Joan Benstede

Two daughters of Sir John Thornbury, MP, d 1396, both called Joan.

"Both his daughters were called Joan, and are thus easily confused. Joan Corbet (d. 1418) married successively William Peyto, John Knightley* and Sir Robert Corbet, Sir John’s colleague in the Parliament of 1385." The other Joan Benstede (d.1449) was married to William Greville and Sir Edward Benstede.

Family

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Greville

William Greville (died 1 October 1401) (alias Grevel, Graville, Grevill, etc.[3]), of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire and a Citizen of the City of London,[4] was a prominent wool-merchant and is the ancestor of the present Greville Earls of Warwick.[5].

He was a Citizen of the City of London, as is stated on his ledger stone. He was a member of the Holy Trinity Guild in Coventry, whose other members included several members of Parliament for Bristol and the prominent merchant and royal financier Richard Whittington.[16]

Marriage and progeny

He married twice:

Firstly to a certain Marion, possibly a daughter of Sir John Thornborough,[17] by whom he had progeny six sons[18] and two daughters,[19] including:

1. Ludovic Greville,[20] eldest son, of Drayton in Oxfordshire.[21]
2. John Greville (died 1444), of Sezincote, Gloucestershire, seven times a member of parliament for Gloucestershire.[22]
3. Alice Greville, wife of Edmund Ludlow (d.1409) of Ludlowes manor in Campden.[23]
4. Mary Greville, wife of John Gifford of Harpre.[24]

Secondly to Joan Thornbury (d.1449), sister and heiress of Sir Philip Thornbury (d.1457),[25] of Little Munden and Bygrave, Hertfordshire, thrice MP for Hertfordshire.[26] Without surviving progeny.

She survived him and re-married to Sir Edward Benstede (1353/5-1432), of Bennington, Hertfordshire, 5 times MP for Hertfordshire.

References

1. THORNBURY, alias WENLOCK, Sir John (d.1396), of Little Munden and Bygrave, Herts. m. Naverina, at least 1s. Sir Philip*, 2da. Kntd. c. Feb. 1373.1. "Sir John’s wife, Naverina, seems to have been Italian, and it was perhaps through her influence that he kept up some of the earlier connexions of his mercenary days." Sir John died not long before 4 Sept. 1396 and was buried in the church of Little Munden. He left only one son, Sir Philip, although the Thomas Thornbury who served on the Hertfordshire bench between 1392 and 1394 may also have been one of his children. Both his daughters were called Joan, and are thus easily confused. One (d. 1418) married successively William Peyto, John Knightley* and Sir Robert Corbet, Sir John’s colleague in the Parliament of 1385. The second (d.1449) had two husbands, William Greville of Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, and Sir Edward Benstede.11
   1. 11. VCH Herts. iii. 134; CAD, ii. B2569, 2571; CPR, 1388-92, p. 526.
2. ledger stone of William Greville (d.1401), Chipping Campden Church, Gloucestershire < digital image >
3. BENSTEDE, Sir Edward (1353/5-1432), of Bennington, Herts. b. either 18 Oct. 1353 or 25 Jan. 1355 at Bennington, 2nd s. and h. of Sir John Benstede (d.1358) of Bennington by his w. Petronilla (d.1378). m. (1) by Feb. 1384, Alice, 4s. (1 d.v.p.) 3da.; (2) by June 1402, Joan (d. 19 Aug. 1449), da. of Sir John Thornbury*, wid. of William Greville (d.1401) of Chipping Campden, Glos. Kntd. by Mar. 1382.1

   ---

Joanna Thornbury Greville
Birth unknown
Milcote, Stratford-on-Avon District, Warwickshire, England
Death 10 Sep 1441
Chipping Campden, Cotswold District, Gloucestershire, England
Burial St James Churchyard
Chipping Campden, Cotswold District, Gloucestershire, England
Plot Within St. James church
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 222946535
No issue this 2nd marriage.
Joan or Joanna was sister & heir of her brother Sir Philip Thornbury (source Esc. 28 Henry Vl)
Sources for Joan/Joanna being 2nd wife are:
(1) "Collins's Peerage of England" additions by Sir Egerton Brydges K.J. - Vol. lV pg 332)
(2) William Grevel's Will of 1401.
(3) From The Victoria History of Oxford...By Louis Francis Salzman, University of London Institute of Historical Research, Published 1972 shows that in
1399 William Greville and wife Joan conveyed the manors of Horley, Wickham and one other (unreadable) to son John Greville
+++
re 2nd wife of William Grevel 1340-1401
"Joanna of Milcote" .
Joan/Joanna appears to have been quite a bit younger than William, but her birth year not yet located.
Joan/Joanna remarried in 1405 (after death of William in 1401) to Sir Edward BERSTEAD (also shown as Sir Edward BENSTEDE).
She died in the 28th year of the reign of King Henry Vl (c1450). (Source : Rot. Fin. 28 HenryVl m 16).
+++
Joan or Joanna also had a sister (also named Joan), who married (1) William Peyto (m2) John Knightly (m3) Sir John Corbet
Family Members
Parents
Sir John Thornbury
unknown–1396

Lady Naverina Thornbury
unknown–1396

Spouse
William Greville
1337–1401 (m. 1387)

Siblings
Joan de Thornbury Knightley
1375–1418

Sir Philip Thornbury
unknown–1457
From: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/222946535/joanna_greville
______
William Greville (died 1 October 1401) (alias Grevel, Graville, Grevill, etc.[3]), of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire and a Citizen of the City of London,[4] was a prominent wool-merchant and is the ancestor of the present Greville Earls of Warwick.[5] The Latin inscription on his ledger stone in Chipping Campden Church, which he rebuilt at his own expense, describes him as flos mercatorum lanar(iorum) tocius (totius) Angli(a)e, "the flower of the wool-merchants of all England".[6] This language is reminiscent of that used to describe certain prominent knights such as Edward, the Black Prince (d.1376) who was described by Froissart (d. circa 1405) as la fleur de toutte chevalerie dou monde ("the flower of all chivalry of the world")[7] and was likely intended to suggest a degree of equivalence between mercantile and martial activities".[8] He was amongst the richest and most influential wool merchants of his era[9] and was the leading purchaser of wool from the Cotswold Hills.[10]
Origins
He was the son of William I Grevel (d.post 1397) of Chipping Campden, the son and heir of John Grevel (d.pre-1359) by his wife a certain Margaret.[11] The Greville family is believed to be of Norman or Flemish origin and had settled in Chipping Campden by 1276.[12] Leland (d.1552) stated: "Sum hold opinion that the Grevilles cam originally in at the Conquest",[13] but although the name appears Norman in style,[14] surviving records do not mention the family before the 13th century.[15] The name is similar to that of Grenville of Bideford in Devon and of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall, later Earls of Bath, which is known to have had common ancestry with the Norman nobleman Richard de Grenville (died after 1142), one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan.
Career
He was a Citizen of the City of London, as is stated on his ledger stone. He was a member of the Holy Trinity Guild in Coventry, whose other members included several members of Parliament for Bristol and the prominent merchant and royal financier Richard Whittington.[16]
Marriage and progeny
He married twice:
Firstly to a certain Marion, possibly a daughter of Sir John Thornborough,[17] by whom he had progeny six sons[18] and two daughters,[19] including:

• Ludovic Greville,[20] eldest son, of Drayton in Oxfordshire.[21]
• John Greville (died 1444), of Sezincote, Gloucestershire, seven times a member of parliament for Gloucestershire.[22]
• Alice Greville, wife of Edmund Ludlow (d.1409) of Ludlowes manor in Campden.[23]
• Mary Greville, wife of John Gifford of Harpre.[24]

Secondly to Joan Thornbury (d.1449), sister and heiress of Sir Philip Thornbury (d.1457),[25] of Little Munden and Bygrave, Hertfordshire, thrice MP for Hertfordshire.[26] Without surviving progeny. She survived him and re-married to Sir Edward Benstede (1353/5-1432), of Bennington, Hertfordshire, 5 times MP for Hertfordshire.
Landholdings
Greville invested much of his trading profits into land and buildings. His fine town house in Chipping Campden, situated nearly opposite the Woolstaplers' Hall, survives as one of the oldest buildings in that town.[27] He purchased more than 14 houses in the town,[28] as well as several nearby manors including:

• Lasborough;[29]
• Meon;[30]
• Milcote, Warwickshire. In 1398 he purchased from Sir Walter Beauchamp[31] the manor of Milcote in Warwickshire and settled it on himself and his second wife Joan Thornbury (d.1449) in tail-male with successive remainders to his sons by his first wife, John, Lewis and William. Here his descendant Ludovic Greville (d.1589) in 1567 obtained royal licence to crenellate his grand new mansion house called "Mount Greville".[32]
• Charlton Kings , Gloucestershire, which he purchased in 1386/7 from Sir John de Ros, son of James de Ros of Gednay, Lincolnshire.[33]

Death and burial
He signed his will on 2 April 1401 and desired to be buried in the "Church of the Blessed Mary of Campden" and bequeathed 100 marks to "the new work to be carried on there". He founded a chantry there and ordered that four chaplains should sing mass daily for ten years[34] for his soul and for those of his ancestors.[35]
Monumental brass
His very large ledger stone (8 ft 9" * 4 ft 4") with monumental brasses survives in Campden Church, in a position of great prominence, on the floor of the chancel in front of the communion rails.[36] The brasses represent Greville and his wife, under a double canopy crocketed and cusped, both with hands folded in prayer, the wife being on her husband's left hand. His own figure measures 5 ft 4" * 1 ft 4".
Description of male effigy
(Per Davis, 1899): The hair of William Grevel is short and removed from the temples like that of the reeve described by Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales. At this period the young men were clean shaven, their elders wore a moustache and beard. Chaucer describes "A marchant was there with a forked beard", and this fashion was duly followed by William Grevel. He wears a tight-fitting tunic reaching to the ankles; from the waist it is fastened by buttons, of which three are visible above the girdle and eleven beneath it. The sleeves of this tunic are close-fitting, and from beneath them emerge the tighter sleeves of an under-dress with seven buttons showing on each wrist. The tunic is confined at the waist by a girdle made of leather profusely adorned, and passing through an oval buckle, the end is passed under the girdle hanging down in front, and terminated by a metal pendant, on which is engraved a rosette. On his left side is the anelace, or basilard, which is suspended from the girdle by a thong. The anelace is broad in the blade, sharpened on both sides and tapered from hilt to point. The scabbard is ornamented with little pateras at the top and middle. Over all is a mantle, fastened by three large buttons on the right shoulder, and, gathered over the left arm, hangs gracefully. Round his neck he wears a hood of which the buttons are not shown. The shoes are pointed and fastened across the instep by a plain buckle. The background of the feet is plain.
Description of female effigy
(Per Davis, 1899): Marion Grevel wears the nebulée head dress, which consists of three rolls of frills worn only on the top of the head and shoulders. Round her neck is a frill. The kirtle and cote-hardie are buttoned from the neck to the feet, and more than four score buttons are shown. The author of the Romance of Sir Degrevant, in describing the dress of an earl's daughter, says: "to tell her botennes was toore" (i.e., dure, hard, to count her buttons would give much trouble). She wears neither mantle nor girdle, and closely buttoned mittens are seen on her wrists. The ends of the shoes are visible.
Heraldry
In each pediment is Greville's merchant's mark, being a cross standing on a globe, and two streamers attached to the shaft. On either side of the ledger stone and from the middle rise pinnacles. Between the finials and pinnacles are four heraldic shields, all displaying the arms of Greville: Sable, on a cross engrailed or five pellets a bordure engrailed of the second a mullet of the second in the dexter quarter for difference. These arms are today borne by the Greville Earls of Warwick, but undifferenced by a mullet. It is very unusual to find both a merchant's mark and a coat of arms on the same monument,[37] as the social classes of merchant and gentry were distinct. The two outer pinnacles are continued down till their bases from the extremity of the diapered band at the bottom upon which the figures stand. The centre pinnacle has a foliated capital and is continued till its base rests on the diapered band.
Inscription
The edge of the ledger stone is inscribed in Latin as follows:[38]

• Hic jacet Wilelmus Grevel de Campdene quond(a)m civis Londinii & flos m(er)cator(um) lanar(iorum) tocius Angli(a)e qui obiit p(ri)mo die mense Octobris an(n)o Domi(ni) mill(ensi)mo CCC p(ri)mo. Hic jacet Mariona uxor predicti Wilelmi qu(a)e obiit decimo die mensis Septembris anno D(omi)ni mill(ensi)mo CCCo LXXXo VIo Quor(um) a(n)i(m)ab(us) (propicie)tur Deus amen (which may be translated as: "Here lies William Grevel of Campden, at some time a citizen of London and the flower of the wool-merchants of all England, who died on the first day in the month of October in the year of our Lord the thousandth four hundredth and first. Here lies Marion, wife of the aforesaid William, who died on the tenth day of the month of September in the year of our Lord the thousandth three hundredth eightieth and sixth. On the souls of whom may God look with favour, amen".

