Edward Peyton Bt (abt. 1581 - bef. 1652)

Born about 1581 in Cambridgeshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Livesey) Peyton — married 24 Apr 1604 in Streatham, Surrey, England

Husband of Jane (Calthorpe) Peyton — married 6 Jun 1614 in London, England

Husband of Dorothy (Minshaw) Lowe — married 13 Dec 1638 in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England

Descendants

Died before Dec 1652 before about age 71 in England

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Biography

This profile is part of the Peyton Name Study.

Birth and Parents

Edward was the son and heir of John Peyton and Alice Osborne.^[1][2][3] Douglas Richardson gives his birth year as about 1581.^[4][5] Cokayne's Complete Baronetage does not give a birth date but says he was about 50 at the time of his 1538 third marriage, which would point to a birth year of about 1588.^[6] An allegation for a licence for his third marriage gives his age as 50, but this may mean 50 and more.^[7] but that would mean he was 16 when he first married in 1604, and that would be on the young side for a man in this period (though not impossibly so).

Education

Edward attended the grammar school at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.^[6][8] According to the 17th century antiquary Anthony à Wood, he went on to study at the University of Cambridge.^[8] The University awarded him a MA degree in 1618,^[9] even though he was a not a BA.^[8] No record has been found of his actually studying at Cambridge University.^[10]

Marriages and Children

Edward married three times. On 24 April 1694 he married Martha Livesay (daughter of Robert Livesay/Livesey of Tooting, Surrey)^[1][2] at Streatham, Surrey.^{[4][5][6][11]} They had the following children:

• Amy, born in 1605,^[8] who married Henry Lawrence,^[4][5] who served as Lord President of the Council under Oliver Cromwell in 1653^[8]
• John, baptised at Isleham, Cambridgeshire on 2 November 1607,^[6] who succeeded to Edward's baronetcy^[4][5][6]
• Edward,^[4][5] who was a lieutenant-colonel in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War^[8]
• Robert,^[4][5] born in 1611^[8]
• Thomas,^[4][5] buried on 1 January 1614^[8]

Edward's first wife was buried at Isleham, Cambridgesghire on 30 October 1613.^[6]

On 6 June 1614, at St Batholomew the Less, London, Edward married Jane Calthorpe,^[12] daughter of James Calthorpe of Cockthorpe, Norfolk, and widow of Henry Thimblethorpe.^[6] (Douglas Richardson mistakenly gives her father's residence as Calthorpe, Norfolk.^[4][5]) They had the following children:

• James,^[4][5] who died in 1620^[8]
• another Thomas^[4][5] born in 1617^[8]
• William^[4][5] (not listed in Edward's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography^[8])
• Jane,^[4][5] who died in February 1633^[8]

Edward's second wife died before December 1638. On 13 December that year he married again, his third wife being Dorothy Minshaw: they wed on 13 December 1638 at St James, Clerkenwell, Middlesex.^[6][13][14] Douglas Richardson says she was daughter of Edward Ball of Stockwell, Surrey,^[4][5] but an allegation for a licence for their marriage, dated 14 December 1638, gives her last name as "Minshawe" and describes her as a spinster, age 21 (probably meaning 21 and more).^[7] Cokayne suggests that Edward Ball may have been her stepfather.^[6] They had at least two children:^[4][5]

• Edward: according to Betham's Baronetage he was a merchant of Surinam, and died in 1675^[15] - this information needs to be verified. Edward Peyton, "sonn of Sir Edward Peyton Knt and Dorothye his and Dorothy his wife", was baptised at St James, Clerkenwell, Middlesex on 23 September 1638:^[16][17]
  • It is difficult to reconcile this baptism record with the December 1638 date of Edward's marriage to Dorothy Minshaw. Was this Edward in reality born before their marriage - in which case his father did not always adhere to his Puritan principles? Or was there some irregularity in an earlier marriage ceremony which led to their having a second marriage, and, if so, was this the reason why Edward was required to appear before ecclesiastical commissioners that year?^[18] (See Religion below.)
• Joseph, who married Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of Marmaduke Vincent, of Great Smeaton, Yorkshire, with a marriage allegation dated 1 June 1674: the allegation gives his age at marriage as about 26, pointing to a birth date of about 1648^[19]

Knighthood

Cokayne's Complete Baronetage states that, according to John Philipot's A perfect collection or cataloge of all knights batchelaurs made by King James since his coming to the crown of England (1660), Edward was knighted on 18 March 1611 at Whitehall, but goes on to say that he must have been knighted between November 1607, when he is styled Esquire in the baptism record of his son John, and August 1611, when he was described as a knight in his Gray's Inn admission record.^[6] Edward is not, though, listed in the PDF of this work on Early English Books Online.^[20] Edward's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography also states, without a source, that he was knighted at Whitehall on 18 March 1611.^[8] Copinger's Manors of Suffolk says that Edward was knighted on 4 February 1610.^[21] Edward is not listed in Shaw's Knights of England but it is just possible that the John Peyton whom Shaw records as knighted in October 1608 is really Edward.^[22]

1610s

Edward was admitted to Gray's Inn on 16 August 1611. The record describes him as a knight, son of John Peyton of Isleham, Cambridgeshire, baronet and knight.^[23]

Edward inherited the Peyton baronetcy on the death of his father in 1616.^[6]

From 1617 Edward held various positions of local responsibility in Cambridgeshire.^[10] In December 1617 Edward was appointed custos rotulorum for Cambridgeshire - official keeper of the county records (he would have delegated the duties and regarded this as a source of income). This was one of the most senior positions in the county. He held the position only a few weeks: the previous holder, Sir John Cotton, was restored in February 1618. When John Cotton died in 1621, Edward hoped to regain the position, but the royal favourite George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham gave it instead to Sir John Cutts.^[8]

1620s

In March 1620 Edward successfully sought to be excused from serving as one of the Commissioners of Sewers in Cambridgeshire appointed to oversee drainage in the fens and land enclosure.^[24] His reason appears to have been opposition to the plans.^[25]

In 1621 Edward was elected to Parliament for the first time, representing Cambridgeshire. He was soon sitting on a number of committees. He spoke out in the House of Commons against a bill for fen drainage, stating afterwards that he had been called from the main chamber of the Commons to a small room in Parliament, where an attempt was made to persuade him to accept a large bribe to withdraw his opposition.^[10]

In February 1622 Edward was threatened with imprisonment for refusing to contribute to a forced levy. That summer he and others rescued Dorothy Gawdy, on whom the Duke of Buckingham had amorous designs, by carrying her over rooftops at Windsor to a private room.^[10]

In 1622-3 he served as Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire.^[6][26][27]

In March 1623 Edward was given permission to take 100 Partridges a year from the Isle of Ely and other areas to the Isleham area of Cambridgeshire.^[28]

In January 1624 Edward again sought to represent Cambridgeshire in Parliament, standing with Sir Simeon Steward against Sir John Cutts and Toby Palavicino. The outcome was confused: the under-sheriff of Cambridgeshire declared Peyton the winner, but the House of Commons ordered a fresh election, which was held on 18 March. Edward was elected this time too, with Sir John Cutts as the other county MP. Edward was re-elected in 1625 and 1626.^[10]

1630s

Edward is probably the Edward Peyton whose wife, "Lady Peyton", petitioned in 1631 against his being granted a pass to travel overseas.^[29]

In 1632 the Court of Star Chamber fined Edward, his son John, and two others fined £20 for riot. The details of what led to this are not known.^[10]

In 1634 Edward wrote, but did not publish, A Discours of Court and Courtiers, full of fairly commonplace advice to courtiers. Dedicated to James Stuart, Duke of Lennox, it included a thinly-disguised attack on royal favourites like the Duke of Buckingham,^[10] who had been killed in 1628 - perhaps a sign of how much Buckingham's refusal to grant him the post of custos rotulorum again in 1621 still rankled.

