Died 1570 | ||
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John Rolle (1522–1570) of Stevenstone, in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington, Devon, was the eldest son and heir of George Rolle (died 1552), MP, founder of the great Rolle family of Stevenstone, by his second wife Eleanor Dacres. Three monuments survive in memory of his immediate family in the churches of St Giles in the Wood and Chittlehampton.
Contents
Marriage and children
He married Margaret Ford, daughter of John Ford (died 1538) of Ashburton, the son and heir of William Ford of Chagford. John Ford purchased the estate of Bagtor in the parish of Ilsington, which his male heirs successively made their seat. The Elizabethan mansion of the Fords survives today as the service wing of a later house appended in about 1700. Margaret's great nephew was John Ford (1586-c.1639) the dramatist, who was baptised at Ilsington, and her great-great-nephew was Sir Henry Ford (1617-1684), MP for Tiverton and Secretary of State for Ireland. By his wife he had eight sons and two daughters:
Sons
Daughters
Brass of John Rolle
His small monumental brass survives now affixed by modern screws into the floor of the south aisle of St Giles in the Wood parish Church, beneath the separate brass figure of his wife, but formerly affixed to his two and a half foot high chest tomb situated in the chancel of that church as recorded by Prince in his 1710 work "Worthies of Devon". It is inscribed in Latin thus: "Hic jacet Joh(ann)es Rolle, Ar(miger), quonda(m) domin(u)s de Stevinstone qui obiit 12.o (duodecimo) die Augusti Anno D(omi)ni 1570" ("Here lies John Rolle, Esquire, sometime lord of Stevenstone who died on the 12th day of August in the year of Our Lord 1570"). The arms show Rolle impaling "Party per fesse argent (or azure) and sable, in chief a greyhound current in base an owl within a bordure engrailed all counter-changed" (Ford)
Brass of Margaret Ford
The surviving monumental brass of Margaret Ford, wife of John Rolle (d.1570), is situated in the Church of St Giles in the Wood. It is inscribed thus: Hic Stevenstonii Rolli jacet inclita mater nil habuit vera quae pietate prius cu.. quib.. & vixit sex mascula pignor aliquit queis desideriv mortua triste tulit pars melior superos adiit cetusque pioru.. egidii templo hoc ossa sepulta cubant si quis plura velit vel noscere plura laborat vecimo hec prestat scripta tabella logo. To the left is a brass plaque depicting her 2 daughters (see above) and to the left a plaque showing her 8 sons (see above). Below is a brass to her husband (see above), showing the arms of Rolle impaling Ford, moved from elsewhere in the church.