Landed families of Britain and Ireland

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

Showing posts with label Architects. Show all posts

Tuesday, 5 August 2025

(608) Bevan and Smalman of Quatford Castle and Longstowe Hall

Smalman of Wilderhope and Quatford

In this article, I trace the interlinked stories of the Smalman and Bevan families of Quatford Castle (Shropshire), and of the cadet branch of the Bevan family who are still resident at Longstowe Hall (Cambs). The story really begins with John Smalman (1782-1852), a builder and architect at Bridgnorth (Shrops.) who was proud of his descent from the romantically Recusant and Royalist Smalman family of Wilderhope Manor (Shrops.), although the family had sold Wilderhope in 1734, two generations before he was born. His father, also John Smalman (1749-1834), with whom the genealogy below begins, lived at Munslow (Shrops.) and may have been the builder-architect of this name who in 1799 designed a new stone house in the village there, later called the Miller House, for William Wainwright. Certainly, there was a strong building tradition in the family, which manifested itself not just in the career of John Smalman (1782-1852), but also in those of five of his nephews, including Samuel Pountney Smith (1812-83), one of the leading architects in Shrewsbury in the mid 19th century.

Wilderhope Manor

John dominated the construction industry in and around Bridgnorth in the first quarter of the 19th century, and no doubt derived his rising prosperity chiefly from his activities as a builder, since only a small number of architectural projects are certainly known to be his work, although these include the enlargement of Stanley Hall (Shrops.) c.1816 and alterations to Dudmaston Hall (Shrops.) in 1826. By the 1820s, John was living at a modest house called The Chantry, at Quatford, where he built a Gothick folly called The Watch House in the grounds. At the end of the decade he bought a plot of land between Quatford and Bridgnorth and built himself a castellated villa which became known as Quatford Castle. In the 1830s and 1840s, John played a prominent role in the civic affairs of Bridgnorth, serving as mayor in 1837-38, but he never married, and in his old age his niece, Mary Beddoes (1816-89) went to live with him. She inherited the estate when he died, and two years later she married the Rev. Edward Griffith (c.1808-71), who it seems likely was a relative of the George Griffith who in 1847 published a narrative poem entitled The English Village; an Old-Man's Tale of the Castle of Quatford. Mary also died without issue and left the castle to her cousin, Mary Bevan (1821-1900), the sister of Samuel Pountney Smith and his architect brothers.

Mary Bevan (née Smith)'s husband was Henry Bevan (1813-67), an accountant who also acted as Secretary of the Shropshire Infirmary. Their only children were two sons, Henry Edward James Bevan (1854-1935), who went into the church, and Charles Smalman Bevan (1856-1923), who became a bank clerk in Birmingham and never married. On Mary's death in 1900, Quatford passed to the Rev. Henry Bevan, who was then Gresham Professor of Divinity, rector of Holy Trinity, Sloane St. in fashionable Chelsea (Middx), Rural Dean of Chelsea, and a chaplain to the Bishop of London. He was clearly marked for further promotion in the church and it was not long in coming, for he became rector of St Luke, Chelsea in 1902 and Archdeacon of Middlesex in 1903, a post he held until 1930. He and his wife, the Hon. Charlotte Molesworth (1864-1931) divided their time between Chelsea and Quatford. They had four sons of whom the eldest followed his father into the church, the second became an engineer and eventually emigrated to Canada, and the two youngest went into the army. They also had two daughters, the elder of whom acted as secretary to her father and later became a head teacher in Jamaica. The eldest son was the Rev. Hugh Henry Molesworth Bevan (1884-1970), who followed a similar career path to his father, holding a succession of benefices in west London and becoming a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral and Secretary of the London Diocesan Conference in 1942. In 1948 he was appointed Archdeacon of Ludlow and made his home at Quatford Castle, but six years later he abruptly sold the castle and accepted the rectory of Stanton Lacy (Shrops.), to which he relocated, retaining the archdeaconry until 1960. Hugh and his wife Rachel Knatchbull-Hugesson (1893-1987) had three sons, in whom a strong musical tradition is evident. The eldest, Roger Bevan (1918-98), who was disinherited by his father for marrying a Roman Catholic (and his first cousin, to boot), became director of music at Downside School, while the second son, Maurice Bevan (1921-2006) was a vicar choral at St Paul's Cathedral and a professional singer and composer with the Deller Consort and the BBC. Roger and his wife had fourteen children, and in the 1970s he formed a family choir which operated until 1984. The fifty-four cousins of the next generation have more recently renewed the idea, and since 2015 fifteen of them have performed as the Bevan Family Consort.

The third son of the Rev. Henry Edward James Bevan (1854-1935) was the rather sonorously named Temple Percy Molesworth Bevan (1897-1981), who served as an officer in the Grenadier Guards in the First World War and had a career in industry in the Far East between the wars, before acting as general organising secretary for the 1948 Olympic Games in London. In 1920, he married Amy (1895-1978), the daughter of William Arthur Briscoe (1860-1934) of Longstowe Hall (Cambs). Her brother, Richard George Briscoe (1893-1957) who inherited Longstowe, was unmarried and without issue, and in 1951 he made over the Longstowe estate to Temple and Amy's eldest son, Michael Guy Molesworth Bevan (1926-92). At first, Temple and Amy seem to have been resident at Longstowe, but Michael took over the running of the estate in 1957. He played a prominent role in county society, culminating in his appointment as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, 1985-92. On his death, the estate passed to his second son, William George Briscoe Bevan (b. 1958), who now lives there but also operates it as a wedding venue.

Quatford Castle, Shropshire

A compact castellated villa, at first called Morf Mount (although the present name had been adopted by 1833), set on a wooded crag south of Bridgnorth, with fine views over the River Severn. Although there was a Norman motte-and-bailey castle at Quatford, of which the mound survives beside the river, the present house is about three-quarters of a mile to the north-west.

View of Quatford Castle across the River Severn attributed to Joseph Powell, c.1834.

It is entirely the creation of John Smalman (c.1783-1852), a successful local architect and builder, who was mayor of Bridgnorth in 1837-38 and was very proud of his descent from the Smalman family of Wilderhope Manor, though his immediate ancestors had been tradesmen. He lived previously at The Chantry, a little further south, where he had built a brick and stucco folly known as The Watch Tower in the grounds. He built Quatford Castle in a similar style to the Watch Tower for himself in 1829-30, in a mix of red sandstone and brick, which were surely meant to be concealed by a stucco coat which would have greatly increased the impact of the building in the landscape. The house consists of a group of polygonal towers of varying heights, dressed up with heavy crenellation and deep machicolation, which are composed with a clear eye to picturesque effect. Smalman subsequently commissioned a series of views of Bridgnorth and Quatford from the leading watercolourist, Joseph Powell.

Quatford Castle: the house from the north, c.1920, from an old postcard.

Quatford Castle: the house from the south in 1977.

A pair of projecting conservatories at the south-east and south-west angles of the house, both of which open off the main drawing room, add to the complexity of the profile, but these apart the house is essentially square in plan. The windows are large, irregularly placed sashes with Gothick glazing bars, some of which have nominally pointed heads. The design was very favourably noticed when it was new (Charles Hulbert in 1837 called it 'the most perfect imitation I ever beheld'), but later surveys of the county, made after this sort of design fell out favour in the Victorian period, barely mention it. In 1954 the house had five reception rooms and six principal bedrooms, with the most important rooms facing the views over the garden to the river. The house is said to have been restored and modernised by the new owners in the later 1950s. The house is approached by a lodge up the longest drive that could conveniently be laid out on what was always a fairly small plot; when the house was sold in 1954 it stood on 13.5 acres.

Quatford Castle: site plan from the 1st edn. 25" plan of 1882.

Descent: built 1829-30 for John Smalman (1782-1852); to niece, Mary Beddoes (1816-89), later wife of Rev. Edward Griffith (c.1808-71); to cousin, Mary Smith (1821-1900), the widow of Henry Bevan (1813-67); to son, Ven. Henry Edward James Bevan (1854-1935); to son, Ven. Hugh Henry Molesworth Bevan (1884-1970), who sold 1954 to Arthur Philip Morley (1900-73); to widow Joan Morley, who sold 1977 to Harold Edward Baker (1922-83); to sons, Karl Baker (b. 1955) and Adam Richard Baker (b. 1961).

Longstowe Hall, Cambridgeshire

The medieval manor-house of the De Stowe family probably occupied the site of the present Longstowe Hall, and was surrounded by a great moat, in the eastern part of which a young man was drowned in 1381.

Longstowe Hall: the Elizabethan house, drawn by R. Relhan in 1833
(Image: Cambridge Antiquarian Society)

The earliest parts of the present house were built for Anthony Cage the elder (d. 1583), who created an E-plan house, the entrance front of which is now represented by the central three bays of the garden front of the present house. In 1858 the estate was sold to Sidney Stanley (d. 1896), for whom William M. Fawcett of Cambridge extensively remodelled the house in 1865-70, adding gabled extensions to either side of the original building. A design by Fawcett was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1870. From this era, the house retains its huge, west-facing drawing room, with a French-style marble chimneypiece and restrained neo-Jacobean plasterwork. Some earlier interiors were also preserved, such as the neighbouring morning room in an 18th-century spirit. This was recorded by the artist David Wilkie, who stayed at the house in about 1840.

Longstowe Hall: the site plan as shown on the 1st edn. 25" Ordnance Survey map of 1886,
showing the enlarged block plan of the house after the additions of 1865-70.

William Arthur Briscoe, who had rented the house from 1879, bought the freehold in 1905, and soon afterwards commissioned Sir John W. Simpson & Maxwell Ayrton to build a completely new entrance front in a late Jacobean Revival style and make further alterations to the garden front, reducing the height of the central gable and adding the classical porch-cum-loggia. They also laid out the formal gardens and built a very handsome gatehouse at the end of the main drive. The works were spread over about five years (1907-12), and involved the employment of a number of different contractors, several of whom were local.

Longstowe Hall: design for new north and west fronts by Simpson & Ayrton, from Building News, 1916.

Longstowe Hall: garden front as altered by Simpson & Ayrton in 1907-12.

Longstowe Hall: the interior face of the gatehouse, from the Architectural Review, 1909.

Inside, the house was given a series of lavish Edwardian rooms appropriate to the increased scale of the house, including a two-storey hall with an arcaded timber gallery and a strapwork ceiling by Albert Hodge modelled on that of the long gallery at Lanhydrock (Cornwall) but with the figures transposed into a classical style. The hall also has some genuine Flemish panelling of c.1550, some 17th century baroque woodwork, and in about 1950 was given a painted frieze by Edgar Richards, depicting Arcadian fantasy figures in fictive architecture (which seems now to have been removed or covered up). The library and smoking room are almost equally grand, with more Continental Baroque panelling and further neo-Jacobean plasterwork by Hodge, and the staircase is a forest of richly-toned woodwork and panelling. The Edwardian essence of these interiors is unusually well preserved, when so many rooms of similar date have been stripped back either through the sale of contents or a late 20th century desire for greater minimalism. The house was photographed for Country Life in 2022, and the interiors can be seen in their account.

Longstowe Hall: a wedding in the great hall, before the removal or covering of the frieze.

Descent: John Broughton (d. 1528); to daughter Anne (d. 1562), wife of Sir Thomas Cheyney KG (d. 1558); to son, Henry Cheyney, who sold 1563 to Thomas Bownest; to Anthony Cage (d. 1583); to son, Anthony Cage (d. 1603); to son, Sir John Cage (d. 1628); to son, Sir Anthony Cage, who sold 1649 to Francis Bickley; sold 1655 to Sir Ralph Bovey (d. 1679); to Rev. Thomas Davies (later Bovey); to daughter Catherine (d. 1778), wife of Sir Thomas Alston (1724-74), 5th bt.; to her illegitimate son, Charles Wasse alias Alston, who sold 1796 to Rev. Robert Thomson (d. 1827); whose trustees sold 1840 to Richard Simpson (d. 1853); to son, Joseph Simpson, who sold 1858 to Sidney Stanley (d. 1896); to son, Charles Wentworth Stanley (1860-1939), who sold 1905 to William Arthur Briscoe (1860-1934); to son, Richard George Briscoe (1893-1957), who in 1951 gave the estate to his nephew, Michael Guy Molesworth Bevan (1926-92); to son, William George Briscoe Bevan (b. 1958). The house was let as a girls' school during and after the Second World War.

Smalman family of Quatford Castle

Smalman, John (1749-1834). Son of John Smalman (1711-74) of Diddlebury (Shrops.) and his wife Sarah (d. 1782), daughter and heiress of William Barney of Albrighton (Shrops.), baptised at Diddlebury, 16 July 1749. Possibly the architect and builder who designed the Miller House at Munslow for William Wainwright in 1799. He married, 21 July 1781 at Munslow (Shrops.), Jane (c.1758-1805), daughter and heiress of Francis Wainwright of The Fegg, Much Wenlock, and had issue:

(1) John Smalman (1782-1852) (q.v.);
(2) Emma Smalman (1783-1866) (q.v.);
(3) Eleanor Smalman (1785-1849), baptised at Munslow, 19 February 1785; married, 19 January 1818, William Woofe (1780-1872) of The Gaer, Caereinion (Montgomerys.), and had issue at least three sons; buried at Castle Caerinion, 7 August 1849;
(4) Harriet Smalman (1787-1864) (q.v.);
(5) Francis Wainwright Smalman (1793-1814), baptised at Munslow, 4 August 1793; died unmarried and was buried at St John in Bedwardine (Worcs), 19 July 1814.

He lived at Munslow.

He died 19 June and was buried at Munslow, 24 June 1834. His wife died 17 December 1805.

John Smalman (1782-1852)
Smalman, John (1782-1852). Elder son of John Smalman (1749-1834) and his wife Jane, daughter and heiress of Francis Wainwright of The Fegg, Much Wenlock, born 7 April 1782. Builder and architect of Bridgnorth (Shrops.) and Quatford, who seems to have become extremely prosperous, presumably on account of his role as a builder, as his known architectural works are all local to Bridgnorth and few in number. He was probably responsible for the addition of an attic storey to Dudmaston Hall (Shrops.), 1826, and additions to Stanley Hall (Shrops.), c.1816, and also widened Bridgnorth Bridge and built a new theatre in the town (which only survived for some thirty years). His most significant design was undoubtedly for his own house, Quatford Castle, built in 1829-30. His nephew, Samuel Pountney Smith (1812-83), became his pupil. He was a Whig in politics, became an alderman of Bridgnorth in 1835, and served as mayor of the town, 1837-38, and a portrait of him remains in the town hall. JP for Bridgnorth borough, 1836. He had literary interests, and wrote several long poems of eccentric character which are preserved in manuscript. He was unmarried and without issue.

He lived at The Chantry, Quatford until he built Quatford Castle in 1829-30.

He died 11 March 1852, and was buried at Quatford, where he is commemorated by a monument with a eulogistic epitaph.

Smalman, Harriet (1787-1864). Third and youngest daughter of John Smalman (1749-1834) and his wife Jane, daughter and heiress of Francis Wainwright of The Fegg, Much Wenlock, baptised at Munslow (Shrops.), 4 July 1787. She married, 14 November 1815 at Munslow, George Beddoes (c.1770-1854), joiner, and had issue:

(1) Mary Beddoes (1816-89), baptised at Quatford, 26 May 1816; lived with her uncle, John Smalman, at Quatford Castle, and inherited the property from him in 1852; married, 19 January 1854 at Quatford, Rev. Edward Griffith (c.1808-71) of Frome (Som.), son of James Griffith, gent., but had no issue; died 18 October and was buried at Quatford, 23 October 1889; will proved 15 November 1889 (effects £18,108).

She lived latterly at Quatford Castle with her daughter.

She died 26 July and was buried at Quatford, 1 August 1864; administration of her goods was granted 11 October 1864 (effects under £1,000). Her husband was buried at Bishop's Castle (Shrops.), 18 March 1854.

Smalman, Emma (1783-1866). Eldest daughter of John Smalman (1749-1834) and his wife Jane, daughter and heiress of Francis Wainwright of The Fegg, Much Wenlock, baptised at Munslow, 6 September 1783. She married, 26 June 1807, Edward Smith (c.1778-1847) of the Crown Inn alias Munslow Hundred House, Munslow (Shrops.), innkeeper, and had issue:

(1) Edward Smith (b. 1811), baptised at Munslow, 11 August 1811; builder at Oldswinford (Worcs); married, 5 February 1829 at Wistanstow (Shrops.), Elizabeth Jones (d. by 1851);
(2) Samuel Pountney Smith (1812-83), born 2 November and baptised at Munslow, 17 December 1812; pupil of his uncle, John Smalman, builder and architect, who set up practice in Shrewsbury in the 1840s and developed a regional reputation, with commissions in Herefordshire to the south and north Wales to the north, as well as more locally, chiefly for churches and institutional buildings, but also for some houses; a JP for Shrewsbury and a borough councillor, serving as mayor, 1873-74 and alderman, 1876-83; married, 18 July 1843 at Stanton Long (Shrops.), Mary Butcher, and had issue; died 5 November 1883 and was buried at Shrewsbury General Cemetery (the buildings of which he had designed); will proved 5 February 1884 (effects £2,895);
(3) Jane Smith (1815-1907), baptised at Munslow, 7 March 1815; kept house for her brother Edward until she married, 16 April 1857 at Oldswinford, Rev. Alpheus Slight (1812-86); died in Derby, 9 January 1907;
(4) John Smith (1817-48?), baptised at Munslow, 16 April 1817; architect in Shrewsbury, perhaps briefly in partnership with his elder brother; married, 11 October 1842 at Much Wenlock (Shrops.), Anne, daughter of John Shakeshaft of Wenlock, ironmonger; probably the man of this name who was buried at Shawbury (Shrops.), 29 December 1848;
(5) Thomas Smith (1819-76), baptised at Munslow, 24 April 1819; architect and surveyor in Stourbridge (Worcs); married, 18 November 1847 Phoebe (d. 1890), daughter of William Pargeter; buried at Oldswinford, 15 July 1876;
(6) Mary Smith (1821-1900), baptised at Munslow, 3 June 1821; married Henry Bevan (1813-67) [for whom see below under Bevan of Quatford Castle]
(7) Francis Smalman Smith (1823-92), baptised at Munslow, 19 April 1823; architect in Shrewsbury and later at Lytham St Annes (Lancs); married, 14 July 1864 at Kingswinford (Worcs), Elizabeth Haynes (b. 1835), daughter of John Bourne of Kingswinford, and had issue two sons and four daughters; died 14 December 1892; administration of goods granted 16 May 1893 (effects £73);
(8) Charles Blakeway Smith (1825-85), baptised at Munslow, 26 May 1825; railway and canal traffic superintendent; married, 1853, Mary Ann Weston, and had issue; died 20 April 1885; administration of goods granted 26 June 1885 (effects £109).

She was buried at Rushbury, 16 October 1866. Her husband was buried at Rushbury, 29 September 1847.

Bevan family of Quatford Castle

Bevan, Henry (1813-67). Son of James Bevan, weaver and later linen cloth manufacturer, and parish clerk of Holy Cross parish, Shrewsbury, and his wife Mary Stanley, born 12 June and baptised at Holy Cross, Shrewsbury (Shrewsbury Abbey), 1 July 1813. Accountant; Secretary of the Shropshire Infirmary. He married, 5 July 1853 at Holy Cross, Shrewsbury, Mary (1821-1900), daughter of Edward Smith of Burton and Munslow (Shrops.), niece of John Smalman (1782-1852), and sister of Samuel Pountney Smith (d. 1883), architect, and had issue:

(1) Ven. Henry Edward James Bevan (1854-1935) (q.v.);
(2) Charles Smalman Bevan (1856-1927), born 24 March and baptised at St Alkmund, Shrewsbury, 23 April 1856; bank clerk with Messrs. Barclay & Co. in Birmingham, c.1873-1923; died 17 December 1927 and was buried at Quatford; will proved 19 January 1928 (estate £1,996).

He lived in Shrewsbury. His widow inherited Quatford Castle from her first cousin, Mary Griffith (née Beddoes) in 1889.

He died 29 August 1867; his will was proved 20 April 1868 (effects under £300). His widow died at Quatford Castle, 16 July 1900; her will was proved 19 September 1900 (estate £2,040).

Bevan, Ven. Henry Edward James (1854-1935). Elder son of Henry Bevan (1813-67) and his wife Mary, daughter of Edward Smith of Burton and Munslow (Shrops.), born 14 May and baptised at St Alkmund, Shrewsbury, 7 June 1854. Educated at Shrewsbury School, St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1873; BA 1878; MA 1883) and Ely Theological College. Ordained deacon, 1878 and priest, 1879. Vicar of St Andrew, Stoke Newington (Middx), 1883-96; Gresham Professor of Divinity, 1888-1904; Examining Chaplain to Bishops of London, 1894-1901; rector of Holy Trinity, Sloane St., Chelsea, 1895-1902; Rural Dean of Chelsea (Middx), 1897-1905; Rector of St Luke, Chelsea (Middx), 1902-30; Archdeacon of Middlesex, 1903-30; and a Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature from 1905. He married, 16 June 1883 at St Lawrence Jewry, London, the Hon. Charlotte Josephine Elizabeth (1864-1931), second daughter of Samuel Molesworth (1829-1906), 8th Viscount Molesworth, and had issue:

(1) Ven. Hugh Henry Molesworth Bevan (1884-1970) (q.v.);
(2) Cecil Mary Molesworth Bevan (1886-1944), born 17 May 1886; acted as secretary to her father but later became a teacher and was Headmistress of St Hilda's Diocesan High School in Jamaica, c.1929-36 and later a teacher of divinity in a private school in Chelsea (Middx); died 11 March 1944 and was buried at Quatford; will proved 22 December 1944 (estate £4,098);
(3) Guy Theodore Molesworth Bevan (1890-1974), born 17 March and baptised at St Andrew, Stoke Newington (Middx), 13 April 1890; educated at Malvern College and St. John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1909; BA 1912); served in First World War in Royal Engineers (2nd Lt., 1914; Lt., 1915; Capt., 1917; A/Maj., 1918; retired as Maj., 1920); mechanical engineer (MICE, 1917; FIMechE), who emigrated to Canada and became managing director of Massey-Harris Ltd., manufacturers of agricultural machinery (and one of the predecessors of Massey-Ferguson Ltd.); married 1st, 1920, Jean Munro Martin (1883-1968), and 2nd, c.1970, Josephine Isabel Tait (1911-2013); died at Southampton, Ontario (Canada), 26 June 1974;
(4) Gwen Charlotte Molesworth Bevan (1894-1944), born 17 April and baptised at St Andrew, Stoke Newington, 13 May 1894; studied at Royal Botanic Gardening School, Regents Park; married, 2 January 1922, at RC Church of Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Chelsea, Frank Reginald Baldock (1883-1925), a professional singer, son of Rev. Richard Baldock, vicar of Carlton-le-Moorland, and had issue; died 17 September 1944; will proved 23 October 1945 (estate £954);
(5) Lt-Col. Temple Percy Molesworth Bevan (1897-1981) [see below, under Bevan of Longstowe Hall];
(6) Rupert Charles Molesworth Bevan (1899-1963), born 31 January and baptised at Holy Trinity, Sloane St., Chelsea, 29 March 1899; educated at Repton School; an officer in the Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1917; Lt., 1919; retired, 1920) and later a clerk in a stockbroking firm; married, 18 September 1937 at Quatford, Dorothy Esther (1896-1973), daughter of L.J. Bates of Earley (Berks), but had no issue; died 5 February 1963 and was buried at Stanton Lacy (Shrops.); administration of goods granted 21 March 1963 (estate £340).

He inherited Quatford Castle from his mother in 1900.

He died 11 July 1935 and was buried at Quatford; his will was proved 22 October 1935 (estate £21,123). His wife died 8 August and was buried at Quatford, 12 August 1931.

Bevan, Ven. Hugh Henry Molesworth (1884-1970). Eldest son of Ven. Henry Edward James Bevan (1854-1935) and his wife, the Hon. Charlotte Joseph Elizabeth, second daughter of Samuel Molesworth, 8th Viscount Molesworth, born 2 August and baptised at St Andrew, Stoke Newington (Middx), 12 October 1884. Educated at Shrewsbury School, Queen's College, Oxford (BA 1907; MA 1912), and Cuddesdon Theological College. Ordained deacon, 1908, and priest, 1909. Vicar of East Acton (Middx), 1916-28; vicar of Hammersmith (Middx), 1928-48; rural dean of Ealing, 1925-28, and of Hammersmith, 1928-48; Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of London, 1939-48 and to Bishop of Hereford, 1948-66; prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral, London, 1942-48; Secretary of the London Diocesan Conference, 1942-48; Archdeacon of Ludlow, 1948-60 and prebendary of Hereford Cathedral, 1948-66; rector of Stanton Lacy (Shrops.), 1954-66. A member of 'Nobody's Friends', a High Church dining club, 1946-64; a Fellow of Sion College, London, 1945. He married, 16 July 1917 at St Luke, Chelsea (Middx), Rachel Joyse (1893-1987), daughter of Rev. Reginald Bridges Knatchbull-Hugesson, rector of West Grinstead (Sussex), and had issue:

(1) Roger Hugh Bevan (1918-98), born 27 June and baptised at St Dunstan, East Acton, 28 July 1918; educated at Shrewsbury School and Queen's College, Oxford (BA 1940; MA 1947); headmaster of St Mary's School, Newtown (Montgomerys.) and later director of music at Downside Abbey, where he formed a choir composed of ten of his children known as the Bevan Family Choir, which operated from the 1970s-1984*; married, 10 February 1943, his Roman Catholic first cousin, Cecilia Mary Margaret (k/a Molly) (1924-92), daughter of Frank Reginald Baldock, and had issue seven sons and seven daughters; died at Croscombe (Som), 21 June 1998;
(2) Maurice Guy Smalman Bevan (1921-2006), born 10 March and baptised at St Dunstan, East Acton, 17 April 1921; educated at Shrewsbury School and Magdalen College, Oxford; a vicar choral at St Paul's Cathedral; a bass-baritone singer and composer, who sang with the Deller Consort and the BBC (Fellow of Trinity College London; Assocation of Royal College of Music); married, 5 June 1948, Ann Christine Mary Josephine (1925-91), daughter of Maj. C. Alderson, and had issue one daughter; died 20 June 2006; will proved 3 November 2006;
(3) Christopher Henry Knatchbull Bevan (1933-2012), born 12 June 1933; educated at Shrewsbury School; married, 10 September 1960, Isabel Elinor Brightman (1935-2016), and had issue one daughter; died in Edinburgh, 20 September 2012.

He inherited Quatford Castle from his father in 1935, but sold it in 1954, and lived latterly at Corvedale, Croscombe (Somerset).

He died 15 January 1970. His widow died aged 94 on 15 November 1987; her will was proved 5 February 1988 (estate under £70,000).

* A tradition revived by the next generation, who formed the Bevan Family Consort in 2015.

Bevan of Longstowe Hall

Lt-Col. T.P.M. Bevan (1897-1981)
Bevan, Lt-Col. Temple Percy Molesworth (1897-1981). Third son of Ven. Henry Edward James Bevan (1854-1935) and his wife, the Hon. Charlotte Joseph Elizabeth, second daughter of Samuel Molesworth, 8th Viscount Molesworth, born 18 February and baptised at Holy Trinity, Chelsea, 23 March 1897. Educated at Shrewsbury School. An officer in the Grenadier Guards (2nd Lt., 1916; Lt., 1916; retired 1919; Capt., c.1940; Maj. by 1947; Hon. Lt-Col., 1947), who served in the First World War (wounded; awarded MC, 1917) and Second World War. Employed by Shell Oil Co. in China, 1919-33 and Briscoe & Co. in New Zealand, 1933-36. General Organizing Secretary for 1948 London Olympic Games, 1946-49. Appointed a knight of the Order of Dannebrog (Denmark), 1946. He married, 22 November 1920 in Hong Kong, Amy Florence (1895-1978), elder daughter of William Arthur Briscoe of Caynton Manor (Shrops.), and had issue:

(1) Sonia Patricia Molesworth Bevan (1922-2016), born 15 May 1922; married, 4 December 1946 at Longstowe, Charles Wroughton Wentworth Stanley (1919-91) of High Wych Grange, Sawbridgeworth (Herts), eldest son of Capt. Charles Sidney Bowen Wentworth Stanley , and had issue two sons and one daughter; died aged 94 on 18 August 2016; will proved 27 April 2017;
(2) Michael Guy Molesworth Bevan (1926-92) (q.v.);
(3) Pamela Elizabeth Molesworth Bevan (b. 1930), born 2 January 1930; married, 16 May 1951 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Rt. Hon. Sir David Cozens-Hardy Hirst (1925-2011), Lord Justice of Appeal, 1992-99, son of Thomas William Hirst of Fairlie House (Ayrs.), and had issue three sons and two daughters; now living.

He lived at Longstowe Hall from 1951.

He died at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, West Germany, 9 March 1981, and was buried at Longstowe, 5 May 1981, where he is commemorated by a monument designed by Hans Feibusch and carved by David Kindersley. His wife died 14 April 1978; her will was proved 14 September 1978 (estate £71,696).

Bevan, Michael Guy Molesworth (1926-92). Only son of Lt-Col. Temple Percy Molesworth Bevan (1897-1981) and his wife Amy Florence, elder daughter of William Arthur Briscoe of Caynton Manor (Shrops.), born 23 August 1926. Educated at Eton. Served in Second World War with Grenadier Guards, 1944-47. A director of Briscoes Ltd. and Walford Maritime Holdings, 1953-85. A Governor of the Papworth Village Settlement (later Papworth Trust), 1962-91 (Chairman, 1980-91; Vice-President, 1991-92); A syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1985-92; Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, 1985-92. He took over the management of the Longstowe estate in 1957 and was appointed a Knight of St John, 1986. He married, 23 May 1948, Mary (1926-2014), elder daughter of Capt. Charles Gerald Brocklebank MC (1893-1940), and had issue:

(1) Roger Anthony Briscoe Bevan (b. 1951), born 23 December 1951; educated at Eton; married 1st, Apr-Jun 1980 (div.) Marian Casey, daughter of Theodore Donohue of Litchfield, Connecticut (USA), and 2nd, Jul-Sept 1994, Beverley D. Anastopolis;
(2) Penelope Anne Bevan (b. 1955), born 2 March 1955; married, 1982, Geoffrey Thomas Carwardine Probert (b. 1953) of Great Bevills, Bures (Suffk), son of Lt-Col. Richard Harlachenden Carwardine Probert, and had issue two sons and two daughters;
(3) William George Briscoe Bevan (b. 1958) (q.v.);
(4) James Edward Briscoe Bevan (b. 1960) of Bulby Hall (Lincs), born 6 December 1960; married, 1986, Susan Fiona, daughter of Victor Parker of Appleton (Ches.), and had issue one son and one daughter.

He inherited Longstowe Hall from his uncle, R.G. Briscoe, in 1951.

He died 2 March and was buried at Longstowe, 5 March 1992; his will was proved 11 June 1992 (estate £2,662,069). His widow died 27 April 2014; her will was proved 10 September 2014.

Bevan, William George Briscoe (b. 1958). Second son of Michael Guy Molesworth Bevan (1926-92) and his wife Mary, elder daughter of Capt. Charles Gerald Brocklebank MC, born 18 April 1958. Farmer and event organiser. He married, 1st, 7 December 1985 (div. 2002), Annabel Jane (b. 1960), daughter of William Bertram Weatherall of Mursley (Bucks), and 2nd, Apr-Jun 2004, Mercedes San Luis otherwise Cowan (b. 1969), and had issue:

(1.1) George Michael Briscoe Bevan (b. 1988), born 20 December 1988;
(1.2) Lucy Clare Bevan (b. 1990), born 12 May 1990;
(1.3) Victoria Mary Bevan (b. 1993).

He inherited Longstowe Hall from his father in 1992 and developed it as a wedding venue.

Now living. His first wife married 2nd, 2005, Charles Robert Barker Hewitson (b. 1952) of Burnham Overy Staithe (Norfk), and is now living. His second wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 171; W.G.D. Fletcher, 'The sequestration papers of Thomas Smalman of Wilderhope', Trans. Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Soc., part 1, 3rd series, vol. iii, pp. 1-36; VCH Cambridgeshire, vol. 5, 1973, pp. 120-27; J. Newman & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Shropshire, 2nd edn., 2006, p. 482; Sir H.M. Colvin, A biographical dictionary of British architects, 1600-1840, 4th edn., 2008, p. 930; S. Bradley & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Cambridgeshire, 2nd edn., 2014, pp. 607-08; G. Williams, The country houses of Shropshire, 2021, pp. 542-43; J. Musson, 'Longstowe Hall', Country Life, 27 April 2022, pp. 56-61;

http://www.newellporter.co.uk/Quatford/Quatford_History_Exhibition_2017_low_res.pdf

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Smalman of Wilderhope and Quatford: Gules, a chevron between three pigeons volant or.

Bevan of Quatford and Longstowe: None recorded.

Can you help?

A group of 27 watercolours of Bridgnorth and Quatford by Joseph Powell, commissioned by John Smalman, were offered for sale in 2014 and again in 2017. Does anyone know their current whereabouts?
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 acknowledgments

This post was first published 5 August 2025 and updated 6 August and 8 October 2025 and 13 July 2026. I am grateful to John Bevan for a correction.

Saturday, 28 November 2020

(437) Bastard of Blandford Forum and Charlton Marshall

Bastard of Charlton Marshall

This family, who pronounced their name 'Bu'starred', leading to it appearing in a bewildering variety of spellings in contemporary records, can be traced back to a family of yeomen living at Belchalwell in the parish of Okeford Fitzpaine (Dorset). The genealogy below begins with Thomas Bastard (1654-1721), who was born at Belchalwell but moved to Blandford Forum, where he set up in business - no doubt after an apprenticeship - as a joiner and cabinet maker. It seems very probable that high quality architectural joinery rather than furniture-making was the mainstay of his business, and the interiors of the former rectory at Spetisbury (Dorset) and the woodwork in the church at Charlton Marshall are probably identifiable specimens of his work. At this time, successful craftsmen in the building trades (examples being Francis Smith (1672-1738) of Warwick and Anthony Keck (1726-97) of Gloucestershire, the latter of whom was also a joiner by original trade) were beginning to diversify into a more managerial role in which they would contract for the construction of whole buildings, co-ordinating and overseeing the work of sub-contracted artisans who were brought in to deliver the parts of the job that they did not have the specialist expertise to deliver, and perhaps even going on to design buildings as an architect. But there seems to be little or no evidence that Thomas Bastard followed this path except for the partisan statement on the funerary monument erected by his sons that he was 'eminent for his skill in Architecture'; in his will he describes himself simply as a joiner.

In 1682 Thomas married Bridget, the daughter of Thomas Creech of Blandford, mercer, and sister of the poet and translator, Thomas Creech. They produced a large family, with six sons and four daughters who survived to adulthood. There are likely to have been other children who died young, but whose names were lost when the early Blandford parish registers were destroyed in the Great Fire of Blandford in 1731. The six surviving sons all followed their father into the building trade. The three eldest - Thomas (1686-1731), John (1687-1770) and William (c.1689-1766) - took over his joinery business and will be considered further below. The fourth son, Samuel Bastard (c.1695-1728) turned his woodworking skills to the use of the Royal Navy and became foreman of the model-making department of the Royal Dockyard at Gosport. As we shall see, his eldest son later returned to Blandford to join the family firm. The fifth son, Benjamin Bastard (1698-1772), was apprenticed to William Townesend of Oxford (a mason who made exactly the transition to building contracting and architecture that is described above), and subsequently established himself as a mason-architect at Sherborne (Dorset). Joseph Bastard (c.1699-1783), about whom less is known, probably had a similar apprenticeship, but later lived at Sherborne St. John near Basingstoke in Hampshire, where he was later described as 'builder and surveyor'.

The three eldest sons inherited a thriving business operating from an extensive yard and workshops in the centre of Blandford Forum, but their world was changed for ever on 4 June 1731, when a fire broke out in a tallow-chandler's workshop in the town (on the site of the present Kings Arms). A contemporary account says "it was occasioned by the soap boyler’s apprentice making too great a fire under a furnace of boyling soap and as he endeavoured to rake part of the fewel at the furnace mouth, set fire to other furzes in the same room and in the space of an hour spread into different parts of the town with such fury that several of the poor workers, who were labouring to putt this fire out where it first began, had their own houses consumed before they gott home". It was a hot summer’s day and the fire spread rapidly, fanned by a strong wind. Remarkably, only twelve people are known to have died in the fire, but over 400 families were made homeless. About 90% of the town was destroyed, and flying sparks carried the fire to the nearby villages of Blandford St Mary and Bryanston, which were also badly fire-damaged. One of the casualties of the fire was Thomas Bastard, the head of the family firm, who although he did not die in the blaze was among those who 'either through the Labour and Fatigue, the Shocks and Surprizes of that Day, or by their Losses then sustained... or by the Methods taken since that Time to drown their Sorrows, are gone into another World'; he died about a month later.

The response to the fire was swift: the local landowners ensured that London soon heard of the Blandford fire, and the London papers described it as a national disaster. The King, Queen and Prince of Wales responded by giving £1300, and charity-in-aid performances were held at the Drury Lane Theatre. A 'brief' was circulated across England, authorising and encouraging parish churches to collect money for the relief of the sufferers, and the sum raised eventually covered nearly 30% of the declared losses. An Act of Parliament in 1732 decreed that Blandford should be re-built in brick and tile, and appointed a body of local gentlemen as commissioners to oversee the process. Property owners were given four years to commence rebuilding or else the commissioners were empowered to allocate the property elsewhere as they saw fit. No townspeople were included in the commission, but John and William Bastard were appointed to draw up a schedule of losses, which totalled £86,882, of which their own claim was £3,709. Although the fire had destroyed the firm's workshops, they were soon back in business, and there seems little doubt that the fire transformed the firm's prospects given the scale of the opportunity for new building which it opened up. Whether or not they were already operating as general builders before the fire, there seems little doubt they did so later, although it is less clear that they began designing buildings at this time. It is perhaps more likely that they used their contacts through the building trades to solicit designs from major architects for the key buildings in the town (John James for the church; Sir James Thornhill for the town hall) and from more local designers such as Nathaniel Ireson and Francis Cartwright for the larger houses and inns; and that they helped to assemble a workforce which could address the scale of building required within the few years after the fire.

Neither John nor William Bastard ever married, and they lived together in a batchelor household at 75 East Street. Over time, both men accumulated substantial personal wealth, mostly in the form of urban property in Blandford, but also including interests in land around the town. In the 1740s, they took into partnership two of their nephews - Thomas (1720-71), the eldest son of their brother Samuel (d. 1728), and Thomas (1724-91), son of their brother and former partner Thomas (d. 1731), who were known respectively as Thomas the elder and Thomas the younger. Less is known of the firm's work after they took control, although Thomas the younger was responsible for building the shell of the new rooms at Crichel House (Dorset) that were to be decorated by James Wyatt in 1771-73. The two Thomases not only inherited the family business, but also the lion's share of the personal estates of their two uncles, and in his later years Thomas the younger seems to have retired to live on his rents. His mother - who died aged about ninety either in or shortly before 1791 - had inherited an estate at Charlton Marshall which had been in her family for several generations, and by the 1780s he was spending his summers there and his winters in the town. His only son, Thomas Horlock Bastard (1772-1849), was educated as a gentleman at Wadham College, Oxford, became a JP and Deputy Lieutenant, and served as High Sheriff in 1812-13. Perhaps because they felt that it was socially advantageous, Thomas and his son seem to have encouraged the idea that their ancestors over several generations were architects rather than joiners or builders, and a good many architectural historians have been misled into believing that the fact that the Bastards built something also implies that they designed it: there is increasing evidence that very often, they did not.

Thomas Horlock Bastard (1772-1849) was by character, education and property enough of a gentleman to secure his family a place in Burke's Landed Gentry. He married twice, producing one son by each of his marriages. The elder, his namesake Thomas Horlock Bastard (1796-1898), who inherited the Charlton Marshall estate, was an interesting man who, unfashionably for the time, held atheistic views that found expression in his book Scepticism and social justice (1877). He was an active philanthropist in and around Blandford, although his charitable and educational initiatives sometimes brought him into conflict with the clergy. He had no surviving children, but was still active well into his nineties and lived to the great age of 101: had he lived just a couple of years longer he would have joined the rare club of people to have lived in three different centuries. At his death, the Charlton Mackrell estate passed to his half-brother's son, the Rev. John Muston Bastard (1863-1940), who sold the house soon afterwards and broke up the estate in 1901.

Charlton Marshall Manor, Dorset

Charlton Marshall Manor: the house when it was offered for sale in 1959.

An irregular and possibly complex house which unfortunately seems not to have been the subject of architectural investigation. Its external appearance suggests that an 18th century or possibly earlier house was remodelled for Thomas Horlock Bastard in the early 19th century, and perhaps further altered later: the broad eaves of the gable to the left of the porch suggest work in the 1840s or 1850s. It was still standing in 1959, but probably demolished soon afterwards as bungalows had been built on the Manor Estate by 1963.

Descent: Christopher Horlock (1645-86); to son, Henry Horlock (1678-1719); to son, Henry Horlock (d. 1741); to sister, Mary (c.1700-91), wife of Thomas Bastard (1686-1731) and later of John Hayne; to son, Thomas Bastard (1724-91); to son, Thomas Horlock Bastard (1772-1849); to son, Thomas Horlock Bastard (1796-1898); to nephew, Rev. John Muston Bastard (1863-1940); who apparently sold or leased it c.1900 to Rev. Samuel Arthur Walker (1855-1922), rector of Spetisbury-cum-Charlton Marshall; to widow, Edith Mabel Maria Wilhelmina Walker (1865-1956); sold 1959.

Bastard family of Blandford Forum and Charlton Marshall

Bastard, Thomas (1654-1721). Son of Walter Bastard and his wife Helen, born at Belchalwell in Okeford Fitzpaine (Dorset), and baptised at Okeford Fitzpaine, 10 October 1654. Joiner and cabinet maker, but described - probably with some hyperbole - on the monument erected by his sons in Blandford church as 'a man useful and industrious in his generation... and eminent for his skill in Architecture'. He is not, in fact, known to have designed any buildings, but the fine woodwork commissioned by Dr. Charles Sloper, the rector, for Charlton Marshall church is probably his work, and the interiors of the former rectory at Spetisbury, built in 1716 also for Dr Sloper, are perhaps also his. He may have been responsible for some buildings in Blandford Forum that were destroyed in the fire there in 1731, and Sir Howard Colvin suggested that he may have supervised the rebuilding of the churches at Winterbourne Strickland and Almer (Dorset). He married, 8 September 1682 at Hilton (Dorset), Bridget (c.1660-c.1730), daughter of Thomas Creech of Blandford Forum and sister of the poet Thomas Creech (1659-1700), and had issue:

(1) Thomas Bastard (1686-1731) (q.v.);
(2) John Bastard (1687-1770) (q.v.);
(3) William Bastard (c.1689-1766) (q.v.);
(4) Beata Bastard (1691-1777), said to have been born in 1691; married, 10 April 1732 at Tarrant Monkton (Dorset), William Benjafield of Blandford Forum; buried at Blandford Forum, 17 April 1777;

(5) Elizabeth Bastard (c.1693-1773), born about 1693; married, 10 October 1722 at Morden (Dorset), Nicholas Crumpler (1682-1746), son of John Crumpler, and had issue one son and four daughters; buried at Morden, 10 October 1773; will proved 1773;
(6) Samuel Bastard (c.1695-1728), born about 1695; a ship modeller in the Royal Dockyard at Gosport (Hants), appointed Foreman, 1727; married 9 July 1719 at Rowner (Hants), Stoakes (1697-1748) (who m2, 19 February 1730 at Gosport, John Reed), daughter of Joseph Palmer of Stepney (Middx), shipwright, and had issue three sons (of whom the eldest, Thomas (1720-71), known as 'Thomas the elder' became a partner in the family architectural practice) and one daughter; buried at Gosport, 25 September 1728;
(7) Benjamin Bastard (1698-1772); apprenticed to William Townesend of Oxford, mason, 1712; by 1720 he had established himself as a builder and monumental sculptor at Sherborne (Dorset), and buildings which are documented as his work include a house in Newland, Sherborne (later Lord Digby's School); the refronting of the Shire Hall in Dorchester, 1753-54 (later rebuilt) and the stables at Sherborne Castle; he amassed considerable property, including two inns, in the town of Sherborne, and was described as 'gent' by 1756; married, 30 November 1727 at Sherborne, Elizabeth (1690-1732), daughter of Thomas Prankerd and widow of John Hether, and had issue one son; died 5 March, and was buried at Castleton, Sherborne, 11 March 1772, where he and his son (who also died in 1772) were commemorated by a monument (now illegible);
(8) Joseph Bastard (c.1699-1783), born about 1699; builder and surveyor at Sherborne St. John (Hants); married, before 1730, Elizabeth [surname unknown] and had issue two sons and one daughter; buried at Sherborne St. John, 31 December 1783;
(9) Bridget Bastard (d. 1748); married, 22 September 1741 at Morden, Richard Dugdale (b. 1709), (who had been her brother John's apprentice in 1722), son of Philip Dugdale, yeoman, but had no issue; died 23 December and was buried at Blandford Forum, 24 December 1748;
(10) Mary Bastard (fl. 1770); married William Elliott (fl. 1766) and had issue two sons and two daughters; living in 1770.

He lived in Blandford Forum.

He died in 1721; his will was proved in the PCC, 11 July 1721. His widow died in 1730; her will was proved in November 1730.

Bastard, Thomas (1686-1731). Eldest son of Thomas Bastard (1654-1721) and his wife Bridget Creech, born 1686. Senior partner in the family joinery firm of Bastard & Co. from his father's death in 1721 until his death. He married, 1 May 1720 at Charlton Marshall, Mary (c.1700-c.1791), daughter of Henry Horlock (1678-1718) of Charlton Marshall and heir of her brother Henry Horlock (d. 1741), and had issue:

(1) John Bastard (1722-78), born 1722; apprenticed to his uncle, Benjamin Bastard of Sherborne (Dorset), 1738; and was subsequently a mason in London; he is recorded as working at Stoneleigh Abbey (Warks), the Dashwood mausoleum, West Wycombe (Bucks) and the Middlesex and Greenwich Hospitals near London, and lived at St Marylebone (Middx); he died unmarried, 14 August and was buried at Tarrant Keyneston, 25 August 1778, where he is described on his monument as 'mason and architect', although no works designed by him are known;
(2) Sarah Bastard (b. 1723); probably died in infancy and more certainly before 1731*;
(3) Thomas Bastard (1724-91) (q.v.);
(4) William Bastard (1726-31); died young and was buried at Tarrant Keyneston, 28 May 1731;
(5) Mary Bastard (1728-1804); married, 5 April 1752 at Corfe Mullen (Dorset), John Barfoot (d. 1777) of Wimborne Minster (Dorset), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 30 December 1804 and was buried at Blandford Forum, 4 January 1805.

He lived in Blandford Forum, where the family joinery workshops and several other properties, including the Greyhound Inn, were destroyed by fire on 4 June 1731; he and his brothers estimated the loss to 'Bastard & Co.' as £3,709, in addition to smaller sums recorded for them individually. His widow inherited the Charlton Marshall estate from her brother in 1741.

He died 11 July, and was buried at Tarrant Keyneston (Dorset), 13 July 1731, where he and his wife are commemorated by a chest tomb; he died intestate. His widow married 2nd, Robert Hayne (d. 1770) of Blandford Forum (Dorset), cordwainer, and died about 1791; her will was proved 2 July 1791.

* She is often stated to have died unmarried and been buried at Blandford Forum, 18 August 1742, but this entry refers to another Sarah Bastard, whose mother is named in a grant of administration as Thomazin, then wife of Richard Lacy, victualler.

John Bastard (1687-1770)
Bastard, John (1687-1770). Second son of Thomas Bastard (1654-1721) and his wife Bridget Creech, born 20 April 1687. Carver and joiner in partnership with his father (to 1720), brothers and later his nephews, Thomas the elder and younger. The firm expanded into general building after the fire which destroyed much of Blandford Forum in 1731, and is known to have worked widely across Dorset, but while he is known to have designed a few buildings, his firm was more commonly executing the designs of others. A spire which his firm designed for the new church in Blandford remained unbuilt and he did not design the wooden cupola which was built instead. He and his brother erected the two houses forming a single architectural composition at 75 East Street and 26 Market Place in Blandford and occupied the former. He accumulated an extensive portfolio of property in and around Blandford Forum and by 1756 he was described as 'gent'. In 1760, he erected (presumably to his own design) a public well and pump near the church in Blandford Forum as a memorial to the 1731 fire and in his will he left money for its maintenance. He was unmarried and without issue.

He died 28 January, and was buried at Blandford, 5 February 1770, where he and his brother are commemorated by a monument that records their 'Skill in Architecture and Liberal Benefactions to the Town'; his will was proved in the PCC, 22 May 1770, and included a charitable bequest for the apprenticing of poor children from Blandford.

William Bastard (c.1689-1766)
Bastard, William (c.1689-1766). Third son of Thomas Bastard (1654-1721) and his wife Bridget Creech, born about 1689. Carver and joiner in partnership with his father (to 1720), brothers and later his nephews, Thomas the elder and younger. The firm expanded into general building after the fire which destroyed much of Blandford Forum in 1731, and is known to have worked widely across Dorset, but while he is often regarded as an architect, there is very little evidence that he designed any of the buildings he erected. He and his brother built the two houses forming a single architectural composition at 75 East Street and 26 Market Place in Blandford and occupied the former. He was unmarried and without issue.

He died unmarried, 14 December, and was buried in Blandford Forum, 23 December 1766; his will was proved in the PCC, 2 March 1767.

Bastard, Thomas (1724-91) 'the younger'. Second son of Thomas Bastard (1686-1731) and his wife Mary Horlock, born 1724. He was described as 'master builder' in 1758 and continued the joinery and architectural practice of his father and uncles in partnership with his cousin, Thomas Bastard (son of Samuel Bastard) (1720-71), who by reason of his slight seniority was known as Thomas Bastard the elder, but who always styled himself 'joiner'. Thomas the younger seems to have been responsible for the limited design output of the practice at this time, and was paid in 1771-73 for building the shell of Crichel House prior to its decoration by James Wyatt. He married, 27 June 1771 at Blandford Forum, Jane (1734-98), daughter of Thomas Morgan, and had issue:

(1) Thomas Horlock Bastard (1772-1849) (q.v.).

He lived in Blandford Forum but in his mother's later years he probably managed her estate at Charlton Marshall, where he lived in summer. He inherited it shortly before his death.

He died 10 November, and was buried at Charlton Marshall, 21 November 1791, where he and his wife are commemorated by a monument designed by R. Cooke; his will was proved in 1793. His widow died 9 June and was buried at Charlton Marshall, 14 June 1798.

Bastard, Thomas Horlock (1772-1849). Only child of Thomas Bastard 'the younger' (1724-91) and his wife Jane, daughter of Thomas Morgan, baptised at Blandford Forum, 30 December 1772. Educated at Wadham College, Oxford (matriculated 1790). JP and DL for Dorset; High Sheriff of Dorset, 1812-13; Recorder of Blandford Forum, 1830. He married 1st, 4 August 1793 at Blandford Forum, Elizabeth (1773-1810), daughter of Robert Biggs of Blandford Forum, and 2nd, 7 May 1811 at Blandford Forum, Eliza (1780-1868), daughter of Robert Muston of Blandford, and had issue:

(1.1) Elizabeth Horlock Bastard (1794-1872), baptised at Charlton Marshall, 26 July 1794; married, 11 October 1819 at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), Cmdr. John Brine RN (1787-1856) of Blandford, fourth son of Adm. James Brine, and had issue two sons; died 1 August and was buried at Blandford St Mary, 7 August 1872;
(1.2) Thomas Horlock Bastard (1796-1898) (q.v.);
(2.1) Rev. Henry Horlock Bastard (1812-93) (q.v.).

He inherited the Charlton Marshall Manor estate from his father in 1791.

He died 12 March 1849 and was buried at Charlton Marshall; his will was proved in the PCC, 5 April 1849. His first wife was buried at Charlton Marshall, 6 September 1810. His widow died at Bishops Hull (Som.), 26 December 1868 and was buried at St John, Taunton, 1 January 1869; her will was proved 14 January 1869 (effects under £450).

Bastard, Thomas Horlock (1796-1898). Only son of Thomas Horlock Bastard (1772-1849) and his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Biggs of Blandford Forum, born 27 April and baptised privately, 1 May 1796. He was an atheist, and was the author of Scepticism and social justice (1877). He was also a prominent educationalist and scientist, who travelled abroad to study the educational systems of foreign countries. He founded and endowed Charlton Marshall Literary & Scientific Institution in 1855 and Milldown School (later Blandford County Secondary School) at Blandford Forum for the secular secondary instruction of boys and girls in 1862. A trustee of the Blandford & Poole Turnpike Trust. In 1858 he repaired the pump house and monument erected by his grandfather adjoining the church in Blandford Forum, and he also erected new pumps at Milldown School and in Charlton Marshall. He married 1st, 13 May 1844 at Trinity Church, St. Marylebone (Middx), Margaret (1809-45), daughter of Thomas Duncan and widow of Capt. James Keith Forbes of HEICS and 2nd, 28 October 1858 at Rowde (Wilts), Sarah (1821-96), eldest daughter of Rev. Edward Vincent, vicar of Rowde, and had issue:

(1.1) Margaret Bastard (b. & d. 1845), baptised at Charlton Marshall, 5 March 1845; died young at Pittodrie House (Aberdeens.), 19 June 1845, and was buried at Kildrummy (Aberdeens.);
(2.1) Eleanor Bastard (b. & d. 1859), born 20 October 1859; died in infancy, 4 December 1859.

He inherited the Charlton Marshall Manor estate from his father in 1849 and doubled the size of his holding in the parish in about 1877.

He died aged 101 on 11 February 1898; his will was proved 2 May 1898 (estate £86,890). His first wife died following childbirth and was buried at Charlton Marshall, 18 March 1845. His second wife died 9 November 1896; her will was proved 20 January 1897 (effects £4,631).

Bastard, Rev. Henry Horlock (1812-93). Only son of Thomas Horlock Bastard (1772-1849) and his second wife, Eliza (1780-1868), daughter of Robert Muston of Blandford, born 3 September 1812 and baptised at Charlton Marshall, 14 November 1815. Educated at Wadham College, Oxford (matriculated 1830; BA 1834; MA 1839). Ordained deacon, 1836, and priest, 1837. Curate at Dowlish Wake and Compton Pauncefoote (Som.) but never held a benefice. He married, 20 July 1854, Anna Catharine (1833-1916), daughter of Edward Sanders of Maidstone (Kent), and had issue:

(1) Eliza Horlock Bastard (1856-1942), born 25 December 1856 and was baptised at Dowlish Wake (Som.), 21 January 1857; a Sister of Mercy (as Sister Eliza Faith) at Clewer (Berks); died 24 January and was buried at Clewer, 27 January 1942; will proved 28 March 1942 (estate £1,902);
(2) Henry Horlock Bastard (1858-95), born 15 March and baptised at Bishops Hull (Som.), 15 April 1858; educated at Sherborne School; after being apprenticed in the merchant navy, he became a planter at Keenagaha Ella, Ballangode (Sri Lanka); died 24 September 1895 and was buried at Littleham (Devon);
(3) Anna Catherine Bastard (1859-60), baptised at Wilton, Taunton (Som.), 1 January 1860; died in infancy and was buried at Wilton, 1 January 1861;
(4) Edward William Bastard (1862-1901), born 28 February 1862; educated at Wadham College, Oxford (matriculated 1881; BA 1885); played first class cricket for Somerset CCC; died 2 August, and was buried at Wilton (Som.), 6 April 1901;
(5) Rev. John Muston Bastard (1863-1940) (q.v.);
(6) James Mayo Bastard (1867-1907), baptised at Taunton, 17 February 1867; educated at Sherborne School and St John's College, Oxford (matriculated 1885; BA 1889; MA 1893); schoolmaster at Banstead (Surrey); died unmarried and was buried at Wilton, 5 January 1907;
(7) Catherine Mary Bastard (1870-1944), born 21 August 1870; married, 4 August 1896, William Ernest Whitaker; died 12 March 1944; will proved 1 June 1944 (estate £26,773).

He lived at Mountswood, Haines Hill, Taunton (Som.)

He died at Charlton Marshall, 22 September, and was buried at Trull (Som.), 27 September 1893; will proved 16 October 1893 (effects £65,580). His widow died 16 January 1916; her will was proved in June 1916 (estate £32,426).

Rev. John Muston Bastard (1863-1940)
Bastard, Rev. John Muston (1863-1940). Son of Rev. Henry Horlock Bastard (1812-93) and his wife Anna Catharine, daughter of Edward Sanders of Maidstone (Kent), born 23 August and baptised at Holy Trinity, Taunton, 20 September 1863. Educated at St John's College, Oxford (matriculated 1881; BA 1885). Ordained deacon, 1886 and priest, 1887. Curate in Bristol, Birmingham and Gloucester, 1886-99; vicar of Northleach (Glos), 1899-1901 and of Wilton, Taunton (Som.), 1901-15. He worked in London during the First World War and returned to Taunton in 1921 in a non-stipendiary capacity. He married, 22 April 1896 at Trull (Som.), Hilda Elizabeth (1873-1961), daughter of Hamilton Norman Sleigh of Wilton, Taunton (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Hilda Mary Sibyl Bastard (1898-1995), born 22 May and was baptised at Trull, 29 June 1898; married, 1924, John Sykes Gorst (1884-1969), motor engineer, and had issue four sons; died aged 96 on 28 April 1995; will proved 6 July 1995 (estate under £125,000).

He lived at Mountswood, Haines Hill, Taunton (Som.). He inherited the Charlton Marshall estate from his uncle in 1898, but dispersed a large part of it at auction in 1901 and the rest later.

He died 20 June 1940; his will was proved in August 1940 (estate £24,913). His widow died 16 October 1961; her will was proved 14 December 1961 (estate £11,651).