AMEREDITH, Edward (c.1532-1606), of London; later of Slapton, Devon.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b.c.1532, 1st s. of Griffith Ameredith of Exeter by Joan (or Anne), da. of Thomas Moore of Sandridge, Devon. educ. ?Exeter g.s.; Oxf.; M. Temple. m. Elizabeth, da. of Sir Lewis Fortescue, baron of the Exchequer, of Fallapit, Devon, 5s. 5da. suc. fa. 1557.

Offices Held

Marshal’s constable, M. Temple 1557, 1558; bencher 1567, treasurer 1574-9; justice for marine causes, Devon by 1580, j.p. from 1577.

Biography

Ameredith’s father, draper and mayor of Exeter, had supported Sir Peter Carew during the 1549 rising in the west. He had bought a manor from Hugh Pomeroy of Tregony, Cornwall, and perhaps this connexion had something to do with return for the borough in 1563. More probably the return was due to the patronage of the 2nd Earl of Bedford or to the Hastings family, one of whom, room-mate at the Middle Temple, sat for the borough in 1571. Next, Ameredith came in for Exeter at a by-election, being named to committees concerned with inning salt marshes (6 Mar. 1576), relief of vicars and curates (13 Mar.), tenants in tail (27 Feb. 1581) and a bill concerning Lord Zouche (17 Mar.). The passage of the Exeter gavelkind bill in 1581 may have reflected his efforts behind the scenes on behalf of the city. He was paid 4s. a day for 36 days’ attendance in Parliament in 1576.

Ameredith continued his connexion with the Hastings family, performing legal business for the 3rd Earl of Huntingdon in 1579 and 1583. He retired from his London conveyancing practice about 1593. In Devon he was concerned in the assessment of the 1602 subsidy, became treasurer for maimed soldiers and was arbiter in various local disputes. He brought a Star Chamber case to defend his right of wreck in the hundred of Coleridge, saying that he ‘hath quietly had and enjoyed diverse and sundry wrecks by reason of great tempests and foul weather happening there’. His right to Admiralty jurisdiction was unsuccessfully challenged in 1599 when a writ of quo warranto was issued against him. He died in 1606, his inquisition post mortem being taken at Exeter castle in October of that year.

Vivian, Vis. Devon, 13, 607; Roberts thesis; HL, Hastings mss microfilm frame 99; C2. Eliz. G 1/59; CJ, i. 111, 115, 129, 135; Trans. Devon Assoc. lxviii. 107; J. Hooker, Desc. Exeter, 584-97.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: P. W. Hasler

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.