John Wadham Knight of Merrifield I

• Preferred Name: John Wadham Knight of Merrifield I^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}
  
• Gender: M
  
• Justice+of+the+Common+Pleas: BET 20 MAY 1389 AND 10 MAY 1398 with note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_of_the_Common_Pleas
  
• Occupation: Member of Parliament for Exeter1399
  
• Occupation: Member of Parliament for Devon1401
  
• KNIGHTED+BY+KING+RICHARD+II: BEF SEP 1397 with note: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/wadham-sir-john-1412 "Kntd. by Sept. 1397.2"
  
• FSID: LBSH-S7L
  
• Sir+John+Wadham: with note: Description: Sir John Wadham was MP for Exeter in 1399 and for Devon, as a knight of the shire with Sir Philip Courtenay, in 1401. He was a Justice of the Common Pleas from 1389 to 1398, and ancestor to Nicholas Wadham co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford.
  
• Birth: 1344 in Wadham Manor, Lusleigh, Devonshire, England at LATI: N0.7365 LONG: E3.7189
  
• Political Office: BET 1389 AND 1398 with note: Description: Justice of Common Pleas
  
• Death: 27 JUL 1412 in Merifield Manor, Ilminster, Chard, Somerset, England at LATI: N0.9294 LONG: E2.9124
  
• Burial: AFT 27 JUL 1412 in Saint Winifred Churchyard, Branscombe, Devon, England at LATI: N0.6985 LONG: E3.1524
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Sir John Wadham (c.1344–1412) was a Justice of the Common Pleas from 1389 to 1398, during the reign of King Richard II (1377–1399), selected by the King as an assertion of his right to rule by the advice of men appointed of his own choice, and one of the many Devonians of the period described by Thomas Fuller in his Worthies of England, as seemingly "innated with a genius to study law".
  
  He was MP for Exeter in 1379, and after Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV (1399–1413), Wadham was ‘discharged at his own request’ from being an assize judge. He became a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1401 as a Knight of the Shire with Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham.
  
  John Wadham 'the judge' was one of John Prince's Worthies of Devon: "All I have met with him further, is this encomium," says the Devonshire biographer, "that being free of speech, he mingled it well with discretion; so that he never touched any man how mean so ever out of order, either for sport or spight; but with alacrity of spirit and soundness of understanding managed all his proceedings.
  There were five Serjeants-at-Law, John Cary (died 1395), John Hill (died 1408), Robert Hill (died 1426) of Shilston Justice of the Common Pleas from 1408–1423 (Wadham's son-in-law), William Hankford, and John Wadham; all natives of Devon.
  
  William Pole and John Prince both identify him to be the son of another Sir John Wadham of Edge in the parish of Branscombe Devon, however, his modern History of Parliament biographer suggests he may have been the son, rather than the nephew perhaps, of Gilbert Wadham (c.1320–1383) of Wadham, who in 1383 quitclaimed to him a rent in the manor of Wadham or Wadeham in the parish of Knowstone, between Exmoor and South Molton, from which the family originally took their name, and where, according to Sir William Pole, they had lived from at least the reign of King Edward I (1272–1307). Edge in Branscomb has been identified as his ancestral home and birthplace and he is sometimes identified as 'Sir John Wadham II' which makes it more likely that his father was 'Sir John Wadham I of Edge'. If Gilbert Wadham was his uncle and had no male heirs it would not have been unusual for him to sign the family estates over to his closest male relative, his nephew. As there are no records specifically documenting his parentage it is all speculation. His place of birth does certainly point to Sir John Wadham I as being his father.
  
  Wadham had a large and successful law practice which enabled him to 'make great additions to his estates" he added to both his ancestral estate at Wadham and at 'Edge in Branscombe' in Devon where the family made their home during the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377).
  In 1386, he purchased the manor of Silverton from Cecily de Beauchamp and also land at Merryfield, Ilton, Somerset, where, in about 1400, he built a moated and fortified manor house which became the family's principal home. In 1403, he bought the manor of Lustleigh on Dartmoor, which stayed in the Wadham family for the next two hundred years, as did Edge in Branscombe.
  
  In May 1398, he was discharged from the bench and received the grant of a pension from the assizes of Somerset and Dorset ‘for good service’. The inquisitio post mortem in 1413 valued his holdings at £115 per annum.
  
