St. Leger Wescote

St. Leger Wescote was born in the field or enclosure of Wescote, in the parish of Marwood near Barnstaple in Devonshire, about the year 1275. Of his paternal ancestry, it can only be surmised, as related by Judge Bullock in his history, that they "are to be found of that old nobility who ruled England prior to the Conquest."

His maternal ancestry is believed to have reverted to that ancient and distinguished family of St. Leger, or Leodegar, the earliest mention of whom is in the year 670, In this year, the Burgundian nobles rose up under Leger, Bishop of Autun--the old town in France now so enticing to tourists because of its ancient Roman walls and gates, remains of an amphitheatre, and the cathedral and chapelle of St. Lazare--and defeated Ebroin, the Frankish "mayor of the palace," who wished to impose the authority of Neustria over Burgundy. Soon, Leger was himself defeated, Oct. 12, 678; after his eyes had been put out and he had endured prolonged torture, he was put to death. The church honeurs him as a saint, and thus the name Saint Leger.

The family early established itself at court in England and was honoured down to the 16th century, when, in 1537, Henry VIII appointed Sir Anthony St. Leger president of a commission of inquiry into the condition of Ireland. Following the marriage in the 13th century, of a daughter of the Wescote line, Sir Thomas St. Leger in the15th century, married the Duchess of Exeter, sister of Edward IV, and their grandson, Sir George, in 1531, was sheriff of Devon, the ancestral shire of the Wescotes. Two of his daughters married sons of the allied Wescote lines, Mary becoming the wife of Sir Richard Grenville of Bedford, and Frances the wife of Sir John Stucley of Affeton.

The grandson of St. Leger Wescote was Thomas Wescote, esquire. He was born on the ancient family estate at Wescote, and is mentioned by Lord Coke, who calls him "the king's servant at court, a gentleman of Devonshire, anciently descended." He was married about 1400, to Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of Thomas de Littleton (2nd), lord of the manor of Frankly in Worcestershire, and esquire of the body of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. Her mother was Ann (or Maud), daughter of Richard Quartermine.

The family of Littleton, according to Collins' "Peerage of England" (Vol. VIII, p. 316), had "fair possessions" in the vale of Eversham in the county of Worcester, before 1234, particularly at South Littleton, from which place it is probable they took their name, agreeably to the custom of the age. In 1160, John de Littleton was witness to a grant of land belonging to Eversham Abbey.(1) Thomas and Elizabeth (Littleton) Wescote had four sons and four daughters: Thomas, Guedo, Edmond, Nicholas, Ann (who m-Thomas Porter, Esquire, of Barston, in Warwickshire), and three others. With the death of the second Baron Thomas de Littleton, the paternal line of his distinguished old family became extinct. To perpetuate the name and keep the family fortune intact, which appears to have been large, and included beside the Littleton, the Quartermine and Frankly estates, Elizabeth upon her betrothal to Thomas Wescote, entered into a pre-nuptial agreement whereby their first male issue should be called Thomas and be baptised in her surname, Littleton. When the son was born in 1402, this agreement was adhered to and the child in after years became Sir Thomas LittIeton, a brilliant and distinguished barrister. However, it appears that the mother was not content to have only her eldest son bear her name, but also wished Guedo, Edmond and Nicholas to take her surname. She would not permit them to share equally with their brother Thomas in her estate, and so they retained the name of Wescote.

This appears to have created something of a family discord which culminated in 1450 in Guedo, the second eldest son, registering his Coat of Arms with the motto: Renovato nomine, meaning the name renewed. The use of clasped hands issuing from clouds suggests the family discord. Thomas and Elizabeth settled on her estate at Frankly, where he served the office of escheator of Worcester under Henry VI in 1451. He died soon after, and his widow married second, Thomas Hewster, esquire, of Lichfield in Staffordshire. Guedo remained on the ancestral estates at Wescote, Edmond died unmarried, and Nicholas married Agnes, daughter and sole heir of Edmond Vernon of Staffordshire, and they were the ancestors of the Wescotes of that county. From them descended William Wescote of Hansaker in Staffordshire, whose daughter, Maud, married David Cawaden of a family dating back to Henry Mevesyn, "son probably of the Norman, being of sufficient age in 1100 to attest to the foundation grant of William Itzalam to the Abbey of Haghmon, in Shropshire." Through the Purefoy family, the Cawadens were related to the Wightman-Whitman line of the third known generation.

