
Langley was a historic estate in the parish of
Yarnscombe, Devon, situated one mile north-east of the village of Yarnscombe. It was long the seat of a junior branch of the Pollard family of
Way in the parish of
St Giles in the Wood, Devon, 3 miles to the south.
Descent
de Langley
A family of this name is not recorded in surviving records, however Richard Langley of Bawley in the parish of
Braunton
Braunton is a large village, civil parishes in England, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former Manorialism, manor in Devon. The village is situated west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at th ...
, Devon, may have been an ancestor of Emma Doddiscombe, wife of John I Pollard of Way (see below).
Britton
According to
Risdon (d. 1640), the family of Britton held Langley at time unspecified. On the failure of the male line, a daughter of the family brought Langley to her husband Roger Pollard "who planted himself so firmly in this place that his posterity have hitherto possessed the same".
Pollard
The descent of the Pollard family of Langley is as follows:
John I Pollard of Way
John I Pollard of Way, who married Emma Doddiscombe, one of the five daughters and co-heiress of Sir John Doddescombe of
Doddescombe Leigh, Devon. Sir John Doddescombe's father was possibly Walter Doddescombe, whose wife was Susan Langley, daughter of Richard Langley of Bawley, Braunton. Langley eventually passed to the descendants of John I Pollard's third son Roger Pollard, but initially descended to his second son Richard Pollard.
Richard Pollard
Richard Pollard, second son, who married Thomasine Cruwys, a daughter and co-heiress of William Cruwys, a junior member of the Cruwys family of
Cruwys Morchard, Devon
Poyntz

*Humphry Poyntz (d. 1487), "of Langley", who married Elizabeth Pollard, daughter of Richard Pollard by his wife Thomasine Cruwys. He was the younger son of Nicholas Poyntz (d. 1461) of
Iron Acton in Gloucestershire, by his first wife Elizabeth Mills, daughter of Sir Edward Mills of Horscomb, Gloucestershire. Humphry's nephew was Sir Robert Poyntz (d. 1520), a supporter of Henry Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond at the
Battle of Bosworth
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...
in 1485, who knighted him on that battlefield, and who after his accession as King Henry VII visited Sir Robert at Iron Acton in 1486. Humphry Poyntz does not appear to have left male progeny by his wife Elizabeth Pollard, only a daughter Katherine Poyntz, wife of Fulke Prideaux (1472-1531) of Adeston, Holbeton and Theuborough, Sutcombe, both in Devon, and ancestor of the
Prideaux Baronets. Following the death of Humphry Poyntz in 1487, apparently without male progeny to inherit, Langley reverted to the Pollard family. It is not known whether the 17th century "Pointz" family of Northcote in the parish of
Bittadon in North Devon was related to Humphrey Poyntz of Langley. The mural monument of Edward Pointz (f. 1691) survives in Bittadon Church and shows the arms of Poyntz of Iron Acton, and the Poyntz
canting crest of a clenched fist (French: ''poing''). the heir of this family was the Barbor family of
Fremington.
Pollard (reversion)
Roger Pollard
Roger Pollard, third son of John I Pollard of Way by his wife Emma Doddiscombe. He appears to have married twice, in order unknown:
**to Eline Hansford, a daughter and co-heiress of "Hansford of Passburye" (according to the 1620
Heraldic Visitation
Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms (or alternatively by heralds, or junior officers of arms, acting as the kings' deputies) throughout England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulat ...
of Devon) ''alias'' Hanksford, from whom the Pollards inherited also the estate of Northcott in the parish of Burrington (Elinor, co-heiress of "Hansford & Passburye" in Colby's edition of the 1620 Heraldic Visitation of Devon and Pollard's manuscript. )
**to the daughter and heiress of Britton of Langley (according to Risdon)
William Pollard
William Pollard (son by marriage to Eline Hansford), who married Elizabeth Hatch, daughter of John Hatch (1394-1477) of Wooleigh, in the parish of Upcott (or Beaford,) and widow of John III Bury (d. 1479) lord of the manor of
Colleton in the parish of
Chulmleigh, Devon.
Patrick Pollard
Patrick Pollard (son), who married Margerie Bury, a daughter of his uterine half-brother William Bury of Colleton, son of John III Bury (d. 1479)
George Pollard
George Pollard (2nd son), who married Thomazine Coplestone, a daughter of John III Copleston (1475-1550) "The Great Copleston" of
Copleston, Devon, by his second wife Katherine Bridges, daughter of Raphe Bridges.
His second son, also George Pollard (died 1617), was
Gentleman Usher
Gentleman Usher and Lady Usher are titles for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. For a list of office-holders from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 up to the present day see List of Lady and Gentleman Ushers.
Gen ...
to Queen
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
(1558-1603) and
Black Rod to her successor King
James I (1603-1625). He married secondly Elizabeth Leche, widow of Anthony Wingfield, a half-sister of
Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury (c. 1527-1608) ("Bess of Hardwick"). His daughters by his first marriage were
Maids of Honour to Queen Elizabeth I, and his second wife was
Mother of the Maids.
Richard I Pollard (d. 1626)
Richard I Pollard (d. 1626) (eldest son), who married Mary Molford, daughter of Roger Molford of Cadbury.
Richard II Pollard (d. 1660)
Richard II Pollard (d. 1660) (son), who married Joane Philipp, a daughter and co-heiress of John Philipp of
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
, by whom he had issue 6 sons and 7 daughters. It is possibly he (or his father) who erected the surviving heraldic panel above the front door of Langley Barton showing the arms of Pollard in four quarters and the initials "RP". He may have been the Richard Pollard who between 1640 and 1651 was the "Gentleman Steward" to the princely household of
Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath (1593–1654) at
Tawstock Court, 3 miles north of Langley. However it is known that the wife of the steward Richard Pollard was Sara Voysin (d. 1652) (marriage at
Swimbridge, near Tawstock, on 14 Apr 1646) of
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Switzerland, a "gentlewoman of impeccable antecedents in Continental Protestantism", who was an attendant of the Earl's wife, and whose surviving mural monument in Tawstock Church is inscribed as follows:
:" Here under lieth the remains of Sara the wife of Richard Pollard Gent. Educated in the French and English courts, and thought worthy to attend on the Right Hon: the Countisse of Westmoreland, and by her, recommended to wait on her most dear daughter Lady Rachel Countisse of Bathe. This Sara was daughter to Monsr: Voysin, a Syndique of Gineva, who most honorably lost his life in defence of that free City, her grandfather was the learned
Henricus Stephanus, And
Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon (; ; 18 February 1559 – 1 July 1614) was a classical scholar and philologist, first in France and then later in England.
His son Méric Casaubon was also a classical scholar.
Life Early life
He was born in Geneva to two F ...
was her uncle. She died 30th Jan. MDCLII".
George Pollard (1606-pre 1659)
George Pollard (1606-pre1659) (eldest son), died without progeny.
John Pollard (d. 1668)
John Pollard (d. 1668) (brother), who married Sara (Addington?), possibly a member of the Addington family of Leigh, Devon, originally from
Harlowbury,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. He died without progeny. His mural monument survives in Yarnscombe Church, much worn. It displays two busts in roundels, to the left John Pollard and to the right his wife. On a black tablet underneath, with damage, is inscribed the following Latin text:
:: {{lang, la, M(emoriae) S(acrum) Johannis Pollard de Langley, Armigeri, viri integerrimi (virtut)e quam Marte praeclari (qui obiit) Novemb(rensis) die 12, sua aetatis ...., Domini Nostri nativitatis Christi .... Et conjux ..... Pollard relicta
eluti maerens turtursecutura interim hoc p(osui)t
umptu propriomonumentum'' ("sacred to the memory of John Pollard of Langley, Esquire, a man as much undiminished in virtue as famous for martial prowess (who died) on the 12th day of November in the year of his age ... in the year of the birth of our Lord Christ .... His wife .... Pollard
ust like a mournful turtle-doveabout to follow him, meanwhile placed
t her own expensethis monument".)
Above at the centre top of the monument is shown an escutcheon showing arms quarterly of four, 1 & 4: ''Argent, a chevron sable between three escallops gules'' (Pollard); 2nd: ''Argent, a chevron sable between three mullets pierced gules''(''de Via'' (alias ''de Way'') of Way in the parish of St Giles in the Wood); 3rd: ''On a fess wavy a lion passant'' (Lovering? of Weare Giffard and Hudscott). Above atop a helm is the crest of Pollard, ''a stag passant'' (?). At the left top (and at bottom) is shown a human skull, at right top an open Bible with wings attached at top. Between the two portrait busts is an escutcheon of Pollard impaling ''two bars in chief three roundels'' (?), which should be the arms of his wife, whose family is not known. These are not the arms of Addington, which family she is stated in certain sources
[Risdon, p. 314.] to be from.
References
Historic estates in Devon