BERKELEY ^ LIBRAfi^ UNIVERSJT'^Fy CALIFoWmA A KENTISH ITEMS WROTHAM RALPH GRIFFIN, F.S.A. LONDON JOHN BALE, SONS & DANIELSSON, Ltd. OXFORD HOUSE 83-91, GREAT TITCHFIELD STREET, OXFORD STREET, W. 191S The Patent Office, 25, SouTHxiMPTON Buildings, W.C. 'mK ^^^aZ-tcryfU^ 3. 1(- fS ^ KENTISH ITEMS. By Ralph Griffin, F.S.A. WROTHAM. This fine church which stands close to the ruins of the former palace of the archbishops is of the same type as many of the larger Kentish churches, but has many points of special interest peculiar to itself. It is dedicated to St. George. Mr. J. Challenor Smith has been good enough to illustrate this fact by furnishing a reference to the will dated 1524 (Commissary Court of London) of Christian Parow, widow of John P., citizen and baker, who desires to be buried at St. Swithin, London, with her first husband, Wm. Hampton, and bequeaths to Wrotham, Kent, •*' a square banner peynted w^ seynt George on the one syde & seynt Kat^yn on the other syde and a long staffe to the same to the value of x'." The Hamptons were connected with Wrotham and the lady's first husband, Wm. Hampton, by his will (P. C. C. 13 Dogett) left a curious bequest to buy a cow to be hired out and the proceeds used to repair a foul highway in the borough of Rougghey in Wrotham. Other wills relating to the church are collected in Arch. Cant. XXIII., 149, and in Testainenta Cantiana {West Kent 83). Some interesting brasses remain in the church and informa- tion about these, about parts of them now missing, and about some altogether lost, can be compiled from various sources. Weever in his Ancient Funeral Monuments {1631) has preserved some inscriptions. John Thorpe, M.A., F.S.A., of Bexley, wrote an account of Wrotham for the Bibliotheca Topogvaphica Bvitannica, No. 6, Part 2 (1783), at page 60 of which he says this : " When Dr. Potter was rector he new paved the chancel end by which means the gravestones with brass plates over two of the 154 old rectors were taken up and not replaced When I was there in the year 1768 the said plates were then in a coal hole in the church at which time I copied their inscriptions which are since inserted in the Registrum Roffense.'' The Registrmn Roffense was printed in 1769. In the account of Wrotham in the Custumale Rofiense {7788) p. 258 Thorpe says " When Dr. Potter was rector and new paved the chancel end the gravestones with brass plates over two of the old rectors, viz., John Sundvessh anno 1426 and Thomas Gawge doctor in Divinity and Chancellor of York,i were taken up and not replaced and the brass plates torn off. When I was last in the church in the year 1768 the plates were then in a coal hole in the vestry-room." Thorpe's account shows that he last visited the church in .1768, when he copied the inscriptions and made notes of the arms, all of which were published in the Registrum Roffense in 1769 at pp. 831 seq. Unfortunately, so far as it can be checked from other sources, this record is not very accurate. Thomas Fisher, F.S.A., seems to have visited the church about 1800 and he made some completed drawings of the brasses, some of which are here reproduced. He states, as usual, where the brasses were, and if Thorpe is accurate on this point the slabs had been moved since 1768. Fisher was careful to note dimensions of what he saw. It seems that when Fisher visited the church, parts of some of the slabs were covered. Fisher's drawings are in a collection at the British Museum of extra illustrations for Hasted {Add, MS. 32375). Mr. J. G. Waller visited the church in August, 1840. His notes are now in the MSS. in possession of the Society of Antiquaries. Some dabs of lost shields are also in the collec- tions of that Society. The slabs appear now all to have been moved, and are in the open space between the step leading into the chancel and the front seats of the nave. When this was done does not appear. Some of the shields were apparently loose at some unascertained period and have been fixed in the wrong places. The most convenient course to adopt will be first to give a list of all brasses now or at any time in the church, so far as ' This is not so. known, those entirely lost being italicised ; secondly, to give a detailed description of each, and, thirdly, to follow this by such notes about the persons commemorated as may add to the interest of the memorials. In preparing these the fullest use has been made of the Streatfeild collections in the British Museum. It can be said of the Rev. Thomas Streatfeild (as it was said of Gibbon, who also was descended out of Kent) that any person consulting original sources of information generally finds Mr. Streatfeild has been there first. His inspiring flashes of intuition often put the enquirer on the right road, and a delightful picture of the man himself can be constructed from casual remarks in his notes. In what follows some of these are noted with the letters T. S. List of Brasses at Wrotham.^ I. Roger de Si rat tone, IJS?- II. John Sundressk, 1426. III. Thos. Gawge^ 14I0. IV. Lady with daughter, c. 14^0. V. W/n. Peckham, I4gr, andw. Katherine. VI. Thos. Nysell, 1498, and w. Alice. VII. John Burgoyn, c. 1500. VIII. Jas. Pekham, 1 500, and w. Margaret. IX. Thos. Pekham, and w. Dorothy, 15 12. X. Reynold Pekham the elder, 1524, and w. Joyce, 1523. XI. Jas. Pekham, 1532, and w. Agnes. XII. Wm. Gierke, 1611, and w. Ann. XIIL Elizth. Crispe, 1615. 