Richard Benyon De Beauvoir

Background

He was born in Westminster, the eldest son of politician Richard Benyon, of Gidea Hall in Essex and Englefield House, Berkshire, and his wife Hannah Hulse, the eldest daughter of Sir Edward Hulse, 1st Baronet of Breamore House, Hampshire. He was one of four sons and five daughters.

Estates and names

Richard Benyon succeeded to his father's considerable estates in 1796. In 1814, after succeeding to the estates of his half-uncle Powlett Wrighte of Englefield House (who had died in 1779) he assumed the name of Richard Powlett-Wrighte. However, in 1822, he inherited over £1 million (equivalent to £109,852,000 in 2025) and significant property from distant relative, the Rev. Peter De Beauvoir, Rector of Davenham in Essex, at which time he dropped Powlett-Wrighte and assumed the name of Benyon De Beauvoir.

In 1824, he purchased the Culford Estate, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, for £230,000 (equivalent to £21,832,000 in 2025), including the timber, from Louisa, Marchioness Cornwallis, widow of Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquess Cornwallis. The 11,000-acre (45 km2) estate also included the parishes of Culford, Ingham, Timworth, West Stow and Wordwell.

He was reputed to be worth over £7 million (equivalent to £768,964,000 in 2025). His land agent was Robert Todd and his head gardener was William Armstrong and these two men dealt with day-to-day work on the estate, particularly when Benyon was not in residence. New flint and brick estate workers' cottages were under construction at Culford, as can be seen in letters between Benyon de Beauvoir and Robert Todd.

The dwellings won an award for their sensible design; they still stand along Main Road, Culford, today, surrounded by their large gardens. In letters dated 19 April and 6 May 1825, Todd writes that the Armstrongs have a troublesome marriage; "she has experienced not only insult but blows" and, in the later letter, "P.S. Armstrong and his wife are parted. She left Culford last Tuesday, is in lodgings in Bury at present."

However, in December 1840, Benyond de Beauvoir shut down Culford's public house, The White Hart (now known as Benyon Lodge), because he regarded it as "a scene of moral debauchery".

Offices and charitable works

Richard Benyon De Beauvoir was a member of parliament (MP) for Pontefract from 1802 to 1806, and for Wallingford during two parliaments, from 1806 to 1812. He was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Berkshire. He was High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1816.

When the Royal Berkshire Hospital was founded at Reading in 1839, Benyon contributed the huge sum of £5,000 (equivalent to £448,000 in 2025) and, by his liberality, aided materially in the formation of that invaluable charity. A ward in the hospital was subsequently named after him. He was considered by far the richest commoner in Berkshire.

Personal life

He married, on 27 September 1797, Elizabeth the only daughter of Sir Francis Sykes, Bart, of Basildon Park in Berkshire. She died on 29 October 1822. They had no children. He died on 22 March 1854.

Will

Benyon De Beauvoir's real estate were devised into trusts managed by two trustees: his nephew Richard Fellowes, the son of his sister Emma Benyon Fellowes and William Henry Fellowes (who also took on the name of Benyon), and William Mount. The will devised onto Richard Fellowes and William Mount "all his real estates in England upon trust that they should convey and settle his manors, farms, land, titles, and hereditament" for the caretaking of various beneficiaries, including income and profits from the estates and trusts, during their lifetimes.

However, the will resulted in multiple complications and several lawsuits, beginning with Berens vs Berens 1854. Some of the lands included estates inherited from Peter de Beauvoir, which had provisions (which predated Benyon de Beauvoir's ownership) allowing tenants to remain for life. Some of the land was sold to the Berks and Hants Railway, which brought the question of which beneficiaries could profit from the sale.

Benyon de Beauvoir planned for some of his estate to go to his great-nephew Henry Berens (1804–1883), with remainder to Henry's heirs male, and in default, to Benyon De Beauvoir's "right heirs".

His "right heirs" at the time of his death included three living sisters and his late sister's five daughters (four unmarried). His living sisters were Emma Benyon Fellowes, Charlotte Benyon Berens, and the unmarried Frances Benyon. His late sister Maria Benyon Brodick, Viscountess Midleton, the widow of George Brodrick, 4th Viscount Midleton, had died in 1852, leaving a son (George Brodrick, 5th Viscount Midleton) and five daughters (four unmarried): Hon. Maria Brodrick (28 March 1799 – 11 April 1893), Harriet Brodrick (who married her cousin, Very Rev. William Brodrick, 7th Viscount Midleton), Hon. Charlotte Brodrick (18 February 1801 – 12 April 1863), Hon. Emma Brodrick (13 August 1807 – 5 April 1894), Hon. Lucy Brodrick (3 July 1809 – 31 December 1895).

Following Henry Beren's death in 1883 without male issue, the lawsuit Berens v Fellowes contested the question of whether or not the female "right heirs" could subsequently pass on their part of the trust to their own heirs. The Chancery Court decided that the estates were vested with the four surviving daughters of the deceased sister but would not pass to their heirs.