Nicholas Leventhorpe, Esq.

• Not the same as Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Yorkshire and Essex
• Constance Cotton was not his child

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Nicholas Leventhorpe married before 1 November 1476 to Katherine Hungerford (b. abt 1438-1493), Baroness De La Warr. She was the daughter of Sir Robert Hungerford, 2nd Lord Hungerford and Margaret Botreaux, as was previously married to Richard West, 8th Baron de La Warre. He died without issue in 1484.

Disambiguation

In 1996 the late Marshall Kirk published evidence which proved that Katherine Hungerford, widow of Sir Richard West, married (2nd) probably shortly before 1 Nov. 1476 Nicholas Leventhorpe, esquire [Reference: NEHGR 150 (1996): 91-93]. The following source was cited by Mr. Kirk as evidence for this marriage: Calendar of Close Rolls, 1476-1485 (1953), pg. 23.

Mr. Kirk added the following biographical information regarding Nicholas Leventhorpe in his NEHGR article:

"Nicholas [Leventhorpe] ... seems to have been born about 1440, is first seen in public life in 1462 as the "king's humble serjeant" and died presumably not long before 23 November 1500, when a writ of diem clausit extremum (i.e., a call for an Inquisition Post Mortem) was issued for 'Nicholas Leventhorpe [of] York [and] Essex.' His first wife - married say 1465 - was Katherine, daughter of George Sampson of Playford, Suffolk."

Mr. Kirk provided the following documentation for these statements: Calendar of Close Rolls, vol. I (London, 1949), pg. 165; Calendar of the Fine Rolls, 22 (1962): 302; Metcalfe, Visitation of Essex (H.S.P. 14) (1879): 593; and Trans. of the East Hertfordshire Arch. Soc. 9 (1934-6): 129 ff.

The Visitation of Essex cited above mentions a Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex alright, but no mention is made of any marriage to Katherine Hungerford:

“Nicholas Leventhorpe of Hatfield in com. Essex. = Katheryn d. of Geo. Sampson of Playford in com. Suff.” [Reference: Hawley et al. Vis. of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612 & 1634 2 (H.S.P. 14) (1879): 593 (Leventhorpe ped.).

A note of Marshall Kirk's discovery was subsequently published in 1998 in Complete Peerage, 14, Addenda & Corrigenda (1998): 243, which states that Katherine Hungerford "married 2ndly, probably before 1 Nov. 1476, as his 2nd wife, Nicholas Leventhorp." Mr. Kirk's article is cited as the source for this information.

Following the publication of his 1996 article, Mr. Kirk (publishing under the name Kenneth W. Kirkpatrick) and John A. Brayton published an article in 1999 on the Cotton family entitled "Cottoniana, or, 'That Cotton-Pickin' Somerby!" The article was published in New Hampshire Genealogical Record, 16 (1999): 145, et seq.

On pages 153-154, the authors discuss Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, co. Essex and his daughter, Constance Leventhorpe, wife of Andrew Priour and Clement Cotton, Gent.:

"Nicholas Leventhorpe ... a Crown servant and merchant, seen 1462-1500, married, first, Katherine, daughter of George Sampson of Playford, co. Suffolk ... and, second, in 1476, Katherine (Hungerford) West, widow of Richard, Lord West and la Warre ... It is unclear which of these wives was Constance's mother; on grounds of chronology and biology, either seems, at this point, perfectly possible. Either, too, would bequeath royal ancestry on her progeny ..."

Thus Mr. Kirk and Mr. Brayton have firmly identified Katherine Hungerford's husband, Nicholas Leventhorpe, as the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex, who married Katherine Sampson. However, it appears that there were TWO contemporary men named Nicholas Leventhorpe, one who married Katherine Hungerford, and the other who married Katherine Sampson.

We know from Mr. Kirk's first article published in 1996 that a writ was issued in 1500 for an inquisition post mortem for a Nicholas Leventhorpe who held lands in Yorkshire and Essex.

Elsewhere, however, I find that in 1490, Robert Gowedeby (alias Golby), Citizen and draper of London, sued Katherine Leventhorp, widow (alias Lady Katherine Lady de la Warre), of Magna Busshe [Great Bushey], Hertfordfordshire in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt [Reference: Court of Common Pleas, CP40/911, rot. 453f].

This lawsuit may be viewed at the following weblink:

http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/H7/CP40no911/aCP40no911fronts/IMG_0453...)

There can be no question as to the identity of the Katherine Leventhorp, widow, in the 1490 lawsuit, as she is specifically styled "Lady de la Warre." At the date of the lawsuit, she was residing at Great Bushey, Hertfordshire. This manor was a land holding of her first husband, Sir Richard West, Lord la Warre [see Clutterbuck, History and Antiquities of Hertford 1 (1815): 337–339].

Obviously if Katherine (Hungerford) (West) Leventhorpe was a widow again in 1490, she can't have been the wife of the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Yorkshire and Essex, who died in 1500. So exactly when did Katherine Hungerford's husband, Nicholas Leventhorpe, die?

To answer that question I consulted the recently published Wills at Hertford, 1415-1858, edited by Beryl Crawley (British Record Society, vol. 120). On page 347, the following will is listed:

1484 Leventhorp Nicholas esq. Rickmansworth 2AR 46

The above will is found among the registered wills of the Archdeaconry Court of St. Albans on FHL Microfilm 91750.

This will is for Nicholas Leventhorpp, esquire "weke in body & hole in mynde." It is dated 24 October 1484, and proved 20 Dec. 1484. The testator requests burial in the chapel of the blessed lady within the churchyard of Rickmansworth. He leaves bequests to the churches of Bushey and Watford, Hertfordshire. He leaves bequests to his brother, John Leventhorppe, and to Doctor Christopher Tankyrvile. He leaves the residue of his estate to "my lady dame Katerijn my wyffe," whom he names his executrix. The will is witnessed by doctor Tankyrvile, John Leventhorpp, Thomas Leventhorpp, Thomas Cheever, etc.

Thus it would appear that Nicholas Leventhorpe, Esq., the 2nd husband of Katherine Hungerford, died without issue in 1484. At the time of his death, he was residing at Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, which locality is adjacent to the parish of Great Bushey, Hertfordshire, where Katherine Hungerford later resided. He is a separate and distinct person from the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex, who married Katherine Sampson. I presume that the husband of Katherine Sampson is the Yorkshire and Essex man who died in 1500.

There is no evidence that Katherine Hungerford was Nicholas Leventhorpe's 2nd wife, as stated by Complete Peerage 14. There is also no evidence that Nicholas Leventhorpe (husband of Katherine Hungerford) was the father of Constance Leventhorpe, wife of Andrew Priour and Clement Cotton, as alleged by Kirk and Brayton.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah