Following the intestate death of Richard in 1732 the inheritance of the Estates was in turmoil.  Initially the succession was to the third son of Thomas Duke and Anne Walrond.  He was baptised Richard in 1688 at Colaton Raleigh but when he died in 1740 there was no heir.  On his death the Estates passed to a nephew Robert [baptised 1709 at Colaton Raleigh] the only surviving son of George Duke and Dorothy Ayre.  Again there was no heir, so the Estates passed back to an uncle also called Robert who had been born in 1679.  Although there is a record of a marriage he also died intestate. He was the last-born male Duke to own the Estates. 

Penultimately the Estates passed to the only eligible male, John Heath, the son of Anne Duke and Staplehill Heath. John had been born in 1717 and was MP for Honiton in 1745-54, in 1761-63 and 1763-68. In 1750 when he inherited the Estates he changed his name to DUKE but although he had married five years earlier ... no male heirs were forthcoming.  He was buried at Otterton in November 1775. 

Finally the Estates were passed to the four living daughters of George and Dorothy Duke namely: Dorothy [b1711]; Elizabeth [b1720]; Anne [b1722] and Frances [b1724], three of which are known to have married. Their interest in maintaining the Lordship of the Estates was not sufficient and so all of the Duke Estates in East Devon were put up for sale. It then took just over three years for the Auction to be finally held in January 1779. 

Mr. Allen, MP for Bridgewater, who initially purchased for £90,000 failed to complete within the required timescale and so the Estates were still unsold. Finally in September 1785 Denys Rolle of Bicton purchased them for £72,000 so bringing to a close the 245-year ownership of the Otterton Manor by the Duke family. 

Postscript. Coincidentally in later years, the Rolle family ownerships of the Estates also suffered from the lack of male heirs. 

This is the last of a series of related articles. Click back to jump to the previous one. 

Compiled and researched © Harry Lane, 2009

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