Frances Astley - Lady Harris - d. 1632
Lady Harris, Frances Astley, was the wife of Sir William Harris.
Lady Harris, the mother of Frances Raymond, she died in 1632 (her daughter, another Frances and the wife of Oliver died in 1678). I think she is listed on the family memorial.
She features in the Records of the Smythies Family.
The daugter of Sir William and Frances, another Frances, was the wife of Oliver Raymond of Belchamp Hall. The reasons for how the marriage came about is not well documented, however, John Raymond I, of Belchamp Hall, is recorded as 'a member of the County Committee for the selection of "Ministers"'.
I previously speculated that Frances Astley, the daughter of William and Frances, was a court clerk of
The Committee of Plundered Ministers.
She was Frances Harris at the time i.e. before she married Oliver Raymond.
However, this could be Francis not Frances, i.e. male not female.
While there was much going on with regard to the Puritan/Catholic/Protestant situation and there appear to have been an expulsion the Reverand William Smythies in 1643, I may have speculated too far.
William Smythies "resigned" his position as Parish priest in 1643 and was "appointed" to preach in Gosfield.
The paintings of the Harris' hanging in Belchamp Hall
The text is from the Records of the Smythies Family. The subsequent marriage of her daughter Margaretta to the Rev. Samuel Raymond of Belchamp Hall, Walter Belchamp, formed the first link between the Smythies and Raymond families.
- Sir William Harris of Shenfield Manor, co. Essex, who served against the Spanish Armada, ancestor of Mrs. Henry Yeats Smythies and earlier descendants, From an oil-painting attributed to Zucehero, and dated 1596.
- Lady Harris (nee Frances Astley), ancestress of Mrs. Henry Yeats Smythies and her descendants. From the oil-painting (pair to that of Sir William Harris) attributed to Zucehero, and dated 1596
When searching for Frances Astley the results below appear:


I am not sure how the search result got to be the way that Google have presented it. I was just searching for Frances Astley as I delving deeper into the Alan Freer research and clicked back down to William Harris.
The screen-capture shows that St. Clere was the grandson of Lady Harris, but I am still at a loss to know why he and Anne Warkham were disinherited. There is no further information in the ancestors.familysearch.org web page but I think that the summary on the SERP was generated from there.
Harris reference
Harris: From Essex, England and Allied Families Vol II F.G. Harris - was found on familysearch.org.
familysearch.org is not a "reliable" source in my opinion as it is often just a dump from Ancestry.com/GEDCOM.
The book Harris: From Essex, England and Allied Families Vol II F.G. Harris is availble to purchase. At the moment I can't find a publically available copy.
Visitations of Essex - Hawley - 1552
Her we see the parents of Frances Harris, Thomas Astley and Mary nee Denny.

The descriptions on the family tree would indicate that her father was Groom of the Chamber to Elizabeth I and her mother was one of the Privy Counsel to Henry VIII.