The Harris Families of Creeksea and Shenfield
The Harris family is has relevance to the history of Belchamp Walter that in the 17th Century Sir William Harris and Lady Harris are the subjects of portraits in Belchamp Hall.
When I look more closely at the information that I find on geni.com I see that there is
a potential confusion between two Sir William Harris'.
The portraits of Sir Wiiliam and Lady Harris hanging in the current Belchamp hall are attributed to Zucceherro. There doesn't seem to be much information on Zucceherro as an artist but there is a Federico Zuccari from that period (1596).
According to Alan Freer William Harris of Shenfield was knighted at the coronation of
James I. I cannot find a reference to that fact, well, at least as far
as Wikipedia.
Frances Harris
Both William Harris', who were cousins, served in the Nine Year's War. This was the conclusion of the
Tudor conquest of Ireland.
The Sir William Harris that is reported as being connected to Belchamp Walter
is shown as being from Shenfield, Essex.
Shenfield is near Chemsford, Creeksea is also in Essex and not far from Belchamp Walter.
The Harris from Creeksea seems to be associated with the Virginia Company, therefore having a martime
background.
encyclopediavirginia.org says:
"
The Virginia Company of London was a joint-stock company chartered by King James I in 1606 to establish a colony in North America.
"
The timing is somewhat in keeping. Lady Harris' father died in 1595, so she would be of marrying age in the early 1600's. However, the Shenfield research is also confirmed by the entries in Royal descents and pedigrees of founders' kin is more credible.
Margaretting, Essex, is a village 4 miles from Chelmsford. Ingatestone is the next railway station between Shenfield and Chelmsford and the village of Margaretting.
Top
Thomas Wright said:
"
The two eldest sons died young; Oliver, on the death of his father, succeeded to the estate. He was representative for Essex in the two parliaments under Cromwell, in 1653 and 1656; and married Frances, daughter of Sir William Harris, knt. of Margaretting, by whom he had twenty-one children; of these, Anne was first married to John Laurence, and afterwards to John Eden, Esq. and Frances was married to John Darcy.
"
Anne (Raymond) Eden is buried in St. Mary's Belchamp Walter in the aisle just before the step into the chancel. It is currently under the carpet.
The second oldest daughter of Oliver and Frances Raymond, of Parliamentarian fame, another Frances is another of the 2 Francis' is not on the family memorial. There is an Anne on the memorial. Thomas Wright mentions this Frances, who was married to John Darcy.
Creeksea Place
Background to this page
Having seen this page found by those making an Internet search I have decided to add
a bit more context.
This page was prompted by trying to understand why Frances ??? married a Harris.
Thomas Astley
Quote from our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com from a search for Thomas Astley:
Thomas Astley, Esq. was born circa 1530 at of Writtle, Essex, England.
He married Mary Denny, daughter of Sir Anthony Denny,
Burgess of Ipswich, King's Remembrancer, Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and Joan Champernoun, circa 1560;
They had 2 sons (Sir Andrew; & Thomas) & 2 daughters (Elizabeth, wife of Sir Edward Darcy; & Frances,
wife of Sir William Harris).
Thomas Astley, Esq. died in 1595.
The Nine Years War
The Nine Years' War, sometimes called Tyrone's Rebellion,[1][2] took place in Ireland from 1593 to 1603.
It was fought between an Irish confederation—led mainly by Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell
of Tyrconnell—against English rule in Ireland, and was a response to the ongoing Tudor conquest of Ireland.
The war began in Ulster and northern Connacht, but eventually engulfed the entire island.
The Irish alliance won numerous victories against the English forces in Ireland, such as the
Battle of Clontibret (1595) and the Battle of the Yellow Ford (1598), but the English won a pivotal
victory against the alliance and their Spanish allies in the siege of Kinsale (1601–02).
The war ended with the Treaty of Mellifont (1603). Many of the defeated northern lords left Ireland to
seek support for a new uprising in the Flight of the Earls (1607), never to return.
This marked the end of Gaelic Ireland and led to the Plantation of Ulster.
The Tudor Conquest of Ireland
The Wikipedia page says:
The Tudor conquest (or reconquest) of Ireland took place during the 16th century under the Tudor dynasty,
which ruled the Kingdom of England. The Anglo-Normans had conquered swathes of Ireland in the late
12th century, bringing it under English rule. In the 14th century, the effective area of English rule
shrank markedly, and from then most of Ireland was held by native Gaelic chiefdoms. Following a
failed rebellion by the Earl of Kildare in the 1530s, the English Crown set about restoring its authority.
Henry VIII of England was made "King of Ireland" by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.
The conquest involved assimilating the Gaelic nobility by way of "surrender and regrant"; the confiscation
and colonization ('plantation') of lands with settlers from Britain; imposing English law and language;
banning Catholicism, dissolving the monasteries and making Anglican Protestantism the state religion.
The banning of Catholicism (the Dissolution of the Monasteries - 1536-1541) by Henry VIII seems to have
set the stage for the 17th Century actions of Charles I and the installation of
Thomas Wentworth as the Lord Deputy of Ireland 1632 to 1640.
Back in England during this period the Wentworth family became
the "owners" of the manor of Belchamp Walter in 1535. The statement from the Historic England listing
for Belchamp Hall is confusing as it claims that the manor was officially "held" by the de Veres. The origin
of this statement probably came from the accounts kept by the Raymond family who obviously have a connection
to the events that led to the purchase of Belchamp Manor in 1611.
The "purchase" of Belchamp Manor by John Raymond was also repeated in
the account written by Thomas Wright in 1831/36, however, he probably obtained information from the Raymond
Family in the 19th Century.
Edward and Christopher Harris
The parentage of the Harris family, that of William Harris and the connection to the Berners and Gedge families is currently being researched.
Edward Harris was the father of Sir William Harris.
Notes
There are also two Frances Harris', the wife of Oliver Raymond, M.P., and her mother who was married to Sir William Harris.
Webmaster Notes
This page seems to be quite popular and garners hits from those making searches. As there is little to go on from the perspective of where the visitor clicks I am adding a sub menu that only appears on a mobile device.
The sub-menu will take the visitor to sections of the page that they possibly were related to their search. I cannot really determine whether it is Harris or one of the other names mentioned such as Astley or Gedge.
The fact that there at least two Sir William Harris' and the confusion generated by Wiki-type genealogical sources does not help.
I have taken much information from the Records of the Smythies Family as that is where I found the portrait of Sir William and Lady Harris and references to Belchamp Hall and the Raymond family. So far this connection has not been repeated of even seems to be recorded in the Raymond Archive.
