Full text of "Official publication"

Walthamstow Antiquarian

Society-
Official publication
no. 26 (1932)

>90

10-

THE

WALTHAMSTOW

ARMORIAL

walthamstow antiquarian society

Official Publication no. 26

1932

THE

WALTHAMSTOW ARMORIAL

Described by
GEORGE EDWARD ROEBUCK

walthamstow antiquarian society

Official Publication No. 26

1932

'Is*

;

FOREWORD

One of the principal features of the Walthamstow Museum, and
one which most immediately impresses the visitor by reason of the
brave display of colour and ornament, is the range of Armorial Bearings
lining the friezes in each of the Exhibition Rooms. It is the boast of
our town that few other places in the Kingdom display such a wealth
of local heraldic material, and Walthamstow may be congratulated not
only upon the public spirit of residents who subscribed most of the
shields, but also upon the co-operation of the College of Arms in their
preparation.

These heraldic bearings of prominent Walthamstow people of
bygone times connect the remote past with the present ; remind us of
Norman, Plantagenet and Tudor Lords of these parts and, stage by
stage, bring into the mental panorama all the memorable folk down to
the days of the Warners, Win. Morris, and the Vallentins of Rectory
Manor".

As specimens of exact heraldry these shields are interesting and
appeal to lovers of colour and design, but their purpose is not primarily
decorative. They stand as chapter headings of local history, and as such,
properly explained, they should convey to the casual observer an
introduction to the story of Walthamstow's history and development
during the eight centuries separating us from the period of the Norman
Conquest.

The purpose of this pamphlet is to provide a brief commentary by
the aid of which the visitor may acquaint himself as to the connection of
these several families or individuals with the local story. Obviously,
this appears to be attempting the impossible in view of our serious
limitation of space, because a pamphlet of like size to this could well
be devoted to each of the families, whilst the necessary connecting
information would make a book of great length. It is, however, realised
that the exhibition of shields without some explanation would defeat the
very end they are intended to serve, viz., the unfolding of the story of
our parish and its manors throughout eight centuries of time.

The reader is reminded that heraldry is an exact art with a language
of its own, therefore the heraldic descriptions of the several armorials,
wherever they occur in italics, cannot be given in any manner other than
that officially recognised. We are not at the moment concerned to
explain these details, but to visitors who are of a mind to enquire into
such matters good books and information may be obtained on application
to the persons in charge.

TLbe Sbielbs anb tbeiv £tor\>

IT is important to note, at the outset, that when the Normans
possessed themselves of this part of Essex, they found Waltham-
stow (then more properly called "Wilcumestou" or the "Welcome
place") divided into two sections, or manors as they were called.
The greater section, Wilcumestou, belonged to a Saxon Earl, Waltheof,
who was not dispossessed, and the smaller part, Hecham (from which we
get our " Higham ") was held by a Freeman named Haldane.

Within thirty years of the coming of the Normans we find the
Manor of Wilcumestou in the possession of a Norman Knight, Ralph de
Toni, whose father, of the same name, was Standard Bearer to William
the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The smaller Manor of
Hecham had been given to another Norman, Peter de Valognes. Over
the fireplace to the right on entering the lower exhibition room, hang
the shields of Toni and Valognes starting the series, and representing
the two principal manors of our district and their Norman Lords. The
arms of Toni represent a lady's sleeve in red on a silver ground, whilst
those of Valognes are wavy lines of red on a silver ground.

The Tonis came from Toesny, on the Seine, above Les
Andelys in Normandy, and considered themselves to be
of royal blood, descended from an uncle of Bollo, first
Duke of Normandy. Ralph de TONI 1 was William the
Conqueror's hereditary Standard Bearer, and one of his
Chief Barons. He appears as a great landowner in
Domesday Book, Flamstead in Hertfordshire being the
head of his barony. His son, Ralph, married Alice,
daughter of Waltheof, a great-niece of the Conqueror,
who brought the Manor of Walthamstow into the Toni family. It received
the name of Walthamstow Toni, and remained in the hands of Ralph's
descendants for nearly 200 years. His son, Roger, confirmed the gift of
the little church at Walthamstow to the Priory of Holy Trinity, Aldgate.
Robert, the last male heir of the Tonis, fought for Edward I. against the
Scots, at the siege of Caerlaverock, 1300. He died childless in 1310, and
his sister, Alice de Leybourne came into inheritance and by her marriage
to Guy de Beauchamp, carried the Manor of Walthamstow Tom into
that great family.

1 Ariirnt, it mtiiaich gules.
3

The Manor of Hecharn in much less time had passed
into other families by the marriage of female descend-
ants of the first Lord, Peter de YALOGNES, 2 follower of
William the Conqueror, who came from Valognes, in
the Contentin, Normandy, and was Sheriff of Herts,
and Essex, 1084. He received vast grants of land in
different parts of the country ; including the castle of
Benington in Herts., and the Manor of Hecham, or
Higham, Walthamstow. He built a castle at Orford,
near the Suffolk coast, and founded Binham Friory in Norfolk,
" for the welfare of the souls of William the Conqueror and Matilda his
queen, and for the good estate of Henry I." The Manor of Hecham
eventually passed to his great-grand-daughter, Gunnora, wife of the
famous Robert Fitzwalter, leader of the Magna Carta Barons. She
died before 1220, and the Valognes estates went to her cousins, the
three daughters of William de Valognes of Panmure, Chamberlain of
Scotland. Of these three, Lora, the eldest, married Henry de Balliol,
also Chamberlain of Scotland, and their sons became the lords of Hecham.
Her sister, Isabel, married David Cumin, and for some time we read of
Hecham both as Higham Balliol and Higham Cumin, suggesting
a division of heritage.

We have so far spoken of two Manors, Walthamstow Toni and
Hecham, but the building of a Church, and the settlement of certain
lands upon it, was the beginning of a third, or Rectory Manor, whilst the
marriages of the Valognes women, already referred to, probably accounted
for the division of Hecham and the commencement of a fourth Manor,
that of Salisbury Hall, or Walthamstow Sarum (the early history of which
is as yet somewhat indefinite) the original and larger section of Hecham
coming in time to be known as Higham Benstede.

