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| Beaumont of Buckland Court |
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| Clock House, Great Dunmow in the early 20th century. |
William Beaumont (1727-64) settled gave up his Oxford college fellowship in 1754 and moved to Buckland Court, where he became a leading light of the Surrey militia. He was unmarried, and so he was succeeded by his younger brother Thomas Beaumont (1728-96), who may, like his father, have held an Oxford fellowship before his marriage in 1765. His wife bore him two sons before dying in 1768, and he did not marry again. His elder son died aged thirteen, so he was eventually succeeded by the younger son, Thomas Beaumont (1767-1818). Thomas was married in 1799 and seems to have undertaken vigorous improvement works on the Buckland estate in the early 19th century, which included works to the house, the building of new greenhouses and estate walls, and reorganising the estate farms into a smaller number of larger units. Some of these works led to a legal dispute with the rector, the Rev. Willoughby Bertie, in which Thomas was ultimately victorious, and in the light of this it is curious that Thomas to give the rector's names as middle names to two of his sons! When Thomas died in 1818 his eldest son, George Howland Willoughby Beaumont (1799-1845), inherited the Buckland estate, but since George was the heir apparent to Sir George Beaumont (1753-1827), 7th bt., Thomas provided in his will that if his son George did inherit the baronetcy and the Leicestershire estates, Buckland should devolve upon his younger sons, in order of succession. G.H.W. Beaumont did indeed inherit Stoughton Grange and the baronetcy in 1827, and so Buckland passed to his then only surviving brother, William Francis Bertie Beaumont (1808-37). William married in 1833, but his wife died only a little over two months after the birth of their son, Francis Henry Beaumont (1834-1929). Since William himself died before his son was three, Francis was brought up by his grandmother and an unmarried aunt at the Clock House. He came of age in 1855 and was married the following year to Mary Emily (1832-1923), the youngest daughter of Evan Baillie, one of the largest landowners in the north of Scotland, who bore him two sons and four daughters. Francis was, to all appearances, the model Victorian gentleman. He almost certainly remodelled Buckland Court in the 1850s, making it larger and more fashionable; he was an engaged and supportive landlord; he played a significant part in public affairs (being, inter alia, Treasurer of Surrey Quarter Sessions for 25 years); and he supplemented his income with a directorship in the life insurance industry. Despite all this, however, he consistently lived beyond his means: like many others, he perhaps failed to anticipate the impact of the Agricultural Depression on landed incomes, or to foresee the cumulative impact of tax changes introduced from the 1890s onwards. He fended off a crisis in his affairs in 1903-04 by selling some property and mortgaging the rest, but by 1923 he was obliged to sell up, perhaps because his wife's death in that year meant the loss of an annuity which had supported the estate in the past. Fortunately he was able to keep Buckland Court in the family by selling it to his son-in-law, Robert Massey Dawson Sanders (1862-1941), who had just received compensation from the Irish government for the burning of his house, Ballinacourty (Co. Tipperary) during the Irish Civil War. Sanders seems to have lived at Buckland, although he retained property in Ireland until his death. His two sons, Charles Craven Sanders (1899-1985) and Terence Robert Beaumont Sanders (1901-85) were co-heirs to the Buckland estate, and although both had homes there, neither of them wished, or felt they could afford, to live in Buckland Court, which they converted into flats in 1947-50. The estate remains the property of a Trust controlled by the Sanders family today.
In their county history of 1809, Manning & Bray noted that Thomas Beaumont (1767-1818) had 'repaired and improved' the house, but nothing is said about what this involved. New octagonal greenhouses and walls to either the side of the drive were probably built at the same time, and occasioned a dispute with the local rector. A glimpse of one of the greenhouses can apparently be seen in the engraving of 1839.
At some point after 1839, and perhaps around the time Francis Henry Beaumont sold many of the contents of the house in 1857, the house was remodelled into its present form, with a new lower-pitched roof partly hidden behind the parapet, the addition of quoins to the projecting end bays and lugged architraves to the first floor windows on the entrance front, and the construction of a rear wing to the left hand return elevation. The engraving of 1839 shows an elegant semi-circular porch in the centre of the entrance front which was probably removed at the same time. The house was subdivided between 1947 and 1950 and few original interior features now survive apart from some simple chimneypieces. Some of the original windows have been replaced and altered into doors, with a resultant loss of symmetry and elegance.
Buckland Court, Betchworth, Surrey
The house is now a faintly Italianate two-storey stuccoed building with shallow-pitched slate roof behind a balustraded parapet. A drawing of 1822 shows, however, that the essential form of the five-by-three bay house with a hipped roof is a good deal earlier than it looks today. The roof was originally much higher-pitched, and this, together with the modillion cornice suggested by an engraving of 1839 and the architraves to the window surrounds suggests that it was probably built in the first thirty years of the 18th century.
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| Buckland Court in 1822: watercolour by John Hassell [Image: Surrey History Centre 4348/2/56/3] |
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| Buckland Court: hand-coloured lithograph of the house from a drawing by William Constable (1783-1861), published in 1839. |
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| Buckland Court: the front and side elevations of the subdivided house today. |
Descent: sold 1654 to George Browne; to son, Sir George Browne of Wolverton (Hants) (d. 1685); to brother, Ambrose Browne (d. 1729); to brother, John Browne (d. 1736); to nephew, Thomas Jordan (d. 1750); to sister, Elizabeth (d. 1763), widow of William Beaumont (1681-1729); to son, William Beaumont (1727-64); to brother, Thomas Beaumont (1729-96); to son, Thomas Beaumont (1767-1818); to son, Sir George Howland Willoughby Beaumont (1799-1845), 8th bt.; and then in 1827 when he inherited the baronetcy to his brother, William Francis Bertie Beaumont (1808-37); to son, Francis Henry Beaumont (1834-1929), who sold 1923 to his son-in-law, Robert Massey Dawson Sanders (1862-1941); to Buckland Estate Co., which remains in the possession of the Sanders family.
Beaumont family of Buckland Court
Beaumont, William (1641-1718). Third son of Sir Thomas Beaumont (1608-76), 1st bt. of Stoughton Grange [for whom see a future post on the Beaumonts of Coleorton and Stoughton], and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Trott of Quickswood (Herts), born 12 July and baptised at Stoughton (Leics), 6 August 1641. JP for Essex. He married 1st, 20 August 1662 at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, Susan (c.1610-77), daughter of Henry Polstead and widow of Hugh Norris (d. 1661) of Hackney (Middx), merchant, and 2nd, 23 July 1678 at Christ Church, Newgate, London, his stepmother's daughter, Jane (1650-1719), daughter of Hugh Watts of Newark, Leicester (Leics), and had issue:
(2.1) Henrietta Beaumont (1679-1744), baptised at St Mary-de-Castro, Leicester, 22 May 1679; died unmarried and was buried at Great Dunmow (Essex), 10 June 1744;
(2.2) William Beaumont (1681-1729) (q.v.);(2.3) Henry Beaumont (b. & d. 1682), baptised at Great Dunmow, 25 December 1682; died in infancy and was buried at Great Dunmow, 29 December 1682;(2.4) Jane Beaumont (1683-85), baptised at Great Dunmow, 9 December 1683; died in infancy and was buried at Great Dunmow, 19 November 1685;(2.5) Jane Beaumont (1686-1759), baptised at Great Dunmow, 31 March 1686; died unmarried and was buried at Great Dunmow, 26 January 1759;(2.6) Henry Beaumont (b. 1687), baptised at Great Dunmow, 11? August 1687; apprenticed to Humphrey Dell of London, goldsmith, 1704, but perhaps did not complete his term as he was entered as a mature student at New College, Oxford (matriculated 1710); he is usually said to have died while a student in Oxford, but this seems to be a confusion with his younger brother as he is named in the wills of both his father and elder brother; living in 1728;(2.7) Mary Beaumont (1688-1777), baptised at Great Dunmow, 13 October 1688; died unmarried and was buried at Great Dunmow, 11 January 1777;(2.8) Thomas Beaumont (1689-1711?), baptised at Great Dunmow, 9 January 1689/90; educated at Winchester College (admitted 1708) and New College, Oxford; Fellow of New College, Oxford, 1711; perhaps the man of this name buried at St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, 20 April 1711;(2.9) John Beaumont (b. 1691), baptised at Great Dunmow, 11 June 1691; died in infancy;(2.10) George Beaumont (1692-94), baptised at Great Dunmow, 19 December 1692; died in infancy and was buried at Great Dunmow, 16 April 1694.
His first wife inherited a house in Hackney for life from her late husband. After she died he moved to Clock House, Great Dunmow (Essex), at the same time as his brother, the Rev. Thomas Beaumont, became rector of Great Dunmow.
He died 31 March 1718 and was buried at Great Dunmow; his will was proved in the Essex Archdeaconry Court, 5 June 1718. His first wife was buried with her first husband in the north aisle of St. Martin Outwich, London, 28 June 1677. His widow died 22 June and was buried at Great Dunmow, 26 June 1719.
Beaumont, William (1681-1729). Eldest son of William Beaumont (1641-1718) and his second wife, Jane, daughter of Hugh Watts of Newark (Notts), probably born in December 1681 and baptised at Great Dunmow, 21 February 1681/2. Educated at Winchester College (admitted 1698), Middle Temple (admitted 1701) and New College, Oxford (matriculated 1703; BA 1707; MA 1711). He was a Fellow of New College, 1703-21 and University proctor, 1717. He married, 18 May 1721 at St George-in-the-West, London, Elizabeth (d. 1763), daughter of William Jordan of Gatwick (Sussex) and sister and co-heir of Thomas Jordan of Gatwick, Chaldon and Buckland (Surrey), and had issue:
(1) Elizabeth Beaumont (1723-35), baptised at Great Dunmow (Essex), 18 October 1723; died young and was buried at Great Dunmow, 24 July 1735;(2) Margaret Beaumont (1725-85), baptised at Great Dunmow (Essex), 3 May 1725; married, 1 May 1750 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, John Kendall Cater (1723-78) of Kempston (Beds) and had issue three sons and five daughters; buried at Buckland, 9 January 1785;(3) Sir George Beaumont (1726-62), 6th bt. [for whom see a future post on the Beaumonts of Coleorton and Stoughton](4) William Beaumont (1727-64) (q.v.);(5) Thomas Beaumont (1728-96) (q.v.).
He lived at The Clock House, Great Dunmow (Essex), and on his death it passed to his widow. His widow and her sister inherited the Surrey and Sussex estates of their brother Thomas Jordan in 1750 and in 1753 agreed a division of this property. Elizabeth settled her share, the Buckland Court estate, on her second son the same year. Clock House was occupied by her husband's sisters until their deaths and then passed to her eldest son, who had previously inherited the family baronetcy and the associated Leicestershire estates in 1738.
He died 17 January and was buried at Great Dunmow (Essex), 23 January 1728/9; his will was proved in the PCC, 13 May 1730. His widow was buried at Great Dunmow, 14 October 1763; her will was proved in the PCC, 26 October 1763.
Beaumont, William (1727-64). Second son of William Beaumont (1681-1729) and his wife Elizabeth, sister and co-heir of Thomas Jordan of Gatwick (Sussex) and Chaldon and Buckland (Surrey), baptised at Great Dunmow (Essex), 6 May 1727. Educated at Winchester (admitted 1739) and New College, Oxford (matriculated 1746; SCL). Fellow of New College, 1746-54. An officer in the Surrey Militia (Capt., 1759; Lt-Col., 1761). He was unmarried and without issue.
His mother settled the Buckland Court estate on him in 1753.
He died of smallpox and was buried at Buckland, 3 August 1764.
Beaumont, Thomas (1728-96). Third and youngest son of William Beaumont (1681-1729) and his wife Elizabeth, sister and co-heir of Thomas Jordan of Gatwick (Sussex) and Chaldon and Buckland (Surrey), baptised at Great Dunmow (Essex), 26 August 1728. Educated at Winchester College (admitted 1741) and New College, Oxford (matriculated 1747; BCL, 1754). Fellow of New College, Oxford, 1747-65. He married, 27 May 1765 at Buckland, Sarah Silver (c.1741-68), and had issue:
(1) William Beaumont (1766-79), born 6 March and baptised 7 March 1766; died young and was buried at Buckland, 14 December 1779;(2) Thomas Beaumont (1767-1818) (q.v.).
He inherited the Buckland Court estate from his elder brother in 1764.
He died 15 August and was buried at Buckland, 22 August 1796; his will was proved in the PCC, 29 August 1796. His wife was buried at Buckland, 20 June 1768.
Beaumont, Thomas (1767-1818). Younger son of Thomas Beaumont (1728-96) and his wife Sarah Silver, born 23 February and baptised 12 March 1767. He reorganised the Buckland estate on more efficient lines, and is said to have 'repaired and improved' the mansion house and to have built octagonal greenhouses and walls around the entrance to the grounds, which occasioned a dispute with his neighbour, the Rev. Willoughby Bertie, although the courts found in his favour. He married, 29 January 1799 at Buckland, Bridget (1774-1842), daughter of Rev. William Davie of Creedy Park (Devon), vicar of Exminster (Devon) and prebendary of Exeter, and had issue:
(1) Sir George Howland Willoughby Beaumont (1799-1845), 8th bt. [for whom see a future post on the Beaumonts of Coleorton and Stoughton];(2) Thomas Davie Beaumont (1801-25), born 4 March and baptised 8 March 1801; died unmarried and was buried at Buckland, 24 January 1825;(3) Mary Ann Bridget Beaumont (1804-83), baptised at Buckland, 1 April 1804; died unmarried at Worthing (Sussex) and was buried at Buckland, 27 March 1883;(4) Margaret Sophia Beaumont (1806-78), baptised at Buckland, 9 November 1806; married, 2 October 1833 at Great Dunmow (Essex), her cousin, Rev. James Beauchamp (1804-91), rector of Crowell and vicar of Shirburn (Oxfordshire), 1830-74, who was the son of William Henry Beauchamp-Proctor (1769-1806) and his wife Frances Mary Davie, but the ward of Rev. W. Bentie of Buckland (Surrey); they had issue three daughters; she was buried at St Nicholas Hurst (Berks), 14 November 1878;(5) William Francis Bertie Beaumont (1808-37) (q.v.);(6) Alice Eleanor Beaumont (1810-33), baptised at Buckland, 4 March 1810; died unmarried 2 April and was buried at Great Dunmow, 8 April 1833.
He inherited the Buckland Court estate from his father in 1796. At his death his estate passed to his eldest son, George, but under the terms of his will when George inherited the Stoughton estate in 1827, it transferred to George's younger brother, William, who came of age in 1829.
He died 28 January and was buried at Buckland, 3 February 1818; his will was proved in the PCC, 7 April 1818. His widow died 17 April and was buried at Great Dunmow, 26 April 1842; her will was proved in the PCC, 22 June 1842.
Beaumont, William Francis Bertie (1808-37). Third, but second surviving, son of Thomas Beaumont (1767-1818) and his wife Bridget, daughter of Rev. William Davie of Creedy Park (Devon), vicar of Exminster (Devon) and prebendary of Exeter, baptised at Buckland, 23 October 1808. Educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1827; BA 1831). He married, 30 May 1833 at Great Dunmow (Essex), Frances Mary Caroline (c.1807-34), daughter of John Smith of Bury St. Edmunds (Suffk), surgeon, and had issue:
(1) Francis Henry Beaumont (1834-1929) (q.v.).
He inherited the Buckland Court estate under the terms of his father's will when his elder brother inherited the baronetcy and Stoughton Grange estate in 1827; he came of age in 1829.
He died at Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex), 10 March, and was buried at Buckland, 22 March 1837; administration of his goods was granted to his son (then a young child) in December 1842 and was renewed, 2 January 1862. His wife died 30 July and was buried at Buckland, 7 August 1834.
Beaumont, Francis Henry (1834-1929). Only child of William Francis Bertie Beaumont (1808-37) and his wife Frances Mary Caroline, daughter of John Smith of Bury St. Edmunds (Suffk), baptised at Great Dunmow, 22 May 1834. He was orphaned before he was three, and was brought up by his grandmother, Bridget Beaumont, and his aunt Mary Ann Bridget Beaumont, at The Clock House, Great Dunmow. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1852; BA 1856; MA 1876), and was a freemason, 1855-62. In 1855, for an adventure, he and a friend sailed a small armed yacht from Cornwall into the theatre of the Crimean War in the Black Sea. He was an officer in the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry (Cornet, 1856; Lt. 1857) and the 5th Surrey Volunteer Rifle Corps (Lt., 1859), an Inspector for the Local Government Board, 1876-78 and a trustee and director of the London Life Association, 1879-1917 (President, 1890-1915), and one of the founders of the Army & Navy Stores. A Conservative in politics, he was a JP (from 1859) and DL (from 1903) for Surrey, Chairman of Reigate Board of Guardians (to 1878) and Treasurer of Surrey Quarter Sessions, 1878-1903. President of the Redhill Agricultural Society, 1862, 1911. In his last years his eyesight failed, but he maintained his interest in public affairs, having The Times read to him daily. He married, 1 July 1856 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Mary Emily (1832-1923), third daughter of Evan Baillie (1798-1883) of Dochfour (Inverness-shire), and had issue:
(1) Francis Montague Beaumont (1857-1936), born 27 September and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 1 November 1857; educated at Eton, New College, Oxford (matriculated 1876; rowing blue), the Inner Temple (admitted 1879) and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the King's Royal Rifle Corps (2nd Lt., 1880; Lt., 1881; Capt., 1890; Maj., 1897; retired 1901) who served in Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, and South Africa; lived at South Molton (Devon) and later at Chittlehamholt (Dorset); married, 21 July 1904 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, Sybil Ann (1877-1949), daughter of Higford Higford of Hartsfield, Betchworth (Surrey), and had issue one daughter; died of a heart attack while landing a salmon at Chittlehamholt (Dorset), 14 April, and was buried at Buckland, 17 April 1936; will proved 8 June 1936 (estate £1,140);(2) Evelyn Mary Jane Beaumont (1859-62), born 13 April and was baptised at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, 12 May 1859; died young, 22 October, and was buried at Buckland, 26 October 1862;(3) Beatrice Caroline Beaumont (1861-1941), born March 1861 and baptised at Buckland, 2 June 1861; succeeded her husband as President of the Mid-Gloucestershire Conservative Association, 1936, and was renowned for her charitable fundraising work; she married, 14 May 1899, Col. Sir Percival Scrope Marling VC CB (1861-1936), 3rd bt. of Stanley Park and Sedbury Park (Glos), but had no issue; died 28 July 1941 and was buried at Selsley (Glos); will proved 12 January and 4 May 1942 (estate £29,400);(4) Mary Georgina Beaumont (1863-1951), born 19 February and baptised at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, 29 April 1863; married, 19 June 1884 at Buckland, Henry Claude Fuller (1860-1926) of The Rookery, Dorking (Surrey), third son of George Arthur Fuller, and had issue one son and five daughters; died 7 June and was buried at Buckland, 11 June 1951; will proved 10 August 1951 (estate £318);(5) Cdr. Spencer William Montague Beaumont (1864-1914), born 3 July 1864; an officer in the Royal Navy (midshipman, 1879; Sub-Lt., 1883; Lt., 1886; retired as Cdr., 1907), who served in Egypt and Burma; lived latterly at Lowestoft (Suffk); died unmarried, 25 April 1914; administration of his goods was granted to his father (estate £189);(6) Hilda Augusta Beaumont (1872-1930) (q.v.).
