Family and Education

2nd s. of Christopher Battiscombe of Symondsbury by Mary, da. of Peter Starre of Bradford Abbas.  educ. M. Temple 1691. unm.  suc. fa. to property in Bridport, Allington and Bradpole 1671; er. bro. at Symondsbury 1685.1

Offices Held

Biography

Battiscombe was descended from a family which had owned the farm of Vere’s Wotton in Dorset since the reign of Henry VI. His father, a younger son, had settled at Symondsbury on the outskirts of Bridport, and by the terms of his will, proved in 1671, Peter inherited various tenements and houses in Bridport and other Dorset parishes. His elder brother, Christopher, was not mentioned in the will but presumably Symondsbury had already been settled on him and after his execution in 1685 for participation in the Monmouth rebellion, this estate too came to Peter. Battiscombe was returned for Bridport at a by-election in 1697 and again at the following general election. He was classed as a member of the Country party in about September 1698, and an analysis of the House into interests in early 1700 classed him as doubtful. Granted a fortnight’s leave of absence on 13 Mar. 1700, he did not stand again. Sir Charles Hedges* had considered purchasing Symondsbury in 1698, but deemed its electoral influence ‘insufficient in itself to induce me’. In March 1701 Battiscombe was granted tithes in Bestwell, Dorset and some small parcels of land in Yorkshire. He died in 1725, leaving the bulk of his property to a kinsman by marriage, George Sampson.2

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

• 1. Hutchins, Dorset, ii. 240.
• 2. Add. 24107, f. 179; Cal. Treas. Bks. xvi. 230; Dorset RO, Battiscombe mss D198/5, 7; PCC 73 Duke.