Frances Manners married Henry Neville, Lord Abergavenny, (1527-1587) of Berling Place, Kent. He served at the trial of Mary Queen of Scots in 1586. Henry’s father, Sir George Neville (1471?-1535), was Larderer to the Household at the coronation of Henry VIII and had been a favourite of Henry VII. Mary Elizabeth Neville their daughter, (died 1626) married Sir Thomas Fane (d.1589) of Badsell Manor, Kent. Mary became Baroness Le Despencer in 1604. Sir Thomas was a politician. As a youth Thomas Fane was involved in Sir Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion, which was against the proposed marriage of Mary to Philip of Spain and began in Kent on 25th January 1554. He was captured and committed prisoner in the Tower on a charge of high treason, with a warrant issued for his execution. (Princess Elizabeth was also shut up in the Tower for a while at this time). But Queen Mary, pitied his youth and pardoned him on 18th March 1554. A week later he was released and restored to his estate. Some 19 years later he was knighted at Dover Castle on 26th August 1573 by Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth. In November 1580 he was appointed deputy-commissioner within the County of Kent for the increase and breed of horses, and for the keeping of horses and geldings to service. When the Armada was expected he did good service in the disposing of forces along the coast of Kent. He died on 13th March 1589. He was married first to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Colpeper (or Culpeper) of Bedgebury, Kent, who died childless; and secondly, on 12th December 1574, at Birling, Kent, to Lady Mary Elizabeth Neville, sole daughter and heiress of Henry, baron Abergavenny, by whom he had numerous issue. In her right he became possessed of the castle and manor of Mereworth, Kent. His widow, by letters patent bearing a date at Westminster on 25th May 1604, was restored to the name, style and dignity of Baroness le Despencer, and to the heirs of her body, with the ancient seat, place and precendry of her ancestors. She died on 26th June 1626 and was buried with her husband at Mereworth.
Sir Francis Fane, their son, (1579-1628) married Mary Mildmay (1583-1640)Francis was knighted at the coronation of James I on 15th July 1603, and was advanced to the titles of Baron Berghersh and Earl of Westmorland on 29th December 1624. He was created Lord le Despencer on his mother’s death in 1626 but died on 23rd March 1628 aged 45. His wife, Mary was the daughter of Sir Anthony Mildmay, (d.1617) the eldest son of Sir Walter Mildmay, (1520?-1589) Queen Elizabeth’s Chancellor, and Mary Walsingham (the sister of Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State). Sir Walter was the founder of Emanuel College, Cambridge and was one of the special commissioners in the trial of Mary Queen of Scots. Mary’s father, Sir Anthony Mildmay, was the eldest son and inherited the family estate of Apethorpe. For a time he was Ambassador at Paris. Mary’s mother, Grace, was the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Sherrington of Laycock in Wiltshire. Mary was the only child of Sir Anthony and Grace, so was the heiress of Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire.
Lady Elizabeth Fane (1610-1669) married(1) Sir John Cope, third baronet, and after his death,(2) Colonel William Cope of Icomb. Her second husband obtained the Manor of Icomb, near Stow on the Wold, in 1654. A memorial plaque at the church of St.Mary the Virgin at Icomb commemorates these two & the bottom of the inscription reads: “Lady Elizabeth deceased ye 10th day of October Anno Dom 1669. The sd. Will Cope dyed the 7th day of August 1691, who left 33 pounds per annum to poores uses in Icomb and Stow out of lands in his manor of Icomb, Anno Aetas Sue 79.”
Elizabeth Cope, their daughter, (b.1635), married Thomas Geers of Marsh, Shropshire and was his second wife. Thomas Geers enriched his family by his marriages to heiresses. Thomas, was a Bencher of the Inner Temple, Deputy High Steward of Hereford and MP for Hereford in 1685. When called to the dignity of the coif he gave rings with the posy “Deus-Lex-Rex”.
Elizabeth Geers of Icomb, their daughter, married William Gregory (1676-1702), of How Caple, Hereford in 1698, when he was 22 but her husband died on 23rd April 1702 aged 26. William’s grandfather, Sir William Gregory (1624-1696) of Hill House, Woolhope, was a judge and entered Parliament becoming Speaker of the House in 1679, but soon was appointed one of the Barons of the Exchequer and was knighted by Charles II in 1679. He bought the manors and estates of How Caple and Sollers Hope in 1677 and the manor of Fownhope in 1681.
William Gregory (d.1765), their son, married Susannah Brydges of Tyberton Court, Hereford, daughter of William Brydges Esq. and Susannah Noel, daughter an co-heir of Edward Noel of the Inner Temple, who died 1st April 1723. William Gregory was a Sergeant-at -Law and was the owner of his hereditary estates for a period of 63 years, his father having died when he was only 2. He died on Nov 17th 1765 aged 65.
Anne Gregory (1729-1780), their daughter, married Edward Acton (1724-1775) of Acton Scott, near Church Stretton in Shropshire. Edward Acton was the son of the Reverend John Acton DD, vicar of Clun, Shropshire and his wife, Beatrice Fleming. Edward Acton inherited the Acton Scott estate.
Susannah Acton (1754-1834) married John Stackhouse (1742-1819)Susannah was an only child and heiress of the Sollershope and How Caple estates in Herefordshire and part of the manor of Icomb in Gloucestershire. John Stackhouse was born at Trehane, Cornwall in 1742, the son of Rev.William Stackhouse DD, rector of St.Erme, Cornwall (d.1771) and his wife, Catherine Williams, daughter of John Williams and Catherine Courtenay (who was descended from Hugh de Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon). On 20th June 1758 John Stackhouse matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford and was elected to a fellowship of the College in 1761 but left the University when he succeeded to the Pendaves property in Cornwall in 1763. He travelled abroad for two or three years studying marine biology around the Mediterranean. His particular interest was in th study of seaweed. Returning home he divided his time between the Pendarves estates and St.Erme. Shortly before Christmas 1772 he met and fell in love with Susanna Acton, the only daughter of Edward Acton of Acton Scott in Shropshire. Early in 1773 he and Susanna took a boat out to St.Michael’s Mount and while they were there decided to build a house on the coast between Perranuthnoe and Cuddon Point, partly for the view and partly so that John Stackhouse could pursue his study of seaweed. He married Susanna on 21at April 1773 and the couple lived in their large Georgian mansion where John pursued his interest in Botany. About 1775 he erected Acton Castle at Perranuthnoe. He was one of the early fellows of the Linnean Society, being elected in 1795. He sold the Manor of Icomb estate in 1807. He died at his house at 4 Edgar Buildings, Bath, on 22nd November 1819. The manors and estates passed to the children of their daughter Anne.
Anne Gregory Stackhouse (1785-1862) married Rev Thomas Bernard Coleman MA (1782-1818) Anne and her husband would have lived at the Old Rectory, Church Stretton, as her husband was the rector of St.Lawrence’s Church from 1807 until his premature death in 1818 at the age of 36. I have a silver spoon inscribed with the initials TBC and hallmarked London 1812 which must have belonged to him. I was likewise given a portrait of Anne Gregory Coleman by my Aunt Betty.
Catherine Augusta Coleman(1811-1880) married (1)Francis Paynter of Clarence House Penzance (1798-1863) and (2) Edwin Newman of Hendford Manor, Yeovil in 1876.Francis was a lawyer and judge of the Hundred Court etc., but evidently got into financial trouble latterly, for he went bankrupt and it is said that he appropriated money belonging to the estate.
Henry Augustus Paynter (1846-1919) married Henrietta Newman (d.1914) in 1867 and they had 12 children, 8 girls and 4 boys. Henry was born on 2nd April 1846, probably in Marazion, Cornwall. He practiced as a solicitor in Alnwick, one of his clients being the Duke of Northumberland who allowed the family the use of his grounds as he had given them a key to the gate. The Percy Hunt would meet in front of Henry’s house, Freelands, and my grandmother enjoyed following the hunt and was delighted when she was given the brush.Henry had a half share in the Shilbottle Coalmine. He and his brother, John, both had beards and both liked country pursuits. At first the family were relatively well off, but Henry stood surety for a man who defaulted and also lost money which he put up for one of his sons on a sawmill that burnt down. With twelve children to support the families fortunes declined. Henrietta was concerned for the poor and produced coins for “penny Dinners” which were distributed to those in need. They could be redeemed for food at Alnwick Cocoa Rooms. She also rented a house in Alnmouth to be used as a Fisherman’s rest, where fishermen away from home could have a comfortable refuge and some family furniture and the billiard table were sent down to Alnmouth for these men - (my grandmother regretted the billiard table going). Henry died on 16th May 1919 and was buried at Lufton, Somerset. His mother, Catherine, married his wife’s father, Edwin Newman, after their spouses had both died, in 1876, which was how his brother, Bernard, came to inherit Hendford Manor.
Edith May Paynter (1889-1982) married in 1913 to Dr.William Mitchell Turner Wilson (1882-1955)
Helen Turner Wilson born 1914, married John Thomas Caldwell (1901-1970)Helen left school at the age of 14 to go to Harrow Art School studying a general art course for three years but had to leave early as the family ran into financial difficulties during the 1930’s slum and could not afford a maid any longer, so Helen helped her mother in the home, attending at college evening classes when she found an aptitude for clay modelling. She then taught infants for a year, which she enjoyed before going into nursing at University College Hospital. She passed the six week theory course, with an exam at the end of each week. The hours that nurses had to work then were very long, 8 am to 8 pm and the work was very demanding. Eventually she became very ill with scarlet fever, then suffered with a septic finger, so left general nursing. She went to St.George’s Hospital at Hyde Park Corner for a while, working in Physiotherapy, using electro-medical equipment, but did not enjoy this so left and studied shorthand and typing. She then returned to teaching but war broke out so she joined the ATS and drove lorries around the country for about two years. It was while she was on leave from this that she met my father, the man next door, who was now a widower. They married on 16th August 1941. John Caldwell was born in Richmond, Melbourne, Australia, the eldest son of an engineer and inventor. He was the eldest of the seven children but had an older half sister, whom he never realised was his sister until he was grown up. She was always known as “Auntie Lizzie” and lived with her mother all her life. The other children were - Frederick, Robert, Linda, Alma, Thomas and William. John left school at 14 and started working in tailoring while his father was away in England trying to sell his machine gun to the British Army, which he nearly succeeded in doing. When he returned to Australia he took John out of tailoring and got him to work with him in engineering, in which he was to remain for the rest of his life.John and Helen had two children, Ian and Catherine (b.4/11/45) |Ian William Robert Caldwell, born 22nd July 1942 married (1) Anna Jadwiga Zofia Korzen, b.15/3/44 by who he had three children, Anthony Mark b.21/10/63, Sasha Karen b. 31/7/65, and Jonathan Stephen Tristram, b.10/12/67, married (2) Gabrielle MacPhedran, b.13/10/41, by whom he had three children, Christopher Edward b.15/11/72; Toby John b.16/5/74; and Nemone Catherine b.19/9/77; and married (3) Gillian Candlish Willment, nee Tribe, b. 5/4/39 by whom he had two step children, Victoria Ruth b. 1/1/68; and James Thornton Robert b.25/3/72.And now a new generation have started to arrive, Jonathan has married Candace Fleming and they have Arran Fleming, (6/3/97), Francis Bruno(12/1/99) and Lucian Fleming (b.30/6/2000), and Toby married Lisette Cohen and they have a daughter, Lila May,(b.26/3/99); and James and Nicole Katerina Zach have a daughter, Yasmine Aisha born 2/2/2000.
