Knight of Barrells

Description

Copy declaration of the Hon. Lucy Elizabeth Portman, widow of Henry Berkeley Portman esq. M.P. decd. and one of the daughters of the Rt. Hon. Charles Lord Dormer decd., then residing with her daughter the Countess Poulett at Hinton St. George , co. Somerset, as follows: (1) that she was present at the marriage of her sister the Hon. Frances Dormer, also a daughter of the said Lord Dormer and then a minor, to Robert Knight of Barrels esq. a bachelor and eldest son of the late Robert Knight, earl or Catherlough, Viscount Barrels c., at the house of their father the said Lord Dormer in Dean Street in the parish of St. Anne, Westminster, on 12 June 1791 by special licence by the Rev. George Baxter; (2) that the said Lord Dormer was also present at and consenting to the said marriage; (3) that from that time until the death of her sister in 1842 she was on terms of intimacy with her and the said Robert Knight her husband; (4) that there were two sons and no more of such marriage; (5) that one of these sons who was named Henry died at Paris in about 1798; (6) that she was present at his death , and that his body was subsequently removed from Paris to England for interment (as she believed) in the mausoleum at Barrels; (7) that the Rev. H.C. Knight of Bognor Lodge, Bognor co. Sussex, A.M. clerk, was the other and only surviving son of such marriage; (8) that he was born on the 7th October 1813; (9) that he was baptized in the parish of St. Marylebone co. Middx. by the Rev. Dr. Heslop on 21 May 1814, and that she was present at his baptism; (10) that the annexed paper writing marked with the letter A was believed to be a true extract from the register of baptisms there [another copy not so marked is attached]; (11) that in the said register entry the name of the father was erroneously written `Charles' instead of `Robert', and the name of her sister, the mother of the said H.C. Knight, was erroneously written `Honor Frances' instead of `The Honorable Frances'; (12) that she knew Henry Raleigh Knight the brother of the said Robert Knight, and that he was a general in the British Army and was then deceased. Signed by Lucy Portman. Witness to the declaration made and signed by the said Lucy Elizabeth Portman at Crewkerne co. Somerset, 20 April 1843: William Sparks, a Master Extraordinary in Chancery.