Ernle FamHist

ERNLE Family History (including variant spellings of the surname)

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Family Name: ERNLE (pronounced ˈEarn-lee, i.e. with the stress falling on the first syllable).

This English surname is thought to be extinct in the male line in England, and elsewhere in the British Isles, though it may survive in the United States under the form EARNLEY, but the precise filiation of the American family, which has been traced back to the 18th century in Berkshire, whence it emigrated first to British North America (now Canada) in the 19th century, and thence to the U.S., has yet to be established.

Unrelated to this possible overseas survival of the Sussex surname, a distaff line of descendants of the Wiltshire branch of the Sussex manorial family revived the surname in the twentieth century after the lapse of over a century in use following the death of the last known male of the sib to bear the surname in male line descent, namely The Rev. Dr (and, possibly, Sir*) Edward ERNLE, rector of Avington, Berkshire, who died unmarried and childless in 1787, survived, at Brimslade, in the parish of Burbage, Wilts., by his sister, Frances ERNLE, who, though a spinster, was known according to an older genteel customary usage, as Mrs. ERNLE or Madam ERNLE, until her death in 1793, whereupon the surname died out in the connected patriline begun at Earnley, Sussex, circa 1166.

Other occasional instances of the name in the role of a surname encountered both during the known life of the Sussex and Wiltshire sib and after its apparent late 18th century demise in English records, such as in parish registers, tax lists, army lists, and censuses, may refer to unaffiliated or lost connexions to the known ERNLE sib. Conversely, they could involve misreadings of difficult handwriting or mishearing by their recorders or even occasional confusion or alternation in usage by the bearer. Often this can only be determined, if at all, by close study involving searching the records for other instances of the person’s name thus spelt under another form that may diverge more obviously from the ERNLE name and its many phonetic variants, not all of which are true equivalents denoting membership in the studied family. Research into this tricky aspect of onomastics and the surviving stock of name instances recorded over the course of many centuries is ongoing as part of an attempt to create an exhaustive catalogue of all members of the Sussex ERNLE sib and its offshoots in Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon, Kent, Hampshire, Berkshire, London, Middlesex, Surrey, Yorkshire, and elsewhere, and a reasonably precise accounting for every instance where the name, though bearing every resemblance to that of a Sussex ERNLE traceable back to the original manorial family from the Sussex parish of Earnley, can be proved not to belong to the family. For this reason, the primary researcher, named below, has undertaken an extensive unofficial One-Name Study of the ERNLE surname and its myriad variants from the 12th century to the present, a project on which he has been engaged for over twenty years.

The revivor of the name was Lady DUNSANY, otherwise The Rt Hon. Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX, wife of The Rt Hon. John William PLUNKETT, 17th Baron of DUNSANY. Lady DUNSANY, née Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor BURTON (1855–1916), was doubly descended, both times in the female line, from members of the Wiltshire ERNLE family. This surname revival occurred in 1905 after authorisation by Royal Licence and, extended by a further Royal Licence in 1916, allowed the second and only younger son of the DUNSANY-BURTON marriage to bear the surname his mother had earlier adopted as from 1916 appended to his paternal surname as PLUNKETT-ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX. The first bearer of this surname was Admiral The Honourable Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly PLUNKETT-ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX (d. 1967), of Charborough (Charborough House, Charborough Park), Dorset, whose eldest patrilineal grandson is the present head of this landed family, and the current Westminster M.P., Capt. Richard Grosvenor PLUNKETT-ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX (b. 1958), more usually known as Richard DRAX, M.P. (Conservative, South Dorset, 2010-date)[1]

Via this revival, the otherwise extinct family of ERNLE retains a present-day bearer and representation among the traditional ruling classes of the country where the surname first came into existence over 850 years ago, or some nine centuries since its first creation, possibly as an offshoot of the even older de LANGINGES family, feudal lords of the manor of Lancing, Sussex, whence they, in turn, derived their surname.

Name Variants: various variant forms of the surname appear starting with the letters A, E, I, O, U, Y, and H, and including, but not limited to, ARNLEY, EARNLE, EARNLEE, EARNLEY, EARNLIE, EARNLY, EARNLYE, ERNELE, ERNELEE, ERNELEG, ERNELEY, ERNLE, ERNLEGH, ERNLEIGH, ERNLEY, ERNLIE, HURNLEY, IRNELYE, YERNELEY, YERNLE, YERNLEY, etc. Apart from the form I have settled on as the main or standard spelling, i.e. ERNLE, the forms (de) ERNELE, ERNELEY, and ERNLEY could be considered as recognised acceptable variants or even as preferred usages in past eras. ERNELE with or without the locative preposition de was popular in the pre-modern or mediaeval period, though a host of other spellings existed in what was perhaps the least standardised period of spelling given the number of variant name forms found for both the surname and the Sussex place name from which it was derived (with its parallel place names in other counties such as Berkshire and Dorset). ERNELEY, which seems to have arisen in the 16th century along side YERNELEY (much mentioned below in connexion with the man who became cjcp), enjoyed a long vogue until the extinction of the main male lines of the family in the late eighteenth century, after which it was occasionally also applied retroactively during the 19th century to both the family and the Sussex locality. By contrast, ERNLEY never all that common, but both logical and readily remembered and pronounced accurately, seems to have been favoured by non-family members who were engaged in studying some personage from the family who had reached public recognition such as by historians. It is into this category that the form appears in connexion with the current Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for the Tudor lawyer and judge, Sir John ERNLEY. The authors of ODNB have not, however, all necessarily agreed on which spelling to use in writing about the family, partly due to the fact that some references are not main entries enjoying a biography in their own right, but, rather, oblique references to family members which rely on repetition from other earlier publications, some dating back to the time when indexers and genealogists, historians, and other writers might misread ERNLE as ERULE or ERNLEY as ERULEY. The main reason, of course, is that there is and possibly cannot be a coordinated effort by the ODND to control and standardise surname spelling over such a vast endeavour involving, of necessity, many contributors who write their articles at different periods generally in isolation from each other’s work.

In addition to these remarks about spelling variants and the possibility that they might give rise to confusion with other distinct surnames, hyphenation was not well-understood or universally used when surnames began to be employed by the gentry and nobility, first in braces, and, then, in triplets, and even four or five barrels, while, at the same time, they were bestowed as first or second personal names as Christian or baptismal names. So, for example in an article about an 18th century Earl of Kinnoull, the ONDB includes odd forms such as KYRLE-EARNLE in reference to the DUPPLIN (HAY)-ERNLE marital alliance when the father of the bride was simply ERNLE with the ancestral surname KYRLE as a middle name rather than a surname. This error can be traced further back to its origin as an erroneous rendition of the name of Lord DUPPLIN’S bride, Constantia, in reference to her father’s name. This is related as an example of how a researcher is advised to go about documenting the generation and propagation or genealogy of errors in print and elsewhere. Indeed, it was for this reason that this project was first undertaken when the present researcher was confronted by the multitude of errors in the printed accounts of the family, some of them immediately obvious, but some of them decide less so, and only capable of correction after careful study of their likely genesis through the sometimes tedious collection and comparison of all captured instances in a vast array of recorded materials which may never be fully exhaustive in its scope due to limitations of time, skill, dedication, awareness, or accessibility.

These onomastic quagmires to one side, it should also be noted that occasionally, the medial n is dropped in references to known members of the ERNLE stirp, and that this can, in turn, be the source of confusion between actual ERNLE family members and people bearing seemingly the same or similar surnames with a separate genealogical origin and family history. This is exacerbated by the fact that some inattentive pedigree book compilers have fallen into the trap of making reference to members of the ERLE family, which intermarried with the ERNLE family on one important late 17th century occasion, as though they belonged to the ERNLE family as happened in reference to General The Rt Hon. Thomas ERLE, of Charborough, in various cases then printed.

It should be clear, then, that only painstakingly-acquired knowledge of the ramifications of the ERNLE family and careful study of the context of every instance where this occurs make it possible to discern such instances of n-dropping (or otherwise misspelt forms, such as YARDLEY for ERNLE in various garbled editions of Visitations including the Hampshire BULKELEY [BUCKLEY, BULKLEY] family with which the Hants. ERNLE branch intermarried in the 15th century) which nonetheless refer to members of this family rather than an unrelated one with a similar surname whose spelling may occasionally overlap with the form used in an individual reference or multiple ones when concerning a member of what is more usually denoted by an ERNLE variant including the medial n.

N.B. Not all variants listed above necessarily occur in the AALT, and its WAALT, but have been encountered in over twenty years of research into this family by the main researcher and writer of this page, named below. Currently, the WAALT contains at least one common misreading of the surname ERNLE, or ERNLEY, as ERULE, or ERULEY. (now eliminated by correction after examining the original record in the AALT documents, it was on the page devoted to C78 1652 and read: 1652 30 Jan Walter Erule v John Longs Bonds for performance of agreement re ownership of manors of South Wraxall, Attford and St. Tewins, Wilts C78/529, no. 3 [14. That entry has now been corrected to read Walter Ernle v. John Longe (Long)...). This happens from time to time in all sorts of indexing projects, not just here, as it is easy to misread n as u, particularly in records written in an unfamiliar script, or where an unfamiliar name, which could have several readings, is encountered. There is, however, no such family or surname, at least, that originated England, or elsewhere in the British Isles, and on every occasion I have found, thus far, it is an error for the surname ERNLE, or for one of its variants.

It should be noted that, as a locative surname derived from the name of a place where the person originally denominated with the name as a surname was a landholder, the surname was originally prefixed by the French preposition, de, meaning of and denoting residence, possession, or association, which is sometimes known as the noble particle (particule de la noblesse). This locative prefix began to be dropped after the first few centuries of use leaving only the main element of this surname which is derived from two Anglo-Saxon word elements -earn (modern, eagle)- and -leah (modern, lea or clearing)- forming the original Sussex place name which gave rise to this particular family, apparently the only one known by the name ERNLE (or variant) consistently over a number of centuries in the British Isles. This said, it may be that other unrelated people were also called by a name derived from the same elements. Certainly there are several places in England, and even one in Scotland, whose etymology and onomastic morphology is either parallel or closely similar.

For the German surname spelt similarly, there is a different, though partly related, etymological derivation, arising from the truncation of the personal name, Arnold, whose first element is etymologically identical with that of Earnley. It should go without saying, however, that, though derived from a similar Germanic language root, it is a genealogically distinct surname derived from the familiar form of a patronymic, and, as such, that it is both etymologically distinct from, and genealogically unrelated to, any surnames similar in appearance which may have developed at various points in English history as the locative surnames of various sibs, including in the case of the surname on which this study is focussed, the Sussex place name which gave rise to this gentle surname which originated in the feudal England of the mid to late 12th century. Occasional instances of confusion between similar surnames found in the British Isles, including Ireland and Scotland, may arise from similar Anglo-Saxon word elements elsewhere having given rise to other families with a similar surname. This can be seen to have occurred with the surname now usually spelt ERLE (by chance now listed adjacent to ERNLE in the modern quadruple-barrelled surname described above), derived from Maiden Earley (once Earnley) in Berkshire, which began as de ERLEY (and variants) and was the surname of a family of knightly rank which gave rise to a much more extensive sib than did the Sussex family named ERNLE, discussed here. By contrast, the Sussex ERNLE family’s original members belonged to the minor or lower feudal nobility. They rarely achieved knightly rank in their first few centuries. Their otherwise untitled head was seated on manorial estates at Earnley, on the Sussex coast, near Chichester, and in its neighbouring parishes, including Sidlesham, and East Wittering.

One last point: there was another Sussex family named ERNLEY on occasion, and ERLEY on others. It was of somewhat dubious gentility being of recent trading origins and only latterly acquiring a manor, and was associated first with Lewes[2][3], Sussex, and, it seems, only later with the manor of ERLEYS[4] in Brighton, Sussex, sometimes referred to as BRIGHTON-ERLEYS or BRIGHTON-ERLYES.[5] This family was allied to that of NEWTON and somehow connected to Sir Isaac NEWTON by genealogists. Others have though that the will of the then head of this family in Sussex whose names happens also to have been John refers to the lost will of John ERNLE, The Elder, of Fosbury and Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. This is not the case, and this man was more usually referred to by the surname spelling ERLEY which better reflects his family's actual surname, and one distinct from that of the ERNLE family from Earnley, Sussex. Similarly, researchers have sometimes conflated what is to be said in records about the family of a man known as Robert Barbot of Ernelles, a Hampshire gentleman noted a number of times in the AALT, and its WAALT, with true records of the Sussex ERNLE family including its Hampshire branch.

This confusion is perhaps somehow further confounded by the fact that some have misread Barbotte, another spelling of Barbot, as Bartelotte (or one of its variants) which, more customarily as Barttelot, is an ancient Sussex gentry family (with a baronetcy since, 1875) which happens to have had occasional residence in, and dealings with, the Sussex parish of Earnley, and even possible interconnexions, via the (de) STOPHAM sib, another extinct family of ancient Sussex gentry, with the ERNLE of Earnley stirp with whom they were likely kin.

Every case of confusion and mismatching such as this can lead to centuries of entangled inaccuracies being propagated widely and then appearing in print, and, now, in online databases and family trees. It takes careful attention to detail to untangle such infelicitous errors of identification, and then to trace them to their likely causes, such as an over-hasty identification of two or more distinct families or individuals because of an apparent or flimsy similarity of time, place, associates, or spelling. As such, it is well to note every instance where this occurs, and not just to dismiss it and pass on to other work, for it is essential to eliminate such false identifications in order to have any prospect of reconstructing the family pedigree correctly. Such time-consuming exercises can, of, course, also serve, if noticed and heeded, to warn others against false trails and identifications, and, even, on a happier front, of turning an error to more positive use by finding some useful nugget of vital information among the confusion of conflated details, such as learning from their apparent similarities, which may point to a similar etymology despite a separate geographical and genealogical origin (as in Earnley, Sussex, and Maiden Earley, Berks.), and thus have something important to say about parallel onomastics, and parallel surname and manorial name development in mediaeval times which may have been obscured by centuries of separate morphological and individual transformation.

For more on the English ERNLE family's history, please consult the article initiated by the present page manager and largely written by him at [6]. (Commentary by Richard Carruthers-Żurowski, 25 July 2022Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 22:36, 25 July 2022 (UTC); significantly updated 11 August 2022Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 01:15, 12 August 2022 (UTC) ).

The asterisk above=possibly Sir because there is some doubt according to Cokayne’s Complete Baronetage as to the authority by which his line of ERNLE cadets claimed the right to employ the title of baronet which had been bestowed on another cadet line of the ERNLE family due to the fact that the original letters patent by which the baronetcy was granted (1661) shortly after the Restoration to Sir Walter ERNLE of New Sarum (i.e. Salisbury), Wilts., do not appear to have survived. They would have stipulated the limits of inheritance to the title which under normal circumstances would not have included any inheritance along the exceptional lines that must have operated were the reverend gentleman’s ancestors entitled to inherit the baronetcy by what would have been a special remainder. Nonetheless, this branch of the family did assume the title in the 18th century after Sir Walter’s direct heirs male of the body legitimate (the usual terms of inheritance for such a grant of an hereditary title such as a baronetcy) had died out, though with dubious authority.

Managing Page Editor: RC: Richard Carruthers-Żurowski leliwite at gmail dot com (convert email element substitutions and elide all into one string before using this email address), who welcomes correspondence on this topic. Other contributors:

It should be acknowledged that Prof. Emer. Robert C. Palmer, and long-time indexers and fellow genealogists, Rosemary Simons and Vance Mead, are owed a great debt of gratitude for their extraordinary devotion to the Anglo-American Legal Tradition website, which was Prof. Palmer's brainchild, and to which he has contributed so enormously. In addition, indexers including but not limited to Rosemary and Vance are vital to the work of the AALT and its WAALT, and I wish to salute their tireless efforts in all our behalfs. Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 00:07, 27 July 2022 (UTC)

In addition to the foregoing, I should like to acknowledge the valuable addition of another aspect of records linked to the AALT, namely the Feet of Fines giving records of Final Concords found on the AALT and usefully indexed by Chris G. Phillips on his site http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/.Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 07:37, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

Twelfth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

Thirteenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

Fourteenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

• John de ERNLE (Sussex, per margination on both pages)
  • 1328. E1328 A Certiorari. Oyer and Terminer. 20 Edward II.Trespass: hunting. William la Zousche de Asheby v. Thomas Taillard, jr; William de Cicestre; Luke de Vyenne; Hugh de Bouscy; Thomas de Writhington; Richard de Fokedon; Nicholas de Vylers; Robert Bosse; John Baret; William son of Richard de Andelesfold; Martin de Elmere; William de Seynt Poel; John atte See; William atte See, cleric; Richard de Hoghes; John son of Richard de Hoghes; William Gundevill; John de Ernelegh; William de Slefhurst; Geoffrey atte Broke; William de Wodelond; Richard Hervy; William de St George; John de Sutton; John atte Forde; and Nicholas de Gate, with others Link [7](2nd item from top of roll; margination, then 30 clear lines of text; [8](2nd item from top of roll, margination, then 15 lines of clear text, followed by another paragraph w/o margination, of 6 lines of clear text) (referring page[9])

Comments External citations

• Richard de ERNLE son of John de ERNLE (?of Sidlesham, Sussex)
  • 1360. Sussex. Richard son of John de Ernele v. John son of John Hampton. Wife: Lucy. At Sidelesham (Sidlesham). Trespassory Rape. M1360 (Michaelmas 1360). 71. [10](4th item from top of roll), 72 [11] (3rd item from bottom of roll), 73 [12] (2nd item from bottom of roll), 74 [13] (2nd item from top of roll), 75 [14] (3rd item from top of roll)(referring page[15])

Comments: External citations

• Richard ERNLE (of Sussex).
  • 1377. Sussex. Ernele, Richard v. Chichester, William, bishop of; Levare, John; Usshere, Robert; Wilfray, Henry; Kempe, Adam; White, Henry; Duran, Ralph; Gan(?), John. trespass: taking. Trinity Term 1377. CP40/466: f 243[16](2nd item from bottom of roll)(referring page[17])

Comments: External citations

Fifteenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

• Mark ERNLE, citizen and grocer, of London.
  • 1401. Dorset. Ernele, Mark, of London, grocer v. Aungere, Richard, of Brideport; Kene, John, of Brideport. debt. Easter Term, 1401, CP40/561: d 1501[18](3rd item on roll. Margination, then 8 lines partly obscured by creases)(referring page[19])
  • 1401. Middx. Ernelee, Mark, of London, grocer v. Nunnyngton, William, of Bosham, Essex [sic]. debt. Easter Term, 1401, CP40/561: d 1796[20](1st item with margination after end of continuation from previous plea at top of roll. Margination, then entry of 5 lines with some possible word loss due to disintegration of far right [heraldic, sinister] edge of roll)(referring page[21])
  • 1401. Middx. debt. Ernelee, Mark, of London, grocer v. Nunnyngton, William, of Bosham, Sussex. Easter Term, 1401, CP40/561: f 256[22] (last item of four on roll, disregarding underlying roll, and ending where the roll curls upward. Margination then entry of 7 lines) (referring page[23])

Comments In all the pleas the word civis for citizen appears before Grocerus which denotes his particular guild trade showing that he was a citizen of London, which, at this time, would have been a legal prerequisite for being a grocer in the City. This man was Master of the Company of Grocers, and had a wife, per other references to be included later. It is not known whether he left children, and who, apart from his widow, were his heirs. From Sussex Feet of Fines, it is known that he belongs to the Sussex ERNLE sib, though precisely how that section of the pedigree connects to the pedigree from William ERNLE and his wife Isabella NN fl. 1406 at Sidlesham, near Earnley, Sussex, is not yet known. Indeed, it is possible that he was William's father if as a younger son, his line inherited the Sussex ERNLE manorial holdings on the possible failure of the lines of his two elder brothers, if, indeed, that is what occurred. External citations Sussex Feet of Fines [ref. to be added]

• William ERNLE (of the vicinity of East Wittering, Sussex, from the context).
  • 1418. Sussex. Ernele, William v. atte Lee, John, of East Wyghtryng, husbandman. trespass: free warren; hunting. CP40no629 f 725[24](6th item from top of roll. Margination, then 6 lines of clear text)(referring page[25])
  • 1418. Sussex. Ernele, William v. atte Lee, John, of East Wyghtryng, husbandman; Daubeney, Vincent, of East Wyghtyng, laborer; Brewer, William, of East Wyghtyryng, laborer; Bachemere, John, of East Wittering, laborer. trespass: taking animals. CP40no629 f 725[26](2nd item from top of roll. Margination, then 9 lines of clear text) (referring page[27])

Comments External citations

• William ERNLE.
  • 1423. Bucks. Richard Rastwold', William Ernele, and William Whappelode, querents, and William Dynton' and Joan, his wife, deforciants, Re. 1 messuage in Wycombe. Plea of covenant. 3 February 1423/18 April 1423. CP 25/1/22/118, number 2[28](lower half of final concord)(external but AALT document referring page[29])
    • Final Concord: William Dynton' and Joan [his wife] have acknowledged the messuage to be the right of William Whappelode, as that which the same William [Whappelode], Richard [Rastwold'], and William Ernele have of their gift, and have remised and quitclaimed it from themselves and the heirs of Joan to Richard [Rastwold'], William Ernele, and William Whappelode and the heirs of William Whappelode for ever. Warranty.For this Richard [Rastwold'], William Ernele, and William Whappelode have given them 20 marks of silver.

Comments External citations

• William ERNLE.
  • 1427. Bucks. Richard Restwold', William Ernele and William Whaplode, querents, and John Bailly of Berton' and Amy, his wife, deforciants, Re. a moiety of 1 messuage, of 30 acres of land, of 4 acres of meadow, of 20 acres of wood and of 8 acres of pasture in Euere [Iver]. Plea of covenant. 27 January 1427/22 June 1427. CP 25/1/22/118, number 21[30](lower half of final concord)(external but AALT document referring page[31])
    • Final Concord. John [Bailly] and Amy [Bailly] have acknowledged the moiety to be the right of William Whaplode, as that which the same William [Whaplode], Richard [Restwold'] and William Ernele have of their gift, and have remised and quitclaimed it from themselves and the heirs of Amy to Richard, William and William and the heirs of William Whaplode for ever. Warranty. For this Richard [Restwold'], William [Ernele] and William [Whaplode] have given them 20 pounds sterling.

Comments External citations

• William ERNLE.
  • 1427. Bucks. Richard Restewold', William Ernele, and William Whappelode, querents, and Thomas Cheyne, and Eleanor, his wife, and John Stokes, and Alice, his wife, deforciants re 14 messuages, 80 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow, 20 acres of pasture and 20 acres of wood in Wendouere [Wendover] and Halton'. Plea of covenant. 22 June 1427. CP 25/1/22/118, number 23[32](lower half of final concord)(external but AALT document referring page[33])
    • Final Concord. Thomas [Cheyne], Eleanor [Cheyne], John [Stokes], and Alice [Stokes] have acknowledged the tenements to be the right of William Whappelode, as those which the same William [Whappelode], Richard [Restewold], and William Ernele have of their gift, and have remised and quitclaimed them from themselves and the heirs of Eleanor [Cheyne], and Alice [Stokes] to Richard [Restewold], William [Whappelode], and William [Ernele], and the heirs of William Whappelode for ever. Warranty. For this Richard [Restewold], William [Whappelode], and William [Ernele] have given them 100 marks of silver.

Comments External citations

• John ERNLE, gentleman, of Bourton, Bishop's Cannings, Wiltshire, kinsman of Thomas WERSTON [variant of modern, WROUGHTON].
  • 1432. Wilts. Ernele, John, kinsman of Werston, Thomas, son of Isabel, widow of Werston, William v. Werston, Isabel, widow of Werston, John; Robert, vicar of Wermestre [Warminster]; Crekkelade [Cricklade], Thomas; Crekkelade [Cricklade], Nicholas; Forde [Ford], Robert; Clyve [Clive], John. Land. CP40/685 (Easter 1432) d 943 [34] (2nd item from the bottom of the roll)
  • 1432. Wilts. Worston, John v. Ernele, John, of Burton juxta Bishops Canynggys (i.e. Burton otherwise Bourton {a tithing} next to Bishop's Cannings, Wilts.), gent. detinue charter. CP40/685 (Easter 1432) f 39 here [35](4th item from the bottom of the roll)

Comments John ERNLE appears in these Chancery pleas in association with his kinsman, Thomas WERSTON (otherwise WERFSTON, WORFTON, WORSTON, etc., modern WROUGHTON) - who belonged to a Wiltshire gentry family with parliamentary associations - and also with John WORSTON, who was possibly identical with the deceased John WERSTON of the first plea, and who must have been related to ERNLE's kinsman Thomas WERSTON. [Note added 5 Aug. 2022: Thomas WORSTON here is probably the same man who married Cecily BURDON, widow of Sir Henry THORP, M.P., and not Master Thomas WORSTON who was chancellor to the 1st Duke of York (d. 1402). Thomas, husband of Cecily, was probably the younger son of William WORFTON, M.P., while the John WORSTON whose widow Isabella appears in this the upper suit had died in 1429, leaving a son and heir who is likely to be the John WORSTON of the second suit cited above.] Per Edward Kite's Monumental Brasses of Wiltshire, p. 30, John WORSTON or WROUGHTON, Esq., died 14 April 1429 (son and heir of William WROFTON, the MP, by his wife Margaret BEAUPYNE. The MP's mother was Isabel NN, wife of an older William WROFTON, who heads the WORFTON pedigree, and who died 22 Feb. 1392/3. This older Isabel (NN) could, therefore, be identical with the mother of John ERNLE's kinsman, Thomas WERSTON, of the first suit). John WORSTON or WERSTON (WROUGHTON)(d. 1429) and was survived, per the nine-generation Harleian Manuscript pedigree cited by Kite (Harl. Ms 1443, fol. 26), by a widow, Isabella HAMPDEN, daughter of Edmund HAMPDEN, Esq., of Hampden, Bucks., who is likely identical with the first defendant, i.e. Isabel WERSTON, widow of John WERSTON of the 1st suit listed above. This John WORSTON and Isabel (née HAMPDEN) had two children, namely (a) John WERSTON per the same Harl. MS pedigree. He may be identical with the John WERSTON of the 2nd 1432 suit cited above. He married Jane, daughter of William DARELL[36], Esq., of Littlecote, Wilts. (who was sister of Constantine DARELL [37], Esq., of Collingbourne Ducis, whose daughter Anne married John ERNLE, The Elder, Esq.., of Fosbury and Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. (b. circa 1462, elder brother of the cjcp of the same Christian name), the grandson of the John ERNLE of the 1432 suits; and (b) Anne WROFTON or WROUGHTON, who married Sir Richard LUDLOWE (LUDLOW), of Longbridge Deverill, Wilts., a parish near Warminster, Wilts., one of the other places mentioned in the first suit cited above from 1432.Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 23:32, 1 August 2022 (UTC) The further elucidation of these two suits may be the key to uncovering the earlier filiation of the ERNLE family and how it became associated with Wiltshire after its long association almost exclusively with Sussex. This kinship may derive from a common descent on the distaff side involving the intermarriage of perhaps a widow (Isabella NN) who was mother to both John ERNELE and his kinsman Thomas WERSTON. Other possible families which may figure in this connexion include those of BURDON and THORPE, both of which are associated with WROUGHTON (and variants), and the inheritance of the lands and advowsons of Poulshot and Yatesbury, Wiltshire, whose passage from them to the ERNLE sib is as yet unexplained by the accounts of the manors of these places listed in the Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire, but whose complicated and hitherto long obscured lines of descent could be unravelled by the discovery of the further details of these cases. (see History of Parliament biographies listed below for more on the interconnexions between these and other families which may help sort out the ERNLE pedigree's lacunae and serve to shed light on each other's filiations and ramifications.) External citations For more on the family circle of John WORFTON (d. 1429), whose widow Isabel (HAMPDEN), cited as Isabel WERSTON, appears in the 1st 1432 suit cited above: The monumental brasses of Wiltshire : a series of examples of these memorials, ranging from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, accompanied with notices descriptive of ancient costume, and generally illustrative of the history of the country during this period [38] History of Parliament biographies online which may be relevant to these related Chancery suits and help shed light on the parties to them: William WORFTON (ca1366-1408), of Broad Hinton, Wilts., M.P. (Wilts., 1404)[39] Thomas BEAUPYNE (d. 1404), of Bristol, M.P. (Bristol, six times, and Somerset, once)[40] Henry THORPE (d. 1416), of Boscombe, Wilts., M.P. (Wilts., 1411)[41] In connexion with the foregoing Henry THORPE, see also the following internal references about his estate indexed on the AALT rather than the WAALT, viz.: 1418. Wilts. atte Borgh, John, esq. v. Thorp, Henry, of Boscombe, esq, executors of; (Thorp, Cecily, gentlewoman & formerly wife of Testator; Alisaundre, William, of Salisbury, gent; Wyket, Thomas, of Lanford, yeoman). CP40no629 d 992[42](4th item from the top of roll)(referring page[43]) 1418. Wilts. Messager, Walter v. Thorp, Cecily, of Boscombe, widow, formerly the wife of Henry Thorp; Rous, William, of Inmer, gent; Baldewyn, Robert, of Cheldryngton, husbandman; Duyke, Peter, of Ford, husbandman; Aylewyn, Thomas, of Wilton, husbandman; Kirkeby, Thomas, of Boscombe, yeoman; Smale, William, of Ambresbury, yeoman. trespass. CP40no629 d 1559[44](2nd item from top of roll. Margination, then 6 lines of clear text)(referring page[45]) Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire accounts of parishes of relevance to these two suits: Poulshot, Wiltshire, including manorial descents for Burdon's manor involving the BURDON, WORFTON, THORP, ERNESLEY [sic], and ERNLEY [46] N.B. The reference to an unusual variant of the ERNLE name stems from a lawsuit dated to 1428 noted in the footnote associated with the following statement which in turn refers back to material which looks like it ought be indexed in the WAALT, but is not, viz.: "In 1428 John Ernesley was holding this manor. (fn. 56)" where footnote 56="E 179/196/87". Yatesbury, Wiltshire, including the descent of Westcourt manor involving BURDEN, WORSTON, THORP, and ERNLE [47]

