(590) Berners of Woolverstone Hall

Berners of Woolverstone Hall 

Chauncy's history of Hertfordshire (1700) traces the descent of the Berners family from Hugh de Berners, who held a hide of land at Eversden (Cambs) at the time of Domesday Book in 1086. Unfortunately, he allows only thirteen generations for the more than 500 years separating Hugh from Josias Berners (1605-61), with whom the genealogy below begins, which is scarcely credible, so at best Chauncy's pedigree must be incomplete, and much of its earlier part may be largely fictitious. There is no doubt, however, that members of the family were prominent landowners in Surrey in the 14th and 15th centuries, while another branch of the family settled in Essex, and sent their younger sons into the mercantile profession in London over several generations. The family are surprisingly hard to trace with certainty in the records of the period because their name was spelled in so many different ways: for example, the Josias with whom our story really begins was baptised as Josias Barnish. He was educated at Grays Inn and became the solicitor to the recently formed New River Company, which for nearly three hundred years made large profits from supplying much of London with drinking water. The company was one of the first joint-stock utility companies, and in 1628 he bought four of the thirty-six shares in the company, the profits from which laid the foundations of the family's future prosperity. Josias held nonconformist religious views and he supported the Parliamentary faction during the Civil War. During the Commonwealth, he was a member of the 'Barebones' Parliament for Middlesex, and as late as 1659 he served a term as President of the Council of State. His strong attachment to republican views was not tested after the Restoration, for he died less than a year after Charles II's return from exile.

Josias married twice, but had only one surviving son, James Berners (c.1655-92) who was a child of about six when his father died. He inherited not only his father's shares in the New River Co., but also a piece of land adjoining the Tyburn Road (later Oxford St.), in Marylebone (Middx), which his father had bought in 1654. This must have been acquired with an eye to its future development potential, but in the late 17th century it mostly continued to be used for market gardening and brick-making.

Moor Place, Much Hadham in the 1690s.

James made an advantageous marriage in 1677 to the only daughter and heiress of an East India merchant, and with the capital she brought him he was able to purchase Moor or Moores Place at Much Hadham (Herts), a handsome gabled mid 17th century house which was probably built for Sir Richard Atkins (1625-89), 1st bt., in the 1650s. Here he raised his family of six children, the eldest of whom were barely adults when he died in 1692. His eldest son and chief heir was William Berners (1679-1712), who inherited his property in London and Hertfordshire and his shares in the New River Company. Like his father, he married a merchant's daughter, Elizabeth Raworth, and they had four sons, of whom one died in infancy and the youngest was posthumous. The children were all still minors when William died, and Elizabeth soon married again, to Charles Gostlin (d. 1767), but she died in 1724, leaving her second husband to bring up her sons. Gostlin later accumulated land at Hanwell (Middx) and built a new house there called Hanwell Park, perhaps c.1740. The heir to the Berners estates was William's eldest son, Robert Berners (1706-23), but he died before coming into his inheritance. The only sons to survive to maturity were therefore William Berners (1709-83) and Henry Berners (1713-82). Both men seem to have been solicitors in private practice, and they remained close throughout their lives. Despite marrying again, in 1741, their stepfather, Charles Gostlin, died without issue and left his Hanwell Park estate to them jointly, although it seems to have become Henry's home. When Henry died unmarried in 1782, his share passed to his brother, William, who as the elder of the two had inherited the Moor Place and Marylebone estates. He sold Moor Place back to the Atkins family and took a lease of the Woolverstone Hall estate on the Suffolk coast, where there was then a Jacobean house not dissimilar in size to Moor Place.

Over the course of his lifetime, William turned his empty fields in Marylebone into elegant streets of residential houses, with a lucrative commercial front on Oxford Street. The entry fines and ground rents swelled his income, and in 1773 he was able to buy the freehold of the Woolverstone estate and then to rebuild the house on a much grander scale and to landscape the grounds. His architect was John Johnson (1732-1814), who was both a resident and a developer on his Marylebone property, and the landscaping was probably the work of Nathaniel Richmond. When he died in 1783, William left two sons, of whom the elder, Charles Berners (c.1734-1815) inherited his property, while the younger, the Rev. Henry Berners (1736-1800), entered the church and became rector of Hambledon (Bucks). Charles Berners continued to expand the Woolverstone estate, and in the 1790s he bought the landscaped grounds of Holbrook House from his neighbour, Sir Charles Kent (c.1743-1811), 1st bt., whose principal seat was Fornham Hall (Suffk). 

Charles Berners married in 1765 and he and his wife had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Charles Berners (1767-1831), went to Oxford and then undertook an unusually adventurous grand tour, which took him to the Ottoman empire, in the company of Luigi Mayer, a German-Italian artist who was retained as an official artist by the British ambassador at Constantinople. Mayer later came and stayed at Woolverstone for some months in 1799, producing a body of sketches of views on and around the estate which were probably commissioned by Charles Berners senior. Charles junior made some improvements to the house at Woolverstone in the 1820s, but he never married, and when he died the estates passed to his younger brother. The Rev. Henry Denny Berners (1769-1852) had entered the church, been appointed to the Suffolk livings in the family's gift, and was made Archdeacon of Suffolk in 1819. Both Charles and Henry found it necessary to support their younger brother, William Berners (1771-1841?), for whom his father had bought a partnership in a London bank (Dorset, Johnstone & Wilkinsons) in 1795. Banking was then - even more than today - a high reward but high risk occupation, and unfortunately in 1803 the bank collapsed and the partners were bankrupted. William remained an undischarged bankrupt for the rest of his life, and a final settlement of the bank's affairs was not made until 1860! As a result, he was dependent upon allowances from his brothers, who also provided him with a comfortable house in Queen Anne Street. 

The Rev. Henry Denny Berners, William Berners, and William's twin sister, Maria Berners (1771-1831) all married into the Jarrett family, who owned plantations in Jamaica but were largely absentee owners by this period. By his wife Sarah, Henry Denny Berners had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, John Berners (1800-86) entered the army, but a promising career in the Foot Guards was cut short by an illness which left one side of his body weakened. He married, but had no children, and devoted much of his energy to expanding and improving the family estate in Suffolk. The income from the Marylebone estate made this possible even against the backdrop of the Agricultural Depression, and his obituaries praised the superior quality of the estate and the comforts and large gardens enjoyed by his tenants. When John died he was succeeded by his next brother, Hugh Berners (1801-91), who entered the navy, but spent much of his time on half pay after 1828. In the few years during which he controlled the estate, he continued his brother's programme of estate improvements. Hugh was succeeded by his son, Charles Hugh Berners (1842-1919), who took a Scottish wife and had three sons and two daughters. His eldest daughter, Mary Alice Berners (1868-1944) had the most extraordinary career, marrying without her father's consent, repenting at leisure, going through a messy divorce, converting to Catholicism, and living as a man in India for nearly a quarter of a century. It was, however, her brother, Maj. John Anstruther Berners (1869-1934) who inherited the estates. To meet the death duties on the estate he was advised to sell the freehold of properties on the Marylebone estate, and after he died his son, Geoffrey Hugh Berners (1893-1972) did the same thing. With hindsight, it was a short-sighted policy, for the redevelopment potential of the estate in the later 20th century could have brought far larger returns than the family managed to realise. A modest proportion of the estate remained intact, however, and descended to Geoffrey's daughter, Patricia Ann Allsopp (1933-2017), becoming known as the Berners-Allsopp estate. Woolverstone, however, was sold in its entirety in 1937, and passed into institutional use, latterly as a new home for Ipswich High School. Geoffrey Berners bought Little Coxwell Grove (Berks) with some land in about 1934, and after selling Woolverstone he also bought Marcham Park (Berks), although this was sold again in 1948. He lived subsequently at Little Coxwell Grove, which remains in the family.

Hanwell Park, Middlesex

In the early to mid 18th century, Charles Gostlin built up an estate in the northern part of Hanwell parish, on which he built a modest villa, shown on John Rocque's map of 1746 as a square block. Around this, Gostlin laid out grounds with formal avenues of trees. Sadly, there seems to be no visual record of the house at this time. When Gostlin died without issue in 1767, he left the property to his stepsons, Henry (1713-82) and William (1709-83) Berners, who in 1775 obtained a private Act of Parliament for the exchange of some lands with Hobbayne's charity. The house was actually occupied by Henry Berners, and the exchange allowed him to expand the grounds, and to demolish some cottages which obstructed his views to the south. It seems he also rebuilt the house, since a set of contract drawings exists by the architect Robert Mylne (who later designed the obelisk at Woolverstone) for a three-bay villa for 'Mr Berners, Hanwell'; these are signed by Henry Berners and the builder, Thomas Hardwick, making it likely that they were actually executed. According to Sir Albert Richardson, there were "six sheets of [contract] drawings of a small villa...[and also] a smaller drawing showing the ground-floor plan; this was evidently the first proposal". The drawings formed part of a lot sold at Christies in 2013, by which time there were eight drawings for Hanwell in the group. The drawings are undated but were assigned by Richardson to 'about 1765'. They must actually be somewhat later, as Berners did not inherit the estate until 1767, and it is perhaps worth noting that Thomas Hardwick rebuilt Hanwell church in 1781-82, so a date in the later 1770s may be likely.

Hanwell Park: contract drawing for a new house for Henry Berners, designed by Robert Mylne.

Hanwell Park: contract drawing for a new house for Henry Berners, designed by Robert Mylne

It is possible that Capability Brown was consulted about landscaping the property at this time, since Nathaniel Bayly, MP for Abingdon, who had been involved in steering the exchange Act through Parliament in 1775, paid Brown for a visit to Hanwell and a survey by Samuel Lapidge. But if Hanwell Park was the property in question - and it was the only large house in the village apart from the rectory - then it is not clear that anything was done to Brown's design.

Hanwell Park: north and west fronts from an engraving published in 1855.

Hanwell Park: south front, shortly before demolition.

At an unknown date, probably soon after 1806, the house was extensively remodelled, producing a much larger, rectangular two-storey building with nine-bay north and seven-bay south fronts, on each of which the two bays at either end were stepped forward. On the south side, a handome portico with coupled Doric columns was placed in front of the three recessed centre bays, while on the north side a double-armed staircase rose to the front door. The west end of the house had a broad canted bay rising through both storeys, while at the east end there was a small service wing. Nothing is known of the interiors of the house.

