A.D. 1544 - 1604

William Danvers

William Danvers died on June 20, 1544 and was succeeded by his son John, who, at the time of his father’s death, was nearly twenty years of age.

CONTEMPORARY EVENTS

The years 1544 and 1545 were troubled years to the people of England, for the country, deserted by her Continental allies, was at war with both France and Scotland, the former threatening her southern coast, and the latter her northern border.  Great preparations were making for the defence of the country, a large army for the purpose was in course of collection, and Culworth had to bear its share of the burden; for in both these years the parish records show payments for the sending forth of the town-soldier.  But the following year England was again triumphant; France was obliged to secure peace by a heavy money-payment; and Scotland, deprived of her ally, was compelled to join in the peace. The King’s reign and life were, however, drawing to a close, and in January, 1547, he died.  Jealous and vindictive to the last he had but a few days before his death sent the Earl of Surrey to the block, while Surrey’s father, the Duke of Norfolk, was saved only by the death of the King on the very morning appointed for the execution.

The deceased King’s reign had opened on a time of prosperity for the middle and lower classes; the country gentleman and the peasant were alike contented and thriving.  But the changes which had resulted from Henry’s extravagance abroad and at home, and from the measures which he forced upon the country for the relief of his difficulties, while to a great extent they favoured the rich, had brought misery, almost universal, to the homes of the poor.  The landed gentry were able to meet the heavy taxes and benevolences which the King levied, for their flocks brought them riches in the shape of the wool, the price of which was steadily rising, and they were able, too, to exact higher rents from their tenant farmers, while many of them largely increased their estates by the grants of church-lands which they received.  Nor was it only from church-lands that the gentry about this time added to their private domains, for many of them seized lands which had hitherto been communal and enclosed them, converting into sheep pastures the arable lands, which the poorer classes of the village had hitherto jointly cultivated.  The poorer tenants were driven into pauperism, while the yeoman farmer was suffered to remain only upon condition of his paying twice, or even four times, the rent demanded of his predecessors.  And this period, so evil for the poor, was for them made worse by the suppression of the monasteries, to which, in hard times, their forefathers had been used to resort for relief.  In the year 1536 the smaller religious houses were suppressed, and three years later the suppression of the great monasteries followed.  An annual income equivalent to two millions sterling, a very large proportion of which was formerly spent in works of public utility or of charity, was now lost to the poorer classes, and became, for the most part, the prey of the satellites of the Court.  And then, a few years later, followed the debasement of the coinage, which raised the price of the necessaries of life; for the debased coin in which the peasants’ wages were paid did not buy the amount of bread and clothing which he could purchase in old times.  And, following all this, when the monasteries had been robbed, and the coin had been debased, and taxes had been made as heavy as the people could bear, another blow was struck at the industrial classes by the confiscation of the lands of the guilds—religious and commercial institutions which had to some extent organized industry, and had in many ways assisted their poorer members.

Effect on Culworth

Such, briefly, were the changes in the affairs of the kingdom which were being felt amongst the country folk of Culworth and other such villages— changes which we find reflected in the history of the Danvers family.  Canons Ashby Priory had been dissolved, and the rectory, glebe land, and tithes of Culworth which formerly belonged to it had become the possession of Richard Andrews and John Howe.  The prior and his brethren had been pensioned off, and had dispersed, and doubtless not a few of the infirm and sick poor of Culworth had reason to sorrow that the visits of the fathers had for ever ceased.

As regards the current prices of provisions, the parish accounts do not afford material for comparison with those of previous years, excepting in the case of the church ale.  The yearly receipts from this source fluctuated considerably; yet, as compared with those of former years, they showed a marked increase.  Thus, in the years 1531, 1532, and 1533 the receipts were 18s., 27s., and 30s. respectively; while in the years 1544, 1545, and 1546 they were 43s., 38s., and 41s.  This change, it may be assumed, was not due to any increase in the population of the village, nor in the spending powers of the villagers, for notoriously the village populations throughout the country had become impoverished; but the churchwardens had raised the price of the ale in keeping with the rise in the prices of other commodities.  Thus it happened that when John Danvers came of age, and took possession of his estate, he and the other landowners in the village, the Gardiners and Watts’, were flourishing, but his poor tenants were in no such happy condition.

