Thomas Bennett

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.ashlock/5.12.23.75.1.1/mb.ashx

"Thomas Bennett, of Pyt-House, Gentleman, and Will dated 27th May, and proved 18th Oct., 1591; married to Mary, daughter of Christopher Ashlock of Haytesburie, in Com. Wiltshire. The arms of Ashlock are quartered with those of Bennett. The Bennett arms was the double-headed eagle displayed; the Ashlock arms is an upward-pointing chevron amid three five-pointed stars; the Bennett crest is a Cornish Chough on a cockle shell; and there is a family saying "Mihi Consulit Deus". Thomas Bennett was the son of John Pyt-alias-Bennett of Pyt-House, Gentleman (born c.1500-1565) married to Agnes, daughter of Thomas Topp, of Ffenny Sutton, in Com. Wiltshire. John Pyt-alias-Bennett was the son of Thomas Pyt-alias-Bennett de Pythouse (d. 1565) married to Mary Fryth (Frith?) (d. 1542) of Hindon in Com. Wiltshire. Thomas Pyt-alias-Bennett was the son of William Pyt (Pitt)-alias-Bennett, Gent., (b. c1440) of the family of Benet atte Pytte (c.1400) of Pyt-House, Tisbury, Wiltshire. There were, of course, siblings along this tree--but perhaps of particular interest to Ashlock was Mary Bennett (d.1590), the sister-in-law to Alice Ashlock: Mary married John Davis (d.1570) of Tisbury; their son Sir John Davis became Attorney-General of Ireland, from whose daughter and sole heir ,Lucy, is descended the Marquess of Hastings. This tree is extracted in great part from the Records of the College of Arms, London. I have an illustration of the Bennett-Ashlock coat of arms if anyone wants it by email.

http://www.ashlockfamily.com/Bennettfamily.htm

"In 1565 the Herald's Visitation of Wiltshire officially recorded the Pythouse Bennett coat arms solely as the red double-headed eagle with the Cornish Chough upon a whelk shell as the crest. The Visitation was authorized by the College of Arms, under license of the Crown in London, to record the names of the gentry, nobility and their ancestors and descendents with reference to their right to bear arms. These arms were then duly blazoned, recorded and stored with the College as solid proof that they were legitimate. Around the year 1560 William (Correction Thomas CJB) Bennett of Pythouse married Mary Ashlock, daughter of Christopher Ashlock. As Mary had no brothers to carry on the Ashlock name and coat of arms, the arms were allowed to be adopted by William and Mary's son Thomas after William's death in 1591. For the first time they were quartered as Bennett with Ashlock, essentially the coat of arms that has come down to us today. In the 1623 Herald's Visitation of Wiltshire and Dorset, the new coat of arms are officially recorded for the first time". ... "The Bennett family of Pythouse, Wiltshire enjoyed a considerable period of prosperity including land acquisition up to the time of the English Civil War which ended with the beheading of King Charles I in 1649. The Bennetts were, for the most part, a Royalist family and consequently on the losing end of the conflict. After the Restoration in 1660 it took a long time for the family's fortune to rise again. In 1669 Anthony Bennett, eldest brother of Col. William, sold Pythouse to the Dove family to pay off accrued debts. This forced the Bennetts, young and old, to find other domiciles, in some cases to take over estates already owned by the family in southern Wiltshire and in Dorset. Despite the fact that the property was repurchased by Col. William's niece, Patencia Bennett, and her husband William Bennet (no relation) in 1725, the majority of the original Pythouse Bennett family was flung far a field to various parts of southern England".

5. THOMAS5 BENNETT (JOHN4, THOMAS3, WILLIAM2, BENNETT1) was born Abt. 1530 in Pythouse, East Hatch, Wiltshire, England, and died 1591 in Pythouse, East Hatch, Tisbury, Wiltshire, England. He married MARY ASHLOCK Abt. 1560 in Heytesbury, Wiltshire, England, daughter of CHRISTOPHER ASHLOCK and ALICE ?. She was born Abt. 1532 in Heytesbury, Wiltshire, England, and died Abt. 1617 in Tisbury, Wiltshire, England.

More About THOMAS BENNETT: Burial: 11 Jun 1591, Tisbury Parish Church, Wiltshire, England