Sir John Wadham, Kt., of Merrifield

Family associated with Wadham (Merryfield House) Castle see http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/3869.html

Family and Education

?s. of Gilbert Wadham of Wadham, Devon. m. (1) Maud, 1s.; (2) bef. 1385, Joan Wrothesley, 5s. (1 d.v.p.) 3da. Kntd. by Sept. 1397. d. 27 July 1412.

Biography

It is curious that the origins of a man of such distinction as Wadham have been lost. He is consistently stated to have been the son of Sir John Wadham of Edge, but on what evidence cannot be traced.4 More likely, he was the John Wadham who received quitclaim of a rent in Wadham in 1383 in succession to his father, Gilbert, and that William Hankford, afterwards c.j.KB, our Member’s lifelong friend and associate, witnessed the deed, lends weight to this argument. If his origins are obscure, so, too, are the beginnings of his career as a lawyer. Where he received his education is not known, but by 1371 he was practicing in the central courts as an attorney. No doubt it was because of his profession that he was returned for Exeter to the Parliament of 1379, and within four years of that event he had become a serjeant-at-law.

History of Parliament Online

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• John Wadham1
• M, #22835, d. 27 July 1412
• Father Gilbert Wadham d. a 1383
• John Wadham was born at of Edge in Branscombe, Devonshire, Merrifield in Ilton, Somersetshire, England. He married Joan Wrothesley, daughter of (Mr.) Wrothesley. John Wadham died on 27 July 1412.
• Family Joan Wrothesley d. a 1412
• Child
  • Isabella Wadham+
• Citations
• [S7159] Unknown author, The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, by Ronny O. Bodine, p. 118, OFHS Newsletter, December 1995, p. 89; Wallop Family, p. 430.
• From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p760.htm#i... _____________
• Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas1
• M, #39185, d. 1411
• Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was born at of Merrifield, Somersetshire, England.1 He married Joan Wrottesley.1 Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas died in 1411.1
• Family Joan Wrottesley
• Child
  • Margery Wadham+1
• Citations
• [S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. XII/1, p. 302.
• From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1305.htm#... ____________
• Sir John Wadham
• M, #3449
• Last Edited=15 Feb 2015
• Sir John Wadham married, secondly, Joan Wrottesley.1
• He held the office of Puisne Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.1 He lived at Merrifield, Somerset, England.1
• Child of Sir John Wadham and Joan Wrottesley
  • Marjory Wadham+
• Citations
• [S37] BP2003 volume 2, page 2815. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
• From: http://www.thepeerage.com/p345.htm#i3449 _______________
• Sir John Wadham
• Birth: unknown
• Death: Jul. 27, 1412
• Family links:
• Spouse:
• Joan Wrothesley Wadham
• Burial: St Winifred Churchyard, Branscombe, East Devon District, Devon, England
• Find A Grave Memorial# 138693873
• From: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=138693873 _______________
• [Publications] - Somerset Record Society
• http://www.archive.org/details/somersetpub16someuoft
• http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/52/mode/1up
  • 1411. JOHN WADHAM, KNT.
  • [25 MARCHE. FO. 193.]
• I, John Wadham, knight, make my will in this manner :
• I bequeath my body to be buried where it shall please God to dispose.
• Item, I bequeath to Joan, my wife, 100li., two great silver dishes (discos) called "chargeours," eighteen silver dishes, six silver saltcellars, my better silver basin (peluem) with a ewer (lauacro), two silver cups with covers, made in the manner of a chalice, one cup silver gilt, my better vestment with the apparel of the altar of the same suit, my better chalice, missal, portuous (portiforium), the two better cloths (mappas) with towels (manutergijs) four brass bowls (ollas) , two plates (patellas), three of the better beds, whereof one of "Tapsarie " ; two jugs (picarios),1 viz., one pottle,2 and one quart (unum potellum et unum quartum) of silver, one silver saltcellar, one pix (pixidem) called "Pere" ; all the stock (instaurum) of wines at Muryfeld, and one waggon (plaustrum) bound with iron.
• Item, I bequeath for paying four chaplains to be hired (locandorum) for one year to celebrate for my soul, and the souls for which I am bound, 40 marks ; and if this can be done at a less price, the residue shall be expended for the souls of Maude, late my wife, my father and mother, Richard Brankescomb, Margaret his wife, Cicely Turberuill and all faithful deceased.
• Item, I bequeath for my funeral expenses 10li.
• Item, to each of the orders of Friars of London, 13s. 4d.
  • 1 Picarius, quidam ciphus, Anglice "a curskyn." Wright's Vocabularies (Wulcker), i, p. 602.
  • 2 Pottle, a liquid measure containing four pints.
• http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/53/mode/1up
• To the Friars Preachers of Exeter, 10s., and to the Friars Minors there, 10s.
• Item, I bequeath to the amending of the church of Brankescomb, 20s.
• Item, to the amending of the church of Knouston, 20s.
• Item, to Joan, formerly wife of Walter Scherp, one cup called "pece."
• Item, I bequeath to Cicely my sister, I00s.
• To Agnes, her daughter, 13s. 4d.
• To William Hankeford, one silver cup with a cover.
• Item, I bequeath 6 marks 3s. 4d. to celebrate one thousand masses immediately after my decease for my soul.
• Item, to William my son, 100li., six silver dishes (discos), one great dish called "charger," one silver jug (picarium) called "potett" one saltcellar, one bed of " Tapserye," eight oxen and one hundred sheep.
• Item, I bequeath to John my son, 100li., six dishes, eight oxen, one silver jug (picarium) called "Quarte," and a great dish called "Charger."
• Item, to Walter my son, 40li.
• Item, to Margery my daughter, 100li.
• To Joan my daughter, 100li.
• To Elizabeth my daughter, 100li.
• To Thomas my son, 100li.
• And if any of my said infants die before they come of age or be promoted, the sum bequeathed to them shall be divided among my other infants.
• Item, I bequeath for holding the anniversary of me and of Maude late my wife, one hundred sheep so long as it may last.
• Item, to each of my executors administrating besides my wife, 5 marks.
• Item, to each of the daughters of John Serteyn by Margery his wife, except Joan, wife of Walter Merwode, 10s.
• Item, to Joan, wife of William Wyke next Colompton, 30s.
• Item, to Thomas her son, 40s.
• Item, to the three brothers of the said Thomas, to each of them 13s. 4d. ; and to Julian his sister, ten sheep.
• Item, I bequeath to Bartholomew Pyle, 40s.
• To John atte Heyghes of Sylferton, 20s.
• http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/54/mode/1up
• To the Abbot and Convent of Athelney, to pray for my soul, 5 marks.

*  Item, I bequeath to the mending of the muddy way (vie lutose) between Clyst and Nyweton Popelford, 4li. 

• Item, to the mending of the muddy way from Scheftysby towards Schirborn, 100s.
• Item, I bequeath to the vicar of Wythlakyngton, 20s. for tithes forgotten, and that he may pray for me.
• Item, I bequeath to the mending of the church aforesaid, 20s.
• To the vicar of Ayshull, 6s. 8d.
• To John Deye, 6s. 8d.
• To the Friars Preachers of Yeuelchester, 20s.
• Item, I have remised to John Healleway 20s. that he owes me.
• Item, I bequeath to John Walsche, 40d.
• To John Brwer, my priest ( presbitero], 20s.
• To John Thuselburgh, 10s.
• To John Cook of Haydon, 13s. 4d.
• To Edith Caylly of Ilton, 6s. 8d.
• To Walter Clerk of Ilton, 6s. 8d.
• Item, to the vicar of Brankescomb church, for tithes forgotten, and that he may pray for me, 6s. 8d.
• Item, to the mending of the church of Haydon, 10s.
• Item, to the prisoners of Yeuelchester, 40d.
• To Agnes Deye, 40d.
• To John Whyte, my chaplain, 20s.

*  To John Schyphurd of Cleyhanger, 40d. 

