William Pellatt, MP of Steyning

PELLATT, William (c.1514-58), of Charlton Court, Steyning, Suss.

William Pellett of Steyning, the son of Richard Pellett and Joan ____, died between August 22, 1558, the date of his will, and September 15, 1558, the date his will was probated. His wife was not mentioned in the will and her name is unknown. William had 7 children: Richard, Margaret, Agnes, Catherine, Mary, Elizabeth, and Ann(e).

In 1531 in his father's will William was described as under 21, so he must have been born after 1510.

William was a member of Parliament for Steyning in November 1554.

Sources

• Wood, Michael Johnson. The Earliest Shermans of Dedham, Essex, and Their Wives, Part 4. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, July 2013, Vol. 167, WN667, page 222-3.

biography

William Pellatt came of a family long resident at Steyning and by the 16th century of importance there. This the Pellatts derived from their lease of the manor of Charlton, bordering the borough and belonging to Syon abbey: held successively by Pellatt’s grandfather and father, the lease was confirmed to him in 1539 at a rent of £34 a year. After the Dissolution the manor was annexed to the honor of Petworth, but in July 1557 Pellatt bought the freehold for £1,253. This, and his purchase in the same year for £34 of a scattering of lands in Sussex were his final additions to a patrimony which included the lease of a mill and buildings within the town. He combined sheep-farming with growing wheat and barley, and it is some indication of his affluence and aspirations that he sent his eldest son Richard to Cambridge and Gray’s Inn.4

Before Pellatt’s return to the Parliament of November 1554 the family’s role in elections had been limited to that of elector or at most constable, and thus returning officer, of the borough: Pellatt’s brother Thomas was constable at the election of 26 Sept. 1553 and signed the indenture. It was doubtless Mary’s request in the autumn of 1554 for the return of resident Members which allowed Pellatt to secure a seat himself. He disregarded Chancellor Gardiner’s admonition at the opening about attendance and was found to be absent at the call of the House early in January 1555. For this dereliction he was prosecuted in the King’s bench: on his failure to appear in Michaelmas 1555 Pellatt was distrained 20s., and in the following Easter term he was fined 53s.4d.: his sureties were John Hyde of Lancing and his brother Thomas Pellatt.5

In his will of 22 Aug. 1558 Pellatt described himself as patron of Steyning church, where he wished to be buried beside his ancestors. He named his son Richard executor and residuary legatee and stipulated that his second son John should have £40 on coming of age and the lease of Steyning parsonage. Six of his daughters were to receive £46 13s.4d. each, and the seventh £30. The overseers were Pellatt’s brothers Richard and Thomas and his Cousin John Gratwycke of Cowfold, and among the witnesses was the vicar of Steyning, Stephen Green. As the will was proved in September 1558 Pellatt, a man not yet 50, must have made it when close to death, perhaps of the disease then widespread.6

• http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pellett-28
• http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/%25253C/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12...
• A P Baggs, C R J Currie, C R Elrington, S M Keeling and A M Rowland, 'Steyning: Manors and other estates', in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1, Bramber Rape (Southern Part), ed. T P Hudson (London, 1980), pp. 226-231. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol6/pt1/pp226-231 [accessed 14 July 2016].
  • The manor of CHARLTON, sometimes called CHARLTON-ASHURST, representing the nonurban part of the original manor of Steyning together with land in Ashurst, had acquired a separate identity by 1440, when Sir John Cornwall held it. (fn. 22) Whether it was separate much earlier is uncertain; the manor of Steyning was still so called in 1405. (fn. 23) Charlton followed the descent of Steyning manor and borough until the Dissolution, (fn. 24) when it came to the Crown, being attached like Steyning to the honor of Petworth. (fn. 25) William Pellatt, to whose grandfather (fn. 26) and namesake Syon abbey leased Charlton manor in 1484 (fn. 27) and who himself held a lease first from the abbey (fn. 28) and later from the Crown, was granted the manor in fee in 1557. (fn. 29) He was succeeded c. 1558 (fn. 30) by his son Richard (d. 1587), whose son Benjamin (fn. 31) sold the manor to Sir Thomas Shirley of Wiston in 1593. (fn. 32)
• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 19 2016, 1:47:21 UTC

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William Pellett was born in Steyning, Sussex, England about 1511 or a little later, because he was under 21 at the time his father wrote his will in 1531. The name of William’s wife is unknown, she must have predeceased him. William had nine children, probably all born in Steyning. He was a member of Parliament for Steyning in 1554, and bought the manor of Charlton cum Ashurst in Steyning in 1557. William wrote his will on August 22, 1558 and it was proved on September 15 of the same year. He was surely buried in the churchyard of St. Andrew and St. Cuthman Church in Steyning.