Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609)

Nicholas Wadham (d.1609), portrait c.1595 by unknown artist. National Trust, collection of Petworth House, Sussex. The Wadhams were ancestors of the Wyndham family of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset, later Earls of Egremont of Petworth

Nicholas Wadham (d.1609), detail from his monumental brass in St Mary's Church, Ilminster

Arms of Wadham: Gules, a chevron between three roses argent

Nicholas Wadham (1531/1532 – 1609), Esquire, of Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset and Edge, Branscombe in Devon, was a posthumous co-founder, with his widow Dorothy Petre, of Wadham College, Oxford.

Origins

Wadham was probably born at Merryfield in the parish of Ilton, near Ilminster, Somerset, the only son of John Wadham (d.1578) of Merrifield and of Edge, Branscombe, Devon, by his wife Joan Tregarthin, daughter and co-heiress of John Tregarthin of Cornwall and widow of John Kelloway of Cullompton,^[1] Devon.

Depiction on mother's monument

Detail from mural monument to Joan Tregarthin (d.1583) and her two husbands, in Branscombe Church, Devon, here showing John Wadham, father of Nicholas

The image at right shows detail from the mural monument to Nicholas's mother Joan Tregarthin (d.1583) and her two husbands, in Branscombe Church, Devon. Shown here is her 2nd husband John Wadham (d.1578) of Edge, Branscombe, Devon and Merrifield, Ilton, Somerset. Joan Tregarthin kneels behind him and behind her kneel the couple's children, the eldest son amongst whom is Nicholas Wadham (1531/2-1609) founder of Wadham College, Oxford. Kneeling opposite John Wadham, partly visible at left is John Kelloway, Joan Tregarthin's first husband. Joan's arms, of 6 quarters, are shown in a lozenge between her two husbands, whilst the escutcheon behind John Wadham shows the arms of Wadham, of 9 quarters, impaling the arms of Tregarthin, of the same 6 quarters as in the lozenge.^[2]

Career

A biography written before 1637 states that Wadham attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford as a commoner, but did not take a degree. He may have lodged with John Kennall, the civil lawyer, later canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Wadham was briefly at court, as the text relates: vitam Aulicam aliquantisper ingressus est. A certain "Nicholas Wadham of Brimpton, Somerset", was admitted to the Inner Temple on 9 March 1553 on the pledge of Richard Baker, who was married to Catherine Tyrell, a stepdaughter of Sir William Petre (Wadham's father-in-law), principal secretary to King Henry VIII. Due to the Petre connection, it is likely that the record refers to the Nicholas Wadham who is the subject of this article.

Wadham was appointed to the commission of the peace and other minor commissions in Somerset, appearing as executor and overseer in the wills of other Somerset gentlemen. Two personal letters of his exist, one from Sir Amias Paulet, Ambassador to Paris, advising that Wadham was unlikely ‘to be envious of our French news’ and thanking him for his efforts in the leasing of Paulet's park. The other letter was to John Talbot of Grafton, who had married Dorothy's sister Katherine Petre, regarding Wadham's work in negotiating a lease. Wadham was known for his hospitality and he maintained a fine household at Merrifield.

Wadham and his wife were suspected of recusancy. In 1608 the privy council ordered a stay of proceedings against both Wadham and his wife on a charge of recusancy. John Carpenter, Rector of Branscombe, dedicated to him his literary work "Contemplations", for the Institution of Children in the Christian Religion (1601), noting his "gentle affability with all persons" and his generosity.

Marriage

Dorothy Petre (d.1618), wife of Nicholas Wadham. Detail from her monumental brass in St Mary's Church, Ilminster

On 3 September 1555 at St Botolph's Church, Aldersgate in the City of London, Nicholas Wadham married Dorothy Petre, eldest daughter of Sir William Petre, principal secretary to King Henry VIII. The couple had no children. Wadham and his wife lived with his parents until his father's death in 1578, when his mother moved into the dower house at Edge, Branscombe, Devon.

