(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 (b. 1938), 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 Williams alias Cromwell, 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 Mowbray (later Hussey) (d. 1899); to kinsman, Col. Arthur Mowbray, 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 (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, 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 died 9 March 1874; her will was proved 14 May 1874 (effects under £30,000).

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.