John Heydon (1588 - 1657)

Born 1588 in Saxlingham, Norfolk, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 26 Oct 1657 at about age 69 in Heston, Middlesex, England

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Biography

John Heydon was born in Saxlingham, Norfolk, England.

John was born in 1588 at Saxlingham, Norfolk. He was the second son of Christopher Heydon and his wife, Mirabel Rivett. He was baptised^[1] on 23 June 1588 in St Margaret's Church at Saxlingham^[2]. His siblings also baptised at Saxlingham, were: William (baptised 19 September 1585); Jeanne (baptised 24 November 1586); Miles (baptised July 1589); and Henry (baptised 18 January 1590).

His mother (Mirabel (Rivett) Heydon) died in 1593 and was buried in the same church at Saxlingham that John was baptised in. His father (Sir Christopher) died in 1623 at Baconsthorpe, the family home close by. The various locations in North Norfolk occupied by the Heydons are shown in the Google Earth image below.

Heydon Family Records

The Heydons were a long established Norfolk Family and their genealogy is confirmed in several historical publications, namely: The Visitations to Norfolk, 1563, 1589 and 1613^[3] and The History of Baconsthorpe Manor^[4] and an extensive family genealogy^[5].

Map showing Heydon locations in Norfolk

Education

John does not seem to have followed his brother William to Cambridge where he would have entered in approximately 1601. The family was in considerable turmoil at this time with his father Christopher charged with treason in the Earle of Essex's^[6] challenge to Queen Elizabeth.

Military Service

The Heydon Family genealogy^[5] records that John Heydon with the rank of Captain, was keeper of the stores and munitions at Sandown Castle between 1613 and 1615. The genealogy accounts this position to Sir John Heydon but this seems unlikely. It is a junior position for a Knight to have occupied.

Similarly, the position of paymaster of the posts in 1623^[5] was likely to be John Heydon rather than his uncle. In any case, there is evidence to suggest that his uncle died in 1603.

In March 1627, King James dies and his son Charles I becomes King.

John travelled to France with his brother William in 1627 as part of a military expedition^[7] to lay seige to Saint-Martin-de-Ré.

Before the battle, William writes in his will that he leaves his estates to his brother John. William died at the attack but John Heydon survived. He was appointed Lieutenant of the Ordnance^[8], in the place of his brother Sir William. Some detail of the battle has been assembled from contemporary records and is given in the Heydon Genealogy^[5].

There are two John Heydons recorded as having been knighted^[9] around this time (1620 and 1629). Detail is lacking and the knighthood may have been conferred in 1620 but 1629 seems more likely - after he took over from his brother as Lieutenant of the Ordnance in 1627.

Between 1641 and 1642 Sir John is appointed to the Council of War with King Charles I. Sir John is a member of the Privy Council for Charles I and was a staunch supporter of the King. He therefore faced final ruin at the hands of the Parliamentarians when King Charles is beheaded in 1649.

Marriage and Children

Marriage to Mary Phillips

Details are wanting but it seems that Sir John married^[5] Mary Phillips - possibly in 1628 at the age of 40. This would have been when he returned from France after the seige to Saint-Martin-de-Ré. The family appear to have settled in London after this with the baptisms of children at the Church of the Holy Trinity - Minories^[10], in the City of London. Later in the 16th century, the church was a Puritan stronghold, where both John Field and Thomas Wilcox preached. Until 1730, the church claimed the rights of a royal peculiar – including freedom from the authority of the Bishop of London; and the right to perform marriages "without licence". This is the possible reason as to why no record of the marriage between Sir John and Mary has been found.

They had^[5] four sons and two daughters. His sons were:Charles (born 1630); John (born 1632 but died in 1633); William (born 1636 - died 1689); and Christopher (born about 1637). One of his daughters (and probably his eldest child) was Anne (who married Colonel Richard Nevile of Bellinsbere in Berkshire. The second daughter was Mirabella (born 1639) who married Lawrence Lomax.

