Halsbury

For other uses, see Halsbury (disambiguation).
Halsbury Barton in the parish of Parkham, North Devon
Setting of Halsbury
Road entrance to Halsbury

Halsbury (pron. "Haulsbury"[1]) is a historic manor in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is situated 2 miles north-east of the village of Parkham and 4 miles south-west of the town of Bideford. Halsbury was long a seat of the ancient Giffard family, a distant descendant of which was the celebrated lawyer Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury (1823–1921), who adopted the name Halsbury for his earldom and was the author of the essential legal reference books Halsbury's Statutes. Halsbury Barton, now a farmhouse, retains 16th and 17th century elements of the former manor house of the Giffard family. It was described in a record of 1560 as a "new dwelling house".[2]

Descent

de Halsbury

The de Halsbury family were the earliest recorded holders of the manor and took their surname from it. The descent of Halsbury in the family of Giffard was as follows:[3]

Giffard

Arms of Giffard of Halsbury: Sable, three fusils conjoined in fesse ermine

The Giffard family of Halsbury was descended from the Anglo-Norman magnate Walter Giffard, 1st Earl of Buckingham (died 1102), Lord of Longueville in Normandy.[5][4] His descendants, via a female branch which adopted the surname Guffard, held lands in Devon including the manors of Whitchurch, Wear Giffard, Clovelly Lamerton and Awlescombe.[4]

The descent of Halsbury in the Giffard family as given by Pole (died 1635) and expanded by Vivian is as follows:[6][7]

Giffard of Brightley

Benson

Thomas Benson (1708–1772), of Knapp House, (alias Nap) Appledore,[17] Devon, MP for Barnstaple between 1747 and 1754,[18] a ship-owner, merchant and maritime insurance fraudster, purchased Halsbury from Roger Giffard (died 1763).[19] His silver punch bowl, inscribed with his armorials (On a chevron between three goat's heads erased each charged on the neck with an escallop three escallops) and presented by him to Barnstaple mayor and corporation, is displayed in the Dodderidge Room of Barnstaple Guildhall. Following his flight from justice to Portugal in 1753,[20] the Crown seized his assets, including Halsbury.[5]

Davie

Halsbury was sold by the Crown to John Davie of nearby Orleigh,[5] grandson of the wealthy Bideford tobacco merchant John Davie (died 1710) of Orleigh.

Lee

Major Edward Lee (died 1819) purchased the estates of Halsbury and Orleigh from Joseph Davie Basset (1764–1846) who went on to build Watermouth Castle as his residence.[19] Edward Lee bequeathed Orleigh[22] (and possibly also Halsbury) to his nephew John Lee Lee (1802–1874) of Dillington House, near Ilminster in Somerset, Member of Parliament for Wells between 1830 and 1837 and Sheriff of Somerset in 1845–6.

References

  1. Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.527, Earl of Halsbury
  2. Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.450, quoting "Devon & Cornwall Record Society, Enrolled Deed no.513"
  3. 1 2 3 Pole, p.374
  4. 1 2 3 4 Vivian, p.396
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Prince, p.415
  6. Pole, p.374–5
  7. Vivian, pp.396 et seq.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Vivian, p.397
  9. Vivian, p.397; Pevsner, pp. 770–1; Risdon, pp. 248–9
  10. Risdon, p.323
  11. Vivian, p.281, pedigree of Dennis of Orleigh
  12. Vivian, p.569, pedigree of Monk of Potheridge
  13. Vivian, p.731, pedigree of Tremayne
  14. Pevsner, p.241
  15. 1 2 3 Vivian, p.398
  16. Date of death 1715 per Prince, p.415; will proved 1733 (Vivian, p.401)
  17. Taylor, p.3
  18. History of Parliament Online, BENSON, Thomas (1708-72)
  19. 1 2 Risdon, 1810 additions, p.414
  20. Taylor, p.16
  21. Vivian, p.249, pedigree of Courtenay
  22. Rogers, W. H. (1938) Buckland Brewer, reprinted 2000, Snetzler, M.F. (Ed.), Barcott, Buckland Brewer, p.58

Sources

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