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Buller and Yarde Buller (Churston)

Etching of a judge in a gown carrying bundles of sticks, with two small figures behind him
'Judge Thumb', James Gillray's 1782 print satirising Sir Francis Buller. Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons

The Bullers held Dartmoor land through the judge Francis Buller, who married the Churston heiress, took Lupton with her, and added Sherberton, Huccaby and Bellever in the Forest in the 1780s. The Churston name came by marriage into the Yarde family.

In 1840 the tithe lists them as Sir John Buller Yarde Buller. 7,249 acres on the Dartmoor-parish tithe maps: Dean Prior 3,336, Mary Tavy 3,056, Lydford 857.

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.

James Buller of Morval

James Buller of Morval near Looe and of Downes near Crediton. S2

Children shown: Sir Francis Buller

Where this comes from

S2 Dartmoor: A New Study (1977 ed.), p. 249

Francis Buller was a distinguished lawyer with local connections. Born in 1746, the fourth son of James Buller of Morval near Looe and of Downes near Crediton, he was married at the age of seventeen to the only daughter and heir of Francis Yarde of Churston.

Sir Francis Buller

Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet, born 1746, fourth son of James. King's Counsel 1777, judge of the King's Bench 1778, then Common Pleas; baronet 13 January 1790. Married in 1763 Susannah, only daughter and heir of Francis Yarde of Churston. Acquired Sherberton and Huccaby in 1784 and Bellever the year after; by the end he held some 2,000 acres in the Forest (Dartmoor study). Lupton is said to have come to the Bullers by this Yarde marriage. S1, S2, S3

Child of James Buller of Morval. Children shown: Sir Francis Yarde Buller

Where this comes from

S1 Worthy, Devonshire Parishes, vol. 2 (1888), p. 305

left an only daughter and heir, Susannah, who married 1763, Francis Buller, afterwards Mr. Justice Buller, who was created a Baronet, 13th January, 1790.

S2 Dartmoor: A New Study (1977 ed.), p. 249

Francis Buller was a distinguished lawyer with local connections. Born in 1746, the fourth son of James Buller of Morval near Looe and of Downes near Crediton, he was married at the age of seventeen to the only daughter and heir of Francis Yarde of Churston.

S3 Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol. 19 (1887), p. 324

came to the Bullers by the marriage of the heiress of the Yardes with Sir Francis Buller, the Judge.

Sir Francis Yarde Buller

Sir Francis Yarde Buller, 2nd Baronet: succeeded to Churston and, under the will of his maternal great-uncle, took the surname Yarde, later adding Buller by sign manual. His eldest son Francis died young. S1

Child of Sir Francis Buller. Children shown: Sir John Yarde Buller

Where this comes from

S1 Worthy, Devonshire Parishes, vol. 2 (1888), p. 305

left an only daughter and heir, Susannah, who married 1763, Francis Buller, afterwards Mr. Justice Buller, who was created a Baronet, 13th January, 1790.

Sir John Yarde Buller

Sir John Yarde Buller, 3rd Baronet (second son), created Baron Churston on 2 August 1858. The 1840 tithe owner as Sir John Buller Yarde Buller. S1

Child of Sir Francis Yarde Buller

Where this comes from

S1 Worthy, Devonshire Parishes, vol. 2 (1888), p. 305

left an only daughter and heir, Susannah, who married 1763, Francis Buller, afterwards Mr. Justice Buller, who was created a Baronet, 13th January, 1790.

Stories from the record

Each story is backed by at least two independent sources, at least one of them a printed or official record. The sources are listed under it.

Judge Buller at the Zong insurance appeal, 1783

Sir Francis Buller, then a judge of King's Bench, sat with Lord Mansfield (and, in some accounts, Mr Justice Willes) at the hearing of Gregson v Gilbert on 21 and 22 May 1783. The case was the insurance dispute over the Liverpool slave ship Zong, from which enslaved Africans had been thrown overboard in 1781. At the first trial Mansfield had remarked that the case of the enslaved people was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard. At the 1783 hearing the court sided with the underwriters and ordered a new trial, after evidence that heavy rain had fallen before the later killings. Writers say there is no evidence that a new trial was ever held. The story concerns Buller's role as a judge only; he was made a baronet in 1790 and had a property near Princetown on Dartmoor.

Sources: Burnard, scholarly article on the Zong, journals.openedition.org; Understanding Slavery Initiative, case study 'The Zong'; Wikipedia, Zong massacre; Wikisource, Dictionary of National Biography, Buller, Francis

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 (7)

Beside them, probably the same owner (4)

Where the sources differ

One source says Francis Buller married 'Susannah, co-heir of Northleigh'. Worthy and the Dartmoor study both say she was the Yarde heir.
Judge Buller at the Zong insurance appeal, 1783. Understanding Slavery and Wikipedia say Mr Justice Willes also sat; Burnard names only Mansfield and Buller. Burnard dates the hearing 22 May 1783, the others 21 and 22 May.

Sources

S1 Worthy, Devonshire Parishes, vol. 2 (1888), p. 305

left an only daughter and heir, Susannah, who married 1763, Francis Buller, afterwards Mr. Justice Buller, who was created a Baronet, 13th January, 1790.

S2 Dartmoor: A New Study (1977 ed.), p. 249

Francis Buller was a distinguished lawyer with local connections. Born in 1746, the fourth son of James Buller of Morval near Looe and of Downes near Crediton, he was married at the age of seventeen to the only daughter and heir of Francis Yarde of Churston.

S3 Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol. 19 (1887), p. 324

came to the Bullers by the marriage of the heiress of the Yardes with Sir Francis Buller, the Judge.

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