Before leaving the story of these earlier Norman
Manor Lords, mention must be made of our old Church
which still stands as a reminder of those far-off days.
Earl Waltheof, the undisturbed Lord of Wilcumestou
at the date of the Conquest, married Judith, the
Conqueror's niece. She survived him. Their daughter,
Alice, married Ralph de Toni, and she it was who
caused our old Church to be handed over to the Prior
and Canons of HOLY TRINITY, 3 Aldgate, as we have said,
in whose possession it remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The emblem of this religious house comes next in order. In the year
1107, the preaching of an Augustinian Canon, named Norman, began to
attract great attention in London. He became confessor to Queen
Matilda, wife of Henrv I., and in 1108, with her assistance, founded the

2 Paly-v

itation of the Tri i two in chief, aw in

le and a ]■

house of which he was to be the first Prior, and which was dedicated to
the Hoi}' Trinity. It was sometimes called Christ Church and was
situated on the boundary of the City, at Aldgate, then a new opening in
the City wall. Prior Norman's popularity increased, but his patroness,
the good queen, did not live long. In 1118, after her death, the King
confirmed the gifts which she had made to the Augustinian house.

The four following Shields concern the Lordship of
Higham. We have stated that Gunnora, great-grand-
daughter of Peter de Valognes, married Robert
FITZWALTER, 4 who thus became Lord of the Manor
of Hecham before its division. Robert Fitzwalter
belonged to a younger branch of the great house of
Clare, and was descended from Richard " de Bienuiite,"
or de Clare, and through him from the ducal house of
Normandy. He died in 1235, and is remembered as
the great leader of the Barons in the demand for the Magna Carta.
The link between this family and our Manor was soon broken, however,
as Christina, daughter of Robert Fitzwalter and Gunnora de Valognes,
died childless, and the inheritance passed to the three daughters and
co-heiresses of William de Valognes who had died in 1219, as we have
stated. Lora married Henry de Balliol.

The Balliols came from Bailleul in Picardy, followed
the Conqueror to England, and received lands at Bywell-
on-Tyne and Marwood-on-Tees from William Rufus in
1094" Bernard de Balliol the Elder built Barnard
Castle, and fought at the Battle of the Standard beside
the great Walter Espec, 1138. His son and successor,
Bernard II., fought against the Scots at Alnwick, and
took part in the capture of William the Lion, King of
Scotland, 1174. Henry de BALLIOL, 6 who married
Lora, one of the co-heiresses of the Valognes barony, was grandson of
Bernard and became Chamberlain of Scotland. He died in 1246. Guy
de Balliol, his eldest son, was Lord of Hecham for a while; but as
Standard Bearer to Simon de Montfort, he was slain at Evesham, 1265.
Alexander, the younger son, called Alexander of Cavers, was Chamberlain
of Scotland between 1287 and 1296, like his father and his maternal
grandfather, William de Valognes of Panmure. He fought at the Siege
of Caerlaverock in 1300, and he it was who conveyed the Manor of
Hecham to John de Benstede in 1305. It is not clear whether part only
of the original Manor was thus conveyed, but from that time onwards
Higham Benstede was recognised as distinct from Walthamstow Sarum
or Salisbury Hall.

*Or, a/ess between two clievronnels gules.
6 6htle$, a voided scutcheon argent.

Next in order of arrangement we come to the Arms of
the BETOYNES, 6 which serve to remind us of two noted
men of that name — William de Betoyne and his son,
Richard, merchants of London, which city they both
represented in Parliament : William in 1299-1300, and
Richard in 1328. They lived in Walthamstow at a
place called " Waterhall." John de Benstede acquired
Waterhall from Richard de Betoyne in 1306, and it is
evident that the Betoynes were important people in our
parish in those days. It will be noticed that, three centuries later, Sir
William Batten, of Rectory Manor, used the same arms as those recorded
for the Betoynes. It will be interesting if some family connection can
be proved.

The Family of BENSTEDE, 7 after whom one part of
Hecham was in future named, hailed from Benstede,
near Alton in Hampshire. John de Benstede, the first
of his name, was a lawyer, a " clerk "in the service of
Edward I. In 1297 he was made Keeper of the Great
Seal, and later became Chancellor of the Exchequer
and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. His
descendants retained Benington in Herts., and Hecham
(Higham) Bensted, as it came to be called, for nearly
200 years. The manor was sold in 1493, and, after changing hands more
than once, came into the possession of Sir John Heron, in 1521, of whom
we shall hear later on.

The Shield of the SALESBURYS 8 helps us to complete
the story of this divided Manor of Hecham. The
portion of Lora de Valognes was, as we have seen,
carried in marriage into the Balliol family and was
known as Higham Balliol. The same portion came into
the possession of Sir Thomas de Salesbury in 1346,
and was afterwards known as Walthamstow Sarum, or
Salisbury Hall. His father, Adam de Salesbury, held
the same lands, 1322, as tenant of Alexander de Balliol.
He had apparently come to London from his native town and name-place,
Salisbury. He was a pepperer, Alderman of Cornhill, and at one time
a Sheriff of London (1323-4). He died 1330, and was succeeded in his
Walthamstow manor by his son, grandson, and great-grand-daughter.
After 1400 his family name does not appear in the records.

. a saltire between four flenir-dc-lit or.
''Gules, thret bars gemel or.
a lion argent, crowned, between three cresa

The Arms of Simon PRAUNCEYS' J remind us of a note-
worthy contemporary of Adam de Salesbury, who held
Walthamstow "Bedyk" or Walthamstow "Fraunceys"
(later to be called the Manor of Low Hall). This
property was in the possession of Adam de Bedyk
in 1302, and of his son and grandson after him for
fifty years. In 1352, Simon Fraunceys acquired it.
He was a man of great importance in his day. One of
London's merchant princes, he occupied all the high
official appointments of the City. He was Mayor twice (1342 and 1355)
and six times represented the City in Parliament. Extremely wealthy,
he figured in all the important financial transactions of the time. Simon
rendered conspicuous service to his country during the Hundred Years'
War, being responsible for raising the monies necessary to maintain our
fleet at sea. During the campaign the French collected a powerful fleet
to prevent our resumption of the struggle in Flanders, but this fleet was
destroyed at the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Simon Fraunceys -contributed
to this successful action by raising considerable sums of money. He died
in 1358, his widow, Maud, succeeding to his estates in Walthamstow.
With her death this property passed into the possession of the Beau-
champs, as we shall proceed to explain.

