John Towers

Born [date unknown] in Norfolk, England

Descendants

Died 10 Jan 1649 in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England

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Biography

John Towers, Bishop of Peterborough was involved in national events during the civil war and has his own Wikipedia article, and article in the Dictionary of National Biography. He was one of 12 bishops who came into dispute with the Long Parliament in their support of Archbishop William Laud. Formally, the dispute was at least partly about matters of ritual in church^[1], but this was considered a serious subject connected to debates about the rights of monarchs and parliaments. The dispute eventually entered a phase when the bishops were blocked from entering parliament and they wrote a complaint, declaring resolutions made without them null and without effect. At least 10 of them, certainly including Towers, were placed in the Tower of London for about four months, but after being freed, Towers found he could not live quietly in Peterborough anymore, and went to join the King in Oxford until he surrendered in 1646. He returned to Peterborough, where he died in obscurity on 10 January 1648/9, 20 days before his king. William Laud was in the beginning a scholar, and John Towers was one of a circle of scholars associated with him.

There is a detailed discussion of events in his life in Northamptonshire notes and queries. ^[2] As a young man, Towers had been an actor at Oxford and apparently King James remembered seeing him.

Here is what the Venn (Cambridge Alumni) database has:^[3]

• Approx. lifespan: 1577–1648
• Matriculated sizar from King's College c1595.
• Migrated to Queens' College 12 June 1599. B.A. 1601/2; M.A. 1606; B.D. 1615; D.D. 1624 (Lit. Reg.). Fellow of Queens', 1608-17.
• Incorp. at Oxfordshire 1611. Rector of Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire 1617-38. Rector of Yardley-Hastings, Northamptonshire 1623-38. Vicar of Halifax, Yorkshire 1628.
• Dean of Peterborough, Northamptonshire 1630-8. Dean of Westminster, 1634-8 ; Preb., 1634. Rector of Castor, Northamptonshire 1638-46, sequestered.
• Bishop of Peterborough, Northamptonshire 1638-48 .
• Chaplain to Charles I. An ardent supporter of the royal prerogative. A supporter of Laud; signed the bishops' protest, 1641. Committed to the Tower, 1642 .
• Afterwards with the King at Oxford; remained there till its surrender, in 1646.
• He was the author of Four Sermons, London, 1660, edited by his son in Ireland and published posthumously.
• Died: Peterborough [Northamptonshire] 10 January 1648/49; buried in the Cathedral there.

The Wikipedia article, (May 2014) says that "John Towers' wife was Mary Foskett daughter of Thomas Foskett of Olney d 1633. as shown in the Will of Thomas Foskett available from the UK National Archives." This PCC is available and confirms a connection. There is also a will for PCC will of Mary Tower née Foskett was proved 1672.

One source says of Towers:

"The "great commission for draining the fens" was opened at Peterborough soon after this bishop's accession. The commissioners sat for some days in the great hall of the palace; and their decisions were henceforth known as "Peterborough law." The troubles of the civil war fell heavily on Bishop Towers, whose cathedral suffered more than any other in England from the fanatic soldiery (Part I § XV). He was himself for some time in attendance on the King, and died in obscurity, Jan. 10, 1648/9, "twenty days before his great master King Charles.""

The chapel register notes:

1648 John Towers Ld Bp of Peterb: departed this life the 10 Jan about 2 o'clock in the morning being Wednesday and was buried the next day very near his son and daughter."

Apparently the parish register of Castor, where John was rector, contains a strident royalist note on the day of the King's execution "30 January 1649. King Charles II begins his reign".^[4]

Ancestry

Towers came from Norfolk according to his academic biography, but more information has difficult to come by. Andrew Lancaster started, and William Acton was the genealogist who finished tracking down the parentage of John Towers using wills.^[5]

The conclusion comes finally from the will of Thomas Tower, Merchant (PROB 11/74/246), made 18 August, and probated 20 September 1589. He mentions his wife Margaret, her children "viz George Thomas and Mary Hardware” and “my thre children Thomas John and Katherin Tower”. ^[6] (There is by the way also a burial in Yarmouth, 2 August 1588, for a Margarett Tower.)

But in order to confirm that this is the father of John, this will needs to be read in conjunction with other wills that had been found earlier which show that Bishop John Towers and the Yarmouth family that had the unusual surname of Hardware consistently referred to each other as siblings.

There is also an interesting record in the PRO, C 2/Eliz/D3/9 "Nicholas Morgan as executor of John Davies deceased, on behalf of Ellen Davies and other chilren of said John Davies v George Hardware alias Tower". It apparently relates to people in Norfolk.

