John Spelman, Kt., of Narburgh

SPELMAN, Sir JOHN (1495?–1544), judge of the king's bench, born about 1495, was son of Henry Spelman, recorder of Norwich in 1491. The Spelman family were of ancient descent, being sprung from Hampshire, where in the time of Henry III they held the manor of Brockenhurst; in the fourteenth century they appear to have settled in Norfolk, where they held the manor of Bekerton in the fifteenth century. The judge's father, Henry Spelman of Bekerton, by his marriage with his second wife, Ela, daughter and coheiress of William de Narborough, became possessed of the property at Narborough, which subsequently became the home of the family (Blomefield, History, vi. 450, 454). Spelman was the youngest of seven children of his father's second marriage. Early in life he was sent to Gray's Inn to study law (cf. Foster, Gray's Inn Reg. pp. x, 9). He became a reader of the inn in 1514, and was appointed to the same office a second time in 1519 (Dugdale, Origines, p. 292). He was called to the degree of the coif in Trinity term 1521, and was made king's serjeant in April 1529 (Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII, vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 2435). He was appointed (14 July 1530) one of the commissioners to make inquisition in the county of Norfolk as to the possessions held by Wolsey therein, and again as commissioner in August 1530 to make an inquisition of lands given by Wolsey to Christ Church, Oxford, previously to his attainder (ib. p. 2946). In February 1532 he was acting as a justice of assize, and was created a judge of the king's bench in 1533 (Dugdale, Chronica Series, p. 82). He was present at the coronation of Anne Boleyn in June 1533, and reported the manner of attendance of the judges (Cotton MSS. Vesp. cxiv. 124). In 1535 he acted as a commissioner on the trials of Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher, and again on 13 May 1536 as one of the special commissioners of oyer and terminer for Middlesex who were appointed to return all indictments found against Queen Anne and Lord Rochford (Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII, vol. x.). For such services he received in April 1537 a grant in fee of the manor of Gracys in Narborough, Norfolk, belonging to the suppressed priory of Penteney (ib. vol. xii. pt. i. p. 512).

Spelman appears to have been a discreet courtier, and, at Thomas Cromwell's request, appointed the latter's nominee as clerk of assize on 12 April 1538, though regretfully writing ‘Albeit I intended to promote one of my own sons.’ He died on 26 Feb. 1544, and was buried in Narborough church. The brass of Sir John in judge's robes over his tomb is engraved in Cotman's ‘Norfolk Brasses.’

Spelman married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Frowyk of Gunnersbury in Middlesex, brother of Sir Thomas Frowyk [q. v.], chief justice of the common pleas, by whom he left a family of thirteen sons and seven daughters. His second son, Henry, was father of Sir Henry Spelman (1564?–1641) [q. v.] A younger son, William Spelman, was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and spent a considerable portion of his life in the Netherlands, where in 1523 he was engaged in a secret mission on behalf of the king of Spain (Tanner MS. lxxx. 21 et seq.). He was the author of ‘A Dialogue or Confabulation between two Travellers, sometimes Companions in study in Magdalene College, Cambridge, the one named Viandante, the other Seluaggio.’ This piece, in manuscript, was formerly in the collection of Dawson Turner. William Spelman married Catherine, daughter of Cornelius von Stonhove, a Dutch judge.

• [Foss's Judges; Blomefield's Norfolk; Visit. of Norfolk (Harl. Soc.), p. 264; Norfolk Archæological Soc. Publ. vol. vii.]
• W. C.-r.

Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 53

• From: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Spelman,_John_(1495%3F-1544)_(DNB00)
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• Spelman genealogy; the English ancestry and American descendants of Richard Spelman of Middletown, Connecticut, 1700 .. (1910)
• http://archive.org/details/spelmangenealogy00barb
• http://archive.org/stream/spelmangenealogy00barb#page/n46/mode/1up
• Pg.33
• John Spelman of Spilmans-place, Lord of the Manors of Bekerton and Crow, ....
• He married first, Catherine, the daughter of Thomas Styward of Swaffham, County Norfolk. She died in 1432, and was buried in Stow Church. The issue of this marriage was; Anna, who married--Fincham; Elizabeth; Katherine, who married, first, Edmund Paston, Knight, and, second, E. Clypesby; Robert; and Henry, of whom below.
• The second wife of John Spelman was Mariana, and by this marriage he had a son, John, and, perhaps, a son, William. Mariana survived her husband, at whose death, in 1460, she received Crow's Hall for her lifetime. His will was dated 24 April 1460, and mentions his wife and all his children. (Norfolk Archaeology, Volume I.)
• The heir of John Spelman was his eldest son, Henry, who became ... by his first marriage, to Ela, the widow of Thomas Shouldham, and the daughter and co-heiress of William de Narburgh ...
• Henry Spelman died 23 September, 1496, ...
• http://archive.org/stream/spelmangenealogy00barb#page/n47/mode/1up
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• Henry Spelman and his first wife, Ela de Narburgh, had issue:
  • (1) William Spelman, who was a Knight, inherited Bekerton Manor, which passed to his descendants. He married Anne, the daughter of Christopher Coo, and had issue : (a) Elizabeth, who married Francis Clophin ; (b) Anna, who married, first, William Save, and, second, John Woodhouse, Knight, of Breccles Hall, in a window of which are emblazoned the Spelman Arms (Norfolk Archaeology, Volume VIII) ; (c) Christopher, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Radclyff, and had Elizabeth, daughter and heiress, who married, first, Jenkins, and, second, Dethick, having issue by the second marriage; (d) Francis, who married the daughter of Mason, and had (i) a daughter, who married Davison, "Legatus Regius" ; (ii) Francis, who married __ Isle.
  • (2) Henry Spelman, Lord of Rockland, died without issue.
  • (3) John Spelman was a Priest, and of Wimondham.
  • (4) Katherine Spelman married, first, Robert Denry, and, second, Richard Sefoule de Waterden.
  • (5) Anna Spelman married Henry Mackwilliams.
  • (6) Elizabeth Spelman married John Goldingham de Goldingham.
  • (7) John Spelman, of whom below.
• Henry Spelman, the Recorder of Norwich, survived his first wife, Ela de Narburgh, and married, second, Katherine. or Christian, the daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Manning of Great Elmingham, County Norfolk, and of the latter's wife, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Jenny. (Blomefield's Norfolk, Volume I, Pages 484-488.) By this marriage, Henry Spelman had a son, Thomas Spelman, Knight, Lord of Ellingham and Bechamwel by maternal inheritance, who married Anne, daughter of John, who was either the son or the son-in-law of Lord Robert Conyers. The son of Thomas Spelman and
• http://archive.org/stream/spelmangenealogy00barb#page/n50/mode/1up
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• his wife was Henry Spelman, Knight, who married Elizabeth Tyrell.
• It is stated in Blomefield's Norfolk, Volume I, on pages 84 and 451, that Henry Spelman, the Recorder of Norwich, had another son, Christopher, by his second marriage.
• etc. ...
• Sir John Spelman, Knight, son of Henry Spelman, the Recorder of Norwich, and his first wife, Ela de Narburgh, was an eminent jurist, and became "Second Justice of the King's Bench," Before this, he acted as counsel to the city of Oxford in proceedings before Parliament against the University and the Charter of Henry VIII. To him belongs the credit of bringing again to the Spelman family the honor of knighthood. ....
• Sir John Spelman died in 1545, His wife was Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Henry Frowick of Gunnersbury, Middlesex, They were both buried in Narburgh Church, and their Altar-tomb is still there, of grey marble, ....
• http://archive.org/stream/spelmangenealogy00barb#page/n51/mode/1up
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• Lady Elizabeth Spelman was born of her father's second marriage, to a daughter of ___ Davers. Henry Frowick's first wife was Margaret Lee. He was the son of Thomas Frowick, Knight, and Johanna, daughter and heiress of Sturgeon.
• Sir John Spelman and his wife, Elizabeth Frowick, had a family of twenty children. Their eldest son, Henry, died in infancy, and his second son, John Spelman, Knight, fell heir to Narburgh, which passed to his descendants.
• The fifth son was Henry, who married, first, Anne, daughter of Thomas Knevet, Knight, and, second, Frances Sanders. By the second marriage he had a son. Sir Henry Spelman, the famous antiquarian and scholar, of whom mention has been made as the historian of the Spelman family.
