Sir Edmund Fowell, 1st Baronet (1593 – October 1674) of Fowelscombe in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Ugborough in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, was a Member of Parliament for Ashburton in Devon from 1640 to 1648.

Origins

He was the 3rd son and eventual heir of Arthur Fowell (born 1552) of Fowelscombe, by his wife Maria Reynell, a daughter of Richard Reynell (d.1585) of East OgwellJohn Burke, John Bernard Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies''
/ref> in Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1585.

Career

He inherited the paternal estates on the death of his elder brother Arthur Fowell (1582-1612), who drowned in an accident at Ford.Vivian, p.370 He was knighted at Greenwich Palace on 3 November 1619. In November 1640 he was elected Member of Parliament for Ashburton in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

. He did not sit in the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament describes the members of the Long Parliament who remained in session after Colonel Thomas Pride, on 6 December 1648, commanded his soldiers to Pride's Purge, purge the House of Commons of those Members of Parliament, members ...

after 1648. He was a member of the parliamentary committee and was a Deputy Lieutenant of Devon. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

was president of the Committee for Sequestration. He was created 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 ...

on 30 April 1661.

Marriage and children

He married Margaret Poulett, a daughter of Sir Anthony Poulett (1562–1600) (''alias'' Pawlett, etc.), of Hinton St George in Somerset, Governor of Jersey and Captain of the Guard to

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

and a sister of John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett (1585–1649). By his wife he had four sons and six daughters including: * Sir John Fowell, 2nd Baronet (1623–1677), of Fowelscombe, eldest son and heir. *Anthony Fowell (1636-1636), second son, died in infancy. *Edmond Fowell (1637-1632) of Penquit, 3 miles east of Fowelscombe, 3rd son, who married Bridget Browne, a daughter of Thomas Browne of East Allington, but died leaving no sons. *Thomas Fowell (1638-1639), 4th son, died in infancy. *Elizabeth Fowell (1622-post 1671), wife of Richard Cabell (d.1677) of Brook Hall, in the parish of Buckfastleigh, Devon, known to posterity as "Dirty Dick", and believed to be the inspiration for the wicked Hugo Baskerville, "the first of his family to be hounded to death when he hunted an innocent maiden over the moor by night", one of the central characters in Conan Doyle's novel ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...

'' (1901-2),Weller, Philip, ''The Hound Of The Baskervilles - Hunting the Dartmoor Legend'', Devon Books, Halsgrove Publishing, c.2002, quoted i

/ref> the tale of a hellish hound and a cursed country squire. Cabell's tomb survives in the village of Buckfastleigh. Conan Doyle's Baskerville Hall is believed to be inspired by one of three Devon mansions: Fowelscombe, Brook Hall and Hayford Hall, also in the parish of Buckfastleigh.

Death

Fowell died in 1674 at the age of 81 and was buried in Ugborough Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowell, Edmund 1593 births 1674 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Ashburton English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1656–1658 Baronets in the Baronetage of England