  There appears to be some confusion about his wives. "The visitations of the county of Devon" identifies his wife as Elizabeth Shilston, daughter and Heiress of William Shilston of Shilston, and names her the mother of Isabella Wadham, who is sometimes known as Elizabeth (perhaps after her mother?)
  However apparently his will identifies his 1st wife as Maud, and his last wife as Joan Wrottesley. Was Elizabeth also known as Maud, and therefore the same person? Or did Sir John marry 3 times?
  
  It appears likely he married 1st Maud, mother of his oldest son. 2nd he married Elizabeth Shilston, who was the mother of Isabella/Elizabeth. Then before 1385 he married 3rd Joan Wrottesley, daughter of Sir William Wrottesley of Blore and Joan Bassett of Drayton Bassett. Joan was likely mother of the rest of his children.
  
  John Wadham had eight children:
  1. Robert Wadham, who died without progeny.
  2. Sir William Wadham (died 1452), eldest surviving son and heir of Merryfield and Edge, who lies buried with his mother in a beautiful altar tomb in the transept known as the 'Wadham aisle', a chantry dedicated to St Katherine, at the Church of St Mary, Ilminster, Somerset.
  John Wadham.
  3. Walter Wadham, Rector of St Stephen in Branell, Cornwall.
  4. Thomas Wadham, of Redworthy in Ashreigney.
  5. Margery Wadham, who married Sir John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton; ancestors to Queen Jane Seymour, King Edward VI and the Seymour Dukes of Somerset.
  6. Joan Wadham.
  7. Elizabeth, sometimes called 'Isabella' Wadham, who married Sir Robert Hill (died 1426) of Shilston near Modbury, Justice of the Common Pleas from 1408 to 1423. Their eldest son, Robert Hill of Shilston, married Margaret Champernowne (1396-1434) of Modbury and was Sheriff of Devon in 1428.
  --------------------------------------------
  1408 - Somerset - JOHN WADHAM ,knt, & Joan his wife -vs- John Mucheldevere, of Wyke juxta Langport & Edith his wife John & edith granted these lands to JOHN Wadham & Joan his wife, to hold of the same & their issue male if JOHN should died without issue male of Joan, then after the death of Joan, to remain to Robert s/o said JOHN WADHAM & his heir male, if no male issue then to right heirs of said JOHN for this JOHN Wadham & Joan gave to John & Edith - 20 marcs of silver.
  History of the County of Somerset: 1
  On 28 January 1350 (fn. 6) licence was granted to Henry Power and Richard Sherewynd vicar of East Chinnock to give to the prior and friars preachers of Ilchester an acre and a half of land for the enlargement of their dwelling place. During the 15th century they shared with the Franciscans the gratitude of the laity of Somerset. They were in constant receipt of legacies which proved how they were valued. In 1411 (fn. 7) Sir John Wadham left them 20s. and to the prisoners of Ilchester 40d.
  --------------------------------------
  Wikiwand -excerpt, "the Wadhams of Knowstone"
  Sir John II Wadham (died 1412)
  Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Common Pleas (1389–1398) (said by Pole, apparently in error, to have been Justice of the King's Bench), MP for Exeter in 1399 and for Devon in 1401.[21] He was one of Prince's Worthies of Devon.[22]
  
  Although Pole (followed by Prince (died 1723))[23] stated him to be the son of Sir John Wadham above, his modern History of Parliament biographer,[21] perhaps unaware of Pole as Prince's source, suggested he was the son of Gilbert Wadham, who in 1383 quitclaimed to him a rent in Wadham, which deed was witnessed by Sir John's close friend Sir William Hankford (c. 1350 – 1423) of Annery in Devon, Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 until 1423.
  
  He acquired much land in Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Gloucestershire, which were valued at £82 per annum in an incomplete survey of 1412 and valued at about £115 in his inquisition post mortem in 1412. His Devon landholdings included the manors of Silverton and half the manor of Harberton (both purchased, in 1386 and 1390 respectively, from Cecily Turberville, sister and heiress of John de Beauchamp, 3rd Baron Beauchamp of Hatch) (1329–1361)) and Lustleigh and he acquired over 300 acres of land in Branscombe and elsewhere.
  
  Silverton, like Edge, descended to the Wyndham family and Silverton Park (alias Egremont House), a large neo-Classical mansion, was built there in 1839–45 by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (1786–1845) and demolished in 1901.
  
