He was the eldest son and heir of Anthony Monke of
Potheridge, where his ancestors had been seated for at least 18 generations,[2] by his wife Mary Arscott (d. 1574/5), eldest daughter of Richard Arscott of
Ashwater, Devon (a younger son of John Arscott (1469-1541) of
Arscott in the parish of Ashwater and a brother of Tristram Arscott (1544-1621) of
Annery, Monkleigh).[3]
Career
He was baptised at Ashwater on 9 April 1570. He matriculated at
King's College, Cambridge at Easter 1587 and was admitted as a student of law to the
Inner Temple in 1590. He was knighted. In 1626 he was elected as a
Member of Parliament for
Camelford[4] in Cornwall. He died at the age of about 57.
Marriage and children
He married Elizabeth Smith, a daughter (by his first marriage) of Sir
George Smith (d. 1619) of Madford House, near Exeter,[6] Devon, a merchant who served as a
Member of Parliament for
Exeter in 1604, was three times
Mayor of Exeter and was Exeter's richest citizen, possessing 25
manors.[7] On her marriage Elizabeth received as a dowry from her father lands including the
manor of
Dolton,[8] in respect of which she and her husband received a royal
licence to alienate granted in 1619 by King James I. The charter, with the Great Seal of King James I appended, survives and is displayed in Dolton Church. Elizabeth's half-sister by their father's second marriage was Grace Smith, wife of the heroic
Civil WarRoyalist commander Sir
Bevil Grenville (1596-1643) of
Bideford in Devon and
Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall, killed in action at the
Battle of Lansdowne (1643) and mother of
John Grenville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701). By his wife Thomas Monck had children including:
Anthony Monck I, eldest son, died childless before 1620;[9]
Anthony Monck II, 2nd son, died childless before 1620;[10]
Col. Thomas Monck (d. 1688),[11] 3rd and eldest surviving son and heir, who married Mary Gould a daughter of William Gould of Hayes. His eldest son and
heir apparent was Lt Thomas Monck (d. 1644), lieutenant to his father, who during the
Civil War was slain in South Street,
Exeter, on the night of 9 July 1644 "through some mistake as to the
password", and was buried at
Great Torrington[12] near Potheridge. His 2nd son George Monck (1647-1669) died aged 22, also during the Civil War, at
Dalkeith House[13] in Scotland, the headquarters of his uncle the Duke of Albemarle.
Nicholas Monck (c. 1610–1661), 5th son,
Bishop of Hereford. From 1640 he served as
Rector of Langtree, a parish near Potheridge, and was given the Rectory of
Kilkhampton in Cornwall by his half-cousin Sir John Grenville[14] (later 1st Earl of Bath). After the Restoration of the Monarchy he was appointed by King Charles II as
Bishop of Hereford in 1660 and
Provost of Eton College. He also played a prominent role in assisting his eminent elder brother in effecting the Restoration.
References
^Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.568, pedigree of Monk of Potheridge
^Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.502. As seen on 1714 mural monument to Sir
Bevil Grenville (d.1643), husband of Grace Smith, in
Kilkhampton Church, Cornwall; Vivian, p.691 appears to have ascribed to this family the wrong arms, namely those of Smith of Dartmouth (Vivian, p.693) and
Smith of Totnes
^Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.569, pedigree of Monk of Potheridge; A History of Bideford by John Watkins 1792