The PYGOTT Families of Butley in Cheshire, and of Chetwynd in Shropshire - Coincidences, Conflations, and Corrections considered.

* * *  THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.  * * *

The following is additional detail of the Butley PIGOTT family taken from my consolidated notes in an old and recalcitrant computer at home. It will take some time for me to extract all that is there - as of and from today, 17 August 2020.
Normally I would revert the page to draft function, and re-publish when complete, but better it remain in public view in case I end up under a bus. I will remove the above red print caveat when I am finished.
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PIGOTT OF CHESHIRE, 1066-1430.


The Normans invaded England in 1066.
One of William the Conqueror's knightly companions was Baron Othemyles "PIGOTT" of Normandy. He was granted the Estates of Brunne and Grantbridge, Cambridgeshire, which were inherited by Robert PIGOTT, the son of his marriage to Hugolina de GERNON. "Lord" Robert PIGOTT, through involvement in a coup against Edward I, forfeited the estates to his sister's husband, Pain PEVERELL.

A pedigree (of presently unknown origin, other than a single title I have for it - "Ancient Ancestors") records the following details, some parts of which are not found in other sources, and other parts that vary in detail from those other sources.

The Baron of Biars; father of:
     1. Hervé, his elder son and heir; succeeded his father as Baron de Biars; father of:
               Sigebert.
               Guillaume de Biars; Senechal to Robert, Comte de Montaigne; he was [recent at the Battle of Hastings, 1066.
      2. Osmeline AVENAL; Seigneur de Say; father of:
               Picot AVENAL; possibly born at Aunay-sur-Odon,Lower Normandy, 1022; another companion of William the Conqueror, and possible also at the Battle of Hastings; he probably died at Clun Castle, Chropshire, 17 May 1086; he was married to Adeloise, daughter of Hamon DENTATUS (a reference was made here to refer to Gloucester, Earls, for descendants); they had issue:
                         William de Say.
                         Picot; Miles de Say; Baron of Clun; married to Helias, Lady of Clun; they had issue:
                                   Isabel; married to William FITZALLAN.
                                   Ralph PIGOTT, of Tong; father of:
                                             Eugene; wife of Thomas FITZBERNARD.
               Robert.
               Henry.

Some of the names here hint at it being a conflation of the above named PIGOTT of Cambridgeshire, and the following family of Broxton, with the additional "overlay" of the "surname" of AVENAL (which may be the name of an obscure place in Normandy, with which either of both families may have been associated).

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Another companion of the Conqueror was said to have been Robert PICOT de Say (or Séez, a place near Argentan, in Normandy), 1060. He was in Shropshire in 1083, and appears almost certainly to have been the progenitor of the PIGOTT families associated with Cheshire and Shropshire, the subjects of this article.

The following pedigree of the putative descent from Robert of Séez, beginning with Roger of Cheshire, is inevitably speculative in the early stages for want of specific corroboration.
It is constructed from a number of published sources, the principal of which are:
i. "History of the county palatine and city of Chester," by George ORMEROD, LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., Volume III, London, 1819, at page 335 (under the sub-heading of "Butley-cum-Newton").
ii. "East Cheshire, Past and Present; or a History of the Hundred of Macclesfield in the county palatine of Chester," by John Parsons EARWAKER, M.A., F.S.A., London, in two volumes, 1877, at (volume yet to be confirmed) page 225 (under the sub-heading of "Butley Township").
iii. "Contributions towards a History of the Ancient Parish of Prestbury in Cheshire," by Frank RENAUD, M.D., F.S.A. [Journal of the Chetham Society, 1876, Volume 97, pages 66 et seq]; and his "Early History of Prestbury Parish Church and Manor, Cheshire," [Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, Volume XIII, Manchester, 1895, at page 1 et seq].
iv. "The Sequestration Papers of Thomas PIGOTT of Chetwynd," edited by the Rev W.G.D. FLETCHER, M.A., F.S.A., [Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 1906, pages 67-93].
v. An Irish PIGOTT family pedigree, dated 1837, constructed by Sir William BETHAM, who occupied the heraldic office of Ulster, the Chief Herald of Ireland [the DIX pedigree, Library of the Society of Genealogists, London].
I have added several speculative observations of my own [CGP] - largely derived from my presumption that the elapsed time between marriage of successive generations is, in general, about 30 years.
The above five sources are identified separately as [ORM], [ERW], [REN], [FLE] or [BET].

Roger PICOT, born in or before about 1060 [CGP]; recorded as Tenant in fee of Broxton, Cheshire, in the Domesday Survey of 1086 [FLE].

Robert PICHOT, born about 1090 [CGP]; "Roger PIGOT was succeeded by Robert PICHOT, probably his son, who was living tempus Henry II (1087-1100), and who witnessed ca 1052-55, as 'Robert filio PICOD,' a charter of Randle GERNOUNS, Earl of Chester, to the Abbey of St Werburgh at Chester [FLE].

"Gilbert de PICHOT of Butely (but this as probably incorrect), succeeded his father Robert and was styled joint-lord of Broxton. He married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Robert de RULLOS, a descendant of Richard de ROULLOS, the son of Ilbert who held Cloton and Waverton at the time of the Domesday Survey. By this marriage, the manors of Clotton, Waverton and Hatton came to the PICOTs. These estates were soon alienated to the WAVERTONs, HATTONs, VERNONs and PULFORDs, who all held under the PICOTs. Gilbert PICHOT appears in several Charters 1220-20, and was dead before 1237.

"Robert PICOT, son of Gilbert, was the next lord of Butley, and was living in 1237. He granted the vill of Chelford, with the demesne of Astle and Withington, to Robert de WORTH of the vill of Chelford, etc, at the rent of a pair of gloves on the Feast of All Saints. These lands the said Robert de WORTH granted to the monks of Chester.

"William PIGOTT, lord of Butley, succeeded his father Robert. In about 1250, he was a benefactor to Chester Abbey, to which he quitclaimed some land and a mill at Butely and the church of Prestbury; and as 'William son of Robert PIGOT' confirmed to the monks the grant the grant of Robert de WORTH of the vill of Chelford, etc, at the rent of a pair of white spurs and a barbed arrow yearly. His Inquisition post mortem is dated 16 Edward I (1298).

"His son, William PYGOT, was Lord of Butley, and was dead by 19 Edward II (1325), in which year his widow Margery sued William BRERETON for dower of a tenement in Butley.

"A pedigree in the Society of Genealogists, London, has a Robert PIGOTT of Butleigh, son of William PIGOTT of Butleigh (1303), and father, by his wife Christina, a son William PIGOTT of Butleigh (1341).

"The next was Edward PIGOT, who occurs 1307-27 as a benefactor of Chester Abbey.

"His son William PYGOT, Lord of Butley, occurs 1353-75. His Inquisition post mortem is dated 50 Edward III (1376), by which it was found that he held the Manor of Butteley with its appurtenances in demesne as of fee, of the Prince Richard (later King Richard II) as Earl of Chester, in capite by military service, and that the same was worth per annum 23 marks, and that John PIGOT his son was his son and heir, and was aged 22 years. By another inquisition taken in the same year it was found that the said William PYGOT also held lands in Smethwicke, and that he was only mesne lord under Hugh le Despenser, upon whose attainder the paramount lordship passed to the Prince.

"John PYGOT of Butley, the son and heir of William, born in 1353 or earlier; he occurs in 1382 in the entail of the manor of Cheadle Hulme. In 1385 he was appointed a justice for the three Hundreds of the Eyre of Macclesfield, and in 1388, a deputy-justice of Chester. He is said [by RENAUD] to have died in 1394, and to have been succeeded by John PIGOTT. However, it appears that his Inq p.m. was held in 6 Henry VI (1427), which found that he held the manor of Buttylegh with its appurtenances of Katherine, Queen of England, as tenant in dower of the manor of Macclesfield, Thomas DESPENSER who formerly held it of the Earls of Chester having died without heirs and the same fell to the King, and the same anor was held azs the 20th part of a knight's fee, in the demesne as of fee tail, and was worth per annum 20 marks. He also held 9s. 4d. rent issuing out of lands in Butley, etc, and, as of the inheritance of his wife Agnes, certain parts of the manors of Alstanton and Alvandeston. And John PYGOT was his son and heir. By his first wife he had three sons:
          William PIGOTT, who died before 1405, without issue. See [A] below.
          John PIGOTT, who succeeded his father, and was progenitor of the PIGOTTs of Butley and Bonishall. See [B] below.
          Richard PIGOTT, progenitor of the PIGOTTs of Chetwynd, Shropshire.
"His second wife, Agnes, daughter and co-heiress of William (Fitz Robert) de WETENHALL of Cholmondeston, and the widow of Mathew de DOMVILLE; she and her husband John PYGOT had an episcopal license, 1398, for the celebration of divine service in their oratory; she died without issue, her Inq p.m. dated 5 Henry V 91417) found that she died seized in fee of the manor of Cholmunston and land in Leighton."

This John PYGOT was born in or before 1353. He was found, by "... writ of certiori de feodis" dated 8 February 2 Richard II (1378-79) to hold Butley by grand-sergeantry, of Edward, Prince of Wales.
Of William PIGOTT, probably the eldest son, FOSTER recorded his death in 1376, with Arms - Ermine, 3 Fusils conjoined in fess, Sable.

Other pedigrees broadly agree with the above, although ORMEROD inserts another Gilbert between Robert (living 1155) and Gilbert (Charters of 1220-30). I have a note that this Gilbert was probably the one who died in 1237, and that the son Gilbert died in 1267, and is known to have been of Butley, but was probably the first of the name to possess it.

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I have a further note that the THOMPSON Collection, Society of Genealogists, London, Ref Box 1 - PIGOTT, contains a letter dated 15 April 1968 from a Mr GALLIMORE of Somerset, which stated:
"... among the papers of a deceased cousin, I have come across, written in a note-book with no details of its source, etc, a pedigree of some Essex PIGOTTs which says (inter alia) that a certain John PIGOTT left Essex and went to Cheshire in 1349, and it was his son Richard who married the Chetwynd heiress."
I thought this entry curious, but found another pedigree, headed by William PIGOTT, of Saling, Essex, who bore the Arms "Argent, two bends engrailed, Gules," which Arms are attributed to a descendant of Ralph PIGOTT of Norfolk, who did have a son William, who in turn had a son John PIGOTT, born before 1325, and perhaps as early as 1290, who did sell his Essex estates in 1349!
I have a further note that this 1349 date may have held some significance - it being shortly after the arrival in England of the Bubonic Plaque, which is estimated to have reduced the population of the British Isles from about 5 million to about 4 million.
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[A] William PIGOTT, probably born about 1390, the eldest son of John PIGOTT of Butley by his first wife; he was married to Matild, daughter of Alan --- by his wife Alice, the heiress of lands in Bothe Grene, Macclesfield; she was a widow in 6 Henry IV (1405), and had no issue by William, who died during the life of his father (decessit vita patria, or d.v.p.).

[B] John PIGOTT, second son of John PIGOTT of Butley; he was married, perhaps about 1420 (details unknown); he was commissioned, 5 April 1416, with others, for the collection of part of a subsidy of 3,000 marks; and occurs in 1428; he was justice of Eyre, 1436; he appears to have died in or about 1457, when his widow was named as Joan PIGOTT (perhaps a second wife?); he evidently had issue:
          Robert PIGOTT, probably born about the 1420s; he occurs in a recognisance by Sir Laurence FITTON, dated 20 August 1447, to keep the peace to him (Robert) and his wife Blanche.
          John PIGOTT, of Butley; he occurs as a juror, 38 Henry VI (1460); his Inq p.m. was held 27 Henry VIII (1533); he was married with issue.
          Isabella PIGOTT; she was married to Thomas FALLOWES, of Chester, with issue.
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Frank RENAUD, M.A., F.S.A., published his paper, "Early History of Prestbury Church and Manor, Cheshire," in the Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, Volume XIII, Manchester, 1895. I only found this more detailed account quite recently (early August 2020).

At page 5, he wrote:
"In a deed circa 1250, William, son of Robert PIGOT, lord of Butley, gave one acre of his lordship land to the Lord abbot of St Werburg, the monks, and their successors, in pure eleemosynary, together with lands in Butley adjoining the river Bollin, between the abbot's land and Heyburches, for the good of his soul and the souls of his ancestors. The principal value of this donation consisted in its lying adjacent to the river Bollin, and being a freehold through which the ditch of fleam ran supplying the manorial mill. He also admitted that the village of Prestbury, the church, the advowson of the living was the property of the convent, adding that if either himself or any of his ancestors had ever claimed them, he renounced them unconditionally. The witnesses to this deed were James ADULEY, Justice of Cheshire, Sir Thomas ORREBY, Benedict de COUDRAY, Robert DOWNES, Henry BRYAN, Richard ORREBY, Henry BIRTLES and Adam BOOTH.
"Enough of another much-mutilated deed, made between 1250 and 1256, as proved by names of witnesses, remains to show that this same William PIGOT made further donations of land to the monastery of St Werburg, with a like intents, wherein portions were included in the townships of Titherington and Mottam Andrew, with additions in Heyburches.
...
"Between the years 1228-40... granted to Abbot Walter PINCBECK and the fraternity at Chester...
"... from another deed it appears that the Christian name of BRUN or BROWNE above was Araway, as in it, he says that Serlo, his brother, gave him two marks for land held under him, which he had sold. To this document the names of Walter and Simon, chaplains, Simon de BOOTH, Gilbert PIGOT and Robert PIGOT his son, Michael the dean or deacon, William de MOTTRUM and William de FOXWIST are appended, amongst others.
"... Circa 1260, witnessed... William PIGOT..."

At page 12:
"In the reign of Henry V (1418), the first notice occurs of a practice of farming out the tithes of Prestbury to lay impropriators, when Thomas EARDLEY, the then abbot, covenanted with Richard PIGOT of Butley, that he, conjointly with john DUNCE (?DUNCALF), chaplain, and Richard, son of John PIGOT, should enjoy the rents and profits of the manor and church for a stipulated payment during a period of twenty years. For the accomplishment of this purpose he entered into a bond of 50 pounds to suffer Richard PIGOT, with a domestic chaplain, to farm out the manor and church, with all commodities and profits, for the space of twenty years. The indenture is drawn between the abbot on the one part, and John PIGOT and the chaplain and Richard PIGOT on the other, Richard being designated son of John PIGOT, a genealogical fact hitherto left doubtful in the descent of this family."

At page 13:
"The first grant for a private oratory at Adlington was made to Sir Robert LEGH and Isabella his wife, in the reign of Richard II, dated 1398...
"In the year 1446... Robert LEGH and Isabella (SAVAGE) his wife...
"... in 1448... parts of Heyburches and Heywood...
"The stipulated annual payment of ten shillings was to be rendered to John PIGOT of Butley for such parts of Heyburches as were included in his manor."

And at page 46:
"... In the deed referred to, William de FOXWIST settled all the possessions he had in Foxwist, in Butley fee, on his eldest son William...
"These specified lands, which the son had of his own right, had been granted to him by Robert PIGOT of Butley, as appears by an earlier deed... (Thirty sixth Report of the Deputy Keeper of Public Records, pages 381-2), and is as follows:
"Robert PIGOT granted to William de FOXWIST, for his homage and service, 'le Rowehurst,' and 'le Keppidehurste,' and the land within the following bounds, viz, from 'le Hok,' near the mill bridge, to 'le Lache,' near the assart of Henry PRUDHOMME, to Briane NOOR, descending to the land of William de FOXWIST..."
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THE INTERIM POST, STARTED IN LATE 2015.


Robert PYGOT of Butley, Cheshire, died in 1535; by his wife Mary, he had issue, including an eldest son Humphrey, who died before him; and he had another son Thomas, who survived him and was named as his heir in his Inquisition Post Mortem.

Robert PIGOT of Chetwynd, County Salop, also died in 1535; by his wife, also named Mary, he had issue, including an eldest son also named Humphrey, who also died before him, and another son, also named Thomas, who also survived him, and was named in his will as his son and heir.

A number of historians who have taken an interest in the affairs of families in this area during the century leading up to and including the early TUDOR era, including the PYGOT/PIGOTT families, appear to have stumbled upon this glorious array of extraordinary coincidences, and inevitably ended up conflating the two men as a result.

It takes a brave or carefree colonial with no academic background in history to challenge the published works of eminent English historians such as George ORMEROD ("History of the County Palatine and City of Chester"), and John Parsons EARWAKER ("East Cheshire, Past and Present; or, A History of the Hundred of Macclesfield in the County Palatine of Chester," London, 1877-80).

But I am seeing that as inevitable - in particular, out of a great respect for the rules of Promigeniture, described by many as being "inviolable."
I propose therefore to attempt what might prove to be near impossible, and seek to recover the separate identities of two esteemed branches of a family which I claim to be my own, or to which my ancestors were probably very nearly related.

The confusions have arisen among the immediate descendants John PYGOT of Butley, who died in 1427, having had issue three sons:
1. William PYGOT; he died during the life of his father, by 1405, without issue.
2. John PYGOTT; he succeeded his father to the Butley estates in 1427.
3. Richard PIGOTT, who established a junior branch of the family at Chetwynd, Shropshire, which "rich" estate he acquired by his marriage to Jacosa de PESHALL, daughter and heiress of Reginald de PESHALL of Chetwynd, who thereby inherited the said Chetwynd estates.

But first, we might profit by a brief survey of the PIGOTT family during this time.

And I must here acknowledge the magnificent contribution that Gail STOKES, of Lancashire, has made to my understanding of some of the issues arising.


EARLIER HISTORY OF THE PIGOTT FAMILY OF BUTLEY.

EARWAKER, at page 255, under the heading of "Butley Township," recorded the following details:

"...of Inquisitions post mortem now in the Record Office commences with one taken in the 50 Edward III (1376), after the death of William PYGOT, who died seized in his demesne as of fee of the "manor of Butteley," which his ancestors held in capite of Hugh DESPENCER by Knight's service, but owing to the forfeiture of the latter's estates, it was held directly from the Earl of Chester by the same service, and was worth 23 marks. He also held land in Smethwick, near Congleton, and John PYGOT, his son and heir, was the aged 22 years (fn). This "John PYGOT of Buttelegh," as he is always called, took an active part in the management of the affairs of this part of Cheshire in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He was one of the Justices in Eyre for Macclesfield Hundred in 1386, Justice of Cheshire in 1388, and was exercising judicial functions in various parts of the County in 1389-142?, having been appointed to the office of sergeant-at-Law in the Counties of Chester and Flint in 1400. His name is also not infrequently met with in deeds and conveyances of this period. He married for his 2nd wife Agnes, the widow of Matthew DOMVILE, the daughter and coheiress of William de Wettenhall of Cholmondeston, who held that manor in her own right, as shown by the Inq p.m. taken after her death in 1417. Her husband survived until 1427, when his Inq. P.M., taken in that year, showed that he held the "Manor of Buttylegh" and "an annual rent going out of Olde Foxwyst and Newton in Buttelegh." He also held a messuage in Dokenfield, a burgage in Macclesfield, and certain portions of the Manor and lands of Alstanton and Alvandeston for his life only, these being inheritances of his 2nd wife, by whom he had no issue. By his first wife, whose name has not occurred, he had two sons, William PIGOT, who died without issue in his father's lifetime, and John PIGOT, who succeeded him (fn 4). The latter appears to have died about 1460, and to have been succeeded by his son, John PIGOT, whose Inq p.m. was taken in 1513, when his son and heir, Robert, was 50 years old. This Robert PIGOT married Marion BLOUNT, by whom he had sons Humphrey PIGOT, who died during his father's lifetime, leaving 3 daughters coheiresses, and Thomas PIGOT, who succeeded to Butley on his father's death in December 1535. Thomas PIGOT, was then 50 years of age, died Feb 20, 1549..."

This John PYGOT the younger was named in an agreement, dated 31 January 1445, as John PYGOT of Butley, in an agreement with Robert LEGH of Adlynton, concerning lands in Cheshire [Manchester Library, TATTON of Wythenshaw Muniments, TNA Ref TW/783].

The above account is nearly identical to other accounts of this family for this period.

But EARWAKER then goes on to describe this Thomas PIGOT as having had his Inq p.m. taken in 1552, and "...it appears that he left three sons Robert, Richard and John, and three daughters Mary, Katherine and Dorothy."
I believe that this ensuing account is where the conflation begins.

George ORMEROD, in his "History of the County Palatine and City of Chester" fares only marginally better, before falling into the same apparent trap. At page 335, in his Volume III, and under the heading of "Butley cum Newton," he summarises a similar sequence of Inquisitions post mortem, with one exception - he omits one generation, that of the John PYGOT whom EARWAKER states had died about 1460.
ORMEROD concluded with yet another variation:

"Inq. p.m. 27 Hen VIII. Robert PIGOTT held the manor of Butteley, and lands in old Foxwist and Nether Foxwist, Newton, and Tyehall, from the king as Earl of Chester, as the 2oth part of a knight's fee; val. 23 pounds 4s. 4d; also one capital messuage in Sale, and lands in Smethwick and Prestbury; val. tot. 26 pounds 7s. 10d; died 15 Dec predictus, Margery, Mary and Dorothy TRACY, severally aged 16, 14 and 12 years, Alicia BAGHOLD, aged 12 years, and Elianor wife of John SHARP, aged 20 years, next of kin and co-heiresses.
"Notwithstanding this inquisition, a collateral male line succeeded:
"Inq. p.m. 5 Edw VI. Thomas PIGOTT found to have held as in the last, and to have died 5 February 3 Edw VI, Robert PIGOTT his son and heir.
"Butley was divided between the daughters of this Robert..."

Well, it wasn't, actually.
The real answer probably lies in the full transcript of the 27 Hen VII Inquisition, which is reproduced in the Thirty Ninth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, published on 16 May 1878.
At page 214, we find:

"1536, April 27.
"Thomas, writ of livery, setting forth the finding of an inquisition, viz., that Robert PYGGOT, armiger, died seized of the manor of Boteley, and of 5 messuages, 200 acres of land, 50 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture, 200 acres of wood, and 400 acres of heath and marsh in Oldfoxwixt, Netherfoxwist, Newton and Lyehall, within the fee of Boteley; of an annual rent of 10s. issuing out of a field called "Hewebirche" in Prestbury; of one messuage and 3 acres of land in Smithweke, and of one messuage, 20 acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, and 20 acres of wood in Sale; in his demesne, as of fee-tail-male, of the reversion of the fee simple pertaining to the said Robert PYGOTT and his heirs; that the said Robert married Mary BLONT and had issue Humphry and Thomas; that Humphry died in the lifetime of his father, without issue male; that afterwards the said Robert died, when the manors, etc, descended to the said Thomas; that the manor of Boteley, and the messuages, etc, in Oldfoxwixt, Netherfoxwixt, Newton and Lyehall were held of the Earl of Chester by the 20th part of a knight's fee, yearly value 24 pounds 4s 4d; that the lands in Smethwik were held of the heir of Thomas SMETHWIK, in socage, yearly value 4s.; those in Sale of the heirs of William de HONFORD by fealty only, yearly value 36s. 6d.; and those in Prestbury of the Abbey of Chester, in socage, yearly value 10s.; that the said Robert died on the 15th Dec., 27 Hen 8; that Margery and Dorothy TRACY, Alice BAGSHAGH, and Eleanor wife of John SHARPE, were kinswomen and heirs of the said Robert, viz., the said Margery, Maria and Dorothea daughters of Joan one of the daughters of Humphry son of the said Robert, and Robert BRADSHAWE son and her of Alice another of the daughters of the said Humphry, and the said Eleanor third daughter of the said Humphry, and of the respective ages of 16, 14, 12, 5 (Robert) and 23; that Thomas PIGOTT was son and heir male of the body of the aforesaid Robert, and of the age of 50. [27 and 28 Hen 8 m (1)]."

It is evident from this transcript that the son Thomas, of ORMEROD's 5 Edw VI Inq. p.m., was heir to his father, but that he had no heirs, nor was he likely to have produced any in what was left of his lifetime.
Further, it is clear that the jury empanelled to return writs to the Escheator in 1536 therefore itemized in advance the co-heiresses of Robert who would, in all likelihood, survive their uncle Thomas. Or that is certainly how it looks!

This is further alluded to by Frank RENAUD, M.D., in his "Contributions towards a History of the ancient parish of Prestbury, in Cheshire," published by the Chetham Society, Volume 97, 1876, at page 68, where we find the following:

"...William PIGOT, whose history is best set forth in the following post mortem inquisition: 'William PIGOT died seized in fee of a moiety of the Manor of Butley, which said William formerly held the said manor from Hugh Le Despenser, who held it from the earl in capite by military service, which said Hugh forfeited it, by reason whereof the said William at the time of his death held it immediately from the said earl by the like service. He also died seized in fee of a certain parcel of land in Smethwick in socage. He died on Thursday next after the raising of the holy cross, 50 Edw III, leaving John, his son, upwards of 22 years, his next heir.'
"John PIGOT held Butley by the same tenure as his father. He was one of the justices itinerant for Cheshire (Cheshire, Chamberlain's accounts). He died in 1394, and was succeeded by John PIGOT, who held Butley under the Despensers in the 6th Hen VI, 1427. He also held rents issuing out of Old Foxwist, and Newton in Butley. His name occurs as one of the justices itinerant for Maccesfield Hundred in 1402 and 1413 (Ormerod).
"He appears to have been succeeded by a son also named John PIGOT of Butley, whose Inq p.m. is dated 1512, 4 Hen VIII. He had two sons, vizt; Robert PIGOT who succeeded him; and George PIGOT, who settled at Bonishall, and who married Catherine, daughter of Henry HENSHAW of Henshaw, in Siddington.
"Robert PIGOT died in 1535, 27 Hen VIII, leaving one son and four daughters.
"Thomas PIGOT died without issue, leaving four sisters and coheiresses. His Inq. p.m. dated 6 Edw VI, 1552, is as follows: 'Thomas PYGOTTE tenuit terras et tenementas suas in Butlege una cum terris et tenementis in Olde Foxwiste, Newton, et Lee Hall, de Domino Rege ut Comes Cesrtrie foed. Milit." 6 Edw VI.
"One of his sisters, the inheritrix of a fourth part of Butley, married Francis CLINTON of Herefordshire."

