(467) Baynham and Throckmorton of Clearwell Court and Baynham of Westbury Court

Baynham of Clearwell and Westbury 

The extensive manor of Dene (comprising the later settlements of Mitcheldean and Abenhall on the eastern edge of the Forest of Dean) belonged from the early 12th century to the de Dene family, and passed from father to son until 1319, when on the death of William de Dene the estate was divided between his daughters and co-heirs, Joan, the wife of Ralph ap Eynon, and Isabella, the wife of Sir Ralph de Abenhall. The larger moiety passed to the ap Eynon (later Baynham) family, who were represented in the late 15th century by Thomas Baynham (1422-1500), with whom the genealogy below begins. He married twice, and his second wife was Alice Walwyn, heiress to the second moiety of the manor of Dene and also to extensive property, centred on Clearwell Court, around Newland on the western edge of the Forest of Dean. Having married Alice, he handed over his original Mitcheldean and Abenhall estate, which since the mid 15th century had also included land at Westbury-on-Severn, to the elder son of his first marriage, Sir Alexander Baynham (c.1460-1524) and went to live on his second wife's estate at Clearwell, which in due course was left to their eldest son, Sir Christopher Baynham (c.1478-1540). Thus there arose the two branches of this family, whose paths were to diverge so markedly in the 16th century, with the Baynhams of Clearwell staying loyal to their Roman Catholic faith and the Baynhams of Westbury and Mitcheldean becoming early Protestants - one of whom suffered martyrdom for his beliefs - and later nonconformist dissidents. The fortunes of both families declined in the later 16th and 17th centuries, due not so much to the penalties imposed on them for their religious beliefs, as because of their improvidence.

The Clearwell branch of the family, although it came from the second marriage of Thomas Baynham, was probably the wealthier in the 16th century. Both Sir Christopher and his son, Sir George Baynham (c.1500-46) were knighted and served as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire. Sir George was Constable of St. Briavels Castle, and was evidently a knight in the military sense, since he was part of the king's army that captured Boulogne. Sir George's eldest daughter Frances married Sir Henry Jerningham, a prominent courtier who was Master of the Horse to Queen Mary, and she was one of the Queen's ladies in waiting. After Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, however, the family's open Catholicism and their association with the Marian regime led to their progressive eclipse. Sir George's eldest son, Christopher Baynham (c.1528-57) was a minor when his father died and although he married he had no children. The estate therefore passed to his brother Richard Baynham (c.1530-80), who was High Sheriff in 1570-71 but held no other offices. He was unmarried, so on his death the Clearwell estate passed to his brother Thomas Baynham (c.1536-1611). He may well have built most of the Clearwell Court recorded by Kip at the beginning of the 18th century. He was twice High Sheriff, but his sons predeceased him and his estates were divided between his daughters Cecily (c.1583-1614) and Joan (1585-1647). Joan married John Vaughan, a member of another prominent Catholic family, and was repeatedly fined and imprisoned for her faith. Cecily married Sir William Throckmorton (d. 1628), 1st bt., of Tortworth (Glos), a member of a cadet branch of one of the leading Recusant families. His is said to have 'wasted his estate by riot and improvidence', and there is evidence in the records of his hasty temper. He bequeathed the Clearwell estate to his elder son, Sir Baynham Throckmorton (1606-64), 2nd bt., who failed to make a success of ironworking in the Forest of Dean in the 1630s, losing so much money that his estate was vested in trustees for a time to pay off his debts. A Royalist in the Civil War, he was captured at Gloucester in 1645 and his estates were sequestered and later sold, although he subsequently recovered them. He and his son, Sir Baynham Throckmorton (1628-81), 3rd bt., were rewarded comparatively generously after the Restoration, but the 3rd baronet had no sons, and his daughters' trustees sold the Clearwell estate in 1698. The baronetcy passed to a cousin, Sir William Throckmorton (d. 1682), 4th bt., who was killed in a duel the following year, and the title then became extinct.

The Westbury branch of the family began with Sir Alexander Baynham (c.1460-1524), who was both a soldier and a lawyer and served as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire on many occasions. Through his second marriage, to Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Tracy, he was closely connected with a number of prominent early Protestant critics of the established Catholic church, and his youngest son James Baynham (d. 1532) seems to have taken up this cause with all the intemperance of youth. He was eventually accused of heresy, and after recanting once and then repudiating his recantation, he was condemned to death and burnt at the stake in London in 1532. In 1524, the Westbury and Mitcheldean estate descended to James' elder half-brother, John Baynham (c.1488-1528), and then to his only son, William Baynham (c.1511-68), who was still a minor when he inherited. Perhaps because of the Puritan sympathies in his family, William's wardship was granted to Sir John Gage of Highmeadow (Glos), so William's later teenage years will have been spent in an orthodox Catholic household. Nothing seems to be known of William's later religious views, and it may well be that his uncle's terrible example taught him the wisdom of keeping his opinions to himself. When he died, his estates passed to his eldest son, Robert Baynham (c.1542-72), who married but had no issue. He divided his property, with the Westbury estate passing to his brother, Joseph Baynham (c.1548-1613), while the Mitcheldean and Abenhall lands were left to his widow for life. She married again, to Sir Robert Woodruff (d. 1609), kt., of Alvington (Glos), and her lands only came to Joseph on her death in 1610.

By the 1560s the Protestant Church of England was increasingly firmly established as the national church, but it was founded on compromise, and there were many who wished to remove what they saw as the remaining trappings of popery and to embrace a purer form of Calvinism. Joseph Baynham was one of them, and was seen as the leader of a group of about forty like-minded men and women in the parish of Westbury by 1603, who attended the parish church as infrequently as possible and met - perhaps in a barn on Joseph's land - to hold their own services. His son and heir, Alexander Baynham (b. 1589), evidently shared his father's views, and was fined for non-attendance at church in 1616 and 1623. Alexander had inherited the Westbury and Mitcheldean estates on his father's death in 1613, but found them loaded with debt. In 1619 he sold the Mitcheldean property, and in 1625 he was obliged to sell the Westbury estate too. His later career is obscure, but there seems to be evidence that he was working as an overseas merchant, perhaps trading from Bristol or London. His second, and perhaps only surviving son, Alexander Baynham (1615-c.1660) apparently emigrated to America at the beginning of the Civil War and made a new life there. There is no evidence that his father followed him, but it is possible, as no death record has been found for him in England.

