The Strachey Family
Joane (_____) Strachey
Thomas Strachey
Medieval London Widows, 1300-1500 pp225-7
(Caroline Barron, Anne F. Sutton, 1994)
James Bodley,
the mercer, had married Joan, the daughter of Thomas and Joan Strachey
of Saffron Walden, before 1510. The Stracheys were part of the town's
ruling clique which exercised its power mainly through the chantry guild
of Our Lady of Pity which administered the town's almshouses.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII,
vol 1 part 2 pp771-2 (1862)
5 HENRY VIII. [1514]
24 March. 4911. For KATHARINE
SEMAR, late of Cheping Walden, widow, THOMAS
STRACHY, JAMES BODLEY, WILLIAM
BIRR and NICHOLAS RUTLAND,
all of Walden aforesaid.
Licence to found a guild in honor of the Trinity, in the church
of St. Mary, Walden, to consist of one treasurer, two chamberlains,
brethen and sisters, of the parishioners of Walden; with mortmain
licence to acquire lands to the annual value of 20 marks, for a chaplain
to pray daily for the King and Queen Katharine, for Katharine Semar,
Thomas Wulcy, late almoner to the King, Joan Bradbury, widow, John
Leche, vicar of the said church, the said Thomas [Strachy] and Joan his
wife, James Bodley and Joan his wife, William Bird and Anabella his
wife, and Nicholas Rutland and Clemence his wife; and for the souls of
Thomas Bodley, William Lawnselyn and Alice his wife, Walter Cook and
Katharine his wife, Roger Pyrk and Joan his wife, Thomas Semar and
Margery his wife, Nicholas, Thomas and Katharine, children of the said
Katharine Semar, George Thoorne and Florence his wife, John Strachy and
Alice his wife, Thomas Thoorne and Joan his wife, and Richard Mynott . .
. . . . . . .5 Hen. VIII. Del.
Westm., 24 March.
Pat. 5 Hen.VIII. p.2, m. 24.
Joane Strachey
Thomas Strachey
Joane (_____)
Strachey
James
Bodley
The Bodley pedigree in Visitations
of Surrey in Publications
of the Harleian Society vol 43 p147 (1894) list two children
of James Bodley and Joane Strachey in addition to John and Joane, namely
Elizabeth and Mary. Anne Sutton, in Medieval London Widows, 1300-1500 p211
(Caroline Barron, Anne F. Sutton, 1994) lists three children, John, James
and Joan, with the additional information that James died before 1530, and
later that these three were minors when James died in 1514:
Medieval London Widows, 1300-1500 p227
(Caroline Barron, Anne F. Sutton, 1994)
... The same year saw the death of one of the youngest and most energetic
campaigners for this license: James Bodley, who left three children, all
minors, to the care of his wife and executrix, Joan Strachey.
Medieval London Widows, 1300-1500 pp225-7
(Caroline Barron, Anne F. Sutton, 1994)
James Bodley,
the mercer, had married Joan, the daughter of Thomas and Joan Strachey
of Saffron Walden, before 1510. The Stracheys were part of the town's
ruling clique which exercised its power mainly through the chantry guild
of Our Lady of Pity which administered the town's almshouses. James
swiftly became part of this clique: he became ‘Jamy Bodley of Chepyng
Walden’ and apparently preferred provincial life, leaving London to his
other and his sister, Denise.
All three of them were closely involved in one of the most
important ventures in the history of Saffron Walden: its campaign to
achieve self-government. It was part of the king's duchy of Lancaster
and as a consequence it had several charters of privileges but no
corporate status. From the 1490s its trade had increasingly suffered
from royal enforcement of manorial rights of toll which drove traders to
patronise the rival market of Newport. In 1513 John Leche, Joan, her son
James, his father-in-law and other leading townsmen failed in a petition
to Henry VIII offering to redeem the tolls for a substantial sum of
money: the king's rights could not be bought. On advice it was decided
that a new religious guild of the Holy Trinity should be set up to which
the tolls and other manorial rights could be granted by the king. The
new guild would be able to operate just as if it was the town
incorporate and its basis would be the chantry already envsiaged by
Katherine Semar, a wealthy widow of the town. The king's license
directed to Thomas Strachey, James Bodley and two others, permitting the
establishment of a Holy Trinity guild in the church of Saffron Walden
with land worth 20 marks a year, arrived in March 1514 - Joan's chantry
in London was being planned at this time and personnel and expertise
were used to the common benefit of the two projects, James Bodley being
an energetic factotum in both.
The list of those to be prayed for and the lavish decoration of
the license sets out graphically and precisely who had contributed most
to the ‘freedom’ of the town and what position Joan occupied in this
heirarchy. Katherine Semar headed the list (after the king, queen and
Wolsey), Joan came second, followed by John Leche, Thomas Strachey and
his wife, James Bodley and his wife, and then a long list of others,
both alive and dead, including Thomas Bodley.
