John Warham (1511 - 1572)

Born 1511 in Compton Valence, Dorset, England

Husband of Kathryn (Soper) Warham — married about 1535 in Maiden Newton, Dorset, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 1572 at about age 61 in Compton Valence, Dorset, England

Biography

John Warham was born in Dorset, England.

John Warham was born in 1511 in Compton Valence, Dorset, England. His father was Richard WarhamHis mother was Prudence Wells. He married Kathryn Soper in 1535 Together they had 9 children:

1. Thomas Warham
2. Dorothie Warham
3. Edward Warham
4. Mary Warham
5. George Warham
6. Robert Warham
7. Katheryn Warham
8. Agnes Warham
9. Thomazine Warham

He died in 1572 in Compton Valence, Dorset, England

Research Notes

John Warham: born about 1500-1510 possibly in Compton-Vallence, Dorset, England. He died about 12 Jul 1572 in Compton-Vallence. He was a resident of Compton Vallence (Valence), Dorset, England. He married about 1535, Kathryn Soper.

John Warham Image 2

Children: 1. Thomas Warham: born about 1535-40 at Compton Vallence, Dorset, England. He died 1612, Maiden Newton, Dorset, England. He married Margaret Miller, daughter of John Miller and Jane Cockeream. Thomas Warham death or burial date was 4 October 1612 in Maiden Newton Dorset^{[1] [2] [3]}

2. Mary Warham: She received a bequest from her father of 100 pounds in 1752. She probably married William Strangman.

3. George Warham: He died in 1584. He resided at Compton Abbas, Dorset, England. He received a tenement in Southover, Frampton, Dorset from his father in 1572. His will, proved in 1584, names his father, brothers Thomas and Edward, and a number of other relatives. He married Joanne ____, who was executrix of his will. No children were named in his will. He named his father (deceased), brothers Edward and Thomas, William Strangman and his children, George Strangman Sr., George Strangman Jr., Henry Strangmen and William Strangman, children of George Warham’s unnamed sister (Mary). He also left a lamb to Hughe Bucher and Anne Hennynge.

4. Robert Warham: He received a bequest of 100 pounds from his father, and named a niece in his own will. Unmarried. He left a 300 pounds legacy for his niece, Katherine Warham. He is probably the Robert Warham of Compton Valence who was Fellow at New College, Oxford, 1551-58. He earned a B.A. degree 19 Feb 1555/56.

5. Edward Warham: He died 1601. He resided at Osmygton, Dorset. He married Phillipa Upham who died after 1601 and who was of Somerset. Edward’s will dated 6 Jun 1601 and proved Nov 1601, names his children and a number of relatives.

6. Katheryn Warham: She was named in her father’s will, and received 300 pounds in 1601 from her uncle, Robert Warham. She was, perhaps, the first wife of Sir Robert Napper of Moore Crichell, (Morescrichell), Dorset (or Bexington, Dorset) (will proved 15 Nov 1615). Robert was a sheriff of Dorset in 1606 and founded Napper’s Mite almshouse in 1615. He married (second) Magdalyn Denton.

7. Agnes Warham: She married ____ Thurman. She was alive in 1572.

8. Dorothy Warham: She married John Hennynge, son of John Hennynge and his wife Jane. He was born about 1536 and died 1611. John was High Sheriff of Dorset in 1610, and resided at Poxwell. His will was proved 16 Jul 1611.

9. Thomazine Warham: She died before 1572. She married John Browne, Esq. Of Frampton, Dorset, England

John Warham appears at the head of a 4-generation pedigree in the 1623 Herald’s Visitation of Dorset. He is given as a resident of Compton in Dorset and his wife is given as the daughter of ___ Soper of Somerset County. His son Edward Warsham is given as a resident of Osmington and married to Phillipa Upham of Somerset. His grandson and the probable source of information is named as John Warha’ of Osmington, Dorset, married to Anne Mompesson of Corton, Wiltshire.

The arms that were assigned in the 1623 visitation, presumably to the younger John Warham, are described as: “Gules, a fesse or, in chief a goat’s head couped argent, armed of the second and in base three escallops of the third, all within a bordure engrailed (gold); on the fesse a crescent for difference.” The crest was described as: An arm embowed, habited quarterly argent and azure, cuff…the hand proper, grasping a sword by the blade, point downwards, sable, hilt or, the blade charged with three quatrefoils of the first.”

A mortgage dated 28 Dec 1553, during the reign of Edward VI, mentions Charles, Lord Stourton, and John Warham of Compton Valance, a yeoman who received lands and tenements in Maiden Newton. This Charles, Lord Stourton was hanged at Salisbury 16 Mar 1557/58 for the murder of a man named Hartgill and his son, and his estates were attainted.

John Warham’s will, dated 11 Mar 1571/72 and proved in 1572, states that “Richard Warham, my father”, was buried at Compton Vallence (Valence), and names his wife, children, and some grandchildren. John Warham referred to himself as a yeoman and had a farm named “Frome Billett”. A yeoman was the general term for a freeholding farmer. His wife was executrix of his will and she was living in 1572. She may have been related to John Soper of Pitminster, Somerset, England. In his will, John Warham left monies to the churches and poor of Compton Vallence, Frampton, Maiden Newton and Toller Porcorum.

Frome Billet or Bilet (also called Frome Everard) constitutes the western part of the modern parish of West Stafford and once was its own parish. From Billet separated from the remainder of West Stafford by the South Winterborne stream. Frome Billet is now reduced to one house, Stafford House, formerly called Frome House. This large country house was the seat of the families that held the largest manor in Frome Billet. The parish church of Frome Billet once stood west of the Stafford House, but was destroyed in 1470 and parish merged with West Stafford. The associated village became depopulated due to the Black Plague. There is little trace left today of this church. The current parish church of West Stafford is dedicated to St. Andrews. West Stafford lies a few miles to the east of Dorchester. West Stafford is on the opposite side of Compton Vallence, and about 10 miles from the latter. There is no indication that John Warham held the entire manor of Frome Billet, but may have held or leased a farm within the manor.

Compton Vallence is a small isolated village and parish in the liberty of Frampton, Bridport division of the County of Dorset, England and is about 7 miles west northwest of Dorchester. It is situated along the banks of a small stream and was once more considerable in size than at present. The church there is dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket. It is a small building with a plain 15th century tower, but was largely rebuilt in 1838. There is a town called Wareham in southeast Dorset near the coast along the Frome River. It has been in existence since Saxon times. Though it is speculative, it is possible that the Warham family name came from an ancestor who may have been a resident of Wareham. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDH-HQ7C : 2 June 2020), Thomas Warham, 1612.
2. ↑ "England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDH-H34C : 2 June 2020), Tho Warham in entry for Margaret, 1587.
3. ↑ "England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDH-HMCH : 9 March 2021), Thomas Warham in entry for John Warham, 1561.
4. ↑ National Burial Index For England & Wales - Findmypast Record set: National Burial Index For England & Wales; Subcategory: Parish Burials; Category: Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers); Collections from: United Kingdom, England;https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=BMD/NBI/08065551

Acknowledgements

This profile has been improved by a member of the England Project's Orphan Trail