(438) Bastard of Kitley and Buckland Court

Bastard of Kitley

The Bastards have some claim to be one of the oldest Devon families. They have been seated at Kitley since 1710, but their lineage as Devon gentry goes back a good deal further, and they may be descended from the Robert Bastard, apparently a companion of William the Conqueror, who appears in Domesday Book as possessed of ten manors in south Devon in 1086. Robert's descendants held some of his property, including the manor of Efford, until the 14th century, and although nothing certain is known about the family in the 15th century (except a single reference to a William Bastard being coroner of Devon in 1452), the existence of a small number of Efford deeds in the archives of the present Bastard family may be evidence of a connection with the early medieval lords of the same name.

The family lineage emerges from obscurity in the mid 16th century, with John Bastard (d. 1589), who was then possessed of the manor of Gerston in the parish of West Alvington. In 1547 he married Thomasine Gilbert and they had four sons. Gerston passed to his third son, William (c.1558-1639), a Puritan lawyer at the Middle Temple who acted for the boroughs of Totnes and Dartmouth as well as filling local public office in Devon, and who enlarged the family's estate in Devon, perhaps being the first of his family to acquire Buckland Court at Buckland-in-the-Moor, which subsequent generations used as a dower house or occasional summer residence. William may also have rebuilt the house at Gerston, creating the core of the present building. He was married but had no surviving issue, so on his death the estate passed to his great-nephew, Capt. William Bastard (1616-63), who was an active Parliamentarian in the Civil War and MP for Devon in 1654. He was the first of his family to serve as High Sheriff (in 1646-47), and subsequently one of the men most active in local administration throughout the Commonwealth, with ten appointments to commissions of one kind or another. Despite his strong adherence to the Parliamentary cause, William does not seem to have suffered any disfavour at the Restoration, since he was retained as a JP and reappointed as an officer in the reconstituted militia, but he died, still fairly young, in 1663. His eldest son and successor, Sir William Bastard (c.1636-90), who was knighted during his shrievalty in 1676-77, was, however, twice removed from the magistracy as 'a great [Puritan] fanatic, and an indulger of conventicles'. His knighthood, his career in public office, and his marriage to a Bampfylde of Poltimore, all indicate the rising social status of the family, although their seat at Gerston remained very modest, and indeed became a farmhouse soon afterwards.

Gerston Manor, West Alvington: the house prior to recent remodelling.
Image: Historic England.

A grander family home was achieved as a consequence of the marriage, in about 1693, of Sir William's son, William Bastard (1667-1704) to Anne (1666-1724), the heiress of Edmund Pollexfen of Kitley in Yealmpton, which was a much grander Tudor house. Although William died before his father-in-law, under the terms of his marriage settlement, Kitley passed to Anne for life and then to their only son, Pollexfen Bastard (1696-1733), who was probably responsible for the fairly radical early 18th century remodelling of the house at Kitley.

Neither William Bastard (d. 1704) nor his son Pollexfen (d. 1733) were as active in local and public affairs as their predecessors, but the latter's son, William Bastard (1727-82) had one significant moment of fame in 1779, when there was serious alarm about a French attack on Plymouth. Some 1600 French prisoners of war were being held in the Arsenal there, and it was feared that if there was a French landing, these men would be released, making the assault far more dangerous. However, no British troops were available to take the French prisoners to the greater security of Exeter. So William Bastard and his two sons raised 300 volunteers from their estates and neighbouring properties, who with the assistance of two companies of Sussex militia, effected the prisoner transfer. For this service, it is said that William Bastard was to be awarded a baronetcy, but although an announcement to this effect was published in the Annual Register, it seems not to appear in the London Gazette. William may, in fact, have declined the honour, as no patent of creation ever passed the great seal, and the family never claimed or used the title.

William Bastard died comparatively young in 1782 and was succeeded by his son, John Pollexfen Bastard (1756-1816), who was the fiercely independent MP for Devon, 1784-1816, and Colonel of the East Devon Militia. Although he married twice, he produced no children, and in 1815 his declining health made him seek a warmer climate. He died at Leghorn (Livorno in Italy) the following year, and his body was shipped back to England for burial. His heir was his younger brother, Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1758-1816), who had married Jane, the daughter of Capt. Philemon Pownoll RN (d. 1780). Pownoll, who had been awarded a fortune in prize money for his part in the capture of a Spanish treasure ship, had invested his windfall in the purchase and rebuilding of Sharpham House, and on his death this estate had passed to Jane, and she and her husband had made Sharpham their home. Edmund, however, died on the day when his elder brother's remains arrived back in England, and they were both buried (albeit in different churches) on the same day, the 17 June 1816. Jane remained at Sharpham until her death in 1822, but John's widow, Judith Bastard (c.1770-1848), retired from Kitley to Buckland Court, which she remodelled, probably around 1820.

Edmund left his two estates to his two elder surviving sons. Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1784-1838) received Kitley, and succeeded his uncle as MP for Devon, 1816-30, while Capt. John Bastard (1787-1835), who had pursued a career in the Royal Navy, inherited Sharpham on his mother's death in 1822. In the 1820s, Edmund employed George Stanley Repton to remodel Kitley, and evidence has recently emerged that his brother also engaged Repton to remodel Sharpham at much the same time. Edmund, who married the Hon. Anne Rodney in 1824, had three sons, who all inherited Kitley in turn. The eldest, Edmund Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1825-56), was just thirteen when he came into Kitley, and ten years later he also inherited Buckland Court from his great-aunt, Judith. He was then an Oxford undergraduate of fashionably High Church views. After completing his education, he engaged William Butterfield to restore the parish church at Yealmpton, but he withdrew his funding after converting to Rome in 1852. He married in 1853 but died without issue just three years later, leaving Kitley to his next brother, Baldwin John Pollexfen Bastard (1830-1905), who abandoned a career in the army to come and manage the estate. He married but had no children, so on his death Kitley came to the youngest of the three brothers, the Rev. William Pollexfen Bastard (1832-1915), whose ten children included only one surviving son. This was William Edward Pollexfen Bastard (1864-1924), who inherited both Kitley and Buckland Court on his father's death, although he sold Buckland in 1923. His marriage produced five daughters but no sons, so at his death Kitley passed under an entail to his second cousin once removed, Col. Reginald Bastard (1880-1960), who was the great-grandson of John Bastard (1787-1835) of Sharpham House. This branch of the family had sold Sharpham House as early as 1841, due, it is said, to the debts generated by an unfortunate gambling habit, and had since then been living in London. Reginald's father was a stockbroker whose messy and widely publicised divorce case in the 1890s must have made his own childhood less than secure. Despite this background, he pursued a very successful military career, from which he retired in 1920. He married in 1919 and produced one child, his son and heir John Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1921-82). By 1982 the house and estate were fairly run down, for lack of investment, and John's heir, Michael Rodney Pownoll Bastard (b. 1949), decided to move out of the house and sell most of the accumulated contents, which were dispersed at auction in 1987. The house was subsequently leased out as an hotel, but after more than twenty years in the hands of several different companies, the family bought in the lease in 2018 and decided to refurbish it and run it as an hotel themselves, under the management of Michael's son, Spike (b. 1972). The temporary closure of the hotel during the global pandemic in 2020 prompted a reassessment, and Spike and his partner have moved back into the main house, which it was announced  would be refocused as a wedding and events venue from 2021.

Kitley House, Yealmpton, Devon

Although the house now very largely bears the appearance given to it by G.S. Repton in a neo-Tudor remodelling of c.1820-25, it is in origin an H-shaped Tudor house of the 16th century: something which is just about detectable on the west side. This was the original entrance front, and had extruded corners in the angles between the great hall and the wings, which probably formed the porch and a staircase. The wings of the H are still visible on this side, although the courtyard between them is now largely filled by a low wing added by Repton. 

Kitley: engraving by Thomas Bonnor in the 1790s, showing the south front in its Georgianised form.

