Landed families of Britain and Ireland

This site, which was short-listed for the Society of Architectural Historians (GB) Colvin Prize in 2019, presents my research into the landowning families of the British Isles and the country houses which they owned. Comments, especially in the form of corrections, additional information or new illustrations, are very welcome. Please use the Contact Form in the right hand side bar to contact me privately or the comments facility at the bottom of the page to make a public comment.

Friday, 23 February 2024

(570) Berens of Kevington Hall

Berens of Kevington

The Berens or Behrens family name is said to originate in Schleswig-Holstein on the borders of Germany and Denmark, but the branch of the family that came to England in the 18th century were previously established as merchants in Amsterdam (Netherlands). The use of a black bear on their coat of arms suggests the family's mercantile interests may have begun in the Russian and/or Baltic trade, but during the 18th century they became general shipping merchants, trading with the Dutch East Indies, British India and North America, and the countries of western and southern Europe. Herman Berens (c.1702-91), with whom the genealogy below begins, was evidently living and working in England by 1732, when he took British nationality. By the 1740s he was in partnership in London with his brother John Berens (d. 1787), who was naturalised in 1762, although the two brothers later traded separately. In March 1761 John suffered a daring robbery of plate at his house in Copthall Court, London, and this experience may have prompted his decision to buy a property at Southgate (Middx), where he built a handsome villa to the designs of Sir Robert Taylor in 1762-63, which he called Beaver Hall. This house, which was sold by John's executors in 1790 and greatly extended soon afterwards, is recorded in its original form in a sketch plan and pencil elevation by William Newton, who visited in 1765.

Beaver Hall, Southgate: sketch plan and pencil elevation of the
house as first built, drawn by William Newton, 1765. Image: RIBA

Beaver Hall, Southgate: the house c.1870, showing it as enlarged c.1790.
Image: Enfield Local Studies Collection

John's brother, Herman Berens, would undoubtedly have been familiar with Beaver Hall, and probably also knew Taylor personally as they were both active in the city of London. It is no surprise, therefore, that when Herman followed his brother's lead and bought a villa outside London, in his case Kevington Hall at St Mary Cray (Kent), it was to Taylor that he turned to modernise and enlarge it.

Herman's purchase of a country villa began the family's transition from city merchants to landed gentry, which was continued by his only surviving son Joseph Berens (1745-1825), whose marriage connected them to the greater gentry. Like his father, Joseph was a director of the Hudson's Bay Company, but he seems to have retired from business in 1795 and devoted himself to the traditional roles of the landed gentry, as a justice of the peace and an officer in the local volunteers. His four sons were all sent to Oxford, and the two eldest went on Lincoln's Inn and became barristers, while the others went into the church and academia. The eldest son, Joseph Berens junior (1773-1853), succeeded in combining a significant position in the city (being Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1812-22) with his role as a landowner. He married a daughter of Richard Benyon of Gidea Hall (Essex) and Englefield House (Berks), and had five sons and one daughter. His eldest son, William Joseph Berens (1800-54), had pursued a career in the army, but he was terminally ill and in the throes of a messy divorce when his father died, and Kevington passed to his younger brother, Richard Beauvoir Berens (1801-59). Like his father, Richard was a barrister and pursued a career in the city, being Governor of the New River Co. - responsible for much of London's water supply - from 1847 until his death.

Richard was in turn succeeded at Kevington by his elder son, Richard Benyon Berens (1834-1916), who was the first of the family not to combine a career in the city with his responsibilities as a landowner. In 1883, he inherited the Culford Hall estate in Suffolk from his kinsman, the Rev. Edward Richard Benyon, but he sold it about five years later. He married the daughter of a leading lawyer and had nine children, several of whom predeceased him. His heir apparent, Richard Berens (1864-1909), was a barrister who was married but left no children, and his next son, the Rev. George Berens (later Berens-Dowdeswell) (1866-1945), was expected to inherit the Pull Court estate in Worcestershire from a cousin. When Richard died in 1916, therefore, he left Kevington to his widow, Fanny Georgina (c.1840-1924), with remainder to his fifth son, Cecil Berens (1869-1933), who had studied at the Royal Agricultural College and become a land agent. He had two sons and two daughters, but his younger son, a pilot in the RAF, died in an unexplained flying accident over Southampton Water in 1932. When he died in 1933, Cecil left a surprisingly large estate, in excess of £140,000, and it is not clear what the source of this wealth - six times what his father had left in 1916 - was. His elder son, Herbert Cecil Benyon Berens (1908-91), who became an accountant and merchant banker and amassed a considerable fortune, inherited Kevington, but the house was requisitioned for military use in the Second World War. By the time it was returned to the family the tentacles of London suburbia were creeping towards St Mary Cray and rather than repair and reoccupy the house he chose to sell it to Kent County Council for use as a primary school and to buy the more rural Bentworth Hall near Alton in Hampshire as a replacement seat. Bentworth was a less impressive house than Kevington, and probably rather smaller, but Herbert enlarged it with the addition of a single-storey wing (which ironically looks rather like a primary school classroom block). He lived at Bentworth until his death, after which it was sold, marking the close of the family's period as landed gentry.

