Walter Wrottesley Esq (abt. 1483 - abt. 1563)

Born about 1483 in Staffordshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Isabel (Harcourt) Wrottesley — married after 12 Mar 1501 in England

Descendants

Died about 1 Jul 1563 at about age 80 in Staffordshire, England [uncertain]

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Walter Wrottesley, Esq. was one of the eighteen children of Richard Wrottesley, Esq. and Dorothy Sutton and was his father's main heir.^[1][2][3][4] His date of birth is unknown and is estimated. He may have been born at Wrottesley or Butterton, Staffordshire, where his father held lands.

Marriage and Children

Walter married Isabel Harcourt,^[4] daughter of John Harcourt, Esq.^[5][6] and Margaret Bracy.^[1] They were married shortly after 12 March 1501,^[1] the date of an indenture made between Richard Wrottesley, Esq. and Dame Margaret Harcourt and Thomas Harcourt (Isabel's mother and brother).^[3] They had two sons and five daughters:

• John, Esq.,^[1] his heir, married Elizabeth Astley^[3] and had issue^[5][6]
• Richard,^[1] died in 1566^[3]
• Dorothy, wife of William Laurence, Esq.^[1][3]
• Eleanor, wife of Richard Lee, Esq.^[1][3]
• Margaret, wife of Nicholas Thornes, Esq.^[1][3]
• Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Talbot:^[1] as a widow she left a will dated 1559 naming her father; brothers John and Richard; John Gower; sisters Elynor Lee, Margaret and Dorothy Lawrence^[3]
• Elizabeth, second of name, wife of John Gower^[1][3]

Life and Lands

Walter probably succeeded his father before 6 December 1521 when he paid a mark to the Abbot of Evesham for half a year's quit rent due at the previous Michaelmas.^[3]

Walter was appointed escheator of Staffordshire^[1] by letters patent dated 18 November 1527^[3] and served again from 28 November 1532 to 12 February 1534.^[7]

In 1535, Walter was one of the Commissioners "for levying the tenth of Spiritualities in Staffordshire", a form of taxation on the church. The returns of this commission, known as the "Valor ecclesiasticus" have been printed. The next year, as a magistrate, Walter was party to a prosecution against Henry Baker alias Starky and George Robinson for words spoken against the king. In 1539/40, Walter was included in a special commission of oyer and terminer for treasons and other offenses in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire;^[8] he also served as a Commissioner for the General Muster.^[3]

In 1540, Walter purchased the manor of Lutley, Staffordshire, from Sir Giles Strangeways^[1][9] and 900 acres in Lutley, Morfe and Enville.^[3]

Walter was first appointed Sheriff of Staffordshire in in 23 Henry VIII (1530/1) at Michaelmas.^[3][10] He served a second time in 1547,^[1][3] being appointed in Easter of that year.^[10]

In 1548, Walter purchased the College of Totnall (or Totenhall/Tettenhall), one of the King's Free Collegiate Churches, and its prebends (Penford, Bobenhill, Perton, Wrottesley and Codsall),^[11] with letters patent granting the College to him dated 8 May 3 Edward VI (1549).^[12] By this grant, the Wrottesleys became secular Deans of Tettenhall and the wills of the parishioners of Tettenhall and Codsall were proved in their manor courts.^[3]

Death

Walter's will was dated 13 December 1562. In it he left all his goods and chattels to his son John and named John as his executor. The will was proved in January 1565.^[3] However, Walter died testate shortly before 1 July 1563,^[1] when his son John received his father's property.^[3]

Arms

On the dexter side: Or, three piles sable, a quarter Ermine, for Wrottesley. On the sinister side: Gules, two bars Or, for Harcourt of Ronton, Staffordshire On the upper bar a crescent sable, as a mark of cadency.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013), vol. III, pages 686-687, MACKWORTH 10, Walter Wrottesley.
2. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), vol. III, pages 91-92, MACKWORTH 10, Walter Wrottesley. Google Books.
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18} George Wrottesley. History of the Family of Wrottesley of Wrottesley, co. Stafford. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co., 1903. Online at Archive.org, pages 250-251 (indenture for marriage), pages 266-277.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Thomas Wotton. The English Baronetage. Vol. 2, London: the author, 1741. Pages 345-6. Google Books. Gives wrong father of wife Isabel (Thomas)
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} H. Sydney Grazebrook and Robert Glover, The Visitacion of Staffordschire. London: Mitchell and Hughes, 1883. Page 153. Online at Archive.org: Wrottesley of Wrottesley.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Sir Richard St. George and Sir William Dugdale. The Heraldic Visitations of Staffordshire 1614, 1634/4. Mitchell and Hughes, 1885. Page 331. Online at Google Books.
7. ↑ 'Henry VIII: Miscellaneous 1540', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540-1541, London, 1898, pp. 178-210. British History Online.
8. ↑ 'Henry VIII: July 1540, 21-31', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 15, 1540, London, 1896, pp. 445-481. British History Online.
9. ↑ The National Archives Discovery, Receipt, Reference: 2089/2/2/48; Giles Strangways of Melbury Sampforde, co. Dorset, Knight to Walter Wrottesley of Wrottesley, co. Staff., esq. of £251 17s 5½d for bargain and sale of manor of Lutley. Dated at Melbury, endorsed as a 'Grant', date: 25 April 1541
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Great Britain, Public Record Office. List of Sheriffs for England and Wales, from the earliest times to A.D. 1831. New York: Kraus Reprint Corp., 1963. Page 128. Online at Archive.org.
11. ↑ G C Baugh, et al. 'Colleges: Tettenhall, St Michael', in A History of the County of Stafford. Volume 3, London, 1970, pp. 315-321. British History Online.
12. ↑ Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office--Edward VI, Vol. 2. 1548-1549, page 305. FamilySearch.

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Thiessen-117 on 14 March 2022 and reviewed the same day by Michael Cayley.

Walter Wrottesley Esq appears in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestor Agnes Mackworth to Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy (vol. III, pages 91-93 MACKWORTH) that was badged by the Magna Carta Project in March 2022. This trail is set out in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".