Bowden, Yealmpton
Bowden is a historic estate in the parish of Yealmpton in Devon, England. From the 15th century until 1748 the manor house was for eight generations the seat of a junior branch of the Copleston family of Copplestone. The manor house was largely rebuilt in the 19th century and, together with some of its outbuildings, now serves as a farmhouse.
History
The earliest holder of the estate recorded by the Devonshire historian Sir William Pole, was John de Bowdon. It then passed via successive heiresses to the Lawtram and Stone families. Elizabeth Stone, daughter and heiress of Thomas Stone, married Walter Copleston, and Bowden descended for many generations as a seat of their Copleston descendants.- Walter Copleston was the third son of John Copleston of Copplestone in the parish of Colebrooke, Devon.
- Thomas Copleston, son and heir, who married Catherine Vowell, a daughter of William Fowell of Fowelscombe in the parish of Ugborough, Devon, a Member of Parliament for Totnes in Devon.
- John Copleston, son and heir, who married Isabella Fortescue, third daughter of Henry Fortescue of Preston, in the parish of Newton Ferrers, by his wife Elisabeth St Maur, a daughter of William St Maur lord of the manor of North Molton. A monumental brass survives in St Bartholomew's Church, Yealmpton.
- Henry Copleston, son and heir.
- Arthur Copleston, son and heir, who in 1598 married Margaret Crymes, who survived him and remarried in 1607 to Oliver Whiddon.
- Henry Copleston, son and heir, admitted as a law student to the Inner Temple in 1614. He married Mary Were. Her chest tomb monument survives in St Bartholomew's Church, Yealmpton,
- Arthur Copleston, brother, who in 1642 married Elizabeth Davie, a daughter of Sir John Davie, 1st Baronet of Creedy, Sandford, Devon.
- John Copleston, son and heir, who in 1670 married Mary Reynell, eldest daughter of Thomas Reynell of West Ogwell, Devon, a Member of Parliament and Sheriff of Devon.
- Thomas Coplestone, son and heir, a Member of Parliament for Callington. He was the last in the male line of the Coplestons of Bowden.