Elizabeth Paston

Family/Spouse: William Clere. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John Fyneux. John died on 17 Nov 1525. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Second of his name. Wikipedia: “Sir John Paston was the second son of John Paston and Margaret Mautby. He succeeded his elder brother, Sir John Paston, in 1479. He fought at Barnet and Stoke with John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, served as his deputy when Oxford was appointed Lord High Admiral of England, and was a member of the Earl’s council. A number of his letters survive among the Paston Letters, a rich source of historical information for the lives of the English gentry of the period.”

Knight of the shire for Norwich, 1485. In the same year he was sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk.

According to Norman Davis (citation details below), he was probably born in Geldeston, Norfolk, where the manor was held by Ralph Garneys, who married his mother’s mother after John Mautby’s death.

John married Margery Brewse in Jul 1477. Margery (daughter of Thomas Brewse and Elizabeth Debenham) was born about 1457; died about 1495; was buried in White Friars, Norwich, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 22 May 1466, London, England

Notes:

From Wikipedia:

John Paston was the son of William Paston, Justice of the Common Pleas, and Agnes Berry. After he succeeded his father in 1444, his life was marked by conflict occasioned by a power struggle in East Anglia between William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and by his involvement in the affairs of his wife's kinsman, Sir John Fastolf. A number of his letters survive among the Paston Letters, a rich source of historical information for the lives of the English gentry of the period. [...]

In 1455 he was elected as one of the Knights of the Shire for Norfolk, but did not take a seat in Parliament as the Duke of Norfolk 'insisted on his own nominees being returned'. In 1457 he paid a fine for declining a knighthood. In 1458 Paston, his brother William and others were accused of 'riotous behaviour', and the Duke of Norfolk headed a commission charged with arresting them. From 1460–6 he was Justice of the Peace for Norfolk, and was elected as a member of parliament in 1460 and again in 1461. In 1461, as a result of conflict with Sir John Howard, then Sheriff of Norfolk, he was briefly imprisoned in the Fleet. In 1464, in connection with his involvement in the estate of the late Sir John Fastolf, he was accused of trespass, outlawed, and imprisoned in the Fleet.[12][1] In 1465 he was imprisoned in the Fleet for the third time, again in connection with Fastolf's estate.

Much of Paston's time from the mid-1450s had in fact been taken up by his position as adviser to his wife's kinsman, 'the ageing, wealthy, and childless Sir John Fastolf'. In 1456 he was appointed one of the feoffees of Fastolf's lands. In June 1459 Fastolf made a will which provided that his ten executors found a college in Caister. However, after Fastolf died on 5 November 1459, Paston claimed that on 3 November Fastolf had made a nuncupative will giving Paston exclusive authority over the foundation of the college, and providing that, after payment of 4000 marks, Paston was to have all Fastolf's lands in Norfolk and Suffolk. Relying on the nuncupative will, Paston took possession of the Fastolf estates, and resided at times at Fastolf's manors of Caister and Hellesdon.

Paston's claim to the Fastolf lands was challenged by the Duke of Norfolk, who seized Caister in 1461; by Sir William Yelverton and Gilbert Debenham, who claimed the manors of Cotton in Suffolk and Caldecott Hall near Fritton; by John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, who claimed two Norfolk manors, Hellesdon and Drayton, in 1465; and by Lord Scales, who in January 1466 forced officials of the city of Norwich to seize Paston's property there in the king's name, alleging that Paston was a 'serf of the crown'. In 1464 a legal challenge to Paston's executorship under the nuncupative will was mounted by William Yelverton, one of the ten executors who had been appointed under Sir John Fastolf's written will; however the case was still undecided at the time of Paston's death.

During the latter years of his life, Paston fell out with his eldest son and heir, John. He died at London on 21 or 22 May 1466, and was buried at Bromholm Priory, Norfolk.

John married Margaret Mautby between Apr 1440 and Nov 1440. Margaret (daughter of John Mautby and Margery Berney) was born in 1422; died on 4 Nov 1484. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1420

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Topcroft, Norfolk, England

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Suffolk 1435; 1445-46; 1467-68.

Thomas married Elizabeth Debenham before 1445. Elizabeth (daughter of Gilbert Debenham and Margaret Hastings) was born about 1436; died about 1503; was buried in Chapel of the Field, Norwich, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Between 5 Dec 1502 and 9 Feb 1503

Notes:

"Elizabeth (Debenham) Brewse was heavily involved in the 1477 negotiations for the marriage of her eldest daughter to John Paston, during which she stressed her own advantageous family connection to 'my nowncle Hastynges' [i.e., John Hastings of Gressenhall (1412-1477)]. Elizabeth was also instrumental in reversing the attainder of her childless brother Sir Gilbert Debenham. She paid £500 in 1501, which helped her eldest son and heir Robert Brewse recover some of the Debenham lands in 1504 and 1507." [Brad Verity, citation details below.]

