Throckmorton, of England and Virginia; Wm. and Mary Qrtly., Vol. 2, No. 4, 1894

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Throckmorton, of England and Virginia

   William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Papers, Vol. 2, No. 4.
   (Apr., 1894), pp. 241-247.

               THROCKMORTON, OF ENGLAND AND VIRGINIA.

   Throckemertona, Throckmorton, or the Rockmoortown, from whence this family is

denominated, is situated in the vale of Evesham, in the parish of Fladbury,
anciently written Flanderburg, in Pershore Hundred, in Worcestershire, a manor
containing two hamlets, Hull. alias Hill, and Moor.

   The rise of this family is recorded by no antiquary.  In a pedigree made by
Sir William Dugdale, the first mentioned is John de Throckmorton, who was lord
of the manor of Throckmorton, in the vale of Evesham, about fifty years after
the Norman Conquest, 1130; which leaves no room to doubt but that this family
possessed it at the entrance of the Normans, or long before, the etymology of
the name being either British, or, as is more probable, Saxon.

   From this John descended Henry de Throckmorton, who made a grant of a yard of
land in Halla, temp. Henry III., 1220.

Page 242.

   Robert de Throckmorton (his son, I presume) had issue, Simon de Throckmorton,
who, by Isabel his wife, had issue, two sons, John and Giles, which last had an
annual revenue out of the manor of Throckmorton, A.D. 1330.

   John, the eldest, was possessed of Throckmorton, 13 Edw. III., 1339, and had
in marriage Agnes, or Anne, daughter and heir of Sir Richard Abberbury, of 
Adderbury, in Oxfordshire, and was succeeded in the lordship of Throckmorton,
etc., by Thomas, his son and heir, who was of the retinue of Thomas Beauchamp,
Earl of Warwick, in 20 Richard II., as also escheator for the county of Worcester
in 3 Henry IV., in those days an office of great account and trust.  He was
constable of Elmley Castle in 6 Henry IV., and by Agnes his wife, daughter and
heir of ----- Besford, was father of John Throckmorton, who was employed in the
service of Earl Richard (son of Thomas, Earl of Warwick) at Caen, in Normandy,
in 5 Henry V., and, being brought up to the study of the laws, was afterwards
of his counsel.  He died April 12, 23 Henry VI., leaving Eleanor, his wife,
surviving, who was daughter and co-heir of Sir Guy de la Spine, or de Spineto
(by the heir of Wyke), Lord of Coughton, in Warwickshire.  John Throckmorton
left issue by Eleanor aforesaid, two sons and six daughters: 1, Thomas, ancestor
to the branch we are treating of; and 2, John, who married Isabel, daughter of
Edward Bruges, of Lone, in Gloucestershire, Esq. (from whom descended Sir 
William Throckmorton, of Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, created Baronet, 9 Jac.
I., which title is extinct).  Of the six daughters, Eleanor married to Richard
Knightley, of Fawsley, in Northamptonshire, Esq.; Maud, to Sir Thomas Green, of
Green's Norton, in the same county, Knt.; Margaret, to John Rous; Agnes, to John
Winslow; Elizabeth, to Robert Russel; and, according to some pedigrees, another
Elizabeth, married to Robert Gifford, and by others, married to ----- Seymour.

   Till the time of Thomas Throckmorton, eldest son and heir, it seems that this
family was not wholly possessed of Coughton; but then did John Tracy, son and
heir of Alice, the other daughter and co-heir of Sir Guy Spine, by his deed,
bearing date May 29, 27 Hen. VI., grant unto him the said Thomas, and his heirs,
that moiety thereof by inheritance belonging to him.  Of which Thomas, all that
I have seen farther memorable, is, that in 5 Edw. IV he underwent the Office of
Sheriff of the counties of Warwick and Leicester, and that he departed this life
in 12 Edw. IV. leaving by Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Sir Robert Olney of
Weston, in

Page 243.

Bucks, Knt. (and Goditha his wife, daughter and co-heir of William Borom, or
Bofun,) four sons: (1), Robert, who whom hereafter; (2), John, who married Jane,
daughter and coheir of Henry Baynard, of Spelshull, in Suffolk, and was ancestor
of the Throckmortons, of Claxton, and Southelman, &c., in Norfolk and Suffolk;
(3), Richard, ancestor to those of Great Stoughton, in Huntingdonshire; and
(4), William, LL.D.  Also four daughters:  Goditha, married to Edward Peyto, of
Chesterton, in Warwickshire; Mary, wife of Thomas Middlemore of Edgbaston, in
the same county; Margaret to William Tracy of Tuddington, In Gloucestershire,
Esqrs.; and Elizabeth, the last Abbess of Denny, who died Jan. 13, 1547; and
lies buried at Coughton.

   Robert Throckmorton, Esq., son and heir, twenty-one years old at his father's
death, I find a Justice of the Peace for Warwickshire, from 2 R. III. till 
towards his death.  In 1 Hen. VII. he was made of that King's Privy Council; and
in 2 Hen. VII. this Robert made the Park at Coughton, inclosing therewith a 
certain common ground called Wikewood, whereunto he afterwards added Samburne-
heath, and Spiney's Leys, lying within the said Lordship of Samburne; and the
same year was a Commander in the King's army at the battle of Stoke.  In 10 Hen.
VII. he received summons, with divers other persons of quality, to appear before
the King in person upon the feast day of All Saints the same year, to receive
the order of Knighthood, upon advancement of Henry, the King's second son, to
the Dukedom of York, and created him Knight of the Bath, in honour whereof
these were to be made Knights of that order; yet do not I find, by any commission,
that he had the title of Knight attributed to him till 17 Hen. VII.  That he was
a man of singular piety, the sundry bequests, contained in his testament, do
sufficiently manifest; and of no less devotion, as may seem by his pilgramage to
the Holy Land, which in 10 Hen. VIII. (having settled his estate) he undertook;
but died beyond sea in that journey.  He left issue by his first wife, Eliza-
beth, daughter of ----- Baynham, only one daughter, Ursula, married to Sir
Thomas Gifford, of Chillington, in Staffordshire, Knt.; and by his second,
Catharine, daughter of Sir William Marrow, Knt., Alderman of London, he had four
sons, and seven daughters: (1), Sir George, hereafter mentioned; (2), Anthony,
killed in the battle of Pavia, in Italy; (3) Michael, who was of the retinue of
Cardinal Pole, and died 1 Nov., 5 & 6 Phil. and Mary, and lies buried at Mantua,
father to Francis Throckmorton, Esq., famous for his hospitality to the English
travelers at Mantua,

Page 244.

where he lived, notwithstanding his burial at Ullen-hall, 1617; (4), Richard,
of Higham Ferrers, in Northamptonshire, who married Jane, daughter of Humphrey

Beaufoe, of Edmonscot, in Warwickshire, and was ancestor to Sir George Throck-
morton, Serjeant of the hawks to Queen Elizabeth, and to those of Brampton and
Ellington, in Huntingdonshire.

   Of the seven daughters of Sir Robert, Mary was the wife of Tho. Burdet, of
Bramcote, in Warwickshire; also of Richard Middlemore, of Edgbaston, in the 
same county, Esqrs.; Elizabeth, married to Sir Thomas Englefield, Knt.;
Catharine, wife of ------ Boughton, of Lawford, in Warwickshire, esq.; Ursula,
Bridget, and Alice died unmarried; and Margaret, a nun.

   Sir George, his son and heir, succeeded, who being a Knight in 17 Hen. VIII.
was one of those that attended in court at that solemn coronation of Queen Anne,
in 25 Hen. VIII. and in 18 and 35 Hen. VIII., executed the office of Sheriff for
the counties of Warwick and Leicester.  He built that stately castle-like Gate-
house of freestone at Coughton, intending (as it should seem) to have made the

rest of his house suitable thereto; but the Lord Cromwell, Vicar-general to the
King, being Lord of the manor of Oversley, in Warwickshire, and beholding thence,
with a rapacious eye, this estate, lying in the vale below, had him imprisoned
in the Tower for refusing the Oath of Supremacy, where he was preparing to lay
down his life for the same principles as Bishop Fisher, and Sir Thomas More,
professed.  But Queen Catharine Parr, niece to Sir George's Lady, begged the life
of her uncle, and was so great a friend to him as to procure court preferments
for three of his sons, Clement, Nicholas, and George; and when the Lord Cromwell
fell into disgrace the King was pleased to advise with Sir George, amongst others,
in what manner to proceed with that unfortunate statesman, who complained thereof
in a doleful letter to the King.  He married Catharine, daughter of Nicholas,
Lord Vaux, of Harrowden, by whom he had nine sons and ten daughters:  (1) Sir
Robert, ancestor to the present Baronet; (2), Deodatus; (3) Clement, of Haseley,
in Warwickshire, Sewer to the Queen, temp. Hen. VIII., and afterwards a Com-
mander at the siege of Bullogne.  He married Catharine, daughter of Sir Edward
Nevil, Knt., second son to the Lord Abergavenny, and from him descended those of
Haseley, and Ansley, in Warwickshire.  His eldest son and heir, Job, was a con-
siderable man, and the supposed author of Sir Martin mar Prelate; and father of
Sir Clement Throckmorton, Knt., who was a Gentleman not a little eminent for

Page 245.

his learning and eloquence, having served in several Parliaments in the reigns
of Elizabeth, James I and chas. I as one of the Knights of the shire for the
county of Warwick, and undergone divers other public employments.  Clement, his
son, was Lord of the manor of Haseley, 1640, and had three sons and five daugh-
ters; Sir Clement, his eldest, knighted by King Charles II. and sat in Parliament
as one of the burgesses for Warwick, 1661.  He died at Wolverhampton, before his
father, without issue; whereupon his brother Francis, first son by his father's
fourth wife, became heir to the estate, and enjoyed it about two years; and he
dying also without issue, his brother Robert succeeded, who married into the
Mordaunt family, and possessing it not much above two years, died, leaving his
wife with child of a son, which was named Clement, who lived to be married to
Lucy, daughter of Captain Thomas Lucy, of Cherlecote, and Catharine, his wife,
daughter of Robert Wheatley, of Bracknell, in Berks, Esq.; (who after his death
married the Duke of Northumberland,) but dying some little time after, left his 
wife also breeding of Mrs. Lucy Throckmorton, who married, first, Wm. Bromley,
of Bagginton, in Warwickshire, Esq., eldest son of the Hon. William Bromley,
Esq., Secretary of State to Queen Anne; and secondly, ----- Chester, Esq.

   The fourth son of Sir George, before mentioned, was Sir Nicholas, Sewer to
King Hen. VIII., and a Commander at Bullogne; who in the reign of Edward VI,
commanded at Muffelburgh-field, and brought the news of the victory; whereupon
he was knighted, and was in the highest favor and esteem with that King.  In
the reign of Queen Mary he was tried about Wyat's conspiracy, and made a most
notable defence, as may be seen in the State Trials, and by the justness and
integrity of the Jury was acquitted; and afterwards was received by the Queen
with great marks of esteem; and was at the battle of St. Quintins.  In 1 Eliz.
he was Chief Butler of England, and Chamberlain of the Exchquer, and that year
employed as ambassador to Francis II., King of France, and Mary, Queen of Scotts,
his consort, to expostulate the matter with them for assuming the Arms of England
in their quarterings.  Much more might be said of his actions and negotiations
for he was a valiant soldier and commander, and a consummate statesman.  He left
his own life in verse, written, as is supposed, in his imprisonment (and is now
in the library at Weston).  He died Feb. 12, 1570, aged fifty-seven, and Fuller
says, "at supper, eating of salad, not without suspicion of poison, the rather,
because

Page 246.

happening in the house of one no mean artist in that faculty, R. Earl of
Leicester", and lies buried on the south side of the chancel of St. Catharine
Cree Church.  He married (as before mentioned) Anne, daughter of Sir Nicholas
Carew, of Beddington, in Surry, knight of the Garter (sister and heir to Sir
Francis Carew); from this match by his eldest son, Sir Arthur, proceeded the
Throckmortons, of Paulers Perry, in Northamptonshire; from Sir Nicholas, a
younger son, who had his mother's estate, and took the name of Carew, was the
late Sir Nicholas-Hacker Carew, of Beddington, in Surry, Bart., descended.  The
fifth son of Sir George was Kenelme.  6, Thomas, who died without issue.  7,
Sir John, knighten by Queen Elizabeth, in the first year of her reign, at
Kenilworth, and was Master of the Requests, and Justice of Chester.  He married
Margery Puttenham, daughter of Robert Puttenham, Esq., by whom he had five sons
and four daughters.  He died May 22, 1580, and lies buried at Coughton.

   Sir John Throckmorton, of Fekenham, above mentioned, had issue, Francis,
attained in 26 Eliz. for treason laid to his charge, as having conspired in
behalf of the Queen of Scots.  The eighth son of Sir George, before mentioned,
was George, who married Mary, daughter of John Burges, the first Baron Chandos;
and 9, Anthony, of Castleton, Oxfordshire, who married Catharine, daughter and
co-heir of William Willington, of Barcheston, in Warwickshire, Esq., relict of
William Catesby, of Ashby Legers, in Northamptonshire, Esq., and was ancestor
to the Throckmortons of Hertfordshire and Essex.  Of the daughters of Sir
George, Mary died without issue; Anne married John Digby, of Coleshill, in
Warwickshire, Esq.; Elizabeth, first married to Robert Winter, of Hodington,
in Worcestershire, and secondly, to Thomas Smith, of Camden, in Gloucestershire,
Esqrs.; Margaret, first the wife of ----- Catesby, and afterwards of Brian Cave,
Esqrs.; Elizabeth, first married to John Gifford, of Chillington, in Stafford-
shire; secondly, to William Ligon; and thirdly, to George Peyto, of Chesterton,
in Warwickshire, Knt.; Elizabeth, Mariel, and Elizabeth, who died young or un-
married.  Sir George, the father of these sons, lived to a very great age, and

died 1 Queen Mary.  He had a more numerous posterity than perhaps any in England
at that time, having an hundred and twelve grandchildren existing.  He died in
the year 1500.

   Sir Robert Throckmorton, Knt., eldest son and heir of Sir George, before
mentioned, was Sheriff of the counties of Warwick

Page 247.

and Leicester, 1 Queen Mary.  He had two wives; first, Meriel, daughter of

Thomas, Lord Berkeley; his second Lady was Elizabeth, daughter of John, Lord
Hussey, relict of John, Lord Hungerford.  (The preceding is from Kimber's
Baronetage.)

                     [TO BE CONTINUED]