Clearwell Court (later Clearwell Castle), Gloucestershire

Nothing now remains of the predecessor of the present house (usually known as Clearwell Court until the 20th century). Its origins can probably be traced back to Robert Greyndour (d. 1443), who was the first owner of the estate to be styled as ‘of Clearwell’ rather than ‘of Newland’, the large village in whose parish the estate lay. When Robert died in 1443 his house – presumably on the same site as the present building – comprised a hall, chapel, 12 chambers, buttery, pantry and cellar, besides farm buildings. In 1484 the estate passed by marriage to the Baynham family, and it remained in their possession until 1611, when it again passed by marriage to the Throckmortons. In the mid 17th century, Sir Baynham Throckmorton, was a leading figure among the county gentry, and one of the senior officials in the Forest of Dean. He had to pay a large fine to recover his estate from sequestration in the Civil War, and subsequently forfeited it again and had to buy it back in 1653, crippling the family finances. In 1698 his son's heirs sold the house to Francis Wyndham of Uffords Manor (Norfk). 

Clearwell Court: a detail from the Kip engraving of c.1710, showing the Tudor house that existed then.

Kip’s engraving of the house in c.1710 shows a complex, apparently multi-period building, although none of the fabric then standing is likely to pre-dated the 16th century.  Because many of the windows are shown as having hoodmoulds, it seems probable that it had taken its final form by 1600, and much of it may have been constructed by Thomas Baynham, who owned the estate from 1580 onwards. In 1672 it was assessed for tax on 21 hearths, making it one of the largest houses in the Forest of Dean.

In 1727 Thomas Wyndham approached the Palladian architect, Roger Morris, for a plan and estimate for rebuilding the Elizabethan house. The new house, which was probably begun the following year, was not, however, the conventional classical building one would expect of the date and architect. Instead, Morris produced for Wyndham the earlier of two Gothick castles which form such an unexpected element in his oeuvre. A Gothick house was plainly envisaged from the start, as the estimate includes £63 10s. for 320 ft. of ‘Bartellment wall with your Crest and Carv’d all 4ts’ (i.e. of battlements carved with the family crest and finished on all four sides). Like Morris’ other castle, Inveraray in Scotland, Clearwell was originally wholly symmetrical, but it contrives much more successfully than most early Gothick Revival houses to recreate the raw-boned roughness of the medieval fortress. Had Horace Walpole known it, he might well have described Clearwell as ‘having the true rust of the Barons’ wars’.

Clearwell Castle: the 18th century house is first recorded in this engraving of 1775, when it had already been extended at the rear.

In the mid 1720s, the Gothick style was beginning to be used for garden buildings but had perhaps never been applied to a full-scale house before. The idea may have been suggested by Lord Bathurst’s Alfred’s Hall in Cirencester Park, which like Clearwell was located deep in woodland; both buildings may also have been intended by their owners as temporary retreats for hunting and other rural recreations. Tim Mowl has pointed out the parallels with Lumley Castle  (Co. Durham), as remodelled by Vanbrugh in 1721-8. Lumley was fundamentally a real medieval castle, but whether consciously or otherwise Clearwell echoes the form of its west front: a low domestic range flanked by higher corner towers with immense angle buttresses and battlements. The oeil-de-beouf windows which decorate the basement of Clearwell, and which appear in some of Morris’ more orthodox Palladian works, such as Combe Bank, also occur in Vanbrugh’s remodelling of Lumley. Certainly Vanbrugh would seem to be the only architect whose works could have suggested the rugged masculinity which is Clearwell’s most impressive attribute, and Sir Howard Colvin pointed out a clear link between a design by Vanbrugh and Morris’ other Gothick castle, Inveraray.

As originally completed, the house consisted of just the two corner towers and linking hall, with a pair of stone staircases at the rear. Although planned on an immense scale, the house thus offered very little accommodation: Morris’ estimate refers only to a hall, great and common parlours, and a library. Not surprisingly, the Wyndhams soon added the lower, two-storey range across the back of the house, and the projecting library wing behind that. These additions certainly existed by 1775, and Professor Rowan has argued convincingly that they were made before Thomas Wyndham died in 1752. The later extensions and the entrance gateway and screen may also have been designed by Morris, who died in 1749, but the lodges flanking the screen are later additions.

Clearwell Castle: the hall as altered by John Middleton, c.1867. Image: Historic England.

None of Roger Morris’ original interiors survives, or is recorded, although it is possible that the splendid Classical chimneypiece in the hall is an original fitting. Caroline Wyndham, who inherited the estate about 1820, and married the Earl of Dunraven, lived here until 1870 and late in life employed the Cheltenham architect John Middleton to refit the interior, probably c.1867. Middleton, who is best known as a Gothic Revival church architect, was restrained from significant alterations to the exterior and provided a set of superb Classical chimneypieces and Palladian-style compartmented ceilings modelled on those in James Gibbs’ Book of Architecture, a fitting choice since it first appeared in 1728, the year Clearwell was begun.

Clearwell Castle: the house today.

In 1907 the last of the Wyndham owners sold Clearwell, and in 1911 it was bought by Colonel Vereker with over 2,000 acres. In 1929 the house was seriously damaged by fire, which destroyed most of Middleton’s decoration, although the chimneypieces survived and were incorporated in a modified restoration. After Col. Vereker’s death in 1947, the house was bought by the County Council, but no use was found for it and it was sold to a housebreaker who stripped off the lead roof and removed all the floors and other woodwork. Demolition seemed inevitable in the social climate of the 1950s, but Fate was cheated by Frank Yeates, a grocer from Blackpool, who had been brought up on the estate. He and his family acquired the house and slowly retrieved it from dereliction, initially while living in a caravan on the site,  although much work still remained to be done in the 1970s, when the house was used by a number of rock bands as an atmospheric place in which to write, rehearse and record their music. When the Yeates family sold Clearwell in 1981 the house was, remarkably, still unlisted, and unfortunately the new owners removed and sold a number of the surviving Middleton chimneypieces before this oversight could be corrected. In 1984 the house was sold to Mr & Mrs. Russell-Steele, who completed the restoration and opened the house as a hotel. It has since changed hands a number of times, and after a period back in private occupation, it is now a popular wedding venue.

Descent: Alice Walwyn (d. 1518), wife of Thomas Baynham (d. 1500) and later Sir Walter Denys (d. 1505), kt.; to son, Sir Christopher Baynham (c.1478-1540); to son, Sir George Baynham (c.1500-46); to son, Christopher Baynham (c.1528-57); to brother Richard Baynham (c.1530-80); to brother Thomas Baynham (c.1536-1611); to daughter Cecily (c.1583-1614), wife of Sir William Throckmorton (1579-1628), 1st bt.; to son, Sir Baynham Throckmorton (1606-64), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir Baynham Throckmorton (1628-81), 3rd bt.; sold 1698 by his heirs to Francis Wyndham (d. 1716); to son, John Wyndham (d. 1725); to son, Thomas Wynham (d. 1752); to son, Charles Wyndham (later Edwin) (d. 1801); to son, Thomas Wyndham (d. 1814); to daughter, Caroline (d. 1870), wife of Windham Henry Quin (later Wyndham-Quin) (1782-1850), 2nd Earl of Dunraven and Mountearl; to her grandson, Windham Henry Wyndham-Quin; sold c.1882 to John Eveleigh Wyndham (d. 1887); sold 1893 to Henry Collins, whose mortgagees sold 1907 to the sitting tenant, Col. Alan Gardner (d. 1907); executors sold 1910 to James Lewis Lewis; sold 1911 to Col. Charles Vereker (d. 1947); sold 1952 to Frank Yeates; sold 1981 to Gresham family; sold 1984 to Mr & Mrs Russell-Steele;... sold 1997 to Country House Weddings Ltd.