But we must hark back to the story of the principal
Manor of Walthamstow Toni, which we left with the
death of Bobert de Toni and the marriage of his
sister, Alice de Leybourne, into the great family of
BEAUCHAMP, 10 whose arms we notice next in order.
This family, which originated at Beauchamps, a castle
situated between Coutance and Avranches in Lower
Normandy, acquired the Manor of Walthamstow Toni
through the marriage of Alice, heiress of her brother,
Kobert, with Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, surnamed " the Black
Do° of Arden." Their male descendants held it until the premature death
of Henry, Duke of Warwick, in 1445. Eventually it passed to his
sisters and co-heiresses. — (1) Eleanor, who married, first, Thomas, Lord
Bos of Hamlake, and secondly, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset ;
(2) Anne, wife of Bichard Nevill, called the Kingmaker, who became
Earl of Warwick in right of his wife. Through Eleanor, the eastern
portion of the manor— still called Walthamstow Toni— came to the
family of De Bos. Anne received the western part, called Low Hall.
By this co-inheritance of the two sisters the greater Manor of Waltham-
stow Toni was divided between them. Eleanor's portion became known
as High Hall Manor, whilst the smaller inheritance of Anne was known
as Low Hall Manor. Low Hall (the fifth and last of our manors) had

''(ttih-y. a saltire between four crotied crotsleU or.
w Gules, with a feast ami six croitleti or.

figured much in our local story previously to this ; we find it referred
to by the name of Walthamstow Bedyk and Walthamstow Fraunceys, by
reason of the earlier ownerships of Adam de Bedyk and Simon Fraunceys
during the first half of the fourteenth century.

Next in order appears the device of William le SCROPE, 11
Earl of Wiltshire, son of the famous Kichard, first Lord
Scrope of Bolton, who became the notorious favourite of
Richard II., of whom Shakespeare makes Lord Bos
declare : " The Earl of Wiltshire hath the realm in
farm." He was Knight of the Garter, Seneschal of
Aquitaine, Chamberlain of Ireland, Treasurer of the
King's Exchequer, and held many other offices. In
1388, Thomas Beauchamp, fourth Earl of Warwick,
with other nobles was accused of treason and their estates were con-
fiscated. Scrope was the chief agent for the Crown in this matter, and
as reward a great part of the confiscated estates fell to his share. He thus
became Lord of the Manor of Walthamstow for two years, 1396-98, but
fell with the fall of King Richard II., his master, and was executed at
Bristol by the victorious invader, Henry IV. The arms of Scrope mark
but a short interlude in the record of the Walthamstow Beauchamps,
which runs otherwise continuously until 1445, when, by the death of
Henry, Duke of Warwick, his sister, Anne, carried the Beauchamp
properties to the family of Nevill on her marriage to " The Kingmaker."

which

his
it entailed.

The NEYILLS 12 were described by Dugdale as a
" noble, antient and spreading family." Their record is
too firmly interwoven with British history in the
fifteenth century to need description here. It is
enough to remind ourselves that the Kingmaker,
Richard Nevill, Earl of Salisbury, having taken to
wife, Anne, the daughter of Richard Beauchamp,
Earl of Warwick, acquired this second title in right of

and also the lands and inheritance

These great collateral springs of the famous House of
WARWICK 13 were not represented in the arms which
the Kingmaker elected to carry. He favoured a device
which embodies the arms of the Montacutes and
Monthermers, to which he was entitled as his
father had married Alice, heiress of the Earl of
Salisbury, whose arms he adopted.

"J; w/v. (/ bend or.

^Gules, a saltin ■ label gobomy argent and azure.

13 Quarterly lit and 4th argent, three ' • cm oined in fesi gules. 2nd and 3rd or. ait eagle

Next in the order of arrangement we notice the Arms

of the TYRWHIT 11 family, of Kettleby near Wrawley

in Lincolnshire. The Tyrwhits acquired the Manor of

Salisbury Hall about 1442, within a generation of the

last of the Salesburys. Sir William, who first held it,

had fought at Agincourt in 1415. His father, Eobert

Tyrwhit, was a Justice of the King's Bench. Another

Sir William Tyrwhit held Salisbury Hall between

1509 and 1522. His son, Eobert, exchanged the Manor

for other lands belonging to the King in 1541. Thus this fami

be said to have possessed Salisbury Hall Manor for a century.

v mav

Concurrently with the holding of Salisbury Hall by
the Tyrwhits, we find Higham Benstede Manor in the
possession of another noted Lincolnshire family, the
HERONS 15 of Cressy Hall. This family, of Norman
extraction, had lands in Herts., Essex and Northumber-
land from the eleventh century onwards. Sir John
Heron, of Cressy, and of Hackney, Co. Middlesex,
was Privy Councillor to Henry VII., and Master of the
Jewel House to Henry VIII. He married, first,
Elizabeth, daughter of John Roper, of Kent, and afterwards, Margaret,
daughter of Griffith Kees, of Wales. Giles Heron, his eldest son by his
second marriage, who was born in 1504, married Cicely, daughter of the
Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. After his father's death Giles Heron fell
under Thomas Cromwell's displeasure; he was attainted in April, 1540,
and executed soon afterwards. His son, Thomas, had the family estates
restored to him under Queen Mary, but he died childless, having
alienated the Manor of Higham Bensted to Sir Thomas Bowe in 1566.

We are now approaching that period of local history

when the great estates changed hands frequently, in

some cases being disposed of, and subsequently being

regained, by the same families or individuals. We find

families hitherto identified with one manor figuring as

owners or part owners of other manors at the same

period, rendering difficult a consecutive account in such

a pamphlet as this. A striking instance occurs in the

case of Sir Balph SADLEIR. 16 Sir Ralph was created

Knight Banneret at the Battle of Musselborough in Scotland. He was

Secretary to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex; Privy Councillor to

Henry VIII.; went into retirement under Queen Mary, and was

Privy Councillor again to Queen Elizabeth. He belonged to "an ancient

family seated at Hackney in Middlesex, where he himself was born."

u Gules, three peewits or.
lt Sable, a chevron ermine between three herons argent.
ie Or, a lion rampant parted per f ess azure and gules.

His connection with Waltharnstow was not of long duration. In 1536,
when the breaking up of great estates was in full swing, he obtained a
lease of the Manor of Waltharnstow Toni. For a succession of about
fifteen years the ownership passed backwards and forwards; from Sadleir
to the Withypolls, the Crown, the Herons ; back to Sadleir again, and
then to the Manners family, Earls of Eutland.

In this account of the changes in local landed posses-
sions we must stay to speak of a Waltharnstow man
whose name is famous in the record of our national
literature. In a period when comedy and the dramatic
forms of English literature were being shaped, a notable
contributor was George GASCOIGNE, 17 author of " The
Supposes," the earliest extant comedy in English prose
(from which it is said Shakespeare borrowed an under-
plot for his "Taming of the Shrew") ; "Jocasta," the
second earliest tragedy in blank verse, and the better-known " Steele
Glas," probably our earliest verse satire. George Gascoigne claimed
relationship with the Gascoignes of Gawthorpe in Yorkshire, of whom
the famous Sir William Gascoigne, Chief Justice to Henry IV., was per-
haps the better known representative. George Gascoigne found his way
from Gray's Inn to Holland, became a soldier of fortune under the
Prince of Orange, was captured by the Spaniards, sent back to England,
and eventually found favour at the court of Queen Elizabeth. He was a
man of extravagant tastes, often in difficulties. About 1565, he married
the well-to-do widow of William Breton, who was living at Waltharnstow.
She was the mother of Nicholas Breton, the poet, and her people came
from Thorpe Hall, in Yorkshire. It is thought by some students of our
local history that the naming of the Thorpe Hall Estate may be in some
way connected. This, however, is not yet proved. Some of Gascoigne's
poems were written at his "pore house in Walkamstowe." He died
in 1577.

