Richard Stevens (1702–1776)

Arms of Stevens of Winscott: Per chevron azure and gules, in chief two falcons rising belled or. Detail from 1776 mural monument to Richard Stevens (d.1776) and his wife Elizabeth (d.1760), St Peter's Church, Peters Marland

Richard II Stevens (1702–1776) of Winscott in the parish of Peters Marland, Devon, was Member of Parliament for Callington in Cornwall (1761–1768).

Origins

He was the second son of Richard I Stevens (c.1670–1727) of Vielstone in the parish of Buckland Brewer, Devon, (son of Henry Stevens (1617-post 1675) of Vielstone by his wife Judith Hancock (1650–1676), daughter of John Hancock lord of the manor of Combe Martin[1]) by his wife, a certain Elizabeth. His elder brother was Henry Stevens (1689–1748) of Cross, Little Torrington and Smithacott in the parish of Frithelstock.

Ancestry

No entry for the Stevens family exists in the 1620 Heraldic Visitation of Devon, and thus the family's pedigree is not officially recorded, and the family must be assumed not to have been counted amongst the gentry of Devon at that time, or to have settled in the county after that date. The same arms as used by the Devon family were however recorded as adopted in 1606 by a Gloucestershire family called "Stephens",[2] of Chavenage House, Eastington, which family rose to considerable prominence during the Civil War as Parliamentarians. The earliest record of the Stevens family in Devon is as follows:

Career

He was the chief agent in charge of the estates centred on Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe belonging to the wealthy heiress Margaret Rolle, suo jure 15th Baroness Clinton (1709–1781). Her first huisband was Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford eldest son of Robert Walpole the first Prime Minister.[8][9] She lived briefly at the Walpole's palatial residence Houghton Hall in Norfolk, built by Robert Walpole in 1722,[10] but on the failure of her marriage she moved abroad to Italy. Thus she required a trustworthy agent in Devon to manage her affairs, which included estates in Devon and Cornwall. The Rolle family controlled one of the seats in the rotten borough of Callington in Cornwall, and at the 1761 general election Richard Stevens was returned on her interest as one of its Member of Parliament.[11] He held the seat until 1768.[12]

Marriage & progeny

In 1724 at Frithelstock he married his cousin Elizabeth Stevens (1707–1768), only daughter and executrix of Hugh Stevens of Buckland Brewer, by whom he had progeny including:

Monument to Daughter

Mural monument to Elizabeth Stevens (1727–1792), wife of John II Clevland (1734–1817), Peters Marland Church

The mural monument to his daughter Elizabeth Stevens (1727–1792) survives in Peters Marland Church, inscribed as follows:

"To the memory of Mrs Elizabeth Clevland wife of John Clevland Esq., Member of Parliament for the Borough of Barnstaple (where he has been chosen six successive parliaments) and daughter of Richard Stevens of Winscott. She died 16 September 1792 aged 65 years"

Below is a white marble relief sculpted escutcheon showing the following arms: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Clevland; 2nd & 3rd: Vert, two bars engrailed between three leopard's faces or (Child baronets, of the City of London (1685) (Child of Surat, East Indies and Dervill, Essex, Baronet, created 1684, extinct 1753),[14] the arms of William Clevland's mother Elizabeth Child). Overall is an inescutcheon of pretence of Stevens: Per chevron azure and gules, in chief two falcons rising belled or.

Death

Richard Stevens died on 15 July 1776 aged 74, as is stated on his monument in Peters Marland Church.

Succession

Winscott passed after the death of his son-in-law John Cleveland to the descendants of Richard's elder brother, Henry Stevens (d.1748), of Cross, thus re-uniting the three Stevens estates of Vielstone, Cross and Winscott.

Monument

Stevens of Winscott mural monument in St Peter's Church, Peters Marland

A mural monument in St Peter's Church, Peters Marland, reset into the wall of 1865 nave, is inscribed as follows:

"In memory of Elizabeth the wife of Richard Stevens, Esqr., who died March 14th 1760 aged 53. And of the said Richard Stevens Esqr. who died July 15th 1776 aged 74. Also of their sons and daughters whose names are above inscribed: Christiana Maria Stevens died February 5th 1755 aged 16; Hugh Stevens died March 31st 1755 aged 31; Richard Stevens died December 20th 1762 aged 29; Henry Stevens died August 10th 1764 aged 19"

The arms of Stevens shown on a cartouche are: Per chevron azure and gules, in chief two falcons rising belled or. These are a difference of the arms of the senior line of Stevens of Cross, Little Torrington: Per chevron argent and gules, in chief two falcons rising proper belled or, as is visible in Little Torrington Church]]

Sources

References

  1. Per Judith's mural monument in Great Torrington Church
  2. Burke's General Armory, 1884
  3. The two Stevens/Stephens families bear the same armorials, per Visitations of Gloucestershire, pp.151–153 and those shown on Stevens family monuments in the Devon churches of Great Torrington, Little Torrington and Peters Marland
  4. Vielstone: as is recorded on the ornate mural monument to Judith Stevens (d.1676), daughter of John Hancock of Combe Martin, and wife of Henry Stevens de Velstone, son and heir of William Stevens of Great Torrington, on the east wall of the south aisle of Great Torrington parish church
  5. Vivian, Visitation of Devon, 1895, p.653 (Rolle), p.177 (Chichester, with her father incorrectly given)
  6. Vivian, Visitation of Devon, 1895, p.653
  7. Slate tablet erected by present owner of Cross, Mrs Rowena Cotton
  8. Leadam, Biography of Robert Walpole.
  9. Broome, p. 9.
  10. Broome, p. 7-8.
  11. Drummond
  12. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1)
  13. Sir Lewis Namier (1964). L. Namier; J. Brooke, eds. CLEVLAND, John (1734–1817), of Tapley, Devon. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  14. Burke's Armorials, 1884
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Sewallis Shirley
Fane William Sharpe
Member of Parliament for Callington
17611768
With: Fane William Sharpe
Succeeded by
Thomas Worsley
Fane William Sharpe
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