Dorothy Cheney

Dorothy was the daughter of John Yate of Charney, Esq and his second wife Alice Hyde. She married John Cheney in 1531 when the manor of Westhay, Berkshire was settled upon them.

In 1550 John Cheney was convicted for his role in the murder of Robert Parrys & the Privy Council ordered that his goods be retained by his wife for maintenance of their children. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp242-245

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/164f342f-bede-4...
Reference: LM/1739/1
2 copies of petition to the King for letters patent pardoning John Cheyney esq, late of Westwoodhaye, Berks, for his part in the murder of Robert Parrys in the Wasshe Lane ende, Newbury, in Oct 1550 [HMC p.604a] [Held by Surrey History Centre]

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7501343
Reference: C 1/1344/10 Date 1553-1555
Short title: Cary v Cheyney.
Plaintiffs: John CARY, parson of Linkenholt.
Defendants: John CHEYNEY of Woodhay, co. Berks, who shamefully moordered your Lordeshipps servante gentle Maister Parrys.'.Subject: Claim to a lease of complainant's parsonage. Hampshire

Jacks, Knaves and Vagabonds: Crime, Law, and Order in Tudor England
By Gregory J Durston
p. 528 " It is always open to those who had been accused or convicted of a capital felony, or those acting on their behalf, to petition the sovereign for a pardon that would cover their particular crime, however grave. Illustrative of this, in October 1550 John Cheyney [c1510 - 1567], a former soldier from West Woodhay, in Berkshire, led a group of men armed with swords who attacked and murdered a man named " Robert Parrys in Newbury. King Edward VI was petitioned to grant letters pardoning Cheyney for his part in the murder. Cheyney was pardoned in 1552. Although his goods would, in the normal course of events, have been seized on conviction (felony forfeiture), the Privy Council ordered.. [his property was passed to his wife Dorothy for their children]. "