Denys Rolle (died 1797) facts for kids
Denys Rolle (1725 – 1797) of Hudscott, Beam, Stevenstone and Bicton in Devon and East Tytherley in Hampshire, was an independent Member of Parliament for Barnstaple, Devon, between 1761 and 1774. He inherited a large number of estates and by the time of his death he was the largest landowner in Devon. He was a philanthropist and generous benefactor to charities and religious societies.
He spent much of his life in Florida attempting to establish an "ideal society", a Utopian colony of poor, homeless or criminal English persons named Rollestown or Charlotta. The project was a failure and Rolle recorded his colonial adventure in great detail in a lengthy official complaint made in 1765 to the British government entitled The Humble Petition of Denys Rolle, Esq., Setting Forth the Hardships, Inconveniences, and Grievances Which Have Attended Him in His Attempts to Make a Settlement in East Florida, Humbly Praying Such Relief as in their Lordships Wisdom Shall Seem Meet. His colonists having failed to live up to his ambitious expectations and having largely deserted him, he turned to slave labour and following the loss of Florida as a British possession in 1783 he moved his colony to a smaller site on Exuma in the Bahama Islands.
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Life and family
The Rolle family was one of the richest and most powerful in Devon and owned several dozen manors, their most ancient holding being Stevenstone near Great Torrington in the north of the county, whilst Bicton (inherited from the Denys family, after whom he was named) in the south-east was the centre of another large block of territory.
Early life
Denys Rolle was the youngest of four sons of John Rolle (1679–1730), of Bicton and Stevenstone, by his wife Isabella Charlotte Walter, daughter of Sir William Walter, 2nd Baronet of Sarsden, Oxfordshire. His eldest brother was Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (died 1759) of Stevenstone, whose heir was his next younger brother John Rolle Walter (c. 1714 – 1779), who was a Tory MP. Denys was baptised on 19 July 1725 in St Giles's Church, St Giles in the Wood, the parish church of Stevenstone. He matriculated at New College, Oxford on 19 January 1742, at the age of 16.
He was named after his cousin Denys Rolle (1614–1638), of Stevenstone, who had inherited Bicton and other lands from his mother Ann Denys, a co-heiress of the ancient Devon family of Denys of Holcombe Burnell.
Marriage and children
On 22 May 1750 in East Down, Devon, Denys Rolle married Anne Chichester (1721–1781), a daughter (by his second wife) of Arthur Chichester (1670-1737/8) of Hall, Bishop's Tawton, Devon, a junior line of the ancient and prominent Chichester family of Raleigh. By Anne he had the following children:
- John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1751–1842), eldest son and heir, baptised at Chittlehampton
- Denys Bruce Rolle (born 1758), presumed died young, baptised at Chittlehampton
- Samuel Rolle (born 1759), presumed died young, baptised at Chittlehampton
- Isabella Henrietta Charlotte Rolle (1754–1770), eldest daughter, died aged 16, baptised at Chittlehampton
- Anne Rolle (1755–1842), 2nd daughter, baptised at East Tytherley, died 16 June 1842 aged 87. In her old age she was allowed by her brother Lord Rolle to live with her sister Lucilla at Hudscott
- Lucilla Rolle (1757–1851), baptised at East Tytherley, died 24 July 1851 aged 94. In her old age she was allowed by her brother Lord Rolle to live with her sister Anne at Hudscott but after the latter's death and the death of Lord Rolle both in 1842 she was declared a lunatic in 1846.
- Christiana Philippa Maria Rolle (1759–1831), died 3 February 1831, Aged 72.
- Florence Rolle (born 1762)
Character
A modest man, considered eccentric, his favourite pastime was to perform the work of a common farm-labourer. He was puritanical in morals, opposing ale-houses, cockfighting and bear-baiting, and was humane and tender towards animals claiming a special kinship with wildlife. He has also been described by Theresa Ann White as stubborn, high-handed, irascible, litigious, and a megalomaniac, even stupid, and lacking diplomatic skills.
Parliamentary career
Rolle was elected MP for Barnstaple in 1761 but after 1764 most of his time was occupied by his colony in Florida rather than Barnstaple or national politics. He was re-elected in 1768. Although not attached to any party, Rolle voted with the Opposition when he was at Parliament but seems not to have spoken in the House. He lost his seat at the general election of 1774 being defeated by William Devaynes, a supporter of the government.
Philanthropy
He was a philanthropist and generous benefactor to charities and religious societies. Rolle established several charity schools on different parishes and allocated to each a plot of land for the employment of the children. In 1790 he rebuilt part of St Giles's Church, the parish church of Stevenstone, which is commemorated by a stone heraldic escutcheon above the north transept door inscribed "DR 1790".
Death
Rolle died on 26 June 1797, aged 72, of angina during one of his habitual long walks between his manors of Hudscott and Stevenstone, and was buried in St Giles's Church on 1 July 1797 The vicar and historian of Chittlehampton, Rev. J.H.B. Andrews, wrote:
Deadman's, later known as South Nethercleave, where the house is now derelict, was 65 acres. This is said to take its name from the fact that Denys Rolle, who although he was the richest man in Devonshire always preferred to walk, died under a tree there in 1797 while walking from Hudscott to Stevenstone.
In St Giles Church, St Giles in the Wood, there is a mural monument to Rolle, erected by Anne, his second daughter.
