Family:Champneys, Richard (?-1761)

Richard Champneys (Elizabeth Chaundler, Richard, Robert, Richard, Elizabeth Robage, Anne Whitney, Robert, Robert [perhaps] Robert, Eustace, Robert, Robert, Robert, Eustace, Eustace, Robert, ...) daughter of John and Elizabeth (Chaundler) Champneys, was born unknown and died 1761.

He married firstly, Sarah Daines daughter and co-heir of Sir William Daines.

He married secondly, Sarah/Jane Swymmer, daughter of Anthony Swymmer, Esq.

The Will of Richard Champneys, Esq. of Camms, Southamptonshire

Prerogative Court of Canterbury

Prob 11/872

I Richard Champneys sometimes of Orchadleigh in the County of Somerset, but now of Camms near Fareham, in the County of Southampton, Esquire do hereby revoke all former Wills by me made and Declare my Last Will and Testament to be as follows.

First I give unto my Daughter Sarah the sum of two thousand pounds of lawful money of Great Britain to be hers when she shall attain the age of twenty one years or be married which shall first happen and in case my personal Estate shall not be sufficient to raise the said sum of two thousand pounds then and in such case I will and declare that the deficiency be made up out of my Real Estate and for that purpose I thereby charge all my Lands, Tenements and Leaseholds herein after by me Give and Devise in the fist place with the payment of so much of the said sum of two thousand pounds as my personal Estate Shall fall short of raising I give and Device all my Freeholds Estates my messuages, Lands, tenements and ___ whatsoever who there in possession reversion or ___ whilst I have power to Dispose of by Will situate __ and being in the several parishes of Orchadleigh, Frome Selwood, Lullington, Marston, Bigot Barkly and Wilnington or also where in the County of Somerset and at Corolock or Osowler in the Kingdom of England with there and every of their rights marks and __ charged and ___ as aforesaid unto my Brother in law Anthony Langley Swymmer of Longwood in the said County of Southampton, Esq. and Thomas Shurray of Burlington in the said County of Somerset, Gent. And their heirs forever to and for the uses and purposes hereinafter limited of and ___ the same and to or for no other use or purpose so whatsoever that is to say, to the use of my Son Thomas Champneys dwelling his natural life without Impeachment of Waste and from and after the determination of that Estate for life to the use of the said Anthony Langley Swymmer and Thomas Shurray and their heirs during the life of my said Son Thomas Champneys and for so long since of him as shall be more to say to suppose the __ use of said remainders here after limited in __ to preserve the same __ and remainders by __ or the revision but to permit my said Son Thomas Champneys ___ his natural life to have __ and enjoy the __ and profits of the said premises and from and after the death of my said Son Thomas Champneys and the Determination of that said last mentioned Estate of then the said Anthony Langley Swymmer and Thomas Shurray To the use of the first son of the Body of my said son Thomas Champneys to be begotten and of the heirs male of the Body of said first son lawfully issuing and in default of such issue to then the second third fourth and all and every other son and sons of the body of my said son Thomas Champneys to be begotten __ according to their seniority and of the heirs male of the Body and Bodys of the said Son and Sons respectively lawfully issuing the Elder of the same ___ sons and the heirs male of his body always to take and be preferred before the younger of the same other sum and sons and the heirs male of his and the Body and Bodys and in default of such issue to the use of the first Son of the Body of my daughter Jane now wife of George Child of Gosport in the said County of Southampton Merchant lawfully begotten or to the other as his natural life and for and after the determination of that said last mentioned Estate for life to the use of the said Anthony Langley Swymmer and Thomas Shurray and their heirs during the natural life of the same first son of the Boyd of my said daughter Jane and for so long ___ after as shall be __ to support the __ uses and remainders hereinafter limited in trust __ preserved the same to __ __ remainder by Entry or otherwise but to permit the same first Son of the Body of my said Daughter Jane during his natural life to ___ here and Enjoy the Rents and profits of the said premises and from and after the Death of the same first son of the Body of my said Daughter Jane and the Determination of that said last mentioned Estate of then the said Anthony Langley Swymmer and Thomas Shurray To the use of the first Son lawfully to be begotten of the same first son of the Body of my said Daughter Jane to be begotten__ for life according to their seniority with remainder to the said Anthony Langley Swymmer and Thomas Shurray and their heirs during the natural life of all and every such son and sons and for so long __ after as shall be __ to support the __ and remainder hereinafter limited with remainder to the first second third fourth and all and every other son and sons of the Body and Bodys of such Second Third Fourth and other son and Sons of the Body of my Said Daughter Jane ___ according to the seniority and of the heirs male of the several and respective Body and Bodys lawfully issuing with __ in all __ as the same is her before limited to the first son of the Body of my said daughter Jane begotten or to be begotten are the issue male of her Body and in default of said issue to the use of the first second third fourth and all and every other son and sons of the Body of my daughter Catherine now wife of Benjamin de la Fontaine of the City of London Merchant lawfully begotten to ___ of life according to their seniority with remainder to the said Anthony Langley Swymmer and Thomas Shurry and their heirs surviving the natural life of all and every such Son and Sons and for so long time after as shall be necessary to support the __ uses and remainders herein after limited with remainder to the first second third fourth and all and every other son and sons lawfully to be begotten of the Body and Bodys such first second third fourth and other son and sons of the Body of my said daughter Katherine ___ according to the seniority and of the heirs male of the __ and __ Body and Bodys lawfully issuing in ____ ___ in all respects as the same as __ before limited to the first son of my daughter same as to be begotten and the issue Male of his Body and in default of such issue to the use of the first second third fourth and all and every other son and sons of the Body of my Daughter Sarah lawfully to be begotten __ for life according to their seniority with remainder to the said Anthony Laughly Swymmer and Thomas Shurray and their heirs during the natural life of all and every such son and sons and for so long as __ after as shall be . . .

