Gregory Ballard (abt. 1370 - 1415)

Born about 1370 in Buckinghamshire, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 4 Oct 1415 at about age 45 in France

Biography

The numerous primary records clearly show that it was Gregory, not Gregory George or George Gregory or Sir George etc., who was Chief Butler to King Richard II and Treasurer and Steward of the Lands of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

His father was NOT George or Sir George or any other variation culled from Ancestry or the earlier published works or indeed from the Harleian Manuscripts.

Gregory was almost certainly born in Buckinghamshire where his parents lived at the time. This is strengthened by the fact that he is sometimes, in his early life, referred to as "of Buckinghamshire" & that his Will shows a bequest to Trinity church in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. He is first mentioned in the Patent Rolls on 10 July 1391 when he received "goods and chattels to the value of 12 marks which were formerly the property of John Champeyn of Wengrove in the county of Buckingham." From this we know that he was a valued Royal servant & quite probably an adult having reached a position of some standing. This would make him around 30 & born c1360.

In 1396, Gregory obtained from Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of York and Papal Legate a Charter for a considerable estate in Kent which granted him seisin of the whole manor called "spittlecombe', two water mills, and all other lands, rents and services, waters, fisheries, wards, reliefs etc in Combe called 'Westcombe' and 'Spittlecombe' and in Estgrenewich, Cherlton, 'Whrytlemersh' and Depforde co. Kent, also of 4 acres, 3 roods and 13 perches of land with ditches adjacent in 'Hornemerssh' in the parish of Estgrenewich. Attorneys and Charter witnesses were Geoffrey Chaucer, Hugh de Middleton, Richard Rowe, John Fox and Thomas Baker. There is little doubt that the grant for life on 17th May 1396, “to the King's esquire Gregory Ballard of 40 pounds a year from the issues of the hanaper in Chancery”, in addition to the £29 10s already granted to him by the King allowed him to secure the estate in Kent and gave him considerable status.

It should be noted that those appointed to receive seisin (literally to "seize" or take physical possesion of) would have been close friends of Gregory since they were entrusted with his estates and that Geoffery Chaucer, of Canterbury Tales fame, was amongst them. It is probably no coincidence that Gregory was succeeded as Chief Butler by Thomas Chaucer (1367 - 1434), Geoffery Chaucer's eldest son, who no doubt called upon the influence of his uncle, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster in obtaining the position. This brings into perspective the importance of the role of the King's Chief Butler and also the remarkable achievement of Gregory, with little or no Royal or political affiliations, in being appointed to that position.

Between 1400 and 1412 Gregory’s administrative skills were still in demand and he held the office of the Steward of the Lands of the Archbishop of Canterbury. These close ties with the Archbishop and his need to be closer to Canterbry led to him acquiring further properties on 1st February 1408 at Sappington Manor, Canterbury, Kent, and Horton Manor, Canterbury.

As a wealthy landowner with holdings in capite, an estate in land held by direct grant of the king, Gregory was always liable to be called upon to provide fighting men for the king’s wars and so it was that he began military service on Henry V’s campaign in France in May 1415. The Indenture of Service still exists today, almost 600 years after it was originally written in Norman Latin. Gregory is listed as being present at Agincourt but in fact a writ for his Inquisition Post Mortem was issued to the Escheators of Kent, Middlesex & Buckingham on 18th October & his will was dated 4th October 1415 from which we can surmise that he was on eof the many hundreds that succumbed to dysentry during or immediately after the seige of Hafleur.

From Gregory's Will we know that he had a wife Katherine, a small son named JOhn Gregory & a son and heir Thomas. In addition he names Richard Gregory as his maternal uncle (Ricardi Gregorii avunculi mei).

Sources

State Paper, Close Rolls, Patent Roles and Fine Roles

Will in the Register of Henry Chichele

Exchequer papers

Publication: "King's Butler to King's Bench; The Fall of a Ballard Dynasty" by Paul J Ballard.