![DavieArmsBucklandBrewerChurchDevon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/DavieArmsBucklandBrewerChurchDevon.JPG)
John Davie (1640–1710) of
Orleigh Court
Orleigh Court is a late medieval manor house in the parish of Buckland Brewer about 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Bideford, North Devon, England. It is a two-storeyed building constructed from local slate stone and has a great hall with a hammer- ...
in the parish of
Buckland Brewer, Devon, England, was a prominent tobacco merchant from
Bideford
Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district.
Toponymy
In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...
,
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. Devo ...
. His Bideford
town house
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
which he built in 1688, was ''Colonial House'', now the Royal Hotel, in which survive several 17th-century decorative plasterwork ceilings, said by
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist
* Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo
* David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
& Cherry (2004) to be amongst the best in Devon, and a grand staircase.
Origins
John Davie was the son of John Davie by his wife Marie Sutton who were married in 1638. The Devon topographer
Rev. John Swete wrote in 1797 of the family's origin: "The family of Davie is supposed to have assumed its appellation from ''de Via'', or ''de Way'', their antient seat in or near the parish of Harwood ''(possibly
Horwood, 3 miles east)'' three miles south east of Biddeford. The place also where this name long flourished was Uppecott in the parish of Beauford near Great Torrington which hereditarily descended unto it from Gilbert (surnamed thereof) who owned it in Edward II's reign. Of this stock is Sir J. Davie of Creedy".
Career
He was active in the
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
trade, of which Bideford was one of the main centres in England.
In 1682 he was an alderman and took statements in the
Bideford witch trial. In 1684 he bought
Orleigh Court
Orleigh Court is a late medieval manor house in the parish of Buckland Brewer about 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Bideford, North Devon, England. It is a two-storeyed building constructed from local slate stone and has a great hall with a hammer- ...
in the parish of
Buckland Brewer, near Bideford.
Marriage and progeny
He married Mary Luscombe (died 1709) by whom he had the following progeny:
*Joseph Davie (died November 1723), who inherited Orleigh Court. His grandson was John III Davie (died 1793) who in 1763 married Eleanora Basset, sister and heiress of Col. Francis Basset (died 1802) of Heanton Court,
lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
s of
Heanton Punchardon
Heanton Punchardon ( ) is a village, civil parish and former manor, anciently part of Braunton Hundred. It is situated directly east-southeast of the village of Braunton, in North Devon. The parish lies on the north bank of the estuary of the R ...
and
Umberleigh
Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it became ...
, the last male member of the senior line of the
Basset family
Members of the Basset family were amongst the early Norman settlers in the Kingdom of England. It is currently one of the few ancient Norman families who has survived through the centuries in the paternal line. They originated at Montreuil-a ...
, one of the leading ancient gentry families of North Devon. John III's son was Joseph Davie Basset (1764–1846), who in accordance with the requirements of his maternal inheritance adopted the surname Basset. He sold Orleigh in 1807 and in 1825 built
Watermouth Castle
Watermouth Castle is a building in Watermouth, near Ilfracombe, North Devon, England, designed by George Wightwick as a residence for the Bassett family in the mid-19th century and is not a true castle but a country house built to resemble one. ...
in the parish of
Berrynarbor
Berrynarbor (historically Berry Narbor, Berrie Nerbert, etc) is a village, civil parish and former manor in the North Devon district of Devon, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 749, increasing to 802 at the ...
, Devon, as his new residence.
*Henrietta Maria Davie, who on 6 May 1700 married
Walter Moyle, MP.
*Anne Davie, who in 1704 married Commander
William Clevland (1664–1734),
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
, of
Tapeley in the parish of
Westleigh, near Bideford, and was the mother of
John Clevland,
Secretary to the Admiralty
S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''.
Histor ...
and
William Clevland who became King of the
Banana Islands.
*Mary Davie (1680–1710), who in 1698 at Bideford married Henry Incledon (1671–1736) of
Buckland House in the parish of
Braunton
Braunton is a large village, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former manor in Devon. The village is situated west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at the 2021 census of 10,217 people. There ...
, Devon. Her elaborate mural monument, displaying the arms of Davie, survives in Braunton Church.
Mural monument
![DavieMonumentBucklandBrewerChurch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/DavieMonumentBucklandBrewerChurch.JPG)
A mural monument to John Davie (died 1710) and his wife Mary survives, affixed high on the west wall of the North Aisle Chapel ("Orleigh Chapel"), in
Buckland Brewer Church, Devon. On a large central white marble roundel is inscribed the following Latin text, now partly worn-away, transcribed by W.H. Rogers:
[Rogers, p.28]
''Subtus jacent Johannes et Mariaa Davie de Orleigh in comitatu Devoniae par amantissimum. Felici olim juncti connubio nec jam dissiti sepulchro. Mercator ille hisce regionibus praeclarus consiliis operibus exemplo Biddefordensibus suis ita benefecit ut commercium heic loci cum illo simul et floruisse et cecidisse paene videatur. Charitate plenus optima et diffusissima pauperes sustentabat non tam dando quam ad utiles labores Bovocando ''(sic, i.e.'' PRovocando'') ''ipse interea factus opulentus divitiis bene partis. Aderat omni tempore dilecta conjux Maria mater familias pia constans frugi pudica. Marito fida curarum omnium socia et solamen perpetuum. Obiit: hic vicesimo septimo Octobris 1710, illa quarto Aprilis 1709. Optimis parentibus monumentum hoc pietatis ergo posuit Josephus filius et haeres ex patris testimento superstes'' .
Which may be translated into English literally as follows:
"Below lie John and Mary Davie of Orleigh in the county of Devon, equally loving. Once fortunate joined in marriage yet now split asunder by the grave. He was a famous merchant in these regions, in his counsel, works. By his example thus he benefitted his fellow Bidefordians, to the extent that it almost seemed commerce of that place seemed both to have flourished and to have fallen with him. Full with charity the best and most widespread he was sustaining the poor not so much by giving as by calling them forth to useful labours. Meanwhile he himself was made wealthy with riches well-gained. In all this time was present his beloved wife Mary, a pious mother of a household, pious, constant, frugal and modest. A perpetual comfort and a faithful companion of all his cares. They died: he, on the 27th of October 1710; she, on the 4th of April 1709. To the best parents this monument of piety therefore Joseph, surviving, placed, his son and heir by the will of his father".
On a tablet underneath is inscribed:
"Underneath lies the body of Juliana the wife of Joseph Davie of Orleigh, Esq., and daughter of sr. John Pryce of Newtown in ye County of Montgomery, Bar(on)et. who departed this life the 5th of Febry. 1720 in the 28th year of her age in the small pox to the unspeakable affliction of her husband children and relations and to ye great grieff of all that knew her. She was a woman that was indued with as much beauty virtue and goodness as ever lived or ever died. In sad remembrance this small stone is erected to her memory by her unhappy but faithfull partner".
References
Sources
*Baring-Gould, Sabine. Devonshire Characters and Strange Events, London, 1908
*Lang, George. Entwisted Tongues: Comparative Creole Literatures, Amsterdam and New York, 1999
*Rogers, W.H., "Buckland Brewer", first published 1938, reprinted 2000, Snetzler, M.F. (Ed.), Barcott, Buckland Brewer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davie, John
1640 births
People from Bideford
1710 deaths
Merchants from Devon