(408) Barrington of Hatfield Broad Oak and Swainston Manor, baronets

Barrington of Barrington Hall

The Barringtons of Hatfield Broad Oak were undoubtedly among the most ancient gentry families, although the claim made by Le Neve that they derived from a Saxon lord called Barentone who had custody of Hatfield Forest under William the Conqueror seems to be fictitious. It has more plausibly been suggested that the family derived its name from the village of Barrington in Cambridgeshire, but the earliest authentic record of the family seems to concern Eustace de Barenton, who between 1121 and 1127 was granted by King Henry I a half virgate (about 15 acres) at Hatfield Broad Oak formerly held by Geoffrey the Forester; the grant was made to Eustace as successor to Geoffrey in the office of forester or woodward of Hatfield forest. This property became the core of the later Barrington Hall estate, and was no doubt enlarged over the centuries. Eustace was also granted the lease (under the de Veres, later Earls of Oxford) of the manor of Little Chigwell alias Barringtons at Chigwell (Essex), which his descendants retained until the early 17th century. The descent of the two properties has been traced by the Victoria County History and need not be rehearsed again here. The first of the family to achieve the honour of knighthood seems to have been Sir Nicholas Barrington (c.1485-1515), a lawyer of Thavies Inn who was knighted in 1513 and died two years later. His son, John Barrington (c.1509-37) was then a minor but also became a lawyer, entering Lincoln's Inn in 1529, where he was a pupil in the chambers of Edward Brokett. He was evidently married very young, for his only son, Sir Thomas Barrington (1530-81), kt., with whom the genealogy below begins, was born the following year. Thomas was the third generation of the family to follow a legal career, being trained at the Middle Temple and Grays Inn. It was no doubt the environment of the inns of court that allowed Sir Thomas to make the sort of connections that led him into two socially advantageous marriages: the first to a granddaughter of Lord Morley and the second to Winifred, the widow of Sir Thomas Hastings. The social status and property which Winifred brought to the Barringtons transformed their status overnight, for she was a granddaughter of Margaret Plantagenet (1473-1541), Countess of Salisbury, the niece of King Edward IV and daughter of the Duke of Clarence (the one said to have been drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine after being convicted of treason). The marriage allowed Sir Thomas to bring the royal arms of England into the quarterings on his coat of arms. Winifred's father and grandmother had both been attainted and executed by Henry VIII on dubious charges of treason (and are now regarded as Catholic martyrs), and their estates had been forfeited to the Crown, but in 1554 Queen Mary I reversed the attainder and returned the estates to Winifred and her sister. Winifred thus brought to her marriage with Sir Thomas Barrington an extensive property portfolio including two manors in the Isle of Wight, four manors in Yorkshire centred on Cottingham (Yorks ER), two in Buckinghamshire, the manor and half-hundred of Clavering (Essex), as well as single manors in Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire and Monmouthshire. After their marriage, the outlying and unprofitable parts of this estate were sold off leaving just the Essex, Isle of Wight and Yorkshire property, and the money raised was used to purchase the site and part of the lands of Hatfield Broad Oak Priory in 1566, and a lease of the tithes of Hatfield Broad Oak from Trinity College, Cambridge.

In 1581 Sir Thomas Barrington died and was succeeded by his elder son, Sir Francis Barrington (c.1561-1628), who was knighted in 1603 and raised to a baronetcy in 1611. Like his father, he held Puritan views, but his mother remained a Roman Catholic until being convinced by her son's arguments of the error of her ways and converting at some point before her death in 1602. Sir Francis took as his wife Joan Cromwell (1558-1641), the aunt of the future Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, whose religious views were similar to his own; they maintained a godly household with a Puritan minister as chaplain, and used the church livings they controlled in Yorkshire to advance the careers of promising Puritan ministers. In 1612, Sir Francis purchased the main manor of Hatfield Broad Oak and remodelled the remains of Hatfield Priory, perhaps to better reflect his status as a major landowner and a baronet. He also pursued a career in public service, being elected as one of the MPs for Essex in 1601 and holding the seat until his death. He found it difficult, however, to stomach the authoritarian style of Charles I's kingship, and when the King dissolved Parliament in 1626 and ordered the so-called Forced Loan, he refused to pay it or collect it, and was imprisoned in the Marshalsea. Although only held for a few months, and accompanied by his wife and one of his daughters, he became ill with consumption and died a few months after being released.

Sir Francis was succeeded in his estates by his eldest son, Sir Thomas Barrington (c.1585-1644), 2nd bt., who held similar Puritan views to his father and grandfather, but also had interests in the arts. By his first marriage, Sir Thomas had four sons and one daughter. His title and estates passed eventually to his elder surviving son, but his younger surviving son, Sir Gobert Barrington (c.1620-95), kt. must also be mentioned. He inherited much of his mother's estate, and he bought the manor of Tofts at Little Baddow (Essex), which descended to his eldest son, Col. Thomas Barrington. Thomas ran into debt, however, and sold Tofts to his younger brother, Francis Barrington, a London merchant. Francis and his wife Elizabeth Shute had no children, so they adopted as their heir a kinsman of Elizabeth's, John Shute of Beckett Park, Shrivenham (Berks), who took the name Barrington and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Barrington: the story of his descendants will be told in a subsequent post.

The second marriage of Sir Thomas Barrington, in 1624, was a love match with a widow who shared his cultural interests, and under her influence and that of his formidable mother he put aside a constitutional melancholy and devoted himself increasingly to public affairs. At the start of the Civil War he was probably the leading figure in the county community and the natural commander of affairs in Essex for the Parliament side. He was active until shortly before his death in 1644 and was succeeded in several of his roles by his elder son, Sir John Barrington (1615-83), 3rd bt., who held Presbyterian views and was an equally strong supporter of the Parliamentarian cause. Sir John was, however, a reformer and not a revolutionary, and although appointed to the High Court of Justice established to try King Charles I in 1648 he declined to participate or to sign the king's death warrant, and he stopped attending Parliament. As a result of this caution he was not excluded from the general pardon issued by King Charles II at the Restoration in 1660, and he was soon back in Parliament, although his support for nonconformity led to his removal from local public office in 1670. The later 17th century was a period of exceptionally high mortality and many of his fourteen children died young, including his eldest son, Thomas Barrington (1643-82), who in the ordinary course of events would have been his heir. Thomas had made an advantageous match with Lady Anne Rich, the daughter of the 3rd Earl of Warwick, who was near neighbour of the Barringtons in Essex. The estates passed in turn to their son, Sir John Barrington (1670-91), 4th bt., who died of smallpox about a month after coming of age, and then, since he was unmarried, to his brother Sir Charles Barrington (c.1671-1715), 5th bt., who married twice but had no children. Sir Charles appears to have had completely different religious and political views to his forebears, and sat in Parliament as a Tory with High Church views and possibly Jacobite leanings.

