(613) Bickford and Coham (later Dickinson) of Dunsland House and Coham House

Coham of Coham

Bickford of Dunsland

This post tells the stories of two Devon families, who were linked by marriage and by their successive possession of the Dunsland estate near Great Torrington: the Bickfords and the Cohams.

Dunsland had been a seat of the Arscott family from the 16th century, but on the death of Arthur Arscott in 1662 it passed to his daughter Grace, the widow of William Bickford (d. 1659) of Plympton (Devon) and St Keverne (Cornwall), with whom the genealogy below begins. Grace survived her husband until 1687, when the Dunsland estate passed to their son, Arscott Bickford (c.1636-93), who at once put in hand a major remodelling and enlargement of the house, which seems to have been completed by the time of his death six years later. Arscott married three times, but his only surviving sons were the children of his third marriage and were still minors when he died. The elder son was William Bickford (1684-1740), who again married three times and left four sons by his two later marriages. William does not seem to have altered the house at Dunsland, but his heir, Arscott Bickford (1713-71), may have acquired a very richly carved chimneypiece from Stowe House, Kilkhampton (Cornw.), when that house was dismantled in 1739 and installed it in the drawing room at Dunsland. Arscott died unmarried, having outlived his brothers, and so on his death Dunsland passed to his half-brother, George Bickford (1735-95) of Okehampton (Devon). George and his wife had one son and three daughters, and Dunsland passed in the normal way to his son, Arscott Bickford (c.1769-1817), who pursued a career in the regular army, at first in the infantry and later in the cavalry, retiring as a captain in about 1805. He was active in managing his estate, but he remained unmarried, and so at his death the estate devolved upon his sister Mary (d. 1839) and her husband, the Rev. William Holland Coham (1763-1825) of Coham House.

The Cohams of Coham House in Black Torrington (Devon) have a much more ancient lineage than the Bickfords, and Burke's Landed Gentry in 1898 said 'it is not known when its possessors did not dwell there, they having possessed it from time immemorial". Certainly it is true that many families who took their surnames from their estates did so at a fairly early date, but in the case of the Cohams there seems to be no actual proof of their association with the property before the mid 16th century, partly because a devastating fire at Coham in the early 18th century is said to have destroyed many of the family muniments. However long the family's roots in the rich Devon soil are, however, they were not regarded as county gentry until at least the 17th century, and are ignored in the herald's visitations of 1531, 1564 and 1620. I have chosen to begin the genealogy below with Lewis Coham (1632-91?), who like William Bickford (d. 1659), married into the Arscott family, as it may have been this marriage which raised the social status of the family significantly. Lewis and his wife had a large family of ten children, among whom the heir was their eldest son, Stephen Coham (1676-1756?). At some point in his tenure, probably around 1716, the house at Coham was largely destroyed by fire, and was not immediately rebuilt, as by his marriage of 1706 Stephen had come into possession of a farmhouse at Upcott Avenel in Sheepwash (Devon), to which he removed. It was left to his eldest son, Lewis Coham (1706-78), who spent most of his life as a mercer in Great Torrington, to rebuild the family seat at Coham, which was still unfinished when he died. Lewis and his wife were childless, and his heir was his nephew, Stephen Coham (1751-86), who completed his uncle's house and moved in about 1779. He died unmarried just a few years later, when the estate passed to his younger brother, the Rev. William Holland Coham (1763-1825), whose wife was, as we have seen, the heiress of the Bickfords of Dunsland.

The integration of the estates at Dunsland, Coham, Upcott Avenel, and Warleggan (Cornwall) made the Cohams more prosperous than before, and their status was also strengthened by three successive generations being 'squarsons': clergymen with benefices in the same area as their landholdings. William Holland Coham was succeeded by his eldest son, the Rev. William Bickford Coham (1792-1843), who further strengthened the family's connections by marrying the eldest daughter of Joseph Davie Bassett of Heanton Court and Watermouth Castle, the chairman of Devon Quarter Sessions. Their eldest son and heir, William Holland Bickford Coham (1828-80) did not enter the church but was active in public affairs in the county, including twenty-five years as a member of the North Devon Yeomanry Cavalry. In 1872 he built a new front block to the house at Coham, which he seems to have preferred to the grander house at Dunsland. His wife came from an Anglo-Irish family (how they met seems not to be recorded), but they had no sons and only one daughter. As a result, the estates were divided on William's death in 1880, with Coham passing to his daughter, Elinor (1861-1938), while Dunsland went to his sister, Augusta (1831-1901) under a settlement of 1839. In 1883, Elinor married John Blyth Fleming (1860-1921), who took the name Coham-Fleming on their marriage, and on her death the Coham estate descended to her grandson, William Holland Bickford Coham-Fleming (1912-2008). After military use in the Second World War, he converted the house into an hotel, and later bed-and-breakfast accommodation, and it is now available for short-term lets. The family continue to farm the Coham estate.

Augusta Christiana Davie Dickinson (1831-1901), who inherited Dunsland in 1880, was a widow with a son and twin daughters. Her son, Arscott William Harvey Dickinson (1859-1952) was educated at Oxford and the Inner Temple, and became a barrister. His professional activities being focused in London, he made a new home at Sydenham (Kent) and later retired to Bude on the Cornish coast. Dunsland fell into disrepair, and in 1947 he sold it. In the 1950s its future seemed promising, as it came into the hands of the architect, Philip Tilden, who began repairs, and then passed to the National Trust, which instituted a thorough programme of repairs before opening the house to the public. Unfortunately, in 1967, when work had recently been completed and the house had just been furnished, it was gutted by fire, and the shell being deemed unsafe was too quickly pulled down.

Dunsland House, Bradford (Devon)

An account of this house was given in a previous post.

Coham House, Black Torrington (Devon)

The Cohams have been at Coham House since at least the 16th century, and possibly much longer, but their ancient home was destroyed by fire in about 1716 and the site was abandoned for half a century, with the family moving to Upcott Avenel in Sheepwash parish (Devon). 

Coham House: what is now the rear wing represents the new house built for Lewis Coham in the 1770s. Image: Chris Andrews. Some rights reserved.

Only in the 1770s did Lewis Coham (1706-78) build a new house at Coham, and this remained a modest two-storey affair, more like a farmhouse than a country house, but no doubt adequate for the needs of a childless couple. The surviving elements of it are two parallel ranges, which may incorporate some fabric from the earlier house. In the 19th century some of the original rooms were subdivided when the two ranges were partly converted into service wings, but they still contain a library lit by a later canted bay window and an open-well staircase with turned balusters. The staircase hall has a Venetian window partly glazed with stained glass, and is hung with five funeral hatchments displaying in heraldic form the extensive connections of the family.

Coham House, Black Torrington: the new front block added in 1872.

In 1872, William Holland Bickford Coham (1828-80) built a new main block at right-angles to the existing 18th century wings. This is again of two storeys but on a grander scale, with a symmetrical front in a rather severe Tudor style, with bargeboarded gables, a slate roof, and mullioned casement windows under drip moulds. In the centre is a projecting two-storey porch with a castellated oriel above the doorway and an heraldic datestone in the gable, and the end bays are also stepped slightly forward. The ground floor of the new range is largely occupied by an entrance hall with an immense Tudor-style chimneypiece supporting an heraldic overmantel, and a drawing room and dining room placed to either side of it.

The house was requisitioned for military use in the Second World War, and in the 1950s it was converted into an hotel. More recently it has been used as bed-and-breakfast accommodation, and it is currently available for self-catering holidays, but the heirs of W.H.B. Coham-Fleming continue to farm the estate.

Descent: Lewis Coham (1636-91); to son, Stephen Coham (1676-1756?); to son, Lewis Coham (1706-78); to nephew, Stephen Coham (1751-86); to brother, Rev. William Holland Coham (1763-1825); to son, Rev. William Bickford Coham (1792-1843); to son, William Holland Bickford Coham (1828-80); to daughter, Eleanor Mary Bickford Coham (1861-1938), later wife of John Blyth Fleming (later Coham-Fleming) (1860-1921); to grandson, William Holland Bickford Coham-Fleming (1912-2008).

Bickford family of Dunsland

Bickford, William (1605-59). Probably the son of John Bickford of Bickfords Town, Plympton St Mary, baptised at Plympton, 18 October 1605. He married, 9 December 1634 at Bradford (Devon), Grace (c.1601/2-87), second but only surviving daughter and heiress of Arthur Arscott (c.1581-1662) of Dunsland House, and had issue:

(1) Mary Bickford (1634-36), baptised at Plympton St Mary, 10 October 1634; died in infancy, 29 March 1635/6;

(2) Arscott Bickford (c.1636-93) (q.v.);

(3) Frances Bickford (1637-47), baptised at Bradford, 29 November 1637; died young, 2 May, and was buried at Plympton St Mary, 7 May 1647;

(4) Elizabeth Bickford (1639-75), baptised at Bradford, 26 June 1639; married, 24 August 1658 at Bradford, Henry Rowland (d. 1691); buried at Holsworthy, 28 September 1675.

He lived at Bickford Town (Devon) and St. Keverne (Cornw.). His widow inherited Dunsland from her father in 1662.

He was buried at Bradford, 3 November 1659; his will was proved in the PCC, 5 December 1660. His widow was buried at Bradford, 13 January 1686/7; her will was proved at Exeter, 1688.

Bickford, Arscott (c.1636-93). Only son of William Bickford (1605-59) and his wife Grace, daughter and heiress of Arthur Arscott (c.1582-1662) of Dunsland House, born about 1636. Educated at New Inn Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1658). He married 1st, 27 January 1660 at Plympton (Devon), Mary (d. 1675), daughter of Edmund Parker of Boringdon (Devon); 2nd, 24 April 1677 at St Mary, Truro (Cornw.), Honor (1645-81/2), daughter of John Prideaux, and 3rd, 8 July 1683 at Padstow (Cornw.), Bridget (1660-1712), daughter of Edmund Prideaux of Prideaux Place, Padstow (Cornw.), and had issue:

(1.1) Edmund Bickford (d. 1677); died young and was buried at Bradford, 30 September 1677;

(2.1) Honor Bickford (1679-1735), baptised at Bradford, 14 November 1679; married, 12 February 1699/1700 at Bradford, William Harris (b. 1674) of Pickwell Manor, Georgeham (Devon), son of John Harris of Wortham (Devon), and had issue at least two sons and three daughters; buried at Holsworthy (Devon), 14 July 1735;

(3.1) William Bickford (1684-1740) (q.v.);

(3.2) Edmund Bickford (1685-1732), baptised at Bradford, 21 October 1685; educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1703) and Inner Temple (admitted 1703; called 1710); barrister-at-law; probably died unmarried; buried in Temple churchyard, London, 5 June 1732;

(3.3) Arscott Bickford (d. 1689); died young and was buried at Bradford, 22 May 1689;

(3.4) Nicholas Bickford (1689-90), baptised 23 October 1689; died in infancy and was buried 31 July 1690;

(3.5) Bridget Bickford (1691-93), baptised 13 February 1690/1; died young and was buried at Bradford, 1 January 1693/4; 

(3.6) Arscott Bickford (d. 1696); died young and was buried 19 February 1695/6.

He inherited the Dunsland House estate from his mother in 1687 and undertook a major remodelling and enlargement of the house before his death.

He was buried at Bradford, 19 June 1693; his will was proved at Exeter, 1694. His first wife was buried at Plympton, 1 September 1675. His second wife is said to have been buried 6 April 1682. His widow was buried at Bradford, 18 June 1712.

Bickford, William (1684-1740). Eldest son of Arscott Bickford (c.1636-93) and his third wife, Bridget, daughter of Edmund Prideaux of Place (Cornw.), baptised 2 September 1684. Educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1702). High Sheriff of Devon, 1719-20. He married 1st, 12 November 1707 at Maristow (Devon), Bridget (1684-1709), daughter of Edmund Tremayne of Sydenham (Devon); 2nd, 14 May 1712 at Egloshayle (Cornw.), Damaris (1683-1729), daughter of Edward Hoblyn of Nanswhyddon (Cornw.); and 3rd, 7 November 1733, Elizabeth (d. 1767), daughter of Rev. John Richards, rector of Bradford, and had issue:

(2.1) Arscott Bickford (1713-71) (q.v.)

