Sir John Wyndham (1558 – 1 April 1645), JP, of Orchard Wyndham in the parish of Watchet in Somerset, was an English landowner who played an important role in the establishment of defence organisation in the West Country against the threat of Spanish invasion.
He was born at Orchard Wyndham, the only child and heir of Sir John Wyndham (d. 1572) of Orchard Wyndham, by his wife Florence Wadham (1538–1597), a co-heiress of her brother Nicholas Wadham (1531/2–1609), of Merryfield, Ilton, in Somerset and of Edge, Branscombe, in Devon, who with his wife Dorothy Petre (1534/5–1618), eldest daughter of Sir William Petre, principal secretary to King Henry VIII, founded Wadham College, Oxford.
In memory of his parents, Sir John erected a pair of almost life-size monumental brasses in St Decuman's Church, Watchet, and also erected an almost identical pair (considered the finest of their style in England), also set into Purbeck marble, in memory of his uncle Nicholas Wadham and his wife on their chest tomb in the Wadham Chapel in the Church of St Mary, Ilminster.
Sir John Wyndham was one of the heirs to the large fortune of his uncle Nicholas Wadham and helped to put into effect his plans for the founding of Wadham College. Sir John Wyndham also erected similar brasses, but much smaller, in St Margaret's Church, Felbrigg, Norfolk, to his cousin Thomas Windham (d. 1599) (in the nave), from whom he inherited Felbrigg Hall, and to Thomas's sister Jane Coningsby (d. 1608) (in the chancel). The inscriptions in accomplished verse on all these monuments are believed to have been written by Wyndham himself. [1]
His grandfather was Sir John Wyndham (died 1573) of Felbrigg (second son of Sir Thomas Wyndham (d. 1521) by his first wife Eleanor Scrope, daughter and heiress of Richard Scrope of Upsall Castle, Yorkshire) who inherited Orchard, Somerset from his wife Elizabeth Sydenham (d. 1 January 1571), daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Sydenham of Orchard, Somerset. [2]
The ancestry of Sir John Wyndham is illustrated by the heraldic achievement shown on his monument in Watchet Church. It consists of a crest: A lion's head erased within a fetterlock or, a crest formerly belonging to the Felbrigg family of Felbrigg, Norfolk, Felbrigg Hall having been the second earliest known home of the Wyndham family (alias de Wymondham which originated at the manor of Wymondham in Norfolk), and nine quarters as follows:
Sir John Wyndham is the ancestor of every living member of the widespread Wyndham family (except perhaps for one branch in the United States) [9] and therefore had he not been born the dynasty would have failed. However, he was born following a near-miraculous rising from the dead by his mother. The famous story is that one year after her marriage and already pregnant, Florence Wyndham became ill, was thought to have died and was left that evening in a coffin in the Wyndham Chapel in St Decuman's Church, about half a mile east of her husband's home at Kentsford Manor House, and two miles north of her father-in-law's home at Orchard Wyndham, awaiting a funeral the following day. [10]
That night a "covetous sexton" crept into the church and in attempting to remove a valuable ring, cut the lady's finger, thereby awakening her from a cataleptic trance. "The sexton fled, leaving his lantern behind him, and with its aid she made her way home to her astounded family" [11] at Kentsford. [12] The story was composed in verse as "Lady Wyndham's Return", by Rev. Lewis H. Court, Vicar of St Decuman's. (See full text on Wikisource s:Lady Wyndham's Return). Soon after she gave birth to Sir John, who would be her only child. He was a minor aged twelve at the death of his father and as a tenant-in-chief his wardship and marriage reverted to the crown, Queen Elizabeth I, to be granted to whom she pleased. His grandfather, however, was able to buy-back his wardship, which prevented a forced marriage.
He played an important role in the defence organisation of Somerset, the substantial growth of which is shown by the muster in 1580 being 12,000 able footmen, double the total twenty years earlier. The special census of horses taken on 26 August 1583 shows that their number had also increased to forty-seven great horses and 308 light horses. While the defeat of the Spanish Armada saved England from the feared invasion, the significance and value of the defence movement was in keying up the nation and teaching it to realise the heritage it had to defend.