• Item, to Nicholas Olyuer, 6s. 8d.
• To the mending of the church of Ilton, 13s. 4d.
• To Thomas Hayward, 6s. 8d.
• Item, I bequeath to Joan, my wife, the residue of all my goods not above bequeathed or disposed, and I make the said Joan and the aforesaid William Hankeford and Bartholomew Pyle executors of this my will.
• In witness whereof to this my will I have affixed my seal.
• Given on Saturday, the Feast of St. Gregory the Pope, 13 Hen. IV [March 12, 1411].
• Proved 12th August, A.D. 1412. Commission to Masters John Grylby, rector of Donzete, and William Torporlegh, rector of West Dowlesh, diocese of Bath and Wells, to commit administration, &c.
• http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/55/mode/1up
• [In Subsidy Roll 13 Hen. IV (1411-12), testator's lands in Somerset are as follows :
• "John Wadham miles man. de Myryfeld certas terras in Hardyngton, Gudeston, Overattebar et Chilton, xlii li." (Bath F. C. Proc., ix, 3, 192.)] _________________________
• Wadhams genealogy, proceded by a sketch of the Wadham family in England.. ([c1913])
• https://archive.org/details/wadhamsgenealogy00stev
• https://archive.org/stream/wadhamsgenealogy00stev#page/n28/mode/1up
• Pg.after 4 CHART pedigree of Wadham.
• SEE DOCUMENTS OR SOURCES FOR IMAGE ___________________________

Links

• wikipedia.org
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hankford
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stourton,_1st_Baron_Stourton
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wadham_(died_1452)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sir John Wadham (c.1344-1412) was a Justice of the Common Pleas from 1389 to 1398, during the reign of King Richard II (1377-1399), selected by the King as an assertion of his right to rule by the advice of men appointed of his own choice, and one of the many Devonians of the period described by Thomas Fuller in his Worthies of England, as seemingly "innated with a genius to study law". He was MP for Exeter in 1379, and after Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV (1399-1413), Wadham was 'discharged at his own request' from being an assize judge. He became a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1401 as a Knight of the Shire with Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham, a son of Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon. John Wadham 'the judge' was one of John Prince's Worthies of Devon: "All I have met with him further, is this encomium," says the Devonshire biographer, "that being free of speech, he mingled it well with discretion; so that he never touched any man how mean so ever out of order, either for sport or spight; but with alacrity of spirit and soundness of understanding managed all his proceedings." Prince points out that in this period there were five Serjeants-at-Law , John Cary (died 1395) , John Hill (died 1408), Robert Hill (died 1426) of Shilston Justice of the Common Pleas from 1408-1423, William Hankford , and John Wadham; all natives of Devon. Origins and career

