John Chichester (died 1569)
Sir John Chichester (1519/20-1569) of
Origins
The Chichester family had been seated at the manor of Raleigh since the mid-14th. century. He was the son of Edward Chichester (died 27 July 1526) of Great Torrington, who predeceased his own father, also Sir John (1474-1537), by his wife Lady Elizabeth Bourchier (died 1548), whose small monumental brass exists in St Brannock's Church, Braunton, a daughter of John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath (1470–1539) whose seat was at Tawstock Court, 3 miles south of Raleigh. In the 16th and 17th centuries these two houses, Raleigh and the new Tawstock Court built in 1574, were probably the largest in North Devon.[1] He succeeded his grandfather in 1536.[2]
Career
As a young man he served in the Royal Navy, and in 1544 he was with
Following the death of King Henry VIII in 1547 he became an ardent supporter of the
When King Edward VI died in 1553, Chichester refused to support the
In 1555 he accompanied Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford on an embassy to the Imperial court at Brussels, and went on with him as far as Venice. Chichester was arrested in 1556 for his involvement in the Dudley conspiracy against Queen Mary and was again imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was soon released although remained under various restrictive controls.
After the death of Queen Mary and the accession of
Marriage and children
He married Gertrude Courtenay, a daughter of Sir
Heraldic Panel
A heraldic panel from high up on the right side of the monument to Sir John Chichester (died 1569) in Pilton Church shows his children and their marriage alliances. The first (leftmost, top row) representing the marriage of his eldest son and heir, shows Chichester impaling the Danish battle-axes of Denys of Holcombe Burnell. The remaining shields are all those of his daughters, with the arms of Chichester being impaled by the arms of the husband of each: l to r:
- row 1
- Denys, Fortescue, Basset
- row 2
- Bluett , Dillon, Hatch of Aller (Gules, two demi-lions passant guardant or[9])
- row 3
- Pollard, Trevelyan of Nettlecombe (Gules, the base barry wavy argent and azure, a demi-horse issuant of the second maned and hoofed or), (blank)
Sons
He had the following 7 sons:[10]
- Sir
- Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester of Belfast (1563-1624/5), 2nd son, who succeeded his brother Sir John as Governor of Carrickfergus.
- Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester (1568–1648), 3rd son, of Eggesford, Devon, whose recumbent effigy survives in Eggesford Church.
- Charles Chichester, 4th son, died childless.
- Sir John Chichester, junior, 5th son. He was Governor of Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland, and was captured and beheaded by Randal MacSorley Macdonnell.[15] He died childless.
- Sir Thomas Chichester, 6th son
- Adrian Chichester, 7th son, died childless.
Daughters
- Elizabeth Chichester (died 1630), married Hugh Fortescue (1544–1600), Sheriff of Devon in 1583,[18] eldest son of Richard Fortescue (c. 1517 – 1570) of Weare Giffard and of Filleigh, ancestor of the Earls Fortescue. Effigies of the couple facing each other kneeling can be seen on the top tier of the mural monument in Weare Giffard Church erected by their grandson Hugh Fortescue (1592–1661). A 16th century escutcheon showing the quartered arms of her father, John Chichester (quarterly of 4: Chichester, Raleigh, Beaumont quartering Willington, Wise), impaling Courtenay quartering Redvers, survives on a chimney-piece in Simonsbath House,[16] having been moved there in the early 20th century by the Fortescue family from their seat at Weare Giffard Hall.[17]
- Cecilia Chichester, married Thomas Hatch
- Eleanor Chichester (died 1585), married Sir chest tomb with arms of Basset impaling Chichester on the slab-top exists in AtheringtonChurch, in the parish of which is situated the manor of Umberleigh. The tomb was moved from the Basset Chapel which formerly existed next to Umberleigh House.
- Mary Chichester (died 1613), who married Richard Bluett (died 1614) of KG, father of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 3rd Marquess of Dorset (1517–1554), KG, and grandfather of Lady Jane Grey.[21]The couple are represented as effigies on their monument in the Bluett Chapel, All Saints Church, Holcombe Rogus.
- Grace Chichester, married Robert Dillon of Farthington, Northamptonshire, son and heir of Henry Dillon of Kings Nympton.[22]
- Dorothy Chichester, married Sir Hugh Pollard of King's Nympton, son and heir of Sir Lewis II Pollard of Kings Nympton.[23]
- Urith Chichester, married John Trevelyan of Nettlecombe in Somerset.
- Bridget Chichester, married (as his first wife) Sir Edmund Prideaux, 1st Baronet (died 1628) of Netherton, Farway, Devon.[24]
- Susannah Chichester, who in 1584Earls of Clermont in the Peerage of Ireland.
Death and burial
Sir John Chichester died on 30 November 1569, and was buried in Pilton Church, in the parish of which, near Barnstaple in Devon, was situated his manor of Raleigh.
