The Baronetage was created on 14 June 1875 for the Conservative politician Walter Barttelot.[3] The family surname is pronounced "Bartlot". The Barttelot family claims to be the oldest gentry family in Sussex[4] and has been seated at the manor of Stopham since 1379, which they inherited on marriage to the heiress of the de Stopham family, where they had a residence at "La Ford",[5] situated by the ancient crossing point of the River Arun, where they built the surviving bridge the tolls of which they controlled for many centuries.
The parish church has a large collection of heraldic brasses and stained glass windows of the Barttelot family.[6] The 2nd Baronet was killed in action during the Boer War, the 3rd Baronet in WW I and the 4th Baronet in WW II.[7] The title is now held by Colonel Sir Brian Barttelot, 5th Baronet (born 1941), OBE DL, great-great-grandson of the 1st Baronet (the title having descended in the direct line) who succeeded his father in 1944. He is a Colonel in the Coldstream Guards and a vice-president of the Standing Council of the Baronetage.[8]
The family residence is Stopham Park, near Pulborough, West Sussex, built on the family's estate in 1958 by the widow of the 4th Baronet as a smaller residence, having given up occupancy of the family's historic seat of Stopham House, converted to 11 flats.[9]
^See 2018 youtube video of Sir Brian Barttelot showing a visitor (The Bald Explorer) around, discussing his family, the brasses and stained-glass windows [2]