• General Notes

  In 1693 a hint of scandal touched the Cabell family when Elizabeth Cabell (1656 - ?) married Cholmley D'Oyly (? - 1700). Elizabeth was the oldest daughter of Richard Cabell and Elizabeth Fowell, and, as such, heir to considerable wealth. Sir John D'Oyly, father of twelve, selected her as a likely match for his son, Cholmley, since her £20,000 and personal estates would do much toward reviving the declining family fortunes. Unbeknownst to the parties involved, Cholmley had already married Margaret, and daughter of Reverent Andrew Needham in Gloucestershire. Both marriages produced children and he maintained the secret until his death in 1700. Margaret then came forward requesting a dowry, while Elizabeth swiftly took charge of all the property, began chancery proceedings against the D'Oyly's, and married Richard Fownes from Dorset. The suit was long and tedious, but eventually the courts ruled in favor of the D'Oyly's and Elizabeth and Richard were obliged to pay them the £10,000 originally settled upon the family as her marriage portion.
  
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  Cholmley D'Oyly of Chislehampton, co. Oxon., and Brooke, co. Devon. Of this gay young man the first known record occurs in the will of his godfather, Colonel Edward D'Oyly, Governor of Jamaica, 1674 (see D'Oyly of Albourn), who leaves him his Bible, his plate, his picture, his pedigree, and his map of Jamaica on vellum.— Cholmley D'Oyly, brought up under the intluence of Charles II.'s court, became dissipated and extravagant; properties in no way checked by his being a generous, warm-hearted young man. He soon fell desperately in love with Margaret Needham, the daughter of a poor clergyman, viz. the Rev. Andrew Needham, A.B. of Caius College, Cambridge, Rector of Beverston, co. Gloucester (by Anne his wife, sister of John Elsing, Gent.) who, though intimate with the D'Oyly family, was rather so as their dependant than their equal, and certainly placed in that position in relation to them which at once precluded the possibility of the D'Oyly family sanctioning a matrimonial alliance between their heir and the clergyman's daughter: indeed Sir John D'Oyly was then in quest of a wealthy heiress for his son, to replenish the empty coffers of the family. But this was of little consequence to the lover, who was determined to wed the object of his affections. He knew, however, that to marry her openly would ruin him, and therefore suggested to her father a secret performance of the ceremony. It was readily agreed to; Mr. Needham himself married them at Cirencester, 9th May 1692; and thence, till Cholmley D'Oyly's death, the matter was preserved a profound secret.— Soon after. Sir John D'Oyly met with a wealthy heiress for his son, viz. Elizabeth, only child of Richard Cabell, Esq. of Brooke, co. Devon, heiress to him, and eventually also to her uncle Samuel Cabell, Esq. of South Paterton, co. Somerset, from whom and her father together she inherited the manors of Brooke or Button and Buckfastleigh in Buckfastleigh, co. Devon: which family recorded its arms and pedigree at the Devonshire visitation, 1620, and bore "Vert, fretty argent, a fesse gules."[370]—This lady was an heiress of landed property to the amount of 20,000l. beside a considerable personal estate; and the intrigues by which her marriage with Cholmley D'Oyly was brought about, could scarcely be exceeded in skill and contrivance by the imagination of the novelists of the present day. Suffice it to mention, the project succeeded, and that by indentures of lease and release, dated 20th and 21st Nov. 1693, all Eliz. Cabell's estates were conveyed to the use of herself and her heirs till her marriage, then to trustees for the term of 500 years, for securing to Sir John D'Oyly 6,000l. (which was undertaken to be discharged in four years), then to Cholmley D'Oyly for life, then to Elizabeth for life, with divers remainders. About the 9th Dec. 1693, they were married, and Sir John D'Oyly then settled on them lands in Oxfordshire to the value of 500l. per annum, with provisions for their possible issue. But it was impossible such a proceeding could ultimately produce either credit or satisfaction to the family. Cholmley D'Oyly not only sent his heiress out of the kingdom, soon after their marriage, but when with her would frequently joke about having another wife elsewhere (and little doubt there was of it, for both of them were bringing him children at the same time); though she herself admitted he had always made her a kind and affectionate husband. —It appears, however, that her very property too brought its troubles; for, in l695, he had a Chancery suit with the Mayor and Corporation of Exeter, arising out of her affairs;[371] while he was never able to discharge the sums of 6,000l. and 4,000l., which he had bound himself to pay his father. In this state of things, Cholmley D'Oyly died about 19th March 1699-1700, much in debt, and leaving two wives. It may be supposed, a pretty tumult ensued. His widow Elizabeth immediately possessed herself of all his property she was able, but refused to administer (which, however, his brother John did, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury); old Needham immediately went to her, and divulged her husband's marriage with his daughter Margaret, who then put in claims for dower.[372] The heiress then commenced Chancery proceedings to upset the settlement made on her marriage, and about 1701, married secondly, Richard Fownes. Esq. jun. of Stepleton. co. Dorset, the member of a respectable Devonshire family, which recorded its pedigree at the Devon Visitation 1620, and bore for arms, "Azure, two eagles displayed in chief, and in bass a mullet argent." The family was descended out of Worcestershire, but through Devonshire, settled at Stepleton, co. Dorset, which it purchased, in 1654, of George Pitt, Esq. of Stratfield Say, for 6,000l.[373]— With this gentleman she engaged in all her proceedings against the D'Oylys, the result of which has already been stated.—By Margaret Needham, Cholmley D'Oyly had two children, one of whom was alive at his death; but if it survived (which is doubtful) it must, if a son, have been decreed illegitimate, as it did not inherit the baronetey.[374] By Elizabeth Cabell he had two sons, both of whom predeceased him, and the only recorded of whom was
  
  1. Cabell D'Oyly, who was born in Jan. 1696-7, but died an infant, and was buried at Stadhampton in April following.
  

Details of Cholmley's family with Elizabeth Cabell

Details of Cholmley's family with Margaret Needham