Doctor John Blythe, professor of Medicine, Cambridge.

John Blythe was said to be Thomas Blythe’s son, but a document when he was a clerk in Stafford, clearly states he was the son of Richard Blythe of Norton.   He can be seen also in a document in 1500 as dean of York buying land with a Richard of Norton in Dinnington from a William Taylor.  Geoffrey Blythe was also a dean of York before he became Bishop of Lichfield in 1503. Geoffrey is  seen in a document dealing with some of the same land with Richard in Dinnington in 1505.  Richard Blythe is listed as a gentleman.

In 1510 John Blythe listed as a scholar of Paris, is appointed archdeacon of Canterbury and prebendary of Weeford  in Lichfield.  John is to be found in several documents working with his uncle Geoffrey in the enquiry into the Lollards.

In 1530 John is made archdeacon of Stafford. In 1536 John is appointed Regius  professor of medicine at Cambridge University. This is a groundbreaking post as never before had there been  either a department of medicine or a professor of it. John was awarded a salary of £40 per annum for this post. In chancery John is seen as suing the estate of the late Bishop Geoffrey Blythe for money promised for John’s studies in Padua.

John Blythe’s association with church and medicine was not unusual, bearing in mind that for most people medical care came through the monasteries. John Blythe was however also at the beginning of a separate standardised system of teaching for medical practitioners. John had been educated at Paris and Padua so was up to date on European medical thinking which was gradually coming out of the medieval ways of thinking. Like the Blythes who participated in establishing  a division between Church and State for legal matters and a civil service,  John Blythe was helping establish another separation from the Church in the formation of an academic department of medicine.

By  the middle of the 16th century there were, in broad terms,  a  few physicians (mostly with a degree from Oxford or Cambridge) who diagnosed internal problems; barbers who conducted minor surgery such as bloodletting and drawing teeth; surgeons who carried out major surgery in the presence of a physician (both barbers and surgeons had generally been apprenticed); and apothecaries (also apprenticed) who sold drugs and sometimes treated patients.. There was much overlap and frequent disputes between the various representative bodies that developed.

The earliest reference to medical regulation in the UK dates from 1421, when physicians petitioned parliament to ask that nobody without appropriate qualifications be allowed to practise medicine. The doctors said that unqualified practitioners caused “great harm and slaughter of many men”.

Despite agreement in principle from parliament, little more appeared to happen until 1511, when a statute placed regulation of the medical profession in the hands of the bishops. The Church was apparently considered the one institution whose influence was extensive and potent enough to be effective in suppressing quacks and licensing the members of the medical profession. Clerics, often the most highly educated members of society, were better suited to the task. Medicine and religion were also closely entwined: healing had long been associated with the supernatural, while the events of birth and death involved both medics and clerics.

The Royal College of Physicians of London had been founded in 1518 and was supposed to have a monopoly in the giving of medical advice within a seven mile radius of the City of London and, from 1522, nationally. The College was founded by physicians themselves, meaning that in London the licensing of medicine was in the hands of the profession, rather than the bishop. Various disputes arose between the College, universities, and bishops over their authority to license and recognize each others’ qualifications.

As doctors often covered large areas, crossing diocesan boundaries, they often required licenses from several bishops. After the Peter’s Pence Act of 1533, the Archbishop, through his Master of the Faculties, issued dispensations throughout all England. Applicants were expected to provide evidence of their medical or surgical expertise, such as letters testimonial. Where the candidate was recommended by local clergy, physicians, or parishioners, or a mixture of these, the Faculty Office insisted on the countersigning or examination by two fellows of the College of Physicians.

John Blythe married Alice Cheke, the Esquire Bedell’s daughter in Cambridge, before 1530 probably in Cambridge. Peter Cheke’s role as Bedell  was an important ceremonial position which was something like a beadle. Alice’s brother  became tutor to the Edward VI. So John Blythe was very much both in the academic community and known at court. He had 2 sons called George and Peter and a daughter Ann. George married Anne Eggerton daughter of Thomas Eggerton.  Lord Burghley married Mary Cheeke John Blythe’s sister in law and so George Blythe became Burghley’s secretary and secretary to the Council of the North.   Peter went to live in Chesterfield and became an official for the king supervising the wool market.  John would appear to have died in 1568. But there is some confusion there as there are several John Blythe’s and as yet I do not have the wills to separate one from the other.

How did William Blythe get awarded a coat of arms?

Interestingly William Blythe was awarded a coat of Arms in 1485 before Henry Tudor won the Battle of Bosworth but the coat of arms was still confirmed. After Henry married Elisabeth of York in 1486, his second action was to declare himself king retroactively from the day before Bosworth Field. This meant that anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason. Thus, Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III while restoring his own. However, he spared Richard’s nephew and designated heir, the Earl of Lincoln. He also created Margaret Plantagenet, a Yorkist heiress, Countess of Salisbury sui juris. He took great care not to address the baronage, or summon Parliament, until after his coronation. At the same time, he almost immediately afterwards issued an edict that any gentleman who swore fealty to him would, notwithstanding any previous attainder, be secure in his property and person.

After the war of the Roses out of 64 peers only 32 were left and Henry was in no hurry to replace them. He granted office to infant children leaving the real work to be done by deputy wardens who were knights or even gentlemen. And also quite a number of yeomen like William became gentlemen presumably for a small fee to help the royal coffers or maybe as a way of mustering an army when necessary for the king or a bit of both. The words of William’s award are interesting.

To all true Christian people etc. I John More otherwise called Norroy, principall herauld and kinge of arms of the North part of this realm send due and humble recommendations etc. Equitie, will and reason ordayneth etc. And therefore I sayd kinge of armes etc. Assertayned that William Blythe of Norton in the Countie of Derby hath continued in virtue etc. And for ye remembrance of his gentleness virtue and ability etc by the vertue of myne office, I the said kinge of arms have devysed, ordained and assigned unto and for the sayd  William Blythe for him and his posteritie ye arms hereafter following, that is to say he beareth ermine, three roebucks gules, armed or and also his crest  a roebucks head as aforesaid, rased of three points in a wreath ermine and gules, a garland of lorel about his necke, graunted to the sayd  William to have and to hold the same armes and creast etc. In witness whereof I sayd kinge of arms have sette to my seal of sign manuell at London on the 27^th day of February, the first year of the raignue of our Soveraigne  Lord King Henry the Seventh.

 

The words “in remembrance of his gentleness virtue and ability” makes me wonder if perhaps that William like many before him was a clerk, a lawyer or accountant, to an important person, possibly even Royal? There were earlier Blythes in John of Gaunts household, a clerk to King Edward l, a composer of religious music in the kings household but no obvious connections at the time of William’s award.

Later the Blythe family married into some important families such as Hastings, Neville, Saville, and Bosville but that was in future generations.

William had married Saffrey Austin half sister of Thomas Rotherham. Thomas may have sponsored his nephews John and Geoffrey Blythe to Eton and then to Cambridge.

Thomas Rotherham was born into a Yorkshire gentry family, educated at a local grammar school,  then to Eton, and Kings College Cambridge. Thomas was elected a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, in 1444. He held various ecclesiastical livings in the 1450s and 1460s and took a degree at Oxford in 1463. In the late 1450s, he became chaplain to John de VERE.  After her marriage to Edward IV in 1464, Elizabeth  Woodville became Rotherham’s patron, and she was likely responsible for his appointment as keeper of the royal privy seal in 1467.  Rotherham went on diplomatic missions to Burgundy and France, and became bishop of Rochester in 1468. He did not support  Henry VI, and in the spring of 1471 warned Edward IV, who was then returning from exile to reclaim his Crown, not to attempt a landing.

In March 1472, Edward promoted Rotherham to the bishopric of Lincoln, and in 1474 the king appointed him chancellor of England. Like many of Edward IV’s bishops, Rotherham was a man of humble origins who was promoted to high church office because of his loyalty to the king and his usefulness in secular government. Rotherham accompanied Edward on the French expedition of 1475 and was one of the English lords who received a large pension from LOUIS XI of France. Said to be skilled in managing Parliament, Rotherham opened the tense 1478 session that condemned the king’s brother, George Plantagenet, duke of Clarence. In 1480, Rotherham became archbishop of York.

On Edward’s death in April 1483, Rotherham’s connections with the queen made him suspect in the eyes of Richard, duke of Gloucester, who believed the Woodville family was seeking to deprive him of the regency. Rotherham intensified the duke’s mistrust by surrendering the Great Seal of England, , to the queen after fear of Gloucester drove her to Sanctuary at Westminster in early May 1483. Thinking better of this act, Rotherham quickly recovered the Great Seal, but on 10 May Gloucester, now acting as protector for Edward V, replaced the archbishop as chancellor with Bishop John Russell. On 13 June, Gloucester arrested Rotherham, along with William Hastings, Lord Hastings, and other likely opponents, at a Council meeting held in the Tower of London. Although released shortly after an appeal from Cambridge University, which he served as chancellor, Rotherham took little further part in government, either during Richard III’s reign or during the reign of Henry VII. Noted in later life as a prominent benefactor of the English universities, Rotherham died in 1500.

It would seem unlikely Thomas Rotherham helped William Blythe get his coat of arms as he was out of favour at the time, and Williams 2 sons John and Geoffrey were not yet bishops. John was a mere archdeacon and Geoffrey had just started Kings College Cambridge.  There  was Richard Restwold, William’s son in law. Richard was a lawyer, sheriff of Wiltshire and lawyer to the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Salisbury.  Richard married an un-named daughter but both daughter and son in law were  dead by 1475. The other important marriages in the Blythe family seem to have been made after William was awarded the coat of arms. In fact all the obvious upward mobility of the Blythe family happened after the award of the coat of arms.  After the award their daughter Elisabeth married George Wasteneys of Yeadon, in Nottinghamshire. George had a substantial estate. William’s  son Thomas married Alice Skellowes ( Skelley) and joined Blythe lands  nearby with hers to form  large estates around Barnby Dunn, and Richard married Katherine of Birchett, adding her estate to Blythe lands in Coal Aston, Norton and Dronfield.  But all that was to come so who sponsored William for the coat of arms?

Some suggested reading for researchers of Blythe family and of Norton

Very few of my bloggs mention references which I have done so as not to make it too long but I thought I might suggest some sites and books. These are for early up to tudor research.

Brief Lives of the English Monarchs by Carolly Erickson published by Constable and Robinson
The Tudor Housewife by Alison Sim published by The History Press ( she has written another two excellent books in the series.)
A Brief History of The Tudor Age by Jasper Ridley published by Constable and Robinson
Jos Kingston Life and death in Elisabethan Norton http://www.joskingston.org/LDEN/LDENCONTENTS.html

The Rural Metalworkers of the Sheffield Region by David Hey. Department of English Local History Occasional Papers. Second Series Number 5 Leicester University Press 1972

The History of the Borough of Chesterfield: With some account of the Hundred of Scarsdale John Pym Yeatman (a victorian book but since reprinted) by Bibliolife, Lightning Source UK. Ltd. Milton Keynes (2010)

Derbyshire Feet of Fines 1323-1546 Calendared by  H.J.H Garratt Derbyshire Record Society (1985)

Derbyshire Hearth Tax Assessments 1622-70 Edited by David G. Edwards Derbyshire Record Society Volume Vll, (1982)

Woods  Athenae Oxon. (ed. Bliss), ii,691: Foss’s Lives of the Judges, v. 38; Godwin, De praesulibus; Letters Papers Rich. lll and  Henry Vll (ed Garner) (Rolls Ser. ); Le Neve’s Fasti (Hardy); Cassan’s life of the Bishops of Salisbury; Jones History of the Diocese of Salisbury.)
Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part I, Vol. 1  Venn. 1922

Alumni Etonenses Harwood  1797

An historic Account of Beauchief Abbey by the Late Samuel Pegge LLD F.S.A. printed by John Nichols and Son, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London 1801

I would not recommend old Victorian and Edwardian family tree books as there is a lot of inaccuracies and is better to ignore them till you have established some facts of your own.

