Elizabeth Tyrrell

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wayland/terrill/pafg48.htm

William Tyrell [Parents] was born about 1460 in Ockendon, Essex, , England. He married Elizabeth BODLEY.

Heir to his brother, Hugh in 1468. Lord of the Manor of Bruyn. Another source says that he is a son of Hugh and grandson of Thomas.

Elizabeth Bodley [Parents] was born about 1465 in , , , England. She married William Tyrell.

Co-heiress of her parents and heiress of Dennis Leech of Willingborough.

They had the following children:

		M	i	Humphrey Tyrell

http://www.archive.org/stream/furthergenealog00terrgoog/furthergene...

THE TYRRELL-TERRELL FAMILY.

Th^ founder of this family, known as de Tirel, Tirel,

Tyrel, Tyrell, Tyrrell, Terrell, Tirrell, (and with other va-

riations in the orthography), was Ralf, Sire de Tirel, de

Poix and de Quemanville, son of Walter L, Count of the

Vexin and Amiens.

The Counts of the Vexin were the lords of a district

situated on the northern borders of France as they existed

in the tenth century and which lay between France and the

ducal possessions of the House of Normandy. This little

district, known as the Vexin, was sometimes under the

suzerain control of the Norman dukes and sometimes under

that of the French crown; but finally became absorbed

with Normandy by the latter. The father of Rolf de Tirel,

Walter /., Count of the Vexin, lived about 995 and was lord

proprietor over many lands even beyond the Vexin. He

was the son of Waleran, Count of the Vexin, and hereditary

standard bearer of France, who died in 965. The mother

of Walter I., was Edelgarde, a daughter of the Count of

Flanders and a great-granddaughter of Alfred the Great

of Eng^^nd. Walter I. was also lineally descended from

Pepin le Gros, Charles Martel, Duke of Brabant, and

Charlemagne. He was also lineally descended from the

Dukes of Burgundy. These pedigrees, with the marriages,

from Pepin le Gros, Charles Martel and Charlemagne to

Ralf de Tirel are given in Mr. Tyrrell's history of the

family. Walter I. married Eve, daughter and heiress of

Landry, Count of Dreux. Ralf de Tirel was the fourth son

of this marriage. Ralf, the first to bear the name of Tirel,

had his castle near the village of Tiret on the banks of the

Seine, a short distance below Paris, from which he took

the surname of Tirel Having married a daughter of the

Seigneur of Gu^rnanville, he became in time the Seigneur

of Guemanville, the Chatelain of Pontoise and the Viscount

of Amiens. The little village of Tirel on the banks of the

Seine is now known in modern orthography as Triel, a mere

-10-

transposition of two letters. The ancient spelling of the

village name was Tirel.

From the time of its founder, Ralf, the family name has

been spelled in many different ways, depending on the lan-

guage in which it was spelled and probably on the changing

taste of its different members in a matter of this kinA*. In

the old Norman histories, such as Ordericus Vitalis and

others, it appears in several different ways, such as Tirel,

Tyrell, Tyrrell, etc. In one of the alumni registers of the

University of Oxford in England, containing the graduates

of that old university between 1571 and 1622, Volume II.,

on page 413, the following various spellings are given of

the family name as constituting one and the same family,

viz., Tirrell, Terill, Terrell, Terrill, TirriU, Tyrell and

Tyrrell. The commonly accepted spelling of the family

name in England for the past four hundred years has been

Tyrrell. In the old colonial land records at Richmond, Vir-

ginia, where the first mention is made of the Virginia an-

cestor of the family, the name of William Terrell is spelled

William Tyrrell; and the name of his brother, Richmxmd

Terrell, is spelled in the same early records Richmond

Tirrell. In many parts of Virginia still, and in some other

states where branches of the same family are established,

the name is still pronounced as though it were spelled

Tirrell.

When the author of this pamphlet was the American

Envoy and Minister at Brussels, (1889-1893), his British

colleague was Lord Vivian, a nobleman of most distinguish-

ed ancestry in England. Lord Vivian always called him Mr.

"Tirrell." On the author's explaining to him one day that

his name was spelled "Terrell** and was pronounced as that

name is usually pronounced in America, Lord Vivian re-

plied, "Your name is that of one of the oldest County fam-

ilies in England and the name is spelled in English history

in various ways, but it is always pronounced as though it

were spelled 'Tirrell,' and in England, even if the name

should be written 'Terrell* it would be pronounced 'Tir-

rell' " While the author was making his researches in the

British Museum library he was always addressed by the

officers and attendants about the library as Mr. "Tirrell,"

although they had his card in their hand on which his

\

— 11 —

name was engraved "Terrell." In the French book re-

ferred to in the preface to this little pamphlet the family

name is given as **Tyrrell de Poix/' and in the frequent

references to the family in that history it is always spoken

of in that way when the family name is mentioned. This

addition of the affix de Poix** came from the fact that

among the many titles possessed by Ralf and his descend-

ants was that of Lord of Poix, and ultimately Prince of

Poix. The village of Poix is situated 26 kilometres south-

west of Amiens and 116 kilometres north of Paris, on the

railroad line from Paris to Calais, and on the line from

Amiens to Rouen. (The name of this little village should

be pronounced "Po-ah," and not "Poy," nor "Poyicks").

This French history of the old Norman family found by

the author of this pamphlet in the British Museum library

was prepared by M. Cuvillier-Morel-D'Acy, a distinguished

archivist and genealogist of France. The book was pub-

lished at Paris by the author in 1869, and as the author

states, the data for this elaborate history of this old Nor-

man-French family came from manuscripts preserved for

many centuries in the Moyencourt family, which was re-

lated to the Tyrreil family through descent and intermar-

riages. M. D'Acy says, "The ancient House of the Tyrrells

came from Normandy and was an issue of the first dukes

of Normandy and very old and distinguished. In the char-

ter of the primal church of Rouen in 1030 Walter Tyrrell

is mentioned, and is there stated to be a wealthy nobleman

and a close kinsman or cousin of Robert, Duke of Nor-

mandy." The Robert, Duke of Normandy, here mentioned

is the one familiarly known as Robert, the Magnificent,

and sometimes as Robert the Devil, fifth Duke of Nor-

mandy, who was the father of William the Conqueror. The

English historian of the family, Mr. Tyrrell, gives the ex-

act pedigrees of the family from Ralf, the founder, down

to the present time. These pedigrees have evidently been

prepared with great care and are based upon authorities

easily accessible in England which Mr. Tyrrell regards as

absolutely reliable. In fact, Mr. Tyrrell gives in his book

a list of the authorities he has consulted in the preparation

of his history, and they are, generally speaking, very rare

and expensive books which it would be impossible for any-

— 12 —

one on this side of the Atlantic to be able to consult. They

include many old French and Norman family histories,

books published by archaeological societies, County pedi-

grees, works on extinct titles, books on heraldry, and many

of the earliest books published in the English language on

genealogy. According to these pedigree lists, the second

son of Ralf, Viscount of Amiens, was Fulk de Tirel, who

became the Seigneur of Guemanville and Dean of Evreux.

He married Orielda, who was a daughter of Richard I.,

the third Duke of Normandy. Among the children of Fulk

de Tirel and Orielda was Walter, known in history as Sir

Walter Tyrrell L, Lord of Poix, Castellan of Pontoise, and

a Baron of both France and England. This was the Sir

Walter Tyrrell who accompanied his relative, Duke William

of Normandy, in the expedition which led to the conquest

of England, and who was present at the battle of Senlac

or Hastings.

According to M. D'Acy's book, the House of Tyrrell was

prominent both in Picardy and in Normandy. Its members

made themselves distinguished for their rich seigneurial

possessions and their high positions in this province and

in the neighboring provinces of France. They were pos-

sessed of many fiefs. They were Lords and Princes de

Poix, de Brimen, Conty, Fremontiers, Morenil, and de RiM-

court. They were Viscomtes d'Equennes et de St. Maxent;

t^arons d' Angles et de Prunget and lords of ninety-four

towns in Picardy, Brittany, Berry, Poitou, Touraine, Valois,

Vermandois, etc. The first member of the family to bear the

title of Prince de Poix was Hugues, (in English, Hugh),

^vho was a great-grandson of the first Sir Walter, and who

will be hereafter spoken of. The Hugh Tyrrell who firmly

established the Tyrrell family in England, was this Hugh

Tyrrell L, Prince de Poix. The family in Picardy, in the

male line, died out in 1417, and all its possessions and titles

passed from those of that name to the illustrious House of

Moyencourt, through a female member of the Tyrrell fam-

ily, who had married a Moyencourt. When that family

ceased to exist in the direct male line in 1510, the titles and

possessions passed into the great family of de Crequy, also

descendants, through marriage, of the Tyrrells. The book

— 13 —

gives the direct descent of the possessions and titles as fol-

lows :

House of the Tyrrells, 1030-1417;

House of the Moyencourt and Soissons-Moreml families,

House of de Crequy, 1510-1574: 1417-1510;

House of Blanchefort'Crequy, 1574-1687 ;

House de la Tremoille, 1687-1717;

House de Rouille, 1718-1729 ;

House de Noailles, 1729-

Many of the landed possessions in France of the old

family of Tyrrell de Poix, and such of its titles as have not

become extinct, are now held by Francois Napoleon de

Noailles, Due de Mouchy and Prince de Poix, a lineal de-

scendant of the old Norman-Picardian family.

Sir Walter Tyrrell L, according to the English historian

of the family, was both of Norman and French extraction,

being a descendant of the Norman Dukes and at the same

time a lineal descendant of the Dukes of Burgundy and

Brabant and of the House of Charlemagne. He was the

possessor of the lands of Bussy, Croixrault, Equ^rmes,

Famechon, Fremontiers, Moyencourt, etc. According to M.

D'Acy, his descendants in England are represented by the

well known County family of Tyrrell, Terrell and Tirrell,

established in Hampshire and Essex Counties by him and

his descendants in the earlier years after the Conquest.

Sir Walter Tyrrell I. is lepresented now in France in

descent by two principal branches: first, the Moyencourt

family, and second, the Mouchy de Poix family. The fam-

ily of Tyrrell de Poix figured prominently in the Crusades ;

they held high positions at the courts of the kings of France

in the early days; produced a Grand Admiral of France,

who was killed on the French side at the battle of Agin-

court ; were governors of cities ; and filled many other posi-

tions of importance in the military and civil history of the

north of France.

As before stated, Walter Tyrrell I. accompanied William

the Conqueror to the conquest of England. Being a close

kinsman, or cousin, as M. D'Acy's book calls it, of Duke

William of Normandy,' he asked to have the honor of lead-

ing one of the columns in the first assault upon the English

lines at the battle of Senlac (Hastings) ; he was accorded

— 14 —

this honorable post, and with his large and well trained

band of retainers from Poix he participated prominently

in the assault on the English left wing at the great battle

of October 14, 1066.

The name of Tyrrell is mentioned in the "Cartulaire de

St. Martin de la Bataille," which was a list of the distin-

guished noblemen who took part in this great decisive bat-

tle. See also list published by Andr6 Duchesne for the name

of Gauthier Tyrrell, it being understood that the French

spelling of the English name of Walter is Gauthier. His

name is also inscribed on the walls of the Church of Dives,

at the little port of Normandy, put there in 1861 by one of

the antiquarian societies of France. Duke William's army

assembled for the Conquest at this little port of Dives.

In 1046, Sir Walter Tyrrell I. with Alix, his wife, built

the Chateau de Poix et de Moyencourt, and also the fortress

of Famechon, and he became one of the most powerful lords

of the country and the stem of one of the most illustrious

Houses that ever existed in Picardy. He married twice,

first, a Saxon lady by the name of Olga; and second, Alix,

Dame de Fremontiers, the only daughter of Richard, Seig-

neur de Fremontiers. He had by his first marriage a son.

Sir Walter Tyrrell II. This son, Sir Walter Tyrrell II.,

died before his father, leaving a son. Sir Walter Tyrrell III.

This Sir Walter Tyrrell III. is the member of the family

who, it is said, accidentally Hilled King William Rufus of

England, while hunting with him in New Forest. His name

appears in several documents in Picardy as the grandson

of Sir Walter Tyrrell I. Sir Walter Tyrrell I. died in 1068

or 1080, and was succeeded in his titles and possessions,

both in England and France, by his grandson Sir Walter

III. The latter had accidentally killed the King, as afore-

said, August 2, 1100; he died at one of his chateaux in

Picardy in 1135, after having made a journey to the Holy

Land. The full account of the manner of the death of

King William Rufus will be found in Augustin Thierry's

History of France, and it will be found on examination to

be full of most interesting details. In a recent letter to a

kinsman of the author of this pamphlet, Lieutenant-General

Frank Tyrrell, a retired officer of the English army, in

speaking of the accidental killing of King William Rufus,

— 15 —

refers to the tradition that Sir Walter Tyrrell III., after

the accident, crossed the river Avon on his way to the coast

at a ford which is still called Tyrrellsford. The scene of

all this is in Hampshire, where the first lands that were

granted to Sir Walter I. by William the Conqueror were

located and where the village of Avon-Tyrrell still exists.

In his letter General Tyrrell further says that the forge

in a neighboring village is still shown where Sir Walter

got the shoes on his horse's feet reversed in order to baffle

pursuit. He also says that the Avon-Tyrrell property which

belonged for so many generations to the Tyrrell family

now belongs to Lord Manners.

Sir Walter Tyrrell ILL married, by order of his kinsman,

William the Conqueror, Adelaide Giffard, who was of the

illustrious House of Giffard in Normandy and England,

and who was the granddaughter of Walter Giffard, first

Earl of Buckingham, and daughter of Richard Giffard, one

of the lords of the court of the King of England, and of his

wife Mathilde de Mortemer, daughter of Walter de Mar-

temer, in Normandy.

Sir Walter Tyrrell III. left, by Adelaide, his wife, a son,

Hugh Tyrrell L Sir Walter Tyrrell III. bore all the titles

of his grandfather. Lord of Poix, Vicomte d*Equennes,

Baron de Ribecourt, etc. He was a rich and powerful

nobleman, owning vast possessions in Normandy, Picardy,

Ponthieu, etc. He founded the Priory of St. Denis de Poix,

in 1116, with the consent of his wife and his son Hugh, con-

forming thus to the pious wishes of his father. In 1118

he gave a donation for the support of this priory, to be

obtained out of a portion of his rents from some of his

lands in Langham, England. M. D'Acy, from whose book

the foregoing details have been translated by the author of

this pamphlet, remarks on this donation, "One sees by this

that the Tyrrells at that time possessed large land holdings

in England, and that Walter Tyrrell I. had received his

share of the spoils from the Conquest."

Sir Walter Tyrrell III. founded the Monastery of St.

Pierre de Selincourt and the Abbey of St. Larme. This

monastery and abbey were pronounced to be the most beau-

tiful in all Picardy, nexft after ihe great Cathedral at

Amiens, and they constituted for many generations the

— 16 —

sepulchre of the Tyrrells. They were owned for a number

of years by the family of Ged6on de Forceville, of Amiens,

but they have been in ruins since the revolution of 1789. .

Hugh Tyrrell L, son of Sir Walter Tyrrell III., inherited

the lands and titles of his father and was Lord of Poix,

Vicomte d'Equennes, etc., and qualified as Prince de Poix

in 1153, 1155 and 1159. Hugh confirmed the grants of his

father to the said churches as above mentioned; he also

made one of the Crusades. He married Ada d'Avmale,

the daughter of Etienne de Champagne, Comte d'Aumale.

This Ada d'Aumale was lineally descended from Richard

II., Duke of Normandy, and from Ralf de Mortemer, Baron

of Wigmore. Sir Hugh Tyrrell I. made his will in 1158

and died in 1159, leaving among other sons Walter Tyrrell

IV., who died in 1171 without children, and Hugh Tyrrell

II., who finally succeeded to the titles and possessions of

the family. There were also other children, and among

them, Adam Tyirell, who became the founder of the Moyen-

court family. Sir Hugh Tyrrell II. was a great soldier and

distinguished himself in the Crusades. In the Hall of the

Crusades, in the great palace at Versailles, in Folio 24,

No. 125, is an article on Sir Hugh Tyrrell, Lord of Poix,

and one of the leaders of the Crusades. His coat of arms

is in the third Hall of the Crusades. They are spread upon

the beam which is above the picture representing the

"Raising of the Siege at Rhodes," August 17, 1480. The

escutcheon bears the date of 1147, and is under the name of

Hugh Tyrrell, Lord of Poix. Sir Hugh Tyrrell was ac-

companied to the Crusades in 1190 by four of his cousins,

two of whom perished at the siege of Acre in 1191. Sir

Hugh II. died in 1199 and was buried in the Abbey of St.

Pierre Selincourt. He had married, first, in 1161, Isabelle

de Wignacourt, who was of an illustrious House in Picardy ;

and second, in 1173, Marie de Senarpont, who was also of

distinguished blood.

Sir Walter Tyrrell I. had received from the Conqueror

large tracts of land in Hampshire and in Essex. He did

not live long after the Conquest, but in 1067, when William

I. of England went over into Normandy, Sir Walter Tyrrell

I. was left as one of his High Commissioners for the County

of Essex during his temporary absence. He held the lord-

— 17 —

ship of Laingaham in Essex; was lord of the Manors of

Kingsworthy and Avon-Tyrrell in the New Forest; and also

held the "Sueburga" and "Contona** in Somerset from Os-

mond, Bishop of Salisbury. There is some dispute as to

the date of the death of Sir Walter Tyirell I., as the French

authority so frequently quoted herein gives it as in 1068,

but Mr. Tyrrell in his history of the family gives it as

occurring in 1080. As before said, he was succeeded by

his grandson, Sir Walter Tyrrell III., his son, Sir Walter IL,

having pre-deceased him. The wife of Sir Walter Tyrrell

III., Adelaide, was a cousin of the Conqueror, who had

commanded her marriage to Sir Walter, and she appears to

have lived to a great age, for according to the Pipe Roll of

1136 she was seized as a widow of the Manor of Langham

in Essex. Sir Walter Tyrrell III. joined the first Crusade

and was present at the siege of Jerusalem in 1096. It was

at this time that he adopted what are known as the "Poix**

arms to distinguish himself from his kinsman, the Sire de

Tirel, who was also taking part in the siege. Reference to

this coat of arms will be made hereafter in this pamphlet.

There has been much conflict in the authorities as to just

the manner in which King William Rufus met his death,

and it has been disputed that the accident was due to Sir

Walter Tyrrell III. However, all the authorities agree that

it was purely the result of an accident, as Sir Walter and

the King were great friends and kinsmen and had for many

years been on terms of the greatest intimacy. Late in life

lie made another pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and dying

in 1135 was succeeded by his son, Hugh Tyrrell /., as be-

fore stated, who was the first one of the family to bear the

title of Prince of Poix, and who is mentioned by the Nor-

man historian, Ordericus, as an ardent soldier. Sir Hugh

Tyrrell I. joined the second Crusade of 1146. In the Pipe

Roll he is named as being seized of the Manors of Kings-

worthy near Winchester, Avon-Tyrrell, and also lands at

Ripley, Shirley, and Sopley in the New Forest. This Sir

Hugh gave the chateau and lands of Moyencourt to his

fourth son, Adam, from whom descends the House of Tyr-

rell de Moyencourt, (which name he then took) , represent-

ed in France to this day. As before stated. Sir Hugh Tyr-

rell I. was ultimately succeeded by his son. Sir Hugh Tyr-

— 18 —

rell II., who was the sixth Lord of Poix. Sir Hugh Tyrrell

11. was conspicuously identified with the first conquest of

Ireland by the English and accompanied his cousin, Strong-

how, Earl of Pembroke, to that country in 1169. He was

made Baron of Castleknock in 1173 and was Governor of

Trim in 1183. He was at the siege of Acre in the Crusades

of 1191 and was known as the "Grecian Knight/' Sir Hugh

Tyrrell II. was buried at Selincourt in 1199. He left a

number of children. The eldest son, Sir Walter Tyrrell V.,

succeeded to the titles and possessions of the family in

Picardy and Normandy, under the usual law of primogeni-

ti^e.

Another son of Sir Hugh IL, Richard Tyrrell, succeeded

his father as to the Irish titles and possessions, and became

the second Baron of Castleknock. This Richard Tyrrell of

Castleknock was the founder of all the different branches

of the English-Irish family of Tyrrell. In the history of

the family published by Mr. Tyrrell in 1904, all the pedi-

grees of the descendants of Richard Tyrrell, Baron of

Castleknock, are fully given down to the present time, and

show that the various descendants, in the many centuries

that have elapsed since the family was first established in

Ireland, have held numerous titles and positions of honor

and have been distinguished in the troublesome periods of

Irish history in many ways.

Another son of Sir Hugh Tyrrell IL, Roger Tyrrell of

Hampshire, succeeded to the vast possessions of his father

in Hampshire and in Essex, and became the ancestor of all

of the English branches of the family.

Before taking up the matter of the several branches in

England descended from Roger Tyrrell, it may be interest-

ing to note briefly the subsequent fortunes of the old stock

left in France. Sir Walter Tyrrell V., who had succeeded

to the vast estates and the many titles of the family in

Picardy, Normandy and other parts of France, died in

Picardy in 1228, and was succeeded as to these titles and

possessions by his oldest son. Sir Hugh Tyrrell III., who

was killed in battle in 1272. The latter was succeeded by

Sir William Tyrrell I., who died in 1302. Sir William I.

was succeeded by his oldest son. Sir William II., who died

in 1323. The oldest son of Sir William Tyrrell IL, Sir John

— 19 —

/., succeeded to the various titles and lands, and was killed

at the battle of Cr6cy on the French side in 1346, when

the Black Prince of England won his great victory. He

was succeeded by his son, John 11. , who died in 1361. He

in turn was succeeded by John III., who died in 1381. His

successor, John IV., was killed in battle in 1402, and he

was succeeded by his son, John V., who was Grand Admiral

of France, and who, with his relative, Roques Tyrrell de

toix, was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. These

deaths in this great battle left, as the sole male heir of the

titles and landed possessions in France of the family of

Tyrrell de Poix, a boy twelve years old, Philippe, son of

John v., who died two years later in 1417, thus extinguish-

ing the male line in France of the oldest branch Of the

family. The titles and landed possessions then went,

through the preceding marriage of Marguerite Tyrrell de

Poix to fhibaut Soissons, into the distinguished family of

Moyencourt'SoissonS'Morenil, as hereinbefore stated. Car-

dinal Richelieu, the great Prime Minister of France in

the seventeenth century, was descended, through his ma-

ternal line in the Moyencourt family, from the old Norman

House of Tyrrell de Poix. These data as to the details of

the family history in Normandy and Picardy, after the

settlement of members of the family in England, have been

translated from the elaborate history so frequently referred

to herein, published by M. D'Acy in Paris in 1869.

Coming back to Roger Tyrrell, son of Sir Hugh Tyrrell

II., who, as has been said, became the ancestor of the dif-

ferent branches of the family in England, it may be said

that there is some confusion in the authorities as to the

first two generations after Sir Roger, relative to his mar-

riage and to the names of his children and grandchildren.

It is sufficiently clear, however, and well established that

his great-grandson was Sir Edward Tyrrell, who married

the daughter and heiress of Sir William Borgate of Suffolk.

Mr. Joseph H. Tyrrell, the English historian of the family,

spent many years in the preparation of his book and has

devoted much patient investigation to the early history of

the various English branches of the family, and he states

that it is quite evident that these branches all come from

Sir Walter III. and Sir Hugh I. and II., as Sir John Tyr-

— 20 —

rell of Heron was possessed of the Avon-Tyrrell properties

in Hampshire in the seventeenth century. (It will be

recalled that Hugh I., son of Walter III., owned these lands

in 1159, according to the Pipe Roll.) There is a marginal

note on a pedigree by Segar, Garter King of Arms, stating

that Sir John Tyrrell of Heron sold this Manor early in the

seventeenth century.

Sir Edward Tyrrell, who married the daughter of Sir

William Borgate, as above mentioned, left a son. Sir Hugh

Tyrrell, of Great Thomdon, Essex, who was living in the

time of Edward III. of England. He was the Governor of

Carisbroke Castle, which he defended against the French

in 1378. The son of this Sir Hugh Tyrrell of Essex, Sir

Jame^ Tyrrell, married Margaret, the daughter and heiress

of Sir William Heron, Knight, of Heron in Essex, and thus

became the ancestor of practically the entire family of Tyr-

rell in England, which became known as the Tyrrells of

Heron. Different members of the Tyrrells of Heron in

succeeding generations settled in other counties in Eng-

land, notably in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Suf-

folk. From the above mentioned marriage of Sir James

Tjrrrell and Margaret of Heron came the several branches

of the family in England known as the Tyrrells of Spring-

field and the Tyrrells of Thornton, to which branches ref-

erences will hereinafter be made.

Mr. J. H. Tyrrell, in his "History of the Tyrrells," gives

the detailed pedigrees, lists of marriages and complete line

of descent from Baron Richard Tyrrell, of Castleknock, and

Sir Roger Tyrrell of Hampshire, all of the twelfth century,

down, with scarcely a missing link in the chain, to the pres-

ent representatives of the family in Ireland and England.

He does not always give the names of all the children bom

in the successive generations, but does give most of them

and the oldest son in each case who inherited the lands and

title.

The old coat of arms adopted by Sir Walter Tyrrell III.,

known as the "Poix" arms, is carefully described in heraldic

language, with an illustration of its appearance, in the

elaborate publication of M. D'Acy. This was the coat of

arms selected by Sir Walter to distinguish his bearings

from the arms of his elder kinsman, the Sire de Tirel, who

— 21-

took part with him also at the siege of Acre in 1096, during

the first Crusade.

Armorial bearings were probably assumed by Rolf, Sire

de Tirel, about the year 970 A. D., for the device of his

oldest son, Hilduin, was a shield "Vair." This word "Vair"

is used in heraldic language to indicate the different tinc-

tures or colors and their method of arrangement on the

shield, the word itself indicating a peculiar kind of fur

which was largely in use about the tenth century. Sir

Walter Tyrrell /., who came to England with the Conqueror,

also bore "Vair" on his shield, as did his son and grandson.

The arms of Poix, assumed by Sir Walter Tyrrell III., at

the siege of Jerusalem, were as follows : Gules, with bend

argent, together with six crosses, recrossed with small

crosslets and pointed in gold, posed three and three. M.

D'Acy, referring to the coat of arms of the family of Tyrrell

de Poix, says, "It is in this manner that this coat of arms

is represented painted in the historic museum at Versailles

in the third hall of the Crusades." The swords on it, with

crosses recrossed, were evidently symbolic of the fact that

the prominent members of the family in Picardy had taken

distinguished parts in the Crusades. After this, changes

seem to have been made in some features, for Sir Hugh

Tyrrell 11. , born about 1130, bore "Vair, on a chief gules,

a demi-lion rampant, or," and on succeeding to the titles

and possessions of Poix in 1171 he became entitled to bear

also the "Poix"arms. Some time after the conquest of

Ireland by the English under Strongbow, the following

arms were adopted either by Hugh Tyrrell 11. or by some

of his descendants in Ireland: "Gules two bars ermine,

between seven crosses pattees or, three, three, and one; on

a chief argent a demi-lion rampant gules." (Harleian MSS.

4036.) The motto used by the descendants of Hugh Tyrrell

in Ireland probably dates from the year 1100 and consisted

of the old Latin motto used in Picardy, "Veritas Via Vitae."

It would seem that Roger Tyrrell of Hampshire, the son

of Hugh Tyrrell IL, who inherited all of the possessions of

the latter in Hampshire and Essex, and his descendants

never used the old "Poix" arms nor the old motto in Latin

above given. Very early in the establishment of the family

in England, the coat of arms seems to have been taken

— 22-

which has ever since been identified with the Tyrrells of

Heron and the different branches of the family descended

from them. This coat of arms goes back into the twelfth

or thirteenth century and consisted of the arms in silver,

within a bordure engrailed, gules, two chevrons, azure;

with the motto, "Sans Dieu Rien;" and with a crest of a

peacock's tail issuing from the mouth of a boar's head,

couped, erect. This is the coat of arms of which an illus-

tration appears at the head of this little pamphlet. In the

pamphlet issued two years ago by the author there was

a mistake in the motto given connected with the coat of

arms. It there appears as "Sans Crainte." This, the

author has learned, is an error, as the motto, "Sans

Crainte" belongs exclusively to that branch of the Tyrrells

of Heron known as the Tyrrells of Boreham House in Es-

sex, who are the descendants of John Tyrrell of Billericay

in Essex, and who are still represented in England by

Colonel John TufnelUTyrrell, of Boreham House, Essex.

This motto, "Sans Crainte," was originally that of the

Highams of Boreham, whose daughter and heiress married

John Tyrrell of that branch of the family, and in this way

that motto became connected with the old coat of arms of

the Tyrrells of Heron, but applicable only to that particular

branch of the family. The old motto, "Sans Dieu Rien,"

is that of the Essex Tyrrells and is the only one which any

of the American descendants of the Tyrrells of Heron would

have the right to use; and this is for the reason also that the

motto of "Sans Crainte" was placed on the coat of arms of

the Boreham House Tyrrells after the first Virginia an-

cestor had left England.

The Standard of the Tyrrells of Heron was "The Cross

of St. George, azure, on a wreath argent and gules, a boar's

head couped and erect argent; and issuing from the mouth

a peacock's tail. The other charges consisted of six repe-

titions of the Badge." The Badge of the Tyrrells of Heron

was "Three long bows fretted in triangle," which after-

wards took the form of a continuous knot. The descriptions

of the Standards and Badges are from the MSS. of Sir

Christopher Barker, Garter King of Arms, who died in

1549. (Harleian MSS. 4633 and "Excerpta Historica".)

— 23 —

The pennon of the Tyrrells was the Badge on a triangu-

lar flag gules.

A very interesting description of the arms of the TirrelU

Tyrrell family, told in heraldic language, will be found in

a very rare book in the Virginia State Library at Richmond,

called the "Visitations of Essex, part 1, page 299. The

description here given will show how the early generations

of the family in England gradually built up their coat of

arms from the original shield of the Tyrrells of Heron by

additions taken from probably the coats of arms respect-

ively of the different families into which the earliest mem-

bers of the family had married, such as the Borgates, the

Coggeshalls, the Swynfords, the Flamberts, etc.

In this same book of the "Visitations" there will be found

very interesting lists in quaint and old-fashioned spelling

of the pedigrees of the different English branches from the

time of Sir Walter Tyrrell III. in England down to about

the year 1550.

In speaking of the coat of arms that decorates one of the

title pages of this little pamphlet, it may be stated inci-r

dentally that the tiger supporters would not be permissible

now in England, as supporters are never used in England

except when there is an actual existing title to be sup-

ported, and as all the titles in the Tyrrell family, such as

Tfn'i ' Mpfl. etr J have long since become extinct in Eng-

land. The author has simply given the tigers in the illus-

tration as having at one time formed part of the ancient

coat of arms of the Tyrrells of Heron.

Much valuable information as to the English branches

of the family may be found in Burke's "Extinct and Dor-

mant Baronetcies," a book easily found in the old book

shops in England and possibly in some of the book stores

of Boston and New York. Pages 536, 537, 538 and 539

in that book are devoted to the lineage of the Tyrrell fam-r

ily, from its first establishment in England by Sir Walter

Tyrrell III. down to a late period in the eighteenth cen-

tury. Burke remarks: "The family of Tirrell is one of

great note and antiquity, and for more than 600 years its

Chief, in a direct line, enjoyed the honor of Knighthood."

In the long list of pedigrees in this book it will be noticed

that the same differences exist in the manner of spelling

— 24 —

the surname that have been mentioned in M. D'Acy's book

and also in the history of the family prepared by Mr. Tyr-

rell. In Burke's list the name is frequently spelled Tirrell,

Tyrrell, etc., and frequently the surname of the son is

spelled differently from that of the father. All this goes

to show that these different spellings were of one and the

same family name, and that like many other old family

surnames in England there have been many changes in the

form of spelling from one generation to another. In Burke's

list of the first five or six generations from Sir Walter

Tyrrell III. down to Sir Edivurd Tyrrell, who married the

Suffolk heiress by the name of Borgate, he makes a num-

ber of errors, stating that the ancestor was succeeded in a

direct line by, first, his son. Sir Henry Tyrrell; and the

latter by Sir Richard; and he by Sir Edward; and he by

Sir Geofrey; and he by Sir Lionel, etc., down to Sir Edward.

In the more accurately prepared lists given in Mr. Tyrrell's

elaborate history of the family, this is all shown to be an

error, and the true descent was as follows: Sir Walter

Tyrrell III. was succeeded by his son. Sir Hugh I., and he

by Sir Hugh II., Prince of Poix, who was the ancestor who

permanently established the family both in England and

Ireland and who took part in the conquest of Ireland and

in the Crusades. On the death of Sir Hugh II., his body

was taken and deposited in the old mausoleum of the family

in Picardy at Selincourt. He was succeeded in his titles

and possessions in France, as has before been said, by his

oldest son, Walter Tyrrell V. Another son, Richard, who

was the second Baron of Castleknock, became the founder

of the Irish branches of the family, and another son of

Hugh II., Roger Tyrrell of Hampshire, who was a son by

the second marriage with Marie de Senarpont, inherited his

lands and possessions in England and became the founder

of all the English branches of the family. Sir Roger Tyr-

rell was succeeded by his son. Sir Edward, and he by his

son. Sir Galfrid, and the son of Sir Galfrid was the Sir

Edward Tyrrell who married Jane or Joan, the daughter

and heiress of Sir William Borgate. The earlier members

of the family in England, such as Sir Walter III., Sir Hugh

I. and Sir Hugh II., spent much of their time still in France,

living at times in their various chateaux in Picardy, and

_2&^

were still, to all intents and purposes, noblemen of Picardy

as well as Barons in England. Sir Walter Tyrrell III.,

while living in one of his castles in Picardy, was visited

there by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury.

There is another error which is frequently met with in

statements as to the prominent members of the Tyrrell

family in early days, and that is, that the Chevalier Bayard

du Terrail, the Knight "sans peur et sans reproche," was

a distinguished member of the family. This statement is

not true. The family name, or surname, of the Chevalier

was Bayard, just as Tyrrell is the surname of the family

in question. The affix, "du Terrail," was not a surname

at all, but was simply an indication as to the locality from

which the Chevalier's family came. The name Terrail in

French means "pottery works," and is pronounced in

French, as nearly as it can be expressed in English, "Ter-

rye." This family was a Burgundian family from the east-

ern borders of France, and the gallant Chevalier was born

in that province of Burgundy known as Dauphine, and his

family became entirely extinct a few generations after his

death. This family of Bayard du Terrail had no connection

whatever with the family of Tyrrell de Poix of Normandy

and Picardy.

During the investigations of the author of this pamphlet

in the British Museum Library, he came across an interest-

ing little brochure, published by Mr. Peter G. Laurie, called

"The Tyrells of Heron, in the Parish of East Horndon."

The author found this to be an exceedingly interesting ac-

count of the County family of the Tyrrells which had been

settled in Essex for over 500 yearsi on lands probably

originally granted during the time of, or shortly after, the

Conquest. These Tyrrells of Heron were descendants of

Sir Roger Tyrrell of Hampshire, and their Manor House

located near East Homdon was occupied by the family for

a number of centuries, down to a period early in the seven-

teenth century, when Sir John Tyrrell, who was born in

1571, sold this Manor House and its lands, known as Heron

Hall, and went to live at Springfield near Chelmsford in

Essex County. The author read this pamphlet with great

interest and opened up a correspondence from London with

Mr. Laurie, who was temporarily occupying his beautiful

— 26-

country seat near East Horndon in Essex, known as

"Heroncourt/ Herongate, near Brentwood, Essex. The

result of this correspondence was that Mr. Laurie invited

the author of this pamphlet and his wife to visit the place

near his country seat, where the old Tyrrell Manor House,

known as Heron Hall, had been located, and near which

Was the old Tyrrell Chapel, in which were buried many

niembers of the family back to the thirteenth century. Mr.

Laurie kindly put himself at the service of the author and

offered to accompany the party when the locality should

be visited and to show the spots of interest in that neigh-

borhood, inviting them afterwards most courteously to take

tea under the shade of his beautiful oaks, where an Ameri-

can descendant of this old Essex County family could have

the opportunity of meeting the members of his family. So,

in August, 1906, the author and his wife went down to the

little station of Brentwood, on the main line of the Great

Eastern Railway, about twenty miles northeast of London.

Driving out to Mr. Laurie's place, the party met the courte-

ous and scholarly gentleman, who rode with them to visit

Tyrrell Chapel, located about a mile from his country seat.

East Horndon is a village and parish on the road from

Brentwood to Orsett and is about three miles south from

Brentwood railway station and about twenty-two miles

from London. The little church visited is cabled the Church

of All Saints, and is an edifice of red brick, erected about

the time of Henry V., and consists of a chancel and a large

aisle on the south called the Tyrrell Chapel, and a smaller

chapel on the north, a nave, transepts, south porch, and a

massive but somewhat stunted tower at the west end con-

taining four bells, the lower stage of which tower is used

as a vestry. In the chancel floor is an interesting slab with

inscription: "To Sir Thomas Tyrrell, son and heir of Sir

John Tyrrell, Knight, and Alice, his wife," dated 1422.

There are also monuments in the north and south chapels

to other members of the family buried in the vaults below

at different periods, among others. Sir John Tyrrell, died

1675, and Dame Martha, his wife, died 1670. The chancel

referred to is enriched with handsomely carved bosses.

Against the south transept there is an altar tomb, said to

be a memorial of the burial here of the heart of Queen Anne

— 27 —

Boleyn, who was beheaded May 19, 1536. The chapel on

the north side is called the Marney Chapel; the name,

Mamey, came from the marriage, in the early part of the

sixteenth century, of Sir Thomas Tyrrell of Heron to Anna,

daughter of Sir John Mamey, Knight, of Essex. High upon

the wall of the old church in the interior, was fastened an

ancient helmet, said to be part of the armor of old Sir

John Tyrrell, who fought at the battle of Agincourt under

Henry V. in 1415. The helmet has been placed in the

church for many hundred years. Fastened to the top of

the helmet, in bronze, was the crest of the Tyrrell family,

the boar's head with the peacock's tail issuing from the

mouth, towering above the helmet six or eight inches; as

one might say, like the plume of Henry of Navarre. The

helmet was battered here and there with dents received by

the doughty old knight in battle. Also nailed up along side

the helmet were the bronze jointed gauntlets of the old

mediaeval hero. These relics of the church are carefully

guarded and are held very sacred. In the vaults under the

chapel were buried Sir James Tyrrell of Heron, 1476; Sir

John Tyrrell, who distinguished himself in the Civil War

in the time of Cromwell on the side of the King; Sir

Charles, Sir Edward, and other members of the family.

There was also a highly prized alabaster slab tablet to the

memory of Lady Alice Tyrrell, upon which were outlined

her figure and face, placed in the church in 1422, seventy

years before America wtas discovered. This was Lady

Alice, daughter of Sir William Coggeshall and wife of Sir

John Tyrrell, of Agincourt fame. The mother of this Lady

Alice Tyrrell was Antiocha, who was the daughter of the

famous English soldier. Sir John Hawkwood, Knight, of

Essex, who for many years, during the wars between the

Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, was the commanding gen-

eral of the armies of Florence. A magnificent portrait of

him was seen by the author of this pamphlet in 1906 hang-

ing in the Duomo or Cathedral at Florence, Italy. The little

church at East Horndon is now undergoing restoration,

and all of these relics iare most carefully preserved and pro-

tected. A rectory house was built in 1877 at the village of

Herongate. The village is about three-quarters of a mile

north of the church. About a mile from the old chapel and

— 28 --

about a quarter of a mile from the village of Herongate

is the site of the old Manor House of Heron Hall, the home

of the Tyrrells of Heron for over five hundred years. Heron

Hall was built in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It

was an imposing edifice constructed of brick, with a large

central quadrangular court, and an extensive terrace on the

east side, and was entirely surrounded by a moat. At each

of the four comers stood massive round towers. The old

building was destroyed about a hundred years ago or more,

and no trace of it can now be seen; but the old moat which

surrounded the Hall is still in existence and contains water ;

a small portion of the old garden wall is also still to be

seen. The Hall was located on a noble site, commanding a

view of twenty miles of the valley of the Thames and the

hills of Kent on the other side of the river. The plan of

old Heron Hall, as it formerly existed, made in 1788, may

still be seen at the residence of Mr. Laurie, known as Heron-

court. Mr. Laurie himself is a vestryman in the old church,

and being of antiquarian tastes and having lived in this

part of Essex County for many years, he prepared his

pamphlet on this old Essex County family on account of the

local interest attaching to it. As he explained to the

author on this visit, it was a family which dominated this

portion of England for many centuries, and its members

held the very highest positions in the County. That par-

ticular local branch living in this part of the County had

died out in the latter part of the eighteenth century, when

its last member, the Countess of Arran, died.

During this same month of August, 1906, the author of

this pamphlet visited the old University town of Oxford,

and, in looking over the Alumni registers of that Univer-

sity, he found that Sir Timothy Tyrrell of Oakley in Bucks,

as well as his son. Sir Timothy 11. , were both graduates of

the University of Oxford. These members of the family

are referred to in Evelyn's Diary as living in a beautiful

country seat near Oxford, called Shotover, (from the

French, Chateau Vert). The name of this Sir Timothy

Tyrrell will be found in Burke's book above referred to in

these notes, on page 538 in a foot note. It has generally

been considered in the traditions of the Virginia Tyrrells

that the first Virginia ancestor was a descendant of this

— 29 —

Sir Timothy Tyrrell of Oakley in Bucks. The date, of the

arrival of the first members of the Tyrrell family in Vir-

ginia seems to be involved in some obscurity. It is a tra-

dition that a Thomas Terrell (or Tyrrell) arrived in Vir-

ginia about 1637, and a James TyrreU in 1648, but nothing

has ever been learned as to these two immigrants, or as

to any descendants from them. It is known, however, that

Richmond and William Tyrrell, or Terrell, arrived in Vir-

ginia from England about the middle of the seventeenth

century. The author of this pamphlet is a lineal descendant

in direct line from William Terrell, one of these first two

immigrants, and the line of his descent from this ancestor

will be given hereinafter. In the old colonial land records

at Richmond, Va., in the first mention made of William's

arrival and his connection with lands, his surname is spelled

"Tyrrell." In the same records, where the first mention

is made of his brother Richmond, the name of the latter is

spelled "Tirrell." There is a deed referred to in the William

and Mary Quarterly, Volume 13, page 264, whereby Rich-

mond Terrell conveys to Henry Wyatt a tract of land in

New Kent County, Va. The date of the deed is April 29,

1670, and in it the grantor reserves 100 acres, which he

says he had previously given unto his brother William Ter-

rell, and which has since been sold by the latter to Francis

Waring. This deed clearly shows that Richmond and Wil-

liam were brothers.

The traditions among the descendants of William and

Richmond Terrell are sometimes contradictory as to just

where in England the two brothers came from, and as to

the exact year of their arrival. They are all in accord,

however, in saying that the two came from the old family

of the Tyrrells in England and were descendants of the

stock established there by Sir Walter Tyrrell III. As be-

fore stated, the tradition generally relied upon is that

William and Richmond were the sons of William Tyrrell,

who was the son of Sir Timothy Tyrrell I. of Oakley. This

Sir Timothy Tyrrell was the son of Sir Edward Tyrrell of

Thornton and belonged to that branch of the Englisn fam-

ily known as the Tyrrells of Thornton, who were an off-

shoot of the Tyrrells of Heron. This William Tyrrell, son

of Sir Timothy Tyrrell I., was killed at the battle of Chester

— 80 —

in 1644, during the Civil War in England. Richmond and

William Terrell were both large land owners in Virginia

at a very early period after their arrival. The family tra-

ditions are that they came to Virginia with some sort of

official authority in connection with the crown lands in

Virginia, either as surveyors or in some other important

capacity. It has generally been supposed that the large

grants of land received by both of these immigrants came

for their services in connection with their official position.

It is a significant fact that the Christian name of Timothy

was largely used in the first two or three generations of

the descendants of both Richmond and William, and that

among the children of William were five who bore the exact

Christian names of five of the children and grandchildren

of Sir Timothy Tyrrell of Oakley in Bucks. As to whether

these two Virginia colonists, Richmond and William Terrell,

were lineally descended from Sir Timothy Tyrrell I., or

from Sir Edward of Thornton, is not yet quite clearly

established in the mind of the author of this pamphlet;

but that they came from the old stock of the Tyrrells of

Heron, and probably the Tyrrells of Thornton, is substan-

tially established in many ways. Among the descendants

of William now living in the State of Georgia, there is an

old gold watch, said to have been brought over by William

from England, and still held in the family as a valuable

relic, which has engraved upon it the old crest of the Tyr-

rells of Heron, namely, the crest of the boar's head with

the peacock's tail issuing therefrom. Moreover, there is

another branch of the family in Virginia an old ring, hand-

ed down from many generations back in that State, with

the same crest engraved thereon.

Sir Timothy Tyrrell I. of Oakley was the son of Sir

Edward Tyrrell of Thornton, as before stated, and a de-

scendant of the Tyrrells of Heron, and was born in 1575.

In the correspondence which the author has had for a year

past with Mr. J. H. Tyrrell, the English historian of the

family, Mr. Tyrrell has intimated that the Virginia ancestor

of the family probably came from the branch known in

England as the Tyrrells of Thornton. In a letter dated June

9, 1908, from Mr. Tyrrell to the author, giving his views on

this subject, he says among other things, "It may interest

— 81 —

you to know that no matter from what branch of the Eng-

lish house the American families come, they are of Royal

descent, as you will see by the enclosed chart, which do not

trouble yourself to return to me." Included in this letter

was a very elaborate chart, carefully prepared by Mr.

Tyrrell from the authorities so accessible in England, show-

ing the line of descent from Edward /., King of England,

and Eleanor of Castile, his wife, to Sir Edward Tyrrell of

Thornton, through the marriage of Joan Plantagenet, the

daughter of Edward /., to Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Glou-

cester. Joan Plantagenet is sometimes called in history

Joan of Acre, as she was bom during the siege of Acre in

the Crusades, where Edward I., then Prince of Wales, was

taking part, accompanied by Eleanor of Castile, his wife.

There are doubtless many families in America who are

descended from Royal ancestors, but it is not always easy

to establish this fact by accurate lists of the marriages and

pedigrees.

In a Republic like that of the United States, where

transcendent genius, relying upon character, industry and

opportunity, can enable a man to rise from the depths of

poverty and obscurity to the loftiest station of usefulness,

honor and fame, like the immortal Abraham Lincoln, de-

scent from Royalty, no matter how regular and honorable,

seems of trivial importance indeed. In many cases, the

character of a Sovereign has been so disreputable or vicious

that to have him as an ancestor would be anything but

creditable. However, as Edward Plantagenet (Edward I.

of England), was a great law giver, soldier and statesman,

and probably the ablest King that England ever had, one

whose strong personality, keen intelligence and vigorous

character were deeply impressed upon English history, it

may possibly be a matter of curious genealogical interest

for descendants of this old English County family to read

the line of descent so carefully prepared by Mr. Tyrrell,

showing the lineage of the Tyrrells of Thornton from the

Plantagenet King. Therefore, the author will here insert

the chart which was sent to him as above described.

— 82-

Royal Descent of English Branch of Tyrrell,

From the Two Marriages of Joan Plantagenet.

Edward I. King of England m. Eleanor of Castile;

j

Joan Plantagenet m. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester;

Eleanor de Clare m. Hugh Despencer, Earl of Gloucester;

Isabel Despencer m. Richard Fitzalan, 5th Earl of Arundel ;

Philippa Fitzalan m. Sir Richard Serjeaux;

Elizabeth Serjeaux m. Sir William Marney ;

Sir John Marney m. Agnes Throckmorton;

Anna Marney m. Sir Thomas Tyrrell of Heron ;

Sir William m. Eleanor Sir Thomas Tyrrell m. Elizabeth

Tyrrell D' Arcy. of Ockendeii \ Le Brun ;

William Tyrrell m. Elizabeth Bodley ;

Humphrey Tyrrell m. Jane Ingleton;

of Thornton.

George Tyrrell.

— 33-

After the death of Joan's first husband, the Earl of

Gloucester, she jnarried a second time, her second husband

being Ralf de Monthenner. The line of descent from this

second marriage was as follows :

Her son, Sir Thomas Monthermer m. Margaret ;

Margaret Monthermer m. Sir John de Montacute;

Sir Simon Montacute m. Elizabeth Boughton;

Thomas Montagu m. Christian Bassett ;

John Montagu m. Alice Halcot ;

William Montagu m. Mary Butline ;

Richard Montagu m. Agnes Knotting ;

Thomas Montagu m. Agnes Dudley;

Sir Edward Montagu, Chief Justice, m. Helen Roper;

Eleanor Montagu.

— 34 —

George Tyrrell, who was descended from the first mar-

riage of Joan Plantagenet, married Eleanor Montagu, who

was descended from the second marriage of Joan. Their

oldest son was Sir Edward Tyrrell of Thornton, who mar-

ried, first, Mary Lee, and, second, Margaret Aston. From

the first marriage Sir Edward had a son. Sir Edward Tyr-

rell, Baronet, of Thornton, who married Elizabeth Kings-

miU, daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, who was also of

Royal descent. By the second marriage of Sir Edward

Tyrrell of Thornton he had a son. Sir Timothy Tyrrell I.

of Oakley in Bucks, who married Eleanor Kingsmill, also

a daughter of Sir William Kingsmill From this chart it

will easily be seen that there were three branches of the

family, all of which were descended from Joan Plantagenet,

namely, the branch headed by Sir William Tyrrell, who

married Eleanor D'Arcy, and the two branches headed re-

spectively by Sir Edward Tyrrell, Baronet, and Sir Timothy

I. of Oakley.

Sir Timothy Tyrrell I. was Master of the Buckhounds

to King James I. and King Charles I. He was succeeded in

his title by his oldest son. Sir Timothy Tyrrell IL, who

was of Oakley in Bucks, and also of Shotover in the County

of Oxford. The latter was also of the Privy Chamber of

King Charles I.; he was Colonel in the Royal Army, Gov-

ernor of Cardiff, and General of the Ordnance. One of his

sons, James Tyrrell, was a historian of some distinction,

having written a general history of England in five vol-

umes. In M. D'Acy's book, referred to in the foregoing

part of these notes, he speaks of the historian, James Tyr-

rell, as a descendant of the old Norman-French family of

Tyrrell de Poix, and mentions the fact that this James

Tyrrell had written considerably on the subject of the old

family in France.

As to the place in England from which Richmond and

William Terrell came, there is much obscurity, owing to

the absence of documentary evidence on that point and to

the long period that has elapsed, about two hundred and

fifty years, since they came to the colony. One tradition

is that they came directly from Richmond, England; and

it is somewhat significant in this connection that the resi-

dence of Sir Timothy Tyrrell 1., while he was an official

— 85 —

member of the household of King Charles I., must have

been in the neighborhood of Richmond, as the residence of

the Stuart Kings was at Hampton Court nearby. It has

been insisted by some that the first Tyrrells in Virginia

came from England via the West Indies. It is known that

Usher Tyrrell, one of the sons of Sir Timothy II., located

himself in Jamaica. He had married a daughter of Van

Tromp, the Dutch Admiral, and had children. At that

early date the route via the West Indies was frequently

taken by the colonial immigrants. Bristol, on the west

coast of England, was quite accessible to the Tyrrells in

Oxford and Bucks ; and equally so, probably, was the route

down the Thames, which would also be convenient to any

member of the old stock left still in Essex, as Langham,

Ramsey-Tyrrells, Boreham House, Springfield, Thornton,

Heron Hall, and other places in Essex, where the Tyrrells

had lived and flourished in the thirteenth, fourteenth and

fifteenth centuries, were all within a short distance of that

river. The Civil Wars in England caused the emigration

of many members of the old cavalier families, especially

the younger sons who could not inherit under the laws of

primogeniture, to the colony of Virginia. The Tyrrells

ha4 largely taken the losing side in the conflict, and some

of the more adventurous spirits among the younger mem-

bers of the family evidently desired to shake the dust of

England from their feet and seek their fortunes in the

new world. William and Richmond may not have left Eng-

land until after the Restoration of Charles II., although

Richmond is said to have arrived as early as 1656.

Therefore, being members of a family which had been

loyal to King Charles I. in his great contest with Parliament,

they may have obtained under the Restoration from Charles

II. some authoritative position with reference to the crown

lands or Royal hunting grounds in the colony of Virginia.

Reference Has been made herein already to the tradition

in the family that the first ancestors came out from Eng-

land under some such Jloyal authority.

The Tyrrell family m Ireland has produced many men

of great distinction in the history of that country. Many

were conspicuous in the wars that have devastated Ireland,

and a number who have headed the different branches of

the family in that country have borne the title of Baron

and have been distinguished as owners of imposing castles

and large possessions of lands. Many of these Irish Tyr-

rells were graduates of Trinity College, Dublin, and occu-

pied many high positions in connection with the Corpora-

tion of that city.

All along through the pages of English history from the

thirteenth century down, the members of the family have

been distinguished for patriotic and conspicuous service to

their country. Sir John Tyrrell fought with the Black

Prince in 1356 at the battle of Poitiers. Reference has al-

ready been made to the presence of old Sir John Tyrrell,

High Sheriff of Essex, at the battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Sir William Tirrell was killed at the battle of Barnett in

1471, fighting desperately at the side of Warwick, the King

Maker. Another Sir William Tyrrell was executed during

the Wars of the Roses as a Lancastrian in 1461. The only

member of the family, in these early days, who seems to

have disgraced the family, was Sir James Tyrrell, who

was a supporter of Richard III., and who has been charged

with having caused the murder of the two sons of Edward

IV. in the Tower of London, at the behest of his Sovereign.

This Sir James was a son of Sir William Tyrrell of Gipping

in Suffolk, who was a descendant of the Tyrrells of Heron.

During the great Civil War in England between Parliament

and Charles I., many members of the family, as has been

said, were distinguished for loyal services, mainly in the

Royal army. Notably among them was Sir John Tyrrell;

whose wife was Martha, daughter of Sir Laurence Wash-

ington of Wiltshire, who was of the same family as the

illustrious George Washington. These are the "Sir John"

and "Dame Martha" hereinbefore referred to as being

buried in Tyrrell Chapel. Sir Thomas Tyrrell, Judge of

the Common Pleas, was one of the Commissioners of the

Great Seal to Oliver Cromwell, and seems to have been one

of the few of the family who were on the side of Parlia-

ment. Sir John Tyssen Tyrrell of Boreham House, near

Chelmsford in Essex, a descendant of Sir Thomas Tyrrell

of Heron, died in 1877. The representative of this branch of

the family now in England is Colonel John Tufnell-Tyrrell.

There is a tablet in Westminster Abbey to the memory of

— 87 —

Richard Tyrrell, who was a distinguished Admiral in the

naval service of England in the eighteenth century and was

a member of one of the Irish branches of the family. All

the evidence points to the fact that the family was what is

known in England as an old County family, the members

of which were always prompt to go to the front when duty

called. The position of High Sheriff of Essex County,

which in England is a position of great note and dignity,

was held for many years by different members of the fam-

ily. Old Sir John Tyrrell, who fought at Agincourt, was

repeatedly elected Speaker of the House of Commons in the

fifteenth century. Sir Timothy Tyrrell IL was famous for

his princely hospitality at his beautiful country place six

miles from the city of Oxford. Everyone who is descended

from this old historic family may feel proud of the fact

that it was a representative of good Norman-English stock ;

and that in the various positions which its members occu-

pied in the civil and military history of their country, they

generally and uniformly conferred high credit upon the

family. They never seem to have forgotten that their fore-

fathers had been leaders of men, prominent in the early

history of France and taking conspicuous parts in the Cru-

sades.

In concluding these notes, the author of this sketch de-

sires to give his own line of descent from his Virginia

ancestors. He has been a resident of San Antonio, Texas,

for over thirty years, and is a native of Indiana. His father

was Williamson Terrell, who was bom in Clark County,

Kentucky, June 12, 1805; his mother was Martha Jarrell,

who was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1808. She was

the daughter of James Jarrell and Rachel Powell, his wife,

who both came to Kentucky from Dover, Delaware. Wil-

liamson Terrell was the son of Captain John Terrell, who

distinguished himself in the early Indian campaigns in the

West, under Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, and who was

present at Harmar's defeat and at Wayne's great victory

over the Miami Indians at the battle of the Maumee Rapids,

or "Fallen Timbers," August 20, 1794. The author's grand-

father. Captain John Terrell, was bom in Spotsylvania

County, Virginia, April 3, 1772, and moved to Kentucky

with his father in 1787. John Terrell married Abigail

Allan, the author's grandmother, who was the daughter of

Archibald ADan of Albemarle County, Virginia, and who

was the sister of Chilton Allan, the famous Kentucky law-

yer, who represented the Ashland district in Congress for

ten years after Henry Clay had been sent to the Senate.

The writer's great-grandfather was Henry Terrell, Henry

Terrell II., as he is called in the family, to distinguish him

from his own father, who was also named Henry. Henry

Terrell II. was born in Caroline County, Virginia, March

29, 1735. He married Mary Tyler, who was the daughter

of Captain William Tyler, and who was born in Virginia

in 1743. The father of Henry Terrell II. was Henry Terrell

I., as he is called, who was a lawyer and wealthy planter

and who lived near Golansville, in Caroline County, but

who was born in Hanover County, Virginia. Henry Terrell

I. was bom about the year 1695 and died in 1760. A copy

of his will is in the possession of his descendant, Colonel

Lynch M. Terrell of Atlanta, Ga., together with a copy of

the inventory of his estate; and they show that he was a

man of large wealth, as property values went at that early

day in the colony. He left large, improved tracts of land

to each of his several sons, and disposed in his will of a

large amount of personal property. Henry Terrell I. was

a man of considerable influence in the colony ; as was quite

common in that day, he combined several occupations and

was a lawyer, a merchant and a planter. He made large

shipments of goods for the use of his plantations from the

port of Bristol in England, and he exported the surplus

products of his land, being a large producer especially of

tobacco. He was somewhat proud of his family lineage;

lived in the comfortable style of a country gentleman, and

was rather aristocratic in his ways and bearing. He was

married twice; first, to Annie Chiles, a young lady of a

family then quite well known and distinguished in the early

colonial history of Virginia, several members of that family

having been members of the House of Burgesses, and one

a Lieutenant Colonel of Virginia Militia. Secondly, Henry

Terrell I. married Sarah Woodson, the daughter of Tarlton

Woodson. The great-grandfather of the writer of this

pamphlet, Henry Terrell II., was a son by the first mar-

riage with Annie Chiles. Henry Terrell I. was one of the

— 39 —

younger sons of the Virginia ancestor, William Tyrrell or

Terrell, (as the name is written both ways in the early

colonial land records). The wife of William Terrell was

Susannah Waters; and the tradition in the family is that

Susannah came from England to America to meet and

marry her husband, William, accompanied by a retinue of

servants and escorted by her husband's brother. There is

even a romantic story connected with their marriage. It

is said that the family of William in England was Catholic,

but that while he was a student at the University of Ox-

ford he became a Protestant, thus deeply angering his fam-

ily ; that he had courted Susannah, who was also of Catholic

family, many of the old English families still being ad-

herents of that faith at that time. William went to the

Virginia colony thus somewhat under his family's dis-

pleasure; he was followed later on by Susannah, escorted,

as above stated, by his brother; and the marriage took place

in Virginia. Of course this is all tradition and it cannot

be stated to have any very solid foundation.

The oldest son of William and Susannah Terrell was

named Timothy, and the descendants of this son Timothy

are quite numerous today in Indiana, Missouri and Colo-

rado. As before stated, it is rather significant that for

several generations there was always a Timothy among

the descendants of both William and Richmond. There was

one daughter of the marriage of William and Susannah

whose name was Anna,^ and who married David Lewis, from

which marriage there are many descendants among the

oldest families in the State of Virginia. Another son of

William and Susannah was David Terrell, who married

Agatha Chiles, a sister of the Annie Chiles who had married

his brother, Henry Terrell I. From this marriage of David

Terrell and Agatha Chiles are descended numerous

branches of the family in Texas and other southern states ;

and among David's descendants is the Hon. A. W. Terrell,

of Austin, Texas, now in his eighty-second year, and still

a man of great physical and intellectual vigor, who has been

prominently identified with the history of Texas for nearly

sixty years, and who was the American Minister to Turkey

during the last administration of President Cleveland.

Among the descendants of another son of William, the an-

, — 40 —

cestor, Joel, is the Hon. Joseph M. Terrell, lately Governor

of Georgia; and there are also many descendants of this

son still living in that State. There are also many de-

scendants in Virginia and other southern states of Rich-

mond, the brother of William, and one of the first two

ancestors in Virginia. William Terrell, the ancestor, lived

in St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, and he and

his wife, Susannah, were both members of the established

church, (Episcopal). This fact may lend some color of

truth to the story of their both having recanted from the

Catholic faith in England. There is a deed on record in

Virginia from William and Susannah Terrell to their son,

Henry Terrell, dated March 16, 1725, for a tract of 400

acres of land situated in King William County. William

Terrell, the ancestor in Virginia, died at a very advanced

age in 1727.

The writer of this little pamphlet has never specially

interested himself in tracing down the various branches of

the American Terrells from their original Virginia ances-

tors, and has no special knowledge on this subject further

than that of knowing his own direct descent from William

Terrell. Other members of the family, notably two cousins

of the author, the late General W. H. H. Terrell, of In-

dianapolis, and his brother. Colonel Lynch M. Terrell, of

Atlanta, Ga., have most industriously and thoroughly en-

gaged during the last twenty years in accumulating a vast

amount of information on the different branches of the

family, descended from the two Virginia ancestors. The

author of this sketch has only sought to investigate care-

fully the early history of the Norman-French progenitors

of the stock and the English forefathers, and to trace the

direct connection between the first Virginia ancestors and

the particular branch of the TjnTells of Heron from which

they undoubtedly came. This work has been done from

time to time, in the leisure moments of a busy professional

life; and if the results of his researches as set forth in this

pamphlet shall prove to be interesting to the many mem-

bers of the family throughout the United States, the author

will be amply compensated for his labors. He desires, in

concluding these notes, to express in this public manner,

the deep sense of obligation he feels to Mr. Joseph Henry

— 41 —

Tsrrrell, the English historian of the family, for ilie kind

consideration he has received at his hands and for the many

extremely valuable suggestions he has made from time to

time by way of aid to the author in his researches and in

the preparation of this little pamphlet.

The descendants of this old Essex County family, thus

transplanted to Virginia soil some two hundred and fifty

years ago, have worthily maintained in America the sturdy

and patriotic qualities characteristic of their stock in the

mother country. As governors, senators, judges, and other

prominent officers in the civil administration of their state

and nation, they have taken their full share of honors and

credit. In the wars on the borders of Virginia in colonial

days ; at Guilford Court House, King's Mountain and York-

town in the Revolution; in the Indian campaigns in the

West under Harmar, Wayne and Harrison; at Talladega,

the Horseshoe Bend and New Orleans under the indomita-

ble Jackson; at Shiloh, Perryville, Cedar Creek, Cold Har-

bor, and on many other desperate battle fields of the late

Civil War, both in the Federal and Confederate armies,

the American descendants of the old Norman-French fam-

ily of Tyrrell de Poix have nobly sustained with their cour-

age and blood the chivalric record established by their

knightly forefathers at the siege of Acre in the Crusades,

and at Cr6cy, Poitiers and Agincourt.

---

References

1. Barron, Caroline. Medieval London Widows, 1300-1500. (1994). < GoogleBooks >
2. https://archive.org/details/visitationscoun01banngoog/page/n160/mod...
3. http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-32-613.pdf SUMMARY: The document below is the will, dated 18 December 1548 and proved 3 December 1549, of Humphrey Tyrrell (d.1549), esquire, of South Ockendon, Essex, whose wife, Jane Ingleton, was the ward of John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, and whose father was a half-brother of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.