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| Extract from the Theydon Mount Register in 1611 (Photographed at the Celebration Day when the Essex Record Office kindly lent the original documents) |
St
Michael’s Church, Theydon Mount commemorated the 400th anniversary
of its rebuilding in 2014. A search
through old documents held at the Essex Record Office reveals some interesting
facts.
Theydon
Mount was, and still is, a very small parish.
The Parish Register[1]
shows that during the period 1603 to 1625 there were 7 marriages and 38
burials, with none at all in some years and particularly between 1611 and
1613. (Baptisms were more frequent.) This is a short extract from the baptisms
pages of Register:
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1611
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for Two yeeres we had none
Christened in o[u]r Church because it
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was so long in building after
it was burnt
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1614
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Margaret daughter of Tho Juby
Clarke was baptized [th]e first day
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of May A[nn]o sup[ra]dicto
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The
note in the Register suggests that the old building may have been of wooden
construction, but fire can damage stonework and mortar too. The new church, as we know, is built of brick
and must have reopened either on or before 1 May 1614 when Thomas Juby’s
daughter was baptised. Thomas Juby was
the clerk or rector of the parish.
Ten
Wills survive in the Essex Record Office for Theydon Mount during the reign of
King James I.[4]
Did
any of them mention anything about the church rebuilding between 1611 and 1614?
The
answer is ‘yes’.
Thomas
Bredge devised the following Will[5]:
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1
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Bredge. Anno domini[6]
one Thousand six hundred
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2
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and twelve dated the Seaven and
twentith[7]
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3
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of Aprill.
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4
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In the name of god Amen. I
Thomas Bredge of Theydon-
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5
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Mounte in the Countie of
Essex. First I bequeath my soule
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6
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to Almyghtie God my creator and
to Jesus Christ my
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7
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redeemer and to the holieghos
my santifier As for my
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8
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bodie I bequeath to the Earth
from whence it came. And
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9
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to be buried in the churchyard
of Theydon Garnone[8]
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10
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aforesaid[9]. I give to the poore of Theydon Mounte
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11
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ten shillings to be disposed
accordinge to the discrecon[10]
of
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12
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my Executors. Item I give to the rep[ar]acon of Theydon
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13
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mounte Church ten
shillings. Item I give and bequeath to
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14
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my sonne James twentie pounde
to be paid when he
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15
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shall come to the full age of
one and twentie yeares
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16
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Item I give and bequeath unto
my eldest daughter
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17
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Margaret Bredge thirteene
pounde six shillings and
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18
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eight pence[11]
To be paid when she shall come to the
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19
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full age of eighteene
yeares. Item I giue to my
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20
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daughter Anne Bridge[12]
thirteen pound six shillings
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21
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eight pence to be paid when
shee shall come to the
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22
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full age of Eighteene yeares.
Item I giue to my
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23
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daughter Elizabeth xiiiLi[bor]
vis viiid[13]
to be paid when
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24
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she shall come to the full age
of eighteene yeares
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25
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If it happen that any of theis
my children should
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26
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die before theie come to age
Then my will is that
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27
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theire porcion should be
devided amonge the rest
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28
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of my children. Item if it happen that my wife to be w[i]th
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29
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childe at the time of my
decease my mynd and will
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30
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is that it should have
xiiiLi[bor] vis viijd at the end of
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31
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eighteene yeares. Item I give and bequeath to Agnes
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32
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my wif all the rest of my
moveable goodes w[hi]ch is unbequeathed
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33
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whom I make my full and whole
Executor of this
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34
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my last will and Testament.
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35
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my brother Robert and my
brother Richard my
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36
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overseers of this my last will
and Testament. The
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37
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marke of Thomas Bredge, Richard
Maynard, William
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38
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Kobinet, Edward Aylett. The
marke of Thomas
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39
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Stevens
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40
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Probatum …[14]
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“Thomas
Bridge of Thoidon Mount” was buried at Theydon Garnon on 30 April 1612, the
register for that parish reveals[15].
We
can estimate Thomas’ age at the time of death as being at most in his mid-30s. This was quite common.
This
will is typical of most. First the
testator leaves his soul to Almighty God then directs where his body is to be
buried. The text is pretty standard.
When
this will was written the word ‘aforesaid’ was included in error. Two parishes are mentioned: Theydon Mount and
Theydon Garnon.
So
was Theydon Mount an error? Where did
Thomas Bredge live?
Here
the Parish Register for Theydon Mount comes to our rescue because all his four
children were baptised there: “Margaret [th]e daughter of Thomas Bridge
baptized the first of August 1602”; “James Breages the sonne of Thomas Breages
was baptized the 8 of July 1604”; “Ann daughter of Tho Bridge was baptized [th]e
9 of December [1607]”; and, “Elizabeth daughter of Tho Bridges was baptized
[th]e 29 of Aprill [1610]”[16].
We
can deduce that Thomas Bredge was a Theydon Mount man. Also, that the writer probably used a
template copy to complete the will.
Would we want to commit to memory all those standard words?
Legacies
to the poor and to the church follow the instructions for disposal of the
body. In the case of Thomas Bredge he
leaves 10 shillings for the repair of Theydon Mount church. Then the inheritance is divided, often to his
children first then his spouse who is often appointed executor to the Will. At
the end are the witnesses to the Will.
Many, including Thomas Bredge, are illiterate so sign the document with
a squiggle or mark.
One
of the most interesting marks I have seen is that of Richard Gladwin of Theydon
Mount, a bricklayer, who signs documents with an oblong brick shaped symbol.
There are two such documents: his own Will dated 14 December 1624[17]
and as a witness to a terrier of glebelands, written by the rector, Thomas
Juby, in the parish register on 1 December 1621[18]. Richard Gladwine was a sideman at the church.
I wonder whether this
bricklayer had some responsibility for rebuilding the church?
Three
further testators are not buried at Theydon Mount. Robert Knoppe, a yeoman, who writes his Will
on 1 May 1614, requests “my bodye to be buryed where it shall please my
executrix”[19]. We can be confident that the church had
reopened by then since the will was written on the very day of the baptism of Thomas
Juby’s daughter. Robert Hill’s undated
will of 1612/13 merely bequeaths his body “to the ground”[20]. William Winter’s will of 23 October 1613
requested his body “to be buryed in [th]e church yard of Theydon mount”[21]
but this was not carried out. His widow,
Susan Winter, who writes her will on 1 March 1624 (now 1625)[22]
bequeathing her body “to [th]e earth from whence it came”[23] neither
specifies a place of burial. I looked at
other registers in the locality – Stapleford Abbots does not survive – but
could not find their resting places.
On
the basis of evidence we can deduce that the church and churchyard reopened
sometime between October 1613 and May 1614.
[1]
ERO D/P 142/1/1: also available online through ‘Essex Ancestors’ by
subscription – with free access at the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford.
[2]
Throughout the document a symbol known as the thorn, which looks like a letter
‘y’ is used. It is a contraction for ‘th’. Nowadays we see quaint names such as
‘Ye Olde Royal Oak’. The word ‘ye’ does
not exist. It is ‘the’. In palaeography the thorn is converted to [th].
[3]
Anno supradicto is Latin for “the year written above”
[4]
These have all now become available to view online through Essex Ancestors.
[5]
ERO D/AEW 14/218
[6]
Anno domini is Latin for ‘year of our Lord’
[7] It
was quite common to write dates in this way. We know the nursery rhyme “four
and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie” – this number is 24. Thomas Bredge wrote his will on 27 April
1612. Standardised spelling did not exist.
[8]
Immediately recognisable as the neighbouring parish of Theydon Garnon.
[9]
‘aforesaid’ implies a repetition of place name, which is not the case here.
[10]
Discretion – very often ‘c’ was substituted for ‘t’ and the letter ‘i’ omitted.
[11]
£13.6.8d seems a strange sum of money to leave.
However 13s.4d. was equivalent to one mark. So, for people who don’t remember old money,
£2 is 3 marks. £12 is 18 marks, and because there were 20 shillings to £1, this
meant £1.6s.8d. is 26s.8d or 2 marks.
So, the bequest was for 20 marks.
[12]
Note a different spelling of the surname.
[13]
This is also £13.6s.8d. Pre-decimal money was divided into pounds (libor in
Latin), shillings and pence (denari in Latin). In sixteenth and seventeenth
century handwriting a horizontal bar in the script represents a contraction of
a word, which palaeographers “fill in” by putting letters in square
brackets. The symbol £, with which we
are familiar is a capital letter L crossed through.
[14]
Probate of the will is written in Latin.
[15]
ERO D/P 152/1/1
[16]
ERO D/P 142/1/1
[17]
ERO D/AEW 17/248
[18]
ERO D/P 142/1/1
[19]
ERO D/ABW 22/240
[20]
ERO D/AEW 14/292
[21]
ERO D/AEW 15/22
[22]
England adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752.
Until then the Julian calendar placed New Years’ Day on 25 March. A will written on 1 March 1624 is occasionally
referred to nowadays as 1624/25.
[23]
ERO D/AEW 17/296
