John ABNEY

     John ABNEY, son of William d'Abney, was born circa 1394 in Derbyshire, England.¹

John married (?) de Ingwardby, daughter of William de INGWARDBY, circa 1419 at St. Thomas Church in Willesley Parish, England. She was the eldest of the two daughters and co-heirs of William de Ingwardby, and brought to the Abney family the manors of Willesley and Potlock, county Derby; with lands in Packington, county Leicester. The second daughter married Thomas Stokes, esq. of Tamworth. John Abney on his marriage took the arms of Ingwardby, a demi-lion, rampant, or, resting the left paw on an antique shileld.

From Debrett's Baronage of England: " The family of Wiveleslie (the ancient name of Willesley) was possessed of the lordship at a very early period. In the year 1160, Michael de Wiveleslie, was lord of the manor, and granted lands to John de Yngwereby then living at Willesley ; Nicholas de Yngwereby, his son, m. Cecilia Wychard de Meysam, widow of Nicholas Wychard, and da. of sir Wm. de Meysam, from whom, and from the Wiveleslies he obtained further grants of land at Willesley. His son William, m. about 1290, Albreda de Wiveseleye, or Wiveiislie, da. of Michael, and sister of Ado de Wiveseleye, and obtained the rest of the lands together with the lordship. They were succeeded by their son Nicholas, who m. Isabella, and was succeeded by William their son, who was succeeded by his only son William de Ingewardeby de Willesleye, who left 2 das., co-heirs of his estates ; the eldest, about the year 1400, m. Jno. de Abney, or Abbeney."²

John ABNEY was a witness to a quitclaim 25 March 1419 in Offerton, Derbyshire, England, from Margery, daughter of Roger Barker of Hathersegg, to John Wylde of Abneye, all lands she inherited on the death of her mother in Offerton. Witnesses: Roger Massy of Hylowe, Richard Stafford, and John Abney. This was last record of John Abney prior to his becoming Lord of Willesley.³ He was the first Lord ex-parte of Willesley, along with Thomas de Stoke. His arms were Argent on a cross. Sable, five bezants.

Willesley is mentioned as a significant manor in the Domesday book. Willesley is listed among the large number of manors that are owned directly by Henry de Ferrers and its value was assessed as twenty shillings TRE ( In Latin is Tempore Regis Edwardi. This means in the time of King Edward before the Battle of Hastings.) and sixteen shillings in 1086.

Willesley lies on the border of Leicester and Derby, about two miles from Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The manor was given by Wulfic Spott to the abbey of Burton, under which it was held in the 13th and 14th centuries, by the family of Ingwardby. The earliest member of this family was Michael of Wivelesley (Willesley) living in the reign of Henry I (1100-1135). When male heirs failed the surname disappeared.

The following appeared in 1431: "Johannes Abney de Willesley in comitatu Derby, armiger, habuit et tenuit dicto die Veneris in dominico, ut liberum tenementum suum, terras et tenementa in Willesley, per vicesimam partem, f. m." A rough translation from Latin is: John Abney of Willesley, in the county of Derby, esquire, had and held on Friday the said demesne as his freehold lands and tenements in Willesley, by the twentieth part, knights fee. [f. m. = feodum militis].

Demesne is a feudal term meaning the land was in a man's personal possesion and control. In the context of manorial surveys describing the landholdings within a manor, a messuage was a farmstead, i.e. the house and ancillary farm buildings at the centre of a landholding, whereas a tenement was the entire landholding, the farmstead plus its associated farmland. A knight's fee was a measure of a unit of land deemed sufficient from which a knight could derive not only sustenance for himself and his esquires, but also the means to furnish himself and his equipage with horses and armour to fight for his overlord in battle. It was effectively the size of a fee sufficient to support one knight for one year in the performance of his feudal duties of knight-service. A knight's fee could be created by a magnate or by the king himself by separating off an area of land from his own demesne, and establishing therein a new manor for the use of a knight who would become its tenant by paying homage to his new overlord. This homage was a vow of loyalty to provide knight-service, generally to a maximum of 40 days per annum, signifying that he would have to fight for his overlord in battle. No cash rent was payable.⁴

On 10 Oct 1431 William Arderne of Overton Sauce, Leicestershire, son and heir of William de Assheby of Coventry made a gift with warranty to John de Gregore esq., John Abney of Willesley, esq., Nicholas de Stafford, esq., Richard Bron of Repyndon clerk, and William Husbond of Stretton super Dunnesmore, all his lands and tenements in Coventry in Earl Street (in vico comitis) between the tenements of the said William Husbond and the tenement formerly belonging to William atte Crosse, to hold the same of the chief lord of the fee. Witnesses: William Dilcok, mayor of Coventry, John Lichfield and William Kerver, baliiffs of the same, William Crudworth, William Frysby, Richard Dene, mercer, William Prantys, clerk, and others.⁵

In 1434 John Abbeney and Thomas Stokes were among those in county Derby to take oath to King Henry VI.⁶

John ABNEY was a witness to a quitclaim 21 January 1449 in Roston, Derbyshire, England, from William Babyington, knight, to Roger Gyldreson, senior, of all those lands, etc., in Rosliston [Roston], which lately belonged to Walter Marys or John Marys, his son. Witnesses: John Gresley, John Abney, and John Cursun.⁷

John ABNEY died after 1449 in Willesley, Derbyshire, England.