John St. Leger (died 1596)

He was the son of Sir George St Leger (c.1475-1536), of Annery, by his wife, Anne Knyvett, daughter of Sir Edmund Knyvett of Buckenham[2] and his wife Eleanor Tyrrell. His paternal grandparents were Sir James St Leger, of Shipton, and Lady Anne Butler, heiress of Annery, daughter of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormonde and great-aunt of Queen Anne Boleyn. One of his great-uncles was Sir Thomas St Leger (c.1440-1483), the husband of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter (1439-1476), sister of Kings Edward IV and Richard III. His great-grandfather was Sir John St Leger (c.1404-1442) lord of the manor of Ulcombe in Kent, whose three sons Ralph, Thomas and James, all made advantageous marriages. The manor of Ulcombe had been held by the family from the See of Canterbury from shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066, during which a St Leger knight is supposed by tradition to have supported William the Conqueror with his hand on disembarking from his ship at Pevensey.[3]

Knighted in 1544 and Sheriff of Devon in 1560, he was Member of Parliament for Dartmouth, Devon, in 1555–1558, Devon in 1559–1563, Arundel, Sussex, in 1563–1571, Devon again in 1571-1583 and Tregony, Cornwall in 1584–1585.[4]

Under a royal grant dated 10 June 1543 "John St Leger, King's servant" acquired the following former monastic lands following the Dissolution of the Monasteries:[5]

• Canonsleigh Priory in the parish of Burlescombe, site and demesne of.
• Priory manor of Hockworthy.
• Torre Abbey, site and demesne of, subject to a 21-year lease granted at Dissolution to Hugh I Pollard of King's Nympton.[6] St Leger sold it in 1543 to Hugh Pollard.[7]
• Manor of Cullompton, formerly held by Buckland Abbey.
• Manor of Upton Weaver (or Higher Upton) in the parish of Cullompton, formerly held by St Nicholas' Priory, Exeter.
• Other non-monastic property in Devon
• Small landholding in Cornwall.

The lands were exchanged with the king for other lands of St Leger, with an excess balance paid by him of £116 9s 9d.[8]

He married Catherine Neville, daughter of George Neville, 5th Baron Bergavenny and his third wife Lady Mary Stafford, youngest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and his wife Lady Eleanor Percy. Their children included:

• John St Leger, said to be a soldier in Ireland who died unmarried and in poverty

16th century mural monument of Richard Bellew of Ash[9] and his wife Margaret St Leger of Annery[10] in Braunton Church, Devon

• Mary St Leger, who married Sir Richard Grenville (1542-1591) of Stowe, Kilkhampton, Cornwall and Bideford, Devon, the famous captain of Revenge, and was mother of Sir Bernard Grenville.
• Frances St Leger, who married John Stucley (1551-1611), of Affeton, Devon[11] and was the mother of Sir Lewis Stucley[12]
• Margaret St Leger, who married Richard Bellew of Ash, Braunton and Alverdiscott, Devon. A heraldic mural monument to Richard Bellew and his wife Margaret St Leger survives in Braunton parish Church.
• Eulalia St Leger, who married firstly Edmund Tremayne of Collacombe in the parish of Lamerton, Devon, who was Chief Secretary of Ireland, and secondly Tristram Arscott (1544-1621) of Tetcott, Devon, the latter who bought Annery from his father-in-law John St Leger.[11][13]

Despite accumulating much land, he became encumbered with debts and parted with many of his estates. He died "a poor man"[4] and on the death of his son John without children the St Leger family of Annery was extinguished. However, another line descended from Ralph St Leger (d.1470), Sheriff of Kent and it was one of his great uncles, father of Sir Anthony St Leger (d.1559), KG, Lord Deputy of Ireland, whose descendants were created Viscount Doneraile, who later inherited the manor of Eggesford in Devon.

• Virgoe, Roger, Biography of St Leger, Sir John (by 1516-93/96), of Annery, published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
• Fuidge, N.M., Biography of St Leger (Sellenger), Sir John (by 1516-93/96), of Annery, published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981

• W. D. Pink, 'The Parliamentary History of Tregony', The Western Antiquary, Volume VI, Part V (1886), 117–121