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The Golden Falcon |
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Chapter VIII/5 - Lydney |
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The
antiquarian lawyer H. Sydney Grazebrooke maintained John le Vinetier was
executor to Whittington. Richard Whittington's wife Alice fitzWarren may have had some connection with one of the tenants of Lydney (which had been held by William Wyther or Winter). In 1420 William Waryn, Forester of the Fee in the Forest of Dean, held land in Lydney called Tynley and Lydney manor (Inquisition post-mortem 7 Henry V, No.52). Fulk fitzWarin was one of the Magna Carta barons (1245). The manor of Upton Warren or fitzWarin in Worcestershire was seized in 1077 by Bishop Odo of Bayeaux. It was held by Urse d'Abitot (who also held Croome d'Abitot) at the Domesday Survey in 1086, then passed to the Beauchamps of Warwick who held it till the 15th century. Warin fitzWilliam de Upton was under-tenant and married Hawise de Beauchamp. William fitzWarin, sheriff of the county of Worcestershire in 1229, died in 1238 when the manor reverted to John de Grafton and descended as Grafton manor (held by the Talbots). Urse the Sheriff (Urse Beauchamp or Urse d'Abitot), earl fo Worcester and brother of Robert Dispensator or Despencer, steward of the earl of Chester was involved in putting down the revolt called the "Bridal of Norwich": "Duo
enim potentissimi Anglorum comites, Rogerus Herefordensis et sorori ejus,
Radulphus Norwicensis pariter decrevarunt ut palam regi rebellarent, et
principatu Anglie Willelmo regi surrepto ibi jus, immo tyrannidum
assumerent. Predictus quippe
Rogerus, Herefordensis comes, filius Willelmi, Radulfo cognomento de Waer,
comiti Norwicensis, sororum suam, contra preceptus regis Willelmi conjuges
dedit. Verum illi supra
memorati conjurationis auctores, captis operaram daturi, sua castella
repetiere, rebellationamque adoriri omni conatu cum fuis fauctoribus
cepere sed Herefordensi comiti, ne, Sabrina transvadata, Radulfo comiti ad
locum destinatum cum suo exercitu occurreret restit Wlstanus Wigornensis
episcopus (Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester) cum magna militar manu et
Ailwinus Forehamensis abbas, cum suis ascitis sibi in adjutorium
Ursone de Bello Campo, vice comite Wigornensi et Waltero de Lasceio
cum suis copiis et cetera multitudine plebis.
At vero Radulfo comiti prope Cantebrugiam castra metanti Odo,
Bajocensis episcopus et Willelmus de Warenna, et Ricardus de Benefacta
filius Gileberti comitis, precipue regis justicia, congregata magna copis
tam Anglorum quam Normannorum ad bellum parati occurrerunt et contra
seditiosos acriter dimicant, eosque expugnant."
