Bableigh is an historic estate in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is separated from the village of Parkham by the Bableigh Brook. It was the earliest recorded seat of the Risdon family in Devonshire, from which was descended the Devon historian Tristram Risdon.
Descent
de Oilgi
The holder of Bableigh during the reign of King William the Conqueror was Robert de Oilgi.
Risdon
According to Tristram Risdon himself, in his work The Survey of Devon, the Risdon family originated in Gloucestershire, where during the reign of King Richard I they were lords of the manor of Risdon. The Risdon family is first recorded at Bableigh in 1274, and a member of this family, apparently Giles Risdon, built the north aisle of Parkham Church and also Veybridge over the River Torridge. The descent of Bableigh in the Risdon family was as follows:
13th century
Robert Risdon, held Bableigh in 1274
15th century and subsequent
Thomas Risdon, the first member of the family recorded in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon.
Gefferie Risdon
Richard Risdon who married Matilda Braye, daughter of John Braye.
John Risdon
Giles Risdon , whose monument survives in Parkham Church, with inscription worn away. He built the north aisle of Parkham Church, in which is situated his monument, and also Veybridge over the River Torridge. He married twice:
*Firstly to Elizabeth Bremelcombe, daughter and heiress of Thomas Bremelcombe of Honichurch, Devon. By his first wife he had children two daughters and seven sons including:
**Thomas Risdon , his eldest son and heir to Bableigh,
**Ambrose Risdon , who founded his own branch of the Risdon family in the parish of Buckland Brewer, adjacent to Parkham.
**Edward Risdon who was a Jesuit priest, a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford and one of the founders of the College of Douai in France, established in about 1561 for Catholic exiles from Protestant England.
**John Risdon, rector of Parkham.
*Secondly in 1649/50 he married to Phillipa, of unrecorded family, widow of Mountjoy, by whom he had further children.
Thomas Risdon , a Justice of the Peace for Devon, a lawyer who was double Reader of the Inner Temple. He died along with several other Justices of the Peace and members of the Devon Gentry at the Black Assize of Exeter 1586, having contracted gaol fever. He married Willmot Giffard, a daughter of his neighbour Thomas Giffard of Halsbury, in the parish of Parkham, by his wife Margaret Monck, a daughter of Anthony Monck of Potheridge in Devon, great-great-grandfather of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle. He had five daughters and two sons, the younger of whom was Thomas Risdon, of Sandwell, in the parish of Harberton, near Totnes, Devon, Reader of the Inner Temple, one of the Worthies of Devon of John Prince. His monument survives at Harberton Church, Devon. He made his fortune in the Law and purchased the estate of Sandwell. As he died without children he made his great-nephew Thomas Risdon his heir, the son of Francis Risdon of Bableigh by his 3rd wife Dorothy Bluett. A monument survives in Harberton Church in memory of Dorothy Bluett erected by her son Thomas Risdon of Sandwell.
Giles Risdon , who married Elizabeth Viell, a daughter and co-heiress of William Viell of Trevorder in Cornwall, and of Vielston in the parish of Buckland Brewer, adjacent to Parkham, in Devon. He had three daughters and three sons.
Francis Risdon , who married three times:
*Firstly to Frances Hill, without children;
*Secondly in 1630 to Frances Greene of Harberton, Devon, by whom he had a son and heir Giles Risdon.
*Thirdly to Dorothy Bluett, youngest daughter of Arthur Bluett of Holcombe Rogus, Devon, and widow of Giles Poyntz, a relative of her step-father Philip Poyntz. Her monument survives at Harberton Church, Devon. By Dorothy Bluett Risdon had two children including a son Thomas Risdon of Harberton, whose monument survives at Harberton Church, Devon.
Giles Risdon , who married Grace Hill, whose monument survives at Harberton Church, by whom he had five daughters and seven sons.
Giles Risdon . He married three times:
*Firstly in 1677 to Katherine Coffin, third daughter of Richard Coffin of nearby Portledge, in the parish of Alwington, Sheriff of Devon in 1683, of a very ancient Devon family. Without children.
*Secondly in 1684 to Jane Carter, a daughter and co-heiress of John Carter of St Columb Major in Cornwall, by whom he had a daughter Jane Risdon.
*Thirdly to Anne Darrell, daughter of Thomas darrell of Trewornan, Cornwall, who survived him and remarried to John Carveth. By Anne Darrell he had three daughters and a son and heir Giles Risdon.
Giles Risdon , who in 1729 married Anne Bruton, and had a daughter Elizabeth Risdon and a son and heir Giles Risdon.
Giles Risdon , who married a certain Frances, who survived him.
