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C.P. Addition/Correction: Katherine Hungerford, wife of Richard West, Lord la Warre, and Nicholas Leventhorpe, Esq.

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Douglas Richardson

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Jul 21, 2013, 9:03:56 PM7/21/13
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Dear Newsgroup ~

Complete Peerage, 4 (1916): 154–155 (sub De La Warr) has a good account of Sir Richard West, Knt., 7th Lord la Warre, 4th Lord West, who died 10 March 1475/6. Regarding his marriage, the following information is provided:

"He married, before 10 June 1451, Katherine, daughter of Sir Robert Hungerford, sometimes called Lord Hungerford, of Heytesbury, Wilts, by Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir William Botreaux, sometimes called Lord Botreaux, of Boscastle, Cornwall. He [Richard] died 10 March 1475/6, aged 45. His widow [Katherine] died 12 May 1493." END OF QUOTE.

The evidence cited by Complete Peerage for this marriage is the will of Margaret, Lady Hungerford and Botreaux, dated 1476, in which she named "Kateryne Lady la Warre" as her daughter.

The marriage is elsewhere confirmed by the following two visitation pedigrees:

1. Chitting & Phillipot, Vis. of Gloucester 1623, 1569 & 1582–3 (H.S.P. 21) (1885): 87–90 (1623 Vis.) (Hungerford ped.: “Catherin [Hungerford] ux. Richard West lord Delaware”).

2. Benolte, Peds. from the Vis. of Hampshire 1530, 1575, 1622 & 1634 (H.S.P. 64) (1913): 58–59 (West ped.: “Richard West lord Laware = Catherin d. of the lord Hungerford.”).

In 1996 the late Marshall Kirk published evidence which proved that Katherine Hungerford, widow of Sir Richard West, married (2nd) probably shortly before 1 Nov. 1476 Nicholas Leventhorpe, esquire [Reference: NEHGR 150 (1996): 91-93]. The following source was cited by Mr. Kirk as evidence for this marriage: Calendar of Close Rolls, 1476-1485 (1953), pg. 23.

Mr. Kirk added the following biographical information regarding Nicholas Leventhorpe in his NEHGR article:

"Nicholas [Leventhorpe] ... seems to have been born about 1440, is first seen in public life in 1462 as the "king's humble serjeant" and died presumably not long before 23 November 1500, when a writ of diem clausit extremum (i.e., a call for an Inquisition Post Mortem) was issued for 'Nicholas Leventhorpe [of] York [and] Essex.' His first wife - married say 1465 - was Katherine, daughter of George Sampson of Playford, Suffolk."

Mr. Kirk provided the following documentation for these statements:
Calendar of Close Rolls, vol. I (London, 1949), pg. 165; Calendar of the Fine Rolls, 22 (1962): 302; Metcalfe, Visitation of Essex (H.S.P. 14) (1879): 593; and Trans. of the East Hertfordshire Arch. Soc. 9 (1934-6): 129 ff.

The Visitation of Essex cited above mentions a Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex alright, but no mention is made of any marriage to Katherine Hungerford:

“Nicholas Leventhorpe of Hatfield in com. Essex. = Katheryn d. of Geo. Sampson of Playford in com. Suff.” [Reference: Hawley et al. Vis. of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612 & 1634 2 (H.S.P. 14) (1879): 593 (Leventhorpe ped.).

A note of Marshall Kirk's discovery was subsequently published in 1998 in Complete Peerage, 14, Addenda & Corrigenda (1998): 243, which states that Katherine Hungerford "married 2ndly, probably before 1 Nov. 1476, as his 2nd wife, Nicholas Leventhorp." Mr. Kirk's article is cited as the source for this information.

Following the publication of his 1996 article, Mr. Kirk (publishing under the name Kenneth W. Kirkpatrick) and John A. Brayton published an article in 1999 on the Cotton family entitled "Cottoniana, or, 'That Cotton-Pickin' Somerby!" The article was published in New Hampshire Genealogical Record, 16 (1999): 145, et seq.

