NICHOLAS DERNEFORD
Nicholas Dernford was born circa 1530 in Framlingham, Suffolk County, England the son of a Yeoman land owner named Paul Derneford. He was about 8 years old when his father died but would not receive his inheritance until he was turned 21 years old [1551]. Nicholas lived through an amazing time in English history; under the rule of four English sovereigns, King Henry VIII and his children Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward. During his lifetime England went from being a Catholic Nation to a Protestant one.
THE REFORMATION
When Nicholas was born the Reformation of the Church of England had not happened but as he grew into manhood it would transformed the very fabric of English Society. England was still Roman Catholic at his birth and he would have been christened as an infant in a Catholic ceremony as were his ancestors for 500 years before.
However during his childhood and his youth, the authority of the Holy Roman Catholic Church in England was challenged by Henry VIII when the king broke from Rome and declared he was the supreme head of the English Church. At the time of Nicholas’s death the entire political and religious landscape was topsy- turvy. Gone were the friars, monks, nuns, and priests of his youth replaced by protestant clergy.
THE GREAT BIBLE
In 1539, when Nicholas was 9 years old, the protestant advisor to the king, Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, published the "Great Bible". It was the first English Bible authorized for public use and was distributed to every church, where it was chained to the pulpit. At this time Nicholas would have seen the Great Bible placed in the Church of St Michael’s having virtually replaced the Catholic Mass. A reader was even provided in every church so that the illiterate could hear the text in plain English. The Great Bible was called that not due to its importance but rather due to its great size. It was a large pulpit folio measuring over 14 inches tall.
THE DUKES OF NORFOLK
The Dukes of Norfolk were able to remain the foremost Catholic families in England due to their continued wealth and their influence with the royal court. Thomas Howard was an uncle of two of the wives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. This connection with the Royal Court allowed residents of Framlingham to be nominally Catholic as long the Duke held the king’s favor. It helped that under King Henry VIII, the Church of England was still Catholic in all but name.
The Howards were considered recusants who remained loyal to the Roman Catholic Church and would not attend Church of England services. In England and Wales, recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services and these individuals were known as recusants. The Howard family continued to observe mass officiated by a Catholic Priest which was illegal. The Howards were able to remain recusants while the Duke of Norfolk had influence with the king but once the Howards lost their prestige, they were forced to conform. .
THE DISSOLUTION
At about the age of 6 years, Nicholas Dernford life in Framlingham was altered when in 1536 King Henry VIII ordered the confiscation of all monastic lands and moveable property to boost his treasury and to reward his supporters. Over the centuries the Catholic Church was able to obtain a considerable amount of land, almost a third of all English lands, and Henry redistributed them to his loyal Protestants. This action was called the “Dissolution” and it destroyed the monastic life of Monks, Friars, and Nuns within in England. King Henry was able to keep his subjects content with this break with the Roman Catholic Church by passing out these confiscated church lands of monasteries, convents, and priories.
The Dissolution however brought a building boom to Framlingham as the Duke of Norfolk had to consider where to move his family’s tombs at the Thetford Abbey in Norfolk County. Thetford Abbey also housed the tomb of King Henry’s illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, and of other early Tudor Dynasty officials so the Howards were responsible also for the removal of some of the kings relatives. It had to be an impressive task.
Because of the influence of the Howard family, Thetford Abbey was one of the last monastic institutions to be dissolved which it was in 1540. As it was no longer protected as a religious order, preparations for a new resting place for the Howard Family was an immediate priority before that date. While the abbey lands were eventually sold to Thomas Howard the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, the abbey was dissolved and the Duke made the decision to move the family tombs to St. Michael’s in Framlingham where the family resided at Framlingham Castle.
The removal of the royal and ducal tombs initiated an economic boon to Framlingham because the church had to be enlarged to accommodate the tombs. Laborers and craftsmen were needed and it would have been unlikely that Nicholas as a child would not have seen neighbors and family employed working to remodel the church and construct the new tombs. There is no way the young Nicholas Dernford would not have not been affected by all the hustle and bustle as workers and material poured into the city.
When the king married again in January 1540, he married a German Princess, Anne of Cleve. The marriage had been arranged as a political alliance but Henry had the marriage annulled in June the same year because he found Anne unattractive.
Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk then had a major role in the promoting his niece Katherine Howard as Henry VIII sixth wife. However when this Queen was convicted of pre-marital sex and adultery, she was beheaded in 1542. The Duke of Norfolk was accused of covering up knowledge of his niece's premarital affairs and was stripped of his dukedom and imprisoned in the Tower. He only avoided death when the King died within days of his execution in 1547.
During the 3rd Duke of Norfolk’s life time the Howards remodeled the castle Framlingham and expanded the Church of St. Michael as a new location to bury the “great and good of their family”. These projects brought wealth and prosperity to the market town which was Nicholas’ home.
THE REIGN of KING EDWARD VI
When Nicholas Derneford was about 17 years old, King Henry VIII died and was succeeded by his frail 9 year old son Prince Edward. King Henry had been the monarch of England for Nicholas’ entire life up until this point. During Edward's reign as King, the realm was governed by a Regency Council because the Edward never reached his majority age of 21. The Council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, (1547–1549), and then by John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick, from 1551 Duke of Northumberland.
Prince Edward was reared under the staunch protestant tutelage of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the regents imposed the teachings of protestant reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli on the people of England. These early 16th-century European protestant theologians questioned such doctrines as an authoritative priesthood, the real presence of Christ at the Mass, and the sale of pardons for sin, and were concerned about the immorality of its monks and priests. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer influenced the boy king to ban the cults of saints, and other Catholic customs.
It was during Edward's reign that Protestantism was established for the first time in England with reforms that included the abolition of clerical celibacy and of the Catholic Mass and the imposition of compulsory church services in English. The architect of these reforms was Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had long been secretly married. Cranmer also wrote the Book of Common Prayer which is still used in the Anglican Church today.
During the reign of King Edward VI, Protestant Reformers from Germany and Switzerland were encouraged to come to England and preach Protestantism from England s pulpits. These Protestants advocated the reading of the Bible in English not Latin and taught that salvation came by the Grace of God not through the Sacraments of the Catholic Church. How Nicholas Dernford felt about the dismissal of centuries of old Catholic beliefs cannot be known but if he was still a practicing Catholic it would have been at his peril.
Edward VI was a sickly youth. In February 1553, at age 15, the king fell seriously ill. He and his Council drew up a "Devise for the Succession", attempting to prevent the country's return to Catholicism. Edward named Lady Jane Grey, his first cousin once removed, as his heir and excluded his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Edward died in 1553 and immediately there was a succession crisis as that Princess Mary was determined to roll back all the protestant changes and return England to the Catholic fold. She hated Protestantism for what it did to her mother and in effect made her a bastard child.
THE REIGN of QUEEN MARY
The Protestant Reformers abhorred the notion of Mary becoming queen and promoted Lady Jane Gray, another member of the Howard family, as heir to King Edward. Jane was installed queen and Princess Mary fled to the Castle Framlingham in Suffolk County to gather supporters for her rights. From Castle Framlingham Princess Mary issued a call to arms and thousands of Englishmen rallied to Queen Mary's defense.
Nicholas Dernford would have been about 23 years old when Mary raised an army and may have been among her supporters at Framlingham. It would have been almost impossible for Nicholas Dernford not to have been caught up in these national events that played out in his back yard. and as a landowner may have even have been called upon to provide military service.
The army at Framlingham escorted Mary back to London where she was proclaimed Queen of England and “Queen Jane” who was simply a pawn for other people’s ambitions was deposed by Mary within 13 days. Poor Lady Jane Grey was taken to the Tower of London and beheaded.
While the Duke of Norfolk had remained locked up in the Tower of London throughout the reign of King Edward VI, he was pardoned by Queen Mary. In 1553 Thomas Howard was restored to the dukedom as he had aided Mary in securing her throne. When the Duke died on 25 August 1554, he was buried at St. Michael's Church in Framlingham, and while not as grandiose an affair as his father, certainly Nicholas Dernford would have attended the mass said to the Duke.
After Queen Mary left Framlingham, the castle went into a fast decline. A survey in 1589 noted that the stonework, timber and brickwork all needed urgent maintenance, at a potential cost of £100. The Great Park was turned into fields in 1580 and some of it may have come into possession of the Dernfords. As religious laws against Catholics increased, the castle also became used as a prison from 1580 onwards and by 1600 the castle prison contained 40 prisoners, mostly Roman Catholic priests and recusants.
