Het ontstaan van de naam Biddulph

Biddulph

This name and family claims a Saxon origin and derivation such as few now extant in England can boast.

Biddulph , variously written Bydulf , Bradulf , &c. is a word purely Saxon, compounded of Bid , Biedw , and Ulf , or Wulf , literally the wolf-killer. The latter entered into the composition of a vast number of names during the Heptarch , as Ethelwulf , Ceolwulf , &c. when skill and courage in the chase of the hordes of this ferocious animal must have been held in high estimation. (A different origin of the name is suggested in our Baronetage, but as this is confirmed by the arms, and was adopted by the late learned antiquary, the Rev. John Whitaker , a connexion of the family, it is probably correct. We trace the same in other languages, as Hugh Lupus , Canteloupe , &c. and even in the heroic ages we have 'avri??eov ??, in the Catalogue of Homer 's Chieftains.)

That a family of this name existed in the Saxon times in the northern parts, we have evidence in the early chronicles, in which we find "A.D. 790, Beadulfus , or Baldulf , consecrated Bishop of Whitern , on the 16 day before the Calends of Aug , by Archbishop Eanbald , of York , and Bishop Ethelbert . Whitern was the capital of the kingdom of Galloway , on the other side of the Solway Frith , then recently subdued from the Strath-cluyd Britons , under Walwein , nephew of the great Arthur , and becoming a province of the potent Northumbrian kingdom of the Heptarchy , received both its civil and spiritual governors from York .

The date of Bishop Beadulf 's death is not recorded, but it appears that he visited his native province on solemn occasions, as we find him on the death of Ethelred , assisting Archbishop Eanbald , and other bishops, by whom Erdulf , the successor in the Northumbrian kingdom, "was consecrated and raised to his throne at York , on the 07 day before the Calends of Jun , A.D. 795."

Biddulph (Bidulf , or Beadulf according to the old Saxon orthography) is a village and lordship in the north part of the county of Stafford , or "the Moorlands," on the very borders of Cheshire , which either acquired its name from its possessors, or conferred it on them. It had fallen to the crown by their resistance to the Norman invasion, like the greater part of the lands in England , and, not having been granted out, was recorded among the "Terra regis," in the Domesday Survey, and unlike the most part of it, appears to have been restored, through a female representative, to the line of its ancient owners.

"The Biddulphs do derive themselves (says Erdeswick ) from one Ormus le Guidon, the son of Ricardus Forestarius " of Norman race, who held, as appears by Domesday, ten lordships in the county of Stafford , which were conferred upon him in reward of his services. Biddulph , and other large possessions were not included in these.

The tradition is that Richard the Forester was only sixteen years of age when he came in, and that subsequently, having the Saxon heiress given to him in marriage, these latter were restored either to him or to his son, in whose possession we find them in the succeeding reign. A great part of these estates lay in a wild country bordered by the river Trent , and much covered with wood,-he thence probably derived the designation of Forestarius, for, he may Rufus , Beauclerc ; or by their office or employment, as Forestarius, and his neighbour de Ferrarius , or Ferrers . Thus Ormus "le Guidon" must have been a Standard-bearer to the king, or to one of the great barons de Toni , (Stafford ) Ferrers , Chester , or Shrewsbury , whose territories lay in the same neighbourhood as his own, and with whom it seems Richard and his son were joined, when the chivalry of Cheshire and Stafford were led against the Welch in the reigns of William the First, and William Rufus , to the end of which latter, the Forrester, having survived his master the Conqueror, seems to have lived.

Ormus le Guidon , his only son, succeeded him in all his possessions. He was also called de Darleston , from a Lordship near Stone , the seat of his principal residence. He wedded . . . . the daughter of Nicolas de Beauchamp , (In a later age, there has been another intermarriage between one branch of the Biddulphs , and the female representative of one line of the Beauchamps .) Vice Com. de Stafford , by Emmeline , daughter and heir of Urso de Abitot , both great and powerful nobles. Ormus , it should seem, lived through the reigns of the William II. Henry I. and Stephen. What part he took in the affairs of those stirring times is not precisely stated, nor under whose banner he acquired his honourable cognomen. As large possessions were conferred upon him, in addition to those which he inherited from his father Richard the Forester, and those he held as predatory to the church of Burton , (A series of documents is extant, taken from the Registers of Burton Abbey, exhibiting the nature of the connexion between the convent, and successive heads of this powerful family, and not only establishing several points of its history, but curious, as throwing light upon the manners and habits of the age.