JOHN DANVERS OF CULWORTH

The estate of John Danvers received an addition during his minority, for we find that the rectory of Culworth, the tithes and the advowson of the vicarage, were transferred by Andrews and Howe, who at the dissolution acquired them, to the custody of Wybert (Hubert?) Wattes, to hold until John Danvers came of age.  In the Patent Roll 10.1 of the year 1545 Andrews and Howe, on a payment of 46s. and one halfpenny into the hanaper, had leave to transfer those possessions from Watts to John Danvers and his heirs for ever.  This was not the only church property that John Danvers possessed, for he had the farm of Fulwyk, which his grandmother left to his father—the farm which she bought from the Prior of Bradenstoke before, though probably in anticipation of, the dissolution of the house.

In the year 1545 John Danvers came of age, and amongst the Additional Charters in the British Museum,10.2 is the deed of livery from the Crown to John Danvers, son and heir of William Danvers, of his father’s lands.  The deed has attached to it a fine impression of the great seal, and is dated at Westminster, December 6, 37 Henry VIII.  On the outside of the deed are the words, ‘My grandfather’s lyvery.’  The writing, as we shall find, is that of John Danvers, grandson of John, the son of William.10.3

In Conflict with Neighbours

In the year 1550 we find in the parish accounts John Danvers buying stone from the churchwardens.  He was probably enlarging his house, and a little later he appears to have been desirous of enlarging his landed estate at his neighbour’s expense, following in this respect in the ways of almost all the landholders of the time.  Thus we find in the Close Rolls an appeal from some of the freeholders of Culworth to the Bishop of Winchester, then Lord Chancellor, complaining that John Danvers had enclosed divers pieces of Culworth field (the communal lands of the village).  Amongst the freeholders who thus complained were Hubert Watts, Thomas Dale, Nicholas Pereson, Thomas Kymble,10.4 whose names constantly appear in the parish accounts, and they complain that John Danvers had not only enclosed this land, but also that he had pulled down an aisle adjoining the chancel of the parish church.  The complaint was referred to Sir Edward Peckham and Sir Robert, his son, two of the King’s and Queen’s Privy Council, for arbitration, which was to be settled before the Feast of the Assumption; but we have not been able to find the record of the award.  The aisle was not rebuilt.

Family

We do not know the year of John Danvers’ marriage; for though it is on record that his son and heir, Samuel, was born in the year 1549, John had four daughters, of whose ages we have no knowledge, and they may have been older than Samuel.  His wife was his third cousin, Dorothy Raynesford, daughter of Sir William Raynesford, of Great Tew.

RAYNESFORD FAMILY

Of Raynesford Hall

The Raynesfords were originally of Raynesford Hall, Lancashire.  A certain William Raynesford married Eleanor, daughter and heiress of Sir Edward Brockysborne, of Bradfeild; and their son, Lawrence, who was of Raynesford Hall, married Elizabeth, daughter of James Fiennes, Lord Say and Sele, thus giving to the children of John Danvers a second descent from the Fiennes family.  John, the son of Lawrence, married Anne, daughter of Sir Humphrey Stokey, and had by her two sons, Henry and Humphrey.

Wylcotts Family

Henry, the eldest son, married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Wylcotts of Wylcotts by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Cheney of Shurland, of the ancient Kentish family of Cheney.  The first wife of this John Wylcotts of Wylcotts was Alice, the daughter and heiress of Thomas Willycots of Tew Magna.  Alice was a widow with a daughter, Emma, when she married her relative, John Wilcotes.  Alice died in 1410 and John then married Elizabeth Cheney and had two daughters, Elizabeth, born 1413, and Margaret, born 1414.  Elizabeth married Henry Raynsford and Margaret married John Ashfield.  John Wilcotes died in 1422.10.5

Raynesford and Danvers

William, son of Henry Raynesford, was of Tew Magna, and he married Agnes (or Alice), daughter of John Anne of North Weston, Oxon.  They had three sons, of whom the eldest, John, married, in 1527,10.6 Alice, daughter of Sir William Danvers of Chamberhouse and his wife, Anne Pury.  John and Alice had three sons and three daughters, of whom William, the eldest, married Jane, daughter of John Osbaldestone, of Chadlington, Oxon, and had by her one son, Hercules, who married and had issue, and two daughters, of whom Dorothy, the youngest, became the wife of John Danvers of Culworth.

Of Great Tew

We return for a moment to the third son, George, of John Raynesford and Alice Danvers.  He married Catherine Taverner, and had a son, Richard, who was of Drayton, near Daventry, and married Anne, daughter of Thomas Meade.10.7  Robert, the son of Richard Raynesford, married (1) Georgia, daughter of John Pope of Wroxton, and sister to Susan Pope, wife of Daniel, son of John Danvers; (2) Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Kirton, of Thorpe Mandeville, and had issue by both wives.10.8  In vol. v of the Harleian Society’s publications will be found the descent of the manor of Great Tew through a succession of heiresses from a very early period to the Raynesford family.10.9 From the Raynesfords the manor passed to Sir Lawrence Tanfield, whose daughter and heiress carried it to her husband, Henry Viscount Falkland.  Here lived Lucius, son of Henry Viscount Falkland, and here came the brightest intellects of London and Oxford, Hales, Chillingworth, and others, to the University which Falkland assembled under the oaks and limes of Tew.  From the manor-house Falkland went forth, loyally but sadly, to fight on the King’s side, and to Tew his body was brought after the fatal fight at Newbury.  In the church or churchyard the body was buried, but the exact spot was kept a secret, and is still unknown.

GREAT TEW

Village

The village of Great Tew10.10 is very prettily situated in a well-wooded, undulating country about sixteen miles north-west of Oxford.  The village occupies a valley—a ravine one might almost call it—the end of which is closed by the eminence on which once stood the manor-house of the Wilcotes, Raynesfords, and Falklands.  The old house was pulled down some years back, and its site is now occupied by a modern mansion.

Church

At a little distance from the house is the ancient village church, dedicated to St Michael.  The church was originally Norman, and the south doorway is of that style, but the porch is Early English.  The nave and some of the windows are of Decorated work, and many alterations, including the addition of the present tower, were made during the Perpendicular period.  The font, a fine one, is also Perpendicular.  In the wall of the north aisle are two recesses of thirteenth- century work, each containing an altar-tomb.  On one of these rests the effigy of a knight in chain armour, and on the other a lady with veil, wimple, and jacket under a long mantle.  The knight’s effigy is said to be that of a Sir Robert de Vere.

Wylcotts Monument

In the centre of the chancel is the fine brass,10.11 dated 1410, of Sir John Wylcotts of Wylcotts and his wife, Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Willycots.  The knight is in plate armour, his head resting on his helmet, the upper part of which, with the crest, has disappeared.  Over the figures is a fine canopy, in each spandrel of which appears a hand holding a scroll with the motto, ‘In on is al.’  The same device and legend are repeated between each line of the verses which form the marginal inscription.  Part of the inscription is wanting.  That which remains of it is in hexameter verses, and runs as follows:

‘Octobris quinta decima sub luce, sub anno
  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
Obsequiis sibi grata nimis nichilo-que molesta,
Matronis speculum, miseris dos, pacis amatrix,
  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  (Exspir) avit Alicia tata,
Ossa dabantur humo repetebat spirit (us auras).

Alicia tata—should the word be read tata?  Such it is in the original; but Mr Parker and others consider the initial letter a mistake on the part of the engraver, and would read the word fata.  We, however, venture to think that tata is the word intended.  It may be literally translated ‘a bringer up,’ but having also the same meaning as our English word ‘mamma,’ and the lines may be translated thus: Alicia, a loving mother, died; her bones were committed to the ground, but, happy in herself, and in no way troubled by the approach of death, her soul resought the sky—a mirror for matrons, a blessing to the distressed, a lover of peace.  The name of Alice’s first husband I have been unable to discover.  Possibly it was Tate, and if so, that may explain the controverted word tata appended to her name in her epitaph.

The daughter of John Wilcotes and his second wife married Henry Raynesford, and the grandson of Henry married Alice Danvers.  When Richard Lee made his visitation of Oxfordshire in the year 1574, he found in Tew Church and manor-house many memorials of the Raynesfords and Wylcotts.  These he copied, and his notes are preserved in one of Anthony à Wood’s manuscripts,10.12 and have been printed by the Harleian Society.10.13  Amongst the memorials in the manor-house was one of the Raynesford-Danvers match—quarterly Raynesford and Wilcotes impaling quarterly, argent on a bend gules three martletts vert (Brancestre), [2] ermine on a bend azure (?) three chevrons or (Bruley), [3] azure a fess between three swans, [4] argent on a fess between three martletts as many mulletts (Pury).

Leland, in his Itinerary,10.14 which he finished about the year 1540, writes: ‘Rainesford of Tewe in Oxfordshire came out of the house of Raynesford of Lancaster.  Old Rennesford of Tewe, now alive, is the fourth in descent of the Rainesfordes.  The first of them married one of the three daughters of Wilcote,15 a knight that was owner of the manor.’

‘Old Rennesforde’ whom Leland thus mentions was William, son of John Raynesforde and Alice Danvers, and father to Dorothy, the wife of John Danvers.  He is the William Raynesford who, with Anthony Cope, Simon Harcourt, Walter Stonor, John Pollard, and others, was ordered, 26 Henry VIII, to inquire concerning abbey lands in Oxfordshire.10.16 We have another notice of him in the year 1554, when he is ordered to set a man in the pillory at Bicester touching lewde wordes by him spoken of the queene’s highness.10.17 William Raynesford was Sheriff of Oxon in the year 1555.

JOHN DANVERS OF CULWORTH

Family

By his wife, Dorothy Raynesford, John Danvers had a family of two sons, Samuel and Daniel, and four daughters, Temperance, Justice, Prudence and Fortitude.  The choice of such names for his children points to the Puritan leanings of the family, and possibly the daughters’ names reflect the varying moods of their father’s life.  His life was but a short one, for he died in August, 1556, at the age of thirty-two, leaving his children in the charge of their mother and her father, Sir William Raynesford, who seems to have had a house in Culworth.  Born in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII, and dying the year that Cranmer was burnt, and Cardinal Pole was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, John Danvers in his short life witnessed two social and religious revolutions, and probably in his later days had much need of prudence and fortitude.  But what those revolutions meant to Culworth we must leave till the next chapter, when we shall be following the village registers.

We have both the will 10.18 and post-mortem inquisition10.19 of John Danvers.  He desires that his body may be buried in the chancel of Culworth Church.  He leaves legacies to his four daughters, Temperance, Justice, Prudence, and Fortitude, and provides for his wife, Dorothy, mother of his sons, Samuel and Daniel, and constitutes her their guardian and his sole executrix.  To his son Daniel he leaves a charge in money on his estate, certain lands in Culworth, and the lease of his farm of Fulwyk in Wilts.  Should Daniel die before he is of the age of 22, leaving no lawful issue, the lease of the farm is to pass to the testator’s brother, Thomas, and his heirs, and, failing him, to the testator’s eldest son,  Samuel.  He leaves a legacy to his sister, Mary (subsequently Mary Barker), towards her marriage, and legacies to his sisters, Dorothy Saccheverell and Anne Blount.  As overseers to his will he appoints Sir William Raynsford, his father-in-law, his cousin, Sir Walter Hungerford, the son of his aunt, Susan Danvers, and Lord Walter Hungerford, and Sir Richard Fenys, who was also his first cousin, being the son of Edward Fenys and Margaret Danvers.

Will

The will was proved on August 7, 1556, by Sir William Raynsford, acting for his daughter, Dorothy, and Additional Charter 38889, dated November 12, 2 Elizabeth I (1559), with impression of the great seal attached, allows Dorothy, widow of John Danvers, to comply with the provision of her husband’s will.

Chancery Inq. PM, 3 and 4 Philip and Mary, p. 1, No. 71.

(Northampton.)

Inquisition taken at Daventre in Northampton 18 January 3 & 4 Phil. & Mary [1555-56] before Thomas Spencer Esq., Escheator, after the death of John Danvers of Culworth in the said county, Esq. by the oath of Thomas Pelle of Eltyngton gent, &c. &c.

Who say that John Danvers long before his death was seised in his demesne as of fee of the manor of Culworth and of divers messuages, lands & tenements in Culworth & Sulgrave.

So seised, the said John Danvers made his will as follows:

In order that my will may be the better performed I will that the profits of my manor house of Culworth & the orchards, gardens ponds & closes adjoining the same, to wit, the site of the manor with the wood closes adjoining, the dry close, the clapper close, the close called Inlaidde [or Inlande] the poule hamme and pools, the ancient mill called the nether mylle with the homes thereto belonging, and the new pasture now in the tenure of Sir William Raynesford, Knight, and as many tenantries in Culworth as shall be left when the King & Queen’s third part during the minority of my heir shall be fully made, besides such tenements as shall be appointed for my wife’s part, shall be employed by my executrix for the use of this my will, & shall so continue for 18 years after my death.  The profits of the premises to go towards paying the legacies & bequests to my children.  After the expiration of the said term, the said premises to remain to my right heirs by the law.  I will that their Majesty’s third part during the minority of my heir be appointed in Sulgrave, all my lands & tenements there (except my meadow now in my own hands), all my demesne lands lying in the common fields of Culworth, all the chief rents of the freeholders in Culworth, with wardships, reliefs, heriots & all other services, views of frank pledge, courts & profits of courts, which profits as I suppose amount to a full 3rd part.

