Hugh Stucley


Sir Hugh Stucley was the lord of Affeton in Devon, and Sheriff of Devon in 1545. His third son was Thomas Stukley, known as "The Lusty Stucley".

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Stucley of Affeton, Sheriff of Devon in 1521, by his wife Anne Wode, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Wode, of Childrey in Berkshire, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1500 and in 1478 elected a Member of Parliament for Wallingford.

Marriage and children

Stucley married Jane Pollard, second daughter of Sir Lewis Pollard, lord of the Manor of King's Nympton in Devon, Justice of the Common Pleas from 1514 to 1526, and Member of Parliament for Totnes, Devon, in 1491. Jane's brother was the influential Sir Richard Pollard, MP, of Putney, Surrey, who was an assistant of Thomas Cromwell in administering the surrender of religious houses following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and who in 1537 was granted by King Henry VIII the manor of Combe Martin in Devon, and in 1540 Forde Abbey. An heraldic stained-glass roundel survives in the south window of the Pollard Chapel in the south aisle of King's Nympton Church showing the arms of Stucley impaling Pollard, with quarterings of each family.
By his wife he had five sons and five daughters.

Sons

Daughters

  • Anne Stucley, who married William Bellew of Ash in the parish of Braunton, Devon and of Alverdiscott in Devon, descended from the Bellews of Bellewstown, County Meath in Ireland. William's great-grandfather John Bellew had married Anne Fleming, one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of John Fleming of Bratton Fleming and Ash. The Fleming family was one of the most ancient in North Devon. Anne Stucley's eldest son was Richard Bellew of Ash, whose marriage to Margaret St Leger was commemorated by the erection in the private chapel at Ash of an elaborate heraldic mural monument, now in St Brannoc's Church, Braunton, which includes a shield showing the arms of Stucley with eight quarterings.
  • Mary Stucley, who married twice. Firstly to Tristram Larder lord of the manor of Upton Pyne, whose mother was Isabella Bonville, daughter of John Bonville of Combe Raleigh in Devon, the "spurious son" of the magnate William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville the step-brother of Hugh Stucley. Her second marriage was to John Prideaux, of Nutwell, in the parish of Woodbury, Devon, which estate he purchased. He was MP for Devon in 1554 and a Serjeant-at-law. A monument thought to date from the late 16th century survives in Woodbury Church showing on a tomb chest two recumbent figures said to be of a Prideaux and his wife.
  • Awdrie Stucley, who married twice. Firstly in 1546 to William Yeo, son of Hugh Yeo 1485 - 1548 of Fayrelynche, Braunton, Devon, and Alice his wife His great-grandfather was William Yeo of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe in Devon, a substantial landowner and the eventual heir of whose line was the Rolle family. Her second marriage was in 1563 to Roger Giffard of Tiverton Castle, in Devon. The elaborate mural monument of Roger Giffard survives in the chancel of St Peter's Church, Tiverton, displaying the arms of Stucley, inscribed in Latin.
  • Agnes Stucley, who married John Giles of Bowden, in the parish of Ashprington, Devon, who purchased the adjoining estate of Sharpham from Edward Drewe.
  • Katherine Stucley, who married John Carew of Bickleigh in Devon, without children.