John (Sydney) Syday (abt. 1493 - 1539)

Born about 1493 in Pebmarsh, Essex, England

Husband of Helen (Alenson) Sydney — married 1515 (to 1522) in Pebmarsh, Essex, England

Descendants

Died 1539 at about age 46 in White Colne, Essex, England

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Biography

John Syday (aka Sydney or Sydey) was born in the Essex, England, village of Pebmarsh, in about 1493. His parents are as yet unknown but they must have been of the "yeoman" class of independent farmers and land owners, possibly even local gentry, as one family genealogy states that one of John's ancestors: William Sydney, b. 1325, in Lewes, Sussex, had married a woman named, Joan (Johanna) de Brokhull, daughter of a Norman nobleman.^[1]

In about 1515, John Sydney (Syday) married a local woman named Helen - last name Unknown - in Pebmarsh. She was born in the same village in about 1595 and would have been 19 at her wedding. Doubtlessly after having at least three sons: Christopher, Jeffrey, and Henry Sydey, they had a daughter named Joan (or Johanna) in 1522, all born in Pebmarsh. Alas, Helen Syday died shortly after Joan's birth, most likely from its complications. Childbirth was the most-frequent cause of death for women under 30 at that time. We do not know if John Syday remarried but he probably did as such was customary for the time and his social status.

John went on to amass significant land holdings and leases from absentee lords in the area. In 1539 when John Syday / Sydey died at Berwick Hall, White Colne, Essex, he is said to have owned the leases for Berwick Hall in White Colne and Loveney Hall in Colne Wake. Plus he owned leases in the nearby villages of Colne Eugaine, White Colne and Bures-at-Mount. He also owned the manors of Paiton Hall in Bures St. Mary and Lamarshe Hall in Lamarshe, all in Essex.^[2]

When his daughter, Joan/Johanna Sydney, widow of Robert Cooke, died in December 1561, her Will was witnessed by three men who were no doubt her older brothers: Christopher Sydey, Gyffrie (Jeffrey) Sydey, and Henry Sydey. Joan had inherited two land parcels in Pebmarsh, which she passed on to two of her sons; no doubt her brothers had inherited the rest of their father's estate. In that time and place the law of primogeniture insured that the oldest son inherited most of his father's wealth and the family's Arms.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ "Joan Sydney" on Myheritage.com
2. ↑ Wills Proven in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury 1383-1558: 32 Dyngeley, cited on: Footprints Through Time
3. ↑ Cooke Family History on Familysearch.org

• John Syday on Geni.com
• John Syday, M, #68647, b. circa 1493
• Footprints Through Time

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Jonathon Dale Walter Myers for creating Sydney-18 on 8 Oct 13.
• Thank you to Chet Snow for researching and editing this profile; writing the biography and adding sources, on May 8, 2015.