William Helyar

Reverend William Helyar (8 January 1559 – 21 November 1645), Doctor of Divinity, of Coker Court, East Coker, in Somerset, was Archdeacon of Barnstaple and a chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I.

He was the son of William Helyar by his wife Alice Veale and was baptised on 8 January 1559 at St. Budeaux, Devon. He graduated M.A. from Exeter College, Oxford in 1587. His later clerical appointments included:

In 1616 he purchased Coker Court, the manor house of East Coker, Somerset, from Sir Edward Phelips. He started the construction of the Helyar Almshouses in East Coker in 1640, but died before their completion. They were finished by his grandson William Helyar.

During the Civil War,on 19 January 1642, he was dragged at midnight from his bed in Exeter by Roundheads and carried on board a ship, where he was detained until he consented to pay the sum of £800 (equivalent to £127,378 in 2016). He received a copy of the protection thus purchased:

He married Mary Cary (died 1607), daughter of William Cary of Cockington, Devon, by whom he had children including:

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