John St. Leger

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Arms of St Ledger of Annery, Devon: Azure fretty argent, a chief or [1]

Sir John St. Leger (died 1596), of Annery in the parish of Monkleigh, Devon, was an English Member of Parliament.

Life

He was the son of Sir George St. Leger, of Annery, by his wife, Anne Knyvett, daughter of Edmund Knyvett. He was knighted in 1544. His paternal grandparents were Sir James St. Leger, of Shipton, and Lady Anne Butler, daughter of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormonde.[citation needed] He sold his Annery estate to his son-in-law, Tristram Arscott.[2]

He represented Dartmouth in the Parliament of 1555 to 1558, Devon in 1559–1563, Arundel in 1563-1571, Devon again in 1571 to 1583 and Tregony in 1584-1585. He was High Sheriff of Devon in 1560. [3]

Family

He married Catherine Neville, daughter of George Neville, 5th Baron Bergavenny and according to the History of Parliament left at least two sons and four daughters.[3] However, according to Richard Pearse Chope writing in 1917,[4] he had only one son, John, who died without issue and his four daughters were Mary, the eldest, who married Sir Richard Grenville; Frances, who married John Stucley, of Affeton,[4] and was the mother of Sir Lewis Stucley;[5] Margaret who married Richard Bellew of Alverdiscott; and Eulalia, who married firstly Edmund Tremayne of Collacombe, and secondly Tristram Arscott of Tetcot, who bought Annery from John St. Leger.[4]

Property

Under a royal grant dated 10 June 1543 "John St Ledger, King's servant" acquired the following former monastic lands following the Dissolution of the Monasteries:[6]

  • Canonsleigh Priory in the parish of Burlescombe, site and demesne of.
  • Priory manor of Hockworthy.
  • Torre Abbey, site and demesne of, subject to a 21 year lease granted at Dissolution to Hugh I Pollard of King's Nympton.[7] St Ledger sold it in 1543 to Hugh Pollard.[8]
  • Manor of Cullompton, formerly held by Buckland Abbey.
  • Manor of Upton Weaver (or Higher Upton) in the parish of Cullompton, formerly held by St Nicholas's Priory, Exeter.
  • Other non-monastic property in Devon
  • Small landholding in Cornwall.

The lands were exchanged with the king for other lands of St Ledger, with an excess balance paid by him of £116 9s 9d.[9]

Despite accumulating these lands, he later parted with many of them and died "a poor man".[3]

References

  1. ↑ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, Viscount Doneraile, p.365
  2. ↑ Risdon, Tristram, Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, p.276
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "ST. LEGER, Sir John (by 1516-93/96), of Annery in Monkleigh, Devon.". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2012-05-10. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 R. Pearse Chope (1917). "New Light on Sir Richard Grenville". Report & Transactions of the Devonshire Association xlix: 213. 
  5. ↑ Wolffe, Mary. "Stucley, Sir Lewis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26740.  (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  6. ↑ Youings, Joyce, Devon Monastic Lands: Calendar of Particulars for Grants 1536-1558, Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol.1, Torquay, 1955, pp.25-6, grant no.33
  7. ↑ Youings, p.25
  8. ↑ Letters patent re licence to alienate enrolled 35 Henry VIII (1543) per Youings, p.27, note 1
  9. ↑ Youings, p.27

Further reading

  • W. D. Pink, 'The Parliamentary History of Tregony', The Western Antiquary, Volume VI, Part V (1886), 117–121.
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