Study of relatives named in wills

From wills of his wife and son-in-law there is mention of relatives, but it is hard to reconstruct the exact relationships:

• The PCC will of his wife Mary Tower née Foskett was proved 1672. It mentions daughter Barker, Grandchildren Mary Greene, Mary Naller, Margaret Betts, Mary Foster, Mary Pocklington, Thomas Pocklington, John Rowell, Margaret Barker, loving cousin Hardware, daughter Rowell, daughter Pocklington, master Simon Gunton and master Gascoigne (one of whom should do the funeral sermon), "daughter Towers and my other widowe daughters", grandchild Mary Hallis, Thomas Thorpe of Peterborough, grandchildren Francis Towers, Elizabeth Betts, Michael Foster, Compton Rowell, Thomas Rowell, John Towers, Elizabeth Pocklington, sons-in-law and executors Oliver Pocklington doctor in physick, and William Halles Clerke. The wording implies that she had not atempted to list all children and grandchildren. Some of these people are known. For example Oliver Pocklington married a daughter of John Towers, and in turn his father John Pocklington had been a churchman allied to John Towers. Presumably some of these people are related to her own parents' family, but some appear to be relatives through her husband.
• Son-in-law. PCC will for Samuel Foster, Batchelor of Divinity of Redgrave, Suffolk, PROB 11/366/329, proved 18 May 1681, and made 2 December 1680. "cousins John Hardwar of Kirby Cane Clerke, Mary Smith Widow, John Chambers of the same Towne Gent, and Ann his Wife, Mary Williamson of Bury St Edmunds Widdow, Brother Robert Pickarel of Burgate in the County of Suff Clerke, my Sonns Michael Foster and Samuel Foster, Thomas Lucas of Rickinghall Gent and Margaret his Wife, Thomas Burlingham and Mary his Wife to every one of them a Mourning Ring". (commas added) He also adds another cousin Mr Thomas Rivett perhaps as an afterthought, also to receive a mourning ring.
• Son-in-law Robert Rowell has a PCC will 28 Feb 1665 of Peterborrowe, which confirms he is son-in-law. Some of his grandchildren have the surname Rosse, and he has a daughter named Compton. As cousins, apart from Rowells he names a Mary Neeve, and a Margaret Halles.

(The name Compton, used in this family, must come from Lord Compton, Earl of Northampton, who sponsored John Towers in his career.)

Following the the Hardware lead:

• Hardware, John, of Kirby Cane 1689 ANF will register 1687-1689 fo. 879 no. 146. It mentions his loveing cousin Mr Michael Foster of London, woolen draper of London, and his brother Samuel. He also notes that these two have a niece named Mary Lucas. Thomas Burlingham, rector of Holt, is mentioned as a kinsman. His only surviving niece is Mary Smith, who is a widow (meaning Smith is presumably not her maiden name). He wants to be buried near his deceased niece Ann Chambers. (There was a burial 5 Feb 1681/82 for Ann the wife of John Chambers Gent.) And he mentions friends in Yarmouth and his kind kinswoman Mrs Hannah Cubit, widow. His deceased brother was named George. He has a grand nephew John Whitfield of Beccles, and a grand neice Margaret Rivet, widow. These two are along with Mary Smith described as his closest relatives. He also had a worthy cousin and godson Mr John Towers, formerly a fellow of Magdalene college, who may have disappeared in Jamaica. The Chambers and Smith connections in Kirby Cane match those mentioned by Samuel Foster in his will, and Margaret Rivet must connect to Thomas Rivett, a cousin in Foster's will.

Burial of John Hardware:

Johs. Hardwar, rector hujus ecclesiæ, hic jacet in spe resurrectionis, cælebs, obt. 21, die Febr. Ao. ætat. 75, salutis 1689.^[7]

Just near it:

Here lies the body of Anne, wife of John Chambers of Kirby Cane, Gent. who died Feb. 3, 1681.

• The PCC will for George Hardwarr of Great Yarmouth, this being John's father, dated 1635. It mentions deceased sons George and William, and living sons Thomas (to get most property) and John, who he says is his youngest son, and who was about to commence a Master of Arts. He names a daughter Marie Chesten, widow, who has three children, Joseph, Benjamin and Margaret; and another daughter Margaret Whelerd (or sometimes Whelard), whose three children are Marie, Sussan, and Sara. There is a marriage in Great Yarmouth 17 Apr 1621 of Margaret Hardware and an Isaack Willyard. And there is also one for a Mary Hardware and a Thomas Chesten there 6 Aug 1617. His wife's name is Margaret, and he names John and Thomas Towers as his "brethren". He also leaves money to his "brother" John Towers, "Doctor of devinitie" and his wife, to make a ring for remembrance. He names as "cozens" Benjamin, Richard, and Marie March. There was a marriage 13 Sep 1590 in Great Yarmouth between a Mary Hardware and a Wyllyam Marche.

Memorial mentions children.^[8]

AD DOMINVM PRÆMISSIS SEX LIBERIS JOHANNE GEORGIO GVLIELMO HANA FRANCISCA ET ABIGAELE IN VIVIS QUATVOR MARIA MARGARETA THOMA ET JOHANNE HVIVS MVNICIPII BALLIVVS ITERVM ET IN SVPREMIS REGNI COMITIIS ASSESSOR DENVO GEORGIVS HARDWAR MAY VLT. 1635 ÆTAT. 66 MIGRAVIT. QVEM MARGARETA UXOR ET AMANTISSIMA ÆTAT. 62 SEQVVTA EST OCTOB. II. 1638.