• William ERNLE (?of la Manewode, Sussex), exec. of the late John CHEYNE, of la Manewode, Sussex (modern Manhood hundred, where Earnley parish lies).
  • 1437. Sussex. Cheyne, John, of la Manewode, executor of; (Ernele, William) v. Exton, John, of Chichestre, yeoman. debt. Easter term 1437. CP40/705: f 724[48](3rd entry from top of roll with margination) (referring page[49])

Comments External citations

• John ERNLE (?of Poulshot, Wilts., per the context)
  • 1437. Wilts. Ernele, John v. Hancok, Thomas, of Poulesholt, gent. trespass: taking. Easter term 1437. CP40/705: d 1458[50](2nd item from bottom of roll) (referring page[51])

Comments External citations

• John ERNLE (?of Bishop's Cannings, Wilts.)
  • 1442. Wilts. Ernele, John v. Symmes, William, of Eston, Cangynges, husbandman; Rede, John, of Eston, Bishops Cangynges, husbandman. trespass: close. Hilary Term 1442 CP40/724: d 1096[52](3rd entry from top of roll) (referring page[53])

Comments External citations

• John ERNLE, gent., of East Wittering, Sussex.
  • 1444. Sussex. Ernele, John v. Rede, John, of Est Wyghtryng, husbandman; Ive, William, of Est Wyghtryng, laborer. trespass: taking. d 2002[54](1st entry on roll)(referring page[55])
  • 1444. Sussex. Ernele, John v. Syteler, Richard, of Funtyngton, husbandman. debt.d 1382[56](2nd entry from top of roll)(referring page[57])
  • 1444. Sussex. Foster, Richard v. Ernele, John, of Est Withryng, gent.; Withryng, William, junior, of Est Withryng, laborer; Gille, Adam, of West Withryng, laborer. trespass: close. f 955[58](2nd item from the bottom of the roll)(referring page[59])
  • 1444. Sussex. Foster, Richard v. Ernele, John, of Est Wyghtryng, gent.; Withryng, William, of Est Withryng, laborer; Gille, Adam, of Est Withryng, laborer. Sussex trespass: close. f 300[60](top of roll)(referring page[61])
  • 1444. Sussex. Rede, John v. Ernele, John, of Est Wyghtryng, gent.; Gille, Adam, of Est Wyghtryng, laborer. trespass: close. d 1385[62](1st entry from top with margination)(referring page[63])

Comments It seems likely that this John ERNLE, gent., of East Wittering, Sussex, is identical with the man of the same name who died in 1465 and who was the father, confusingly for genealogists and historians alike, of two elder sons both named John, i.e. John ERNLE, The Elder, Esq., of Fosbury and Bishop's Cannings, Wilts., and John ERNLE, The Younger, of Earnley, Sussex, who distinguished himself in the law and the service of King Henry VIII, and was knighted and has an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography under the spelling style and spelling, Sir John ERNLEY (ca1464/5-1520). External citations

• John ERNLE [?of Wilts.]
  • 1448. Wilts. Ernele, John v. Slo, Thomas, of Hedyngdon, husbandman. Hilary Term 1448, debt. CP40/748: f 184[64](last item on roll)(referring page[65])

Comments This John ERNLE was involved in a suit centred on Wiltshire, which probably indicates that he was at least occasionally residing in that county, and not in Sussex, in a period when the historical record showed that the ERNLE family was expanding from its Sussex home base to what would, by the early 17th century, be its primary locus in Wiltshire. In the suit, John ERNLE was represented by his attorney according to the record. No additional descriptors are provided to indicate his place of residence or social status, but it is probably reasonable to think that John ERNLE belonged to the gentry family of that name. His opponent in the suit SLO may have been known by a name that became SLOE or SLOW in more recent centuries, but though there is no indication of any abbreviation in the roll recording his name, it has been noted that the surname SLOPER was often abbreviated to SLO in later records involving the ERNLE sib at Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. It is just possible that this Thomas SLO was a member of such a family, and early instance of the interaction between the two in later centuries in Wilts. External citations

• James ERNELE [sic], yeoman, of Albourne, Sussex. (probably an example of a misleading rendition of a surname other than ERNLE, for which cf ERLEY below)
  • 1448. Sussex. Pycher, Richard v. Ernele, James, of Albourne, yeoman; Bekke, John, of Albourne, yeoman; Stonyng, John, of Perpoundeshurst, husbandman. Hilary Term 1448. debt. CP40/748: d 1578[66](2nd from bottom of roll)(referring page[67])

Comments This individual is an outlier in the present ERNLE research, and, as such, is unplaced in the pedigree, if, in fact, he belongs there. His status as a yeoman might indicate descent from an unknown cadet line of the manor-holding Sussex ERNLE sib. Not enough is known about the family's ramifications in past centuries leading up to his lifetime. Further research may identify him within the family context, or eliminate him entirely, though the latter seems doubtful given his proximity to the ERNLE manorial loci. Compare, however, the following record which reveals the presence in the same Sussex locality of another likely member of the same family. It lends some evidence to the argument that the foregoing James ERNELE [sic] may well not belong to the manorial ERNLE family of Earnley in the same county after all. 1434. Sussex. Berde, William v. Proude, John, of Herstperpount, husbandman; Lambard, Thomas, of Herstperpount, husbandman; Erley, John, of Alborne, husbandman; Stonyng, John, of Herstperpount, husbandman. trespass: close and taking. Hilary 1434. CP40/692 f 876[68](1st and only item on roll, surname spelling of Erley confirmed and appears therein twice as such, on lines 2 and 33 on the image; case covers entire front of roll and contains 67 lines of clear text concluding at bottom of next image)(referring page[69]) One of the parties appears to be common to both cases, i.e. John Stonyng, husbandman, of Herstperpount in 1434, and of Perpoundeshurst in 1448. The place is really the same one despite the different order of its three syllabic elements, and is recognisable as modern Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. External citations As per a listing in The National Archives Catalogue (TNA, Kew), James ERLEGH[70] was fl. at Albourne, Sussex, when he entered into a deed of feoffment on 10 Aug. 1441. Included in the deed is one other familiar party (John Stonyng) or a party with a familiar surname (Berde), quite apart from the names of two other parties (Ralph Redemelde, esq. and Bartholomew Bolne) with surnames (more commonly, Radmylde and Bolney) familiar from Sussex records of this period because of their general prominence, sometimes even with members of the ERNLE sib under study (and coincidentally, Thomas Chattefelde, kin to the Lords Chatfield who used ERNLE as a Christian name due to their descent from the family via the female line through the WASHBOURNE, and MONEY lines descended from an ERNLE heiress). From this piece of evidence, it is quite likely that this man listed in 1441 as James ERLEGH is identical with the man cited in 1448 above as James ERNELE. According to the Sussex Archaelogical Society, there is recognition among knowledgeable county antiquarians that, in their collection of County Feet of Fines records, ERLEGH is a different surname from ERNLE[71](for James ERLEGH see number 3028, re Woodmancote, in the 17th Regnal year of Henry VI, or 1438/9, which places this record between the two citations above so that it is possible that all three relate to the same individual).

• William ERNLE, junior, Esq., of Arundel, Sussex.
  • 1448. Sussex. Sydney, William v. atte Wode, John, junior, of Middehurst [Midhurst], gent; Ernele, William, junior, of Arundell [Arundel], esq. Hilary Term 1448. debt. CP40/748: d 1240[72](3rd item from bottom of roll) (referring page[73])

Comments The inclusion of the relative seniority demarcator, junior, implies that there was another, older William ERNLE alive in 1448 from whom the subject needed to be distinguished. Was this William ERNLE who was fl. at Sidlesham in 1406 with his wife Isabella? If so, then William ERNLE, junior, was likely his elder son, enjoying, in his father's lifetime the title of Esquire not accorded to younger sons who would normally each be known as gentleman instead. External citations

• William ERNLE, junior, Esq., of Arundel, Sussex.
  • 1450. Sussex. Sydeney [Sydney], William v. atte Wode, John, of Middehurst [Midhurst], gent; Ernele, William, junior, of Arundell [Arundel], esq. debt. CP40no758 d 693[74](4th item from top of roll. Margination, then 6 lines of clear text)(referring page[75])

Comments External citations

• William ERNLE (?of Sussex).
  • 1453. Sussex. Alfray, John; Erneley, William; Alfray, Richard v. Forster, Richard, of Houghton, gent., Joan, his wife; Goffe, John, of Houghton, yeoman. trespass: close. Hilary Term 1453. CP40/768: f 961[76] (3rd entry from bottom of roll)(referring page[77])

Comments There was a connexion between the ERNLE family and that of CHEYNE of Houghton, Sussex, which may go some way toward explaining William ERNLE's involvement as a plaintiff in this suit in which the defendants include both members of the gentry and yeomanry from Houghton. Alternately, this could be simple coincidence having nothing to do with William ERNLE's appearance as a plaintiff in this instance. Investigations could include looking into the identity of the two ALFRAY co-plaintiffs with whom he was seeking justice against these particular defendants. External citations

• John ERNLE, deceased, by his executors, i.e. his son John ERNLE, and John MICHELGROVE, and his wife Joan, who was formerly wife of the said deceased, i.e. John ERNLE.
  • 1455. Sussex. Ernele, John, executors of; (Ernele, John, his son; Michelgrove, John; Joan his wife) v. Hoggys, Thomas, of West Ychenore [West Itchenor], clerk. debt. Hilary term 1455. CP40/776: f 854[78](1st entry at top of roll)(referring page[79])

Comments This John ERNLE, who died in 1455 or slightly before, was, according to the linked roll entry, survived by his former wife, Joan (née BEST), and her second husband, John MICHELGROVE, as well as by his son, John ERNLE, all of whom served as executors of his estate. Son John was the John ERNLE who died a decade later in 1465, and whose widow was Margaret (née MORLEY), who married John LUNSFORD. See below for more on him. So this John whose estate was at issue in 1455 was the paternal grandfather of both John ERNLE, The Elder, Esq., of Fosbury and Bishop's Cannings, Wilts., and John ERNLE, The Younger, a.k.a. Sir John ERNLE(Y), cjcp. External citations

• William ERNLE, Esquire, of Arundel, Sussex.
  • 1458. Wilts. Thomas Clotte v. William, earl of Arundell [Arundel]; John Dudley de Dudley, Staffs., knight; Thomas Barette [Barrett] de Arundel, Sussex, armiger; and William Erneley de Arundel, Sussex, armiger. Trespass: jury in respite. Hilary 1458. CP40/788: f 72[80](referring page[81])
  • 1458. Wilts. Slotte, Thomas v. FitzAlan, William, Earl of Arundell [Arundel], of Arundell [Arundel], Sussex; Dudley, John, of Dudley, Staffs., knight; Barette, Thomas, of Arundell [Arundel], esq.; Erneley, William, of Arundell [Arundel], esq. trespass. Hilary 1458. CP40/788: d 1430[82](referring page[83])
  • 1458. Sussex. William Ernele, armiger v. John Nudegate [Newdigate] de Cranley [Cranleigh], Surrey. Debt for £13/6/8; early process. Hilary 1458. Cp40/788: f 108[84](referring page[85])

Comments William ERNLE appears without the generational indicator, junior, a decade after he appeared with it also with his residence in Arundel, Sussex. This probably indicates that an elder man of the same name had died in the interval between 1448 and 1458. Whatever the case, he was, from the suit of trespass above, plausibly associated with William FITZALAN, 9th Earl of Arundel (of the 2nd creation, reigned 1438-1487), and Sir John DUDLEY (also known as SUTTON), Knt, of Dudley, Staffordshire. ERNLE's appearance together as a defendant in a plea with DUDLEY is perhaps an early example of what later came to be a closer association of a member of the ERNLE family with that of DUDLEY which can be seen some forty years later in the early career of later Tudor solicitor-general, attorney-general, and lord chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas (cjcp)(1519-1520), Sir John ERNLE(Y), Knt. As a young man, John ERNLE(Y) (1464/65-1520) began his legal practice as a Gray's Inn lawyer and associate of one of the notorious financial agents of King Henry VII, Edmund DUDLEY (exec. 1510), but ERNLE(Y) survived his patron's fall to rise in royal favour as a legal advisor and agent to Henry VII's son and successor, King Henry VIII. See the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, under Sir John ERNLEY (1464/5-1520), for more on this later connexion. External citations From Wiltshire Feet of Fines, enrolled in the Court of Common Pleas, is one dated 1448, listing, inter alia, John DUDDELEY [DUDLEY], knight, Thomas BARET [BARRETT], and William ERNELE [ERNLE] as plaintiffs v. William, Earl of Arundel, deforciant. re the Castle, vill, manor, and lordship of Clun (Clon), etc. [86] no. 586, pp. 126-7, ref. 293/71/330 (N.B. a later fine, dated 1474, incl. a man identified only as William ERNELE with none of the same associates, and is to be found under no. 683, p. 153, ref. 257/65/25.) see also the two instances from 1447-8 followingRichard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 07:11, 28 July 2022 (UTC), viz.: Pedes finium, commonly called feet of fines, for the county of Somerset, 4th series, Volume 22, p. 200 (1906), by Emanuel Green, F.S.A., Somerset Record Society. Divers Counties. 26 Hen. VI. (1447-8) 330. At Westminster in the quinzaine of Easter between John archbishop of Canterbury, William marquis of Suffolk, Marmaduke bishop of Carlisle, Adam bishop of Chichestre, Ralph Cromwell knight, John DUDDELEY knight, John Vampage senior, William Sydeney senior, Thomas BARET, and William ERNELE querents ; and William earl of ARUNDELL deforciant; for the manors of Lymyngton, Stoketrystre, Coklyngton, Bayford, Legh, Spertegrove, Somerford Mautravers, and the office of custodian of the Forest of Selwood (and manors and lands in Salop, Sussex, Dorset, Glouc., Surrey, Norf., Wilts., Northt., Hunt., Cambridge and Kent). The earl acknowledged the right of William ENERLE [sic] and his heirs and granted the same to him; for this William ERNELE gave him one thousand pounds sterling. This concord was made by precept of the king. Pedes Finium; Or, Fines Relating To The County Of Surrey, Levied In The King's Court, From The Seventh Year Of Richard I. To The End Of The Reign Of Henry VII. Extracted And Edited By Frank B. Lewis, B.A., Surrey Archæological Society. Extra Volume I., Author: Great Britain. Court of Common Pleas, 1016, p. 227 26th Henry VI [i.e. 1447/8] 330 John, archbishop of Canterbury, William, Marquis of Suffolk, Marmaduke bishop of Carlisle, Adam bishop of Chichester, Ralph Cromwell Kt, John DUDDELEY Kt, John Vampage senior, William Sydeney senior, Thomas BARET & William ERNELE v. William, Earl of ARUNDELL in Bukkelond & Colley

• William ERNLE, Esq., of Fosbury, Wilts.
  • 1458. London. Notyngham, William v. Bole, Richard, of Winchester, merchant; Hursle, Robert, of Winchester, merchant; Ernle, William, of Fosebury, Wilts, esq. [subject]. Hilary Term 1458. CP40/788: f 113[87](2nd entry from bottom of roll; margination, then 5 lines of clear text)(referring page[88])

Comments The William ERNLE, Esq., of Fosbury, Wilts., of the 1458 reference (above) was of a higher rank than William ERNLE, gent., of Fosbury, Wilts. of the 1463 reference (below). From this, it would appear that the two references refer to different men, quite likely father, and younger son. This may explain why it was that later on Fosbury was inherited by John ERNLE, Esq., The Elder, of Fosbury and Bishop's Cannings, Wilts., the senior heir of the Sussex line, who was established in Wiltshire after the death of his own father, John ERNLE, Esq., of Sidlesham, Sussex, in 1465.Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 00:37, 15 August 2022 (UTC) External citations

• John ERNLE (no rank given, ?of Sussex).
  • 1460. Sussex. Ernele, John v. Copeden, Robert, of Chichester, tanner; Tayllour, Hugh, of Arundell [Arundel, Sussex], tailor. debt. CP40no796 d 935[89](2nd item from top of image. Margination missed in image, then 4 lines of clear text)(referring page[90])

Comments External citations

• William ERNLE, Esq., of Sussex.
  • 1460. London. Eburton, Henry, of London, draper v. Ernele, William, of Sussex, esq.; Hertley, Thomas, of Horsham, Sussex, clerk; Wrothe, John, of Enfeld, esq. debt. CP40no796 f 72[91](2nd item from top of roll. Margination, then 10 lines of clear text with some cramped lines at the end, and creasing and damage to the ends of lines due to membrane wear)(referring page[92])

Comments External citations

• William ERNLE, gent., of Fosbury, Wilts.
  • 1463. London. def. Erneley, William, of Fostbery [Fosbury], Wilts, gent. v. pltf: Ricard, Henry, of London, stockfishmonger. debt. Hilary Term 1463. CP40/807: d 1160[93](3rd item on from top of roll. Margination, then 3 lines of clear text)(referring page[94])

Comments External citations

• John ERNLE (probably of Sussex, given the accompanying identifiable members of the Sussex gentry)
  • 1465. Sussex. Ernele, John; Covert, Thomas; Bartelot, Thomas v. Kyng, John. common recovery. CP40no814: d 1461[95](Sole item on upper membrane. Margination, then 28 lines of clear text)(referring page[96])
  • 1465. Surrey. Sondes, William; Wode, John, senior; Forde, Richard; Goryng, John; Emele [sic, recte Ernele], John v. Leukenore, Roger, knight; Leukenore, John; Leukenore, Richard; Leukenore, Thomas; Leukenore, Walter; Leukenore, Nicholas. common recovery. CP40no814: d 1463[97](sole item on membrane, but not all visible, only 1st 23 lines of clear text, then lowest portion folded back upon itself)[98](continuation repeating from line 13 to end of suit over rest of lower portion of same membrane until completed at line 32, and next case begun)(referring page[99])
  • 1465. Sussex. Sondes, William; Wode, John, senior; Forde, Richard; Goryng, John; Ernele, John. Leukenore, Roger, knight; Leukenore, John; Leukenore, Richard; Leukenore, Thomas; Leukenore, Walter; Leukenore, Nicholas. common recovery. CP40no814: f 476[100](Sole item on upper membrane. Margination, then 33 lines of clear text, but record continues on next image)[101](repetition of same membrane until lines 34-36 appear in lower portion of image at end of membrane concluding case; but see next reference which starts on next image, and is clearly related)(referring page[102])
  • 1465. Sussex. Sondes, William; Wode, John, senior; Forde, Richard; Goryng, John; Ernele, John v. Leukenore, Roger, knight; Leukenore, John; Leukenore, Richard; Leukenore, Thomas; Leukenore, Walter; Leukenore, Nicholas. common recovery. CP40no814: f 478[103](1st item on membrane. Margination, then 28 lines of clear text)(referring page[104])

Comments Humphrey Hewster, ERNLE's executor the same year, appears as attorney for ERNLE and his fellows in each apparently closely related suit. External citations

• John ERNLE, gent. (of Earnley, Sussex)(deceased).
  • 1472. Sussex. Ernle, John, gent., executors of; (Lunsford, John; Margaret his wife) v. Bredman, William, of Chichester, tailor; Bernham, Robert, of Chichester, bowyer. debt. Hilary 1472. CP40/841 f 755 [105](4th item from the top of the roll)

