1617, Henry Gibbe petitions for royal help in a dispute about a manor in Kent – The Power of Petitioning in Seventeenth-Century England

Henry Gibbe. SP 14/90 f. 222 (1617)

To the Kings most excellent majestie

The humble peticion of Henry Gibbe.

Who sheweth thatt whereas Sir Thomas Roberts and Robert Sheapard being to purchase the manner of Cheyne Courtt in Kentt of one Byrd, and because the sayd manner was holden of your majestie in capite, plotted among them selves, not to purchase the same in their owne names, butt did purchase itt in the name of one Henly, of purpose to defraud and deceave your majestie of a wardshipp and lyverye (if any should happen)

Henly aboutt the beginning of your majesties raigne of this realme of England dyed, and left his soonne and heir (now Sir Thomas Henly) under age who having other landes holden of your majestie for which he was found in wardd, itt was contryved between him the sayd Sir Thomas Henly and Roberts and Sheapard, thatt he should omitt and leave the sayd manner of Cheyne Courtt outte of his office and lyverye, which he did, and yett became bound to your majesties use in a reconusans or obligacion taken by the master and [counsel?] of the courtt of wardes, thatt all the landes whereof his father dyed seised were duely and truely found in the sayd office and lyvery, and thatt none of them were omitted. The said Roberts and Sheapard geving him the sayd Sir Thomas Henly collaterall security to save him harmelesse against your majestie if ever after he should be called in question for the forfeiture of his sayd reconusanc or obligacion

Now because itt playnely appeereth that all this was plotted and contryved between the partyes aforesayd of purpose to defraud cozen and deceave your majestie of the profittes and revenue of Cheyn Courtt which is worth 400 pounds per annum at the least and because Sir Thomas Henly did contrary to truth and his owne knowledg enter into the foresayd reconusanc or obligacion, which ipso facto became forfeited, he having security from Roberts and Sheapard to be saved harmelesse therefrom: may itt please your most excellent majestie to bestow the forfeiture of the sayd obligacion or reconusanc uppon your humble peticioner. And he will ever pray as in duety etc

[paratext: Peticion Master Henry Gibbe / The court at Whitehall 16 March 1616. / His majesties pleasure is that the Lord Viscount Wallingford should call Sir Thomas Henly before him, and examine him of the perticulers conteyned in the petition; and if it shall appeare that the recognizance within mentioned is forfeyted to his majesty; then is his lordship to give present order that the petitioner may proceede to recover the forfeyture thereof, upon whome his majesty hath been pleased to bestowe it. / [Daniel?] Winwood]

Report by Janette Storey

The petition is summarised in the Calendar of State Papers as a request from Henry Gibb to the King ‘for the forfeiture of the recognizance by which Sir Thos. Henly pledged himself that the lands of his father were truly stated, he being then the King’s ward, although he had fraudulently conspired with Sir Thos. Roberts and Robt. Sheppard to conceal and withhold from His Majesty the profits of the manor of Cheyne Court, co. Kent, which his father held.’

Cheyne Court

Chene or Cheyne Court, now Old Cheyne Court, is located in the parish of Ivybridge, Kent between Rye and New Romney on the edge of Walland marsh.[1] It originally belonged to the See of Canterbury. It was transferred to Henry VIII and passed down to Edward VI who granted it to Sir Richard Cheney (1485-1558), his household treasurer and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.[2] It took its name from Sir Richard. The property passed to his son Henry.[3] He managed to spend his inheritance and sold his ancestral home and Cheyne Court to Richard Springham, William Bird, and Thomas Aldersley.

From this point the manor was called Old Cheyne Court.[4] The demesne lands, Cheyne Court Farm in Walland Marsh were sold by Bird et al to Richard Knatchpole, who left it to his half brother Sir Norton Knatchpole. He was one of Kent’s foremost livestock farmers. It was only in 2002 that the Knatchpole family finally sold off its acres.[5]

William Byrd (Bird)

A joint owner of Cheyne Court, other than sharing the name and being a contemporary of the composer, little is known of him. After his death there was an inquisition in 1566, regarding his manor, in which he was described as a collector of customs.[6] A possible connection is that Judith Blunt (nee Bird) third daughter of a William Bird esquire of the City of London married Edmund Roberts (died 1625), brother of Sir Thomas Roberts I.[7]

Sir Thomas Roberts

Thomas was the son of Walter Roberts (1526-1580) and Frances Maynard. He was born about 1559 Glassenbury, Kent[8] and the parish register shows he was baptised in St Dunstans, Cranbrook, 2nd February 1561/2.[9]

The Roberts family had been in the area since the reign of Henry I.[10] Sir Thomas Roberts of Glassenbury was a sheriff of Kent in 1622 in James I’s reign.[11] He only inherited the whole estate of the manor of Glassenbury because in the time of his grandfather (Thomas Roberts) an act of law by Edward VI meant it was disgravelled.[12] Gravelkind,[13] particularly associated with Kent, was an inheritance system that divided an estate between all the sons of a person. He was knighted 23rd July 1603. He was created a baronet[14] on 3rd July 1620 by James I.[15] Hereditary baronetages, created by James I, ranked below barons but above knights (except Knights of the Garter). Applicants could buy a baronetcy for £1095.

It is estimated about 1584 Thomas married Lady Frances James (born 1563 at Smarden, Kent, died 8 February 1646/7). They had seven children. Sir Thomas Roberts died 20 February 1626/27 and is recorded as buried at Cranbrooke, Kent 23 February 1626/27.[16] His eldest son Walter succeeded him.

Burke[17] gives a description of Thomas’ character and his descendants: “hospitable without excess, and charitable without ostentation.” Also “in all other respects he shewed himself a prudent and judicious gentleman, a lover of his country, and a good Christian; he valued the memory of his ancestors, and bore in his mind their good actions, as well as the care they had taken in preserving the estate entire for many generations; whereupon, in the year 1599, he caused an inscription to be set up in the church of Cranbrook, containing a memorial of his family, that his posterity, having it always before their eyes, might be induced to imitate their example, and preserve the credit and repute his forefathers had lived in.”

Other than the 1617 petition no documentary links with Robert Shepard have been found. However, Sir Thomas Henly senior was related to him by marriage.

Shepard Family (Sheppard, Shepherd)

Robert Shepard II was born in Kent about 1565, the son of Robert Shepard I[18] of Peasmarsh Sussex and Agnes Byrchett. He first married Joan Hope (born 1578, Gloucestershire, died before 1584). His second wife was Elizabeth James of Smarden, Kent[19]. Her father Martin James was a Rememberancer[20] of the Court of the Exchequer. Elizabeth’s brother Henry fell out with his local church and converted to the Catholic religion and by 1610 was declared a recusant, liable to have up to two thirds of his property seized by the Crown.[21]

Robert and Elizabeth had several children – the most notable was Robert III who was born 1604 and emigrated to Virginia.[22] He sailed on the King George in 1621. He was an officer in the militia and a burgess in Jamestown.[23]

Robert Shepard II died at Merwood, Kent in 1614. Other than the petition no documentary links with Sir Thomas Roberts or the Henly family have been found.

Henly (Henley, Hendly Hendley) Family

The Henly family were landowners in Cranbrook, Kent from 1344 onwards.[24] Sir Thomas Henly of the petition was baptised 20th April 1580 Ticehurst, Sussex.[25] He was the son of Thomas Henly senior and his first wife Anne Bowyer of Cuckfield, Sussex. Thomas Henly senior had a second wife Mary, daughter of Walter Roberts of Glassenbury.[26] Thus he was brother in law to Sir Thomas Roberts.

Thomas Henly senior was philanthropic and on his death in 1590 left an allotment field in Otham within a charitable trust – the Hendley Charity. The rent from the field was to be used for poor relief in Otham village, Kent. There is a memorial plaque in Otham church of a man, his wife and seven children, inscribed: “in God is my trust”.[27] He also left a book of Otham[28] consisting of memoranda of family events and Hendley property purchases in Otham and other Kent parishes, rent accounts, inventories of household goods, plate etc; at the back of the book, in various hands are a translation of Walter Henly’s 13th century treatise on agriculture[29] and an ‘allegation’ concerning purveyance for the royal household in Kent.

Thomas Henly, subject of the petition, was about ten years old when his father died. Consequently his inheritance would have been subject to the rules of the Court of Wards and Liveries.[30] A wardship could be sold but there is nothing to say this happened and on reaching the age of twenty-one in 1601, Thomas was obviously able to ‘sue out his livery’ i.e. pay a sum of money to the crown in exchange for the powers attached to his title and freedom from dependence as a ward. Prominent men in the area were asked to certify that the heir had reached his majority. If Cheyne Court was omitted from the estate when the wardship process was initiated is uncertain. At the age of about ten it seems improbable that Thomas would have had much grasp of exactly what was going on in his name.

Aged seventeen he married Elizabeth on 28th February 1597/8 in St Botolph, Bishopgate, London. She was the daughter of John Wilford of Enfield.[31] Thomas and Elizabeth (1578-1634) had two sons and a daughter. Thomas was knighted 16 May 1605.[32] He became Lord of the Manor of Coursehorn at Cranbrook, he acquired two other manors Angley and Bettenham in Cranbrook. In 1607 Thomas completed a deed of confirmation to his uncle Sir Henry Bowyer for various lands in Horley, Surrey.[33] This was not used because on his uncle’s death, Thomas (age 25) became his heir.[34] In 1637 Thomas served as sheriff of Kent.

Thomas Hendly died on 28 January 1656/7, aged 76 years. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Cuckfield, West Sussex.[35] There is still a wall monument to him, his wife and others in the church.[36] No reference has been found to any change of ownership of Cheyne Manor during his lifetime.

The Petitioner, Henry Gibbe (Gib, Gibb) and his family

The Gib family were career servants to James V and VI of Scotland and in Henry’s case to Charles I. The book ‘The Life and Times of Robert Gib, Lord of Carriber, familiar servitor and master of the stables to King James V of Scotland’ by Sir George Duncan Gibb, published 1874[37] provides comprehensive information about the family. The author states this is chiefly derived from public records. Henry has ten chapters devoted to him. The book also describes the life of his grandfather Robert Gib and his son, Henry’s father, John Gib. Where possible the following information is corroborated from another source.

Robert Gib

Henry’s grandfather Robert rose from being appointed Master of the Stables for King James V of Scotand in 1524 (Robert’s father had served James IV in a similar capacity and fought bedside him at Flodden). In 1537 he was appointed Baile of the port of Newhaven, granted the charters of various lands including Carribeer, Scotland in 1539 and a shared appointment with his son Robert as Coroner for Edinburgh in 1545 after James V death. He died in 1558 aged seventy. He was buried in the old churchyard of Linlithgow. His wife Elizabeth died the following year. Robert Gib married Elizabeth Schaw about 1533. Their eldest son was James (2nd Lord of Caribeer) 1534 -1613. James’s son was childless, so the title went back a generation to John Gib of Knock, his uncle and thus on to Henry Gib, 5th Lord of Carribeer.

Sir John Gib

Sir John Gib of Knock was Robert’s third son, born about 1550 who became a Groom of the Bedchamber to eight-year-old James VI of Scotland in 1575. He served the King for forty-seven years, as James VI in Scotland until 1603 and subsequently as James I after his succession to the English crown. During this time he received clothing allowances[38] and numerous gifts[39] from the King. John had a pension of £200 per annum transferred to his eldest son James.[40] John retired from service about two years before James’s death in 1625. His final rewards were a pension and a knighthood on 5th October 1624 conferred by the King, at Theobalds. He passed his final years at Knock in Dunfermline and died 6th February 1627/8 aged about seventy eight and his wife Isobel Lyndsey (Linsay) in March the following year.[41] Some of their children were: Margaret 1586,[42] James 1587,[43] and Jean 1591.[44] There is no record of Henry’s birth, estimated to be 1590 in Scotland.

Henry Gib

Henry Gib was born about 1590, son of John and Isobel Gib, died 8th April 1650 in Scotland. In 1621 Henry married Anne Gibbe, born about 1604 the daughter of Sir Ralph Gibbe of Honnington. She died in 1658.

Their children:

1) Elizabeth born 1622, married Sir Richard Everard, died at Westminster and buried 8 March 1663, Great Waltham.[45]

2) Charles baptised 19 Dec 1624[46] and buried 19 Feb 1629/30, Church of St Martins in the Fields.

3) Frances born 1626, died 6 March 1714/15.

4) Katherine baptised 16 March 1627 Church of St Martins in the Fields.[47]

5) Anne baptised 16 December 1627[48], buried 13 April 1633 Church of St Martins in the Fields.

When Queen Anne, wife of James I came to London, from Scotland, in 1603 a separate household was set up for their eldest son Prince Henry. The young Henry Gib was appointed as one of his Grooms of the Bedchamber. Henry had connections with the court: the King was godfather to his elder brother plus his father was a personal servant to the King. By 1610 when the Prince was made Prince of Wales, Henry Gibbe is listed as earning £13 16s 8d, board wages and livery per annum. Henry became a favourite of the Prince, who recommended him for favours and grants.[49] One was a convoluted grant on the proviso that Henry paid off the creditors of an outlaw called Kyveett, he could then keep the remainder.[50] A convenient way for the crown to reward people was to give them money taken from fines.[51]

Prince Henry was created Prince of Wales and the Prince’s court was housed at St James’s Palace. There was a grand celebration banquet at Whitehall, which Henry Gib attended on 12th June 1610. Coincidentally on that same day,[52] the first reading of a bill to naturalize Henry Gib, who was born in Scotland, was read in the House of Commons, the second reading on 15th and third on 20th June.[53] The Lords finally ratified it on 25th June 1610.[54]

On 6th November 1612 Prince Henry died of typhoid fever and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 7th December 1612. His Grooms of the Bedchamber were amongst the mourners. His household was disbanded but Henry Gib was immediately appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber to King James, along side his father John. By 1613 he was granted a pension of £200 per annum.[55] Some of his work was connected to the proceedings of the Privy Council. After the marriage of James’s daughter, Elizabeth, to Frederick V of Bavaria the King sent Sir Thomas Erskine, Henry Gib and Henry May on an unspecified mission to the Low Countries. He was awarded expenses for this, plus £150 as a ‘gift’.[56]

About September 1613 Henry Gibb was sent with a letter to the Governor of Calais by the King to quell a duel between the Earl of Essex and Henry Howard, a fellow Groom of the Bedchamber. Essex challenged Howard because of ‘disagreeable speeches’ from him. The matter was amicably settled. In 1614, Henry was awarded some land[57] forfeited from a person convicted of praemunire.[58]

Previously in 1613 Henry Howard and Henry Gibb had the commission to compound grants made to them for ‘Charter Warren’.[59] Warren was permission to hunt certain game in a specified area without fear of prosecution.[60] They wanted redress for the low fees paid to Clerks of the Signet, such as Gib, for granting such patents. They were successful in 1615 grants were awarded to them both for granting free warren.[61]

Later in 1615 an incident occurred that caused Henry to be sent from court. He was at court during the rise of King’s favourite George Villiers and the decline from favour of the Earl of Somerset. Henry was sent from Court, for carrying messages from the Lord Chamberlain (Somerset) to Mrs. Murray, of the Queen’s Bedchamber.[62] The scandalous event started much earlier, before the Countess of Essex was divorced, because of her relationship with the Earl of Somerset (Viscount Rochester), the Lord Chamberlain. Sir Thomas Overbury an attendant of Rochester tried to dissuade him from his course of action. The couple decided to get rid of him and the King was encouraged to put Overbury in the Tower. There he was slowly poisoned by the administration of a mercury compound, dying in 1613. Rochester and the Countess married; he was made Earl of Somerset to match her status. He was set to get a pardon for any past offences but before it was signed by the King he was denounced as a murderer. Overbury’s warder was one Weston who had to be persuaded to confess and name his confederates by the Bishop of London.

A Scotsman called Lumsden wrote a letter critical of the business of Weston’s arraignment.[63] Henry was caught up in being accused of carrying a paper from Lumsden to the King. Weston, Sir Jervis Elwes, the Lieutenant of the Tower and the apothecary that supplied the poison were all hanged. Various associates of the Somersets and Thomas Lumsden appeared before the Star Chamber[64] resulting in fines and imprisonment. In April 1616, before the trial of the Earl of Somerset, Sir Robert Carr, a relative of Somerset and Henry Gib were found burning papers and letters probably related to Somerset.[65] In Scotland the Carr and Gib family were closely associated. In May 1616 the Somersets were found guilty and after a term of imprisonment the King pardoned them. They lived in relative obscurity from then on. Luckily for Henry Gib nothing further came of the burning incident and shortly afterwards Henry was back in court. It is possible that the presence of his father and the loyal service of John Gib had some influence.

By July 1616 Henry received a grant of Brading, Isle of Wight for the benefit of his father John.[66] Next came the petition of 1617 concerning Cheyne Court.[67] Henry was obviously building up his fortunes at this time and this must have seemed a good opportunity, but there is no evidence that anything came of it. He presented another petition for £3000 in 1616.[68] This was from a Michael Haydon’s debt, that was very difficult to recover.

There followed a series of grants to Henry. One in 1620 was for £170 11s, a fee farm,[69] formerly Lord Paget’s, which included paying the Crown rent, but not payable until after the death of Lady Katherine Paget. There is reference to this in 1622.[70] Other payments were from fines levied by the Chancery Court,[71] another larger amount was disappointingly not forthcoming from Sir Edward Coke.[72] It seems to have been a common occurrence for the Crown to swap lands granted to a person for ones of similar value.[73] The lands surrendered by Henry Gibb were those of the Pagets. Thomas Gibb and Laurence Whittaker were the recipients, further action was noted in 1624.[74]

February 1620/21 Henry managed to rent a house from Sir Dudley Carleton[75] in St Martins Lane, London for £60 per annum, even though the asking price was £70. It was recorded that Henry was happy for the other tenant Sir Francis Goodwin to retain his portion and also offered to put his landlord up should he require it.[76] Also at this time Henry and his wife, Anne, whoever should live the longest, was granted a pension of £200 out of Court of Wards funds.

1625 was a busy year. In January Henry was granted Ashley House and lands around Walton upon Thames.[77] His position close to the King enabled him to assist with the request of favours for people. Thomas Lumsden, of the Somerset affair was one.[78] Lumsden named Gib as a good friend. On behalf of one Alexander Stewart Henry requested a pardon for someone who had stolen some silver plate.[79] The King granted Gib one final pension of £200 a year on 1st March 1625. Later that month, on 27th March 1625 James I died.[80]

Henry retained his position as a Groom of the Bedchamber under the rule of Charles I, who was crowned 2 February 1626. He was active on behalf of others, being mentioned in a letter from the widow of Sir John Burgh, a soldier.[81] (Also see reference for Waltham Leigh, March 1626.) He wrote to the Secretary of State, Conway recommending a cousin, Sir William Covert for a post in Ireland.[82] Henry received the resumption of a previous grant from Charles in 1626, lands at Waltham Leigh (Walton) for swapped for others in Durham.[83]

In 1627, Henry and the other Grooms of the Chamber had requested the Secretary of State, Edward Conway to mediate on their behalf for unpaid salaries.[84] They wrote him a letter of thanks in which occurs the phrase “Howsoever their payments may come slowly, they can never despair when they find themselves “preserved in the circle of his gracious care”.”

Henry had by now retired from active duty at the court. He was honored on 4th July 1634 when he was made a Baronet of Nova Scotia.[85] This title was designed by James I but activated by Charles I. A portion of land in Arcadia (Nova Scotia) was awarded to each recipient. There is one mention of him in the State Papers of 1634 concerning a petition requesting newspapers destined for abroad should be censored by the Church or the Crown before letting foreigners have sensitive information. The petitioners wanted the right to publish these for twenty-one years. The petition had been moved by Henry Gib.[86]

Jarrow Manor in Durham became a bit of a problem for Henry. According to his petition of 1632 James I had allowed Henry to buy lands there, these included two saltpans. Henry objected because two gentlemen are about to obtain a grant of an area called Jarrow Sleck (Slack).[87] In a history of the site it is noted there are various financial dealings with the former owner Lord Eure, dating from 1622 to 1627. Finally the land is acknowledged as Henry Gib’s. In 1631 he settled the land in jointure on his wife Anne.[88] Her co-heirs, her surviving daughters, sold it after her death.

As owner of two Jarrow salt pans Sir Henry diversified his interests. In 1635, along with others he presented a petition from Salt Makers of North and South Shields.[89] This proposed establishing a monopoly in the salt trade of that area. They were given a contract to supply salt for home and use by the fishing industry, amongst other things possibly for preserving herring catches. Taxes and maximum charges for the salt were specified in the contract.

In February 1628, after some dealing, an agreement was made with the Lord Treasurer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the lands Henry had been granted around East Park in Brancepeth, Durham should also include some woods in West Park.[90] However later that month the grant was stopped as the trees were declared suitable for naval use.[91] A paper in 1635 shows that the trees were suitable for the Navy.[92] By 1636 a petition shows Henry was getting impatient for the balance of his money after exchanging Walton for Brancepeth eight years previously.[93] A grant in 1637 to Sir Henry Vane to clear all the trees except 383 destined for ship building implies Henry Gib no longer had control of West Park.[94] Just after this Henry petitioned the King for the money again.[95]

In 1636 Henry made another claim for money. This time he petitioned for payment of a pension awarded to him by James I that had been unpaid for a number of years.[96] Henry Gib was one of forty appointed to form a commission in 1638 to check occupancy of cottages contravening a law from Elizabeth’s time. The same day the same people were asked to inquire about the breaching of laws against the taking of excessive usury and other sharp financial practices.[97]

The year 1642 marked the beginning of the civil war. There is no evidence of Henry taking an active part in it. He retreated to Scotland in 1643. He obtained a warrant from the House of Commons to travel by sea with £100 worth of plate and three trunks.[98] He went to his residence in Falkland, Fife. However in January 1644 the Conventions of Estates,[99] a form of Parliament for Scotland, co-opted Sir James Lumsden, Sir Henry Gib and Robert Meldrum to the Committee of Estates that was assembling a reserve army to defend Scotland. In January the Earl of Leven led 18,000 men and 3000 horses over the Tweed reaching Durham by the end of February. Cromwell defeated King Charles at Marston Moor the following July.

Henry had several dealings with the interregnum parliament.[100] In July 1644 he was appointed to raise money from the City of Bristol for maintaining the army in the west country,[101] also in October to raise more money for Bristol to support the army in Ireland.[102] By February 1645 he needed to apply for more money for his own needs and various pleas are recorded by the House of Commons.[103] Initially he was granted some money, £2000 by the Parliament of Scotland. However in 1648 the Commons in London ordered that his estates in England be sequestered and the grant for the money repealed.[104] Shortly afterwards Charles I was tried for treason and beheaded outside Whitehall on 30 January 1649. One more a petition from Henry was read in the House of Commons on 2 April 1650.[105] It was of little importance as he died in Scotland on April 8th and never lived to see that Cromwell defeated the Scots at the battle of Dunbar in June 1650.[106]

Whilst Henry went to Scotland his wife remained in London and was suffering financial difficulties. She presented a petition to Parliament in May 1644 asking for two pensions of £200 each that had been unpaid for over two years. She states that her husband is absent serving both kingdoms and she is left worse off than a delinquent, who have a part allowed them for their maintenance. A delinquent was a royalist supporter who was able to claim a portion (part) of the total value of their estates after promising not to take up arms and to pay a fine. On 3 June 1644 parliament recommended her case be referred to the committee for Petitioners’ Relief.[107]

A week before Henry’s death in April 1650, Anne petitioned the Commissioners for Compounding under sequestration, applying for a fifth part as permitted by the 1649 Act.[108] This petition was endorsed and a note added saying a fifth part be granted from this time [1st April 1650]. A further plea to the Commissioners from Anne asked for the return of lands in Durham given to Henry for life and to her in jointure.[109] The lands were sequestered, but she proposed that after the death of Henry the sequestration should be discharged and her entitlement of the land be acknowledged. This was endorsed on 17 May 1650 with instructions that a ‘Mr Reading should examine and report back, signed Jo. Leech’. The Deed of Jointure was allowed on 28 May 1628 by S.R. However the land in Jarrow had been rented out, including the two salt pans and according to Anne Gib these were totally ruined. The annual rental payment for the salt pans being £32 19s 10d, formerly £38.

Under straightened circumstances Anne was fortunate to have family and friends with whom she stayed for the remainder of her life. Aged fifty-four, she died in London on 30 May 1658. She was buried in the vaults of St Botolph’s, Bishopgate, London. Her will was proved 20 June 1658 by her executor and son in law Sir Richard Everard.

Daniel Winwood

Other than he was the signatory for the note about actions to be taken as a result of the 1617 petition, no further information has been forthcoming. Neither is there for ‘Payre Winwood’ as the signature is noted in the biography of Robert Gib.[110] Is it possible that Daniel was related to the Secretary of State at the time Sir Ralph Winwood? No evidence has been found.

Lord Viscount Wallingford

It was whilst in his capacity as Treasurer of the Household Wallingford was requested by James I to interview Sir Thomas Henly. William Knollys (1544- 1632), who became the 1st Earl of Banbury in 1626, was at the court of both Queen Elizabeth I and James I.[111] Over the course of his career he was an MP for Stafford, Tregony and also Oxfordshire.[112] He held various positions: Comptroller of the Household, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire and also Oxfordshire, and 1601 to 1616 Treasurer of the Household. The latter was often a promotion awarded to former comptrollers, but normally held by commoners. It would have automatically made him a member of the Privy Council and the Board of Green Cloth.[113]

William was appointed castellan of Wallingford Castle in 1584. He served as an army captain in the Netherlands in 1586, where he was knighted by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

At court William Knollys caused much amusement by his behaviour and personal appearance.[114] Aged fifty he became infatuated with Mary Fitton, who he had promised her family that he would protect at court. Mary was about 35 years younger than him. He earned the nickname ‘party beard’ because of his tricolour beard: white at the roots, yellow in the middle and black at the ends. Ditties were written about him and there is a suggestion that he inspired Shakespeare’s sadly comic character Malvolio in Twelfth Night.

He died 25 May 1632 at Paternoster Row, London and is buried in St Nicholas Churchyard Rotherfield Greys, South Oxfordshire.[115]

References

[1] https://www.streetmap.co.uk/place/Old_Cheyne_Court_in_Kent_600611_234611.htm

[2] http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/ThomasCheney.htm

[3] http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/HenryCheney(1BToddington).htm

[4] Edward Hasted, ‘Parishes: Ivechurch’, in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (Canterbury, 1799), pp. 400-406. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol8/pp400-406. (Hereafter Victoria County History publications on British History Online are cited solely by URL.)

[5] A. Davison, ‘The agrarian economy of Romney Marsh and its hinterland, with special reference to the Knatchbull estate, c. 1730-90’ (2011, PhD Thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University, History and American Studies), https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/86w08/the-agrarian-economy-of-romney-marsh-and-its-hinterland-with-special-reference-to-the-knatchbull-estate-c-1730-90, p. 23 for Norton Knatchbull

[6] List of Special Commissions and returns in the Exchequer preserved in the Public Record Office, Kraus Reprint Corporation, New York, 1963, p40.

[7] A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant by John Burke

[8] http://www.connectedbloodlines.com/getperson.php?personID=I6766&tree=lowell

[9] FindMyPast https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=PRS%2FKENT%2FBAP%2F0000979 and image of baptismal record.

[10] Edward Hasted, ‘Parishes: Goudhurst (part)’, in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 7 (Canterbury, 1798), pp. 64-73. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp64-73 (Combone estate and Rookherst and Roberts family).

[11] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol1/pp177-213#h2-0001

[12] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol1/pp311-321, Article on Socage and gavelkind tenures. An act in the 2d and 3d year of King Edward VI’s reign for the lands of the following persons: Thomas Roberts.

[13] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gavelkind

[14] https://www.britannica.com/topic/baronet

[15] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp90-113, Cranbrook, Glassenbury and history of the Roberts family, plus St Dunstan’s Church and Roberts memorials

[16] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JZH4-WQ4

[17] A genealogical & heraldic history of the extinct &dormant baronetcies … By Sir John Bernard Burke pages 444 -446

[18] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sheppard-288

[19] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/James-1417

[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrancer

[21] https://www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/1158733869, Photo of a James family memorial and notes about the family.

[22] Robert Shepard III, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sheppard-377

[23] https://www.jstor.org/stable/4241890

[24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendley_family

[25] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NB85-M29

[26] Image and biography, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hw2sbj&view=1up&seq=276, A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland. By John Burke…and John Bernard Burke…

[27] Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/5689891736

[28] https://www.kentarchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/GB51_U1044_F_1

[29] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_of_Henley

[30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Wards_and_Liveries

[31] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hendley-70

[32] https://archive.org/details/knightsofengland02shawuoft/page/n147

[33] https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/9912b154-28b5-46c4-b5c0-2b6a38765dbb, Held by West Sussex Record Office

[34] https://archive.org/stream/notesofpostmorte00greauoft/notesofpostmorte00greauoft_djvu.txt , Item number 160 Sir Henry Bowyer

[35] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK18-L2V8

[36] Image https://www.sussexrecordsociety.org/dbs/esm/monument/0007201345/

[37] https://digital.nls.uk/histories-of-scottish-families/archive/95243047#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-1776%2C-225%2C6051%2C4485

[38] ‘James I: Volume 4, October-November, 1603’, in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1603-1610, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1857), pp. 43-56. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1603-10/pp43-56 (Hereafter the Calendar of State Papers on British History Online are cited solely by URL.); https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1603-10/pp64-90

[39] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1603-10/pp103-140 ; https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1603-10/pp164-182 ; https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1603-10/pp393-420

[40] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1611-18/pp240-250

[41]https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1610&h=1793561&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=jhl394&_phstart=successSource Extracted Probate records of Sir John Gib and Dame Isobel Linsay

[42] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYGZ-J7J

[43] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYG6-GMB

[44] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYGD-461

[45] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLG1-7Z81

[46] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPKT-VB7

[47] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQ18-KLJ

[48] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J38C-YVH

[49] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1603-10/pp454-460, Adam Newton was tutor to Prince Henry.

[50] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/jas1/1603-10/pp484-495