The Tudor period was from 1485 to 1603 and was when the Tudors were the ruling family in England. Probably the most famous Tudor leader was Henry VIII of course. But what was happening in our little village?
The Tudor age was the age of the large landowner and local families such as the Meades and Crawleys were building their estates in the area. The Crawleys owned two of the Chrishall Manors at one time, Chrishall Bury in Church Road and Crawley Bury sited probably on Wire Farm land. And the Crawleys were relations of our most famous Tudor lady Lettice Martin. You can read more about her below.
We can also learn a little more about people living in the village at the time. Although the Church Records don’t start until 1661, there are quite a few people who leave Wills from this time and Wills can provide a huge amount of information about people’s lives and details about the village.
Tudor families in Chrishall: Coleman, Parker, Warin (or Warrin), Barleyman, Hopper, Skryppes, Abraham, Hagger, King…
In the reign of Elizabeth I, a Chrishall woman set up charities for the benefit of the poor of a number of villages. Who was this Chrishall lady? How was she so wealthy and why did she give so generously? Her name was Lettice Martin and in 1568, when she made her...
Lettice’s father, Thomas Crawley was a wealthy speculator in chantry lands in Essex and in 1553 he had been the escheator (which meant he dealt with property returning to the Crown on the death of someone ) for Essex and Hertfordshire. It is not clear whether this was...
The Meade family have links with Elmdon in terms of property but were close relatives of Lettice Martin in Chrishall. Thomas Meade’s mother was Lettice’s sister, Johan the elder and Thomas was therefore Lettice’s nephew. His mother seems to have died quite young and...
Search all of Chrishall Village History website:
