John Fortescue (Captain of Meaux)
Sir John Fortescue (fl. 1422) of Shepham[2] (modern: Sheepham) in the parish of Modbury[3] in Devon, was appointed in 1422 by King Henry V as Captain of the captured Castle of Meaux, 25 miles north-east of Paris, following the Siege of Meaux during the Hundred Years' War.
Biography
He was a son of William Fortescue by his wife Elizabeth, who was a daughter of Sir John Beauchamp and a co-heiress of her brother Thomas Beauchamp of Ryme. She was the widow of Richard Branscombe.[4]
He married Elinor Norries, daughter and heiress of William Norries[5] (alias Norreys) of Norreys in the parish of North Huish in Devon, by his wife, a daughter of Roger Colaton.[6] By Elinor, Fortescue had the following children:[4]
- Sir Henry Fortescue, eldest son and heir, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, who married Jane Bozun, daughter of Edmond Bozun of Wood.[4]
- Sir John Fortescue (died 1479) of Ebrington in Gloucestershire, second son, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales,[4] ancestor of the Fortescues of Filleigh and Weare Giffard in Devon, later Earl Fortescue of Castle Hill, Filleigh.
- Sir Richard Fortescue, third son, ancestor of the Fortescues of Punsborne in Hertfordshire, of Falkborne and of Seldon.[4]
Fortescue monument
On the south wall of the south aisle chapel ("Fortescue Chapel") of the parish church of Weare Giffard is affixed the Fortescue mural monument, erected in 1638[7] by Hugh Fortescue (1592-1661). It is dedicated to three generations of the Fortescue family, and mentions the family origins at Whympston and Sir John Fortescue, Captain of Meaux.
References
- ↑ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.461
- ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.301
- ↑ "Conveyance, Shepham Hill, Elderberries, Easter Broadparks, House, Meadow and Holwell in Modbury parish, Devon, 24 acres, consideration: £226; 1) Sir Peter Fortescue of Wood, Devon, Edmund Parker of Boringdon, Devon, esquire", 1671, Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, Ref: 862/226
- 1 2 3 4 5 Vivian, p.353
- ↑ Vivian, p.352
- ↑ Risdon, Tristram (died 1640), Survey of Devon. With considerable additions. London, 1811, p.179
- ↑ Cherry, Bridget & Pevsner, Nikolaus, The Buildings of England: Devon. Yale University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-300-09596-8. p.891
- Sources
- Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620. Exeter, 1895.