The last will and testament of Henry Kendall, the son an heir of George Kendall, was written on 14 September 1592 and gained probate on 3 November, of the same year. The executors are named as Henry Beaumont of Coleorton, Leicestershire and Alexander Reddish of Reddish, Lancaster. Henry also appoints a supervisor, named as Alexander Barlowe of Barlowe, Lancaster.
Continue reading Henry Kendall of Snibston (d.1592) – Last Will and Testament (Transcript)
This foot of fine, dated 6th June 1456, covers the sale of land in Frisby on the Wreake , Leicestershire by John Kendall of Twycross and his wife, Isabella to John and Thomas Deken. The sale includes four messuages (dwellings with their outbuildings and associated land), four virgates of land (about one hundred and twenty acres), fourteen acres of meadow and rent of ten shillings with appurtenances (both legal privileges and liabilities). The payment for the land was one hundred marks.
Continue reading John Kendall of Twycross, Sale of Land in Frisby on the Wreake (1456)
Azure a cross or fretty gules
(A transcript and copy of the will can be found here.)
Edmond Shepey’s will was written in English on 25 May 1509 and gained probate on 23 November of the same year. There was an inquest post mortem held in 1510 but details of this are yet to be found. The executors of the will were named as Edmond’s wife, Anne, and Sir “Rauff” or Ralph Shirley. Through the various religious devotions and bequests to churches around his lands the will provides insight into not only the property owned by Edmond Shepey but also some of his personal alliances.
Continue reading Edmond Shepey (d. 1509) – Last Will and Testement
Azure a cross or fretty gules
Edmond Shepey’s last will and testament was written on 25th May 1509 and probate was granted on 23rd November of the same year. He bequeaths his property to his wife, Anne Shirley, during her lifetime, to revert to his rightful heir on her death. Following an inquest post-mortem Edmond’s manor at Smisby as well as other property passed to the Kendall family through the marriage of his sister, Margaret, to Bartholomew Kendall.
Continue reading Edmond Shepey (d.1509) – Last Will and Testament (Transcript)
Shepey, Alstre, Reddish, Sacheverell, Kendall, Armstrong, Noel and Pegge.
The Kendalls held the manor at Smisby for just over 150 years which spanned nine generations. However, the Kendall’s history while in the possession of the manor is not readily available and inaccuracies in written pedigrees and the passage of time have clouded their story.
The main sources are the pedigrees provided by the visitations of the Heralds as well as those sources which have elaborated on these, such as Nichols and HJB Kendall. Although it is better not to make assumptions and rely only on primary sources of information, in some cases there is a need to apply some reasoning to make sense of the available information. This article is a summary account which addresses the main personalities and some historical anomalies.
During the 16th century, Henry, the heir of George Kendall of Smisby, inherited sizable land and properties from his maternal grandfather. Henry Kendall’s mother is not named in the various pedigrees and neither is her father from whom the Kendalls gained considerable wealth. This article aims to identify this line of descent and provide an identity to Henry’s mother, the daughter of Jennings, and provide information on his grandfather.
Continue reading The Daughter of Jennings and Wife of George Kendall
Laid into the wall of St James’ Church, Smisby is an alabaster stone memorial to William Kendall and his wife Anne. The memorial is quite damaged and worn, mostly from foot traffic before it was moved from the chancel floor near the choir to its current location. Although there are large cracks in the slab there is also evidence of modern “restoration” which has replaced some of the original alabaster with modern pieces. The church was renovated during 1894 and 1895 and reopened in 1896, at which time the floor was raised to allow for heating channels to be put in and it is at this time the memorial slab was moved and the restoration damage occurred.
Continue reading Memorial to William Kendall – Smisby Church
Anne Reddish1 was married to William Kendall (1490 – 1547) of Smisby and they had one son, George Kendall (1527-1566). In William Wryley’s 1592 copy of the visitation of Warwickshire 1569 she is recorded as “Ann dau. of Redishe of Redishe, co. lancs.” There is no further information readily available in other pedigree works, such as the Harleian, Nichols or Fletcher. At the time, Reddish was to the south east of Manchester in the County of Lancashire and although there is a pedigree for the family of that name with the armorial bearings of argent a lion rampant gules collared or, there was no obvious candidate for Anne, or mention of the Kendalls in the Reddish pedigree.
Mark Taylor was born in Bristol in about 1797 and passed away in Ledbury, Herefordshire in 1879. Charlotte Lewis was also born in Bristol in about 1804, she passed away at the home of her eldest son, James, in Coleford, Monmouthshire in 1888. Mark and Charlotte were probably married in about 1823-1824 and had at least 11 children and 50 grandchildren.
Family tree: Mark Taylor (1797-1879) and Charlotte Lewis (1804-1888) 
Continue reading Mark Taylor (1797-1879) and Charlotte Lewis (1804 -1888)
Ernest Henry Taylor was born in the Pebbles, Washford, Somerset in 1899 and christened in St Andrew’s Church, Old Cleeve on 2 June 1899. He was known as Ernie and was the oldest son of Samuel Henry Taylor (1876-1950) and Mary Nicholas Stevens (1874-1952). Ernie joined the army during the great war and died in 1918 in Flanders at the age of 19.