George Basset
George Basset (c.1524-c.1580), of Tehidy in the parish of Illogan, near Redruth in Cornwall, was an English politician.
Origins
He was the second son of John IV Basset (1462-1528) of Umberleigh in Devon by his second wife Honor Grenville, sister of Sir Richard Grenville the Elder (d.1550) and later wife of Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, an illegitimate son of King Edward IV and thus an uncle of King Henry VIII. His sisters were the courtiers Katharine Bassett and Anne Bassett, the latter allegedly a mistress of Henry VIII and considered as a possible sixth wife for the King.[1] His next younger brother was James Bassett, MP, a Privy Counsellor to Queen Mary.[2]
Career
He was a Member of Parliament for Launceston, Cornwall, in 1563 and 1572, and for Bossiney, Cornwall, in 1571.[3] He was patron of the advowson of Camborne in Cornwall.[4] He was granted by the crown the estate of Columbjohn[5] in Devon, formerly a possession of the Courtenay family, following the 1538 attainder and execution of Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, a relative of his step-father Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, whose natural half-sister was Catherine of York (1479-1527), wife of William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon.
Founds Basset of Tehidy
He was the founder of the junior line of Basset of Tehidy, which line of the Bassets alone survives in 2016 in a direct male line. Tehidy was one of the most ancient possessions of his ancestors. The manor of Tehidy was settled by deed of entail dated 26 March 1563 made by George's nephew Sir Arthur Basset (d.1586) of Umberleigh, eldest son of his elder brother John Basset (d. 1541) of Umberleigh and Tehidy. The deed granted Tehidy to Arthur's grandmother Honor Plantagenet, Viscountess Lisle (d.1566), for her life, then to her son George Basset and his wife Jaquet Coffin (d.1589) and the heirs male of his body.[6]
Marriage & progeny
He married Jaquet Coffin of Alwington in Devon, by whom he had progeny including:
- James Basset (1560-1603), son and heir, who inherited Tehidy under the above entail. He married Jane Godolphin, daughter of Sir Francis Godolphin of Godolphin in Cornwall. His monumental brass showing himself dressed in armour opposite his wife, with their ten children between, exists in Illogan Church, with the following inscription:[7]
- "Here lyeth buryed the body of James Bassett Esquire who had to wife Jane Godolphin ye daughter of Sr Frauncis Godolphin, knight, haveinge 5 sonnes and 5 da'u'hers. He departed this life ye 8th day of February An'o 1603 beinge of ye age of 43 yeres"
References
- ↑ The Mistresses of Henry VIII, Kelly Hart, p.197, The History Press, Stroud, GLucestersahire, England
- ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.47, pedigree of Basset
- ↑ http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/bassett-george-1524-c80
- ↑ Vivian, p.47, he presented an incumbent on 15 March 1572
- ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.170
- ↑ Dunkin, Edwin Hadlow Wise, The Monumental Brasses of Cornwall with Descriptive, Genealogical and Heraldic Notes, 1882, p.60
- ↑ Dunkin, 1882, plate XLVIII