John IV Dynham

Arms of Dynham: Gules, four fusils in fess ermine

Sir John IV Dinham (1406-1458) was a knight from Devonshire, England. His principal seats were at Nutwell and Kingskerswell in South Devon and Hartland in North Devon.^[1]

Origins

He was the son and heir of Sir John III Dinham (1359-1428) by his third wife Philippa Lovell, daughter of Sir John Lovell of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire and Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire.^[2] The Dynhams took their name from their ancient manor of Dinan in Brittany,^[3] and had been at Nutwell since about 1122 and were one of the leading gentry families in Devon. They founded Hartland Abbey in 1168/9 on their manor of Hartland.^[4]

Career

He was knighted at some time before 1 May 1430, at the age of 24. In 1431 he was in France with King Henry VI. In 1444 he is recorded as having been accused by the Abbot of Hartland Abbey of having broken into the Abbot's close and houses at Stoke St Nectan (next to Hartland Abbey), and having stolen his horses, sheep and cattle.^[5] A similar accusation had been made by the abbot against his father in 1397.^[6]

Lands held

Sir John IV Dynham's landholdings in several counties included the following estates or manors:

Devon

• Nutwell
• Kingskerswell
• Hartland

Somerset

• Buckland Dinham

Cornwall

• Cardinham

Marriage & progeny

Canting arms of Arches of Eythrope and Cranwell (in Waddesdon) and Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire: Gules, three arches argent

At some date before 12 July 1434, aged 28, he married Joan Arches (d.1497)^[7] sister and heiress of John Arches and daughter of Sir Richard Arches (d.1417), MP for Buckinghamshire in 1402, of Eythrope and Cranwell (both in the parish of Waddesdon) and Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire.^[8] The merlons of the battlements of the surviving mediaeval Nutwell Chapel, attached to the present Nutwell Court, display weathered sculpted reliefs of the Dynham arms^[9] Gules, four fusils in fess ermine. He had by Joan progeny including:

• John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (1433-1501), KG.
• Phillipa Dynham, wife of Sir Thomas Beaumont (1401-1450) of Shirwell.^[10]
• Joan Dynham, wife of John la Zouche, 7th Baron Zouche, 8th Baron St Maur.
• Margery Dynham, wife of Sir Edmund Carew.
• Katherine Dynham, wife of Sir Thomas Arundell.
• Edith Dynham, wife of Thomas Fowler.
• Elizabeth Dynham (died 1516), who married three times. Her first husband was Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin. She married secondly Sir John Sapcotes, and thirdly Sir Thomas Brandon.

The barony did not survive the first generation, and after Lord Dynham's death the Dynham estates were divided between the heirs of his numerous sisters.

Death & succession

He died on 25 January 1457/8 at Nutwell^[11] and was buried in the Blackfriars, Exeter. Separate Inquisitions post mortem were held concerning his landholdings in the counties of Hampshire, Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.^[12] He left as his heir his son John V Dynham, aged 24,^[13] later created 1st Baron Dynham.

Sources

• Chope, R. Pearse, The Book of Hartland, Torquay, 1940, Chapter V, pp. 26–37, The Dynham Family
• GEC Complete Peerage, Vol.IV, pp. 369–382, Baron Dinham

Further reading

• "The Last of the Dynhams", Transactions of the Devon Association, Vol. 50, pp. 431–492
• De la Motte Rouge, Les Dinan

References

1. GEC Complete Peerage, Vol.IV, p.377
2. GEC IV, p.377
3. GEC IV, p.369, note c, which quotes the earliest known member of the family as Geoffrey, Sire de Dinan in Brittany"
4. Chope, p.55
5. GEC IV, p.377, quoting: Patent Rolls 22 Henry VI, p.2, membrane 9d; 12 henry VI p.2, membrane 13
6. GEC IV, p.375
7. GEC IV, p.377
8. GEC IV, p.377
9. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-88639-nutwell-court-woodbury-devon
10. Vivian, p.65, pedigree of Beaumont; p.46, pedigree of Basset
11. GEC IV, p.378, note a, quoting from his inquisition post mortem obiit apud Nutwell
12. GEC IV, p.378, note a
13. GEC IV, p.378, note a