He served as one of the County Justices and as such shared effective responsibility for local government and administration, acting as the representative and general agent of the central government, as well as sitting in quarter sessions.
At the start of the Civil War his sympathies appear to have been with the Parliament, which is borne out by a foray made by his cousin Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet (d. 1676), governor of Dunster Castle, in June 1644 against Orchard Wyndham, as the manor is now known, which resulted in £4,000 worth of plunder being seized for the Royalist cause. Three months after this event he gave £4,000 each for safe keeping to his eighth and ninth sons, Sir Hugh Wyndham and Sir Wadham Wyndham.
Although Dorothy Wadham was largely responsible for overseeing the foundation and building of Wadham College, Oxford [13] a nephew, possibly Sir John Wyndham, is recorded as attending on his dying uncle Nicholas Wadham (1531/1532 – 1609). A detailed record, preserved in the College archives, was drawn up by Wyndham of a discussion held with his uncle four days before his death in 1609 as follows:
In 1599 he succeeded to the Felbrigg estate in Norfolk, including Felbrigg Hall, from his father's first cousin Thomas Wyndham (d. 1599), who like his two brothers Sir Roger and Francis (d. 1592), Judge of Common Pleas (whose monument exists in St Peter Mancroft in Norwich) died without issue. Felbrigg was the seat of the senior line of the Wyndham family. In gratitude he placed a monumental brass inlaid in Purbeck marble, in Felbrigg Church. [15] Sir Edmund Wyndham (d. 1568) was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Wyndham (eldest son of Sir John Wyndham (beheaded 1503 on Tower Hill with James Tyrrell) by his first wife Lady Margaret Howard, 4th daughter of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (d. 1485)) by his first wife Alianore Scrope, daughter and heiress of Richard Scrope of Upsall, Yorks. Sir John also placed a monumental brass inlaid in Purbeck marble in Felbrigg Church to Thomas Wyndham's sister Jane Wyndham (d. 1608). Both brasses are in the same style, but much smaller, as those Sir John erected in Watchet church to his parents and in Ilminstaer Church to his uncle Nicholas Wadham. The original accounts concerning the shipping and laying down of the Felbrigg brasses survive in the Wyndham papers at Felbrigg Hall, and although the brasses are known to have been purchased in London, the maker's name is not recorded. [16] Sir John gave Felbrigg to his third son Thomas Wyndham (d. 1653), for whom he rebuilt the manor house, completed in 1624, [17] which survives today. The arms of father (impaling Portman) and son (impaling Lytton) survive sculpted in stone side by side above the front door. [18]
He inherited part of the lands of his uncle Nicholas Wadham, his mother having been one of his sisters and co-heiresses. Amongst the manors which fell to his share were:
Sir John Wyndham married Joan Portman, daughter of Sir Henry Portman (d. 1590), of Orchard Portman, Somerset, son of Sir William Portman (d. 1557), Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, by whom he had nine sons and six daughters:
He died on 1 April 1645 and was buried in Watchet Church, Somerset, where exists a memorial to him and his wife consisting of a large slab of purbeck marble erected vertically against the east wall of the north aisle chapel, containing inlaid plaques of gilt-bronze relief-sculpted portraits and armorial shields.
Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609) of Merryfield in the parish of Ilton, Somerset, and Edge in the parish of Branscombe, Devon, was a posthumous co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford, with his wife Dorothy Wadham who, outliving him, saw the project through to completion in her late old age. He was Sheriff of Somerset in 1585.
Sir Wadham Wyndham, of Ilton, Somerset and St. Edmund’s College, Salisbury, was a Justice of the King's Bench from 1660 to 1668.
There have been three Wyndham Baronetcies, all created in the Baronetage of England. All were created for descendants of Sir John Wyndham (d.1573) of Orchard Wyndham in the parish of Watchet, Somerset, by his wife Elizabeth Sydenham, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Sydenham of Orchard Sydenham. He was a grandson of Sir John Wyndham of Felbrigg, Norfolk, by his first wife Lady Margaret Howard, the fourth daughter of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk.
Florence Wyndham (1538-1596), wife of Sir John Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, was a daughter of John Wadham of Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset and Edge, Branscombe in Devon and was a sister and co-heiress of Nicholas Wadham, co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford.