I will that my wife have for her dower these parcels following: the tithe grains of Culworth, reserving to my son & heir when he is of age his own tithe corn of his demesnes, and also the giving of the vicarage; the meadows at Sulgrave now in my hands; the closes called the pesfurlong, the meadow at Knightford called the new pole, with the new mill there, Cotton mill with all the appurts as well closes & homes as the yard lome & half bancroft, hemcroft, harowdes houses with appurts & plantes, barn there, ‘plantes hole tenement,’ Trafford tenements, woodwarde tenementes, Symond Gardyner’s tenement, Symond Adams tenement, Wilsons house & yard, the berry close & dove house—provided she commit no waste & do not marry.  If she marry, then my son & heir at the age of 24 to enter into all the said premises & to pay to my said wife £20 a year.

If my son Daniel at the age of 22 years cannot quietly receive his said annuity of £4 of his elder brother Samuel & their mother then occupying the tithe corn, he should enter into Bery meade ‘lying after the weste broke’ in the new pasture & take it to his own use until the said Samuel shall assure him of the said annuity.

The said John Danvers died the 4th day of August last past; Samuel Danvers is his son & heir and at the time of his father’s death was aged 6 years & a half.

The manor of Culworth and other the premises in Sulgrave are held of the King & Queen as of their Honour of Pinckney by knights service.  The water mill there is held of the said King & Queen in capite by the service of the 100th part of a knights fee: all the said premises are worth per ann., clear, £38. 12s. 61/2d.

FAMILY OF JOHN DANVERS AND DOROTHY RAYNESFORD

Dorothy Danvers (Raynesford) Remarries

When John Danvers died, his eldest son, Samuel, was, as stated in the post-mortem inquisition, six and a half years of age.  His widow was still unmarried in 1568 for in that year she signs her name ‘Dorothy Danvers’ as a witness to a deed.20  Dorothy married again; her second husband was Sir Thomas Benger,8.21 son of Robert Benger, of Manningford, Wilts.  She remained at Culworth, and educated her first husband’s children in the manor- house.  Her own rights in the village, under her husband’s will, were not to cease, though she married a second time, until her eldest son was twenty-four years of age.  In a deed in our possession, dated February 10, 1577, Dame Dorothy Benger, widow of Sir Thomas Benger, of Culworth, releases to her son and heir, Samuel Danvers, her rights in Culworth which she had from her former husband, John Danvers.

Daughters

Dorothy’s daughter, Temperance, married Anthony Dillon,10.22 of Farthinghoe, Northampton, and their first-born, Danvers Dillon, was baptized at Culworth on Jun 12, 1569.  The next daughter, Justice, married Richard Andrews,10.23 no doubt one of their neighbours, the Andrews of Carwelton.  The third daughter, Prudence, married William Howell,10.24 son of John Howell, of Ensham.  Fortitude, the remaining daughter, died unmarried, and was buried at Culworth in the year 1615.  All these members of the family, excepting Fortitude, together with the brothers Samuel and Daniel, are mentioned in a deed of the year 1583, which we shall presently revert to.

Monument to Prudence Danvers and William Howell

Prudence Danvers’ husband, William Howell, if of Ensham was also of Packwood, Warwickshire, for in the church there is a monument, dated 1610, to William Howell and Prudence his wife, daughter of John Danvers, of Culworth.  On it are some verses, of which the following is the first:

‘In virtue they bestowed their time,
Amongst the saints of God,
With pietie and godliness,
They made their whole abode.’

One of their daughters, Mary, married Richard Ebrall, whose grandson, William Ebral, had a daughter, Mary, married to Timothy Chambers.  Mary, daughter of T. Chambers, married Thomas Jesson, whose daughter Rebecca married Richard Chattock, of Solihull, whose descendants still flourish.

THOMAS DANVERS

John Danvers had a younger brother, Thomas, whom he mentions in his will, and who is mentioned in the will of his grandmother, Dame Anne, of Dauntesey.  Dame Anne bequeathed £20 to Thomas, son of her son William, to find him an exhibition to put him to school.  John was born in the year 1524, and we may place the birth of Thomas between 1526 and 1530.  Next, in the year 1556, we are reminded of Thomas by his brother’s will, and then we hear nothing more of him or of his belongings till the year 1597, when a boy, Richard Danvers, of Culworth, aged twelve years, is admitted as founder’s kin to Winchester College.  The boy was born, therefore, in the year 1585, but he is not in the Culworth register as son of Samuel or Daniel Danvers, and when Richard proceeded to New College, as he did in the year 1608, he is called ‘of Kempley, Gloucester,’ and we may therefore reasonably suppose that his father did not live at Culworth, but that he was entered at Winchester as of Culworth because it was only the Danvers of the Culworth stock who were entitled to the privileges of founder’s kin.  Now, if Richard were not a son of Samuel or of Daniel Danvers, he must have been the descendant, grandchild, of Thomas, the younger son of William Danvers and Elizabeth Fiennes, otherwise he would not have been founder’s kin.  Richard Danvers left New College in the year 1612, and the college records know nothing of what became of him.

