Once a Knight is Enough

Knight Genealogy

by Laura Knight

Knights of St Bride Part 3

The question always in the back of the mind as I go through the St Bride Knights is this: was there a relationship between Thomas Knight, Scrivener, Arthur Knight, Haberdasher, and Peter Knight, Haberdasher? We've looked at Thomas Knight, Scrivener and found surprising relationships thanks to his daughter Rebecka; now we'll try to untangle the knots around Arthur Knight. First let's take a look at the family group as assembled from the St Bride register:

???? - Arthur Knight, son of Arthur Knight. Bur 1610 Aug 25 (Born and died same time?)
1611 Oct 24 - William Knight, son of Arthur Knight.
1620 Jul 15 - Mary Knight, dau of Arthur Knight and Ursula.
1621 Nov 18 - Arthur Knight, son of Arthur Knight and Ursula. Bur. 1621 Nov 25.
1623 Feb 27 - William Knight, son of Arthur Knight and Ursula.
1625 Mar 27 - Katherine Knight, dau of Arthur Knight and Ursula.
1626 Mar 16 - Thomas Knight, son of Arthur Knight and Ursula.
1628 Apr 11 - Nicholas Knight, son of Arthur Knight and Ursula.
???? - Rebeckah Knight, daughter to Arthur Knight. Bur. 1630 Jan 1. (Born and died same time?)
1631 May 2 - Mary Knight, dau of Arthur Knight and Ursula. Bur. 1633 Sep 27.
1632 May 3 - William Knight, son to Arthur Knight and Ursula. (3rd William).
1633 Jul 14 - Samuel Knight, son to Arthur Knight and Ursula.
1635 Oct 26 - Warner Knight, son of Arthur and Ursula.
1637 Mar 12 - twins: Steven Knight and Salter Knight, sons to Arthur Knight and Ursula.

In the above, we have two burials with no apparent baptisms. That could simply be a glitch of record keeping because if a child has a name at burial, that implies that there was a baptism. But we have seen other records show up in different parishes such as the record of Arthur Knight marrying his second wife, Ursula, at Bromley St Leonard, and the burial of the daughter of Leonard Knight at St Bride's when he was "of White Friars". So it is possible that there were baptisms elsewhere.

What we can notice about Arthur Knight is that he began his career as a father at least in 1610 and, according to the marriage bond with Ursula Salter, he was 32 years old in 1619, giving his birth year as 1587.

The handwriting on this one is really awful, but here is a good approximation of what it says in abstract:

05 Oct 1619 This day appeared … Arthur Knight, of St Bride's, London, Haberdasher and a widower, aged about 32 yeares… to marry with Ursula Salter, of London, maiden aged 22 yeares, dau. of William Salter, of Bellvella in Ireland … etc etc … to marry at St Leonard's, Bromley…

Signed                                                         Arthur Knight (he was clearly literate)

As noted in the previous article on Thomas Knight, Scrivener, we get an interesting return when we search for any information about Knight's Hill:

The Lambeth portion of Norwood comprises West (formerly Lower) Norwood and part of Upper Norwood; it consists of a number of low hills, Knight's Hill, Salter's Hill, Gipsy Hill, which slope gently up to the ridge along which runs the road from Streatham to Sydenham. Until the beginning of the 19th century the area was remote and inaccessible, the roads from the north tapering off into winding tracks; indeed the name Norwood is itself a reminder that it had closer connection with Croydon than with Lambeth or London. As late as 1802 a hermit known as “Matthews the hairyman” lived in the wood in a cave or “excavated residence”... The south-west extremity of the parish was much more open; the Parliamentary Survey of 1647 only mentions a small common wood called Knight's Hill, containing 40 pollard oaks and two elms.[...]

The land between St. Luke's Church and Herne Hill was formerly part of the area known as Lambeth Dean. The history of this district, and of the rest of Norwood lying in Lambeth parish is greatly complicated by the existence of two areas both called Knight's Hill. The southerly Knight's Hill formed part of Lambeth Manor and lies to the south of St. Luke's Church, while the other comprised the detached portion of the Manor of Leigham Court and of the parish of Streatham mentioned above, and lies between Norwood Road and Croxted Road. The confusion dates from the 16th century when both areas were occupied by members of the Knight family, who held a great deal of land in Lambeth and Streatham. The Manor of Leigham Court lay in the latter parish, and its descent has been traced in the Victoria County History of Surrey. Only the detached portion referred to above, containing some 160 acres, falls within the area covered by the present volume. In the 16th century it was part of the copyhold of the Manor of Leigham Court, and was usually held with an adjoining capital messuage which formed part of the copyhold of Lambeth Manor. In 1786 the Manor of Leigham Court was held by the Duke of St. Albans. (Ref.)

