Richard Tymond c. Margery Sheppard

Around mid-year in 1487, Richard Tymond sued Margery Sheppard to enforce a marriage contract they allegedly made in May 1486. When examined, Sheppard said that Tymond had urged her to marry him in late March and again in late June 1486, but she had told him on both occasions that she would not marry withoutContinue reading “Richard Tymond c. Margery Sheppard”

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”