On pages 153-154, the authors discuss Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, co. Essex and his daughter, Constance Leventhorpe, wife of Andrew Priour and Clement Cotton, Gent.:

"Nicholas Leventhorpe ... a Crown servant and merchant, seen 1462-1500, married, first, Katherine, daughter of George Sampson of Playford, co. Suffolk ... and, second, in 1476, Katherine (Hungerford) West, widow of Richard, Lord West and la Warre ... It is unclear which of these wives was Constance's mother; on grounds of chronology and biology, either seems, at this point, perfectly possible. Either, too, would bequeath royal ancestry on her progeny ..."

Thus Mr. Kirk and Mr. Brayton have firmly identified Katherine Hungerford's husband, Nicholas Leventhorpe, as the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex, who married Katherine Sampson. However, it appears that there were TWO contemporary men named Nicholas Leventhorpe, one who married Katherine Hungerford, and the other who married Katherine Sampson.

We know from Mr. Kirk's first article published in 1996 that a writ was issued in 1500 for an inquisition post mortem for a Nicholas Leventhorpe who held lands in Yorkshire and Essex.

Elsewhere, however, I find that in 1490, Robert Gowedeby (alias Golby), Citizen and draper of London, sued Katherine Leventhorp, widow (alias Lady Katherine Lady de la Warre), of Magna Busshe [Great Bushey], Hertfordfordshire in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt [Reference: Court of Common Pleas, CP40/911, rot. 453f].

This lawsuit may be viewed at the following weblink:

http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/H7/CP40no911/aCP40no911fronts/IMG_0453.htm)

There can be no question as to the identity of the Katherine Leventhorp, widow, in the 1490 lawsuit, as she is specifically styled "Lady de la Warre." At the date of the lawsuit, she was residing at Great Bushey, Hertfordshire. This manor was a land holding of her first husband, Sir Richard West, Lord la Warre [see Clutterbuck, History and Antiquities of Hertford 1 (1815): 337–339].

Obviously if Katherine (Hungerford) (West) Leventhorpe was a widow again in 1490, she can't have been the wife of the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Yorkshire and Essex, who died in 1500. So exactly when did Katherine Hungerford's husband, Nicholas Leventhorpe, die?

To answer that question I consulted the recently published Wills at Hertford, 1415-1858, edited by Beryl Crawley (British Record Society, vol. 120). On page 347, the following will is listed:

1484 Leventhorp Nicholas esq. Rickmansworth 2AR 46

The above will is found among the registered wills of the Archdeaconry Court of St. Albans on FHL Microfilm 91750.

This will is for Nicholas Leventhorpp, esquire "weke in body & hole in mynde." It is dated 24 October 1484, and proved 20 Dec. 1484. The testator requests burial in the chapel of the blessed lady within the churchyard of Rickmansworth. He leaves bequests to the churches of Bushey and Watford, Hertfordshire. He leaves bequests to his brother, John Leventhorppe, and to Doctor Christopher Tankyrvile. He leaves the residue of his estate to "my lady dame Katerijn my wyffe," whom he names his executrix. The will is witnessed by doctor Tankyrvile, John Leventhorpp, Thomas Leventhorpp, Thomas Cheever, etc.

Thus it would appear that Nicholas Leventhorpe, Esq., the 2nd husband of Katherine Hungerford, died without issue in 1484. At the time of his death, he was residing at Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, which locality is adjacent to the parish of Great Bushey, Hertfordshire, where Katherine Hungerford later resided. He is a separate and distinct person from the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex, who married Katherine Sampson. I presume that the husband of Katherine Sampson is the Yorkshire and Essex man who died in 1500.

There is no evidence that Katherine Hungerford was Nicholas Leventhorpe's 2nd wife, as stated by Complete Peerage 14. There is also no evidence that Nicholas Leventhorpe (husband of Katherine Hungerford) was the father of Constance Leventhorpe, wife of Andrew Priour and Clement Cotton, as alleged by Kirk and Brayton.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah









Douglas Richardson

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Jul 22, 2013, 11:59:43 AM7/22/13
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Dear Newsgroup ~

Below is a lawsuit dated 1470 involving Sir Richard West, Lord la Warre, the first husband of Katherine Hungerford, with Bushey, Hertfordshire, which property was a West family land holding. Katherine Hungerford was residing at Great Bushey, Hertfordshire in 1490.

In 1470 Richard West, Knt. sued William Wheteley, yeoman, of Bushey, Hertfordshire in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a trespass at Bushey, Hertfordshire [Reference: Court of Common Pleas, CP40/837, rot. 405d].

The above lawsuit may be viewed at the following weblink:

http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no837/bCP40no837dorses/IMG_0405.htm

Further bbelow are abstracts of two fines found on Chris Phillips' great medieval genealogy website which show that Nicholas Leventhorpe, the 2nd husband of Katherine Hungerford, was associated with Hertfordshire, in the period, 1466-1483. In the first fine, Nicholas Leventhorpe and another party were the querents. They were evidently merely acting as feofees in this transaction, as VCH Hertford 3 (1912): 458-462 specifically states that "in 1466 Sir John Say acquired the manors of Hornbeamgate [in Essendon] and Blounts (see Bishop's Hatfield) and lands in Essendon and Hatfield from Robert Louth."

In the second fine, Nicholas Leventhorpe is involved in a fine involving property in Watford, Hertfordshire. Watford is adjacent to Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in which parish Nicholas Leventhorpe was residing the following year when he made his will. In this second fine dated 1483, Nicholas Leventhorpe is styled esquire.

1. CP 25/1/91/118, number 14.

Weblink: http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/fines/abstracts/CP_25_1_91_118.shtml#14

Link: Image of document at AALT

County: Hertfordshire.

Place: Westminster.

Date: Two weeks from Holy Trinity, 6 Edward IV [15 June 1466].

Parties: Nicholas Britte and Nicholas Leuenthorp', querents, and Robert Louthe and Edith, his wife, deforciants.

Property: The manors of Hornbemegate and Blountes and 12 messuages, 8 tofts, 300 acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, 110 acres of pasture, 80 acres of wood and 50 shillings of rent and a rent of 24 capons, 12 hens and 12 chickens in Esynden', Hatfeld' Ep'i and Northawe, and also the advowson of the chantry of St Anne in the church of Hatfeld' Ep'i.

Action: Plea of covenant.

Agreement: Robert and Edith have acknowledged the manors, tenements, rent and advowson to be the right of Nicholas Leuenthorp', and have remised and quitclaimed them from themselves and the heirs of Edith to Nicholas and Nicholas and the heirs of Nicholas Leuenthorp' for ever.
Warranty: Warranty against George, abbot of Westminster, and his successors.
For this: Nicholas and Nicholas have given them 200 marks of silver.

Persons: Nicholas Brett, Nicholas Leventhorpe, Robert Louth, Edith Louth
Places: Hornbeam Lane (in Essendon), Blunts (in Sawbridgeworth), Essendon, Hatfield, Northaw

2. CP 25/1/91/120, number 64.

Weblink: http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/fines/abstracts/CP_25_1_91_120.shtml#64

Link: Image of document at AALT

County: Hertfordshire.

Place: Westminster.

Date: Two weeks from St Hilary, 22 Edward IV [27 January 1483].

Parties: Nicholas Leuenthorp', esquire, Thomas Creke, esquire, John Melsham and William Russell', querents, and John Catesby and Katherine, his wife, deforciants.

Property: 1 messuage and 1 garden in Watford'.

Action: Plea of covenant.

Agreement: John Catesby and Katherine have acknowledged the tenements to be the right of Thomas, as those which Thomas, Nicholas, John Melsham and William have of their gift, and have remised and quitclaimed them from themselves and the heirs of Katherine to Nicholas, Thomas, John Melsham and William and the heirs of Thomas for ever.

Warranty: Warranty.

For this: Nicholas, Thomas, John Melsham and William have given them 40 marks of silver.