("Chroniques
Anglo-Normands"
- François Michel) Roger fitzWilliam (son of William fitzOsbern), earl of Hereford gave his sister Emma in marriage to Ralph the Gaer or Guader, earl of Norfolk against the wishes of William II "Rufus". This led to the rebellion in 1075 called the "Bridal of Norwich". The rebels were stopped from crossing the Severn by the fyrd of Worcestershire exhorted by Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester and Aethelwig, abbot of Evesham. The rebellion was put down by Urse Beauchamp, earl of Worcester, Walter de Lacy, Richard fitzGilbert de Clare of Bienfait, Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux (the king's uncle) and William de Warrene, earl of Surrey. Urse was overlord of Cooksey of the manor of Bromsgrove in 1086 and held the overlordship of Elmley (2 manors of Cooksey). In 1346 Upton Warren passed to the Cookseys or Cokesays of Great Cooksey who held it in the 13th century. Walter Cooksey held it in the mid 13th century and Elizabeth Cooksey it in 1300. It passed to Walter Cooksey in 1316 and then to Hugh Cooksey, his brother who died in 1356. leaving it to Walter Cooksey who married Isabel St. Pierre. It was then inherited by their son Walter Cooksey in 1400, passing to Hugh Cooksey his son in 1406/7 and then to his wife on whose death it was inherited by Joyce, widow of Walter Beauchamp, sister and co-heiress of Hugh Cooksey then in 1500 to the Winters and Russells who were descended from Joyce's sister, Cecily or Elizabeth. Joyce Cooksey subsequently married John Greville and John Stapleton. In 1210-12 Walter Beauchamp held in Worcestershire the manors of Upton, Stone, Grafton, Hampton, Chaddlewick, Cooksey, Bentley, Pauncefoot, Doverdale, Coston and Dunclant (Red Book of the Exchequer). Hubert Bavent (1313, 1316-7), Walter Beauchamp (1309-9), Gilbert Stapleton (1314-7) and John Stapleton from North Yorkshire [who had reversion of the manor of Northmorton, Berkshire which had been given to Miles Stapleton (1314-16)], Thomas Wyther (1322-3), Odo and Thomas "le Recdekne" (Archdekne or Archdeacon) were knights of Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke. John Stapleton was left as a hostage in Bar pending payment of a ransom to Jean de Lamouilly who kidnapped Aymer on 20.6.1317. The
Winters of Warwick were descended from the Archdeacon and Sydenham
families through intermarriage with the Rogers family.
The Visitation of Gloucestershire (1623) gives the arms which the
Winters of Dyrham (descended from George, 2nd son of John
Winter of Lydney) had a right bear including 2. "argent,
3 chevrons sable, upper charged with a mullet of the 1st"
(Archdeacon); 3. "argent, 2
bars gules, label of 5 points azure" (Martin); 4. "argent, a chevron between 3 rams passant sable armed or, a gold
crescent charged with another gules for difference" (Sydenham);
5. "sable, a chevron between 3
mermaid's argent" (Googhe); 14. "or,
2 bars fusilly gules" (Tirrey of Ireland); Crest: "3 feathers dexter or, sinister argent, centre azure". Great Witley in the Doddingon Hundred of Worcester was held of the Honour of Elmley. Walter Beauchamp gave it to Hugh le Poer (a Beauchamp) who in turn gave it in frank marriage to his son-in-law Hugh Cooksey (husband of his daughter Juliana le Poer) during the reign of Henry III. She married secondly William de Furches. In 1287 it passed to Walter Cooksey (d. 1300) then to his son Walter Cooksey after which it followed the descent of Upton Warren until the death of Thomas Cooksey (1498-9) when it passed to Roger Winter and Robert Russell of Strensham who were co-heirs. Witley was given to Russell. "Walterus de Bellocampo Seneschal Hospitii Regis" (Walter Beauchamp, steward of the king's quarters or host) was witness to a charter in Caernarvon ("Records of Carrnarvon" - edit Henry Ellis). Robert Apulby (Appleby), William Trussell, Thomas Wake of Liddell, Jeuan Wither, lord Le Strange, William, Robert and John de Montalt, Anthony de Lucy and Thomas Missenden were mentioned as having connections with Caernarvon. John Winter of Lydney appears in the herald's "Visitation of Worcestershire 1569" where he is shown as marrying Alice Tirrey of Cork, descendant of the fitzGerald, Earls of Desmond. The Will dated 1545 of John Wynter, “esquier”, Deptford, Kent; Bristol [F. S. Alen] names 10 or 11 children. Arthur, the