(638) Biscoe and Tyndale-Biscoe of Holton Park

Tyndale-Biscoe of Holton Park

Biscoe of Holton Park

This family are believed to have originated in the West Country, but by the late 17th century they were established in London as apothecaries and later lawyers. Joseph Biscoe (1672?-1750), with whom the genealogy below begins, was Chirographer to the Court of Common Pleas, with an office in the Inner Temple, and was a Presbyterian in religion. During his long life he accumulated considerable landed property, but it was scattered around the country rather than providing him with a focused estate. He married Elizabeth Alsop and had three sons and five daughters. His eldest daughter, Bethia (d. 1762), married the noted nonconformist minister, the Rev. Edmund Calamy (1698-1755), and his youngest son, Vincent John Biscoe (1721-70) married as his first wife Lady Mary Seymour, a daughter of the 8th Duke of Somerset, but the majority of his property passed to his eldest son, Elisha Biscoe (c.1705-76), who also succeeded him in his chief post as Chirographer.

Spring Grove, Isleworth: the house built by Elisha Biscoe in 1754.

Elisha accumulated further property around his father's lands in Heston, Isleworth and Norwood (Middx) and in 1754 rebuilt the property called Spring Grove, Isleworth, as a five-bay villa with a central pediment. His main residence seems to have remained his house in Bedford Row in London's legal quarter, however, and his son and heir, Elisha Biscoe (1753-1829) sold the house to the noted botanist, Sir Joseph Banks in about 1786 and further parts of the estate in 1794. After leaving Isleworth, the younger Elisha seems to have rented a succession of properties in the Thames Valley and south Oxfordshire, at none of which did he stay for more than a few years. In 1800 he was renting Shotover House (Oxon) when the neighbouring estate of Holton Park came onto the market, and he bought the property and settled there for the remainder of his life. It was probably always his intention to rebuild the old and perhaps partially ruined moated house that he acquired with the estate, and this was done in 1805-07. Elisha remained unmarried and without issue, so on his death his property passed to his sister Anne (1748-1834), who resumed her maiden name of Biscoe in 1830. Anne had been married to Timothy Hare Earle (1737-1816) of Swallowfield Park (Berks), but after her husband's death she appears to have moved to Holton to live with her brother. Her eldest son, Timothy Hare Altabon Earle (c.1779-1836), inherited Swallowfield but sold it in 1824. The Holton estate was left to her younger son, William Henry Biscoe Earle (1782-1847), who was married but had no issue, and to his spinster sisters, the last of whom, Frances Letitia Earle (later Biscoe), died in 1865.

Anne's eldest daughter, Mary Anne Earle (1773-1826) married in 1809 the Rev. Thomas George Tyndale (1777-1865), rector of Holton, and had three sons and two daughters. Her eldest son, William Earle Biscoe Tyndale (1813-95), was the heir to his aunt, Frances Letitia Earle (later Biscoe) when she died in 1865. He took the name of Biscoe in lieu of Tyndale in 1866, and was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1868-69. In 1850 he had married the eldest daughter of George Glas Sandeman (1792-1868), head of the wine importers, whose name is still closely linked to the port wine trade of Oporto (Portugal). Together they had seven sons and one daughter, of whom the sons mostly chose military or clerical careers. His four elder sons were born Tyndale, but took the name Biscoe with their father in 1866; the three younger sons were born Biscoe, but two of them chose to take the name Tyndale-Biscoe later on, as did one of the elder sons. Very confusing!

The heir to Holton was Henry Stafford Tyndale (later Biscoe) (1857-1911), but he seems never to have occupied Holton Park, which was let, and instead resided at a succession of properties in Surrey, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. He and his wife had five sons and three daughters, all born with the name Biscoe, but two of whom subsequently adopted the name Tyndale-Biscoe by deed poll in 1925. When Henry died at a comparatively young age in 1911 he left an estate of reasonable size, but the combination of two lots of death duties within twenty years and the agricultural depression perhaps made the estate seem unviable, and Holton Park was sold by Henry's widow soon after his death. The three sons who survived to adulthood all made new lives in Jamaica after serving in the First World War.

