Richard Duke was the second son of John Duke and Ellen [Middleton] of Pinne Barton and inherited the Otterton Manor and Poerhayes Estates from his uncle Richard Duke who had died intestate in 1572. He is the first of the successive line of the Duke family to live in Otterton where he continued to alter the old 'priory guest house' adjacent to the church into a family home. (The Duke family arms impaled with the Poer family are still evident today above the entrance porch door). 

Richard first married Martha, daughter of John Parker, Merchant of London, with whom he had eight children. The eldest son Gregory died an infant and so the second son Richard [born 1575] is always shown as 1st. son and heir. Martha was buried in March 1582/3 at Otterton. The second marriage was to Katherine, daughter of Sergeant George Prideaux of Nutwell, Woodbury, by licence in December 1583, by whom there were a further six children. 

As Lord of the Manor, Richard was responsible for the successful management of all of the estates, the welfare of his tenants, County and Church obligations, as well as looking after his own family by way of education, clothing etc. A Steward or Bailiff oversaw the 'day-to-day' duties of the estate, and he was the main interface between the tenants, suppliers and others, and the Lord of the Manor. Times were hard...'the barring of the Otter Estuary' around 1550 had lost valuable income for Otterton as shipping could no longer reach the village, and a number of really poor harvests meant that food prices had quadrupled between 1500 and 1590. 

In 1584 a letter was received from Walter Raleigh asking to be allowed to purchase Poerhayes, where he had been born, saying 'I will most willingly give you whatsoever in your conscience you shall deem it worth.' Richard Duke, however, declined the offer. This letter is preserved in Exeter Museum. 

In 1599 it is recorded that Richard was Patron to William Venne the vicar of Otterton. 

He was buried at Otterton in March 1606 and at his Inquisition Post Mortem on October 1608, the Manors of Poerhayes [referred to as Hayes] and Otterton went to his son and heir Richard who was then 30 years old or more. 

This is one of a series of related articles on the Duke family. Click forward or back to move to the next.

Compiled and researched © Harry Lane, 2009

Reference Documents. 

1. Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica. Pedigree of the Devonshire Branch of the Family of Duke to Illustrate the Descent of Poerhayes and Otterton Estate.

2. The Birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh. T.N.Brushfield, 1889. TDA Vol.21.

3. The Age of Plunder (The England of Henry VIII, 1500-1547) W.G.Hoskins, 1976

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