eldest son, died fighting the Spaniards off the Orkney Islands, the second son was called William the elder, the third George of Dyrham, Ralph or Raffe, his fourth son, settled in Cornwall, William the Younger, fifth son may have died or been imprisoned at Rio Cestos in Guinea, Anne the eldest daughter, Alice the second daughter, Anne the third daughter, Elizabeth, Mary and perhaps Anne the younger. John Winter of Deptford had property as well as in Limehouse, Lydney and Bristol. After the death of his eldest son Arthur, his second son William (later Admiral) became a man of considerable fortune. Henry VIII built the harbours at Deptford and Woolwich on either side of his palace of Greenwich to relieve congestion in the medieval harbours at Queenshythe, Dowgate and Billingsgate. Small towns grew untidily on the banks of the Thames from Deptford down to Gravesend: at Dartford, Tilbury and Blackwall, all of which expanded with the growth of trade, the Navy and the Mercantile Marine. Sailors, shipwrights and all who worked on the river and the sea lived in damp, stinking, crowded settlements, scattered in fields to the west of these towns. Henry VIII had a great interest in ships and the sea. He made a hobby of shipbuilding and built a great 1,000 ton vessel with 80 guns in 1515 called the "Harry Grace a Dieu", fitted with the new invention of portholes. He founded the Navy Board, probably at the inspiration of his "best servant" Thomas Cromwell. The king employed John Winter and his ships in his service, sold him lands, made him the first Paymaster of the new Royal Navy and Captain of one of its finest war ships and appointed his kinsman Gilbert Winter, Gentleman Usher of the Bedchamber. When William Gonson, Clerk of the King's Ship and Surveyor of the Navy died in 1544, John Winter was appointed to take his place. His appointment was short-lived; he served as a captain in one of the King's ships and took part in the campaign of 1545 but died the same year after contracting "a burning fever." John Winter, a merchant seamen of Bristol, was mentioned in letters to Admiral William fitzWilliam from Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex who had been Recorder of Bristol and served in Cardinal Wolsey's household. William fitzWilliam senior (father of the earl) was Treasurer of Wolsey's household. John Winter was probably a member of the Company of Merchant Venturers of Bristol, an off-shoot of the powerful Mercers' Company. His eldest son William was certainly a member of the Company of London merchants and of the Spanish Company (of English merchants trading with the Iberian Peninsula). The Mercers Company was the most important guild or company formed to export cloth to northern Europe. Companies like the Bristol Merchant Venturers had flourished in Northern France and Normandy and were probably brought into England by the Normans. The Merchant Venturers were allowed to form a company and buy land by Richard II and built for themselves large houses in the Cheape, in London, their chapel of St Thomas Acon or Acre was near their hall. The company was known as the Brotherhood of St. Thomas over the Seas because St Thomas a'Becket (son of a mercer from Rouen) was the patron saint of the mercers or cloth dealers. The pilgrim route to his shrine at Canterbury ran from Southampton via Winchester and Southampton still has a medieval warehouse and Kings Lynn (starting point for pilgrims going to Walsingham), has a 14th century warehouse called Hampton Court, another belonging to Hanseatic League and a Guild of St. George. In 1407 Henry IV incorporated the Company of Merchant Adventurers as a private company to trade with Germany and the Netherlands with the monopoly of certain manufactured articles. Its members were all Englishmen from the Mercers Company and the minutes of both companies were kept together until 1526. After the Fleming Perkin Warbeck's rebellion, the Merchant Venturers (who had been based at Calais) moved to Antwerp, resulting in an increase in the English trade. Henry VII gave the merchants a charter and they settled in Antwerp which became the commercial capital of Europe, attracting Germans who brought metal wares, wax, pitch and canvas from the Baltic, the Italians brought silks and velvets, the Portuguese, spices and oriental goods. England bought sugar, pepper, ginger