A confusion arises as to the early tenure of Shirwell as another manor named
Sirewelle is listed in Domesday Book as held in
demesne by William of Poilley, as one of his 21 Devon holdings, but all held as a
tenant-in-chief of the king, not from Baldwin the Sheriff. This manor was held before the
Norman Conquest by Wulfward, whilst the Beaumont manor of Shirwell was held previously by Brictmer. It may be that the Beaumont part was Youlston whilst the remnant of today's parish was held by de Poilley, whose share was in that case certainly acquired by the Beaumont family at an early time.
Beaumont of Devon The descent of Beaumont of Youlston, Shirwell is given in the
Heralds' Visitation of Devon as follows: • Sir Richard de Beaumont (13th century). The earliest positively identifiable descendant of the Domesday tenant Robert de Beaumont was the 13th-century Sir Richard Beaumont, whose family had long been seated at the
capital estate of
Youlston within the manor of Shirwell. His eldest son and heir was Philip Beaumont (died c. 1272), of Youlston, and his younger son was William Beaumont, called in the
Heralds' Visitation of Devon and this branch of the family eventually inherited Shirwell also, on the failure of the senior male line. • Philip Beaumont (died c. 1272), eldest son and heir, of Youlston married Ermengard Punchardon, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Punchardon of
Heanton Punchardon in Devon. This family were listed in Domesday Book as
de Pont-Chardon holding
Hantone, also as tenants of Baldwin the Sheriff. • Sir John Beaumont (died 1330), eldest son and heir, of Youlston, MP for Devon in 1326, who married Alice Scudamore. • John Beaumont, son and heir, who married Alice, of unknown family. • William Beaumont, only son and heir, who died childless leaving his sister Joan Beaumont as his heiress. • Joan Beaumont (sister) was the wife of Sir
James Chudleigh. She too died without children and the Beaumont estates, now enlarged by the addition of the Punchardon lands, passed to her cousin John Beaumont (died 1378/80), of Sepscott. • John Beaumont (died 1379/80), of Sepscott, (cousin), was a grandson of William Beaumont, who had been granted Loxhore by his father Sir Richard Beaumont, and son of Richard Beaumont. John Beaumont married Joane Crawthorne (or Crawstone), the heiress of her grandfather Sir Robert Stockey, MP in 1318. He purchased the North Devon manor of
Parkham. His daughter Catherine Beaumont (died 1435), married Sir
Hugh Luttrell (c.1364–1428),
feudal baron of Dunster, of
Dunster Castle in Somerset. Alabaster effigies survive in Dunster Church of Hugh Luttrell and his wife Catherine Beaumont, badly mutilated. The arms of Beaumont (
Barry of six vair and gules) appear in Dunster Church and on the
Luttrell Table Carpet, c.1520, now in the collection of the
Burrell Collection in Glasgow. Also on the sculpted stone heraldic panel, erected by Sir Hugh Luttrell (died 1521) above the western arch of the Gatehouse to Dunster Castle. • William Beaumont (son and heir), was Sheriff of Devon in 1399, and held the
Castle and Borough of Barnstaple. He further increased the family's estates by marrying Isabel Willington, daughter of Sir John Willington of
Umberleigh, and co-heiress of her brother John Willington (died 1396). The effigies of a Willington knight beside his Lady existed in
Umberleigh Chapel prior to their removal to
Atherington Church in about 1820, where they are visible today. • Sir Thomas Beaumont (1401–1450), son and heir, born at the Willington manor of Yate in Gloucestershire. He married twice, the offspring of which two marriages became successively heirs to his estates, in a complex series of inheritances. Firstly he married Phillipa Dynham, daughter of Sir John Dynham and aunt to
John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (died 1501), by whom he had 3 sons and 2 daughters. From these children descended two important parallel lines: Firstly an adulterous line of the Bodrugan family which adopted the name Beaumont and which inherited the Beaumont manor of
Gittisham, and secondly the later very influential
Basset family which inherited the Beaumont former Willington manor of
Umberleigh, (which became their early seat) and the Beaumont former Pont-de-Chardon manor of
Heanton Punchardon, which became their later seat. Secondly Sir Thomas Beaumont married Alice Stukeley, daughter of Hugh Stukeley of
Affeton, Devon, by whom he had a further 3 sons, from one of whom was descended the Chichester family of Raleigh, which inherited the Domesday Book Beaumont manors of Shirwell and Loxhore and which moved its seat from Raleigh to Youlston in the late 17th century.
Descent from Sir Thomas Beaumont (died 1450) • Firstly he married Phillipa Dynham, daughter of Sir
John Dinham (1359–1428) of
Kingskerswell and aunt to
John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (1433–1501), The marriage was childless but Joan had an extra-marital affair with Sir
Henry Bodrugan of Cornwall, whom she later married after her first husband's death. A son was born to Joan named John Bodrugan, who claimed to have been the son of William Beaumont, and after a lengthy legal case was granted the subsidiary Beaumont manor of
Gittisham and changed his family name to Beaumont. This family continued several generations at Gittisham. (1462–1528) of Umberleigh in
Atherington Church, possibly removed from the
Umberleigh Chapel, the arms of Bassett
Barry wavy of six or and gules (1st & 4th)
quarter Beaumont (2nd quarter) and Willington (3rd quarter) •
Philip Beaumont (1432–1473), third son, MP in 1467 and
Sheriff of Devon in 1469. He married Blanche Bourchier (died 1483), of whom a stone effigy exists in Shirwell Church, daughter of
William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin (1407–1470),
feudal baron of Bampton in Devon. She survived her first husband and married secondly Bartholomew St Ledger of Kent. The marriage was childless and Philip bequeathed his estates in two directions: firstly to his nephew Sir
John III Bassett (1441–1485) of
Whitechapel in Devon, the son of his sister Joan Beaumont who had married
John II Bassett (1374–1463) of Whitechapel and of
Tehidy in Cornwall,
Sheriff of Cornwall in 1449. The Bassetts received from this bequest the manors of Umberleigh and Heanton Punchardon. The other part of Philip Beaumont's bequest went to his half-brother Thomas Beaumont (died 1487/8) (see below) • Secondly Sir Thomas Beaumont married Alice Stukeley, daughter of Hugh Stukeley of
Affeton, Devon, by whom he had three further sons: • Thomas Beaumont (died 1487/8), fourth son, who married Mathye of unrecorded family, and had a son John Beaumont who predeceased his father. Thomas's heir was his younger brother Hugh Beaumont (c. 1457 – 1507). • Hugh Beaumont (c. 1457 – 1507), fifth son, who married Thomasine Wise, daughter and heiress of Oliver Wise of Ford House and Wombwell Court, Devon. Hugh was a co-heir of his half-brother Philip Beaumont (died 1473), and his own heir was his daughter Margaret (or Maud) Beaumont who married John Chichester (1472 – 1537/8) of
Raleigh. Thus the manors of Shirwell and Loxhore descended to the Chichester family. • John Beaumont (died 1513), sixth son, a priest who died unmarried and childless. ==References==