John Dinham (1406–1458)

Sir John Dinham (or Dynham) (1406–1458) was a knight from Devonshire, England. His principal seats were at Nutwell and Kingskerswell in South Devon and Hartland in North Devon.[1]

Arms of Dynham: Gules, four fusils in fess ermine

Origins

He was the son and heir of Sir John Dinham (1359–1428) by his third wife Philippa Lovel, daughter of Sir John Lovel of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire and Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire (d. 19 October 1414)[1] and Eleanor la Zouche (d. aft. 1430). The Dynhams took their name from their ancient manor of Dinan in Brittany,[2] and had been at Nutwell since about 1122 and were one of the leading gentry families in Devon. They founded Hartland Abbey in 1169 on their manor of Hartland.[3]

Career

He was knighted at some time before 1 May 1430, at the age of 24. In 1431 he was in France with King Henry VI. In 1444 he is recorded as having been accused by the Abbot of Hartland Abbey of having broken into the Abbot's close and houses at Stoke St Nectan (next to Hartland Abbey), and having stolen his horses, sheep and cattle.[4] A similar accusation had been made by the abbot against his father in 1397.[5]

Lands held

Dynham's landholdings in several counties included the following estates or manors: Nutwell, Kingskerswell and Hartland in Devon; Buckland Dinham in Somerset and Cardinham in Cornwall.

Marriage and children
Canting arms of Arches of Eythrope and Cranwell (in Waddesdon) and Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire: Gules, three arches argent

At some date before 12 July 1434, aged 28, he married Joan Arches (died 1497)[1] sister and heiress of John Arches and daughter of Sir Richard Arches (died 1417), MP for Buckinghamshire in 1402, of Eythrope and Cranwell (both in the parish of Waddesdon) and Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire.[1] The merlons of the battlements of the surviving mediaeval Nutwell Chapel, attached to the present Nutwell Court, display weathered sculpted reliefs of the Dynham arms[6] Gules, four fusils in fess ermine. His children by Joan included:

The barony did not survive the first generation, and after Lord Dynham's death the Dynham estates were divided between the heirs of his numerous sisters.

Death and succession

He died on 25 January 1458 at Nutwell[9] and was buried in the Blackfriars, Exeter. Separate Inquisitions post mortem were held concerning his landholdings in the counties of Hampshire, Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.[10] His heir was his son John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (c. 1433 – 1501).[10]

References
  1. Cokayne, p.377
  2. Cokayne, p.369, note c, which quotes the earliest known member of the family as Geoffrey, Sire de Dinan in Brittany"
  3. Chope, p.55
  4. Cokayne, p.377, quoting: Patent Rolls 22 Henry VI, p.2, membrane 9d; 12 henry VI p.2, membrane 13
  5. Cokayne, p.375
  6. "Nutwell Court - Woodbury - Devon - England - British Listed Buildings".
  7. Weis, Frederick Lewis (2004). Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8063-1752-6.
  8. Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.65, pedigree of Beaumont; p.46, pedigree of Basset
  9. Cokayne, p.378, note a, quoting from his inquisition post mortem obiit apud Nutwell
  10. Cokayne, p.378, note a

Sources

Further reading
  • "The Last of the Dynhams", Transactions of the Devon Association, Vol. 50, pp. 431–492
  • De la Motte Rouge, Les Dinan
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