Notes:

"It seems the couple were married by 1445, since the feoffees of their marriage settlement included William Debenham, esquire, presumably her father’s first cousin who died about that year." [Andrews-Reading and Bevan, citation details below]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 14 Aug 1444

Notes:

Justice of the Common Pleas from 15 Oct 1429 to his death. Steward of the Duke of Norfolk, 1415. Wikipedia: "William Paston, the only son of Clement Paston and Beatrice Somerton, had a distinguished career as a lawyer and Justice of the Common Pleas. He acquired considerable property, and is considered 'the real founder of the Paston family fortunes'."

William married Agnes Berry in 1420. Agnes (daughter of Edmund Barry) was born after 1399; died in Aug 1479. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 1434

John married Margery Berney. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Ela Stapleton. Ela (daughter of Miles Stapleton and Ela Ufford) died after 16 Oct 1456. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She presented to the church of Heydon, Norfolk in 1433.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1405, of Little Wenham, Suffolk, England

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Suffolk 1427; 1432; 1437; 1442; 1449; 1453-54. Sheriff of Suffolk 1427-28. Like his son Sir Gilbert Debenham, he was a retainer for the Duke of Norfolk.

Gilbert married Margaret Hastings in 1432. Margaret (daughter of Edward Hastings and Muriel Dinham) was born before 1414. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Clement married Beatrice Somerton. Beatrice (daughter of (Unknown) Somerton and Sarah Clere) died in 1409. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Alianora Loveyn. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, 1376-77. Keeper of Norwich Castle. He was present at the siege of Calais, 1346-47.

John married Joan de Shardelow before 26 Feb 1365. Joan (daughter of John de Shardelow and Margaret) died before 1376; was buried in Woodbridge Priory, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1355, of Ingham, Norfolk, England
• Alternate birth: 1356

Notes:

"He had letters of protection in 1381 among those sent to Portugal to renew the alliance; afterwards he was sent to Prague to negotiate the marriage of King Richard II and Princess Anne of Bohemia." [Royal Ancestry]

Miles married Ela Ufford before 1376. Ela (daughter of Edmund de Ufford and Sibyl de Pierrepont) died in 1425; was buried in Ingham Priory, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sheriff of Suffolk and Norfolk, 1394-95. Knight of the shire for Suffolk in 1402.

Gilbert married Ellen Jernegan. Ellen (daughter of John Jernegan and Joan Kelvedon) was born after 1364; died after May 1421. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1382, of Elsing, Norfolk, England

Notes:

He and Reynold Grey, Lord Grey of Ruthin, contended with one another at the Court of Chivalry over the right to bear the undifferenced arms of Hastings. He lost, and refused to pay the costs of his suit, lest by doing so he might acknowledge the ruling's justice. According to Dugdale, he was then imprisoned in the Marsalsea for the next 16 years, a span of time that may be an exaggeration given that he married his second wife, Margery Clifton, in 1427.

Edward married Muriel Dinham before 20 Feb 1406. Muriel (daughter of John Dinham and Eleanor Montagu) was born about 1385; died before 1420. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

(Unknown) married Sarah Clere. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was living in 1374, when he presented to the church of Heydon, Norfolk. Earlier, he presented to the church of Heydon in 1330, 1331, 1332, 1335, 1338, and 1340. In 1360 the manor of Heydon was settled on trustees including Robert de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, for the use of John Brewes.

John married Eve de Ufford. Eve (daughter of Robert de Ufford and Cecily de Valoines) died after 1369; was buried in Woodbridge Priory, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Margaret. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 20 Oct 1364

Notes:

Walter Rye (citation details below) gives his birth year as "circa 1300", but this has to be wrong, as he was an infant only child on his father's death in 1321. The ODNB (citation details below) says 1320, with a question mark. The ODNB also notes that "[i]t is sometimes impossible to distinguish Sir Miles Stapleton of Bedale from his first cousin, Sir Miles Stapleton of Haddlesey (c.1318–1372)."

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

It was probably he who went overseas in the king's service in September 1342, and the family's historian suggests that he was at the siege of Tournai with his younger brother Brian Stapleton, and then in Brittany. A Miles Stapleton, probably of Bedale, was singled out by the chronicler Adam Murimuth as taking the honours on the first day of a three-day tournament at Windsor which in January 1344 saw the inauguration of the order of the knights of the Round Table. He was given letters of protection to go abroad with Sir John Darcy, the king's chamberlain, in 1345, which may suggest that he was educated in Darcy's household. He was certainly present at the siege of Calais in 1346, and given his later link with the Garter, he almost certainly fought at Crécy in 1346 too. Having become associated with the royal household at about this time, he took part in three further tournaments between October 1347 and January 1348, at Bury St Edmunds, Eltham, and Windsor. An account for the great wardrobe in 1348 describes him as a knight of the chamber, and he became a founder member of the Order of the Garter, sitting on the king's side in the ninth stall.

In October 1351 Stapleton was sent abroad with William Latimer and then, for a while, the careers of both Miles Stapletons, of Bedale and of Haddlesey, sometimes coincided. In 1354 both witnessed an instrument requesting papal intervention in the Anglo-French war. Stapleton of Bedale was involved in Lancaster's march across Normandy in 1356, and in 1358 he was paid £50 for acting as a messenger to Philippe de Navarre. In 1359 he went abroad again on royal service. In June 1360 he was granted a life annuity of £100, in consideration of his 'laudable service in the king's deeds of war' (CPR, 1358–61, 429). This makes it likely that he is the Miles Stapleton who was one of the witnesses to the treaty of Brétigny in 1360. Abroad again in June 1361 and January 1362, on the latter occasion he made his brother Brian his attorney for two years. His destination in 1362 appears to have been the Baltic rather than France, since in January 1363 he was one of a group of leading English knights recorded as borrowing money from local merchants at Thorn on the Vistula. The money was to be repaid at Bruges. In March 1361 and August 1362 he served on commissions of peace with the earl of Suffolk. Miles Stapleton of Haddlesey was appointed to a commission of the peace headed by the earl of Lancaster in 1361.

In January 1364 Miles Stapleton of Bedale took out letters of attorney for three more years, but died on 20 October 1364, probably from wounds or disease after the battle of Auray (29 September 1364). […]

In May 1349 Stapleton was licensed to endow a chantry at North Morton, but following his second marriage his plans became more ambitious, and between 1355 and 1360 his chantry developed into a Trinitarian priory at Ingham, to which Ingham parish church was appropriated. Stapleton was buried in the church, and he and his descendants were commemorated there in a series of splendid brasses: Sir Miles and his second wife were shown holding hands, with the inscription 'Priez pour les almes monseur Miles de Stapleton et Dame Johanne sa femme fille de Monseur Oliver de Ingham fondeurs de cette maison qe dieu de lour almes eit pitee' ('Pray for the souls of Sir Miles Stapleton and Lady Joan his wife, daughter of Sir Oliver Ingham, founders of this house, that God may have pity on their souls'; Gough, 1/2,120). In 1799 the brasses were sold as 'old metal', but rubbings were taken of them before their destruction.

Miles married Joan de Ingham. Joan (daughter of Oliver de Ingham and Elizabeth) was born about 1320; died between 26 Jun 1360 and 12 Dec 1365; was buried in Ingham, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Walter Rye (citation details below) calls the father of Ela Ufford "Sir Edward [Norris says of Sir Ralph] Ufford".

Edmund married Sibyl de Pierrepont. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Gilbert le Child, Gilbert Child.

Gilbert married Mary Holbrook before 1349. Mary (daughter of Edmund Holbrook) was born in of Little Wenham, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Living 1349-1361.

John married Joan Kelvedon before Jan 1363. Joan (daughter of John Kelvedon and Beatrice) died after 25 Jan 1400 in Somerleyton, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Elsing, Norfolk, England
• Alternate death: 1387

Notes:

"[A] a noted soldier, [he] served on most of the principal campaigns of the 1370s and 1380s, and was a prominent retainer of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster: he died on Gaunt's expedition to Galicia in 1386–7." [Oxford DNB, citation details below.]

Hugh married Anne Despenser before 1 Nov 1376. Anne (daughter of Edward le Despenser and Elizabeth Burghersh) was born about 1363; died on 30 Oct 1426. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 31 Oct 1426

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1359

John married Eleanor Montagu before 3 Feb 1380. Eleanor (daughter of John de Montagu and Margaret Monthermer) was born about 1364; died between 1393 and 1394; was buried in St. Mary's, Kingskerswell, Devon, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1394