John Headon Stanbury (6 May 1835 – 20 May 1907) was an English businessman, primarily a hotelier and property developer, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Life and career

ABC Hotel Guide for Travellers and Tourists Illustration

Stanbury was born at

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

on 6 May 1835, the son of Elizabeth Headon and John Stanbury, a yeoman and auctioneer. He owned an estate at Thrushelton and was a donor of the United Devon Association, the

Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, founded in 1754, was the precursor of The ''Royal'' Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce now more usually known as the RSA. The original Society gaine ...

, and the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

. He was also a member of the Devon County Agricultural Association and the

Royal Bath and West of England Society The Royal Bath and West of England Society is a charitable society founded in 1777 to promote and improve agriculture and related activities around the West Country of England. Based at the Royal Bath and West of England Society Showground nea ...

. In 1876, Stanbury bought the Star & Garter, a now demolished pub in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, and, in 1879, he bought the

Royal Clarence Hotel The Royal Clarence Hotel is a former hotel in Cathedral Close, Exeter, Cathedral Yard, Exeter, Devon, England. It is often described as the first property in England to be called a hotel; however, The German Hotel, London, was described in this ...

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, which was then thought to be the oldest hotel in England. Stanbury was an assentor in the Exeter City Council elections of 1889 and 1892. He was also a member of the Exeter Theatre Company: in the 1890s, he served first as its vice-chairman and then as its chairman. On 7 February 1890, he formed The Heavitree Brewery Limited, a company which had emerged from the Heavitree Brewery PLC, one of the oldest pub companies in the south west, founded in 1790. On 19 November 1892, the company purchased The Finch Eagle Brewery in Exeter, followed by the neighbouring Windsor Brewery in North Street, Heavitree on 9 January 1899. In 1893, Stanbury gave evidence before Francis Jeune, 1st Baron St Helier in the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

at the hearing of Gooch v. Gooch (Lady Alice Elizabeth Gooch's suit for judicial separation from her husband Sir Alfred Sherlock Gooch, 9th Baronet). After buying the Seymour Hotel in Totnes and the Western Counties Hotel in Paddington, Stanbury bought the Grand Hotel at Plymouth in 1895. In 1898, he sold the Half-Moon Hotel in Exeter. In 1899, Stanbury purchased

Membland Membland is an historic estate in the parish of Newton and Noss, Devon, situated about 8 miles south-east of the centre of Plymouth. The estate was purchased in about 1877 by Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke (1828–1897), senior partner of ...

, an historic estate in Devon, from

Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke Edward Charles Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke (13 April 1828 – 17 July 1897), was a British banker. Early life A member of the Baring banking family, "Ned" Baring was born on 13 April 1828. He was the second son of Henry Baring from his second ...

, senior partner of

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

, who rebuilt the mansion house known as Membland Hall. Stanbury planned to develop the area that bordered the

River Yealm The Yealm is a river in Devon in England that rises above sea level on the Stall Moor mires of south Dartmoor and travels to the sea, passing through Cornwood, Lee Mill and Yealmpton, a mid-sized village with a population of c.2,000 which is ...

, and in 1900, sold it to William Cresswell Gray, a shipbuilder from

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

, at which point the estate included the Hall and 2720 acres of land. Stanbury died on 20 May 1907 in Exeter. His will was proved on 6 July, at which point his estate was reportedly worth some £44,452 (in excess of £7 million today). The

passed to his son-in-law (John Bailey Rowe Orchard) and then to his son ( John Geoffrey Rowe Orchard). J. H. Stanbury & Co. continued to make donations after his death, including to the

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (commonly referred to as RD&E), and with a main site sometimes known as Wonford Hospital, is a large teaching hospital situated in Exeter, Devon, England, and is run by the Royal Devon University Healthcare NH ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanbury, John 1835 births 1907 deaths Businesspeople from Barnstaple Businesspeople from Exeter Politicians from Exeter British landlords British hoteliers Hotel executives British real estate and property developers