The Tudor house came into the possession of Anne Bastard in 1710 and was remodelled and updated in Georgian style soon afterwards, probably for her son, Pollexfen Bastard (1696-1733). This was a radical remodelling, the results of which are fortunately recorded in Repton's survey drawings made before his alterations in the early 19th century, as well as by an engraving of the 1790s and several watercolours. The ground floor of the Tudor house became the basement of its successor, which was left exposed only on the south side, and became the kitchens of the Georgian house. The space between the wings on the east side was filled in with a new two-storey block containing a saloon on the ground floor; the former great hall was adapted into a staircase hall with a large new Venetian window, and the existing windows on all three main fronts were all replaced with regularly placed sash windows, creating two-storey facades of seven bays to the east and north and a three-storey facade of eight bays to the south. The resulting building was criticised by the Rev. John Swete in the 1790s as 'by no means a handsome building - it is a square, and hath a roof two-thirds as high as the front itself' (in truth the roof, though tall, was not that tall!). 

Kitley: the Georgian staircase inserted in the former Tudor great hall.
Image: Christine Wallace.

The main feature remaining from this period is the spectacular imperial staircase in the former Great Hall, which has one fluted and two spiral balusters to each tread, inlaid steps and a crisply panelled dado. The hall below is panelled to full height and has arched doorcases flanked by fluted Ionic pilasters. The 18th century saloon (made into the dining room by Repton) also preserves its dado panelling and a good cornice.

Edmund Pollexfen Bastard inherited the estate in 1816 and brought in G.S. Repton fairly soon afterwards to remodel the house in the newly fashionable Tudor style. By contrast with the Georgian remodelling, Repton's was essentially cosmetic. The house remained symmetrical, but the Georgian sash windows were replaced by mullioned and transomed cross-windows and a varied and picturesque outline was achieved by the addition of gables, pinnacles and chimneys, which are particularly effective when seen in silhouette from the lake below the house.

Kitley: the south and east fronts after the remodelling by G.S. Repton.
Image: Christine Wallace.

Unfortunately, the house was also refaced in a sombre grey limestone ashlar (known as Devonshire marble) with granite dressings, which has hardly been softened at all by two centuries of weathering. The flat wall surfaces are relieved minimally by slightly-projecting battlemented panels and a canted oriel on the south side; details which are borrowed not from the local vernacular but from examples Repton had studied in his native East Anglia. On the south side, Repton built an arched loggia in front of the basement windows, and some Tudor granite doorways and windows are still visible behind it. 

Inside, the Tudor theme is continued by the entrance hall, which has Gothic panelling - once stained and grained but now alas painted grey - ornamented with painted coats of arms displaying the arms of the landed families of Devon and Cornwall. Repton's other interiors are in a classical style, and include the tripartite library in the south wing, which is subdivided by screens of Ionic columns of yellow scagliola, with inset bookcases. In the low west range, which Repton inserted between the wings of the 16th century house, is a small circular boudoir with a shallow dome that acts as an anteroom to the drawing room.

Kitley: entrance hall

Kitley: library in 1939. Image: Country Life.

The Bastard family moved out Kitley in 1987, although they still live on the estate, and a major part of the contents was dispersed at auction in that year, realising nearly £1m. In 1996 the house was leased to a hotel management company, but the family retained ownership of the building. In 2018, the family took back control of the house and began a programme of repairs and alterations, while managing it directly as an hotel, but in 2020, during the temporary closure caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that the hotel and restaurant would not reopen. Spike Bastard and his partner have moved into the house, which it was announced would be repurposed as an exclusive-use wedding and private events venue.

The landscaped setting of Kitley House, which is so prominent in both early views and modern photographs of the house, was created in the later 18th century by a local surveyor called Gray, presumably for John Pollexfen Bastard (1756-1816). Gray 'raised a diagonally sloping bank... across the oozy channel... forming a very pleasing and extensive sheet' of water below the house. In the 19th century the grounds were further improved: a circular flower garden designed for carpet bedding was laid out east of the house in 1842, 'from a design volunteered by Chantrey', the sculptor, and by 1893 there was another terrace garden south of the house. William Paul of Waltham Cross, a rose specialist who worked for Monet at Giverny, made plans for proposed alterations to the gardens in 1911, although it is not known whether these were executed. Sadly, the vicissitudes of the 20th century have removed most traces of the 11 acres of gardens that eventually existed, and only the areas immediately adjacent to the house are currently maintained.

Descent: Thomas Pollexfen (c.1495-c.1560); to son, John Pollexfen (d. by 1571); to son, John Pollexfen (fl. 1620); to son, John Pollexfen (fl. 1620); to son, John Pollexfen (b. 1619); to son, Edmund Pollexfen (d. 1710); to daughter Anne (1666-1724), widow of William Bastard (1667-1704); to son, Pollexfen Bastard (1696-1733); to son, William Bastard (1727-82); to son, John Pollexfen Bastard (1756-1816); to brother, Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1758-1816); to son, Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1784-1838); to son, Edmund Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1825-56); to brother, Baldwin John Pollexfen Bastard (1830-1905); to brother, Rev. William Pollexfen Bastard (1832-1915); to son, William Edward Pollexfen Bastard (1864-1924); to second cousin once removed, Col. Reginald Bastard (1880-1960); to son, John Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1921-82); to son, Michael Rodney Pownoll Bastard (b. 1949).

Buckland Court, Buckland-in-the-Moor, Devon

A rubble built manor house in a fine position commanding a prospect over the upper reaches of the Dart was acquired by the Bastard family in 1614. In the late 18th century, John Pollexfen Bastard laid out the wooded grounds with an extensive system of carriage drives which can still be detected. By the 1790s, Polwhele called the place 'unrivalled in its combination of torrent, rock and foliage'. The house was remodelled in about 1825 for John Pollexfen Bastard's widow, Judith (d. 1848), who seems to have moved here after her husband's death. She gave the house new east and south fronts covered in mathematical tiles. The east side has a curved bow in the centre, and two plain sash windows either side on the first floor over a single Venetian window with Gothick glazing on the ground floor. The south end elevation had another shallow bow. Behind this range a service wing extended to the west and connected the house with the stable court and other outbuildings.

Buckland Court: the house from the north in the early 20th century.

Sadly, little is known of the interiors of the house, for after it was sold by the Bastards in 1923, the house remained unoccupied and quickly deteriorated. During the Second World War it was requisitioned for the use of the US Army, and gun emplacements were embedded in the garden. By 1958, when the estate was again sold, the house was frankly described as derelict, and it was the timber on the estate which was regarded as its principal attraction to purchasers. The house was sold with just four acres to Mr. & Mrs Ray Merrick, who tried to restore it but were unable to halt the process of decay. Mr Merrick eventually committed suicide, and when his children sold the property in 2006 the house was roofless and only a few doors, shutters, grates and sections of plaster cornice remained of the interior. A comprehensive restoration of the house and outbuildings was begun by the Architects Design Group of Plymouth in 2007 for Mr & Mrs Bromage. Unfortunately, in 2010, when a great deal still remained to be done, they became bankrupt, but the house was sold on to Mr & Mrs Burke, who have completed the restoration. Although the exterior has largely been returned to its earlier form (except for the creation of a balcony commanding the view above the bow on the east front), and the main reception rooms have also been recreated, upstairs the layout has been altered with fewer bedrooms, more bathrooms, and additional staircases.

Descent: William Bastard (c.1558-1639); to great-nephew, William Bastard (1616-63); to son, Sir William Bastard (c.1636-90), kt.; to son, William Bastard (1667-1704); to son, Pollexfen Bastard (1696-1733); to son, William Bastard (1727-82); to son, John Pollexfen Bastard (1756-1816); to widow, Judith Bastard (c.1770-1848); to great-nephew, Edmund Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1825-56); to brother, Baldwin John Pollexfen Bastard (1830-1905); to brother, Rev. William Pollexfen Bastard (1832-1915); to son, William Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1864-1924), who sold 1923 to William Whitley (d. 1957); sold 1958 to J.M. Guthrie, who sold later the same year to Ray Merrick; to children, who sold 2006 to Mr. & Mrs. Bromage; sold 2010 to Mr & Mrs David Burke.

