PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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SIR JOHN SAINT AUBYN (1758-1839)
John Saint Aubyn was born in London on May 17th 1758, the only son of Sir John and Lady Elizabeth Saint Aubyn. Elizabeth was the daughter of Mr William Wingfield, of Durham, County Durham. He succeeded to the baronetcy upon the death of his father on October 12th 1772. He was only 14-years-old at the time and still being educated. Early the following year he was admitted to Westminster School. In 1781 he became Sheriff of Cornwall and in 1784 was elected as the Member of Parliament for Truro. There was a general election just six weeks later, when he was returned as the Member for Penryn instead. He was defeated in the campaign of 1790 but represented Helston from 1807 until 1812. During this time he lived in one of various homes in London, Essex or Hertfordshire. However, this did not prevent him from having relationships with two Cornish women. The first was Miss Martha Nicholls, daughter of Mr John Nicholls, a landscape gardener, with whom he had seven children. Although at the time it was said that they had married no evidence of that has ever been discovered. Indeed, the fact that he married the second Cornish lady, Miss Juliana Vinicombe in 1822, seven years before Martha died, and that they had already had six sons and two daughters, suggests otherwise. He apparently explained this behaviour to the influence of a profligate clergyman at an early age. He built up a large collection of minerals and fossils, which were displayed at Devonport, and when the town of Plymouth Dock was granted the change of name to Devonport, from January 1st 1824, he donated land for a new town hall. Later he donated a mace for the Corporation. The only thorn in the side of this generosity was the imposition of the controversial "three lives" tenancy to all properties built within the Parish. Sir John Saint Aubyn died at Lime Grove, Putney, Surrey, on August 10th 1839. The funeral, by all accounts, had to be seen to be believed. The hearse, drawn by six horses, left Putney on August 17th 1839, headed by the undertaker and two mutes on horseback and escorted by a large number of porters with wands and black silk hat bands and gloves. There were seven mourning coaches and twelve other carriages. The procession, greatly reduced, passed through Plymouth and reached the Stonehouse Bridge on August 23rd 1839, where it was met by the Mayor, Council, Board of Commissioners, Borough Police, the Town Sergeant with the mace dressed in black, the boys and girls of the two Saint John's Schools, two beadles and four clergymen, to mention just a handful. The church bells tolled, the shops were closed as the procession slowly made its way to the Torpoint Ferry, for passage into Cornwall. The body finally arrived at Clowance, the family estate, on Monday August 26th. Sir John was buried at Crowan Parish Church on August 29th 1839. With Sir John the baronetcy lapsed and the Manor of Stoke Damerel passed to Mr James Saint Aubyn, the eldest, illegitimate son of Martha Nicholls. Sir John's will required James to set aside £130,000 to fund marriage settlements for each of his thirteen brothers and sisters. Sources:
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