Keeper of Eye Castle threatens to hang Thomas Sherman by his heels in the dungeon

Ruined remains of Eye Castle

Many of the Sherman’s in our line are noted in a book written by Bertha L. Stratton, titled “Transatlantic Shermans.” Only one used copy was available on Amazon for the hefty price of $75.00. Fortunately, I found and borrowed a digitized online copy for the affordable price of nothing.  If you are interested, are tired of watching football, you can borrow Barbara Stratton’s book from the Boston Public Library for fourteen days and wade through nearly 300 pages of Sherman history.  

Our 14^th great grandfather, Thomas Sherman, the attorney who practiced in The Court of Common Pleas, was discussed in the previous blog, and it detailed a long standing feud where Jane Waller Sherman frustrates a knighted neighbor from taking cattle in payment for unpaid rent.  

Stratton’s book reveals a number of additional court proceedings in which Thomas himself was a plaintiff or a defendant. They paint a more complete picture of who Thomas Sherman was. I’m not sure how Thomas and Jane Waller met, but they appear to have been a match made somewhere well short of heaven.  A more formidable duo is hard to picture.  If you are expecting your 15^th century grandfather to be the noble and honorable ancestor in this blog, you will be disappointed.

Listed below are more court documents unearthed by Stratton involving Thomas Sherman.

          Thomas had a particularly nasty and drawn out vendetta with his neighbor, Thomas Grey.  In 1537, Thomas Sherman sued Thomas Grey, who he claimed “with force and arms”, came on to his property and took away cows, heifers, and bullocks belonging to him.  In 1539, the feud continues in “The Court of Augmentation”, where Thomas Sherman is named the plaintiff, versus Thomas Grey once more.  This new Court was set up by King Henry VIII in 1536 to augment the revenues of the crown.  One tangential scheme of this Court was to take the catholic monasteries and sell the property to wealthy landowners. 

Interior of Eye Castle Ruins

             In this particular suit Thomas Grey contends that a number of Thomas Sherman’s cattle strayed out of their pasture and into the Goswold Wood, owned by Thomas Grey.  They were distrained (taken) by Grey and driven into the pound located in the Castle of Eye.  This was a medieval castle that was built in 1066, and largely destroyed as a result of wars by the year 1265. Parts of the ruined castle were still being used in the 15^th Century as a prison and stock holding facility. Nicholas Cutler, keeper of said pound and castle, refused to deliver up the cattle to Thomas Sherman, threatening to famyish (starve) them unless plaintiff (Thomas Sherman) pay up, and in addition threatened to “lay plaintiff fast up by the heels in the dungeon of Eye Castle, until the debt be paid.”  I can picture this Nicholas Cutler, big fear-provoking dungeon master with a scar across his cheek, threatening to hang our 14^th great grandfather up by his heels.  Thomas Sherman reluctantly, but wisely, paid up, and some of the money paid by our grandfather helped refill King Henry’s treasury.

       
     Not one familiar with restraint or forgiveness, Thomas again sues Thomas Grey in 1538, for taking his cattle and driving them to Thraniston.  In 1540, he sued Grey for cutting brush on his property, and in 1545, for taking cattle from his properties at Eye and Yaxley, and again for trampling the grass. In that same year of 1540, in an Inquisition (deposition?) given by Thomas Grey, the jury finds that “Thomas Sherman is a common noyer (brute), a synester oppressor, a wrong doer, and disturber of his neighbors.”

 Shakespearean end to Grey vs. Sherman feud

     The bad blood between the two families is similar to the Montague’s and Capulet’s in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet written in London, a short journey from Yaxley.  The feud between the Grey’s and the Sherman’s has a similar but less tragic ending when Thomas Grey’s daughter Sybil, marries Thomas Sherman’s son Francis.

           

            Between 1544 and 1547 Thomas Sherman was sued by the parson of Gryslynham, charged with buying a parcel of land next to the church and “being of a greedy and covetous mynde” entered on globe land and enclosed it.  Basically, he was accused of land locking the property next to the church.

            Thomas Sherman then commenced an action of trespass against the parson in the Court of Common Pleas for the felling of two oak trees.  This ended up going to the Chancery Court for resolution.  The action the Chancery Court took is unknown. It was a common complaint that land was enclosed privately, bit by bit, so that the encroachment was not noticed until it was too late.

          

Proceeding in Chancery Court
Monkey not directly related

  

Thomas and Jane Waller Sherman

Jane “Waller” Sherman

1495-1573

"Never underestimate the power of a woman with Stavys and Stonys"

One thing in general men tend to lose sight of when delving into family history are the women. They are often overlooked and get little credit for their contributions.  Women, as we men frequently forget, are the ones who bear the children, rear the children, then exhaust themselves with infinite domestic duties. For centuries most women have tolerated this scripturally supported second class role.

I thank the Almighty daily I was born with body chemistry not subject to the cycles of the moon, or breasts capable of suckling an infant. There will probably be some kind of karmic comeuppance in my next life for dodging this bullet if Edgar Cayce is actually on to something. In some piteous attempt at righting an egregious wrong, I am dedicating this blog--not to Thomas Sherman, my fourteenth great-grandfather--but to his wife, Jane Waller.

If you are a woman in the Sherman family, a descendant of Thomas Sherman, then you are just as equally a descendant of his wife, Jane Waller Sherman.  There is not a lot of information about her, but enough to know that if you were to pick a fight with her, you'd better be wearing some protective gear. If, from time to time, you feel combative and determined to take a strong defensive stand, you may be carrying one of Jane Waller’s warrior genes, if, in fact, there is such a gene.

Thomas Sherman was an attorney-at-law with a large practice in the Court of Common Pleas. He was lord of several manors; church warden of Yaxley, and Deputy Sheriff in 1540 and 1546.  The court records show he was once a defendant himself when a suit was brought against him for unpaid rent on an acre of land owned by Sir John Wiseman.  At this period of English history, most Knights had abandoned their armor and weapons and had become landowners who owned plows and farming equipment.

 The following court document, given in Star Chamber proceedings in 1530, reveals what happened when Sir John Wiseman, knighted by King Henry VII, tried to seize some of Thomas Sherman's property as restitution for unpaid rent. The complaint shows that his wife, Jane Waller Sherman, would be a poor choice to snatch a purse from, or in this case, seize property from.  Sir John should have donned his old breast plate and helmet and charged over to the Sherman property himself instead of sending his incompetent lackeys.

 Thomas had plenty of money, so it remains a mystery why he neglected or refused to pay rent to Sir John.  There is no record I can find beyond the complaint, so if Jane was fined or received punishment for attacking the Knights men, it is unknown. Also unknown is whether Sir John ever received any rent moneys from the Sherman's.

I'm leaving some of the old style English, which I find interesting and challenging.  I've put in parenthesis the modern word when it might help. Someone in the past has modernized the first part of the complaint to make it more readable.  You might also note the difference in the way the dates are written in the 15th Century.

The English "Star Chamber" where Sir John filed his complaint against Thomas Sherman was established to ensure the fair enforcement of laws against socially or politically prominent people so powerful that ordinary courts would probably hesitate to convict them of their crimes.  Here is the complaint as filed in 1530:

"In Star Chamber Proceedings is a bill of complaint of Sir John Wiseman, Knight, against Thomas Sherman of Yaxley, stating that on 22 April, 22 Henry VHI (1530), complainant sent two of his servants to distrain (take hold of property for unpaid rent) of an acre of land in Gors Close, co. Suffolk, part of the manor of Swattyshall owned by complainant, which rent Sherman had refused to pay for three years; that said servants seized by way of distress a plow with four horses; and that as they were driving in the King's highway, Johannes (Jane Sherman) and Margery Hege, with staves in their hands, and certain other riotous persons "mad a saute (assault) & fray upon the said ij (?) servants & put them in daunger of their lyvis & grevously (sp)  did bete (bite) William Erysshe & take away the said distress from them."  Afterwards, on 24 April, 23 Henry VHI (1531) complainant's servants again distrained the plow and horses "but as they came thetherward, mette with them by the way, Johanne Sherman, the wyff  of Thomas Sherman, Thomas Dykon and Margery Hedge with Stavys & Stonys in their lappys, as well as other servants of said Thomas Sherman, who with force & armis (malice?) did fyght with them & them did bett, wond & ill intret."(treated ill?)

