Lupton is an historic manor in the parish of Brixham, Devon. The surviving manor house known as Lupton House, is a Palladian Country house built by Charles II Hayne (1747–1821),Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, pp. 829, 833 Sheriff of Devon in 1772Risdon, Tristram (d. 1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, UK (1811 list of sheriffs, p. 15) and Colonel of the North Devon Militia. It received a Grade II* listing in 1949.Gramercy Hall School, Lupton House profile, britishlistedbuildings.co.uk; accessed 19 April 2014.Lupton House profile, Parks & Gardens UK; accessed 21 April 2014. The park and gardens are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
At some time before 1792Swete, vol 1, p. 88, written in Rev. Swete's journal of 1792 it was sold by Charles II Hayne, who had only lived in his new house for about twenty years, to the judge Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet (1746–1800), of nearby Churston Court, which he let to a tenant.Gray, Todd & Rowe, Margery (eds.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of Reverend John Swete, 1789-1800, 4 vols, Tiverton, 1999, vol 1, p. 88 Judge Buller had another residence, on bleak Dartmoor, known as Prince Hall,Prince Hall profile, princehall.co.uk; accessed 19 April 2014. where he was a pioneer of moorland reclamation.Swete, vol 1, p. 91 In about 1840 the house was remodelled in the neo-classical style by his grandson, Sir John Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baronet (1799–1871; created Baron Churston of Churston Ferrers and Lupton in 1858), to the designs of George Wightwick. In 1862 further alterations, since demolished, were made to the designs of Anthony Salvin, who in 1826 had designed Mamhead House for the first baron's father-in-law, Sir Robert William Newman., bonhams.com; accessed 19 April 2014.
Descent of the manor
Domesday Book The manor of Lupton was listed as Lochetone in the Domesday Book of 1087 and formed one of the 107 Devonshire holdings of Juhel of Totnes, within his feudal barony of Totnes. Before the Norman Conquest of 1066 it was held by the Saxon Otre (Othere).Thorn, Caroline & Frank (eds), Domesday Book, (Morris, John, general editor), vol IX, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, pages 1, 17, 28
Peverell/Pennells
Lupton later became a seat of the Peverell family, which according to the Devon historian Tristram Risdon (d. 1640) occupied it for ten generations.Risdon, Tristram (d. 1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, p.158 Pole (d.1635) called this family "Peniles" of "Luckton (which) lieth in this parish of Brixham".Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.283 Vivian (1895) called them "Pennells".Vivian, Lt. Col. J.L., (ed.), The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pedigree of Upton, pp. 743-744 John Peverell (alias Pennells, Peniles, etc.) was the last of the male line and his heir was his sister, Agnes Peverell (or Pennells, etc.), wife of John Upton of Puslinch, the descendants from which marriage thus inherited the manor. Pole gave the arms of "Peniles of Luckton" as "Argent, on a chevron azure three fishes or".Pole, p.496 These arms are visible as the 4th of 8 quarterings of the arms of Sir William Strode (1562–1637) of Newnham on his mural monument in St Mary's Church, Plympton St Mary.
Upton
The ancient family of Upton originated at the Cornish manor of Upton. A notable member of this family was Nicholas UptonRisdon, p. 158 (1400? – 1457), English cleric, precentor of Salisbury, and writer on heraldry and the art of war. John Upton of Puslinch, Devon, married Agnes Peverell (or Pennells), heiress of Lupton. William Upton (son), married Joan Punt, daughter of John Punt of Derby. John Upton (d.1582), son, married Johana Raleigh, a daughter of Wymond Raleigh of Fardell in the parish of Cornwood, Devon, and an aunt of Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1554-1618), the famous explorer.Vivian, p.639, pedigree of Raleigh; p.744 John Upton (d. 1600), son, married Anne Cooper (d. 1573), daughter of Cooper of Somerset. Arthur Upton (son), married in 1585 Gertrude Fortescue (d. 1598) of Filleigh.Vivian, p.744, where her father is given as "Hugh Fortescue", not however listed in the Fortescue pedigree pp.352-67. A "Gertrude Fortescue", a daughter of Bartholomew Fortescue (d.1557), lived at this time, but was married to Sir Bernard Drake (d.1586) of Ash, known to have died from gaol fever at the notorious Lent Black Assize of Exeter from 14 March 1586 held at Exeter Castle John Upton (1590-1641; 3rd surviving son and heir), MP for Dartmouth, married in 1613 Dorothy Rous (or Rowse) (d. 1644), a daughter of Sir Anthony Rous (c. 1555–1620), MP, of Halton Barton (one of Cornwall's richest residentsHistory of Parliament biography here)and sister of Francis Rous (1579-1659), MP and theologian. Arthur Upton (1614-1662) (son), a Member of Parliament for DevonYerby & Hunneyball in 1654 and 1656 during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell.Yerby, George & Hunneyball, Paul, biography of "Upton, John (1590-1641), of Lupton, Brixham, Devon", published in: History of Parliament: House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010 In 1638 he married Elizabeth Gould (d. 1685), daughter of William Gould of Floyer Hayes in the parish of St Thomas, Exeter, and widow of Robert Haydon (1604-1634) of CadhayVivian, p. 459, pedigree of Haydon; p. 744, Upton in the parish of Ottery St Mary, Devon. John Upton (1639-1687), son, an MP for Dartmouth, who married Ursula Lytcott (d.1709), a daughter of Sir John Lytcott (died c.1645), of East Molesey in Surrey and widow of George Clerk of the City of London, merchant.Per monument in Brixham Church; Vivian, p.744 gives her incorrectly as daughter of George Clerk She erected a monument to her husband in St Mary's Church, Brixham, which survives. They had 3 sons two of whom died as infants, and one daughter who died aged 16, all of whom predeceased their father: Arthur I Upton (1666-1666), died an infant.Per father's monument Arthur II Upton (1667-1680), died an infant. John Upton (1668-1686), died aged 18 at Wadham College, Oxford. Ursula Upton (1671-1687), died aged 16, 17 days before her father.
Hayne
Charles I Hayne (d.1769), Sheriff of Devon and Colonel of the 4th Battalion Devon Militia, of Lupton and Fuge House in the parish of BlackawtonPevsner, p.186 in Devon, was the eldest son and heir of Cornelius Hayne (d.1733) who had inherited Lupton from his Upton ancestors. His son and heir was Charles II Hayne (1747-1821), Sheriff of Devon in 1772 and Colonel of the North Devon Militia, who inherited from his father Lupton and Fuge.Street, John. A Genealogy of the Rouses of Devon (2002), p. 72. The Hayne family had come to prominence in the person of John Hayne (d.1671) (grandfather of Cornelius Hayne), a merchant at Dartmouth during the reign of King Charles I (1625-1649), who had "acquired by inheritance and purchase various properties in Devon".Burke, 1871, p.605
Charles II Hayne was only 22 when he inherited Lupton in 1769 and he built Lupton House which largely survives today. He did not marry but lived there alone for about twenty years.Burke, Sir Bernard, Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain, Vol.I, London, 1871, p.605, pedigree of "Seale-Hayne of Fuge House and Kingswear Castle" In 1788 he sold Lupton to Judge Francis Buller and made Fuge House his principal residence. He died in 1821, having bequeathed Fuge House to his great-nephew Charles I Seale-Hayne (d.1842) (on condition he should adopt the additional surname of Hayne), the second son of Sir John Henry Seale, 1st Baronet (1780–1844), of Mount Boone, Dartmouth, the son of his sister Sarah Hayne. The son of Charles I Seale-Hayne was Charles II Seale-Hayne (1833-1903), Member of Parliament for Ashburton in Devon (1885-1903) and Paymaster General (1892-1895), who by his will founded Seale-Hayne College near Newton Abbot in Devon.
Buller
The ancient family of Buller is descended from Ralph Buller of Word in Somerset, sixth in descent from whom was Richard Buller who settled in Cornwall and married the heiress of Tregarrick.Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, p. 277, Buller of Downes They derived much of their political power from their kinship to the Trelawny family of Trelawny in the parish of Pelynt, Cornwall, who controlled the pocket borough of nearby East Looe.History of Parliament: House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970 John Buller (1632–1716), MP, of Shillingham near Saltash, in Cornwall, married Anne Coode, daughter and sole heiress of John Coode of Morval in Cornwall, which then became the family's principal seat.
Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet (1746-1800)
Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet (1746-1800) "since the acquisition of so fine a place (i.e. Lupton) hath quitted Churston, the antient seat of the Yarde's", as wrote Rev. John Swete in 1793.Swete, vol 1, p.191 Churston Court is about one mile north of Lupton, and long remained a possession of the Buller family after the purchase of Lupton. Sir Francis Buller was the third son of James Buller (1717-1765) of Morval in Cornwall and of Downes, Crediton and of New Place, King's Nympton in Devon, a Member of Parliament for East Looe in Cornwall (1741-7) and for the County of Cornwall (1748-1765). Francis Buller's mother was Lady Jane Bathurst, his father's second wife, a daughter of Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst. Morval, the most ancient Buller seat, and Downes, were inherited by his father's eldest son from his first marriage, and thus Francis as a younger son, had to make his own fortune. The Buller family had a history of service in politics, church and law. Francis was an excellent student and at the age of seventeen he entered the Inner Temple to study law. In the same year he married Susanna Yarde, six years his senior, daughter and heiress of Francis Yarde of Churston. He began practicing law aged 19 and was immediately successful.James Oldham, "Buller, Sir Francis, first baronet (1746–1800)" profile, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (subscription required) Aged 32, he became a judge and in 1789 he was made a baronet. Judge Buller also had a residence on Dartmoor known as Prince Hall where he was a pioneer of moorland reclamation.Swete, vol 1, p.91 In 1788 Francis bought Lupton House. He immediately began an extensive programme of planting and landscape improvement. The topographer and landscaping connoisseur Rev. John Swete visited the house in 1793 and painted the property as shown above. He noted that the north drive passed through 'newly planted grounds' and 'a most luxuriant shrubbery' which included a "great variety of flowering shrubs".Swete, vol 1, p.190; "Lupton Park", English Heritage online reference here
Sir Francis Buller-Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baronet (1767–1833) Sir Francis Buller-Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baronet (1767–1833), son and heir, who inherited Lupton and Churston. He incorporated his mother's maiden name into his surname. He married Elizabeth Holliday, only daughter and sole heiress of John Holliday. of Dilhorne Hall in the parish of Dilhorne, Staffordshire.The Assembled Commons; or, Parliamentary biographer, with an abstract of the ..., By Parliament, Commons, lists, p.42 The couple did not live at Lupton House and for some years it was let.
John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston (1799-1871)
John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston (1799-1871), son and heir, 3rd Baronet, in 1858 created Baron Churston "of Churston-Ferrers and Lupton, Devon",Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968, p.254