WARDE of Squerryes Court

[colinp]

There was an article in the Sunday Telegraph (24.11.2019) Sunday Property section on the Warde family and their wine estate at Squerryes Court.

The family appear in BLG 1972.  The head of the family then was Lt Col John Roberts O'Brien Warde TD b 1898 (d 1975) m to Millicent Anne CBE (d 1982) [in the article called "Ann"] dau of Ralph Montagu COOK of Roydon Hall Kent (see BLG 1952)

They are listed as having three children John St Andrew b 1940 and 2 daughters Anne Mary b 1934 (m to Martin Humphrey LLoyd) and Susan Kathleen b 1938 (m to Capt Richard Odard Astley Dutton).  John St Andrew m 1973 Anthea (1947-2018) dau of Anthony Francis HOLLAND of the Viscounts Knutsford  - Richard R's post about her death - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/peerage-news/squerryes%7Csort:date/peerage-news/dBjP-PE0k10/W8ShPFwxAAAJ

As can be seen from Anthea Warde's death notice they had 3 children - Charlie, Henry and Charlotte.  It is Henry who now lives at Squerryes Court with his family and who has taken over the estate.  Henry m Claire ARMITSTEAD - engagement announcement in the Times (2004) - "The engagement is announced between Henry, son of Mr and Mrs John Warde, of Westerham, Kent, and Claire, daughter of Colonel and Mrs Edward Armitstead, of Pendomer, Somerset.".  For the Armitstead family of Stoke Court see BLG 1965

The article states they have 4 children - Isabella (12), Clemmie (10), Rosie (7) and William (6).  There are Telegraph announcements for Isabella and Clemmie (below) but not for Rosie and William  - maybe in the Times?

WARDE On 12th December 2007, to Claire (née Armitstead) and Henry, a daughter, Isabella Poppy.

WARDE On 14th August 2009, to Claire (née Armitstead) and Henry,.— a daughter, Clementine Kitty Fenella, a sister for Isabella.

The Wardes of Squerryes Court are related to the Warde-Aldam/Warde-Norbury family of Hooton Pagnell, Healey and Frickley - see BLG 1965 and here https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/search?q=warde

There is a Wikipedia article of the Squerryes Estate here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squerryes_Estate.  If anyone is interested in buying the wine - see their website - https://www.squerryes.co.uk/

EXTRACTS FROM ARTICLE

Licet Esse Beatis: It is permitted to be joyful. This is the Warde 
family motto, which is engraved above the 
entrance of Squerryes Court. “It is a constant reminder to do things that bring joy,” says Henry Warde, who grew up in the 17th-century manor near Westerham, Kent, and is the eighth generation of Wardes to inhabit the house.

Joy hasn’t always flowed freely at Squerryes. After the Second World War, Warde’s grandmother Ann “dug her heels in” to keep the house going, when others were selling up.

“It took a particular steel to take the house on,” says Warde. “The story is that Winston Churchill [the Wardes’ neighbour at nearby Chartwell] didn’t particularly like my grandmother because she was so ferocious.”

Ann and her husband, John, opened the 12-bedroom house – built in 1681 – to visitors in the Fifties, sold much of the library and knocked down two Victorian wings. Henry’s father, John, managed the estate’s farms

Henry, his wife, Claire, and their four children, Isabella, 12, Clemmie, 10, Rosie, seven, and William, six, moved into Squerryes Court in 2013 when Warde’s father retired.

“My father recently reminded me that he was the first generation to move out of the house, rather than be carried out. It was a pragmatic decision, but the right one – the house needs a young family to come alive,” says Warde, the second of three children.

“My older brother, Charlie, spoke to me when I was 18 and said, ‘I’m not sure if I can do this [take on the house].’ He’s an artist, and was focused on London, whereas I was the one who went with Dad to the farm; the one who loved country life. It made sense. The decision became official when I was 23.”

“We knew we’d be taking on the house, and it was my idea of a nightmare, to be honest,” says Claire. The couple met at Oxford and lived in London and Cambridge, where Henry trained as an accountant with Deloitte before taking over Squerryes Court.

The house has been in the family since 1731. It was built in 1681 for Sir Nicholas Crispe, 1st Baronet and bought by John Warde 50 years later. His great uncle, Sir Patience Warde, was Lord Mayor of London in 1680, and his portrait hangs over the fireplace in Squerryes’ entrance hall.

