Revells of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and ... - Rotherham Web

upon poetry written by Robert Baker who took part in the expedition as a Factor. The Merlin was brought from Bristol to
Hampton (Hampton Court on the River Thames) but while sailing south the powder in her gun-room caught fire and exploded,
blowing off the stern, killing three crewmen and injuring many more. Whether Robert Revell survived the sinking of Merlin is
unclear, but when on duty the Sailing Master would have been on the quarterdeck normally located astern. For reasons
developed below, it is thought that this Robert is related to John Revell, the surveyor. His death in the explosion would explain
why he is not mentioned in John’s will.
Sir William Gerrard, was a Haberdasher, Mayor of the City of in 1555 who died in 1571. 102
and Mayor in 1560, and Sir Thomas Lodge was Mayor in 1562.
Sir William Chester was a Draper
In this regard it is interesting to note a Revell connection to the Abbey of Denney, near Waterbeach, some six miles from
Cambridge. One of the letters in Henry VIII Letters and Papers, foreign and domestic dated 1535 refers to the Abbey of Denney
in Cambridgeshire and includes the following statement, ‘—amongst them a fair young woman, sister to Sir Giles Strangwige,
(Strangways) married to one Ryvell, a merchant "ventrer" at London, with whom she had four children, and now desires, of
conscience, to rejoin her husband. They will not need to be put forth, but will make instance to be delivered, and so the deed
shall be imputed to themselves’.
The identity of this Sir Giles Strangways and his sister is uncertain. The sister could not have been born later than ca 1510 if she
had married and had four children by 1535, and in fact was probably born earlier, but being described as young perhaps no
earlier than 1495. There is an account of a Sir Giles Strangways, Knight, born ca 1528, first son of Henry Strangeways by
Margaret, daughter of George Manners, Lord Ros, 103 but this individual seems to be too late to be her brother.
The ODNB refers to a Henry Strangways, pirate, of uncertain ancestry who died, intestate, at Rouen in 1562. 104 ODNB also
states that ‘tradition ties him to the family of Sir Giles Strangeways (d. 1546) of Melbury Sampford, Dorset’. Of particular
interest in the present context is the statement ‘In early 1559 Strangeways,‘beinge poore and in greate debt’ (TNA: PRO, HCA
1/35, fol. 6), was engaged by William Wilford, merchant of London, and John Strange, gentleman of Chesterton,
Gloucestershire, to command an expedition intended to capture the Portuguese fortress of Mina in equatorial west Africa. The
plan acquired the support of some of the London merchants who had promoted English commercial voyages to Guinea under
Edward and Mary’. This immediately suggests a connection to Robert Revell the Adventurer who sailed to Guinea in 1563, 105
and raises the possibility that it is he who married Giles Strangeways’ sister.
It is clear from pedigrees that Giles / Egidius was a common name among the Strangways, appearing in most generations and in
many branches, and it seems likely that the Giles in question was born in the period ca 1475 to 1505. If so, then on the basis of
the probable dates of birth, Robert’s putative wife would have been a sister of a Giles Strangways and Jane, the eldest daughter
of Johannis Mordant (Mordaunt), unless possibly they had a son Giles who is not recorded in the pedigree. 106 Giles and Jane
appear to have had two sons, Giles and John, and four daughters, Ann, Elizabeth (who married Sir Thomas Trenchard), 107
Christian and Mary, probably born in the period ca 1495 to ca 1510. These dates fit well with the information from the Letters
and papers foreign and domestic discussed above, and it is plausible that Ann, Christian or Mary married Revell.
A Sir Giles Strangways the son of George Strangways and Elizabeth Newborough (Newberry) née Birport of Muston, Dorset, is
also of interest. Elizabeth Strangways née Birport’s will is dated 1570 and she is said to have been born in the period 1487 to
1491 and to have married first about 1512 and second George Strangways about 1520. 108 Although born too late to be brotherin-law
to Revell this Giles married in Winterborne, Lucy Horsey, daughter of Thomas Horsey of Martin in Wiltshire. 109
Lucy Horsey’s ancestry is given in a pedigree from The Visitation of Wiltshire, 110 but it has not been possible to establish a
connection to the Mary Horsey of Digswell, Hertfordshire, who married Roger Revell son of John Revell the Queen’s
Surveyor. This Roger Revell is clearly identified as a son-in-law of George Horsey of Digswell in his will dated 1587.
According to The Visitation of the County of Dorset a Margaret Horsey, daughter of George Horsey of Digswell, married a
Revell, but this appears to be equivalent to Mary Horsey. 111 Mary / Margaret Horsey’s cousins had lands in Dorset and
Wiltshire. 112 Mary Horsey’s grandfather, John Horsey the elder, in his will dated 1532, appointed a Sir Gyles Strangweis as an
overseer, 113 and some connection is plausible.
102 John Strypes a survey of the cities of London and Westminster http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/strype/TransformServlet?page=book2_175
103 Strangeway family http://www.strangewayfamily.org.uk/html/visitation_of_dorset.htm
104 ODNB https://remote.surrey.ac.uk/view/article/,DanaInfo=.awxyCs2lvzmnynMq32+68896?docPos=2
105 Letters and Papers, foreign and domestic http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=75675
106 The Visitation of the County of Dorset http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationofcound00stge#page/86/mode/2up/search/manners
107 A genealogical and heraldic history of the Commoners http://www.archive.org/stream/agenealogicalan01burkgoog#page/n105/mode/1up
108 Newberry family http://www.angelfire.com/me3/families/beckler/newberry.pdf
109 The Visitation of the County of Dorset http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationofcound00stge#page/86/mode/2up/search/horsey
110 The Visitation of Wiltshire http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationofwilt00harvrich#page/24/mode/2up/search/wyke
111 The Visitation of the County of Dorset http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationofcound00stge#page/2/mode/2up/search/revel
112 The Visitation of Hertfordshire http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationsofher22metc#page/114/mode/2up/search/revel
113 The Visitation of the County of Dorset http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationofcound00stge#page/4/mode/2up/search/strang
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