Another CP Addition: Joan Ralegh, wife of Gerard Braybrooke [III]
Douglas Richardson
I had the opportunity this evening to briefly examine the published
transcript of the 1429 will of Sir Gerard Braybrooke [II] the younger.
The transcript of this lengthy document can be found in the following
source:
E.F. Jacob, Register of Henry Chichele 2 (Canterbury and York Series,
Vol. 42): 409-414.
The will is dated 2 April 1429, proved 11 July 1429. People named in
the will include the following persons:
Cousin Raynold Kentwood, Dean of St. Paul's, London
Sister dame Joan Thirnyng
Joan sometime wife of Gerard my son
[Granddaughter] Elizabeth wife of William Beauchamp and to
[granddaughter] Eleanor daughter of the foresaid Joan.
Cousin Philip Ingrefelde
[Uncle] Robert Braybrooke, Bishop of London (deceased)
There is no mention in the will of Sir Gerard's deceased half-sister,
Nichole (Braybrooke) Chaworth, or of Nichole's living child, Elizabeth
(Chaworth) le Scrope. In general, a testator in this period was more
concerned with his own children and grandchildren, rather than nieces
or nephews.
Interestingly, I note that the will indicates that Sir Gerard
Braybrooke's widowed daughter-in-law, Joan Ralegh, was living in 1429.
Complete Peerage, 11 (1949): 301 (sub Saint Amand) mentions Joan
Ralegh's marriage to Gerard Braybrooke [III] but does not indicate
whether or not she survived her husband or not. So, this record would
be a new addition for Complete Peerage. Quite possibly this is a case
of another widow who is not on record as having been assigned dower,
otherwise Complete Peerage would surely have mentioned that Joan
survived her husband.
Further details of Sir Gerard Braybrooke [II]'s will can be found on
my new website which should be operational in a few days. Interested
parties may also consult the well researched biography of Sir Gerard
Braybrooke II in the following source:
J.S. Roskell, House of Commons 1386–1421, vol. 2 (1992).
Roskell employs the modern spelling of the surname, Braybrooke, just
as I have done.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
E-mail: royala...@msn.com