The great storm of 1987 was the catalyst to redesign the garden, after 150 trees were blown down. Henry’s mother, Anthea, restored the garden to the original 1680s designs, adding parterres and a pleached-lime walk in the shape of a wine glass.

[G. Willis]

Thanks Colin, an interesting account!

Given his unusual combination of names, I looked into Richard Odard Astley Dutton; in BLG 1844, which came up on a search, the family of Dutton of Sherborne shows the name Odard (further details of this follow a look at Richard Dutton's ancestry, as continues). There is a [Oct-Nov-Dec] 1935 birth record for Richard O. A. Dutton (at Hendon, mother 'Halls'), but I couldn't locate a matching marriage in U.K. records; I then however found a 1927 marriage record at Toronto, Canada of William Astley Dutton (birth year given as 1895) and Alice Margaret, dau. of H. H. Halls and Rose (née McGill). The groom's parents are given as G. Wm Dutton and Clare Ella Browne. This I think serves to firmly establish the parentage of R. O. A. Dutton.

The 1901 census gives the household at Middlewich, Cheshire [perhaps worth noting here that, per the BLG 1844 pedigree (of more below), 'the family of Dutton is one of the most ancient in the palatinate of Chester', per the account provided, resident at the manor of Dutton since the time of the Norman Conquest, when Odard, 'kinsman of Hugh Luard, Earl of Chester', was rewarded with its ownership; a descendant, Christopher Dutton, bought Sherborne, Dorset and died 1581] of George W. Dutton, b. Eastbourne, Sussex, 1860, 'physician and surgeon', with his wife Clara E. (b. 1866) [n.b.- I was unable to locate a marriage record, so it might have been overseas] and son William A. Dutton. The 1871 census shows George at Northwood, Hants. with his parents, John and Sarah A. Dutton, two sisters, and a brother. John Dutton (b. 'Hampshire', 1817) was a chemist, and his wife b. 'London', 1820. John Dutton and his wife appear in the 1851 census at Theresa Place, Kensington, Hammersmith (this being the birthplace of the two daughters mentioned above), his birthplace given as Lymington, Hants., and the 1861 census, as a 'chemist master', at South Street, Eastbourne, corroborating the birthplace as Lymington. In the 1841 census, John Dutton, b. Hampshire, is resident at High Street, Lymington with the Corbin family, presumably as an apprentice chemist under the head of the family, James Corbin [unfortunately the 1841 census doesn't give his occupation], or perhaps as a servant (possibly in connection with this notion it's worth observing that he appears alongside two fifteen-year-old girls surnamed Gates, and a 45-year-old man). There doesn't appear to be a birth record matching the details of John Dutton as above, which makes it more-or-less impossible to look back any further with the resources I have available.

The aforementioned BLG 1844 pedigree showing the name 'Odard' in relation to the Duttons by no means guarantees a link between Capt. Richard Dutton and this family, but it does raise the possibility. On the other hand, it could represent- as has been often shown to be the case- an upwardly-mobile family marking their entrance into middle-class respectability (if not in John Dutton's generation, certainly by that of George William Dutton) with the suggestion of connection to established families of the same surname. The pedigree (although offering several possibilities for- in some cases senior- branches) focuses on the descent to James Lennox Naper, of Loughcrew, who as nephew of Sir John Dutton changed his name to inherit per an injunction, had two sons; the elder, James, became Baron Sherborne, his younger brother, William, resuming his father's name of Naper.

BFI shows, alongside the Barons Sherborne, an baronetical family [extinct after two generations, as shown in the 1844 pedigree], one gentry family 'of Tushingham' [BLG 1972], and one 'of Hinton Ampner House' [BLG 1937], as well as cross-referencing Naper [BIFR 1976] and Egerton-Warburton of Grafton Hall, formerly of Warburton [BLG 1969]. The Egerton-Warburtons branched off from Dutton in 1327 so can be disregarded; given that the point at which the Naper family connects to the Duttons was established as in the 1700s, it's unlikely that that pedigree would include any information on a branch of the Dutton family from which Capt. R. O. A. Dutton could derive, so they can also likely be disregarded.

