THE HISTORY OF OVERBURY & CONDERTON
HISTORY
The connection between the Overbury Estate and the Martin family (direct relatives of Penelope Bossom, the current owner) began in 1723. John Martin, a London banker with roots in Evesham, came to live in Overbury Court. The Elizabethan house burnt down in 1738 and a new house was constructed shortly afterwards.
The current house, Overbury Court, is constructed of golden, ashlar-faced Cotswold stone and has a fine Georgian facade, which faces south. The Court remains the Bossom’s family home and much of the improvement to the village of Overbury has been due to Penelope and her family’s activities.
OVERBURY & THE GRASSHOPPER
The origins of the Grasshopper’s association with the Overbury Estate is through banking and goes back to the 1540s when Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579), regarded as the father of British banking, became involved in financing trade as well as arranging funding for the Monarchs of the day; Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. The grasshopper emblem came from his family crest and was used to identify his banking premises in Lombard Street, to which he moved in the 1550s.
The Martin family became associated with the banking operations of The Grasshopper at the end of the 17th Century, when Thomas Martin, the eldest of four Martin sons, came to London to work as a clerk at the Grasshopper in Lombard Street. Over the next six generations, the Martin family firmly established their name in the banking world
It was however the third son, John Martin, who decided not to lose his links with Worcestershire and took on a lease of an Elizabethan manor house at Overbury in 1723, bringing the Grasshopper emblem with him. More information on more recent banking Martins can be found Martin Family at Overbury
The Grasshopper lives on at Overbury; it can be seen on the village cricket club’s kit and the Estate signs marking the permissive paths on Bredon Hill as well as on the Nursery School’s name.