John Wrey (died 1597) of North Russell, Sourton, and Bridestowe [3] in Devon and Trebeigh, St Ive, Cornwall, was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1587. [4]
John Wrey (died 1597) of North Russell, Sourton, and Bridestowe [3] in Devon and Trebeigh, St Ive, Cornwall, was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1587. [4]
He was the son and heir of Walter Wrey of North Russell by his wife Bridget Shilstone, daughter of Robert Shilstone. [5] A branch of the Shilstone family (which took its name (originally de Shilston) from the manor of Shilston, anciently Shilfeston, in the parish of Drews Teignton, Devon [6] ) was seated at this period within the parish of Bridestowe, near North Russell. Elizabeth Shilstone (d.1605), the only daughter and heiress of (another) "Robert Shilstone of Bridestowe", married Sir Peter Courtenay (d.1552) of Ugbrooke, Sheriff of Devon in 1548/9, 2nd son of Sir William III Courtenay (1477–1535) "The Great", of Powderham. [7] Pole also mentions, without context, a certain "Sir Robert Shilston of Woode", who bore the same arms as Shilston of Shilston: Ermine, a saltire azure between four cross-crosslets(/patées) fitchée sable. [8]
The le Wrey family was believed by Betham (1771), due to its unusual prefixed adjunct, to have taken its name from some office of unidentified duties, "the wrey". At least three historic estates, all in South Devon near to Okehampton and Dartmoor, have been suggested by various sources to have been the origin of the Wrey family, later Wrey Baronets:
It has been suggested that the family took its name from the estate of Wray in the parish of Moretonhampstead in Devon, [9] [10] [11] in which case the ancient name would have been de Wrey. However, the Moretonhampstead History Society in its history of the existing "Wray Barton", on the Wray Brook about 1 mile south-east of Moretonhampstead, omits mention of any connection to the Wrey Baronets. [12]
According to Pole, William Wray held the estate of "Northwike" (in the parish of South Tawton, [13] called "North Week" by Risdon [14] ) during the reign of King Henry III (1217–1272) which was retained by his male descendants who changed their surname to Wike during the reign of King Richard II (1377–1399) [15] Risdon however stated the estate of North Week to have been held during the reign of King Henry III by William de Wigorin alias Chamberlain, "whose posterity assumed the name of Week from their dwelling". [16] In 1661 John Wykes (d.1661) of Northwyke settled the estate of Northwyke onto Richard Weekes (1656–1696), son and heir of Richard Weekes (d.1670) of Hatherleigh, descended from the family of Weekes of Honichurch. The arms of de Wray/Wykes were: Ermine, three battleaxes sable, [17] not dissimilar to the arms of the Wrey Baronets. The mediaeval mansion of North Wyke [18] survives in the parish of South Tawton, and in St Andrew's Church, South Tawton, survives the effigy of the armed warrior John Wykes (c.1520–1591) [19] Vivian (1895) gives the pedigree of Wykes of Northwyke, in which the descent is as follows: [20]
The estate of North Russell was given by Pole as North Trussell. [21] The River Thrushell [22] rises near Bridestow, and runs near Sourton, both within the historic hundred of Lifton. North Russell Farm [23] today is situated on the north bank of the River Thrushell, about 6 miles south-west of Okehampton. Betham (1771) traced the ancestry as follows:
John Wrey was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1585. [24]
John Wrey married Blanch Killigrew (d.1595), daughter and heiress of Henry Killigrew, Esquire, of Woolstone, in the parish of Poundstock, near St Ive, in Cornwall, by his wife a daughter and co-heiress of the prominent Trelawny family. She was heiress to large possessions, [26] and the lordship of the manor of Trebeigh (anciently Trebitch), in the parish of St Ive, Cornwall, which became thenceforward their capital mansion. [26] By Blanch he had the following progeny, six sons and two daughters, [26] the arms of whose respective spouses are shown on the top tier of the three tiered reredos on the monument to John Wrey in Tawstock Church:
The large monument to John Wrey and his wife Blanche Killigrew exists in St Peter's Church, Tawstock, against the east wall of the north transept. It takes the form of a gothic altar tomb with three-tiered altarpiece or reredos behind, the lowest tier of which resembles a triptych. It was moved from St Ive Church in Cornwall in 1924 by Sir Philip Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 12th Baronet (1858–1936), of Tawstock Court. [40] It consists of a large slate chest tomb with a large slate back-plate behind and above, on which are shown in relief kneeling figures of Wrey and his wife. The monument displays much heraldry. The large slate slab on top of the chest tomb is inscribed within a ledger line thus: [41]
Ye body of John Wrey Esquier who was buried ye 9th of June Ano Domini 1597 Heere lieth the body of Blannch Wrey who was buried ye 16 of December 1595
On the left panel of the triptych is inscribed the following verse:
Loe here he lieth though dead yet living still,
His famous name resounding echo saye,
Whereby report of hym the ayre doth fyll
The lastinge fame & name of rightful Wreye,
Good to ye poore bribes never woulde he take,
Voyde of oppression all kind of waye,
He faithful frynds of enemyes did make,
Of quarels greate ceast lawe ech daye by daye.
Death doe they worst this Wreye yet lives & shall,
Thy darte his deeds cannot extyrpe or quayle.
Thousands are they which thou hast causde to fall,
And yet on hym no waye thou canst prevayle.
What resteth then but cease to mourne & moane
For hym whose vertues shine like to the sonne.
Though here he lieth his Sowle to Heave is gone,Where Angells see hym though his threads be spoone. [42]
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Sir Bourchier Wrey, 6th Baronet of Tawstock, Devon, was a Member of Parliament for Barnstaple, Devon, in 1747–1754. The manor of Tawstock, about two miles south of Barnstaple, had been since the time of Henry de Tracy the residence of the feudal barons of Barnstaple, ancestors of the Wrey family.
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Tawstock is a village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon in the English county of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Barnstaple, Bishop's Tawton, Atherington, Yarnscombe, Horwood, Lovacott and Newton Tracey and Fremington. In 2001 it had a population of 2,093. The estimated population in June 2019 was 2,372.
William Coryton (1580–1651) of West Newton Ferrers, St Mellion, Cornwall, was a Cornish gentleman who served as MP for Cornwall in 1624, 1626 and 1628, for Liskeard in 1625, for Grampound in 1640 and for Launceston 1640–41. He was expelled from Parliament for falsifying returns.
Sir John Rolle, KB, of Stevenstone, Devon, was an English landowner, Sheriff of Devon in 1682 and MP for Barnstaple (1660) and for Devon (1661–1679). The Travel Journal of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1642-1723) states of him: "This gentleman is one of the richest in the country, having an estate of six thousand pounds sterling per annum, besides a considerable property in ready money".
Sir Reginald Mohun, 1st Baronet of Boconnoc in Cornwall, was a prominent member of the gentry of Cornwall and an MP.
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Sir William Wrey, 1st Baronet of Trebeigh, St Ive, Cornwall and North Russell, Sourton, Devon, was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1598 and was created a baronet by King Charles I in 1628.
Sir William Wrey, 2nd Baronet of Trebeigh, St Ive, Cornwall and North Russell, Sourton, Devon, was MP for Liskeard, Cornwall in 1624.
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