(454) Hervey-Bathurst of Clarendon Park, Somborne Park and Eastnor Castle, baronets

Hervey-Bathurst, baronets 

This family descends from Peter Bathurst (1687-1748), the second son of Sir Benjamin Bathurst (1638-1704), kt., whose activities as an overseas merchant, financier, and courtier established the affluence and social standing of all four of his children. Sir Benjamin evidently embarked on, but did not complete, a project to purchase landed estates for each of his three sons. His widow, Dame Frances Bathurst, carried on this scheme, purchasing Clarendon Park for Peter in 1707 and making it over to him when he came of age the following year. Peter, who had already been allocated some lands in Lincolnshire (which I have not been able to identify) under his father's will, married in 1709 or 1710 and acquired through his marriage a moiety of the manor of Greatworth (Northants). This seems to be where he lived for the next ten years or so, while the house at Clarendon Park was greatly enlarged and remodelled for him. His first wife died in 1720, and he quickly married again, siring fifteen children in twenty years by his second wife, Lady Selina Shirley (who was herself one of the reputed 57 legitimate and illegitimate children of the 1st Earl Ferrers, and who had presumably been brought up to regard such extraordinary fecundity as expected). Both of Peter's brothers produced exceptionally large families (his elder brother Allen, Lord Bathurst, had 13 and his younger brother Benjamin is reputed to have had 36, although I have identified only 26 of them), but the survival rate of Peter's 19 children was extremely good for the time, with only two dying in infancy and all the rest surviving to maturity.

At his death in 1748, the Clarendon estate passed to Peter's eldest surviving son, General Peter Bathurst (1724-1801), who purchased a captaincy in the newly-formed 85th Foot in 1759 and later a lieutenant-colonelcy in 1762. The 85th was disbanded in 1762 and he never saw active service again, although he progressed through the ranks to full general by seniority. Although it had been common before the reforms of 1739-40 for gentlemen with deep pockets to purchase senior commands in the army without having any previous military experience, by 1760 this was highly unusual, and he was probably only allowed to do so because the rapid expansion of the army during the Seven Years War meant that experienced officers were in short supply. In the 1780s and 1790s he was MP for Eye (Suffolk), but he does not seem to have distinguished himself any more in Parliament than in the army, as there is no record of his having spoken. The General's next brother, the Rev. Robert Bathurst (1728-87?), made an excellent marriage, since his wife Mary Merrill brought him the Lainston House estate at Sparsholt (Hants) and a moiety of the historic Arwenack House estate in Cornwall. At his death, these properties passed to his only surviving son, Robert Bathurst (d. 1791), who died unmarried and bequeathed them to his uncle, the General, who sold his interest in Arwenack to the owner of the other moiety, Sir John Wodehouse, before his death.

The General died without issue, and left a life interest in Clarendon Park to his only surviving brother, Maj. Henry Bathurst (1738-1812), a former career soldier who was living in comfortable but far from opulent surroundings at Derby, with remainder to his great-nephew, Frederick Anne Hervey (1783-1824). The Lainston estate was left directly to Frederick's elder brother, Felton Elwell Hervey (1782-1819), on the condition that he took the additional name of Bathurst. The Hervey brothers were the grandsons of the General's eldest sister, Selina Bathurst (1721-81), who had married first the elderly Lord Ranelagh and second Sir John Elwell (1723-78), 4th bt., who came from a Devon family but built Castle Hill, Englefield Green (Surrey) in 1758-63. The Hervey brothers' mother, Selina Mary Elwell (1756-1841) had inherited Castle Hill and also the Elwell estates in Devon and Somerset before her marriage in 1779 to Felton Lionel Hervey, who was a grandson of the 1st Earl of Bristol. For reasons which are entirely obscure, Felton Lionel Hervey committed suicide in bizarre circumstances in a gunsmith's shop in London in 1785, leaving his wife financially secure but seven months' pregnant and with four children under five. After this experience of matrimony, Selina did not marry again until 1797, when she chose Sir William Fremantle (1766-1850), kt., a retired army officer ten years her junior, who became an MP and later a senior figure at the courts of George IV and William IV, and an admired stepfather to her sons.

Felton Elwell Bathurst-Hervey (as he became) entered the army in 1800 and found rapid promotion. By the beginning of the Peninsular War in 1808 he was already a Major, and despite losing an arm at the crossing of the Douro in 1809 he recovered quickly and distinguished himself by his bravery and skill as a leader of men through the rest of the campaign. Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 1810 and full Colonel in 1814, he became a close associate of the Duke of Wellington, acting as his military secretary and as his aide-de-camp at the Battle of Waterloo. It was while in the Duke's service in Paris in 1817 that he met his wife Louisa Caton (c.1792-1874), one of four pretty, intelligent and vivacious sisters who were the co-heirs to a substantial American fortune. After a whirlwind romance, the couple were married at Apsley House in London, the Duke's residence (which had formerly belonged to the 2nd Earl Bathurst), where the Duke 'gave away' the bride and future US President John Quincy Adams was among the witnesses. In 1818, Felton's favour with the Duke led to his being created a baronet, with a special remainder to his younger brother Frederick in the event of his dying without a male heir. The inclusion of this provision may imply that his health was already giving cause for concern, for Sir Felton died, without issue, in September the following year, possibly from cancer of the throat. His widow was described as 'distraught' following his death, and she was also remarkably badly off, as a post-nuptial marriage settlement had not been finalised before Sir Felton's death. The Duke of Wellington intervened and offered her a home at Stratfield Saye for as long as she wished, and also prevailed on her stepmother to make her an allowance. A decade later, she married the Marquess of Carmarthen who eventually succeeded as 7th Duke of Leeds.

In 1819, Lainston House and the baronetcy passed to Sir Felton's brother Frederick, who had already inherited the Clarendon Park estate in 1812 on the death of Henry Bathurst, and taken the name Hervey-Bathurst in 1818. He did not hold the title for long, as he died in 1824, leaving four sons and six daughters, who were brought up by their grandparents, the Fremantles. His eldest son, Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81), 3rd bt. succeeded him and was heir to both Clarendon and Lainston. He came of age in 1828, but before then he had embarked, under the guidance of his step-grandfather, on the remodelling of Clarendon Park to bring it into contemporary fashion, and the addition of a vast service wing. Work was completed in time for him to move into the house after his marriage in 1832 to Louisa Maria Smythe (1809-40), a member of the prominent Roman Catholic family, who brought him Somborne Park (Hants). Somborne was already tenanted and remained so, and Lainston was let as a private lunatic asylum in 1825. In 1841, the 3rd baronet received a further increase in wealth as a result of the death of his grandmother, Lady Fremantle, who bequeathed him the Elwell estates in Devon and Somerset, and Castle Hill, Englefield Green (Surrey), where he had spent an important part of his childhood. He retained the West Country properties, but Castle Hill and its lands were soon sold. 

Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst, 3rd bt. had entered upon adult life knowing he was rich, and his marriage and the death of his grandmother had made him richer. However, the improvements to Clarendon Park had cost over £10,000 and making it twice as large as it had been before increased the cost of running it. He bought the adjoining Whiteparish estate which offered excellent shooting, but was obliged to mortgage it in order to raise the capital to do so. He also had a large family of six sons (who had to be found professions) and four daughters (who had to be found dowries), further increasing his outgoings. Although the estates did well in the early 19th century, after the repeal of the Corn Laws the import of foreign grain and other foodstuffs reduced prices and eventually rents. The 3rd baronet would not discuss money matters and the foundations of a financial crisis were quickly laid when rising expenditure began to exceed a falling income. His successor, Sir Frederick Thomas Arthur Hervey-Bathurst (1833-1900), 4th bt., had been a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Grenadier Guards, and is said never to have recovered - either physically or mentally - from the privations he had experienced while fighting in the Crimea. He shared his father's disinterest in and refusal to discuss financial matters to a pathological degree, and coupled it with a bad temper that was so ungoverned that his children used to hide from him. His advisers could not persuade him to sell any property or to retrench his expenditure, and his family were kept in such perfect ignorance that when the dire situation was revealed to his eldest son and heir in 1888 it came as a complete bombshell. Matters came to a head in about 1890, when Lady Hervey-Bathurst seems to have persuaded her husband to give up Clarendon with its twenty-six indoor servants and move to the much smaller Somborne Park with just a handful of long-serving staff. Lainston was sold in 1897, but not until the 4th baronet died in 1900 was it possible for his successor to pay off the debts by selling all the other estates except Somborne, which was retained partly because it had good shooting and partly because it was judged the most difficult to sell. Somborne was certainly cramped in the 1890s: the 5th baronet recalled how some of the sons of the house had to sleep in camp beds on the gallery of the hall when they were at home because of the shortage of bedrooms. In 1901 a new service and bedroom wing was added in the cheapest possible manner to make the house more functional, but money was still very tight and even Somborne had to be let sometimes to reduce costs and increase income: one of the tenants (in 1899-1900) was Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian inventor, who was later related by marriage to the family. 

Sir Frederick Edward William Hervey-Bathurst (1870-1956), 5th bt. had been a career soldier in the prestigious Grenadier Guards. Although far more grounded in reality than his father and grandfather, he resented the disappointment of his childhood expectations of wealth and seems to have been a difficult man to live with. His marriage with his first wife was bumpy to say the least and ended in divorce, and his son by that marriage, Sir Frederick Peter Methuen Hervey-Bathurst (1903-95), 6th bt., was more or less estranged, going out to New Zealand to work as a farm labourer at the age of 20 and later emigrating permanently to America. During and after the Second World War, Somborne suffered from serious neglect, largely because it was beyond the elderly 5th baronet to maintain it himself or to find materials and workmen to do so. The 6th baronet had no intention of living there and his second wife, a wealthy American heiress, had even less. Consideration was given to pulling the house down, but in the end the 6th baronet sold it, for a price that reflected its condition and with only a small acreage, to his son, Sir (Frederick) John Charles Gordon Hervey-Bathurst (1934-2011), 7th bt., who set about restoring it - largely with his own hands - in the weekends and holidays from his job with a merchant bank in London. After several years patient work the house became first habitable and then comfortable, and the east wing was made lettable, providing a further income stream. Sir John also studied the history of the house, writing an account of it which forms the basis for my own analysis below. Today, the house is home to Sir John's only son, Sir Frederick William John Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1965), 8th bt., who, like his father, has made a successful career in the finance industry, and the future of the house seems assured.

The 5th baronet made a second marriage in 1919, and had a second son, Benjamin Alexander Frederick Hervey-Bathurst (1920-97), who served in the Second World War with the Grenadier Guards and later with the Special Operations Executive. After the war, he married the Hon. Elizabeth Violet Virginia Somers-Cocks, only child of the 6th Baron Somers, who had bequeathed to her Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire. Eastnor was both huge and in an unfashionable Gothic Revival style, characteristics which might easily have led to its demolition in post-war conditions, but the Hervey-Bathursts made one wing habitable and did their best to keep the rest watertight. In 1986 the estate came to their elder son, James Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1949), who brought a dynamic energy and entrepreneurial acumen to the task of making the estate financially successful and to restoring the house, a task which he has accomplished triumphantly.

Clarendon Park, Wiltshire

In the medieval period, Clarendon was an important place: a royal deer park with at its centre a royal palace, used by successive kings down to James I. It was stripped of its deer, many trees, and much of the enclosing park wall during the Civil War and Commonwealth. At the Restoration in 1660 the Crown resumed ownership, but the costs of re-emparking it could not be justified and it was given to one of the architects of the Restoration settlement, the 1st Duke of Albemarle. Three years later, he sold it to Edward Hyde, who had been made Earl of Clarendon in 1661. By 1667 he had a small brick house with stone dressings here which may have been intended as a hunting seat, although he can have had few if any opportunities to use it before his exile in that year. It was probably a single-pile block with a relatively long front, the same width as the present north front, and with a piano nobile. One section of the present cellar may survive from it, but it was otherwise completely swallowed up by the much larger house built for Peter Bathurst (1687-1748), whose mother bought the estate in 1707 and gave it to him when he came of age the following year. The new house had probably been completed by 1720: recent dendrochronological analysis gives a date of 1716, and datestones of 1717 and 1719 are recorded. The house belongs stylistically to the group of early 18th century Baroque houses influenced by Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor. Its architect is unknown, although John James has been suggested; but William Townesend of Oxford, who was closely associated with Hawksmoor and who later worked for Bathurst's elder brother Allen, Lord Bathurst, at Cirencester, must also be a candidate. 

Clarendon Park: a view of the north front of the house in 1791. Image: Salisbury Museum.

Clarendon has two storeys above a vaulted basement, a rooftop balustrade, and quoins at the angles. The north-facing entrance front is of nine bays with a segmental pediment over the central three. Beneath the pediment is a centrepiece with some very individual Baroque details, of the kind one associates with Hawksmoor, but less boldly done. The central window on the first floor is set in a semi-circular recess which breaks into the pediment. Below this, the rusticated doorway is set forward and has a large keystone projecting into the architrave. The ground-floor windows also have keystones; the upper windows are plain, with aprons. The east-facing garden front is of seven bays, with a triangular pediment over the central three, containing a semicircular recess (again a Hawksmoor motif). The doorway has a segmental pediment on delicately carved brackets. The south front originally had the centre bays recessed, but this space is now filled by a 19th century ballroom. On the west there was a large service wing of the 1820s or 1830s, which doubled the size of the house, and which was further enlarged by T.H. Wyatt in 1864; this was derelict by 1979 and was demolished in that year.

Clarendon Park: the south front before the addition of the ballroom, with the large service wing of c.1830 on the left. 
Image: © Frederick Hervey-Bathurst.

The Clarendon estate passed from Peter Bathurst to his eldest son, General Peter Bathurst (1723-1801), who after he retired from the army became MP for Eye (Suffk). He had no children, but left the house to his younger brother, Henry Bathurst (d. 1812) for life, with remainder to his great-nephew, Sir Frederick Anne Hervey-Bathurst (1783-1824), 2nd bt., but Clarendon seems to have stood empty from 1801 until it was repaired and modernised by John Peniston of Salisbury after 1824. Although the house then belonged to the young Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81), 3rd bt., who paid the bills and moved into the house in 1829, the works were commissioned and overseen by his step-grandfather, Sir William Fremantle (1766-1850). Although the original estimate was for less than £4,000, in the end some £10,000 was spent on the improvements.

The main entrance on the north leads into a large central stair hall, and the principal state rooms occupy the four corners of the rectangular plan. The central third of each front is stepped forward except on the south side, which was originally deeply recessed but which was filled with a single storey ballroom in 1920 that replaced an earlier glazed conservatory. The interior was extensively remodelled in the 1820s by John Peniston, and also redecorated in 1920. The original 18th century timber staircase survives at cellar level, but it was otherwise replaced by Peniston with a perron stair with iron handrail and treads supported on brackets. The reception rooms all have plaster decoration in 18th century style dating from 1920. The north-west room and the central room on the east front preserve Adam-style late 18th century fireplaces with marble slips.

West of the house stands an 18th century brick stable block arranged around three sides of a courtyard and converted into a house in the 20th century. There is a neo-Jacobean gate lodge which is an early and uncharacteristic work by A.W.N. Pugin, dating from 1837. It is built of white brick, with a shaped gable: he would not have done that later. Alongside the remodelling of the house, the Hervey-Bathursts or Sir William Fremantle improved the grounds, planting new avenues and areas of woodland in a pattern that is reputed to have reflected the disposition of British forces at the Battle of Waterloo. 

Clarendon Park: the semi-derelict house in 1979, with the service wing on the right on the verge of demolition.
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

In about 1890 the Hervey-Bathurst family was forced by a financial crisis to leave Clarendon Park and move to the smaller Somborne Park, but not until the 4th baronet died in 1900 could the estates be sold and a crippling burden of debt be paid off. Many of the family's possessions could not be fitted into the smaller house, and many things were just left behind at Clarendon for the new owners, Mr. & Mrs Garton. In 1919, the estate was sold again, being bought by the Christie-Miller family, who undertook the redecoration of 1920, and lived in it in some style until the Second World War. The house deteriorated during and after the Second World War, and in 1979-82 the large service wing was demolished and the rest of the house was repaired for use as a centre for functions. When the 4,200 acre estate was finally sold in 2006, the house had not been lived in for a quarter of a century, and was in great need of the restoration which has since been undertaken.

Descent: Crown granted 1661 to Gen. George Monck (1608-70), 1st Duke of Albemarle; sold 1664 to Edward Hyde (1609-74), 1st Earl of Clarendon, who fled into exile in 1667 leaving the estate to his son, Henry Hyde (d. 1709), 2nd Earl of Clarendon, who apparently let it to his cousin William Hyde (d. 1691); sold 1707 to Dame Frances Bathurst (d. 1725); settled 1708 on son, Peter Bathurst (1687-1748); to son, Gen. Peter Bathurst (1724-1801); to brother, George Bathurst (1738-1812) for life and then to his great-nephew, Sir Frederick Anne Hervey (later Hervey-Bathurst) (1783-1824), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81), 3rd bt., who leased it to his step-grandfather, Sir William Fremantle (1766-1850) until 1832; to son, Sir Frederick Thomas Arthur Hervey-Bathurst (1833-1900), 4th bt.; to son, Sir Frederick Edward William Hervey-Bathurst (1870-1956), 5th bt., who sold 1901 to Maj. James William Garton (1864-1940); sold 1919 to Sydney Richardson Christie-Miller (1885-1931); to widow, Evelyn Nora Christie-Miller for life and then to son, Samuel Vandeleur Christie-Miller (1911-68); to widow, Esmée (1919-73) (who m2, 1970, Giles Alexander Meysey Vandeleur (1911-76); to son Andrew William Christie-Miller (b. 1950); sold 2006 to Marc Jonas (b. 1969) and his wife Lucinda.

Lainston House, Sparsholt, Hampshire

The manor of Lainston in Hampshire, which had a manor house by 1334, was acquired in 1613 by Anthony Dawley (d. 1616), whose great-grandson, Henry Dawley MP (c.1645-1703) inherited as an infant, and was responsible for building the present house, which dates to the late 17th century, although it has been much altered.

Lainston House: the garden (originally the entrance) front. Image: Britain's Finest

What is now the garden front was originally the entrance front of the house. It has two storeys, with a hipped roof, moulded stone plinth, string course, stone quoins on the inner angles of the two-bay wings, and bolection-moulded stone architraves to the windows. The centre has a three-bay pedimented breakfront flanked by narrow bays. The entrance front is superficially similar, but the windows have stuccoed lugged architraves, and thus suggests that it was altered after Henry Dawley's son Anthony sold the house in 1711 to Sir Philip Meadows. Meadows' brother-in-law was Sir John Evelyn (the grandson of the diarist), who visited in 1714 and described the house as 'very much improved by alterations and additions'. The single-storey porch on this side matches stylistically, but is probably a clever addition of the 1890s. The side elevation is probably of the 1711-14 period too, but could even date from after 1721, when Meadows sold the house to John Merrill. Merrill added the formal forecourt, with twelve-bay brick loggias enclosing a grass oval.

Lainston House: the present entrance front.

In 1897 the estate was sold to Samuel Bostock, who restored the house and added a T-shaped north wing, matching the style of the original building. He was also largely responsible for the present interiors, again echoing the style of c.1700. There is some 18th century panelling in the house, especially in the upstairs rooms, but the best original feature is the staircase, now repositioned in the north wing, but probably installed by John Merrill about 1721. It rises in four flights, the upper one curving out to a wider landing, and has pairs of slim twisted balusters, fluted columnar newels, and a ramped handrail. There is a matching dado on the wall with fluted pilasters. In 1921 Samuel Bostock built himself a new house in Sparsholt village, and sold Lainston to John Craig Harvey, who commissioned plans for the gardens from Gertrude Jekyll in 1923. In 1980, the House and 63 acres were sold for use as a hotel; a new access drive was constructed and a further extension was made to the House by Green, Lloyd & Adams, c.1982. The hotel changed hands in 1983 and, with the addition of a restored barn and rooms in the stable wing, has since been run as the Lainston House Hotel and Restaurant.

