CONTENTS
When Samuel Gilbert (C1884-1652) died, Tackbear Manor was not mentioned in his will. It passed, by the right of primogeniture, to his eldest son, Richard (C1607-1678) who had married Alice Prowte in 1627. Baptismal records show 10 children of this marriage; seven daughters and three sons. Two of the sons, both named Richard, did not survive infancy and Tackbear was inherited by his youngest son, Samuel (1636-1728).
Samuel had married Grace Stevens, the daughter of Henry Stevens of Cross House, Torrington on July 10th 1677 in Buckland Brewer, Devon. The parish registers show the baptism of two sons and two daughters. Again, it was the youngest son, another Samuel, who succeeded to the estate.
This Samuel (1683-1751) had married Ann Hawkey, daughter of Thomas Hawkey, clerk, of Marhamchurch in 1703. It is thought they had four children (as shown below). However, when Samuel died in 1751 he was the last of the Tackbear Gilberts.
When Samuel died the manor descended to his daughter, Anna
Maria, who had married Cotton Amy of Botreaux Castle in 1736. Their daughter
Ann never married "having continued in a state of derangement at Botreaux Castle for many years"1 and
died intestate in 1819.
"A commission of Lunacy, in 1799, found that Hender Amy of S. Teath was heir-at-law on the father's side, and that George Harward was heir-at-law on the mother's side as to one moiety." 2 The other heirs on the mother's side were the Rev. John Kingdon of Bridgerule and Samuel Cory of
Holsworthy. Col George Harward
JP, who was living at Tackbear, eventually inherited his share of the manor and purchased
the rest.
During his ownership George Harward made some alterations to the house, "destroying"3 stone doorways and oak mullioned windows.
He was, allegedly, involved in smuggling activities and used Tackbear as his headquarters. The contraband was transported to the Manor by mules which were hidden in North Wood.
Colonel Harward died in 1827 and Tackbear passed to his daughter, Emmeline Georgina. She was the last member of the Gilbert family to live at Tackbear.
Emmeline had married L. S. Hawkey and, in the 1841 Census, he is recorded living at Tackbear with seven of their children, though Emmeline was not in residence at the time.
Tackbear House drawn by Miss E G Harward
1888 map showing North Wood
Lewis Hawkey fell into debt and, by
the next census, the family had moved away to Somerset,
having sold Tackbear, in 1847, to Peter Glubb. Emmeline Georgina Hawkey died in 1873, five years after her husband.
In 1882 Julia Marianne Hawkey married in Bournemouth. The announcement in the Times referred to her as the "fourth daughter of the late Lewis Stephens Hawkey of Tacbear House, Bridgerule". This despite the fact the family had been forced to leave Tackbear 35 years earlier!
1The Parochial History of Cornwall:
Davies Gilbert
2 A Complete Parochial History of the County of Cornwall (edited by J. Polsue)
3 Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries Vol 14, Tackbear Manor. A de C Glubb