[355] Register of Charterhouse Chapel.

[356] French, p. 556.

[357] A writer in _Notes and Queries_, Sixth Series, i. 494, speaks of a "large silver salver bearing a lion pa.s.sant and a leopard's head crowned. In the centre are the arms and crest of Shakespeare, and on an escutcheon of pretence three stags' heads caboshed. It bears the inscription, 'William Powlett Powlett, Esq., D.D. William Powlett Shakspear, 1821.' There is a legend this was made from plate owned by the poet. What is the date of the salver?"

[358] _Times_, June 13, 1864, and _Notes and Queries_, Third Series, vii. 498.

[359] Foster's "Alumni Oxonienses."

[360] "Misc. Gen. et Herald.," New Series, i., p. 143.

[361] Register of St. Bartholomew the Less.

[362] _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxix., p. 83.

[363] Manning and Bray's "Surrey," vol. ii., under Walton-upon-Thames, mentions the tomb of Matthew Shakespear and of George, aged fifteen, August 8, 1775; John Shakespear, of Weybridge, January 3, 1775, aged sixty-seven; William, January 23, 1783, aged seventy-seven; also of George Shakespear of Oxford Street, London, late of this parish, architect, who died March 29, 1797, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.

[364] _Notes and Queries_, Seventh Series, viii. 89.

[365] _Ibid._, Sixth Series, ii. 53.

[366] _Ibid._, Third Series, ix. 346, 398.

[367] British Museum Catalogues.

_PART II_

CHAPTER I

THE PARK HALL ARDENS

"No Saint George was born in England: He was but an Eastern saint; And the Dragon never vexed him, As the later legends paint.

"But our Saint was born in Berkshire, And to Warwick linked his name; 'Twas _Saint Guy_ who killed the Dragon-- Quenched the Giant Colbrand's fame."--C. C. S.

Few families in the country have a descent so nationally interesting as that of the Ardens. Great Norman families who "came in with the Conqueror" are numerous enough, but there are few that claim to be "merely English," and have such a record to show. The fables that have grown around the memory of the hero do not invalidate the pedigree.

Rohand was Earl of Warwick in the days of King Alfred and King Edward the Elder, when the t.i.tle was an official one, not necessarily hereditary, save of the King's will. Rohand was a great warrior, and was enriched with great possessions. He dwelt in the Royal Castle of Warwick,[368] said by Rous to have been founded by the British King Cymbeline, enlarged by his son Guiderius, and repaired by Ethelfleda, daughter of King Alfred, the Lady of Mercia. Rohand had one fair daughter and heir, Phillis, or Felicia, who demanded great proofs of valour in her suitors. She at last consented to marry the famous hero Guy, slayer of the Northern Dragon,[369] son of Siward, Baron of Wallingford, whom the Welsh claim as British by descent. Dugdale[370]

says that in her right Guy became Earl of Warwick, though of course this was only possible through the King's favour. Some difficulties are brought forward by Mr. Pegge.[371] Some time after his marriage, says the legend, Guy went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and on his return, in the third year of King Athelstan, 926, he found the kingdom in great peril from an invasion of the Danes. They were, however, secure in their faith in their champion, Colbrand the Giant, willing to leave the issue to the result of a single contest between him and any of the King's knights. King Athelstan's chief warriors were either dead or abroad, and he mourned in his spirit. A vision revealed to him that he must welcome at the gate of Winchester an unknown pilgrim as the defender of the country. The King obeyed the vision in faith, unwittingly welcomed Guy, and laid on him the responsibility of becoming the national champion.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WARWICK CASTLE.

_To face p. 162._]

Footsore, half-starved, and far from young, the pilgrim required rest before he dared prudently attack the Danish opponent. At the end of three weeks, however, he triumphantly encountered the giant, and the Danes kept their promise and retired. The pilgrim, who refused to reveal his name or receive any reward, also departed. He found that his son and heir, Raynborn, had been stolen away, and that his faithful servant Heraud was abroad in search of him. Affected by the strange religious notions of the day, he returned to Warwick, not to gladden the heart of his sorrowing spouse, but to receive charity at her hands among other poor men for three days, and then to retire to a hermitage at a cliff near Warwick, since called Guy's Cliff. There he remained till his death in 929, in the seventieth year of his age.[372] He sent a herdsman with his wedding-ring to tell his wife of his death, bidding her come to him and bury him properly, and she should shortly afterwards follow him. She fulfilled his wishes, set her house in order, left her paternal inheritance to her son Raynborn, and within a fortnight was laid beside her ascetic hero.

Heraud succeeded in finding young Raynborn in Russia, to whom, on his return, the grateful King Athelstan gave his beautiful daughter Leonetta in marriage. He, too, seems to have been of a wandering disposition. He died abroad, and lies buried in an island near the city of Venice. He left a brave son, Wegeat, or Wigatus, at home to succeed him, who was noted for his liberality to the Church, in which virtue, however, his son and successor, Huve,[373] or Uva,[374] seems to have exceeded him.

Huve died about the beginning of the reign of King Edward the Martyr, and Wolgeat, his son, succeeded him. In early life[375] he enjoyed the special favour of King Ethelred, but was deprived, at least for a time, of his honours and possessions about 1006. It was probably during the disorganized state of the earldom, in consequence of his "evil courses,"

that the Danes ravaged it so frequently. WiG.o.d, or Wigotus, his son, a potent man and a great warrior, succeeded to the earldom, and enjoyed it during the latter part of the reign of King Ethelred, and through the reigns of King Edmund and the Danish Kings. He married Ermenhild, the sister of the famous Leofric, Earl of Coventry and Leicester in the time of Edward the Confessor. His son, Ailwin, Earl of Warwick, was contemporary with King Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror.

Turchil, son and heir[376] of Ailwin (Harleian MS., 853, says "grandson"), was Earl at the Conquest. His first wife was the Countess of Perche; his second, Leverunia, grand-daughter of Leofric. In the Conqueror's Survey he is called _Vice-Comes_ rather than _Comes_, but this seems to have arisen from the royal interest in the castle, and the direct service he owed the King, though some authorities state that he was under Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He fought with William against Harold, and was ostensibly left in full possession of all his lands, rights and privileges. He is called Turchil of Warwick by the Normans, but Turchil of Eardene, or of the Woodland, by himself, being one of the first to adopt the Norman habit of local names. In Domesday Book, begun in the fourteenth year of the Conqueror, he is entered as in possession of forty-nine manors in Warwickshire, among which were Curdworth, Coughton, Rotley, Rodbourn, Compton (Winyate), Nuneaton. Warwick town and castle were recorded as belonging to the King. He had but a life-interest, however, his son, Siward, receiving none of them as his heir, but by favour of the King.

The t.i.tle of Earl of Warwick was given by William the Conqueror to Henry de Novoborgo, or Newburgh, younger son of Roger de Bellomont, Earl of Mellent, and William Rufus added to the gift the whole of Turchil's lands, including even those given away by himself and his ancestors to the Church. It was a hard lesson to friendly Saxon n.o.blemen. A gloss of justice, or at least of consideration, was shown in the marriage of Henry de Novoborgo to Margaret, one of the daughters of Turchil, and sister of Siward de Arderne.[377]

Turchil's sons were Siward de Ardena, Ralph of Hampton,[378] William, and Peter the Monk of Thorney, by his first wife, and Osbert by his second wife. Some of their lands were left to the Ardens by grace of the Novoborgos, who became their overlords. These lands were gradually diminished by devotion to the Church, by the increase of the family, and division of the properties, though this was somewhat balanced by wealthy marriages.

Siward by his wife Cecilia had a large family: Hugh de Rotley[379]

(dapifer or sewer to his kinsman William de Newburgh), Henry de Arden, Joseph, Richard, Osbert, Galfridus, a monk of Coventry, Cecilia, Felicia. Osbert, his stepbrother, was the father of Osbert, Philip,[380]

Peter de Arden, and Amicia, who became the wife of Peter de Bracebridge, and the ancestress of the Bracebridges of Kingsbury, seat of the Mercian Kings. Her brother Osbert had daughters only, Amabilia and Adeliza, who left no children.

The main line was carried on by Henry de Arden, son of Siward, who married Oliva, and whose eldest son and heir was Thomas de Arden, of Curdworth (9 John). He had also William de Arden of Rodburn, Herbert, and Let.i.tia. Thomas de Arden married Eustachia, widow of Savaricius de Malaleone, and had a son of his own name, Sir Thomas de Arden of Rotley and Spratton, who took part with Simon de Montfort and the rebellious Barons, 48 Henry III. This cost him dear. In 9 Edward I. he handed over, either in sale, lease, or trust, his lands in Curdworth to Hugh de Vienna; to the Knights Templars the interest he had in Riton; in 15 Edward I., to Nicholas de Eton the manor of Rotley, and to Thomas Arden de Hanwell and Rose his wife, Pedimore, Curdworth, Norhull, Winworth, Echenours, and Overton, and made a covenant with William de Beauchamp and Maud, his wife, of all his fees throughout England.