Holton Park, Oxfordshire

The earliest reference to a manor house at Holton dates from 1316, when the house, later known as 'Halleplace' and later still as Holton House, no doubt stood on the moated platform which is still a prominent feature of the park just to the north-west of the present 19th century mansion. The moat, which encloses a platform nearly 2 acres in extent, is partly cut out of solid rock and partly retained by an embankment with limestone retaining walls, and is a significant piece of medieval engineering. The platform was accessed by bridges to both north and south, at least one of which was a drawbridge, the winding mechanism of which was still said to be in situ at the end of the 19th century. Three views of the house taken shortly before its demolition in 1805 show a structure of several different dates, but are quite hard to reconcile with each other. Only two of them seem to have been available to the authors of the Victoria County History in 1957, and their interpretation - that the house stood in the south-west corner of the moated platform, with one arm projecting north and the other west and a courtyard between the two and the moat - seems unreliable. 

Holton House: watercolour based on an engraving of 1787, showing the main front of the house. Image: David Milanes.

Holton House: watercolour by Dr William Crotch, c.1803.

The drawings show the house was of three storeys, with a four-storey tower at one angle, and consisted of an earlier core that was evidently extensively remodelled in the early 17th century. The main front had the four-storey tower at its left hand end, balanced by a three-storey projecting canted bay with Gothick fenestration which suggests it was added in the third quarter of the 18th century. In between were two further projecting bays, perhaps to be identified as an entrance porch tower and hall bay window. The house was taxed on 18 hearths in 1665, making it a medium-sized mansion, comparable to Rousham House (15 hearths). The return elevation to the left of the tower was shorter, but again apparently of the 17th century, with mullioned windows under hoodmoulds and a nearly windowless stair turret projecting from the wall.

Holton House: the partially demolished or ruined house in 1804, depicted by Dr Crotch.

The third drawing shows what might be a completely different house, with the parts nearest the viewpoint standing in ruins, or perhaps depicted after demolition had begun. The ruined parts seem to be older than the 17th century main block, but the tall narrow block behind the ruins could be of the later date. A ruined crenellated tower visible behind the tall block is perhaps to be identified with the four-storey tower shown in the other views, but there is perhaps some artistic licence in the way the parts of the house are shown as fitting together.

Elisha Biscoe bought the Holton estate in 1800, and probably intended from the first to build a new house. There was a sitting tenant in the old house, however, and he was obliged to wait until 1803 for vacant possession. During these years he lived at Holton Place, opposite the church. Having settled there, he was able to pull down the old mansion while maturing his plans for its successor; a demolition sale was held in July 1803. It is thought that many of the materials salvaged from the old house was utilised when the new house was built in c.1805-07. The new house was a symmetrical square block of two storeys, with a five-bay entrance front and side elevation, and six bays on the garden front. This essentially classical form was tricked up with minimally Gothick touches: hoodmoulds over the sash windows, a castellated parapet, and octagonal corner turrets. The architect is unknown.

Holton Park: entrance front and side elevation in 1966. Image: Peter Reid/Historic England

Holton Park: garden front, showing the service wing, bay-fronted addition and peach house. Image: David Milanes.

The entrance front has a wider central bay fronted by a large central battlemented porch with quatrefoils in the parapet. The garden front is modelled as three pairs of windows, separated by triangular buttresses rising into miniature turrets, and was extended to the east later by the addition of a single wide bay with a two-storey canted bay. A service wing was attached to the north-east corner of the house, and a peach house was built against the south side of this later in the 19th century. The classical interior is dominated by the top-lit central hall, visible from all sides as a low crenellated tower rising from the middle of the house, and containing a severely plain cantilevered stone staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade. Despite the rectangular form of the hall, the skylight at the top is oval, and is decorated with Greek key ornament.

Holton Park: plan of the house and its immediate setting, 1919, from 3rd edition Ordnance Survey 25" plan.

The medieval and later house stood in a small deer park, which seems to have been a favoured destination for hunting and still housed a herd of rare white deer in the 19th century; sadly the remaining animals were culled at the start of the Second World War. The estate was then requisitioned for military use, and a military hospital was established in a hutted encampment in the eastern part of the park. After the war, the estate was sold to Oxfordshire County Council, which opened a grammar school in the house and later built a headquarters building for its library service on the estate, c.1966. The grammar school was later merged with Shotover School to form Wheatley Park School, for which additional buildings were erected in 1972 and 2009; it continues in use as a school. The site of the military hospital was redeveloped in 1963-65 as Lady Spencer Churchill Teacher Training College for Buckinghamshire County Council, and later became the Wheatley campus of Oxford Brookes University. Piecemeal development of this site continued into the 21st century, but in about 2021 the whole campus was sold to a commercial housebuilder for the construction of five hundred houses.

Descent: William Brome (d. 1461); to son, Robert Brome (d. 1485); to son, Christopher Brome (1475-1509); to son, Sir John Brome (d. 1558), kt.; to son, Sir Christopher Brome (d. 1589), kt.; to son, George Brome (d. 1613); to daughter, Ursula, wife of Sir Thomas Whorwood (d. 1634) of Sandwell Park (Staffs) and Headington (Oxon); to son, Dr. Brome Whorwood (d. 1684); to daughter, Diana (d. 1701), wife of Edward Master (d. 1692); to illegitimate half-brother, Thomas Allen (later Whorwood) (d. 1708); to son, Thomas Whorwood (d. 1736); to son, Thomas Whorwood (d. 1771); to nephew, Henry Mayne Whorwood, who sold 1801 to Elisha Biscoe (1753-1829); to sister Anne (1748-1834), widow of Thomas Hare Earle (1737-1816) of Swallowfield Place (Berks), who took the name Biscoe in lieu of Earle; to daughters Elizabeth (d. 1863) and Frances Letitia Biscoe (d. 1865); to nephew, William Earle Tyndale (later Tyndale-Biscoe) (1813-95); to son, Henry Stafford Tyndale Biscoe (1857-1911), to widow, Ethel, who sold 1911 to Alexander Crundale, who broke up the estate and sold the house 1913 to Harry Hilton Briggs; sold c.1925 to Maj. Melville Balfour (d. 1962); requisitioned for military use 1939 and sold 1946 to Oxfordshire County Council.

Biscoe and Tyndale-Biscoe family of Holton Park

Biscoe, Joseph (1672?-1750). Second son of Elisha Biscoe (1635-85) of Westminster (Middx), apothecary, and his wife Eleanor (c.1635-88), daughter of Francis Blake of Highgate (Middx), said to have been born 5 November 1672. Chirographer of the Court of Common Pleas at the Fines Office in the Inner Temple. A nonconformist in religion. He married, 7 October 1703 at All Hallows, London Wall, London, Elizabeth (d. 1762), daughter of Benjamin Alsop, and had issue:

(1) Elisha Biscoe (c.1705-76) (q.v.);

(2) Bethia Biscoe (d. 1762); married, 11 March 1739/40 in the chapel of Lincoln's Inn, Rev. Edmund Calamy (1698-1755), protestant dissenting minister, eldest son of Rev. Dr. Edmund Calamy (1671-1732), dissenting minister and divine, and had issue two sons (of whom one died young); died 29 May and was buried at St Mary Aldermanbury, London, 5 June 1762; her will was proved in the PCC, 23 July 1762;

(3) Elizabeth Biscoe (1707?-69), usually said to have been born August 1707 and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster, 11 August 1708*; married, 1730, Joshua Collier (d. by 1749) of Witney (Oxon) and had issue at least one son and one daughter; lived latterly at Stoke Newington (Middx); died 1 June 1769; will proved in the PCC, 14 June 1769;

(4) Sarah Biscoe (c.1715-80), born about 1715, based on age at death; married, 1 May 1755 at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), Malachi Blake (c.1724-95) of Witney (Oxon) and Taunton (Som.) and had issue at least one son; died 4 June 1780 and was buried at St James, Taunton, where she is commemorated by a monument;

(5) Frances Letitia Biscoe (c.1717-89), born about 1717; married 1st, 12 August 1762 at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), William Child (d. 1763); married 2nd, 13 November 1764 at St Pancras (Middx), Rev. Samuel Torrent (1724-89), rector of Warblington (Hants); died 17 March 1789 and was buried at St Giles, Reading (Berks), where she and her husband are commemorated by a monument;

(6) Joseph Alsop Biscoe (1718-40), born 24 September and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 23 October 1718; apprenticed to John Morton of London, citizen and broderer, 1735; died unmarried and was buried at Norwood (Middx), 20 November 1740;

(7) Vincent John Biscoe (1721-70), born 1721; West India merchant in London; lived at Hookwood, Charlwood (Surrey); married 1st, 20 October 1759 at Seend (Wilts), Lady Mary Seymour (1729-62), 0nly daughter of Edward Seymour (c.1695-1757), 8th Duke of Somerset, and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 16 January 1766 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Benigna Gottlieb (1722-96), daughter of Matthew Shiffner (d. 1756), a Baltic and Russian merchant in London, and had further issue three sons and two daughters; died 29 April and was buried at Seend, 6 May 1770;

(8) Patience Eleanor Biscoe; described in her father's somewhat vituperative will as being weak minded; married 1st, 19 January 1747/8 in London, William Robins (d. 1763), formerly a footman in her father's house, and had issue at least four sons and one daughter (including the well-known auctioneer, George Robins); married 2nd, 2 June 1764 at St Andrew, Holborn, Thomas Vincent (d. 1770) of Alcester (Warks); married 3rd, 17 July 1770 at Salford Priors (Warks), Thomas Cope (d. 1793?) of Dunnington Heath (Warks), and had issue one son; death not traced.

He lived in London, but owned extensive scattered property at Langley Marish (Bucks), Staines and Hayes (Middx), Ecclesfield (Yorks WR), Mildenhall (Suffk) and in Sussex and Bedfordshire.

He died at his house in London, 15 November and was buried at Norwood Green (Middx), 7 December 1750, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 11 December 1750. His widow was buried at Bunhill Fields nonconformist burial ground, Islington (Middx), 8 February 1762; her will was proved in the PCC, 13 May 1762.

* However, there was another Joseph Biscoe living in London at this time, and the baptism may relate to one of his children.

Biscoe, Elisha (c.1705-76). Eldest son of Joseph Biscoe (1672?-1750) of Inner Temple and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Alsop, born about 1705. Educated at Westminster School. Admitted a solicitor, 1730, but later attended the Inner Temple (admitted 1745; called 1766) and qualified as a barrister. Deputy Chirographer of the Court of Common Pleas; Clerk of the Presentations in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, 1763-76. JP for Middlesex. He was a nonconformist in religion, and founded a school at Norwood (Middx) in 1767. He married 1st, 27 April 1746 in the chapel of Lincolns Inn, Elizabeth (1714-66), daughter of Humphrey Ambler of Stubbings Park, Bisham (Berks), and 2nd, 27 November 1767 at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), Frances, daughter of Thomas Western, and had issue:

(1.1) Elizabeth Biscoe (b. 1747), baptised at Carter Lane Presbyterian Church, Blackfriars, London, 21 August 1747; probably died young;

(1.2) Anne Biscoe (1748-1834) (q.v.);

(1.3) Bethia Biscoe (b. 1750), baptised at Carter Lane Presbyterian Church, Blackfriars, London, 7 February 1749/50; died young;

(1.4) Elisha Biscoe (1753-1829) (q.v.);

(2.1) Catherine Frances Biscoe (1770-1837), born 24 May 1770; married, 18 May 1792 at St Marylebone (Middx), Edmund Rolfe (d. 1836) of Heacham (Norfk), but died without issue, 26 January, and was buried at Heacham, 4 February 1837; her will was proved in the PCC, 20 February 1837.

He lived at Bedford Row and held lands at Heston and Isleworth (Middx), where he built the house called Spring Grove which was later occupied by Sir Joseph Banks; Tenterden (Kent) and possibly also in Bedfordshire, as well as a house in the King's Road, Chelsea which was occupied by his second wife's mother.

He died 28 January and was buried at Heston, 5 February 1776, where he and his first wife are commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 19 February 1776. His first wife died 11 June was buried in the chancel at Heston (Middx), 17 June 1766. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Elisha Biscoe (1753-1829) 

Biscoe, Elisha (1753-1829). Only son of Elisha Biscoe (d. 1776) and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Humphrey Ambler of Stubbings Park, Bisham (Berks), baptised at Carter Lane Presbyterian Church, Blackfriars, London, 2 October 1753. Nothing is known of his education. JP for Berkshire, 1796, and for Oxfordshire; High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 1805-06. In 1815 he built four almshouses at Norwood Green (Middx). Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1783. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Spring Grove from his father in 1776 but sold it to Sir Joseph Banks in about 1786, and also sold him some of the land attached to the estate in 1794. He lived at Crowsley Park (Oxon), Shiplake Court (Oxon), Bisham (Berks) and Shotover House (Oxon) in the years before he purchased the Holton Park estate in 1800 and built a new house there c.1805-07.

He died 10 April 1829; his will was proved in the PCC, 4 July 1829.

Biscoe, Anne (1748-1834). Only surviving daughter of Elisha Biscoe (c.1705-76) and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Humphrey Ambler of Stubbings (Berks), baptised at Carter Lane Presbyterian Church, London, 20 November 1748. She and her unmarried daughters assumed her maiden name of Biscoe by royal licence in 1830. She married, 24 September 1772 at Heston (Middx), Timothy Hare Earle (1737-1816) of Moor Park (Herts) and Swallowfield Park (Berks) (bought 1788), High Sheriff of Berkshire, 1791-92, and had issue:

(1) Mary Anne Earle (1773-1826) (q.v.). 

(2) Elizabeth Dorothy Earle (later Biscoe) (1775-1863), baptised at St Andrew Holborn, 23 January 1775; died unmarried, 16 April, and was buried at Holton, 22 April 1863; will proved 11 June 1863 (effects under £30,000);

(3) Frances Letitia Earle (later Biscoe) (1777-1865), baptised at Sonning (Berks), 1 March 1777; died unmarried, 24 August, and was buried at Holton, 29 August 1865; will proved 26 January 1866 (effects under £30,000);

(4) Timothy Hare Altabon Earle (c.1779-1836), born about 1779 but baptism not traced; educated at Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1799); JP for Berkshire; High Sheriff of Berkshire, 1820-21; lived at Swallowfield Park (which he sold in 1824) and later at The Elms, Wokingham (Berks); owned plantations and enslaved people on St Kitts, the declining revenues of which obliged him to sell Swallowfield; died unmarried, 29 June and was buried at Holton, 7 July 1836;

(5) William Henry Biscoe Earle (1782-1847) (q.v.).

She inherited the Holton Park estate from her brother in 1829. At her death it passed to her younger son and daughters. The property was let to Lady Lucy Pusey by 1839 and passed on the death of Frances Letitia Biscoe in 1865 to William Earle Biscoe Tyndale (later Biscoe) (1813-95).

She was buried at Holton, 17 January 1834. Her husband was buried at Rickmansworth (Herts), 23 June 1816.

Earle, William Henry Biscoe (1782-1847). Younger son of Timothy Hare Earle (1737-1816) of Moor Park (Herts) and Swallowfield Park (Berks), and his wife Anne, only daughter of Elisha Biscoe (d. 1776), baptised at Sonning (Berks), 16 December 1782. Educated at Eton. JP for Oxfordshire. He married, 19 June 1833 at Baverstock (Wilts), Anne (1797-1884), daughter of Rev. Nicholas Earle, rector of Swerford with Shorwell (Oxon), 1782-1823, but had no issue.

He and his sisters inherited the Holton Park estate from his mother in 1834.

He died 1 May and was buried at Holton, 7 May 1847; his will was proved in the PCC, 4 June 1847. His widow died 16 October 1884; her will was proved 3 December 1884 (effects £28,833).

Earle, Mary Anne (1773-1826). Eldest daughter of Timothy Hare Earle (1737-1816) of Swallowfield Place (Berks) and his wife Anne, elder daughter of Elisha Biscoe (d. 1776), born at Swallowfield, 12 July, and baptised at St George the Martyr, Bloomsbury, 26 July 1773. She married, 21 February 1809 at Swallowfield, Rev. Thomas George Tyndale (1777-1865), rector of Holton, son of George Booth Tyndale (1743-79), and had issue:

(1) Anne Biscoe Tyndale (1810-77), born 20 March and baptised at Swallowfield, 17 April 1810; married, 18 December 1849 at Holton, as his second wife, Rev. Alexander Robert Charles Dallas (1791-1869), rector of Wonston (Hants), but had no issue; died 13 November 1877; will proved 7 January 1878 (effects under £18,000);

(2) Elizabeth Vere Tyndale (1811-1902), born 12 December 1811 and baptised at Swallowfield, 13 January 1812; married, 12 June 1838 at Headington (Oxon), her cousin, Arthur Vere Annesley (1803-83), second son of Rev. Arthur Annesley of Clifford Chambers (Glos, now Warks), and had issue five sons and three daughters; died 10 February 1902; will proved 17 March 1902 (estate £665);

(3) William Earle Biscoe Tyndale (1813-95) (q.v.);

(4) Rev. Henry Annesley Tyndale (1816-91), born 20 May and baptised at Swallowfield, 18 June 1816; educated at Wadham College, Oxford (matriculated 1834; BA 1838; MA 1841); ordained deacon, 1839, and priest, 1840; curate of Baldon (Oxon), 1839-42; rector of Tatsfield (Surrey), 1842-56 and of Holton, 1856-91; married, 15 September 1847 at Norton (Glos), Harriet Frances (1817-89), fifth daughter of Rev. Powell Colchester Guise, and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 27 August and was buried at Holton, 29 August 1891; will proved 14 October 1891 (effects £3,395);

(5) George Thomas Tyndale (1818-1916), born at Wooburn (Bucks), 27 July 1818; pottery manufacturer; lived at Rye House, Putney (Surrey) and later at Ealing (Middx); married, 6 May 1851 at St John's Cathedral (Antigua), Martha (c.1821-85), eldest daughter of Dr. Thomas Nicholson of Antigua, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 16 June and was buried at Holton, 21 June 1916; will proved 1 August 1916 (estate £2,986).

She died 22 July 1826 and was buried at Holton. Her husband married 2nd, 30 September 1829 at Iver (Bucks), Anne Sullivan (1787-1880); he died 19 May 1865 and was buried at Holton; his will was proved 19 January 1866 (effects under £1,500); his widow was buried at Holton, 10 July 1880; her will was proved 30 July 1880 (effects under £1,500).

William Earle Biscoe Tyndale (later Biscoe)
(1813-95). Image: National Portrait Gallery. 

Tyndale (later Biscoe), William Earle Biscoe (1813-95). Eldest son of Rev. Thomas George Tyndale (1777-1865) and his wife Mary Anne, eldest daughter of Timothy Hare Earle of Swallowfield Place (Berks), born 25 March and baptised at Swallowfield, 22 April 1813. JP (from 1866) and DL (by 1866) for Oxfordshire; High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 1868-69. He assumed the name Biscoe only for his family and himself by royal licence, 1866. He married, 2 October 1850 at St James, Paddington (Middx), Elizabeth Carey (1830-91), eldest daughter of George Glas Sandeman (1792-1868) of London and Westfield, South Hayling (Hants), wine merchant and importer, and had issue:

(1) Henry Stafford Tyndale (later Biscoe) (1857-1911) (q.v.);

(2) Frances Elizabeth Anne Tyndale (later Biscoe) (1859-1940), born 23 June and baptised at Holton, 7 August 1859; died unmarried, 16 December 1940; will proved 24 March 1941 (estate £10,940);

(3) Albert Sandeman Tyndale (later Biscoe and then Tyndale-Biscoe) (1861-1933), born 24 August and baptised at South Hayling (Hants), 6 October 1861; an officer in the Royal Artillery (Lt., 1881; Capt., 1889; Maj., 1899; Lt-Col., 1906; retired 1911); married, 21 November 1896, Edith Maskell (1872-1952), daughter of Col. John Charles Downie Morrison, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 11 July 1933; will proved 19 September 1933 (estate £8,005);

(4) Rev. Cecil Earl Tyndale (later Biscoe) (1863-1949), born 9 February and baptised at Holton, 15 March 1863; educated at Bradfield College and Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1882; BA 1885; MA 1890); ordained deacon, 1887, and priest, 1890; curate in Whitechapel (Middx), 1888-90; a missionary in Kashmir from 1890, where he was Principal of the Church Missionary Society High School, Shrinagar, 1905-40 and a canon of Lahore Cathedral from 1932 (emeritus canon, 1942); author of Character Building in Kashmir (1920) and Kashmir in Sunlight and Shade (1922); a freemason from 1905; married, 2 November 1891 in Bombay (India), Blanche Violet (1867-1947), daughter of Rev. Richard Barnett Burges, vicar of St Paul, Birmingham, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died at Salisbury (Southern Rhodesia), 1 August 1949;

