Grace (Townley) Nowell (aft. 1445)

Born after 1445 in Towneley, Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in England

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Biography

Grace Townley (Towneley) was the daughter of John Towneley and Isabel Sherburne.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The contract for her parents' marriage was signed in March 1445^[6][7], and Grace was born after 1445.

Grace was the second wife of Roger Nowell^{[1][2][3][4][5][8]}, and their marriage settlement was dated 7 March 1468^[4]. Grace and Roger were the parents of:

• John^{[1][2][3][4][5]},
• Alexander, mentioned in Roger's will^[2][3][9],
• Elizabeth, mentioned in Roger's will^{[2][3][4][5][9]},
• Isabel/Isabella, mentioned in Roger's will^{[2][3][9][10]},
• Jane, not mentioned in Roger's will, and likely died before 1486, the date of Roger's will^[2][3][4],
• Anne, mentioned in Roger's will^[2][3][4][9],
• Margaret, mentioned in Roger's will^[2][3][9],
• Grace, mentioned in Roger's will^{[2][3][4][5][9]},
• Eleanor, not mentioned in Roger's will^[2][3][4],
• Maud, not mentioned in Roger's will, and was likely born after the date of the will^[2][3][4].

Grace was residuary legatee and executor of Roger's will.^[9]

Research Notes

Incorrect Father References

Flower's Visitation names Grace's father as Richard Towneley.^[5] Other sources, referenced herein, name him as John Towneley, Esq.

Incorrect Children References

There may well have been additional children born to Grace and Roger. The memorial window in the church of Whalley, Lancashire, shows Roger and his wife with seven kneeling sons and seven kneeling daughters. This implies that fourteen children survived Roger.^[4]

Douglas Richardson mentions two sons and five daughters.^[1] Only five daughters were named in Roger Nowell's will^[9], but other sources, referenced herein, name others.

Flower's Visitation lists two sons, one being Robert, who is not named in other sources, and five daughters, two of whom are named Grace and Elizabeth.^[5]

A further child Ralph is mentioned in Foster's Lancashire pedigree of Nowell of Read, but listed and numbered with daughters and given the surname Rusheton, not Nowell.^[2] This is clearly a mistake, and Whitaker's History of Whalley shows Ralph Rushton as husband of Roger Nowell's daughter Anne.^[11]

Confusion with a different Grace Towneley

A previous version of this profile confused Grace with Grace Towneley, daughter of Sir John Towneley, who first married Robert Hesketh, who died before 1543 within a few months of the marriage; and secondly, about 1543, married Lawrence Habergham.^[12] Dugdale's Visitation of Lancashire shows this Grace as daughter of Sir John Towneley and Anne Catterall, a great-niece of the Grace who married Roger Nowell.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), volume IV, p. 331 WHITAKER 11
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12} Joseph Foster, Pedigrees of the County Families of England, vol. 1, pub. 1873 - Lancashire: pedigree of Nowell of Read
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11} Thomas Dunham Whitaker. An History of the Original Parish of Whalley and Honor of Clitheroe, 4th ed, vol.2, George Routledge and Sons 1876, main Nowell pedigree between pages 40 and 41
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10} Alexander B Grosart. The Spending of the Money of Robert Nowell, privately printed 1877, pp. xxx-xxxi
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6} William Flower. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the Year 1567, Chetham Society 1870, p. 36
6. ↑ Charles Davies Sherborn. A History of the Family Sherborn, Mitchell & Hughes, London, 1901, p. 16-17.
7. ↑ Thomas Dunham Whitaker. An History of the Original Parish of Whalley and Honor of Clitheroe, 4th ed, vol.2, pub. George Routledge and Sons 1876, p. 476
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} William Dugdale. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the year 1664-5, volume 3, Chetham Society 1873, p. 305
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7} Abstract of will of Roger Nowell, Roy Price Archive on North Craven Heritage Trust website, accessed 2 August 2018
10. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Woolton, John (c. 1537–1594), 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries, accessed 20 April 2019
11. ↑ Thomas Dunham Whitaker. An History of the Original Parish of Whalley and Honor of Clitheroe, 4th ed, vol.2, pub. George Routledge and Sons 1876, main Nowell pedigree between pages 40 and 41
12. ↑ 'Townships: Habergham Eaves', in A History of the County of Lancaster (Victoria County History), Volume 6, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1911), pp. 454-468, footnote 20, citing an ecclesiastical court case of 1562, British History Online, accessed 20 April 2019

• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013: volume V, pp.178-9 and 358. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.
• William Flower. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the Year 1567, Chetham Society 1870
• Foster, Joseph. Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire (W. Wilfred Head, London, 1873) Vol. 1, Page ?
• Whitaker, Thomas Dunham. An History of the Original Parish of Whalley and Honor of Clitheroe,4th ed, vol.2, pub. George Routledge and Sons 1876
• Grosart, Alexander B. The Spending of the Money of Robert Nowell, privately printed 1877

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

Grace (Townley) Nowell is appears in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestors Jabez Whitaker and Alexander Whitaker to Magna Carta Surety Baron Robert de Ros (vol. IV, pages 331-332 WHITAKER). This trail was developed for the Magna Carta project by Gateway Guardian Michael Cayley and was reviewed and approved by Gordon Warder Jr in October 2019. The trail is outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section of Alexander Whitaker's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".