Death date of Richard Townshend of Brampton

[Gjest]

Various conflicting dates are given in printed sources for the death
of Richard Townshend of Brampton, Norfolk, whose wife we now know to
have been Katherine Shelton, daughter of Alderman Nicholas Shelton of
London (d 1515) by his second wife Elizabeth Rawlyns [ie NOT daughter
but step-daughter of Sir Humphrey Brown].

This couple are ancestral to the present Marquess Townshend, of
Raynham Hall, Norfolk.

According to the ODNB article for their son, Roger Townshend
(c1544-1590), Richard was dead by 1551, when Roger was heir to his
great-grandmother.

Athenae Cantabrigiensis (sub Roger Townshend) asserts that Richard
died on 9 May 1552.

The Townshends and their World: Gentry, Law and Land in Norfolk,
c1450-1551, C.E. Moreton, 1992, p 221 states Richard died in 1551.

Collins's Peerage (1812) states he died 5 Edward VI, leaving a will
dated 20 July 5 Edward VI "which was proved 12 February 1544 (sic)".
However, 5 Edward VI was 28 January 1550/1 to 27 January 1551/2. It
is therefore unclear whether the reference to "5 Edward VI" (1551) or
to "1544" is incorrect.

It seems there is no probate for either year in the PCC calendars,
although there is a sentence for November 1554 and a probate grant for
12 February 1555 (sic); it is presumably this latter (12 February
1554/5) that Collins referred to erroneously as 12 February 1554.
Perhaps we can rely on his statement that the will was dated 20 July
1551?

However, his widow had remarried to Peter Sainthill no later than 1551
(PROCAT document at C 1/1270/25-26 dated 1544-1551).

So, we are left with the following possibilities:

(i) 1544
(ii) 1551
(iii) 1552 [manifestly wrong]

It seems the range "c1544-1551" is the best that can be determined at
present...

MA-R

[Gjest]

On Jan 29, 6:43 am, "John Townsend" <[email protected]>
wrote:

Various conflicting dates are given in printed sources for the death
of Richard Townshend of Brampton, Norfolk, whose wife we now know to
have been Katherine Shelton, daughter of Alderman Nicholas Shelton of
London (d 1515) by his second wife Elizabeth Rawlyns [ie NOT daughter
but step-daughter of Sir Humphrey Brown].

"The Townshends of Raynham" by James Durham (1922) seems to say that Richard
Townshend's wife was Katherine, daughter and heir of Sir Humphrey Brown, of
Ridley Hall in Terling, co. Essex - a Judge of the Common Pleas.

Richard must have died before 21 July 1551, the date of his father's will in
which he is described as "lately deceased".  (Probate was 10 May 1552).

Best wishes,

John Townsend

Many thanks, John.

That's a very useful absolute terminus ante quem.

Cheers, Michael