As I noted, in the previous article, it is quite fascinating to discover a "Knight's Hill" next to a "Salter's Hill" and we can easily assume that the latter was named after a family.

The last St Bride entry for Arthur Knight is in 1637 which is 27 years later when he was 50 years old and Ursula was 40. Indeed, he had two wives carrying the burden (literally), but the point is, having several wives and numerous children was rather commonplace in those times. I'm sure you have noticed the extremely high infant and wife mortality rate! This means that the idea that Thomas Knight had three wives and a 30 year career as a father is not that unusual assuming the man, himself, survived.

"Arthur" seems to be a less common name among the Knights (and others, at the time), and we find the following records in addition to the clutch of parish records at St Brides:

1556 – Mar 20 – London St Clements – Will – William Knight – To wife Agnes, livestock and items; to son William Knight, livestock and items; to William, cart and plough; son Robert Knight, items; wife to have use of lands and house during her life; land to Arthur Knight, son of Robert Knight; daughter Cicely Dennison named; quite a bit of land being handed out (mentions land in Berkshire) and more small bequests, but very difficult text to read; residue to grandson, Arthur Knight; son Robert Knight is executor.  (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1384-1566, Piece 39: Wrastley (1557))

The grandson Arthur Knight in this will may be underage as we notice his father being named executor. He could be a lot underage, or a little. Since no other grandchildren are named, presumably he is the only one which would suggest that he is on the younger side, say 10 years old or younger. So, forty years later we find:

1596 – Kent Dover – Will - Anne Knight, Widow – To Elizabeth Worth alias Blackdon, sister, to hold and manage estate during minority of children: Arthur Knight, Elizabeth Knight, William Knight. (Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1596-1608)

William Knight, of St Clements parish, London, above, left the bulk of his estate to his grandson, Arthur. This Arthur may be the father or grandfather of the Arthur Knight, son of Widow, Anne Knight of Dover in 1596. If Arthur, the grandson of William was around 10 years old when his grandfather died, he would be ready to start a family by 1566 or so. If he had a son, name unknown, that son would be ready to start a family in 1586, and that would be pretty much an exact fit for a man to have three children, dying when they are all minors. The Arthur Knight, son of Anne Knight, Widow, would be the right age to be Arthur Knight of St Brides born 1587. As to who his father was, I found two possibles:

1595 – May 11 – Kent Hythe – Bap – Elizabeth Knight - d/o William Knight

1596 – Nov 24 – Kent Chillenden – Bur – Robert Knight

Of course, it could be neither of these; it may be that we have no record at all of the father of Arthur Knight who may have, himself, been named Arthur Knight. But the name, Robert Knight, is suggestive if a grandson of William Knight of St Clements, named Arthur, whose father was named Robert is the grandfather of Arthur Knight of St Bride's.

So the Robert Knight buried in Chillenden could be the father of Arthur of St Brides since Robert may be a regularly used family name. As for the William Knight who baptized a daughter, Elizabeth in Hythe, and then we find a daughter of the deceased father of Arthur, named Elizabeth, it's possible. But there are other records for William Knights in Hythe after the will of the widow, so it is unlikely to be him; plus, practically everybody had a daughter named Elizabeth in those days. So no cigar for the William (except perhaps as a brother of Robert). But the Robert looks promising considering the almost desperate nature of the will of Anne Knight who mainly wanted to put someone in charge of her minor children before dying. That was rather common in those days; it was also common for parents to die one after the other because of plague or other sickness.