Anne

Anne was baptised^[11] on 23 September 1629 at The Church of Holy Trinity - Minories, City of London. The father is noted as Sir John Heyden and the mother as Mary. Note that the image on the Ancestry File points to a time 10 years later. The correct image is on page 14/133 on 23 September 1629 in London at the Church of Holy Trinity Minories.

Charles

Charles was baptised 24 March 1630 at Holy Trinity in the Minories, City of London. His father is noted as Sir John Heydon and his mother as Marie^[12]. Charles died before 1689 as his brother William was the last of the line.

John

John was born in 1632 but died in 1633. Therfore not mentioned in the will of his father.

William

Another son was probably William who was born^[13] in 1636 and was buried in 1689 in the same grave as his sister Mirabella at Eye in Suffolk.

Christopher

Christopher was born in 1637 but died a minor in 1655.

Mirabella

His second daughter Mirabella was baptised^[14] on 4 July 1639 at Holy Trinity Minories. Mirabella married Lawrence Lomax. She died in 1702 and is buried in the Eye Church in Suffolk. Her burial slab has the enscription:

Here lieth interred the body of Mirabella Lomax, wife to Lawrence Lomax, Esq., and second daughter to the ancient and noble Sir John Heydon of Baconsthorpe, in Norfolk, Knight, and General of the Ordinance to King Charles the First, and one of his Privy Council, who departed this life the 2nd day of May, in the 63rd year of her age, Anno Dom. 1702. Here also lyeth the body of William Heydon, Esq; second son of Sir John Heydon, and last heir male of that family, who died 7 Sep 1689.

Later Life

After the deaths of his brothers (1623 and 1627), Sir John seems to have settled down into a roll of family head and worked to pay off family debt. He becomes a member of the Privy Council for King Charles and benefits from some of the schemes of the King that lead to the social uphevals that end in civil war.

Draining the Fens

Sir John is one of three who in 1629 obtain a grant^[15] from King Charles of flooded grounds in Lincolshire, Norfolk,Kent, sussex and Camarthen. The grant was subject to the grantees first draining the lands and returning a proportion of the drained lands back to the Crown^[16]. The grantees were George Kirke, Sir Robert Killigrew and Sir John Heydon and their proposal and the response of the local population can be seen in the National Archives^[17].

The proposed works were seen by the local population to be nothing short of a land grab as they all had the right to use the fens even though they notionally owned by the Crown. It does not seem to have been understood by the proponents that draining one part of the fens also has major implications on other parts in this very flat country. While earlier drainage schemes had been proposed by King Charles' predecessors, the government had tried to act equally for the proponents and the opponents. This time around, the government was absolutely behind the proponents and backed the proposals made by Sir Anthony Thomas who had already earned the ire of the locals. The bad feeling is thought to explain much of the resentment to King Charles I and to make the fen lands strongly in favour of the parliamentarians in later years.

John Acworth became involved in a part of the arguments^[18] and is accused of being responsible for cutting down a large quantity of oak and alder from the Baconsthorpe Estates. He is sued by Sir John Heydon and Abraham Daws in 1633. The issue is not clear from the papers. John Acworth was operating the Naval yards at Woolwich in London and presumably had extensive knowledge of drainage works. In his defence he admits to have visited Baconsthorpe two years earlier (1631) and also mentions the same gentlemen identified by Kennedy^[16].

Death

Being Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance to King Charles I, he suffered much for the King's cause. When Charles I was beheaded in 1649. Sir John lived on into the times of the Protectorate under Thomas Cromwell and died in October 1653. He was buried on 26th October, 1653 in Heston, Middlesex^[19]. The Heydon Genealogy^[5] refers to a Will in which he identifies Mary (Phillips) as his wife (who seems to have disserted him) and five children. The will (Johis Heydon) can be seen^[20] at P.C.C.C. and was written on 20 March 1653 and identifies his wife Dame Mary Heydon as an Executor and says that on his death the estates at Baconsthorpe and Bodham should be sold.

