* The Bunclark family *
In 1884 the Ashburton Institute held an exhibition of antiquities. Amongst the many exhibits was a portrait of John Bunclark, with his favourite hound, Noble. John, who died at age 93, was huntsman to Mr Walter Palk.
Also in the exhibition was a painting of Richard Bunclark, John's son, by Henry Caunter. Richard planted the fir trees around Druid House, and mowed the lawn there after he was 90 .
Totnes Weekly Times 13 December 1884, p4 col3
When Richard Bunclark died at Ashburton in December 1854, at 100 years old, he was 'The oldest inhabitant in the borough'.
Western Times 23 December 1854 p5 col2
Western Times 23 December 1854 p5 col2
Richard is possibly the Richard Bunclark who was baptised at Staverton in December 1758, the son of John.
www.familysearch.org England Birth and Christenings 1538-1975
Richard Bonclark married Mary Matthews Harvey in February 1782, at Ashburton.
ibid
Jane Bonclark the daughter of Richard and Mary, was baptised at Ashburton in November 1784.
ibid
Mary Bonclark, the daughter of Richard and Mary, was baptised at Ashburton in March 1787.
ibid
Bonclerk in Bishop's Transcripts
Margaret Bunclerk, the daughter of Richard and Mary, was baptised at Ashburton in November 1789.
ibid
William Harvey Bunclark, the son of Richard and Mary, was baptised at Ashburton in August 1792, and died in November 1793.
Another William was baptised at Ashburton in June 1797.
ibid
Richard, the son of Richard and Mary, was baptised at Ashburton in September 1794.
ibid
His age is listed as 95 in the 1851 census for Ashburton, and he is a widower, who was born in Staverton.
With him in his household on census night is his daughter, Mary Luscombe, a widow aged 65.
1851 census HO107, piece/folio 1871/301, p30
A 'worthy old veteran' named Bunclark was engaged in the harvest of 1851. In his 97th year, he had his 'drap of cider' beside him and was 'as cheerful as ever'.
Exeter Flying Post 28 August 1851, p8 col 4
At Christmas 1850 John Bunclark, aged 70, a resident of the Totnes Union Workhouse, asked for leave to go and visit his father, aged 95, in Ashburton. This was to return the visit his father had made the previous Christmas, when he had walked from Ashburton to Totnes to see his son.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 28 December 1850, p4 col2
John Bunclark, aged 68, is a widower on the Familysearch transcription of the 1851 census for Totnes.
1851 census HO107, piece/folio 1874/148, p5
www.familysearch.org - accessed 29-11-2024
The transcription of Freecen.org.uk gives the additional detail for John Bondlar: birth circa 1783, on the 1851 census at the Totnes Workhouse.
https://www.freecen.org.uk - accessed 29-11-2024
It seems likely that John Bunclark/Bondlar was Richard's son.
Both sites say that John was born in South Brent.
Mary Bunclark married George Wyatt at Ashburton in July 1813
www.familysearch.org England Marriages 1538-1973
Find a Grave http://www.findagrave.com - accessed 01-12-2024
Mary Bunclark Wyatt Luscombe died in February 1867 and was buried at Ashburton. Her birth date was circa 1787.
Find a Grave http://www.findagrave.com - accessed 01-12-2024
Lesley McNee is a descendant of Richard Bunclark and his wife Mary Matthews Harvey. She says, Richard 'worked as a labourer and also helped plant the woodland and apple trees at Druid House, the home of John Sparke Amery. Richard was a very long term employee of Mr Amery, and a 'servant style' portrait was painted of him around 1850/1851 by Henry Caunter. This very spry, fit man lived to a great age, dying in his 100th year'.
With many thanks to Lesley
Amongst paintings by Henry Caunter, which survive at Bradley Manor, Devon, is the portrait of Richard Bunclark, woodman to the Druid Estate.
To see images of the paintings, go to
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/ and search for 'Caunter'
To see images of the paintings, go to
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/ and search for 'Caunter'
Lesley says that old newspaper accounts say that not only was there a painting of Richard hanging at Druid House, but that there was also a portrait of his father, John, with two of his hunting hounds. She believes that John was huntsman to Mr Palk of Lizwell, and brought the hunt through Ashburton at one time.
She continues: 'Richard and Mary Bunclark's second daughter, also named Mary, married George Wyatt in 1813 in Ashburton. They had two sons, James and Charles, and a daughter Harriet Wyatt.
Charles married a young woman, Jane Grey, in December 1837 at nearby Woodland.
Charles and Jane Wyatt had a daughter Mary Jane, and two sons, William and George. A fourth baby was born somewhere off the coast of Indonesia aboard the ship Castle Eden, which was sailing towards Sydney, where Charles was hoping to be employed as an agricultural labourer. The family were 'Bounty' immigrants, but Jane had an older sister, Harriet Crispin, who with her husband were already living at Stroud NSW by 1848.
I often think it must have been difficult for them to leave family behind, although Jane's parents were both deceased, as was Charles' father, George, who died in Ashburton in 1825; but his mother Mary was still alive ( she had remarried to a Philip Luscombe who was deceased by the 1851 census), when Charles and Jane with their young children left for Australia. This family prospered, and there are a lot of descendants of George and Mary Wyatt living in Australia at this point in time [2024]'