Sir John Basset (1462 – 31 January 1528), of Tehidy in Cornwall and of Umberleigh in Devon was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1497, 1517 and 1522 and Sheriff of Devon in 1524. Although himself an important figure in the West Country gentry, he is chiefly remembered for his connection with the life of his second wife and widow Honor Grenville (d. 1566), who moved into the highest society when she remarried to Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle KG (d. 1542), an illegitimate son of King Edward IV, and an important figure at the court of King Henry VIII, his nephew.
The survival of the Lisle Letters, a large collection of letters to Lisle and his wife Honor, makes their lives two of the best-documented of the period. Honor retained for life as her widow's dower several Basset estates including Umberleigh and Tehidy, and the Lisle Letters include a great deal of correspondence to Honor from her stewards concerning their detailed management. They also include much correspondence to her from her children by Sir John Basset.
Origins He was the eldest son and heir of Sir John Basset (1441–1485) of Tehidy in Cornwall and Whitechapel in the parish of Bishops Nympton, by his wife, Elizabeth Budockshyde.The Lisle Letters: An Abridgement, By Muriel St. Clare Byrne His father was the son and heir of John Basset (1374–1463) by Joan Beaumont, daughter of Sir Thomas Beaumont of Umberleigh and Heanton Punchardon and sister and heiress of Philip Beaumont of Shirwell. The Beaumonts had inherited Umberleigh from the Poulton family who had inherited it from the Willingtons.Risdon, Tristram, Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, p. 317 The Basset family were among the early Norman settlers in England.
Career
As Sheriff of Cornwall in 1497, Sir John was a target for the Cornish rebels under Richard Pendyn of Pendeen who attacked and 'dismantled' Tehidy, the family home.
He was created Knight of the Bath by King Henry VII in November 1501 at the time of the marriage of his son and heir, Prince Arthur to Katherine of Aragon.
He was Sheriff of Cornwall again in 1517 and 1522, and Sheriff of Devon in 1524. In 1520 he was part of the Devonshire contingent of the large entourage which accompanied King Henry VIII to the Field of Cloth of Gold.
Beaumont inheritance Sir John Basset as well as being heir to his extensive paternal lands was also heir to his maternal grandmother Joan (or Johanna) BeaumontByrne, vol. 1, p. 312 (wife of John Basset (1374–1463)), the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Beaumont (1401–1450) of Shirwell by his wife Philippa Dinham, daughter of Sir John Dynham (1406–1458)Vivian, p. 46 of Nutwell, Kingskerswell and Hartland. Joan Beaumont was heiress to her brother Sir Philip Beaumont (1432–1473), MP in 1467 and Sheriff of Devon in 1469, and also to her mother Phillipa Dynham.
These former Beaumont lands included the manors of Umberleigh and Heanton Punchardon in North Devon. However, as deduced by Byrne (1981), Basset lacked the financial resources to recover his inheritance,Byrne, p. 313 which involved paying fines and recoveries to the King. At the time he had been married for 30 years to his first wife Elizabeth Denys and had given up any hope of producing a surviving son and heir. In order to make the best of his situation, he obtained financing for the recoveries from Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (1451–1508), KG, under a special agreement entered into in 1504, referred to by the family as the "Great Indenture".Transcribed in Byrne, vol.4, chapter 7, appendix 2 This specified that Daubeney would pay about £2,000 for the recoveries on condition that one of the Basset daughters and co-heiresses would marry Daubeney's son Henry Daubeney (1493–1548) (later created Earl of Bridgewater), then aged 10, before his 16th birthday. The purpose was to entail the Beaumont lands upon the male issue of a Daubeney-Basset marriage, thus increasing the future wealth of the Daubeney family. However the indenture allowed for Sir John Basset and any future wives of his to retain possession during their lives of Umberleigh and lands in Bickington. If the scheme should fail due to the marriage not taking place and in default of other provisions, the lands would revert to the right heirs of Basset. To this effect Basset sent two of his four daughters by Elizabeth Denys, namely Anne and Thomasine, to live in the Daubeney household. The marriage never did take place and Lord Daubeny died four years later in 1508. Whether for those reasons or another the gamble paid off for Basset as his 2nd wife Honor Grenville produced for him a son and heir in 1518 and the Beaumont lands came back to the Basset family. During the time when the agreement was operative the deeds to the properties concerned were kept in safe custody by Richard Coffin (1456–1523)Byrne, vol. 1, p. 605; Vivian, p. 208, pedigree of Coffin; Byrne, vol. 1, p. 606: "died in Dec 1523 at age of 77" of Portledge, Sheriff of Devon in 1510,Risdon, Tristram (d. 1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions; Pevsner, p. 477 the Beaumont's tenant at Heanton Punchardon and at East HaggintonByrne, vol. 1, p. 605; East Hagginton had descended to the Beaumonts from the Punchardon (Pont de Chardin) family of Heanton and in Risdon's time (d. 1640) was still held by the Coffin family. In 1810 it had reverted to the Bassets (Risdon, pp. 347, 431) (in the parish of Berrynarbor), who was clearly trusted by both parties,Byrne, vol. 1, p. 605–6 and whose Easter Sepulchre tomb survives in the chancel of Heanton Punchardon church.Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p. 477 Basset's son George later married Richard Coffin's great-granddaughter Jacquet Coffin.Byrne, vol. 1, p. 605; Vivian, pp. 47,209 The custody of these deeds forms an important topic in the Lisle Letters.Byrne, vol. 1, p. 605
Armorials
The chest tomb of Sir John Basset in Atherington Church displays heraldry sculpted on two stone shields on the north side, showing Basset with quarterings of Beaumont and Willington impaling on separate shields the arms of his two wives. On the slab top of the tomb were originally four brass shields, three of which survive, two with identical arms as the stone shields on the north side, the third showing the arms of Basset alone quartered with Beaumont and Willington.
Marriages and progeny
Sir John Basset married twice, producing in total 12 children. His first wife failed to provide him with a surviving son and heir and he appears to have lost all hope of having a son, hence his conveyance of his Beaumont inheritance to Lord Daubeney, retaining only Umberleigh for his life. However, after a long marriage his first wife died unexpectedly and Basset found himself at the age of 53 remarried to a new 22-year-old bride, who would provide him with the desired son and heir. The problem then was how to recover for him the Beaumont inheritance conveyed to Lord Daubeney. This legal struggle, which Lady Lisle pursued vigorously over many years and which was ultimately successful, occupies much of the Lisle Papers.
First marriage
Firstly before 1474Byrne, vol 1, p. 312 to ElizabethByrne, Muriel St. Clare, (ed.) The Lisle Letters, 6 vols, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 1981, vol.1, p.312. Byrne argues in detail that John Basset's first wife was Elizabeth Denys not her sister Anne Denys (or AnnPer Vivian, Heraldic Visitations of Devon, pp. 46 & 281) Denys, daughter of John Denys of Orleigh, near Bideford, by his wife Eleanor Giffard (daughter and co-heiress of Stephen Giffard of ThuboroughVivian, p. 281, pedigree of Denys of Orleigh; Thuborough (Pevsner, p.771) in parish of Sutcombe, 5 miles north of Holsworthy (Risdon, pp. 248–9)) by whom he had the following progeny, one son, who died young,Byrne, vol 1, p. 312. Depicted on the Atherington Brass and four daughters: Unknown son Basset, died young Anne Basset, who as a child had been sent by her father, together with her sister Thomasine, to live in the household of Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (1451–1508), under a special agreement entered into in 1504, referred to by the family as the "Great Indenture". This specified that Daubeney would pay about £2,000 for the recoveries of Basset's Beaumont inheritance on condition that one of the Basset daughters and co-heiresses would marry Daubeney's son Henry Daubeney (1493–1548), on whom the lands were entailed. The marriage never took place and in 1511 she married James Courtenay (born 1459) of Upcott in the parish of Cheriton Fitzpaine,Risdon, pp.93-4 Devon, a younger son of the first Sir William Courtenay (d.1485) of Powderham by his wife Margaret Bonville a daughter of William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (d. 1461). James's eldest brother was Sir William Courtenay (1477–1535) "The Great",Visitation of Devon, 1895 ed., p.246 who was responsible for giving the order for the pulling down of Umberleigh weir in November 1535, much to the opposition of Lady Lisle.Byrne, vol.2, pp675-6 MargeryByrne, vol 1, p. 312; Vivian, p.656 or MaryVivian, p.46 Basset who married William Marrys of Marrys in Cornwall (i.e. Marhayes Manor, Week St. Mary, Cornwall). The manor of Marrys was adjacent to the Basset manor of Femarshall, part of which Margery had as her dower.Byrne, vol.2, p.401 William died leaving a young daughter Margaret Marrys (d.1621) as his sole heiress. Her wardship and marriage was purchased by the North Devon lawyer George Rolle (c.1486–1552) of Stevenstone, who later was an important adviser to John Basset's widow Honor Grenville, later Lady Lisle. In his will Rolle left Margaret's wardship to his son George Rolle (d.1573), who therefore chose to marry her himself. George Rolle (d.1573) named one of his daughters Honor, apparently after Lady Lisle, as his elder brother John Rolle had done for one of his daughters also.Byrne, vol2, p.212; Vivian, p.653, 656 Jane Basset.Byrne, vol 1, p. 312; given incorrectly in Vivian, p.47 as daughter of Honor Grenville Six of Jane's letters, written when aged in her 40s, to her step-mother Lady Lisle survive in the Lisle Papers.Byrne, vol.3, p.56 Lady Lisle had legal possession for life of Umberleigh as her dower, but allowed Jane and her blood-sister Thomasine to live there. Jane was a talkative and assertive character.Byrne, vol.3, p.63 Jane's presence at Umberleigh from 1533 was resented by Lady Lisle's servants there, whom Jane believed were not looking after the property adequately and were defrauding their mistress, for example by selling salmon and accounting for only part of the proceeds.Byrne, vol.3, pp.38-67 She wrote to Lady Lisle that while she was away at Calais (1533–1542) with Lord Lisle, that her servants, including Rev John Bonde her bedesman and Vicar of Yarnscombe, kept a prostitute in the house and maintained a "bawdy and unthrifty rule" at the manor. She clearly was fond of Umberleigh, and perhaps resentful of her young step-brother John Basset who would himself inherit it.The accusation was made that she "do covet to have my brother's evidence" (i.e. title deeds), Byrne, vol.3, p.57;63 She occupied the "corner chamber" and the butteryByrne, vol.3, p.47 and was reported to have had a greyhound which slept on the bed most of the day. She was allowed by Lady Lisle pasture in the park for 2 cows, but defiantly pastured 3 cows and a horse, which was reported by Rev Bonde to Lady Lisle. She asked Lady Lisle to lease her the fishing rights on the River Taw to supplement her small income.