Monument in Pilton Church
A highly ornate monument exists against the east wall of the Raleigh Chapel in the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Pilton. It is decorated profusely with strapwork, but includes no effigy. On a tablet placed in its centre is inscribed the following Latin text:
O.nus Johannes Chichester Eques obiit 30th (sic) [28] Novembris 1569. Gertrudis (Courtenay) uxor eius obiit 30th (sic) Aprilis 1566. Ambo in spem Resurrectionis hic quiescunt. Ad lectorem:
Vana salus hominis tumideque simillima bulle,
Quam cito bulla cadit tam cito vita perit,
Dum vivis tu vive [29] deo nam vivere mundo,
Mortis opus vita est vivere vera deo,
Celica [30] terrenis prepone eterna caducis,
Perpetuum nihil est quod crevis hora rapit,
Sit tua firma fides pretioso in sanguine Christi,
Non aliunde tibi certa petenda salus,
Pectore non ficto si spem tibi junxeris istam,
Perpetuo dabitur non peritura quies.
Which may be translated literally as:
"John Chichester, knight, died the 30th of November 1569. Gertrude Courtenay his wife died the 30th of April 1566. Both rest here in hope of the Resurrection. To the reader:
The health of man is most like an empty and swollen bubble,
As quickly as the bubble falls so quickly perishes life,
Whilst you are alive live you in God! for to live in the world,
Life is the work of death to live in God is true life,
Place eternal heavenly things before perishable earthly ones,
Nothing is forever, what you grow the hour snatches away,
Let your faith be strong in the precious blood of Christ,
It is not fitting for you to seek sure health elsewhere,
Not with a brave look if you shall join to yourself that hope,
Rest not about to perish shall be given in perpetuity".
Sources
- Hawkyard, A.D.K., Biography of Sir John Chichester, published in History of parliament: House of Commons 1509-1558, Bindoff, S.T. (Ed.), London, 1982
- Chichester, Sir Alexander Bruce Palmer, Bart., History of the Family of Chichester from AD 1086 to 1870, published 1870, quoted in leaflet in Pilton Church. The author was Sir Alexander Palmer Bruce Chichester, 2nd Baronet (1842–1881), of the Chichester baronets, 1840 creation of Arlington Court.
- Col Henry Walrond, Historical Records of the 1st Devon Militia (4th Battalion The Devonshire Regiment), With a Notice of the 2nd and North Devon Militia Regiments, London: Longmans, 1897/Andesite Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-37617881-4.
References
- ^ Reed, p.31, based on the hearth-tax return of 1664. The Earl of Bath also had a grand town-house just outside the South Gate of Barnstaple. (Lamplugh, Barnstaple: Town on the Taw, 2002, p.42)
- ^ Hawkyard
- ^ Walrond, pp. 6–9.
- ^ "Barnstaple Borough" – via National Archive of the UK.
- ^ Visitation of Devon, 1895 ed., p.246
- ^ "COURTENAY, Sir William I (by 1485-1535), of East Coker, Som. and Ilton and Powderham, Devon. - History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
- ^ Listed e.g. by Westcote, Thomas, A View of Devon
- KG(grandfather of Lady Jane Grey)
- ^ Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.485
- ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.173-4
- ^ Vivian, p.174, pedigree of Chichester
- ^ Vivian, p.174, pedigree of Chichester of Raleigh
- ^ Vivian, p.280, pedigree of Denys
- ^ Vivian, p. 102, pedigree of Bonville
- ^ Vivian, p.174; thepeerage.com
- ^ a b See image:File:SimonsbathHouseHeraldicChimneypiece.jpg
- ^ a b A framed handwritten explanatory note written early 20th.c. by a member of the Fortescue family, displayed in Soimonsbath House, identifies the arms
- ^ Vivian, p.354
- ^ History of Parliament Biography of Sir Arthur Basset
- ^ Vivian, 1895, p.93, pedigree of Bluett
- ^ Vivian, 1895, p.102, pedigree of Bonville
- ^ Vivian, Heralds' Visitation of Devon, 1620, p.285
- ^ Vivian, Heralds' Visitation of Devon, 1620, p.598
- ^ Vivian, p.621, pedigree of Prideaux
- ^ Vivian, p.173, where her husband is erroneously called William Fortescue; p.361, footnote
- ^ Vivian, p.359
- ^ "Person Page". thepeerage.com.
- ^ In Latin this should be 30mo., abbreviated from tricensimo", "on the 30th."
- ^ Dum vivis, homo, vive, nam post mortem nihil est, ("Live while you have the chance to live because after death there is nothing"), a Latin epitaph from a grave on the Appian Way in Rome, the last part omitted for a Christian context
- ^ Celica a contraction of the adjective caeles-itis, "heavenly", thus caelitia ("heavenly things"), from caelum, "the heavens"