Hugh II Stucley (1496-1559)

Arms of Stucley: Azure, three pears pendant or^[1]
Motto: Bellement et Hardiment ("beautifully and bravely")

Sir Hugh II Stucley (1496–1559), lord of the manor of Affeton in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1544/5.^[2][3]

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Stucley (1473–1542) of Affeton, Sheriff of Devon in 1521,^[4] by his wife Anne Wode (alias Wood), daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Wode^[5] (died 1502), of Childrey in Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire), Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1500 and in 1478 elected a Member of Parliament for Wallingford.

Marriage

Arms of Pollard: Argent, a chevron sable between three escallops gules^[6]

Heraldic stained-glass roundel representing marriage of Sir Hugh II Stucley (1496–1559) and Jane Pollard, King's Nympton Church

He married Jane^[7] Pollard, 2nd daughter of Sir Lewis Pollard (c. 1465 – 1526), lord of the Manor of King's Nympton in Devon, Justice of the Common Pleas from 1514 to 1526^[8] and Member of Parliament for Totnes, Devon, in 1491. Jane's brother was the influential Sir Richard Pollard (1505–1542), MP for Taunton (1536) and Devon (1539, 1542), of Putney, Surrey, who was an assistant of Thomas Cromwell in administering the surrender of religious houses following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and who in 1537 was granted by King Henry VIII the manor of Combe Martin in Devon^[9] and in 1540 Forde Abbey. An heraldic stained-glass roundel survives in the south window of the Pollard Chapel in the south aisle of King's Nympton Church showing the arms of Stucley impaling Pollard, with quarterings of each family. The arms are as follows: baron, quarterly 1st: Azure, three pears pendant or (Stucley); 2nd: Argent, a chevron engrailed between three fleurs-de-lis sable (de Affeton^[10]); 3rd: Argent, a chevron gules between three roses of the second seeded or (Manningford?); 4th: Gules, three lions rampant or (FitzRoger);^[11] femme quarterly 1st & 4th: Argent, a chevron sable between three mullets gules pierced or (de Via/Way of Way, St Giles in the Wood); 2nd & 3rd: Argent, a chevron sable between three escallops gules (Pollard).

Progeny

By his wife he had progeny as follows:

Sons

• Lewes Stucley (1529–1581), eldest son and heir, Standard Bearer to Queen Elizabeth I. He married twice: firstly to Anne Hill, daughter of Sir Giles Hill and widow of Christopher Hadley; secondly to Janet Powlett, daughter of ".... Powlett of Dorset"^[4] (possibly one of his first-cousins, a daughter of Sir Hugh Paulet (died 1573) of Hinton St. George in Somerset, Governor of Jersey, by his wife Philippa Pollard, a daughter of Sir Lewis Pollard (c. 1465 – 1540), Justice of the Common Pleas, of King's Nympton, Lewes Stucley's maternal grandfather).
• George Stucley, 2nd son.^[4]
• Thomas Stukley (c. 1520 – 1578) "The Lusty Stucley", 3rd son,^[4] a mercenary who fought in France, Ireland and in the naval Battle of Lepanto (1571) in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, and was killed at the Battle of Alcazar (1578) fighting the Moors. It was alleged that he was an illegitimate son of King Henry VIII.^[12] He was a Roman Catholic recusant and a rebel against the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I. He married a daughter of "Powlett",^[4] possibly a first cousin, as in the case of his eldest brother.
• Hugh Stucley, 4th son,^[4] of North Beckland in the parish of Hartland, Devon.^[13]
• Amias Stucley, 5th son, who married Frances/Francisca Pollard, daughter of Sir Richard Pollard of Way, St Giles in the Wood, Devon, (the senior and original line of the Pollard family and first cousin twice removed of Sir Lewis I Pollard of Bishop's Nympton) by his wife Joane Bampfield, a daughter of Sir Edward Bampfield (died 1528) of Poltimore in Devon.^[14]

Daughters

Anne Stucley

16th century mural monument of Richard Bellew of Ash^[15] and his wife Margaret St Ledger of Annery, Monkleigh^[16] in Braunton Church

Anne Stucley, wife of William Bellew (1512–1577/8) of Ash in the parish of Braunton, Devon and of Alverdiscott in Devon, descended from the Bellews of Bellewstown, County Meath in Ireland.^[17] William's great-grandfather John Bellew had married Anne Fleming, one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of John Fleming of Bratton Fleming and Ash.^[18] The Fleming family was one of the most ancient in North Devon. Anne Stucley's eldest son was Richard Bellew of Ash, whose marriage to Margaret St Leger (daughter of Sir John St. Leger (died 1596), of Annery, MP and Sheriff of Devon) was commemorated by the erection in the private chapel at Ash of an elaborate heraldic mural monument, now in St Brannoc's Church, Braunton, which includes a shield showing the arms of Stucley with eight quarterings as follows:

• 1st: Azure, three pears pendant or (Stucley)
• 2nd: Three fleurs-de-lys
• 3rd: A chevron...
• 4th: A chevron engrailed between three roses
• 5th: Gules, three lions rampant guardant or (FitzRoger,^[19] for Elizabeth FitzRoger (died 1414), wife of Richard Stucley of Trent and daughter and heiress of John, Lord FitzRoger of Chewton Mendip, Somerset, and widow of Lord Bonville).
• 6th: Argent, a chevron engrailed between three fleurs-de-lys sable (de Affeton,^[20] for Katherine de Affeton (died 1467), wife of Hugh I Stucley (1398/1414-pre-1457), Sheriff of Devon in 1448, and daughter and heiress of John II de Affeton of Affeton).
• 7th: Gules crusily fitchee or, three demi-woodmen men holding clubs or (Wood of Binley,^[21] for Anne Wode, wife of Sir Thomas Stucley (1473–1542) of Affeton and daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Wode^[5] (died 1502), of Childrey in Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire), Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1500 and in 1478 elected a Member of Parliament for Wallingford).
• 8th: A pelican in her piety

Mary Stucley

Mary Stucley, who married twice:

• Firstly to Tristram Larder (1515–1547) lord of the manor of Upton Pyne,^[22] whose mother was Isabella Bonville, daughter of John Bonville (died 1491) of Combe Raleigh in Devon, the "spurious son"^[23] of the magnate William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1391–1461) the step-brother of Hugh I Stucley (d.pre-1457).
• Secondly Mary Stucley married John Prideaux (1520–1558), of Nutwell, which estate he purchased, in the parish of Woodbury, Devon, MP for Devon in 1554 and a Serjeant-at-law.^[24] A monument thought to date from the late 16th century survives in Woodbury Church showing on a tomb chest two recumbent figures said to be of a Prideaux and his wife.^[25]

Awdrie Stucley

Mural monument to Roger Giffard (died 1603), north chancel wall, Tiverton Church. This is a location of great honour often occupied for example by the monuments of major benefactors, lords of the manor etc.

Heraldic achievement of Roger Giffard (died 1603) of Tiverton Castle. Detail from his mural monument, north chancel wall, Tiverton Church, Devon. Arms quarterly: 1st: Giffard; 2nd: Coblegh of Brightley; 3rd: Azure, three pears or (Stucley; it is not clear why Stucley is quartered as Awdrie Stucley was not an heraldic heiress); 4th: three bugles stringed (possibly Cornu of Thornbury, given by Pole as: Argent, a chevron between three hunting horns sable.^[26]). The crest is: A cock, in its beak an ear of wheat. The motto beneath, apparently punning on the crest, is: Pul Que Fort, ancient French meaning "A cock (Latin: pullus a young cock; also pulcher, beautiful, fair^[27]) and strong"

Awdrie Stucley, who married twice:

• Firstly in 1546/6 to William Yeo, a younger son of John Yeo of Hatherleigh by his wife Anne Honeychurch. His great-grandfather was William Yeo of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe in Devon, a substantial landowner the eventual heir of whose line was the Rolle family.^[28]
• Secondly in 1562/3 Awdrie Stucley married (as the first of his three wives) Roger Giffard (1533–1603) of Tiverton Castle,^[29] in Devon, who purchased a part of the manor of Tiverton and the castle from the heirs of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1527–1556). He was the 5th son of Sir Roger Giffard (died 1547), who was born at Halsbury the family's ancient seat in the parish of Parkham, Devon, but who married the heiress of Brightley in the parish of Chittlehampton, Devon, namely Margaret Coblegh (died 1548), daughter and sole heiress of John Coblegh of Brightley, whose monumental brass survives in Chittlehampton Church. Margaret Coblegh brought many estates to the Giffards of Brightley, including Stowford Snape, Wollacombe Tracy (near Braunton, where her son Roger Giffard was baptised and married), Bremridge (near South Molton) and Nymet St George (George Nympton), of which she was seized at her death. John Giffard (died 1622) of Brightley, the nephew of Roger Giffard (died 1603) of Tiverton Castle, is commemorated by an effigy in Chittlehampton Church. The armorials of Giffard and Coblegh of Brightley are visible on this elaborate monument at Chittlehampton and also appear above the porch of Brightley Barton.

The elaborate mural monument of Roger Giffard survives in the chancel of St Peter's Church, Tiverton, displaying the arms of Stucley, inscribed in Latin as follows:^[30]

"Sacrum memoriae monumentum generossimo viro Rogero Giffardo armigero, armigeri quondam Giffardi membra Roger, haec tegit in cineres terra soluta suos. Miles erat genitor dominus de Brightleigh Rogerus quintus et ipsius filius iste fuit. Consors prima Thori nati genitrixque Georgii nata equitis de Afton Andrea Stucla fuit. Corporis externo multum spectabilis ore mentis at internae gratia major erat. Cultor amictiae constans et cultor agrorum summus egenorum cultor amansque fuit. Ex triplici binos generavit conjuge natos nec vidit stirpis germina plura suae in cunis unus moritur remanensque secundus hoc patri sacrum conficiebat opus. Septuaginta senex postquam compleverat annos ecce animam caelo reddidit ossa solo. Obiit sepultus Tyvertonii Octobris 8.o 1603"

("This Monument is sacred to the memory of that most noble man Roger Giffard, Esquire, once a member of the Giffard Esquires. This covers his ashes released into the earth. His father was a knight, Roger the lord of Brightley, and of the same was he the fifth son. His first wife and the mother of George born at Thor was Audrey Stucley born of the knight of Afeton. The outer aspect of his body was very attractive but the grace of his mind and inside being was greater. He was an unfailing cultivator of friendship and the greatest cultivator of fields and a cultivator and lover of the needy. Out of a three-fold marriage he generated two offspring and nor did he see more offshoots from his stock: one died in the cradle and the other one remaining made this sacred work to his father. An old man, after he had fulfilled seventy years, behold, he gave back his bones to the soil and his spirit to Heaven. He died the eighth of October 1603, buried at Tiverton")

Other daughters

• Agnes Stucley, who married John Giles (died 1606) of Bowden,^[31] in the parish of Ashprington, Devon, who purchased the adjoining estate of Sharpham from Edward Drewe.^[32]
• Katherine Stucley, who married John Carew of Bickleigh in Devon, without progeny.^[33]

Sources

• Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp. 721–3, pedigree of Stucley

References

1. Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.768
2. "1545" per: Stucley, Sir Dennis, 5th Baronet, "A Devon Parish Lost, A new Home Discovered", Presidential Address published in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, no. 108, 1976, pp.1-11
3. Risdon, Sheriffs of Devon since the Conquest, p.12, Appendix 9 to 1810 edition of Risdon's Survey of Devon, "Hugh Stukeley, esq, 36 Henry VIII, i.e. regnal year 1544
4. Vivian, p.721
5. Vivian, p.721, "Sr Thomas Wood, Knt, Lord Cheefe Justice of ye Comon Pleas"
6. Vivian, 1895, p.597
7. Erroneously named as Phillippa in Vivian, 1895, p.598, pedigree of Pollard, given corrected on p.721, pedigree of Stucley
8. Hoskins, p.337
9. Risdon, Survey of Devon (1810 edition, p.348)
10. Lysons, Magna Britannia, Vol.6: Devon, 1822, Families removed or extinct since 1620
11. Magna Charta Sureties, p.114
12. Hart, Kelly, The Mistresses of Henry VIII, 2009, pp. 75–77
13. Chope, R.Pearse, The Book of Hartland, Torquay, 1940, p.202/4
14. Vivian, pp.721, 597, 39
15. Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.346; Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.68-9, pedigree of Bellew; Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, pp.467-510, heraldry of Devon
16. Vivian, p.69
17. Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, p.133, pedigree of Trollope-Bellew of Casewick
18. Vivian, pp.68-9, pedigree of Bellew
19. Thomas Robson, The British Herald[]http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=c3EUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA449&lpg=PA449&dq=fitz+roger+armorial&source=bl&ots=W62FC75sgs&sig=s0jP0qgPY3ixdOkVGSSiVcVGoG8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2A7gU8znG8jD7AaPtoGwCQ&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=fitz%20roger%20armorial&f=false
20. Pole, p.467
21. Pole, p.508
22. Vivian, p.524, pedigree of Larder; Risdon, p.81
23. Vivian, p.103, pedigree of Bonville
24. Vivian, p.624, pedigree of Prideaux
25. Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.918
26. Pole, p.476
27. Cassell's Latin Dictionary
28. Vivian, pp.834-5, pedigree of Yeo
29. Vivian, p.400, pedigree of Giffard
30. The inscription is still plainly visible on the monument and was quoted in 1789 by Sir Egerton Brydges in "The Topographer"
31. Vivian, p.409, pedigree of Giles
32. Risdon, p.167; Gray, Todd & Rowe, Margery (Eds.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of The Reverend John Swete, 1789–1800, 4 vols., Tiverton, 1999, Vol.4, p.103
33. Vivian, p.136, pedigree of Carew