Effigies at Wadham College

Statues of Nicholas Wadham and his wife Dorothy Petre at their foundation, Wadham College, Oxford, with the arms of Wadham impaling Petre between

Statues survive of Nicholas Wadham and his wife Dorothy Petre at their foundation, Wadham College, Oxford, high on the external wall of one of the buildings. The arms of Wadham impaling Petre are shown between the two figures. Nicholas, dressed in full armour, holds in his right hand a mosel of the college. On a stone tablet between the two figures is engraved the following Latin inscription:

"Hospes quam vides domum musis nuncupatam ponendam mandabat Nicholaus Wadham Somersetensis armiger. Verum ille fato preareptus Dorotheae conjugi perficiendam legabat illa incunctanter perfecit magnificeque sumtibus suis auxit. Tu summe pater adsis propitius tuoque muneri addas quaesumus perpetuitatem"

Above is inscribed within two arches: "Anno Dom. 1613 Apr 20" and "Sub auspiciis IC Jacobi". Which may be translated as:

"Guest, the Home of the Muse which you see, Nicholas Wadham of Somerset, Esquire, ordered the founding of as a publicly made vow. Indeed he having been snatched away by fate, to his wife Dorothy he bequeathed the completion; she without delay finished it and added to it magnificently by her own expenditure. O thou, Highest Father, be present favourably inclined and to your favour add, we beseech you, Perpetuity" ..."In the year of Our Lord 1613 Apr 20 under the auspices of J.C. Jacob/James"

Death & burial

On 20 October 1609, aged seventy-seven, Wadham died at Merrifield. He was buried in the Wadham chapel in St Mary's Church, Ilminster on 21 November 1609, where survives his monumental brass showing himself and his wife. Following his father's example, his will ordered a full heraldic funeral, with alms to be distributed throughout county. Thomas Moore described him as "an ancient schismatic", referring to his attendance at Church of England services, and described Wadham as "dying a Catholic".

Succession

Wadham died childless, and all his estates and other wealth had been expected to pass to the children of his three sisters:

• Joan Wadham, first wife of Sir Giles Strangways (1528-1562), of Melbury Sampford, Dorset, five times MP for Dorset in 1553, 1554, 1555, 1558 and 1559,^[3] and was thus ancestor of the Fox-Strangways Earls of Ilchester.^[4]
• Margaret Wadham, wife of Nicholas Martin (d.1595) of Athelhampton, Dorset. The couple's monumental brass, showing them kneeling beneath an escutcheon with the ancient arms of FitzMartin (Argent, two bars gules) impaling Wadham, survives in St Mary's Church, Puddletown, Dorset.^[5] Nicholas Martyn, in full armour, kneels bare-headed before an altar on which is an open book. His three sons, who all predeceased him, kneel behind him. To the right is his wife Margaret Wadham, behind whom kneel their seven daughters, of whom four survived as co-heiresses.^[6]
• Florence Wadham (d.1596), wife of Sir John Wyndham (d.1572) of Orchard Wyndham, Watchet, in Somerset, and mother of Sir John Wyndham (1558-1645), ancestor of the Wyndham Earls of Egremont of Petworth House in Sussex.

Instead he determined to use much of his wealth to perpetuate his name and in 1606 he founded an almshouse for eight poor people at Ilton. Wadham had also been saving money to found a college at Oxford, yet his intentions had not been written down and his instructions on his death-bed were contradictory. Despite this, his wife Dorothy, adding in her own large paternal inheritance,^[7] attended to his wishes and founded Wadham College, Oxford. The descendants of his sisters nevertheless still received large inheritances from Nicholas Wadham, including the manor of Ilton (to Wyndham); the manor of Wadham, Knowstone, (to Wyndham and Strangways); Edge, Branscombe (to Wyndham), Silverton in Devon (to Wyndham), etc.

Monument at Ilminster

Monument to Nicholas Wadham (d.1609) and his wife Dorothy (d.1618) in the Wadham Chapel (North Transept), St Mary's Church, Ilminster, Somerset

Left: Monumental brasses, circa 1618, to Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, set into a Purbeck marble slab, re-laid in 1689 within the surviving Baroque monument, Wadham Chapel (North Transept), St Mary's Church, Ilminster. Right: Virtually identical brasses in St Decuman's Church, Watchet, Somerset, also inlaid in Purbeck marble, of John Wyndham (d.1572) of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset and his wife Florence Wadham (1538–1597), sister of Nicholas Wadham (d.1608). The heir of both couples depicted was Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645) of Orchard Wyndham, son of John Wyndham and nephew of Nicholas Wadham

1888 rubbing of monumental brasses to Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, St Mary's Church, Ilminster

Left: Funeral helm of Nicholas Wadham (d.1608), St Mary's Church, Ilminster, missing antlers. Right: Crest of Nicholas Wadham, detail from his brass: A rose argent between a pair of antlers