English Civil War; Political Writings

In the years leading up to the English Civil War Edward wrote a treatise condemning actions of Charles I. On 23 October 1642, when he was probably about 60, he fought in the Battle of Edgehill as an infantry captain. His goods were captured after the battle, and they included a copy of one of his tracts: this led to his being condemned to death by the royalists. He said later that he had fought in one of the Battles of Newbury and the Battle of Naseby. He lost £400 when royalists plundered a brother's home in Wiltshire. His son Thomas had fought for the royalists, and in 1646 Parliament fined Thomas £338, adding to Edward's losses: in 1649 this fine was halved.^[10]

Edward continued writing political tracts. In 1647 he published The High-way to Peace in which he sought to set out a plan to bring together Charles I, Parliament and the New Model Army. Five years later The Divine Catastrophe of the Kingly Family of the House of Stuarts appeared: a justification of the execution of Charles I and of the Cromwellian regime.^[10] This included a suggestion that all monarchs in Christendom might be destroyed by God.^[8]

Religion

Edward came from a Puritan background.^[10] In 1638 Archbishop Laud and other ecclesiastical commissioners issued a warrant for Edward's apprehension and his appearance before the commissioners.^[18] The reasons are not known, but the likelihood is that this was because of his Puritan views. Or this may have been connected with complications over Edward's third marriage, if he and Dorothy Minshaw had an irregular ceremony before the birth of their son Edward (see what is said about this son earlier in this biography).

In March 1642 Edward published a treatise arguing that communicants should be allowed to sit rather than kneel while receiving communion:^[10] this confirms his Puritan leanings.

Property and Residences

In 1604, following his first marriage, Edward was given the manor of Great Bradley, Suffolk (near the family property at Isleham, Cambridgeshire) by his father.^[10] In 1615, after his second marriage, he was living in Norwich.

In 1616 Edward inherited lands at Isleham, Cambridgeshire from his father. His father's estate was heavily encumbered by debt, and Edward became beset by substantial financial problems. The death of his mother in 1627 eased his financial position, but in the 1630s money problems resurfaced.^[10] In 1637, owing £7000, he sold his Isleham lands to Sir John Maynard.^[30]

Edward also held property at Wicken, Cambridgeshire.^[4][5]

Death

Edward died before 3 December 1652, when his son Thomas referred to him as "late deceased".^[8][10] He left no will: administration of property at Wicken, Cambridgeshire was granted to his widow on 1 July 1657.^[4][5][10]

His third wife survived him: she subsequently married Edward Lowe, vicar of Brighthelmstead (Brighton), Sussex, where she was buried on 10 April 1681.^[4][5][6]

Research Notes

Death Date

Cokayne and Douglas Richardson both state that Edward died shortly before July 1657.^[4][5][6] This is presumably based on the date his widow was given administration of his lands at Wicken, Cambridgeshire.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} John Fetherston (ed.). The Visitation of the County of Warwick in the year 1619, Harleian Society, 1877, p. 381, Internet Archive
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} John W Clay. The The visitation of Cambridge made in a (1575) : continued and enlarged with the vissitation of the same county made by Henery St. George, Richmond herald, marshall and deputy to Willm. Camdem, Clarenceulx, in a 1619, with many other descents added therto, Harleian Society, 1897, pp. 4-5, Internet Archive
3. ↑ Robert Hovenden (ed.). The Visitation of Kent taken in the years 1619-1621, Harleian Society, 1898, p. 66, Internet Archive
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 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17} 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. III, pp.356-357, PEYTON 15, Google Books
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. IV, pp. 371-372, PEYTON 15
6. ↑ ^{6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13} G E Cokayne. Complete Baronetage, Vol. I, William Pollard, 1900, pp. 15-16, Internet Archive
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Joseph Lemuel Chester (ed. George J Armytage). Allegations for Marriage Licences issued by the Bishop of London 1611-1828, Vol. II, Harleian Society, 1887, p. 239, Internet Archive
8. ↑ ^{8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Richard L Greaves for 'Peyton, Sir Edward, second baronet', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
9. ↑ J A Venn. Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954, Ancestry.co.uk
10. ↑ ^{10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14} History of Parliament Online, entry for 'PEYTON, Sir Edward, 2nd Bt. (c.1584-1652), of Isleham, Cambs.'
11. ↑ Surrey marriages, transcription by West Surrey Family History Society, FindMyPast
12. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NVLT-Y2Z : 13 March 2020), Edward Payton, 1614
13. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V52S-PQT : 12 March 2020), Edward Paiton, 1638
14. ↑ Robert Hovenden. A true register of all the christeninges, mariages, and burialles in the parishe of St. James, Clarkenwell from the yeare of Our Lorde God 1551, Vol. III, Harleian Society, 1887, p. 70, Internet Archive: marriage of Sir Edward Paiton and Mrs Dorothye Minshaw, 13 December 1638
15. ↑ William Betham. The Baronetage of England, Vol. I, William Miller, 1801,p. 47, Google Books
16. ↑ Middlesex: Clerkenwell: St James parish register, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818b5c5e93790ec8b05e28a : viewed 14 Oct 2023) baptism Edward Peyton 23 Sep 1638
17. ↑ Robert Hovenden. A true register of all the christeninges, mariages, and burialles in the parishe of St. James, Clarkenwell from the yeare of Our Lorde God 1551, Vol. I, Harleian Society, 1884, p. 139, Internet Archive
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} 'Charles I - volume 406: Undated 1638', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1638-9, ed. John Bruce and William Douglas Hamilton (London, 1871), pp. 195-225, British History Online (entry 57), accessed 14 October 2023
19. ↑ Joseph Lemuel Chester (ed. George J Armytage). Allegations for marriage licences issued by the dean and chapter of Westminster, 1558-1699; also, for those issued by the vicar-general of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1660 to 1679, Harleian Society, 1886, p. 228, Internet Archive
20. ↑ John Philipot. A perfect collection or cataloge of all knights batchelaurs made by King James since his coming to the crown of England, Humphrey Moseley, 1660, Early English Books Online, PDF ($)
21. ↑ W A Copinger. The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. I, 1905, p. 26, Internet Archive
22. ↑ W A Shaw. The Knights of England, Vol. II, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906, p. 146, Internet Archive
23. ↑ Joseph Foster. The register of admissions to Gray's Inn, 1521-1889, Hansard Publish Union, 1889, p. 127, Internet Archive
24. ↑ 'James 1 - volume 113: March 1620', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1619-23, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1858), pp. 127-135, British History Online (entry for 1 March 1620), accessed 14 October 2023
25. ↑ A F Wareham and A P M Wright, 'Isleham: Economic history', in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (North-Eastern Cambridgeshire) (London, 2002), pp. 437-444, British History Online, accessed 14 October 2023
26. ↑ List of Sheriff's for England and Wales, Public Record Office Lists and Indexes Vol. IX, HMSO 1898 (Kraus Reprint Corporation 1963), p. 14, Internet Archive
27. ↑ 'James 1 - volume 140: March 19-31 1623', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1619-23, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1858), pp. 531-545, British History Online (entry for 31 March 1623), accessed 14 October 2023
28. ↑ 'James 1 - volume 139: March 1-18 1623', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1619-23, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1858), pp. 506-530, British History Online, (entries for 7 March 1623), accessed 14 October 2023
29. ↑ The National Archives, ref. PC 2/41/70, Caveat to be noted in the Privy Council's books that Lady Peyton has petitioned against a pass to travel overseas for Sir Edward Peyton, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
30. ↑ A F Wareham and A P M Wright, 'Isleham: Manors', in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (North-Eastern Cambridgeshire) (London, 2002), pp. 427-437, British History Onlnie, accessed 14 October 2023

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-19009, Vol. 45, pp. 134-135, Wikisource
• Wikipedia: Sir Edward Peyton, 2nd Baronet

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 14 October 2023.

Edward Peyton Bt appears in trails badged by the Magna Carta project (reviewed in August 2015) from Gateway Ancestor Robert Peyton, through his father, to Magna Carta Surety Barons William d'Aubigné and Robert de Ros and was later identified in badged trails to surety barons Richard de Clare, Gilbert de Clare, John de Lacy, and Saher de Quincy. All of these trails are 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".