John Waldron (died 1579)

Arms of Prouse: Sable, three lions rampant argent[4]

He married Richarda Prowse (d.1604),[5] a daughter of John Prowse (d.1586)[6] the elder, of Tiverton, Clothier[4] and Gentleman,[7] and a sister of Robert Prowse (d.1591) of Barnstaple, Merchant[8] and Mayor of Barnstaple in 1588.[4] The Prowse family was a very ancient Devonshire gentry family, descended from a daughter of William de Redvers, Earl of Devon,[9] of Tiverton Castle. She survived her husband and soon after his death remarried on 4 May 1580 (as his 3rd wife) Roger Gifford (1533-1603) of Tiverton Castle, whose mural monument survives in St Peter's Church, Tiverton, on the north wall of the chancel. Roger Gifford was a younger son of the ancient gentry family of Gifford of Brightley, Chittlehamton, Devon,[10] who following the fall of the Courtenay Earls of Devon (heirs of the de Redvers Earls of Devon), purchased their seat of Tiverton Castle from their heirs. Richarda was buried at Tiverton on 28 December 1604.[5]

Waldron's Almshouses, entrances to ground floor rooms

The Almshouse was built in open fields on the outskirts of the town of Tiverton, near the "Wellbrook" stream.[14] The town has since greatly expanded to surround the site, and "Wellbrook Street" now runs past the Almshouses. A large modern complex of charitable housing was built in the 20th century to the rear of the Almshouses by the "Tiverton Almshouse Trust".[14] The two-storey Almshouse occupies the eastern part of the building and was designed for 8 "poor, impotent and indigent"[14] men of Tiverton, each occupying a single room.[15] The upper floor is reached by an external staircase leading to a covered gallery landing. In 1847 they were in "a most dilapidated state", as described by Harding in his History of Tiverton.[16] They were restored in 1987,[15] as is recorded on a plaque inscribed:

"This plaque was unveiled by the Earl of Halsbury FRS, F.Eng., on 6th March 1987 to mark the restoration of these 16th century Almshouses".

The exterior of Waldron's Almshouses is decorated with profuse relief sculpture. An inscription in Gothic lettering across the front elevation under eaves is as follows:[17]

""John Waldron merchant and Richord his wife builded this house in the time of their life. At such tyme as the walls were fourtyne foote hye. He departed this world even the eyghtynth of July 1579".

"Since youth and life doth passe awaye,

And death at hand to end our dayes,

Let us do so that men may saye:

We spent our goods God to preys.

He that upon the poore doth spende

The goods that he hath heare,

To God agen the same doth send

And paye the same with great increase".

Above the lintels of the doors on the ground floor are painted the following three sentences:[18] "Depart thy goods whyle thou hast tyme; For after thy death they are not thyne; God sav Quen Elizabeth".

The chapel occupies the western part of the building. It has a projecting porch to the west with a moulded doorway with carved spandrels. The porch is surmounted by a stone parapet, profusely decorated with relief sculpture, including ships and elephants, indicating Waldron's membership of the Guinea Company and his involvement in the Ivory trade.[14] Another parapet at roof level is similarly decorated.[15] On the exterior wall of the Chapel is a small black tablet inscribed:

"This plaque was unveiled by Lady Margaret Amory, JP, on 11th April 1990 in thanksgiving for the restoration of John Waldron's Chapel and its continuing use as a place of worship".

The bell measuring about 18 inches in diameter, was made in 1539 by Aelbert Hackman in the Duchy of Cleves in the Holy Roman Empire. It is the oldest bell in Devon to bear a date in its inscription. The engraved inscription between two decorative friezes reads as follows: "In the year 1539 Aelbert Hackman cast me in Cleve. Jesus, Mary, Ann".[13] This was therefore one year before Anne of Cleves became the fourth wife of King Henry VIII.

His landholdings included the following:

• Colridge, Devon, rectory of, which in partnership with Robert Northcote the elder of Crediton, he purchased in fee simple from the crown on 26 January, "to hold in free socage issues from All Saints last, the advowsons of the Vicarage reserved".[19]

He died on 18 July 1579, as is recorded on the sculpted inscription on his almshouses, and his will, in which he calls himself "John Waldron, Gentleman, of Tiverton", was proved on 14 August 1579.[20]