The John Wise who died in Virginia in 1695 is a murky figure. He is given the pedigree of the Wise family of Devon, intermarried with that of Dynham, on the twin pillars of him necesarilly being of the same social standing as the Scarburgh family of his wife, and of him naming a property as ‘Clifton’, which is taken to be that 60 miles from one of the Wise manors in Devon.

If he is to be of that family, then a process of elimination should lead to either of the brothers, James and Charles Wise, sons of John Wise (1527-1563) and Alicia, dau. of John Harris of Hayne, being his granfather; John Wise, thus, being the brother-in-law of John Trevelyan, whose family held many estates in Somerset.

One certainty is that John Wise of Virginia married Hannah Scarburgh, dau. of Edmund, thus becoming an in-law of the Bennett family of Wiveliscombe, Somerset (see previous notes), and, variously, Bristol, London, and Virginia. As I have elucidated ad nauseam, this influential family were the linchpins which united many Somerset families with Bristol merchants such as the Derricks, Englands, Moores, and Watsons; the first three named holding land in Somerset. Many of the aspiring yeomanry of Somerset viewed Bristol, and its trading links with Virginia, as the gateway to prosperity. All roads led there, passing through beautiful Clifton, overlooking the Avon Gorge, as they did.

A salient fact may be found in this court case of 1600: Release of title in the manor of Berkley and from all actions. Four families were in dispute over the moieties of Berkley Manor, Somerset – Newburgh, Mawdley, Webbe, and Bennett. (Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, ref. 413/133). These were families of substance, and the Bennetts could have only been of those aforementioned.

A suggestion emerges, could the John Wise of Virginia have been he who was baptised on October 11, 1607, in Berkley?; son of Christopher, and brother of at least Richard and Joseph (the records of this family cease abruptly after the latter’s baptism); and also he who was recorded in Virginia in 1635, as aged 28? This is not how Hotten’s List has it (consequently giving him a birthdate of 1617), but that is perhaps not of the utmost consequence. Did he simply marry a relative of his landlord in Somerset?

It can not be known, but this suggestion is surely no less thinner than any other.

1. John Wise, Mary, dau. of James Chudleigh, of Ashton.
1.1. James Wise, m. Alicia Dynham, dau. of John Dynham, of Wortham.
1.1.1. John Wise (1527-1563) m. Alicia, dau. of John Harris of Hayne, Sergeant at Law; her sister, Wilmot, m. John Trevelyan, of Trevelyan (d 1577); having issue, John Trevelyan of Nettlecombe, Somerset, Sheriff of that county, who m. Urith Chichester, dau. of Sir John Chichester of Ralegh, and Gertrude Courtenay. Their son, John Trevelyan, m. Margaret Luttrell, dau. of George Luttrell, of Dunster Castle, Somerset. Through various advantageous marriages, the Trevelyans held extensive estates in Somerset.
1.1.1.1. Thomas Wise, m. Mary, dau. of Richard Buller, Esq., of Shillingham, in Cornwall, and Margaret, dau. of Thomas Trethurfe of Cornwall, and relict of Edward Courtenay, of Wotton in Cornwall, and had issue.
1.1.1.2. John Wise, m. Emma Vavasour, dau. of Richard Vavasour.
1.1.1.2.1. William Wise, of Totnes (1560-1626).
1.1.1.2.1.1. John Wise, of Totnes (d. 1670).
1.1.1.3. James Wise.
1.1.1.4. Charles Wise.

Mr. Prince: ‘Harris, John, Serjeant at Law to K. Hen. 8, was a native of this county: born either at Stone, or at Hayne, neighbour dwellings, and both his fathers, standing in the parish of Stowford, near Lifton, on the edge of Cornwall, north-west from Exeter about thirty miles. His father was William Harris, of Stone, aforesaid, by Thomasin his wife, daughter and heir of Walter Hayne, of Hayne. His grandfather was John Harris, a younger (half) brother of John Harris, of Radford, in the parish of Plimstock, near Plymouth, Esq. His grandmother was the daughter and heir of Stone, of Stone; at which last place this family resided, until Serjeant Harris, having fairly rebuilded his house at Hayne, made that a gentile and commodious dwelling for himself and his posterity; which hath flourished there ever since in worshipful degree. Serjeant Harris (to carry on the pedigree of this family in this place) by his wife, daughter of Michael Kelley, of Ratcliffe and Southwyke in Devon, had issue five sons, William, John, Oliver, Anthony, and Arthur; and two daughters, Alice married to John Wise, of Sydenham in Devon, Esq; and Wilmot, married unto John Trevillian, of Nettlecombe in Somerset, Esq. William Harris, Esq; married Mary, daughter to Sir Fulk Grevil, of Beachamps-Court in the county of Warwick, Kt. by whom he had issue Arthur, and four daughters’.

Following Reverend Hoblyn’s MS, this family can be assumed to be that of Heriz.

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