The BUSWELLs of Middle Barton
John Boddington
, son of Timothy Boddington of Middle Barton, Oxfordshire, yeoman (and father of the Timothy Boddington from whom Henry Boddington, of Boddington's Brewery, descends), was married to Joan Buswell, daughter of Robert Buswell of Middle Barton.
The Buswell family is associated with the village of Westcott Barton in Oxfordshire. The entry for Westcott Barton in the Victoria County History of the County of Oxford confirms that —
'There were several prosperous yeomen or minor gentry in the village in the 17th century, notably members of the Ford, Dandridge, Buswell, and Wright families who occupied Park, Manor, and Elm Grove Farms.'
The Rev. Jenner Marshall, MA, Lord of the Manor of Westcott Barton, wrote in Memorials of Westcott Barton in the County of Oxford (1870, p.48) —
'In 1624, 22nd James I, the manor, with its lands, tenements, and appurtenances, was assigned by John Martin to Richard Eford, who seems to have disposed of it during his lifetime, he died 1638, 14 Charles I. About this time the Buswell family came to reside in Westcott Barton, being possessed of almost the entire parish besides the manor.'
The Victoria County History of the County of Oxford adds —
'By 1687 Robert Buswell had acquired one or both moieties of the manor, which descended in his family until the late 18th century. In 1770 John Buswell settled one moiety of his manor on himself and the other moiety on himself for life with reversion to his wife and his daughter Ann who in 1772 married John Carter. [...] The manor house of the Buswell family was Manor Farm, just outside the village on the west. It is an earlier 17th-century house in two ranges which was refronted and partly refitted late in the 18th century.'
Robert Buswell who became Lord of the Manor of Westcott Barton was the brother of Joan Buswell.