(5) Edward Carey Tyndale (later Biscoe) (1864-1941), born 29 August and baptised at Holton, 26 September 1864; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1884; retired 1889; Cdr., 1902) and later the Rhodesian Horse (Capt.), who served in Egypt, Sudan, Rhodesia and South Africa, and later as a Major in the Censorship Office in India (retired 1920); after leaving the navy he became a gold prospector in southern Rhodesia, in partnership with the Hoste brothers; he  married 1st, 1 December 1900 at St John, Paddington (Middx), Ina Kathleen (1867-1932), youngest daughter of Lt-Col. John Glas Sandeman of Whin-Hurst and 2nd, 8 November 1932 at St Gabriel, Pimlico, Westminster (Middx), Sybil Muriel Kathleen (1884-1969), daughter of Rev. James Rhodes Ashworth, but had no issue; died 13 June 1941; will proved 22 November 1941 (estate £12,755);

(6) Julian Dallas Biscoe (later Tyndale-Biscoe) (1867-1960), born 25 July and baptised at Holton, 1 September 1867; educated at Bradfield College; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1887; Lt., 1890; Capt., 1894; Maj., 1903; Lt-Col., 1908; Col., 1912; temporary Brig-Gen., 1914-16; retired as Brig-Gen., 1919); appointed CB, 1916; married, 19 October 1908 at Dalmahoy (Midl.), Agnes Dorothy (1881-1968), elder daughter of Ellis Frederick Dudgeon of Gogar Bank (Midl.), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 17 February 1960 and was buried at Holton;

(7) Rev. George William Biscoe (1869-1958), born 6 October and baptised at Holton, 14 November 1869; educated at Bradfield College and Trinity College, Oxford (MA 1913), rector of Bishop's Caundle (Dorset), 1918-24 and Shalstone (Bucks), 1924-30; married 1st, 19 February 1901 at St Chad, Lichfield (Staffs), Isabel Charlotte (1868-1930), daughter of Rev. Francis Hanbury Annesley, and had issue two sons; married 2nd, 12 April 1932 at Lymington (Hants), Flora Edith (1884-1956), eldest daughter of Rev. C.I. Crosse and widow of Eustace Ord; died 8 October and was buried at Broadstone (Dorset), 15 October 1958; will proved 28 January 1959 (estate £10,078);

(8) Arthur Annesley Tyndale Biscoe (later Tyndale-Biscoe) (1872-1969), born 29 May and baptised at Holton, 28 July 1872; partner in Churchdown Fruit and Flower Co. (Glos) (dissolved 1901); an officer in the territorial battalion, Hampshire Regt. (Maj., 1917; Lt-Col., 1918); lived at West Meon (Hants) and later at Lymington (Hants); married, 14 June 1904 at St Peter, Cranley Gardens, Kensington (Middx), Emily Beatrice (b. 1883), daughter of Edward Alexander James Duff, banker, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 7 March 1969; will proved 25 August 1969 (estate £92,881).

He inherited Holton Park from his aunts in 1865.

He died 18 January 1895; his will was proved 5 March 1895 (effects £64,748). His wife died 20 May 1891.

Henry Stafford Tyndale Biscoe (1857-1911) 

Tyndale (later Biscoe), Henry Stafford Tyndale (1857-1911). Eldest son of William Earle Biscoe Tyndale (later Biscoe), and his wife Elizabeth Carey, eldest daughter of George Glas Sandeman of London and Westfield, South Hayling (Hants), born 1 October and baptised at Holton, 1 November 1857. With his father, assumed the name of Biscoe only, 1866. Educated at Harrow and Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1877). JP for Oxfordshire from 1883. He married, 22 January 1884 at St Luke, Torquay (Devon), Frances Ethel (1860-1926), only child of Francis Neil Primrose of Bixley Hall (Norfk), and had issue:

(1) Francis William Biscoe (1885-89), born 18 April and baptised at Holton, 24 May 1885; died young, 21 July, and was buried at Holton, 24 July 1889;

(2) Robert Stafford Biscoe (later Tyndale-Biscoe) (1886-1981), born 17 April and baptised at Holton, 23 May 1886; educated at Bradfield College and Wye Agricultural College; land surveyor; took the additional name of Tyndale by deed poll, 1925; emigrated to Jamaica, where he lived at Fair View; wrote a series of reminiscences of Holton Park and his family, now among the Holton parish records; married, 21 January 1916, Margeurite Eliza (1882-1958), daughter of John George Wilson of Jamaica, and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 23 June 1981;

(3) Archibald Biscoe (1887-1908), born 5 July and baptised at Holton, 7 August 1887; educated at Bradfield College and HMS Conway; joined merchant navy, 1904, but was drowned at sea in the loss of the SS Sardinia following a fire off Malta, 25 October 1908;

(4) Dorothy Primrose Biscoe (1888-1974), born 27 November and baptised at Holton, 25 December 1888; married, 16 November 1915 at Busbridge (Surrey), Rev. Charles Musgrave (1885-1952), vicar of Disley (Ches.), son of William John Musgrave, contractor, but had no issue; died 16 February 1974 and was buried at Eccleston (Ches.); will proved 29 March 1974 (estate £13,515);

(5) Agnata Bellamira Biscoe (1891-1977), born 31 July and baptised at Holton, 6 September 1891; married, 12 December 1915 at Totland Bay (IoW), Capt. Geoffrey Marshall (1882-1946) of Denbigh House, Shalford (Surrey), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 2 February 1977; will proved 29 April 1977 (estate £2,693);

(6) John Sewell Biscoe (later Tyndale-Biscoe) (b. 1894), born 15 June and baptised at Holton, 15 July 1894; educated at Bradfield College and HMS Conway; served in Royal Navy in First World War (Midshipman, 1914; Sub-Lt., 1916; Lt., 1918; retired 1920); land surveyor in Jamaica; took the additional name of Tyndale by deed poll, 1925; married, 28 October 1924 at Mandeville (Jamaica), Irene (1896-1987), daughter of William Finlay Methuen of Ealing (Middx), produce broker, and had issue at least one son; lived at Holton Cottage, Mandeville, Jamaica; living in 1955 but death not traced;

(7) Thomas Winne Biscoe (1897-1974), born 23 January and baptised at Holton, 28 February 1897; educated at Bradfield College and Wye Agricultural College; served with West Surrey Regiment, 1915-19 and Royal Air Force, 1923-29; emigrated to Jamaica where he lived at Williamsfield; married, 22 January 1930, Teresa McGubbin Fray (d. 1976), of Jamaica, and had issue one son and one daughter; died at Mandeville, Manchester (Jamaica), 4 November 1974;

(8) Ethel Mary Biscoe (1898-1987), born 19 July and baptised at Holton, 11 September 1898; married, 5 April 1921 at Busbridge (Surrey), Francis Raymond Farmer of Dunsfold (Surrey), farmer and hunt kennel manager, son of Edward Farmer of Dunsfold (Surrey), huntsman, and had issue; died 29 January 1987; will proved 24 March 1987 (estate under £40,000).

He inherited Holton Park from his father in 1895, but seems to have lived in rented accommodation elsewhere: in 1891 at Oakhanger, Godalming (Surrey); in 1901 at Warren House, Tubney (Berks) and in 1911 at Grove House, Kidlington (Oxon). After his death Holton passed to his widow who sold it 1911. 

He died suddenly at Cromer (Norfk), 8 July 1911; his will was proved 14 October 1911 (estate £52,916). His widow died 12 March 1926; her will was proved 31 July 1926 (estate £3,826).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 191; J.C. Covington Smith, Pedigree of the family of Biscoe, 1887; VCH Oxfordshire, vol. 5, 1957, pp. 168-77; A. Brooks & J. Sherwood, The buildings of England: Oxfordshire - North and West, 2017, p. 357; K. Heritage, Holton Park: a short history, 2018;

Location of archives

Tyndale-Briscoe of Holton Park: deeds and papers, 18th cent-1914 [Oxfordshire Archives PAR/135/17]. Some further papers may remain in private hands.

Coat of arms

Tyndale-Biscoe: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, paly of six, or and vert, three greyhounds courant in pale ermine, each gorged with a collar or (for Biscoe); 2nd and 3rd, argent, on a fesse gules between three garbs sable, a martlet or (for Tyndale)

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide portraits or photographs 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 22 June 2026.