The ghastly murder of Sir Walter Smyth - his wife Dorothy burnt at the stake!
Douglas Richardson
While researching the history of Isabel Neville, daughter of John
Neville, K.G., Marquess of Montagu (died 1471), I've determined that
Isabel Neville was twice married. Her first husband was William
Huddleston, Esq., of Millom, Cumberland, who was living in 1498. They
had two sons, John, Knt. and Richard, Esq. Following his death, she
married (2nd) sometime after 1504 Sir William Smyth, Knt., of Elford,
Staffordshire, Quorndon, Leicestershire, Sibbertoft,
Northamptonshire. Isabel, then wife of Sir William Smyth, died 12
October 1516, and was buried at Elford, Staffordshire.
Isabel Neville was not Sir William Smyth's only wife, however. He
married (1st) by marriage settlement dated 1 March 1504/5 Anne
Staunton, daughter and heiress of William Staunton, Esq. By this
marriage, he certainly had one daughter, Margery, which Margery
married her step-brother, Richard Huddleston, Esq., the younger son of
Isabel Neville by her first marriage. Sir William Smyth died 10 Jan.
1526, and was buried at Elford, Staffordshire in a tomb with his two
wives, Anne and Isabel.
Until recently I thought Sir William Smyth had only two wives, Anne
Staunton and Isabel Neville. However, I've determined that Sir
William Smyth had a third wife who survived him and was named executor
of his will. The third wife was Mary Ferrers, daughter of John
Ferrers, Knt., of Tamworth, Warwickshire, by Dorothy, daughter of
William Harper, Esq. Records indicate that Sir William Smyth and his
third wife, Mary, had one son, Humphrey Smyth. Mary Ferrers'
parentage doesn't appear in any Ferrers sources that I have checked,
so the identification of her parentage is possible new.
Besides his daughter, Margery, and his son, Humphrey, it appears that
Sir William Smyth also had a daughter, Jane (wife of William Alycoke),
and a daughter, Dorothy, the name of whose husband is unknown. I'm
uncertain at present which of these daughters belongs to which
marriage of Sir William Smyth. If anyone knows any particulars which
would shed light on this matter, I'd appreciate hearing from them.
Following Sir William Smyth's death, his widow, Mary, married (2nd)
before 8 March 1529/30 (date of indenture) Sir Walter Smyth, Knt., of
Sherford (in Burton Hastings), Warwickshire, son and heir of Henry
Smyth, of Fletchampstead, Sherford (in Burton Hastings), and Stretton
Baskerville, Warwickshire, by his wife, Joan Stafford. He was born
about 1501 (aged 14 in 1515). They had one son, Richard. Mary, then
wife of Walter Smyth, Knt., was living as late as 1544-1551.
Following her death, Sir Walter Smyth went to arrange a marriage for
his son, Richard Smyth, with Dorothy Chetwynd, daughter of Thomas
Chetwynd, of Ingestre, Staffordshire. But "no sooner did the old
knight see the the young lady," but he conceived "a liking to her for
himself." Sir Walter subsequently married Dorothy Chetwynd. However,
Dorothy quickly tired of Sir Walter and, "being of an inconstant
temperament and ill-regulated morals, encouraged the addresses of Mr.
William Robinson, of Drayton Basset, a handsome young gentleman of
twenty-two years."
Dugdale relates that Sir Walter Smyth was subsequently smothered to
death by his young wife, Dorothy, and her accomplices, on 15 May
1553. His wife was later convicted of the crime and burnt at the
stake at Wolvey Heath.
For a detailed account of the Sir Walter Smyth's murder, see the
article, "How Murders have been discovered," in Dublin University
Magazine, 65 (1865): 654. This material may be found at the following
weblink:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Rl4ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA654&dq=Walter+Smythe+murdered+Dorothy&lr=
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
royala...@msn.com
It would appear that Sir William Smyth (died 1526), of Elford,
Staffordshire, had three daughters by his first marriage to Anne
Staunton, namely Margery (wife of Richard Huddleston, Esq.), Jane
(wife of William Alycoke), and Dorothy (husband not known). We can be
fairly certain that Anne Staunton was the mother of all three
daughters, as the manors of Elford, Staffordshire and Sibbertoft,
Northamptonshire which were part of Anne Staunton's inheritance passed
to these children or their heirs.
Specifically, Margery inherited the manors of Elford, Oakley, and
Haselour.
Jane inherited the manor of Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire . In 1564,
she and her husband, William Alycoke, and their son and heir apparent,
John, had license to alienate this manor [see C.P.R. 1563–1566 (1939):
142]. A snippet view regarding this license may be viewed at the
following weblink:
http://books.google.com/books?id=eEFnAAAAMAAJ&dq=William+Alycoke&q=Alycoke&pgis=1#search_anchor
And, in the period, 1544-1551, Mary, daughter of Dorothy, claimed an
interest in the the reversion of the manor of Sibbertoft,
Northamptonshire and lands in Quorndon, Leicestershire [Reference:
National Archives, C 1/1266/31-34]. This item may be viewed at the
following weblink:
Besides the three daughters named above, Sir William Smyth also had a
son, Humphrey, by his third wife, Mary Ferrers. Sir William Smyth
appears to have had no surviving children by his second marriage to
Isabel Neville.
wjhonson
While John Huddleston of Millom was living, his eldest son Richard
Huddleston, Knt was his heir apparent. But this Richard d.v.p. in (or
about) 1483 after marrying Margaret Neville and having at least three
surviving children.
