Brief Background to the Mathew Family
Joan’s husband had been Thomas Mathew, Yeoman of Hoddington Manor ~ Thomas died in 1593 and his Will tells us that was a great-grandfather when he died and likely in his 70’s. The first Mathew family record in Upton Grey seems to be the 1510 Will of Agnes Mathew, Widow. According to various genealogies, the Mathew family came into Hampshire from Glamorganshire in Wales, leased Hoddington Manor for generations and finally purchased it freehold in the 1630’s.
Joan Mathew’s Will and Last Testament
- Joan (rendered as Johanna in the Latin inscription above) composed her Will on 5 April 1595 ~ she didn’t write it herself as she was not literate
- “Sick in body but of good and perfect remembrance”
- To be buried in Upton Grey Churchyard
- To Trinity Church, Winchester: 12d
- To parish church of Upton Grey: 12d
- To son-in-law Gyles Kimber (husband of my daughter Alys): a featherbed with bolster and a brass pot
- To grandson Gyles Kimber: a sheep
- To grandson Edward Kimber: a heifer
- To granddaughter Ann Mathewe (daughter of my son James): a pair of sheets
- To grandson George Hall (son of Roger Hall and my daughter Annys Hall): a pair of sheets
- To granddaughter Joan Hall: a pair of sheets
- To grandson George Mathewe (son of my son Thomas): a brass pot and pan
- To William Mathewe (son of Thomas Mathewe): a heifer
- To George Mathewe (son of Thomas Mathewe): a calf
- To Alys Mathewe (daughter of Thomas Mathewe): a pair of sheets
- Residue of my goods and chattels (after my debts and funeral expenses paid) to my daughters: Myldred King (wife of John King), Annys Hall (wife of Roger Hall), and Alys Kimber (wife of Gyles Kimber) to be equally divided between them
- Executors: daughters Myldred, Annys, and Alys
- Overseers of the will: sons-in-law Roger Hall and Gyles Kimber
- Witnesses: John Hall, Thomas Mathewe, and Roger Hall
- Administration granted to Myldred King, Annys Hall, and Alys Kimber at Winchester 17 May 1695
- Bondsmen: Roger Hall (Carpenter of Herriard) and Gyles Kimber (of Weston Patrick) [Bondsman, or ‘obligor’, had to exhibit in the court at or before certain dates first an inventory of the deceased’s goods, and then some time later, upon the completion of their duties, a financial account]
On 9 April 1599, Joan Mathew’s Goods and Chattels were appraised and determined to have a total value of £22/13s. The most valuable items were crops sown in the ground (it was spring-time) and livestock.
The parish register of Upton Grey did not begin until 1559 and all of the children named in Joan Mathew’s Will were born before 1559
Myldred Mathew married John King (a farmer) in Upton Grey on 22 July 1565 (giving us estimated birth in the 1540’s); they had at least 2 children ~ Thomas (b. 1568) and James (1570); here is Myldred’s marriage record in the Upton Grey register written with a quill pen and home-made ink on vellum (cured animal skin):
Annis Mathew married Roger Hall (a carpenter) of nearby Herriard on 1 Jun 1571 in Upton Grey; they had at least 2 children ~ George (b. 1571) and Joan (1574); here is George Hall’s baptism record:
Alys Mathew married Gyles Kimber of Weston Patrick (a farmer) in the 1590’s and they had at least 3 children: Gyles (abt. 1593), Edward (abt. 1595), and Ann (b. 1598); here the record of Alys/Alice Kimber’s burial from the Weston Patrick register:
Thomas Mathew was the second son called Thomas ~ the first Thomas died in 1565 mentioning his father Thomas Mathew and his brother, Thomas Mathew in his Will; it was not that unusual to have 2 sons named after the father; Thomas married Alice Swaine of South Warnborough in 1581;
Thomas and Alice Mathew’s children: Thomas (1585), George (1586), and Alys Mathew (1587); here’s the 1585 baptism of William Mathew:
Genealogy references to the first Mathew of Upton Grey (probably the grandfather of Joan Mathew’s husband, Thomas): 1) “THOMAS MATHEW a younger son of the family of Mathew of Castle Meedol in Com Glamorgan came and resided in Com Southton temp Hen. Octavi and had issue”. Henry VIII reigned from 1509 to 1547. 2) “Robert Mathew of Castel Menych, co. Glamorgan ~ younger branches of this family became seated at Upton Grey, Hants”.
Select Sources
- Hampshire Archives and Local Studies; Winchester, Hampshire, England; Anglican Parish Registers; Reference: 81002/1/1
- Hampshire Archives and Local Studies; Winchester, England; Probate Records: Wills, Inventories and Administrations Proved in the Church Courts of Winchester Diocese, 14th Century to 1858; Reference Number: 1595a/059
- The Visitation of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 1686 accessed on Google Books
- The Genealogical Magazine – Volume 2 – Page 286 accessed on Google Books