EDGECUMBE
The Edgcumbe family acquired Cotehele in 1353 through marriage into the de Cotehele family.
Sir Richard Edgecumbe (1499-1562), a cultured and hospitable man English courtier and politician and MP Member of Parliament , for Tavistock. In the Wars of the Roses he was a Lancastrian and had his lands confiscated in 1471 by the Yorkist Edward IV, although these were returned to him the next year.
He joined the rebellion against Richard III in 1483 and fled to Brittany after its failure. There he joined the Lancastrian claimant to the throne, Henry Tudor, who he returned to England with in 1485. He was knighted after the Battle of Bosworth Field, where Henry Tudor and the Lancastrians were victorious.
Sir Richard's eldest son, Piers Edgecumbe (1536-1607), was a member of parliament under Elizabeth I for about thirty years . He was involved in a mining venture that failed and left with a debt of £4000 in about 1545 his daughter Joan Edgecombe was married Sir Thomas Pomeroy.
Thomas Carew of Antony House, in the parish of East Anthony, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Edgecombe, and their eldest son, Richard, was born at Anthony House on 17 Jul 1555. He made arrangements regarding a house in St Anthony in Menage for Arthur Pomeroy of Sanderidge.
Richard Carew was one of the deputy-lieutenants of Cornwall, and served under Sir Walter Raleigh, the lord-lieutenant of the county, in the posts of treasurer of the lieutenancy and colonel of the regiment, five hundred strong, which had for its charge the protection of Cawsand Bay. Poet and antiquary, is the best-known member of one of the leading families of Cornwall he died on 6 Nov 1620, as he was at his private prayers in his study (his daily practice) at four in the afternoon and was buried in Anthony Church.
Sir Piers Edgecome
The original medieval manor-house at Cotehele was rebuilt between 1485 and 1560 by Sir Richard Edgcumbe and his son, Piers.
The estate, high on the banks of the river Tamar on the Cornish side was the home of the Edgcumbe family for nearly 600 years from 1353 until it came into the care of the National Trust in 1947 when it was accepted by the Treasury in payment of death duty.
In the 14th century, after they had acquired the estate, the Edgecombes followed the original plan of the house, improving and enlarging the facilities using local granite, sandstone and slate.
In 1493 Sir Piers Edgcumbe (1477 – 14 August 1539) married Jane Dernford (daughter and heir of James Dernford of Stonehouse, ( now part of Plymouth in Devon) She was widow of Charles Dynham of Nutwell, Devon and her dowry included land on both sides of the mouth of the Tamar River.
He became Comptroller of the Household of Henry Tudor , Chambelain of the Exchequer and a Privy Councellor and was rewarded with numerous wardships of county heirs. He was also sent on diplomatic missions for the king and granted licences to 'beard,clack & clense' 100 woolsacks for export through the Morocco Straights. His son Richard was also sent on diplomatic missions for Henry VIII.
In 1515 King Henry VIII granted Sir Piers permission to create a deer park at on the Rame head and it became Mount Edgecombe
By his first marriage, Sir Piers Edgcumbe had two sons, Richard being the heir, and three daughters, including Johanna .
His wife Jane Dernford, died before 1525, and he then married Catherine St John, the daughter of Sir John St John of Bletsoe, widow of Sir Gruffudd ap Rhys of Carmarthen & lady in waiting to the at least 2 of queens of Henry VIII.
Sir Edward Pomeroy who with his wife Joan Sapcot had 4 sons and 2 daughters, died in 1539 and his eldest son Thomas took the title. He was married to Joanna, daughter of Sir Piers Edgcombe by his first wife.
Their children were Thomas the heir who married Honor Rolle; Arthur who married Elizabeth Hutton; Valentine, Katherine, who married Sir John Moore of Moorehayse and Elizabeth . There may also have been a son John.
Sir Piers died in August 1539 and between 1547 and 1553 his son, Richard, commissioned Roger Palmer, a local mason, to build a new house in the deer park.In around 1553 Sir Richard moved his household the 10 miles from Cotehele to Mount Edgcumbe, which is close to the waters of Plymouth Sound with access to the city across the river mouth by the ferry at Cremyll.
Mount Edgecumbe -the Tudor mansion stands on the Rame peninsula looking up the valley of the Tamar, with spectacular views over Plymouth Sound, one of England's finest natural harbours.
In 1588 the arrival of the Spanish Arma
da was signalled with fire beacons on St. Michaels Chapel on Rame Head. That sent the warning to those waiting at Plymouth and onward, by fiery beacon, across the country to Queen Elizabeth in London.
ANNE EDGECUMBE (d. 1613+)
Anne Edgecumbe was the daughter of Sir Richard Edgecumbe of Mount Edgecumbe, Cornwall (c.1499-February 1, 1562) and Elizabeth Tregian. In 1580, she married Hugh Dowriche (1552/3-1598), rector of Lapford and later of Honiton. Their children were Elkana, Walter, Mary (b.1587), Elizabeth, Anne (b.1589), and Hugh (b.1594). Her The French Historie (1589) was dedicated to her brother, Piers. She also contributed verses to The Jaylor’s Conversion (1596), written by her husband. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Dowriche [née Edgecumbe], Anne.”
CATHERINE EDGECUMBE (d.1570+)
Catherine Edgecumbe was the daughter of Sir Richard Edgecumbe of Mount Edgecumbe, Cornwall (c.1499-February 1, 1562)and Elizabeth Tregian. In around 1557, she married Henry Champernowne of Modbury, Devon (c.1538-May 28, 1570). They had two sons and four daughters: Richard (c.1558-1622), Elizabeth (c.1558-June 14, 1617), Arthur (c.1560-1599), Mary (c.1562-February 3, 1611/12), Margaret, and Bridget. After Champernowne was killed fighting for the Huguenots, the queen of Navarre wrote to Queen Elizabeth of England, in July 1570, asking her to help his widow and children. Catherine was sole executrix of his will, which was written in October 1568 and proved in 1570. The inquisition post mortem was held October 4, 1570.
CATHERINE EDGECUMBE see CATHERINE ST. JOHN
CATHERINE ST. JOHN (c.1490-December 1553)
Catherine St. John was the daughter of Sir John St. John (1450-1525) and Sybil Morgan married first, in 1507, Sir Griffith ap Rhys of Carmarthen, Wales (d. 1521). They had a daughter, Mary Griffith (1519-March 31, 1588).
Her second husband was Sir Piers Edgecumbe of West Stonehouse and Cothele, Cornwall (1468/9-August 14, 1539). She was his second wife. He had three sons and four daughters by his first wife, Jane. In 1524-5, Sir Peter and his wife Catherine were sent three gallons of wine "at their first homecoming." There was an outbreak of measles in the household in March 1534. Catherine was executor of her husband's will. M. St. Clare Byrne identifies Catherine as the Lady Edgecumbe who was a lady of the Privy Chamber to Anne of Cleves in 1540. Although other sources say that was Winifred Essex, her stepson's wife, Winifred may not yet have been married and in any case would not have been Lady Edgecumbe because her husband was not knighted until 1542. The "Lady Edgecumbe" who served Catherine Howard in the Privy Chamber was probably also Catherine Edgecumbe, for the same reasons. Catherine made her will on December 4, 1553, at Cothele, Cornwall and it was proved on December 12, 1553. In it she names a daughter Mary Luttrell (wife of Sir John Luttrell), to whom she leaves the household goods at Dunster, Somerset, that had belonged to Sir Griffith ap Rhys.
MARGARET EDGECUMBE
see MARGARET LUTTRELL
MARGARET EDGECUMBE (1560-April 24,1648)
Margaret Edgecumbe was the daughter of Piers Edgecumbe of Mount Edgecumbe, Cornwall (c.1536-January 4, 1607/8) and Margaret Luttrell or Lutterell (c.1538-1580+). At eighteen she became a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth and was highly regarded by Her Majesty. She was known to possess "great beauty and parts."
In 1583, when Margaret married Sir Edward Denny (1544 or 1547-February 12, 1599/1600), the queen granted them a twenty-one-year lease on Rectory Manor House, where Margaret lived after she was widowed and where she once entertained King Charles I. Denny died in Ireland of "a deadly sickness in his country's service." Margaret complained that he received nothing but a few sinecures for this service, although she somehow found the funds to erect a monument to him in Waltham Abbey. She attributed the queen's indifference to her poverty to Denny's loyalty to the earl of Essex. In 1600, she petitioned against Edward Darcy's attempts to obtain part of the proceeds of the sale of her late husband's office, writing that Denny had little need "to suck this small portion of her Majesty's favor from the hungry mouths of my children." After 1642, she shared her home with her grandson's widow and seven great grandchildren. Margaret and Edward Denny had seven sons and three daughters: Arthur (1584-July 4, 1619), Francis, Henry (1595-1658), Anthony (d. yng.), Anthony (1592-1662), Thomas, Charles (d. December 29, 1635), Elizabeth (b.1586), Honora (d.yng.), and Marie (d. November 29, 1678). Portraits: portrait; effigy erected in 1600 in the Church of the Holy Cross and St. Lawrence, Waltham Abbey, Essex.
WINIFRED EDGECUMBE see WINIFRED ESSEX