Sir Roger Giffard (died 1547)

Sir Roger Giffard (died 1547) was a younger son of the Giffard family of Halsbury in the parish of Parkham, 4 miles south-west of Bideford. He was the third son of Thomas Giffard (1532/3) of Halsbury, but the eldest by his second wife Anne Coryton, daughter of John Coryton of Newton Ferrers in the parish of St Mellion, in Cornwall. Several monuments exist to the Coryton family in the Church of St Melanus, St Mellion. Thomas's eldest son by his first marriage was heir to Halsbury and the senior line of the family remained seated there until the death of John Giffard of Halsbury (died after 1666), the last in the male line, who bequeathed the estate on Roger Giffard (1646–1724) a younger son of the junior Brightley line. Sir Roger Giffard had 14 children by his wife Margaret Coblegh, including:

• John Giffard (died 1585), eldest son and heir (see below).
• Hugh Giffard, third son, married Johanna (or Joane) Bampfield, widow of Sir Richard Pollard of Way,^[12] St Giles in the Wood and a sister of Richard Bampfield (1526–1594) of Poltimore, Sheriff of Devon in 1576,^[13] whose monument exists in St Mary's Church, Poltimore.
• Roger Giffard (1533–1603), fourth son, who purchased Tiverton Castle after the death without children of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (died 1556). His mural monument exists to the north of the high altar in St Peter's Church, Tiverton, next to the castle. On the death without male children of his grandson Roger Giffard (b.1605), of Tiverton, the property passed to Robert Burgoyne, the husband of his only daughter Joan Giffard.^[14]
• Jane Giffard (died 1596), the wife of Amias Chichester (1527–1577), founder of the family of Chichester of Arlington, a junior line of the prominent Chichester family of Raleigh, Pilton.^[15]
• Wilmot Giffard, wife of Lewis Fortescue (died 1595), younger brother of Richard Fortescue (c. 1517 – 1570), MP, of Filleigh.^[16]
• Mary Giffard (died 1598), wife of John Wykes (c. 1520 – 1591), of North Wyke in the parish of South Tawton, Devon, whose effigy exists in the Wyke Chapel in St Andrew's Church, South Tawton.^[17][18] He is known locally as "Warrior Wykes", and commanded a horse regiment as indicated by the spurs on his effigy. He fought at Havre de Grace and was wounded. He built much of the surviving mansion house of North Wyke, including its chapel, on the corbel of the upper eastern window of which are sculpted the arms of Wykes (three Danish battle-axes) and Giffard.^[19]

John Giffard (died 1585)

John Giffard (died 1585), son and heir of Sir Roger Giffard (died 1547), married Mary Grenville, daughter of Sir Richard Grenville (c. 1495 – 1550), lord of the manors of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall and Bideford, Devon, MP for Cornwall in 1529.^[20] Mary was the sister of Roger Grenville, believed to have been the captain of the Mary Rose in the sinking of which at Portsmouth he drowned in 1545, and was thus aunt of his son the heroic sea captain Sir Richard Grenville (1542–1591) of the Revenge. She survived her husband and remarried Arthur Tremayne of Collacombe.^[14] His eldest son and heir was John Giffard (died 1622).

John Giffard (died 1622)

John Giffard (died 1622), son and heir of John Giffard (died 1585), married Honor Erle (1555-1638), a daughter of the courtier Sir Walter Erle (c.1520-1581) of Colcombe in the parish of Colyton, of Bindon in the parish of Axmouth, both in Devon, and of Charborough in Dorset. His eldest son Arthur Giffard (1580–1616) predeceased his father having married Agnes Leigh (died 1625),^{[lower-alpha 10]} daughter of Thomas Leigh Esq., of Burrough (anciently "Borow", "Borough", etc.)^[21] in the parish of Northam, near Bideford. Arthur left a son and heir to his grandfather, Col. John Giffard (1602–1665), and eight other children including his second son Rev. Arthur Giffard (1605–1666), appointed in 1643 Rector of Bideford by his cousin Sir John Granville (1628–1701) (created Earl of Bath in 1661),^[22] but forcefully ejected by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War. The Devon biographer Rev. John Prince (1643–1723) served under him at Bideford as a young curate and thus had personal knowledge of the family and included his brother Col. John Giffard (died 1665) as one of his Worthies of Devon.

Col. John Giffard (1602–1665)

Col. John Giffard (1602–1665), grandson of John Giffard (died 1622), was a Colonel of Royalist forces in the Civil War, who married in 1621 Joan Wyndham, daughter of Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645) of Orchard Wyndham, near Williton, Somerset. He had a daughter Grace, whose effigy exists in Chittlehampton Church, and at least two sons, John Giffard (1639–1712), his heir, and Roger Giffard (1644–1724).

John Giffard (1639–1712)

John Giffard (1639–1712), son and heir of Col. John Giffard (1602–1665), married twice:

• Firstly to Susannah Bampfylde, of North Molton. Their son John Giffard (died 1704) married Margaret Clotworthy, daughter of Roger Clotworthy of Rashleigh. This marriage produced only a daughter Margaret (died 1743), who married John Courtenay (died 1732), the last in the male line of Courtenay of Molland. The arms of Giffard are shown on the mural monument to John Courtenay in Molland Church as an escutcheon of pretence within the Courtenay arms, denoting her status as an heraldic heiress.
• Secondly to Frances Fane, by whom he had at least two sons, Henry Giffard (1675–1709) an officer in the Royal Navy, who married Martha Hill, daughter of Edward Hill, Judge of the Admiralty and Treasurer of Virginia. His brother and John Giffard's 4th son was his heir Caesar Giffard (died 1715) who married Mary Melhuish. They had a daughter Rachel Giffard who married Thomas Colley (died 1762). The executors of the will of Caesar Giffard sold the manor of Chittlehampton in 1737 to Samuel Rolle of Hudscott, within the parish of Chittlehampton. The property comprised 1,300 acres and was sold for £9,550.^[23]

Giffard Monument (1625)

This monument situated against the north wall of the north transept serves as a memorial to five generations of the Giffard family of Brightley, the principal manor within the parish of Chittlehampton. It was erected in 1625 by John Giffard (1602–1665), then a young man, shown kneeling at the bottom right, ostensibly as a monument to his grandfather John Giffard (died 1622), whose heir he was and who is represented by the main recumbent effigy. The young John's father Arthur Giffard (died 1616), who died during his own father's lifetime and thus never inherited Brightley, is shown kneeling opposite his son at the bottom left, praying before a book placed on a prie dieu. Two renaissance-style stone medallions showing faces in profile sculpted in relief are positioned above the recumbent effigy and, as is indicated by the heraldry, represent on the left Sir Roger Giffard (died 1547) who married Margaret Cobleigh, heiress of Brightley, and on the right his son John Giffard (1524-1623), who by his wife Mary Grenville, was the father of John Giffard (died 1622), the recumbent effigy below him.^[24] On a panel directly above the recumbent effigy is an inscription in Latin, translated into English thus:

"Here lies John Giffard, Esquire, a man of outstanding piety, probity, prudence and providence, who from Honor his wife, from the family of Erle, received a most plentiful progeny. However with Arthur his firstborn having died with his father still living, he substituted for him as his heir John the son of Arthur. Thus with his family splendidly and successfully settled, with his sons and with the sons of his sons sufficiently provided for and with John his heir having been allied in marriage to the most select Joan from the illustrious stock of Wyndham of Somerset, already a seventy-year-old, he departed from the living. With his urn having been touched (2 Kings 13:21), those famous names once upon a time dead seemed as if to have risen up again: Roger Giffard, knight, sprung from the family of Halsbury, who had as his wife Margaret the daughter and heiress of John Cobleigh of Brightley; John Giffard, esquire, whom Mary was the wife (of), the daughter of Richard Grenville, knight; and of the greatest hope Arthur Giffard who received for his wife Agnes, the daughter of Thomas Leigh, esquire. John Giffard, his most sorrowful grandson, placed here this monument, a symbol of most pious observance".

Atop in Latin are the words translated as "The angels carried him into Abraham's bosom".^[25]