Notice also that William Knight of St Clements mentions land in Berkshire in his will probated in 1556. (I really would like to see that will transcribed by a professional!) That rings a bell. Let's see what we find in Berkshire:

1550 – May 18 - Berkshire Newbury – Will - John Knight, Gent – References a brother Robert and a half-brother, William Knight of Reading. His will sets aside for 16 years the income from much of his landed property for the payment of debts and annuities, and assigned one-third of his lands to the crown for the wardship of his two young sons, Richard and John; gives wife, Elizabeth, for her dower property in and near Newbury, including three fulling mills, as well as the profits of his lands in Enborne and a brewhouse in Newbury until the heir Richard comes of age; son Richard to have the lease of Bishopstone and the younger son John those of Kingsclere and Merton; Knight appoints his wife and sons executors and John Pollard, John Winchcombe and two others overseers. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1384-1566, Piece 33: Coode (1550))

1550 – Berkshire Newbury – Admin – Elizabeth Knight, Widow of John Knight, Esq - Grant of wardship with extent annexed. 1. Edward VI. 2. Elizabeth Knight, widow of John Knight esquire.  Wardship of Richard Knight her son.  Property: Lands in Soulthorne in Oxfordshire.  In Berkshire:- the manor of Templeton and Kyntburye; houses and lands in Newbury in the tenure of Herbart and Walter Collins; stables and gardens in the tenure of Kyry and the sadler: houses and lands in Newbery Boxore and Beneham: land in Thatcham and Henwik called Holwayes; the parsonages of Greneham and Crokeham with the free chapel of Crokeham and one close in Greneham; 3 fulling mills in Newbury: a close in Spenham Land purchased of Richard Hynde; a meadow in the tenure of Robert Carter; houses and lands in Newbury in the tenure of Richard Latimer; Robert Arnold; John Coke; Edward White (Whyte); John Windover; Thomas Waterman; the schoolmaster; Sir Thomas Foscatt; Richard Bridges esq; and John Goldwire. In Wiltshire: Lands in Stratton St. Margaret.  (London Metropolitan Archives: City of London, Ref: ACC/0928/028/3)

I think that there is a strong possibility that the half-brother of John Knight of Newbury, William Knight of Reading, was also William Knight of St Clements, London. History of Parliament says about John Knight, MP of Newbury:

John Knight’s parentage was not recorded in any visitation, but the references in his will to a brother Robert and a half-brother, William Knight of Reading, make it virtually certain that his father was the William Knight of Reading whose will, proved in 1536, mentions three sons, William, Robert and ‘John the younger’, and whose bequests of two broadlooms and three kerseys show him to have been a clothier. Several families of the name lived in the vicinity of Reading and Newbury, and the elder William Knight had a ‘godson’ named John Knight at Thatcham.

A godson was most often a nephew so John Knight of Thatcham would likely be a son of one of his brothers. I'll come back to him.

John Knight of Newbury was closely associated with a Richard Bridges (Brydges) and witnessed Bridges' father's will in 1538. He and Bridges partnered in numerous business deals and land purchases:

In 1543 they paid £305 for ex-monastic properties in Berkshire and Wiltshire, of which Knight’s share included the manor of Templeton in Kintbury; Templeton had belonged to the Sandford preceptory of the Knights of St. John, of whose lands Knight was to be appointed under steward in 1546. In March 1545 he partnered Brydges in a similar purchase, which included Stratton St. Margaret, Wiltshire, although this grant was made to Brydges alone; 11 months later they paid £515 for lands in Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, as well as the manor of Crosby, Cumberland, which they quickly sold.

Knight’s other partner was Robert Weare alias Browne, with whom in April 1549 he bought for £613 more Berkshire and Wiltshire land, some of which he and Brydges already had on lease. His own purchase in 1544 of Berkshire lands formerly of the Duke of Suffolk, included three fulling mills at Newbury; in the previous year he had bought the tithes of two rectories in Thatcham then leased by John Winchcombe alias Smallwood. Knight himself acquired various leases, among them one of Kingsclere, Hampshire, assigned to him by his fellow Middle Templar John Pollard, and another of part of Enborne; on these two manors he had 500 sheep as well as other stock, while in Newbury he owned a brewhouse.

According to the Visitation, John Knight's widow married subsequently 2. Robert Parris and 3. Sir Francis Daughtry (Dawtrey) and the History of Parliament gives a few more details:

His widow proved the will on 18 May 1550.... Elizabeth Knight’s second husband, Robert Paris, was probably the man who died in October 1550 from wounds inflicted by John Cheyne and others, and perhaps also the New Romney man of the same name who had sat in the Parliament of 1523. (Ref.)

As to what the reference to the murder of Robert Paris was all about, short discursus:

John Cheney (died 19 March 1567) was an English soldier and politician during the Tudor period. John Cheney was the son of John Cheney Senior of West Woodhay House in Berkshire, by his wife, Jane, the daughter, by his third wife, of Sir William Norreys of Ockwells and Yattendon. His father was a nephew of King Henry VII's friend and cousin, Baron Cheney. John was a gentleman at arms in the Royal household. He was also elected Member of Parliament for Dover (1554) and for Winchelsea (1558) through the influence of his father's cousin, Thomas Cheney, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and then for Berkshire from 1563 to 1567. With a group of terrorists, he attacked and murdered a man named Robert Paris in a sword fight at Newbury, Berkshire in 1550 but was pardoned for it in 1552. (Ref.) (Ref.)

Back to the affairs of John of Newbury, possible brother of William Knight of St Clements: In the Archives we find the following:

1567 – Sep 8 – Southampton – Admin – Richard Knight - Memorandum that Sir Francis Daughtry and John Mytchell, gent., refused to deliver up Richard Knight according to their recognizance.  (Southampton Archives Office, Ref: SC/TCBox/1/2)

The Richard Knight in question is apparently the heir.

I have not found the will of William Knight of Reading, proved in 1536 mentioned in the History of Parliament, (on the wish list) so again we note that there is a lot missing from what I have collected that is out there, for sure, and needs to be hunted down and included. I've already worked through the Visitations and come up with this family group for William Knight SR of Reading (d.1536):

In the Visitation, William Knight JR of Reading, (b. c. 1495), the HALF-brother of John Knight of Newbury, was left dangling with no downline, but I am now proposing that he is very probably the same as William Knight of St Clements Parish, London. The dates and locations and later social connections fit well; notice in particular the family/social connection to Dover and New Romney, Kent, via the widow of John Knight, MP. It was Dover where we found Anne Knight, Widow, mother of Arthur Knight, minor. The evidence that these families were connected is good.

If this reconstruction is correct, we have here an upline connection between Arthur Knight of St Bride's and Thomas Knight of St Brides, Scrivener. Check the Speculative Reconstruction of the Earliest Knights of Shropshire and Northamptonshire in the preceding article on Thomas Knight.

We already noticed that Arthur Knight of St Bride was bound and determined to have a son named Arthur and one named William, so those two names must have been important to him. He and his first wife, Ann, had one set and both infants died. Then, he married Ursula and had another Arthur, who died shortly after birth, and two Williams, the first one (his 2nd William) dying for sure though we don't find the burial record, but assumed because of the birth of the 3rd William (for Arthur, 2nd for Ursula).

Coming back to our timeline from the will of Anne Knight, Widow of Dover, in 1596, keeping in mind that she was the mother of an Arthur Knight who is probably the Arthur Knight of St Bride's:

1610-1637 - Period covered by St Bride registers, Arthur Knight, Haberdasher, father.

Then, there is a gap of sixty years in the English records until this one:

1697 – Feb 7 – London – POA/Will – John Knight, Mariner – “Belonging to His Majesty’s ship the Royal Katherine”; makes his mother, Sarah Knight, the wife of Arthur Knight, Citizen and Clothworker, his attorney; his mother is sole heir and executrix of his estate. Wit: Thomas Hubbard, Thomas Beaumont.  (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1697-1704, Piece 443: Lort, Quire Numbers 1-44 (1698))

If Arthur Knight of St Bride's never managed to have a son named Arthur, it may be that one of his children did and the above Arthur Knight, Clothworker, is the grandson or great-grandson of Arthur Knight of St Bride's. The profession of "clothworker" would be in the family tradition of Arthur Knight of St Brides who was a haberdasher following on from the occupation of William Knight of Reading, Clothier. It seems likely, but we don't have the records so it has to remain in the realm of speculation.

However, here we need to take note here of a record from Virginia that is earlier than the last English record I found (keep in mind that my stop limit for English records was 1700; it may be necessary to go further):

1646 Nov 5 – York VA – Court session: The following judgments were confessed before Capt. Nicholas Martiau and Mr. Rowland Burnham: viz Thomas Poole and James Harris to Capt. Richard Townshend 1411 lb tobo.  Thomas Poole and John Salter to Capt. Richard Townshend 665 lb tobo. (Fleet III, pp. 67-68)

York County VA is right next door to Gloucester County and Peter Knight, Merchant. Then, there is the next one:

1652 Oct 6 – Lancaster VA – At a Court holden for Lancaster at ye house of Mr. James Bagnall on ye 6th of October 1652… Certificate of Land granted to Wm Clapham (SR) for two persons vizt. Salter Knight, Thomas Orange. (Parks 1982)

Lancaster County VA is right next door to Northumberland and Capt. Peter Knight. This is undoubtedly one of the twin sons of Arthur Knight and Ursula Salter Knight of St Bride's. They were born 1637 Mar 1, so Salter is 15 years old here. It's unlikely that he was a "poor person" coming as an indentured servant, so he was probably apprenticed or "lent" as a headright, which was very common at the time.

Conclusions

Going back to Anne Knight, Widow, who died in 1596 and who lived in Dover, Kent, she left three minor children: Arthur Knight, Elizabeth Knight, William Knight. My estimate of ages of the three would be 10, 8, 6 respectively, giving birth years of 1586, 1588, 1590. We know that Arthur Knight of St Bride's was born 1587, so this fits. I speculated that her husband could very well have been the Robert Knight who was buried without comment in Chillenden not too long before her own will was probated, and it appears that her husband may have died suddenly, and she became ill herself, but managed to make a short will. This Robert may have been the son of Arthur Knight, grandson and heir of William Knight of St Clements, London.

I don't find any other records for Arthur Knight, grandson of William Knight of St Clement, so we can't say for sure what he was up to. We also do not know if his father, Robert Knight, the son of William of St Clements, had other children after the will was made, or if Arthur, the grandson had several children, and if so, what their names were. We have proposed that one of them was a Robert who became the father of Arthur Knight of St Bride's, but there could also have been others. Whoever they were, they would have been born around 1566 or thereabouts.

There is another interesting item that pops up when one searches for the name "Salter", the maiden name of Ursula, Arthur's wife:

1631 – Nov 25 – Oxfordshire Banbury – Will – William Knight, Gent – To youngest son, William Knight, my house in Sheeps Street in the Borough of Banbury wherein William Sprigg and Thomas Pedly now dwell, with all fields, orchards, gardens, profit, thereto belonging; and properties in Northamptonshire in  the tenure or accupation of Mr Nicholas Salter, my brother-in-law; property in Warwickshire which I late purchased of Richard Gresell, Gent, and other properties, to said William Knight; entailed to his heirs, male, and failing heirs, to my older son, Bezaliel Knight, and his heirs; to grandchild, Mary Gill, daughter of my daughter, Mary, 13 shillings; grandson, Thomas Gill; son William, 150 pounds; grandchild, William Knight, the Iron ___ given me by Walter ___ being the same the ____ papists dug under the Parliament house with.  Bezaliel Knight to be executor. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, PROB 11: Will Registers, 1624-1643, Piece 160: St. John, Quire Numbers 69-138 (1631))

That's an interesting will, for sure; would like to see it transcribed by a pro. I think it was an iron shovel, but a different word for shovel. This William Knight is obviously not a recusant!

In any event, recall that Ursula Salter was described on the marriage bond with Arthur Knight as " Ursula Salter, of London, maiden aged 22 yeares, dau. of William Salter, of Bellvella (Bellvilla?) in Ireland." I've read a few family trees that go all over the place with this one, but I've not seen any records to back it up. What we do see, above, is a Mr. Nicholas Salter as brother-in-law to a William Knight of Oxfordshire whose wife is not named. This Nicholas and his sister, the wife of William, would be of an age to be siblings to Ursula Salter. But at this point, that's pure speculation with no records to back it up.

One other thing of interest is that a Mr. Nicholas Salter was a signatory of the Second Virginia Charter dated 23 May 1609. See HERE.

This pretty much concludes what I can say about Arthur Knight based on the records. As to the question posed at the beginning: was there a relationship between Thomas Knight, Scrivener, Arthur Knight, Haberdasher, and Peter Knight, Haberdasher? The answer appears to be that there is decent evidence to connect the Arthur Knight Family to Thomas Knight, Scrivener Family, though it is upline. I have proposed that Thomas Knight, Scrivener of St Bride's is likely descended from Henry Knight (c. 1481) Clerk of the Signet who had 3 sons and that Arthur Knight is descended from William Knight of Reading/Enborne via his son, William Knight JR who was the half-brother of John Knight, MP of Newbury. Here is the tree from the Visitations article for ease of review:

As to whether there is a relationship with the Peter Knights of Virginia, there is only a whiff of a connection in that Salter Knight, at age 15, landed in Virginia quite close to Capt. Peter Knight of Northumberland.

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