Rashleigh is a

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

of a prominent family from

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and

Devon 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 west ...

in south western Britain, which originated in the 14th century or before at the estate of Rashleigh in the parish of

Wembworthy Wembworthy is a small village, parish and former manor in Mid-Devon, England. It is situated in the valley of the River Taw, 8 miles north-east of the towns of Hatherleigh and 12 miles south of South Molton. St Michael's Church is the parish chu ...

, Devon. The principal branches were: *Rashleigh of Rashleigh, Devon *Rashleigh of

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 ...

, North DevonMarshall, James C., Devon Notes & Queries, Volume IV Part VI, Exeter, April 1907, pp.201-215, Rashleigh of Devon *Rashleigh of

South Molton South Molton is a town and civil parish in the North Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. The town is on the River Mole. In 2021 it had a population of 6225. South Molton is a market town trading mostly in sheep and cattle. There wa ...

, North Devon *Rashleigh of

Fowey Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...

, Cornwall *Rashleigh of

Menabilly Menabilly (, meaning ''hill-slope of pebbles'') is a historic estate on the south coast of Cornwall, England, situated within the parish of Tywardreath on the Gribben peninsula about west of Fowey. It has been the seat of the Rashleigh fami ...

Tywardreath Tywardreath (; , meaning "House on the Beach" (or Strand)) is a small hilltop village on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, about north west of Fowey. It is located in a sheltered spot overlooking a silted-up estuary opposite ...

, near Fowey *Rashleigh of Coombe, Fowey The Rashleighs of

and

were powerful

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

s in the time of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

. Philip Rashleigh, younger son of a family from

, had purchased the manor of Trenant close to Fowey from the king after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1545. He went into trade, became successful but died in 1551. His two sons Robert and John founded the fortunes of the Fowey Rashleighs and their pedigree has been well documented.

Notable Rashleigh family members

;Charles Rashleigh Charles Rashleigh (died 1823) was an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. The expanding

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

industry around West Polmear led him to develop

Charlestown, Cornwall Charlestown () is a village and port on the south coast of Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of St Austell Bay. It is situated approximately southeast of St Austell town centre. The port at Charlestown developed in the late 18th cent ...

on the south coast as a port, which was named Charlestown after him. ;Harold St. James Rashleigh-Berry Rashleigh-Berry was Lt. Col in the British Army stationed in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, British Indian Empire. Rashleigh-Berry participated in the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dy ...

, under

Sir Frederick Roberts Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914), was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Irish ...

. ;John Rashleigh (1554–1624, Founder of Menabilly) John Rashleigh (1554–1624) was an English merchant and Member of Parliament. He was the father of Jonathon Rashleigh and grandfather of John Rashleigh. John Rashleigh was the son of Phillip Rashleigh, a merchant, shipowner and landowner from

. Phillip was himself the son of owner of the Rashleigh-Barton estate located in

which has been known to exist since 1196. After his father Phillip Rashleigh purchased the manor of Trenant in 1545, Phillip moved his family from Devon to Cornwall to take advantage of the dissolution of the monasteries by buying and re-selling the land acquired around Fowey, it was from this land that John Rashleigh commenced building

from land acquired in Fowey (from which Menabilly was later completed in its construction by his son Jonathan). ;Jonathan Rashleigh (1591–1675) Jonathan Rashleigh (4 July 1591 – 1 May 1675) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

at various times between 1614 and 1675. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

cause during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. Jonathan was also responsible for completing the construction of the family home of

. ;John Rashleigh (1619–1693) John Rashleigh (21 January 1619 – 13 March 1693) was an English politician who sat in the

from 1661 to 1679. He was the son of Jonathan Rashleigh and the grandson of John Rashleigh (the merchant and MP). ;Jonathan Rashleigh (1642–1702) This Jonathan Rashleigh (see painting to the right) was also based in Menabilly and was the

Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriff ...

in 1687. He was the grandson of Jonathan Rashleigh the merchant and House of Commons politician. ;Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811) Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811) was a Cornish

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

expert and Member of Parliament for

Menabilly Estate

In the

Return of Owners of Land, 1873 The two-volume ''Return of Owners of Land, 1873'' is a survey of land ownership in the United Kingdom. It was the first complete picture of the distribution of land ownership in Great Britain since the Domesday Book of 1086, thus the ''1873 Ret ...

, Mr Jonathan Rashleigh of

Estate,

Par Par may refer to: Finance * Par value, stated value or face value in finance and accounting * Par yield or par rate, in finance Games * Par (score), the number of strokes a proficient golfer should require to complete a hole, round or tournament ...

, was listed as the largest landowner in Cornwall with an estate of , or 3.97% of the total area of Cornwall. The estate contains pleasure grounds and a large country house which was

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

's inspiration for the house

Manderley Manderley is a fictional estate in Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel ''Rebecca'', owned by the character Maxim de Winter. Located in Southern England, Manderley is a typical country estate: it is filled with family heirlooms, is run by a large dom ...

in her novel ''

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

''.

Sources

Vivian, J.L. & Drake, H.H., The Visitation of the County of Cornwall in the year 1620, Harleian Society, 1st series, volume 9, London, 1874, p9.183-4, pedigree of Rashleigh
*Marshall, James C., Devon Notes & Queries, Volume IV Part VI, Exeter, April 1907, pp. 201–215, Rashleigh of Devon

References

External links

{{Portal, Cornwall
BBC Online on Charlestown

Cornwall Record Office online catalogue search for 'Rashleigh'
Surnames People from Tywardreath and Par People from Fowey