Some outlying portions of the estate were sold off after 1782 to provide building plots for two further substantial villas (Brent Lodge and The Grove), but the remainder was kept intact and passed through several different hands in the 19th century. In 1883 Sir Montagu Sharpe decided to break up the estate for building purposes; the house itself was still standing in 1897, but had been demolished and replaced by terraced housing and a school before 1913.

Descent: built for Charles Gostlin (d. 1767); to stepsons, Henry Berners (1713-82) and William Berners (1709-83)... sold to Sir Archibald McDonald (1747-1826), 1st bt.; sold before 1816 to Thomas Willan (d. 1828) of Twyford Park (Middx); sold 1828 to Charles Turner; to son, John Turner; sold 1848 to Benjamin Sharpe (d. 1883); to son, Sir Montagu Sharpe (1857-1942), kt., who sold 1884; sold 1897 to J.C. Johnstone and demolished soon afterwards.

Woolverstone Hall, Suffolk

The first hall of which anything is known was a compact, five-bay house of two storeys, which was probably built in the early 17th century for either Philip Catelyn (d. 1632) or his successor Philip Bacon (1590-1635), who purchased the manor in 1628. The house, which stood on the site of the present stable block (which incorporates some of its brickwork), had two projecting two storey canted bays either side of a narrower central bay containing the main entrance, but its most distinctive feature was the array of curved and pinnacled shaped gables at roof level. These seem not to have close parallels in other Suffolk or Essex houses, and their use may be an argument for the house having been built for Philip Bacon, whose architecturally literate extended family had connections in many parts of England.

Woolverstone Hall: the Jacobean house, recorded shortly before demolition in the 1770s. Image: Suffolk Archives HD4052.

The house was evidently still in its Jacobean form when it was rented by William Berners in about 1740, following the sale of Moor Place. Over the next thirty years he became increasingly prosperous as a result of the development of his estate in Marylebone, and in 1773 he bought the freehold. Immediately afterwards, he commissioned John Johnson (1732-1814) to design the present house, which was built on a new site, a little further north, that offered fine views over the Orwell valley. Johnson was active as a developer on the Berners estate in London from 1769, and also lived and had his office and workshop there. It is therefore no surprise that Berners should have chosen him to design his new seat, although he was a relatively young man and Woolverstone Hall was one of the largest and most prestigious commissions of his career. The house was well advanced by 1776, when it was being stuccoed, and Johnson exhibited a drawing of it at the Royal Academy the following year. It consists of a seven-by-five bay, two-and-a-half storey centre block, linked by curved wings on the entrance front to one-and-a-half storey pavilions, which housed the kitchens (north side), and dairy and laundry (south side). 

Woolverstone Hall: ground floor plan, recorded at the school in 1977.

Woolverstone Hall: plans of the upper floors, recorded at the school in 1977.

Little documentation seems to survive relating to the building, but unsigned plans of the ground and upper floors are recorded, which record the original layout, although they do not show the house exactly as executed. The house is built of white Woolpit brick with dressings of Portland stone, and the ground floor of the entrance front is of rusticated stone. The central three bays have arched recesses around the windows, and above there are four attached Ionic columns supporting a pediment. Johnson was an enthusiastic user of Coade stone, which is used here for the capitals of the columns, the modillions in the cornice, and the vases on the pediment (one of which is a disguised chimney), as well as for a decorative panel of Diana the huntress in the pediment. The outer first floor windows are pedimented, and the central ones sit in arched recesses filled with sculptural decoration. The rear of the house is much plainer, with just a shallow full-height bow window across the central three bays, commanding the prospect over the Orwell valley.

Woolverstone Hall: entrance front, from an old postcard

Woolverstone Hall: garden front, c.1890, before the addition of the two-storey blocks either side of the centre. Image: Historic England.

The house is known to have been altered by Thomas Hopper in 1823, at a time when he was working extensively in Suffolk, but how much he did to the house is unclear. He may have been responsible for the current form of the Roman Doric porticoes on the ends of the service pavilions, but the early plans of the house appear to show a similar feature in this position. More certainly, he added the curved screen walls with Roman Doric columns which conceal the backs of the service pavilions from the garden front. The most notable later alteration was the addition of a single bay at first-floor level to either side of the central block, which seems to have been done at the end of the 19th century, alongside some other changes to the house, which saw the creation of a billiard room with a fireback dated 1898. 

Woolverstone Hall: drawing room, c.1900.

The original plans show that the house was planned as a large villa, with three main rooms across the south front of the house: a study, drawing room and dining room. The front door opens into a vestibule flanked by a pair of modest staircases, and behind it, between the vestibule and the main rooms, was a top-lit central hall with oval galleries on the upper levels that acted as the main circulation space of the house. The three main rooms on the ground floor, the central room behind the bow on the first floor, and the dome of the central hall preserve elegant neo-classical plasterwork (although the ceiling in the study is a re-creation). These rooms also have original chimneypieces, as does the principal bedroom, where the central panel is painted rather than carved.

Woolverstone Hall: view of the house and park across the River Orwell. In the centre of the view is the Cat House of 1783, which had a large trompe l'oeil Gothic window painted on the end wall, complete with a painted cat looking out. Recent conversion to a dwelling has seen the fictive window replaced by a real one.

A park of some sort already existed by 1725, but alongside the building of the new house, the park was extended and improved. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest that the designer may have been Nathaniel Richmond, a London nurseryman who first worked as a foreman for Capability Brown and then set up an independent landscaping practice in the late 1750s. He  worked in tandem with John Johnson at Skreens (Essex) in c.1769-71 and again at Terling Place (Essex) in 1772-78, so a third joint commission here seems very likely. Further evidence for his responsibility comes from Humphry Repton, who prepared himself to take up landscape gardening by visiting parks laid out by William Kent, Capability Brown and Richmond, and one of the eight places he records visiting was Woolverstone. By 1839, the southern and eastern sections of the park were fenced in, probably for deer; larger areas of woodland lay south-east of the house and along the foreshore of the river Orwell, where there was also a curious Gothick folly called the Cat House. Circuitous carriage drives typical of Richmond led through the park. The site of the old house was redeveloped to form a grand new quadrangular stable block with a white brick front of c.1776, although the composition is now dominated by a monumental 19th century Italianate brick water tower. The principal ornament of the park was a tall obelisk to the memory of William Berners erected by his son in 1793 to the designs of Robert Mylne, but sadly this was pulled down in 1945. A new formal garden was laid out by W.A. Nesfield in the 1850s, but only its structure survives today. 

Woolverstone Hall: aerial photograph of stable block. Image: Aerofilms Ltd /Historic England

Holbrook Gardens: view of the lake and summerhouse by Luigi Mayer, 1799. Image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London SD.659. 

In the later 18th and 19th centuries, the estate was expanded progressively, until by the 1880s it was more than 5,000 acres. Charles Berners (d. 1815) bought the landscaped grounds formerly attached to Holbrook House, which stood about a mile and a half to the south of Woolverstone. They had been laid out before 1783 for Sir Charles Kent, with features including an ornamental lake, a wilderness woodland, and a substantial summer house, which was later used as a base for shooting expeditions. The 'Holbrook Gardens' remained part of the estate until the whole property was dispersed at auction in 1937. Estate expansion to the north also brought in the Elizabethan Freston Tower. John Berners (1800-86) devoted his efforts to a major programme of rebuilding and improvement on the estate, as part of which he built new lodges west of the house (the Holbrook Lodge, by W.E. Nesfield, 1861) and to the north-west (the Monkey Lodge at Freston). The latter takes its name from the monkeys on the gatepiers, which are said to be an allusion to a pet monkey who saved a child of the Berners family from a fire. In the 1870s a cottage orné dairy and some estate housing in matching style (now Dairy House and Park View) were constructed adjoining the 18th century brick-walled kitchen garden.

Woolverstone Hall: aerial view of the house today. Image: Ipswich High School.

The house and park at Woolverstone were bought by the Nuffield Trust as an investment for Oxford University in 1937. Having stood empty for a couple of years, the house was requisitioned during the Second World War for use as a naval training establishment. In 1950, the property was sold to London County Council, which converted it for use as a boys' boarding school, building two new dormitory and teaching blocks in a soul-less Modernist style in 1958. In 1990-92 the boarding school closed and the premises were sold to Ipswich High School, which moved here from the centre of Ipswich. Further additions have been made to the school facilities since, including a sports hall and theatre block, of 1993, and a swimming pool of 2002. As a result of the 19th century and later developments, little survives of the original parkland layout.

Descent: Robert Woolverston (d. 1492); to son, Thomas Woolverston (d. 1516); to son, Richard Woolverston (d. 1537); to son, Philip Woolverston, who sold 1580 to Sir Thomas Gawdy (d. 1588), kt.; to son, Henry Gawdy (b. c.1552), who probably sold to Richard Catelyn (d. 1596?); to son, Philip Catelyn (d. 1632), who sold 1628 to Philip Bacon (1590-1635); to daughter Anne (d. by 1677), wife of Thomas Bedingfield (1618-58?) and later of Sir Philip Parker (c.1625-90), 1st bt.; to son, Thomas Bedingfield (d. 1684)... John Tyson (bankrupt 1720); to John Ward; to son, Knox Ward (d. 1741), who leased the estate to William Berners (1709-83), who purchased the freehold in 1773; to son, Charles Berners (1767-1831); to brother, Ven. Henry Denny Berners (1769-1852); to son, John Berners (1800-86); to brother, Hugh Berners (1801-91); to son, Charles Hugh Berners (1842-1919); to son, Maj. John Anstruther Berners (1869-1934); to son, Geoffrey Hugh Berners (1893-1972), who sold 1937 to Nuffield Trust for Oxford University; sold 1950 to London County Council; sold 1992 to Ipswich High School.

