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| Barrington of Beckett House, Viscounts Barrington |
William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington, was a Member of Parliament continuously for 38 years, first in his father's old seat of Berwick-on-Tweed, and later in Plymouth, where he became a popular figure and was continually re-elected unopposed. He evidently had charm, and as a result, he had a wide circle of friends, both inside Government and beyond. They included the gentlemen architects and landscape gardeners, Sanderson Miller and Thomas Wright, who altered the 17th century Beckett House and its grounds for him. Despite a lisp, he was accounted an effective parliamentary performer, and he became a Lord of the Admiralty in 1746 and remained in office under successive ministries until 1778. He avoided identification with any party, being willing to serve in any Government at the king's request, and he was assiduous and competent in office: more, perhaps, a senior civil servant than a politician in the modern sense. He had the favour of both George II and George III, the latter coming to rely on him particularly as Secretary at War - a post which he held from 1755 to 1778 with only a three-year break. He was popular with his constituents partly because he was happy to use his influence with other ministers on their behalf, and he undoubtedly assisted the careers of his brothers too. But he never sought a particular place or reward for himself, being content to serve where he was put by successive Prime Ministers, and eschewing any request for advancement in the peerage. Growing weary of office in the 1770s, he had repeatedly to press Lord North and the king to be released from office over some three years, and when he was eventually allowed to stand down he received a generous pension but not the British peerage which would have sent him to the House of Lords. It may be that one was offered but turned down, if he feared being drawn back into Government.
The 2nd Viscount was married but had no surviving issue, and the title passed in turn to the three sons of his next brother, Major-General John Barrington (1719-64), who had been orphaned at a young age. The 2nd Viscount had thereafter paid for and supervised their education, and he thus probably knew them better than a man might know his nephews in other circumstances. It would appear, however, that he had formed a low opinion of the two elder boys' suitability to inherit and manage his wealth and estates, and he bequeathed his property to his surviving brothers and a couple of close friends as trustees. They were charged with preserving the estate until such time as the title might pass to someone they considered fit to inherit the estate, in the meantime paying an annuity out of the estate to the current peer. William Barrington (1758-1801), the 3rd Viscount, was apparently not favoured because his uncle feared he would prove mentally unstable, although there seems no evidence that this was the case. He married but had no issue, and lived quietly near Bath until his death in 1801. His brother, Richard Barrington (1760-1813), the 4th Viscount, may have travelled to America as a young man, since he married the daughter of a Philadelphia merchant in 1783, although they had no issue. They lived chiefly in France, where he was occasionally arrested as an enemy alien during the recurrent conflicts with Britain in the Napoleonic era, and he died in Valenciennes at the end of 1813.
The Viscountcy then descended to the third brother, George Barrington (1761-1829), who was a clergyman in County Durham, where his uncle the bishop had appointed him to the plum living of Sedgefield in 1791 and made him a prebendary in the Cathedral. The rectory house at Sedgefield burned down a year after he took on the living, and he rebuilt it, incorporating the remains of the previous house. His architect is unknown, but the result is a plain but handsome five bay two storey house, now called Ceddesfield Hall and used as an arts centre.
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| Ceddesfield Hall, Sedgefield: built as the rectory by the Rev. George Barrington in 1792. |
The 5th Viscount was deemed by his uncle's trustees to be fit to inherit the family estates, and the family trust was wound up in his favour. However, he was comfortably settled in County Durham and was not anxious to move south. He therefore appointed an energetic agent to manage the estate, put it in order, and prepare for the building of a new house, as the 17th century building that had been inherited by the 1st Viscount and altered by his son was far from being the modern comfortable building that he was used to at Sedgefield. The scheme for a new house was in fact something that Shute Barrington had instigated when he was acting as a trustee of the estate, and plans had been drawn up for it by William Atkinson, who worked on a number of projects for the bishop. The bishop put a great deal of time and energy throughout his life into building and restoration projects, first with Sir Robert Taylor and James Wyatt at Salisbury, and later with James Wyatt and William Atkinson at Durham Cathedral and Auckland Castle. He probably also carried out work at Mongewell Park (Oxon), the estate which came to him through his second marriage. At Beckett, although some money was spent on preparations for rebuilding in the years after the 5th Viscount inherited, work stopped before construction had actually begun, and the project was only revived in 1826 when the Bishop died and left him £10,000 towards the cost. However, the Bishop's complex will took several years to implement, and nothing had been done before the 5th Viscount died in Rome in 1829.
Unlike his brothers and uncles, the 5th Viscount had an enormous family of ten sons and five daughters, although several of them died in childhood or soon afterwards. His heir was the eldest son, William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington, who was brought up in County Durham and acted as High Sheriff there from 1819-26 (the shrievalty not being an annual appointment in Durham at that time, as it was elsewhere). On inheriting the Berkshire estate he at once set about building a new house there, but he swiftly rejected the now dated plans by William Atkinson and instead invited his brother-in-law, Tom Liddell (1800-56), who had just finished building Ravensworth Castle (Co. Durham), to prepare new plans. The present Beckett House was the result, built between 1831 and 1834, although said not to have been fully finished inside until 1850. In 1833, the 6th Viscount relocated to Berkshire and moved in, becoming the MP for the county for twenty years from 1837 and a director and eventually chairman of the Great Western Railway. He had four sons and five daughters, and he was succeeded in turn his two elder sons; the two younger sons made notable careers in the diplomatic service and the Foreign Office.
George William Barrington (1824-86), 7th Viscount Barrington was another politician. After acting as secretary to Lord Derby for some years, he entered Parliament as Conservative MP for Eye in Suffolk in 1866. He was made a Government whip by Disraeli, and had the particular task of reporting to Queen Victoria on the debates in the Commons, which he evidently did to her great satisfaction. When Disraeli lost the 1880 election, he was rewarded for his service by a UK peerage as Baron Shute of Beckett, with a special remainder in favour of his next brother, which meant that he and his successors sat in the House of Lords. He resumed his career as a Tory whip in the Lords, and was made chief whip a few months before he died unexpectedly while staying at Grimsthorpe Castle (Lincs). He had three daughters but no sons, so the title and estate passed to his brother, Percy Barrington (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington, although Beckett House continued to be occupied by the 7th Viscount's widow until 1898. As a young man, Percy had had no expectation of inheriting either, and had bought himself a run-down gentleman farmer's estate in north Buckinghamshire called Westbury Manor, where he repaired the house for his occupation. When his sister in law died in 1898 and he came into possession of Beckett House, he was an elderly man, and he leased out both houses and moved to London. When he died in 1901, his son, Walter Bulkeley Barrington (1848-1933), 9th Viscount Barrington, was established at a house called Brackley Hill, which stood close to Westbury Manor but just across the county boundary in Northamptonshire. He sold Westbury Manor to Sir Samuel Scott, 2nd bt., in 1902, and continued to lease out Beckett House. One senses that following the Agricultural Depression and increases in taxation, money was increasingly tight, and when he stopped getting tenants for Beckett House he moved there and sold Brackley Hill. After the First World War the position was much worse, and he made efforts to sell the Beckett House estate in 1922 and 1927, but found no takers. He died in 1933 and his widow in 1935, and his trustees finally managed to sell Beckett House in 1936, the purchaser being the War Office, which established an army training school there.
In 1933 the family titles passed to the 9th Viscount's eldest son, William Reginald Shute Barrington (1873-1960), 10th Viscount Barrington, who although conventional enough in some respects became part of the scandalous ménage-a-cinq which surrounded the keyboard musician, Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (1871-1948) at Nether Lypiatt Manor in the Cotswolds, the story of which has often been told. As a result of this alliance, he remained unmarried and had no heir, so on his death the title passed to his nephew, Patrick William Daines Barrington (1908-90), the 11th Viscount, on whose death the family honours became extinct. It is remarkable that a family which in some generations produced so many sons, should have no living male-line descendants.
The Essex family, who were seated here for over a hundred years in the 16th and early 17th centuries and were granted one of the first baronetcies in 1611, no doubt remodelled or replaced the original manor house with a building more befitting their status as one of Berkshire's leading gentry families. In the 1870s, the 7th Viscount Barrington recorded the family tradition that 'half of this house had been burnt down in the Civil Wars', while another account states that the fire damage occurred in 1666. Since the hearth tax returns for 1662 and 1663 show no building in Beckett tithing with more than two hearths, it seems probable that there had been Civil War damage, and that considerably more than 'half the house' must have been destroyed. John Wildman, who bought the estate in about 1657, later repaired and enlarged the remains, and its subsequent appearance suggests that his work was done not much later than the 1660s.
The two drawings of the house which are known both show an irregular L-shaped house with two-storey ranges of eleven and fifteen bays connected by a recessed linking block. There are several features of the building which support the theory that it was a remodelling of the previous structure rather than an entirely new building. One is the very irregularity of the composition of long single-pile ranges with prominent but irregularly-placed chimneystacks, at a time when a completely new house would be a more compact and symmetrical. The shorter and taller range is clearly of two halves: a left-hand part of two storeys and a right-hand part with a single floor of larger windows set above a blank wall. The latter may well have been a reworking of the Tudor or Jacobean great hall, which was still identifiable internally in the 1750s. In 1722 Beckett was described as "a very large house situated on a dry soil containing 23 rooms, besides closets, 8 garrets, vaults, cellars, and offices of all kinds... with all convenient outhouses, as stables, a large and handsome barn, etc., with the several courts, gardens and orchards, large dovecote, large fish pond of an acre, summerhouse being a cubed 24 feet". The coloured drawing shows the circular dovecote, behind the putative hall, and the monochrome drawing shows the relationship of the house to a the 'summerhouse', which was apparently built as a boathouse and fishing temple. Miraculously, this survives: it is built of smooth ashlar, but stands on a rusticated rubble base that once contained the boathouse.
The upper part consists of a single room, with a doorway between a pair of windows on each side, a coved ceiling, and a pyramidal roof with far-projecting eaves, supposedly designed to shelter anglers from the rain. The classical proportions and detailing, such as the pulvinated friezes over the doorways, suggest a mid 17th century date, but in what circumstances was it built? Its architecture is far more sophisticated than the works to the house in the 1660s, so it is unlikely to be of the same date. But if it is earlier, why was it built when the house to which it was attached lay in ruins? The answer may be that for a brief period between 1652 and c.1657, Beckett belonged to Sir George Pratt, who had begun in 1649 a new great house at Coleshill (Berks), two miles to the north, to the design of his cousin, Roger Pratt, with input from Inigo Jones and John Webb. Work at Coleshill stopped in about 1652 and did not resume until about 1658, and it seems feasible that in the interval Sir George built this little building as a setting for quiet recreation and tranquillity. If so, it seems very probable that it was designed by his cousin, Roger Pratt.
Our next glimpse of Beckett House comes in the mid 18th century, when William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington, made changes to the house and grounds with the assistance of his friends, the architectural amateurs, Sanderson Miller and Thomas Wright. Barrington and Miller were probably brought together by mutual acquaintances, such as Lord Lyttelton or Lord Dacre, but the first contact we know about is in December 1756, when Miller's diary records him calling on Lord Barrington in London. A few days after Christmas he travelled to Beckett, where he spent a good part of New Year's Day 1757 'drawing out ground plan and elevation of his lordship's new rooms'. The intention was no doubt to make the 17th century house more fashionable and up-to-date, but it would seem nothing was done immediately. Attention turned instead to the construction of a new stable block (which survives, much altered) to Miller's designs between 1763 and 1766, and it was not until this was almost complete that there is evidence of Miller's renewed involvement with the house. From 1766-69 works were evidently in progress under the supervision of one of the Strong family of masons (probably Thomas Strong (b. 1716)), and Miller was requested to supply a design for a new front door in November 1766. Lord Barrington also consulted William Chambers about the works to the house in 1766, but nothing is known to have come from the contact. At much the same time as work resumed on the house, Lord Barrington consulted Thomas Wright about improvements to the grounds. It is known that Wright designed a rose garden in the shape of a rose blossom, but what else he did is uncertain. The transformation of the fishpond by the 17th century temple into a naturalistic river in the style of Capability Brown is perhaps unlikely to be his work.
The 3rd and 4th Viscounts were not resident and from 1793 until 1814 Beckett was in the hands of the trustees of the 2nd Viscount's will, of whom the most active was his youngest brother, Shute Barrington (1734-1826), Bishop of Durham, who exercised a considerable influence on the estate during the early 19th century. It was no doubt as a result of his influence that his protégé, William Atkinson (c.1774-1839), produced designs for a new house in 1805, although nothing then seems to have been done. He made further plans in 1814, after the 5th Viscount (in whose favour the trust was finally terminated) came into the title. The 5th Viscount was a middle-aged clergyman in Bishop Barrington's own diocese of Durham, and did not wish to move south, so he appointed as Steward a man called George Merryweather, who was charged with reviving the estate and preparing to build a new mansion house. Although the Bishop was evidently willing to help with the cost of building a new house, the idea seems to have been quietly dropped by about 1818, and Atkinson's plans remained on paper.