The first of these is a "Convention" made between Godfrey Abbot, of Burton , and Ormus de Darlaveston (as he is called) done in a chapter held of the monks, who were assenting to the grant. "The abbot granted Darlweston to Ormus , himself, and to his son Robert , born of the dau. of Nicholas , the Viscount, for nine-pence yearly rent. The said Ormus , and his son, on their part, were to entertain hospitably the abbot, whenever he would, and to aid and assist him, with his followers and vassals, whenever he had need; and, upon their death, their bodies were to be carried to Burton , to be buried, where they were to be very honorably received by the monks. And, with them was to be brought the whole of their chattels, whatever they had in all places. In like manner concerning the wife of Ormus , when she died; her body was to be received with great honour, and buried at Burton ." Other sunilar "conventions" with their descendants appear.

Such was the nature of the relations established in those times between the church and the great land-owners, involving on the part of the latter, protection and aid of the strong arm, for the weaker party, whose lands they held at an easy rate; hospitality and mutual good offices on the part of both; and, on that of the church, what might best tend to soften the rude habits and dispositions of these military tenants, and their followers-a kindly provision of the offices of religion, following them, as we have seen, to the last solemn rites of the tomb.

There is documentary evidence of connection with Ranulph , Earl of Chester , one of the most accomplished nobles of his time, and son-in-law to Robert Earl of Gloucester , which probably determined the line which Ormus and his son Robert took in the contest for the succession between Stephen and the Empress Maud , and her son Henry II. into whose reign a comparison of the dates in the Burton Abbey Register, leads us to suppose that he lived to see the establishment of the line of Plantagenet on the throne.

Ormus had four sons by the daughter of Nicholas Beauchamp , Vice com. de Stafford ; Robert , Edward , Thomas , and Alured . His eldest son, Robert , succeeded him at Darleston , as predatory to the Abbey of Burton , as well as to the greater part of his lay possessions.

Robert 's son, Ralph de Darleston , dying s. p. his sister Alina , m. to Ingenulfus de Gresley , was his heir. She divided the family possessions as follows:-

Darleston , Fenton , and part of Biddulph , to Avisia , her daughter, the wife of Henry de Verdon , which, after three descents came to Alicia de Verdon , who m. Edward Manwaring , third brother of Sir Ranulf Manwaring , knt. of Pever , in Cheshire , in which family part of Biddulph remains to this day. Tunstall , Chattersly , and Chell , to her other daughter Petronella , m. to Henry de Audeley (Aldithelegh ) founder of the ancient and noble line of Audley . To Roger , the son of Edward , her uncle, Middle-Biddulph . To Thomas , her other uncle, she gave Over-Biddulph, and Normanscote . And to Alured , her third uncle, Knipersly ; his descendants taking their name from the place from temp. Hen. III. till 2nd Rich. II. when Katherine , the heiress of Knippersly , carried the estate into the family of Bowyer , in which a Baronetcy (since extinct) was created in 1660 . The male line of the Bowyers , however, failed, and the representation passed, through female heirs, to Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley , bart. and Charles Bowyer Adderly , esq. of Hams , in the county of Warwick .

Of the descendants of Ormus , the descent is thus shortly traced, of the female elder branch, through the Verdons , Manwarings , and Audleys , and of his fourth son, Alured , to the Bowyers , &c.

The descendants of Thomas , the third son, took the name of Overton , from inheriting Over-Biddulph , and after five descents merged in the second branch, by the marriage of Cicily , the daughter and heir of Thomas Overton , with John de Biddulph .

But the lineal male representative of Ormus le Guidon (on failure of the male line of Robert de Darleston , his eldest son) and the direct line of Biddulph come from Edward , his second son, who first took the name of Biddulph from that part of the family possessions, which has continued in the same line in direct uninterrupted dedescent for twenty generations, during a period of more than seven hundred years.

The seat of their residence was on or near the same scite on which the noble edifice, now in ruins, was afterwards erected; but, like the Norman buildings in general, of far different character, rude and massive, affording little accommodation but a strong hold, such as the times required, and to which its situation, placed high, and on the very verge of the Moorlands , must have greatly contributed.

Edward 's son, Roger de Biddulph , succeeded to these possessions in the division made of the great estates of his grandfather Ormus , between his male representatives and the Audleys and Verdons , in right of the female branches.

It should seem that the whole kindred adhered to King John , being of the number of "those Lords who (as the Chronicle says) were constant to him with all his faults."

17 Henry III. , A.D. 1223 , Henry de Audley , founded Hilton Abbey, near his Castle of Helegh , and endowed it with lands in puram. et perpet. eleemosynam. Of these, Normanscote was derived from the gift or confirmation of his cousin, Sir Henry Biddulph , knt., son of Thomas de Overton , or Over-Biddulph , it having been part of the family possessions from the Conquest. It appears that other parts of the territories of the Barons of Audley were derived from the same stock, as in the Charter of Confirmation of King Henry III. in addition to those by grant from the great Ranulf , Earl of Chester , and Hugh de Lacy , Constable of Chester (with both of whom all this Staffordshire kindred seem to have been strictly allied) there are comprised,

"Ex dono Nic. de Verdon, Aldithlegh cum omnibus pertinent, et libert. suis." "Ex. dono Engenulfi de Gresley, et Alivæ ux. ejus Tunstall, &c." And lands "Ex dono Margaretæ de extraneo, filiæ Guidonis extranei;" a dau. it is presumed of Ormus .

Hilton Abbey was, according to the custom of those times, the burial-place of the founders and their kindred, but its ruins afford no trace of their tombs.

The family which had been thus "constant to the father, were more tender of the son," and continued their devotion to the race of Plantagenet, in the person of Henry III. They were particularly attached to his brother Richard , Earl of Cornwall , whom James de Audley attended when he was crowned King of the Romans, at Aix la Chapelle, in 1257 .

In the great Barons' wars, headed by the powerful Simon de Montfort , the Earl of Leicester , they were loyal to their king, (the Earl of Cornwall , and many of the northern lords, being drawn over to his side,) and aided Prince Edward in the battle of Evesham , where the defeat and death of Mountfort ultimately broke the power of the confederate Barons. An antient seal, bearing the impress of the Arms of Biddulph , was lately dug up in the neighbourhood.

The race of Ormus , however, became allied to that powerful family, and through that connection to Llewellyn , the last and gallant Prince of Wales , Felicia , fourth in descent from the founder of the Biddulphs , having married Robert , youngest son of Simon de Montfort , who, after the discomfiture and death of the Earl, remained privately in England , and changed his name to Wellesborne , while his elder brothers, Simon and Grey , being banished, became the respective founders of the foreign lines of Mountfort , Earl of Bigorre , in France , and then of the Mountfords , of Tuscany , and the Earls of Campo-Bacchi in Naples .

In the 54th Henry III. 1270 , it seems that Thomas de Biddulph , with his kinsman James de Audley , attended Prince Edward in the Crusade to the Holy Land, which he undertook, accompanied by Elinor , afterwards his Queen, when Acon was gallantly rescued from the infidels. There is a tradition to this day in the neighbourhood of Biddulph , that certain families, whose lineaments betray their Eastern origin, are descendants of some Saracen followers, who attended their master on his return from this crusade.

Robert de Biddulph was, with his kinsman, James de Audley , at the battle of Poictiers , when the French king was taken under Edward III.

The Staffordshire vassals of The Forester

They formed the right wing of the English army under Henry V. , and particulars are given of a skirmish near Amiens , some days before the battle of Agincourt , when, being charged by the French, they recovered the Standard of Hugh Stafford , Lord Bouchier , and completely routed their assailants.

In the wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster , this Staffordshire kindred adhered to the fortunes of the latter, and fought under the cognizance of the Red Rose. They suffered severely early in this lamentable contest at the battle of Bloreheath , A.D. 1459 , in their own neighbourhood, at which Lord Audley , who commanded, with most of the gentlemen who gallantly fought in that cause, were slain.

In the reign of Henry VIII. the family of Biddulph became divided into two branches. The elder line, represented by Sir Richard Biddulph , knt., who succeeded to the estates, adhered steadily to the principles and faith of their ancestors during all the religious revolutions of that and the succeeding reigns, with many of the ancient families in the northern parts of England .

