Lord Churston
(1799-1871)
27 March 1861

Volume 3, page 12, sitting number 2747.

Born John Buller-Yarde-Buller, he was the eldest son of Sir Francis Buller-Yarde-Buller, Bt. and his wife, Elizabeth. In 1833, he inherited his father’s baronetcy and entered Parliament two years later as MP for South Devon. He held the seat for almost twenty-four years and on his retirement in 1858 was raised to the peerage as Baron Churston of Churston Ferrers and Lupton in the County of Devon. In 1860, he changed the family name to Yarde-Buller.

On 24 January 1823 he married Elizabeth Wilson-Patten (the sister of the future Lord Winmarleigh); they had two children. He married secondly Caroline Newman, daughter of Sir Robert William Newman of Mamhead. She died in 1866. 

Lord Churston died on 4 September 1871 at Lupton House in Brixham, Devon, leaving an estate valued at £18,000. His titles passed to his eldest grandson, John, his son having predecased him in 1867.

'Lord Churston, who was suddenly seized with illness on Saturday while on the magisterial bench at Brixham, died yesterday afternoon at his seat, Lupton, near Brixham. His lordship, who was 71 years of age, represented South Devon in the Conservative interest for twenty years. He is succeeded by his grandson, Captain Buller, of the Scots Fusilier Guards' (Morning Advertiser, 5 September 1871). 

According to a far longer obituary in the Western Times (5 September 1871), 'Lord Churston, as we have said, had a high sense of honour, was sincere in his friendship, and staunch in whatever he undertook. He was highly popular as a country gentleman, was a vigorous and intelligent magistrate, and as a landlord he was justly esteemed for thorough liberality in his dealings with his tenants.'