The Heygate Baronets

This is a branch of the ancient family of HEYGATE, seated in the counties of Essex and Suffolk.

THOMAS HEYGATE, of Hayes, in Middlesex, was provost-marshal-general of the army in 1557 which, in alliance with the Spaniards, besieged St Quentin (held by the French), and was subsequently provost-marshal in Scotland.

He married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Stonor, of Stonor; and dying in 1576, was succeeded by his eldest son,

THOMAS HEYGATE, of Hayes, Justice of the Peace for Middlesex, Provost-Marshal-General under the Earl of Essex, at the capture of Cadiz, 1596, who wedded Margery, daughter of Ralph Skipwith, of Parkbury, Hertfordshire, and had surviving issue,

Thomas, of Hayes, barrister;
RALPH, of whom presently;
Anne;
Katherine, m R Tyrwhitt, Master of Buck-hounds to CHARLES I;
Letitia, m Dr P Heylin, Prebendary of Westminster.

The second son,

RALPH HEYGATE, settled in London, and married twice; but had issue by his second wife only.

His elder son,

NICHOLAS HEYGATE, who was one of the court of Assistants of Merchant Taylors' Company, and a collector of curious books and writings, who espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Cotton, of Loughton, by whom he had an only surviving child,

ROBERT HEYGATE, of Husband's Bosworth, Leicestershire, who wedded Anne, daughter of John Freeman, and left at his decease, in 1736, an only surviving son,

NICHOLAS HEYGATE (1705-44), of West Haddon, Northamptonshire, espoused Mary Anne, daughter of John Cooke, of Hill Morton, Warwickshire, and had issue,

Robert;
John;
Thomas, father of THOMAS HEYGATE;
Robert, of West Haddon;
Charles;
JAMES, of whom we treat;
Anne; Elizabeth Catherine Frances; Mary; Elizabeth.

Mr Heygate's youngest son,

JAMES HEYGATE (1747-1833), of Aldermanbury in the city of London, and of Hackney, Middlesex, and Southend, Essex, a banker, married, in 1781, Sarah, second daughter of Samuel Unwin, of Sutton, Nottinghamshire, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his successor;
James, of Hampstead Heath;
Elizabeth Anne.

Mr Heygate was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM HEYGATE (1782-1844), of Chatham Place, Blackfriars, London, and Holwood, Kent, who wedded, in 1821, Isabella, fourth daughter of Edward Longdon Mackmurdo, of Upper Clapton, Middlesex, and had issue,

FREDERICK WILLIAM, his heir;
William Unwin;
Edward Nicholas;
Robert Henry John.

Mr Heygate, an alderman of the City of London, having served the office of Lord Mayor in 1822, was created a baronet in 1831, designated of Southend, Essex.

Sir William was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR FREDERICK WILLIAM HEYGATE, 2nd Baronet (1822-94), DL, baptized at the Mansion House during the mayoralty of his father and in the presence of His Royal Highness The Duke of York, who stood sponsor, and at whose wish the baronetcy was conferred. 

Sir Frederick, MP for County Londonderry, 1859-74,  married Marianne Gage in 1851, thus acquiring an estate at Bellarena in County Londonderry.

His eldest son,

SIR FREDERICK GAGE HEYGATE, 3rd Baronet (1854-1940), JP DL, of Bellarena, married, in 1888, Flora, daughter of John Walter.

Sir Frederick, Major, Mid-Ulster Artillery, barrister, lived at Bellarena, County Londonderry, and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Londonderry, 1887-88.

His cousin,

SIR JOHN EDWARD NOURSE HEYGATE, 4th Baronet (1903-76), of Bellarena, married firstly, Evelyn Florence Margaret Winifred Gardner, daughter of Herbert, 1st and last Baron Burghclere of Walden, in 1930; and secondly, in 1936, Gwyneth Eliot, daughter of John Eliot Howard Lloyd; and thirdly, in 1951, Dora Luz, daughter of John Harvey.

He is chiefly remembered for his liaison in 1929 with Evelyn Gardner while she was married to Evelyn Waugh. Heygate and Gardner subsequently married, then divorced. He is portrayed as "John Beaver" in Waugh's A Handful of Dust.

Photo Credit: BRIAN McELHERRON

By the 1970s, the 4th Baronet was living alone in Bellarena (above) when, in 1976, he took his own life by shooting himself.

Sir George Lloyd Heygate was the 5th Baronet (1936-91).

Sir Richard John Gage Heygate (b 1940) is the 6th and present Baronet.

It is thought that the Heygates live in London today.

First published in October, 2010.