Feb,2024 : Mary Wyatt – Lineage ? The quest continues …
Centring on my 7 X great-grandparents, Rev.Edmund Fido (1633-1720) and Mary Wyatt (1646-1712)
They were married, 23.4.1633, St Augustine the Less, Bristol, Gloucestershire – ‘Mary’ inscribed as ‘Marie’. (I would love to see the original : given conventional mediaeval orthography ( and its being in Latin, possibly), ‘Marie ‘ is actually ‘Maria’ perhaps). At any rate, we accept her name as ‘Mary’
I had thought I had established the link between Mary Wyatt and her great-grandfather, the poet and courtier Sir Thomas Wyatt, until I recently received some details from another descendant of Edmund & Mary. Many thanks to Richard Hodgson for pointing out the discrepancies, as shown below.
Richard cites John Burke’s history of landed gentry (’Commoners’) of Great Britain and Ireland (publ.1837) as erroneously recording Mary Wyatt as the great granddaughter of Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542). In his suggesting that this may have its origin in a ‘Gunning family myth’, we are reminded of the essential need to consider provenance in assessing authenticity. My earlier acceptance of Mary’s relationship (that of great- granddaughter) was based on an assertion in a website sponsored by Ancestry.
The memorial for Mary Fido nee Wyatt shows her death in 1712 at age 66. We can therefore deduce her birth as in c.1646. As Sir George Wyatt ( husband of Jane Finch) died in 1624, he was obviously not Mary’s father (as I had inaccurately presumed, working from the inscription on the memorial for ‘Sir Henry Wiat’). It mentions his son ‘Sir Thomas Wyatt’, followed by reference to the latter’s ‘only son that lived to age’ i.e. ‘George Wiat who married Jane daughter of Sir Thomas Finch of Eastwell and Katherine his wife’.
A touch of trivia : At least, there is an IN-LAW relationship with the Wyatts above-mentioned. Remember Dorothy WARREN (1736-1813), my 4 X great-grandmother ? (She married the celebrated surgeon, John GUNNING). Dorothy’s 5 X great grandfather Laurence Warren (1469-1531) married Margaret LEGH (1503-1542). Margaret’s ancestors on the maternal side (Savage < Goushill < Stanley) take us back to Elizabeth FITZALAN, the Duchess of Norfolk. Coming back down the generations, Elizabeth’s great-great-grandson, Thomas BROOKE ( Lord Cobham) was the father of Dame Elizabeth BROOKE (1503-1560). Here the link : Elizabeth married the poet, SIR THOMAS WYAT (1503-1542). I wonder if contemporaries( Laurence & Margaret, Thomas & Elizabeth were aware of the connection …
For the time being, I am retaining the Wyatt material previously added to Benefaction.home.blog for two reasons :
1. Despite the inaccuracies, most of it makes for interesting reading
2. It may serve as a catalyst for further research by some dedicated enthusiast. Is that YOU ?
Originally posted as emails in the series Peripatetic Peregrinations Sir Thomas Wyatt. Diplomat, Court of King Henry VIII, Invented (?) Sonnet in English
Sir Henry Wyatt, (Father of Sir Thomas Wyatt, below)
November 2023
You will all be very familiar with my earlier email re our connection to Sir Thomas Wyatt ( Benefaction.home.blog / Resources / Peripatetic Peregrinations/ Sir Thomas Wyatt). Therein, I laid claim to direct descent from Sir T. through his great-granddaughter Mary ( as cited in a ‘tree’ supplied on Ancestry’ by a researcher). This ‘ Mary Wyatt’ matched up with my 7 times great grandmother, married to Rev.Edmund Fido (1633-1720) at the Church of St Augustine the Less ( !) in Bristol, 23.4.1663. Their daughter Elizabeth, as you well know, married John Gunning (1676-1745).
HOWEVER, for many moons, I have lain awake o’nights, pondering the possibility – Oh, woe is me ! – that I have foolishly, in the vestiges of the exuberance of youth, jumped to a wrong conclusion. Mary’s supposed parents would appear to have had ten children – but no ‘Mary’ among them …
BUT all is not lost ! (Sighs, even sobs, of relief all round !) In my exhaustive and painstaking research (on YOUR behalf, good folk ) I chanced upon details re the extraordinary life of the aforesaid Sir Thomas’s father, to wit Sir Henry Wyatt (1460-1537)
I shall leave it to you to google the many web-sites expanding on the life of Sir Henry – a mix of authenticated detail along with fake news. The one I consider most reliable is ‘The Questionable Legend of Henry Wyatt’ – Richard III Society.
In brief, Henry Wyatt supported Henry Tudor in the final years of the War of the Roses against Richard III, the last of the Plantagenets. With Richard’s defeat and death ( burial in what in time became a car-park !) at the 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field, the Tudors assumed power. Henry Wyatt’s efforts won him the favour, much property and many privileges ( Order of the Garter, Privy Council ) from the new king, Henry VII – this extended into the reign of Henry VIII as well. Before this change of fortune, however, Henry Wyatt had incurred the wrath of Richard III, leading to two years’ imprisonment.