Sharpham House, Ashprington, Devon

The house stands in a spectacular if exposed position above the famously beautiful Dart valley, but although this makes it a highly desirable piece of real estate today, the property had a curiously chequered history before the 18th century, passing through the hands of no less than eight families between the first mention in the records in the 13th century and 1748, when Gilbert Yarde sold it to a Plymouth brazier, Philip Cockey.

Sharpham House: the Tudor house in 1749.
Image: Plymouth & West Devon Record Office.

The house that then existed was a 'pleasant seat' built in the 16th century by Drewe family, which is recorded in a sketch on an estate map of 1749 and in at least one 18th century painting by John Lewis. It consisted of a three-storey, windowless block (perhaps a barn) attached to a tall projecting wing and a two-storey block, both with mullioned windows. The appearance of the house was undeniably rustic, but it was given a semblance of dignity by three formal garden spaces in front of the house.

In 1765 the estate was bought for £7,574 by Philemon Pownoll, a naval officer whose share of the prize money from the capture of a fantastically valuable Spanish treasure ship valued at over half a million pounds was £64,963. Within a few years Pownoll had decided to build a new house on the estate, and he turned to Sir Robert Taylor, most of whose clientele were city merchants in London. He was perhaps recommended to Pownoll by Admiral Lord Howe, the Treasurer of the Navy, who was a client of Taylor. Work began in 1770 on the construction of a new east-facing main block with a central canted entrance bay, but perhaps because Pownoll resumed his career at sea in 1771 or because his wife died in 1778, work proceeded only slowly and was unfinished when he was killed in battle in 1780. His only child and heir was his daughter Jane, whose marriage in 1783 brought the estate to the Bastards.

Sharpham House; undated watercolour by William Payne, showing the house between 1780 and 1824.
Image: Norfolk Museums Service. Some rights reserved.

Late 18th century views show that Taylor's front block was a replacement for the two-storey block of the Tudor house, but that the rest of the older house was initially preserved behind it as service and bedroom accommodation, with gable-ended wing of the Tudor house being dressed up with a castellated bay and a Venetian window. The centre of the new block was occupied by an octagonal entrance hall projecting into the bay, with a geometrically derived extended oval staircase hall set transversely behind, which rose through all three floors of the house to a top-lit dome.

Sharpham House: the spectacular staircase hall. Image: Christine Wallace.

The relatively low entrance hall, surrounded by a peristyle of eight Doric columns marking the points of a compass rose, is in striking contrast to the soaring verticality of the cantilevered staircase behind, which although very simply decorated, must be one of the most impressive (and vertiginous) staircases in England. 

Sharpham House: staircase hall. Image: John Conway.

Above the entrance hall on the first floor is another octagonal room, this time a saloon, while on the second floor the space was occupied by two oval bedrooms with smaller oval dressing rooms between them. To either side of the entrance hall are the library, with painted overdoor panels attributed to Angelica Kauffman, and a family dining room or billiards room. On the first floor, the room to the north of the saloon is the main drawing room, with moulded plaster panels on the walls, enriched with plaques, festoons and medallions, while above the white marble fireplace is a plaster tondo depicting the Judgement of Midas by Henry Webber, which seems to be a cast of a plaque now in the Soane Museum.

Sharpham House: the entrance front with its bowed projection and the first three bays of the return elevation are by Sir Robert Taylor; the rest of block was added c.1824, probably by G.S. Repton. Image: Derek Harper. Some rights reserved.

On his mother's death in 1822, Sharpham passed to Capt. John Bastard (1787-1835), who promptly resumed work on the house. Recent research indicates that his architect was G.S. Repton: not surprisingly, as Repton was at this time working for Capt. Bastard's brother at Kitley. It is not yet clear whether Repton was to any extent carrying out works planned by Taylor for his client's grandfather but left unexecuted, or whether the scheme was entirely new. However, what Repton did was to pull down the main surviving part of the Tudor house and to continue the north and south side elevations of Taylor's block further west, turning what had been three-bay elevations into five bays on the north and six bays on the south. The new block contained replacement service and bedroom accommodation.

Efforts to modify the landscape surrounding the house evidently began in the late 18th century, and it has been suggested that Capability Brown, who was known to Taylor, may have been involved. Although there is no documentary evidence to support this, the long and curving carriage drive to the south known as 'the Great Run' is the sort of feature which he or one of his emulators might have created. At the same time, an octagonal bath house and tea room, no doubt designed by Taylor, was built on the river bank below the house. In the late 19th century, it was converted into a boathouse, and later still into a cottage for a gamekeeper. Today it is a holiday cottage. A second carriage drive, some three miles long, leading towards Totnes, was created in the 19th century by John Bastard and equipped with an Italianate lodge at the point where it left the estate. J.C. Loudon, who visited Sharpham and wrote about it in The Gardener's Magazine in 1842, called this northern approach 'one of the loveliest drives in the world', which remains true today.

Sharpham House: view of the Dart valley from the drive to the house. Image: Richard Knights. Some rights reserved.

John Bastard died in 1835 and was succeeded by his eldest son, John (1818-66), who came of age in 1839. Unfortunately, the younger John is said to have been a gambler, and by 1841 he had so much impaired his fortune that his father's trustees were obliged to sell the Sharpham estate. It was bought by Richard Durant, a London silk merchant, who restored the house and rebuilt the remaining Tudor service wings at the rear of the property to accommodate additional service facilities.

The Durants and their descendants occupied Sharpham until 1940, when the contents were sold and the house was offered for sale without finding a buyer. It was leased to a convent school for a couple of years and is said to have been strafed by German aircraft on one occasion. By the end of the war the fabric was badly neglected, but in 1947 it was bought by Maj. Ashley Sparke, who began the process of restoration, which was continued by his successors in the 1950s and 1960s. Maurice Ash (d. 2003) and his wife Ruth employed the architect Robert Hening to complete the process, so that Sharpham could be not only their home but 'a centre of learning and innovation'. To this end the former service accommodation was once more remodelled to create accommodation for visitors. Ruth Ash was a daughter of the Elmhirsts of Dartington Hall and her husband was for many years chief executive of the Dartington Trust, and the model of Dartington strongly influenced developments at Sharpham. They planted a vineyard north-east of the house, built a cheese dairy, experimented with bio-dynamic farming and in 1984 established a college for Buddhist studies in the house, eventually transferring the estate to a charitable trust which aims to perpetuate their vision.

Descent: Gilbert Yarde; sold 1748 to Philip Cockey...; sold 1765 to. Capt. Philemon Pownoll (c.1734-80); to daughter, Jane (1764-1822), wife of Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1758-1816); to son, Capt. John Bastard (1787-1835); to son, John Pownoll Pollexfen Wade Bastard (1818-66); sold 1841 to Richard Durant (1813-78);to son, Richard Durant (d. 1886); to sister, Elizabeth Jane Durant (d. 1906); to niece, Mary Elizabeth (1857-1943), widow of Capt. Frederick Trotter (1838-1900) of Mells Park (Som.); to son, Maj. Frederick Liddell Trotter (1898-1961), who sold 1947 to Maj. Ashley Sparke; sold 1952 to Maj. Brian Andrews; sold c.1962 to Maurice Ash (1917-2003) and Ruth Ash (1926-86); transferred c.1985 to Sharpham House Charitable Trust. In the 1830s the house was regularly let, and it was occupied by Lord Poltimore in 1838-39 while major works were in progress at Poltimore House.

Bastard family of Kitley and Buckland Court

Bastard, John (d. 1589). Only recorded son of John Bastard (d. 1560) and his wife, [forename unknown] Chubb, of Addeston (Devon). He married, 1547 (settlement), Thomasine (d. 1589), daughter of Geoffrey Gilbert, and had issue:

(1) John Bastard (fl. 1573); living in 1573 and perhaps in 1592, but died without issue;

(2) Richard Bastard, of Loddiswell; married Thomasine [surname unknown] but died in the lifetime of his father;

(3) William Bastard (c.1558-1639) (q.v.);

(4) Joseph Bastard (c.1560-1633) (q.v.).

He was buried at West Alvington, 27 September 1589. His wife was buried at West Alvington, 9 July 1589.

Bastard, William (c.1558-1639). Third but eldest surviving son of John Bastard (d. 1589) and his wife Thomasine, daughter of Geoffrey Gilbert. Educated at Lyon's Inn and Middle Temple (admitted 1578; called to the bar 1584; bencher, 1605; treasurer, 1613; reader, 1605, 1620). Barrister-at-law, who was was employed by Totnes corporation in disputes arising from their 1596 borough charter; JP for Devon (from 1601); Recorder of Dartmouth (from 1604) and of Totnes (by 1620); MP for Dartmouth, 1601. He was evidently a Puritan in religion, as in his will, he not only made bequests to the poor of West Alvington and for the relief of prisoners of the Turks, but hoped that at his funeral there would be no ‘feasting and excessive quaffing and beastly drinking, which I ever hated’. He married Elizabeth [surname unknown] (d. 1614) but had no issue.

He inherited Gerston Manor from his father in 1589 and acquired Buckland Court in 1614.

He was buried at West Alvington, 12 March 1638/9; his will was proved in the PCC, 10 May 1639. His wife was buried at West Alvington, 27 April 1614.

Bastard, Joseph (c.1560-1633). Fourth son of John Bastard (d. 1589) and his wife Thomasine, daughter of Geoffrey Gilbert, born about 1560. Admitted to Middle Temple at the same time as his son, 1605. He married, about 1585, Anne, daughter and heiress of John Killiow of Duloe (Cornw.) and had issue*:

(1) Dorothy Bastard (fl. 1633); married James Marke (b. c.1592) of Liskeard (Cornw.) and had issue three sons; living in 1633;

(2) John Bastard (c.1590-1634) (q.v.);

(3) Anne Bastard (fl. 1633); married Richard Ley alias Kempthorne of Merther (Cornw.) and had issue five sons and one daughter; living in 1633;

(4) William Bastard (d. 1638?); educated at Middle Temple (admitted 1618; called 1625); living in 1634; probably the person of this name who died 10 March and was buried at West Alvington, 12 March 1638;

(5) Elizabeth Bastard (d. 1633); died unmarried and was buried at West Alvington, 13 October 1633;

(6) Joseph Bastard (fl. 1634); married, 1630 (licence 23 June), Margaret Henley of Constantine (Cornw.); living in 1634;

(7) Mary Bastard (fl. 1633); living in 1633;

(8) Thomasine Bastard; probably died young before 1633.

He lived at Duloe (Cornw.).

He died between March and December 1633; his will was proved 4 December 1633. His widow was living in 1634; her date of death is unknown.

* Ezekiel Bastard, 'a child in the house of Joseph', who was buried at Duloe, 21 April 1619, was probably a servant rather than a son or grandson.

Bastard, John (c.1590-1634). Elder son of Joseph Bastard (d. 1633) and his wife Anne, daughter and heiress of John Killiow of Duloe (Cornw.), born about 1590. Educated at Middle Temple (admitted 1605). He married*, 1611 (licence 23 August), Alice (d. 1630), daughter of Edmund Reynell of Malston (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Bastard (1612-79?), baptised at West Alvington, 7 June 1612; married, 6 September 1647 at East Allington (Devon), Peter Fortescue (1617-73), of Fallapit (Devon), and had issue three sons; probably the woman of this name buried at Blackawton (Devon), 16 October 1679;

(2) William Bastard (b. & d. 1613), baptised at West Alvington, 12 May 1613; died in infancy and was buried at West Alvington the following day;

(3) Anne Bastard (1614-86), baptised at West Alvington, 3 July 1614; married, 24 December 1646 at West Alvington, John Brown, and had issue three sons; buried at West Alvington, 13 February 1685/6;

(4) Mary Bastard (1615-24), baptised at West Alvington, 19 November 1615; died young and was buried at West Alvington, 23 January 1624;

(5) William Bastard (1616-63) (q.v.);

(6) Thomasine Bastard (1620-95), baptised at West Alvington, 1 May 1620; died unmarried and was buried at West Alvington, 19 January 1694/5;

(7) Grace Bastard (b. 1621), baptised at West Alvington, 24 May 1621; living in 1638;

(8) Joseph Bastard (b. 1623), baptised at West Alvington, 10 August 1623; probably married, 14 May 1649 at West Alvington, Joyce Baker.

He lived at West Alvington.

He was buried at West Alvington, 12 June 1634. His wife died in December 1630 and was buried at West Alvington, 1 January 1630/1. 

* The statement in the Genealogy of the House of Bastard and other places that John married secondly, Muriel, daughter of Sir Thomas Bromley, MP, is erroneous: her husband, whom she married in 1631 at Stratford-atte-Bow (Middx), was one Leonard Bastard.

Bastard, William (1616-63). Elder surviving son of John Bastard (d. 1634) of Gerston Manor and his wife Alice Reynell, baptised at West Alvington, 10 November 1616. An officer in the Parliamentarian army in the Civil War (captain of a company which formed part of the Plymouth garrison, stationed at Stonehouse, 1642) and in the Devon militia (Capt., 1650, 1660); JP for Devon from 1637; High Sheriff of Devon, 1646; MP for Devon, 1654. He married, 21 April 1635 at Southpool (Devon), Joanna (c.1618-69), daughter of Sampson Hele of Gnaton (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Sir William Bastard (c.1636-90), kt. (q.v.);

(2) Joan Bastard (1638-1709), baptised at West Alvington, 13 August 1638; married, 27 May 1656 at West Alvington, Richard Langworthy (c.1629-1711) of Widecombe (Devon) and had issue one daughter; buried at Loddiswell, 15 December 1709;

(3) Alice Bastard (1640-74?), baptised at West Alvington, 3 September 1640; married [forename unknown] Stukeley; died about 1674;

(4) John Bastard (b. 1642), baptised at West Alvington, 4 August 1642; died young before 1649;

(5) Rev. Sampson Bastard (1643-76), baptised at West Alvington, 26 December 1643; educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1662; BA 1667; MA 1670); Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, 1664-70; rector of Southpool, 1668-76; married Joan (d. 1669) and had issue one son and one daughter; died 12 September and was buried at Southpool, 15 September 1676;

(6) Bevil Bastard (1646-1720), baptised at West Alvington, 29 November 1646; married, c.1674, Elizabeth (1646-1725), daughter of Richard Rose of Wootton Fitzpaine (Dorset), and had issue one son and four daughters; buried at Churchstow (Devon), 11 or 13 June 1720;

(7) John Bastard (1649-1720), baptised at West Alvington, 24 April 1649; apparently not a university graduate; clergyman; vicar of Ashburton, 1680-1720; married (perhaps 30 January 1689/90 at Bovey Tracey to Elizabeth Leslegh) and had issue three sons and four daughters; buried at Ashburton, 4 August 1720;

(8) Joseph Bastard (b. 1650), baptised at West Alvington, 23 January 1650/1; perhaps died young;

(9) Francis Bastard (1653-59), baptised at West Alvington, 3 April 1653; died young and was buried at West Alvington, 9 April 1659;

(10) Elizabeth Bastard (b. 1654), born 22 April 1654; married, 27 March 1678 at St Thomas, Exeter, Rev. Thomas Hurlle alias Hurrell (d. 1720), minister of Bere Ferrers; living in 1698;

(11) Sarah Bastard (b. 1656), born 19 July 1656;

(12) Agnes Bastard (b. 1657), baptised at Southpool, 17 October 1657; living, unmarried, in 1723;

(13) Julius Bastard* (1658-66), born 20 November 1658; died young and was buried at West Alvington, 23 March 1665/6;

(14) Grace Bastard (1661-92), born 10 March 1660/1; married [forename unknown] Allen; administration of goods granted to her brother Walter, 20 September 1692;

(15) Walter Bastard (1662-1713), born 7 May 1662; died unmarried and was buried at Stoke Damerel (Devon), 16 November 1713.

He inherited Gerston Manor and Buckland Court from his great-uncle in 1639.