It appears that Jane Waller Sherman was not a passive ‘lady of the manor’ caught up in domestic household tasks.  She was actively busy in the down and dirty details of managing the many farm and rental properties the Sherman's owned.  It makes one wonder who was making the beds that Thomas eventually willed to her, or who put the dishes away in the cupboards after the meal, while Jane was out on the King’s Highway beating and biting the toadies of Sir John Wiseman?

I’ve printed only parts of Thomas Sherman's will below with its original old style English. There are confusing words like letill, that may be out of use completely, but I’ve put in parentheses the modern meanings of some of the old terms.  Thomas left considerable property to his wife Jane.  Anything less, in my opinion, would have been unpardonable.

Thomas Sherman 1490-1551

Born in Yaxley in Suffolk County, England

Sherman Hall in Dedham, England

Item. I give to the high aulter of the seyd churche for my tithes forgotten or to letill paid three shillings, four pence.

Also I bequeathe and will have delt and gevyn to the poor people within the Town of Yaxley six shillings eight pence.

Also to the poor people within the towne of Eye ten shillings.

Also to the poore people of the towne of Thrandeston Burgate Diss and Roydon three shilling four pence.

Also I bequeath to Jane my wief my messuages (homes) wherein I dwell with all other of my messuages, lands, tenements, meadowys, pastures, woodes, weyes and herditaments (rental property) in Yaxlee and Eye aforsaid, lying and being on the Est syde of the wey leding from Norwich to Ham [Horham] for the terme of her life of the whyche close the same my sister ys nowe in posession.

Also I give and bequeath to Jane my wief tenne combes of wheate twentie combes of malte, eighte Keyne (cows), fiftie shepe, foure horsse at her chose, and the one half of all my swyn and pultery.

Also I will that Jane my wief shall have the use and occupieing of my two bedsteds and beddes now standing and being upon the newe chanber with the coveryings and all other things to the said bedds belonging with a cobord and seles [cupboard & shelves] on the said chamber (for the) terme of her lyfe and after her decease to remayne to Thomas my son and to his assigns.

I could have gone back further than Thomas Sherman of Yaxley, but you have to draw a line somewhere.  It's interesting that almost all of the Sherman ancestors in our line lived within a radius of twenty miles, in the four neighboring villages of Diss, Yaxley, Colchester, and Dedham. Most of the Sherman's who came to America between 1630 and 1640 are descendants of Henry Sherman, the son of Thomas Sherman and Jane Waller.

         Henry Sherman lived in Dedham, an old clothier town that went back to Roman times, and the Parish Register in Dedham is full of vital records of the Sherman's.  Many Sherman's remained in England and the register in Dedham shows when they were born, who they married, and if they were buried in the churchyard there.

                

St. Mary's Church in Dedham

One of the sons of Henry, Edmund Sherman, wills a field and a tenement (dwelling) for the purpose of establishing a grammar school in Dedham.  The tenement was intended to house the schoolmaster.  The will continues, and provides means for the schoolmaster to freely teach one poor child per year, the child to be selected by Edmund's heirs forever.  Edmund's house was near the Saint Mary's church gate in Dedham.  Opposite the church, there is a building called "Sherman's Hall."

        If the tides are favorable, I will post something about our Sherman ancestors who in 1634 bravely walked up the ramp of one of those less than seaworthy ships with sails set for America, leaving their comfortable English countryside for the sake of religious freedom.  In the meantime, raise a glass of mead, and toast the unheralded women in your ancestry like Jane Waller Sherman, a good one to have at your back in a brawl.

