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Humphrey Sydenham (24 October 1694 – 12 August 1757), "The Learned", of
Combe, Dulverton Combe is a historic estate in Somerset, England, situated between the town of Dulverton and the village of Brushford. Descent Taunton Priory Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, the estate was one of the possessions ...
in Somerset, and of Nutcombe in Devon, was a
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
MP for
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, in Devon, between 1741 and 1754.


Origins

Humphrey Sydenham was the eldest son and heir of Humphrey Sydenham (1672–1710) of Combe, which family had long been seated at that place, by his first wife Eliza Peppin, daughter of George Peppin of Old Shute, Dulverton, which family after 1858 developed the
Peppin Merino The Peppin Merino is a breed of Merino sheep raised for their wool, mostly in Australia. So important is the Peppin Merino that wool producers throughout Australia often classify their sheep simply as being either Peppin, or non-Peppin. Peppin ...
breed of sheep in Australia.


Career

He was a lawyer trained at 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 ...
.
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...
called him "a mad
High Church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
zealot" though on another occasion he wrote that Sydenham was "an honest devout gentleman, who always talked out of the Common Prayer Book". He was temporarily ruined by the
South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
of 1720, in which he lost £20,000.


St Barbe inheritance

His financial situation was restored by a large inheritance from his great-great-uncle
Sir John St Barbe, 1st Baronet Sir John St Barbe, 1st Baronet (c. 1655 – 7 September 1723), of Ashington, Somerset and Broadlands, Hampshire, was Member of Parliament for Ilchester in 1681. He was created a baronet on 30 December 1662 at the age of 7. Origins He was the sec ...
(died 1723), MP, of
Broadlands Broadlands is an English country house, located in the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Romsey Extra, near the town of Romsey in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The formal gardens and historic landscape of Broadlands ...
in Hampshire. As his heir and executor, Sydenham erected a marble monument in Barbe's memory in the chancel of Ashington Church, Somerset. In 1736, Sydenham sold Broadlands to
Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c.1673 – 10 June 1757), of East Sheen, Surrey and Broadlands, Hampshire, was an Anglo-Irish landowner and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1727 to 1747. Early life Temple w ...
.


Marriage and children

He married Grace Hill, daughter and heiress of Richard Hill of the Priory, near Exeter, by whom he had one son and three daughters including: *St. Barbe Sydenham (died 1799), only son and heir, who was the possessor of Combe in 1791. He married Ellery Williams, daughter of Sydenham Williams of Herrinston, Dorset. He died without male children, when Combe appears to have passed to a Sydenham cousin.


Monument at Dulverton

His mural monument in Dulverton church is inscribed as follows: :"Near this lies interred Humphry Sydenham Esqr., whose least honour was his descent from an ancient & worthy family, whose true glory was his uniform character in publick & private life. He was the most obedient son of the Church of England, the disinterested lover of his country, the lover of Mankind; of integrity unshaken, in devotion constant, in good works abundant; the stict observer of himself, the candid judge of others. Just, humane, beneficent in all relations, the steady patriot, the faithful husband, the affectionate father, the kind master, the generous friend; zealous without faction, pious without moroseness, chearful with innocence, possessed of the esteem of good men who knew him, and careless of the applause or censure of bad ones. The rest of his history will be displayed in the presence of God and angels and men. He gently fell asleep after having served his generation sixty-three years, at his seat at Combe in Somersetshire, Aug. 12 1757. This monument was raised by his widow in testemony of his & her own conjugal affection". Underneath are displayed on an escutcheon quarterly of four: 1st: ''Argent, three rams passant guardant sable'' (Sydenham); 2nd: ''Argent, a bend of fusils sable'' (Kittisford); 3rd: ''Chequy argent and sable'' (St Barbe); 4th: ''Gules, a bend between six cross crosslets or'' (?). Overall is an inescutcheon of pretence: ''Ermine, on a fesse sable a castle argent'' (Hill).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sydenham, Humphrey 1694 births 1757 deaths British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Exeter