Draft:The Talbot Family Of Stone Castle, Kent, England

THE TALBOT FAMILY OF STONE CASTLE, KENT, ENGLAND

This branch of the Talbot family claims descent from “Rollo the Dane” who conquered Normandy in 911. The family came to England in 1066 in the army of their relative Duke William of Normandy. They also claim descent from Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd aka “The Lord Rhys”, Prince of South Wales and his descendant John Talbot the famous 1st Earl of Shrewsbury the English Constable of France during the 100 years war.

In the 1700s this Talbot branch took possession of the Norman “Stone Castle” in Stone near Dartford, Kent and totally rebuilt it. The patriarch of the family at that time was the Rev Robert Talbot who was appointed Rector of St Mary’s church in Stone and he and his descendants are buried there in the crypt. Their monuments can be found on the north wall above their final resting place. The coat of arms on the monuments show the arms of Talbot impaling those of Lynch of Kent since the Rev Robert married Ann Lynch daughter of Colonel John Lynch of Staple who was the High Sheriff of Kent. Ann was also the sister of John Lynch the Dean of Canterbury who himself was married to the daughter of Archbishop Wake of Canterbury. Stone Castle, Stone near Dartford, Kent in 2000 Stone Castle no longer belongs to the Talbot family and is now a corporate headquarters.

The Rev Robert’s grandson (also Robert of Stone Castle) became a distinguished lawyer and an associate of the Prince Regent (later King George 1V). He married Elizabeth Savary the daughter of Marie de Blaquière the sister of John 1st Baron de Blaquière of Ardkill in Ireland where he was Secretary of State. According to The College of Arms the de Blaquières were a “very ancient” aristocratic and armigerous family from Guienne in France but, being Huguenots, they fled to England after the revocation of the treaty of Nantes in 1685. From this union there descended two distinct Talbot family lines:

1: Firstly the Lynch Talbots who mainly served worldwide in the Royal Artillery and the Royal Marine Artillery. During the Napoleonic Wars Robert Talbot, the lawyer (above), became a major in the West Kent Militia and his eldest son Captain Lynch Talbot RA served under Wellington in Spain and France. Most of the later Lynch Talbots rose to the rank of Major-General. Many were also famous cricketers and helped introduce the game to the outposts of the British Empire including Bermuda, Singapore and Malaya. Sadly the Lynch Talbot male line died out in 1986 and their female line in 1988.

2: Secondly the Blaquière Talbot line. Initially this branch was headed by lawyer Robert’s 2nd son Blaquière Talbot who took over his father’s law practice at 47 Bedford Square, London and which continued as a family law firm for over 100 years. This branch was also continued by Robert’s 3rd son Major Henry Christian Talbot who moved to India to join his de Blaquière cousins with the East India Company. Members of this branch served in India for more than 150 years in the military, the Imperial Civil Service and as tea planters. One tea planter, Frederick Talbot, moved his family to East Africa where he is known as “the father of tea planting in East Africa”. Later, his son George Blaquière Talbot became Secretary of the legendary “Thika Club” before retiring to Rhodesia.

This Talbot family’s commitment to the British Empire can be seen from its graves which can be found in churchyards across the world from St Michael, Sandakan in the East to St. Peter, Quamichan in the West and pretty well every Commonwealth country in between.

A recent head of the Blaquière Talbot line, Denis Edmund Blaquière Talbot, commanded the 7th Bn of The Royal Hampshire Regiment during the Normandy Invasion in 1944 and, later, rose to the rank of Major-General. In addition to his awards of the CB, CBE, DSO and MC, he also received the award of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Danebrog from King Frederick 1X of Denmark. Thus, through him, the family’s 1,000 year military connections with France, Normandy and Denmark came full circle.