John Raleigh of Forde – a Newton Abbot connection
John Raleigh of Forde - a Newton Abbot connection
The girl she called granddaughter was peering at her, offering the apothecary’s potion. Kitty Hooker; such a pretty girl, so like her mother, Walter’s Mary. Katherine’s mind rambled over memories of the day Kitty wed John Hooker’s son Robert at the Church of St Mary in Wolborough. John Raleigh, grown wealthy from his shipping interests and his wife’s money, had put on quite a show for the wedding of a favourite niece.
An extract from A Woman of Noble Wit
An ageing Katherine Raleigh recalls the wedding of another Catherine (called Kitty in my novel). Kitty was Walter Raleigh senior’s granddaughter, Kitty was the only child of his second marriage to Isbella, the daughter of a London merchant. Mary Raleigh married first Hugh Snedall and then John Rouse.
When researching for my novel I was delighted to find unexpected connections between the Raleighs and my home town, Newton Abbot.
The marriage of Catherine Snedall and Robert Hooker (alias Vowell), son of the Exeter administrator, antiquarian and writeer, John Hooker, (alias Vowell) on 11 August 1586 is recorded in the parish register of St Mary’s Church, Wolborough.
St Mary's Church, Wolbrorough
The church stands amongst green hills just beyond the bustling market town of Newton Abbot. A church has stood on this site for more than 1000 years. As I pass that way walking to my allotment, I often think of those who have visited the church over the centuries.
The present building dates from the fifteenth century, so it may have looked much as it does today when Catherine Sneddall went there for her wedding on a summer's day in 1586. I have found nothing in the historical record to confirm that Katherine Raleigh attended, but it does seem that she had a fondness for Catherine Hooker. When she made her will in 1594 Katherine bequeathed to Mistress Catherine Hooker a highly prized possession — “the bed wherein I lie”.
Nor have I uncovered any evidence to show that Katherine went to an earlier wedding at the same church; that of her stepson John Raleigh. The entry in the parish register for that marriage is rather confused. The names are spelled oddly. It might easily be missed. Close study reveals that on 16 December 1560 "Joshes Raleigh" married "Anna Gardock the relict of John Gardock" – a variant spelling of Gaverocke.
John Gaverocke, former steward of Torre Abbey, came into Abbey lands in Wolborough in the 1540s following the abbey's dissolution. As the last steward he had a fairly modest anual salary of £3 (accordiung the the National Archives currency converter that was enough to buy 2 cows in 1540). In 1545 John and his first wife, Joan, paid £300 for the Wolborough estate. The lands on the other side of the River Lemon continued to be held by the Yarde family of Bradley Manor.
I have discovered only a little of John Gaverocke's history; there are possible links to Great Potheridge in North Devon; Gaverockes are recorded at Bovey Tracey in the 1550s; a Robert Gaverocke and his children appear in the Wolborourgh register — five sons and two duaghters at regular intervals from 1561 to 1572. Robert Gaverocke may have been John's brother. The Inquisition Post Mortem (IPM) for John's heir, Richard, who died in 1563, identifies the next heirs as John Gaverocke's three daughters, Elizabeth, Alicia and Susan.
John Gaverocke's widow, Anne, was his second or third wife. Anne was the daughter of Bartholomew Fortescue of Filleigh. The Fortescues were an ancient and distinguished family who included among their number a former Chief Justice who wrote a notable treatise on English Law and served under Henry VI. By the sixteenth centruy they had connections to many of Devon's prominent families. So it seems John Gaverocke was going up in the world when he married Anne. She was left a wealthy widow when Gaverocke died in 1559 (his Inquisition Post Mortem is recorded in November of that year). i have niot traced a rtecotrd of his burial., but it was likely at St Mary's. Wolborough. The re is a burial record for a John Gaverocke at Bovey Tracey in 1556 , but he is almost certainly a different man. Before John's death the Gaverocke's had moved from the old Manor House in Wolborough Street, Newton Abbot to Forde to the west of the town. John and Anne Raeligh took up residence at Gaverocke's newly built Forde House some time after thier marriage.
St Mary's Chruch,Wolbourgh
The birth of a daughter, Anna, is recorded in 1561 in the Wolborough parish register; another entry easily overlooked due to strange, barely readable, writing and odd spelling. If this is John Raleigh's daughter she must have died befroe reaching adulthood, since I have found no record of either a burial or a marriage, and she is not mentioned in John Raleigh's will.
