Sir Francis Bassett (1594 – 1645) of

Tehidy Tehidy Country Park is a country park in Illogan in Cornwall, England which incorporates of the parkland and estate around Tehidy House, a former manor house of the Tehidy manor . The park's facilities include an events field, barbecue hir ...

in the parish of

Illogan Illogan (pronounced ''il'luggan'', kw, Egloshalow) is a village and civil parish in west Cornwall, UK, two miles (3 km) northwest of Redruth. The population of Illogan was 5,404 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Ca ...

in Cornwall, was

Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, othe ...

, a Vice-Admiral of North Cornwall, and

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of St Ives. His portrait by Vandyck was formerly displayed at Tehidy (now demolished). He appears to have been a sportsman, much addicted to hawking and

cock-fighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

. He was the son of Revd. James Bassett of Tehidy and his wife Jane, the daughter of Sir Francis Godolphin. He served as Vice-Admiral of North Cornwall from 1623 to his death in 1645 and was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1642–1644. There is a complaint against him in the Star Chamber, 18 May 1625. During the Civil War in 1643, he acted as a Royalist in the western part of Cornwall, raising money and drilling forces for the king. Letters of his to his wife ‘at her Tehidy’ are preserved, recording the Royalist victories of

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...

near Stratton, and of Braddock Down near Lostwithiel, at the latter of which (or at any rate very shortly after the fight) he, with most of the Cornish gentry, was present, and was knighted on the field. He records in another letter to his wife that after the battle ‘the king, in the hearing of thousands, as soon as he saw me in the morning, cryed to mee “Deare Mr. Sheriffe, I leave Cornwall to you safe and sound”’. In 1640, he presented to the borough of St Ives a

loving-cup A loving cup is a shared drinking container traditionally used at weddings and banquets. It usually has two handles and is often made of silver. Loving cups are often given as trophies to winners of games or competitions. Background Loving cups ...

bearing the following inscription: If any discord 'twixt my friends arise Within the borough of belov'd St. Ives, It is desirèd this my cup of love To everie one a peace-maker may prove. Then am I blest to have given a , So like my harte, unto posteritie.

Personal life

In 1620, Bassett married Ann Trelawny, a daughter of Sir Jonathan Trelawny (1568-1604) of Trelawny, Cornwall. Their children included John Basset (died 1661), eldest son and heir and Francis Basset, second son, of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, Somerset, a puritan who in 1661 was accused of a conspiracy against King Charles II, of which charge he was honourably acquitted after a letter which he was alleged to have written was proved a forgery. Bassett died 19 September 1645. The full vengeance of Cromwell fell upon his first son, although he had never taken up arms, who was compelled to

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for his estates, and had to sell St Michael's Mount in 1660 to a member of the St Aubyn family, in whose possession it has remained ever since.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Francis 1594 births 1645 deaths People from Illogan Cavaliers High Sheriffs of Cornwall

Personal life

See also

Notes

References