  His landholdings in Somerset were even more extensive than those in Devon and mostly consisted of properties forfeited by Sir John Cary, Chief Baron of the Exchequer. These lands included Hardington Mandeville, a moiety of Chilton Cantelo, and premises in Trent (now in Dorset) he purchased jointly with Hankford in 1389. These large landholdings in Somerset appear to have moved his principal interest away from Devon and the manor of Edge, and towards the end of his life he made his principal residence at Merryfield, Ilton, near Ilminster, Somerset, which he had purchased from Cecily Turberville.[24]
  
  At Merryfield he built a substantial fortified manor house, demolished after 1618, of which only the rectangular moat survives today in the middle of agricultural land south of RAF Merryfield aerodrome.[25] He married Joan Wrothesley.
  
  Memorial
  Biography
  It is curious that the origins of a man of such distinction as Wadham have been lost. He is consistently stated to have been the son of Sir John Wadham of Edge, but on what evidence cannot b
  
  === My 16th GGF ===
  From Gilbert of Bradley and Teynwick Yarde.
  
  === LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT ===
  Publications] - Somerset Record Society
  http://www.archive.org/details/somersetpub16someuoft
  http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/52/mode/1up
  1411. JOHN WADHAM, KNT.
  [25 MARCHE. FO. 193.]
  I, John Wadham, knight, make my will in this manner :
  I bequeath my body to be buried where it shall please God to dispose.
  Item, I bequeath to Joan, my wife, 100li., two great silver dishes (discos) called "chargeours," eighteen silver dishes, six silver saltcellars, my better silver basin (peluem) with a ewer (lauacro), two silver cups with covers, made in the manner of a chalice, one cup silver gilt, my better vestment with the apparel of the altar of the same suit, my better chalice, missal, portuous (portiforium), the two better cloths (mappas) with towels (manutergijs) four brass bowls (ollas) , two plates (patellas), three of the better beds, whereof one of "Tapsarie " ; two jugs (picarios),1 viz., one pottle,2 and one quart (unum potellum et unum quartum) of silver, one silver saltcellar, one pix (pixidem) called "Pere" ; all the stock (instaurum) of wines at Muryfeld, and one waggon (plaustrum) bound with iron.
  Item, I bequeath for paying four chaplains to be hired (locandorum) for one year to celebrate for my soul, and the souls for which I am bound, 40 marks ; and if this can be done at a less price, the residue shall be expended for the souls of Maude, late my wife, my father and mother, Richard Brankescomb, Margaret his wife, Cicely Turberuill and all faithful deceased.
  Item, I bequeath for my funeral expenses 10li.
  Item, to each of the orders of Friars of London, 13s. 4d.
  1 Picarius, quidam ciphus, Anglice "a curskyn." Wright's Vocabularies (Wulcker), i, p. 602.
  2 Pottle, a liquid measure containing four pints.
  http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/53/mode/1up
  To the Friars Preachers of Exeter, 10s., and to the Friars Minors there, 10s.
  Item, I bequeath to the amending of the church of Brankescomb, 20s.
  Item, to the amending of the church of Knouston, 20s.
  Item, to Joan, formerly wife of Walter Scherp, one cup called "pece."
  Item, I bequeath to Cicely my sister, 100s.
  To Agnes, her daughter, 13s. 4d.
  To William Hankeford, one silver cup with a cover.
  Item, I bequeath 6 marks 3s. 4d. to celebrate one thousand masses immediately after my decease for my soul.