The London Parish Register for St. Bride, Fleet Street, shows that Mary Phillips Heydon, Lady to Sir John was buried on Nov. 28, 1658.

The same reference^[5] records the work of John's youngest son Charles in his winding up and disposing of the Heydon Estates. There is a Draft of Deed of Recovery against Charles Heydon - "The indebtedness deed for recovery (bankruptcy) for all of the lands and manors in and of Baconsthorpe, Bodham, and Hempstead together with the right of patronage of the churches and all 140 acres plus any and all other manors and royalties is delivered against Charles Heydon; Draft of Deed of Recovery dated 1673 (25 Car.II,) 23 May."

Research Notes

English History - Event Dates between 1550 and 1660

These dates are taken from the Wikipedia Site https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_English_history

Evolving Political Climate

Sir John was supportive of the interventionist policies of King Charles I that appeared to favour his friends and allies over the general population. Such policies did much to ferment the upcoming civil war.

Sources

1. ↑ ["Saxlingham: St Margaret's Parish Records" - FreeReg On-line database searched 10 January 2022 for John Heydon [1] ]
2. ↑ [Wikipedia contributors, "Saxlingham," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, [2] (accessed January 13, 2022).]
3. ↑ ["Visitations of Norfolk" [3] Visitation of Norfolk Page 152: Heydon]
4. ↑ ["Francis Blomefield, Hundred of South Erpingham: Baconsthorpe, in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 6 (London, 1807), pp. 502-513 [4] (accessed 6 January 2022)]
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7} ["Hayday of the Heydons - The Norfolk Family and descendents at Baconsthorpe Hall Castle" - A web site [5] assembled by Thomas Keys - accessed 9 January 2022]
6. ↑ [Wikipedia contributors, "Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, [6] (accessed January 28, 2022).]
7. ↑ [Wikipedia contributors, "Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré," Wikipedia, The Free Encayclopedia, [7] (accessed January 28, 2022)]
8. ↑ [Wikipedia contributors, "Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, [8] (accessed January 8, 2022).]
9. ↑ ["The Knights of England - A complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, incorporating a complete list of knights bachelors dubbed in Ireland (1906) Shaw, William Arthur" [9] Knights of England Page 92 ]
10. ↑ [Wikipedia contributors, "Church of Holy Trinity, Minories," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, [10] (accessed January 11, 2022)].
11. ↑ ["Baptismal Record for Anne Heydon on 23 September 1629 at Holy Trinity - Minories, City of London". Father Sir John Heyden - Mother Mary Heyden. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/TRI2/A/001/MS09238]
12. ↑ ["London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812" accessed 14 January 2022 for Charles Heydon Ancestry Record 1624 #4781018]
13. ↑ ["London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812" Ancestry Record 1624 #4783770]
14. ↑ ["England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Mirabella Heydon" Ancestry Record 9841 #90811070 ]
15. ↑ [Public Records Office C82/2043/106; PRO SP38/15 on 27 May 1629. "Calendar of State Papers Domestic, 1628-1629, p. 558: Pishey Thompson, History and Antiquities of the Port of Boston, p.25]
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} [Mark E. Kennedy (1983) "Charles I and Local Government: The Draining of the East and West Fens" Albion, Vol 15, No. 1 pp19-31 [11] (doi.org/10.2307/4048582)]
17. ↑ ["East, West and Wildmore Fens" [12] accessed 9th January 2022]
18. ↑ [Green, W.A. and G. Brindley Acworth. Pedigree of Acworth of Bedfordshire, Etc.: Together with some notes on the genealogy. London: Mitchell Hughes and Clarke, 1905. FamilySearch. See also this space page: Acworth Pedigree.]
19. ↑ [Daniel Lysons,"Heston, in The Environs of London": Volume 3, County of Middlesex (London, 1795), pp. 22-45 British History Online [13] (accessed 15 January 2022)]
20. ↑ ["England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858" Prob 11: Will Registers > 1644-1654 > Piece 239: Alchin, Quire Numbers 303-356 (1654) Ancestry Record 5111 #669302]