I am researching the Whiddon family of Devon. The tomb of Sir John Whiddon in Chagford has his coat of arms marshalled with that of the Coad family. I am unable to find a connection between the two families. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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Hm dont know any direct connection, but of course the Co(o)des occupied Gidleigh manor next door to Chagford for centuries, which they inherited by complex succession from Prouz and Damerell. By 1470, well before Sir John moved in, the Coodes had moved their seat to Morval in Cornwall, but it appears they continued to visit.
"The church (St. Michael) is a fine example of a 15th century granite church. In the chancel is an Elizabethan monument to Sir John Whiddon, Kt., justice of the Queen's Bench (d. 1575), and a mural monument to John Prouz (1664) in the S. aisle. Sir John Whiddon bought the manor of Chagford and made himself a manor house and park at Whiddon Park 2 m. NE. of the town. The Park, at the entrance to the gorge of the Teign, is romantically beautiful, a place of rocks, ravens, and wild deer; the house is substantially Elizabethan in date, altered in the 17th and 19th centuries, and attractive"
"The manor belonged to Hugh of Chagford, but in the time of Queen Mary (1533-1555) it became the property of Sir John Whiddon and remained in the family for several descents. During this period the Whiddons, other than Sir John, occupied their property, Whiddon Park, situated about a mile from town.
The house is in Chagford, but the Park is in Moreton Hampstead. This interesting and fine old seat has preserved the memory of the Whiddon family, which has been extinct in Chagford for two hundred years. Polwhele, in his 1797 History of Devonshire, states, "It is truly a romantic spot. The situation of the house, like that of many other old buildings in this country, was very judiciously chosen. In the front of it the prospect bears nothing remarkable, yet, behind the house we are presented, at a little distance, with a view of rock and wood, the most beautiful I have yet observed in the vicinity of the Teigne River. It may be called a cliff that seems divided into bare and solid rock, and wood of deep rich foliage. By the side of the mill behind the house, the scenery is viewed to great advantage. The Park and many other parts of the estate were overshadowed by noble trees that were consigned to the axe. Venerable beech and ash were already prostrate, and the few solitary deer that yet remained appeared to speak the approaching ruin of this dismantled place."
Heres something else interesting but probably not relevant. It does show however tat there are Gidleigh Coode daughters in the early 1500s about whom we know nothiong.
"John Newcombe was later residing at Ayreston (Easton) in the manor of South Teign in 1525, which he bought from John Seynthill of Exeter on the 21 April 1539 (30 Henry VIII). He also owned Great Worthy now called Great Tree, a farm in the parish of Drewsteignton and not far from Easton. He was mentioned in the Inquisitions Post Mortem 28 Henry VIII (1537) No. 72. His son and heir John Newcombe of Great Worthy was born about 1500 and was mentioned in an indenture dated 1555 as John Newcombe of Eston (Easton), he married a daughter of Coode of Gidleigh Castle and according to Thomas Westcote in his 'View of Devonshire', this couple were the ancestors of the Newcombe's of Chagford and Drewsteignton through their son William of Drewsteignton, who wed a daughter of a Burrington and the Crediton Newcombe's descend through their son John Newcombe who wed a daughter of the Down family."
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Thanks for the response.
I will continue to look for a Coad/Coode connection. The display of their coat of arms on the tomb of Sir John Whiddon implies a strong connection between the families. My research has produced no connection, so far, except for the tomb and geographic proximity.
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If the Coode arms are quartered into his, it would imply his mother or grandmother was a Coode. Cant find his parentage.
I did find the following which indicates you should take a close look at these arms to see if they really are those of Coode.
"Description of Sir John WHYDDON arms:
black swan (with gold beak; beak or) added to arms red (gules) on white/silver (argent) background knight's helmet (esquire)
For service to the Queen, he was given an addition to his coat of arms: a black swan, sitting in the crown, with a golden bill and the motto "Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima Cygno or "Rarest of bird of the earth, -- Swan".
A second arms in the parish church shows two quarterings (upper left and lower right) of Sir John's arms with spears and two quarterings (upper right and lower left) of a white shield with red chevron and three black swans in the same positions of the spears."
The Coode arms are in fact three moorhens. Are you sure he didnt just see the Coode arms of his neighbour, liked them, and adapted them for his own purposes?
