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Summary of the following: it seems clear that this lady married to Robert Kempe, probably had the first name Margaret and was probably of the Curson family who held Brightwell, Stutton, Lampetts in Helmingham and other East Anglian manors. Therefore she was probably a relative of the wife of Thomas Tey.
Muskett says Robert Kemp's wife's surname was Curson, but gives no first name. Rye accepts the name Margaret. Hitchin-Kemp says she was "Margaret (or Elizabeth)" and says her father was named William. On page 19 he also calls her "Mary or Margaret".
On page 16 Hitchin-Kemp draws attention to the fact that "William Curzon died in 1485, for in that year Robert Kempe, and his wife Margaret, daughter of the said William Curzon, were made feoffees of his estate". For this he cites manuscripts from Dalry.
On page 18, he also writes that:
Old pedigrees apparently said she was from Stouton or Stutton, and that her daughter Cicely married a John Melton of Sturston. Rye and Muskett agree this is probably Stuston in Suffolk, therefore apparently disagreeing with Hitchin-Kemp.
Probably relevant that today there is a Stutton Brook which is a small brook running parallel and not far north of the Stour, which is a larger river. Both are in Essex, south of Suffolk. Stuston on the other hand is in the north of Suffolk, near Gissing and other Kempe manors.
It seems certain these are the Cursons of Brightwell, who had Stutton manor, and two Williams in that period.[1] Copinger, not always complete in his history of Suffolk manors, reports in one part of his Manors of Suffolk that the last Curson lord of the manor there, indeed named William, died by 1476, his heir being his daughter "Margaret" (sic), the wife of Sir Thomas Tey.[2] This is wrong both concerning when the last Curson of Stutton died, and concerning the wife of Thomas Tey.
In contrast, concerning the father-in-law of Robert Kemp, Hitchin-Kemp (p.16) writes (as quoted above) that William Curzon must have died in 1485. But this is because this it seems the Kempes were treated like heirs to a William Curson. Hitchin-Kemp furthermore believed that this same William must have been alive in 1480, when a man of this name appears in the will of a dame Katherine Kempe in Ipswich (pages 16 and 18).
As Copinger realized when he was writing the section on the manor of Brightwell,[3] an Inquisition Post Mortem for a 1485 William Curson exists, and mentions that he is son of William (implying his father was not long dead) and his daughter and heir was Elizabeth, only 1 and a half years old. No other daughters are named, although although all daughters would be heirs equally if there was no son and heir, so presumably there were no others. He held the manor of Brightwell.[4] So perhaps this William was a brother, not a father of Margaret? He would have been alive in 1480 still, and when he died, other heirs would have been next in line.
The history of the manor of Lambourne in Essex also suggests this later William was a young man, but a successor of a Robert. (It also points out that he died on the day of the Battle of Bosworth. But it wrongly names his heiress in the IPM as Mary, rather than Elizabeth.)[5] Several documents in the National archives seem to confirm there were at least two Roberts in the generation of William senior (d.1476). One was probably son of William senior and father of William junior.[6] After 175 he appears to have become lord of the manor in the period between the deaths of the two Williams: [7]
One chancery case in the National Archives catalogue seems to show that this Robert must be father of a second William.[8] However the 1485 IPM seems to say William junior was son to William senior (and says his daughter and heir Elizabeth is 1 and a half years old). Could there have been a rapid succession of Robert and then two generations of Williams after 1475?
Examination of this chancery case scans, unfortunately damaged, shows that the wife of Thomas Tey claimed to be daughter of William and "cosyn & heir" to Robert Curson. It also seems to show that her grandfather's name was almost certainly Robert, and that the wife of Thomas Tey was herself named Mary.[9]
That the Curson wife of Thomas Tey was named Mary (not Margaret or Elizabeth) can however be best confirmed from a legal case involving one or two of the heiresses of her and Thomas, who she names as daughter.[10] That he at least had a wife named Mary is confirmed by more records.[11][12]
If William (d.1485) was a young man with a very young daughter then he might still be referred to as a relative by the Kempes, but he might not be the father of Margaret Kemp. This could explain the evidence found by Hitchin-Kemp.
Margaret the wife of Robert Kemp does not appear to be sister to Mary the wife of Thomas Tey, (daughter of William, son of Robert) or else they would be equally heiresses to the family estates.
There is a will which may be helpful in the NRO:
As reported by Douglas Richardson online,[13] this will is discussed in Norfolk Archaeology 12 (1895): 427[14] and also in Hervey's Shotley Parish Records (1912)[15]. The will, says Hervey, "names therein her four sons, William, Thomas, John and Robert, all Cursons, and was buried at Brightwell". These names correspond well to one of the Suffolk Archives documents named above HD 1538/253/115 for 1468.
Richard Gipps gave some comments about these families:
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