Westbury Court, Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire

A manor house is recorded at Westbury from 1200, and the first buildings probably stood in a field south of the present garden. During the late Middle Ages and Tudor times the estate belonged to the Baynham family, and Sir Alexander Baynham (c.1460-1524) may have been the first member of his family to build on the site nearer the road where later houses stood. In his engraving of the house of c.1710, Kip shows an L-shaped house, with lower and perhaps older outbuildings in front of it, which was perhaps built or altered for Joseph Baynham (c.1536-1613) or after his son Alexander sold the estate in 1625. Sir Duncombe Colchester, is reputed to have altered the house in 1656, although nothing obviously of this date is detectable in Kip's print. The house's most distinctive feature was the extraordinary oriel window with its fish-scale tiled roof, a feature which could conceivably be of the 1650s. The main entrance stood at the end of a range, in the same way as at Ampney Park. The house had eleven hearths in 1672 and twenty-three rooms in 1715.

Westbury Court: the Kip engraving of the house and its water garden made c.1710.

Duncombe's son Maynard Colchester (1664-1715) turned his attention from the house to the garden, where between 1696 and 1705 he created a fashionable water garden with a long canal and a garden house at its southern end, together with a formal layout of yews, hollies, nut and fruit trees, and flowers. The detailed accounts for work on the garden mention over 3,500 yews, 2,500 hollies, Scots firs, filberts, laurestinus, tuberoses, phillyreas, plums, cherries, pears, peaches, apricots, nectarines, red and white grapes, tulips, iris, crocus, jonquil, hyacinths, narcissus, honeysuckle, mezereum, bay, asparagus, anemones, and ranunculus.  The accounts allow the progress of the works to be traced in some detail, but tantalisingly fail to identify the designer responsible. It may, however, not be a coincidence that Colchester was a friend of the widowed owner of nearby Flaxley Abbey, Catarina Boevey, who created a straight canal in her own garden. 

Westbury Court: the statue of Neptune

A few years later, c.1720, Maynard Colchester (d. 1756) enlarged the garden by building a second summerhouse and forming a second canal parallel to the first, which joins an earlier transverse canal (shown in the Kip engraving) to form a T-shape. A statue of Neptune was erected in the second canal which is reminiscent of some Bristol sculpture, and could be related to the statues of Neptune and Ceres at Hanham Court, and to the Hercules at Highnam Court. Westbury's Neptune is certainly older than the 1740s, and one story recounts that it was found in the River Severn. Whether this is true or not, it could well have come originally from Highnam, and been a component of a garden layout of some interest there, but there is no documentary evidence for this intriguing possibility.

The Jacobean Westbury Court was destroyed by fire in 1742, and Michael Sidnell, a Bristol house carpenter, was called in to design and erect a replacement. This house, which was a four-storey building of brick with stone dressings, took three years to erect, and may never have been properly finished. It is said to have been occupied only from 1780 to 1805, and in the latter year orders were given for its careful dismantling, and the sale of the building materials, which were reused in finishing Tutshill House (Gloucestershire) for Sir George Bolton. The Colchester family moved to a smaller house a few miles away, The Wilderness at Mitcheldean, but fortunately they continued basic maintenance of the gardens at Westbury as a destination for drives and picnics. At some point in the 1880s, Maynard Colchester-Wemyss replanted some of the topiary in the garden, but through misinterpreting the Kip print he made the topiary shapes rise out of the top of a hedge rather than a simple grass plat; an error that has been perpetuated in subsequent restorations.

Westbury Court: the new house built in 1895 attached to the larger garden pavilion. Image: Historic England

In 1895 the Colchester-Wemyss family moved back to Westbury, building a new house, not on the site of the earlier buildings but attached to the garden pavilion at the end of the Long Canal, which was radically altered in the process. The new house (the architect of which is not known) was a low building of two storeys with a hipped roof and a projecting wing. It survived until 1960, when the Colchester-Wemyss family sold the estate to a developer, who obtained planning permission to build ten houses in the garden and in c.1962 demolished the house and the original wall running the length of the Long Canal. 

Westbury Court: the restored garden pavilion in 1984. 
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

The original garden pavilion was not demolished but was left badly damaged, and the canals were only saved at the last minute from being filled in. In 1964 the County and District Councils combined to buy the garden for preservation. The County Council built a home for the elderly on the site of the original house in 1967-8 and gave the garden to the National Trust, which after an extensive appeal raised the funds to recreate a formal garden and employed Paterson & Bishop of Cheltenham to restore the damaged pavilion in 1970. The garden is now entered through gatepiers bearing Baroque urns from Ebworth Park, moved here in about 1970, but the rusticated gatepiers with heraldic lion finials near the main road are, however, a survival of the 18th century house on the site. In its restored state, the garden captures better than any other in the county the feel of the gardens depicted by John Kip at the beginning of the 18th century, and is most appropriately planted only with varieties which would have been available at that time. In recent years, however, the planting has been damaged by flooding and the low-lying garden is now at risk from rising sea levels.

Descent: Sir Alexander Baynham (c.1460-1524); to son, John Baynham (c.1488-1528); to son, William Baynham (c.1511-68); to son Robert Baynham (c.1542-72); to brother, Joseph Baynham (c.1548-1613); to son, Alexander Baynham (b. 1589), who sold 1625 to John Dutton; sold 1628 to Nicholas Roberts (d. 1637) of Stanton Harcourt (Oxon); to son, Caesar Roberts (d. 1641); to uncle, Giles Roberts, who sold 1641 to Richard Colchester (d. 1643); to son, Sir Duncombe Colchester (d. 1694), kt., who came of age c.1650; to son, Maynard Colchester (d. 1715); to nephew, Maynard Colchester (d. 1756); to son, Maynard Colchester (d. 1787); to brother, John Colchester (d. 1801); to son, Maynard Colchester (d. 1860); to great-nephew, Maynard Willoughby Wemyss (later Weymss-Colchester and then Colchester-Wemyss) (d. 1930); to son, Sir Maynard Francis Colchester-Wemyss; sold 1944 to his brother, Col. J.M. Colchester-Wemyss (d. 1946); to widow, Stella Colchester-Wemyss, who sold 1960 to a developer; sold 1964 to Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucester Rural District Council; garden given 1967 to The National Trust.

Baynham family of Clearwell Court

Baynham, Thomas (1422-1500). Son of Robert ap Eynon alias Baynham (d. 1436) and his wife Margaret Abrahall (d. 1475?), born 9 April 1422. High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1479-80; Constable of St. Briavels Castle (Glos), jointly with his son Christopher, 1483. He married 1st, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Hody (d. 1441) of Stowell (Som.) and Nitheway, Brixham (Devon), Chief Justice of England, and 2nd, Alice (c.1457-1518), daughter and heir of William Walwyn (d. 1471), and had issue:

(1.1) Sir Alexander Baynham (1460-1524) [for whom see below, Baynham family of Westbury Court];

(1.2) William Baynham (d. c.1520); educated at Inner Temple; joint steward of Latimer lands in Gloucestershire from 1486; JP for Gloucestershire, 1486-1500; MP for Hindon (Wilts), 1491-92; married Eleanor, daughter of Richard Amerys, and had issue one son; buried in Temple church, London;

(2.1) Sir Christopher Baynham (c.1478-1540), kt. (q.v.);

(2.2) Elizabeth Baynham (d. 1511?); married 1st, by 1493, Robert Russell (d. 1502) of Strensham, and had issue at least one son; married 2nd, as his second wife, Sir Robert Throckmorton (d. 1518), kt. of Coughton Court (Warks), and probably had further issue; buried at Strensham (Worcs), where she and her first husband are commemorated by a brass; she is said to have died in 1511; her second husband died in Italy on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land;

(2.3) Isabell Baynham; married, c.1490, Sir Giles Brydges (d. 1512) of Coberley (Glos) and had issue at least one son (John Brydges (d. 1557), later 1st Baron Chandos of Sudeley) and two daughters; buried at Coberley;

(2.4) Anne Baynham; married 1st, Henry Clifford; married 2nd, by 1493, William Trye (c.1467-1525), and had issue at least one son;

(2.5) Susan(na) Baynham; married Ralph Butler (b. 1478) of Badminton (Glos) and had issue at least one son;

(2.6) Jane Baynham; married Fulk Walwyn (c.1467-1509) and had issue at least one daughter.

He also had an illegitimate daughter:

(X1) Maud Baynham (d. 1563); married William Wyrrall (d. 1577) of Bicknor (Glos) and had issue four sons and five daughters.

He inherited two-thirds of the manor of Mitcheldean (Glos) from his father and the other third in right of his second wife. After his second marriage he lived on his wife's estate at Clearwell and handed over his Mitcheldean property to his eldest son.

He died 16 February 1499/1500 and was buried at Mitcheldean, where he is commemorated by a monument; an inquisition post mortem was held 12 June 1500. His first wife probably died in the 1460s. His widow married 2nd, before 16 October 1503, as his fourth wife, Sir Walter Denys (d. 1505), kt. of Dyrham (Glos), and died 10 or 22 October 1518; her will was proved 4 February 1518/19.

Baynham, Sir Christopher (c.1478-1540), kt. Only son of Thomas Baynham (1422-1500) and his second wife, Alice, daughter and heir of William Walwyn of Bickerton, born about 1478. High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1511-12, 1517-18. He was knighted, 13 October 1513. He married Joan, daughter of Sir Thomas Morgan of Pencoyd (Mon.), and had issue, perhaps among others:

(1) Sir George Baynham (c.1500-46), kt. (q.v.);

(2) John Baynham; mentioned in the 1623 Visitation of Gloucestershire but not otherwise recorded and perhaps a mistake for the following;

(3) Thomas Baynham (d. 1587), of Noxon Park, Bream (Glos); (since he describes himself as 'gent' not 'clerk' in his will, he was presumably not the man of this name who was rector of Aston Ingham (Herefs), 1544-48 and Mitcheldean (Glos), 1548-50; the clergyman was perhaps his cousin); married Mary [surname unknown] and had issue four sons; will proved in Gloucester, 1587;

(4) Alice Baynham; married, after 1518, John Walsh (d. 1541) of Shelsley Walsh (Worcs), son of John Walsh of Shelsley Walsh, and had issue two sons and four daughters;

(5) Joan Baynham (fl. 1518); perhaps the 'Jane Baynham' who married James, son of Thomas Hyett of Lydney, and had issue two sons and three daughters;

(6) Dorothy Baynham; married Walter ap Robert, said to have been the son of Thomas ap Robert;

(7) Mary Baynham; married, as his first wife, Thomas Mill of Harescombe (Glos) but had no issue.

He inherited the manors of Clearwell, Noxon and Hatherways Court from his mother in 1518.

He died 22 June 1540. His wife was living in 1518 but her date of death is unknown.

Baynham, Sir George (c.1500-46), kt. Eldest son of Sir Christopher Baynham (c.1478-1540) of Clearwell and his wife Joan, daughter of Sir Thomas Morgan of Pencoyd, born about 1500. High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1544-45 and Constable of St. Briavels Castle. He accompanied the King's army into France in 1544 and was knighted by the king after the capture of Boulogne, 20 June 1546. He married 1st, c. 1524, Bridget (c.1506-26?), daughter of Sir William Kingston KG of Flaxley (Glos), kt., and 2nd, 1527 (settlement 15 November), Cecilia (d. 1585), daughter of Sir John Gage (1479-1556), kt. of Highmeadow (Glos), and had issue:

(1.1) Frances Baynham (c.1526-83), born about 1526; heir to her great-uncle, Sir Anthony Kingston (d. 1554), kt.; Lady in Waiting to Queen Mary I; married, as a child, about 1536, Sir Henry Jerningham (1510-72), kt. of Costessey Hall (Norfk), Constable of Gloucester Castle, 1528-72 and a leading figure at the court of Queen Mary I as Master of the Horse, 1557-59, son of Edward Jerningham of Somerleyton (Suffk), and had issue three sons and two daughters; buried at Costessey, 23 December 1583; will proved in the PCC, 15 February 1583/4;

(2.1) Christopher Baynham (c.1528-57) (q.v.);

(2.2) Richard Baynham (c.1530-80) (q.v.); 

(2.3) Joan Baynham (fl. 1585); married, before 1557, Sir Anthony Strelley (1528-91) of Strelley (Notts), son of Sir Nicholas Strelley (d. 1560), and had issue six sons and two daughters; living in 1585 but death not traced;

(2.4) Dorothy Baynham (fl. 1611); married 1st, Roger Williams (d. 1585) of Usk and Llangibby (Mon.) and 2nd [forename unknown] Morgan; living in 1611, when she was mentioned in her brother's will;

(2.5) Mary Baynham; married, after 1585, [forename unknown] Fenton of Fenton (Notts);

(2.6) Thomas Baynham (c.1536-1611) (q.v.);

(2.7) Anne Baynham (fl. 1585); married John Strelley (b. 1532) of Strelley (Notts), son of Sir Nicholas Strelley (d. 1560), and had issue at least two sons;

(2.8) John Baynham (fl. 1546); mentioned in his father's will, but died unmarried and without issue;

(2.9) George Baynham (fl. 1585); mentioned in his mother's will in 1585; probably died unmarried and without issue;

(2.10) Philippa Baynham (d. c.1636); inherited her husband's property in Newland, which she bequeathed to her nephew, William Williams; married, probably after 1585, William Connock alias Connox of Coleford (Glos) (d. 1623), but had no issue; died about 1636; will proved 6 February 1636/7;

(2.11) Alice Baynham; married, 27 May 1573 at Newland, Thomas Brayne (d. 1604) of Littledean (Glos); apparently predeceased her husband;

(2.12) Jane Baynham (fl. 1598); married, probably after 1585, [forename unknown] Turberfield.

He was given Clearwell Court in his father's lifetime. After the death of her second husband, his widow lived in Bristol.

He died 25 September 1546, and was buried at Newland; his will was proved 4 December 1548; an inquisition post mortem was held in 1546/7. His first wife probably died following childbirth in 1526. His widow married 2nd, Sir Charles Herbert MP (d. 1557?), kt., of Troy (Mon.); she died in June or July 1585 and her will was proved in the PCC, 8 July 1585.

Baynham, Christopher (c.1528-57). Eldest son of Sir George Baynham (c.1500-46), kt. and his second wife, Cecilia, daughter of Sir John Gage, kt., born about 1528. Educated at Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1546/7). He was a minor at the time of his father's death and was made a ward of the Crown; he came of age in 1549/50 and paid a fine to avoid knighthood, 1554/5. He married Bridget, daughter of Arthur Porter, but had no issue.

He inherited Clearwell Court from his father in 1546. After his death, the estate passed in turn to his brothers Richard (d. 1580) and Thomas (d. 1611).

He died 6 October 1557 and was buried at Newland; an inquisition post mortem was held in 1558. His widow is said to have died at Calais (France) in 1558.

Baynham, Richard (c.1530-80). Second son of Sir George Baynham (c.1500-46), kt. and his second wife, Cecilia, daughter of Sir John Gage, kt., born about 1530. High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1570-71. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Clearwell Court from his elder brother in 1557.

He died in 1580.

Baynham, Thomas (c.1536-1611). Third son of Sir George Baynham (c.1500-46), kt. and his second wife, Cecilia, daughter of Sir John Gage, kt., born about 1536. High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1582-83, 1602-03. He married, c.1578, Mary, daughter of Admiral Sir William Winter (c.1521-89), kt. of Lydney (Glos), and had issue:

(1) Thomas Baynham (1581-1604?), baptised at Newland, 6 September 1581; died without issue in the lifetime of his father and was perhaps the man of this name buried at Bristol, 18 January 1603/4;

(2) Cecily Baynham (c.1583-1614) (q.v.);

(3) Joan Baynham (1585-1647), baptised at Newland, 17 November 1585; co-heiress of her father, inheriting land at Mitcheldean and Abenhall, to which she retired after the death of her husband; a Roman Catholic and religion, who is said to have been imprisoned for her faith at Gloucester in 1641; married John Vaughan (d. 1618) of Kinnersley (Herefs), and had issue three sons and one daughter; buried at Abenhall (Glos), 7 June 1647;

(4) George Baynham (1586-1606?), baptised at Newland, 23 October 1586; died without issue in the lifetime of his father; possibly the 'gent' of this name buried at St Saviour, Southwark (Surrey), 1 August 1606.

He inherited the Clearwell Court estate from his elder brother in 1580. At his death his property was divided between his daughters.

He died 2 October 1611 and was buried at Newland; his will was proved in the PCC, 21 June 1612, and an inquisition post mortem was held in 1613/14. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Baynham, Cecily (c.1583-1614). Elder daughter of Thomas Baynham (c.1536-1611) and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Winter, kt. of Lydney (Glos), born about 1583. She was married*, 24 September 1602 'in an out malt room in the house of Thomas Bayneham in Newland by John Carelesse', curate of Morton Jeffries (Herefs), to Sir William Throckmorton (1579-1628), 1st bt.** of Tortworth (Glos) and Deputy Constable of the Forest of Dean, son and heir of Sir Thomas Throckmorton, kt. of Tortworth, and had issue (perhaps among others):

(1) Anne alias Hannah Throckmorton (fl. 1607), born before 1607; married, as his second wife, John Johnson (d. 1667) of Pinchbeck and Ayscoughfee Hall (Lincs), son of Francis Johnson of Lilford (Northants), and had issue one son; death not traced;

(2) Sir Baynham Throckmorton (1606-64), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(3) Elizabeth Throckmorton (1608-75), born 6 January 1607/8; named in the will of her grandfather and her sister-in-law, Dame Alice Throckmorton; died unmarried, 12 December, and was buried at Newland, 15 December 1675; will proved at Gloucester, 1676;

(4) Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (d. 1664), kt., of Hewelsfield, born after 1607; married Alice (d. 1670), daughter of Richard Gough of Hewelsfield (Glos) and had issue two sons and four daughters (including an elder son, Sir William Throckmorton (d. 1682), 4th bt., who was killed in a duel, whereupon the baronetcy became extinct); he died, heavily in debt, and was buried at Hewelsfield, 21 June 1664.

She inherited the Clearwell and Newland estates of her father in 1611.

She was buried at Tortworth (Glos), 20 November 1614. Her husband, who is said to have 'wasted his estate by riot and improvidence' married 2nd, Alice Morgan, and 3rd, Sarah Hall (fl. 1632); he died 18 July and was buried at Newland, 20 July 1628.