BLOODY MARY
Queen Mary's reign over the English people was not a happy one as it turned out. She wanted to avenge the wrongs committed against her divorced mother and to return England to the Catholic fold. She pressured Parliament to undo all the previous Protestant legislation and to recognize the Pope at Rome as the true head of the Church of England.
The reversal of Edward's Protestant reforms had the effect of causing the adherents to Protestantism to be viewed as traitors as that Queen Mary held any attack or criticism of Roman Catholicism as attacks on her. Therefore Protestants were considered not only heretics but traitors to the crown.
Protestant clergymen by the hundreds fled from England mainly to Geneva, Switzerland with little hope of ever seeing their home or friends again. This era was known as the Marian Exile and was it responsible for the education of hundreds of leading English clergymen as “Calvinists” or followers of John Calvin. The Puritan movement within English Protestantism began during the Marian Exile.
Queen Mary ordered the burning at the stake of over three hundred Protestant men and women for refusing to accept the Catholic Faith and not recanting their "heresy". For having hundreds of Queen reformers burned for the "crime" of being a Protestant, the Queen was forever known as “Bloody Mary.” Most of those burned at the stake were humble folk from the Gentry, Yeoman and trade classes although several high profile individuals like Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was burned at the stake.
The program of burning heretics did not have the desire effect Mary wanted. Soon the rest of England regarded these people as “Martyrs to the Protestant Faith" "having sealed with their blood the English Reformation on the British Isles”.
Nicholas Dernford would have known about and witnessed much of this persecution as that at least 40 Suffolk people were burned alive in various county towns. Groups of Protestants notably those from Hadleigh, Beccles, Yoxford, Laxfield, Wetheringsett, Stowmarket, Framsden, Hintlesham, Haverhill, Winston, Mendlesham, Stoke-by-Nayland, East Bergholt, Dedham, Thwaite, Bedfield, Crowfield, Long Melford, Somerton and Little Stonham were burned at the stake.
The occupation of these men and women show that they were from all stations of life. They were clergymen, shoemakers, wool shearers, butchers, brick masons, a servant to the queen, wheelwrights, and common laborers.
Two men from Winston a village 7 miles west of Framlingham were burned on 24 March 1556, another man from Framden 8 miles away was burned 30 June 1556 and still another from the village of Laxfield 7 miles north of Framlingham was burned to death 22 September 1556.
ANN DRIVER
One death in particular may have been related to the Dernford family. Nicholas Derneford’s brother Richard had married a widow woman named Ann Driver. On 4 November 1558, just within weeks of Queen Mary’s death, a woman named Alice Driver wife of Edward Driver was burned alive in the town of Ipswich.
The Drivers were living at Grundisburgh about 14 miles south of Framlingham when the Justice of the Inquisition against Protestants went to Grundisburgh with a body of men in search of a protestant clergyman named Alexander Gooch, who was in hiding in Alice Driver's house. Hearing that the justice and his men were coming, Gooch and Driver hid themselves in a haystack, but their pursuers stuck pitchforks into the hay and discovered them.
Gooch and Driver were captured and taken to the jail 3 miles away at Melton, a village adjacent to Woodbridge. There they remained before being taken to the court at Bury St Edmunds held at the feast of St James [25 July].
Alice Driver showed herself to be a person of extraordinary courage when she was brought before Sir Clement Heigham, Speaker of the House of Commons. Before him, Driver compared Queen Mary to Jezebel, a evil woman mentioned in the Old Testament. Sir Clement immediately ordered that her ears should be cut off in punishment and she was sent back to Melton jail.
Because she would not accept the Catholic doctrine that the flesh of Jesus Christ was literal in the host wafer consumed in the Mass, Driver was on trial and examined by Dr. Spenser, Chancellor of Norwich. It is said that Alice Driver smiled as she was brought in before the inquisition:
Spenser: "Why, woman, dost thou laugh us to scorn?"
Driver: "Whether I do or no, I might well enough, to see what fools ye be."
Driver: "Whether I do or no, I might well enough, to see what fools ye be."
Spenser: "Wherefore hast thou been laid in prison?"
Driver: "Wherefore? I think I need not tell you, for ye know it better than I."
