Ilbert Family and Bowringsleigh
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The Ilbert Family My interest in the Ilbert family began last year when I was researching some of the names of the men who had died in the First World War and who were remembered on the Thurlestone war memorial. One name was Geoffrey Arthur Ilbert, who, in fact, never lived in Thurlestone, but was killed in action on 28th February 1917 and is descended from this family through his great-grandfather Courtenay Ilbert (1780- 1816). This led me to research the Ilbert family history so that I could understand the various relationships and the context with the Ilbert’s of Bowringsleigh. My research will take us from West Alvington, via Thurlestone and South Milton to Canada, France, India, Australia and New Zealand as well as big game hunting in the Sudan, to the Houses of Parliament and attending Court at Buckingham Palace. The name of ILBERT occurs in Domesday Book, as holding land in the county of Dorset, although it is reputed that the Ilberts came over to England with William the Conqueror and initially settled in the North of England. Prior to the 17th century, the family were wool merchants settled at Rill, in the parish of Buckfastleigh, in Devon. This slide is my interpretation of the Ilbert heraldic shield from the line drawing and the description in “A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank but Uninvested with Heritable Honours” by John Burke, published in London in four volumes. Volume four published in 1838 records the Ilbert lineage to that date and their heraldic shield is described as; ILBERT (R.L., H. Coll.). Or, two chevronels engrailed vert between three roses gules, seeded and barbed proper which roughly translated means gold background (Or) two shaped V chevrons green (vert) between three roses red (gules). Mantling - vert and or. Crest — Upon a wreath of the colours, a cock pheasant argent, combed and wattled gules, holding in the beak a red rose slipped proper and standing on a mount vert. Mantling - green and gold crest a silver or white cock pheasant (argent) combed and wattled red standing on a green mount. Motto — "Nulla rosa sine spinis." “No Rose without thorns”; or “Every rose has its thorn” – meaning – to enjoy any beautiful or pleasant thing, you must endure something difficult or painful; or Every apparent desirable situation has its share of trouble or difficulty – Oxford English Dictionary. 1 The Ilbert family in the South Hams can be traced back over 400 years. They settled in a modest grey Elizabethan manor house, Bowringsleigh, just west of West Alvington. The family prospered mainly by three generations of judicious marriages that raised their wealth, status, nobility and forged aristocratic associations – even a royal connection to a descendant of William the Conqueror. Bowringsleigh, once called Leigh, was originally built in 1303. The Bowrings were here by 1332 but the male line died out in the late 15th century. An early resident was Robert BOWRING, born in 1473 son of a distinguished Devon lawyer Thomas Bowring. Robert followed his father to the Middle Temple, where he became a barrister and was a justice of the peace in Devon. He succeeded to his inheritance in 1504 and died on 3 May 1514. By his will, made on the day of his death, he made provision for his wife and left £40 each to his brother Ralph Bowring and his sister Alice Pyke. His daughter survived him by less than four years, dying on 13 Jan. 1518, and the inheritance passed to his brother Ralph, who died the following year in 1519. “A Chronographical Description or Survey of the County of Devon” written in 1811 states that Bowringsleigh passed from an unknown Webber when it was acquired by Wiliam Gilbert in 1543. The Gilbert’s were responsible for creating the beautiful interior of Bowringsleigh that can still be seen today. However it transpires that Webber and Gilbert were one and the same family – Webber alias Gilbert and Gilbert alias Webber of West Alvington is an example of alias names unique to Devon and they are recorded as such in official records. Nowadays we usually think of an alias as a false name, a device used by criminals to disguise their true identity. However this is a reversal of the original purpose of aliases which was to emphasize and make absolutely clear a distinct individual identity. Aliases in the broadest sense started quite early in the 14th century, the greatest frequency of use is in the period 1601-1650 with a gradual decline, especially in the second half of the 18th century and are quite uncommon after 1800. The more common a surname is the more likely is it to have aliases associated with it. Other explanations may be that aliases were originally from the female line or that poor seasons, disease, war, etc., led to a fall in the local population and perhaps a fall in the stock of surnames. Historians appear to have only touched very briefly on this subject, and have two principal alternative proposals for the origin of aliases. One is that aliases were assumed by bastard children in order to protect, or safeguard, their inheritance, the alias in such cases being the surname of the father. The other proposition was that the alias identified the occupation of the person, obviously not true in all cases. The origins of the vast majority of the aliases remain unresolved but an interesting factor which has emerged from research is that all of the aliases so far discovered in Devon were very localised to the more isolated areas, either exclusive to one parish, or found only in a compact group of a few neighbouring parishes. This factor points strongly towards the use of many aliases in order to protect the inheritance, or interests, of children in a single generation. Returning to the Gilberts’ and as late as the 15th century the Gilberts’ were in possession of a greater part of West Alvington the parish adjoining Holwell in South Milton known to have been in that family then for at least 500 years. The surname of the ancient family of Gilbert is known to have flourished in Devon before the time of Edward the Confessor. There is also another resident of Bowringsleigh that conflicts with the record in Magna Britannia and is described in “The History of Parliament” and seems the most reliable account for the ownership of Bowringsleigh during the 17th century. 2 The resident was John Hale (1614-1691) and he was baptised on 19 March 1614, the first son of John Hale, a grocer, of Soper Lane, London and Harmer Green, Welwyn, Hertfordshire by Elizabeth, the daughter of Humphrey Browne of Essex. On 26 October 1637 he married Anne, one of three daughters of Robert Halswell of Goathurst, Somerset and coheir of Bowringsleigh. Robert Halswell had married Grace Webber at West Alvington on 23rd November 1612 the daughter of Nicholas Webber alias Gilbert. Robert Halswell died at West Alvington in March 1626 predeceasing his father Sir Nicholas Halswell. John Hale held several Offices as Receiver of tithes, Devon and Cornwall. 1655; JP for Devon 1656-65, 1667-70, 1673-6, Commissioner for assessment 1657 and January 1660-1680; Militia 1659, March 1660 Major of militia horse Apr. 1660; Commissioner for inquiry into Newfoundland Govt. 1667. By his marriage John Hale obtained not only an estate in Devon through his wife’s inheritance, but a valuable political connection with Sir John Northcote, who married his wife’s cousin. A parliamentarian officer in the Civil War he became the first of the family to enter Parliament. He was re-elected to the Convention for Dartmouth, 15 miles from his home. An inactive Member, he was named to only eight committees as ‘Major Hale’ and made no recorded speeches. His wife Anne had succeeded to only one-third of the Bowringsleigh estate, but in 1658 John Hale bought another third for £1,350, and in 1675 John Speccot I, the son of the other coheir Paul Speccot, whose first wife Grace was Anne’s sister, agreed to divide the remainder. John Hale died in September 1691, leaving the estate burdened with debts, and his surviving son, who had a large family and debts of his own, was obliged to sell out. Magna Britannia was published in 1822 and the entry in the volume on Devonshire for West Allington or West Alvington states; “The barton of Bowrings-leigh, which had been the property and residence of the ancient family of Bowring, passed, with its heiress, to the Pikes, by whom it was sold to Webber alias Gilbert. William Ilbert, Esq. purchased it off the Gilberts, in the reign of William III., and it is now the property and residence of his descendant, the Rev. Roope Ilbert.” “A Chronographical Description or Survey of the County of Devon” written in 1811 states that Bowringsleigh was purchased in 1695 during the reign of William the third by William Ilbert of Rill, in the parish of Buckfastleigh since when it has continued in the family and is now the property of Rev Roope Ilbert the descendant of the purchaser. All we can say for certain is that William Ilbert bought Bowringsleigh in 1695 where the family remained until the death of Miss Margery Ilbert in 1984 although it is still owned by relatives. The family thrived by trading in wool, England's chief commodity of the period. The Ilberts were joint Lord of the Manor with the nearby Bastard family. In the 17th century the estate of Bowringsleigh was some 1,200 acres.