* The irregular character of this marriage led to a case in the diocesan consistory court in 1607 (Gloucestershire Archives, GDR vol. 100, p.359)

** His baronetcy was one of the second batch to be created, on 29 June 1611.

Throckmorton, Sir Baynham (1606-64), 2nd bt. Elder son of Sir William Throckmorton (1579-1628), 1st bt., and his wife Cecily, daughter of Thomas Baynham of Clearwell, baptised at Tirley (Glos), 5 August 1606. Educated at Inner Temple (admitted 1624). JP for Gloucestershire, 1634-45, 1660-64; Chief Forester of Forest of Dean, 1634-45; High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1642-43. In 1635 he acquired a Crown lease of the Forest of Dean and, with three partners, sought to develop its iron industry, but the venture did not prosper and he was obliged to convey his estates to trustees to settle his debts in 1637; in 1640 a new Crown grant was made to his arch-rival, Sir John Winter. In the Civil War he was an active Royalist, serving as a Commissioner of Array for the King and a Lt-Colonel in the Royalist cavalry until he was captured at Gloucester in 1645. His estates were sequestrated but as he did not pay the fine to redeem them, the estate was sold to Thomas Gookin, although this may have been a collusive purchase to circumvent the fine, as he eventually recovered the property. In 1659 he was held in preventive custody as a precaution against a Royalist revolt, being released on bail of £2,000. After the Restoration, he was elected MP for Gloucestershire, 1662-64. He succeeded his father as 2nd baronet, 18 July 1628. He married, c.1626, Margaret (c.1610-35), daughter of Robert Hopton of Witham (Som.) and sister of the Royalist commander, Lt-Gen. Ralph Hopton (1596-1652), 1st Baron Hopton of Stratton, and had issue:

(1) Sir Baynham Throckmorton (1629-81), 3rd bt. (q.v.);

(2) Hopton Throckmorton (1631-54), baptised at Newland, 6 October 1631; died unmarried and was buried at St Mary-le-Strand, London, 24 October 1654;

(3) Maj. Thomas Throckmorton (d. 1656); an officer in the New Model Army, who was part of the invasion force under Col. Buller that captured Jamaica and was later sent back to the island as part of the garrison under Col. Sidgwick; he fomented discontent about lack of pay and poor conditions through petitions that attracted widespread support, but he overstepped the mark in insubordination and was court martialled for mutiny; sentenced to death he might have been reprieved if he had backed down, but he refused to do so and was shot in Jamaica in May 1656; his will proved in the PCC, 12 March 1656/7;

(4) William Throckmorton; died without issue and probably young;

(5) Francis Throckmorton; died without issue and probably young.

He inherited the Clearwell and Newland estate from his father in 1628.

He died 28 May 1664 and was buried at St Margaret, Westminster, 29 May 1664; he is commemorated by a monument at Newland church. His wife died in childbirth, 18 August 1635, and was buried at The Gaunts Chapel, Bristol, where she is commemorated by an elaborate monument.

Throckmorton, Sir Baynham (1629-81), 3rd bt. Elder son of Sir Baynham Throckmorton (1606-64), 2nd bt., and his wife Margaret, daughter of Robert Hopton of Witham (Som.), born at Evercreech Park (Som.), 11 December 1629. Educated at Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1647). MP for Gloucestershire, 1656-58, Wootton Bassett, 1660-61 and for Gloucestershire, 1664-79 and a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, 1660-81. He was a pretty consistently loyal supporter of the Court party in Parliament, and in recognition of his political service to the king in Parliament, he received a Crown grant of Kingswood Forest (Glos) in 1670, which he was supposed to reafforest and stock with deer for the king's hunting; he had also to build a new lodge and suppress the enclosures made by squatters since forest law had ceased to be enforced. His attempt to take possession of the land led to a violent dispute with some 800 families of coal miners and smallholders who had encroached on the forest, who successfully him drove out along with the chief ranger and his officers, and the sheriff's bailiffs; nobody was killed but many narrowly escaped, and royal authority was never again asserted over Kingswood. He was a JP for Gloucestershire, 1657-81, DL for Gloucestershire, 1660-81, and an officer in the Gloucestershire militia (Lt-Col., 1660). Lord Herbert of Raglan (later 1st Duke of Beaufort) appointed him Deputy Constable of St. Briavels Castle and Deputy Warden of Forest of Dean, 1660-81, and he was popular with the free miners there on account of his defence of their privileges in Parliament; he himself was elected a Free Miner in 1668, and he sat as Judge of the Courts of Mine Law held at Clearwell in 1668, 1676, and 1680. It seems ironic that that he should at the same time have been supporting the rights of the commoners in Dean and seeking to suppress the commoners of Kingswood! He was widely employed on commissions, and was a member of the commission of enquiry into the Forest of Dean, 1679. He was knighted at Rochester (Kent), 28 May 1660, during King Charles II's progress to take the throne at the Restoration, and succeeded his father as 3rd baronet, 28 May 1664. He married* 1st, 11 December 1652 at the house of Ralph, Lord Hopton, in London, Mary (1635-66), daughter of Giles Garton of Billingshurst (Sussex) and 2nd, 11 December 1669 at St Dunstan, London, Katherine (b. c.1650), eldest daughter of Piers Edgcumbe of Mount Edgcumbe (Cornw.), and had issue:

(1.1) A daughter (d. 1654); died 25 July 1654 and was buried at Newland, where she is commemorated by a monument.

(1.2) Elizabeth Throckmorton (1657-83), born 7 June and baptised at Newland, 9 June 1655**; executor of her father's will; died unmarried, 27 January and was buried at Newland, 28 January 1683/4;

(1.3) Caroline Throckmorton (1661-1714), baptised at Newland, 29 August 1661; married, 1685 (licence 19 July), Capt. James Skrymshire (1659-1724), son of John Skrymshire of Norbury (Staffs); buried at High Offley (Staffs), 19 February 1713/4;

(1.4) Mary Throckmorton (c.1664-84), born betweeen 1662 and 1666; died unmarried, 29 January, and was buried at Newland, 30 January 1683/4, two days after her elder sister; administration of her goods was granted 8 December 1685;

(2.1) Catherine Throckmorton (1670-1720), born 26 October and baptised 23 November 1670; married, 23 December 1696 at Newland, Thomas Wylde (c.1670-1740) of The Commandery, Worcester, MP for Worcester, 1701-27 (who m2, 27 February 1720, Ann (1686-1761), daughter of the Hon. Robert Tracy of Coscombe House (Glos), justice of common pleas, and widow of Charles Dowdeswell MP (1689-1714) of Forthampton (Glos)), son of Robert Wylde of Worcester, and had issue one son and three daughters; buried at St Peter the Great, Worcester, 28 February 1719/20.

He inherited the Clearwell and Newland estate from his father in 1664; after his death the estate passed to trustees for his widow and daughters, who sold it in 1698.

He was buried at Clerkenwell, 31 July 1681, when the baronetcy passed to his cousin, Sir William Throckmorton, 4th bt.; it became extinct when Sir William was killed in a duel the following year. His will was proved in the PCC, 13 February 1681/2. His first wife died 2 April and was buried at Newland, 4 April 1666. His widow was living in 1696, but her date of death is unknown.

* He noted, in the Newland parish register, that both his marriages had taken place on his birthday.