Wool Gathering

Sherman Family Crest

Merriam Webster defines “wool gathering” as an indulgence in aimless thought or dreamy absentmindedness. I’ve been guilty of this from time to mindless time, and I suspect other family members may be indulging in this “wool gathering” activity, but I’m not naming names, you know who you are. 

Inside of a Manor Built with Wool Money

 Some of our Sherman kinsmen in England, beginning in the 12^th Century, were literally “gathering wool,” and making a good living at it.  I might add that these tight groups of our ancestors were Puritans, and if they had caught us indulging in “mindless daydreaming” they would have condemned us, probably excommunicated us, or worse.  H.L. Mencken and Mark Twain had similar takes on Puritanism; basically, that it was the haunting fear that somebody, somewhere, is having a good time. I know it’s a little harsh on our Pilgrim forefathers, but I think they were a little too serious, too scrupulous, and too superstitious, and even too hard working. There’s just enough of this Puritan ethic in my DNA to make me feel guilty when I’m conducting my own non-literal “wool gathering” sessions.

 The earliest record is in 1274, when a license to trade in wool was granted to Richard Sherman, and from that point forward we find many Shermans prominent in this real “wool gathering” occupation.  Many of the Shermans living in America can trace their ancestors to Suffolk County, located on the east coast of England. Our “wool gathering” ancestors lived in the neighboring villages of Diss, Yaxley, Colchester and Dedham.

If you’re looking for another vacation destination, or just indulging yourself in dreamy absentmindedness, you couldn’t go wrong by adding Suffolk County to your list of vacation destinations.  Some of the best preserved historic towns in Suffolk are the “Wool Towns,” with their beautiful cathedrals and timbered homes, complete with thatched roofs, made possible courtesy of the lucrative wool trade profits.  It’s said a visit to one of these towns is like stepping back in time to the 15^th Century.

 Looking for lodging?  There are self- catering cottages all over the county, little hide-a-ways by the North Sea, or country half-timbered lodges. For those of you that might want to indulge in dreamy “wool gathering” you won’t want to miss “The Magic Dell of Elveden, replete with elves and fairies.

The Shermans who made money in wool did not actually gather wool, or even shear the wool from the accommodating sheep. They waited until it was washed in lye to remove the grease.  Then it was dried, beaten, combed and carded.  The Sherman middlemen would then buy the wool from cottage weavers after all this preliminary work was finished.

Our Sherman ancestors would then proceed to improve the quality of the cloth.  We find “clothier” in many Sherman obituaries.  It’s misleading because they didn’t actually make clothes, but they were middlemen who improved the quality of the basic cloth.

Shearing the Cloth to Improve Quality

  The first step after buying it was to soak and dye the cloth in a vat, then follow up by stretching the wool on a frame to dry.  A Shearman (possible origin of the Sherman name) would then finish the cloth by raising the nap with teasels (thistle-like plant heads) while it was still damp. After it was totally dry they would shear it with great flat shears, three or four feet long. The finest cloth was shorn, and re-shorn, each shearing improving the quality of the cloth.  The cloth was then brushed, pressed and folded.  A final step was to bale the cloth and imprint the Sherman trademark on it before it was taken to a weekly auction and sold to dressmakers and tailors.  I have gained a new appreciation for my wool sweaters and pullovers, even if the modern process is automated.

           

15th Century English Wool Market

 Most interesting to me is when I find something that lets us look into the day to day life of one of our Sherman ancestors.  I was able to find several wills of our direct kin.  The wills give an indication of what they accumulated, and more importantly, how they chose to distribute it on their death. Some of those Sherman kin who dealt in cloth accumulated substantial wealth and land. Their children acquired good educations and some became lawyers or took government positions.  Their “wool gathering” wealth provided the means with which they were able to afford coming to America to escape the persecution in England for their heretical Puritan beliefs.