a

LAWRENCE Bathurst, citizen of Canterbury, in the reign of King Henry VI. held lands there, and at Cranbrooke in Kent," and had lands in Staplehurst in Kent, and left issue three sons. First, Edward, ancestor to the Earls Bathurst.

Second, Robert, of Horsmanden in Kent; and,

Third, John, who had lands in Staplehurst, by gift of his father; ancestor to those of Odiham and Crundal in Hants.

ROBERT, of Horsmonden, second son, had issue by his first wife, a daughter of William Saunders, two sons; first, John;. and second, Paul, of Bathurst-street, in Nordiam, Sussex, who in right of his wife Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Edward Horden, of Horden and Finchcocks in Kent, clerk of the board of

a

This family was originally seated in Sussex, at a place called Bathurst, not far from Battle abbey, of which they were dispossessed, and the castle demolished, in the troublesome times of the dispute between the houses of York and Lancaster; and nothing now remains but a wood, called Bathurst wood, where may be found some of the ruins.

b According to Hasted, they were clothiers. "The occupation of clothier," says he, "was of considerable consequence in those times, and was exercised by persons, who possessed most of the landed property in the Weald, insomuch that almost all the ancient families of these parts, now of large estates, and genteel rank in life, and some of them ennobled by titles, are sprung from, and owe their fortunes to ancestors, who have used this great staple manufacture, now almost unknown here. Among others, the Bathursts, Ongleys, Courthopes, Maplesdons, Gibbons, Westons, Plumers, Austens, Dunkes, and Stringers. They were usually called from their dress, The Grey Coats of Kent, and were a body so numerous and united. that at county elections whoever had their votes and interest, was almost certain of being elected." Hasted, vol. iii. p. 48.

Green Cloth to King Edward VI. Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, enjoyed the manor of Finchcocks, in the parish of Goudhurst, which descended to Edward, his eldest son and heir, who d left issue four sons; 1. Thomas Bathurst, of Finchcocks, Esq. who died young; 2. Edward Bathurst, of Finchcocks, Esq. gentleman harbinger to King, Charles I.; 3. William Bathurst, merchant and alderman of London, whose son, Sir Henry Bathurst, Knt. of Edmonton, in Middlesex, married Catharine, daughter to Sir Thomas Wolstenholme, Bart. and had no issue; but left a sole sister and heir, Katherine, who married John Ent, Esq. third son of Sir George Ent, the celebrated Physician, but left no issue; and, 4. Richard Bathurst, a clergyman, who left only a daughter. The rest were all married, and left issue.

JOHN Bathurst, elder brother to Paul Bathurst, was of Horsmonden, in Kent, and left issue, by Mary his wife, daughter of Edward Dodge, of Wrotham, in Kent (who, surviving her husband, John Bathurst, was afterwards married to Francis Champneys, Esq.); Robert, his son and heir, who purchased the manor and town of Lechlade, in Gloucestershire, in the 4th year of King

© Richard, second son, was Avenor to the King, and left issue; and Thomas, third son, died without issue.

d His wife was Natharetha, sister of Sir Edward Leveson, of Haling, Knt. e He died in 1657, having had by Matilda his wife, daughter of John Hooper, of Stockbury, Esq. eight sons, and two daughters; of whom there survived, 1. Edward. 2. John, who died in 1726, without issue. 3. Thomas. 4. William. 5. Charles. 6. Richard. 7. Elizabeth, who died unmarried in 1711. And, 8. Frances. Edward, eldest son, was of Finchcocks, Esq. and married Judith, daughter of Robert Oliver, of Leyborne, by whom he had no issue. He died on June 9th, 1690, æt. 52; and passing by his next brother, John, who had displeased him, devised Finchcocks, with the estate belonging to it, to his brother, Thomas Bathurst, Esq. who, as well as all the rest of his brothers and sisters, except William, died unmarried. He devised this estate to his brother Edward, only son of his younger brother, William Bathurst, of Wilmington, by Anne his wife, widow of Lancelot Bathurst, of Franks, Esq. This Edward rebuilt his seat at Finchcocks, at a great expence, in a very costly manner; and died August 1st, 1772, æt. 92, having been twice married, and had several children by each of his wives. His first wife was Elizabeth, third daughter and coheir of Stephen Stringer, of Triggs, in Goudhurst, Esq. who died in 1715, æt. 30; and by whom he had Edward, John, and Thomas; the former and latter of whom were Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford; and the latter, Rector of Welwyn, in Hertfordshire. The former left only a daughter, Dorothy. By his second wife, Edward the father, had Charles and Richard, &c. To Charles he alienated his seat at Fitchcocks, and he dying 1767, without issue, devised it to his brother, the Rev. Richard Bathurst. Hasted's Kent, III. 35.

f Brydges's Memoirs of King James's Peers. Postscript, LIX.

James I. He first married Bennetta, daughter of Roger Twis den, of Roydon Hall, in Kent, Esq. but having no issue by her, he took to his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Robert Waller, Esq. widow of Sir John Lawrence, Knt. Lord Mayor of London, by whom he had two daughters, Mary, and Elizabeth, who both died unmarried; and two sons, Robert, who died in his minority; and Edward, who was born A.D. 1615, and created a Baronet, on December 4th, 1643: but the Baronetage is now extinct.

The said ROBERT Bathurst, of Horsmonden, by his second wife, had issue John Bathurst, of Goudhurst, in Kent, whose second son, John Bathurst, was Doctor of Physic, and left issue five sons, from whom the Bathursts of Richmond, in the county of York, are descended, possessing a fair estate.

h

JOHN Bathurst, youngest son of Laurence Bathurst, left issue, by Elizabeth his wife, Edward Bathurst, of Odiham, in com. Southampton, Esq. who married Mary, daughter of George Holland, of Angmering, in Sussex, and by her had Edward Bathurst,i his son and heir; John Bathurst, an Alderman of the city of London, anno 1673; and Anthony.

It now remains to give an account of Edward, the eldest son of Laurence Bathurst.

Which EDWARD was seated at Staplehurst, and, among other children, had issue

k

LANCELOT Bathurst, Esq. Alderman of London, who, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, was possessed of the manor of Francks, in the parish of Horton Kirkby, in the county of Kent, where he built a large mansion-house. He departed this life on September 27th, 1594, aged sixty-five, and was buried in St. Mary Bothaw's church, London. His wife was Judith, daughter of Richard Randolph, of London, who surviving him, was married, secondly, to Sir Edward Kynaston, of Otley, in the county of Salop. By her first husband, she had issue six sons, and three daughters.

In 1623, this branch procured an alteration of their arms; Az. two bars, Or, in chief three crosses formee of the second.

h Vide Thoresby's History of Leeds. fol. 13.

i Edward Bathurst, Gent. (I presume the same), was seated at Ichell (now called Ewshot), in the adjoining parish of Crundall (formerly the ancient seat of the Giffords), in the time of James I. His son John was born here in 1621. The Bathursts continued here till within memory. It is now the seat of Henry Maxwell, Esq. See Topographical Miscellanies, Lond. 1791, 41%.

k Citizen and Grocer.

1. Randolph.

2. Lancelot, resided at Hawley, and left a daughter, Mary, wife of Thomas Brown, of Reynolds, in Horton Kirkby, Esq. 3. Edward, who died without issue.

4. George' Bathurst, ancestor to Earl Bathurst.

Elizabeth, married to John Brown, Esq.; and, secondly, to Thomas Saunders, of Flamford; Mary, wedded to Edmund Peshall, Esq. of Bromley, in Kent, fourth son of Richard Peshall, of Checkley, in Staffordshire, Esq.; and Susan, espoused to Sir Robert Owen, Knt.

His eldest son, RANDOLPH Bathurst, of Francks, Esq. married Catharine, daughter to Robert Argall, of East-Sutton, in Kent, Esq. by whom m he had issue Sir Edward Bathurst, Knt. who married a daughter of Sir Thomas Wiseman, of Essex, and had issue two sons," and six daughters; from whom the family at Francks descended, now extinct in the male line.

