FRAY, John, Sir

  General Notes:

Biography

"Sir John Fray (died 1461) was a lawyer who served as Baron of the Exchequer from 1426 and Chief Baron of the Exchequer until 1448.[1] He had considerable experience of rivers and watermills."

"Fray had the commission for maintaining the navigation of the River Lea around the years 1430\endash 1440. He owned watermills in Essex and interests in other property across the country. These included Cowley Hall in Hillingdon which adjoined the Frays River. The Frays River is a branch of the River Colne which may have been developed to feed watermills in the area. It is said that John Fray arranged for the cutting of a link from the Colne to a tributary rising in Harefield to increase the water volume. .[2]"

"He was also second husband of Agnes Danvers, and the grandfather of Sir William Waldegrave."

"Agnes Baldington's second husband was Sir John Fray, a lawyer, and a celebrity in his day. A Hertfordshire man, he represented the county in the Parliaments of September 28, 1419, and in that of November, 1420. In the latter sat with him his future father-in-law, John Danvers, than whom he cannot have been many years the junior. In the year 1428-24 he was Recorder of London, and in the following year was raised to the Bench as Baron of the Exchequer, and in 1436 became Chief Baron, and presided in the court for twelve years. He died in the year 1461, and was buried in the church of St. Bartholomew the Less in Smithfield. His heirs, as we learn from his inquisition (No. 28 of 1 Edward IV.), were his four daughters \emdash Elizabeth Waldegrave, aged 20 ; Margaret, wife of John Lynham (Plomer), aged 19; Agnes, aged 18; and Catherine, aged 14. Thus, Agnes Fray had living two daughters with the same Christian names, and this was one of the sources of the confusion we shall presently notice regarding her marriages."

Family and Education

m. (1) by 1418, Agnes; (2) Agnes (d. June 1478), da. of John Danvers* by his 1st w. Alice, wid. of Thomas Baldington (d.1435), of Aldbury, Herts., 5 da. Kntd. by Mar. 1459.

Manor of Rusdin

Hamon son of Robert Bealknap was holding the manor in 1419 and sold it in that year to John Fray and Agnes his wife. John Fray held it until his death in 1461, when by his will it remained with his widow Agnes for life, with reversion to their daughter Agnes and her heirs, with contingent remainder to their youngest daughter Katherine and their other daughters in succession. Agnes Fray died in 1478, and their daughter Agnes died without issue. Rushden passed to Katherine, then wife of Humphrey Stafford. In 1482 Katherine died with her husband only surviving four years, Rushden descended to her young son Humphrey, aged eight. He was knighted before 1531, and died in 1545, his son Humphrey, aged forty, being his heir. This Humphrey (of Kirby Hall, co. Northants) was knighted in February 1546\endash 7 at the coronation of Edward VI. He held the manor until 1574, when he sold it with a wood called Westhay to Robert Newport of Sandon (co. Herts.).

  Research Notes:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fray-2

Sources

* Memorials of the Danvers family (of Dauntsey and Culworth), pg 144 [1]
* The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993 [2]
* Parishes: Rushden, in A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London, 1912), pp. 265-270. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/herts/vol3/pp265-270 [accessed 5 June 2021].

John married Agnes DANVERS, daughter of Sir John DANVERS MP and Alice VERNEY, after 22 Aug 1435 in England. (Agnes DANVERS was born about 1408 in Banbury, Hertfordshire, England and died in Jun 1478 in Adderbury, Oxfordshire, England.)