LAMBERT GORWYN FAMILY HISTORY
TABLE 8: Gorwyns/Lambert-Gorwyns of Medland, and Medlake and Davyland in Hittisleigh
Generations are numbered from John Gorwyn of Bradleigh (1691-1733), the founder of the Bradleigh branch of the family (see TABLE 6), who is generation (1). George Gorwyn of Medland is his great-grandson and therefore generation (4). As a younger son of the Bradleigh branch, George did not inherit Bradleigh, but was given another smaller family farm, Medlake in Hittisleigh (a nearby village). He seems to have done well enough to take on a lease of two other farms, including Medland, a much bigger and grander farm in Cheriton Bishop.
George had many descendants, mainly in the female line, including the Pitts family who now own Bradleigh.
(4) George Gorwyn of Medland (1784-1862), son of William Gorwyn (1750-1815) and his wife Anne Haydon (see TABLE 6). After his marriage he appears to have lived at Hittisleigh, as his children were born there. He was probably at Medlake, which he inherited (along with Five Beacons Down) when his father died in 1817. But by 1841 he was at Greystone in Drewsteignton, rented from Richard Lambert Gorwyn (a total of 110 acres) and also farming 95 acres at Medlake. By 1850 he has taken a lease on Medland, in 1851 farming 280 acres there and employing 3 labourers. In his will, he left Medlake to son John; the lease of Medland to son George; and The New Inn and 8 acres in Cheriton Bishop to son William.
m. Jane Stone (c.1790-1854) at Crediton in 1810. They had six children:
(5) Elizabeth Gorwyn (1811-1881).
m. William Haydon of Forder or West Ford (1786-1687) in 1837 at Hittisleigh. They had three children:
(6) William Gorwyn Haydon (1839-1897) who farmed first at Hole Farm in Cheriton Bishop (190 acres in 1881) and then at Forder.
(6) John Haydon b. 1842.
(6) Charlotte or Elizabeth Haydon, b. 1845.
(5) John Gorwyn of Greystone, Gorwyn and Medlake (1813-?1883). He farmed first at Greystone (rented from Richard Lambert Gorwyn of the Spreyton branch); then Gorwyn (also rented; he was the last member of the family to farm at the ancestral home) farming 130 acres and employing 1 labourer in 1851; and then at Medlake in Hittisleigh which he had inherited from his father.
m. Ann Brely, daughter of John Brely, the miller at Fingle Mill, in August 1840 at Moretonhamstead. The mill was a substantial establishment with 3 servants. When she was widowed, she went to live in South Zeal with her unmarried daughters Elizabeth and Susan. She died there in 1904 aged 97. The couple had five children: Elizabeth, Susan, William, John and Thirza, details as follows.
(6)Elizabeth Lambert Gorwyn (1840-1902). Born in Moretonhampstead, presumably at Fingle Mill. (she was 6 months at the time of the 1841 census, so her parents must have had a shotgun wedding). Unmarried.
(6) Susan Gorwyn (1842-1928). Unmarried.
(6) William Gorwyn of Davyland and Medlake (1844-1919). With his parents at Gorwyn 1851 and 1861 and Medlake in 1871; by 1881 he had moved to Davyland (60 acres), but by 1891 was back at Medlake.
m. Susanna Kemble (c.1850-1901) in 1874. She was the daughter of Samuel Kemble from the neighbouring farm of Howard. They had seven children:
(7) William Lambert Gorwyn (c. 1874-1919) b. 1874/75 in Hittisleigh (1881 census).
m. (1) Harriet or Harriette Forbes (1862-1918) in 1897. She was born in Melton, Leics. She was a widow and the schoolteacher at Hittisleigh; her father was a manufacturer of mineral water. They lived in the School House and had two children, both born at Hittisleigh.
m. (2) Constance Mary Bolt, daughter of the landlord of the Hunter’s Arms in Hittisleigh, in 1924.
(8) Annie Lambert-Gorwyn (1898-1975).
m. Richard John, farmer of North Tawton (later of Cullaford, South Tawton) in 1919. They had 11 children and 30 grandchildren.
(8) Eva, born in 1899.
(7) Stafford Lambert-Gorwyn born in 1876 in Hittisleigh.
(7) Walter Lambert-Gorwyn, born in 1878. He was at Medlake unmarried at least until 1901. He lived in Wales and has descendants.
m. (1) Beatrice A. Jones in Pontypridd in 1912.
m. (2) Emily M. Jones in Pontypridd in 1918.
(7) Ina Lambert-Gorwyn, born about 1881.
m. Thomas John in 1907.
(7) Susan Lambert-Gorwyn b. 1882. Lived with her parents at Medlake.
(7) John Lambert-Gorwyn (1885-1956). At Medlake until the 1930s, but then have moved to Davyland next door.
m. Clarita John (1885-1956) in 1910. She died in 1969 and is buried at Hittisleigh with her husband (photo of gravestone). They had one daughter as well as the son below.
(8) John Lambert Gorwyn (1913-1987); buried at the chapel of West Down (photo of grave). The last Lambert-Gorwyn to farm in Hittisleigh.
m. Winifred Joyce, also buried at West Down.
(7) Mahala born in 1889. At Medlake at least until 1901.
(6) John Lambert Gorwyn of Fingle Mill (1847-1892). He took over from his Brely cousin as the miller and was at Fingle Mill at least until 1891, although at the time of the belated baptism of his younger daughters in 1897 he was described as miller of Netherton.
m. Anna, possibly in 1876 in Newton Abbot. By 1901, she was living as a widow on her own means at East Netherton, Drewsteignton. She died in 1939 aged 89 at Netherton. They had three daughters and a son who died in infancy, details as follows.
(7) Bessie Lambert Gorwyn, born in 1876. With her mother at East Netherton in 1901 working on her own account as a dressmaker. She appears to have married in 1902.
(7) Bertie Brely Lambert Gorwyn (1877-78).
(7) Eva Lambert Gorwyn (1880-1972). She was baptised at Drewsteignton only in 1897. The Brelys were well-known atheists and the baptisms of her and her sister Ella presumably had to wait until the more anti-religious members of the family had died. By 1901 she was living with her mother and sisters in Drewsteignton and working as a dressmaker.
m. ? Coleridge in 1905 in Okehampton district.
(8) John Gorwyn Coleridge of Netherton. He died in 1938.
(7) Ella (Lela) Lambert Gorwyn (1883-1920). Unmarried. Living with her mother and sisters and working as a mother’s help in Drewsteignton in 1901.
(6)Thirza Lambert Gorwyn, born in Cheriton Bishop about 1852.
m. Thomas Spurle, farmer of Bow aged 25, at Hittisleigh in 1873 and had at least two daughters, Thirza and Elizabeth Ann Spurle.
(5) William Lambert Gorwyn, born about 1816. Left the New Inn and 8 acres in Cheriton Bishop by his father. At Medland from 1851 to at least 1881 with his brother George, described as unmarried and ‘of own occupation’.
(5) Ann Lambert Gorwyn, bpt. in Hittisleigh in 1818.
m. William Brock Haydon 1851.
(5) Sarah Lambert Gorwyn, bpt. in Hittisleigh in 1821.
(5)George Gorwyn (1826-1907). Left the leasehold of Medland by his father. He was there until at least 1881, when he was described as a farmer of 234 acres. By 1901 he had retired to a cottage in Dawlish with his wife.
m. Mary, b. Crediton about 1833. They had four daughters:
(6) Elizabeth Gorwyn born in about 1861. In 1891 she was working as a governess with a farmer in Hatherleigh.
(6) Jane Gorwyn (c.1863-1946).
m. John Pitts in 1883. They had 11 children and her son Leslie purchased Bradleigh when it was put on sale by its then owner in 1946; it now belongs to her grandsons.
(6) Annie Gorwyn b.1863 Cheriton Bishop. She could be the Ann Lambert Gorwyn who was married in Crediton in 1884.
(6) Bessie Lambert-Gorwyn (1865-1950).
m. John Farley Baker in 1887 and had 2 sons.
Members of the Medlake family with gravestones in Cheriton Bishop are George and Jane Lambert Gorwyn; their grandson William Gorwyn Haydon and his wife; and their grand-daughters Bessie and her husband John Farley Baker and Jane with her husband John Pitts. In Drewsteignton there are the graves of Ann née Brely, the wife of John Gorwyn of Greystone and Medlake, together with her daughters Susan and Elizabeth; John and Anna Lambert Gorwyn of Fingle Mill; their children Bertie, Eva and Ella; and Eva’s son John Gorwyn Coleridge. At Hittisleigh there are gravestones to William Lambert Gorwyn and his wife Harriette; their daughter Susan; and their son John and his wife Clarita.