(602) Best of Wynford Eagle, Barons Wynford

Best of Wynford Eagle, Barons Wynford 

The story of this family, and the genealogy below, begins with William Draper Best (1767-1845), who was born at Haselbury Plucknett (Som.) near Crewkerne on the Somerset/Dorset border, as the third son of Thomas Best and his wife Betty Draper. Thomas Best seems to have belonged to the 'parish gentry' strata of society, a small-scale landowner who also held leasehold and copyhold lands. William was intended to make a career in the church, and with this in mind he was sent to Oxford, but in 1784 his cousin, Samuel Best of Burton Bradstock (Dorset), died and left most of his property to William and his brothers. The windfall was sufficient to allow William a greater choice of career, and he decided to abandon the university and study for the bar at the Inner Temple. Given his 'lively and clever' manner, it was probably a good decision, and although his knowledge of the law was questionable, his ability to argue a case quickly brought him a large practice. In 1800 he was made one of the serjeants-at-law, and in 1806 king's serjeant, positions which gave him access to plead in the highest courts at Westminster. From 1802-06 and 1812-19 he was also a member of parliament, initially as a Whig and later as a Tory; his allegiance being dictated less by principle than by personal advantage. His ready wit made him socially successful, and he was soon a member of the Prince of Wales' circle, a connection which bore fruit when the prince became Regent, with his appointment as Solicitor-General and then Attorney-General for the Prince, before in 1818 he became a judge. The latter stages of his career were blighted by an increasing affliction with gout, and it was probably this that eventually forced his retirement from judicial office in 1829. Having been knighted in 1819, he was made a peer as 1st Baron Wynford on his retirement, and he also became deputy speaker of the House of Lords, where in a concession to his infirmity, he was allowed to sit in an armchair. Eventually, even getting to Parliament became impossible, and he spent his last years in complete retirement at his house at Chislehurst (Kent), which he had rented from 1800, and of which he bought the freehold in 1824. He also bought the Wynford Eagle estate in Dorset. I have not been able to discover the precise date of this purchase, but it was in the family's possession by 1823, when his eldest son, William Samuel Best took out a game certificate. This suggests that the property may have been acquired for William Samuel, and it is therefore tempting to associate the acquisition with the latter's marriage in 1821, but it could equally well have been bought a few years earlier, when William Draper Best was MP for nearby Bridport, in 1812-17.

William Samuel Best (1798-1869), 2nd Baron Wynford, followed in his father's footsteps and became a barrister and, briefly, an MP, but he did not have his father's skills or motivation to build a career in either the law or parliament. Nor is he known to have spent much time on his estates. He sold his father's house at Chislehurst - then called Leesons - in about 1850, and lived chiefly at his house in Hanover Square, where he and his wife raised their family of four sons and one daughter. His four sons all went into the services; three of them into the army and one into the Navy. The eldest, William Draper Mortimer Best (1826-99), 3rd Baron Wynford, retired from the army in 1856, and was married soon afterwards to a daughter of the rich Scottish landowner and banker, Evan Baillie (1798-1883). He does seem to have been occasionally resident in Dorset, and was probably responsible for building the modest gabled house (originally called Wynford House but now Higher Wynford Farm) further up the valley from the old manor house, the first reference to which appears to date from 1863. The 3rd Baron and his wife had no surviving children, and so on his death the estate passed to his younger brother, Henry Molyneux Best (1829-1903), 4th Baron Wynford, whose career is something of a mystery. Although he clearly joined the Royal Navy and was a midshipman by 1845, he seems never to have gone on to become an officer. He lived most of his life in quiet, late Georgian Connaught Square, and devoted his time to botany and horticulture. He never married, and so at his death the peerage and Wynford Eagle estate passed to his nearest male relative, who was the eldest son of the 1st baron's fourth son, the Hon. & Rev. Samuel Best (1802-73). This was George Best (1838-1904), 5th Baron Wynford, who had settled at Charlton House, Donhead St Mary (Wilts), which he rented (although his widow and daughter later purchased the freehold). He only held the title for a year before being succeeded by his eldest son, Philip George Best (1871-1940), 6th Baron Wynford.

The 6th Baron does seem to have been resident on his estate (at Higher Wynford) after retiring from the army and the Dorset yeomanry, and between the First and Second World Wars he played a prominent role in local administration. He and his wife had three daughters, who all married and moved away, and at his death during the Second World War the estate passed to his younger brother, Samuel John Best (1874-1943), 7th Baron Wynford, most of whose career had been spent running tea plantations in India. By the time he inherited the estate he had retired to a mansion flat in Putney, and although he was eventually buried at Wynford Eagle he can have spent very little time there. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert Samuel Best (1917-2002), 8th Baron Wynford, who was a career soldier until retiring from the army in 1960. It was he who, in the early 1980s, moved the family seat back from Higher Wynford to the Manor House of Wynford Eagle and restored the property. The estate now belongs to his son, John Philip Robert Best (b. 1950), 9th Baron Wynford, who is a chartered surveyor, and who has a son and daughter to succeed him.

Pheasant Grove (alias Leesons), Chislehurst, Kent

A modest house, hardly more than a suburban villa, which was probably built in the mid 18th century and seems at first to have been called Pheasant Lodge. It was evidently of seven by two or three bays and may originally have had only two storeys. 

Pheasant Grove: the entrance front in 1824, from sale particulars.

By the time it was first recorded in 1824 the house was of three storeys, with a three-bay pediment set against the attic storey. Although 18th century architects did use this form, it was never common, and the drawing shows the proportions of the top floor were a little more generous than those below, which quite strongly suggests the top floor was a later addition. In 1840, when the house was advertised for sale, it offered six principal bedrooms, three dressing-rooms, a morning room, a bow drawing room 27x24 feet with a handsome marble chimneypiece; a 30x22 ft dining room; a breakfast room; and an entrance hall, and stood in some fifty acres of grounds. The house was not sold on that occasion, but in 1850 the contents of the house were dispersed at a four day sale and it was probably sold soon afterwards.

Pheasant Grove alias Leesons, Chislehurst: site plan from 1st edn 6" map of 1868.

The house was evidently altered in the mid 19th century, for by 1868, when it was recorded on the 1st edition 6" Ordnance map, it had acquired an asymmetrically placed porch, but thereafter the footprint remained much the same. The house stood empty from about 1914, and was destroyed by a fire which started in the roof in May 1918. It was insured, but was replaced by a smaller building on the same site, which reverted to the original name of Pheasant Lodge. This in turn was pulled down in the mid 20th century and replaced by suburban housing.

Descent: Mr Taggart, who leased it from 1800 and sold it 1824 to Rt. Hon. Sir William Draper Best (1767-1845), 1st Baron Wynford; to son, William Samuel Best (1798-1869), 2nd Baron Wynford, who sold c.1850 to Richard Paterson (d. 1865); to daughter, widow of Joseph Busk, who let it 1881 to Sir Neville Lubbock (1839-1914) and later to Maj. Heales; to daughters, who sold 1900 to Joseph Brailsford, owner at the time of the fire in 1918.

Wynford Eagle Manor House (now Manor Farm), Dorset

According to the date on the porch, the present house was built in 1630 for William Sydenham (1593-1661), but although the compact plan and symmetrical west front date from that time, his works were actually a remodelling of a smaller, probably late 16th century house, which may have been built for his grandfather, Richard Sydenham (1534-1607). The earlier building was a south-facing single-depth house built of pale grey limestone rubble which remains visible on the south and east elevations. The evidence for the two phases of building is technical and was summarised by Gomme & Maguire in 2008. The most telling evidence is that the south front has two blocked doorways which had clearly already been blocked by the time that the plinth of the new house was built, for it continues across them; the south wall must therefore belong to an earlier building. Evidence in the roof suggests that the earlier house extended north more than half the depth of the present building, but its north wall was not reused in the remodelling of 1630. 

Wynford Eagle Manor House: the west front in 1944. Image: Historic England

The work of 1630 moved the main entrance and the axis of the layout through ninety degrees, and saw the creation of a new entrance front on the west side, faced in fine-jointed Ham Hill ashlar; the new north side of the house was built more cheaply, with alternating bands of limestone and flint. At the centre of the west front is a projecting, three-storey porch with a small gable crowned by a large carved eagle finial, above two-light mullioned windows on the upper floors and a round-arched doorway. The house is unified by string courses above the ground and first-floor windows that extend across the whole frontage and continue onto the other elevations.  The house is given a distinctive character by the gables either side of the porch, which are asymmetrical because the pitch of the roof on the inner side is steeper than that on the outer side. It is possible that this unusual arrangement was a consequence of retaining parts of the roof structure of the 16th century house over the south front; and that the north side was simply built to match. The ground floor of the west front has mullioned and transomed windows, but elsewhere the windows are simple three-light mullioned windows. Matching chimneystacks, with four diagonal-set shafts and built off the the central transverse wall, increase the symmetrical effect. 

Wynford Eagle Manor House: the west front and 16th century south elevation, Image: Brian Kingsland/Historic England

The south front of the house is continued further east by a once-separate block, which seems to belong to the late 16th century phase, but wich was incorporated into the house in 1630 and became the kitchen.

Wynford Eagle Manor House: ground floor plan (after Gomme & Maguire).
Key: H=Hall; CP=Common Parlour; K=Kitchen/Winter Parlour; GP=Great Parlour

This allowed all four rooms on the ground floor of the main block to be used for family and reception purposes. There are two rooms on the north side and two on the south, while between them is a circulating space comprised of a fairly narrow entrance passage, which broadens out into a vestibule and staircase hall. The staircase now rises only to the first floor, but may once have continued to the attic rooms, which are lit only from the west. One room on the first floor is panelled and has a four-centred arched stone fireplace with moulded jambs and a timber overmantel of two bays with attached Ionic columns. The flat panels under the arches between the columns were painted later in the 17th century with fantasy landscapes.

In the late 19th century, the Best family moved to a new house, Wynford House, which they built further up the valley, and the old manor house declined into a farmhouse. However, after many years the 8th Lord Wynford moved back in c.1981. 

Descent: John La Zouche (c.1486-1550), 8th Baron Zouche; sold 1545 to Thomas Sydenham (d. 1577); to son, Richard Sydenham (1534-1607); to grandson, William Sydenham (1593-1661); to son, William Sydenham (1615-61); to son, William Sydenham (1640-1718); ... sold to George Richards (d. 1746); to brother, Rev. John Richards (fl. 1774)... sold by 1823 to Sir William Draper Best (1767-1845), 1st Baron Wynford; to son, William Samuel Best (1798-1869), 2nd Baron Wynford; to son, William Draper Mortimer Best (1826-99), 3rd Baron Wynford; to brother, Henry Molyneux Best (1829-1903), 4th Baron Wynford; to cousin, George Best (1838-1904), 5th Baron Wynford; to son, Philip George Best (1871-1940), 6th Baron Wynford; to brother, Samuel John Best (1874-1943), 7th Baron Wynford; to son, Robert Samuel Best (1917-2002), 8th Baron Wynford; to son, John Philip Robert Best (b. 1950), 9th Baron Wynford.

Best family of Wynford Eagle

1st Baron Wynford

Best, Rt. Hon. Sir William Draper (1767-1845), kt., 1st Baron Wynford. Third son of Thomas Best of Haslebury Plucknett (Som.) and his wife Betty Draper, born 13 December 1767. Educated at Crewkerne School, Wadham College, Oxford (matriculated 1782), and the Middle Temple (admitted 1784; called 1789). He was initially intended for the church, but left Oxford without taking a degree when he inherited a substantial legacy from a cousin, and trained instead for the law. He became a barrister on the Home circuit, where he attracted the attention of Lord Kenyon to whose patronage he owed his early professional success. He was made a Serjeant-at-law, 1800; King's Serjeant, 1806; and first achieved judicial office as Recorder of Guildford, 1809. Whig MP for Petersfield, 1802-06, and Tory MP for Bridport, 1812-17 and Guildford, 1818-19; Solicitor-General to the Prince of Wales, 1813-16; Attorney-General to the Prince of Wales, 1816-19; Second Justice of Chester, 1817-18; Chief Justice of Chester, 1818; a Judge of King's Bench, 1818-24; Chief Justice of Common Pleas, 1824-29. He was knighted, 1819, sworn of the Privy Council, 1824, and raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Wynford, 5 June 1829, becoming Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, 1829. He was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University (DCL, 1834). Best was described in an obituary in the Law Magazine as a 'man of pleasure' whose devotion to the opposite sex 'amounted to a controlling passion' and in 1805 he was charged with a sexual assault on a client, but acquitted. The same writer said: 'he seems to have been governed but by one rule of action in politics, to aid that side from which most might be expected', an attitude in which he was far from being alone in his generation. As a barrister, it was said of him that 'though superficial in legal knowledge, his readiness of comprehension and fluency of speech' led to his having a large practice and appearing in important criminal trials. As a judge, 'his hasty and questionable opinions' and 'his summing up so much to one side' led to his being nicknamed 'the judge advocate'.  According to Lady Louisa Stuart, 'he is too lively and too clever to put on gravity and speaks his mind outright on all subjects', and it has been suggested that he was offered a peerage and the deputy speakership of the Lords to induce him to give up judicial office, but his retirement was more probably the result of an increasing affliction with gout. He married, 6 May 1794 at St Dunstan-in-the-West, London, Mary Anne (1768-1840), second daughter of Jerome Knapp, Clerk of the Haberdashers Company, and had issue:

(1) William Chapple Best (b. & d. 1795), born 7 July 1795; died in infancy and was buried at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), 9 July 1795;

(2) Hon. Grace Anne Best (1796-1868), born 31 July and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), 24 August 1796; married, 23 July 1814 at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn (Middx), Philip Lake Godsal (1784-1858) of Iscoyd Park (Flints.), son of Philip Godsal, coach-maker, and had issue at least one son and three daughters; buried at Malpas (Ches.), 25 February 1868; will proved 11 March 1868 (effects under £3,000);

(3) William Samuel Best (1798-1869), 2nd Baron Wynford (q.v.);

(4) Vice-Adm. the Hon. Thomas Best (1799-1864), born 12 August and baptised at Croydon (Surrey), 6 September 1799; an officer in the Royal Navy from 1812 (Midshipman, 1814; Lt., 1822; Cdr., 1828; Capt., 1830; Vice-Adm., 1855; retired on half-pay, 1830); married, 25 August 1835, Marianne (1807-66), second daughter of George Kenyon, 2nd Baron Kenyon, and had issue at least two sons; died in Kensington (Middx), 4 September 1864; administration of goods granted to his widow, 18 October 1864 (effects under £40,000);

(5) Mary Anne Best (1801-02), born 3 April and baptised at St Pancras (Middx), 10 May 1801; died in infancy, 5 April 1802;

(6) Rev. the Hon. Samuel Best (1802-73) (q.v.);

(7) Sarah Betty Best (1804-05?), born 18 June and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), 6 July 1804; said to have died in infancy, 23 July 1805;

(8) Jerome Best (1806-18), born 18 March and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury, 21 April 1806; educated at Eton (admitted 1817); died at the school and was buried at Eton, 28 October 1818;

(9) Hon. Anne James Best (1808-36), born 7 February and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury, 30 March 1808; married, 25 July 1826 at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn (Middx), Adm. Sir William Fanshawe Martin (1801-95), 4th bt., KCB (who m2, 21 May 1838, Sophia Elizabeth (d. 1874), daughter of Robert Hurt of Wirksworth and had further issue one son and five daughters), of Lockinge (Berks), and had issue two sons (who died young) and two daughters; died 1 April 1836 and was buried at Hastings (Sussex);

(10) Hon. John Charles Best (1809-40), born 9 December 1809 and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn (Middx), 18 January 1810; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1827; Lt., 1829; Capt., 1834); drowned off Norfolk Island (Australia) by the upsetting of a boat, 13 February 1840.

He leased Pheasant Grove, Chislehurst (Kent) from 1800 onwards and bought the freehold in 1824, changing its name to Leesons. He purchased the Wynford Eagle estate before 1823.

He died at Leesons, 3 March 1845; his will was proved in the PCC, 8 April 1845. His wife died 5 March 1840 and was buried at Foots Cray (Kent).

Best, William Samuel (1798-1869), 2nd Baron Wynford. Second, but eldest surviving son of Rt. Hon. Sir William Draper Best, 1st Baron Wynford, and his wife Mary Anne, second daughter of Jerome Knapp, clerk of the Haberdashers Company, born 19 February and baptised at St Pancras (Middx), 22 April 1798. Educated at Eton, Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1814; BA 1818; MA 1821) and the Inner Temple (admitted as a child, 1805; called 1823). Barrister-at-law; MP for St. Michael's, 1831-32, and unsuccessfully contested the Barnstaple constituency in 1837. He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Wynford, 3 March 1845. He married, 17 July 1821 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Jane (1803-95), daughter of William Thoyts of Sulhampstead (Berks), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Anne Louisa Best (1825-99), born 11 March and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), 4 May 1825; married, 7 April 1858 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, Maj-Gen. Patrick Yule (1792-1873), son of James Yule, but had no issue; died 22 April 1899; her will was confirmed in Edinburgh, 28 July 1899 (estate £17,267);

(2) William Draper Mortimer Best (1826-99), 3rd Baron Wynford (q.v.);

(3) Hon. Frederic Barnewall Best (1827-76), born 18 August 1827 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 26 April 1828; an officer in the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers (Lt., 1849; Capt., 1863; retired 1863) and later one of the Gentlemen at Arms (the Queen's Bodyguard), from 1867; married 1st, 9 June 1864 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, Charlotte Elizabeth (1841-65), eldest daughter of Francis Hart Dyke, and had issue one son, who died in infancy; he married 2nd, 24 November 1870 at Melcombe Regis (Dorset), Frances Hinton (1837-1912) (who m3, 19 September 1882 at Melcombe Regis, Sir  Thomas Fraser Grove (1824-97), 1st bt.), only child of Henry Northcote of Okefield, Crediton (Devon), barrister-at-law, and widow of Capt. Herbert Edward George Crosse (1837-65); died at Weymouth (Dorset), 5 January, and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 11 January 1876; will proved 25 January 1876 (effects under £12,000);

(4) Henry Molyneux Best (1829-1903), 4th Baron Wynford (q.v.);

(5) Hon. Robert Rainy Best (1834-1903), born 21 August and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 17 September 1834; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1852; Ensign, 1854; Lt., 1854; Capt. 1855?); married 1st, 8 March 1856 at St Mary Abbotts, Kensington (Middx), Maria Addison (1837-81), daughter of Thomas Augustus Swaysland of Crawley (Sussex), but had no issue; and 2nd, 18 April 1882 at Charlton (Kent), Meynella Katherine Hilda (1862-99), daughter of Capt. Frederick Augustus Percy Wood, Royal Marines, and had issue one son (who died in infancy) and one daughter; died at Torquay (Devon), 2 February 1903; will proved 17 March 1903 (estate £21,712).

He lived in Hanover Sq. and later Park Place, St James', Westminster. He inherited Leesons and the Wynford Eagle estate from his father in 1845, but sold the former in about 1850.

He died 28 February and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 6 March 1869; his will was proved 24 March 1869 (effects under £120,000). His widow died aged 91 on 23 February 1895; administration of her goods (with will annexed) was granted to her son, Henry, 18 April 1895 (effects £13,066).

Best, William Draper Mortimer (1826-99), 3rd Baron Wynford. Eldest son of William Samuel Best (1798-1869), 2nd Baron Wynford, and his wife Jane, daughter of William Thoyts of Sulhamstead (Berks), born 2 August and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), 19 December 1826. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1844; Lt., 1847; Capt. 1854; retired 1856). He succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Wynford, 28 February 1869. He married, 17 December 1857 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Caroline Eliza Montagu (1829-1913), daughter of Evan Baillie (1798-1883) of Dochfour, and had issue:

(1) Algernon Best (1858-59), born 26 December 1858 and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 16 January 1859; died in infancy, 18 January 1859.

He probably built Wynford House (now Higher Wynford Farm) - first mentioned in 1863 - during his father's lifetime, and inherited the Wynford Eagle estate from his father in 1869.

He died 27 August and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 30 August 1899. His widow died 16 January 1913; administration of her goods was granted 5 March 1913 (estate £188,869).

Best, Henry Molyneux (1829-1903), 4th Baron Wynford. Third son of William Samuel Best (1798-1869), 2nd Baron Wynford, and his wife Jane, daughter of William Thoyts of Sulhamstead (Berks), born 7 November and baptised at St George, Hanover Square, Westminister (Middx), 11 December 1829. He evidently had a career in the Royal Navy (Midshipman by 1845), which he still felt it relevant to record ('late R.N.') in the 1881 census, but I have been unable to trace any record of him being commissioned and he seems not to appear in the Navy List. He was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1867 and the Royal Botanical Society (a member of Council from 1872); and a Member of the Royal Institution from 1869. He succeeded his elder brother as 4th Baron Wynford, 27 August 1899. He was unmarried and had no issue.

He lived at 7 Connaught Sq., Westminster, and inherited the Wynford Eagle estate from his brother in 1899.

He died at Paignton (Devon), 28 October and was buried at Brompton Cemetery, 3 November 1903; his will was proved 15 December 1903 (estate £60,484).

Best, Rev. the Hon. Samuel (1802-73). Fourth son of Rt. Hon. Sir William Draper Best, 1st Baron Wynford, and his wife Mary Anne, second daughter of Jerome Knapp, clerk of the Haberdashers Company, born 2 December 1802. Educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1822; BA 1826; MA 1830). Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1825-26; ordained deacon, 1825, and priest, 1826; rector of Blandford St Mary (Dorset), 1830-34, and of Abbotts Ann (Hants), 1831-73; chaplain to his father, 1831; Rural Dean of Andover, 1854-73; elected by the clergy of the archdeaconry of Winchester as their proctor in convocation, 1859, 1865; honorary canon of Winchester Cathedral, 1872-73. A well-known Evangelical clergyman, he was the author of many works, principally on parochial matters and  collections of sermons, and founded the Abbotts Ann Provident Society in 1831. He married 1st, 11 April 1826, Charlotte Willis (1805-33), daughter of Sir James Burrough, judge of the Court of Common Pleas; and 2nd, 21 February 1835, Emma (1809-91), daughter of Lt-Col. Charles Duke, and had issue:

(2.1) Hon. Mary Margaret Best (1836-1913), born 10 May and baptised at Chislehurst (Kent), 5 June 1836; granted rank of a baron's daughter, 1904; married, 8 May 1859 at Abbotts Ann, Rev. Sir James Erasmus Philipps (1824-1912), 12th bt., vicar of Warminster (Wilts) and canon of Salisbury Cathedral, and had issue six sons (of whom three obtained peerages as 1st Viscount St Davids, 1st Baron Kylsant, and 1st Baron Milford) and five daughters; died 5 September 1913 and was buried with her husband in the cloister of Salisbury Cathedral, in which they are commemorated by a monument; administration of her goods was granted 14 November 1913 (estate £773);

(2.2) George Best (1838-1904), 5th Baron Wynford (q.v.);

(2.3) Grace Emma Best (1840-64), born 17 October and baptised at Abbotts Ann, 2 December 1840; married, 27 February 1862 at Abbotts Ann, Rev. Florence Thomas Wethered (1840-1919), vicar of Hurley (Berks), 1868-1919 (who m2, 4 December 1867 at Hurley, Mary Josephine (1840-1931), daughter of Joseph Bonsor, and had further issue), son of Rev. Florence John Wethered, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 10 October 1864;

(2.4) Hon. John Charles Best (1842-1907), born 13 May and baptised at Abbotts Ann, 18 June 1842; an officer in the Royal Navy from 1855 (Lt., 1862; Cdr., 1869; retired as Capt., 1884); JP for Denbighshire and Merionethshire; High Sheriff of Denbighshire, 1888-89; founder of the North Wales Sheep Dog Society, 1867, whose annual trials received the patronage of Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1871; Conservator of the River Dee Fishery District, 1875; President of the Llangollen Club, 1877-78; granted rank of a baron's younger son, 1904; married, 2 April 1873 at Llangollen (Denbighs.), Mary (d. 1927), daughter of William Wagstaff (d. 1877) of Plas yn Vivod, Llangollen, and had issue one son; died 25 May 1907; administration of goods granted 31 October 1907 (estate £814);

(2.5) Hon. Thomas William Best (1844-1909), born 23 January and baptised at Abbotts Ann, 8 April 1844; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1863; Lt., 1866; Capt., 1876; Maj., 1881; retired 1883); adjutant to Hallamshire Rifles, 1879-83; Chief Constable of Merionethshire, 1883-1907; granted rank of a baron's younger son, 1904; married, 16 September 1879 at Hurworth-on-Tees (Co. Durham), Harriet Royds (1858-1935), third surviving daughter of Henry Anthony Grey of The Hall, Hurworth-on-Tees and Brent House, Meole Brace (Shrops.), and had issue two sons; died at Barmouth (Merioneths.), 3 January, and was buried at Llanaber (Merioneths.), 6 January 1909; will proved 26 February 1909 (estate £784);

(2.6) Hon. Fanny Gertrude Sophia Best (1845-1904), born 3 September and baptised at Abbotts Ann, 1 October 1845; granted rank of a baron's daughter, 1904; died unmarried, 26 November 1904; will proved 17 January 1905 (estate £11,790).

He died 20 January and was buried at Abbotts Ann, 24 January 1873; his will was proved 11 March 1873 (effects under £25,000). His first wife died 23 September 1833. His widow lived latterly at Mentone (France) and died at Aix-les-Bains (France) 7 September 1891; her will proved 27 October 1891 (effects £527).

Best, George (1838-1904), 5th Baron Wynford. Eldest son of Rev. the Hon. Samuel Best (1802-73) and his second wife Emma, daughter of Lt-Col. Charles Duke, born 14 December 1838 and baptised at Abbotts Ann (Hants), 21 January 1839. Educated at Rugby and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. An officer in the Royal Artillery (Lt., 1858; Capt. 1871; Maj., 1879; retired as Lt-Col., 1883). JP for Wiltshire and Dorset. Chairman of Wiltshire Agriculture Committee. He succeded his cousin as 5th Baron Wynford, 28 October 1903, but only held the title for a year before his death. He married, 7 September 1870 at Weyhill (Hants), Editha Anne (1846-1924), daughter of Matthew Henry Marsh MP of Ramridge, Andover (Hants), and had issue:

(1) Philip George Best (1871-1940), 6th Baron Wynford (q.v.);

(2) Hon. Margaret Mary Best (1872-1941), born 6 October and baptised at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich (Kent), 15 November 1872; worked as a Red Cross nurse during and after the First World War, and later as Honorary Secretary of School Empire Tour Committee, and during the Second World War as a postal censor; Fellow of British Empire Society; appointed OBE, 1929 and CBE, 1938; died unmarried, 30 November 1941; her will was proved 3 April 1942 (estate £15,311);

(3) Samuel John Best (1874-1943), 7th Baron Wynford (q.v.);

(4) Hon. Gertrude Emma Best (1876-1953), born 10 November and was baptised at Weyhill (Hants), 24 December 1876; trained as a nurse at St Thomas' Hospital, London, 1903-06; Associate of Royal Red Cross; state registered nurse, 1922; Asst. Matron of St Thomas's Hospital, 1913-24 and founder and matron of Tower House Emergency Medical Service Hospital, Salisbury, 1940-45; Chairman of Wiltshire County Nursing Association; awarded MBE, 1941; inherited Charlton House from her mother in 1924 but sold it and lived latterly at Charlton Parva with her younger sister; died unmarried, 19 October 1953; will proved 15 January 1954 (estate £22,371);

(5) Admiral Hon. Sir Matthew Robert Best (1878-1940), born 18 June 1878; an officer in the Royal Navy from 1892 (Midshipman; Lt., 1900; Cdr., 1911; Capt., 1916; Rear-Adm., 1928; Vice-Adm. 1932; Adm. 1936; retired 1939), who served in the First World War and was decorated for his role in the Battle of Jutland; appointed MVO, 1910; DSO, 1916, and bar, 1918; CB, 1928 and KCB, 1935; awarded Russian Order of St Stanislaus and Japanese Order of Rising Sun; a popular and decisive naval commander who was esteemed by his superiors and many of those under his command, though he did not suffer fools gladly; married, 2 January 1908 at Holy Trinity, Sloane St., Chelsea (Middx), Annis Elizabeth (1880-1971), second daughter of Charles Frederick Wood of West Woodhay House (Berks) and later of Twyford House (Hants), and had issue one son and one daughter; lived latterly at Crockway, Frampton (Dorset); died 13 October 1940 and was buried at Toller Fratrum (Dorset); administration of goods (with will annexed) granted to his widow, 31 January 1941 (estate £9,486);

(6) Grace Edith Best (1879-99), born 1 September and baptised at St Michael, Coventry (Warks), 21 October 1879; died unmarried of pneumonia, 20 May 1899;

(7) Hon. Helen Best (1880-1959), born 5 November 1880 and baptised at St Michael, Coventry, 6 January 1881; married, 12 July 1910 at Holy Trinity, Sloane St., Chelsea (Middx), Arthur Gerald Wilson (c.1870-1918), solicitor, son of Rev. Charles Wilson of Bickley (Kent), and had issue one daughter; died 7 January 1959; will proved 11 June 1959 (estate £15,076);

(8) Hon. James William Best (1882-1960), born 3 May and baptised at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, 15 June 1882; educated at Wellington Coll and Cooper's Hill; an official of the Indian Forest Service and an officer in the Indian Auxiliary Force (Capt.); retired to England and became a dairy farmer at Beaminster (Dorset) and a Verderer of the New Forest; JP for Dorset; awarded OBE, 1919; married, 11 August 1914 at Lytchett Minster (Dorset), Florence Mary Bernarda (1885-1961), daughter of Sir Elliott Lees, 1st bt. of Lytchet Manor, and had issue four sons and two daughters; died 16 July 1960; cremated and ashes buried at Melplash (Dorset), 20 July 1960; will proved 21 October 1960 (estate £22,669);

(9) Hon. Bertha Beatrice Best (1884-1961), born 26 June 1884; married, 7 January 1920 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Lt-Col. Guy Montague Atkinson DSO (1882-1956) of Penleigh House, Westbury (Wilts), elder son of Lt-Col. Guy Newcomen Atkinson of Cangort (Co. Offaly), but had no issue; died 10 June and was buried at Dilton Marsh, 26 June 1961; will proved 21 November 1961 (estate £31,225);

(10) Hon. Marion Frances Best (1887-1969), born 27 July and was baptised at Donhead St Mary, 17 September 1887; lived at Charlton Parva, Donhead St Mary (Wilts); died unmarried, 6 September 1969; will proved 16 December 1969 (estate £25,273).

He lived at Charlton House, Donhead St Mary (Wilts), which he rented from 1884; his widow and her daughter Gertrude bought the freehold in 1913. He inherited the Wynford Eagle estate from his cousin in 1903.

He died 27 October 1904; his will was proved 12 January 1905 (estate £26,067). His widow died 31 May 1924, and was buried at Charlton (Wilts); her will was proved 17 July 1924 (estate £9,740).

6th Baron Wynford

Best, Philip George (1871-1940), 6th Baron Wynford. Eldest son of George Best (1838-1904), 5th Baron Wynford, and his wife Edith Anne, daughter of Matthew Henry Marsh MP of Ramridge, Andover (Hants), born 27 August and baptised at Abbotts Ann (Hants), 24 September 1871. Educated at Wellington College and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1890; Lt., 1893; Capt., 1900; retired 1904) and later in Dorset Yeomanry (Lt., 1906; Capt., 1906; Maj., 1909; Lt-Col., 1916), who served in the First World War (wounded; mentioned in despatches; awarded DSO, 1917); JP (from 1905) and DL (from 1919) for Dorset; County Councillor for Dorset, 1916-35; Chairman of Mental Hospital Committee, 1931-34; Vice-President of the Bath & West Agricultural Society. A staunch churchman, he was a member of the Salisbury Diocesan Board of Finance, and Chairman of the Dorset Voluntary Schools Association. He succeeded his father as 6th Baron Wynford, 27 October 1904. He married, 16 October 1906 at All Souls, Langham Place, Marylebone (Middx), Hon. Eva Lilian Cecilia (1885-1974), only child of Robert William Napier, 2nd Baron Napier of Magdala, and had issue:

(1) Hon. Grace Janet Mary Best (1907-2002), born 27 August 1907; married, 12 November 1930 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), Edward Kenneth Macleod Hilleary MVO (1904-73) of Lordington Park (Sussex), second son of Maj. Edward Langdale Hilleary OBE of The Lodge, Edinbane, Isle of Skye, and had issue three daughters; died 4 January 2002; will proved 17 June 2002;

(2) Hon. Eva Constance Edith Best (1909-99), born 11 February 1909; married, 23 April 1932 at Maiden Newton (Dorset) (div. 1961), Philip Valentine Mackinnon (1908-95), only son of Rt. Hon. Sir Frank Douglas Mackinnon, Lord Justice of Appeal, but had no issue; died 1 May 1999; will proved 2 June 1999;

(3) Hon. Mary Jemima Best (1912-2007), born 23 August 1912; married, 2 September 1944, Jack Hendy (1915-93), 'a Communist electrician and trade unionist', and had issue two sons (who both became life peers, in 2019 and 2022 respectively); said to have died in 2007.

He inherited the Wynford Eagle estate from his father in 1904.

In 1939, he emigrated to South Africa for health reasons, and he died at Stellenbosch, Western Cape, 15 December 1940; his will was proved 8 August 1941 (estate £183,714). His widow died in Salisbury (Rhodesia), 23 March 1974; administration of her goods (with will annexed) was granted in Cape Town (South Africa) and sealed in London, 21 April 1975 (effects in England & Wales £5,522).

Best, Samuel John (1874-1943), 7th Baron Wynford. Second son of George Best (1838-1904), 5th Baron Wynford, and his wife Edith Anne, daughter of Matthew Henry Marsh MP of Ramridge, Andover (Hants), born 24 June 1874. Educated at Wellington College, after which he spent some years farming in New Zealand; he then moved to Bengal (now Bangladesh) where became a tea planter with Octavius Steel & Co., and after some years in their Calcutta office returned to England as a partner in the firm. While abroad, he served with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and the Surma Light Horse (Assam), but during the First World War he was an officer in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (Lt.). He succeeded his elder brother as 7th Baron Wynford, 15 December 1940. He married 1st, 26 August 1914 at Darjeeling (India), Evelyn Mary Aylmer (1887-1929), second daughter of Maj-Gen. Sir Edward Sinclair May KCB CMG, and 2nd, 5 June 1930, Margeurite Jane (1890-1966), daughter of Charles Pratt of the Indian Railway Service, and widow of William Kenneth Allies (1881-1922), and had issue:

(1.1) Hon. Edith Joy Marion Best (1915-93), born in Calcutta (India), 14 August 1915; married, 3 April 1937 at Merrow (Surrey), Cdr. Walpole John Eyre RN (1906-87) of Sadborow Myll, Thorncombe (Dorset), son of Rev. George Frederick Eyre of West Hill, Lyme Regis (Dorset), and had issue one son and one daughter, and also adopted one daughter; died 4 February 1993; will proved 26 October 1993 (estate £725,351);

(1.2) Robert Samuel Best (1917-2002), 8th Baron Wynford (q.v.);

(1.3) John Philip Best (1919-40), born in Calcutta, 14 March 1919; an officer in the Royal Navy (Midshipman, 1937; Sub-Lt., 1939; mentioned in despatches, 1940), who was lost when HM Submarine Spearfish was sunk by U-boat U34, 2 August 1940; administration of goods (with will annexed) granted 5 May 1941 (estate £2,694);

(1.4) Hon. Patrick George Matthew Best (1923-2009), born in Calcutta, 5 October 1923; educated at Wellington Coll; an officer in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (Midshipman, 1943; Sub-Lt., 1943) in Second World War; employed by Wiggins Teape Ltd. from 1946 (director from 1968; deputy chairman, 1978; chairman and managing director, 1979); director of BAT Industries, 1979-84 and of Rank Hovis Macdougall; Master of Ironmongers Company, 1985-86; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; appointed an officer of the Belgian Order of the Crown, 1980; married 1st, 29 March 1947 at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster (Middx), Heather Elizabeth (1924-99), younger daughter of Hamilton Gardner of South Kensington (Middx), and had issue four sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 1 April 2000, Anne Loveday Ayscough (1931-2005), daughter of Kenneth Ayscough England; lived latterly at Monks House, Petersfield (Hants); died 30 October 2009; will proved 6 September 2010.

He lived in a flat in one of the blocks built on the site of Wildcroft Manor in Putney (Surrey). He inhertied the Wynford Eagle estate from his elder brother in 1940.

He died in Putney (Surrey), 29 August, and was buried at Wynford Eagle, 3 September 1943; his will was proved 8 March 1944 (estate £138,855). His first wife died 28 March 1929; her will was proved 12 June 1929 (estate £1,719). His widow died in Cheltenham (Glos), 28 March 1966; her will was proved 20 October 1966 (estate £10,832).

8th Baron Wynford

Best, Robert Samuel (1917-2002), 8th Baron Wynford. Eldest son of Samuel John Best (1874-1943), 7th Baron Wynford, and his first wife, Evelyn Mary Aylmer, second daughter of Maj-Gen. Sir Edward Sinclair May KCB CMG, born in Calcutta (India), 5 January 1917. Educated at Eton and Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1937; Lt., 1940; Capt., 1945; Maj., 1950; Lt-Col., 1957; retired 1960), who served in the Second World War (wounded, awarded Croix de Guerre, 1943); appointed MBE, 1952. DL for Dorset (from 1970). He succeeded his father as 8th Baron Wynford, 29 August 1943. He married, 6 May 1941 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Anne Daphne Mametz (1918-2002), only daughter of Maj-Gen. John Randle Minshull-Ford CB DSO MC of Windlesham (Surrey), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Caroline Anne Sabina Best (b. 1942), born 28 March 1942; educated at Trinity College, Dublin; married, 24 October 1964, Edward Patrick Gundry (1935-2013), elder son of Edward Fox Gundry (1909-94), and had issue one son and two daughters; living in 2023;

(2) Hon. Jacqueline Dorothy Mametz Best (b. 1946), born 9 November 1946; married, 7 June 1969, Jeremy James Richard Pope OBE DL (b. 1943), solicitor, of Maiden Newton (Dorset), and had issue three sons; living in 2023;

(3) John Philip Robert Best (b. 1950), 9th Baron Wynford (q.v.).

He inherited the Wynford Eagle estate from his father in 1943.

He died 21 January 2002; his will was proved 20 September 2002. His widow died 25 October 2002; her will was proved 8 September 2003.

Best, John Philip Robert (b. 1950), 9th Baron Wynford. Only son of Robert Samuel Best (1917-2002), 8th Baron Wynford, and his wife Anne Daphne Mametz, only daughter of Maj-Gen. John Randle Minshull-Ford CB DSO MC, born 23 November 1950. Educated at Radley College, Keele University (BA 1974), and Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester (MRAC, 1977). Landowner and chartered surveyor (MRICS, 1979). He succeeded his father as 9th Baron Wynford, 21 January 2002. He married, 10 October 1981, Fenella Christian Mary (b. 1952), only daughter of Capt. Arthur Reginald Danks MBE (d. 1996), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Sophie Hannah Elizabeth Best (b. 1985), born 18 November 1985; management and business consultant in Dorchester (Dorset);

(2) Hon. Harry Robert Francis Best (b. 1987), born 9 May 1987; heir apparent to the barony.

He took over the management of the Wynford Eagle estate from his father in 1981.

Now living. His wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 2003, pp. 4256-58; J. Hutchins, History of Dorset, 1774, vol. 1, pp. 526-27; E.A. Webb, G.W. Miller & J. Beckwith, The history of Chislehurst, 1899, p. 263; A. Gomme & A. Maguire, Design and Plan in the Country House: from Castle Donjons to Palladian Boxes, 2008, pp. 211-12; M. Hill, West Dorset Country Houses, 2014, p. 415; M. Hill, J. Newman & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset, 2nd edn., 2018, p. 714; ODNB entry for 1st Baron Wynford;

https://leesonsfields.co.uk/history-of-leesons-estate-1790-present/;

Location of archives

Best family, Barons Wynford: deeds and estate papers relating to Kent and Lincolnshire property, 1551-1845 [Bexley Local Studies & Archives Centre, PEWYN]. Other records may remain with the family.

Coat of arms

Best of Wynford Eagle, Barons Wynford: Sable a Cinquefoil within an Orle of Cross Crosslets Or on a Canton of the last a Portcullis of the first

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide a more exact date for the family acquisition of the Wynford Eagle estate, or their sale of Leesons? 
• Does anyone know exactly when Higher Wynford (also known as Wynford House) was built, or who the architect was?
• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 12 May 2025 and updated 13 and 17 May 2025.

(598) Norreys and Bertie of Rycote and Wytham Abbey, Barons Norreys and Earls of Abingdon - part 2

This post has been divided into two parts. Part 1 consists of my introduction to the family and its property, and a description of the houses they owned. This second part gives the biographical and genealogical details of the family. 

Norreys family of Rycote and Wytham, Barons Norreys

Henry Norreys (c.1525-1601), 1st Baron Norreys 

Norreys, Henry (c.1525-1601), 1st Baron Norreys. Only son of Sir Henry Norreys (d. 1536) and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre of the South, born about 1525. His father had been accused of adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn, summarily executed, and posthumously attainted, but in 1539 an Act of Parliament restored him in blood and returned such of the family's property as had not been forfeited to the Crown. He was an official of the royal stables by 1546; gentleman of the privy chamber by 1547; and butler of the port of Poole, 1553. His career accelerated after the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, who honoured his father for his defence of her mother's honour. He was JP for Berkshire from 1558 and for Oxfordshire, 1561-91; High Sheriff of Berkshire and Oxfordshire, 1562-3; MP for Berkshire, 1547-52 and for Oxfordshire, 1571-72; Ambassador to France, 1566-70; Porter of the Outer Gate and Keeper of the Armoury at Windsor Castle from about 1580; an officer in the Queen's bodyguard (Capt., 1588) and Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire and Oxfordshire, 1587-99. He was knighted in 1566, raised to the peerage as Baron Norreys by writ of summons, 6 May 1572, and fully restored in blood by a second Act of Parliament in 1575/6. He married, by 1544, the Hon. Margaret (1521-99), daughter and co-heiress of Sir  John Williams (d. 1559), 1st Baron Williams of Thame, and had issue:

(1) Hon. Sir William Norreys (c.1545-79) (q.v.);

(2) Hon. & Rt. Hon. Sir John Norreys (1547-97), born 1547; the most acclaimed English soldier of his day, participating in the Wars of Religion in France, in Flanders during the Eighty Years' War of Dutch liberation from Spain, in the Anglo-Spanish War, and above all in the Tudor conquest of Ireland, where he became infamous for the massacre of women and children on the island of Rathlin in 1575; MP for County Cork, 1585 and for Oxfordshire, 1589; a member of the Privy Council of Ireland; died of gangrene at the house of his brother, Sir Thomas, in Mallow (Co. Cork), 3 Jul 1597 and was buried at Yattendon (Berks); administration of his goods was granted in October 1597;

(3) Hon, Sir Edward Norreys (c.1550-1603), born about 1550; MP for Oxford, 1572 and for Abingdon, 1584-85, 1588-89; fought in the Netherlands, Ireland and Portugal; knighted 1586; sewer of the household, 1590; Governor of Ostend, 1590-99, when he was recalled to comfort his parents, whose other sons had all been killed; clerk of the petty bag by 1600; JP for Berkshire, 1598-1603 and Oxfordshire, 1601-03; custos rotulorum for Berkshire, 1601-03; married, 1600, Elizabeth (d. 1621) (who m3, 1604, Thomas Erskine (1566-1639), 1st Viscount Fenton and later 1st Earl of Kellie), daughter of Sir John Norreys (d. 1612) of Fyfield (Berks) and widow of Thomas? Webb of Salisbury (Wilts); died 8 September 1603 and was buried at Englefield (Berks);

(4) Hon. Catherine Norreys (b. c.1553-1602); married, c.1583, Sir Anthony Paulet (1562-1600), Governor of Jersey, and had issue at least two sons and three daughters; died 24 March 1602 and was buried at Hinton St. George (Som.);

(5) Hon. Sir Henry Norreys (c.1554-99), born about 1554; educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1571); fought with his brothers John and Edward in the Netherlands 1586, knighted after the Battle of Zutphen 1586; MP for Berkshire 1589, 1597-98; served in Ireland as Col-General of Infantry 1595 and in the campaign in Munster 1599, where he died following the amputation of a wounded leg, 21 August 1599; his corpse was brought to Bristol in May 1600 and perhaps buried at Rycote;

(6) Hon. Thomas Norreys (1556-99), educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1571); MP for Limerick, 1585-86; knighted 1588; granted 6,000 acres in Munster, 1588; President of Munster and Lord Justice of Ireland, 1597; married Bridget Kingsmill, daughter of Sir William Kingsmill of Sydmonton (Hants), and had issue one daughter; died at his house in Mallow from a wound in the neck, 16/20 August 1599; his corpse was brought to Bristol in May 1600 and perhaps buried at Rycote;

(7) Hon. Maximilian Norreys (c.1557-93); served in Brittany under his brother John, where he was killed, September 1593.

He inherited the Rycote, Weston Manor and Wytham estates in right of his wife in 1559, and Yattendon (Berks) in 1588 under the will of his uncle, Sir John Norreys (d. 1563). He purchased Cumnor Place in 1574.

He died 27 June 1601 and was buried at Rycote, 10 August 1601, but is commemorated by a colossal freestanding monument, some 24 feet high, in Westminster Abbey, which was erected by his grandson after 1606; his will was proved in July 1601. His wife died in December 1599.

Norreys, Hon. Sir William (c.1545-79). Eldest son of Henry Norreys (c.1525-1601), 1st Baron Norreys, and his wife Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of John Williams, 1st Baron Williams of Thame, born c.1545. He was a soldier (Capt. of Horse) who campaigned in Ireland, 1573-76 and again in 1579; Marshal of Berwick. Receiver for Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex and the City of London, 1579. He married, 1576 (settlement 1 June), Elizabeth (d. 1611), daughter of Sir Richard Morrison of Cassiobury (Herts), and had issue:

(1) Francis Norreys (1579-1622), 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire (q.v.).

He died of a fever while on campaign in Ireland in the lifetime of his father, 25 December 1579. His widow married 2nd, after 1586, as his second wife, Henry Clinton (1540-1616), 2nd Earl of Lincoln, and died about 4 July 1611.

Portrait, said to be of Francis Norreys,
1st Earl of Berkshire, from a stained glass 
panel formerly at Wytham Abbey.
Image: Bodleian Library.

Norreys, Francis (1579-1622), 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire. Only child of the Hon. William Norreys (c.1550-79) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Morrison of Cassiobury (Herts), born 6 July and baptised at Wytham, 19 July 1579. In February 1597/8 he went to France in the train of Sir Robert Cecil, Ambassador Extraordinary. In August 1599 he was serving in the fleet hurriedly assembled to repel a threatened Spanish invasion. He proclaimed the accession of King James I at Oxford in 1603, and journeyed to the Scottish borders to accompany Queen Anne of Denmark to London. Between 1603 and 1605 he accompanied an English embassy to Spain, but his return to England was delayed by a serious illness which kept him in Paris for some months. He was present at the investitures of Prince Henry and Prince Charles as Princes of Wales in 1610 and 1616, and was Cupbearer at the installation of the Elector Palatine as a Knight of the Garter, 1615. He seems to have possessed an impetuous and quarrelsome disposition, and quarrelled both with his wife and with the Hon. Sir Peregrine Bertie (1585-1639). In 1612 he fought a duel with Bertie in which the latter was seriously wounded in the shoulder; after he had recovered, the two men fought again in 1613, leading King James I to issue a proclamation against duelling. In 1615 the two men were involved in an affray in a churchyard in which he killed a man called Winwood, servant to Bertie's father, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and he was convicted of manslaughter, but pardoned by the king. In February 1620/1 he was imprisoned in the Fleet prison for an insult offered to Lord Scrope in the presence of the Prince of Wales. He succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Baron Norreys, 27 June 1601, was made a Knight of the Bath, January 1604/5, and was promoted in the peerage to be Viscount Thame and 1st Earl of Berkshire*, 28 January 1620/1. He married, about 28 April 1599 at Chenies (Bucks) (but sep. 1606), with £8,500, Lady Bridget (1584-1631?), daughter and co-heir of Edward de Vere (1550-1604), 17th Earl of Oxford, and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Norreys (c.1600-45), Baroness Norreys (q.v.).

He also had a mistress, Sarah Rose (who later married Samuel Hayward), and had issue by her:

(X1) Sir Francis Rose (later Norreys) (1609-69), inherited the manors of Weston-on-the-Green and Yattendon from his father in 1622 and came of age in 1631; knighted 1633; High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 1635-36; MP for Oxfordshire, 1656-58; married Hester, daughter of Sir John Rouse (d. 1645), kt., and had issue; died 1669.

He inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates from his grandfather in 1601, and £3,000 from his grandmother, Bridget, Countess of Bedford, in 1603. His title to his estates was challenged by his uncle, Sir Edward Norreys, but the latter died in 1603, whose estates also passed to Lord Norreys.

He committed suicide with a crossbow in the Fleet Prison, 29 or 31 January 1621/2, when his earldom and viscountcy became extinct, and his barony devolved upon his only legitimate child; an inquisition post mortem was held 9 October 1623, and his will was proved 11 January 1623/4.  His widow appears to have died between December 1630 and May 1631.

* It was reported on 13 January 1620/1 that 'Lord Norris is to be Earl of Thame, on marrying his daughter and assuring his land to Wray of the Bedchamber', so his promotion in the peerage was evidently due to Wray and his influence with the Duke of Buckingham, who was at this time Wray's close friend.

Norreys, Elizabeth (c.1600-45), Baroness Norreys. Only legitimate child of Francis Norreys (1579-1622), 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire, by his wife Lady Bridget, daughter and co-heir of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, born about 1600. She succeeded as Baroness Norreys suo jure, after her father committed suicide, 29 January 1621/2, leaving her one of the richest and most sought-after heiresses at court. Christopher Villiers, brother of the Duke of Buckingham, sought her hand with royal encouragement, and to avoid being forced into a marriage with him she eloped with and married, 27 March 1622 at St Mary Aldermary, London, Edward Wray (1589-1658)*, groom of the bedchamber to King James I and MP for Oxfordshire, 1625, third son of Sir William Wray, 1st bt., of Glentworth (Lincs). They had issue:

(1) Bridget Wray (1627-57), Baroness Norreys (q.v.).

She inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates from her father in 1622, and carried them in marriage to Edward Wray.

She died shortly before 10 October 1645 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 28 November 1645. Her husband died at Fritwell (Oxon) on 20 March, and was buried at Wytham, 29 March 1658; administration of his goods was granted 10 July 1658.

* As a result of the king's displeasure, Wray was dismissed from the bedchamber and imprisoned for some months, his release being reported on 15 February 1622/3.

Wray, Bridget (1627-57), Baroness Norreys. Only child of Edward Wray (1589-1658) of Rycote Park and his wife Elizabeth (c.1600-45), Baroness Norreys, only legitimate child of Francis Norreys, 2nd Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Berkshire, born 12 May and baptised at Hackney (Middx), 15 June 1627. She succeeded her mother as Baroness Norreys suo jure, October 1645. She married 1st, 24 December 1645, Hon. Edward Sackville (d. 1646), second son of Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset, and 2nd, between 1646 and 1652, as his second wife, Montagu Bertie (c.1608-66), 2nd Earl of Lindsey, and had issue:

(2.1) James Bertie (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(2.2) Hon. Edward Bertie (b. c.1654), born about 1654; died young;

(2.3) Lady Mary Bertie (1655-1709), born 1 September 1655; married, between 1678 and 1680*, as his second wife, Charles Dormer (1632-1709), 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, of Ascott House (Bucks), but had no issue; died 30 June 1709;

(2.4) Hon. Henry Bertie (c.1656-1734), born about 1656; educated at University of Padua (Italy) (admitted 1674); an officer in the army (Capt., 1678-85); Tory MP for Westbury, 1678-80, 1701-15, New Woodstock, 1681, and Oxford, 1685-87, 1689-95; deputy Constable of the Tower of London, 1702-05; inherited Nutley manor, Long Crendon (Bucks) from his father; married 1st, by 1687, Philadelphia (d. 1701), daughter of Sir Edward Norreys (1634-1713)**, kt., of Weston-on-the-Green (Oxon) and had issue three sons and two daughters; married 2nd, 1716 (licence 28 Sept.), Catherine (d. 1736), daughter of Sir Heneage Fetherston (1627-1711), 1st bt., of Stanford-le-Hope (Essex), but had no issue; died at Boulogne (France), 5 December 1734 and was buried at Chesterton (Oxon); will proved in the PCC, 19 December 1734.

She inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates from her mother in 1645 and came into possession on her marriage a few weeks later.

She died 24 March 1656/7 and was buried with her mother in Westminster Abbey. Her first husband was killed at the Battle of Kidlington, 11 April 1646, and was buried at Wytham (Berks), 18 May 1646. Her second husband died at Campden House, Kensington (Middx), 25 July 1666, and was buried at Edenham where he and his father are commemorated by a double monument erected by his sons; his will was proved 31 July 1666. 

* Lord Carnarvon's first wife died 15 or 30 July 1678, and Mary signed a book in her possession as 'M. Carnarvon', 1 October 1680.

** Son of Sir Francis Rose alias Norreys (1609-69) (q.v.), the illegitimate son of the 1st Earl of Berkshire.

Bertie family of Rycote and Wytham Abbey, Earls of Abingdon

1st Earl of Abingdon, by Kneller 

Bertie, James (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Montagu Bertie (c.1608-66), 2nd Earl of Lindsey, and his second wife, Bridget, Baroness Norreys, daughter of Edward Wray and Elizabeth, Baroness Norreys, baptised at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 16 June 1653. He was known as the Hon. James Bertie until he succeeded his mother as 5th Baron Norreys, 24 March 1656/7. After coming of age, he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Norreys of Rycote, 1675, and was promoted in the peerage to the Earldom of Abingdon, 30 November 1682. Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, 1674-87 and High Steward of Oxford, 1687. In 1688 he was active in inviting Prince William of Orange to mediate between King James II and his people, and contributed £30,000 to the Prince's expenses. However, on discovering William intended to seize the throne, he opposed him, and exerted all his influence against declaring the throne vacant; but after William and Mary were crowned he seems quickly to have been reconciled to the new regime, and resumed his post as Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, 1689-97. Chief Justice in Eyre south of the Trent, 1693-97. His political career was materially assisted by his close friendship with his half-sister's husband, Sir Thomas Osborne (later Duke of Leeds), who often visited him at Rycote for the hunting on that estate, and he was more vulnerable to attacks by the Whig junto after the Duke was dismissed from office in 1695. By then he was in increasingly poor health, probably due either to asthma or a heart condition. His portrait was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. He married 1st, 1 February 1671/2 at Adderbury (Oxon), Eleanor (1658-91), eldest daughter and eventual sole heiress of Sir Henry Lee (1637-58), 3rd bt., of Quarrendon (Bucks), and 2nd, 1698 (licence 15 April), probably at Stanwell (Middx), Catherine (c.1659-1742), eldest daughter and co-heir of the Rev. Sir Thomas Chamberlayne (c.1635-82), 2nd bt., of Wickham (Oxon), and widow of Richard Wenman (1657-90), 4th Viscount Wenman and 1st Viscount Wenman of Tuam, of Thame Park (Oxon), and had issue:

(1.1) Montagu Bertie (later Venables-Bertie) (1673-1743), 2nd Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(1.2) Hon. James Bertie (1674-1735) (q.v.);

(1.3) Hon. Henry Bertie (1675-1735), born 4 May 1675; he was ‘bred to the understanding of trade and merchandise’ under the merchant Sir Joseph Herne, but did not embark on a career in business; freeman and bailiff of Oxford, 1702 and a freeman of Hertford, 1703; Tory MP for Beaumaris (Anglesey), 1705-27; a commissioner for the public accounts, 1711-14; he acquired (when is unclear, but probably not until the 1720s) Sir William Berkeley's share in the ownership of the Carolina colony, as one of the eight Lords Proprietors, and sold this to the Crown in 1729; married 1st, 17 July 1708, Annabella Susanna (1667-1708), daughter of Hugh Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Glenawly, and widow of Sir John Magill (d. 1700), 1st bt. of Gill Hall (Co. Down) and of Marcus Trevor (1669-1706), 3rd Viscount Dungannon, but had no issue; he married 2nd, 3 October 1712 (with £10,000), his cousin Mary, second daughter and co-heiress of Hon. Peregrine Bertie of Waldershare Park (Kent) and widow of Anthony Henley (1667-1711) of The Grange (Hants), and had issue one daughter; died at Boulogne (France), 18 December 1735;

(1.4) Hon. Robert Bertie (1677-1710), born 28 February 1676/7; lived at Benham Valence (Berks); married, 1709 (licence 13 January 1708/9), Hon. Catherine (d. 1736) (who m2, Sir William Osbaldiston (c.1687-1736), 4th bt., of Chadlington and Nethercote (Oxon)), eldest daughter of Richard Wenman (1657-90), 4th Viscount Wenman and 1st Viscount Wenman of Tuam, of Thame Park (Oxon), but had no issue; died 6 August, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 10 August 1710; his nuncupative will was proved in the PCC, 15 September 1710;

(1.5) Vice-Adm. the Hon. Peregrine Bertie (1678-1709), born 2 February 1677/8; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1697; Capt., 1701; Vice-Adm. of the Red, 1707); captured at the Battle of the Lizard, 10 October 1707 and died unmarried while a prisoner of war in France, May 1709;

(1.6) Rev. the Hon. Charles Bertie (c.1679-1747); educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1695; BA 1699; MA 1703) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1700); Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford from 1703-27 (BCL 1706; DCL 1711); Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Oxford, 1720-41*; rector of Kenn (Devon), 1726-47 and also of Holborough (Devon), 1739-47 and Honiton (Devon), 1740-47; married Elizabeth (d. 1759), daughter of Rev. John Cary, rector of Tredington (Worcs), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 15 February and was buried at Kenn, 26 February 1746/7; will proved in the PCC, 30 September 1747;

(1.7) Lady Bridget Bertie (1681?-1753), said to have been born 13 March 1680/1; married, 13 February 1702/3, with £8,000, Richard Bulkeley (1682-1724), 4th Viscount Bulkeley of Cashel, of Baron Hill (Anglesey), Tory MP for Anglesey, 1704-15, 1722-24 and Jacobite sympathiser, and had issue two sons and five daughters; died 13 June, and was buried at Beaumaris (Anglesey), 11 July 1753;

(1.8) Lady Anne Bertie (1682?-1718), said to have been born 7 March 1681/2; married, 20 July 1704, Sir William Courtenay (1675-1735) of Powderham Castle (Devon), de jure 6th Earl of Devon, and had issue five sons and seven daughters; died 31 October 1718 and was buried at Powderham;

(1.9) Lady Mary Bertie; died young.

He inherited the manors of Rycote, Albury, Wendlebury, Chesterton, Dorchester, Thame, Beckley and Horton (all Oxon), and Wytham, Cumnor and Frilsham (Berks) from his mother in 1657 and came of age in 1674. His first wife brought him an interest in the estates of the Danvers family, and after legal disputes, a partition of the estates was agreed in 1681 which left him and his wife as sole owners of West Lavington, Marden and Patney (Wilts), and with shares in the manors of Westbury and Bradenstoke (Wilts). In 1688 he bought Littleton Pannell (adjacent to West Lavington).

He died of a fever at his house in Westminster, 22 May, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 29 May 1699; his will was proved in the PCC, 3 February 1699/1700. His first wife died 31 May and was buried at West Lavington, 6 June 1691, where she is commemorated by a monument. His widow married 3rd, Francis Wroughton (d. 1733) of Estcourt (Wilts), died 9 February 1741/2, and was buried at Long Newnton (then Wilts but now Glos); her will was proved 5 March 1741/2.

* Thomas Hearne records that he was a legal scholar and had no particular expertise in natural philosophy. He was appointed to this chair to provide him with an income from which he could repay All Souls College money defrauded from it by the man he had installed to deputise for him as bursar of the college, Barzillai Jones.

2nd Earl of Abingdon

Bertie (later Venables-Bertie), Rt. Hon. Montagu (1673-1743), 2nd Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of James Bertie (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Eleanora, daughter of Sir Henry Lee, 3rd bt., of Quarrendon (Bucks), born 4 February 1673. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (admitted 1685). A precocious political career, founded upon his father's influence as Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, saw him made a Freeman of Woodstock, 1686; freeman and bailiff of Oxford, 1687, 1689; freeman of Chester, 1712; high steward of Malmesbury, 1699-1701 and of Oxford and Woodstock, 1701-43; Tory MP for Berkshire, 1689-90 and Oxfordshire, 1690-99; JP for Berkshire and Oxfordshire from 1701. He took the additional surname Venables by royal licence after his first marriage, 10 November 1687 and was known as Lord Norreys from 1682 until he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Abingdon, 22 May 1699. A member of the Privy Council, 1702-07, 1711-14, and 1714-43. Constable and Lord Lieutenant of the Tower of London, 1702-05; Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1701-02, Oxfordshire, 1702-06, 1712-15 (DL from 1689); Chief Justice in Eyre south of the Trent, 1702-06, 1710-15, and one of the Lords Justices of the Realm between the death of Queen Anne and the arrival of King George I from Hanover, 1714. In 1736 he conveyed some of his real estate to trustees who were charged with the payment of his debts. He married 1st, 22 September 1687, Anne (1674-1715), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Anne, 1702-05, 1712-14,  daughter and sole heir of Peter Venables (d. 1679) of Kinderton (Ches.), and 2nd, 13 February 1716/7 at Beaconsfield (Bucks) or West Lavington (Wilts)*, Mary (1677-1757), daughter of James Gould of Minterne (Dorset) and widow of Gen. Charles Churchill MP (1656-1714) (brother of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough), and had issue:

(2.1) James Bertie (1717-18), Lord Norreys, born 14 November and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 26 November 1717; died in infancy of smallpox in the lifetime of his father, 25 February 1717/8, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote.

He inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and Westbury (Wilts) estates from his father in 1699. He bought the manor of Godstow (Oxon) in 1702 but sold it in 1710 to the Duke of Marlborough. Later, he bought the manor of Littleton Auncells (Wilts) adjacent to his estate at West Lavington, and in 1738 he sold Bradenstoke (Wilts). His second wife had houses at Minterne and Dorchester (Dorset). He settled his remaining real estate on his nephew for life and thereafter on his great-nephews in order of seniority in 1736, and by his will he excluded any who did not conform to the Church of England.

He died 16 June, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 27 June 1743; his will was proved in the PCC, 1 July 1743. His first wife died 28 April 1715 and was buried in the chapel at Rycote; administration of her goods was granted 25 June 1715. His widow is said to have accidentally burnt to death, 10 January 1757 and was buried at St Peter, Dorchester (Dorset); by her will, proved 20 June 1757, she left her real and personal estate (estimated at £70,000) to her kinsman Nicholas Gould of Frome (Dorset).

* The marriage appears in the register of both parishes, and also in that of Rycote.