** The Newland register for this period has been partially eaten by rats and the year is uncertain but inferred.

Baynham family of Westbury Court

Baynham, Sir Alexander (c.1460-1524). Elder son of Thomas Baynham (1422-1500) and his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Hody (d. 1441) of Stowell (Som.) and Nitheway, Brixham (Devon), Chief Justice of England, born about 1460. Educated at Lyon's Inn, London. He was knighted while on campaign in Scotland in 1482. High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1483-84, 1497-99, 1503-05, 1516-17; JP for Gloucestershire, 1500-24; a member of the commission of inquiry into the depopulation caused by the inclosure of arable land in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, 1517. Through his second marriage, he was closely connected with many of the leading figures in the county who supported the Protestant reformation, and it seems likely, though it is far from certain, that he shared those views. He married 1st, before 1487, Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Vanne, kt., and 2nd, c.1494, Elizabeth (d. 1527), daughter of Henry Tracy and widow of Edmund Langley, and had issue*:

(1.1) John Baynham (c.1488-1528) (q.v.);

(2.1) Thomas Baynham (d. 1532); inherited the manor of Steeple Lavington (Wilts) from his younger brother; died unmarried and without issue; unlike his younger brother, he seems to have been well affected to the Catholic church, and his interesting will, proved 4 November 1532, makes provision for the tenants for life of his property to fund a priest to sing masses in memory of himself and his parents, but only for so long as this remains legal, so clearly he foresaw the possibility of the Protestant reformation;

(2.2) James Baynham (d. 1532), educated at the Inner Temple (admitted by 1518 but expelled by 1522 for non-payment of dues and for 'offences'); inherited the manor of Steeple Lavington from his father in 1524; he held Protestant views, then considered heretical, and was examined by Sir Thomas More and others, tortured, and executed for heresy; he married, c.1531, [forename unknown], the widow of Simon Fish (d. 1531), an evangelical lawyer and pamphleteer; he was burnt at the stake at Smithfield, 30 April 1532;

(2.3) Margaret Baynham (d. 1554); inherited a moiety of the manor of Steeple Lavington from her brother in 1532, subject to a life interest of Rev. Thomas Baynham of Mitcheldean, but sold it in 1537; married, as his second wife, John Peyto (c.1478-1542) of Chesterton (Warks), and had issue three sons and four daughters; will proved 17 August 1554;

(2.4) Joan alias Jane Baynham (fl. 1572); inherited a moiety of the manor of Steeple Lavington from her brother in 1532, subject to a life interest of Rev. Thomas Baynham of Mitcheldean, but sold it in 1572; married 1st, as his second wife, Robert Wye (d. 1544) of Over  Lypiatt (Glos), and had issue seven sons and two daughters; married 2nd, Hugh Westwood MP (d. 1559) of Chedworth (Glos), but had no further issue; living in 1572;

(2.5) Ellen alias Eleanor Baynham (d. 1524); died young and was buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 1524.

He received the Westbury Court estate as a gift from his father, perhaps on his first marriage. The manor of Steeple Lavington (Wilts) was settled on him and his second wife by her parents in 1494.

He died 25 September 1524 and was buried in the lady chapel at Westbury-on-Severn. His will was proved 19 November 1524 and an inquisition post mortem was held in 1524/5. His first wife died between 1488 and 1494. His widow died after 14 November 1527; her will was proved 21 January 1527/8 and an inquisition post mortem was held in 1527/8.

* Some sources attribute more of his children to his first marriage.

Baynham, John (c.1488-1528). Only child of Sir Alexander Baynham (c.1460-1524) and his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Vanne, kt., born about 1488. He married Anne, daughter and co-heir of Sir David Mathew (d. 1504), kt. of Radyr and St. Fagans (Glam.), and had issue, possibly among others:

(1) William Baynham (c.1511-68) (q.v.).

He inherited the Mitcheldean and Westbury estates from his father in 1524.

He died 6 August 1528; an inquisition post mortem was held in 1528/9. His widow married 2nd, Thomas Morgan; her date of death is unknown.

Baynham, William (c.1511-68). Only recorded child of John Baynham (c.1488-1528) and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir David Mathew, kt., of Radyr Court (Glam.), born about 1511. On his father's death, his wardship was granted to Sir John Gage, the father-in-law of his kinsman, Sir George Baynham of Clearwell, so his upbringing will have been in a Catholic household; nothing seems to be known of his own religious views. He married Anne, daughter of Sir Robert Blennerhasset of Princethorpe (Warks), and had issue:

(1) Robert Baynham (c.1542-72) (q.v.);

(2) Alexander Baynham; died without issue;

(3) William Baynham; died without issue;

(4) Joseph Baynham (c.1548-1613) (q.v.);

(5) Daniel Baynham (d. 1620); lived at Grange Court, Westbury-on-Severn; married, 24 December 1579 at Westbury-on-Severn, Silvester, daughter of John Hampton, and had issue three sons and four daughters; buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 29 August 1620;

(6) Francis Baynham; died without issue;

(7) Samuel Baynham; died without issue;

(8) William Baynham; died without issue.

(9) Elizabeth Baynham; married, 5 June 1569 at St Mary, Whitechapel (Middx), William Readston, and had issue two sons and two daughters;

(10) Anne Baynham; married, before 1590, Edward Weston (b. c.1550) of Chertsey (Surrey), second son of John Weston of Ockham and Send (Surrey), and had issue three sons and four daughters;

(11) Margaret Baynham; married, 12 December 1581/2 at Westbury-on-Severn, Charles Vaughan, but had no issue; 

(12) Mary Baynham; married, 18 November 1563 at Westbury-on-Severn, Thomas Elberton, but died without issue;

(13) Joan Baynham (b. 1558), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 30 October 1558.

He inherited the Mitcheldean and Westbury estates from his father in 1528 and came of age in about 1532. He settled the manor on himself and his wife and their issue, 20 June 1542.

He died 10 August 1568; an inquisition post mortem was held 25 October 1568. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Baynham, Robert (c.1542-72). Eldest son of William Baynham (c.1511-68) and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Robert Blennerhasset of Princesthorpe (Warks), born about 1547. Escheator for Gloucestershire, 1570-72. He married Mary [surname unknown] (d. 1610) but had no issue.

He inherited the Mitcheldean and Westbury estates from his father in 1568. At his death the Mitcheldean property passed to his widow for life, and only on her death in 1610 to his brother Joseph.

He was buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 15 October 1572; an inquisition post mortem was held at Gloucester Castle, 7 January 1572/3. His widow married 2nd, Sir Robert Woodruff (d. 1609), kt. of Eastbach Court, English Bicknor (Glos) and later Alvington Court (Glos); she died 14 March 1609/10 and was buried with her husband at Alvington, where they are commemorated by a monument erected at the cost of a dwarf maintained in their household.