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• The Visitation of Norfolk in the Year 1563 (1878) Vol.1
• http://archive.org/details/visitationnorfo00dashgoog
• http://archive.org/stream/visitationnorfo00dashgoog#page/n265/mode/1up
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  • 87. Spelman. Pg.249-260
• http://archive.org/stream/visitationnorfo00dashgoog#page/n267/mode/1up
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• THIS CHART LISTS WILLIAM SPELMAN WHO MAR. ANNE COO TWICE WITH DIFFERENT MOTHERS
• Henry Spelman son of Catherine (Stuward) & John Spelman, m1. Christiana dau. of Thomas Manning by Elizabeth (Jenny) ch: Thomas (m. Anne Conyers) & William (m. Anna dau. of Christopher Coo); m2. Ela dau. of William Narborough ch: (Pg.252 Sir John (m. Elizabeth Frowick), Anne (m. Henry Mack Williams), Katherine (m. Rich' Sefoule & _ Drury), Elizabeth (m. John Goldingham), dau. (m. _ Drury), William (m. Anne Coo), John (a priest), Henry (d.1530-1533) Spelman
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  • Sir John Spelman, of Narborow, in Norff. Judge of the King's Bench. Ob. 26 Feb. 1543.; m. Elizabeth, dau. & coheir. Ob. 5 Nov. 1556 of Jane (Danvers) & Henry Frowick of Gunnersbury, parents of (Pg.253 John (m. Margaret Blennerhasset), Henry (m. Anne Knevet & Frances Sandes (Sanders)), Francis (m. Grace Dethick & Elizabeth Everton), Jerome, Henry, William, John, Robert, Thomas, Anthony, Erasmus (m. Ursula Bainton), Michael (m. Margaret dau. of George Duke of Brampton), William (m. Katherine von Stonehove), Elizabeth (m. Edmund de Grey), Martha (m. Alexander Bradok), Bridgett (m. Osbert Mountford), Ella (m. George Jernegan), Dorothy (m. William Cobb & Tho. Heydon), Alice (m. Francis Wanser (Soame), Anne Spelman
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• Spelman genealogy; the English ancestry and American descendants of Richard Spelman of Middletown, Connecticut, 1700 .. (1910)
• http://archive.org/details/spelmangenealogy00barb
• http://archive.org/stream/spelmangenealogy00barb#page/n47/mode/1up
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Sir William SPILMAN or SPELMAN, from whom the greater part of the SPILMAN families of the name are descended, was Lord of Brokenhurst, in Hampshire, England in the twelfth Century. He also held lands in Wiltshire in the year 1156 by knight's service. His son, another Sir William SPILMAN or SPELMAN, was Lord of Brokenhurst, Hampshire, and of Cowsfield, in Wiltshire, as early as 1167. The younger Sir William married Matilda, dau. of Sir William SARUM, and was the father by her of William, Peter, and Henry, of whom the first was the father of Peter SPELMAN, who died between the years 1272 and 1307, leaving a son named William, who was the father of Peter, Catharine, and Matilda, of whom the first died without issue. Henry SPILMAN or SPELMAN, the youngest of the three sons of Sir William and Matilda (nee SARUM), resided in Hampshire and left issue there of two sons, Robert and David, of whom the latter settled in the County of Norfolk and left issue there by his wife Aveline of a son named John, who is thought to have died without issue. The elder son, Robert, was the father of at least one son, named Stephen, who made his home at Bekerton Manor, in Stow, County Norfolk. This Stephen SPILMAN or SPELMAN had two sons, John and Robert, of whom the first died about 1392, leaving issue by his wife Johanna of Henry, William, John, and Stephen, of whom the last became an Alderman of London and died without issue in 1419. Henry, the eldest of the last mentioned brothers, was the father by his wife Isabella of Robert and John SPELMAN, of whom the latter became Lord of Crowis, Bekerton, and other manors in Norfolk. He first married Catherine, daughter of Thomas STYWARD, and was the father by her of Anna, Elizabeth, Katherine, Robert (died young), and Henry. By a second wife, Mariana, John SPELMAN had further issue of John and William. Henry SPELMAN, son of John by his wife Catherine succeeded to the family estates in 1460 and added numerous other possessions to them during his lifetime. He married the Widow Ela (nee NARBOROUGH) SHOULDHAM and had issue by her of William, Henry, Sir John, and others. Of these, William is said to have been the father by his wife, Ann COO, of Elizabeth, Anna, Christopher, and Francis; while Sir John married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry FROWICK, of County Middlesex, and died in 1545, leaving issue of a son named Henry, who married Frances SANDERS, of Surrey, and was the father of, among other children, Sir Henry and John, of whom the former married Eleanor, daughter of John L'ESTRANGE, of Norfolk. This Sir Henry had, among other sons, Henry and Clement. Clement, son of Sir Henry, had three sons, one of whom is said by family historians to have been the progenitor of the Virginia families of the name. THE NAME AND FAMILY OF SPILMAN Mss. (Media Research Bureau, 1110 F Street, Washington D.C.)

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Clement SPILMAN, of the county of Westmoreland, Va., was a neighbor of John WASHINGTON (father of Pres. Geo. WASHINGTON), and an interesting incident occurred. It seems that both Clement SPILMAN and John WASHINGTON were in love with the widow, Ann BROADHURST-BRETT and John WASHINGTON was successful and married her. In his anger at losing his beloved, Clement SPILMAN uttered a libelous statement against WASHINGTON. Clement was arrested and forced to make a public apology which is recorded in the Westmoreland Court Records for 26 August 1669. - Westmoreland County Deeds, Depositions, etc. 1665-1677, p.45d; Charles Arthur Hoppin's WASHINGTON ANCESTRY, v.I, p.179; Melville, Malcolm L. THE SPILMAN PAPERS (Forestville, California 1965), p.11; WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY, "Washington and His Neighbors", v. , pp.31-32,41-42.

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Clement SPILMAN, brother of James and Robert SPILMAN, was mentioned as a Justice of the Peace in Westmoreland Co., Virginia in 1677, and a neighbor of Col. John WASHINGTON (father of Pres. George Washington). In his will dated 4 Dec. 1677 (proved 10 January), Clement SPELMAN of Westmoreland County leaves his property to his minor brother Robert in England, for whom he appointed James SPELMAN, another brother, guardian. Both Robert and James resided in England. Witnesses to the will were Robert BLAKE (?) and Thomas YOWELL. Presumably this Clement SPILMAN left no wife or children, since his will mentioned none. - Dixon, Ben F., VIRGINIA SPILMAN MISCELLANY, VIRGINIA SPILMANS; WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY, v.14, p.178-179. ---6 Clement SPILMAN is thought to have married to Martha MASON (ca.1719-1680) who had at least one child James SPILMAN, born ca.1655 at Westmoreland Co., VA. - W.L.DeCoursey

Clement SPILMAN appears in the records of Westmoreland Co., Virginia in 1712 as suing Francis KENNER for a negro slave given to the plaintiff's wife, Hannah (FOX) KENNER SPILMAN by her former husband Rodham KENNER. - WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY, v. 9, p.185; v.14, p.178-179; v.17 (info by William DeCoursey)