The National Archives site for the UK is worth searching through as there are a lot of summaries of land agreements etc.. and they will send you a scanned copy of a document for a small fee.

Eventually I will republish with all references but at the moment I will just publish a  few references I have found useful from time to time.

The Aftermath of the English Civil War for those of a Presbyterian persuasion

After the fighting had stopped and King Charles had been beheaded (legend says by a Dronfield Axe) there was the time of the Protectorate when parliament with Cromwell as the head of State ruled. The Puritan parliament set about creating a more puritan church with more emphasis on scripture. What catholic images remained after attack during the Tudors were removed or defaced. Consequently the Blythe’s tomb suffered some defacement of obvious catholic images. The carved effigies of William and Saffrey remained intact because they were not religious.

In January 1645 a group of ministers appointed by parliament produced a new Directory of Public Worship, which set out a new church organisation and new forms of worship to be adopted and followed in England and Wales. The Directory made clear that Sundays were to be strictly observed as holy days, for the worship of God, but that there were to be no other holy days – ‘festival days, vulgarly called Holy Days, having no warrant in the Word of God, are not to be continued’. Parliamentary legislation adopting the Directory of Public Worship, initially as one of several forms which could be followed in England and Wales, but then as the only form which was legal and was to be allowed, abolishing and making illegal any other forms of worship and church services, therefore prohibited (on paper at least) the religious celebration of all other holy days, including Christmas.

In August 1654 ‘an Ordinance for ejecting Scandalous, Ignorant and insufficient Ministers and Schoolmasters’ was made law, and many clergymen who were pro Royalist and more Catholic in their views were forcibly expelled.

Some expulsions had already happened during the war in the case of the Vicar of Treeton, Shirland Adams. A complaint was laid against Adams  of not only preaching against the parliamentary army but actively helping the Royalist .  He was asked to preach a sermon as a sign of remorse for what he had done. Just at that point the Royalists were victorious, and Adams retracted. The parliamentary committee expelled him. There were many who witnessed against him and among the witnesses was Captain Henry Westby and Captain William Blythe.

The expulsion of the clergy caused a lot of hardship to them and their families, as well as causing confusion in the congregation.

When Charles l  had been proclaimed king the people in Sheffield celebrated by buying the herald of this event some wine. Rotherham likewise but with cheaper wine. However when the monarchy was returned and Charles II reclaimed the throne the town celebrated in a big way.  Odd behaviour given that the majority of the town  were supporters of parliament. Perhaps everyone was hoping for peace and stability. Parliament could never agree.  The more extreme Puritans seemed bent on banning any fun or frivolity. Who could blame the people of Sheffield for wanting a change from all the doom and gloom? Besides Charles had said:-

“ And because the passion and uncharitableness of the times have produced several opinions in religion, by which men are engaged in parties and animosities against each other (which, when they shall hereafter unite in a freedom of conversation, will be composed or better understood), we do declare a liberty to tender consciences, and that no man shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion in matter of religion, which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom; and that we shall be ready to consent to such an Act of Parliament, as, upon mature deliberation, shall be offered to us, for the full granting that indulgence.” (declaration of Breda)

Together with a free pardon granted to all on the parliamentary forces it seemed that freedom of conscience was going to be for all.

With the Restoration the episcopacy was re-established. In 1661 the Corporation Act incapacitated from holding office in any corporation all who did not first qualify by taking the sacrament according to the Anglican rite.

The Convocation in 1662 revised the Prayer Book in an anti-Puritan direction, and it was at once enforced.  All holding benefices in the country were to use this revised Prayer Book on and after the Feast of St. Bartholomew of that year.  It was through this crisis that the term Nonconformist obtained its technical meaning.  When the feast came round 2,000 clergy who refused to conform were evicted. The timing was such that the evicted clergy were unable to collect the tithes due to them and so were left penniless. Also the book of common prayer was not available by that day to churches in the north.

The Episcopal looked upon those who had been appointed to livings during the Commonwealth as men who had not come into the church by the door, that is by “any lawful right or admission, but climbed up some other way, namely, by violence and intrusion, and therefore by Christ’s own inference (they were) Thieves and Robbers”.  After all the  men who were now  suffering  had themselves been guilty of many acts of injustice and intolerance. Many were still living who had been ejected by Puritan commissioners on concocted charges of profligacy and ignorance.  “They complained that they could still hear the cries of the impoverished wives and children, the groans and desires of scattered flocks, whose eyes  turned towards them as to their lawful pastors. From such as these, the intruded clergy could not look for sympathy.”

In 1664 the Conventicle Act inflicted the gravest penalties on all who took part in any private religious service at which more than five persons, in addition to the family were present.  In 1665 the Five Mile Act made liable to imprisonment any Nonconformist minister who, not having taken an oath of non-resistance, came within five miles of a town without obtaining leave; and in 1673 the scope of the Corporation Act was extended by the Test Act.
What Ayles the Anabaptists,

So much to be perplext

The Quakers they are troubled too,

With many several sects,

The Brownists and the Adamites,

With fift monarchies too,

In this their mad and frantic fits,

Seek Protestants t ‘o’rethrow:

With Hey Ho base Quakers,

Your Wicked deeds all rue;

You must to church or Tiburn,

With Anabaptists too.

Your false delusions are found out,

And known by good divines,

You have spread wicked heresies,

In rebel cromwels times:

He gave you all base liberties,

To maintain his base cause,

But now return lest squire Dunn,

Do catch you in his claws.

The Cobblers and the Tinkers,

Must now forbear to preach,

Taylors, Joyners and Tanners,

Must no false doctrine teach;

You Quakers and you dippers,

Your Wicked deeds all rue;

With speed return and go to church,

And leave that factious crew.

And now in the conclusion,

The Lord preserve our King,

With all his faithful subjects,

Which firmly stand for him,

But as for those who are his foes,

And will not converted bee,

Lord scatter them like dust or chaffe,

Unto eternity,

Now all your schismaticks,

This lecture read and view;

Fear God and honour Charles our King,

Else Tyburn is your due.

(from a Royalist pamphlet)

It is ironic that the Blythe family whose ancestor Bishop Geoffrey Blythe was known for his pursuing and execution of those who did not conform to the state religion, would be pursued 250 years later for not conforming themselves. Captain William Blythe died in 1665, leaving his 19 year old son William in charge of the Norton Lees Estate. Young William would seem to have been a devout learned man and a Presbyterian, not an easy thing to be in 1665.  Many of Williams relatives and friends found themselves without employment and thrown into gaol without trial. William must at times wondered if there was going to be a knock on the door for him.  During the reigns of Charles II (1660-1685) and James II (1685-1689), 60,000 people were persecuted for their Nonconformity to the Church of England.

In 1672, a Declaration of Indulgence was granted by Charles II allowing all to worship freely. This was mainly to give Roman Catholics freedom of worship but also gave the same freedom to Independents and other nonconformists. This meant it was possible to apply for a licence to worship and to teach. William applied immediately and on the 1^st June received his licence. Which means that at least for a short while Bishops House was used as a Presbyterian Meeting House and school.

Unfortunately William died the month after his third child Nathaniel was baptised in the December of 1675. In his will he left his library to Nathaniel in the hope that he would become a scholar and a clergyman, but that was not to be, it was his eldest son, Samuel,  who became the Clergyman. As there can be found no trace of Nathaniel after his baptism, it is assumed he died in infancy.

Captain William Blythe parliamentarian

William was baptised 8^th May 1608 at Norton Church, the son of William Blythe of Norton Lees and Frances Vessey.  William’s mother died the year after he was born.

Williams first wife was Elisabeth Bright of Dore, daughter of Anthony Bright of Dore. They were  married on the 28^th Jan 1628 at  Dronfield Church. Elisabeth must  not have lived long as William remarried in 1636 to a Maria Clarke from Braithwell in Yorkshire. William  moved into Bishops House from Dronfield probably  on the death of his father in 1631.

In 1642 the  Civil War began.  In May 1643 the Royalist commander, William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, moved into South Yorkshire. Preparatory to an assault on Sheffield Castle which was held for Parliament he marched on Rotherham. Coming through Masbrough he reached Rotherham Bridge which was barricaded and defended by the townspeople including 30 boys from the Grammar School and the town’s one cannon. After two days the ammunition had run out and several houses had been set alight by Royalist grenades. The town surrendered on agreement that it would not be plundered. However this was ignored, the town sacked and its defenders imprisoned and harangued to change side. A fine of 1000 marks (£666 an enormous sum) was imposed upon the town and the same amount on each of its four leading citizens. William Spencer, Henry Westby, and George Westby were arrested but the Vicar John Shaw  escaped. On hearing the news of Rotherham’s surrender the garrison of Sheffield Castle fled.

Through  complex family  relationships  William was kin to several other parliamentarians including John Bright of Carbrook, Henry Westby, and Edward Gill. William was also a Presbyterian and had close family ties with many other devout Presbyterians.

 

But what of William’s cousin  Charles Blythe in Norton?  In 1639 Charles had married Barbara Hastings daughter of Sir Henry Hastings. Henry Hastings had inherited his father’s estates, and lived in Humberstone . 1st and last Baron Loughborough of Loughborough  he held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire in 1638. Her brother Henry fought in the Batte of Edgehill in 1642 on the Royalist side, where he led his own troop of horse. He held the office of High Sheriff of Leicestershire in 1642. For a time during 1642 – 1649 he was confined at Leicester by parliamentary forces and later required to pay a heavy fine.   As a consequence he was forced to sell Humberstone  in 1649. Henry’s brother was originally on the Parliamentary side but later switched allegiance. Was Charles an antagonist or a supporter of parliament?

It’s not exactly certain when William joined the parliamentary forces. It must have been a hard choice leaving his wife and three daughters.  Ann was born in  1642, Sarah 1641 and Comforta in 1638 . They had lost 2 sons in infancy in 1637.

As a commentator of the time said they had no desire to ‘leave a soft bed, close curtains and a warm chamber to lodge upon the hard and cold earth, to leave the choicest and most delicate fare of meats and wines for a little coarse bread and dirty, with a foul pipe of tobacco, to leave the pleasing discourse and conversation of friends, wives and children for the dreadful whistling of bullets and bodies dropping dead at one’s feet’

It is likely that he was in the battle of Nantwich on the 25th January, 1644 with John Bright’s regiment of Foot under the command of Major General Lambert.  The army marched from Cheshire into the West Riding of Yorkshire where they were surprised by Colonel  Bellasis  at Bradford. The parliamentary army under Fairfax retreated to Selby where they made a stand on the 16th April and defeated Bellasis.  On the 20th  May parliamentary forces won another victory at Wakefield but six days later there was a personal sorrow for William when his 3 year old daughter Sarah died.

The Army next moved to York where it linked with Manchester’s army and the Scots. What followed was the Battle of Marston Moor. A decisive parliamentary battle .  John Bright’s Regiment of  foot was recorded there  and  William Westby, and  Edward Gill and William Blythe. The sheer numbers of dead  were staggering. In two hours the  parliamentary army lost 300 men and the Royalists lost 4,000. On both sides there would have been people William knew.

