Full Title: A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, For 1852: Comprising Particulars of Upwards of 100,000 Individuals. By J. Bernard Burke, Esq. - of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law, Author of "The Peerage and Baronetage," etc. In Two Volumes. Vol II - P to Z. With Supplement, Addenda, Corrigenda, and Index. London - Colburn and Co., Publishers, Great Marlborough Street MDCCCLII
Note: "d.s.p." stands for "descessit sine parole", latin for "died without issue".
Page 1225
SHELDON OF BRAILES HOUSE
Sheldon, Henry - James, Esq. of Brailes House, co. Warwick, b. 12 Sept. 1823; s. to the estates upon the death of his father, the late Edward-Ralph-Charles Sheldon, Esq., 11 June, 1836.
Lineage
Of Sheldon, co. Warwick, no mention is made in the CONQUEROR's survey, whence Dugdale infers that it was included in Colshill, and, together with it, possessed by Geffrey de Clinton, in the reign of HENRY I., and came to Verdon, through his marriage with Lescelina, dau. of the said Geffrey, as did also Brandon. Anselme de Sheldon, or one of his ancestors, was first enfeoffed of this manor by some of the Verdons, it being proved, by testimony, that Anselme and his posterity held it of that family by the service of half a knight's fee. Of this Anselme, mention is first found in 5 HENRY III. He was s. by his son,
Henry de Sheldon, who was employed in 7 EDWARD I., as a commisioner, with Sir Henry de Notingham, Knt., and John de Arundel, clerk, to inquire "touching the lords of every mannour, with the liberties, priviledges, and extent of the same, as also concerning the patronage of the church, and how it was endowed, and likewise of the king's demesnes, fees, escheats," "The form of which commission and oath (the said Henry being then a knight) is to be scene on the back of the patent roll of 7th EDWARD I., and very wrothy observation." In the same year he was again in commission with the same persons, to inquire concerning all who had one whole knight's fee of the value of L20, and from that time till the 20th year of the same reign was yearly a commissioner for the goal delivery of Warwick.
The next possessor was Sir Nicholas de Sheldon, who bore for arms, "A fesse, with two buckels in chief, (in reference, perhaps, to the familie of Oldenfells of Solihull, viz., Arg., a fesse, with two mullets, in chief, gu.,) but the colours of this I cannot discover." He left issue, Henry, his son and heir, who apparently d. without children, as none of the name had after to do with the lordship. - Dugdale, p. 711 a b, 712 a. Ed. 1765.
When the hereditary lands of the family, viz., at Rowley-Regis, co. Stafford, passed to Cornelius Wyrley, of Hampstead, same co., in right of his wife, Clare, dau. of John Sheldon, William Sheldon, cousin of the said Clare, purchased Balford Hall, Beoly, co. Worcester, in the reign of Edward IV. He followed Richard III to the battle of Bosworth, for which his estates were confiscated, by the victor, though they were restored to him in 1517.
Richard Sheldon, of Rowley Regis, co. Stafford, was s. by his second son, Maurice Sheldon, whose son, John Sheldon, also of Aberton, co. Worcester, d. in 1464, leaving by his wife, a dau. of John Cotton, Esq. of Cotton Hall, co. Leicester, a son, Ralph Sheldon, of Beoly, co. Worcester, who m. the dau. and heiress of Buding, Esq., by whom he had seven sons, of whom, the sixth, Ralph Sheldon, of Aberton &c., s. his eldest brother, William, who d. s. p. He m. Phillippa, eldest dau. and co-heiress of Baldwin Heath, Esq. of Ford Hall, co. Warwick, and d. in 1546. His eldest son,
William Sheldon (*1*), Esq. of Beoly, m. 1st, Mary, dau. of William Willington, Esq. of co. Warwick, and with her (who d. in 1553) acquired the estate of Barcheston. He m. 2ndly, Margaret, dau. of Sir Richard Brooke, lord-chief-baron of the Exchequer, and relict of Sir William Whorwood, attorney-general; she d. in 1589, aged 80; Mr. Sheldon d. 1570. His eldest son d. without issue, and the estates devolved upon his second son,
Ralph Sheldon, Esq. of Weston, who m. 1st, Anne, dau. of Sir Robert Throgmorton, Knt., (she d. in 1603;) and 2ndly, Jane, dau. of William West, Lord Delawarr. He d. in 1613, and was s. by his eldest son,
William Sheldon, who, dying without issue, was s. by his brother,
Edward Sheldon, who m. Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas Markham, of Ollerton, co. Notts, and had two sons,
William, who m. in 1611, Elizabeth, dau. of William, Lord Petre, and had issue, all of whom d. s. p., viz.,
- Ralph, of Beoly, b. in 1623; a noble benefactor to the College of Arms. This Ralph accompanied CHAS. II. in his flight to Boscobel, and was a party to his concealment in the oak, to the foot of which, he and three others attended their royal master. He m. Henrietta-Maria, dau. of Thomas Savage, Viscount Rocksavage, and d. s. p. 24 June, 1684. She d. in 1663.
- Edward, a Benedictine monk of Doway.
- Lionel
- George, of the Dungeon, or Dane John, co. Kent, m. 1st, Frances, eldest dau. of Thomas More, of More Place, co. Herts; she d. in 1666. He m. 2ndly, Elizabeth, dau. and sole heir of Sir James Hales, Knt. of the Dungeon, and relict of Sir Stephen Hales, K.B., of Snitterfield: she d. in 1678.
