STROWBRIDGE (TROWBRIDGE), John (by 1523-94), of Streathayne in the parish of Colyton, Devon.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. by 1523, s. of John Strowbridge of Streathayne by Thomasin, da. of John Tudoll of Lyme Regis, Dorset. m. (1) 1541, Joan (d.1556), da. of William Coxhed of Chulmleigh, Devon, 4s. 4da., (2) 1558 Dorothy, da. of Sir John Gaynsford of Crowhurst Surr., wid. of one Cawarden. suc. fa. 1539.1

Offices Held

Biography

John Strowbridge inherited from his father the house at Streathayne in which he lived. He also owned one in Lyme, where his sister was married to a prominent merchant and his grandfather lived until his death in 1548. Strowbridge’s father and his uncle (also John) frequently exported tin and cloth through the port of Lyme, but the younger John Strowbridge, described as gentleman at his election to Parliament, appears not to have engaged in trade. He was a stepson of the lawyer William Pole, a near neighbour at Colyford in Devon and one of Lyme’s Members in 1545. Another neighbour, Secretary Petre, with whom Strowbridge was to have property dealings, may have favoured his return in 1555 as he had probably done that of Thomas Goodwin in the two previous years.2

In January 1547 the tenants of Colyton, who had held their lands of the crown since the attainder of the Marquess of Exeter, were allowed to purchase their holdings for a joint sum of £1,000: Strowbridge was one of the tenants chosen to negotiate this grant. The right to a market at Colyton on three days of the week was vested, with the powers of clerk of the market, in Strowbridge and other residents.3

Strowbridge lived to a great age. He made his will on 30 Jan. 1594, leaving to his wife all the goods she brought with her on marriage and an annuity from John Mallock, and making bequests to his daughter Margaret Lowde and her children, his cousins Jane and Thomasin Strowbridge, and his son Adrian, whom he named executor and residuary legatee. He appointed as overseers of the will, which was proved on 2 Mar. 1594, his friend William Weston and his wife’s son-in-law John Carpenter, minister, whom he asked to preach at the funeral. Strowbridge died and was buried at Colyton on the same day on which he made the will.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: Helen Miller

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from tenure of a property in 1544, LP Hen. VIII, xix. PCC 2 Alenger, 26 Dixy; Colyton Par. Regs. (Devon and Cornw. Roc. Soc. xiv), 4-5, 10, 12, 14-16, 457, 459, 463, 568, 572, 575, 599.
  • 2. PCC 2 Alenger; LP Hen. VIII, xix; Lyme Regis, fugitive pieces, 2, no. 16; E122/121/7, 8, 207/2; NRA 9466 (Devon RO 123M/E1022-3).
  • 3. CPR, 1554-5, p. 175; 1558-60, p. 410.
  • 4. PCC 26 Dixy; Colyton Par. Regs. 595, 599.