SAMUEL DANVERS OF CULWORTH

Marries Ann Pigott

Samuel Danvers, born in the year 1549, was not, under his father’s will, to come of age until he was twenty-four, but this provision would not extend to his inheritance of the manors which he held in capite, and accordingly in the year 1570 we find, in the Patent Roll of 13 Elizabeth I (1570),10.25 an entry regarding his coming of age and taking possession of his father’s lands.  About the year 157610.26 he married Ann, daughter and heiress of Leonard Pigott,10.27 of Little Horwood and Whaddon, and his wife Margaret, daughter and heir of John Giffard, descended from Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, temp. William the Conqueror.  In the Patent Roll of 23 Elizabeth I (1580),10.28 is an indenture between Leonard Pygott and Katherine his wife (second), and Samuel Danvers and Ann his wife, regarding the disposition of the Pigott estates.

Buys Moreton Pinkney

In the year 1586 Samuel Danvers bought the manor of Moreton Pinkney, with its appurtenances, and two years later further added to his landed property.10.29 And it was no doubt in order to make these purchases that in the year 1586 he borrowed the sum of £500 from his brother, Daniel Danvers, on the security of the tithes of corn and grain of Culworth.30  Five years later 30 he mortgaged to his brother the moiety of the manor of Moreton Pinkeny, and the following year10.30 again borrowed money on the security of the tithes.

Death

Samuel Danvers died on February 24, 1599, leaving two sons, Samuel and John, and four daughters, of whom the second, Elizabeth, was baptized at Culworth on June 23, 1583.  This is probably the Isabel (Elizabeth) Danvers who in the year 1611 was married in Culworth Church to John Watson.  Dorothy, the eldest daughter, was baptized at Culworth on August 3, 1580.  Fortitude, the third daughter, was baptized at Little Horwood on February 10, 1588, and the youngest, Temperance, at Culworth in March, 1589.

Additional Charter 38890 is livery of his lands to Samuel Danvers; the great seal is attached.  On the outside are the words, ‘Lyvery of my father.’

The post-mortem inquisition of Samuel Danvers was taken at Towcester 12 April 1599.  It details the descent of the Culworth and Sulgrave manors from his grandfather, William Danvers, and states that Samuel Danvers was seised in his demesne of fee of the rectory of Culworth formerly belonging to the monastery of Canons Ashby; also of the advowson, free gift, and right of patronage of the vicarage of Culworth.  The inquisition also narrates the purchase by the deceased of the manor of Moreton from Thomas and John Brickett and Valentine Knightley.  Samuel Danvers died on February 24 last past, and his son and heir was Samuel Danvers, jun., aged 21 on September 26 following.

Samuel’s widow, Ann, as we learn from her son’s inquisition, married Henry Fynche, who, as appears from a deed dated 2 December 1647, was of Kempley, Gloucester.

Samuel Danvers the younger did not long survive his father, dying unmarried in September, 1603.  In October of 1594 he and his brother John matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford.  Additional Charter, Culworth series No. 38896, is livery under the great seal of his lands to Samuel, son of Samuel Danvers.  The deed is dated at Westminster, June 5 of 42 Elizabeth.  On the outside are the words, ‘My brother’s lyvery.’  Samuel’s post-mortem inquisition is as follows:

Post-Mortem Inquisition

Chan. Inq. P.-M., Jas. I., p. 2, No. 172 (Northt.)

Inqn taken at North’ton 14 July, 2 James I [1604] before Edward Furthoe Esq. Escheator, after the death of Samuel Danvers Esq. by the oath of Nicholas Fenne &c. who say that long before the death of the said Samuel one William Danvers was seised of the manors of Culworthe Mandeville, Culworth Pinckney & Sulgrave Pinckney.  So seised, &c. &c. [as in Inq., 41 Eliz., (1598), p. 2, No. 72].

The said Wm Danvers died so seised, after whose death the premises descended to John Danvers Esq. his son; after his death to Samuel Danvers Esq. his son (father of the Samuel named in the writ), and after his death to Samuel Danvers (named in the writ) his son who thereupon entered into the same and was thereof seised in his demesne as of fee-tail.

