Nicholas Duck (1570 – 28 August 1628), of

Heavitree Heavitree is a historic village and parish situated formerly outside the walls of the City of Exeter in Devon, England, and is today an eastern district of that city. It was formerly the first significant village outside the city on the road to ...

and of nearby

Mount Radford Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

in the parish of St Leonards, both next to

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

shire, was an English lawyer who served twice as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

, in 1624 and 1625. He was one of the '' Worthies of Devon'' of the biographer John Prince (1643–1723), whose wife was his great-niece.

Origins

He was born in 1570 at Heavitree, the eldest son of Richard Duck (d.1603) by his wife a certain Joanna (d.1624). Richard Duck was the founder of "Duck's Almhouse" in Heavitree. His brother was the "vastly rich" Sir

Arthur Duck Arthur Duck (1580 – 16 December 1648), Doctor of Civil Law (LL.D.) was an English lawyer, author and Member of Parliament. Origins Duck was born at Heavitree, near Exeter, Devon. the younger son of Richard Duck and his wife Joanna. His elder b ...

(1580-1649), a Doctor of Civil Law, a Royalist in the Civil War, MP for Minehead in Somerset and an author of several works.

Career

On 12 July 1584 he entered

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, popular with Devonians, founded by

Hugh Oldham Hugh Oldham ( – 25 June 1519) was an English cleric who was Bishop of Exeter (1505–19) and a notable patron of education as a founder and patron of Manchester Grammar School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Born in Lancashire to a fami ...

(c.1452-1519),

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

. He left the university without a degree, and entered Lincoln's Inn, where he commenced his legal training, and of which he was one of the governors from 1615 until his death. He was called to the bar. In 1614 he purchased the mansion house and estate of

in the parish of St Leonards, Exeter, which he made his seat. He was

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ca ...

at Lincoln's Inn in Lent 1618, and the same year was elected to the honourable position of Recorder of Exeter. He gave £5 towards the building of

Lincoln's Inn Chapel The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Linco ...

in 1617.

Marriage and children

On 6 October 1601 at St. Mary Arches, Exeter, he married Grace Walker, daughter of Thomas Walker of Exeter, Alderman and

Mayor of Exeter This is a chronological list of the Mayors and Lord Mayors of the city of Exeter, England. The role of Mayor was granted the dignity and style of Lord Mayor by letters patent dated 1 May 2002 as the result of a competition to celebrate the Gol ...

, by whom he had four children: *Richard Duck (1603–1656) of

, St Leonard's, Exeter, who married Bridget Drewe, daughter of Sir Thomas Drewe (d.1651) of

The Grange, Broadhembury The Grange is a historic estate in the parish of Broadhembury in Devon, England. The surviving 16th-century mansion house (known as The Grange) is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England. History The Grange estate served orig ...

, Devon,

Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

in 1612, who sold

Killerton Killerton is an 18th-century house in Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, England, which, with its hillside garden and estate, has been owned by the National Trust since 1944 and is open to the public. The National Trust displays the house as a comforta ...

to Sir Arthur Acland. (Son of

Edward Drew Edward Drew (c.1542–1598) of Killerton, Broadclyst and The Grange, Broadhembury, Devon, was a Serjeant-at-Law to Queen Elizabeth I. He served as a Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis in 1584, twice for Exeter in 1586 and 1588 and in 1592 ...

(c.1542–1598) of

Broadclyst Broadclyst is a village and civil parish in the East Devon local government district. It lies approximately 5 miles northeast of the city of Exeter, Devon, England, on the B3181. In 2001 its population was 2,830, reducing at the 2011 Census to 1 ...

and

, Devon, a

Serjeant-at-Law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are w ...

to Queen Elizabeth I who served as a

for

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Heri ...

in 1584, twice for

in 1586 and 1588 and in 1592 for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

and was Recorder of the City of London) *Philip Duck (d. 1666/7), who married Mary Osborne; *Charles Duck; *William Duck (d. 1627).

Death and burial

He died on 28 August 1628 and was buried in

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 14 ...

on 9 September 1628. His portrait is said to exist in the collection of

Exeter Guildhall Exeter Guildhall on the High Street of Exeter, Devon, England has been the centre of civic government for the city for at least 600 years. Much of the fabric of the building is medieval, though the elaborate frontage was added in the 1590s ...

.Per Vivian, p.309

Sources

* Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp. 309–10, pedigree of Duck * Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, pp. 338–41, ''Duck, Nicholas''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duck, Nicholas 1570 births 1628 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Exeter 17th-century English lawyers Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Burials at Exeter Cathedral Lawyers from Exeter 16th-century English lawyers English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625