Charborough House

Arms of Erle: Gules, three escallops argent a bordure engrailed of the last[5]

The Erle (alias Earl, Earle, etc.) family originated in east Devon and moved to neighbouring Dorset in about 1500, but died out in the male line on the death of General Thomas III Erle (1650–1720) without male progeny. His daughter and sole heiress Frances Erle (d.1728) married Edward Ernle, to which family the estate passed. Female heiresses subsequently brought the Erle/Ernle estates to owners with different family names.

Charborough was acquired during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) by Walter I Erle (c.1520–1581), an officer of the Privy Chamber to King Edward VI and to his sisters Queen Mary I[6] and Queen Elizabeth I.[7] He married Mary Weekes, one of the 5 daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Weekes of Bindon in the parish of Axmouth, Devon.[8] Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries he purchased the manor of Axmouth, formerly a possession of Syon Abbey.[9]

Thomas Erle (d.1597), eldest son,[10] whose large effigy dressed in full-armour and kneeling on one knee in prayer, survives (re-positioned) in St Mary's Church, Morden, Dorset, the parish church of Charborough House. In 1581 at Shute in Devon, he married Dorothy Pole, a daughter of his father's near neighbour William Pole (1515–1587), Esquire, MP, of Shute House in the parish of Shute, near Colyton, Devon. Dorothy's brother was the Devon antiquary and historian Sir William Pole (1561–1635) whose principal seat was Colcombe House in the parish of Colyton, the former residence of Walter Erle of which mansion house and deerpark a lease had been granted to him by Queen Catherine Parr.

Pole describes various of the Erle family's landholdings in his work Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon.[11] Dorothy's mother was Katherine Popham (died 1588), the sister of John Popham (1531–1607), Lord Chief Justice. Dorothy survived her husband and remarried to Sir Walter Vaughan (c.1572–1639), of Falstone (alias Fallersdon) in the parish of Bishopstone, Wiltshire, Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1599–1600 and a Member of Parliament for Wiltshire in 1606.[12] Thomas Erle commenced building a pier at Axmouth,[13] which manor had been acquired by his father.

Col. Sir Walter Erle (1586–1665) of Charborough, eldest surviving son and heir, a Member of Parliament and a vigorous opponent of King Charles I in the Parliamentary cause both before and during the English Civil War. he married Ann Dymoke, a daughter of Francis Dymoke, and sister of Sir Henry Dymoke, and through her acquired the manors of Erckington and Pipe, Warwickshire, which he sold to Sir Walter Devereux, Baronet.

Thomas Erle (1621–1650), son, an MP in the Long Parliament with his father. he served as a Member of Parliament for Milborne Port in the Short Parliament and for Wareham (a pocket borough controlled by his family) for the Long Parliament in November 1640. He married Susanna Fiennes, a daughter of William Fiennes, 3rd Viscount Saye and Sele.

Lieutenant-General Thomas Erle (1650–1720), PC, son, Governor of Portsmouth and a Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance. He was elected a Member of Parliament for Wareham (a pocket borough controlled by his family) in 1679 (twice), 1681, 1685 and 1689 and in 1685 he was made Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset. He was a main promoter of the Glorious Revolution as in 1686 he hosted a group of conspirators who met at Charborough House to plan the overthrow of "the tyrant race of Stuarts". This meeting led to the Invitation to William, signed by the Immortal seven.

In 1675 he married Elizabeth Wyndham (died 1710), a daughter of Sir William Wyndham, 1st Baronet of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset. After his retirement from the military he made alterations to Charborough House, including the addition of a new staircase hall with mural paintings by Sir James Thornhill, and the laying out of a formal garden on the west side.[2] He died without male progeny, when his heiress became his daughter Frances Erle (d.1728), who married Sir Edward Ernle, 3rd Baronet (c.1673–1729). Charborough House thus passed to the Ernle family.

Sir Edward Ernle, 3rd Baronet (c.1673–1729) of Etchilhampton, married Frances Erle (d.1728), heiress of Charborough, but died without male progeny, leaving a daughter and heiress Elizabeth Ernle, wife of Henry Drax (c.1693–1755).

Arms of Drax: Chequy or and azure, on a chief gules three ostrich feathers in plume issuant of the first

Henry Drax (c.1693–1755) of Ellerton Abbey in Yorkshire, a Member of Parliament, in about 1719 married Elizabeth Ernle, his first cousin and heiress of Charborough. He was the son of Thomas Shatterden, of Pope's Common, Hertfordshire, by his wife Elizabeth Drax.[14] Thomas changed his surname to Drax, having become the heir of his wealthy childless uncle Col. Henry Drax, a sugar planter of Drax Hall in Barbados and of Ellerton Abbey. Henry Drax was a favourite of Frederick, Prince of Wales, whose secretary he became.[15] Drax built a new wing onto Charborough House to accommodate the Prince during his visit in 1741.[2]

Thomas Erle Drax (c.1721–1789), son,[16] a Member of Parliament for Wareham and Corfe Castle. In 1754 he married Mary St. John, a daughter of John St John, 11th Baron St John (d.1757) of Bletso, but died without progeny and was succeeded by his brother Edward Drax.[17] In 1775 he rebuilt the parish church next to Charborough House.[2]

Edward Drax of Charborough, brother, who in 1762 married Mary Churchill, a daughter of Awnsham Churchill of Henbury. He died without male progeny, leaving as his heiress his daughter Sarah Frances Drax, wife of Richard Grosvenor.[17] In 1790 he built the pagoda-like ornamental tower, originally 80 feet high, extended in height after 1838.[18]

Richard Grosvenor (d.1819), a Member of Parliament for West Looe in Cornwall, married Sarah Frances Drax (1769–1822), heiress of Charborough, and in consequence of his marriage he assumed the surname and arms of "Erle-Drax".[17] He was a nephew of Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor of Eaton Hall, Cheshire.[17] In about 1810 he remodelled the house, probably to the designs of John Nash and laid out new gardens on the south side.[2]

Richard Edward Erle-Drax (1797–1828), only son, of Charborough and Ellerton Abbey, who died unmarried aged 31 and was succeeded by his sister Jane Frances Erle-Drax, wife of John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge.[17]

Arms of Sawbridge: Or, two bars azure each charged with a barrulet dancettée argent a chief indented of the second[19]

John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge (d.1887), of Olantigh Towers in Kent, and Holnest House in Dorset, MP for Wareham, who in 1827 married Jane Frances Erle-Drax (d.1853), heiress of Charborough. He was descended from Jacob Sawbridge (d.1748) a director of the South Sea Company in the year of the South Sea Bubble of 1720, a Member of Parliament for Cricklade in Wiltshire, who purchased the estate of Olantigh from the Thornhill family.[19] In consequence of his marriage he assumed the surname and arms of "Erle-Drax".[17] He was Master of the Blackmore Vale Hunt and ordered its members to dress in yellow coats with blue collars instead of the usual scarlet, and mounted the hunt staff on grey horses.[18] He spent money prodigiously on Charborough, including the building of the famously long boundary wall of the park, said to incorporate about two million bricks; he also built the "Stag Gate" and the "Lion Gate" entrances to the park.

In 1838 he rebuilt the ornamental tower which had been struck by lightning and extended its height from 80 to 120 feet.[18] At Olantigh he built large picture galleries for his art collection, and added Venetian-style towers and a grand fountain in the gardens.[20] He built for himself a huge mausoleum next to Holnest Church in Dorset, since demolished by his descendants due to its high maintenance costs.[18] He died without male progeny, when his paternal estates descended by tail male to his nephew, but his wife's Charborough estates descended to his two daughters as co-heiresses:

• Maria Caroline Sawbridge-Erle-Drax, eldest daughter, who died unmarried, having inherited her mother's estates. Her heir was her younger sister:
• Sarah Charlotte Elizabeth Ernle-Erle-Drax, who in 1853 married Col. Francis Augustus Plunkett Burton.[17]

John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge Erle Drax, profited significantly from slavery. In 1834 one hundred and eighty-nine enslaved persons were registered at Drax-Hall in Barbados by Forster Clarke, as the attorney to B. (J. ?) S. W. Sawbridge Erle Drax, which on 16 May 1836 resulted in the payment of £4,293 in compensation under the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.[21]

Col. Francis Augustus Plunkett Burton (d.1865) married Sarah Charlotte Elizabeth Ernle-Erle-Drax, the heiress of Charborough. He was the son of Admiral James Ryder Burton by his wife Anne Maria Plunkett, daughter of Randal Plunkett, 13th Baron of Dunsany (1739–1821). He died without male progeny leaving as his heiress his only daughter Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Burton (d.1916), who married her cousin John William Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany and was the mother of Lord Dunsany and Sir Reginald Drax.[22] In 1871, she married as her second husband Lt. John Lloyd Egginton, of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, of Cheltenham, eldest son of Rev. John Clemson Egginton of Bilbrook, Staffordshire.[17]

Arms of Egginton of Kingston-Upon-Hull and of Charborough House: Argent, six eaglets 3,2 & 1 sable a chief nebulee azure[23] As seen impaling Earle and Drax quarterly in the Turberville Window[24] in Bere Regis Church, Dorset, heraldically describing the descent of Charborough and Bere Regis

Lt. John Lloyd Egginton married Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Burton (d.1905), heiress of Charborough. On 6 August 1887 the couple assumed by royal licence the surname and arms of "Ernle", and by a further royal licence on 27 September 1887 assumed the additional surnames of "Erle" and "Drax". he died without male progeny, leaving as his heiress his only daughter Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Plunkett Ernle-Erle-Drax (d.1916), heiress of Charborough, of Bere Regis in Dorset, of Ellerton Abbey, of Maddington House in Wiltshire, of Swell Court in Somerset, and of Caesar's Camp in Surrey. In 1877 she married her distant cousin John Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany (1853–1899).[17]

John Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany (1853–1899) married Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Plunkett Ernle-Erle-Drax (d.1916), heiress of Charborough. In 1905 having succeeded her mother in the Charborough estates she assumed by royal licence dated 1905 the additional name and arms of "Ernle", and by a further royal licence dated 20 December 1905 assumed the name and arms of "Erle" and "Drax" in addition to and after those of Plunket-Ernle. Her eldest son was Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (1878–1957), an officer in the Coldstream Guards, who in 1904 married Lady Beatrice Child Villiers, a daughter of Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey (1845–1915), by whom he had issue. However his mother bequeathed Charborough and her other estates to her second son Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett.[17]

The Turberville Window in Bere Regis Church, Dorset, heraldically describing the descent of the manor of Bere Regis, from the Turberville family to the Earle family and its heirs, the descent from the latter family being the same as for Charborough. The left-most 3 3/4 lancets deal with the Turberville descent, the remainder with Earle and descendant families

Admiral the Hon. Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (1880–1967), of the Royal Navy, who inherited Charborough and Ellerton Abbey and other estates, including Drax Hall in Barbados, from his mother. By royal licence dated 4 October 1916 he assumed the additional surnames and arms of "Ernle", "Erle" and "Drax". He married Kathleen Chalmers, only daughter of Dr. Quintin Chalmers, MD.

Henry Walter Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (1928–2017),[17][25] eldest son and heir, of Charborough. He married Hon. Pamela Weeks.

Richard Drax[26] (born 1958) of Charborough, son and heir, Conservative Member of Parliament for South Dorset since 2010.

• Burke's Peerage & Baronetage
• John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 140.
• Letter from Hardy to Bertram Windle, transcribed by Birgit Plietzsch, from CL, vol 2, pp 131–133
• General Thomas Erle at www.janus.lib.cam.ac.uk