William Fellowes (barrister)

William Fellowes
F.R.S.
Bust-length oval portrait of William Fellowes, in a long wig, wearing white bands
Engraved portrait of William Fellowes from 1723
Born1660
Died1724
Occupationbarrister
ChildrenCoulson Fellowes, William Fellowes of Shotesham Park

William Fellowes (1660–1724) was an English barrister, a Master in Chancery from 1707.[1] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1704.[2]

Life

He was the son of William Fellowes of London, born 4 October 1660.[1] his mother was Susanna Coulson, daughter of William Coulson of Greenwich, and sister of Thomas Coulson the Member of Parliament.[3] He was educated at Enfield Grammar School, under Robert Uvedale. He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1677. In 1678 he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, and he was called to the bar in 1686.[1]

In 1700 Fellowes was one of the trustees of forfeited estates in Ireland, in connection with the Crown Lands, Forfeited Estates Act 1698.[4]

Fellowes was left money in the will of his father-in-law, who died in 1718, with a requirement it should be spent on property in Devon.[5] That year he bought the manor of Eggesford in Devon, from Arthur St Leger; and rebuilt Eggesford House there.[6] In the early 1720s Fellowes bought Shotesham Park in Norfolk, for his third son, William.[7] At the end of his life he owned £20,000 in East India Company stock.[8]

Death, will and legacy

Memorial to William Fellowes, in All Saints, Church, Eggesford

Fellowes died on 19 January 1724, and was buried at Eggesford.[1][9] His residuary heir was his eldest son Coulson.[9][10]

His brother Sir John Fellowes, 1st Baronet, mentioned in his will, died later that year, on 26 July, without issue.[10] His principal legatee was Edward Fellowes, brother to John and William.[11] Edward was executor to both his brothers, and died in 1731.[12]

Eggesford House was demolished about 1832 by Newton Fellowes, who replaced it.[13]

Family

Fellowes in 1695 married Mary Martin or Martyn, daughter of the London merchant Joseph Martyn. They had four sons and two daughters:[9]

Joseph Martyn (1643–1718), sugar merchant and agent for West Indian planters, father-in-law of William Fellows

Martyn was a sugar merchant in Love Lane. He had spent time on Nevis, and acted as London agent for the Leeward Islands planters.[16] In 1696 John Oldmixon, in financial difficulties, took out a mortgage on a family property, the manor of Oldmixon (now part of Weston-super-Mare). The mortgage was with Martyn and Fellowes. Oldmixon not exercising a redemption option, they took legal control of the property in 1699.[17][18] In 1703 Martyn, Fellowes and Thomas Andrews, another son-in-law to Martyn, acted as executors to Martin Madan, slave-owner on Nevis, and father of Martin Madan the future Member of Parliament.[19][20] Martin Madan of Northill took out a mortgage with Martyn and Fellowes around 1699.[18]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Fellowes, William (FLWS676W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ Thomson, Thomas (1812). History of the Royal Society: From Its Institution to the End of the Eighteenth Century. R. Baldwin. p. xxxi.
  3. ^ Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. H. Colburn. 1875. p. 428.
  4. ^ a b Mayor, John Eyton Bickersteth; Scott, Robert Forsyth (1903). Admissions to the college of St. John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge. Vol. III. Cambridge University Press. p. 544.
  5. ^ Foyster, Elizabeth (8 September 2016). The Trials of the King of Hampshire: Madness, Secrecy and Betrayal in Georgian England. Simon and Schuster. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-78074-961-7.
  6. ^ "Parishes: Eggesford - Exbourne, British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  7. ^ Wilson, Richard; Mackley, Alan (1 January 2000). Creating Paradise: The Building of the English Country House, 1660-1880. A&C Black. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-85285-252-8.
  8. ^ Dickson, P. G. M. (2 March 2017). The Financial Revolution in England: A Study in the Development of Public Credit, 1688-1756. Routledge. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-351-88972-8.
  9. ^ a b c Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1909). Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 8 Notes. London: Priv. printed. pp. 55–58.
  10. ^ a b "Copy of the Probate and the Will and Codicils of William Fellowes of Eggesford, Devon, Esq., Senior Master of the High Court of Chancery and one of the Masters of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn". TNA. 4 February 1724.
  11. ^ Surrey Archaeological Society, Guilford (1913). Surrey archaeological collections, relating to the history and antiquities of the county. London, etc. p. 113.
  12. ^ Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1909). Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 8 Notes. London: Priv. printed. p. 57.
  13. ^ "The Former Eggesford House". www.heritagegateway.org.uk.
  14. ^ "Herbert, Francis (?1666-1719), of Oakley Park, Mont. History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  15. ^ "Fellowes, Robert (1742-1829), of Shotesham Park, Norf., History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  16. ^ Newman, Simon P. (2022). "'Peter': London's connected community of slave-ownership". Freedom Seekers. University of London Press: 191. ISBN 9781912702930. JSTOR j.ctv293p4c5.23.
  17. ^ Rogers, Pat. "Oldmixon, John (1672/3–1742)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20695. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  18. ^ a b Weaver, Frederic William; Norris, Hugh; Mayo, Charles Herbert (1991). Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset ... J. C. Sawtell. p. 107.
  19. ^ "Martin Madan of Nevis and London ???? - 1703". www.ucl.ac.uk.
  20. ^ "Madan, Martin (1700-56), of New Bond St., London. History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.