John Coventry
- Born: 19 Feb 1845, Towry, Cornwall 9
- Marriage: Emily Mary Weld on 25 Oct 1876
- Died: 1933 aged 88
 General Notes:
John Coventry married Emily Weld daughter of Joseph Weld (1815-1889) and Flora Macdonell Radcliffe (1826-1882) qv on 25 Oct 1876.
After his marriage John took over the day to day running of the Burgate estate. Before long his ambition took him elsewhere and he took up an appointment as land agent for Sir Percy Radcliffe, his wife's maternal uncle, at Rudding Park. Much of John's time was spent at the estate office at Draycott, Stoke on Trent (which is where a lot of Mum's ancestors come from). His youngest sister, Gertrude, married Sir Percy's son Henry in 1896.
Emily & John Coventry C1895
By the middle of 1900 the estate was gone and the legal process was virtually complete. The dismay of the family was exacerbated by a row over the future of the house. Having bought it, John now intended to return there with his wife and six children. Catherine would be provided with a dower house nearby. His brothers and sisters objected vehemently to this and argued that she should be allowed to spend the rest of her days at Burgate.
John's view prevailed, however, and Catherine moved to a house called The Bartons, where she died less than two years later in 1901. In her will, proved 17th Jun 1901, she left her house to James and Walter and the majority of her possessions to her other children. John, her eldest son, was left nothing on the grounds that he was already well provided for.
John remained at Burgate House until his death in 1933; his widow Emily occupied it until her death in 1937. This ended a Bulkeley-Coventry occupation which had lasted since 1446. The house was occupied by ICI for a while and is now (called Burgate Manor) the national headquarters for the Game Conservancy Trust.
Noted events in his life were:
• Address: 1851, West Dean, Sussex.
• Occupation/Address: Land agent, 1891, 45 Addison Gardens, Hammersmith, London.
• Occupation/Address: Living on own means, 1901, Burgate House, Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
John married Emily Mary Weld, daughter of Joseph Weld and Flora Macdonell Radcliffe, on 25 Oct 1876. (Emily Mary Weld was born about 1854 in Lulworth Castle, Dorset 9 and died in 1937.)
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