancestor.[19] It is however certain that the Basset family of Whitechapel were also seated from ancient times the manor of Tehidy in Cornwall, on the north coast about 2 miles north of Camborne. Risdon transcribed a deed dated 1383 (6 Richard II) which was a grant made at Tehidy by Sir William Basset of the reversion of the "rents and service" of White Chapel in the county of Devon after the decease of its then tenants John Blake and his wife Joan.[20] The grantees were Thomas Champernowne, Otis Bodragon, Thomas Collin, James Gerveis and Thomas Cottesford, parson of "St Illigam" (Church of St Illogan, Tehidy).[21] Prince stated that the Bassett family occupied Whitechapel as its principal seat until the time of Sir John Bassett moved to Umberleigh, a manor he inherited from his heiress wife Joan Beaumont.[22] Joan was the daughter of Sir Thomas Beaumont of Shirwell, Heanton Punchardon and Umberleigh,[23] and the sister and heir of Philip Beaumont.[24] Her inheritance included Heanton Punchardon and Umberleigh,[25] whilst Shirwell went to the Chichesters,[26] from which family was her sister's husband. Sir John Bassett's son by Joan Beaumont, Sir John Bassett (died 1528) was buried in a chest tomb which is now situated in the parish church of Atherington, next to Umberleigh.[27] His inquisition post mortem states that he held Whitechapel not as a tenant-in-chief but from an overlord, namely Henry, Duke of Somerset (1519–1536), by service unknown, worth 100 shillings per annum.[28] Sir John Bassett's eldest son and heir was John Bassett (died 1541) of Umberleigh, who married Frances Plantagenet, daughter and co-heiress of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle[29] (died 1542), KG, an illegitimate son of King Edward IV, and an important figure at the court of King Henry VIII. Their son and heir was Sir Arthur Bassett (1541–1586),[30] MP, of Umberleigh, whose small chest tomb is now also situated in Atherington Church.[31] He married Eleanor Chichester (died 1585), a daughter of Sir John Chichester (died 1569) of Raleigh.[32] He gave the ancient Bassett manor of Tehidy in Cornwall to his uncle George Bassett (died 5 November 1589), who was buried in Illogan Church, the parish church of Tehidy, and founded there his own prominent dynasty which included Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville and Basset (1757–1835). Sir Arthur Bassett's son was Sir Robert Bassett (1573–1641),[33] MP, of Umberleigh, who sold Whitechapel, according to Prince together with "no less than thirteen mannors of land".[34] His Plantagenet blood had prompted him to join the two hundred or so other pretenders who made personal claims to the throne of England following the death of the last of the Tudors Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and the start of the reign of the first Stuart king James I (1603–1625), and this move which had no chance of success was viewed with great displeasure by the new king, from whose realm Bassett suddenly fled into France, "to save his head" according to Prince.[35] He was however soon pardoned, but with the imposition of a very heavy fine, and returned to England where he sold Whitechapel in 1603[36] and the thirteen other manors to pay the fine. The Bassett family remained at Heanton Court and Umberleigh until 1802 when the male line died out,[37] but continued at Watermouth Castle and Umberleigh successively in the Davie-Bassett family and Williams-Davie-Bassett family, descended from the female line,[38] until the early 20th century.

Amory

Arms of Amory of Whitechapel: Barry nebulé of six argent and gules, over all a bend azure [39]

The Amory family ( or d'Amory, Emery, Amery, etc.) had been resident within the parish of Bishops Nympton from as early as 1524 when William Amere and John Amere were assessed to the subsidy at "Bishop's Nymet, Devon"[40] and acquired Whitechapel following its sale by Sir Robert Bassett, and held it until about 1660.[41] It was during this time held together with the estates of Reeds, Hammetts, West Berwill (or Berryfield), all in the parish of Bishops Nympton, and with other estates in Mariansleigh, King's Nympton and Rose Ash.[42] There was another family of this name in Gloucestershire,[43] which bore the same armorials as recorded in the respective heraldic visitations to Gloucestershire[44] in 1592 and to Devon[45] in 1620. The arms for both were: Barry nebulé of six argent and gules, over all a bend azure. Meredith quotes early references to the family thus: In 1524 William Amere and John Amere were assessed to the subsidy at Bishop's Nymet, Devon. On 6 October 1567 Hugh Amerye married Peternell Peirs at Bishop's Nymet. On 4 February 1567–68 Thomas, son of Hugh Amerye, was baptized at Bishop's Nymet.[46]

George Amory (died 1598)

In 1570 George Amorye (died 1598), the eldest son of John Damerie of South Molton,[47] married Margery Ayer at Bishop's Nymet. This latter George is the first member of the family whose progeny can be traced with certainty. The will of George Amorie or Amerie of Bishop's Nymet in the County of Devon, yeoman, is at the National Archives, and was written and proved in 1598. It lists bequests to "my son John Amerie," his executor and residuary legatee, to two other sons, Anthonie and William, and to two married daughters, naming several children of John, of William, and of each daughter, but no child of Anthonie.[48] George Amory's wife Margery was of the Ayre or Eyre family of Atherington. He had a younger brother Robert Damorie, who married Prudence (died 1593), the widow of Sir John Pollard of Combe Martin.[49] By Margery Eyre he had three sons and at least two daughters:[50] His eldest son and heir was John I Amory (died 1615), his eldest son, and his younger sons were:

John I Amory (died 1615)

John I Amory (died 1615), (eldest son and heir) who married in 1587 Emmot Thomas, daughter of John Thomas of Bishops Nympton,[54] and had as his eldest son and heir John II Amory (died 1652).

John II Amory (died 1652)

John II Amory "of Chappell" (died 1652) (eldest son). Thomas Westcote (c. 1567 – c. 1637) gives the descent from the latter thus:[55] John Amory of Whitechapel married Prudence Roberts (died 1645), daughter of John (or Richard[56]) Roberts of Combe Martyn, of which latter family Westcote's mother was herself a member.

John III Amory (born 1615)

John III Amory (born 1615) (eldest son ) married Grace, of unrecorded family, and had a daughter Rebecca who died young in 1638. He died without surviving issue, having however survived his father and administered his will. He left as heir his younger brother William Amory (died 1666), of Whitechapel.

William Amory (born 1626/27)

William Amory (born 1626/27)(brother) married in 1652 at Bishops Nympton Cissel Molford, daughter of John Molford. Surviving records of the family include a reference to the will of Mary Amory, widow, dated 1687,[57] and the will dated 1667 of William Amory of Grilstone in the parish of Bishops Nympton,[58] He left as his co-heiresses his two surviving daughters:

Gibbens, Lear, Short

Arms of Lear of Lindridge House: Azure, a fess raguly between three unicorn's heads erased or, as visible on the mural monument to Sir Peter Lear, 1st Baronet (died c. 1684) in Bishopsteignton Church

However, the estate was not apparently in the sole possession of the Amory family from the early 1600s, as Westcote, writing in about 1630, stated "Whitechapel (is) now divided among divers. In the farmhouse is the remainder of the tribe of Amory seated". His editor added later "Extinct about the year 1670". After 1666 it was in disputed ownership between the families of Amory, Gibbens and Lear of Lindridge House. In 1732 Sir John Lear and Thomas Comyns leased the following lands for one year to James Wolston and Comyns: Manor or reputed manor of Collaton Shiphay with Rawstone in Bishops Nympton, also White chaple in Bishops Nympton and messuage called Gotham in Bishops Kerswell, Great Goose Ham in Teigngrace, Heathfield in Ilsington, lands in Ashburton, Tallor, Christow, Manors of Bishopsteignton and Radway, Lindridge, Combe etc. in Bishops Teignton, Radway and West Teignmouth.[60] From 1734 to 1777 Whitechapel was held by the Short family.[61]

Sanger

In 1777 [62] about 1800 the manor of Whitechapel was in Chancery and was sold at public auction by order of the Lord Chancellor. This was presumably in order that the sale proceeds could be distributed according to a court judgement made in settlement of the claims of the various claimant families. The purchaser was John Sanger of nearby South Molton, who later boasted that the purchase had financed itself, he having cut down and sold enough timber on the estate to cover the purchase price. He resided at Whitechapel until his death on 14 February 1806.[63] He left a widow Frances, who died on 9 September 1819 aged 62, and three children:

In 1862 Whitechapel, or part thereof, was in the possession of William Adams, Yeoman, to whom was leased certain lands in Stockleigh English by John Froude Bellew Esq., of Stockleigh Court.[66]

Glossop

As mentioned in his book The Blackmore Country (1911), Frederick Snell reported that in 1911 Whitechapel was owned by "Captain Glossop" and added that "the place is now in thoroughly good hands but it has naturally suffered from having been so long a farmhouse the occupiers of which were profoundly indifferent to its contents and history. The present owner, Captain Glossop, when I met him, was bringing taste and energy to bear on the old mansion, although portions of it were beyond repair".[67] He was a member of the Glossop family listed in Burke's Landed Gentry as of "Silver Hall", which was in Isleworth, Middlesex.[68] The family descended from Francis Glossop (died 1764) of Upper Haddon, Derbyshire, whose grandson was Francis Glossop of Isleworth (died 1835).[69] The eldest son of the latter was Rev. Henry Glossop (1780–1869), of Silver Hall, Isleworth, vicar of Isleworth Church from 1822 to 1855, whose eldest son and heir was Francis Henry Newland Glossop (1815–1886), DL for Middlesex, was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1838 and married on 12 February 1850 Ann Fish Pownall. Their eldest son was Rev. George Henry Pownall Glossop (1858–1925), of Silver Hall, Honorary Canon and Rural Dean of St Albans. He married in 1886 Frances Mary Gape of St Michael's Manor, Fishpool Street, St Albans, and sold Silver Hall in 1888. Their eldest son and heir was Francis George Glossop (born 1887), listed in Burkes Landed Gentry 1937 as of West Down,[70] (on Garliford Lane one mile south of Whitechapel mansion[71]), South Molton, then a retired Commander, Royal Navy, JP (1921), DL (1932), OBE (1962), who had served in World War I, as a Lieutenant commanding the Destroyer HMS Hydra at the Battle of Jutland, had been mentioned in despatches and had been awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus of the Russian Empire. He married in 1915 Elinor Mackay Cadell and had two sons and two daughters. In 1937 he resided at West Down, one mile south of Whitechapel, South Molton. He later resided at Gransden, Barnstaple.[72] In 1922 the Glossop family erected the "Glossop Memorial" in Isleworth, a drinking fountain and lampost. The family were connected with the founding of the Old Vic theatre in London.[73]

Lloyd

By 1926 Whitechapel was owned by Albert William Lloyd (1871–1952),[74] whose great-great-grandfather Sampson II Lloyd (1699–1779) and great-uncle Sampson III Lloyd had co-founded Lloyds Bank in 1765.[75] Sampson II Lloyd was an ironmaster from Dolobran in Montgomeryshire and lived at Owen's Farm in Sparkbrook (now the historic building known as "Lloyd's Farmhouse", Farm Park, Sampson Road, Sparkhill). Together with his brother Charles Lloyd, Sampson II Lloyd bought the Town Mill iron-forge in Burton-upon-Trent and traded in iron. His eldest son with whom he co-founded "Taylors & Lloyds Bank" in 1765 was Sampson III Lloyd, whose son was Samuel Lloyd. Sampson II Lloyd's second son was Samuel I Lloyd (1768–1849), banker, whose son was Samuel II "Quaker" Lloyd (1795–1862), who founded the iron founder Lloyds Foster & Co. which owned the "old Park Works" foundry and colliery in Wednesbury. The firm however lost a fortune supplying materials for Blackfriars Bridge in London. In 1818 he moved residence to The Hollies, (opposite St Paul's Church), Wood Green, Wednesbury to supervise his mining estate. He took over Bills & Mills ironworks and renamed it "Darlastan Iron Company" and built Kings Hill Ironworks. His eldest son by his wife Mary Honeychurch (1795–1865) was Samuel III Lloyd (1827–1918), who had 24 children by his wife Jane Elizabeth Janson (1839–1895), one of whom was Albert William Lloyd (1871–1952) of Whitechapel. Samuel III Lloyd's second son was Francis Henry Lloyd who founded the great steelworks firm of F.H. Lloyd, Britain's largest foundry, which survived until its dramatic collapse in 1982, at James Bridge.[76][77] Albert Lloyd married in 1909 in Bedford Caroline Emma Baylay (1878 – 25 April 1962), the daughter of Charles Allan Baylay. In 1926 "Mrs Lloyd of Whitechapel Manor" established the Bishops Nympton branch of the Women's Institute.[78] Their son was John Owen Lloyd (1914–1938), who however pre-deceased both his parents having died in a point-to-point horse race in Dulverton. Mrs Lloyd remained at Whitechapel during her widowhood and died there on 25 April 1962. The heir of Whitechapel thus became Mrs Lloyd's nephew "Colonel Baylay" who sold Whitechapel. The estate was split into various lots, one being the manor house with about 14 acres of land, and another being the cottages and farm buildings with Whitechapel Moor, covering about 300 acres.

