239. CODRINGTON, of DODINGTON, Gloucestershire.

Created Baronet, April 21, 1721.

THIS family is a younger branch of the Codringtons, of Codrington*, in the county of Gloucester†, which was a family of good note in this county in the time of Henry IV. John Codrington, Esq. being standard-bearer to K. Henry V. in his wars with France, and, as it appears by the Heralds Books, was then armed in a coat with lions, in the service of the said king in battle, watch, and ward, under his banner; and for the good services that the said John Codrington had done, or should do, and to the worship of knighthood, as it is there expressed, a farther addition was made to his arms in the twenty-third of Hen. VI.

1, Christopher Codrington, a younger son of this family, went with his fortune into Barbadoes, in the reign of King Charles I. where he married, and died leaving two sons, Christopher and John. Christopher became lieutenant-governor of the Island of Barbadoes, and afterwards captain-general of the Leeward Islands, in which post he died ||, leaving only two sons, one of them of his own

name.

2, John, his brother, was colonel of the life-guards in Barbadoes, treasurer, and privy-counsellor. He married — ¶, daughter of Colonel Bates, of that island, by whom he had two sons, Sir William and John.

Christopher, the son of the aforesaid Christopher, the captain-general of the Leeward Islands, was bred up at Oxford, and chosen fellow of All Soul's College there, but afterwards betaking himself to a martial life, attended King William in the wars in Flanders, where he so eminently signalized himself at the siege of Huy, that he was particularly taken notice of by that prince**, and was soon advanced to be colonel of his guards, and afterwards succeeded his father in the government of the Leeward Islands.

This gentleman was a person famous for personal merit and great accomplishments †t; but he will be always celebrated for his noble benefactions, having bequeathed to the aforesaid college of All Souls, in Oxford, the sum of 10,000l. sterling, for the building of a library, and furnishing it with books, besides his own inestimable library, collected with great skill and expence; as also an estate of 20001. per annum to the Corporation for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, for the building and endowment of a college at Barbadoes. "He died at his seat in Barbadoes on Good Friday, April 7, 1710 §§,

and was buried the day following in the parish church of St. Michael, in that island; but his body was afterwards brought over to England, and interred in the chapel of All Soul's College, Oxford, where two Latin orations were spoke to his memory by two fellows of that college. He was a gentleman of great parts*, of a quick and piercing comprehension, a strong, solid, and distinguishing judgment, a retentive memory, a warm imagination, a sublime way of thinking, a methodical way of reasoning, and a voluble distinct utterance: he had his education first at Christ Church, Oxford, but afterwards removed to All Soul's College, and was chosen fellow there, and soon acquired the deserved character of an accomplished well-bred gentleman, and universal scholar. He afterwards betook himself to the army, but without quitting his fellowship, where his merit and impregnable courage soon recommended him to his prince's favour, who rewarded him with the government of the Leeward Caribbee Islands; after the resignation of which, he led a very retired life, and applied himself to study, particularly church-history and metaphysics; of the latter, he was esteemed the greatest master in the world. In a word, he had, in his West-India retirement, made so wonderful a progress in his studies, that, had Providence spared him to have returned to his beloved university, he would have been as much the object of their admiration as he deserved to be the object of their delight t." The remainder of this great man's fortune descended to his nephew and heir at law,

wife of

I. Sir WILLIAM CODRINGTON, who was advanced to the dignity of a Baronet by King George I. in the eighth year of his reign, and married Elizabeth, daughter of William Bethel, of Swindon, in the county of York, Esq. who died Feb. 7, 1761, by whom he had three sons, Sir Richard, his successor, and Edward, who died in France Jan. 1775; and two daughters, William Dowdeswell, M. P. for Tewksbury in 1747, and, of J. Perriman. Sir William was member of parliament for Minehead, in Somersetshire, and one of the gentlemen of his Majesty's privy-chamber at the time of his death, which happened Dec. 17, 1738, at Dodington, and was succeeded by his eldest son, II. Sir WILLIAM CODRINGTON, Bart. who married Anne, daughter of by whom he had one son Sir William, his successor. Sir William was representative in parliament for Tewksbury, in Somersetshire, and lieutenant-colonel of the militia of that county. He died March 11, 1792, and was succeeded by his son,

III. Sir WILLIAM CODRINGTON, Bart. who married, in 1776, Mary, daughter of the late Hon. Mr. Ward.

ARMS-Argent, a fess embattled and counter-embattled, gules, between three lioncels passant, sable.

CREST-On a wreath, a dragon's head couped, gules, between a pair of (dragon's) wings, chequy, or, and azure.

SEAT—At Dodington, in the county of Gloucester.

Memorials and Characters of Eminent Persons, P. 444.

† He wrote four poems on the Muse Anglicanæ,

THIS family is descended from Sir John Frederick, Knt. son of Christopher Frederick, citizen of London, lord-mayor of the city of London in 1662, who was one of the most considerable traders in the said city, though I do not find that he ever was sheriff for the city of London, which is very remarkable. He was president of Christ's Hospital, and rebuilt the dining-hall there after the fire of London, and his picture is in the court room of the said hospital. He left issue Thomas Frederick, of Downing-street, Westminster, Esq. who, I believe, is the person who gave 5001. to St. Thomas's-Hospital, Southwark; he had three sons, 1, Sir John Frederick, Bart. of whom hereafter; 2, Sir Thomas Frederick, Knt. who went to the Indies, and acquired a considerable fortune, but of him hereafter; 3, Charles Frederick, Esq. third son of Thomas, died unmarried: also three daughters, Mary, the eldest, was wife of Thomas Powel, of Nanteos, Cardiganshire, Esq.; Leonora, wife of Rumney Diggle, of Gray's-Inn, Esq.; and Jane, wife, first, of James Lannoy, of Hammersmith, in Middlesex, Esq. secondly, of the Duke of Athol.

I. Sir JOHN FREDERICK, Bart. the eldest son, was advanced to the dignity of a Baronet in the ninth year of King George I. He married, July 1727, -, daughter of -, — Kinnersley, Esq. by whom he had two sons, Sir John, his successor, and Sir Thomas, successor to his brother. His lady died Aug. 31,

1749, and Sir John in Oct. 1755. He was succeeded by his eldest son,

H. Sir JOHN FREDERICK, Bart. who died unmarried March 24, 1757, and was succeeded by his brother,

III. Sir THOMAS FREDERICK, Bart. who married Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Bathurst, of Clarendon-Park, in Wiltshire, Esq. by whom (who died Sept. 11, 1764) he had two daughters; 1, Elizabeth, born 1758, wife of John Morshead, of Carhither, in Cornwall, Esq. by whom she had one daughter Selina ; 2, Selina, born Jan. 30, 1760, wife of Robert Thistlewaite, of Norman Court and Southwick, in the county of Hants, Esq. brother to the Countess of Chesterfield; he dying without issue male, the title descended to the issue of

;

Sir Thomas Frederick, Knt. brother of Sir John, the first Baronet. Sir Thomas was baptized Jan. 22, 1680-1, married Jan. 11, 1704-5, at Fort St. George, in the East-Indies, Mary, daughter of -- Moncrief, of Scotland, cousin of Sir Thomas Moncrief (after his death she became the wife of William Pointz, Esq. receiver-general of the excise, brother of Stephen Pointz, Esq. preceptor of William, Duke of Cumberland), by whom he had four sons and six daughters, 1, Thomas, born at Fort St. George, Oct. 25, 1707, M. P. for Shoreham, in Sussex, and died Aug. 29, 1740, at St. Olave, in the Old Jewry, unmarried; 2, Sir John, successor to the title, of whom hereafter; 3, Sir Charles, Knt. born at Fort St. George, Dec. 21, 1709, M. P. for Queenborough, in Kent, K. B. surveyor-general of the ordnance. He married, Aug. 18, 1746, Lucy, daughter of Hugh, Viscount Falmouth, born May 6, 1719, by whom he had four sons and two daughters, 1, Charles, born Oct. 9, 1748; 2, Thomas-Lenox, born March 25, 1750, a captain in the navy, who married Anne Greigson, of Plymouth; 3, John-Montague, born Feb. 21, 1754, died July following, and was buried at St. Oalve, in the Old Jewry; 4, Edward-Boscawen, born May 23, 1762, an officer in the ariny, one of the esquires to Prince Frederick, Bishop of Osnaburgh, at the installation of the Order of the Bath, June 15, 1772. The daughters were, 1, Lucy, born July 7, 1752; 2, Augusta, born July 25, 1747, wife of Thomas, son of Sir George Prescott, of London, merchant. The fourth son of Sir Thomas, Knt. was Marescoe, of Welbeck-street, a major-general, born Dec. 7, 1725, and married first, June 12, 1760, Sarah, daughter of Robert Pickering, of Rochester, in Kent, by whom he had two sons, Thomas, born at Rochester, April 22, 1761, and Robert, born 1774. He married secondly, Sarah, daughter of Davis.

The daughters of Sir Thomas Frederick, Knt. were, 1, Leonora, born at Fort St. George, April 29, 1706, died May following; 2, Mary, born at Fort St. George Nov. 9, 1711, wife of Alexander Hume, Esq. eldest brother of Sir Abraham Hume, Bart. who died Sep. 15, 1765, aged 73, by whom she had a daughter Mary, who died unmarried, May 5, 1763; 3, Henrietta, born at Fort St. George, Sept. 10, 1717, wife of Luke Spence, of Malling, in the county of Sussex, and died 1777, by whom she had one son Henry, who married Philippa, daughter of Robert Butts, Bishop of Ely; 4, Leonora, died young; 5, Jane, died young; 6, Hannah, who, in Aug. 25, 1772, became the wife of Sir Abraham Hume, of Wormlybury, Herts, Bart. by whom she had two sons, 1, Abraham, successor to his father, born Feb. 20, 1748-9, who married, March 20, 1771, Amelia,

daughter of John Egerton, Lord Bishop of Durham; they were married by the Archbishop of Canterbury; 2, Alexander, born Oct. 19, 1758 ; and 3, Hannah, born May 30, 1752, wife, in 1773, of Joseph Hare. Sir Thomas died Dec. 16, 1770, and was succeeded by his cousin-german,

IV. Sir JOHN FREDERICK, of Burwood, Bart. He was one of the commissioners of his Majesty's customs, born Nov. 28, 1708, at Fort St. George, and F. R. S.; he succeeded his brother also in estates, and as M. P. for West Looe.. He married, Oct. 22, 1741, Susanna, daughter of Sir Roger Hudson, of Sunbury, in Middlesex, Knt. coheiress to her brother, Vansittart Hudson, Esq. who died June 29, 1787, by whom he had two sons and three daughters, 1, born March 1748, died young: 2, Sir John, of whom hereafter: the daughters, Susanna, Mary, and Anne, all died young. Sir John died April 9, 1783, and was succeeded by his son,

V. Sir JOHN FREDERICK, the present Baronet, born March 18, 1749, and was on his travels abroad in 1771. He married Mary, youngest daughter and coheiress of Richard Garth, of Morden, Esq. by whom he had a son John, born Sept. 20, 1779. Sir John represented the county of Surry in the last parliament, and is returned again for the present.

ARMS-Or, on a chief, azure, three doves, argent.

CREST_On a chapeau, azure, turned up ermine, a dove, as in the arms, holding in his beak an olive branch, proper.

SEAT-Burwood, Surry.