John Northcote (1570-1632) of Uton and Hayne, Newton St Cyres, near Crediton, Devon, was a member of the Devonshire gentry, lord of the manor of Newton St Cyres, who is chiefly known to history for his artistically acclaimed effigy and monument in Newton St Cyres Church. Little or no documentary evidence concerning his career as a soldier or county administrator has survived, but either he or his identically named son was Sheriff of Devon in 1626, his own tenure of that office being suggested by the baton or staff of office held in the hand of his effigy. Such a baton is also held by the effigy of Lord Edward Seymour (d.1593), Sheriff of Devon in 1583, in Berry Pomeroy Church. He was ancestor of the Earls of Iddesleigh.