RENARD does not cite his sources as to the death of Thomas PIGOTT of Butley without issue, with the four sisters as coheiresses - and he clearly has misunderstood that the heiresses were his nieces, not his sisters. Although I suppose it is possible that Thomas DID have sisters - the wife of Francis CLINTON is evidently not a daughter of Humphrey, so perhaps she was instead his sister, and there may have been others.
But if so, does that mean that all of the nieces and their offspring were now dead, and that four of their aunts had survived them?

Here we have another John PIGOTT in the lineage, over and above the lineages recorded by ORMEROD - but not in the same generation as EARWAKER had recorded his extra John PYGOT. That is the John PIGOT whom RENAUD states as having died in 1394. Once again, he cites no source for this detail.
It is indeed curious that neither this man, nor EARWAKER's about 1460 death, appear elsewhere in the histories, even though their individual presence does, in each case, make for a more conventional chronology, based on the approximately 30 year elapsed time between successive generations.
But if the 1394 death was of a man who was a tenant in chief of a manor held of the crown, as Butley appears to have been, then there should indeed have been an Inquisition post mortem held on that occasion. I have not yet seen any indications that one has survived for his death. One can, and should, make the identical observation on the about 1460 death, as well.

However, if we look at the death dates, we see that the placement of EARWAKER's additional generation (with the about 1460 death) makes much more sense than does RENAUD's - his gap of 86 years between John PYGOTT (died 1427) and John PYGOTT (died 1513), which matches ORMEROD, appears highly unlikely (unless the heir was an infant).

Thomas PYGOT, the grandson of John PYGOT, Esq'r, was named as Plaintiff in a Chancery Court action, PYGOT v DUNCALF, date range 1544-1551, the defendant being Thomas DUNCALF, concerning Detention of Deeds relating to land at Prestbury in the Lordship of Butley, Cheshire [TNA - C 1/1252/88, at Kew].


THE JUNIOR BRANCH OF CHETWYND PIGOTTS.


EARWAKER also fails to record the third son of John PYGOTT (ca 1353-1427) of Butley, who heads the conventional pedigrees of the PIGOTTs of Chetwynd, County Salop.

He is identified as Richard PYGOT by Rev W.G.D. FLETCHER, M.A., F.S.A., in his "Sequestration Papers of Thomas PIGOTT of Chetwynd," which were published in the Transcactions of the Shropshire Archaeology and Natural History Society (G.B.), 3rd Series, Volume VI, 1906, at pages 67 et seq., and where Richard's descent is summarized as follows (page 69):

"...John PYGOT, the son and heir of William [his Inq. p.m. is dated 50 Edw III (1376)], occurs in 1382 in the entail of the manor of Cheadle Hulme. In 1385 he was appointed a justice of the three hundreds of Eyre at Macclesfield, and in 1388 a deputy-justice of Chester. In 1400, Henry, prince of Wales, appointed him serjeant-at-law for the counties of Chester and Flint, and in 1400 justice of Cheshire. His 2nd wife Agnes, daughter and heiress of William de WETTENHALL of Cholmondeston, and widow of Matthew de DOMVILLE. In 1398, John PYGOT and Agnes his wife had an episcopal license for the celebration of divine service in their oratory. She died s.p., and her Inq. p.m., dated 5 Hen V (1417) finds that she died seized in fee of the manor of Cholmondeston and land in Leighton. "John PYGOTT's Inq. p.m. is dated 6 Hen VI (1427), and it was found that he held the manor of Buttylegh, with its appurtenances, of Katherine, queen of England, as tenant in dower of the Manor of Macclesfield, Thomas DESPENCER, who formerly held it of the Earls of Chester, died without heirs, and the same fell to the King; and the same manor was held as the 20th part of a knight's fee, and was worth per annum 20 marks. And he also held 9s. 4d. rent issuing out of lands in Butley, etc, and, as the inheritance of his wife Agnes, certain parts of the Manors of Alsaston and Alvandeston. And John PYGOT was his heir. By his first wife he had three sons:
1. William PYGOT, who died s.p. before 1405.
2. John, who succeeded his father as Lord of Butley.
3. Richard, ancestor of the PIGOTTs of Chetwynd."

"The third son, Richard, with his brother John PIGOT of Butley and Sir John GROSVENOR, appears as party to a suit brought by William de BROMELY, Lord of Badington, in 1429 [Plea Rolls, Henry VI]. In 1432 he had a grant of a messuage called 'le Halle of Pott' in Shrigley, in fee, from Richard SCARRET. In 1423 and 1426, he occurs as justice in Eyre in the Hundred of Macclesfield [sic - this may be in error for his brother John?], and frequently down to 1440 in recognizances to keep the peace [Recognizance Rolls]. He married Joyce, daughter and coheiress of Richard de PESHALL [sic - other sources record him as Reginald] of Chetwynd, and by her he obtained the rich manor of Chetwynd. He died in may 1439, his Inq. p.m. being dated 2 January 19 Hen VI, by which it is found that he left a son and heir, John PYGOT, who was then aged 5 years."

