Edward Waldegrave, Esq., of the Friars

Edward Waldegrave, Esq., of the Friars and his wife Isabel Waldegrave had an only son John Waldegrave. They did not have a son Thomas Walgrave.

Edward Waldegrave (d.1545?), esquire, of The Friars, Sudbury, second son of “[Sir Thomas Waldegrave], an eminent and distinguished solder, who received the honour of knighthood for his valour at Towton Field, 20th March, 1461. He married Elizabeth, eldest daughter and coheir of Sir John Fray, Kt., Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by Agnes his wife. …”. Elizabeth Fray married second to Sir William Say.

Family

Married

1. Elizabeth Cheyney (Cheyne), of Pinhoe. (c.1472-c.1506). Daughter of John Cheney (d. before 1487) by Alice Stawell.
2. Grissel Writtle (d. 1547), widow of 1) John Rochester (d. 1506?) 2) Thomas West (d. 1508). Daughter of Walter Writtle by Katherine Boston.

Children of Elizabeth Cheyney and Edward Waldegrave:

1. John Waldegrave, of Borley in Essex, d. 6 Oct 1543. Married his stepsister, Lora Rochester.

Children of Grissel Writtle and Edward Waldegrave:

1. Grissel Waldegrave, who married Thomas Eden (buried 8 August 1568),
2. Margery Waldegrave, who married, as his second wife, Robert Ryce (b. before 1487, d. 10 August 1544), esquire, of Preston, Essex.

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http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-22-294.pdf

The testator does not mention his brother, Edward Waldegrave, in the will below, and there has been considerable confusion concerning him. As noted above, the pedigree in Metcalfe, The Visitations of Essex, supra, p. 119, erroneously states that he died in the Tower in 1561, confusing him with his grandson, Sir Edward Waldegrave of Borley, Essex, who died in the Tower in that year.

Confusion has also resulted from Weever’s transcript of an inscription (now lost) in the parish church in Bures, Suffolk, stating that Edward Waldegrave died in 1506. See Weever, supra, p. 757:

Of your charity pray for the souls of Edward Waldegrave and Mabel [sic for ‘Isabel’?], his wife, daughter and heir of John Cheney of Pinhoe in Devonshire, and one of the heirs of John Hill of Spaxton in the county of Somerset, the which Edward deceased the year of Our Lord God 1506, and the said Mabel (blank), on whose souls Jesu have mercy, Amen.

Although Weever’s transcript states that Edward Waldegrave died in 1506, in fact he lived for almost another four decades. He made his will on 20 September 1544, and appears to have died sometime in 1545. See the will of Edward Waldegrave, TNA PROB 11/30/620, proved 23 November 1543.

It is possible that Weever mistranscribed the inscription, confusing the date of death of Edward Waldegrave with that of his first wife, Isabel Cheney (c.1472-c.1506), and that Weever also mistranscribed Isabel as ‘Mabel’. Alternatively, it is possible that the dates of death of both Edward Waldegrave and his first wife, Isabel, were left blank when the inscription was originally put in place, and that when Isabel died in 1506, the date of her death was wrongly filled in next to the name of her husband.

For the Waldegrave chapel in Bures parish church, see:
http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/bures.htm

http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-30-620.pdf

SUMMARY: The document below is the Prerogative Court of Canterbury copy of the will, dated 20 September 1544 and proved 23 November 1545, of Edward Waldegrave (d.1545?), esquire, of the Friars, Sudbury, whose grandson, Robert Waldegrave, married the stepdaughter of Oxford’s uncle, Henry Golding.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

The testator was the second son of Sir Thomas Waldegrave (d. 28 April 1472) of Smallbridge and Elizabeth Fray (b.1441), daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Fray (d.1461), Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by Agnes Danvers (d.1478), daughter of Sir John Danvers. See Richardson, Douglas, Plantagenet Ancestry, 2nd ed., 2011, Vol. III, p. 418 at:

https://books.google.ca/books?id=kjme027UeagC&pg=RA2-PA418

For earlier generations of the Waldegrave family, see the will, TNA PROB 11/22/294, dated 26 January 1525 and 6 July 1525 and proved 6 March 1528, of the testator’s elder brother, Sir William Waldegrave (c.1465 - 30 June 1527), one of the executors of John de Vere (1442-1513), 13th Earl of Oxford. For the will of the 13th Earl, see TNA PROB 11/17/379.

After the death of the testator’s father, the testator’s mother, Elizabeth Fray (b.1441), married secondly Sir William Say (c.1452 – 4 December 1529). For his will, dated 8 November 1529 and proved 25 August 1531, see TNA PROB 11/24/102, and the original spelling transcript at:

http://fmg.ac/resources/scanned-sources/file/130-s-1614?start=20

http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-30-620.pdf
RM: T{estamentum} Edwardi Walgraue
In dei nomine Amen. The 20th day of September in the year of Our Lord God a thousand
five hundred forty and four and in the 36th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Henry
the Eight by the grace of God of England, France and Ireland King, Defender of the
Faith, and of the Catholic Church of England and Ireland in earth immediately under God
the Supreme Head, I, Edward Waldegrave, being within my house of Sudbury in the
county of Suffolk, esquire, being of whole mind and hale in body, thanks be to God, do
ordain and make this my last will and testament in manner and form following, and all
other wills or copies of wills to be annulled, void and burnt:
First I bequeath my soul unto Almighty God, my Maker and Redeemer, and to Our Lady
Saint Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and to all the saints in heaven to pray for me;
And my body to have sepulture in the parish church of All Hallows in Sudbury aforesaid
where I have made my sepulture for my wife and me;
Item, I bequeath to the high altar of the parish church of All Hallows aforesaid to pray for
me, and for such things as be negligently forgotten, 3s 4d;
Item, I will that all my debts be truly paid if any be owing, which I know none;
Item, I bequeath to the parson of Little Cornard, the vicar of Much Cornard, the parson of
Middleton and the vicar of Bulmer which were wont to keep me company, to each of
them to pray for me 6s 8d;
Item, to the parson of Newton and to the vicar of Assington to pray for me, each of them
3s 4d;
Item, I will that there shall be no great solemnity made at my burying nor at my month’s
day, but honestly brought to the earth without pomp or pride or trouble to any man as
near as may be, and little trouble to my wife;
And that all my neighbours and friends that will come to offer with me at my burying that
day to be merry at their dinner and have good cheer and to thank God that he hath
preferred me with so long life and to die his servant;
Item, I will from my burying-day till my month day have Mass and dirge every day, and
as for my month day, in like wise as my burying-day;
Item, I will that one whole year next after my departing there be dealt every week in alms
3s 4d to the most poor people in the parish or town of Sudbury aforesaid;
Item, I will that four years next and immediately after that there be dealt in alms to the
most poor people every week (blank) during the said four years;
Item, I will that Sir Thomas Ellys, my priest, shall sing and pray for me five years
immediately after my departing for my soul, my wife’s souls [sic] named Elizabeth, my
father and mother’s soul[s], with all other my kin and friends’ souls and all Christian
souls as they shall appear by name written upon a table standing on the altar in the
church, he to sing twice in the week in the parish church of All Hallows where my body
shall lie, and he to have by the year five marks yearly and meat and drink with my wife;
And if it fortune my wife to depart this world or [=before] the five years be ended and
expired, that then the said Sir Thomas to have every year for his board and wages during
the residue of the said five years to be paid by mine executors £6 13s 4d;
Item, I bequeath to my wife the house at the Friars in Sudbury aforesaid with all manner
of stuff, plate, beddings, hangings, napery, pewter and brass with all other implements to
the same house belonging except such things as I purpose to bestow according to my
mind [f. 333v] hereafter in this my will expressed;
Item, I give and bequeath to my said wife all my stuff remaining at the manor of Greyes
with all manner corn, cattle and other implements wholly as I now leave it;
Item, I bequeath twenty pounds towards my burying and month’s day;
Furthermore I bequeath to Edward Waldegrave, my godson, my chain of fine gold
weighing 24 ounces di, having nine score links and two;
My mind is he shall not break it except it come to him in great need, but wear it during
his life in remembrance to pray for me after my death;
Item I bequeath to my son [=stepson], Robert Rochester, my black damask gown furred
with foins and £6 13s 4d in ready money, praying him to be a good helper and comforter
to my wife;
Item, I give the Bishop of Bedford £4 in ready money to pray for me;
Item, to my son [=stepson], William Rochester, my tawny camlet gown furred with
budge and five marks in money, praying him to be loving and kind to my wife;
Item, to my daughter [=daughter-in-law, and step-daughter], Lore Waldegrave, £6 13s
4d;
And where John Waldegrave, deceased, hath given by will to his two daughters, Mary
and Anne, each of them one hundred marks to their marriage, to augment it I bequeath to
each of them twenty marks apiece more to be paid to them at the day of their
[+marriage?] or else at 21 years of their age as it shall be thought best by mine executors,
and each of them to be other’s heir;
Item, I bequeath to Robert Waldegrave £6 13s 4d in money, and to John, his brother,
other £6 13s 4d in money, and my executor to keep it until they come to th’ age of 21
years, and every of them to be other’s heir if casualty of death come within th’ age of 21
years;
Item, my mind is that Edward Waldegrave and my daughter, Lore, his mother, shall
sojourn still with my wife during her life if they can so agree;
Item, I bequeath to my son [=son-in-law] Eden and my daughter, his wife, one of my
pottle pots of silver parcel gilt and a gilt pot with a cover all gilt;
And to Thomas Eden, his son, 40s in money;
And to each of his daughters, Elizabeth, Anne and Grissel, and to William, his son, 20s to
either of them;
Item, I bequeath to Margery Ryce, my daughter, a standing cup with a cover all gilt;
And to my godson, Edward Ryce, 40s in money;
And to her daughter, Anne, 20s in money;
Item, I give to Thomas West my tawny camlet gown furred with fox and 40s in money;
Item, to Thomasyn, my wife’s woman, 20s in money;
Item, to Elizabeth Rose ten shillings;
Item, I bequeath to Sir Thomas Ellys, my priest, my black gown furred with budge and
lamb and 26s 8d in money to pray for me;
Item, to Thomas Hunt, my servant, my jacket of worsted furred and 26s 8d in money;
Item, to Thomas Motham one of my doublets of stammyn [=estamin?] and 13s 4d;
Item, to my servant, Anthony, my other doublet of stammyn and 13s 4d in money;
Item, to Christopher, my servant, a pair of my hosen and 13s 4d in money;
Item, to John Warren, my servant, 13s 4d in money;
Item, to William Pecocke, my servant, 10s in money;
Item, to William Steven 6s 8d in money;
Item, to John Harvy, my boy in the kitchen, 3s 4d in money;
Item, to the widow in the kitchen 20d;
Item, to the widow of Stevyn 3s 4d in money;
Item, to John Hall, my bailiff, one of my coats and 6s 8d in money, and to Joan, his wife,
3s 4d in money;
Item, to Edward Hall, their son, 3s 4d in money;
Item, to John Torvys and John Clarke, to either of them 20d;
Item, I give to the two daughters of Edmund West after the decease of me and my wife
two acres of land di(?) called Gilbertes crofts which I bought of Martyn and other if they
make no sale of no part of Greyes ground;
Item, I bequeath for a poor remembrance to Sir William Waldegrave, knight, my best
broge [=brooch?];
Item, to my nephew, Anthony Waldegrave, a double ducat;
To my nephew, George Waldegrave, a double ducat;
Item, to my goddaughter, his wife, an old noble;
Item, to my nephew, Edward Waldegrave, servant to my Lord Prince’s Grace [=Edward
VI], a double ducat;
And to my niece, Jane Waldegrave, a double ducat;
Furthermore I bequeath and give to every lady and gentlewoman whose names hereafter
ensueth, whose prayers I do desire, to each of them for a poor token of remembrance a
ducat of 5s apiece, praying every of them of their charity to give 20d of the aforesaid
ducat of 5s to the most poor people in their parishes or about them:
First to my Lady Marney, to my Lady Waldegrave, my Lady Corbet, my Lady Jermyn,
my Lady Drury, my Lady Clopton, Mistress Clopton of Melford Park, Mistress
Waldegrave of Bures, old Mistress Polye [=Poley?], my niece Ayloffe, Mistress Golding
of Paul’s Belchamp, Mistress Spring of Lavenham, Mistress Rokewood of Lavenham,
my niece Spring, Mistress Wentworth of Gosfield, Mistress Coston, Mistress Graue(?),
Mistress Danyell, Mistress Felton, widow, Mr Felton’s wife, Mistress Clopton of Liston,
Mrs Clopton of Kentwell, Mrs Hunt of Haysdon;
The residue of my goods and debts not given nor bequeathed, I commit to the order and
discretion of mine executors, heartily desiring and praying them to remember my soul
with deeds of charity as to their discretions shall seem convenient, whom I ordain and
make my very loving wife, Edward Waldegrave and Robert Rochester, desiring them to
see this my last will executed and performed according to the true meaning, tenor and
effect of the same;
For witness this to be my last and only will to the same I have not alonely set my hand
and seal but also have desired certain persons to witness the same, whose names with
their proper hands be underwritten the day and year abovesaid. By me, Edward
Waldegrave. Per me Robertum Rochester. Sir Ralph Metcalfe. Sir Thomas Ellys.
Thomas Hunte.
Probatum fuit suprascriptun [sic] testamentum coram D{omi}no Archie{pisco}po
Cant{uariensis} apud London Vicesimo tercio die mensis Novembris Anno domini
Mill{es}imo quingen{tesim}o xlvto Iuramento Edwardi Walgrave executoris in
h{uius}mo{d}i testamento no{m}i{n}at{i} cui com{m}issa fuit administracio Ac
approbatum et insinuatum Et com{m}issa fuit administracio o{mn}i{u}m bonor{um} etc
prefato executori de b{e}n{e} et fideliter administrand{o} eadem Ac de pleno et fideli
Inuentario etc exhibend{o} Necnon de plano et vero comp{ot}o reddend{o} Ad sancta
dei Eu{a}ngelia Iurat{o} Res{er}uat{a} p{otes}tate alijs executoribus in h{uius}mo{d}i
testamento no{m}i{n}at{is} cum venerint in debita iuris forma admissur{is}
[=The above-written testament was proved before the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury at
London on the twenty-third day of the month of November in the year of the Lord the
thousand five hundred 45th by the oath of Edward Waldegrave, executor named in the
same testament, to whom administration was granted, and probated and entered, and
administration was granted of all the goods etc. to the forenamed executor, sworn on the
Holy Gospels to well and faithfully administer the same, and to exhibit a full and faithful
inventory etc., and also to render a plain and true account, with power reserved to the
other executors named in the same testament when they shall have come in due form of
law to be admitted.]

Item, I bequeath for a poor remembrance to Sir William Waldegrave, knight, my best
broge [=brooch?].
Item, to my nephew, Anthony Waldegrave, a double ducat.
To my nephew, George Waldegrave, a double ducat.
Item, to my goddaughter, his wife, an old noble.
Item, to my nephew, Edward Waldegrave, servant to my Lord Prince’s Grace [=Edward
VI], a double ducat.
And to my niece, Jane Waldegrave, a double ducat.
Sir William Waldegrave, and the testator’s nephews, Anthony Waldegrave and Edward
Waldegrave, and niece, Jane Waldegrave, can be identified as follows:
Sir William Waldegrave
He was the testator’s great-nephew, i.e. the grandson of the testator’s elder brother, Sir
William Waldegrave (c.1465 - 30 June 1527), supra, and the son of George Waldegrave
(c.1483-1528), esquire, of Smallbridge in Bures St. Mary and his wife Anne Drury (d. 8
June 1572), the daughter of Sir Robert Drury of Hawstead, Suffolk by Anne Calthorpe,
the daughter of Sir William Calthorpe (30 January 1410 - 15 November 1494) of
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. See the will of George Waldegrave, TNA PROB 11/22/577.
See also the ODNB entry for Sir Robert Drury, and his will, TNA PROB 11/25/467. For
Sir William Calthorpe see Plantagenet Ancestry, supra, Vol. 1, p. 169, and his will, TNA
PROB 11/10/408. See also the will, dated 8 November 1554 and proved 30 October
1555, of Sir William Waldegrave (d. 12 December 1554), TNA PROB 11/37/466.
Sir William Waldegrave’s son, Sir William Waldegrave (c.1540 – 25 August 1613), was
a co-guarantor, with Oxford’s first cousin, John Darcy (d.1581), 2nd Baron Darcy of
Chiche, of Oxford’s debt to the Court of Wards. In 1572, Sir William Waldegrave
(c.1540 – 25 August 1613) and Lord Darcy jointly entered into guarantees amounting to
£5000 as guarantors of Oxford’s debt (see TNA C 2/Eliz/T6/48)
‘my nephew, Anthony Waldegrave’
He appears to have been the testator’s nephew, Anthony Waldegrave (d.1571), son of the
testator’s elder brother, Sir William Waldegrave (c.1465 - 30 June 1527). See the will of
Sir William Waldegrave, supra, and the will of his wife, Margery Wentworth
Waldegrave, TNA PROB 11/28/96.
Anthony Waldegrave married Elizabeth Grey (b.1492?, d. before 1552), the daughter of
Ralph Grey (d. 1 November 1492), esquire, of Brent Pelham, Hertfordshire. See his will,
dated 1 February 1571 and proved 5 May 1571, TNA PROB 11/53/224.
‘my nephew, George Waldegrave’
For the testator’s great-nephew, George Waldegrave (d. 1 August 1551) of Hitcham,
Suffolk, third son of the testator’s nephew, George Waldegrave (c.1483 – 8 July 1528), of
Smallbridge in Bures St Mary, see the latter’s will, TNA PROB 11/22/577.
my nephew, Edward Waldegrave, servant to my Lord Prince’s Grace [=Edward VI]
He can be identified as the testator’s great-nephew, Edward Waldegrave (c.1514 - 13
August 1584), esquire, fourth son of the testator’s nephew, George Waldegrave (c.1483 –
8 July 1528) of Smallbridge in Bures St Mary, Suffolk, for whose will see TNA PROB
11/22/577, supra.
For further evidence that he was in service at court, see Doyle, supra, p. 22, who cites
Leland's Itinerary (c.1540), ed. L. T. Smith (1903), Vol. II, p. 17, for a reference to him
as ‘yong Waldgreue of the Court’, and says that:
This other Edward had been involved in the misdemeanours and attainder of Katherine
Howard, but was pardoned, and continued in service; L. & P., 1540-1: 1321, 1337, 1339,
1416, 1422, 1469-70; 1542: 28 (c. 21), g. 137 (68).
He married Joan Acworth (buried 10 December 1590), widow of William Bulmer
(d.1556), gentleman, and daughter of George Acworth, esquire of Toddington,
Bedfordshire, by Margaret Wilberforce, by whom he had one son and four daughters:
-Edward Waldegrave (d. 12 February 1621). See ‘The Descendants of William
deTendring’ at:
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~clopton/tendring.htm
-Mary Waldegrave, who is said to have married fi\irstly Isaac Astley, esquire, and
