Ursula (Smythe) Butler (1555 - 1621)

Born 1555 in City of London, England

Ancestors

Wife of Simon Harding — married 22 Jan 1571 in All Hallows, Lombard Street, City of London, England

Wife of William Butler Esq — married 21 Jan 1585 in St Gabriel Fenchurch, City of London, England

Descendants

Died 3 Jun 1621 at about age 66 in Biddenham, Bedfordshire, England

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Biography

Ursula Smythe was the second daughter of Thomas (Customer) Smythe and Alice Judde.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

She was baptised Ursula Smith on 27 May 1555 at All Hallows Lombard Street, City of London.^[7]

Portraits of Ursula Smythe, her brothers, sisters and parents, were painted by Cornelis Ketel in 1579-1580^[8][9][10] and most (including the one of Ursula) are now owned by the Skinners' Company of the City of London.

Marriages

1. Simon Harding, Salter of London^[1][6]
2. William Butler / Boteler Esq. of Biddenham, Bedfordshire^{[1][6][11][12][13][14][15]}

The marriage to Symon Harding took place on 22 Jan 1570/1571 at All Hallows Lombard Street, City of London.^[16]

Simon Harding died around 1581, Ursula being the principal beneficiary of his will.^[17] There is no known issue from the marriage with Simon Harding.

Her marriage to William Butler/Boteler took place on 21 Jan 1584/1585 at St Gabriel Fenchurch, City of London.^[18]

In the will of her father, the will made on 22 May 1591 and proved on 29 October 1591^[12] she was noted as the wife of William Butler esq. Her father bequeathed £250 to the children (not named) of Ursula and William, the sum to be equally divided between them.

Ursula was a beneficiary of the will of her mother Alice (Judde) Smythe, the will made on 10 Jul 1592.^[13] Ursula was recorded as the wife of William Butler and they had four children: Thomas, Oliver, Alice and Catherine.

In 1597, Ursula, recorded as Mistress Butler, was granted a legacy of £50 following the death of her youngest brother Simon Smythe.^[19]

In the Boteler pedigree in the Visitation of Bedfordshire^[11] Ursula was noted as the wife of William Boteler and the mother of five children, Thomas and Alice (twins), Katherin, Elizabeth and Oliver.

Ursula was recorded in the will of her cousin, Elizabeth King of Finchley, Middlesex, the will made on 20 Mar 1620/1621 and proved on 21 Feb 1621/1622^[20], but In the will of her brother, Sir Thomas Smythe, made on 30 January 1621/1622 and proved on 12 October 1625, it was stated that Ursula was deceased.^[21] The will of Sir Thomas Smythe mentioned Sir Thomas Butler and Oliver Butler, the sons of Ursula.

Children

• Alice Butler (married Edward Osborne Esq)^[11][13][22]
• [Sir] Thomas Butler^[11][13][22]
• Oliver Butler^[11][13][22]
• Katherine Butler (married John Kynnersley, Esq.)^{[11][13][22][23]}
• Elizabeth Butler (married Richard Taylor, Esq.)^{[11][22][24][25]}

Death and Burial

Elizabeth was buried on 03 Jun 1621 at Biddenham, Bedfordshire^[26][27], the same date as given for her date of death (see below).

Monument at Biddenham, Bedfordshire

"On the north wall of the chancel near the east end is a marble monument with Corinthian columns and canopy, to William Boteler, 1601, son and heir of William Boteler, son and heir of Sir William Boteler, builder of the north aisle, and to Ursula his second wife, 1621, with kneeling effigies above those of their three daughters and two sons. The arms are Quarterly (I) Gules a fesse checky argent and sable between six crosslets or (Boteler); (2) Gules crusilly or an inescutcheon vair (Molesworth); (3) Argent a fesse gules and in chief a cheveron gules (Kirton); (4) Gules a cheveron between three peacocks in their pride argent (Peacock). The wife's arms, which are those of Smith of Ostenhanger in Kent, are given as quarterly of nine. They seem to have been repainted."^[28]

The monumental inscription is:^[29]

"In memory of William Boteler Esq., sonne and heire of William Boteler Esq., sonne and heire of Sir William Boteler Knight, who amongst other his charitable deeds to this towne did founde ye North Ile of this church and in memory of Ursula wife of ye said William one of ye daughters of Thomas Smith, Esq., dureinge his life time sole famour is this monument erected through the pious care and dutiful respect of Richard Taylor of ye town of Bedford, Esq., their sonne-in-lawe Oliver Boteler their second sonne Executors (and in performance) of ye last will and testament of ye said Ursular. The said William Boteler and Ursular havinge virtuously bountifully and religiously livd many years departed this life ye said William ye 17 day of February in the year of Our Lord 1601 and ye said Ursula ye 3 June in ye year of grace 1621 and both lye buried here. They had between them two sonnes and three daughters Sir Thomas Boteler their eldest sonne and heire and ye said Oliver Boteler Alice deceased Katherine married to John Kinnersly of Warden End in ye county of Warwick Esq., and Elizabeth now wife of ye said Richard Taylor".

Summary of the Will of Ursula Boteler 1621

In her will made in 1619 (no date given) and proved on 11 Jun 1621^[22] she was recorded as “Ursuli Boteler the widdowe and late wife of William Boteler late of Biddenham in the Countie of Beddfford”. She requested that she be buried in the Chancel of the parish church of Biddenham as near to the grave of her daughter Osborne [Alice (Butler) Osborne] as convenient.

She made small bequests to:

Her brothers, Sir Thomas Smith and Sir Richard Smith;

Her sisters Mary Davy, Joan Fanshawe and Lady Elizabeth Fanshawe; and

Her niece and goddaughter, Lady Alice Hatton, the widow of Sir Christopher Hatton.

Out of the debt of one thousand one hundred and fifty pounds owed to her by her eldest son Sir Thomas Boteler she bequeathed to:

• her son, Sir Thomas Boteler, two hundred pounds, his wife, twenty pounds, and their eldest son William Boteler, thirty pounds. To their other children: Thomas, Martha, Oliver, Francis, and an unborn child, to each of them twenty pounds;
• her son Oliver, three hundred pounds;
• William Osborne and Anne Osborne, children of Alice Osborne, ten pounds each;
• her son John Kynersley and his wife, her daughter Catherin, one hundred pounds, to Ursula their daughter and her Goddaughter twenty pounds and to their other two children John and Martha ten pounds each;
• her son Richard Taylor and his wife, her daughter Elizabeth, one hundred pounds, to their eldest daughter her Goddaughter twenty pounds and to their other children ten pounds each;
• her cousin William Newton twenty pounds, to his wife five pounds, to their eldest son William Newton and to their eldest daughter her Goddaughter five pounds each;
• her sister Newton, her sister Yarrow and her cousin Quittoe and her two daughters Ursula and Cicely, to each of them forty shillings.

Small bequests were made to a number of servants.

She also referred to a loan of one hundred pounds made to her son Taylor which should be retained for three years at the rate of eight pounds in the hundred. When the sum was to be paid back it should be made up to one hundred and twenty five pounds and divided as follows: £25 to her grandson Edward Osborne when he reached 21 years of age; and £100 to her granddaughter and goddaughter Ursula Osborne for her better preferment in marriage.

In a Schedule annexed to the will she made small bequests to her: sister Farrer; nephew Sir John Davy; nephew and Godson Sir Arthur Harris; nephew Master Thomas Fanshawe of the Crown Office; nephew William Fanshaw one of the Auditors of the Duchy; nephew Thomas Fanshawe the King’s Remembrancer; friend Mr Justine Winche and his lady; cousin Mary Onslow; cousin Onslow Winche and his sister Scott.

Her son in law Richard Taylor and her son Oliver Boteler were appointed Executors.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The Visitation of Kent. Taken in the Years 1619-1621. The Publications of the Harleian Society Vol XLII. Edited by Robert Hovenden, 1898. Smith Pedigree pp 113-114 Internet Archive.
2. ↑ Visitation of London 1568. Publications of the Harleian Society. Edited by Howard and Armytage. 1869. Smythe Pedigree p 69 Internet Archive.
3. ↑ Visitation of London, 1568: With Additional Pedigrees, 1569-90, the Arms of the City Companies, and a London Subsidy Roll, 1589. Publications of the Harleian Society. Vols 109-110. London H S and Rawlins S W. 1963. Smyth Pedigree pp 17-18.
4. ↑ Stocker, J J. Pedigrees of Smythes of Ostenhangar; Kent; of Smythes of Bidborough and Sutton-at-Hone; and of the Smythes of Viscount Strangford, of Dromore, Ireland. Archæologia Cantiana, being Transactions of the Kent Archæological Society. Vol. XX, 1893, pp 76-81 pdf.
5. ↑ Wadmore, J F. Thomas Smythe, of Westenhanger, Commonly Called Customer Smythe. Archæologia Cantiana, being Transactions of the Kent Archæological Society, vol. XVII, 1887, pp 193-208 pdf.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Buckler, Benjamin. Stemmata Chicheleana. Oxford Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1765. See No 1 and 5 Internet Archive.
7. ↑ All Hallows Lombard Street, City of London. Register. Accessed via Ancestry.
8. ↑ Hearn K (1995) Dynasties : painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630. Tate Publishing.
9. ↑ Treasures of the Royal Courts. Tudors, Stuarts & the Russian Tsars. Dmitrieva O and Murdoch T (Eds). V&A Publishing, 2013.
10. ↑ A Set of Portraits of the Family of Thomas 'Customer' Smythe by Cornelis Ketel. Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest. Expert's Statement. Arts Council, abt 2015.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6} The Visitations of Bedfordshire, AD 1566, 1582 and 1634. Blaydes F A (Ed). 1884. Publications of the Harleian Society. Vol XXI. Boteler of Biddenham Pedigree, p 84 Internet Archive.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Will of Thomas Smythe of London. 29 Oct 1591. PROB 11/78/226. The National Archives, Kew.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5} Will of Alice Smythe, Widow of London. 11 May 1598. PROB 11/91/377. The National Archives, Kew.
14. ↑ The History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Willey: in the County of Bedford. 1872-1878, p 11 bl.
15. ↑ Boteler, William (c.1540-1602), of Biddenham, Beds. Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981 HOP.
16. ↑ All Hallows Lombard Street, City of London. Register. Accessed via Ancestry.
17. ↑ Will of Simon Hardinge or Harding, Salter of London. 05 Jan 1582. PROB 11/64/5. The National Archives, Kew.
18. ↑ St Gabriel Fenchurch, City of London. Register. Accessed via Ancestry.
19. ↑ Summary of receipts and payments made by the unnamed brother of Simon Smith, deceased, acting as executor. Jul 1597. E 192/1/4. The National Archives, Kew.
20. ↑ Will of Elizabeth Kinge, Widow of Finchley, Middlesex. 21 February 1622. PROB 11/139/216. The National Archives, Kew.
21. ↑ Will of Sir Thomas Smithe of London (1625). PROB 11/147/84. The National Archives, Kew.
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5} Will of Ursula Boteler, Widow of Biddenham, Bedfordshire. 11 Jun 1621. PROB 11/137/525. The National Archives, Kew.
23. ↑ The Visitation of the County of Warwick 1619. The Publications of the Harleian Society. Fetherston J (Ed.). Vol XII. 1877. Kynnersley Pedigree pp 396-398 Internet Archive.
24. ↑ Taylor, Richard (c.1580-1641/2), of Grimsbury, Bolnhurst, Beds. and Lincoln's Inn, London; later of Clapham, Beds. Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010 HOP.
25. ↑ The Visitations of Bedfordshire, AD 1566, 1582 and 1634. Blaydes F A (Ed). 1884. Publications of the Harleian Society. Vol XXI. Taylor Pedigree, pp 144-145 Internet Archive.
26. ↑ Blaydes, F A. Genealogia Bedfordiensis: being a collection of evidences relating chiefly to the landed gentry of Bedfordshire, AD 1538-1700. Published 1890. See Biddenham p 43 Internet Archive.
27. ↑ Bedfordshire Parish Registers. F G Emmison (Ed.). Vol XVI, 1937 Biddenham Internet Archive.
28. ↑ 'Parishes: Biddenham', in A History of the County of Bedford: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London, 1912), pp 36-40 BHO.
29. ↑ The Boteler Family of Biddenham bedfordshire archives.

See also:

• Boteler Monument waymarking.