Estcourt of Estcourt

This ancient family has been settled in Gloucestershire and been possessed of lands in the Parish of Shipton Moyne, as appears by deeds at Estcourt, since 1300.

The first of whom mentioned is recorded in these deeds is Walter de la Estcourt, who held an estate at Shipton in this County. He married Margaret-------¹ and died about 1325, and was succeeded by his son, Symon de la Estcourt, who married,

1. Margaret de la Woodemill
2. Johanna ----

He had four sons, Walter, Richard, William and John. He was succeeded by his eldest son,

John de la Estcourt, who married Alice, heiress of Beauboys, of Shipton Moyne, and Fairwood, in Dorsetshire, and thence obtained a separate estate at Shipton. His wife survived him, and married, second, John Wynter, of Wotton-Under-Edge. He was succeeded by his son,

John de la Estcourt, who married,

1. Eleanor
2. Margaret

He had two sons by his first wife, Eleanor,

1. John
2. William, d.s.p.

John de la Estcourt married Elizabeth Seymour, and had issue,

1. Thomas de la Estcourt
2. Walter de la Estcourt ²

This John obtained a pardon from King Richard III, for some offence committed against him. (The original document is now in the possession of Mr Sotheron Estcourt).

Thomas de la Estcourt married,

1. Catherine, daughter of Richard Ellyott, Serjeant-at-Law;
2. Catherine, daughter of Richard Hall.

By his first wife he had issue,

Edmond de la Estcourt, who married Johanna, daughter of William Button, of ----, Wiltshire, and had issue,

1. Thomas de la Estcourt, married Emma Ascough. He was a Welsh Judge, and a handsome monument is erected to him in Shipton Moyne Church. He had issue,
   1. Thomas, knighted by King James I, November 17^th He married Mary, daughter of William Savage Esq., of Elmsley Castle, Worcestershire. He was M.P. for Gloucestershire, and died in 1624, at Cirencester, of the Plague, whilst on his return from London from attending Parliament. His case became a precedent to shew that a member of Parliament is compellable to serve, if elected.³
   2. Edmund married, first, Mary, daughter and co-heir of Richard Pateshall, of Cricklade; and secondly, Mary, daughter of Thomas Folliott, of Pirton, in Worcestershire, by whom he had two sons,
      1. Thomas
      2. Edmond

2. Giles de la Estcourt, of the City of Salisbury, married Elizabeth Webb, and has issue,
   1. (Sir) Edward Estcourt, of the City of Salisbury, who married Mary, daughter of Sir John Glanvil, of Tavistock, Devon, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
      1. Honor, married, first, to Thomas, son of Sir G. Monpeson, Kt.; secondly to Thomas Harding.
      2. Mary, married James Thurbarme, of New Romney, in Kent.

3. George Estcourt, married Joane Steede, and had issue,
   1. Edmond, married Mary Bernard, and had issue,
      1. George, and several daughters.
   2. John, married Grace Lygon, and had issue,
      1. Edmund, and other children.

4. Richard Estcourt married Anne Wilcox, and had issue,
   1. Edmund Estcourt, married to Jane, daughter of Sir G. Snig, one of the Barons of the Exchequer, and had issue,
      1. Thomas
      2. Edmond
      3. John
      4. Richard
      5. George
      6. William
   2. Richard, married Agnes, daughter of Sir G. Ive.
   3. Jasper, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir ----, Kt., and had issue, a daughter, Eleanor, married to Rev. Thomas Worborought, Rector of St. Michael’s, Gloucester.
   4. Cicely, married to William Poole.
   5. Mary, married to Richard Guynett.
   6. Joan, married to Thomas Blanchard.
   7. Elizabeth, married to Toby Chapman.⁴

Giles Estcourt, of the Newnton and Salisbury branch of this family, was created a baronet on the 17^th March 1626-7. He married Ann, daughter of Sir Robert Mordaunt, Bart., of Little Massingham in Norfolk; and was succeeded by his son, Sir Giles Estcourt, who died unmarried on his travels, near Lepanto, in Greece, in 1675, and was succeeded by his brother, William, who was killed at the Devil’s Tavern, London, by Sir Henry St. John,⁵ in 1684. At his death this title became extinct, and the estate of Newnton passed to his sisters, and was bequeathed by the last survivor to her cousin Edmund, of Burton Hill, upon whose death it passed, with his estates of Shipton and Lasborough, to Thomas, the son of Matthew Estcourt, of Cam.

Walter, the son of Thomas Estcourt of Shipton, who died in 1725, left the estate to Thomas, the son of Edmund Estcourt, of Salcombe, in Hertfordshire. He died October 6^th, 1746, aged 49, and left the estate to his brother, Edmund, who died in 1750, and left the estate to Thomas, the son of Matthew Estcourt, of Cam.

Matthew Estcourt, of Cam, married Lydia Halling, and had issue, Matthew, who died s.p.; Thomas, of whom hereafter; Edmund, Solicitor to the Excise, who died in 1714; Edward, D.D., in holy orders, Rector of Long Newnton and Didmarton; he died 17^th September, 1802, aged 51, and was buried at Shipton Moyne; Lydia, who died s.p., in 1804, and was buried at Cam; Esther who also died s.p., 1785, and was buried at Shipton.

Thomas Estcourt married, 6^th October, 1774, Jane, daughter of James, second Viscount Grimston (by Mary his wife, daughter of John Askell Bucknall, Esq., of Oxhey, in Hertfordshire). She died February 3^rd, 1829, aged 80, and left issue,

1. Thomas, of whom hereafter.
2. Edmund William, born 18^th April, 1782; M.A. of Oriel College, Oxford, in holy orders; rector of Long Newnton and Shipton Moyne. He married Bertha Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wyatt, Esq., of Wargrove, Berkshire; and had issue, Edgar Edmund, Matthew hale, Chas. Wyatt, Arthur Harbottle, Mary Jane. Mr Estcourt died 17^th May 1856.
3. Harriett Jane Bucknall, died s.p., 25^th July, 1839.
4. Carlotte, of the Priory, Long Newnton.

Mr Estcourt was M.P. for Cricklade, and died December 2^nd, 1818, aged 70. He was succeeded by his son Thomas Grimston Estcourt, who assumed, in 1824, the name of Bucknall, in addition to his family name, and married 12^th May, 1800, Eleanor, daughter and co-heiress of James Sutton, Esq., of New Park, Devizes, (she died June 23^rd, 1829, aged 49) and had issue:

1. Thomas Henry Sutton, born 4^th April, 1802. Educated at Harrow, and Oriel College, Oxford; B.A. 1823; M.A. 1826. M.P. for Marlborough from 1829 to 1832; for Devizes from 1835 to 1844; and for North Wiltshire since that date. He married, in 1830, Lucy Sarah, daughter of Admiral Frank Sotheron, M.P., of Kirklington, Nottinghamshire, whose name he assumed, by sign manual, in 1839, and reassumed his paternal name, by sign manual, in 1855. Mr Sotheron Estcourt is a captain in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and magistrate for Wiltshire and Gloucester.
2. James Bucknall, born 12^th July, 1802. He was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst, and in 1820 entered the army as ensign, in the 44^th Foot, from which he immediately exchanged into the 43^rd Light Infantry. He obtained his lieutenancy in 1824, and his captaincy in 1825, both by purchase. In 1834 he accompanied Colonel Chesney on his Euphrates expedition, as second in command. He obtained his majority by purchase, in 1836, and in August, 1837, married Caroline, daughter of Rt. Hon. Reginald Pole Carew, of Antony, Cornwall. In 1838 he was ordered to Canada; and in 1839 gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel, for his services on the Euphrates. In January, 1843, he was appointed by the Secretary of State, British Commissioner to settle the boundary line between the United States and British America, from the Bay of Fundy to the River St. Lawrence, which was an arduous task he successfully accomplished in three years. From 1848 to 1852 he was M.P. for Devizes. On the breaking out of the Russian war, he was gazetted Adjutant-General of the Crimean army, and in the Brevet of 1854 was appointed Major-General. He was in close attendance on Lord Raglan at Alma; accompanied him in his celebrated flank march to Balaklava, and attended him from daylight on the battlefield of Inkermann. Through the trying winter of 1854-55, he faithfully performed his duty; and without retiring a day from his post, discharged the onerous duties devolving on him till the 20^th June, when unmistakable symptoms of cholera appeared, and he expired in the presence of his wife and sister, four days before the death of his friend and chief, Lord Raglan. A fortnight after the news of his death reached England, his name was gazetted as one of those on whom Her Majesty would have conferred a K.C.B., had he survived. His widow has since, by special command of Her Majesty, assumed that rank which she would have been entitled to, had her husband survived to enjoy the honour which he so justly earned.
3. Edmund Hiley, born 22^nd November, 1803. M.A. of Merton College, Oxford, in holy orders; Rector of Eckington, Derbyshire, married 15^th April, 1830, Ann, daughter of Sir John Lowther Johnston, Bart., of Westerhale, County Dumfries, and has issue,
   1. George Thomas, born 1840.
   2. Charlotte Eleanor. Married in 1853, Rev. Fred Gipps, Vicar of Corbridge, Northumberland. Married, 1856, Rev. Thomas Golightly, of Bodington, Northampton, now Rector of Shipton Moyne, Gloucestershire.
   3. Jane.
   4. Gertrude. Married, 1856, Rev. Thomas Golightly, of Bodington, Northampton, now Rector of Shipton Moyne, Gloucestershire.
   5. Isabella
   6. Clara
   7. Evelyn
   8. Katherine.
4. Walter Grimston, born 16^th May, 1807. Commander, R.N. Died of fever contracted on the coast of Africa, whilst in command of H.M.S. Eclair, September 16^th, 1845.⁶
5. William John, born 17^th May, 1812. In holy orders; M.A. of Balliol College, Oxford; Rector of Long Newnton, Wiltshire. Married in 1848, Mary, daughter of Rev. John Drake, and has issue a daughter, Eleanor.
6. Edward Dugdale, born 6^th February, 1818, Barrister-at-law, and M.A. of Balliol College, Oxford.
7. Married, in 1836, the Right Hon. Henry Unwin Addington, nephew of the first Viscount Sidmouth.
8. Mary Ann.

Thomas G.B. Estcourt, who was M.P. for Devizes, from January 1805 to 1826, and for the University of Oxford, from that date till1847, died July 25^th, 1853, and was succeeded by his son, Thomas H.S. Sotheron Estcourt, the present owner of Estcourt.