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West Buckland, England
West Buckland, England
Ruggin Court was "the old Thruston Homestead", per Gates Phillips Thruston's book "A Sketch of the Ancestry of the Thruston-Phillips Families". Ruggin Court is located in the hamlet known as Ruggin, identified on the map below.
1896 Visit to Ruggin Court
1896 Visit to Ruggin Court
In 1896 R. C. Ballard Thruston visited England. He reported that John Thruston's father Malachias Thruston lived at West Buckland and that his old home (at Ruggin Court) was still standing.
“The Thruston Family of Virginia.” The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Oct., 1895), p. 116 (3 pages), https://www.jstor.org/stable/1915054
A sketch of the ancestry of the Thruston-Phillips Families; Thruston, Gates Phillips. Nashville: Press Brandon Print. Co, 1909. Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/86167546/, p.4
1896 Photo of Ruggin Court
1896 Photo of Ruggin Court
A sketch of the ancestry of the Thruston-Phillips Families; Thruston, Gates Phillips. Nashville: Press Brandon Print. Co, 1909. Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/86167546/, plate VI (after p.12)
R. C. Ballard Thruston, descendant of John Thruston, took this photo of the old "Thruston Homestead" during his visit in 1896.
R. C. Ballard Thruston, descendant of John Thruston, took this photo of the old "Thruston Homestead" during his visit in 1896.
R. C. Ballard Thruston reported that the last Thruston owner of the house was Malachi Thruston. Both John Thruston (1606) and his brother Edward Thruston (1589) had sons named Malachi. Since John Thruston spent most of his adult life in Bristol, England, and his brother Edward Thruston remained in West Buckland, the Malachi Thruston that owned the home was most likely a descendant of Edward, possibly his son Malachi Thruston.
Alexander Richards
Alexander Richards
R. C. Ballard Thruston reported that the estate was the property of Mr. Alexander Richards in 1896.
A sketch of the ancestry of the Thruston-Phillips Families; Thruston, Gates Phillips. Nashville: Press Brandon Print. Co, 1909. Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/86167546/, p.5
The couple in this photo could be William Alexander Richards (1821-1901) and his wife Joanna Valantine (1821-?).
Photo by R. C. Ballard Thruston, 1896
R.C. Ballard Thruston returned to England in 1923 and took additional photographs of Ruggin Court. The couple in front could be William Alexander Richards (Jr.?) (1849-?), the son of the man in the 1896 photo, and his wife Emma Druce (1843-?).
Photo by R. C. Ballard Thruston, 1923
Photo by R. C. Ballard Thruston, 1923
I was surprised to find the same house is still standing! At least it was when this Google Maps Street View photo was taken in 2011.
Google Maps Street View of the same house (photo from 2011)
R. C. Ballard Thruston - WikiTree - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ballard-6809
Lower Ruggin Farmhouse - Historic England - https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1344584
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