1 In this list is omitted one mentioned by Thorpe as being near XII. in the south cross aisle, having the portraiture of a man in brass (probably for one of the Peckhams), but the inscription is hid under a pew. This is too mdefinite to tabulate. DESCRIPTION OF THE BRASSES. I. Weever, p. 325, preserves this inscription which probably was on a brass plate : — 3De ^trattone mtm mtt Ijic Eopruie? Ijumatu^, 2De ^rotljtim Eector 0acvt pagiiteque jarofe^gfor. II. Thorpe found this in the coal-hole and says in the CtistiimaU that the brass " belonging to John Sundressh had his effigies in sacerdotal vestments which I then took a drawing of as it was in danger of being lost, see plate xxvi., fig. 2. Length of the figure to the inscription is i foot 7 inches and a half. Breadth of ditto 6 inches. Length of the inscription is i foot 5 inches and a half. Breadth of ditto 4 inches." The drawing made by Thorpe and reproduced in his plate (which ought to be bound opposite p. 128) shows a priest in Eucharistic vestments. The chasuble is plain, the stole and maniple are with fringed ends and of the same breadth through- out. They as well as the apparels of the amice and alb are ornamented with a zigzag pattern ; in places there are roundles or quatrefoils between the lines of the zigzag. There is no chalice. The whole much resembles a small figure of an ecclesiastic in Maidstone Museum reproduced in Belcher II. 293. Thorpe's drawing as engraved gives the impression that it is rather a caricature of the brass as it was. Wrotham. A LADY, c. 1490. Now lost. About one-third full size. {Fro»i Fishers drazving.) To jace page 5 5 The inscription from p. 836 of the Reg. Roff. ran tlius : — ^it lacct nominue^ 3|oljanne0 ^untire^^l), quoiitiam rector m\M tttXmt, qui obiit xii'' tsit ^m, anno nomini m'^cccC'iTbi'' Cuius? anime propicietur 2Deu0, ^men. It should be noted that Thorpe usually expands the contractions. III. This was also in the coal-hole and was it seems only an inscription, which ran according to the Reg. Roff. thus : — ^armarco lapttie Cljoma0 (Batoge 0ubtumulatur ; ^ni tjero tium biilt re^itien^ tioctor t&eolog:ir, &i0teliat eciam t\\ cancellariu0 ille larenoliiU^ tiucief^e fuit parlter Cboraci ^mm 2Deu0 znxit nuper ati ^plmat^a u^wi. €)ctobri!e? men0i0 x bina Dieque lefecuntia. '^. tiomini c. quater, Xym atitiito 0eptuao:ena, IV. This interesting little "effigy of a woman in brass but the inscription lost " was noted as on a gravestone in the south aisle when Thorpe was there in 1768, and it was in the same place when Fisher was there, for he has noted on his drawing (Add. MS. 32,375, /o/. 168) that the brass was in the " south aile." The height of the figure was g\ inches and its date may be put at c. 1490. It is a lady in a long gown with a daughter standing by her side, the daughter having long hair, which is a common mode in such memorials of indicating an unmarried girl. The lady's dress is peculiarly interesting as no similar example has been noted in Kent. She wears a long gown in ample folds cut open to below the waist and laced up the front. There is a narrow strap round the hips, the laced opening coming below the strap. V On her hands are seen the large open cuffs at the ' Compare on this point the lost brass of Margaret Elcok, 1494, once in the destroyed church in Burgate, Canterbury, copied from the Transactions of the Monutnental Brass Society^ in Belcher^ Vol, 11^ No. 66. ends of the tight sleeves of the gown. These are not turned back but cover the hand. Similar cuffs are worn by Maud Jamys, 1499, at St. Mary in the Marsh. The lady at Wrotham also wears a very early form of the kennel headdress with a kind of peak at the back, which was much flattened afterwards, as is seen in No. VI, and eventually came to the common form seen in No. IX, many examples of which survive. The lappets at the front of this headdress, which were usually of velvet, are elaborately embroidered. The whole headdress may be usefully compared with that of Mildred Eveas, 1488, at Murston in this county. The brass is now lost and no trace remains of its slab. Fisher, with his usual care, has however noted that the dimen- sions of the slab were i| feet by 2 feet. V. This is only mentioned by Weever as an inscription for William Peckham '' cironomon" (which Weever translates as cupbearer) to Cardinal Bourchier, Abp. of Canterbury; and for Katherine his wife, who both died in 1491, he on the 28th June, she on the 23rd August. This inscription may possibly have belonged to an indent on a slab now lying next to No. VI. to the south and close to the chancel step. This slab, which is 3 feet . broad and nearly 6| feet long, appears to have borne effigies in brass of a man in armour and of a lady in a butterfly head- dress. Each effigy was 29 inches high. Below was a narrow inscription 4 inches broad, but the indent is too damaged to show how long it was. At each corner of the slab were shields 5 inches across the top line and 6 inches deep. No indents for children can be traced. VI. The inscription of this runs : ^vatt pro alabu0 djome iP^^ell et Elicit nxom tim qui quitiem tjioma^ obiit b tile 3|umi ^° tini ^°€€€€' Ixxxx tiiii quorum aiafau0 propicietur tieue? amen. m Wrotham. THOS. NYSELL, 1498, and w. ALICE. (About one-sixth full size.) To /ace page 7 Above the inscription are the effigies half turned to one another of a man and his wife, and under the inscription and below the man are five sons and below the wife five daughters. The man is in the usual long gown of the period fur lined, the fur being turned back at the neck and at the sleeves. The sleeves have wide openings over the fore arm, showing the tight sleeve, fastened at the wrist, of the undergarment. This also appears at the neck where it is tightly buttoned. There is a girdle at the waist which keeps the gown closed, so that the legs do not show, though the fur lining can be seen at the edge of the gown. From the girdle is suspended a large bag or pouch. The hair is long, sweeping the shoulders. The wife is also in a gown so long that it falls in folds on the ground. It has tight sleeves ending in large cuffs turned back. The gown is confined at the waist with a girdle, one end of which hangs down almost to the ground in front. At the neck is a collar turned over and on the head is the kennel head- dress showing the next stage in its development from that shown in No. IV. to the ultimate form in No. IX. Thorpe found the brass in the middle aisle, where Mr. Waller also found it. It now lies close to the chancel step. It is illustrated in Belcher /., No. 219, in part, for he has chosen to put the children in another brass at No. 225. VII. The inscription runs thus : — €)rate u aU Joljle? Btirffo^ii ffilit 3|ol)i0 luirpint tie 3|mpitoii in comiV cantabti^Qit armignli cujiija' alt propicietur tieujaf aim. This little brass is noted by Thorpe as being in the middle aisle. Mr. Waller notes it as in the nave. Above the inscription is a small effigy of a civilian. The dress is practically identical with that shown in the male figure in No. VI., the only point of variation is that the long dress is not open and furred at the neck, but is buttoned tight up. The impression given is that the brass represents a youth of the period. 8 The brass is illustrated in Belcher I., 224, and it is the only- one of the eight brasses at Wrotham which he professes to have reproduced that is correctly reproduced. VIII. The inscription runs : — ^it iactnt gjacobue? i^ekfjm anniger et ^argarcta uror t\m fiUa ^6oim burgo^nt tie 3|mp[^toii in tomiP cant^ ^rmig^i^ qui quitirm 3|acob| obiit xWi Die ffebruarii ^° tini 9^° b"^ et Q^arpreta obiit nie ^° tmi ^^ b^ quoru alab^ opicietur beti^. Thorpe notes this brass as on a slab before the step at the entrance into the chancel, and notes the three shields, though he does not describe them accurately. Fisher found the slab in the middle aisle and draws the shields. One of these bearing Ermine a chief quarterly ov and gules for Pekham is now lost. The one that is above the lady's head bears the arms of her family of Burgoyn, of Impington, Cambs., Azure a talbot passant argent collared gules. The shield underneath is baron and femme. The haron is Pekham [ut supra) quartering Morant (gules on a chevron argent three talbots passant sable) and the impaled femme is Burgoyn (nt snpra). It will be observed that as part of these shields have been originally filled with enamel or some composition which has disappeared the ermine spots of Pekham, the talbots of Morant, and some details of the talbot on the impaled shield have vanished, and the talbot below is by no means the cheerful animal he appears to be in the upper shield. The effigies of the man and his wife had disappeared between Thorpe's visit and that of Fisher. Since then the effigies of the two sons, little kneeling figures with long hair and wearing long robes with wide sleeves turned over with fur and lined at the neck with the same material, have gone, and they had gone before Waller visited the church, as had the Pekham shield. The five daughters remain. They also are kneeling and are in long dresses with sleeve ends turned over like gauntlets of gloves and «j^- ' ^ i^f >jim)*jnmanmfr«tf :^§t0 cp amlifmlafalR olnrt^lntjinf tfrliinain?tDm Wrotham. Remains of Brass to JAMES PEKHAM, 1500, and w. MARGARET. About one-tenth full size. {From Fishers dra^vin^.) To face page •"1 i Wrotham. THOS. PEKHAM and w. DOROTHY, 15 12. About one-eighth full size. i^Frotn Fishers draiving.^ To face pas^e 9 with an early form of kennel head covering. The slab is six feet long and nearly three broad and is broken into three pieces. All the slabs at Wrotham are of a very friable stone and indents are difficult to trace in them. The brass is in Belcher, Vol. II., No. 469, but he has chosen ta omit the shield of Burgoyn. IX. The inscription runs : — ^it iiun ®fjoma0 pekljm armig:^ tt nomtijea uior ^F qui quitiem tljomajef obiit Hie a" ti' ^'€€€€€" tt tioratea obiit xlr'tiie necHiri a^ niu 9^°CCCI:CC°51^3I3° quor alab^ ppicief tie\ Thorpe found this brass on a gravestone near the pulpit, and describes one shield only, and it is clear that he misdescribes what he saw. Fisher found it in the "middle aile," and it was then partly covered, but he correctly drew what he could decipher of the shield that was below the inscription, for, though it is now lost, two rubbings of it remain in the collections of the Society of Antiquaries, one of them being by Mr. J. G. Waller, who saw only one shield and one child. The shields above which were covered were possibly by that means preserved, for there is now over the male effigy a shield of Pekham {a crescent in dexter chief for difference) impaling a lion rampant dehruised by a bend, almost certainly for Watton, the three crosses crosslet fitchee which should be on the bend having almost disappeared. See remarks above on the shields on No. VIII. Over the lady is now no shield, but the shield is not lost, but has been in error fixed over the head of the male effigy in No. X. It bears on a chevron between three bugle horns stringed three mullets, the arms of Home of Appledore. The four sons whom Fisher drew have now been lost and in the middle indent is fixed a shield which belongs to XI. 10 Thomas Pekham wears his hair very long, as was the fashion of the time, and is without his helmet though in other respects he is fully armed. "Of him, as of all the other Pekham male effigies at Wrotham, it may be said that he looks anything but comfort- able in his armour. This may be a fault of the engraver, but it is characteristic of the brasses of males in armour about this date that they usually look rather ungainly. He wears a collar of mail at his neck and a skirt of mail below the taces round his waist, which are jointed in a marked way in front. The breast plate is not ridged, while the shoulder pieces have a standing edge to protect the neck. The elbows are guarded by pieces with lobe ornaments and the hands are bare. Over the skirt of mail are seen two tuiles in front and one at the side. The sword is awkwardly placed behind the legs and has a large pommel. The feet are covered with broad-toed sabbatons and the knees are protected by pieces with curled projections. The figure, as is usual at the period, is half turned to the female effigy. There are several effigies in Kent very like it, the nearest perhaps being one at Otterden for James Aucher, 1508. The wife Dorothy is in a kennel headdress with lappets falling in front of her armpits and hanging down at the back, with an oblong projection from the back of the head, which may be compared in shape with the earlier form in No. IV. The lady wears a long gown falling full on the ground, retained at the waist by a broad girdle handsomely worked, one end of which reaches nearly to the ground, passing through a kind of metal buckle loop on the hip which shows well the arrangement by which the soft girdle was passed over the tongue. The gown comes high up the neck with a collar turned over and at the wrists are seen fur cuffs turned back. The daughter is dressed like her mother, while the four sons are in long gowns very similar to John Burgoyn, No. VII. The brass is illustrated in Belcher, Vol. /., No. 220, but he has omitted the shield. It is also reproduced in part, from a photograph of the brass, in Druitt (H.), Manual of Costume, &c., 8vo, London, 19 10, at p. 278. I '\ ppu- Wrotham. REYNOLD PEKHAM, 1525, and w. JOYCE, 1523. About one -ninth full size. {Frotn Fishers drawing.) To /ace paq;e 11 II X. The inscription runs : — €)fr po^ djarite pra[J for tlje Motile of EeL^uolti ^aekljm djeltier c^quim for tlje boti^^ of^mo^t nttlknt printer him^ ^tnvp^ tfje bill toljiclj tiecee^siti tl\t xjchii^h tia[> of ffeliruaq^ ^n° tinl ^° tic xx\) iinti for tlje jsroiile of 3|opce ijp0 to^^ffe toljiclj tiece^^iti t\)t xx tia^ of ^-^dje ^n° Urn ^" ti^ laUr Thorpe found this brass in the Nortli cross aisle and remarks that there had been four shields on the slab, of which three remained each bearing Pekham quartering Morant. Fisher found the brass in the middle aisle and partly covered. He draws the shields he saw and corrects Thorpe in so doing, as the shield below the male effigy is clearly Pekham quartering Morant and impaling Culpeper (argent a bend engrailed gules). All the shields Fisher drew are now lost. The one covered in his time is still in the slab over the lady's head and is Culpeper. There is now fixed in the slab over the head of the male effigy a shield of Home belonging to No. IX. The shields were lost, as were the children, when Waller saw the brass in 1840. Reginald Pekham is in armour very similar to No. IX., but the armour of the forearm shows better from the rather different position of the hands and the dagger is seen with its scarf. The squared-toed sabbatons are ridged and studded between the bandings. The upper part of the effigy is covered by the tabard, with the owner's arms thrice repeated, once on the front and once on each of the sleeves. They are Pekham and Morant quarterly as on the shield once over his head. Figures in tabards are not common in Kent. There are examples at Beckenham and at Milton-next-Sittingbourne. The lady is in a handsome cloak falling down to the ground, embroidered with the bend engrailed of the Culpepers on each side. She wears the kennel headdress and a gown similar to No. IX., with an elaborate broad worked girdle with a clasp arranged as three large roses in triangle, from which hang by •chains a floral ornament probably of metal. The lady's feet are 12 covered with somewliat inelegant square-toed shoes. The two- sons beneath are exactly like the sons on No. IX. The brass is illustrated in Belcher, Vol. I., No. 225, but he has omitted the shield and put in some children. See a reproduction from a photograph in Mr. Druitt's book (nt supya), p. 278. XI. Thorpe gives this inscription : — ^t }>ont c\)njtt pra[J for tlje 0oule of ^am^gf p^ckljam rjefqu^^cr ant} ^Qm& Ijier to^fe ; tlje M)itl) 3|am^0 tiece^^etr tlje b. na^? of ^ugu^t tfte [^erc of oute Eorti d^oti ^. M II o c g lU o w it rv. II rr)N — C3 VO UI So c u ■-• i_ <^ xanc d in e in 13 a (A > <'S^ 8 c 2" 1 >^ ~t-s 1 C CO X ffi S N £ c c3 ^;3;- illiai ve I n or O ^ 13 r>- 1 — C k4 Ji| c75 — 4, rl- W-u - II -I w oj'o go" . o - cj ^l_ S 2^ in O - O m 21^ rt O - C "<1- «3 31 It maybe possible to connect the John de Pekham, who s the testator James' brother, with the John de Pekham, who is in 1390 buyer for the household under the Statute of Purveyance {36 Edw. III.) and who is mentioned in 1393 in a licence for Thos. Pacherst and John his brother, and Thos. Clerk, son of Adam Clerk, of the parish of Staplehurst, to enfeoff John de Pekham of one-third of the manor of West Bramlyng held in chief. In a later entry the manor is described as alias Pympe. This is no doubt the one-third of the manor of West Barming, or Jennings Court, which about this period Hasted (Vol. II., 154) cannot trace the descent of. Further, this John may be identi- fied with the John Pekham, who appears in No. 123 of Select Cases in Chancery 1 304-1 471, published by the Selden Society. The case states that John Pekham enfeoffed Reg. Pympe and Walter Judde in certain lands in Kent on condition, inter alia, that when the lands were sold he who should be nearest in blood to the said John should have £^0. The case then alleges that the lands were sold and that Reginald Pympe has in his hands 500 marks, the proceeds of the sale. John Horsmonger puts in his claim as kinsman and heir of John Pekham. He claims as son of Thos. Horsmonger, son of Thomas, son of Agnes, late wife of Geoffrey Horsmonger, and says she was sister of Thos. Pekham, father of the said John Pekham. From the pedigree above it looks as if this is where the mistake came in and that Agnes was sister of John and not his aunt. Reginald, the eldest son and heir of James de Pekham, did not survive his father long, as he died between the 13th Oct. and the i8th Nov., 1407, making his will on the feast of the translation of St. Edward the King and Confessor (13 Oct.) in that year, and probate of it was granted at Hailing, the 14th Jan. following {Lambeth reg. Arundel, i. 2^ob). It is very short, and after directing his burial in the churchyard at Wrotham, and leaving the usual legacies for pious uses, including 40s. for the fabric of Chevening Church, he leaves to Alice his wife all his cattle " in my manor of Aldham and Goldsmythes." His wife gets the residue, and is executrix with John Sundressh, rector of Wrotham, and Richard Sewer. His wife seems to have died almost immediately afterwards, for she makes her will on the i8th Nov., 1407, from which it is clear 32 that her husband was dead. The will was proved with her husband's on the 14th Jan. following. She describes herself as widow of Regd. Pekham, and makes the will at Aldham, in the parish of Wrotham, license having been asked and obtained from "the occupiers all my goods within Realm." She desires to be buried next her husband in the churchyard of Wrotham, and leaves 100 marcs each to her daughters Elizabeth and Joan for their marriage. She directs that a priest should celebrate for her ^oul and the souls of Wm. Wykham and Regd. de Pekham, her husbands, in the churches of St. Margaret " de Sutwerk," of Wrotham, and of Wykham by turns. She leaves to the fabric of the church at Wrotham, and especially for the "boterasses" round it, 10 marcs, and makes bequests for the churches of Chevening, St. Michael's Wykham, and Tychesey. She cares for her poor tenants at Wykham and Burham. She speaks of her sons Reginald and James, then both under age, and leaves John Sundressh a gilt cup and cover, and makes him executor with John Dowdale, John Hodesole, and Michael, servant of John Dowdale. The last named did not prove. As Reginald was under age, he cannot have been born before 1386. This Reginald seems to have been M.P. in 1435. Mr. Cave Browne describes him as of Boughton Monchelsea,, esq. It is clear, however, that he did not own that manor which was then the property of the Wattons. He may, of course, simply have resided there, but there is no reason to suppose he was not heir of Yaldham, which had evidently been settled by feoffees to uses. From his mother's will we get this pedigree : — I St husband W'"- Wykh; Jas am . de Pekhani = Lora Morant d. 1400 2nd husband = Alice = Reg'i s. & heir d. 1407 of Yaldham d. 1407 Reg'i eldest s & h. born after 1386 M.P. 1435. James 2nd son Elizabeth Joan It is not absolutely clear that the daughters were by the second husband. 33 Reginald Pekham, the M.P. in 1435, seems to have married a daughter and heir of. Sir John Norton, of Harrietsham, by Joan, daughter of Roger Northwood, who was one of the coheirs of her brother John Northwood, who died in 1416 s. p. If such a marriage took place, it would account for the subsequent connection of the Pekhams with Harrietsham manor. His son James is the next of the family noted as M.P. in 1467 by Mr. Cave Browne, thus : *' James Pekham of Yaldham in Wrotham, Esq., Sheriff in 1471. Buried in Wrotham Church." There does not appear to be any reason to doubt that this is No. VHI. He is mentioned in the will of his son James (No. XL), as is Reginald his father, so the line of descent is clear. His eldest son was Reginald, No. X., who is spoken of on his monument as the elder, and who married Joyce Culpeper. She had been married already to a person whose name appears in the visitation of 1619 (Harl. Soc. Vol. XL 11.) as " Geral'is Hame of Apledore, in Kent." T. S. gives an illuminating clue when he suggests that this extraordinary christian name was Gervase. This connected with the Stowe adf^ition of Appledore makes it almost certain that the right name was Gervase Home, who was connected by marriage with the Pekhams. This guess will be found established as correct, infra, p. 40, Joyce Culpeper was daughter of Sir Thos. Culpeper [oh. 1480) by the daughter and heir of John Bedgebury. She was sister of Sir Alexander Culpeper, of Bedgebury, who married Agnes, daughter of Roger Davy, of Northfleet. Reginald Pekham, son of James, survived his wife (who died 20 March, 1523), for according to his inscription he died on the 27th Feb., 1525, which must be new style for his will {P.C.C. 37 Bodfelde) was made 12 July, 15 Hen. VHI. (1523), and was proved the 17th March, 1524. It is an interesting document in English. He desires to be buried in the church of St. George, Wrotham, beside the grave of his uncle, Wm. Pekham, Esq. (No. V.). He mentions Edwd. Asshe, my sister Alice Asshe's son. He leaves the wardship of "my cosyn Reynold," the son of Thos. Pekham, Esq. (No. IX.), and his lands " as granted to me to my brother James Pekham " till 3 34 Reynold is of full age. This ward is throughout the will there- ,after referred to as Reynold the son to distinguish him from the testator and also from James's son of the same name. The testator directs that James shall when Reynold the son is of full age repay him all such sums of money as James may make or receive for the marriage of Reynold the son, he discharging and acquitting " my executors against the executors of Sir John Peche, knt., of the sum of 50 marcs, the which shall be due" unto the executors of Sir John in the day of such marriage. This is accounted for by an entry under date 14 Oct., 15 15, in the list of papers temp. Henry VIII., published in the Rolls Series of a grant to Sir John Peeche, knt. of the body, of the wardship of Reginald, son and heir of Thos. Pekham. As the testator was esquire of the body, it is clear that he arranged with his comrade to take over the custody and marriage of the rich young heir. The testator directs his executors to provide a fair stone with the pictures of a man and of a woman, and of " children " therein set of " latyn," this to be laid "over and upon my grave " within the space of six weeks after his death. The testator mentions no children in his will, so it is clear that the two that appear on the slab died s. p. before their father, especially as the brother James is made residuary legatee. He is also executor with " my cosyn John Lovelace gent " and Edwd. Asshe. The overseers of the will are John Roper the elder, esq. attorney general to Henry VIII. and Henry Fane, gent ; the witnesses being Sir Mighell Vaughan and Wm. Loveles. The will is followed by the " ultima voluntas " also in English and of even date. The testator makes his brother tenant in tail male of all his manors, lands and tenements in Sevenoaks, Chevening, Otford, Shoreham, Ashurst next Dartford, Kingsdown, Seal, Kemsing, Stansted, Wrotham, Ightham, Shepbourne, and " Grete Pekham," a formidable list of parishes testifying to a man of great possessions. The remainders over are to Reynold the son in tail male, and to the heirs of *' James Pekham, my father." From this will the following piece of pedigree is established : 35 [Reginald, M.P. 1435] I. I I James Fekham W™ Pekham= [Catherine] [W" Lovelace]=[Lora] No. VIII. No. V. I I I [Thos.] I I * * Reynold John Lovelace I I the son " James Alice = — Asshe Reynolde the | testator [No. X.] Edward Ashe ob. 1525 s.p.s. where Thomas as well as the other names in brackets have been inserted from other sources. Lora Lovelace married again, as in the Early Chancery 'Proceedings (Bundle 262^ No. 32)t is a suit by Wm. Founteyn and Katherine his wife, daughter of Rich. Lovelas, mercer, of London, against Sir Wm. Uvedale, knt. ; Hen. Hall ; John Coke ; John Burgeyn ; and Reynolde Pekham, feoffees, for forcible entry in the manor of Hever [in Kingsdown] by John, son of Wm., son of Rich. Lovelas ; Thos. Hilles ; and Lore his wife, previously the wife of Wm. Lovelas. There was a decree adjudging the manor to be Katherine's in 2 Ric. IIL (1485). See Bundle 370, No. 77. It may be well to collect here a fact or two about the testator [No. X.] before proceeding further. As his inscription states he was about the Court as esquire of the body of Henry VIIL He was Sheriff in 1508, and was put in the commission of the peace for county Kent on the 23 Sep., 1512, and continuously afterwards. He appears to have had some interest in the manor of Harrietsham, though possibly only as a feoffee. Entries concerning it are in the Patent Rolls under date 1494 and 1523, as the manor was held of the King as of the honour of Peverel. It is now convenient, leaving the line which has terminated in No. X., to pick up the line of his uncle. No. V., who was cupbearer to Abp. Bourchier and who married a wife named Catherine. In the Fcedera under date i March, 1473, is an entry that Robert Watton, a tenant in capite, being dead. King Edward IV. granted the wardship and marriage of Katherine, his daughter and heir, and the custody of her lands, to Abp. Bourchier. In 1488, on the 6th Dec, is an entry on the Patent Rolls of a 36 licence of entry without proof of age for Wm. Pekham, esq., and Catherine his wife, daughter and heir of Robt. Watton, esq., deceased, into the lands of her said father. In the Transactions of the Monumental Brass Society^ Volume VI., is a representation of the drawing that Fisher made of the brass of Robt. Watton, 1470, before it was relaid, when it showed an indent for one son and part of the representation of one daughter with her name Jfeatttina underneath. It is clear, therefore, that the Watton pedigree as printed [Arch. Cant. IV., 258] is wrong, and that Robert Watton had only one son, who died s. p. v. p. and that Robert's heir was his daughter Katherine, who was ward to the Abp., who rewarded his cupbearer by allowing him to marry the heiress. Hasted, if he had studied Jiis own pages, would have suspected some such fact when he noted the number of manors which came from the Wattons to the Peckhams. Crombury^ in Hadlow, Caustons in Hadlow, Boughton Monchelsea, Hucking, Palster in Wittersham, all illustrate this fact, as does the shield above the head of Thomas Pekham, No. IX. The will of Robt. Watton is preserved amongst the Rochester wills now at Somerset House {Vol. III., fol. 65a). It was made the 6th Nov., 1470, but the date of probate is not given. The testator desires to be buried in the church of St. Margaret, Adyngton, next the grave of Robt. Watton, *' compatris mei," between the chancel and the chapel of the Assumption of the B. V. M. that had lately been there built. He remembers the churches of Ryarsh, Trottesclive, and Offham ; the prior and brethren of Aylesford ; the master and brethren of Modynden ; and the brotherhood of the Blessed Virgin in the church of West Mailing. He leaves gifts to John Watton and Edmund Watton, his brothers, and the residue to Alice, his wife, who is executrix with John Glerk, senr., her father. This will is in Latin, as is the " ultima voluntas" which follows it and deals with the landed estate. None of the 1 This manor was settled by a fine, 22 Edw. III. [No. 808), on John de Detling and his wife Joan. Hasted's account of its descent taken from Philipot is wrong. It descended like the manor of Detling, and came to the Wattons through Bennet at Towne who married Wm. Watton, and had by him one son, Robert, and two daughters. By his second wife Anne, Wm. Watton had three sons and two daughters. Both these wives were dead when he made his will {P.C.C. 13 Godyn.) There is some reason for thinking that he married a third wife Joan, who after his death married Sir Richard Frogenhall. 37 manors or larger properties is mentioned. A piece of land in Offham is to go to his wife and afterwards to his daughter Katherine to provide for his anniversary in the church of Wrotham. One John Walkelyn is to get a tenement and garden at Trottesclive late of John Chesman. John Clerk, senr., of Wrotham, is to sell the messuage at Palmstreate in Hadlow to provide for the expenses of the will, and the executors are to receive the eleven marcs, for which the testator seems just to have sold a tenement in Estrete once called Bukherstys. Two inquisitions were taken on Robt. Watton's death. One a very meagre one by the escheator for Kent, Wm. Clifford, on the 25th Sepr., n Ed. 4, and another much fuller by John Clerk, one of the barons of the exchequer, on the 25th Sep. in the following year, at Wrotham. John Chepsted and John Sextayn were both on the jury. The inquisition finds that Robt. Watton held in fee : (i) The manor of Palster by service of half a knight's fee of the King in capites worth £8. (2) 200 acres in Wittersham held as half a knight's fee of Thos., Abp. of Canterbury and Cardinal of England, worth ^8. (3) The manor of Crongberry held of the Duchess of Buckingham, worth 10 marcs. (4) The manor of Bocton Monchesey, held of the Duchess of York, worth £8. The jury do not know the services Robt. Watton owed for (3) and (4), but they find that since his death the Archbishop had taken the profits of (2), (3) and (4), while the King's escheator had taken those of (i). The jury further found that Robt. Watton held in tail male the manor of Adynton of the Duchess of York. They do not know by what service but find its value is £10, and that John Watton and Edmund Watton had taken the profits since Robt. Watton's death on the i8th Nov., 10 Ed. 4. They find Katherine is his daughter and heir, and is aged 4 years and more at the taking of the inquisition. 38 Arising out of this inquisition there was apparently a suit in Chancery brought by Edmund Watton against John Clerk, the baron of the exchequer. A note of it is to be found in the list of Early Chancery Proceedings^ published by the Record Office (Bundle 47, No. 217). The finding in the inquisition about the manor of Addington looks as if that was in strict settlement and that it went first to John, and on his death s. p. to Edmund in tail. On the death of Katherine Pekham there is also an inquest of 5 Nov., 1491, when it is found that she died on the 23rd Aug., 1491, and that Thos. Pekham, get. 6, is her son and heir, and that she died seised of property in Kent, viz : the manor of Palstre, held of the King in capite, 200 acres in Wittersham held of the Abp., the manor of Boughton Monchensie, held of the Duchess of York »[Cecily Nevile, wife of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, mother of Edw. IV.] , and the manor of Crokonvery [Crombury in Hadlow] , held of Jasper, Duke of Bedford, in right of Lady Katherine, his wife [Katherine Woodville, sister of the Queen of Edw. IV.] By a grant of March 30, 1492, the keeping of the lands in Kent, late of Cath. Pekham tenant in chief, and of the wardship and marriage of Thos., her s. and h., is granted to Reynold Pekham, esq., (no doubt No. X). Thomas Pekham, the son, No. IX., married one Dorothy, and the slab shows (i) that he belonged to the junior branch, because the Pekham shield bears a crescent for difference ; (2) that his mother was a Watton, and an heiress, as he uses Watton impaled in the shield below (now lost, but which T. S. saw in 1832), and (3) that his wife's name was Home. She died before him in 1512, and they had four sons and one daughter. It is fairly clear that he was the Thos. Pekham whose will [P.C.C. 6 Holder] dated 28 April, 15 15, was proved -15 May that year. He desires to be buried before the rood beside the body of my wife in the church of St. George, Wrotham. He speaks of the following persons as his cousins, Anne and Katherine Marten, Margaret Bewley, James and Reynold Pekham, and John Lovelace, the last two being executors. He also speaks of Alice Fane as his sister. He only mentions Nicholas, ** my younger " son, who at the 39 age of 20 is to get the residue. This looks as if he had only one other son surviving. Lucy, his daughter, is mentioned, who gets ;f 200, a substantial sum in those days, for her marriage. The testator refers to "William, my father," and disposes of manors, &c., " sometyme his," viz : half the manor of Ware- home, the manor of Romescot or Romeschod, Newmans and Broktons in Otford. As has been noted above, the custody of Reginald, his son and heir, was granted (14 Oct., 1515) to Sir John Peche. In 1531 this Reginald Pekham gets livery of his lands as son and heir of Thos. Pekham, deceased, and brother and heir of Nicholas Pekham, deceased, and kinsman and heir of Wm. Home, deceased, viz : son of Dorothy, late wife of the said Thos., daughter of Gervaise Home and sister of the said Wm., the livery including all the possessions of the said Thos. Pekham, Nicholas Pekham or Gervaise Home, in England, Wales, Calais, and the marches thereof. In 1534 there is found an interesting letter from Sir Edward Guldeford to Cromwell. He states that Raynolde Pekham, "a kinsman of mine," has sold certain timber to one Godefry of Apledore, at " Hourne," a place a quarter of a mile from the waterside, which it is thought will be con- veyed to Antwerp for building the church there. Sir Edward evidently thinks it should be commandeered for the King's use. Sir Edward Guldeford was then Lord Warden and related to half Kent, including the Homes, the Hautes and the Isleys, so he may well use the term kinsman when referring ta Reginald Pekham. Cf. the pedigree Hundred of Blackheath, by Drakcy xvii. In 1540 there is a private act of parliament {c, 72), which assures to George Harper in fee simple the manor of Horone place ^ and lands in Appledor, Bredgar and Otford, which he has in right of his wife Lucy, sister and heir of Reynold Pekham, deceased, and also his lands in Kynardyngton, Kent, in the tenure of Walter Henley. There is a saving clause for Reynold Pekham, of Yeldham, and the heirs male of James Pekham, his father. In 1 541 following, this Geo. Harper, Esq., of the body and * Hasted seems to have known of this private act, but attributes it wrongly to- Whorne's Place in Cuxton I., 482 (i.). 40 Lucy, his wife, sister and heir of Reginald Pekham, deceased, get livery of all the possessions in England, Wales and Calais, whereof the said Reginald, or any other ancestor of the said Lucy, was seised. Reginald is described as son and heir of Thomas Pekham, deceased ; and brother and heir of Nicholas Pekham deceased, the younger brother of the said Reginald ; and kinsman and heir of Wm. Home, deceased, viz : son of Dorothy, daughter of Gervaise Home, and sister and heir of the said William Home. This establishes the pedigree on the next page. It is possible to learn more details from an Inquisition held at Ashford on the 19th Nov., 1496, after the death of Gervase Home, who died on the 13th July, 1493, leaving William his son and heir, who is found to be aged 14 years and more in 1496. That is he was born about 1482. This inquisition^ is preserved in the Canterbury Cathedral Library [Regr. C, foL 273-4]. The inquisition finds that Gervase died seized of the manor of Home in Apledore, and names the feoffees to the uses of his will, who were also enfeoffed in lands which Gervase had by his marriage with Joyce, daughter of Thos. Culpeper, knight. The inquisition recited the will of Gervase, made Oct. 20, 1483, leaving his widow all his lands till his son William was 18, and providing a portion for Dorothy, the testator's daughter, on her marriage. The jurors also find that the manor of Home was held of Thomas, prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, as of the manor of Apeldore. Having exhausted the line of Pekhams descending through V. and IX., it will be convenient now to return to No. VIII., James Pekhamj the sheriff in 1471, who died in 1500. He married Margaret Burgoyne, daughter of Thomas Burgoyne of Imping- ton, in Cambridgeshire, by Isabell, his first wife according to the visitation of Cambridgeshire [Harl. Soc. XLL] Margaret was no doubt connected with — possibly cousin to — John Burgoyn, No. VII., who is described as son of John Burgoyn of Imping- ton. It may be conjectured that he was a youth who came to Wrotham to visit his kinsfolk and died there. ' I am indebted to Dr. F. W. Cock, F.S.A., and to Arthur Hussey, Esq., both well-known Kent antiquaries, for directing my attention to this inquisition and for much information about the Homes. 4.1 < II — S J= O ^.- C ^, "- a; «*- >< oW (U v •" Vfc, u °