(314) Bagshawe of Ford Hall and Banner Cross Hall

Bagshawe of Ford and Banner Cross

The Bagshawe family were landowners in Derbyshire for a very long time. Some Victorian antiquaries were keen to push their tenure back before the Norman Conquest, but the earliest authentic record seems to be of Nicholas de Bagshawe, who was a Forester in fee in the Peak forest in 1317. The family name seems to originate from Bagshawe in the parish of Chapel-en-le-Frith, no more than half a mile from their later home at Ford Hall, and the ancient farmhouse of Bagshaw Hall could perhaps have been their first home. 

By the 16th century, there were two distinct branches of the family: the Bagshawes of Abney and the Bagshawes of The Ridge (in the parish of Chapel-en-le-Frith). The branch at The Ridge were settled there by 1368 at the latest, and held that estate for twelve generations at least, living in 'a large and picturesque old mansion, with many gables, pinnacles, and stained-glass windows filled with coats of arms' which passed by marriage in the 18th century to the Fitzherberts of Tissington and was largely pulled down in about 1820. I have found no visual record of this house, but it seems possible that it remained little more than a gentleman farmer's house.

Bagshaw Hall, Bakewell: built in 1684 for Thomas Bagshawe.

In 1684, Thomas Bagshawe (1638-1721), a younger son of Thomas Bagshawe (d. 1649) of The Ridge, who had prospered as a lawyer in Bakewell, built himself a smart new house in that town which has continued to be called Bagshaw Hall down to the present day, even though it was carried to the Fitzherberts by his youngest daughter.

The Bagshawes of Abney were ultimately the more successful branch. Their landholdings were scattered more widely around the Peak District, and came to include lands at Abney, Hucklow, Litton and Chapel-en-le-Frith and to include a number of key lead mining sites, which - although the Bagshawes did not work them directly - undoubtedly contributed to the family's growing wealth in subsequent centuries. William Bagshawe (1598-1669), with whom the genealogy below begins, styled himself 'yeoman' as a young man, but 'gentleman' by the time of his death, and registered his pedigree and right to bear arms at the herald's visitation of Derbyshire in 1664. It was he who bought Ford Hall, at some point during the Commonwealth years. William was a Puritan and disapproved of his eldest son, the Rev. William Bagshawe (1628-1702), entering the church, even though the church was then being run on Presbyterian lines. At the Restoration, however, when the younger William was ejected from the vicarage of Glossop for nonconformity, his father gave him the use of Ford Hall, which he used as the base from which to conduct a zealous and effective preaching ministry that earned him the soubriquet 'The Apostle of the Peak'. William Bagshawe left the majority of his estates to his second son, John Bagshawe (1635-1704), who settled at Hucklow (Derbys), and whose descendants acquired property at Wormhill and the Oakes [see my next post].

The successors of the Rev. William Bagshawe at Ford Hall held to his low church views and Whig instincts in politics down to the 19th century, but the family never again produced a divine of any significance. His son, Samuel Bagshawe (1656?-1706) was 'a good scholar and a true Christian' but no preacher and died soon after his long-lived father, and in the next generation William Bagshawe (1686-1756) supported a number of a nonconformist ministers and employed one as his secretary for a time. He was, however, possessed of a rather hasty temper, and was inclined to jump to unwarranted conclusions on the flimsiest of evidence. In 1720 he took responsibility for bringing up his seven year old nephew, Samuel Bagshawe (1713-62) when he was orphaned, and having no children himself, he eventually made Samuel his heir. Samuel was rather inclined to act first and think afterwards, and this trait, in combination with his uncle's temper, made for a somewhat tempestuous relationship between the two. In 1731, Samuel and a fellow-pupil ran away from the tutor with whom they had been placed at Wakefield and made their way to London, where they joined the army as private soldiers in a regiment stationed at Gibraltar. Samuel soon realised what a foolish move this had been, and begged other relatives to intercede with his guardian to buy him out of the army. Both the persuasion and then the negotiations took a long time, and not until 1738 was his discharge finally obtained, by which time Samuel had progressed to the rank of sergeant quartermaster, and demonstrated his aptitude for military service. After a period living at home, Samuel returned to the army as an officer, and with the help of his uncle and of the Duke of Devonshire, who was a neighbour and friend of his uncle, he quickly ascended the promotion ladder. There was a setback when he lost a leg in action against the French in 1746, but he was able to resume his career and to marry with his uncle's consent in 1751. Samuel inherited Ford Hall in 1756 and finally made it to full Colonel when he raised his own regiment for service in Ireland in 1760, although he died soon afterwards.

The heir to Ford Hall was Samuel's eldest son, also Samuel Bagshawe (1753-1804). He had a difficult childhood, with absent parents leaving him for long periods with over-indulgent aunts. He developed a taste for gambling and luxurious living at a young age, was constantly in debt, and had to sell part of the estate and even the pictures from Ford Hall. The house was shut up, abandoned, and became derelict, while he lived primarily in London. When he died without children, he left his widow - who mercifully did not share his addictions - a life interest in everything that was left. The headship of the family descended on his younger brother, the Rev. William Bagshawe (1763-1847), a pluralist Church of England minister, whose various livings provided him with a comfortable income.

Buckminster Old Vicarage (Leics): the house built in 1815 for
Rev. William Bagshawe. Image: Alan Murray-Rust. Some rights reserved.

He rented country houses near the places he served himself, and in 1815 built a new vicarage at Buckminster (Leics). His life was transformed, however, when in 1818 he inherited the Banner Cross Hall estate near Sheffield in right of his wife, whose brother, Lt-Gen. William Murray, was in the process of building a new house to the designs of Jeffry Wyatt at the time of his death. In 1828, on the death of his brother's widow, he also recovered Ford Hall, where he carried out repairs and some rebuilding in 1837-38.

William's only son having died without issue, at his death Banner Cross Hall and Ford Hall were left to his only daughter, Mary Catherine Anne (1809-78), the wife of Henry Marwood Greaves (1793-1859) of Hesley Hall (Notts). Greaves suffered severe financial losses in mining speculations, and left the estate somewhat embarrassed when it was handed on to his eldest son, William Henry Greaves-Bagshawe (1831-1913). He combined the low church and anti-popery views of his predecessors with a great interest in the history of his family, and produced a very detailed account of his predecessors at Ford Hall: The Bagshawes of Ford: a biographical pedigree (1886) based upon the family archives. His only son drowned on his way back from the Boer War in 1901, so when he died in 1913, Banner Cross and Ford Halls passed to his daughter Frances (d. 1920), who with her husband Ernest Carver (1860-1936), took the name Bagshawe.

Snitterton Hall: entrance front, c.1928.

After his wife died, Ernest Bagshawe remodelled Ford Hall and then sold Banner Cross Hall, which became company offices in 1932. His only son, Francis Edward Gisborne Bagshawe (1893-1985), bought Snitterton Hall in 1930. When Ernest died in 1936, Francis moved to Ford Hall, but he found it too large and in 1957 he sold it for subdivision into several houses and returned to Snitterton Hall. He and his wife (d. 1986) lived at Snitterton until they died, but as neither of their two surviving sons wished to live at Snitterton it was then sold, bring to a close the links of this branch of the family with Derbyshire. Some of the furniture from Snitterton has been sold more recently.

Ford Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire

Ford Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith: the house from the west in 1967, showing the classical facade designed
by Sir Percy Worthington in the 1920s. Image: Historic England.

A complex house which developed around an irregular courtyard, with two main fronts, set at right-angles to each other and facing south-west and south-east. There has been a house on the site since at least 1222, but the earliest part of the present building seems to be the late 16th century gable-end towards the northern end of the south-west front, which has mullioned windows on the ground and first floors. An analysis of the building published in 1909 suggested that this represented the left-hand cross-wing of an E-shaped manor house, the rest of which had been much altered and rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries, but photographs suggest that little if any Tudor structure (apart from the present wing) then survived, and subsequent alterations have destroyed most of the evidence. Behind the late 16th century block, to the east there was a series of 17th century and later structures with mullioned and transomed windows that stepped up the hillside like a row of terraced cottages to join the 16th century wing to a taller block with a crow-stepped gable end, which had at one time a lintel dated 1678, and which must therefore have been built for the Rev. William Bagshawe. A block plan of the house in 1776 shows a gap in this row corresponding to the narrowest unit, which provided access from the north side of the house into a small central courtyard.

Ford Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith: north range of the house. Image: Peak Park Planning Board/Historic England

Ford Hall: the centre of the south-west front before the construction of a new classical centrepiece in the 1920s.

Ford Hall descended to William Bagshawe (d. 1756), who married an heiress and was responsible for the next stage of the house's development. To the right of the 16th century wing, he built an L-shaped 18th century range, traditionally dated to 1727, although if it is that early the windows were altered later as they have narrow glazing bars more typical of the early 19th century. The foot of this range forms the left-hand portion of the south-east front, where it displays a five-bay, two-storey facade with a central doorcase carrying a broken pediment supported on brackets. Round the corner, on the south-west front, the range had a single bay in line with the gable-end of the 16th century range, but was otherwise recessed. This configuration may have suggested the idea of an E-plan house having existed at an earlier time. The Georgian block had a series of panelled interiors and a good staircase with two turned balusters per tread. In 1758, Col. Samuel Bagshawe undertook repairs to the house, which commenced by 'taking off the battlements of the house and lowering them into the court'.

Ford Hall: the south-east front, with the block of 1727 on the left and the mid 19th century block on the right.

On the south-east front, there was in 1776 a further block to the east of the Georgian facade, but projecting rather further forward. This was replaced in 1837-38 by the present tall, rather hamfisted, battlemented block with mullioned windows under hoodmoulds, which was built for Rev. William Bagshawe to his own designs, with some practical assistance from the builder, John Waring; it contained new dining and drawing rooms. Probably at the same time a new main entrance and bay window were built on the south-west front between the projecting gable-ends of the 16th and 18th century wings. A plan of the house in 1909 shows the layout after these changes.

Ford Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith: ground plan, 1909.

In 1913 the house passed to Frances Alice Devereux Bagshawe (d. 1920), the wife of Edward Carver (1860-1936), who took the name Bagshawe in 1914. They seem to have made their home at Ford Hall, and in the 1920s, after his wife's death, Edward altered the south-west front of the house again, to the designs of Sir Percy Scott Worthington (1864-1939).  He built a new three-bay classical facade in front of the 18th century wing and connecting the gable-ends of the 16th and 18th century ranges. Finally, in 1957 the house was divided into a number of units. The Georgian block, which was in poor condition, became completely derelict in the 1960s, but was reconstructed by R.N. Heap for himself from 1967 with a low hipped roof instead of a parapet: little survives of the original interiors in this part of the house. The property remains divided subdivided and in residential use.

Descent: Nicholas Creswell (fl. 1576); to son, Anthony Cresswell (d. 1629); to son, Nicholas Cresswell (d. 1647); to daughter, Barbara Cresswell, who sold 1648 to Robert Ashton (c.1610-87) of Stony Middleton; sold to William Bagshawe (1598-1669); to son, Rev. William Bagshawe (1628-1702); to son, Samuel Bagshawe (1656?-1706); to son, William Bagshawe (1686-1756); to nephew, Col. Samuel Bagshawe (1713-62); to son, Samuel Bagshawe (1753-1804), who left the house unoccupied and untenanted; to widow, Catherine Bagshawe (d. 1828); to brother-in-law, Rev. William Bagshawe (1763-1847), who remodelled it in 1837-38; to daughter, Mary Catherine Anne (1809-78), wife of Henry Marwood Greaves; to son, William Henry Greaves-Bagshawe (1831-1913); to daughter, Frances Alice Devereux (1860-1920), wife of Edward Carter (later Bagshawe) (1860-1936); to son, Francis Ernest Gisborne Bagshawe (1893-1985), who sold 1957 for division into multiple units.

Banner Cross Hall, Ecclesall, Yorkshire (WR)

An Elizabethan or Jacobean house consisting of a central hall range with two cross-wings was built on this commanding site, probably for the Bright family, whose principal seat was at Whirlow Hall, and it was given landscaped grounds in the mid 18th century by Lord John Murray. The condition of the house by the early 19th century was very poor and it was described as:

A gloomy mansion, where in empty state, and cob-web'd ruin hangs a goodly list of painted lords, and many a beauteous dame of Atholl's princely race... Bereft of these the mouldering mansion wears in every view the signal of decay; slow whispering winds creep through the chilling rooms, the tatter'd hangings shake with every breeze. 

(J. Hunter, Hallamshire, 1819).

Banner Cross Hall: perspective view by Jeffry Wyatt, 1817, showing the old house retained on the left, and the unbuilt conservatory on the right.

The decision of General Murray to rebuild, made in a hurry in 1817, was probably prompted by clear evidence that the old building was failing, and indeed in 1818 William Bagshawe recorded laconically in his diary that while he was spending the night at Banner Cross "A side of the house gave way. I was in much danger". General Murray summoned Jeffry Wyatt to Banner Cross in July 1817, and within three months the plans had been agreed and work commenced on site. The scheme, perhaps inspired by the style of the original house, was for a picturesque Tudor Gothic house composed around a central octagonal porch-tower, with the principal reception rooms along the south front, overlooking the views over the grounds.

Banner Cross Hall in 1972: the house from the south-east, with the later service wing on the left. 
Image: Sheffield City Libraries.

The General died on 29 August 1818, while work was in full swing, and ownership passed to Bagshawe and his wife Anne, who was the general's sister. Although the change of ownership inevitably caused some delays to progress, the main block was completed in June 1821 at a cost of £9,000. The General's original intention was to retain and repair the old house as a service wing, but the Bagshawes decided to pull it down and replace it, as Wyatt had recommended, at the cost of a further £6,000. Most of the old building was pulled down in 1820, but the new wing was not built until 'much later', although it was presumably complete by 1823, when the family moved in. The additional cost of the service range was partially offset by the omission of the Gothic conservatory which was part of Wyatt's original design. This was regretted by Wyatt because it would have introduced an element of deliberate asymmetry, which he sought to include in his designs at this time (c.f. Endsleigh House), but Wyatt still considered Banner Cross 'the best specimen of his handicraft'. In total, with expenditure on the grounds, decorations and furnishings, General Murray and the Bagshawes probably spent about £20,000.

Banner Cross Hall: entrance front, with the service wing on the right, and the modern range on the site of the conservatory to the left. Image: Mick Knapton. Some rights reserved.

Banner Cross Hall: plan of the house as rebuilt by Jeffry Wyatt in 1817-21 (main block) and later (service wing). After Linstrum, 1972.

Many of the original interiors have been altered, but such work as remains shows that it was a plain, restrainedly Tudor house inside as well as out. In its final form, after the addition of the service wing, it was an impressive but comfortable house which composed well around the octagonal porch tower from several different aspects. Since the house became company offices for Henry Boot Ltd. in 1932, the interiors have been much altered. The dining room (now Board Room) now has 17th century carved wood festoons from the demolished Hayes Place (Kent), and a fireplace and panelling from the RMS Mauretania, scrapped in 1935. A two storey flat-roofed wing has been built on the site of the intended conservatory, and although weakly designed in itself, its massing does give some idea of the effect Wyatt's original scheme might have had.

Descent: John Bright (d. 1748); to grandson, Bright Dalton (d. 1748); to sister, Mary, who in 1758 married Col. Lord John Murray (1711-87); to daughter Mary (1759-1803), wife of Lt-Gen. William Foxlowe (later Murray) (1756-1818); to sister, Anne (d. 1844), wife of Rev. William Bagshawe (1763-1847); to daughter, Mary Catherine Anne (1809-78), wife of Henry Marwood Greaves (1793-1859); to son, William Henry Greaves-Bagshawe (1831-1913), who let it; to daughter, Frances Alice Devereux (1860-1920), wife of Edward Carter (later Bagshawe) (1860-1936), who sold 1932 to Henry Boot plc.

Bagshawe family of Ford and Banner Cross

Bagshawe, William (1598-1669). Son of Henry Bagshawe and Ann, daughter of Robert Barker, born 16 August 1598. Yeoman or gentleman farmer. A Puritan in religion, though he disapproved of his eldest son entering the church and made his second son his principal heir as a result. He married 1st, 6 August 1625, Jane (d. 1661), daughter of Ralph Oldfield of Litton (Derbys), and 2nd, 6 November 1661, Helen, daughter of Robert Bagshawe of Taddington (Derbys), and had issue:
(1.1) Rev. William Bagshawe (1628-1702) (q.v.);
(1.2) Mary Bagshawe;
(1.3) John Bagshawe (1635-1704), born 10 May 1635; High Sheriff of Derbyshire, 1696; inherited most of his father's landed property, including the manor of Hucklow; married 1st, before 1661, Grace, daughter of Henry Bright of Whirlow Hall, and had issue one son and two daughters; he married 2nd, 22 August 1676, Elizabeth (d. 1706), daughter of Rev. Samuel Coates, another ejected nonconformist minister, and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 4 November and was buried at Tideswell, 8 November 1704; will proved 18 May 1705;
(1.4) Jane Bagshawe (d. 1639); buried at Tideswell (Derbys), 10 March 1638/9;
(1.5) Michael Bagshawe (1637-38), baptised at Tideswell, 4 June 1637; died in infancy and was buried at Tideswell, 29 May 1638;
(1.6) Robert Bagshawe (1640-69), baptised 1 January 1640/1; married, by August 1662, Sarah, daughter of James Taylor of Melton (Yorks) but had no issue; died March 1668/9;
(1.7) Anne Bagshawe;
(1.8) Susannah Bagshawe (1642-1723), baptised at Tideswell, 30 July 1642; married 1st, 13 January 1663/4 at Chapel-en-le-Frith, William Barber (d. 1667) of Malcoffe (Derbys); married 2nd, Edward Ashe (d. 1690) of Tideswell, and had issue two sons; buried at Tideswell, 21 July 1723;
(1.9) Henry Bagshawe (b. c.1643); died young;
(1.10) twin, Mary Bagshawe (1644-85), baptised at Tideswell, 28 July 1644; married, about August 1662, Anthony Longden (d. 1686) of Wormhill (Derbys) and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 12 December 1685 and was buried at Tideswell;
(1.11) twin, Thomas Bagshawe (b. 1644), baptised at Tideswell, 28 July 1644; died young;
(1.12) Charles Bagshawe (1645-97?), baptised at Tideswell, 24 September 1645; perhaps died 19 January 1696/7;
(1.13) Adam Bagshawe (1646-1724) [for whom see the succeeding post on the Bagshawe family of Wormhill and Oakes];
(1.14) Ellen Bagshawe.
He inherited or acquired estates at Hucklow, Abney, Litton and Ford (all Derbys) and was lord of the manor of Hucklow. He purchased Ford Hall sometime after 1648.
He died in 1669; his will was proved 18 May 1669. His first wife was buried at Tideswell, 29 April 1661. His widow married 2nd, 10 January 1670/1 or 1 April 1671, Richard Torr of Castleton (Derbys); her date of death is unknown.

