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Drake of Buckland Abbey (Fuller Elliott Drake)

Portrait of a man in a red military coat holding a large key
George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield, the defender of Gibraltar, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1787. His son, the 2nd Baron, inherited Buckland. National Gallery, via Wikimedia Commons

Buckland Abbey was Sir Francis Drake's house. It stayed with his family until the line ran out, then passed through the female side to the Fuller family of Sussex, who added the Drake name. The 1840 owner is Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, in Buckland Monachorum and Meavy.

In 1840 the tithe lists them as Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake. 1,872 acres on the Dartmoor-parish tithe maps: Buckland Monachorum 1,144, Meavy 728.

See their land on the map →

Family tree

Click a name to see everything the sources say about that person, with the exact words quoted, below the chart. Yellow marks the 1840 tithe owner.

Sir Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake, the circumnavigator. Bought Buckland Abbey, the house built on the abbey site by Richard Grenville. Died without issue and left it to his nephew of the same name. S1

Children shown: Sir Francis Drake, the nephew

Where this comes from

S1 Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. 6, Devonshire (1822), Buckland Monachorum

Having no issue, Sir Francis bequeathed it to his nephew of the same name, who was created a baronet in 1622. The late baronet, Sir Francis Henry Drake, left it to his sister's son, the late Lord Heathfield. Upon his death, in 1813, it passed, pursuant to an entail, to a younger son of his sister, Mrs. Fuller, of Sussex, Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq., who is the present proprietor.

Sir Francis Drake, the nephew

Sir Francis Drake, the nephew, created a baronet in 1622. His estates were sequestrated in the Civil War and Buckland was given to Sir Richard Grenville. S1

Child of Sir Francis Drake. Children shown: Sir Francis Henry Drake

Where this comes from

S1 Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. 6, Devonshire (1822), Buckland Monachorum

Having no issue, Sir Francis bequeathed it to his nephew of the same name, who was created a baronet in 1622. The late baronet, Sir Francis Henry Drake, left it to his sister's son, the late Lord Heathfield. Upon his death, in 1813, it passed, pursuant to an entail, to a younger son of his sister, Mrs. Fuller, of Sussex, Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq., who is the present proprietor.

Sir Francis Henry Drake

Sir Francis Henry Drake, the last baronet of the name (died unmarried in 1794), left Buckland to his sister's son, Lord Heathfield: Francis Augustus Eliott, 2nd Baron Heathfield, son of his sister Anne Pollexfen Drake and of George Augustus Eliott, the hero of the siege of Gibraltar. The hero, 1st Baron Heathfield, died on 6 July 1790 (the date on the monument in Buckland church), before Sir Francis, so he was not the heir. S1, S3, S4

Child of Sir Francis Drake, the nephew. Children shown: Mrs Fuller's younger son

Where this comes from

S1 Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. 6, Devonshire (1822), Buckland Monachorum

Having no issue, Sir Francis bequeathed it to his nephew of the same name, who was created a baronet in 1622. The late baronet, Sir Francis Henry Drake, left it to his sister's son, the late Lord Heathfield. Upon his death, in 1813, it passed, pursuant to an entail, to a younger son of his sister, Mrs. Fuller, of Sussex, Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq., who is the present proprietor.

S3 Black's Guide to Devonshire (1878), Buckland Monachorum

Bacon's monument to Lord Heathfield, d. July 6, 1790

S4 National Trust, History of Buckland Abbey (secondary), https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/buckland-abbey/history-of-buckland-abbey

Summary of the page: Buckland passed from Sir Francis Henry Drake (1723-94) to his nephew the 2nd Lord Heathfield, and on his death in 1813 to Thomas Trayton Fuller, who added the Eliott Drake names.

Mrs Fuller's younger son

On the 2nd Lord Heathfield's death in 1813 the estate passed, under an entail, to a younger son of his sister, Mrs Fuller of Sussex. S1, S4

Child of Sir Francis Henry Drake. Children shown: Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake

Where this comes from

S1 Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. 6, Devonshire (1822), Buckland Monachorum

Having no issue, Sir Francis bequeathed it to his nephew of the same name, who was created a baronet in 1622. The late baronet, Sir Francis Henry Drake, left it to his sister's son, the late Lord Heathfield. Upon his death, in 1813, it passed, pursuant to an entail, to a younger son of his sister, Mrs. Fuller, of Sussex, Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq., who is the present proprietor.

S4 National Trust, History of Buckland Abbey (secondary), https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/buckland-abbey/history-of-buckland-abbey

Summary of the page: Buckland passed from Sir Francis Henry Drake (1723-94) to his nephew the 2nd Lord Heathfield, and on his death in 1813 to Thomas Trayton Fuller, who added the Eliott Drake names.

Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake

Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, 'the present proprietor' in Lysons. Created baronet 1821. The owner named in the 1840 tithe lists. Died 1870 without a son; the title passed by special remainder to his nephew. S1, S2

Child of Mrs Fuller's younger son. Children shown: Sir Francis George Augustus Fuller-Eliott-Drake

Where this comes from

S1 Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. 6, Devonshire (1822), Buckland Monachorum

Having no issue, Sir Francis bequeathed it to his nephew of the same name, who was created a baronet in 1622. The late baronet, Sir Francis Henry Drake, left it to his sister's son, the late Lord Heathfield. Upon his death, in 1813, it passed, pursuant to an entail, to a younger son of his sister, Mrs. Fuller, of Sussex, Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq., who is the present proprietor.

S2 Lodge, The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (1874), entry Fuller-Eliott-Drake

FULLER-ELIOTT-DRAKE, Sir Francis George Augustus, of Nutwell Court, Devon, late Capt. R. Horse Guards, only son of the late Capt. Rose Henry Fuller, R.N. (who d. 1860), by Margaret Jane, dau. of the late Sir Robert Sheffield, Bart., and nephew of the late Sir Thomas Trayton Fuller-Eliott-Drake, Bart.; b. 1837, s. his uncle, under a special remainder, 1870.

Sir Francis George Augustus Fuller-Eliott-Drake

Sir Francis George Augustus Fuller-Eliott-Drake, born 1837, son of Captain Rose Henry Fuller, R.N., and nephew of Sir Thomas; succeeded 1870. Married 1861 Elizabeth Douglas. Seats: Nutwell Court near Exeter, Sheafhayne House at Yarcombe, and Buckland Abbey. S2

Child of Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake

Where this comes from

S2 Lodge, The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (1874), entry Fuller-Eliott-Drake

FULLER-ELIOTT-DRAKE, Sir Francis George Augustus, of Nutwell Court, Devon, late Capt. R. Horse Guards, only son of the late Capt. Rose Henry Fuller, R.N. (who d. 1860), by Margaret Jane, dau. of the late Sir Robert Sheffield, Bart., and nephew of the late Sir Thomas Trayton Fuller-Eliott-Drake, Bart.; b. 1837, s. his uncle, under a special remainder, 1870.

Places on this family's land

Places on this site that stand on, or beside, the fields this family held in 1840.

On their 1840 fields (6)

Beside them, probably the same owner (1)

Notes

Sir Francis Henry Drake left Buckland to Lord Heathfield, his sister's son. The hero of Gibraltar, the 1st Baron, died in 1790, four years before Sir Francis, so the heir was the 2nd Baron, who died in 1813 (National Trust, Lysons). Sir Francis Henry's death in 1794 rests on Wikipedia; the National Trust gives his life as 1723 to 1794.

Lysons says the estate passed 'pursuant to an entail' in 1813; his wording about whose sister Mrs Fuller was is ambiguous, and the line Heathfield, then Fuller, is what the sentence says. Black's 1878 guide names Thomas Gill, Esq., at Buckland Abbey, presumably a tenant.

The tithe lists spell the name several ways (Elliott, Eliott, Elliot, with and without 'Sir'). The 'Eliot' entries are not added to the main group, so the 1840 acreage is slightly low.

Sources

S1 Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. 6, Devonshire (1822), Buckland Monachorum

Having no issue, Sir Francis bequeathed it to his nephew of the same name, who was created a baronet in 1622. The late baronet, Sir Francis Henry Drake, left it to his sister's son, the late Lord Heathfield. Upon his death, in 1813, it passed, pursuant to an entail, to a younger son of his sister, Mrs. Fuller, of Sussex, Thomas Trayton Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq., who is the present proprietor.

S2 Lodge, The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (1874), entry Fuller-Eliott-Drake

FULLER-ELIOTT-DRAKE, Sir Francis George Augustus, of Nutwell Court, Devon, late Capt. R. Horse Guards, only son of the late Capt. Rose Henry Fuller, R.N. (who d. 1860), by Margaret Jane, dau. of the late Sir Robert Sheffield, Bart., and nephew of the late Sir Thomas Trayton Fuller-Eliott-Drake, Bart.; b. 1837, s. his uncle, under a special remainder, 1870.

S3 Black's Guide to Devonshire (1878), Buckland Monachorum

Bacon's monument to Lord Heathfield, d. July 6, 1790

S4 National Trust, History of Buckland Abbey (secondary), https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/buckland-abbey/history-of-buckland-abbey

Summary of the page: Buckland passed from Sir Francis Henry Drake (1723-94) to his nephew the 2nd Lord Heathfield, and on his death in 1813 to Thomas Trayton Fuller, who added the Eliott Drake names.

Tithe polygons: Devon Tithe Mapping Polygonisation Project (Adnams 2023), © Devon County Council and Devon Heritage Centre, CC BY 4.0. Transcriptions: Devon County Council.