Parents of Gertrude Paston (d. 1605), Wife of Sir William Reade of Osterley Park

[Brad Verity]

I had a question come to me about Gertrude Paston, the wife of Sir William Reade of Osterley Park. They are ancestors of Dorothy (Burdett) Rolleston, and through her, of Frank Gardner from the recent 'Who Do You Think You Are' episode.

There is much confusion in published accounts regarding Gertrude's parentage. Per the Paston pedigree in the Harleian Society's Visitation of Norfolk 1563, 1589 & 1613, which is a combination of the three visitations made by Richard Mundy in about 1620, Erasmus Paston & Mary Wyndham are given only one child, son and heir Sir William Paston. He, in turn, is given four sons (Christopher, Wolfstan, John & Thomas) and three daughters (Eleanor m. John Echingham, Frances m. Thomas le Gros, & Gertrude m. Sir William Reade) with his wife Frances Clere:
http://www.archive.org/stream/publicationsofha32harluoft#page/216/mode/2up

The above parentage of Gertrude Paston agrees with the Reade pedigree made by the same Richard Mundy, also about 1620 (Bridget Stanhope, the youngest daughter of Sir Michael Stanhope and Anne Reade, is shown unmarried. She was born in 1614 and married the 1st Earl of Desmond in 1630). It says that Sir William Reade's wife was "Gertrud d. of Sr William Paston of Norff.":
http://www.archive.org/stream/middlesexpedigre65mund#page/56/mode/2up

Using the above Reade pedigree of c.1620 by Mundy as its source, the HOP bio of Thomas Reade, the elder son of Sir William Reade and Gertrude Paston, states that Gertrude was the daughter of Sir William Paston of Norfolk:
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/reade-thomas-1595

But now we run into chronological difficulties. Thomas Reade was first returned to Parliament in 1689. Presumably he would have to have been of age, so born by 1568, but his bio states that he was probably returned due to the influence of the powerful Cecils, his wife's family, so perhaps he was a little younger, maybe age 19 or 20. He couldn't have been born later than 1570, however, as he entered St John College, Cambridge in 1583:
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/reade-thomas-1595

Thomas Reade married Lady Mildred Cecil on 28 February 1586 at St Margaret Church, Westminster (IGI Batch No.: M001452), and this agrees with a birthdate of no later than 1570. Mildred was born 11 June 1569.

Sir William Paston and Frances Clere were married on 5 May 1551 at St Margaret Church, Paston, Norfolk. They had a daughter Anne baptized there on 16 July 1553, and their eldest son and heir Christopher Paston was baptized there on 18 June 1554:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=aAUIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA380&dq=Mr.+Willm+Paston,+esq.,+%26+Mrs.+ffraunces+Clere&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIrfDosZ-2yAIVy9YUCh1lxAEj#v=onepage&q=Mr.%20Willm%20Paston%2C%20esq.%2C%20%26%20Mrs.%20ffraunces%20Clere&f=false

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2P2-T6T

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J793-H2D

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J363-WLG

To have been a daughter of Sir William Paston and Frances Clere, and mother of a son Thomas Reade entering St John Cambridge in 1583, married in 1586, and M.P. in 1589, Gertrude Paston Reade would have to have been the first child born to the couple, in 1552. Even then, that is stretching it. The Anne Paston born in 1553 was married in 1572 at age 19, and Christopher Paston born in 1554 was married in 1577. There's no reason to think a daughter born in 1552 would have been married in 1568/9 (and that's assuming Thomas Reade was born as late as 1570) at age 16/17. Plus, there's no record of a daughter Gertrude baptized at Paston in 1552 (though there's always a chance, however unlikely, that she could have been born elsewhere).

In 1675, herald and genealogist Sir Francis Sandford wrote a large manuscript on the Paston family, which was published in Norfolk Archaeology in 1855 as 'Account of a MS. Genealogy of the Paston Family, in the Possession of His Grace the Duke of Newcastle'. In it, he gives Sir William Paston and Frances Clere three children, sons Christopher and Wolfstan, and daughter Anne, wife of Sir George Chaworth. This matches perfectly with the entries in the Paston parish register. Sandford gives to Erasmus Paston and Mary Wyndham three sons (Sir William, Thomas & Edmund) and three daughters (Eleanor or Anne, m. Edward Echingham, Frances m. Thomas Le Gros, & Gertrude m. Sir William Reade):
https://archive.org/stream/norfolkarchaeol11socigoog#page/n72/mode/2up

This matches up fairly well to the M.I. of Erasmus Paston in St Margaret Church, Paston, which states he had either 5 sons & 3 daughters, or 3 sons and 5 daughters, depending on which 19th-century transcription you read.

'Erasmus Paston and Mary his wyf intombed are here in clay, which is the restyng place of th'eache until the judgment day. Of sonnes five, and daughters three the Lord them parents made, Ere cruel Deathe dyd worke his spite, or fickle lyfe did fade. Ob. 13th November, 1538':
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZS02AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA957&dq=Erasmus+Paston+1538+Paston+Church&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIzaf9tqe2yAIVCj0aCh1yMwyd#v=onepage&q=Erasmus%20Paston%201538%20Paston%20Church&f=false

'Here Erasimus Paston and Marye his wife enclosed are in Claye, Which is the Restinge place of theache untill the latter daye. Off sonnes thre, and Daughters fyve the lorde them parents made, Ere cruell death did worke his cruell spite, or fykell lyff did fade. Erasimus Paston deceased ye xiiith of November, Ao 1538 and Marye his wife deceased ye....of......':
https://archive.org/stream/norfolkarchaeol18socigoog#page/n128/mode/2up

Erasmus Paston actually died in November 1540, not 1538, according to his burial entry in the Paston parish register. His HOP bio states he had three sons and three daughters:
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/paston-erasmus-1508-40

It cites the above c.1620 Paston pedigree by Richard Mundy as one of its sources for this (that pedigree only gives Erasmus one son Sir William), as well as "Vis. Norf. (Norf. Arch.), 47-48", which I haven't seen and cannot find online.

Given the chronological difficulties, I favour Sir Francis Sandford in 1675, and make Gertrude, wife of Sir William Reade, as daughter of Erasmus Paston and Mary Wyndham. Whether she was their daughter or their granddaughter doesn't affect her descent from Edward I through the baronial Scrope family - the same family that was incorrectly shown to be ancestral to Sir Michael Stanhope (by 1508-1552) in the WDYTYA episode.

I'd like to hear what others think, and which parents they have assigned to Gertrude Paston Reade.

Cheers, -----Brad

[jhigg...@yahoo.com]

Thanks, Brad, for bringing our attention to the manuscript of Francis Sandford in "Norfolk Archaeology". In my data, I too had followed the parentage for Gertrude Paston shown in the Norfolk visitation you cite. I don't see that there is "much confusion in published accounts" regarding her parentage because, aside from the Sandford manuscript now cited, I hadn't seen any other version of her parentage. But you make a good chronological case, now supported by the information in Sandford, for revising her parentage from that shown in the visitation, and I agree with your finding.

FWIW Gertrude Paston is an ancestor of Prince William. Her husband Sir William Reade of Osterley appears in Leo's Genealogics database, but she (along with both of her supposed fathers) is not presently included there.

Was Francis Sandford actually a knight as described in your post? The Norfolk Archaeology article doesn't describe him as such, nor does his ODNB article mention a knighthood.

You cited a copy of vol. 4 of Norfolk Archaeology available at the Internet Archive which was originally scanned by Google Books. Unfortunately, with its usual lack of attention to detail, Google Books did not properly scan the pedigree included in the Paston article. There is however another copy of the same volume also at the Internet Archive which includes a good copy of the pedigree. It can be found here:
https://archive.org/details/norfolkarchaeolo04norf

[Derek Howard]

On Friday, October 9, 2015 at 11:54:05 PM UTC+2, Brad Verity wrote:
<snip>

> This matches up fairly well to the M.I. of Erasmus Paston in St Margaret Church, Paston, which states he had either 5 sons & 3 daughters, or 3 sons and 5 daughters, depending on which 19th-century transcription you read.
>
> 'Erasmus Paston and Mary his wyf intombed are here in clay, which is the restyng place of th'eache until the judgment day. Of sonnes five, and daughters three the Lord them parents made, Ere cruel Deathe dyd worke his spite, or fickle lyfe did fade. Ob. 13th November, 1538':
> https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZS02AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA957&dq=Erasmus+Paston+1538+Paston+Church&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIzaf9tqe2yAIVCj0aCh1yMwyd#v=onepage&q=Erasmus%20Paston%201538%20Paston%20Church&f=false
>
> 'Here Erasimus Paston and Marye his wife enclosed are in Claye, Which is the Restinge place of theache untill the latter daye. Off sonnes thre, and Daughters fyve the lorde them parents made, Ere cruell death did worke his cruell spite, or fykell lyff did fade. Erasimus Paston deceased ye xiiith of November, Ao 1538 and Marye his wife deceased ye....of......':
> https://archive.org/stream/norfolkarchaeol18socigoog#page/n128/mode/2up
>
> Erasmus Paston actually died in November 1540, not 1538, according to his burial entry in the Paston parish register. His HOP bio states he had three sons and three daughters:
> http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/paston-erasmus-1508-40
>

"Here Erasmus Paston & Marye his Wiffe enclosed are in Clay,
Whiche is the Restinge Place of Eache untill the latter days,
Of Sonnes thre & Daughters nyne the Lorde them parents made,
Ere crewell Death did work his crewell spite or fykell lyff did fade"
according to the transcription and photo of the memorial at
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/13423203824/in/photostream/>

Derek Howard

[Brad Verity]

On Monday, October 12, 2015 at 5:52:23 PM UTC-7, jhigg...@yahoo.com wrote:
> FWIW Gertrude Paston is an ancestor of Prince William. Her husband Sir William Reade of Osterley appears in Leo's Genealogics database, but she (along with both of her supposed fathers) is not presently included there.

Thanks John - I wasn't aware that Gertrude (Paston) Reade is ancestral to Prince William. Even more reason to have her parentage sorted since she'll factor into a lot of online databases due to that.

> Was Francis Sandford actually a knight as described in your post? The Norfolk Archaeology article doesn't describe him as such, nor does his ODNB article mention a knighthood.

You are correct - he was not knighted, which surprised me. It's a shame really - his ODNB bio states that he was in constant financial difficulties, sold his College of Arms office after the Glorious Revolution, and died in debtor's prison. A sad end to the herald responsible for writing the work that "brought together the bulk of royal genealogical knowledge and provided illustrations of royal tombs and portraits, becoming the key reference work on the subject". A knighthood probably would have been a consolation to him.

> You cited a copy of vol. 4 of Norfolk Archaeology available at the Internet Archive which was originally scanned by Google Books. Unfortunately, with its usual lack of attention to detail, Google Books did not properly scan the pedigree included in the Paston article. There is however another copy of the same volume also at the Internet Archive which includes a good copy of the pedigree. It can be found here:
> https://archive.org/details/norfolkarchaeolo04norf

Thank you for that link - I've downloaded the better copy.

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 1:53:51 AM UTC-7, Derek Howard wrote:
> "Here Erasmus Paston & Marye his Wiffe enclosed are in Clay,
> Whiche is the Restinge Place of Eache untill the latter days,
> Of Sonnes thre & Daughters nyne the Lorde them parents made,
> Ere crewell Death did work his crewell spite or fykell lyff did fade"
> according to the transcription and photo of the memorial at
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/13423203824/in/photostream/>

Many thanks for the transcription and link above, Derek. I came across online this afternoon a 1573 pedigree of the Paston family drawn up by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms. It confirms that Gertrude, wife of Sir William Reade of Osterley Park - as well as her sisters Eleanor, wife of Edward Echingham of Dunbrody Abbey and Frances, wife of Thomas Le Gros of Crostwight Hall - were the daughters of Erasmus Paston and Mary Wyndham, and that Sir William Paston (c.1528-1610) was their brother, not their father.

My blogpost has further details and links:
http://royaldescent.blogspot.ca/2015/11/father-of-gertrude-paston-d-1605-wife_9.html

Thanks again, and Cheers, -----Brad