In 1805 Ince was bought by Edward Smith. His wife, it was said, had been a mistress of the Prince Regent, the future George IV.
Mary Smith became the heiress of Ince, and was a gifted amateur artist. Family tradition has long held that she was the Prince Regent's own daughter. No document has yet been found to prove it, and we would be delighted to hear from anyone who knows more.
Mary married a Royal Navy captain, and their son, Henry Pering Pellew Crease, was born at Ince on 20 August 1823. He later emigrated to British Columbia, where he became a lawyer and judge, and named his family home in New Westminster Ince Cottage, after the castle of his mother's family.
Mary's gift for painting ran in the family. Her granddaughter, Susan Crease, painted watercolours of Vancouver Island that are now in the collection of the University of British Columbia.