Budleigh Past and Present

Friend of Fairlynch Richard Champernowne performs the opening ceremony at the Sir Walter Ralegh Room East Devon residents think this is a wonderful part of Britain and cherish its fascinating history. But the fact is that a large number of us are ‘blow-ins’ attracted by the beauty of its landscape and its laid-back lifestyle. So to open Fairlynch Museum’s ‘Beyond the Boyhood’ Sir Walter Ralegh exhibition it was wonderful to have someone with such a well known Devon family name as Champernowne. Even better was the fact that Richard Champernowne, a Friend of Fairlynch Museum, has a family link going back through the centuries to Sir Walter.   His family records trace a blood line from Richard back to Sir Walter Ralegh's maternal grandfather Sir Arthur Champernowne – an MP, Sheriff of Devon and Vice-Admiral of the Devon coasts. Sir Walter's mother Katherine Gilbert (née Champernowne) was one of Sir Arthur's six daughters and Richard is a...