Another C.P. Addition: Sir Henry Gray, Count of Tancarville (died 1450)

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

In earlier threads this week, we saw how Sir Edmund Thorpe and Owen
Tudor, Esquire were sent abroad to do military service in France.
They were just two of many in that generation who were sent abroad by
the king to do service in the French wars. Another such individual
who served the king abroad in that time period was Sir Henry Gray, 2nd
Count of Tancarville.

Complete Peerage, 6 (1926): 138-139 (sub Grey) has a short account of
Sir Henry Gray, 2nd Count of Tancarville, hereditary Chamberlain of
Normandy, who died in 1450. Sir Henry Gray's wife, Antigone, was the
niece of King Henry V of England and thus first cousin to King Henry
VI of England. Little is told us of Sir Henry Gray's death by
Complete Peerage:

"He died 13 Jan. 1449/50." END OF QUOTE.

Complete Peerage cites as its source seven different inquisitions post
mortem taken after the death of Sir Henry Gray. Three of them state
he died "in festo sancti Hilarii Episcopi" [that is, 13 January
1449/50] and three of them give the actual date: "xiij die
Januarii" [that is, 13 January 1449/50]. The seventh inquisition
taken 17 Oct. 1450 states in error that he died "Friday before All
Saints 1449."

None of the inquisitions tell us the place of Sir Henry Gray's death
or burial.

Fortunately there is a contemporary account of Sir Henry Gray's death
and burial found in the Chronicle of John Stone, which account was
published many years ago in Searle, Christ Church, Canterbury
(Cambridge Antiq. Soc., Octavo Pubs. 34) (1902): 48. This item may be
viewed at the following weblink:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZiQMAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA48

The following is a copy of that information:

“Item hoc anno [1449/50] xiijo die mensis Januarii [13 January] in
castello de Gynys obiit dominus Henricus Gray, dominus de Powys. Et
iiijo die mensis ffebruarii [4 February] viz. in die sancte Agathe
virginis [5 February], delatum erat corpus eius ad ecclesiam Christi
Cant’ ante nonam, et receptus fuit a priore et conuentu, set prior
reuestitus et precentor; et post vesperas habuit exequias cum tribus
lectionibus in choro, et die sequente erat sepultus a prior et
conuento in nouo ope [opere] iuxta martirium sancti Thome.” END OF
QUOTE.

As we can see from the above record, Sir Henry Gray died abroad 13
January 1449/50 at Guines Castle (six miles from Calais), and that his
body was subsequently returned to England and buried in the Cathedral
church of Canterbury, Kent.

For additional details of Sir Henry Gray's life and his widow,
Antigone's 2nd marriage to Jean d'Amancy (or d'Amancier), Councillor
of the Duke of Orléans, Esquire of the Horse to King Charles VII of
France, please see the 2nd editions of my two books, Plantagenet
Ancestry and Magna Carta Ancestry, published earlier this year.

For interest's sake, the following is a list of the 17th Century New
World immigrants that descend from Sir Henry Gray and his wife,
Antigone of Gloucester:

Rowland Ellis, Nathaniel Littleton, Thomas Lloyd.

I might note that my good friend friend and colleague, Richard Wilson,
a genealogist here in Salt Lake City, is a lineal descendant of
Nathaniel Littleton above.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

[Derek Howard]

On Dec 10, 12:11 am, Douglas Richardson <royalances...@msn.com> wrote:
<snip>

> None of the inquisitions tell us the place of Sir Henry Gray's death
> or burial.
>
> Fortunately there is a contemporary account of Sir Henry Gray's death
> and burial found in the Chronicle of John Stone, which account was
> published many years ago in Searle, Christ Church, Canterbury
> (Cambridge Antiq. Soc., Octavo Pubs. 34) (1902): 48.  This item may be
> viewed at the following weblink:
>
>    http://books.google.com/books?id=ZiQMAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA48
>
> The following is a copy of that information:
>
> “Item hoc anno [1449/50] xiijo die mensis Januarii [13 January] in
> castello de Gynys obiit dominus Henricus Gray, dominus de Powys.  Et
> iiijo die mensis ffebruarii [4 February] viz. in die sancte Agathe
> virginis [5 February], delatum erat corpus eius ad ecclesiam Christi
> Cant’ ante nonam, et receptus fuit a priore et conuentu, set prior
> reuestitus et precentor; et post vesperas habuit exequias cum tribus
> lectionibus in choro, et die sequente erat sepultus a prior et
> conuento in nouo ope [opere] iuxta martirium sancti Thome.”  END OF
> QUOTE.
>
> As we can see from the above record, Sir Henry Gray died abroad 13
> January 1449/50 at Guines Castle (six miles from Calais), and that his
> body was subsequently returned to England and buried in the Cathedral
> church of Canterbury, Kent.

The Stone Chronicle reference was also publicised in Legg and Hope's
"Inventories of Christchurch Canterbury", 1902, 162, see:
<http://www.archive.org/stream/inventoriesofchr00cant#page/162/mode/
2up>
though the footnote there gives in error the date 15 January 1449/50
rather than 13th.

And in discussing Sir Henry's tomb, the Legg and Hope reference is
more recently given in "A History of Canterbury Cathedral", ed.
Collinson, Ramsay and Sparks, 2002, 493 n186.

Derek Howard