Berners family of Woolverstone Hall

Berners*, Josias (1605-61). Son of William Berners of London, silkman, and his wife Catherine Tailboys of London, baptised at St. Dionis Backchurch, London, 10 November 1605. Educated at Grays Inn (admitted 1620). He purchased four shares (one ninth of the company) in the New River Company from William Backhouse in 1628, and acted as solicitor to the company. A supporter of the Commonwealth, he was MP for Middlesex in the Barebones Parliament, 1654, and served a month's term as President of the Council of State, 1659. A Baptist in religion. He married 1st, Mary (d. 1652), daughter of George Cotton of Panfield Hall (Essex), and 2nd, 30 December 1652 at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), Abigail (1623-1713), daughter of Thomas Barnes (d. 1628) of Aldborough Hatch, Barking (Essex) and widow of John Lockey (d. c.1651) of Holmes Hill (Herts) and Barking, and had issue:

(2.1) Thomas Berners (1653-54), baptised at St James, Clerkenwell, 19 November 1653; died in infancy and was buried at St James, Clerkenwell, 1 March 1653/4;

(2.2) James Berners (c.1655-92) (q.v.).

He purchased two large fields (about 25 acres) in St Marylebone parish in 1654 (later the Berners estate).

He was buried at St Dionis Backchurch, London, 23 February 1660/1; by his will he left a charity of £5 a year for apprenticing poor boys from Wormley (Herts). His first wife was buried at St James Clerkenwell, 24 August 1652, and was commemorated by a monument recorded by John Strype. His widow married 3rd, 1662, as his third wife, Roger Hill (1605-67) of Poundisford (Som.) and 4th, Col. George Thompson (d. 1691), and was buried at Barking (Essex), 3 December 1713.

* The name is spelled in many different ways in the 17th century, including Barnes, Barnish, Barners, etc. The unfamiliar name Josias is sometimes given as Josiah.

Berners, James (c.1655-92). Only surviving son of Josias Berners (1605-61) and his second wife, Abigail, daughter of Thomas Barnes of Aldborough Hatch (Essex) and widow of John Lockey (d. c.1651) of Holmes Hill (Herts) and Barking (Essex), born about 1655*. He inherited his father's four shares (one ninth) of the New River Company. He married, 14 November 1677 at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), Mary (d. 1718), daughter and heiress of William Robinson of Cheshunt (Herts), East India merchant and director of the Bank of England, and had issue:

(1) Mary Berners (1678-1727), baptised at Much Hadham, 14 November 1678; died unmarried and was buried at Much Hadham, 20 September 1727; will proved in the PCC, 16 October 1727;

(2) William Berners (1679-1712) (q.v.);

(3) Winifred Berners (1681-83), baptised at Much Hadham, 30 March 1681; died 25 June 1683 and was buried at Much Badham;

(4) James Berners (1682-1743?), baptised at Much Hadham, 8 March 1681/2; living in 1727, when he was mentioned in his sister's will, and probably the man of this name buried at Chippenham (Wilts), 29 December 1743;

(5) Abigail Berners (b. 1683), baptised at Much Hadham, 23 May 1683; married, 29 October 1702 at St Paul's Cathedral, London, Rev. Hill Denny (1678-1719), rector of Eastwick and Little Parndon (Essex), son of Peter Denny of Bishops Stortford (Herts), and had issue one surviving son; living in 1736;

(6) Josias Berners (1684-1748), baptised at Much Hadham, 22 May 1684; apprenticed to Abraham Foster of London, grocer, 1700, but became an apothecary in London; married, 2 July 1713 at St Marylebone (Middx), Mary Briggs (fl. 1747), but apparently had no issue; buried at St Bride, Fleet St., London, 15 February 1747/8; will proved 19 February 1747/8.

He inherited the St Marylebone property from his father soon after the Restoration. He lived at Wormley (Herts) until he purchased Moor Place, Much Hadham, between 1677 and 1689.

He was buried at Much Hadham, 2 March 1691/2; his will was proved in the PCC, 11 March 1692/3. His widow was buried at Much Hadham, 21 February 1717/8; her will was proved in the PCC, 20 February 1717/8.

* Estimated from his stated age of 22 on his marriage licence.

Berners, William (1679-1712). Eldest son of James Berners and his wife Mary, daughter and heiress of William Robinson of Cheshunt (Herts), baptised at Much Hadham (Herts), 25 August 1679. Educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (matriculated 1696). JP for Hertfordshire, 1703-12; High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, 1710-11; Tory MP for Hythe (Kent), 1711-12. He held four shares in the New River Company. He married, 29 May 1705 at St Paul's Cathedral, London, Elizabeth (c.1685-1724), daughter of Robert Raworth, and had issue: 

(1) Robert Berners (1706-23), baptised at All Hallows Staining, London, 15 June 1706; inherited the Moor Place estate from his father in 1712, but died before coming of age and was buried at Much Hadham, 25 June 1723;

(2) William Berners (b. & d. 1707), baptised at All Hallows Staining, London, 5 June 1707; died in infancy and was buried at Much Hadham, 17 June 1707;

(3) William Berners (1709-83) (q.v.);

(4) Henry Berners (1713-82), educated at Westminster Sch (admitted 1722/3), Inner Temple (admitted 1728) and Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1730; MA 1735); a shareholder of the New River Company and probably a solicitor; inherited Hanwell Park from his stepfather in 1767 and obtained a private Act of Parliament in 1775 to exchange lands with a local charity to improve the views; he may also have consulted Capability Brown about landscaping improvements; died unmarried and was buried at Much Hadham, 26 January 1782; will proved in the PCC, 23 January 1782.

He inherited Moor Place, Much Hadham and the St Marylebone property from his father. His widow's second husband, Charles Gostlin, acquired the Hanwell Park estate (Middx), where he built a house and laid out a park. At his death, it passed to his stepson, Henry Berners.

He died 19 June, and was buried at Much Hadham, 28 June 1712; his will was proved in the PCC, 3 July 1712. His widow married 2nd, 16 September 1715 at St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish St., London, her first cousin, Charles Gostlin (1690-1767) of Barking (Essex) and later of Hanwell Park (who m2, 19 May 1741, Elizabeth Pitt (d. 1773), but had no issue), and and was buried at Much Hadham (Herts), 13 July 1724.

Berners, William (1709-83). Third, but second surviving, son of William Berners (1679-1712) and his wife Elizabeeth, daughter of Robert Raworth, born 10 July 1709. Educated at Westminster School (admitted 1722/3). Solicitor in practice at Grays Inn. He married, 29 June 1732 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Mary (c.1710-82), daughter of Henry Bendysh of South Town, Great Yarmouth (Norfk), and had issue:

(1) Charles Berners (c.1734-1815) (q.v.);

(2) Rev. Henry Berners (1736-1800); educated at Westminster Sch. (admitted 1746) and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1754; BCL 1761); ordained deacon and priest, 1760; rector of Hambledon (Bucks), 1760-1800; JP for Buckinghamshire; married, 28 March 1786 at St Clement Danes, Westminster (Middx), Elizabeth (1761-1817), daughter of Robert Weston, and had issue one daughter; died in London, 4 April, and was buried at Hambleton, 10 April 1800; will proved in the PCC, 9 April 1800.

He inherited Moor/Moores Place, Much Hadham, the St Marylebone property and the New River Co. shares from his elder brother in 1723, and came of age in 1730. He sold Moor Place to Robert Atkins, probably before 1740, and lived subsequently at Newman Hall (Essex) and in London. He began the development of the Berners estate in Marylebone around 1758. He rented Woolverstone Hall from about 1740 and purchased the freehold in 1773, rebuilding it in 1776 to the designs of John Johnson.

He died 18 September 1783; an obelisk to his memory was erected in Woolverstone Park by his son in 1793; his will was proved in the PCC, 25 September 1783. His wife died 1 January 1782.

Berners, Charles (c.1734-1815). Elder son of William Berners (1709-83) and his wife Mary, daughter of Henry Bendysh of South Town, Great Yarmouth (Norfk), born c.1734. Educated at Monk Soham School (Suffk), Westminster (admitted 1746) and Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1752; MA 1756; DCL 1814). JP for Suffolk. He married, 11 June 1765 in the Archbishop's Chapel at Lambeth Palace (Surrey), Catherine (1735-1800), daughter of John Laroche of Englefield Green (Surrey), and had issue:

(1) Charles Berners (1767-1831) (q.v.);

(2) Ven. Henry Denny Berners (1769-1852) (q.v.);

(3) twin, William Berners (1771-1841?), born 30 May and baptised at St Marylebone, 14 June 1771; banker in London, a partner in Dorset, Johnstone & Wilkinsons from 1795 until their bankruptcy in 1803; he seems to have remained undischarged for the rest of his life (and a final dividend to creditors was only made in 1860), but he was later a member of the London area board of the Norwich Union Life Insurance Soc. and a Governor of the Asylum for Deaf and Dumb Children of the Poor; married, January 1797, Rachel (1776-1853), daughter of John Jarrett of Freemantle, Southampton (Hants) and had issue three sons and one daughter; said to have died in 1841;

(4) twin, Maria Berners (1771-1831), born 30 May and baptised at St Marylebone, 14 June 1771; married, 23 May 1793 at St Marylebone, Herbert Newton Jarrett (1765-1829) of Barningham Hall (Norfk) and later Hobland Hall (Norfk) and Great Bromley Lodge (Essex), owner of the Orange Valley estate in Jamaica, and had issue two sons and three daughters; buried at Downton (Wilts), 14 December 1831.

He inherited Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his father in 1783. Before 1799 he bought the Holbrook Gardens from Sir Charles Kent.

He was buried at Much Hadham, 16 May 1815; his will was proved in the PCC, 27 May 1815. His wife died in London, 3 March 1800.

Berners, Charles (1767-1831). Eldest son of Charles Berners (c.1734-1815) and his wife Katherine, daughter of John Laroche of Egham (Surrey), baptised at Egham (Surrey), 7 December 1767. Educated at Westminster (admitted 1780) and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1785; BA 1789; MA 1815 as a grand compounder). Undertook a grand tour with the artist, Luigi Mayer* (1755-1803), in 1792, which took him beyond the usual Italian sites to visit Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Turkey. An officer in the Suffolk Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt., 1794) and later in the Ipswich Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt., 1798; Capt., 1800). A Governor of the Ipswich Sick Dispensary from its foundation in 1797. High Sheriff of Suffolk, 1818-19. A Conservative in politics, but took little part in public affairs. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his father in 1815.

He died 19 August 1831; his will was proved in December 1831.

