Frances (Winchcombe) St John
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Frances (Winchcombe) St John (bef. 1679 - bef. 1718)

Frances "Viscountess Bolingbroke" St John formerly Winchcombe
Born before in Bucklebury, Berkshire, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 22 May 1701 in London St Dunstan in the East, Middlesex, Englandmap
Died before at about age 38 in Bucklebury, Berkshire, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 7 May 2016
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Biography

Frances was born about 1679. She is the daughter of Henry Winchcombe and Elizabeth Hungerford. She was christened on 15 December 1679 in Bucklebury, Berkshire, England.[1]

She married Henry St John on 22 May 1701 at St Dunstan in the East in Middlesex, England.[2] Upon their marriage, the Manor of Lydiard Tregoze, the seat of the St John family in Wiltshire, and the Manor of Battersea, Surrey, were settled upon Henry by his father.[3] The death of Frances' father, 2nd Baronet Winchcombe, in November 1703, saw the title become extinct and his estates passed to Frances. She conveyed her estate to her husband, but when Henry was forced to leave England for supporting the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, it was reconveyed to her. Henry left many debts behind him, and Frances granted the manor to trustees for their payment, with remainder to her nephew Winchcombe Howard Packer, the eldest son of her younger sister Mary.[4]

From 1712 Frances was styled as Viscountess Bolingbroke, when her husband became the 1st Viscount St John.[5]

The marriage was not a happy one, and within two years Henry was no longer living with Frances. At the young age of thirty she retired to Bucklebury and set about rebuilding the kitchens and stables at Bucklebury Old Manor.[6]

On 25 October 1718, Frances died at the age of 37, many claiming that she had died of a broken heart and/or her shock at her husband’s actions.[6] She was buried on 28 October 1718 at Bucklebury.[7]

Frances' melancholy ghost is said to haunt the Manor's park and the village of Bucklebury. The Falkirk Herald on 20th August 1898 printed an article titled “A Haunted House” and claimed:

“Of course, the place is haunted and with two apparitions at least. A white lady walks the park and flits around the quiet pond; but a more terrible sight is the chariot drawn by six black horses mounted by headless positilions which at midnight issues from the portals of the ancient mansion, its ghostly wheels rattling on the uneven stones, and drives swiftly away to some fearsome destination. The stables, as they now stand, would seem to be indeed a fitting abode for the black steeds and the phantom coach, and it is not so long since that the family at the dwelling-house left hurriedly, scared away, so it is said by the ghostly tenants of the ruins.”[6]

Sources

  1. "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NR5C-XJJ : 19 March 2020), Frances Winchcombe, 1679.
  2. "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5KD-LD3 : 12 March 2020), Frances Winchcombe in entry for Henry St John, 1701. Free Ancestry Image
  3. British History Online Lydiard Tregoze, accessed 31 Oct 2020.
  4. British History Online. Bucklebury, accessed 31 Oct 2020.
  5. Debrett, John. Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Pub. 1820. Entry for Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, page 388. Viewed at http://www.internetarchive.org on 31 Oct 2020.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 M.J Wayland. Middletons' Bucklebury Manor (M.J. Wayland's blog, accessed 31 Oct 2020, archived at Wayback Machine).
  7. "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J8Y3-1WG : 14 March 2020), Frances Holingsbroke, 1718.




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Categories: Ghosts | Bucklebury, Berkshire