Bertie, Hon. James (1674-1735). Second son of James Bertie (1653-99), 5th Baron Norreys and 1st Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Eleanora, daughter of Sir Henry Lee, 3rd bt., of Quarrendon (Bucks), born 4 February and baptised 13 March 1673/4. Tory MP for New Woodstock, 1695-1705 and for Middlesex, 1710-34. Freeman and bailiff of Oxford, 1695 and a freeman of Hertford, 1704. A Commissioner for Sewers in Tower Hamlets, 1710, and for the Trent Navigation, 1714, as well as being one of the Commissioners for building 50 new churches, 1711-15; Duchy of Lancaster steward of Grosmont, Skenfrith and White Castle, 1714-20. He married 1st, 5 January 1691/2 at Stanwell (Middx), Elizabeth (1673-1715), only surviving daughter and eventual sole heir of George Willoughby (1638-74), 7th Baron Willoughby of Parham, and 2nd, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. George Calvert (d. 1696) of Stanwell (Middx), and had issue:

(1.1) Willoughby Bertie (1692-1760), 3rd Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(1.2) Edward Bertie (1694-1733), born 25 November 1694 and probably baptised at Stanwell; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1712; BA 1716; MA 1719) and Grays Inn (called 1727); barrister-at-law; died unmarried, 21 September and was buried at St James, Paddington (Middx), 22 September 1733;

(1.3) Elizabeth Bertie (1695-96), baptised at Stanwell, 23 December 1695; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 24 January 1695/6;

(1.4) Bridget Bertie (1696-1734), born 13 December and baptised at Stanwell, 14 December 1696; married, before 1719, Robert Coetmor (c.1691-1725) of Coetmor and Bodwrda (Caernarvons.), and had issue one son and two daughters; buried 9 August 1734;

(1.5) Elizabeth Bertie (b. & d. 1701), baptised at Stanwell, 22 January 1700/1; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 25 January 1700/1;

(1.6) James Bertie (b. & d. 1702), baptised at Stanwell, 14 January 1701/2; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 29 January 1701/2;

(1.7) Peregrine Bertie (1703-08), baptised at Stanwell, 10 January 1702/3; died young and was buried at Stanwell, 19 June 1708;

(1.8) Richard Bertie (1704-13), baptised at Stanwell, 11 May 1704; died young and was buried at Stanwell, 30 March 1713;

(1.9) Rev. the Hon. William Bertie (1705-67), baptised at Stanwell, 13 January 1705; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1723; BA 1727; MA 1730; BD 1742; DD 1752); rector of Albury (Oxon), 1740-57 and Wytham (Berks), 1742-57; married his first cousin, Hon. Anne Bulkeley  (d. 1778), third daughter of Richard Bulkeley, 4th Viscount Bulkeley, and had issue; died August 1767 and was buried at Albury; will proved in the PCC, 14 March 1767/8;

(1.10) George Bertie (1707-08), baptised at Stanwell, 15 May 1707; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 17 March 1707/8;

(1.11) Henry Bertie (1709-43), born and baptised at Stanwell, 20 April 1709; educated at Westminster; died unmarried and was buried at Bombay (India), 26 August 1743; will proved in the PCC, 3 December 1746;

(1.12) Anne Bertie (1710-11), baptised at Stanwell, 17 June 1710; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 7 December 1711;

(1.13) Rev. John Bertie (1711-74), born 22 November and baptised at Stanwell, 3 December 1711; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1731; BA 1735; MA 1738); ordained deacon, 1737 and priest, 1738; rector of Yattendon (Berks), 1744-47 and Kenn (Devon), 1747-74, and prebendary of Exeter Cathedral, 1763-74; married, 7 May 1734 (a clandestine marriage in London), Mary (c.1720-1803), daughter of Clark Nichols or Nicholas, and had issue; died 'of a mortification in his feet', 1 February and was buried at Kenn, 3 February 1774;

(1.14) Peregrine Bertie (b. & d. 1715), born and baptised at Stanwell, 26 September 1715; died in infancy and was buried at Stanwell, 12 October 1715.

He lived at Stanwell, in which his first wife inherited a life interest under the (disputed) will of her great-uncle, John Cary. She gained possession after a decision of the House of Lords in her favour in 1698. On her death in 1715, the estate passed to Viscount Falkland, and Bertie lived subsequently in Westminster.

He died 18 October 1735; his will was proved in the PCC, 17 March 1735/6. His first wife died 26 September and was buried at Stanwell, 2 October 1715. His second wife's date of death is unknown.

3rd Earl of Abingdon

Bertie, Willoughby (1692-1760), 3rd Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Hon. James Bertie (1674-1735) of Stanwell (Middx) and his wife Elizabeth, only surviving daughter and eventual sole heir of George Willoughby, 7th Baron Willoughby of Parham, born at Lindsey House, Westminster (Middx), 28 November 1692 and probably baptised at Stanwell. Said to have been educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford or Cambridge (matriculated 1707), but does not appear in the Alumni volumes for either university. A Tory in politics, in 1715 he stood for Parliament in the Westbury constituency, where his family had a strong interest, and although initially declared elected, the result was overturned on petition, and he never stood for Parliament again. He went abroad for his health in the 1720s and lived in Florence (Italy), c.1722-27, while also visiting Rome and Naples and returning to England through Switzerland. At the time of his marriage he allegedly had 'a very weakly decayed constitution', but he survived for more than thirty years and produced a large family. He declined to join the Oxfordshire association in defence of the Hanoverian succession at the time of the 1745 uprising, and may therefore have had Jacobite leanings. He succeeded his uncle as 3rd Earl of Abingdon, 16 June 1743. High Steward of Abingdon and Wallingford, 1743. In Florence, he was closely associated with John Collins*, a Scottish Catholic who 'keeps a publick house in this town for the English Gentlemen that travel', and whose 'very pretty' daughter, Anna Maria (d. 1763), he subsequently married. The service is said to have been performed by a Church of England minister in Switzerland (and not in Florence), about August 1727. They had issue:

(1) Lady Elizabeth Bertie (1728-1804), said to have been born in 1728; married, 23 February 1763 at St James, Westminster (Middx) (but later sep.), Giovanni Andrea Battista Gallini (k/a Sir John Gallini) (1728-1805), an Italian dancer, choreographer and impresario resident in London, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died in London, 17 August 1804;

(2) Lady Jane Bertie (1732-91), born 23 March 1731/2 and baptised at St Anne, Soho, Westminster, 29 March 1732; married, 29 September 1760 at St George the Martyr, Bloomsbury (Middx), as his third wife, Thomas Clifton (1728-83) of Lytham Hall (Lancs), and had issue one son and three daughters; died 14 February and was buried at Lytham, 18 February 1791;

(3) Lady Bridget Bertie (1734-60), born 9 January and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster, 18 January 1733/4; died unmarried, 9 December, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 15 December 1760;

(4) James Bertie (1735-45), Lord Norreys, baptised at Gainsborough (Lincs), 25 September 1735; known as Lord Norreys from 16 June 1743 until he was killed in the fire which burned down Rycote House, 12 November 1745; buried in the chapel at Rycote, 14 November 1735;

(5) Lady Anne Eleanora Bertie (1738-1804), baptised at Gainsborough, 15 July 1738; married, 7 July 1766 at St Marylebone (Middx), Philip Wenman (1742-1800), 4th Viscount Wenman, of Thame Park (Oxon), MP for Oxfordshire, 1768-96, but had no issue; died in London, 19 April 1804 and was buried in the chapel at Thame Park;

(6) Willoughby Bertie (1740-99), 4th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(7) Hon. Peregrine Bertie (1741-90), born 13 March and baptised at Gainsborough, 16 April 1741; educated at Westminster; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1759; Cdr., 1762; Capt., 1762); MP for City of Oxford, 1774-90; inherited Weston-on-the-Green and Chesterton (Oxon), Notley Abbey (Bucks) and Yattenden and Hamstead Norris (Berks) from Norreys Bertie (d. c.1766); married, May 1790 at Frilsham (Berks), Elizabeth Hutchins (d. 1833) of Yattendon (Berks); died without issue at his seat at Frilsham, 20 August, and was buried at Weston-on-the-Green, 28 August 1790; will proved in the PCC, 23 September 1790;

(8) Charles Bertie (b. & d. 1742), baptised at Gainsborough (Lincs), 3 April 1742; died in infancy and was buried at Gainsborough, 24 April 1742;

(9) Lady Mary Bertie (1746-1826), born 12 November 1746; married, 27 April 1772 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, as his second wife, Miles Stapleton (1742-1808) of Clints, Marske (Yorks WR) and Drax (Yorks WR), second son of Nicholas Stapleton (d. 1750) of Carlton (Yorks), and had issue at least two sons and two daughters; died 22 July and was buried at Carlton-by-Snaith (Yorks WR), 28 July 1826;

(10) Lady Sophia Bertie (1748-60), born 6 November 1748; died young, 12 October, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 17 October 1760.

He leased the east wing of Gainsborough Old Hall (Lincs) from 1733 until he inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and Westbury (Wilts) estates from his uncle in 1743. Rycote burned down in 1745 and he reconstructed it to a modified design. By 1764 he was evidently in financial difficulties, and his trustees sold the manors of Wendlebury and Chesterton (Oxon) and Marden and Patney (Wilts).

He died 10 June, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 16 June 1760; his will was proved in the PCC, 9 July 1760. His widow died of a stroke while visiting the Venetian ambassador at his residence in London, 21 December 1763; her will was proved in the PCC, 17 March 1764.

* The humble origins of John Collins (c.1689-1763) were carefully obscured by the family to make him appear a gentleman. He is said to have been a Scottish Catholic who obtained a post as valet to the Florentine ambassador in London. The ambassador arranged a pension for him from the Grand Duke on his recall to Italy. This enabled Collins to set up his hotel in Florence, which also became the home of the first masonic lodge in Italy. He may well have been a Jacobite. On his monument at Rycote he is described as Sir John Collins, and if this was a not wholly fictional dignity, it may signify a Jacobite knighthood. He was buried in a leather coffin with sword and armour resting on it, suggesting a possible military career before entering Florentine service. He is sometimes identified as John Collins of Chute Lodge (Hants), but had no connection with that family.

4th Earl of Abingdon

Bertie, Willoughby (1740-99), 4th Earl of Abingdon. Second, but eldest surviving, son of Willoughby Bertie (1692-1760), 3rd Earl of Abingdon, and his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Sir John Collins, born 16 January and baptised at Gainsborough (Lincs), 18 February 1739/40. Educated at Westminster School, Geneva and Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1759; created MA 1761), where he was one of three students chosen to address the Earl of Westmorland on his installation as Chancellor of the University, 1759. He was known as Lord Norreys from the death of his elder brother in 1745 until he succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Abingdon, 10 June 1760. He came of age and took his seat in Parliament, 1761, and was appointed High Steward of Abingdon and Wallingford in the same year. In 1763-66 he went on a Grand Tour with his brother Peregrine, and is known to have visited Rome (twice) - where his portrait was painted by Batoni - Naples, Turin, and Florence, but he spent much of his time in Geneva (Switzerland), where the French resident described him as 'a very petulant young man', who had been taught nothing except hunting and music. After a brief return to England he was again in Geneva in 1766-67, and he was in Florence again in 1770. In 1769 he funded the construction of the Swinford Toll Bridge (probably designed by Sir Robert Taylor) across the River Thames near Eynsham (Oxon), and obtained an Act of Parliament prehibiting the construction of new bridges within three miles of it, and making the income from tolls tax-free*. He became a noted patron of music, was in contact (through his brother-in-law, Sir John Gallini) with J.C. Bach and C.F. Abel, and was encouraged by Haydn to compose; he is the author of 120 known works, and was an accomplished performer on the flute and violin. That was one side of his character, but he seems also to have been a rather wild young man, prone to extravagant intemperance and eccentric behaviour. He had the reputation of being a political maverick, defending the liberties of the American colonies, but condemning the  French Revolution as a threat to "the Peace, the Order, the Subordination, the Happiness of the whole habitable Globe", and arguing that the movement for the abolition of the slave trade was simply the result of a "new philosophy" inspired by the new French republic. An obituarist noted that "his frequent speeches in the House of Peers were peculiarly eccentric", and Lord Charlemont in his memoirs calls him "a man of genius, but eccentric and irregular almost to madness". Horace Walpole found him "not quite devoid of parts, but rough and wrong-headed, extremely underbred but warmly honest" in 1777. He eventually dissipated his family fortune so much that he was obliged to sell the furniture from Rycote in 1779, as well as much of his property at Westbury (Wilts), to reduce his debts. Although he retained ownership of the burgages in Westbury, and thus control of the town's parliamentary seats, he sold the nomination of members there at each election after 1786 to gain extra income. In 1794-95 he was convicted of libelling a Mr. Sermon of Grays Inn, who had been his solicitor, fined £100, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. He was insolvent at the time of his death. He married, 7 July 1768, Charlotte (1749-94), daughter and co-heir of Adm. Sir Peter Warren (1703-52), kt., of Warrenstown (Ireland), MP for Westminster, and had issue: 

(1) Lady Charlotte Bertie (1769-99), born 12 October and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster, 2 November 1769; died unmarried, 11 January 1799, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(2) Lady Amelia Bertie (1774-84), born 6 January 1774; died young and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 22 May 1784;

(3) Willoughby Bertie (b. & d. 1779), Lord Norreys, born 8/10 February and was baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 20 February 1779; but died in infancy later the same day, 20 February 1779;

(4) Willoughby Bertie (b. & d. 1781), Lord Norreys, born 9 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 17 April 1781; died in infancy and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 1 May 1781;

(5) Montagu Bertie (1784-1854), 5th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(6) Lady Louisa Anne Maria Bertie (b. & d. 1786), born 8 March and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 6 April 1786; died in infancy and was buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 May 1786;

(7) Hon. Willoughby Bertie (1787-1810), born 24 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 26 July 1787; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., by 1808; Cdr., 1810); married, 26 November 1808 in Guernsey, and again 10 October 1810 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Catherine Sloane Saunders, an actress known as Miss Fisher or 'the Young Roscia', and had issue one son (born posthumously and died in infancy); drowned when his vessel, HMC Satellite, was wrecked in the English Channel off Cherbourg (France), 19 December 1810; commemorated with his son by a monument in Salisbury Cathedral; will proved 21 June 1811;

(8) Lady Caroline Bertie (1788-1870), born 18 October and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 3 November 1788; married, 23 January 1821, Charles John Baillie-Hamilton (1800-65), MP for Aylesbury, 1839-47, second son of Ven. Charles Baillie (later Baillie-Hamilton) (1764-1820), Archdeacon of Cleveland, and had issue including two sons and two daughters; died in Genoa (Italy), 12 March 1870; will proved 14 April 1870 (effects under £1,500);

(9) Hon. Peregrine Bertie (1790-1849), born 30 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 1 September 1790; educated at Westminster and Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1811; MA 1815); evidently emigrated to the United States of America, where he died unmarried, 17 October 1849 and was buried at Philadelphia (USA);

(10) Rev. the Hon. Frederic Bertie (1793-1868), born 12 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 1 April 1793; educated at Westminster and Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1814; MA 1816); ordained deacon, 1816 and priest, 1817; rector of Wytham (Berks), 1817-68, perpetual curate of South Hinksey (Berks), 1820-68; rector of Albury and Wheatley (Oxon), 1820-68; JP for Oxfordshire; married, 17 October 1825 at Shiplake (Oxon), his brother's sister-in-law, Lady Georgina Anne Emily Kerr (1806-81), second daughter of Vice-Adm. Lord Mark Robert Kerr, and his wife Charlotte, Countess of Antrim suo jure, and had issue five sons and four daughters; died 4 February 1868; will proved September 1868 (effects under £7,000).

He inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and Westbury (Wilts) estates from his father in 1760 and came of age in 1761. He sold West Lavington (Wilts) in 1761 and Frilsham (Berks) in 1762, and most of his remaining Wiltshire estate in a series of sales after 1777. In 1790 he inherited Weston-on-the-Green (Oxon) from his brother Peregrine, but it was entailed on his younger sons and eventually passed to the Rev. and Hon. Frederic Bertie (1793-1868).

He died 26 September 1799 and was buried in the chapel at Rycote; his will was proved in the PCC, 15 May 1800. His wife died 28 January, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 8 February 1794.

* The bridge continues to charge tolls to this day, but is no longer owned by the Bertie family.

Bertie, Montagu (1784-1854), 5th Earl of Abingdon. Third, but eldest surviving, son of Willoughby Bertie (1740-99), 4th Earl of Abingdon, and his wife Charlotte, daughter and co-heir of Adm. Sir Peter Warren, kt., MP, of Warrenstown (Ireland), born 30 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 8 May 1784. He was known as Lord Norreys until he succeeded his father as 5th Earl of Abingdon, 26 September 1799. Cupbearer at the coronation of King George IV, 19 July 1821; Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1826-54; High Steward of Abingdon, 1826. He received an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1810 (DCL). He married 1st, 27 August 1807 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Emily (1776-1838), daughter of Gen. the Hon. Thomas Gage (1719-87) and sister of Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage; and 2nd, 11 March 1841 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Lady Frederica Augusta (1816-64), fifth daughter of Vice-Adm. Lord Mark Robert Kerr and his wife Charlotte, Countess of Antrim suo jure, and had issue:

(1.1) Montagu Bertie (1808-84), 6th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(1.2) Lady Charlotte Margaret Bertie (1809-93), born 23 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 19 August 1809; died unmarried, 7 November and was buried at Leamington Spa (Warks), 11 November 1893; will proved 11 January 1894 (effects £21,231);

(1.3) Lady Emily Caroline Bertie (1810-81), born 11 August and baptised at St Marylebone, 19 August 1810; married, 31 July 1830 at Wytham, Rev. the Hon. Charles Bathurst (1802-42), Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and later rector of Siddington St Mary (Glos), fifth son of Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst, but had no issue; died 18 March and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 23 March 1881; will proved 5 April 1881 (effects under £18,000);

(1.4) Hon. Albemarle Bertie (1811-25), born 26 September and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 October 1811; educated at Eton; died young, 4 February 1825; buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(1.5) Rev. the Hon. Henry William Bertie (1812-94), born 16 September and baptised at St Nicholas, Brighton, 29 October 1812; educated at Eton, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1830; BA 1833) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1833); Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, 1836-94 (BCL, 1840; DCL 1847); ordained deacon, 1836, and priest, 1837; rector of Stanford-on-Teme (Worcs), 1840-44 and of Great Ilford (Essex), 1844-81; died unmarried, 31 December 1894; will proved 2 February 1895 (effects £9,007);

(1.6) Hon. Augusta Georgina Bertie (b. & d. 1815), born 14 April 1815; died in infancy, 4 May 1815 and was buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(1.7) Hon. Vere Peregrine Bertie (1817-18), born 23 November 1817 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 13 February 1818; died in infancy, 21 March 1818, and was buried in the chapel at Rycote;

(1.8) Hon. Brownlow Charles Bertie (1819-52), born 19 August and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 25 September 1819; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1837); an officer in the army (Cornet, 1839; Cornet & Sub-Lt, 1840; Lt., 1846); DL for Berkshire, 1850; died unmarried on board a steamer between Panama and San Francisco (USA), while on his way to participate in an expedition to Japan, 30 December 1852.

He inherited the Rycote, Wytham Abbey and the remaining part of the Westbury estates from his father in 1799 and came of age in 1805. In 1807, he pulled down the main house at Rycote and sold the building materials, reserving some to reuse in remodelling Wytham Abbey, and in 1810 he sold the burgages in Westbury. By 1835 his finances had recovered somewhat and he purchased the manor of North Weston (Oxon) to add to his Rycote and Thame estate.

He died at Wytham Abbey, 16 October, and was buried at Rycote chapel, 24 October 1854; his will was proved in the PCC, 17 May 1855 (effects under £10,000). His first wife died 28 August 1838 and was buried at Rycote. His widow died in London, 26 November 1864.

Bertie, Montagu (1808-84), 6th Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Montagu Bertie (1784-1854), 5th Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Emily, daughter of Gen. the Hon. Thomas Gage and sister of Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage, born 19 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 30 July 1808. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1827; MA 1829; DCL 1834). An officer in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt., 1827; Capt., 1831; Maj., 1847; retired 1855). Tory MP for Oxfordshire, 1830-31, 1832-52 and for Abingdon, 1852-54. He was known as Lord Norreys until he succeeded his father as 6th Earl of Abingdon, 16 October 1854. High Steward of Oxford and Abingdon; Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, 1855-81 (DL, 1831-55). He married, 7 January 1835 at Nuneham Courtenay (Oxon)*, Elizabeth Lavinia (1815-58), only daughter and heir of George Granville Venables Vernon (later Harcourt) (1785-1861), MP for Lichfield, 1806-31 and Oxfordshire, 1831-61, and had issue:

(1) Montagu Arthur Bertie (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.);

(2) Lady Elizabeth Emily Bertie (1838-1923), born 5 November 1838; was received into the Roman Catholic church, 1874, and lived latterly in Florence (Italy); died unmarried in Livorno (Italy), 4 May 1923; will proved 29 November 1923 (estate in England, £335);

(3) Lady Lavinia Louisa Bertie (1839-1928); married, 16 January 1883 at St Stephen, Kensington (Middx), Robert Bickersteth (1847-1916) of Downgate House, Wadhurst (Sussex), MP for Newport, 1885-86, eldest son of Rt. Rev. Dr. Robert Bickersteth DD (1816-84), Bishop of Ripon, but had no issue; died in Oxford, 5 July 1928; will proved 22 November 1928 (estate £18,237); 

(4) Rt. Hon. Francis Leveson Bertie (1844-1919), 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, born 17 August 1844 and baptised at Nuneham Courtenay (Oxon), 25 March 1845; entered the Foreign Office 1863 (Private Secretary to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1874-80; Acting Second Secretary in the Diplomatic Service at the Berlin Congress 1878; Acting Assistant Clerk at the Foreign Office 1880-81; Assistant Clerk 1881-82; Acting Senior Clerk 1882-85; Senior Clerk 1889-94; Assistant Permanent Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1894-1903; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Rome 1903-05 and at Paris 1905-18); Chairman, Uganda Railway Committee 1896-1903; he was sworn of the Privy Council, 1903, and appointed KCB 1902; GCVO 1903; GCMG 1904 and GCB 1908, before being raised to the peerage as Baron Bertie of Thame, 28 June 1915 and promoted to be 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, 2 September 1918; inherited the family's lands in North Weston (sold 1913), Beckley and Horton-cum-Studley (sold 1919); married, 11 April 1874, Lady Feodorowna Cecilia (1840-1920), eldest daughter of Henry Richard Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, and had issue one son; died 26 September 1919 and was buried at Thame (Oxon); will proved 28 November 1919 (estate £15,803);

(5) Rev. & Hon. Alberic Edward Bertie (1846-1928), born 14 November 1846 and baptised at Nuneham Courtenay, 5 April 1847; educated at Merton College, Oxford (matriculated 1865; BA 1869; MA 1873); rector of Albury (Oxon), 1879-87 and Gedling (Notts), 1887-1923; married, 26 April 1881 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, Lady Caroline Elizabeth (c.1855-1930), daughter of Mark Kerr (later McDonnell) (1814-69), 5th Earl of Antrim, and had surviving issue four sons and three daughters; died 20 March 1928 and was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford; will proved 31 May 1928 (estate £8,819);

(6) Lady Frances Evelyn Bertie (1848-1929), born 23 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 31 May 1848; received into the Roman Catholic church, 1881, and became a nun at the Convent of the Visitation, Harrow-on-the-Hill (Middx) as Sister Frances Magdalen; died 29 August 1929; will proved 18 March 1930 (estate £143);

(7) Hon. George Aubrey Vere Bertie (1850-1926), born 2 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 7 June 1850; an officer in the Coldstream Guards (Ensign & Lt., 1868; Lt. & Capt., 1871; Capt. & Lt-Col., 1881; Maj. & Lt-Col., 1885; retired 1885), who served in the Zulu War, 1879; a keen yachtsman, he was member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, 1900-26; married, 13 October 1885 at Great Bookham (Surrey), Harriet Blanche Elizabeth (1850-1923), daughter of Sir Walter Rockcliffe Farquhar (1810-1900), 3rd bt., and had issue one son and two daughters; died at Nice (France), 8 November 1926, and was buried in the Cimetière Communal de St. Marguerite there; will proved 5 February 1927 (estate £1,319);

(8) Hon. Charles Claude Bertie (1851-1920), born 31 August and baptised at Nuneham Courtenay, 19 October 1851; an officer in the Royal Berkshire Militia (Lt., 1871) and later in the army (Lt.; resigned 1876); married, 29 April 1890, Adelaide (1841-1903), youngest daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Burroughes of Lingwood Lodge (Norfk), but had no issue; died in Oxford, 4 September 1920;

(9) Hon. Reginald Henry Bertie (1856-1950), born 26 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 16 July 1856; educated at Eton; an officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (Lt., 1874; Capt., 1883; Maj., 1891; Lt-Col., 1899; retired as Col., 1903) who served in Crete, 1898 and China (mentioned in despatches) where he took part in the relief of Peking, 1900; appointed CB, 1901; married, 18 October 1892, Lady Amy Evelyn (1865-1948), daughter of Henry Reginald Courtenay (1836-98), Lord Courtenay, and sister of Charles Pepys Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon, but had no issue; died 15 June 1950; will proved 3 October 1950 (estate £26,133).

He inherited the Rycote and Wytham Abbey estates from his father in 1854.

He died 8 February and was buried in the chapel at Rycote, 13 February 1884; his will was proved 31 March 1884 (effects £36,670). His wife died 16 October 1858 and was buried at Wytham.

* Their marriage was quite an occasion, being celebrated by the Archbishop of York, and with the Dukes of Bedford and Wellington, the Earl of Sandwich and Lord Leveson among the witnesses.