Richard Biddulph , of Biddulph , son of William of Biddulph , and the direct descendant of Ormus le Guidon , had two sons,

I. Richard (Sir), his heir.

II. Symon , who settled at Elmhurst , embraced the established forms of the Protestant faith, and married Joyce , dau. of Sir Robert Weston , sprung from a common ancestor with the Earls of Portland . Being the father of a numerous offspring, the hive sent forth its swarms, and, as has been often the case in the cadets of ancient houses, some of them devoting themselves to the higher branches of commerce, laid the foundations of future opulence, and became the parent stocks of flourishing branches, destined to carry on, and maintain the family name, when, after many generations, the elder line should become gradually extinct. Symon was father of another

Symon Biddulph , esq. of Elmburst , whose son,

Symon Biddulph , esq. (A house near Lichfield , since taken down, of which a print is given in Plot , who dedicates it to "the worshipful, the generous, the much honoured gentleman, Michael Biddulph , esq. of Elmhurst .") of Elmhurst , d. in 1632 , leaving by Joyce , his wife, dau. of Richard Floyer , esq., of Uttoxeter , several sons and daughters, of whom,

1. Michael , of Elmhurst , m. Elizabeth , dau. of Sir W. Skeffington , bart. of Fisherwick , and had issue,

Michael , of Elmhurst , who d. s. p. in 1666 .

Theophilus , of Westcombe , in Kent , who was created a Baronet in 1664 . (We may here mention an anecdote relative to the Baronet's line-that Farqubar , who wrote his "Beaux Stratagem," at Litchfield , took the character of his Lady Bountiful from Lady Biddulph , then residing at the Palace there, as he did his Boniface from the Landlord of the George , and Cherry , from his daughter.) (See Burke's Peerage & Baronetage.)

2. George , a merchant in London , died unm.

3. Anthony , founder of the lines of Polesworth , Ledbury , Amroth Castle , &c. which see.

4. John , 5. Humphrey , one of these gentlemen entered into the service of the East India Company, and was of those enterprizing men who laid the foundation of its splendid empire. He was agent to the company at Surat in 1616 .

6. William , in holy orders: this gentleman seems likewise to have been no way deficient in spirit and talents. He was Chaplain to the English Factory, at Aleppo , in the reign of James I. Of his travels there is a most curious account in "the Collection of Voyages from the library of the Earl of Oxford ." (It is entitled "The Preacher's Travels," and purports to be, "The ten years' travels of four Englishmen and a Preacher, into Africa , Asia , Troy , Bithynia , Thracia , the Black Sea, Syria , Cilicia , Pisidia , Mesopotamia , Damascus , Canaan , Galilee , Samaria , Judæa , Palæstina , Jerusalem , Jericho , and to the Red Sea, and divers other places, very useful to travellers, and no less delightful to all persons who take pleasure to hear of the manners, government, religion, and customs, of foreign and heathen countries." The Editor describes Mr. William Biddulph , as "Preacher to the Company of English Merchants residing in Aleppo ," and testifies to his "learning, sound judgment, and veracity, and, as not having delivered every thing that was told for a truth, but examined every particular with judgment and reason."

In one of his letters "he relateth his travels from Aleppo to Jernsalem , by the Sea of Galilee , or Tiberias , and the Lake of Gennesareth , and so through the whole land of Canaan , which way was never travelled by any Englishman before. And this journey," he quaintly observes, in conclusion, "may be called Jacob 's journey, because all the whole way which they travelled thither, is the way which Jacob travelled from Bethel to Beersheba , to his uncle Laban 's house, at Padanaran , in Mesopotamia ."

He appears to have been at Jerusalem at Easter , 1611 .

His admonition to his "loving countrymen, that either shall hereafter serve in the wars of Hungary , against the Turks , or trade in those places. utterly to detest the Turkish religion, is very characteristic and becoming his sacred profession. He compares heathenism and mahometanism to glass,-"touch not glass, for though it be bright, yet it is brittle; it cannot endure the hammer;" and christianism to gold; "do you melt it, or do you rub it, or do you beat it, it shineth still more orient."

The eldest son,

Sir Richard Biddulph , knt. succeeded to the family estates, temp. Henry VIII. He m. Petronilla , dau. of Sir Robert Aston , of an ancient family, seated in the counties of Stafford and Chester , and had a son and successor,

Richard Biddulph , of Biddulph , who wedded Margaret , dau. and co-heir of Sir John Salwey , by Margaret , his wife, dau. of Hugh Erdeswick , (see, vol. i. p. 153,) and was succeeded by his son,

Francis Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph , who m. Isabel , dau. of Sir Thomas Giffard , of Chillington , and had a son Richard , his heir. The reigu of Elizabeth was distinguished by the noble mansions which the representatives of the ancient families erected on their domains, in the style which is called the "Tudor architecture." The house which Francis Biddulph built at Biddulph , appears, from the noble ruins still extant, to have all the best features of this style. (Its date A. D. 1558 , appears on the arched entrance which, opening in the southern front, is enriched with pilasters and other ornaments, well carved and modelled in the Italian style. then blended (by the encouragement given to Italian architects) with the features of English architecture, which, borrowed both from the ecclesiastical and castellated style, mixed with a revival of Roman forms. The pilasters and ornaments are renewed on the second story, accompanying a gallery, or balcony, over the gate, surmounted by a sort of battlemented pyramid, while the principal apartments on this side end in two noble bays, or oriels, also carried up to the same height. On the other side are similar bays, of noble proportions, and on the north rises a lofty tower, ending in a dome, which is vaulted with stone, moulded into the shape of scales, in a singular, but most effective manner. The whole is of beautiful grey stone, and does credit to the spirit and magnificence of the founder, who little thought that an edifice, calculated to be the residence of his family for ages, would, within less than a century, fall a sacrifice to democratic and puritanical violence.) The son and successor, Richard Biddulph esq. of Biddulph , born in 1559 , married Ann , daughter of - Draycott , esq. of Paynsley , and had issue,

John , his heir.

Mary . m. to Christopher Clough , esq. of Mindtoun , Salop .

Frances , m. to Marmaduke Holdby , esq. of Shakelton , county of York .

Anne , m. to Thomas Worthington , of Lancashire .

The son and heir,

John Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph , lived in the troubled times of the first Charles, when both branches of the family, the Catholic and the Protestant, espoused with zeal the royal cause, and suffered severely for their devotion. John Biddulph , of Biddulph , contributed men and money, with the other Catholics of Staffordshire , to the formation of the king's first army; that which fought at Edgehill . Biddulph-Hall was soon after garrisoned, and made a strong and important post in keeping up the communications with Chester , &c. A younger brother of the family was one of the gentlemen of Staffordshire , who seized, and kept the Close of Litchfield , until it was retaken by the Parliamentary forces under Lord Brook , who, during the siege took possession of, and occupied as quarters, the house of Mr. Michael Biddulph , of Elmhurst , then M.P. for the city. In the subsequent fight at Hopton Heath , this "Captain Biddulph " fell at the head of his troop, gallantly seconding the charge of the Earl of Northampton , with whose family the Biddulphs were now, or shortly after connected, by the marriage of Mary ; daughter of Francis Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph , with George Compton , esq. of Brambletye-house. Biddulph-hall , as it was one of the first of the posts garrisoned for the king, was one of the last to surrender. We find a garrison there even after the disastrous battle of Marston Moor ; and early in 1645 , the king, in person, visited all those quarters, in his way to Chester , shortly before his last fight at Naseby , after which Biddulph Hall was plundered and laid in ruins, except the

Captain Biddulph m. Mary , daughter of Thomas Eyre , esq. of Hassop , and had issue,

I. Francis , his heir.

II. John , or, Thomas , who was groom of the chamber to James II. and, with the Duke of Berwick , was the only attendant of the unfortunate Prince when he stepped into the boat at Sheernesss, and severed himself for ever from the British soil and crown.

I. Prudence , m. to John Crompton , esq. of Milnwich , county of Stafford .

II. Dorothy , m. to Thomas Lane . The Biddulphs were also connected by another intermarriage with the royalist family of the Lanes . Jane Lane , who assisted in the escape of Charles II. being Aunt to Jane , wife of Symon Biddulph , esq. of Frankton and Birbury , to whom she bequeathed a splendid sapphire jewel, presented to her by the Queen of Bohemia , which, with a noble picture by Vandyke , of Charles and his Queen, (both now in possession of the Warwickshire family,) and a baronetcy conferred on Sir Theophilus Biddulph , in 1664 , were the memorials of the distinguished loyalty of the Protestant branch of this family during those disastrous times.

