Large Estate owned by French Marquis - Redmarley

Hi, We've just held a Wedding Dress & Christening Robe Festival in our church in West Sussex and a robe was donated which was used by a nursery maid who married a gamekeeper from "a large estate owned by a French Marquis" in this village in approx 1935.

Does anyone know which estate this is? I am interested as my ancestors, from London, were living in Redmarley D'Abitot in the 1861 census. The men were coachmen, grooms and a postillion. I presume they were working for the owners of a grand house in the village, so I am wondering whether this is one and the same house.

Thanks.

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Hi, welcome to the Forum, especially with such an unusual query.
I too have ancestors from Redmarley although sadly I don't have much hands-on experience of the village itself, although other members no doubt will. You may care to read the following post about the village.

http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=31286

It's been named as such since Domesday times:
"Ridmarley Dabitot was so called from Geoffry de’Abetot a Descendant of Robert D’abetot Steward of the Household to King William the Conqueror & Brother to Urso D’abitot who was under the same King Sheriff of this County." #
So you can see there's plenty of Gallic history within the village although not sure about any Marquis'.

According to this account the family line died out in the C18th when they lived at Down House.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43157&strquery=redmarley#n76

Anyhow, your query mentions "this village in 1935" which infers you mean your village in Sussex as you don't actually state what village ?. I presume you meant to state Redmarley ?.
Also please can you name one or more of your Redmarley ancestors so we can actually place them in the Census and hopefully within the village itself.

The oldest Directory mention I can find is from 1850 Post Office Directory so inline with your Census details.
http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/d.asp

This lists "Gentry" as Ann Commeline at Roundbush, Edward Cooper at Wetherdine, George Doweswell at Down House (the "priciple seat"), Lt-Col Henry Gee Roberts at Hazeldine House.
It would be interesting if your ancestors tie up with these names ?.

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Thanks for your reply, Jeff. yes, I did mean Redmarley!

My ancestors were Bushnell and the family, James, Coachman, his wife, Ann and their 6 children were all living in what looks like "Near Churches". Strangely, their son Richard was mentioned twice in the census, as he was also working as a postillion at Stoke House, Stoke Edith, some 14 miles away.

Regards

Christine

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From Latterday Saints only:
England and Wales Census, 1861

Name: James Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Male
Age: 55
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Birthplace: Oxford...
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

Name: Ann Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Female
Age: 41
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Birthplace: Brighton
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

Name: Henry Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: London St Georges
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

Name: Richard Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Male
Age: 11
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: London St Georges
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

Name: John Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Male
Age: 12
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: London St Georges
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

Name: Inkerman Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Male
Age: 4
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: London St Georges
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

Name: Ellen Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Birthplace: London St Georges
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

Name: Emily Bushnell
Event: Census
Event Date: 1861
Gender: Female
Age: 3
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Birthplace: London St Georges
Record Type: Household
Registration District: Newent
Sub-district: 2 Redmarley
Ecclesiastical Parish: Worcester
Civil Parish: Redmarley D'Abitot
County: Gloucestershire

So sadly no usefull address details here.

From this FoD PRs site:
This is only family member,

Record_ID: 133422
Entry_Number: 394
Year: 1863
Month: Aug
Day: 26
Surname: BUSHNELL
Forenames: Elisha Inkerman
Residence: Redmarley
Age_at_death: 81/2 y[ea]rs
Officiating_Minister: R P Hill Rector
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes: Forename confirmed Death Register vol 6a page 170
Register_Reference: P63 IN 1/7
Page_No: 50
Parish_Chapel: Bromsberrow
Soundex: B254

There are 14 other Bushnell PRs on site, all in Ross On Wye so not far away, all are later than the above. No obvious clues such as occupations etc but possibly related ?.
That said looking at the 1881 Census suggest family not in area ??? Perhaps a spelling issue, Latterday Saints site poor in this respect.

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In desperation I Googled "Marquis Redmarley" and to my surprise got an interesting hit, an extracted Notice from a 1942 Suffolk newspaper;

"1942 Beccles & Bungay 28 Feb
WEDDING: Mr Murrough Loftus, Scots Guards, elder son of Mr PC Loftus, MP and Mrs Loftus, of Reydon Covert, Southwold, and his bride, Miss Anne Elizabeth de la Pasture, only daughter of the Marquis and Marquise de la Pasture, of Redhill, Redmarley, Gloucs [PHOTO page 1]"

http://www.foxearth.org.uk/BecclesAreaNewspapers/beccles_newspapers_1942_on.htm

Searching Marquis de la Pasture, I find they are descended from an emigree family settled in England after the French Revolution, particularly Count Henry de la Pasture, 3rd son of .. "the 14th Count and 3rd Marquis de la Pasture" who lived in Llandogo Priory, Monmouthshire; so quite local.
However I cannot find any mention of them in Redmarley in the mid C19th Directories etc,or in the FoD PRs.