secondly William Kighley. See ‘Descendants’, supra.
-Anne Waldegrave, who is said to have married Humphrey Monoux, esquire. But see
Nottinghamshire Archives DD/F/9/1, marriage settlement dated 3 May 1574, which states
that the Anne Waldegrave who married Humphrey Monoux was the daughter of William
Waldegrave:
George Monoux of Walthamstowe, Essex, esquire and Edward Waldegrave of Lawford,
Essex, esquire: on marriage of Humphrey Monoux, son and heir of George Monoux and
Anne Waldegrave, one of daughters of William Waldegrave . . . .
-Bridget Waldegrave, who is said to have married Thomas Kighley.
- Margery Waldegrave, who married William Clopton (d. 9 August 1616), esquire, of
Castelyns (in Groton), Suffolk, eldest son of Richard Clopton by his second wife,
Margery Playters. See Richardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed., 2011, Vol.
I, p. 521, and Vol. IV, p. 285. See also the will, proved 28 November 1616, of William
Clopton, TNA PROB 11/128/617, and the original spelling transcript in Howard, Joseph
Jackson, The Visitation of Suffolke, Vol. I, (Lowestoft: Samuel Tymms, 1866), pp. 79-81
at:
https://books.google.ca/books?id=ExI2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA79
See also the will of Francis Clopton (d.1559), TNA PROB 11/42B/359, and ‘Pedigree A’
in Howard, supra, at:
https://archive.org/stream/visitationofsuff01harv#page/n161/mode/2up
Edward Waldegrave (c.1514 - 13 August 1584) died at the age of 70. For his will,
proved 5 December 1584, see TNA PROB 11/67/500. For his tomb, and that of his wife,
Joan, at Lawford, Essex, see:
See also Nichols, Francis Morgan, The Hall of Lawford Hall, (London: Ellis and Elvey,
1891), pp. ix, 5, available online.
‘my niece, Jane Waldegrave’
She is mentioned in the will of her father, Sir William Waldegrave (c.1465 - 30 June
1527), supra, and in the 1540 will, TNA PROB 11/28/96, of her mother, Margery
Wentworth Waldegrave, who refers to her as ‘my daughter, Jane, late nun of the Minories
in London’.
OTHER PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE WILL
Anthony Hodgkins
For Anthony Hodgkins (d.1560), Bishop of Bedford, see the Wikipedia entry at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hodgkins
The testator bequeaths a ducat of the value of 5s to the following ladies, all of whom are
likely to have been his kinswomen, either by blood or marriage:
First to my Lady Marney, to my Lady Waldegrave, my Lady Corbet, my Lady Jermyn, my
Lady Drury, my Lady Clopton, Mistress Clopton of Melford Park, Mistress Waldegrave
of Bures, old Mistress Polye [=Poley?], my niece Ayloffe, Mistress Golding of Paul’s
Belchamp, Mistress Spring of Lavenham, Mistress Rokewood of Lavenham, my niece
Spring, Mistress Wentworth of Gosfield, Mistress Coston, Mistress Graue(?), Mistress
Danyell, Mistress Felton, widow, Mr Felton’s wife, Mistress Clopton of Liston, Mrs
Clopton of Kentwell, Mrs Hunt of Haysdon.

References

1. https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00313518&tree=LEO cites
   1. [S01352] ~Burke's Peerage and Baronetage 1938 . 2493
   2. [S01354] ~Burke's Peerage and Baronetage 1999, 106th Edition .2912
   3. [S01534] Watney, Vernon James, The Wallop Family and Their Ancestry 1928 . 810
2. History of Parliament online: EDEN, Thomas (c.1502-68), of London and Sudbury, Suff https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/e...
3. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Waldegrave-9
4. Waldegrave pedigree in The Visitations of Essex, Part II, (London: Harleian Society, 1879), Vol. XIV, p. 614 < Archive.Org >
5. The Visitations of Essex, p. 308 at: https://archive.org/stream/visitationsofess13byumetc#page/308/mode/2up. Six of these coats (Cheney, Reedham [sic?], Fitchett, Hill, Stourton and Streche) appear to have come to the Waldegrave family through the marriage of Edward Waldegrave and Isabel Cheney. See ‘Hill of Spaxton’, Vol. XXXII, supra, p. 222