Halsbury is a historic manor in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is situated 2 miles north-east of the village of Parkham and 4 miles south-west of the town of Bideford. Halsbury was long a seat of the ancient Giffard family, a distant descendant of which was the celebrated lawyer Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury, who adopted the name Halsbury for his earldom and was the author of the essential legal reference books Halsbury's Statutes. Halsbury Barton, now a farmhouse, retains 16th and 17th century elements of the former manor house of the Giffard family. It was described in a record of 1560 as a "new dwelling house".
Descent
de Halsbury
The de Halsbury family were the earliest recorded holders of the manor and took their surname from it. The descent of Halsbury in the family of Giffard was as follows:
Walter de Halsbery, living during the reign of King Henry II
Baldwyn de Halsbury
Peter de Halsbury, who left his daughter Jone de Halsbury as his sole heiress, who married Bartholomew Giffard.
Giffard
The Giffard family of Halsbury was descended from the Anglo-Norman magnateWalter Giffard, 1st Earl of Buckingham, Lord of Longueville in Normandy. His descendants, via a female branch which adopted the surname Guffard, held lands in Devon including the manors of Whitchurch, Wear Giffard, ClovellyLamerton and Awlescombe. The descent of Halsbury in the Giffard family as given by Pole and expanded by Vivian is as follows:
Bartholomew Giffard, who by his marriage to the heiress Jone de Halsbury inherited the manor of Halsbury. In 1290 he witnessed a deed at nearby Portledge, the seat of the Coffin family, with Jellanus Dacus of nearby Orleigh.
Baldwyn Giffard who married a certain Jone. In 1318 with his grandfather Peter de Halsbury he witnessed a deed at Portledge.
John Giffard, who married a certain Sibill
Walter Giffard, who married a certain Isabell
John Giffard, who married Jone Deuclive, daughter and heiress of Richard Deuclive. His second son was Andrew Giffard who married one of the co-heiresses of Sir Alan de Esse of Thuborough and founded the family of Giffard of Thuborough in the parish of Sutcombe in Devon.
Thomas Giffard, who married a certain Wilmot Knight, daughter of a certain Knight
John Giffard, who married Jone Dabernon, a daughter and co-heiress of John Dabernon by his wife Isabella Mules, daughter of John Mules of Irishborough descended from John de Moels, 1st Baron Moels, feudal baron of North Cadbury in Somerset.
Thomas Giffard , who married twice: firstly to his cousin Hawis Dennys, a daughter of John Dennys of nearby Orleigh in the parish of Buckland Brewer, Devon, by his wife Eleanor Giffard, daughter and co-heiress of Stephen Giffard of Theuborough, Sutcombe; secondly to Anne Coryton, daughter of John Coryton of Newton in Quethioc, Cornwall. His eldest son from his 2nd marriage was Sir Roger Giffard who founded the junior albeit more prominent family of Giffard of Brightley in the parish of Chittlehampton in Devon.
John Giffard of Halsbury, who married Ibot Woode, daughter of John Woode of Asheridge in the parish of North Tawton, Devon.
John Giffard , who in 1574 married Alis Smyth, a daughter of Richard Smyth of Totnes. It is not known what relation she was to Bernard Smith of Totnes, MP for Totnes in 1558 and mayor of Totnes 1549–50 and c. 1565–6 and escheator of Devon and Cornwall 1567–8, who left a sole daughter and heiress Eleanor who married four times.
John Giffard , who in 1603 at Monkleigh married Elizabeth Tremayne, a daughter and co-heiress of Edmund Tremayne of Collacombe in the parish of Lamerton, Devon.
Thomas Giffard , baptised at Monkleigh. He married Katherine Leach, daughter of Sir Simon Leach of Cadleigh, Sheriff of Devon in 1624, and widow of Robert Burrington of West Sandford. Katherine was buried in Exeter Cathedral, where survives her monument. His son Arthur Giffard died young, and thus did not inherit Halsbury. His daughter Katherine Giffard was buried in Exeter Cathedral.
John Giffard , of Halsbury. He married Elizabeth Champernowne, daughter of Arthur Champernowne of Dartington. His only son Thomas Giffard predeceased his father and thus did not inherit Halsbury. Although he had a daughter Mary Giffard, John Giffard settled the estate of Halsbury onto his distant cousin Roger Giffard, the youngest son of Col. John Giffard of Brightley, a distinguished Royalist commander in the Civil War.
Giffard of Brightley
Roger Giffard , the youngest son of Col. John Giffard of Brightley, He married three times, but produced only a daughter Bridget, who died an infant in 1684. By his will he settled Halsbury in tail male, and thus it was inherited by his great-nephew Roger Giffard.
Roger Giffard , 2nd son of Henry Giffard, who had been disinherited by his father John Giffard of Brightley in favour of his younger brother Caesar Giffard. Henry Giffard married Martha Hill, daughter of Edward Hill, Treasurer of Virginia and an Admiralty Judge. Henry's grave slab survives in the floor of the Giffard Chapel in Chittlehampton Church. Roger Giffard married his cousin Elizabeth Giffard, daughter of John Giffard of Court, Chittlehampton, by whom he had "a numerous and heedless family" and sold Halsbury to "the celebrated adventurer" Thomas Benson. Roger's uncle Caesar Giffard, who was the last male Giffard of Brightley, drowned in 1715 whilst crossing the River Torridge, and his heirs sold Brightley. Thus the ancient Giffard family of Devon disappeared from the county of Devon. However, the male line continued in junior branches elsewhere, most notably as descended from John Giffard of Great Torrington, the elder son of Henry Giffard and Martha Hill. The most notable descendant of this branch was the Lord ChancellorHardinge Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury, who was created Baron Halsbury in 1885 and Earl of Halsbury and Viscount Tiverton in 1898, the great-grandson of John Giffard of Great Torrington.
Benson
, of Knapp House, Appledore, Devon, MP for Barnstaple between 1747 and 1754, a ship-owner, merchant and maritime insurance fraudster, purchased Halsbury from Roger Giffard. His silver punch bowl, inscribed with his armorials and presented by him to Barnstaple mayor and corporation, is displayed in the Dodderidge Room of Barnstaple Guildhall. Following his flight from justice to Portugal in 1753, the Crown seized his assets, including Halsbury.
Davie
Halsbury was sold by the Crown to John Davie of nearby Orleigh, grandson of the wealthy Bideford tobacco merchant John Davie of Orleigh.
John Davie, who married twice, firstly to Juliana Musgrave, daughter of Richard Musgrave of Frome, Somerset; secondly to Mary Courtenay, daughter of Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet of Powderham and widow of John Langston of Park.
John Davie , who in 1763 at Atherington married Eleanora Basset, sister and heiress of Francis Basset of Umberleigh and Heanton Punchardon in Devon. In antiquity and nobility of its origins the Basset family was comparable to the Giffards.
Joseph Davie Basset , born "Joseph Davie" who later assumed the surname "Basset" under the terms of his maternal inheritance from the Basset family.