- Catharine, a nun.
- Elizabeth, b. in 1619, m. to Sir Thomas Gascoigne, of Barnborough, co. York
Ralph, of whom we treat,
The second son,
Ralph Sheldon, of Steeple Barton, m. Bridget, dau. of Anthony Morgan, of Heyford, co. Northampton, and Weston Underwell Hill, co. Warwick, and dying in 1658-9, was s. by his eldest son,
Edward Sheldon, Esq. of Steeple Barton, who m. Catharine, dau. of Sir Philip Constable, of Everingham, co. York, and by her (who d. in 1681) left at his decease, in 1676, a son,
Ralph Sheldon, Esq. of Steeple Barton, and afterwards of Weston and Beoly, who m. Mary-Anne, dau. of John Elliot, second son of Humphrey Elliot, Esq. of Gataker Park, co. Salop, and d. in 1720, when he was s. by his son,
Edward Sheldon, Esq., who m. Elizabeth, dau. of Sir John Shelley, Bart. of Mitchell Grove, co. Sussex, and by her (who d. 16 Sept. 1766) had four sons and nine daus. He d. in 1746, and was s. by his son,
William Sheldon, Esq., who m. Margaret-Frances-Disney, dau. of James Rooke, Esq. of Bigsware, co. Gloucester, and by her (who d. in 1776) had (with a dau., Margaret-Frances, m. in 1772, to Francis Talbot, of Witham Place, in Essex, brother to the Earl of Shrewsbury) seven sons, I. Ralph, his heir, of whom presently; II. William, of Brailes, co. Warwick, d. unm. in Nov. 1830; III. Edward, d. umn.; IV, James, m. the dau. and heiress of the Rev. Mr. Mostyn; V. Charles-Henry, of Haute Fontaine, in France, m. Elizabeth, second dau. of Richard Gorges, Esq. of Eye, co. Hereford, M.P. for Leominster, and relict of Charles Graham, Esq. of Netherby, co. Cumberland; VI. George, of Ems, Upper Austria, m. Frances, Princess of Anersberg; VII. Henry, d. at Weston, in 1761. Mr. Sheldon d. in 1780, and was s. by the eldest son,
Ralph Sheldon, Esq. of Weston, M.P. for Wilton, co. Berks, and colonel of the Oxford Loyal Volunteers, who m. Jane, eldest dau. of Admiral Francis Holburne, of Menstrie, N.B., and sister of Sir Francis Holburne, and by her had a son, Edward-Ralph-Charles, his heir, and three daus., viz., Catherine, who d. about 1818, unm.; Jane-Louisa, m. to Robert Fellows, Esq. of Shottesham Park, co. Norfolk; and Fanny-Anne, m. to the Comte D'Orfeuille. Mr. Sheldon d. in 1822. His only son and heir.
Edward-Ralph-Charles Sheldon, Esq. of Brailes House, b. 2 March 1782, who m. 14 Aug. 1817, Marcella, only child of Thomas-Meredith Winstanley, Esq. of Lissen Hall, co. Dublin, and had issue,
- William-Edward, b. 21 Sept. 1821, d. 20 March, 1835.
- Henry-James, present representative
- Edward-Ralph-Charles, b. 22 Dec 1828
- Maria-Anne, d. unm in 1840
- Fanny-Catherine, d. 14 April 1832
- Marcella-Louisa, d. unm. in 1840
- Anne-Cathleen, d. 18 Nov. 1831.
- Isabel
Mr. Sheldon entering the army at an early age, was aid-de-camp successively to the Duke of Bedford, Earls of Whitworth and Talbot, while respectively lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and under the last held the office of comptroller of the household. He was a magistrate for the cos. of Warwick and Worcester, and deputy-lieutenant and major of the militia of Warwickshire, for the southern division of which county he was returned to parliament in February, 1835. He d. 11 June, 1836, and was s. by his second but eldest surviving son, the present Henry-James Sheldon, Esq. of Brailes House.
Arms - Sa., a fess, arg., between three sheldrakes, ppr.
Crest - A sheldrake, ppr.
Motto - Optimum pati.
Seat - Brailes House, co. Warwick
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(*1*) - By a deed, bearing date 12 Nov., 24 Henry VIII., George Keble, Esq. of Bradwell, co. Essex, granted the estate of Weston, (Weston juxta Chiriton) to George Willoughby, Gent., and John Barbour, Yeoman, for the use of William Sheldon, Esq. of Barcheston, (which he had acquired by his first wife, Mary Wellington,) and his heirs, on which a fine was levied in 26 Hen. VIII. "This William being also of Beoly, co. Worcester, their principal seat, descended," says Dugdale, p. 417, "by a younger branch, as I guess, from that ancient family of Sheldon in this county, which flourished at Sheldon till Edward III's time, (for amongst their evidences I have seene that his immediate ancestor had lands in Richard II.'s time, within the lordship of Bermingham, which was scarce four miles distant from that place,) was he, who, liking well the situation hereof, in 37 Henry VIII., obtained license from the king to impark ccc acres of land, meadows, pasture, and wood, to be called by the name of Weston Park, for ever, as also a charter of free warren to himself and his heirs, and built (*2*) a very fair house, in which his descendants have often resided, though their chief seat is at Beoly, where many of them lye honorably interred."
(*2*) - The monument erected in Beoly church to Ralph Sheldon, Esq. of Beoly, 1613, states that he was the builder of the manor-house at Weston.