William Rudhall Esq. (1460 - 1530)

Born 1460 in Rudhall, Herefordshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Milbourne) Rudhall — married before 1498 in England

Descendants

Died 22 Mar 1530 at about age 70 in Herefordshire, England [uncertain]

Biography

WILLIAM RUDHALE (or RUDHALL), Esq., of Rudhall (in Brampton Abbots), Gayton (in Upton Bishop), Lyde, Pipe and Weston Britte, Herefordshire, and, in right of his wife, of Munsley, Herefordshire, was born in 1460, the son of John Rudhale^[1][2] (d. 1500 or 1503), son of William Rudhall, and Johanna Cowley.^[3] "John Rudhale increased his patrimony in 1492, by the purchase of lands in Upton from John Grey ... and was buried in the chancel of Brampton Church." [CTH p.153] "John Rudhale, father of the said William Rudhale ... [held property] and that he gave all these premises to his son William R and Ann his wife and their heirs. They had a son John who took to wife Isabella ... and had issue one son John Rudhale surviving."[CTH p.159].^[4]

EVENTS
Titles and Positions:^[1]

• Knight of the Shire for Herefordshire;
• Attorney General to Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, 1496-1502;
• Justice in eyre, 1503-1509;
• Attorney General to Queen Katherine of Aragon, 1509-1530;
• Steward of Hereford, 1511-1513;
• Serjeant-at-law, 1521-1530;
• Justice of assize, 1523-1524;
• of the Queen's Council, 1529.

William was also Lord of the Manor of Rudhall; was JP co. Herefordshire, and was MP in 1491-2; he rode twice as a Commander of Assize on the Oxford Circuit and once on the Midland Circuit; he was also a Judge of North Wales.^[5]

William was a prominent Bencher of the Inner Temple and presided over its parliament, which admitted his son, John Rudhale, to masters' commons in 1516 and assigned him a chamber with his father.^[6]

Between 1504-1515, William was involved in a lawsuit in Chancery against John Devereaux, Knt. and William "of the Celer," along with their wives, regarding deeds for land in Lyde, Arundel, Herefordshire bought from John Devereaux by William Rudhale.^[1]

The family’s improvement of its estates annoyed Bishop Booth of Hereford, who thought the Rudhall properties were being expanded at the expense of the diocese.^[6] A complaint was filed, arbitration was ordered and a resolution was recorded on "5 March 10 Henry VIII" (5 Mar 1519).^[4]

MARRIAGE and CHILDREN
William married before 1498 to Anne Milbourne, third surviving daughter and co-heiress of Simon Milbourne, Esq. of Tillington, Herefordshire and Jane Baskerville, and they had the following children:

• Sir John^[7] (1498-1530), m. Isabel Whittington;^[1]
• Charles,^[1] m. Alice Bromwich;^[7]
• Jane,^[1] m. Richard Read;^[7]
• Elizabeth, m. William Hugford^[1] aka Hockford;^[7]
• Blanche, m. Walter Vaughan.^[1][7]

DEATH, WILL and BURIAL
William Rudhall, Esq. died 22 Mar 1530^[3] (22 March in the 21st year of Henry VIII) and was buried in the church at Ross, Herefordshire.^[1][4]

William's will was proved on 27 Jul 1530^[1] and provided direction for the sale of certain land to pay his debts and legacies. His will was later studied at an inquest held 6 Dec 1532^[3] in order to determine which Rudhale properties should be held for William's grandson, John. The inquest found that William's heirs were his wife; Isabella Horton (wife of Walter Horton and widow of his son, John) and their heirs; and his son Charles and his heirs.^[4]

In Rudhall Chapel, located at the end of the south aisle of the Herefordshire church, William and his wife, Ann, are memorialized on a marble altar tomb in "recumbent effigies ... with William in full dress ... [and] a helmet carrying his family crest".^[4]

Research Notes

MCA4 citations checked against hard copy of book on 8/10/2019 (RA5 not verified) tt.

Children named in bio above are per Richardson, MCA 2d ed. vol. 4, page 365, but:

1. Duncumb has another daughter, Isabelle, was born to William and Anne Rudhale, but no other information is given about her. He also states that William had a daughter, Elinor, who married William Higford (this is likely the same person as Elizabeth who m. William Hugford in MCA v.4 p.365).^[4]
2. Visitation has daughter Elizabeth m. "William Hockford of Dickleston, Gloucester".^[7] (using Hugford per Richardson).
3. Norr states that William and Anne Rudhale had 6 children, including John, Charles (b.c. 1504, m1. 1529 Maria Southworth b.1508 and/or m2.Alice Bromwich b.1518); Jane (b.c. 1500, m1. Read and m2. Scudmore) and Blanche (b. 1506 m. Vaughan), but Norr also names Elizabeth AND Eleanor as their children, as follows:^[3]

Elizabeth (aka Isabel), b. c 1502, m. William Hockford;

Eleanor, b.c 1508, m. William Higford.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Richardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd edition, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), Vol. IV, p. 365-366, WOODWARD 12 [MCP link to Gateway Ancestors Sarah and Frances Woodward].
2. ↑ Richardson, Douglas, Royal Ancestry, Vol. V, p. 392.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Norr, Vernon M., Some Early English Pedigrees: Combined from Most Available Sources - 1958-1968, Arlington, VA: [s.n.], 1968. Available online at LDS.org, page 102.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5} Duncumb, John, Collections Towards the History And Antiquities of the County of Hereford. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1882. Accessed online at Hathitrust, vol. 3, p.123-124 (tomb), p.153 (occ.), p.153-157 (arbitration), p.159-160 (inquest/Wm.'s will & DOD), p.165 (family tree).
5. ↑ Williams, W.R., The Parliamentary History of the County of Hereford, 1213-1896, Brecknock: Edwin Davies and Bell, 1896. Access online at GoogleBooks, page 36.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} History of Parliament Online - bio of son, John Rudhale, published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5} Weaver, F. W., comp. The Visitation of Herefordshire Made by Robert Cooke, Clarencieux, in 1569, Exeter: William Pollard, 1886. Access online at Archive.org, p. 93.

See also:

• William Rudhall entry in Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors and Cousins, (website, compiled by Marlyn Lewis, Portland, OR), accessed 11/17/18.
• Richardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed., Vol. I, p. 223 (names children).
• Richardson, Douglas, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 500-501 (probate).
• Roberts, Gary Boyd, The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004; [database on-line] Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006: #467 p.385-6: Sarah Woodward through Theobald de Verdun, 2nd.
• British History online: Ross An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire, Volume 2, East. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1932