Catalogue description BULLER OF DOWNES

This record is held by Devon Archives and Local Studies Service (South West Heritage Trust)

Details of 2065M
Reference: 2065M
Title: BULLER OF DOWNES
Description:

TITLE

 

Crediton

 

Exeter St. Thomas

 

Aylesbeare

 

Brampford Speke

 

Coffinswell

 

Colaton Raleigh

 

Coleridge

 

Exeter St. David's

 

Pinhoe

 

Shobrooke

 

Whitestone/Newton St. Cyres

 

Mixed parishes/whole estate

 

LEASES

 

Crediton

 

Exeter St. Thomas

 

Misc. parishes

 

FAMILY

 

Marriage Settlements

 

Wills

 

Testamentary and family papers

 

Appointments and honours

 

Pedigree

 

Correspondence and papers

 

Misc., artistic and literary

 

Family accounts

 

Diaries

 

CORRESPONDENCE

 

J.W. Buller

 

Redvers Buller

 

ESTATE

 

Surveys and valuations

 

Rentals

 

Maps and plans

 

Accounts and ledgers

 

Letter Books

 

Inventories

 

Estate Files

 

Estate Correspondence

 

Vouchers, etc.

 

Misc. estate papers

 

Out-county papers

 

Abstracts of title

 

Draft and copy deeds

 

LEGAL

 

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

 

Railways

 

Elections

 

Charities

 

Sir Redvers Buller, Military papers

 

Manorial

 

Parish

 

Transport

 

MISCELLANEOUS

Date: 1323 - 1956
Held by: Devon Archives and Local Studies Service (South West Heritage Trust), not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Buller family of Downes, Devon

Physical description: 8 subfonds
Subjects:
  • Buller, Redvers Henry, 1839-1908, of Downes, Devon
Administrative / biographical background:

This collection of Devon records complements the records of Buller of Shillingham in Cornwall, where the family settled in the 16th century. The Devon branch was established following the marriage in 1739 of James Buller of Morval, Downes, and Shillingham, MP for Cornwall, to Elizabeth daughter of William Gould of Downes. James Buller (1766-1827) was MP for Exeter, and his son James Wentworth (1798-1865) was MP for Exeter and subsequently for the Northern Division of Devon. The family and the records culminated in the career of Sir Redvers Henry Buller (1839-1908), including his term of office as Under Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as well as his military exploits in the China War, 1860, the Red River Expedition, 1870, the Ashanti War, 1873-4, the South African War, 1878-9, the Egyptian Expedition, 1882-4, the Sudan Expedition, 1884-5, and the Boer War, 1899-1900. 20th century records reflect the lives of Mowbray Buller and Dame Georgiana, daughter of Sir Redvers.

 

There are understandably many papers relating to Sir Redvers's life and career in the 2065M collection and its additional deposits, but equally extensive and informative are the records of estate management over a period of two centuries and the copious correspondence about family matters. The family played an active role in the political life of their county, in the parishes of Crediton and St Thomas, and in the Bristol and Exeter Railway. The Bullers were related by marriage at one time or another to the Howards, Earls of Suffolk, the Howard-Molyneux-Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, the Wallops, Earls of Portsmouth, and the Watneys (the brewers), and their correspondence reflects the social milieu in which they moved. Several members of the family had distinguished careers, including the Right Revd William Buller (1735-1796), who was Bishop of Exeter from 1792 to 1796, and Ernest Wentworth Buller (born 1841), who was a noted engineer and mathematician.

 

The records themselves are not only unusually copious but full of surprises. The military papers of Sir Redvers include a trunk of field telegrams, transcriptions of heliograms (including the infamous message to White at Ladysmith which allegedly advised him to surrender), and military maps and notebooks. The original Gould properties in and around Crediton and St Thomas, Exeter came to the Buller family through the Killigrew and Bodley families; part had been the episcopal manor of Crediton. In the early nineteenth century, James Buller considerably extended these properties by purchase. There is also a small group of mediaeval deeds of property in the Aylesbeare and Whimple area, which came to the Bullers through the Yonge family.

Link to NRA Record:

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