Southcott family

Last updated
Southcott
Southcote
Minor nobility and Landed Gentry family
Southcott Family Coat of Arms (Escutcheon).png
Coat of arms of the Southcott Family.
Argent, a chevron engrailed gules between three coots sable
Founded1243;780 years ago (1243)
FounderMichael de Southcott of Southcott
Titles Baronets, Knights, Esquires, Manorial Lords and Gentlemen
Motto
Nerth Dre Lelder

(Cornish: Strength Through Loyalty)
Estate(s)

Southcott is a surname of an ancient and prominent family from the English counties of Devon and Cornwall.

Contents

History

The surname Southcott is first recorded by Michael de Suthcot, Lord of Suthcot in the 13th century, and later recorded by Sir Nicholas Southcott Jr of Southcott and Chudleigh (1450–1512) in the 15th century. [1] According to the Survey of Devon by Tristram Risdon (b.1580), "Michael de Southcott Lord of Southcott was from whom issued divers families. For he was the original of a great kindred in this country". Micheal was originally from Bodmin moor and gained the Southcott estate from the Oliver De Chambernon in 1242, whose family had been granted the estate after the Norman conquest. [2] [3] [4]

Sir Nicholas's son, John Southcott Esq of Bovey Tracey (1481–1556), in 1544, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, was granted Indio. At the time he was steward to Thomas Cromwell which led to him obtaining several monastic holdings in Devonshire on favourable terms. [5] A document in connection with the Dissolution accounts refers to "Rent of a messuage in Yondyeo leased on 15 July 1531 to John Southcote, his wife Joan and Johns's heirs for ever, 26s 8d". He was also made Clerk of the Peace for Devon. [6] [7] [1] In 1547 he was elected as MP of Lostwithiel, making him a prominent politician in Cornwall. During Edward VI's reforms to religion in Cornwall, part of the English Reformation and the Tudors' deconstruction of Cornish national identity, he was a participant and supporter of the Prayer Book Rebellion in Cornwall and Devon. After the rebellion was crushed by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset's army, John Southcote was not hanged and a few years later he was granted a general pardon by Edward VI and continued to sit in Parliament. [8]

Sir Nicholas's second son William Southcott Esq of Chudleigh (b.1485) had a son also called John, of Witham (1510–1585). He became a senior English judge and politician, becoming later Lord of the Manor of Witham, in Essex. [9] He was noted to be a proud Catholic and supporter of his uncle's involvement in the Prayer Book Rebellion and later resigned his office rather than condemn a Catholic priest publicly. [10] [11]

Another descendant of Sir Nicholas Southcott was Capt. Philip Southcote (1698–1758) who married the widowed 1st Duchess of Southampton, Anne Fitzroy.

During the Civil War, Captain Thomas Southcote was the garrison commander of Calstock as a prominent officer of the Royalists in Cornwall; the garrison consisted of roughly 1,200 Cornishmen and was quartered at Cotehele and Harewood House. During the war, the Parliamentarians attacked Gunnislake New Bridge, which was defended by Sir Richard Grenville and Captain Southcote with men from his garrison at Calstock. At the cost of 240 men the bridge was lost to the Parliamentarian forces, but they failed to advance further into Cornwall. [12] [13]

Lords of the Manor of Southcott (1242–1565)

Lords of the Manor of Bovey Tracey (1544–1670)

Indio House the manor house of Bovey Tracey, former seat of the Southcott Family Indio BoveyTracey Devon ByElizabethCroker 1844.PNG
Indio House the manor house of Bovey Tracey, former seat of the Southcott Family

Lord of the Manor of Mohuns Ottery (1598–1670)

Lords of Blyborough and Baronets of Blyborough (1610–1691)

Southcote Baronets family chart

Sir George Southcott MP
of Blyborough, Shillingford,
Stoke Fleming and Withycombe
(1572-1638)
Robert Southcote
of Shillingford		George Southcote
of Stoke Fleming and Blyborough		 Capt. Thomas Southcott
of Withycombe
(1608-1657)		JudithMaryRebecca
Thomas Southcote
MP DL JP
of Stoke Fleming and Blyborough
(c1622-1664)		 Sir George Southcote Bt
1st Baronet of
Bliborough
Created 1662
(1629-1663)		Lady Catherine Southcote
(Née Eliot)
Sir William Portman
Bt KB MP FRS
6th Baronet of
Orchard Portman
(1664-1690)		Lady Elizabeth Portman Sir George Southcote Bt
2nd Baronet of
Bliborough
(1664-1698)		Lady Mary Southcote
(Née Smythe)		Katherine Palmer
Katherine SmithConstantine Fitzherbert

Notable people

Thomas Southcot

Capt. Thomas Southcot (1608–1657) was an officer of the Cavalier Army during the First English Civil War, the early part of the English Civil War. He was the son of Sir George Southcott MP (1572–1638). In 1644 he was the garrison commander of the Cavalier army based at Calstock and Cotehele, a detachments of Sir Richard Grenville's army based on the Cornish side of the Tamar Valley. He defended Cornwall from Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex Parliamentarians force. [12] [13]

Following the battle, an island which was defended by the Royalists was named Southcott Island in honour of the commander.

Thomas Southcot died in 1657, never witnessing the restoration of the monarchy in 1661. King Charles II did recognise Thomas's tremendous loyalty by awarding his only son George Southcote (1629–1663) with the title of Baronet of Bliborough.

Members of Parliament

High Sheriff

Family prayer

[17] [18]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

The Southcote Baronetcy, of Bliborough in the County of Lincoln, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 24 December 1661 for George Southcote. The title became extinct upon the death of the second Baronet in 1691.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Carey (c. 1541 – 1616)</span> Member of the Parliament of England

Sir George Carey, JP, DL, of Cockington in the parish of Tor Mohun in Devon, England, was Lord Deputy of Ireland from May 1603 to February 1604.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Reynell (died 1585)</span> English politician

Richard Reynell (1519–1585) of East Ogwell, Devon, was an English Member of Parliament. An account of him and his sons is given by John Prince in his Worthies of Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Strode (died 1669)</span>

Sir Richard Strode of Newnham, Plympton St Mary, Devon and of Chalmington in Dorset, was a member of the Devonshire gentry who served as MP for Bere Alston in 1604, Bridport in 1626 and for Plympton Erle in 1640. He was by religion a puritan and towards the end of his life a baptist. During the Civil War he was a parliamentarian and raised a force of 3,000 dragoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Pole (antiquary)</span> 17th century English historian

Sir William Pole (1561–1635) of Colcombe House in the parish of Colyton, and formerly of Shute House in the parish of Shute, both in Devon, was an English country gentleman and landowner, a colonial investor, Member of Parliament and, most notably, a historian and antiquarian of the County of Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Strode (1562–1637)</span>

Sir William Strode (1562–1637) of Newnham in the parish of Plympton St Mary, Devon, England, was a member of the Devon landed gentry, a military engineer and seven times a Member of Parliament elected for Devon in 1597 and 1624, for Plympton Erle in 1601, 1604, 1621 and 1625, and for Plymouth in 1614. He was High Sheriff of Devon from 1593 to 1594 and was knighted in 1598. In 1599 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Devon. There is a monument to him in the parish church of Plympton St Mary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir John Davie, 2nd Baronet</span>

Sir John Davie, 2nd Baronet (1612–1678) of Creedy in the parish of Sandford, Devon, was Member of Parliament for Tavistock, Devon, in 1661 and was Sheriff of Devon from 1670 to 1671.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Reginald Mohun, 1st Baronet</span>

Sir Reginald Mohun, 1st Baronet of Boconnoc in Cornwall, was a prominent member of the gentry of Cornwall and an MP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Southcote (died 1600)</span> English politician

