JOHN GYE

(circa 1490 - 1538/9) - Kingsbridge, Devonshire, England; Higher Dodderidge in Sanford, Devonshire, England; Alsington [now Islington], Devonshire, England; Many other properties in Devonshire, England

(Second Generation - Gye Family)

FATHER
MOTHER
JOHN GYE
ELIZABETH SPENCER


BIRTH John was born circa 1490, as based on his 1509 marriage date (from all accounts, it was his first and only marriage).
DEATH & BURIAL John died circa 1538/9; he was 48[2]. His death date is determined by the fact that his Inquisition post mortem was held in 29-30 Henry VIII (1538/9). He, like most of the Gye family, is buried in St. Edmund's, Kingsbridge, Devonshire, England[3], as indicated by his gift of 1528[3].
LEGAL MENTION & REAL ESTATE John was quite a landholder, though was never styled "gent." in extant records. In 1516, a fine speaks of the manor (An area of land consisting of the lord's demesne and of lands from whose holders he may exact certain fees, etc) of Dodderidge as being held by John Gye, Mary his wife and John Prous, clerk. Another source says that he was of Prowse in Sandford, Devonshire, England[7]. The two -- Higher Dodderidge and Prowse -- were, in fact, adjoining manors or farms lying in Sandford (a parish in the Hundred of Crediton)[6]. They both adjoined the manor of Dowrish, as well[6]. The High Dodderidge Manor House was still habitable in 1909[3].

John had extensive holdings in and around the hamlets where the Gye family had roots: Sanford, Ilsington and Poughill -- all in the Exeter, Devonshire, England area. Poughill is just north of Sandford and Ilsongton is southwest of Exeter. A lawsuit from the Chancery Proceedings dated prior to 1516 in which "John Gye sued Nicholas Kyrkham, esq., re detention of deeds relating to messuages" list the disputed holdings as "Dodderidge, Crediton, Poughill, Pasford, Speechwick, Ilsington, South Tawton, Cullompton, Winkleigh, Upton Helion, Chawleigh, Sampford Peverell, Witheridge, Exeter, St. Sidwell's and Holy Trinity [suburbs of Exeter], North Bovey and Stoke in Teighhead[6]."

John's wife, Mary Prowse, brought even more holdings to the family. She was heir general of lands called Upcot (Uppecot or Upcott) in Cheriton FitzPaine (near Poughill), Devonshire, England. These lands had belonged to her great-uncle, Nicholas Radford, who had been a "noted judge" and was murdered at the instigation of his godson, Sir Thomas Courtenay, knt., circa 1455. Sir Thomas and his hired hit man were granted pardon in 1457. Regardless, her 1509 marriage settlement brought these lands to her husband John Gye. In 1516, she and John further claimed the lands of her father Thomas Prowse "in Poughill, Dodderidge, Ilsington and elsewhere"[9].

The Inquisition post mortem (i.p.m. No. E, 150/178/29) of "one John Gey of Devonshire" was held at Plympton, Devonshire, England on 29/30 Henry VIII (1538-1540). Therein was stated:
* a) The deceased, with his wife Mary, was seized of the manors of Poughill and Dodderidge, with lands in South Tawton, Crediton, Upton Hylyon, Chawleigh, Cheriton FitzPaine, South Affeton, Ermington, Kingsbridge, and Alyngton, all in co. Devon.
* b) In 1520, when the said Mary had attained full age, they enfeoffed one William Golberd with certain of the lands for the use of their heirs.
* c) The said John Gey died on 14 August 1536 and that his son and heir was Robert Gey, then aged five years and more[5].

MARRIAGE In 1509, he married Mary PROWSE[8], daughter of Thomas PROWSE & Jane BAYTUN.

CHILDREN 3. i. Robert GYE Please see his own page.




GENERATION Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great (G11) Grandfather (twice)
FAMILY NUMBER 14,932 (Elias Maverick) and 14,996 (Moses Maverick)
SOURCES 1. Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonist Who Came To America Before 1700, 7th Edition With Additions & Corrections by Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc.), [WeisAR7], line 261-43.

2. New England Historic and Genealogical Register. Vols. 1+, (Boston: New England Historic and Genealogical Register, 1845+), [NEHGR], 115:248-253.

3. [WeisAR7], line 261-44.

4. Weis, Frederick Lewis, Colonial Clergy of New England, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.), [WeisCCNE], 137.

5. [NEHGR], 69:153.

6. Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633., (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society), [GreatMig.], II:1242.

7. Torrey, Charles, New England Marriages Prior to 1700., (Boston: New England Historic and Genealogical Society). [Torrey].

8. [NEHGR], ??(April 1915):153.

9. Suffolk Deeds, Volumes 1-14, (Boston, 1880-1906), [SLR], 4:328.

10. [NEHGR], 7:750-1.

11. Mary & John, vols. 1+, (Toledo, OH: Mary & John Clearinghouse), [MaryJohn], ??:29.

12. [NEHGR], 7:753; 69:153; 43:326, 49:214, 50:75, 69:153, 96:232.

13. Warner, Frederick Chester, The Ancestry of Samuel Freda and John Warner, 5 vols., (Boston, Mass.: 1949, 1955), typescript, [Warner-Harrington], 440.

14. Sumner, Edith Bartlett, Descendants of Thomas Farr of Harpswell, Maine and Ninety Allied Families, (Los Angeles: American Offset Printers, 1959), [Farr Anc.], 197.

15. Titcomb, Sarah Elizabeth, Early New England People: Some Account of the Ellis, Pemberton, Willard, Prescott, Titcomb, Sewall and Longfellow, and Allied Families, (Boston: W.B. Clarke & Caruth, 1882), [Titcomb], 245.

16. Noyes, Sybil, Charles Thornton Libby and Walter Goodwin David, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, (Portland, ME: Anthosensen Press 1928-1939; rpt Baltimore: Gen. Publ. Co., 1972), [GDMNH], 470.

17. Underhill, Lora Altine, Descendants of Edward Small of New England, and the Allied Families, (Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1910), [Small], 2:670-1.

18. Fish Frances Webster, Ancestry of Frances Webster Fish, (Oakland, CA: 1923), typescript, [FishAnc].

19. Holman, Mary Lovering, The Scott Genealogy, (Boston, MA: 1919), [Scott (1919)], 185.

20. Tingley, Raymon Meyers, Some Ancestral Lines; Being a Record of Some of the Ancestors of Guilford: Solon Tingley and His Wife, Martha Pamelia Meyers, Collected by Their Son, Raymon Meyers Tingley, (Rutland, Vt.: The Tuttle Publishing Co., 1935), [Tingley-Meyers], 233.

21. Fuess, Elizabeth Goodhue, Cushing and Allied Families, (Andover, Mass., 1931), typescript, [Cushing (Ms)], 308.

22. Cresswell, Beatrix F., The Mavericks of Devonshire and Massachusetts, (Exeter: James Gen. Commin, 1929), [Maverick], 40.

23. [MaryJohn], ??:46.


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