Sir Edward Tyrrell, Kt., MP

Born May 1551 (from evidence of father’s I.P.M.), and died 29 January 1605, being buried at Thornton on 2 February. In 37 Elizabeth (c. 1595) he was Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire as Edward Tyrell, Esq., but in 1603 he was knighted and in that year was elected MP, for Buckingham. ‘He died during his office'.

He married at Thornton on 20 January 1571, Mary Lee, said to be the daughter of Benedict Lee, but the register records Robert Lee as witness. Possibly her father was deceased and this was her brother. Either this date is incorrect, or it was a ‘shotgun wedding as their first child, Henry, was baptised only six weeks later on 1 March 1571, and buried on 2 April the same year. They had five other children: Edward, eldest surviving son and heir, born 26 February 1573, Francis, born 28 June 1574; Cassandra, born 27 April 1576 - married (1) Henry Winston, (2) … Vaughan. and (3) . . . Herbert (V); Maria, born 14 December 1578 - married William Tyrell (V); Charles, born 18 April 1579 as a result of whose birth Mary died.

Mary died the same day as Charles was born, 18 April and was buried at Thornton 19 April. Edward evidently re-married within a year or two, as further children are baptised at Thornton from 1585 to 1595, but this wedding was not at Thornton. and curiously at least one child - Timothy 'of Oakley' - was not baptised there. Those entered in the Thornton register are: Frances, born 3 December 1585 - married Sir Edward Broughton (V); Theodosia, born 12 March 1586 - married Edmund West of Marsworth (q.v.); Philippa, born 2 January 1589 married John Nourse of Chilling Place, Oxfordshire, the son of John Nourse of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (V), Thomas, born 23 January 1594, ‘of Castlethorpe’ (see Tyrells of Castlethorpe); Bridget, born 19 August 1595.

The visitation pedigree gives Sir Timothy of Oakley of this marriage and calls him second son of Sir Edward, and also gives a John as third son, with Francis as fourth son, omitting altogether Thomas of Castlethorpe. It is thus of no value in determining the order of birth. There seems no reason to doubt that Sir Timothy of Oakley was a son of Sir Edward of Thornton, in which case he must have been christened elsewhere and was born, possibly, between 1586 and 1594, when only one child was christened at Thornton in a period of eight years, though it is conceivable that he was born before 1585. There appears also to have been another daughter, Penelope (V), who married Captain Richard Gardner of Leatherhead, mentioned as ‘mistress Gardner, sister of my deceased husband’ in the will of Sir Timothy’s widow, 1647.

Edward’s second wife is given as Margaret, the daughter of Thomas Aston, in the 1634 visitation of Buckinghamshire, and Browne Willis credits three sons and six daughters to the marriage, although he does not name them. The authenticity of Margaret as the surviving wife appears to be guaranteed by Edward’s own testamentary bequest in January 1605/6, his widow Margaret receiving an estate in Nast End, Great Leckhampstead, and Oakley Manor; but Lipscomb’s assertion that she died in 1632 and was buried at Thornton cannot be verified from the church register, in which she would certainly have been entered if buried there.

However, there is an entry in the Thornton register at about this time which requires explanation, viz.: ‘The Lady Elizabeth Tyrrell widdowe, late the wife of Sir Edward Tyrrell Kt. deceased’, was buried 26 June 1631. Described in these terms, she cannot really be anyone but the widow of the first Sir Edward; it relates that she is a widow and he deceased, whereas the second Sir Edward was still living. Furthermore, Edward, the son, was a baronet four years before that date, which again indicates that this Elizabeth was the wife of the father, Sir Edward, Kt., as stated.

Now, Sir Edward’s reference to his widow, Margaret, in 1605 rules out her earlier demise and his subsequent third marriage to a lady called Elizabeth, but the phrasing of the entry in the register cannot be compatible with a wife of Edward II. Such conflicting evidence can be reconciled only by postulating that the first Sir Edward’s second wife possessed both names, Margaret and Elizabeth, the former that by which she was usually known, but the latter used in the burial entry. Why this should occur is entirely speculative: was Elizabeth perhaps her first Christian name, or was the clerk who made the entry confused by the two Elizabeths, wives of the second Edward? Not very convincing reasons one might think, but what other explanation can be brought forward to fit all the facts?

The achievement of arms remaining in window glass at Thornton Hall (now the Convent of Jesus and Mary) belongs to this period, and includes in its quarterings the families with which the Tyrrells of Essex had intermarried, in addition to the Ingletons of Thornton (see Plate III, 2, and section on Heraldry). The glass is said to be of Italian workmanship and certainly the style of helm owes more to Renaissance Europe than English tradition. It dates from the end of the 16th century, and it is very curious that Browne Willis makes no mention of the window in his description of Thornton Hall, referring only to… ‘in a Bow Window of the Great Parlor, are these Arms in painted Glass’. The coat he describes is discussed later; it appears to be incorrectly recorded, as were the arms on the tomb of Robert Ingleton, but this does not explain why the Tyrrell quarterings in window glass are not recorded at all.

1605 - 1656. Sir Edward Tyrrell, Kt., and First Baronet of Thornton born 26 February 1573, died 2 July 1656, buried at Thornton, 3 July. Knighted 1607, Sheriff for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire 1613. Sir Edward created a baronetcy in 1627, and in 1638 took out a second patent giving reversion to his second son, Toby. This was done, apparently, to debar his eldest son, Robert; nowhere does it appear why he should wish to do this, but perhaps Robert was ‘of unsound mind’.

Sir Edward had two wives, both of whom were, confusingly, called Elisabeth. The Buckinghamshire visitation pedigree of Tyrrell states that his first wife, and mother of all his children, was Elisabeth, daughter of Sir Edward Watson of Rockingham, and that he subsequently married Elisabeth Kingsmill, by whom he had no issue. On the other hand, Lipscomb declares that Sir Edward’s children were all born to his first wife Elisabeth Kingsmill, who died in 1621, and he states that Elisabeth Watson was buried on 26 June 1637. Rather curiously, he does not give the place of burial, but the visitation of Northamptonshire 1681 relates that ‘Elisabeth the daughter of Sir Edward Watson, of Rockingham Castle, the widow of Sir John Needham of Lichborough married secondly Sir Edward Tyrrell of Thornton Bart., and was buried on 26 June 1637 at Thornton’. The Thornton church registers supply names for all the children born and baptised there to Sir Edward, but only with the last three, Toby, Francis and Mary, is his wife’s name also given, though as it states only ‘Elizabeth’ it does not help to clarify matters. (N.B. - Neither parent is mentioned in the 1610 baptism of Edward, but his naming as ‘Edwardus Tyrrell, generosus’ surely signifies his status as son of the lord of the manor.) These children are as follows: Maria, born 21 June 16O7 - not mentioned in visitation, Robert, born 14 May 1609, eldest son, ‘disinherited’ by his father, but died in his lifetime. Buried at Thornton 20 May 1644. Said to have two daughters, Dorothy and Elizabeth (V); Edward, born

23 April 1610 not mentioned in visitation, ? died 1620: ‘Edward Tyrell was buried the twentieth day of March; Elizabeth, born 7 October 1611 - married 27 October 1645 at Thornton, William Saunders of Brixworth (their son, Edward, born 21 September 1646, baptised at Thornton. Mentioned in will of cousin, Timothy, son of Toby, in 1675) - not mentioned in visitation; Hester, born 12 May 1613 - married (1) Sir Peter le Maire on 1 September 1631 at Leckhampstead, Buckinghamshire (register). He died January 1632 and she married (2) Sir Thomas Salisbury, Kt. and baronet, 22 December 1632 at Thornton. Two of their children were baptised at Thornton: Francis in October 1636, and Hester in October 1638; Dorothy and Jane, twins, born 21 July 1614. Dorothy died in 1639, buried 3 July at Thornton - not mentioned in visitation; Brandon, born 5 October 1615 - not mentioned in visitation, ? died young; Toby, born 1617, baptised 9 October - the heir to Sir Edward; Francis, born 1619, baptised 10 August, died 23 October 1669 (see below; Francis of Morcott); Mary, born 1621, baptised 10 September - not mentioned in visitation - the cause of her mother’s death; ‘The Lady Elizabeth wife of Sr. Edward Tyrrell, Knight, was buried ye first of September et ex partu mortue est ‘.

Fortunately, the problem of the two Elizabeths can be solved. At Litchborough, near Towcester, Northamptonshire, is an altar tomb with alabaster effigy of a knight in armour to Sir John Needham, and above this a wall monument records his death as 15 November 1618. The inscription reads: ‘Sr. John Needham late of Litchborough in the countie of Northampton Knight Marryed Elizabeth Watson one of the Daughters of Sr. Edward Watson of Rockingham Castle in the said countie Knight deceased. Shee erected this Monument for him the said Sr. John Needham Anno Domini 1633 after shee was married to Sr. Edward Tyrrell of Thornton in the Countie of Buck Knight and Baronett’.

From this evidence there can be no doubt that Edward’s first wife was Elizabeth Kingsmill and she was the mother of all his children recorded above. There is just one query, raised by the Visitation of Worcestershire 1634 which gives ‘Thomas Good of Redmarley, 1634, J.P. co. Worcs. married Lucy, daughter of Sir Edward Tyrrell Bart. of Thornton’, and shows a daughter, Mary. If there was a daughter Lucy she might have been born to Edward and the second Elizabeth, but in this case the baptism should appear in the Thornton registers. Otherwise, she would require to be a daughter of Elizabeth Kingsmill, born perhaps c. 1604/5, when she and Sir Edward were probably living elsewhere before moving to Thornton after his father’s death in 1605. Sir Edward’s will of 1656 refers to ‘Lady Needham my late wife’, so she appears to have died prior to that date. Lipscomb’s pedigree gives her death as 26 June 1637, whilst Browne-Willis - who turns out to have the correct orders of wives and children - gives 26 June 1631, buried at Thornton, so conceivably the ‘1637’ could have arisen from a copying error of the 1631 record. This particular burial was discussed under the first Edward and placed as his widow (v.s.), and further proof of the correctness of that deduction is evinced by the Litchborough monument which demonstrates that Elizabeth Needham