Descent: sold 1613 to Anthony Dawley (d. 1616); to son, Walter Dawley (d. 1632); to son, Henry Dawley (1620-); to son, Henry Dawley MP (c.1645-1703); to son, Anthony Dawley, who sold 1711 to Sir Philip Meadows; sold 1721 to John Merrill; to son, John Merrill; to daughter Mary, wife of Rev. Robert Bathurst (1728-87?); to son, Robert Bathurst (d. 1791); to uncle, Gen. Peter Bathurst (1724-1801); to great-nephew, Col. Sir Felton Elwell Hervey (later Bathurst-Hervey) (1782-1819), 1st bt.; to brother, Sir Frederick Anne Hervey (later Hervey-Bathurst) (1783-1824), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir Frederick Hutchinson Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81), 3rd bt.; to son, Sir Frederick Thomas Arthur Hervey-Bathurst (1833-1900), 4th bt., who sold 1897 to Samuel Bostock; sold 1921 to John Craig-Harvey (d. 1960); to son, Andrew John Craig Harvey (d. 1991), who sold the house but not the estate in 1980 for conversion to an hotel. The house was let from 1825-97, and served as a private lunatic asylum, 1825-46.

Castle Hill (formerly Elvills), Englefield Green, Surrey

Castle Hill, Englefield Green: watercolour by Paul Sandby, 1775.

An attractive Gothick house, built in 1758-63 for Sir John Elvill (d. 1778), 4th bt. The architect was Stiff Leadbetter, who was not a natural goth but who was building Pomfret House in London to the designs of Sanderson Miller at much the same time. As first built it was a simple two-storey villa, five bays by three, with a crenellated parapet, and a lower and perhaps older service wing at the rear. The house was entered on one of the three-bay elevations through a crenellated porch with pointed arches on each side, which had been enclosed by 1822. The five-bay garden front at right-angles to it had two single-storey canted bay windows, but generally the ground floor windows were pointed and those on the first floor there were regular sash windows with individual hood-moulds. 

Castle Hill, Englefield Green: the house from the south-west from an engraving published in 1784.

The millionaire banker, George Charles Raphael (1837-1906), who bought the house in about 1883, was probably responsible for enlarging it soon afterwards. The original garden fronts were wrapped around by a single-storey stone veranda, and the house was enormously enlarged to the north, more than doubling the size of the building. 

Castle Hill, Englefield Green: the house in 1994, showing its massive late Victorian enlargement

Descent: built for Sir John Elwill (d. 1778), 4th bt.; to daughter, Selena Mary (1756-1841), wife of Felton Lionel Harvey (1751-85) and later Sir William Henry Fremantle (1766-1850), kt.; to grandson, Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81) who sold to Thomas Blayds (1795-1849); sold 1849 to Admiral John Sykes (1774-1858); sold 1863 to Mr Savory, a London silversmith; sold by 1867 to John Shepherd (d. 1878) of Doctors' Commons; sold about 1883 to George Charles Raphael (1837-1906), banker; to son, William George Raphael (1865-1912); to widow and then his daughter, Dorothy (d. 1981), wife of Henry Hastings Sackville Thanet Tufton, 3rd Baron Hothfield; sold 1985 to Ugland Marine Insurance Co.; sold 1995 to a private foreign owner. The house was let to George Richard Griffiths (d. 1859), an Australian merchant, 1858-59, and again from 1880- to John Batley.

Somborne Park, Little Somborne, Hampshire*

A little-known and much altered house, which for most of its existence has been a secondary seat of the families which owned it. The estate belonged in the medieval period to Mottisfont Abbey and was acquired after the dissolution of the monasteries by Thomas Welles (d. 1553), one of those employed in Hampshire as a commissioner for the dissolution, whose principal seat was Brambridge House near Eastleigh. Although Thomas was evidently comfortable with the Reformation, his sons emerged as prominent Recusants and his sons Swithun and Henry were executed for their faith, Swithun later being canonized as one of the Forty English Martyrs. 

Somborne Park: the original house as depicted on an estate map of 1734.
Image: © Frederick Hervey-Bathurst.

It was probably Thomas' grandson, another Thomas Welles (d. 1631), who was responsible for building the core of the present Somborne Park, on a new site further from the church than its predecessor. This house was a compact rectangular building of brick, some 60 feet by 32 feet, with three gables on the north and south fronts. It was of two storeys, with a basement and attics providing the service accommodation and servant's dormitories respectively. The earliest illustration of the house is a tiny representation on an estate map of 1734 which corresponds fairly well with what is known about the house, but it is impossible to know whether it was intended to be accurately representational. It shows an entrance without a porch in the centre of the south front, and the position of the entrance gates suggest the main approach was probably to this side. The staircase was in the south-east corner of the house and ran from the basement to at least the first floor. The most distinctive feature of the plan was a broad transverse corridor running from east to west through the house (as at the contemporary Toseland Hall (Hunts), which would have provided access to three substantial rooms along the south front, all of which were heated and to further spaces, which are less well understood, on the north front. There seems not to have been a conventional hall. The new house was probably completed before 1609, when the Welles family's principal estate at Brambridge was sequestrated by the Crown because of their recusant activities; it seems likely that Somborne became their principal residence until they recovered Brambridge in 1636. 

Little is known about the history of the house in the later 17th and 18th centuries, but a major remodelling took place in the mid 18th century, almost certainly for the Rev. Richard Smyth, non-resident rector of Myddle (Shropshire), whose wife was a Powlett and kin of the Dukes of Bolton. Although a Protestant, Smyth may have been related to the Smythes, a leading Catholic family from Shropshire who inherited the freehold of Somborne from Henry Welles in 1763. Such a relationship would explain why he had sufficient confidence in his tenure to make a major investment in the house, and he certainly had the means. He was living at Somborne by 1754 and it was probably in the 1750s that he modernised the house, building a large new four--bay block (containing a new dining room, with a bedroom and dressing room above) onto the west end of the north side of the original house, enlarging the middle and west rooms on the south front to the north by taking in the original transverse corridor and part of the rooms to their north, and creating a new corridor along the original north front for circulation purposes. He also raised the ceiling of the middle room on the south front to improve its proportions, which necessitated corresponding changes on the first floor and in the attics, where the original gabled roof was replaced with a modern hipped roof. The original windows were replaced with modern sashes, a two-storey canted bay was added to the centre of the south front, and to disguise the scars caused by these alterations and conceal the external chimneystacks on the east and west ends of the house, the external walls were entirely recased in a skin of new brickwork. 

Somborne Park: the house as enlarged c.1800, seen from the north-west. The central four bays represent the addition of the 1750s, and the wings to either side those of c.1800. Image: © Frederick Hervey-Bathurst.

Somborne Park: a modern watercolour of the hall added c.1800, peopled with figures in Regency dress. Image: © Caroline, Lady Hervey-Bathurst.

The next changes probably took place between 1786, when William Powlett Smyth (later Powlett) seems to have taken over the tenancy from his father, and 1814, when he moved to Lainston House. The main addition in this period was a four-by-three bay, two-storey block added on to the west end of the house, with tall ground-floor windows set in arched recesses. This contained a large and handsome new drawing room and a new entrance hall containing a cantilevered staircase rising in an elegant curve to a gallery. No architect is recorded for this building, but externally it is reminiscent of some works of this time (e.g. The Warrens at Bramshaw (Hants) and Llanerchaeron in Wales) by John Nash, who had several commissions in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The north front wall of this block was set a little back from the four-bay north wall of the 18th century block, and when a further addition was made to the north-east corner of the house this was also set back, making the 18th century dining room the visual centrepiece of an extended (but not symmetrical) twelve-bay façade. The north-east addition, and a smaller and wholly utilitarian south-east addition, lacked the architectural presence of the west block, and there is no particular reason to assume they were done at the same time or by the same architect.

Somborne Park: the house as reduced in 1851, from the south. The wing of 1800 and the western two-thirds of the original house are all that survived. Image: © Frederick Hervey-Bathurst.

The works of c.1800 brought the house to its greatest extent. It continued to be let throughout the 19th century but by the 1840s it was apparently becoming difficult to find tenants for such a large and increasingly unfashionable house. It was accordingly reduced in size by about a third, with everything east of the bow-windowed room being pulled down in 1851 and a new end elevation being constructed. The losses included the eastern third of the original house, including its main staircase. In about 1890 a desperate financial crisis forced the Hervey-Bathursts to sell Clarendon Park and Lainston House, and to move to Somborne, which was retained because it was seen as the most difficult house to sell and also had a good shoot. In 1899-1900 the house was briefly let to Guglielmo Marconi, who built a garage for his (then very modern) steam car (which survived until it was blown down in the Great Storm of 1987). After the death of the 4th baronet in 1900 the financial position of the family became a little clearer and easier, and in 1901 work began on building a new east wing, which was of similar dimensions to the part of the house pulled down fifty years earlier. It contained a new kitchen, one or two new reception rooms, three new bedrooms, and improved accommodation for the servants. With red brick walls, plate glass windows and rather poor proportions, the east wing was an unfortunate addition to the house, although it did make the house workable for the family once more.

Somborne Park: the house after the addition of the new east wing in 1901. Image: © Frederick Hervey-Bathurst.

The works of 1901 included the installation of a primitive hot water central heating system, but not the provision of electricity, which did not arrive until 1955. As a result, the house escaped requisitioning during the Second World War, but it still suffered severe deterioration because of the impossibility of maintenance in wartime and immediate post-war conditions. After the death of the 5th baronet his elder son, who had lived in America for many years, sold the house to his son, who came down from Cambridge and married in 1957. It was then semi-derelict, but by 1959 the house had been repaired and redecorated throughout, although major repairs were later needed on several occasions, including the replacement of the roof in 1981. The east wing became a separate dwelling in 1967, let to tenants, and in 1994-95 this was remodelled and improved, including the removal of the original plate glass sashes and their replacement by more attractive windows with glazing bars.

Descent: sold to Thomas Welles (d. 1553); to son, Gilbert Welles (d. 1598); to son, Thomas Welles (d. 1631); to son, Gilbert Welles (d. 1642); to son, Thomas Welles; to son, Henry Welles (d. 1735); to son, Henry Welles (d. 1763); to third cousin, Walter Smythe (c.1721-88); to son, Walter Smythe; to daughter, Louisa Maria (d. 1840), wife of Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81), 3rd bt.; to son, Sir Frederick Thomas Arthur Hervey-Bathurst (1833-1900), 4th bt.; to son, Sir Frederick Edward William Hervey-Bathurst (1870-1956), 5th bt.; to son, Sir Frederick Peter Methuen Hervey-Bathurst (1903-95), 6th bt., who sold it to his son, Sir (Frederick) John Charles Gordon Hervey-Bathurst (1934-2011), 7th bt.; to son, Sir Frederick William John Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1965), 8th bt. 

The house was let for much of the 18th and 19th centuries: to the Duke of Hamilton c.1748-52; the Rev. Richard Smyth (d. 1797), c.1752-86; his son, William Powlett Smyth (later Powlett) (1758-1821), 1786-1814; Sir Thomas Lethbridge, bt., 1814-35; Thomas Attwood, farmer, 1836-c.1840 and then, perhaps as a sub-tenant, Maj-Gen. A.G. Wavell, c.1840-50; Mr. Howard, farmer, 1855-71; Mr. Woodman, farmer, 1871-c.1878; George Holmden (from c.1878). In 1899-1900 the house was again let, to Guglielmo Marconi, who was later related by marriage to the 5th baronet.

* This account is largely based on the work of the late Sir John Hervey-Bathurst, which his grandson Freddie kindly communicated to me. Sir John spent over fifty years getting to know the building intimately through maintenance work, repairs and remodelling, and although my conclusions differ a little from his, the evidence he amassed is invaluable in determining the building history.

Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire

The estate began as the manor of Castle Ditch, which was held by the Clinton family by c.1340; their manor house was first mentioned in 1385. The Clintons held Castle Ditch until about 1606, when it was purchased by Richard Cocks (d. 1623), a London grocer whose family came from Bishops Cleeve (Glos). In 1624 the manor house consisted of a hall, great parlour and little parlour, with an adjoining passage and little buttery, as well as chambers on an upper floor; it was taxed on twelve hearths in 1665. An estate map of 1726 shows the hall on a site by the Glynch brook, east of the site of the present castle. Later visual evidence suggests it began as a hall range with a cross-wing which was extended to the east several times, creating a rectangular building entered on the south side and perhaps with a central courtyard. The cupola visible in the drawing speaks of late 17th century additions and alterations, presumably for Thomas Cocks (d. 1705).

Castle Ditch House, Eastnor: a late 18th century painting showing the manor house and the additional wing, attributed here to Anthony Keck.
Image: James Hervey-Bathurst.

The manor descended in the late 18th century to Charles Cocks (1725-1806), who had inherited the estates of the Cocks family of Dumbleton (Glos). He was made a baronet in 1772 and in 1784 was raised to the peerage as Baron Somers of Evesham. He expanded his property at Eastnor by acquiring the main manor of Eastnor from the Bishop of Hereford in 1785, and built a new block onto the old house at Castle Ditch, almost certainly to the designs of Anthony Keck. This attribution is based on the employment in the wings of a number of Keck's distinctive mannerisms, especially the full semicircular bows. It is supported by Cocks' relationship with Dr. Treadway Russell Nash, the Worcestershire antiquary and historian, who recommended Keck widely from the 1760s onwards to his friends, relations and business associates (Nash was father in law to Cocks' son).

Eastnor Castle: a sketch by Lord Bessborough, showing the house c.1825.

In 1806 the enlarged estate passed to John Sommers Cocks (1760-1841), 2nd Baron (and from 1821, 1st Earl Somers). With the Eastnor and Dumbleton estates, and a substantial inheritance from his father-in-law, Dr Nash, in 1811, Lord Somers felt quite rich, and felt able to commission a new and much larger house on higher ground from Robert Smirke. Smirke seems to have come to Lord Somers' attention after building Lowther Castle in Westmorland (1806-14), but he was also building a more local Gloucestershire-Herefordshire connection after being employed by Lord Bathurst at Cirencester in 1810.

Eastnor Castle: the house from the terrace in 2008.
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

The foundation stone at Eastnor was laid in April 1812; the corner towers went up that year and the roof followed in 1813. The old house was taken down to provide building materials in about 1814. Francis Bernasconi and Cornelius Dixon were engaged on decorative plasterwork and interior decoration from December 1813 until 1819, when work was suddenly abandoned because Lord Somers was running out of money. Nothing had been done about building new stables (the old ones at Castle Ditch house continued in use) and parts of the new house were uninhabitable. Alongside the building of the house, the grounds were remodelled in the picturesque style. Constructing the castle involved building a large earthen platform, and a lake was formed to the east, although the water level was raised only slowly; the site of the old house eventually became an island in the lake. New planting was begun in 1816 and seems to have continued well after work on the house stopped, until 1826 at least.

So matters rested until John Sommers Somers-Cocks (1788-1852), 2nd Earl Somers, succeeded to the estate in 1841. He resumed work on the house, bringing in J.G. Crace as decorator to design the new drawing room, with Augustus Pugin as a consultant (who designed the fireplace); together they created what most people agree is the most delightful and successful interior at Eastnor. 

Eastnor Castle: the drawing room designed by J.G. Crace, with a fireplace by A.W.N. Pugin.
Image: James Hervey-Bathurst.

The 2nd Earl died, however, in 1852 before work could be extended to other rooms, and his successor, Charles Sommers Somers-Cocks (1819-83), 3rd Earl Somers brought in George McGann (perhaps under the guidance of Sir George Gilbert Scott) to design further new interiors. A Gothic scheme was prepared for the Great Hall and other rooms but in 1853 Lord Somers went to Italy and fell in love with the Italian Renaissance. McGann seems to have been paid off and in 1860 Lord Somers met the painter G.E. Fox and the sculptor William Forsyth to discuss new ideas for the Great Hall. Between 1862 and 1864 the Romanesque character of the Hall was reinforced, but with inspiration from Norman Sicily rather than Northern Europe, including the addition of marble columns and Saracenic designs. In the 1860s Fox continued decorating work in the long and little libraries, the octagon saloon and the large dining room, this time largely in Italian Renaissance style. Work was largely complete by 1870 when the library bookcases were filled and soft furnishings purchased.

Eastnor Castle: great hall. Image: Trip Advisor.

Eastnor Castle: the Long Library. Image: Trip Advisor.

On the death of the 3rd Earl Somers in 1883 the earldom became extinct and the barony passed to a cousin and became separated from the ownership of Eastnor, which passed to the 3rd Earl's daughter, Isabella Caroline (d. 1921), wife of Lord Henry Somerset, who finally built a new stable and garage block in a rather Voyseyish manner in c.1900. On her death, the estate reverted to Arthur Herbert Tennyson Somers-Cocks (1887-1944), 6th Baron Somers, who vacated the castle with alacrity at the beginning of the Second World War and offered it to the authorities. No military use was ever found for the house, but it deteriorated while unoccupied. In 1944 it passed to the Hon. Elizabeth Somers Cocks (d. 1986) and her husband, Benjamin Hervey-Bathurst, who carried out some essential maintenance but lived only in one wing of the castle. The present owner, James Hervey-Bathurst, moved in in 1988 and has carried out an extensive restoration, made possible by the careful seizing of the commercial possibilities of the house and park.

Descent: sold c.1606 to Richard Cocks (d. 1623); to son Thomas Cocks (d. 1649); to son, Thomas Cocks (d. 1705); to son John Cocks (d. 1718); to brother, Thomas Cocks (d. 1724); to daughter Mary, wife of her cousin, John Cocks (d. 1771); to son, Sir Charles Cocks (1725-1806), 1st bt. and 1st Baron Somers of Evesham; to son, John Sommers Cocks (1760-1841), 2nd Baron and 1st Earl Somers; to son, John Sommers Somers-Cocks (1788-1852), 2nd Earl Somers; to son, Charles Sommers Somers-Cocks (1819-83), 3rd Earl Somers; to daughter, Isabella Caroline (d. 1921), wife of Lord Henry Somerset; to kinsman, Arthur Herbert Tennyson Somers-Cocks (1887-1944), 6th Baron Somers; to daughter, Hon. Elizabeth Violet Virginia (1922-86), wife of Benjamin Alexander Frederick Hervey-Bathurst (1920-97); to son, James Felton Somers Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1949).

Bathurst (later Hervey-Bathurst) of Clarendon Park and Somborne Park, baronets

Peter Bathurst (1687-1748) 

Bathurst, Peter (1687-1748). Second son of Sir Benjamin Bathurst (1638-1704), kt., and his wife Frances, daughter of Sir Allen Apsley, kt., born 22 April and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, 1 May 1687. He spent his childhood at the court of Princess Anne, where he and his brother Benjamin were companions to Prince William (1689-1700), Duke of Gloucester. After the prince died, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1703) before travelling on the continent with a tutor (Mr Douns) in 1707, visiting Padua and Rome. In 1710 he fought an acrimonious campaign for election to Parliament at Wilton (Wilts), during which he threatened to deny the local flannel-makers their vital supply of blue clay from Clarendon Park. Although he was defeated, the Commons overturned the result in his favour, and he sat as Tory MP for Wilton, 1711-13. He was a member of the October Club and being out of sympathy with Lord Harley's administration, he did not stand again in 1713. In 1722 he stood unsuccessfully for Salisbury, but in 1727, his elder brother, Lord Bathurst, secured his election for Cirencester, where he succeeded his younger brother Benjamin. He represented Cirencester until 1734 and was then MP for Salisbury, 1734-41. His only recorded speech in Parliament was to oppose strongly but wittily a bill to prevent clandestine marriages. In private life, according to his monument, he was ‘a lover of letters and liberal knowledge, affectionate and affable to a numerous family’. He married 1st, between April 1709 and March 1709/10 at Greatworth (Northants), Leonora Maria (1695-1720), daughter and heiress of Charles Howe of Greatworth, and 2nd, 24 October 1720, Lady Selina Shirley (1701-77), daughter of Robert Shirley, 13th Baron Ferrers of Chartley and later 1st Earl Ferrers, and had issue:

(1.1) Frances Bathurst (1713-79), baptised at St Anne, Soho, Westminster (Middx), 16 September 1713; married, 21 September 1734 at West Grimstead (Wilts), Thomas Cooper (1712-56) of Cumberwell House (Wilts), High Sheriff of Wiltshire, 1752, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 22 or 27 October 1779; will proved in the PCC, 29 November 1779;

(1.2) Charles Bathurst (b. 1715), baptised at Twickenham (Middx), 3 April 1715; died young;

(1.3) Benjamin Bathurst (b. 1716), born 27 April and baptised at St Anne, Soho, Westminster (Middx), 8 May 1716; died young;

(1.4) Leonora Bathurst (1717-51), baptised at West Dean (Wilts), 20 May 1717; after her mother's death she was raised by her maternal grandfather, Charles Howe (d. 1742) of Greatworth, who made her the heir to his estate there; after her marriage she lived at Banbury (Oxon) and then in London; married, 22 December 1744 at Greatworth, Dr. George Macaulay MD (1716-66), physician and man-midwife (who m2, 20 June 1760 at Wye (Kent), Catharine (1731-91), daughter of John Sawbridge of Olantigh, Wye (Kent), the Whig historian*), son of Alexander Macaulay of Edinburgh, and had issue two sons and three daughters (who all died young); buried (as Eleanora) at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, 29 December 1751;

(2.1) Selina Bathurst (1721-81) (q.v.);

(2.2) Henrietta (later k/a Harriet) Bathurst (1722-95), born 19 September and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, 20 October 1722; married, 6 February 1755 at Lydney (Glos), Thomas Charles Tracy (1719-92), 6th Viscount Tracy of Rathcoole, of Toddington Manor (Glos), but had no issue; died 2 August and was buried at St James, Bath (Som.), 8 August 1795;

(2.3) Gen. Peter Bathurst (1724-1801) (q.v.);

(2.4) Catherine Bathurst (1725-94?), born 18 February and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, 16 March 1724/5; married, 1 February 1752 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, Sir Michael Malcolm (d. 1793), 3rd bt. of Lochore (Fife), but had no issue; said to have died in Edinburgh, 30 October 1794;

(2.5) Mary Bathurst (b. 1726), born 24 March 1725/6 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 19 April 1726; married, 21 August 1760 at West Tytherley (Hants), Rev. Hollyer Allen (c.1730-71), rector of Rodney Stoke (Som.), son of William Allen of Odiham (Hants), and had issue one son and one daughter; death not traced;

(2.6) Anne Bathurst (c.1727-63), born about 1727; married, 3 July 1754 at West Dean (Wilts),  Rev. Robert Thistlethwayte DD (1720-67) of Norman Court, West Tytherley (Hants), rector of Broughton with Bossington (Hants) and Winterslow (Wilts), third son of Alexander Thistlethwayte, and had issue two sons and three daughters; buried at West Tytherley, 19 July 1763;

(2.7) Rev. Robert Bathurst (1728-87?), born 26 December 1728 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 23 January 1728/9; educated at New College, Oxford (matriculated 1748; BA 1752; MA 1756); ordained priest, 1753; rector of Wennington (Essex) 1753-74 and of West Tytherley and Broughton (Hants), 1774-81; lived at Lainston House; married, 16 June 1759 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Mary, daughter of John Merrill, heiress to Lainston House and a moiety of Arwenack House (Cornw), and had issue two sons, the survivor of whom (Robert Bathurst (d. 1791)) bequeathed these estates to Gen. Peter Bathurst; living in 1786 and said to have died in 1787;

(2.8) Charlotte Bathurst (1730-57), born 20 January and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 13 February 1729/30; married, 9 August 1756 at Guiting Power (Glos), Joseph Langton (1707-79) of Newton Park, Newton St. Loe (Som.), which he rebuilt in 1762-65 to the designs of Stiff Leadbetter, and had issue one daughter (who died in infancy); died following childbirth, 24 July and was buried at Newton St. Loe, 30 July 1757;

(2.9) Frances Bathurst (1731-57), baptised at Aldbourne (Wilts), 2 October 1731; married, 3 November 1756 at Downton (Wilts), as his second of three wives, Anthony Duncombe (c.1695-1763), 1st and only Baron Feversham of Barford Park, Downton, and had issue one daughter; died following childbirth, 21 November 1757, and was buried at Downton (Wilts), where she is commemorated by a monument;

(2.10) Elizabeth Bathurst (1733-64), born 12 March 1732/3 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 5 April 1733; married, 21 March 1757 at the house of Lady Selina Bathurst in Hampton (Middx), Sir Thomas Frederick (1731-70), 3rd bt. of Hampton, and had issue two daughters; died 11 September and was buried at Hampton, 17 September 1764;

(2.11) Louisa Bathurst (1734-81), born 24 November and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 3 December 1734; she and her husband were painted by Gainsborough in a well-known double portrait of 1762, to which their daughter Selina was added in about 1766; she married, 24 May 1759 at Hampton, George Byam (1734-79) of Apps Court, Walton-on-Thames (Surrey) and Antigua, sugar planter, son of George Byam of Antigua, and had issue one son and four daughters; buried at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 10 February 1781;

(2.12) George Bathurst (1736-57?), born 14 March and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., 6 April 1736; died unmarried; will proved in the PCC, 21 January 1757;

(2.13) Margaret Bathurst (1737-77), born 9 November and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 8 December 1737; died unmarried and was buried at Hampton (Middx), 25 August 1777; will proved in the PCC, 23 August 1777;

(2.14) Henry Bathurst (1738-1812), born 28 February 1737/8 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 27 March 1738; an officer in the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (Cornet, 1760; Lt., 1762; Capt-Lt., 1767; Capt., 1770; Maj., 1780; retired 1787); lived at Derby and bought Oldknow's House in Friar Gate there in 1797; inherited a life interest in Clarendon Park after his brother's death in 1801; married, 7 November 1770 at St Werburgh, Derby, Anne Dorothy Frances Ashby (d. 1808); buried at Laverstock, 7 February 1812; will proved in the PCC, 25 February 1812;

(2.15) James Bathurst (1740-95?), baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 29 November 1740; possibly the man of this name buried at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, 1 February 1795.

He inherited lands in Lincolnshire from his father and his mother bought the Clarendon Park estate in Wiltshire for him in 1707 for £24,000, settling it on him when he came of age in 1708. In 1709 he acquired through his marriage part of his first wife's father's estate at Greatworth (Northants), and he lived there until his rebuilding of Clarendon Park was completed in about 1717. He also had a house (perhaps on the site of the later Fortescue House) at Twickenham (Middx).

He was buried at Laverstock (Wilts), 30 April 1748, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 16 May 1748. His first wife was buried at Greatworth, 20 January 1719/20. His widow died 14 December and was buried at Laverstock (Wilts), 21 December 1777; her will was proved in the PCC, 22 December 1777.

* Catherine Macaulay was the author of The History of England from the Accession of James I to that of the Brunswick Line (8 vols., 1763-83).

Bathurst, General Peter (1724-1801). Eldest son of Peter Bathurst (1687-1748) and his second wife, Lady Selina (d. 1777), daughter of Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers, born 8 January and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 24 January 1723/4. Educated at University College, Oxford (matriculated 1741). An officer in the 85th Foot (Capt., 1759; Lt-Col. 1762; Col. 1777; Maj-Gen. 1781; Gen. 1798). MP for Eye, 1784-90, 1792-95. He married, 29 October 1750 at Devizes (Wilts) (with £5,000), Elizabeth (1723-94), daughter of George Evelyn MP of Rooksnest, Nutfield (Surrey), but had no issue.

He inherited Clarendon Park from his father in 1748 and maintained a house in Harley St., London. In 1791 he inherited Lainston House and a moiety of the Arwenack estate in Cornwall from his nephew Robert Bathurst (d. 1791). At his death, Clarendon passed to his brother Henry and  Lainston to his great-nephew, Felton, but he sold the Cornish property to the owner of the other moiety, Sir John Wodehouse.

He died at his house in London, 20 December 1801; his will was proved in the PCC, 26 January 1802. His wife was buried at Godstone (Surrey), 5 March 1794.

Bathurst, Selina (1721-81). Eldest daughter of Peter Bathurst (1687-1748) and his second wife, Lady Selina (d. 1777), daughter of Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers, born 3 September and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 19 September 1721. She married 1st, 26 June 1748 at West Grimstead (Wilts) (with £5,000), as his second wife, Sir Arthur Cole (1664-1754), 2nd bt. and 1st Baron Ranelagh, of Newlands, Clondalkin (Co. Dublin) and West Dean (Wilts), and 2nd, 13 November 1755 at West Dean, Sir John Elwell (1723-78), 4th bt., of Egham (Surrey), MP for Guildford, 1747-68, and had issue:

(2.1) Selina Mary Elwell (1756-1841) (q.v.).

She is reputed to have received about £50,000 under the will of her first husband. Her second husband built Castle Hill (at first called Elwills or Elvills), Englefield Green, to the designs of Stiff Leadbetter in 1758-63.

She died 9 February and was buried* at West Dean, 18 February 1781; her will was proved in the PCC, 15 February 1781. Her first husband died, aged 90, on 5 October 1754; his will was proved in the PCC, 7 October 1754. Her second husband died 1 March 1778; his will was proved in the PCC, 21 March 1778.

* After her second marriage she continued to use the style Lady Ranelagh, and she was buried under that name.

Elwell, Selina Mary (1756-1841). Only daughter of Sir John Elwell (1723-78), 4th bt. and his wife Selina, daughter of Peter Bathurst of Clarendon Park (Wilts), baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 10 August 1756. She married 1st, 2 March 1779 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Felton Lionel Hervey (1751-85), Remembrancer to the Exchequer, son of the Hon. Felton Hervey (1712-73) and grandson of John Hervey (1665-1751), 1st Earl of Bristol; she married 2nd, 21 September 1797, Rt. Hon. Sir William Henry Fremantle (1766-1850), kt., MP, Treasurer of the Royal Household, 1826-37 and Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park, 1830-37, son of John Fremantle of Aston Abbots (Bucks), and had issue:

(1.1) Felton Elwell Hervey (b. & d. 1780), born April 1780 but died in infancy and was buried at St Marylebone, 22 April 1780;

(1.2) Selina Mary Hervey (1781-1856), born 12 April and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 18 May 1781; married, 24 August 1813 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Sir Charles Knightley MP (1781-1864), 2nd bt., of Fawsley Court (Northants), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 27 July 1856 and was buried at Fawsley, where she is commemorated by a monument;

(1.3) Sir Felton Elwell Hervey (later Bathurst-Hervey) (1782-1819), 1st bt. (q.v.);

(1.4) Sir Frederick Anne Hervey (later Hervey-Bathurst) (1783-1824), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(1.5) Col. Lionel Charles Hervey (1784-1843), born 22 September and baptised at Egham (Surrey), 15 October 1784; educated at Eton; an officer in the Loyal Egham Volunteers (Lt. 1803) and the Berkshire militia (Capt., 1805); and subsequently a diplomat (secretary of legation at Munich (Germany), 1815-20; secretary of embassy at Madrid (Spain), 1820-23; commissioner to Mexico, 1823-25); married, 3 May 1825 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Frances Mary (1792-1840), only daughter of Vice-Adm. Thomas Wells of Holmewood (Hants), and had issue two sons and four daughters; died 4 June and was probably the man of this name buried at Alverstoke (Hants), 13 June 1843; will proved in the PCC, 27 June 1843;

(1.6) Elizabeth Hervey (1785-1865), born 22 November 1785; died unmarried, 1 January 1865; will proved 24 February 1865 (effects under £90,000).