* Mayer was an Italian artist of German extraction who was retained by Sir Robert Ainslie (1730-1812), 1st bt., British ambassador to the Ottoman empire, to record scenes in the near East. Ainslie's extensive collection of views by Mayer, published in 1801-06, is now partly in the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Mayer stayed at Woolverstone Hall in 1799 and made drawings of the locality, probably for Charles Berners senior, but only a few of these are known to survive.

Ven. H.D. Berners 

Berners, Ven. Henry Denny (1769-1852). Second son of Charles Berners (c.1734-1815) and his wife Katherine, daughter of John Laroche of Egham (Surrey), born 18 September and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 2 October 1769. Educated at St Mary Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1787; BCL 1794). Ordained deacon, 1793, and priest, 1794. Rector of Harkstead (Suffk), 1794-1833,Woolverstone and Erwarton (Suffk), 1801-35; Archdeacon of Suffolk, 1819-46. JP for Suffolk. In 1827, he injured his leg in a shooting accident at Woolverstone. He married, 8 July 1799 at Millbrook (Hants), Sarah (1775-1867), daughter of John Jarrett (1746-1809) of Freemantle, Southampton (Hants), and had issue:

(1) John Berners (1800-86) (q.v.);

(2) Hugh Berners (1801-91) (q.v.);

(3) Rev. Ralph Berners (1803-58), born 8 February and baptised at Stutton (Suffk), 7 April 1803; educated at Westminster (admitted 1816), Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1820) and Magdalen College, Oxford (BA 1823; MA 1826); ordained deacon, 1826, and priest, 1827; rector of Woolverstone, Harkstead and Erwarton, 1833-58; married, 27 June 1831 at St Mary, Marylebone (Middx), Eliza (1801-83), daughter of General Sir Cornelius Cuyler (1740-1819), 1st bt., of Welwyn (Herts), and had issue three sons and three daughters; died at Nice (France), 31 January, and was buried at Erwarton, 17 February 1858; will proved 4 March 1858 (effects under £14,000);

(4) Alicia Berners (1804-20), born 25 June and baptised at Woolverstone, 12 August 1804; died unmarried at Versailles (France) but buried at Woolverstone, 2 November 1820.

He inherited £20,000 from his great-uncle, Henry Berners, in 1782, and also Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his elder brother in 1831.

He died 24 January 1852 and was buried at Woolverstone where he is commemorated by a monument carved by R. Westmacott junior, 1839; his will was proved in the PCC, 25 February 1852. His widow died aged 91 in London, 10 February, and was buried at Woolverstone, 16 February 1867; her will was proved 22 February 1867 (effects under £2,000).

John Berners (1800-86) 

Berners, John (1800-86). Eldest son of Ven. Henry Denny (1769-1852) and his wife Sarah, daughter of John Jarrett of Freemantle, Southampton (Hants), born 26 June and baptised at St. Marylebone (Middx), 26 July 1800. Educated at Westminster (admitted 1810). An officer in the 3rd Foot Guards (Ensign & Lt., 1820; Lt. & Capt., 1826; retired c.1827). While serving with his regiment at the Tower of London, he contracted an illness which left him permanently weakened on one side of the body and prevented his participation in hunting and shooting. He was instead a keen yachtsman, and occupied himself with wood carving and fretwork. He was a Conservative in politics, but took no part in public affairs beyond serving as a JP and DL for Suffolk. President of the Ipswich and East Suffolk Hospital, 1870-86. He married, 21 February 1832 at East Bergholt (Suffk), Mary Henrietta (1802-87), daughter of Rev. Joshua Rowley, rector of East Bergholt, but had no issue.

He lived at Holbrook House until he inherited Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his father in 1852, and undertook extensive improvements on the estate which it was estimated had cost him £80,000.

He died 31 August, and was buried at Woolverstone, 3 September 1886; his will was proved 1 November 1886 (estate £222,126). His widow died 2 January 1887; her will was proved 23 April 1887 (estate £125,564).

Capt. Hugh Berners (1801-91) 

Berners, Hugh (1801-91). Second son of Ven. Henry Denny Berners (1769-1852) and his wife Sarah, daughter of John Jarrett of Freemantle, Southampton (Hants), born 25 July and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 24 October 1801. Joined the Royal Navy 1814 (Lt., 1824; Cdr., 1842; retired as Capt., 1860), but after 1828 he spent much of his time on half-pay. JP for Middlesex and Hampshire. President of the Suffolk Agricultural Association, 1888-91. A Conservative in politics. During his brother's latter years, he managed the estate at Woolverstone, and after succeeding to the property, he paid the majority of the cost (some £8,000) of enlarging Woolverstone church to the designs of J.P. St Aubyn, and also contributed £1,500 to the restoration of Chelmondiston church (Suffk). He married, 29 October 1832 at Itchen Abbas (Hants), his cousin, Julia Alice (1807-92), daughter of John Ashton of The Grange, Northwich (Ches.), and had issue:

(1) Julia Emily Berners (1836-1917), born in Winchester (Hants), 29 July, and baptised at Itchen Stoke (Hants), 28 August 1836; lived at 33 Chester Sq., Westminster (Middx); died unmarried, 17 January 1917 and was buried at Woolverstone; will proved 2 June 1917 (estate £11,289);

(2) Alice Henrietta Berners (1839-84), baptised at Chapel Royal, Brighton (Sussex), 30 January 1839; married, 9 July 1872 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, as his second wife, Col. the Hon. Richard Thomas Rowley (1812-87), MP for Harwich, 1860-65, second son of Clotworth Taylor Rowley, 1st Baron Langford of Summerhill (Co. Meath), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 7 August 1884; administration of goods granted 8 October 1884 (effects £4,480);

(3) Julianna Augusta Berners (1841-1928), baptised at Bedhampton (Hants), 16 February 1841; married, 16 August 1867, Maj. Henry Charles Talbot (1837-1901), son of Rev. Henry George Talbot, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 22 January 1928; will proved 24 February 1928 (estate £4,164);

(4) Charles Hugh Berners (1842-1919) (q.v.);

(5) Edith Maud Berners (1846-1912), baptised at Gatcombe (IoW), 17 May 1846; married, 19 January 1875 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Charles Alfred William Rycroft (1839-84), son of Sir Richard Henry Charles Rycroft (1793-1864), 3rd bt., and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 17 November 1912; will proved 8 January 1913 (estate £52,196);

(6) Frederick Rowley Berners (1848-52), born 8 May 1848; died young, 16 February 1852.

He rented a succession of country houses, including Gatcombe House (IoW), Landford House (Wilts), Melchett Park (Hants) and Midanbury, nr. Southampton (Hants), until he inherited Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his elder brother in 1886. He continued his brother's estate improvements at Woolverstone. He also had a house in Eaton Square, Westminster. 

He died following a stroke, 7 May, and was buried at Woolverstone, 12 May 1891; his will was proved 13 July 1891 (effects £114,097). His widow died 14 April 1892; her will was proved 20 May 1892.

Charles Hugh Berners (1842-1919)

Berners, Charles Hugh (1842-1919). Only surviving son of Capt. Hugh Berners RN (1801-91) and his wife Julia Alice, daughter of John Ashton, born 28 August and baptised at Bedhampton (Hants), 14 October 1842. Educated at Rugby, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1860; BA 1865; MA 1868) and Inner Temple (admitted 1864 and again 1880). JP for Suffolk; High Sheriff of Suffolk, 1895-96. President of the Suffolk Agricultural Association, 1902; High Steward of Harwich, 1902. He married, 20 June 1867 at St Paul, Onslow Sq., Kensington (Middx), Mary (c.1845-1911), daughter of Sir Ralph Abercromby Anstruther (1804-63), 4th bt. of Balcaskie (Fife), and had issue:

(1) Mary Alice Berners (1868-1944), born 4 May 1868; married secretly, while her father was in Australia, 9 February 1889 (sep. 1900; div. 1907 on the grounds of his cruelty), Col. Charles Spencer Warwick (1865-1933), and had issue one son and two daughters (of whome one died in infancy at sea); converted to Catholicism, c.1907; after the First World War she returned to India, where she lived as a man, calling herself 'Major Michael Warwick'; she then devoted herself to building a monastery called St Michael's Mount at Jelikote (India), and became known as 'Brother Michele de Elias Warwick'; her life story has been written up by Simon Pearce in The astonishing story of Mary Alice Berners (2021); died in India, 9 April 1944; administration of goods granted 7 July 1945 (estate £22,175);

(2) Maj. John Anstruther Berners (1869-1934) (q.v.);

(3) Brig-Gen. Ralph Abercrombie Berners (1871-1949), born 14 June and baptised at Yoxford (Suffk), 24 July 1871; educated at Cheam School, Eton and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1890; Lt., 1893; Capt., 1899; Maj. 1911; Lt-Col., 1915; Col., 1919; retired as Brig-Gen., 1920); awarded DSO, 1917; married, 1 June 1898 at St Peter, Eaton Square, Westminster (Middx), Laura Gertrude (1871-1958), daughter of Lt-Gen. Sir Robert Laffan KCMG (1821-82), but had no issue; died 25 February 1949 and was buried at Bourton (Dorset); will proved 30 April 1949 (estate £82,704);

(4) Julia Katherine Berners (1873-1950), baptised at Yoxford, 20 April 1873; married, 3 January 1895 at Woolverstone, Col. Steuart Bogle Smith (1859-1920), and had issue one son; died 3 December 1950 and was buried at Hangleton (Sussex); will proved 8 February 1951 (estate £40,723);

(5) Hamilton Hugh Berners (1881-1914), baptised at Longcross (Surrey), 13 November 1881; educated at Eton; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1905; Lt., 1906; Capt., 1912); married, 8 June 1907 at the Brompton Oratory (Middx), Edith Mary Georgina (1884-1973), daughter of Charles Munro Sandham (1856-92) of Rowdell, Pulborough (Sussex), but had no issue; killed in action, 14 September 1914, and was buried at Soupir Communal Cemetery, Picardy (France); will proved 19 November 1914 (estate £13,609).

He had a house at Long Cross, Chertsey (Surrey) and inherited Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his father in 1891. He subsequently divided his time between Suffolk and Surrey.

