John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham
John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (c. 1433–1501) of Nutwell in the parish of Woodbury and of Hartland, both in Devon, was an English peer and politician. He served as Lord High Treasurer of England and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was one of the few men to have served as councillor to Kings Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII and was trusted by all of them. Origins. He was born at Nutwell, the eldest son and heir of Sir John Dinham (1406–1458) of Nutwell and Hartland, by his wife Joan Arches (died 1497), sister  and heiress of John Arches and daughter of Sir Richard Arches (died 1417), a Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire in 1402, of Eythrope, Cranwell (both in the parish of Waddesdon) and Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire, whose arms were: "Gules, three arches argent". The Dynhams had been seated at Nutwell since about 1122 and were one of the leading gentry families in Devon. His father died in 1458, but his mother was in occupation of the lands until her own death in 1496/7. Career. Yorkist. His service to the House of York began in 1459 when the future Edward IV and his  Neville relatives, fleeing the disastrous Battle of Ludford Bridge took refuge with his mother, for which Edward later rewarded her; John himself bought the ship on which they fled to Calais. He was attainted by the Coventry Parliament and led two successful raids against the royal forces at Sandwich, Kent. During the first raid he captured Baron Rivers, Richard Woodville (later Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers), thus producing the (in retrospect) comical scene where Rivers was humiliated for his low birth by his future son-in-law, King Edward IV. Under Edward IV. He was made High Sheriff of Devon  and Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1460. After Edward IV's accession he became a member of the Privy Council and was created Baron Dynham in 1467, although no grant of lands accompanied the title, as was usual. Ross suggests that he did not become a leading figure in government until the death of Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon. During the years of crisis from 1469 to 1471 Dynham remained wholly loyal to Edward, and following Edward's return to power became one of the foremost members of the Government; he was Commander-in-Chief of naval forces during the  brief Anglo-French War in 1475. On the other hand, the Crown was somewhat grudging with grants of land, his estates being confined to Devon and Cornwall. Nor did he have a powerful network of family alliances: two of his sisters married into the Carew and Arundell families who were of purely local importance; the others married into the Zouche and Fitzwarin families, who were peers but not, until the accession of Richard III, of wide influence. Under Richard III. After Richard III's accession Dynham continued to flourish, becoming Lieutenant of Calais. In that capacity he recaptured Hammes Castle , which had defected to Henry VII, but was criticised for allowing the garrison to depart. His marriage connections now became useful since John, 7th Lord Zouche had married his sister Joan. Zouche was one of the coming men in Richard's reign, but his prospects were ruined by the Battle of Bosworth. Under Henry VII. After Richard's death he remained at Calais until it became clear that Henry VII bore him no ill-will. In fact Chrimes suggests that Henry was anxious to obtain the services of a man with such a record of service and loyalty to the  Crown. While the Zouche connection had been useful, Dynham acquired a new patron in Lord Willoughby de Broke, his second wife's father, who was Steward of the Royal Household. Certainly Dynham flourished under Henry; he was made a Knight of the Garter, and was Lord Treasurer from 1486 until his death: he took his duties at the Exchequer very seriously and spent most of his time at Lambeth for convenience. He received several grants and sat on numerous commissions. He was one of the judges who tried the rebels after the Cornish Rebellion of 1497. His career did not  suffer from the execution for treason of his stepson Lord FitzWalter in 1495; nor the attainder of his brother-in-law Lord Zouche; he was given an allowance to support his impoverished sister Lady Zouche, and Zouche after years of disgrace was eventually restored to a measure of favour. He died at his home in Lambeth, Surrey, on 28 January 1501 and was buried in the London Greyfriars. He had no surviving legitimate children, and his three brothers having all predeceased him, the title died with him. One of his brothers, Oliver Dynham, died as Archdeacon of Surrey in 1500 . Marriage and children. John Dynham married twice: Mistresses. He also had an illegitimate son, Thomas Dynham (died 1519), who was granted lands in Eythrope, Buckinghamshire, and who married Joan Ormond, eldest daughter of John Ormond (died 1503) and Joan Chaworth. Succession. As he died without surviving children, his estates, which included Nutwell, Kingskerswell and Hartland, Devon, along with Souldern, Oxfordshire (inherited from Arches family), descended to the heirs of his four surviving sisters (a fifth sister, Edith, appears to have predeceased him, leaving no issue): Heraldic tapestry. A large wool and silk Flemish tapestry dated post-1487 exists in the Cloisters  Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York which consists almost entirely of the armorial bearings and heraldic badges of Lord Dynham. It is said to come from the workshop of the Grenier family of Tournai, which is known to have supplied tapestries to King Henry VII in 1486 and 1488. In the latter year the king ordered his then Treasurer, Lord Dynham, to allow these imports to enter England free of duty, and according to Bonnie (1962) Dinham may have ordered one for himself at the same time The central motif is an escutcheon of the jousting  tournament form surrounded by a Garter, which order Dinham received in 1487, thus partially dating the tapestry. The supporters are two harts, said to be a form of canting heraldry referring to Hartland Abbey one of the family's oldest possessions. The crest displayed is "on a chapeau gules turned up ermine an ermine statant between two lighted candles proper". In each of the upper corners is a further escutcheon, showing on the dexter side the arms of Dynham of "Gules, four lozenges ermine" and on the sinister side the arms of Dynham impaling Arches: "Gules, three arches argent", both  shields surrounded by the Garter. These two shields represent respectively Lord Dynham's father and mother The family Badge of the Dynhams was a stag's head, again in allusion to Hartland Abbey, whilst Lord Dynham's personal badge was a topcastle of a warship, containing five javelins leaning against the railing, above which is a pennant with the Cross of St George. This personal badge is liberally displayed on the tapestry.