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| Notes for Agnes Copton | ||||||||||||
| She was also known as "Agnes, niece and heiress of Hamo de Copton" 202 "Agnes had wed a London vitner named Henry Northwell, by whom whe had a son, John Northwell. She had married John Chaucer by October 1349, as a plea of intrusion was placed again 'John Chaucer, vintner, and his wife Agnes.' "197 "She was the daughter of a man named John of Copton, and niece and heiress to one of London's quiet rich, Hamo of Copton, citizen and moneyer (or mint-officer) of London, who died in 1349. Hamo Copton was survived by at least one son, Nicholas, upon whose death without issue the Copton property was apparently to devolve to Agnes." 193 She was "da. of John Copton and cousin and h. [heir] of Nicholas Copton (d. 1349) of London." 204 "As a Copton, it has been suggested, Agnes Chaucer may have been a member of the prominent land-rich Pelican family of Kent . . . Hamo Copton is recorded in 1321 as living in St. Dunstan's parish, but he seems to have belonged to a family of Kentish origin."193 "Besides her immediate family background, Agnes Chaucer had high connections through her first husband, who was a kinsman of William of Northwell, a man in the lofty position of keeper of the king's wardrobe. . . Agnes did, as we've seen, inherit at leasdt some of the valuable and extensive Copton property. In addition to tthat already mentioned, she and her husband John Chaucer in 1354 held property which they granted by deed to Simon de Plaghe, physician, citizen of London, and Joan, his wife - a brewing tenement with houses, buildings, and garden adjancent, and two shops and solars, formerly just outside the city wall. And later, in 1363, John and Agnes Chaucer agreed to the transfer of some nearby property, ten and a half acres of land with valuable appurtenances - twenty-four stops and two gardens - in Stepney and in the parish of st. Mary Mattefalon, outside Aldgate." 193 She was also said to have married Bartholomew Attechapel 6 May 1367. 193 "Some of these properties came into the family through Chaucer's mother, nee Agnes Copton. John and Agnes married about 1340, when he was in his mid-twenties. She seems to have been married before to a nobleman named Northwell, with whom he had a son, and may through him have had connections at the royal court. The Coptons were a London family, comparable in rank and wealth to the Chaucers. Apart from what dowry she brought to the marriage, Agnes Copton - whose father had been killed when she was very young - inherited the estate of her uncle Hamo, a maker of coins who worked in the Tower of London, when he and his only son died in the plague. These income-producing properties provided security to a merchant family if the head of the household died; much stock was put by them, and by 'marrying well' into a family of good status and wealth." 195 "In the early months of 1366, Chaucer's father died. Chaucer's mother leased the house in Thames Street to Henry Herbury, and by July she was remarried to one Bartholomew Chappel, London citizen and vitner. This may sound as if her marriage followed hard upon, but such marriages in merchant families were often contracted to secure property or the continuance of a business. Chaucer's sister Katherine seems at this time to have inherited property in Kent from her father, and Chaucer must have inherited something too. His mother lived on about fifteen years, but of his relationship with her or with his stepfather nothing is known." 195 "Professor Rickert and I have thus far been able to publish only a small portion of the records of Chaucer and his circle collected by ourselves and our co-workers . . . Sometimes, as in the case of the name of Agnes Chaucer's father, bcause the accessible document containing the name contained also some definite misstatements; and as it was only a modern copy, we felt bound to wait until we could examine the original and see whether the note was in a fourteenth-century hand or not." 206 "His widow Agnes had married Bartholomew at Chapel, citizen and vintner, by 6th May, 1367 (Ancient Deeds, E. 464. Hustings Roll 95, No. 8. Kirk p. 159)."200 "As to the Copton connection, we have just seen that the poet's father John married Agnes, niece of Hamo de Copton. She was his wife 1349-1363, and after his death married Bartholomew atte Chapel before 1367. In 1366 he and his wife (described as kinswoman and heiress of Hamo de Copton) granted rents in St. Botolph, Aldgate, to William atte Hale, citizen and vintner of London (Anceint Deeds P.R.O.A. 1471, and see A. 1598, 1603, 1761). Hamo de Copton in his will, dated 1329, directs he should be buried at St. Botolph, Aldgate. He mentions a house which he had by feoffment of Walter Everard, late goldsmith, and his wife Juliana, daughter of Ralph Crepyn (Hustings Wills, p. 360)." 200 "The documents which name Agnes Chaucer as the wife, or former wife, of John Chaucer bear dates ranging from 19 Octobere 1349 to 12 May 1367. The first of these records concerns a plea of intrusion brought against John Chaucer, vintner, and Agnes, his wife, by Nigel de Hackney, son and heir of Richard de Hackney, with reference to a tenement in the parish of St. Botolph without Aldgate. The matter was settled on 11 November 1349 when Nigel de Hackney quitclaimed to John Chaucer the tenement and other properties which had formerly belonged to Hamo de Copton, London citizen and moneyer. Richard de Hackney had been appointed one of the executors under the will of Hamo de Copton. These pieces of property had come to John Chaucer in the right of Agnes, who was a daughter of John de Copton, a brother of Hamo, and who had become the heir of Hamo after the death of Hamo's son and heir Nicholas, who had died between 11 April and 27 July 1349." 194 "With the exception of an indult to choose a confessor, dated 6 Id. February (8 February) 1351, all the records naming Agnes as the wife of John Chaucer have to do with legal matters concerning property. The last of these in which John Chaucer participated is dated 16 January 1366. At some time between this date and 13 July 1366 John Chaucer died, and Agnes married Bartholomew Chappel, another citizen and vintner of London, about whom no records have been found except those relating to the property which he acquired with her. As no indication has been found that John Chaucer made any earlier marriage than to Agnes, his alleged marriage in 1324 to his cousin, Joan de Westhall, having been disproved, it seems practically certain that Agnes Chaucer was the mother of Geoffrey Chaucer." 194 "On 12 March 1367 his widow and her next husband, Bartholomew Chappel, London vintner, entered into an agreement concerning this same tenement with Henry Herbury, London vintner, by which for ten years Herbury would hold it and keep it in repair. In 1381 Geoffrey Chaucer deeded his right in this property, possibly coming to him upon the death of his mother, Agnes, to Henry Herbury, who in 1395 alienated the tenement to the Cheshunt prioress, Tiffany (Tifhania), and her convent, in mortmain." 194 "Agnes' seal wupon the deeds of 1354 and 1366 has no legend, the arms being a chevron. The seal upon the 1363 deed is slightly smaller than John's and is inscribed, SIG. WILLELMI [____]; the coat is apparently: - On a fess three mullets (?), in chief a bend; in the sinister chief a bugle horn (?) (the dexter chief is gone), in base a heart (?), with two roundles issuant. Agnes' connection with William de Northwell and the fact that both she and John was of high rank among the vintners of the City, and thereby confirms other facts which point in the same direction." 202 "His widow Agnes married Bartholomew atte Chapel, vintner (Redstone, p. 9)." 200 | ||||||||||||
| Last Modified 8 Nov 2007 | Created 18 Jan 2009 using Reunion for Macintosh |