He died 15 January 1919; his will was proved 12 April 1919 (estate £214,045). His wife died at Marseilles (France), 17 April 1911; her will was proved 2 August 1911 (estate £1,911).

Maj. J.A. Berners (1869-1934) 

Berners, Maj. John Anstruther (1869-1934). Eldest son of Charles Hugh Berners (1842-1919) and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Ralph Abercromby Anstruther, 4th bt. of Balcaskie (Fife), born 23 September and baptised at St Simon, Upper Chelsea (Middx), 11 November 1869. Educated at Cheam School, Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. An officer in the army (Lt., 1890; Lt., 1892; retired 1895), he served during the First World War with the Norfolk National Reserve (Maj.) and was appointed OBE for his war work. JP for Suffolk from 1903. He was noted as a generous landlord and keen sportsman, especially associated with cricket and hunting; he was Master of the Eastern Counties Otter Hounds, 1923-30. He married, 1 February 1893 at St Stephen, South Kensington (Middx), Ethel Charlotte (1864-1935)*, fifth daughter of Laurence James Baker of Ottershaw Park (Surrey), MP for Frome 1885-86, and had issue:

(1) Geoffrey Hugh Berners (1893-1972) (q.v.);

(2) Gwendolen Ethel Berners (1896-1987), born 23 March and baptised at Pirbright (Surrey), 3 May 1896; married 1st, 30 July 1914 at Woolverstone, Capt. Robert John Charles Otter (1881-1915), eldest son of Robert Charles Otter of Royston Manor, Retford (Notts), and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, 12 July 1916 at St Luke, Chelsea (Middx), Maj. Arthur Willis (1877-1928), son of Ambrose Robinson Willis; married 3rd, 4 July 1928 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (div.), Capt. Frank Whitley Jagger (1897-1979), only son of Edward Whitley Jagger of Knowle (Warks), estate agent; married 4th, Apr-Jun 1946, Capt. Ernest Frederick Tobin Maunsell (1895-1959); died 6 February 1987; administration of goods granted 5 October 1987 (effects under £40,000);

(3) Olive Marjory Berners (1897-1991), born 7 August and baptised at Kingscote (Glos), 12 September 1897; married 1st, 2 June 1917 at Hellesdon (Norfk) (div. 1929), as his first wife, Capt. Robert Millington Knowles MC (1893-1950), fourth son of Andrew Knowles of Newent Court (Glos), and had issue three sons; married 2nd, 3 December 1931 at Harkstead (Suffk), Adm. Sir Harold Thomas Coulthard Walker KCB RN (1891-1975) of Rake House, Liss (Hants), son of Sir Harold Walker of Palace Lodge, Crediton (Devon), and had further issue one son and one daughter; died aged 94 on 8 November 1991; her will was proved 12 February 1992 (estate £408,392).

He lived at Kingscote Park (Glos) and Hellesdon House, Norwich before he inherited Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his father in 1919. He commenced the sale of plots on the Marylebone estate. His widow lived at Hill Lodge, Pangbourne (Berks) and later at Daglingworth House (Glos).

He died 2 March 1934; his will was proved May 1934 (estate £1,180,099). His widow died 17 May 1935; her will was proved 17 July 1935 (estate £3,123).

* His wife instituted divorce proceedings in 1918, on the grounds of his cruelty and adultery, but her petition was rejected by the courts.

Geoffrey Hugh Berners (1893-1972) 

Berners, Geoffrey Hugh (1893-1972). Only son of John Anstruther Berners (1869-1934) and his wife Ethel Charlotte, fifth daughter of Laurence James Baker of Ottershaw Park (Surrey), born 20 November 1893. Educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford. He served in the First World War with the 3rd battalion, Norfolk Regiment (2nd Lt., 1914; Lt., 1915; retired 1920). JP for Suffolk. He married, 9 November 1929 at All Saints, Ennismore Gardens, Kensington (Middx), Betty Jane (1910-68), only daughter of Arthur Gordon of Garrards Farm*, Uffington (Berks), racehorse trainer, and had issue:

(1) Patricia Ann Berners (1933-2017) (q.v.).

He rented property in Berkshire until he bought Little Coxwell Grove (Berks) c.1934. He inherited Woolverstone Hall and the Berners estate in Marylebone from his father in 1934. He sold Woolverstone Park with 6,042 acres in 1937 to the Nuffield Trust for Oxford University, and purchased Marcham Park (Berks) in 1938, but sold it again in 1948. He lived subsequently at Little Coxwell Grove. He continued his father's policy of selling the freehold of parts of the Marylebone estate, greatly reducing its size.

He died 10 January 1972; his will was proved 15 February 1972 (estate £179,556). His wife died 7 November 1968; her will was proved 18 July 1969 (estate £437,940).

* Garrards Farm was later the home of John Betjeman, 1934-45.

Berners, Patricia Ann (1933-2017). Only child of Geoffrey Hugh Berners (1893-1972) and his wife Elizabeth Jane, only daughter of Arthur Gordon of Garrards Farm, Uffington (Berks), born 2 September 1933. She married, 16 July 1953 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Michael Edward Ranulph Allsopp (1930-2017), banker, son of Samuel Ranulph Allsopp, and had issue:

(1) Frances Jane Berners Allsopp (b. 1955), born 26 May 1955; married 1st, 26 April 1975 (div. 1980), Dermot Michael Claud Chichester (1953-2010), son of Maj. Lord Desmond Clive Chichester, and 2nd, 1984, Maj. David John Basil Woodd (b. 1950), son of Basil Bethune Neville Woodd, and had issue two daughters;

(2) Carolyn Ann Berners Allsopp (1957-2015), born 30 September 1957; died unmarried, 17 March 2015;

(3) Jessica Elizabeth Berners Allsopp (b. 1960), born 5 April 1960; Master and later Chairwoman of the Old Berks Hunt; married, 6 July 1984, Hon. Edward Douglas Leigh-Pemberton (b. 1959), of Longcot House, Little Coxwell (Berks), chartered surveyor and land agent, son of Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown, and had issue three sons;

(4) Davina Hyacinthe Berners Allsopp (b. 1960), born 5 April 1960; married, 10 July 1987 at Ruwa (Zimbabwe), as his second wife, Sir Nicholas Folliott Douglas Powell (1935-2019), 4th bt., of Hillside, Bromley (Zimbabwe), son of Sir Richard George Douglas Powell, 3rd bt., and had issue two sons and one daughter;

(5) A son (b. & d. 1966), born 1 October 1966 but died the same day.

She inherited Little Coxwell Grove and the remains of the Berners estate in Marylebone from her father in 1972. The estate is now known as the Berners-Allsopp estate.

She died 26 November 2017; her will was proved 27 June 2018. Her husband died 30 April 2017; his will was proved 7 September 2017.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 167; Sir H. Chauncy, The historical antiquities of Hertfordshire, 1826, vol. 1, pp. 316-17; N. Briggs, John Johnson, 1991, pp. 34-37; J.T. Smith, Hertfordshire Houses: a selective inventory, 1993, p. 129; J. Bettley & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Suffolk - East, 2015, pp. 604-6;

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/chapter30_the_berners_estate.pdf;

https://www.thepeerage.com/p25004.htm#i250034.

Location of archives

Berners family of Woolverstone Hall: deeds, manorial records, estate papers, household accounts and genealogical papers, 1341-1936 [Suffolk Archives, S1/10, HD 169].

Coat of arms

Quarterly, or and vert.

Can you help?

• Does anyone know the current whereabouts of the set of drawings by Robert Mylne for Hanwell Park?
• Can anyone provide further information about the death of William Berners (1771-1841?), banker, who was an undischarged bankrupt?
• Can anyone provide portraits or photographs of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 24 November 2024 and was updated 25 November and 27 December 2024, 11 and 27 January and 9 March 2025. I am most grateful to Simon Pearce for additional information and images.

(559) Bennet of Widcombe Manor and Rougham Hall

Bennet of Widcombe and Rougham 

This family traced their descent from the Bennets of Heytesbury (Wilts) but used the same coat of arms as the Earls of Tankerville and the Bennets of Babraham. The family considered here began with Edward Benett or Bennet (1567-1626) of South Brewham (Som.), the fourth son of Edward Benett of Heytesbury, born in 1567. Peach (see Principal Sources below) says Edward was lord of the manor of South Brewham (Som.) but that seems not to be correct, as the family only purchased the lordship in 1668, and Edward's status was probably on the borderline between yeoman and gentleman. The genealogy below begins with Edward's son, Philip Bennet (1610-90), who was named after an uncle, and for nine generations the eldest son in each generation was named Philip, which has led to some confusion between the generations in earlier sources. The first Philip inherited his father's lands at Brewham while still a minor, and came of age in 1631. His marriage, about 1635, was the first of a series of dynastically fortunate unions which rapidly advanced the family's wealth and prestige, in this case bringing him the Bayford estate near Wincanton (Som.). He served in the Parliamentarian army from the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642, but perhaps not for very long, for his commanding officer, Col. Denzil Holles (1598-1680) sought a peaceful settlement after the Battle of Brentford in November that year. 