Shapland

In 1984 John Shapland, whose family was long established in Devon, with his wife Patricia purchased Whitechapel Manor with 14 acres, and converted in into a small and exclusive luxury hotel which opened in 1987. The speciality of the hotel was its food, prepared by top-class chefs such as Thierry Lepretre-Granet. Many of the guests were clients of the nearby Castle Hill pheasant shoot, and frequently the hotel was hired by private parties. One notable such guest was ex-King Constantine of Greece, and the hotel was on one occasion hired by Cilla Black and her TV crew whilst filming locally the show "Surprise, Surprise".

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Coulter, p.24
  2. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.183
  3. ↑ Prince, John, Worthies of Devon, 1710
  4. ↑ "Late 16thc/early 17thc" Listed building text
  5. ↑ Listed building text
  6. ↑ Morris, John, (Ed.), Domesday Book, Vol.9, Devon, Chichester, 1985, Part 1, chap.2, entry 21
  7. ↑ Feudal Aids , Vol.1, p.343, quoted in Morris, Part 2, 2,21; Also, Calendars of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol.4, no.245
  8. ↑ Coulter, James, The Ancient Chapels of North Devon, Barnstaple, 1993, p.24
  9. ↑ Coulter, James, The Ancient Chapels of North Devon, Barnstaple, 1993
  10. ↑ Coulter, p.24
  11. ↑ Risdon, Tristram, The Survey of Devon, c. 1630, 1810 edition, p.310
  12. ↑ Gentleman's Magazine, vol.68, p.765
  13. ↑ Morris, John, (Ed.), Domesday Book, Vol.9, Devon, Chichester, 1985, Part 2, chap.32, entries 2&3
  14. ↑ Oliver, George, Historic Collections Relating to the Monasteries in Devon
  15. ↑ Morris, John, (Ed.), Domesday Book, Vol.9, Devon, Chichester, 1985, Part 2, chap.32, entries 2&3
  16. ↑ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, London, 1810, p.310
  17. ↑ Gentleman's Magazine, vol.68, p.765
  18. ↑ Risdon, Tristram, The Survey of Devon, c. 1630, 1810 edition, p.310
  19. ↑ Cleveland, Duchess of (Catherine Powlett), The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages, 3 vols., London, 1889, Ancestry of Basset
  20. ↑ Risdon, p.310
  21. ↑ Risdon, Tristram, The Survey of Devon, c. 1630, 1810 edition, p.310
  22. ↑ Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, biography of Col. Arthur Basset, p.51-2
  23. ↑ Prince, p.52
  24. ↑ Prince, p.52
  25. ↑ Vivian, p.46
  26. ↑ Risdon, p.330
  27. ↑ Certain monuments originally in the Umberleigh Chapel next to the manor house of Umberleigh, were moved in about 1820 to Atherington Church (See Colwell); Pevsner, p.139 states this tomb with brasses to have made such move in 1818 (Pevsner, p.139)
  28. ↑ Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, (ed.) The Lisle Letters, 6 vols, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 1981, vol.1, Appendix 22, p.409
  29. ↑ Vivian, p.47
  30. ↑ Vivian, p.47
  31. ↑ Atherington Church leaflet; surviving inscription clearly identifies him
  32. ↑ Vivian, p.47
  33. ↑ Vivian, p.47
  34. ↑ Prince, p.52