His monument survives in the north-east corner of the Wadham Chapel (north transept) of St Mary's Church, Ilminster, which chapel was probably built by his ancestor William Wadham (d.1452).^[8] It consists of a 1689 Baroque monument erected by his subsequent heirs Sir Edward Wyndham, 2nd Baronet and Thomas Strangways on which was re-placed the Purbeck marble slab inset with late Gothic style post-Reformation monumental brasses from the original monument which had collapsed.^[9] The monument was again restored in 1899 by the distinguished architect Thomas Graham Jackson (1835-1924), RA, a Fellow and former student at Wadham College, who wrote a history of the College, at the expense of the alumni of Wadham College.^[10] The brasses consist of two large full-length effigies of Nicholas Wadham and his wife, each with an inscribed tablet at their feet, with four heraldic escutcheons and a large square tablet engraved with an heraldic achievement. The brasses are considered to be the finest of their style in England.^[11] Nicholas is shown wearing full armour, with head uncovered. From his mouth emerges a speech-scroll inscribed "death is unto me an advantage", the well-known epitaph usually appearing on earlier monuments in Latin as Mors mihi lucrum.^[12] Above his head is an escutcheon showing the arms of Wadham. From Dorothy's mouth emerges a speech-scroll inscribed "I will not dye but lyve and declare the worde of the Lord". Above her head is an escutcheon showing the arms of Wadham impaling Petre.

Inscribed brass tablet

The brass double-tablet at the feet of the couple is inscribed as follows:

"Here lyeth interred the body of Nicholas Wadham whiles he lyved of Merefeild in ye county of Somersett Esquier, ffownder of Wadham Colledge in Oxforde who dep'ted this lyfe ye xx day of Octob. 1609"

"Here lieth also ye body of Dorothie Wadham widow late the wife of Nicholas Wadham Esqr., foundresse of Wadham Colledge in Oxforde who died the 16 of May 1618 in the yeare of her age 84"

1689 epitaphs

Two further inscribed tablets form part of the 1689 monument, as follows:

Epitaph to Nicholas Wadham

Hic jacet occiduis Wadhamus cognitus Anglis cuius cu(m) Phaebi lampade splendor abit. Nec Tamer in terras totus descendit eois Fulget adhuc multa luce micante plagis. Non cernis positas trans Isida suspice turres qua struxit Musis culmina templa Deo? Illic Wadhami radios nisi conspicis oris effusa est animo spission umbra tuo. Lucrari multis est vita et perdere funus sic tua damna putas vivere lucra mori. Scilicet in terris quas negligis has tibi caelu(m) funere cu(m) multo faenore reddit opes.

Translated by Rogers (1888) as follows:^[13]

"Here lies Wadham, well known to the Western English, whose splendour departs with the lamp of Phoebus. Yet he does not altogether descend into the earth; he still shines with much brilliant light in the Eastern regions. Do you not see? look at the towers set on the other side of Isis; what habitations he built for the Muses, what temples for God. Unless you behold the rays of Wadham in those parts, a thicker mist has been shed over your own mind. As to many to gain is life, and to lose is death, so you think it your loss to live, your gain to die. Forsooth, those riches which you think little of on earth, Heaven restores to you in death with much interest".

Epitaph to Dorothy Wadham

Petraeo patre magna marito magna Wadhamo hic fundatoris filia sponsa jacet. Par titulis utriq(ue) suis patri atq(ue) marito fundatrix in se magna Wadhama jacet. Nobilis auspiciis progressu fine parentis clarescit radiis conjugis atq(ue) suis. Apostrophe ad lectorem: Quaeris quot annos vixerit? Vixit diu. Votum bonorum respicis? Vixit parum. Spectas an aedes quas pia struxit manu? Victura semper est nec unquam secula futura sunt tam sera mundus tam senex ut non supersit hoc opus pulcherrimum vivatq(ue) in illo foeminae illustrissimae nomen vetustate ultima vetustius.

Translated by Rogers (1888) as follows:^[14]

"Great in her father Petre, great in her husband Wadham, here lies a Founder's daughter and wife. Equal to either of them in her own titles to distinction, to her father and her husband, great in herself, here lies the lady Wadham, a Foundress. Noble in her beginnings, her progress, her end, she becomes illustrious by the rays of her parent, her consort, and her own. Address to the Reader: Do you ask how many years she lived? She lived long. Do you regard the wishes of good men? She lived too short a time. Do you look to the buildings which she raised with a pious hand? She will live for ever. Nor ever will there ages to come so late, a world so old, but that this most beautiful work shall remain; and in it shall live the name of this most famous lady older than the latest old age".

Further reading

• Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, biography of Wadham, Sir John, Knight, (died 1412), pp. 748–752
• Stevens, Hariet Weeks Wadhams, Wadhams (sic) Genealogy, Preceded by a Sketch of the Wadham Family of England, New York, 1913
• 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

• Davies, C. S. L. ‘Wadham, Nicholas (1531/2–1609)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. The first edition of this text is available as an article on Wikisource:  "Wadham, Nicholas". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.