Driver: "Wherefore? I think I need not tell you, for ye know it better than I."
Spenser (taken aback): "No, by my troth woman, I know not why."
Driver: "Then have ye done much wrong thus to imprison me, and know no cause why; for I know no evil that I have done, I thank God, and I hope there is no man that can accuse me of any notorious fact that I have done, justly."
Driver: "Then have ye done much wrong thus to imprison me, and know no cause why; for I know no evil that I have done, I thank God, and I hope there is no man that can accuse me of any notorious fact that I have done, justly."
Spenser: "What sayest thou to the Blessed Sacrament of the altar? Dost thou believe that it is very flesh and blood after the words be spoken of consecration?"
Alice Driver stood with her lips deliberately sealed. A priest who stood by told her, 'Answer the Chancellor, woman!"
Driver:"Why, priest, I came not to talk with thee, but I came to talk with thy master, but if thou wilt I shall talk with thee, command thy master to hold his peace."
With that the priest put his nose in his cap and spake never a word again. The Chancellor again pressed her for a reply.
Driver: "Sir, pardon me though I make no answer, for I cannot tell what you mean thereby, for in all my life I never heard nor read of any such Sacrament in all the Scripture."
Spenser: "Why, what scriptures have you read?"
Driver: "I have, I thank God, read God's Book... the Old and New testament. That same book have I read throughout, yet never could find any such Sacrament there; and for that cause I cannot make answer to that thing I know not. Notwithstanding for all, I will grant you a Sacrament, called the Lord's Supper, and therefore seeing I have granted you a Sacrament, I pray you show me what a Sacrament is."
Driver: "I have, I thank God, read God's Book... the Old and New testament. That same book have I read throughout, yet never could find any such Sacrament there; and for that cause I cannot make answer to that thing I know not. Notwithstanding for all, I will grant you a Sacrament, called the Lord's Supper, and therefore seeing I have granted you a Sacrament, I pray you show me what a Sacrament is."
Before her condemnation, her final statement was as follows:
Spenser: "Have you any more to say?
Driver: God be honored. You be not able to resist the Spirit of God in me, a poor woman. I am an honest poor man's daughter, never brought up in the University, as you have been, but I have driven the plough before my father many a time (I thank God): yet, notwithstanding, in the defense of God's truth, and in the cause of my Master Christ, by His grace I will set my foot against the foot of any of you all, in the maintenance and defense of the same, and if I had a thousand lives, they should go for payment thereof."
Driver: God be honored. You be not able to resist the Spirit of God in me, a poor woman. I am an honest poor man's daughter, never brought up in the University, as you have been, but I have driven the plough before my father many a time (I thank God): yet, notwithstanding, in the defense of God's truth, and in the cause of my Master Christ, by His grace I will set my foot against the foot of any of you all, in the maintenance and defense of the same, and if I had a thousand lives, they should go for payment thereof."
Alice Driver was taken on 4 November 1558 with Alexander Gooch to the Cornhill in Ipswich, where the stake for the execution was set up. Hundreds of people gathered to watch, including a large number “whose sympathies were with the victims, and who supported them with demonstrations of affection and pity.”
The condemned knelt on a “broom faggot” [a bundle of sticks] together to “say their prayers, and to sing psalms together, until a Bailiff roughly told them to "have done". Their request to have more time in which to prepare themselves was refused.
The Sheriff, Sir Henry Dowell, then commanded that they should be tied to the stake. A heavy chain was fastened around Alice Driver's neck, at which she said "Oh! Here is a goodly neckerchief; blessed be God for it."
Then various people came up from the crowd and shook hands with them. This annoyed the Sheriff so much that he ordered them to be arrested, whereupon many others from the crowd ran to the stake to do the same, so that he was obliged to leave them all alone. The broom was then lit, and the execution proceeded. Gooch and Driver were both burned alive in one fire at Ipswich.
Whether Alice Driver and Ann Driver the wife of Richard Dernford were related is unknown but the possibility is that they were. How the execution of over three hundred people during the short five year reign of Mary affected Nicholas Derneford and his religious beliefs is unknown however his grandson Nicholas Danforth would leave England for the New World for his Protestant faith.
