Eyre family of Hope, Derbyshire

[Mark Jennings]

Is anyone aware of a reliable source on the late medieval (16th century) genealogy of the Eyre family of Derbyshire?

I'm aware of the series of disconnected pedigrees in the published version of the 1662 Visitation but most of the online trees dealing with the family are demonstrably wrong, with a series of breaks in the 1600s.

The family was a prolific one, so it may be that it is just not possible to trace the branches with confidence.

[Michael Rochester]

No.

[John Higgins]

You may have already come across this, but in case you haven't I'll mention it.

In vol. 2 of Hunter's Familiae Minorum Gentium, pp. 543-564 (Harleian Society, Visitation Series, vol. 38), there are quite a number of Eyre pedigrees - most of them from Derbyshire. I can't vouch for their accuracy, but it might be worth a look.

The book should be easy to find via Google Books or the Internet Archive.

[Mark Jennings]

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 11:12:44 PM UTC+1, jhigg...@yahoo.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 2:20:30 PM UTC-7, mark66j...@gmail.com wrote:
> > Is anyone aware of a reliable source on the late medieval (16th century) genealogy of the Eyre family of Derbyshire?

> You may have already come across this, but in case you haven't I'll mention it.
>
> In vol. 2 of Hunter's Familiae Minorum Gentium, pp. 543-564 (Harleian Society, Visitation Series, vol. 38), there are quite a number of Eyre pedigrees - most of them from Derbyshire. I can't vouch for their accuracy, but it might be worth a look.
>
> The book should be easy to find via Google Books or the Internet Archive.

Many thanks John. That's very helpful. The branch that I have been asked to look at is on p 545 (Adam Eyre bur. 1612 m Alice Barber) [cf pp 11-12, 1662 Visitation]. There are two problems: the first is that Foster himself annotates that section of the pedigree "the descendants of this marriage are all very wrongly stated", presumably a commentary on the underlying MS. The second is probably off topic: the line I am looking at seems to have grafted a son onto Joseph bc1657, whose immediate ancestry is probably trustworthy thanks to the 1662 Visitation - "Joseph Eyre b 1686, m 1702 [sic; remarkably precocious], and then made him father of Isaac bc1722, apparently without any evidence. Probably going to bat it back into the Too Hard Basket.

[Mark Jennings]

On Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 9:02:46 AM UTC+1, Mark Jennings wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 11:12:44 PM UTC+1, jhigg...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > In vol. 2 of Hunter's Familiae Minorum Gentium, pp. 543-564 (Harleian Society, Visitation Series, vol. 38), there are quite a number of Eyre pedigrees - most of them from Derbyshire. I can't vouch for their accuracy, but it might be worth a look.

> Many thanks John. That's very helpful. The branch that I have been asked to look at is on p 545 (Adam Eyre bur. 1612 m Alice Barber) [cf pp 11-12, 1662 Visitation]. <snip>

Just thinking out loud about the chronology here. Foster presents this part of the line thus:

1. William Eyre married Elizabeth, daughter of John Wickersley
2. John Eyre married Joan Page
3. Thomas Eyre married Agnes Haigh
4. Robert Eyre married Sytha Barber
5. John Eyre
6. Thomas Eyre
7. Adam Eyre died 1612 married Alice Barber
8. George Eyre died 1642 married Margaret Micklethwaite
9. Joseph Eyre born about 1619

Robert Eyre (who married Margaret Inkersall) was the brother of #2 John; he had two daughters, Margery (d c1500, wife of John Revell of Ogston 1464-1538) and Elizabeth (d c1537, wife of Henry Bradshaw d c1523). Robert Eyre of Padley (who married Joan Padley) was the brother of #1 William and died in 1459. I suppose 8 generations down to 1619 could be reasonable, but it seems rather tight to me, especially since it is a patriline.

[Jan Wolfe]

Robert Eyre and Margaret Inkersall and their daughter Margaret (or Margery?) were ancestors of 17th century RD immigrant to New Jersey Ann (Revell) Curtis.
Here are links to the Eyre pedigree in Hunter's Familiae Minorum Gentium, https://books.google.com/books?id=k30_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA543 and https://archive.org/details/FamiliaeMinorumGentiumV38/page/n132/mode/1up.

