Liber Famelicus on Beches Manor as a de la Beche Family Inheritance
Then he explains that a deed held by his cousin William Whitlock of Beches shows Robert, bishop of Salisbury, giving to William de la Beche, ancestor of Agnes, the Beches estate and, in a deed dated 1247, awarding William de la Beche improvements of the rent the estate generated. The William Whitlock of Beches to whom James Whitlocke is referring here is, I think, William son of John Whitlock (1509-1589) and husband of Ursula Beresford, who inherited Beches, which then passed to William’s brother Richard (1583-1642).
From William de la Beche, the Beches estate then passed down in the de la Beche family, some members of which were knights, Liber Famelicus tells us, with documents held by the Whitlock family at Beches manor documenting this. The last male of the house of de la Beche, Sir James Whitlocke states, was Agnes’s father Robert de la Beche. Agnes was Robert’s only heir. Prior to his death and before Agnes married John Whitlock about 1454, Robert entailed Beches to Agnes in 1453, and on her marriage to John Whitlock, the manor then passed into the Whitlock family. Sir James Whitlocke notes that William Whitlock (with wife Ursula Beresford) held Beches as the lineal descendant of William de la Beche:[2]
Querie for a commission that came out of the Eschequer about the end of Elisabethes raigne to enquire of subtractions of rents of the manor of Sunning, which is now the enheritance of the crowne by exchange withe the bishop of Salisburye, and you shall finde that my cosen William Whitelock is by it charged withe the subtracting of the rent of improvement, by the composition made withe the bishop anno 1247, as lineall heir to that William de la Beche.
The de la Beche Ancestry of the Whitlocks of Wokingham
As Peter Whitlock, who heads the international Whitlock Family One-Name Study, notes, “The de la Beche family owned the Manor of Beches near Wokingham back to the 1100’s and the deeds to this manor have been used to determine a likely outline of her ancestors.”[3] Peter abstracts a chart of the de la Beche line of descent from Roger de la Beche (fl. 1100s) to Agnes de la Beche Whitlock compiled by Julian Wyatt in the 1960s:
Roger de la Beche
William de la Beche (1230/1, 1246/7)
Galfridus de la Beche (1292/3)
Roger de la Beche (1325/6)
Galfridus de la Beche (1319/1320)
Johannes de la Beche (1325/6, 1339/1340, 1348/9)
Thomas de la Beche (1352/3, 1371/2)
Richardus de la Beche (1386-7, 1397/8, 1399/1400)
Robert de la Beche (1416/7, 1421/2, 1428/9, 1438/9
Agnes de la Beche -M- c.1454 John Whitloke
Peter Whitlock concludes his sketch of the de la Beche ancestry of the Whitlock family of Beches manor at Wokingham, Berkshire, by stating, “I have not found a lot of research into the de la Beche family and hopefully some of the descendants of this part of the Whitlock family will be interested in exploring this family further.”[4]
Will of Agnes de la Beche Whitlock
Agnes de la Beche Whitlock died testate with a will dated 26 March 1491 and proved in Canterbury 15 May 1491.[5] The following transcript is apparently by Peter Whitlock or Jim Whitelock:
In the name of god Amn the xxvi Day of Marche the yere of our Lord god MCCCCVCj I Agnes the Wife of John Whitloke hole of mynd & gud memory thanked be almyghty god I make my testam’t on this wyse first I bequethe my soule to almyghty god to oure Lady & to al the Saynts in hevyn & my body to be buryed in the Chapell of Saynt Katern in the monastery of Saynt Augustine wt houte the wallys of the cite of Cant [Canterbury] Also I bequethe to the Gra [great] Auter [Altar] of the cherche of Saynt Andrew for my tything & offoryng Fo.gotyn xxd Also I bequethe to the house of the holy crosse in the same churche xvjd Also the the house of the Frerys p’hous in the sayd Cite iijs iiijd Also tothe house of Frerys minos iijs iiijd & to the house of Frers Augustine iijs iiijd and I bequethe to P….John Ivynchope Monke of the same monastory of Saint Augustyne iijs iiijd Also to th bredry & Sistrm of Barla.wne iijs iiijd Also to the Bredry & Sistrm of Saynt John wthoute Northegate iijs iiijd & to the brdryn & Systryn of Maynard Spetyll xxd Also I bequethe to Cornelia the Wife of Henty Sisshope a wafer Cuppe goyng abrode Stoped wit wax Also I bequethe to Godfrey late my Pri..t plate Mafer cup wit an ymage of Saynt…yn in the pruts Also I bequethe to yche of my godsonnez & goddolughters iiijd Also I bequethe to the Fratennce of Saint Nicholas of the ctte of Cant on the grett Masers Also I bequethe to B Desidari Upfon of Saint Andrew Applate Silu’peoe Also I bequethe to the workes of the Steple of the monasteri aforesaid xL iijs iiijd Also to the belleryngers of the same Monastery for makyng of my pele & grave & ringyng of the bells xs Also I bequethe to Women Brint..being at my Deptyng and a byryall & on of my old Go.wngs The residue of all my goodes not bequethed I ..leve & bequethe to John Whitloke my husband that he dispose for the hol.s of my soule & the sayd John Whitloke I make ordyne & Testitute mynd ex.ont by thys my p’sent Wrythyng & John Plumpton supviser thems Wetnesing B Desidari Upson above named B Fio Wykehin prest Pdward Turcefeld and James Z..ton &
This the last Will of me Agnes Aforesayd Agnes made the day & yere above sayd First I Will that Will’m Sellors Will’m Ingram James .as Chorns Sure ……my feoffez & Stand seased of and in all my landez & ten’ wt the app’tence sev’ally Set lying & being in the prisshe of Saint Andrew Seint Peter Seint Mary Predyn & Seynt Margaret Wt in the Cite of Cant as in my dede to theym thereof made plainly Appernth to the intent thereof to pforme thro..d …. will of me the seyd Agnes thay …..Daily offur my D..ffo mffeoff & Del.. sufficient ….. to John Whitloke my husbande of and in all the seyd landez & ten’ wt & there wt happ’ternez for to have & to hold to hym & his heris in fee symple for e’ more In Witnesfs Whereof I the seyd Agnes to this my p’sent will my Seale have Sette in the p’sence of Desidernes pson of the seyd Cherche of Saint Andrew
Probatn xv Die Mensis May Anno Dm Millis CCCCXC primos ….John Whitloke exicutori uxors P…. …… Plumpton …. 1492
So Agnes de la Beche Whitlock died between 26 March and 15 May 1491, and was buried in the chapel of St. Katharine in the church of St. Augustine’s abbey in Canterbury. The abbey, which had long been an important center of English religious life, was dissolved when Henry VIII dissolved monasteries and convents, and its church no longer stands. Its ruins are now a UNESCO world heritage site under the management of English Heritage.[6] As a diagram of the floor plan of the former abbey church found in Alfred William Clapham’s guidebook to St. Augustine’s Abbey shows, St. Katharine’s chapel was in the corner of the church where the south transept and the ambulatory met.[7]
Other Records of John and Agnes de la Beche Whitlock
In addition to the landholdings in Berkshire that came to him by his marriage to Agnes de la Beche, John Whitlock may also have held land in Bedfordshire: the Victoria history of that county states that in 1483, a commission was sent to the “tenaunts of the manoir” of Honydon in the parish of Eaton Socon to accept J. Whitloke as their lord and to content unto him their dues.[8] Honydon was an estate in the parish of Eaton Socon that was apparently in the hands of the Crown by this date. Eaton Socon is now in Cambridgeshire, part of the town of St Neots. It’s about 85 miles north of Wokingham and about 65 miles north of London. The spelling of Honydon today is Honeydon.
Is it possible that the father of John Whitlock was a William Whitlock who was mayor of Calais in 1466? In an email he sent me on 14 March 2019, Peter Whitlock told me that the William who was Calais mayor in 1466 was born in the 1380s or 1390s and went to Calais as early as 1423 to work for Sir John Belton. On 1 August 1451, the Vatican granted William Whitlock, who is described in this document as “nobleman, lord of the place of Withlokkesplace in the diocese of Terouane (Morinensis)” and his wife Margaret the right to have a portable altar.[9]
The reason that Peter Whitlock wonders whether this William Whitlock was father of John Whitlock who married Agnes de la Beche is that he finds a John and Agnes Whitlock listed in chancery proceedings held by the British Public Records office in the period 1459-1466, and it appears from this record that the couple were living in Calais at this point.[10]
A de la Beche family built the church of St. Mary the Virgin in Aldworth, Berkshire, and a number of its early family members are buried in that church with noted effigies of historical interest and significance.[11] According to the history of Aldworth parish in the Victoria history of Berkshire, this de la Beche family came to Berkshire from Sussex about the middle of the 13th century, with Robert de la Beche, the earliest member of the family for whom there is an effigy in the Aldworth church, as its progenitor. Whether this family of de la Beches is related to the family who are progenitors of the Whitlock family of Beches manor at Wokingham has not been determined, insofar as I know.
Rob Whitlock does, however, think that there are “subtle clues to suggest that Agnes’ father Robert was related to the ‘Aldworth Giants’, nine giant effigies found in the parish church of St. Mary’s Church at Aldworth, Berkshire, England.” (Rob Whitlock, “Whitlocks and de la Beches,” Whitlock Family Newsletter 41,2 [June 2022], p. 7). He writes,
Peter Whitlock recently discovered a land transfer from a Thomas Beech or De La Beche (1279) to a Geoffrey Beech (1327), ‘his nephew and successor’ From the 1100’s this estate in Whitchurch (near Reading and Wokingham) had descended linked with Beaches manor in Wokingham. The Aldworth De La Beches include a Thomas and individuals named Galfriedus (aka Geoffrey). The Agnes De La Beche family line includes two Galfriedi. These properties in reference were passed to Jerome Whitlock (1562) and later held by Sir James Whitlock (1570-1632) who sold the Whitchurch property to Griffin Creswell in 1612.
And the search for clarity continues.
[1] James Whitlocke, Liber Famelicus of Sir James Whitlocke, etc., ed. John Bruce (London: Camden Society, 1858), pp. 1-3.
[2] For an outline of the line of descent from William de la Beche’s father Roger de la Beche (AD 1200?) to John and Agnes de la Beche Whitlock, see “Chart showing descent from Roger De la Beche (AD1200?) through John Whitloke & Agnes De la Beche (M1454?) from Robert Whitelocke Fountaine,” file R1926 in the reference section of Whitlock Family One-Name Study site.
[3] Peter Whitlock, “De la Beche Family,” Whitlock Family Newsletter 31,4 (December 2012), p. 11. The outline of Agnes’s ancestors to which Peter Whitlock refers here is, unless I’m mistaken, the chart cited in ibid.
[4] Ibid., p. 12.
[5] The original will is in the Maidstone Record Office in Kent, England: see “Will of Agnes (De la Beche?) Whitloke Dd Mar. 26, 1491 Pr May 15, 1491 at Canterbury, Kent from Jim Whitelock,” file R0252 in the reference documents section of the Whitlock Family One-Name Study website. The transcript of the will provided above is included in this material.
[6] See “St Augustine’s Abbey,” Wikipedia; and “History of St. Augustine’s Abbey,” English Heritage website.
[7] Alfred William Clapham, St. Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, Official Guidebook (Edinburgh: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1933), p. 30.
[8] A History of the County of Bedfordshire, vol. 3 (London: Victoria County History, 1912), p.194, citing Harleian ms. 433. See also “Whitlocks of Wokingham, Berkshire descent from John Whitloke and Agnes De la Beche (M1454?) with all historical detail and source references added,” chart WHITLOCK.02H at the Family Charts section of the Whitlock Family One-Name Study website.
[9] Calendar of Papal Registers, vol. 10: 1447-1455, p. 526: see file GH096 in the section of reference documents archived at the Whitlock Family One-Name Study site entitled “Peter’s Reference Notes.”
[10] PRO, List of early Chancery proceedings preserved in the Public Record Office, Lists and Indexes no. 12, vol. 1 (New York: Kraus, 1963), p. 285 (bundle 28).
[11] A History of the County of Berkshire, vol. 4 (London: Victoria County History, 1924), pp. 3-8; and “Proceedings of Berkshire Archaeological Society,” The Berks, Bucks, and Oxon Archaeological Journal 11,3 (October 1905), pp. 77-80. The proceedings report that, at a gathering of society members at Aldworth in July 1905, the vicar of St. Mary, Rev. G.F. Mattison, indicated that the family at Aldworth dated to a Robert de la Beche, who was made a knight by Edward I in 1278. This source states that the family built a castle in the parish that no longer stands. See also “Aldworth, St. Mary’s Church” and “La Beche Castle” at David Nash Ford’s Royal Berkshire History site.
BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS 