Family:Whitney, Thomas (s1555-1602)
Thomas Whitney the Elder (Nicholas), son of Nicholas and Mary (-----) Whitney, died 17 Feb 1601/2, Saffron Walden, Essex.
He married, 12 May 1585, Saffron Walden, Essex, Elizabeth Deane, sister of Mr. Richard Deane of London. She died after 1602.
"... Wilts, to Thomas Whitney the elder and Thomas Whitney the younger and Thomas the elder's heirs. For £45 6s 6d paid to the queen's farmers under patent. ..."[1]
He was mentioned in the will of his mother Mary Whitney, signed 28 Nov. 1590, as son "Thomas the elder", and he was appointed co-executor with his brother Thomas the younger. She also mentioned Anne, Thomas and Elizabeth Whitney (her god-daughter), children of "my sonne Thomas the elder"; and her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Whitney, "a Kertlett of wrought velvet and my best hoode. The residue of her estate was to go to her son, Thomas Whitney the elder.[2]
He was mentioned in his brother Robert's will, 1590.[3]
"2 Feb 1591. License, for Sir Thomas Howard commonly called Lord Thomas Howard and Katherine his wife, to alienate three messuages (late of Holy Trinity priory, London, called Christes Churche alias Chechchurche by Algate, London, and are held in socage in chief), to Thomas Whitney. For £4 6s 8d paid to the queen's farmers under patent."[4]
Will of Thomas Whitney the elder of Brook Walden (Saffron Walden, Essex.) The date is 1602 and he is described as 'gent.': he mentions his wife Elizabeth, brother Thomas [the Younger], and brother-in-law Thomas Stuteville.[5]
Tho(mas) Whitney th'elder seased of houses &c in the parishe of CreechurcheSt ___________Creechurche neare Algate london holden of his Ma(jes)tie in Socage in Cheefe by his will devised that his ex(ecut)or should have all those houses untill his sonne Tho(mas) should atteyne his full age of xxiiij yeres for the p(er)fourmance of thinges in the same __ expressed and further did will unto his
hissaid sonne Tho(mas) the p(re)miss(es) at his age of xxiiij yeres to have to him &histhe heirs of hisheires of his bodyboddy la[w]fu[lly] begotten&or to be begotten & for default of such issue the rem(ainder) therof to Nicholas W[hitney] sonne & to the heirs of his bodyto belawfully begotten&or to be begotten & for default of such issue to rem(ainder) to George Whitney sonne & to his heires &c ___ for ever w(i)th a p(ro)viso of a p(er)petuitieTho(mas) the sonne doth devise those thing(es) to Rich(ard) Waltham for a 1000 yeres by force because he durst not buy the fee simple for feare of the p(er)petuitie
Afterward(es) the eschetor for london 4 septem 9 Ja. fideth an office after the decease of Tho(mas) Whit[ney] the elder & findeth the will all but the proviso of p(er)petuity
After this Richard Waltham taketh the Fee simple of these houses by a rectory? w(i)th single voucher suffered by Tho(mas) Whitney the younger
Ther is p(ro)cesse out of the courte of ward(es) for the not suinge the livery after the decease of Tho(mas) Whitney th'elder
& the houses seasedAnd the houses are seased for ______ upon the lease for 1000 yeres not ha[missing section] a liver[y]20 Eliz. dr . 362.
His IPM can be found at Archive:C 142/323/33.