Following the Gascoigne Shield, we notice the Arms
of Nicholas BRETON. 1 * The author of " England's
Helicon," this young poet was famous in his day for
his literary versatility and refinement. Ben Jonson
composed a highly eulogistic sonnet in his honour, and
Sir John Suckling coupled Breton's name with
Shakespeare. Certain contemporary dramatists were,
however, less favourably disposed towards him. Breton
produced much in prose and verse between 1577 and
1626. We may assume that young Nicholas was well acquainted with
Waltharnstow, since his home was here. He was a boy in 1559, when
his father died, and as his first literary work dates from 1577, eleven
years after Gascoigne's marriage to his mother, it is most probable that

11 Argent, a pale sable, with a golden conger's head thereon, cut n<J at the s/unilder.
ls Azvre, n hend 'between six spurrowles or.

the young man not only knew the older poet well, but that his own later
career may have been influenced in consequence. The dates of Breton's
birth and death are uncertain, but it is generally assumed that he lived
between 1545 and 1626.

The next three Shields concern families strangely interconnected
both by marriage and associations. All hailing from Bristol and coming
to London, each representing the City as Mayor, we find the three families
identified with Walthamstow, where they played some part in Church and
parochial affairs. As merchants of Bristol, Thorne and Withypoll were
active in the commissioning of the "good ship Matthew," in which John
Cabot and his son, Sebastian, sailed from that port in 1497 for the dis-
covery of the North American mainland, whilst Monoux was a contributor
to the proposed Expedition in 1521 for the discovery of the North-West
Passage. There is not space here to recount the interesting details of
these families, but such will be issued before long in a larger publication.

The THORNES 19 were a west-country family of mer-
chants, connected with the City of Bristol and closely
allied with the Withypolls. Bobert, son of Nicholas
Thorne, was a geographical writer as well as a successful
ship owner and trader. He was long resident in
Seville, and was a most convinced and persistent
advocate of the attempt to discover a North-West
Passage to India. Bobert Thorne died in 1532; his
will was proved at London " in October of that year."
He had married Eleanor, sister of John Withypoll of Malmesbury,
Wilts, Paul Withypoll of Walthamstow, and Bichard Withypoll, Vicar
of St. Mary's, 1534-37. Various members of the Withypoll family
are mentioned in Thome's will ; one of them was an executor, and it is
said that through the instrumentality of Paul Withypoll a sum
of money was obtained from Thome's bequests to build the south aisle
of St. Mary's Church in 1535. That Thorne ever lived in Walthamstow
is unlikely, but it is not beyond possibility that he may have visited his
relatives here. His name is writ large in the story of geographical
history, and we may be proud of the association of his name with our
ancient Parish Church.

The next Shield, perhaps one of the finest of the whole
series, is that of the WITHYPOLLS. 20 This family,
whose fortunes will form the subject of a larger publica-
tion, took their name from the remote Shropshire
village of Withypool, Late in the fifteenth century,
as merchants of the Staple of Bristol, John Withy-
poll and his son, Paul, amassed great wealth in
wool, trading between the ports of Bristol and South-
ampton, and those of Portugal, Spain and Bordeaux ;
largely increasing their fortune by lending, in conjunction
the Merchant Taylors' Company, large sums of money to

others of
King, for

a Azure, a f ess between three lions rampant or .
*>Per pale or and gules, three lions passant within a bordure, all em

which they received as security manors in various parts of England
principally the properties of attainted persons. Their successors married
into great families, chiefly in Suffolk, but owing to the extravagance of
their descendants, most of their wealth was dispersed before the middle
of the seventeenth century. Paul Withypoll, the most successful of
them, acquired Walthamstow Toni or High Hall, and also the Eectory
Manor at Walthamstow from Henry VIII. , when the Dissolution of the
Monasteries displaced the various religious houses and confiscated their
vast estates. Until the purchase of Eectory Manor by Paul Withypoll,
that property had been continuously in the possession of the Prior and
Canons of Holy Trinity, Aldgate, from the time when Alice de Toni made
it over to them, early in the twelfth century. Eleanor, the sister of
Paul Withypoll, married Kobert Thorne, of Bristol, as we have seen.
The larger part of the Withypoll estates in Walthamstow were sold to
Sir Reginald Argall and others, 1600-01.

The next device in our series is so well known in
Walthamstow that it is unnecessary to say it belonged
to George MONOUX, 21 to wiiom the Arms were
granted in October, 1511. " George Monoux of
London, gent.," was a rich merchant of Bristol, who
came to London somewhere about 1502-3. He became
an Alderman, and Master of the Drapers' Company,
and was chosen Mayor in 1514, the year that he
received his Coat of Arms. At Bristol he had attained
to some distinction ; he had been Mayor of that City in 1501-2,
just when Cabot's voyage to America opened the way for a great
expansion of trade. About 1507-8 he acquired property in Walthamstow,
and became a well-known benefactor to his neighbours there. In 1527
he purchased from the Prior and Convent of Holy Trinity the land on
which his Almshouses and School were afterwards built ; in 1535 he
added the north aisle to the Church, and built, or rebuilt, the tower about
the same time. He died at " Moones," in Billet Lane, in 1543, and was
buried in the Parish Church, in the north aisle, but no trace of his tomb
has been discovered, although a memorial to this worthy benefactor has
been preserved, and may be seen on the easternmost pillar to the north
of the nave.

