Domestic contract – Page 2

Christian Hilles c. Robert Padley

The town of Stanford Rivers, Essex, saw a drama of thwarted love and premarital pregnancy in 1489 and 1490. Christian Hilles and Robert Padley, two servants who worked for the same employer, courted seriously with one another between March and October 1489, exchanging gifts and talk of marriage. According to local rumour, they had aContinue reading “Christian Hilles c. Robert Padley“

William Calverley and William Case c. Joan Brown

The recently widowed Joan Brown lived in Stratford Langthorne, in a house large enough to have both a hall and a parlour. Widows with property were attractive marriage prospects, and in the summer of 1490 two men, William Calverley and William Case, sued her in the Consistory court, each presenting witnesses claiming to have beenContinue reading “William Calverley and William Case c. Joan Brown”

Thomas Walker c. Katherine Williamson alias Walker

According to the witnesses in this case, Katherine Williamson married two men in quick succession in 1482 and early 1483. This case is likely a suit to annul the second marriage rather than to enforce it: the headings indicate that Thomas Walker was the plaintiff, but the first three witnesses, apparently called on his behalf,Continue reading “Thomas Walker c. Katherine Williamson alias Walker“

Agnes Crowcher c. John Trewington or Trewerton

Agnes Crowcher sued John Trewington in 1492 to enforce a contract of marriage she claimed they had made. In responding to her suit, Trewington denied they had made any such contract. We can infer from his answers that she had made a claim that either he gave her, or she gave him, a coin asContinue reading “Agnes Crowcher c. John Trewington or Trewerton”

Marion Filders c. John Arnold

This may be an example of a stalled marriage process: according to the three witnesses, more than two years before, Marion Filders and John Arnold had contracted marriage in the house of John and Elizabeth Hayward in Stratford Langthorne, Essex. The only hint as to what had gone wrong afterwards is in the third witness’sContinue reading “Marion Filders c. John Arnold“

William Yewle and Thomas Grey c. Katherine Garington

In 1493 William Yewle and Thomas Grey both sued Katherine Garington, each claiming she had contracted marriage with him. As her father Robert Elys had a different surname, on first glance it seems likely she was a widow, suggesting one reason (property from her dead husband) why both men sought to marry her, though ofContinue reading “William Yewle and Thomas Grey c. Katherine Garington”

Herbert Rowland c. Elizabeth Croft; Margaret Hordley c. Herbert Rowland

In this pair of related 1494 cases, first Herbert Rowland sued Elizabeth Croft to claim her as his wife and then Margaret Hordley sued Herbert Rowland to claim that he had previously married her. A conspiracy-minded person (i.e. me) might suspect that the second suit was a set-up, an attempt to rescue Elizabeth Croft, aContinue reading “Herbert Rowland c. Elizabeth Croft; Margaret Hordley c. Herbert Rowland”

Thomas Laurence c. Agnes Jaco alias Sawier

This is one of those Consistory suits that is not really adversarial: both plaintiff Thomas Laurence and defendant Agnes Jaco alias Sawier appear to have wanted to be married to one another. There may in fact have been another plaintiff only obliquely indicated in these depositions, John Weston, and it was certainly his objections toContinue reading “Thomas Laurence c. Agnes Jaco alias Sawier”

William Gilbert c. Ellen Harrison

This set of depositions all appear to point to the same set of facts, with some minor differences of memory as to what day the transactions took place: William Gilbert and Ellen Harrison exchanged vows of consent to marry before several men and (according to hearsay, at least) also on other occasions. The later stepsContinue reading “William Gilbert c. Ellen Harrison”