Thomas Southcote was an English politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creedy, Sandford</span> Historic estate in Devon, England

Creedy is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon. It is named from its location on the west side of the River Creedy. It was the seat of the Davie family from about 1600 until the late 20th century. The mansion house on the estate has been called at various times New House, Creedy House, and as presently, Creedy Park. It was first built in about 1600, rebuilt in 1846, burnt down in 1915 and rebuilt 1916–21. It is surrounded by a large park, the boundary of which is enclosed by a stone and brick wall several miles long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohuns Ottery</span>

Mohuns Ottery or Mohun's Ottery, is a house and historic manor in the parish of Luppitt, 1 mile south-east of the village of Luppitt and 4 miles north-east of Honiton in east Devon, England. From the 14th to the 16th centuries it was a seat of the Carew family. Several manorial court rolls survive at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton, Somerset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reginald Mohun (died 1642)</span>

Reginald Mohun of Trewynard in Cornwall, was a Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel, Cornwall, in 1626.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kirkham (1472–1529)</span>

Sir John Kirkham (1472–1529) of Blagdon in the parish of Paignton, Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1523/4. He was one of the Worthies of Devon of the Devonshire biographer Prince (d.1723), who called him a "very free and liberal, ... prudent and discreet" benefactor of the town of Honiton in Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indio, Bovey Tracey</span> Human settlement in England

Indio in the parish of Bovey Tracey in Devon, is an historic estate. The present large mansion house, known as Indio House is a grade II listed building rebuilt in 1850, situated about 1/2 mile south of Bovey Tracey Church, on the opposite side of the River Bovey. According to the Devon historian Pole (d.1635) it was originally a priory, however research from 1840 onwards has suggested it was more likely merely a grange farm, a possession of St John’s Hospital, Bridgwater, Somerset, from 1216.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Rous (died 1620)</span> English politician (c. 1555–1620)

Sir Anthony Rous (c.1555–1620), of Halton, near St Dominic in Cornwall, was an English landowner and a Member of Parliament between 1584 and 1604.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Eveleigh (died 1618)</span>

Nicholas Eveleigh (1562–1618) of Parke in the parish of Bovey Tracey in Devon, was an utter barrister, and served as Steward of the Stannary Court of Ashburton, Devon. He died aged 56 when the roof of Chagford Stannary Courthouse collapsed, killing him and nine others. His "sumptuous" monument survives in Bovey Tracey Church.

John Southcote of Bovey Tracey was an English landowner and Member of Parliament, of the prominent Southcott family of Devon and Cornwall.

References

  1. 1 2 boveytraceyhistory.org.uk, quoting Youings, Joyce (Joyce Youings, Devon Monastic Lands: Calendar of Particulars for Grants 1536–1558 (Exeter: DCRS New Series, 1955))
  2. ↑ Magna Britannia: Volume 6, Devonshire, Parishes: Winkleigh – Zeal Monachorum (1822)
  3. ↑ Heritage Gateway Southcott House
  4. ↑ The Book of Fees, 2: pg. 778 and pg. 784
  5. ↑ boveytraceyhistory.org.uk
  6. ↑ Pole, p.432
  7. ↑ boveytraceyhistory.org.uk, quoting Youings, Joyce
  8. ↑ Virgoe, Roger. "SOUTHCOTE, John I (by 1504-56), of Bovey Tracey, Devon". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Witham Place, Essex
  10. ↑ History of Parliament John Southcote II
  11. ↑ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Southcote, John"  . Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  12. 1 2 Royal Institution of Cornwall English Civil War and Captain Southcote pg 32
  13. 1 2 Gunnislake New Bridge History
  14. ↑ Vivian, p.698; Pevsner, p. 193; Risdon, p. 134
  15. 1 2 Pole, p. 131
  16. ↑ "SOUTHCOTE, George representing Tavistock – History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  17. ↑ Calstock Parish Church History, Rev Gordon Ruming
  18. ↑ "Cornish Dictionary |".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.