Ursula (Barnham) Swift (1582 - 1632)

Born Oct 1582 in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Robert Swift — married 13 Dec 1602 in London, England

Descendants

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This profile is part of the Barnum Name Study.

Biography

Ursula was baptized on 25 October 1582, according to the Parish Register of Saint Clement Eastcheap.

Ursula da. of Stephen (fl. 1607, d. 1632), sis. of Martin, Alice, Elizabeth, & Benedicta, mar. Robert Swifte (Swift) & William, 1st viscount Aire. Parish of Saint Mary Colechurch 22; 132 24-5. Source: Index of Persons - B. Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire, Keene, D.J.; Harding, Vanessa. (1987).

Stephen Barnham died in 1607 or 1608, leaving his lands to his son Martin in tail, with remainder to his daughters Alice, Ursula, Elizabeth, and Benedicta. Ursula, wife of Sir Robert Swifte, kt., of Rotherham (Yorks.), was barred from claiming the lands in London, on pain of forfeiting her claim to the other lands. Martin Barnham died in 1620, having settled the descent of his estate by a deed of 1617 conveying it to Nicholas Jordan and William Newton, to hold to the uses of himself and his wife Jane for life, with remainder to his niece Juliana Mason, daughter of his late sister Alice, for a term of years, and then to his sister Elizabeth, wife of Walter Double, and their issue. In 1621, by a case and decree in Chancery, Ursula and Sir Robert Swift recovered their title to the London properties as part of her marriage settlement. From: 'Saint Mary Colechurch 105/22', Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire: Cheapside; parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane (1987), pp. 540-49. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=11052&strquery=barnham.

Swift died in 1625, and by 1626 Ursula had married William, 7th lord Crichton of Sanquhar, 1st viscount Aire and subsequently (1633) 1st earl of Dumfries. His son William, later 2nd earl of Dumfries, had already married, c. 1618, when both were aged 13 or less, Penelope, daughter of Sir Robert Swift and Ursula. In 1626 William, lord Aire, and Ursula conveyed 14 messuages and 14 shops in Saint Mary Colechurch and St. Mildred parishes by fine to John, earl of Annandale, and James Maxwell, esquire, who were to hold them to the use of William lord Sanquhar the younger. William the father appears to have continued to hold the properties. In 1628 he sold his 5 messuages and 4 shops in Saint Mary Colechurch parish and 9 messuages and 4 shops in Saint Mildred Poultry parish, to John Mannyng, citizen and skinner, for £1500. This sale, though said to be absolute, was almost certainly a mortgage transaction. In 1632 Viscount Aire and Hester Manning, widow, executrix of John Manning, late merchant of London (son of John Mannyng above), were licensed to and did sell the properties in Old Jewry, Poultry, and Coneyhope Lane, as above, to Thomas Latomb, senior, citizen and weaver, John Thiellier, merchant, and Thomas Latomb, junior, citizen and weaver, for £1600. A 'repayment' of £1984 (probably a further mortgage) and a bond of £3000 were involved in this transaction. Ursula died in 1632, and in 1633 there was a further Chancery case, brought by Lord Aire and Thomas Latomb against Walter Double senior and Walter Double junior, apparently because the last named had refused, when of age, to release or make assurance of the London properties to Ursula's heirs. A writ of execution was obtained and in 1636 Walter Double the younger released to Aire and Latombe. Later in 1636 William, earl of Dumfries, released the tenements to Thomas Latomb, senior, John Thiellier, and Thomas Latomb, junior, in consideration of the £1984 secured by mortgage in 1632, and a further £716. From: 'St. Mary Colechurch 105/22', Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire: Cheapside; parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, Saint Martin Pomary, St Mary le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane (1987), pp. 540-49. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=11052&strquery=barnham.

Ursula was a ninth great grandmother of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, an eleventh great grandmother of Lady Diana Spencer, and eleventh great grandmother of His Royal Highness Albert II.

Baptism

Baptism:

Date: 25 OCT 1582^[1][2]

Sources

• Keene, D.J.; Harding, Vanessa, Historical Gazetteer of London before the Great Fire (1987)
• The Origins Network; Boyd's Inhabitants of London 1209-1948, OMS Services Limited online [1], accessed 07/04/2006
• Parish Register of Saint Clement Eastcheap, London
• The Peerage Ursula Barnham, daughter of Stephen Barnham
• The Peerage William Crichton, 1st Earl of Dumfries, b. circa 1578, d. from 15 August 1642 to 24 March 1642/43

1. ↑ Source: #S1068
2. ↑ Source: #S1523