In the next generation, Philip Bennet II (1637-1725) must have had some legal training - probably through a clerkship to a local attorney - for in 1673 he was appointed deputy Clerk of the Peace for Somerset and in 1677 became Clerk himself. This was a position of considerable responsibility in the local government machinery of the day, ensuring regular contact with leading figures in the county, and also brought with it a useful income from fees. Philip II's marriage in 1677 was to Anne Strode (1655-1735), the daughter of Thomas Strode of Maperton (Som.), who was a noted mathematician and an authority on sun dials. The couple seem to have lived at Maperton even before inheriting the estate in 1697, as all their children were baptised there. Their eldest son, Philip Bennet III (1678-1723) probably received a legal training in his father's office, and became Deputy Clerk of the Peace in 1690 and was Clerk of the Peace, 1706-23. He became the third successive generation to marry well, for his wife was Jane Chapman (1672-1722), the only child of Scarborough Chapman of Widcombe near Bath (Som.). Bath was then just beginning its 18th century transformation into a fashionable spa town, and over time the family's focus gradually shifted from Wincanton to Bath. Philip III died in his father's lifetime, leaving as heir to his father's estates at Maperton, Brewham and Bayford and to Widcombe, his eldest son, Philip Bennet IV (1705-61), who came of age and into possession of these properties in 1726. Although possessed of four considerable estates yielding a considerable income, none of them provided a house appropriate to Philip IV's position in the world, so he at once commissioned the remodelling of Widcombe Manor (as it is now called) in 1726-27. His architect was very probably Nathaniel Ireson of Wincanton, who would have been well-known to the family, and who produced an extremely handsome new facade. In the 1730s he strengthened his social status by becoming MP for Shaftesbury, and then in 1741, for Bath. It was probably about this time that he began laying out the Rococo garden at Widcombe which was depicted in the 1750s by Thomas Robins. The years around 1740 probably mark the apogee of the family's fortunes. Philip IV first married in 1729 but his wife died the following year, and he married again in 1733 to Mary Hallam (1712-39), who brought him an estate at Tollesbury (Essex), and provided an heir. However, for reasons we can only guess at, his life began to fall apart in the late 1740s, when he took to 'a career of wild dissipation, squandering his fortune with reckless prodigality'. He mortgaged the Maperton estate in 1741 and sold it in 1748; sold Brewham in 1755; and handed over Widcombe to his son in 1756, retiring to his wife's estate in Essex, where he set up home with a housekeeper who was almost certainly his mistress, and fathered at least one illegitimate child.

Philip Bennet V (1734-74), his father's only surviving son, had only a short life, but he inherited Widcombe and Tollesbury, married a clergyman's daughter - perhaps the first of his family to marry for love rather than for dynastic advantage - and produced a sole heir, Philip Bennet VI (1771-1853), who only came of age in 1792. The house at Widcombe appears to have been let during his long minority, and he was evidently brought up on the Essex estate, as his subsequent connections were all in East Anglia. He sold Widcombe in 1813, bringing his family's long association with Somerset to an end. In 1794 he married Jane Judith (1775-1845), the only child of Rev. Roger Kedington of Rougham Hall (Suffk), and on the latter's death in 1818 they inherited the Rougham estate, together with a large 18th century house. For reasons which are unclear, Philip VI decided to build a new, fashionably Tudor-Gothic, house on a new site on the estate, which was under construction by 1821 and largely complete in 1826. The architect is now known to have been Thomas Hopper, who was remarkably busy in Suffolk at this time (c.f. Thorington Hall, Woolverstone Hall). The old house was retained alongside it, but is said to have burnt down accidentally soon after its successor was finished. Philip's Tollesbury estate was put on the market in 1827, but may not have sold immediately as he was still described as 'of Rougham Hall and Tollesbury Lodge' when he died in 1853.

Philip Bennet VI and Jane Judith Kedington had a large family, but their eldest son, Philip Bennet VII (1795-1866) inherited Rougham Hall. He was MP for West Suffolk, 1845-59, and commanding officer of a troop of Yeomanry Cavalry for more than forty years. In 1823 he married Anne Pilkington (1804-93), a younger daughter of Sir Thomas Pilkington, 7th bt., of Chevet Park (Yorks WR), but they had only one child, Philip Bennet VIII (1837-75), born fourteen years after the marriage. Philip VIII chose the army over Cambridge, but after five years in the regulars he resigned his commission in favour of a captaincy in the Yeomanry Cavalry. He seems to have been a keen sailor and was noted for his hospitality: his obituarist referred to his 'almost excessive open-handed liberality'. By the time of his death in 1875 it required deeper pockets than the Rougham estate afforded to sustain such hospitable traditions, and after he died his widow leased the hall out and sold off many of the contents. Their son, Philip Bennet IX (1862-1913) came of age in 1883 and continued to lease the house out until, in 1893, he sold the estate, bring to an end more than two centuries as owners of landed property. After 1893, Philip IX lived in greatly reduced circumstances in Bury St Edmunds and later at Felixstowe (Suffk). In about 1908, he married a Scottish wife, who emigrated to the USA after his death and married again.

Widcombe Manor, Bath, Somerset

The house was known as Widcombe House until the early 20th century, and it has been one of the city's best-known and most prominent houses for nearly 300 years. Its elevated position next to Widcombe church gives the house extensive views over the city and towards Prior Park, and the rich honey-golden stone of which it is built catches the lowering afternoon sun in the most magical way. 

Widcombe Manor: late afternoon sunlight on the south front. Image: Derek Harper. Some rights reserved.

The core of the house was built in the late 17th century for Scarborough Chapman (d. 1706), who inherited a tenement near Widcombe church from his uncle, Robert Fisher, in 1661. A most intiguing drawing in the sketchbook of Thomas Robins in the Victoria & Albert Museum may record the appearance of the principal front, although by the time Robins made his sketch in the 1750s, it had long since been reconstructed. Presumably Robins had access to an earlier drawing which he copied at the same time as he made a series of contemporary sketches of the house and gardens in the same volume. The topography of the view, showing the house in close proximity to Widcombe church, seems to leave little chance of it being a view of another house, and the building it depicts is just the right size and shape. 

Widcombe Manor: sketch by Thomas Robins, apparently copied from an earlier drawing and showing the south front of the house before the rebuilding of 1726-27. Image: Victoria & Albert Museum E.1308:29-2001

If it is what it appears to be, the drawing tells us that the original house had a low ground floor with mullion and transomed cross windows, which would fit with a building date soon after 1661; but that the upper floor had been altered later, with sash windows, taller rooms, and a deep eaves cornice supporting a hipped roof. Although the sketch is a long way from being a finished drawing, it also records that the house had a forecourt garden protected by handsome gatepiers and iron gates, with service buildings - presumably a stable and coach house - to either side. Also shown are the bare outlines of a formal garden, and a simple octagonal dovecote.

Widcombe Manor: the south front built in 1726-27, probably to the designs of Nathaniel Ireson.

The 17th century house passed in 1721 to Scarborough's grandson, Philip Bennet (1705-61), who, as soon as he came of age, put in hand the construction of a grand new baroque south front, built in 1726-27. This is widely attributed to Nathaniel Ireson of Wincanton (Som.), a place with which the Bennets had close associations, although actual construction was probably in the hands of the mason Richard Jones, surveyor of works to Ralph Allen (to whom the Bennets were related by marriage) and who later claimed to have built it. The design is quite crowded in a rather provincial way, but everything is so nicely balanced that the overall effect is of considerable elegance. The front has two storeys and seven bays, with a pedimented three-bay centrepiece. Coupled giant fluted Ionic pilasters frame the centre, and mark the ends of the elevation. The centre has a Doric doorcase flanked by arched windows and a further arched window on the first floor, flanked by smaller square windows creating a Serlian motif, with garlands and a large oeil-de-boeuf window shoehorned into the pediment. The outer bays of the front, between the coupled columns, have sash windows with expensively moulded architraves, and keystones carved with grotesque masks. The coupled pilasters support an entablature with a pulvinated frieze and modillion cornice, and there is a tall balustraded parapet behind which rises a hipped roof. 

Widcombe Manor: sketch by Thomas Robins, c.1754, showing the south and west fronts of the house as altered in 1726-27.
Image: Victoria & Albert Museum E.1308:46-2001

The original west front was of five bays, but had a partially exposed basement - due to the fall of the land - and dormer windows behind the parapet. The central bay was wider, and on each of the principal floors had a Venetian window overlooking the gardens. The elevations were clearly designed to make an impressive show, but the interior, which must also have been completely remodelled, was much more simply treated. There is a low, panelled hall with bolection mouldings, a good staircase with three twisted balusters per step, and a first-floor landing with groin-vaulted side bays. On the first floor, the two rooms behind the new front were thrown into one entertaining space, some fifty feet long, leaving the house rather short of bedrooms.

Widcombe Manor: the staircase in 1909. Image: Batsford & Co.

Widcombe Manor: the west front created in 1840, and the garden terrace in front of it.

In the early 19th century, the house was first rented and then bought by Capt. Wrench and his sister Mary, who are thought to have added the recessed service wing, north-west of the house, in the 1820s. A little later, General Clapham, who bought the house in 1839, brought in James Wilson of Bath to alter the west front. He gave it coupled giant Ionic pilasters to match those on the south front, and a two-storey canted bay window in the centre which also has Ionic giant pilasters at its angles, an unusually happy and sympathetic alteration for its date. 

Widcombe Manor: plan of the grounds from the sale particulars of 1839. Image: B&NES Record Office 0502.

The gardens were laid out in the mid 18th century for Philip Bennet (1705-61), who created, on a modest plot of about eight acres, a complex and incident-filled garden in the Rococo taste. Adjoining the church was a summerhouse carried on a three-arched loggia, perhaps designed by Richard Jones, and later used as a gardener's cottage, but the bulk of the gardens lay below the house. Broad steps decorated with statuary led down to a small meadow, on the far side of which were three small pools, one of which had a three-tiered cascade, surmounted by a statue of Neptune. The cascade survives and has recently been restored, but the statue has sadly disappeared since the mid 20th century. 

Widcombe Manor: sketch by Thomas Robins of the mound behind the cascade pond, with the Chinoiserie summer house on top of it.
Image: Victoria & Albert Museum E.1308:26-2001

Widcombe Manor: view from the cascade back towards the house, c.1947. Image: Reece Winstone.

Behind the pools, and backing on to what became Prior Park Road, was an artificial mound some thirty feet high, which functioned as a viewing platform. It was originally topped by a Chinoiserie temple, but this had gone by 1792, when the spiral path up the mound led anti-climactically to two yew trees and a straggly fir. The other chief ornament of the grounds was a small grotto, which has recently been restored. More recent additions to the grounds include the double-decker bronze fountain in the forecourt, imported from Italy by Sir John Roper Wright after he bought the house in 1917, which is now thought to have been made new for the purpose. 

Widcombe Manor: the summerhouse of 1961, incorporating stonework from a summerhouse at Fairford Park (Glos).
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

In 1961, Jeremy Fry bought the ashlar stonework of a small summerhouse from Fairford Park (Glos), which was re-erected here as the front of a new summerhouse by Didier Bertrand. It has an arched centre carried on rusticated Doric columns, with oculi to either side that have four keystones. The frieze has primitive blocks rather than triglyphs. The gardens have recently been splendidly restored by Andy King of New Leaf Studio in Bristol.

Descent: built after 1661 for Scarborough Chapman (d. 1706); to widow, Anne (d. 1721) and then his grandson, Philip Bennet (1703-61), who came of age in 1727 and built the south front and laid out the grounds; to son, Philip Bennet (1734-74); to son, Philip Bennet (1771-1853), who sold 1813 to John Thomas of Bristol, who let by 1820 and later sold to Capt. Wrench and his sister Mary Wrench (d. 1838); sold 1839 to Maj-Gen. William Clapham (d. 1851); to widow, Ellen Elizabeth Clapham (d. 1869); to niece, Ellen Georgina Jones-Parry (d. 1901), wife of Rev. George Tate (d. 1900); to cousin, Mary Gertrude Jones -Parry (d. 1913), wife of Charles St Leger Langford (d. 1917?); to James Jones-Parry alias Yale; sold 1917 to Sir John Roper Wright; to son, Sir Charles Wright; who sold 1927 to Horace (d. 1955) and Arthur Vachell (d. 1949); sold 1955 to Jeremy Fry; sold c.1970 to Hon. & Mrs. Robin Warrender, who sold 1992... sold 1994 to Mr & Mrs Davisson... sold 2011.

Rougham Hall, Suffolk

An account of this house has been given in a previous post.

Bennet family of Widcombe House and Rougham Hall

Bennet, Philip I (1610-90). Elder son of Edward Bennet (1567-1626) of South Brewham (Som.) and his wife Susanna, daughter of Thomas Churchey of Wincanton, born at Brewham (Som.), 10 May 1610. An officer in Col. Denzil Holles' Parliamentarian regiment in the Civil War (Capt., 1642). He married, about 1634/5, Mary (1611-91), daughter of Richard Shute of Bayford near Wincanton (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Philip Bennet II (1637-1725) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Bennet (1635-93); married, 1 May 1662, John Walter (d. 1704) and had issue four sons and three daughters; buried at West Pennard (Som.), 12 May 1693;

(3) Martha Bennet (d. 1715); married, 20 April 1668 at St Cuthbert, Wells (Som.), John Clements (d. 1691) of Mere (Wilts), and had issue one son and one daughter; buried at Mere, 29 May 1715.

He inherited his father's property at South Brewham in 1626 and came of age in 1631. He inherited the Bayford estate in right of his wife.

He was buried at Brewham, 25 September 1690. His widow was buried at Brewham, 14 December 1691.

Bennet, Philip II (1637-1725). Only son and heir of Philip Bennet I (1610-90) of Bayford and South Brewham, and his wife Mary, daughter of Richard Shute of Bayford, baptised at Stoke Trister (Som.), 4 March 1637. Clerk of the Peace for Somerset, 1677-90 (Deputy Clerk, 1673-76). He married, 20 December 1677 at Maperton (Som.), Anne (1655-1735), daughter and co-heir of Thomas Strode (d. 1697) of Maperton, a mathematician and authority on sun dials, and had issue:

(1) Philip Bennet III (1678-1723) (q.v.);

(2) Anne Bennet (1680-1707), born 18 March and baptised at Maperton, 15 April 1680; died unmarried and was buried at Maperton, 3 January 1707/8;

(3) James Bennet (1681-83), baptised at Maperton, 16 December 1681; died in infancy and was buried at Maperton, 3 December 1683;

(4) Abigail Bennet (1682-1767), born 20 November and baptised at Maperton, 28 November 1682; married, 1 July 1721 at Wincanton (Som.), Samuel Burges, and had issue at least two sons and one daughter; will proved in the PCC, 11 November 1767;

(5) Mary Bennet (1685-88), baptised at Maperton, January 1684/5; died young and was buried at Maperton, 1 January 1688/9;

(6) Martha Bennet (b. 1688), baptised at Maperton, 18 July 1688; presumably died young;

(7) Strode Bennet (1691-1711), baptised at Maperton, 16 July 1691; died unmarried and was buried at Wincanton, 22 July 1711;

(8) Mary Bennet (1693-1773), baptised at Maperton, 2 February 1692/3; married, 7 February 1718/9 at Wincanton (Som.), William Burleton (d. 1739) of East Knoyle (Wilts), and had issue two sons and one daughter; possibly the 'Mary Burton' buried at Tisbury (Wilts), 8 December 1773; will proved in the PCC, 16 December 1773;

(9) Sarah Bennet (1695-1785), born 5 March and baptised at Maperton, 13 March 1694/5; lived at Wincanton; died unmarried; will proved in the PCC, 27 April 1785;

(10) Martha Bennet (1698-99), born 29 December 1698 and baptised at Maperton, 5 January 1698/9; died in infancy and was buried at Maperton, 7 March 1698/9.

He or his father purchased the manor of Brewham in 1668. He inherited his father's property at Bayford and South Brewham in 1690, and the Maperton estate in right of his wife in 1697.

He was buried at Wincanton, 13 April 1725. His widow was buried at Wincanton, 15 December 1735.

Bennet, Philip III (1678-1723). Eldest son of Philip Bennet II (1637-1725) and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Strode of Maperton (Som.), born 2 September and baptised at Maperton, 19 September 1678. Clerk of the Peace for Somerset, 1706-23 (Deputy Clerk, 1690-1706). He married, 29 August 1702 at Widcombe, Jane (1672-1722), only child of Scarborough Chapman of Widcombe House (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Jane Bennet (1703-67), born 22 July and baptised at Maperton, 2 August 1703; married, 22 February 1731/2 at Claverton (Som.), Philip Allen (d. 1765), son of Philip Allen (1667-1728) of St Blazey (Cornw.) and brother of the celebrated Ralph Allen (1693-1764), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 14 April 1767; will proved in the PCC, 17 June 1767;

(2) Philip Bennet IV (1705-61) (q.v.);

(3) Robert Bennet (1706-50), of Shaftesbury (Dorset) and Widcombe, born 27 July and baptised at Maperton, 22 August 1706; probably died unmarried and without issue and was buried at Widcombe, 14 August 1750;

(4) Anne Bennet (1707-08), born 14 December and baptised at Maperton, 26 December 1707; died in infancy and was buried at Maperton, 3 January 1707/8;

(5) Anne Bennet (1709-85), born 8 March and baptised at Maperton, 17 March 1708/9; heir to her sisters Mary and Susannah, with whom she apparently lived in Bath; died unmarried and was buried at Bath Abbey, 9 June 1785;

(6) Thomas Bennet (1710-c.1748), born 15 December and baptised at Maperton, 26 December 1710; an officer in Lascelles' regiment of foot, formed in 1741; perhaps died while serving in Scotland with his regiment; adminstration of goods granted, 7 May 1748;

(7) Mary Bennet (1712-66), born 29 August and baptised at Maperton, 15 September 1712; married, 1746, as his second wife, George Dodington (c.1681-1757) of Horsington (Som.), MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, 1730-41, 1747-54, son of William Dodington of London, but died without issue; probably to be identified with the 'Mary Dorrington' buried at Bathampton, 27 March 1766; will proved in the PCC, 11 April 1766;

(8) Strode Bennet (1714-30), born 11 April and baptised at Maperton, 6 May 1714; died unmarried and was buried at Maperton, 4 December 1730;

(9) Susannah Bennet (1716-83), baptised at Maperton, 21 February 1715/6; apparently lived latterly with her sisters Mary and Anne in Bath; buried at Bathampton, 7 June 1783; her will was proved in the PCC, 14 July 1783.

He died in the lifetime of his father and was buried at Maperton, 15 March 1722/3; his will was proved in the PCC, 4 April 1724. His wife was buried at Maperton, 2 May 1722.

Bennet, Philip IV (1705-61). Eldest son of Philip Bennet III (1678-1723) of Maperton (Som.) and his wife Jane, only child of Scarborough Chapman of Widcombe House, Bath (Som.), born 16 January and baptised at Maperton, 8 February 1704/5. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1722). MP for Shaftesbury, 1734-35, 1738-41 and Bath, 1741-47; JP for Somerset; Lay Rector of St Thomas', Bath. He did not seek re-election to Parliament in 1747, about which time he is said to have entered upon ‘a career of wild dissipation, squandering his fortune with reckless prodigality’. He married 1st, 1729 (licence 25 May), Anne (c.1706-30), daughter of Edmund Estcourt of Salcombe (Herts), and 2nd, 1733 (licence 31 May), Mary (1712-39), daughter and sole heir of Thomas Hallam of Tollesbury and Clacton (Essex), and had issue:

(2.1) Philip Bennet V (1734-74) (q.v.);

(2.2) Mary Bennet (1735-85?); will dated 5 March 1784; died unmarried and was probably the woman of this name buried at Bathampton (Som.), 8 June 1785;

(2.3) Thomas Bennet (b. & d. 1737), born 31 January 1736/7 and buried at Widcombe, 22 September 1737.

He apparently also had an illegitimate daughter:

(X1) Elizabeth Budd (fl. 1761); mentioned in his will, when she was still at school.

He inherited Widcombe Manor on the death of his maternal grandmother in 1721, the estate at Maperton and Brewham from his grandfather in 1725, and the Tollesbury estate in Essex in right of his second wife. He came of age in 1726/7, gave the house at Widcombe its present south front soon afterwards and probably laid out the gardens in the 1740s. He mortgaged the Maperton estate in 1741 and sold Maperton to Thomas Lockyer in 1748 and Brewham to Henry Hoare in 1755. In 1756 he handed Widcombe over to his son and moved to Essex, living latterly at Witham.

He was buried at Tollesbury, 9 December 1761; his will was proved in the PCC, 22 December 1761, and made provision for 'Mary Egerton otherwise Carmichael of Witham who now lives with me as my housekeeper and has done so for many years past'. His first wife was buried at Widcombe, 23 April 1730. His second wife was buried at Widcombe, 22 June 1739.

Bennet, Philip V (1734-74). Only surviving son of Philip Bennet IV (1705-61) of Widcombe (Som.) and his second wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Hallam of Tollesbury (Essex), baptised at Widcombe, 11 April 1734. He married, 14 December 1769 at Bath Abbey (Som.), Mary (1745-1822), daughter of Rev. Christopher Hand (c.1700-78) of Aller (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Philip Bennet VI (1771-1853) (q.v.).

His father handed over Widcombe to him in 1756 and he inherited his maternal family's property at Tollesbury in 1761.