John Raleigh was born around 1529, the second son of Walter Raleigh senior and his first wife Joan Drake. In 1551 he was co-lessee of the farm at East Budleigh rented by his father. Walter Raleigh senior owned several ships and John was closely involved with the family shipping business, which sometimes crossed the line between privateering and piracy. In 1557 John was named, along with his brother George, in a claim in the Court of Admiralty concerning an act of piracy against a Portuguese vessel.
In 1558, sime time before he married Anne, Elizabeth Adams granted John Raleigh a burgage in Newton Abbot. Interestingly in this document he is already referred to as "John Raleigh of Forde". The deed is witnessed by 'Hugh Snedall, gent' – his half sister Mary’s husband, father of Kitty menioned above. This deed may refer to the house situated on the site of the present day Union Inn, near what was then St Leonard’s chapel of ease. It is said that John Raleigh had a private door to allow him and his family to enter the chapel from his nearby house unobserved. Only the Tower remains today, but the door can be seen inside when the Tower is open to the public.
St Leonard's Tower, aka The Clock Tower, Newton Abbot
After John Gaverocke’s son and heir, Richard, died in 1563, John Raleigh was granted wardship of the three Gaverocke daughters who became co-heiresses to their late brother’s estate. In later land transactions he styles himself “John Raleigh. He is recorded on the list of sea captains drawn up in 1585/86 in preparation for the defence against the threat of Spanish invasion. Sadly he did not live to play a part when the men of Wolborough and Newton Abbot answered the call to muster, Lists drawn up in 1569 show that the flourishing communities of Wolborugh and Newton Abbot could field 15 archers,10 harquebusiers (bearing an early firearm nearly 3 feet long), 21 pikemen (with spokes at the end of 15foot long poles) , and 35 billmen armed with agriculural bill hooks on 6 feet long poles, twenty two othgers cwere listed as able to provide arms, twelve of whom could bring more sophistiucated firearms called calivers.
It was thought for many years that John Raleigh lived to a very old age and was buried in Withycombe Raleigh in 1629. This was due to an uncharacteristic error by the otherwise impeccable Victorian scholar, T. N. Brushfield, who wrongly identified the John Raleigh named on a memorial in Withycombe Raleigh Church as Walter senior's son. Again, we must look to the parish register in Wolborough to find that John was actually buried there on 18 July 1588, just before the English fleet engaged with the Spanish Armada. It is possible his grave lies in the crypt of the church, rather than the graveyard shown above.
John Raleigh (Armiger) made his will on 28 October 1585, being “sick in body but perfect in mind and memorie”. It is a fascinating document that shows he died a wealthy man. He left substantial bequests to his wife Anne, his sister Mary, now the wife of John Rouse, his brother George and to Susan Gaverocke, now the wife of John Drew. He refers to Susan as his daughter-in-law — a term used rather loosely in those times — and made her his sole executrix.The record is silent as to which of Gaverocke's wives was mother to Richard or any of the girls, but it is likely that Susan was Anne Fortescue's daughter. Susan married John Drew at Wolborough Church in 1573, her two sisters Elizabeth and Alicia having married Thomas Marshal and Nicholas Hayman in 1566 and 1572 respectivley. In his will John Raleigh left to John Drew his 'black armour of proof, his black horse and a colt with a flaxen mane,' while his second best suit of armour went to Nicholas Kerswell, esquire. No doubt john's amour had seen good use in his seafaring days as a captain of privateering vessels.
John Raleigh’s widow Anne lived out her life at Forde, but it appears that the Drew’s may also have taken up residence, since we find John Drew styled as "John Drew of Forde" in later documents. Anne died in 1596. Her nephew, Hugh Fortescue, who was Sheriff of Devon in 1583, named in a deed dated 1597. The deed concerns the disposal of Anne Rawleigh's jointure and lands and the debts of John Drew. Through a complex series of transactions Susan Drew and her husband and Susan’s as co-inheritors — both her sisters wer already dead — eventually transferred the whole of the manor of Wolborough to Richard Reynell, a successful lawyer and Member of Parliament whose family came from Ogwell, a village near Newton Abbot. He trasnformed th house started by John Gaverocke, and lived in by Kahteiren Raleigh's step-son, into Forde House.
Forde House today —Photo Newton Abbot Town Council
Updated 25 February 2026
Rosemary Griggs
Sources include; Carter, P, Newton Abbot, The Mint Press, 2004
Parish registers of St Mary's Chruch Wolborough
Brushfield, T, N, Raleghana, a series of papers (Parts I-VIII), which were published in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association between 1896 and 1907. Ralegh Miscellanea (pts. i. and ii.) followed in 1909–10.
The willi of John Raleigh of Forde, The National Archives, PROB.11/72.
If you've enjoyed this article please share on your social media using the buttons below.