On the death of Sir Charles Barrington, 5th bt., the family estates were divided. The baronetcy passed to his cousin, Sir John Barrington (1674-1717), 6th bt., who also inherited Swainston Manor in the Isle of Wight, which was rebuilt or remodelled as the principal seat of the family by his son, Sir John Barrington (1700-76), 7th bt. The remaining estates passed to Sir Charles' sister, Anne Shales (1675-1729) for life, and then to her son John Shales (1710-88), who was required to take the name Barrington as a condition of his inheritance. His father, Charles Shales, died in 1734, and soon afterwards he began building a grand new country house at Hatfield Broad Oak to the designs of John Sanderson. His purpose may have been to make him a more attractive marriage prospect, and there are faint clues in the family papers that he may have been angling for the hand of the daughter or granddaughter of a Duke (unfortunately we do not know which one). By the time the house was roofed and approaching completion, however, his suit had failed, and he abandoned the building project and went to live in a much smaller house at Waltham Cross. He never married, and on his death he bequeathed his estates to his second cousin, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1708-92), 8th bt., who had inherited the family baronetcy from his elder brother in 1776. 

Although some of the outlying estates of the family had been sold off in the 17th and 18th centuries, it is really with Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington that the family's estate reached its apogee. In 1745 he had inherited an estate at Lilley (Herts) from his maternal uncle, George Draper. He also inherited an estate at Linton (Cambs) and land in Lincolnshire from his brother-in-law, Barrington Flacke in 1749. In 1776 he inherited Swainston Manor in the Isle of Wight from his elder brother, and also Dunmow Park in Essex and Pinkneys (Berks), which had earlier been bequeathed to his father and brother, respectively. Finally, in 1788, he inherited the family's Essex property from John Shales Barrington. Although Sir Fitzwilliam had two surviving sons, he does not seem to have divided the estate between them, and the elder, Sir John Barrington (1752-1818), 9th bt., scooped the pool and inherited the lot. Sir John was unmarried, however, and seems to have shared Swainston Manor with his younger brother and eventual heir, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1755-1832), 10th bt. No doubt the half-finished house at Hatfield Broad Oak lessened the attractions of that estate, although it was sufficiently complete and furnished to be occupied from time to time in the late 18th and early 19th century, both by the family and by tenants.

On the death of the 10th baronet in 1832, there were no known male heirs to the baronetcy and title was declared to be extinct, though it seems possible that there were then living male line descendants of Robert Barrington (c.1594-1641), the younger son of the 1st baronet, who would have been entitled to succeed to the title. It is not clear to me that this possibility has ever been thoroughly explored. In the absence of a male heir, the estates were again divided, with Swainston Manor passing to Sir Fitzwilliam's elder surviving daughter. Louisa (1790-1847) and her husband Sir Richard Godin Simeon (1784-1854), 2nd bt., and then to their descendants, who will be the subject of a future post. The Essex estates passed, under the will of John Shales Barrington, to a descendant of his sister, William Lowndes of Chesham (Bucks); the Lowndes family will also be the subject of a future post. 

Priory House, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex

After the dissolution of the Benedictine priory of Hatfield Broad Oak in 1536, the nave and aisles of the monastic church remained in use as the parish church of the village, but the eastern, monastic, part of the building was demolished and the conventual buildings passed into the ownership of the Noke family, who acquired some of the lands of the priory in 1554. In 1564 the site of the priory was sold to Sir Thomas Barrington, but he and his successor continued to live a the original Barrington Hall in the north of the parish until about 1613. Sir Francis became a baronet in 1611, and bought the main manor of Hatfield Broad Oak in 1612. In 1613 he contracted with a brickmaker to make 100,000 bricks in kilns at Barrington Hall, from clay provided by Sir Francis. It seems likely that Sir Francis used the bricks to convert part of the conventual buildings of the priory into a family seat matching his new dignities.

Priory House, Hatfield Broad Oak; a minute depiction on an estate map
of 1624. Image: Essex Record Office D/DQ 14/191.

An estate map of 1624 depicts the resulting Priory House as a large detached house immediately north of the church; the sketch is indistinctly drawn, but clearly indicates the presence of gables, tall Tudor chimneys and mullioned and transomed windows. There were evidently further alterations in 1629-32, after the death of Sir Francis Barrington and before his son moved here from Barrington Hall. The house was taxed on 32 hearths in 1662, but it is not clear that this figure relates to a single property, for in later years Sir John Barrington paid the tax on 56 hearths in several houses and in 1681 on just 15 hearths in his own house. Repairs were carried out in 1679, but in about 1700 a workman employed by Sir Charles Barrington, 5th bt., found the house so dilapidated that he pulled it down in Sir Charles's absence, without his orders. That gave Sir Charles 'as it well might, great uneasiness', and he then went to live at Great Waltham. His son-in-law, Charles Shales, 'repaired a house over against the site of the priory' for his occasional use, but in 1720 it was said that the house 'has been for some time demolished and its Scite converted into Gardens'. Fragmentary remains were still standing in 1766, and a dovehouse in the north-west corner of the garden survived until c. 1890.

Descent: Crown sold 1540 (site) and 1554 (priory manor) to Thomas Noke (d. 1559); to son, Robert Noke, who sold 1564 to Sir Thomas Barrington (1530-81), kt.; to son, Sir Francis Barrington (c.1561-1628), kt. & 1st bt.; to son, Sir Thomas Barrington (c.1585-1644), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir John Barrington (1615-83), 3rd bt.; to son, Sir John Barrington (1670-91), 4th bt.; to brother, Sir Charles Barrington (c.1671-1715), 5th bt.; demolished c.1700. The estate descended to his daughter Anne (1675-1729), wife of Charles Shales (1670-1734); to son, John Shales (later Barrington) (1710-88), who built Barrington Hall. 

Barrington Hall, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex

The original Barrington Hall stood on a moated site about a mile north of Hatfield Broad Oak village; it was still standing in 1777 but has since been demolished. The name was transferred to the house built by John Shales Barrington (d. 1788) on a new site north of Priory House in c.1740.

Barrington Hall: sketch designs by John Sanderson for the house, c.1740

His architect was John Sanderson (d. 1774), and the builder employed seems to have been the architect's cousin, Joseph Sanderson (d. 1747). A sketch drawing of Sanderson's design for the house (now in the Shoppee album at the Victoria & Albert Museum) survives and shows that he initially proposed a pair of cupolas at either end of the main facade, which would have made the house significantly grander, in the manner of Houghton Hall (Norfk) or Badminton House (Glos).

The main three-storey block of the house measured 110 ft. by 60 ft., and had a principal front to the south of nine bays, with a Corinthian portico from which a perron staircase descended to ground level on each side. The house was built of red brick, with the window surrounds and other embellishments of limestone ashlar. A lower service wing projected on the east side of the house. The interior was fitted with carved fireplaces of stone and marble, one of which is said to have cost £700, richly moulded plasterwork, and mahogany doors. Henry Cheere, the sculptor, provided a stone staircase and a marble table, for both of which ironwork was supplied by John Wagg the smith. However, when the house was well advanced Barrington 'on some dispute about tithes … or … on a matrimonial disappointment … gave up the design and retired to a house at Waltham Cross, where he passed a long life in obscurity.' 

Barrington Hall: an 18th century engraving showing the house as built, c.1740.

In 1771 Barrington Hall lay unfinished and neglected, and most of the furniture had been removed. Sir John Barrington, 9th bt., who succeeded to the estate in 1792, made some alterations, but in 1809 it was again empty and still unfinished. By 1833, when the house was once more occupied, the eastern wing and the perron stairs had been removed. In 1836 the house was said to be in a good condition, but by 1847, after a further period of neglect, it had greatly deteriorated. It was not permanently occupied until 1863, when G. A. Lowndes remodelled the house to the design of Edward Browning of Stamford (Lincs). 

Barrington Hall: the house in 2019, following an extensive programme of restoration and modernization/

He removed part of the west end, altered the south front in an asymmetrical neo-Jacobean style, and added shaped gables, balustrades and bay windows, completely changing the external appearance. Inside, although the entrance hall was altered by Browning, who installed a gallery at one end, it retains its fine Rococo plasterwork, and several rooms also retain 18th century decoration. The interior was modernized in 1956 and again in 1977, when it was converted to offices. This process was reversed after 2012, when the office fittings were stripped out and the fabric restored with a view to reselling the house for renewed residential use. The service wing and the coach house beyond it survive in something like their 18th century form.

Descent: built for John Shales Barrington (1710-88); to second cousin, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1708-92), 8th bt.; to son, Sir John Barrington (1752-1818), 9th bt.; to brother, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1755-1833), 10th bt.; to kinsman, William Lowndes of Chesham (Bucks), who at once sold to Thomas Lowndes (d. 1840); to great-great-nephew, George Alan Clayton (later Lowndes) (d. 1904), who remodelled it; to son, Maj. Alan H.W. Lowndes, who sold 1908 to Alfred H. Gosling... sold 1977 to British Livestock Co.; sold 1980 to Contemporary Perfumers Ltd.; sold 2012 to Silvertown Properties; for sale at the time of writing.

Swainston Manor, Isle of Wight

The large manor (which included both Calbourne village and the port of Newtown) belonged in the early medieval period to the Bishops of Winchester, who had an occasional residence here, part of which survives in the form of a 13th century block consisting of an undercroft with a major room above, lit by lancet windows and a three-light window in the east wall. This is interpreted as the solar wing of a manor house with a probably oratory at the east end. Adjoining and parallel to this range is a smaller and even earlier block, with a simple two-light Norman window in its east wall: a rare survival in a domestic context.

Swainston Manor: engraving of the west (original entrance) front of the house published in 1808, showing a side view of the single-storey additions to the south front made in 1798.

The Crown seized possession of the estate in 1283 and it passed in and out of Crown hands for nearly three centuries until Queen Mary granted it to Winifred, the second wife of Sir Thomas Barrington. It then descended with the family's Essex property until 1715, when on the death of Sir Charles Barrington the family baronetcy and the Swainston estate passed to his first cousin, Sir John Barrington (c.1673-1717), 6th bt., and then to the latter's son, Sir John Barrington (d. 1776), 7th bt. He made Swainston his principal residence, and built a new house, which probably stands on the site of the hall of the medieval manor house (it has stone-built cellars which may be medieval). The new house, which reputedly dated from 1750, was a five-by-five bay block of two storeys above a basement, with a plain parapet concealing the roof. The main entrance on the west side was approached by a wrought iron staircase rising in two flights across the area that provided light to the basement rooms. 

Swainston Manor: the south front as remodelled in 1798 and subsequently.

In 1792 the house passed to Sir John Barrington (1752-1818), 9th bt., who was unmarried and seems to have shared the property with his younger brother and eventual successor, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1755-1832), 10th bt. In 1798, he enlarged the house to the designs of William Porden, who also built Osborne House (the predecessor of Queen Victoria's house) for Barrington's kinsman, B.P. Blachford. These works created a new nine-bay ashlar-faced garden front on the south side, where the three bays at either end are brought forward as shallow pedimented wings, and the wings in turn have bold single-storey segmental bows, each with three separate windows. Between the wings is a portico with two Tuscan columns and a central pediment. A few years later, perhaps in about 1810, the main entrance was moved to the north side and a terrace was constructed in front of the former entrance in the western elevation on which a ironwork verandah was built.

Swainston Manor: the house in use as an hotel in the late 20th century, showing the additions to the north and west fronts made in the 19th century. Image: Historic England.

Further changes were made to the house in the mid 19th century, when the verandah at the west end was replaced by a stone-built single-storey extension running the whole width of the facade: inside four impressive Corinthian columns supported the upper part of the original west wall. At the same time, balustrades were added over the portico and bows on the garden front, and an attempt was made to dignify the rather scrappy entrance front to the north, which has unevenly spaced windows, by adding a balustraded parapet and plain pilasters over the entrance porch. 

Swainston Manor: the aftermath of wartime bombing, 1941.
Image: Crown Copyright.

In 1941 the house was very substantially gutted by an incendiary bomb dropped during the Blitz. Photographs show that the upper part of the west front collapsed and all the roofs on the Georgian part of the house were lost, together with much of the interior decoration. Some initial repairs were undertaken during the war, probably involving the creation of a temporary roof, but a thorough and painstaking restoration had to wait until 1950-54, when £50,000 is said to have been spent on reconstructing the house largely to the former plan, with reinstatement of important features. Two Georgian chimneypieces were brought in for the main rooms. Once the restoration was completed, Swainston became a school for a few years, and then stood empty for a while before being turned into a hotel and country club. This business also failed to prosper and closed in 1981. It then stood empty again until being bought in about 1983 by Fred and Margaret Woodward from Nottingham, who set about the restoration of the building and reopened it as a hotel and restaurant. This operated into the early 21st century, but the house seems now to be back in private ownership.

Swainston Manor: Repton drawing of the house from Peacock's Polite Repository, 1809

Humphry Repton was consulted about the landscape setting of the house in the early 19th century, but it is not known what he proposed (no Red Book seems to survive) or whether his plans were followed. Drawings of Swainston by Repton were published in Peacock's Polite Repository in 1809 and 1811, and he could well have proposed the creation of the western terrace and the consequent changes that were made to the house at that time. South of the house there is also an area of parkland, which acquired clumps of trees and a small lake crossed by a stone bridge at some point after 1791. These could also be the result of Repton's advice, although they may be a little earlier since a Doric temple was built on the estate in the 1790s, indicating an earlier phase of attention to the landcape setting. The temple is now a roofless ruin.

Descent: Crown granted 1554 to Margaret (d. 1602), daughter of Henry Pole, Lord Montagu and wife of Sir Thomas Hastings (c.1515-58), kt. and Sir Thomas Barrington (1530-81), kt.; to son, Sir Francis Barrington (c.1561-1628), kt. and 1st bt.; to son, Sir Thomas Barrington (c.1585-1644), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir John Barrington (1615-83), 3rd bt.; to grandson, Sir John Barrington (1670-91), 4th bt.; to brother, Sir Charles Barrington (c.1671-1715), 5th bt.; to cousin, Sir John Barrington (1674-1717), 6th bt.; to son, Sir John Barrington (1700-76), 7th bt.; to brother, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1708-92), 8th bt.; to son, Sir John Barrington (1752-1818), 9th bt.; to brother, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1755-1832), 10th bt.; to daughter, Louisa Edith (1790-1847), wife of Sir Richard Godin Simeon (1784-1854), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir John Simeon (1815-70), 3rd bt.; to son, Sir John Stephen Barrington Simeon (1850-1909), 4th bt.; to brother, Sir Edmund Charles Simeon (1855-1915), 5th bt.; to son, Sir John Walter Barrington Simeon (1886-1957), 6th bt... sold c.1982 to Frederick Cyril Woodward (1920-2000)

