John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath (20 July 1470 – 30 April 1539) was named

Earl of Bath Earl of Bath was a title that was created five times in British history, three times in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is now extinct. Earls of Bath; First cre ...

in 1536. He was

feudal baron of Bampton The feudal barony of Bampton was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era, and had its ''caput'' at Bampton Castle within the manor of Bampton. Descent Domesday Book The Domesday Book of 1086 lists ' ...

in Devon.

Origins

John Bourchier was born in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the eldest son and heir of

Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin (25 October 1445 – 18 September 1479) was the son and heir of William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin (1407–1470) and the father of John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath. He was feudal baron of Bampton in Devon. ...

(d. 18 September 1479) by his wife Elizabeth Dynham, 2nd daughter and co-heiress of John Dynham, 6th Baron Dynham. He was the brother of

Elizabeth Bourchier Elizabeth Cromwell (née Bourchier; 1598–1665) was the wife of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland; and the mother of Richard Cromwell, the second Lord Protector. Family and marriage Eliz ...

Marriages

Bourchier married three times: *Firstly to Cecily Daubeny, the daughter of Giles Daubeny, 8th Baron Daubeny and Elizabeth Arundell, the daughter of John Arundell of Lanherne, Cornwall. They had eight children. *Secondly to Florence Bonville, widow of Sir Humphrey Fulford, and daughter and coheir of John Bonville by Katharine Wingfield, the daughter of Sir Robert Wingfield. *Thirdly to Elizabeth Wentworth, widow of Sir Roger Darcy (d. 30 September 1508) and Sir Thomas Wyndham, and daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth of

Nettlestead, Suffolk Nettlestead is a dispersed village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England.The surrounding villages of Nettlestead include Somersham (the closest), Little Blakenham, Baylham, Barking, Willisham and Offton. I ...

, by Anne Say, the daughter of Sir John Say.

Children

By his 1st wife Cecily Daubeny, he had the following children: *

John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath, (1499 in Devon – 10 February 1560/61) was an Earl in the peerage of England. He also succeeded to the titles of 12th Baron FitzWarin, Baron Daubeney and 4th Count of Eu. Origins He was the son of John Bourc ...

(d.1560). *Lady Elizabeth Bourchier (d.24 August 1548), married Edward Chichester (c.1496-1522), of

Raleigh, Pilton The historic manor of Raleigh, near Barnstaple and in the parish of Pilton, North Devon, was the first recorded home in the 14th century of the influential Chichester family of Devon. It was recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 together wit ...

, Devon. Her monumental brass, depicting a small kneeling figure with a separate inscription, exists in St Brannock's Church,

Braunton Braunton is a large village, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former manor in Devon. The village is situated west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at the 2021 census of 10,217 people. There ...

, Devon. *Amias Bourchier *Lady Dorothy Bourchier, married Sir John Fulford. *Giles Bourchier *Lady Margaret Bourchier *Lady Anne Bourchier *Lady Eleanor Bourchier

Death and burial

John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath was buried in Bampton Church in Devon, in which he had endowed a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

. Although part of an elaborate chest tomb survives in the church, it is according to Pevsner that of his grandmother Thomasine Hankford (d.1453), heiress of Bampton, wife of

William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin William Bourchier (1407–1470) '' jure uxoris'' 9th Baron FitzWarin, was an English nobleman. He was summoned to Parliament in 1448 as Baron FitzWarin in right of his wife Thomasine Hankford. He was the second son of William Bourchier, 1st Co ...

(1407-1470). The 1st Earl's tomb, which was destroyed sometime after 1770, was situated in the north aisle of Bampton Church and showed effigies of himself and his wife Cecily Daubeny with their 8 children. Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.327

Sources

Bourchier Family
Accessed 9 December 2007

Accessed 9 December 2007

Notes

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bath 1470 births 1539 deaths People from Essex 1

Bourchier Bourchier is an English surname, from French ''Boursier'', keeper of the purse. Bourchier is the Norman pronunciation. The Barons Bourchier, Barons Berners, Barons FitzWarin, Earls of Essex and Earls of Bath *Robert Bourchier, 1st Baron Bou ...

John, Bath 15th-century English people 16th-century English nobility