It is not probable that Turchil, the last Saxon Earl of Warwick, bore anything that might be strictly called armorial bearings. When the heiress of the Novoborgos married into their family, the Beauchamps added to their own the Newburgh arms. But they used them in a peculiar way, as if they considered they were a.s.sociated, not so much with the family as with the earldom. Only the eldest sons bore the Chevron chequy, the rest of the family bore the Beauchamp crosses crosslet. In some such way the Ardens also seem to have made a similar distinction, though in later times the meaning was occasionally forgotten, and the usage became confused.

Drummond suggests that the Ardens might also have borne these arms to suggest that they, too, had a claim to the earldom of Warwick. The arms Thomas bore were Chequy or and azure, a chevron gules, which his ancestors a.s.sumed to show they held their lands from the Earls of Warwick, whose Chevron was Ermine on the like field.[381]

The descendants of William of Rodburne,[382] the second son of Henry de Ardern, were more fortunate than their cousins. Thomas de Draiton was the elder, and William de Rodburne the younger. Thomas married Lucia (6 John), and had Thomas de Arden of Hanwell, Sir Robert de Arderne de Draiton, and Ralph.[383] Thomas,[384] who bore as arms Ermine a fesse chequy, or and azure, as now borne, married Rose, daughter of Ralph de Vernon, with whom he obtained the lordship of Hanwell. He was living in 1287, and had a son, Thomas, who presented to the church of Holdenby, 1334. This Thomas married Johanna de ---- (?), and had an only daughter, Joan, who married Sir John Swynford. Ralph married Alicia de Bellocampo.

Sir Robert de Arderne de Draiton married Nichola,[385] widow of William de Boutvilein. His son, Sir Giles, had a son, also Sir Giles. This latter had an only daughter, Margaret, who married Ludovic Greville, and carried Draiton into the possession of that Warwickshire family.

Ralph, son of Ralph, the second son of Thomas of Hanwell, married Isabella, daughter of Anselm de Bromwich, and lived at Pedmore, Warwickshire, 16 Edward II. In 17 Edward II. he was certified to be one of the princ.i.p.al esquires in the county. His son, Sir John, was knighted 33 Edward III., and bore for his arms the same as his ancestor, Thomas of Hanwell: Ermine, a fesse chequy or and az. He had only one daughter and heir, Rose, who married Thomas Pakeson, afterwards an outlaw. To John succeeded in Curdworth his brother Henry, whose wife was Elena, the first to establish himself in Park Hall, which was confirmed to him by Sir John de Botecourt, 47 Edward III., releasing him of all service, save only of an annual red rose. He was devoted to Thomas de Beauchamp, then Earl of Warwick, who granted him several other manors, also on payment of a red rose. In 4 Richard II. his niece, Rose, released to him her interest in Pedmore, Curdworth, Winworth, Sutton, and Norhull, of her father's inheritance. Sir Henry bore the fesse chequy or and az., with three crescents for difference,[386] before his brother's death (see Roll, Edward III., and arms in Lapworth Church). He left his son, Sir Ralph, heir, who served under the Earl of Warwick at the siege of Calais.

Ralph settled on his mother, Elena, for life, the manors of Wapenham and Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, with remainder to his brothers Geoffrey and William. He married Sibilla (2 Henry V.), and left by her two sons, Robert and Peter.[387] Robert was from the age of eight years a ward of Joan Beauchamp, Lady of Bergavenny. He married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Richard de Clodeshall; was in the King's service, was Sheriff of the County, and Knight of the Shire. He sided with the Yorkists in the Wars of the Roses, was taken, attainted of high treason by James, Earl of Wiltshire, and other judges appointed to try such cases, and was condemned. He was executed on Sat.u.r.day after the Feast of St. Laurence the Martyr, 30 Henry VI. The custody of his lands was granted to Thomas Littleton, Serjeant-at-Law, Thomas Greswold and John Gamell, Esquires.

Two years after his death his son Walter obtained the King's precept to his escheator to hand over the lands of his mother's inheritance to him, and shortly afterwards he secured his father's also. He married Eleanor, daughter of John Hampden of Hampden, in Buckinghamshire, and appears in the register of the Guild of Knowle, 1457, with his "wife Alianore." He had a large family, each of them in some special point interesting to the genealogist, and therefore worthy of some attention and of careful detail. It must not be forgotten that his father's attainder and the Wars of the Roses had temporarily crippled the resources of the family.