(2.2) Edward Bickford (1715-16), baptised at Bradford, 25 January 1714/5; died in infancy and was buried at Bradford, 21 January 1715/6;

(2.3) Damaris Bickford (1716-17), baptised at Bradford, 23 May 1716; died in infancy and was buried at Bradford, 22 May 1717;

(2.4) Rev. William Bickford (1717-45), baptised at Bradford, 12 June 1717; educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1737; SCL, 1740); ordained deacon, 1740; buried at Bradford, 30 May 1745;

(2.5) Edward Bickford (1718-43), baptised at Bradford, 25 August 1718; died unmarried and was buried at Bradford, 12 July 1743;

(3.1) George Bickford (1735-95) (q.v.).

He inherited the Dunsland estate from his father in 1693 and came of age in 1705.

He was buried at Bradford, 26 February 1740/1. His first wife died without issue and was buried at Bradford, 11 February 1708/9. His second wife was buried at Bradford, 25 July 1729. His widow lived latterly at Okehampton and was buried at Bradford, 22 June 1767.

Bickford, Arscott (1713-71). Eldest son of William Bickford (1684-1740) and his second wife, Damaris, daughter of Edward Hoblyn of Nanswhyddon (Cornw.), baptised at Bradford, 5 February 1712/3. High Sheriff of Devon, 1760. JP for Cornwall. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited the Dunsland estate from his father in 1741. At his death it passed to his half-brother, George Bickford (d. 1795).

He was buried at Bradford, 26 April 1771.

Bickford, George (1735-95). Only child of William Bickford (1684-1740) and his third wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Richards, rector of Bradford, baptised at Cookbury, 11 April 1735. JP for Devon and Cornwall. He married, 17 December 1762 at Dulverton (Som.), Mary (1734-1803), daughter of John Palfreyman of Molland (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Bridget Bickford (1763-1804), baptised at Okehampton (Devon), 9 December 1763; married, 21 December 1802 at Bradford (Devon), Philip Furse (1761-1847), but had no issue; died 9 January and was buried in the chancel of St Stephen, Bristol, 12 January 1804;

(2) Mary Bickford (1767-1839), baptised at Okehampton, 2 May 1767; married, 29 November 1790, Rev. William Holland Coham (1763-1825) [for whom see below] and had issue four sons and three daughters; died at Dunsland, 4 February 1839;

(3) Arscott Bickford (c.1769-1817) (q.v.);

(4) Elizabeth Bickford (1773-1820), baptised at Cookbury (Devon), 14 October 1773; died unmarried and was buried at Bradford, 21 January 1820.

He lived at Okehampton until he inherited the Dunsland estate from his half-brother in 1771.

He died in May 1795. His widow was buried at Bradford, 10 November 1803.

Bickford, Arscott (c.1769-1817). Son of George Bickford (d. 1795) and his wife Mary, daughter of John Palfreyman of Molland (Devon), baptised at Okehampton (Devon), 16 January 1770. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1788; Lt., 1792; Capt., 1795; retired c.1805). He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited the Dunsland estate from his father in 1795. At his death he was succeeded by his sister Mary.

He died at Exmouth (Devon) and was buried at Bradford (Devon), 25 July 1817; his will was proved in the PCC, 23 September 1817.

Coham of Coham and Dunsland

Coham, Lewis (1632-91?). Son of Stephen Coham of Coham, baptised at Black Torrington, 15 March 1632. He married, 22 December 1669 at Black Torrington, Mary (1645-1722), daughter of John Arscott (1613-75) of Tetcott (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Mary Coham (b. 1672), baptised at Black Torrington, 7 May 1672; married 1st, 29 June 1704 at Black Torrington, Benony Bampfylde (d. 1721) of Black Torrington (Devon), and 2nd, 11 April 1722 at Black Torrington, William Battishall; death not traced;

(2) Susanna Coham (b. 1673), baptised at Black Torrington, 2 September 1673; married, 22 December 1703 at Black Torrington, as his second wife, Clement Gay (b. 1675), who is said to have been related to the poet and dramatist, John Gay (1685-1732), who was born in Barnstaple;

(3) Gertrude Coham (b. 1675), baptised at Black Torrington, 23 February 1674/5; 

(4) Stephen Coham (1676-1756) (q.v.);

(5) John Coham (1678-1736?), of Bovacott in Bradford (Devon), baptised at Black Torrington, 3 April 1678; married, 23 May 1712, probably at Shebbear (Devon), Margaret, second daughter and co-heiress of William Holland of Upcott Avenel, Sheepwash (Devon), and Thorne (Devon), and had issue three sons (including Rev. Arthur Coham, later Archdeacon of Wiltshire); probably the man of this name buried at Black Torrington, 6 March 1735/6;

(6) Grace Coham (b. 1681), baptised at Black Torrington, 2 February 1680/1; married, 8 January 1709/10, Humphry Braund (d. 1720); buried at Black Torrington, 13 February 1727/8;

(7) Elizabeth Coham (b. 1682), baptised at Black Torrington, 6 December 1682;

(8) Lewis Coham (b. 1684), baptised at Black Torrington, 26 August 1684; 

(9) Arscott Coham (1686-1760), baptised at Black Torrington, 12 November 1686; buried at Black Torrington, 2 August 1760;

(10) Arthur Coham (1691-1725?), baptised at Black Torrington, 15 March 1690/1; married, 4 July 1715, Elizabeth Burdon (b. 1693) of Burdon in Highampton, and settled at Holsworthy (Devon); possibly the man of this name buried at Black Torrington, 2 April 1725.

He inherited the Coham estate from his father.

He may be the person of this name buried at Black Torrington, 1 September 1691, although that entry could refer to his son and namesake. His widow was buried at Black Torrington, 1 June 1722.

Coham, Stephen (1676-1756). Eldest son of Lewis Coham (1632-91?) and his wife Mary, daughter of John Arscott of Tetcott (Devon), baptised at Black Torrington, 3 October 1676. He married, 9 May 1706 at Black Torrington, Mary (1683-1725), daughter and co-heiress of William Holland of Upcott Avenel, Sheepwash (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Lewis Coham (1706-78) (q.v.);

(2) William Coham (1708-53), baptised at Black Torrington, 16 December 1708; lived at Bideford (Devon); married, 20 November 1745 at Bideford, Jane Kelly (d. 1780); buried at Black Torrington, 9 April 1753;

(3) John Coham (1711-25), baptised at Black Torrington, 1 February 1710/11; died young and was buried at Black Torrington, 24 April 1725;

(4) Mary Coham (1713-92?), baptised at Black Torrington, 22 April 1713; married, 8 May 1745 at Highampton (Devon), Edmund Herring (d. 1771), and had issue two sons and one daughter; probably the woman of this name buried at Hatherleigh (Devon), 4 December 1792;

(5) Stephen Coham (1715-57?), baptised at Black Torrington, 10 May 1715; mercer in Great Torrington; probably died unmarried and may be the man of this name buried at Black Torrington, 24 August 1757;

(6) Susan Coham (b. & d. 1717), baptised at Sheepwash, 3 May 1717; died in infancy and was buried at Black Torrington, 26 December 1717;

(7) Gertrude Coham (1718-65), baptised at Buckland Filleigh, 30 December 1718; married, 21 August 1744 at Black Torrington, John Bradford (d. 1785) of Sheepwash, and had issue five sons and six daughters; buried at Sheepwash, 4 July 1765;

(8) Rev. Holland Coham (1720-77) (q.v.);

(9) Susanna Coham (1722-1813), baptised at Sheepwash, 7 October 1722; married, 11 February 1751/2 at Buckland Filleigh (Devon), John Silke (1725-94?), and had issue two daughters; died aged 91 and was buried at Buckland Filleigh, 24 November 1813.

He inherited the Coham estate from his father, and Upcott Avenel in Sheepwash in right of his wife; after the fire at Coham, c.1716, he lived at Upcott Avenel.

He was buried at Black Torrington, 27 October 1756. His wife was buried at Black Torrington, 14 April 1725.

Coham, Lewis (1706-78). Eldest son of Stephen Coham (1676-1756) of Coham and his wife Mary, daughter and co-heiress of William Holland of Upcott Avenell, baptised at Black Torrington, 19 March 1706. Mercer in Great Torrington (Devon). He married, 18 December 1744 at East Putford (Devon), Lucretia (1703-87), daughter of Abra[ha]m Barnfield of Mambury and Great Torrington (Devon), but had no issue.

He inherited the Coham and Upcott Avenel estates from his father, and built a new house at Coham, which was unfinished at his death, when the property passed to his nephew, Stephen Coham (1751-86).

He was buried at Sheepwash, 20 July 1778; his will was proved in Exeter, 1778. His widow was buried at Sheepwash, 19 September 1787.

Coham, Rev. Holland (1720-77). Fifth and youngest son of Stephen Coham (1676-1756) of Coham and Upcott Avenel (Devon) and his wife Mary, daughter and co-heiress of William Holland of Upcott Avenel, baptised at Sheepwash (Devon), 7 September 1720. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1739; BA 1742; MA 1745). Rector of Northlew (Devon), 1750-77. He married, 10 July 1750 at Buckland Filleigh (Devon), Christian (b. 1720), daughter of Rev. James Silke of Northlew and Bedminster (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Stephen Coham (1751-86), baptised at Buckland Filleigh (Devon), 5 September 1751; inherited the Coham estate from his uncle in 1778, completed the house and moved there about 1779, but died unmarried, 22 May, and was buried at Black Torrington, 30 May 1786; his will was proved at Exeter, 1786;

(2) Christian Coham (1753-87), baptised at Northlew, 20 September 1753; married, 14 July 1776 at Buckland Filleigh, Richard Wivell, and had issue one daughter; buried at Northlew, 7 July 1787;

(3) William Coham (1755-59), baptised at Northlew, 21 August 1755; died young and was buried at Northlew, 29 March 1759;

(4) John Coham (1757-62), baptised at Northlew, 29 March 1757; died young and was buried at Northlew, 27 August 1762;

(5) Lucretia Coham (b. & d. 1761), baptised at Northlew, 14 August 1761; died in infancy and was buried at Northlew, 20 October 1761;

(6) Rev. William Holland Coham (1763-1825) (q.v.).

He lived at Northlew.
He was buried at Northlew, 23 April 1777; his will was proved at Exeter, 1777. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Coham, Rev. William Holland (1763-1825). Fourth and youngest son of Rev. Holland Coham (1720-77), rector of Northlew (Devon), and his wife Christian, daughter of Rev. James Silke of Northlew (Devon) and Bedminster (Som.), born 23 August and baptised at Northlew (Devon), 28 August 1763. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1781; BA 1785; MA 1792). Ordained deacon, 1786 and priest, 1788. Curate of Whitstone, 1786-90; rector of Halwill and curate of Black Torrington, 1790-1825; he acted as a surrogate for the issue of marriage licences from 1800. As an estate owner, he was noted as 'a spirited improver'. He married, 29 November 1790, Mary (1767-1839), daughter of George Bickford (d. 1795) of Dunsland [for whom see above], and had issue:

(1) Rev. William Bickford Coham (1792-1843) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Anne Coham (1793-1875), said to have been born 20 April 1793 and was baptised at Black Torrington, 7 May 1795; lived with her sister Christiana at The Tower, Compton Gifford, Plymouth (Devon); died unmarried, 3 January, and was buried at Black Torrington, 8 January 1875; will proved 27 January 1875 (effects under £8,000);

(3) Christiana Coham (1795-1864), baptised at Black Torrington, 24 August 1795; married, 29 June 1837 at Bradford (Devon), George Boughton Kingdon (1775-1857) of Launcells House (Cornw.), but had no issue; as a widow lived at The Tower, Compton Gifford; died 28 December 1864;

(4) Stephen Coham (c.1798-1819), born about 1798 and baptised at Black Torrington, 14 January 1800; a midshipman in the Royal Navy; admitted to St Catherine's College, Cambridge, 1819, but did not go into residence because of his untimely death; died unmarried, when a boat he was commanding was upset near Deal (Kent), 23 October 1819; commemorated on his father's monument at Black Torrington; will proved in the PCC, 24 November 1819;

(5) George Lewis Coham (1802-1878), of Upcott Avenel (Devon), baptised at Black Torrington, 17 March 1802; educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1819; BA 1823); farmer; JP and DL for Devon; Vice-Chairman of Holsworthy Board of Guardians, 1837; married, 29 July 1841 at Belstone (Devon), Elizabeth Ann (d. 1855), daughter of Rev. John Hole of Belstone, but had no issue; died 1 January 1878; administration of goods granted 14 February 1878 (effects under £1,500);

(6) Rev. Holland Coham (c.1804-67), born about 1804 but baptised at Black Torrington, 20 August 1807; educated at Blundells School, Eton, and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1825; BA 1829); JP for Devon; lived with his sisters at The Tower, Compton Gifford, Plymouth (Devon); died 26 March and was buried at Black Torrington, 2 April 1867; will proved 1 May 1867 (effects under £450);

(7) Ellen Coham (b. & d. 1808), baptised at Black Torrington, 8 February 1808; died in infancy and was buried at Black Torrington, 26 April 1808.

He inherited Coham House from his elder brother in 1786, and his wife inherited the Dunsland estate from her brother in 1817.

He died 15 March 1825 and was buried at Black Torrington, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 17 June 1825. His widow died at Dunsland, 4 February 1839.

Coham, Rev. William Bickford (1792-1843). Eldest son of Rev. William Holland Coham (1763-1825) and his wife Mary, daughter of George Bickford of Dunsland (Devon), born 6 April 1792 and baptised at Black Torrington (Devon), 14 March 1793. Educated at Blundells School and St Catherine's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1811; LLB, 1819). Ordained priest, 1816. Curate of Black Torrington and Beaworthy, 1816, and of Highampton, 1818. He married, 17 April 1827 at Berrynarbour (Devon), Augusta Mary Davie (1802-68), eldest daughter of Joseph Davie Bassett of Heanton Court and Watermouth Castle (Devon), and had issue:

(1) William Holland Bickford Coham (1828-80) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Bassett Eleanor Coham (1829-75), baptised at Black Torrington, about September 1829*; married, 17 August 1852 at St Peter, Parkstone (Dorset), William Parr (1826-63) of Fernside, Parkstone (Dorset) and The Tower, Compton Gifford (Devon), but had no issue; died 2 March and was buried at Pennycross (Devon), 6 March 1875; will proved 1 October 1875 (effects under £7,000);

(3) Augusta Christiana Davie Coham (1831-1901) (q.v.);

(4) Arscott Bickford Courtenay Coham (1832-73), born 29 April and baptised at Black Torrington (Devon), 25 May 1832; solicitor in Holsworthy (Devon); died unmarried, 1 July 1873; will proved 22 August 1873 (effects under £800);

(5) Reginald Stephen Coham (b. & d. 1835), baptised at Black Torrington, 10 January 1835; died in infancy, 14 March 1835.

He inherited the Coham and Dunsland estates from his parents.

He died 2 July and was buried at Black Torrington, 11 July 1843; his will was proved in the PCC, 6 February 1844. His widow died 8 October 1868, and was buried at Black Torrington.

* Date missing in parish register.

Coham, William Holland Bickford (1828-80). Eldest son of Rev. William Bickford Coham (1792-1843) and his wife Augusta Mary, eldest daughter of Joseph Davie Bassett of Heanton Court and Watermouth Castle (Devon), baptised at Black Torrington (Devon), 28 July 1828. Educated at St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1847). An officer in the North Devon Yeomanry Cavalry (Cornet, 1851; Lt., 1855; Capt., 1867; retired 1875); JP and DL (from 1860) for Devon; Chairman of Holsworthy Board of Guardians. 'His amiability of character made him universally beloved'. He married, 3 September 1857 at Lucan (Co. Dublin), Dora Elizabeth Louisa, youngest daughter of Gen. Sir Hopton Stratford Scott KCB of Woodville (Co. Dublin), and had issue:

(1) Elinor Mary Bickford Coham (1861-1938) (q.v.).

He inherited the Coham and Dunsland estates in Devon and Trevedoe Manor, Warleggan (Cornw.) from his father in 1843 and came of age in 1849. In 1873 his estates comprised 3,744 acres in Devon and 221 acres in Cornwall. He constructed a new main block to the house at Coham, which passed at his death to his daughter, while Dunsland went to his sister Augusta, under a settlement of 1839.

He died 22 September 1880 and was buried at Black Torrington (Devon); will proved 25 October 1880 (effects under £3,000). His widow died 19 June 1922; her will was proved 10 January 1923 (estate £15,833).

Coham, Elinor Mary Bickford (1861-1938). Only child of William Holland Bickford Coham (1828-80) and his wife, Dora Elizabeth Louisa, youngest daughter of Gen. Sir Hopton Stratford Scott KCB, born about 1862. She married, 5 June 1883 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), John Blyth Fleming (subsequently Coham-Fleming) (1860-1921), High Sheriff of Devon, 1887, eldest son of John Fleming of Bigadon (Devon) and Clayquhat (Perths.), and had issue:

(1) Blyth Bickford Coham-Fleming (1884-1929) (q.v.).

She inherited Coham House from her father in 1880.

She died 29 March 1938; administration of her goods was granted 15 June 1938 and 22 November 1938 (estate £30,182). Her husband died 18 May 1921; his will was proved 10 November 1921 (estate £10,236).

Coham-Fleming, Blyth Bickford (1884-1929). Only child of John Blyth Fleming (later Coham-Fleming (1860-1921) and his wife Elinor Mary Bickford, daughter of William Holland Bickford Coham of Coham House (Devon), born 5/6 September and baptised at St James, Paddington (Middx), 3 October 1884. An officer in the army during the First World War (2nd Lt., 1917; Lt., 1919; retired 1920) He married, 19 March 1910 at Cofton (Devon), Lilian Alice Sarah (1889-1939), daughter of Charles Francis Reed of Bradford House (Devon), and had issue:

(1) Daphne Lilian Dora Coham-Fleming (1911-89), born 15 July and baptised at Black Torrington, 6 August 1911; nurse and lecturer in nursing at St Thomas' Hospital, London who served in Second World War with Princess Mary's RAF Nursing Service Reserve (Sister; invalided out, 1946); died unmarried, 15 March 1989, and was buried at Black Torrington;

(2) William Holland Bickford Coham-Fleming (1912-2008) (q.v.);

(3) Brian Jack Avenal Coham-Fleming (1914-98), born 11 July and baptised at Black Torrington, 9 August 1914; served in the army from 1938; married, 30 January 1946 at St Mark, Marylebone (Middx), Elizabeth Primrose (1918-99), nurse, elder daughter of Maurice Bernheim (d. 1922), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 21 January 1998.

He died 10 August, and was buried at Black Torrington, 13 August 1929; his will was proved 5 November and 25 January 1930 (estate £34,969). His widow died 10 December 1939; her will was proved 12 January and 22 November 1940 (estate £21,223).

Coham-Fleming, William Holland Bickford (1912-2008). Elder son of Blyth Bickford Coham-Fleming (1884-1929) and his wife Lilian Alice Sarah, daughter of Charles Francis Reed of Bradford House (Devon), born 2 November and baptised at Black Torrington, 15 December 1912. He was employed by the Indian Forestry Service before the Second World War, and was later an officer in the Indian army (2nd Lt., 1941; Lt.; Capt.; Maj. by 1946, when he was mentioned in despatches) and a farmer in Devon. He married, Apr-June 1979, Caroline Sophia (1915-2012), daughter of Thomas Beamish of Clooneen, Midleton (Co. Cork), and widow of Allan Stewart Maclaren (d. 1971) of Glasgow, son of John Maclaren of Fort Augustus (Inverness), but had no issue.

He inherited Coham House from his grandmother in 1938. After the war he converted the house into an hotel and moved into the former stables.

He died aged 95 on 2 May 2008 and was buried at Black Torrington (Devon); his will was proved 8 September 2008. His widow died 31 March 2012; her will was proved 8 October 2012.

Coham, Augusta Christiana Davie (c.1831-1901). Second daughter of Rev. William Bickford Coham (1792-1843) and his wife Augusta Mary, eldest daughter of Joseph Davie Bassett of Heanton Court and Watermouth Castle (Devon), born about 1831. She married, 29 April 1858 at St Peter, Parkstone (Dorset), Maj. Harvey George Dickinson (1830-66), son of John Dickinson, gent., and had issue:

(1) Arscott William Harvey Dickinson (1859-1952) (q.v.);

(2) twin, Augusta Frances Courtenay Dickinson (1863-92), born 25 April and baptised at Quilon, Madras (India), 18 October 1863; married, 3 November 1883 at Compton Gifford (Devon), Adm. Henry Morton Tudor-Jones (later Tudor Tudor) RN (1855-1926), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 14 October 1892 and was buried at Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth (Devon);

(3) twin, Elinor Mary Coham Dickinson (1863-1923), born 25 April and baptised at Quilon, Madras (India), 18 October 1863; married, 14 April 1884 at Buckland Monarchorum (Devon), Vice-Adm. William McCoy Fitzgerald Castle RN (c.1843-1916), son of Vice-Adm. William Langford Castle (1800-74) of New Lodge, Lymington (Hants), and had issue one son and one daughter; died at Herrison Mental Home, Charminster (Dorset), 17 December 1923; administration of her goods granted to her son, 18 February 1924 (estate £3,515).

She inherited the Dunsland estate from her brother in 1880, under a settlement of 1839.

She died 13 July and was buried at Bradford (Devon), 17 July 1901; her will was proved 30 November 1901 (estate £8,945). Her husband died at sea while being invalided home from India, 27 November 1866; his will was proved 16 April 1867 (effects under £100).

Dickinson, Arscott William Harvey (1859-1952). Only son of Maj. Harvey George Dickinson (1830-66) and his wife, Augusta Christiana Davie, younger daughter of Rev. William Bickford Coham of Dunsland (Devon), born 23 April and baptised at Quilon, Madras (India), 29 May 1859. Educated at Lincoln College, Oxford (matriculated 1879; BA 1884; MA 1886) and Inner Temple (admitted 1884; called 1888). Barrister-at-law. JP for Cornwall (from 1898) and Devon (from 1904). He married, 11 January 1893 at Lew Trenchard (Devon), Mary (1869-1945), eldest daughter of Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould of Lew Trenchard Manor, and had issue:

(1) Arscott Sabine Harvey Dickinson (1893-1979), born 28 November and baptised at Lew Trenchard, 31 December 1893; educated at Dulwich College and Worcester College, Oxford (matriculated 1913; BA); served in First World War with Royal North Devon Yeomanry (Lt., 1916); schoolmaster at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate (Kent), 1919-23 and Langport (Som.) Grammar School, 1923; librarian of the Jersey Library, 1934-50; a Fellow of the Library Association; lived at St Clement (Jersey); married, 23 April 1924 at Holy Trinity, Ramsgate (Kent), Eva Louise Mace Sankey (d. 1979); died 24 August 1979 and was buried at St Clement; administration of goods with will annexed granted 30 January 1980 (estate £20,255);

(2) Edward Dabernon Dickinson (1895-1961), born 27 June 1895; educated at Dulwich College and Keble College, Oxford; served in First World War with Liverpool Regiment (2nd Lt., 1917; Lt., 1919); export and office manager for a company manufacturing toilet cleaning products; married, 17 October 1921 in Canada, Frances Anne (1899-1960), daughter of Col. George Arnold Brinton of Indian Head, Saskatchewan (Canada), and had issue two sons; died 19 September 1961; will proved 13 October 1961 (estate £14,950);

(3) Rev. Bickford Holland Coham Dickinson (1900-75), born 16 July 1900; educated at St Paul's School, London; JP for Devon (from 1943); schoolmaster at Shebbear School, 1945-57; a mature entrant to the church, who trained at Ripon Hall, Oxford; ordained deacon, 1959, and priest, 1960; curate of Holsworthy (Devon), 1959-61; rector of Lew Trenchard, 1961-72?; a keen cricketer (who played for Devon) and lepidopterist in his youth, he was also the author of a biography of his grandfather and predecessor, Sabine Baring-Gould (1970) and other local history works; married, 1947 at Shebbear (Devon), Marjorie Mona Clark (1905-94); died 23 July 1975 and was buried at Bradford (Devon); will proved 14 August 1975 (estate £15,740).