In the fire, smoke and confusion of that day the runaways on both sides were so many, so breathless, so speechless and so full of fears that I should not have taken them for men.

(Arthur Trevor, Royalist, eye witness at the battle of Marston Moor 2 July 1644)

A few weeks later Tickhill Castle was taken after a short siege, and after the fall of York,  Bright’s regiment   accompanied their colonel in the recapture of Sheffield and its castle which they did on the 11^th August..  Following the siege Colonel  Bright was left as governor of the castle. He was soon appointed governor of the city of York, and so left Captain Edward Gill in charge of Sheffield. As yet it’s not known if William Blythe stayed with the garrison or carried on with the regiment. I’d like to think he got to stay in Sheffield.  I can imagine William rushing over the fields,  his wife standing at the door of Bishop’s House with their two little daughters clinging to their mother’s skirts.

Nine months later on March the 30^th 1645 William’s son William was baptised.

The Royalists won at Barnby Moor in 1645, then lost to Parliament’s New Model Army under Sir Thomas FairFax, at Naseby in 1646. Oxford, King Charles’ official headquarters, surrendered in June 1646. King Charles I fled to take refuge with a Scots army besieging Newark.

Peace terms were made between Parliament and the Scots and the Scottish army withdrew to Newcastle taking the King with them. Charles refused to agree terms with the Scots; so they made an agreement with Parliament  withdrew from England and handed the King over to the Parliamentary Commissioners. In February 1647 Charles I was lodged in Rotherham on his way south to London as a prisoner of Parliament.

On November 8^th   1647, Charles I escaped from Hampton Court and begun to negotiate with the Scots to gain their support for his continued campaign against Parliament.. By the end of December 1647, any hope of an agreement between Charles and Parliament had ended and plans were put in place for a Scottish invasion of England.

In April 1648 a small force of Scots had crossed the border and taken Berwick. On July 8^th, a much larger force took Carlisle. By mid-July, 12,000 men looked poised to march south in support of Charles . Parliamentary forces rushed to meet them.  The Scots led by Hamilton  numbered 20,000 men while Cromwell had 9,000 men of whom only 6,500 were experienced soldiers.  The fighting on August 17^th at Preston cost the Scots 8,000 men – 4,000 killed and 4,000 captured. On the 18^th, about 4,000 Scots laid down their weapons at Warrington rather than fight a smaller Parliamentarian force. The Royalist cause was lost.

It was obvious in this second civil war that there was a great deal of anger that the peace had not been kept. The first civil war had lost a great deal of men and cost a great deal of money. When the final hostilities finished after the execution of Charles nearly 200,000 people had been killed. Over 40,000 had emigrated to America. The conflict had cost  £10 million and many people were in debt or  waiting to be paid.

In 1648 William Blythe supervised the demolition of Sheffield Castle and charged people money for taking away timber etc.. from the Castle. He himself is listed as having paid for timber and plasterwork. Perhaps something of what went on in his mind at that time is the plasterwork above his fireplace which shows the Talbot dogs.  Were they possibly a trophy?

William set about enlarging the house to its present size and running the scythe making. By the time of his death  there are indeed signs both in household possessions and the size of his scythe stock that William was prospering.

William’s cousin William was summonsed as the bearer of the coat of arms  to attend the heralds visitation in 1665 (where a family produces evidence to prove they are entitled to a coat of arms) William refused to comply. An Edwardian  geneaologist ( L. G. M. Praeger) accused William of cowardice and a reluctance to bear arms. Given that Williams grandfather was a Royalist and most of Williams family were on the side of parliament and given the appalling loss of life in the Civil War I think it is not hard to understand why William would not wish to bear arms. 

Bishop Robert Moulton alias Blythe alias red herring?

Abbot Robert Blythe I think. is probably an example of someone making assumptions that because he was of the surname he was related to the other Blythe Bishops. Other than one reference saying he was born in Norton, Derbyshire, there is no other evidence to connect him to Norton.

Born  about 1482, Robert went to Eton and was then admitted to Kings College, and awarded BA  1504/1505. He became a monk of the order of St Benedict about 1507, and later Abbot of Thorney Abbey in Cambridgeshire in the diocese of Ely. Robert Blyth was elected abbot in or before 1523.

Blyth succeeded Bishop Tiberius as Bishop of Down and Connor on the 16 April 1520.  He held these bishopricks in commendam, and resided in England. He never actually set foot on Irish soil.

In 1525/26 he was given special licence from the  Bishop of Ely to consecrate and dedicate the chapel of Eldered in Whittlesey. It contained an image of the Blessed Virgin which is said to have wrought a miracle; Robert Whyt of Whittlesey St. Mary, a bedridden man, was cured by invoking its aid. The date of the miracle is not stated in the printed broadsheet seen by Cole. Its author was Roger Dodynton, a Thorney monk. He was not a pensioner at the Dissolution, so must have been dead by 1539.

Bishop Robert sat in the convocation touching  the divorce  of Henry Vlll and Catherine  of Aragon, and signed the letter from the parliament to the pope in 1539 supporting the divorce. In 1539 he surrendered his Abbey to the King and received a pension of £200 a year. He died on October  19th 1547. His body was buried in St Mary’s Whittlesey  before the altar on the south side of the quire. No monument for him is visible in the church today. It is thought it may be under the carpet.

Much as Robert is interesting and seems to have had a similar history to Geoffrey and John, indications are that he came from Moulton near Spalding Lincolnshire. He leaves money to the church there in his will and names he lists as kin fail to connect to the Norton Blythes.  It is not inconceivable that there may be a family connection but I  feel unconvinced.

Katherine Blythe of Birchett

Katherine Blythe was an heiress, who inherited her father Richard’s lands in Birchett.  How wealthy she was when she married Richard Blythe it is difficult to know. But the clothes she left when she died show she must have been a well dressed,  wealthy woman.  Not the same clothes that  royalty wore, they were the clothes of the rich middle class or gentry.

Clues to this are in what kind of cloth was used, and the black clothes. It was not easy to dye cloth black so it was very expensive. Pure white cloth was equally hard to make and keep white (a white petticoat was listed.)  Other expensive fabrics listed were satin and velvet and ribbons. She has a worsted kirtle which means it was of wool but it was an expensive gown so it must have been a very fine cloth

Laws as to what people were legally allowed to wear were brought in, because of worries that too much cloth was being imported,  and as a way recognising a person’s status easily by the type and quality of clothes they were wearing.  Only certain people could wear certain kinds of clothes. The laws were  called the Sumptry Laws. So Katherine’s will tells us more than she owned a lot of clothes.

Katherine had some rich fabrics satin, and velvet. In order to wear these fabrics her husband would have  owned a huge amount of land or worked for the King. Katherine’s brocade  gown cost  more than a  year’s wages for a  labourer.

Katherine’s clothes consisted of a smock or shift that she would wear under everything, to absorb the sweat  A similar one would probably be worn as a nightgown, on top she would put a petticoat, and on top of that a kirtle, which was like a fitted dress which sometimes had sleeves. Sometimes she would just wear the kirtle as the dress, but to be more showy she would put on a  long gown  over the top, usually with wide sleeves. The gowns neckline would  be square and the smock would show at the neck. Under the law Katherine wouldn’t be allowed  to wear a lot of jewellery but she did have 2  bead necklaces.

In 1485 Richard Blythe’s father, William  was awarded a coat of arms. Richard and his heirs were called Gentlemen, whereas other members of the Blythe family were still called Yeomen.

On the death of her husband Katherine was entitled to one third of the estates in Dronfield and Birchett, even though the Birchett estates had been her own land. If she remarried she would lose that.  Bess of Hardwick spent a lifetime trying to keep her estates after several marriages. Her mother had lost so much property when her husband died they had lived in near poverty for several years.

Women’s wills are not common as there would be no will if she died before her husband as all her property would automatically belong to the husband. Consequentially it is hard to know what possessions she had while married, only what a widow owned. Katherine’s personal possessions and money on her death amounted to £9 8s.

Katherine’s  brother in law Geoffrey, and her husband’s cousin signed over the land for her lifetime so she could  manage  all the estates and keep her income.   It was not unusual in Tudor times for a women to run an estate or a  business, even  while her husband was alive it was likely that Katherine would be involved in keeping the accounts and the buying and selling on the estate

Looking again at Katherine’s clothing she was not living the life of a Yeoman’s wife. A Yeoman’s wife would have plainer, more practical  clothes with an apron to protect her clothing.  A Yeoman’s wife would be expected to do hard manual work around the farm, cooking  the meals,  feeding livestock, going  to market to sell eggs and butter, brewing the beer, making candles , helping with the harvest. She could have been helped by  a servant or servants but nevertheless she would be expected to work together with the servants and her husband in running the farm and the household.

Agnes Blythe of Norton Lees, a yeoman’s wife,  ( 1584) did not have her apparel listed in any great detail, only the value. £1 3s 4d (included money in her purse) She left all her clothing to her daughter.

Katherine did not leave any clothing  to any member of  her family, so I  assume  that it was sold and the value added to the estate. Perhaps because of her high status she could not hand it down to members of her family, who were not as wealthy as her.

Geoffrey Blythe Bishop of Chester, Coventry and Lichfield

Geoffrey Blythe younger brother of Bishop John Blythe was born in Norton Lees around 1469, and started his education as a boy pupil at Eton and was then admitted  to Kings College Cambridge in 1483. Geoffrey Blythe held a fellowship at Kings Cambridge from 1486-1494 and served as dean from 1492-1493 concurrently with the wardenship  of the Kings Hall which he held from 1486-1528.  Like his brother he gained a doctorate in Law.

On 4 April 1493 he became prebendary of Strensall in the church of York, and on 9 May following was collated to the archdeaconry of Cleveland in the same church. In 1494 he became treasurer of the church of Sarum; was rector of Corfe, Dorsetshire, 5 March 1494-5; and about 1496 had the prebend of Sneating in the church of St. Paul.

On 4 April 1496 he was ordained priest, in March 1496-7 admitted dean of York, and on 9 Feb. 1497-8 collated to the archdeaconry of Gloucester. He was appointed master of King’s Hall, Cambridge, on 11 Feb. 1498-9, and was collated to the archdeaconry of Sarum on 21 Aug. 1499, in which year he had the prebend of Stratton in that church.

Like his elder brother he caught the kings eye while still at University. Quite possibly John introduced him to the king.  In any case in 1502 Geoffrey was sent as special ambassador on 27 May 1502 to Wladislaus II, king of Hungary and Bohemia. Wladislaus was elected king of Hungary in 1490.  He married in 1502 Anna de Candale, who was connected with the royal family of France.  Henry was anxious to secure Wladislaus’s  allegiance so as to limit France’s power, and formed an alliance with Wladislaus against the Turks.

When Geoffrey returned he was made Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield.  This is where Geoffrey’s life is confusing. A number of sources say that Geoffrey was accused of Treason and then given a pardon. Most sources say that there was a pardon issued in 1509. However this does not match up with the fact that 2 separate cases were levelled against him after that date, and one before which seemed to relate to his being executor of Thomas Rotherham’s and his brother John Blithe’s wills.

After the pardon I found this.

“By an inquisition taken on 15 June 1513, after the death of Sir Ralph Langeford, knight, it was found that the deceased, by his deed, 14 Jan. 1510-11, by covin and deceit between him and Blythe, in order to defraud the king of the custody, conveyed certain manors and lands in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire to Anthony Fitzherbert (Thoroton, Nottinghamshire. “

A more serious charge was levelled against him in later years.

