CARY, Philip

Philip was born as son and heir apparent of the important Devon esquire Robert Cary of Cockington in the early years of the latter’s first marriage. Much of Robert’s life was taken up with the attempt to recover the estates forfeited by his own father, Sir John Cary†, a former chief baron of the Exchequer under Richard II who had been impeached in the Merciless Parliament of 1388, but as a consequence of his marriage to the daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay†, one of the leading landowners in the south-west, he achieved a degree of political rehabilitation under Henry IV and went on to represent Devon in at least 12 Parliaments between 1407 and 1426.5 The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 495-6.

As Robert Cary’s efforts to recover the lands his father had forfeited had been only partially successful, a profitable marriage had to be found for his eldest son. The chosen candidate was Christine, the daughter of the Somerset landowner William Orchard, and after the death of her younger brother Richard (who only survived their father for six months) heiress to his estates. Philip proved his wife’s age in December 1422 and was granted seisin of her inheritance (which centred on the manor of Orchard, included shares in the manor of Bickenhall and in holdings in and around Taunton, and were later assessed at over £12 p.a.) the following February.6 C140/42/43; E159/199, brevia Easter rot. 25d; 200, brevia Mich. rot. 26; Portman mss, DD\PM/5/2/6. In the first instance, however, the lands which came to the couple were diminished by the survival of Christine mother, Joan, who went on to marry the Devon lawyer John Mules*, and the Carys thus remained based in Philip’s native county of Devon.7 Portman mss, DD\PM/5/2/7; CCR, 1422-9, p. 18.

In about 1431 Philip inherited his father’s lands. Chief among these was the family seat of Cockington, which alone was deemed to be worth some £40 p.a. Yet, the Cary lands, like those of the Orchards, were saddled with a dowager, Philip’s stepmother Joan, a daughter of Sir William Hankford c.j.KB, who went on to outlive her stepson and died in 1447. The dower assigned to her consisted of various tenements and over 75 acres of land in the manor of Cockington, reducing its value by more than £13 p.a.8 C139/88/53, 134/23; CCR, 1454-61, pp. 164-5. Nevertheless, Philip now proceeded to take his place in county society. He was present in the shire court at Exeter for the parliamentary elections of 1432,9 C219/14/3. and a little over a year later was himself elected to represent Devon in the Commons. It is likely that his election owed much to family connexions: his colleague was the equally inexperienced Roger Champernowne* of Bere Ferrers, representative of a family who like the Carys possessed blood ties to the Powderham line of the comital Courtenay family. During the drawn-out minority of Earl Thomas, Cary’s first cousin Philip Courtenay* of Powderham had come to play a dominant part in county politics in alliance with the influential soldier Sir William Bonville*, and it was probably in their interest that the MPs of 1433 were chosen. The Parliament sat over two sessions into December 1433, and when it was finally dissolved the county Members returned to their shires with a sheaf of tasks to carry out. Not only were they charged with the assessment and distribution of the rebates on the parliamentary subsidies the Commons had granted, but they were also to identify and swear all those of sufficient standing to take the general oath against maintenance. In Devon, this latter task proved problematic, for – as Cary and his fellow commissioners informed the chancellor – the King’s letters ordering them to return the requisite list of names had arrived too late for them to make the necessary proclamation. Cary and Bishop Lacy of Exeter had thus made use of the only sheriff’s court before the expiry of their commission to take the oaths of all those who had happened to attend there on the day.10 CFR, xvi. 186, 190; CCR, 1429-35, p. 271; CPR, 1429-36, p. 398; Reg. Lacy, i (Canterbury and York Soc. lx), 277.

Few other details of Cary’s career have come to light, and it may be that he simply lived the quiet life of a wealthy landowner. He was well connected among the gentry of the south-west: his blood-tie with the Courtenays of Powderham aside, through his stepmother, he was linked with her nephew Richard Hankford*, who successively married the heiress of the Fitzwaryn family and a daughter of John Montagu, earl of Salisbury.11 CP, v. 503-7. Substantial debts owing to London merchants may indicate that he availed himself of the markets of the capital,12 CPR, 1429-36, p. 237. and it may have been thus that he forged the connexions in the city that saw him admitted to the prestigious fraternity of the London tailors, paying the customary entry fine of 20s.13 Guildhall Lib. London, Merchant Taylors’ Co. accts. 34048/1, f. 246.

Cary’s premature death may account for his failure to go on to hold further office or to secure election to the Commons again. He died on 23 Sept. 1436 aged less than 40 years.14 C139/88/53, 166/30. He was survived by his wife, Christine, only 27 years old at his death, whom he appointed his sole executrix. She went on to marry the Taunton lawyer Walter Portman* (d.c.1454) and lived on until 1472.15 Portman mss, DD\PM/5/2/11; J.S. Vivian, Vis. Devon, 150; CFR, xxi. nos. 97, 98; The Commons 1386-1421, iv. 123; CP40/760, rot. 56d. As a consequence of this second marriage, the Orchard lands were permanently lost to the Carys, for Christine not only enfeoffed them to her and her second husband’s use, but in 1470 settled them on John Portman, her son from this second marriage, with remainder to her daughter Thomasina.16 Som. Feet of Fines (Som. Rec. Soc. xxii), 111; C140/42/43.

Philip’s only son and heir, William, was just over a month old at his father’s death.17 C139/88/53, 166/30; CCR, 1435-41, p. 421. He married one of the daughters of (Sir) Baldwin Fulford*, and like his father-in-law became a staunch supporter of the house of Lancaster. Although he was pardoned at the start of Edward IV’s reign, Sir William joined Queen Margaret of Anjou in the north, and was attainted by Parliament in 1463. In 1467 the forfeited Cary lands were granted to Sir Thomas Bourgchier. Having fought for Lancaster at Tewkesbury in 1471, Sir William was executed after the battle, but after Henry VII’s accession his son Robert successfully petitioned for the reversal of his attainder and forfeiture.18 PROME, xiii. 122-8; xv. 181-4; CPR, 1467-77, pp. 45-46. It was William’s other son, Thomas, who made a highly prestigious marriage to Margaret, da. of Eleanor Beaufort, countess of Wiltshire (first cousin to Lady Margaret Beaufort, King Henry VII’s mother) by her second husband, Sir Robert Spencer of Spencercombe, Devon. Margaret Spencer’s sister Katherine married Henry Algernon Percy (d.1527), earl of Northumberland. C1/480/13; CIPM Hen. VII, ii. 524.