He inherited the Dunsland estate from his mother in 1901, but sold it in 1947. He lived chiefly in Sydenham (Kent) while working as a barrister, and later at Bude (Cornwall).

He died at Bude, 21 January 1952, and was buried at Bradford (Devon); his will was proved 14 March 1952 (estate £31,967). His wife died 31 January 1945; administration of her goods was granted 2 March 1945 (estate £3,530).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1898, vol. 1, p. 404, 524; H. Meller, The country houses of Devon, 2015, pp. 269-70.

Location of archives

Bickford and Coham of Dunsland and Coham: deeds, family and estate papers, 1494-1876 [Devon Archives & Local Studies, 178B M/E 1-13, M/F 1-3; 2569B Boxes DD, EE, FF, K, L and M]

Coat of arms

Bickford of Dunsland: Argent a chevron engrailed sable between three martlets of the second.

Coham of Coham: Per chevron, engrailed, gules and ermine; in chief, five fleurs-de-lis, three and two; and in base, 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 30 September 2025.

(612) Bickerton of Upwood, baronets

Bickerton of Upwood, bts. 

This family were only landed gentry rather briefly, but over two generations were very prominent figures in the Royal Navy. The story begins with Richard Bickerton (1727-92), the son of an army officer living at Bridgnorth (Shrops.), who entered the navy at the age of twelve. In 1758, having risen to the rank of Commander, he married Maria Anna Hussey (1740-1811), the daughter of Thomas Hussey of Wrexham, and they had at least four children, none of whose baptisms can be found, so they may have been born abroad: Bickerton was on the Caribbean station during the relevant years. From about 1768, Bickerton was in home waters for a number of years, and he became a close friend of the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Earl of Sandwich, who placed him in command of the king's barge at a review of the fleet in 1773 and again in 1778. The first of these commissions brought him a knighthood, and the second saw him raised to a baronetcy, social advancement which he owed entirely to the favour of his friend, Lord Sandwich. In the same period, Bickerton and his wife came into possession of the Upwood House estate in Huntingdonshire, apparently on the death of Maria's aunt, Mary Hussey (d. 1770). It is not known how much time they managed to spend on the estate, but it was presumably from Upwood that Bickerton and Lord Sandwich took advantage of frozen floodwater around Godmanchester (Hunts) to sail an ice yacht in January 1774, achieving the exhilarating speed of 30 miles per hour. From 1776 Bickerton was once more regularly at sea, and he achieved flag rank in 1787. Two years later he was appointed commander-in-chief at Plymouth, a post which he retained until his death, and which he was able to combine with serving as MP for Rochester (Kent), a constituency which had a strong naval connection. He died suddenly, of an apoplectic fit, at a relatively young age, in 1792, and his baronetcy devolved on his only surviving son, Sir Richard Bickerton (1759-1832), 2nd bt.

The second baronet followed his father into the Navy and saw rapid promotion, presumably helped by his father's friendship with the First Lord of the Admiralty: he was a post-captain at twenty-two and achieved flag rank in 1799, at the age of forty. Happily, he seems to have been an effective commander, and from 1803-05 he was second-in-command to Admiral Lord Nelson in the Mediterranean, although he was invalided home with a liver complaint before the battle of Trafalgar. In 1807 he became MP for Poole and was made a Lord of the Admiralty, roles which he continued to hold until 1812, relinquishing them to become commander-in-chief at Portsmouth, 1812-15, after which he retired and was made a Knight Companion of the Bath. In 1810 he was also made a Major-General of Marines, a sinecure which he held until his death, and he also became a director of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, a post which his father had held before him. After his retirement from the Navy, he inherited the Wood Walton estate - which adjoined his Upwood House property - from his maternal uncle, Lt-Gen. Vere Warner Hussey (d. 1823), and took the additional surname Hussey in recognition of the bequest, but he seems to have made his home in The Circus at Bath (Som.). He appears in later records as Sir Richard Hussey-Bickerton. When he died in 1832, he was succeeded at Wood Walton by his cousin Richard Hussey Moubray (d. 1842), who also took the family name and became Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Hussey Hussey, but Upwood House passed to the 2nd baronet's unmarried sister, Maria Anne Bickerton (d. 1845), and on her death to Sir Richard Hussey Hussey (d. 1899), who had also inherited Wood Walton.

Upwood House, Huntingdonshire

The estate was a property of Ramsey Abbey (Hunts) in the medieval period, and came to the Crown at the dissolution of the monasteries. It was sold with other Ramsey Abbey estates to the Williams alias Cromwell family, who are thought to have built a timber-framed house with stone chimneystacks here in the Elizabethan period. They sold the estate after the Civil War to Peter Pheasant (d. 1649), a justice of the King's Bench, whose son Stephen (d. 1657) may have been responsible for building the main part of the present house on a half-H plan, perhaps reusing the chimney stacks from its predecessor. 

Upwood House: the side and rear elevations of the house, as altered in the early 19th century, from an old postcard.

It is of red brick, rendered with thick plaster in the early 19th century, and has hipped roofs supported on a dentil cornice, with graduated Collyweston stone slates on the rear pitch but plain tiles at the front. The rear wall has two projecting stacks of coursed limestone with some red brick in the upper courses and three diagonally set shafts. The side elevations of the 17th century house have similar projecting side stacks with diagonally set shafts. In the early 18th century, the house was given an addition to the kitchen wing on the north side, and around a century later a two-storey ballroom wing was added to the south side, with a front of five bays.

Upwood House: the entrance front c.1906, when the Victorian conservatory between the wings was still in place, from an old postcard.

The east-facing entrance front has three bays between broad projecting wings with a gablet containing an oval window above the central doorcase. When the plaster coat was added in the 19th century, the front was dressed up with plain giant pilasters framing the wings and the central bay. Later in the 19th century a conservatory was added between the wings, and when this was removed a new doorcase and hood were constructed for the main entrance. Each bay of the front has a raised panel to each storey, those at first floor having segmental arches of header brickwork. The fenestration is all 19th century or later, except for the north wall of the north wing, which has early 18th century glazing bars. 

Upwood House: the entrance front in recent years. Image: Historic England.

Much of the historic interior was lost in the 1970s, when the house was divided into three dwellings, but a fine limestone fireplace with a pointed arch of c.1600 remains, which may have been reused from the earlier house on the site or imported from elsewhere later. The upper part of the south wing has further reused work, including panelling of c.1770 and a fireplace surround in Chinoiserie style. There is a 17th century closed-string staircase with the upper flight retaining the original symmetrically turned balusters, although the balusters on the lower flights were replaced in the early 18th century. The upper flight also has square newels with carved drops and ball finials. The ballroom has a smoking room at the east end with a reset fireplace surround and overmantel of c.1760, again with a Chinese style frieze similar to that on the floor above. The interior of the ballroom wing was further remodelled by the architect Sir Terry Farrell (1938-2025), whose home this was, in about 1988. His work is in an eclectic style, with Egyptian columns in one room and a ceiling painted to resemble the sky.

Descent: Crown sold 1539 to Sir Richard Williams alias Cromwell (d. 1546); to son, Sir Henry Williams alias Cromwell (d. 1603); to son, Sir Oliver Cromwell (c.1566-1655), who sold 1648 to Peter Pheasant (d. 1649); to son, Stephen Pheasant (d. 1659); to son, Walter Pheasant (d. 1668); to son, Peter Pheasant (d. 1669); to uncle, Peter Pheasant (d. 1702); to son?, William Pheasant (d. 1731/2); to cousin, Leman Hutchins (d. 1737); to widow, Mary (d. 1770), later wife of Vere Warner Hussey (d. 1756); to niece, Mary Ann Warner Hussey (1740-1811), wife of Sir Richard Bickerton (1727-92), 1st bt.; to son, Sir Richard Bickerton (later Hussey-Bickerton) (1759-1831/2); to sister, Maria Anne Bickerton (c.1766-1845); to cousin, Richard Hussey Moubray (later Hussey) (d. 1899); to kinsman, Col. Arthur Moubray, who sold 1919 to Sir Earnest Shepperson (1874-1949), bt.; sold 1967 to John and Hon. Jenny Moxon; sold 1972 to Hilton Wright, architect, who converted it into three dwellings.

Bickerton family of Upwood House, baronets

Bickerton, Sir Richard (1727-92), kt. and 1st bt. Third son* of Henry Bickerton (d. 1746) of Bridgnorth (Shrops.), a lieutenant in the 4th Dragoon Guards, and his wife Mary Dowdall, of Carrickfergus (Co. Antrim), born 22 June and baptised at St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth, 4 July 1727 (although his mother's name is given as Anne in the parish register). Joined the Royal Navy at a tender age in 1739 (Midshipman, 1743; Lt., 1746; Cdr., 1758; Capt., 1759; Rear-Adm., 1787).** He was knighted in 1773 on the occasion of his steering the king's barge at a naval review off Portsmouth, and he was raised to a baronetcy, 29 May 1778. Full details of his naval career can be found here. MP for Rochester, 1790-92; a Director of Greenwich Hospital, 1769-92. He was a good friend of the Earl of Sandwich who was First Lord of the Admiralty, 1771-82, and in 1774 the two men sailed an ice yacht on frozen flooded meadows at Godmanchester (Hunts) at the alarming speed of 30mph. He married, 28 January 1758 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Maria Anna Warner (1740-1811), daughter of Thomas Hussey of Wrexham and eventual heiress of her brother, Lt-Gen.Vere Warner Hussey (1747-1823) of Wood Walton (Hunts), and had issue, perhaps among others⁺:

(1) Sir Richard Bickerton (1759-1832), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(2) Maria Anne Bickerton (c.1766-1845) (q.v.);

(3) Jane Frances Bickerton (c.1767-1827); died unmarried at Cheshunt (Herts), 1 January, and was buried at Upwood, 11 January 1827;

(4) A son; died young.

He inherited Upwood House in right of his wife, probably in 1770.

He died in London of an apoplectic fit, 25 February 1792, and was buried at Upwood; his will was proved in the PCC, 19 January 1793. His widow was buried at Upwood, 5 September 1811.

* His two elder brothers were, however, cut out of their father's will 'having been very extravagant and undutiful to me'.
** Some sources say he attended Westminster School before joining the navy, but this appears to be a confusion with his brother Henry, who was at Westminster from 1736-39.
⁺ The first edition of Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 1826 says he had five children in addition to his heir.

Sir Richard Hussey-Bickerton
(1759-1832), 2nd bt. 

Bickerton (later Hussey-Bickerton), Sir Richard (1759-1832), 2nd bt. Only surviving son of Sir Richard Bickerton (1727-92), kt. and 1st bt., and his wife Maria Anna, daughter of Thomas Hussey of Wrexham, born in Southampton (Hants), 11 October 1759. An officer in the Royal Navy (Midshipman, 1771; Lt., 1777; Cdr., 1779; Capt., 1781; Rear-Adm., 1799; Vice-Adm., 1805; Adm., 1810) and was also an officer in the Royal Marines (Maj-Gen., 1810; Lt-Gen., 1818; Gen., 1830) and a director of Greenwich Hospital, 1810-32. MP for Poole, 1807-12; a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, 1807-12. He succeeded his father as 2nd bt., 1792, was made a Knight of the Crescent in the Ottoman Empire, 1801, and was appointed KCB, 1815. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1823 he took his maternal surname of Hussey in addition to his patronymic by royal licence. He married, 25 September 1788 in Antigua, Anne (d. 1874), a celebrated beauty, daughter of Dr. James Athill MD of Antigua, but had no issue.

He inherited the Upwood estate from his father in 1792, and Wood Walton from his uncle, Lt-Gen. Vere Warner Hussey (d. 1823). At his death, Upwood passed to his surviving sister while Wood Walton devolved on his cousin, Rear-Adm Sir Richard Hussey Moubray (later Hussey) KCB (d. 1842). His widow moved to Taplow House (Bucks).

