Family History
-
1 of 5Photo: Sir Robert Throckmorton, 4th Baronet -
2 of 5Photo: George, son of Sir Robert, 3rd Baronet -
3 of 5Photo: Charlotte, daughter of Sir Robert Throckmorton, 3rd Baronet -
4 of 5Photo: Mrs Clare McLaren-Throckmorton -
5 of 5
The Throckmortons , who are celebrating their 600th anniversary of residence at Coughton Court, have remained Roman Catholic since before the Reformation
Various members of the family were involved in, or connected with, pre-Reformation plots and conspiracies including the Throckmorton Plot of 1583 and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Although Royalist sympathisers during the Civil War, the family was one of very few recusant families to survive the turbulent 16th and 17th centuries with their estates intact. They went on to become leaders in Catholic emancipation in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
The sixth Baronet assumed the additional surname of Courtenay in 1792 on inheriting the Courtenay estates of Molland, Devon, through his mother. The eighth Baronet was Member of Parliament for Berkshire. The title became extinct on the death of the twelfth Baronet in 1994. However, the Throckmorton family is still resident at Coughton Court, which is now managed by the National Trust.
The Throckmorton Family Gardens at Coughton Court are still owned and managed by the family. Clare McLaren-Throckmorton together with her daughter, acclaimed garden designer Christina Williams, has devoted the past 15 years – with the support of a dedicated team of gardeners – to developing what is now one of the finest gardens in Britain.
Clare’s children, Christina, Guy and Charles, and her 10 grandchildren, have grown up with this magnificent estate as their family home, and it will be their future legacy to maintain the personal family influences that make it so special.