Baynham, Joseph (c.1548-1613). Fourth, but second surviving son of William Baynham (c.1511-68) and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Robert Blennerhasset of Princethorpe (Warks), born about 1548. High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1594-95. He was a noted Puritan and was the most prominent of forty dissenters recorded in Westbury in 1603. He married 1st, Ann, daughter of [forename unknown] Hampton; 2nd, Mary (d. 1587), daughter of Sir John Bonham (d. 1555), kt., of Hazelbury (Wilts), and 3rd, 15 February 1588 at Arlingham (Glos), Joan (d. 1612), daughter of William Smith of Brownshill (Glos) and widow of Thomas Bicke alias Becke of Arlingham, and had issue:

(2.1) Elizabeth Baynham (b. 1582; fl. 1610), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 21 March 1581/2; married, 1610 (settlement 15 February 1609/10), Rev. John Hayward, curate of Leonard Stanley (Glos), son of Thomas Hayward of Wellington (Herefs);

(2.2) Dorcas (alias Dorothy) Baynham (1583-1668), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 19 January 1583/4; married William Clutterbuck (c.1581-1655) of Kings Stanley (Glos) and had issue one son and three daughters; died 20 January and was buried 1 February 1667/8 at Wotton-under-Edge where she is commemorated by a memorial window;

(2.3) Mary Baynham (1584-85), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 8 February 1584/5; died in infancy and was buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 1 April 1585;

(2.4) Ann Baynham (1587-91), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 16 July 1587; died young and was buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 31 January 1591/2; 

(3.1) Alexander Baynham (1589-after 1643?) (q.v.);

(3.2) Ann Baynham (b. 1593), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 11 March 1592/3; married Richard Barrow of Westbury-on-Severn.

(3.3) Joseph Baynham (b. 1596), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 16 May 1596; lived at Arlingham in 1619 and later at Lypiatt; married, 12 September 1625 at Minchinhampton (Glos), Alice, fourth daughter of Robert Freame of Lypiatt (Glos), and had issue.

He inherited the Westbury Court estate from his elder brother in 1572 and the Mitcheldean estate on the death of his sister-in-law in 1610.

He died 19 July and was buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 20 July 1613; an inquisition post mortem was held in 1613/14. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His second wife was buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 17 July 1587. His third wife was buried at Westbury-on-Severn, 11 December 1612.

Baynham, Alexander (1589-after 1643?). Elder son of Joseph Baynham (c.1548-1613) and his third wife, Joan, daughter of William Smith of Brownshill (Glos) and widow of Thomas Becke, baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 27 January 1589/90. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1609) and Lincolns Inn (admitted 1611). Like his father, he was a Puritan in religion, and was fined for non-attendance at church in 1616 and 1623. He was probably the man who petitioned Parliament to request that the dispute between him and the master and owners of the ship John and Thomas, respecting certain goods shipped at Genoa, might be referred to merchants for arbitration. He married, apparently before 1604* as a child, although the settlement was not agreed until 1606, Elizabeth, daughter of Arnold Oldisworth** of Bradley Court, Wotton-under-Edge (Glos), Clerk of the Hanaper to King James I, and had issue, apparently among others:

(1) Joseph Baynham (b. 1613), baptised at Wotton-under-Edge, 26 December 1613; perhaps died young;

(2) Alexander Baynham (1615-c.1660?), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 23 March 1614/5; probably to be identified with the man of this name who emigrated to Maryland, c.1642, lived for a while in Barbados and then settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia; married Anne (d. 1662) (who m2, c.1660, Thomas Butler (1626-78) of Washington, Virginia (USA)), daughter of James Baldridge of St. Mary's, Maryland (USA), and had issue at least one son (who died young) and three daughters; died between 1658 and 1662;

(3) Elizabeth Baynham (b. 1616), baptised at Westbury-on-Severn, 23 June 1616; living in 1623;

(4) Lucy Baynham (d. 1667); married, 20 November 1640 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Rev. Henry Jeanes (1611-62), rector of Beer Crocombe (Som.), 1635-c.1643 and Chedzoy (Som.), 1647-62 and author of Presbyterian theological works, son of Christopher Jeanes of Kingston (Som.), and had issue; buried at Chedzoy, 22 May 1667.

He inherited the Westbury and Mitcheldean estates from his father in 1613. He sold the Mitcheldean estate to Nicholas Roberts in 1619, and the Westbury estate to John Dutton in 1625.

He was probably living in 1643, but his date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

* Alexander and Elizabeth his wife were parties to a deed executed by his father Joseph in 1604 [Gloucestershire Archives, D1677/GG/595]

** According to some accounts, Arnold Oldisworth emigrated to America and died in 1621.

Principal sources

Westbury on Severn Parish Magazine, October 1895 [copy at Gloucestershire Archives, (H)E13.19]; Dean Forest Guardian, 22 March 1929; Gloucestershire Countryside, 1955-58, p. 13; I.E. Gray, The making of the Westbury Court gardens, Garden History Society Occasional Paper 1, 1969 [copy at Glos Archives, PA354/2]; A. Rowan, ‘Clearwell Castle’ in H.M. Colvin & J. Harris, The country seat, 1970, pp. 145-9; K. Morgan & B.S. Smith, 'Westbury-on-Severn', in VCH Gloucestershire, vol. 10, 1972, pp. 85-93; Country Life, 27 September 1973, pp. 864-6, 13 October 1988, pp. 244-6; [Gervase Jackson-Stops], Westbury Court garden, 1984, pp. 21-22; T. Mowl & B. Earnshaw, Trumpet at a distant gate, 1985, p. 38; A.P. Baggs and A.R.J. Juřica, 'Newland', in VCH Gloucestershire, vol. 5, 1996, pp. 195-231; A.R. Warmington, Civil War, Interregnum and Restoration in Gloucestershire, 1997, pp. 192-202; D. Verey & A. Brooks, The buildings of England: Gloucestershire - The Vale and the Forest of Dean, 2002, pp. 798-800; T. Mowl, Historic gardens of Gloucestershire, 2002, pp. 53-6; D. Jacques, ‘Who knows what a Dutch garden is?’, Garden History, (30:2), 2002, pp. 114-30; K. Felus, ‘Westbury Court: an inward-facing garden?’, Gloucestershire Gardens & Landscapes Trust Newsletter, 34 (2005), pp. 8-10; A.C. Baynham, The life and times of a Forest family, 2011; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Rev. Henry Jeanes (1611-62).

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive, although there are miscellaneous documents among the papers of the Colchester-Wemyss family of Westbury Court [Gloucestershire Archives, D36]

Coat of arms

Gules, a chevron between three bulls' heads cabossed argent, armed or.

Can you help?

• Can anyone supply a drawing or painting of the short-lived Georgian house at Westbury Court, demolished in 1805?
• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above.
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from descendants of the family who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgement

This post was first published 31 August 2021. I am grateful to Bill Cronin, Tim Mowl, Steven Parissien, Joyce Russell-Steele and Roger White for their help with this account.