Individual Details

Occupation

Robert GREENWOOD-PENNY of Nethergrove was the largest land owner in High Bickington after the Pyncombe estate.

Residence (family)

Robert Greenwood-Penny and his wife Sarah, (always known as Siddie), were the largest land owners after the Pyncombe estate in the latter half of the 19th &early 20th Centuries. They moved to High Bickington in 1883 and lived on the Nethergrove estate until their deaths, Sarah/Siddie on 26th May 1904 and Robert on 27th January 1905. They had four children including Robert Augustus their eldest, who was 12 when they first moved to Nethergrove. He later went on to follow his father's footstep's as a psychiatrist and was superintendent of the female wing of the Devon County Mental Hospital at Exminster. Robert's brother Sidney was also in the medical profession and the two were students together in London.
Siddie was an accomplished horsewoman who also had a passion for cycling. She was also a talented wood carver and the fronts of the choir stalls in the church are her handiwork, although she died before they were fully completed. Husband Robert was a keen sportsman and took great care of his estate. He was also churchwarden for the reverend Wansbrough from 1897 until his death in 1905, a school governor and member fo the Taw and Torridge Board of Conservators.