. . . .

To the use of my nephew Richard Hole Son of my sister Joanna Maria Hole for and __ the term of his natural life and for and after the determination of that Estate for Life of the said Richard Hole To the use of the said Anthony Langley Swymmer and Thomas Shurray and their heirs during the life of the said Richard Hole and for so long time of his as shall be necessary to support __ sons and remainders hereinafter landed

To my nephew John Hole younger son of my said Sister Joanna Maria Hole

Desires to be buried in Chapel at Orchadleigh by the said of my first wife Sarah Champneys

Made 11 September 33rd King George II (1759)

4 February 1762 letters of administration granted to Elias Benjamin de la Fountaine the Curator and Guardian to Thomas Champneys a minor

From The Baronetage of England:

401. Champneys, of Orchadleigh, in Somersetshire.

Created Baronet, Jan. 26, 1767.

The tradition in Somersetshire is, that the family of Champneys hath been settled at Orchadley, near Frome-Selwood, in that county, from the time of the Norman conquest, and it appears from an antient deed, in possession of the family at this present time, that Henry Champneys, of Orchadley, Esq., temp. Hen. IV. in consideration of the payment of one hundred shillings, was pardoned his transgression in marrying Joan, the widow of Walter Romsey, (a teant of the King in capite) without license first obtained.

The following inscription, on a flat tomb-stone, in the middle aile of teh church of Frome-Selwood, aforsesaid, informs us, that another of this family, a descendant of the beforenamed Henry Champneys, was buried there very early in the sixteenth century: "Pray for the soules of Henry Champeneys, Esquire, and Jane his wife' which Henry decessed the 14th day of August, M.D.VI. on whole soules Chrst have mercy Amen."

By a written instrument in Latin, with the great seal appendant, now in the family, dated 31 Hen. VIII. an annuity of six pounds per annun appears to have been granted to Alice Champneys, spinster, one of this family, then late abbess of the monastery of Shaftsbury, for her life, for her support, upon the dissolution of that monastery.

We find, that in Queen Elizabeth's time, another Henry Champneys, Esq. was possessed of the said manor of Orchadnely, together with the manors of Frome-Selwood and Wilmington, in the same county, and the manor of Cowhill, in Gloucestershire, and lived in great hospitality and reputation, at the manor house of Orchadly, till his death, which happened about the middle of that reign, leaving behind him six sons, viz. John, Richard, Henry, Christopher, George, and Edward Champneys.

John, his eldest son, succeeded him in those possessions, who having no issue, limited the said several manors and estates, by deed, in his lifetime, to his nephew John, the son of his brother, Richard Champneys, which said John afterwards succeeded to the enjoyment of the said estates, and, upon his death, the same decended in succession to John, his son, and John, his grandson.

Richard Champneys, Esq. of Orchadly, son of the last named John Champneys, married to his first wife, Sarah, one of the daughters and coheirs of Sir William Daines, of Bristol, Knt. with whome he received a very considerable portion, and she dying without any male issue, he married to his second wife, Sarah, the only daughter of Anthony Swymmer, of the island of Jamaica, Esq.; by whom he had issue an only son, Thomas, born in Oct. 1745.

The said Richard Champneys died in the year 1761, possessed of the several manors and estates beforementioned, leaving his said son,

Thomas, a minor, who soonafter his attaining the age of twenty-one, in the seventh year of his present Majesty's reign, in consideration of the antiquity of his family, which enjoyed such large possessions in the county of Somerset, with splendor and hospitality, for so many centuries, and of the additional fortune which he inherited by the death of his uncle Anthony Langley Swymmer, Esq; without issue; was created a baronet of Great Britain, by the name and title of Sir Thomas Champneys, of Orchadley, in the county of Somerset, Bart.

Arms: Party per Pale, Argent and Sable; within a Border of the same, engrailed and counter-changed, a Lion rampant, Or. Motto: Pro patria non timidus perire. Seat: At Orchadley, in Somersetshire.

