Unknown (Burradon) Fenwick (abt. 1475 - abt. 1544)

Born about 1475 in Northumberland, England

Descendants

Died about 1544 at about age 69 in Northumberland, England

Biography

Unknown (Burradon) Fenwick was born in Northumberland, England.

Birth

Unknown Burradon may have been born around 1475 (see Marriage) and was the daughter and coheir of knight John de Burradon of Northumberland who was mentioned in a deed dated 11 February 1510.^[1][2] She had one known sister and coheir, Elizabeth, who married Perceval Lisle. Her mother is unknown.

Marriage

Unknown Burradon married Gerard Fenwick, third son of John and second wife, Elizabeth (Widdrington) Fenwick, whose family had possession of the estate of Wallington and Fenwick Tower, which remained in the family until the beginning of the reign of William III. Gerard also had three half brothers from his father's previous marriage to Mary Strother.^[3][4] Gerard and Unknown Burradon Fenwick likewise had a large family with 10 known sons that included George, John, Tristram, Gerard, Lancelot, Arthur, Charles, Perceval, Michael, and Martin.^[1]

In an attempt to determine the birth, marriage, and death dates of Unknown Burradon Fenwick, a closer examination of known dates associated with her husband provided some speculative insight. While husband Gerard is described as "of Matfen in 1469," and by 1510 as holding the demense of Burrowden for 21 years, it is possible that Hodgson's pedigree of the Fenwick's in his History of Northumberland (Part II, Vol. II), is referencing Gerard's birth as occuring in 1469. If this is the case, he would have been 41 years old in 1510 when he received the 21 year lease on Burrowden, with the stipulation that should Gerard dispose of the lease, his brothers "shall be none of the assigns."^[1]It seems unlikely, given the terms of the contract, that Gerard would have been much older than 40, given the lengthy lease.

A birthdate of 1469 is also within the range of possiblity for Gerard's mother, Elizabeth Widdrington who had a brother, Roger, born in 1427. She had five siblings, thus based on Roger's birthdate, she may have been born between the years 1421-1431. If Gerard, Elizabeth's son, was born in 1469, this would place his mother's age at her son's birth between 38 and 48.^[5] Moreover, if Gerard's birthdate is in any way accurate, it would likely place his marriage to Unknown Burradon within a five or six year range on either side of 1490, when he would have been 21 years of age. Thus, a rough estimate of Unknown Burradon's date of birth may be surmised as occurring in (or before) 1475, if she had married at the early age of 15. This is also consistent with her being around 36 years old in 1510, at which time her father was still living and conducting land transactions, suggesting he may have been in his late 50s or early 60s.

Death

The date of Unknown Fenwick's death is uncertain, however, in her son Gerard's will dated 17 March 1584, he indicated that he wanted to be buried in Heddon Church located within Heddon village. This may well have been the family burial site. In son Gerard's will, no mention is made of his parents and only brothers John, George, and Martin, and Martin's son Marmaduke are addressed, as well as a heretofore unknown brother, Ambrose.^[6] Although Gerard's parents were not living at the time of his will, it is more likely that his mother would have been deceased as early as 1545, had she lived until age 70. If son Gerard, who appears to have outlived many of his brothers was still alive at age 65, it would place his date of birth around 1519, at which time Unknown Burradon Fenwick would have been approximately 45 years old, still potentially of child-bearing age.

Research Notes

Given the lack of source material for Unknown Burradon Fenwick, this biography is highly speculative and based soley upon rough estimates. It does, however, provide possible date ranges for Unknown Fenwick's birth, marriage, and death, which may serve as reference points for other researchers. It does not, however take into account the possiblity of childhood marriages that were fairly common among the landed gentry of the Late Middle Ages. Nor does it reflect the possibility of broad age disparities in spousal relationships.

There is a reference in the following source that refers to Isabel Hodgson as the widow of Gerard Fenwick of Newcastle, merchant. Isabel's second husband, Richard Hodgson was mayor of Newcastle in 1555. While the early 16th century may be consistent with a possible marriage date for Unknown Burradon and Gerard Fenwick, Isabel was instead, the daughter of James Lawson, not John Burradon.

• Andrews, G. (Ed.). (1860). Wills and inventories From the Registry at Durham, part II, p. 23 for the marriage of Isabel and Gerard Fenwick. Publication of the Surtees Society. London: Mitchell and son. Retrieved from Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=wMBJAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=snippet&q=fenwick&f=false), accessed 14 August 2020.
• Archaeologia Aeliana: or miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity. (1904). Third Series, Vol. I, p. 93 for Isabel Lawson. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: R. Robinson & Company. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/archaeologiaael08unkngoog/page/n128/mode/2up?q=gerard+fenwick); accessed 14 August 2020.

The following sources were investigated without additional biographical data found for Unknown Burradon Fenwick, although there is extensive information on other members of the Fenwick families of Northumberland:^[7]

This profile was selected as a project from the Northumberland team's unsourced profiles list, therefore, additional family members of Unknown Burradon Fenwick were not added to the headers at this time to prevent the creation of unsourced and orphaned profiles.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Hodgson, J. (1832). History of Northumberland: Pedigree of Fenwick of Brinkburne, East Hedwin, Hallton. Part II, Vol. II, p. 115. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofnortpt202hodguoft/page/114/mode/2up); accessed 11 August 2020.
2. ↑ Hodgson, J. C. (1893). A history of northumberland. Vol. VII, p. 473. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company, Limited. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum07nort/page/472/mode/2up); accessed 13 August 2020.
3. ↑ Saint-George, R., Saint-George, H. & Marshall, G.W. (1878). The visitation of Northumberland in 1615. P. 40. London: Mitchell and Hughes. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/visitationofnort00sainrich/page/40/mode/2up?q=fenwick); accessed 13 August 2020.
4. ↑ Wallis, John. (1769). The natural history and antiquities of Northumberland and so much of the county of Durham as lies between the rivers Tyne and Tweed; commonly called North Bishoprick. Vol. II, p. 157. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryan02walluoft/page/156/mode/2up?q=fenwick); accessed 13 August 2020.
5. ↑ Hodgson, J. (1832). History of Northumberland: Pedigree of Fenwick of Brinkburne, East Hedwin, Hallton. Part II, Vol. II, pp. 234, 235. Retrieved from Google Books (https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/_/AxYMAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA236&dq=Dorothy+Widdrington+and+Robert+Constable); accessed 14 August 2020.
6. ↑ Archaeologia Aeliana, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity. (1822). Vol. II, pp. 272-274. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/archaeologiaaeli11sociuoft/page/272/mode/2up?q=Gerard+Fenwick); accessed 13 August 2020.
7. ↑
   • Archaeologia Aeliana (1904). Third Series, Vol. 1. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: R. Robinson & Company. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/archaeologiaael08unkngoog/page/n6/mode/2up?q=fenwick); accessed 14 August 2020.
   • Bateson, E. (1893). A history of Northumberland: The parish of Bamburgh with the Chapelry of Belford. Vol. I. A continuation of John Hodgson's: A History of Northumberland, 1820-1858. New-Castle-Upon-Tyne: A. Reid, Sons, & Company. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort/page/n9/mode/2up?q=fenwick); accessed 14 August 2020.
   • Blore, E. (1826). The monumental remains of noble and eminent persons: Comprising the sepuchral antiquities of Great Britain. London: Harding, Lepard, and CO. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/cu31924105746592/page/n3/mode/2up?q=fenwick); accessed 11 August 2020.
   • Flower, W. (1881). The visitation of Yorkshire in the years 1563 and 1564. In C. H. Norcliffe (Ed.). The Publications of The Harleian Society. London: Mitchell and Hughes. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/visitationofyork00flow/page/48/mode/2up?q=fenwick), accessed 14 August 2020.
   • Ogle, H. (1902). Ogle and Bothal or a history of the baronies of Ogle, Bothal, and Hepple and of the families of Ogle and Bertram. . . . and how the property descended into other hands, (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/194975-ogle-and-bothal-or-a-history-of-the-baronies-of-ogle-bothal-and-hepple-and-of-the-families-of-ogle-and-bertram-who-held-possession-of-those-baronies-and-other-property-in-the-county-of-northumberland-and-elsewhere-to-which-is-added-accounts-of-several-branch-of-families-bearing-the-name-of-ogle-settled-in-other-counties?viewer=1&offset=0#page=2&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=). Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Andrew Reid & company. Retrieved from family Search (https://familysearch.org); accessed 18 February 2020.
   • The Publications of the Surtees Society. (1860). Wills and inventories from the registry at Durham. Part II. London: Whittaker and CO. Retrieved from Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=fxIFAAAAYAAJ&dq=Martin%20Fenwick%20of%20East%20Hedwin&pg=PA242#v=onepage&q=Fenwick&f=false); accessed 13 August 2020.
   • The Publications of the Surtees Society. (1932). Visitations of the north: Visitations of Yorkshire and Northumberland in A.D. 1575 and a book of arms from Ashmole ms. no. 834. Part IV, Vol. 146, p. 76. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/visitationsnorth04/page/76/mode/2up); accessed 13 August 2020. (p. 76 shows arm of Fenwick).
   • Raine, J. (1835). Willis and inventories illustrative of the history, manners, language, statistics, &c., of the northern counties of England from the eleventh century downwards. Vols. I, II. London: J. B. Nichols and son. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/willisandinvent00woodgoog/page/n5/mode/2up?q=fenwick); accessed 13 August 2020.
   • Welford, R. (1895). Men of Mark 'twixt Tyne and Tweed. Vol. I. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Walter Scott, Ltd. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/menmarktwixttyn00welfgoog/page/n9/mode/2up), accessed 14 August 2020 (Vols. II and III also reviewed).