So seised, by indenture of sale made between the said Samuel of the one part and Ralph Buckley of Clements Inn in co. Middlesex of the other part, dated 19 November, 42 Eliz. [1599], in consideration of £1000 paid to him by the said Ralph the said Samuel sold to him (Ralph) the manor of Sulgrave Pinckney with all its rights, members & appurts: to hold to him and his heirs for ever.  By pretext whereof the said Ralph entered into the said manor and was thereof seised in his demesne as of fee.

He (Ralph) being so seised, a fine was levied in the Octaves of St Hillary 42 Elizabeth (1600) between the said Ralph Buckley plt., and the said Samuel Danvers junior, John Danvers gent. and Henry Finch Esq. and Anne his wife, deforciants, of the manor of Sulgrave aforesaid by the name of 2 messuages, 2 cottages, 4 gardens, 4 orchards, 200 a. of land, 40 a. of meadow, 60 a. of pasture & 2 a. of wood in Sulgrave, whereupon a plea of covenant was summoned between them, to wit, the said Samuel, John, Henry and Anne acknowledged the tenements aforesaid to be the right of the said Ralph as those which he had of their gift &c. &c.: which said fine was levied to the use of the said Ralph Buckley and his heirs for ever.

The said Samuel was also seised of the Rectory and Church of Culworth with its rights & appurts; also of the advowson, gift and right of patronage of the vicarage of the parish Church of Culworth.  Also of the manor of Morton [and of all the premises mentioned in the foregoing inquisition in Morton].

Anne now the wife of the said Henry Finch, and formerly the wife of the said Samuel Danvers senior is still alive at Culworth.

Samuel Danvers (named in the writ) died 15 September last past without issue; John Danvers his brother is his next heir, and at the death of the said Samuel was aged 21 years and more.

DANVERS DESCENT FROM WILLIAM WYKEHAM

Amongst the proceedings in Chancery of the reign of Elizabeth I which have been preserved, and are now in the Record Office,10.31 is a petition from members of the family of Danvers of Culworth to the Lord Chancellor, setting forth that they were all, through John Danvers, of the blood and kindred of the late father in God, William Wickham, and asking that their children might be admitted to the privileges of founder’s kin at Winchester College and at New College, Oxford.  The petition is dated May, 1583, and the individuals who sign it are Samuel and Daniel Danvers, Anthony Dulande (Dillon) and Temperance his wife, Richard Andrews and Justice his wife, William Howell and Prudence his wife, Robert Barker and children of his late wife Mary, Henry Sacheverell and Dorothy his wife, George Blount and Anne his wife.  The petition states that Samuel, Daniel, Temperance, Justice, Prudence, Mary, Dorothy, Ann are all lawful sons and daughters of John Danvers of Culworth and William Danvers of Culworth, and therefore of the blood and kindred of the Bishop.  The petition then proceeds to trace the descent of Elizabeth Fenys, wife of William, to Agnes, the Bishop’s sister.  The petition was refused on the score of certain technical objections which the wardens of the two colleges raised, one of them being that the petitioners had not named their children, or shown that they had any who were admissible as scholars; but the descent was not denied, and the document is valuable as a confirmation of the descent of those members of the family who signed it.  A part of the petition follows.

The name in the petition which to us is of most interest is that of Daniel Danvers, the second son John Danvers and Dorothy Raynsford, as from him the present family of Danvers trace their descent, and to him we shall return when we have reviewed the first manuscript volume of the Culworth parish registers.

Petition

Chancery Proceedings, Elizabeth, D. d. 7, No. 34. (7 May, 1585)

