Blagdon, Paignton

Arms of Dennis of Pancras Week, Blagdon and Orleigh: Azure, three Danish battle axes erect or[5]

16th c. shield of six quarters surviving in the Kirkham Chantry: 1:Kirkham; 2:Dennis; 3:Scobhull; 4:Waye; 5:Ferrers; 6:Malherbe

The Dennis family had been seated at Pancras Week in the parish of Bradworthy, Devon, since before the reign of King Henry II (1154-1189). The holder during that reign was Raph Dennis,[6] whose second son William Dennis founded the line of Dennis of Orleigh,[7] in North Devon. The family was of Danish origin and at the start of the age of heraldry (c.1200-1215) adopted for their arms: Azure, three Danish battle axes or. The name was created[8] in Anglo-Norman French as le Daneis ("the Dane") and was Latinized as Dacus[9] ("Danish"), being the adjectival form of the noun Dacia, mediaeval Latin for "Denmark".

Sir Henry Dennis of Pancras Week and of Blagdon (son and heir of Sir Robert Dennis of Pancras Week), left three children:[10]

• Sir Robert Dennis (fl.1272/1307[11]), son and heir, who died without issue and bequeathed his estates to his two sisters:
• Margaret Dennis, who married Sir Reginald Ferrers of Bere Ferrers in Devon, who inherited Pancras Week;[12]
• Agatha Dennis, who married Sir Nicholas Kirkham, who inherited Blagdon and Collaton Clavill[13] (known as Collaton Kirkham until about 1630,[14] now Collaton St Mary). The Kirkhams quartered the arms of Dennis, as is shown in the second quarter of a 16th c. shield of six quarters surviving in the Kirkham Chantry.[15]

The earliest descendant of Sir Nicholas Kirkham and Agatha Dennis recorded in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon is Robert Kirkham (fl.1417[17]), who married Agnes, a daughter of Sir William Hankford (c.1350-1423) of Annery in Devon, Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

Arms of Scobhull: Argent, three fleurs-de-lys gules a label of three points azure[18] shown in the 3rd quarter of the 16th century sculpted escutcheon in the Kirkham Chantry

Robert Kirkham (d.1443), son and heir, who married Elizabeth Scobhull, widow of Robert Trebell and daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Scobhull (alias Scobhill, Scobhul, Scobbahull, etc) [19] of Scobhull in the parish of South Pool near Kingsbridge, Devon.[20] The arms of Scobhull (Argent, three fleurs-de-lys gules a label of three points azure[21]) were quartered by Kirkham.

Robert Kirkham (1432-1451), eldest son and heir, aged 11 at his father's death, who died aged 19 without progeny.

Arms of Waye: Gules, a chevron or between three lucies hauriant argent[22] shown in the 4th quarter of the 16th century sculpted escutcheon in the Kirkham Chantry

Nicholas Kirkham (1433/4-1516), younger brother, whose effigy survives in the Kirkham Chantry, which he is believed to have built. He married Jane Waye, daughter and heiress of Robert Waye of Marsh in the parish of Newton St Cyres,[23] Devon. His daughter Margaret Kirkham married three times, into various prominent Devon families, firstly to John Cheney of Pinhoe, whose sister Cecily Cheney was the mother of Sir William Courtenay (1477–1535) "The Great" of Manor of Powderham.[24] His second son Nicholas Kirkham inherited his mother's manor of Marsh and married Katherine Bonville, a daughter of John Bonville, bastard son of the magnate William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1391-1461), of Chewton, Somerset.[25]

Arms of Sir John Kirkham (1472-1529) impaling Moore of Moor Hayes, symbolising his first marriage. Parclose screen of the Moore Hayes Chapel in Cullompton Church

Sir John Kirkham (1472-1529), eldest son and heir, Sheriff of Devon in 1523/4.[26] According to the Devonshire biographer Prince (d.1723), he was a "very free and liberal, ... prudent and discreet" benefactor of the town of Honiton in Devon.[27] He married four times:

• Firstly to a daughter of the Moore family of Moor Hayes in the parish of Cullompton in Devon. The marriage was without progeny but is memorialised on one of the sculpted oak heraldic shields on the parclose screen of the Moorehayes Chapel of Cullompton Church, displaying Kirkham impaling Moore (Ermine, on a chevron azure three cinquefoils or[28]).
• Secondly to a daughter of Sir Thomas Fulford (died 1489)[29] of Great Fulford in the parish of Dunsford, Devon, by his wife Phillipa Courtenay, a daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (died 1463) of Powderham (by his wife Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford (died 1449), KG).[30] Without progeny.
• Thirdly to Luce Tremayle, a daughter of Sir Thomas Tremayle, by whom he had issue, including his son and heir Thomas Kirkham (1504-1551/2).
• Fourthly to Jane Mathew, daughter and heiress of William Mathew of Milton, without issue.

