Joan (Unknown) Knollys (1370 - bef. 1435)

Born 1370 in England

Wife of Thomas Knollys — married [date unknown] in Hertfordshire, England

Descendants

Died before 1435 before age 65 in London, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Joan was the wife of Thomas Knolles. We know they were married before 1391 as they were both mentioned in a suit for 3 messuages and land in Herlaw, which Thomas quitclaimed for 20 marks. ^[1][2]

She and Thomas were reputed to have had 19 children however only a few are known to have survived. ^[3] They included:

• son Thomas (grocer)
• son William (grocer, burgess and merchant of Bristol)
• daughter Beatrice (relict of Richard Grosselyn)
• daughter Margaret
• daughter Margery

With the profits from his London businesses, Thomas purchased a country estate at North Mymms, Hertfordshire. ^[4] It appears that Joan had management of these estates, but things did not always go smoothly. There were a number of disputes, one of which involved her attempt to raise the rents of the tenants. The previous owner of the manor deplored Knolles’s mercenary and extortionate behaviour. ^[5]

Joan was buried in the church of St Antholin, Watling St, London. In later years both her husband Thomas and her son Thomas were also buried there. A memorial stone in the church, probably destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 recorded that:

Here lieth graven under this stone, Thomas Knolles, both flesh and bone, Grocer and Alderman years forty, Sheriff and twice Mayor truly. And for that he should not lie alone, hear with him his good wife Joan. They were together sixty year and XIX children they had in fear. ^[6] (Spelling has been standardised for ease of reading.)

Sources

1. ↑ Great Britain Court of Common Pleas; Essex Archaeological Society, Colchester, Eng; Kirk, Richard Edward Gent; Kirk, Ernest F; Reaney, Percy Hide; Fitch, Marc Feet of fines for Essex. Edited by R.E.G. Kirk Internet Archive
2. ↑ Mentioned in the Wikipedia entry for her husband. Wikipedia contributors, "Thomas Knollys," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Thomas Knollys (accessed April 28, 2019).
3. ↑ Sylvia L. Thrupp The Merchant Class of Medieval London, 1300-1500 University of Michigan Press, 1989 Google books
4. ↑ "Parishes: North Mimms," in A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 2, ed. William Page (London: Victoria County History, 1908), 251-261. British History Online, accessed June 27, 2020, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/herts/vol2/pp251-261.
5. ↑ The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993 Available from Boydell and Brewer - KNOLLES, Thomas (d.1435), of London [https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/knolles-thomas-1435 HOP
6. ↑ E. Cave, 1790 The Gentleman's Magazine Google Books