In 1512 he was appointed lord-president of Wales, continuing in that office till 1524. Geoffrey, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield (i.e. Bishop Blythe ) and the five associates were commissioned to inquire into insurrections , rebellions, Lollards, etc in South Wales , in the same six border counties, and in the lordships of North and South Wales.

If a letter from the King on a legal matter was anything to go on. Geoffrey was held in high esteem. A letter from Hereford  is addressed  to our

“right reverend father  in God our righte trustie  and welbeloued   the Bushopp of Chester, president of our Counsell in the Marches of Wales and to our trustie right beeloued friend all other of our said counsail, our Commissioners in the said Marches.

 

However the trusted right beloved friend found himself in the tower in 1523. A few months later he was questioned and set free.  There is also more of interest from Geoffrey’s life story than these treason allegations. Blythe was responsible for the sequestration of many religious houses assets to support colleges. His visitations of many orders produced reports that were used as evidence for the justification of the dissolution of the monasteries. He  also tried and executed Heretics. Lollards .

 

Blythe resigned the mastership of King’s Hall, Cambridge, in 1528. He is said to have died in London, and he was buried in Lichfield Cathedral before the image of St. Chad, one of his predecessors in the see. A  monument erected to his memory has been long destroyed.

Blythe bequeathed legacies to his cathedrals of Lichfield and Coventry, the churches of St. Chad in Shrewsbury and Norton, Eton College, King’s College, and King’s Hall. Among his bequests to King’s College was a great standing cup gilt with a cover, which had been presented to him by Wladislaus. He also gave a similar cup to Eton College. Blythe in his lifetime built fair houses for the choristers of Lichfield Cathedral; also a chapel at Norton, in which he erected an alabaster tomb for his parents, and established a chantry. He gave to King’s College a gilt mitre for the barne-bishop in 1510, a pair of great organs value 40l. in 1512, a rochet of the best cloth for the barne-bishop in 1518, and a fair banner of the assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary in 1519.

There is much of Geoffrey’s life I have still to research yet.  I think it will be interesting to get in closer to this man

The Biography of Bishop John Blythe

John Blythe was born in  Norton Lees in about 1460. His father did not have a coat of arms at that time though there is some suggestion that his mother did. It is quite possible his mother’s half brother Thomas Rotherham Archbishop of York, sponsored John through his education and his entry into Kings College, Cambridge.   John got his Bachelors degree at Cambridge in 1476/77.   I think it is quite possible that John was a  young entry into University possibly only 15 at the time.  Between 1479 and 1480 he gained a doctorate. He already had a number of Prebendary posts by then including Archdeacon of Stow in 1477, and Archdeacon of Huntingdon 1478 .  In  1484 he gained a  prebendary at Masham, and in 1485 he became Archdeacon of Richmond, so he was rising rapidly in the academic and legal world.  About the same time Johns father was awarded a coat of Arms.

On the 24^th April, 1488, he became Warden of Kings College.  A position he kept for 10 years.  There is no mention of  when he was ordained or by whom.  Between the years 1493 and 1495 he was chancellor of the university of Cambridge, and in that capacity he delivered an oration before Henry VII, his mother, the Countess of Pembroke, and Prince Arthur, at Cambridge . It is said that his oration so impressed Henry VII that he appointed John as his personal chaplain.  1493 was a busy year for John as he not only became chancellor of Cambridge and Chaplain to Henry, Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, he  was also put up for the position of  Bishop of Salisbury. On the 18^th of November he was granted payment of £1,021  7s 11d.  for the custody of the temporarilities of Salisbury, and on February 23rd  1494 he was consecrated as Bishop at Lambeth .

John Blythe was part of a new order in Church and Government. He came from a family with very little status, wealth or connections. The War of the Roses had decimated the Aristocracy, in that out of 64 peers, there remained only 38.  Possibly from fears of the aristocracy rising up against him to challenge his tenuous claim to the throne, Henry Tudor chose to put in knights and gentlemen in positions previously held by aristocrats. John however was  not born a  gentleman.  Nor does he seem to have any great connections.

The Blythe family however had a long history of being in service to the Crown, and to the House of Lancaster. Tickhill and Blyth were in the Duchy of Lancaster as was part of the Peak district,  There is also the fact that John became Archdeacon of Richmond in the year the Earl of Richmond won the battle of Bosworth and became Henry Vll. The tudor rose is an emblem that seems to crop up several times on Blythe’s property. There is John Blythes tomb at Salisbury Abbey which has a roof canopy covered in roses. It is said however that this tomb was originally to be Bishop Beaumonts. However other sources only suggest the tombs position not the actual edifice was originally for Beaumont. Secondly there is the tudor rose on the ceiling of Saint Katherines chapel in St James Norton above  William and Saffrey’s . There is the tudor rose in the ceiling in Bishops House which although probably from the castle, there must have been a lot to choose from. And the fireback of Elisabeth 1 Tudor with its prominent tudor rose. Were these all coincidences or did the Blythes feel a close connection to the House of Tudor?

Although a churchman,  Bishop Blythe’s position was essentially that of an administrator and legal clerk. The Master of the Rolls was initially a clerk responsible for keeping the “Rolls”, or records, of the Chancery court, and was known as the Keeper of the Rolls of Chancery. The Keeper was the most senior of the dozen Chancery clerks  As Master of the Rolls John Blythe was writing down the laws and drawing up treaties and his handwriting can be seen on the treaty document of Etaples.

The law of England, was a mixture of canon law and common law, principles and rules of action embodied in case law. Canon law and English common law borrowed heavily from each other throughout medieval times.

Canon law was used in ecclesiastical courts (church) to decide many types of cases that in modern times are decided by civil courts, including criminal offenses. This was because most English Christians did not make a great distinction between secular and spiritual offenses. Crimes that were tried by the church included adultery, blasphemy, slander, heresy (opposition to official religious views), money lending, and gambling. From the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries church courts also heard many breach-of-faith cases concerning contracts, as well as inheritance and marriage-related cases.

Even before the reformation the law was gradually splitting off from the power and authority of the church to coming under the authority of the Crown and the State. Nor was John Blythe alone in being principally an academic without title or connections. Along with the separation between Church and State was the development  of a Civil service with no political alliances.

The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of lunatics and the guardianship of infants. It is through the chancery case records that a lot of the information concerning the Blythe family comes

Its initial role was somewhat different, however; as an extension of the Lord Chancellor’s role as Keeper of the King’s Conscience, the Court was an administrative body primarily concerned with conscientious law. Thus the Court of Chancery had a far greater remit than the common law courts, whose decisions it had the jurisdiction to overrule for much of its existence, and was far more flexible. The Court of Chancery was able to apply a far wider range of remedies than the common law courts, such as specific performance, and also had some power to grant  damages in special circumstances. The Chancery experienced an explosive growth in its work during the 15th century, particularly under the House of York, which academics attribute to its becoming an almost entirely judicial body.

In 1495 John ordained Thomas Wolsey, who later became Cardinal Wolsey. Much was made later of Cardinal Wolsey’s low parentage and yet no comment seems to have been made of John Blythe’s which was lower statue that Wolsey’s. Perhaps the Blythe’s long family history of service and having the luck or good judgement to stay out of controversy meant no one thought about it.

In 1499 John Blythe died and was buried in Salisbury Cathedral in the ambulatory of the Lady Chapel, behind the high altar with a great canopied monument with his effigy in. The monument was later moved to the wall of the great transept where it still stands. In the British Library is the manuscript which recorded John Blythe’s great oratory before Henry VII.

The Blythes as Yeomen farmers in Norton Lees

“The Common-field village has sometimes been regarded as the classical type, with the others being is some way inferior. But this point of view is patently absurd, since some of   the industrial communities (though by no means all of them) had undoubted economic advantages for their members, and they were less dependent upon those traditional authorities of the arable zone, the squire and the parson.” David Hey ,The Rural Metalworkers of the Sheffield Region.

From my own family history studies it became obvious that many farmers often had a second occupation to supplement their income. My husband’s ancestors in Cumbria and Lancashire were farmers but were also publicans and wine merchants. My family in the same area were also quarrying, mining and leather tanning as well as farming.  Whether it was because of the type of land,  the size of  the farm, or the poorer methods of farming I don’t know.  My husband’s family in the same period and earlier in the Wortley area were Yeomen farmer/cutlers. So it was no surprise to me that the yeoman farmers in Norton had other sources of income too.

The earlier Blythes may actually have had 3 sources of income, clerking, smithing and farming. Though there were also the mining connections too. I’m not sure whether any Blythes would mine the land themselves, more likely they rented their land to the miners for a proportion of the profits.  It is not possible to know when the Blythes first became involved in the smithing side.  The  first reference I  found of the Blythe’s direct involvement with Smithing is in Robert Blythe’s (Woodseats) will inventory in 1546  in which his Smithing tools are listed.

But what of the farmer? What type of farming did they do? Looking at the land of the Blythes in Norton Lees, it doesn’t look the easiest land to farm. There are some very steep fields. There is for instance the Huckerback which includes the steep Huckerback path which is also known as Breakback.  Much of the path is still there and even the fittest person finds this path a challenge.  There was of course quite a lot of woodland. Some of which is still evident if much depleted. There is also a portion of land known as StoneyHills. So at first glance it is hard to imagine any farming going on at all.

I don’t have as yet any early wills that show what possessions they had then. In 1546 Thomas Dent willed to his grandchildren John and Richard Blythe of  Lees, 3 sheep each. Their father John left 4 oxen, one bullock, 4 young beasts, one horse, corn and hay to the value of £5. Their mother left a cow and a brood hen and 4 chickens. John’s 4 oxen was a small team for doing any ploughing, and there is no evidence of either flocks of sheep on the land or herds of cows. However tudor farmers were not interested in dairy farming. Milk was not used commonly in their diet. Not even a pig. (though to be fair John’s property was appraised in October, and they may have already slaughtered their animals for winter)

When William Blythe died in December 1620 his oxen team had increased by 2 but the only other livestock mentioned was a heifer. His nephew William Blythe, who he willed  Norton Lees to, died in  January 1631, and  his will showed signs of  much more farming. This would appear to show a change in farming and tastes as he has a much bigger herd of cows as well as possible beef animals. His oxen team had 8 oxen. He left 7 cows, a bull, 3 heifers, and 5 calves. Also seven pigs and a number of horses and foals. There was  corn in the ground and threshed in the barn. He was however being paid for the wintering of 84 sheep. His son William who died after the Civil war in  December 1665  left wheat, rye oats peas and lentils. He  also left six cows, 3 horses and 2 pigs.

The last Blythe I have an inventory for is William Blythe who died in February 1675 He left 7 oxen, six cows, 4 horses,   five pigs, and some poultry. He also left peas oats wheat and a considerable amount of cheese.

I think it is safe to say that the Blythes of Norton Lees were principally dairy farming, with a mixture of crops raised but not particularly high yields of cereals.  A Late will lists a kiln so there were obviously attempts to lime the soil and improve its fertility.  Dairy herds were generally  6 or 7 cows. It seemed customary for the widow to own a cow herself and a few chickens. As we don’t have inventories for wives property if they died before their husbands, we can’t know if she always had livestock or only in widowhood.

When the Blythes left Bishops House and the farm lands with it, the new tenants were dairy farmers. Indeed the whole area of Norton and Gleadless seemed to be full of dairy farms. Even up till the land was sold to make  Meersbrook Park, there were dairy farmers farming the Bishops House farm land. My thought is that they must have been athletic cows.