Indio (anciently Indehoe, Indiho, etc."J. E. B. Gover, A. Mawer, and F. M. Stenton in their comprehensive study of place names in Devon showed that in Patent Rolls and other documents Indio was variously referred to as Yondeyeo, Judeyeo, Indiho, Yonyeo, Yondyeo, Yenyeo or Judyeo, and it was not until the early nineteenth century that the name Indeo, with a possible Latin religious inference, was cited. Gover found the earliest references to Yondeyeo in the Letters Patent of 1544, and as Judeyo in 1547. The Letters Domestic of 1765 referred to Indeho, and Benjamin Donne’s map of Devon (also 1765) used Indiho, which on Christopher and John Greenwood’s 1827 map of Devon became Indeo."(boveytraceyhistory.org.uk)) in the parish of Bovey Tracey in Devon, is an historic estate. The present large mansion house, known as Indio House is a grade II listed building rebuilt in 1850, situated about 1/2 mile south of Bovey Tracey Church, on the opposite side of the River Bovey. According to the Devon historian Pole (d.1635) it was originally a priory,Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.266; Also called a priory by Risdon (Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.134) however research from 1840George Oliver & John Pike Jones, Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Devon: Being Observations on Several Churches in Devonshire, Exeter, 1840 onwards has suggested it was more likely merely a grange farm, a possession of St John’s Hospital, Bridgwater, Somerset, from 1216.
Descent St John's Hospital, Bridgwater In 1219 Henry de Tracy, feudal baron of Barnstaple and lord of the manor of Bovey Tracey, gave the church and some lands within the manor, including Indio, to St John's Hospital in Bridgwater, Somerset. The endowment was confirmed in 1227 and continued until the Dissolution of the Monasteriesboveytraceyhistory.org.uk circa 1540.
Southcott
John Southcott (1481-1556) In 1544, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Indio and Ullacombe, both in the parish of Bovey Tracey, were granted to John Southcott of Bodmin and John Tregonwell of Middleton.boveytraceyhistory.org.uk, quoting Youings, Joyce (Joyce Youings, Devon Monastic Lands: Calendar of Particulars for Grants 1536–1558 (Exeter: DCRS New Series, 1955)) The earliest recorded secular inhabitant of Indio was John Southcott (d.1556), who in the words of the Devon historian Pole (d.1635): "Bwilded a fayre howse & dwelled theire". He was a Clerk of the Peace for Devon, and was the 2nd son of Nicholas Southcott of Southcott, in the parish of Winkleigh, Devon.Pole, p.432 He was steward of Thomas Cromwell by which relationship he obtained several monastic holdings in Devonshire on favourable terms. An ancient document exists, in connection with the Dissolution accounts, which refers to "Rent of a messuage in Yondyeo leased on 15 July 1531 to John Southcote, his wife Joan and Johns’s heirs for ever, 26s 8d".boveytraceyhistory.org.uk, quoting Youings, Joyce
Thomas Southcote (1528-1600) Thomas Southcote (1528-1600), eldest son and heir, who married three times: Firstly to Grace Barnehouse, daughter and sole heiress of John Barnehouse of Marsh in the parish of Newton St CyresVivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.647, pedigree of Ridgeway of Tor Abbey and of Prestcot in the parish of Culmstock, both in Devon, a younger branch of Barnehouse of Kingston in the parish of Staverton, Devon.Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.204 By Grace Barnehouse he had two surviving daughters, co-heiresses to their mother: Mary Soutcott, eldest daughter, married to Thomas Ridgeway (1543–1598) of Tor Mohun, Devon (son of John Ridgeway (c. 1517 – 1560) of Abbots Carswell and Tor Mohun, MP), a Member of Parliament for Dartmouth in 1584. Her eldest son was Thomas Ridgeway, 1st Earl of Londonderry (c.1565-1631).Vivian, p.698; p.647 She is mentioned on a tablet on the grand Ridgeway monument in Tor Mohun Church as E clara Southcottorum familia et Barnehusii cohaerede faemina virtute pietate ac modestia ornatissima ("from the illustrious family of the Southcotts and a co-heiress of Barnehouse, a lady most decorated with virtue, piety and modesty"). Elizabeth Southcott, wife of Sir Anthony Rouse (c.1555-1620), of Halton in Cornwall,Vivian, p.698 a Member of Parliament for East Looe in Cornwall in 1584 and for Cornwall in 1604. He possessed almost 10,000 acres of land and was one of Cornwall's richest residents.History of Parliament biography Her daughter Elizabeth Rouse married (as his first wife) John Northcote (1570-1632) of Uton and Hayne, Newton St Cyres, Devon, lord of the manor of Newton St Cyres, who is chiefly remembered for his artistically acclaimed effigy and monument in Newton St Cyres Church, who (by his second wife) was the ancestor of the Northcote baronets and Earls of Iddesleigh, still resident at Newton St Cyres today. Secondly he married Thomasine Kirkham, daughter of Thomas Kirkham (d.1552) of BlagdonVivian, p.516, pedigree of Kirkham in the parish of Paignton,Risdon, p.150; Pevsner, p.844 by his 2nd wife Cicely Carew, sister of Sir Peter Carew (d.1575)Vivian, pp.135, 698; Pole, p.130 of Mohun's Ottery in the parish of Luppitt, Devon, the last in the male line. Carew settled Mohun's Ottery and other lands on Thomas Southcote (d.1600) of Indio, the husband of his niece.Vivian, p.698; Pevsner, p.193; Risdon, p.134 By Thomasine Kirkham he had numerous issue, seated at Indio and Mohun's Ottery. Thirdly he married Elizabeth FitzWilliam.
George Southcot (born 1560) George Southcot (born 1560) of Indio, son and heir by his father's 2nd wife Thomasine Kirkham. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1575. He married Elizabeth Seymour (d.1589), daughter of Sir Henry Seymour,Vivian, p.699; p.702, pedigree of Seymour of Berry Pomeroy apparently younger brother of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1500-1552), KG, Lord Protector of England and brother to Queen Jane Seymour.
Thomas Southcote Thomas Southcote of Mohuns Ottery, only son and heir. He married Katherine Pole, 2nd daughter of the Devon historian Sir William Pole (d.1635), of Shute and Colcombe Castle, Devon, MP. In his history of Mohuns Ottery Pole wrote:Pole, p.131 "."
Sir Popham Southcote (1603-1643) Sir Popham Southcote (1603-1643) of Indio, eldest son and heir. Popham's grandfather Sir William Pole (d.1635), the Devon historian, stated in his history of Indio that Thomas Southcott "hath bestowed it uppon Sr Popham Southcot his eldest sonne, wch nowe dwelleth theire".Pole, p.267 He married Margaret Berkeley (d.1654), daughter of Sir Maurice Berkeley of Bruton, Somerset.Vivian, p.699 He had three sons, all of whom either died as infants or otherwise predeceased him, and five daughters, two of whom survived him as co-heiresses, married to Brian and Southcote.Lysons, 1822 Most of the lands were dismembered from the manor of Mohun's Ottery by the Southcotes in about 1670.
Tufnell / Indio Pottery In about 1766 a pottery was established at Indio, then seemingly owned by "George Forster Tufnell",Full name given by Polwhele, Richard, History of Devonshire, 3 Vols., Vol.2, London, 1793, Vol 3, p.496, note apparently the same man as George Forster Tufnell (1723-1798), of Turnham Green, Middlesex and of Chichester, Sussex, who was twice a Member of Parliament for Beverley in Yorkshire.History of Parliament biography The founders of the business were either Tufnell himself, or Tufnell in partnership with William Ellis (born 1742 in Bovey Tracey) or HammersleyMassey, Roger, Bovey Tracey Potteries Revisited, paper read at the Courtauld Institute, 13 January 2001, p.118, conclusion or Nicholas Crisp (d.1774).Massey, 2001, p.115 According to Massey (2001) "The Indio Pottery established the reputation of Bovey Tracey as a centre of industrial pottery production". Nicholas Crisp arrived in Bovey Tracey in 1767 intending to produce porcelain to rival the output of the well-established Staffordshire Potteries. However the business did not prosper and Crisp was imprisoned for debt in 1768. He subsequently continued production at Indio with his wife until his death in 1774. the next manager was William Ellis, and it was his operation at Indio which was visited by the great Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood in 1775, on his way to inspect the potteries in Cornwall. In his diary he recorded his unflattering opinion of the factory: "It is a poor trifling concern & conducted in a wretched slovenly manner". In 1785 Indio Pottery was insolvent and unable to pay wages, and was in a "reduced and declining state suffering continual loss".Massey, 2001, p.116
Further reading Stretton, Norman, The Indio Pottery at Bovey Tracey, Transactions of English Ceramic Circle, Vol.8, Part 2, 1972 Adams, Brian & Thomas, Anthony, A Potwork in Devonshire: The History and Products of the Bovey Tracey Potteries 1750-1836, Bovey Tracey, 1996 Ellis, William IV (grandson of William Ellis the potter), article on Indio Pottery published in Saturday American, 1883
Bentinck
Indio was later a seat of a branch of the Bentinck family, lords of the manor of Bovey Tracey, who were of Dutch origin. Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland had accompanied William Henry, Prince of Orange to England during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In 1716 the family was created Duke of Portland, and the last in the male line was Victor Frederick William Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland (1897–1990), on whose death without surviving male issue the dukedom became extinct, although the Earldom of Portland was inherited by his distant cousin.
Captain John Albert Bentinck Captain John Albert Bentinck (1737-1775), Royal Navy, a Member of Parliament for Rye in Sussex (1761-8) of Terrington St Clement in Norfolk, a Count of the Empire, was a grandson of Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, being one of the two sons of Hon. William Bentinck, 1st Count Bentinck (1704-1774),Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, p.141, pedigree of Bentinck of Indio House by his wife Charlotte Sophie, Countess von Aldenburg (1715-1800). In 1763 Captain John Albert Bentinck married Renira van Tuyll van Serooskerken (d.1792), 2nd daughter of John, Baron de Tuyll de Serooskerken.
William Bentinck Vice-Admiral William Bentinck (1764-1813), Royal Navy, son. In 1802 he married Frances Augusta Pierrepont, only daughter of Charles Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers.
George William Pierrepont Bentinck (1803-1886) George William Pierrepont Bentinck (1803-1886), son, of Terrington St Clement in Norfolk, a Member of Parliament, died unmarried aged 82.
Charles Aldenburg Bentinck (1810-1891)