He was buried at West Alvington, 25 February 1663/4. His widow died in July 1669, and was buried at Southpool (Devon).

*There may have been another son of the same name as administration of the goods of a Julius Bastard was granted to his brother Walter on 20 September 1692.

Sir William Bastard, kt. in 1666, by David Myers.

Bastard, Sir William (c.1636-90), kt. Eldest son of William Bastard (1616-63) of Gerston Manor and his wife Joanna, daughter of Sampson Hele of Gnaton (Devon), born about 1636. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1653). JP for Devon, 1668-70, 1673-76 and 1678-90, being twice removed from the commission of the peace as ‘a great fanatic and an indulger of conventicles’; DL for Devon, May-July 1688. High Sheriff of Devon, 1676-77. He was knighted, 13 August 1677, but curiously is already described as 'Sir William' when his youngest daughter was baptised over a year before that. MP for Bere Alston (Devon), 1679-81. He married, 1659 (settlement 15 July), Grace (b. c.1640), daughter of Sir John Bampfylde, 1st bt., of Poltimore Park (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Gertrude* Bastard (1661-1725?), baptised at West Alvington, 11 September 1661; married 1st, 1679 (licence 30 September), James Rodd (d. 1693) of Bedford House, Exeter (Devon), and had issue; married 2nd, 23 November 1699 at Topsham (Devon), Thomas Greene; possibly the 'Widdow Green' buried at St Edmund, Exeter, 16 April 1725;

(2) William Bastard (1662-63), born 22 and baptised 28 October 1662; died in infancy and was buried at West Alvington, 16 September 1663;

(3) Joan Bastard (b. 1664), said to have been baptised at West Alvington, 24 April 1664, but there is no entry in the parish register; living, unmarried, in 1697 and 1704;

(4) John Bastard (1665-74), baptised at West Alvington, 12 September 1665; died young and was buried at West Alvington, 25 June 1674;

(5) William Bastard (1667-1704) (q.v.);

(6) Coplestone Bastard (1670-96), baptised at West Alvington, 20 January 1670/1; educated at Middle Temple (admitted 1687; called 1693); barrister-at-law, died unmarried about 1696; administration of his goods was granted to his brother William, 1696;

(7) Francis Bastard (b. & d. 1672), baptised at West Alvington, 4 August 1672; died in infancy and was buried at West Alvington, 20 August 1672;

(8) Charles Bastard (1674-75), baptised 24 March 1673/4 and was buried at West Alvington, 29 March 1675;

(9) Grace Bastard (b. 1676), baptised at West Alvington, 30 May 1676; living in 1688;

(10) Hele Bastard (b. 1677), born 15 November and baptised at West Alvington, 13 December 1677.

He inherited Gerston Manor and Buckland Court from his father in 1663.

He died 30 June and was buried at West Alvington, 2 July 1690; his will was proved at Exeter, 22 September 1690. His wife's date of death is unknown.

* Entered in the baptism register as 'Garthured'.

Bastard, William (1667-1704). Second, but eldest surviving son of Sir William Bastard (c.1636-90), kt., of Gerston Manor, West Alvington (Devon) and his wife Grace, baptised at West Alvington, 15 July 1667. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1684/5). He married, about 1693, his cousin, Anne (1666-1724), daughter and heiress of Edmund Pollexfen of Kitley, and had issue:

(1) Anne Bastard (1695-1706), baptised at West Alvington, 14 June 1695; died young and was buried at West Alvington, 25 December 1706, where she was commemorated on her father's monument;

(2) Pollexfen Bastard (1696-1733) (q.v.);

(3) Grace Bastard (1698-1723?), baptised at West Alvington, 8 April 1698; said to have died unmarried, 1723;

(4) Petronel Bastard (1700-33), baptised at West Alvington, 13 February 1699/1700; married, 15 September 1724 at West Alvington, William Cholwich (d. 1764?), and had issue one son and four daughters; died 27 October 1733 and was buried at Blackawton (Devon);

(5) Admonition Bastard (1701-58?), baptised at West Alvington, 16 October 1701; married 12 September 1721 at West Alvington, Walter Radcliffe (1693-1752) of Warleigh House, son of Jasper Radcliffe of Hockworthy Court (Devon), and had issue six sons and five daughters; said to have died in 1758;

(6) Joanna Bastard (b. 1703), baptised at West Alvington, 28 April 1703; living in 1725.

He inherited Gerston Manor and Buckland Court from his father in 1690, and his widow inherited the Kitley estate from her father in 1710.

He died 29 January 1703/4 and was buried at West Alvington, 16 February 1703/4, where he is commemorated by a mural monument; his will was proved at Exeter, 4 April 1704. His widow was buried at West Alvington, 21 March 1723/4; her will was proved at Exeter, 27 November 1738.

Bastard, Pollexfen (1696-1733). Only son of William Bastard (1667-1704) and his wife Anne, daughter of Edmund Pollexfen of Kitley, baptised at West Alvington (Devon), 1 August 1696. Educated at Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1715). He married, 21 May 1724, Lady Bridget Poulett (1702-73), daughter of 1st Earl Poulett, and had issue:

(1) John Pollexfen Bastard (b. & d. 1725), baptised at West Alvington, 14 April 1725; died in infancy and was buried at West Alvington, 9 May 1725;

(2) Pollexfen Bastard (1726-27), baptised at Yealmpton, 16 May 1726; died in infancy and was buried at Yealmpton, 1 May 1727;

(3) William Bastard (1727-82) (q.v.);

(4) Edmund Bastard (1729-73), born 1 March 1728/9 and baptised at Yealmpton, 25 March 1729; married, 27 January 1766 at Twickenham (Middx), Susanna (1748-80) (who m2, 1777, Sir Thomas Hyde Page (1746-1821)), daughter of Thomas Crawley-Boevey of Flaxley Abbey (Glos), but had no issue; lived at South Wonford, Heavitree (Devon); buried at Yealmpton, 16 April 1773 on the same day as his youngest brother, with whom he shares a monument; will proved 12 July 1773;

(5) Bridget Bastard (1730-31), baptised at West Alvington, 9 March 1729/30; died in infancy and was buried at Yealmpton, 28 August 1731;

(6) Peregrine Bastard (1731-32), baptised at Yealmpton, 26 May 1731; died in infancy, 7 August 1732;

(7) Baldwin Polloxfen Bastard (1732-73); fell dead as he was about to unlock his garden gate, and was buried at Yealmpton, 16 April 1773 on the same day as his elder brother, with whom he shares a monument; administration (with will annexed) of his goods was granted 10 August 1773.

He inherited the Gerston Manor and Buckland Court estates from his father in 1704 and the Kitley estate from his mother in 1724 and probably remodelled the house.

He died 25 February 1732/3 and was buried at Yealmpton. His widow died at Gerston Manor, 21 July 1773 and was buried at Yealmpton, 1 August 1773.

Bastard, William (1727-82). Third, but eldest surviving son of Pollexfen Bastard (1696-1733) and his wife Lady Bridget, daughter of 1st Earl Poulett, born 1 September and baptised at Yealmpton, 5 September 1727. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1747). In 1779 he and his sons 'rendered essential service to the government' by raising 300 volunteers to conduct 1,600 French prisoners from Plymouth to Exeter, at a time when a French attack on Plymouth was expected imminently, and when no troops could be spared from the garrison. For this service, he is said to have been gazetted* to a Baronetcy, 24 September 1779, but he may have declined the honour, as no further steps were taken and the patent never passed the great seal; and the title has never been claimed or used by his successors. He was a keen horticulturalist and published an article on the cultivation of pineapples in 1777. He married 1st, 21 May 1752 at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), Anne (1731-53), daughter of John Hagar of Bourn (Cambs); 2nd, 24 June 1754 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Ann (1737-60), daughter of Thomas Worsley of Hovingham (Yorks); and 3rd, 11 July 1761 at Bideford (Devon), Charlotte (1736-1820), daughter of Rev. Chichester Wrey, rector of Tawstock (Devon), and had issue:

(2.1) John Pollexfen Bastard (1756-1816) (q.v.);

(2.2) Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1758-1816) (q.v.).