  Item, to William my son, 100li., six silver dishes (discos), one great dish called "charger," one silver jug (picarium) called "potett" one saltcellar, one bed of " Tapserye," eight oxen and one hundred sheep.
  Item, I bequeath to John my son, 100li., six dishes, eight oxen, one silver jug (picarium) called "Quarte," and a great dish called "Charger."
  Item, to Walter my son, 40li.
  Item, to Margery my daughter, 100li.
  To Joan my daughter, 100li.
  To Elizabeth my daughter, 100li.
  To Thomas my son, 100li.
  And if any of my said infants die before they come of age or be promoted, the sum bequeathed to them shall be divided among my other infants.
  Item, I bequeath for holding the anniversary of me and of Maude late my wife, one hundred sheep so long as it may last.
  Item, to each of my executors administrating besides my wife, 5 marks.
  Item, to each of the daughters of John Serteyn by Margery his wife, except Joan, wife of Walter Merwode, 10s.
  Item, to Joan, wife of William Wyke next Colompton, 30s.
  Item, to Thomas her son, 40s.
  Item, to the three brothers of the said Thomas, to each of them 13s. 4d. ; and to Julian his sister, ten sheep.
  Item, I bequeath to Bartholomew Pyle, 40s.
  To John atte Heyghes of Sylferton, 20s.
  http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/54/mode/1up
  To the Abbot and Convent of Athelney, to pray for my soul, 5 marks.
  Item, I bequeath to the mending of the muddy way (vie lutose) between Clyst and Nyweton Popelford, 4li.
  Item, to the mending of the muddy way from Scheftysby towards Schirborn, 100s.
  Item, I bequeath to the vicar of Wythlakyngton, 20s. for tithes forgotten, and that he may pray for me.
  Item, I bequeath to the mending of the church aforesaid, 20s.
  To the vicar of Ayshull, 6s. 8d.
  To John Deye, 6s. 8d.
  To the Friars Preachers of Yeuelchester, 20s.
  Item, I have remised to John Healleway 20s. that he owes me.
  Item, I bequeath to John Walsche, 40d.
  To John Brwer, my priest ( presbitero], 20s.
  To John Thuselburgh, 10s.
  To John Cook of Haydon, 13s. 4d.
  To Edith Caylly of Ilton, 6s. 8d.
  To Walter Clerk of Ilton, 6s. 8d.
  Item, to the vicar of Brankescomb church, for tithes forgotten, and that he may pray for me, 6s. 8d.
  Item, to the mending of the church of Haydon, 10s.
  Item, to the prisoners of Yeuelchester, 40d.
  To Agnes Deye, 40d.
  To John Whyte, my chaplain, 20s.
  To John Schyphurd of Cleyhanger, 40d.
  Item, to Nicholas Olyuer, 6s. 8d.
  To the mending of the church of Ilton, 13s. 4d.
  To Thomas Hayward, 6s. 8d.
  Item, I bequeath to Joan, my wife, the residue of all my goods not above bequeathed or disposed, and I make the said Joan and the aforesaid William Hankeford and Bartholomew Pyle executors of this my will.
  In witness whereof to this my will I have affixed my seal.
  Given on Saturday, the Feast of St. Gregory the Pope, 13 Hen. IV [March 12, 1411].
  Proved 12th August, A.D. 1412. Commission to Masters John Grylby, rector of Donzete, and William Torporlegh, rector of West Dowlesh, diocese of Bath and Wells, to commit administration, &c.
  http://www.archive.org/stream/somersetpub16someuoft#page/55/mode/1up
  [In Subsidy Roll 13 Hen. IV (1411-12), testator's lands in Somerset are as follows :
  "John Wadham miles man. de Myryfeld certas terras in Hardyngton, Gudeston, Overattebar et Chilton, xlii li." (Bath F. C. Proc., ix, 3, 192.)]
  _________________________
  SOURCE: http://www.geni.com/people/Sir-John-Wadham-Kt-of-Merrifield/6000000003513224098
  
  === Notes from article posted under Robert Wadham ===
  John Wadham
  
  He married first, according to his will, a certain Maud, with whom he had a son. Before 1385, he married Joan Wrottesley, daughter of Sir William Wrottesley of Blore and Joan Bassett of Drayton Bassett, both in Staffordshire, ancestors to Nicholas Wadham (1531-1609) co-founder, with his wife Dorothy Wadham, of Wadham College, Oxford.
  
  John Wadham had eight children:[13]
  
  Robert Wadham, who died without progeny.
  
  Sir William Wadham (died 1452), eldest surviving son and heir of Merryfield and Edge, who lies buried with his mother in a beautiful altar tomb in the transept known as the 'Wadham aisle', a chantry dedicated to St Katherine, at the Church of St Mary, Ilminster, Somerset.
  
  John Wadham.
  
  Walter Wadham, Rector of St Stephen in Branell, Cornwall.
  Thomas Wadham, of Redworthy in Ashreigney.
  
  Margery Wadham, who married Sir John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton; ancestors to Queen Jane Seymour, King Edward VI and the Seymour Dukes of Somerset.
  
  Joan Wadham.
  
  Elisabeth, sometimes called 'Isabella' Wadham, who married Sir Robert Hill (died 1426) of Shilston near Modbury, Justice of the Common Pleas from 1408 to 1423. Their eldest son, Robert Hill of Shilston, married Margaret Champernowne (1396-1434) of Modbury and was Sheriff of Devon in 1428. Less
  
  === KNIGHTED ===
  WADHAM, Sir John (d.1412), of Edge in Branscombe, Devon and Merrifield in Ilton, Som.
  ?s. of Gilbert Wadham of Wadham, Devon. m. (1) Maud, 1s.; (2) bef. 1385, Joan Wrothesley, 5s. (1 d.v.p.) 3da. Kntd. by Sept. 1397.2
  etc. ...
  From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/wadham-sir-john-1412
  
  === About Sir John Wadham, Knight, of Merrifield ===
  Sir John de Wadham, of Merrifield, Born: 1344, Wadham Manor, Lustleigh, Devon, England; Died: 27 Jul 1411, Merifield Manor, Ilminster, Chard, Somerset, England
  
  Parents: John de Wadham & Elizabeth
  
  Spouses/Children:
  
  Elizabeth SHILSTON
  Isabella Wadham+
  Margaret Wadham
  Joan Wriothesley
  Sir William Wadham of Edge Barton & Meryfield+
  Margery Wadham+
  Notes
  
  "Like his father he became a Judge, but he was known in his time as "THE JUDGE" It is the title to which he is most often referred. Said to have decended from Wm de Wadham of Devon in Rn [Reign] of Edw 1 (1272-1307). Was Justice of Common Pleas in Richard II (1388) (Chron Ser. p.51, 55). He bought the manor at Ilton "Merrifield" (sometimes referred to Muryfield) 1387, and paid tithe to Athelney Abbey in Somerset. John became MP of Exeter 1379 and of Devon 1401. Anne McKecknie says he was the patron of Silverton, Knighted in 1401 when an MP. In his IPM wife is shown as Joan. See: "Extracts of the Abbey of Athelney." CRS Pub "1380 John Wadham fine f1 admisson as freeman in Exeter." " 6585
  
  Links
  
  http://www.celtic-casimir.com/webtree/6/27571.htm
  __________________
  Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas1
  M, d. 1411
  Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was born at of Merrifield, Somersetshire, England.1 He married Joan Wrottesley.1 Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas died in 1411.1
  Family Joan Wrottesley
  Child
  Margery Wadham+1
  Citations
  1.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. XII/1, p. 302.
  From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1305.htm#i39185
  ___________________
  John Wadham1
  M, d. 27 July 1412
  Father Gilbert Wadham d. a 1383
  John Wadham was born at of Edge in Branscombe, Devonshire, Merrifield in Ilton, Somersetshire, England. He married Joan Wrothesley, daughter of (Mr.) Wrothesley. John Wadham died on 27 July 1412.
  Family Joan Wrothesley d. a 1412
  Child
  Isabella Wadham+
  Citations
  1.[S7159] Unknown author, The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, by Ronny O. Bodine, p. 118, OFHS Newsletter, December 1995, p. 89; Wallop Family, p. 430.
  From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p760.htm#i22835
  ________________________
  Wadhams genealogy, proceded by a sketch of the Wadham family in England.. ([c1913])
  http://www.archive.org/details/wadhamsgenealogy00stev
  http://www.archive.org/stream/wadhamsgenealogy00stev#page/n28/mode/1up
  CHART - PEDIGREE OF WADHAM.
  1. Sir John Wadham, of Edge, Devon. c. 1360.
  2. Sir John, Justice of Common Pleas, 1388-1397, still living in 1411-12. Buried at Branscombe. mar. Joan Wrothesley. Buried at Ilminster. ch: Sir William, d. 1452 buried at Ilminster.; Thomas, of Redworthy.; Margery m. Sir John Stourton, created 1st Baron Stourton, died 1463.
  3. Sir William, d. 1452 buried at Ilminster. mar. Margaret, da. and co-h. of W. Cheselden. ch: Sir John, of Merifield.; Elizabeth mar. Stawel, of Collestone (Cothelestone).; Mary mar. W. Montacute, of Henleigh, n. Crewkerne.; Lawrence of Merifield. mar. Margaret, 3rd d. of Sir W. Hody, ; William of Catherstone. mar. Jane, d. and co-h. of William Payne, of Catherstone, Dorset.
  4. Sir John, of Merifield. mar. Elizabeth, d. and co-h. of Stephen Popham. ch: John Wadham, Knt.; Edward, of Pole Anthony, Tiverton.; Alice mar. Nicholas, son of Hugh Stukeley.
  ____________________________