He died in Bath (Som.), 9 February 1832, when his baronetcy became extinct, and was buried in Bath Abbey, 16 February 1832; his will was proved in the PCC, 14 August 1832. His widow (who was apparently suffering from dementia) was declared insane by a commission of lunacy in June 1846. She died 2 March, and was buried in Lansdown Cemetery, Bath, 9 March 1850.

Bickerton, Maria Anne (c.1766-1845). Elder daughter of Sir Richard Bickerton (1727-92), kt. and 1st bt., and his wife Maria Anna, daughter of Thomas Hussey of Wrexham, born about 1766. She was unmarried and without issue.

She inherited the Upwood House estate from her brother in 1832. At her death this estate passed to her cousin, Sir Richard Hussey Moubray (later Hussey) KCB (d. 1899), who had also inherited the Wood Walton estate from his father.

She was buried at Upwood, 30 July 1845; her will was proved in the PCC, 16 August 1845.

Principal sources

Burke's Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies, 2nd edn., 1841, pp. 60-61; G.E. Cokayne, The complete baronetage, vol.5, 1906, pp. 195-96;  Statutory List of Historic Buildings; C. O'Brien & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough, 2014, pp. 712-13.

Location of archives

Hussey-Bickerton, Sir Richard (1759-1832): correspondence and papers, 1768-1805 [Arundel Castle Archives]

Coat of arms

Sable, on a chevron erminois three pheons azure.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide a full list of the children of the 1st baronet, or find their birth or baptism dates?
• 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 September 2025 and was updated 21 and 30 September 2025.

(611) Bibby of Hardwicke Grange and Sansaw, and of Tilstone Lodge, baronets

Bibby baronets 

The story of this family is closely bound up with that of the family shipping firm, the Bibby Line, which they founded in 1807 and still own today. John Bibby (1775-1840), with whom the genealogy below begins, was born on a Lancashire farm, and as the fourth of five sons set out in his early 20s to make his fortune in Liverpool. He began his career by working for James Halton, an iron merchant who also forged ship's anchors and chains. Some years later, in 1801, John Bibby set himself up as a shipbroker in partnership with William Hall. By 1805, John could afford to buy a share in four small sailing ships, and in the same year his partnership with Hall was dissolved and Bibby became an independent broker, trading as John Bibby & Co. In 1807 he embarked on a new partnership with John Highfield, advertising regular packet sailings between Parkgate (Ches.) and Dublin. This is regarded as the founding of the present day Bibby Line. Bibby later expanded his destinations to include the Mediterranean and ultimately Trinidad and Brazil. The partnership with Highfield was dissolved in 1821 and the company continued as John Bibby & Co. By 1823 Bibby was operating sailings to Lisbon, Bombay and Canton. Bibby also established an iron merchant’s, a copper works, and two copper smelting works. At the time of his murder in 1840 (a crime that was never solved, but which appears to have been a violent mugging), his estate was valued at £25,000. 

John was succeeded by his youngest son, James Jenkinson Bibby (1813-97), who took on James Leyland as a partner in 1859. By 1865 they had 23 modern steam ships concentrated in the Mediterranean, but the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 severely affected their business and Leyland failed to persuade the family partners to diversify into the Atlantic trade. Eventually, he bought them out in 1873, and J.J. Bibby retired to his Hardwicke Grange estate in Shropshire, to which he added the adjoining Sansaw estate in 1882. These properties descended to his only surviving son, Frank Bibby (1857-1923) and then to the latter's son, Frank Brian Frederic Bibby (1893-1929), whose early death left the estate in the hands of trustees for his young daughter, Cynthia Joan Bibby (1921-71). They decided to demolish Hardwicke Grange and establish Sansaw Hall as the principal seat of the family. The estate has subsequently passed to Cynthia's son, David Robin Bibby Thompson (b. 1946), who handed it on in 2009 to his son, James Peter Bibby Thompson (b. 1975).

James Jenkinson Bibby seems to have found life as a country gentleman insufficiently stimulating, and in 1889 he returned to business, ordering two steamers, costing £120,000, from Harland and Wolff, to trade with and carry passengers to and from Burma. James provided the finance for this new venture, while his nephews, Arthur Wilson Bibby (1846-1935) and Herbert Kirkman Bibby (1844-1927), managed the business. From 1893, the firm had Government contracts for carrying troops to overseas postings, which remained an important part of the business until the 1960s. During the First World War, Arthur appointed his accountant G.W. Robins as general manager and Robins became a partner in 1920. In 1927, a second non-family member was appointed general manager: Leslie O’Brien Harding, an expert on Burma trade. When Arthur died in 1935, his son, later Sir Harold Bibby (1889-1986), 1st bt., took over a well-managed firm, and was able to purchase the Tilstone Lodge estate in Cheshire, which he retained until his death.

Bibby’s entire fleet was requisitioned for the Second World War and government troop-ship contracts continued until 1962. Post-war political instability in former British colonies, the 1956 Suez crisis, increasing foreign competition in shipbuilding, the emergence of containerisation, and the growth of air travel led to 30 years of economic, social and political upheaval in Liverpool and badly disrupted the firm's business model. Harold’s son, later Sir Derek Bibby (1922-2002), 2nd bt., had joined the company after the war and succeeded his father in 1969. Adopting newer business practices enabled Derek to build up the fleet between 1965 and 1977. To protect the company from world trade uncertainties, Bibby joined the Seabridge Shipping Ltd consortium operating bulk carriers. In 1968 Bibby bought the Britain Steamship Company Ltd, a consortium member, from cash reserves, and there were further acquisitions in 1971, including the loss-making Bristol Line, which owned a one-third stake in Dart Containerline, a transatlantic freight operation. The oil shocks of 1973 precipitated a further crisis in shipping and Derek Bibby left the Seabridge consortium in 1977, selling two bulk carriers and Bibby’s stake in Dart Containerline to pay off debts.

On retiring in 1985, Sir Derek Bibby appointed Simon Sherrard, a non-family member, as managing director. Sherrard accelerated diversification by moving into financial services and distribution. At the same time, Sir Derek moved to regain financial control of the business. Since the 1890s, 45% of the shares had been owned by J.J. Bibby's descendants, who were not directly involved in the management of the firm. In 1986, Sir Derek, who had made his home at an Arts & Crafts villa in the Wirral called Willaston Grange in about 1965, sold Tilstone Lodge and increased his share of the business to 84% after buying out Robin Bibby Thompson, his sister Jane Paton-Smith and two other directors. Sir Derek's son, Sir Michael Bibby (b. 1963), 3rd bt., joined the Bibby Line as finance director in 1992 and became MD of the Bibby Group in 2000. In response to a number of major changes in the business environment, he undertook a rapid diversification strategy by investing in shallow water accommodation, offshore oil field services, contract logistics, financial services, burial parks, employment law and health and safety advisory services, and retail, although Bibby’s historical links with the sea were maintained through the Bibby Lines as well as Bibby Maritime and Bibby Ship Management. From a turnover of £6.7m in 1970, Bibby expanded to a turnover of £241m in 2023.

Hardwicke Grange, Hadnall, Shropshire

The estate was for most of its existence a subsidiary property of owners who were more substantially accommodated at Lilleshall or Hawkestone, and it was frequently let or loaned to relatives. The building history reflects this, in that several of the main periods of investment in the property correspond to the years when it was actually occupied by the owners.

Almost nothing is known of the house which existed on this site in Tudor and Stuart times, except that in 1672 it was taxed on seven hearths, implying the existence of a substantial but not necessarily very grand house. Our first real evidence for its appearance comes from a portrait of Lady Hill by John Russell painted in 1778, where the house is shown in the background, and from a watercolour by Moses Griffith (now at Dudmaston) painted in 1790.

Hardwicke Grange: view of the house in the background of
a portrait of Mary, Lady Hill, 1778. 

These views show a two-storey main south-facing front with a five bay centre between slightly projecting wings with Venetian windows on the ground floor. It is thought that the centre represents a small early to mid 18th century house, with the wings being additions of about 1770 for Sir Rowland Hill, but it is not clear whether this house completely replaced the Tudor and Stuart building, or was simply a remodelling.

The next alterations of which anything is known were made around 1820 by Thomas Harrison of Chester for Rowland Hill (1772-1842), 1st Viscount Hill, who was said by a neighbour to have 'greatly improved, extended and beautified the Hall and pleasure grounds, [and] erected a handsome lodge of Grinshill stone, at the gate of entrance from the turnpike road to Shrewsbury'. Harrison's alterations to the house remodelled the entrance front in the Tudor Gothic style, but the views below are rather flattering in making the composition tauter than it was in reality.

Hardwicke Grange: view of the house from the south-west in the early 19th century. 

Hardwicke Grange: engraving of the house from the south-east by J.P. Neale, 1826.

He added gables over the wings and low-pitched gablets over dormer windows to the centre, and constructed a crenellated arcade with four-centred arches between the wings. The whole front was refenestrated, with three windows to the centre, and all the windows were given hood-moulds. The western return elevation had a gable matching those on the front of the wings, and irregular fenestration, including a ground floor canted bay window.  Very little is known about the interiors which Harrison must have created within the remodelled house, except that John Betton and David Evans provided stained glass for some of the new windows before 1825. The house was closely surrounded by a wall with gates on the west and east sides that provided carriage access to the front door.

Hardwicke Grange: the layout of the grounds, as shown on the 1st edition OS 6" map, 1880.

Alongside Thomas Harrison's alterations to the house, the grounds were landscaped, possibly to the designs of John Webb (1754-1828). Moses Griffith's watercolour of the house in 1790 shows the unimproved setting, with the house looking across an open landscape and set against a backdrop of trees. By the 1820s the parkland had been defined by a circuit of roads, shelter belts had been planted around parts of the perimeter, and the whole of the park had been studded with isolated trees. Although most of the park has long since reverted to farmland, the single-storey Tudor Gothic lodge, no doubt also designed by Harrison, survives. It complemented the style of the house, with a crenellated parapet and hoodmoulds over the windows. Also surviving in the park is the brick tower of a windmill with mock arrow slits and pointed windows, a structure which is said to have been built to commemorate Lord Hill's exploits at the Battle of Waterloo, perhaps even to have been a replica of the building he used as a headquarters during the battle. The story that the trees and plantations of the park were positioned to emulate the positions of troops at the start of the battle, which is heard so often, may be discounted as a myth.

Hardwicke Grange: the house as enlarged in 1898-1902 for Frank Bibby. Image: Country Life.

The final phase of development of the house was undertaken  for Frank Bibby (1857-1923) after he inherited the estate in 1897. He did not alter Harrison's entrance front, but doubled the size of the house by large additions at the rear in Grinshill ashlar stone. The additions incorporated new stables and extensive service accommodation. Probably at the same time a new south lodge was constructed and a large fishpond near the house was filled in. The architect for the additions was Charles John Ferguson (1840-1904) of Carlisle (Cumbld.), who had previously worked for the Bibbys on the remodelling of Clive church in 1885-87 and 1894-97. It is not known how he first came to the attention of the family, as his practice was very largely confined to Cumberland and the adjacent counties.

Hardwicke Grange: design for new staircase
by E. Ridsdale Tate, 1902, from The Builder.

Designs were also supplied by Edwin Ridsdale Tate (1862-1922) of York, who was chiefly an artist and antiquary. He had Carlisle connections and was perhaps brought in by Ferguson to design interiors for the house, one of which was illustrated in The Builder in 1902, where the accompanying text strongly implies that the design was realised. Altogether, over £100,000 is said to have been spent on the reconstruction.

On the death of Frank Bibby in 1923 the estate passed to his son, Frank Brian Frederic Bibby, but his untimely death in 1929 left the estate facing two sets of death duties in a short space of time, and with a female heiress who was only eight years old. The Sansaw and Hardwicke Grange estates were vested in trustees who decided that in order to reduce costs the family should in future live at Sansaw and that Hardwicke Grange should be demolished, even though it was only thirty years since there had been major investment in the house. The stables and lodges were left standing, but the rest of the house was carefully dismantled and sales of the building materials took place in 1933. In recent years the stables have been successfully reused as small industrial units, while the former walled garden has become the site for modernist glass office structures, known as the Pavilions.

Descent: Crown sold 1539 to James Leveson (d. 1547); to son, Sir Richard Leveson (d. 1560), kt.; to son, Sir Walter Leveson (1550-1602), kt.; to son, Vice-Adm. Sir Richard Leveson (c.1570-1605), kt.; to first cousin once removed, Sir Richard Leveson (1598-1661), kt.; to nephew, Sir William Leveson-Gower (c.1647-91), 4th bt.; to son, Sir John Leveson-Gower (1675-1709), 5th bt. and 1st Baron Gower; to son, John Leveson-Gower, 2nd Baron and 1st Earl Gower; to son, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Gower and later 1st Marquess of Stafford, who sold 1765 to Sir Rowland Hill (1705-83), 1st bt.; to widow, Mary (d. 1790), Lady Hill, later wife of Joseph Foster Barham (1729-89), and then to to Sir Richard Hill (1732-1808), 2nd bt.; to nephew, Rowland Hill (1772-1842), 1st Viscount Hill; to nephew, Rowland Hill (1800-75), 2nd Viscount Hill, who sold 1868 to James Jenkinson Bibby (1813-97); to son, Frank Bibby (1857-1923); to son, Frank Brian Frederic Bibby (1893-1929); to trustees, who demolished the house, and then to daughter, Cynthia Joan (1921-71), later the wife of Capt. Noel Dennis Thompson (1914-67); to son, David Robin Bibby Thompson (b. 1946), who handed the estate over to his son, James Peter Bibby Thompson (b. 1975) in 2009. 

The estate was apparently let by 1579/80 to Richard Tyler, who was succeeded by his daughter Dorothy, wife of William Whitcombe. Their grandson, William Whitcombe, was 'of Hardwicke' in 1663 and 1672. Later tenants included Edward Grant, who sold his interest in 1726 to Edward Appleyard, after whose death it was sold in 1740 to Charles Baldwyn, agent for John Powys of Shrewsbury, who in turn sold it in 1741 to the Hill family. After 1790 the house was occupied by Col. John Hill (1769-1814) - a grandson of the 1st baronet - and in 1816 by Col. Hanmer. After the death of the 1st Viscount Hill, the house was occupied by his nephew, Col. Richard Frederick Hill (1804-90) and later by the Misses Hill.

Sansaw Hall, Clive, Shropshire

The Sansaw estate was owned by the Gardiner (sometimes Gardner) family for more than 250 years from its acquisition in 1622 by John Gardiner (1595-1628), a Shrewsbury draper, but there seems not to have been a substantial house on the property until the late 18th century. Several members of the family lived in Shrewsbury rather than on the estate, and the only reference to the family in the 1672 hearth tax return is an entry for 'Nathaniell Garner', who paid tax on a house with just two hearths; he was a younger son of the John Gardiner who bought the estate in 1622. 

Sansaw Hall: detail of the house from an oil painting of the park
by Thomas Saunders, c.1800 (Private Collection)

The man who built the first country house on the estate was John Gardiner (1746-1801), who inherited the property from his grandfather in 1763 and came of age four years later. He commissioned an unknown architect to build a substantial red brick house of three storeys with a five-bay south front and four bay sides, in 1773-75. The south front had no pediment, but a curious raised balustraded parapet over the central bay. On the ground floor, the main entrance took the form of a Venetian window, with a doorcase replacing the central window. To either side of the main block stood a pair of pavilions, with pedimental gables over Venetian windows. The original appearance of the house is recorded in an oil painting of c.1800 by Thomas Saunders, of which a detail is reproduced here.

After James Jenkinson Bibby bought the estate in 1882 or 1883, Sansaw was remodelled and enlarged to the designs of James Francis Doyle (1840-1913) of Liverpool, to serve as a dower house to Hardwicke Grange. Doyle, who was chiefly the architect of churches and public buildings in and around his native city, worked in both the Gothic style and the sub-classical 'Queen Anne' style favoured by Norman Shaw; indeed, he later worked with Shaw on the design of the White Star Line building in Liverpool. 

Sansaw Hall: the house from the south-east in the early 20th century, from an old postcard.

Sansaw Hall: the house from the south-west in 1906, from an old postcard.

At Sansaw, his work (dated 1888 on the rainwater heads) was in the latter manner. New square bay windows were built on the south front of the house, with a loggia between them to act as a porch to the front door. At the rear, the house was extended to the north, so that it had a six-bay elevation on the east side. The 18th century pavilion on the west side was demolished and replaced by a rambling partly three-storey wing, while that on the east side was retained but linked more formally to the house by a curved link. A balustraded parapet was applied all round the house to link the disparate elements. The interiors were largely refitted but still in an 18th century style, although the cornices and marble fireplaces of the front two rooms are thought to be surviving 18th century work. In the grounds, a new drive was laid out to Yorton railway station, with a small stone lodge at its gate.

Sansaw Hall: the house in 2009. (Image: Dan E 

CC BY-SA 2.0)

In the 1930s, with the demolition of Hardwicke Grange, Sansaw Hall became the principal property on the Bibby estate, but in post-war circumstances, when there was no longer a need for extensive service accommodation, it came to seem unnecessarily large. After David Thompson inherited it from his mother in 1971, he employed the talented architect Tom Bird (1918-2017) of Bird & Tyler to undertake a successful reduction of the building, which retained something of the character of the Victorian house - notably through the preservation of the bay windows and loggia on the entrance front - while strengthening the overall Georgian feeling and proportions of the house. More recently, the interiors have been redecorated by Lucinda Griffith for the next generation of the family.

Descent: sold 1622 to John Gardiner (1595-1628) of Shrewsbury; to son, Thomas Gardiner (1617-67); to son, John Gardiner (1660-99);to son, Thomas Gardiner (d. 1763); to grandson, John Gardiner (1746-1801); to first cousin, once removed, Rev. Dr. Lawrence Panting (later Gardiner) (1767-1844); to nephew, Robert Panting (later Gardiner) (d. 1880); to son, Thomas Gardiner (later Kynnersley), who sold 1882/3 to James Jenkinson Bibby (1813-97); to son, Frank Bibby (1857-1923); to son, Frank Brian Frederic Bibby (1893-1929); to trustees and then to daughter, Cynthia Joan (1921-71), later the wife of Capt. Noel Dennis Thompson (1914-67); to son, David Robin Bibby Thompson (b. 1946), who handed the estate over to his son, James Peter Bibby Thompson (b. 1975) in 2009. The house was let in the mid 19th century to Capt. Martin (fl. 1851) and later to the Tippinge family.

Tilstone Lodge, Tilstone Fearnall, Cheshire

The original seat on this estate of the Wilbraham and later the Tollemache families was Tilstone Hall, built around 1600 but damaged in the Civil War and demolished in the 1740s. Thereafter the property had no gentry residence until after the death of Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart, in 1821, when his estates were divided. His property in Cheshire and Suffolk passed to his nephew, Admiral John Richard Delap Halliday (1771-1837), who already possessed a town house next door to Apsley House in London, a house in Brighton, and a profitable estate in Antigua. But he at once decided to build a home on his newly acquired Cheshire estate 'for an occasional Residence to receive my tenants and for shooting and hunting', and took the name Tollemache to reflect his inheritance. Although he was keen to build, he was also anxious to limit his expenditure on the new building, wanting it 'very well done, but plain, strong and economically', and construction was deliberately done in stages so as to spread the expense. The interiors were only decorated in 1825 (when the Admiral's son John tried unsuccessfully to persuade his father to enlarge the house) and furniture was ordered only in 1826. By then, attention was turning to the grounds, which were probably laid out by John Webb as they are characteristic of his style, and who is known to have been consulted in August 1821.

Tilstone Lodge: entrance front in 2015.

Tilstone Lodge: garden front in 2015.

The architect chosen for the new house was Thomas Harrison (1744-1829) of Chester, who had already made designs by July 1821. Some of his correspondence relating to the project survives, but sadly not the original drawings. The two-storey house is elegant and spacious, but not at all formal or grand, and its simplicity hardly recalls the severe reflection of antiquity for which Harrison's earlier work is known. The house is built of brick covered with stucco lined to imitate ashlar, with sash windows and almost no applied classical detail, except for the unfluted Doric porte cochère on the west-facing entrance front. 

Tilstone Lodge: the south front

Tilstone Lodge: the house from the south-east in 1909, showing the conservatory fully glazed.

The end of the entrance front facing south over the lake has a graceful shallow curved bow with a pretty cast iron trellised veranda that shades the drawing room and provides a balcony for the bedroom above. The east side of the house has a further full-height shallow curved bow in the centre, and this side of the house probably also had a veranda originally. At the south-east corner is a late 19th century orangery, which was originally fully glazed but was subsequently converted into a billiard room; its arched windows and crowded details are rather at odds with the pure lines of Harrison's work. To the north of the house is a service wing which connected the house to two long ranges either side of a narrow courtyard. One of these ranges was recently pulled down to make way for a new swimming pool.

Tilstone Lodge: the drawing room in 2015.

Inside, the house has a deep entrance hall, altered in the later 19th century, with a beamed ceiling and a dark grey stone chimneypiece, which runs back to a top-lit staircase, also altered in the 19th century. The principal reception rooms are light and airy, and still have their original neo-classical cornices and reeded doorcases, although some of the marble chimneypieces which were recorded as having been installed in the 1820s have been replaced over the years.

In the 1840s, John Tollemache (1805-90), 1st Baron Tollemache, built Peckforton Castle as a new centre for his Cheshire estates, and Tilstone Lodge was relegated to the status of a dower house. It remained part of the estate until 1936, after which it was sold.

Descent: Wilbraham Tollemache (1739-1821), 6th Earl of Dysart; to nephew, Adm. John Richard Delap Halliday (later Tollemache) (1771-1837); to son, John Tollemache (1805-90), 1st Baron Tollemache; to son, Wilbraham Frederic Tollemache (1832-1904), 2nd Baron Tollemache; to son, Bentley Lyonel John Tollemache (1883-1955), 3rd Baron Tollemache; sold 1936 to Sir Harold Bibby (1889-1986), 1st bt.; to son, Sir Derek James Bibby (1922-2002), 2nd bt., who sold c.1986 to Robert James McAlpine (1932-2021); sold 2017 to Edward Reeves (b. 1968).

Bibby family of Hardwicke Grange and Sansaw

John Bibby (1775-1840) 

Bibby, John (1775-1840). Fourth son of James Bibby of Wrightington (Lancs) and his wife Alice, daughter of Jacob Gill of Parbold (Lancs), baptised at Douglas Chapel, Eccleston (Lancs), 19 February 1775. He moved to Liverpool in the 1790s to seek his fortune, and after working for some years for James Halton, an iron merchant, he became a merchant and shipowner in his own right, founding a shipbroking business in 1801 and a shipping line in 1807. He married, 17 August 1805 at Stoke-upon-Trent (Staffs), Mary (c.1783-1819), eldest daughter of Joseph Mellard, mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme (Staffs) in 1783, and had issue:

(1) Joseph Mellard Bibby (1806-55), born 6 August 1806; East India merchant; lived at Mount Pleasant, Bootle (Lancs) and Linacre, Walton-on-the-Hill (Lancs), which he inherited from his father; married, 1852, Ellen Lord (d. 1904), but had no issue; died at Bootle (Lancs), 22 December, and was buried at Walton-on-the-Hill (Lancs), 27 December 1855; will proved 5 May and in the PCC, 2 June 1856;

(2) Mary Mellard Bibby (1809-87), born 8 July and baptised at Holy Trinity, Liverpool, September 1809; married, 5 January 1836 at Walton-on-the-Hill (Lancs), Henry Francis Penny (d. 1881), of Liverpool, merchant, and had issue at least two sons and four daughters; died 27 April 1887; will proved 22 February 1888 (effects £1,812);

(3) John Bibby (1810-83), of Hart Hill, Allerton, Liverpool (Lancs), born 14 December 1810; married 1st, 5 June 1838, Fanny (d. 1856), daughter of Jesse Hartley of Bootle (Lancs), chief engineer and designer of Liverpool docks, and had issue four sons and four daughters; married 2nd, 19 April 1860, Anna Maria Emily Fleetwood (d. 1899), eldest daughter of Rev. Charles Hesketh of North Meols Hall (Lancs) and co-heir of her brother, Edward Fleetwood Hesketh, and had further issue one son (from whom descended the Fleetwood-Hesketh family of Meols Hall) and three daughters; died 4 April 1883;

(4) Rev. Thomas Bibby (1812-83) [for whom see below, under Bibby of Tilstone Lodge, baronets]

(5) James Jenkinson Bibby (1813-97) (q.v.).