[Mark Jennings]

On Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 8:18:13 PM UTC+1, Jan Wolfe wrote:
> Robert Eyre and Margaret Inkersall and their daughter Margaret (or Margery?) were ancestors of 17th century RD immigrant to New Jersey Ann (Revell) Curtis.
> Here are links to the Eyre pedigree in Hunter's Familiae Minorum Gentium, https://books.google.com/books?id=k30_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA543 and https://archive.org/details/FamiliaeMinorumGentiumV38/page/n132/mode/1up.

Thanks Jan - and not least for the timely reminder that it was Joseph Hunter who produced Familiae Minorum Gentium, not Joseph Foster - I must have Alumni Oxonienses on the brain!

[Will Johnson]

This one, the yeoman?

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D905199

[Mark Jennings]

On Friday, April 2, 2021 at 12:57:53 AM UTC+1, wjhons...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> This one, the yeoman?
>
> https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D905199

Ah, good spot - yes, thank you. The testator describes himself as Adam Eyre "of Crokehill in the parish of Hope" - will is undated -- daughter Marie wife of Robert Bagshaw, 40 s -- to son Robert Eyer [sic] and sons-in-law Robert Bagshaw, Thomas Howe and Edward Haigh, 12d each -- Frances, wife of son Robert Ayere [sic] -- to son Robert's son Adam "my greatest meal ark" -- the servants of my son George including Elizabeth Eyre -- son Thomas Ayare [sic] -- my youngest son George Eyre to be executor and residual beneficiary -- witnesses included Richard Eyre.

Of these children, Hunter accounts for Robert, Thomas and George, and names Elizabeth ("2nd daughter") as the wife of Thomas Howe; Mary (Bagshaw) and a third daughter married to Edward Haigh can be added, and "sons Adam and Joseph" can presumably be removed from the pedigree at p 545.

[Will Johnson]

Does he mention any lands in his will?
I note there is a Court of Wards entry and also an IPM for some Adam Eyre in Derby 1615-1617

[Mark Jennings]

Nothing of consequence, but since the eldest son is only given a shilling, property could have passed by primogeniture or copyhold without testamentary intervention. Unfortunately, Adam was not an uncommon name within the wider family - eg the administration of the estate of an Adam Eyre of Alfreton was granted at Lichfield in 1614.

[Ian Goddard]

On 02/04/2021 17:33, Mark Jennings wrote:
>
> Nothing of consequence, but since the eldest son is only given a shilling, property could have passed by primogeniture or copyhold without testamentary intervention. Unfortunately, Adam was not an uncommon name within the wider family - eg the administration of the estate of an Adam Eyre of Alfreton was granted at Lichfield in 1614.

Not to mention Adam Eyre of Hazelhead, the slightly later Civil War
soldier and diarist.

One thing which I've seen in these families is that the oldest son was
already married and had been set up in a property beforehand and
receives nothing or only a nominal amount. In one instance there was
the comment "he having been portioned afore".

In such instances one of the younger sons often stays on the farm to run
it and then inherits it. I've seen a mention of this inheritance refer
to an indenture, presumably an agreement that this would be the case.
I've also seen this son remain unmarried up to this point but then marry
PDQ after the father's death.

It could go wrong. My 5xggfather's younger brother died young, a few
months before the father.


Ian

[Mark Jennings]

Many thanks, Ian. Sometimes, without knowledge of local custom or access to manorial court rolls, it is almost impossible to determine how property passed within families.

[Ian Goddard]

On 03/04/2021 17:02, Mark Jennings wrote:
>
> Many thanks, Ian. Sometimes, without knowledge of local custom or access to manorial court rolls, it is almost impossible to determine how property passed within families.
>

Where there's a will there's a way.

OK, just leaving.

Ian

[Mark Jennings]

Boom, tish. Don't forget to come back :-)

[Adam Brocklehurst]

My paternal grandmothers ancestors were Eyre yeoman farmers in Hope and the Hope Valley, I wonder if they were distant relations to to the Manorial Eyre's?