The Clopton Chronicles

A Project of the Clopton Family Genealogical Society

 

 

 

MIDNIGHT ROMPS & WILTED ROSES

 

 

Regarding

 

William Clopton, Lord of Castlings Manor &

His Wife Margery Waldegrave of Lawford Hall

 

By Suellen Clopton Blanton,[1] [email protected]

 

 

 

Tempting Fate

 

Trapped in a loveless marriage,

our fair Joan left her husband and joined

the boisterous throng.  She and Katherine Howard

forged a friendship which was almost the undoing of the family.

 

 

In light of the family’s unerring ability to irritate kings, it was probably a good thing we migrated to Virginia.  With breathtaking regularity one kin or another was hauled to the Tower of London and threatened with beheading or worse.  The close connections with royalty gave the family ample opportunity to hone this questionable talent.  Our grandparents, Edward Waldegrave and Joan Acworth, established a benchmark in this arena that has not been surpassed by any of their Clopton descendants.  Tempting fate, they careened about the palace with Katherine Howard on amorous nocturnal romps right underneath the nose of the infamous Henry VIII.  Had their tender necks not escaped the axe, then their daughter, and our grandmother, Margery, would not have been born.

Despite the grandeur of her Howard lineage, Clopton kinswoman Katherine Howard[2] was brought up in an improvised household.  She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, a rather slothful nobleman who never amounted to much.  The Howard clan was a big one;  Lord Edmund had twenty-two brothers and sisters.  Katherine’s mother, Jocasta (Joyce) Culpepper, gave birth to six or seven children before dying when Katherine was quite young.  Lord Edmund married again, but by 1527 he found himself a widower for the second time.  There were now ten children in all in his keeping, and as was a common practice he immediately started farming them out to various relatives.

Katherine eventually found herself in the Lambeth household of her step-grandmother, Agnes, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.  She provided a home for numerous cousins including Howards and Knyvets.  Just as sons were sent away from home to gain additional training for knighthood, girls were often sent into the care of another woman.  This practice continued well into the seventeenth century.[3]  Katherine shared this magnificent home with our fair Joan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Said to be a portrait of Katherine Howard, however, the subject appears to be much too mature to be a true likeness.  No authentic portrait is known to exist.  The artist is unknown.  The original oil on panel portrait is found at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan was the daughter of George Acworth of Luton, Bedfordshire, heir of her mother Margaret Wilberforce.  Joan married William Bulmer, son of Sir John Bulmer, but it was not a happy marriage and there were no children.  She left her husband and joined the boisterous throng.  She and Katherine forged a friendship which was almost the undoing of the family.

Two young gallants, Francis Dereham and Edward Waldegrave,[4] who was a gentleman in waiting on the Duchess, wooed the girls.  And young people being young people in a huge house boasting halls and closets, and chambers both large and small, found ways to meet secretly at night.  Dereham and Waldegrave would lie on the girls’ beds in the night hours up to dawn.  Love tokens were exchanged and nature took its course, of course.[5]

By the time Katherine was appointed to the household of Queen Anna of Cleves as one of six maids-in-waiting, she had transferred her affections to another, Thomas Culpeper, a distant Howard cousin.  She was eighteen or nineteen by then.  Before that little romance could go very far, however, Clopton kinsman King Henry VIII[6] saw her and fell instantly and completely in love with her.

 

 

Cozy Arrangement

 

The king was old and grossly overweigh

 and Katherine was young and healthy

and filled with a lusty love of life. 

 

 

The morning after King Henry’s forth marriage to Anna of Cleves, Lord Cromwell inquired of the King Henry, “How liked you the Queen.”  The King replied, “I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse.”  This was not a hopeful sign.  Under the circumstances it wasn’t entirely difficult for Katherine to catch his eye.  The Howards and their kin were stunned and thrilled by the turn of events.  How to keep the King ignorant that the woman he called his “blushing rose without a thorn”[7] was slightly wilted must have caused the Duchess of Norfolk a few anxious moments.

