John Knight (1765-1850) of Lea Castle, Wolverley, [2] of 52 Portland Place [3] in London, and of Simonsbath House, Exmoor, Somerset, was an agricultural pioneer who commenced the reclamation of the barren moorland of the former royal forest of Exmoor in Devon and Somerset, England.
John II Knight (1765-1850) was the son of the ironmaster John I Knight (d.1795) of Lea Castle, [6] the son of Edward Knight (d.1780), 3rd son of Richard Knight (1659-1745) of Downton, a wealthy ironmaster and founder of the family's fortune, proprietor of Bringewood Ironworks. [7] John II Knight's younger brother was the mathematician Thomas Knight (1775-1853) of The Mount, Papcastle, Cumbria, [8] against whom he brought the celebrated 1840 lawsuit Knight v Knight, concerning the inheritance of their cousin Payne Knight (1750-1824), MP, of Downton Castle.
In August 1818 [9] he purchased at public tender the 10,262 1/4 acre former royal forest of Exmoor and began what became the largest single land reclamation project in England. [10] The Forest of Exmoor had been sold by King George III's Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues. [11] He had a connection with the area as his aunt Mary Knight was the wife of Col. Coplestone Warre Bampfield (d.1791) of Hestercombe, Somerset, the nephew of Sir Coplestone Warwick Bampfylde, 3rd Baronet (c. 1689–1727), [12] lord of the manors of Poltimore and North Molton, both in Devon. Col. Coplestone Warre Bampfield was a great-grandson of Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, 2nd Baronet (c. 1633–1692). The manor of North Molton is adjacent to the east side of the Forest of Exmoor and the Bampfylde family had certain valuable ancient grazing rights over the forest. Knight later increased his Exmoor estate to about 20,000 acres by purchasing surrounding land, particularly the so-called "allotments" which had been granted by the royal commissioners to the principal adjoining landholders to compensate them for the loss of their ancient rights over the royal forest. He built a stock-proof stone-faced wall or hedgebank around the whole estate, nearly 29 miles long, together with about 22 miles of public roads, [13] and commenced the great task of reclaiming the rough grazing of the high moors, all over 1,000 ft, to arable production, and built two farmsteads, Honeymead and Cornham, to the east and west respectively of his own residence at Simonsbath House, Simonsbath, formerly the only residence on the forest, built by James Boevey (1622–1696) in 1654, [14] which already had enclosed farmland of 108 acres.
In 1836 he launched a lawsuit against his younger brother Thomas Knight (1775-1853) of Papcastle, and others, attempting to recover the estates of his father's first cousin Payne Knight (1750-1824), MP, of Downton Castle, which estates had mostly derived from the family patriarch Richard Knight (1659-1745) of Downton. [15] The case was decided against him in 1840, and the disappointment of losing such a large inheritance may have prompted him to leave the country, which he did in 1842. [16]
He married twice: [18]
In 1842, [33] [34] aged 76, he retired to the Villa Taverna [35] in Rome (or perhaps in Frascati, [36] ), [37] leaving his 30-year-old eldest son Frederick Knight to complete his work, to whom he had handed over the management of the Exmoor estate in 1841. He died in Rome in 1850 aged 85.
Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18,810 acres (7,610 ha) in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km (34 mi) of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2 (267.5 sq mi), of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.
RichardPayne Knight of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square, London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best known for his theories of picturesque beauty and for his interest in ancient phallic imagery. He served as a Member of Parliament for Leominster (1780–84) and for Ludlow (1784–1806).
John Bampfylde of Hestercombe in Somerset, was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1715 and 1741.
Tamerton Foliot is a village and former civil parish situated in the north of Plymouth, in the Plymouth district, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It also lends its name to the ecclesiastical parish of the same name.
Thomas Andrew Knight (1759–1838), FRS, of Elton Hall in the parish of Elton in Herefordshire and later of Downton Castle, was a British horticulturalist and botanist. He served as the 2nd President of the Royal Horticultural Society (1811–1838).
Colonel Sir Frederick Winn Knight was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1841 to 1885.
Sir Richard Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baronet of Poltimore, North Molton, Warleigh, Tamerton Foliot and Copplestone in Devon and of Hardington in Somerset, England, was Member of Parliament for Exeter (1743–47) and for Devonshire (1747–76).
Knight v Knight (1840) 49 ER 58 is an English trusts law case, embodying a simple statement of the "three certainties" principle. This has the effect of determining whether assets can be disposed of in wills, or whether the wording of the will is too vague to allow beneficiaries to collect what appears on the face of the will to be theirs. The case has been followed in most common law jurisdictions.
The Hon. Charles Hope-Weir was a Scottish politician.
Simonsbath is a small village high on Exmoor in the English county of Somerset. It is the principal settlement in the Exmoor civil parish, which is the largest and most sparsely populated civil parish on Exmoor, covering nearly 32 square miles (83 km2) but with a population, at the time of the 2001 census, of 203 in 78 households, reducing to 156 at the 2011 census. The River Exe rises from a valley to the north, and the River Barle runs through the village and is crossed by a triple-arched medieval bridge that was extensively repaired after floods in 1952.
Coplestone Warre Bampfylde (1720–1791) was a British landowner, garden designer and artist.
Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, 2nd Bt., DL, JP of Poltimore and North Molton and Warleigh, Tamerton Foliot, in Devon, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1689.
Sir John Bampfylde, 1st Baronet of Poltimore and North Molton and Tamerton Foliot, all in Devon, was an English lawyer and politician. He was one of Devonshire's Parliamentarian leaders during the Civil War.
Simonsbath House is a historic house in Simonsbath on Exmoor in Somerset, England. The Grade II listed building is now the Simonsbath House Hotel, and outdoor activity centre. It lies in the valley of the River Barle and on the Two Moors Way footpath.
Sir Amyas Bampfylde of Poltimore and North Molton in Devon, England, was a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1597.
George Wentworth Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baron Poltimore (1882–1965) of Poltimore and North Molton, Devon, was a peer and major landowner in Devonshire, whose family had been seated at Poltimore from about 1300. He was a Justice of the Peace for Devon and occupied the honorary position of High Steward of South Molton, Devon.
The Manor of Poltimore is a former manor in Devon, England. The manor house known as Poltimore House survives in its 18th-century remodelled form, but has been dilapidated for several decades. A charity named the "Poltimore House Trust" has been established for the purpose of its restoration. The manor was situated within the historic Wonford Hundred and was largely coterminous with the parish of Poltimore and contained the village of Poltimore, 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of the historic centre of the City of Exeter. It should not be confused with the eponymous Devon estate of Poltimore in the parish of Farway, 16 miles (26 km) east of Exeter. Poltimore was the principal seat of the Bampfylde family from c. 1300 to 1920.
Richard Phelps (1710–1785) was an 18th-century English portrait painter and designer. He painted portraits of gentry, a number of which are in the National Trust, Dunster Castle, University of Oxford, National Portrait Gallery, London, and other museums. The British Museum has an album of 312 of his drawings. Phelps was also a landscape designer, who was hired by Henry Fownes Luttrell to update the grounds of Dunster Castle.
Richard Knight (1659–1745), of Downton Hall, in the parish of Downton on the Rock in Herefordshire, England, was a wealthy ironmaster who operated the Bringewood Ironworks, on the Downton estate, and founded a large fortune and family dynasty.
St Luke's Church is a Church of England church in Simonsbath, Exmoor, Somerset, England. The church, which was designed by Henry Clutton and built in 1855–56, has been a Grade II listed building since 1959. In addition to being a place of worship, today the church is also used to hold concerts and other events. It is the venue of the annual Simonsbath Festival.