Individual Details
Sir Richard Fettiplace
(1460 - May 1511)
Richard Fettiplace married Elizabeth Bessels in about 1490. They had the following children: John Fettiplace ; Anne Fettiplace ; Edward Fettiplace ; Mary Fettiplace ; John Fettiplace; Jane Fettiplace; Anthony Fettiplace;
Dorothy Fettiplace; Thomas Fettiplace; Eleanor Fettiplace; Elizabeth Fettiplace and Susan Fettiplace
Richard Fettiplace acceded: Bessells Leigh. He was the son of John Fettiplace and Joan Fabyan. He married Elizabeth
Bessells, with whom he had a son John Fettiplace. Richard Fettiplace of Shefford, the eldest son, married Elizabeth, the only child and heiress of William Besils, (and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir Richard Hareourt) of Besils Leigh, Berkshire.
Richard Fettiplace died in 1510, and was buried in the chancel of the Priory Church at Poughley, leaving property not only to that church, but also certain lands "to be seized to the use of the Parson and his successors of East Shifford for 99 years to keep an obit there for my soul and to yearly keep in order the said parish Church," and to maintain lights there.
Facts concerning them from the period now arrived at until the final extinction of the name in 1806:
From the two elder grandsons of Sir Thomas Fettiplace, Richard of Besils Leigh and Anthony of Swinbrook, all the branches of the family derived their with the exception, of the original one of North Denchworth, which, in the time of King James I terminated in the male line at the death of Thomas Fettiplace of Denchworth, Pusey and Charney, whose only sister and heir, Margaret, married, possibly in accordance with some family arrangement or understanding, Christopher, a younger son of Alexander Fettiplace of Swinbrook and Childrey, who, in right of his wife, possessed the estates. By this marriage the name was continued for four further generations, when, at the death of George Fettiplace, of Letcombe, it finally died out.
Of the Besils Leigh line, second in order of seniority, John, the eldest son of Richard Fettiplace, married Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Danvers, and died in 1524, leaving to his eldest son, amongst other things, "all my white swannes upon Thamyse." He bequeathed the very small sum of six shillings and eight pence to East Shefford Church, where both he and his wife were buried under a beautiful canopied tomb of Purbeck marble, which still remains.
Edward, the younger brother of John was, in all probability, the Edward Fettiplace who, in 1539, was appointed one of those deputed to receive Anne of Cleaves on her arrival in England as the future Queen of King Henry VIII.
This same year saw the dissolution of many monastic institutions in England, and amongst others, Syon in Middlesex, and Amesbury Priory in Wiltshire, the quiet homes of Eleanor, Ursula and Elizabeth Fettiplace, who, upon being turned adrift, were each assigned small pensions of five or six pounds a year.
Edmund, the eldest son of John Fettiplace, of Besils Leigh, married a daughter of John, Lord Mordaunt, and in the fourth descent from him the estate of Besils Leigh was sold, early in the 17th Century, to William Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons.
The origin of the name of Fettiplace (variously spelt by members of the family, Fetyplace, Feteplace, or Phetyplas) is veiled in obscurity, and the fact mentioned by Twyne in his MS. that the owner of Ape Hall, Oxford, in the time of King Henry III, was one, Torold L'Ape (afterwards called Adam Fetteplace) "appears to be an impossible solution of the matter. The late Mr. T. C. Button, whose family was connected with the Dunches of Little Wittenham, Berks, as well as with the Fettiplaces, and who was himself an antiquary, gives Fitz-de-Plaas, or Pleasy, as the origin, and this seems a more reasonable supposition. Be this as it may, all writers concur in stating that the first Fettiplace, who came over to England in the Norman invasion, was Gentleman Usher to William the Conqueror, and as, generally speaking, there is a considerable amount of truth to be found in tradition, the statement may be fairly accepted as correct.
The earliest authentic record of the name about the year 1215, when Adam Fettiplace is found to be Mayor of Oxford and a prosperous citizen; but it is possible that the following extract from the Charter Roll, 29 Henry III, may take us one step back in the family pedigree: "Grant to Walter de Gray, son of Robert de Gray, nephew of W. York of the following gifts - of the gifts of Walter, son of Thomas Feteplace," etc. Hence it is conceivable that this last named Thomas may have been the father of both Walter, and Adam Fettiplace the Mayor of Oxford.
The wealth of Adam Fettiplace at this time, or shortly after, must have been very considerable, both in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, for lie is found not only in possession of the whole Manor of Wantage ("Pro Ada Feteplace de Oxon de toto Manerio De Wantinge in Com. Berks : Cal. Pat. Rolls 41 Hen. III") and presenting, according to the Lincoln Register, Bartholomew, a chaplain, to the living of Kencott in Oxfordshire, but, in 1263, he had bought of Ralph de Camoys, one of the rebellious Barons, the estate of North Denchworth, where he and his successors continued to reside until the time of King Charles II. The position of the family must also have been of some consequence judging from the fact that Sir Philip, the eldest son of Adam Fettiplace, bore for his Arms "in a field two chevrons, quartering the, coat of the Lord St. Amand,” - thus indicating his connection with that Baronial house.
Once established in their home at North Denchworth the family continued, gradually but surely, to increase in influence and quiet importance. With one exception its members do not appear to nave been of a quarrelsome disposition at this or any other time through the long centuries; the exception being Walter Fettiplace, of Oxford, who was in a vortex of litigation about the year 1285, and was, in at least one case, heavily mulcted by the jury for the manner in which he had ejected certain tenants for arrear of rent, and, it must be regretfully added, for beating and ill-using the of the lady of the house.
During the next century, a few glimpses are obtained of individual members of the family - such, for instance, as Sir Philip Fettiplace serving as a Knight of the Shire in 1306, parson of the Church of Grendon, acknowledging (in 1317) that he owes to Peter, son of Eustace de la Rokele, of Bourton, one hundred marks to be levied in default of payment on his lands and chattels in Com. Berks"; the curious instance of John Fettiplace, according to a Charter dated 21 Edward III, being called in that instrument-" John Southbury, son and heir of Richard Fetiplace, of Esthanney," the deed being sealed with the Arms of Fettiplace; and in 1399 Henry Fettiplace is found to be a witness to a charter of John Fettiplace of Buckland, Berkshire.
It was soon after this period, and at the opening of the 15th Century, that an event took place in the Fettiplace family which not only added immensely to their importance and wealth, but invested them with an atmosphere of romance which time has not dissipated. This was the marriage of Sir Thomas Fettiplace of East Shefford. and Childrey with Beatrice, widow of Gilbert Talbot, Baron of Archenfield and Blackmere, K.G. 'Unfortunately, no pedigree indicates the branch from which Sir Thomas derived his descent, but as he and Peter Fettiplace of North Denchworth - the then representative of the original line-were contemporaries, each High Sheriff of Berkshire within a few years of one another, and jointly appointed Commissioners of Array for the same county in 1436, it is here suggested that, though probably first cousins, it is quite possible they were brothers, Sir Thomas being the younger, as his arms are known in at least one instance to have been differenced with a martlet, the mark of a fourth son. His marriage with a daughter of the Royal House of Portugal infers that he was a man of recognised position, and suggests the idea of his being of a bold and resolute temperament and well-favoured in person, a conjecture not unconfirmed by his sculptured effigy in East Shefford Church.
