Joan de Melton, wife of (1) Robert Conyers, and (2) Thomas de Eland
The...@aol.com
Hello All,
Last year, I posted a conjecture concerning Jane (or Joan),
wife of Thomas de Eland, who is identified in the Visitation
pedigree of Eland as the 'widow of Robert Conyers'. The item
that first caused this post was an record from 1343 concerning
wardship of one Margaret Conyers:
' Wardship of Margaret, daughter of Robert son of Thomas
de Conyers, granted to Thomas Eland and Joan, his wife,
418.' [1]
I was unable to place the Robert Conyers in question at that
time, but have now found the necessary evidence. This is the fine
concerning the marriage of Robert Conyers (or de Conyers) and Joan
de Melton, niece of William de Melton, Archbishop of York. The
text of the fine, dated at York, three weeks of Michaelmas, 7 Edw.
III, 1333, was largely accessible via Google, as follows:
' Robert de Conyers, knight, quer., William de Ponte Burgi,
clerk, def., of the manors of Hoton Conyers, Norton Conyers,
and Overdydensale: to hold to Robert for life; remainder, as
to the manors of Hoton and Norton, to Robert son of Thomas de
Conyers and Joan daughter of Henry de Melton and the heirs of
their bodies; remainder to the right heirs of Robert de
Conyers [the party]. As to the manor of Overdydensale, to
hold to Thomas son of Robert de Conyers for life; remainder
to the said Robert (son of Thomas) and Joan and the heirs of
their bodies; remainder........' [2]
These assorted pieces of evidence provide the answers to several
questions, including the identity of Thomas de Eland's wife. Taken
together with the know biography of the younger Sir Robert de
Conyers (fl. ca. 1325 - 1392), deponent in the Scrope-Grosvenor
case of 1386, the following observations can be made, and the
members of the Melton, Conyers and Eland families placed in
context:
1. Robert de Conyers, son of Thomas de Conyers and nephew
(or possibly grandson) of Sir Robert de Conyers of Hutton
Conyers, &c., was the first husband of Joan de Melton in
or shortly after 1333 [ "1) below]. They had at least
one daughter, Margaret: there is no evidence of other
issue.
A. The younger Sir Robert de Conyers was (based upon the
evidence given in the 1386 case) born ca. 1325, and
must have been the son of a first, otherwise unknown,
wife of the elder Robert <A>. It appears unlikely that
he was born in 1335, but it would require a difference
of about ten years or more for Joan de Melton to have
been his mother.
2. Robert de Conyers died in 1343 or before, in which year
the wardship of his daughter Margaret was given to Joan,
his widow, and her new husband Thomas de Eland.
3. Sir Robert de Conyers (" the younger" ) can now be shown
as having one known wife, Juliana de Percy, without the
past difficulties in explaining (A) his having married
Joan de Melton in 1333, (B) his having died in 1343 or
before, and (C) being later found married to Juliana de
Percy, with issue. His mother can currently only be
shown as "NN".
___________________________
I I
William de Melton Henry de Melton
Archbp. of York d. bef 9 Apr 1330
1317-1340 I
_______I_________________________
I I I I
Sir William I Thomas John
Thomas de de Melton I de Melton
Conyers = Joan de I rector of Hotham
I Lucy I
I_________ I
<A> I
NN = 1) Robert de = Joan de = 2) ca. 1343, Thomas
I Conyers I Melton I de Eland
I m. 1333 I I d. bef 6 Dec 1354
I d. ca. 1342/3 I I
I I I
I I I
Sir Robert Margaret Isabel = Sir John
Conyers Conyers Eland I Savile
fl. 1325-1392 fl. 1343 d. aft 1418 I d. bef 23
I Sept 1399
I
V
Joan, widow of Robert de Conyers and wife of Thomas de Eland,
can now be identified as Joan de Melton. This does not extend the
known Savile ancestry greatly. However, it does link the later
Lords Lucy (descendants of Sir William de Melton) and the well-known
Archbishop of York to that family.
Cheers,
John
NOTES
[1] Richard D'Aungerville, of Bury: Fragments of His Register and
Other Documents (Durham: Andrews & Co., 1910), p. 77 (entries
for the year 1343).
[2] Feet of Fines for the County of York (Yorkshire Archaeological
Society Record Series, 1910), XLII:52.
* John P. Ravilious