STONE HUNDRED 



Clarendon describes him at this time as being 'of 

 ancient family, and a fair estate in the county Buck- 

 ingham, where he was esteemed very much, which his 

 carri.ige and behaviour to all men deserved very well. 

 But there was scarcely a gentleman in England of so 

 good a fortune (for he was the owner of above 1,500 

 land yearly) less known out of the county in which he 

 lived than he was, until he appeared in the Exchequer 

 chamber to support the right of the people in the 

 case of ship-money.' a The determination, reached 

 in 1636, to oppose the levy of ship-money severed 

 the close connexion between John H.impdcn and his 

 own parish. From that date he was rarely at Great 

 Hampden, and after 1640 never lived there again. 44 

 On the outbreak of war he raised a regiment of Buck- 

 inghamshire infantry, and commanded it until his 

 death." At the battle of Chalgrove Field, where he 

 was mortally wounded, he would not wait for his 

 own regiment, but went as a volunteer with the 

 troops that had already come up. 4 * He died shortly 

 after the engagement, and is supposed to have been 

 buried in Great Hampden Church, but the places of 

 his death and burial have been much disputed. 



Richard Hampden," the son of the patriot, suc- 

 ceeded his father in the family estates, 48 and shared 

 his political opinions. He was, however, an ardent 

 supporter of Oliver Cromwell and voted for his 

 accepting the crown in 1656." He was nominated 

 in the same year a member of the Other House, 

 and so incurred the satire of a republican pamphleteer, 

 who ascribed his nomination to the desire ' to settle 

 and secure him to the interest of the new Court and 

 wholly take him off from the thoughts of ever follow- 

 ing his father's steps or inheriting his noble vir- 

 tues. . . .' * He sat in Parliament, either for Wen- 

 dover or for Buckinghamshire, in many of the Parlia- 

 ments after the Restoration." He was a Presbyterian 

 and a great advocate of the Exclusion Bill. 1 '' He did 

 not, however, take part in any of the plots of the time, 

 though his son John was implicated in the Rye House 

 Plot in 1683, and two years later joined Monmouth's 

 Rebellion." Richard Hampden sat in the Conven- 

 tion Parliament in 1689, and on the accession of 

 William III obtained office, being appointed Commis- 

 sioner of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer. 14 He died :n 1695 ** and was succeeded by 

 his son, who had obtained a pardon for his share in 

 Monmouth's rising." John sat with his father for 

 Wendover in the Convention Parliament," but 

 suffered from depression from the time of his trial for 

 high treason and finally committed suicide in 1696." 

 He was succeeded by his son Richard, 6 * who also 

 represented Wendover or the county in several Par- 

 liaments." He was appointed Treasurer of the Navy 

 in 1717-18," but in 1720 a deficiency of 73,706 

 odd appeared in his accounts, said to be due to 

 speculations in the South Sea scheme." His estates 



GREAT HAMPDEN 



were liable to sequestration, and a bill was brought in 

 to enable the Treasury to compound with him. The 

 affair created great excitement, and is mentioned in a 

 news letter of the time ' Hampden's petition and 

 the Wycombe election, both scandalous, are the only 

 subject of talk. I know not what is done on the 

 first, I believe what Sir Robert hinted, but would not 

 propose, will be followed, to take half the estate to 

 the public, and to settle the remainder on his wife 

 and brother.' n This was practically the procedure 

 followed, and Great Hampden, which was preserved, 

 passed to John Hampden, the half-brother and heir 

 of Richard, who died in 1728." John Hampden 

 was the last member of the family in the male line to 

 hold Great Hampden, which, on his death in 1753, 

 passed under his will to the descendants of Ruth, the 

 second daughter of John Hampden the patriot." 

 She had married Sir John Trevor, and the Hampden 

 estates came to her grandson Robert Trevor. 7 * By 

 royal licence he took the name of Hampden for him- 

 self and his heirs male in lieu 

 of his patronymic of Trevor. 77 

 He succeeded his brother as 

 fourth Baron Trevor of Brom- 

 ham in 1764, and in 1776 

 was created Viscount Hamp- 

 den of Great and Little 

 Hampden. 78 His two sons 

 succeeded him at Great Hamp- 

 den, 7 * but on the death in 

 1824 of John, the younger 

 son, without children, the 

 estate passed under the will of 

 the John Hampden of 1753 

 to the descendants of Mary, the sixth daughter of 

 John Hampden the patriot. She had married Sir 

 John Hobart, hart., and her 

 descendant, George Robert 

 Hobart, fifth Earl of Bucking- 

 hamshire, succeeded to the 

 Hampden possessions. 60 In 

 1824 by royal licence he took 

 the name of Hampden only, 

 but died in 1 849 without 

 direct heirs. He was suc- 

 ceeded by his brother, who 

 took the name of Hobart- 

 Hampden, 81 and his estates 

 are now held by the present 

 Earl of Buckinghamshire, his 



great-grandson. The manor of Great Hampden 

 has been enfranchised, but the earl remains the sole 

 landowner in the parish. 



The church of Sr. MARY MAG- 

 CHURCH DALEN consists of a chancel 27ft. 7 in. 

 by i 5 ft. 10 in. ; a nave with clearstory 

 42 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 3 in. ; north and south aisles 



TREVOR. Party bend 

 sinistenvite ermine and 

 ermineet a lion or. 



HOBAKT. Sahle a itar 

 or between two faunchei 

 ermine. 



" Hhl. of the Rebellion (ed. 1888), iii, 

 59-60. 



" Nugent, Mem. of HamfJen, 135. 



Warwick, Memoirei of At Rtipu of 

 King Chat. I (ed. 1703), 140 ( Hiit. MSS. 

 Com. Ref. liv, App. ii, IO1 ; Lipicomb, 

 hilt, of Biuh. ii, 247. 



" Clarendon, Hut. of Rebellion, bk. yii, 

 no. 79-80. 



W Diet. Nat. Biog. iiiv, 166. 



Recov. R. Mich. 1653 j Feet of F. 

 Buckt. Eatt. 26 Chat. II. 



" Harl. Miu. iii, 463. Ibid. 487. 

 n Return of Member! of Part. 

 n Liptcomb, Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 260. 

 ** Ibid. 16 1 j Diet. Nat. Biog. xxir, 

 264. < Ibid. 266. 



Ibid. Ibid. 264. 



f Return of Memkert of Part. 

 * Diet. Nat. Biog. xnv, 264. 

 " RCCOT. R. Hil. 13 Will. III. 

 7 Return of Membert of Part. 

 n Portland MSS. (Hitt. MSS. Com.), 



289 



" Lipicomb, Hiit. of Biuki. ii, 265. 



Portland MSS. (Hitt. MSS. Com.), 

 Tii, 4*9- 



' 4 Liptcomb, Hitt. ofBuc/ki. ii, 269. 



' G.E.C. Comflete Peerage. 



" Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



n He had bought the manor of Little 

 Hampden in 1765 from John Dodd. 



" G.E.C Complete Peerage. 



Rfcov. R. Mich. 5 Gco. IV. 



G.E.C. Comflete Peerage. 



37 ' 