1. Isabella Wadham, b. 24 MAR 1379 in Edge in Branscombe, Branscombe, Devon, England     d. 25 APR 1423 in Bridgwater, Somerset, England

1. Title: John Stourton in Biography from the History of Parliament Online
   Author: Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993
   Publication: Name: http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1386-1421/member/stourton-john-ii-1400-62;
   Note: Family and Education b. Stourton 19 May 1400, s. and h. of William Stourton*. m. aft. 1413 and bef. 1425, Margery, da. of Sir John Wadham* j.c.p. of Merrifield, Som. by his 2nd w. Joan, 4s., 2da. Kntd. by Feb. 1431; cr. Baron Stourton of Stourton 13 May 1448. Constituency Wiltshire 1421 J.p. Wilts. 5 Dec. 1427-d., Som. 27 Mar. 1453-d., Dorset 14 July 1461-d. Member of the King’s Council 13 Nov. 1437-c. Nov. 1460. Ambassador to treat with France and Burgundy May-Oct. 1439, Burgundy Jan., Aug. 1451. Lt. of Calais 2 Apr. Sept. 1451; capt. of Rysbank Apr. 1450-c. Feb. 1455.
   Page: Mentioned in this source.
   
2. Title: Wikiwand
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Wadham,_Knowstone;
   Note: Sir John II Wadham (died 1412) Sir John Wadham, Justice of the Common Pleas (1389–1398) (said by Pole, apparently in error, to have been Justice of the King's Bench), MP for Exeter in 1399 and for Devon in 1401.[21] He was one of Prince's Worthies of Devon.[22] Although Pole (followed by Prince (died 1723))[23] stated him to be the son of Sir John Wadham above, his modern History of Parliament biographer,[21] perhaps unaware of Pole as Prince's source, suggested he was the son of Gilbert Wadham, who in 1383 quitclaimed to him a rent in Wadham, which deed was witnessed by Sir John's close friend Sir William Hankford (c. 1350 – 1423) of Annery in Devon, Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 until 1423. He acquired much land in Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Gloucestershire, which were valued at £82 per annum in an incomplete survey of 1412 and valued at about £115 in his inquisition post mortem in 1412. His Devon landholdings included the manors of Silverton and half the manor of Harberton (both purchased, in 1386 and 1390 respectively, from Cecily Turberville, sister and heiress of John de Beauchamp, 3rd Baron Beauchamp of Hatch) (1329–1361)) and Lustleigh and he acquired over 300 acres of land in Branscombe and elsewhere. Silverton, like Edge, descended to the Wyndham family and Silverton Park (alias Egremont House), a large neo-Classical mansion, was built there in 1839–45 by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (1786–1845) and demolished in 1901. His landholdings in Somerset were even more extensive than those in Devon and mostly consisted of properties forfeited by Sir John Cary, Chief Baron of the Exchequer. These lands included Hardington Mandeville, a moiety of Chilton Cantelo, and premises in Trent (now in Dorset) he purchased jointly with Hankford in 1389. These large landholdings in Somerset appear to have moved his principal interest away from Devon and the manor of Edge, and towards the end of his life he made his principal residence at Merryfield, Ilton, near Ilminster, Somerset, which he had purchased from Cecily Turberville.[24] At Merryfield he built a substantial fortified manor house, demolished after 1618, of which only the rectangular moat survives today in the middle of agricultural land south of RAF Merryfield aerodrome.[25] He married Joan Wrothesley.
   
