Richard Bampfield
Richard Bampfield, detail from his effigy in Poltimore Church
Sheriff of Devon
In office 1576
Personal details
Born	1526 (1526) England
Died	1594 (aged 67–68)
Spouse	Elizabeth Sydenham
Children	12, includingAmias
Relatives	Nicholas Wadham (grandfather) Francis Fulford (grandson) John Bampfield (grandson)

Richard Bampfield (1526–1594) ofPoltimore and Bampfylde House in Exeter, both in Devon, wasSheriff of Devon in 1576. He began construction of theTudor eraPoltimore House in 1550, and completed the building of Bampfylde House, Exeter, along withThe Great House, Bristol one of the finest Elizabethan townhouses in the West Country, in 1590. He is the ancestor of theBampfylde Baronets andBarons Poltimore.

He was the eldest son and heir ofSir Edward Bampfield (died 1528) of Poltimore by his wife Elizabeth Wadham, the widow of John Warre of Chipleigh (see Chipley Park, Somerset), second son of Sir Richard Warre ofHestercombe, and a daughter of SirNicholas Wadham (died 1542) ofMerryfield, Ilton in Somerset and ofEdge, Branscombe in Devon.^[1] The Bampfield family had been seated at Poltimore since the 13th century.

Bampfield's father died when he was two years of age, and the 18th-century genealogistThomas Wotton related this tradition about his childhood:^[2][a]

...he became a prey to some great person, who carried him into a distant country, and bred him up in the drudgery of the family, concealing from him his quality and estate, and at last made him his huntsman; but one of his tenants, (being his nurse's husband,) discovering where he was detained, made him acquainted with his fortune; the truth of which he convinced him of, by a remarkable mole which he had in his back, and brought him away privately to Brimpton (the seat of John Sydenham, Esq; who assisted him in his return to Poltimore, and soon after gave him his daughter in marriage.) In confirmation of which, he lieth at length with a hound at his feet, under a monument in Poltimore church...

However, the editor of the 1771 edition of Wotton's genealogy added "Having received no account from the family, concerning this particular, I do not presume to give it as authentic."^[5]

He married Elizabeth Sydenham (died 1599), daughter of Sir John Sydenham ofBrympton d'Evercy, Somerset,^[6] by his wife Ursula Brydges,^[7] a daughter ofSir Giles Brydges (c. 1462 – 1511) ofCoberley, Gloucestershire, and sister ofJohn Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos (1492–1557). Her niece Elizabeth Sydenham was the wife of Admiral SirFrancis Drake (c. 1540 – 1596).^[8] By his wife he had three sons and nine daughters as follows:

• Giles Bampfield, eldest son and heir apparent, who died childless during his father's lifetime on a voyage to Ireland.^[1]
• SirAmyas Bampfylde (1564–1626), second and eldest surviving son and heir, of Poltimore andNorth Molton, Devon. He was Member of Parliament forDevon in 1597,Sheriff of Devon from 1603 to 1604 and aDeputy Lieutenant in 1616.^[9] In 1576 he married Elizabeth Clifton, daughter of Sir John Clifton ofBarrington Court, Somerset. His monument and effigy survive in North Molton Church. He is the ancestor of theBampfylde Baronets andBarons Poltimore.
• Richard Bampfield, third son.^[1]

• Elizabeth Bampfield, eldest daughter, who married (as his second wife) George Cary (1543–1601) ofClovelly, Devon,Sheriff of Devon in 1587. Without children.^[10]
• Johanna Bampfield, second daughter. She is apparently confused in Vivian (1895)^[11] with her aunt Joane Bampfield, successively wife of Sir Richard Pollard ofWay, St Giles in the Wood and then of Hugh Giffard, of St Giles, third son of Sir Roger Giffard (died 1547) ofBrightley, Chittlehampton.

Effigies of Sir Thomas Fulford (1553–1610) and his wife Ursula Bampfield, detail from his monument (right) in the Fulford Chapel of Dunsford Church. The arms of Fulford impaling Bampfield are visible on the cornice of the monument and on the cornice of the monument to her father in Poltimore Church

• Ursula Bampfield, third daughter, wife of Sir Thomas Fulford (1553–1610) ofGreat Fulford,Dunsford, Devon. Her effigy with that of her husband survive in Dunsford Church. They were the parents of SirFrancis Fulford.
• Susanna Bampfield, fourth daughter, wife firstly of John Hays of Myll in Witheridge and secondly of Simcock.^[1]
• Marie Bampfield, fifth daughter, wife firstly of Humphry Moore ofMoore Hayes,^[12]Cullompton and secondly of Rev. Richard Bowden, parson ofOkehampton.

Right: mural monument to Henry Hurding (died 1627) inMonkleigh Church, Devon, with Gertrude Bampfield depicted as one of his two wives (left) with two of her daughters kneeling behind

• Gertrude Bampfield, sixth daughter, wife of Henry Hurding^[13] (died 1627) ofLong Bredy, Dorset, by whom she had two daughters, including Elizabeth Hurding (died 1668)^[14] who married firstly John Coffin (died 1622),^[15] ofPortledge, lord of the manors ofAlwington andMonkleigh, and secondly Hugh Prust (died 1666)^[14] ofAnnery, Monkleigh. She is depicted on her husband's surviving mural monument inMonkleigh Church, Devon, etched as a kneeling lady with four kneeling girls behind, on a slate tablet inscribed:

Henry Hurdinge of Longe Breedy in Cou^y. Dorset, Esq^r was buried here the 28-day of Febr. 1627 who had by Gartrude Bampfyld his first wife 2 daughters. By Eliza Snowe his 2 wife, 2sonns 2 daughters.

"Hee that from home for love was hither brought",

"Hence is brought home to bliss that God hath wrou(ght)"

• Anna Bampfield, seventh daughter, wife firstly of Christopher Morgan of Maperton, Berkshire, secondly a member of theLuttrell family.^[1]
• Katherin Bampfield, eighth daughter, unmarried.^[1]
• Margaret Bampfield, ninth daughter, wife of William Lacy of Hartrow, Somerset.^[1]

On the cornice of the monument to Richard Bampfield in Poltimore Church, are displayed 8 painted escutcheons depicting the arms of 5 of his sons-in-law, each impaling Bampfield, and 3 sons-in-law of his son and heir Sir Amias Bampfylde, each impaling Bampfield. Left to right on cornice:
1:Fulford of Great Fulford:Gules, a chevron argent
2:Argent, a bend sable
3:Gules, two bars wavy ermine
4:Argent, on a chevron azure three roses of the field
5:Cary ofClovelly:Argent, on a bend sable three roses of the field
6:Dodderidge ofBremridge (son-in-law of Sir Amias Bampfield):Argent, two pales wavy azure between nine cross croslets gules
7:Hancock ofCombe Martin (son-in-law of Sir Amias Bampfield):Gules, on a chief argent three cocks of the field.
8:Drake ofBuckland Abbey (son-in-law of Sir Amias Bampfield):Sable, a fess wavy between two pole-stars Arctic and Antarctic argent

Richard Bampfield's monument, erected in 1604 by his son Amias Bampfield, survives in the south transept of Poltimore Church. It comprises two recumbent stone effigies, of Richard Bampfield and his wife, under a low canopy supported by arched openings and columns.^[16] A view of the monument is obstructed by pews in front and by the balcony above forming the manorial pew of the Bampfield family. The 8 painted escutcheons on the cornice depict the arms of 5 of his 8 sons-in-law, each impaling Bampfield, and the 3 sons-in-law of his son and heir Sir Amias Bampfylde, each impaling Bampfield.

• Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising theHeralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895

• 1526 births
• 1594 deaths
• 16th-century English people
• Bampfylde family
• High sheriffs of Devon

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