7th Earl of Abingdon

Bertie, Montagu Arthur (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon. Eldest son of Montagu Bertie (1808-84), 6th Earl of Abingdon, and his wife Elizabeth Lavinia, only daughter and heir of George Granville Harcourt MP, born 13 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 29 June 1836. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Cornet, 1856; Lt., 1860) and the Royal Berkshire Militia (Lt., 1858; resigned 1860 but re-apptd as Major, 1861; Lt-Col., 1863; retired as Hon. Col., 1880). JP and DL for Berkshire and JP for Oxfordshire. His first wife was a member of a leading recusant family and he was received into the Catholic church in the year of his marriage. He was known as Lord Norreys from 1854 until he succeeded his father as 7th Earl of Abingdon, 8 February 1884. High Steward of Abingdon, 1884-1928, representative of Towneley family among the trustees of the British Museum, 1885-1928, and a Governor of Abingdon School, 1901-15. He married 1st, 10 July 1858 at the Royal Bavarian RC Chapel, Warwick St, Westminster (Middx), Caroline Theresa (1838-73), eldest daughter of Col. Charles Towneley (1803-70) of Towneley Hall (Lancs), MP for Sligo, and 2nd, 16 October 1883 at Portsmouth RC Cathedral, Gwendoline Mary (1867-1942), eldest daughter of Lt-Gen. the Hon. Sir James Charlemagne Dormer KCB (1834-93), and had issue:

(1.1) Lady Mary Caroline Bertie (1859-1938), born 11 August 1859; married, 5 August 1879, Sir Edmund Bernard Fitzalan-Howard KG (1855-1947), 1st Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, of Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1921-22, second son of Henry Fitzalan-Howard (1815-60), 14th Duke of Norfolk, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 21 April 1938 and was buried in the RC cemetery at Arundel (Sussex); will proved 12 July 1938 (estate £2,571);

(1.2) Montagu Charles Francis Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie) (1860-1919), Lord Norreys (q.v.);

(1.3) Arthur John Bertie (1861-62), born 26 December 1861; died in infancy, 10 January 1862;

(1.4) Lady Alice Josephine Bertie (1865-1950), of Dyneley, Burnley (Lancs), born 3 March 1865; JP for Lancashire; married 1st, 1 February 1890 at the British consulate and All Saints RC church, Cairo (Egypt), Sir Gerald Herbert Portal KCMG (1858-94), diplomat, second son of Melville Portal (1819-1904) of Laverstoke House (Hants), and 2nd, 5 October 1897, Maj. Robert Florent Joseph Nicolas Ghislain Reyntiens (1853-1913), an officer in the Belgian army, son of Maj. Robert Reyntiens of Brussels (Belgium), ADC to HM King Leopold II of the Belgians, and had issue one daughter; died 7 May 1950; will proved 4 January and 28 February 1951 (estate £114,996);

(1.5) Lady Cecil Josephine Bertie (1873-95), born 22 July 1873; married, 18 July 1895 at Ootacomund (India), Brig-Gen. Paul Aloysius Kenna VC DSO (1862-1915), son of James Kenna of Liverpool (Lancs), but had no issue; died of typhoid fever at Bolarum (India), 3 October 1895;

(2.1) Lady Gwendoline Theresa (k/a Goonie) Bertie (1885-1941), born 20 November 1885; married, 8 August 1908, Maj. John Strange Spencer Churchill DSO (1880-1947) of Holworth House, Warmwell (Dorset), stockbroker, younger son of Lord Randulph Churchill (1849-95) and brother of the Prime Minister, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), and had issue two sons and one daughter (Clarissa, later the wife of Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, Prime Minister); died 7 July 1941; administration of goods granted 12 September 1941 (estate £310);

(2.2) Hon. Arthur Michael Cosmo Bertie (1886-1957) (q.v.);

(2.3) Lady Elizabeth Constance Mary (k/a Betty) Bertie (1895-1987), born 12 March 1895; appointed OBE, 1938; an officer in the ATS, 1938-42; married 1st, 21 April 1914 at the Brompton Oratory, Maj. Sigismund William Joseph Trafford (1883-1953) of Wroxham Hall (Norfk), eldest son of Edward Southwell Trafford (1838-1912), and had issue one son and three daughters; married 2nd, 5 September 1956 in South Africa, Col. Henry Antrobus Cartwright CMG MC (1887-1957), son of Rev. Arthur Rogers Cartwright of Clevedon (Som.); died 29 July 1987; will proved 8 September 1987 (estate £38,540);

(2.4) Hon. James Willoughby Bertie (1901-66), born 22 September 1901; an officer in the Royal Navy Reserves (Lt-Cdr.), who served in the First World War, 1917-19 and Second World War; a Knight of Honour and Devotion in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; married, 12 June 1928 at Mount Stewart (Isle of Bute), Lady Jean DGStJ (1908-95), younger daughter of John Crichton-Stuart (1881-1947), 4th Marquess of Bute, and had issue two sons; died on Malta, 11 May 1966; will proved 11 April 1967 (effects in England, £30,074).

He inherited the Rycote, Cumnor and Wytham Abbey estates from his father in 1884, but sold parts of the Cumnor estate from the 1880s, Rycote in 1911 and Wytham Abbey in 1919. He lived at different times at Wytham, Cumnor Place (sold in 1909) and Oaken Holt, Cumnor. According to his great-grandson, he burnt through his inheritance with an "après moi, le déluge" attitude, but lived long enough to be swept up in the flood! His widow lived at Oaken Holt, Cumnor (Berks).

He died aged 91 at Oaken Holt on 10 March, and was buried at Abingdon, 14 March 1928; his will was proved 12 May and 5 July 1928 (estate £226,970). His first wife died 4 September 1873. His second wife died 16 September 1942; her will was proved 19 April 1943 (estate £6,360).

Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie), Montagu Charles Francis (1860-1919), Lord Norreys. Elder and only surviving son of Montagu Arthur Bertie (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon, and his first wife, Caroline Theresa, eldest daughter of Charles Towneley of Towneley Hall (Lancs), born 3 October 1860. An officer in the army (Capt.) and later in the territorials (Capt.) who served in the Imperial Yeomanry in the Boer War, 1899-1900, and as commandant of a prisoner of war camp, 1915-19. JP and DL for Berkshire and JP for Oxfordshire. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, 25 July 1885 at St Raphael's RC Church, Kingston-upon-Thames (Surrey), Hon. Rose Riversdale Glyn (1860-1933), daughter of Vice-Adm. Hon. Henry Carr Glyn (1829-84) and sister of the 3rd and 4th Barons Wolverton, and had issue:

(1) Montagu Henry Edmund Cecil Bertie (1887-1963), 8th Earl of Abingdon and later 13th Earl of Lindsey (q.v.);

(2) Lady Alexandra Rose Alice Bertie (1886-1952), born 17 October 1886; granted rank of an earl's daughter, 1928; died unmarried, 21 April 1952; will proved 23 July 1952 (estate £16,052).

He died of heart failure resulting from illness contracted during his wartime employment, in the lifetime of his father, 24 September 1919; his will was proved 15 May 1920 (estate £19,090). His widow died 21 December 1933; her will was proved 13 February 1934 (estate £4,590).

Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie), Montagu Henry Edmund Cecil (1887-1963), 8th Earl of Abingdon and 13th Earl of Lindsey. Only son of Montagu Charles Francis Bertie (later Towneley-Bertie) (1860-1919), Lord Norreys, and his wife the Hon. Rose Riversdale (d. 1933), daughter of Vice-Adm. Hon. Henry Carr Glyn (1829-84) and sister of the 3rd and 4th Barons Wolverton, born 2 November 1887. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Royal Anglesey Engineers (2nd Lt., 1905; Lt., 1905). He is said to have intended to become a Roman Catholic priest, and was in his novitiate when war broke out in 1914, after which he returned to the army, joining the Grenadier Guards (Lt., 1915; Capt., 1918; wounded; retired 1919) and also serving in the Royal Naval Air Service (temp Flight Sub-Lt., 1916). He was employed briefly in Egypt after the First World War. He took the courtesy title Lord Norreys after the death of his father in 1919 and succeeded his grandfather as 8th Earl of Abingdon, 10 March 1928, and his distant kinsman, as 13th Earl of Lindsey, 2 January 1938. High Steward of Abingdon from 1928. He also succeeded his father as representative of the Towneley family among the trustees of the British Museum, 1928-63. He is said to have renounced the Roman Catholic church shortly before his marriage in a registry office, 11 August 1928, to Elizabeth Valetta (k/a Bettine) (1896-1978), a Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur, daughter of Maj-Gen. the Hon. Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley CB CMG DSO MVO (1857-1934) and divorced wife of Capt. Alastair Edward George Grant (1892-1947). They had no issue.

He lived at 3 Seymour St., St. Marylebone in 1939 and later at 2 Curzon Place, Mayfair.

He died 11 September 1963, and was buried at Brookwood Cemetery (Surrey); his will was proved 8 November 1963 (estate £165,700). His widow died 24 October 1978 and her will was proved 19 January 1979 (estate £1,665,508).

Bertie, Hon. Arthur Michael Cosmo (1886-1957). Elder son of Montagu Arthur Bertie (1836-1928), 7th Earl of Abingdon, and his second wife, Gwendoline Mary, eldest daughter of Lt-Gen. the Hon. Sir James Charlemagne Dormer KCB, born 29 September 1886. Educated in Austria and at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1904). Honorary Attaché at Petrograd (Russia). He served in the First World War as an officer in the Rifle Brigade (Maj., 1917; acting Lt-Col. commanding 11th Battn, 1918) (twice wounded and twice mentioned in despatches) and in the Second World War with the South African Defence Force and the Control Commission for Germany, 1945-48; awarded the DSO, 1917 and MC, 1918. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married 1st, 15 May 1929, in Rhodesia, Aline Rose (1888-1948), elder daughter of George Arbuthnot-Leslie of Warthill (Aberdeens.) and widow of Hon. Charles Fox Maule Ramsay MC (1885-1926), and 2nd, 7 May 1949, Lilian Mary Isabel (1902-2000), eldest daughter of Charles Edward Cary-Elwes (1869-1947) of Staithe House, Beccles (Suffk) and widow of Lt-Cdr. Frank Dayrell Montague Crackenthorpe RN (1900-44), and had issue:

(1.1) Richard Henry Rupert Bertie (b. 1931), 14th Earl of Lindsey and 9th Earl of Abingdon (q.v.).

He lived at Selwood, Mells (Som.) and later at Crepping Hall, Stutton (Suffk).

He died 1 February, and was buried at St Mary's RC church, East Bergholt (Suffk), 6 February 1957; his will was proved 30 May 1957 (estate £6,037). His first wife died 5 July 1948 and her will was proved 9 March 1949 (estate £2,434). His widow died aged 98 on 25 September 2000; her will was proved 31 October 2000.

Bertie, Richard Henry Rupert (b. 1931), 14th Earl of Lindsey and 9th Earl of Abingdon. Only child of the Hon. Arthur Michael Cosmo Bertie (1886-1957) and his first wife, Aline Rose, elder daughter of George Arbuthnot-Leslie of Warthill (Aberdeens.) and widow of the Hon. Charles Fox Maule Ramsay MC, born 28 June 1931. Educated at Ampleforth. He succeeded his cousin as 14th Earl of Lindsey and 9th Earl of Abingdon, 11 September 1963. After service in the army (2nd Lt., 1952; Lt., 1954; retired 1957) he became a broker and an underwriting member of Lloyds, 1958-96;  Chairman, Dawes and Henderson (Agencies) Ltd, 1988–92; Chairman of the Anglo-Ivory Coast Society, 1974-77. High Steward of Abingdon since 1963. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, 5 January 1957 at St Mary's RC Church, Cadogan Sq., Westminster (Middx), Norah Elizabeth (b. 1932), younger daughter of Mark Oliver (later Farquhar-Oliver) OBE of Edgerston, Jedburgh (Roxburghs), and had issue:

(1) Henry Mark Willoughby Bertie (b. 1958), Lord Norreys, born 6 June 1958; educated at Eton and Edinburgh University; styled Lord Norreys from 11 September 1963, and heir apparent to his father in the earldoms of Lindsey and Abingdon; a Knight of Honour and Devotion in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1995; a Knight of Justice in Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, 1998; and a Knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1998; he and his wife ran a gallery in Andalucia (Spain) for twelve years before moving to The Old Dairy, Gilmilnscroft; he married, 8 December 1989, Lucinda Sol (b. 1960), shoe designer, second daughter of Christopher Stewart Moorsom, and has issue two sons; now living;

(2) Lady Annabel Frances Rose Bertie (b. 1969), born 11 March 1969; educated at St Mary's, Ascot and Edinburgh University (MA 1991); interior designer; now living;

(3) Hon. Alexander Michael Richard Bertie (b. 1970), born 8 April 1970; educated at Eton and Queen's College, Oxford (BA 1992); marketing consultant; married, 17 April 1998, Catherine Davina (k/a Katy), daughter of Prof. Gordon Campbell Cameron (1937-90), Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and has issue one son and one daughter; now living.

He lived at Gilmilnscroft House, Sorn (Ayrshire), a seat of his wife's family, until it was sold in 2011 and now at Blairston Mains (Ayrshire).

Now living. His wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 2348-52; A. Collins, Peerage of England, 1812, vol. 3, pp. 628-36; J. Ingamells, British and Irish travellers in Italy, 1701-1800, 1997, pp. 2, 85-86; personal communications from Lord Norreys, 2024-25.

Location of archives

Bertie, Earls of Abingdon: deeds, estate and household papers, 1639-1919 [Bodleian Library, MS DD Bertie]; estate papers, 1760-80 [Royal Berkshire Archives, D/EDb]; deeds and papers relating to Notley Abbey, Long Crendon (Bucks), 17th-18th cents [Buckinghamshire Archives, D52]

Coat of arms

Argent, three battering rams fesswise in pale proper, headed and garnished azure.

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 or more precise information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 30 March 2025. I am grateful to Lord Norreys for his assistance with this family.