Walter Arden's will, July 31, 1502, is preserved at Somerset House,[388]

an interesting will in many ways. His eldest son and heir was John, Esquire of the Body to Henry VII., who was to pay 20 marks for his funeral. "Item. I will that my sonne Thomas have during his lief x marc, which I have given him; and that my sonne Martyn have the manor of Nafford during his lief, accordyng as I thereof made him astate yf it canne be recorded, and yf not, thenne I will that the same Martyn and every of my other sonnes, Robert, Henry and William have eche of them 5 marc by yere during eche of their lives, and that my feoffees of my landes make eche of them a sufficient astate of londes & tenements to the yerely value of 5 marc during every of their lives." He left his wife, Eleanor, executrix, Edward Belknap and John Bracebridge, Squiers, and John Boteler of Solihull, overseers, "Richard Slystre, Vicar of Aston, John Charnell[389] & Thomas Ardern,[390] Squiers, witnesses."

Dugdale seems to have read the will, and is interested in the mortuary bequest, but, curiously enough, supposes Martin to be older than Thomas.

Perhaps this error arose from the testator's desire to settle Natford upon Martin. This does not seem to have been so settled. Martin had his five marks, married an heiress, Margery East, settled at Euston, in Oxfordshire, and appears in the Visitations there, a.s.sociated with the Easts and the Gibbons. Robert was the Arden made Yeoman of the King's Chamber, a presumption made definite by Leland's[391] remark that "Arden of the Court was younger brother to Sir John Arden, of Park Hall." On February 22,[392] 17 Henry VII., he received a Royal Patent as Keeper of the Park at Altcar, Lancashire; another, as Bailiff of Codmore,[393]

Derby, and Keeper of the Royal Park there; a third gave him Yoxall for life,[394] apparently, however, for a payment of 42.

A Robert Arden, who had been Escheator to the Crown for Nottingham and Derby under Henry VII., received a new patent 2 Henry VIII.[395] On June 28, 7 Henry VIII., order to cancel five recognizances amounting to 200; one made by Robert Arderne, of Holme, co. Notts, may concern the same gentleman.[396]

Henry seems to have died young. William settled at Hawnes,[397] in Bedfordshire, bore as arms three cross-crosslets fitchee or, on a chief of the second, a martlet for difference. He seems to have died before his eldest brother. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Francklin of Thurley in County Bedford, and widow of George Thrale. His son Thomas married Anne, daughter of Richard Bowles of Wallington and widow of Thomas Gonnel. His daughter Joan married John Moore; his daughter Elizabeth married John Lee of Harlington.

Thomas certainly survived Sir John, Henry, and possibly also William.

Sir John married Alice d. of Richard Bracebridge of Kingsbury, and died in 1526. His will was drawn up on June 4 of that year.[398] After various bequests to churches, he left some special heirlooms to his son and heir, Thomas, to his son John an annuity from Natford of five marks a year for life, with other land, and gifts to him, his wife, and _their heirs_. "Item. I will that my brothers Thomas, Martin & Robert have their fees during their lives." That is, it may be remembered, ten marks for Thomas, and five marks each for the other two. "Item. I will that Rauf Vale and Hugh Colyns[399] have their fees as they have had during their lives." Bequests of furniture were left to "my daughter Geys Braylys," "my daughter Katerine _Muklowe_,"[400] "my daughter Brown,"

"my daughter Margaret Kambur," "my sister Margaret Abell," "my sister Alice Buklond," "my son Thomas Bralis." To Joane Hewes, Agnes Abell, John Charnell, various remembrances, his son Thomas to be sole executor, Sir John Willoughby overseer; witnesses, Martin Ardern, Robert Ardern, Symon Broke, clerk; John Charnell, John Croke, Rauf Vale. The will was proved June 27, 1526.

Where was Thomas, son of Walter, meanwhile? I have only been able to find two of the name contemporary with the cadet of Park Hall. A Thomas Arden of Saint Martin's Outwich, London, citizen and clothworker, on November 29, 1549, drew up a short will,[401] leaving his wife, Agnes, his sole heir and executrix, proved January, 1549. I endeavoured to learn if by chance he had come from Warwickshire, but the apprentice-books of the company do not begin early enough. There was a commercial family of Ardens in London, of whom he more probably was a member. The possibility of his being a Warwickshire man I thought worthy of careful consideration, but have been able to bring no further facts forward.