Killiow and the Daubuz family

My mother grew up on the estate at Killiow, just outside Truro, where her father, James Green, had gone to work as a gardener soon after she was born, probably when the Trelissick estate was sold in 1915. She sometimes mentioned Miss Daubuz, the lady of the house, and there were also mentions of her brother, "Squire Daubuz," although it seems that he died in 1915. The Daubuz family has an interesting history, they were wealthy and played significant public roles in Cornwall. Yet there is very little coherent information about them on the Internet. They seem not to have any living descendants today; certainly, the last Daubuz owners of Killiow had no children. What is unexpected is the fact that the father of Miss Daubuz (whom my mother must often have seen) had been the Rector of Creed church by Grampound from 1829 to 1857. and as such had baptized, married and buried many of my father's Teague ancestors. Truly a small world!



The Daubuz family arms

(The text below comes from pages in a Blog named The Tumbrel Diaries maintained by Angus Trumble, who has been Senior Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, since May 2003. They were inspired by his discovery that a picture he was examining had the Daubuz arms in a seal on its back )

 The Reverend John Claude Daubuz, born in 1804, was the third son of Lewis Charles Daubuz [1755 - 1839] a mercantile gentleman of ample but not limitless means who married Wilmot, the youngest but one of the five "extraordinarily beautiful" daughters of William Arundell Harris, esq., of Keneggie, near Penzance, .

John Claude matriculated on May 2, 1821, aged seventeen, and duly went up to Exeter College, Oxford. After four years, Mr. Daubuz took his degree, and was in 1828 ordained priest by the Right Reverend George Henry Law, Bishop of Bath and Wells.

In 1836, Mr. Daubuz married Mary Uzella, the daughter of a wealthy banker, William Foster, of Lanwithan Manor, Lostwithiel. On their wedding day Mr. and Mrs. Daubuz signed a deed according to which they became the beneficiaries of a substantial trust established for her benefit by Mr. Foster. Mr. Daubuz served as Rector of Creed (the parish of St. Crida, Grampound) from 1829 to 1857.

After he relinquished the living of Creed, Mr. and Mrs. Daubuz retired to Killiow House, near Truro. Killiow was an exceedingly ancient manor, and the pretty old Georgian house that survives today was wholly transformed during the Regency by Mr. Daubuz’s father. John Claude Daubuz made a plucky effort to introduce pike into one of the artificial ponds he built at Killiow, but they died out soon afterwards. This is a valuable hint towards what was probably Mr. Daubuz’s preferred occupation: fishing. Certainly his only institutional affiliation, apart from the Church of England, seems to have been with the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall.

Having successfully avoided any form of intellectual stimulus for upwards of fifty years, in peaceful retirement Mr. Daubuz discovered the pleasures of controversialism. His first tract was published locally in Truro by Netherton and Worth in 1879, and was entitled The Origin and Nature of Man: His Fallen State: His Redemption: How Effected, and By Whom. This attracted some attention in the press, specifically a bold response by some bright spark, perhaps an ambitious young clergyman, a self-appointed new broom, to which, after two years of rumination, Mr. Daubuz cautiously replied with A Defence and Explanation of a Treatise on the “Origin and Nature of Man,” that is, “A reply by J. Daubuz to a critique in the newspaper the Rock of his The Origin and Nature of Man,” and, at length adding to these, within only a few months of his death on September 24, 1883, some final Thoughts on the Creation of the World, and the Fall of Man.

A good replica of the painting The Cottage Door by Thomas Gainsborough passed through three generations of the (originally Huguenot) family of Daubuz. The original painting is in the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Mr. Daubuz lent his picture, together with A Portrait of the Artist as a Beggar by Jan Steen, to a Royal Academy Exhibition of the Works of the Old Masters at Burlington House in Piccadilly.

The identification was made possible by a wax seal and a note fixed to the back of the picture:

Tin Ingot From Treloweth Tin Smelting Works With Its Lamb & Flag Motif & Louis Charles Daubuz Truro Seal, recovered from the SS Cheerful which Sank on July 20th 1885.

The Daubuz squires of Killiow were part of the tin-smelting cartel in Truro and must have earned a good income from that.


Killiow House

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Additional biographical information about the Daubuz family.

From Susan E. (Susan Elizabeth) Gay. Old Falmouth :

The following interesting account of the Daubuz family has been sent me : ' The surname of D'Abus, or Daubuz. was taken from the Seigneurs of Aubus, in Poitou We begin with a branch of the family at Auxerre, the head of which was Charles D'Aubus (born 1550, d. 1639) He seems to have spent his life at Nerac, probably as a pasteur, and to have been succeeded in the pastoral charge by a son and grandson "... "The grandson was Isaye, born in 1637, pasteur at Nerac. and his wife's Christian name was Julie. He was happy in having powerful friends at Court, and he accordingly obtained the King s permission to sell his property and to retire to England with his family. The following is a translation of the royal permit, the original of which is still in the possession ot his descendants ; it is signed by Louis XIV., and by the younger Colbert (Marquis de Seignelay) : — ' To-day. the second day of July. 1685. the King
being at Versailles, and taking into consideration the very humble petition made to him by Isaye D'Aubus. heretofore minister of the Pretended Reformed Religion at Nerac, praying leave to retire into England with his wife and four children, and to sell all their property in France, his Majesty is graciously pleased to grant them his permission to that effect, and in virtue of this his decree releases them from the rigour or penalty of any of his Ordonnances to the contrary. To which it is his Majesty's pleasure to affix his own signature, and at his command this is countersigned by me his Councillor and Secretary of State, and of his Commandments and Finances.'

" The emigrants took their departure accordingly, but the father died on the road between Paris and Calais, aged 48. Madame D'Aubus thus arrived in England as a widow with her fatherless children. . . . " We concern ourselves with Charles the eldest surviving son." " Charles Daubuz, born in 1674, was a refugee at the age of eleven. He studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, and took his B.A. degree in 1693. He became Vicar of Brotherton, in Yorkshire, in 1699, and was remarkable for his scholarship and Biblical knowledge, and also for his piety and benevolence. He died in 1717. The English families of Daubuz descend from his son Theophilus, who was born at Brotherton in 1713, and died in London in 1774. His eldest son, Lewis Charles Daubuz, married (in Cornwall), Wilmot, third daughter of William Arundel Harris Arundel, of Kenegie." [The text of a 1730 revised edition of Charles Daubuz's book A Perpetual Commentary on the Revelation of St. John can be read online]

(The above are extracts from Protestant Exiles from France in the Reign of Louis XIV., by the Rev. P. C. A. Agnew).

"Lewis Charles Daubuz, born in Falmouth, was a Merchant and Tin Smelter at Falmouth, Carvidras, Treloweth, and Truro, for about fifty years, etc. He died at Leyton, Essex, in 1839, aged 85. (From Boase's Collectanea Corns.) The Rev. John Claude Daubuz was his third son. A fine portrait painted by Opie of Mr. Lewis C. Daubuz is still preserved, but all the older portraits and the family records were destroyed in the fire at Falmouth. This must have occurred in a house overlooking the harbour, as it appears the ships at anchor fired guns to give warning of the fire. Henry James Daubuz, who was in Falmouth in the eighteenth century, died in 1770."

The Great House, Leyton (near London). The Daubuz family seem to have hesitated between this house and Killiow for a while. Lewis Charles spent his last years there but his children must have preferred Cornwall.
In 1803-5 John Theophilus Daubuz (the unmarried brother of Lewis Charles Daubuz) bought the house and lands from the heirs of Thomas Oliver for £5800, and it is probable that about this date the extensive alterations carried out in the style of the Brothers Adam, were made. (fn. 3) Mr. Daubuz was of French extraction, his ancestors having come to this country at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). Apparently something of a Philistine he (among other alterations) converted the two tine panelled rooms for use as domestic offices, had much of the panelling in other rooms stripped from the walls, which were canvassed and papered, and the remainder of the woodwork including the staircase and hall, painted stone colour! He is also credited in the Parish Records with blocking church improvements which threatened encroachment on his family pew. At his death in 1830/1 the greater part of his property, including the Great House, passed to his daughter Ann Hand Mary Daubuz, who however lived only until 1836, when the estate was inherited by Lewis Charles Daubuz, of Truro, who lived for three years at the Great House with his daughter. His two sons, Charles Lewis and William Daubuz to whom it next descended, let the house in 1840 to Stephen Cattley, a Russia merchant, who lived in it till 1845. It was then let to Mr. Kennard, and after him as a school to Mr. Arnold, a relative of Dr. Arnold of Rugby. In 1855 the Great House was a Boarding House, managed by Mr. Dovey. From 1858 to 1860 it was again inhabited by a member of the Daubuz family, Mr. James Daubuz, and soon after this date was rented by Mrs. Davey (then Woods) who a few years afterwards purchased it.

The Tumbrell Diaries include a description of the failed attempt by John Theophilus Daubuz to sell by auction a collection of Italian paintings of dubious provenance. It is suggested that some of these might finally have gone to Killiow.

Killiow House, Kea near Truro. Killiow House was once the home of Theophila Gwatkin (née Palmer; 1757–1848) and Robert Lovell Gwatkin (1757–1843). Robert Lovell Gwatkin was born in 1757. He married Theophila Palmer, daughter of Reverend John Palmer and Mary Reynolds (and therefore a niece of Sir Joshua Reynolds), on 18 June 1780 at Great Torrington, Devon, England. He died in Plymouth in 1843. They had 10 children. It seems that near the start of the 19th century, Gwatkin bought Killiow and rebuilt almost completely the old house: "Mr. Robert Lovell Gwatkin ... has built an almost entirely new house with extensive gardens and plantations, improved the land, and made the whole into a handsome modern residence." (Gilbert, 1838, "The Parochial History of Cornwall," London: Nichols & Son", p. 306) at about the same time (1802-5) as he built the first Kea Church beside it and demolished Old Kea church except for the tower. However, in 1817 he was already described as "late of Killiow now of Torrington" which seems to have been the home of his wife. One Internet page says that "Killiow was bought about 1830 by Lewis Charles Daubuz tin smelter of Penzance."  However, the above text tells us that he then moved to live in Leyton in 1836 on inheriting it from his sister and it is from that date, perhaps, that his son William Daubuz moved into Killiow. There is a memorial to Robert Gwatkin in Kea Church. William Daubuz died in 1854, John Claude left Creed to move into Killiow in 1857. The description of the house mentions remodeling undertaken in the 1850s, perhaps that was done on the death of William, before his brother moved in?

[James Baril Daubuz (1795 - 1874), High Sheriff of Sussex in 1846, was the son of Lewis Charles Daubuz, who was brother of John Theophilus Daubuz.
His sons were presumably: Robert Claude Baril Daubuz 1837 - 1916
and there is also another generation: James Claude Baril Daubuz 1884 - 1939]
A gravestone in the cemetery of Ryde, Isle of Wight, marks the burial place of another John Theophilus Daubuz, a captain in the Royal Artillery,  who died in March 1871 aged 37, so born in c1834 and probably named in honour of his recently deceased uncle) and includes a memorial inscription to his sister (?) Magdalen Judith Daubuz who died in June 1900 aged 68 as well as their parents, James Baril Daubuz who died in November 1874 aged 79 and Ann Daubuz who died in October 1891, aged 84.

Lewis Charles Daubuz married Wilmot Arundel on 18 August 1794 at Madron, Cornwall, England.
She died in 1814 and is commemorated by a stained glass window in St. Mary's aisle of Truro Cathedral.
Children of Lewis Charles Daubuz and Wilmot Arundel

1.Frances Louisa Daubuz. born 1 Nov 1796   d. 1804
2.William Daubuz born 23 Aug 1804, d. 24 Feb 1854  Were William and John Claude twins?
3.(The Reverend) John Claude Daubuz was born in 1804   died in Killiow on 24 September 1883

In the 1841 Census, we find the Rev. John Claude Daubuz married to Mary Uzella Foster since 1836 and living in the the Rectory House at Creed but with names wrongly spelled.
They had had a son Lewis Charles Daubuz who was baptized in 1837 and buried in 1838.
John Danbury, 35,,Clergyman
Mary Danbury, 35,
Thomas Lark, 50, Male Servant
Edmund Stephens, 24, Male Servant
Martha Woolmer, 30, Female Servant
Mary Williams, 35, Female Servant
Joyse Nettle, 25, Female Servant

In  the 1851 Census, the Daubuz family had increased in number and was living, not at the Rectory but elsewhere in Grampound, well looked after but with names badly spelled (or transcribed):
John Daubury [John Claude Daubuz], 47, Rector Of Creed, born in Truro Cornwall,,
Mary Uzella Daubury,Wife, 45, London Middlesex,
John Claude Daubury, Son, 9, Scholar At Home, born in Creed Cornwall, [Baptism at Creed  in 1842 recorded under family name Danbury]
Mary Wilmot Arundell Daubury, Dau, 7, Scholar At Home, born in Creed Cornwall, [1843 - 1894] Baptism at Creed recorded under family name Daubuz
William Baril Daubury, Son, 5, Scholar At Home, born in Creed Cornwall, [Baptism at Creed in 1845 recorded  under family name Danbury[ Died in 1860 in Hendon, Middlesex.
Elizabeth Frances Ann Daubury, Dau, 3, Scholar At Home, born in Creed Cornwall,  [1847 - 1934] ditto
Julia Penelope Daubury, Dau,1, born in Creed Cornwall [Baptism at Creed in 1850 recorded under family name Danbury] died in 1852
M E Lawrence,Servnt,Unmarried, 29, Governess,
Rebecca Blewett,Servnt, U, 19, House Servant,
Sarah Trebilcock,Servnt, U, 43, House Servant
Margaret R Woolcock, U, 35, House Servant,
Eliza Solomon, U 19, House Servant,
H A Morcom, U, 18, House Servant,
Jane Hugh, U, 28, Servant,
Mary Carne,Visitor, U, 37, Dressmaker,

At the 1851 Census, we find living in Churchtown, Creed, Harry Martin, (age 39), Rector Of Litton Dorset,Cacklington, Somerset, with his wife Ann Martin. He was perhaps serving as Vicar for John Claude Daubuz.

At the same 1851 Census, Killiow was inhabited by:
William Daubuz, 48, Mfh & Tin Smelter, born in St Marys Cornwall,,
H Daubuz,Wife, 21, born in Bessinglie Yorkshire,
John Sexon, Butler,
Robt Fowler, Footman
James Rundell, Groom
Wm Brown, Gardener,
Hy Maycock, Housekeeper
H Paull, Lady's Maid
E Rowe, House Maid
C Hockin, Under Maid
Emma Pond, Kitchen Maid

Sad story: "Ann Evelyn Daubuz was born on 27 March 1852 at Killiow House, Kea, Cornwall, England. She was the daughter of William Daubuz and Helen Mary Charlotte Soulsby.
She died on 27 March 1852 at Killiow House, Kea, Cornwall, England, after living for only an hour." They seem not to have had other children.
The great difference of age meant that when William died in 1854, his widow was still very young. She later remarried (as the Spectator recorded: "On the 28th December, 1860,at the British Legation, Turin, the Reverend George Raymond Portal, rector of Albury, Surrey, to Helen Mary Charlotte, Widow of the late William Daubuz, Esq., of Killiow, Cornwall, and niece of his Excellency Sir James Hudson" (ambassador to Turin 1852 - 1863)

By 1861, the Rector of Creed was George Johnston, born in Scotland.

In the 1861 Census for Killiow we find John Claude Daubuz's family have now moved there, although Rev. John Daubuz is away from home.
the spelling or transcribing is very innacurate. Mary N Daubaz,Head,M,,55,Wife Of The Rev M Daubaz, (born in) Bermondsey Middlesex,,
Jno H Daubaz, Son, 19, (Scholar),
Mary W A Daubaz, Dau, 17, Scholar,
Elizth F A Daubaz, Dau,13, Scholar,
Margaret E Laurance, Governess, 39, with 10 more servants and 2 visitors

In the 1871 Census we find the whole family living at Killiow House, again with the name badly spelled or transcribed:

John Danbry, 67, Clergyman
Mary W Danbry, 65,
John C Danbry, Son, 29,Tin Smelter J.P,
E F A Danbry, Dau, 23,
Mary W Foster, Niece, 22, Castle Lostwithiel Cornwall, with 10 servants

,In the 1881 Census the Rev. John Daubuz (78) and his wife Mary Uxella were living in Killiow, together with their son John Claude and their daughter Elizabeth Frances A. Daubuz and 12 servants.

Surviving children of Reverend John Daubuz and Mary Uzella Foster
1.John Claude Daubuz b. c 1842, d. c 11 Apr 1915
2.Mary Wilmot Arundell Daubuz b. 21 Sep 1843
3.Elizabeth Frances Ann Daubuz b. 1848

Biography of John Claude Daubuz, the son of the Rev. J. C. Daubuz of Creed ("Squire Daubuz")

Attended Harrow School September 1856 until November 1860. After studies at Brasenose College Oxford he graduated B.A. in 1864.
He was appointed JP (Justice of the Peace) and DL (Deputy Lieutenant) for Cornwall 1867, High Sherrif 1891. Chairman of Cornish Bank Ltd

After the death of the Rev. John Claude Daubuz in 1883, in the 1891 Census we find his son of the same name living at Killiow.
Born in 1842, he never married and died in 1915. His sister remained at Killiow until her death in 1934 at the age of 88.
This second John Claude seems to have been more highly educated than his father. The London bookseller A. Maurice sold a copy of the first folio edition of Shakespeare's play to "the Cornish tin magnate John Claude Daubuz" in August 1896. It was sent to be sold by Miss Elizabeth Daubuz in 1932 (Sotheby’s, 25 July, lot 129A) and bought by Marks for £100. The next we hear of it is when sold jointly in 1969 by the British firm H. M. Fletcher and Japanese firm Yushodo to a Mr Kamijo in 1969 for £6,400. It is still in Japan.

1891 Census
John C Daubuz, 49, Tin Smelter & J P Etc, born at Creed Rectory Cornwall, Sherrif of Cornwall
Elizabeth F A Daubuz, Sister, Single, 43, Living On Own Means, born at Creed Rectory Cornwall,
and a huge staff
Margret E Lawrence, Visitor, Single, 69, Living On Own Means, Lostwithiel Cornwall,,
Margret K Hooper, 75, House Keeper
Susan H Webber, 27, Ladys Maid
Mary A Dawe,Servt, 45, Cook
Mary E Moyle, 26, House Maid
Elizabeth J Chester, 26, House Maid
Ellen Mason, 33, Laundry Maid,Employed
Alice Lenard, 18, Kitchen Maid,
Emily Johns, 16, Kitchen Maid, born in India, Umblla Overseas Brit. Subject
Charles Greet, 25, Foot Man
John Julian, 14, Foot Man
Henry Plint, 24, Groom,Employed
(all the staff were single)