Hinton Ampner was owned by Ralph Stawell Dutton, 8th Baron Sherborne, until his death with no heirs and bequest of the house to the National Trust; he was great-grandson of the 2nd Baron, and considering he only inherited the title in 1982, I suppose this state of affairs explains the existence of a 'separate' gentry family of that place. I don't have BLG 1972, so can't tell how the Tushingham Duttons might fit into the picture/ whether or not they include R. O. A. Dutton or introduce into the equation anywhere he would be likely to fit.

One final point- perhaps connected: Debrett's 1990 shows Jeremy Charles Palmer, s. of Sir Geoffrey Frederick Neil Palmer, 11th Bt, as having 'm. 1968, Antonia, yr da of late Astley Dutton, and has issue...'; given the dates, this 'Astley Dutton' could be the William Astley Dutton who was father of Capt. Richard O. A. Dutton, as above. The 1968 marriage record gives Antonia S. R. C. Dutton; BP 2003 gives 'Antonia Rosamund Clare Dutton'; although this is by no means definitive, the fact that W. A. Dutton's mother was Clare or Clara (presumably the former given the latter came from the census), this is suggestive. I couldn't find a birth record for Antonia Dutton, which possibly links to the Canadian factor as above.

[colinp]

I've checked BLG 1972 and the Dutton of Tushingham entry is headed "Moore Dutton of Tushingham".  It's slightly confusing as to whether Moore is a forename or a surname but Moore came into this branch of the family by a marriage of the head of the family John Dutton (1819-1897) in 1855  to Sarah Ellen (d 1891) dau of Thomas Moore JP of Colchester Essex

This branch of the family also descends from Odard, Lord of Dutton, Cheshire 1086 and is senior to the Duttons of Sherborne the separation occurring in mid 16th C (unfortunately no dates of birth or death given) when the head of the family William Dutton (who had m Agnes dau of John Conway of Flint) had two sons, the elder Hugh being the ancestor of the Moore Duttons and the younger Thomas who "purchased the manor of Sherborne Glos 1551 and was ancestor of the Dutton Baronets (ext 1743) and the Barons Sherborne". 

The Duttons (later Moore Duttons) could not have been seated at Tushingham until the time of the head of the family in 1972 who is stated to be Francis Moore Dutton "of Tushingham Hall Cheshire" b 1899 (High Sheriff of Cheshire 1968).  He had m (2) 1948 Margaret Marian dau of late Samuel Worthington BA, Barrister-at-law, by his wife Mary Darell dau of Rev Llewelyn Brookes Vawdrey of Tushingham Cheshire (see 1952 edn WORTHINGTON (formerly VAWDREY) of Tushingham).  I assume therefore that Tushingham Hall came into Mr Moore Dutton's possession through his second wife.  None of the previous heads of the family are stated to have any connection with Tushingham - his father Thomas Moore Dutton (1867-1939) was "of Lion House Tettenhall Cheshire" and his grandfather John Dutton (who married Sarah Ellen Moore) was "of Brookdale (Bunbury House) Bunbury".  John Dutton's father Robert Dutton (1796-1877) was "of Spurstow Lower Hall Bunbury Cheshire".  Perhaps they moved about a bit

Francis Moore Dutton had issue (by 2nd m) Peter Vawdrey Moore Dutton b 1949 and Mary Moore Dutton b 1951 - no further details given

There is no mention of Capt Richard Odard Astley Dutton (Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) in the Moore Dutton pedigree or his parents/grandparents so I don't think there is an obvious connection.  His address in BLG 1972 (Warde of Squerryes Court) is given as 61 Ellerby St Bishops Park SW6.

At the end of the Moore Dutton pedigree and after the description of the Arms it states "Seat - Tushingham Hall, Whitchurch, Shropshire" -  so may be on the Cheshire/Shropshire border?.  Wikipedia states that the Hall was remodelled in the 19th C for Daniel Vawdrey.  Details of the Tushingham Hall Bluebell Walk in the Whitchurch Herald online 2016 states that the grounds were opened by kind permission of Peter Moore Dutton who lives in the Hall so the family must still be there.  There is a Peter V Moore Dutton Ltd registered at Tushingham Hall and evidence of a current or previous garden centre and/or plant hire business run from there - Moore Dutton PV Ltd.  Previous director of Peter V Moore Dutton Ltd was Cllr Eveleigh Moore Dutton (but resigned in 2012) so Peter Vawdrey MD's wife or a former wife perhaps - her address (presumably at time of resignation) was 26 High St Tarporley Cheshire.  Must finish now but she does appear to be a prominent district and county councillor and local politician