Key Facts

Snapshot:	yeoman in 16-century Kent, England; involved in Wyatt's rebellion; sentenced to be executed
Parents:	65676John Maplesden His mother's identity is uncertain.
Born:	roughly circa 1510 location unknown
Died:	by 25 September 1561 location unknown
Buried:	unknown

Note: I'd like to extend special thanks to researcher Jared Nathan, whose astute reading of the will of 65676John Maplesden (i.e., 32838Peter's father) elucidated some important conclusions that I previously had missed.

65676John Maplesden's will plainly describes 32838Peter as his son, as you can see below.1 The will also mentions 65676John's wife Mildred but strongly suggests that she was not 32838Peter's mother. Therefore, 65676John must have had an earlier, unnamed wife who was 32838Peter's mother. (There is evidence that 65676John's first wife was probably Anna Miller, although the evidence is somewhat controvertible. See 65676John's profile for a more thorough discussion of this topic.)

65676John Maplesden's will mentions "my thre sonnes Petir, John and Jerves." 1

We can estimate that 32838Peter was born roughly circa 1510, or perhaps a few years earlier. (65676John's will, dated 1528, describes 32838Peter as underage but insinuates that he was one of 65676John's eldest children and appoints him as executor.1 Therefore, 32838Peter was probably about 18 years old at the time. He was certainly born by 1517, since he's mentioned by name in his grandfather's will, which is dated 1517.2)

32838Peter was a yeoman3 and owned Chillington Manor in Maidstone.4 The manor building still stands today but has been incorporated into the Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery, along with several large, more modern additions to add space for museum exhibitions. In the photograph below,5 the building section farther from the street and with red, yellow, and teal banners in front of it is the original Chillington Manor structure.

Entrance to the Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery, photographed 30 July 2009.5
The part of the building farther from the street is the original Chillington Manor, which 32838Peter owned.

Of the museum's various rooms, only three of the rooms plus a staircase likely existed back when 32838Peter owned the manor.6,7 I've made a short walkthrough video of each:
     The Entrance Hall
     The Great Hall
     Withdrawing Room
     Oak staircase connecting the Great Hall and Withdrawing Room

The Museum produced this video about the building's early history, and it includes some information about 32838Peter. The video also mentions his supposed wife Joan, but I have seen little evidence regarding her. (However, this page presents some research notes regarding Joan.)

During construction in 1871 to add a new wing to the museum, two spandrils were discovered in which the initials "IM" and "PM" had been carved.8 The initials are believed to be those of 32838Peter Maplesden and his supposed wife Joan (noted above) or perhaps his father, son, and/or brother, all three of whom were named John. Today those spandrils are in the fireplace lintel in the museum's cafe (a.k.a. the Brenchley Room).9,10 Photographs of the spandrils and fireplace are below.11

32838Peter purchased several properties in Maidstone and also one in Boxley in the early to mid-1540's.12-14 Perhaps these Maidstone properties were used for the development of Chillington Manor, although I don't know for sure.

In 1548 32838Peter was appointed (along with his future son-in-law 16418Alexander Fisher) to a committee to oversee the sale of "ornaments" from Maidstone's church to help fund a new school. This sale was somewhat controversial, since these "ornaments" were actually items used by the church for regular worship service and were effectively being seized and sold to provide enough cash to buy a building for the school. Arguments among the committee members resulted in a warning from the Lord Protector. Nevertheless, the sale went ahead, and the town used the proceeds to buy Corpus Christi Hall, the site of the new Maidstone Grammar School.15 The school still exists today (and has a website) but has since relocated. Only a portion of the original Corpus Christi Hall structure still exists; it's at coordinates N51.27435 E0.51937.

In 1554 32838Peter Maplesden joined Wyatt's rebellion. Before learning about 32838Peter's involvement in the rebellion, first let's review the rebellion itself: King Henry VIII and his wife Catherine had had several daughters, most notably Mary, but despite several attempts hadn't had a son. Henry, frustrated with the lack of a son and worried that Mary wouldn't be respected as monarch because she was female, had an affair. He ultimately sought to have his marriage to Catherine annulled, but Pope Clement VII refused, leading Henry to separate from the Catholic Church and subsequently establish the Church of England. A series of divorces (or "annullments") and re-marriages followed. Henry sent Catherine away to live the rest of her life in semi-seclusion, insisted that Mary was an illegitimate child, and forbade Catherine and Mary from visiting each other. Not surprisingly, then, Mary defiantly clung to Catholicism and resisted efforts to pressure her into accepting the Church of England. The influence of the Church of England continued to grow, but after a complex succession dispute, Mary was crowned queen on 1 October 1553. Mary, who would later restore Catholic influence in England and gain the nickname "Blood Mary" because she ordered mass executions of Protestants, soon made clear her intention to marry Prince Philip of Spain. The marriage was very unpopular in England because (1) Spain was Catholic, and Englishmen worried that having a Spaniard as king would bring Catholic influence back to England, and (2) Englishmen also worried that England's political destiny would be effectively controlled by Spain. In response to these concerns, a plot now known as Wyatt's rebellion developed to overthrow Mary and see her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth become queen. The plot failed, and its most prominent leaders were tortured and executed.

Discontent against the proposed marriage was apparent early on, especially in Kent. On 27 November 1553, Queen Mary's Privy Council ordered Robert Southwell, the High Sheriff of Kent, to summon 32838Peter's brother Gervase, along with several other agitators from Maidstone, to appear before the Council.16 When they appeared before the Council on 2 December 1553, the Council had one agitator jailed, while the others (including Gervase) were held in recognizance, the conditions of which were "yf they, and every of them, do quietlie and obedyentlie behave themselfes, both in woorde and behaviour, betwene this and Easter next, that thenne this recognizaunce shalbe voide, orelles [or else] to stande in full force." 17

The Council's warning went unheeded. Gervase and his brother 32838Peter both joined the rebellion.3,18

On 10 February 1553/4, Southwell sent a letter to the Privy Council indicating that he had captured many rebels, including 32838Peter Maplesden (and his future son-in-law 16418Alexander Fisher), and that the wealthier rebels were being detained in Allington Castle and the poor ones in the Maidstone jail.19

Allington Castle, photographed 10 February 2007.20 By 10 February 1553/4, 32838Peter had been captured and was being held either here or in the Maidstone jail.19

On 14 March 1553/4* Gervase Maplesden pled guilty to treason and other offenses and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Fortunately, though, after paying a large fine he was pardoned on 18 February 1554/5. 32838Peter, "similarly indicted [...] for the like treasons and similarly sentenced" also paid a fine and was pardoned a few days later on 22 February 1554/5.21

Sometime thereafter 32838Peter mortgaged Chillington Manor. By 25 September 1561, 32838Peter had died, and on that date his sons Robert, John, and George sold the manor to Nicholas Barham.4

Footnote:

*	= 24 March 1554 proleptic Gregorian

Sources Cited:

1: 65676John Maplesden's will. UK National Archives record PROB 11/22/643 (Prerogative Court of Canterbury / Wills and Letters of Administration / Will Registers / Porche / Will of John Maplesden of Maidstone, Kent). Ancestry.com ("England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858" / PROB 11: Will Registers / 1384-1566 / Piece 22: Porche, 1525-1528 / images 628 and 629 of 667), accessed 8 November 2014.

2: 131352Thomas Maplesden's will. UK National Archives record CCA-DCb/PRC/17/13/387c (Canterbury Cathedral Archives / Diocese of Canterbury / Archdeaconry Court Wills [Registers]), the will of Thomas Maplesden, dated 1517. FamilySearch (FHL microfilm 188925, images 407 and 408 of 415). FamilySearch restricts access to these images, so see copies here: 407, 408.

3: Montague Spencer Giuseppi, preparer, Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, Philip and Mary Volume III, A.D. 1555-1557 (His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1938), page 44. This page includes a fairly lengthy list of conspirators, including "Peter Maplysden late of Maydstone, yeoman" and "Gervase Maplesden late of the same, 'boucher' [butcher]."

4: Walter Bond Gilbert, The Accounts of the Corpus Christi Fraternity, and Papers Relating to the Antiquities of Maidstone [...] (Wescomb and Smith, Maidstone, 1865), pages 77-79. Unfortunately, Mr. Gilbert failed to cite the source where he found the deed, and so far I've been unable to find a proper, original source. However, his description of the deed does seem credible.

5: Linda Spashett, "Maidstone 034" (online image, photographed 30 July 2009). Wikimedia, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maidstone_034.jpg>, accessed 19 November 2014. Mrs. Spashett has licensed this image under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

6: Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery, "The Great Hall" (informational display inside the museum). Seen by 1Bryant Knight on 17 May 2017. The display reads in part, "The Entrance Hall, the Great Hall to the east and the Withdrawing Room above, linked by an Oak back-staircase in the north east corner; are all that remains of Nicholas Barham's house a 16th century resident of Chillington Manor [...] Both the Great Hall and the Withdrawing Room have their original fireplaces."

7: Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery, "Withdrawing Room (archaeology gallery)" (informational display inside the museum). Seen by 1Bryant Knight on 17 May 2017. The display reads in part, "This room was part of Peter Maplesden's original manor house, built in 1558. It would have been used by the family to 'withdraw' from the busier 'Great Hall' space below."

8: H. H. Statham, ed., The Builder, Volume LXXI, page 286, 3rd column, about 80% of the way down the page.

9: A Handy Guide to Maidstone & Neighbourhood [...] (Maidstone, 1884), page 38.

10: Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery, "Chillington Manor House" (1997). <http://www.museum.maidstone.gov.uk/_img/pics/library/pdf_1397581895.pdf>, accessed 19 November 2014.

11: Photographs of the fireplace in the cafe of the Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery, Maidstone, Kent, England. Photographs taken by 1Bryant Knight, 17 May 2017.

12: UK National Archives record CP 25/2/22/138/32HENVIIIMICH/2 (Records of the Court of Common Pleas and other courts / Feet of Fines Files, Henry VIII - Victoria / Feet of fines for 32 Henry VIII Mich). I have not seen the original record, but instead used abstract #1677 from this index. The abstract reads, "Geof Lee & wife Agnes to Pet Maplesden. 2 mess[uage] in Maidstone. £36."

13: UK National Archives record CP 25/2/23/150/38HENVIIIMICH/19 (Records of the Court of Common Pleas and other courts / Feet of Fines Files, Henry VIII - Victoria / Feet of fines for 38 Henry VIII Mich). I have not seen the original record, but instead used abstract #2523 from this index. The abstract reads, "Thos Coveney & wife Mabel to Pet Maplesden. 2 mess in Maidstone. £34."

14: UK National Archives record CP 25/2/23/150/38HENVIIIMICH/46 (Records of the Court of Common Pleas and other courts / Feet of Fines Files, Henry VIII - Victoria / Feet of fines for 38 Henry VIII Mich). I have not seen the original record, but instead used abstract #2550 from this index. The abstract reads, "Thos Johnson & wife Agnes to Pet Maplesden. Mess in Boxley. £40."

15: Frank Streatfeild, An Account of the Grammar School in the King's Town and Parish of Maidstone in Kent (Cowley St. John Press, Oxford, 1915), pages 9-11.

16: John Roche Dasent, ed., Acts of the Privy Council of England, New Series, Volume IV, A.D. 1552-1554 (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1892), page 373.

17: ibid., page 375.

18: Max A. Robertson and Geoffrey Ellis, eds., The English Reports, Volume LXXV, pages 582-590. Jervase and 32838Peter are mentioned on page 588.

19: Robert Furley, Sir Thomas Wyatt's Rebellion, A.D. 1554: A Lecture Delivered to the Maidstone Church of England Young Men's Society, on Monday, January 14th, 1878 (J. Burgiss-Brown, Maidstone, 1878), page 31.

20: Wikimedia user ClemRutter, "AllingtonFeb" (online image, photographed 10 February 2007). Wikimedia, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AllingtonFeb.JPG>, accessed 20 November 2014. ClemRutter has licensed this image under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

21: Montague Spencer Giuseppi, preparer, Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, Philip and Mary Volume II, A.D. 1554-1555 (His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1936), page 92. The record explains that "Gervase Maplesden of Maydston, co. Kent, 'boucher'" was indicted and pled guilty "on Wednesday in the fifth week of Lent, 1 Mary." 1 Mary = 1554. I calculated the date (i.e., 14 March 1553/4 Julian) using the following method: According to the Easter date calculator at <http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/easter/easter_text2a.htm>, Easter was 25 March 1554 Julian. Ash Wednesday therefore was 7 February 1553/4. (Ash Wednesday is 40 days, excluding Sundays, before Easter.) The fifth week of Lent was Sunday 11 March through Saturday 17 March 1553/4, and the Wednesday of that week was 14 March.