He lived in Liverpool and later at Mount Pleasant, Bootle (Lancs) and Linacre, Walton-on-the-Hill (Lancs).

He was murdered by muggers who took his watch, clubbed him and threw him into a pond, where he drowned, 17 July 1840; his attackers were never caught; he was buried Walton-on-the-Hill (Lancs), 23 July 1840 and is commemorated by a monument erected by his friends at All Hallows, Allerton, Liverpool; his will was proved 10 September 1840 (effects under £25,000). His wife died at Bootle (Lancs), 17/18 June 1819.

James Jenkinson Bibby (1813-97) 

Bibby, James Jenkinson (1813-97). Fourth and youngest son of John Bibby (1775-1840) and his wife Mary, eldest daughter of Joseph Mellard of Newcastle-under-Lyme (Staffs), born 24 June and baptised at Walton-on-the-Hill (Lancs), 17 August 1813. He took over the management of the Bibby Line after the murder of his father in 1840 but retired from active management of the business in 1873. He was also in a copper smelting partnership until 1853 and a director of the Great Western Railway (retired 1886). From 1889 he funded a new shipping business, which was managed by his nephews Arthur and Harold, the sons of his brother, the Rev. Thomas Bibby. JP and DL for Shropshire; High Sheriff of Shropshire, 1882-83; Chairman of the Committee of the Training Ship Indefatigable, 1864-90. He married, 18 April 1844 at Dewsbury (Yorks WR), Sarah (1817-92), third daughter of Thomas Cook of Dewsbury, merchant, and had issue:

(1) Frances Bibby (1845-1921), born 15 December 1845 and baptised at St Nicholas, Liverpool, 14 January 1846; married, 6 September 1866 at Childwall (Lancs), Richard Battye (d. 1873), barrister-at-law, only son of W.W. Battye of Skelton Hall, York, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 16 September 1921; will proved 11 October 1921 (estate £1,465);

(2) Sara Bibby (1847-1923), born 26 April and baptised at St Nicholas, Liverpool, 24 May 1847; lived with her parents and later with her brother before setting up an independent household at 31 Charles St., Mayfair, Westminster; died unmarried, 19 December, and was buried at Clive, 22 December 1923; will proved 24 January 1924 (estate £8,968);

(3) Agnes Jessie Bibby (1849-1922), born 9 January and baptised at St Nicholas, Liverpool, 4 February 1849; married, 21 January 1880 in the Chapel Royal at the Savoy Palace, London, Edward Holmes Baldock (1853-1913) of Craven Lodge, Melton Mowbray (Leics), only son of Edward Holmes Baldock MP, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 26 June 1922; will proved 19 August 1922 (estate £16,926);

(4) Gertrude Bibby (1850-97), born 10 October and baptised at St Nicholas, Liverpool, 7 November 1850; married, 1 May 1880 at the British Embassy in Rome (Italy), Percy Wormald (1850-1910), and had issue one son; died 23 February 1897; will proved 10 July 1897 (effects £6,013);

(5) James Bibby (1852-57), born 28 February and baptised at St Nicholas, Liverpool, 13 April 1852; died young, 11 August and was buried at Holy Trinity, Wavertree, Liverpool, 14 August 1857;

(6) Thomas Cook Bibby (1854-55), born 20 September and was baptised at St Nicholas, Liverpool, 12 December 1854; died in infancy, 28 March and was buried at Holy Trinity, Wavertree, Liverpool, 31 March 1855;

(7) Frank Bibby (1857-1923) (q.v.).

He purchased Hardwicke Grange (Shrops.) from Viscount Hill of Hawsktone in 1868, and the Sansaw estate from Robert Gardner in 1882. He also purchased Craven Lodge, Melton Mowbray (Leics) as a hunting seat and bequeathed this to his daughter Agnes.

He died 8 January and was buried at Clive (Shrops.), 13 January 1897; his will was proved 4 May 1897 (effects £1,773,533). His wife died 19 May and was buried at Clive, 25 May 1892; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 6 January 1893 (effects £17,274). 

Frank Bibby (1857-1923) 

Bibby, Frank (1857-1923). Third, but only surviving, son of James Jenkinson Bibby (1813-97) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Thomas Cook of Dewsbury (Yorks WR), born 4 January and baptised at St Nicholas, Liverpool, 5 March 1857. Educated at Eton. JP and DL for Shropshire; High Sheriff of Shropshire, 1900-01;  Chairman of the Committee of the Training Ship Indefatigable, 1890-1913. He was a major shareholder in the Bibby Line, but took no active part in the management of the business. He was granted a Board of Trade Master's certificate of competence in relation to his yacht, 1882, and was later a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. He also took a keen interest in horse-racing, was a member of the Jockey Club, and as an owner won the Grand National in 1905 and 1911. He rode to hounds and was for a time joint Master of the Shropshire Hunt. He was also noted as a breeder of cattle, pigs and sheep, and won prizes at many local shows. He was appointed CBE, 1920 for his wartime service as Chairman of the Shropshire and Herefordshire Appeal Tribunals. He married, 22 July 1890 at Holy Trinity, Sloane St., Chelsea (Middx), Edith Mary (1868-1933), eldest daughter of Maj-Gen. Sir Stanley de Astel Calvert Clarke GCVO CMG of Ranger's Lodge, Hyde Park, Westminster, clerk marshal and chief equerry to HM King Edward VII and serjeant-of-arms to House of Lords, 1910-11, and had issue:

(1) James Stanley Bibby (1892-1904), born 5 February and baptised at Hadnall (Shrops.), 30 March 1892; died young as the result of being kicked by one of his father's horses, 11 October 1904;

(2) Frank Brian Frederic Bibby (1893-1929) (q.v.);

(3) (Averil) Margaret Mary Bibby (1905-65), born 14 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 13 May 1905; joint Master of South Dorset Fox Hounds, 1936; married 1st, 27 April 1925 at St Margaret, Westminster (div. 1951), Capt. Charles Michael St. Maur Wellesley Wesley (1898-1981), son of Rev. Louis Herbert Wellesley Wesley, and had issue two sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 22 October 1951, Count Stanislaw Thomas August Anton Krasicki (b. c.1905) of Fullbrook House, Elstead (Surrey), son of Count August Konstantin Krasicki; died 13 February 1965; will proved 19 May 1965 (estate £54,592);

(4) Katherine Edith Bibby (1916-85), born 11 March 1916; married 1st, 1 October 1935 at St Margaret, Westminster (div. 1944), Maj-Gen. George Erroll Prior-Palmer CB DSO (d. 1977), younger son of Prior Sumner Prior-Palmer, and had issue one daughter; in 1945 she took the name Millais by deed poll after entering a relationship with Capt. Hesketh Raoul Lejarderay Millais (1901-99) of Westcote Manor (Glos), artist and sportsman; they are said to have married in 1953*, and had further issue one son; died 21 August and was buried at Westcote (Glos), 24 August 1985; her will was proved 26 March 1986 (estate £473,582).

He inherited the Hardwicke Grange and Sansaw estates from his father in 1897. In the years before the First World  War he rented the Mamore Forest estate (Inverness) as a deer stalking estate, and twice entertained King Edward VII there.

He died at the Connaught Hotel in London, 12 February, and was buried at Clive, 15 February 1923; his will was proved 26 May 1923 (estate £1,229,482). His widow died 11 January 1933.

* But I have not been able to trace the marriage, which may have taken place abroad.

Bibby, Frank Brian Frederic (1893-1929). Only surviving son of Frank Bibby (1857-1923) and his wife Edith Mary, eldest daughter of Maj-Gen. Sir Stanley de Astel Calvert Clarke GCVO CMG of Ranger's Lodge, Hyde Park, Westminster (Middx), born 15 December 1893 and baptised at Clive, 7 February 1894. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1911; BA 1917; MA 1921). An officer in the 1st Life Guards (2nd Lt., 1913; Lt., 1913; Capt., 1917) and later the Shropshire Yeomanry (Maj.). High Sheriff of Shropshire, 1929 (died in office). Master of North Shropshire Fox Hounds, 1925-29. A director of the Great Western Railway and the Bibby Line. He married, 2 December 1919 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Ethel Mildred Hague (1899-1967), Master of North Shropshire Fox Hounds, 1929-35, youngest daughter of Thomas Reginald Hague Cook of London, and had issue:

(1) Cynthia Joan Bibby (1921-71) (q.v.).

He inherited the Hardwicke Grange and Sansaw estates from his father in 1923. On his death the estates passed to trustees, who demolished Hardwicke Grange in 1931-33. His widow ran the estate until her second husband died in 1940, after which his daughter took over the management of the property.

He died suddenly aboard his yacht at Kinlochleven (Inverness), 21 July 1929; his will was proved 26 November 1929 (estate £1,082,072). His widow married 2nd, 12 June 1935 at Clive, Maj. John Ronald Campbell (1905-40), and died 17 May 1967; her will was proved 16 November 1967 (estate £44,349).

Bibby, Cynthia Joan (1921-71). Only child of Frank Brian Frederic Bibby (1893-1929) and his wife Ethel Mildred, youngest daughter of Thomas Reginald Hague Cook of London, born 2 October 1921. Educated at Domestic Science College, Axminster (Devon). She married, 26 September 1945 at Clive (Shrops.), Capt. Noel Dennis Thompson (1914-67), youngest son of Claude William George Hugh Thompson of Red House, Escrick (Yorks ER), and had issue:

(1) David Robin Bibby Thompson (b. 1946) (q.v.);

(2) Sarah Jane Thompson (b. 1950), born 14 October 1950; married, October 1969 at Clive, Guy Jonathan Paton-Smith (c.1946-2005) of Hestley Hall, Thorndon (Suffk), banker, son of Norman Paton-Smith of Felsted (Essex), and had issue one daughter; now living.

She inherited the Hardwicke Grange and Sansaw estates from her father and took over the management of the estates on the death of her stepfather in 1940. However, she and her husband lived in Yorkshire for some years after their marriage.

She died 5 February 1971 and was buried at Clive (Shrops.); her will was proved 4 March 1971 (estate £1,116,342).  Her husband died 17/18 January 1967; administration of his goods was granted to his widow, 8 May 1967 (estate £8,528).

Thompson, David Robin Bibby (b. 1946). Only son of Capt. Noel Dennis Thompson (1914-67) and his wife Cynthia Joan, only child of Frank Brian Frederic Bibby (1893-1929) of Hardwicke Grange and Sansaw, born 23 July 1946. Educated at Uppingham. An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1967; Lt., 1968; ret. 1973) and the territorials (Lt., 1975; Capt., 1976; Maj., 1980; Lt-Col., 1984; Col., 1987; retired 1990). High Sheriff of Shropshire, 1989-90; Chairman of the National Agricultural Centre Housing Association (now Rural Housing Trust, 1984. He married, 21 July 1971 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), Caroline Ann (b. 1950), only daughter of Lt-Col. Owain Foster of Ardbraccan House (Co. Meath), and had issue:

(1) James Peter Bibby Thompson (b. 1975), born January 1975; an officer in the Royal Marines (Capt., 1998; retired 2005); married, 2001, Asa Cecilia (b. 1973), daughter of Torbjorn Eld-Isaksson of Panghundra (Sweden), and had issue one son.

He inherited the Hardwicke Grange and Sansaw estates from his mother in 1971, and undertook an extensive renovation and modernisation programme to the designs of Tom Bird c.1974. He handed over control to his son in 2009, who has gone on to establish a business park and modern dairy unit on the estate.