What is most peculiar is that the English knew about Black Swans at all. We were taught in school in Perth WA that William Dampier was the first Englishman to see one in 1688-89. The Dutch would have seen one in 1616 but this is still well after Whyddon. "The black swan was first described by English naturalist John Latham in 1790. The Black Swan was a literary or artistic image, even before the discovery of Cygnus atratus. "
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I also found the following
'Strict rules apply, both as to what arms may be displayed by way of quarterings, and the order in which they may be displayed. Men and women are always entitled to display the arms of their paternal line but are not usually entitled to display by way of quartering the arms of families from whom there is descent only through a female line (for example, the arms of a mother or grandmother or great-grandmother). An exception is made, however, if the female who breaks the male line of descent is a heraldic heiress. A heraldic heiress is a woman who has no brothers, or whose brothers have died without issue. Such a woman is entitled to transmit her father's arms to her own children, who add them as a quartering. If her father was himself entitled to one or more quarterings, these will pass to his daughters' children as quarterings as well. Quarterings are displayed in the order in which they are acquired by a family by marriage, starting with those acquired by the earliest marriage to bring in quarterings. It is permissible to omit quarterings, but if a quartering was brought in by a later quartering, it is essential to show the whole chain of quarterings leading to the quartering displayed, or else to omit the chain altogether."
While there are undoubtedly early Coode daughters we dont know about (see my earlier post on Newcombe) I think any such heraldic Coode heiress would appear on Visitations. As there isnt one, I think imitation/decoration is the most likely origin.
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The marshalling of arms normally means that an heiress married into the family. The marriages of the Whiddon family are well documentated and do not include a Coode.
I am well familiar with the Whiddon coat of arms. There is no confusion about the Whiddon arms. I have recently published a book on the Whiddon family and used the coat of arms as cover art. It is available on Amazon & B&N.
The arms quartered with that of Whiddon are as you describe except it includes three cronish choughs(crows) not swans. I have color photos taken that clearly show the arms on the tomb.
Also, the Coode arms are marshalled on a shield of the Knapman family.
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Thanks Lou. There has always been some argument on the Coode arms. Many of the later depictions do indeed show a chough, but the earlier ones show a moorcock. See http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50617 Arms of Coode: — Arg. a chevron Gul. between three moor-cocks Sable, membered and wattled Gules. or "Argent, a chevron gules between three cocks sable, armed, crested, and jelloped gules, quartering Gules, three crescents Or" - Coode of Morval It is believed that this is a rebus - have lost the reference. See Luxmoore, of South Week descended from a Coryton heiress who had already quartered the Coodes From: 'General history: Gentry', Magna Britannia: volume 6: Devonshire (1822), pp. CXXXII-CLX. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50553
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At the risk of getting out of my depth, I do know of a peripheral link between the Whiddon and Coode families.
James Knapman ('James the elder of Drewsteignton', 1549-1593/4) married Emma Cove, and they had one son, William. (Incidentally, James' brother married Emma's sister, and co-heiress). He married Eliza Coode (or Coade) of Morval, daughter of Walter. William Knapman's eldest son ('James the younger of Drewsteignton', c.1587-1647) married Jone Whiddon. She is described in the Herald's Visitation as the daughter of Sir John, but I am pretty certain she was his granddaughter, and can provide evidence / reasoning if required.
You probably know that the Knapman arms are described (e.g. in Tuckett’s ‘Devonshire Pedigrees’) as “… Or on a cross gules between four Cornish choughs proper. Five blocks of tin marked with the letter W. (granted by William Harvey Clarenceux)”. The lower points of the W symbol are encircled by an oval (the effect being that of a W standing on a disk, viewed from an oblique angle). Another description, given in an article in ‘Devon Notes and Queries’ describes the W as “… not a Roman capital, the effect being more of a double U in ‘block’ type” and describes the lower points as being “… encircled by an annulet”. The ‘Devon Notes and Queries’ description also uses the term ‘sa’ instead of ‘gules’. I have only seen black and white illustrations of the arms.
I can also provide trees and my evidence base on the full Knapman family of Throwleigh and Drewsteignton, if you are at all interested.
Hope this is of some interest.
David Knapman
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David,
I appreciate your information, it is helpful. I am definitely interested in any additional info that you can supply. Thanks.
Lou Whiddon
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Lou:
Send me an Email to david(dot)j(dot)knapman(at)btinternet(dot)com and I'll reply with an attachment. It may take me a few days to get round to doing so because I'm just back from 2 weeks' holiday, but I'll definitely send as much info as I think may be relevant.
David
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