He inherited the Kitley and Buckland Court estates from his father in 1733 and came of age in 1748.

He died in 1782; his will was proved in the PCC, 14 December 1782. His first wife was buried at Yealmpton, 26 July 1753. His second wife was buried at Yealmpton, 11 January 1760. His widow was buried at Yealmpton, 21 May 1820.

* This was reported in the Annual Register for 1779 and on that basis included in the Complete Baronetage, but I have been unable to trace any announcement to this effect in the London Gazette.

Bastard, John Pollexfen (1756-1816). Elder son of William Bastard (1727-82) and his second wife Ann, daughter of Thomas Worsley of Hovingham (Yorks), born 18 September and baptised at Yealmpton, 19 September 1756. Educated at Eton and Middle Temple (admitted 1771). MP for Devon, 1784-1816, during which time he remained fiercely independent of party loyalties and was a thorn in the side of successive administrations. He was an officer in the East Devon militia (Lt-Col., 1787; Col., 1798-1816) and Col-in-Chief of Devon volunteers, 1803; in 1799 he received the thanks of the king and the ministry when he used his initiative and, without waiting for orders to do so, employed his regiment to suppress a riot by dockyard workers in Plymouth, which threatened the destruction of the dockyard. In 1815 he was obliged to go abroad for his health, and he died in northern Italy the following year. He married 1st, 25 March 1780 in the chapel of the Female Orphans Asylum, Lambeth (Surrey), Sarah (d. 1808), daughter of John Turnhart and widow of Charles Wymondesold (d. 1776) of East Lockinge (Berks); and 2nd, 3 July 1809, Judith Ann (c.1770-1848), daughter of Sir Henry Martin MP, 1st bt., of Little Farm, Tooting (Surrey), but had no issue.

He inherited the Kitley and Buckland Court estates from his father in 1782. At his death, Buckland Court passed to his widow for life, and she lived there and remodelled the house.

He died at Livorno (Italy), 4 April, and his corpse was sent home by sea to be buried at Yealmpton, 17 June 1816; his will was proved 23 January 1817. His first wife died 26 April and was buried at Yealmpton, 9 May 1808. His widow was buried at Yealmpton, 1 March 1848.

Bastard, Edmund Pollexfen (1758-1816). Younger son of William Bastard (1727-82) and his second wife Ann, daughter of Thomas Worsley of Hovingham (Yorks), baptised at Yealmpton, 7 February 1858. Educated at Eton, 1766-74 and the Middle Temple (admitted 1775). MP for Dartmouth, 1787-1812. An officer of the East Devon Militia (Maj., 1787; Lt-Col., 1798). He married*, 1 July 1783 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Jane (1764-1822), daughter and heiress of Capt. Philemon Pownoll RN of Sharpham House (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1784-1838) (q.v.);

(2) William Pownoll Bastard (b. & d. 1786); buried at Ashprington, 22 April 1786;

(3) Capt. John Bastard (1787-1835) (q.v.);

(4) Jane Bastard (1790-1803), privately baptised 8 August 1790; died aged 12 on 21 May and was buried at Ashprington, 27 May 1803;

(5) Rev. Philemon Pownoll Bastard (1792-1846), baptised at Ashprington, 2 July 1792; educated at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1812; BA 1816); rector of Hanworth (Middx), 1819 and from 1837 chaplain to HRH The Duke of Cambridge and Lord Tenterden; he lived latterly at Ryde (IoW), where he was to have been the first incumbent of Holy Trinity church, but he died before he could take up the appointment; he married, 24 September 1816 at Wimbledon (Surrey), Mary (1792-1846), eldest daughter of Sir James Allan Park, kt., judge; died 6 May and was buried at Holy Trinity, Ryde, 13 May 1846; will proved in the PCC, 12 August 1846.

He acquired the Sharpham estate in right of his wife on his marriage in 1783 and inherited the Kitley estate from his brother in April 1816, but died two months later.

He died 10 June 1816 and was buried at Ashprington on the same day as his brother, 17 June 1816; his will was proved in the PCC, 2 January 1817. His widow died 7 March and was buried at Ashprington, 16 March 1822.

* Some accounts state that he eloped with his wife and that a first marriage was performed at Gretna Green, after which Jane's trustees were persuaded to allow a regular marriage in London.

Edmund Pollexfen Bastard
(1784-1838) 

Bastard, Edmund Pollexfen (1784-1838). Eldest son of Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1758-1816) and his wife Jane, daughter and heiress of Capt. Philemon Pownoll RN of Sharpham House (Devon), born 12 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 1 August 1784. Educated at Eton, 1799-1802 and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1803). MP for Dartmouth, 1812-16 and for Devon, 1816-30; he was a regular attender in Parliament but rarely spoke, and although his views were essentially Tory, his voting record shows a genuine independence of opinion. An officer in the South Hams Yeomanry (Lt-Col. commanding from 1820). JP and DL for Devon; High Sheriff of Devon, 1834-35. He married, 22 January 1824, the Hon. Anne (1793-1833), only surviving daughter of George Rodney, 2nd Baron Rodney, and had issue:

(1) Edmund Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1825-56) (q.v.);

(2) Baldwin John Pollexfen Bastard (1830-1905) (q.v.);

(3) Rev. William Pollexfen Bastard (1832-1915) (q.v.).

He inherited Kitley House from his father in 1816 and remodelled the house c.1820-25.

He died 8 June and was buried at Yealmpton, 21 June 1838; his will was proved in the PCC, 14 December 1838 (effects under £30,000). His wife died 25 April and was buried at Yealmpton, 6 May 1833.

Bastard, Edmund Rodney Pollexfen (1825-56). Eldest son of Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1784-1838) and his wife the Hon. Anne, only surviving daughter of George Rodney, 2nd Baron Rodney, born 7 September and baptised at All Souls, Langham Place, St. Marylebone, 13 December 1825. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1843; BA 1846; MA 1849). He began restoring the parish church of Yealmpton to the designs of William Butterfield in 1849, but abandoned the project on converting to Roman Catholicism in 1852. He married, 22 November 1853 in Chelsea (Middx), Florence Mary (1825-71), eldest daughter of Simon Scrope of Danby Hall (Yorks), but had no issue.

He inherited Kitley House from his father in 1838, and Buckland Court from his great-aunt, Judith Bastard, in 1848.

He died 12 June 1856; his will was proved in the PCC, 26 August 1856. His widow died 28 January 1871; administration of her goods was granted to her father, 18 February 1871 (effects under £7,000).

Bastard, Baldwin John Pollexfen (1830-1905). Second son of Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1784-1838) and his wife the Hon. Anne, only surviving daughter of George Rodney, 2nd Baron Rodney, born 11 March and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 5 May 1830. Educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1847). An officer in the 9th Foot (Ensign, 1850; Lt., 1853; retired 1856), who served in the Crimea; later an officer in the Devon Rifle Volunteers (Capt., 1860). JP and DL (from 1860) for Devon; High Sheriff of Devon, 1865-66. He married, 16 October 1861, Frances Jane (1820-1914), youngest daughter of Hon. Mortimer Rodney, but had no issue.

He inherited Kitley House and Buckland Court from his elder brother in 1856.

He died 22 October 1905; will proved 14 November 1905 (estate £27,339). His widow died 2 February 1914; her will was proved 11 March 1914 (estate £6,199).

Bastard, Rev. William Pollexfen (1832-1915). Third son of Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1784-1838) and his wife the Hon. Anne, only surviving daughter of George Rodney, 2nd Baron Rodney, born 12 January and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 12 March 1832. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford (BA 1853; MA 1857). Ordained deacon, 1856 and priest, 1857; curate of Buckland-in-the-Moor, 1856-60 and Cornworthy, 1860-62; perpetual curate of Brixton (Devon), 1862-66; rector of Lezant (Cornw.), 1866-96; Hon. Chaplain to 7th Devon Mounted Rifle Volunteers, 1860. He married, 27 January 1859 at Plympton St Mary (Devon), Caroline (1837-1917), second daughter of Vice-Adm. George Woollcombe of Hemerdon, and had issue:

(1) Jane Frances Bastard (1860-1927), born 16 September 1860; married, 15 April 1884 at Lezant, Maj. Gerald Marcell Conran (1858-1936) of Bradridge House (Devon), son of Capt. William Adam Conran, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 30 April 1927; will proved 15 July 1927 (estate £95);

(2) Mary Caroline Bastard (1862-1916), born 4 September and was baptised at Brixton (Devon), 5 October 1862; died 14 December 1916 and was buried with her parents at Buckland-in-the-Moors; will proved 3 March 1917 (estate £164);

(3) William Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1864-1924) (q.v.);

(4) Ellen Woolcombe Bastard (1865-1941), born 19 August 1865; lived latterly at Cofflete, Torquay; died unmarried, 29 May 1941 and was buried with her parents at Buckland-in-the-Moors; will proved 22 August 1941 (estate £1,914);

(5) Anne Katherine Bastard (1867-1962), baptised at Lezant, 22 September 1867; married, 27 October 1892 at Lezant, Henry Noel Waldegrave, 11th Earl Waldegrave (1854-1936), and had issue one son and four daughters; died aged 94 on 21 March 1962 and was buried at Chewton Mendip (Som.);

(6) Grace Petronel Bastard (1869-1955), born 12 June and was baptised at Lezant, 30 July 1869; lived latterly at Cofflete, Torquay; died unmarried, 12 February 1955; will proved 20 May 1955 (estate £2,220);

(7) Florence Elizabeth Bastard (1870-1957), born 18 December 1870 and was baptised at Lezant, 15 January 1871; lived latterly at Cofflete, Torquay; died unmarried, 25 September 1957 and was buried with her parents at Buckland-in-the-Moor; will proved 13 December 1957 (estate £2,063);

(8) Edmund George Pollexfen Bastard (1872-74), born 11 December 1872 and was baptised at Lezant, 17 January 1873; died young, and was buried at Yealmpton, 19 March 1874;

(9) Alice Dorothy Bastard (1877-1956), baptised at Lezant, 4 November 1877; married, 20 April 1909, Wynn Harold Tregoning CBE (1876-1930), director of Alfred Booth & Co. of Liverpool, engineers, fourth son of John Simmons Tregoning of Landue (Cornw.) and had issue one son and one daughter; died in Torquay, 12 August 1956; will proved 14 November 1956 (estate £16,775);

(10) Caroline Bridget Bastard (1880-1962), born 14 December 1880; lived latterly at Cofflete, Torquay; died unmarried, 18 April 1962; will proved 30 July 1962 (estate £5,816).

He inherited Kitley House and Buckland Court from his elder brother in 1905.

He died 8 September 1915 and was buried at Buckland-in-the-Moor; his will was proved 25 February 1916 (estate £15,015). His widow died 10 May 1917 and was also buried at Buckland-in-the-Moor; her will was proved 11 September 1917 (estate £2,945).

Bastard, William Edmund Pollexfen (1864-1924). Elder and only surviving son of Rev. William Pollexfen Bastard (1832-1915) and his wife Caroline, second daughter of Vice-Adm. George Woollcombe of Hemerdon (Devon), born 12 April 1864. Educated at St. John's College, Oxford (matriculated 1884; BA 1888). JP and DL for Devon; High Sheriff of Devon, 1923-24. An officer in the Royal Engineers Territorial Force (Lt-Col.) and 1st Royal Devon Yeomanry (Lt.); commanded Royal Devon Engineers in First World War and was appointed OBE, 1919. He married 1st, 17 April 1890 at Weeford (Staffs), Rosamond Isabel (d. 1915), only daughter of Abraham Briggs Foster of Canwell Hall (Staffs) and 2nd, 15 February 1921 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Edith Marian (c.1877-1935), daughter of John Vicary of Broadlands, Highweek (Devon) and widow of Frederick Thomas Bulteel (1880-1919) of Radford (Devon), and had issue:

(1.1) Rosamond Bridget Bastard (1891-1970), born 29 January 1891; married, 10 October 1922 at Withyham (Sussex), Frederick Burdock Little (d. 1939) of Swannington Hall (Norfk), farmer, son of Dr. Frederick Little of Aylsham (Norfk); lived latterly at Lyneham, Hembury Fort, Payhembury (Devon); buried at Swannington, 27 August 1970;

(1.2) Petronel Jane Bastard (1891-1932), born 28 December 1891; served as a nurse at Plympton VAD hospital, 1915-19; died unmarried, 11 January 1932; will proved 1 March 1933 (estate £12,603);

(1.3) Isabel May Bastard (1894-1971), born 20 May 1894; lived at Carsons Orchard, Ledbury (Herefs) in 1939 and later with her elder sister at Lyneham, Hembury Fort, Honiton (Devon); died unmarried, 8 July 1971;

(1.4) Wilfreda Ann Bastard (1897-1988), born 29 June 1897; married, 10 June 1924, Rev. William Edwin Trelawny Trelawny-Ross MC (1883-1962), eldest son of Rev. John Trelawny Trelawny-Ross DD of Ham, nr. Plymouth (Devon), and had issue one son and one daughter; died aged 91 on 6 July 1988; will proved 26 July 1988 (estate £31,294);

(1.5) Caroline Joane Bastard (1901-87), born 20 August 1901; artist; served in Second World War as a civil defence warden in Norfolk and was awarded BEM, 1946; lived later at Sutton Mandeville (Wilts); died unmarried, 30 May 1987; will proved 27 August 1987 (estate £150,888).

He inherited Kitley House and Buckland Court from his father in 1915, but sold Buckland in 1923. At his death Kitley passed to his second cousin once removed, Col. Reginald Bastard (1880-1960), for whom see below.

He died 14 June 1924; his will was proved 3 January 1925 (estate £244,382). His first wife died 1 October 1915; her will was proved 4 April 1916 (estate £17,289). His widow died 17 February 1935; her will was proved 30 March 1935 (estate £15,823).

Bastard, John (1787-1835). Second son of Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1758-1816) and his wife Jane, daughter and heiress of Capt. Philemon Pownoll RN of Sharpham House (Devon), born 25 January 1787. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1804; Cdr., 1806; Capt., 1807; retired 1812); succeeded his elder brother as MP for Dartmouth, 1816-32, but "made no more mark in the House... than he had in the navy". He also served in the South Hams Yeomanry (Capt., 1820). He married, 7 October 1817 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Frances (1787-1870), daughter and co-heiress of Benjamin Wade of New Grange, Headingley (later Kirkstall Grange) (Yorks WR), and had issue:

(1) John Pownoll Pollexfen Wade Bastard (1818-86) (q.v.);

(2) Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1820-30), born 7 October 1820; died young, 17 November 1830;

(3) William Benjamin Bastard (1821-75), born 13 November 1821; an officer in 53rd and later 90th Foot (Ensign, 1841; Lt., 1842; Capt., 1848; retired 1854); died unmarried, 2 May and was buried at Brompton Cemetery, London, 7 May 1875; will proved 3 July 1875 (effects under £35,000);

(4) Frances Bastard (1823-1902), born February 1823; woman of the bedchamber to HM Queen Victoria from 1855; appointed to the Order of Victoria & Albert (VA), 1892; married, 2 July 1850 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Capt. William Frederick Waldegrave (1816-54), Viscount Chewton, who was killed in the Crimean War, eldest son of William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave, and had issue two sons and one daughter; lived latterly at Bookham Lodge, Gt. Bookham (Surrey); died 11 April 1902; will proved 11 June 1902 (estate £28,510).

He inherited the Sharpham House estate from his father in 1816 or his mother in 1822 and completed the house in 1824.

He died 11 January 1835; his will was proved 27 April 1835. His widow died 23 May 1870; her will was proved 18 June 1870 (effects under £14,000).

Bastard, John Pownoll Pollexfen Wade (1818-86). Eldest son of Capt. John Bastard RN (d. 1835) of Sharpham House (Devon) and his wife Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Benjamin Wade of New Grange, Headingley (Yorks), born 25 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 24 July 1818. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Royal Horse Guards (Cornet, 1837; Lt., 1842; Capt., 1845; retired 1846). It is said that he was a gambler and so much reduced his inheritance that his father's trustees were obliged to sell Sharpham House. He married, 5 October 1841 at Sunninghill (Berks), Anna Esther (c.1814-89), daughter of Jacob James Ricardo of Titness Park (Berks), stockbroker and financier, and had issue:

(1) A son (b. & d. 1843), born 12 February 1843; probably died in infancy;

(2) John Algernon Bastard (1844-1908) (q.v.);

(3) Emmeline Laura Bastard (1848-1918), born 15 September 1848; married 1st, 26 June 1873, as his second wife, Horace Pitt-Rivers (1814-80), 6th and last Baron Rivers; married 2nd, 2 July 1881, Montague George Thorold (1844-1920) of Honington Hall (Lincs), second son of Sir John Charles Thorold, 11th bt., of Syston Park (Lincs), but died without issue, 1 October 1918; will proved 15 February 1919 (estate £8,975).

He inherited an interest in Sharpham House from his father in 1835 but his father's trustees sold it in 1841. He lived latterly at 59 Cadogan Place, Chelsea (Middx).

He died 14 November and was buried at Brompton Cemetery, London, 17 November 1886; his will was proved 7 January 1887 (effects £10,801). His widow died 14 June 1889; her will was proved 22 July 1889 (effects £5,315).

Bastard, John Algernon (1844-1908). Only surviving son of John Pownoll Pollexfen Wade Bastard (1818-86) and his wife Anna Esther, daughter of Jacob James Ricardo, born October and baptised at St Paul, Wilton Place, London, 6 November 1844. A stockbroker on the London Stock Exchange. He was a noted collector of historic pewter. He married, 2 September 1879 at St Marylebone (Middx) (sep. about 1891*), Olivia Gertrude Louisa Stopford (1857-1940), third daughter of Gen. Edward Stopford Claremont CB, and had issue:

(1) Col. Reginald Bastard (1880-1960) (q.v.);

(2) Violet Lilian Bastard (1884-1949), born March 1884; married George Howard (d. 1932); died 1 June 1949.

He lived at 33 Wilton Place, London SW. His ex-wife lived latterly at a hotel in Knightsbridge.

He died at St. Leonards (Sussex), 20 November 1908, and was buried at Brompton Cemetery, 25 November 1908; his will was proved 21 January 1909 (estate £22,716). His widow died 1 June 1940; her will was proved 14 March 1941 (estate £13,933).

* In 1893, Mr. Bastard brought divorce proceedings against his wife on the grounds of her adultery with Spencer Brunton, a stockbroker, and was awarded a decree nisi; subsequently, evidence emerged that he had been complaisant in the relationship since at least 1886, when it had occasioned a separation between Brunton and his wife, and the decree was rescinded. The Bruntons were divorced in 1891. By 1901 Spencer Brunton was mentally ill, and Mrs. Bastard had to go to law to recover £10,000 which she had lent to him.

 

Col. Reginald Bastard (1880-1960) 

Bastard, Col. Reginald (1880-1960). Only son of John Algernon Bastard (1844-1908) and his wife Olivia, third daughter of Gen. E.S. Claremont CB, born 2 October 1880. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Lincolnshire Regt. (2nd Lt., 1900; Lt., 1902; Capt., 1912; Maj., 1915; Lt-Col., 1916; retired, 1920; br. Col. 1933), who served in the Boer War and First World War (mentioned in despatches three times; DSO, 1915 and bar, 1918). JP (from 1929) and DL (from 1930) for Devon; High Sheriff of Devon, 1934-35. Sector Commander, Plymouth Home Guard, 1940-45 and Hon. Air Commodore of 934 Squadron, Balloon Command, Auxiliary Air Force, 1939-45. He married, 6 February 1919, Lilias Mason (1884-1974), daughter of James Woolley Summers MP of Emral Hall, Worthenbury (Flints) and widow of Capt. Cyril Gerald Valerian Wellesley, and had issue:

(1) John Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1921-82) (q.v.).

He inherited the Kitley estate as heir of entail from his second cousin, once removed, William Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1864-1924) in 1924.

He died 20 May 1960; his will was proved 21 July and 23 November 1960 (estate £151,861). His widow died 20 November 1974; her will was proved 13 March 1975 (estate £66,781).

Bastard, John Rodney Pollexfen (1921-82). Only child of Col. Reginald Bastard (1880-1960) of Kitley House, and his wife Lilias, daughter of James Woolley Summers MP of Emral Hall, Worthenbury (Flints), and widow of Capt. Cyril Gerald Valerian Wellesley, born 14 February 1921. Educated at Eton. He served in the Grenadier Guards, 1941-46. He married, 10 December 1946 at St James, Spanish Place, London, Josephine Ernestina (known as José) (1920-2015), youngest daughter of Capt. Robert Peel Dennistoun-Webster DSC RN of Hurst Lodge, Twyford (Berks) and Winstone Cottage, Brixton (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Michael Rodney Pownoll Bastard (b. 1949) (q.v.);

(2) Joanna Susan Mary Bastard (b. 1951), born 14 September 1951; married, 22 July 1983, Martin Campbell Fraser, and had issue one son; now living;

(3) Rodney John Bastard (b. 1955), of Steer Point Lodge, Brixton (Devon), born 4 November 1955; director of Greenpoint Quarry Ltd.; married, October 1998, Yolande H.M. Strub (1949-2014); now living.

He inherited the Kitley estate from his father in 1960.

He died 16 July 1982; his will was proved 4 October 1982 (estate £1,999,828). His widow died 19 June 2015; her will was proved 5 June 2017.

Bastard, Michael Rodney Pownoll (b. 1949). Elder son of John Rodney Pollexfen Bastard (1921-82) and his wife Josephine Ernestina, youngest daughter of Capt. Robert Peel Dennistoun-Webster DSC RN of Winstone Cottage, Brixton (Devon), born 4 February 1949. Educated at Eton. He married, Oct-Dec 1970, Adelaide F. Nevins, and had issue:

(1) James (k/a Spike) Bastard (b. 1972), born February 1972; managing director of Kitley estate since 2018;

(2) Sahara Lola Bastard (b. 1976), born Jul-Sept 1976.

He inherited the Kitley estate from his father in 1982, but sold a large part of the contents of the house in 1987 and subsequently leased it as an hotel. In 2018 the family bought back control of the house which is now managed by his son as an wedding and events venue.

Now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies, 2nd edn, 1841, p. 44; Burke's Landed Gentry, 1969, p. 35; J.L. Vivian, The visitations of the county of Devon, 1895, pp. 49-51; C. Hussey, 'Kitley, Devonshire', Country Life, 7 October 1939; M. Binney, 'Sharpham House, Devon', Country Life, 17-24 April 1969; R. Williams, 'County and Municipal Government in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, 1649-1660', PhD thesis, Bristol, 1981; B. Cherry & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Devon, 2nd edn., 1989, pp. 525-26; T. Gray, Devon Country Houses and Gardens Engraved, 2001, pp. 180-81; H. Meller, The country houses of Devon, 2015, pp. 199-200, 578-80, 890-93; R. Yallop, '"Those arts which have given celebrity to the name of Repton": the work of George Stanley Repton in Devon', Devon Gardens Trust Journal 6, 2020, pp. 36-42.

Location of archives

Bastard family of Kitley: Deeds, estate, family and official records, 13th-20th cents. [Plymouth Archives, The Box: 74, 540, 940, 1957-58, 2240]; Sharpham estate deeds and papers, early 19th cent. [Devon Heritage Centre, 90M]; family papers, 1805-1979 [Private collection].

Coat of arms

Or, a chevron sable.

Can you help?

• 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.
• Any additions or corrections to the account given above will be gratefully received and incorporated. I am always particularly pleased to hear from members of the family who can supply recent personal information for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 5 December 2020 and updated 12 November 2021 and 21 August 2022. I am grateful to Sarah Hardy for additional information.