3. Title: Wadham Genealogy
   Author: The Right Reverend Edgar P Wadham and his niece, Harriet Weeks Wadham Stevens, published 1913
   Publication: Name: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062512991&view=1up&seq=24;
   Page: Work shows 10+ generations of Wadhams from England to America
   
4. Title: John Wadham From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Note: Sir John Wadham (c.1344–1412) was a Justice of the Common Pleas from 1389 to 1398, during the reign of King Richard II (1377–1399), selected by the King as an assertion of his right to rule by the advice of men appointed of his own choice, and one of the many Devonians of the period described by Thomas Fuller in his Worthies of England, as seemingly "innated with a genius to study law".[1][2] He was MP for Exeter in 1379, and after Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV (1399–1413), Wadham was ‘discharged at his own request’ from being an assize judge. He became a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1401 as a Knight of the Shire with Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham,[3] a son of Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon. John Wadham 'the judge' was one of John Prince's Worthies of Devon: "All I have met with him further, is this encomium," says the Devonshire biographer, "that being free of speech, he mingled it well with discretion; so that he never touched any man how mean so ever out of order, either for sport or spight; but with alacrity of spirit and soundness of understanding managed all his proceedings."[4] Prince points out that in this period there were five Serjeants-at-Law, John Cary (died 1395), John Hill (died 1408), Robert Hill (died 1426) of Shilston Justice of the Common Pleas from 1408–1423, William Hankford, and John Wadham; all natives of Devon. Origins and career Although William Pole[5] and John Prince both stated him to be the son of another Sir John Wadham of Edge in the parish of Branscombe Devon,[6] his modern History of Parliament biographer suggests he may have been the son, rather than the nephew perhaps, of Gilbert Wadham (c.1320–1383) of Wadham, who in 1383 quitclaimed to him a rent in the manor of Wadham or Wadeham in the parish of Knowstone, between Exmoor and South Molton, from which the family originally took their name,[7] and where, according to Sir William Pole, they had lived from at least the reign of King Edward I (1272–1307). The deed was witnessed by Sir John's lifelong friend and colleague Sir William Hankford, Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 to 1423. The biographer adds: "It is curious that the origins of a man of such distinction as Wadham should have been lost . . . . If his origins are obscure, so too are the beginnings of his career as a lawyer. Where he received his education is not known.” In his will, dated March 12th, 1411, he includes money to be expended on “prayers for the soul of Richard Brankescombe “, Sheriff of Devon from 1359 to 1361, who may have been an early mentor, and he is first recorded in 1367 as an attorney at Westminster.[1] In 1383, he was made Serjeant-at-Law and in 1384 he was given a livery by Edward de Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon for his services as legal counsel. In 1387, only three years after being made a judge, he was made King's Serjeant.[8] "He had a large practice," writes Prince "and thereby made a great addition to his estates," adding to both his ancestral estate at Wadham[9] and at Edge, Branscombe in Devon where the family made their home during the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377).[10] He also purchased land and messuages elsewhere in Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset, and Devon.[11] In 1386, he purchased the manor of Silverton from Cecily de Beauchamp from whom he also bought land where, in about 1400, he built a moated and fortified manor house at Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset, which became the family's principal home. In 1403, he bought the manor of Lustleigh on Dartmoor, which stayed in the Wadham family for the next two hundred years, as did Edge in Branscombe where he bought over three hundred acres of land. When, in May 1398, he was discharged from the bench he received the grant of a pension from the assizes of Somerset and Dorset ‘for good service’. The inquisitio post mortem in 1413 valued his holdings at £115 per annum.[12] Marriage and children He married first, according to his will, a certain Maud, with whom he had a son. Before 1385, he married Joan Wrottesley, daughter of Sir William Wrottesley of Blore and Joan Bassett of Drayton Bassett, both in Staffordshire, ancestors to Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609) co-founder, with his wife Dorothy Wadham, of Wadham College, Oxford. John Wadham had eight children:[13] Robert Wadham, who died without progeny. Sir William Wadham (died 1452) Sheriff of Devon in 1442, eldest surviving son and heir of Merryfield and Edge, who lies buried with his mother in a beautiful altar tomb in the transept known as the 'Wadham aisle', a chantry dedicated to St Katherine, at the Church of St Mary, Ilminster, Somerset. John Wadham. Walter Wadham, Rector of St Stephen in Branell, Cornwall. Thomas Wadham, of Redworthy in Ashreigney. Margery Wadham, who married Sir John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton; ancestors to Queen Jane Seymour, King Edward VI and the Seymour Dukes of Somerset. Joan Wadham. Elisabeth, sometimes called 'Isabella' Wadham, who married Sir Robert Hill (died 1426) of Shilston near Modbury, Justice of the Common Pleas from 1408 to 1423. Their eldest son, Robert Hill of Shilston, married Margaret Champernowne (1396–1434) of Modbury and was Sheriff of Devon in 1428. Further reading Clifford, H. Dalton, “A Manor House Restored”, Country Life Magazine, 30 August 1962 Thomas Graham Jackson, Wadham College, Oxford, its Foundation, Architecture and History, with an Account of the Family of Wadham and their Seats in Somerset and Devon”, Oxford, 1893 Rogers, William Henry Hamilton, “Memorials of the West, Historical and Descriptive, Collected on the Borderland of Somerset, Dorset and Devon” Exeter, 1888, pp. 147–173, The Founder and Foundress of Wadham.
