Winard and Sharpham:
Or, on a bend azure three mullets argent Robert Winard (or Wynard) of Sharpham died without male progeny leaving a daughter and heiress Anne Winard, who married Robert French.
French Robert French (
fl. 1377–1386) of
Totnes, a
Member of Parliament for
Totnes in January 1377, November 1384, 1385 and 1386, married Anne Winard, daughter and heiress of Robert Winard of Sharpham. In the 15th century it was owned by Robert French of Horneford in Devon, whose daughter and heiress Amey (or Maude) French married (as his second wife) Sir John Prideaux (fl. 1433).
Prideaux Sir John Prideaux (fl. 1433) of Adeston in the parish of Holbeton and of
Orcheton in the parish of Modbury, Devon married Anne [or Maude], heiress of John Sharpham. Her daughter and heiress was Joane Prideaux, who married firstly to William Drewe, secondly to Baldwin Acland of
Acland, Landkey, Devon, ancestor of the
Acland Baronets. Sharpham descended thenceforth in the Drewe family as follows:
Drewe , Devon:
Ermine, a lion passant gules He purchased the estate of
The Grange in the parish of
Broadhembury, the former grange of
Dunkeswell Abbey, where he built himself a new mansion house. He moved his residence to The Grange and sold Sharpham to John Giles of Bowden, an adjacent estate. Edward Drewe married Bridget FitzWilliam of Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, by whom he had a son and heir Sir Thomas Drewe (died 1651) of The Grange,
Sheriff of Devon in 1612, who sold Killerton to Sir
Arthur Acland (died 1610) of
Acland, Landkey.
Giles • John Giles (died 1606) of
Bowden, an adjacent estate in Ashprington, who purchased Sharpham from Edward Drewe. He married Agnes Stucley, a daughter of Sir
Hugh Stucley (1496–1559) of
Affeton, Devon,
Sheriff of Devon in 1545. • Sir Edward Giles (1566–1637), Knight, eldest son and heir, of Bowden, who at the time of the writing of the
Survey of Devon by
Tristram Risdon (died 1640), was the owner of Sharpham. He married Mary Drew (died 1642/3), daughter and heiress of Edmond Drew of Hayne,
Newton St Cyres, Devon (who bore the same arms as Drew of Sharpham but whose kinship to that family is not clear), widow of Walter Northcote. He died without children. The Giles family sold Sharpham to the Yarde family of Bradley in the parish of
Kingsteignton. •
Gilbert Yard (1672/3-1707), of Sharpham, was MP for Ashburton 1705-7. He was buried at Ashprington. He was the eldest son of Gilbert Yarde (died 1692) of Bradley by his wife Elizabeth Northleigh, daughter of Henry I Northleigh of
Peamore, Exminster and sister of Henry II Northleigh (1643–1694) of Peamore, three times MP for
Okehampton. In 1694/5 he married Joane Blackaller (died 1725), daughter of Henry Blackaller "of Sharpham". • Gilbert Yarde (born 1698), son and heir, of Sharpham, living in 1725.
Cockey In 1748 Sharpham was sold by Gilbert Yard to Philip Cockey, who was seemingly more interested in the resale value of the timber in the park than in the house. The sale particulars described the estate as having extensive woodlands, a mansion house and several walled gardens. These are visible on a survey of 1749. A
marriage contract for the sum of £200 dated 1749 survives in Plymouth and West Devon Record Office listing as parties:
1: William Cockey of Totnes, brazier; 2: Elizabeth Hannaford of Totnes, spinster; 3: Philip Cockey of Sharpham, gentleman and Benjamin Blackaller of Totnes, mercer. Another document dated 1763 survives in Cornwall Record Office summarised as follows:
Parties: (1) William Shepherd and John Bayly both of Plymouth, merchants, to (2) Philip Cockey of Sharpham, Devon, esquire, Richard Dunning of Plymouth, gentleman, Peter Baron of Stoke Damerel, gentleman and Robert Baron of Plymouth, brazier. Bond in £500 To indemnify (2) against cost of lawsuits concerning Presbyterian church in Plymouth. In 1765 Philip Cockey sold Sharpham to Captain Philemon Pownoll, having previously in 1755 offered a lease on the estate.
Pownoll Mr Cockey sold it in about 1763 to Captain
Philemon Pownoll (c. 1734 – 1780) of the
Royal Navy, born in Plymouth and the son of master shipwright Israel Pownoll (died 1779), master shipwright of Plymouth Dockyard (1762–65) and of
Chatham (1775–79), who had built a large number of warships for the Royal Navy. In 1762 Philemon Pownoll had acquired a fortune of £64,963 having
captured a Spanish Galleon, and in about 1770 commenced the building of the present house, completed after his death by his daughter and heiress Jane Pownall (died 1822).
Bastard •
Edmund Bastard (1758–1816), of Kitley,
Yealmpton, MP for Dartmouth, who married Jane Pownall (died 1822), the heiress of Sharpham. • Captain
John Bastard (1737–1835), Royal Navy, second son, MP for Dartmouth. While Jane's eldest son Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (1784–1838), MP for Devon, inherited Kitley, her second son inherited Sharpham.
Sharpham Trust Since 1982 Sharpham House has been owned by the Sharpham Trust, In recent years, the trust has hosted Buddhist-inspired retreats, aiming to develop mental resilience, and help in coping with trauma and grief. In 2020, the trust began a nature restoration project with a
rewilding approach. ==References==