Of the Lady Beatrice and the endless, but rather unconvincing, arguments concerning her birth and parentage, little must here be said. That she was of the Portuguese Royal House can hardly be questioned, although the argument against her being a daughter of King John I is probably correct, and that in favour of her being a Pinto, or Souza, possible. Her quartered arms, and her marriage with Lord Talbot, whose first wife was Joan Plantagenet, granddaughter of King Edward III, indicates her royal descent, her mother, as likely as not, being a Pinto or Souza. Bishop White Kennett states: " the family received a great addition of 'blood and honour by marrying Beatrix, daughter of the King of Portugal, which match is mentioned and allowed of in the pedigree of the Kings of Portugal" - and it is to be heartily wished that he had left a record of the source of his information. Mr. T. C. Button says that Beatrice was in some way related to Peter the Cruel, King of Castile, and the Harl. MS. 5867 records that Sir Thomas Fettiplace "married the Ladye Beatryce, Countesse of Shrewsburye and daughter of Alphoncious, King of Portugal" - the MS. being obviously incorrect as regards Beatrice being Countess of Shrewsbury, for it was her brother-in-law, not her husband, who bore this title. But whatever the theories of Planché and other writers on this subject may be, no notice appears to have been taken of the following letter, a copy of which is to be found amongst the correspondence of a late Rector of East Shefford, and as the marriage of Sir Thomas Fettiplace with the widow of Gilbert Talbot is the one fact that has never been disputed, the contents of the letter, it must be admitted, only add to the confusion already existing in connection with this subject, and may have been already contradicted, or disputed, unknown to the present writer.
Legation of Portugal,
London,
August 20th, 1887.
Sir,
Pray accept my best thanks for your letter relating to the Fettiplace Tomb. All that I can say in reply to it is that in 1405 an illegitimate daughter of King John I. of Portugal, named Beatrice, married Thomas, Earl of Arundel and Surrey. Left a widow she re-married in 1415 to Gilbert Talbot, Baron of Irchenfield and Blackmere, K.G. She was again left a widow in 1419. 1 am convinced that she did not marry Sir John (? Thomas) Fettiplace m her third husband. I am sorry that 1 am unable to give you further information.
Accept, etc.
(Signed) M. D'ANTAS.
Dorothy Fettiplace; Thomas Fettiplace; Eleanor Fettiplace; Elizabeth Fettiplace and Susan Fettiplace
Richard Fettiplace acceded: Bessells Leigh. He was the son of John Fettiplace and Joan Fabyan. He married Elizabeth
Bessells, with whom he had a son John Fettiplace. Richard Fettiplace of Shefford, the eldest son, married Elizabeth, the only child and heiress of William Besils, (and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir Richard Hareourt) of Besils Leigh, Berkshire.
Richard Fettiplace died in 1510, and was buried in the chancel of the Priory Church at Poughley, leaving property not only to that church, but also certain lands "to be seized to the use of the Parson and his successors of East Shifford for 99 years to keep an obit there for my soul and to yearly keep in order the said parish Church," and to maintain lights there.
Facts concerning them from the period now arrived at until the final extinction of the name in 1806:
From the two elder grandsons of Sir Thomas Fettiplace, Richard of Besils Leigh and Anthony of Swinbrook, all the branches of the family derived their with the exception, of the original one of North Denchworth, which, in the time of King James I terminated in the male line at the death of Thomas Fettiplace of Denchworth, Pusey and Charney, whose only sister and heir, Margaret, married, possibly in accordance with some family arrangement or understanding, Christopher, a younger son of Alexander Fettiplace of Swinbrook and Childrey, who, in right of his wife, possessed the estates. By this marriage the name was continued for four further generations, when, at the death of George Fettiplace, of Letcombe, it finally died out.
Of the Besils Leigh line, second in order of seniority, John, the eldest son of Richard Fettiplace, married Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Danvers, and died in 1524, leaving to his eldest son, amongst other things, "all my white swannes upon Thamyse." He bequeathed the very small sum of six shillings and eight pence to East Shefford Church, where both he and his wife were buried under a beautiful canopied tomb of Purbeck marble, which still remains.
Edward, the younger brother of John was, in all probability, the Edward Fettiplace who, in 1539, was appointed one of those deputed to receive Anne of Cleaves on her arrival in England as the future Queen of King Henry VIII.