  35. ↑ Prince, p.52
  36. ↑ 1603 per introductory history to catalogue B264, National Archives
  37. ↑ Vivian, p.48
  38. ↑ Vivian, p.48
  39. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.15: "Amory of Chapell"
  40. ↑ Meredith, p.312: "1524
  41. ↑ Introductory history, National Archives B264
  42. ↑ National Archives, South Molton Records B264, Whitechapel Estate 1609–1990, North Devon Record Office, introductory background history
  43. ↑ Meredith, p.268
  44. ↑ Maclean, Sir John & Heane, W.C., (Eds.) The Visitation of the County of Gloucester taken in the year 1623 by Henry Chitty and John Phillipot as deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms, with pedigrees from the Heralds' Visitations of 1569 and 1582-3 and sundry miscellaneous pedigrees, London, 1885
  45. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.15: "Amory of Chapell"
  46. ↑ Meredith, 1901
  47. ↑ Eldest son per Heraldic Visitation of Devon, Vivian (ed.), 1895, p.15 "Amory of Chapell"
  48. ↑ Meredith, 1901
  49. ↑ Vivian, p.15
  50. ↑ Meredith, 1901, quoting from ""Mr Somerby's copy of the Bishops Nymet register", & in agreement with Heraldic Visitation, p.15
  51. ↑ Collinson, History of Somersetshire, vol. 1, p. 238
  52. ↑ Meredith, p.270
  53. ↑ Now The Ridge, Bridge End Drive, Prestbury, Macclesfield
  54. ↑ Visit of Devon, p.15
  55. ↑ Westcote, Thomas, A View of Devonshire
  56. ↑ Visit of Devon, p.15
  57. ↑ Index to lost probate records of the diocese of Exeter
  58. ↑ Society of Genealogists: family of d'Amory
  59. ↑ Visit of Devon, p.15
  60. ↑ National Archives,Devon Record Office, Comyns family of Wood, Bishopsteignton, 1039 M/T 36 1732
  61. ↑ National Archives B264
  62. ↑ Date of sale 1777 per National Archives B264 introductory text, but "at the beginning of the last (i.e. 19th) century" according to Snell, p.210
  63. ↑ Snell, Frederick John, The Blackmore Country, 1911, p.210
  64. ↑ National Archives B264
  65. ↑ Sanger family monumental tablets in Bishops Nympton Church
  66. ↑ Devon Record Office 1926 B/BL/L/2/1 1862
  67. ↑ Snell, p.210
  68. ↑ Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, pp896-7, Glossop late of Silver Hall
  69. ↑ Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, pp896-7, Glossop late of Silver Hall
  70. ↑ Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, pp896-7, Glossop late of Silver Hall
  71. ↑ Goldeneye Cyclists Road Map to Exmoor
  72. ↑ Burke's Peerage & Gentry
  73. ↑ The Old Vic Theatre: A History
  74. ↑ http://www.geneagraphie.com/getperson.php?personID=I9554&tree=1
  75. ↑ Parker, Bev, A History of Wednesbury
  76. ↑ Black Country Bugle, Quaker Lloyd, a nineteenth century travel journal, published 4 May 2006
  77. ↑ National Archives, Birmingham City Archives, MS 3375, The Lloyd estates in Birmingham and Wednesbury
  78. ↑ Parish Church guidebook: "Bishops Nympton Church & People, Revised and Fourth Edition, 1998, p.31

Coordinates: 51°01′53″N 3°46′57″W / 51.0313°N 3.7826°W