Arms of Ferrers (Argent, on a bend sable three horse-shoes or) and Malherbe (Or, a chevron gules between three nettle leaves erect proper), 5th and 6th quarters of the 16th c. shield of six quarters surviving in the Kirkham Chantry

Thomas Kirkham (1504-1551/2), eldest son and heir, who married twice:

• Firstly to Margaret Ferrers, daughter and heiress of Richard Ferrers by his wife Jane Malherbe, daughter and heiress of Sir John Malherbe,[31] whose canting arms were: Or, a chevron gules between three nettle leaves erect proper,[32] (French: mal herbe = bad grass, weed). The marriage is commemorated in the 5th and 6th quarters (Ferrers and Malherbe) of the 16th c. shield of six quarters surviving in the Kirkham Chantry. By his first marriage he had progeny including George Kirkham (1525-1581/2), eldest son and heir.
• Secondly he married Thomasine (or Cicily) Carew, only daughter (and heiress in her issue) of Sir William Carew (born 1483) of Mohuns Ottery in Devon, by his wife Joane Courtenay,[33] a daughter of Sir William Courtenay (died 1485) of Powderham, Sheriff of Devon in 1483, by his wife Margaret Bonville, daughter of William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (d.1461).[34] His daughter from this marriage was Thomasine Kirkham, heiress of Mohuns Ottery, who married Thomas Southcott.

George Kirkham (1525-1581/2), eldest son and heir, who was the builder of the surviving Blagdon manor house, as is evidenced by a datestone inscribed "1567" on the external wall[35] of the great hall. He married Margaret Dennis, a daughter of Sir Thomas Dennis (c. 1477–1561)[36] of Holcombe Burnell, near Exeter in Devon, Sheriff of Devon nine times between 1507/8 to 1553/4 and a Member of Parliament for Devon (apparently a junior branch of Dennis of Orleigh, which used a differenced version of the arms of Dennis of Orleigh). He died without surviving issue, having had a daughter Elizabeth, who died unmarried and was said by Prince to have been a dwarf.[37] His heir was his nephew Sir William Kirkham (d.1623).

Monument in the Kirkham Chantry of the Church of St John The Baptist, Paignton, to Sir William Kirkham (d.1623) of Blagdon

Effigy of Sir William Kirkham (d.1623), Kirkham Chantry

Sir William Kirkham (d.1623), nephew, son of Richard Kirkham of Pinhoe in Devon by his wife Agnes Cape of Somerset.[38] He married (as his second wife) Mary Tichbourne (d.1627), a daughter of Peter Tichbourne of Hampshire[39] and a sister of Chidiock Tichbourne (1562-1586), conspirator and poet. By Mary he had 8 sons and 4 daughters, the second son being Francis Kirkham who married the heiress of Roope of Bidwell, Newton St Cyres, and founded the line of Kirkham of Bidwell. His kneeling effigy, dressed in armour with neck-ruff and bareheaded, survives in the Kirkham Chantry, facing that of his wife.[40] Between the figures is a column on which is sculpted at top a sunburst inscribed with the letters "IHS" below which is inscribed "SPES ET" ("hope and"), below which is a crown, the browband of which is inscribed "CORONA" ("crown"), below which is a pair of hearts overlapping. At the base of the central column is a heraldic shield sculpted with six quarters, apparently not in its original position. The two outermost columns are each decorated with four heraldic shields, seven of which have been chiselled flat and unintelligible. The only arms still visible are on the top left shield, showing Kirkham impaling a field vair, but with the chief chiselled flat.[41] On top of all three colums is a putto, with wings folded over his chest, but with face features chiselled away. The monument was "covered with plaster" until 1753, when on its removal the following inscription was revealed (since disappeared):[42]

Memoriae sacrum in obitum ornatissimi viri Gulielmi Kirkham Equitis Aurati ("Sacred to the memory into death of the most illustrious man William Kirkham, Knight Bachelor").

Richard Kirkham (d.1631), eldest son and heir,[43] who married "the heiress of Oldham" near Tilbury in Essex,[44] and left a daughter and sole heiress Mary Kirkham, who married Sir George Blount, 2nd Baronet (died 1667) of Sodington in the parish of Mamble in Worcestershire, to whom the manor of Blagdon passed.

Sir George Blount, 2nd Baronet (died 1667) of Sodington in the parish of Mamble in Worcestershire, married Mary Kirkham, heiress of Blagdon. His eldest son Sir Walter Kirkham Blount, 3rd Baronet (died 1717), inherited his paternal estates, including Sodington. "The Blounts were notable for their faithful adherence to the Roman Catholic faith, and they gave the most zealous support to the Crown in the Civil War".[45] Mary Kirkham bequeathed Blagdon to her third son Edward Blount (d.1726).

1708 heraldic overmantle in great hall of Blagdon House, showing arms of Edward Blount (d.1726) impaling Guise, for his wife

Mary Blount, Duchess of Norfolk (youngest daughter of Edward Blount (d.1726)), 1737 portrait by John Vanderbank. She holds an embroidery needle, signifying her passion for that art

Edward Blount (d.1726) of Blagdon, 3rd son, who inherited his maternal estates. As a Roman Catholic he was associated with the Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk, the leading Catholic family in England. On 6 June 1716, together with Lord George Howard, (d.1721), the eldest half-brother of Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk (1655-1701), he "successfully petitioned the House of Lords for counsel to argue against provisions in the Papists' Estates Bill, read 18th May 1716, which threatened to ruin their credit".[46] Shortly thereafter Edward Blount went into exile with his family in Bruges, but had returned to England by 1721. In 1708 Edward Blount married Anne Guise, a daughter of Sir John Guise, 2nd Baronet (c. 1654–1695) of Elmore in Gloucestershire, which marriage was commemorated by the surviving heraldic overmantel above the fireplace of the great hall of Blagdon manor house. This shows the initials "EB" [47] and displays the arms of Blount (Barry nebuly of six or and sable) impaling Gules, seven mascles vair 3,3,1 (Guise) above a scroll inscribed with a Latin motto Lux Tua Via Mea ("Your light is my path") with the date "1708". In 1717 "Edward Blount of Blagdon" registered his landholdings under the Registration of Papists' Estates,[48] legislation passed following the Jacobite uprising of 1715. Edward Blount was a friend and patron of the poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744),[49] and much correspondence between the two men during the years 1714-25 survives.[50] Both were Roman Catholics.[51] Edward Blount left three daughters as his co-heiresses:

• Elizabeth Blount (d.1778), eldest daughter,[52] wife of Hugh Clifford, 3rd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh (1700-1732), of Ugbrooke House in Devon. Her son Hugh Clifford, 4th Baron Clifford (1726–1783) succeeded his father in 1732 aged 6 and came of age in 1747, when she moved to Paris where she died in 1778.[53] He built the surviving grand mansion house at Ugbrooke between 1763-6.[54]
• Henrietta Blount (d.1782), 2nd daughter, who married twice: firstly to Peter Proli of Antwerp;[55] secondly in 1739 (as his second wife[56]) to Philip Howard (1687/8-1749/50[57]) of Buckenham Tofts in Norfolk (younger brother of her brother-in-law Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk (1686-1777)), who already had a son by his first wife, named Thomas Howard (1727/8-1763[58]), who died in 1763[59] in Paris while on the grand tour, who had been heir presumptive to the dukedom following his father's death. By Philip Howard she had progeny:

Edward Howard (1743/4-1767), son of Henrietta Blount and heir presumptive to the dukedom of Norfolk, who died aged 23. Portrait by Pompeo Batoni[60]

• • Edward Howard (1743/4-1767[61]), only son, who in 1763 became heir presumptive to the dukedom (the premier dukedom of England) following the death of his half-brother. He was a special favourite of his childless aunt and uncle Mary Blount and her husband the 9th Duke, both blood relatives, who expected him to inherit the dukedom and considered him as their own child.[62] The couple were devastated when he died in 1767, aged 23, due to a fever he caught while playing tennis not fully recovered from measles. The Duchess was affected "almost to distraction and she never recovered from the blow". All building at the palatial new house planned at Worksop was cancelled as the couple realised that their next heir was a distant male cousin they hardly knew and who was a "depressing" contrast to Edward.[63]
  • Anne Howard (1742-1787), only daughter, who married Robert Petre, 9th Baron Petre (1742-1801), but who as a female was excluded from inheriting the Dukedom of Norfolk by a recent entail effected by the Act of Restoration 1664.
• Mary Blount (1701/2-1773),[64] 3rd daughter, who in 1727 married Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk (1686-1777), of Worksop Manor in Nottinghamshire, the most prominent Roman Catholic in England, but produced no progeny as heirs to the dukedom.[65] She had visited the Continent frequently and had been received at court by King Louis XV.[66] She was a forceful character whom Horace Walpole called "My Lord Duchess",[67] famous for her good decorative taste and was a skilled embroiderer. A "wonderfully embroidered bed" worked by her and her 21 maids during 21 years, to the design of "an eminent Italian artist", survives at Ugbrooke House, together with a set of vestments and an ante-pendium worked by her mother Anne Guise.[68] In surviving portraits at Ugbrooke or in the collection of the Dukes of Norfolk she is often shown with some emblem of embroidery.[69] She was responsible for the interior decoration of the new Norfolk House in St James's Square, rebuilt 1748-52, and considered "one of the wonders of London".[70] It was demolished in 1938 but her highly ornate "Music Room" survives in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The previous Norfolk House townhouse on the site, demolished in 1748, had been let by her husband to Frederick Prince of Wales and had been the birthplace of the future King George III.[71] She was also the main driving force behind the palatial rebuilding of Worksop House, commenced in 1763, and employing 500 workmen.[72] James Cook named Norfolk Island in honour of the Duchess of Norfolk in 1774, although he did not know at the time that she was already dead.

Blagdon remained a seat of the Blount family until it was acquired as his residence[74] by Francis Parker (born 1701-post 1757), the 4th son of George Parker (1651-1743) of Boringdon Hall, Plympton, and of North Molton, Devon, who purchased Saltram near Plymouth, later the principal seat of his descendants. Francis Parker of Blagdon left three daughters including:[75]

• Anne Parker, who married the banker John Baring (1730–1816), MP, of Mount Radford near Exeter, eldest brother of Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet. In 1757 her father (as "Francis Parker of Blagdon") entered into a marriage settlement on her behalf.[76]
• Elizabeth Parker, who married firstly to Thomas Baring of Larkbear, near Exeter, a younger brother of her sister's husband John Baring (1730–1816); secondly to William Spicer of Wear, thirdly to John Fryer of Exeter.[77]

Francis's heir was his elder brother John Parker (1703-1768) of Boringdon Hall, Plympton, and Saltram House, who in 1725[78] married Catherine Poulett (1706–1758), a daughter of John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett, by his wife Bridget Bertie a granddaughter of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey. In 1763 John Parker leased Blagdon and other lands to his wife's relatives as is recorded on a deed in the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office summarised as follows:[79]

"Lease for a year: 1) John Parker of Boringdon, esquire, eldest son and heir of George Parker, deceased. 2) Vere Poulett of Twickenham, Middx, esquire, and Ann Poulett of Albemarle Street, Westminster, esquire. Barton lands of Blagdon, Newparks, Oldaways and the Downs. Also manor of Collaton. Also lands of Edward Blount, deceased, in Paignton, Marldon and Stoke Gabriel. Also barton of Polsloe and two closes of land called Higher Bowmore and Lower Bowmore, parcel of Martyns tenement, Heavitree. Also barton of Oakhay alias Okey Place, Stoke Canon. Also all other lands in Paignton, Marldon, Stoke Canon, Heavitree and Stoke Gabriel that passed to John Parker as heir of Francis Parker. Also 1/8th of Herdwick alias Hardwick".

As John Parker's eldest son John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1735-1788) inherited his paternal estates (North Molton, Boringdon and Saltram, etc.), Blagdon and Collaton Kirkham descended to John Parker's second son Montagu Edmund Parker (1737–1831) of Whiteway House,[80][81] near Chudleigh in Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1789. Montagu's nephew was John Parker, 1st Earl of Morley (1772-1840), the son of his brother John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon.

The public house in Collaton St Mary is called the "Parkers Arms" (sic) after the tenure of the Parker family.[82] A Funerary hatchment survives in St John's Church, Paignton, showing the arms of Parker (Sable, a stag's head cabossed between two flaunches argent, with a crescent for the difference of a second son) impaling: Azure, a fox passant proper in chief a sun.[83]

St Mary's Church, Collaton St Mary, built in 1864 by Rev. Hogg of Blagdon

In 1864 Rev. John Roughton Hogg (1811-1867), of Blagdon, Vicar of Torwood,[84] a Justice of the Peace for Devon,[85] (second son of Rev. James Hogg, Vicar of Geddington, Northamptonshire,[86] and master of Kettering grammar school),[87] commenced building (at his sole expense) the "evocative Victorian group" (Pevsner) of church, school and vicarage at the adjoining manor of Collaton (thenceforth "Collaton St Mary"), to the design of J.W.Rowell, to commemorate his daughter[88] Mary Maxwell Hogg (d.1864), who died aged 17 and was buried at Brixham and re-interred in his new church in 1867.[89] His diary between 1859-62 survives in the Devon Archives.[90] Hogg's wife was Anna Maria Maxwell Lyte (1822-1889), only daughter of Rev. Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) ,[91] of nearby Berry Head, Brixham, who composed the well-known hymns "Abide with me", "Praise my soul the King of Heaven" and "Pleasant are thy courts above". The inscribed Hogg Memorial erected by him in 1867 and situated 6 metres south of the chancel wall, is a grade II listed structure made of white Italian marble on red breccia base with a marble cross on a 3-tier plinth with breccia base with red breccia kerbs.[92]

Until that time the parish church of Blagdon had been St John's Church in Paignton, the mediaeval parish church in which is situated the Kirkham Chantry Chapel. Other new churches were built at that time in and around Paignton and Torquay to cater for the greatly expanded populations due to the development of the Torbay area as a seaside resort.