Frances Byne married a handsome Irish soldier, Edmund Nugent, when she was sixteen. Her father was unhappy, but did not oppose the marriage. Not long after the birth of their first child, Elizabeth, Edmund left for Ireland to support James II, who had invaded with French support in an attempt to regain the English throne. Later, Edmund joined the Irish brigade of the French army and spent more than a decade on the continent. Frances stayed in England and Edmund appears not to have visited her until he spent a few weeks with her in 1701.
During Edmund’s absence, Frances conceived a son with Dr Alan Henman alias Taylor. Frances had him baptized as Edmund’s son. She concealed his existence from Edmund during his visit to England in 1701. In October 1701, a month and a half after her husband’s death at the French attack on Chiari, Frances had a second son, William Nugent, baptized at St Clement Danes. William probably did not survive childhood.
Although she had had her son Henry Nugent baptized as the son of her husband, Frances intended to leave the main part of her property to her (legitimate) daughter, Elizabeth. She gave Henry £340 to compensate him for this. Henry took his mother and sister to court over this arrangement in the 1720s, but Frances died before the case was resolved.
Events
Date of Baptism: 6 April 1671.
Place of Baptism: Sele (Upper Beeding), Sussex, England.
The baptism is recorded in the parish register.
Date of Death: about January, 1726/7.
A date about this time is implied in the documents from the court case, cited below (transcription linked to.)
Place of Death: unknown.
Date of Burial: 11 January 1726/7.
Place of Burial: Harrow, Middlesex, England (St Mary).
The date and place are given in a transcription of the burial register, cited below.
Relationships
Father: Henry Byne (1646 - 1688).
Mother: Elizabeth Scrase (1652 - before 1702).
See the Commentary section.
Spouse: Edmund Nugent (between 1649 and 1661 - 1701). Married 7 November 1687, Knightsbridge, Middlesex, England (Holy Trinity).
The marriage is recorded in the parish register.
Lover: Dr Alan Henman alias Taylor (about 1665 - before 1713).
It is made clear in the court records cited below that Dr Alan Henman alias Taylor was the father of Henry Nugent.
Children (by Edmund Nugent):
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)
Elizabeth Nugent (born 12 December 1688) married William Hancock 15 January 1711/12, London, England (St Dunstan’s in the East).
William Nugent (baptized 17 October 1701 at St Clement Danes, Westminster). Probably died young.
Child (by Dr Alan Henman alias Taylor):
Henry Nugent (baptized 13 February 1697/8 at St Clement Danes - buried 29 August 1773 at St John Horseleydown, Southwark) married Hannah Webb 29 August 1725, London, England (Lincoln’s Inn Chapel).
Evidence
from the parish register of Upper Beeding:
1671 Frances the Daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Byne was Baptized the sixth Day of Aprill
from the parish register of Holy Trinity, Knightsbridge:
[November 1687]
7 Edmund Nugent Frances Byne
from the parish register of St James, Picadilly
[December 1688]
12 Elizabeth Nugent of Edmund & Frances . b. 12
from the parish register of St Clement Danes
[February 1697]
Henry Neugent of Edmund and Frances uxor ---13
[October 1701]
William Newgent son of Edmund and Frances uxor ---17th
from the parish register of St Mary, Harrow
[1727]
Janry 11.th Bur: Frances Nugent in sheeps wooll only certified by Montague Wood sworne by Jane Ellis witnesses James Fowler & Tho.s Smith.
Commentary
Frances’s parentage
Frances was married to Edmund Nugent in 1687 in Knightsbridge. In his 1688 will, Henry Byne of St James Westminster named his son-in-law Edmund Nugent and Edmund’s wife Frances. The parish register of Upper Beeding, Sussex records the baptism of Frances, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Byne, in 1671. Henry Byne was recorded as the father of Frances in several documents in the Chancery court case Nugent v. Nugent in the 1720s, as attested by Frances’s children Henry and Elizabeth, and citing a marriage settlement made for Frances by Henry.
Thus it is clear that Frances’s father was Henry Byne.
Walter Charles Renshaw cites evidence showing that Frances’s mother Elizabeth was Elizabeth Scrase. One piece of evidence comes from the manor court of Beeding (p. 71):
On 20 October, 1659, Elizabeth Scrase then aged 7 was admitted to copyholds of the manor of Beeding, and her husband Henry Byne was admitted to the same 14 September, 1671. At a Court holden 2 June, 1702, it was presented that Henry Byne and Elizabeth his wife were both dead, and that Frances Nugent widow was their only daughter, and she then surrendered these copyholds to her uncle William Scrase of Steyning."
Renshaw (p. 70 fn) also cites the 19 November 1713 will of Elizabeth’s brother, William Scrase, which mentions “my niece Neujent daughter of my sister Byne dec:ed… and her daughter Hancock...”
References
Walter Charles Renshaw, Searches in the History of the Family of Byne or Bine of Sussex (London: Chiswick Press, 1913).
Edmund Nugent - France Byne, Marriage registration (7 November 1687), Knightsbridge Holy Trinity; digital image Findmypast.co.uk (http:www.Findmypast.co.uk : accessed 12 March 2014).
Frances Nugent, Burial registration (11 January 1726/7), Harrow, Middlesex (St Mary); burial register (digital image on Ancestry.com accessed 8 July 2017).
Parish register of Upper Beeding, Sussex. Digital images on FamilySearch.org accessed 16 March 2018.
Will of Henry Byne of Saint James Westminster, Middlesex (probate 1 October 1688); Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Probate Records, 1384-1858, National Archives: PROB 11/393/50.
Transcriptions of documents in the cases “Nugent v Nugent” and “Nugent v Byne” are given at “Court records for the case Henry Nugent v. William Hancock and Elizabeth his wife.” Here are the National Archives index listings for them:
C 11/1776/25
Short title: Nugent v Nugent.
Document type: Bill only.
Plaintiffs: Henry Nugent, gent of St James Westminster, Middlesex (only son and heir of Edmond Nugent, gent of St Clement Dane, Middlesex and Frances Nugent his wife, only daughter of Henry Byne, gent deceased late of Crowhurst, Surrey).
Defendants: Frances Nugent, William Hancock and Elizabeth Hancock his wife.
Date of bill (or first document): 1723
C 11/285/49
Short title: Nugent v Hancock.
Document type: Bill and answer.
Plaintiffs: Henry Nugent (son and heir of Edmund Nugent, gent late of St Clement Dane, Middlesex and Frances Nugent his wife deceased, who was daughter and heir of Francis Byne, deceased late of Crowhurst, Surrey).
Defendants: William Hancock and Elizabeth Hancock his wife.
Date of bill (or first document): 1727
C 11/285/45
Short title: Nugent v Hancock.
Document type: Bill and two answers.
Plaintiffs: Henry Nugent (son and heir of Edmond Nugent, gent late of St Clement Dane, Middlesex and Frances Nugent his wife deceased, who was daughter and heir of Henry Byne, deceased late of Crowhurst, Surrey).
Defendants: William Hancock and Elizabeth Hancock his wife.
Date of bill (or first document): 1728
C 11/1912/5
Short title: Nugent v Hancock.
Document type: Depositions.
Plaintiffs: Henry Nugent (son and heir of Edmund Nugent, gent and Frances Nugent his wife, both deceased).
Defendants: William Hancock and Elizabeth Hancock his wife.
Depositions taken at Doway, France.
Date of bill (or first document): 1729
C 11/1912/8
Short title: Nugent v Hancock.
Document type: Deposition and two commissions.
Plaintiffs: Henry Nugent (son and heir of Edmund Nugent, gent and Frances Nugent his wife, both deceased).
Defendants: John Hancock and Elizabeth Hancock his wife.
Depositions taken at Limpsfield, Surrey and at Dublin, Ireland.
Date of bill (or first document): 1729