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5. Title: John Wadham, "Find A Grave Index"
   Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK18-DZ9Z : 15 June 2022), John Wadham, ; Burial, Branscombe, East Devon District, Devon, England, St Winifred Churchyard; citing record ID 138693873, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK18-DZ9Z;
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6. Title: Edge, Branscombe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Note: Edge, (originally, Egge[1]), is an ancient and historic house in the parish of Branscombe, Devon, England and is today known as Edge Barton Manor. The surviving house is grade II* listed[2] and sits on the steep, south-facing side of a wooded valley, or combe. The building was not in origin a manor house, but was one of the first stone-built houses in "Branescombe", on a villein holding called La Regge.[3] It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in England, and is constructed from the local Beer stone The existing building is U-shaped and may originally have been built around a courtyard. Only a short section of the original dry moat survives.[4] An early circular stone staircase tower is contained within the angle of the north wing to give access to a second floor that was created by the addition of a raised ceiling to the great hall. The stone splay of an upstairs window shows ancient, graffiti-incised drawings of sailing ships that are thought to represent those of the Spanish Armada that was becalmed offshore near Branscombe in 1588. Chapel A chapel attached to the house dates from the end of the thirteenth or early fourteenth century.[5] Much of the rest of the house's architecture is from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The chapel, thought to have been built by Walter Branscombe, Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1280, occupied the present south wing, where a large rose window containing four cusped trefoils originally set within the outer gable of the west wall survives on what is now an internal wall, hidden behind a later chimney stack in the attic.[6] In 1822, Samuel Lysons described the chapel as being in a poor state of repair and desecrated. An ancient stone piscina has also survived; this was reset into a wall in the hall. Descent of the manor Wadham Historically, the manor of Branscombe belonged to the See of Exeter, but during the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377) the estate of Edge was acquired by the de Wadham family[8] who took their name from the manor of Wadham, Knowstone in north Devon and held Edge for eight generations,[9][10] eventually moving their principal residence to Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset around 1400, after which point Edge seems to have been used as the family’s dower house. John I Wadham[11] John II Wadham (c. 1344 – 1412)[12] William Wadham (died 1452) (c. 1386 – 1452) John III Wadham (1405–1476) John IV Wadham (died 1502)[13] Nicholas I Wadham (by 1472 – 1542)[13] John V Wadham (before 1510 – 1578) Nicholas II Wadham (1531-1609)...........
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7. Title: John Wadham, "Find A Grave Index"
   Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK1Z-TP13 : 25 May 2022), John Wadham, ; Burial, , ; citing record ID 140539169, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK1Z-TP13;
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8. Title: UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975
   Publication: Name: https://search.ancestry.com/collections/1610/records/557601;
   
9. Title: Hill of Shilston pedigree p486 in "The visitations of the county of Devon"
   Author: The visitations of the county of Devon : Comprising the herald's ... Vivian, J. L. (John Lambrick), 1830-1896.
   Publication: Name: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002002213917&view=1up&seq=500&size=175;
   Note: Shows marriage of daughter to Robert Hill
   
10. Title: WADHAM, SIR JOHN, KNIGHT in 'The Worthies of Devon'
    Note: Biography of Sir John Wadham, Knight
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11. Title: Legacy 1411
    Author: History of the county of Somerset
    Publication: Name: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol2/pp150-151#highlight-first;
    Note: On 28 January 1350 (fn. 6) licence was granted to Henry Power and Richard Sherewynd vicar of East Chinnock to give to the prior and friars preachers of Ilchester an acre and a half of land for the enlargement of their dwelling place. During the 15th century they shared with the Franciscans the gratitude of the laity of Somerset. They were in constant receipt of legacies which proved how they were valued. In 1411 (fn. 7) Sir John Wadham left them 20s. and to the prisoners of Ilchester 40d.
    Page: Shows Sir John Wadham's Legacy 1411