Orchard Wyndham is a historic manor near Williton in Somerset, centred on the synonymous grade I listed manor house of Orchard Wyndham that was situated historically in the parish of Watchet and about two miles south of the parish church of St Decuman's, Watchet. Parts of the manor house are medieval. It has been owned for more than 700 years by the prominent Wyndham family, who continue there as of 2015.
Knowstone is a village and civil parish situated in the North Devon district of Devon, England, halfway between the Mid Devon town of Tiverton, Devon and the North Devon town of South Molton. The hamlet of East Knowstone lies due east of the village. Knowstone was the birthplace of Admiral Sir John Berry (1635–1691), second son of Rev. Daniel Berry (1609–1654), vicar of Knowstone cum Molland. An elaborate mural monument erected by Sir John in 1684 to the memory of his parents survives in Molland Church.
Combe Sydenham is an historic manor in Somerset, England. The 15th-century manor house, called Combe Sydenham House is in the parish of Stogumber, Somerset and is situated just within the boundary of Exmoor National Park. It is a Grade I listed building.
The Church of St Decuman in Watchet, Somerset, England has a 13th-century chancel with the rest of the church being from the 15th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
Sir John Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham in the parish of Watchet, Somerset, was born a member of a prominent gentry family in Norfolk and founded his own prominent gentry family in Somerset, which survives today at Orchard Wyndham.
John Bluett of Holcombe Court, lord of the manor of Holcombe Rogus in Devon, was MP for Tiverton from 1628 to 1629 when King Charles I embarked on his Personal Rule without parliament for eleven years.
Sir George Speke (c.1530-1584) of Whitelackington in Somerset was Sheriff of Somerset in 1562–63 and was Member of Parliament for Somerset 1572–83.
Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer, was an English landowner, biographer and historian. He bequeathed his family seat, Felbrigg Hall, to the National Trust.
Merryfield is a historic estate in the parish of Ilton, near Ilminster in Somerset, England. It was the principal seat of the Wadham family, and was called by Prince their "noble moated seat of Meryfeild" (sic). The mansion house was demolished in 1618 by Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645), of Orchard Wyndham, a nephew and co-heir of Nicholas II Wadham (1531–1609), co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford, the last in the senior male line of the Wadham family. It bears no relation to the present large 19th-century grade II listed mansion known as Merryfield House, formerly the vicarage, immediately south of St Peter's Church, Ilton.
Edge,, 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 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. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in England, and is constructed from the local Beer stone.
The manor of Wadham in the parish of Knowstone in north Devon and the nearby manors of Chenudestane and Chenuestan are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086:
The feudal barony of Dunster was an English feudal barony with its caput at Dunster Castle in Somerset. During the reign of King Henry I (1100–1135) the barony comprised forty knight's fees and was later enlarged. In about 1150 the manors retained in demesne were Dunster, Minehead, Cutcombe, Kilton and Carhampton in Somerset, and Ham in Dorset.
Sir William Wadham (c.1386–1452) of Merryfield in the parish of Ilton, Somerset and Edge in the parish of Branscombe, Devon came from a West Country gentry family with a leaning towards the law, who originally took their name from the manor of Wadham in the parish of Knowstone, between South Molton and Exmoor, north Devon.
Thomas Luttrell, of Dunster Castle in Somerset, feudal baron of Dunster, was a Member of Parliament for his family's newly enfranchised pocket borough of Minehead, from 1563 to 1567. He was Sheriff of Somerset in 1570–1.
Sydenham House, the manor house of the ancient manor of Sydenham in the parish of Wembdon, Somerset, England, is a grade II listed building, constructed in the early 16th century and refronted and rebuilt after 1613. In 1937, British Cellophane Ltd set up production and built extensive factories on 59 acres (24 ha) of land adjacent to the manor house. Production ceased in 2005 and between 2010 and 2015 the industrial site was razed to the ground. In 2015 the razed site is owned by EDF Energy, which in 2012 purchased the manor house with the former factory site, intended for construction of temporary accommodation for 1,000 workers.
St Margaret's Church is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in Felbrigg, Norfolk.