JohnArscottMonument1675 TetcottChurchDevon

John Arscott (1613-1675), of

Tetcott Tetcott is a civil parish, small settlement and former manor (once the home of the Arscotts of Tetcott) in Devon, England. The parish lies about five miles south of the town of Holsworthy and is bordered on the north by the parish of Clawton, ...

, Devon, was

Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

in 1675.

W. G. Hoskins William George Hoskins (22 May 1908 – 11 January 1992) was an English local historian who founded the first university department of English Local History. His great contribution to the study of history was in the field of landscape history. ...

described the Arscotts as one of the ancient families of freeholders that rose to the ranks of the

squirearchy The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

over a period of 300 years or so by the steady accumulation of property, mostly through marriage. Originating at Arscott (now known as South Arscott, north of the town of

Holsworthy Holsworthy is a market town and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, some west of Exeter. The River Deer, a tributary of the River Tamar, forms the western boundary of the parish, which includes the village of Brandis Cor ...

) in the time of Henry III,, a junior branch of the family moved to Tetcott in about 1550. John Arscott was the eldest son and heir of Edmund Arscott (1588–1656), of Tetcott, by his wife Mary Walrond (died 1652), daughter of William Walrond (died 1627) of Bradfield,

Uffculme Uffculme (, ) is a village and civil parish located in the Mid Devon district, of Devon, England. Situated in the Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway and the Bristol–Exeter railway line, near Cullompton, Uffculme is on the ...

. Arthur Arscott (1554–1618), the sheriff's grandfatherVivian, p.21 built a new manor house at Tetcott in 1603. He married Gertrude Calmady (1622–1699), a daughter of Sir Shilston Calmady (1585–1645) of Langdon,

Wembury Wembury is a village on the south coast of Devon, England, very close to Plymouth Sound. Wembury is located south of Plymouth. Wembury is also the name of the peninsula in which the village is situated. The village lies in the administrative di ...

, who was killed during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

during the siege of

Ford Abbey Forde Abbey is a privately owned former Cistercian monastery in Dorset, England, with a postal address in Chard, Somerset. The house and gardens are run as a tourist attraction while the estate is farmed to provide additional revenue. Forde Abbey ...

. In 1638 John's sister Mary Arscott had married Gertrude's half-brother John Calmady (1614 – before 1645) in Ashwater parish.Vivian, p.21; p.130, pedigree of Calmady, where she is called "Anne". John Calmady was Sir Shilston's 2nd son by his 1st marriage and predeceased his father (Vivian, p.130) John Arscott died childless and was buried on 25 September 1675 at Tetcott. His heir was his nephew John Arscott (died 1708) of Tetcott (the son of his younger brother William), who married as his second wife Prudence, of unrecorded family. The younger John's third son was Dennis Arscott (1685–1721) of Ethy, Cornwall,

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, oth ...

and his daughter was Jane Arscott (born 1678) who in 1699 married Sir John Molesworth, 3rd Baronet, whose later descendants inherited Tetcott in 1788. A mural monument to John Arscott exists in the Arscott Chapel of Holy Cross Church, Tetcott.

References

Sources

* Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959. (first published 1954) *

Pevsner, Nikolaus Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (19 ...

& Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004. * Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, London, 1810, p. 250 *Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon, Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620. 2 vols, Exeter, 1895. {{DEFAULTSORT:John Arscott (1613-1675) High Sheriffs of Devon