Searching Redhill Redmarley, see photo & map.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/28165

iirc as a child in the 70s we watched motorbike "scrambles" on the Hill ?.
Nearby Redhill Farm became infamous a few year back for the "missing, believed murdered" wife of farm owner Mr Prout (an indirect distant "relative" of a mine, sadly), who now resides at HM Pleasure.
Nearby Pfera Hall is barely mentioned online despite its curious name; this rather nice modernised "pile" is now a care home which could easily have been home to a Marquis in the past, and maybe employed coachmen etc back in the C19th ?.
http://www.pferahall.co.uk/images/PferaHall.jpg

Are there any other such grand houses in Redmarley, please ??

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I hope Marilyn Griffiths will please accept my far-too-belated but heartfelt thanks for so kindly looking up the Census's for this enquiry:

I quote

"1841 Census, the Bushnells were in Clapham, London.

There seem to be quite a few farmers on large estates, with plenty of governess etc around, so all I can say at the moment, is that in 1851 your family where living in St George Hanover Square (think it was Sneyd Street) - couldn't copy it all on my census. They lived in an area with other Coachman.
If you obtained a birth certificate of one of the children, this may say, who James was Coachman to.

1871 Census shows that James, Ann and their daughter Ellen have moved back to London, St Marylebone."

Sorry for late posting, hopefully this still helps the OP.

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The Marquis de la Pasture was my grandfather and I can confirm that they did live in Redmarley in the 30's. I'm not sure of the address though I can probably find out if you are still following this thread?

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1938 Phone directory

Name: Marquis de la Pasture
Address: Redhill
Exchange: Redmarley
Number Bromsberrow 8
Directory Title: Bristol/ Exeter/ Plymouth/ Cornwall / Gloucester / South Wales / Southampton/ Portsmouth/ Bournemouth
Publication Year: 1938
Directory County: Gloucestershire, Devon, Hampshire
Page Number: 20

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

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Hi Lucy, (seems an inadequate way to address nobility!)

thanks so much for your reply. I am personally still very interested in this story although it seems the original poster is not. I did send direct mails to her regarding the forum's findings but she didnt reply. I must say I do find it frustrating that a surprisingly high number of original posters don't seem to have the simple courtesy to followup their queries but I guess thats a sign of the times...

Moving on, thanks too to Slowhands for confirming the address as "Redhill", which I presume places it more or less where I surmised ?. Do you or anyone else know if the house is still standing, thinking again I guess Pfera Hall might be socalled due to foreign owners ??, is this the same house do you think ?. Googling Pfera shows very little clues at all. A chapter was devoted to the Hall within a fairly recent book about Redmarley, I'll try and find it at the Library when I visit at Chrismastime.
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/GLS/RedmarleydAbitot/index.html

Perhaps more relevant to the original query, were your ancestors in Redmarley, at Redhill presumably, back in the 1860s ?

Please don't spend to much effort on this, as it appears you'll only be trying to satisfy my curiosity and desire to complete a task, but I would be pleased to know.

Thanks again, Jeff.

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Hi, Jeff, I was fascinated to come across a mention of Phera Hall by accident. I grew up in Redmarley and came to Australia with my parents when I was fourteen in 1966. I remember as a child playing at Pfera Hall. As well as caring for elderly people (my grandparents were actually residents there at one point) the owners or lessees of the day (not sure which) also had a few foster children staying at various times. We all went to Lowbands school in those days and then on to Newent in high school but as Lowbands was a fairly small school we all knew each other pretty well so as my brothers and sisters and I were friendly with some of the foster kids we played at the hall several times ... always outside, never inside. But from time to time we did get a tantalising glimpse inside. I think my grandfather died just before we came to Australia and my grandmother remained at the Hall until her death. Thanks for reminding me of the wonderful childhood we had in Redmarley. I'm actaully trying to find the exact house we lived in as one of my sisters is visiting in April but I can't recognise it. I too would love to know if the Hall is still there. Cheers.

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Hi Coxie, welcome to the forum & website which I hope you'll explore in full, we're lucky to have such a good resource.
As per my first post, my only experience of Redmarley is from visiting my elderly Aunt Hilda Brace nee Gittings when I was a child in the 70s, she lived in a lovely old detached black & white cottage with chickens & plum trees in the large garden.... you can imagine how upset I was when (like you) I tried to find it and found it had been demolished and built over. Progress I guess...

