The Mortimers of Totnes, 1520-1615

Family origins

The history of the earliest generations of the Mortimer family of Totnes is particularly challenging and hard to pin down with certainty. Circumstantial evidence points towards the Mortimers having an early connection with the town, which in the late Middle Ages was an important market town and trading centre, defended by its imposing motte and bailey castle and town wall.

The earliest definitive record of Mortimers in the Totnes area is in the 1524 Lay Subsidy, when Thomas Mortimore paid tax on an income of £2 in Berry Pomeroy, two miles away from Totnes. Two years previous, a Thomas Morhilmore features in a record alongside John Guy concerning land Kingsbridge. The name is probably a mistranscription of Mortimore, so this could be the same Thomas Mortimer, as Thomas Mortimer of Tedburn was presumably dead by then. The Guy family were connected to Sandford in Devon, through the marriage of John Guy to Mary Prowse, heiress of the Prowse estates. An early branch of the Mortimer family originated in Sandford.

A contemporary of Thomas Mortimer was James Mortimer, (c.1499-aft.1524) of West Teignmouth, who in the 1524 Lay subsidy was assessed with income of £1. He was presumably a younger son, and on the basis of geography was perhaps connected to either the family of Tedburn St Mary or Totnes. If he was born in Totnes this takes the presence of the family there back a previous generation, although documented evidence remains lacking for this time period.

Presumably the same Thomas Mortimer as above, brought suit in chancery against Edward Miller, husbandman, between 1538/44, concerning lands in Berry Pomeroy. In this document, Thomas is described as a yeoman. In the 1543 Lay subsidy, Thomas was joined by a family member, Richard Mortimer, presumably his son. Importantly, nearby in Totnes, Robert Mortimer was also assessed on an income of £5, marking the first appearance of the Mortimers in Totnes in official records. The Mortimers of Berry Pomeroy perhaps also owned property in Totnes.

Between 1544/1551, Thomas Mortimer brought a case against Walter Bulley, concerning copyhold in Berry Pomeroy. In 1554, Thomas was a party in a copyhold lease of property. The Mortimers’ dispute with the Milles continued in court. Between 1556/1558, Thomas Mylle the elder brought a case against Thomas Mortimer, concerning Mortimer’s refusal to deliver a lease of closes in Chudleigh made by Mylle and Sir Thomas Pomeroy. Thomas Mortimer presumably died sometime after this date, as there is no further reference to him. Estimates suggest he was by then in his sixties or even older.

Thomas Mortimer (c.1495-1560) of Totnes and Berry Pomeroy

Thomas was obviously born before 1500. He probably had the following children:

1.Richard Mortimer (c.1517-aft.1543. Between 1538/1543, James Goodrich sued Richard Mortimer for ouster from lands in Berry Pomeroy and false imprisonment in the stocks. Richard was presumably the father of:

i. John Mortimer, of Berry Pomeroy (c.1555- ), m. Joanna Ellis of Rattery, 1 Feb 1580, Exeter.

ii. William Mortimer of Totnes c.1556-1615, who in 1578 was mentioned in a copy lease concerning property in Broadhempston, with his wife Joan. William appears in the 1581 Lay subsidy in Broadhempston, with income assessed at £7 in goods. Between 1596/1607, William and Walter Mortimer recorded a dispute in chancery concerning land in Berry Pomeroy and Totnes. William was bur. 9 Apr 1615 Totnes.

iii. Walter Mortimer, was presumably a brother or son of the above John m.1581. Walter featured in the above court case. He was bur. 5 Jul 1607 Berry Pomeroy.

2. Robert Mortimer

Robert Mortimer (c.1520-1555) of Totnes

In the 1543 lay subsidy, Robert appears more affluent than the neighbouring Mortimers at Berry Pomeroy, with whom he was doubtlessly closely connected. Robert was assessed on income of £6. The Mortimers of Berry Pomeroy had yeoman status, and Robert was presumably also a yeoman or a well to do tradesman. Robert does not feature in the 1569 muster roll in Totnes, so perhaps died before then. Robert was presumably the father of the following generation of Mortimers in Totnes, though Richard Mortimer might have been their father otherwise:

1.Thomas Mortimer

2. Joan c.1545, m. Thomas Bartlett 24 Nov 1567, Totnes.

3. Richard Mortimer (c.1550-1590), who had a son Richard b.1580, but is missing from the 1581 lay subsidy. Richard and his son were bur. 26 May 1590 and 15 Aug 1590, Totnes, though it is not known which burial relates to which Richard.

4. John Mortimer (c.1553-1603), who is missing from the 1581 Lay subsidy in Totnes, m. Mary Nightingale, 12 Sep 1584 Totnes, had a son, Geoffrey Mortimer b.1585. John was bur. 26 Jul 1603, Totnes.

5. George Mortimer (c.1554-1608) of Diptford, presumably born in Totnes.

6. Nicholas Mortimer (c.1555- ) of Dartmouth, who might have been born in Totnes then simply moved down river to Dartmouth. Burial records from Dartmouth have not yet been transcribed. Further research is necessary to determine the full details of this family. He had at least two sons, and possible older sons born before the start of the parish register:

i. Nicholas Mortimer II 1589

ii. James Mortimer 1590

Thomas Mortimer (c.1542-1601) of Totnes

Thomas was born in the early 1540s. In 1569, he featured in the military survey for Totnes as a pikeman. In the 1581 Lay subsidy, Thomas’ income for the tax was assessed at £5 in goods, nearly equivalent to the £6 income of Robert Mortimer in 1543. Thomas was presumably a yeoman and a progenitor of the senior branch of the family. Thomas Mortimer made a will proved in 1601, which abstract is kept at the College of Arms. He had the following children:

1. Richard Mortimer 1569

2. Joan 1572

3. Christopher Mortimer 1574

4. John Mortimer 1577

5. Protese 1584-1599

6. Jacquetta 1587