This John PYGOT was named in a deed dated 17 May 1470 [Cheshire Archives and Local Studies - TNA Ref DDS/137], as the son and heir of Richard PYGOT, Esq, as joint 1st party, along with Robert LEGH of Adlynton, Junior, and John SMYTH, Chaplain - the 2nd party being Robert DOWNES, Senior, Esq, and Geoffrey DOWNES - and concerning the Quitclaim of Party 1's claims upon all the lands in Potshryglay once held by Richard, father of John PYGOT.

FLETCHER continues, at page 71:

"John PYGOT of Chetwynd, the son and heir of Richard PIGOT and Joyce PESHALL, was born in 1434. In January 1457-58, a commission was issued for his arrest, together with thirteen others, for using threatening language to Joan, the widow of John PYGOT, his aunt. Probably the dispute was over her dower lands. In 1459, he entered into a recognizance to her in the sum of 100 marks [Recognizance Rolls]. This John PYGOT of Chetwynd married Ellen, daughter of Robert de LEGH of Adlington in Cheshire, by his wife Mabel, daughter of Sir William STANLEY. Their son Robert PIGOTT of Chetwynd was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1517, and married Margaret, daughter of Sir John BLOUNT of Kinlet (sic - his will named her as Mary, and there is no certainty that she was a BLOUNT), by whom he had a son Thomas PIGOTT, who married Elizabeth ONLEY. Their son Robert PIGOTT of Chetwynd married Elizabeth, daughter of William GATACRE, and had issue - Thomas PIGOTT of Chetwynd, who married Dorothy, daughter of Thomas EYTON by his wife Alice CHARLTON, and their eldest son Walter PIGOTT was Sheriff in 1624, and the father of the Royalist Officer [Thomas]."

Robert PIGOTT, of Chetwynd; Plaintiff in a Chancery Court action, brought against John DUKKENFELD, concerning a messuage and land in Dukinfield and Raftbottom (Offerton?), Cheshire, date range 1515-1518 [TNA - Ref C 1/436/31]; Plaintiff in another Chancery Court action, brought against Robert SMETHWYK, concerning a messuage and land in Smethwik, Cheshire, date range 1518-1529 [TNA - Ref C 1/555/18]; Defendant in another Chancery Court action brought on by John ONLEY, one of the co-executors of Adam GRAFTON, Clerk, concerning "...Board and table money and other charges of defendant and his wife and servants for 13 years, at the said Adam's house, amounting to 520 pounds" with a date range of 1529-1532 [TNA - Ref C 1/661/12]; his will dated 25 May 1534, proved at Lichfield, 19 May 1536; he married firstly, Mary (he named her in his will, but did not identify her birth surname); Robert married secondly, Jane or Joan ONLEY (widow of John ONLEY, who died in 1512, and daughter of  Thomas PONTESBURY, of Shrewsbury, by his wife Elizabeth GRAFTON), the widowed mother of his daughter-in-law; she was named as "...late the wife of Robert PYGOTT" when she brought a complaint before the Court of Chancery, date range 1533-1538, against his sons Edward and Thomas PYGOTT, concerning "..Goods of the said Robert PYGOTT which defendants have obtained by undue influence, now claiming to be his executors" [TNA - Ref C 1/876/72]; Jane said to have died in 1573 at Albrington, Shropshire.
By his first wife Mary, Robert had issue:
1. Humphrey PIGOTT, who died without issue during his father's lifetime (provision in his father's will for "...an honest priest to sing prayers" for his Christian soul), without issue and probably unmarried.
2. Thomas PIGOTT, who succeeded to Chetwynd; co-defendant in the Chancery Court action brought on by his step-mother Jane PYGOT, 1533-1538m, concerning his late father's goods. See next below.
3. Richard PIGOTT, who was named in his father's will.
4. Francis PIGOTT, ditto.
5. Edward PIGOTT, ditto; co-defendant in the Chancery Court action brought on by his step-mother Jane PYGOT, 1533-1538m, concerning his late father's goods.

Thomas PIGOTT, of Chetwynd; named in Chancery Court record, ONLEY v PYGOTT [TNA - Ref C 1/661/12] as the son of defendant Robert PYGOTT of Chetwynd, Esq, and the as a co-executor, with the Complainant John ONLEY, of Adam GRAFTON, Clerk, date range 1529-1532; died in 1549; his will, dated 15 September 1546, was proved at Lichfield on 16 May 1549; he married Elizabeth (alias Isabel) ONELEY (a daughter of John ONLEY by his wife Joan or Jane PONTESBURY); her will, dated 15 May 1554, was proved at Lichfield on 15 June 1554.
By her he had issue:
1. Robert PIGOTT of Chetwynd; named in both his parents wills; married Elizabeth GATACRE, with issue.
2. Richard PIGOTT, named in both his parents wills.
3. John PIGOTT, ditto; said to have been a Clerk, at Norbury, Shropshire, and unmarried, when he made his will, dated 6 Apr 1580, which was proved P.C.C. on 12 Dec 1580, in which he named his brother Robert PIGOTTE, Esq, and Robert's son Francis.
I. Mary PIGOTT, named in her father's will; named as Mary WELER in her mother's will.
II. Anne PIGOTT, not named in her father's will; named as Anne YOUNGE in her mother's will.
II. Katherine PIGOTT, named in both her parents wills.
III. Dorothy PIGOTT, ditto.

I am very grateful to Gail STOKES, of Cheadle, Cheshire, for the transcriptions of the secretary hand used in these three Chetwynd wills - and indeed for her willingness to engage in the issues raised in this blog.

TWO THOMAS PIGOTTS.

As we have seen above, Thomas PIGOTT of Butley, died sometime in or before 1552.
The transmission of the Manor of Butley to his co-heiresses, his late older brother Humprey's daughters and/or their issue, provides very clear evidence that Thomas had no male heirs of his own.

As we have also seen above, Thomas PIGOTT of Chetwynd made his will in September 1546, and it was proven in May 1549. He left three sons, the eldest of whom, Robert PIGOTT, inherited Chetwynd.
This provides further proof that Thomas of Chetwynd and Thomas of Butley were two different people.

The final piece of evidence is the fact that the Manor of Butley is not mentioned anywhere in Thomas of Chetwynd's will - nor was it mentioned in the will of his father Robert (dated 1534, proved 1536).

All of this, I believe, constitutes conclusive evidence that Thomas of Butley and Thomas of Chetwynd were two different PIGOTTs, and were almost certainly 4th or 5th cousins. It follows, therefore, that their fathers, Robert of Butley and Robert of Chetwynd, were also two different PIGOTTs, and probably 3rd or 4th cousins.

SOME RECORDS IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

Some documents at Kew, for Robert and Thomas PIGOTT, both of Salop, indexed in the Discovery web-site [T.N.A.], may yet prove to be of interest.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

1. Robert PIGOTT, Salop:

C 142/58/40 [Court of Chancery, Inq. p.m.'s Series II, and other Inq's, Hen VII - Chas I]:
Date - 28 Hen VIII [22 April 1536 to 21 April 1537].
Evidently the Inq. P.M. for Robert PYGOTT

E 150/856/2 [Court of Exchequer, King's Remembrancer's and Escheator's Files, Inq . p.m.'s Series II, and other Inq's, Hen VIII to Eliz I]:
Date - 28 Hen VIII.
Evidently the Inq. P.M. for Robert PYGOT of Butley concerning his holdings in County Salop (in Secretary Hand and abbreviated Latin), in which his grand-daughters (the three daughters of his deceased son Humphrey PYGOTT) are identified as Johanne TRACY (deceased), Alice BAGSHAW, and Eleanor PYGOTT.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

2. Thomas PIGOTT, Salop:

C 142/89/151:
Date - 3 Edw VI [28 January 1549 to 27 January 1550].
Evidently the Inq. P.M. for Thomas PIGOTT of Chetwynd, identifying his wife Isabel and their sons and daughters.

E 150/865/2:
Date - 3 Edw VI.

WARD 7/5/11 [Court of Wards and Livery, Inq. p.m.'s]:
Date - 3 Edw VI.
The document copied on order did not mention the name PIGOTT, so evidently in error.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I suppose it is possible that these two gentlemen were of the Butley branch, but with property in County Salop. Alternatively, they may just be the final proof of the above assertion - that the Butley line and the Chetwynd line were different branches of the same family. I do look forward to sighting copies of these records, now (January 2016) on order.

SIR WILLIAM BETHAM'S ERROR.

My own derivation from the PIGOTT's of Butley was speculated by Sir William BETHAM, Chief Herald in Ireland, during the 1830's. His pedigree, perhaps with constructions suggested by the then Baronet of Knapton (for whom he was doing the research), was typed up in 1934 by Michael DIX and deposited in the Society of Genealogists, London - it stated that John PIGOTT, the 1562 grantee of the Dysart Estates in the Queen's County, Ireland, was a son of Robert PIGOTT of "...Butley and Chetwynd" by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir John BLOUNT of Kinlet.

Clearly, BETHAM was in error, and on a number of counts, as follows:

1. On the above evidence, there were evidently two different Robert PIGOTTs - one of Butley, the other of Chetwynd.

2. Robert PIGOTT of Butley did marry a BLOUNT, and her name was Mary (she was so named in his Inq. p.m.) - but she was probably instead a daughter of Sir Humphrey BLOUNT, and so a sister of Sir John BLOUNT. The chronology of the families indicates that any daughter of Sir John BLOUNT would probably have been too young to have had children by this Robert PIGOTT.

3. Robert PIGOTT of Chetwynd did have a wife name Mary, but we have no specific evidence that she was a BLOUNT, and her having been identified as a BLOUNT may simply be the result of the ensuing conflation.
If she was, she was probably too old to have been a daughter of Sir John BLOUNT of Kinlet (as mentioned in item 2 preceding).
The fact that Robert appointed Dame Margaret BLOUNT, Sir John's widow and Robert's own "...faithful and true kinswoman" (and so described by him in his will), as a trustee of his estate, may have been what has led some researchers to see that as evidence of a BLOUNT marriage for this Robert - but Dame Margaret was already a kinswoman of Robert PIGOTT, by virtue of their common descent from the family of PESHALL of Chetwynd. However, there is a possibility that there was an earlier John PIGOTT of Butley with a BLOUNT wife, perhaps even a first wife of the one who died in 1427, or even of his son.

4. Robert and Mary PIGOTT did have a grand-son named John, son of their son  and heir Thomas, who was of an age to have gone over to Ireland in about 1558. But he did not, and died in Shropshire.