John Biddulph died in 1642 , and was succeeded by his son,

Francis Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph , b. 07 Apr 1619 , who m. Margaret , dau. of George Preston , esq. of Holker , and had issue,

I. Richard , his heir.

II. John .

III. Henry , died in 1683 , s. p.

I. Mary , m. to George Compton , esq. of Brambletye , county of Sussex .

II. Margaret , died unm.

III. Anne , died unm.

The eldest son and successor,

Richard Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph , aged 19, on the 07 Apr 1663 , wedded Ann , dau. of Sir Henry Goring , and heiress to her brother Sir Wm. Goring , bart., and had issue,

I. John , his heir.

II. Francis , buried at Burton , 1749 .

III. Richard .

I. Elizabeth , married to Charles , Lord Dormer .

II. Ann , m. to Anthony Wright , esq. of Whealside , Essex .

Mr. Biddulph died before 1679 , was buried at Burton , and succeeded by his son,

John Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph and Burton , who m. Mary , daughter of Charles Arundel , esq. and had issue,

I. Richard .

II. Charles .

He died in May 1720 , aged 45, was buried at Burt , and succeeded in the representation of the family by his elder son,

Richard Biddulph , esq. of Boderton , who died unmarried, in 1767 , aged 60, and was succeeded by his brother,

Charles Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph and Burton , who m. 1st. Elizabeth , dau. of Sir Henry Bedingfeld , bart. of Oxburgh , and, 2dly, Frances-Appollonia , dau. of George Brownlow Doughty , esq. of Snarford Hall , Lincolnshire , and widow of Henry Wells , esq. By the first lady, only, who died in 1763 , he had issue, viz.

I. John , his heir.

II. Charles , d. unm. 1821 .

III. Thomas , m. in France , Miss Faucart , but d. s. p. in 1789 .

I. Mary .

Mr. Biddulph died 17 May 1784 , and was succeeded by his eldest son, the present John Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph and Burton .

Arms-Vert, an eagle displayed arg.

Crests-1st, a lion rampant, ppr. 2nd, a wolf sejant, arg. wounded on the shoulder, ppr.

Motto-Sublimiora petamus.

Estates-Biddulph Hall estates in Staffordshire ; Burton Park and Brambletye House , in Sussex .

Seat-Burton Park , Sussex .

Name: John Biddulph , esq. of Ledbury , in the county of Hereford , b. in Mar 1768 , m. 09 Sep 1797 , Miss Augusta Roberts , and has, with six daughters, four sons, viz.

I. Robert , M.P. for the borough of Hereford , and a magistrate and deputy lieutenant of the county.

II. John .

III. Francis-Thomas .

IV. Ormus .

Mr. Biddulph succeeded to his paternal estates upon the demise of his mother in 1818 . He is a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Herefordshire , and served the office of sheriff in 1820-1821 .

Anthony Biddulph , esq. baptized at Stowe in 1584 , younger son of Symon Biddulph , of Elmhurst , and the direct descendant of the family seated at Biddulph (see page 283), wedded Elizabeth , daughter of Robert Palmer , esq. alderman of London , and was father of

Michael Biddulph , esq. who m. Frances , daughter of Sir William Kingston , bart. and had a son and successor,

Robert Biddulph , esq. who m. Mary , daughter of Sir William Cullen , bart. of East Sheen , and dying in 1670 , was succeeded by his son,

Anthony Biddulph , esq. who first settled at Ledbury , in the county of Hereford . He married Constance , daughter and co-heir of Francis Hall , esq. and had three sons, viz.

I. Robert , his heir.

II. Francis , who married thrice. By his first and second wife he had two daughters; Constance , m. to the Rev. Thomas Salwey , LL.D. (see vol. i. p. 154), and Anne , m. to Benjamin Baugh , esq. of Ludlow . By the third, Margaret , widow of Reginald Pindar , esq. of Kempley , in the county of Gloucester , and daughter and heir of William Lygon , esq. of Madresfield , in Worcestershire , representative of Richard , last Lord Beauchamp of Powick , which title, extinct temp. Henry VI. has been revived in favour of her descendants by Mr. Pindar , since raised to the earldom of Beauchamp , he had a son,

