Melford Hall has been the home of the Hyde Parker family since 1786.

It was purchased by Sir Harry Parker, 6th Baronet. Sir Harry came from an ancient Devon family that included the Parkers of Saltram near Plymouth.

From the Seven Years War in the 1750s until the Second World War, five generations of his relatives fought, and died, at sea for their country.

Sir Harry’s father, Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker I, 5th Baronet, (1713-83) began his career as a merchant seaman. He joined the Royal Navy at 24 and was given his first command at the age of 29.

Following the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756, he was sent to the Indian Ocean, where he took part in the capture of Manila from the Spanish.

Sir Hyde Parker I was promoted to rear-admiral in 1778. After naval victories against the French in the Caribbean, he returned home and engaged the Dutch fleet near the Dogger Bank in 1781.

In December 1782, he set sail in HMS Cato to take up a posting in Bombay. The Cato was never heard of again. It is thought to have sunk off the Maldives. Among those lost were Sir Harry and his young son, who was also serving on board as a midshipman.

Sir Harry’s brother, Admiral Sir Hyde Parker II (1739-1807) made his name fighting in the American War of Independence. He was knighted for his part in the Hudson River campaign.

The prize money he won while serving in the West Indies during the 1790s made him a wealthy man.

In 1801, he commanded the British fleet during the bombardment of Copenhagen. His second-in-command was Horatio Nelson, who led the attack.

At the height of the battle, Hyde Parker II hoisted the flag to discontinue the action. Famously, Nelson ignored the order from his commander by raising his telescope to his blind eye and exclaiming ‘I really do not see the signal’. He pressed on with the action and ultimately compelled the Danish forces to capitulate.

Sir Harry’s nephew, Vice-Admiral Hyde Parker III (1786-1854) also served in the Napoleonic Wars and was appointed Senior Naval Lord in 1852.

His son, yet another Hyde Parker commanded the first steamship in the Royal Navy, HMS Firebrand. He was killed storming a Russian fort at Sulina in the Crimea in 1854.

His grandson, Edmund Hyde Parker (later Admiral), commanded the battleship HMS Superb at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

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Sir William Parker, 7th Baronet, (1769-1830) inherited Melford Hall in 1812. He and, afterwards, his brother and heir Sir Hyde Parker, 8th Baronet, (1785-1856) commissioned the architect Thomas Hopper to remodel a number of the interiors at Melford Hall in an austere Grecian style.

Sir William Parker, 9th Baronet, (1826-91) introduced his antiquarian tastes to Melford Hall by refurbishing the Great Hall with Jacobean panelling and dark oak antiques. He also restored the room’s traditional mullioned windows in 1867.

The Reverend Sir William Hyde Parker, 10th Baronet, (1863-1931) married Ethel Leech, a cousin of Beatrix Potter. 'Cousin Beattie' often visited Melford trying out her famous stories on the Hyde Parker children.

Sir William Hyde Parker, 11th Baronet, (1892-1951) modernised a number of the services at the house including the introduction of electric light in the Great Saloon, Drawing Room and Dining Room. A hands-on man, he farmed much of the estate himself during the agricultural depression of the 1930s.

He also commissioned Sir Albert Richardson to restore the North Wing following the disastrous fire of 1942.

On her husband's death in 1951, Lady Ulla Hyde Parker was determined to keep the estate together. She eventually transferred the home and some of the principle contents, along with 130 acres of the park, to the treasury in lieu of death duties.

In 1960, they were passed to the National Trust to be preserved on behalf of the nation. In the 1970s, Sir Richard Hyde Parker, 12th Baronet, and his wife Jeanie made their home in the South Wing. They continue to live at Melford Hall with their family.