Jacobean Belchamp - 1603-1625

While I have a page on Belchamp Walter in the 17th century the Jacobean Era is of particular interest to the happenings in the village.

In the wake of the Elizabethan era the new King James did not meet with the expectations of many who thought that he would possibly return to the Catholic way of thinking. The "anti-popish" stance met with dismay of those including Thomas Catesby and Guy Fawkes.

Too many coincidences

Considering the names associated with the village of Belchamp Walter there seem to be too many that are common to the activities of James I and Charles I. There are not many direct references in historical texts but reading between the lines there could be some connections.

The fact that the Raymond family became residents of the Manor in 1611 must have a reason. Puritan sympathies and the exact opposite allegiances play a part here. The "sale" of the manor to the Wentworth family and its subequent sale to the Raymonds seems to draw a parallel to the precursor to the civil war and the Protective Parliaments of Oliver Cromwell.

The period between the of the death of Elizabeth and the regicide of Charles saw some "maneuverings" of those families associated with Belchamp Walter. The fates of the Wentworths and the inter-marriages of other families related to the Raymond family come into play here. Because of the relative unimportance of the Raymond family the historical records are poor before 1611. The marriage of Sir William Harris to Frances Astley, a descendant of the Percy family, raises some questions.

Also the marriage of the daughter of a John Elliot to a Raymond, presumably in the Jacobean era, if correct, establishes a connection to the early Carolean era and the precursor to the Civil War.

Wikpedia defines the Jacobean era as: