25.26. BOSON

Sampson  Tree

ROBERT BOSON and JOAN ST GEORGE (25.26)

ROBERT BOSON and Joan St George are our ancestors at least twice, and possibly three times over, through their daughters Alice, who married Hugh Ferrrers of Bere Ferrers, and Joan, who married Stephen Haccombe of Haccombe, and, possibly, a son Edmund, who may be the grandfather of Joanna Boson who married Richard Lercedekne of Ruan Lanihorne.

 

Robert Boson is believed to be the son of William Boson, born probably c.1232. His mother was Margery, possibly Auld.

The Bosons are associated with Ilton, in the parish of Malborough (often misspelt Marlborough), north of Salcombe in the extreme south of Devon.

Robert also inherited the manor of Churston, south of Brixham on Tor Bay, from his brother William in 1243.

Robert’s father died before 1244, leaving the young Robert as his principal heir.

 

JOAN ST GEORGE was one of three daughters of Henry St George and Alice de Bretville.

Joan was born circa 1240. She is thought to have grown up in Leigh Bretteville, a manor in the parish of Modbury in the South Hams, between Plymouth and Kingsbridge. This evidently came to the St George family from her mother.

When her father died, Joan inherited a third share of the manor of Dittisham, on the banks of the Dart, upstream from Dartmouth. This was the site of the manor house subsequently known as Bozomzeal, or Bozum Hele, home to the Bosons for centuries thereafter.

The present house is 16^th-century, but its history is much older than that. It belonged to Gytha, mother of Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. After the Battle of Hastings it was taken by William the Conqueror.

Bozomzeal [1]

 

Robert and Joan had two daughters, Alice and Joan, and possibly a son Edmund.

 

The 13^th century was a time when open fields were disappearing in Devon. Individual ownership led to more intense cultivation.

The Bosons had estates in several parts of South Devon, from Michelcombe on the fringe of Dartmoor, to Churston on Tor Bay.

The lands around Michelcombe were previously known as Holne Bosum. They were granted to the Boson family in Norman times. Around 1257 the family gave them to nearby Buckfast Abbey, which held them until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Such gifts from landed families were common, with prayers being said by the monks for the eternal souls of the donors.

 

Robert died around 1285 in the reign of Edward I.

 

Their daughter Alice received Churston, just south of Brixham, either as her dowry or as her inheritance. She was married to Hugh Ferrers, and it was known thereafter as Churston Ferrers

To Joan fell Ilton, in the parish of Malborough. She married twice, once to Sir William de Cheverston. In 1315 their son John de Cheverston was given a licence to crenellate (fortify) the house, which subsequently became known as Ilton Castle.

We have less information about their son, but he appears to have been the ancestor of John Boson, judge and MP, who lived at Bozomzeal in the 15^th century

 

 

[1] Rightmove