The Hissem-Montague Family

Home | Gernet Forebears | In England | Heesom in America | Heysham in America | Other English Colonies | Montague Family | Other Families | Links

Gent. Living in Leicestershire in 1697. He owned a property in 'Husbands Bosworth,' a village in Leicestershire. To explain this name, in the 16th century there was another town, also called Bostworth, in the vicinity. The larger, market town became known as Market Bosworth while the smaller farming village became Husbandmen's Bosworth, the farmer's Bosworth. Alderman Heygate, below, may have sold this land in 1829. Robert married Anne Freeman.

Nicholas was born on 7 September 1705 and died on 20 July 1774. He married Mary Ann Cooke. Their children werre Thomas (1738), Robert (1740), Charles (1745), James (1747), Anne, Mary and Catherine.

He was born on 1 June 1747 and married Sarah Unwin on 11 January 1781. James was a banker. He died on 13 April 1833. The will of James Heygate of Southend, Essex, was probated 26 December 1833. He had two sons.

Of London, esq. I have another James Heygate born on 14 June 1782 and christened on 07 July 1782 at Saint Mary The Virgin, Aldermanbury, London, England. James purchased Porters in Southend, the current residence of the Lord Mayor of London, in 1868 [?]. James Sr. and his two boys appear to have been active in Banking interests in Leicester, London and elsewhere.

I received the following email from another researcher, Keith Randon, about Roecliffe manor, which shows up below under James' son, William.

Dear Steve

In case you do not know of this, here is the story of how Roecliffe came into the Heygate family. Swithland Hall and much of the country around had been long held by the Danvers Family.

Augustus Richard Butler-Danvers, 1776-1820, had a 'fatal propensity for getting into debt' and was in the hands of the money-lenders. After years of stupidities, his son, George John agreed to his father selling local property in order to clear £28,000 of debts. There was an auction at the Crown Inn, Mountsorrel on 30-31 October 1815 and James Heygate bought Roecliffe at that time. Having finally cleared his debts, Augustus was then exiled to France!

All of this is in the book Swithland, Church and Estate, by Bob Osborne and Anne Horton (Swithland Parish Press).
Many thanks for your website, which I have found useful.

Best wishes
Keith Randon

PS William Unwin Heygate, with his wife, lies in the Churchyard at Woodhouse Eaves."

The younger son, he was born on 15 February 1784. He married Anna Mackmurdo on 20 August 1814. He died on 22 July 1873. Their children werre James Unwin (1815), William Edward (1816; Rector of Brightstone, Isle of Wright), Thomas Edmund (1826; Vicar of Sheen, Co. Derry), Anna Elizabeth, Sarah Anne Ellen, and Caroline Emma.

In reference to son Thomas Edmund, above, I received the following from a fellow researcher:

"On the 1881 census for Staffordshire UK there is a Thomas E Heygate aged 55 and he is shown as Vicar of Sheen born Hampstead Middlesex married to Catherine Heygate aged 52 born Brixton Surrey. With them is Margaret C Lambert aged 31 niece of wife born Kensington Middlesex and then Harriett Sherratt aged 20 visitor. She is the one I am interested in as Harriett Sherratt is part of my extended family tree.

I wonder about Thomas as Vicar of Sheen Co Derry as Sheen is part of Stafford UK - see http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22923

Hope this is of help to you.

Love your site - makes excellent reading.

Regards, Elaine Skehan"

He was born on 24 June 1782. He was an Alderman of London, a Member of Parliament for Sudbury, the Lord Mayor of London in 1822-1823 and created a Baronet on 30 September 1831. He married Isabella Mackmurdo on 19 May 1821. I assume she was the sister of Jame's wife, above.

I have a William Heygate returned to Parliament for Sudbury Borough, Suffolk in 1819 and 1820. Like his father, he made his money in banking. He resided at Porters in Southend, London, the official residence of the Lord Mayor, during his period of service. There is a Heygate street in Southwark, probably named for our William. He was called an East India man, meaning, I suppose, that he was a major shareholder. Made a Baronet, of Roecliffe, Leicestershire. He died on 28 August 1844.

I got the following email about William Unwin Heygate.

"Hello Steve,

I am a teacher at Maplewell Hall School in Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire, England. I have been researching the history of the school which had been part of a private estate since the 13th Century until it was sold to the local council in 1947 and has been a school since 1954.

I came across your website while researching the life of William Unwin Heygate who owned the Maplewell Estate 1864-68. While only an owner of the manor for 4 years, William played an important part in its history as he converted the original farmhouse at the centre of the estate into the Maplewell Hall we know today, by adding a west wing to the building in 1865. I have attached a few pictures so you can see how Maplewell Hall looks today.

I note on your website that you give a definition of how Roecliffe gots its name. The Roecliffe you mention is in Yorkshire, not the Leicestershire manor that was the estate of William Heygate. Roecliffe still stands close to Maplewell Hall School. It is now a protected site of special scientific interest for rare fungi species. The name Roecliffe in this instance is believed to be derived from the roe deer once hunted there by the Earls of Leicester (as per T. R. Potter's book 'Charnwood Forest' dated 1842).

If you have any further information about William Unwin Heygate, particularly any portrait, then I'd be grateful if you'd let me know. Likewise, if there's anything I can be of help with then please let me know.

Regards
Darren Harris

Sir William was said to be "of" North Mymms [or Mimms] Place, Herefordshire. "In a delightful situation here is North Mimms Place, the beautiful and much admired seat of Alderman, Sir William Heygate, Bart." He bought the manor in 1823, but sold it in 1825 though he appears to have continued to live in the region through at least 1830. He took certain (Justices) Oaths "at the Sessions House 1835"; not yet acted; In the Commissions of the Peace for Essex and Herts. Residence: 57, Charing Cross, Westminster, North Mymms, Herts and Southend, Essex. A Justice of the Peace for Leicestershire in 1838. Their sons were:

The eldest son, born in Southend, Essex on 4 September 1822 at the time of his father's term as Lord Mayor. He married Marianne (MacCausland) Gage on 26 August 1851. He was living in Southend, Essex in 1831. He was JP and DL for Counties Leicester and Londonderry. MP for County Derry from 1859 to 1874. Made 2nd Baronet in 1844. The High Sheriff of Derry and Donegal from 1856 to 1858.

In the 1881 census he was living with his younger brother William at 81 St Georges Square, London. This document shows him born in Keston, Kent, England in about 1823. His father was living in the village of Keston in 1822. He is listed as married and the Baronet Annuitant. Bart., Roecliffe, also of Bellarena, Londonderry, Ireland. He had a farm called Blackhill which appears to have highly leveraged. I suppose he was only visiting his brother when the census takers came to call.

Frederick died on 14 November 1894. His children were Frederick Gage Heygate (1854; Capt. Mid Ulster artillery, private sec. to Right hon. G. Sctater-Booth, president local government board 1880), Robert Henry Gage Heygate (1859; Lieut. 31th regt), Arthur Conolly Gage (1862), Henrietta Constance, Isabella Mary Anne, Rosamond Anna, and Maud Alic.

He was born on 12 March 1825 and christened on 06 June 1825 at North Mimms. Commissioned a Cornet of Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry on 14 May 1852. On 6 May 1852 he married Constance Mary Beaumont. Justice of the Peace. Treasurer of the Billesdon, Blaby, Hinkley and Barrow upon Soar Union Workhouses in 1899. Unsuccessful Conservative candidate for Parliament for Bridport, 1857. MP for Leicestershire, 1861-1865. Purchased the manor of Brent Pelham, Brent Pelham Hall, in 1859.

Edward Nicholas Heygate was born on 23 June 1827 and christened on 27 July 1827 at North Mimms, Hertford, England. He married Mary Jane on 24 September 1857.

A Captain Edward Nicholas Heygate, Royal Engineers, D.L., J.P. of Docklow (1828-1896) bought Buckland in 1860 from W.G. Cherry and made considerable alterations to it, converting what was once a gabled house of stone-rubble and brick-work into a more uniform red-brick mansion. In 1879 he was a magistrate for Leominster, Herfordshire. He was the principal landowner in Stoke Prior, Herefordshire in 1876. In the 1881 census he is listed as an Army Captain on half-pay, i.e. retired.

Heygate, Edward Nicholas. Journal, 1853 April 28-1853 July 17 and 1853 July -1855 February 7. 68 pp. (total). Detailing journey of 1st Lieut. Heygate of the Royal Engineers from Halifax, N.S., to the Bahamas. Includes descriptions of a number of American cities illustrated with very skillfully executed drawings.

In 1903 there was also a Capt. Edward Leonard Aspinall Heygate, D.L., J.P. at Buckland. He was christened on 24 October 1858 at Rockcliffe, Cumberland, England. The son of Edward Nicholas Heygate and Mary Jane.

Attended Cambridge.

Christened on 30 May 1830 at North Mimms. He married Isabella Dorothea Mounsey on 14 June 1866.

I have a Captain Richarrd L. Heygate, R.A., M.F.H. [?], of Herefordshire. He married Eleanor Mary Gwendoline Evans. One of both of them are from Anglesey or Caernarvonshire families.

Steve Hissem
San Diego, California