John St John (abt. 1505 - 1576)

Born about 1505 in Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

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Biography

John St John was born about 1505 (possibly between 1495 & 1506), 1st son of John St John and Joan Inwardby, at Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, England. Joan was the daughter and heir of Sir John Ewerby of Farley Chamberlayne. John St John married (1) by 1526, Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Carew of Beddington, Surrey; one son, Nicholas; (2) by Nov. 1535, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Whethill of Calais; two sons including William. John St John succeeded his father 1 Sep 1512.

The following is excerpted from The History of Parliament:^[1]

When John St. John was about seven years old his father died while serving at Fuenterrabia, Spain, leaving him heir to the estates of the junior branch of the ancient St. John family. The freehold property comprised land in Essex, the midlands and Wiltshire. He was later to inherit from his mother, who was still alive in 1549, manors in Hampshire and Surrey. Sir Richard Carew acquired the wardship of the young St. John, who by 1526 was married to one of Carew’s daughters. The two families were already connected, St. John’s maternal grandmother, Sanchia Carew, being Sir Richard’s first cousin. Although nothing is known of St. John’s education, his connexions suggest that he may have gone early to court. He shared a common ancestor with Henry VII; Sir Oliver St John’s wife, Margaret Beauchamp, had married secondly John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, while his brother-in-law Nicholas Carew was an intimate of the young Henry VIII.

John St John of Lydiard was returned as a Member of Parliament for Bletchingley in 1529. He is not to be confused with the head of the senior branch of the family, Sir John St John of Bletsoe, who may by this time have been by-elected to the House. It is likely that St John sat again for Bletchingley in the Parliament of 1536, in accordance with the King’s general request for the re-election of the previous Members, but as the returns for Bletchingley to the next Parliament, that of 1539, have been lost it is not possible to say whether he was returned on that occasion, immediately after Carew’s conviction for treason.

In 1533 St John attended Anne Boleyn at her coronation. In 1535 St John married as his second wife a daughter of Sir Richard Whethill. He disagreed with his new brother-in-law over the provision of Whethill’s will, of which he was an assistant overseer, and in March 1537 he journeyed from Calais to England to make his case to Cromwell and the Council.

St John appears to have travelled often, living at various places, as his family’s scattered estates may have required. Farley Chamberlayne, was a property of his mother's, and Ewell, was where his mother held the manor of Fitznells. His inclusion on the Wiltshire commission of the peace in 1554 seems to imply that he had finally settled at Lydiard Tregoz.

In 1545 John St John purchased the manor of Littleton for his son Nicholas, bequeathing the property to his son William. He made his will on 24 Apr 1574. Besides Littleton, William was to have the manor of Farley Chamberlayne, some household furnishings and ‘400 wether sheep which I left in stock there’. The youngest son, John, received the manor of Bincknoll, Wiltshire, and all the cattle, crops, and household stuff at Littleton unless his brothers paid him a stipulated amount for them. By a codicil of 2 Dec 1575 William and John also received gifts of plate, bedding, a chain of gold and four horses. Nicholas, the heir, was appointed sole executor and had the residue of all the goods. St John died on 5 Apr 1576 and probate was granted on the following 9 Nov.

The following are children of John St John:^[2]

Child of John St John and Margaret Carew

1. Nicholas St John d. 1589

Child of John St John and Elizabeth Whettle

1. William St John b. 1 Aug 1538, d. 18 Apr 1609

Sources

1. ↑ The History of Parliament - ST. JOHN, John (c.1505-76), of Lydiard Tregoz, Wilts, Farley Chamberlayne, Hants and Ewell, Surr. : accessed 7 Feb 2018.
2. ↑ The Peerage - John St John : accessed 7 Feb 2018.

• The History of Parliament - ST. JOHN, John (c.1505-76), of Lydiard Tregoz, Wilts, Farley Chamberlayne, Hants and Ewell, Surr.
• Cokayne, George Edward (main author) and Vicary Gibbs (added author), The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, New edition. 13 volumes in 14. London: St. Catherine Press,1910-, vol. 2 p. 206.
• Whetehill, of Calais by W. G. Davies of Portland Maine USA - English Origins of New England Families.
• Leslie Mahler and Nathan W. Murphy, "The English Ancestry and Royal Descent of Francis King of Prince George's County, Maryland: a Second Cousin to Lt. Gov. Francis Fauquier of Virginia," The American Genealogist, Vol. 91, No. 1 (January 2019), 1-9.
• British History Online - Lydiard Tregoze : accessed 7 Feb 2018.
• Parishes: Lydiard Tregoze, Pages 75-90; A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 9. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1970.
• Pedigree of the Molesworth Family, page 15, Joan, heiress of Sir John Twardby, married Sir John St. John of Lydiard, Trogog, (d.1512), and they had John St. John of Lydiard, Trogog, who married Margaret, dau. of Sir Richard Carew, and they had Nicholas St. John of Lydiard, Trogog.
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p13751.htm#i137504
• http://www.shieldsgenealogy.com/d0008/g0000094.html#I25367
• https://www.fabpedigree.com/s080/f027046.htm
• https://geneagraphie.com/getperson.php?personID=I151818&tree=1
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_St._John_(MP_for_Bedfordshire)

Acknowledgements

• Entered by Sara V Mosher Feb 7, 2018.
• This person was created through the import of Consolidated Coningsby.GED on 11 March 2011.