John Rogers (abt. 1470 - abt. 1540)

Born about 1470 in Bryanston, Dorset, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Courtenay) Rogers — married about 1500 in England

Husband of Dorothy (Ifield) Rogers — married after 8 Aug 1528 in England

Descendants

Died about 1540 at about age 70 in Bryanston, Dorset, England [uncertain]

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Biography

John Rogers was probably born in the 1470s, the eldest son of Sir Henry Rogers of Bryanston, Dorset,^[1] and his wife, a daughter of William, Lord Stourton whose name is variously given as Anne, Amy, or Avice Stourton.^[2] He appears first amongst Sir Henry's children in a manuscript of noble genealogies compiled circa 1505,^[3] and Henry refers to "John Rogers myn eldest son" in his will, dated 14 Dec 1506, which grants John the bulk of Henry's estate and makes him his executor.^[4]

Probably in around 1500, John married Elizabeth Courtenay, later said to be daughter of Sir William Courtenay of Powerham, Devon.^[1] Evidence for this could be found in the old church at Bryanston, where antiquarian John Hutchins noted a gravestone before the altar rails with effigies of a man and a woman accompanied by a shield on which the Rogers coat of arms was impaled by the arms of the Courtenay family. Impalement — the display of two coats of arms side by side on a single shield — is the heraldic device used used to denote marriage. The gravestone also had an inscription which Hutchins recorded as:

Of your charitie pray for the soules of John Rogers, esquyer, and Elizabeth his wife. Which John … decessed the … day of … in the yer Mdx… and Elizabeth decessed the first day of October, in the yer of our Lord Mdxxviii, on whose soules Jhu have m'cy.^[5]

The same arms were one of a pair of "pretty old" coats of arms in the east window of the chancel that Richard Symonds recorded in 1644. The other was of Rogers impaled by Stourton,^[6] for John's parents. That these two arms were included together in the same window strongly suggests they were consecutive generations of the family, and that it was therefore Sir Henry's son that married Elizabeth Courtenay.

According to a genealogy compiled in 1853 by George Harrison, the then Windsor Herald, John and Elizabeth's children were: John, William, James, Anthony, jane, Margaret and Joan. Harrison cites only unspecified "Records of the College of Arms".^[1] Perhaps he was relying on an early herald's visitation that has otherwise been overlooked. Of these children, only John, James, and Jane the husband of Richard Zouche are mentioned in John's will, dated 9 June 1535.^[7] This may be because others all predeceased their father, without issue, but Harrison's genealogy disagrees, and makes Joan the wife of William Gifford and indicates that they had children.^[1] After the death of Elizabeth, John's first wife, according to Harrison, John married twice further. His second wife was Mary, daughter of Sir William Finch of the Mote, Kent, and widow of a man surnamed Whitney. His third wife was Dorothy, daughter and heir of Sir John Field, of Standon, Hertfordshire.^[1] They were married after 8 August 1528.^[8][9]

In 1522 John served as High Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset (and counties being treated as one for the purpose), and shortly afterwards he was created a Knight Bachelor.^[10] In about 1530 John filed suit against his nephew, Henry Lovell, over the title to Northanger, a property in the parish of Eling, Hampshire that Sir Henry gave as dowry to his daughter Margaret, Henry Lovell's mother. John claimed Northanger was held in fee tail, and therefore Sir Henry had not been free to give it away.^[11] As Henry Lovell mentioned a house called "Hanger", presumably meaning Northanger, in his 1556 will,^[12] presumably John lost or abandoned the claim.

Sir John died sometime between 9 June 1535 when he wrote his will, and 25 May 1546 when it was proved.^[7] Harrison and many later sources give 25 May 1547 as the date of probate,^[1] perhaps due to a printing error in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, and some modern sources have used this as a date of death.^[13] Unfortunately Hutchins was unable to read the date on his gravestone,^[5] and as he was succeeded by a son of the same name who also was knighted, it's not easy to determine which records refer to John and which to his son.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Harrison, George. "Rogers Genealogy" in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, vol 1 (1868), p 258. Available digitally from FamilySearch.
2. ↑ Mowbray, Charles Botolph Joseph, Lord. History of the Noble House of Stourton, vol 1, p 242. London, 1899. Available digitally from the Internet Archive.
3. ↑ N.H.N. "Pedigrees showing the relationship between many of the nobility and gentry, and the blood royal; compiled about the year 1505." in Collectanea topographica et genealogica, vol 1 (1834), p 312. Citing British Library, Harl. MS. 1074. Available digitally from the Internet Archive.
4. ↑ The National Archives. "Will of Sir Henry Rogers" (PROB 11/15/26), records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Hutchins, John. The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset (3rd ed.), vol 1, pp 263. Westminster : Shipp & Hodson, 1861. Available digitally from FamilySearch.
6. ↑ Symonds, Richard. Diary of the Marches of the Royal Army During the Great Civil War, p 127. Westminster : The Camden Society, 1859. Available digitally from the Internet Archive.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} The National Archives. "Will of Sir John Rogers of Bryanston, Dorset" (PROB 11/31/153), records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
8. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. II, p. 168.
9. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. II, p. 586.
10. ↑ Shaw, Wiliam A. The Knights of England, vol 2, p 45. London : Sherratt & Hughes, 1906. Available digitally from the Internet Archive.
11. ↑ The National Archives. "Rogers v Lovell" (C 1/671/43), records created, acquired, and inherited by Chancery.
12. ↑ Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. "Will and inventory of Henry Lovell of Eling, Hampshire" (1556U/41). 1556.
13. ↑ "Community Trees," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:78LP-BH8 : accessed 2023-12-20), entry for Sir John Rogers Knight, cites sources; "Europe. Royal and Noble Houses. Date range: 400s–1900s." file (2:2:2:MMD2-H72), submitted 2016-01-21 by FamilySearch.

See Also:

• The Visitation of the County of Dorset taken in the year 1623 Page 79: Rogers
• Marlyn Lewis