Barrington family of Barrington Hall, baronets

Barrington, Sir Thomas (1530-81), kt. Only son of John Barrington (c.1509-37) of Barrington Hall, Hatfield Broad Oak (Essex), and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Bonham, born 1530. Educated at Middle Temple (admitted before 1551) and Grays Inn (admitted 1554). High Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire, 1562-63, 1580-81; JP for Essex, 1564-81; MP for Essex, 1572; Hereditary Woodward of Hatfield Forest, 1537-81. He was knighted at Greenwich in about October 1571. A Puritan in religion, he seems to have been noted for the 'godly exercise of preaching', although his second wife was a Roman Catholic and was presented at Quarter Sessions for non-attendance at church in 1581-82 before being converted by the arguments of her son Francis. He married 1st, c.1552, Alice, probably the daughter of Sir Henry Parker (c.1514-53) and granddaughter of Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley, and 2nd, 1559, Hon. Winifred (d. 1602), youngest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, and widow of Sir Thomas Hastings (c.1515-58), kt., and had issue:

(1.1) A son; died in the lifetime of his father;
(1.2) Elizabeth Barrington (d. by 1583); married, Edward Harris (c.1542-1621?) of Shellow Hall, Shellow Bowells (Essex) (who m2, Mary, daughter of Henry Josselyn of Torrell Hall, Willingale Doe (Essex) and had further issue one son and one daughter), and had issue one son; said to have died before 1583;
(2.1) Catherine Barrington (fl. 1598); married Sir William Bourchier (c.1559-84), kt., who died insane, and had issue three sons and three daughters; living in 1598;
(2.2) Sir Francis Barrington (c.1561-1628), kt. and 1st bt. (q.v.);
(2.3) Henry Barrington (c.1564-c.1591); he may have been educated for a mercantile or military career as his father's will mentions him being 'beyond sea' in 1581; he was later at Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1583); MP for St. Germans, 1589; a Gentleman Pensioner, 1590; died unmarried c.1591.

Sir Thomas inherited Barrington Hall from his father. His wife received a grant of the estates of her grandmother, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, from Queen Mary I in 1554: these included Swainston Manor (IoW), four manors in Yorkshire centered on Cottingham (Yorks ER), two in Buckinghamshire, and the manor and half-hundred of Clavering (Essex), as well as single manors in Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire and Monmouthshire. After their marriage, the outlying and unprofitable parts of this estate were sold off leaving just the Essex, Isle of Wight and Yorkshire property, and the money raised was used to enlarge the core Essex estate: in this way Sir Thomas purchased the site and part of the lands of Hatfield Broad Oak Priory from Robert Noke in 1566, and a lease of the tithes of Hatfield Broad Oak from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Sir Thomas died before 9 February 1581; his will was proved 2 May 1581. His first wife died before 1559. His widow died 22 February 1601/2.

Barrington, Sir Francis (c.1561-1628), kt. and 1st bt. Elder son of Sir Thomas Barrington (1530-81), kt. and his second wife, Winifred, youngest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, and widow of Sir Thomas Hastings, kt., born about 1561 (though he was said to be aged 30 in 1598/9). In 1588 he served as a Captain of the Essex Trained Bands. He was knighted at Theobalds Park in 1603 and created a baronet, 29 June 1611. He was admitted to Grays Inn in 1605/6, and became MP for Essex, 1601-28; JP for Essex, 1586-1626 and for Saffron Walden; a muster commissioner for Essex, 1601-03; and DL for Essex, 1603-26; Hereditary Woodward of Hatfield Forest, 1581-1628. He was a Puritan in religion and developed a reputation as a popular champion of Puritan views which secured his repeated return to Parliament for Essex at the head of the poll. In 1626 he resisted the collection of the forced loan and was imprisoned in the Marshalsea, where he developed consumption. He was released in June 1627 provided he did not return to Essex, but was only well enough to move to 'a garden house' in Southwark; his full release did not happen until January 1628, and he died soon afterwards. He married, 1579, Joan (1558-1641), daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell of Hinchingbrooke (Hunts), and aunt of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, and had issue:
(1) Winifred Barrington (c.1583-c.1615), born about 1583; married, 1604 (settlement 14 July), Sir William Meux (c.1579-1638), kt., MP, of Kingston (IoW) (who m2, Elizabeth, daughter of William Gerard of Flambards, Harrow-on-the-Hill (Middx) and widow of Francis Rame of Hornchurch (Middx)), son of Sir John Meux, kt., and had issue one son and two daughters; died about 1615;
(2) Sir Thomas Barrington (c.1585-1644), 2nd bt. (q.v.);
(3) Elizabeth Barrington (d. 1641); married 1st, before 1606, Sir James Altham (d. 1610), kt. of Mark Hall (Essex), and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, 21 June 1611 at St Mary, Stratford-atte-Bow (Middx), Sir William Masham (1591-1656), 1st bt. of Otes, High Laver (Essex), and had further issue three sons and one daughter; buried at High Laver, 1 April 1641;
(4) Joan alias Joanna Barrington (d. 1643); married, 1 November 1621 at St Bartholomew the Less, London, Sir Richard Everard (d. 1680), 1st bt. of Langleys, Great Waltham (Essex) (who m2, 11 September 1653 at St Anne, Blackfriars, London, Frances (d. 1676), daughter of Sir Robert Lee of Billesley (Warks) and widow of Sir Gervase Elwes of Woodford (Essex), but had no further issue), son of Sir Anthony Everard of Langleys, and had issue two sons and two daughters; buried at Much Waltham, 25 March 1643;
(5) Ruth Barrington (d. 1645); married 1st, perhaps c.1617 (sep. 1626), Sir George Lamplugh (c.1584-1633), kt. of Kirkby Sigston (Yorks), and had issue; after being separated from her husband (perhaps because he could not afford to keep her in the style to which she was accustomed rather than because they had fallen out), she returned to Essex with her children and lived with her brother and mother at Hatfield Broad Oak; she married 2nd, about November 1644, as his second wife, Sir William Lytton (1586-1660), kt., of Knebworth (Herts), but died only a year or so later and was buried at Knebworth, 27 December 1645;
(6) Mary Barrington (d. 1666); the manor of Aston Clinton (Bucks) was settled on her and her husband in 1614; she married, c.1614, Sir Gilbert Gerard MP (1587-1670), 1st bt., of Harrow-on-the-Hill (Middx), and had issue nine sons and seven daughters; buried at Harrow-on-the-Hill, 4 May 1666; 
(7) Robert Barrington (c.1594-1641), born about 1594; educated at Grays Inn (admitted 1612/3); lived at Hatfield Bury in Hatfield Broad Oak; MP for Newtown (Iow), 1628-29; JP for Saffron Walden, 1634-40; he supported Puritan clergy and shortly before his death made a disastrous investment in projects in New England; he married, 18 July 1620 at Sudbury (Suffk), Dorothy (d. 1661), daughter of Sir Thomas Eden, kt. of Ballingdon Hall, Sudbury, and had issue two sons and six daughters; died 26 February 1640/1;
(8) Francis Barrington (c.1596-1660), born about 1596; a Levant merchant in London; married Elizabeth (d. by 1651), daughter of Richard Dowsett of Thorley (Herts), and had issue one son (Francis, who lived for some time in Aleppo as agent for his father, but probably predeceased him); will proved in the PCC, 10 April 1660;
(9) Capt. John Barrington (c.1597-1631), born about 1597; apprenticed to Clement Harby of London, skinner, 1610; merchant at La Rochelle (France) by 1621, where he ran up a debt which had to be settled by his father in 1626; he took part in the abortive mission to relieve the beseiged protestants of La Rochelle in 1628, and subsequently secured a commission (Capt.) in Lord Vere's army for the Netherlands; married, c.1621, Marie Pinaule (d. 1681) of La Rochelle; died in the Netherlands early in 1631; his widow lived in London and Essex on good terms with her in-laws; she died 21 January 1680/1 and was buried at South Weald (Essex), her will was proved in the PCC, 5 February 1680/1; she left assets in both England and France.
Sir Francis inherited the Hatfield Broad Oak, Swainston Manor and Yorkshire estates from his father in 1581. He purchased the main manor of Hatfield Broad Oak in 1612 and remodelled the remains of the priory as a new house called Priory House in c.1613.
Sir Francis died 3 July 1628 and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak; his will was proved in the PCC, 12 July 1628. His widow died in December 1641 and was also buried at Hatfield Broad Oak; her will was proved in the PCC, 14 December 1641.

Barrington, Sir Thomas (c.1585-1644), kt. and 2nd bt. Eldest son of Sir Francis Barrington (c.1561-1628), kt. and 1st bt., and his wife Joan, daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell of Hinchingbrooke (Hunts), born about 1585. Educated at Cambridge University (admitted 1601) and Grays Inn (admitted 1602). He was knighted before 1621 and succeeded his father as 2nd baronet, 1628; Hereditary Woodward of Hatfield Forest, 1628-44. He was a member of the Providence Island Company from 1631 (Deputy Governor, 1633-34). He was MP for Newtown (Iow), 1621-29, for Essex, 1640 and for Colchester, 1640-44, and he was a prolific parliamentary diarist and an active member, frequently petitioning the House on behalf of his county, and being employed as a messenger from the Commons to the Lords; JP for Essex, 1624-26, 1628-44 and for Saffron Walden by 1634; DL for Essex, 1629-43. As a first cousin of Lord Protector Cromwell it is no surprise to find that he was a Parliamentarian during the Civil War, and as the senior deputy lieutenant in the late 1630s he naturally became the leader and co-ordinator of the Parliamentarian county committee, 1642-44. He was a Presbyterian in religion, and Lay Assessor in the Assembly of Divines, 1643. He was 'inclined to melancholy', and his letters reveal lengthy spells of illness, although after 1630 he devoted himself increasingly to public affairs. He and his second wife also had artistic interests: she supported the poet Francis Quarles and he was interested in music, wrote verse, and was one of the supporters of the educationalist, Samuel Hartlib. It was said that he was 'so inamored of [his second wife] and her virtues that she may make her own conditions'. He married 1st, 21 November 1611 at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, Frances (c.1591-1623), daughter and co-heir of John Gobert of Coventry (Warks) and Howthorpe (Northants), and 2nd, 26 October 1624 at St Mary-le-Bow, London, Judith (1592-1657), daughter of Sir Rowland Lytton, kt. of Knebworth (Herts) and widow of Sir George Smith (d. 1620), kt. of Annables (Herts), and had issue:
(1.1) Joan Barrington (b. c.1613); died young;
(1.2) Sir John Barrington (1615-83), 3rd bt. (q.v.);
(1.3) Oliver Barrington; living in 1630, when he was mentioned in the will of his grandmother, Lucy Gobert (d. 1635/6), but died unmarried, probably soon afterwards;
(1.4) Sir Gobert Barrington (c.1620-95), kt., of Tofts, Little Baddow (Essex), born about 1620; JP for Essex; a Parliamentarian but 'carried himself so well at the Restoration' that he was knighted, 11 July 1660; married 1st, 8 July 1647 at St Bartholomew the Less, London, Lucy (d. 1667), daughter of Sir Richard Wiseman, kt. of Torrell's Hall, Willingale Doe (Essex) and had issue six sons and five daughters; married 2nd, Elizabeth (d. 1703), widow of Hugh Lawton (d. 1669); will proved 15 April 1695;
(1.5) Lucy Barrington (c.1621-91); married 1st, c.1640, William Cheyne (1621-41), son of Francis Cheyne of Chesham (Bucks) but had no issue; married 2nd, 16 December 1641, Sir Toby Tyrrell (1617-71), 2nd bt. of Thornton (Bucks), son of Sir Edward Tyrrell, 1st bt., and had further issue three sons and three daughters; died 1691 and was buried at Chesham Bois (Bucks); administration of her goods was granted 10 June 1691.
Sir Thomas inherited the Hatfield Broad Oak, Swainston Manor and Yorkshire estates from his father in 1628 and lived at Priory House. In 1631 he purchased the park at Carisbrooke (IoW), but sold it back to the Crown in 1632 after he was prevented from felling the timber there by the Captain of the island. His first wife's early death brought him property in Leicestershire and Blackfriars (London). His second wife had the wardship of the two sons by her first marriage (who both died young) and thus controlled the Smith estates in Hertfordshire and Lincolnshire. In the 1630s the family estates produced an income of some £3,000 a year.
Sir Thomas died 18 September 1644. His first wife died in 1623. His widow died in 1657.

