William Hawkins / Hankeford

Personal and Family Information

William was born about 1355 in Wiltshire, England, the son of John Hawkins and Joane.

He died on 12 DEC 1423 in Buckland Brewer, Bideford, Devonshire, UK.

His wife was Christine, who he married in BEF 1380. The place has not been found. Their only known child was William (c1380-?).

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Events

Attributes

Notes

Note 1

!Stylename: Hawkins / Hankeford, Sir William, I., King's Sergeant & Justice of the King's Bench [~135- - ? ]

!Note: Accompanied his uncle Sir Richard Hawkins to Devonshire and was knighted there later as well on 17 March 1400.

!Note: Hankeford and Hankessok are likely regional or scribal misreadings of Hawkins, where the "wk" is mistaken for "nk", and the Anglo-Saxon scribes substituted endings to avoid the soft "kis/kins" form. Likely unique to Wiltshire and nearby counties during the 14th–15th centuries.

!Note: Hankeford and Hankessok are likely regional or scribal misreadings of Hawkins, where the "wk" is mistaken for "nk", and the Anglo-Saxon scribes substituted endings to avoid the soft "kis/kins" form. Likely unique to Wiltshire and nearby counties during the 14th–15th centuries.

!Note: Name Confusion Warning:

Several knights of the Hawkins family were recorded as “Hankford” in official titles, particularly in Devon records. This likely stems from a scribal misreading during knighthood documentation, compounded by estate associations. Contemporary family and Kent records retain “Hawkins,” but formal documents reflect the Hankford variation due to inherited title usage. They are the same people.

!Source: William Hankford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hankford

Sir William Hankford , also written Hankeford, of Annery in Devon, was an English lawyer who acted as Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 until 1423.[2]

Origins

Born about 1350, he came from a minor gentry family who took their name from their estate of Hankford, near Bulkworthy in the Devon parish of Buckland Brewer. The names of his parents are unknown, and he had a younger brother named John who died before him.[2]

Career

Educated at the Middle Temple and then practising law, from 1388 he was retained as counsel by the Earl of Devon. Appointed a serjeant-at-law in that year, he was raised to king's serjeant in 1389. In addition to pleading in the central courts at London, he acted as a royal judge in many provincial courts around southern England. In 1394 he accompanied King Richard II to Ireland,[2] where he apparently served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland from 1395 to 1396.[3]

In 1398 he was one of the judges asked by Richard II to pronounce on the validity of the opinions given in 1387 by the judges who decided that the actions of the Lords Appellant were unlawful and treasonable. He declared that the responses were sound and loyal and that he would have given the same answers himself.[2][4][5] Shortly after, he was appointed to succeed his friend Sir John Wadham as Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.[2][6]

When King Henry IV replaced Richard II in 1399, he reappointed Hankford to the bench and at his coronation made him a Knight of the Bath.[2][7] In the following years he was active as a judge and royal commissioner, at times also attending Parliament and the Privy Council. On the accession of King Henry V in 1413, he replaced Sir William Gascoigne as Chief Justice of the King's Bench, an appointment that was renewed under King Henry VI in 1422.[2]

He died on 12 December 1423 and was buried in Monkleigh church, which he had largely rebuilt, where his ornate Easter Sepulchre monument survives in the south wall of the Annery Chapel. A legend claims that he had ordered his gamekeeper to shoot intruders on sight and that, wandering in his woods at night, he was shot dead. As the same tale is told of another Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Sir Robert Danby who died 51 years later in 1474, it seems improbable that two heads of the English judiciary should die in the same unusual way in the same century. In his will made two days before his death, in addition to family bequests , he left generous sums to churches, charities, and religious foundations in North Devon. Sir William Cheyne, his successor as Chief Justice, was one of his executors.[2]

Family

By 1380 he had married Christine, who died before him and whose parents are unknown. Their son was:

>>>> [BELOW LISTS RICHARD I’s WIFE AS "Thomasine Stapledon" WITHOUT CITATION. NO PRIMARY SOURCE FOUND.]

Richard Hankford ,[2] twice MP for Devon, who with his wife Thomasine Stapleton was father of:[8] <<<< False - Richard was William’s uncle.

Sir Richard Hankford , who became his grandfather's heir in 1423.[2][9] <<<< False - Richard was William’s uncle.

>>>>[BELOW LISTS RICHARD I’s WIFE AS “JANE” WITHOUT CITATION. NO PRIMARY SOURCE FOUND.]

Jane Hankford , who married, as his second wife, Sir Robert Cary .[10][11] Having no children from this marriage, in 1433 she then married Sir Theobald Gorges and had three children with him.[12][13]

!Source: Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records 1123-1968 https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=WILTS%2FSOCIAL%2F0383211&tab=this

First name Willielmus

Country England

Last name Hankessok

Notes From volume 34. M.P. for Ludgershall.

Year 1435

Source Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine - volume as stated

Year as transcribed 1435

Record set Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records 1123-1968

Record type Newspaper / Book Reference

Category Directories & Social History

Place Ludgershall

Subcategory Social History

County Wiltshire

Collections from England, Great Britain

!Source: Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records 1123-1968 https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=WILTS%2FSOCIAL%2F0333700&tab=this

First name William

Country England

Last name Hankeford

Source Wilts Record Society vol.41. Wiltshire Feet of Fines 1377-1509 by J.L.Kirby

Year 1386-93

Archive reference TNA

Year as transcribed 1386-1393

Record set Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records 1123-1968

Record type Legal Matters

Category Directories & Social History

Place -

Subcategory Social History

County Wiltshire

Collections from England, Great Britain

!Source: Britain, Knights Of The Realm & Commonwealth Index

https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=GBOR%2FKNIGHTS%2FREALM%2F015293&tab=this

First name William

Biography of Buckland Brewer, Devon; a King's Sergeant 1390; Justice of the Common Pleas 1398; Justice of the King's Bench 1413; <<<<

Last name Hankford

Remarks Foss; Shaw;

Birth year -

Country Great Britain

Award KB

Record set Britain, Knights Of The Realm & Commonwealth Index

Award year 1400

Category Directories & Social History

Award date 17 March 1400

Subcategory Medal Rolls and Honours

Death year 1422

Collections from Great Britain, UK None

!Source: Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records 1123-1968 https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=WILTS%2FSOCIAL%2F0333818&tab=this

First name William

Notes Knight.

Last name Hankeford

Source Wilts Record Society vol.41. Wiltshire Feet of Fines 1377-1509 by J.L.Kirby

Year 1406-12

Archive reference TNA

Year as transcribed 1406-1412

Record set Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records 1123-1968

Record type Legal Matters

Category Directories & Social History

Place -

Subcategory Social History

County Wiltshire

Collections from England, Great Britain

Country England

Note: Were Sir William and Sir Richard’s assets in the same property?

!Source: Devon Wills Index, 1163-1999 https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=GBOR%2FOR%2FDEVWILLS%2F174543&tab=this

First name William

Additional information Inquisition Post Mortem;

Last name Hankeford

Source Taps

Sex Male

Document type Other

Occupation Knight

Document form Abstract or Extract

Probate year 1423

Document references 2 Hen. VI. No. 32

Place Great Torrington

Record set Devon Wills Index, 1163-1999

Original place Great Torrington

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

County Devon

Subcategory Wills & Probate

Country England

Collections from Great Britain, England

!Source: Devon Wills Index, 1163-1999 https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=GBOR%2FOR%2FDEVWILLS%2F174544&tab=this

First name William

Source Taps

Last name Hankeford

Document type Other

Sex Male

Document form Abstract or Extract

Probate year 1428

Document references 6 Hen. VI. No. 55

Place Holsworthy

Record set Devon Wills Index, 1163-1999

Original place Holsworthy

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

County Devon

Subcategory Wills & Probate

Country England

Collections from Great Britain, England

Additional information Inquisition Post Mortem