Thomas Baynham of Noxon Park (c.1505-1587)
The date of birth of Thomas, my nine times great-grandfather, is unknown.
He married Mary Ely in 1574 and they had four children: Richard; Cecily; Thomas, my eight times great-grandfather, in 1581; Christopher; and George, in 1586.
He died, probably at his home in Noxon Park, in 1587.
Mary most likely died at her home in Bream during the period 1611 to 1629.
Thomas, my nine times great-grandfather, was the second child of Sir Christopher Baynham so was probably born around 1505, at Clearwell Castle.
In 1540 Thomas was admitted to the church of St. John the Baptist at Aston Ingham on the presentation of his mother Jane, widow of Sir Christopher who was Lord of Putley; he was admitted again on her presentation on 10th March 1544.
He was rector there until his resignation in 1548 when he was succeeded by Thomas Flaunders who was appointed on 18th February on the presentation of Cecily, widow of Sir George Baynham (Jane’s eldest son).
Thomas most likely then moved to Noxon Park which his father Sir Christopher had inherited from his mother Alice in 1518, but which Christopher had excluded from the property transferred to his eldest son George. In his will, Thomas signs himself ‘Thomas Baynham of Noxon Park, Rector of this place’.
Until the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion came into effect in 1563, during the church reforms of Elizabeth I, Thomas would have been prevented from marrying by the requirement that priests remain celibate.
On 8th February 1574 he married Mary Ely in All Saints church at Newland. Thomas was recorded as ‘gent’ and both he and ‘Maria’ are ‘of Churchend’ in Newland.
Thomas and Mary had five children:
Richard was their first child, but there is no baptism record for him.
Cecily was their second child, but there is no baptism record for her either. On her father’s death she was a minor, so a bequest of £20 was placed in the guardianship of his trusty friends Christopher Aylway and George Partridge until Cecily reached the age of 21.
Their third child, Thomas my eight times great-grandfather, was born in 1581 and baptised on 6th September in All Saints church at Newland as ‘Thomas Baynham son of Thomas Baynham of Noxon’.
On his father’s death he too was a minor, so a bequest of £24 was placed in the guardianship of Christopher Aylway and George Partridge until Thomas reached the age of 21. This Thomas later became ‘Thomas Baynham, The Wire Drawer’.
Christopher was the fourth child, but there is no baptism record for him. On his father’s death he too was a minor, so a bequest of £20 was to be held for him by his mother until Christopher reached the age of 21.
Christopher married Elizabeth Harper on 20th February 1615 in All Saints church at Newland and they had three children, all baptised there :
Blanche, born in 1618 and baptised on 10th October 1618 as ‘Blanchia daughter of Christopher Baynham of Clearwell’.
She died in 1661, aged 43, and was buried on 11th February in the graveyard of All Saints church as ‘Blainch daughter of Christopher Baynham’ of ‘Breeme’, which suggests that she was unmarried and still living in the family home.
George, born in 1629 and baptised on 12th July as ‘Georgius son of Christopher Baynham of Breeme’.
Richard, born in 1632 and baptised on 3rd April as ‘Ricardus son of Christopher Baynham of Breeme’.
Elizabeth, Christopher’s wife, died in 1635 and was buried at the beginning of April in All Saints as ‘Elizabetha wife of Christopher Baynham of Bream’.
Christopher died in 1663 and was buried on 1st October in All Saints.
George, the fifth and youngest child of Thomas and Mary was born in 1586 and baptised on 23rd October in All Saints church at Newland as ‘George Baynham son of Thomas Baynham of Noxon’.
On his father’s death he too was a minor, so a bequest of £20 was to be held for him by his mother until George reached the age of 21.
Thomas’ will was dated 7th February 1587.
In it he expressed his wish to be buried in the parish church of Newland. He mentions his wife Mary, daughter Cecily, friends Christopher Aylway and George Partridge of Newland and his four sons Richard (son and heir), Thomas (second son), Christopher (son) and George (youngest son). He appointed Mary testatrix and left the tenement in Bream to her for life, remainder to Richard.
Note: Thomas describes himself as ‘gent’ not ‘clerk’ in his will …
He died later in 1587 and was (presumably) buried, as he wished, in the graveyard of All Saints Church, Newland.
The will was proved at Gloucester on 8th May 1588.
Notes:
There is no evidence of when or where Thomas of Noxon Park was born.
There is no evidence of where Thomas of Noxon Park was baptised; it was most likely in All Saints church at Newland but the Newland parish records are incomplete.
There is no evidence of where Thomas of Noxon Park was buried, as the Newland parish records for 1587 are missing.
The Aylways were an old Gloucestershire family with connections to the Goldsmiths’ Company in London. The first family member to be apprenticed there was a George Aylway in 1562. George was later apprentice master to a Thomas Aylway in 1572 and William Aylway (son of John Aylway of Taynton) in 1580. In turn, William became apprentice master to Thomas Aylway, the son of Thomas Baynham’s ‘trusted friend’ Christopher Aylway of Newland in 1600.
The Partridge family were nailers. In 1608 ‘Men & Armour’ listed Edward Partridge as a nailer, with three servants, while Thomas’ friend George Partridge was recorded as a yeoman with two servants.
In 1611 the baptism record of Christopher’s first child Blanche describes him as ‘of Clearwell’, whereas in the 1629 baptism record of his second child George he is ‘of Breeme’. Presumably, between these dates he moved with his family into the tenement in Bream which his father Thomas of Noxon Park had bequeathed to his wife Mary, for life. So perhaps Mary died between 1611 and 1629?
Acknowledgements:
- Baptism, marriage and burial records – Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) and Family Search (www.familysearch.org)
- Will of Thomas (original and probate copy) – Gloucestershire Archives, GDR/R8/1588/235
- Christopher Aylway and George Partridge – ‘The Life and Times of a Forest Family: the Ap Einion alias Baynham Family’ by Dr A C Baynham
- Incumbents Board in the church of St. John the Baptist at Aston Ingham – Mark Baynham