23. KIRKHAM-DENNYS

Sampson Tree

NICHOLAS KIRKHAM and AGATHA DENNYS (23)

 

NICHOLAS DENNIS. In the Heralds Visitations of 1620 Nicholas is said to be the son of John Kirkham of Ashcomb.[1] Thomas Habington’s pedigree of the Kirkham family has his father as Robert Kirkham.[2] The former seems more likely to be true.

Neither tree names his mother.

He is likely to have born in the second half of the 13^th century.

Nicholas grew up in the small village of Ashcombe, west of the Exe, under Haldon Hill.

His father is not said to be a knight, or to be one of the most prominent men in Devon. Nicholas considerably exceeded his father in status. Sir William Pole has Nicolas Kirkham of Ashcombe, Kt, as one of the leading men in Devon in the reign of Edward I (1272-1307).[3]

Nicholas was Sheriff of Devon in the second and third years of the reign of Edward II, 1308-1310.

He raised the family fortunes considerably by marrying an heiress of the wealthy Dennys family.

 

AGATHA DENNYS. She was the daughter of Sir Henry le Deneis of Pancrasweek. Her mother was Isabel Massey.

The Dennys family owned many manors, but their principal home was at Pancrasweek, a village 3 miles NW of the market town of Holsworthy in North Devon, and 6 miles from the coast at Bude.

Agatha had a brother Robert, but he died without issue before 1307, leaving Agatha and her sister Margaret as his heirs. Margaret was married to Reginald Ferrers of Bere Ferrers, and they are also our ancestors.

Margaret inherited Pancrasweek. Among the properties Agatha inherited were Blagdon, just west of Paignton, and nearby Colleton Clavill, now Collaton St Mary.

Nicholas and Agatha made their home in Blagdon, which remained the seat of the Kirkhams for generations.

Sir William Pole tells us:
BLAGDON
Blagdon in the Moore lyeth in the parish of Paynton, & was first the land of Denys (written anciently Dacus). Sr Robert le Deneis, Kt, which dyed in Kinge Edw I tyme, left this land & Coleton Clavill unto Sr Nicas Kirkham, Kt, wch had married Agatha on of his sisters; in wch name it hath continyewed unto these dayes.

According to the Heralds Visitations, Nicholas and Agatha had a son, also Nicholas. Thomas Habington adds an extra generation, making their son Robert, whose son was the younger Nicholas.

We have no death dates for Nicholas and Agatha, but it is likely that they lived to see the Great Famine that began in 1314. There were torrential rains late that year, followed by a very cold winter and heavy rains in the following spring. Many sheep and cattle died. The bad weather continued, almost unabated, into 1321, resulting in a string of bad harvests. Revenues from the exports of wool plummeted and the price of food rose.

This added to the unpopularity of Edward II, exacerbated by the favouritism of his close friend Piers Gaveston.

As landowners, Nicholas and Agatha would have felt the effect on their estates, with the loss of animals and crops.

Their son Nicholas was again listed by Pole among the most prominent men in Devon, in the reign of Edward III (1327-1377)

 

[1] Tuckett, John. Devonshire Pedigrees. Recorded in the Heralds Visitations of 1620.
[2] Habington, Thomas, A Survey of Worcestershire. Handwritten c.1640, pub. Worcestershire Historical Society, 1899.
[3] Sir William Pole (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description  of the County of Devon,(1791)
[4] Wikiwand