Samuel Danvers of Culworth in co. Northampton, Esq., and Daniel Danvers gent., Anthony Dulande, gent., and Temperance his wife, Richard Androwes, gent., and Justice his wife, William Howell gent., and Prudence his wife, Robert Barker gent., on behalf of his sons being infants by Mary his late wife, Henry Sacheverell gent., and Dorothy his wife, and George Blunte, gent., and Anne his wife, complain that whereas William of Wickham sometime Bishop of Winchester founded 2 Colleges in Winchester and Oxford, and the same endowed with large possessions, and ordained among other things that his kinsmen should enjoy the special privilege of being admitted fellows and scholars of the said Colleges before all others: And whereas the said Samuel Danvers, Daniel Danvers, Temperance, Justice, Prudence, Mary, Dorothy and Anne are lineally descended of the ‘bloude and kynred’ of the said Bishop, to wit, the said Samuel, Daniel, Temperance, Justice and Prudence being the lawful sons and daughters of John Danvers of Culworth, Esq., deceased, son of William Danvers of Culworth, Esq., deceased and Elizabeth his wife also deceased, and the said Mary late wife of the said Robert Barker, Dorothy late wife of the said Henry Sacheverell, and the said Anne now wife of the said George Blunte, daughters of the said John Danvers10.32 son of the said William and Elizabeth, which Elizabeth was daughter of one Richard Fenys of Broughton in co. Oxford Esq., son of Henry Fenys10.33 Lord Saye and Seale and Margaret his wife, which Margaret was the daughter and heir of William Wickham Esq. son of Sir Thomas Wickham alias Perrott, knight, son of William Perrotte gent. and Alice his wife which Alice was the daughter of one Champneys and Agnes his wife which Agnes was the daughter of Wickham* . . . of the said Reverend Bishop.

* The lower part of this document is torn away.

NOTES TO CHAPTER TEN

10.1 Patent Roll 37 Henry VIII (1546), part x, M. 34 (3).

10.2 British Museum, Additional Charter, Culworth Series, No. 38886.

10.3 Additional Charters 38887 and 38888 record purchases of land by John Danvers.

10.4 Close Roll part ix, and 2 and 3 P. and M., 23 March, 1 and 2 Mary I (1553, 1554).

10.5 For a full account of the Wilcotes family, see F.N. Macnamara’s paper in Berks, Bucks, and Oxon Archaeological Journal for Jan. 1898.

10.6 The dates for various births and marriages are drawn from the 1992 LDS International Genealogical Index. -Ed.

10.7 Baker’s History of Northampton, vol. i, p. 131.

10.8 Genealogist, vol. ii, p. 105, Pedigree of Rainsford.

10.9 Patent Roll of Sep. 14, 1332, Prattelis family and Great Tew.

10.10 Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xii, part ii, p. 459.

10.11 Figured in Boutell’s Brasses.

10.12 Anthony à Wood’s manuscripts; Bodleian, Wood, R.D.

10.13 Harleian Society, vol. v.

10.14 Leland’s Itinerary, vol. vi, p. 14.

10.15 For Wilcotes see also Warton’s Kiddington, Ashmole’s Berks, Hearne’s Trokelowe, and Skelton’s Antiquities of Oxon—‘North Leigh Church.’

10.16 Kennet’s Parochial Antiquities, vol. ii, p. 412.

10.17 Baker’s Northampton, vol. i, and Fuller’s Worthies, edition 1811.

10.18 Kitchen 11, 1556, Somerset House.

10.19 No. 71, 3 and 4 Mary 1 (1556, 57), part i.

10.20 Deed in Macnamara’s possession.

10.21 Berry’s Kent Genealogies, 228.

10.22 Betham’s Baronetage.

10.23 Vide Harleian MSS., 1553, pp. 210-214, and 1094, pp. 78-89.

10.24 Visitation of Oxon, Harleian Society, vol. v, p. 217.

10.25 Patent Roll of 13 Elizabeth I (1570), part v,

10.26 Marriage of Samuel Danvers was probably 12 May 1578, at St Gregory by St Paul, London, although his wife’s name is not given in the LDS International Genealogical Index entry. -Ed.

10.27 Lipscomb’s Bucks, vol. i, p. 278, and index of vol. iv for Pigotts and Giffards.

10.28 Patent Roll of 23 Elizabeth I (1580), part xi, May.

10.29 Patent Roll 29 Elizabeth I (1587), part xxii, July, and 31 Elizabeth I (1589), part xxx.

10.30 Deeds in Macnamara’s possession.

10.31 Chancery Proceedings, Elizabeth, D. d. 7, No. 34 (7 May 1585).

10.32 Here there seems to be an error, either in the petition or in its transcription. Clearly Mary, Dorothy and Anne were sisters of the said John, not daughters.  Had they been daughters, they would have been listed previously with Samuel, Daniel, Temperance, Justice and Prudence ‘the lawful sons and daughters of John Danvers of Culworth, Esq.’.  Refer page NO TAG for the family of William Danvers and Elizabeth Fiennes. -Ed.

10.33 Macnamara gives the name of the husband of Margaret Wickham and father of Richard Fiennes as William Fiennes (refer page NO TAG) but he is Henry Fiennes in this document. -Ed. 

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Digital edition first published: 1 Mar 2020             Updated: 12 Jul 2023                garydanvers@gmail.com