The descent of the manor of Fremington followed the descent of the feudal barony of Barnstaple, of which it was a member. Having reverted to King Richard II following the death of Nicholas Lord Audley without children, the king granted it to his half-brother John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon. Following Holland's execution in January 1400 for his rebellion against King Henry IV, who had usurped the throne from King Richard, the keeping of the manor of Fremington was given in May 1400 to John Stourton of Preston Plucknett in Somerset, 7 times MP for Somerset, together with William Yerde, MP.
Acland
The manor was held by the Acland family of Barnstaple, a junior branch of the Acland Baronets of Killerton House in Devon and Holnicote in Somerset, which originated in the 12th century at the estate of Acland, Landkey in North Devon, and which by the 19th century was one of the largest landowners in the Southwest of England. The exact relationship of the Acland Baronets to the Aclands of Barnstaple is unclear as the Barnstaple mercantile family of Acland is not mentioned in the Heraldic Visitations pedigree of the Acland family. The coat of arms of the two branches is identical, but the crests differ.
Richard Acland, of Fremington, a merchant of Barnstaple, purchased the manor of Fremington in 1683. He was nominated Mayor of Barnstaple in 1688, but did not serve.
Richard Acland, son and heir, of Fremington, was MP for Barnstaple 1708–13. His arms are displayed on the parapet of Queen Anne's Walk in Barnstaple, as one of about twelve such arms representing members of the Corporation of Barnstaple who financed the building, completed in 1713, originally called the "Merchants Exchange", on Barnstaple Quay. In 1700 he married Susanna Lovering, one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of John Lovering, a wealthy merchant, of Weare Giffard, Countisbury and Hudscott, Chittlehampton, all in North Devon. At some time after his marriage Richard Acland built the large and grand manor house known today as Fremington House, as is evidenced by at least two elaborate sculpted escutcheons showing the arms of Acland impaling Lovering. His son John Acland was listed as a freeholder in Fremington in 1733, but it was the latter's sister Susanna Acland who was the heiress of Fremington, and who in 1748 married William Barbor.
Barbor
The Barbor family originated at Upcott in Somerset. William Barbor, an eminent physician educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, was the first of the family to settle at Barnstaple. The Barbor family arms, visible in St Peter's Church, Fremington, and in terracotta relief on the bow-window of Fremington House, were: Argent, two chevrons between three fleurs-de-Lys gules. He married the daughter and heiress of the Pointz family of Northcote, Bittadon, a junior branch of that ancient and prominent Norman family formerly seated at Iron Acton in Gloucestershire.
William Barbor, son and heir. He attended school at Barnstaple under Mr Lucke for six years, then attended Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, as had done his father and his brother John. He married in 1748 Susanna Acland, heiress of Fremington and other estates.
George Barbor, youngest surviving brother and heir. His other two brothers were Richard Barbor, a captain in the British army who fought in the American War of Independence and died in Pennsylvania at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777; and Arthur Barbor, Chaplain to the East India Company, who died in India. George also owned the estate of Croscombe in the parish of Martinhoe, Devon. He served in the army of the East India Company in India and in 1810 held the rank of major. He married Jane Jeffreys, eldest daughter of Gabriel Jeffreys of Swansea, Wales, who survived him and died at nearby Rawleigh House, Pilton, as is recorded by her mural monument in St Peter's Church, Fremington. Gabriel Jeffreys, from a family of bankers and lawyers, was a freemason and Master of Beaufort Lodge in Swansea from 1771. In 1770 he drew up plans for a Masonic Hall in Swansea "which will compare to any in England", but which were never implemented. He was a Notary Public in 1780 and was an Alderman and was Portreeve of Swansea in 1775 and 1786–1787 and served as County Treasurer for Glamorgan until 1785. In 1770 he was appointed the Deputy Steward of the Manor of Pennard. He was active in the development of the Docks and Canals, and was one of the promoters of the construction of the Mumbles Railway, which in 1804 became the first passenger carrying railway in the world. The arms of Jeffreys as displayed on the mural monument to George Barbor in Fremington Church are: Ermine, a lion rampant a canton checky, which are similar to the arms of ancient family of Jeffreys of Acton, Denbigh, Wales, which has canton sable.
George Acland Barbor, son and heir, of Fremington House. He was nominated High Sheriff of Devon in 1834, but was not pricked. Although a copy of his will dated 1839 survives in the North Devon Record Office, he died intestate at Frankfurt on the Main. A legal suit ensued in 1840–1844 with parties "Mackenzie v Yeo".
Yeo
A junior branch of the ancient and prominent Devonshire family of Yeo of Huish and Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe inherited the manor of Fremington from Barbor. Funeral hatchments of the Yeo family survive in St Peter's Church, Fremington, on the west wall, showing quartered arms including Yeo and Arundell, together with other monuments including a stained glass window in the south wall in memory of William Arundell Yeo
William Arundell Yeo. He was the eldest son and heir of William Mounier Yeo,, an apothecary of Clifton, Bristol,,, MP for Coventry ) by his wife Phillis Arundell O'Neill, only daughter and heiress of Clotworthy O'Neill, of Ireland, by his wife, Mary Arundell, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Arundell, of Trevelver, in the parish of St. Minver, Cornwall. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for Devon and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1850. He married Eliza Bernard, daughter of Dr. C. E. Bernard, of Clifton. The 1843 tithe award showed the manor of Raleigh held between three owners: William Arundell Yeo, 147 acres; Robert Newton Incledon, who held 160 acres, together with William Hodge. In 1850 the North Devon Journal reported that John Lillycrap, a servant at Fremington House had shot his fellow servant Robert Symons and then committed suicide.
William Arundell Yeo, son and heir, was lord of the manor of Fremington in 1878. He was a Barrister-at-Law. He built Fremington School in 1875 and let it to the parish for 326 per annum. His mistress was Clementine Frantzen, by whom he had illegitimate children, including: Henry William Stanton 26 O'Clarey, born 1 February 1861 in Paddington, London; Jessie Maude O'Clarey, born 3 August 1863; died 1885; Gerard William Yeo O'Clarey, born 15 December 1866 in Battersea, London; Robert John O'Clarey, born 10 December 1869 in Paris, France, who married Gertrude Summers; born 1870. William Arundell Yeo died unmarried at Ostend in Belgium in 1880, as is recorded in his memorial stained glass window in the south aisle of Fremington Church. His funeral hatchment survives in Fremington Church, showing the arms of Yeo alone. At his death the estates of Fremington and Dinharn passed to his sister, Miss Eliza Bernard Arundell Yeo, who sold much of the estate to the tenant farmers and cottagers.
Clarke
Major Edward John Arundell Clarke, of Fremington House, and Brookfield House, Fremington, was the eldest son of Edward Clarke, a solicitor, of Avishays, Chaffcombe, Chard, Somerset, by his wife Barbara Yeo, youngest daughter of William Arundell Yeo. He was a JP for Devon and a major in the Royal North Devon Yeomanry. He married Violet Press, by whom he had a son John Arundell Clarke and a daughter Barbara Arundell Clarke, who in 1919 married Sir John Stuart Page-Wood, 6th Baronet. The North Devon Journal reported that on Armistice Day 1923 Fremington's war memorial was unveiled by Major Arundell Clarke.
Constance Barbara Clarke,, of Fremington House, eldest daughter of Edward Clarke, of Avishays, Chard, Somerset, and a granddaughter of William Arundell Yeo, inherited the manor of Fremington and Dinham House in Cornwall. She married twice, firstly on 6 March 1905 to Admiral Sir John Erskine Kennedy Baird, son of Sir David Baird, 2nd Baronet, of Newbyth, by his wife Lady Anne Kennedy. Secondly on 15 December 1925 she married Charles Kennedy, 5th Marquess of Ailsa. Following the death in Ontario of Constance Clarke in 1931 the remnant of the manor left unsold by Miss Yeo was sold to Mr Fred Holland, including Fremington House and about 60 acres of land.
US Army
Between 1943 and 1945 Fremington House and grounds was used by the US army as "Fremington Training Camp", a hospital and rehabilitation centre.
British Army
On the departure of the US Army in 1945, Fremington House and grounds were used by the British Army as the "School of Combined Operations", commanded by an Admiral. In the late 1950s it was used by Amphibious Squadrons of the Royal Army Service Corps and Royal Corps of Transport. The mansion house served as the officers mess of 18 Company. In the 1970s it served as an Army training camp. In 1980 Fremington House was sold by the Army and became a nursing home. The army camp, which occupied about 50 acres of land, remained, but closed on 1 October 2009. It had undergone a review by Defence Training Estates South West was said by David Harris, South West Army spokesman, to be "past its sell by date". He added: "The Fremington site is worn out and has come to the end of its economic life...Buildings at the camp are 1940s stock, old wooden huts that are very expensive to maintain. It's just not worth pumping any more money into...The camp is largely seasonal, with the majority of occupation taking place in the summer months".