Children of Thomas, the Elder, and Elizabeth (Deane) Whitney:
i. Thomas Whitney, b. 22 Sep 1586, Saffron Walden, Essex, mentioned in his grandmother's will, 1590, mentioned in his father's will, 1600 where he was mentioned as being under age 24. "Whitney, Thomas: of Walden, Essex: (bapt. Sep. 22, 1586), son of Thomas Whitney. School, Walden, under Mr Duisborough. Age 15. Admitted pensioner, to the bachelors' table, July 7, 1601. Surety, Mr Duisborough. Probably the Thomas Whitney, junior, who was buried at Walden, July 18, 1602. Brother of Nicholas, 1607; and of George, 1610."[7] ii. Elizabeth Whitney, b. 11 Sep 1587, Saffron Walden, Essex. Probably died young. iii. Elizabeth Whitney, b. 3 Oct 1588, Saffron Walden, Essex, mentioned in her grandmother's will, 1590, mentioned in her father's will, 1600 where she was mentioned as being under age 18. iv. Nicholas Whitney, b. 10 Feb 1589/90, Saffron Walden, Essex, mentioned in his father's will, 1600 where he was mentioned as being under age 21. On 24 Apr 1610, "Nicholas Whitney, son of Thomas W., of Walden, Essex, arm." was admitted to Lincoln's Inn.[8] "Whitney, Nicholas: of Walden, Essex (bapt. at Saffron Walden, Feb. 10, 1589): son of Thomas Whitney, gent., deceased. School, Dalham, Suffolk, under Mr Riding. Age 17. Admitted pensioner to the bachelors' table, May 10, 1607. Surety, Mr John Browne, fellow. (Brother of Thomas, p. 176; and George, p. 206). Admitted at Lincoln's Inn, Ap. 24, 1610." [9] v. George Whitney, b. 8 Oct 1592, mentioned in his father's will, 1600. "Whitney, George: of Saffron Walden, Essex (bapt. Oct. 18, 1592): son of Thomas Whitney, gent., deceased. Educated at Chenies, Beds. (sic), under Mr Allebon, three years. Age 17. Admitted, Jan. 18, 1609-10, pensioner to the bachelors' table. Tutor and surety, Mr John Browne. (Brother of Thomas, p. 176; and Nicholas, p. 195) [10] vi. Anne Whitney, b. between 1582-1590, mentioned in her grandmother's will, 1590, mentioned in her father's will, 1600 where she was mentioned as being under age 18. It is hard to fit her into the above sequence of births, unless there is an error in the name of one of the above Elizabeths.
References
1. ^ Simon R. Neal, Calendar of Patent Rolls 30 Elizabeth I (1587-1588): C 66/1304-1321 (List & Index Society, n.p.; 2003), p. 47.
2.^ S. Whitney Phoenix, The Whitney family of Connecticut, and its affiliations; being an attempt to trace the descendants, as well in the female as the male lines, of Henry Whitney, from 1649 to 1878; to which is prefixed some account of the Whitneys of England (New York : Priv. Print. [Bradford Press] 1878), p. xix.
3.^ 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. xv.
4.^ Simon R. Neal, Calendar of Patent Rolls 33 Elizabeth I (1590-1591): C 66/1362-1378 (List & Index Society, n.p.; 2005), p. 95, entry 545, citing C 66/1369 membrane 43.
5.^ Thomas K. Butcher, The Pedigree of Whitney, reproduced in "The Whitney Family in Connecticut" by Stephen Whitney Phoenix: an investigation.
6.^ SP 46/63/fo 71
7.^ Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College, 1349-1897: Containing A List of All Known Members of the College From the Foundation to the Present Time, With Biographical Notes, Compiled by John Venn, Sc.D., F.R.S., F.S.A. Senior Fellow of the College, Vol. I 1349-1713. Cambridge: At the University Press, London: C.J. Clay and Sons, Cambridge University Press Warehouse, Ave Maria Lane, 1894, p. 176.
8.^ The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn: Register 1420-1893 (London: Lincoln's Inn; printed by H. S. Cartwright, 1896), p. 153.
9.^ Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College, 1349-1897: Containing A List of All Known Members of the College From the Foundation to the Present Time, With Biographical Notes, Compiled by John Venn, Sc.D., F.R.S., F.S.A. Senior Fellow of the College, Vol. I 1349-1713. Cambridge: At the University Press, London: C.J. Clay and Sons, Cambridge University Press Warehouse, Ave Maria Lane, 1894, p. 206.
10.^ ibid, p. 195.
Copyright © 2007, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
