(455) Batson of Winkfield Place and Horseheath Lodge

The origins of this family are obscure. They appear in London in the early 18th century, but there seems to be no connection with the minor gentry family of the same name at Bourton-on-the-Hill (Glos). It is possible that they came from Dorset or Somerset, where the name Batson is not uncommon. The immediate parentage of John Batson (d. 1741?), with whom the genealogy below begins, is, however, unknown. He may be identifiable with the John Batson who was made free of the draper's company in 1717, and in November 1725 he obtained a licence to marry Margaret Buckley, although the parish registers of St Giles in the Fields record the baptism of their first child four months earlier, with no suggestion that he was illegitimate. By 1726 the couple were living in Putney (Surrey), which was becoming popular with prosperous city merchants, but after a few years they seem to have returned to London, as their last child was born in St Sepulchre (probably St Sepulchre, Holborn) in 1730. Of the six children of whom I can find record, only three seem to have lived to maturity: James (1726-85), who died unmarried; Edward Buckley (1727-1810) and Stanlake (d. 1812), whose baptism I have not found. All three men styled themselves 'esquire' and lived in comfortable circumstances.

James, who died unmarried, lived at Binfield Lodge in Berkshire, which he evidently bought from William Pitt the elder, who had enlarged the original 17th century house. His brother Edward, who was a banker in London, owned Upwood House in Dorset and acquired the Avon Tyrrell estate in Hampshire, but after his death these properties passed by marriage to his daughter Anne, the widow of Henry Fane MP, in whose family they descended. Stanlake Batson (d. 1812) was probably the youngest of the brothers, and went out to India to make his fortune. It is not clear whether he was at first an employee of the East India Company or not; but he was in the company's employment in Bengal by 1758. He was noted for a hasty temper, and in 1763 had a public quarrel with Warren Hastings that degenerated into a fight and led to his temporary suspension. His last recorded appointment in India was in 1765, and he was probably back in England by 1770, and certainly by 1772 when he served as High Sheriff of Berkshire.

Stanlake's quarrel with Warren Hastings was prompted by his support for a manifestly inequitable measure to exempt British merchants and traders from certain duties and tariffs while reinforcing the application of these taxes on native Indian merchants. The rapacious attitude this reveals makes it unsurprising that he returned to England a very wealthy man, although how his money was made remains obscure. In about 1767 he bought the Mixbury estate in Oxfordshire from Benjamin Bathurst of Lydney, but this property had no gentry residence. In 1770 or 1771 he purchased Winkfield Lodge (Berks) from the estate of his kinsman, Pery Buckley (1699-1770), a transaction that may have been assisted by the fact that his brother Edward was one of the trustees of Pery Buckley's heir, a child of ten. In 1772 he helped his brother Edward to buy the Avon Tyrrell estate, probably by lending him some of the purchase money, since he was named in the deeds as a co-owner. Finally, in 1777, he bought the Horseheath Hall estate in Cambridgeshire, which included a large 17th and 18th century mansion designed initially by Roger Pratt. Since he had made his home at Winkfield Place and acquired the other properties as investments, he saw no point in maintaining the house or elaborate pleasure grounds at Horseheath and in 1792 he tragically pulled the house down.

When he died in 1812, his son, Stanlake Batson (1773-1857) inherited the estates. After a brief period of service in the army in the 1790s, he began about 1800 to breed and train racehorses at Horseheath, which was conveniently close to the centre of the horse-racing world at Newmarket. This activity made the lack of a gentry house at Horseheath regrettable, and after his father's death he built a new one, which he called Horseheath Lodge, and sold the Winkfield Place estate. Although never breeding or training on a large scale, he had made some notable sales and in 1834 one of his horses won the Derby. He used the proceeds to enlarge and remodel Horseheath Lodge in neo-Tudor style and generously also gave all his tenants a rent-free year. 

When Stanlake died in 1857, the Mixbury and Horseheath estates descended to his elder son, Stanlake Ricketts Batson (1819-71), who was High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1867-68. S.R. Batson died not marry until 1861, so when he died ten years later his three children were all very young. His widow also died in 1874, after which Horseheath Lodge was let and the children were brought up by their maternal relatives, the Lowry Corrys. The heir was Stanlake Henry Batson (1863-1921), who was educated at Harrow and then entered the army. Unfortunately, he was drawn into bad company and by the time he came of age in 1884 he had large debts as a result of gambling and speculative investments that proved unprofitable. In 1888 he was made bankrupt and had to resign his commission in the army and sell the Mixbury estate and his life interest in the Horseheath estate (as it was settled, he was not able to sell the freehold). Despite realising these assets, his creditors still had to settle for just a quarter of what they were owed. Discharged from bankruptcy, he married in 1890 and in 1894 emigrated to New Zealand with his wife and young son, there to live the life of a remittance man, supported by a meagre allowance from his uncle, Montagu Lowry Corry, 1st Baron Rowton, who was Disraeli's private secretary. He seems never to have contemplated seeking paid employment and went bust again in 1896. In 1901 he received a legacy from Lord Rowton which seems to have kept him afloat until his death in 1921. With his death, the Horseheath estate reverted to his son, Stanlake Poyntz Ricketts Batson (1893-1958), who came into possession of the freehold as the estate had not been resettled by his father, allowing him to sell it in 1925. He remained in New Zealand for the rest of his life.

Winkfield Place, Berkshire

Winkfield Place: entrance front

The house may have a late 17th century core, but essentially it is now a compact five bay, three-storey house said to have been built in 1751 for Richard Buckley, with a long service wing of several dates to one side. The house was stuccoed and given a veranda on the garden front, probably between 1819 and 1821, when Captain Forbes sold off 'a great quantity of building materials' including several tons of lead and 'a capital pair of iron park gates'. 

Winkfield Place: garden front of the house while in use as a Red Cross Hospital in the Second World War. Image: Historic England.

After wartime use by the Canadian Red Cross it became the home of Constance Spry's college of cookery and the domestic arts, which was here until 1989. It has since been divided into apartments.

Descent: Richard Buckley (fl. 1751); to brother Pery Buckley (1699-1770); to son, Edward Pery Buckley (1760-1840), who sold c.1770 to Stanlake Batson (c.1727-1812); to son, Stanlake Batson (1773-1857), who sold 1819 to Capt. John Forbes RN (1780-1868); sold 1858 to Joshua Bates (1788-1865); to daughter, Elizabeth, wife of the Belgian ambassador, Jean Sylvain van der Weyer (1802-74); to daughter Eleanor, wife of Reginald Baliol Brett (1852-1930), 2nd Viscount Esher, who let it; sold 1916 to Sir Walter Townley; sold 1923 to H.E. Lloyd-Owen; sold c.1932 to Capt. G.M. Tylden-Wright; requisitioned for Red Cross use in WW2; sold 1946 to Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume; sold 1990 for conversion to flats.

Horseheath Lodge, Cambridgeshire

After the first Stanlake Batson demolished Horseheath Hall in 1792, the estate had no residence until his son built a large white-brick house called Horseheath Lodge on the site of Owl's Farm on low ground at the west end of the parish, using red brick from the old Hall for the foundations, cellars and garden walls of the new house. It was probably constructed between 1816 and 1819 when Winkfield Place was sold. At first it was probably a simple classical house, but its original appearance is unclear as no illustration of it seems to be known before it was enlarged and remodelled in the 1830s.

Horseheath Lodge: the house as altered in the 1830s. The top storey and most of the architectural decoration was removed when the house was remodelled c.1938.

Batson's horse 'Plenipotentiary' won the Derby in 1834, and it is said that the proceeds paid for the addition, which turned it into a neo-Tudor house with shaped gables, hood moulds over the windows, tall Tudor chimneys and a very elaborate cresting on the top of the three-storey bay window that marked the end elevation. The house seems to have survived in this form until the late 1930s, when the frills and furbelows of the 19th century were deeply unfashionable. 

Horseheath Lodge: the entrance front as remodelled c.1938.

On acquiring the property in about 1938, Dick Parker removed the top storey and remodelled the rest in a rather bleak sub-Regency manner. Such character as the interior subsequently possessed was whittled away by a radical modernisation after the house was bought in 2012 by a lottery winner.

Descent: sold 1777 to Stanlake Batson (d. 1812); to son, Stanlake Batson (1773-1857), who built the present house; to son, Stanlake Ricketts Batson (1819-71); to son, Stanlake Henry Batson (1863-1921); to son, Stanlake P.R. Batson; sold 1925 to T. Wayman Parsons (d. 1941), farmer; sold c.1938 to Dick Parker; sold 1948 to Sir Arthur Marshall (1903-2007), aeronautical engineer; sold 2007... ; sold 2012 to Adrian Bayford (b. 1970), lottery winner; sold 2020. The house was let in the late 19th and early 20th century to tenants including George William Brewis (fl. 1875), Horace Farquhar (fl. 1886) and Col. George Filmer Sullivan.

Batson family of Horseheath Lodge

Batson, John (d. 1741?). Parentage unknown. Possibly the man of this name who was made free of the Drapers Company in the City of London, 1717. He married, 1725 (licence 30 November), Margaret Buckley (c.1693-1779?), and had issue:

(1) John Batson (b. 1725), apparently born before his parents' marriage; baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn (Middx), 1 August 1725; probably died young;

(2) James Batson (1726-85), baptised at Putney (Surrey), 4 November 1726; lived at Binfield Lodge (Berks); died unmarried and was buried at Binfield, 29 June 1785; will proved in the PCC, 5 July 1785;

(3) Edward Buckley Batson (1727-1810), baptised at Putney, 17 December 1727; banker in London, trading as Batson & Co. of Lombard St.; purchased Avon Tyrrell (Hants) estate from Sir John Webb, 5th bt. in 1772 and also owned Upwood, Sixpenny Handley (Dorset); DL for Dorset; High Sheriff of Dorset, 1794-95; married, 7 November 1754 at Melcombe Horsey (Dorset), Mary, daughter of John Michel of Kingston Russell Manor (Dorset), and had issue one son (who predeceased him) and one daughter (Anne Batson (1759-1838), who married Henry Fane MP (1739-1802) of Fulbeck (Lincs) and carried Avon Tyrrell to that family); died 1 March 1810 and was buried at Sixpenny Handley (Dorset), where he is commemorated by a monument; will proved in PCC, 19 March 1810;

(4) Henry Batson (b. 1729), baptised at Putney, 19 February 1728/9; probably died young;

(5) Margaret Batson (b. 1730), baptised at St Sepulchre, Holborn?, 20 August 1730; perhaps died young;

(6) Stanlake Batson (d. 1812) (q.v.).

He lived in or near London.

He was probably the man of this name 'from St James, Westminster' buried at St George the Martyr, Southwark, 17 November 1741. His widow was probably the Margaret Batson from Charterhouse Square who died aged 86 and was buried at St Sepulchre, Holborn, 26 November 1779.

Batson, Stanlake (d. 1812). Son of John Batson of Putney (Surrey) and his wife Margaret Buckley, born before 1737. An official of the East India Company in India by 1758; he was a member of the Bengal Council, and had a public quarrel with Warren Hastings in the Council chamber in 1763 which led to his temporary suspension; he was later the Resident with the Nawab of Oudh in 1765. High Sheriff of Berkshire, 1772. Several sources note his hasty temper. He lived for many years as husband and wife with Rachael Moore (c.1745-1820) and had issue by her:

(X1) Rachel Stanlake Auther Batson (1768-1840), born 25 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 July 1768; died unmarried, 27 November, and was buried in the Hanover Chapel Burial Ground, Brighton (Sussex), 2 December 1840; will proved 8 December 1840;

(X2) Stanlake Batson (1773-1857) (q.v.);

(X3) Maria Arthur Batson (1777-78?), born 24 January and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 23 February 1777; probably the child of this name buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 May 1778;

(X4) (Stanlake) Henry Batson (1780-1863), born 10 August 1780 and baptised at Egham (Surrey), 10 January 1781; an officer in the Revenue Department of the East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, 1801-26; retired on annuity to Garbrand Hall, Ewell (Surrey), sold in 1859, and later to Brighton (Sussex); he may have married and certainly had issue in India, and married, 6 November 1827 at St Augustine the Less, Bristol, (Zabeida) Emily Margaret Ooellz? (c.1805-51); died 3 October 1863 and was buried at Brighton Extra-Mural Cemetery; will proved 6 November 1863;

(X5) Emma Batson (c.1781-1863), born about 1781; married, 3 May 1806 at Winkfield, as his second wife, James Ramsbottom (1780-1861) of Clewer (Berks), son of John Ramsbottom of Haslingden (Lancs), and had issue; died 15 March and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, 21 March 1863;

(X6) Matilda Batson (c.1785-1828), born about 1785; married, 17 June 1810 at St George Bloomsbury (Middx), Henry Pincke Lee (1770-1826) of White Waltham (Berks), and had issue three sons; died aged 43 and was buried at White Waltham, 1 August 1828; will proved 17 September 1828.

He purchased Winkfield Place (Berks) in about 1770 from the trustees of Edward Pery Buckley (of whom his brother Edward was one); the Mixbury estate from Benjamin Bathurst (1692-1767) in 1767 and the Horseheath Hall estate (Cambs) in c.1776-83. He pulled down Horseheath Hall in 1792 and lived at Winkfield Place after his return from India.

He died at Winkfield Place and was buried at Winkfield, 23 October 1812; his will was proved in the PCC, 25 November 1812. His partner was buried at Winkfield, 16 November 1820.

Batson, Stanlake (1773-1857). Elder illegitimate son of Stanlake Batson (c.1727-1812) and his partner Rachael Moore, born 6 August and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 3 October 1773. Educated at Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1791). An officer in the 1st Life Guards (Lt. 1794). High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 1824-25. Racehorse owner and trainer from 1800 and a member of the Jockey Club, particularly noted for his horse 'Plenipotentiary' which won the Derby in 1834. He married, 14 September 1818 at St Marylebone (Middx), Isabella (1782-1845), only daughter of George Poyntz Ricketts, Governor of Barbados, and had issue:

(1) Stanlake Ricketts Batson (1819-71) (q.v.);

(2) Edward Batson (b. 1821), baptised at Horseheath, 25 September 1821; living in 1841.

He inherited the Winkfield Place, Mixbury and Horseheath estates from his father in 1812, and built Horseheath Lodge between 1816 and 1825. He sold Winkfield Place (with 351 acres) in 1819.

He died 11 July 1857 and was buried at Horseheath, where he is commemorated by a monument. His wife died 7 December 1845 and was buried at Horseheath.

Batson, Stanlake Ricketts (1819-71). Son of Stanlake Batson (1773-1857) and his wife Isabella, only daughter of George Poyntz Ricketts, Governor of Barbados, born 11 November and baptised at Horseheath, 20 November 1819. Admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, 1837, but did not reside or matriculate. JP and DL (from 1852) for Cambridgeshire; High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, 1867-68. He married, 27 August 1861 at St. George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Gertrude Juliana Louisa (1831-74), daughter of Rt. Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry, and had issue:

(1) Stanlake Henry Batson (1863-1921) (q.v.);

(2) Montague Edward Batson (1865-81), born 15 September and baptised at Horseheath, 21 October 1865; died young, 26 May 1881 and was buried at Horseheath; administration of goods granted to his brother, 1 January 1885 (effects £3,565);

(3) Gertrude Isabella Batson (1866-1918), baptised at Horseheath, 3 November 1866; married, 28 July 1887 at St Paul, Wilton Place, Westminster (Middx), Sir Arthur Douglas Brooke (1865-1907), 4th bt. of Colebrooke (Co. Fermanagh), and had issue three sons and three daughters; died at Lisnaskea (Co. Fermanagh), 29 September 1918; will proved 9 August 1919.

