John Curson (abt. 1390 - 1456)

Born about 1390 in Kedleston, Derbyshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1456 at about age 66 in Kedleston, Derbyshire, England [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Stephen Heathcote [send private message]

Biography

When his father John Curson died in 1405, John, his heir as lord of the manor of Kedleston, was a minor aged 12 or more.^[1][2][3]

John Curson married Margaret Montgomery:^[3]

11 Aug 1411: Grant to John Curson, son of John Curson, and Margaret his wife, daughter of Nicholas Montgomery, knight. In case of the death of the said John and Margaret without heirs the said manors, etc., to pass to Thomas, brother of the said John Curson, to Margaret Curson their sister, and finally to the right heirs of the said John Cursone, senior, father of the said John, Thomas and Margaret.^[4]

His second wife was Joan Bagot of Blithfield, Staffordshire.^[5]

John Curson of Kedleston was chief steward to Elizabeth widow of Richard Grey, travelling from Kedleston to Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire, to hold courts there in 1431-2.^[6]

John was sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in 1437/8,^[7] and Escheator for those counties in 1441/2.^[8]

In October 1440 he was recruited by Humphrey Stafford, later the first Duke of Buckingham, along with his Derbyshire associate Sir Richard Vernon. In 1441 an arbitration panel consisted of Richard Vernon and John Pole, chosen on behalf of the Prior of Repton, and Sir Thomas Gresley and John Curson of Kedleston on behalf of John Curzon of Croxall.^[9]

On 3 June 1445 at Westminster, John Curson, esq, one of the knights for the county of Derby, was commissioned by the King to distribute sums.^[10]

All Saints' Church at Kedleston has a tomb-chest showing a reclining Sir John Curzon, who died in 1456, and his wife Joan with their dogs, and their 17 children.^[11]

Research Notes

John Curson is stated in several pedigrees to have been the son of John Curzon of Kedleston and Ellen Twyford,^[3] the daughter and heir of Sir Robert Twyford, knight.^[12]

However, his father's widow was named Joan. If Eleanor (Twyford) Curson (abt.1320-abt.1380) died in 1380 as stated on her profile, then she cannot have been the mother of Sir John. Eleanor has been detached as mother, and reattached as grandmother.

John Curzon of Kedleston who married Margaret Montgomery was Sheriff [of Derbyshire?] in 15 Henry VI [1436/7].^[3] However, the author quotes a traditional tale told of Sir John Curzon, sheriff in 1437:

He "had seventeen children born to him at a birth, his lady being Joan, daughter of Sir John Bagot, of Blithfield." and another version "there were originally eighteen children, but that the old woman, who carried them off in her apron for burial, dropped on and lost in in a sequestered part of the park, which was ever afterwards known by the name of Park Nook." ^[13]

Cox in Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire states that the son of John Curzon who died in 1406 was the Sir John Curzon who married Joan Bagot. That would imply that Sir John married twice: first to Margaret Montgomery before 1411 (when he seems to have come of age), and second to Joan Bagot.^[14]

The Visitations state that John and Margaret had children:

1. Richard Curzon, who was living in 34 Henry VI [1455];^[3]
2. Walter who lived in Norfolk;^[12] and
3. Henry who lived in Norfolk.^[12]

The Peerage shows these as sons of John Curson and Joan FitzHerbert, John being the son of John Curson and Joan Bagot.^[15]

However, History of Parliament suggests that the Cursons of Norfolk were unrelated.^[16][17]

Note on the original import:

Father Sir. John I Curzon, Knight, b. Abt 1311, of, Kedleston, Derby, England , d. Yes, date unknown Mother Eleanor Twyford, b. Abt 1315, of, Twyford, Buckingham, England , d. Yes, date unknown Married 1336 of, Kedleston, Derby, England Family Margaret Montgomery, b. 1341, of, Cubley, Derby, England , d. Yes, date unknown Married 1362 of, Kedleston, Derby, England Children > 1. Richard William Curzon, b. 1363, of, Kedleston, Derby, England , 2. Henry Curzon, b. Abt 1365, of, Kedleston, Derby, England , 3. Walter Curzon, b. 1367, , Harrington, Northampton, England ,

Date of death originally shown as 6 May 1432 in Derby (unsourced).

Sources

1. ↑ J. L. Kirby, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry IV, Entries 1-51', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 19, Henry IV (London, 1992), pp. 1-13. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol19/pp1-13 [accessed 31 July 2021].
2. ↑ https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9669962
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} J T, The Old Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire, Vol II The Appletree Hundred and The Wapentake of Wirksworth. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co, Ltd, 1843. archive.org page 92
4. ↑ Jeayes, I H. Descriptive Catalogue of Derbyshire Charters. 1906, no 1505, p 186 HathiTrust.
5. ↑ Cox, J.C. (1877). Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire: The hundreds of Appletree and Repton and Gresley, p. 176. Google Books.
6. ↑ Susan M. Wright, The Derbyshire Gentry in the Fifteenth Century (Derbyshire Record Society, 1983), page 63
7. ↑ Wikipedia: High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests#15th_century
8. ↑ Wotton, T. (1741). The English Baronets, p. 245. Google Books.
9. ↑ Susan M. Wright, The Derbyshire Gentry in the Fifteenth Century (Derbyshire Record Society, 1983), pages 68-9, 123.
10. ↑ The Deputy Keeper of the Records, Calendar of the Fine Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol XVII Henry VI 1437-1445. London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1937. page 324
11. ↑ The Churches Conservation Trust, A walk round guide, All Saints' Church, Kedleston, Derbyshire https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/static/uploaded/b0416a9f-5fbe-4d70-bcee81dd9b2ddf8a.pdf, 10 July 2014
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Sir William Dugdale. Derbyshire Visitation Pedigrees 1569 and 1611. London, 1895 babel.hathitrust.org page 26
13. ↑ J T, The Old Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire, Vol II The Appletree Hundred and The Wapentake of Wirksworth. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co, Ltd, 1843 archive.org pages 91-2.
14. ↑ J. Charles Cox. Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire. v. 3. The hundreds of Appletree and Repton and Gresley. Chesterfield, W. Edmunds, 1877. pages 172-3, 178-9.
15. ↑ http://www.thepeerage.com/p57268.htm#i572672
16. ↑ https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/curson-walter-1443
17. ↑ https://glavenvalleychurches.org.uk/letheringsett-church-history/

• Wikidata: Item Q76161600

See also:

• http://www.geneagraphie.com/getperson.php?personID=I360131&tree=1
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/f/e/r/Jerry-Ferguson-MO/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0663.html
• http://www.our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1236.htm
• Ancestry family trees: http://trees.ancestry.ca/tree/33062421/person/28105320084?ssrc=&ml_rpos=3
• Curzon http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=285d1587-b2c6-4cde-8618-6c4fee2f8d1b&tid=16746257&pid=5081
• Curzon Coat of Arms http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=c24864bb-7bd7-44f1-8ad4-ad60426e9da2&tid=16746257&pid=5081

Acknowledgements

• import of Welder Family Tree.ged on Sep 10, 2011 by Deborah Anne Welder