Checking in about a detail, recently noticed in the York Archbishops' Registers, that relates to the generation #10 problem in the Edward (pilgrim) FitzRandolph line formerly in Magna Carta Ancestry. Not sure if this detail was known by John I. Coddington or others who have worked on this family, and if not known, whether it’s helpful evidence or offers some new research avenues. Hoping anyone here interested in the FitzRandolphs might have some insight.
According to Coddington's pedigree(1) and notes, the line’s weakest link is a presumed but not proven father, John, of Christopher FitzRandolph who d. in Nottinghamshire ca 1570, and married Joan/Jane Langton, daughter of Cuthbert Langton of Langton Hall, Kirby-in-Ashfield. The line:
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=59XcwoRK9jkC&pg=GBS.PA192.w.1.12.0_424&printsec=frontcover
Key to the assumed relationship between the FitzRandolphs in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Notts and in Spennithorne, Yorks, is Christopher FitzRandolph, a cleric who died in Notts in 1516. A marriage contract he made for a man of the same name, possibly his nephew, states that the two are related. A pedigree in the British Library (cited by Coddington) puts a Christopher -- presumably the clerk -- and his brother John at the head of the Notts FitzRandolph family.
Coddington says of the cleric’s 1516 will, "Unfortunately, the clerk didn't mention his Spennithorne kinsmen.” Did this mean there was yet no direct evidence for the close connection between Notts and Yorks FitzRandolphs? That it was possible the cleric originated from somewhere other than than Spennithorne/North Riding of Yorkshire (even considering the apparent rarity of this surname)?** Or, was Coddington talking about which Spennithorne man was John's and the clerk's father? It’s hard to know the extent of prior research, so we may be going over already-traveled territory. Maybe Douglas Richardson has some insight.
In any case, the Borthwick's York Clergy Ordination Lists contain helpful references. The info is taken from the York Archbishops' Registers, whose digitization is ongoing. Christopher FitzRandolph the clerk's index entry(2) reads, "Christopher FitzRandolf, of Spennithorne." The list (index p. 343; details #68, p. 115):
https://www.york.ac.uk/media/borthwick/documents/York_Clergy_Ordinations_1475-1500_Online%20_Edition.pdf
Here’s Christopher’s Register entry (which also mentions Spennithorne) for ordination as an acolyte.(3)
https://archbishopsregisters.york.ac.uk/browse/registers?folio=474®ister_id=c247dt49c
These references confirm that the clerk and his cousin/nephew of the same name were of the Spennithorne FitzRandolph family. If Coddington had seen them (maybe not, as accessibility was difficult decades ago, Borthwick says), would he probably have cited them in “Sureties?” Anthony Wagner also didn’t cite them in his 1945 FitzRandolph article in NEGHR(4) (Vol. 9, p. 336):
https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/11697/336/23495977
In addition to Christopher the clerk’s place of origin, his first assignment after ordination in York is also given in the Registry index: St. Mary Overie (Southwark) Priory in London, Diocese of Westminster. No other ordinands in his class or any class listed in the document (1475-1500) are recorded as having been sent there. Maybe Christopher got a plum assignment made possible by his presumed maternal uncle, Sir John Conyers, K.G. and knight of the body to Henry VII?
In addition to the York Archbishops’ Registers, there’s a possibly relevant reference to a Sir John Fitz Randoll during the subject years: a service/stipend/chantry founded in 1520 at St. Michael's, Spennithorne(5) (see fn135 at link below).
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp257-264#h3-0004
This date isn't far removed from the deaths of two known John FitzRandolphs of the place and time of the pedigree problem: first, the clerk's presumed brother (who it's thought, but not proven, to have died before his son's 1514 marriage contract, made by the clerk). Second, the last Sir Ralph FitzRandolph's son and heir, who is thought to have predeceased his father by a short time, dying in 1516 or 1517.
The chantry document(6) cites foeffee Christopher Conyers: son of Sir William Conyers (d. 1524), who was the grandson and heir of Sir John Conyers mentioned above (Sir John had presented Christoher the clerk to the living in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, ca 1489).
https://archive.org/details/certificatescom00pagegoog/page/n138/mode/2up
Could the founder be Sir Ralph’s son and heir, if he had died three years before the deed of foeffment cited here (if I’m reading correctly)? If anyone is inclined, I could use a little insight on the conventions for creation and commencement of services/chantries.
One more note about Coddington's "Sureties" line 164: In generation 13, he cites the 1588 will of Christopher FitzRandolph (son of Chris who d. ca 1570/Joan Langton), saying the testator's wife had predeceased her husband and wasn't named. But a reading of the will shows she was living at the time of her husband's death (her given name isn’t mentioned).
Are any of the above points decent fuel for further exploration? Thoughts and suggestions much appreciated.
**G.G. Bonser's discussion of a long-established Notts-Derby FitzRanulf/FitzRandolph family, with no mention of Yorkshire(7). Anyone familiar with this family?
http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/books/bonser1948/sutton19.htm
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1Line 164, "Magna Charta Sureties," Frederick Lewis Weis, fifth edition, 1999
2York Clergy Ordinations, 1475-1500, compiled by David M. Smith, 2017, p. 343
3York Archbishops' Registers, Borthwick Institute for Archives, Apb, f219v)
4NEHGR, Vol. 9, p. 336 (1945); The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.)
5Parishes: Spennithorne', A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1, ed. William Page (London, 1914), pp. 257-264. British History Online
6The Certificates of the Commissioners Appointed to Survey the Chantries, Guilds, Hospitals, Etc., in the County of York, Part I, Surtees Society, Vol. XCI, 1894
7A History of Sutton-in-Ashfield, 1948, at Nottinghamshire History (
http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/)