Key Facts

Snapshot:	lived in 14th- and 15th-century Kent, England
Parents:	1050810John de Detlyng 1050811Joan de Dene
Born:	by 1363 location unknown
Died:	sometime between 29 September 1436 and about Easter 1440 location unknown
Buried:	perhaps in 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 525405Benedicta.

An Easter 1440 court record plainly shows that 525405Benedicta's father is 1050810John de Detlyng and strongly implies that her mother is 1050811Joan.1 Another record explicitly identifies 1050811Joan as 525405Benedicta's mother.2 These relationships are affirmed in the 1574 visitation of Kent.3 525405Benedict must have been born by 1363 (since her mother 1050811Joan had married her second husband by then).4

525405Benedicta and her parents 1050810John de Detlyng and 1050811Johane mentioned together in an Easter 1440 lawsuit record. Full page.1

525405Benedicta's first husband was 525404Thomas at Towne.5 * After his death, she married her second husband 262696Stephen Bettenham2,5-7 by 1399.5 She's mentioned in 262696Stephen's will, dated 26 May 1412.6

525405Benedict's own will is dated 29 September 1436. Important phrases that mention her family are: (1) "I Benete that was the wyf of Stephene Bettenhm͒e of Cranebroke;" (2) "Thomas a Towne, my sone;" (3) "my dowther Thomasyne sumtyme the wyf of Thomas Elys;" and (4) "Benette the wyf of Wyllem Watton, dowt' of the sayd Thomas a Toune". The will also mentions her numerous properties: "my many's of Thruleggh, Bocton Monchensye, _ Crongbery, Cauxston, & Dettlyng, wyth xlijs of rent, lourdyng[?] wtinne the pock of Stapulherst." 525405Benedict willed the Boughton Monchelsea manor to her son 262702Thomas, and the Detling manor to Thomasyne.7

"I Benete that was the wyf of Stephene Bettenhm͒e of Cranebroke" as seen in 525405Benedict's will7

The first of several instances in 525405Benedict's will where she lists her property7

525405Benedict's will mentions her son 262702Thomas at Towne.7

525405Benedict apparently had died by about Easter 1440.1

In her will, 525405Benedict arranges for five priests in the parish church of Throwley (i.e., St. Michael & All Angels church at coordinates N51.2653 E0.8533) to pray for her soul every year for five years,7 so she might be buried there, but this isn't certain.

St. Michael & All Angels church, Throwley, Kent,8 where 525405Benedicta might be buried

Footnote:

*

The cited record doesn't explicitly state that 525404Thomas was 525405Benedicta's husband. This conclusion is entirely reasonable, however, since 525405Benedicta is named as an executor of his estate, as is 525404Thomas' (and presumably 525405Benedicta's) son Nicholas. 525404Thomas' and 525405Benedicta's relationship is affirmed more explicitly in the 1574 visitation of Kent.3 Settling 525404Thomas' estate obviously took some time, since 262696Stephen and 525405Benedicta are mentioned in several records pertaining to his estate over a five-year period.1,8-11

Sources Cited:

1: UK National Archives CP 40/717 (Court of Common Pleas / Plea Rolls / Chief Justice's roll, 18 Hen VI, Easter term), on an apparently unnumbered page pertaining to a lawsuit involving William Sonde et al. vs. John Ruton et al. I obtained an image of this record from: Anglo-American Legal Tradition, O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston; <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no717/bCP40no717dorses/IMG_1261.htm>, accessed 29 March 2022. You can see AALT's index entry for this record at <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no717/CP40no717Pl.htm> by searching "1262." As you can see, the original record is in Latin, so refer to the abstract in: George Wrottesley, Pedigrees from the Plea Rolls: Collected from the Pleadings in the Various Courts of Law, A.D. 1200 to 1500, from the Original Rolls in the Public Record Office, page 371.

2: College of Arms, Philipott MS. 26, 27, folio 43b. You can see a partial transcription of the original Latin, or an English translation by Simon Neal. The most important phrases in the document are "Benedictae uxoris ejusdem Stephani Betenham," "Joh'ae de Apulderfeld matris eiusdem Benedicta," and "super divisione maneriorum de Throughly, Bocton Malherbe et Wormesail inter p'fatam Joh'am matrem dictae Benedictae ac Elizabetham et Benedictam sorores ejusdem."

3: 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), page 34.

4: UK National Archives reference ID CP 25/1/105/174 no. 1373. I obtained an image of this record from: Anglo-American Legal Tradition, O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston; <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT7/CP25(1)/CP25_1_105_160-175/IMG_0375.htm>, accessed 6 August 2022. As you can see, the original record is in Latin, but an English translation is available.

5: UK National Archives CP 40/555 (Court of Common Pleas / Plea Rolls / Chief Justice's roll, 1 Hen IV, Michaelmas term) on an apparently unnumbered page. I obtained an image of this record from: Anglo-American Legal Tradition, O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston; <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/aCP40no555fronts/IMG_0236.htm>, accessed 7 April 2022. You can see AALT's index entry for this record at <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no555/CP40no555Pl.htm> by searching "Betenham."

6: E. F. Jacob, ed., and H. C. Johnson, The Register of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury: 1414-1443, Volume II (University Press, Oxford, 1937), pages 33-36. This a transcription of the will of Stephen Bettenham, which is in Latin. I privately obtained an English translation. I have been unable to find the original record that Jacob and Johnson transcribed. In particular, I call your attention to the phrase "Benedicta vel maritata, Thoma atte Thoune filio eius," whose name and description proves that 525405Benedicta must have been married to 525404Thomas at Towne before her later marriage to 262696Stephen Bettenham.

7: Kent Archives reference U47/3/T45/14/Z1/15. Although I've shown small excerpts from the original record, a more legible transcription is in: Kent Archives reference U1823/14/Z1/15, folios 282-289; researcher Jared Nathan provided me with copies of these pages.

8: UK National Archives CP 40/555 on an apparently unnumbered page (Court of Common Pleas / Plea Rolls / Chief Justice's roll, 1 Hen IV, Michaelmas term). I obtained an image of this record from: Anglo-American Legal Tradition, O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston; <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/bCP40no555dorses/IMG_0309.htm>, accessed 7 April 2022. You can see AALT's index entry for this record at <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no555/CP40no555Pl.htm> by searching "Betenham."

9: UK National Archives CP 40/561 on an apparently unnumbered page (Court of Common Pleas / Plea Rolls / Chief Justice's roll, 2 Hen IV, Easter term). I obtained an image of this record from: Anglo-American Legal Tradition, O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston; <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/H4/CP40no561/aCP40no561fronts/IMG_0070.htm>, accessed 7 April 2022. You can see AALT's index entry for this record at <https://waalt.uh.edu/index.php/CP40/561:_A-J> by searching "Betenham."

10: UK National Archives CP 40/561 on an apparently unnumbered page (Court of Common Pleas / Plea Rolls / Chief Justice's roll, 2 Hen IV, Easter term). I obtained an image of this record from: Anglo-American Legal Tradition, O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston; <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/H4/CP40no561/aCP40no561fronts/IMG_0118.htm>, accessed 7 April 2022. You can see AALT's index entry for this record at <https://waalt.uh.edu/index.php/CP40/561:_A-J> by searching "Betenham."

11: UK National Archives CP 40/570 on an apparently unnumbered page (Court of Common Pleas / Plea Rolls / Chief Justice's roll, 4 Hen IV, Trinity term). I obtained an image of this record from: Anglo-American Legal Tradition, O'Quinn Law Library, University of Houston; <http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/H4/CP40no570/aCP40no570fronts/IMG_0140.htm>, accessed 7 April 2022. You can see AALT's index entry for this record at <https://waalt.uh.edu/index.php/CP40/570:_A-J> by searching "Bettenham."

12: Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK, "Throwley (Kent), St Michael and All Angel's church (31511778682).jpg," (photo taken 7 October 2011). Wikimedia, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Throwley_(Kent),_St_Michael_and_All_Angel%27s_church_(31511778682).jpg>, accessed 28 March 2022. The creators have made this image available under a Creative Commons By 2.0 license.