Bagshawe, Rev. William (1628-1702). Son of William Bagshawe (1598-1669) and his wife Jane, daughter of Ralph Oldfield of Litton (Derbys), born at Litton, 17 January, and baptised at Tideswell, 19 January 1627/8. Educated privately and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (BA 1646). Ordained 1 January 1650/1. Vicar of Glossop, 1651-62 (deprived for nonconformity); subsequently operated as a nonconformist preacher and minister in the Peak District area of Derbyshire, at first covertly but from 1672 more openly, earning the soubriquet 'The Apostle of the Peak'; he also held regular services in his house at Ford Hall, and published many works of practical divinity, including The water of life; Rules for our daily walk; The ready way to prevent sin (1671); The miners' monitor (1675); The sinner in sorrow; The riches of grace (1674-85); Trading spiritualized (1694-96); De spiritualibus pecci (1702) and Union to Christ (1703). He married, 16 June 1650, Anne (d. 1701), daughter of Peter Barker of Darley Dale (Derbys), and had issue:
(1) John Bagshawe (1654-61), born 8 January 1653/4; died young and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 25 May 1661;
(2) Samuel Bagshawe (1656?-1706) (q.v.).
He was given Ford Hall at Chapel-en-le-Frith by his father in 1662.
He died 1 April and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 5 April 1702; his will was proved 27 April 1702 (effects £268, of which his library accounted for more than half). His wife died 11 November and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 14 November 1701.

Bagshawe, Samuel (1656?-1706). Only surviving son of Rev. William Bagshawe (1628-1702) of Ford Hall (Derbys) and his wife Ann, daughter of Peter Barker of Darley Dale (Derbys), probably born at Glossop, 31 December 1656. JP for Derbyshire; Churchwarden of Chapel-en-le-Frith, 1696-97. Described by a local nonconformist minister as 'a good scholar and a true Christian'. He married, 30 April 1685 at Sheffield, Sarah (1662-1703), daughter and co-heiress of Samuel Child of Holmes Hall, nr. Leeds (Yorks WR), and had issue including:
(1) William Bagshawe (1686-1756) (q.v.);
(2) An unnamed child (b. & d. 1688), born 7 June 1688; died and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, the same day;
(3) Samuel Bagshawe (1689-1712) (q.v.);
(4) John Bagshawe (1695-1711), baptised at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 31 March 1695; educated at Ashton-under-Lyne (Lancs) and intended for the nonconformist ministry, but died young while at school, 10 October 1711;
(5) Robert Bagshawe (b. 1696), baptised at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 8 March 1695/6; probably died young
(6) Nathaniel Bagshawe (1697-1764), born at Ford, 30 January 1696/7 and baptised the following day; 'a very merry, good-natured man'; married Sarah (d. 1748) and had issue two sons and three daughters; was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 1 April 1764;
(7) Septimus Bagshawe (1701-c.1739), baptised at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 25 May 1701; emigrated to Kingston (Jamaica) where he was a JP and probably acquired a plantation, but he suffered great losses from Spanish attacks and dissuaded his brother Nathaniel from emigrating on that account; living in September 1738 but probably died soon afterwards.
He inherited Ford Hall from his father in 1702. He inherited in right of his wife a moiety of the Holmes Hall estate, which was sold in 1694.
He died at Ford Hall, 9 December and was buried in the chancel at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 11 December 1706; his will was proved at Lichfield, 1706. His wife was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 29 April 1703.

Bagshawe, William (1686-1756). Eldest son of Samuel Bagshawe (1656-1706) and his wife Sarah, daughter and heiress of Samuel Child of Holmes Hall, nr. Leeds (Yorks WR), baptised 4 May 1686. JP and DL for Derbyshire. He was a Whig in politics and a Presbyterian in religion, and supported a number of nonconformist ministers at different times, including one who acted as his secretary. He had a somewhat hasty temper (as appears by his correspondence with his nephew), and had often to be calmed down by his friends and advisers. He married, 26 October 1727 at Whittington (Derbys), Mary (1682-1754), daughter and heiress of John Wingfield of Hazleborough Hall and Norton House (Derbys), but had no issue.
He inherited Ford Hall from his father in 1706, rebuilt the south-west block of the house, reputedly in 1727, and laid out the deer park and gardens. At his death it passed to his nephew, Col. Samuel Bagshawe.
He died 26 November and was buried in the chancel at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 1 December 1756; his will was proved 30 August 1757. His wife died 15 January, and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 19 January 1754; her will was proved 30 March 1758.

Bagshawe, Samuel (1689-1712). Second son of Samuel Bagshawe (1656-1706) and his wife Sarah, daughter and heiress of Samuel Child of Holmes Hall, nr. Leeds (Yorks WR), baptised 1 January 1689/90. He engaged in some shipping ventures, which turned out disastrously, and lost most of his personal estate as well as a similar sum lent him by his elder brother. He was described as "as a very sensible, serious young man, public-spirited, active for God". He married, 1 May 1711 at Bromborough (Cheshire), Frances (c.1684-1719), daughter of John Hardwarr of Bromborough Court (Cheshire), and had issue:
(1) Frances Bagshawe (1712-84), born about May 1712; married 1st, 15 September 1733 (sep. 1746) at St Bride, Fleet St., London, Stephen Peters (1708-49), and 2nd, 14 December 1755 at Hereford, Arnold Barroll (b. 1705); died without issue, early 1784; will proved 25 March 1784;
(2) Col. Samuel Bagshawe (1713-62) (q.v.).
He died 16 September 1712; his widow was granted administration of his goods, 10 February 1712/3. His widow was buried at Holy Trinity, Chester, 13 March 1719/20.

Bagshawe, Col. Samuel (1713-62). Only child of Samuel Bagshawe (1689-1712) and his wife Frances, daughter of John Hardwarr of Bromborough Court (Cheshire), born posthumously at Bromborough, May 1713. After the death of his mother in 1719/20, he was brought up by his uncle, William Bagshawe (d. 1756) of Ford Hall, who sent him to school at Knutsford (Cheshire), and then to study with a Mr. Ingram at Wakefield. In 1731 he and a companion ran away from Mr Ingram's establishment to join General Anstruther's Regiment of Foot, then stationed in Gibraltar, as a private soldier; he soon regretted this decision and appealed to his relatives to obtain his discharge, which they finally achieved in 1738, by which time his qualities and application had secured his advancement to Quartermaster Sergeant. In 1740 he returned to the Army with his uncle's blessing, as an officer in a regiment in Ireland (Ensign, 1740; Lt., 1741; Capt., 1742; Maj., 1746; Lt-Col., 1749; Col., 1760; his promotion to Maj-Gen. was pending at the time of his death); seconded to household of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as Gentleman-at-Large, 1741-42; he lost a leg at the siege of L'Orient (France), 1746, and in India, where he was Second in Command of British forces under General Adlercron, the climate 'shattered his constitution' and he lost the sight in one eye; in 1760, when French invasion of Ireland was threatened, and he had despaired of promotion to command of a regiment, he volunteered to raise one (the 93rd) at his own expense, an offer which the Government accepted. MP for Tallow (Co. Waterford) in the Irish Parliament, 1761-62. JP (from 1761) and DL for Derbyshire. He married, 25 March 1751 at Castle Caldwell, Catherine (c.1730-1801), daughter of Sir John Caldwell, kt., of Castle Caldwell (Co. Fermanagh), and had issue:
(1) William Bagshawe (1752-55), born at Bandon (Co. Cork), 30 November, and baptised there about 15 December 1752; died at Manchester, and was buried at St. Ann, Manchester, 17 April 1755;
(2) Samuel Bagshawe (1753-1804) (q.v.);
(3) John Bagshawe (1758-1801) [for whom see my next post on the Bagshawe family of Wormhill and Oakes];
(4) Anne Bagshawe (1760-1811), born in Dublin and baptised at St Mary, Dublin, 7 May 1760; educated at Dublin, Clapham (Surrey) and Brussels (Belgium); married, 3 December 1799 in London, Michael Newton (d. 1803) of Culverthorpe (Lincs) and Barr's Court (Glos), MP for Beverley; died at her house in London, 19 June, and was buried with her husband at St James, Hampstead, 26 June 1811; by her will she left between £30,000 and £40,000 for charitable purposes;
(5) Richard Bagshawe (1761-64), born about 20 September and baptised 13 October 1761; died young and was buried at St Anne, Manchester, 8 September 1764;
(6) Rev. William Bagshawe (1763-1847) (q.v.).
He lived in England, Ireland and India, as his regimental postings directed, until he inherited Ford Hall from his uncle, William Bagshawe, in 1756. He instituted repairs at Ford in 1760.
He died at Reading, 16 August, and was buried there, 20 August 1762, but his body was later removed to Chapel-en-le-Frith; his will was proved in the PCC, 12 January 1763. His widow died in London, 19 July 1801, and was buried at St James, Hampstead, 25 July 1801.

Bagshawe, Samuel (1753-1804). Eldest surviving son of Col. Samuel Bagshawe (1713-62) and his wife Catherine, daughter of Sir John Caldwell, kt., of Castle Caldwell (Co. Fermanagh), born at Cork, 28 December 1753, and baptised there, January 1754. Educated at several different schools, including Repton (from which he ran away), an academy at Brunswick (Germany), Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1774) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1775). DL for Derbyshire (from 1781), but he was never a justice of the peace. As a young man, he developed a taste for gambling and luxurious living, which meant he was constantly in debt; and after he came of age he was obliged to sell part of his landed property and the pictures from Ford Hall. He married, 21 August 1787, Catherine (d. 1828), daughter of John Inkster of London, but had no issue.
He inherited Ford Hall from his father in 1762 and came of age in 1774. He abandoned the house from about 1783-95, and pulled down part of it, while the rest became derelict. At his death it passed to his widow, and then in 1828 to his brother, Rev. William Bagshawe.
He died at Ford Hall, 16 May 1804, and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, where he was commemorated by a large monument which had, however, disintegrated by the late 19th century. His widow died 10 April and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 17 April 1828; her will was proved at Lichfield, 16 July 1828.

Rev. William Bagshawe
(1763-1847)

Bagshawe, Rev. William (1763-1847). Youngest son of Col. Samuel Bagshawe (1713-62) and his wife Catherine, daughter of Sir John Caldwell, kt., of Castle Caldwell (Co. Fermanagh), born 6 January and baptised at Chapel-en-le-Field, 17 January 1763. Educated at Repton, Manchester Grammar School (head boy) and Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated, 1783; BA 1787; MA 1790). Ordained deacon, 1789 and priest, 1790. Vicar of Chapel-en-le-Frith, 1790-92, Wormhill (Derbys), 1791-1842, Buckminster (where he built a new vicarage in 1815) and Sewstern (Leics), 1801-23, Barlow (Derbys), 1808-17, and Garthorpe (Leics), 1813-23; priest-in-charge of Isleworth (Middx), 1794-95; chaplain to the Duke of Devonshire at Buxton, 1795-98. Author of On Man: His Motives, their Rise, Operation, Opposition and Results, 1833. In the 1830s and 1840s he built schools and almshouses at Chapel-en-le-Frith and Barkstone (Leics). He married, 12 November 1798 at Staveley, Anne (1768-1844), daughter of Samuel Foxlowe of Staveley Hall (Derbys), sister and heiress of Lt-Gen. William Foxlowe (later Murray), and widow of Dr. Arthur Bedford (d. 1797), eldest son of John Bedford of Fairlawn House (Middx), and had issue:
(1) William Bagshawe (1802-18), born 15 December 1802 and baptised at Dronfield, 12 April 1803; died young, 9 November 1818;
(2) Mary Catherine Anne Bagshawe (1809-78) (q.v.).
He lived at Dronfield from the time of his marriage until 1807; he then leased Netherthorpe near Staveley until 1815, when he moved to the new parsonage at Buckminster. He inherited Banner Cross Hall in right of his wife on the death of Lt-Gen. Murray in 1818. Banner Cross Hall was being rebuilt to the designs of Jeffry Wyatt when he inherited it, and he completed these works and subsequently built a new service wing before moving in about 1823. He inherited Ford Hall from his elder brother's widow in 1828, and subsequently divided his time between Banner Cross and Ford Hall, which he remodelled in 1837-38.
He died 11 November and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 18 November 1847, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved 21 February 1848. His wife died 5 November 1844.

Bagshawe, Mary Catherine Anne (1809-78). Only surviving child of Rev. William Bagshawe (1763-1847) and his wife Anne, daughter of Samuel Foxlowe of Staveley Hall (Derbys) and widow of Dr. Arthur Bedford, born at Netherthorpe, 2 April and baptised at Staveley, 9 September 1809. She married, 24 September 1829 at Chapel-en-le-Frith, Henry Marwood Greaves JP, DL (1793-1859) of Hesley Hall (Notts), third son of Lt-Col. George Bustard Greaves DL of Page Hall and Elmsall Lodge (Yorks), and had issue:
(1) William Henry Greaves-Bagshawe (1831-1913) (q.v.);
(2) Ellen Elizabeth Greaves (1836-99), born 18 November 1836 and baptised at Harworth, 27 April 1837; married, 23 April 1867 at Chapel-en-le-Frith, as his second wife, Maj. Charles Yelverton Balguy (1827-1900) of 42nd Royal Highlanders and had issue one daughter; died 29 December 1899 and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 3 January 1900;
(3) Francis Edward Greaves (1840-1908) of The Eaves (Derbys) and later of Plashett House, Ringmer (Sussex), born 23 May and baptised at Harworth (Notts), 1 December 1840; educated at Sheffield and Trinity College, Cambridge (admitted 1859); an officer in the Derbyshire Rifle Volunteers (Capt., 1866) and West Yorkshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt., 1869); JP for Derbyshire (from 1867); married, 11 December 1872 at Chapel-en-le-Frith, Emma (1848-1926), daughter of Thomas Storer Partington of Blackbrook (Derbys) and had issue three sons and five daughters; died 19 February 1908; will proved 16 June 1908 (estate £16,676).
Her husband inherited Hesley Hall (Notts) from his father in 1835, but exchanged it with his brother for property at Birchett, Stubley, Hill Top, Cowley and Dronfield in Derbyshire. She and her husband inherited Ford Hall and Banner Cross Hall on the death of her father in 1847. Her husband suffered heavy financial losses from unwise investments in the mining industry, and left the estate considerably embarrassed. After his death, she let Banner Cross Hall and lived mainly at Ford Hall.
She died 10 July and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 16 July 1878; her will was proved 23 August 1878 (effects under £4,000). Her husband died intestate, 10 March and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 16 March 1859.

Greaves-Bagshawe, William Henry (1831-1913). Elder son of Henry Marwood Greaves JP DL (1793-1859) of Hesley Hall (Notts), Banner Cross Hall and Ford Hall, and his wife Mary Catherine Anne, daughter of Rev. William Bagshawe, born at Hesley Hall (Notts), 13 August 1831 and baptised at Harworth (Notts), 5 April 1832. Educated privately and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He took the name Bagshawe by royal licence, 1853 and 1879. JP (from 1861) and DL for Derbyshire; High Sheriff of Derbyshire, 1895-96. He was a keen archaeologist and antiquarian, being elected a member of the Royal Archaeological Institute, 1853, and was author of The Bagshawes of Ford (1886). He was also active in church affairs as a vocal opponent of Roman Catholicism, and published excerpts from a manuscript of the 17th century 'Apostle of the Peak' as Seven serious charges against Popery (1869); he was churchwarden of Chapel-en-le-Frith for eleven years and also a supporter of local protestant nonconformist chapels. President of the Chapel-en-le-Frith Agricultural Society, 1872-85; President of the Chapel-en-le-Frith Savings Bank; and a Guardian of the Sheffield Assay Office. He married, 24 September 1856 at Abergele (Denbighs.), Martha (1829-1925), daughter of James Bowmer of Llancayo House (Monmouths) and Draycott (Derbys), and had issue:
(1) Mary Catherine Murray Greaves-Bagshawe (1857-1936), born at Ford Hall, Jul-Sep 1857 and baptised at Ecclesall; married, 7 December 1887, Edward Renshaw (d. 1908) of Woodlands (Cheshire), son of Henry Constantine Renshaw of Bank Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 5 August 1936; will proved 23 October 1936 (estate £24,860);
(2) Frances Alice Devereux Greaves-Bagshawe (1860-1920) (q.v.);
(3) William Murray Caldwell Greaves-Bagshawe (1864-1901), born 19 October 1864 and baptised at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 16 January 1865; educated at Market Rasen (Lincs) and Trinity College, Cambridge; JP and DL for Derbyshire; an officer in Derbyshire Yeomanry (Lt.), who served in the Boer War; married 1st, 23 August 1888 at Rusholme (Lancs), Marie Louise (c.1865-91), only child of J.G. Silkenstadt of Rose Bank, Didsbury (Lancs) and 2nd, 25 July 1894 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Lilian Florence (b. 1868) (who m2, 8 December 1904 in Bombay (India), Lt-Col. Oliver Carleton Armstrong DSO (1859-1932), son of Maj. W.C. Armstrong, and had issue), daughter of Edward Madoc-Jones of Glentworth, Oswestry (Shropshire), but had no issue; died in the lifetime of his father when he was drowned off the coast of Madagascar while returning from the Boer War, 20 May 1901; will proved 13 May 1902 (estate £2,060).
He inherited Ford Hall and Banner Cross Hall from his mother in 1878 but was already resident at Ford Hall before that. At his death both estates passed to his younger daughter and her husband.
He died 12 July and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 16 July 1913; his will was proved 25 August 1913 (estate £28,378). His widow died 19 June 1925, aged 95; her will was proved 8 April 1926 (estate £2,156).

Greaves-Bagshawe, Frances Alice Devereux (1860-1920). Younger daughter of William Henry Greaves-Bagshawe (1831-1913) of Ford Hall and Banner Cross Hall, and his wife Martha, daughter of James Bowmer of Lancayo House (Monmouths) and Draycott (Derbys), born at Ford Hall, 23 May and baptised at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 13 September 1860. She and her husband took the name Carver-Bagshawe by royal licence, 12 March 1914, but her husband later dropped the Carver. She married, 14 July 1886 at Chapel-en-le-Frith, Ernest Carver DL JP (1860-1936), cotton spinner and manufacturer, High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1930, son of Thomas Carver JP of The Hollins, Marple (Cheshire), and had issue:
(1) twin, Dorothy Bagshawe Carver (1887-1944), born 14 June 1887; married 1st, 12 April 1913 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx) (annulled 1930), Cdr. Hugh Beaumont Robinson DSO RN (1884-1968) and 2nd, 14 July 1930, as his second wife, Maj. Frank Hope Mackenzie Savile (1865-1950), but had no issue; died 20 March 1944; will proved 16 August 1944 (estate £24,271);
(2) twin, Lillian Robertson Bagshawe Carver (b. 1887), born 14 June 1887; married, 10 June 1914 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Rev. Maj. Charles Horace Malden RM (d. 1937), vicar of Clavering (Essex), son of Charles Malden, recorder of Thetford, and had issue one son and one daughter; her date of death is unknown;
(3) Geoffrey Hamilton Bagshawe Carver (1889-1915), born 24 June 1889; educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford; served with 1st Royal Dragoons (2nd Lt.), 1910-13 and 1914-15; farmer in Rhodesia, 1913-14; he was unmarried when he was killed in action at Hooge (Belgium), 13 May 1915;
(4) Francis Ernest Gisborne Bagshawe Carver (1893-1985) (q.v.).
She and her husband lived at Poise House, Hazel Grove until 1913. They inherited Ford Hall and Banner Cross Hall from her father in 1913. After her death he remodelled Ford Hall to the designs of Sir Percy Worthington. He sold Banner Cross Hall in 1932.
She died 16 June and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 19 June 1920; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 14 August 1920 (estate £5,397). Her husband died 19 September and was buried at Chapel-en-le-Frith, 24 September 1936; his will was proved 12 December 1936 (estate £120,004).

Bagshawe, Francis Ernest Gisborne (1893-1985). Only surviving son of Ernest Carver (later Bagshawe) (1860-1936) and his wife Frances Alice Devereux, daughter of William Henry Greaves-Bagshawe of Ford Hall and Banner Cross Hall, born 19 September 1893. Educated at Harrow and Hertford College, Oxford. He served in the First World War with the Honourable Artillery Co., 1914-15, Lanarkshire Yeomanry, 1915-16 (Lt., 1915), Imperial Camel Corps, 1916-17 (Lt.) and Royal Tank Regiment, 1917-19 (Capt., 1918) and with the Royal Armoured Corps (Maj.) in the Second World War, 1939-42. JP (from 1944) and DL (from 1953) for Derbyshire; High Sheriff of Derbyshire, 1946; President of Hope Valley Sheep Dog Trials Association. He married, 27 April 1922 at Leek Wootton (Warks), Albinia Marian Dolben (1900-87), eldest daughter of Capt. Gilbert Dolben Paul of Theale (Berks), and had issue:
(1) Geoffrey Murray Bagshawe (1923-76), born 9 February 1923; educated at Stowe School; an officer in Royal Artillery, 1942-46; married, 22 August 1958, Barbara Alice (1916-78), daughter of Rev. C. Watson and formerly wife of Norman A.C. Smillie, but had no issue; died 19 October 1976; will proved 18 April 1977 (estate £16,622);
(2) Michael Christopher Bagshawe (b. 1926), born 27 May 1926; educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge; an officer in the Derbyshire Yeomanry (Maj.); land agent; director of Harrowby estates, Sandon (Staffs), 2010-14; married, 23 June 1951, Patricia Jane (b. 1929), eldest daughter of Col. Sir  John Crompton-Inglefield of Parwich Hall (Staffs/Derbys) and had issue one son and one daughter; now living;
(3) Patrick Philip Bagshawe (1928-2005) of Church Farm, Whelford (Glos), born 17 January 1928; educated at Stowe School; an officer in 8th Hussars (Lt.) and Royal Armoured Corps (2nd Lt.); served in Korea, 1950-51; married, 11 April 1953, Sarah Anne (1933-2016), only daughter of Rupert Sydney Gilbey of Crudwell Court (Wilts) and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 25 June 2005; will proved 9 December 2005.
He occupied Snitterton Hall (Derbys) from 1928, purchased the freehold in 1930, and lived there until he inherited Ford Hall from his father in 1936. Ford Hall was sold in 1957 and divided into several units, and he then returned to Snitterton Hall, where he lived until his death; it was sold after the death of his widow in 1986. 
He died 2 April 1985, aged 91; his will was proved 24 July 1985 (estate £157,248). His widow died 4 November 1986; her will was proved 7 April 1987 (estate £22,629).

Sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1965, pp. 29-32; W.H. Greaves-Bagshawe, The Bagshawes of Ford, 1886; W.J. Andrew & Ernest Gunson, 'Ford Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Banner Cross, near Sheffield', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, vol. 31, 1909, pp. 139-66; Derek Linstrum, Sir Jeffry Wyatville, 1972, pp. 129-31, 229; M. Craven & M. Stanley, The Derbyshire country house, 2001, p. 273; C. Hartwell, Sir N. Pevsner & E. Williamson, The buildings of England: Derbyshire, 3rd edn., 2016, p. 231; R. Harman & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Yorkshire, West Riding - Sheffield and the south, 2017, p. 607.

Location of archives

Bagshawe of Ford Hall and Banner Cross Hall: deeds, estate and family papers, 15th-19th cents. [John Rylands University Library, Manchester, BAG]; deeds, 17th cent. [Derbyshire Record Office, D7126]

Coat of arms

Or, a bugle-horn sable between three roses gules.

Can you help?

Here are a few notes about information and images which would help to improve the account above. If you can help with any of these or with other additions or corrections, please use the contact form in the sidebar to get in touch. Can anyone:

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Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 27 December 2017.

(313) Bagot of Levens Hall, baronets

Bagot of Levens Hall

The family considered here is a cadet branch of the Bagots of Blithfield, Barons Bagot, considered in my last post. It begins with the Hon. Sir Charles Bagot (1781-1843), kt., fourth son of the 1st Baron Bagot. A 'very handsome and lively' young man with 'a very good understanding', he had been a friend of George Canning and his circle at Oxford, and probably at Canning's suggestion, he entered Parliament in March 1807 as Tory MP for Castle Rising, a rotten borough in the gift of his uncle, Richard Howard. A few months later, a vacancy arose in the Foreign Office as Canning's Under-Secretary, and despite his lack of experience and French he was appointed. Owing to the ‘daily and constant’ devotion to business required by his office, Canning advised him to give up his seat in Parliament, which he did in January 1808, but in 1809 he resigned from office with Canning. In 1806 he had married Mary Wellesley-Pole, a niece of the future Duke of Wellington, and it was Wellington's intervention that secured him diplomatic posts in France in 1814 and America, 1815-19. By the time of his return from Washington he had established himself as a diplomat on his own merits, and he was knighted in 1820 and subsequently served in several of the European capitals. When Canning became Prime Minister in 1827 he proposed to send Sir Charles to Bengal as Governor-General (a post which his wife's uncle, Lord Mornington, had held), but Bagot turned down the offer in 1828. He was recalled from the Hague by Lord Grey's Whig Government in 1831 and was not sent abroad again until the Tories returned to power in 1841, when he was made Governor-General of Canada; he died shortly after resigning from office in 1843.

Sir Charles and his wife seem never to have had a country house in England, perhaps because they were abroad so much and needed to be in London when at home, and perhaps also because they could stay with Sir Charles' brother at Blithfield when they so wished. Sir Charles' eldest son, Charles Bagot (1808-81), was a career soldier in the early part of his career and from 1858 was tied to the royal court as Assistant Master of Ceremonies to Queen Victoria; service for which he is reputed to have declined a peerage. He too, therefore, lived in London. Charles' younger brothers, George Talbot Bagot (1820-1907) and Col. Alexander Bagot (1822-74) both lived abroad for much of their lives.

Col. Charles Bagot's eldest son, Josceline Fitzroy Bagot (1854-1913), was a young officer in the Grenadier Guards, acting as aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of Canada, when he inherited the Levens Hall estate in 1883. His benefactor was Mary Howard (1785-1877), who inherited the Ashtead Park, Castle Rising, Elford Hall and Levens Hall estates - together some 14,900 acres - and at her death bequeathed them to four different distant male relatives who were not likely to inherit other estates. The Levens estate passed first to her nephew, Gen. the Hon. Arthur Upton (d. 1883), who had looked after the property for her for many years, and then on his death without issue, to Josceline Bagot, who was Mary Howard's first cousin twice removed. Josceline returned to England to take up his inheritance and in 1885 retired from the army. After a further short spell in Canada in his old post in 1888-89, he entered Parliament and was MP for South Westmorland (later Kendal) from 1892-1906 and 1910-13, and a member of the Government from 1897-1900, although for part of this time he was in South Africa, acting as chief press censor during the Boer War. At the beginning of 1913, it was announced that he was to be made a baronet, but he died on 1 March that year, before his patent could pass the great seal, and the honour was therefore conferred on his only son, Sir Alan Desmond Bagot (1896-1920), 1st bt. To modern eyes, distanced by half a century from the routine award of hereditary honours, this looks faintly bizarre, but there are comparable instances from the early 20th century. It is also worth noting that according to Josceline's brother Richard, in a speech at a public meeting reported verbatim in the Yorkshire Post, the baronetcy was not a political award by the Government of the day (which was Liberal) but a personal award by King Edward VII, and recognised not just Josceline's parliamentary service but also the service of his father at Court. The intention was to honour the family's public service by enhancing their status in the stable hierarchy of the landed gentry and aristocracy. On the eve of the First World War, it was perhaps the last moment at which such a gesture could have been made as a matter of course.

Sadly, Sir Alan Bagot was not destined to found a dynasty of baronets at Levens Hall, for he died unmarried of double pneumonia in January 1920; the baronetcy died with him. Levens passed to his uncle, Richard Bagot (1860-1921), a popular Italophile author and Roman Catholic convert, whose main home had been in Italy since the 1890s; and when he died the following year, to Sir Alan's nephew, (Oliver) Robin Gaskell (1914-2000), the second son of his sister Dolly and her husband, Henry Melville Gaskell of Kiddington Hall (Oxon). Robin Gaskell took the name Bagot in 1936 on coming of age, and took possession of the hall (which had been let during his minority) in 1946. He began the process of restoration which has been continued by his son, Hal Bagot (b. 1946), who took over the house in 1975, and his grandson, Richard Bagot (b. 1981), to whom it was handed on in 2014. Remarkably, this is the first time the house has passed in orderly succession from father to son through three generations since it was bought by Col. James Graham in 1689.

Levens Hall, Westmorland (now Cumbria)

There has been a house on the site of Levens Hall in Westmorland (now Cumbria) since at least the mid 14th century, but the house as it exists today is essentially the creation of three later owners: James Bellingham (1560-1641), who largely rebuilt the main block and created the principal interiors; Col. James Graham (c.1650-1730), who bought Levens in 1689, built the south range and laid out the gardens over the next two decades; and Col. the Hon. Fulke Greville Howard, whose wife Mary inherited the estate in 1818, and who made many tactful improvements to heighten the authentic Jacobean character of the house. The overlays of each successive period make it a complex house to unpick, and there are some remaining mysteries about its development.

Levens Hall: aerial view of the house and gardens, 2015

The medieval house still dictates the basic ground plan of a hall with two cross-wings, the eastern of which has a vaulted undercroft and was probably originally a tower-wing. It is also clear that the 14th century hall had the normal medieval arrangement, with entry via a screens passage across the lower end, service accommodation beyond the screens passage, and family rooms in the eastern cross-wing.

Sir Alan Bellingham purchased Levens Hall in 1562, but not until 1580 did his son, James, gain vacant possession. James came of age in 1581 and was married by 1584, and work was in progress on remodelling the medieval house by 1586 (the date on the dining room chimneypiece). The process of fitting out the house continued over decades, as the drawing room chimneypiece is dated 1595 and some of the pretty leaded glazing in the windows is taken from patterns in a book published as late as 1615.

Levens Hall: the north front in the early 20th century.

The tall main block of the house faces north across an entrance court, and was originally lime plastered and whitewashed. The north front has a big embattled tower built in front of the lower end of the hall, with one gabled bay to its right and two to its left. The tower is in the right position to have been a porch-cum-staircase tower, such as is found in several houses in nearby north Lancashire. But although it contains a spiral staircase (which changes direction part way up), there is little sign of there ever having been a main entrance into the tower, either at ground level or at the level of the present hall. The gable immediately to the left of the tower is partly supported on a massive timber beam above a dark recess. This is an awkward and unattractive arrangement and one wonders why and when it was contrived. There is little sign of disturbance in the masonry to suggest alterations, but could the bay to the left of the entrance originally have had a narrower gable like those on the east front?

Levens Hall: the hall c.1930.

The present main entrance is now set into the recess below the gable, with a doorcase and flight of steps leading to it of c.1690. Was this an arrangement newly contrived in the 1690s, and if so, where was the original main entrance? One reason for thinking that the main entrance may not always have been in the present location is that it brings one into the middle of the hall, which would be an extremely advanced conception for the 1580s in this remote corner of England. But this can never have been a traditionally arranged hall, since there are reception rooms at both ends of the hall and the service accommodation was always in the basement. So I am inclined to think that the hall entrance was always in its present position. The hall itself is a magnificent room, with late 16th century panelling, a plaster ceiling with interlocked quatrefoils, and a deep plaster frieze divided into bays by short pilasters. The decoration is primarily heraldic: the royal arms of Queen Elizabeth over the fireplace, the various quarterings of the Bellingham arms around the frieze, and the arms of the family's connections and alliances celebrated in the painted glass in the windows.

Levens Hall: plan of principal floor published in 1936. The work labelled as 'modern' dates from c.1820!

Levens Hall: the east front and Howard tower in 2007. Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved

Levens Hall: Joseph Nash's engraving of the drawing room, c.1840.

The other show front of the house is to the east, overlooking the late 17th century topiary garden. Here two boldly projecting gabled full-height bay windows give movement to the facade. That on the right is canted and lights the main drawing room, while the one on the left is square and houses a small closet, now known as the Writing Room, off the small drawing room. The larger drawing room, presumably the original Great Chamber, has a ceiling of boldly modelled interlacing ribs with little pendants, and a very grand chimneypiece dated 1595, with tiers of Ionic and Corinthian colonettes in the overmantel and fluted pilasters to either side of the fireplace opening. The small drawing room has a simpler ceiling but an even richer overmantel, with carved scenes depicting the Four Elements and the Four Seasons, surrounded by figures emblematic of the senses and flanked by Samson and Hercules. Anthony Wells-Cole has suggested that this belongs to a group of overmantels carved by a Newcastle workshop in the early 17th century.

Levens Hall: small drawing room chimneypiece, c.1930.

After Col. Graham bought the Levens estate in 1689 a new phase of building began, with the addition of the L-shaped south wing, which was built by Henry Cuthbertson and John Milburne, a mason and joiner from the North Riding of Yorkshire. The wing connected the main block of the house to the 16th century brewhouse, and provided service accommodation on the ground floor and bedrooms above. The addition of this range was followed swiftly by the rebuilding of the main staircase on the south side of the hall in 1717. This has three rather heavy balusters to each tread, and early 18th century panelling and stamped leather on the walls. Next to it is the back staircase, with chunky turned balusters and a continuous string.

Levens Hall: plan of the gardens published in 1936.

Levens Hall: the topiary garden in Edwardian days, from an old postcard.

Col. Graham's other major contribution to the house was to layout the garden. In the 1680s, Graham had been Keeper of the Privy Purse to King James II, who employed Guillaume Beaumont at Hampton Court. Graham brought Beaumont to Levens, where work began in 1692 with diverting the line of the road and building the boundary walls. Walks and borders were laid out in 1694, and planting was in progress in 1697. A decorative lead cistern has the date 1704. East of the house is an intricate topiary garden with fantastic shapes cut in topiary, while to the south there is a long beech-walk with a rond-point and cross-rides. A surviving plan of the grounds from 1750 shows that the layout was originally a little more intricate than today. Much of the detail was probably lost in the later 18th century, when this style of gardening was deeply out of fashion, but the essence of the layout survived to be restored by the Howards in the early 19th century. It has been pointed out that although great claims have been made for the venerability of the yews in the garden at Levens, few if any of them correspond with the placing of the topiary works marked on the 1750 plan. The park across the road to the east is said also to have been landscaped by Beaumont, after a severe storm in 1701, but in its present form appears to have a late 18th or early 19th century form.

In 1849, J.P. Mannex recorded that 'Though the house is no way altered from its original form, great improvements were made in every part by the late Hon. Fulke Greville Howard, he having found it in a state of dilapidation, and laid out many thousands in the purchase of valuable furniture according with the antiquity of the place, besides repairing the waste that time had made'. The Howards occupied Levens (though they also had other houses at Ashtead in Surrey, Elford in Staffordshire and Castle Rising in Norfolk) from the time of their marriage in 1807, although technically they only came into ownership of it when Mrs Howard's mother died in 1818. The work of restoration and enhancement of the Elizabethan interiors was in fact begun by Mary's father, Richard Howard, as early as 1805, when Francis Webster of Kendal was first instructed about alterations. The scale of work increased when Fulke and Mary took over in 1807. Their additions included building the so-called Howard Tower above the angle of the L-shaped south range, giving a picturesque, castellated air to this wing and thus making it more conformable to the main building. It contained a little boudoir from which fine views over the gardens could be obtained, and the modern conveniences of a bath and water closet. The tower was probably designed by Francis Webster before 1815, and was completed by 1822. It seems unlikely that the architect George Webster, who joined his father's firm in 1818, was involved early enough to have had a hand in the design.

Levens Hall: the smoking room (now library) fireplace, c.1930. This fireplace, and much of the Elizabethan panelling in the house, was created, improved and extended by Francis Webster and his firm between 1805 and 1840.

In the 1820s and 1830s, all the main bedrooms and dressing rooms at Levens were repanelled or hung with old leather, and received new plasterwork decoration in the Tudor style, which represented a serious attempt to match the old patterns. These ceilings were apparently executed by Taylor & Rushton of Lancaster, who were paid for '2 years plaistering' at Levens in 1830. The gilded leather hangings that were installed at this time are genuine late 17th century work, but mostly Dutch and probably imported in the 19th century. The panelling that was installed was also partly old work reused: the agent reported to Col. Howard in 1833 that the panelling accumulated for the Bishop's Room would be enough to also panel the room over the dining room. The improvements also extended to the main 17th century interiors: an extra window was inserted into the dining room in 1831 to make the room lighter, and the smoking room (now library) chimneypiece is a 19th century confection.

There have been few architectural additions to Levens Hall since 1820, but a major campaign of restoration since the Second World War, first under Robin Bagot (1914-2000) and since 1975 under his son, Hal Bagot (b. 1946) and grandson, Richard Bagot (b. 1981). The property has been regularly open to the public for many years, and growing numbers of visitors have led the family to create a new café and visitor facilities in 2016-17. These are discreetly sited away from the house and close to the car park, where the unsympathetic design by Mawson Kerr of Newcastle with glazed timber-framed walls and a spiky origami zinc roof can be mercifully ignored.

Descent: sold 1562 to Alan Bellingham (d. 1577); to son, James Bellingham (1560-1641); to son, Sir Henry Bellingham (c.1594-1650), 1st bt; to son, Sir James Bellingham (d. 1650), 2nd bt.; to kinsman, James Bellingham (d. 1680); to son, Alan Bellingham (1656-93), who placed his affairs in the hands of trustees in 1686; they sold 1689 to his kinsman, Col. James Graham (1649-1730); to daughter, Catherine (1694-1762), wife of Henry Bowes Howard (1686-1757), 11th Earl of Suffolk & 4th Earl of Berkshire; to grandson, Henry Howard (d. 1779), 12th Earl of Suffolk & 5th Earl of Berkshire; to son, Henry Howard (b. & d. 1779), 13th Earl of Suffolk & 6th Earl of Berkshire, who was born posthumously and died aged 2 days; to aunt, Frances (c.1768-1818), wife of Richard Bagot (later Howard) (1733-1819); to daughter, Mary (1785-1877), wife of Col. the Hon. Fulke Greville Upton (later Howard) (d. 1846); to nephew, Gen. the Hon. Arthur Upton (d. 1883); to kinsman, Josceline Fitzroy Bagot (1854-1913); to son, Sir Alan Desmond Bagot (1896-1920), 1st bt.; to nephew, Oliver Robin Gaskell (later Bagot) (1914-2000); given 1975 to son, Charles Henry (Hal) Bagot (b. 1946); given c.2015 to son, Richard Bagot (b. 1981).

Bagot family of Levens Hall

Sir Charles Bagot (1781-1843), kt.

Bagot, The Hon. & Rt. Hon. Sir Charles (1781-1843). Fourth son of Sir William Bagot, 6th bt. and 1st Baron Bagot, of Blithfield Hall (Staffs) and Pool Park (Denbighs.), and his wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Louisa, daughter of John St. John, 2nd Viscount St. John, born 23 September 1781. Educated at Rugby, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1797; BA 1801; MA 1804), where he was a close friend of Canning, and Lincolns Inn (admitted 1801 but did not proceed to the bar). MP for Castle Rising, 1807-08; Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs under George Canning, 1808-09; sent as Minister to France, 1814; Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America, 1815-19; HM Ambassador at St Petersburg, 1820-24 and The Hague, 1824-31; but after the Conservatives lost power was only head of a special embassy to Austria, 1835 until they regained it in 1841 and he was appointed Governor-General of Canada, 1841-43. He was sworn of the Privy Council, 1815 and knighted as GCB, 1820. He married, 22 July 1806 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Lady Mary Charlotte Anne (c.1785-1845), eldest daughter of William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington and a niece of the 1st Duke of Wellington, and had issue:
(1) Louisa Catherine Bagot (1807-24), born 25 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Square, London, 18 June 1807; died unmarried, 9 June and was buried at St Mary, Lewisham (Surrey), 12 June 1824;
(2) Col. Charles Bagot (1808-81) (q.v.);
(3) Emily Georgiana Bagot (1810-48), born 9 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 18 August 1810; married, 15 February 1837 at St George, Hanover Square, London, as his second wife, George William Finch-Hatton (1791-1858), 10th Earl of Winchilsea and 5th Earl of Nottingham, but had no issue; died at Haverholme Priory, 10 June 1848;
(4) Caroline Mary Bagot (1812-87), born 1 June and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 15 July 1812; married, 26 September 1849 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), John David MD (c.1817-84), youngest son of Edward David of Swansea (Glam.), and had issue one daughter; died in Cheltenham (Glos), 21 March 1887; will proved 22 June 1887 (effects £543);
(5) Arthur Barkley Bagot (1814-25), born 19 March and baptised at St Marylebone, 15 July 1814; died young at Ramsgate (Kent), 20 April 1825;
(6) Henrietta Maria Bagot (1815-44), born September and baptised at Blithfield, 8 October 1815; married, 27 August 1833, as his second wife, Henry Paget (1797-1869), 2nd Marquess of Anglesey, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 22 March 1844;
(7) Georgiana Augusta Bagot (1818-1851), born 2 September 1818 and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 13 May 1820; married, 21 September 1843 at St George, Hanover Square, London, as his second wife, Lt-Col. Frederick Alexander Mackenzie Fraser (1796-1848), second son of Lt-Gen. Mackenzie Fraser, but had no issue; died in Jersey, 23 June 1851;
(8) George Talbot Bagot (1820-1907), born 14 April and baptised at St. Marylebone (Middx), 13 May 1820; educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1838); married, 20 August 1885 at St Andrew, Clevedon (Somerset), Charlotte Margaret (c.1850-97), daughter of William Thomas Blair of the Indian Civil Service, but had no issue; lived latterly at Pau (France); died in Pau, 22 November 1907; administration of goods granted 15 September 1907 (estate £20,122);
(9) Col. Alexander Bagot (1822-74), born 10 June 1822; educated at Westminster and Charterhouse Schools; an officer in the Bengal Civil Service (Cadet, 1840; Lt., 1842; Capt. 1854; brevet Maj., 1854; brevet Lt-Col., 1862; Lt-Col. commanding 38th Native Infantry, 1865; brevet Col., 1871); freemason by 1844; married, 28 October 1852, Gertrude Letitia (1833-98), daughter of Brig-Gen. Robert Dampier Hallifax, and had issue three sons (one died young); died of accidental arsenic poisoning while on a tiger-shooting expedition at Bholan (India), 20 October 1874; will proved 30 April 1875 (effects under £10,000);
(10) Wilhelmina Frederica Bagot  (1826-52), born in the Netherlands, 11 March 1826; married, 17 November 1846 at Blithfield (Staffs), as his first wife, Admiral Henry Bagot RN and had issue one son; died 15 April 1852.
He lived in London when not abroad on diplomatic missions.
He died at Kingston, Ontario (Canada) a few weeks after relinquishing office, 19 May 1843; his body was returned to England and buried at Blithfield, 27 June 1843; his will was proved in the PCC, 26 July 1843. His widow died 2 February 1845.

Bagot, Col. Charles (1808-81). Eldest son of Hon. & Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Bagot (1781-1843) and his wife Lady Mary Charlotte Anne, eldest daughter of William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, born 20 May 1808 and baptised at St George, Hanover Square, London, 16 January 1809. A page of honour in the Royal Household, 1820-24; an officer in the Grenadier Guards (Ensign, 1824; Lt., 1825; Capt., 1828; Capt. & Lt-Col., 1840; retired 1851) and in 3rd battn., King's Own Staffordshire Militia (Lt-Col. commanding, 1853; Hon. Col., 1858); Assistant Master of Ceremonies to HM Queen Victoria, 1858-81. In 1913, his youngest son claimed that he had declined a peerage. He married, 7 July 1846 at Rickmansworth (Herts), Sophia Louisa (1822-1908), daughter of Vice-Adm. the Hon. Josceline Percy CB, and had issue:
(1) Alice Mary Bagot (1853-1922), born Jan-Mar 1853; lived in London; died unmarried, 22 November 1922; will proved 2 December 1922 (estate £32,421);
(2) Josceline Fitzroy Bagot (1854-1913) (q.v.);
(3) Alan Charles Bagot (1856-85), born at Elford, 1 June 1856; educated at Eton and Pembroke College, Cambridge (matriculated 1874; demonstrator); electrical engineer and inventor, working especially in the field of mine safety, with Messrs. Apps & Co. of London (retired due to ill health, 1884); a certificated mining engineer, a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, 1882, a Fellow of the Chemical Society and a Member of the Royal Society of Arts; twice presented with gold medals for saving life at the risk of his own; a conservator of the River Trent and hon. consulting engineer to that body; JP and DL (from 1879) for Staffordshire; died unmarried in Bournemouth (Hants) 'from consumption brought on by an accident in a Welsh mine in 1880 and by over-work and exposure in his profession', 22 April 1885; will proved 3 September 1885 (effects £7,463);

Richard Bagot 1860-1921

(4) Richard Bagot (1860-1921), born 8 November 1860; as a young man he lived briefly in Australia, but returned to Europe and became a novelist, essayist and man of letters, whose works were mostly set in or celebrated Italy; author of A Roman Mystery (1899); The just and the unjust (1901); Casting of nets (1901); Donna Diana (1902); Love's proxy (1904), The passport (1905); Temptation (1907); Anthony Cuthbert (1908); Lakes of Northern Italy (1908); The House of Serravalle (1910); My Italian Year (1911); Italians of today (1912); Darneley Place (1913) and The Gods decide (1919); he was credited with doing much through his works to improve Anglo-Italian relations and received an illuminated address from the Italian nation in 1917; he was also appointed Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy and Knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta; he was a prominent Roman Catholic convert and lived chiefly at his house near Pisa (Italy), where he was visited by the King & Queen of Italy in 1912; he succeeded his nephew, Sir Alan Bagot, in the Levens Hall estate, 1920, but died less than two years later at Levens, 11 December 1921; will proved 8 March 1922 (estate £16,234).
Col. Bagot lived mainly in London, but in 1871 was at Churchdale House, Rugeley (Staffs).
He died 20 February, and was buried at Elford (Staffs), 25 February 1881; his will was proved 6 April 1881 (effects under £6,000). His widow died 7 November 1908; her will was proved 28 November 1908 (estate £4,804).

Josceline Fitzroy Bagot
(1854-1913)

Bagot, Josceline Fitzroy (1854-1913). Eldest son of Col. Charles Bagot (1808-81) and his wife Sophia Louisa, daughter of Vice-Adm. the Hon. Josceline Percy CB, born 22 October 1854. Educated at Eton. An officer in the army from 1873 and in Grenadier Guards, 1875 (Lt., 1873; Capt., 1885; resigned 1885) and later in Westmorland & Cumberland Imperial Yeomanry (Lt., 1886; Maj. by 1890 and hon Lt-Col.); ADC to Governor General of Canada, 1882-83, 1888-89; served as chief press censor in South Africa during Boer War, 1899-1901 (mentioned in despatches). MP for South Westmorland, 1892-1906, 1910-13; Parliamentary Secretary to Treasury, 1897-98 and to Home Secretary, 1898-1900; JP and DL for Westmorland; County Councillor for Westmorland. The intention to confer a baronetcy upon him was announced in the New Years Honours List for 1901, but he died before effect could be given to this, and it was conferred instead upon his son; his widow was awarded the rank, style and precedence of a baronet's wife on 12 April 1913. According to his brother Richard, the baronetcy was created at the personal instance of King Edward VII, in recognition of both his parliamentary service and the service of his father at Court. He married, 11 June 1885 at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster (Middx), Theodosia (1865-1940) (who performed valuable volunteer work in the Boer War and First World War and was awarded the Royal Red Cross and two foreign orders; she was also appointed Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem), third daughter of Sir John Leslie, 1st bt., of Castle Leslie, Glaslough (Monaghan) and had issue:
(1) Dorothy Bagot (1886-1954) (q.v.);
(2) Marjorie Constance Bagot MBE (1888-1951), born 24 March 1888; married, 7 September 1910, Maj. James Winstanley Cropper DL (1879-1956) of Ellergreen, Burneside (Westmld), Lord Lieutenant of Westmorland, 1945-56, and had issue one son and six daughters; died 5 March 1951; will proved 16 June 1951 (estate £998);
(3) Mary Bagot (1889-1976), born 20 September 1889; married, 14 June 1910 at Heversham (Westmld.), Sir Vincent Strickland Jones (later Vincent-Jones) (1874-1967), kt., of Little Meadow, Beaconsfield (Bucks) and Grand Falls, Newfoundland (Canada), second son of Canon William Jones of Burneside (Westmld), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 16 October 1976; will proved 24 January 1977 (estate £8,943);
(4) Sir Alan Drummond Bagot (1896-1920), 1st bt. (q.v.).
He inherited the Levens Hall estate on the death of Gen. the Hon. Arthur Upton in 1883, under the will of his first cousin twice removed, Mary Howard (1785-1877). 
He died 1 March 1913 and was buried at Heversham; his will was proved 9 May 1913 (estate £14,055). Theodosia, the Dowager Lady Bagot, married 2nd, 3 June 1920, Rev. Sidney Bellingham Swann (1862-1942), rector of Kingston-by-Sea, Brighton (Sussex); she died 21 February 1940; her will was proved 24 February 1941 (estate £20,326).

Sir A.D. Bagot (1896-1920)

Bagot, Sir Alan Desmond (1896-1920), 1st bt. Only son of Josceline Fitzroy Bagot (1854-1913) of Levens Hall and his wife Theodosia, third daughter of Sir John Leslie, 1st bt., of Castle Leslie, Glaslough (Monaghan), born 20 February 1896. Educated at Eton and RMC Sandhurst. An officer in the Royal Horse Guards (Lt.); served in First World War, although a training ground accident prevented his joining his unit in the early part of the war. He was created a baronet, 19 April 1913. He was unmarried and without issue.
He inherited the Levens Hall estate from his father in 1913 and came of age in 1917. At his death it passed first to his uncle, Richard Bagot (1860-1921) and then to his nephew, Oliver Robin Gaskell, later Bagot (1914-2000).
He died of pneumonia at Nice (France), 11 January 1920, whereupon his baronetcy became extinct; he was buried at Heversham (Westmld.), 24 January 1920. His will was proved 23 April 1920 (estate £186,320).

Bagot, Dorothy (k/a Dolly) (1886-1974). Eldest daughter of Josceline Fitzroy Bagot (1854-1913) of Levens Hall and his wife Theodosia, third daughter of Sir John Leslie, 1st bt., of Castle Leslie, Glaslough (Monaghan), born 10 July 1886. She married, 9 May 1905 at Holy Trinity, Marylebone Rd., Westminster (Middx), Henry Melville Gaskell (1879-1954) of Kiddington Hall (Oxon), son of Capt. Henry Brooks Gaskell, and had issue:
(1) Thomas Josceline Gaskell (1906-82), born 1 March 1906; married, 5 November 1941 at St Stephen, South Kensington (Middx) (div.), Barbara (1913-98) (who m2, 22 July 1948 in Brussels (Belgium), Sir William Horace Montagu-Pollock (1903-93), kt., diplomat, son of Sir Montagu Frederick Montagu-Pollock, 3rd bt., and had further issue one son and one daughter), daughter of Peter Hague Jowett, and had issue one daughter (Josceline Rose Gaskell (b. 1943), author and cookery writer, who married, 1967 (div., 2000), the broadcaster David Dimbleby (b. 1938), and had issue one son and two daughters); died 12 July 1982; 
(2) Diana Helen Gaskell (1909-2000), born 10 July 1909; married 1st, 2 May 1933 (div.) at Kiddington, Gavin Robert Sligh (1910-82) (who m2, 5 July 1947 (div. 1962), the Hon. Margaret Bertha Ward (1914-2013), daughter of Maxwell Richard Crosbie Ward, 6th Viscount Bangor and formerly wife of Lt-Col. Desmond Charles Forde (1906-61); and m3, 1962, Barbara W. Stanhope) of Pednor House (Bucks), and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 1956, Arthur Taylor; died 17 April 2000;
(3) Oliver Robin Gaskell (later Bagot) (1914-2000) (q.v.).
Her husband inherited Kiddington Hall (Oxon) in 1907 but sold it in 1953.
She died in London, 5 May 1974; her will was proved 20 June 1974 (estate £29,400). Her husband died at Levens Hall, 21 October 1954; his will was proved 11 December 1954 (estate £93,859).

Robin Bagot (1914-2000)

Gaskell (later Bagot), Oliver Robin (1914-2000). Second son of Henry Melville Gaskell (1879-1954) of Kiddington Hall (Oxon) and his wife Dorothy, daughter of Josceline Fitzroy Bagot of Levens Hall (Westmld), born 10 December 1914. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. An officer in 4th battn, Border Regt. (Lt., 1936); served in Second World War (prisoner of war, 1940). JP (from 1948) and DL (form 1967) for Westmorland; High Sheriff of Westmorland, 1952. Member of Grasmere Sports Committee. He look the name of Bagot in lieu of Gaskell by royal licence in 1936. He married, 19 April 1938 at Leamington Spa (Warks), Annette Dorothy (d. 2003), only daughter of Cdr. Francis Reginald Stephens of Leamington, and had issue:
(1) Priscilla Bagot (b. 1939); artist; JP; married 1st, 17 September 1960 (div. 1964), Sir Edward Humphrey Tyrrell Wakefield, 2nd bt., of Chillingham Castle (Northbld), son of Sir Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, 1st bt.; married 2nd, 1967, Erik George Sebastian Smith (1931-2004), classical music producer, and had issue two daughters; now living;
(2) Charles Henry Bagot (b. 1946) (q.v.);
(3) Elizabeth Dorothy Bagot (b. 1947), born August 1947; Director of British Cattle Breeders Society, 2007-13; Devon County Agricultural Assoc., 2011-date and Devon Cattle Breeders Society, 1992-95, 2010-13, 2014-17; married, 30 September 1967 at Levens, Mark Roper (b. 1935), of Forde Abbey (Dorset), son of Geoffrey Desmond Roper of Forde Abbey, and had issue three daughters; now living;
(4) Lucinda Bagot (b. 1950), born Jul-Sept 1950; married, Apr-Jun 1969 (div. 1993), Michael Victor Sclater (b. 1945), writer and film director, and had issue one son and one daughter; now living.
He inherited Levens Hall from his great-uncle, Richard Bagot, in 1921, and came of age in 1935. He handed the house on to his son in 1975.
He died 29 January 2000; his will was proved 19 May 2000. His widow died 21 March 2003; her will was proved 30 July 2003.

Hal Bagot (b. 1946)

Bagot, Charles Henry (k/a Hal) (b. 1946). Only son of Oliver Robin Bagot (1914-2000) of Levens Hall, and his wife Annette Dorothy, daughter of Francis Reginald Stephens, born February 1946. Landowner, farmer and chartered surveyor (FRICS); JP and DL for Cumbria; President of Lancaster Canal Trust, 1998-2016; Vice-President of Cumbria Wildlife Trust; Trustee of South Cumbria Rivers Trust; steam engine collector and enthusiast. He married, 1975, Susan Elizabeth DL MBE (b. 1948), daughter of Ian Alexander Ross, and had issue:
(1) Jessica Mary Bagot (b. 1977), born Jul-Sept. 1977; married, July 2000, Christopher James Hattam (b. c.1968), teacher, son of Lionel Barrie Hattam, and had issue one daughter;
(2) Laura Elizabeth Bagot (b. 1979), born Apr-Jun 1979; 
(3) Richard Alexander Bagot (b. 1981) (q.v.); 
(4) Harry Josceline Bagot (b. 1983), born October 1983; property developer in London.
He was given Levens Hall by his father in 1975, and handed it over to his son, Richard, in 2014.
Now living.

Bagot, Richard Alexander (b. 1981). Elder son of Charles Henry (Hal) Bagot (b. 1946) and his wife Susan Elizabeth, daughter of Ian Alexander Ross, born December 1981. Educated at Sedbergh School, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester (BA, 2004) and Napier University (MSc, 2006). Landowner and farmer. He married, 2013 at Levens, Naomi Gillian M. (b. 1987), daughter of Martin Kelly of Winchfield (Hants), and has issue:
(1) Oliver Baxter Bagot (b. 2016), born 17 February 2016;
(2) Juno Albertine Bagot (b. 2018), born 30 May 2018.
He was given Levens Hall by his father in 2014.
Now living.

Sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 1924, pp. 180-182; Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer, 22 January 1913, p.6; A. Hellyer, 'Riddles of the parklands', Country Life, 15 September 1988, pp. 200-04; A. Wells-Cole, Art and decoration in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, 1997, pp. 197-200; J. Musson, 'Levens Hall', Country Life, 6 December 2001, pp. 110-15; A. Taylor, The Websters of Kendal, 2004, pp. 116-17; guidebook to Levens Hall and Gardens, n.d. [c.2007]; M. Hyde & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Cumbria, 2010, pp. 492-95.

Location of archives

Bagot and Howard of Levens Hall: deeds, estate papers, family and household papers, 13th-20th cents [Private Collection]

Coat of arms

Ermine, two chevrons azure.

Can you help?

Here are a few notes about information and images which would help to improve the account above. If you can help with any of these or with other additions or corrections, please use the contact form in the sidebar to get in touch. Can anyone:

• Throw any further light on the architectural development of Levens Hall?
• Provide more information about the life or career George Talbot Bagot (1820-1907).

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 18 December 2017 and was updated 12 April and 1 July 2018. I am grateful to Julian Munby for a correction.