Thomas WOODWARD of Lincoln's Inn, Middlesex

• Son of George Woodward, MP and Alice Katherine Woodford
• Thomas WOODWARD of Lincoln's Inn, Middlesex was born Aug 1575 in Upton, Buckinhamshire, England and was
• Christening Record: 29 Aug 1575 in Upton, Buckinhamshire, England.

Married

• Married: Bridget WARDE (widow of David Rawson). Collections of the Worcester Society of Antiquity - by Worcester Historical Society, Worcester, Mass, pages 17-18:

History 1

Thomas Elgeston appointed Edward Woodward Esq. and Thomas Woodward, a gentleman, as his executors, and called them 'my trustie and beloved brethren'. The will, dated 9 September 1605, was witnessed by four members of the Woodward family, and also by Elizabeth Stile, who came from the nearby village of Langley, suggesting the will was written at Upton, Buckinghamshire, and not at Winchelsea. Most likely this Thomas: Sussex Archaeological Collections Relating to the History and Antiquities (note the name Kyng/King)]

Exemplification of a recovery suffered Mich. term, 15 James I. A.D. (1617), ro. 45,2 by which Thomas Rashleigh, gent., and David Rawson demand against Thomas Woodward, esq., and Richard King, esq., one messuage, 20 ac. of pasture, and 140 ac. of fresh marsh in Bexhill and Aylsham alias Haylsham [Wrenhams estate], and recover their seizin of the said premises — Edward Howse being vouchee. Dated 28 Nov. 15 James I. (1617).

Chirograph of a fine levied at Westminster in three weeks from A.D. Michaelmas, 15 James I. (1639), between Thomas Woodward, Mich esq., and Richard Kyng, esq., querist, and Thomas Whitfeld, esq., and Henry Whitfeld, clerk, deforciants, by which the deforciauts remise and quitclaim one messuage, 20 ac. of pasture, and 140 ac. of fresh marsh in Bexhill and Aylsham alias Haylsham, to the said Thomas Woodward and Richard Kyng and the heirs of Thomas. [Latin.'] Presented by C. Leeson Prince, Esq.

A History of the Inns of Court and Chancery - By Robert Richard Pearce: The West Window of Lincoln's Inn contains the arms of Thomas Woodward, along with many others. John Donne's Professional Lives, by David Colclough, "Early Connections: The Legal Quarter of London, 1591-4," page 41: "Donne spent a year at Thavies Inn from may 1591, and entered Lincoln's Inn on 6 May 1591. The Catholic families of More, Roper, Stubbes, Rastell, and Heywood had belonged to the society. He met Christopher Brooke, his lifelong friend, Brooke's younger brother Samuel and cousin John; ROWLAND and THOMAS WOODWARD, and Thomas Egerton, Jr. who entered in the same year." In Sappho in Early Modern England By Harriette Andreadis, it seems to suggest that there was a erotic assocation between Donne and Woodward: "Evidence for such an earlier use of this language can be found almost ten years before in an exchange of privately circulated verse letters, dated 1592 to 1594, between John Donne, then a student at Lincoln's Inn, and a Mr. T.W. (THOMAS WOODWARD), a young man who seems to have been the object of his erotic attentions. Woodward responded to Donne's initial admiring verses about his poetic skill with a poem called "Thou sendst me prose." (a portion of it can be found in the same reference). While in The Satires, Epigrams, and Verse Letters By John Donne - by Wesley Milgate, states in a footnote, page 211: "The uncertainly about the identity of "T.W." felt by the scribes of Dob, Lut, (etc) persists. Grosart suggested that he was a member of the Woodward family, and this is very probable. ROWLAND WOODWARD had a brother, Thomas, christened on 16 July 1576 (see M.C. Deas, "A note on Rowland Woodwward, the Friend of Donne."). ANOTHER THOMAS WOODWARD, possibly a kinsman, was admitted (as a gentleman from Buckinghamshire) to Lincoln's Inn on 8 October 1597; he had just left Cambridge. I have not been able to identify "T.W." positively."

