Joan Corbet

Not the mother of Joanna Leveson

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) (this profile) 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.

Joan Thornbury

• Born about 1375
• Died 10 Oct 1418
• Daughter of John Thornbury and Navarinia
• Wife of William Petyo (de Peto) (d. abt 1407) — married abt. 1393
• Wife of John Knightley — married bef. Oct 1408
• Wife of Robert Corbet — married 1417

Children of William Peyto and Joan Thornbury:

1. William Petyo, b. abt 1394, d. 1466. Married 1) Elizabeth Francis 2) Katherine Gresley

Children of John Knightley and Joan Thornbury:

1. Elizabeth Knightley, , b. bef. 1416, d. bef. 1420.
2. George Knightley, b. bef. 1416, d. bef. 1420.

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Primary Sources

Jan. 26. 1418 Westminster.

To the escheator in Gloucestershire. Order in presence of John Greuelle, who has taken to wife Sibyl daughter and heir of Robert Corbet knight, or of his attorneys, to assign dower to Joan who was the said knight's wife, and the issues thereof taken since 9 October last; as on that date the king ordered the then escheator to take of the said Joan an oath etc., and to assign her dower; and that escheator was removed from office before the said writ was executed.

To the escheator in Berkshire. Like order to assign dower to the said Joan, of whom the king ordered the then escheator in Gloucestershire to take an oath etc.

Like writ to the escheator in Salop and the march of Wales adjacent.

Source: 'Close Rolls, Henry V: January 1418', in Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry V: Volume 1, 1413-1419, ed. A E Stamp (London, 1929), p. 417. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-close-rolls/hen5/vol1/p417 [accessed 9 September 2017].

'The parish of Church Eaton: Shushions', in Staffordshire Historical Collections, Vol. 4, ed. George Wrottesley( London, 1883), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/staffs-hist-collection/vol4/pp103... [accessed 10 September 2024].

Manor of Shushions

"John de Knightley, junior (younger son of John and Elizabeth), probably had the manors of Shushions and a fourth part of Wilbrighton settled upon him at the time of his marriage with his wife Joanna, who was afterwards re-married, as I think, to Sir Robert Corbet, Knight, and held these manors for the term of her life. By inquisition taken at Penkridge on 22nd September, 1419, it was found that Joanna, who had been the wife of Sir Robert Corbet, Knight, had held for term of her life, on the day of her death, a fourth part of the manor of Wylbryghton with the appurtenances in the county of Stafford, by the dimission of Elizabeth Knyghtley, of which the reversion after the death of the said Joanna, belonged to George, son and heir of John Knyghtley, son and heir of the said Elizabeth, then under age, who held it of the heir of Edmund, late Earl of Stafford, now under age, who held it of the late King Henry, father of the present King, by military service, and in the custody of Joan, Queen of England, to whom the said late King had committed the custody of all the lands and tenements of the said Earl which had devolved upon the said late King by reason of the minority of his heir. The said Joanna also held on the day of her death the manor of Shuston with the appurtenances in the same county for the term of her life, by the dimission of John Knightley, father of the aforesaid John Knyghtley, the son, of which the reversion after the death of Joanna belonged to the aforesaid George and his heirs. The aforesaid fourth part is held of the aforesaid heir of the late Earl of Stafford by the service of a third part of a knight's fee, and is of the yearly value of 40s. And the said manor of Shuston with the appurtenances is held of the Prior of Wenlock, by the service of 10s. yearly for all services, and is of the yearly value of £10. The said Joanna died on 3rd October, 1418, and William Peyto is her son and nearest heir, of the age of twenty-two years and more. (fn. 33) This Joanna was the widow of Sir Robert Corbet, of King's Bromley, co. Stafford, and Hadley, co. Salop. She was the daughter of Sir John de Thornbury, Knight, and married for her first husband William de Peto, of Chesterton, co. Warwick, Esq., who died in 8 Henry IV. (1406–7), leaving a son and heir William Peto, whose lands, by reason of his minority, were, in 10 Henry IV. committed to the custody of John Knightley the younger. (fn. 34) I suppose her to have married the said John Knightley (son of John Knightley and Elizabeth de Burgh) for her second husband. He is styled in the pedigree, "of Chesterton, in the county of Warwick," and had issue by his wife Joanna a son, George Knightley, on whom his grandmother Elizabeth entailed her lands in Alreston and Apton, in the county of Stafford, with remainder to his uncle Edmund, in 4 Henry V. (1416); and a daughter Elizabeth, living in 4 Henry V. The said John de Knightley, junior, is also said in the pedigree to have been Justice of Chester in 4 Henry V.; but this is a mistake for 4 Henry IV. He was, in fact, Lieutenant Justice of Chester in 1399, under William Scroop, Earl of Wiltshire, and Hugh Percy, and in 4 Henry IV. (1402) was made Judge of Chester for one turn. (fn. 35) He probably died about 1416, leaving George Knightley his son and heir an infant."[1]

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. PEYTO, William (c.1394-1464), of Chesterton, Warws. b.c.1394, s. and h. of William Peyto of Chesterton by Joan, da. of Sir John Thornbury* of Little Munden, Herts.; gds. of Sir John*.
3. KNIGHTLEY, John (d.1415/16), of Chesterton, Warws. yr. s. of John Knightley† of Gnosall, Staffs. by Elizabeth, da. of Adam Burgh and gdda. and h. of William Burgh of Burgh Hall in Gnosall; uncle of Richard*. m. between Mar. 1407 and Oct. 1408, Joan (d. 10 Oct. 1418), da. of Sir John Thornbury* of Little Munden, Herts., wid. of William Peyto of Chesterton, 1s. 1da. ... Knightley is not recorded alive after December 1415, and he certainly died before October 1416, when trustees conveyed Weston-under-Wetherley to his widow and children. The widow then married (as her third husband) the wealthy Sir Robert Corbet* of Kings Bromley. She retained for life from the Knightley lands (by permission of John’s mother and brother) property at Wilbrighton in Gnosall. Knightley left issue, George (on whom his grandmother entailed certain lands in Staffordshire) and Elizabeth, but both children died within two years of their mother’s death in 1418.3
   1. 3. VCH Staffs. iv. 125; Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. iv. (pt. 2), 113; C138/38/41.
4. CORBET, Sir Robert (c.1354-1417), of Hadley, Salop, Berkhampstead, Herts. and Assington, Suff. m. (3) aft. 1415, Joan (d. Oct. 1418), da. of Sir John Thornbury*, wid. of William Peyto of Chesterton, Warws. and of John Knightley* of Gnosall, Staffs. Kntd. by July 1372.
5. https://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p3174.htm... cites
   1. [S15] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, p. 657.
   2. [S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. I, p. 22.
   3. [S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 348-349.
   4. [S4] Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. I, p. 136.
   5. [S4] Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. IV, p. 361-362.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153417025/joan_knightley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Peyto_(died_1464)
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