Thomas atte Towne (Toune, Town, etc.), of Towne Place, Throwley, Kent, represented Kent in Parliament in 1420.[1] As Thomas atte Toune of Drowleye, he, [his mother] Beneditta Betenham of Cranderoke, and others sued in Common Pleas in 1422.[2] He had died
by 1427, when Joan Toune widow of Thomas Toune sued Stephen Bouns of Threulegh, husbandman, and John Grymmesham of Faveresham, brewer for debt.[3] Thomas's three daughters Elizabeth wife of William Sonde, Benedicta wife of William Watton, and Alianora
wife of Richard Leukenore are identified in a Common Pleas lawsuit from 1440.[4]
He is ancestor of early Virginia immigrant Capt. Francis Epes. Attempts to place Daniel Epes of New England into this family, which have not been successful, were previously discussed here:
https://groups.google.com/g/soc.genealogy.medieval/c/WreJUj7KlCc/
m/rxilstWTAgAJ
The question is - who was Joane the wife of Thomas atte Towne? Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century heralds repeatedly called her a Cheyne, variously describing her as the daughter of John Cheyne [I can't identify this person],[5] William Cheyne [MP for
Kent 1416],[6] or William's father Richard Cheyne [b. c1352].[7]
William Cheyne's will, written in 1441, was registered in the Archbishop of Canterbury's register. He only names two children: John and Eleanor.[8]
The earliest visitation pedigree I’ve seen on the family, taken in Berkshire in 1532, about 100 years after Joane’s life, states: ‘Joane vx : Tho : Atrown, Towne, of whom com{es} Somes {Sondes}’ is identified as the daughter of ‘Sr Richard
Cheney of Sherland Kt 10 yeares old 36 : Edw : 3 [1362-3]’ by ‘Margery da: & coheire of Robert Crall of Crall in Com. Sussex & Margarett his wife da : & h : of Symon Peplasham.’[9]
In the 1574 Visitation of Kent, it was recorded ‘William Sandes of Lingfield=Elizabeth daughter and coheire [heir] of Tho: at Towne of Throwld [Throwley].’ He states further that ‘Thomas Towne=Joane daughter and heire of Willm Cheyney [Richard
Cheyne of Sheppey].’ Bannerman, the editor, changed Joane’s father from ‘Willm’ to ‘Richard.’ Bannerman also concludes that the Cheyney arms were mistakenly omitted from the pedigree.[10]
Stained glass at the church in Nettlestead, Kent, which has been intensely studied, and which is estimated to have been created in the 1430s, includes the arms of this Thomas atte Towne, next to members of Richard Cheyne’s family.[11] That source would
be contemporary, but no statements are made about how the depicted people are related. John Pympe, identified as Richard Cheyne’s son-in-law in some of the visitation pedigrees,[7] was lord of Nettlestead manor and had advowson at the time.
William Sonde was a residuary legatee in the will of William Cheyne clerk son of William Cheyne knight in 1430.[12] William Sondes is also stated to have been described as a cousin in the father William Cheyne knight’s will in the 1440s.[13] Neither of
these two Williams are identical to the MP for Kent.[14]
I know these families have been studied before. Has anyone found additional evidence concerning the paternity of Joane wife of Thomas atte Towne? Would you consider the evidence presented in this post sufficient to prove she was the daughter of Richard
Cheyne? Thanks for your expertise.
References:
[1] Thomas Town in HoP
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/town-thomas
[2] AALT index
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no647/CP40no647Pl.htm
[3] AALT index
https://waalt.uh.edu/index.php/CP40/664 ; original records
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no664/aCP40no664fronts/IMG_0415.htm and
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no664/aCP40no664fronts/IMG_0819.htm
[4] G. Wrottesley, Pedigrees from the Plea Rolls ([1905?]), 371
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t6542rp7k&view=1up&seq=381&skin=2021 ; CP40no717 index
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no717/CP40no717Pl.htm ; CP40no717
dorse 1262 image
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no717/bCP40no717dorses/IMG_1262.htm
[5] Frederic Augustus Blaydes, The Visitations of Bedfordshire, Annis Domini 1566, 1582, and 1634. Made by William Harvey, Esq., Clarencieux King of Arms, Robert Cooke, Esq., Clarencieux King of Arms, and George Owen, Esq., York Herald, as Deputy for Sir
Richard St. George, Kt., Clarencieux King of Arms … (London, 1884), 15
https://archive.org/details/visitationsofbed1921harv/page/n35/mode/2up?view=theater
[6] W. Bruce Bannerman, ed., The Visitations of Kent, Taken in the Years 1574 and 1592 by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux, Harl. Soc. Pubs., Visitation Ser. 74-75 (London, 1924), 2:32-34
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015039595601&view=1up&seq=50&
skin=2021; William Cheyne in HoP
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/cheyne-william-1441
[7] W. Harry Rylands, ed., The Four Visitations of Berkshire, 1532, 1566, 1623, 1665-6, Harl. Soc. Pubs., Visitation Ser. 56-57 (London, 1908), 2:102-103
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101072869470&view=1up&seq=127&skin=2021; CIPM Ed III
1361-1365:240-241
https://archive.org/details/cu31924011387895/page/240/mode/2up?view=theater Robert Cheyne, knight, IPM, writ 6 Mar 36 Ed III [1361/2], inq. taken 12 April 36 Ed III [1362], d. 7 Nov. last [1361]. IPM year apparently incorrectly
published as 38 Ed III in W. Bruce Bannerman, ed., Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, 4th Ser., 3 (1910):314
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS8X-9Z2G?i=185&cat=244051 ; Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry (2013), 3:423.
[8] E.F. Jacob, ed., The Register of Henry Chichele Archbishop of Canterbury 1414-1443, Cant. and York Soc. Pubs. 42, 45-47 (Oxford, 1937-1947), 2:584-585
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSZX-S3KY?cat=112575 ; original register 1:475
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C396-QB7X?i=497&cat=553600
[9] W. Harry Rylands, ed., The Four Visitations of Berkshire, 1532, 1566, 1623, 1665-6, Harl. Soc. Pubs., Visitation Ser. 56-57 (London, 1908), 2:102-103
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101072869470&view=1up&seq=127&skin=2021
[10] W. Bruce Bannerman, ed., The Visitations of Kent, Taken in the Years 1574 and 1592 by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux, Harl. Soc. Pubs., Visitation Ser. 74-75 (London, 1924), 2:32-34
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015039595601&view=1up&seq=50&
skin=2021.
[11] W.E. Ball in ‘The Stained-Glass Windows of Nettlestead Church,’ Archæologia Cantiana 28 (1909):157-250, at 205-206
https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/arch-cant/vol/28/stained-glass-windows-nettlestead-church ; Oliver Fearon, ‘Fragile Lords:
Gender, Gentility and Coats of Arms in English Domestic Stained Glass, c.1450-1560,’ thesis, Univ. of York, 2019,
https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/27740/ (color photographs are in part 2)
[12] PCC 13 Luffenam
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/869366:5111?tid=&pid=&queryId=aff6cb18646ac41ce4c96da5b21d3ede&_phsrc=UZP150&_phstart=successSource
[13] Testamenta Vetusta, 249
https://archive.org/details/testamentavetust01nico/page/249/mode/1up?view=theater
[14] Biography of Judge William Cheyne,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cheyne_(judge)
Nathan
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