Bowden is a historic estate in the parish of

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 ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England. From the 15th century until 1748 the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

was for eight generationsVivian, p.226 the seat of a junior branch of the Copleston family of

Copplestone Copplestone (anciently Copelaston, Coplestone etc.) is a village, former manor and civil parish in Mid Devon in the English county of Devon. It is not an ecclesiastical parish as it has no church of its own, which reflects its status as a re ...

. The manor house was largely rebuilt in the 19th century and, together with some of its outbuildings, now serves as a farmhouse.

History

The earliest holder of the estate 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), was John de Bowdon. It then passed via successive heiresses to the Lawtram and Stone families. Elizabeth Stone, daughter and heiress of Thomas Stone, married Walter Copleston, and Bowden descended for many generations as a seat of their Copleston descendants. *Walter Copleston was the third son of John Copleston (died 1458) of

in the parish of Colebrooke, Devon. *Thomas Copleston, son and heir, who married Catherine Vowell, a daughter of

William Fowell William Fowell (died 23 March 1507) of Fowelscombe in the parish of Ugborough in Devon, was a Member of Parliament for Totnes in Devon in 1455.Vivian, p.369 He was the son and heir of Richard Fowell of Fowelscombe by his wife Mary Walrond, a da ...

(died 1507) (or Vowell) of

Fowelscombe Fowelscombe is a historic manor in the parish of UgboroughRisdon, p.179 in Devon, England. The large ancient manor house known as Fowelscombe House survives only as an ivy-covered "romantic ruin" Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, Lo ...

in the parish of Ugborough, Devon, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

in Devon.

BrassInscription YealmptonChurch Devon IsabelFortescue Died1580 WifeOf JohnCopleston OfBowden

*John Copleston (born 1508), son and heir, who married Isabella Fortescue (died 3 September 1580), third daughter of Henry Fortescue of Preston, in the parish of

Newton Ferrers Newton Ferrers is a village and former manor and ecclesiastical parish in the English county of Devon; it is now in the civil parish of Newton and Noss. It is situated on a creek of the River Yealm estuary, about south-east of the City of Plym ...

, by his wife Elisabeth St Maur, a daughter of William St Maur

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

of the

manor of North Molton North Molton is a village, parish and former manor in North Devon, England. The population of the parish in 2001 was 1,047, decreasing to 721 in the 2011 census. An electoral ward with the same name also exists. The ward population at the cens ...

. A

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...

survives in St Bartholomew's Church, Yealmpton. *Henry Copleston, son and heir. *Arthur Copleston, son and heir, who in 1598 married Margaret Crymes, who survived him and remarried in 1607 to Oliver Whiddon. *Henry Copleston, son and heir, admitted as a law student to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1614. He married Mary Were (died 1630). Her

chest tomb Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...

monument survives in St Bartholomew's Church, Yealmpton, *Arthur Copleston (died 1681), brother, who in 1642 married Elizabeth Davie (born 1618), a daughter of

Sir John Davie, 1st Baronet Sir John Davie, 1st Baronet (1588–1654) of Creedy in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton, Devon, was a member of the Devonshire gentry and served as Member of Parliament for Tiverton in 1621-2 and as Sheriff of Devon (1629–1630). He was ...

Creedy, Sandford Creedy is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon. It is named from its location on the west side of the River Creedy. It was the seat of the Davie family (created Davie baronets in 1641) from about 1600 until the ...

, Devon. *John Copleston (born 1642/3), son and heir, who in 1670 married Mary Reynell (died 1720/1), eldest daughter of Thomas Reynell (1625-1697/8) of West Ogwell, Devon, a Member of Parliament and

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 ...

. *

Thomas Coplestone Thomas Coplestone (1688–1748) of Bowden, Yealmpton, Devon, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for 29 years from 1719 to 1748. Origins Coplestone was baptized on 25 May 1688 the eldest son of John Coples ...

(1688–1748), son and heir, a Member of Parliament for

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...

. He was the last in the male line of the Coplestons of Bowden. In 1753, after the death of Thomas Coplestone in 1748, his executors sold Bowden to William BastardRisdon, p.389 (1727-1782) of nearby Kitley in the parish of

,Vivian, p.51, pedigree of Bastard who was gazetted as a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1779 but as he took no steps towards passing the

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

the title was not used by him or his descendants.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* Risdon, Tristram (died 1640),
Survey of Devon
'. With considerable additions. London, 1811. * Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) ''The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620''. Exeter, 1895.

History

References

Sources

Further reading