and cloves at Antwerp (then in Burgundy) where a bourse was opened and the city became the chief money market. A Merchant Venturer Sir Thomas Kitson of Antwerp bought the manor of Hengrave Hall from the Duke of Buckingham in 1527, William Caxton was a cloth dealer before he became a printer. By the mid sixteenth century religious conflicts in the Spanish Netherlands and English piracy had damaged relations with the Spain although the London merchants still used Antwerp as an outlet; the activities of the Algiers or Barbary corsairs had prevented trade with the Mediterranean and war with France had hindered trade there. There was a colony of Netherlanders in Sandwich in Kent by 1561 and further waves of refugees after the Duke of Alba's sack of Antwerp known as the "Spanish Fury" in 1585. The Merchant Adventurers operated from Bristol, London, York, Norwich, Exeter, Ipswich, Newcastle, Hull, Flanders, Brabant, Holland and Zealand. Bristol ships called at Bergen, Lübeck, Bruges, Calais, Cherbourg, Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Bilbao, Santander, Coruña, Santiago, Oporto, Lisbon, Seville, Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Dublin and Drogheda and had the Venturers had the privilege of trading with the mart towns between the River Somme in France and the Scawe in Denmark. In their guildhall at Hull hang the shields of the English Merchants of Spain and the East India Company, both off-shoots of the Merchant Adventurers. The Merchant Adventurers Company upheld protectionism and wares of non-members were subject to seizure and penalties. Foreigners and non-members were excluded, their good seized and sold at Spiders Hall "upon the Back", formerly the house of the deceased Robert Sturmy. Burgesses were prohibited from selling and storing foreigners' goods in their houses. Members came from Bristol, Salisbury and Devizes and traded with Iceland and Finmark although Hamburg was their chief centre, trading mainly with Spain and Portugal, exchanging clothes for leather and fish from the north and fruit and wine from Spain. Burgesses of Bristol came from Bath, Devizes, Shepton Mallet and other Somerset towns. The staple court was also the mayor's court. Between 1459 and 1467 the Corporation elected the Master and Wardens of the Society, the principal offices went to the mayor or sheriff of a town. In Bristol, the chapel and chamber of Spicers Hall was used by the Merchant Venturers for meetings. Non-members who did not attend when summoned forfeited a pound of wax and they were forbidden to sell meat or wool oil, iron and wax. On
26.8.1569 Robert Cooke, Clarenceaux King of Arms granted the Merchant
Venturers a coat of arms being "barry
of 8 argent and azure, a flying green dragon on a gold band, a gold lion
passant on a chief gules between two besants supported by a mermaid and a
satyr." John Winter of Lydney knew Thomas Cromwell, Recorder of Bristol, whose family originated in Norwell, Nottinghamshire and Cromwell recommended Winter, merchant of Bristol, to the Admiral Sir William fitzWilliam as a captain who was capable of keeping the Bristol Channel free from corsairs. The Cromwells of Tattershall, John Winter of Lydney and the FitzAlans of Clun, Oswestry all traced their ancestry from Adeliza of Louvain and William d'Aubigny, Earl of Arundel. John Crombwell, seneschal or steward of the king's quarters ("hospitii regis") in Caernarvon quarrelled with Nicholas Segrave, brother of John Segrave, Warden of Scotland south of the Forth. Idonea, wife of John Cromwell released rights of inheritance to the Despencers of the manor of Shalford, Surrey the 2nd half of which belonged to Emma Mohaut thgrough a second marriage to Richard fitzJohn. John Cromwell was a representative of Edward II on 8.5.1323. Ralph, 3rd Lord Cromwell was one of the richest men of the 15th century. He was a Yorkist and quarrelled with Richard Neville "Warwick the Kingmaker" at the time Walter, Lord Hungerford was Treasurer in 1431; the Duke of Gloucester dismissed them both that year. During the reign of Henry V "Bolingbroke", Ralph Cromwell fought at Agincourt and became Chamberlain of the Exchequer, Master of the King's Falcons, Constable of Nottingham Castle, Warden of Sherwood Forest and Lord High Treasurer of England. He was alive during the reign of Henry VI and rebuilt