John Pollexfen Bastard (18 September 1756 – 4 April 1816) was a British

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician, landowner and colonel of the East Devon Militia who was born and lived at Kitley House,

Yealmpton Yealmpton () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English county of Devon. It is located in the South Hams on the A379 road, A379 Plymouth to Kingsbridge road and is about from Plymouth. Its name derives fr ...

, Devon. He married Sarah Wymondesold of East Lockinge, Berkshire, on 25 March 1780 at St Mary, Lambeth. She died in April 1808 leaving no surviving children. On 2 July 1809 he married, at Portland Chapel, Marylebone, Judith Anne Martin, daughter of Sir Henry Martin, naval commissioner at Portsmouth and Comptroller of the Navy. He left no children of either marriage.

Defence of Plymouth

When colonel of the East Devon Militia his father, William Bastard (b. 1 September 1727), saved the arsenal of Plymouth from the French Fleet in August 1779 and, to recognise that, was gazetted a baronet on 4 September but he declined to assume the title.*Bastard of Kitley, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England Ireland and Scotland'', John Burke, Sir Bernard Burke, second edition, John Russell Smith, London 1844, page 44, Through his mother, born Bridget Poulett, William was a member of the Poulett, Bertie, Herbert and other influential families. In 1801 when colonel of the same regiment John Pollexfen Bastard quelled a riot of workmen and prevented the destruction of the Plymouth docks and dockyards. In 1815 he was conveyed by the Royal Navy to Leghorn (

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

) for his health where he died the next year and was initially buried in the Old English Cemetery in Livorno, where his monument still stands. His body was returned to Devon in a man-of-war.

Parliament

He was elected Member of Parliament for

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

in 1783 and for the

Devonshire Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the wes ...

Constituency from 1784. He stood down in 1812 and was succeeded by his nephew

Edmund Pollexfen Bastard Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (12 July 1784 – 8 June 1838) was a British Tory politician, son of Edmund Bastard and his wife Jane Pownoll. He married Anne Jane Rodney, granddaughter of Admiral Rodney. He succeeded his father as Member of Par ...

(1784-1838) (the eldest son of his younger brother Edmund Bastard (1758–1816)), who held the seat until 1830. According to the Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, Bastard indirectly inspired the familiar form of the children's rhyme "

Old Mother Hubbard "Old Mother Hubbard" is an English-language nursery rhyme, first given an extended printing in 1805, although the exact origin of the rhyme is disputed. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19334. After a notable nursery success, it was eventu ...

..." after instructing its author Sarah Catherine Martin, his sister-in-law, to "run away and write one of your stupid little rhymes." Bastard owned several houses and large tracts of land in western

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

including his main residence Kitley House. The

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

has a portrait of John Pollexfen Bastard standing beside his younger brother Edmund in a

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

of a painting by

James Northcote James Northcote (22 October 1746 – 13 July 1831) was a British Painting, painter. He became a member of the Royal Academy in 1787, and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1809 ...

. He also can be spotted in

Karl Anton Hickel Karl Anton Hickel (1745 – 30 October 1798) was an 18th-century Austrian painter. Life Hickel was born in Česká Lípa, Bohemia, and enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in Vienna, Austria in 1758. After graduation, he worked as a pain ...

'
''William Pitt addressing the House of Commons on the French Declaration of War'', 1793
in the collection of the

. A detailed account of his last journey and subsequent death can be found in the letters of Miss Eliza Simcoe, daughter of

John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...

, who travelled with John Pollexfen Bastard and his wife to Leghorn as part of her Grand Tour. She accompanied his wife on the rest of the journey and nursed her through several episodes of bad health. The letters are held at

Devon Record Office There are three local archives covering the historic county of Devon, England. The Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter is the main archive. It has a branch office, the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple (established in 1988), which is the rep ...

as part of the Simcoe Family papers (REF:1038M).

Disambiguation

John Pollexfen Bastard—John Bastard RN and Edmund Pollexfen Bastard—Edmund Bastard

References

*Alastair W. Massie, ‘Bastard, John Pollexfen (1756–1816)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2009 *John Burke, ‘Bastard of Kitley’, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland''. London: Henry Colburn, 1834 * Henri Bruno de Bastard d'Estang, ''Généalogie de la Maison de Bastard, originaire du comté nantais, existant encore en Guienne, au Maine, en Bretagne et en Devonshire'', Paris: Imprimerie Schneider, 1847, p. 445

External links

John Pollexfen Bastard's memorial at Livorno
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastard, John Pollexfen 1756 births 1816 deaths Tory MPs (pre-1834) Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Devon British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Devon UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Truro Devon Militia officers