John Horsey (died 1564)


Sir John Horsey JP was a knight of Henry VIII and Lord of the Manors of Clifton Maubank and South Perrott.
He was the son of Sir John Horsey and Joan Mawdley. He inherited most of his fathers lands, and the wording of the will suggests that the two were not close and the son was regarded as untrustworthy. He eventually became addicted to gambling, and this along with his extravagant construction projects was a large drain on the family coffers.
Sir John married Edith Phelips, daughter of Sir Richard Phelips and widow of the merchant John Stocker of Poole, on 14 December 1539, and in 1546 the family estate, Clifton Maybank on the south side of Yeovil, was largely rebuilt to create a mansion of grand proportions. An entrance to the newly built mansion had intricate stone carving around the doorway, celebrating their marriage; this entrance was removed and added to the west entrance of Montacute House when much of the original mansion of Clifton Maybank was dismantled in 1786. Today just one part of the original Tudor building remains, with a facade added in 1906; no plan of the original building has been discovered.
He was elected knight of the shire for Dorset in 1553 and appointed Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset for 1559.
Sir John and Edith had one son, Sir John Horsey and two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. He is buried in Sherborne Abbey: an impressive tomb for both himself and his father, with life-size effigies of the two in medieval armour is to be found there in the Wykeham Chapel.