Robert Hooker1,2

M, b. circa 1466, d. 9 August 1537
FatherJohn Vowell alias Hooker d. 1493
MotherAlice Drewel
     Robert was born circa 1466 in Exeter, Devonshire, England.3 It has been said that Robert was the youngest of 20 siblings, tragically, he was the only survivor at the time his father wrote his will, and thus the heir to the estate. He became a freeman after an apprenticeship in 1486-7 and was at Cambridge in 1488 studying law. It was not until after he became a member of the twenty four that he began to hold public office. He became constable in 1518 and became mayor of Exeter from at least 1520 thru 1531.4,5 Robert married Agnes Cort.6,7 Robert's wife, Agnes, died in Exeter, Devonshire, England, leaving him a widower. Robert married 2nd Margaret Duke in Devonshire, England.8 Robert's wife, Margaret, died in Exeter, Devonshire, England, leaving him a widower. Robert married 3rd Agnes Doble.9,10,11,12 Robert made his will on 7 August 1534 at Exeter, Devonshire, England.

By his will he had asked for masses to be said for his own soul and those of his parents and wives, and had provided for his wife, his sole executrix, and his children: until his son John came of age the widow was to have the custody of his property.6

Robert died on Monday, 9 August 1537 in Exeter, Devonshire, England, during an outbreak of plague. His wife died at about the same time.13,14 His will was probated on 18 October 1538 at Exeter, Devonshire, England.15 During this time period, the proceedings in the Orphan's Court were scandelous, with the estate often disappearing before the children were able to reach their majority. In the case of Robert's estate, it is quite probable that it was not abused, and that his good friend, Robert Tucker, became guardian of John and Roger and of the girls. John Hunt, then the mayor of Exeter, and a friend of the family as well, may also have been involved in the guardianship of one or more of the children.16

Family 1

Agnes Cort

Family 2

Margaret Duke
Children

Family 3

Agnes Doble d. c Aug 1637
Children

Citations

  1. [S1370] Philip Bruce Secor, Richard Hooker: Prophet of Anglicanism, Pages 1-2 - The Hookers had come to Devonshire in southwest England from Wales in the fourteenth century to settle in and around the already ancient town of Exeter. They were descended from Gevaph Vowell of Pembroke in southern Wales. Gevaph's son Jago, married Alice Hooker, a wealthy heiress from Hampshire, in the fourteenth century. Thereaftrer, his male heirs, fancying the English name of Hooker, variously styled themselves Vowells, Vowell, alias Hoker or Hooker.
    The Vowell (Hooker)men were prominent in the life of Devon for nearly all of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Richard's [Richard the Anglicism Prophet] great grandfather, John Vowell, was mayor to Exeter in 1490-91 and five times a member of Parliament. His grandfather, Robert Vowell, was the youngest of twenty children but survived them all to inherit the family fortune. Robert was a member of the ruling oligarcy (“the 24”) and was named the first magistrate of the city in 1529. His son, Richard's uncle John, was the most famous Hooker of all, until posterity placed the mantle upon Richard.
    Grandfather Robert, along with his third wife and their first son, Anthony, died in a devastating plague that swept through the region in 1537. The seven remaining children were John, only about thirteen at the time, Roger (Richard's father) and five girls: Anne, Sydwell, Mary, Alice, and Julianna.
  2. [S1379] Samuel Smith Travers, A collection of pedigrees of the family of Travers, page 28 - Robert his son was the youngest of twenty, but lived to witness the successive deaths of all his brothers and sisters, and so inherit the whole of the family property. He was registrar of the archdeaconry of Barnstaple, and 'become chief principal of St. Mary the More's parish;" was a great peace-maker, and eminently zealous and attentive to the duties of first magistrate of his native city in 1529. The pestilence which made such havoc in Exeter in 1537, numbered this Robert among its victims. His will is preserved in the corporation archives, and bears date 7 Aug 1534, in which he makes provision for his wife Agnes and seven children, Roger, Sydwell, Anne, Alice, Mary, Julian, and John.
  3. [S1359] The Greenes of Rhode Island, with historical records of English ancestry, 1534-1902, pages 52-53.
  4. [S764] Special Collections: Ancient Petitions.
  5. [S506] Note:
    ol·i·gar·chy [ol-i-gahr-kee]
    1.a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few. Note - when Robert is referred to as a member of the 24 - it is referring to the ruling "dominant class".
  6. [S1366] L. S. Woodger, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421.
  7. [S1365] Thomas Westcote, A View of Devonshire in MDCXXX: With a Pedigree of Most of Its Gentry, page 526 - Pedigree of Vowel alias Hooker - This is his first marriage - sans issue.
  8. [S1365] Thomas Westcote, A View of Devonshire in MDCXXX: With a Pedigree of Most of Its Gentry, page 526 - Pedigree of Vowel alias Hooker - This is his second marriage - children: Richard, Alice & Lawrence all sans issue.
  9. [S1360] Thompson Cooper, John Hooker - En.wikisource.org/wiki/Hooker,_John_(DNB00).
  10. [S1366] L. S. Woodger, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, Hooker, Robert - Agnes, da. of John Doble of Woodbridge, Suff., 3s. inc. John 4da. ...
  11. [S1370] Philip Bruce Secor, Richard Hooker: Prophet of Anglicanism, page 2 - This was his third marriage - children: Anthony, died young, John, Roger, Anne, Sydell, Mary & Julianna.
  12. [S1365] Thomas Westcote, A View of Devonshire in MDCXXX: With a Pedigree of Most of Its Gentry, page 526-527 - Pedigree of Vowel alias Hooker - . . . thirdly Agnes, daughter of John Doble, of Woodbridge in Suffolk, issue Anthony sans issue, John, Roger, Sydell ( married to John Monk of Ottery St. Mary:) Ann, (to David Windent of Exeter;) Mary, (to John Russell, of Grantham in Lincoln) John Hooker, chamberlain of Exeter, married first Martha, daughter of Robert Tooker of Exeter, and had issue Robert; who married Katharine, daughter of ______ Snedall; he married secondly Anstice daughter of Edmund Bridgman of Exeter, by whom he had a numerous offspring.
  13. [S1359] The Greenes of Rhode Island, with historical records of English ancestry, 1534-1902, pages 53.
  14. [S1366] L. S. Woodger, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, Hooker died on 9 Aug. 1537 during an outbreak of plague in Exeter.
  15. [S1366] L. S. Woodger, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, At the inquisition post mortem held at Plympton on 18 Oct. 1538 it was found that Hooker had held land in Clayhanger, Exiland, Satinole and Widecombe, and that the heir, evidently a child of his last marriage, was ten years old; the cloth in Hooker’s shop was valued for probate at £8 and the plate in his house at £65.
  16. [S1370] Philip Bruce Secor, Richard Hooker: Prophet of Anglicanism, page 2.