The incredibly impressive Foxley manor house is sadly no longer in existence but it must have been one of the most important houses in Herefordshire, if not the Country.
Baron Robert Price
Born 14th January 1653 Robert Price was to become Common Councilman for Hereford; Town Clerk for Gloucester; Attorney General, Glamorgan; Steward to Queen Catherine of Braganza; council member in the Marches of Wales; Second Justice on the Brecon Circuit; Serjeant at Law and Baron of the Exchequer.
He had a rather wicked tongue, but was a smooth enough talker to get himself out of trouble although he himself was rather easily offended!
In 1679 Baron Robert Price married Ann Rodd who was one of the heiresses to Foxley.and in 1717 he set about building a mansion there.
When he found that his wife was having an affair with the son of Thomas Neale, her cousin, Robert sued Neale for enticing his wife away and making her pregnant – he won £1,500 damages, but Price refused to divorce her. They agreed on an amicable separation, and he gave her £400 pounds a year with an annuity of £120 in his will. All previous settlements were revoked, so that he had sole and happy possession of his wife’s inheritance!
Robert Price was a keen politician and also made very sure that he was liked by the Hanoverian Court before the death of Queen Anne, and was made Judge of the Common Please by George II. He died in Kensington in 1733 and was buried at Yazor.
In his will he left many bequests to the poor, as well as a maintenance for a Minister to read morning and evening prayers in a Hereford church.
Sir Uvedale Price
Foxley Manor passed down to Sir Uvedale Price, grandson of Robert, and he made his mark on the estate by enhancing the natural beauty of the landscape rather than creating the more formal gardens favoured at the time, inspired by his visit to Switzerland during his Grand Tour where he fell in love with the glorious and natural scenery. he also bought more land to extend the estate at Foxley.
Sir Uvedale had an essay published on the subject in 1794.
Uvedale Price died at the age of 39 on 6th November 1844 at Bishopstone.
Sadly, Sir Uvedale Price’s son Sir Robert got himself into heavy debt, and the whole estate was put up for sale in 1855
It was described thus:
The noble and extensive domain of Foxley with the manors and advowsons, one of the most influential and important residential estates in the country within eight miles of the city of Hereford.
The accommodation was suitable for a large establishment and family of wealth and distinction. There was an entrance and inner hall; dining room; billiard room; library and study, as well as a suite of rooms used as a saloon, breakfast room and drawing room.
There were numerous bedrooms, dressing rooms, servants quarters and Housekeeper and Butler rooms.
Within the estate were more than three farmhouses, as well as a water corn mill; blacksmith’s and Wheelwright’s shops, and many cottages for workpeople and their families.
John Davenport and the Rev. George Horatio Davenport
Foxley Manor was sold to John Davenport in 1856, who proceeded to rebuild much of the house. John Davenport was the eldest son of a china manufactuer; when he died in 1862 his second son the Rev George Horatio Davenport inherited the house and he in his turn made huge improvements and renovations to the estate buildings.
The Rev. George Davenport arranged a marriage with Miss Dashwood of Stanford Hall in 1866, and the day was observed as a general holiday on the Foxley Estate.
The band of the Herefordshire Militia were engaged, and there was much dancing, singing and other amusements, with tea and plum cake for the children.
It was also discussed that a stained glass window be made for the church in commemoration of the event, and this memorial window was duly made at the extensive stained glass works of Messrs. Heaton, Butler and Bayne.
In WW2 the Americans used Foxley Manor as a military hospital, and after that the house became dilapidated and was eventually demolished in 1948 although the 19th century stable block survives and has been converted for residential use.
1861 – Foxley Manor Household
| John Davenport | 61 | Magistrate of the County | b. Staffordshire |
| Charlotte Davenport | 53 | Wife | b. Liverpool, Lancashire |
| Harry Davenport | 27 | Son, Barrister | b. Liverpool, Lancashire |
| Diana Eliza Davenport | 22 | Daughter | b. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |
| Charlotte Lucy Davenport | 21 | Daughter | b. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |
| William Coller | 42 | Butler | b. Somerset |
| James Hegg | 21 | Footman | b. Derbyshire |
| John Baker | 21 | Groom | b. Staffordshire |
| Robert Barnard | 52 | House Servant | b. Bedfordshire |
| Rhoda Martin | 41 | Housekeeper | b. Staffordshire |
| Margaret Martin | 36 | Lady’s Maid | b. Staffordshire |
| Helen Fairhouse | 46 | Laundress | b. Midlothian |
| Eleanor Picthall | 27 | House Maid | b. Lancashire |
| Martha Lewis | 24 | House Maid | b. Montgomeryshire |
| Sarah Bayley | 29 | Cook | b. Shropshire |
| Letitia Gilbert | 17 | Kitchen Maid | b. Staffordshire |
1881 – Foxley Manor Household
| Selina Broughton | 51 | Annuitant’s Wife | b. Staffordshire |
| Rosamond Broughton | 19 | Daughter | b. Staffordshire |
| Evelyn Broughton | 16 | Daughter | b. Staffordshire |
| Florence Broughton | 14 | Daughter | b. Staffordshire |
| Eleanor Broughton | 12 | Daughter | b. Staffordshire |
| Amy Broughton | 9 | Daughter | b. Brussels, Belgium |
| Augustus Lee | 33 | Visitor, vicar of Yazor parish church | b. South Raynham, Norfolk |
| Sophia Auselmine | 35 | Governess | b. Baden, Manheim |
| Hannah Williams | 36 | Cook | b. Wales |
| Emily Perry | 25 | Lady’s Maid | b. Somerset |
| Lily Lucas | 18 | Lady’s Maid | b. Dover |
| Rosina Masterman | 29 | Lady’s Maid | b. Germany |
| Ellen Carter | 20 | Housemaid | b. Oxford |
| Elizabeth Powell | 25 | Housemaid | b. Herefordshire |
| Mary Ann Pearce | 25 | Laundress | b. Herefordshire |
| Elizabeth Hood | 18 | Kitchenmaid | b. Herefordshire |
| James Draper | 39 | Butler | b. Berkshire |
| Dominic Myath | 22 | Gardener | b. Staffordshire |
| William Preece | 26 | Coachman | b. Moccas, Herefordshire |
| Afred Seiger | 22 | Footman | |
| Arthur Steele | 18 | Groom | b. Herefordshire |
| William Raiswell | 14 | Groom | b. Staffordshire |
1891 – Foxley Manor Household
| George Horatio Davenport | 58 | Vicar and Magistrate for Herefordshire | b. Staffordshire |
| Sophy Diana Davenport | 56 | Wife | b. Nottinghamshire |
| Ralph Tichborne Davenport | 18 | Son | b. London |
| Henry Worthing | 26 | Butler | b. Herefordshire |
| Isaac Groom | 17 | Footman | b. Shropshire |
| Martha Found | 27 | Cook | b. Staffordshire |
| Eva L. Jackson | 20 | Lady’s Maid | |
| Martha Connington | 49 | Housemaid | b. Rutland |
| Margaret Adams | 20 | Kitchen Maid | b. Gloucestershire |
| Mary A. Ines | 19 | Under Housemaid | b. Gloucestershire |
1901 – Foxley Manor Household
| Ralph T. Hinckes | 27 | Captain Militia Regt. | b. London, Middlesex |
| Isabel Henderson | 31 | Cook | b. Scotland |
| Laura Garbett | 21 | Housemaid | b. Bromyard, Worcestershire |
| Jane Jones | 22 | Kitchenmaid | b. Pontypool, Monmouthshire |
| Frank Kirk | 22 | Valet | b. Ireland |
1911 – Foxley Manor Household
| George Horatio Davenport | 78 | Clergyman | b. Staffordshire |
| Sophy Diana Davenport | 76 | Wife | b. Nottinghamshire |
| Ralph Hinckes | 38 | Stockbroker | b. London |
| Frances Hinckes | 27 | Daughter in Law | b. not known |
| Martha Sales | 33 | Nurse, Masseuse | b. Chichester |
| Emily Bishop | 42 | Lady’s Maid | b. Honiton, Devon |
| Elizabeth Houghton | 46 | Cook | b. Rednal |
| Elizabeth Weaver | 25 | Kitchenmaid | b. Hay, Breconshire |
| Mary Marsh | 17 | Scullery Maid | b. Hentland, Herefordshire |
| Bessie Boyd | 28 | Housemaid | b. Halton Shield |
| Daisy Williams | 16 | Housemaid | b. Chepstow, Monmouthshire |
| Worthy Vickery | 28 | Butler | b. Thornford |
| Albert Cartwright | 20 | Oddman | b. Bonington |
| Richard Gibbons | 16 | Groom | b. Monington on Wye, Herefordshire |