Babington family
The Domesday book does not include Northumberland but the area in 1086 was in the possession of the Norman Umfranville family.
This Northumberland Babington settlement is first referenced in a charter in 1199, when it was given as part of a dower to relating to William Bertram (lived between 1177 and 1189) who married Alice, daughter of Robert de Umfranville.
Sir John is the first Babington to appear in the family pedigrees, but his existence is not confirmed by other sources.
His son Robert de Babington is cited in the "Great Pipe Roll for Northumberland...1248....as paying a fine....probably from a military levy".
Given the earlier destruction of the Anglo-Saxon landowning class, it is probable that they were of Norman descent, but beyond this nothing else is known of their origins.
There is also a settlement in Cheshire called Bebington, possibly named after the followers of one Bebba, as opposed to Babba.
Sir Hugh Babington became Sheriff of Derby & Nottingham (1282), Cambridge & Huntingdon (1289) and Kent (1294).
[2] His son, Sir John de Babington (1335-1409) is said to have exclaimed in Norman French: 'foy est tout' ("faith is all"), on being chosen by King Henry IV for dangerous duty in France, which became the family's motto.
[10] Thomas's son Sir John Babington of Dethick (1423-1485), was slain at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 fighting for King Richard III.
[16][2][7] Sir William Babington, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, married Margery Martell and lived at Chilwell Hall.
His son, William Babington (1393-1474) was High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests in 1456.
[20] William III of England described him as 'a very prudent and honourable man, and assuredly a very brave and excellent officer—even one of the best who have served me here of his nation'.
[21][22] Sir Anthony's son Thomas (d. 21 April 1560) by his first wife Elizabeth Ormond (d. 28 November 1505) was Justice of the Peace for Derbyshire in 1558 and married Katherine Sacheverell, with whom he had issue including Henry Babington[2] (who married Mary Darcy, daughter of George Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Aston, who was mother to Anthony Babington and Maud Babington, who married Christopher Plunkett, 8th Baron of Dunsay, among others).
[32] Their eldest son, Thomas Gisborne Babington of Rothley Temple (1788-1871) was also a member of the Clapham Sect and had several children with his two wives, Augusta Julia Noel (daughter of Sir Gerard Noel, 2nd Baronet) and Augusta Felicita Françoise Thérèse Hubertin Vecqueray (daughter of Francis Gerard Vecqueray, one of the Secretaries of State to the King of Prussia for his Grand Duchy of the Rhine), and eventually sold Rothley Temple in 1845 to his brother-in-law Sir James Parker,[33] who was married to his sister Mary Babington, whose son Harry Rainy Parker eventually sold Rothley in 1893.
Richard and Anne's younger son, Brutus Babington, established the branch of the family in Ireland in 1610.
[1][39] Brutus Babington married Joan le Bird (1562-1611) of a Cheshire family with a branch in Virginia whose members included William Byrd II.
[1] Brutus's younger son Edwin (born 1585) was Sheriff of the city of Londonderry in 1608 and eventually succeeded his brother Richard in control of the Urney estate.
[1] Edwin Babington was taken prisoner during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and gave evidence to the Commission of Enquiry.
[1] He married Francisca Cockes and had a son, Matthew Babington (1610-1689) of Urney and Doe Castle, who was attainted by the Dublin Parliament of King James II in 1689.
[1] Matthew had three sons: Captain William Babington of Urney (1651-1702), who was a Captain in the Derry Garrison during the Siege of Derry in 1689[40] and who appears in George Frederick Folingsby's painting 'The Relief of Derry',[41][1] Thomas Babington (who owned land in Lifford) who married Isabella Stronge[1] and Captain Richard Babington of Mullagh (1659-1749) who married Isabella Wray, daughter of William Wray (son of Henry Wray and Elizabeth Gore) and Angel Galbraith (a sister of Elizabeth who married Matthew Babington).
[1] Richard Babington was a Captain of Dragoons in the Irish Army of William III of England and he fought in the Battle of the Boyne.
[1] William (1694-1735) left the Urney estate to his wife, Catherine Johnston, who passed her effects to her second husband Colonel John Piggot.
[1] Richard's first son, Humphrey Babington (1742-1767) took over Greenfort when Ralph died and had two children: Ralph (died 1806) of Greenfort House and Catherine who married Robert Hay in 1791 (they were the parents of 14 children including William Hay).
Richard married Anne Stewart of Horn Head House, Co Donegal, and had one son and two daughters.
[1] The Babingtons left Marble Hill shortly after William's death in 1789 and it changed hands between several families.
Captain Richard Babington of Mullagh, who lived at Mullagh/Daisy Hill (later Roe Park House) in Limavady and at Lifford, where he had inherited his brother Thomas's land, had ten children by Isabella Wray.
Richard's fifth son Anthony Babington (1800-1869) was High Sheriff of County Londonderry in 1833 and 1835 and lived at Creevagh House where he owned 1,540 acres.
Hume Babington (1804-1886) married Esther Nettles (1808-1878) of Nettleville House, County Cork[1][53] and had 13 children.
Babington's survived two world wars, the advent of fast food and various economic crises, and has become a favourite meeting place for writers, actors, artists and politicians.