Great Yarmouth registers show the surname hardware back into the first registers in the early 1500s, George and Margaret were parents to the following baptisms:

• 20th August 1598. John
• 2nd March 1599. Margaret
• 25th January 1601. George
• 10th March 1604. Thomas
• 26th March 1607 . William
• 5th June 1609. Hannah
• 18th September 1611. Francis
• 18th September 1613. Abigail
• 27th December 1615. John

• There is PCC will Thomas Hardwarr 29 Nov 1641, merchant of Great Yarmouth (which Ancestry.com has wrongly indexed as "Hardman"). It is clearly a son of George, with brother John, and sisters Chesten and Wheeler.
• There is an NCC will of a Titus Harwarde of Great Yarmouth, 1632, perhaps old enough to be an uncle of John, (a brother to George) which mentions that his daughter is named Anne Cubbit.
• There is short PCC will for a Hannah Cubbit or Cubitt of Great Yarmouth in 1705. Her grandchildren have the surnames Cole or Sheeres. She also has a son named Titus Cubitt, and one of her daughters is named Rachell Cooper.
• The Cooper connection may also tie in with Margaret Rivett. There is an ANW will for a person of this name in Great Yarmouth, dated 1684. She names her brother-in-law as John Cooper and her sons Samuel, Monox and Benjamin. She has a daughter named Barbera married to Mr Samuel Meadow, and a daughter Margaret not yet 18. She has to then be the Margaret who was supposed to be the daughter of John Albertson alias Hendrick, mentioned here. Probably she can not be the one referred to in John Hardware's will because she died before him, but her daughter, who married a Harvey. might possibly be the "grand niece"?

2 notes about the Hardware family:

• The PCC wills show that for many generations people with these various spellings had relatives and properties in many counties at once. They were city merchants.
• The spelling variations are very big and include forms ranging from Hardware to Hardward and Harward.^[9]

Other Towers families

His family perhaps claimed arms, "a tower triple-towered", like the tower in the arms of Castile. Parker even gives details, "Sable, a castle triple-towered or–TOWERS, Bp. of Peterborough, 1639-49". In another place, the castle is described as being azure. Similar arms for Towers families seem to have been claimed from Lincolnshire to Norfolk, and if Towers is from Nofolk then he is possibly from around Ely and Lynn.

• The 1649 PCC will of Robert Towers of London, gent, leaves some money to William Towers the son of the late Bishop of Peterborough (who must have only very recently died). He mentions connections to Kings Clere in Hampshire and various relatives: nephews are surnamed Turner; brother named Samuel (who has daughters Elizabeth Hay who has a daughter named Elizabeth, Francis, Jane, and Judith), cousin Leonard Towers of Algate, and kinsman George Towers. This Robert may be connected to the Royalist of Frobury Manor in Kings Clere, reported to have given the King sanctuary during the civil war.^[10]
• This cousin Leonard in Algate also had a PCC will in 1657 which states among other things that he was born in Broughton in Furness in Lancashire.

Robert's family could be this one, which seems to have the same arms. They seem to descend from the Tower family of Thonock in Lincolnshire.^[11]

There is a document which seems to show a connection between the Pocklingtons, a family very close to the Bishop, and the Towers family of Haddenham in Cambridgeshire, who also descended from the Thonock family.

Sources

1. ↑ https://books.google.be/books?id=0zVNQQhfeE4C&pg=PA216
2. ↑ "Northamptonshire notes & queries" p.20
3. ↑ ACAD Cambridge Alumni database, accessed 27 Jan 2019 John Towers
4. ↑ http://thearchive.org.uk/thebook/5parishes/ch26.pdf
5. ↑ See announcement to Medieval Genealogy forum.
6. ↑ http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D925385
7. ↑ Francis Blomefield, 'Clavering Hundred: Kirkeby-Kam', in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 8 (London, 1808), pp. 28-37. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol8/pp28-37 [accessed 31 May 2016].
8. ↑ Francis Blomefield, 'East Flegg Hundred: Great Yarmouth, St. Nicholas's church', in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 11 (London, 1810), pp. 364-394. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol11/pp364-394 [accessed 31 May 2016].
9. ↑ See for example the range of surnames given to Titus in Swinden's History and Antiquities of the Ancient Burgh of Great Yarmouth
10. ↑ 'Parishes: Kingsclere', in A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4, ed. William Page (London, 1911), pp. 249-267. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol4/pp249-267 [accessed 14 June 2016].
11. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/lincolnshirepedi5255madd#page/1004/mode/2up/search/towers

• Wikipedia article on John Towers.
• Article in Dictionary National Biography
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (paywall)
• http://www.johnrogers.com.au/pocklington/familytree2/gp318.html