Richard and Margaret's apparently only surviving son was another
Richard Huddleston, who at his grandfather's death in 1493 (or 1494)
was found his heir, and then "aged 17".
This Richard married Elizabeth Dacre but d.s.p.m. when the inheritence
of Millom, bypassing his two sisters Margaret (Huddleston) Salkeld and
Johanna (Huddleston) Fleming, went to his uncle Sir John Huddleston of
Gloucester, next brother of his father Richard.
This Sir John died about 1511 after marrying Joan FitzHugh and having
at least their heir another Sir John Huddleston who was of Millom.
The William Huddleston you mention must be the father of John
Huddleston of Sawston, and I wonder if William wasn't also of Sawston.
Will Johnson
royala...@msn.com
Thank you for your good post. Much appreciated.
As I recall, I found a contemporary record in which William Huddleston
was styled "of Millon." So Millon is correct. His wife, Isabel, was
co-heiress in 1494 to her grandmother, Joan, widow of Edmund
Ingaldesthorpe, Knt., by which she inherited the manors of Bartlow and
Sawston, Cambridgeshire and Rainham and Wimbotsham, Norfolk.
Presumably William Huddleston held these properties in right of his
wife, but I have found no record which indicates that he did. In Jan.
1498 he was granted the third part called the “Middle Ward” of the
manor of Egremont and the Castle of Egremont, Cumberland for life at
£36 a year.
As for William Huddleston's parentage, my files currently identify
William Huddleston, Esq., as the third son of John Huddleston, Knt.,
of Millom, Cumberland, by Mary, 3rd daughter and co-heiress of Henry
Fenwick, Knt.
The Huddleston family is a bit of a tangle. Published sources say
different things about William Huddleston's place in this family.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
Merilyn Pedrick
I have a Catherine Huddlestone of Crackenthorpe, Westmorland who married
John Mauchell (involved in the Battle of Hexham 1465), and a Margaret
Huddlestone (might have been a sister?) who married Roland Thornburgh, son
of Sir Roland de Thornburgh and his wife Katherine. I'd love to find
ancestors for them.
Merilyn
"Can anyone point me to a good source for the family of Huddleston of Millom
Castle? I'm interested particularly in the 15th and 16th centuries for this
family. There is no pedigree of them on either the Tudor Place or Stirnet
websites, nor is there a pedigree in the 1563 Visitation of Yorkshire.
The Huddlestons made very advantageous marriages into the Nevill family in
the mid-to-late 15th century. It appears to have started with Sir Richard
Huddleston, KB, heir to Millom Castle, who married about 1465, Margaret, the
illegitimate daughter of Richard Nevill 'The Kingmaker'.
Two of Sir Richard's younger brothers then married first cousins of his
wife: Sir John Huddleston married (as his first wife) Joan Fitzhugh, niece
of the Kingmaker, and William Huddleston married Isabel Nevill, Daughter of
the Marquess Montagu, another niece of The Kingmaker.
And a Richard Huddleston of Westhall in Whittington, Lancashire, married
Alice Tunstall, granddaughter of George Nevill, archbishop of York, and so a
great-niece of The Kingmaker. But I'm not certain how The Huddlestons of
Westhall fit into the Millom Castle family.
Any sources on this family that anyone can point me to, I'd much appreciate.
Cheers, --------Brad (Gen-Med 7/2/06)
-------Original Message-------
From: wjhonson
Date: 11/03/2009 11:05:46 AM
Subject: Re: The ghastly murder of Sir Walter Smyth - his wife Dorothy burnt
at the stake!
I'm not sure about calling William Huddleston Esq "of Millom".
While John Huddleston of Millom was living, his eldest son Richard
Huddleston, Knt was his heir apparent. But this Richard d.v.p. In (or
About) 1483 after marrying Margaret Neville and having at least three
Surviving children.
Richard and Margaret's apparently only surviving son was another
Richard Huddleston, who at his grandfather's death in 1493 (or 1494)
Was found his heir, and then "aged 17".
This Richard married Elizabeth Dacre but d.s.p.m. When the inheritence
Of Millom, bypassing his two sisters Margaret (Huddleston) Salkeld and
Johanna (Huddleston) Fleming, went to his uncle Sir John Huddleston of
Gloucester, next brother of his father Richard.
This Sir John died about 1511 after marrying Joan FitzHugh and having
At least their heir another Sir John Huddleston who was of Millom.
The William Huddleston you mention must be the father of John
Huddleston of Sawston, and I wonder if William wasn't also of Sawston.
Will Johnson
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