Kevington Hall, St Mary Cray, Kent

The estate belonged from later medieval times until the mid 18th century to the Manning family, whose house here was known as Manning's Hall. It was taxed on 12 hearths in 1664, but nothing is known about its character or appearance. After it was sold to Herman Behrens (d. 1791), it was remodelled and enlarged by Sir Robert Taylor in 1767-69, at a cost of £6,192. Behrens' notebook, of which there is a copy in the RIBA Library, records the purchase of the land, the alterations to the house, the building of the offices and garden wall, together with costs of materials and labour. Berens perhaps knew Taylor through their respective connections in the city of London, but Richard Garnier has shown that the work at Kevington followed on Taylor's building of Beaver Hall, Southgate (Middx) in c.1762-63 for Herman Berens' brother, John Berens (d. 1787), and this probably led to the commission.

Kevington Hall: the entrance front in 1938. Image: Historic England BB71/9324

Kevington Hall: the south front in 1938, showing the bow window added by Joseph Berens. Image: Historic England BB71/9619

The house at Kevington is unusually plain by Taylor's standards, with few of his characteristic design features, such as shaped rooms, octagonal glazing, and elaborate Rococo plasterwork. Once the works were completed, the house showed no outward sign of its earlier origins, and became a square two and a half storey villa. Perhaps surprisingly, there seem to be no published engravings of the house showing it at this time, and as it was altered after Herman's death for his son, Joseph Berens (1745-1825), we cannot be quite certain what it looked like originally. Joseph added the broad curved bow - which stylistically could be an original feature but which is not bonded in to the rest of the elevation - to the centre of the south front, and no doubt also the tripartite windows on the upper floors of the west front, largely giving the house its present external appearance. Later additions include the single-storey stuccoed bays built out either side of the curved bow, containing panelled tripartite windows flanked by pilasters, and probably also the large pedimented porch on the west front, which has twin Doric engaged columns with narrow windows between them and further windows on the sides.

Kevington Hall: the dining room in 1938. Image: Historic England BB71/9341

Kevington Hall: the drawing room in 1938. Image: Historic England BB71/9339

Inside, the house was a good deal more altered in the 19th century and later, and little of the original simple but elegant neo-classical decoration survives now. The best that remains is in the former dining room, which has a delicate swagged circular panel on one wall, formerly set above a fireplace, and further decorative plaster panels around the rest of the room. Photographs taken in 1938 show the house as it was during the ownership of the Berens family, with good ceiling cornices in the main rooms and a fine chimneypiece in the bow-ended drawing room. Probably around 1900, the entrance hall and the staircase behind were thrown into a single long room divided by an elliptical archway, and the original staircase was replaced with the present open well stair with rather widely spaced and spindly turned balusters.

Kevington Hall: the house today, after extensive recent restoration.

Kevington Hall: the hall and staircase today.

In the Second World War the house was requisitioned and used as the headquarters of the Canadian army in Europe. At the end of the war it was returned to the Berens family but quickly sold to Kent County Council, which used it to house a primary (later infants') school. During forty years of school use, the historic interiors were considerably abraded, and additional accommodation was built on the site. The additions were all removed after the building returned to private ownership in 1987, and there have been several phases of restoration work since then. The house is now used as a conference centre and wedding venue, but the hall and staircase and the former library remain decorated and furnished in country house style.

Descent: John Manning (d. 1435); to son, Hugh Manning (c.1431-1503); to younger son, Richard Manning; to son, John Manning; to son, Edward Manning; to son, Edward Manning (d. 1640); to son, Edward Manning; to son, Edward Manning (c.1654-1703); to son, Richard Manning (d. 1753); to nephew, Denzil Onslow (c.1698-1765); to son, Middleton Onslow (1732-1801), who sold to Herman Behrens (c.1702-91); to son, Joseph Berens (1773-1853); to son, Richard Beauvoir Berens (1801-59); to son, Richard Benyon Berens (1834-1916); to son, Cecil Berens (1869-1933); to son, Herbert Cecil Berens (1908-81); requisitioned during WW2 and sold 1947 to Kent County Council; transferred 1965 to Bromley London Borough Council; sold 1987; sold 1993... Mrs Janet Jackson (fl. 2006); to son, Jonathan Barlow Jackson (b. 1980).

Bentworth Hall, Hampshire

The house was built for Roger Staples Horman-Fisher after he bought the estate in 1832, as a replacement for the late medieval Hall Place, (which became a farmhouse). The new house was sited on a gentle ridge of open downland dotted with abandoned chalk pits, to the south of its predecessor. Alongside the construction of the house, Horman-Fisher laid out a small park, with a gate-lodge at the edge of Bentworth village and extensive woodland planting to provide shelter belts and an attractive setting for the house.

Bentworth Hall: the newly-built in c.1835-40, from an amateur watercolour. Image: Public Domain.

The house itself was a Tudor villa with mullioned windows, of two storeys, with a front of three bays that gave a misleadingly modest impression, for further ranges to the rear made it much bigger than it looked at first, and in 1848 it had six principal bedrooms. The most remarkable feature of the house was that it was built of beautifully squared and coursed knapped flint ('carefully and minutely cut and smoothed at an incalculable cost' according to the sale particulars of 1848) with stone dressings. Inside, the hall and staircase were surrounded by four reception rooms (library, drawing room, dining room and breakfast room).

Bentworth Hall: the house in 1905.

Bentworth Hall: the house in 1983, showing the single-storey Modernist addition of the 1950s.

After Maj. Berens bought the estate in 1947, he built a single-storey flat-roofed extension to the south side of the house, with large floor-length plate glass windows like a contemporary primary school, and also added two further lodges in neo-Georgian style, designed by Hugh Vaux. After his death, attempts to sell the house as a single unit were unsuccessful, and the property was divided into three dwellings, with two more being created later in the former stable block.

Descent: built c.1832 for Roger Staples Horman-Fisher (1792-1866); sold c.1845 to Charles Bushe; sold 1848 to Jeremiah Robert Ives (d. 1865); to widow, Emma Ives (d. 1897); to son, Col. Gordon Maynard Gordon-Ives (d. 1907) of Gaston Grange; to son, Cecil Maynard Gordon-Ives (d. 1923); sold 1924 to Arthur d'Anyers Willis; sold 1932 to Maj. John Arthur Pryor, but requisitioned for military use in Second World War; sold 1947 to Maj. Herbert Cecil Berens (1908-81); sold after his death and divided into flats. The house was leased from c.1900-23 to William Graham Nicholson MP (1862-1942) of Basing Park.

Berens family of Kevington Hall

Berens, Hermanus alias Herman (c.1702-91). Son of Hermanus Behrens of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and his wife Regina, born about 1702. In partnership with his brother John (and possibly also another brother, Joseph) he established a mercantile house in London, engaged in general shipping business. The partnership was later broken and Herman became a director of the East India Company and of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was naturalized as an Englishman, 1732. Alderman of the City of London by 1780. He married, 17 July 1742, Magdalen (1721-90), daughter of Etienne alias Stephen Riou (1676-1740), and had issue:

(1) John Stephen Berens (1743-67), baptised at St Bartholomew Exchange, London, 25 August 1743; probably died unmarried and was buried at Enfield, 19 February 1767;

(2) Joseph Berens (1745-1825) (q.v.);
(3) Magdalen Berens (1746-1800), baptised at St Bartholomew Exchange, London, 13 March 1745/6; died unmarried and was buried at Orpington, 5 June 1800; will proved in the PCC, 14 June 1800;
(4) Catherine Berens (1749-1826), baptised at Enfield (Middx), 20 August 1749; died unmarried and was buried at Orpington, 18 November 1826; will proved in the PCC, 1 December 1826.

He purchased Kevington Hall in about 1766, and enlarged it to the designs of Sir Robert Taylor, 1767-69.

He died 31 December 1791 and was buried at Orpington (Kent); his will was proved in the PCC, 13 January 1795. His wife died 11 July 1790 and was also buried at Orpington.

Berens, Joseph (1745-1825). Only surviving son of Herman Behrens (c.1702-91) and his wife Magdalen, daughter of Etienne alias Stephen Riou, born in London, 21 February and baptised at St Bartholomew Exchange, London, 28 February 1744/5. A director of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1776-95. DL for Kent (from 1797). An officer in the Kevington Volunteer Infantry (Capt., 1798). He married, 17 August 1772 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Elizabeth (d. 1827), second daughter* of Sir Edward Hulse of Breamore (Hants), and had issue:

(1) Joseph Berens (1773-1853) (q.v.);
(2) Elizabeth Magdalene Berens (1774-86), baptised at St Botolph, Bishopsgate, London, 26 October 1774; died young, 28 May, and was buried at Wilmington (Kent), 1 June 1786;
(3) Henry Berens (1776-1852), born 19 February and baptised at Farningham (Kent), 24 March 1776; educated at Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1795; called 1804); barrister-at-law; one of three commissioners appointed to inquire into the collection of excise duty, 1833; died unmarried, 12 May, and was buried at Sidcup (Kent), 22 May 1852; will proved 7 June 1852;
(4) Ven. Edward Berens (1777-1859), baptised at Sutton-at-Hone (Kent), 4 August 1777; educated at Christ Church and Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1795; BA 1798; MA 1801); ordained deacon, 1801 and priest, 1802; domestic chaplain to Bishop of Exeter, 1803-17; vicar of Shrivenham (Berks), 1804-55 and rector of Englefield (Berks), 1817-55; rural dean and a prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, 1829-32; Archdeacon of Berkshire, 1832-55; a liberal in politics and a supporter of religious orthodoxy with high church leanings, he wrote for the Quarterly Review and also published works including Church Reform (1828), Advice to a Young Man on first going to Oxford (1832) and Steadfast Adherence to the Church of England, Recommended and Enforced (1852); he resided at Shrivenham, where he built a new vicarage to the designs of Richard Pace of Lechlade in 1805; he married, 30 December 1805, Catherine (1781-1865), daughter of Rt. Rev. Henry Reginald Courtenay, bishop of Exeter, but had no issue; died 7 April 1859; will proved 24 June 1859 (effects under £45,000);
(5) Maria Anne Berens (1778-1849), baptised at Sutton-at-Hone, 12 October 1778; married, 24 April 1804, at Farnborough (Kent), Rev. John Pratt (c.1773-1861), rector of Sedlescombe (Sussex), 1803-61, son of Henry Pratt of Orpington (Kent), and had issue four sons and three daughters; buried at Sedlescombe, 26 April 1849;
(6) Sophia Caroline Berens (1780-1851), baptised at Sutton-at-Hone, 4 June 1780; married, 21 June 1804 at Sedlescombe (Sussex), Benjamin Harenc (1780-1825) of Foots Cray Place (Kent), and had issue five sons and four daughters; died 4 July 1851; will proved 18 February 1851;
(7) Richard Berens (1781-1849), born 1 October and baptised at Sutton-at-Hone (Kent), 28 October 1781; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1800; BA 1804) and All Souls College (BCL 1807; DCL 1813); Fellow and Bursar of All Souls College; died unmarried at his house in London, 13 June 1849, and was buried at All Souls College, where he is commemorated by a monument; will proved in the PCC, 12 July 1849.

He lived first at Hextable House (Kent) and after his father's death at Kevington.

He died 19 December 1825 and was buried at Orpington (Kent); his will was proved in the PCC, 31 December 1825. His widow died 27 April 1827 and was buried with her husband the following day.

* Her elder sister, Hannah, married Richard Benyon (later Benyon de Beauvoir) (1770-1854), establishing a close connection between the two families.

