Daniel Higford Davall Burr JP DL (24 March 1811 – 29 November 1885) was a British Member of Parliament and Justice of the Peace.

Biography

Burr was born to Daniel Burr (a lieutenant colonel with the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

) and Mary Davis. His maternal grandfather was James Davis. His maternal lineage also included

Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk (15 March 1746 – 16 December 1815), styled Earl of Surrey from 1777 to 1786, was a British nobleman, peer, and politician. He was the son of Charles Howard, 10th Duke of Norfolk, and Catherine Brock ...

. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. On 1 February 1836, Burr's mother died and he inherited the estate of

Alvington, Gloucestershire Alvington is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean (district), Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England, situated on the A48 road, six miles north-east of Chepstow in Wales. The parish had a total population of 506 at the United Kin ...

. The following year, he became

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, a position he held for four years. He was a member of the Carlton Club. In 1849, Burr purchased

Aldermaston Court Aldermaston Court is a English country houses, country house and landscape garden, private park built in the Victorian era for Daniel Higford Davall Burr with incorporations from a Stuart period, Stuart house. It is south-east of the nucleated ...

, a country estate in

Aldermaston Aldermaston ( ) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 1,015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basin ...

, Berkshire, that had been destroyed by fire six years previously. He commissioned

Philip Charles Hardwick Philip Charles Hardwick (London 1822–1892) was an English architect. Life Philip Charles Hardwick was born in Westminster in London, the son of the architect Philip Hardwick (1792–1870) and grandson of architect Thomas Hardwick (junior) ...

to build a neoclassical mansion. Burr was an eccentric, and owned monkeys and snakes. His monkey was known to climb the

maypole A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European List of folk festivals, folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on May Day, 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some co ...

on the village green. In 1851, Burr became

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff#United King ...

Landholdings

In 1883 John Bateman in his digest of the Return of Owners of Land, 1873, ''The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland'', listed Burr's lands as follows: *Gloucestershire 1,200 acres worth 2,200 guineas per annum; *Berkshire ldermaston2,778 acres worth 3,054 guineas per annum (with 51 acres in Hampshire worth 37 guineas per annum); *Herefordshire 500 acres worth 750 guineas per annum; *Monmouthshire 6 acres worth 12 guineas per annum. :*Total 4,535 acres, with a rental value of 6,053 guineas per annum.

Personal life

Burr married Anne-Margaretta Scobell, an amateur

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artist, on 18 September 1839 at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near ...

. They had four sons – Higford (b. 20 July 1840), Edward (b. 25 September 1842), James Scudamore (b. 15 January 1854). and Arthur Scudamore (b. 21 June 1857). Burr died on 29 November 1885. The Aldermaston estate was occupied by his son Higford for a short while, before he sold it to Charles Edward Keyser in 1893. Burr's family's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

included a golden

rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a Charge (heraldry), charge, a Supporter (heraldry), supporter, or as a Crest (heraldry), crest. The attitude of a heraldic figure alwa ...

lion, with a crest inscribed with "

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

" – the

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n Maluku Island captured by his father in 1801. The family's motto was ''versus veras honos'' – literally "virtue, truth, honour".

Biography

Landholdings

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading