Breamore House is an
Elizabethanmanor house noted for its fine collection of paintings and furniture and situated NW of
Breamore village, north of
Fordingbridge,
Hampshire,
England. Though it remains in private hands, it is open to visitors from April to October.[1]
Breamore House was completed in 1583 by the Dodington family, and was built on the site of
Breamore Priory. The building underwent minor changes in the 18th century and underwent considerable
restoration after a major fire in 1856.
Purchased in the 18th century by Sir Edward Hulse, M.D., Baronet, and physician to
Queen Anne and Kings
George I and
George II,[2] the home is still inhabited by the Hulse family (see
Hulse baronets).[3][4]
After marriage with Dame Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
Richard Levett,
Lord Mayor of London and owner of
Kew Palace, the Hulse family acquired many heirlooms of the Sussex
Levetts, an ancient
Norman family, which are on display in the house.[5]
Levett's other daughter, Frances, married Thomas Lewis Esq. of
St. Pierre, Monmouthshire, Wales; his daughter Mary married Abraham Blackborne,[6] a London merchant who lived at Clapham,[7] whose son, also named Abraham, vicar of
Dagenham, married Frances Fanshawe,[8] daughter of Thomas Fanshawe of Parsloes Manor.[9][10][11]
Sir Edward Hulse's only daughter, Elizabeth, married John Calvert of Albury Hall,
Hertfordshire in 1757.[12] John Calvert was
member of Parliament for Wendover in 1754 and later for Hertford. The wedding was performed by Abraham Blackborne, vicar of Dagenham, Essex.[13] The brothers Thomas, Edward and Richard, sons of Sir Edward Hulse and his wife Elizabeth, all attended the
University of Cambridge.[14] A fourth son, Levett, died as an infant.
Film Locations
Breamore House was used as one of the locations for the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice.
^Following Blackborne's death, his widow Mary Levett, also mother to barrister Levett Blackborne who became heir of Sir Richard Levett, remarried Robert Thoroton of Screveton Hall,
Flintham,
Nottinghamshire in 1722, who was descended from Thomas Thoroton, brother and heir of the famous antiquary
Robert Thoroton. Mary Blackborne Thoroton nee Levett had several children by Blackborne, including a daughter Elizabeth, who married Charles Chaplin of Tathwell Hall.
[1]
The Thoroton Hildyard family continues to reside at
Flintham today.
[2]
^The Fanshawe manor at Dagenham, Valence House, is the only surviving of the five manor houses of Dagenham, and is today a museum.
"Valence House Museum. Barking and Dagenham". Archived from
the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
^One of Elizabeth Hulse's brothers was Sir Edward Hulse, Bart., who married Hannah Vanderplanck; the other was Richard Hulse, who served as
High Sheriff of Kent in 1768.