Surname Index

to

The Family of Fortescue

by

R. Pearse Chope

The Devonian Year Book. London: The London Devonian Association, (1910) illus. pp. 36-38.

Index prepared by Michael Steer

The Rt Hon The Earl Fortescue, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, was President of the London Devonian Association for 1909-10. He and his family history are eulogised in the Association's Year Book by its Editor. An introduction to the President for members was part of a tradition evident in later editions of the Year Book. In the family's mythology, the House of Fortescue is said to date from the Battle of Hastings (1066), where Richard le Fort supposedly saved the life of William the Conqueror by the shelter of his shield, and was thereafter known by the Norman-French epithet Fort-Escu ("strong shield"). His descendants took for their Latin motto: Forte scutum salus ducum - "A strong shield is the safety of leaders". The family first appears in surviving records as holding the manor of Whympston in the parish of Modbury in South Devon, part of which Ralph Fortescue granted circa 1140 to nearby Modbury Priory. Devon's Sir William Pole (d.1635) states that the manor of Whympston was granted to the family in 1209 by King John. Further grants to Modbury Priory were made by the family in the 13th century. Reference to their origin at Whympston is made on the 17th-century mural monument at Weare Giffard, one of the family's later seats. This copy of the rare and much sought-after book was produced digitally from a copy held in the University of Toronto Library collection that can be downloaded from: Google Books with a search by either author or title, and also from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers