| Name: | John COO |
| Sex: | Male |
| Father: | - |
| Mother: | - |
| Birth | 1340 | Gestingthorpe |
| Death | 1415 (age 74-75) | Gestingthorpe |
| Occupation | Soldier, Knight and Landowner, Essex; Essex |
| Spouse | (unknown) | |
| Children | John COO (1375-1425) | |
John Coo/Coe was born about 1340 in Gestingthorpe, Essex, and features in some accounts as "Cavalier", but all we know for sure is that his occupation is listed as soldier and landowner, and his religion as Catholic. He did however fight in Italy as a mercenary in the 1380s and 90s and may have served with John Hawkwood. See Paul Deacon's website at www.freewebs.com/1deacongen/johncoe1.htm for more details.
John Coo returned to England and acquired extensive estates in Essex and Suffolk. The earliest record of him there is in 1397 Tax Lists. In 1412 he donated a large part of his estate to found a chantry over the tomb of Sir John Hawkwood. Of his wife and children, only 2 sons are known - John, born about 1375, and William, born about 1380. He died sometime after 1412 in Gestingthorpe.
The armorial bearing of John Coo are 'three pales wavy charged with twelve martlets'. His seal is 'a holy lamb with a banner', probably derived from the seal of the Knights Templar.