STOWFORD (STAFFORD), George (by 1525-60 or later), of Ottery St. Mary, Devon.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Apr. 1554

Family and Education

b. by 1525, s. of William Kelloway alias Stowford of Ottery St. Mary by da. of William Hilling. m. Joan. da. of Richard Mercer of Ottery St. Mary, 1s. 3da.1

Offices Held

Auditor, Ottery St. Mary by 1546, under steward by 1559.2

Biography

George Stowford belonged to a branch of the north Devon family of Kelloway which by the beginning of the 16th century had generally come to be known by the name of Stowford, an estate in the parish of Dolton. This gentle family had some Cornish connexions—Stowford’s uncle had married a Menwennick and one of his daughters was the wife of John Melhuish—but these would not have sufficed to explain Stowford’s election for a Cornish borough, which is probably to be ascribed to two of his neighbours who held administrative posts in the duchy, John Evelegh, co-lord of Ottery, and John Haydon, an official of the manor and Stowford’s precursor as under steward.3

Apart from his one spell at Westminster and his manorial offices little has come to light about Stowford. In 1559 he was accused of expelling a man from some land in Ottery and in the lawsuit which followed he was described, perhaps conventionally, as one ‘of great substance and well friended and allied’; the case went against him and possession was awarded to the plaintiff. A year later he obtained the wardship and marriage of a local heir. No later reference to Stowford has been discovered and the date of his death is unknown: he was succeeded by his son George who was still alive in 1620.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: J. J. Goring

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from first reference. Vis. Devon, ed. Vivian, 510, 712; Req. 2/76/34.
  • 2. Devon Monastic Lands (Devon and Cornw. Rec. Soc. i), 81; Req.2/191/53.
  • 3. Vis. Devon, 510; Req.2/76/34, 191/53.
  • 4. Req.2/76/34, 191/53; CPR, 1558-60, p. 328.