Tattershall, he also owned Collyweston, Northamptonshire and South Wingfield, Derbyshire. He died in 1455, leaving his two nieces, Joan, Lady Cromwell and Maud, Lady Willoughby de Eresby as his heiresses - Tattershall went to the crown in 1471. His son William Cromwell, probably illegitimate, the first member of the Cromwell family to settle in Wimbledon about 9 years prior to 1461, was granted a fulling mill and a house there by Archbishop Kempe. William had a sister who married to William Smyth. William Cromwell had a son John whose son Walter probably adopted the surname of Smith and was known as the "Armourer" as he was his uncle's apprentice. He had an elder brother John a brewer, who settled in Lambeth and became and cook to the Archbishop of Canterbury. According to the Court Rolls of 1480, Walter Cromwell, a prosperous blacksmith, brewer and fuller who owned 2 virgates (60 acres) of land in Putney, was often fined for being drunk and disorderly. He married the daughter of Nicholas Glossop of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, a yeoman who resided in Putney at the house of John Welbecke, an attorney at the time of the marriage in 1474. Walter's daughter Katherine Cromwell (probably born in 1477) married Morgan Williams of Llanishen, Glamorgan (Oliver Cromwell's ancestors), brother of John Williams of Putney, a lawyer, accountant and steward to Lord Scales. Walter Cromwell's other daughter Elizabeth married a Mr Wellyfed. His son Thomas, born about 1485, became a soldier in Italy and was in the French army in 1503. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Wykys, a shearman of Thorpe, near Chertsey, Surrey, descended from a family of esquires, one of whom was Gentleman Usher to Henry VII. Elizabeth Wykys owned property of her own and was the widow of Thomas Williams. Burghley House in the Soke of Peterborough had belonged to Ralph, Lord Cromwell and afterwards to the Wykes family whose descendants sold it in 1526 to David Cecil (d. 1536), a follower of Henry VII from Pembrokeshire. The Cecils may have descended from Seisyllt, Prince of Wales; John Seysyll of the15th century has a brass in the church of St. Mary Tormarton, Gloucestershire so the Cecils, Cromwells and Winters may have known each other before the Tudors came to power. A Cecil had his arms registered on the Calais Roll of Edward III (1346) as "barry of 10, argent and azure, on six shields 3, 2, 1, sable, as many lioncels of the first". David Cecil came from the Welsh border and settled in Stamford where he became a freeman in 1494. His son Richard was father of William Cecil born at Bourne, Lincolnshire on 13.9.1520, created 1st Lord Burghley in 1571 and died on 4.8.1592, leaving two sons, Thomas and Robert who also became a Minister. William Cecil, a staunch Protestant, began his career as secretary in the household of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, Edward VI's uncle who became Lord Protector Somerset. Edward Cheke, Edward VI's tutor obtained this post for Cecil who was imprisoned in the Tower of London with Somerset. Cecil became secretary to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick & Northumberland and was subsequently knighted by Edward VI. He survived the reign of Mary Tudor and was only 38 when he became Secretary of State to Elizabeth I. Thomas Cromwell, a wool dyer, became a cloth and wool merchant till about 1524 in the service of the English dealers in Antwerp and Flanders. Henry VII removal of the wool mart from Antwerp to Calais resulted in an important commercial treaty. After sowing his wild oats and seeking adventures abroad, Thomas settled down to becoming a lawyer and attracted Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's attention, becoming a member of his household. Thomas Cromwell, as a young lawyer, was manager of the affairs of the Dorsets. The 3 younger brothers of Thomas Grey, Marquess of Exeter and Devon (Lady Jane Grey's grandfather) were under Wolsey at Magdalen College, Oxford. Their father gave the living of Limington to Wolsey. Thomas Cromwell's cousin Robert "Robin" Cromwell, formerly rector of Reed, Hertfordshire (which he resigned on 13.2.1511) became the 29th vicar of Battersea. He was the only son of Robert Cromwell, slain at Towton, whose relatives lived in Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. He was made Steward of the York estate and when he went to Calais in 1513, his cousin Thomas was made his deputy. He probably introduced Thomas to Wolsey who was then at Calais. There is grant No.22 in the Calendar of State Papers for January 1513 for the protection of Robert Cromwell, vicar of Battersea for 1 year, going in the suite of Sir Gilbert Talbot, Deputy of Calais, given at Greenwich on 22.12. 4 Henry VIII. Robert Cromwell died in 1517. When Wolsey fell, Cromwell did not follow in his wake - a remarkable achievement in itself considering Henry VIII's partiality for chopping people's heads off at the slightest provocation but his luck did not hold for long as he followed in his master's footsteps after the failure of Henry VIII's marriage to Anne of Cleves (whose marriage Cromwell negotiated). In 1535 Thomas Cromwell was granted the lease of the manor of Wimbledon, comprising the parishes of Wimbledon, Putney, Roehampton, Mortlake, East Sheen and parts of Wandsworth and Barnes and on 27.2.1544 the lease of Battersea and Wandsworth from Abbot Boston for 66 years. He was Recorder of Bristol from 8.8.1533, Joint Constable of Hertford Castle and Hertingfordbury and Keeper of the Park from 27.2.1534. In 1540 he was made Earl of Essex. Cromwell was also very interested in English shipping and his memoirs record items for building and rigging ships, making and improving harbours. He had the Channel cleared of pirates and tried to get compensation for cargoes seized from English merchants. He had an Act passed in 1540 for the privileges of the Navy, one clause of which restricted the privileges of foreign merchants (proclaimed the year before) to those who used English ships for their cargoes. This proclamation was dated 26.2.1539 and decreed that for seven years "straungers shall paye like custome and subsidy as the kinges subjects". He became a Privy Councillor and drafted the law which separated the English Church from Rome, had Henry VIII's marriage to Katherine of Aragon annulled, precipitated the Dissolution of the Abbeys, transferring their wealth to the king. He sponsored the translation of the Bible which helped the growth of Protestantism but fell from power after the marriage of Anne of Cleves whom Henry disliked from the start and called that "Flanders mare." Cromwell made an enemy of the powerful Catholic Duke of Norfolk who arranged the marriage of his other niece Katherine Howard (Anne Boleyn's cousin) to Henry after his divorce from Anne of Cleves. Thomas Cromwell was arrested on 10.6.1540 and executed on Katherine's wedding day. She followed him soon after, accused of adultery in 1542. Several of Thomas Cromwell's letters are still extant; one about John Winter, is addressed to Roger Winter and two to Sir William Fitzwilliam, the Admiral. It was on this basis that the assumption was made that Wolsey's mistress (described as "one Joan Larke") was sister of John Winter of Bristol but she may have been the daughter of Peter Larke, an inn-keeper of Thetford whose son was Wolsey's confessor or alternatively the daughter of John Winter of Cardington. One of Cromwell's letter, No. 108 from the library of William Berington of Little Malvern Court, was addressed to Sir John Russell, Roger Wynter, John Pakington, John Vampage on 18.7.1535 desiring them to examine the complaint of Robert Symonds of Pershore in Worcestershire and see that justice is done if possible. "I commende me unto you in my right hertie maner and by the tenure (of these lettres) whiche I sende unto you herein closid ye may perceue the complaynt of Robert Symondes of Pershor in the countie of Worcester wherefor I hartely desire and pray you groundly to consider and pounder the contentes of the same and callying the parties before you, ye be soche waies and meanes as ye can best devise, examine the hole circumstaunce thereof and sett a fynall ende therein if ye can and if through the obstinacie of either of the said parties ye cannot convenyently so do then my further desire is that ye wryte me the truthe and playnes of the matter with the circumstaunces thereof to th'intent I may therein cause some meanes to be founde as the (case) rightfully shall require whereby ye shall do a very good and meritorious dede. And thus fare ye hartely well. At London the xviijth day of July. Your frende, Thomas Crumwell. Add.
