The Grenville Ancestry

It is an interesting fact that many great families chose to hold estates here locally. King Alfred himself had estates at Stratton and, as will have been seen on this website, the Blanchminsters, Arundells and Aclands had estates in Bude and the surrounding countryside. To this line of families, we now include the story of the Grenvilles.

The Grenvilles were a great family, and its ancestors were involved in many of the great events in the history of the country- more than can be covered in this summary. Their story here, in pathways of discovery, will be covered in four parts; the first part introduces the background ancestry that helps us to understand how they came to this region and how they probably became involved in the first civil war of 1139-53, known as “the Anarchy”.

The heroism of the succeeding families would surely have motivated Sir Beville Grenville to lead his men with such dare-devil abandon that had such success at the Civil War battle at Stamford Hill, Stratton, May 1643; his story will form part two. The third part will cover the battle of Stamford Hill itself and the final part will tell the story of the succeeding families and the building of the great mansion at Stowe and its ultimately demise.

Part One - Ancestral Background

The Grenville ancestry claims direct descendancy with Richard de Grenville, feudal lord of Neath, Glamorgan but this is not agreed by all historians. They are agreed that there are connections with Robert Earl of Gloucester, but the family connection has not been proven. It is known that their principal seat of power was at Bideford and possibly a little later this included Kilkhampton and certainly Stowe,

The Grenvilles were supporters of William the Conqueror during the invasion of 1066, and, like all his supporters, they will have been rewarded with estates that gave them an income, described as a “knights fee”. In awarding estates in our region, William was aware that his supporters from Normandy and Brittany will have spoken a similar language, and this will have smoothed the transfer of power.

The Glamorgan Connection

Following the battle of Hastings there were still large parts of England and Wales that had not been overpowered and one such supporter, Robert Fitz Hamon together with Twelve Knights attacked and conquered Glamorgan. Richard de Grenville was one of the twelve and is said to be FitzHamon’s younger brother. This idea is reinforced by a depiction in stained glass in one of the windows at the Church in Kilkhampton, but not proof.

The image depicts FitzHamon on the left; Sir Richard de Grenville, younger brother on the right.

Fitz Hamon became the first Norman feudal baron Lord of Glamorgan and of Gloucester from 1075.  Fitz Hamon, in turn, awarded Richard de Grenville with the Lordship of Neath, Glamorgan.

King William Rufus (1087-100), upon the death of his mother, Queen Matilda in 1083, awarded Fitz Hamon the estates of the Saxon nobleman, Brihtric which included the fiefdom of Gloucester and the estates of Bideford and Kilkhampton. It is said that Brihtric was Matilda’s early heartthrob, but he did not return that sentiment and ultimately paid the price with his life. She never forgave this slight and when the opportunity arose, she had him imprisoned where he subsequently died.

One ancestral argument now says that Richard de Grenville was also awarded the estates of Bideford, but there is nothing to substantiate this. The current argument is that what may be seen as the “West Country” branch of the family issues from a Robert de Grenville who was a junior witness at the foundation charter of Neath Abbey; he is recorded in 1166 as holding one “knights fee” from the Earl of Gloucester. Again, no family connection with Richard de Grenville has been proven. But Robert’s knights fee may well have been the estate of Bideford.

The exact early family ancestry to our local Grenvilles is not important to our story but the links with Gloucester are. If Richard de Grenville was a younger brother of Robert FitzHamon, as claimed by the Grenville of Kilkhampton and Stowe, then this would be a family connection with Gloucester. This is because the sole heiress of FitzHamon was Mabel FitzHamon and when she married Robert de Caen and brought to him the Earldom of Gloucester; he became the 1st Earl of Gloucester. And the Grenvilles certainly obtained Bideford under the overlordship of the feudal barons of Gloucester. It is said that the brother of Robert de Grenville was another Richard Grenville; certainly, ancestral records start to record a Richard de Grenville “of Bideford” from the late twelfth century.

There is a further ancestral interpretation for Richard de Grenville and his connection with Bideford. It come from research conducted Nimrod Research who conducted a substantial investigation of the Grenvilles as part of a historical research project, (a link to there work will be provided at the end of this article. There interpretations is:

“Sir Richard Greenvil, Knight, lived and was richly landed at Bediford in this County. He was one of twelve peers which accompanied Robert Fitz-Haimon in his expedition against the Welsh, when he overthrew Rhese ap Theodore and divided the conquered country betwixt his assistants. This Sir Richard de Grenville though in his partage, good land was at Neath in Glamorganshire allotted unto him erecting and endowing a monastery at Neath for Cistercians, bestowing all his military acquests on them for their maintenance. Thus having finished and settled this foundation, he returned to his own patrimony at Bediford in this County, where he lived in great repute, 1100, under the reign of King Rufus, and may seem to have entailed hereditary valour on his name and still flourishing posterity.”

[History of the Worthies of England, by Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), published 1662, reprinted 1840]

Robert 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of Henry 1 and half-brother to the King’s legitimate daughter Matilda. When Henry died his daughter Matilda had understood she was the accepted heir to the throne of England. However, it is said that Henry had changed his mind and appointed Stephen of Blois to be his successor. This resulted in the Civil War of 1139-53 in which Robert Earl of Gloucester was the principal supporter of Matilda’s claim to the throne.

Earl Robert may well have asked, or obliged, Grenville to support him in the far west with the building of the castle at Kilkhampton and this may be the reason why the base of Grenville interest moved to Kilkhampton and from the 14th century their principal seat became nearby Stowe.

The image shows the earthworks today of the Castle at Kilkhampton.

Having set a background to Grenville ancestry in our region, the story jumps forward to 1323 when Sir Theobald de Grenville is born, and he became Sheriff of Devon and built the Bideford Long Bridge. As Sheriff of Devon, he was ordered by the King during the summer of 1347 to enforce an order against the Bishop of Exeter in the Court of Kings Bench. Grenville, at the head of an army of 500 persons marched to the bishop’s manor and seized goods equal to the imposed fine having killed some occupants of the manor. In January of the following year Grenville made an apology on bended knee to the Bishop in his great hall at Chudleigh.

Jumping three generations we come to Sir Thomas Grenville (1432-1483). He is the first family member to drop the use of “de” in the family name. He becomes Sheriff of Gloucester in 1480, but interestingly Sheriff of Cornwall in his final year of 1483.

The next Sir Thomas Grenville 11, (c1453-1513) He was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1481 and again in 1486. He supported the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses in his youth and took part in the conspiracy against King Richard 111. On the accession of King Henry V11 (1485-1509) Sir Thomas was appointed on of the “Esquires to the Body” to the king.

Sir Thomas’s son, Sir Roger Grenville was also Sheriff of Cornwall in 1529 and was present within the Cornish contingent at Henry V111 meeting with King Francis of France at the “Field of the Cloth of Gold” in the northern France, June 1520. (See Image.) He and his wife Margaret had three sons, one of whom was MP for Exeter three times.  His surviving heir was Sir Richard Grenville, (1495-1550)

Sir Richard (1495-1550) was now related to many of the great houses of Cornwall, including the Arundells. He was finding it difficult to finance his lifestyle and support all his relatives. He served as an MP for Cornwall, but did not attend often, partly as it drew him away from earning an income. He was appointed to a position in Calais, France but this did not go well, and he was suffering from an illness by this time. He returned to England to attend to his affairs and found many of his compatriots benefitting from the dissolution of monasteries, so he wrote to Cromwell to ask for Launceston priory: this he did not receive. He returned to Calais empty handed.

Later he was more successful: in May 1541 he obtained the rectory of Morwenstow, and the reversion of a lease of Buckland abbey for some £233, and in September 1546 he and a Roger Blewett paid nearly £1,170 for the manors of Tynyell in Landulph and Canonleigh in Burlescombe.

However, towards the end of his life, in 1549 came the Prayer Book Rebellion and many local people, plus the vicar of Poundstock, Simon Morton were active leaders. Many of the “Gentlemen” of Cornwall sought security in nearby castle and Grenville along with other friends defended Trematon castle. However, a number of his friends deserted him. Grenville was now an old man and was enticed outside to parley. He was seized and the castle ransacked. Sir Richard and his remaining companions were imprisoned in Launceston gaol. It is though that he contracted an illness there from which he died in 1550.

Image shows “The Keep” at Launceston Castle below which are the infamous dungeons.

The son of Sir Roger was yet another Richard. He became a heroic figure as Admiral Sir Richard Grenvile (1542-1591). We are now meeting members of the Grenville family that had direct impact in our Bede Haven (Bude) and Stratton story.

Sir Richard clearly was a person strongly influenced by a sense of destiny and heritage. He was not one to be influenced or deterred by anyone. It is said that he was born in Bideford and a modern plaque seems to confirm this (see image). But an early book on the history of Bideford says that he was probably born at Stowe in 1544 but in 1586 the family was living in Bideford and this is proven by a letter to the Admiralty (Bedyforde this 27th of February, 1586)

He achieved so much in his comparatively short life. He was elected as an MP in 1571 and High Sheriff od Cornwall in 1576. In this capacity he arrested of Cuthbert Mayne for ministering to Catholics and dragged him off to Launceston Castle where he was shackled in irons “and kept in the most lousy dungeon”. Then, on November 30, St Andrew’s Day 1577, Cuthbert Mayne was dragged on a hurdle to the Market Square, where he was hanged, drawn and quartered. A gruesome reminder of our past and of their times.  Sir Richard was rewarded with a Knighthood by the Queen for this and other services to the Crown. That same year, Sir Richard obtained funding from the Blanchminster Charity to improve the harbour at Bede Have (Bude) and it is believed that his neighbouring landlord at Ebbingford, Sir John Arundell, chose this time to build the tidal mill at the harbour mouth, effectively bridging the two sides of the estuary.

It is difficult to imagine how the position of such a person on the north side of the river Neet interacted with the rather quiet and, maybe, inarticulate, Sir John Arundell on the southside at Ebbingford.

Grenvile in 1584 or 85 departed Plymouth “with shippes and barkes for Wingane Dehoy where he carried 100 men therabowts”.  It is said that he discovered Carolina and Virginia; another report says that he took a fleet of seven ships and sailed from Plymouth and arrived at Roanoke, an island of the coast of Carolina and he founded a colony there. On the return journey, he captured a Spanish vessel, the Santa Maria, which was laden with goods worth £50,000.

In 1573, Queen Elizabeth 1 granted the Port of Bideford a Charter for trade with Virginia and Carolina and trade with the territory subsequently brought great prosperity and Bideford became very wealthy.

Sir Richard was also involved in the defeat of the Spanish Armada 1588 and Bideford’s share of trade with the Overseas Plantations grew significantly and was bettered only by London and Topsham near Exeter. So, although his home was at Stowe, his business interest appears to have been centred around Bideford.

(If you wish to learn more about Sir Richard Grenville, select Sir Richard from the drawdown menu.)

Sir Richard was also involved in the defeat of the Spanish Armada 1588 and Bideford’s share of trade with the Overseas Plantations grew significantly and was bettered only by London and Topsham near Exeter. So, although his home was at Stowe, his business interest appears to have been centred around Bideford.

In 1591, Sir Richard was involved at the battle of Flores fighting against an overwhelmingly larger Spanish fleet near the Azores.

The story goes that with his one vessel, he fought a three-day battle against 53 Spanish Ships, succeeding in sinking some and badly damaging many others. His ship, Revenge, was boarded three times but each time the Spanish were repulsed. The Revenge was ultimately overpowered, and Sir Richard died of his injuries 10th September 1591. He was, however, honoured by his Spanish captors in the light of the heroic actions, against overwhelming odds and Alfred Lord Tennyson was prompted to write his famous poem of the heroics, part of which is shown copied on last page of text.

Sir Richard had married Mary St Leger from Monkleigh, near Bideford and their eldest surviving son was to become Sir Bernard Grenville (1567-1636). He was also elected MP for Bodmin in 1597 and served as Sheriff of Cornwall in 1596-97 and Justice of the Peace and deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall in 1598. He was knighted in 1608 and was appointed a “Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Charles 1 in 1628. He married Elizabeth Bevill. Their eldest son was Sir Bevill Grenville (1596-1643) and it is not difficult to understand that with such ancestry, he was motivated to be the great leader of men that he demonstrated during his life and this story will form the second part of the Grenville history. (Photo of Sir Bevill Grenville.)

By Alfred Lord Tennyson

 

At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,
And a pinnace, like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away:
"Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!'
Then sware Lord Thomas Howard: " 'Fore God I am no coward;
But I cannot meet them here, for my ships are out of gear,
And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but follow quick.
We are six ships of the line; can we fight with fifty-three?

Then spake Sir Richard Grenville: "I know you are no coward;
You fly them for a moment to fight with them again.
But I've ninety men and more that are lying sick ashore.
I should count myself the coward if I left them, my Lord Howard,
To these Inquisition dogs and the devildoms of Spain.'

So Lord Howard past away with five ships of war that day,
Till he melted like a cloud in the silent summer heaven;
But Sir Richard bore in hand all his sick men from the land
Very carefully and slow,
Men of Bideford in Devon,
And we laid them on the ballast down below;
For we brought them all aboard,
And they blest him in their pain, that they were not left to Spain,
To the thumbscrew and the stake, for the glory of the Lord.

He had only a hundred seamen to work the ship and to fight,
And he sailed away from Flores till the Spaniard came in sight,
With his huge sea-castles heaving upon the weather bow.
"Shall we fight or shall we fly?
Good Sir Richard, tell us now,
For to fight is but to die!
There'll be little of us left by the time this sun be set.'
And Sir Richard said again: "We be all good English men.
Let us bang these dogs of Seville, the children of the devil,
For I never turned my back upon Don or devil yet.'

Sir Richard spoke and he laughed, and we roared a hurrah, and so
The little Revenge ran on sheer into the heart of the foe,
With her hundred fighters on deck, and her ninety sick below;
For half of their fleet to the right and half to the left were seen,
And the little Revenge ran on through the long sea-lane between.

Thousands of their soldiers looked down from their decks and laughed,
Thousands of their seamen made mock at the mad little craft
Running on and on, till delayed
By their mountain-like San Philip that, of fifteen hundred tons,
And up-shadowing high above us with her yawning tiers of guns,
Took the breath from our sails, and we stayed.

David and Jenny Carter of Nimrod Research (www.nimrodresearch.co.uk) has kindly given permission to use material related to their studies conducted on Grenville Ancestry on the pages above and other pages to follow.