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John St John (abt. 1465 - bef. 1525)

Sir John St John
Born about [location unknown]
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married about 1485 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died before before about age 60 in Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, Englandmap
Profile last modified | Created 23 May 2012
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Contents

Biography

John was the son and heir of John St John and his first wife Alice Bradshaw/Bradshagh.[1][2][3][4] His father had lands in several counties and in Wales, and it is not known where he was born. His birth date is also not known, but his father was said to be 40 and more in 1482 when John's paternal grandmother Margaret, Duchess of Somerset died and John was old enough to be knighted in 1497, and to serve as a sheriff in 1501: against that background, his birth year has been estimated as possibly about 1465, but this is very uncertain.

John married Sibyl/Margaret/Margred, daughter of Morgan ap Jenkin[1][2] of Langstone, Monmouthshire and his second wife Margred, daughter of Dafydd Matthew.[3][4] (See Research Notes (below) for discussion of her first name.) The date and place of their marriage are not known, though his son and heir John is thought to have been born by 1495. The marriage year has been estimated as about 1485, but there is no clear evidence. They had the following children:

John was knighted on 17 June 1497 at the Battle of Blackheath, also known as the Battle of Deptford Bridge, in which government forces defeated a rebellion originating in Cornwall.[5]

John was Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1501-2 and 1515-6.[6]

In 1508 John was one of the executors of the 1508 will of his relative Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. This describes him as her Chamberlain. (Nicholas Harris Nicolas's Testamenta Vetusta suggests this was John's father of the same name, but he died by February 1491 (see his profile).[7] Margaret's mother's first husband was John's grandfather Oliver St John. (Douglas Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry and Royal Ancestry say it was John's father who is referred to in the will,[3][4] but in a 2014 post in soc.genealogy.medieval Richardson established that John's father was dead before then[8] (see his father's profile for more discussion).

John held lands at Bletsoe[9] and elsewhere in Bedfordshire, and in Dorset, Northamptonshire and other counties.[3][4]

John's will, dated 22 March 1524/5, was proved on 23 May 1525.[3][4] In it he:[10]

  • described himself as of the parish of Bletsoe [in Bedfordshire], knight, suggesting that he may have died at Bletsoe
  • asked for burial in the Chapel of St Edmund in the parish church of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire
  • appointed as executors his sons John, Oliver and Alexander, and Sir William Gaskin
  • appointed as overseer of the execution of the will his son-in-law Henry Parker (referred to as Lord Morley)

Research Notes

Wife's first name

Douglas Richardson states that the first name of John's first wife was either Sibyl or Margaret.[3][4] Bartrum's 'Welsh Genealogies' names her Margred, a Welsh version of Margaret.[11]

His wife is called Sibyl in:

  • the 1613 Huntingdon Visitation[1]
  • the Harleian Society edition of Bedfordshire Visitations[2]
  • the Harleian Society edition of Wiltshire Visitation pedigrees[12]

It is conceivable that John's wife was called Margred at birth and adopted the name Sibyl following her marriage.

Fonmon Castle

A profile merged into this one said he was lord of Forman Castle, Glamorgan, Wales. A reliable source needs to be found before this can be regarded as accurate.

Fonmon Castle was held by earlier St Johns.[13] The official site of Fonmon Castle states that the family moved to Bletsoe, Bedfordshire towards the end of the 15th century, "never to return", though the castle was leased to minor members of the family.[14]

Sources

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Henry Ellis (ed.). The Visitation of the county of Huntingdon..., A. D. MDCXIII, Camden Society, 1849, p. 2, Internet Archive
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Frederic Augustus Blaydes. The Visitations of Bedfordshire, Harleian Society, 1884, pp. 52-53, Internet Archive
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. III, pp. 478-479, SAINT JOHN 12, partially viewable on Google Books
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. IV, p. 534, SAINT JOHN 17
  5. W A Shaw. The Knights of England, Vol. II, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906, p. 29, Internet Archive
  6. Lists of Sheriffs for England and Wales, from the earliest times to A.D. 1831, Public Record Office Lists and Indexes IX, 1898 (Kraus Reprint Cortporsatiion, 1963), p. 3, Internet Archive
  7. Nicholas Harris Nicolas. Testamenta Vetusta, Vol. II, Nichols and Son, 1826, pp.516-524, Internet Archive
  8. Douglas Richardson. New Light on John Saint John, Esq. (died before 1490), uncle of King Henry VII of England, post of 12 September 2014 in soc.genealogy.medieval, accessed 25 January 2024
  9. 'Parishes: Bletsoe', in A History of the County of Bedford: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London, 1912), pp. 40-43, British History Online, accessed 23 January 2024
  10. Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Testamenta Vetusta, Vol. II, p. 612, Internet Archive
  11. Huws, Bleddyn, Williams, Gruffydd Aled, Sims-Williams, Patrick, Gruffudd, Gwen Angharad, Price, Iwan Tudor, Q, Claire Elizabeth (editors). Aberystwyth: Prifysgol Aberystwyth / Aberystwyth University, 2020.) St John pedigree viewable on Geni.com (account - free - required)
  12. Wiltshire Visitation Pedigrees, Harleian Society, 1954, pp. 167-170 (cited by Douglas Richardson in Magna Carta Ancestry and Royal Ancestry, not checked directly)
  13. History of Parliament Online, entry for 'http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1604-1629/member/st-john-sir-john-1586-1648 ST. JOHN, Sir John, 1st Bt. (1586-1648), of Lydiard Tregoze, Wilts.]
  14. Fonmon Castle website, Castle History, accessed 23 January 2024

See also:

  • Weis, Frederick Lewis (with additions and corrections by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr and William R Beall). The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215, 5th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1999, p. 80, line 61/30

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

John St John appears in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestors Elizabeth, Thomas and John Boteler/Butler to Magna Carta Surety Baron Henry de Bohun (vol. I, pages 218-220 BLETSOE). The trail from Elizabeth to Bohun was badged by the Magna Carta Project in September 2019 by Noland-165 and Thomas and John's profiles were badged in 2020. The trail is outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section of Elizabeth Boteler's profile.
See Base Camp for more information about Magna Carta trails. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".




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Comments: 13

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I plan soon to do some work on this profile for the Magna Carta Project.
posted by Michael Cayley
Now DONE. If anyone spots any typos etc, please either correct them or message me. Thanks.
posted by Michael Cayley
According to the recent biography of Margaret Beaufort by Nicola Tallis John St. John was one of her executors when she died in 1509. Her half brother was John St. John, Sr., this John's father. Margaret Beaufort was the daughter of Margaret Beauchamp and John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and the mother of King Henry VII and grandmother of King Henry VIII.
posted by Mark Harrison
Thanks. There is a transcript of Margaret Beaufort's will in Testamenta Vetusta and it does indeed appoint John St John one of her executors. I will be adding this to the bio.
posted by Michael Cayley
edited by Michael Cayley