Peter Edgcumbe (politician, 1477)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Peter Edgcumbe (also Piers Edgcumbe or Edgecombe ) (* 1477 (according to older information 1472 or 1468/69); † August 14, 1539 ) was an English knight and politician who was elected at least twice as a member of the House of Commons .

Origin and youth

Pieter Edgcumbe came from the Edgcumbe family . He was the only son of Richard Edgcumbe and his wife Jane Tremayne . In 1488 he studied at Lincoln's Inn in London. After the death of his father in 1489, he became his heir. Edgcumbe grew up as a squire in the royal household and also held some of his father's offices, including that of the administrator of fallen fiefdoms and royal guardianship in Cornwall and the office of constable of Launceston Castle . He retained these offices until his death. In 1489 he was one of the 20 knights who were knighted on the occasion of Prince Arthur's investiture to Prince of Wales at Knights of the Bath , and when the younger king's son Henry was made Duke of York in 1494 , Edgcumbe was knighted. On February 24, 1497 he was allowed to take over his inheritance, probably only after payments to royal officials, including Cotehele House and the estates of Bodrigan , Tregrehan and Tremodret in Cornwall, Borough and Castle of Totnes and possessions in Huish , Loddiswell and North Molton in Devon belonged. His main residence became his mansion in Stonehouse.

Influential member of the gentry

Edgcumbe had served as Sheriff of Devon for a year as early as 1494 . He held this office again from 1497 to 1498, from 1517 to 1518 and from 1528 to 1529. He was sheriff of Cornwall from 1498 to 1499, from 1505 to 1506, from 1516 to 1517 and from 1534 to 1535. From 1498 he was justice of the peace in Cornwall and from 1501 in Devon. In 1497 he put up a contest in Devon and Cornwall to put down the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck . However, this was not enough to suppress the rebellion; the rebellion could only be ended with the help of more troops. Edgcumbe was one of the forces that terrified the besieged Exeter . In 1513 he fought in a campaign in France at the Battle of Guinegate and was promoted to Knight Banneret after the battle . In 1515 he received permission from King Henry VIII to create a deer park that still exists today on Mount Edgcumbe . In 1520 he was part of the king's entourage at the Camp du Drap d'Or . As one of the richest and most influential members of the Cornish gentry , he was elected Knight of the Shire in the general elections in 1515 and 1529, probably more often . Before 1521 he became a recorder from Launceston , in addition to which he took on other local offices.

Family and offspring

In 1493 Edgcumbe had married Jane Dynham († before 1525), the widow of Charles Dynham from Nutwell in Devon and daughter and heiress of James Durnford (also Derneford ). His wife was the only child who inherited extensive estates from their father in the Valletort estate, which stretched on both sides of the mouth of the Hamoaze and included East and West Stonehouse and Rame . With her he had three sons and three daughters, including:

  • Richard (1499–1562)
  • John
  • James
  • Anne

In his second marriage, after the death of Jane in 1525, he married Catherine St John († 1553), the widow of Gruffydd ap Rhys , the son of the Welsh nobleman Rhys ap Thomas . This marriage remained childless. His heir was his eldest son Richard Edgcumbe .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alsager Richard Vian: Edgcumbe, Richard (d.1489) , in: Dictionary of National Biography . Volume XVI . Macmillan, Smith, Elder & Co., London and New York 1888, pp. 375f
  2. Rachel Hunt: Cotehele, Cornwall. A souvenir guide . National Trust, Swindon, ISBN 978-1-84359-428-4 , p. 16
  3. Cynthia Gaskell Brown: Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park: Guidebook , Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park, Torpoint 2003, p. 4