She inherited the Elwill estates, including Castle Hill at Englefield Green (Surrey); Pinbrook, Exeter (Devon) and Gerbestone Manor, West Buckland (Som.) from her father in 1778.

She died at Brighton (Sussex), 22 November, and was buried at Egham, 29 November 1841. Her first husband shot himself on 9 September 1785 in a gunsmith's shop in the Strand, London, after buying a pair of pistols from the owner; he was buried at Egham, 15 September 1785. Her second husband died at Holly Grove, Windsor Great Park, 19 October 1850; his will was proved in the PCC, 18 November 1850.

Sir Felton Hervey-Bathurst, 1st bt. 

Hervey (later Bathurst-Hervey), Col. Sir Felton Elwell (1782-1819), 1st bt. Second, but eldest surviving son of Felton Lionel Hervey (1751-85) and his wife Selina Mary, daughter of Sir John Elwell, bt., born 24 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 15 July 1782. Educated at Eton. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1800; Capt., 1803; Maj., 1806; Lt-Col., 1810; Col., 1814), who fought in the Peninsular Wars and was distinguished for his bravery and natural leadership of men (wounded and lost his right arm, 1809) and at Waterloo, where he was ADC to the Duke of Wellington (who became a close friend); Colonel of 14th Light Dragoons; Secretary to the Master General of the Ordnance, 1815; Private Secretary to the Duke of Wellington and ADC to the Prince Regent, 1814-19. He took the additional name Bathurst by royal licence in 1802, in compliance with the will of Gen. Peter Bathurst. He was appointed CB and KH and created a baronet, 7 December 1818, with a special remainder to his brother Frederick; he was also a Knight Commander of the Order of St Henry in Saxony, a Knight of Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria, a Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa in Austria, and a Knight of St George in Russia. He married, 24 April 1817 at Apsley House, London, Louisa Catherine*(c.1792-1874), third daughter of Richard Caton of Annapolis, Maryland (USA), who was a Roman Catholic and an American citizen, but had no issue.

He inherited Lainston House and a small property at Kingsbury (Warks) from his great uncle in 1801, and came of age in 1803.

He died, either from cancer of the throat or from septicaemia, 24 September, and was buried at Egham, 2 October 1819; his will was proved in the PCC, 11 November 1819. His widow married 2nd, 24 April 1828 at St Luke, Chelsea (Middx), Francis Godolphin d'Arcy Osborne (1798-1859), then Marquess of Carmarthen and later 7th Duke of Leeds, of Hornby Castle (Yorks), but had no issue; she died 8 April 1874; her will was proved 4 July 1874 (effects under £80,000).

* The marriage was registered at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster. At the wedding, the bride was 'given away' by the Duke of Wellington; the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, and future US President John Quincy Adams were among the other witnesses.

Hervey (later Hervey-Bathurst), Sir Frederick Anne (1783-1824), 2nd bt. Third, but second surviving son of Felton Lionel Hervey (1751-85) and his wife Selina Mary, daughter of Sir John Elwell, bt., born 18 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 4 July 1783. Educated at Eton. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1799; Lt., 1799; Capt. 1805; retired 1809). He assumed the name and arms of Bathurst in addition to Hervey by royal licence, 16 October 1818, and succeeded his brother as 2nd baronet by special remainder, 24 September 1819. He married, 27 June 1805 in Bermuda, Jane Douglas (1787-1827), daughter of Joseph Hutchison, and had issue:

(1) Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81), 3rd bt. (q.v.);

(2) Lionel Philip Hervey-Bathurst (1810-34), born 30 January and baptised at Egham, 14 July 1810; an officer in the 7th Light Dragoons (Cornet, 1826; Lt., 1827; Capt., 1830); died unmarried and was buried at Egham, 22 May 1834;

(3) Selina Mary Hervey-Bathurst (1812-93), born 1 March and baptised at Egham, 31 March 1812; married, 7 April 1870, as his second wife, Capt. Thomas Bulkeley (1807-82) of Clewer Lodge (Berks); died 19 April 1893; will proved 5 June 1893 (effects £30,138);

(4) Harriet Isabella Hervey-Bathurst (1814-26), baptised at Egham, 10 January 1814; died young and was buried at Egham, 26 June 1826;

(5) William Henry Hervey-Bathurst (1815-42), baptised at Egham, 26 January 1816; page of honour to Queen Adelaide, 1826-32; lived at Wargrave House (Berks); died unmarried, 4 June, and was buried at Egham, 10 June 1842;

(6) Thomas James Hervey-Bathurst (1818-65), born 1 November 1818 and baptised at Egham, 5 January 1819; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1837; Lt., 1841; Capt., 1844; retired 1849) and later in the Royal Wiltshire Militia (Capt., 1853); died 29 October and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, 3 November 1865; administration of goods granted 20 November 1865 and 3 July 1882 (effects under £40,000).

He inherited Clarendon Park from his great uncle in 1801 and came of age in 1804; he inherited Lainston House from his elder brother in 1819.

He died 19 or 20 September and was buried at Egham, 27 September 1824; his will was proved in the PCC, 29 November 1824. His widow died at Brighton (Sussex), 6 June and was buried at St Peter, Brighton, 12 June 1827.

Sir F.H. Hervey-Bathurst, 3rd bt. 

Hervey-Bathurst, Sir Frederick Hutchison (1807-81), 3rd bt. Eldest son of Sir Frederick Anne Hervey (later Hervey-Bathurst) and his wife Jane Douglas, daughter of Joseph Hutchison, said to have been born in Sicily, 30 June* 1807 and baptised at Egham (Surrey), 9 January 1808. Educated at Winchester. An officer in the Grenadier Guards (Ensign & Lt. 1824; Lt & Capt., 1828; retired 1832) and later in the Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt-Col.). JP and DL for Wiltshire; High Sheriff of Wiltshire, 1846. A relatively wealthy and extremely well connected man, whose income was around £3,500 a year in 1830 and significantly more after he inherited the Elwill estates in 1841. His disinterest in, and lack of understanding of, money matters, his large family, and the onset of the agricultural depression at the end of his life all caused his income to decrease and his expenditure to rise, and the financial crisis which broke in the next generation was building up before his death. He was a keen cricketer, valued as both a batsman and a fast bowler in Gentlemen v. Players matchers between 1831 and 1854, and he was President of the MCC, 1857, and of Hampshire Cricket Club from its formation in 1853 until his death. He married 1st, 14 May 1832 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Louisa Maria (1809-40), daughter of Walter Smythe of Brambridge House (Hants) and 2nd, 23 September 1845 at Runcorn (Ches.), Clare Emily (1821-67), youngest daughter of Sir Richard Brooke, 6th bt., of Norton Priory (Ches.), and had issue:

(1.1) Sir Frederick Thomas Arthur Hervey-Bathurst (1833-1900), 4th bt. (q.v.);

(1.2) Augusta Frederica Hervey-Bathurst (1836-1926), born 26 September and baptised at West Grimstead (Wilts), 16 November 1836; married, 30 January 1872 at Alderbury, Canon Felix John Buckley (1834-1911), rector of Stanton St. Quintin (Wilts), son of Gen. Edward Pery Buckley, but had no issue; died 12 May 1926; will proved 18 June 1926 (estate £4,104);

(2.1) Evelyn Hervey-Bathurst (1847-79), born 12 November 1847 and baptised at Alderbury (Wilts), 22 January 1848; married, 18 July 1878, Field-Marshal Paul Sanford Methuen (1845-1932), later 3rd Baron Methuen, of Corsham Court (Wilts), but had no issue; died at Cannes (France), 2 June 1879 and was buried at Corsham;

(2.2) Lt-Col. Lionel Hervey-Bathurst (later Paston-Cooper) (1849-1908), born 7 July and baptised at Alderbury, 5 August 1849; an officer in the Rifle Brigade (Ensign, 1868; Lt., 1871; Capt. 1879; Maj., 1884; retired as Lt-Col., 1891); took the name Paston-Cooper in lieu of Hervey-Bathurst by royal licence, 1905, when his wife inherited the Gadebridge estate; married, 29 January 1885, Mary Ethel (1858-1931), daughter of Sir Astley Paston-Cooper, 3rd bt., of Gadebridge Place (Herts) and had issue three sons; died 4 May 1908; will proved 10 June 1908 (estate £2,235);

(2.3) twin, Richard Felton Hervey-Bathurst (1851-1901), born 2 July and baptised at Alderbury, 3 August 1851; died unmarried, 2 March 1901; administration of goods granted 12 August 1901 (effects £141);

(2.4) twin, Arthur Cecil Hervey-Bathurst (1851-1928), born 2 July and baptised at Alderbury, 3 August 1851; civil servant, 1870-73; officer in 35th Foot (Sub-Lt, 1873; Lt. 1875; retired 1882); died unmarried, 13 July 1928; will proved 8 August 1928 (estate £7,037);

(2.5) Ernest Frederick Hervey-Bathurst (1853-1905), born 18 February 1853; died unmarried, 1 January 1905; administration of goods granted 13 August 1905 (estate £162);

(2.6) Clare Emily Hervey-Bathurst (1854-1918), baptised at Alderbury, 22 July 1854; married, 13 October 1874, Charles Nicholas Paul Phipps MP (1845-1913), of Chalcot (Wilts), son of Charles Paul Phipps, and had issue one son and three daughters; died 8 July 1918 and was buried at Dilton Marsh (Wilts); will proved 23 August 1918 (estate £2,585);

(2.7) Claude Hervey-Bathurst (1855-1925), born 23 November and baptised at Alderbury, 30 December 1855; an officer in the Forfar & Kincardine Artillery (Sub-Lt., 1876; Lt., 1876) and later the army (2nd Lt., 1877; Lt. 1880; Capt. 1886; retired 1891); died unmarried, 8 September 1925; administration of goods granted 14 July 1947 (estate £191);

(2.8) Alice Constance Hervey-Bathurst (1863-1932), baptised at Alderbury, 15 March 1863; married, 15 January 1884 at Alderbury, as his second wife, Charles Clement Tudway (1846-1926) of Stoberry Park (Som.), son of Robert Charles Tudway, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 8 December 1932; will proved 13 April 1933 (estate £1,910).

He inherited the Clarendon and Lainston estates from his father in 1824 and came of age in 1828. He paid for the remodelling and enlargement of Clarendon Park in 1825-32 and lived there from 1829. He acquired Somborne Park by his first marriage in 1832 and bought the Whiteparish estate adjoining Clarendon (on mortgage) for its shooting. On the death of his grandmother in 1841 he inherited the Elwill estates, including Castle Hill and Mount Lee Farm at Englefield Green (Surrey); Pinbrook, Exeter (Devon) and Gerbestone Manor, West Buckland (Som.), but Castle Hill and Mount Lee were sold in the 1840s. He further enlarged the service wing at Clarendon Park in 1864.

He died 29 October 1881 and was buried at Alderbury; his will was proved 30 December 1881 (effects £80,279). His first wife died 30 December 1840. His second wife died 24 January 1867 and was buried at Alderbury (Wilts); administration of her goods was granted 14 March 1867 (effects under £800).

* Thus in the baptism register, but Burke's Peerage and Baronetage gives the date as 6 June.

Sir F.T.A. Hervey-Bathurst, 4th bt.,
photographed by Roger Fenton in
the Crimea, 1854. 

Hervey-Bathurst, Sir Frederick Thomas Arthur (1833-1900), 4th bt. Only son of Sir Frederick Hutchison Hervey-Bathurst (1807-81), 3rd bt. and his first wife, Louisa Maria, daughter of Walter Smythe of Bambridge House (Hants), born 13 March and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 12 April 1833. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Grenadier Guards (Ensign & Lt., 1851; Lt & Capt. 1854; Capt & Lt-Col., 1861; retired 1861), who served in the Crimean War, where the privations he suffered had a long-term effect on his health. He was present at the battles of Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman, and was awarded the Turkish Order of Medjidie. He was Conservative MP for South Wiltshire, 1861-65, being returned unopposed at a by-election but defeated by a Liberal candidate at the succeeding general election. As a young man, he was a noted amateur cricketer, and played in several first-class matches for the MCC and Hampshire between 1852 and 1865. He succeeded his father as 4th baronet, 29 October 1881. In middle age he was so bad-tempered that his children used to hide from him, and in his later years his unwillingness to discuss financial matters, face the financial realities of the agricultural depression, or to retrench his expenditure eventually cost the family most of its properties. He became dependent on a wheelchair and apparently suffered latterly from dementia. He married, 24 April 1869 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Ada (c.1847-1914), only surviving daughter of Sir John Sheppy Ribton, 3rd bt., and had issue:

(1) Sir Frederick Edward William Hervey-Bathurst (1870-1956), 5th bt. (q.v.);

(2) Felton Rainald George Hervey-Bathurst (1871-1921), born 19 March and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 3 May 1871; educated at Eton; trained as a land agent in the Rothschilds' Tring Park estate office and was later agent to their Aston Clinton estate (Bucks) for 25 years; member of Aylesbury Rural District Council; an officer in the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1902; Lt., 1903; retired as Capt., 1909?); a keen cricketer and violinist, he was captain of Aston Clinton Park Cricket Club for many years; died unmarried, 2 March 1921; will proved 24 May 1921 (estate £17,137);

(3) Algernon Richard Hervey-Bathurst (1872-1949), born 10 August and baptised at St George, Hanover Square, Westminster, 19 September 1872; served in the Royal Flying Corps (Sgt.) in First World War and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal; he became a Christian Scientist Lecturer (and later Practitioner) in about 1909 and was ostracised by his brothers on that account, but was expelled by the church after his divorce; he married 1st, 27 April 1901 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx) (div. 1935), Elfrida Mary (1876-1944), only child of Howard Miall Cockerell of London SW, and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, 5 November 1936, Margery Alice Mulloy (1897-1983), daughter of Joseph H. Faraday of Lima (Peru) and formerly wife of Frank McDougal of Los Angeles, California (USA); died 4 June 1949; will proved 23 June 1950 (estate £1,625);

(4) Cecilia Ada Hervey-Bathurst (1874-1959), born 14 October and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 23 December 1874; married, 21 August 1906 at St Peter, Pimlico (Middx), Henry Brooke Macartney Crewe Greville (1870-1944), son of Adm. Stapleton John Greville, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 3 July 1959; will proved 22 September 1959 (estate £367);

(5) Aline Beatrix Hervey-Bathurst  (1877-1919), born 15 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Square, Westminster, 31 March 1877; married, 13 October 1903 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), Lt-Col. the Hon. Charles Christopher Josceline Littleton DSO (1872-1950) (who m2, 27 May 1922, Lettice Mina Bernard (née Paget) (1880-1969)) of Teddesley Hall (Staffs), third son of Edward George Percy Littleton, 3rd Baron Hatherton, and had issue one son; died 3 July 1919; administration of goods granted 21 February 1920 (estate £200);

(6) Violet Maude Hervey-Bathurst (1878-1958), born 30 March and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 11 May 1878; served in France with St John's Ambulance Brigade, 1916-17; married, 22 July 1905 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), Maj. Robert Francis Stapleton-Cotton (1875-1958), son of Col. the Hon. Richard Southwell George Stapleton-Cotton, but had no issue; died 24 August 1958; will proved 4 December 1958 (estate £4,713);

(7) Bertrand Elwell Hervey-Bathurst (1882-1942), born 5 October and baptised at Alderbury, 12 November 1882; an officer in the Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Lt., 1900; Lt. 1905; Capt. 1914; Maj., 1918), who served in the Boer War and First World War (thrice wounded); lived at Gortinanane (Argylls) and later at Dochfour (Inverness); married, 7 April 1920, Dorothy Margaret (1888-1952), younger daughter of Joseph William Baxendale of Preshaw House, Upham (Hants), but had no issue; died 31 December 1942; will proved 9 July 1943 (estate £12,081);

(8) Reginald Mervyn Hervey-Bathurst (1885-1905), born 21 February and baptised at Alderbury, 5 April 1885; died unmarried at Aswan (Egypt), 4 January 1905.

He inherited Clarendon Park, Somborne Park, Lainston House and the Devon and Somerset estates from his father in 1881. He lived at Clarendon until 1891 when the family moved to Somborne Park. He sold Lainston House in 1897. His widow lived latterly in Kensington (Middx).

He died in London, 20 May, and was buried at Alderbury (Wilts), 23 May 1900; his will was proved 17 October 1900 (estate £2,647). His widow died 27 February 1914; her will was proved 8 May 1914 (estate £2,714).

Hervey-Bathurst, Sir Frederick Edward William (1870-1956), 5th bt. Eldest son of Sir Frederick Thomas Arthur Hervey-Bathurst (1833-1900), 4th bt., and his wife Ada, only surviving daughter of Sir John Sheppy Ribton, 3rd bt., born 11 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 8 April 1870. Educated at Eton; on leaving he was made aware of the family's financial position and blamed his father, with whom he was thereafter scarcely on speaking terms, for having obstructed all efforts to address it. He was an officer in the Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1891; Lt., 1896; Capt., 1899; retired, 1906; returned to service, 1914*; Maj. 1917), who served in the Nile Expedition, 1898, Boer War and First World War (latterly on General Staff) and was mentioned in despatches three times and awarded the DSO, 1917, and the Order of the Crown of Italy. His Boer war diaries were privately published (no date). He succeeded his father as 5th baronet, 20 May 1900. He 'had a very strong personality and affected a strongly masculine physical and mental roughness, anti-sophistication and anti-intellectuality'. He married 1st, 24 July 1901 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx) (div. 1912 on the grounds of her adultery with Pierre, Marquis de Jancourt**), the Hon. Moira (1876-1957), third daughter of Edward Donough O'Brien, 14th Baron Inchiquin, and 2nd, 14 March 1919, Katharine Mary Delicia OBE (1883-1974), daughter of Alexander Dick-Cunyngham and widow of John Henry Gaythorpe Nevill, and had issue:

(1.1) Sir Frederick Peter Methuen Hervey-Bathurst (1903-95), 6th bt. (q.v.);

(2.1) Benjamin Alexander Frederick Hervey-Bathurst (1920-97) [for whom see below, Hervey-Bathurst of Eastnor Castle].

He inherited Clarendon Park, Somborne Park and the Devon and Somerset estates from his father in 1900, but was forced to sell everything except the Somborne estate as soon as he could. Even at Somborne the house was occasionally rented out. His widow lived latterly at Green Place, Rotherfield Greys (Oxon).

He died 16 April 1956; his will was proved 17 July and 20 August 1956 (estate £54,103). His first wife married 2nd, 19 Sep 1918, Cmdr. George Russell Peckham RN (d. 1961), son of H. Thornton Peckham, and died 20 November 1957. His widow died aged 91 on 1 April 1974; her will was proved 5 July 1974 (estate £22,211).

* He is said to have been the second British soldier to land in France at the start of the First World War.

** She had previously petitioned unsuccessfully for separation from her husband in 1906 and for divorce in 1908, but on both occasions the application was withdrawn.

Sir FPM Hervey-Bathurst, 6th bt. 

Hervey-Bathurst, Sir Frederick Peter Methuen (1903-95), 6th bt. Only son of Sir Frederick Edward William Hervey-Bathurst and his first wife, the Hon. Moira, third daughter of 14th Baron Inchiquin, born 26 January 1903. Educated at Eton. At the age of 20 he went out to New Zealand to work as a 'jackaroo' on a sheep station, and his life was characterised by a love of manual labour and craftsmanship. After a period of employment with P&O Shipping during which he qualified as a private pilot, 1933; he emigrated to the USA to farm. During the Second World War he was an officer in the Grenadier Guards Reserve of Officers (2nd Lt., 1939; Lt. ; hon. Capt., 1953). He succeeded his father as 6th baronet, 16 April 1956. He married 1st, 21 June 1933 (div. 1956), Maureen Gladys Diana (1909-2002), eldest daughter of Charles Gordon of Boveridge Park (Dorset), and 2nd, 22 March 1958, Cornelia (1904-93), daughter of Frederic White Shepard of New York (USA) and widow of Dr. John Lawrence Riker of Rumson, New Jersey (USA), and had issue:

(1.1) Sir (Frederick) John Charles Gordon Hervey-Bathurst (1934-2011), 7th bt. (q.v.);

(1.2) Maureen Anthea Selina Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1936), born 15 December 1936; married 1st, 19 February 1959 (div. 1989), Brig. Peter Gerald Sandeman Tower CBE (1931-96) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, September 1990, as his second wife, (Oswald) Henry Chaldecott (1928-2016), son of Lt-Col. Oswald Arthur Chaldecott; now living.

