Sir Richard of Cornwall

Arms of de Cornwall: Argent, a lion rampant gules ducally crowned or a bordure engrailed sable bezantee, being the arms of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1209–1272) with difference a bordure engrailed^[1]

Sir Richard of Cornwall (died 1296) was an illegitimate son of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1209–1272) (the second son of King John (1199–1216)) by his mistress Joan de Valletort.

Origins

Father

He was the second illegitimate son of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1209–1272), the second son of King John (1199–1216).

Mother

His mother was Richard's mistress Joan, of unknown origins.^[2] She married twice:

• Firstly to Ralph de Valletort (died 1267),^[3] feudal baron of Harberton,^[4] Devon, and feudal baron of Trematon, Cornwall. He died before 1267 leaving a son who was a minor. As lady of the manor of Holne, Joan de Valletort, Sir Ralph’s widow, made a grant to Henry, Abbot of Buckfast Abbey, of her dower lands at Holne.^[5] She left children Reginald de Valletort, who granted the manor of Trematon to Earl Richard.
• Secondly to Alexander Okeston, of Okeston (alias Oxton), Devon,^[6] who was granted by Sir Roger de Valletort, Joan's former brother-in-law, the manors of Modbury^[7] and Bridford.^[8] By Okeston she had a son Sir James Okeston, who died without children, and a daughter Joan de Okeston, who married Richard Champernowne of Clyst Champernowne.^[9] Her son Sir Richard Champernowne inherited Bridforde and Modbury by command of King Edward II (1307–1327)^[10] who in 1314^[11] compelled Sir James Okeston to convey the former Valletort lands to his nephew Sir Richard Champernowne.^[12] The Champernown family was thenceforth seated at Modbury.

Career

Sir Richard of Cornwall received a grant from his half-brother Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (died 1300) in which he was called "brother".

Marriage and children

He married Joan, and by her had three sons and a daughter, including:

• Joan of Cornwall, wife of Sir John Howard, from whom the Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk, are descended.^[13]
• Edmund de Cornwall of Thonock and Kinlet,^[14] ancestor of the Shropshire Cornwall's, including John Cornwall (c. 1366 – 1414).
• Geoffrey Cornwall, first of the line of Barons of Burford,^[15] including Thomas Cornwall.

Armorials

Heraldic escutcheon from mural monument in Branscombe Church, Devon, to Joan Tregarthin (died 1583). The arms are Wadham (9 quarters), impaling Tregarthin (6 quarters). The 4th quarter of the latter is:A lion rampant in chief a label of three points a bordure engrailed bezantee

He adopted the arms of his father with difference a bordure engrailed. These arms were later used by the following families which claimed descent from him:

• Cornewall Baronets, which family claimed descent from a younger branch of the de Cornewall family, Barons of Burford, lineally descended from Sir Richard of Cornwall (died 1296).^[16]
• Tregarthin family of Cornwall, with addition of a label. The arms on the monument in Branscombe Church in Devon to Joan Tregarthin (died 1583), wife of John Wadham (died 1578), quarter de Cornwall. The ancestry of Joan Tregarthin, was set out by Davies in his "Parochial History of Cornwall", concerning the parish of Goran, as follows:^[17]

"At Tregarden lived John de Tregarthyn, temp Edward I, how long before I know not, after which his posterity in this place married with the great inheritrixes of Pever, Chamberlayne and Hendower, of Court, in Branell, by which last, by the Cornwalls of that place, they were lineally descended from Richard, Earl of Cornwall, King of the Romans, by his concubine Joan de Valletort, widow of Sir Alexander Oakeston".

Death

He was slain by an arrow at the Siege of Berwick in 1296.

References