Although William Pole and John Prince both stated him to be the son of another Sir John Wadham of Edge in the parish of Branscombe Devon, his modern History of Parliament biographer suggests he may have been the son, rather than the nephew perhaps, of Gilbert Wadham (c.1320-1383) of Wadham, who in 1383 quitclaimed to him a rent in the manor of Wadham or Wadeham in the parish of Knowstone , between Exmoor and South Molton , from which the family originally took their name, and where, according to Sir William Pole, they had lived from at least the reign of King Edward I (1272-1307). The deed was witnessed by Sir John's lifelong friend and colleague Sir William Hankford, Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 to 1423. The biographer adds: "It is curious that the origins of a man of such distinction as Wadham should have been lost . . . . If his origins are obscure, so too are the beginnings of his career as a lawyer. Where he received his education is not known." In his will, dated March 12th, 1411, he includes money to be expended on "prayers for the soul of Richard Brankescombe ", Sheriff of Devon from 1359 to 1361, who may have been an early mentor, and he is first recorded in 1367 as an attorney at Westminster. In 1383, he was made Serjeant-at-Law and in 1384 he was given a livery by Edward de Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon for his services as legal counsel. In 1387, only three years after being made a judge, he was made King's Serjeant. "He had a large practice," writes Prince "and thereby made a great addition to his estates," adding to both his ancestral estate at Wadham and at Edge, Branscombe in Devon where the family made their home during the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377). He also purchased land and messuages elsewhere in Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset, and Devon. In 1386, he purchased the manor of Silverton from Cecily de Beauchamp from whom he also bought land where, in about 1400, he built a moated and fortified manor house at Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset, which became the family's principal home. In 1403, he bought the manor of Lustleigh on Dartmoor, which stayed in the Wadham family for the next two hundred years, as did Edge in Branscombe where he bought over three hundred acres of land. When, in May 1398, he was discharged from the bench he received the grant of a pension from the assizes of Somerset and Dorset 'for good service'. The inquisitio post mortem in 1413 valued his holdings at £115 per annum. Marriage and children He married first, according to his will, a certain Maud, with whom he had a son. Before 1385, he married Joan Wrottesley, daughter of Sir William Wrottesley of Blore and Joan Bassett of Drayton Bassett, both in Staffordshire, ancestors to Nicholas Wadham (1531-1609) co-founder, with his wife Dorothy Wadham , of Wadham College, Oxford . John Wadham had eight children: Robert Wadham, who died without progeny. Sir William Wadham (died 1452) Sheriff of Devon in 1442, eldest surviving son and heir of Merryfield and Edge , who lies buried with his mother in a beautiful altar tomb in the transept known as the 'Wadham aisle', a chantry dedicated to St Katherine, at the Church of St Mary, Ilminster, Somerset. John Wadham. Walter Wadham, Rector of St Stephen in Branell, Cornwall. Thomas Wadham, of Redworthy in Ashreigney. Margery Wadham, who married Sir John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton ; ancestors to Queen Jane Seymour , King Edward VI and the Seymour Dukes of Somerset . Joan Wadham. Elisabeth, sometimes called 'Isabella' Wadham, who married Sir Robert Hill (died 1426) of Shilston near Modbury , Justice of the Common Pleas from 1408 to 1423. Their eldest son, Robert Hill of Shilston, married Margaret Champernowne (1396-1434) of Modbury and was Sheriff of Devon in 1428. Further reading Clifford, H. Dalton, "A Manor House Restored", Country Life Magazine, 30 August 1962 Thomas Graham Jackson , Wadham College, Oxford, its Foundation, Architecture and History, with an Account of the Family of Wadham and their Seats in Somerset and Devon", Oxford, 1893 Rogers, William Henry Hamilton , "Memorials of the West, Historical and Descriptive, Collected on the Borderland of Somerset, Dorset and Devon"

Exeter, 1888, pp. 147-173, The Founder and Foundress of Wadham.  References "John Wadham" . www.oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 10 November 2017.  Worthies of England; Thomas Fuller , pub.1662  Roger Virgoe,"WADHAM, Sir John (d.1412), of Edge in Branscombe, Devon and Merrifield in Ilton, Som. History of Parliament Online" . www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 10 November 2017.  The Worthies of Devon; John Prince , 1810 ed. biography of WADHAM, Sir John, Knight, pp.748-752,(1st pub.1701)  Sir William Pole , Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon (ed.), London, 1791, p.141, Pedigree of Wadham of 'Egge', Branscombe  And others; see Pedigree of Wadham, from Visitations, Pole, Hutchins, Polwhele,Burke,Rogers, Gilbert, Collins, Manning and Bray, Aubrey, and Pedigrees of Founder's kin in possession of the College, p.27, T.G. Jackson, Wadham College Oxford  T.G. Jackson's Wadham College Oxford,Page 4  Edward Foss , "The Judges of England"  1383, 1st May, Westminster; grant of land to John Wadham from John Blake in Wadham, Knowstone  Stuff, Good. "Edge Barton Manor, Branscombe, Devon" . www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.  According to T.G. Jackson, p.4, the 'Inquisitio post mortem' in 1413 mentions six manors in Gloucestershire, Dorset and Somerset, and three manors in Devon, besides lands and messuages in 23 parishes  Roger Virgoe;  1411, The Will of John Wadham, Knt. lists seven children: Som. Med. Wills, (Som. Rec. Soc. XVI), 52-55; Proved August 1412. According to Roger Virgoe in historyofparliamentonline an eighth child, Robert Wadham, who may have been the son of his first marriage, had already died without progeny

www.findagrave.com

Sir John Wadham
BIRTH unknown
DEATH 27 Jul 1412
BURIALBranscombe
St Winifred Churchyard
Branscombe, East Devon District, Devon, England
MEMORIAL ID 138693873

Family Members
Spouse

Joan Wrothesley Wadham

Children
William Wadham
unknown–1452
John Wadham
1377–1412