Suffering severe torture, including being force-fed vinegar and mustard, and a very poor diet, Henry’s days were on the short list were it not for the felicitous assistance of a CAT ! Said feline slipped through the bars of the dungeon one day to befriend poor Henry, only too pleased to benefit from both the warmth of the newcomer’s company and its furry body. On its now regular visits, the cat helped supplement Henry’s diet by periodically bringing a pigeon which a sympathetic gaoler would cook for Henry. Said cat is immortalised in a number of contemporary portraits of Sir Henry, notably that by Hans Holbien. So think of Henry when next you pass the State Library (Macquarie St) and glance at the statue of the cat ‘Trim’ on a window-sill – testimony to its owner, Matthew Flinders, during his seven year imprisonment by the French … Think too of Henry as you gorge yourself so shamelessly & so shamefully at high noon on Christmas day !
I mentioned above ‘all is not lost’ because my delving has turned up a blood relationship with Sir Henry and so his son, the Sir Thomas Wyatt, poet extraordinaire, to whom I laid claim in my original ‘Wyatt’ email. Wyatt a relief !
As a Black Friday special, I hereunder replicate the DNA-linked lineage, courtesy of that marvellous platform supporting the building up and sharing of genealogical information – Geni.com
Joseph Thomas Fulton
Francis Benedict Jeffreys Fulton
Thomas Benedict Fulton
John Jeffreys Fulton
Caroline Jeffreys ( John J’s mother)
Anne Gunning ( Caroline’s mother)
Dorothy Warren ( Anne’s mother)
Rev. Richard Warren
Rev.Samuel Warren
Rev.John Warren
John Warren
Laurance Warren
Dorothy Booth ( Laurance’s mother)
Sir William Booth
George Booth, Lord of Dunham Massey
Lady Maud Brereton ( George’s mother)
Margaret Dutton ( Maud’s mother)
Maud de Swinnerton (Lady Savage) (Margaret’s mother)
Elizabeth Swinnerton ( Maud’s mother)
Sir Nicholas de Bake (Elizabeth’s father)
Lady Mary Mariota de Bake (Nicholas’s mother)
Robert, 1st Baron Willoughby de Eresby ( Mary’s father)
Alice de Bake ( Robert’s mother)
Margaret de Mumby ( Alice’s daughter)
Agnes de Mumby Hiltoft (Margaret’s daughter)
Sir William de Hiltoft (Agnes’ son)
Alice Skipworth (William’s daughter)
Sir Richard Skipworth (Alice’s son)
Anne Wyatt ( Richard’s daughter)
Sir Richard Wyatt ( Ann’s son)
SIR HENRY WYATT
Carry on your Wyatt research – together we ‘ll resolve the ‘Mary’ issue …
Dear Rellies,
For aeons, ever since I came across a reference to six times great grandma Elizabeth FIDO as ‘great-granddaughter of the very famous (infamous ?) Thomas WYATT, I have been trying to establish how the pair were connected. With apologies to G.Greer, J.Gillard and womanhood in general, I must confess to misogyny : I had been exploring the paternal side i.e. Rev.Edmund FIDO ( rector of Cold Aston, Gunning territory dear to explorers ( blackberry thieves?) Sarah & Simon and a more upright Mary Anne). Rather, shamefacedly I must admit, I should have started with Rev Edmund’s wife whom latterly I have found to be maiden-named WYATT. Bingo ! Now I believe I can fairly safely assert :
SELF (Who else better to start with ? ) : JTF
pts : FBJF, CSB:
gpts : TBF, MMW
Ggpts : John Jeffreys FULTON, ESW
2G : John H.Fulton, Caroline JEFFREYS
3G : Thomas Jeffreys, Anne GUNNING
4G : John GUNNING, Dorothy Warren
5G : John ‘Devil’ GUNNING, Elizabeth Lymen nee Seymour
6G : John Gunning, Elizabeth FIDO
7G : Rev.Edmund Fido, Mary WYATT
8G : George WYATT, Jane Finch
9G : Sir Thomas WYATT, Jane Hawte
6G : Sir Thomas WYATT, Elizabeth Brooke
Still under the rigours of EXTREMELY careful & of course painstaking research, but appears to be supported by the inscription on Thomas Wyatt’s daddy’s tomb ( the latter being my 7 times great-grandsire ) :
(Orthography as in the original. Wot ! No full stops !)
To the memory of Sr HENRY WIAT of Alington Castle Knight Bannert of that Ancient family who was imprisoned and tortured in the reign of KING RICHARD the Third kept in the Dungeon where fed and preserved by a Cat He married ANN daughter of THOMAS SKINNER of Surrey Esqe was of the Privy Council to KING HENRY the Seventh and KING HENRY the Eighth and left one son Sr THOMAS WYATT of ALINGTON CASTLE who was Esquire of the body to KING HENRY the Eighth and married ELIZABETH Daughter of THOMAS BROOKE LORD COBHAM and well known for Learning and Embasys in the reign of that KING Sr THOMAS WIAT of ALINGTON CASTLE his only son married JANE younger daughter of Sr WILLIAM HAWT of this COUNTY and was beheaded in the reign of QUEEN MARY Leaving GEORGE WIAT his only son that lived to AGE who married JANE Daughter of Sr THOMAS FINCH of EASTWELL and KATHERINE his wife Restored in blood by act of Parliament of the 13th of QUEEN ELIZABETH’
I shall expand this precious info. in a later document. Meanwhile, put aside mundane tasks & derive infinite pleasure from googling bits relating to the above. Feel free to share the delight this missive has brought you by forwarding it to whomsoever you wish. Joe
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