Comments This is a plea for debts arising out of the executorship of the will of the late John ERNLE, gent., of Earnley, Sussex, whose widow, Margaret, served as executrix along with her new husband, John LUNSFORD, another Sussex gentleman. External citations His will, as John EZNELE [sic] or ERNELE [TNA ref. PROB 11/5/170], was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 15 Oct. 1465[106] Another item of interest relating to the estate of the late John ERNLE, gent., of Earnley, Sussex is a 1467 conveyance (1720/287) which comes from the old Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office, now renamed the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre[107], and which mentions a conveyance made to feoffees presumably before his 1465 death to his widow and her new husband (the deceased's own children then being underage and infants not just in the Chancery sense used by Miss Flyte in Bleak House, but in actuality), viz.: Conveyance by John Goring, Humphrey Heuster and Thomas Ouewyne to John Lunsford and Margaret his wife, late wife of John Ernele, deceased, of the manor of Ernele [i.e. Earnley], Sussex, as dower, which they had, together with John Michelgrove and his wife Joan, William Okehurst, John Thrells, John Bartelot and John Sloper, deceased, by feoffment of the said John Ernele. Sixteenth Century Name AALT document Comments External citations John ERNLE, gent. 1502. Sussex. Frowyk, Thomas, sergeant at law; Dudley, Edmund; Pygot, Thomas v. Shelley, John; Caryll, John; Holbroke, John; Bollyng, William. common recovery. Hilary 1502.CP40/959: f 323[108](referring page[109]) 1502. Herts. Frowyk, Thomas, sergeant at law; Ernley, John, gent.; Caryll, John, gent.; Sherley, Richard, gent.; Bydfeld or Byefeld, William, gent. v. Feld, William, of Staundon, husbandman. forcible entry. Hilary 1502.CP40/959: d 322[110] (4th item from top of roll, 2nd from bottom; margination, then 12 clear lines of text)(referring page[111]) Comments Listed above are two cases, the first involving Thomas FROWICK, serjeant-at-law, and Henry VII's financial henchman, Edmund DUDLEY, and the second, the same law serjeant, but this time with a man named John ERNLE, gent., who in this context can only be DUDLEY's fellow Sussex gentleman and lawyer, John ERNLE, The Younger, gent., who worked under DUDLEY's patronage in the administration of royal finance during the latter years of the reign of the first Tudor monarch, King Henry VII. External citations John ERNLE, Esq. (?of Wilts.) 1508. Wilts. Arneley, John, esq. v. Janyvere, Robert, of Orchefount [Urchfont], clerk; Hervest, John, of Orchefount [Urchfont], husbandman; Purre, Walter, of Orchefount [Urchfont], laborer; Wykes, William, of Orchefount [Urchfont], laborer. trespass: close. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 552[112](1st entry at top of roll; margination, then 7 lines of clear text)(referring page[113]) Comments External citations John ERNLE, gent., later Esq. (?Gray's Inn, London, and the royal administration with CUTTE, the under-treasurer to the King, and Edmund DUDLEY) 1508. Middx. debt. Cutte, John, knight; Ernley, John, esq. v. Warner, John, of Rochester, Kent, yeoman. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 444[] (referring page[114]) 1508. London. Erneley, John, gent. v. Howardyne, Thomas, of London, gent. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 97[](referring page[115]) 1508. Essex. Ernley, John v. Bourchier, Henry, Earl of Essex. trespass: park. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 741[](referring page[116]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Smythe, John, of Faxflet juxta Holden, Yorks, yeoman; Coker, Robert, of Suthcave, Yorks, yeoman; Grey, Thomas, Marquess of Dorset; Thomas, Morgan, of Langston, Netherwent, March of Wales, esq; Wreight, William, of London, salter. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 735[](referring page[117]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Johnson, Roland, of London, cordwainer; Richard, Arnold, of London, tailor; Wilshire, John, of St Martin Vintry, fishmonger; Robynson, John, of St Martin, fishmonger; Parker, William, of St Michael, fishmonger; Elington, John, of St Magnus, haberdasher. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 736[](referring page[118]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Curwen, Robert, of Curwen, Cumber, gent; Maynwaryng, John, of Pevir, Cheshire, esq; Damport, Ralph, of Damport, heshire, esq; Metcalff, James, of Nappey, Yorks, esq; Talbot, Gilbert, of Grafton, Worcs, knight; Lisle, Lancelot, of Becheworth, Surrey, gent; Venables, Thomas, of Kynderton, Cheshire, esq; Skelton, John, of Middelward, Cumber, gent, son of Skelton, Marmaduke, of Middelward, gent. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 739[](referring page[119]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Heydon, William, of Haydon, Lancs, gent; Huerst, James, of Bristowe, Surrey, yeoman; Bristowe, Nicholas, of Bristowe, yeoman; Gylmyn, Henry, of Bristowe, yeoman; White, Michael, of York, merchant; Kyrke, George, of York, merchant; White, William, of York, merchant; Thwayte, William, of Marston, Yorks, gent; Savage, John, of Hanley, Worcs, knight; Kighley, Henry, of Iskip, Lancs, knight; Sherbourne, Richard, of Aghton, Lancs, knight; Bande, Thomas, of Haddon, Herts, knight; Fulbourne, Thomas, of Suthwerk, gent. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 740[](referring page[120]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Cheyne, Francis, of London, esq. trespass: park. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 741[](referring page[121]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Ewen, Margaret, executrix of Ewen, John, of Suthwerk, currier, executor of; (Clerk, Simon, of Suthwerk, currier); Fen, John, of Colchester, smith, executrix of; (Fen, Katherine, of Colchester, widow); Fen, Robert, of Colchester, fuller; Lawley, Thomas, of Wenlok, Salop, gent. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 674[](referring page[122]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Vaughan, Roger, of Talgard, March of Wales, gent; Holand, Thomas, of Swyneshede, Lincs, gent; Watson, Richard, of London, smith; Grace, Augustine, of London, merchant; Jerves, John, of St Michael Cornehill, London, grocer; Grenrigge, John, of St Sepulchre, London, cordwainer; Vaghan, James, of Kynton, March of Wales, gent, son of Vaghan, Walter, of Kynton, gent. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 677[](referring page[123]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Fulford, John, of Exeter, clerk; Langham, Robert, of Gopeshill, Leics, gent; Leeke, Thomas of New Slyford, Lincs, gent. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 677[](referring page[124]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Pilkington, John, of Rovyngton, Lancs, esq; Maynwaryng, John, of Pevir, Cheshire, esq; Damport, Ralph, of Damport, Cheshire, esq; Maynwaryng, Hank or Haukum, of Pevir, esq; Musgrave, Richard, of Hertley, Westmor, esq; Sanford, Thomas, of Ascombe, Westmor, gent; Lancaster, Christopher, of Ascombe, esq; Crakynthorp, Edward, of Holgyll, Westmor, clerk; Crakenthorp, Anthony, of Holgyll, gent; Alie, John, of Bageley, Cheshire, knight; Hothom, John, of Scorborowe, Yorks, knight; Vyncent, Guy, of Scorborowe, gent; Culpeper, Edward, of Oxmonden, Kent, esq; Darcy, Thomas, Lord Darcy, of Tempull, Yorks, knight; Huddeleston, Robert, of Radclyff, Stepneyth, Middx, gent; Tresham, John, of Russhton, Nhants, esq; Pilkyngton, Robert, of Rovyngton, gent; Mores, John, of Glapthorn, Nhants, gent. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 677[](referring page[125]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Cotton, Richard, of Westminster, esq; ap Thomas, Rice, of London, knight; Delabere, Richard, of Kynnerley, Herts, knight; Bowes, Ralph, of Streteley, Durham, knight; Clyfford, Robert, of London, knight; Ckapham, William, of Westhawe, Yorks, gent; Savage, John, of Hanley, Worcs, knight; Dacre, Thomas, knight, Lord Dacre, of Kyrkesworth, Cumber; Mering, William, of London, knight; Shurley, Hugh, of Henley on Thames, Oxon, gent; Bonyfaunt, John, of Exeter, gent; Rose, William, of Canterbury, gent; Everingham, John, of Byrkyn, Yorks, knight, son of Everingham, John, of Byrkyn, knight. debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 678[](referring page[126]) 1508. London. Ernley, John v. Lecheford, Henry, of Cherlewod, Surrey, yeoman; Saunders, John, of Cherlewode, gent; White, Thomas, of Chrlewod, yeoman; Wody, John, of Ifeld, Sussex, gent; Pilston, John, of Northwall, esq; A Wode, John, of Suthwerk, yeoman; Robson, Cuthbert, of Suthwerk St Margaret, saddler; Brown, John, of Suthwerk St Thomas, tailor; Chiltern, John, of Suthwerk St Thomas Martyr, gent; Cornwall, Richard, of Leymster, Herefs, esq, son of Cornwall, Thomas, knight; Taillor, John, of Blakesley, Nhants, yeoman, son of Taillor, John, of Blakesley, yeoman; Pynde, Thomas, of London, draper, executor of; (Aylmer, Lawrence, of London, alderman); Sheffeld, Robert, of London, knight; Ellen his wife, kinswoman of Babyngton, John, knight; Penny, John, Bishop of Bangor; Babyngton, Thomas, of London, gent; Donneham, John, of Kirtelington, Notts, esq; Leeke, Thomas, of Skrayton, Notts, esq; Seynt Andrew, John, of Goteham, Notts, esq; Dawson, John, rector of Shirland, Derbs; Babyngton, John, knight, executor of; (Pulffen, John, of London, yeoman). debt. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 679[](referring page[127]) 1508. Warks. Ernley, John v. Averey, Hugh, of Middelton, yeoman; Burkes, William, of Warmeley, yeoman; Harmon, Hugh, of Verewodhall, yeoman; Ronson, John, of Middelton, yeoman; Colle, Richard, of Sutton Colfeld, "foyster"; Deye, Thomas, of Sutton Colfeld, laborer. trespass: park. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 680[] 1508. Sussex. Ernley, John; Caryll, John; Caryll, Thomas v. Snellyng, William. entry sur disseisin. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 924[](referring page[128]) 1508. Sussex. Kyrton, John; Dudeley, Edmund; Ernley, John; Dudeley, Richard, clerk; Wyndesore, Andrew; Jenyns, Stephen; Broke, Richard; Hesketh, Richard; Tyngelden, Henry v. Leukenore, Roger. common recovery. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: d 924[] (referring page[129]) 1508. Surrey. Kyrton, John; Dudley, Edmund; Ernley, John; Dudley, Richard, clerk; Wyndesore, Andrew; Jenyns, Stephen; Brooke, Richard; Hesketh, Richard; Tyngelden, Henry v. Leukenore, Roger. common recovery. Hilary 1508. CP40/983: f 1015[] (referring page[130]) Comments These suits likely all relate to the Sussex younger son, John ERNLE, The Younger, gent., then Esq. (per roll CP40/983, f 444), in his role as a Gray's Inn lawyer, and associate of Henry VII's financial agent, Edmund DUDLEY (exec. 1510; N.B. SirJohn CUTTE, Knt., the King's under-treasurer, is associated first with DUDLEY and then with ERNLE on the same roll, f 444, probably indicating that ERNLE was beginning to take on more work directly without DUDLEY even at this point), in the last year of the reign of King Henry VII, and his soon to be disavowed policy of financial exactions which led to DUDLEY's fall from grace under Henry VII's son and successor, King Henry VIII, who was young and eager to throw off his father's notoriously frugal, almost miserly attitude toward the royal exchequer and unpopular financial burden on the nobility and gentry, and even tradesmen of England. John ERNLE somehow survived his DUDLEY patron's fall, and went on to serve Henry VIII for the rest of his own life, some dozen years, before he died suddenly only a few terms into his role as cjcp in 1520. This is a glimpse of the 43- or 44-year-old John ERNLE as a rising lawyer about to have to use his skills to navigate the turbulent transition from the first Tudor Henry to his vigorous if short-tempered young son, the far more famous second Tudor Henry, who like a new broom swept away much of his father's reign as the miserly past, and with it, could easily have swept away this man, John ERNLE too. He was not exactly a classic new man as his family had been associated with Sussex as minor gentry and occasional M.P.s for centuries, but had John lived and pleased the King in one of the great upheavals that were to characterise his reign, he might have risen high enough to be called that derisively by the old nobility who would have viewed any further advancement ERNLE might have achieved with envious eyes, as almost an upstart new man coming as he did from relatively modest, if gentle, stock. As ERNLE died in the relative quiet of the early reign of his Royal Master, he kept his head after surviving the initial transition of the reign, and lived long enough to be rewarded with a knighthood and elevation to the Bench. Having coming up in the hard school of DUDLEY and EMPSON, ERNLE was not above some hard practices against his own kindred and affinity as in the case against his LEWKNOR cousins whose Sheffield, Sussex manorial holdings he tried to wrest from them for himself after his patron, DUDLEY, had failed to do so before his sudden fall and execution. ERNLE died a Roman Catholic, remembering the LEWKNOR kin his actions had wronged in a deathbed spirit of charity rather than from any real full blown feeling of obligation or remorse. Still his last dispositions for them probably indicated that like so many powerful men of his period, he knew well that power had compromised his conscientious observations of traditional pious familial charity. External citations Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Sir John ERNLEY (ERNLE)(d. 1520), by Dr Christopher Whittick. John ERNLE, gm. [i.e. gentleman] (with THE KING, i.e. Henry VIII) 1510. T1518 D . Error. Common Pleas (2 Henry VIII). Debt . John Erneley; and REX (qui tam) v. Lewis Bagcott de Blithfield, Staffs, knight Link [131][132][], d[133] (referring page[134]) Comments John ERNELEY (ERNLE) gm (for gentleman) appears thrice on this roll in reference to a matter in which the KING was also named. The first time in the third paragraph (8 lines of clear text with the margination, London), and the second time in the fifth paragraph (with the same margination), repeated on the next image, and covering 5 lines of clear text, and the final time, in the seventh and last paragraph on the roll, which appears as the fourth and last item on it, with the same margination, and covering 26 clear lines of text in which the matter under review is resolved. These references are all on membrane fronts, while there is nothing of ERNLE (or variant) show on the dorse linked above, though it apparently sheds light on the matter under examination for the correction of a legal error. External citations John ERNLE, and his wife, Eleanor. (of the manors of Shelveley and Ower, parish of Eling, Hants. per examination of the concord's text) 1514. Hants. Erneley, John, and Eleanor, his wife WITH Baron, George, clerk. concord. Hilary 1415. CP40/1005B: f 120 [135](7th item from top of roll, 3rd up from weight placed on lower part of roll. Margination of county and fee paid, then 4 lines of text)(referring page[136]) Comments This apparent Hampshire man named John ERNLE was fl. at the same time as the two Sussex-born brothers, John ERNLE, The Elder (later of Wilts.), and John ERNLE, The Younger, later Sir John ERNLEY, cjcp (d. 1520). He is third man named John ERNLE alive contemporaneously and belonged to the Hampshire branch of the family, apparently founded by William ERNLE, Esq., of Arundel, Sussex, for whom there are references above. He is here listed with his wife, Eleanor NN, which is the first evidence of the name of any spouse he had. Finally, this document is one of the concords or agreements connected with the sale of the ERNLE's manors of Shelveley and Ower in Eling, Hants. to Bishop FOX, of Winchester, founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. References to several stages of the process whereby the Bishop acquired this land, along with Marwell Woodlock, and then gave it as part of his endowment of a college at Oxford University are in the archives of Corpus Christi College, Oxon., and form part of the Twyne Manuscripts. See the link below for more on this process. External citations Marwell Woodlock and its connexions with Bishop Fox and the ERNLE family[137] John ERNLE, Esq., Solicitor General then Attorney General to King VIII, and latterly Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas (1519-20), as Sir John ERNLEY, Knt (1464/65-1520). 