John Maynard Kt (1604 - 1690)

Born 18 Jul 1604 in Tavistock, Devon, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elisabeth (Henley) Maynard — married 23 Sep 1630 (to 29 Dec 1654) in Taunton, Somerset, England

Descendants

Died 8 Oct 1690 at age 86 in Gunnersbury, Middlesex, England

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Biography

John Maynard Kt is Notable.

Sir John Maynard, known in history as "Serjeant Maynard", was an English lawyer, jurist and politician, prominent under the reigns of Charles I, the Commonwealth, Charles II, James II and William III.

He was born at the Abbey House, Tavistock, in Devon, 18 July 1604, 1st s. of Alexander Maynard (4th son of John Maynard of Sherford in the parish of Brixton in Devon), counsellor at law, of Tavistock, Devon and the Middle Temple, by Honora, daughter of Arthur Arscott of Tetcott, Devon.^[1]

The senior line of the Maynard family was seated at Sherford in the parish of Brixton in Devon.

Career

He was educ. at Exeter College, Oxford, 1618, BA 1621; New Inn; Middle Temple 1619, called 1626.

Standing counsel, Exeter 1638; recorder, Plymouth 1640-84, Oct. 1688-d., Totnes 1645-84, Oct. 1688-d.; commr. of array, Devon 1642, execution of ordinances 1644, assessment, Devon 1644-8, 1657, 1673-80, Mdx. Aug. 1660-3, 1664-80, Devon and Mdx. 1689-90, chapter, Westminster Abbey 1645; bencher, M. Temple 1648; commr. for drainage of the fens 1649, militia, Devon, Cornw. and Mdx. Mar. 1660; j.p. Devon Mar. 1660-87, Mdx. Mar. 1660-85, Cornw. 1662-87, Hants, Som. and Wilts. 1680-7; commr. for pre-emption of tin, Devon and Cornw. 1662.

Commr. for Westminster Assembly 1643-8, propositions for relief of Ireland 1645, abuses in heraldry 1646, exclusion from sacrament 1646, indemnity 1647-9, scandalous offences 1648; serjeant-at-law 1654, Protector’s serjeant 1658-9, King’s serjeant Nov. 1660-?d.; solicitor-gen. 1658-9; Councillor of State 23 Feb.-29 May 1660; commr. for great seal 1689-90.

Member of Parliament for Totnes, Devon, 1640; for Plymouth, 1656; for Newtown, Isle of Wight, 1659; for Plymouth, 1660; for Exeter, June 1660; for Bere Alston, 1661; for Plymouth, 1679 (twice), 1681; Bere Alston, 1685; for Plymouth, 1689, 1690.

Marriages and children

1. He married firstly by licence in Somerset, Sept 1630, Elizabeth (buried in St Mary's, Ealing, on 4 January 1655), daughter of Andrew Henley of Taunton, Somerset. By her he had four sons, who all died in their father's lifetime, including John, Alexander (bur. Ealing, 30 June 1659) and Joseph, and four daughters, Elizabeth, Honora, Johanna, and Martha. His eldest daughter married Sir Duncumbe Colchester of Westbury, Gloucestershire; the second, Edward Nosworthy of Devon; the third, Thomas Legh of Adlington Hall, Cheshire; and the fourth, Sir Edward Gresham, Bt.
2. He married secondly Jane (buried in Ealing Church in 1668), da. and h. of Cheney Selhurst of Tenterden, Kent, widow of Edward Austen of Heronden, Kent, s.p.
3. He married thirdly by 1671, Margaret (d.1679), daughter of Edward, 1st Baron Gorges of Dundalk, widow of Thomas Fleming of North Stoneham, Hants, and of Sir Francis Prujean, MD, of Hornchurch, Essex, s.p.
4. He married fourthly 2 June 1680, Mary, daughter of Ambrose Upton, canon of Christ Church, Oxford, widow of Charles Vermuyden, MD, of London, s.p., succeeded father after 1625; knighted, 16 Nov. 1660. Mary survived Maynard and married thirdly Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk. She died in 1721.

Gunnersbury House

Maynard amassed a large fortune and purchased the manor of Gunnersbury, near Ealing, and there in 1663 built Gunnersbury House to the designs of John Webb (afterwards the residence of the Princess Amelia, daughter of George II). His London house was at 42 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 1667–89 (now part of Royal Coll. of Surgeons).^[2]

Death

Maynard died at Gunnersbury on 9 October 1690, his body lying in state until the 25th, when it was interred with great pomp in Ealing Church. He had survived all his children, except his youngest daughter, and devised his estates in trust for his granddaughters and their issue in tail. The complications of his will led to a private Act of Parliament in 1694 to settle the disputes to which it gave rise.^[3]

Likenesses

Portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery, London (possibly after John Riley)^[4], at Blickling Hall, Norfolk (attributed to Henry Tilson), and at Exeter College, Oxford. There is a an engraving published by Edward Jeffery in 1815.^[5]

"In 1657 [John de Critz] painted a portrait of Sergeant Sir John Maynard".^[6] This portrait is thought to be lost.

Publications and writings

He published the Law Reports of Richard de Wincheldon as The Year Books of Edward II in folio (1678–9). One of Maynard's opinions was printed in London's Liberty. For his speeches at Strafford's trial, see John Rushworth, Historical Collections. For other speeches, see William Cobbett's State Trials, Parliamentary History, and Somers Tracts.

Archives

His manuscript collections in 87 vols. are preserved.

Lincoln's Inn Archives (catalogue 1838): ref Maynard MSS: Legal manuscript collections, reports, commonplace books^[7]

Archives and Cornish Studies Service (formerly Cornwall Record Office): ME 3107-3134, reference: NRA 4207 Edgcumbe: Corresp with Edward Nosworthy (his son in law): 1665-82^[8]

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_(politician)

Note

He must be distinguished from his namesake, Sir John Maynard, K.B. (1592–1658)

Sources

1. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.561, pedigree of Maynard.
2. ↑ Arthur Houlton Marks, Historical notes on Lincoln's Inn fields
3. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/5111/40611_310605-00530?pid=782660&treeid=7400425&personid=292200310231&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Won5208&_phstart=successSource
4. ↑ https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04344/Sir-John-Maynard?LinkID=mp03034&role=sit&rNo=0
5. ↑ https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw135802/Sir-John-Maynard
6. ↑ L.H. Cust, in Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 14, p. 269.
7. ↑ https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/a/A13531701
8. ↑ https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N13857906

• H.W. Woolrych, Lives of Eminent Serjeants-at-Law of the English Bar, i, 1869, pp. 1–91. [This remains the fullest biography.] Available online May 2022 at: http://www.minnesotalegalhistoryproject.org/assets/Woolryc%20Lives%20of%20Eminent%20Serjeants%20Vol%201.pdf

• Rigg, James McMullen, "Maynard, John (1602-1690)" in Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.[1]

• The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983 [2]

• Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.561, pedigree of Maynard.