John Fownes (1661-1731) of Kittery Court in the parish of

Kingswear Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within ...

and of Nethway in the parish of Brixham, both in Devon, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1714 to 1715.

Origin and early life

Fownes was the eldest son and heir of John Fownes (1640-1670) of Whitleigh (anciently ''Whitley'') in the parish of

St Budeaux St Budeaux is an area and ward in the north west of Plymouth in the English county of Devon. Original settlement The name St Budeaux comes from Saint Budoc, the Bishop of Dol (Brittany). Around 480, Budoc is said to have founded a settlemen ...

, near Plymouth, Devon, by his wife Mary Northleigh (1641-1669), a daughter of Henry Northleigh (1612-1675) of

Peamore, Exminster Peamore (anciently ''Pevmere'', ''Peanmore'', ''Peamont'', etc.) is a historic country estate in the parish of Exminster, Devon, which is near the city of Exeter. In 1810 Peamore House was described as "one of the most pleasant seats in the nei ...

, Devon and sister of Henry Northleigh (1643-1694) of Peamore, thrice MP for

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town (east and west) ...

. His great grandfather was Thomas Fones (died 1638) of Plymouth,

Mayor of Plymouth This is a list of some notable mayors and all the later lord mayors of the city of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. Plymouth had elected a mayor annually since 1439. The city was awarded the dignity of a lord mayoralty by letters patent dat ...

in 1619, who was from Worcestershire and was the first of his family to settle in Devon. NethwayHouse Brixham Devon

In 1681 Fownes married Anne Yard, a daughter of Edward Yarde (1638-1703) of

Churston Court Churston Court is the manor house of the former manor of Churston Ferrers (anciently ''Cercetone'' (Domesday Book, 1086), ''Churecheton'' ( Book of Fees, 13th c.), ''Churchstow'', ''Churchton'', ''Churchston'', etc.), near Brixham in Devon ...

Churston Ferrers Churston Ferrers is an area and former civil parish, in the borough of Torbay, Devon, England, situated between the south coast towns of Paignton and Brixham. Today it is administered by local government as the Churston-with-Galmpton ward of th ...

, Devon, MP for Ashburton in 1685, and sister of Edward Yarde (1668/9-1735) of Churston Court, MP for Totnes in 1695. After his marriage, he moved to Kittery Court, a fine house near Dartmouth and became a Freeman of Dartmouth in 1701. Later he purchased the fire damaged Nethway House (and estate) in Kingswear, near Dartmouth from the Hody family and carried out the necessary restoration.

Career

Fownes was a high Tory and was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Dartmouth at a by-election on 20 March 1714. He did not stand at the 1715 general election when his son was returned as MP for Dartmouth instead.

Death and legacy

Fownes died on 4 October 1731 and was buried at Brixham. He had two surviving sons and one surviving daughter. His eldest son was: * John Fownes (died 1733) of Kittery Court, a

for Dartmouth in 1715, who married Anne Maddock, a daughter of Samuel Maddock of

Tamerton Foliot Tamerton Foliot is a village situated in the north of Plymouth, England, that also lends its name to the ecclesiastical parish of the same name. Situated near the confluence of the rivers Tamar and Tavy, the village is situated in a valley ...

. His son was Henry Fownes Luttrell (c.1722-1780), of

Dunster Castle Dunster Castle is a former motte and bailey castle, now a English country house, country house, in the village of Dunster, Somerset, England. The castle lies on the top of a steep hill called the Tor, and has been fortified since the late Anglo- ...

, Somerset,

High Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

from 1754 to 1755, and a

for Minehead from 1768 to 1774, who married Margaret Luttrell, the heiress of Dunster Castle and added his wife's name to his own to comply with her father's will. Fownes presented to St Mary's Church, Brixham, a 44 ounce silver flagon dated 1704 with a Dublin hallmark. In the ''Nethway Chapel'' at the east end of the south aisle of St Mary's Church, Brixham, are buried Thomas Fownes, Vicar 1755-1809, and others of the Fownes family, and several mural monuments to the Fownes and Luttrell families.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fownes, John 1661 births 1731 deaths People from South Hams (district) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dartmouth British MPs 1713–1715

Origin and early life

Career

Death and legacy

Further reading

References