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Dodington family of Woodlands in Mere

On the Wareham side of my family my great x 6 grandmother was Martha Dodington of Mere (through the Stainer and Love family lines). Here are some pictures associated with her family history. Martha (who married Michael Love in 1737) was the granddaughter of gentleman Vaughan Dodington who was the brother of the last Dodington to hold Woodlands Manor at Mere, Stephen Dodington. The collapse of the Dodington family is indicated by the fact that Vaughan was buried in 1697 as a 'gent but poor' and his son John is noted as being 'very poor' on the baptism of one of his children in Mere in 1705. It is amazing to note that this poor labourer was third cousin of Queen Mary (wife of King William II of Orange) and Queen Anne through his great x2 grandparents Laurence and Anne Hyde of Tisbury! The reasons why the Dodingtons fell into poverty is not completely clear but was probably due to the aftermath of the civil war period (they were ardent Royalists) and the hard economics of maintaining a small manor holding in increasingly competitive times. For the Dodington family history spreadsheet see under 'Wareham family tree'. See also under 'related docs page 2' for the story of the collapse of the Dodington family after the civil war and their involvement in the Penruddock uprising. On the same page is an essay 'Our Family's Rich Heritage' which details some of the ancestral lines of the family.

Lawrence Hyde, Esq, Tisbury

Memorial inside Tisbury Church to Lawrence Hyde and wife Anne (nee Sibell) who died 1590 at Tisbury. Lawrence and Anne are my great x 11 grandparents.


Edward Younge, Esq, Durnford, Wilts

Memorial in Great Durnford Church to Edward Younge, Esquire, and his wife Joanne (nee Hyde). Edward held the manor of Little Durnford. They are my great x 10 grandparents.


Woodlands Manor, Mere, Wiltshire

An old picture (from History of Mere, by AE Edmunds, 1940) of the ancient manor house at Mere held by my ancestors the Dodington family from 1360 to 1672. The house came to the Dodingtons as a dowry on marriage from the Guphey family. Woodlands is unfortunately still a private house which is not open to the public, despite it's historic interest, and it cannot even be seen from the public road now due to a massive gate and thick hedge. One of course respects the owner's right to privacy and security but it is a shame that one cannot even see the old house from a distance.


Nicholas Francis, Esq, Combe Florey

Memorial to Nicholas Francis, esquire of Combe Florey, Somerset. My great x 14 grandfather. Nicholas' great granddaughter Margaret married Christopher Dodington of Woodlands Manor. Through Nicholas' wife Cecily Courteney comes ancestry which goes back to the Earls of Devon and Plantagenet Kings of England.


Wardour Castle, Wiltshire

My great x 11 grandmother Anne Sibell was the widow of Matthew Colthurst who held Wardour Castle and died in 1559. Anne then married Lawrence Hyde of Cheshire who bought land at nearby West Hatch and by 1570 the Castle had passed back to the Arundell family. Between 1559 and 1570 therefore it is probable that great x 11 grandparents Lawrence and Anne Hyde lived here.


Arms of Hyde & Sibell, Salisbury Cathedral

Above a memorial at Salisbury Cathedral to one of the descendents of Lawrence Hyde of Tisbury is this crest of the coat of arms of Hyde (top left bottom right) and Sibell (bottom left) quartered with another unknown.


Lord Walter Hungerford

The tomb of my great x 18 grandparents Lord Walter Hungerford and his wife Catherine in Salisbury Cathedral. This ancestry is from the Courteney and Francis line.


Radnor pew, Salisbury Cathedral

This pew was formed from the chantry chapel of Walter Lord Hungerford and is adorned with the arms of Hungerford, Hussey, Heytesbury and others associated with this line. Great x 18 grandfather Walter fought at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.


Hungerford and Heytesbury

The arms of the Hungerford (left) and Heyetesbury (right) families on teh Radnor pew. This comes from the marriage of Walter Hungerford and Maud de Heytesbury in about 1250.


St Michaels Church, Mere, Wiltshire

The marvellous view of Mere and it's church across the Blackmore Vale towards Shaftesbury, my home town. Many of my ancestors are buried at Mere church on my Hiscock, Talbot and Wareham lines. On the Dodington ancestry Mere burials that took place were those of Martha in 1754, her parents John and Anne in 1749 and 1749, grandparents Vaughan and Elizabeth in 1697 and 1722, great grandfather William Dodington in 1657 and great x 2 grandparents Christopher (esquire) and Margaret in 1584 and 1614 and great grandmother Joan in 1573. Prior generations of Dodingtons were almost certainly buried here as well but parish registers start 1561.


William Ludlow, Esq, St Thomas Church, Salisbury

The arms of the Ludlow family on the roof of St Thomas Church in Salisbury. My great x 15 grandfather William Ludlow was a benefactor of this church and was buried here (north side of the chancel) with his wife in 1478. William was an MP, Lord of the Manor of Hill Deverill and fought at Agincourt. Sadly his tomb was destroyed in an 18th century renovation of the church and his bones and those of his wife were "thrown into some unknown corner".


George Dodington of Wells

This memorial in Wells Cathedral is a distant cousin many times removed. George was of the Dodington family of Somerset of which the Dodingtons of Mere were a branch. It is a good copy of the Dodington family arms which were the same as those of the Mere family, however as no Dodington family memorials survivce in Mere there is no copy of this coat of arms in Wiltshire other than in a 19th century book on the History of Wiltshire and a description in the Harleain Visitations.




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