to my louyng frendes Sir John Russell, Knyght,
Roger Wynter, John Pakyington and John Vampage, Esquyres or to thre or
two of them." John Russell was Sir John Russell the younger, a Justice of the Peace and not Sir John Russell of the Privy Chamber who later became Earl of Bedford. Wynter, Pakyngton and Vampage were all prominent men in Worcestershire. Pakingyton was Justiciar of North Wales and probably came from the family which built Harvington Hall in Chaddesley Corbet, Worcestershire in 1570-8. There are 17th century brasses in the church of St. Cassian, Chaddesly Corbet to the Pakingtons of Harvington Hall. They also owned Westwood Park, Droitwich, originally a hunting lodge built for Sir John Pakington in about 1592. There is an effigy of Sir John Pakyngton (d. 1727) at Hampton Lovett (formerly part of the Westwood Park estate) Letter No. 190 dated 4.7.1537 is addressed to William Fitzwilliam, Lord High Admiral, later Earl of Southampton (whose father was Wolsey's Treasurer), regarding certain Breton pirates about Tenby, Pembrokeshire in South Wales requesting him to inform the King and learn his pleasure concerning them. "In
my right hearty wise I commende me unto your lordship thiese shalbe to
aduertise the same, that this day I haue receyved letteres from John
Wynter of Bristowe whereby I persayve that abount Seynt Peters Day
last passed tidynges came thither of two Britons whiche lay on the cost of
Wales and entred on a ship of Bristowe that was freighted for Biscay and
it is doubted that they haue either taken the ship and goodes or atte lest
spoyled the same. They haue
also robbed and spoyled certayne botes that were repayring towardes
Bristowe with merchaundise agaynst Seynt James Fayr and of likelihod entend to wayt for shippes and
botes commying to and fro, that Feyr. But
in the meane season, one Bowen of Bristowe hathe met with xiiii or xv of
the Britons about Tenby in Wales whiche landed ther for the refresshyng of
their vitall and besides hathe caused theym to be commytted to prison and
besides that Wynter hathe
manned a ship out of Bristowe for Rochelle with fiftie souldiours besides
maryners and if they come in his way I doubt not he will borde theym. I
pray you aduertise the Kinges' highnes hereof and will haue to be done in
this mater and specially with the prisoners and whither his highnes will
haue another thynge to be executed in those parties, that I may write
therof accordingly. Thus the
blessed Trenyte preserve your good lordship.
At the Rolles the fourth day of July. Your lordshippies' assuryd,
Thomas Crumwell. Endd. a
lettere to my lord Admyrall, particular letteres." Actions for the Court of St. James Fair or Whitson Court dated from 1627-1695. After the dissolution of the Priory of St. James in 1154, the court of Piepowder attached to St. James Fair was vested in John Winter's second son Sir George Winter and two aldermen.. It was held alternatively for the Corporation and for the successors of Henry Brayne. John Winter's son Sir George Winter of Dyrham married Anne, daughter of Richard Brayne and sister of Henry Brayne. The Piepowder or "pie poudre" (dusty feet) court was an ancient court held in fairs and markets to all comers so that justice could be administered in a rough and ready way It is not know to whom letter No. 309 is addressed. It is dated 19.9.1539 and concerns provisions made for the dispatch of John Winter to sea and the King's pleasure for clearing the ocean of pirates. "Aftre
my moost harty commendacions. Thise
shalbe to aduertise you that according to the Kingies highnes pleasure
signified unto me by your leteres touching the dispech of John Wynter to the Sees I haue not only delyuered unto him money
for two monethis wagies vitailling and al other thinges for the tyme
necessary according to a proporcion thereof drawen by me and Gonston the
copies whereof ye shal herewith receyve, amounting to the somme of clvi li
iiii sh viii d. but also haue delyuered unto him a commyssion writen in
parchement for that purpose which I pray youe get signed assone as ye maye
for the soner he shalby rid the more good he shal doo, bothe in the
executing of his commandement and in transporting of some parte of th'army
wherby he shall partely also alleviate the kinges chargies. I haue written to the kinges highness to knowe his pleasure touching the sending furth of Edwarde Waters in the "Mary Guldeford". I pray you that I may be aduertised with all spede and celerities, for his only demore resteth upon myne answer. I haue for the better expedicion of Wynters commission put hereunto the signet to th'intent that the same signed he shulde haue no cause to any tarieng there (1) and thus makying ende I pray God Almyghtye send you all as wellto fare as I woolde myself. At London the xiv daye of Septembre. Your assuryd louyng Frende and Felowe, Thomas Crumwell. (1)
c.o. Ye shall also understande the King's highness for the better recours
of vitaillies unto youe and for scouring the sees from pirates hath sent
unto the see II barkes, th'one of cxx ton, the'other of xx iiiix tonnes,
wel manned, ordenaunced and fur(nished)." The Gonston referred to was William Gonson (d. 1544), employed in rigging and repairing the king's ships. He was Clerk of the King's Ship and Surveyor of the Navy and was succeeded in his post by John Winter. His son or kinsman Benjamin Gonson, Surveyor of ther Navy (1546 &-1577) and Treasurer (1549) was succeesded by John Winter's son William. THE WHITE SWAN "I
have touched the highest point of all my greatness And,
from that full meridian of my glory, I
haste now to my setting. O,
Cromwell, Cromwell! Had
I but served my God with half the zeal I
served my king, he would not in mine age Have
left me naked to mine enemies." According to the Dictionary of National Biography Wolsey's mistress was the sister of John Winter, Keeper of the King's Storehouse who died in 1554 but she may have been the daughter of another John Winter of Cardington in Bedfordshire, the second wife of Sir William Gascoigne, Comptroller of Wolsey's Household. There is a brass at Cardington, Bedfordshire to William Gascoigne and his two wives. His second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of John Winter (Vinter) of Cardington whose arms were "ermine, a bull passant sable" (Wyther or Winter). The Gascoignes, Mordaunts and Winters (Vinters) were connected by marriage. John Mordaunt, knight (b. 1455) was son of William Mordaunt (whom he succeeded in 1481) by his wife Margaret, daughter of John Pecke of Cople, Northamptonshire. John Mordaunt's Will mentions Lady Agnes Pecke, late wife of John Pecke of Cople, daughter of John Vynter of Crick (Creke), Northamptonshire. The testators were his brother William Mordaunt, John Vynter and William Gascoigne. The Vinter of Northampton arms were "azure, semée of estoiles, 3 lions rampant, argent" (Bucnell of Crick, Visit. Northants., p, 73). John Felmersham of Creke married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Vinter of Creke. John
Mordaunt, wounded at the battle of Barnet, was a commander at the battle
of Stoke (1487), Speaker of the House of Commons, sergeant-at-law
(10.9.1495), King's Serjeant (25.11.1495), attorney to Prince Arthur,
Chief Justice of Chester (c. 1499), knighted (1502-3), High Steward of
Cambridge University (1504), Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
(24.6.1504). He married
Edith, daughter of Sir Nicholas Latimer of Duntish, Dorset, widow of John
Grene of Stotfold. His son
and heir John (d. 11.9.1504), aged 21 at his father's death, was created
Lord Mordaunt of Turvey and married Elizabeth Veer, sister of Etheldreda
Veer mentioned in the Will. ("Bedfordshire
Wills", "A Bedfordshire Bibliography"
- L. R. Conisbee, DNB, "History
of the Duchy of Lancaster"
- R. Somerville vol. I, p. 392; "Testamenta
Vetusta"
- Nicholas, "VCH,
Bedfordshire" iii,
III, "Visitation of
Bedfordshire"). Stagsden Manor, conveyed in trust to William Gascoyne and other in 1528 (Feet of Fees, Bed. 20 Henry VIII) by Elizabeth, wife of William Cornwallis and became part of Dylwyck which was alienated by Cornwallis to Lord Mordaunt in 1588 |