RichardCoffinEasterSepulchreHeantonPunchardon1

Richard Coffin (1456–1523), of

Alwington Alwington is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The parish is on the coast and includes the hamlets of Alwington, Fairy Cross, Ford, Knotty Corner and Woodtown. The parish has a total population of 381 (2001 ...

and

Heanton Punchardon Heanton Punchardon ( ) is a village, civil parish and former manor, anciently part of Braunton Hundred. It is situated directly east-southeast of the village of Braunton, in North Devon. The parish lies on the north bank of the estuary of the ...

in North Devon, was a

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 ...

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, p.477 He was the eldest son and heir of William Coffin of Alwington (died 1486) by his wife Margaret Giffard, daughter of Thomas GiffardVivian, p.208 of

Halsbury Halsbury (pron. "Haulsbury") is a historic manor in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is situated 2 miles north-east of the village of Parkham and 4 miles south-west of the town of Bideford. Halsbury was long a seat of the anc ...

in the parish of

Parkham Parkham is a small village, civil parish and former manor situated 5 miles south-west of the town of Bideford in north Devon, England. The parish, which lies within the Kenwith ward in the Torridge district, is surrounded clockwise from the no ...

, North Devon. Coffin married twice. His first marriage was to Alice Gambon, daughter of John Gambon of Moorstone in Devon, by whom he had the following children: *John Coffin (died 1528),Byrne, vol.1, p.606 eldest son and heir, who married Elizabeth Hingeston. *Sir William Coffin (died 1538), a

Gentleman of the Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

to King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

to Queen

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

. He was elected MP for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in 1529. *Jane Coffin, married John Bury (1481–1533), lord of the manor of

Colleton, Chulmleigh Colleton is a hamlet and former manor in the civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of Chulmleigh, in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is situated on the north side of a valley containing the River Taw. Its nearest town is Chulm ...

, Devon. Coffin's second marriage was to a lady named Jacquet, who survived him. Besides his paternal estates, Richard Coffin held leases from the Beaumont family of

Shirwell Shirwell is a village, civil parish and former manor in the local government district of North Devon, in the county of Devon, England. It was also formerly the name of a hundred of Devon. The village lies about 3.5 miles north-east of the town o ...

of the North Devon manors of

East Hagginton {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 East Hagginton was a historic estate within the manorialism, manor and parish of Berrynarbor near to the coast of North Devon. It is near to, if not actually encompassing, the site of Watermouth Castle. History Des ...

in the parish of

Berrynarbor Berrynarbor (historically Berry Narbor, Berrie Nerbert, etc) is a village, civil parish and former manor in the North Devon district of Devon, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 749, increasing to 802 at the ...

. During his tenure of Heanton Punchardon the

overlordship An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serjea ...

of the manor was inherited from the Beaumonts by Sir John Basset (1462–1528) of

Umberleigh Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it becam ...

. In this connection he and his widow, and his son and his widow, are mentioned several times in the

Lisle Letters The Lisle Papers are the correspondence received in Calais between 1533 and 1540 by Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle (c.1480-1542), Lord Deputy of Calais, an illegitimate son of King Edward IV and an uncle of King Henry VIII, and by his wife, ...

, the correspondence addressed to Basset's widow

Honor Grenville, Viscountess Lisle Honor Grenville, Viscountess Lisle (c. 1493–1495Byrne, vol.1, p. 305, Honor's birthyear was estimated at 1493–95 – 1566) was a Cornish lady whose domestic life from 1533 to 1540 during the reign of King Henry VIII is exceptional ...

(died 1566). Coffin died in 1523 and was buried in Heanton Punchardon Church, in accordance with the wish expressed in his will. Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.407 His

Easter Sepulchre An Easter Sepulchre is a feature of British church interior architecture. Description The Easter Sepulchre is an arched recess generally in the north wall of the chancel, in which from Good Friday to Easter day were deposited the crucifix and sa ...

tomb survives in the chancel of the church.

References

Sources

* Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, (ed.) The

, 6 vols, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 1981, vol.1, pp. 605–7 & vol.4, Chapter 7. * Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895 {{DEFAULTSORT:Coffin, Richard Sheriffs in the United Kingdom 1456 births 1523 deaths Coffin family