Walter Palk (1742-1819), of
Marley House (later renamed Syon Abbey) in the parish of
Rattery
Rattery is located within the county of Devon only a few miles from the villages Buckfastleigh and neighbouring village Ashburton the name can sometime be seen a variant of Red Tree but is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Ratreu. The origins o ...
,
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, was 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 his family's
Pocket Borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...
of
Ashburton in Devon from 1796 to 1811. He served as
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 ...
(1791-2) and in 1798 was a Captain in the
Ashburton Volunteer Militia,
[History of Parliament biography] one of many such units formed across Devon to counter a possible invasion by
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
.
Origins
He was the eldest son of Walter Palk (d.1801) of Headborough and Yolland Hill, in the parish of Ashburton, a small farmer and clothier, by his first wife Thomasine Withecombe of Priestaford, Ashburton.
His uncle was the wealthy
Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet (December 1717 – 29 April 1798) of Haldon House in the parish of Kenn, in Devon, England, was an officer of the British East India Company who served as Governor of the Madras Presidency. In England he served as ...
(1717-1798)
of
Haldon House
Haldon House (pronounced: "Hol-don") on the eastern side of the Haldon Hills in the parishes of Dunchideock and Kenn, near Exeter in Devon, England, was a large Georgian country house largely demolished in the 1920s. The surviving north wing ...
in the parish of
Kenn, in Devon, an officer of the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
who served as Governor of the
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
, later an
MP for
Ashburton in 1767 and between 1774 and 1787 and for
Wareham, between 1768 and 1774.
Landholdings
Shortly before 1810 he purchased 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 Rattery together with several local estates, and built Marley House, a large Georgian country house, as his new seat within the parish of Rattery.
Marriage and children
On 15 February 1782 he married Elizabeth Lyde, by whom he had two daughters,
only one of whom survived:
*Elizabeth Palk, only daughter
[ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.145, pedigree of Carew] and sole heiress, who in 1806 married
Sir Henry Carew, 7th Baronet
Sir Henry Carew, 7th Baronet (1779–1830) of Haccombe in Devon, was a member of the landed gentry of Devonshire.
Origins
He was the eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Carew, 6th Baronet (c. 1755–1805) of Haccombe, by his wife Jane Smallwood, ...
(1779–1830) of
Haccombe
Haccombe is a hamlet, former parish and historic manor in Devon, situated 2 1/2 miles east of Newton Abbot, in the south of the county. It is possibly the smallest parish in England, and was said in 1810 to be remarkable for containing only two ...
in Devon.
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palk, Walter
1742 births
1819 deaths
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Ashburton
British MPs 1796–1800
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ashburton
UK MPs 1801–1802
UK MPs 1802–1806
UK MPs 1806–1807
UK MPs 1807–1812
High Sheriffs of Devon