This same year saw the dissolution of many monastic institutions in England, and amongst others, Syon in Middlesex, and Amesbury Priory in Wiltshire, the quiet homes of Eleanor, Ursula and Elizabeth Fettiplace, who, upon being turned adrift, were each assigned small pensions of five or six pounds a year.
Edmund, the eldest son of John Fettiplace, of Besils Leigh, married a daughter of John, Lord Mordaunt, and in the fourth descent from him the estate of Besils Leigh was sold, early in the 17th Century, to William Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons.
The origin of the name of Fettiplace (variously spelt by members of the family, Fetyplace, Feteplace, or Phetyplas) is veiled in obscurity, and the fact mentioned by Twyne in his MS. that the owner of Ape Hall, Oxford, in the time of King Henry III, was one, Torold L'Ape (afterwards called Adam Fetteplace) "appears to be an impossible solution of the matter. The late Mr. T. C. Button, whose family was connected with the Dunches of Little Wittenham, Berks, as well as with the Fettiplaces, and who was himself an antiquary, gives Fitz-de-Plaas, or Pleasy, as the origin, and this seems a more reasonable supposition. Be this as it may, all writers concur in stating that the first Fettiplace, who came over to England in the Norman invasion, was Gentleman Usher to William the Conqueror, and as, generally speaking, there is a considerable amount of truth to be found in tradition, the statement may be fairly accepted as correct.
The earliest authentic record of the name about the year 1215, when Adam Fettiplace is found to be Mayor of Oxford and a prosperous citizen; but it is possible that the following extract from the Charter Roll, 29 Henry III, may take us one step back in the family pedigree: "Grant to Walter de Gray, son of Robert de Gray, nephew of W. York of the following gifts - of the gifts of Walter, son of Thomas Feteplace," etc. Hence it is conceivable that this last named Thomas may have been the father of both Walter, and Adam Fettiplace the Mayor of Oxford.
The wealth of Adam Fettiplace at this time, or shortly after, must have been very considerable, both in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, for lie is found not only in possession of the whole Manor of Wantage ("Pro Ada Feteplace de Oxon de toto Manerio De Wantinge in Com. Berks : Cal. Pat. Rolls 41 Hen. III") and presenting, according to the Lincoln Register, Bartholomew, a chaplain, to the living of Kencott in Oxfordshire, but, in 1263, he had bought of Ralph de Camoys, one of the rebellious Barons, the estate of North Denchworth, where he and his successors continued to reside until the time of King Charles II. The position of the family must also have been of some consequence judging from the fact that Sir Philip, the eldest son of Adam Fettiplace, bore for his Arms "in a field two chevrons, quartering the, coat of the Lord St. Amand,” - thus indicating his connection with that Baronial house.
Once established in their home at North Denchworth the family continued, gradually but surely, to increase in influence and quiet importance. With one exception its members do not appear to nave been of a quarrelsome disposition at this or any other time through the long centuries; the exception being Walter Fettiplace, of Oxford, who was in a vortex of litigation about the year 1285, and was, in at least one case, heavily mulcted by the jury for the manner in which he had ejected certain tenants for arrear of rent, and, it must be regretfully added, for beating and ill-using the of the lady of the house.
During the next century, a few glimpses are obtained of individual members of the family - such, for instance, as Sir Philip Fettiplace serving as a Knight of the Shire in 1306, parson of the Church of Grendon, acknowledging (in 1317) that he owes to Peter, son of Eustace de la Rokele, of Bourton, one hundred marks to be levied in default of payment on his lands and chattels in Com. Berks"; the curious instance of John Fettiplace, according to a Charter dated 21 Edward III, being called in that instrument-" John Southbury, son and heir of Richard Fetiplace, of Esthanney," the deed being sealed with the Arms of Fettiplace; and in 1399 Henry Fettiplace is found to be a witness to a charter of John Fettiplace of Buckland, Berkshire.
