THE EARLIEST DUKES OF THE OTTERTON BRANCH

The first reference to a Duke at Poer-Hayes (later home of a major branch of the family), in 1356, is not a pleasant one:

The like [commission of oyer and terminer] to Hugh de Courteneye, earl of Devon, William de Shareshull, John de Stouford, Richard de Birton, John Hundismor and Robert Weye, on complaint by Robert son of John de Hokeworthy, Ralph de Shillynford, John Aleyn of Woneford, Thomas de Shillynford and William Thursteynt, that Thomas Duc, 'taillour,' and others ravished Cecily wife of the said Robert at Poerseys, co. Devon, and abducted her with his goods and chattels.

The identification of Thomas Duke as 'taillour' appears to be a mark of membership in the guilds, rather than a simple description of his vocation. This links him to the London Duke family. "Ravished" is here used in an older sense, that of taking someone away against their will, often by violence. It is a reflection on the times that the charge refers to abducting her with "his" goods and chattels, rather than "their" belongings.

On August 14, 1377, Robert Hull, Escheator in Devon, was ordered to deliver to Margaret, widow of Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon, money from various land assessments as her dower right. Among these assessments was one against Thomas Duke, who was to pay one-eighth of one knight's fee in "Yetemeton and Powers Heghes." These estates were part of the massive "honor" (group of feudal properties) of Okehampton, the initial basis of the Courtenay family wealth and influence. Powers Heghes is obviously Poer-Hayes. Yetemeton is a variant of Yettington, Yetematon, or Yethemeton, in the hamlet of Bicton, Devon. It is adjacent to Poer-Hayes.

This Thomas Duke, although his connection to the Otterton family is unknown, must have had a reasonably close relationship. The coincidence of the name appearing in such a small area (Poer-Hayes held four households with sufficient resources to be taxed at the time of the 1332 lay subsidy) is not likely.

Another early member of the Duke family in Devon may be related to the Otterton branch. In 1390, Peter Duk, chaplain, was presented to the church of Jacobistowe [immediately north of Okehampton] in the diocese of Exeter. This was relatively far-removed from Poer-Hayes, and this person may be unrelated. In October 1396 this Peter Duke was designated a papal chaplain "with the usual privileges," by Pope Boniface IX. In the same year, he was Vicar of Saint Mary in Exeter Diocese and was granted (presumably for a fee) an indult (indulgence) for seven years "to take the fruits of his benefices while studying letters at an university, or residing in the Roman court or on any one of his benefices." Concurrent mandates were sent to the abbots of Glastonbury in the diocese of Bath, and Tavistock, and the chancellor of Exeter.

POER-HAYES AND OTTERTON

The Duke family at Otterton was long associated with their home at Poer Hayes, later known as Barton Hayes. Otterton existed at the time of the Norman Conquest, and is listed in the Domesday Book, Annotated , as follows:

Otterton Otritone/tona Mont St. Michel Church, formerly Countess Gytha. market on Sundays. 3 mills. 60 pigs, 18 cattle, 300 sheep, 22 goats. Nearby is Ladram Bay with rock staves and large caves.

Ottery St. Mary Otrei/Otri, St. Mary's Church, Rouen, before and after 1066. 3 mills, garden. 24 cattle, 130 sheep, 18 wild mares. Town given to Rouen Cathedral by Edward the Confessor and bought back by Bishop Grandisson of Exeter, who rebuilt the church in the 14th century. Restored by William Butterfield in the 19th century, it is now one of the country's finest churches.

Poer Hayes is not a manor house, but a substantial farmhouse of the traditional Devonshire cob and thatch construction, built in the early 1500's. It is regarded as an especially lovely example of this local architecture, is identified on contemporary maps of Devon as a location worth visiting, and has been featured in books on the vernacular architecture of England.

DUKE AT POER-HAYES

Who was John Duke, said to have founded the Duke family of Otterton and Poer-Hayes? What do we actually know about him, and does this allow us to determine his descent from earlier branches of the Duke family?

John Duke married a Shelston, a member of a family with no identifiable Dorset, or even southwest England, connections. He was certainly from a branch of the Duke family established elsewhere than Dorset. He was an "esquire," and a member of the gentry. He and his descendants rapidly assumed roles in Devonshire public life appropriate to this social position. They also continued close ties with London, a practice common to the gentry of this and other periods in England.

He and his descendants carried arms that are unique to the Otterton branch of the Duke family and its derivatives, but are clearly derived from the earliest arms of the "le Duc" family. In addition, an early reference, probably derived from the time of Edward II or Edward III (basically the 1300's), indicates that identical arms, only slightly different from those of the Otterton family, were carried by branches of the Duke family in both Bedfordshire and Devon.

FEUDAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE DUKE FAMILY

The relationships of the Duke family members to major landholders may help to sort out its many members during the Middle Ages. The groups of individuals and families associated with powerful feudal lords are known as "affinities." The Duke family may have been associated with the Beauchamp (in Latin, as it is often given in the English records, Bello Campo) affinity, led by the sheriffs of Gloucestershire and Earls of Warwick, and the Warenne (Garenne) affinity, led by the Earl of Surrey. Later, the Montacutes became significant.

Up until about 1350 these relationships were of primary importance. Under true feudalism, families of knights and esquires were usually associated with only one feudal overlord, and held their land exclusively from that individual. There was a real expectation of military service to the lord, although scutage fees were often paid to avoid military service. After 1350, the Middle Ages were waning, and land might be held from any number of individuals without any real expectation of military service. Scutage fees were the norm, rather than the exception. The early associations of the Duke family, when these were most meaningful, can be summarised as follows:

AFFINITY/ INDIVIDUAL
OR INSTITUTION		NATURE OF RELATIONSHIPYEARDUKE FAMILY MEMBER
Beauchamp/ William de Beauchampland, Salewarp, Worcester1280Walter Duke
Beauchamp/ William de Beauchampland, Brailes, Warwickshire1280Jordan Duke
Beauchamp/ Thomas de BeauchampCrécy and Calais campaigns1346John Duke of Oxfordshire
Beauchamp/ Roger de Cliffordland, Hope Mansell, Gloucestershire1285Henry Duke
Beauchamp/ Roger de Cliffordwar, conquest of Wales, St. Briavals, Gloucestershire1285Henry Duke
Beauchamp/ Roger de Cliffordland, Tibberton, Worcestershire1280William Duke
Beauchamp/ Roger de Cliffordland, Severnstoke, Worcestershire1280William Duke
Beauchamp/ William de Beauchampland, Old Weston, Hunts. (Rutland1280Godfrey Duke, Sr.
Beauchamp/ William de Beauchampland, Old Weston, Hunts. (Rutland)1280Godfrey Duke
Beauchamp/ William de Beauchampland, Old Weston, Hunts. (Rutland)1280Alan Duke
Beauchamp/ Thomas de Beauchampintercession in case of stolen sheep, Spellesbury, Oxfordshire1380Henry Duke
Beauchamp/ Priory of Wygornland, Spellesbury, Oxfordshire1280Robert le Duc
Beauchamp/ Priory of Wygornland, Trympleneye, Worcestershire1280John Duke
Beauchamp/ Priory of Wygornland, Trympleneye, Worcestershire1280Alecia Duke
Beauchamp/ Stodleye Prioryland, Oxford, Oxfordshire1280wife and son of Hugh Duke
?/ William de Buckinghamland, Barton, Warwickshire1214Henry Duke
?/ Hospitallers, Melchbourne Prioryland, Suldrope, Bedfordshire1280Thomas Duke
?/ Hospitallers, Melchbourne Prioryland, Suldrope, Bedfordshire1302Warren Duke
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, Dorking, Surrey1321William Duke
Warenne/ John de Warennebarons' revolt, overthrow of Hugh le Despenser, elder and younger1321William Duke
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, Castleacre, Norfolk (?)1320William Duke
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, Castleacre, Norfolk1337William Duke, son of Agatha
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, Cerne Abbas, Dorset1332Walter Duke
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, Canford, Dorset1332William Duke
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, Tilshead, Wilts1332Sybil Duke
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, All Cannings, Wilts1332Geoffrey Duke
Warenne/ John de Warenneland, Winterbourne Dauntsey, Wilts1332Henry Duke
Warenne, John de Warenneland, Whepley, Wilts1332William Duke
Montacute, William de Montacuteland, Alderbury, Wilts, and office of bailiff to the Earl of Salisbury1381William Duke
Courtenay, ? de Courtenayland, Poer-Hayes, Devon1353, 1377Thomas Duke

After 1337, William de Montagu (Montacute) became Earl of Salisbury, and took over many of the lands in Wiltshire and Dorset occupied by members of the Duke family originally under the Beauchamps and Warennes. This is reflected in the identification of William Duke of Alderbury, in 1381, as bailiff to the Earl of Salisbury, and in many landholding associations. It may be significant that John de Warenne held Sherborne Castle and Purbeck Chase in Dorset, as well as Canford from 1317-1337; these were later held by the Montagu's.

FAMILY ARMS AND FAMILY HISTORY

The arms of the Duke family may cast light upon this early period in the family history. The arms for the Otterton and Poer-Hayes, Devonshire, family are described as "Per fesse ar. and az. three chaplets counterchanged, crest demi-griffin or, holding a chaplet." [The shield is horizontally divided into blue and silver fields with three leafy wreaths in counterchanged blue and silver, with a gold griffin's head and wings holding a wreath above.] Supposed meanings are often assigned to the colors and symbols of heraldry, but these interpretations are usually later inventions. Arms do, however, provide evidence of historical associations. Related families developed similar arms and families tied by feudal connections to highly placed nobles sometimes indicated this connection in their arms. Arms also may contain symbols of particular meaning to the individuals who used them. Some are even simple puns on family names. The older the arms, the less likely that an elaborate symbolic scheme underlies them. Finally, and most important, arms identify related families.

The Shield

In the case of the Duke arms, there is a historical progression apparent in Burke's General Armory and other sources. The earliest form is listed for "Due" (obviously a transcription error for Duc), and is blazoned "az. a chef indented ar." This formed the basic coat from which other later Duke arms were derived. It describes a coat of arms that is blue with the upper third in silver, with an indented boundary separating the two colors. No location is given for the bearer of these arms, suggesting an early roll of arms without such information as the original source of the entry.

A later form introduces the chaplets, and is blazoned "az. three chaplets and a chief indented ar." The three chaplets, or floral wreaths, were added to the previous version. Again, there is no locational information provided.

The next chronological development is listed in Burke's General Armory as "Duke (cos. Bedford and Devon). "It is blazoned "per fesse indented ar. and az. three chaplets counterchanged." Here the upper, silver or white, portion of the shield has grown from about one-third to about one-half of the shield. The three wreaths are distributed on both the upper part (two wreaths) and the lower part (one wreath), in colors counterchanged from the background color. This is the last variant before that specifically associated with Otterton, Devon, in the General Armory. Unlike the later forms, it retains the indented boundary between the upper and lower portions of the shield.

This Bedfordshire and Devon variant seems to be earlier than the Otterton version. The indented line of the earliest versions is retained in the Bedforshire and Devon variant. Alternatively, the indented line could represent an effort to differentiate a later coat from an existing Otterton variant. However, no discussion of the Duke family of Otterton refers to a later Bedfordshire offshoot, and such an offshoot should be late enough to be documented and known. Also, the use of only county locations in the identification of the "Bedfordshire and Devon" variant suggests an early source for the entry, in the rolls of arms of the time of Edward II and Edward III, when typically only county locations were provided for the bearers of the arms.

It is interesting that there is a shield very similar to these early Duc arms, that of FitzWilliam of Greystoke. Early members of the Duke family several times encountered this clan. Roger le Duc was co-sheriff of London with a William FitzWilliam and a few decades later the FitzWilliams of Greystoke were neighbors of the Duc family along the Bedforshire-Northamptonshire border. It is possible that the wreaths or chaplets of the Duc and Greystoke arms were added at approximately the same time, during the 13th century.

A later roll of arms of this sort (unfortunately published without the coats themselves) establishes that at least one Duke definitely participated in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and there may have been two others. Guy Duke is listed as having been with Sir William Bourchier, in fee to the king. Bourchier was later Earl of Ewe because of his role in France; his heirs became earls of Essex. Guy was from the Essex County branch of the Duke family.

A John "Doke" served with William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk. "Doke" does not appear to be legitimate as written, and might be a corruption of Duke. John "Doke" could be a member of the Suffolk branch of the Duke family, but the extensive holdings of medieval nobility were not limited to the counties associated with their titles. This could have been one of the Conock, Wiltshire, Duke family, whose property was held in tenancy from the earls of Suffolk.

Richard "Doo" served with Edmund de la Pole, Knight. "Do" could also be a corruption of Duke, although it does appear as a legitimate surname in its own right in various records, including those for the Norfolk area. There also was a substantial de la Pole family in Devon. The Pole family had resided at Pole, in the parish of Tiverton, since the Norman Conquest, and at Pole, in Cheshire, "from ancient time." Numerous members of the de la Pole family appear in the accounts of the 1238 pleas of the Devon Eyre. The Pole family of Suffolk also held lands in Wiltshire, including at least one property occupied by the Duke family.

The herald who conducted the 1620 visitation of Devon carried the genealogy of the Duke family back to William Duke of Exeter, and thus to 1417, when Henry V first ordered county sheriffs to enforce restriction of arms to those who had used them "since time immemorial," (in English heraldic terms, since at least 1189) or to those with a later specific grant of arms. This brings us close to the time of probable divergence of the Duke family of Devonshire from a Bedfordshire line, in the 14th century. The Duke family does not appear to have been established for any great length of time in Bedfordshire. Thomas Duke, listed in the 1281 hundred rolls, and Warren Duke, his successor who was providing knights service in return for the land in 1302, are the only individuals identified there. Thomas could have been a son of Robert Duke, heir of Roger le Duc in Oxfordshire, or he could have been a son of John le Duc who died in 1283 in London, known to have had a son named Thomas. Either would tie him to the primary Duke family lines.

The Crest

Of crests similar to that of the Duke family, it has been observed that:

Only simple monsters occur in early crests, such as the griffen's head and wings within a crown of Sir John Montagu (1389), ...

The Duke family was associated with the de Montagu's, the best known family having a similar crest. The Barons de Montagu had their principal residence in the 13th and early 14th century in Dorset. In 1337 William de Montagu was made Earl of Salisbury for service to Edward III and to the House of Lancaster. He captured and imprisoned Mortimer, who had joined with Queen Isabella to imprison and then murder Edward II, keeping Edward III from his rightful accession to the throne. Not surprisingly, once Edward III gained his throne (and he had a very long reign), William de Montagu and his heirs were favorites of the crown.

The Earl of Salisbury was tenant-in-chief of the county of Devon during the 13th century, of Sherborne Castle and adjacent properties in Dorset and Somersetshire in the 14th century (when John Duke lived near Sherborne), and of many of the portions of Wiltshire in which the Duke family was found in 1302 and in the 1330's, including especially the Hundred of Mere near Gillinghampfamily.

Summary

By the 16th century there were only two basic armigerous branches of the Duke family: Suffolk and Otterton, with their derivative branches. While their arms are different, they share common colors (blue and silver or white) and are recognizably the product of the same root, the earlier arms of the "le Duc" family.

Although there is abundant evidence that the Duke family was established in Gloucestershire and adjacent portions of Somerset and Wiltshire by about 1300, these lines do not appear to have been armigerous. It is also interesting that the arms of the Duke family of Tore [Dorset] are of the same colors as those of Suffolk and Devonshire, but are very different, showing a "coney" (beast) in silver on a blue ground. This suggests a very early divergence from the Duc and Duke lines with which we are principally concerned here. The arms of the Otterton family suggests an origin in the Bedfordshire line of the Duke family, and a derivation directly from that source.

OTHER EVIDENCE FOR OTTERTON ORIGINS

In 1377, the name of Thomas Duke immediately follows that of John Poer in the Book of Fees as a feofee of the de Courtenay dowager. Poer's heirs were assessed the fifth part of one knight's fee in Blakeburgh, apparently having retained this as their principal seat, while the Duke family occupied Poer Hayes, and the Bicton property, which was previously held by the Poers.

It is reasonable to conclude that John Duke of Sherborne, Dorset, who normally appears as the first in the Devonshire Duke family line, in about 1400, was the heir (although perhaps not the son) of this Thomas Duke, who held feudal property rights at Poer Hayes in 1377.

John Duke is said to have been in Sherborne, Dorset, in about 1400. He married a member of the Shelston family, whether there or elsewhere is uncertain. The information appears in a genealogy in which John Duke is the first member of the family mentioned. The genealogy is presented in a Dorset history to document the background of George Duke who much later, in 1527, obtained Dorset properties through the chancery grant dissolution process, which will be discussed in more detail later. The genealogy conflicts in several respects with available records, and the association of John Duke with Sherborne must be taken with caution.

THE DUKE FAMILY IN SOUTHWESTERN ENGLAND: AFTER A.D.1400

There are early, but very questionable, references to the Duke family in southwestern England at a very early period. There is a 1230 reference to Osbert le Duc in Devon, mentioned earlier. In addition, Osbertus Duket (possibly Duke, but also a separate name) held a virgate of land and a croft at Mucheldevr' from the Abbot of Hyde for service at some time between 1208 and 1213 (and possibly much longer). An Osbertus Duket is also listed in Cambridgeshire (between the Bedfordshire and Norfolk branches of the Duke family) slightly later, in 1230-31.

THE HEIRS OF JOHN DUKE

The Duke family prospered in Devon, but not as knights and soldiers. The very early fragments of history available for the family in southwest England point toward a focus on appointed and elected positions in the city and county and the law. There are also records of involvement in the wine trade, but to an extent suggestive of purchase for an extended medieval household rather than commercial trade. They were gentry who lived on country estates, but they also had close ties to the city of Exeter. This sort of life did not tend to catapult people to great wealth fame through association with belligerent kings and lords, but produced opportunities for gaining moderate wealth and respected position, with a great deal of stability from generation to generation. This focus did not exempt one from military service, but did tend to limit the frequency and duration of involvement in England's conflicts abroad.

Those who were of appropriate family background to have the option of pursuing knighthood but chose not to do so were technically "esquires," like those in training for knighthood but not yet dubbed knight, although they retained obligations as men-at-arms for feudal lords and the crown. By the 14th century knighthood had become very undesirable for most qualified individuals. It required great expense in armor for one's self and one's mount, and also for one's own subordinate men-at-arms, and often led to a significantly shortened life expectancy. Elderly knights were a rare breed. If they survived conflicts with enemies abroad, they were often killed or deprived of their estates in internal wars and conflicts. In the 14th century and later, members of the Duke family conspicuously chose to avoid placing their hopes of advancement in their roles as men-at-arms, pursuing instead administration, law, and the aspects of bureaucracy appropriate to the gentry. This was common at this time:

Naturally, from their beginnings, the two universities [Oxford and Cambridge] had always admitted a good number of young men of aristocratic or gentle birth who were destined for careers in the church. In the fifteenth century, however, we begin to hear of young gentlemen who were not so destined attending the university. In many cases, perhaps most, it seems clear that ... they were not going to stay the full course ...

a spell in them was seen as preparatory to more serious study in what really were becoming, for them, the most significant focuses of tertiary learning, the Inns of Court in London ... The principal objects of those who came to study ... were of course pragmatic. A landowner ... needed ... 'to know how to defend himself in competitive county society' ... To anyone who hoped for office, as a sheriff or coroner or escheator, or to sit on a county commission as a justice of the peace, a solid grounding in the law was invaluable.

It is precisely these sorts of offices, and this sort of education, that members of the Duke family began to pursue during the 1400's in Devonshire.

THE DUKE FAMILY: SECULAR AND SACRED OFFICE John Duke appears in English records in 1428 when he was appointed by the king as a tax commissioner for the Boddleigh and Wonford hundreds, in Devonshire.

There are references to members of the Duke family in southern Devon during this period, but they might well belong to the non-Otterton Duke line in the county. In 1421, Peter Duke was appointed Vicar of Harberton, Devon, by Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter. He was previously mentioned in connection with his appointment as a papal chaplain and other events in his career.

WILLIAM DUKE, MAYOR OF EXETER

During the period 1442-61, John Duke's son, William, was Mayor of Exeter, although he did not hold this office continuously throughout this time. He appears in the letters of John Shillingford, Mayor of Exeter in 1447-50. In April of 1448 Shillingford sent a letter from London to Exeter by William Duke, who was returning to Exeter at that time. He is later mentioned in connection with the Exeter receiver's accounts, and might have served in that office during Shillingford's tenure as mayor. William made improvements to the city that were visible centuries later, including rebuilding a stone aquaduct in the city center.

London dwarfed all other urban centers in England, but during the late middle ages Exeter rose from a town of about 2000 persons to become one of the half-dozen largest cities in England, other than London. At a time of stagnant population, Exeter was showing the sort of growth indicative of a thriving economy. The position of Mayor was a powerful one at this time, when elaborate tiers of bureaucracy had not developed to stand between local governments and the Crown.

William Duke of Exeter married Cecily Poer.

POER FAMILY Poers Hayes derived its name from the Poer family, with whom the Duke family intermarried several times during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was a family long established in Devon and even more so in the adjacent counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Dorset. Of the various Poer family arms, only those of Wiltshire and Dorset, and of a Cornwall branch derived from Devon, resemble those of the Devon family. The circumstantial evidence for a tie between the Devon line and the Wiltshire and Dorset Poer families is very strong.

The Poer family made a place for themselves among the Anglo-Norman aristocracy and gentry of England quite early. Roger le Poor or le Poer was Chancellor of England under King Stephen, and died in 1139. He appears to be the first of the le Poers to have achieved national importance in England.

Roger, Robert, William, and Simon le Poer took part in the conquest of Ireland, accompanying Strongbow, and it is believed that they were all brothers. Roger, who died in 1186, was the most conspicuous of these. Some of the le Poer family subsequently remained in Ireland, ultimately receiving the title Earl of Tyrone. Burke's General Armory notes that in 1535 Roger le Poer's descendant, Richard le Poer (or Power) of Curraghmore, County Waterford, was made Lord le Poer.

However, some descendants of the le Poer brothers returned to England. For example, in the reign of Henry II, William le Poer held lands in Oxfordshire, Herefordshire, and Gloucestershire, and Robert le Poer held property in Oxfordshire.

Herbert le Poor was the last bishop at Sarum, in Wiltshire, and Richard le Poor was the first bishop at the new cathedral at Salisbury, serving from 1217 to 1229. He later served as Bishop of Durham, and died in 1237. Richard and Herbert were sons of Richard of Ilchester, bishop of Winchester, and Chancellor of England. They were necessarily illegitimate, since bishops couldn't marry. Medieval England was notoriously lax, however, about the chastity of the priesthood.

The Dictionary of National Biography observes of Herbert le Poor, Bishop of Sarum in the early 13th century, that:

Dr. Stubbs suggests that he was connected with Roger Poor [see Roger] and therefore also with Roger of Salisbury and Richard FitzNeale. Canon Rich Jones conjectured that Poore was in this case the equivalent not of 'pauper,' but of 'puer' or the Norman 'poer,' a knight or cadet of good family (cf. Anglo-Saxon 'cild'). He has also pointed out that near Tarrant in Dorset, where Herbert's brother Richard was born, there are places called Poorstock and Poorton.

The names of "Poorstock" and "Poorton" in Dorset are more commonly given as "Powerstock" and "Powerton," both modernized forms of "Poer." Canon Jones' interpretation seems very likely to be correct. "Poore" is the equivalent in this case of "Poer."

Richard le Poer's history was quite distinguished overall, but the best known accomplishment of his career was certainly the movement of the see from Sarum to Salisbury and the erection of Salisbury Cathedral. He organized the effort, and found the funds, for the construction of this jewel among the Gothic cathedrals of England, sometimes criticized as "too perfect" and a bit austere, but always regarded as one of the most historically and architecturally important buildings in England, a nearly pure example of Early English Gothic.

He also left less tangible monuments. Richard le Poer is credited with the final form of 'the use of Sarum,' the liturgy that became dominant throughout much of England and is one of the primary forerunners of the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Communion. The "Sarum Rite," spread throughout much of southern England and is regarded as among the most elaborate forms of Christian religious service. "The elaborate splendour of Sarum ceremonial, as carried out in the cathedral church in the centuries immediately preceeding the Reformation, contrasted vividly with the comparative simplicity of the practice of the Roman Church."

Richard founded a Cistercian house for nuns and their servants at his birthplace, Crawford Tarrant in Dorset. He also has been credited, probably eroneously, with the Ancren Riwle, a treatise on the monastic life that has been described as "one of the most perfect models of simple natural eloquent prose in our language ..."

And, finally, as if this were not a sufficiently full life, Richard resided for some time, including minimally the year 1223, at Sherborne Castle in Dorset, "but it would have been as Sheriff of Dorset, and not as Bishop of Salisbury, that he held it." Gilbert de Staplebridge acted for Richard as undersheriff. Clearly the medieval conception of appropriate episcopal roles differed from later standards.

It may be more than coincidence that Walter le Poer was Sheriff of Devon in 1222, probably overlapping Richard's tenure as Sheriff of adjacent Dorset. The sheriffs were royal appointments, at this time frequently given to related members of families trusted by the crown. Walter le Poer was also a collector of the lay subsidy in Worcestershire in 1226, a justice itinerant in Worcestershire in the same year, and in 1227 justice itinerant for Oxford, Hereford, Stafford, and Salop (Shropshire). William le Poer ("le Pohier") was Sheriff of Devon in 1222-1224, and was described as possibly an "outsider," not native to Devon. The appointment of the Poers in and after 1222 marks the first appearance of the family in Devonshire. There are references to the Poer family in the pleas of the Devon Eyre, dealing with civil litigation, of 1238. Hugh le Poer was listed as one who pledged for the fine of Walter Losoner and Ralph de Hapse in the case of the abduction of Robert de Sicca Villa de Strachville in Witheridge Hundred. Stephen le Poer was held in default for failing to appear for the first day as a juror in Braunton Hundred. He held land valued at one knight's fee in Churchill, East Down, Barony of Dartington.

In 1238, Roger le Poer was an Elector for Sancte Marie Otery Hundred, held by the Dean and Chapter of Rouen Cathedral. In 1242-43, he was a juror in the Buddleigh Hundred and a tenant at Yethemeton, at Blakebergh, and at Rapelinghegh, a feofee of John de Courtenay, Earl of Devon. The Blakebergh property was in the honor of Plymton, held of the sheriff of Devon; there is doubtless some connection with William le Poer's service in this position in 1222-1224. At some date between 1242 and 1254, a Phillip le Poer was a witness to a gift to the priory of the church of Ashbury, Devon.

It seems likely that William le Poer, sheriff of Devon in 1222-1224, was father of Roger, and perhaps also of Stephen and Hugh le Poer, since there is no evidence of a pre-existing Devonshire le Poer line to provide alternatives. Thus the genealogy of Cecily Poer, who married John Duke's son William, was from William le Poer or le Pohier, Sheriff of Devon in 1222-1224; to Roger, elector for Ottery Saint Mary in 1238 and juror in 1242; through several generations to John Poer, feofee of the Dowager of the Earl of Devon in 1377; to his son, Roger, father of Cecily.

WILLIAM AND LONDON

William Duke of Exeter may have married more than once, and may have maintained residences in both Exeter and London. (Alternatively there were two prominent men identified as William Dukes of Exeter at this time.) In 1448 he and his wife at that time, Juliana, were granted a papal indult to have a portable altar: To William Duke, nobeleman, lord of divers places [not named], and Juliana his wife, noblewoman, of the diocese of Exeter.

This was confirmed in 1449-50, providing a bit more locational information:

Item simile altare portatile pro nobiili viro Willelmo Duke, nonnullorum locorum domino Londoniensis diocesis, salutem, etc., sub simili data ut supra, etc. (Pe . . . Martii, as in the preceding.)

These references establish that William Duke and his wife Juliana of Exeter maintained residences in both the Diocese of London and that of Exeter.

In 1450, the master and attorneys of a ship out of Barcelona acknowledged to the master and seamen of the 'Makerell, a barge belonging to Henry [Beaufort], duke of Exeter, receiving various goods including 3 yards of red and 5 yards of woollen cloth from William Duke.

In 1453, William Duke was made a Justice of the Peace for Devon, and was scheduled to appear in Westminster on July 10, 1457.79 In the same year, a William Duke -- unquestionably a different individual -- was listed as having received stolen goods in Cornwall.

WILLIAM DUKE'S HEIRS

On September 20, 1449, Richard Duke was tonsured in a ceremony presided over by Edmund Lacy, entering final vows as a monk; this individual is likely to have been associated with the John Duke of Otterton. His name, "Richard," is very common in the Otterton line, and apparently unknown in the other early Duke families of southwestern England. This could easily be a younger brother of William Duke, mayor of Exeter.

On July 18, 1461, William's son, Richard Duke, was appointed porter of the king's castle of Exeter, county Devon. This was the year of the accession of Edward IV, of the House of York, who replaced Henry VI, last of the usurping House of Lancaster. Richard Duke's appointment might therefore have been a local element in the massive changing of royal appointees associated with this change at the highest level of government.

In 1453, a William Duke appears listed as having imported "18 dol' vini" into the port of Hull, in Yorkshire, on the Trynyte of Dartmouth [Devon].

In 1477, William Duke was Collector of Customs and Subsidies for Exeter and Dartmouth and adjacent ports. The royal customs system dates from the reign of Edward I. In 1275 a tax on the export of wool was introduced, payable in every port; wool was the principal economic activity of Devon, indeed of all England, at this time. The collectors of custom, two in each major port, inspected the merchandise, calculated the customs due, received and handled the money, kept detailed accounts, and made annual accountings of all this to the national Exchequer. Collectors were paid £20 a year plus their expenses, and any gifts, annuities, or assignments made by the Crown in anticipation of the revenue. The persons appointed to this office were normally closely associated with the local civic and merchant leaders. This and other positions held by the 15th century Duke family, including John Duke's appointment as tax commissioner, tend to support the notion that the Duke family is related to the earlier individuals found importing wine through the Port of Exeter.

John and Richard Duke of Exeter entered Oxford in 1501. These individuals appear to have been sons of Roger Duke, a son of William Duke and Cecily Poer Duke. Richard Duke was a Cardinal Morton Scholar in 1501 at Oxford, and was admitted as a fellow of Exeter College in that year. He received his M.A. by 1505, his B.Th. June 19, 1515, his D. Th. November 5, 1516. He entered the Church, and was Junior Proctor of Oxford University 1509-10, and subsequently served in many distinguished positions, including Ord. subden. in Magdalen College Chapel, Rector of Holy Trinity, Exeter; Canon of York and Prebendary of Dunnington; Rector of Whimple, Devon; Archdeacon of Salisbury Cathedral (1526-death); Dean of Cardinal Wolsey's chapel (1528); Canon and Prebendary of Exeter College (1528-death); Canon of Salisbury and Prebendary of Rothefen College (1530-death); Canon of Wells and Prebendary of Buckland Denham (1533); chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey (1518); one of Wolsey's commissioners for the recantation of heretics (1526); and member of the committee on heretical books (1530).

In 1525 William Duke (listed as "Doctar Duke") served as Dean of the Chapel in the retinue of Cardinal (and Chancellor of England) Wolsey during his trip to Calais, France, on behalf of the crown. The company must have been more than ordinarily interesting. Wolsey himself was never accused of being boring, and in the retinue we also find Sir Thomas More, knight and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. This is the Thomas More who became Chancellor of England, and was executed for his refusal to agree to Henry VIII's divorce and separation from the Roman church. He was later canonized. A rigid man, he was also known for his great intelligence and integrity.

Richard Duke died before August 1539. This litany of positions reflects the medieval practice of holding offices in title only, and paying a clerk some fraction of the actual compensation to actually perform the associated duties. It would certainly not have been possible for a single individual to discharge the duties of these offices; many would have been full-time positions in themselves. Cardinal Wolsey was especially notorious for this practice, and Richard Duke appears to have been a protegé of the Cardinal. Nevertheless, this was an interesting assortment of positions in an interesting time, especially with respect to Richard Duke's functions involving Cardinal Wolsey. In 1527 and 1528 Wolsey was occupied with attempting to obtain the Pope's permission for Henry VIII to annull his existing marriage and marry Anne Boleyn, an attempt that failed. Although the formation of the independent English church owed much to the impetus of the Reformation, this political situation prompted the separation of the English church from Rome. At his death Richard Duke left to Oxford the MS. collection relating to the cathedral church and the city of Exeter compiled by Jo. Hooker, Ex. Cath. Libr. MS. 3530, confirming his association with the Duke family that had produced several mayors of that city.

Another reference to an association between the Duke family and Hooker exists:

"On the east side of Exeter is a parish called Heavitree, in a healthy situation on a gravelly soil, distinguished by the birth of Arthur Duck, an eminent civilian, in which character he is better known abroad than in his own country; author of the life of archbishop Chichele; and a treatise "De Authoritate Juris Civilis;" and of the primitive, learned, and humble Richard Hooker, who wrote the "Ecclesiastical Polity,' 1553, and 1560."

William Duke, Mayor of Exeter in 1442-61, had a son, Richard, who inherited from him, and produced two sons, Richard and Henry. The older son, Richard, became mayor of Exeter in 1523. The younger son, Henry, established a line that for a time was a cadet branch of the family, referred to by their location at Pynne or Pinne, near Otterton. This line included Richard's son John, and his son, Richard.

Another William Duke was Queen's footman under Elizabeth I for 31 years, and was given Ford Manor, near the borders of Somerset and Dorset, and other lands in county Middlesex, without fine, in consideration of his service. Ford is also near the Devonshire border, and it is likely that this individual was a member or relative of the Devon family.

THE JOY OF REAL ESTATE

Richard Duke, Mayor of Exeter in 1523, became Clerk of the Court of Augmentations in London during the 1650's. This court handled transactions involving the dissolution of monasteries and their supporting chantry grants. Throughout England property had been donated to support priests in performing masses for the dead. Protestant reformers joined with the crown in 1647 to seize this property for the benefit of the crown. This land was then leased for the benefit of the government, and eventually sold.

The central officers of the Court of Augmentations were a Chancellor, a Treasurer, an Attorney, and a Solicitor, with a Clerk, an Usher, and a Messenger. This was apparently modelled on the administrative model of the Duchy of Lancaster.

It has been noted that:

Richard Duke, Clerk of the court from 1536 until its dissolution in 1554, received each year, in legitimate fees for enrolling indentures, writing privy seals and drafting and enrolling patents, many times his basic salary of £40. What he received by way of gifts, which in contemporary eyes formed a hardly less legitimate part of his emoluments, we can only guess."

This addresses the question of where Richard Duke obtained the funds to support his own acquisitions during this period. The grants that Richard Duke was involved in obtaining while Clerk of the Court of Augmentations include the following related to Somerset:

• North Curry, Somerset: Brotherhood Priest -- Einston Farm A request to purchase by Sir Thomas Bell and Richard Duke; the property was formally conveyed to Richard Duke by Bell on 10 September 1548.

• Yeovilton, Somerset: Free Chapel in the Lordship of Speckington 20 August 1549 for Thomas Warde, servant of Richard Duke, Esquire

• To Thomas Reve, "servant of Richard Duke, esquire," and George Cotton of London, Gentlemen, 29 November 1552, property formerly belonging to Ilminster Chantry, in Sea and Dunpole. George Cotton was vice-chamberlain to Edward VI. Reve was an assistant clerk to Richard Duke. Reve granted the properties on 29 November 1552 to Humphrey Walrond of Sea, near Ilminster, who worked as an attorney for the sheriffs of the south-west counties in the court of Chancery. This grant included property in 25 counties. Overall, Reve was a party in the purchase of nine grants, valued at over £18,800.

Duke was also active in procuring properties in Gloucestershire, in company with Sir Thomas Bell. They included the following:

• a tenement in the City of Gloucester bringing in 22s a year, purchased in 1548 and previously supporting a chantry at St. Mary's parish;

• a stable and garden in Gloucester and property in Lydney and Ripple (Worcs.), previously supporting a chantry at St. Mary's parish;

• two burgages and land in Gloucester, Tredworth, and elswhere, and a rent of 12d. in Pedmarsh field, all previously supporting St. Mary's chantry at St. Nicholas' church in Gloucester; • part of the endowments of St. Mary's chantry at St. Owen's church, all in the City of Gloucester. Richard Duke's Somerset purchases associate Richard Duke and Humphrey Walrond during the 1550's. The connection between the two families was to continue for more than a century, and under interesting conditions, in England and in Barbados.

Other family connections appear in the chantry grants. One of the purchasers of property was Sir George Broke [Brooke], Lord Cobham. Sir George's second son, George, later married Christiana Duke. Another grant, in Taunton, went to Nicholas Prideaux of Soldon, Devon, Esquire, and Roger Prideaux of London, Gentleman. A later Richard Duke was to marry Catherine Prideaux, daughter of George Prideaux of Nutwell, near Otterton.

George Duke, Richard's son, purchased a number of Dorset properties through the chancery grant dissolutions. For the substantial sum of £557, 8s., 1d, he bought in 1527 "a tenement called the New Inn, lands, &c., in Castleton, Newland, and Sherborn, Baynard's lease in Holbrooke in Lidlinch belong to this abbey [Cerne Abbey], and Scotley's Park in Yateminster belong to Cerne Abbey." Richard also acquired the very substantial property associated with the Manor of Comberwell in Surrey in 1554 while serving as Clerk of this court; his son George had married Anne Weld of Comberwell and this property might have been for his benefit.

These associations illustrate the operation of the "old boys" network in England in the 1550's. They are, however, a relatively small portion of the picture. The grants reported are only those associated with the chantrys of Somerset and Gloucestershire and to a lesser extent Dorset. The chantry grants of the remaining counties of England, all administered through the same court, have not been fully published, and doubtless contain other acquisitions by the Duke family and their friends and relatives.

This Richard Duke had two sons, George and John. George married Anne Wilde, daughter of William Wilde of Cumberwell, Surrey, and established his household there in the home acquired by his father when Clerk of the Court of Augmentations. His second marriage was to Phillipa Weldon, daughter of Hugh Weldon. John married Juliana Cosenton, and through her acquired the estate at Aylesford, Kent, where he established his home. John and Juliana had no children, and their estate was inherited by the heirs of George Duke and Anne Wilde. Their story will be continued in the discussion of the Kent line of the Duke family of Lake House.

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