Sir Richard Coffyn

The most ancient seat of the name and family in England is now called Portledge, in the parish of Alwington, near Bideford, Co., Devon, Granted to Sir Richard Coffyn.

From Sir Richard Coffyn, Knight of Alwington, who accompanied William, the Conqueror to England in 1066, and settled in Devonshire, springs the genealogical tree that bears the name of Tristram Coffyn of Butler's Brixton parish, Co., Devon, England, a hardy pioneer who came to America in 1642, and six years later erected the house at Newbury, Massachusetts that is still standing in good state of preservation, and known from its builder as "The Coffin House". In 1659, he with nine other purchased from the Indians the island of Nantucket, which has since been the home of many of the name (coffin:). The lucid armorial family motto was: "Post Tenebras Speramus Lumen de Lumine".