1514. Hilary Term. 24 AALT documents relating to the King's legal officer, John ERNLE, later Sir John ERNLEY, cjcp, under the spellings ERNELEY (twice), ERNLEY (five times), and YERNELEY (17 times). (referring page[138]) 1514. Yorks. Erneley, John v. Box, John, of Wakefeld, gent; Arundell, William, of Wakefeld, yeoman; Levet, William, of Normanton, gent. trespass: park. CP40/ 1005B: d 368[] 1514. Lincs. Erneley, John v. Richemond, John, of Hathorn, Conysby, husbandman; Richemond, Edward, of Marton juxta Hornecastell, clerk. trespass: close. CP40/ 1005B: d 987[] 1514. Sussex. Ernley or Gruley, John v. Bigger, Agnes. replevin. CP40/1005B: d 905 1514. London. Ernley, John v. Edwardys, John, of Oswestre, March of Wales, gent; Burdon, Thomas, merchant of the staple, executrix of; (Burdon, Rose, of London, widow); Cornwall, Thomas, of Burford, Salop, knight; Baynham, Alexander, of Wesbury, Glos, knight; Conyers, William, of London, knight, Lord Conyers; Bulmer, William, of Wylton, Yorks, knight; FitzWilliam, Thomas, of Horncastell, Lincs, gent; Heron, Roger, of Meldon, Northumb, gent; Strodder, Richard, of Dudden, Northumb, gent; Lysby, William, of Thornton, Northumb, gent; St Peters Abbey, Gloucester, abbot of; Bardney, Richard, abbot of Croyland Abbey; Wygmore Abbey, abbot of. debt. CP40/1005B: d 1068[] 1514. Middx. Ernley, John v. Faryngton, Henry, of Faryngton, Lancs, esq; Sutton, Edward, Lord Dudley, knight; Boteler, Thomas, of Deansey, Lance, knight; Aston, John, of Heywode, Staffs, knight; Morton, Geoffrey, of London, gent; Fowey, Thomas, of Corne, Dorset, merchant; Sintehill, Robert, of London, gent; Heton, Richard, of Denbygh, North Wales, gent; Specott, Nicholas, of Thornebury, Devon, gent; Horde, Richard, of Briggenorth, Salop, gent; Smyth, William, of London, knight; Ughtred, Anthony, of Wyllisthorp, Yorks, knight; Fortescu, Adrian, of London, knight; Chamberlayn, Edward, of Shirbourne, Oxon, gent. debt. CP40/1005B: f 124[] 1514. London. Ernley, John v. Faryngton, Henry, of Faryngton, Lancs, esq; Umpton, Thomas, of Shillynford, Berks, gent; Bonde, Nicholas, of Edelmeton, Middx, gent; Willoughby, William, knight, Lord Willoughby; Evers, Ralph, of Eyton, knight; Wallop, Robert, of Farley, Hants, esq; Danbrigge, Barnard, of Strafeld, Hants, esq; Bielby, John, of London, gent; Bayneard, Thomas, of Great Yarmouth, gent; Molyneux, William, esq. debt. CP40/1005B: f 1194[] 1514. London. Ernley, John v. Willoughby, Henry, of Middylton, Warks, knight; Fyloll, William, of London, knight; Cheverell, Roger, of London, gent; Boleyn, Thomas, of Hever, Kent, knight; Thebold, John, of Sele, Kent, yeoman; Flemyng, John, of Southampton, esq; Broun, Christopher, of Colthorp, Rutland, esq; Isley, Thomas, of Sundrisshe, Kent, gent; Bond, Nicholas, of Edelmeton, Middx, gent; Rightwys, John, of Norwich, mercer. debt. CP40/1005B: d 1068[] 1514. London. Lovell, Thomas, knight; Yerneley, John; Lucas, Thomas, esq. v. Wadham, Nicholas, of Myryfeld, Soms, knight; Legh, John, of Isle of Wight, knight. debtCP40/1005B: d 79[] 1514. London. debt. Yerneley, John v. (Vacated), John, of Hanley, Worcs, knight; Willoughby, Henry, of Middelton, Warks, knight; Lytton, William, of Knebworth, Herts, esq; Bukton, George, of Hebberston, Yorks, gent; Gellys, Thomas, of Bradford, Yorks, gent. CP40/1005B: f 98[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Archer, Thomas, of Ongham, Lincs, gent; Marmeon, Thomas, of Ringeston, Lincs, gent; Penny, John, Bishop of Carlisle; Godman, George, of London, gent; Crofte, Edward, of Crofte, Herefs, esq, son of Crofte, Richard, knight. debt. CP40/1005B: f 84[] 1514. Middx. Yerneley, John v. Bolles, Richard, of Hawe, Lincs, esq; Hylton, Roger, of Donyngton Lincs, gent; Magelyn, William, of Wygtoft, Lincs, gent; Talbot, Gilbert, senior, of Calais, knight; Talbot, Gilbert, junior, of Grafton, Worcs, esq. debt. CP40/1005B: f 88[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Cornewall, Thomas, of Burford, Salop, knight; Marmyon, Thomas, of Rynkeston, Lincs, esq; Marmeon, Edward, of Ryngeston, clerk. debt. CP40/1005B: f 92[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Cornewall, Thomas, of Burford, Salop, knight; Stanley, William, of Hoton, Lancs, esq; Orton, Robert, of Leicester, gent; Rokes, Thomas, of Falley, Bucks, esq; Rokes, Richard, of Cropredy, Oxon, gent. debt. CP40/1005B: d 82[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Dacre, Christopher, of London, esq; Blunt, John, of Tamworth, Staffs, esq; Stonar, Walter, of Rotherfeld, Oxon, esq; Grevyll, Edward, of Draycott, Oxon, esq; Hampden, Richard, of Kembell, Bucks, esq. debt. CP40/1005B: f 70[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Fortescu, Adrian, of London, knight; Fortescu, John, of London, esq; Flemyng, John, of Southampton, esq; Marten, William, of London, knight, administrators of; (Marten, William, of London, gent; Ade, Henry, of London, merchant). debt. CP40/1005B: d 84[] 1514. Middx. Yerneley, John v. Halsall, Henry, of Halsall, Lancs, knight; Townley, Thomas, of Townley, Lancs, knight; Aghton, Hugh, of North meles, Lancs, esq; Faryngton, Henry, of Faryngton, Lancs, esq. debt. CP40/1005B: f 101[] 1514. Middx. Yerneley, John v. Halshall, Henry, of Halshall, Lancs, knight; Towneley, John, of Townley, Lancs, knight; Aghton, Hugh, of North Meles, Lancs, esq; Langton, Gilbert, of Lawe, lancs, esq; Farington, Henry, of Farington, Lancs, esq. debt. CP40/1005B: d 75[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Herst, John, of London, skinner; Ball, Philip, of london, merchant haberdasher; Wyryatt, Henry, of Penbroch, esq, son of Wyryat, Thomas, esq. debt. CP40/1005B: f 96[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Jermayn, Thomas, of Roysshbroke, Suff, esq; Edon, Henry, of London, merchant; Goldesborowe, Thomas, of London, pulter. debt. CP40/1005B: f 85[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Polkenhorne, Nicholas, of Polkenhorne, Cornw, gent; Ethered, William, of Bewly, Hants, gent. debt. CP40/1005B: d 79[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Pyrton, William, of London, esq; Archer, John, senior, of London, esq; Trevylyon, George, of London, clerk; Baynham, Alexander, of Westbury, Glos, knight; Cornewall, Thomas, of Burford, Salop, knight. debt. CP40/1005B: d 75[] 1514. Middx. Yerneley, John v. Savage, Richard, of Elderfeld, Worcs, clerk. debt. CP40/1005B: d 69[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v.Suttehill, Robert, of London, gent; Heton, Richard, of Denbigh, North Wales, gent; Stanley, Henry, of Carnarvan, North Wales, gent. debt. CP40/1005B: f 92[] 1514. London. Yerneley, John v. Valle Crucis Abbey, John, abbot of; Stonywell, John, prior of Tynemouth Priory. debt. CP40/1005B: f 96[] Comments This John ERNLE was probably the most famous of all ERNLE family members, arguably rivalled by the man of the same name who flourished over a hundred years later as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The fact that he bore the same Christian name as his elder brother, who chose Wiltshire over Sussex, as his permanent residence, has long been a source of confusion to historians and genealogists as Dr Whittick points out in his short study of the subject referred to below. All the references to him under three different spellings of his surname, as is typical of this period, are in connexion with his official duties as a royal administrator of justice. External citations This important lawyer, royal servant, and High Court judge, who maintained the ERNLE family's presence in Sussex into the 16th century when his elder brother, also John ERNLE, had moved his permanent residence to the newer ERNLE holdings in Wiltshire acquired in the previous century (for which see above under the Fifteenth Century), has a biography compiled by Dr Christopher Whittick, formerly archivist at the East Sussex Record Office, and published in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography under the spelling ERNLEY. John ERNLE, Esq., attorney. 1516. Lincs. Brudenell, Robert, Justice; Ernley, John, attorney; Porte, John; Borell, Numan, clerk; Dymmok, Robert, knight; Calcot, John; Heron, Thomas; Broune, Francis; Jellys, John v. Wassleyn, Thomas. common recovery. d 227[139](referring page[140]) 1516. Glos. Ernele, John v. Horton, Robert, of Staunton, Worcs, gent.; Whitington, Robert, of Pauntley, gent.; Wodley, Humphrey, of Rydmerley, Worcs, yeoman; Cokkes, Richard, of Pauntley, yeoman; Pulton, Roger, of Pauntley, yeoman; Phippes, William, of Staunton, yeoman; Reynold, John, of Staunton, yeoman; Zelye, William, of Staunton, yeoman; Dekyns, Thomas, of Cors, yeoman; Brayne, Geoffrey, of Cors, yeoman; A Rodge, John, of Cors, laborer; Saunders, Thomas, of Hanley, Worcs., yeoman; Smyth, Thomas, of Hanley, yeoman; Monmouth, William, of Pauntley, tailor; Tyler, Thomas, of Trymley, husbandman; Marden, Thomas, of Trylley, yeoman. trespass: forest. d 19[141](referring page[142]) 1516. Westmor. Ernele, John v. Warcop, Edward, of Smerdell, esq.; Cliborne, Thomas, of Cliborne, esq.; Machell, John, of Crakenthorp, esq.; Hylton, Christopher, of Burton, esq. debt. d 20[143](referring page[144]) 1516. Worcs. Ernele, John v. Wodley, Humphrey, of Rydmerley, yeoman; Phippes, William, of Staunton, yeoman. debt. d 19[145](referring page[146]) 1516. Sussex. Ernele, John, attorney v. Kyng, Thomas, of Emsworth, Hants., mariner. trespass: free warren. f 200[](referring page[147]) 1516. Sussex. Erneley, John, esq. v. Brekynshatt, William, of Trotton, yeoman. debt. d 186[148](referring page[149]) 1516. London. Ernley, John v. Champion, Lawrence, abbot of Battle Abbey; Willoughby, Robert, Lord Broke, of Devon, knight; Holford, George, of Lathom, Lancs., knight; Ravenyscrofte, Ralph, of Bretton, Cheshire, esq.; Hopwode, John; Laversage, Thomas; Langley Abbey, abbot of; Stephynson, Edward; Skevyngton, William; Skevyngton, Thomas, abbot of Beaulieu Abbey; Fortescue, Adrian; Tay, Thomas; Gresham, Richard; Barkeley, James. debt. f 1161[150](referring page[151]) 1516. Middx. Ernley, John v. Fortescue, Adrian, of London, knight; Beaumond, Thomas, of Leicester, gent.; Bothe, John, of Bergham, Suff., knight; Throkmorton, William, of Trynley, Glos., gent., son of Throkmorton, Christopher; Cornwall, Thomas, of Burford, Salop, knight; Baynham, Alexander, of Wesebury, Glos., knight; Talmage, Robert, of Helmyngham, Suff., gent.; Talbot, Edmund, of Basshall, Lancs., esq. debt. f 1161[152](referring page[153]) 1516. London. Ernley, John v. Gyttons, Richard, merchant of the staple; Talbott, Edmund, of Basshall, Lancs., esq.; Isley, Thomas, of Sundrich, Kent, gent. debt. f 1162[](referring page[154]) 1516. Devon. Warham, William, Archbishop of Canterbury; West, Nicholas, Bishop of Ely; Nevyll, George, of Burgevenny, knight; Blount, William, of Moungioy, knight; Curwem, Thomas, knight; Palmes, Guy, sergeant at law; Pygot, Thomas, sergeant at law; Carell, John, sergeant at law; Roo, John, sergeant at law; Broke, Richard, sergeant at law; Ernley, John, attorney; Goryng, John; Stable, Walter, clerk v. Constable, Robert, of Hothom, knight; Gryffyth, Walter, of Burton Annes, knight. ravishment of ward. f 720[155](referring page[156]) 1516. Yorks. Warham, William, Archbishop of Canterbury; West, Nicholas, Bishop of Ely; Nevyll, George, of Burgevenny, knight; Blount, William, of Moungioy, knight; Curwem, Thomas, knight; Palmes, Guy, sergeant at law; Pygot, Thomas, sergeant at law; Carell, John, sergeant at law; Roo, John, sergeant at law; Broke, Richard, sergeant at law; Ernley, John, attorney; Goryng, John; Stable, Walter, clerk v. Constable, Robert, of Hothom, knight; Gryffyth, Walter, of Burton Annes, knight. ravishment of ward. f 714[157](referring page[158]) 1516. London. Heyworth, John, principal of Clyffords Inn v. Blount, Thomas, of London, knight; Lysley, Humphrey; Berney, Osbern, of London, gent.; Massyngberd, Hugh; Elys, Thomas; Reynesford, John; Grete, Bernard; Horne, Gervase; Tycheborne, William; Westbroke, William; Bedulfe, John; Marshall, John; Hede, William; Cheveney, Ralph; Sheffeld, Christopher; Hyll, Humphrey; Cassey, Thomas; Everton, Hugh; Grace, Richard; Welford, Richard; Nevell, Thomas; Pekkeshale, Ralph; Norton, Henry; Bawde, Robert; Erneley, John; Brogreff, John; Hasylrygge, Bartholomew; Gylond, John; Goodwyn, John; Grenehall, John; Stevenson, Hugh; Totteshurst, Richard; Causton, James; Carewe, John; Thurresby, Thomas; Nowers, Thomas; et al. debt. f 922[159](referring page[160]) 1516. London. Yerneley, John v. Marten, William, of London, knight and mercer, administrators of; (Marten, William, of London, gent.; Ade, Henry, of London, merchant). debt. d 298[161](referring page[162]) 1516. London. Yerneley, John v. Wallewen, Roger, of Lee, Worcs, gent.; Walcarr, Robert, of Worcester, gent. debt. f 1137[163](referring page[164]) Comments External citations John ERNLE 1516 in 1530. E1530 A: Error. Common pleas (7 Henry VIII). Entry post disseisin. Thomas, cardinal archbishop of York; Richard, bishop of Winchester; Thomas Lovel, knight, John Heron, John Ernley, John Porte, William Tyrwyt, knight, Robert Dymmok, knight, John Skypwith, knight, Edmund Jenney, knight, John Haydon, knight, Lionel Dymmok, knight, Thomas Borough, knight, son and heir of Edward Borough, and George FitzWilliam v. William Willoughby. Link f[165], d[166](which gives the first front and dorse pages of the suit only, though the rest can be found using the arrow guides at the bottom of the image pages)(referring page[167]) Comments This probably refers to a matter from 1516 in which the royal law officer, John ERNLE, was involved, even though it was not dealt with again as an error until 1530, i.e. a decade after his 1520 death. External citations John ERNLE, associate of George PENRUDDOCK (of Compton Chamberlain, Wilts.) 1558 STAC 5/P14/27 - I D - 1 Eliz - - George Penruddocke, John Erneley v Henry Bronker see STAC Penruddock (referring page[168]) as duplicated on STAC Penruddock page[169], viz.: Penruddock, George STAC 5/P14/27 - I D - 1 Eliz - George Penruddocke, John Erneley v Henry Bronker D=Deposition Comments It is highly probable that the John ERNLE of this Star Chamber proceeding was the head of the Wiltshire gentry family of ERNLE at this period, having succeeded his father of the same name at the latter's death in 1555. PENRUDDOCK was a fellow Wiltshire gentleman, and likely a frequent associate of ERNLE in the shrievalty and on the bench, and possibly a friend. So far, no possible genealogical links between the two have been explored. External citations William ERNLE, gent., of Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. 1563. London. debt. Provender, Geoffrey, of Allington, gent. v. Ernley, William, of Bisshopps Cannyng, Wilts, gent. Hilary Term, 1563. CP40/1208: f 526[170](1st item at top of roll; margination, then 9 lines of clear text)(referring page[171]) Comments William ERNLE, gent., of Bishop's Cannings, was a younger son of John ERNLE, Esq., of Bourton Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. who had died in 1555, by his wife Lucy, daughter of Thomas COOKE, sometime M.P. for and mayor of Salisbury. He is the founder of the cadet ERNLE branch that later settled at Chalbury in Dorset. In this case, a fellow Wiltshire gentleman from another Visitation family and near neighbour is suing William for debt. William ERNLE and his wife, Joan, were later of All Cannings, Wilts., and were recorded under an n-less form of the surname, as the piece of external evidence cited below shows. External citations As William ERLEY [sic] and wife Joan, they were defendants in a suit over land in All Cannings, Wilts. brought by the same Geoffrey Provender whose name is cited in the 1563 suit for debt above. This TNA reference is not precisely dated, and only narrows the dating to the generality of 1558-1579[172]. John ERNLE, Esq., of Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. (d. 1572) 1571. Wilts. Erneley, John, of Bishops Canning, esq. v. Colman, William, of Calne, yeoman debt. Michaelmas 1571. CP40/1295: d 962[173](2nd item from end of roll. Margination, then 5 lines of text)(referring page[174]; indexed a second time here[175]) 1571. Wilts. Erneley, John, of Bishops Cannyng, esq. v. Colman, William, of Calne, yeoman debt. Michaelmas 1571. CP40/1296b: f 67[176](2nd item from top of roll. Margination, then 9 lines of text)(referring page[177]; indexed a second time here[178])) Comments This John ERNLE, Esq., of Bishop's Cannings, Wilts., was the head of the Wiltshire ERNLE sib at this time, and until he died the following year, when he was succeeded as head by the eldest of his three sons, Michael ERNLE, Esq. His two younger sons were a) Thomas ERNLE, gent., of Brembridge manor, Dilton, Westbury Leigh, Wilts. (the present compiler's ancestor), and b) Francis ERNLE, gent., of Yatesbury, Wilts. All three sons left issue, and the eldest two lines of the Wiltshire ERNLE sib lasted for almost exactly the same time, until dying out in the male line at the end of the 18th century in both cases. External citations Richard ERNLE, Esq., of Sussex, and Barbara, his wife. 1573. Sussex. Erneley, Richard, esq; Barbara his wife Andrewe, John. concord. Trinity Term, 1573. CP40/1316 d 386[179](last item at bottom of roll. Margination, then 5 lines of text)(referring page[180]) Comments This Richard ERNLE, Esq., was the head of the Sussex line, which while occupying the family's older landholdings, was descended from a younger son of the family, namely, Sir John ERNLE, Knt, cjcp, who was the paternal grandfather of this Richard. Richard's wife was Barbara GORING, who belonged to another Sussex gentry family. He lived at the Episcopal Manor of Cackham, otherwise Cakeham, in West Wittering, Sussex, as a tenant of the Lord Bishop of Chichester. External citations William ERNLE, gent., of Horton, Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. Wilts. 