He inherited the Buckland Court estate from his father in 1837 and came of age in 1855. He probably remodelled the house c.1857. He lived beyond his means and was obliged to sell some property and to raise a mortgage of £20,000 on the estate in 1904. In 1923 faced with another crisis he sold the estate to his son-in-law, Robert Sanders.
He died aged 94 on 21 January 1929; no will has been traced. His wife died 11 January and was buried at Buckland, 16 January 1923; her will was proved 8 February 1923 (estate £446).
Beaumont, Hilda Augusta Katherine (1872-1930). Fourth and youngest daughter of Francis Henry Beaumont (1834-1929) and his wife Mary Emily, third daughter of Evan Baillie of Dochfour (Inverness-shire), born 17 March and baptised at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), 24 April 1872. She married, 1 February 1899 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), Robert Massey Dawson Sanders (1862-1941) of Ballinacourty (Co. Tipperary) (burnt by the IRA in 1923) and later Sanders Park, Charleville (Co. Cork), son of Thomas Sanders (1816-92), and had issue:
(1) Charles Craven Sanders (1899-1985), born 8 December 1899; educated at Eton, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and Trinity College Cambridge (matriculated 1919; BA 1921; MA); apprenticed to J.J. Thorneycroft & Co., Southampton; engineer with Shell-Mex Oil Co. from 1926; engineer and company director (MIMechE, 1943); married 1st, 1 December 1926 (div. c.1939?), Anne Cornelia Favell (1899-1983), artist, daughter of Edwyn Robert Bevan, philosopher and philanthropist, and had issue one son and two daughters, whom she took to Canada in 1940; married 2nd, 27 August 1947, Marjorie Dalziel (b. 1903), daughter of Dr. James Smith MD of St. Albans (Herts) and widow of Lt. Benjamin Rhodes Armitage RNVR (1907-41), solicitor, son of Frederick Rhodes Armitage of Noan (Co. Tipperary); died May 1985;(2) Terence Robert Beaumont Sanders (1901-85), born 2 June 1901; educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (rowing blue); Olympic gold medallist in rowing at Paris, 1924; chartered civil engineer (FICE, FIMechE, FInstW); lecturer in engineering at Cambridge University and Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1925-39 (and Life Fellow, 1945); officer in the Territorial Army (2nd Lt., 1923; Capt. 1928; Maj. 1939; Col. 1945) attached to the Ministry of Supply, 1941-50; engineering adviser to British Standards Institution, 1952-71; chairman of the Buckland Sand & Silica Co and member of South-East Gas Board, 1961-69; High Sheriff of Surrey, 1967; DL for Surrey (from 1967); author of The University Boat Race Official Centenary History (1929) and The aims and principles of standardization (1972); married 1st, 10 December 1931 at the Brompton Oratory (Middx), Marion (1905-61), elder daughter of Col. A.W. Macdonald of Spean Bridge (Inverness-shire), and had issue five sons; married 2nd, Oct-Dec 1965, Deborah (1910-98), youngest daughter of Daniel Donoghue of Philadelphia (USA); died 6 April 1985; will proved 4 June 1985 (estate £423,466).
In 1923, her husband bought the Buckland Court estate from her father. After his death it passed to trustees for their sons.
She died 17 April and was buried at Buckland, 21 April 1930; her will was proved 31 January 1933 (estate £5,443). Her husband died 30 December 1941 and was buried at Buckland, 2 January 1942; his will was proved 30 June 1942 (estate £36,347).
Principal sources
Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, p. 126; L. La Zouche, Beaumont: Crusaders and Campaigners, 2nd edn, 2020, pp. 125-32.
Location of archives
No substantial accumulation is known to survive, although there are some 19th century estate maps in the Surrey History Centre [508]. Further papers may remain with the Sanders family.
Coat of arms
Azure, semée-de-lis, a lion rampant or.
Can you help?
- Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
- If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.
Revision and acknowledgements
This post was first published 20 May 2022.
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