Rashleigh is a surname of a prominent family from

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 ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in England, which originated in the 14th century or before at the estate of

Rashleigh Rashleigh is a surname of a prominent family from Devon and Cornwall in England, which originated in the 14th century or before at the estate of Rashleigh in the parish of Wembworthy, Devon. The principal branches were: *Rashleigh of Rashleig ...

in the parish of

Wembworthy Wembworthy is a small village, parish and former manor in Mid-Devon, England. It is situated in the valley of the River Taw, 8 miles north-east of the towns of Hatherleigh and 12 miles south of South Molton. St Michael's Church is the parish ch ...

, Devon. The principal branches were: *Rashleigh of

, Devon *Rashleigh of Barnstaple, North DevonMarshall, James C., Devon Notes & Queries, Volume IV Part VI, Exeter, April 1907, pp.201-215, Rashleigh of Devon *Rashleigh of

South Molton South Molton is a town in Devon, England. It is part of the North Devon local government district. The town is on the River Mole. According to the 2001 census the civil parish of South Molton had a population of 4,093, increasing to 5,108 at the ...

, North Devon *Rashleigh of Fowey, Cornwall *Rashleigh of

Menabilly Menabilly ( kw, Men Ebeli, meaning ''stone of colts'') is a historic estate on the south coast of Cornwall, England, situated within the parish of Tywardreath on the Gribben peninsula about west of Fowey. It has been the seat of the Rashle ...

Tywardreath Tywardreath (; kw, Ti War Dreth, meaning "House on the Beach" (or Strand)) is a small hilltop village on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, about north west of Fowey. It is located in a sheltered spot overlooking a silted up ...

, near Fowey *Rashleigh of Coombe, Fowey The Rashleighs of Fowey and

were powerful merchants in the time of Henry VIII and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. Philip Rashleigh, younger son of a family from Barnstaple in

, had purchased the manor of Trenant close to Fowey from the king after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1545. He went into trade, became successful but died in 1551. His two sons Robert and John founded the fortunes of the Fowey Rashleighs and their pedigree has been well documented.

Rashleigh pedigree

Notable Rashleigh family members

;Charles Rashleigh Charles Rashleigh (died 1823) was an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. The expanding

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

industry around West Polmear led him to develop

Charlestown, Cornwall Charlestown ( kw, Porth Meur, meaning ''great cove'') is a village and port on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, and in the civil parish of St Austell Bay. It is situated approximately south east of St Austell town centre. The po ...

on the south coast as a port, which was named Charlestown after him. ;Harold St. James Rashleigh-Berry Rashleigh-Berry was Lt. Col in the British Army stationed in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, British Indian Empire. Rashleigh-Berry participated in the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

, under

Sir Frederick Roberts Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914) was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Iri ...

. ;John Rashleigh (1554–1624, Founder of Menabilly) John Rashleigh (1554–1624) was an English merchant and Member of Parliament. He was the father of Jonathon Rashleigh and grandfather of John Rashleigh. John Rashleigh was the son of Phillip Rashleigh, a merchant, shipowner and landowner from Barnstaple. Phillip was himself the son of owner of the Rashleigh-Barton estate located in

which has been known to exist since 1196. After his father Phillip Rashleigh purchased the manor of Trenant in 1545, Phillip moved his family from Devon to Cornwall to take advantage of the dissolution of the monasteries by buying and re-selling the land acquired around Fowey, it was from this land that John Rashleigh commenced building

from land acquired in Fowey (from which Menabilly was later completed in its construction by his son Jonathan). ;Jonathan Rashleigh (1591–1675) Jonathan Rashleigh (4 July 1591 – 1 May 1675) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at various times between 1614 and 1675. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

cause during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Jonathan was also responsible for completing the construction of the family home of

. ;John Rashleigh (1619–1693) John Rashleigh (21 January 1619 – 13 March 1693) was an English politician who sat in the

from 1661 to 1679. He was the son of Jonathan Rashleigh and the grandson of John Rashleigh (the merchant and MP). ;Jonathan Rashleigh (1642–1702) This Jonathan Rashleigh (see painting to the right) was also based in Menabilly and was the

Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, othe ...

in 1687. He was the grandson of Jonathan Rashleigh the merchant and House of Commons politician. ;Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811) Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811) was a Cornish

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

expert and

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 o ...

for Fowey.

Menabilly Estate

Rashleigh of Manabilly vault, Kensal Green Cemetery, London

In the

Return of Owners of Land, 1873 The two-volume ''Return of Owners of Land, 1873'' is the first complete picture of the distribution of land in Great Britain since the 1086 Domesday Book. The ''1873 Return'' is sometimes called the "Modern Domesday". It arose from the desire o ...

, Mr Jonathan Rashleigh of

Estate, Par, was listed as the largest landowner in Cornwall with an estate of , or 3.97% of the total area of Cornwall. The estate contains pleasure grounds and a large country house which was

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geo ...

's inspiration for the house

Manderley Manderley is a fictional estate in Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel '' Rebecca'', owned by the character Maxim de Winter. Located in southern England (often said to be Cornwall as this was where the author lived, and explicitly stated as such in ...

in her novel '' Rebecca''.

Sources

Vivian, J.L. & Drake, H.H., The Visitation of the County of Cornwall in the year 1620, Harleian Society, 1st series, volume 9, London, 1874, p9.183-4, pedigree of Rashleigh
*Marshall, James C., Devon Notes & Queries, Volume IV Part VI, Exeter, April 1907, pp. 201–215, Rashleigh of Devon

References

External links

{{Portal, Cornwall
BBC Online on Charlestown

Cornwall Record Office online catalogue search for 'Rashleigh'
Surnames People from Tywardreath and Par People from Fowey