Robert Sheffield (abt. 1435)

According to the Stirnet website [1], there may be some questions still to resolve about the exact pedigree of Robert Sheffield MP (Sheffield-70) who was Speaker of the House of Commons; so some caution may be advised before jumping to the MP identification above, and also with regard to this Robert Sheffield's parentage and ancestry.

Burke's Extinct Peerages (1866 edition p. 490) gives the sequence:

"Sir Robert Sheffield flourished temp. Henry III [ie between 1216 and 1272]. He was succeeded by a son,

Robert Sheffield, m. Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Simon Goure, and was succeeded by his son,

Sir Robert Sheffield, who m. Genette, eldest dau and heir of Alexander Lownde of Butterwick, in Lincolnshire, and thus became possessed of that lordship. From this Sir Robert descended

...

Sir Robert Sheffield, who in 2nd Henry VII [ie 1487] was one of the commanders in the royal army at the Battle of Stoke. Sir Robert was afterwards Speaker of the House of Commons and recorder of London. He married Helen, dau. and heiress of Sir John Delves, Knt, and was succeeded by his son [etc.]

So according to Burke, the Robert Sheffield who married Genette Lownde would have lived in the early 1300s, not the late 1400s; and would have been an ancestor several generations removed from the future Speaker, rather than his father.

Burke does not identify his sources. But his account of the earliest Sheffields (and his then skipping to Sir Robert Sheffield the Speaker) is similar to that given in T.C. Banks (1807), The dormant and extinct baronage of England, vol 3, p. 541

A more extensive descent is given in a number of closely-related accounts. It appears to originate in:

• Arthur Collins (1716) A supplement to The peerage of England, p. 9

A slightly streamlined version of this may have been incorporated in the 1717 "4th edition" of Collins's work (not checked). It then reappears in:

• Francis Nichols (1719) The British Compendium, 3rd ed.p. 43 / 7th ed (1731), p. 140; (1st ed 1718)
• Samuel Kent (1726) The Banner Display'd, or An Abridgement of Gullim, vol. 2 p. 267

  (The pedigree does not appear in Gullim itself, eg 1679 edition, p. 105)

• Arthur Collins (1735), The peerage of England, vol. 1 p. 143. Does not appear in later editions, when the peerage had become extinct -- eg (1741), vol 1 p.233
• The Works of John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave (3rd ed. (1740) vol 2, p. 345; 4th ed, 1763), vol 2, p. 252; not in earlier editions
• William R. Peck (1815) in A topographical account of the isle of Axholme, p. 82.

A version also appears in the Gentleman's Magazine (July 1810), p. 36.

The version in the Works of John Sheffield appears to be a slightly polished-up version of the text by Nichols. The Works version was evidently first made in 1729 (cf note on p. 353), but was not included in the 2nd edition version of the Works published in that year (cf 2nd ed (1729) contents page).

Peck's version (1815) appears to be drawn from Nichols, rather than that the Works; but the spelling of some names has been altered to become similar to that found in Banks.

Lineage from The Works:

"The first ancestor of this ancient family we have any account of is Sir ROBERT SHEFFIELD, Knight., who lived in the reign of Henry III. He having married FELIX [Peck: Felicia], daughter and heir of ------- TERNEBY, had by her

ROBERT SHEFFIELD, Esq. whose wife was AGNES [Kent & Nichols: Anne; Peck:Ann], daughter and coheiress to Sir SIMON GOWER, Knight. [Peck:Simon Goure], and by her he had

ROBERT his heir and successor. ROBERT, who succeeded, was knighted by King EDWARD I, and marry'd JANET [Kent:Jennet; Peck:Genette], daughter and coheiress to ALEXANDER LOWND [Kent:Lowndes; Peck:Lownde], of Butterwick, with whom he had that manor. He had by her

a son named ROBERT, whose wife was ELEANOR, daughter and heir to THOMAS BURNHAM, and was succeeded by

ROBERT his son. This ROBERT marry'd CATHERINE, daughter and coheir to Sir ROGER BELTOFT, Knight., and by her had

a SON OF HIS NAME, who [Nichols & Peck:in the time of Edward IV] marry'd MARGARET, daughter of Sir THOMAS STAUNTON, of the county of York, Knight, and by her had

ROBERT SHEFFIELD, Esq; who marry'd ISOLDE [Peck:Isabel], daughter and heir to Sir ULSTER MOYNE, Knight, by her had

ROBERT, his son and heir.

"This ROBERT, in the 2d of HENRY VII, was one of the Commanders in that king's army against the Earl of Lincoln and his adherents in the battle of Stoke, near Newark, where he shar'd the honour of that victory, and afterwards speaker of the House of Commons and recorder of London, being then Sir ROBERT SHEFFIELD"

"He came to have his family seat at Butterwick in the County of Lincoln, from Hemmeswell, in the Isle of Axholme, in the same County"

... [etc].

William Brocklehurst Stonehouse (1839) in The history and topography of the Isle of Axholme ... Lincolnshire, p. 268 summarises this descent:

"A great portion of this township [Butterwick] belongs to the antient and honourable family of Sheffield, and has been in its possession between five and six hundred years, ever since Robert Sheffield, who was knighted by King Edward the First, married Genette, daughter and co-heir to Alexander Lounde, by whom this estate came. After this we find the Sheffields intermarrying with three of the principal families of the neighbourhood, that of Thomas of Brunham, Sir Roger of Beltoft, knight, and Sir William Amcotts. About the same period of time we find that Robert, the son of Sir Robert Sheffield, in the county of Lincoln, was summoned to appear before the council super arduis et urgentissimis negotiis",

This account is repeated by T.C. Fletcher (ed., 1858) in Read's History of the Isle of Axholme, p, 324, but Fletcher accompanies it with a much more extensive family tree of the descent, including many siblings and sibling marriages ( facing page)

A presentation of this history used also to appear on the website for Sutton Park (archived page), as retold by the present Sir Reginald Sheffield, Bt., father of Samantha Cameron. cf also Stephen Wade (2017), Tales from the Big House: Normanby Hall: 400 Years of Its History and People, ch. 1

However there may be reasons to be cautious about the pedigree above (or "alleged pedigree of Sheffield" as the Red1st website [1] describes the tree in Fletcher)

(in preparation)

Other sources

John Leland The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 found (Part I p. 40 (1768 edition) / p. 38 (1908 edition)):

"There was many yeres sins an old manor place at Westbutter Wicke [West Butterwick] apon Trent ripe.

It longid, as I lernid, to a gentilman caullid Bellethorp; to whom cam also by heire general Burneham's landes, a gentilman of the same isle.

Bellethorp's landes after descendid to Shefefeld; yn the which name it hath continuid a 5. or 6. descentes. For in the chirch yard of Oxton [Owston Ferry], half a mile from Melwood Park, I saw a 5. tumbes of the Sheffeldes. Young Shefeldes father is buried in the chirch of Oxtun.

Sheffeld that was Recorder of London is buried in the Augustine Freres of London, he sett up highly the name of the Sheffeldes by mariage of the doughter and sole heyre of one Delves, to whom beside he was descendid the landes of Gibthorp and Babington. This Sheffeld recorder began to build stately at Butterwik, as it apperithby a great tour of brike."

Leland notes elsewhere (Part IV / p. 18 (1744 edition) / p. 17 (1908 edition)) that:

"The auncient land and manner place of the Sheffeldes of Axholme was by the Spitle [Spittal] streat in Lincolnshir at a place called Hemmeswelle; and from thens they cam to Butterwik in Axholme."

Unfortunately there's no Victoria County History for this part of Lincolnshire yet. North Lincolnshire has a Heritage Environment Record for the site (unidentified) of the Sheffields' Tower House at West Butterwick [1], but the text just cites the Sutton Park website and Stonehouse (1839) as above for the history of the family.

A little about the lands of Gibthorp and Babington, that came to Sir Robert with his marriage to Helen Delves, in Nichols (1846), The Topographer and Genealogist, vol 1, p. 264 and immediately preceding.

As for the "tumbes of the Sheffeldes", after the publication of Leland's Itinerary, John, Earl of Mulgrave had the "venerable remains of the five Sheffields" "rescued from danger of oblivion", and moved from St Martin's, Owston Ferry to St Andrew's, Burton upon Stather, close to the Sheffields' seat at Normanby Hall. The most striking is a "mutilated C13 crusader effigy re-set in a niche with C14 ballflower decoration" [2], or as described by Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire (1896),

"a mutilated figure of a cross-legged knight, brought from Owston, which now lies in a recess in the north wall ot the chancel ; the drapery of this figure is sculptured with great boldness and the details of the armour executed with great precision and the shield bears the arms of Sheffield ; supporting a cushion for the head of the knight are remains of angelic figures delicately sculptured; an ancient sword, probably brought from Owston church, is now laid on the figure, also a cannon ball found in Sole Bay." [3]

It is possible there could be more information about the monuments in Francis Amcotts Jarvis (1922), The Parish of Burton on Stather with Flixborough, but there doesn't seem to be a copy online.

Further accounts of the family:

William Dugdale (1675) The Baronage of England (entry; also at [4]) gives an account of the family of Sheffeild, Earl of Mulgrave. Dugdale appears to be the origin of many of the phrases that recur in later versions -- and gives footnotes for sources. However he traces the family forward only from Sir Robert who was Speaker.

Arthur Collins (1709) The Peerage of England p. 92: closely based on Dugdale.

Sheffield Grace (1823) Memoirs of the family of Grace p. 57 et seq gives in extensive detail "the concluding part of the genealogical account of the Sheffields", "comprehending every individual and following down every male line to its extinction", containing "all the particulars to be found in the English College of Arms", and "compared with the visitations, and the other entries and records preserved there". But again his presentation goes back only to Robert Sheffield the Speaker.

The will (1518) of Sir Robert Sheffield the Speaker is reproduced in Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (1826), Testamenta Vetusta, p. 555, together with a couple of corrections to Grace's account of him. The will mentions Sir Robert's first wife Eleanor, second wife Anne, brothers Edward, Thomas, and Christopher, late brother Ralph, sister Dorothy, and daughters Anne, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Bridget. There is no mention of a daughter Jane, who according to Grace had married Sir Ralph Shirley. Nicolas suggests this may have been a sister rather than a daughter of Sir Robert.

Sydney Morle, a local amateur historian, wrote a short History of West Butterwick in the 1930s, some of which appeared in the columns of the local newspaper and was later compiled into a booklet. Hoever, from a typescript of the contents and introduction, it seems that only half a page was given over to "The Shefffield family in the Middle Ages and up to the Tudor Period".