When Queen Mary died in 1558 there were seventy-seven persons in Ipswich alone still under condemnation to be burned but who were afterwards released. If any of these were relatives or neighbors of Nicholas Danforth it will never be known.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
The people of England began to truly despise their Catholic Queen towards the end of her reign especially when she married Phillip II King of Spain , the Catholic arch-enemy of England .
Upon Mary's death, Henry VIII’s daughter by Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth Tudor, became Queen of England . This was the beginning of the period in English History known as the Elizabethan Age.
One of the most important concerns during Elizabeth's early reign was the question of establishing a state religion. Elizabeth had no choice but to adopt Protestantism as the religion of England for practical reasons. Her legitimacy to the throne rested on the legitimacy of her mother’s marriage to Henry VIII. Bastard children by law were prohibited from inheriting their father’s titles and estate.
One of the first laws passed as Queen was “The Act of Supremacy of 1558” which outlawed Catholicism in England, and conferred on Elizabeth the title Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The following year “The Act of Uniformity of 1559” outlined what form the English Church should take, including the official use of the Book of Common Prayer.
Jesuit Catholic priests who prospered under the old Queen were now driven out of England on pain of death and Catholic nobility also saw their fortunes decline and their powers wane. After the death of Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, in 1554, the Dukedom descended to his grandson Thomas Howard, the 4th Duke of Norfolk who was Queen Elizabeth second cousin. However in 1569 Norfolk was imprisoned for scheming to marry Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
Following his release, he then participated in a plot with Philip II King of Spain to put Mary Stuart on the English throne and restore Catholicism in England. There was no mercy for Norfolk this time and he was executed for treason on 2 June 1572 at the Tower of London. All Norfolk's lands and titles were forfeit, although much of the estate was later restored to future generations. However with the Norfolks gone as patrons, the Castle Framlingham became neglected and fell into disrepair.
MARRIAGE and FAMILY
Nicholas Dernford after 1558 spent the rest of his life as a subject of Queen Elizabeth who brought prosperity back to England and secured the Protestant Faith in England mainly by her longevity. About the time of death of Queen Mary, Nicholas Dernford married a Suffolk woman named Alice Jordan at the Church of St. Michaels in the town of Framlingham.
They may have worshipped in the prescribed Anglican manner at first but later became non conforming Calvinists as returning Clergy from Switzerland brought back to England the teachings of John Calvin. Suffolk County became a stronghold of Calvinists who came to be known as Puritans as they wanted a more “pure” church free of Catholic traditions. A few miles north of Framlingham a Puritan meeting was being formed at Saxtead.
The known children born to Nicholas Dernford and Alice Jordan were Thomas, Anne, Olive, Joane, Elizabeth, and Margaret all born probably between 1560 and 1570. Records from St. Michael’s church show that Johane [Joane] was baptized 19 March 1563 [1564] the daughter of Nicholas and Aelles [Alice] Danforth but she had died probably in late December 1578 as that she was buried 2 January 1578 [1579]. She was about 14 years old. Her burial record stated her name as Joane “Danforth” daughter of Nicholas The only other baptism record for a daughter was one for Elizabeth who was baptized 29 January 1569 [1570]. She survived to maturity and married a man named John Tokelove probably after the death of her father.
Church records at St. Michael’s show that Nicholas’ daughter Olive was married to William Smalledge 6 February 1581 [1582]. She may have been named for Nicholas Dernford’s sister Olive. She probably was the eldest daughter of Nicholas and Alice Jordan Derneford. They were also probably Calvinist or non conforming Protestants as that at least one son William Smalledge immigrated to New England during the Great Puritan Migration.
Nicholas Derneford’s only surviving son Thomas was married 24 January 1586 to Jane Sudbury of Kelshall probably before his father’s death. Thomas named his first born son Nicholas after his father. When that son died in infancy in 1589, Thomas named his next son born in 1590 also Nicholas. He must have had great affection for his father to be that determined to have a son named for his father.
Other surviving children mentioned in Nicholas Derneforth’s will were daughters Anne, and Margaret also called Marjory in her mother’s will. As that six children are accounted for that leaves the possibility of unaccounted for children. As that the names Nicholas and Alice are not found among the names of their children there is the strong possibility of there were children who died young. There isn’t any one named Paul either or Katherine. So while it is speculative whether Nicholas and Alice Derneford had more than the known six children, in the age of no birth control, certainly it is probable that they had more children than the six known offspring.
RICHARD DANFORDE
Nicholas Dernford’s younger brother, Richard “Danforde's” will was proved on 11 June 1572 just a few days after the death of the Duke of Norfolk. In Richard’s will he called himself “of Framlingham at Castle, Husbandman.” Evidently this implied that he owned no land but worked for the Norfolk estate as a husbandman which was a tenant farmer who dealt with livestock. The term “husband” derived from a 14th century Anglo-Saxon word “husbonda” meaning a shepherd.
Richard Danforde had married a widow Ann Driver and certainly had some family connection with Alice Driver who died as a martyr to the Protestant faith. Richard had no sons that survived to be listed in his will. He named only his daughters. He named his brother Nicholas to supervise the provisions of the will.
Nicholas Derneford evidently was close to this brother as that he would leave a legacy to Richard's daughter Anne. ,Richard and Anne’s children according to church records were Isabella Danforth baptized 21 September 1562, Anne Danforth baptized 17 September 1564, Katherine Danforth baptized 30 April 1570
The following year Nicholas Derneford’s uncle Reynold died and was buried at Framlingham on 2 March 1572 [1573].
WORLD EVENTS
Nicholas Dernford lived about 13 years and 8 months longer than his brother as a prosperous owner of lands that may have once been part of the “Great Park” of Farmington Castle as he mentions that his lands and houses were at the castle. Memorable events in English history during the remaining years of Nicholas Derneford’s life that perhaps shaped his life and that of the lives of his children and grandchildren to come were as follows:
- 13 December 1577 - Francis Drake left Plymouth, England aboard the ship Pelican with four other ships and 164 men on an expedition against the Spanish along the unprotected Pacific coast of the Americas. He sailed up the coast of California and claimed the land for England as New Albion. As that it was too dangerous to return to England the way he came, Drake sailed across the Pacific into the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope of Africa and then back home. On 26 September 1580 Drake returned to Plymouth England from his voyage where he circumnavigated the world on the ship Golden Hind. Drake was the first by an Englishman to sail around the worldThe following year on 4 April 1581 Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind for his exploits.
- 6 January 1585- Walter Raleigh was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and with others financed the colonization of land in North America he named Virginia after Elizabeth the Virgin Queen. The colony was founded actually in modern North Carolina on 7 July 1585 and became known as Roanoke. The Spanish attempted invasion of England in 1588 kept relief supplies from the colonists and when relief finally came the colonists had vanished. Roanoke is now known as the Lost Colony. The first English child born in North America, Virginia Dare, was also lost to history.
LAST WILL and TESTAMENT of NICHOLAS DERNFORD
Nicholas Dernford made out his last will and testament the 12 November 1585 and it probated was “17 February 1585”. Actually by today’s calendar, he died in 1586 as that in this period of English history the New Year did not begin legally until March 25th. Any event from January 1 to March 24 was assigned the previous year date, so while his will was probated in the legal year 1585 he actually died in 1586 by our modern calendar. This is confirmed by his will being made out in November 1585 and it being probated February “1585”.
"I Nicholas Derneford of Framlingham. To Alice my wife the half profits of my houses & grounds at Castell, except Baldinges Close & the house there; also 1 piece of free ground in Ufford. Son Thomas to have lease of Baldinges Close. Daurs. Anne, Margaret, Eliz., Olive Smalledge. Son in law William Smalledge. To Anne Derneford, dau. of my brother Robert 6 s., 8 d. [six shillings 8 pence]To Anne Derneford dau. of my brother Richard 5 s. [five shillings] Son Thomas to be executor. Brother Robert and bro. in law Wm. Jordan, supervisors. Witnesses: Thomas Riches and Anne Williams
Proved: 17 Feb. 1585[6]. Ipswich Wills. Arch. Suffolk Book 30, folio 606
Proved: 17 Feb. 1585[6]. Ipswich Wills. Arch. Suffolk Book 30, folio 606
His will showed that he was financially affluent with houses and lands by the Castle Framlingham. Nicholas Derneford also had “free land at Ufford” about 8 miles south of Framlington. Ufford is near the village of Melton where Alice Driver was held in jail 30 years before and just a few miles from the village in which she lived. If Nicholas owned lands there, he certainly would have been aware of her fate, especially if she was a shirt tail relative of his through his brother Richard.
In his will, Nicholas left legacies to his wife Alice, his only surviving son Thomas, his unmarried daughters, Anne, Margaret, and Elizabeth, to his married daughter Olive Smalledge, his son in law William Smalledge, to his niece Anne Derneford daughter of “brother Robert, and niece Anne Derenford daughter of “brother” Richard, who preceded him in death.
Nicholas died in the 1586 about 55 to 56 years old at the time of his death. He made out his last will and testament a little less than 6 months after the first English Colony was established in North America the future home of his grandson and name sake Nicholas Danforth.
LAST WILL and TESTAMENT of ALICE DANFORTH
Alice Jordan Danforth was a widow for 17 years after the death of her husband. She made out her own will 17 July 1603. While it recorded in Book 40 folio 69b it doesn’t list a probate date. Alice Jordan was probably younger than Nicholas when they married in circa 1558 perhaps between 15 and 20 years old while he would have been circa 28 years old. That may account for her living much longer than her husband. If she was born circa 1540 she would have been about 63 years old at the time of her death.
"17 July 1603. I Allice Dranforth of Framlingham at the Castle, widow. Grandchildren: Roger and Wm. Smallhead [Smallage], Robert Dranforth. Sons in law Thomas Bacon, Edmund Durrant, John Tokelove. To Mary and Jane my son's daughter, Daughter, Anne, Margery & Elizabeth. Son: Thomas. To Eliz. & Grace my son's maids 2 Shillings Witnesses Toby Sudbury Edmond Durrant, John Ireland Senior"
Toby Sudbury was the brother of her daughter in law Jane Sudbury Danforth. All four of Alice's daughters were married at the time of her death. They were Anne wife of Thomas Bacon, Margaret wife of Edmund Durrant, Olive wife of William Smallage, and Elizabeth wife of John Tokelove. It seems strange that Nicholas Danforth, her grandson and name sake of her husband, is not mentioned by name in her will. Her daughter in law Jane had died the previous year in March 1602.
NICHOLAS DERNFORD
Born: circa 1530, Framlingham, Suffolk County, England
Died: 1586 Framlingham, Suffolk County, England about age 55 years
Married circa 1558 Suffolk County, England
ALICE JORDAN
Born circa 1540 Suffolk County, England
Died 1603 Framlingham, Suffolk, England about age 63 years
Children of Nicholas and Alice Danforth of Framingham, England:
THOMAS DANFORTH
Born circa 1560 Framlingham, Suffolk, England
Died 1621 Framlingham, Suffolk, England
Married 24 January 1586 Framlingham, Suffolk, England Jane Sudbury died in childbirth 1601
1. Nicholas Danforth Baptized 6 November 1586 burial 6 February 1588 [1589] age 2
2. Nicholas Danforth Baptized 1 March 1589 [1590] died 1639
3. Robert Danforth baptized 16 November 1592 burial 3 January 1592 [1593]
4. Robert Danforth baptized 11 November 1593 burial 22 March 1647 [1648]
5. Mary Danforth circa 1595
6. Jane Danforth baptized 22 February 1600 [1601]
Died 1621 Framlingham, Suffolk, England
Married 24 January 1586 Framlingham, Suffolk, England Jane Sudbury died in childbirth 1601
1. Nicholas Danforth Baptized 6 November 1586 burial 6 February 1588 [1589] age 2
2. Nicholas Danforth Baptized 1 March 1589 [1590] died 1639
3. Robert Danforth baptized 16 November 1592 burial 3 January 1592 [1593]
4. Robert Danforth baptized 11 November 1593 burial 22 March 1647 [1648]
5. Mary Danforth circa 1595
6. Jane Danforth baptized 22 February 1600 [1601]
ANNE DANFORTH
Married Thomas Bacon
Married Thomas Bacon
OLIVE DANFORTH
Married William Smallage 6 February 1581 [1582] Framlingham, Suffolk, England
1. Roger Smallage
2. William Smallage
MARGARET [MARGERY] DANFORTH
Married Edmund Durrant
Married Edmund Durrant
JOAN DANFORTH
baptized 19 March 1563 [1564]
buried 2 January 1578 [1579]
ELIZABETH DANFORTH
baptized 29 January 1569 [1570]
Married John Tokelove
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