SHOBDON : COCKPIT OF HISTORY (5) The Batemans of Shobdon Court

In 1705, Sir James Bateman (1660 - 1718) purchased the Shobdon Estate for the then vast sum of £30,428. Sir James could afford such expenditure, having forged a highly successful business career in the City of London as a Director of the East India Company, Deputy Governor of the South Sea Company, Director of the Bank of England, Member of Parliament (mostly a Whig) and Sheriff of the City of London, finally being elected Lord Mayor of London in 1717. 

Sir James Bateman, 1660 - 1718

After purchasing the Shobdon Estate, Sir James replaced the old Jacobean mansion of the vendor, Sir Robert Chaplin, with a fine Palladian style mansion, Shobdon Court.

Shobdon Court South Prospect in 1718
Note the servants quarters and stable block to the left (west)

Shortly after serving his year of office as Lord Mayor of London, Sir James Bateman died. His eldest son, William Bateman (1695 - 1744) inherited the whole of the Shobdon Estate at the age of 23. William served as Member of Parliament (in the Whig interest) for Leominster from 1721-1722, and was then created Viscount Bateman and Baron Culmore (both Irish titles) in 1725. In 1732, he was created a Knight of the Order of the Bath.

William Bateman, 1st Viscount Bateman

William's son, John, the Second Viscount Bateman (1721-1802), was also a successful politician. Inheriting Shobdon Court in 1744, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1746 - 1784, originally as an ally of the Duke of Marlborough as MP for Woodstock, but thereafter in his own interest as MP for Leominster. He served as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1755-1756, Treasurer of the Royal Household from 1756-1757, and then as Master of the Buckhounds from 1757-1758. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire in 1747, holding that position until death in 1802. As he had no children, the title became extinct upon his death.

John, 2nd Viscount Bateman c. 1800

Upon the Second Viscount's death in 1802, the Shobdon Estate was inherited by William Hanbury (1780-1845), a grandson (through the female line) of the first Viscount Bateman, and former Member of Parliament for Northampton (1810-1818 in the Whig interest). In 1837, some thirty five years after inheriting the family estate, William Hanbury assumed by Royal Licence the additional surname of Bateman and in the same year the Bateman title was revived when he was raised to the (English) peerage as Baron Bateman.

The north prospect of Shobdon Court

Upon his death in 1845, the first Baron Bateman was succeeded by his eldest son, William Bateman Bateman-Hanbury, the second Baron (1826-1901). He held very minor political office (a Government Whip in the House of Lords) between 1858 and 1859 in the Conservative administration of Lord Derby. However, his principal interests were clearly local: having previously served as a Deputy Lord Lieutenant, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the County of Herefordshire in 1852 and served in that office for nearly 50 years until his death in 1901. Thus, notwithstanding such long local service, he did not quite beat the record time in such office previously set by the Second Viscount Bateman (above).

2nd Baron Bateman

For this Bateman generation, it was clearly the second Baron’s younger brother, the Hon. Charles Bateman-Hanbury-Kincaid-Lennox (1827 - 1912), who was the politician (or to whom the business of politics was delegated). He served as Member of Parliament (in the Conservative interest) for Herefordshire from 1852 to 1857, and thereafter for Leominster from 1858 to 1865.

Charles Bateman Hanbury Kincaid Lennox

The third Baron, William Spencer Bateman-Hanbury (1856-1931), inherited the family title and estates in 1901. There are suggestions that by this time, the fabulous fount of capital built up by the original Sir James Bateman and passed down through the succeeding generations had dwindled to very little. The Third Baron had served as an officer of the 2nd Life Guards in the Egyptian Campaign (Tel-el-Kebir, 1882) and married in 1904, but appears not to have pursued any kind of national or even local political career. By July 1926, the Third Baron was literally reduced to selling the family silver at Christie's in London, together with furniture and ancient sculptures. "Turn of the century" photographs of the interior of Shobdon Court suggest that there had been a great deal to sell:

Dining Room, Shobdon Court

Drawing Room, Shobdon Court

(Left) Exterior shot of Southern Frontage of Shobdon Court
(Right) The Entrance Hall, Shobdon Court

The Third Baron died without issue at the age of 75 in November 1931, and the title therefore became extinct upon his death. It is unclear how and to whom the Shobdon Estate was then bequeathed, but it is clear that in 1933, Shobdon Court was demolished as "surplus to requirements" and its physical remains carted away. After an existence of more than 200 years, Shobdon Court thereby became one of the greatest "Lost Country Houses" of Herefordshire.

Shobdon Court  1718-1933