The family of Richard Byne of Ticehurst (died 1574)

Having summarised what we know about the family of John Byne of Burwash, who died in 1559, I turn now to his brother Richard, whose family it’s possible to trace through to the eighteenth century. However, my interest is in the early generations of the family, and in this post I’ll set out what we know about them.

Fields south of Ticehurst, Sussex (via geograph.co.uk)

First generation

Richard Byne was probably born in Burwash in the first or second decade of the sixteenth century. He married Gillian, perhaps in the early 1540s. They lived at Witherden farm in Ticehurst, about five miles from Burwash, where (according to Renshaw, p. 79) Richard was assessed, first on £16 and then on £13, in goods, at 16 and 13 shillings respectively, to the Lay Subsidy levied in 1549 and 1552, of which he was also a ‘pettye collector’. He purchased land in Burwash from Henry Merry in 1566 and his will refers to ‘my newe howse’ there. Richard and Gillian Byne had five children: John, Thomas, Anne, Odiane and Margaret.

Richard Byne made his will on 8^th April 1574, appointing his ‘cosin’ (i.e. nephew, son of his brother John) Henry Byne as overseer, and it was proved on 13^th May in the same year. Gillian Byne was buried at Burwash on 20^th February 1581.

Old map showing part of East Sussex

Second generation: children of Richard Byne 

John Byne was probably born in about 1545 in Ticehurst. He married Dionysia Pudland, daughter of Richard Pudland of Heathfield, in Burwash on 10^th July 1569. According to John’s will of 25^th January 1580, he lived at Witherden, which he must have inherited from his father Richard. John and Dionysia Byne had two children: Mary, and an unnamed child baptised at Burwash on 10^th April 1574 and buried there on 18^th May in the same year. John Byne’s will, proved on 10^th May 1581, makes reference to two of my direct ancestors: my 11 x great grandfather Edward Byne (who, if my hypothesis is correct, was John’s first cousin) and the latter’s father-in-law, my 12 x great grandfather Magnus Fowle of Mayfield, who was one of the witnesses to the will. 

Thomas Byne was probably born in the early 1540s in Ticehurst. There is a record of a marriage between Thomas Byne and Agnes Stephen in Ticehurst on 13^th June 1563, but the name of Thomas’ wife in his will of 1588 (in which he appointed Edward Byne as one of its overseers) was Amy. Thomas Byne and his wife or wives had eight children: Lawrence, Thomas, John, Peter, Joseph, Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary. Thomas Byne senior was buried at Burwash on 23^rd November 1588. Amy Byne made her will on 16^th January 1616, appointing Stephen Byne (my 10 x great grandfather and her late husband’s nephew) as one of the overseers. 

Anne Byne was probably born in the 1540s. She married a man with the surname Gardiner.

Odiane Byne and Margaret Byne may have been born in the early 1550s. We have no further information about them.

Map showing villages on the Kent-Sussex border

Third generation

Children of John Byne

Mary Byne married Thomas Freeman, a yeoman of Burwash. She was buried at Burwash on 12^th April 1623.

Children of  Thomas Byne

Lawrence Byne was baptised at Burwash on 13^th December 1571. He married Margery Yonge and they lived in Brenchley, Kent. They had five children: John, Thomas, Mary, Amy and Elizabeth. Renshaw speculates that John and Thomas Byne were ‘the persons of that name who participated in the royalist rising in Kent in 1648’ and were subsequently imprisoned (Renshaw, pp. 83-84). John Byne had married Mildred Maylam at Maidstone in 1628. Amy married Thomas Mitchell of Maidstone in 1631. Lawrence Byne made his will on 1^st July 1623 and it was proved on 12^th August in that year.

Thomas Byne was christened at Burwash on 14^th February 1574. He may have married a woman named Alice and lived at Ticehurst. Thomas apparently died intestate before 1618 and seems not to have had any children.

John Byne was baptised at Burwash on 10^th June 1576. He married Susan Ticehurst on 31^st May 1602. He was churchwarden of Burwash in 1609 and 1611. John and Susan Byne had the following children: Mary (born 1604), Anne (1605 – 1618), Thomas (born 1607), Elizabeth (1608), Susan (1611), Goodgift (1614), John (January – March, 1617), John (born 1619), Anne (1623) and Ellen. John Byne made his will on 2^nd April 1630 and was buried at Burwash four days later.

Peter Byne was baptised at Burwash on 16^th February 1579. He married Jane Humphry in about May 1612. Peter lived in Ticehurst but was tenant of a farm in Burwash. In 1622 he was excommunicated for not attending church. He seems to have died without issue and was buried at Burwash on 30^th March 1630.

Joseph Byne was christened at Burwash on 23^rd August 1584 and seems never to have married. He was a customary tenant of the manor of Burwash on various dates between 1624 and 1630. Joseph was buried at Burwash on 26^th January 1636.

Margaret Byne was baptised at Burwash on 3^rd September 1567. She appears to have married William Meriam on 15^th August 1594 at Goudhurst, Kent.

Elizabeth Byne was christened at Burwash on 28^th September 1569. She married a man by the name of Webb.

Mary Byne was baptised at Burwash on 8^th June 1572. We have no further information about her.