Berens, Joseph (1773-1853). Eldest son of Joseph Behrens (1745-1825) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edward Hulse of Breamore (Hants), baptised at St Botolph, Bishopsgate, London, 25 May 1773. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1791; BA 1796; MA 1798) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1795; called 1800). Barrister-at-law; Recorder of Romney Marsh by 1815. A member of the Hudson's Bay Company (Committee Member, 1801-33; Deputy Governor, 1807-12; Governor 1812-22). An officer in the Kevington Volunteer Infantry (Lt., 1798; Capt., 1798) and the London & Westminster Light Horse Volunteers (Cornet, 1809; Lt. 1812; Capt., 1815). He married, 11 June 1799 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Charlotte (1774-1854), third daughter of Richard Benyon (1746-96) of Gidea Park (Essex) and Englefield House (Berks), and had issue:

(1) William Joseph Berens (1800-54), of Orpington Hall (Kent), baptised at St Giles in the Fields, Holborn (Middx), 12 June 1800; educated at Westminster; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1822; Lt., 1825; Capt., 1827; retired 1837) and later the West Kent Yeomanry Cavalry (Capt. 1848); JP for Kent; married, 20 July 1837 (div. 1854*) at Greasley (Notts), Louisa Maria (1813-57), daughter of Lancelot Rollston, but had no issue; died at Ryde (IoW), 11 June 1854; will proved in the PCC, 8 September 1854;
(2) Richard Beauvoir Berens (1801-1859) (q.v.);
(3) Henry Hulse Berens (1804-83), of Sidcup (Kent), born 21/24 November and baptised at St Giles in the Fields, Holborn (Middx), 23 December 1804; JP for Kent and a Commissioner of Lieutenancy for London; a director of the Bank of England, 1849-80; Governor of Hudson's Bay Co., 1858-63 (Committee Member 1833-63 and Deputy Governor, 1856-58), and auditor of the New River Company; a freemason from 1851; married, 30 October 1841 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Ellinor (1815-46), daughter of George Stone of Coopers, Chislehurst (Kent), and had issue one daughter (who with her husband took the name Berens in 1885); died 23 August 1883 and was buried at Sidcup (Kent); will proved 19 November 1883 (effects £71,282);
(4) Rev. Edward Riou Berens (1807-66), born 12 January and baptised at St Giles in the Fields, Holborn (Middx), 13 February 1807; educated at Westminster, Christ Church and St Mary's Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1825; BA 1831; MA 1832); ordained deacon, 1831 and priest, 1832; vicar of Broxted and rector of Wickford (Essex), 1833-39 and Downham (Essex), 1839-66; married, 21 August 1849 at Woodmansterne (Surrey), Sophia Frances (1807-1900), daughter of Thomas Walpole of Stagbury, Woodmansterne, and had issue one daughter (who died young); died 31 July 1866; will proved 22 September 1866 (effects under £35,000);
(5) Charlotte Elizabeth Berens (1813-81), baptised at St Paul's Cray, 29 August 1813; after the death of her father, she lived with her brother Henry; died unmarried, 12 September, and was buried at Sidcup, 17 September 1881; administration of goods granted to her brother, 19 October 1881 (effects £40,265);
(6) George Samuel Berens (1819-43), baptised at St Pauls Cray (Kent), 31 January 1819; joined the Royal Navy and was mate of HMS Harlequin during an action in China for which the crew received medals, 1842; died 11 September 1843 and was buried at sea off the island of Borneo; administration of goods granted to his father, 1844.

He inherited Kevington Hall from his father in 1794.

He died at Downham (Essex) but was buried at Orpington, 11 January 1853; his will was proved in the PCC, 18 February 1853. His widow died 1 July 1854.

* This was a sensational divorce case. After a very short acquaintance, Louisa eloped in 1853 with John Coventry (1793-1871) of Burgate House, Fordingbridge (Hants), son of the Hon. John Coventry (whom she married 2nd, 13 January 1857 at St Marylebone (Middx)). Efforts to trace the couple, who evidently stayed in hotels in Liverpool and Manchester as husband and wife, were unsuccessful. Berens initiated divorce proceedings in the House of Lords, but the bill only passed its final stages in the House of Commons a day or two after he had died.

Berens, Richard Beauvoir (1801-59). Second son of Joseph Berens (c.1773-1853) and his wife Charlotte, daughter of Richard Benyon of Englefield House (Berks), born 14/16 December 1801 and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields (Middx), 27 January 1802. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1820; BA 1823; MA 1827) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1823; called 1828). Barrister-at-law. An officer in the West Kent Yeomanry Cavalry (Cornet, 1830). Governor of the New River Company, c.1847-59. He married, 10 January 1833 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Catharine (1801-78), daughter of John Edmund Dowdeswell MP (1772-1851) of Pull Court (Worcs), and had issue:

(1) Richard Benyon Berens (1834-1916) (q.v.);
(2) Catharine Frances Carolina Berens (1837-92), born 10 November and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 13 December 1837; married, 12 August 1880 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Lt-Col. Wilmot Grant (1839-1909) (who m2, 31 October 1893 at Thurlbere (Som.), Frances Mary (c.1863-1920), daughter of George Edwin Lance, judge in Indian civil service), son of Col. Edward Fitzherbert Grant; died without issue, 4 October 1892; will proved 10 January 1893 (effects £48,281);
(3) Edward Osmond Berens (1839-72), born 27 July 1839; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1857; BA 1861; MA 1864); an officer in the Kent Rifle Volunteers (Lt., 1860); died without issue, 31 January, and was buried at Orpington, 6 February 1872, where he is commemorated by a monument in the churchyard; will proved 22 February 1872 (effects under £14,000).

He inherited Kevington Hall from his father in 1853.

He died of a stroke while riding, 25 February 1859, and was buried at Orpington where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved 11 May 1859. His widow died 5 August 1878 and was buried at Orpington, 10 August 1878, where she is commemorated on her husband's monument.

Richard Benyon Berens (1834-1916)
Image: National Portrait Gallery
Berens, Richard Benyon (1834-1916). Elder son of Richard Beauvoir Berens (d. 1859) and his wife Catharine, daughter of John Edmund Dowdeswell MP, born 15 March 1834. Educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1852; BA 1857; MA 1865). An officer in the West Kent Yeomanry Cavalry (Cornet, 1859; Lt., 1863; retired 1870). JP (from 1861) and DL (from 1892) for Kent; High Sheriff of Kent, 1893-94. He married, 13 June 1860 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Fanny Georgina (c.1840-1924), daughter of Alexander Atherton Park, Master of the Court of Common Pleas, and had issue, with a daughter who was stillborn in 1861:

(1) Richard Berens (b. & d. 1863), born 22 January and baptised at St Mary Cray, 12 February 1863; died in infancy and was buried at Orpington (Kent), 14 March 1863;
(2) Richard Berens (1864-1909), born 28 January and baptised at St Mary Cray, 20 March 1864; educated at Westminster, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1882; BA 1887; MA 1890) and Inner Temple (admitted 1887; called 1892); barrister-at-law; married, 3 December 1900 at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), Elizabeth Evelyn (c.1877-1946) (who m2, 17 April 1915, Maj. Edgar Oswald Anderson (1876-1945)), daughter of John Fitzgibbons of Belton, Doncaster (Yorks); died in the lifetime of his father, at Felixstowe (Suffk), 14 July 1909; will proved 11 December 1909 (estate £9,249);
(3) Rev. George Berens (later Berens-Dowdeswell) (1866-1945), born 11 January 1866; educated at Westminster, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1884; BA 1888; MA 1891) and Leeds Clerical School (admitted 1888); ordained deacon, 1889 and priest, 1891; curate, 1889-1904 and vicar, 1904-07 of St Andrew, Bethnal Green (Middx); curate of Harworth (Notts), 1908-11; rector of Foots Cray (Kent), 1911-21; assumed the additional name Dowdeswell by royal licence, 1916, on inheriting the Pull Court estate from his cousin, but was driven to sell it by the pressure of taxation, 1932, and retired to The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay (Berks); married, 23 September 1918 at Foots Cray, Eveleen Mary MA, Fellow of British College of Nurses (1875-1967), eldest daughter of Dr William Hunter MD of Rothesay (Bute); died 28 November 1945 and was buried at Bushley (Worcs);
(4) Herbert Berens (1867-97), born 2 October and baptised at St Mary Cray, 17 November 1867; educated at Westminster; captain of the St Mary Cray fire brigade, 1895-97; died unmarried of pneumonia, 2 December 1897, and was buried at St Mary Cray;
(5) Cecil Berens (1869-1933) (q.v.);
(6) Maud Catherine Berens (1871-1960), born 28 September and baptised at St Mary Cray, 19 November 1871; married 1st, 25 November 1920 at St Mary Cray, Henry Pitt Tozer (1864-1928) of Bere Regis (Dorset); married 2nd, 3 June 1931 at Bere Regis (Dorset), William Bedford (1858-1936); died without issue, 9 July 1960; will proved 12 September 1960 (estate £25,045);
(7) Edward Berens (1873-1938), born 24 October and baptised at St Mary Cray, 21 December 1873; educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1892; BA 1897); member of Bromley Board of Guardians, 1917-30 and Bromley Rural District Council, 1922-35; a keen cricketer; died unmarried, 2 October 1938; administration of goods (with will annexed) granted 25 November 1938 (estate £10,610);
(8) Atherton Berens (1877-1940), born 21 May 1877; educated at Westminster and Pembroke College, Oxford; farmer; served in First World War with Army Service Corps, 1916-18; married, 3 November 1906 at St John, Paddington (Middx), Wenefrede Dorothy (1875-1956), daughter of Joseph Watson Overbury of London, and had issue three daughters; died 11 February 1940; will proved 13 April 1940 (estate £126);
(9) Violet Frances Berens (1880-1949), born 10 November 1880; married, 31 July 1906 at St Mary Cray, Edward Loxley Waring (1863-1933) of Halstead Hall, Sevenoaks (Kent), son of William Waring of Woodlands, Chelsfield (Kent), and had issue; died 26 July 1949; will proved 10 October 1949 (estate £14,737).

He inherited Kevington Hall from his father in 1859. At his death he bequeathed it to his widow for life, with remainder to his fifth son, Cecil. He also inherited Culford Hall (Suffk) on the death of his kinsman, the Rev. Edward Richard Benyon, in 1883, but sold it about five years later to the Earl Cadogan.

He died 28 October 1916; will proved 21 February 1917 (estate £23,075). His widow died 4 April 1924; her will was proved 14 July 1924 (estate £3,463).

Berens, Cecil (1869-1933). Fifth son of Richard Benyon Berens (1834-1916) and his wife Fanny Georgina, daughter of Alexander Atherton Park, Master of the Court of Common Pleas, born 12 May and baptised at St Mary Cray, 20 June 1869. Educated at Sherborne and Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Estate agent. Master of West Kent Harriers, 1886-1905. During the First World War he was an Inspector of the Special Constabulary. JP for Kent (from 1922) and a member of Bromley Rural District Council and Bromley Board of Guardians. He married, 27 July 1905 at St Mary Abbots, Kensington (Middx), Mildred Turnour (1886-1984), only daughter of James Blackwood of Foots Cray (Kent), and had issue:

(1) Violet Cecil Turnour Berens (1907-70), born 26 June 1907; married, 25 July 1931 at St Mary Cray, Geoffrey Arthur John Smallwood (1900-73) of Milford (Staffs), barrister-at-law, deputy chairman of Leicestershire Quarter Sessions, 1947-71 and a stipendiary magistrate in Stoke-on-Trent, 1960-73, son of Arthur I. Smallwood of Leamington Spa (Warks); died 24 June 1970; administration of goods granted 1 October 1970 (estate £8,051);
(2) Herbert Cecil Benyon Berens (1908-81) (q.v.);
(3) Richard James Berens (1911-32), born 25 July 1911; an officer in the Royal Air Force (Pilot Officer); died as the result of a flying accident over Southampton Water, 4 December 1932;
(4) Rita Sylvia Berens (1913-2002), born 4 September 1913; married, 5 August 1940 in India, as his second wife, Lt-Cdr. Patrick Spencer Boyle RN (1906-78) of Ashe Park (Hants), only son of Capt. the Hon. Edward Spencer Henry Boyle RN, and had issue one son; died 7 November 2002; will proved 9 June 2003 (estate £128,796).

He inherited Kevington Hall on the death of his mother in 1924.

He died 30 December 1933 and was buried at St Mary Cray Cemetery; his will was proved 26 February and 19 March 1934 (estate £141,323). His widow married 2nd, 10 November 1945, Sir Oliver Hamilton Augustus Hart-Dyke (1885-1969), 8th bt., and died aged 98 at Balgowen, Natal (South Africa), 9 June 1984; her will was proved 8 November 1984 (estate in England & Wales, £20,136).

Berens, Herbert Cecil Benyon (1908-81). Elder son of Cecil Berens (1869-1933) and his wife Mildred Turnour, only daughter of James Blackwood of Foots Cray (Kent), born 16 October 1908. Educated at Wellington College and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1927). Merchant banker who began his career as an accountant with Hambro's Bank, 1931-39. An officer in the City of London Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1939; Capt. by 1942; Hon. Maj.), who served in the Second World War with the Royal Armoured Corps and was a Prisoner of War, 1941-43; awarded the MC, 1942. After the war he was managing director of Anglo-Foreign Securities, 1944-51, and the Bentworth Trust from 1951, and was later a director of the Allied Irish Bank, 1966; and of Hambro's Bank, 1968 and Chairman of International Distillers, 1962-72 and Evans of Leeds, 1972. As a young man he played cricket for the Kent Second XI. He married, 10 October 1931 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Moyra Nancy (1907-94), daughter of Louis Oliver Mellard (1873-1954), and had issue:

(1) Richard Wilfrid Beauvoir Berens (1933-98), born 18 February 1933; educated at Eton; colourful journalist who edited the 'William Hickey' column in the Daily Express and was notoriously a gambler and alcoholic; married 1st, 10 April 1958 (div. 1962), Hon. Nicole (k/a Minty) (1936-2011) (who m2, Michael Russell (1933-2020), literary agent and publisher, son of Edward Dennis Russell of Bournemouth (Hants), solicitor), only daughter of Richard Francis Roger Yarde-Buller (1910-91), 4th Baron Churston, and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 6 January 1965 (div.), Virginia Rose (1940-2023) (who m2, 1971, Mark Charles Grenville Fortescue (1947-82), son of Brig. Arthur Henry Grenville Fortescue MC (1913-2005), and had further issue two daughters), youngest daughter of Anthony William Fabio Caccia-Birch MC (1898-1986) of Guernsey Lodge, Marton (New Zealand), and had issue one daughter; married 3rd, Oct-Dec 1971, Barbara, only daughter of Charles A. Neil, and had further issue two daughters; died 8 July 1998; will proved 16 September 1998;
(2) Penelope Anne Georgina Berens (b. 1934), born 9 August 1934; married, 29 May 1954, Geoffrey Jackson Ackroyd (1930-82) of Candover Park, Brown Candover (Hants), second son of Geoffrey Ackroyd of Hayley Green Farm, Warfield (Berks), and had issue two sons and two daughters;
(3) Jonathan Christopher Dowdeswell Berens (1936-76), born 11 December 1936; educated at Eton; partner in a firm of stockbrokers; married, 14 July 1960, Phoebe Helen (b. 1939) (who m2, 1986, Duncan A. Cavenagh), younger daughter of Leslie William Parkhouse of St Mary Abbots House, London W14, and had issue three daughters; committed suicide, 22 October 1976; will proved 19 January 1977 (estate £158,666);
(4) David John Cecil (k/a Henry) Berens (b. 1939), born 7 October 1939; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (MA 1961); managing director of London Trust plc, investment managers; married, 3 October 1963, Janet Roxburgh (1943-2019), youngest daughter of Archibald Roxburgh Balfour MC (1883-1958) of Lima (Peru), and had issue two sons and two daughters.

He inherited Kevington Hall from his father in 1933, but sold it in 1947 and purchased Bentworth Hall (Hants), which was sold after his death.

He died 27 October 1981; his will was proved 8 March 1982 (estate £1,105,564). His widow died 12 February 1994; her will was proved 12 May 1994 (estate £31,370).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1969, p. 43; B. Cherry & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: London - South, 1983, p. 193; M. Binney, Sir Robert Taylor, 1984, p. 95; R. Garnier, 'Two "Crystalline" Villas of the 1760s', The Georgian Group Journal, 1997, pp. 9-25; M. Bullen, J. Crook, R. Hubbock & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Hampshire - Winchester and the North, 2010, p. 178;

https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101359374-kevington-county-primary-school-cray-valley-east-ward;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentworth_Hall;

http://research.hgt.org.uk/item/bentworth-hall/.

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive, but some papers may remain with the family.

Coat of arms

Argent, on a mount vert a bear passant sable.

Can you help?

Can anyone explain the source of the wealth which Cecil Berens (1869-1933) left at his death?
Can anyone provide full information on the ownership of Kevington Hall since 1987?
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 23 February 2024 and was updated 25 February 2024.