Editing John Popham (judge) (section)

===Littlecote House, Berkshire===
[[File:Littlecote House 01.jpg|thumb|Littlecote House, south front added by Sir John Popham after 1589. His armorials sculpted in stone survive above the front door]]

Popham acquired the [[Reversion (law)|reversion]] of the estate of [[Littlecote House|Littlecote]] in Berkshire (today in Wiltshire) from [[William Darrell of Littlecote|William Darrell]] (1539–1589), MP, and following the latter's death in 1589 duly became its owner. The historian [[John Aubrey]] (1626–1697) stated that Popham had acquired Littlecote as a bribe for having obtained a ''[[nolle prosequi]]'' in favour of the murderer William "Wild" Darrell,<ref>Hasler, History of Parliament.</ref> which account Rice (2005) deemed "not accurate" and "A story of passion, murder and confusion".<ref>Rice, p. 83, with quote of Aubrey's text.</ref> Popham expanded the house and added a south wing in red-brick, which structure survives today. His armorials survive above the south porch.<ref>[http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/engforum/index.php?showtopic=4749 Rice, p. 91; see image]</ref>

Following the destruction of Wellington House in the Civil War, Littlecote became the principal seat of his descendants, the last of whom in the male line was Francis Popham (died 1779), of Littlecote and [[Hunstrete]], Somerset, who died childless. He bequeathed his estates to his wife Dorothy (née Hutton) who in turn left them to "Francis Popham, the reputed son of my late husband" but only as a tenant for life. This [[illegitimate]] son died in 1804 when, under the terms of Dorothy's will, the estates reverted to her husband's nephew Edward William Leyborne (born 1764), who in 1805 in accordance with the terms of the bequest assumed by royal licence the additional surname and arms of Popham. The Leyborne Popham family sold Littlecote in 1929 to [[Sir Ernest Wills, 3rd Baronet|Sir Ernest Wills]],<ref name="vch">{{cite web |title=Chilton Foliat A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 16, Kinwardstone Hundred. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol16/pp88-109 |website=British History Online |publisher=Victoria County History, 1999 |access-date=15 January 2025}}</ref> and moved to their other seat at Hunstrete House, Pensford, Somerset.<ref>Burke's, 1937, p. 1831.</ref>