Thomas , in holy orders, who m. first, Martha , daughter and co-heir of the Rev. John Tregenna , representative of the ancient family of Tregenna Castle , in Cornwall , and had one son,

The Rev. Thomas Tregenna Biddulph , A.M. born at Worcester , minister of St. James's, Bristol , who married Rachel , daughter of Zachary Shrapnel , esq. of Bradford, Wilts , and sister of Major-General Henry Shrapnel , R. A. and had issue,

1. Thomas-Shrapnel , of Amroth Castle , in the county of Pembroke , in holy orders, prebendary of Brecon , a magistrate for the counties of Carmarthen and Pembroke , m. Charlotte , daughter of the Rev. James Stillingfleet , prebendary of Worcester , by Elizabeth , his wife, daughter of William Hale , esq. of King's Walden, Herts , and has issue,

Francis-John .

Michael-Anthony .

Thomas - Edward - Stillingfleet .

Margaret-Anne .

Frances - Augusta - Charlotte .

2. Zachariah-Henry , B.D. late fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford , vicar of Shoreham , in Sussex , Backwell , in Somersetshire .

3. Theophilus , late of Oxford University, m. Catherine , daughter of John Lindon , esq.

1. Rachel-Lydia , m. to the Rev. Charles Henning .

2. Henrietta , m. to William Pinchard , esq.

The Rev. Thomas Biddulph wedded, secondly, Sarah , daughter of Chauncey Townsend , esq. and had two daughters,

Frances-Phipps , m. to James Townsend , esq. commander R.N.

Charlotte-Louisa , m. to George Vizard , esq.

III. Michael , a bencher of Lincoln's Inn, d. s. p. in 1758 .

Anthony Biddulph died in 1717 , and was succeeded by his son,

Robert Biddulph , esq. of Ledbury , who married Anne , daughter of Benjamin Jolliffe , esq. of Cofton Hall , in the county of Worcester , by Mary , his wife, sister of Sir William Jolliffe , bart. (see vol. i. p. 517), and had three sons,

I. Michael , his heir.

II. Benjamin , in holy orders, who left one son,

Benjamin , of Burghill , in Herefordshire .

III. Francis , banker, of Charing Cross , d. s. p.

The eldest son,

Michael Biddulph , esq. of Ledbury and Cofton Hall , wedded Penelope , eldest daughter of John Dandridge , esq. of Balden's Green , Malvern, Worcestershire , and had issue,

I. Robert , who m. Charlotte , eldest daughter and co-heir of Richard Myddelton , esq. of Chirk Castle , in Denbighshire , M.P. for the county of Hereford , and died in 1814 , leaving two sons and one daughter, viz.

1. Robert Middelton - Biddulph , esq. of Chirk Castle , late M.P. for Denbighshire .

2. Thomas , an officer in the Guards.

1. Charlotte .

II. John .

I. Penelope , widow of Adam Gordon , esq. of Denmark Hill, Surrey .

II. Mary-Anne , widow of Robert Phillipps , esq. of Longworth , Herefordshire .

III. Anne , widow of David Gordon , esq. of Abergeldie , in Aberdeenshire .

IV. Harriet , m. to Thomas Woodyatt , esq. R. N. of Holly Mount , Worcestershire .

Mr. Biddulph died 06 Dec 1800 , and was succeeded at Ledbury by his second son, the present John Biddulph , esq. of Ledbury .

Arms, Crest, and Motto-see Biddulph, of Biddulph.

Estates and Seats-The different branches of the Biddulph family are thus seated:-

1. Staffordshire : Biddulph Hall estates. Sussex : Burton Park , and Brambletye House. John Biddulph , esq. of Biddulph .

2. Warwickshire : the estates of Sir Theophilus Biddulph , bart.

3. Herefordshire : the estates and seats of John Biddulph , esq. of Ledbury , and of Benjamin Biddulph , esq. of Burghill .

4. North Wales : the seat and estates of Robert Myddelton-Biddulph , esq. of Chirk Castle .

5. South Wales : 1. The possessions in Caermarthen and Pembrokeshire of John Biddulph , jun. esq. of Llangennick , and of Francis-Thomas Biddulph , esq. bankers. 2. Estates and collieries in Pembrokeshire , of the Rev. Thomas-Shrapnel Biddulph , of Amroth Castle .