Descendants
His descendant was Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554–1628) of Beauchamp's Court, Warwickshire, 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke and de jure 13th Baron Latimer, the famous Elizabethan poet and dramatist, who obtained a grant of Warwick Castle and its dependencies and was the ancestor of the Greville Earls of Warwick, which title is extant today.[39] and of Christopher Brooke Fulke-Greville (b1951-), Debretts Peerage & Baronetage 2003.
etc.
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Greville
________
BENSTEDE, Sir Edward (1353/5-1432), of Bennington, Herts.
Family and Education
b. either 18 Oct. 1353 or 25 Jan. 1355 at Bennington, 2nd s. and h. of Sir John Benstede (d.1358) of Bennington by his w. Petronilla (d.1378). m. (1) by Feb. 1384, Alice, 4s. (1 d.v.p.) 3da.; (2) by June 1402, Joan (d. 19 Aug. 1449), da. of Sir John Thornbury*, wid. of William Greville (d.1401) of Chipping Campden, Glos. Kntd. by Mar. 1382.1
Offices Held
Assessor of a tax, Herts. May 1379; collector of an aid on the marriage of Princess Blanche Dec. 1401, of a tax Mar. 1404, of a royal loan Jan. 1420.
Sheriff, Essex and Herts. 5 Nov. 1379-18 Oct. 1380, 3 Nov. 1398-24 Nov. 1400, 22 Nov. 1405-5 Nov. 1406.
J.p. Herts. 14 Dec. 1381-Nov. 1391, 16 May 1401-Mar. 1406.
Commr. to suppress the rebels of 1381, Herts. Mar., Dec. 1382; of array Apr. 1385, Mar. 1392, Mar. 1419; kiddles June 1398; to prevent the spread of treasonous rumours May 1402; of oyer and terminer, Essex Oct. 1410 (withdrawal of labour services on the Waltham abbey estates), Herts. Mar., Sept. 1417 (withdrawal of labour services on the St. Albans abbey estates); to arrest lollards Jan. 1414; of inquiry, Derbys., Herts., Lincs., Northumb., Notts., Yorks. Feb., May 1414 (estates of the Darcy family); to raise a royal loan, Herts. Nov. 1419.
Biography
The fortunes of the Benstede family were laid by our Member’s great-grandfather, Sir John Benstede† (d.1323), a prominent judge, who rose to hold office successively as keeper of the privy seal, chancellor of England and keeper of the royal wardrobe. During the course of his long and distinguished career, Sir John seized the opportunity to build up an impressive estate which descended to the subject of this biography while he was still a young man. Although the sources differ as to his exact age, Edward Benstede cannot have been more than six years old when his father died in 1359. The early death of his elder brother, John, in 1376, followed by that of his mother two years later, left him in undisputed possession of an inheritance comprising the Essex manors of Little Parndon, Great Stambridge and Higham, together with land in Walthamstow, Rochford, Rawreth, Rayleigh, East Wood, Hockley and Hawkwell in the same county. He owned the manor of Tuddenham as well as property in Cowlinge and Lidgate, Suffolk; his Cambridgeshire estates were scattered in and around the villages of Kirtling, Ditton Camois, Ditton Valence, Cheveley, Silverley, Saxton Hall and Ashley; and he also possessed substantial holdings in the Benstede area of Hampshire. His patrimony in West Grimstead, Wiltshire, was considerably increased on the death of his grandmother, Maud Benstede, in 1380, since dower had been assigned to her from that manor. The Benstedes’ main territorial interests — and influence — lay, however, in Hertfordshire, where they had settled during the late 13th century. Besides his seat at Bennington, Edward held extensive farmland in Kimpton, Crowbury, Woodhall, Hatfield, St. Albans and Harpsfield Hall.2 This accounted for a significant proportion of his income as a rentier, which was estimated at £112 p.a. in 1412, but which may well have been far higher. The valuation of £70 p.a. set upon the bulk of his estates in his inquisition post mortem clearly represents a major under-assessment of his landed wealth.3
Sir Edward’s first wife, Alice, was possibly the daughter of his former guardian, Richard Punchardoun, who in 1366 paid 100 marks to the Crown for the marriage of the young heir. During the early 1380s the couple settled most of their estates upon feoffees, perhaps as a result of the birth of their eldest son, Edmund. It was also at this time that Sir Edward obtained royal letters patent confirming a grant of certain commercial privileges at Bennington made originally to Sir John Benstede by Edward I.4Although he never achieved the eminence of his celebrated ancestor, our Member was not without distinction at a more local level, serving three terms as sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire and sitting for almost 15 years on the Hertfordshire bench. He first experienced the problems of law-enforcement during the early summer of 1381, when he accompanied Sir Walter Lee* on his mission to pacify the townspeople of St. Albans, who were then in a state of open rebellion against the abbey. Despite the total failure of their attempt, he was made a j.p. shortly afterwards, and played a prominent part in the suppression of those involved in the Peasants’ Revolt. Less than a year after his first return to Parliament in April 1384, Sir Edward was awarded royal letters of exemption from office-holding under the Crown, and this probably explains his general inactivity during the 1390s. Had his removal from the bench and his almost complete disappearance from royal commissions been a direct consequence of Richard II’s displeasure, his election to the two Parliaments of 1397 — both noted for their bias towards the court party — would be hard to understand. On the other hand, his appointment as sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire within weeks of Henry IV’s coronation, his inclusion among the j.p.s chosen in May 1401 and, above all, his rise to the position of ‘King’s knight’ by November of that year, may, perhaps, be accorded a more telling political significance in view of the period of retirement which preceded them. For very little is known about Sir Edward during the last years of Richard’s reign, and the evidence which does survive suggests that he was largely out of sympathy with the court party. In August 1397 he made a forced loan of 100 marks to the King, possibly as a means of purchasing the royal pardon which was accorded to him a few months later specifically because he had supported the Lords Appellant of 1388 in their attack upon Richard’s most unpopular favourites. It therefore looks as if he had already established a connexion with Henry of Bolingbroke, whose coup d’etat marked a turning point in his career.5
The years 1399 to 1406 witnessed Sir Edward’s ascent to an even more dominant position in county society, his wealth and influence as a landowner being augmented by the authority vested upon him by the new King. He was summoned to attend the great councils of August 1401 and 1403 as a representative for Hertfordshire, and in October 1402 he was one of the four residents of Essex and Hertfordshire to be approached on the subject of raising a royal loan. Benstede entered the Commons for the fifth and last time in 1402, and subsequently attended at least one parliamentary election (that was held at Cheshunt in 1411). Although his letters of exemption from public service were confirmed in September 1412, he continued to act as a commissioner of the Crown, albeit sporadically, for the next eight years.6 Benstede cannot but have been helped at this time by his alliance with Sir Philip Thornbury*, another leading Hertfordshire landowner, whose sister, Joan, he took as his second wife shortly before June 1401. Judging by their frequent appearances together as the witnesses to local deeds, Thornbury’s father, Sir John (d.1396), seems also to have been on close terms with our Member, although the marriage was not arranged during his lifetime. Joan, who was the widowed stepmother of John Greville*, brought with her the manor of Milcote in Warwickshire as dower, and she was also instrumental in cementing the friendship between Sir Edward and Sir Philip, who frequently acted as trustees for each other. Sir Edward in particular subjected his estates to a complicated series of entails, designed to protect the seven children of his first marriage; and he made Thornbury a party to many of the settlements. John Fray* was likewise involved in these property transactions. Benstede’s association with Sir Philip had other, less agreeable, consequences, since it led to their indictment, in 1403, upon a charge of conspiracy against one Thomas Molynton. Thanks to the intervention of Thornbury’s father-in-law, John Durham*, and his friend, John Ludwick*, who acted as mainpernors on their behalf, the accused obtained a writ of supersedeas, and were thus able to avoid any further legal action.7 Given his importance as a landowner, Sir Edward was caught up in surprisingly few other lawsuits and rarely assumed the duties of a trustee. In 1406, John Ardern made him a feoffee-to-uses of his estates in Cheshire; and many years later, in 1424, he was similarly employed by Joan, Lady Fitzwalter, the daughter and heir of John, Lord Devereux. Not long afterwards, the latter’s brother, Thomas, settled his lordship of Lyonshall in Herefordshire upon our Member, who may well have enjoyed a personal connexion with this influential family.8
Aged at least 77, Benstede died on 8 Oct. 1432, and was buried at his parish church of Bennington. Six of his seven children survived him, as did his widow, Joan, who lived on for another 17 years. She retained property worth an estimated £40 p.a., while the rest of his estates were shared among his three sons, Edmund (the eldest), John and Edward. Within less than six years Edmund’s inheritance escheated to the Crown, which retained it during the long minority of his young son, John.9
etc.
From: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/b...
________