131350 William Sondes

131350William Sondes

Key Facts

Snapshot:	lived in 15th-century Kent, England
Parents:	unknown
Born:	unknown
Died:	between 18 November 1473 and 18 January 1474 presumably Kent, England
Buried:	in the north chapel of St. Michael & All Angels church, Throwley, Kent, England church's coordinates: N51.2653 E0.8533

Note: I'd like to extend special thanks to researcher Jared Nathan for sharing his work pertaining to 131350William.

Problem: Unresolved
Who were 131350William's ancestors?

Interestingly, the 1574 visitation of Kent surveyed several generations of 131350William's ancestry, but unfortunately heraldic visitations are not necessarily reliable, and I haven't found other evidence to prove that certain information recorded during the visitation is accurate. Therefore, I will not accept the pedigree as accurate on its own or otherwise incorporate it into my website. However, because the information is interesting and potentially could prove useful for future research, I have described it below.

The Sandes pedigree shown below comes from: W. Bruce Bannerman, ed., The Visitations of Kent, Taken in the Years 1530-1 and 1574, Part 2 (Publications of the Harleian Society, volume 75, London, 1924), pages 32-33.

Similar information appears in: Arthur Collins, The Peerage of England, Vol. II. Or, A Genealogical and Historical Account of All the Families of this Kingdom [...] from the Conquest to this Present Year, 1713 (1714), page 128.

131350William Sondes had married 131351Elizabeth at Towne by 1440—as proven by a lawsuit record which suggests that 131350William and 131351Elizabeth had acquired her great-grandfather 1050810John de Detlyng's property in Throwley, Kent, England.1 (The 1574 heraldic visitation of Kent further affirms 131350William's and 131351Elizabeth's marriage.2)

"Willā Sonds ⁊ Elizabeth uxr̄ eius"—i.e., 131350William Sondes and 131351Elizabeth his wife—named as plaintiffs in an Easter 1440 lawsuit record. Full page.1

The following description of 131350William and his career is copied verbatim from: Sir John Baker, The Men of Court: 1440 to 1550: A Prosopography of the Inns of Court and Chancery and the Courts of Law, Volume II, J to Y (Selden Society, London, 2012), page 1427.

Sondes (Sonde), William I. Son of Richard S. of Alfriston, Sussex; of Lingfield, Sussex (will; Vis. Kent, 75 HS 33, 34, 145; Berry, Kent Pedigrees, 244); acquired through marriage the manor house at Throwley, Kent (demolished in the 17th cent.); attorney KB by 1425. still in 1460; filazer of KB (for Lines, Yorks, etc.) before 1429 to 1434 (Sonde); chief clerk of KB 14 April 1434 to 10 July 1458 (surrd to Sir John Fortescue I*, CJKB, to the use of William Brome I*, on condition that if Brome predeceased him he should resume the office: KB 27/789, Rex m. 36) and again (after Brome's death) M1461 to 31 Oct. 1468 (when he surrd to the use of his son Reynold S.*: KB 27/830, Rex m. 26); attorney KB for Westminster abbey 1434-57 or later (inf. NLR: Sandes, Saunes, Saunys; sometimes as 'John'); attorney KB for the sheriffs of London and Middx in 1465; app. an executor of Sir William Cheyne* (CJKB), his kinsman ('cognato meo'), 1443 (PCC 15 Rous); feoffee in London 1454 (CPMR 1437-57, p. 136: Sondes, esq.); app. an executor of Richard Jay I* 1467 (PCC 19 Godyn: Sondes); died 1473/4 (will in CKS, PRC 32/2/276, dat. 21 Nov. 1473, pr. 18 Jan. 1474: Sonde, sen.; 94 Selden Soc. 363); bur. Throwley, where there is a monument with out inscription. Father of Reynold S.* Attributed arms (window of later date formerly in a house at Boughton-under-Blean, Kent: Councer, 16: cf. window in Faversham church with Sondes quartering Towne, and Gatton in pretence: ibid. 46-7): Argent, three moors' heads couped between two chevronels sable, quartering Grave, Podington and Hadresham, all impaling Towne (quarterly), with Dene in pretence.

As noted above, William Cheyne's will mentions our 131350William as cognato meo ("my kinsman"),3 but their exact relationship is unclear.

131350William's will is dated 18 November 1473 and was proved 18 January 1474. An abstract is below, or see the register copy: 1, 2.4 Important phrases are highlighted yellow.

William Sondds sen. Esq. of Thruleght, 18th November 1473. My body to be buried in the North Chapel of the Church of Thruleght, in a place there designed and set aside for that purpose. To the lights of St. Michael, the Holy Trinity, the Holy Cross, St. Mary, St. Thomas, St. Christopher, St. George, and St. Katharine, of St. George, St. Margaret, and St. Mary Magdalen, and St. Nicholas, in the said Church; I will that a memorial of me be put up in the Church of Lingfield, in Surry; Benedicta, my daughter, wife of Richard Martyn, late of Feversham; [65675]Agnes, my daughter; I will that my manors, lands, tenements, &c. in Dorking, in the county of Surry, be divided into three parts, of which the manor of Bradley, and my copyhold lands in West Bechworth, be part, to remain to my three sons, Richard, John, and William; I bequeath my tenements of More, otherwise called the manor of More, in Lingfield, in the county of Surry, and other lands and tenements there, and in Ryegate, in the said county, to Richard Sondds, my second son, in tail male; remainder to John, my fourth son; remainder to William, my fifth son; remainder to Reginald, my eldest son; I will that my tenement or manor called Le Chart, in Dorking aforesaid, be a part in the aforesaid division, to be made to John, my son, in tail male; remainder in like manner to William, Richard, and Reginald; I will that my tenement or manor in Dorking aforesaid, with certain lands, tenements, &c. aforesaid, thereunto adjoining, be a part of the said division to be made to William, my son, in tail male; remainders in like manner to John, Richard, and Reginald; remainder of all the aforesaid lands and tenements, and manors, to my own right heirs for ever; I will that Thomas, my third son, who is intended for the order of priesthood, shall have his tenement called Wintsell, in the parish of Lingfield, &c. in the county of Surry, after the death of my wife Elizabeth, who possesses the same for life; remainder, after the death of the said Thomas, to Reginald and his heirs male; remainder in like manner to my sons, Richard, John, and William; remainder to my own right heirs; I will that my lands and tenements in Cranbrooke, and those in Edenbrygge, Westwell, and Dodyngton, with all the several lands and tenements belonging to the same, in the county of Kent, be sold and disposed of by my executors, for the health of my soul; I will that the residue of my manors, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, not herein named, remain to my son Reginald and his heirs male, in the manner and form as aforesaid, for ever. Provided that nothing heretofore mentioned shall be to the prejudice of my wife Elizabeth, with respect to the several estates in her possession, which she ought to enjoy for life. Provided also that Richard Martyn, of Feversham, Gent, my son-in-law, have all the lands, &c. in Dorking aforesaid, and in the county of Sussex, as is settled by a certain agreement made between them for this purpose, on his marriage with Benedicta, my eldest daughter. I will that all my lands and tenements in Thruleght, with their appurtenances, called Bunstent and Taylor's tenement, excepting out of the same one old garden, and a wood adjoining to it, lying by and within my wood called Shortwood, which said premises I bequeath to Elizabeth my wife and her heirs, and to be accounted and possessed with my manor of Thrulegh aforesaid; also I will that some lands near Brokedale, lately purchased of Richard Ulfe, of Feversham aforesaid, be sold for a marriage portion for my daughter Agnes. Proved 18th January 1474, at Canterbury; in the probate he is styled William Sonde, late of Thurlegh.

As you can see, his will mentions property in Throwley, undoubtedly the same property alluded to in the aforementioned lawsuit record.1 I suspect that his manor in Throwley was Town Place, where a (more modern) house now stands; it's at coordinates N51.268542 E0.848373 and is shown in the image below.

Although 131350William requested a memorial of himself in Lingfield's parish church (St. Peter and Paul), I can find no evidence that any such memorial still exists. 131350William requested to be buried in the north chapel of Throwley's parish church, St. Michael & All Angels, which is at coordinates N51.2653 E0.8533. Photos of the church5 and its north chapel6 are below. You can see more photos of the church here.