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John Hine the previous owner of Lee Ford died in 1859 and Frederic Blandy became the owner shortly afterwards and appears with his family in the 1861 census.  There were two daughters, Grace born 1856 in Tooting Surrey, and Agnes born 1857 in Clifton, Gloucestershire. 

Blandy had been born in Madeira in 1824.  He was the tenth child of John Davis Blandy and his wife Janet.  His father was the founder of Blandy’s the famous Madeira wine company.  John Davis Blandy was born in Dorset and according to one story he originally went to Madeira in 1807 as an officer in General Beresford's army to help defend the island from a possible attack by Napoleon after his invasion of Portugal; however, another account has him moving to Madeira originally due to poor health (1).  

It was during this earlier period that his interest in the Madeira wine trade grew, and after briefly returning to England in 1810 to marry Janet Burden, he finally settled on the island as a general trader in 1811.  John had a very large family and his eldest son Charles Ridpath Blandy later returned from England to inherit the business in 1855 when his father died. 

Frederic Blandy, who had a private income from fund holdings, came back to England at some stage and married his wife Ellen Mary Margaret Thomas in Westminster in 1854.  She had been born in Bengal and is also described as a fund holder in the censuses.  Initially they lived in Surrey and then in Bristol. 

It would appear likely that he bought Lee Ford before 1860 because in March of that year he was appointed by the Lord Lieutenant of Devon as a Captain in the 24th Devon Rifle Volunteers (2). The following account explains why these volunteer units were established.  

“In December 1851, Louis Napoleon's coup, in France, drew attention to Britain's lack of defence against invasion.  On 27th January 1852, Dr John Charles Bucknill, Superintendent of the Devon County Asylum called some like minded friends to a meeting with the aim of forming a corps of Rifle Volunteers to counter such a threat.  The resulting Exeter and South Devon Rifle Volunteers was the first of many local units throughout the UK to be formed” (3). 

They contained infantry, artillery, engineer and medical units and largely drew their manpower from the rural areas.  The 24th Rifle Volunteers was one of the units subsequently established. It appears to have been raised from this local area because also appointed to the 24th Volunteers were George Peter Neave as Lieutenant (who lived in South Promenade), Francis Hole of Woodbury as Ensign, and Dr Robert Appleton of 10 Fore Street who was appointed as Honorary Assistant Surgeon to the unit.  I suspect the fields attached to Lee Ford were used for training. Peter Orlando Hutchinson described in his journals the activities of an artillery volunteer unit that he was involved with in Sidmouth at the same time (4). 

Frederic was still at Lee Ford in 1871 and had become a local magistrate.  There was a young governess living with them at Lee Ford to educate the children, and also a large domestic staff.  The family had moved to Newland in Gloucestershire by 1881 and Frederic continued in his role as a magistrate.  He died in July 1896 and probate was valued as £6,218-2-2d (5); his wife had died in 1893 (probate value £561-2-11). 

Researched and Compiled by Roger Lendon, © 2012 

(1)http://madeiragenealogy.com/2011/04/historia-da-familia-blandy-na-madeira/

(2)The United service magazine 1860 

(3)www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_art/volunteerforce.php

(4)“Peter Orlando Hutchinson’s Travels in Victorian Devon” Devon Books 2000 edited by Jeremy Butler.

(5)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1861-1941.

142  BS-B-00054  Biography any