Now living. His wife is now living.

Bibby of Tilstone Lodge, baronets

Bibby, Rev. Thomas (1812-83). Third son of John Bibby (1775-1840) [for whom see above] and his wife Mary, eldest daughter of Joseph Mellard of Newcastle-under-Lyme (Staffs), born 7 March and baptised at Holy Trinity, Liverpool (Lancs), 26 April 1812. Educated at St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1830; BA 1834; MA 1838). Ordained deacon, 1836 and priest, 1837. Perpetual curate of Holy Trinity, Liverpool, 1837-47 and later vicar of Norton (Glos), 1852-55 and curate of Brownsover (Warks), but he was intermittently without clerical employment. He married, 21 September 1843 at St Mary, Edge Hill, Liverpool, Elizabeth (1812-1905), daughter of Thomas Wilson of Liverpool, merchant, and had issue:

(1) Herbert Kirkman Bibby (1844-1927), born at Wiesbaden (Germany), 8 July and privately baptised, 10 August 1844, but received into the church at Holy Trinity, Liverpool, on the same day as his brother, 18 March 1846; merchant and shipowner in London and Liverpool; married, 27 October 1877 at St John, Devizes (Wilts), Julia (c.1858-1921), daughter of John Carless MD (1820-74) of Stroud (Glos) and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 15 November 1927; will proved 6 January 1928 (estate £182,346);

(2) Arthur Wilson Bibby (1846-1935) (q.v.);

(3) Ernest Vincent Bibby (1849-99), of Throstles Nest, Gateacre (Lancs), born 9 July and was baptised at Cheltenham (Glos), 29 August 1849; married, 13 April 1875 at St Mary, Devizes (Wilts), Sarah (1855-1919), daughter of John Carless MD of Stroud (Glos), and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 17 September and was buried at Halewood, 20 September 1899.

He died 3 September 1883. His widow died 2 October 1905.

Bibby, Arthur Wilson (1846-1935). Second son of Rev. Thomas Bibby (1812-83) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wilson of Liverpool, merchant, born 10 February and baptised at Holy Trinity, Liverpool, 18 March 1846. Educated at Rugby. A partner in Bibby Bros, shipowners and bankers; director of Canada Shipping; North and South Wales Bank of Maritime Insurance; Warner Barnes & Co.; Ledward Bibby & Co, and the English Coaling Co., Port Said. Chairman of Pacific Steam Navigation Co. and Liverpool Steamship Owners Association. Government nominee on the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board and latterly its Chairman. Chairman of the Committee of the Training Ship Indefatigable, 1913-31. He married, 7 October 1885 at Billinge (Lancs), Beatrice Evelyn (1865-1940), younger daughter of Thomas Heald, attorney, of Greenfield House, Billinge, mayor and clerk of the peace of Wigan (Lancs), and had issue:

(1) Beatrice Helen Bibby (1886-1926), born 28 July and baptised at Billinge, 16 October 1886; married, 4 January 1910 at Woolton, Liverpool (Lancs), John Robert Collie (1871-1940), of Penrhyd Hall (Caernarvons.), cotton merchant (who m2, 22 November 1934 at St Mark, North Audley St, Westminster (Middx), Lettice Valentine Lee (1902-83), daughter of Edward Lee Townsend), eldest son of Rev. James Hunter Collie, a Presbyterian minister, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 11/13 December 1926; administration of goods granted 5 October 1927 (estate £7,182);

(2) Sir (Arthur) Harold Bibby (1889-1986), 1st bt.;

(3) Constance Eveline Bibby (1891-1970), born 6 April and baptised at Oxton (Ches.), 9 May 1891; married, 20 August 1919 at Woolton, Maurice FitzGerald Sandes Magill (1888-1967), shipbroker, of Highlands, Spencers Wood (Berks), seventh son of Capt. James McGillycuddy Magill of Churchtown House, Beaufort (Co. Kerry), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 16 August 1970 and was buried at Churchtown Old Cemetery, Beaufort Bridge (Co. Kerry); will proved 4 December 1970 (estate £85,587).

He died 15 December 1935 and was buried at St Nicholas, Halewood (Lancs); his will was proved 4 March 1936 (estate £92,483). His widow died 14 January 1940 and was also buried at Halewood; her will was proved 13 March 1940 (estate £6,697).

Sir Harold Bibby (1889-1986), 1st bt. 

Bibby, Sir (Arthur) Harold (1889-1986), 1st bt. Only son of Arthur Wilson Bibby (1846-1935) and his wife Beatrice Evelyn, younger daughter of Thomas Heald of Greenfield House, Billinge (Lancs), born 18 February and baptised at Oxton (Ches.), 23 March 1889. Educated at Rugby. An officer in the Royal Field Artillery (Territorials), 1908-19, who served in France and Flanders in the First World War (mentioned in despatches twice). After the war he joined the family businesses and became senior partner in Bibby Bros. and chairman of the Bibby Line, 1935-69. He was also a director of Sea Insurance, 1922-68 (Chairman, 1930-56), Martins Bank, 1929-67 (Chairman, 1947-62)  the Suez Canal Co., 1939-57, and the Liverpool and London Steamship Protection and Indemnity Association, 1921-68. He was a member of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, 1931-65, Chairman of the Liverpool Sailors' Home, 1921-51, Chairman of the Liverpool Steamship Owners' Association, 1927-28, Chairman of the General Council of British Shipping, 1958-59, and Chairman of the Committee of the Training Ship Indefatigable, 1931-58. High Sheriff of Cheshire, 1934-35. He was knighted, 1956, raised to a baronetcy, 8 July 1959, and received an honorary degree from Liverpool University (LLD, 1959). He married, 26 May 1920 at Woolton, Liverpool (Lancs), Marjorie Guthrie (1898-1985), eldest daughter of Charles James Williamson of Camp Hill, Woolton, Liverpool, and had issue:

(1) Patricia Mary Bibby (1921-2005), born 11 May and baptised at St Paul, Hooton (Lancs), 30 June 1921; served in Second World War as an officer with the Auxiliary Territorial Service; married 1st, 25 March 1944 at Tilstone Fearnall (Ches.) (div. 1956), Maj. Ronald Stuart Kinsey (1914-94), barrister-at-law, and had issue two daughters; married 2nd, Apr-Jun 1962 at Chelsea Register Office, as his second wife, Iain Hall Brookes Macdonald (1901-89); died 14 November 2005; her will was proved 18 May 2006;

(2) Sir Derek James Bibby (1922-2002), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(3) Joan Elizabeth Bibby (1926-2007), born 5 January 1926; married 1st, 22 December 1951, Maj. Reginald Francis Foster (1896-1974), author and officer in Indian army, and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, 1985 (div. 1987), Clifford Haines; died 23 October 2007; her will was proved 9 July 2008;

(4) Anne Marjorie Bibby (1928-2020), born 30 October 1928; married 1st, 5 May 1951 at Tarporley (Ches.), Lt-Col. John Hamilton Palairet (1917-69), son of Maj. C.A.H. Palairet of Ledbury (Herefs), and had issue three daughters; married 2nd, 1976 (div. 1980), Denis Justin Beattie; died aged 91 on 16 February 2020; will proved 12 February 2021;

(5) John Christopher Bibby (1932-68), born 7 June 1932; educated at Rugby; an officer in the Royal Artillery (Lt.); joint managing director of Executive and Commercial Travel Ltd., 1965; died unmarried, 1 October 1968; will proved 29 November 1968 (estate £55,539). 

He purchased Tilstone Lodge (Cheshire) in 1936 and lived there until his death.

He died 7 March 1986; his will was proved 20 June 1986 (estate £2,505,692). His wife died 30 November 1985; her will was proved 13 January 1986 (estate £1,865,834).

Sir Derek Bibby, 2nd bt. 

Bibby, Sir Derek James (1922-2002), 2nd bt. Elder son of Sir (Arthur) Harold Bibby (1889-1986) and his wife Marjorie Guthrie, eldest daughter of Charles James Williamson of Camp Hill, Woolton, Liverpool, born 29 June 1922. Educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Oxford (MA 1941). He served in the Second World War as an officer in the Royal Artillery (Capt.), 1942-46, and was wounded and awarded the MC, 1945. After the war he joined Bibby Bros, becoming a partner in 1950, chairman, 1969-92 and president, 1992-2002, and was responsible for expanding and diversifying the business in ways which enabled it to survive the recession of the 1970s, becoming a director or chairman of the British Steamship Co., Charles Hill of Bristol, Bristol City Line of Steamships, Seabridge Shipping, and the Liverpool & London War Risks Insurance Association along the way, and a member of the General Council of British Shipping. DL for Cheshire (from 1987). He was Chairman of the Committee of the Training Ship Indefatigable, 1931-60, the National Sea Training School for Boys, and Birkenhead Youth Club, 1953-2002. He succeeded his father as 2nd baronet, 7 March 1986, and was made a Chevalier de l'ordre du Mérite Maritime de France, 1978. He published an autobiography, Glimpses, 1991. He married, 11 January 1961 at Aldford (Ches.), Christine Maud (b. 1936), youngest daughter of Rt. Rev. Frank Jackson Okell, bishop of Stockport, and had issue:

(1) Jennifer Margaret Bibby (b. 1962), born 3 March 1962; educated at Howells School, Denbigh and Oxford University; chartered accountant; married, Jul-Sept 1995, Peter John Smith of Nantwich (Ches.), and had issue three daughters;

(2) Sir Michael James Bibby (b. 1963), 3rd bt., born 2 August 1963; educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Oxford; chartered accountant and company director; joined Bibby Line Group, 1992 and was Managing Director, 2000-18 and Chairman, 2020-date; President of the UK Chamber of Shipping, 2018-date; DL for Merseyside (from 2013); awarded an honorary degree by Liverpool University, 2012 (DLaws); succeeded his father as 3rd baronet, 9 October 2002; married, 1994, Beverley, only daughter of Donald Graham, and had issue twin sons; now living;

(3) Geoffrey Frank Harold Bibby (b. 1965), born 18 February 1965; educated at Rugby and Exeter University; married, 1994, Sarah, eldest daughter of Frederick Robinson of Huntington (Ches.), and had issue one son and one daughter;

(4) Peter John Bibby (b. 1969), born 26 March 1969; educated at Rugby and Manchester University; married, 2010, Leila (b. 1974), a public relations manager, daughter of Mohammed Bahaijoub, and had issue two sons and one daughter;

(5) David Richard Bibby (b. 1970), born 10 August 1970; educated at Rugby and Bath University; married, Apr-Jun 1998, Nicola Jane (b. 1963), youngest daughter of Michael Williams, of Tidworth (Hants), and had issue three daughters.

He purchased Willaston Grange (Ches.), an Edwardian villa, about 1965, which passed at his death to his eldest son. He inherited Tilstone Lodge from his father in 1986, but sold it soon afterwards. His widow lived latterly at Malpas (Ches.)

He committed suicide while suffering from life-threatening illnesses, 9 October 2002; his will was proved 31 December 2002. His widow was living in 2015.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 369-71; P. de Figueiredo & J. Treuherz, Cheshire Country Houses, 1988, pp. 178-80; A. Ruscoe, Landed estates and the gentry: vol 1, Haughmond and Grinshill areas, 1999, pp. 50-52; O. Jones, A. Ghobadian, N. O'Regan & V. Antcliff, 'Dynamic capabilities in a sixth-generation family firm: Entrepreneurship and the Bibby Line', Business History, 55:6, pp. 910-41; G. Williams, The country houses of Shropshire, 2021, pp. 290-93, 565-67.

Location of archives

Bibby Line: operational, fleet, staff and miscellaneous records and photographs, 1812-1988 [National Museums Liverpool: Maritime Archives and Library, B/BIBBY]; correspondence and papers, 18th-20th cents [Liverpool Record Office]

Bibby family of Hardwicke Grange: family papers, 1890-1963 [Shropshire Archives, SRO 5556/2]

Coat of arms

Azure, a saltire parted and fretty argent surmounted in fess point by a lion rampant pean between two escallops in pale and as many mullets of six points in fess of the second.

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 15 September and updated 19 September 2025.