Events
Date of Baptism: 13 October 1583.
Place of Baptism: Kingsnorth, Kent.
The baptism is given in a transcription of the parish register by the Kent Family History Society.
Date of Death: 29 December 163--
The date is given on her monumental inscription in the church at Lenham (pp. 200-201). The last digit of the year is illegible.
Place of Death: unknown.
Date of Burial: 2 January 1633.
Place of Burial: Lenham, Kent.
The burial is given in a transcription of the parish register by the Kent Family History Society.
Relationships
Father: William Chalcroft
Mother: Joan Plommer
See the Commentary section.
Spouse: Thomas Henman. Married 30 May 1601 in Willesborough, Kent.
The marriage is given in a transcription of the parish register by the Kent Family History Society. It states that Thomas was a bachelor and Elizabeth was a spinster. The wills of Thomas Henman and several of his children mention Chalcroft relatives. The will of Elizabeth's mother Joan names her son-in-law Thomas Henman.
Children:
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project. All baptism and burials are in Lenham, Kent.)
William Henman (baptized 16 March 1602).
Thomas Henman (baptized 7 November 1603 - buried 24 January 1662).
Allen Henman (baptized 8 March 1606 - buried 6 July 1676). A fellow of St John’s, Cambridge. The author of Ars Logica.
Joham Henman (buried 6 July 1607).
Johane Henman (baptized 18 June 1608 - buried 19 July 1608).
Johane Henman (baptized 24 October 1609) married Thomas Thatcher 28 January 1627/8 in Lenham, Kent.
unnamed Henman (buried 6 April 1612).
unnamed female Henman (buried 29 January 1613).
John Henman (baptized 24 January 1614 - died 5 January 1648).
Elizabeth Henman (baptized 13 April 1617 - died about 1690).
William Henman (baptized 8 October 1620) married Jane Pierce.
James Henman (baptized 25 February 1623).
Richard Henman (baptized 2 February 1626) married Sarah. He left a PCC will, made in January 1659 and proved 16 July 1660.
Evidence
Abstract of marriage licence of Elizabeth’s sister Joan:
Tong, James, of Tunstall, g., widr., about 30, and Joan Chalker of Lenham, maiden, about 22, d. of William Chalker of Willesborough, dec. about 14 years since, and now in the govt. of her mother, Joan Chalker of Lenham, w., who consents. At Wychling. Oct. 30, 1621.
Elizabeth’s monumental inscription (Lenham, beside that of Thomas Henman):
Elizabetha Henman
Cor humilitatis,
Manus charitatis,
Sanctè semper vixit,
Sanctè ergo manet
Sanctis præmissa
29 Dec. ætatis -----
Salut. 163--
Commentary
Elizabeth’s parentage
There are a number of independent pieces of evidence showing that Elizabeth’s parents were William and Joan Chalcroft.
(1) In her 1629 will, Joan Chalcroft of Lenham, widow, named her daughter Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Henman and their children Thomas, Allen, John, William, James, Richard, Joane, and Elizabeth.
(2) In the same will, Joan named her son-in-law James Tong. A 1621 marriage licence records the marriage of James Tong and Joan “Chalker” of Lenham, daughter of William Chalker of Willesborough, deceased, and Joan Chalker of Lenham.
(3) In ecclesiastical cause papers related to the 1628 will of Captain Richard Chalcroft, several of Richard’s half-siblings by his father were involved in a lawsuit. Among them were “Elizabeth Chalcroft alias Henman, wife of Thomas Henman, Lenham” and “Joan Chalcroft alias Tong wife of James Tong, Bredgar”.
(4) In his 1602 will, William Chalcrofte of Willisborough named his son-in-law Thomas Henman and “Willm Henman my daughters sonne”. He also named Joan and the siblings named in (3), and his wife Joan.
(5) The parish register of Kingsnorth, Kent, records the baptisms of the children of William Chalcroft mentioned above, including Elizabeth in 1583.
(6) In his 1639 will, Thomas Chalcroft of Bredgar named some of the children of William and Joan Chalcroft as his siblings. He also named his brother-in-law Thomas Henman.
William married twice, and both of his wives were named Joan. An “unidentified” bishop’s transcript in the “Kent Marriages and Banns” index on Findmypast gives William’s second marriage, to Joan Plummer, as occurring 12 May 1590. This would imply that Elizabeth, who was baptized in 1583, must be a child of William’s previous marriage to Joan Master. However, the 1590 date must be wrong. In his 1586 will, Thomas Plommer of New Romney named “Thomas Susan Elizabeth and Harrie the children of Joane Chalkcrofte my Daughter” and their father “William Chalkcrofte”. The Kingsnorth register records the baptisms: Thomas in 1580, Susan in 1581, Elizabeth in 1583, and Henry in 1585/6.
Elizabeth’s mother must have been Joan Plommer.
References
Cowper, Joseph Meadows (ed.) Canterbury Marriage Licences First Series 1568-1618. (Canterbury, 1892).
Cowper, Joseph Meadows (ed.) Canterbury Marriage Licences Second Series 1619-1660. (Canterbury, 1894).
Kent Family History Society. “Kingsnorth baptisms 1558-1911”, available for a fee at Findmypast.co.uk.
Kent Family History Society. “Lenham burials 1559-1962”, available for a fee at Findmypast.co.uk.
Parsons, Philip. The monuments and painted glass of upwards to one hundred churches, chiefly in the eastern part of Kent,... with an appendix,... (Canterbury: Simmons, Kirkby, and Jones, 1794).
Will of Joan Chalcroft. 1629. "England, Kent, Wills and Probate, 1440-1881. Kent, Archdeaconry of Canterbury. Wills" Digital images at Familysearch.org, citing County Record Office, Maidstone, Kent, England. (accessed March 6 2015).
Will of Thomas Chalcrofte of Bredgar, 1637, Prerogative Court of Canterbury.