Anthony Swymmer, Esq. had in addition to Sarah, two sons, Anthony Langley Swymmer who married Arabella Astley and was M.P. for Southampton, and owned 8,278 acres in Jamaica in 1754 and William Swymmer, a merchant based in Bristol. Anthony Swymmer was a Bristol merchant. In the 1660s he was living in Port Royal on the Caribbean island of Jamaica. He was the island's official representative of the Society of Merchant Venturers, Bristol's elite merchant society which controlled foreign trade. His son Anthony owned land in Jamaica. The son Anthony was in business with his brother William, who was based in Bristol. They were trading in sugar (produced on the slave plantations) and also in enslaved Africans. This was in the 1680s, when the London-based Royal African Company had control of slave trading. The Swymmers were thus probably trading illegally, although it is possible they were buying slaves themselves from the Royal African Company and simply selling them on. In one deal they made, they agreed to supply the Bybrook Plantation, in Jamaica, belonging to William Helyar from Somerset, with 10 enslaved Africans. Their agent in Jamaica however, failed to deliver the agreed slaves to the plantation, and sold them to someone else for less than Helyar had agreed to pay for them. The Swymmers probably lost money on the deal, but they were anxious not to lose customers. The letter notes that 40 of the 120 enslaved Africans on the ship died, a very high death rate. They told Helyar that the slaves that survived had actually been in very poor condition, and might well have died in the first year if he had bought them. They tried to argue that it was therefore a good thing that their agent had sold the poor slaves elsewhere. They offered to buy him another 10 from the first ship that arrived in Jamaica, through Anthony Swymmer. The letter from William Swymmer and his Bristol partner William Hayman, dated January 1684, reads:

"In January last we covenanted [agreed] with you to deliver you ten Negres Slaves to say five men and five women in the Island of Jamaica at £17 sterling p head to be pd. In this citty and according to the covenant with you we forthwith gave order to our factor Mr Robert Legg in Jamaica to deliver to you sd tenn negros to you Now we understand that Robert Legg did not deliver you sd Negros but for what reason we know not, and have sold them for lesse moneys than you were to pay for them and have also acted many other things to our own prejudice and losse Sir, we are much conserned that you order was not completed considering we were connected with so worthy a Gent. as you selfe though we believe noe way prejudicial to you notwithstanding that Mr Hellyar your overseer of your plantations writes you; for our negroes proved very sicke and dyseased this yeare, and lost forty of 120 and the rest were landed very much out of order and would have been capable but of very little service thise yeare if they had lived which is much to be feared."

William Swymmer had a daughter Elizabeth Swymmer who married Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland and had two sons, the eldest of which, John, succeeded as 9th Earl of Westmorland.

Children of Richard and Sarah/Jane (Swymmer) Champneys:

i.	Katherine Champneys, m. Elias-Benjamin de la Fontaine, bondsman to Edmund Burke, merchant of London and Codford St. Peter, Wiltshire. They had a son Elias-Benjamin de la Fontaine, born about 1764, attended Oxford University.
ii.	Jane Champneys, m. George Child of Gosport.
iii.	Sarah Champneys.
iv.	Sir Thomas Champneys.

References

• The Baronetage of England: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the English, by Edward Kimber, Richard Johnson, Thomas Wotton, published 1771, printed for G. Woodfall. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized 1 Jun 2006 by Google. Pages 237-239.

• A History of Shrewsbury, by Hugh Owen, John Brickdale Blakeway, published 1825, Harding, Lepard and Co. Original from the New York Public Library. Digitized 21 Mar 2007 by Google. Page 161. "Lady Astley had a numerous family, all but one baptized at Patsbull: . . . 6. Arabella, born 1 Nov. 1719; married, 1st, at St. James's, Westminster, 5 Jan. 1748, Anthony-Langley Swymmer, esq. of Longwood house near Winchester, M.P. for Southampton, who died in Jamaica, 1759; 2dly, in June 1761, Sir Francis Vincent, Bart. of Stoke D'Abernon, co. Surrey. She died 29 June 1785."

• Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886: The Parentage. . . by University of Oxford. Page 474. "Fontaine, Elias Benjamin de la, s. Elias Benjamin, of London, gent. St. John's Coll., matric 7 March, 1781 aged 17: B.A. 1784, M.A. 1795. [15]"

• Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licenses Granted by the Bishop of Winchester. 1689-1837, by William John Charles Moens, Church of England Diocese. "Minchin, Henry, of Wickham, Esq., 21, b., & Elizabeth Guitton, of the s., 21, sp., at W., 14 Sep., 1796. Elias-Benjamin De La Fontaine, of Codford St. Peter, co. Wilts, clerk, bondsman."

• Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the British West Indies, 1623-1775, by Richard B. Sheridan, Canoe Press, 1994. Page 61 citing: Note 18 on page 62: "J.P.R.O. Spanish Town. Wilts, vol. 32 ff. 95-97; Inventorys, vol. 50, ff. 166-83; vol. 54, ff. 32-41: P.R.O. London, C.O. 142/31; Judd, Members of Parliament, pp. 116. 210, 349."

• http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/showNarrative.php?sit_id=1&narId=214&nacId=216

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Copyright © 2007, Adrian Benjamin Burke, Esq. and the Whitney Research Group.