He was buried at Widcombe, Bath (Som), 12 April 1774; his will was proved in the PCC, 24 March 1774. His widow died in Bury St. Edmunds, 16 April, and was buried at Rougham, 23 April 1822.

Bennet, Philip VI (1771-1853). Only son of Philip Bennet V (1734-74) and his wife Mary, daughter of Rev. Christopher Hand, born 14 April and baptised at Widcombe (Som.), 4 September 1771. Educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (matriculated 1789; BA 1793), and subscribed £25 to the rebuilding fund after the college fire of 1811. High Sheriff of Suffolk, 1821-22; JP for Suffolk. An officer in the Suffolk Provisional Cavalry (Lt., 1798). He married, 12 June 1794 at Rougham, Jane Judith (1775-1845), only child of Rev. Roger Kedington of Rougham Hall (Suffk), and had issue:

(1) Philip Bennet VII (1795-1866) (q.v.);

(2) Rev. James Thomas Bennet (1796-1868), baptised at Great Barton (Suffk), 15 November 1796; educated at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1813; BA 1817; MA 1831); ordained deacon 1829 and priest, 1831; rector of Cheveley (Cambs), 1832-68; married, 6 April 1826, Henrietta Eliza (1804-82), daughter of James Jackson of Doncaster (Yorks WR), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 12 July 1868; will proved 21 December 1868 (effects under £4,000);

(3) Jane Frances Bennet (1798-1873), born 25 April and baptised at Great Barton, 30 May 1798; married, 4 December 1821 at Rougham, Rev. Samuel Hurry Alderson (c.1789-1863), Fellow of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, 1811-22 and rector of Risby and Fornham St Genevieve (Suffk), 1830-63, son of Robert Alderson of Gt. Yarmouth (Norfk), barrister, and had issue four sons and six daughters; died 24 March 1873; will proved 5 June 1873 (effects under £3,000);

(4) Rev. Christopher Hand Bennet (1799-1854), born September 1799 and baptised at Great Barton, 28 March 1800; educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1818; BA 1822; MA 1825); ordained deacon, 1823 and priest, 1824; rector of Owsden (Suffk), 1835-54; married, 20 September 1848 at St Luke, Chelsea (Middx) and again*, 25 July 1850 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Hannah (1826-65) (who m2, 4 January 1860 at Holy Trinity, Brompton, Walter George Sheppard MD MRCS (b. c.1829), son of Charles Sheppard, surgeon), daughter of David Goldstone of Owsden, farmer, but had no issue; died at Buxhall Lodge (Suffk), 4 February, and was buried at Buxhall, 9 February 1854;

(5) Ralph Christopher Bennet (1803-75), baptised at Great Barton, 4 December 1803; farmer at Beyton and later at Rougham; died unmarried, 9 July, and was buried at St Helier (Jersey), 12 July 1875; will proved 22 December 1875 (effects under £100);

(6) Edward Bennet (1804-64), baptised at Great Barton, 6 November 1804; farmer at Rougham Old Hall and agent to his father's estate; married, 19 June 1855 at Wortham (Suffk), Anne Elizabeth, second daughter of Charles Harrison of Wortham, and had issue at least three sons and two daughters; died at Copdock Lodge, 1 January 1864; will proved 9 February 1864 (effects under £1,500);

(7) William Bennet (b. 1805), baptised at Great Barton, 5 December 1805; probably died young.

He inherited his father's property at Widcombe (which he sold in 1813) and Tollesbury and lived at the latter until in 1818 he and his wife inherited Rougham Hall from her father. Tollesbury was advertised for sale in 1827, but was presumably not sold, as he was still described as 'of Rougham Hall and Tollesbury Lodge' at the time of his death.

He died 4 May 1853; his will was proved in the PCC, 28 May 1853. His wife's date of death is unknown.

* According to a newspaper report at the time of the second marriage, it was re-solemnised by reason of the misdescription of one of the parties in the first registration, the groom being described as a mercantile clerk rather than a clerk in holy orders.

Bennet, Philip VII (1795-1866). Elder son of Philip Bennet VI (1771-1853) and his wife Jane Judith, only child of Rev. Roger Kedington of Rougham Hall (Suffk), baptised at Great Barton (Suffk), 9 May 1795. Educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (matriculated 1813; BA 1817; MA 1821). Commanding officer of 1st troop of Loyal Suffolk Yeomanry Cavalry (Capt.), 1821-64. JP and DL for Suffolk; MP for West Suffolk, 1845-59. He married, 21 March 1823 at Rougham, Anne (1804-93), second daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Pilkington (1773-1811), 7th bt. of Chevet Park (Yorks WR), and had issue:

(1) Philip Bennet VIII (1837-75) (q.v.).

He inherited Rougham Hall and perhaps the Tollesbury estate from his father in 1853.

He died 17 August 1866; his will was proved 20 September 1866 (effects under £3,000). His widow died in Bury St Edmunds, 21 April, and was buried at Rougham, 24 April 1893.

Bennet, Philip VIII (1837-75). Only child of Philip Bennet VII (1795-1866) and his wife Anne, second daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Pilkington, 7th bt., of Chevet Park (Yorks WR), baptised 16 December 1837. Educated at Harrow, 1849-52, and was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, 1855, but did not reside. An officer in the Essex Rifles (Ensign, 1855), the Royal Horse Guards (Cornet, 1856; Lt., 1858; retired 1861) and Suffolk Yeomanry Cavalry (Capt., 1864; Maj., 1868). JP and DL for Suffolk. Vice-Commodore of Harwich Yacht Club. His obituary mentions that his "generous disposition and almost excessive open-handed liberality had endeared him to all who knew him". He married, 29 November 1860 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Barbara Sophia Harriet (1838-1929), eldest daughter of Edgar Disney of The Hyde, Ingatestone (Essex), and had issue:

(1) Philip Bennet IX (1862-1913) (q.v.);

(2) Geoffrey Frederick Philip Bennet (1863-1932), of East Barton Farm, Bury St Edmunds (Suffk), born 4 October and baptised at Rougham, 16 December 1863; JP for Suffolk; married, 14 February 1888 at St Saviour, Paddington (Middx), Beatrice Geraldine (c.1862-1935), second daughter of his stepfather, the Hon. Harbord Harbord; died 27 December 1932 and was buried at Newmarket (Suffk);

(3) Cyril Edgar Tyrrell Bennet (1865-1914), born 13 September 1865; an officer in the West Suffolk militia (Lt., 1886; retired 1888) and militia battn., Suffolk Regiment (2nd Lt., 1891; Lt., 1892; Capt., 1892; retired 1894); married, 25 October 1887 at St James, Bury St Edmunds (Suffk), Annie Osmond Louisa (c.1867-1906), daughter of Rev. E.J. Griffiths of Bury St. Edmunds, and had issue two sons and one daughter*; died at Chiswick (Middx), 7 November 1914 and was buried at Acton Cemetery (Middx);

(4) Claude Lambert Bennet (1873-86), born 26 August and baptised at St Mary-in-the-Marsh, Norwich, 26 September 1873; died young, at Eastbourne (Sussex), 20 October 1886;

(5) Iona Barbara Bennet (1874-1961), born 13 October and baptised at St Mary-in-the-Marsh, Norwich, 14 November 1874; lived with her mother at Holly Lodge, Norwich; died unmarried, 30 March 1961; will proved 19 May 1961 (estate £6,816).

He inherited Rougham Hall from his father in 1866. His widow let the house and sold the family pictures etc. in 1878. 

He died at Dover (Kent), 11 July 1875; his will was proved 24 January 1876 (effects under £5,000). His widow married 2nd, 4 December 1878 at Ingatestone (Essex), Col. the Hon. Harbord Harbord (1836-94); she died in Norwich, 15 March 1929 and was buried at Rougham; her will was proved 29 April 1929 (estate £2,661).

* The daughter died in infancy. The family having fallen on hard times, the younger son was placed with, and raised by, Disney relations at Ingatestone.

Bennet, Philip IX (1862-1913). Eldest son of Philip Bennet VIII (1837-75) and his wife Harriot Sophia, eldest daughter of Edgar Disney of The Hyde (Essex), born 24 February 1862. An officer in the Prince of Wales' Own Norfolk Artillery, a militia regiment (Lt., 1881; Capt., 1893; hon. Maj., 1895). He married, c.1908*, Robina Cochrane (1881-1959), daughter of James Riddell, but had no issue.

He inherited the Rougham estate from his father in 1875 and came of age in 1883. He continued to lease out the house at Rougham out until 1893 when he sold it (while retaining part of the estate) to Mr E. Johnston. In 1901 he was living at the Angel Hotel in Bury St Edmunds and in 1911 at Felixstowe (Suffk).

He died at Felixstowe, 13 May 1913. His widow emigrated to Los Angeles, California (USA) in 1914, married 2nd, 13 September 1918 at Riverside, California (USA), Charles C. Howarter (1892-1964), and died in Los Angeles, 21 November 1959; she was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery.

* Information from the 1911 census. However, I have been unable to trace this marriage in Great Britain, and there seems to be no reference to it in the press.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1914, p. 135; R.E.M. Peach, Life and times of Ralph Allen, 1895, pp. 206-13; J. Hawkes, 'Widcombe Manor mount and cascade', The survey of Bath and district, no.6, 1996, pp. 19-22; A. Foyle & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Somerset - North and Bristol, 2nd edn., 2011, p. 194; M. Siraut, The Victoria County History of Somerset: vol. XI, Queen Camel and the Cadburys, 2015, pp. 151-52; C. Spence, Nature's favourite child: Thomas Robins and the art of the Georgian garden, 2021, pp. 139-40;

https://historyofbath.org/images/documents/Widcombe%20Manor.pdf

Location of archives

Bennet family of Rougham Hall: deeds and estate papers relating to the Rougham estate, 1596-1889 [Suffolk Archives, Bury St. Edmunds, Acc. 839]

Coat of arms

Gules, a bezant between three demi-lions rampant, couped, argent.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide 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 22 October 2023. I am most grateful to Prof. Tim Mowl for assisting me with the interpretation of the Thomas Robins drawings of Widcombe Manor, and to Jane Bennet-Earle for corrections and additional information.