Sir John Isham

Life

The blind squire's eldest son was created a baronet on 30 May 1627,¹ and in his time the estate suffered both by loans to the king and fines to the parliament.^? His wife Judith Lewin, being sister to Sir Justinian Lewin, brought into a family already remarkable by its use of the rare name of Euseby, the somewhat over-stately name of Justinian.^?

Sir John Isham of Lamport, the first baronet, only son and heir of Thomas Isham, the blind squire of Lamport, by Elizabeth Nicholson his wife, was born on Friday, 27 July 1582, according to his father's notes.¹ His godfathers were John Isham his grandfather, then sheriff of Northamptonshire, and his great-uncle Henry Isham, citizen of London and controller of the Custom House, and his godmother Alice, wife of Thomas Aldershawe.^? He was knighted by King James on 29 March 1608,¹ and served as high sheriff of the county in 1611–2.¹ On 30 May 1627 he had the patent of a baronetcy.¹ He added to the family estates by buying from Francis Saunders, esquire, the manor of Shangton in Leicestershire on 15 April 1637 for a sum of 12,225l.,^? but his sympathy with the royal cause impoverished the family, the king borrowing money of him and the parliament sequestrating his estates.^? He died 8 July 1651,² and was buried the next day at Lamport under a tombstone of black marble.² His will of 21 April 1651 was proved 30 July 1651 by Sir Justinian Isham, his son and heir.^?

He married at Brixworth, 19 Oct. 1607, Judith Lewin, youngest daughter of William Lewin of Otteringden in Kent, a doctor of the civil law and a judge of the prerogative court.¹ She was sister of Sir Justinian Lewin, knight, whose will of 8 July 1620, proved on 11 July of the same year,18 gave a hundred pounds to his 'sister Isam.'^? Born about 31 Oct. 1590, she died 25 June 1625 in her thirty-fifth year, and was buried at Lamport, where a black marble tablet over the altar described her as 'daughter to learned William Lewin.'^?

1. Secondary, 1582 Sir John Isham, 1st Baronet
2. Index, 1651 John Isham, "Find A Grave Index"

^? marks 8 statements for which no attached source was found.

No life sketch on the FamilySearch Family Tree yet. The passage above is transcribed from “Isham of Lamport”, Northamptonshire Families, pp. 142, 158; dates there may differ from the tree. Footnotes link each statement to the attached source that supports it; they were matched by machine and should be read as a guide, not a verification.