History 2

Edward Rawson's grandmother's second husband was THOMAS WOODWARD of Lincoln's Inn. WILLIAM WILSON, Canon of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 23 August, 1613, proved 27 May, 1615. To be buried in the chapel near the place where the body of my dear father lies. If I die at Rochester or Cliff, in the County of Kent, then to be buried in the cathedral church of Rochester, near the bodies of wives Isabel and Anne. To my cousin Collins, prebendary at Rochester. To the Fellows and Scholars of Martin College, Oxford. My three sons Edmond, John and Thomas Wilson, daughter Isabel Guibs and daughter Margaret Rawson. My goddaughter Margaret Somers which my son Sefners had by my daughter Elizabeth, his late wife. To my god- son William Sheafe, at the age of twenty one years. Son Edmond, a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, eldest son of me, the said William. To son John the lease of the Rectory and Parsonage of Caxton in the County of Cambridge, which I have taken in his name. To Thomas Wilson, my third son. Son Edmond to be executor and Mr Erasmus Webb, my brother-in-law, being one of the Canons of St. George's Chapel, and my brother, Mr THOMAS WOODWARD, being steward of the town of New Windsor, to be overseers. The witnesses were Thomas Woodwarde, Joh. Woodwarde, Robert Lowe & Thomas Holl. In a codicil, dated 9 May, 1615, wherein he is styled William Wilson Doctor of Divinity, he directs his son Edmond to give to his son John forty pounds and to his wife forty marks, he gives to Lincoln College Oxford ten pounds towards a Library, and mentions son-in-law Mr Doctor Sheafe and daughter Gibbes. To this Thomas Sheafe was a witness, amongst others. Margaret Wilson, Mrs. Rawson (also Mrs. Wm. Taylor) (d. Jan 1, 1628), was another daughter of the Rev. William Wilson, D.D, Canon of St. George's Chapel Windsor Castle, and was the mother of Edward Rawson, Secretary. David Rawson m. Margaret Wilson, and they had 3 children: William, Edward, and Dorothy. David Dawson's will (1617) named Thomas Woodward, Esq. his step-father, as overseer. David's brother was Henry Rawson; brother's-in-law were Dr. Edmond Wilson, and Rev. John Wilson minister of the first church in Boston, Mass. Margaret married 2nd Wm. Taylor of London, a haberdasher, a they had 3 children: Edmond Taylor, Margaret who m. Wm Webb, and Hannah who married Robert Clarkson (or Claxton). Margaret died previous to January 1, 1628. Edward Rawson's grandmother's second husband was THOMAS WOODWARD of Lincoln's Inn. The will of DAVID RAWSON, citizen and merchant tailor of London, written 15 June 1616 and proved by his widow Margaret Rawson 25 February 1617, states: "I constitute my loving friends, MR. THOMAS WOODWARD of Lincoln's Inn, in the county of Middlesex, Esq., my father-in- law, my brother Henry Rawson, and Edward William, Doctor of Physic, and John Wilson, master of Arts, my brothers-in-law, overseers and give them five pounds apiece." [note, by "father-in- law" he means "step father"]

Edward Rawson, the grandfather of the Secretary, was a merchant, dealing in silks and woolen goods, and resided in the town of Colnbrook, in the Parish of Langley Marsh, Buckinghamshire, about seventeen miles west of London. Here his children were born. He was a man of considerable property, and died rather early in life. His will was dated February 16, 1603, and proved May 4th the following year. He left two sons, Henry and David, both minors at the time of his death. His wife was BRIDGET WARDE; she married for a second husband, THOMAS WOODWARD, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, County of Middlesex. By the father's will Henry, the eldest son, was to have the house, called the Draggon, and two shops thereunto adjoining all in Colnbrook. This was very likely the store or place of business, where the son might continue in trade as his father's successor. David was to receive 2Oo/ on his reaching the age of one and twenty, and also at the death of the mother to have the old homestead in Colnbrook. Wife Bridget and son Henry were named as executors. It was also decided that he should learn a trade, and in accordance with the custom of that period, he was bound out for a term of seven years to acquire the art of a tailor. Having served his apprenticeship with Mr. Nathaniel Weston, and reached the appointed age, he received the munificent gift from his father's estate, and established himself in the city of London as a merchant tailor. As the home of his youth was but a very few miles from Windsor, where the Rev. Dr. William Wilson preached, and also situated on the main road between that noted place and the great metropolis, we may imagine that David had met and early made the acquaintance of the Rev. Doctor's daughter Margaret. They may have beqp brought together at the village school, or at the home of David's father, he being a man of wealth and social standing in the neighborhood.

The Wilson family may have been in the habit of calling at the merchant's house, as they must have frequently made trips between Windsor and London. But it matters little at this writing how the first interview was brought about. The facts are that David took the minister Wilson's daughter Margaret to wife and established a home in the great city of London. But that happy home was soon to be despoiled of its charm. Within a few short years the husband and father died, leaving his sorrowing widow, as David's mother had been left, with two small children. By reading the will of David Rawson, father of the Secretary, we learn that he was born in Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire, and at the date of the execution of that instrument, was a citizen, and merchant tailor of London ; also that he left three children, two sons and a daughter, namely, William, Edward, and Dorothy. This Edward became the Secretary. David had apparently been successful in business, leaving what might be considered a large estate for his time, and much wisdom and thoughtfulness was displayed in its distribution.

Sources

• Our Southern Cousins - http://oursoutherncousins.com/Woodward's%20of%20Buckinghamshire.pdf
• Collections of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 7 - https://books.google.com/books?id=cm0lAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA17&lpg=RA3-...
• Genealogical Gleanings in England, Volume 1 - https://books.google.com/books?id=yWdTXEEhTSMC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=...
• Geneology of John Woodward of Upton Buckinghamshire - https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/6202189/john-woodward-of-upt...