Painsford (anciently Pinford,Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.291 etc.) is an historic estate in the parish of Ashprington in Devon.
Painsford House Painsford House was described as follows in 1850: "It was formerly much larger than at present, and its dilapidated chapel, though disused since the middle of the last century" (i.e. the 18th century), "still retains its pulpit, pews and altar -piece, and has a suit of armour hanging over the communion rails. The left wing of the house has a fine row of arches."White's Directory of Devon, 1850 In 2017 Painsford is a farmhouse much reduced in size displaying few signs of its former high status as a mansion of the Devonshire gentry. It is of an "L-shape" with rendered facade facing the garden. Ruins of the west wing survive, namely of a loggia with octagonal piers. Only the south and west walls survive of the chapel refounded by John Kellond in 1687.Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.136
Descent Wolhey The estate is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The earliest holder recorded by Pole (died 1635) was John Wolhey, who was seated there during the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377).
Piperell
Richard Piperell held Painsford during the reign of King Richard II (1377–1399). He was succeeded by his son Richard Piperell (died 1406/07)Pole, p.291 stating regnal date 8 Henry IV who died without progeny, when his heir became his sister Alis Piperell, then aged 40, the wife of her near neighbour Walter Halgewell (alias Halgawell) of HalgawellPole, pp.291,292 (later Halwell Combe,Pole, p.292 now Halwell), near Ashprington.Pole, p.292 "Halgawell", which paragraph he places in the section headed "Ashbrinton (i.e. Ashprington); not apparently to be confused with the estate of "Haleghewell" (now "Halwell") in the parish of Brixton, DevonThorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Part 2 (notes) 17:107
Halgewell Painsford was held by the Halgewell family until it was purchased by John Somaster, a brother of William Somaster of Nether Exe.Pole, p.291
Somaster
John Somaster (died 1535) Painsford was purchased from the Halgewell family by John Somaster (died 1535Vivian, p.695), a brother of William Somaster of Nether Exe.Pole, p.291 The pedigree of "Somaster of Painsford" was one of those submitted by the gentry families of Devon to the heralds at the 1620 Heraldic Visitation of Devon.Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.695 Their arms were: Argent, a castle triple-towered within an orle of fleurs-de-lys sable.Vivian, p.695 Their crest was a portcullis.Risdon, Tristram (died 1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.167, who adds "whose armories Stokenham showeth", meaning unclear The Devon historian Risdon (died 1640) suggests the surname was from the Latin Summus Magister, meaning "highest magistrate".Risdon, p.167: Quasi Summus Magister ("as if highest magistrate") John Somaster's aunt was Elizabeth Somester (a daughter of Adam Somaster of Widecombe and widow successively of John Coleshill and Richard Unde, both of Exeter), 3rd wife of Sir John Speke (1442–1518) of Whitelackington, Somerset and of Heywood in the parish of Wembworthy and of Bramford Speke both in Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1517 and a Member of Parliament. The arms of Somaster thus appear sculpted in the Speke Chantry in the Chapel of St George (which he built) in Exeter Cathedral, the burial place of her husband.
John Somaster (died 1535) married Jane Dillon, a daughter of Nicholas Dillon of Chimwell in the parish of Bratton Fleming in Devon.
William Somaster (1507–1589) William Somaster (1507–29 June 1589), son and heir, who married Katherine Fortescue, a daughter of Henry Fortescue (1492–1567) of PrestonVivian, p.695 in the parish of Newton Ferrers,Pole, p.307 Devon (a younger grandson of John Fortescue of Whympston, Modbury, a Member of Parliament variously for Totnes, Tavistock and Plympton.Vivian, p.353), by his wife ElizabethOr Agnes, per the verse on brass plate in Yealmpton Church of her daughter Isabella Fortescue, wife of John Copleston of Bowden in the parish of Ashprington St Maur, a daughter of William St Maur lord of the Manor of North Molton,Pole, p.307 Devon. His monumental brassSee image survives in Ashprington Church, inscribed on a brass plate as follows: "Wylliam Sumaster of Paynesford Esquire, died the xxix of June 1589 & lyeth here buryed. Christ is my life and death my advantage".The English language version of the very common Latin epitaph Mors mihi lucrum ("death to me is reward") from St Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, 1:21
Above are two invertedThe display of inverted heraldic shields was used in the 13th century to denote that the armiger was dead, see for example the manuscripts of Matthew Paris, but is very rare in the context of monumental brasses brass shields, both displaying the arms of Somaster impaling Fortescue Azure, a bend engrailed argent cotised or.See image By his wife he had 4 sons and 2 daughters, including: John Somaster of East Allington, Devon, eldest son, who married a certain Elizabeth. He was "disinherited for marrying without his father's consent".Vivian, p.695, quoting A View of Devonshire by Thomas Westcote Rev. Thomas Somaster, 2nd son, Rector of Bere Ferrers and Archdeacon of CornwallVivian, p.695 3 January 1571 – 1603,Archdeacon Of Cornwall in Clergy of the Church of England database died without progeny.Vivian, p.695 Henry Somaster (died 1606) of Painsford, 3rd son and heir.Vivian, p.695 George Somaster, 4th son, Principal of Broadgates Hall, Oxford,Vivian, p.695 died without progeny