 

 

Portrait of Henry VIII is oil on copper.  The original may

Be seen at the National Portrait Gallery, London

 

 

After efficiently and with surprising ease divorcing Queen Anna, King Henry, roughly thirty years older than Katherine, took her as his fifth wife on July 28, 1540.  A few days before the marriage, Joan,[8] her partner in the nighttime romantic extravaganzas at Lambeth, wrote her a letter.  She confided that her marriage had brought her “into the utmost misery of the world and most wretched life,” and urged Katherine, to send for her, pleading:

 

 

. . . not to be forgetful of this my request, for if you do not help me, I am not like to have worldly joys.  Desiring you, if you can, to let me have some answer of this for the satisfying of my mind; for I know the Queen of Britain will not forget her secretary, and favour you will show. [9]

 

 

And what a cozy arrangement this turned out to be.  Brought to court were her merry companions, and at the urging of Duchess of Norfolk, Francis Dereham was made her secretary.  The king was old and grossly overweight and Katherine was young and healthy and filled with a lusty love of life.  She and Thomas Culpeper recklessly renewed their involvement, although just how involved will ever remain one of history’s secrets.  It was only a matter of time before the King was made aware of the affair.  Dereham was hauled off to the Tower and tortured.  Culpeper, Joan and Edward soon joined him.  Taken, too, were the children belonging to the prisoners.  The Tower was so crowded the Royal Apartments were opened to house the unfortunate prisoners.

From documents regarding the conviction of Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham of High Treason in committing adultery with Queen Katherine Howard and of the others of concealment in December 1542, we read:

 

 

The “Jurors further find that the said Katherine Tylney, Alice Restwold, wife of Anthony Restwold, of the same place, Gentleman; Joan Bulmer wife of William Bulmer, of the same place, Gentleman; Anna Howard, wife of Henry Howard late of Lambeth, Esq.; Robert Damporte late of the same place, Gentleman; Malena Tylney late of the same place, widow; and Margaret Benet, wife of John Benet, late of the same place, Gentleman; knowing the wicked life of the Queen and Dereham, did conceal the same from the King and all his Councillors.  And that this said Agnes, Duchess of Norfolk, with whom the queen had been educated from her youth upward; William Howard, late of Lambeth, uncle of the Queen and one of the King’s Councillors; Margaret Howard, wife of William Howard;  Katherine, Countess of Bridgewater, late of Lambeth, otherwise Katherine the wife of Henry, Earl of Bridgewater; Edward Waldegrave late of Lambeth, Gentleman; and William Asheley, late of Lambeth, in the county of Surrey, knowing that certain letters and papers had been taken from a chest and concealing the information from the King.

…Katherine Tylney, Alice Restwold, Joan Bulmer, Anna Howard, Malena Tylney, Margaret Benet, Margaret Howard, Edward Waldegrave, and William Asheley are brought to the Bar by the Constable of the Tower, and being severally arraigned as well upon the Surrey Indictment, as the Indictments for Kent, and Middlesex, they pleaded guilty.

 

JUDGEMENT:  they shall be severally taken back by the Constable of the Tower, and in the same Tower, or elsewhere, as the King shall direct, be kept in perpetual imprisonment and that all their goods and chattels shall be forfeited to the King, and their lands and tenements seized into the King’s hands.

 

 

Joan and Edward were released and pardoned within ten months as were some of the others.  But their old friends met with horrifying ends.  Dereham’s death was accompanied by disemboweling and castration while still conscious.  Culpeper had “his head striken off.”  And Katherine Howard was executed on the same block in the same place as her cousin Anne Boleyn not quite six years previously.

After the death of her husband Joan married Edward about 1556.[10]

 

 

BEYOND PAST UNPLEASANTNESS

 

Ever true to Clopton family tradition,

William managed to be tossed into prison

at least once. 

 

 

The past “unpleasantness” involving Edward and Joan evidently did not preclude the general opinion that by marrying their daughter, Margery Waldegrave, William Clopton[11] consolidated his status and rank.  He built Castlings Hall,[12] a large rambling house in Groton, County Suffolk.  There they raised a big bustling family of six boys and six girls.

 

 

Castelyns, or Castlings, Hall is a lovely old Manor House overlooking Castling’s Heath.  In 1294 the manor is recorded as being in the Lordship of Sir Gilbert Chastelyn.  In the 15^th Century it was held by the Knyvett family from whom it was passed by the marriage to the Clopton family.  William Clopton built the manor in the late 16^th century, undoubtedly replacing an earlier house.  He became the first Clopton to reside there.  In 1615 John Winthrop, the future governor of Massachusetts, wooed and won Thomas Clopton as his second wife.  There is on the property an oak tree thought to be 500 years old.  In 1984 Clopton descendants planted a new Clopton Oak, as it was dubbed, from the rooted cutting from the ancient tree.

 

 

 

With a sharp eye the couple made good marriages for their children.  The Sampson, Winthrop, and Doggett[13] families would all send forth their offspring to settle in the new American colonies.  Through intermarriage the Cloptons would be connected to the Josselyns,[14]  Gosnolds,[15] Bradfords,[16]

It was at Groton William Clopton formed a close friendship with Adam Winthrop, his name often appearing in Winthrop’s diary.[17]  The two managed the affairs of Groton.  Thomasine Clopton married Adam’s son, John, the future Governor of Massachusetts,[18] indeed, the Cloptons and Winthrops were related to just about every family of importance at Groton.  They concerned themselves with the education of Groton scholars, male, of course, because girls were educated at home.  Adam and John Winthrop, and William and Thomas Clopton[19] are named in the articles of incorporation of the Boxford Grammar School, granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1596[20].

Ever true to Clopton family tradition, William managed to be tossed into prison at least once.  In November 1608[21] he was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison near the city of London.  He became involved, possibly as a Trustee, in a local land dispute.  Charged with him for contempt, were two other men, Dr. John Duke,[22] and Brampton Gurdon,[23] armiger, of Assington, a powerful local magnate.  All three were of the highest rank locally. and their arrest was shocking.

Fleet Prison, situated on the eastern bank of the Fleet River, just outside the city walls, was a profit-making enterprise.  Nothing was free.  The food and lodging were paid for by the prisoners.  So too, were there fees for turning keys, putting irons on and for taking them off.  The poorest prisoners were lodged in the dungeons, known as Bartholomew Fair.  No doubt our little band chose the live either in the expensive quarters on the Master’s Side, or took lodgings close to the prison.[24]

They languished in jail until December 22, 1608 when they were released.  The court adjudged that they had purged their contempt, and in the words of their counsel: They are men of good fashion and credit in the countye and good householders there.

 

 

 

[Just as Clopton descendants and friends have contributed towards the preservation of, and renovations at, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, and St. Peter’s Church, New Kent County, Virginia, the family wishes to assist the small congregation of St. Bartholomew’s.  Contributions may be sent to “The Winthrop Family in America Fund for Groton Church,” New York Community Trust, 2 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10016  – SCB]

 

 

 

        1.  William¹³ Clopton, armiger, Lord of Castlings Manor  (Richard¹², William¹¹, John¹⁰, William⁹, Thomas⁸, Walter⁷, William⁶, Walter⁵, William⁴, Walter³, William², Guillaume¹ Peche, Lord Of Cloptunna and Dalham)¹ died August 19, 1616 at Castlings Manor and buried August 19,1616  at St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton, County Suffolk².  He married Margery Waldegrave, of Lawford Hall³, daughter of Edward Waldegrave and Joan Acworth.  She died Aft. 1616 at Groton, County Suffolk, England and buried St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton⁴.

 

Children of William Clopton and Margery Waldegrave are:

        2                 i.    Francis¹⁴ Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton⁵.

        3                ii.    George Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton⁶.

        4               iii.    Anna Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton⁷, born Abt. January 29, 1579/80 at Castlings Manor and baptized January 29, 1579 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk⁸.  She married John Maidstone, of Great Horkesley, Boxted⁹ April 25, 1605¹⁰; born Aft. 1589.

        5               iv.    Bridgett Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton¹¹, born Abt. January 29, 1580/81 at Castlings Manor and baptized January 29, 1581 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk¹²; died March 1673/74 at England and buried St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton, County Suffolk¹³.  She married John Sampson, I, Esq., of Sampson Hall, Kersey¹⁴ June 27, 1598 at Castlings Manor, Groton, County Suffolk¹⁵; died Aft. May 21, 1647¹⁶.

        6                v.    Thomasine Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton¹⁷, born Abt. February 5, 1581/82 at Castlings Manor and baptized February 5, 1582 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk¹⁸; died December 11, 1616 at Winthrop Manor, England and buried St. Bartholomew's Church, at the Chancel, Groton, County Suffolk, December 11, 1616¹⁹.  She married John Winthrop, Governor of Massachusetts²⁰ December 6, 1615 at Castlings Manor, Groton, County Suffolk²¹; born January 12, 1587/88 at Edwardston, County Suffolk, England and baptized January 16, 1587 at St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton²²; died March 26, 1649 at Boston, Massachusetts²³.

Death was an accepted part of life.  By the sixteenth century, men lived to an average of around fifty, with about one fifth surviving to their sixties. Women could only expect to live to an average of thirty.  It is possible up to fifty per cent of children did not reach the age of twenty.  The children of the wealthy families had a greater chance of survival than those of the peasant woman, but death following the birth of a child killed queens and commoners alike at about the same rate.  Thanks to the Massachusetts Historical Society, a touching and graphic account of Thomasine Clopton's death following the birth of her daughter has survived. See Brief Communion

        7               vi.    William Clopton, Esq., of Castlings Manor, Groton²⁴, born Abt. April 9, 1584 at Castlings Manor and baptized April 9, 1584 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk²⁵; died November 7, 1640 at Castlings Manor and buried November 7, 1640 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk²⁶.  He married Alice Doyley, of Pond Hall, Hadleigh, Suffolk²⁷ August 3, 1615 at Whatfield Parish, County Suffolk²⁸; born at Shottisham, Norfolk; died Aft. November 7, 1640²⁹.

        8              vii.    Walter Clopton, Gent., of Coggeshall, Essex³⁰, born Abt. June 30, 1585 at Castlings Manor and baptized June 30, 1585 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk³¹; died Aft. December 24, 1622³².  He married Margery Maidstone, of Great Horkesley, Essex April 21, 1612 at Boxted, County Essex, England; born Abt. January 11, 1588/89.

        9             viii.    Waldegrave Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton³³, born Abt. May 18, 1587 at Castlings Manor and baptized May 18, 1587 at St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton, County Suffolk³⁴.  He married Elizabeth Wincoll; died Abt. November 6, 1622 at Groton, probably, and buried St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton³⁵.

        10              ix.    Mary Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton³⁶, born Abt. January 15, 1587/88 at Castlings Manor and baptized January 15, 1588  at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk³⁷; died Abt. May 19, 1632 at Groton, County Suffolk, England and buried St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton³⁸.  She married George Jennings, Gentleman, of London December 20, 1624³⁹

        11               x.    Margery Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton⁴⁰, born Abt. June 18, 1590 at Castlings Manor and baptized June 18, 1590 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk⁴¹; died Abt. October 30, 1633 at Groton, County Suffolk, England and buried St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton⁴².  She married Thomas Doggett, Gentleman, of Boxford, Suffolk April 22, 1617 at Castlings Manor, Groton, County Suffolk⁴³; born Abt. December 31, 1596 at Boxford,  County Suffolk, and baptized St. Mary's Church, Boxford December 1, 1594⁴⁴.

Thomas inherited much of his father's estate.  And as son and heir, his social standing was greater than that of his younger brothers, so he made an "acceptable" husband to the more powerful Cloptons.  His brother, John, traveled with John Winthrop to New England.  The Doggets, Gosnolds and Winthrops, all kinsmen of the Cloptons,  intermarried.  A list of the original settlers of Jamestown written by Captain John Smyth, records the names of three Gosnolds, including their Captain, Bartholomew Gosnold.

        12              xi.    Thomas Clopton, Rector of Ramsden-Belhouse⁴⁵, born Abt. September 18, 1593 at Castlings Manor and baptized September 18, 1593 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk⁴⁶; died February 13, 1662/63.  He married Thomazine Godfrey June 23, 1624 at Ramsden-Bellhouse.

        13             xii.    Elizabeth Clopton, of Castlings Manor, Groton⁴⁷, born Abt. July 9, 1601 at Castlings Manor and baptized July 9, 1601 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Groton, County Suffolk⁴⁸; died Abt. November 6, 1627 at Groton, County Suffolk, England and buried St. Bartholomew's Church, Groton⁴⁹.  She married George Cocke, Gentleman, of Ipswich September 19, 1627⁵⁰

 

 

Endnotes

 

1.  Visitation of Suffolk, 1613.

2.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1616.  William Clopton, Esqre., was buried the 19th day of August."

3.  Visitation of Suffolk, 1613.

4.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA).

5.  Erwin, Ancestry of William Clopton of York County,  (Courtesy of William Purcell Clopton), He is not listed in the Groton registry as being baptized there.  Perhaps he was born at his mother's ancestral home.  He and his brothers, William, George, and Thomas, are mentioned in his uncle's will, a transcript is found on pages 100-105.  "And fynallye, I will that if the said Frauncis Clopton, and also my saide two nephews, William and Richarde, and every of us shall happen to dye without yssue male of oure bodies, or of the bodie of one of us lawfullie begotten, then I will that all my manours of Stampforde, Castlynnes, Chipley, otherwise called Clopton Hall, and Chapmans, Belhowse, in Ramsden, the moytie of the manor of Stanweye, the advousons of the churchs of Stanwaye and Rannsden. . . shall hollie remayne to Frauncis Clopton soone and heyre of my nephewe William Clopton, of Lutons, in Melforde, and to the heyres males of his bodie lawfullie begotten; and for defaulte to suche yssue, to remayne to William Clopton, his brother, and to the heyres males of his bodie lawfullie begotten; and for defaulte of suche yssue, to remayne to George Clopton their brother, and to the heyres males of his bodie lawfullie begotten; and for defaulte to suche yssue, to remayne to Thomas Clopton, and to theyres males of his bodie lawfullie begottn; and for defaulte of suche yssue, to remayne to the right heyres of my nephew the aforesaide Fraunces Clopton the elder for ever."

6.  He is not listed in the church register as having been baptized at Groton.  Possibly he was born at his mother's ancestral home.  A later entry states:  "1617.  A yonge child of George Clopton was born and buried the 5 April."

7.  Visitation of Suffolk, 1613.

8.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1580.  Anna Clopton, the daughter of Mr. Willm., gent.., and of Mrs. Margery, was baptized the 29th day of January."

9.  Visitation of Suffolk, 1613.

10.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA).

11.  Winthrop Papers, Volume I, 1498-1628,  (Copy located Clopton Family Archives, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p. 187, In the account of her sister, Thomasine's death:  "Hir sister Sampson she exhorted to serve God, and to bringe up hir children well, not in pride and vanitye, but in the feare of God."

12.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1581.  Bridget Clopton, the daughter of Mr. Willm. Clopton, gent., and Mrs. Margery, was baptised the 29th day of January."

13.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA).

14.  Visitation of Suffolk, 1613.

15.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1598.  John Samsone, gent, and Bridget Cloptonne were married the 27th day of June.Also see Marriage settlement printed by Muskett, "Suffolk Manorial Families," p. 144.

16.  His will was made May 21, 1647, Arch. Subdury.

17.  Visitation of Suffolk, 1613.

18.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1582.  Thomasinge Clopton, the daughter of Mr. Willm. Clopton, gent., and of Mistress Margery his wife, was baptized the 18th day of February."

19.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1616.  Mistres Thomasin Winthrope the 2nd wife of John Winthrop, Esq., was buried the 11th day of December."

20.  Winthrop Papers, Volume I, 1498-1628,  (Copy located Clopton Family Archives, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), For a full pedigree of the Winthrop and connected families see J. J. Muskett, "Suffolk Manorial Families, volume I (Exeter, 1894-1900).

21.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1615.  John Winthrop, Esqre., and Thomasinge Clopton were married the 6th day of Decr."Their marriage settlement, dated September 1, 1615, is printed in  Muskett, "Suffolk Manorial Families," p. 22-23.

22.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1587.  John Winthrop, the sonne of Adam Winthropp and Anna his wife, was baptised the 16th of January."

23.  Mayo, The Winthrop Family in America,  (Courtesy of Joyce L. (Wilman) Hutchinson), p. 9.

24.  Venn's Alumni Cantabridgienses,  (Courtesy of Isabel Lancaster (Clopton) Steiner), Volume I, Clopton, William, B.A. from Christ's, 1604-5; M.A. 1608.  Probably s. of William, of Groton, Suffolk.  B. 1584.  Adm. at Gray's Inn, 1605.  Buried at Groton, Nov. 7, 1648 [incorrect year].

25.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1584.  The 9th day of April, William Clopton, the sonne of William Clopton, Esq., and Mrs. Margery his wife, was baptized the (blank)."

26.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1640.  Nov. 7th.  William Clopton, Esqre.""Suffolk Manorial Families," p. 140, gives his will dated November 1, 1640.

27.  Winthrop Papers, Volume I, 1498-1628,  (Copy located Clopton Family Archives, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p. 97.

28.  Whatfield Register:  "William clopton, Esq., and Alice D'oyley, da. to Edmund D'oyley of Pont Hall, in Hadley, Esq., were married 3 August, 1615."

29.  In his will he names his wife:  "And I doe nominate my loving wife Alice Clopton to bee the sole executour.  Probatum vicesimo Septimo die Novembris 1640 Juramento Allicie Clopton relicte.

30.  It is this Walter Clopton who is believed to have accompanied John Winthrop to New England in 1630.

31.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1585.  Walter Clopton, the sonne of Willm. Clopton, Esquire, and of Mrs. Margery his wife, was baptized the last day of June."

32.  Muskett, Suffolk Manorial Families,  (Courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p. 144, States he made his will December 24, 1622 and that he was Margaret Maidstone's first husband.

33.  Visitation of Suffolk, 1613, Also see "Suffolk Manorial Families," p. 144.  States they had one daughter, Margary Clopton.  No evidence is given.

34.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1587.  Waldgrave Clopton, the sonne of Willm. Clopton, Esquire, and Mrs. Margery, was baptized the 18th May."

35.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1622.  Elizabeth Clopton, gentn., was buried the 6th of November."

36.  Winthrop Papers, Volume I, 1498-1628,  (Copy located Clopton Family Archives, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p.186, In the account of her sister, Thomasine's death:  "Then she called for hir sisters, and first for hir sister Mary, and when she came she said, sister Mary, thou hast many good things in thee, so as I have cause to hope well of thee, and that we shall meet in heaven, etc."

37.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1588.  Marye Cloptonn, the daughter of Willm. Clopton, gent, and of Mrs. Margery, was baptised the 15th of January."

38.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA).

39.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), Marriage settlement, printed by Muskett, 144.

40.  Winthrop Papers, Volume I, 1498-1628,  (Copy located Clopton Family Archives, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p. 186-187, In the account of her sister, Thomasine (Clopton) Winthrop's death:  "Then she called for hi sister margerye, whom she exhorted to serve God, and Take heede of pride, and to have dare in hir matchinge that she looked not at riches and worldly respects, but at the feare of God, for that would bring hir comfort at hir deathe although she should eet with many afflicitions."

41.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), Baptised June 18, 1590.

42.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), Buried October 30, 1633.   It is noted she is a widow.  Possibly this could be an entry for a wife of one of her brothers.

43.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1617.  thomas Doggetrent, and Mrs. Margery Clopton were married the 22nd day of April."Also, Adam Winthrop notes in his diary:  "Tho Doget was maried to Mar. Clopton."

44.  Boxford Parish Registers, St. Mary's Church,  (Courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton).

45.  Venn's Alumni Cantabridgienses,  (Courtesy of Isabel Lancaster (Clopton) Steiner), Volume I, Clopton, Thomas. Adm. pens. at Sidney, June 2, 1612.  S(o)n of William, of Groton, Suffolk.  B. at Groton, 1593.  B.A. 1612-3; M.A. 1616.  Ord. deacon (London) Sept. 25, 1616, age 23; C. of Ramsden Bellhouse, Essex; prienst, Sept. 1, 1617. R. of Ramsden Bellhouse, Essex, 1616-63.  Died 1663.

46.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1593.  Thomas Cloptonn, the sonne of Willm. Clopton, Esquire, and Mrs. Margery, was baptd. the 18th September."

47.  Winthrop Papers, Volume I, 1498-1628,  (Copy located Clopton Family Archives, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p. 186, In the account of her sister, Thomasine's death: "To her Eliz:  she said, serve God, take heed of lyeinge.  I doe not kknowe that you doe use it, but I wish you to bewarre."

48.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), "1601.  Elizabethe Cloptonn, the daughter of Willm. Cloptonn, Esquire, and of Mrs. Margery his wife, was baptised the 9th day of Julve."

49.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA).

50.  Groton Parish Register Commencing 1562,  (Courtesy of Martin Wood, LL.B, MA), Marriage settlement printed by Muskett, 144.

 

 

        1.  Henry VIII¹⁴, King of England  (Henry VII¹³, Margaret¹² Beaufort, Countess of Richmond & Derby, Margaret¹¹ Beauchamp, Duchess of Somerset, John¹⁰, Johane⁹ Clopton, William⁸, Walter⁷, William⁶, Walter⁵, William⁴, Walter³, William², Guillaume¹ Peche, Lord Of Cloptunna and Dalham) was born June 28, 1491 in Greenwich, and died  in England and buried Westminster Abbey¹.  He did not marry (1) Elizabeth Blount, 'maitresse en titre'.    He married (2) Catherine of Aragon June 11, 1509.  She was born December 16, 1485.  He married (3) Anne Boleyn Abt. January 25, 1532/33, daughter of Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard.  She was born Abt. 1507 in Blickling, Norfolk, and died May 19, 1536 in Tower of London, executed and beheaded and buried Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, London.  He married (4) Jane Seymour May 30, 1536 in The 'Queen's Closet,' at Hampton Court, daughter of John Seymour and Margaret Wentworth.  She was born 1508, and died October 24, 1537.  He married (5) Anne of Cleves January 6, 1539/40 in The 'Queen's Closet,' at Hampton Court.  She was born September 22, 1515, and died July 16, 1557 in England and buried Westminster Abbey².  He married (6) Katherine Howard July 28, 1540, daughter of Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper.  She was born Abt. 1525, and died February 13, 1540/41 in Tower of London,  beheaded and buried St. Peter ad Vincula, London.  He married (7) Catherine Parr July 12, 1543 in The 'Queen's Closet,' at Hampton Court, daughter of Thomas Parr and Maud Green.  She was born 1512, and died 1548 in England and buried Sudeley Castle.

       

Child of Henry and Elizabeth Blount is:

        2                 i.    Henry¹⁵ FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond, illeg., born June 1519; died 1536.  He married Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond; born Abt. 1519; died 1557.

                                                When he was born he was given his father's Christian name and the traditional surname of a royal bastard which pointed proudly to his parentage.  Cardinal Wolsey acted as Henry FitzRoy's godfather, a mark of official favor.  The King doted on him.  From time to time it was suggested that his father should legitimize him and make him his heir.  However, the boy was to die of tuberculosis at the age of seventeen.

       

Children of Henry and Catherine Aragon are:

        3                 i.    Henry¹⁵ Tudor, born January 1, 1510/11; died February 22, 1510/11.

        4                ii.    Mary Tudor, "Bloody Mary", born February 18, 1515/16 in Greenwich Palace; died November 17, 1558 in St. James's Palace, England and buried West Minster Abbey³.  She married Phillip II, of Spain.

               Mary I, "Bloody Mary," suffered an appalling childhood.  Her father separated her from her mother and forbid her to ever see her mother again.  She was declared illegitimate by Act of Parliament.  She was a devote Catholic.  She once again restored Catholism as the official religion of England.  When she announced her plans to marry her cousin, heir to the Spanish throne, and also a Catholic, rebellions broke out throughout England.  She ordered hundreds of executions in her efforts to enforce the wholesale conversion of England to Catholism.  Protestant were burned at the stake.

                                                Her coffin lies beneath her half-sister's, Elizabeth I.  The Latin inscription on their tomb, states in part, "Consorts both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection."

       

Child of Henry and Anne Boleyn is:

        5                 i.    Elizabeth I¹⁵, Queen of England, born September 7, 1533 in Greenwich Palace; died March 24, 1602/03 in Richmond and buried West Minster Abbey³.

                                                When she ascended the throne in 1558, she found England in a sad state due to her half-sister's, Mary "Bloody Mary," cruel attempts to Catholize the people.  She was considered intelligent and loved jewels and beautiful clothes.  She was a popular monarch.  She established the Anglican Church and became sovereign as its head.  During her reign England began in earnest to colonize the New World.  Walter Raleigh founded the first Virginia colony, Drake circumnavigated the globe, and the East India Company was founded.  She went after the Catholics with as much enthusiasm as her sister did the Protestants, including a few Clopton descendants.  See Two Hundred Men In Velvet and Where Mightier Do Assault Than Do Defend

       

Child of Henry and Jane Seymour is:

        6                 i.    Edward VI¹⁵, King of England, born October 12, 1537 in Hampton Court; died 1553.

                                                Edward was nine years old when he became king.  His uncle, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, was named Protector and ruled the country. 

 

 

Endnotes

 

1.  Westminster Abbey Official Guide,  (Courtesy Peggy Charlotte (Schleucher) Clopton), Buried Westminster Abbey, Chapel of Henry VII, The Nave.

2.  Westminster Abbey Official Guide,  (Courtesy Peggy Charlotte (Schleucher) Clopton).

3.  Westminster Abbey Official Guide,  (Courtesy Peggy Charlotte (Schleucher) Clopton), Buried West Minster Abbey, Chapel of Henry VII, North Aisle.

 

 

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