GEORGE Bathurst, the youngest son of the said Lancelot, in the year 1610, married Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Edward Villiers," of Howthorpe, in com. Northampton, grandson and heir of Edward Villiers, Esq. who died seised of the manor of Howthorpe, &c. on June 26th, 1513, and was fifth son of Sir John Villiers, of Brookesby, Knt. grandfather to Sir George Villiers, father of George Duke of Buckingham.

This George Bathurst had with her the manor of Howthorpe, in Northamptonshire, where he settled. He died April 19th, 1651, aged sixty-nine, and was buried at Howthorpe, having had issue thirteen sons and four daughters; six of which sons died in

The name of the fifth son is unknown; the sixth was Henry, who died 1619, and lies buried in the chancel of Horton Kirkby church. Hasted, I. 296. m Randolph Bathurst had three sons, and six daughters. 1. Edward. 2. Lancelot. 3. Samuel.

n Sir Thomas Bathurst, of Francks, Knt. and Francis, who died young. The former married Mary, daughter of Sir John Maynard, younger brother of Lord Maynard, and died March 5th, 1688, æt. 60, leaving Francis, and Lancelot, who died without issue in 1720. Francis, the eldest, was of Francks, and having had four wives, died in 1738, leaving a daughter, Berenice, who became his sole heir, and carried Francks, with his other estates, in marriage, to Mr. Joseph Fletcher, of London. She died 1748. Hasted, I. 296.

• At the time of his marriage he was worth 3col. a year. All his children were very ingenious, and prosperous in the world, and most of them handsome. Kippis's Biogr. Brit. I. 692. He seems to have resided at Coventry in the latter part of his life. Ibid.

P His relict married Dr. Kettel, President of Trinity College, Oxford.

the service of King Charles I. during the rebellion; and those that survived were Ralph, Edward, Villiers, Henry, Moses, and Sir Benjamin.

1. RALPH Bathurst,' a distinguished wit, and a celebrated Latin Poet, was born at Howthorpe, in the parish of Thedingworth, in 1620, had his education in Trinity-college, in Oxford, where he was bred a Divine; but in those times of confusion, during the civil wars, studied Physic, and thereupon was employed in the service of the state, as Physician to the sick and wounded of the navy, which he managed with much diligence and success, to the full satisfaction both of the generals at sea, and also of the commissioners of the admiralty. He was created Doctor of physic on June 21st, 1653; and, after the restoration of King Charles II. he re-assumed his former function of a Divine, and became Fellow of the Royal Society, President of Trinity-college, 1664, and one of his Majesty's Chaplains. Also, on June 28th, 1670, he was installed Dean of Wells. In April, 1691, he was nominated, by their Majesties King William and Queen Mary, to be Bishop of Bristol, with liberty to keep his deanery in commendam; but, being fond of a collegiate life, and intending to re-edify the chapel of Trinity-college, he refused to accept thereof. He died in the eighty-fourth year of his age, on June 14th, 1704, and was buried in the chapel of Trinity-college, Oxon, which he built at his own expense: having been highly esteemed for his great learning. He married, 1664, Mary, daughter and heir of John Tristram, of Baunton, in Devonshire, Esq. and widow of John Palmer, of Taunton, M. D. a woman of admirable accomplishments, but had no issue. She died April 14th, 1690, aged seventy-three, and was buried at Bishops Lydyard, in Somersetshire.

George, one of the sons, who did not survive, was elected Scholar of Trinity College, June 6th, 1626, Fellow, June 8th, 1634. He was an elegant scholar, and author of an oration, spoken at the burial of George Allen, Fellow of his College, the famous Mathematician and Antiquary. He was created B. D. July 7th, 1640, and died 1644, of a wound in his thigh, received in defending the garrison of Farringdon, in Berks, against the rebels.

The late learned, ingenious, and elegant Thomas Warton, has written his life; which is abridged in Kippis's Biogr. Brit.

• He expended nearly 3000 1. of his own money upon it.

t His discipline and his example, his vigilance as a governor, and his eminence as a scholar, actually contributed to raise the reputation of his college to an extraordinary height, and filled it with students of the first rank and family.