Peters Marland - Stevens Family

Stevens Family

No record of the Stevens family exists in the 1620 Heraldic Visitation of Devon, and thus the family's pedigree is not officially recorded, and the family must be assumed not to have been counted amongst the gentry of Devon at that time. The earliest known seat of the Stevens family was Vielstone, now a farmhouse, about five miles south-west of Great Torrington, as is recorded on the ornate mural monument to Judith Stevens (d.1676), daughter of John Hancock of Combe Martin, and wife of Henry Stevens de Velstone, on the east wall of the south aisle of Great Torrington parish church. One of their sons, John Stevens (d.1674) predeceased his father, as is revealed by his grave-slab under his father's mural monument in Great Torrington Church. Henry and Judith's two grandsons appear to have been Henry Stevens (1689-1748) of Cross and Richard Stevens (1702-1776), MP, of Winscott.

Richard Stevens (d.1776), whose mural monument exists in Peters Marland Church, had three sons who pre-deceased him without progeny and two daughters who were also without progeny, and it must be assumed that Winscott passed by inheritance to the descendants of his elder brother, Henry Stevens (d.1748), of Cross, thus re-uniting the three Stevens estates.

Henry Stevens (1689-1748), described in his will as "of Smithcott" in the parish of Frithelstock, but who built the existing mansion of Cross between 1744 and 1748, married Christiana Maria Rolle (1710-1780), a daughter of John Rolle (1679-1730), MP, of Stevenstone, in the nearby parish of St Giles in the Wood, and sister of Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1708-1750). The Rolles of Stevenstone were the largest landowners on Devon. Henry Stevens's heir was his son Henry Stevens (1739-1802), who married Sarah Bridget Marwood (who married secondly John Inglett Fortescue of Buckland Filleigh), but who died without progeny leaving as heir his sister Christiana Stevens (1743-1828) who had married in 1779 Rev. Thomas Moore (1740-1802), vicar of Bishops Tawton. As indicated by the Moore arms shown on the chancel floor of Peters Marland Church (1865), Thomas was of the Moore family, Earls of Mount Cashell, of Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland, and Barons Kilworth, of Moore Park, Kilworth, County Cork. He may have been the brother of Rev. George Moore (d.1807), Canon Residentiary of Exeter, Archdeacon of Cornwall and vicar of Heavitree. Christiana was also the heir of her cousin Richard Stevens (d.1776) of Winscott). Their eldest son was Thomas Moore-Stevens (1782-1832), of Vielston, Buckland Brewer, later of Cross. He succeeded to Cross and other property under an entail, and to Winscott under the will of Elizabeth Clevland, daughter and heir of Richard Stevens of Winscott. He adopted the name and arms of Stevens, by royal licence dated 12 July 1817, on the death of John Clevland (1734-1817), 2nd husband of Elizabeth Stevens, as a condition of her will. of Winscott, BA Balliol College, Oxford, 1803, a barrister of the Middle Temple, and Recorder of Exeter. He married in 1821 Sophia Le Marchant (1798-1860), younger daughter of Rev. Joshua Le Marchant of Guernsey, and had two daughters, Sophia and Louisa, who married Frederick Haworth of Kensington, Middlesex. Sophia Stevens's diaries between the years 1817-1836 are held at the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple (ref:A 251), but a large gap exists around the time of her husband's death. He was the presumptive heir and next-of-kin to John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (d.1842), (of the second creation of that title) his mother Christiana Stevens (d.1828) having been first cousin of John, Lord Rolle, who had only sisters and no children of his own. Lord Rolle however disposed of his property elsewhere under his will. Thomas Stevens died by suicide, as is recorded in the death notices in the 1832 Annual Register:

"14 Jan. At his seat, Cross, near Torrington, Thomas Stevens, Esq. recorder of Exeter, Barnstaple, and Torrington, and a major in the North Devon regiment of Yeomanry cavalry. Educated for the bar, he early displayed talents of a superior order, and in 1826 he was elected by the chamber of Exeter to fill the honourable and responsible office of recorder of that city. On Monday, January 9, Mr. Stevens sat in the court of quarter sessions in Barnstaple; and on Tuesday, at the quarter sessions in South Molton; and, on each of those days, he complained of indisposition in his head. A tumultuous assemblage of people at Torrington on the following days, called forth his active exertions both as a magistrate and an officer, and probably increased the excitement which disease had previously begotten in his mind. On Friday evening he wrote a letter to a gentleman, which bore strong indications of great mental agitation. In this perturbed state he retired to his room on the evening of Friday. In the morning (...) was heard from the dressing room, which induced Mrs. Stevens to hasten thither; and, on entering she caught her husband in her arms, deluged in blood flowing in torrents from a wound inflicted in his throat, which caused his death within a very short period".

It must be assumed that the Stevens inheritance was in tail-male as Thomas's heir was his younger brother Rev. John Moore-Stevens (d.1865), appointed Vicar of Otterton by Lord Rolle, whose main seat was then at nearby Bicton House and whose father Dennis Rolle (d.1797) had purchased the adjoining manor of Otterton. John Moore also also adopted the additional surname of Stevens and became Archdeacon of Exeter. He would also have assumed himself to have become, after his brother's death, the presumptive heir and next-of-kin to Lord Rolle. He married Anne Eleanor Roberts, daughter of Rev. William Roberts, fellow and vice-provost of Eton College. His son was John Curzon Moore-Stevens (b.1818), JP, DL, MP for North Devon, High Sheriff of Devon 1870, who rebuilt Winscott in 1865. He had been brought up in the expectation of becoming the heir of John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1750-1842), of Stevenstone, who died childless and was his great-grandmother's nephew. However, Lord Rolle instead left his fortune to Hon. Mark Trefusis, who changed his name to Mark Rolle (d.1907), the nephew of his second wife Louisa Trefusis, a daughter of Baron Clinton. He married in 1850 Elizabeth Anne Johnson, daughter of Rev. Peter Johnson, and his son was Col. Richard Arthur Moore-Stevens (1854-1931), 3rd Battalion Devon Regiment, a strong believer in the Anglican faith, who moved to Exeter, where his residence was Bellenden, and shut up Winscott House in 1920. He married in 1886 his third cousin May Clare Sophy Haworth (d.1930), daughter of Frederick Haworth of Kensington, Middlesex by his wife Louisa Moore-Stevens, daughter of Thomas Moore-Stevens (d.1832). They had three children: John (b.1900), Ralph (b.1904) and Joyce. He disinherited his son for marrying a Roman Catholic. After his death in 1931 Winscott House was sold. A timber merchant purchased the grounds and felled the trees, whilst the building firm of Chambers of Winkleigh purchased the house, which eventually was demolished without a trace surviving above ground. Some materials were used to construct a new village hall. A few specimen trees survive, but all traces of the orchard, terraces, tennis court and walled garden have vanished. The imposing entrance gates and lodge survive.