Five centuries of the Gibbs family

Before Tyntesfield
We have Antony Gibbs to thank for starting the business empire on which the Victorian splendour of Tyntesfield House was built. He was the son of an Exeter surgeon, but his family roots can be traced to the village of Clyst St George, a few miles south east of the city. Family memorials in the church date back to the 16th-century and their house remains in the parish today. Antony Gibbs decided against following his father into medicine. Instead, he was attracted into the exciting - and profitable - world of international trade. He started life as a wool merchant, before establishing himself in Madrid selling English cloth in Spain and sending Spanish fruit and wine to England.

The business empire booms
Antony nearly went bust several times. It was only after the Spanish colonies were liberated that the firm - under the control of Antony's sons, George and William - began to thrive. Amusingly, much of their fortune came from their trade in the droppings of sea birds, called guano. This could be found many feet deep on rainless islets along the South America's Pacific coast. When the first shipment was made in 1842, it was a huge gamble. But the guano was an instant success and became Britain's most popular fertiliser.

The next generation
When his elder brother died, William became head of the firm. From then, until his death, the business' profits continued to boom. In fact, the £70,000 cost of building Tyntesfield - which started in 1863 - represented less than one year's average profits!

William Gibbs was deeply religious - as was his wife, the beautiful Matilda Blanche Crawley-Boevey. But life at Tyntesfield was not all piety. Private theatricals were often held in the library. Together they had a large Victorian family that ran to seven children and 18 grandchildren!

Being a high-flying businessman, William Gibbs was often in London. He kept a house in Hyde Park Gardens from where he would regularly walk to the City - always with cane in hand. William could often be found at the docks inspecting the huge piles of guano outside the warehouses.

In 1841, William Gibb's eldest son, another Antony, was born. He loved to play the organ and also showed enormous skill in turning ivory, which he did in a special lathe room opening off the billiard room. Antony's claim to fame was his invention of a special bicycle, which stored energy when going downhill. This power could then be released by a pedal but, sadly, the bicycle proved very heavy to ride on the flat and it didn't catch on.

To the present day
In 1871, Antony was followed by his son, George, who began his career as a soldier and was later MP for West Bristol until 1928. His appointment as Treasurer of the Household was instrumental in his elevation to the peerage with the title Lord Wraxall. His son, another George, who was known as Richard, served in the Coldstream Guards and the local Yeomanry regiment. In 2001, the second Lord Wraxall died unmarried, leaving a brother, the diplomat Sir Eustace Gibbs, who is now the third Lord Wraxall. He has three sons and two daughters.