William Davenport X

3. William Davenport, born 18 November 1745, High Sheriff of Chester in 1781, died 14 April 1829.

The tenth and final William Davenport succeeded his father, Warren at the age of four. Many changes were made to the house during his tenure, including the dismantling of the gatehouse side of the courtyard and the long gallery, the latter of which may have been done because of their being considered unsafe.[27] William had no sons, so the estate passed to Salusbury Pryce Humphreys, the husband of his illegitimate daughter Maria.[24]

Humphreys, a Naval captain, had married Maria Davenport in 1810, and lived at Bramall Hall long before he succeeded his father-in-law.[24] He became widely respected in the Stockport area, but following his succession to the estate in 1829, there were disputes from other members of the Davenport family who claimed a right to the property.[28] Edmund Davenport, who claimed ancestry from Thomas Davenport, the third son of Peter, unsuccessfully contested the succession in two different courts; Edmund was eventually imprisoned for failing to pay the legal fees.[29] Humphreys was knighted in 1834 for his services, and in 1838 changed his name to Davenport, in an effort to continue the Davenport line.[24] He moved with Maria to Cheltenham in 1841, most likely because living at Bramall had become expensive or because of health concerns. Salusbury died there four years later and was buried in Leckhampton.[30]

Over the next decade the house was likely to have been let, as Maria Davenport preferred to live elsewhere. Her eldest son, William Davenport Davenport married firstly to Camilla Maria Gatt, then secondly to Diana Handley,[24] whom he lived with at Bramall for four years before the estate was passed to him. Maria moved to London where she lived with her youngest son, Charles, and died in 1866.[31] During William's tenure Bramall was regularly visited by members of the public, and the Chapel continued to be used for regular services of worship.[32] However, following his death in 1869, the property was rented out to Wakefield Christy of Christys & Co Hatting, therefore ending direct involvement from the Davenport family.[33] This occurred because William's son, John, was too young to inherit the estate.[34] John's whereabouts during Christy's seven-year tenure is unknown, though he was shown as a visitor at Bramall in 1871, and in 1874 became the first chairman of the Bramhall School Board. In 1876, shortly before he returned to the house, he

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramall_Hall