He inherited the Horseheath Lodge and Mixbury estates from his father in 1857.

He died 13 June 1871 and was buried at Horseheath, where he is commemorated by a brass wall monument; his will was proved 13 July 1871 (effects under £9,000). His widow died at Brighton (Sussex), 16 February 1874, and was buried at Horseheath; administration of her goods was granted 20 May 1874.

Batson, Stanlake Henry (1863-1921). Elder son of Stanlake Ricketts Batson (1819-71) and his wife Gertrude Juliana Louisa, daughter of Rt. Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry, born 15 December 1863 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 14 January 1864. Educated at Harrow, 1878-80. An officer in the Warwickshire militia (Lt., 1882) and later the Scots Guards (Lt., 1886; resigned his commission, 1888). After coming of age he quickly got into debt through gambling and speculations on patent inventions, and was bankrupted in 1888; he was then obliged to sell his life interest in the settled estate, subsequently emigrating to New Zealand in 1894, where he subsisted on remittances from his maternal uncle, Montagu Lowry Corry (1838-1903), 1st Baron Rowton. He again got into debt in New Zealand and was again declared bankrupt in December 1896. He received a legacy under his uncle's will and does not seem to have troubled the bailiffs again. He married, Oct-Dec 1890, Mary Jane Haseley (c.1868-1931), actress, and had issue:

(1) Stanlake Poyntz Ricketts Batson (1893-1958) (q.v.);

(2) Stanlake Montague Batson (1899-1900), born Jul-Sept 1899; died in infancy at Auckland (New Zealand), 12 February 1900;

(3) Jeannie Batson.

He inherited the Horseheath Lodge and Mixbury estates from his father in 1871, came of age in 1884, and sold his life interest in the estates in 1888. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1894 and lived at Devonport, Auckland.

He died at Devonport, Auckland (New Zealand), 9 October 1921, and was buried at Auckland Cemetery; his will was proved in London, 17 March 1922 (effects in England, £5). His widow died 1 November 1931 and was also buried at Auckland Cemetery.

Batson, Stanlake Poyntz Ricketts (1893-1958). Only surviving son of Stanlake Henry Batson (1863-1921) and his wife Mary Jane Haseley, born Oct-Dec 1893. Emigrated to New Zealand with his parents, 1894. He married 1st, 1918 in New Zealand, Ada Augusta (b. 1898), daughter of Thomas Wilson of Christchurch (NZ) and 2nd, 1932 in New Zealand, Rebecca Hill (d. 1973), but had no issue.

He inherited the Horseheath Lodge estate in 1921 and sold it in 1925. He lived in Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand.

He died at Devonport, 1958. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His widow died in 1973.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1894, p.110; C.E. Parsons, 'Horseheath Hall and its owners', Proc. Cambridge Antiquarian Soc., vol. 41, 1948, pp. 1-49; VCH Oxon, vol. 6, 1959, pp. 251-62; VCH Cambs, vol. 6, 1978, pp. 70-80. 

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive.

Coat of arms

None recorded.

Can you help?

• Does anyone know more about the origins of this family? I would be particularly keen to trace the marriage of John Batson and Margaret Buckley and the baptism of their son Stanlake Batson.
• I am always interested to see additional images of the houses depicted in posts, especially early drawings, watercolours or photographs, if anyone has these. Can anyone provide a view of Horseheath Lodge before it was altered in the 1830s, or a view of the entrance front before it was reduced in size after 1938?
• 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 7 May 2021 and updated 1 January 2023. I am grateful to Brian Bouchard for additional information.