Bagtor is an historic estate in the parish of

Ilsington Ilsington is a village and civil parish situated on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, Devon, England. It is one of the largest parishes in the county, and includes the villages of Ilsington, Haytor Vale, Liverton and South Knighton. The parish is s ...

in Devon, England. It was the birthplace of

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

(1586-c.1639) the playwright and poet. The Elizabethan mansion of the Ford family survives today at Bagtor as the service wing of a later house appended in about 1700.

Descent

Early records

The

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

of ''Bagetore'' is listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as the seventh of the twelve Devonshire holdings of

Nicholas the Bowman {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Nicholas the Bowman (fl. 1086) (or "Nicholas the Gunner", Latin: ''Nicolaus Balistarius'' or ''Archibalistarius''), also known as Nicholas ''de la Pole'', was a servant of King William the Conqueror (1066-1087) and w ...

, one of the 52

Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief The Domesday Book of 1086 lists in the following order the tenants-in-chief in Devonshire of King William the Conqueror: *Osbern FitzOsbern (died 1103), Bishop of Exeter *Geoffrey de Montbray (died 1093), Bishop of Coutances * Glastonbury Church, ...

of King

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

. His tenant was a certain Roger, and before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

of 1066 it was held by a Saxon named Ordric, who had held six of the manors later obtained by Nicholas the Bowman. The earliest holder of the manor of Bagtor recorded by the Devonshire historian Sir

William Pole William Pole FRS FRSE MICE (22 April 181430 December 1900) was an English engineer, astronomer, musician and an authority on Whist. Life He was born in Birmingham on 22 April 1814, the son of Thomas Pole. Pole was apprenticed as an engineer t ...

(d.1635) is the ''de Bagtor'' family. In the

Book of Fees The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs'), being a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, but f ...

(c.1302) it is recorded as held from the

feudal barony of Plympton The feudal barony of Plympton (or Honour of Plympton) was a large feudal barony in the county of Devon, England, whose ''caput'' was Plympton Castle and manor, Plympton. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the ...

by "William de Baggetorre", who also held Aller in Abbot's Kerswell, also a former holding of Nicholas the Bowman. According to Pole, it was subsequently held by the Beare family.

Ford

*John Ford (died 1538) of Ashburton (the son and heir of William Ford of

Chagford Chagford is a market town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign and the A382, 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name is derived from ''chag'', meaning gorse or broom, and ...

) purchased the estate of Bagtor. The Devonshire biographer John Prince supposes him to have been descended from the Fords of Fordmore, in Moreton Hampsted, settled there as early as the 12th century. He married three times, secondly to Joane Walrond, a daughter of William Walrond of Bovey in the parish of

Beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

, by whom he had issue: **George Forde (1521-1570) of Bagtor, son and heir (see below); **Margaret Ford, wife of

John Rolle (1522–1570) John Rolle (1522–1570) of Stevenstone, in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington, Devon, was the eldest son and heir of George Rolle (died 1552),Vivian, p.652, pedigree of Rolle MP, founder of the great Rolle family of Steven ...

Stevenstone Stevenstone is a former manor within the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same r ...

. *George Forde (1521-1570) of Bagtor, son and heir, who married Joan St Cleere, a daughter of Gilbert St Cleere of Budleigh. *Thomas Ford (1556–1610) of Bagtor, eldest son and heir, who married Elizabeth Popham (d.1629) of the

Popham family Popham may refer to: People Places * Popham, Hampshire, a small hamlet in the southern United Kingdom * The Popham Colony, a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America * Fort Popham Fort Popham is a Civil War-era coastal defens ...

Huntworth Huntworth is a small hamlet and farming community (population approximately 50), within the civil parish of North Petherton east of the M5 motorway from Bridgwater, Somerset, England. Huntworth was in the news on 5/12/19 as it was the epicent ...

in Somerset. Her monument survives in Ilsington Church. His second son was

(1586-c.1639) the playwright and poet. *Henry Ford (d.1616), eldest son and heir, who married Katharine Drake, daughter and sole heiress of George Drake of Spratshays in Littleham, Devon. He was buried at Littleham. His younger son Edward Ford (1596-1665) continued the Ford line at Ilsington, and was the father of John Ford (1632-1677) of

Dartington Dartington is a village in Devon, England. Its population is 876. The electoral ward of ''Dartington'' includes the surrounding area and had a population of 1,753 at the 2011 census. It is located west of the River Dart, south of Dartington H ...

, supposed by Lysons to have been the last in the line seated at Bagtor. Henry Ford's eldest son Sir Henry Ford (1617-1684) moved to the estate of

Nutwell Nutwell in the parish of Woodbury, East Devon, Woodbury on the south coast of Devon is a historic Manorialism, manor and the site of a Georgian neo-classical Listed building, Grade II* listed mansion house known as Nutwell Court. The house is s ...

. *Sir

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

(1617-1684), of

in Devon, eldest son of and heir, four times an MP for Tiverton, Devon, between 1664 and 1685 and twice Secretary to the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

, 1669–70 and 1672–73.

Later owners

Rev. Thomas Tothill resided at Bagtor. His daughter and heiress Penelope Tothill married Thomas Lane of Bradley, Newton Abbot; of Coffleet in

Yealmpton Yealmpton () is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is located in the South Hams on the A379 Plymouth to Kingsbridge road and is about from Plymouth. Its name derives from the River Yealm that flows through the villag ...

and of

Spridleston Spridleston (modern: Spriddlestone) is an historic manor in the parish of Brixton in Devon, England, long a seat of a branch of the prominent and widespread Fortescue family. The ancient manor house does not survive, but it is believed to have ...

, all in Devon,

Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

in 1784.Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, "Lane of Cofflee

/ref> (See

). Bagtor was later part of the large

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

estate of

John Dunning, 1st Baron Ashburton John Dunning, 1st Baron Ashburton (18 October 1731 – 18 August 1783), of Spitchwick the parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon, was an English lawyer and politician, born in Ashburton in Devon, who served as Solicitor-General from 1768. ...

(1731–1783), whose seat was at

Spitchwick Spitchwick is an historic estate situated within the parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon. The present 19th century mansion house known as Spitchwick Manor is situated four miles north-west of Ashburton, the gardens of which are open to the ...

, about 6 miles to the south-west.

Descent

Early records

Ford

Later owners

References

Further reading