Plymouth, Prominent Citizens | Sir Piers/Peter Edgcumbe

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The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History

SIR PIERS/PETER EDGCUMBE

It is somewhat doubtful that Sir Piers/Peter Edgcumbe did become a prominent citizen of Plymouth but he was the first of that family to own land within the present City. The family owned the Cotehele Estate, in the Cornish parish of Calstock, along with the Borough, Manor and Castle of Totnes, in Devon. [1]

Peter Edgcumbe, or Piers as the family seem to prefer to call him, was born in 1477 to Sir Richard Edgcumbe and his wife, formerly Miss Jane Tremayne. He was only 12-years-old when his father died on June 14th 1489 and he inherited the land mentioned above along with other manors and holdings throughout Devon and Cornwall. [1]

He married Mrs Jane Dynham, the widow of Mr Charles Dynham, of Nutwell, in the parish of Lympstone, Devon, and who just happened to be the daughter and heir of Mr James* Derneford (the modern spelling being Durnford), the owner of the manors of East and West Stonehouse and Rame. [1]

East Stonehouse developed into the township of that name, which was amalgamated with Plymouth and Devonport in 1914 to create the modern Plymouth while West Stonehouse was the area on the Cornish shore of the Hamoaze that is now Cremyll. Thus, with Rame, also in Cornwall, meant that the Edgcumbe's now owned all the land of strategic importance for the defence of Plymouth and Plymouth Dock when the latter was created in 1690.

He was knighted in 1494 and served as Sheriff of Devon on four occasions between then and 1522. He was present at what became known as "The Battle of the Spurs" in France. [1]

Jane gave Sir Piers three sons and three daughters (Richard, John, James, Elizabeth, Jane, and Agnes [2]) before she died sometime before 1525. He then remarried, to Catherine, the widow of Sir Gruffudd ap Rhys and daughter of Sir John St John, of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire. There were no children from the second marriage. [1]

Sir Piers/Peter Edgcumbe died on August 14th 1539 and his estates went to the eldest son, Sir Richard Edgcumbe, who erected Mount Edgcumbe House to eclipse Mount Wise House that had been built on the Stoke Damerel side of the Hamoaze by the Wise family. [1]

* The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography [1] gives his name as James but the Collins's Peerage of England [2] states his Christian name to have been Stephen.

Sources:

[1] Sir Peter Edgcumbe (1477-1539), "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, Oxford, Oxfordshire, 2009.

[2] Brydges, Sir Egerton, KJ, "Collins's Peerage of England, volume V", London, 1812, as digitized by Google.