Persons: Nicholas Leventhorpe, Thomas Creake, John Melsham, William Russell, John Catesby, Katherine Catesby

Places: Watford

+ + + + + + + + + +

For interest's sake, the following is a list of the 17th Century New World immigrants that descend from Katherine Hungerford and her first husband, Sir Richard West, Lord la Warre:

Dorothy Beresford, Anne Humphrey, Herbert Pelham, John Stockman, John West.

jhigg...@yahoo.com

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Aug 3, 2013, 4:58:59 PM8/3/13
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On Sunday, July 21, 2013 6:03:56 PM UTC-7, Douglas Richardson wrote:
> Dear Newsgroup ~
[snip]
> Thus Mr. Kirk and Mr. Brayton have firmly identified Katherine Hungerford's husband, Nicholas Leventhorpe, as the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex, who married Katherine Sampson. However, it appears that there were TWO contemporary men named Nicholas Leventhorpe, one who married Katherine Hungerford, and the other who married Katherine Sampson.
>
[snip]
> Thus it would appear that Nicholas Leventhorpe, Esq., the 2nd husband of Katherine Hungerford, died without issue in 1484. At the time of his death, he was residing at Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, which locality is adjacent to the parish of Great Bushey, Hertfordshire, where Katherine Hungerford later resided. He is a separate and distinct person from the Nicholas Leventhorpe, of Hatfield, Essex, who married Katherine Sampson. I presume that the husband of Katherine Sampson is the Yorkshire and Essex man who died in 1500.
>
>
>
> There is no evidence that Katherine Hungerford was Nicholas Leventhorpe's 2nd wife, as stated by Complete Peerage 14. There is also no evidence that Nicholas Leventhorpe (husband of Katherine Hungerford) was the father of Constance Leventhorpe, wife of Andrew Priour and Clement Cotton, as alleged by Kirk and Brayton.
>
>
>
> Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

As stated above, the conclusion that there were two Nicholas Leventhorpes rather than one, as indicated in Marshall Kirk's 1996 article, is a correction to CP (or more specifically, a correction to the corrections volume of CP). For the record, it is also a correction to the 2nd (2011) Richardson edition of Plantagenet Ancestry (and probably also to the 2nd Richardson edition of Magna Carta Ancestry, although I can't confirm that). See here for the pertinent section of the 2011 PA:
http://books.google.com/books?id=kjme027UeagC&pg=RA2-PA472#v=onepage&q&f=false

There are three distinct errors here:
1) Katherine Hungerford was not the 2nd wife of the Nicholas Leventhorpe whom she married.
2) The Nicholas Leventhorpe who married Katherine Hungerford was not of Bramham, Yorkshire, and Hatfield, Essex.
3) Neither of the two Nicholas Leventhorpes died ca. 1505, as indicated in the 2011 PA.

Interestingly, these errors originate in the 2011 edition of PA and do not appear in the 1st Richardson editions of either PA or MCA - both of which seem to have been copied without editing from the 2nd Faris edition of PA. In all of these earlier editions Nicholas Leventhorpe's name is the only information given for him - no association with any places, no death date, and no indication of another marriage.

Oddly, the main source for the Leventhorpe material for all these editions (including Faris) seems to be the Marshall Kirk article of 1996, which is cited in all the editions mentioned. Apparently the article wasn't actually read by the author during the preparation of his 1st editions of PA and MCA, and it was simply accepted at face value - without verification - in the preparation of the 2nd editions of the books, although he then used its material to expand upon the text of the 1st editions. Rather questionable research practices in both cases, it would seem....

So...yes, a CP correction, but also a correction to PA and MCA....

karen sims

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Aug 3, 2013, 9:11:55 PM8/3/13
to GEN-ME...@rootsweb.com
I'm trying to follow this thread because I'm interested in Clement Cotton.
However, the NEHGR article is not available on-line at NEHGS - "permission
not received from copyright holder." Perhaps you could expand on what the
article says?

I have to guess that that are more than two Nicholas Leventhorpe's around
at this time since I found two different Nicholas Leventhorpe's in the same
document.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=182-wiston_1-1_2&cid=1-1-18-12#1-1-18-12

Quitclaim from Thomas Leventhorp, Nicholas Leventhorp, esq., Thomas
Braghyng, William Leventhorp, Thomas Leventhorp, gent., and Nicholas
Leventhorp, 'groom of the chamber of the King', to William Covert, late of
Horsham, gent. *WISTON/3024* *3 Dec 1472*

*Contents*:
In respect of their interest in:--
Property as in no. WISTON/3023.

(Refers to the manor of Twineham Benefeld. Recites the history of the
property at great length from the time of John Benfeld; among other
information, it is recited that Margery, dau. of John Chaucy, and Jane
(nee) Benefeld Chaucy , sister and heir of John Benefeld, was first married
to William Thwaytes, but they were divorced and Margery then married Thomas
Austen 'servant to the Lord of St. John's.' Margery sold the manor to
William Covert in 1471.)

Karen
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> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
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Douglas Richardson

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Aug 5, 2013, 1:50:52 PM8/5/13
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My comments are interspersed below. DR

On Saturday, August 3, 2013 7:11:55 PM UTC-6, karen sims wrote:
< I'm trying to follow this thread because I'm interested in Clement Cotton. <However, the NEHGR article is not available on-line at NEHGS - "permission <not received from copyright holder." Perhaps you could expand on what the <article says?

Clement Cotton is discussed in the article by Mr. Kirk and Mr. Brayton entitled "Cottoniana, or, 'That Cotton-Pickin' Somerby!" The article was published in New Hampshire Genealogical Record, 16 (1999): 145, et seq., not NEHGR. I suggest you contact the editor of the New Hampshire journal.

<I have to guess that that are more than two Nicholas Leventhorpe's around at <this time since I found two different Nicholas Leventhorpe's in the same <document.

You are correct.

<http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=182-wiston_1-1_2&cid=1-1-18-12#1-1-18-12
>
<Quitclaim from Thomas Leventhorp, Nicholas Leventhorp, esq., Thomas Braghyng, <William Leventhorp, Thomas Leventhorp, gent., and Nicholas Leventhorp, 'groom <of the chamber of the King', to William Covert, late of Horsham, gent. <*WISTON/3024* *3 Dec 1472*

<(Refers to the manor of Twineham Benefeld. Recites the history of the
< property at great length from the time of John Benfeld; among other
< information, it is recited that Margery, dau. of John Chaucy, and Jane (nee) < Benefeld Chaucy , sister and heir of John Benefeld, was first married
< to William Thwaytes, but they were divorced and Margery then married Thomas <Austen 'servant to the Lord of St. John's.' Margery sold the manor to William <Covert in 1471.)

<According to the document below and surrounding documents, one of your John <Chauncy's in Magna Carta Ancestry (probably the one that married Anne <Leventhorpe, since both Nicholas Leventhorpe's are involved, and he is <referred to as John Chauncy Jr.) needs another wife, Jane Benefeld.

Karen: You appear to have confused two different families, Chaucy versus Chauncy. Below are five documents from the A2A Catalogue. In all of them Jane Benefeld's husband is styled John Chaucy, not Chauncy or Chancy. As far as I can tell, Jane Benefeld and her husband, John Chaucy, don't fit into the family tree of the Chauncy family of Hertfordshire.

1. Quitclaim from Walter Okyngden, John Absseley and Robert atte Oke, jnr., to John Chaucy, jnr., esq., and Jane, his wife, sister and heir of John Benefeld, esq., dec'd. WISTON/3012 2 May 1454
2. Deed of covenant between (a) John Chaucy jnr., and Jane, his wife, and (b) Agnes, widow of John Benefeld. WISTON/3013 26 Aug 1454
3. Grant in trust (with contemporary copy), from (a) John Chaucy, jnr., esq., and Jane, his wife, to (b) Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, Reginald, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, Richard, Lord de la Ware, Thomas Kyrkeby, clerk, Keeper of the Rolls of Chancery, John Lewkenore, esq., and Master John Tukkysbury, vicar of Cuckfield, to the use of (a) and their heirs. WISTON/3014, 3015 7 Sept 1454
4. Surrender by Agnes, widow of John Benefeld, to John Chaucy and Jane, his wife, in return for an annuity of 12 marks, and in respect of [her interest in]:-- WISTON/3016 5 Dec 1454
5. Lease for 4 years, at the yearly rent of £6 13s. 4d., from John Chaucy, jnr., esq., and Jane, his wife, to Edward Pykecombe of Twineham, yeo. WISTON/3017 9 Aug 1455
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