Transcript

of

The Right Hon. Lord Haldon [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc., 1883, Vol XV, pp.56-58.

by

Rev. W. Harpley

Prepared by Michael Steer

Lawrence Palk was born in London, the son of Sir Lawrence Palk, 3rd Baronet.] He was educated at Eton. In 1860, he succeeded his father as baronet and entered the House of Commons for South Devon in 1854, and sat for the constituency until 1868. Subsequently, he represented East Devon to 1880. After his retirement from politics, he was elevated to the Peerage as Baron Haldon, of Haldon, in the County of Devon on 29 May 1880. Having served for a while as an officer in 1st The Royal Dragoons, he became Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 1st Administrative Brigade, Devonshire Artillery Volunteers (1863), and Honorary Colonel (1868). His oldest son Lawrence succeeded to the titles. In 1938, the barony reverted to the youngest son Edward, after whose death one year later it became extinct. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

The Right Hon. Lord Haldon was the first baron of that title, and at the time of his elevation to the peerage, in 1880, was the fourth baronet of the family, and familiar to Devonshire as Sir Lawrence Palk. His great-grandfather was Sir Robert Palk, Governor of Madras, who for his services in India was created a baronet on the 19th of June, 1772. The slight records which remain of the family previous to that date show that Lord Haldon's ancestors resided in Devon- shire, and were possessed of Ambrook, in the parish of Ipplepen, about the end of the fifteenth century. The descent is traced from Henry Palk, of Ambrook, who lived in the time of Henry VII. The Rev. Thomas Palk, of Staverton, a celebrated Nonconformist divine, and author of several treatises on the religious disputes of the period, died in 1693. From him descended Walter Palk, the seventh in descent from the above-named Henry Palk, and father of the first baronet. He was a member of Parliament for Ashburton, and married Miss Abraham. His eldest son, Robert, by his talents and address, attracted the attention and favour of the great Sir Robert Walpole, under whose auspices he went to India, where he amassed a great fortune, and was made Governor of Madras. He married Ann, daughter of Arthur Vansittart, Esq., and had one son and three daughters. On his retirement from active service in India, he purchased the Haldon House estate and manor. During his career in India he formed a very close friendship with the famous Major-General Stringers Lawrence, to whose memory he erected, in the year 1788, a fine monument at Haldon. He died in 1792. He was succeeded by his son. Sir Lawrence Palk, named after the gallant Major-General. The second baronet was M.P. for the county of Devon. He married first, in 1789, May, eldest daughter of the third Earl of Darnley, who died without surviving issue; and second, in 1792, Dorothy Elizabeth, daughter of Wilmot, first Earl of Lisburne, by whom he had six sons and two daughters. He died June 20th, 1813. He was succeeded by his eldest son. Sir Lawrence Vaughan Palk, who married, in 1815, Anna Eleanora, relict of Edward Hartopp, Esq., and eldest daughter of Sir Bourchier Wrey, Bart. He had two sons and three daughters, and died the 16th of May, 1860. His eldest son, the late Lord Haldon, was born in 1818. The deceased peer was educated at Eton, entered the 1st Dragoons in 1835, and retired as lieutenant in 1840. He was appointed a Deputy-Lieutenant and Magistrate for Devonshire, was Colonel of the 1st Devon Artillery, Chairman of the Teign Valley Railway Company, and sat as M.P. for South Devon from 1854 to 1868. He married, on the 15th of November, 1845, Maria Harriet, only daughter of the late Sir T. Hesketh, Bart., of Rufford, Lancashire.

In 1854 Lord Haldon, then Mr. Palk, was put forward as a candidate for South Devon, and was opposed by Sir Stafford Northcote. Sir Stafford withdrew, and Mr. Palk was returned unopposed, and sat for the Southern Division until 1866.

At that period there was an alteration in the divisions of the county, and for the Eastern Division Sir Lawrence Palk and Lord Courtenay came forward on Conservative principles. They were opposed by Mr. Wade, in the Liberal interest; but the two Conservatives won their seats, and Sir Lawrence continued to represent the Eastern Division until his elevation to the peerage.

As lord of the manor of Tormoham, his lordship fulfilled the obligations of his high station with justice and liberality. One of his first public acts was to join with his father in giving a site for Upton Church, and also an endowment. A few years later, when he succeeded to the baronetcy, he opened up the valley of Ellacombe for working men's dwellings, which have increased greatly beyond the modest limits he originally set. The central piece of ground, known as Ellacombe Green, was presented by him to the town on the occasion of his elder son attaining his majority. The late Lord Haldon developed the resources of Torquay to a greater extent than it was possible for his predecessors to do. The greatest undertaking to which he set his hand, and which he carried out to a successful completion, was the building of the outer harbour, thus converting Torquay into one of the best yachting stations along the southern coast.

The inner harbour, which is six acres in extent, being too small and too shallow to admit of the entrance in all weathers of vessels of any great size, a well-considered scheme of constructing an outer harbour of ten acres in extent was decided upon, and the foundation-stone of the new harbour and pier was laid, on September 6th, 1867, by Miss Palk, his lordship's eldest daughter. The engineer was Mr. J. P. Margary, and the architect Mr. J. W. Fowell, and the works were carried out by Mr. James Mountstephen. The cost of the whole undertaking was close upon £70,000. It was completed in August, 1870, and on the 20th of that month, when the new harbour was declared open by Lord Haldon (then Sir Lawrence Palk), his lordship and members of his family were invited by the townspeople and yacht-owners to a banquet at the Bath Saloon, where he was presented with a full-length and admirably-executed oil portrait, the work of Mr. Sydney Hodges, in recognition of the enterprise and public spirit which his lordship had displayed in the construction of the harbour. His lordship conferred upon the town several pieces of land for recreation purposes, which are held by the Local Board of Health on nominal terms; these are the Public Gardens, Daddy Hole Plain, the Lincombe Drive, five acres of land in the Upton Valley, and various other spots which are used for resting-places and outlooks, from which extensive views of the neighbouring scenery may be obtained.

Lord Haldon was a member of the Association from its commencement in 1862. He attended its meetings on one or two occasions. He was one of the four Vice-Presidents at the first meeting in Exeter, and when the Association met again in Exeter in 1872, he was elected one of the Vice-Presidents.

He died, after a severe and protracted illness, at Haldon House, March 23rd, 1883, aged 65. He was buried in the churchyard of the quiet village of Kenn, near Exeter.