William Rice, MP

William Rice, of Medmenham (d. 29 July 1588).

William Rice (MP) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Rice claimed gentle birth but his parentage has not been traced. He is first glimpsed in 1543 when already established as a minor household officer he obtained the bailiwick of two Herefordshire manors. Of his progression at court nothing has been found until Mary made him a gentleman of the privy chamber and gave him an annuity of £20 in reward for his support during the succession crisis of 1553. A more substantial grant to him and his wife Barbara, for good service, was made on 7 Nov. 1553, comprising the manors of Backnoe in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire and Medmenham. Later royal grants included manors in Kent and Somerset, and a moiety of some former Dudley properties in the midlands. . . .

At the accession of Elizabeth he withdrew from court and played no part in national or local affairs. In April 1561 he was imprisoned in the Tower ‘for the mass’, but although he implored pardon he is not known to have accepted the Anglican settlement. He was a sick man when on 22 July 1588 he made a will providing for his wife and three of his sisters and naming his wife and two friends executors. He died at Chipping Wycombe a week later. At the inquisition, not taken until 1596, it was found that the manor of Medmenham had been settled in July 1588 on his nephew William Rice, but by 1596 there were no heirs on his father’s side, and his nearest kinsman was his maternal cousin, William Saunders.

Source: "William Rice" at The History of Parliament, visited Aug. 2, 2013.

Fuller is probably the maiden name of Barbara Rice, wife of William Rice of Herefordshire (d. July 29, 1588) by 1553. They had no children, or at least none that survived and little is known about them prior to the access of Queen Mary. Rice was made a gentleman of the privy chamber and Barbara served as a chamberer from 1553-1557. On November 7, 1553, the queen granted them, jointly, for good service, the manors of Backnoe in Thurleight, Bedfordshire and Medmenham, Buckinghamshire. Later they were granted manors in Kent and Somersetshire. Rice withdrew from court after Elizabeth Tudor took the throne. In 1561, he was imprisoned in the Tower for hearing mass. He made his will on July 22, 1588 at Chipping Wycombe, naming Barbara one of his executors. He had already settled the manor of Medmenham on his nephew, another William Rice.

Source: A Who’s Who of Tudor Women, visited Aug. 2, 2013.

WILLIAM RICE of Boemer, Bucks, England received a grant of arms in 1555. He was descended it is said, from Rhys ap Griffith FitzUryan (who m. Katherine, d/o Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk), ancestor of the Barons Dynevor (See Burke's Peerage) and was father of THOMAS RICE of Bucks who died leaving TWIN SONS, Robert and Edmund....

Source: Burke's Landed Gentry. Note: Despite the name Burke's, which might seem to make this information particularly reliable, this book was compiled without verification from information submitted by amateur genealogists.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms granted to William Rice contained a pomegranate, the badge of Mary I. The grants of royal badges at this period was a mark of favor. It does not indicate a relationship between William Rice and Mary I. The claim of "gentle birth" made above was boilerplate language in grants of arms at this period. There is no reason to read in anything more.

William was born about 1522.

The Will of William Rice, of Medmenham, Buckinghamshire, England was written in 1588 and proved on the 25th November 1588.

Not a known child of William Apreece ref: Lipscomb (Bucks, vol 4, 'Pedigree of Ap Rees of Brecknock ...', p126). GoogleBooks

”A major stumbling block to the above line of descent is William Rice, of Boemer. There is no place named Boemer in Buckinghamshire. The man who was granted arms in 1555 received other manors from Mary I, but his ancestry is unknown. He had no descendants. And, if he were the grandson of a knight of the Bath and a great grandson of a knight of the Garter he would not have needed a grant of arms. He would have had them already. Even if he were an illegitimate son, by Welsh custom he would nevertheless have inherited the arms of his ancestor.”

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• 'Parishes: Medmenham', in A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London, 1925), pp. 84-89. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol3/pp84-89 [accessed 21 October 2019]. .... “These appear to have included the whole of Medmenham Manor, (fn. 56) which was granted in 1553 by Edward VI to Sir Thomas Palmer. (fn. 57) On his attainder in the same year Queen Mary made a grant of this manor to William Rice and his wife Barbara, at first in survivorship (fn. 58) and a month later in fee-tail. (fn. 59) He died without issue in 1588, (fn. 60) and Barbara, having married Edmund Burgoyne, joined with him in conveying her life interest in the manor to John Hyde in 1593. (fn. 61) ...”
• ”Will of William Rice of Medmenham, Buckinghamshire Date: 25 November 1588” https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D924683
• http://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityArchives/Thurleigh/TheM... “The following year Backenho Manor was granted by the Crown to Nicholas Harvey for life the reversion, after his death, being settled on Robert Tyrwhitt in 1534. Tyrwhitt granted the manor to William Ryce in 1562 and he immediately alienated it to Richard Tyrrell. “