Robert Carey (died 1587)

Arms of Cary: Argent, on a bend sable three roses of the field[1]
Monument to Robert Cary (d.1586) of Clovelly. South wall of chancel, All Saints Church, Clovelly

Robert III Carey (c.1515-1587), lord of the manor of Clovelly in North Devon, was Member of Parliament for Barnstaple, Devon, in October 1553 and served as Sheriff of Devon in 1555–56. He served as Recorder of Barnstaple after 1560. Along with several other members of the Devonshire gentry then serving as magistrates he died of gaol fever at the Black Assize of Exeter 1587. His large monument survives in Clovelly Church.

Origins

He was the 4th son of Robert II Cary (d.1540), of Cockington and Clovelly, by his third wife Margaret Fulkeram (d.1547), daughter and heiress of William Fulkeram of Dartmouth, Devon.[2] He was given the manor of Clovelly by his father.[3] He was the first Cary to be seated exclusively at Clovelly, the manors of Cary and Cockington having been inherited by his half-brothers.

Career

He was a Justice of the Peace for Devon from 1547 until his death. He served as Sheriff of Devon in 1555–56. He was elected a Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in October 1553 and served as Recorder of Barnstaple after 1560.

Marriage & progeny

Escutcheon on monument to Robert III Cary in Clovelly Church showing arms of Cary (of four quarters) impaling Milliton: Gules, a chevron or between three millets hauriant argent (Milliton, canting arms, a "millet" in heraldry being a type of fish, possibly a mullet)[4]

He married Margaret Milliton, daughter of John Milliton and widow of John Giffard of Yeo in the parish of Alwington, North Devon, by whom he had progeny 6 sons and 3 daughters including:[5]

Son

The "Pile" or harbour wall at Clovelly built by George I Cary (1543-1601),[6] which created the only safe anchorage between Appledore and Boscastle[7]
Monumental brass to George Cary (1543-1601), floor of chancel, All Saints Church, Clovelly. The bishop's crozier is a reproduction inserted in the 1860s into an empty matrix.[8]

George I Cary (1543-1601), eldest son and heir, Sheriff of Devon in 1587. He constructed at Clovelly a harbour wall, surviving today, described by Risdon as "a pile to resist the inrushing of the sea's violent breach, that ships and boats may with the more safety harbour there".[9] Clovelly's main export product was herring fish, which formerly appeared at certain times of the year in huge shoals, close off-shore in the shallow waters of the Bristol Channel, and such a harbour wall was a great benefit to the village fishermen, tenants of the Cary lords of the manor. He married thrice:

His monumental brass survives in Clovelly Church in the form of a ledger stone on the floor of the chancel, inset into which is an inscribed brass tablet and below which in the 1860s[12] was added into an empty matrix a reproduction large monumental brass in the form of a bishop's crozier. It is unclear what relevance such an object might have to him and when the original brass which once filled the matrix was removed or robbed. The Latin inscription is as follows:

Epithaphium inditum viri insignissimi curatoris pacis & qui(eti)ssimi et Musar(um) patroni dignissimi Georgii Caret (sic) Armigeri qui obiit decimo die Julii anno Domini 1601. En ubi vir situs est pietate et pace beatus justitiae cultor relligionis amans multorum exemplar, patriae decus, anchora pacis ingenio, forma Pallade, Marte potens. Dum vixit Christum coluit, sic orbe recessit in sancta stabilis relligione Dei. Nunc capit in caelis solatia grata laborum; nunc requiem aeterni carpit in arce poli.
("A funeral oration set in place of a most distinguished man, a most neutral guardian of the peace and a most worthy patron of the Muses, of George Cary, Esquire, who died on the tenth day of July in the year of Our Lord 1601. Behold where is placed a man, blessed with piety and peace, a cultivator of justice, a lover of religion, an example of (for) many, an ornament to his country, in his character an anchor of peace, in his (physical) form like (the Titan) Pallas, powerful in Martial feats. While he lived he worshipped Christ, thus he withdrew from the world firm in the holy religion of God. Now at one time he takes in the Heavens deserved consolation of his labours, at another time he seizes the rest of eternity in the vault of the sky").[13]

Death & burial

Along with several other members of the Devonshire gentry then serving as magistrates he died of gaol fever at the Black Assize of Exeter 1586.

Monument at Clovelly

Escutcheons on the north side of the base of the monument to Robert III Cary in Clovelly Church: left: Cary impaling Sable, three swords pilewise points in base proper pomels and hilts or (Poulett, for his grandfather Sir William I Cary (1437-1471), of Cockington, who married Elizabeth Poulett, a daughter of Sir William Poulett of Hinton St George, Somerset (ancestor of Earl Poulett)); right: Cary impaling Chequy argent and sable, a fess vairy argent and gules (Fulkeram, for his father Robert II Cary (d.1540), of Cockington and Clovelly, who married Margaret Fulkeram (d.1547), daughter and heiress of William Fulkeram of Dartmouth, Devon)

His large monument, with strapwork decoration, survives against the south wall of the chancel of All Saints Church, Clovelly. Along the full length of the cornice is inscribed in gilt capitals: Robertus Carius, Armiger, obiit An(no) Do(mini) 1586[14] ("Robert Cary, Esquire, died in the year of Our Lord 1586"). On the base of the north side are shown two relief sculpted heraldic escutcheons, showing Cary impaling Chequy argent and sable, a fess vairy argent and gules[15] (Fulkeram, for his father) and Cary impaling Sable, three swords pilewise points in base proper pomels and hilts or (Poulett, for his grandfather). On the base of the west side is a similar escutcheon showing his own arms of Cary (of four quarters, 1st: Cary; 2nd: Or, three piles in point azure (Bryan);[16] 3rd: Gules, a fess between three crescents argent (Holleway);[17] 4th: A chevron (unknown, possibly Hankford: Sable, a chevron barry nebuly argent and gules[18]) impaling Gules, a chevron or between three millets hauriant argent (Milliton, canting arms, a "millet" in heraldry being a type of fish, possibly a mullet)[19])

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Vivian, p.150
  2. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.150,157
  3. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.371
  4. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.493;
  5. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.157
  6. ↑ Pole, p.372; Risdon, p.241
  7. ↑ Griggs, 2010, p.5
  8. ↑ Griggs, William, A Guide to All Saints Church, Clovelly, first published 1980, Revised Version 2010, p.5
  9. ↑ Risdon, p.241
  10. ↑ Vivian, p.189, pedigree of Chudleigh
  11. ↑ Vivian, p.39, pedigree of bampfield
  12. ↑ Griggs, 2010, p.5
  13. ↑ Translation based on Griggs, p.5, corrected and expanded
  14. ↑ Griggs, p.4
  15. ↑ Pole, p.483 Fulkeray
  16. ↑ Pole, p.473
  17. ↑ Pole, p.488
  18. ↑ Pole, p.486; Griggs, p.4, states the chevron is for Fulford, yet his grandfather's 2nd wife Anna/Alice Fulford, daughter of Sir Baldwin Fulford, was not an heiress (she had a brother) and thus the Fulford arms would not be quartered by the Cary family, according to the laws of heraldry
  19. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.493;
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