Sodbury Manor
Sir John Walshe at Little Sodbury Manor was a famous warrior who had been knighted as the king’s champion at the coronation of Henry VIII. John and Lady Anne Walshe were the masters of Little Sodbury, the estate where William Tyndale, who later translated the Bible into English, worked for two years (circa 1521) after leaving Cambridge, probably as a tutor to their two young sons. They were known in the region for their hospitality to both nobility and clergy; it was at their table that Tyndale challenged a visiting cleric, "If God grant me life, ere many years pass I will see that the boy behind his plow knows more of the Scriptures than thou dost!" Exposed to reformation thinking by Tyndale, the Walshes gave him money to support himself in Europe, and later made efforts to get him released from Vilvoorde prison.
The Manor was an important house - Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn stayed here in 1535. In 1556 a severe thunderstorm killed five of the six Walshe children when "a sulphurous globe" came in through an open door, passing out through the opposite window.
Descendants of John Walshe
Generation No. 1
1. JOHN1 WALSHE was born Abt. 1450 in of Alveston, and died 1502. He married ?? FORSTER.
More About JOHN WALSHE:
Fact 1: 1487, bequeathed the manor Sodbury by the will of Anne, Countess of Warwick
More About ?? FORSTER:
Fact 1: dau. of Richard Forster
Child of JOHN WALSHE and ?? FORSTER is:
2. i. SIR JOHN2 WALSHE, b. Abt. 1485, of Little Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England.
Generation No. 2
2. SIR JOHN2 WALSHE (JOHN1) was born Abt. 1485, of Little Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England.
He married ANNE [POYNTZ]??.
More About SIR JOHN WALSHE:
Fact 1: Abt. 1509, dubbed Knight by Henry VIII
Fact 2: served as Sheriff of Gloucestershire on three occasions
Fact 3: 1535, visited by Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Fact 4: 1547, bestowed the manor Sodbury and the borough of Chipping Sodbury by Henry VIII
Fact 5: Likely the John who married Ann Poyntz [at Cathanger, Somerset, England?].
Children of SIR JOHN WALSHE and ANNE ?? are:
3. i. MAURICE3 WALSHE, b. Abt. 1515, of Little Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England;
d. September 26, 1556.
ii. ANN WALSHE, b. Abt. 1526; m. EDMUND GORGES [son of Edward and Mary (Poyntz) Gorges].
More About EDMUND GORGES:
Fact 1: son of Sir Edward Gorges Of Wraxall and Mary Pointz
Generation No. 3
3. MAURICE3 WALSHE (SIR JOHN2, JOHN1) was born Abt. 1515, of Little Sodbury, Gloucestershire,
England, and died September 26, 1556.
Notes for MAURICE WALSHE:
In 1556 during a severe thunderstorm while Maurice Walshe was seated at dinner in his manor at
Little Sodbury a sulphurous globe entered the open door and traversing the room passed out by
the opposite window killing one child on the spot, Others were so injured that they died within
two months. The full impact of this disaster can only be appreciated by noting the following
additional codicil which was added to Maurice's previous will on July 18, 1556.
"My daughters Jane, Cicely, Joan and Elizabeth and my son Walter are now dead and therefore
my son Nicholas to have Walter's portion. Signed Maurice Walshe. Witnesses Nicholas Canne,
John Canne."
More About MAURICE WALSHE:
Fact 1: Possibly the Maurice (of Sudbury, Gloc.) who married to Bridget Vaux, dau, of Nicholas and Anne (Green) Vaux.
Children of MAURICE WALSHE are:
i. WALTER4 WALSHE, b. Abt. 1545.
ii. WILLIAM WALSHE.
iii. JANE WALSHE, d. 1556.
iv. CICELY WALSHE, d. 1556.
v. JOAN WALSHE, d. 1556.
vi. LUCIE WALSHE.
vii. ELIZABETH WALSHE, d. 1556.
viii. NICHOLAS WALSHE, d. 1578.
More About NICHOLAS WALSHE:
Fact 1: 1556, came into possession of Sodbury upon his father and brother's deaths.
ix. HENRY WALSHE, d. Bef. 1608.
More About HENRY WALSHE:
Fact 1: 1578, came into possession of Sodbury upon his brother's (cousin's?) death.
Fact 2: Bef. 1608, died in a duel with Edward Wintour.
Genealogy Notes:
John Walsh, born c.1482, died 1547, married Ann Poyntz, dau. of Robert and Margaret (Woodville or Wydevill) Poyntz of Iron Action, Gloucestershire. Their daughter Margaret Walsh, of Little Sodbury, married Nicholas Collen of Barnstable, Devonshire.
George Huntley of Frocester (d.1580) married Catherine, d. of John Walsh (probably of Little Sodbury Manor and Olveston)
An undated record in the court of chancery, perhaps from the early 16th century, cites: Hugh Mallett, grandson of Joyce, daughter of Richard Foster, and Agnes Vaughan, her sister. v. John Walshe (Welshe), knight, son of Elizabeth, daughter of the said Richard.: Share of the manor of Little Sodbury and messuages and lands in Old Sodbury, Chipping Sodbury, Dursley, Westerleigh, Serridge in Westerleigh (Shirygg), Henfield, Pucklechurch, Lamyatt, Butcombe, Portishead, Capenor (in Portishead), Littleton, Bishopstoke, Bedminster, Milton and Bristol.
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