Dulcie Hawley

Dulcie Hawley (Massey) born circa 1347 Chershire, England, died before 1419. She was the daughter of Sir John Massy and Alice Massy Worseley; married 1) Peter Warburton, they were divorced in 1402 at Warburton, Cheshire, England; married 2) Sir Thomas Hawley between Apr. 1402 and Dec. 1404.

Sir Thomas, may, meanwhile, have taken part in the battle of Shrewsbury (July 1403), which saw the defeat of a combined force of Henry IV’s enemies led by the Percys. One of the casualties on the losing side was the Cheshire knight, Sir John Massey, whose daughter, Dulcie, became Hawley’s second wife. She had previously been married to Peter Warburton, a local landowner, but in April 1402 the latter agreed to pay Sir John 300 marks in return for an unopposed divorce. Within a month of Massey’s death, Henry IV decided that Dulcie herself should receive this money notwithstanding her father’s forfeiture for treason—so it looks as if Hawley had already made clear his intention of marrying her. In April 1404 Warburton offered Dulcie a recognizance for a second, far greater sum of 550 marks, the first instalment of which was paid to her and Hawley exactly eight months later.5

Sir Thomas drew up his will at Grisby on 29 June 1419, and died at some point before 20 May 1420. He made elaborate provision for the welfare of his five sons, the eldest of whom, named John, succeeded him. He wished to be buried at the parish church of Burgh on Bain, to which he left a bequest of £5, but his primary concern was to see that each of his children was assured of an annual income sufficient to support them for life. John Hawley’s immediate inheritance was thus considerably depleted by settlements upon his younger brothers.7 His wife, Dulcie is not mentioned in his Will, nor provisions for her, so she was probably deceased before some point the Will was written . 1

Reference

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421 Author: C.R. Notes 1. Lincs. AO, Reg. Buckingham, xii, f. 341v; F. Blomefield, Norf. viii. 268; CP25(1)143/147/29; CCR, 1389-92, pp. 181, 187; DKR, xxxvi. 33-4, 505-6; Scrope v. Grosvenor, ii. 262-4. In his will of 1419 (Reg. Chichele, ii. 191-5), Hawley left his estates in East Barkworth to his uncle, William Barkworth. It is, therefore, quite likely that his mother belonged to the same Lincolnshire family and brought this property with her as a marriage portion. 2.Lincs. Peds. ed. Maddison, 475; Reg. Buckingham, xii, f. 341v; Reg. Chichele, ii. 191-5; Feudal Aids, iii. 238; CChR, v. 143; Somerville, Duchy, i. 367; Reg. Gaunt 1379-83, i. 7, 14-15; PRO List ‘Sheriffs’, 79. 3. C143/426/17; CP25(1)143/147/29; Lincoln Rec. Soc. xxx. 42-43, 50, 86; Test. Ebor. i. 125; iii. 402; CCR, 1389-92, pp. 181, 187; CPR, 1396-9, p. 137; Early Lincoln Wills ed. Gibbons, 51. 4. Lincs. AO, MM1/3/8, 10; CCR, 1399-1402, p. 298; 1402-5, p. 115; 1409-13, pp. 189, 429; 1413-19, p. 271; 1419-22, p. 210; CPR, 1401-5, p. 232; 1413-16, p. 327; W.O. Massingberd, Ormsby-cum-Ketsby, 74-75; Cott. Ch. XXVIII 6; CAD, iii. A6000; Lincs. N. and Q. xi. 251; Reg. Chichele, ii. 186-9. 5.DKR, xxxvi. 333-4, 505-6. 6. E101/69/5/426; E404/31/163; DKR, xliv. 561; N.H. Nicolas, Agincourt, 380; CPR, 1413-16, p. 225; CCR, 1413-19, pp. 188-9. 7.Reg. Chichele, ii. 191-5.