He inherited Somborne Park from his father in 1956, but sold the house to his son in 1961 with part of the estate and sold the rest of the land out of the family.

He died aged 92 at Rumson, New Jersey (USA) on 27 December 1995. His first wife married 2nd, Oct-Dec 1966, Charles Ryves Maxwell Eley (1902-83) of East Bergholt Place (Suffk), and died aged 92 on 8 July 2002; her will was proved 14 January 2003. His second wife died in Rumson, New Jersey (USA), April 1993.

Sir John Hervey-Bathurst, 7th bt. 

Hervey-Bathurst, Sir (Frederick) John Charles Gordon (1934-2011), 7th bt. Only son of Sir Frederick Peter Methuen Hervey-Bathurst (1903-95), 6th bt., and his first wife, Maureen Gladys Diana, eldest daughter of Charles Gordon of Boveridge Park (Dorset), born 23 April 1934. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1957; MA 1961). An officer in the Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1952; Lt., 1954; retired 1957). Employed at Lazard Brothers, bankers, 1957-91, latterly as a managing director, in which capacity he saw the firm through the advent of computers and the 'Big Bang' and raised the funding for several major capital projects, including the building of the Humber Bridge. He succeeded his father as 7th baronet, 27 December 1995. He was an able man of wide-ranging interests and abilities, who could make intelligent conversation on any subject and turn his hand to an astonishing range of practical skills: something which he perhaps inherited from his father. A lifelong lover of good food and wine, his retirement was marred by recurrent battles with cancer of the mouth which left him unable to eat solid food, but despite this he taught himself in retirement to cook to a high standard.  He married, 7 December 1957, Caroline Myrtle (b. 1936), only daughter of Sir William Randle Starkey, 2nd bt., and had issue:

(1) Louisa Caroline Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1959), born 25 September 1959; married, 9 October 1982, Sir Jonathan Francis Portal (b. 1953), 6th bt. of Aldershot (Hants), accountant, and had issue three sons;

(2) Sophia Selina Irene Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1961), born 28 April 1961; married, 5 June 1982, Henry Nicholas Almroth Colthurst (b. 1959), company director, of Asserton House, Berwick St James (Wilts), third son of Sir Richard La Touche Colthurst, 9th bt, and had issue one son and two daughters;

(3) Sir Frederick William John Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1965), 8th bt. (q.v.).

He bought Somborne Park with part of the estate by his father in 1961 and restored the house.

He died 5 December 2011 and was buried at Little Somborne; his will was proved 29 March 2012. His widow is now living.

Sir Frederick Hervey-Bathurst, 8th bt. 

Hervey-Bathurst, Sir Frederick William John (b. 1965), 8th bt. Only son of Sir (Frederick) John Charles Gordon Hervey-Bathurst (1934-2011), 7th bt., and his wife Caroline Myrtle, only daughter of Sir William Randle Starkey, 2nd bt., born 18 September 1965. Educated at Harrow School and Buckingham University (BA). Chartered Financial Planner. Director of Chestergate Financial Planning Ltd, 1996-2011 and of Clarendon Financial Planning Ltd., 2010-date. Chairman of The Head and Neck Cancer Foundation. He succeeded his father as 8th baronet, 5 December 2011. He married, 27 April 1991, Annabel Peta (b. 1969), younger daughter of Donald Warburg of Zurich (Switzerland), and had issue:

(1) Eleanor Maryse Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1995), born 15 August 1995; educated at Cheltenham Ladies College and Edinburgh University (MA, 2017); trainee solicitor;

(2) Frederick Benjamin Guy Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1998), born 9 March 1998; educated at Edinburgh University (MA, 2020); financial planner since 2020.

He inherited Somborne Park from his father in 2011.

Now living.

Hervey-Bathurst of Eastnor Castle

Hervey-Bathurst, Benjamin Alexander Frederick (1920-97). Only son of Sir Frederick Edward William Hervey-Bathurst (1870-1956), and his second wife, Katharine Mary Delicia OBE, daughter of Alexander Dick-Cunyngham and widow of John Henry Gaythorpe Nevill, born 27 March 1920. Educated at Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1940) and RMC Sandhurst. An officer in Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1940; Capt., 1945; Maj., 1946) and Special Operations Executive in Second World War (wounded and mentioned in despatches twice). DL for Herefordshire (from 1967). President of Herefordshire branch of the Country Landowners Association. He was awarded the OBE, 1985. He married 1st, 18 February 1947, the Hon. Elizabeth Violet Virginia Somers-Cocks (1922-86), only child and heiress of Sir Arthur Herbert Tennyson Cocks KCMG DSO MC, 6th Baron Somers, of Eastnor Castle (Herefs), and 2nd, Oct-Dec 1992, Anne (d. 2004), only daughter of Rev. Thomas Vernon Garnier OBE and formerly wife of Robert Pollak of Ledbury (Herefs), and had issue:

(1.1) James Felton Somers Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1949) (q.v.);

(1.2) George Arthur Somers Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1952), born 31 October 1952; educated at Eton and RMA Sandhurst; an officer in the 9th/12th Lancers (2nd Lt., 1973; Lt., 1975; retired 1977); director of Eastnor Castle Estates Co.; founder of the Ben Bathurst Memorial Trust (for sick and injured serving members of the armed services); appointed MBE, 2020.

His wife inherited Eastnor Castle (Herefs) in 1944.

He died 18 October 1997; his will was proved 28 April 1998. His first wife died 30 November 1986; her will was proved 7 July 1987 (estate £2,079,047). His widow died in New Zealand in 2004.

James Hervey-Bathurst 

Hervey-Bathurst, James Felton Somers (b. 1949). Elder son of Benjamin Alexander Frederick Hervey-Bathurst (1920-97) and his first wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Violet Virginia Somers-Cocks, only child and heiress of 6th Baron Somers of Eastnor Castle (Herefs), born 8 December 1949. Educated at Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1971; MA; rowing blue) and Guildford College of Law. Solicitor (consultant to Fisher German LLP, 2008-17). DL for Herefordshire, 2008 (Vice-Lord Lieutenant, 2021); High Sheriff of Herefordshire, 2019-20. A director of Eastnor Castle Estates Co. since 1971; consultant to Christies, auctioneers, 2011-18; Chairman of the Heritage Fuels Association, 2018-date; a Trustee of Bathurst Estate Holdings, 2013-date and Longleat International, 2016-date; President of the Historic Houses Association, 2003-08 (deputy, 1998-2003); Vice-President of European Historic Houses, 2003-17; Chairman of the World Monuments Fund (UK), 2009-13. He was appointed CBE for services to heritage, 2009. He married 1st, 25 September 1982 at Thirsk (Yorks NR), (sep. 2002 and div. 2005), the Hon. Sarah Rachel (b. 1958), second daughter of Martin Peake, 2nd and last Viscount Ingleby, and 2nd, 2005, Lucy Rachel (b. 1961), daughter of Lord John Manners and formerly Lady in Waiting to the Duchess of York, and had issue:

(1.1) Imogen Elizabeth Somers Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1986), born 30 July 1986; educated at Cheltenham Ladies College and Bristol University (BA, 2008); investment analyst; married, 2022 (sep. 2023), Sean Conlon (b. 1969);

(1.2) Isabella Katherine Somers Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1990), born 18 April 1990; educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 2008; BA 2011) and London School of Economics (MSc, 2014); fund manager;

(1.3) Nancy Rose Somers Hervey-Bathurst (b. 1995), born 3 March 1995; educated at Godolphin & Latymer School, University of Glasgow (MA, 2018) and Kings College, London; cultural and brand analyst;

(2.1) Stella Mary Hervey-Bathurst (b. 2005), born 2 November 2005; educated at Marlborough College;

(2.2) Minna Hervey-Bathurst (b. 2007), born 25 September 2007.

He inherited Eastnor Castle from his mother in 1986.

Now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 1891-92; J. Orbach, Sir N. Pevsner & E. Williamson, The buildings of England: Wiltshire, 3rd edn., 2021, p. 238; Sir J. Hervey-Bathurst, 'Somborne: the structural and occupational history of the house', unpublished notes, [c.2006] and unpublished memoirs; T. Beaumont James & C. Gerrard, Clarendon: landscape of kings, 2007, pp. 131-65; J. Wake, Sisters of fortune, 2010, pp. 128-39.

Location of archives

Hervey-Bathurst of Clarendon Park and Somborne Park: deeds, estate and family papers, 1632-1926 [Hampshire Archives & Local Studies 193M85, 14M56]

Elwell and Hervey-Bathurst of Castle Hill, Englefield Green: deeds and papers, 1505-1836 [Surrey History Centre, 2225]

Hervey-Bathurst, Sir F.E.W. (1870-1956), 5th bt.: copy diaries of Boer War and Sudan campaign, 1898-99 [Durham University Library: Special Collections, SAD]

Coat of arms

Hervey-Bathurst baronets: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, sable, two bars ermine, and in chief three crosses pattée or, a crescent for difference; 2nd and 3rd, gules, on a bend argent three trefoils vert, a martlet for difference.

Can you help?

• Can anyone identify the lands in Lincolnshire which Peter Bathurst received under his father's will of 1704?
• I am always interested to see additional images of the houses depicted in posts, especially early drawings, watercolours or photographs, if anyone has these.
• 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 text above will be gratefully received and incorporated. I am always particularly pleased to hear from descendants of the family who can supply information from their own research for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 30 April 2021 and was updated 13 June and 27 July 2021, 6 February 2022 and 15 September and 11 October 2024. I am most grateful to Sir Frederick and Lady Hervey-Bathurst for allowing me to visit Somborne Park in 2019 and to Freddie Hervey-Bathurst for his help with this account, and for supplying many of the illustrations above.