William Hankford

Arms of Hankford of Annery, Devon: Sable, a chevron barry nebuly argent and gules ^[1]

Sir William Hankford (or Hankeford) (ca. 1350 – 1423) of Annery in Devon, was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 until 1423.

Origins

His parentage is not known, but he came from a gentry family which originated at and took its name from the estate of Hankford, near Bulkworthy in the parish of Buckland Brewer, North Devon. ^[2] He was probably a younger brother of Sir Richard Hankeford (d.1419/20), who held extensive estates near Bulkworthy.^[3]

Career

He was educated at the Middle Temple, appointed serjeant-at-law in 1388 and king's serjeant in 1389. He was employed by the Earl of Devon from 1384, and repeatedly as a royal justice and commissioner in southern England. In 1394 he accompanied King Richard II (1377–1399) to Ireland.^[2] He served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland from 1395 to 1396.^[4]

In 1397, King Richard II decided to strike back at the Lords Appellant, a group of noblemen who years earlier had partly usurped royal authority, and had executed several of Richard's favourites.^[5] The next year Hankford was among the justices consulted concerning the validity of a legal ruling from 1387 which had declared the Appellants' actions unlawful and treasonable.^[6] Hankford expressed his support for the rulings, and said he would have ruled the same way himself.^[2]

On 6 May 1398 Hankford was appointed to succeed his friend John Wadham as Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.^[7] In 1399 at the coronation of King Henry IV, who as Henry Bolingbroke had in that year deposed Richard II,^[8] Hankford was made a Knight of the Bath. In spite of his loyalty to the deposed King Richard II, Hankford was reappointed by Henry IV in October 1399, and shortly after appointed a Justice of the King's Bench. In the following years he distinguished himself and was appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench at the accession of King Henry V in 1413.}

Marriage & progeny

By 1380 he had married a certain Cristina, possibly the heiress of the de Stapledon family of the estate of Annery, in the parish of Monkleigh, Devon, according to the Devon historian Tristram Risdon (d.1640).^[9] The most notable member of that family was Walter de Stapledon (1261–1326), Bishop of Exeter. Hankford or his recent ancestor had certainly acquired the estate of Annery, though whether through inheritance by marriage or by purchase is unclear.^[10] He had the following progeny:

• Richard I Hankford (d.1419),^[11] MP for Devon in 1414 and 1416,^[12] who predeceased his father and thus the inheritance, consisting primarily of land in North Devon, went to his son and Sir William's grandson Richard II Hankford,^[2] who married the heiress of Baron FitzWarin.^[13]
• Jane Hankford (d.1448), who married twice:
  • Firstly to Sir John II Wadham (d.1412) of Edge, Branscombe in Devon, and of Merryfield, Ilton, Somerset, Justice of the Common Pleas (1389-1398) and MP for Exeter in 1399 and for Devon in 1401,^[14]
  • Secondly (as his 2nd wife) to Sir Robert Cary (d. circa 1431) of Cockington, Devon, 12 times Member of Parliament for Devon, son and heir of Sir John Cary (d.1395), Chief Baron of the Exchequer,^[15] attainted in 1388, much of whose forfeited Somerset lands were acquired jointly by Sir William Hankford and Sir John II Wadham.^[16]

Death & burial

Hankford died on 12 December 1423, while still in office. A peculiar legend is associated with his death, based on a strong local tradition, reported by both Robert Danby (d. 1474) and Raphael Holinshed (d. 1580). Allegedly Hankford had instructed his forester of his estate at Annery to shoot with an arrow anyone entering his forest, only himself deliberately to wander into the forest at night, where accordingly he was shot. His death thus appears possibly as a noble form of suicide, which would not debar him from Christian burial. As late as the 17th century there was still a tree-stump known locally as "Hankford's Oak" where the judge supposedly was killed. Whether the story is true or not, Hankford had certainly written his testament only two days before his death.^[2] He was buried in Monkleigh church, to which he had contributed extensive rebuilding,^[2] and his ornate Easter Sepulchre monument survives in the Annery Chapel in Monkleigh Church.

Monument in Monkleigh Church

Easter Sepulchre monument to Sir William Hankford (d.1422) of Annery. South wall of Annery Chapel of Monkleigh Church

Pair of sculpted heraldic escutcheons in spandrels of arches in doors of mediaeval wooden screen at west end of Annery Chapel, Monkleigh Church: left: on south door, arms of Hankford of Annery: Sable, a chevron barry nebuly argent and gules;^[17] right: on north door, arms of Stapledon of Annery: Argent, two bars nebuly sable

Two small imitation mediaeval brasses, a rectangular brass containing text in English in simplified black letter Gothic script Lord Chief Justice Sir William Hankford, knight, died xx Dec MCCCCXXIII with an escutcheon below containing Hankford arms approximated erroneously as a chevron barry of three wavy. These were probably inlaid in 1829 into the top of the stone slab of the Hankford monument, when the Annery Chapel was restored by William Tardrew, a later owner of Annery, as stated on a stone tablet in the chapel. Monkleigh Church, Devon

Sir William Hankford's ornate Easter Sepulchre monument survives against the south wall of the Annery Chapel, in Monkleigh Church. It is devoid of its original monumental brasses which would probably have been affixed to the back wall under the canopy,^[18] but two small imitation mediaeval brasses, a rectangular brass containing text with an escutcheon below, were inlaid probably in 1829, into the top of the stone slab, with text in English in simplified black letter Gothic script.^[19] John Prince saw and recorded the appearance of the original brasses, including images of kneeling persons and heraldic escutcheons showing arms impaling arms of wives ("matches") thus:^[20]

"In an isle belonging to the family is a noble monument erected to his memory having this epitaph engraven thereon in a plate of brass: Hic jacet Willielmus Hankford miles quondam capitalis justiciarius domini regis de banco qui obiit xx die mensis Decembris Anno Domini MCCCCXXII cuius animae propicietur^[21] Deus Amen. ("Here lies William Hankford, knight, sometime Chief Judge of the Bench of the Lord King, who died on the 20th day of the month of December in the year of Our Lord 1422, of whose soul may God look with favour Amen") He is portraicted kneeling in his robes together with his match and the matches of some of his ancestors are insculpt on brass. Out of his mouth proceeds this prayer: Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam (Have mercy on me O God according to your great mercifulness). Over his head is this inscription: Beati qui custodiunt judicium & faciunt justiciam omni temopore (Blessed are they who protect judgement and make justice in all time). A book in his hand hath this: Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam justiciam divinam (Have mercy on me O God according to your divine justice). Near hereunto is the statue^[22] of Sir Richard Hankford his son, wrought in armour, kneeling on his knees, on whose surcoat are his arms. Then the portraicture of his lady, on whose upper vestments Hankford's and Stapledon's armouries are curiously^[23] cut in brass".

The latter observation would seem to confirm that Hankford's wife was the Stapledon heiress of Annery. The arms of Stapledon and Hankford are sculpted in wood on the mediaeval screen at the west end of the Annery Chapel.

References

1. Tristram Risdon's Notebook
2. Virgoe 2004.
3. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol.24, London, 1890, p.293, biography of William Hankford
4. Ball, F. Elrington (1926). The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921. London: John Murray. p. 169.
5. Saul, Nigel (1997). Richard II. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 378. ISBN 0-300-07003-9.
6. Chrimes, S. B. (1956). "Richard II's questions to the judges". Law Quarterly Review. lxxii: 365–90.
7. Robert Beatson, 'A Political Index to The Histories of Great Britain and Ireland', p. 414
8. Harriss, Gerald (2005). Shaping the Nation: England, 1360–1461. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 486–8. ISBN 0-19-822816-3.
9. Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, London, 1810, p.276
10. Prince, p.458
11. GEC Complete Peerage, vol.V, pp.504–5, (Baron FitzWarin)
12. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/hankford-richard-1419
13. Risdon, p.276
14. History of Parliament biography of John Wadham
15. Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.150, pedigree of Cary; See also biography of Sir Robert Cary in History of Parliament
16. History of Parliament biography of John Wadham
17. Tristram Risdon's Notebook
18. For such arrangement with an Easter Sepulchre see the monument of Richard Pomeroy (d.1497) in Berry Pomeroy Church, where although the brasses are similarly missing, the matrices, or inset areas in the stone, survive in which the brassed were inlaid
19. The Annery Chapel was restored in 1829 by William Tardrew, a later owner of Annery, as stated on a stone tablet in the chapel
20. Prince, p.461
21. corrected from erroneous proprietur, a standard form of wording
22. Statue, i.e. monumental brass
23. i.e. "with care"

Sources

• Prince, John, (1643–1723), The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, pp. 458–462, biography of Sir William Hankford
• Virgoe, Roger (2004). "Hankeford , Sir William (c.1350–1423)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12196.
•  Rigg, James McMullen (1890). "Hankeford, William". In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.