Sir James Hamlyn, 1st Baronet of Clovelly Court in Devon, and of Edwinsford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, was a Member of Parliament for Carmarthen 1793–1802. He served as Sheriff of Devon 1767-8. He was created a baronet in 1795. He not only inherited a large estate in Devon from his wealthy childless great-uncle, but also married a wealthy Welsh heiress.
Origins
James Hammett was born in October 1735, the eldest son of Richard Hammett of Kennerland, in the parish of Clovelly, Devon, by his wife Elizabeth Risdon, daughter and sole heiress of Philip Risdon, Gentleman. The mural monument to his parents survives in Holy Trinity Church, Woolfardisworthy, near Clovelly, inscribed as follows: It shows the arms of Hammett with inescutcheon of pretence of Risdon of Bableigh:, with crest of Hammett above: A swan with wings endorsed argent collared gules winged beaked and legged or holding in his beak a bolt sable. The Risdons were an ancient Devonshire family seated at Bableigh in the parish of Parkham, with a junior branch at Winscott in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington, of which latter family was the Devon historian Tristram Risdon.
Inheritance
In 1759 he became heir to the manor of Clovelly, following the death of his unmarried great-uncle Zachary Hamlyn, of Woolfardisworthy, three miles south-east of Clovelly, a lawyer of Lincoln's Inn and a Clerk of the Journals of the House of Commons, who in 1738 had purchased the manor of Clovelly from the last of the Cary family, longtime lords of the manor, and had made Clovelly Court his residence. The Hamlyn family is believed to have descended from Hamelin, the Domesday Book tenant in 1086 of two manors under the Norman magnate Robert, Count of Mortain, half-brother of King William the Conqueror. He may have been the same Hamelin who also held two manors in Cornwall from the same overlord. Sir John Hamlyn, of Larkbeare, in the parish of St Leonard, Exeter, father of Sir Osbert, was at the Battle of Bouroughbridge in 1322, and his arms are recorded on the roll of arms of the Knights present: Gules, a lion rampant ermine, crowned or. According to Worthy, the branch of the family "which long flourished in much repute in Woolfardisworthy" seems to have descended from John Hamlyn, fourth son of Richard Hamlyn, of Widecombe, and brother to Robert and Thomas, paternal and maternal ancestors of the Hamlyn family resident at Buckfastleigh in 1892. The first Hamlyn of Woolfardisworthy was William Hamlyn of Mershwell, whose arms, as previously blazoned, were on two shields in painted glass in one of the windows at Mershwell, with the date 1540. William Hamlyn was born in 1540, and was buried at Woolfardisworthy in 1597. By his wife, Agnes Yeo, of Stratton, he had a son, William, whose son William, of Mershwell, was baptized at Woolfardisworthy, on the 21st day of October, 1579. His son, William Hamlyn, married Gertrude Cary, and was buried in 1708. He had issue by her fourteen children, and at his death his son Zachary Hamlyn succeeded to Mershwell. Zachary recorded his pedigree at the College of Arms but did not carry it further back than the William Hamlyn who was buried at Woolfardisworthy in 1597. In accordance with the terms of the bequest, in 1760 by Act of Parliament, James Hammet adopted the arms and surname Hamlyn in lieu of his patronymic. According to the Devon topographer Swete, who visited Clovelly in 1797, his brother was Mr Hamet, "clergyman of Clovelly" who had recently built at Clovelly a house "of very neat appearance, standing high in a small lawn and shrubbery".
Career
He received his legal education at Lincoln's Inn in 1750. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire and as Member of Parliament for Carmarthen 1793–1802, and as Sheriff of Devon 1767-8. He was created a baronet on 7 July 1795.
Rebuilds Clovelly Court
In 1789 his manor house Clovelly Court was destroyed by fire and he rebuilt it in the then fashionable Georgian-Gothic style. In 1797 Swete wrote as follows in his Journal concerning his visit to Clovelly: Swete's verdict concerning the landscape and natural setting were in contrast entirely complimentary.
Marriage and children
On 11 June 1762 he married Arabella Williams, daughter and eventual heiress of Thomas Williams of Edwinsford, Llandeilo, and of Court Derllys, both in Carmarthenshire. In 1797 Swete wrote in his Journal concerning Sir James Hamlyn: "This gentleman was originally in the law and marrying a Miss Williams of vast fortune in Carmarthenshire, he has lately taken up the chief part of his residence at his seat in that county". The family of Williams, claimed descent from Hywel Dda and Rhodri Mawr, and from King Henry I of England, via Ellen, wife of Llewelyn ap Phylip. Thomas Williams inherited Edwinsford from his childless elder brother Sir Nicholas Williams, 1st Baronet. He married twice, firstly to Arabella Vaughan, daughter and co-heiress of John Vaughan of Court Derllys, Carmarthenshire, without children, and secondly to Anne Singleton, daughter of William Singleton of London. His eldest daughter and heiress from his second marriage was Bridget Williams, who lived at Edwinsford with her husband Robert Banks Hodgkinson, of Overton, MP for Wareham in Dorset 1748–51 and High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1784. As Bridget died without children, Edwinsford was inherited by her younger sister Arabella Williams, wife of James Hamlyn, 1st Baronet. By Arabella he had children 2 sons and 1 daughter including:
Sir James Hamlyn-Williams, 2nd Baronet, who in 1798 assumed the additional surname of Williams.
He died on 28 May 1811 and was buried in All Saints Church, Clovelly, next to Clovelly Court. Monuments survive in the church to the 1st Baronet, showing a seated woman by an urn, and to his wife, showing a standing woman by an urn.