Family and Education b. May 1551, 1st s. of George Tyrell of Thornton and Eleanor, da. of Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton, Northants., c.j.k.b. 1539-45.1 m. (1) 30 Jan. 1572, Maria (d. 18 Apr. 1579), da. of Benedict Lee of Hulcot and Ditchley, Bucks., 3s. (1 d.v.p.) 2da. (1 d.v.p.);2 (2) by 1584, Margaret, da. of Thomas Aston of Aston, Cheshire, wid. of Thomas Egerton of Leek, Staffs., at least 4s., 2da.3 suc. fa. 1571.4 kntd. 11 May 1603;5 d. 29 Jan. 1606.6

Offices Held

Sheriff, Bucks. 1594-5;7 j.p. Buckingham, Bucks. 1603.8

Biography The Tyrells of Thornton rose through a combination of careful estate management and marriages. By the mid-sixteenth century, a compact estate situated north-east of Buckingham covering Leckhampstead, Oakley and Thornton, had been assembled. George Tyrell, this Member’s father, was apparently an enclosing landlord and, despite later claims, consolidated his estate before he died on 10 May 1571.9 Tyrell himself was twice married, and fathered 12 children. His second marriage, to the daughter of Thomas Aston, made him a kinsman to (Sir) Roger Aston*, master huntsman to James VI.

Tyrell was a politically significant figure in Buckinghamshire by the 1590s,10 and wealthy enough to have spent about £3,000 on building a house called ‘The Toy’ at Thornton by 1603.11 He served as the county sheriff in 1594-5 and was knighted by James, now king of England, at the Charterhouse in May 1603. His estate’s closeness to Buckingham probably explains his appointment as a magistrate for the borough in 1603 and its decision to choose him as one of its Members in 1604.

Tyrell is not recorded as having spoken in the Commons. He was appointed on 27 Mar. to help draft the House’s explanation to the king of its decision in the Buckinghamshire election dispute, and was among those deputed the next day to accompany the Speaker to a meeting with James.12 On 24 Apr. he and several other Buckinghamshire gentlemen were ordered by the earl of Northampton on behalf of James to conduct further inquiries into Goodwin’s conduct, even though a compromise had by then been reached.13 On 21 Apr. Tyrell was appointed to help confer with the Lords about the proposed Union with Scotland.14 One month later, on 22 May, he was named to the committee that was to confer with the Upper House on wardship.15

Tyrell’s appointment to the committee for a bill sponsored by the king to ensure the enforcement of the laws against shooting with guns and the preservation of game (25 Apr.) may have reflected his continuing association with Aston, the master huntsman, who like him held a Commons’ seat.16 Tyrell was subsequently nominated to consider a bill to prevent outlaws, recusants, perjurers and forgers from sitting in the Commons (26 Apr.), a measure which grew out of the Buckinghamshire election dispute. His other appointments were for bills to prevent stewards of courts leet and baron from overcharging (7 May); to take away secret outlawries (17 May); to confirm Bridewell hospital’s charter (9 June); to prevent married men residing in colleges with their families (14 June); to ensure the continued observance of certain orders in the Exchequer (14 June); to assign money to meet the charges of James’s Household (18 June); and to reform abuses in starch-making (20 June).17

Tyrell died on 29 Jan. 1606 and was buried in Thornton church four days later.18 No will survives, but Tyrell had already made provision for his widow and three younger sons.19 His third son, Thomas, represented Aylesbury in 1659 and Buckinghamshire in 1660.

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629 Author: Christopher Thompson Notes 1. O.F. Brown, The Tyrells of Eng. 138, 140; Lipscomb, Bucks. i. 352; iii. 119. 2. Cent. Bucks. Stud. PR206/1/1. The entry for this marriage is clearly a later interpolation. Their son, Henry, was baptized there 6 Mar. 1572. cf. Lipscomb, iii. 119. 3. Brown, 138, 140; VCH Staffs. vii. 202-9; Cent. Bucks. Stud. PR 206/1/1; C142/294/92. 4. Brown, 138, 140. 5. Shaw, Knights of Eng. ii. 106. 6. Cent. Bucks. Stud. PR 206/1/1. 7. List of Sheriffs comp. A. Hughes (PRO, L. and I. ix), 9. 8. C181/1, f. 47v. 9. Brown, 138-40; Lipscomb, i. 352. 10. L. Levy Peck, Court Patronage and Corruption in Early Stuart Eng. 75, 83. 11. Brown, 140. 12. CJ, i. 156b, 157a. 13. Bodl. Rawl. D918, f. 35. Cf. W. Notestein, The House of Commons 1604-10, p. 512 n. 71; L. Levy Peck, ‘Goodwin v. Fortescue: the Local Context of Parliamentary Controversy’, PH, iii. 49. 14. CJ, i. 180a. 15. Ibid. 222b. 16. Ibid. 184a, 214b. 17. Ibid. 185a, 200b, 213a, 235b, 238b, 241b, 243a. 18. Cent. Bucks. Stud. PR 206/1/1. 19. C142/294/92.