Dear Newsgroup ~
Complete Peerage 12(1) (1953): 419 (sub Sudeley) has a brief account of Sir William Boteler, Knt., de jure 6th Lord Sudeley, who died in 1417:
"William (Boteler), Lord Sudeley, brother and heir. In 1412 he was found to be entitled to the reversion of a moiety of the castle and manor of Beaudesert, with the town of Henley-in-Arden, co. Warwick. He married Alice. He died on or before 20 Dec. 1714 [recte 1417]." END OF QUOTE.
Footnote g on page 419 adds the following the documentation for the marriage of William Boteler and his wife, Alice:
"Cal. of Close Rolls, 1413-1419, vol. i, page 431. There seems to be nothing to show who she was, or whether she survived him. She was living in March 1415/6." END OF QUOTE.
The actual entry in Calendar of Close Rolls, 1413-1419 (1929): 431-432 reads as follows:
Date: 1417. Confirmation by William Botyler, brother and heir of John Botyler of Suydeley, of the charters etc. following (texts follow), namely
to Humphrey de Stafforde knight the younger, Humphrey de Stafforde esquire, John Duddeley and William Smyth clerk, their heirs and assigns. Charter with warranty of the manors of Whitcherche, Wellesburne and Kyngeswode co. Warrewyk, the advowson of Whitcherche church, and the manor of Lench Shirreve co. Worcester, with wards, marriages, rents, services etc. Witnesses: Thomas Burdet knight, Thomas Cruwe, Robert Huggeforde, Thomas Thorkmerton, Thomas Luttelton. Dated Lenche Shirreve, 1 April 11 Henry IV [1410].
(2) (The same) to Edmund Lowe, John Kirkeby and William Smyth clerk, their heirs and assigns. Charter with warranty of the manor of Forefelde with the advowson of Bellebroghton church. Witnesses: Thomas Luttelton, John Brace, John Froxmere, Henry Haggeley, John de Lowe. Dated Forefelde [Fairfield], 20 April 13 Henry IV [1412].
by virtue whereof in his presence all tenants of those manors did at his request attorn tenants to his said feoffees:
(3) Humphrey de Stafforde knight, Humphrey de Stafforde esquire, John Duddeley and William Smyth clerk to William Boteler (as above) and Alice his wife and and to the heirs of their bodies, with remainder to the right heirs of William Boteler. Charter of the manors of Whytcherche, Wellesburne and Kyngeswode, the advowson, and the manor of Lench Shirreve etc. (as above), which they had by feoffment of William Boteler. Witnesses: Thomas Burdet knight, Thomas Cruwe, William Clopton, Robert Verney. Dated Wycherche, the feast of St. Chad [2 March] 3 Henry V [1415].
(4) William Boteler and Alice his wife to Thomas Bykeley chaplain and John Cortheys. Letter of attorney, appointing them to receive seisin of the manors, advowson etc. (above mentioned), and of the manor of Forefelde. Dated Henley, Monday before St. Matthew [16 September] 3 Henry V [1415].
(5) Edmund Lowe, John Kirkeby and William Smyth clerk to William Boteler of Sudeley and Alice his wife and to the heirs of their bodies, with remainder to the right heirs of William Boteler. Charter with warranty of the manor of Forefelde with the advowson of Bellebroghton church. Witnesses: Humphrey de Stafforde, John de Stafforde, Guy Spyney, William Russall, Roger Warynge. Dated Forefelde, Monday after St. Peter's Chair [23 Feb.] 3 Henry V. [1415] by virtue whereof they were seised in fee of that manor and advowson. Witnesses: John Stafforde. William Leghe clerks, William Halle. Dated 6 May 5 Henry V [1417]. Memorandum of acknowledgment, 24 May. END OF QUOTE.
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We see above that Sir William Boteler and his wife, Alice, were married before 23 Feb. 1415 (date of one of the charters above). A helpful clue to Alice's identity is found in the names of the principal feoffees found in these various documents, namely Humphrey Stafford, Knt., [his son] Humphrey Stafford, Esq., and [his son-in-law] Edmund Lowe.
It is known from other contemporary records that the younger Humphrey Stafford, then Esq., later Knt. [died 1442] had a daughter, Alice Stafford, who married (1st) before 1424 Edmund Cheyne, Knt. [died 1430], and (2nd) before 1432 Walter Tailboys, Knt. [died 1444]. Conceivably Alice Stafford was old enough to have married in or before 1415 Sir William Boteler [died 1417]. But was she the right Alice?
Confirmation that this Alice Stafford did indeed marry Sir William Boteler is provided by VCH Worcester 3 (1913): 11-19, which notes that the manor of Fairfield (in Belbroughton), Worcestershire had been settled on William Boteler and his wife, Alice, during their marriage. The Close Rolls items above indicates that this settlement also included the advowson of the church of Belbroughton, Worcestershire. Following Sir William Boteler's death in 1417, Alice, then wife of Edmund Cheyne, presented to the church of Belbroughton, Worcestershire in 1422. Alice wife of Edmund Cheyne was still holding the manor in 1431. Inasmuch as Alice, wife of William Boteler, held both the manor of Fairfield (in Belbroughton) and the advowson of Belbroughton, the natural conclusion would be that she is identical to the Alice, wife of Edmund Cheyne, who subsequently held these estates.
I've copied below my file account of Alice (Stafford) (Boteler) (Cheyne) Tailboys. For further details on her ancestry and descendants, please see my book, Royal Ancestry [5 volume set], published in 2013.
For interest's sake, the following is a list of the 17th Century New World immigrants that descend from Alice (Stafford) (Boteler) (Cheyne) Tailboys:
Elizabeth Bosvile, George, Giles & Robert Brent
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
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ALICE STAFFORD, married (1st) before 23 Feb. 1415 (date of settlement) WILLIAM BOTELER (or BUTLER), Knt., de jure 6th Lord Sudeley (died shortly before 20 Dec. 1417), of Sudeley, Gloucestershire, Kingswood (in Lapworth), Wellesbourne Mountford, and Whitchurch, Warwickshire, Fairfield (in Belbroughton) and Sheriff's Lench (in Church Lench), Worcestershire, etc., 2nd son of Thomas le Boteler, Knt., de jure 4th Lord Sudeley, by Alice, daughter of John de Beauchamp, Knt. He was heir in 1406/10 to his brother, John Boteler, de jure 5th Lord Sudeley. In 1412 he was found to be entitled to the reversion of a moiety of the castle and manor of Beaudesert, with the town of Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. They had no issue. SIR WILLIAM BOTELER died shortly before 20 Dec. 1417. His widow, Alice, married (2nd) before 1422 (date of presentation) EDMUND CHEYNE, Knt., of Brook (in Westbury), Avon (in Bremhill), Ditteridge (in Box), and Imber, Wiltshire, Cheyneys (in Steeple Morden) and French Ladys (in Long Stanton), Cambridgeshire, Birch, Fair Oak (in Upottery), Rawridge (in Upottery), and Upottery, Devon, Cheyney-Cottered (in Cottered), Hertfordshire, Poyntington and Norton Hawkfield (in Chew Magna), Somerset, etc., Knight of the Shire for Wiltshire, 1429, son and heir of William Cheyne, Knt., of Brook (in Westbury), Wiltshire, Litton Cheney, Dorset, Tothill, Lincolnshire, Seavington-Vaus (in Seavington St. Michael), Somerset, etc., Knight of the Shire for Dorset, 1402, Sheriff of Wiltshire, 1402-3, 1409-10, Sheriff of Devon, 1408-9, by Cecily, daughter and co-heiress of John Stretch (or Streche), Knt. [see GORGES 14 for his ancestry]. He was born 4 Dec. 1401. They had three daughters, Elizabeth, Anne, and Cecily. His wife, Alice, presented to the church of Belbroughton, Worcestershire in 1422. SIR EDMUND CHEYNE died 30 May 1430. His widow, Alice, married (3rd) in or before 1432 (as his 2nd wife) WALTER TAILBOYS, Knt., of Goltho, Faldingworth, and South Kyme, Lincolnshire, Newton Kyme, Yorkshire, etc. [see TAILBOYS 14]. They had one daughter, Eleanor. In 1440 Walter Taylboys, lord of Kyme, Lincolnshire sued Robert Stannes, of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, husbandman in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt. SIR WALTER TAILBOYS died intestate 13 April 1444. In 1445-6 Hugh Welles was outlawed on an action of detinue by William Tailboys, administrator of the goods of Walter Tailboys, lord of Kyme, deceased. His widow, Alice, died before 24 April 1448.
References:
Dugdale, Antiqs. of Warwickshire (1656): 772 (Sudeley-Boteler ped.). Dugdale, Antiqs. of Warwickshire (1730): 521-523. Strachey, Rotuli Parl. 6 (1777): 325-326. Banks, Dormant & Extinct Baronage of England 2 (1808): 541-543 (sub Stafford). Dallaway, Hist. of the Western Div. of Sussex 2(2) (1830): 76-78 (Shelley ped.). Burke, Gen'l & Heraldic Dict. of the Peerages of England, Ireland & Scotland (1831): 492-493 (sub Stafford). Coll. Top. et Gen. 4 (1837): 365-367 (sub Gorges). Wiltshire Arch. & Nat. Hist. Mag. 1 (1854): 184-185. Hutchins, Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 2 (1863): 178-182 (Stafford ped.). Trans. Leicestershire Architectural & Archaeological Soc. 2 (1870): 187-199. Colby, Vis. of Devon 1564 (1881): 49-50 (Cheney ped.: "Edward Cheney, Knt. = Alice, aunt & heir of Humphry Stafford, co. Devon = Walter Taylboit, from whom descended the family of Strangways, co. Devon."). Rogers, Strife of the Roses & Days of the Tudors in the West (1890): 4-6, 137-154. Wiltshire Notes & Queries 1 (1893-5): 557-559; 2 (1896-8): 255-261; 3 (1899-1901): 193-202. Procs. Somerset Arch. & Nat. Hist. Soc. 42(2) (1896): 1-5. Gerard, Particular Desc. of the County of Somerset (Somerset Rec. Soc. 15) (1900): 166. Wrottesley, Staffordshire Suits: Plea Rolls (Colls. Hist. Staffs. n.s. 4) (1901): 204-207. Genealogist n.s. 20 (1904): 164; n.s. 31 (1915): 173-178 (re. Stafford fam.). Wrottesley, Peds. from the Plea Rolls (1905): 472. VCH Hertford 3 (1912): 230 (Cheyney arms: Gules, a fesse indented four points argent with four scallops sable thereon). VCH Worcester 3 (1913): 11-19, 217-218. Arch. Aeliana 3rd Ser. 11 (1914): 228 (seal of Walter Tailboys dated 1428). VCH Berkshire 4 (1924): 384-390. C.C.R. 1413-1419 (1929): 431-432. C.P. 7 (1929): 358-359 (author misidentifies 2nd wife Alice as mother of Walter's son and heir, William Tailboys); 12(1) (1953): 419 (sub Sudeley). Garbett, Cal. of Early Charters 2 (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 3rd Ser. 1931) (1933): 257-261. C.C.R. 1435-1441 (1937): 184-185, 220-221. C.C.R. 1441-1447 (1937): 264. VCH Warwick 5 (1949): 26-28, 108-116. St. George, Wiltshire Vis. Peds. 1623 (H.S.P. 105-6) (1954): 216-218 (Willoughbie ped.: "Edmond Cheiney miles = Alice Dau: et heres Humph: Stafford militi:"). VCH Stafford 4 (1958): 79; 5 (1959): 138-143. VCH Wiltshire 8 (1965): 151. Chancery Miscellanea Part V (List & Index Soc. 49) (1970): 65. VCH Cambridge 8 (1982): 112-113; 9 (1989): 225. Roskell, House of Commons 1386-1421 2 (1992): 558-559 (biog. of William Cheyne); 4 (1992): 510-511 (biog. of John Strech). Mackman, Lincolnshire Gentry & the Wars of the Roses (D.Phil. Thesis, University of York, 1999): 275. Cal. IPM 23 (2004): 258-264, 282-261, 294-295. Clark Identity & Insurgency in the Late Middle Ages (2006): 98. VCH Somerset 9 (2006): 103-120. Fletcher Coll. of MSS, Heraldic Vis., 1562-1569, Lincolnshire, Tailboys ped. [FHL Microfilm 1545857]. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/717, image 1433 (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no717/bCP40no717dorses/IMG_1433.htm).