Sir Robert Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 11th Baronet DL JP (23 May 1855 – 16 January 1917) of Tawstock Court, North Devon, was a prominent member of the Devonshire gentry.

Early life

He was the son and heir of

Sir Henry Bourchier Toke Wrey, 10th Baronet Sir Henry Bourchier Toke Wrey, 10th Baronet DL JP (27 June 1829 – 10 March 1900) of Tawstock Court, North Devon. Early life He was the eldest son of the Rev. Sir Henry Bourchier Wrey, 9th Baronet, the Rector at Tawstock, and, his first wife ...

(1829-1900) and the former Marianne Sherard. Among his many siblings were younger brothers Philip Bourchier Sherard Wrey and Reverend Albany Bourchier Sherard Wrey.L. G. Pine, ''The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms'' (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 250 His paternal grandparents were the Rev. Sir Henry Bourchier Wrey, 9th Baronet and, his first wife, the former Ellen Maria Toke (a daughter of Nicholas Roundell Toke). His maternal grandparents were Philip Castel Sherard, 9th Baron Sherard and the former Anne Weekes (a daughter of Nathaniel Weekes).

Career

He served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, seeing action in the

1882 Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt, also known as the Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It e ...

and with the Naval Brigade landed in the

Third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War (), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the Br ...

. He retired from the service with the rank of captain, and later served as honorary lieutenant-colonel of the Royal North Devon Hussars. In 1900, he succeeded his father in the baronetcy and the family estates. He was the last to live at Tawstock Court and "to keep house in the old manner" and moved to Corffe a nearby house on the estate, having let the Court.Lauder, Rosemary, Devon Families, Tiverton, 2002, p.156 In 1913, Sir Robert unsuccessfully laid claim to the barony of FitzWarin, petitioning the Crown that the abeyance should be terminated in his favor and that he should be summoned to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as Lord FitzWarin.

Personal life

On 26 October 1905, Sir Robert was married to Jessie Maud Fraser, daughter of William Thomson Fraser and granddaughter of John Fraser, of Mongewell Park, Oxfordshire. He left no sons, only a daughter: * Rachel Wrey (1911–1991), wife of John Henry Peyto Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke (1896–1986). On his death in a nursing home in 1917 without sons, the title passed to his younger brother, Sir Philip Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 12th Baronet, who promptly in 1919 sold 2,500 acres of the estate for £67,000, leaving some 7,000 acres remaining. His widow later married Godfrey Heseltine, second son of John Postle Heseltine.

Descendants

Through his daughter Rachel, he was a grandfather of

David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke Leopold David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke, (born 14 September 1938), is a British hereditary peer and former member of the House of Lords. Early life Leopold David Verney was born on 14 September 1938. The only son of John Verney, 2 ...

(b. 1938) and Hon. Susan Geraldine Verney (1942–2009).Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. volume 2, page 1786.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrey, Robert Bourchier Sherard 1855 births 1917 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Royal North Devon Yeomanry officers Royal Navy captains Royal Navy personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Burmese War