Ralph ap Eynon (1306-1366)
Ralph was my fifteen times great-grandfather; he was born in 1306.
He married Johanna de Dene, daughter of William de Dene V and Isabel on [18th April?] 1332, when he was about 26 and she was between 18 and 20. They had two children: my fourteen times great-grandfather Thomas in 1333; and Margaret.
Ralph died in 1366, aged 60.
His wife Johanna survived him and died sometime after 1384, so aged at least 70.
Ralph was born in 1306.
He married Johanna de Dene in 1332.
She was the elder daughter of William de Dene V and had a predigree stretching all the way back to the early part of the 12th Century and Ulric de Dene, the first owner of the Manor of Dene.
On her father’s death in 1319, the manor was divided between his co-heirs Johanna and her younger sister Isabella; it would later be united again in 1470 when my eleven times great-grandfather Thomas Baynham of Clearwell (heir of Johanna’s part) married Alice Walwyn (heiress of Isabella’s part).
Ralph and Johanna produced two children: my fifteen times great-grandfather, Thomas in 1333; and Margaret.
Ralph was Lord of the Manor of Dene Magna, as evidenced by his presentations to its church in 1334 and 1337 –
On 8th December 1334 he presented Adam de Blefeld as rector, after a vacancy. The Register of Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford described Ralph, shown as ‘Ralph ap Eynon’ as ‘the true patron’ of the Church of Dene Magna.
[ see Register of Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford (Episcopi Herefordensis 79) – p. 40 ]
Ralph presented to the church again on 23rd November 1337; Richard de Norwy was admitted as rector after Adam Blofeld had obtained a Benefice in the diocese of Lincoln. Again Ralph, shown as ‘Ralph ap Eynoun’, was described in the register as ‘the true patron’ by the same Bishop of Hereford.
[ see Register of Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford (Episcopi Herefordensis 80) – p. 40 ]
Ralph died in 1366
Members of the family were referenced in a deed of 1376 – a Confirmation of Grant by Edward III : ‘whereas Joan relict of Ralph ap Eynon, by letters patent, lately granted to Thomas, her son, and Joan, his wife, in survivorship, 10l. yearly of ground rent out of her lands in the lordship of Great Dene and county of Gloucester, with power to distrain for the same if in arrear; the king confirms the grant to the said Joan wife of Thomas, still surviving. For 100s. paid in the hanaper’.
This deed showed that by 1376 Johanna (de Dene) was a widow, after the death of her husband Ralph Ap Eynon …
… and that she and Ralph had a son Thomas who had married a woman named Joan. Thomas was also dead, but his widow Joan was still alive.
Daughter Margaret was mentioned in a licence of 1384 ‘for half a mark paid to the king by William atte Halle, constable of Grusmonde in Wales, for Johanna de Dene to enfeoff him and Margaret, his wife, her daughter and heir, of the bailiwick of Micheldene, within the Forest of Dene, held in chief as parcel of the manor of Micheldene’.
So, Johanna was still alive in 1384 and was referred to as Johanna de Dene, presumably because the licence concerned a share of the Manor of Mitcheldean – her inheritance from her father William …
… and Margaret, her daughter by Ralph Ap Eynon, was also alive in 1384 and married to William atte Halle.
Acknowledgements:
- 1376 Confirmation by Edward III of Grant to Thomas Baynham and his wife Joan – National Archives, C 66/295, m. 16
- 1384 Licence to Johanna de Dene to enfeoff William atte Halle and Margaret his wife – National Archives, C 66/317, m.9