Sir John Speke, of Whitelackington

Sir John Speke (1442–1518) of Whitelackington, Somerset and of Heywood in the parish of Wembworthy and of Bramford Speke both in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1517 and a Member of Parliament (1477[1]). He was knighted in 1501.[2] His monument is the Speke Chantry in Exeter Cathedral in which survives his recumbent effigy.

Origins

He was born in about 1442, the son and heir of Sir John Speke (died 1444) (buried at Bramford Speke) of Wembworthy and Bramford Speke, Devon, by his wife Alice Beauchamp (died 1445/46) (who survived him and remarried to Henry Hull) daughter and heiress of John Beauchamp (son of Sir Thomas Beauchamp of Whitelackington, Ashill, etc.).[3] (See Baron Beauchamp of Hatch, Somerset, descended from the Beauchamp feudal barons of Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset).

Speke married three times.[17] His first marriage was to Joan Wynard, daughter and heiress of John Wynard of Exeter. Her ancestor was William Wynard (alias Wonard or Wenar), Recorder of Exeter (1404–1442), whose house was in South Street on the site of the present White Hart Inn, who founded Wynard's Almshouse or Hospital in Magdalen Street, Exeter (still standing), on 20 January 1436 together with the attached chapel of the Holy Trinity and Maison Dieu. The patronage of this hospital was inherited by John Speke from his first wife,[18] and the arms of Speke quartering Wynard (Argent, on a bend azure three mullets of the first[19]), occur on a shield in Wynard's Hospital in Exeter and in Seaton Church, Devon.[20]

By Joan Wynard he had three sons and one daughter:

• John Speke (c. 1468 – 1524), eldest son and heir, of Haywood and Whitelackington. He was harshly treated in his father's will by clauses attempting to prevent him from ejecting his father's widow from the lands he bequeathed to her. He married Alice Arundell, daughter of Sir Thomas Arundell of Lanherne, Cornwall, by whom he had a son and heir Thomas Speke (1508–1551), MP, father of George Speke (died 1584), KB, whose monumental brass survives in Whitelackington Church.
• Sir George Speke (died 1528) of Dowlish Wake, Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset in 1526. He married Elizabeth Ratcliff but died without issue. He was appointed by his father as executor of his will.
• Christopher Speke
• Alice Speke

Speke's second marriage, in about 1494, was to Isobel Calwodley, daughter of Thomas Calwodley and widow of John Beaumont;

and his third wife was Elizabeth Somester, daughter of Adam Somester of Widecombe and widow successively of John Coleshill and Richard Unde, both of Exeter.

By Elizabeth Somester he had a daughter, Anne.

He died on 28 April 1518,[36] having dated his will 20 February 1516/17. He was buried in the Speke Chantry of Exeter Cathedral.

The recumbent effigy of Sir John Speke, dressed in full armour, lies within a canopied recess in the north wall. He is bare-headed with long wavy hair, his head resting on his helm. He wears two long chains around his neck and holds his hands together above his chest in prayer. The walls are highly decorated with relief sculpture in panels, with stone vaulted ceiling with pendants, "not an inch left unadorned".[42] The decorations include much heraldry and several instances of the canting heraldic device of the Speke family, the porcupine, in French porc-épic, ("spiky-pig").

Recess with ogee canopy containing Speke's effigy. His feet rest on a porcupine, the Speke crest. In the spandrels each side and on the back wall are sculpted the Speke arms

Source: < Wikipedia > public domain

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Individual Record FamilySearch™ Ancestral File v4.19

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John SPEKE (AFN: 95L8-G1) Pedigree

Sex:  M  Family  

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Event(s)

Birth:   Abt 1480     Of, Lanherne, Cornwall, England   

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Parents

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Marriage(s)

Spouse:  Alice (Or Maria) ARUNDELL (AFN: 95L8-BB)  Family  

Marriage: Abt 1510
Of, Lanherne, Cornwall, England
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Husband's Name

John SPEKE (AFN:95L8-G1)  Pedigree  

Born: Abt 1480 Place: Of, Lanherne, Cornwall, England
Married: Abt 1510 Place: Of, Lanherne, Cornwall, England
Father:
Mother:
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Wife's Name

Alice (Or Maria) ARUNDELL (AFN:95L8-BB)  Pedigree  

Born: Abt 1483 Place: Of, Lanherne, Cornwall, England
Married: Abt 1510 Place: Of, Lanherne, Cornwall, England
Father: Thomas ARUNDELL (AFN:95L0-DK) Family
Mother: Catherine DINHAM (DYNHAM) (AFN:9Q2K-ZC)
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Children

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1.  Sex  Name    

M Thomas SPEKE (AFN:1L3Z-FFH) Pedigree
Born: Abt 1505 Place: White Lackington, , England

References

1. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Speke-29 Cites
   1. King's College London, 2014. | Mapping the Medieval Countryside [online]. Available at http://www.inquisitionspostmortem.ac.uk/view/inquisition/26-320/ [Accessed: 10/10/2020] Inquisition Post Mortem for John Speke, esquire 1444
   2. King's College London, 2014. | Mapping the Medieval Countryside [online]. Available at http://www.inquisitionspostmortem.ac.uk/view/inquisition/26-218/ [Accessed: 10/10/2020] Inquisitions Post Mortem for Thomas Beauchamp, knight 1444
   3. Chancery pleadings: Speke v Elyot, 1500-1501, Reference: C 1/245/63 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7462541 [accessed 11 October 2020].
   4. Chancery pleadings: Speke v Calwodly, 1501-1504, Reference: C 1/255/39 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7463029 [accessed 11 October 2020].
   5. Weaver's Somerset Medieval Wills, 1501-1530, second series (1903), pp. 189-190 Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/somersetpub19someuoft/page/190/mode/2up [accessed 11 October 2020].

See Also:

• (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Speke_(1442-1518)#Marriages_.26_...
• (2) A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great ..., Volume 4. By John Burke. Page 537. < GoogleBooks >