Henry Somaster (died 1606) Henry Somaster (died 1606) of Painsford, 3rd son and heir,Vivian, p.695 who in 1583 married Alice Arundell (died 1622/23), a daughterStated incorrectly as "and co-heiress" per Vivian, p.695, as she had half-brothers by her father's second wife of John Arundell (died 1580) of Trerice in Cornwall, a Member of Parliament for Mitchell, Cornwall, in 1555 and 1558, and High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1573–1574, who built the present mansion house at Trerice in about 1572. Her half-brothers (by her father's second wife) were Sir John Arundell (1576 – c. 1656) of Trerice, nicknamed "Jack-for-the-King", MP for Cornwall and for Tregony and Governor of Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, during the Civil War; and Thomas Arundell of Duloe, MP for West Looe, a soldier who served in the Netherlands.Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of Cornwall: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1530, 1573 & 1620; with additions by J.L. Vivian, Exeter, 1887, p.12 By his wife he had progeny as follows: Sir Samuel Somaster (born 1592) of Painsford, son and heir;Vivian, p.695 Rebeka Somaster, wife of Nicholas Burton, Lieutenant-GovernorSee: Olivcer, S. Pasfield, Pendennis & St Mawes: An Historical Sketch of Two Cornish Castles, Truro & London, 1875: "Sir Nicholas Parker, captain of Pendennis castle, was, in 1598, by letter of the queen Elizabeth, empowered to exercise the charge of captain of that fort by deputy, in case of necessity; and subsequently, in exercise of the power conferred upon him by that letter, he appointed Nicholas Burton his deputy.(p.90) Nicholas Burton was succeeded in the lieutenant-governorship by Sir Nicholas Hals.(pp.23-4) Nicholas Burton, in a petition dated 1624, described himself as "late Lieutenant-Governor of Pendennis Fort". (St Pa. Dom. Ser. vol. 168, No. 77). He probably had resigned the lieutenant-governorship, and been succeeded by Sir Nicholas Hals, in 1613" of Pendennis Castle,Vivian, p.695 Falmouth, Cornwall.
Sir Samuel Somaster (born 1592) Sir Samuel Somaster (born 1592) of Painsford, son and heir, who married Frances Strode (died 1628),Vivian, p.695 a daughter of Sir William IV Strode (1562–1637) of Newnham in the parish of Plympton St Mary in Devon (whose mural monument survives in St Mary's Church, Plympton) a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1597 and 1624, for Plympton Erle in 1601, 1604, 1621 and 1625, and for Plymouth in 1614, High Sheriff of Devon from 1593 to 1594 and Deputy Lieutenant of Devon from 1599. His 2nd son was William Strode (1594–1645), MP, one of the Five Members whose impeachment and attempted unconstitutional arrest by King Charles I in the House of Commons in 1642 sparked the Civil War. Samuel Somaster married secondly to a certain Dorothy, widow of a certain Wise. He had progeny 5 daughters and 7 sons, including: George Somaster (born 1612), eldest son and heir.Vivian, p.695 Henry Somaster (born 1613), 2nd son, a captain in the Earl of Manchester's Regiment of Foot.Vivian, p.695 William Somaster (born 1615), 3rd son, a captain in the Parliamentary NavyVivian, p.695 during the Civil War. Samuel Somaster (born 1621), 4th son, a lieutenant in Sir Francis Drake's Regiment of Horse.Vivian, p.695 Mary Somaster (born 1611), eldest daughter, wife of Dr Joseph Martin, LLD, Chancellor of Exeter Cathedral and Judge of the Court of Admiralty in Devon.Vivian, p.695
George Somaster (born 1612) George Somaster (born 1612), eldest son and heir.Vivian, p.695
Kellond
John I Kellond (1609–1679) John Kellond (1609–1679), Sheriff of Devon in 1666, purchased Painsford in 1647.Vivian, pp.508-9, pedigree of "Kellond of Painsford"Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.136 He was a son of John Kellond (1575/6-1623) of Totnes, a son of Walter Kellond (died 1592) of Totnes, merchant.Vivian, p.508 He married Susanna Fownes (died 1648/49), a daughter of Thomas Fownes (died 1638) of Plymouth, Mayor of Plymouth in 1619, whose descendant Henry Fownes-Luttrell (c.1722-1780) of Nethway, Brixham, in 1746 married Margaret Luttrell, heiress of Dunster Castle in Somerset.Vivian, p.372-4, pedigree of "Fownes of Plymouth" The couple's monument survives in Ashprington Church.Vivian, p.508 "MI" One of his younger sons, Thomas Kellond (1636–1686) went to Boston, Massachusetts.Vivian, p.508
John II Kellond (1635–1692) John II Kellond (1635–1692) of Painsford, eldest son and heir, a Member of Parliament for Totnes in March 1679, 1681 and 1685. and Sheriff of Devon in 1683.Vivian, p.508 He refounded the chapel at Painsford in 1687.Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.136 He married his first cousin Bridget Fownes (born 1641), sister of John Fownes (1640–1670)Vivian, p.373 of Whitley, Devon.Per inscription on monument in Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great to their son John Kellond His monument survives in Ashprington Church.Vivian, p.508 "MI" His eldest son, who predeceased him, was John Kellond (1666–1685) who died unmarried aged 19 at St Mary, Savoy,Vivian, p.509 and was buried in the Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great in the City of London, where his monument survives on the south wall of the choir. His maternal grandparents, Thomas and Hester Fownes, lived in that parish for forty years or more.E A Webb, 'Monuments, memorials and heraldry', in The Records of St. Bartholomew's Priory and St. Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield: Volume 2 (Oxford, 1921), pp. 449-487 The monument comprises an oval stone draped tablet with three cherub heads, above which are a heraldic shield displaying the arms of Kellond: Sable a fess and in chief three fleurs-de-lis argent, on the fess a crescent for difference of a second son, and a crest: A demi heraldic tiger salient or maned argent. It is inscribed in Latin as follows: