Ambrose Bellot

Arms of Bellot: Argent, on a chief sable three cinquefoils of the field^[1]

Ambrose Bellot (c.1561-1637), of Downton^[2] in Devon was a Member of Parliament for East Looe in Cornwall in 1597.^[3]

Origins

He was the 3rd son of Francis Bellott of Corsham, Wiltshire and of Bochym, Cornwall, by his wife Anne Mohun, a daughter of Reginald Mohun (1507/8-1567) of Hall, in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey, and of Boconnoc, both in Cornwall, MP, an Esquire of the Body to Queen Elizabeth I.^[4] The Mohun family controlled one of the parliamentary seats of the pocket borough of East Looe in Cornwall, and Ambrose was in due course nominated by the Mohuns to that seat in 1597.

Marriages & progeny

He married twice:

• Firstly in 1596, as her 4th husband, to Eleanor Smith, daughter and sole heiress of the wealthy Bernard Smith (d.1591) of Totnes in Devon, Member of Parliament for Totnes in 1558, mayor of Totnes in 1549–50 and c. 1565–6, and escheator of Devon and Cornwall in 1567–8. Eleanor had married three times previously as follows:
  • Firstly to John Charles (1543–68) of Tavistock, whose great-great-grandfather John Charles of Morton Hampstead in Devon had married Margery Foorde, daughter and heiress of Richard Foorde long seated at the estate of Foorde in the parish of Moretonhampstead, which estate had been given to his ancestor Ely (or Elias) Foorde by William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex (d. 1189).^[5] Without issue.
  • Secondly on 30 January 1569/70 at Totnes Eleanor married, as his 2nd wife, Sir John Fulford (1524-1580) of Great Fulford, Dunsford, Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1557 and 1576.^[6] Without issue.^[7]
  • Thirdly Eleanor married John II Wrey (d.pre 1596) of North Russell in Devon and Trebeigh, St Ive, in Cornwall, eldest son of John I Wrey (d.1597), Sheriff of Cornwall in 1587,^[8] and brother of Sir William Wrey, 1st Baronet (d.1636). The large chest tomb monument to John Wrey I showing kneeling effigies of him and his wife Blanche Killigrew (d.1595), heiress of Trebeigh, survives in the north transept of St Peter's Church in Tawstock, Devon, a later seat of the Wrey family, having been removed in 1924 from St Ive Church in Cornwall.^[9] The arms of Smith of Totnes Barry undé of sixteen argent and azure, on a chief gules three barnacles or^[10] are shown on the front of the chest tomb impaled by Wrey. Without issue.

He had no progeny by Eleanor Smith.

• Secondly he married Lucy Stockett (d.1631), widow of a certain Wood of Modbury, by whom he had one daughter and sole heiress:
  • Elizabeth Bellot, still a minor on her father's death.

Death

He died intestate in 1637.

References

1. Vivian, p.71
2. The location of the estate of Downton is unknown, although four possible locations have been identified (History of Parliament biog.)
3. Hasler, P.W. (ed.), biography of Bellot, Ambrose (c.1561-1637), of 'Downton', Devon, published in History of Parliament, House of Commons 1558-1603
4. Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.71, pedigree of Bellot
5. Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.168, pedigree of Charles of Tavistock; Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, pp. 129-130, manor of Moretonhampstead
6. Regnal years 5 Mary & 19 Elizabeth, per Vivian p.379
7. Vivian, p.168
8. Betham, William, The Baronetage of England, Vol.1, pp.320-323, Wrey Baronets
9. Pevsner, p.790, Tawstock
10. Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, London, 1791, p.502, blazoned as Barry unde of six argent and azure on a chief gules three barnacles or. Shown at Tawstock as Barry unde of sixteen argent and azure on a chief gules three barnacles or