The part played by the three preceding families in
building up the trade and maritime distinction of
Britain, reminds us of another equally famous man
who held property in Walthamstow, and who also was
related to the Withypolls, Sir Martin FROBISHER, 22
the famous navigator and commander against the
Armada, who was born at Altofts, near Wakefield, about
1535. In 157(3, he made a desperate attempt to dis-
ci >ver the North-West Passage, in pursuance of the

a Argent, on a chevron sable three bezants or between as many oak-leaves vert. On a chief gules
,i sea-mew volant between two anchors argent.
I gent, a chevron sable fretty or between three gMly-fiowers proper.

theory which obsessed the great sailors of his day. He was knighted for
his services against the Spaniards in 15S5, and married Dorothy,
daughter of Thomas, first Lord Wentworth of Nettlestead, in Suffolk,
widow of Paul Withypoll, junr., of Ipswich. This Dorothy inherited
lands in Walthamstow (presumably the Eectory Manor) from her son,
Paul, who died in 1585. The Will of Sir Martin Frobisher (dated 1594)
states that he leaves to " Dame Dorothie, his welbeloved wief ... all
such householde stuffe as I shall leave about my house in Walthamstowe
. . . Essex." Frobisher died, as the result of a wound received in
action, at Brest, 1595.

We now return to the manor folk again. Having
traced the story of Salisbury Hall down to 1541, when
the last Tyrwhit relinquished it, we soon find this
property in the hands of Sir Thomas WHITE, 23 a famous
Merchant Taylor; a promoter of the Muscovy Com-
pany, a Lord Mayor of London, 1553, and the Founder
of St. John's College, Oxford, where his portrait may
be seen. He was in possession of Salisbury Hall, 1558,
and died 1567.

Continuing our survey of the manor lords of Waltham-
stow, we come to the ARGALLS, 24 a Kentish family,
who are associated both with Low Hall and Higham
Benstede Manors. One, John Argall, "of London,"
acquired the Manor of Low Hall in 1553. His son,
Richard, of East Sutton, Kent, succeeded in 1563,
having married Margaret, daughter of Sir Reginald
Scot of Scots Hall, Kent (a family claiming descent
from a younger branch of the Balliols). Their son,
Sir Reginald Argall, held the Manor of Higham Bensted for a time (1608),
and the Argalls inter-married with the Rowes there, of whom we shall
speak later. Thomas Argall, a descendant, suffered heavily in Stuart
times, and sacrificed his possessions for the King during the Civil War.
The last record of the family in Walthamstow is a Court, held at Low
Hall Manor, by Elizabeth "Argall in 1693. Sir Samuel Argall, the
adventurer and famous Deputy-Governor of Virginia, who carried off
Pocahontas in 1612 and shared in the expedition to Cadiz with the Earl
of Essex in 1622, appears to have been a grandson of the original John
Argall.

In our last paragraph we mentioned that these Lords of Low Hall were
also associated with the Manor of Higham Benstede. This came about

23 Gules, on a canton ermine a lion rampant sable. On a bordure sable eight estoiles or.

An annulet or for difference.
2i jPerfess argent and vert, a pale emmterchanged : and three linn*' heads erased gules.

by intermarriage with the ROWES,' 25 whose Shield comes
next in sequence. The Rowe family seems to have been
known first in Kent, and one branch remained there,
while another took root at Staverton, in Devon, and
flourished from the fourteenth century until the
Revolution of 1688. Sir Thomas Rowe, Sheriff of
London, 15(30, who purchased the Manor of Higham
in 1566, belonged to the original Kentish stock. He
was Lord Mayor in 1568, and died 1570. Sir Henry,
his second son, was also Lord Mayor, 1607. William, the third son,
rebuilt the old Manor House of the Benstedes in a stately fashion
before his death in 1596. He is commemorated by a brass in St.
Mary's Church. The only part of the great house which now remains
is known as Essex Hall. Robert, of Low Leyton, fourth son of
Sir Thomas, was father of the Roe who was really an historical
figure. A great traveller, writer and diplomatist, he was sent out from
England as ambassador to the Great Mogul. The Rowes remained at
Higham Bensted until 1762, when the estate was sold, and since then
it has changed hands many times until the Warners became Lords of the
Manor.

Contemporaneously with the changes in other parts
of the parish, the Manor of Walthamstow Toni had
been passing from hand to hand from the days of Sir
Ralph Sadleir. Eventually it reached the famous
Manners family, Earls of Rutland, by intermarriage
with the Barons de Ros or Roos. It is an involved
story but it must be told. The Arms of the Barons
de ROS, 2t; or ROOS, came to the family through the
marriage of Everard de Ros, with Roysia, daughter and
co-heiress of William Trusbut or Wartre, in Holderness. These water-
skins were symbolic of the wanderings of pilgrims and crusaders in
the deserts of the East. Everard 's father, Robert, was nephew and
eventual co-heir of Walter Espec, the hero of the Battle of Standard
(1138). He married Sybella de Valognes, thus forging a link with
another great family on our manorial register. William, the seventh,
Lord Ros was Lord Treasurer of England under Henry IV., and had
the town of Chingford, in Essex, assigned to him, that he might reside
near London. His second surviving son, Thomas, ninth Lord Ros, by
his marriage to Eleanor Beauchamp, daughter of Richard Beauchamp,
sixth Earl of Warwick, established the connection between his own family
and the heritage of the Beauchamps, including, of course, the Manor of
Walthamstow Toni. The Lords de Ros served the House of Lancaster
and for that reason Thomas, the tenth Lord, was beheaded at
Newcastle on-Tyne, after the Battle of Hexham. His lands were forfeited,
but in 1485 came the triumph of Henry VII., and his son, Edmund de

chevron e, trefoils slipt per pale gules and rert, counter clianged.

'•''(!iih.<. three water budgets (water-skins) m.

Ros, the eleventh Lord, had the inheritance restored to him. He was of
weak intellect, and died at Enfield, 1508, his sister, Eleanor, wife of
Sir Robert Manners of Etal, Northumberland succeeding to the inheri-
tance and carrying the de Ros lands and title into the family of Manners,
Earls of Rutland.

The eleventh Lord (Edmund) de Ros, having died in

1508, without issue, the estates and titles passed through

his sister Eleanor, to her son, George MANNERS, 21

who became the twelfth Baron de Ros on the death of

his feeble-minded uncle, Edmund. This George

Manners, twelfth Lord Ros, contracted a famous

marriage with Anne St. Leger, niece of Edward IV.

He and his wife were buried in St. George's Chapel,

Windsor, and his son and heir, Thomas, became the

first Earl of Rutland. It does not appear certain whether this first

Earl of Rutland ever possessed the Manor of Walthamstow Toni, but

his son, Henry, the second Earl, held a court there with his wife,

Bridget, in 1560. Edward, the third Earl, was Lord in 1572, and after

his death it passed to his only daughter, Elizabeth, who became

Baroness de Ros in her own right, and married William Cecil, Lord

Burleigh, second Earl of Exeter.

We have thus traced the Manor of Walthamstow Toni
into the possession of Thomas, ninth Baron de Ros, by
his marriage with Eleanor Beauchamp, and from his
successors into the Manners family again by the
marriage of a de Ros heiress to Sir Robert Manners of
Etal. The story works to an end when Elizabeth de
Ros, daughter of the third Earl of Rutland, married
William CECIL, 23 Lord Burleigh. He came of a family
from the Welsh border, descended from Richard Seyceld
or Sitselt, whose son, David Syssell of Stamford, grandfather of

the

famous Lord Burleigh, died in 1536. His eldest son, Thomas (died 1623),
became first Earl of Exeter, and the next heir, William, was fortunate
enough to capture one of the richest heiresses in England, Elizabeth de
Ros, as stated above. Their son, William Cecil, seventeenth Lord Ros,
was born at Newark Castle in 1591. He had a brief and stormy career.
At the age of 21 he married Anne, the rich daughter of Sir Thomas Lake
of Whitchurch, Secretary of State to James I., but before two years were
out, husband and wife were at open war. The Manor of Walthamstow
had been mortgaged to his father-in-law, and the Lakes wished to obtain
full possession almost immediately. Lord Ros' grandfather, Lord Exeter,
stepped in and managed to prevent this ; the young man himself, after a

87 Or, two bars azure a chief yules.
^Barry of ten, argent am! azure : over all six escutcheons, three, /wo and one sable, each charged

with a lion rampant argent.

rake's progress as Ambassador to Madrid, escaped to Italy, and there
mysteriously died in 1618. The ensuing lawsuit between the Lakes and
William Cecil's family became the most noted Star Chamber Trial of its
day. The Lakes lost heavily ; but still, at last, the Manor of Waltham-
stow Toni came into the widow's hands. She married again to George
Rodney of Netley, who sold the Manor of Walthamstow Toni to Charles
Maynard in 1636.

Contemporary with George Rodney, a noted Royalist
was living at a mansion situated where our present
Lloyd Park house stands. Sir Thomas MERRY, 20 the
eldest son of David Merry, is one of the earliest
recorded occupants of " The Whinns," afterwards the
home of William Morris. Sir Thomas is specially
remembered in connection with the fine monument,
erected to himself and his wife Dame Mary Merry, in St.
Mary's Church, the work of Nicholas Stone. Dame Mary

died in 1632 ; she appears to have been the daughter of Freeman

of Crowmarch, in Oxfordshire. Sir Thomas Merry lost heavily during
the Civil War, when he was fined by the Parliamentarians and suffered
the distraint of his goods and lands. The date of his death is not
recorded.

The memorials in our old Church include another of
this period — the finest monument of all. It stands
against the north wall to-day, but originally it stood
" behind two piers or columns near the chancel."
Formed of alabaster, and richly emblazoned with arms,
it reminds us of Lady Lucy STANLEY 30 who died in 1601.
The shields on the tomb show by their numerous quarter-
ings that Lady Lucy was connected with practically
every family of note in her day. Thomas Stanley, first
Earl of Derby, Knight of the Garter, married Eleanor Nevill, sister of
Richard Nevill, the Kingmaker. Stanley's desertion of Richard III. on
Bosworth Field turned the day in favour of Henry of Richmond, afterwards
Henry VII., whose widowed mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Stanley
married. Edward, his grandson, third Earl, had two sons, (1) Henry,
who succeeded him, and was one of the judges at the trial of Mary Queen
of Scots, and (2) Sir Thomas Stanley of Winwick, who is said to lie
buried at Walthamstow. Edward, of Tong Castle, Salop, son of Sir
Thomas, married the Lady Lucy Percy, daughter of the seventh, and
niece of the eighth, Earl of Northumberland. This was the lady to
whom a remarkable tomb stands in St. Mary's Church.

-'<liilf>.: three water budgets or. On a fen argent n cross formy sable, charged with /ice bezants

between tiro cloves of the second.

x Argent, on a bend azure three bucks' heath cabossed or.

The next Shield reminds us of Nicholas Wadham, a

west-countryman, who, some time before his death in

1609, planned one of the later Oxford Colleges, named

after him. His scheme was carried out by Dorothy

Wadham, his widow, who completed WADHAM

COLLEGE 31 in 1613. In 1652, John Goodridge, one of

the Fellows, left an estate in Walthamstow (now called

Wadham Lodge) to his College. It remained in the

possession of the Warden and Fellows until it was sold

in 1894. This shield explains the connection between the worthy

benefactor of a seat of learning, and the neighbourhood at Chapel End

which bears his name.

When describing the Cecil Shield, mention was

made of the sale of Walthamstow Toni Manor by

George Eodney in 1635 to Charles MAYNARD. 32 The

Maynards were an ancient family whose name is found

on the Battle Abbey Eoll. A John Mainard followed

the Black Prince to France, and was Governor of

Brest in 1356. Later, Maynards appear in Kent, and

in various parts of Devonshire — Axminster, Sherford,

Tavistock. In the reign of Queen Mary, a John

Maynard of Axminster found his way to St. Albans, and became "learned

in the Law, first Steward of the Town." Sir Henry, his second son, was

secretary to Burleigh, the Lord Keeper, and purchased the estate of

Little Easton in Essex, where he died, 1610. The eldest son of this

successful Sir Henry was created Lord Maynard in 1628, and Charles,

his younger brother acquired the Manor of Walthamstow Toni about

1635-6, as we have seen. It remained in the family for nearly three

centuries, the last Lady of the Manor being the Lady Frances Evelyn,

Countess of Warwick. Our Maynard Charity was created by Henry

Maynard in 1688.

Just a few years earlier than the purchase of Toni Manor

by Charles Maynard, another important family came to

Walthamstow. Originating at Coigniers, in France,

the CONYERS 33 family is remembered as one of the

noblest families in the north of England. One,

Tristram Conyers, came to Walthamstow, and died

here in 1619. His half-mythical ancestor, the first

Sir John, was believed to have slain a monster at

Sockburn, on the muddy banks of the Tees ; another

Conyers made a King of England prisoner ; and in Tudor times

successive members of the family were Bailiffs of the Liberty of Whitby

3l 6fules, a cltecrnn argent between three roses argent.

^Argent, a chevron azure, three sinister hands erect gules.

:i3 A:>ire, a mniiurli or.

Strand. William Conyers, Serjeant-at-Law, of the Middle Temple,
nephew and heir to Tristram Conyers, by his Will left lands for the
benefit of his poorer neighbours at Walthamstow. He died in 1652, but
his family continued to live in their big house in Hoe Street for another
sixty or seventy years. Eventually they moved to Copt Hall, Epping,
where the male line of this branch of the family became extinct.

The Armorial Bearings of the BATTEN 34 family are
included in our series to remind us of Sir William
Batten, who was occupying the Bectory Manor House
at Walthamstow, when Samuel Pepys frequently
visited him. Sir William is said to have hailed from
Easton St. George, near Bristol, and although it cannot
yet be proved that he was one of the Somerset
Battens he certainly died possessed of property in that
county, and he had customarily used the arms of his
Somerset namesakes. In 1638 he was appointed Surveyor to the King's
Navy. Clarendon speaks of him as an " obscure fellow unknown to the
navy," but be that as it may, Batten was second in command of the Fleet
in 1642, and in 1647 rounded up a fleet of fifteen Swedish ships for
refusing to pay homage to the English flag within the Narrow Seas, a
proceeding approved by Parliament. During the Civil War Batten
resigned his command, but the seamen refused to serve under his suc-
cessor, and he resumed his position for a short while. He had, however,
no inclination for service under the Commonwealth regime, but at the
Restoration resumed his office as Surveyor of the Navy. It was at that
period that Sir William was living at our Bectory Manor House. In
1663 he was appointed Master of the Trinity House. In October, 1667,
he died, and "his body was carried, with a hundred or two of coaches,
to Walthamstow, and there buried." Sir William Batten's name figures
much in Pepys "Diary" and in the State Papers of those days. A slab
to the memory of his son, Benjamin Batten (1684), lies on the floor of
St. Mary's.

Our next Shield displays the Arms of one of England's
most interesting men, Samuel PEPYS, 35 the diarist,
whose connection with Walthamstow is well known.
His visits on Sundays and holidays to his friends, Sir
William Batten and Sir William Penn, will be
remembered. There is not space in this pamphlet to
recount the several anecdotes which endear the memory
of Samuel Pepys to Walthamstow folk, but they can
be read in full in his famous " Diary."

^Chiles, a saltire between four fleur-de-lis or.
'Sable, " bend or between two horses' heads ri/;e<l argent, with three fleur-de-lis sab!? on the bend.

Mention of Pepys and Batten reminds us of the third
of a merry group who knew Walthamstow well in
those days — Admiral Sir William PENN, 36 a near neigh-
bour to the owner of the Rectory Manor House. His
son, the famous Quaker, founded Pennsylvania Colony
in 1682, and his daughter, Margaret, is also bound up
in our local story since she married Anthony Lowther,
who had a place known as "Sweetacre," somewhere on
Church Hill. Reference to Pepys' "Diary" will disclose
frequent mention of Penn and Batten, and it is fitting that our Armorial
should include reminders of each of those who found Walthamstow a
good place in those days. Admiral Penn served with distinction during
the war with the Dutch, and played a conspicuous part in the defeat of
van Tromp in 1653. Like his friend Batten, Admiral Penn appears to
have had distinct Royalist sympathies, but he acquiesced in Cromwell's
usurpation of the supreme power so long as the war with Holland
demanded his services for his country. He died on 16th September, 1670,
and was buried in the Church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol.

Mention of Samuel Pepys and his frequent visits to
Walthamstow, reminds us that Anthony LOWTHER 57
was amongst the residents with whom the "Diary" is
in some measure concerned. The Lowther family of
Westmorland had been prominent in their own northern
county since the days of Edward I. Anthony, son of
Robert Lowther, an Alderman of the City of London,
and grandson of Sir Christopher Lowther, of Lowther,
Co. Westmorland, is frequently mentioned by Pepys.
He married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Penn, who had a house in
Clay Street, Walthamstow. Anthony and Margaret Lowther had a beauti-
ful old house at Marske-by-the-Sea in Yorks., but they also spent part of
their time at Sweetacre or Swetsacre, Walthamstow, which was part of
the Rectory Manor. Anthony Lowther died in 1692, and a monument
was placed in St. Mary's Church to him and his wife.

Our next Shield connects the family of TRAFFORD 33
with Walthamstow. In the Parish Church, under the
western gallery, stands an enormous memorial to
members of this family which, in early times, was of
Trafford, in the county of Lancashire. Sir Edmund
Trafford, of Trafford, who died 1533, married Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir Ralph Longford, in Derbyshire. Their
third son, Thomas, of Langham, Co. Rutland, was
great-grandfather to John Trafford of Walthamstow
and Dunton, Co. Lines. He married Margaret, daughter of Simon Wood

^Argent, on a/ess table three rmm&els argent.

7 Or, six annulets sable, thrte, two, and one.

^Argent, a griffin segreant gules.

of London and Dunton Hall ; she died 1665, and was buried at St. Mary's,
Walthamstow. Their eldest son, Sigisrnund Trafford (died 1723), his
wife, Susanna (died 1689), and their infant child are also buried there, as
the memorial already mentioned testifies.

#<9*

Low Hall Manor was last mentioned in these pages
when we recalled the association of the Argalls with
that part of the parish. Elizabeth Argall held a Manor
Court there in 1693 and there is little of importance
to record until 1741, when this Manor passed to the
BOSANQUETS. 39 This Huguenot family of successful
merchants was exiled from France presumably after the
Bevocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pierre Bosanquet.
of Limel in Languedoc, was born some time after 1623.
His sons, John and David Bosanquet, were merchants of London.
David, who, like the Maynards, was a Turkey merchant, died in 1732.
Samuel, his second son, went to live at Forest House, Leyton, and was
buried at Low Leyton in 1765. His son, another Samuel, was Governor
of the Bank of England, and a third Samuel died in 1848. The first
Samuel had acquired the Manor of Low Hall, Walthamstow, in 1741,
and Samuel, fourth of the name, sold it to the Local Authority in 1877.
With the acquisition of these lands by the townspeople, the story of Low
Hall, as a Manor, comes to a close.

At this period of our story mention should be made of a
Walthamstow resident of distinction, William Mathew
RAIKES, 40 Purlieu Banger of Waltham Forest, who
owned that large mansion on the Marshes known as
The Elms. He was born in 1763, the son of William
Kaikes, of London, merchant, but more interesting is
his relationship to the famous Bobert Baikes, his uncle,
the promoter of the Sunday School movement. Bobert
Baikes, a native of Gloucester, began his social work
with the prisoners in Gloucester gaol, and brought to public notice many
harsh abuses. Impressed by the neglect in the training of infant children
in 1780 he introduced his system of Sunday Schools, a work which
spread rapidly and attracted the attention of William Fox, John Wesley,
Adam Smith and others. Bobert Baikes died in 1811. Another member
of this notable family was Thomas Baikes, who became Governor of the
Bank of England and enjoyed the friendship of William Pitt and
Wilberforce. Thomas Baikes was well known at Bath as the colleague
of Beau Brummell, and in that town he died in 1848. William Mathew
Baikes died at Walthamstow in April 1824, and a marble tablet to his
memory will be found in the Parish Church.

■'■'•'Or, on a mount vert a tree proper. On a chief gules a en icent between two stars a

'•'.1 rgent, a chetron engrailed pean between three griffins' heads erased sable, each charged with an

ermine spot or.

■M.

One of the principal local people in the eighteenth
century was Sir Kobert WIGRAM, 41 who was born at
Wexford in 1743. Son of John Wigram, of Bristol,
and his wife, Mary Boyd, of Eosslare, and having
obtained eminence as a merchant, he was created a
Baronet in 1805. He had purchased Walthamstow
House, at the corner of Shernhall Street, in 1782, and
here his large family grew and prospered. The trading
company Sir Robert Wigram founded was famous for
its fleet of East Indiamen, one of which was named the "Walthamstow."
The Wigrams formed quite a colony here. Thorpe Combe and Brooks-
croft were both residences of Sir Robert's sons, whilst the Moneys, with
whom the Wigrams were to become so closely connected both in family
and business concerns, occupied the great house, Woodend, which at that
time stood at the junction of Wyatts Lane and Wood Street. His great-
grandson, Sir Edgar Wigram of Wells, Somerset, is the sixth and present
Baronet.

Next in order we see the elaborate Shield of Benjamin
DISRAELI, 42 Earl of Beaconsfield. These Arms are
included to remind us not only that young Benjamin
spent some of his formative years in our parish, but also
of the excellent Academy for the Sons of Gentlemen
which the Rev. Eliezer Cogan kept at Essex Hall,
Higham Hill. The old house, rebuilt by William Rowe
about 1590, as the Manor House of Higham Benstede,
had been much neglected, and Anthony Bacon who
acquired the Manor in the eighteenth century had decided to abandon the
remains of Essex Hall and build the house at Woodford Green known as
Higham Hills. In the old mansion thus vacated the Rev. Eliezer Cogan
established himself in the opening decade of the nineteenth century, and
his famous school and the men he trained there need no comment here.
The Jewish Family of Benjamin Disraeli had fled in days of persecution
from Spain to Venice, and came to settle in England in 1748. At the age
of 13, Disraeli was sent to Cogan's School at Essex Hall, Walthamstow,
the old Manor House of the Rowes. He remained with Cogan for four
years, and said afterwards that "nothing was thought of there but the two
dead languages, the Schoolmaster being an admirable instructor in them,
as well as a famous scholar." It is pleasing to remember that in later
life, Disraeli revisited his old school and that he retained very kindly
recollections of Mrs. Cogan.

"Argent, on a pale yules three escallops or, orer all a cherron engrailed counterchanged. On a
chief, wares of the sea, thereon a ship gules.

a Per saltire gules and argent a castle triple-towered in chief, of the last. Tiro lwn& rampant, in
fess sable, and an eagle displayed in hate or.

A few years after Disraeli had left Higharn Hill to
commence his important career, another famous man
was born at Elm Lodge in Forest Road, Walthamstow,
and we notice a Shield of Arms granted in 1843 to the
father of William MORRIS. 43 These bearings, whatever
their origin, became in the mind of the boy, then aged
nine, something deeply, if obscurely, associated with his
life. He considered himself in some sense a tribesman
of the White Horse. He made a regular yearly
pilgrimage to the White Horse of the Berkshire downs, which lies within
a drive of Kelmscott. In the house which he built for himself afterwards
the horse's head is pictured on tiles and glass painted by his own hand.
William Morris was born in 1834, and lived at Walthamstow and Wood-
ford until 1856. We are still too close to Morris' times fully to appreciate
the enormous influence of his life, but as a writer, craftsman and former
of public opinion we realise the debt we owe to his labours. It is safe to
say that he created a revolution in the tastes of the people, and, if for no
other reasons, he deserves our gratitude for providing an avenue of escape
from the ugly and formless in daily life. He was, however, a creative
genius and his name will gather increasing honour with the passage
of time.

Two further Shields concern the closing stories of two
Manors ; Higham Benstede, and the Rectory Manor.
The former of these had changed hands many times
between the relinquishing of the property of the Rowes
in 1762 and the coining of the WARNER 44 family as
owners. Edward Warner of Theydon, Essex, had by
Ann his wife, a son, Edward Warner, of Leyton, who died
in 1815. His son, the third Edward Warner recorded
by Burke, was in possession of the Clock House,
Walthamstow, and died in 1847. Edward, fourth of the name, became the
owner of Higham Benstede. His son, Thomas Courtenay, born in 1857,
was created a Baronet in 1910. His enterprise created the well-known
Warner Estates in the newer Walthamstow, and it was a fitting com-
pliment that Sir T. Courtenay Warner was selected as the Charter Mayor
on the inauguration of the Borough.

It remains to describe the last Shield of arms which
was granted to the Huguenot family of YALLENTIN, 4 '
an old family of Lorraine and Vermandois. In 1328,
Robert de Vallentin was Lord of Eschepy. John de
Vallentin served with John de Montfort in the Combat
of the Thirty, and was killed at the battle of Brignais ;
Hugh and Triquart de Vallentin took part at Poitiers,
and John de Vallentin served arms at Agincourt.
Nicholas de Vallentin was in command of the Army of

' i ure. ,t liorse's head erased argent between three korte shoes or.

■/'■ ■>■ bend argent a id gult « two bendlets betwei ■ rehanged.

■ I. ■ i/tli's and a helmet projier.

the Lorrainers at Arras in 1654, where he met his death. Sir James
Vallentin, Knight, chief of the younger branch of the family in England,
was born in 1814 and served as Sheriff of the City of London in 1870, in
which year he died. Some time previously he had acquired the Rectory
Manor at Walthamstow. A memorial was placed to him and to his son
in St. Mary's Church.

We close this necessarily short account of the
Walthamstow Armorial with a reference to the Official
Arms adopted by the Borough of WALTHAMSTOW
under a Grant from the College of Arms in 1929. It is
described as Argent, a mauncli gules. On a chief azure
a sea-mew volant between two anchors argent, and in-
corporates the "maunch" of Toni and the "chief" of
Monoux, the latter changed from gules to azure in
compliment to the Maynard Family, whose armorial
supporters are ranged on either side of the full Coat of Arms, whilst the
legend, " Fellowship is Life," being taken from the writings of William
Morris, completes the heraldic connection of Walthamstow with Norman,
Tudor, Stuart and Victorian days — a summary of our growth and history
over eight centuries of time.

DA
690

W18W33
no. 26

thamstow Antiquarian
Society

Official publication

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