Sex

Male

Parish

Weaverham

Marital Status

Unknown

Occupation Status

Clerk; vicar of Weaverham

Remarks

He held a post in the parish of Nantwich in 1534 when he was included in the clerical taxation list for that year (BL Harley MS 594, f. 153v); he was named as vicar of Weaverham by 1541 (W. F. Irvine (ed.), ‘List of the clergy in eleven deaneries of the diocese of Chester, 1541-2; together with a list of the tenths and subsidy payable in the deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Chester’, Miscellanies relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. 3 (The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 33, 1896) p. 6). In 1552 he was plaintiff in a tithe suit as vicar of Weaverham.

Causes

EDC 5/13/3 – witness to the sentence
EDC 5/13/4 – plaintiff

Sex

Male

Marital Status

Unknown

Literacy

yes - literatus

Causes

EDC 5/10/2 – witness to sentence

Sex

Male

Parish

Irton

Marital Status

Unknown

Causes

EDC 5/10/2 – defendant

Sex

Male

Marital Status

At Issue

Remarks

The court found that a marriage contract between him and Clement Bent was valid although Clement had subsequently tried to contract another marriage with William Renshae.

Causes

EDC 5/9/3 – named in the sentence

Sex

Male

Marital Status

At Issue

Causes

EDC 5/7/1– plaintiff

Sex

Male

Approx Year of Birth

1508

Parish

Deane

Marital Status

Unknown

Causes

EDC 5/3/2 – witness for the plaintiff; his deposition may be found at CALS EDC 2/2 ff. 457v-457v

Sex

Female

Parish

Great Budworth

Marital Status

At Issue

Spouse Name

John - the defamation suit at EDC 5/1/11 centred upon whether Katherine and John were married

Remarks

John Holford was the eldest son of Robert Holford and his wife, Margery, he had at least five brothers.

John and Katherine were the parents of Francis Holford, who claimed that he had been defamed as a bastard by his uncle, Phillip Holford.

Causes

EDC 5/1/11 – mentioned in the libel; mother of plaintiff

Sex

Male

Parish

Great Budworth

Marital Status

At Issue

Spouse Name

Katherine - the defamation suit at EDC 5/1/11 centred upon whether Katherine and John were married

Occupation Status

Gentleman

Remarks

John Holford was the eldest son of Robert Holford and his wife, Margery, he had at least five brothers.

The family were in dispute about their landholdings and Margery’s will and during her lifetime she expressed concern that ‘hyr sonnes shuld the one kyll the other abowt yt’.

Following Margery’s death by September 1541 a cause relating to the validity of her will was brought in the Chester Consistory Court against Phillip, Urian and Katherine Holford.

Sources:

The Visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580, ed. J. Paul Rylands(The Harleian Society, 18, 1882), p. 125

Depositions in the cause concerning the will of Margery Holford dec’d:
CALS EDC 2/2, pp. 394-398, 412-413

Causes

EDC 5/1/11 – mentioned in the libel; father of plaintiff

Sex

Male

Parish

Great Budworth

Marital Status

Married

Spouse Name

Marjorie

Occupation Status

Gentleman

Remarks

Career: Robert Holford was the third son of Thomas Holford of Holford Hall in Plumley, Cheshire.

He married Margery and they had a number of children, including 6 sons, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Owen, Matthew and Brian and at least 2 daughters named Martha and Katherine. Katherine was born about 1511.

Robert had died by 1538 because Margery, as his widow, was involved sometime between 1533 and 1538 in a lawsuit concerning land in Bosden (TNA C 1/827/17-19).

Sources:

The Visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580, ed. J. Paul Rylands (The Harleian Society, 18, 1882), p. 125

The image of Holford Hall in 1883 is reproduced by kind permission of The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire from A. Wolfgang, ‘Holford Hall’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, volume 66 for 1914. Available online:
https://www.hslc.org.uk/journal/vol-66-1914/

Causes

EDC 5/1/11 – mentioned in the libel; grandfather of plaintiff

Sex

Male

Parish

Eccles

Marital Status

Unknown

Causes

EDC 5/2/1 – defendant