1573. Erneley, William, of Horton, Bishops Cannyng, gent v. Mendus, Philip, of Tytcomb, clerk. debt. Trinity Term, 1573. CP40/1318 f 372[181](3rd item, 2nd last, on roll. Margination, then 7 lines of text) (referring page[182]) Wilts. 1573. Erneley, William, of Horton, Bisshopes Cannyng, gent v. Pellinge, Thomas, of Burbage, clerk; Mendus, Philip, of Tytcombe, clerk. debt. Trinity Term, 1573. CP40/1316 d 331[183](4th and last item on roll. Margination then 6 lines of text partly destroyed by damage to the membrance on the right [heraldic, sinister] edge)(referring page[184]) Comments In both cases William ERNLE, gent., is referenced twice as the plaintiff with the formula Willmus Erneley Generosus alias Dom[inus] Willmus Erneleye de Horton in parochia de Bishopes Cannings in Com [Wiltes. {damaged parchment in 2nd case}] Gen[er]os[us i.e. as William Erneley, gent., otherwise Lord William Erneleye of Horton in the parish of Bishop's Cannings in the County of [Wilts.] gent. In the first case, he was represented in the suit by his attorney, Francis Vaughan. William ERNLE, gent., was a younger son and later younger brother of the ERNLE's family head who lived nearby at Bourton in Bishop's Cannings. William later resided in All Cannings, Wilts., where his impressive Monument (with M.I.) remains today in the parish church. He was the founder of what became the Dorset cadet branch of the ERNLE family, first established at Chalbury in that county, and later in other places there, including Shaftesbury. External citations Richard ERNLE, Esq., of Sussex (who features in most of the following parts of the process) 1577. Series of contentious issues raised by a group Sussex gentry and neighbours against their local diocesan, the Lord Bishop of Chichester, and His Lordship's replies, viz.: TNA SP 12/112, 29.[185] 1577 April 26. Petition of Sir Thomas Palmer, Richard Ernlie, and Tho. Lewkenor, to the Council. Desiring redress from the injuries done to them in their reputation and character by the defamatory proceedings of the Bp. of Chichester, against them and other justices of Sussex. Incloses TNA SP 12/112, 29. i. TNA SP 12/112, 29. i. 1577 April. Articles declaring the injuries and wrongs done by the Lord Bp. of Chichester to Sir Tho. Palmer, Ric. Ernlie, and Tho. Lewkenor, Esqrs. Consisting of twenty articles.[186]; [187];[188]; [189]; [190]; [191]; [192]; [193]; [194] TNA SP 12/112, 30. 1577 April 26? Answer of Bishop Coortesse, unto certain articles supposing to declare wrongs done to Sir Tho. Palmer and Mr. Ric. Ernlie, &c.[195]; [196]; [197]; [198]; [199]; [200]; [201]; [202]; [203]; [204]; [205]; [206]. TNA SP 12/112, 31. 1577 April 26? Articles (38 in number) exhibited to the Council by Palmer, Ernlie, and Lewkenor, against the doings of the Bp. of Chichester, whereby it may appear how and by what means the Queen's Majesty's service within the County of Sussex hath been hindered and letted. With proofs for verification of the same.[207]; [208]; [209];[210]; [211]; [212]; TNA SP 12/112, 32. 1577 April 26? A breviat of the articles exhibited against the Bp. of Chichester, by Sir Tho. Palmer.[213]; [214]; [215];[216];[217] TNA SP 12/112, 33. 1577 April 26? Answer of the Bp. of Chichester to the 38 articles exhibited against him by Sir Tho. Palmer and others.[218]; [219];[220]; [221]; [222];[223]. TNA SP 12/112, 34. 1577 April 26? Replication of Palmer, Ernlie, and Lewkenor, to the answer of the Bp. of Chichester.[224]; [225];[226]; [227]. TNA SP 12/112, 35. 1577 April 26? Palmer, Ernlie, and Lewkenor, to the Council. In answer to the bill delivered in by the Bp. of Chichester to the Council, touching his proceedings in causes of religion.[228] a further treatment of these articles, all listed there under 26 April 1577 (referring page[229]; and for which reference should be made to the foregoing links), viz.: TNA SP 12/112, 29. Petition of Sir Thomas Palmer, Richard Ernlie, and Thomas Lewkenor to PC [Privy Council] against the Bishop of Chichester TNA SP 12/112, 29. 1. Articles against the Bishop of Chichester by Sir Tho. Palmer et al. TNA SP 12/112, 30. Answer of the Bishop of Chichester to TNA SP 12/112, 29. 1 TNA SP 12/112, 31. Articles exhibited to the PC, by Palmer, Ernlie, and Lewkenor, against the Bishop of Chichester, with proofs TNA SP 12/112, 32. A breviat of the articles exhibited against the Bishop of Chichester, by Sir Thomas Palmer TNA SP 12/112, 33. Answer of the Bishop of Chichester to TNA SP 12/112, 31 TNA SP 12/112, 34. Replication of Palmer, Ernlie, and Lewkenor, to the answer of the Bishop of Chichester TNA SP 12/112, 35. Palmer, Ernlie, and Lewkenor to PC, in answer to the bill by the Bishop of Chichester to the PC [Privy Council] Comments Richard ERNLE, Esq., otherwise Mr Richard ERNLE, was doubtless the grandson of Sir John ERNLE, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, who had died over half a century earlier. The bishop with whom ERNLE and his fellow Sussex gentry took issue was the Lord Bishop of Chichester, who two generations after the split with Rome was, of course, a Church of England prelate unlike the Bishops of Chichester with whom Sir John ERNLE, cjcp, would have been familiar before the Henrician Reformation of the 1530s. Still, it is worth reflecting that exactly two hundred years earlier, in 1377, his earlier namesake, Richard ERNLE, was locked in a dispute with none other than the then Lord Bishop of Chichester, one Bishop William, by name, though of course, he was a Roman Catholic prelate rather than an Anglican diocesan. External citations John ERNLE, gent., of Chichester, Sussex. 1580. Sussex. Cowstock, Sampson v. (def.) Erneley, John, of Chichester, gent. debt. Hilary Term, 1580. CP40/1373: d 1557[230](1st item on at top of roll. Margination, then 3 lines of clear text) (referring page[231]) Comments This John ERNLE, gent., of Chichester, Sussex, is a descendant of Sir John ERNLE(Y), cjcp, who died in 1520. He was not the head of the family, and so did not reside on the family manor, but is the nearest city, Chichester, where there were tombs of his ancestors in the cathedral. External citations William HERLLE (?ERNLE), gent., of Calne, Wilts. 1580. Wilts. Duckett, Lionel, knight v. Herlle, William, of Calne, gent. debt. Hilary Term, 1580. CP40/1374: f 1330[232](2nd item from top of roll; margination appears twice, 1st as Wilts. and half-way down as London, in all 15 clear lines of text, with some slight creasing, still quite legible) (referring page[233]) Comments This man may be an ERNLE as Lord Burghley had a servant named Robert ERNLE per 1608 correspondence from Robert ERNLE with Burghley's son, Sir Robert CECIL, Lord Salisbury, in which he sought a place in Lord Salisbury's service for his own son and heir. Could it be that the ERNLE service to the CECILs stretched back a further generation? Possibly, as the name of the father of this Robert ERNLE was indeed William ERNLE who was certainly alive in the same period, and whose date of death, not yet determined precisely, though after 1588, aligns roughly with that reported for William HERLLE. On examination of the original entry above, a second, London residence, is given for the subject, viz.: Willm Herlle nup[er] de Calne in Com pdes [i.e. Wiltes] Gen[er]osum alias Dom Willyam Herlle of London gentylman, which only makes this possible link between Burghley's known ERNLE servant (Robert) and the Wiltshire/London connexion more of a possibility. There are several other references to William HERLLE indexed in other years stretching from 1559 to 1588, a thirty-year span which coincides nicely with William ERNLE's mid to late adulthood. This is an intriguing lead, at least, in term of the historically significant involvement of members of the ERNLE sib in English history as HERLLE appears to have been one of Lord Burghley's confidential agents or spies, and this record identifies a man named William HERLLE, the usual way in which the agent is named, with Calne, Wilts., a known place of residence for members of the ERNLE sib at this period. External citations A site about William HERLLE's correspondence[234] in which he is also called HERLE. (N.B. Unfortunately, when I made contact with the editor of these letters via the website, Dr Adams was unable to find any notes about HERLLE's origins, though Burghley himself said of HERLLE: I understand that on master William Herlle a gentillman whom I have long knowen, & that is verey well borne, & of a good kinred...[235](an excerpt from Burghley's letter of recommendation to any prospective widow to marry HERLLE dated 10 Aug. 1573). There is a short biographical sketch of William HERLLE on the same site which states that he served as an M.P. (for Callington, Cornwall), and died in 1588.[236] It reports that there is an introductory essay about him on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography website, for which one needs a subscription.[237] ODNB differs slightly by stating that he died in 1588/89. Their article is by David Lewis Jones.[238] Stephen EARNLYE or EARNLY, fl. circa 13 Feb. 1589 (anno 30 Elizabeth ran from 17 Nov. 1588 to 16 Nov. 1589, because Her Majesty succeeded to the Throne on 17 Nov. 1558)(?of Wilts., from the context of the other parties, and the places associated with them, below) STAC 5/E4/19 - I D - 30 Eliz - Stephen Earnlye, John Hungerforde [Hungerford] v. William Dorrell [var. of Darrell], Nicholas Crowch et al.[] [with the notice to] see Earnley (original referring page[239]) The see Earnley notice in the foregoing leads to[240](a blank page apart from its name, as of 11 August 2022Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 22:35, 11 August 2022 (UTC)) but a fuller explication of this case is to be found here, viz.: STAC 5/E4/19 - I D - 30 Eliz - Wiltshire - Stephen Earnlye, John Hungerforde [Hungerford] v. William Dorrell [var. of Darrell], Nicholas Crowch et al.[][with the notice to] see STAC co Wiltshire (original referring page[241]) The see STAC co Wiltshire notice leads to[242](which is a partially populated page covering Star Chamber suits, including ones under the letter:) E, viz.: Earnley v. Crowch 1588/89. STAC 5/E16/33 - B A - 30 Eliz - Wiltshire - Stephen Earnly, John Hungerford v. Nicholas Crowch, Thomas Slatter, et al.[] 1588/89. STAC 5/E4/19 - I D - 30 Eliz - Wiltshire - Stephen Earnlye, John Hungerforde [Hungerford] v. William Dorrell [var. of Darrell], Nicholas Crowch, et al.[] 1589. Deponents: 13 Feb Anno 30 Eliz: Nicholas Crouche, servant to William Darrell, esquire. Thomas Perse, servant to Ed . . ., Steven Cooke, of Ramesbury [Ramsbury], Wiltshire, miller. William Prettye, of Wiltshire, cooper. Edwarde Hensell, servant to William Darrell, esquire. Thomas Slatter, servant to William Darrell, esquire. William Darrell, of Littelcotte [Littlecote], Wiltshire, esquire. (dk) - STAC 5/E4/19[] see also STAC Earnley[243], which reads: STAC Earnley [abbreviation key] B Bill of Complaint Dr Demurrer A Answer Rn Replication Rr Rejoinder C Commission I Interrogatories D Deposition Earnley, Stephen 1588/89. STAC 5/E16/33 - B A - 30 Eliz - Wiltshire - Stephen Earnly, John Hungerford v. Nicholas Crowch, Thomas Slatter, et al.[] 1588/89. STAC 5/E4/19 - I D - 30 Eliz - Wiltshire - Stephen Earnlye, John Hungerforde [Hungerford] v. William Dorrell [var. of Darrell], Nicholas Crowch, et al.[] with a link to see STAC co Wiltshire[244] already recapitulated above, and a capacity for Notes, Additions and Corrections. Comments These are the first references found referring to anyone called Stephen EARNLY or EARNLYE (possibly a variant of ERNLE, though possibly just a phonetic match, but not an actual genealogical one that indicates membership in the Sussex ERNLE sib, as there remains the possibility that this usage or spelling was the occasional variant form of a surname meant to stand for one derived from a non-ERNLE origin, such as EARLY, or ERLE(Y)). The county of Wiltshire contained ERLE(Y) scions before any of the Sussex ERNLE sib migrated there in the early 15th century to take up landholdings it had acquired by marriage or inheritance, the full details of which are not yet clear. In this case, Stephen EARNLYE could perhaps belong to the latter-day progeny of prominent Wiltshire landowner, Robert ERLEY or ERLE, who has been incorrectly asserted by some genealogists, such as, Thomas Wotton[245] the 18th century compiler of the ERNELEY (ERNLE) entry in the English Baronetage, to have been surnamed ERNELE or ERNLE when, in fact, he belonged to an entirely distinct or separate family bearing a surname derived either from Maiden Earley, Berks. which gave rise to a knightly ERLEY (ERLE) family or to the likely allied Somerset ERLEY (ERLE) family. This Robert ERLE or ERLEY was an associate of the ESTURMY (also found as STURMY, i.e. Sir William STURMY[246], Robert ERLEY's kinsman) family, and is listed as such in various cases in the AALT and WAALT. He also has a biographical entry in the printed publications of The History of Parliament (though their online link in STURMY's biography to Robert ERLE†, as the subject of an M.P.'s biography, currently states: This member's details have not been entered yet.) External citations Online biography of Sir William STURMY[247] Seventeenth Century Name AALT document Comments External citations Edward ERNLE (?of Wilts.) 1629. 16 May. Charles I regnal year 5. Thomas Stampe of Peasmore, Berks; Marye Stampe his wife, sole sister & heir of Richard Blanchard late of Priors Court, Berks decd & on behalf of Anne Stampe, Mary Stampe & John Stampe their children v. Mary Blanchard; Edward Ernley; Thomas ?Pressy?; John Hampton; Richard Longe; Edward Bartlett; Elizabeth Blanchard; Cecilie Hampton; Humphrey Dulman; Thomas Nelson; William Bower. Portions payable by will of Richard Blanchard from lands in Wolthampton, Aldermaston, Compton, Westcompton, Cheeveley [Chieveley], Curridge and Hampsted Norris, Berks., and Urchfont, Wilts. C78/428, no. 4, image 290[248], image 291[249], image 292[250], image 293[251], image 294[252], image 295[253], image 296[254], image 297[255], image 298[256], image 299[257], image 300[258], image 301[259], image 302[260], image 303[261], image 304[262], image 305[263], image 306[264], image 307[265], image 308[266], image 309[267], image 310[268], image 311[269], image 312[270](referring page[271]) Comments This Chancery suit names not only Edward ERNLE, who is listed as one of the defendants, but also Walter ERNLE, as was noted in a first scan through the rolls to list them all above. External citations Name AALT document Comments External citations Edward ERNLE, Esq. (?of Wilts.) 1634. 29 Oct, Charles I's 10th regnal year. William Jay of Fittleton, Wilts, clerk & Anne his wife v. Edward Ernley, Esq.; John Hampton, Esq.; Gabriel Coxe, gent.; Edward Bartlett, gent. Trust and leases of farm and grange of Pryors Court, Berks and farm of Urchefont, Wilts. C78/458, no. 1, image 118[272], image 119[273], image 120[274], image 121[275], image 122[276], image 123[277], image 124[278], image 125[279], image 126[280](some damage & discolouration), image 127[281] (some damage & discolouration), image 128[282](image showing whole roll wound up like bolt of cloth)(referring page[283]) Comments Given the overlap of names and places, this suit likely involves the same Edward ERNLE who was a defendant in the 1629 Chancery suit listed earlier. External citations John ERNLE, Esq., of Whetham (parish of Calne), Wilts. 1641 5 Feb. 16th regnal year of Charles I. John Earneley, of Whetham, Wilts., Esq. v. Sir Thomas Mildmay; Thomas Mildmay, Charles Mildmay & Thomas [sic] Mildmay three of the sons of the said Sir Thomas Mildmay; Sir John Lamb; Robert Drewe; John Duckett.Annuities and portions from trust of lands in Highworth and Whetham, Wilts. C78/649, no. 15 [284](1st page of lengthy Chancery suit)(referring page[285]) Comments External citations Edward ERNLE (?of Wilts.) 1642. Wilts. John Bowles; Edward Erneley; John Younge; and John Good v. John Bampton de Nunton, gent. Debt on an obligation: £200; undefended. Hilary 1642. KB27/1672, m. 648 d [286](entire roll is one suit which may continue onto the dorse, but that is not linked here, and the next roll's front in the sequence filmed covers a Dorset case)(referring page[287]) Comments The Edward ERNLE of this suit is likely to belong to the Wiltshire branch of the ERNLE sib, and was likely descended from Michael ERNLE, Esq., of Bourton, Bishop's Cannings, Wilts., who died in 1594. Indeed, it is quite likely that this reference may refer to one of Michael's two known younger sons who were born of his second marriage to Susan HUNGERFORD. External citations Henry ERNLE, gent., of Whetham, Calne, Wilts. 1642. Wilts. William Alford v. Henry Ernle de Whottam, gent. Debt: £15/18/-; exigent, and procl in Wilts. Trin 1642. CP40/2498, m. 1924 f[288](3rd item from bottom of roll; margination, then 8 lines of text, rather creased and scrawled)(referring page[289]) 1642. Wilts. William Alford v. Henry Ernle de Whettam in Calne, gent. Debt: £15/10/8 (?); exigent, and procl in Wilts. CP40/2499, m. 1822 d[290](1st item at top of roll; margination, then 6 lines of clearer text, margination repeated, then 3 more lines of clear text) (referring page[291]) Comments External citations John EARNELY [?ERNLE], yeoman, of Burbage, Wilts. 1642. Wilts. Christofer Keele v. John Earnely de Burbage, yeoman. Trespass: breach of close: close in Burbage; attach nh; capias. Trinity 1642. CP40/2498, m. 1913 d[292](3rd item from bottom of roll; margination, then 4 lines of fair text)(referring page[293]) Comments The Wiltshire ERNLE family had land at Brimslade, parish of Burbage, but this individual is currently unplaced in the ERNLE lineage as a genuine member of it. External citations Richard ERNLE, gent., of Dilton [in the parish of Westbury Leigh, Wilts.] 1642. Wilts. Robert Hayse v. Richard Ernelie de Ditton [Dilton], gent. Debt: £40; sum; nh; capias. Trinity 1642. CP40/2498, m. 1917 d[2,024][294](3rd entry from the bottom of the roll) Comments Richard ERNLE, gent., of Dilton, a chapelry in the parish of Westbury Leigh (formerly also called Westbury-under-the-Plain), Wilts., belonged to the Brembridge manor branch, a cadet line of the ERNLE family stemming from Thomas ERNLE (d. 1595), gent., of Brembridge, and his wife, Bridget née FRANKLIN (d. 1610), who had issue fourteen children, four daughters, and ten sons, and this Richard ERNLE was their seventh son and tenth child. He was baptised at Westbury parish church on 20 Sept. 1584, and died sometime between the date he made his will, 29 Jan 1649/50, and the date it was proved, 16 May 1651. External citations John ERNLE, [Esq.] of Whetham [Calne], Wilts. [later The Rt Hon. Sir John ERNLE, Knt, P.C., Chancellor of the Exchequer under King Charles II] 1649. regnal year 24. John Ernele, of Whetham, Wilts., Esq. v. David Jenkins, Esq.; Sir Edward Thomas; Sir John Awbrey; Sir Nicholas Kemys; John, Lord Pawlett; David Parry; Jane Mansell; Sir Charles Kemys; John Powell; Howell Morgan; Evan David; Anne Thomas, widow. Administration of estate of Lewis Thomas consisting of personal estate and leases of lands in Glamorgan. 6 Apr. 1649. C78/649, no. 13, image 35[295], image 36[296], image 37[297], image 38[298], image 39[299], image 40[300], image 41[301], image 42[302], image 43[303], image 44[304], image 45[305], image 46[306], image 47[307], image 48[308], image 49[309], image 50[310] (referring page[311]) Comments Born circa 1620, he died sometime in 1697, though biographers have yet to discover when in that year. This was a Chancery suit about the estate of underage parties who married without parental permission and the Welsh groom who died underage leaving his ERNLE bride who was cut off by his family without the proper compensation her own family claimed was due to her. There was a very long case and much bitterness which gave rise to a pamphlet published by Judge David Jenkins, one of its defendants, about it. External citations See his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. John ERNLE, [Esq.] of Whetham [Calne], Wilts. [later The Rt Hon. Sir John ERNLE, Knt, P.C., Chancellor of the Exchequer under King Charles II] 1650. John Ernele of Whetham, Wilts v. Robert Williams. Administration of estate of Lewis Thomas consisting of personal estate and leases of lands in Glamorgan. 17 July 1650. C78/649, no. 12 [312][313][314][315][316](referring page[317]) Comments This was a Chancery suit about the estate of underage parties who married without parental permission. The Welsh groom then died underage and his ERNLE bride was cut off without the proper compensation her own family claimed was due to her. There was a very long case and much bitterness which gave rise to a pamphlet published by Judge David Jenkins, one of its defendants, about it. External citations See his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Walter ERNLE [of Wilts.] 1652. Wilts. Walter Ernle v. John Longe [Long]. Bonds for performance of agreement re ownership of manors of South Wraxall, Attford, and St Tewins, Wilts. 30 Jan 1652. C78/529, no. 3 [318] Comments Walter ERNLE belongs to the second family of Michael ERNLE (d. 1594), Esq., of Whetham, Calne, Wilts., born of his second wife, Susan HUNGERFORD. He was Michael's grandson, and was made a baronet, on 2 Feb. 1660/61, shortly after the Restoration. External citations Cokayne's Complete Baronetage contains an account of the ERNLE baronetcy, as does Burke's Extinct, Dormant, and Abeyant Baronetcies. They do not agree in all details, and there is controversy, mentioned in the preamble to this listing at the top of the page, about the descent of the baronetcy beyond Sir Walter ERNLE's grandson, the 3rd Baronet, who died in the early 18th century. Sir Walter ERNLE, 1st Baronet, of New Sarum, and Dame Martha [née TOOKER] 1669 1 July. 21st regnal year of Charles II. Sir Giles Tooker, baronet v. Anthony, lord Ashley; Sir Thomas Gore, knight, Dame Phillippa, his wife; Sir Walter Ernle, baronet, Dame Martha, his wife; and John Thornton, gent. C78/1078, no. 17 [319](1st of many pages to this Chancery suit, partly damaged ink writing)(referring page[320]) Comments External citations John ERNLE, gent., [of Yorks.] 1675 18 June. 27th regnal year of Charles II. Thomas Duning v. John Earneley, gent.; and Christofer Stone, doctor in divinity. [re lease from the Lord Archbishop of York]. C78/1599, no. 8 [321](1st page of Chancery suit)(referring page[322]) Comments This suit involves members of the Yorkshire cadet branch of the Brembridge manor, Wilts. branch of the Wiltshire ERNLE sib descended from Thomas ERNLE, gent. (d. 1595) and his wife, Bridget née FRANKLIN. External citations Sir John ERNLE, Knt 1677 25 July. 29th regnal year of Charles II. Anthony, earl of Shaftesbury; Maurice Hunt; and Thomas South, gent v. John Norden, esq; Elizabeth Norden; Sir John Earnly, knight; William Trumball; and Walter Daniel. re loan, £3000, July 1666, from Earl of Shaftsbury by John Nordon, and his manor, capital messuage and farm of Badbury, Wilts., with the rights, members, and appurtenances, and of divers messuages, lands, and tenements in Badbury, Chiseldon, Liddington, and Upham [in par. of Aldbourne]... C78/946, no. 2 [323](1st page of many in this Chancery suit) (referring page[324]) Comments External citations The Rt Hon. Sir John ERNLE, Knt, P.C., of Whetham, Calne, Wilts., sometimes Chancellor of the Exchequer, and M.P. 1680 8 Nov. 32nd regnal year of Charles II. Mathew Lister, & Frances, his wife v. Sir John Ernle, knight [1620–1697]; Jeoffry Daniel; William Mildmay; John Cressett; and Hendon Dounton. re. conveyance 1662 by Henry Mildmay (in right of his wife Jane) of divers lands and tenements in Heston, Middx to John King, doctor in physick to secure payment of £500, at a time then to come, and since past... C78/1636, no. 4[325](1st page of a long Chancery suit)(referring page[326]) Comments External citations There is a History of Parliament biography of The Rt Hon. Sir John ERNLE, Knt., M.P.[327] Anne ERNLE (née ASHE), widow, mother of Elizabeth DRAX (née ERNLE), and maternal grandmother of the latter's DRAX children. 1691 24 Aug. William III and Mary II 3rd regnal year. Henry Drax and Walter Drax, infants, by Anne Ernle, widow, their grandmother, and Elizabeth Drax, the mother of the said infants, relict, and sole executrix of Thomas Drax, esq., her late husband v. Sir Walter St John, baronet. C79/22, no. [153] (referring page [328]) Comments Anne ERNLE, named in this suit, was the widow of Edward ERNLE (1649-1675), Esq., of Etchilhampton, alias Ashlington, Wilts., eldest son of Sir Walter ERNLE (ca 1628-1682), 1st Baronet. He did not outlive his father, so he never succeeded to the ERNLE baronetcy to which he had been the heir. His wife, Anne ASHE (1652-1734), was one of the daughters of Edward ASHE, Esq., sometime the Commonwealth period M.P. for Heytesbury, Wilts., by his wife, Elizabeth WOODWARD, daughter of Christopher WOODWARD, Esq., of Lambeth, Surrey. Elizabeth ERNLE (1670-1753), Mrs Thomas DRAX, was the only daughter of the aforementioned Edward ERNLE, Esq., and his wife, Anne formerly ASHE. In 1692, she married Thomas DRAX (formerly SHATTERDEN), son of Thomas SHATTERDEN, Esq., of Popes, Herts., by his wife, Elizabeth DRAX, of Barbados, and had issue, by him, two sons, the infants named in the Chancery suit, i.e. Henry DRAX (ca 1693-1755), who later married his ERNLE first cousin, and became an M.P., and Thomas DRAX, who was younger, and of whom nothing further is known, as yet. In her widowhood, Elizabeth DRAX (formerly ERNLE) was married a second time, in 1707, to The Hon. John COLLETON, Esq., of St James’s, Westminster, who was a landgrave of South Carolina. She bore him three children, i.e. two sons, and one daughter. External citations Parliamentary biography of Henry DRAX, M.P.[329] John Kyrle ERNLE, Esq., an infant. (of Whetham, Calne, Wilts., and Much Marcle, Herefs.) 1693, Feb 21. Herefs. Ernle, John Kirle [Kyrle], esq., an infant by Thomas Fettiplace, esq., his next friend; Thomas Smith, of Huntleys; Thomas Smith, of Hill; and 38 others, inhabitants and occupiers of land within the parish of Much Marcle and the titheable places of and belonging to the same v. Watts, John, clerk, vicar of Much Marcle. Concerning moduses and customary payments for tithes in Much Marcle. E126no16 Cal 91r [330](1st of many pages)(referring page[331]) Comments This John Kyrle ERNLE (1683-1725), Esq., an infant, was aged just under 10 at the time of this suit. He the first of two generations of ERNLE men of this precise name, and was the only son of Capt. Sir John ERNLE (1647-1686), Knt, R.N., by his wife, Vincentia née KYRLE (1651-1683). In 1704/5, he married Constantia ROLT, and by her had a son (b. 1706), with the same name as his own (who was the 12th and last generation of ERNLE males and their sisters I have traced continuously from the ERNLE couple fl. 1406 at Sidlesham, Sussex, who must likely born circa 1370-1390, or so), but who died in his infancy, and a daughter, Constantia ERNLE (b. 1717), his eventual sole heiress. External citations There is a History of Parliament biography for the subject's father, Capt. Sir John ERNLE, Knt, R.N., as M.P. for Calne, Wilts.[332] Sir John ERNLE, Knt. 1699 11 July. William III's 11th regnal year. Nathaniel Napier, esq., & Catherine, his wife; and Diana Allington, an infant, by William, lord Russell v. Diana, lady Allington, relict and executrix of William, lord Allington; Hildebrand, lord Allington; Julian Allington; William, duke of Bedford; Robert, lord Russell; Sir John Ernle, knight; Sir Richard Verney, knight; John Verney., esq.; and Sir John Charden, knight. [subject of suit] C78/1631, no. 10 [333](1st page of many in a long Chancery suit)(referring page[334]) Comments This was Capt. Sir John ERNLE', Knt, R.N., son and heir of The Rt Hon. Sir John ERNLE (ca 1620-1697), Knt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had died two years before the suit which involves members of the Captains father's second wife's natal family, the Alington's of Horseheath. Occasionally, past historians have conflated the two Sir John's father and son, which made for obvious clashes such as a serving Royal Navy captain's being, as the son, somehow made equal to a Lord of the Admiralty (the father), a conflict which was later sorted out in a learned article [add reference]. External citations Eighteenth Century Frances ERNLE (ARNLEY, below)(d. 1723), daughter of Robert ERNLE (m. (1) Sir Charles RALEIGH, Knt, of Downton, Wilts. & M.P. for that borough, m. (2) Sir Francis COLES, Knt) 1713. 1 Dec. Anne's 12th regnal year. Edward Richards v. John Gore; Francis Coles & Dame Frances, his wife; George Wilcox & Margaret, his wife; Sir John Hawles; Richard Chandler; and Edward Pleydell. Lease by Gilbert Raleigh of the rectory of Downton, Wilts, and settlement on the marriage of his son Sir Charles Raleigh, and Frances Arnley daughter of Robert Ernley. C78/1410, no. 14, image 347 [335], image 348[336], image 349[337], image 350[338], image 351[339], image 352[340], image 353[341], image 354[342], image 355[343], image 356[344], image 357[345], image 358[346], image 359[347], image 360[348], image 361[349], image 362[350], image 363[351], image 364[352], image 365[353], image 366[354], image 367[355], image 368[356], image 369[357], image 370[358], image 371[359], image 372[360], image 373[361](roll in bundle with piece number)(referring page[362]) Comments Frances ERNLE was one of the daughters of Robert ERNLE, gent., by an unknown wife. He belonged to the Dorset branch of the ERNLE family which was descended from a cadet of the Wiltshire ERNLE family who branched off from the main stem in the 16th century. Robert ERNLE served as a Gentleman of the Buttery in the Household of Charles II's consort, Queen Catherine of Braganza, the former Portuguese Infanta. Frances ERNLE and her sisters were the heirs of their father, Robert ERNLE, and of their brother William ERNLE, who died unmarried. This latter man may have been the ERNLE who was listed as a henchman of The Rt Hon. Anthony ASHLEY COOPER, Earl of Shaftesbury, founder of the Whig Party, and one of the co-authors of the Glorious Revolution (1688) plans for which were laid at Charborough House, Dorset, the current seat of Capt. Richard PLUNKETT-ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX, head of both the notional remnant of the ERNLE heritage, but more significantly perhaps, direct heir to Gen. ERLE at whose seat, Charborough, William of Orange's plan to wrest the Crown from his Roman Catholic uncle, King James II (and VII) was plotted. External citations The History of Parliament biography of Frances ERNLE's first husband, Sir Charles RALEIGH[363] Thomas ERNLE, re will of late Walter ERNLE 1722 5 July. 8th regnal year of George I. Mary Batten, widow, and James Batten; and Ann Batten, infants, by the said Mary Batten, their mother v. Thomas Ernle re. will 23 Feb 1716, of Walter Ernle; annuity to dau. Mary Batten, conditions... C78/1705, no. 1 [364] (referring page[365]) Comments External citations John Kyrle ERNLE, Esq., and his legatees, including his widow, Constantia ERNLE (née ROLT, m. 1704), and his daughter Constantia ERNLE, later Viscountess DUPPLIN (HAY), as well as Edward ERNLE, Esq., an ERNLE kinsman of the testator, and Ernle WASHBOURNE, Esq., a distaff ERNLE kinsman of the testator, with an early use of ERNLE as his given name. 1729. Susannah Bingham, an infant, by John Potenger, esq.; George Farrell, gent.; and Thomas Leggett, being legatees of John Kyrle Ernle, esq., for themselves and other legatees; William Baskerville; and Dorothy Goldsmith, widow, being creditors upon bond of said John Kyrle Ernle, for themselves and other creditors upon specialty of said John Kyrle Ernle; ___ [William] Cleveland; and Jonathan Hicks, beings creditors upon simple contract of said John Kyrle Ernle v. Constantia Ernle, the younger; Constantia Ernle, widow; Richard Bingham, esq.; Ernle Washbourn, esq.; and Edward Ernle, esq., regarding the will, 16 June 1719, of John Kyrle Ernle [1683-1725], and his several manors, lands, tenements, and hereditaments in the counties of Wilts. and Herefords., & elsewhere to value, £2,500+ p.a., and very great personal estate, jewels, plate, household goods, stock upon land, and other goods and chattels, £300+; his debts. 8 May 1729. C78/1704, no. 2, image 41 [[366], image 42 [367], image 43 [368], image 44 [369], image 45 [370], image 46 [371], image 47 [372], image 48 [373], image 49 [374], image 50 [375], image 51 [376], image 52 [377], image 53 [378], image 54 [379], image 55 [380], image 56 [381], image 57 [382], image 58 [383], image 59 [384], image 60 [385], image 61 [386], image 62 [387], image 63 [388], image 64 [389], image 65 [390], image 66 [391], image 67 [392], image 68 [393], image 69 [394], image 70 [395], image 71 [396], image 72 [397], image 73 [398], image 74 [399], image 75 [400], image 76 [401], image 77 [402], image 78 [403], image 79 [404], image 80 [405], image 81 [406], image 82 [407], image 83 [408], image 84 [409], image 85 [410], image 86 [411], image 87 [412], image 88 [413], image 89 [414], image 90 [415], image 91 [416], image 92 [417], image 93 [418], image 94 [419], image 95 [420], image 96 [421], image 97 [422], image 98 [423], image 99 [424], image 100 [425], image 101 [426], image 102 [427], image 103 [428], image 104 [429], image 105 [430], image 106 [431], image 107 [432], image 108 [433], image 109 [434], image 110 [435], image 111 [436], image 112 [437], image 113 [438], image 114 [439], image 115 [440], image 116 [441] (referring page[442]) Comments External citations Constantia ERNLE, of Whetham, Calne, Wilts., daughter of John Kyrle ERNLE, deceased. 1767 18 March. 7th Regnal year of George III. Thomas, earl of Kinnoull, by the then name and addition of the Honorable Thomas Hay, of Whitehall in the liberty of Westminster, esq., called lord viscount Dupplin v. James Money, esq.; Susannah Washbourne, since deceased; Richard Washbourne, & Ann, his wife; and Hester Soames, the heirs at law of Constantia, late wife of said, Thomas, earl of Kinnoull, and also v. Jane Holden, and Priscilla Holden. re marriage agreement, 12 June 1741, Thomas Hay, [9th] earl de Kinnoull (complt.) and Constantia Ernle, of Whetham, [par. Calne], Wilts., and lands in Wiltshire belonging to her father, John Kyrle Ernle (deceased), and mother Constantia. C79/210, no. 1 [443] (referring page[444]) Comments External citations Nineteenth Century Name AALT document Comments External citations