Barrington, Sir John (1615-83), 3rd bt. Eldest son of Sir Thomas Barrington (c.1585-1644) and his first wife Frances, daughter and co-heir of John Gobert of Coventry (Warks) and Howthorpe (Northants), born January 1614/5. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1633) and Grays Inn (admitted 1635). He was knighted, 8 May 1638 and succeeded his father as 3rd baronet, 18 September 1644. Hereditary Woodward of Hatfield Forest, 1644-83. He was a Presbyterian in religion and MP for Newport (IoW), 1645-48, 1660-79; High Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire, 1654-55; JP for Essex, 1644-53, 1656-70. He was an assessment commissioner for Essex, 1643-52, 1657, 1660-80 and for the Isle of Wight, 1647-48, and was a member of several other local commissions in the 1640s. He was a firm supporter of the Parliamentarian faction in the Civil War, and a member of the parliamentary committee for Essex and for the Isle of Wight, but in the last resort he was a reformer not a republican. He refrained from attending Parliament after Pride's Purge in December 1648 and although he was nominated to the High Court of Justice convened to try King Charles I, he refused to attend any of its meetings and declined to sign the warrant for the king's execution. As a result, he avoided exclusion from the provisions of the Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660, which gave a general pardon to those in arms against the Crown except those who had taken part in the trial or signed the death warrant. After the Restoration, he maintained an ejected Presbyterian cleric as his chaplain, and his dissenting views led to his removal from the commission of the peace in 1670. He married, 8 April 1640 at Knebworth (Herts), Dorothy (d. 1703), daughter of Sir William Lytton of Knebworth, and had issue:
(1) Thomas Barrington (1643-82) (q.v.);
(2) Francis Barrington (b. c.1645); died in infancy;
(3) John Barrington (c.1647-91) (q.v.); 
(4) Anne Barrington (1648-68), born 9 August 1648; buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 8 April 1668;
(5) Frances Barrington (b. c.1649), born about 1649; died unmarried before 1664;
(6) Dorothy Barrington (c.1650-70), born about 1650; died unmarried and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 11 May 1670;
(7) Margaret Barrington (b. c.,1651), born about 1651; died in infancy;
(8) Winifred Barrington (c.1652-84), born about 1652; married, 17 January 1682/3 at St Michael Bassishaw, London, Richard Wiseman (d. 1686), son of Sir Richard Wiseman of Torrell's Hall, Willingale Doe (Essex); died 7 May 1684 and is commemorated by a monument at Willingale Doe, though her burial is not recorded in the parish register;
(9) Margaret Barrington (b. c.1654), born about 1654; died young before 1664;
(10) Francis Barrington (c.1655-60), born about 1655; died young and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 7 April 1660;
(11) Joanna Barrington (1656-70), baptised at Hatfield Broad Oak, 24 April 1656; died unmarried and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 24 April 1670;
(12) Mary Barrington (b. c.1657; fl. 1664), probably born about 1657; living in 1664 but probably died unmarried;
(13) William Barrington (1658-93); merchant in London; married, 26 October 1691 at St Andrew Undershaft, London, Sarah (b. 1670) (who m2, 1696, Richard Wynn MP (1655-1719) of Bedwell Park (Herts) and Charterhouse Yard, London, and had issue two sons and two daughters), daughter of Richard Young of London, merchant, but had no issue; buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 2 March 1692/3;
(14) Lucy Barrington (c.1661-1732?), born about 1661; married, 1686 (licence 1 December) at Temple Church, London, John Walter (c.1654-1724) of Piercefield (Monmouths.), which he reputedly remodelled to the designs of William Talman in about 1700, and had issue four sons; perhaps the woman of this name who was buried at Hendon (Middx), 5 February 1732.
Sir John inherited the Hatfield Broad Oak, Swainston Manor and Yorkshire estates from his father in 1644/54, and lived at Priory House.
Sir John died 24 March 1682/3 and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 3 April 1683. His widow died 27 October, and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 3 November 1703.

Barrington, Thomas (1643-82). Eldest son of Sir John Barrington (1615-83), 3rd bt. and his wife Dorothy, daughter of Sir William Lytton of Knebworth (Herts), born 19 August 1643. He married, 8 November 1664 in the chapel at Leez Priory (Essex), Lady Anne (b. 1645; fl. 1712), daughter and co-heiress of Robert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick, and had issue:
(1) Mary Barrington (1667-1727), baptised at St Luke, Chelsea (Middx), 6 September 1667; died unmarried and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 12 October 1727; will proved in the PCC, 16 November 1727;
(2) Sir John Barrington (1670-1691), 4th bt. (q.v.);
(3) Sir Charles Barrington (c.1671-1715), 5th bt. (q.v.);
(4) Richard Barrington (1673-95), born 20 October and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn (Middx), 12 November 1673; educated at Wadham College, Oxford (matriculated 1690) and the Middle Temple (admitted 1692/3); died unmarried and without issue and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 19 September 1695;
(5) Anne Barrington (1675-1729) (q.v.).
Thomas Barrington lived in London and at Tofts, Little Baddow (Essex), which he presumably rented from his uncle, Sir Gobert Barrington, kt.
Thomas died in the lifetime of his father, 31 January, and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 2 February 1681/2. His widow married 2nd, c.1683, her cousin, Sir Richard Franklin (1654-95), 2nd bt., of Moor Park (Herts), and was living in 1712; her date of death is unknown.

Barrington, Sir John (1670-91), 4th bt. Eldest son of Thomas Barrington (1643-82), and his wife Anne, daughter and heiress of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, born at Chelsea (Middx), 16 October 1670. Educated at Felsted and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1686). He succeeded his grandfather as 4th baronet, 24 March 1682/3. He was unmarried and without issue, although he was engaged to marry Mary, daughter of Sir Josias Child, 1st bt. of Wanstead at the time of his death..
Sir John inherited the Hatfield Broad Oak, Swainston Manor and Yorkshire estates from his grandfather in 1682.
Sir John died of smallpox, 26 November 1691, shortly after coming of age, and was (confusingly!) buried at Hatfield Broad Oak on the same day as his uncle, John Barrington (c.1647-91), 2 December 1691; he is commemorated by a strikingly grand marble monument in the north aisle at Hatfield Broad Oak church. Administration of his goods was granted 18 December 1691 and again 16 November 1693.

Sir Charles Barrington (c.1671-1715), 5th bt.
Image: Essex Record Office.

Barrington, Sir Charles (c.1671-1715), 5th bt. Second son of Thomas Barrington (1643-82), and his wife Anne, daughter and heiress of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, born about 1671. Educated at Felsted School. He succeeded his brother as 5th baronet, 26 November 1691. He was a Tory in politics and may have had Jacobite leanings; he held High Church religious views, and in 1708 he paid for the construction of a parish library at the east end of the south aisle of Hatfield church. He was MP for Essex, 1694-1705, 1713-15 and Vice-Admiral of Essex, 1702-05, 1712-15. He was made a freeman of Maldon (Essex) in 1695 and was an Alderman of that borough, 1701-15 and bailiff four times between 1702 and 1714, and he was also a freeman of Colchester from 1700. JP for Essex and Hertfordshire. He married 1st, 20 April 1693 at St Bride, Fleet St., London, Bridget (c.1673-99), daughter and heiress of Sir John Monson, kt. of Broxbourne (Herts), and 2nd, 1700 (licence 23 May), Lady Anna Marie (1676-1717), eldest daughter of William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl Fitzwilliam, but had no issue.
Sir Charles inherited the Hatfield Broad Oak, Swainston Manor and Yorkshire estates from his elder brother in 1691. After the demolition of Priory House in c.1700 he lived at Great Waltham (Essex). He bequeathed his estates to his sister Anne for life, and then to her eldest son.

Sir Charles died 29 January and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 4 February 1714/15; his will was proved 2 December 1715. His first wife was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 6 December 1699. His widow died at Bath (Som.), and was buried at Marholm (Northants), 30 July 1717; administration of her goods was granted 7 August 1717.

Barrington, Anne (1675-1729). Second daughter of Thomas Barrington (1643-82), and his wife Anne, daughter and heiress of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, born 1675. She married, 17 November 1698 at Temple Church, London, Charles Shales (1670-1734), goldsmith to Queen Anne, and had issue:
(1) Anne Shales (1700-59), born 7 September and baptised at St Mary Woolnoth, London, 18 September 1700; married, 8 October 1730 at St Giles Cripplegate, London, Charles Lowndes (c.1699-1783) of Westminster and Chesham (Bucks), an official in the Treasury for nearly fifty years, son of William Lowndes of Winslow (Bucks), and had issue one son; buried at Chesham (Bucks), 1 March 1759;
(2) Mary Shales (1702-78), born 28 June and baptised at St Mary Woolnoth, London, 9 July 1702; married, 28 April 1735 at St Benet, Paul's Wharf, London, Robert Lowndes (1707-83), but had no issue; died in 1778 and was perhaps the woman of this name buried at Bath Abbey (Som.), 3 October 1778;
(3) Charles Shales (1704-08), born 29 February and baptised at St Mary Woolnoth, 17 March 1703/4; died young and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 15 January 1707/8;
(4) Richard Shales (1705-29), baptised at St Mary Woolnoth, London, 18 October 1705; educated at Edmonton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1721); died unmarried, 29 January 1729;
(5) Essex Shales (1707-56), baptised at St Mary Woolnoth, London, 6 November 1707; married, 25 June 1730 at St Paul's Cathedral, London, Richard Lowndes (1706-75) of Winslow Hall (Bucks), son of William Lowndes, Secretary to the Treasury, of Winslow Hall, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 8 March 1756 and was buried at Winslow;
(6) John Shales (later Barrington) (1710-88) (q.v.).
Anne and her husband lived in London; in 1715 she inherited a life interest in the Hatfield Broad Oak estate.
Anne died 17 February 1729. Her husband died 5 October 1734; his will was proved 14 October 1734.

Shales (later Shales Barrington), John (1710-88). Third, but only surviving son of Charles Shales (1670-1734) of London, goldsmith, and his wife Anne, daughter of Thomas Barrington, born 1 September and baptised at St Mary, Woolnoth, London, 12 September 1710. He took the additional name of Barrington, probably on coming of age in 1731. He began building a new house at Hatfield Broad Oak, which he called Hatfield House but which later became known as Barrington Hall, but 'on some dispute about tithes … or … on a matrimonial disappointment … gave up the design and retired to a house at Waltham Cross, where he passed a long life in obscurity'. There are slight indications in the family papers that his 'matrimonial disappointment' concerned the daughter or granddaughter of a Duke; he remained unmarried and died without issue.
John inherited the Hatfield Broad Oak estate from his mother in 1729 and came of age in 1731. He built a new house called Hatfield House or Barrington Hall there c.1740, but never completed or occupied it. At his death he bequeathed his property to his second cousin, Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (d. 1792), 8th bt., disappointing his Lowndes kinsmen, to whom he had left it in an earlier will, although their descendants subsequently inherited it under a reversionary clause.
John died 12 May and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 21 May 1788; his will was proved 19 August 1790.

Barrington, John (c.1647-91). Third son of Sir John Barrington (1615-83), 3rd bt. and his wife Dorothy, daughter of Sir William Lytton of Knebworth (Herts), born about 1647. He married Elizabeth (1648-95), daughter of Edward Hawkins of Bishops Stortford, and had issue:
(1) Anne Barrington (1673-1751), baptised at Sheering (Essex), 16 May 1673; married 1st, 4 April 1698 at St Anne and St Agnes, Aldersgate, London, John Flack (b. 1666) of Linton, and had issue one son; married 2nd, 28 October 1717 at Linton, Sutton John Cony (d. 1748), but had no further issue; her will was proved 4 February 1750/1;
(2) Sir John Barrington (1674-1717), 6th bt. (q.v.).
John lived at Dunmow Park (Essex).
John probably died of smallpox and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak on the same day as his nephew, the 4th baronet, 2 December 1691. His widow was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 28 August 1695.

Barrington, Sir John (1674-1717), 6th bt. Only son of John Barrington (c.1647-91) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Hawkins of Bishops Stortford, baptised at Takeley (Essex), 20 July 1674. He succeeded his first cousin, Sir Charles Barrington, as 6th baronet, 29 January 1715. He married, 22 July 1697 at Hitchin (Herts), Susanna (d. 1750), daughter of George Draper of Hitchin and sister of George Draper of Lilly (Herts), and had issue:
(1) Susanna Barrington (1698-1780), baptised at Hitchin, 6 January 1698/9; married her first cousin, Barrington Flacke (1699-1749) of Linton (Cambs), but had no issue; buried at Hitchin, 7 January 1780; will proved 8 March 1780;
(2) Sir John Barrington (1700-76), 7th bt. (q.v.);
(3) Charles Barrington (1702-c.1734), baptised at Hitchin, 22 May 1702; said to have died unmarried about 1734;
(4) Ann Barrington (b. 1705), baptised at Hitchin, 18 April 1705; probably died young;
(5) Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1708-92), 8th bt. (q.v.);
(6) Sarah Barrington (1710-79), baptised at Hitchin, 20 April 1710; died unmarried and was buried at Hitchin, 22 February 1779.
Sir John inherited the Swainston estate (IoW) and Yorkshire estates from his first cousin, Sir Charles Barrington, 5th bt., in 1715, but sold the Yorkshire property.
Sir John was buried at Hitchin, 27 August 1717; his will was proved 7 November 1717. His widow was buried at Hitchin, 16 September 1750; her will was proved 3 October 1750.

Barrington, Sir John (1700-76), 7th bt. Eldest son of Sir John Barrington (1674-1717), 6th bt., and his wife Susan, daughter of George Draper of Hitchin (Herts), baptised at Hitchin, 17 May 1700. He succeeded his father as 7th baronet, 1717. MP for Newtown (IoW), 1729-34, 1741-75. In 1756 he was one of the island landowners who arranged the rebuilding of the old quay at Ryde (IoW). He married, 17 July 1731 at Fordingbridge (Hants), Mary (d. 1752), daughter of Patricius Roberts, but had no issue.
Sir John inherited the Swainston estate and Dunmow Park (Essex) from his father in 1717 and came of age in 1721. He inherited the Pinkneys estate at Cookham (Berks) from his uncle George Draper in 1745.
Sir John died 4 May and was buried at Lilley, 13 May 1776; his will was proved 21 May 1776. His wife died 17 June 1752.

Barrington, Sir Fitzwilliam (1708-92), 8th bt. Younger son of Sir John Barrington (1674-1717), 6th bt., and his wife Susan, daughter of George Draper of Hitchin (Herts), born 9 May and baptised at Hitchin, 9 June 1708. In 1726 he was apprenticed to Charles Slaughter of London, factor. High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, 1754-55. He married 1st, 18 June 1741 at St. Andrew, Holborn (Middx), Sarah (1719-46), daughter and sole heiress of Capt. Thomas Meades RN, and 2nd, 24 February 1749/50, reputedly with a dowry of £20,000, Jane (1722-97), daughter of Matthew Hall of Horsham (Sussex), and had issue:
(1.1) John Barrington (b. 1743), baptised at St Andrew, Holborn, 22 February 1742/3; died young;
(1.2) Susanna Barrington (1744-47), baptised at St Andrew, Holborn, 19 March 1743/4; died young and was buried at Hitchin, 24 December 1747;
(2.1) Anne Barrington (1751-1832), baptised at St Andrew, Holborn, 24 April 1751; married, 18 May 1791 at Hatfield Broad Oak, Rev. William Browne (1738-1819) of Campfield Place (Herts), son of Thomas Browne of Woolmores (Herts), land surveyor and Garter King of Arms; died 19 March 1832;
(2.2) Sir John Barrington (1752-1818), 9th bt. (q.v.);
(2.3) Winifred Barrington (1754-90), baptised at St Andrew, Holborn, 19 March 1754; married, 20 April 1778 at St. Andrew, Holborn, Robert Pope Blachford (1742-90), son of Bridges Blachford of Osborne House (Isle of Wight), and had issue; died at Aix, Auvergne (France), 23 September 1790;
(2.4) Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1755-1832), 10th bt. (q.v.);
(2.5) Jane Barrington (1756-76), baptised at St Andrew, Holborn, 13 April 1756; died unmarried and was buried at Lilley (Herts), 17 February 1776;
(2.6) Susanna Barrington (1761-62), baptised at St Andrew, Holborn, 11 April 1761; died in infancy and was buried at Hitchin, 11 November 1762;
(2.7) Thomas Barrington (b. & d. 1762), baptised at St Andrew, Holborn, 13 August 1762; died in infancy and was buried there, 30 August 1762.
Sir Fitzwilliam inherited an estate at Lilley (Herts) from his uncle, George Draper in 1745; an estate at Linton (Cambs) from his brother-in-law, Barrington Flacke in 1749; the Swainston, Dunmow Park and Pinkneys estates from his elder brother in 1776, and the Barrington Hall estate from his second cousin, John Shales Barrington, in 1788. He also had a town house in Westminster (initially in Little Ormond St. and then in Great James St. East). He probably sold the Pinkneys estate before his death.
Sir Fitzwilliam died in London, 24 September 1792, and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak. His first wife died 1 April and was buried at Hitchin (Herts), 7 April 1746. His widow died 13 April and was buried at Hatfield Broad Oak, 21 April 1797.

