Walter Palk (1742-1819), of Marley House (later renamed Syon Abbey) in the parish of Rattery,

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 ...

, England, was a Member of Parliament for his family's Pocket Borough of Ashburton in Devon from 1796 to 1811. He served as Sheriff of Devon (1791-2) and in 1798 was a Captain in the Ashburton Volunteer Militia,History of Parliament biography one of many such units formed across Devon to counter a possible invasion by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Origins

He was the eldest son of Walter Palk (d.1801) of Headborough and Yolland Hill, in the parish of Ashburton, a small farmer and clothier, by his first wife Thomasine Withecombe of Priestaford, Ashburton. His uncle was the wealthy Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet (1717-1798) of Haldon House in the parish of Kenn, in Devon, an officer of the

British 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 ...

who served as Governor of the Madras Presidency, later an MP for Ashburton in 1767 and between 1774 and 1787 and for Wareham, between 1768 and 1774.

Landholdings

Shortly before 1810 he purchased the manor of Rattery together with several local estates, and built Marley House, a large Georgian country house, as his new seat within the parish of Rattery.

Marriage and children

On 15 February 1782 he married Elizabeth Lyde, by whom he had two daughters, only one of whom survived: *Elizabeth Palk, only daughter Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.145, pedigree of Carew and sole heiress, who in 1806 married Sir Henry Carew, 7th Baronet (1779–1830) of Haccombe in Devon.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Palk, Walter 1742 births 1819 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Ashburton British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ashburton UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 High sheriffs of Devon