Family:Whitney, James (s1493-1544)
James Whitney (James, Robert, Eustace, Robert, Robert, Robert, Eustace, Eustace, Robert, ...), son of James and Blanche (Milbourne) Whitney,[1] was born say 1493, Whitney, Herefordshire,[2] and died between 23 May and 5 Jul 1544, Troy, Monmouthshire, unmarried.
In 1516 he was listed as one of the "Sewers for the Chamber ordinary," to King Henry VIII. March 12, 1530, "James Wytteney, one of the Sewers of the Chamber," was commissioned "Receiver General of the lordships of Uske, Kererlion and Tryllok, parcel of the Earldom of March in South Wales; Constable of the lordship of Tregruk; Beadle and Coroner of Edlegon; and Receiver of the lordships of Newport, Wenloge and Mayhen, in the Marches of South Wales." He made his residence at Troy, in Monmouthshire, quite likely with his stepfather, and died there, unmarried, in 1544, leaving by will all his property to his half-brothers Charles and Thomas Herbert, whom he appointed executors.[3]
Sometime between 1538 and 1544 he, listed as "James ap Whytney of London, esquire", sued John Tanner, John Webbe and John Harding of Redwick over seizure of cattle from leasehold land in the lordship of Bishton, Monmouthshire.[4]
In 1542 he received an annuity when his orphaned nephew Robert Whitney was placed in his wardship. "James Whitney, a gentleman usher of the Chamber. Annuity of 18l. from Pencombe manor, Heref., late of Rob. Whitney; during the minority of Rob. Whitney s. and h. of the said Robert; with wardship and marriage of the said heir. Westm. Palace, 27 March 33 Hen. VIII. Del. Westm., 1 April.—P.S. Pat. p. 6, m. 1."[5]
Abstract of his will, proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury: James Whitney, of Troy, in the County of Monmouth. Will dated May 23, 1544; proved July 5, 1544. Gives everything to his brothers, Charles and Thomas Herbert, of Troy, and appoints them executors.[6]
References
1.^ Henry Melville, The Ancestry of John Whitney: Who, with His Wife Elinor, and Sons John, Richard, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Jonathan, Emigrated from London, England, in the Year 1635, and Settled in Watertown, Massachusetts; the First of the Name in America, and the One from Whom a Great Majority of the Whitneys Now Living in the United States Are Descended (New York, NY: The De Vinne Press, 1896), pp. 135-138.
2.^
5.^ 'Henry VIII: April 1542, 26-30', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII: 1542, Volume 17 (1900), pp. 153-168. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=76650&strquery=whitney. Date accessed: 17 November 2008, 283. Grants in April 33 Henry VIII. 1542.
6.^ Henry Austin Whitney, The First Known Use of Whitney as a Surname: Its Probable Signification, and Other Data (Boston, MA: Henry Austin Whitney, 1875), p. xiv.