It was soon after this period, and at the opening of the 15th Century, that an event took place in the Fettiplace family which not only added immensely to their importance and wealth, but invested them with an atmosphere of romance which time has not dissipated. This was the marriage of Sir Thomas Fettiplace of East Shefford. and Childrey with Beatrice, widow of Gilbert Talbot, Baron of Archenfield and Blackmere, K.G. 'Unfortunately, no pedigree indicates the branch from which Sir Thomas derived his descent, but as he and Peter Fettiplace of North Denchworth - the then representative of the original line-were contemporaries, each High Sheriff of Berkshire within a few years of one another, and jointly appointed Commissioners of Array for the same county in 1436, it is here suggested that, though probably first cousins, it is quite possible they were brothers, Sir Thomas being the younger, as his arms are known in at least one instance to have been differenced with a martlet, the mark of a fourth son. His marriage with a daughter of the Royal House of Portugal infers that he was a man of recognised position, and suggests the idea of his being of a bold and resolute temperament and well-favoured in person, a conjecture not unconfirmed by his sculptured effigy in East Shefford Church.
Of the Lady Beatrice and the endless, but rather unconvincing, arguments concerning her birth and parentage, little must here be said. That she was of the Portuguese Royal House can hardly be questioned, although the argument against her being a daughter of King John I is probably correct, and that in favour of her being a Pinto, or Souza, possible. Her quartered arms, and her marriage with Lord Talbot, whose first wife was Joan Plantagenet, granddaughter of King Edward III, indicates her royal descent, her mother, as likely as not, being a Pinto or Souza. Bishop White Kennett states: " the family received a great addition of 'blood and honour by marrying Beatrix, daughter of the King of Portugal, which match is mentioned and allowed of in the pedigree of the Kings of Portugal" - and it is to be heartily wished that he had left a record of the source of his information. Mr. T. C. Button says that Beatrice was in some way related to Peter the Cruel, King of Castile, and the Harl. MS. 5867 records that Sir Thomas Fettiplace "married the Ladye Beatryce, Countesse of Shrewsburye and daughter of Alphoncious, King of Portugal" - the MS. being obviously incorrect as regards Beatrice being Countess of Shrewsbury, for it was her brother-in-law, not her husband, who bore this title. But whatever the theories of Planché and other writers on this subject may be, no notice appears to have been taken of the following letter, a copy of which is to be found amongst the correspondence of a late Rector of East Shefford, and as the marriage of Sir Thomas Fettiplace with the widow of Gilbert Talbot is the one fact that has never been disputed, the contents of the letter, it must be admitted, only add to the confusion already existing in connection with this subject, and may have been already contradicted, or disputed, unknown to the present writer.
Legation of Portugal,
London,
August 20th, 1887.
Sir,
Pray accept my best thanks for your letter relating to the Fettiplace Tomb. All that I can say in reply to it is that in 1405 an illegitimate daughter of King John I. of Portugal, named Beatrice, married Thomas, Earl of Arundel and Surrey. Left a widow she re-married in 1415 to Gilbert Talbot, Baron of Irchenfield and Blackmere, K.G. She was again left a widow in 1419. 1 am convinced that she did not marry Sir John (? Thomas) Fettiplace m her third husband. I am sorry that 1 am unable to give you further information.
Accept, etc.
(Signed) M. D'ANTAS.
Events
| Birth | 1460 | East Shefford, Berkshire, England | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1485 | Shefford, Berkshire, England - Elizabeth Bessiles | |||
| Death | May 1511 | Bessiles Leigh, Berkshire, England | |||
| Burial | Poughley Priory, Chaddleworth, Berkshire, England |  |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth Bessiles (1465 - ) |
| Child | Anne Fettiplace (1496 - 1568) |
| Father | John Fettiplace (1427 - 1464) |
| Mother | Jane Fabian (1435 - ) |
Endnotes
1. Find A Grave Memorial 101267755.