G2G: Marriage dispensation: Any hope finding how Elizabeth Sunderland (b. 1485?) was related to Henry Brigge?

+7 votes
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Elizabeth (Sunderland) Oldfelde-Brigge was born about 1485, Yorkshire, daughter of Thomas Sunderland. She was first married to James Oldfelde. After he died, she was married (2nd) to Henry Brigge, but a marriage dispensation was needed because they were related twice in the 4th degree. 

 Is there any hope finding out how they were related.  I would hope at least one of the two lines they share would be either Sunderland or Brigge, since tracing maternal lines is usually more difficult. 

 The 1521 dispensation for her marriage to Henry Brigge appears on page 371 of Testamenta Eboracensia:  https://www.google.com/books/edition/Testamenta_Eboracensia/_OEJNxPbRQEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="Henry+Brigge"+eboracensia&pg=PA371&printsec=frontcover

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WikiTree profile: Elizabeth Brigge
in Genealogy Help by Owl (133k points)
retagged by Darlene Athey-Hill

There appears to be a reference to this summary of the dispensation: Reg. Wolsey. Do you know what that is?

Edit ...

Perhaps this was a dispensation issued by Cardinal/Archbishop Thomas Wolsey?

It's the Register of Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York.  Scans of the actual register are available here but I can't see that it has been published anywhere, though earlier ones are available.


I added the England tag to bring this to the attention of the project members.

3 Answers

+6 votes
I think the fourth degree means that they have a common ancestor at the fourth generation, i.e. a 2 x great grandfather (I may be wrong!) As a starting point, is there a connection to Richard Sunderland born about 1514 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sunderland-478

He had parents Richard (or Abraham) Sunderland and Judith Oldfield, daughter of Thomas Oldfield. See family pedigree in Dugdale's Visitations.  https://archive.org/stream/dugdalesvisitati01dugd#page/94

This couple would be about the same age as Elizabeth so was she the sister of Richard Sunderland and perhaps James was Judith's brother, a double marriage? Against that, Elizabeth's father is said to be Thomas Sunderland in the footnote to her will, so I would have expected a child of Richard to be called Thomas but there isn't one, and that doesn't account for Henry Brigge either.

It will take great deal of ferreting about in wills, court rolls, and feet of fines I think!

Link to the page for Henty and Elizabeth in the Wolsey registers

 https://archbishopsregisters.york.ac.uk/browse/registers?utf8=%E2%9C%93&register_id=wh246t141&folio=118
by Owl (27.6k points)

Thanks Lynn.  I think it is likely her father's grandfather (either Richard or Thomas) appears in Volume 15 of Wakefield Manor Court Rolls.  Weblink given in my answer below.

+3 votes

Her father Thomas Sunderland was presumably born around 1460.  Therefore, he is probably a grandson of Richard Sundirlande or Thomas Sunderland who appear in the 1433-1436 time period in records contained in Volume 15 of Wakefield Manor Court Rolls.  Richard served as "grave", apparently a position of authority of some sort.   Here's a weblink:  https://archive.org/details/YASWCR015/page/140/mode/2up?q=Sundirland  

by Owl (133k points)
edited by Kenneth Kinman

+6 votes
"Brigge" is going to have different spellings (see Briggs in the Yorkshire Visistations) although in my quick scan none of the variations seems to be in the Yorkshire Visitations as having arms.

In the context of that section in the Wakefield Manor Court Rolls, "Grave" is probably more commonly termed "reeve" (is that spelling a Yorkshire variation?) since they were working for the bailiff and Reeves were elected peasants who helped the bailiff and steward manage the estates.

I am pretty sure a dispensation was priced accordingly to your social status but was not cheap. Plus, it could be any sort of 4th degree of relation through her (or his!) first spouse so they may not have had a common gggf/m. There's a lot of social activity which seems weird to our modern sensabilities - the wealthier lower classes may have sought out dispensations because that was what the gentry did even if they weren't considered of that class.

Lower class people didn't have a ton of records & this family may have enough wealth to know about their relations and buy dispensations but not enough status to own manors or afford (or need) lawyers. Ultimately, it will be very difficult to prove the line since there's no pedigree available.
by Owl (78.5k points)

Thanks for the information.  Even if I don't figure out their 4th degree relationship, at least I am making progress on her Sunderland ancestry.  Her father Thomas (b. ca. 1460) was apparently son of John Sunderland (b. ca. 1435) who was no doubt a son of one of the Sunderlands in the Wakefield Manor Rolls during that 1433-1436 period.  I plan to create profiles for her father Thomas and her grandfather John.  

A special thanks about "grave", which does seem to be a variant of "greave" and "reeve".  I was surprised to learn the word sheriff came from "shire-reeve".  Anyway, here's a weblink showing the word "graveship" being used in this part of Yorkshire:  https://yorkshiredictionary.york.ac.uk/words/graveship

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