Barrington, Sir John (1752-1818), 9th bt. Elder son of Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1708-92), 8th bt., and his second wife Jane, daughter of Matthew Hall, born 8 December 1752 and baptised at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), 3 January 1753. Educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (matriculated 1771). MP for Newtown (IoW), 1780-96, a borough constituency with some forty electors which was effectively controlled by the Barringtons and the Worsleys of Appuldurcombe, who each controlled one seat. As an MP, he took an independent stance although he leaned towards the Pittite Tories; after 1796 he sold his seat at Newtown for about £1,200 a year. JP and DL for Isle of Wight. In 1803, at the height of the Napoleonic invasion scare, he was one of the deputy lieutenants given command of a sector of the Isle of Wight under the Governor. He succeeded his father as 9th baronet, 24 September 1792. He was unmarried and without issue.
Sir John inherited the Barrington Hall, Dunmow Park and Swainston Manor estates from his father in 1792. He sold Dunmow Park in 1797 to John and Richard James.
Sir John died at Barrington Hall, 5 August 1818; his will was proved in the PCC, 23 January 1819. He made generous provision for his brother's children by a settlement executed in his lifetime and by his will, and there was a legal dispute as to whether the will was intended to make additional provision or to merely confirm the provisions of the earlier settlement.

Barrington, Sir Fitzwilliam (1755-1832), 10th bt. Younger son of Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1708-92), 8th bt., and his second wife Jane, daughter of Matthew Hall, born 2 March and baptised at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), 24 March 1755. An officer in the 1st Horse Guards and later 1st Life Guards (Cornet; Lt., 1783; retired, 1791), and later in the Isle of Wight Supplementary Cavalry (Capt. 1797). He succeeded his elder brother as 10th baronet, 5 August 1818. He married, 8 July 1789 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Edith Mary (1770-1829), daughter of Sir Samuel Marshall, kt., RN, and had issue:
(1) Louisa Edith Barrington (1790-1847); inherited the Swainston estate; married, 8 April 1813 at Calbourne (IoW), Sir Richard Godin Simeon (1784-1854) MP, 2nd bt., and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 12 April 1847;
(2) Fitzwilliam Barrington (1791-c.1799), baptised at Whippingham (IoW), 15 October 1791; died young, about 1799;
(3) Jane Elizabeth Barrington (1793-1859); lived at East Cowes (IoW); died unmarried, 26 February 1859; will proved 11 April 1859 (effects under £12,000);
(4) Julia Barrington (1795-1821), born 28 December 1795 and baptised at Calbourne (IoW), 1 January 1796; married, 6 June 1817 at Calbourne, Henry Philip Powys (1791-1859) (who m2, 16 October 1823 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Philippa Emma Cunliffe Shaw (c.1802-58) and had further issue six sons and six daughters), eldest son of Philip Lybbe Powys of Hardwick House (Oxon), and had issue one son; died 17 September 1821;
(5) Anne Emma Barrington (1798-1819), baptised at Calbourne, 15 October 1798; died unmarried, 7 April 1819;
(6) Ellen Flack Barrington (1802-32), baptised at Calbourne, 4 April 1802; married, 16 May 1824, John George Campbell (d. 1830), second son of Col. John Campbell of Islay and Shawfield, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 15 May 1832;
(7) Mary Barrington (1807-29), born 30 June and baptised at Calbourne, 5 July 1807; married, 5 August 1827 at Calbourne, Capt. Thomas Pakenham Vandeleur (1798-1879) (who m2, 26 August 1834 at Limerick, Frances Lucy, eldest daughter of William Wray Maunsell, Archdeacon of Limerick, and had issue six sons and eight daughters), third son of Col. John Ormsby Vandeleur; died without issue, 29 May 1829.
Sir Fitzwilliam inherited the Barrington Hall and Swainston Manor estates from his elder brother in 1818, but seems to have been resident at Swainston during his brother's lifetime.
Sir Fitzwilliam died 26 September 1832, when the baronetcy became extinct; his will was proved 18 October 1832. His wife died 15 November 1829.

Principal sources

Burke's Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies, 2nd edn., 1841, pp. 43-44; A. Searle, Barrington family letters 1628-32, Camden Society 4th series vol. 28, 1983; VCH Essex, vol. 4, 1956, pp. 24-32 and vol. 8, 1983, pp. 158-86; C.W.R. Winter, The manor houses of the Isle of Wight, 1984, pp. 146-51; J. Harris, 'The Shoppee Album: II. A Digression on John Sanderson and the Rococo', Furniture History, 1990, pp. 101-03, pl. 16; D.W. Lloyd & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Isle of Wight, 2006, pp. 278-81; J. Bettley & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Essex, 2nd edn., 2007, p. 479; Sir J. Baker, The men of court, 1440-1550, Selden Society, 2012, p. 276; History of Parliament biographies of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th baronets.

Location of archives

Barrington of Barrington Hall, baronets: a complex situation. Before their dispersal in 1886, the family papers were partly calendared by the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (Seventh Report, 1879). In 1886 selected documents from the archive were deposited in the British Museum (now British Library Add. Ch. 28313-28637 and Egerton 2643-2651; the latter including the Barrington family letters published by Arthur Searle). The rest of the archive was sold with the estate to Mr. A.H. Gosling in 1908, and the antiquary Canon F.W. Galpin (who was vicar of Hatfield Broad Oak, 1891-1915) removed most of the surviving manuscripts to the parochial library, where they remained until deposited in the Essex Record Office between 1939 and 1965 [Essex Record Office, D/DBa]. Several stray documents, including a number of estate maps, have also been deposited at the Essex Record Office as part of other collections [Essex Record Office D/DU 472; D/DHt T126; D/DQ14/38, 191-192].

Coat of arms

Argent, three chevronels gules and a label of as many points, azure.

Can you help?

• Does anyone know more about the 20th century ownership of Barrington Hall or the post-war ownership and current use of Swainston Manor?
• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated.
• As always, any additions or corrections to the account given above will be gratefully received and incorporated.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 8 March 2020.