Re Phera Hall, I think you misunderstood my post, it's still standing and is a care home again. However while Googling it I did find some photos suggesting it had previously been in unoccupied and in some disrepair and the grounds being used by "new age travellers" until they're eviction in 1990.

http://www.travellerhomes.co.uk/

Nowadays it looks rather better again, here are some photos
http://www.pferahall.co.uk/images/PferaHall.jpg

For more general posts about Redmarley I suggest you may care to lookout for the book I mentioned in my earlier post.
atb Jeff

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Thanks for clearing that up, Jeff. I am glad someone restored it as it was a beautiful old place. I have managed to find my old home on Google earth. Cheers.

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Hi there,

I know you may no longer be interested in this thread given it goes back a bit but I believe the estate in question is the Down House which my family owned until two months ago. Monique de la pasture lived there with her husband George Bullough. I believe they had an unconventional marriage and he lived at the house while she was in one of the cottages belonging to the estate - perhaps this is where the redhill link comes in?

We recently (sadly) sold off many items from the estate as we had to sell including old servants bells. The cellars and the walls have old notes from people who used to work there and my sister and I loved to run around finding these when we were little.

Hope that helps a bit,

Anna

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Hi Anna, and a warm welcome to the forum & website.
Thanks for your interesting and helpful post. It seems there were a few ladies named Monique de la Pasture, but this helpful webpage and photo appears to describe the lady you recall, and also her husband George Bullough.

"Portrait of Lady Bullough, born Monica Lilly Ducarel de la Pasture (1869-1967).

Lady Monica Lilly Bullough was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 7 April 1869. Her mother died the following day. She is the eldest daughter of French aristocrat Gerard Gastavus Ducarel (1838-1916), fourth Marquis de la Pasture and Léontine Standish (1843-1869). Monique marries first Charles Edward Nicholas Charrington on 19 March 1889. From this marriage was born the following year, Dorothea Elizabeth Charrington. This marriage is a failure and the divorce is pronounced on 25 May 1903. A month later, Monique Ducarel de la Pasture married Sir George Bullough (1870-1939), 1st Baronet, on 24 June 1903 at Kinloch Castle, Rum Island. From this second union, was born on 5 November 1906, Hermione Bullough. Monique Ducarel de la Pasture dies in Newmarket, Warren Hill, Suffolk, United Kingdom, on 22 May 1967, at the respectable age of 98 years."

Photo here https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monique_Ducarel_de_la_Pasture_(1869-1967),_Lady...

and here https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-monique-ducarel-de-la-pasture-1869-1967-lady-bullough...

The same webpage included this note and photo wrt George Bullough;

"Sir George Bullough was born on 28 February 1870 in Accrington, Lancashire. He married Monique Lilly Ducarel de la Pasture (1869-1967) at Kinloch Castle on the island of Rùm on 24 June 1903.
Monique's family had an estate at Montreuil-sur-Mer in northern France. Known as Lady Monica, she obtained a divorce in order to marry Bullough. She was the eldest daughter of the Fourth Marquis de la Pasture whose aristocrat ancestors had fled the French Revolution and Leontine Standish (1843-1869), daughter of Lord Charles Strickland Standish (1790-1863). They had one daughter, Hermione, who married John Lambton, 5th Earl of Durham.
Sir George Bullough, 1st Baronnet, died in France in the city of Le Touquet on 26 July 1939."

https://www.alamy.com/english-sir-george-bullough-was-born-on-28-february-1870-in-accri...

Belatedly found this page about Sir George Bullough, it seems he enjoyed a very pleasant lifestyle, and was clearly a gentleman of importance in the Redmarley area ! The notes include;

"In 1909, Sir George Bullough purchased the Down House, Redmarley, where he moved his stud, consequently breeding well-known horses such as Ethnarch, Grand Vitesse, Valois and Ellanvale on the premises.
In 1913, he purchased a 1902 steel yacht, also named Rhouma, which was hired to the Royal Navy as an auxiliary patrol yacht during World War I.
Bullough served as a cavalry officer with the Imperial Yeomanry from 1908 to 1911 and because of his horsemanship, during World War I he was appointed a superintendent with the Remount Department with the rank of major. For his services to his country, George Bullough was created a baronet 'of the Isle of Rhum and of Down House in the parish of Redmarley in the County of Worcester' on 21 January 1916.
With his wealth, he chose to pursue an interest in yachting and Thoroughbred horse racing as well as hunting, serving as Master of the Ledbury Foxhounds from 1908 through 1921."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bullough

I wonder how this wedding I mentioned earlier in this thread fits into this family household ?

"1942, Beccles & Bungay 28 Feb,
WEDDING: Mr Murrough Loftus, Scots Guards, elder son of Mr PC Loftus, MP and Mrs Loftus, of Reydon Covert, Southwold, and his bride, Miss Anne Elizabeth de la Pasture, only daughter of the Marquis and Marquise de la Pasture, of Redhill, Redmarley, Gloucs."
http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=32775

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