Humphrey Kynaston (abt. 1470 - 1534)

Born about 1470 in Shropshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1534 at about age 64 in England

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Note: Humphrey Kynaston was featured in the March 2022 Magna Carta Project Newsletter.

Biography

Birth and Parents

Humphrey was the son of Roger Kynaston^[1] and Elizabeth Grey (this was a second marriage for both of them).^[2] His birth date is uncertain, and the guesstimate of about 1470 is based on his parents being married by 1465.^[3][4] He may have been born in Shropshire where his father held lands, but his father also had interests in Wales.^[5][6]

Marriages and Children

Humphrey married twice. His first wife was Mariona or Margred ferch William ap Griffith.^[3][4] They had two children:

• Edward^[2][3][4]
• Elizabeth, who married John Trevor^[2][3][4]

Humphrey's second wife was Elsbeth ferch Maredudd ap Hywel, daughter of Maredudd ap Hywel^[2] and Thomas Ireland.^[3][4] They had at least five children:

• Edward^[1][2][3][4]
• Robert^[2][3][4]
• Roger^[1][2][3][4]
• Margaret, who married John ap Ieuan ab Owain^[2][3][4]
• Thomasine^[3][4]

Wikipedia^[7] ascribes another daughter, Jane, to this marriage. Its source is the Gaskell Family History Web Site, whose webpage for Humphrey gives no clear source for this.^[8]

Life

After the death of Humphrey's father, the family must have fallen into financial problems: the Corporation of Shrewsbury made him and his mother a loan of £20.^[5][6][9]

Humphrey was constable of Myddle Castle.^[3][4]

He was nicknamed "wild Humfrey".^[9] He was outlawed for debt in 1491. He and his horse took refuge in a cave near Nesscliffe, Shropshire, to which man and beast ascended by twenty-four steps. The cave had two chambers, one for Humphrey and one for the horse,^[5][6][9] which was called Beelzebub.^[10][11] He is said to have robbed the rich and given to the poor, leading to him being compared to Robin Hood.^[9] According to one story, which may be legendary, on one occasion several planks were removed from a bridge across the River Severn in an attempt to capture him, but he escaped when his horse leapt across.^[12]

The same year he and others were indicted for the murder of John Hughes in an affray at Ellesmere, Shropshire in which some 40 people were involved, including Humphrey's brother Thomas. On 20 May 1493 Humphrey was given a pardon which extended to all acts of violence, although it preserved the legal rights of any individual against him.^[9]

In 1505 a Humfrey Kynaston paid 200 marks, apparently for "an offence in his shrevaltie" (which would normally mean while he was sheriff) but there is no record of a Humphrey Kynaston being a sheriff around this time, so it is unclear what this offence relates to. It is possible the offender was a namesake.^[9]

In Michaelmas term 1508 Jane/Joan Stanley, Lady Strange petitioned Henry VII asking that a Humphrey Kynaston be summoned in relation to "Ryott and mysbehaviour": apparently Humphrey and some 40 (again) people had come to Ellesmere, Shropshire, with "bylles bowes arrowez swordes bokelers and spears", entered her lands, and cut down and carried away "sertayn grete ookes to the nombre of foure score and aboue to the vttor destruccion of thenheritaunce [the inheritance] of your said complaynaunte." It is not certain whether this was the Humphrey of this profile.^[9][13]

Death

Humphrey died in 1534: his will, dated 1 May 1534, was proved on 16 January 1534/5.^[3][4]

Research Notes

Previously-shown son

A Thomas Kynaston, father of Jane who married a Corbet, has previously been shown on WikiTree as son of Humphrey and his second wife. There appears to be no reliable source for this. According to the Harleian Society edition of the 1623 Shropshire Visitation, Thomas (said to be of Brandon Heath) was the son of Thomas Kynaston of Brandon Heath (himself son of another Thomas Kynaston) and Isabella, daughter of George Kynaston of Oteley, Shropshire.^[2]

In Fiction

In 1899 a novel about Humphrey was published: Wild Humphrey Kynaston: The robber troglodyte: a romance of the Robin Hood of Shropshire in the reign of Henry the seventh by Henry Hudson.^[14][15]

A second novel about him was published in 2012: The Highwayman's Cave: The Fantastic and Romantic Adventures of a Shropshire Legend, by Neil Tisdale. In this his horse has magical powers which help him evade capture.^[16][17]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The Visitation of London, 1633-4, Vol. II, Harleian Society, 1883, p. 37, Kynaston pedigree, Internet Archive
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9} George Grazebrook and John Paul Rylands. The Visitation of Shropshire, 1623, with additions, Part II, Harleian Society, 1889, p. 295, Internet Archive
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} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, p. 431, CHERLETON 13, Google Books
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. III, p. 592, LLOYD 11
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, Vol. I, p. 430, CHERLETON 12, Google Books
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 591, LLOYD 10
7. ↑ Wikipedia: Humphrey Kynaston
8. ↑ Gaskell Family website, page for Humphrey Kynaston, accessed 5 November 2021
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6} Select Cases before the King's King's Council in the Star Chamber A.D. 1477-1509, Selden Society, 1902, pp. xc-xciii, Internet Archive
10. ↑ Wikipedia: Nesscliffe
11. ↑ Humphrey Kynaston's Cave, Wayback Machine, accessed 5 November 2021
12. ↑ Shropshire History, 'Shropshire Caves & Rock Shelters', Wayback Machine, accessed 5 November 2021
13. ↑ Select Cases before the King's King's Council in the Star Chamber A.D. 1477-1509, pp. 274-275, Internet Archive
14. ↑ National Library of Wales catalogue entry
15. ↑ British Library catalogue entry
16. ↑ Google Books - opening pages viewable here
17. ↑ British Library catalogue entry

See also:

• Wikipedia: Humphrey Kynaston

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 5 December 2021 and was reviewed the same day by Thiessen-117.

Humphrey is named in Magna Carta Ancestry, vol. I, pages 425-432, CHERLETON, in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestor Thomas Lloyd to Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod and Roger Bigod that was badged by the Magna Carta Project on 18 December 2021. The Project has also identified an alternate trail to the Bigods along with trails to several other surety barons, including:

• William de Mowbray, badged by the Project on 18 December 2021
• Robert de Vere, badged by the project on 24 December 2021
• Henry de Bohun, badged by the Project on 31 December 2021
• the following Barons, where the trails were identified and reviewed by the Project in 2015 and require re-development to bring them up to current project standards:
  • John de Lacy
  • Saher de Quincy
  • Gilbert de Clare
  • Richard de Clare

See these trails, with a list of profiles within the trails and their status in the Magna Carta Trails section of Thomas Lloyd'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".