The Portman baronetcy, of Orchard Portman in the County of Somerset, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 25 November 1611 for John Portman (died 1612), son of Sir Henry Portman, knight (died 1590), of Orchard Portman, Somerset, by Jane Mitchell. Orchard Portman is two miles southeast of Taunton. Sir Henry was the son of Sir William Portman (died 1557), Lord Chief Justice of England between 1555 and 1557.
Sir William Portman had acquired land in Marylebone, London, which through the later housing developments of Henry William Portman became the Portman Estate, which today is one of Central London's largest landlords and is still the basis of the wealth of the Portman family. Sir Henry Portman, 2nd Baronet (died 1620–1 or 1623), was Member of Parliament for Somerset, and married Lady Anne Stanley, daughter of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby; they had no children. His heir was his brother Sir John Portman, 3rd Baronet (1605–1624), who died unmarried as a 19-year-old undergraduate at Wadham College, Oxford, in the chapel of which exists his elaborate marble monument containing his effigy. John's aunt Joan Portman was the wife of Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645) of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset, whose mother was Florence Wadham, who founded Wadham College in accordance with the wishes of her brother Nicholas Wadham. His brothers, the 4th and 5th Baronets, both represented Taunton in the House of Commons. The 6th Baronet was Member of Parliament for both Taunton and Somerset. The title became extinct on his death in 1690. [1]
The family estates passed under a settlement to Henry Seymour, fifth son of Sir Edward Seymour, 3rd Baronet, of Berry Pomeroy, and Anne, the second daughter of Sir John Portman, 1st Baronet. He took the surname Portman, but left no issue. The property then devolved upon William Berkeley, of Pylle, who took the surname Portman. His great-grandson was Edward Berkeley Portman, Member of Parliament for Dorset, father of Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman. See Viscount Portman for later history of the family. [2]
Viscount Portman, of Bryanston in the County of Dorset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 March 1873 for the former Lord Lieutenant of Somerset and Liberal Member of Parliament Edward Portman, 1st Baron Portman. He had already been created Baron Portman, of Orchard Portman in the County of Somerset, on 27 January 1837, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His son, the second Viscount, represented Shaftesbury and Dorset in the House of Commons as a Liberal. As of 2014 the titles are held by one of the latter's great-great-grandsons, the tenth Viscount, since 1999.
Earl of Egremont was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1749, along with the subsidiary title Baron of Cockermouth, in Cumberland, for Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, with remainder to his nephews Sir Charles Wyndham, 4th Baronet, of Orchard Wyndham, and Percy Wyndham-O'Brien. The Duke had previously inherited the Percy estates, including the lands of Egremont in Cumberland, from his mother Lady Elizabeth Percy, daughter and heiress of Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland. In 1750 Sir Charles Wyndham succeeded according to the special remainder as second Earl of Egremont on the death of his uncle. His younger brother Percy Wyndham-O'Brien was created Earl of Thomond in 1756.
There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Hanmer family of Flintshire, Wales, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. Only one creation is extant as of 2008. The third Baronet of the second creation was elevated to the peerage as Baron Hanmer in 1872, a title which became extinct in 1881. The family name derived from the manor of Hanmer in the Diocese of St. Asaph.
The office of High Sheriff of Somerset, until 1974 called Sheriff of Somerset, is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence for over one thousand years.
Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609) of Merryfield in the parish of Ilton, Somerset, and Edge in the parish of Branscombe, Devon, was a posthumous co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford, with his wife Dorothy Wadham who, outliving him, saw the project through to completion in her late old age. He was Sheriff of Somerset in 1585.
Sir Wadham Wyndham, of Ilton, Somerset and St. Edmund’s College, Salisbury, was a Justice of the King's Bench from 1660 to 1668.
Sir John Wyndham, JP, of Orchard Wyndham in the parish of Watchet in Somerset, was an English landowner who played an important role in the establishment of defence organisation in the West Country against the threat of Spanish invasion.
Sir Hugh Wyndham SL, of Silton, near Gillingham, Dorset, was an English Judge of the Common Pleas and a Baron of the Exchequer.
Sir John St John, 1st Baronet of Lydiard Tregoze in the English county of Wiltshire, was a Member of Parliament and prominent Royalist during the English Civil War. He was created a baronet on 22 May 1611.
Sir William Wyndham, 1st Baronet of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset, was Member of Parliament for Somerset in 1656 and twice for Taunton in 1659 and 1660. He was Sheriff of Somerset in 1679–80.
There have been three Wyndham Baronetcies, all created in the Baronetage of England. All were created for descendants of Sir John Wyndham (d.1573) of Orchard Wyndham in the parish of Watchet, Somerset, by his wife Elizabeth Sydenham, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Sydenham of Orchard Sydenham. He was a grandson of Sir John Wyndham of Felbrigg, Norfolk, by his first wife Lady Margaret Howard, 4th daughter of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk.
Sir William Portman was an English judge, politician and Chief Justice of the King's Bench. He was MP for Taunton in 1529 and 1536.
Orchard Wyndham is a historic manor near Williton in Somerset, centred on the synonymous grade I listed manor house of Orchard Wyndham that was situated historically in the parish of Watchet and about two miles south of the parish church of St Decuman's, Watchet. Parts of the manor house are medieval. It has been owned for more than 700 years by the prominent Wyndham family, who continue there as of 2015.
Sir Edward Seymour, 3rd Baronet of Berry Pomeroy Castle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1688. He fought for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.
Sir William Portman, 6th Baronet FRS was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1661 and 1690.
Sir Edmund Wyndham was an Somerset landowner, and Member of Parliament on different occasions between 1625 and 1679. He supported the Parliamentary opposition to Charles I, until 1630, when his wife was appointed wet-nurse to the Prince of Wales.
Wyndham is a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
John Bluett of Holcombe Court, lord of the manor of Holcombe Rogus in Devon, was MP for Tiverton from 1628 to 1629 when King Charles I embarked on his Personal Rule without parliament for eleven years.
Merryfield is a historic estate in the parish of Ilton, near Ilminster in Somerset, England. It was the principal seat of the Wadham family, and was called by Prince their "noble moated seat of Meryfeild" (sic). The mansion house was demolished in 1618 by Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645), of Orchard Wyndham, a nephew and co-heir of Nicholas II Wadham (1531–1609), co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford, the last in the senior male line of the Wadham family. It bears no relation to the present large 19th-century grade II listed mansion known as Merryfield House, formerly the vicarage, immediately south of St Peter's Church, Ilton.
Henry Seymour later Portman, of Orchard Portman, Somerset, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England and then Great Britain almost continually between 1679 and 1715.