Robert Lydston Newcombe

Robert Lydston Newcombe (1719-1808) of Starcross in the parish of Kenton in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1779.[1]

Arms of Newcombe: Argent, a fess embattled between two escallops in pale sable[1]

Origins edit

He was the son of John Newcombe (1685-1773), an apothecary of St. Kerrian's, Exeter (later residing at Hill's Court in the parish of St. David's, Exeter), by his wife Mary Lydston (1692-1733), a daughter of Robert Lydston, an apothecary of St. Kerrian's, Exeter. John's great-great-grandfather was William Newcombe (d.1614), of All Hallows', Exeter and Mayor of Exeter in 1612, whose unidentified grave is in Exeter Cathedral.[2] The Newcombe family are earliest recorded as residing at Yeo, Chagford in the 14th century[3] where they were involved in the Dartmoor tin industry and later at Drewsteignton, Devon.[4] The arms of Newcombe (Argent, a fess embattled between two escallops in pale sable) are identical to those of Nutcombe of Nutcombe[5] in the parish of Clayhanger, Devon, with altered tinctures.

Marriage and children edit

He married Hannah Bawden (b.1722, d.1799) on the 9 July 1754 at Littleham, daughter of Humphry Bawden, a mercer in Exeter and his wife Margaret née Newcombe (the paternal aunt of Robert L. Newcombe), by whom they had a son and five daughters, including:

  • John Newcombe (1761-1846) of Starcross, Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff for Devon on 4 February 1814, son and heir, who married Harriet Pleydell (1762-1821) of Whatcombe, Long Bredy in Dorset, the daughter of Jonathan Morton Pleydell and his wife Elizabeth née Jackson. Their white marble mural monument and funerary hatchment[6] survive in Kenton Church.[3] He left two daughters and co-heiresses, including:

Death and burial edit

He died on 8 January 1808 and was buried in the south-west corner of the churchyard of St David's Church, Exeter, where survives his large monument topped by obelisks above his grave.[3]

Further reading edit

  • The Newcombe family of Chagford & Exeter, Newcombe, Peter R., 2005-17 [1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.577, pedigree of Newcombe
  2. ^ Vivian, p.577, "MI Exeter Cathedral"
  3. ^ a b c See image
  4. ^ Vivian, p.577
  5. ^ Vivian, p.585
  6. ^ Summers, Peter & Titterton, John, (eds.), Hatchments in Britain, Vol.7: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Somerset; Phillimore Press, Chichester, Sussex, 1988, p.27
  7. ^ a b Vivian, p.588