(2) Guedo Wescote of Wescote, b-1404, second son of Thomas and Elizabeth, as heir to his father's estate because of his elder brother being baptised in his mother's surname, retained the ancestral acres at Wescote. He married Alice, daughter of Sir Richard Granville of Gloucestershire, who was the son of William, of Bartholomew, second son of Sir Richard Grenville of Stow in Cornwall, whose wife was the daughter and heir of Bevil of Guamack in Cornwall and who flourished late in the 13th century. To Guedo, the credit is due for reclaiming and perpetuating the family name and prestige since the confusion occasioned by the demands of his mother. From Guedo and Alice (Grenville) Wescote "descended the Wescotes of Devon and Somerset." They had but one son to whom they gave the name of the child's grandfather, Thomas.

(3) Thomas Wescott of Wescote, appears to have made a slight change in the spelling of the family name. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Wescott of the parish of Porlock in the adjoining shire of Somerset. They were cousins, it is recorded, but if so, Mary's father was probably of the line of Nicholas Wescote who settled in Staffordshire. Thomas and Mary appear to have departed from Wescote and settled in Somerset, for of their son Thomas, it is recorded that "he came to Devonshire," suggesting that he was not of that county at the time. Also it is recorded that Philip, their eldest son, was "of Porlock in Somerset," the native parish and county of his mother. Philip married Margaret, daughter of William Spur of South Petherton in Somerset, and is said to have died without issue. Of the third and last son, Stephen, no record is found. It appears also that at about this period, Wescote was owned by the Stucleys.

(4) Thomas Wescott, second son of Thomas and Mary, above named, "followed the Court in the time of King Henry VIII (1509-1547), came to Devonshire with Sir Thomas Dennis of Holcomb-Burnell, knight, Chancellor to Queen Ann of Cleves, and was much desired in marriage by Anna, daughter of John Walker, the relic of John Raddon of Raddon in the parish of Shobrooke in Devon, and heir of John Collacutt of Winkleeigh in Devon. Anna's mother was Alice Collacutt, of John, and widow of John Colome of Champsion in Molian. There was no issue of record by this marriage, and secondly, Thomas married Alice, daughter and heir of John and Alice Walker, a sister of his first wife. Thomas died Mar. 28, 1549, and Alice, Oct. 6, 1557. Issue: In pedigree of Wescote of Shobrooke, "View of Devon" (163d), only Phillip is named as issue of Thomas and Alice Wescott. However, Harlain Society "Visitation of Devon" (1620), states there were two sons, but names only Philip. (For reference: Unnamed son.)

(5) Philip Westcote (so spelled in the ancient records), the only named son of Thomas and Alice, remained at Raddon (or West Raddon), where he died Feb. 7, 1600. He married Oct. 17, 1557, Katherine, daughter George Waltham of Brenton, parish of Axminster in Devon. She died Feb. 19, 1601. Waltham was son of Richard of Brenton. His mother was Janot Paddon of Keene, Devon. Philip and Katherine had twelve children. An account of the children follows merely to establish the fact that Stukely Westcott, the Founder of the American family of his name, did not descend from them.

(6) Robert Westcote, the eldest son (1560-1636), lived throughout his life at West Raddon and died without issue. George, second son, died without issue. Thomas, third son (1567- ), married Mary Roberts, lived in his later years with his brother Robert at West Raddon, and had divers children, which he names in his "View of Devon" (1630). There was not a Stukely, Richard, William or a Daniel among them, all names of those who came to America. John and Philip both died young and without issue. The others were daughters: Joan, Susan, Pascaw, Ann, Alice, Janor, Julia.

Source: Whitman, Roscoe L., History and Genealogy of the ancestors and some descendants of Stukely Westcott; pp. 4-8.