Edith Holbrooke
Widow of a Sanders when she married Thomas Holbrooke of Norton Malreward by about 1550; her sons by her first husband were Richard Sanders and Thomas Sandes. As Thomas's widow she had the use of the Compton Dando farm and park, and she died at Compton Dando between November 1592 and February 1592/3. Her will names her son William, probably William Holbrooke (c. 1551-2 to 1625/6).
Life
- by 1550Married Thomas Holbrookeby about 1550documentedprobable
- 1592Diedbetween 12 Nov 1592 and 13 Feb 1592/3, Compton Dando, Somerset, England
Will dated 12 Nov 1592, proved 13 Feb 1592/3.
documentedproven
Family
- Parents
- Spouse 1
- ___ Sanders (first husband)documentedproven
- Spouse 2
- Thomas Holbrookedocumentedproven
- Children
Pedigree
Notes
Widow of ___ Sanders when she married Thomas Holbrooke of Norton Malreward, by about 1550. Her sons by her first husband were Richard Sanders (Sandes) and Thomas Sandes. Executrix of Thomas’s will (1571/2), which gave her the use of the Compton Dando farm and park for her widowhood.
On 30 Apr 1565 John Hungerford leased property at Compton Dando for her life and the lives of “Robert and John her sons” (Bristol Archives AC/D/26/8, catalogue).
Her own will names her son William, and a William Holbrooke was her overseer and witness. The son John who was her residuary legatee and executor was probably John “the younger.” The will (12 Nov 1592, proved 13 Feb 1592/3) survives in the original at the Somerset Heritage Centre (D/D/ct/1/H/135) and has not yet been seen. As Davis abstracts it, it leaves 5s to the poor of Compton, a peck of rye each to nine neighbours, a feather bed and its furnishings to her son William and a bed to her son Robert, and 10s. to her “cousin and godson” William Horsington the younger; the residue goes to her son John, her executor, including debts owed her by her sons Richard and Thomas Sandes. Overseers: William and Robert Holbrooke.
Whether she was William’s own mother or his stepmother is not settled. Her will calls him “son,” which could then also mean stepson, and Davis lists him among her children; the research puts it at about 75% that she was his mother.
An index to SHC DD/X/HBS/1 calls her “of Compton Dundon,” but her original will and Medlycott’s index both say Compton Dando.
Open questions
- Her maiden name is unknown; Sanders was her first husband’s name. Two leads, both unproven: the Horsingtons, yeomen of Corston and Compton Dando (in the 1500s “cousin” covered many kinds of kin; the will of John Horsington of Corston, 1536, names no daughters, so it neither supports nor rules this out, record); and, for her first husband, Thomas Saunders, son of William Saunders of Chew Stoke (will 1539).
- Read the original will (D/D/ct/1/H/135).
- Free will downloads from The National Archives that may name her kin: William Saunders of Chew Stoke, 1539/40 (PROB 11/28/50); Thomas Horsington of Corston, 1612 (PROB 11/119/416); Edward Saunders of Chew Stoke, 1591 (PROB 11/78/75). The Bath Record Office typescript “The Horsingtons of Corston, Pucklechurch, 1510-1673” (Acc/269/6) may show whether she was born a Horsington.