... The same year saw the death of one of the youngest and most
energetic campaigners for this license: James Bodley, who left three
children, all minors, to the care of his wife and executrix, Joan
Strachey.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII,
vol 1 part 2 pp771-2 (1862)
5 HENRY VIII. [1514]
24 March. 4911. For KATHARINE
SEMAR, late of Cheping Walden, widow, THOMAS
STRACHY, JAMES BODLEY, WILLIAM
BIRR and NICHOLAS RUTLAND,
all of Walden aforesaid.
Licence to found a guild in honor of the Trinity, in the church
of St. Mary, Walden, to consist of one treasurer, two chamberlains,
brethen and sisters, of the parishioners of Walden; with mortmain
licence to acquire lands to the annual value of 20 marks, for a chaplain
to pray daily for the King and Queen Katharine, for Katharine Semar,
Thomas Wulcy, late almoner to the King, Joan Bradbury, widow, John
Leche, vicar of the said church, the said Thomas [Strachy] and Joan his
wife, James Bodley and Joan his wife, William Bird and Anabella his
wife, and Nicholas Rutland and Clemence his wife; and for the souls of
Thomas Bodley, William Lawnselyn and Alice his wife, Walter Cook and
Katharine his wife, Roger Pyrk and Joan his wife, Thomas Semar and
Margery his wife, Nicholas, Thomas and Katharine, children of the said
Katharine Semar, George Thoorne and Florence his wife, John Strachy and
Alice his wife, Thomas Thoorne and Joan his wife, and Richard Mynott . .
. . . . . . .5 Hen. VIII. Del.
Westm., 24 March.
Pat. 5 Hen.VIII. p.2, m. 24.
Thomas Strachey
Joane _____
Medieval London Widows, 1300-1500 pp225-7
(Caroline Barron, Anne F. Sutton, 1994)
James Bodley,
the mercer, had married Joan, the daughter of Thomas and Joan Strachey
of Saffron Walden, before 1510. The Stracheys were part of the town's
ruling clique which exercised its power mainly through the chantry guild
of Our Lady of Pity which administered the town's almshouses. James
swiftly became part of this clique: he became ‘Jamy Bodley of Chepyng
Walden’ and apparently preferred provincial life, leaving London to his
other and his sister, Denise.
All three of them were closely involved in one of the most
important ventures in the history of Saffron Walden: its campaign to
achieve self-government. It was part of the king's duchy of Lancaster
and as a consequence it had several charters of privileges but no
corporate status. From the 1490s its trade had increasingly suffered
from royal enforcement of manorial rights of toll which drove traders to
patronise the rival market of Newport. In 1513 John Leche, Joan, her son
James, his father-in-law and other leading townsmen failed in a petition
to Henry VIII offering to redeem the tolls for a substantial sum of
money: the king's rights could not be bought. On advice it was decided
that a new religious guild of the Holy Trinity should be set up to which
the tolls and other manorial rights could be granted by the king. The
new guild would be able to operate just as if it was the town
incorporate and its basis would be the chantry already envsiaged by
Katherine Semar, a wealthy widow of the town. The king's license
directed to Thomas Strachey, James Bodley and two others, permitting the
establishment of a Holy Trinity guild in the church of Saffron Walden
with land worth 20 marks a year, arrived in March 1514 - Joan's chantry
in London was being planned at this time and personnel and expertise
were used to the common benefit of the two projects, James Bodley being
an energetic factotum in both.
The list of those to be prayed for and the lavish decoration of
the license sets out graphically and precisely who had contributed most
to the ‘freedom’ of the town and what position Joan occupied in this
heirarchy. Katherine Semar headed the list (after the king, queen and
Wolsey), Joan came second, followed by John Leche, Thomas Strachey and
his wife, James Bodley and his wife, and then a long list of others,
both alive and dead, including Thomas Bodley.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII,
vol 1 part 2 pp771-2 (1862)
5 HENRY VIII. [1514]
24 March. 4911. For KATHARINE
SEMAR, late of Cheping Walden, widow, THOMAS
STRACHY, JAMES BODLEY, WILLIAM
BIRR and NICHOLAS RUTLAND,
all of Walden aforesaid.
Licence to found a guild in honor of the Trinity, in the church
of St. Mary, Walden, to consist of one treasurer, two chamberlains,
brethen and sisters, of the parishioners of Walden; with mortmain
licence to acquire lands to the annual value of 20 marks, for a chaplain
to pray daily for the King and Queen Katharine, for Katharine Semar,
Thomas Wulcy, late almoner to the King, Joan Bradbury, widow, John
Leche, vicar of the said church, the said Thomas [Strachy] and Joan his
wife, James Bodley and Joan his wife, William Bird and Anabella his
wife, and Nicholas Rutland and Clemence his wife; and for the souls of
Thomas Bodley, William Lawnselyn and Alice his wife, Walter Cook and
Katharine his wife, Roger Pyrk and Joan his wife, Thomas Semar and
Margery his wife, Nicholas, Thomas and Katharine, children of the said
Katharine Semar, George Thoorne and Florence his wife, John Strachy and
Alice his wife, Thomas Thoorne and Joan his wife, and Richard Mynott . .
. . . . . . .5 Hen. VIII. Del.
Westm., 24 March.
Pat. 5 Hen.VIII. p.2, m. 24.
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