In 1826, Bishop Barrington bequeathed his nephew £10,000 towards the cost of building a new house to Atkinson's plans, but the 5th Viscount died before the bishop's complex will had been implemented, and his son, William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington, did not find Atkinson's proposals - now some 20 years out of date - satisfactory. He turned instead to his brother-in-law, Tom Liddell, who had recently 'devoted some years to the pleasing and arduous task of superintending' the completion of John Nash's Ravensworth Castle for his father. He described him as 'A man of singularly good taste, who... has great natural abilities as an Architect, and kindly undertook to design plans for the erection of an Elizabethan House'. As at Ravensworth, Liddell had help from James Clephan, a minor architect and builder from north-east England who acted as clerk of works on site, and who seems to have made a career of this role (he went on to support the Earl de Grey with the rebuilding of Wrest Park (Beds) in 1834-39). The main contractors were Richard Pace & Son of Lechlade. The foundation stone of the new house was laid in October 1829 and by 1833 the rooms on the west side of the house were ready for occupation, but it is said that not until around 1850 was the whole house truly finished inside.
The entrance front was of nine bays, and had a central Tuscan portico, sash windows in moulded surrounds, and a high hipped roof set back behind a balustraded parapet. The end wall of the range had a full-height canted bay window, which was given a veranda in the 1870s. The five bay block facing the river was probably of two dates since the windows were not evenly spaced. It too had a tall hipped roof with attic dormers and tall chimney stacks, and a projecting ground-floor bay window towards the river, as well as an attached Victorian conservatory.
All this is hard to interpret with much confidence, but the form and scale of the entrance range suggest that it may have been 17th century in origin, although the sash windows, canted bay and parapet must be later additions and may represent alterations by Shute Barrington. The bolder scale of the taller block suggests that it was later in origin, and probably built for the Bishop, who spent an increasing amount of time at the house in his later years, though the cambered window heads suggest that it could even date from after his death in 1826. By 1865 the house contained more than fifty rooms, including six reception rooms and a dozen principal bedrooms, but nothing is known of its internal decoration. The service wing adjoined the main buildings on the south, while the stables and coach house lay to the north-east.
The surrounding park of 120 acres seems to have been formed and laid out by Shute Barrington, whose nephew, the Picturesque pioneer, Sir Uvedale Price (1747-1829) may have influenced the design. The park included mixed plantations, a flower garden, an icehouse (said to have been dated 1783 but destroyed in 1974) and an avenue of elms leading to a commemorative stone monument set on a surviving plinth. The long and serpentine millpond lake predated the landscaping but was incorporated into the design, and a pedimented classical temple was erected on its south side. The Gothick remodelling of the church in 1791, possibly to the designs of James Wyatt, was presumably also part of the scheme.
A new red brick house was built on a different site south of the church in 1890 for Alexander Fraser. It was a compact block designed by the London architect R.S. Wornum in the William-and-Mary style, with a largely symmetrical garden front with a ground floor colonnade between the shallow projecting wings and a prominent modillion cornice. The entrance front was made less regular by the addition of an off-centre porch tower and porte-cochere. Once the new house was completed, its predecessor was demolished except for its service court, in which two gasometers were built to supply a heating system for the adjoining greenhouses.
Inside, the interiors were elaborately fitted up with a neo-Jacobean staircase and panelling, some Adam-style ceilings and Georgian style fireplaces. The house was at first dominated by a central lead-covered dome and a busy roofscape with tall brick chimneystacks and attic dormers of several different forms, but the dome was removed and the rest simplified in the 1920s for the American financier, Howard Gould, who bought the property from Fraser's executors. He seems also to have altered and simplified the interior, changing the arrangement of the staircase and replacing some of the original monumental chimneypieces.
In 1943, the estate was sold to John Hopwood, but he never obtained possession of the house, which was requisitioned during the Second World War for use as a RAF convalescent home. The surrounding lawns were cluttered with temporary wooden huts, most of which were converted to educational use after the site was bought in 1950 by Rabbi Kapul Rosen (d. 1962), who founded Carmel College here. The parkland setting was increasingly compromised by the addition of new school buildings in the 1950s and 1960s.
A master plan drawn up by
Thomas Hancock in the early 1960s attempted to give coherence to earlier piecemeal
developments, but was only partially carried out. A second lake was created by damming the stream which ran between the mansion house and church, and further new school buildings were designed
by Hancock or John Toovey of Wallingford. A striking new boat house with an exhibition gallery (the Julius Gottlieb Gallery) above it was designed by Sir Basil Spence in 1970 in the form of a concrete pyramid with triangular windows. Following the sudden closure of the school in 1997, the site was abandoned and many of the 20th century buildings became derelict. A scheme has recently been agreed for the development of the site for housing which will see the original house restored, the listed modern buildings on the site restored and repurposed and new blocks of flats erected within the site.
Descent: Thomas Restwold sold 1493 to Robert Coorte (d. 1509); to son- or brother-in-law, Richard Moleyns; to son William Moleyns (d. c.1553); to son, Humphrey Moleyns; to widow, Mary (d. 1590) later the wife of Thomas Barton (d. 1569); to son, William Moleyns (d. 1613); to son, William Moleyns (d. 1650), who sold to Thomas Saunders MP (d. 1670); to son, John Saunders (d. 1690); to son, John Saunders (d. 1731); to sister Jane (d. 1763), wife of Sir John Guise (1701-69), 4th bt.; to daughter Jane (d. 1807), later wife of Rt. Rev. Shute Barrington (1734-1826), bishop successively of Llandaff, Salisbury and Durham; to great-nephew, Uvedale Thomas Shudd Price (d. 1844); to sister, Mary Ann Elizabeth (d. 1878), wife of Sir Robert Price (1786-1857), 2nd bt; to kinsman Edward Price (d. 1888); sold to tenant, Alexander Caspar Fraser (d. 1916), who rebuilt the house; sold after his death to the American financier, Howard Gould (1871-1959); sold 1943 to John Hopwood but requisitioned in WW2 by Royal Air Force; sold 1950 to Rabbi Kapul Rosen (d. 1962) for Carmel College (closed 1997); sold to Corner Homes. The house was let in the later 19th century to the Scottish broker John Mathison Fraser (d. 1885) and his son Alexander Caspar Fraser (d. 1916), who bought the freehold.
An L-shaped early 17th century house, apparently built for either Lestrange Mordaunt or his successor Lawrence Washington, survived with little external alteration into the mid 19th century. By then it had drifted down the social scale and had become a farmhouse. It was sold in 1854 to the Hon. Percy Barrington, later the 8th Viscount Barrington, who restored the house as his residence. It was sold after his death to Sir Samuel Scott (1875-1960), 2nd bt., who in 1902-03 demolished the existing kitchen wing and greatly enlarged the house to the designs of Clyde Francis Young (1871-1948), the son of the better known William Young.
The original hall range, facing east, was retained, and three further ranges built behind it to enclose a courtyard, all on a rather larger scale than the original range. When it was offered for sale in 1931, the house had five reception rooms apart from Sir Samuel's business room and his wife's boudoir, and fifteen principal bedrooms. Although much of the estate was sold in 1931 the house failed to find a buyer, and it was subsequently sold privately in about 1935 for use as a school. Initially called Westbury Manor School, it was bought during or just after the Second World War by Frank Chappell, whose Beachborough preparatory school had moved from Kent to Wiltshire at the outbreak of the war and was looking for a permanent home. When Mr Chappell retired, the school became a Trust and the manor remains the centre of its operations today.
Descent: Thomas Strange (d. 1485); to daughter Anne, later wife of John Strange (d. 1514) of Little Massingham (Norfk) and Sir Edward Knyvett (d. 1528), who settled the estate in 1540 on her daughter Barbara, wife of Robert Mordaunt; to son, Robert Mordaunt (d. 1602); to nephew, Lestrange Mordaunt, who sold 1621 to Laurence Washington; sold 1639 to Sir Thomas Littleton, bt.; to son, Sir Henry Littleton; who sold 1650 to Roger Price, sen. (d. 1677), and jun. (d. 1694); to widow, Elizabeth Price (fl. 1709); to son, Thomas Price (d. 1733); to son, Campbell Price; to daughter [forename unknown] Withers; to son?, Benjamin Price Withers (d. 1771); to son, Benjamin Price Withers (fl. 1814); to Gurden family (later Withers), who sold 1854 to Percy Barrington (1825-1901), later 8th Viscount Barrington; sold after his death to Sir Samuel Scott (1875-1960), 2nd bt., who remodelled it.; sold c.1935 for use as Westbury Manor School; sold by 1947 to F.S. Chappell for use as Beachborough School.
Shute (later Barrington), John (1678-1734), 1st Viscount Barrington. Third son of Benjamin Shute of London, merchant, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the ejected Independent divine Joseph Caryl, and sister of the first wife of Sir Thomas Abney, born at Theobalds (Herts), 1678. Educated at Thomas Rowe's dissenting academy in Stoke Newington, the University of Utrecht, c.1694-98 and the Inner Temple (admitted 1695). A moderate Presbyterian in religion, he first came to public notice when he published The rights of Protestant dissenters (1704-05), on the strength of which he was employed by the Government to win Presbyterian support in Scotland for the Act of Union in 1707. He was rewarded for his work there by appointment as a Commissioner of Customs, 1708-11, a post from which he was removed by the Tories on their coming into Government. In 1713 he published A dissuasive from Jacobitism, which secured him an audience with King George I on his arrival in England. He took the name Barrington in lieu of Shute in 1711, and took the arms of the Barrington family by Act of Parliament in 1716. He was Whig MP for Berwick-on-Tweed, 1715-23, and devoted much of his time to measures for the relief of Protestant dissenters. Although he spoke for the Government on a few occasions in around 1720, it is not clear why he was created Baron Barrington of Newcastle (Co. Dublin) and Viscount Barrington of Ardglass (Co. Down) in the peerage of Ireland, 1 July 1720. As this was an Irish peerage it did not prevent him continuing to sit in the British House of Commons, but in 1723 he was expelled from the Commons for his role as Sub-Governor (under Prince Frederick, the King's grandson) of the Harburg Company, which had promoted a lottery to raise money for the development of the port of Harburg in Hanover, that was deemed to be fraudulent because much of the proceeds would go into the pockets of the directors rather than the specified purpose. After standing unsuccessfully for Berwick in 1727, he encouraged Dissenters to seek the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, but lost credit with this community when it became known that he had sought a British peerage in return for dropping his support for this measure. He stood again for Berwick-upon-Tweed at the general election in 1733 but was narrowly defeated. He married, 23 June 1713 at St Benet, Paul's Wharf, London, Anne (d. 1763), daughter and co-heir of Sir William Daines, kt. of Bristol, and had issue, possibly among others:
(1) The Hon. Sarah Barrington (d. 1759); married, 2 June 1746 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Robert Price (1717-61) of Foxley (Herefs), son of Uvedale Tomkins Price, and had issue five sons (including Sir Uvedale Price, 1st bt., the pioneer of Picturesque landscaping, and Barrington Price, who occupied Beckett House in c.1810) and three daughters; died 1759;
(2) William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) Francis Barrington (b. 1718), born and baptised 22 March 1717/8; died young;
(4) Maj-Gen. the Hon. John Barrington (1719-64) (q.v.);
(5) The Hon. Anne Barrington (d. 1780); married, 2 January 1747 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Thomas Clarges (1721-53), eldest son of Sir Thomas Clarges, 2nd bt., and had issue one son and one daughter; buried at Littleton (Surrey), 26 September 1780;
(6) The Hon. Daines Barrington (1728-1800); educated at Queens College, Oxford (matriculated 1745) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1745; called 1750; KC 1764); barrister-at-law on the Oxford circuit; marshal of the high court of Admiralty, 1751-53; secretary of Greenwich Hospital, 1753-57; a judge of great sessions for the counties of Merioneth, Caernarvonshire, and Anglesey 1757-85; recorder of Bristol, 1764-85; second justice of Chester, 1778-85; he resigned all his appointments in 1785 except the most lucrative, as commissary-general of the stores at Gibraltar, which paid him over £500 a year until his death; he published an important contribution to legal history, Observations on the Statutes, Chiefly the More Ancient (1766), which argued that much statute law was unnecessary and out of date, or duplicated common law; he is remembered however as much for his contributions to natural history and antiquarian studies as for his legal work, and especially for his publication of The Naturalist's Journal, a pro-forma diary for the systematic recording of observations, which was used by Gilbert White, whom he encouraged; he was appointed FSA and FRS, 1767, and published 24 papers in the journal of the former and 10 papers in the journal of the latter; he served on the Council of the Royal Society and used his influence to encourage polar exploration; he lived in the Inner Temple, and was one of the superintendents of its gardens from 1782; he died unmarried, 14 March, and was buried at the Temple Church, London, 18 March 1800;
(7) Admiral the Hon. Samuel Barrington (1730-1800), born 13 February 1729/30; an officer in the Royal Navy from 1740 (Lt., 1745; Cdr. 1746; Capt. 1747; Rear-Adm., 1778; Lt-Gen. of Marines, 1785-99; Admiral of the White, 1794-1800; General of Marines, 1799-1800), who proved himself brave and capable in action, and who was popular with his officers and men, although not always with his political masters; he died unmarried, 16 August 1800 and was buried at Shrivenham, where he is commemorated by a mural monument; his will was proved 3 September 1800;
(8) The Hon. Mary Barrington (c.1731-43); died young, September 1743;
(9) Rt. Rev. & Hon. Shute Barrington (1734-1826) (q.v.);
In 1710, he inherited the Beckett House, Shrivenham estate from John Wildman, to whom he was unrelated and with whom he was barely acquainted, Wildman considering that he was 'the most worthy of all his acquaintance of adoption, after the manner of the Romans, a mode of settling property of which he had always approved'. A few years later, in 1716, he was also made the heir of Francis Barrington of Tofts, to whom he was distantly related by marriage (Francis Barrington had married his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Shute, sheriff of London).
He died as the result of a carriage accident, 14 December, and was buried at Shrivenham, 27 December 1734; his will was proved 13 June 1738. His widow died 8 February 1763; administration of her goods was granted 10 March 1763.
Barrington, Rt. Hon. William Wildman (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington. Eldest son of John Shute (later Barrington) (1678-1734), 1st Viscount Barrington, and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heir of Sir William Daines, born 15 January 1717. Educated under James Graham at Dalston (Middx) and at the University of Geneva (matriculated 1735) and then undertook the Grand Tour, visiting Florence, Rome, Lucca and Venice before returning to England in February 1738. He succeeded his father as 2nd Viscount, 14 December 1734, but as this was an Irish title he was able to sit in the House of Commons, and did so as MP for Berwick-on-Tweed, 1740-54 and for Plymouth, 1754-78, where he is said to have been adored by his constituents and was continually re-elected unopposed. He had a lisp, but despite this was regarded even by his political opponents as being an effective parliamentary performer. He was appointed to Government as a Lord of the Admiralty, 1746-54 and Master of the Great Wardrobe, 1754-55; was sworn of the Privy Council, 1755, on being appointed Secretary at War, 1755-61; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1761-62; Treasurer of the Navy, 1762-65 and finally Secretary at War again, 1764-78. Despite his exceptional record of being in office continuously for 32 years, he was not personally ambitious and knew that he was not the stuff of which Prime Ministers are made: his ‘invariable rule’ was ‘to ask nothing, to refuse nothing, to let others place me, and to do my best wherever I am placed’, believing it was his duty to support the Government of the day chosen by the king, regardless of its leader or party, so long as his conscience allowed. By the mid-1770s he seems to have been tired of office and he was having to vote against his conscience on matters concerning America. He repeatedly sought to relinquish office but the King had difficulty in choosing a successor, and even after he took the Chiltern Hundreds and resigned from Parliament in May 1778 he was retained in office as Secretary at War until the following December. His reputation for application and competence suggests that he was temperamentally more of a civil servant than a politician. However, his ability to command the confidence of both George II and George III, as well as of successive Prime Ministers, makes it remarkable that he never sought a seat in the House of Lords through the grant of a British peerage and was not rewarded with one on his final retirement; perhaps he was offered one and refused it, judging that he might be drawn back into Government if he accepted. He did, however, accept a pension of £2,000 a year, payment of which was briefly suspended when he was made joint Postmaster-General in January-April 1782, but subsequently reinstated at the king's express command. He was elected a member of the Society of Dilettanti in 1739. In 1771 it was noted that he was:
(1) Rothesia Anne Barrington (b. 1741); died in infancy;
(2) William Hill Barrington (b. 1743), born and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 4 February 1743/4; died in infancy.
It is said that his marriage was unhappy, and he is reputed to have solaced himself with a long-standing relationship with Lady Harrington, which lasted until 1770. After the death of his brother, Maj-Gen. John Barrington, in 1764, he provided for the latter's family, but seems to have stopped short of formally adopting them.
He inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his father in 1734 and came of age in 1738. He remodelled the house and laid out the grounds in 1757-69 to the designs of Sanderson Miller and Thomas Wright.
He died 1 February 1793 and was buried at Shrivenham, where he is commemorated by a monument designed by James Wyatt and carved by Richard Westmacott. His wife died 24 September 1764.
Barrington, Maj-Gen. John (1719-64). Third son of John Shute (later Barrington) (1678-1734), 1st Viscount Barrington, and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heir of Sir William Daines, born 2 December and baptised at Little Baddow (Essex), 11 December 1719. An officer in the army (Lt., 1739; Capt-Lt., 1746; Capt-Lt. Col., 1748; Col., 1756; Maj-Gen, 1758); Colonel of the 64th Foot, 1758, the 40th Foot, 1759 and 8th Foot, 1759-64. After his elder brother became Secretary at War he was made an Aide de Camp to King George II, 1756 and Governor of Berwick, 1759-64. In 1758-59, he commanded an expedition in the French West Indies, during which he rescued a difficult situation and secured the capture of Guadeloupe, although many men were lost and his own health was undermined by the rigours of the climate and disease. His portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. He married, probably about 1757, Elizabeth (b. 1733), daughter of Florentius Vassall, a wealthy planter and slave owner in Jamaica, and had issue:
(1) William Barrington (1758-1801), 3rd Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(2) Richard Barrington (1760-1814), 4th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) George Barrington (1761-1829), 5th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(4) Louisa Barrington (1764-1838?), born 8 December 1764 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 10 January 1765; married 1st, 16 April 1787 at St Michael in Bedwardine, Worcester, Rev. Thomas Tristram (d. 1796) of Brookfield House, Belbroughton (Worcs), rector of Barkston, and had issue five sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 14 May 1799 at Bedminster (Som.), Thomas Cooke, and had issue one daughter; said to have died 1838.
He lived in London.
He died in Paris (France), 2 April 1764. His widow was living in December 1764, but perhaps died soon afterwards: his children were subsequently supported by their uncle, the 2nd Viscount.
Barrington, Rt. Rev. and Hon. Shute (1734-1826). Sixth and youngest son of John Shute (later Barrington) (1678-1734), 1st Viscount Barrington, and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heir of Sir William Daines, born 26 May 1734. Educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford (matriculated 1752; BA 1755; MA 1757); Fellow of Merton and Student of Christ Church (DCL 1762); ordained deacon, 1756 and priest soon afterwards; chaplain in ordinary to King George III, 1760; canon of Hereford Cathedral, 1761-69, Christ Church, Oxford, 1761-68, St Paul's Cathedral, 1768-76, and St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 1776; Bishop of Llandaff, 1769-82, Salisbury, 1782-91 and of Durham, 1791-1826; Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, 1782-91; Visitor of Balliol College, Oxford, 1805-26. He financed major repairs to the Bishop's Palace at Salisbury and instigated the restoration of Salisbury Cathedral by James Wyatt. After his translation to Durham he also employed Wyatt to remodel his official residence at Auckland Castle (Co. Durham). He had wide-ranging philanthropic interests, founding a charity for impecunious clergymen in Salisbury diocese, supporting many educational initiatives, and leaving much of his substantial estate to educational purposes in the diocese of Durham. Although generally of low church views, he was wary of the evangelical movement and more at home with practical philanthropy: he was a friend of William Wilberforce, whom he helped financially, and endorsed his views on the abolition of slavery. By careful maneouvering, he was able to work effectively with both evangelicals and high churchmen, and although his own sympathies were strongly Protestant, as his father's had been, he was in favour of religious toleration of Roman Catholics (though not of full emancipation), and he helped exiled French Catholic bishops and priests financially when they arrived in his diocese to found Ushaw College. He published several sermons and religious tracts, and also a Political life of William Wildman Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington (1815), being a biography of his elder brother. He married 1st, 2 February 1761, Lady Diana Beauclerk (d. 1766), daughter of Charles Beauclerk, 2nd Duke of St. Albans and 2nd, 20 June 1770, Jane (1733-1807), only daughter of Sir John Guise, 4th bt., and had issue, in addition to an adopted daughter:
(2.1) Shute Barrington (b. & d. 1777); died in infancy, 30 May 1777.
He remodelled the Bishop's Palace at Salisbury to the designs of Sir Robert Taylor in 1783-85, and initiated the restoration of Salisbury Cathedral by James Wyatt in 1787-92. He employed Wyatt again to repair the east end of Durham cathedral in 1797-1805, although more controversial proposals for other parts of the building were not carried out. At Bishop Auckland, Wyatt made extensive alterations to the Castle in the Gothic style, c.1795, and designed a chapel in the Market Place which was completed by William Atkinson. The Bishop subsequently promoted Atkinson's career and as a trustee of his late brother commissioned plans by Atkinson for a new house at Beckett House which were never executed. In later life he spent only short periods each year in his diocese, and lived chiefly in a house in Worthing (Sussex), which he left to his housekeeper, and at Mongewell Park (Oxon), which he acquired through his second marriage in 1770 and probably remodelled. He bequeathed Mongewell to his great nephew, Uvedale T.S. Price.
He died aged 91 in London on 25 March 1826, following a stroke, and was buried at Mongewell, 31 March 1826; he is commemorated by a monument in Durham Cathedral. His will was proved 12 April 1826. His first wife died in childbirth (the daughter was stillborn), 28 May 1766. His second wife died 8 August 1807.
Barrington, William (1758-1801), 3rd Viscount Barrington. Eldest son of Maj-Gen. John Barrington (1719-64) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Florentius Vassal, born 28 December 1758 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 25 January 1759. An officer in the 7th Foot (Lt., 1775; resigned 1778). He succeeded his uncle as 3rd Viscount, 1 February 1793, but did not succeed to the estate which was left to his uncle's brothers as trustees, except for an annuity of £600 a year; this provision appears to have been made because the 2nd Viscount was concerned about his heir's 'state of mind'; by a codicil to the will the trustees were given power to lay out the annuity on the 3rd Viscount's behalf if they ever felt that he was not capable of managing his own finances. He married, 8 July 1781 at St Marylebone (Middx), Anne, daughter of James Murrell of Thetford Abbey (Norfk), but had no issue.
He lived latterly at Corston (Som.), and did not inherit Beckett House.
He died 13 July 1801 and his burial has not been traced, but his will (proved in the PCC on 4 August 1801) expressly forbid the removal of his corpse to Shrivenham, and requested burial in the parish where he was living at the time of his death. His widow married 2nd, 2 February 1812 at Uley (Glos), Edward Thornycroft (d. 1817) of Thornycroft Hall (Ches.) and was buried at Gawsworth (Ches.), 13 April 1816; her will was proved in June 1816.
Barrington, Richard (1760-1813), 4th Viscount Barrington. Second son of Maj-Gen. John Barrington (1719-64) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Florentius Vassal, born 7 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 20 June 1760. An officer in the Coldstream Guards and later the 58th Foot (Ensign, 1777; Lt., 1778; retired 1779). He succeeded his elder brother as 4th Viscount, 13 July 1801, but like the 3rd Viscount did not succeed to the family estates, which remained in the possession of his uncle's brothers as trustees; it is not clear why he was not trusted to inherit, but it may simply have been because he lived abroad; on the other hand, he may have lived abroad because he did not inherit the estates. During the Napoleonic wars, he suffered periods of imprisonment and house arrest in France on account of his nationality, so there must have been powerful reasons for his residence abroad. He married, 1783, Susan (d. 1830), daughter of William Budden of Philadelphia (USA), merchant and shipowner, but had no issue.
He lived abroad at Hamburg (Germany) and later at Abbeville and Valenciennes (France), and did not inherit Beckett House.
He died in at Valenciennes (France), 8 December 1813. His widow died in 1830.
Barrington, Rev. George (1761-1829), 5th Viscount Barrington. Third son of Maj-Gen. John Barrington (1719-64) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Florentius Vassal, born 16 July 1761. Educated at Westminster (King's Scholar) and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1778; BA 1782; MA 1785). Ordained deacon, 1784, and priest, 1785. A protégé of his uncle, the Rt. Rev. Shute Barrington (1734-1826), whose domestic chaplain he became in 1789. Vicar of Grantham (Lincs), 1786-92; rector of Great Ponton (Lincs), 1789-92 and of Sedgefield (Co. Durham), 1791-1829, where he rebuilt the rectory (now Ceddesfield Hall) following its destruction by fire in 1792; prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, 1786-1802 and Durham Cathedral, 1796-1829. He succeeded his elder brother as 5th Viscount, 8 December 1813. He married, 12 February 1788 at St Marylebone (Middx), Elizabeth (1768-1841), daughter of Robert Adair, sergeant-surgeon to King George III, and his wife Lady Caroline, daughter of Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, and had issue:
(1) William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(2) Capt. The Hon. George Barrington (1794-1835), born 20 November and baptised at Sedgefield, 17 December 1794; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1814; Cmdr., 1818; Capt., 1826; retired 1826); appointed by his father-in-law as Fourth Lord of the Admiralty, 1830-33; Whig MP for Sunderland, 1832-33; married, 15 January 1827 at Howick (Northbld.), Lady Caroline (1799-1875), third daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister 1830-34, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 2 June 1835; his widow became a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria and superintendent of the royal princesses, 1837-75;
(3) The Hon. Samuel Shute Perceval Barrington (1796-1815), born 10 February and baptised at Sedgefield, 14 March 1796; an officer in the 1st Foot Guards (Ensign, 1814); killed in action at the Battle of Quatre Bras, 16 June 1815, two days before Waterloo; he was buried near the battlefield but reinterred in the crypt under the British Waterloo Campaign monument in 1890;
(4) John Robert Barrington (1797-1804), born 12 February and baptised at Sedgefield, 12 March 1797; died young, 30 November, and was buried in Durham Cathedral, 5 December 1804;
(5) The Hon. Augustus Barrington (1798-1860), born 19 July 1798; educated at Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1815) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1820; called 1823); Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford (BCL, 1822; DCL, 1827); barrister-at-law; Master of Greatham Hospital (Co. Durham), 1823-60, being appointed by his great-uncle, the Rt. Rev. Shute Barrington; died unmarried, 16 May, and was buried at Kensal Green (Middx), 22 May 1860; will proved 19 June 1860 (effects under £14,000);
(6) The Hon. Caroline Elizabeth Barrington (1799-1890), born 5 October and baptised at Sedgefield, 22 December 1799; married, 28 February 1843 at Shrivenham, Hon. Thomas Liddell (1800-56), amateur architect, second son of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth, but had no issue; died 4 March 1890; will proved 31 March 1890 (effects £37,911);
(7) The Hon. Russell Barrington (1801-35), born 25 July and baptised at Sedgefield, 24 August 1801; educated at Oriel College, Oxford (admitted 1819; BA 1822); an officer in the Cumberland Militia (Ensign, 1825); joint Registrar, with his brother Lowther, of the Durham Consistory Court by 1832; married, 25 September 1832 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Marion (1816-71), only daughter of John Lyon of Hetton House (Co. Durham) and had issue one son and one daughter; leased Sparsholt House near Wantage (Berks), which his widow retained until 1841; died 15 February 1835;
(8) The Hon. Frances Barrington (1802-49), born 20 October and baptised at Sedgefield, 22 December 1802; married, 25 October 1828, as his second wife, William Legge (1784-1853), 4th Earl of Dartmouth, and had issue six sons and nine daughters; died 11 August, and was buried at Holy Trinity, Minories, London, 18 August 1849;
(9) The Hon. Charlotte Belasyse Barrington (1804-73), born 30 March and baptised in Durham Cathedral, 9 June 1804; married, 28 January 1845 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Rev. Henry Burton (1803-73), rector of Upton Cressett (Salop), but had no issue; died 16 June 1873;
(10) The Hon. and Rev. Lowther John Barrington (1805-97), born 17 July and was baptised at Sedgefield, 26 August 1805; educated at Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1822; BA 1825; MA 1829); ordained deacon and priest, 1830; registrar, with his brother Russell, of the Durham Consistory Court; stipendiary curate of Chenies (Bucks), 1830-40; rector of West Tytherley, 1840-50 and Watton-at-Stone (Herts), 1850-86; rural dean; hon. canon of St. Albans Cathedral; married, 26 October 1837 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Lady Catherine Georgina (1814-85), daughter of Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester and had issue two sons and one daughter; died aged 91 on 10 March 1897; will proved 28 April 1897 (effects £7,198);
(11) Francis Daines Barrington (1807-08), born 20 March and baptised at Durham Cathedral, 16 April 1807; died in infancy, 25 February, and was buried at Durham Cathedral, 29 February 1808;
(12) The Hon. Henry Frederick Francis Adair Barrington (1808-82), born 28 July and baptised at Sedgefield, 21 August 1808; educated at Charterhouse, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1827; BA 1830; MA 1833) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1830; called 1835); barrister-at-law; president of the Criminal Court of British Kaffraria; lived at Portland, Kysna, Cape of Good Hope (South Africa); married, 25 July 1848 at St Swithin, Walcot, Bath (Som.), Mary Georgiana (c.1830-1909), daughter of Col. Wright Knox of 87th Regt. and had issue three sons and four daughters; died 25 March 1882; his will was proved 1 January 1884 (effects in England, £494);
(13) The Hon. Georgiana Christina Barrington (1810-81), born 9 May and baptised at Sedgefield, 18 June 1810; married, 1 November 1847 at Shrivenham, James Hamilton Lloyd Anstruther (later Lloyd-Anstruther) (1806-82) of Hintlesham Hall (Suffk), and had issue four sons; died 11 July 1881;
(14) The Hon. Elizabeth Frances Barrington (1811-86), born 18 October and baptised at Sedgefield, 17 November 1811; married, 13 December 1836 at Shrivenham, as his second wife, Rev. Thomas Mills (1791-1879), chaplain in ordinary to Queen Victoria and rector of Stutton (Suffk), but had no issue; lived latterly at Hill House, Hatfield (Herts); died 26 July 1886; will proved 21 August 1886 (effects £18,874);
(15) The Hon. Arthur Barrington (1814-26), born 23 August, and baptised at Sedgefield, 4 September 1814; died young 'of a lingering illness', 27 March 1826.
He inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his elder brother in 1814.
He died unexpectedly of an inflammation of the lungs in Rome (Italy), 5 March 1829 and was buried at Campo Cestio Cemetery, Rome, where he is commemorated by a large monument; his will was proved 7 September 1829. His widow died 2 March 1841 and was buried at Shrivenham, where she is commemorated by a monument; her will was proved 2 June 1841.
Barrington, William Keppel (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington. Eldest son of Rev. George Barrington (1761-1829), 5th Viscount Barrington, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Adair, born 1 October and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 29 October 1793. Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1811; BA 1814). High Sheriff of Co. Durham, 1819-26. He succeeded his father as 6th Viscount, 5 March 1829. Conservative MP for Berkshire, 1837-57. A director of the Great Western Railway, 1839-67 (Deputy Chairman, 1843-56; Chairman, 1856-57). He married, 21 April 1823 at the bride's parents' house in St Marylebone (Middx), the Hon. Jane Elizabeth (1804-83), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Adelaide, fourth daughter of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth, and had issue:
(1) George William Barrington (1824-86), 7th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(2) Percy Barrington (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) The Hon. Charlotte Maria Barrington (1826-54), born 29 December 1826 and baptised at St. Marylebone, 26 June 1827; married, 30 April 1850 at Shrivenham, Thomas George Lyon-Bowes (1822-65), 12th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne, but had no issue; died in Florence (Italy), 3 November 1854;
(4) The Hon. Mary Frances Barrington (1830-1913), born 1 June and baptised at St Marylebone, 28 June 1830; married, 28 October 1856 at Shrivenham, Alfred Urban Sartoris (1826-1909) of Warnford Park (Hants) and later of Abbotswood (Glos) and had issue; died 11 October 1913; will proved 9 December 1913 (estate £12,481);
(5) The Hon. Caroline Susan Augusta Barrington (1834-1915), born 21 October 1834 and baptised at Shrivenham, 1 April 1835; married, 9 April 1856, James Charles Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar (1818-96), 3rd Earl of Normanton, of Somerley (Hants), and had issue four sons and four daughters; died 13 January 1915 and was buried at Ellingham (Hants); will proved 4 May 1915 (estate £34,857);
(6) The Hon. Augusta Anne Barrington (1836-1915), baptised at Shrivenham, 18 July 1836; married, 12 November 1878 at Shrivenham, Rt. Hon. and Most Rev. William Dalrymple Maclagan (1826-1910), Bishop of Lichfield, 1878-91 and Archbishop of York, 1891-1908, fifth son of Dr. David Maclagan, physician, and had issue one son (Sir Eric Maclagan, director of the Victoria & Albert Museum) and one daughter; died 17 December 1915; will proved 4 February 1916 (estate £5,266);
(7) The Hon. Adelaide Barrington (1839-62), born about January 1839; married, 28 November 1860, Charles Balfour (1823-72) of Newton Don (Berwicks) (who m2, Minnie Georgiana (d. 1927), daughter of Col. the Hon. Augustus F. Liddell, Deputy Ranger of Windsor Forest, and had further issue one son), and had issue one son; died 23 February 1862;
(8) The Hon. Sir William Augustus Curzon Barrington (1842-1922), born 28 January and baptised at Shrivenham, 29 March 1842; educated at Cheam, Woolwich, Mannheim (Germany) and Bonn (Germany); in HM diplomatic service, 1860-1904 (attaché, 1860-64; 3rd secretary, 1864-70; 2nd secretary, 1870-83; Secretary of Legation at Buenos Aires, 1883-84; chargé d'affaires and consul-general at Lima, 1884-85; consul-general for Hungary, 1885-88; secretary of Embassy at Madrid, 1888-92 and Vienna, 1892-96; minster plenipotentiary to Argentina and Paraguay, 1896-1902 and Stockholm, 1902-04); appointed KCMG, 1901; described by his obituarist as 'a clever man, and very popular everywhere'; died unmarried, 23 February, and was buried at Shrivenham, 2 March 1922; will proved 2 May 1922 (estate £38,074);
(9) The Hon. Sir Bernard Eric Edward Barrington (1847-1918), born 5 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 15 July 1847; educated at Eton; civil servant in the Foreign Office, 1867-1907 (private secretary to Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1868-74; précis writer to Secretary of State, 1874-80; acting 2nd secretary at Berlin congress, 1878; private secretary to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1885-92, 1895-1905; Asst. Under-Secretary of State for Africa, 1905-07); appointed KCB, 1902 (CB 1889); lived at Old Lodge, Wimbledon Common (Surrey); married, 24 February 1879, Christina (c.1848-1937), youngest daughter of William Graham of Burntshields (Renfrews.), but had no issue; died 24 February 1918; will proved 9 May 1918 (estate £16,244).
He lived at Sedgefield (Co. Durham) until he inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his father in 1829. He rebuilt the house in 1829-34 to the designs of his brother-in-law, Tom Liddell.
He died 9 February 1867 and was buried at Shrivenham. His widow died 22 March 1883.
Barrington, Rt. Hon. George William (1824-86), 7th Viscount Barrington. Eldest son of William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington, and his wife, the Hon. Jane Elizabeth Liddell, fourth daughter of 1st Baron Ravensworth, born 14 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 13 March 1824. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1841). An officer in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry. Private Secretary to the Earl of Derby. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at Buckingham in 1852, but was elected Conservative MP for Eye (Suffk), 1866-80; he was sworn of the Privy Council on becoming a junior Government whip under Disraeli, 1874-80, as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household. He succeeded his father as 7th Viscount, 9 February 1867, but as this was an Irish peerage he did not have to relinquish his seat in the Commons. When the Conservative Government was defeated at the General Election of 1880 he was rewarded with a UK peerage as Baron Shute of Beckett, 15 April 1880, with a special remainder to his next brother, Percy. In the Lords he again acted as a whip, and when the Conservatives returned to power under Lord Salisbury in 1885 he was appointed as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (Deputy Chief Whip), 1885-86 and promoted to Chief Whip (Captain of the Corps of Gentlemen at Arms), 1886, though he died unexpectedly a few months later. He was a JP and DL (from 1852) for Berkshire. He married, 19 February 1846 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Isabel Elizabeth (1826-98), only child of John Morritt of Rokeby Park (Yorks NR), and had issue:
(1) The Hon. Constance Mary Barrington (1847-1926), born 16 January and baptised at Shrivenham, 6 April 1847; married, 30 September 1868 at Shrivenham, Hesketh Lawrence Palk (1846-1903), 2nd Baron Haldon, eldest son of Sir Lawrence Palk, bt. and 1st Baron Haldon, and had issue two sons and two daughters; in 1882-83 she sought a judicial separation from her husband on the grounds of his adultery, and although this was refused, the couple subsequently lived apart; he in increasingly reduced circumstances in England, and she in Italy; she settled at the Palazzo Capomazza in Naples, where she became the leading figure in the English 'colony' and devoted herself to charitable works among the poor Neapolitans and to the creation of a garden; she died at Naples (Italy), 2 May 1926; will proved 15 July 1926 (effects in England £3,006);
(2) The Hon. Evelyn Laura Barrington (1848-1924), born 15 July and baptised at Shrivenham, 20 August 1848; married, 17 January 1867 at Shrivenham, George Grimston Craven (1841-83), 3rd Earl of Craven of Ashdown Park (Berks), Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1881-83, and had issue four sons and two daughters; died 9 November 1924 and was buried at Shrivenham; will proved 28 January 1925 (estate £15,732);
(3) The Hon. Florence Isabel Barrington (1850-1928), born 17 September and baptised at Shrivenham, 22 December 1850; in the 1890s she became a Sister of Mercy in the Anglican community of St Mary, Wantage; died unmarried, 1 February 1928 and was buried at Shrivenham; will proved 2 April 1928 (estate £26,788).
He inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his father in 1867. After his death it passed to his widow for life, and she let it. In 1883 he also owned 1,655 acres in the West Riding of Yorkshire and 1,275 acres in Northumberland.
He died suddenly at Grimsthorpe Castle (Lincs), 6/7 November 1886, and was buried at Shrivenham; his will was proved 10 February 1887 (effects £43,868). His widow died 1 February 1898, and was buried at Shrivenham; her will was proved 28 February 1898 (effects £21,451).
Barrington, Percy (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington. Second son of William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington, and his wife, the Hon. Jane Elizabeth Liddell, fourth daughter of 1st Baron Ravensworth, born 22 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 17 May 1825. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Rifle Brigade (Ensign, 1841), the Scots Guards (Ensign & Lt., 1844; resigned, 1845), the Oxfordshire militia (Capt.) and the 1st Bucks Rifle Volunteers (Hon. Col., 1880-91); JP and DL for Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire and JP for Berkshire and Northamptonshire; High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, 1864-65. He succeeded his elder brother as 8th Viscount and 2nd Baron Shute, 7 November 1886. He married, 3 July 1845 at St George, Hanover Square, London, Louisa (1825-84), only daughter and heiress of Tully Higgins of London, esq., owner of the Blenheim estate in Demerera (British Guiana), and had issue:
(1) The Hon. Alice Louisa Barrington (1846-1928), born 1 September and baptised at Bramley (Hants), 4 November 1846; married, 23 July 1868 at Westbury (Bucks), George Augustus Campbell (1847-1930) of Market House, Brackley (Northants) and London, partner in Cox & Co., bankers and army agents, second son of Col. George Herbert Frederick Campbell of Evenley Hall (Northants), and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 31 July 1928;
(2) Walter Bulkeley Barrington (1848-1933), 9th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) The Hon. Edith Barrington (1850-1919), baptised at Hardwicke with Tusmore (Oxon), 30 June 1850; she and her husband built Tile House, Lillingstone Dayrell (Bucks) to the designs of Ewan Christian in 1881-82; she married, 17 August 1869 at Westbury, Abraham John Robarts DL (1838-1926), partner in Robarts, Lubbock & Co., bankers, son of Abraham Wildey Robarts MP, and had issue two sons and five daughters; died at Richmond (Surrey), 20 June 1919.
He purchased Westbury Manor, nr Buckingham (Bucks) in 1854 and lived there until 1898 when he inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his elder brother's widow. He subsequently let both houses. His wife inherited the Blenheim estate in British Guiana on the death of her brother in 1834 and it formed part of her marriage settlement in 1845; by 1860 it had been sold to Charles McGarel.
He died at Westbury Manor, 29 April 1901, and was buried at Westbury, 4 May 1901; his will was proved 5 July 1901 (estate £62,185). His wife died 17 June 1884 and was buried at Westbury (Bucks), 21 June 1884; her will was proved 23 July 1884 (effects £3,115).
Barrington, Walter Bulkeley (1848-1933), 9th Viscount Barrington. Only son of Percy Barrington (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington, and his wife Louisa, only daughter and heiress of Tully Higgins, born at Tusmore (Oxon), 20 April and baptised at Hardwicke with Tusmore (Oxon), 17 May 1848. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Coldstream Guards (Ensign & Lt., 1867; retired 1869) and in the Oxfordshire militia (Capt., 1874; resigned 1877); JP and DL (from 1889) for Berkshire; JP for Northamptonshire (from 1870) and Buckinghamshire (by 1872). A member of Berkshire County Council, 1895. He succeeded his father as 9th Viscount and 3rd Baron Shute, 29 April 1901, and was one of the 112 peers who voted against the Parliament Act 1911 that limited the powers of the House of Lords. He played cricket at Eton and was a lifelong enthusiast for the game, his coffin being carried to his grave by four members of the Shrivenham village team. He married 1st, 26 April 1870 at Cockington (Devon), Mary Isabella (1845-1903), second daughter of the Rev. John Richard Bogue, vicar of Denbury (Devon), and 2nd, 19 January 1905 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Charlotte Mary Leycester (1855-1935), elder daughter of Maj. George Montagu Stopford and widow of John Arden Birch (1853-96), and had issue:
(1.1) The Hon. Maude Louisa Barrington (1871-1924), born 25 January 1871; married, 6 August 1889 at Buckland (Berks), Hon. Eustace Robert Fitzgerald (1863-1944) of Graham Lodge, Great Bookham (Surrey), second son of John David Fitzgerald, a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary as Baron Fitzgerald (Life Peer, 1882), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 26 August 1924; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 6 November 1924 (estate 8,758);
(1.2) The Hon. Violet Mary Barrington (1872-1928), born 3 May 1872; married, 27 April 1892 at Shrivenham, John Charles Evelyn Hope Brooke (1858-1934), of The Orchard, Turweston (Bucks), second son of Capt. John Brooke Johnson Brooke, Rajah Muda of Sarawak, and had issue five sons and five daughters; died 10 December 1928 and was buried at Turweston;
(1.3) William Reginald Shute Barrington (1873-1960), 10th Viscount Barrington, born 23 July 1873; educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (matriculated 1892); an officer in the 4th Battn., Oxfordshire Light Infantry (2nd Lt., 1895; Lt., 1895; resigned 1901; returned to colours as Capt., 1914 and Maj., 1916; resigned 1920); JP for Berkshire, 1907; succeeded his father as 10th Viscount and 4th Baron Shute, 12 September 1933; from 1899, he lived as part of the notorious 'Woodhouse circus', a menage-a-cinq with Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (1871-1948) and her husband Gordon and two other male lovers at Wootton Manor (Sussex), then Southover House (Sussex) and finally Nether Lypiatt Manor (Glos), where from 1923 he developed skills as a garden designer; after Violet and Gordon's deaths he moved to Hartfield (Sussex); he remained unmarried and died without issue, 4 October 1960, when he was succeeded by his nephew; will proved 26 January and 29 March 1961 (estate £189,914);
(1.4) The Hon. Hilda Margaret Barrington (1874-1929), born 21 July 1874; married, 28 March 1894 at Shrivenham, Maj-Gen. Sir Reginald Salmond Curtis KCMG CB DSO (1863-1922) of the Royal Engineers, and had issue three daughters; died 10 March 1929; will proved 7 June 1929 (estate £17,421);
(1.5) The Hon. (Walter) Bernard Louis Barrington (1876-1959), born 15 May 1876; educated at Charterhouse; admitted a solicitor, 1900; a partner in Norton, Rose, Barrington & Co. of London 1904-19; a member of the Council of the Law Society, 1909-11; after advising city firms for many years he became a partner in the issuing house, Helbert Wagg & Co. in 1919, where he regarded his task as being 'to keep us out of the Old Bailey!'; his tall, patrician demeanour and invariable dress of tailcoat, wing collar, bow tie and spats typified the City gent; he joined the board of many other firms, including the Loch Lomond Investment Trust, the Gresham Life and Fire Assurance societies, and the Legal & General Assurance Soc., of which he was a director from 1914 and chairman, 1945-58; he married, 11 December 1901, (Eleanor) Nina (d. 1947), daughter of Sir Thomas William Snagge KCMG, judge, and had issue one son (Patrick William Daines Barrington (1908-90), 11th and last Viscount Barrington and 5th and last Baron Shute) and two daughters; died 12 May 1959; will proved 31 July 1959 (estate £128,445);
(1.6) Lt-Col. the Hon. Rupert Edward Selborne Barrington (1877-1975), born 10 December 1877; educated at Charterhouse; an officer in the Imperial Yeomanry (Lt., 1900; resigned 1901), who served in the Boer War; then with South African Constabulary, 1901-07; an officer in the Scottish Horse (Capt., 1914; retired as Maj., 1921; but acting Maj. and Lt-Col. for much of the First World War (wounded; mentioned in despatches; DSO 1918); married, 10 September 1903 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Mary Georgiana (1877-1971), younger daughter of Lt-Col. George Arthur Ferguson of Pitfour and had issue one son (who died without issue in 1980); died aged 97 on 7 August 1975; will proved 18 November 1975 (estate £17,074);
(1.7) The Hon. Percy Evelyn Barrington (1884-1911), born 19 July 1884; an officer in the County of London Imperial Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1902); emigrated to Argentina; married, 13 October 1908 at St John, Buenos Aires (Argentina), Muriel Constance (1888-1928) (who m2, 19 September 1914, Alfred Fabian de Ledesma (1892-1979) and had issue two sons), only daughter of Isaac Beaman Oyler of Estancia La Reina, Sanabria, Cordova (Argentina) and had issue one son (who was killed in a flying accident in 1937); died in Buenos Aires (Argentina), 30 May 1911; administration of his goods granted 25 April 1911 (effects in England, £3,899).
He inherited from his father in 1901 Westbury Manor near Buckingham (which he sold to Lord Scott in 1902) and Beckett House, Shrivenham (which he continued to let at least until the First World War). He lived at Brackley Hill (Northants) but later moved to Beckett House, which he tried unsuccessfully to sell in 1922 and 1927, His trustees finally sold it in 1936 after the death of his widow.
He died 12 September 1933 and was buried at Shrivenham, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in November 1933 (estate £22,841). His first wife died 16 November, and was buried at Shrivenham, 19 November 1903. His widow died 22 October 1935.
https://www.history.ac.uk/sites/default/files/file-uploads/2019-06/mongewell_web_2_landownership_31.1.19.pdf;
https://explorabilia.co.uk/2019/12/04/dark-modernism-carmel-college/
https://womenofeastbourne.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Violet-Gordon-Woodhouse-the-full-story.pdf
Barrington family of Beckett House, Viscounts Barrington: deeds, manorial records and estate papers, 1523-1947 [Berkshire Record Office, D/EEl); family and estate papers, 18th-19th cents. [British Library, Add MSS 73546-73769]; Shrivenham estate accounts, 1793-1917 [Oxfordshire History Centre, Acc. 5972]
Barrington family of Westbury Manor: deeds and estate papers, 16th cent-1854 [Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, D169]
Argent, three chevronels gules, a label of three points azure.
This post was first published 19 March 2020 and was updated 22 March and 7 May 2020. I am grateful to Neil Maw for showing me William Atkinson's drawings for Beckett, the originals of which are in the British Library.
Beckett House, Shrivenham, Berkshire
The Essex family, who were seated here for over a hundred years in the 16th and early 17th centuries and were granted one of the first baronetcies in 1611, no doubt remodelled or replaced the original manor house with a building more befitting their status as one of Berkshire's leading gentry families. In the 1870s, the 7th Viscount Barrington recorded the family tradition that 'half of this house had been burnt down in the Civil Wars', while another account states that the fire damage occurred in 1666. Since the hearth tax returns for 1662 and 1663 show no building in Beckett tithing with more than two hearths, it seems probable that there had been Civil War damage, and that considerably more than 'half the house' must have been destroyed. John Wildman, who bought the estate in about 1657, later repaired and enlarged the remains, and its subsequent appearance suggests that his work was done not much later than the 1660s.
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| Beckett House, Shrivenham: a watercolour drawing showing the house as rebuilt in the 1660s, copied by Mary Barrington. Image: Shrivenham Heritage Society. |
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| Beckett House, Shrivenham: a drawing of c.1800, showing the house and its relationship to the fishing temple. Image: Shrivenham Heritage Society. |
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| Beckett House, Shrivenham: the Fishing Temple in the early 20th century. |
The upper part consists of a single room, with a doorway between a pair of windows on each side, a coved ceiling, and a pyramidal roof with far-projecting eaves, supposedly designed to shelter anglers from the rain. The classical proportions and detailing, such as the pulvinated friezes over the doorways, suggest a mid 17th century date, but in what circumstances was it built? Its architecture is far more sophisticated than the works to the house in the 1660s, so it is unlikely to be of the same date. But if it is earlier, why was it built when the house to which it was attached lay in ruins? The answer may be that for a brief period between 1652 and c.1657, Beckett belonged to Sir George Pratt, who had begun in 1649 a new great house at Coleshill (Berks), two miles to the north, to the design of his cousin, Roger Pratt, with input from Inigo Jones and John Webb. Work at Coleshill stopped in about 1652 and did not resume until about 1658, and it seems feasible that in the interval Sir George built this little building as a setting for quiet recreation and tranquillity. If so, it seems very probable that it was designed by his cousin, Roger Pratt.
Our next glimpse of Beckett House comes in the mid 18th century, when William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington, made changes to the house and grounds with the assistance of his friends, the architectural amateurs, Sanderson Miller and Thomas Wright. Barrington and Miller were probably brought together by mutual acquaintances, such as Lord Lyttelton or Lord Dacre, but the first contact we know about is in December 1756, when Miller's diary records him calling on Lord Barrington in London. A few days after Christmas he travelled to Beckett, where he spent a good part of New Year's Day 1757 'drawing out ground plan and elevation of his lordship's new rooms'. The intention was no doubt to make the 17th century house more fashionable and up-to-date, but it would seem nothing was done immediately. Attention turned instead to the construction of a new stable block (which survives, much altered) to Miller's designs between 1763 and 1766, and it was not until this was almost complete that there is evidence of Miller's renewed involvement with the house. From 1766-69 works were evidently in progress under the supervision of one of the Strong family of masons (probably Thomas Strong (b. 1716)), and Miller was requested to supply a design for a new front door in November 1766. Lord Barrington also consulted William Chambers about the works to the house in 1766, but nothing is known to have come from the contact. At much the same time as work resumed on the house, Lord Barrington consulted Thomas Wright about improvements to the grounds. It is known that Wright designed a rose garden in the shape of a rose blossom, but what else he did is uncertain. The transformation of the fishpond by the 17th century temple into a naturalistic river in the style of Capability Brown is perhaps unlikely to be his work.
The 3rd and 4th Viscounts were not resident and from 1793 until 1814 Beckett was in the hands of the trustees of the 2nd Viscount's will, of whom the most active was his youngest brother, Shute Barrington (1734-1826), Bishop of Durham, who exercised a considerable influence on the estate during the early 19th century. It was no doubt as a result of his influence that his protégé, William Atkinson (c.1774-1839), produced designs for a new house in 1805, although nothing then seems to have been done. He made further plans in 1814, after the 5th Viscount (in whose favour the trust was finally terminated) came into the title. The 5th Viscount was a middle-aged clergyman in Bishop Barrington's own diocese of Durham, and did not wish to move south, so he appointed as Steward a man called George Merryweather, who was charged with reviving the estate and preparing to build a new mansion house. Although the Bishop was evidently willing to help with the cost of building a new house, the idea seems to have been quietly dropped by about 1818, and Atkinson's plans remained on paper.
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| Beckett House, Shrivenham: the new house of 1829-34 from the south-west in 1911. The conservatory has since been demolished. |
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| Beckett House, Shrivenham: the house from the south-east in 1922. |
Liddell's Tudor Gothic-style house was built on a slightly different site to its predecessor, which was taken down so that the materials could be re-used in the new building. The design is an example of the 'Old English' style that was becoming popular at the time and shows the influence on Liddell of executing Nash's designs at Ravensworth. It is built of coursed limestone rubble with Bath stone dressings, and has large mullioned and transomed windows, gables, pinnacles and tall chimneys. The entrance on the east front is through a four-centred arch with an oriel above, framed by octagonal turrets with pepper-pot tops. A conservatory which ran almost the whole length of the west side has been demolished, and so has the service wing to the north. Inside, the main rooms are arranged around a galleried hall with a timber roof, glazed in the middle; three Gothic niches which originally stood at the west end have been removed. The library, saloon, drawing room and dining room have elaborate if not very innovative plaster ceilings and some re-used 18th century chimneypieces.
After the First World War, the 9th Viscount made efforts to sell the property in 1922 and 1927, before leasing it to the Dowager Lady Courtown. After the death of the 9th Viscount and his widow, the property was finally sold to the War Office, which established an army training school in the house. Following wartime use the college returned and in the years since 1945 the grounds have become a substantial university campus, now forming part of Cranfield University and the Defence Academy of Great Britain. The house and fishing temple have been restored and seem to be well maintained.
Descent: Thomas Rogers (d. 1471); to son, Thomas Rogers (d. 1488), to widow Margaret Rogers (d. 1518); to daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Sir William Essex (d.1548); to son, Thomas Essex (d. 1558); to widow, Margaret Essex; to son, Thomas Essex (d. 1575); to son, Thomas Essex; to widow, Jane, later wife of Christopher Lytcot , for life; to son, Thomas Essex (d. c.1587); to son, Sir William Essex, 1st bt., who sold 1621 to Joseph Glover and Robert Pemberton, who sold 1633 to Sir Henry Marten, the judge; to son, Henry Marten, one of the regicides, who sold 1652 to Sir George Pratt, bt., of Coleshill; sold c.1655 or 1657 to Sir John Wildman, kt. (d.1693); to son, John Wildman (d. 1710), who admired and made his heir John Shute (later Barrington) (d. 1734), 1st Viscount Barrington; to son, William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington; to nephew, William Barrington (1758-1801), 3rd Viscount Barrington; to brother, Richard Barrington (1760-1813), 4th Viscount Barrington; to brother, Rev. George Barrington (1761-1829), 5th Viscount Barrington; to son, William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington; to son, George William Barrington (1824-86), 7th Viscount Barrington; to brother, Percy Barrington (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington; to son, Walter Bulkeley Barrington (1848-1933), 9th Viscount Barrington; to widow, Charlotte Mary Leycester Barrington (d. 1935), Viscountess Barrington; sold after her death 1936 to War Office, which made it the British Army Training School (now part of the Defence Academy of Great Britain). The house was leased in the late 19th and early 20th century (from 1892 to Col. Davison; from 1895 to Robertson Bertram; from 1899 to Robert Whitehead (d. 1905), by 1907 to E. Lawson Johnston and from 1913 to Capt. Dutton).
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| Beckett House, Shrivenham: the top-lit central hall in 1922. |
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| Beckett House, Shrivenham: the saloon in 1922. |
After the First World War, the 9th Viscount made efforts to sell the property in 1922 and 1927, before leasing it to the Dowager Lady Courtown. After the death of the 9th Viscount and his widow, the property was finally sold to the War Office, which established an army training school in the house. Following wartime use the college returned and in the years since 1945 the grounds have become a substantial university campus, now forming part of Cranfield University and the Defence Academy of Great Britain. The house and fishing temple have been restored and seem to be well maintained.
Descent: Thomas Rogers (d. 1471); to son, Thomas Rogers (d. 1488), to widow Margaret Rogers (d. 1518); to daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Sir William Essex (d.1548); to son, Thomas Essex (d. 1558); to widow, Margaret Essex; to son, Thomas Essex (d. 1575); to son, Thomas Essex; to widow, Jane, later wife of Christopher Lytcot , for life; to son, Thomas Essex (d. c.1587); to son, Sir William Essex, 1st bt., who sold 1621 to Joseph Glover and Robert Pemberton, who sold 1633 to Sir Henry Marten, the judge; to son, Henry Marten, one of the regicides, who sold 1652 to Sir George Pratt, bt., of Coleshill; sold c.1655 or 1657 to Sir John Wildman, kt. (d.1693); to son, John Wildman (d. 1710), who admired and made his heir John Shute (later Barrington) (d. 1734), 1st Viscount Barrington; to son, William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington; to nephew, William Barrington (1758-1801), 3rd Viscount Barrington; to brother, Richard Barrington (1760-1813), 4th Viscount Barrington; to brother, Rev. George Barrington (1761-1829), 5th Viscount Barrington; to son, William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington; to son, George William Barrington (1824-86), 7th Viscount Barrington; to brother, Percy Barrington (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington; to son, Walter Bulkeley Barrington (1848-1933), 9th Viscount Barrington; to widow, Charlotte Mary Leycester Barrington (d. 1935), Viscountess Barrington; sold after her death 1936 to War Office, which made it the British Army Training School (now part of the Defence Academy of Great Britain). The house was leased in the late 19th and early 20th century (from 1892 to Col. Davison; from 1895 to Robertson Bertram; from 1899 to Robert Whitehead (d. 1905), by 1907 to E. Lawson Johnston and from 1913 to Capt. Dutton).
Mongewell Park, Oxfordshire
The original manor house probably occupied the later site close to the river and parish church by the 12th century, and was named as Mongewell Court in 1479. Nothing is known of the buildings before the 18th century, except that in 1662 Thomas Saunders was assessed on twelve hearths, and that in 1670 the house was said to have two dozen rooms including a hall, two parlours, and nine chambers. Photographs in the 1870s and 1880s show a house of rendered brick, comprised of a big-boned five bay two-storey double-pile block facing the river, with an adjoining lower single-pile entrance range behind it. |
| Mongewell Park: the entrance front in 1872. |
The entrance front was of nine bays, and had a central Tuscan portico, sash windows in moulded surrounds, and a high hipped roof set back behind a balustraded parapet. The end wall of the range had a full-height canted bay window, which was given a veranda in the 1870s. The five bay block facing the river was probably of two dates since the windows were not evenly spaced. It too had a tall hipped roof with attic dormers and tall chimney stacks, and a projecting ground-floor bay window towards the river, as well as an attached Victorian conservatory.
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| Mongewell Park: the garden front in 1883. |
The surrounding park of 120 acres seems to have been formed and laid out by Shute Barrington, whose nephew, the Picturesque pioneer, Sir Uvedale Price (1747-1829) may have influenced the design. The park included mixed plantations, a flower garden, an icehouse (said to have been dated 1783 but destroyed in 1974) and an avenue of elms leading to a commemorative stone monument set on a surviving plinth. The long and serpentine millpond lake predated the landscaping but was incorporated into the design, and a pedimented classical temple was erected on its south side. The Gothick remodelling of the church in 1791, possibly to the designs of James Wyatt, was presumably also part of the scheme.
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| Mongewell Park: the entrance front of the new house built by R.S. Wornum in 1890. Image: Historic England |
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| Mongewell Park: the garden front of the new house built by R.S. Wornum in 1890. Image: Historic England. |
A new red brick house was built on a different site south of the church in 1890 for Alexander Fraser. It was a compact block designed by the London architect R.S. Wornum in the William-and-Mary style, with a largely symmetrical garden front with a ground floor colonnade between the shallow projecting wings and a prominent modillion cornice. The entrance front was made less regular by the addition of an off-centre porch tower and porte-cochere. Once the new house was completed, its predecessor was demolished except for its service court, in which two gasometers were built to supply a heating system for the adjoining greenhouses.
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| Mongewell Park: the drawing room in the 1890s. Image: Historic England |
In 1943, the estate was sold to John Hopwood, but he never obtained possession of the house, which was requisitioned during the Second World War for use as a RAF convalescent home. The surrounding lawns were cluttered with temporary wooden huts, most of which were converted to educational use after the site was bought in 1950 by Rabbi Kapul Rosen (d. 1962), who founded Carmel College here. The parkland setting was increasingly compromised by the addition of new school buildings in the 1950s and 1960s.
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| Mongewell Park: the Julius Gottlieb Gallery designed by Sir Basil Spence. Image: Andrew Boddington. Some rights reserved. |
Descent: Thomas Restwold sold 1493 to Robert Coorte (d. 1509); to son- or brother-in-law, Richard Moleyns; to son William Moleyns (d. c.1553); to son, Humphrey Moleyns; to widow, Mary (d. 1590) later the wife of Thomas Barton (d. 1569); to son, William Moleyns (d. 1613); to son, William Moleyns (d. 1650), who sold to Thomas Saunders MP (d. 1670); to son, John Saunders (d. 1690); to son, John Saunders (d. 1731); to sister Jane (d. 1763), wife of Sir John Guise (1701-69), 4th bt.; to daughter Jane (d. 1807), later wife of Rt. Rev. Shute Barrington (1734-1826), bishop successively of Llandaff, Salisbury and Durham; to great-nephew, Uvedale Thomas Shudd Price (d. 1844); to sister, Mary Ann Elizabeth (d. 1878), wife of Sir Robert Price (1786-1857), 2nd bt; to kinsman Edward Price (d. 1888); sold to tenant, Alexander Caspar Fraser (d. 1916), who rebuilt the house; sold after his death to the American financier, Howard Gould (1871-1959); sold 1943 to John Hopwood but requisitioned in WW2 by Royal Air Force; sold 1950 to Rabbi Kapul Rosen (d. 1962) for Carmel College (closed 1997); sold to Corner Homes. The house was let in the later 19th century to the Scottish broker John Mathison Fraser (d. 1885) and his son Alexander Caspar Fraser (d. 1916), who bought the freehold.
Westbury Manor, Buckinghamshire
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| Westbury Manor: a drawing of the house as it stood in c.1769, by which time it had become a farmhouse. |
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| Westbury Manor: the architect's design for the enlarged house, published in The Builder, 17 December 1904. |
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| Westbury Manor: the east front, preserved from the original house when it was virtually rebuilt in 1902-03. |
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| Westbury Manor: the house from the south-east at the time of its sale in 1931. |
Descent: Thomas Strange (d. 1485); to daughter Anne, later wife of John Strange (d. 1514) of Little Massingham (Norfk) and Sir Edward Knyvett (d. 1528), who settled the estate in 1540 on her daughter Barbara, wife of Robert Mordaunt; to son, Robert Mordaunt (d. 1602); to nephew, Lestrange Mordaunt, who sold 1621 to Laurence Washington; sold 1639 to Sir Thomas Littleton, bt.; to son, Sir Henry Littleton; who sold 1650 to Roger Price, sen. (d. 1677), and jun. (d. 1694); to widow, Elizabeth Price (fl. 1709); to son, Thomas Price (d. 1733); to son, Campbell Price; to daughter [forename unknown] Withers; to son?, Benjamin Price Withers (d. 1771); to son, Benjamin Price Withers (fl. 1814); to Gurden family (later Withers), who sold 1854 to Percy Barrington (1825-1901), later 8th Viscount Barrington; sold after his death to Sir Samuel Scott (1875-1960), 2nd bt., who remodelled it.; sold c.1935 for use as Westbury Manor School; sold by 1947 to F.S. Chappell for use as Beachborough School.
Barrington family, Viscounts Barrington
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| John Shute (later Barrington) (1678-1734), 1st Viscount Barrington |
(1) The Hon. Sarah Barrington (d. 1759); married, 2 June 1746 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Robert Price (1717-61) of Foxley (Herefs), son of Uvedale Tomkins Price, and had issue five sons (including Sir Uvedale Price, 1st bt., the pioneer of Picturesque landscaping, and Barrington Price, who occupied Beckett House in c.1810) and three daughters; died 1759;
(2) William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) Francis Barrington (b. 1718), born and baptised 22 March 1717/8; died young;
(4) Maj-Gen. the Hon. John Barrington (1719-64) (q.v.);
(5) The Hon. Anne Barrington (d. 1780); married, 2 January 1747 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Thomas Clarges (1721-53), eldest son of Sir Thomas Clarges, 2nd bt., and had issue one son and one daughter; buried at Littleton (Surrey), 26 September 1780;
(6) The Hon. Daines Barrington (1728-1800); educated at Queens College, Oxford (matriculated 1745) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1745; called 1750; KC 1764); barrister-at-law on the Oxford circuit; marshal of the high court of Admiralty, 1751-53; secretary of Greenwich Hospital, 1753-57; a judge of great sessions for the counties of Merioneth, Caernarvonshire, and Anglesey 1757-85; recorder of Bristol, 1764-85; second justice of Chester, 1778-85; he resigned all his appointments in 1785 except the most lucrative, as commissary-general of the stores at Gibraltar, which paid him over £500 a year until his death; he published an important contribution to legal history, Observations on the Statutes, Chiefly the More Ancient (1766), which argued that much statute law was unnecessary and out of date, or duplicated common law; he is remembered however as much for his contributions to natural history and antiquarian studies as for his legal work, and especially for his publication of The Naturalist's Journal, a pro-forma diary for the systematic recording of observations, which was used by Gilbert White, whom he encouraged; he was appointed FSA and FRS, 1767, and published 24 papers in the journal of the former and 10 papers in the journal of the latter; he served on the Council of the Royal Society and used his influence to encourage polar exploration; he lived in the Inner Temple, and was one of the superintendents of its gardens from 1782; he died unmarried, 14 March, and was buried at the Temple Church, London, 18 March 1800;
(7) Admiral the Hon. Samuel Barrington (1730-1800), born 13 February 1729/30; an officer in the Royal Navy from 1740 (Lt., 1745; Cdr. 1746; Capt. 1747; Rear-Adm., 1778; Lt-Gen. of Marines, 1785-99; Admiral of the White, 1794-1800; General of Marines, 1799-1800), who proved himself brave and capable in action, and who was popular with his officers and men, although not always with his political masters; he died unmarried, 16 August 1800 and was buried at Shrivenham, where he is commemorated by a mural monument; his will was proved 3 September 1800;
(8) The Hon. Mary Barrington (c.1731-43); died young, September 1743;
(9) Rt. Rev. & Hon. Shute Barrington (1734-1826) (q.v.);
In 1710, he inherited the Beckett House, Shrivenham estate from John Wildman, to whom he was unrelated and with whom he was barely acquainted, Wildman considering that he was 'the most worthy of all his acquaintance of adoption, after the manner of the Romans, a mode of settling property of which he had always approved'. A few years later, in 1716, he was also made the heir of Francis Barrington of Tofts, to whom he was distantly related by marriage (Francis Barrington had married his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Shute, sheriff of London).
He died as the result of a carriage accident, 14 December, and was buried at Shrivenham, 27 December 1734; his will was proved 13 June 1738. His widow died 8 February 1763; administration of her goods was granted 10 March 1763.
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| William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington |
"in person genteel and well made, though under the middle size; his features rather delicate than masculine; his address gracious and engaging, particularly to the ladies; and he possesses a spirit of liberality towards them that never fails to please" [Town & Country Magazine, 8, 1771, p. 10]He married, 16 September 1740, Mary (1710-64), only daughter and heiress of Henry Lovell, youngest son of Sir Salathiel Lovell, kt., and widow of the Hon. Samuel Grimston, and had issue:
(1) Rothesia Anne Barrington (b. 1741); died in infancy;
(2) William Hill Barrington (b. 1743), born and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 4 February 1743/4; died in infancy.
It is said that his marriage was unhappy, and he is reputed to have solaced himself with a long-standing relationship with Lady Harrington, which lasted until 1770. After the death of his brother, Maj-Gen. John Barrington, in 1764, he provided for the latter's family, but seems to have stopped short of formally adopting them.
He inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his father in 1734 and came of age in 1738. He remodelled the house and laid out the grounds in 1757-69 to the designs of Sanderson Miller and Thomas Wright.
He died 1 February 1793 and was buried at Shrivenham, where he is commemorated by a monument designed by James Wyatt and carved by Richard Westmacott. His wife died 24 September 1764.
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| Maj-Gen. John Barrington (1719-64) |
(1) William Barrington (1758-1801), 3rd Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(2) Richard Barrington (1760-1814), 4th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) George Barrington (1761-1829), 5th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(4) Louisa Barrington (1764-1838?), born 8 December 1764 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 10 January 1765; married 1st, 16 April 1787 at St Michael in Bedwardine, Worcester, Rev. Thomas Tristram (d. 1796) of Brookfield House, Belbroughton (Worcs), rector of Barkston, and had issue five sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 14 May 1799 at Bedminster (Som.), Thomas Cooke, and had issue one daughter; said to have died 1838.
He lived in London.
He died in Paris (France), 2 April 1764. His widow was living in December 1764, but perhaps died soon afterwards: his children were subsequently supported by their uncle, the 2nd Viscount.
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| Rt. Rev. & Hon. Shute Barrington (1734-1826), Bishop of Durham |
(2.1) Shute Barrington (b. & d. 1777); died in infancy, 30 May 1777.
He remodelled the Bishop's Palace at Salisbury to the designs of Sir Robert Taylor in 1783-85, and initiated the restoration of Salisbury Cathedral by James Wyatt in 1787-92. He employed Wyatt again to repair the east end of Durham cathedral in 1797-1805, although more controversial proposals for other parts of the building were not carried out. At Bishop Auckland, Wyatt made extensive alterations to the Castle in the Gothic style, c.1795, and designed a chapel in the Market Place which was completed by William Atkinson. The Bishop subsequently promoted Atkinson's career and as a trustee of his late brother commissioned plans by Atkinson for a new house at Beckett House which were never executed. In later life he spent only short periods each year in his diocese, and lived chiefly in a house in Worthing (Sussex), which he left to his housekeeper, and at Mongewell Park (Oxon), which he acquired through his second marriage in 1770 and probably remodelled. He bequeathed Mongewell to his great nephew, Uvedale T.S. Price.
He died aged 91 in London on 25 March 1826, following a stroke, and was buried at Mongewell, 31 March 1826; he is commemorated by a monument in Durham Cathedral. His will was proved 12 April 1826. His first wife died in childbirth (the daughter was stillborn), 28 May 1766. His second wife died 8 August 1807.
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| William Barrington, 3rd Viscount Barrington Image: Redwood Library and Athanaeum |
He lived latterly at Corston (Som.), and did not inherit Beckett House.
He died 13 July 1801 and his burial has not been traced, but his will (proved in the PCC on 4 August 1801) expressly forbid the removal of his corpse to Shrivenham, and requested burial in the parish where he was living at the time of his death. His widow married 2nd, 2 February 1812 at Uley (Glos), Edward Thornycroft (d. 1817) of Thornycroft Hall (Ches.) and was buried at Gawsworth (Ches.), 13 April 1816; her will was proved in June 1816.
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| Richard Barrington, 4th Viscount Barrington. Image: Los Angeles County Museums |
He lived abroad at Hamburg (Germany) and later at Abbeville and Valenciennes (France), and did not inherit Beckett House.
He died in at Valenciennes (France), 8 December 1813. His widow died in 1830.
Barrington, Rev. George (1761-1829), 5th Viscount Barrington. Third son of Maj-Gen. John Barrington (1719-64) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Florentius Vassal, born 16 July 1761. Educated at Westminster (King's Scholar) and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1778; BA 1782; MA 1785). Ordained deacon, 1784, and priest, 1785. A protégé of his uncle, the Rt. Rev. Shute Barrington (1734-1826), whose domestic chaplain he became in 1789. Vicar of Grantham (Lincs), 1786-92; rector of Great Ponton (Lincs), 1789-92 and of Sedgefield (Co. Durham), 1791-1829, where he rebuilt the rectory (now Ceddesfield Hall) following its destruction by fire in 1792; prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, 1786-1802 and Durham Cathedral, 1796-1829. He succeeded his elder brother as 5th Viscount, 8 December 1813. He married, 12 February 1788 at St Marylebone (Middx), Elizabeth (1768-1841), daughter of Robert Adair, sergeant-surgeon to King George III, and his wife Lady Caroline, daughter of Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, and had issue:
(1) William Keppel Barrington (1793-1867), 6th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(2) Capt. The Hon. George Barrington (1794-1835), born 20 November and baptised at Sedgefield, 17 December 1794; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1814; Cmdr., 1818; Capt., 1826; retired 1826); appointed by his father-in-law as Fourth Lord of the Admiralty, 1830-33; Whig MP for Sunderland, 1832-33; married, 15 January 1827 at Howick (Northbld.), Lady Caroline (1799-1875), third daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister 1830-34, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 2 June 1835; his widow became a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria and superintendent of the royal princesses, 1837-75;
(3) The Hon. Samuel Shute Perceval Barrington (1796-1815), born 10 February and baptised at Sedgefield, 14 March 1796; an officer in the 1st Foot Guards (Ensign, 1814); killed in action at the Battle of Quatre Bras, 16 June 1815, two days before Waterloo; he was buried near the battlefield but reinterred in the crypt under the British Waterloo Campaign monument in 1890;
(4) John Robert Barrington (1797-1804), born 12 February and baptised at Sedgefield, 12 March 1797; died young, 30 November, and was buried in Durham Cathedral, 5 December 1804;
(5) The Hon. Augustus Barrington (1798-1860), born 19 July 1798; educated at Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1815) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1820; called 1823); Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford (BCL, 1822; DCL, 1827); barrister-at-law; Master of Greatham Hospital (Co. Durham), 1823-60, being appointed by his great-uncle, the Rt. Rev. Shute Barrington; died unmarried, 16 May, and was buried at Kensal Green (Middx), 22 May 1860; will proved 19 June 1860 (effects under £14,000);
(6) The Hon. Caroline Elizabeth Barrington (1799-1890), born 5 October and baptised at Sedgefield, 22 December 1799; married, 28 February 1843 at Shrivenham, Hon. Thomas Liddell (1800-56), amateur architect, second son of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth, but had no issue; died 4 March 1890; will proved 31 March 1890 (effects £37,911);
(7) The Hon. Russell Barrington (1801-35), born 25 July and baptised at Sedgefield, 24 August 1801; educated at Oriel College, Oxford (admitted 1819; BA 1822); an officer in the Cumberland Militia (Ensign, 1825); joint Registrar, with his brother Lowther, of the Durham Consistory Court by 1832; married, 25 September 1832 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Marion (1816-71), only daughter of John Lyon of Hetton House (Co. Durham) and had issue one son and one daughter; leased Sparsholt House near Wantage (Berks), which his widow retained until 1841; died 15 February 1835;
(8) The Hon. Frances Barrington (1802-49), born 20 October and baptised at Sedgefield, 22 December 1802; married, 25 October 1828, as his second wife, William Legge (1784-1853), 4th Earl of Dartmouth, and had issue six sons and nine daughters; died 11 August, and was buried at Holy Trinity, Minories, London, 18 August 1849;
(9) The Hon. Charlotte Belasyse Barrington (1804-73), born 30 March and baptised in Durham Cathedral, 9 June 1804; married, 28 January 1845 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Rev. Henry Burton (1803-73), rector of Upton Cressett (Salop), but had no issue; died 16 June 1873;
(10) The Hon. and Rev. Lowther John Barrington (1805-97), born 17 July and was baptised at Sedgefield, 26 August 1805; educated at Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1822; BA 1825; MA 1829); ordained deacon and priest, 1830; registrar, with his brother Russell, of the Durham Consistory Court; stipendiary curate of Chenies (Bucks), 1830-40; rector of West Tytherley, 1840-50 and Watton-at-Stone (Herts), 1850-86; rural dean; hon. canon of St. Albans Cathedral; married, 26 October 1837 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Lady Catherine Georgina (1814-85), daughter of Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester and had issue two sons and one daughter; died aged 91 on 10 March 1897; will proved 28 April 1897 (effects £7,198);
(11) Francis Daines Barrington (1807-08), born 20 March and baptised at Durham Cathedral, 16 April 1807; died in infancy, 25 February, and was buried at Durham Cathedral, 29 February 1808;
(12) The Hon. Henry Frederick Francis Adair Barrington (1808-82), born 28 July and baptised at Sedgefield, 21 August 1808; educated at Charterhouse, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1827; BA 1830; MA 1833) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1830; called 1835); barrister-at-law; president of the Criminal Court of British Kaffraria; lived at Portland, Kysna, Cape of Good Hope (South Africa); married, 25 July 1848 at St Swithin, Walcot, Bath (Som.), Mary Georgiana (c.1830-1909), daughter of Col. Wright Knox of 87th Regt. and had issue three sons and four daughters; died 25 March 1882; his will was proved 1 January 1884 (effects in England, £494);
(13) The Hon. Georgiana Christina Barrington (1810-81), born 9 May and baptised at Sedgefield, 18 June 1810; married, 1 November 1847 at Shrivenham, James Hamilton Lloyd Anstruther (later Lloyd-Anstruther) (1806-82) of Hintlesham Hall (Suffk), and had issue four sons; died 11 July 1881;
(14) The Hon. Elizabeth Frances Barrington (1811-86), born 18 October and baptised at Sedgefield, 17 November 1811; married, 13 December 1836 at Shrivenham, as his second wife, Rev. Thomas Mills (1791-1879), chaplain in ordinary to Queen Victoria and rector of Stutton (Suffk), but had no issue; lived latterly at Hill House, Hatfield (Herts); died 26 July 1886; will proved 21 August 1886 (effects £18,874);
(15) The Hon. Arthur Barrington (1814-26), born 23 August, and baptised at Sedgefield, 4 September 1814; died young 'of a lingering illness', 27 March 1826.
He inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his elder brother in 1814.
He died unexpectedly of an inflammation of the lungs in Rome (Italy), 5 March 1829 and was buried at Campo Cestio Cemetery, Rome, where he is commemorated by a large monument; his will was proved 7 September 1829. His widow died 2 March 1841 and was buried at Shrivenham, where she is commemorated by a monument; her will was proved 2 June 1841.
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| William Keppel Barrington, 6th Viscount Barrington. Image: National Portrait Gallery. |
(1) George William Barrington (1824-86), 7th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(2) Percy Barrington (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) The Hon. Charlotte Maria Barrington (1826-54), born 29 December 1826 and baptised at St. Marylebone, 26 June 1827; married, 30 April 1850 at Shrivenham, Thomas George Lyon-Bowes (1822-65), 12th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne, but had no issue; died in Florence (Italy), 3 November 1854;
(4) The Hon. Mary Frances Barrington (1830-1913), born 1 June and baptised at St Marylebone, 28 June 1830; married, 28 October 1856 at Shrivenham, Alfred Urban Sartoris (1826-1909) of Warnford Park (Hants) and later of Abbotswood (Glos) and had issue; died 11 October 1913; will proved 9 December 1913 (estate £12,481);
(5) The Hon. Caroline Susan Augusta Barrington (1834-1915), born 21 October 1834 and baptised at Shrivenham, 1 April 1835; married, 9 April 1856, James Charles Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar (1818-96), 3rd Earl of Normanton, of Somerley (Hants), and had issue four sons and four daughters; died 13 January 1915 and was buried at Ellingham (Hants); will proved 4 May 1915 (estate £34,857);
(6) The Hon. Augusta Anne Barrington (1836-1915), baptised at Shrivenham, 18 July 1836; married, 12 November 1878 at Shrivenham, Rt. Hon. and Most Rev. William Dalrymple Maclagan (1826-1910), Bishop of Lichfield, 1878-91 and Archbishop of York, 1891-1908, fifth son of Dr. David Maclagan, physician, and had issue one son (Sir Eric Maclagan, director of the Victoria & Albert Museum) and one daughter; died 17 December 1915; will proved 4 February 1916 (estate £5,266);
(7) The Hon. Adelaide Barrington (1839-62), born about January 1839; married, 28 November 1860, Charles Balfour (1823-72) of Newton Don (Berwicks) (who m2, Minnie Georgiana (d. 1927), daughter of Col. the Hon. Augustus F. Liddell, Deputy Ranger of Windsor Forest, and had further issue one son), and had issue one son; died 23 February 1862;
(8) The Hon. Sir William Augustus Curzon Barrington (1842-1922), born 28 January and baptised at Shrivenham, 29 March 1842; educated at Cheam, Woolwich, Mannheim (Germany) and Bonn (Germany); in HM diplomatic service, 1860-1904 (attaché, 1860-64; 3rd secretary, 1864-70; 2nd secretary, 1870-83; Secretary of Legation at Buenos Aires, 1883-84; chargé d'affaires and consul-general at Lima, 1884-85; consul-general for Hungary, 1885-88; secretary of Embassy at Madrid, 1888-92 and Vienna, 1892-96; minster plenipotentiary to Argentina and Paraguay, 1896-1902 and Stockholm, 1902-04); appointed KCMG, 1901; described by his obituarist as 'a clever man, and very popular everywhere'; died unmarried, 23 February, and was buried at Shrivenham, 2 March 1922; will proved 2 May 1922 (estate £38,074);
(9) The Hon. Sir Bernard Eric Edward Barrington (1847-1918), born 5 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 15 July 1847; educated at Eton; civil servant in the Foreign Office, 1867-1907 (private secretary to Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1868-74; précis writer to Secretary of State, 1874-80; acting 2nd secretary at Berlin congress, 1878; private secretary to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1885-92, 1895-1905; Asst. Under-Secretary of State for Africa, 1905-07); appointed KCB, 1902 (CB 1889); lived at Old Lodge, Wimbledon Common (Surrey); married, 24 February 1879, Christina (c.1848-1937), youngest daughter of William Graham of Burntshields (Renfrews.), but had no issue; died 24 February 1918; will proved 9 May 1918 (estate £16,244).
He lived at Sedgefield (Co. Durham) until he inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his father in 1829. He rebuilt the house in 1829-34 to the designs of his brother-in-law, Tom Liddell.
He died 9 February 1867 and was buried at Shrivenham. His widow died 22 March 1883.
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| George William Barrington (1824-86), 7th Viscount Barrington. Image: British Museum. |
(1) The Hon. Constance Mary Barrington (1847-1926), born 16 January and baptised at Shrivenham, 6 April 1847; married, 30 September 1868 at Shrivenham, Hesketh Lawrence Palk (1846-1903), 2nd Baron Haldon, eldest son of Sir Lawrence Palk, bt. and 1st Baron Haldon, and had issue two sons and two daughters; in 1882-83 she sought a judicial separation from her husband on the grounds of his adultery, and although this was refused, the couple subsequently lived apart; he in increasingly reduced circumstances in England, and she in Italy; she settled at the Palazzo Capomazza in Naples, where she became the leading figure in the English 'colony' and devoted herself to charitable works among the poor Neapolitans and to the creation of a garden; she died at Naples (Italy), 2 May 1926; will proved 15 July 1926 (effects in England £3,006);
(2) The Hon. Evelyn Laura Barrington (1848-1924), born 15 July and baptised at Shrivenham, 20 August 1848; married, 17 January 1867 at Shrivenham, George Grimston Craven (1841-83), 3rd Earl of Craven of Ashdown Park (Berks), Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1881-83, and had issue four sons and two daughters; died 9 November 1924 and was buried at Shrivenham; will proved 28 January 1925 (estate £15,732);
(3) The Hon. Florence Isabel Barrington (1850-1928), born 17 September and baptised at Shrivenham, 22 December 1850; in the 1890s she became a Sister of Mercy in the Anglican community of St Mary, Wantage; died unmarried, 1 February 1928 and was buried at Shrivenham; will proved 2 April 1928 (estate £26,788).
He inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his father in 1867. After his death it passed to his widow for life, and she let it. In 1883 he also owned 1,655 acres in the West Riding of Yorkshire and 1,275 acres in Northumberland.
He died suddenly at Grimsthorpe Castle (Lincs), 6/7 November 1886, and was buried at Shrivenham; his will was proved 10 February 1887 (effects £43,868). His widow died 1 February 1898, and was buried at Shrivenham; her will was proved 28 February 1898 (effects £21,451).
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| Percy Barrington (1825-1901), 8th Viscount Barrington Image: National Portrait Gallery |
(1) The Hon. Alice Louisa Barrington (1846-1928), born 1 September and baptised at Bramley (Hants), 4 November 1846; married, 23 July 1868 at Westbury (Bucks), George Augustus Campbell (1847-1930) of Market House, Brackley (Northants) and London, partner in Cox & Co., bankers and army agents, second son of Col. George Herbert Frederick Campbell of Evenley Hall (Northants), and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 31 July 1928;
(2) Walter Bulkeley Barrington (1848-1933), 9th Viscount Barrington (q.v.);
(3) The Hon. Edith Barrington (1850-1919), baptised at Hardwicke with Tusmore (Oxon), 30 June 1850; she and her husband built Tile House, Lillingstone Dayrell (Bucks) to the designs of Ewan Christian in 1881-82; she married, 17 August 1869 at Westbury, Abraham John Robarts DL (1838-1926), partner in Robarts, Lubbock & Co., bankers, son of Abraham Wildey Robarts MP, and had issue two sons and five daughters; died at Richmond (Surrey), 20 June 1919.
He purchased Westbury Manor, nr Buckingham (Bucks) in 1854 and lived there until 1898 when he inherited Beckett House, Shrivenham from his elder brother's widow. He subsequently let both houses. His wife inherited the Blenheim estate in British Guiana on the death of her brother in 1834 and it formed part of her marriage settlement in 1845; by 1860 it had been sold to Charles McGarel.
He died at Westbury Manor, 29 April 1901, and was buried at Westbury, 4 May 1901; his will was proved 5 July 1901 (estate £62,185). His wife died 17 June 1884 and was buried at Westbury (Bucks), 21 June 1884; her will was proved 23 July 1884 (effects £3,115).
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| Walter Bulkeley Barrington, 9th Viscount Barrington. Image: National Portrait Gallery. |
(1.1) The Hon. Maude Louisa Barrington (1871-1924), born 25 January 1871; married, 6 August 1889 at Buckland (Berks), Hon. Eustace Robert Fitzgerald (1863-1944) of Graham Lodge, Great Bookham (Surrey), second son of John David Fitzgerald, a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary as Baron Fitzgerald (Life Peer, 1882), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 26 August 1924; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 6 November 1924 (estate 8,758);
(1.2) The Hon. Violet Mary Barrington (1872-1928), born 3 May 1872; married, 27 April 1892 at Shrivenham, John Charles Evelyn Hope Brooke (1858-1934), of The Orchard, Turweston (Bucks), second son of Capt. John Brooke Johnson Brooke, Rajah Muda of Sarawak, and had issue five sons and five daughters; died 10 December 1928 and was buried at Turweston;
(1.3) William Reginald Shute Barrington (1873-1960), 10th Viscount Barrington, born 23 July 1873; educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (matriculated 1892); an officer in the 4th Battn., Oxfordshire Light Infantry (2nd Lt., 1895; Lt., 1895; resigned 1901; returned to colours as Capt., 1914 and Maj., 1916; resigned 1920); JP for Berkshire, 1907; succeeded his father as 10th Viscount and 4th Baron Shute, 12 September 1933; from 1899, he lived as part of the notorious 'Woodhouse circus', a menage-a-cinq with Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (1871-1948) and her husband Gordon and two other male lovers at Wootton Manor (Sussex), then Southover House (Sussex) and finally Nether Lypiatt Manor (Glos), where from 1923 he developed skills as a garden designer; after Violet and Gordon's deaths he moved to Hartfield (Sussex); he remained unmarried and died without issue, 4 October 1960, when he was succeeded by his nephew; will proved 26 January and 29 March 1961 (estate £189,914);
(1.4) The Hon. Hilda Margaret Barrington (1874-1929), born 21 July 1874; married, 28 March 1894 at Shrivenham, Maj-Gen. Sir Reginald Salmond Curtis KCMG CB DSO (1863-1922) of the Royal Engineers, and had issue three daughters; died 10 March 1929; will proved 7 June 1929 (estate £17,421);
(1.5) The Hon. (Walter) Bernard Louis Barrington (1876-1959), born 15 May 1876; educated at Charterhouse; admitted a solicitor, 1900; a partner in Norton, Rose, Barrington & Co. of London 1904-19; a member of the Council of the Law Society, 1909-11; after advising city firms for many years he became a partner in the issuing house, Helbert Wagg & Co. in 1919, where he regarded his task as being 'to keep us out of the Old Bailey!'; his tall, patrician demeanour and invariable dress of tailcoat, wing collar, bow tie and spats typified the City gent; he joined the board of many other firms, including the Loch Lomond Investment Trust, the Gresham Life and Fire Assurance societies, and the Legal & General Assurance Soc., of which he was a director from 1914 and chairman, 1945-58; he married, 11 December 1901, (Eleanor) Nina (d. 1947), daughter of Sir Thomas William Snagge KCMG, judge, and had issue one son (Patrick William Daines Barrington (1908-90), 11th and last Viscount Barrington and 5th and last Baron Shute) and two daughters; died 12 May 1959; will proved 31 July 1959 (estate £128,445);
(1.6) Lt-Col. the Hon. Rupert Edward Selborne Barrington (1877-1975), born 10 December 1877; educated at Charterhouse; an officer in the Imperial Yeomanry (Lt., 1900; resigned 1901), who served in the Boer War; then with South African Constabulary, 1901-07; an officer in the Scottish Horse (Capt., 1914; retired as Maj., 1921; but acting Maj. and Lt-Col. for much of the First World War (wounded; mentioned in despatches; DSO 1918); married, 10 September 1903 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Mary Georgiana (1877-1971), younger daughter of Lt-Col. George Arthur Ferguson of Pitfour and had issue one son (who died without issue in 1980); died aged 97 on 7 August 1975; will proved 18 November 1975 (estate £17,074);
(1.7) The Hon. Percy Evelyn Barrington (1884-1911), born 19 July 1884; an officer in the County of London Imperial Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1902); emigrated to Argentina; married, 13 October 1908 at St John, Buenos Aires (Argentina), Muriel Constance (1888-1928) (who m2, 19 September 1914, Alfred Fabian de Ledesma (1892-1979) and had issue two sons), only daughter of Isaac Beaman Oyler of Estancia La Reina, Sanabria, Cordova (Argentina) and had issue one son (who was killed in a flying accident in 1937); died in Buenos Aires (Argentina), 30 May 1911; administration of his goods granted 25 April 1911 (effects in England, £3,899).
He inherited from his father in 1901 Westbury Manor near Buckingham (which he sold to Lord Scott in 1902) and Beckett House, Shrivenham (which he continued to let at least until the First World War). He lived at Brackley Hill (Northants) but later moved to Beckett House, which he tried unsuccessfully to sell in 1922 and 1927, His trustees finally sold it in 1936 after the death of his widow.
He died 12 September 1933 and was buried at Shrivenham, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in November 1933 (estate £22,841). His first wife died 16 November, and was buried at Shrivenham, 19 November 1903. His widow died 22 October 1935.
Principal sources
Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 1876, pp. 71-72 and 1967, pp. 178-79; L. Dickins & M. Stanton (eds.), An eighteenth-century correspondence, being the letters... to Sanderson Miller, 1919, pp. 316-19, 387-88, 433-47; J. Douglas-Home, Violet, 1996; W. Hawkes, The diaries of Sanderson Miller of Radway, 2005, pp. 317-18; Sir H.M. Colvin, A biographical dictionary of British architects, 4th edn., 2008, pp. 257, 651, 695, 1168; G. Tyack, S. Bradley & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Berkshire, 2nd edn., 2010, pp. 517-18; http://www.shrivenhamheritagesociety.co.uk/listing.asp?listID=1514; http://www.shrivenhamheritagesociety.co.uk/downloads/2.-who-built-the-new-beckett-house-2nd-copy.pdf;https://www.history.ac.uk/sites/default/files/file-uploads/2019-06/mongewell_web_2_landownership_31.1.19.pdf;
https://explorabilia.co.uk/2019/12/04/dark-modernism-carmel-college/
https://womenofeastbourne.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Violet-Gordon-Woodhouse-the-full-story.pdf
Location of archives
Barrington family of Beckett House, Viscounts Barrington: deeds, manorial records and estate papers, 1523-1947 [Berkshire Record Office, D/EEl); family and estate papers, 18th-19th cents. [British Library, Add MSS 73546-73769]; Shrivenham estate accounts, 1793-1917 [Oxfordshire History Centre, Acc. 5972]
Barrington family of Westbury Manor: deeds and estate papers, 16th cent-1854 [Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, D169]
Coat of arms
Argent, three chevronels gules, a label of three points azure.
Can you help?
- Does anyone know more about the adopted daughter of Rt. Rev. Shute Barrington?
- 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 19 March 2020 and was updated 22 March and 7 May 2020. I am grateful to Neil Maw for showing me William Atkinson's drawings for Beckett, the originals of which are in the British Library.
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