Nicholas Culpeper1

Male, #8425, (say 1384 - 1434)

ParentSir Thomas Culpeper of Bayhall, Hardreshull & Exton (say 1356 - circa 1428)
ParentJoyce (?) (say 1348 - )
Nicholas Culpeper|b. say 1384\nd. 1434|p8425.htm|Sir Thomas Culpeper of Bayhall, Hardreshull & Exton|b. say 1356\nd. circa 1428|p8404.htm|Joyce (?)|b. say 1348|p8405.htm|Sir John Culpeper of Hardreshull and Bayhall|b. say 1305\nd. after 1370|p8402.htm|Elizabeth Hardreshull|b. say 1320|p8403.htm|||||||

Name Variation Nicholas Culpeper was also known as Colepeper. 
Name Variation Nicholas Culpeper was also known as Culpepper. 
Birth*say 1384 Nicholas was born say 1384. 
 He was the son of Sir Thomas Culpeper of Bayhall, Hardreshull & Exton and Joyce (?). 
Marriage*say 1410 He married Elizabeth (?) say 1410. 
Death*1434 He died in 1434. 
Will*16 Aug 1434 He left a will on 16 Aug 1434.
     NICHOLAS CULPIPER, 16 August 1434. To be buried in the church of the Annunciation of Blessed Mary of Begham before the altar of Saint Laurence ‘iuxtrem meam’ (?iuxta matrem meam). I leave to the Abbot of that place 10s. and each canon 3s. 4d. To the Prior 40s. and Sub-prior 3s. 4s. To the Prior of Combwell to the building of the cloister 40s. To the use of the church of Begham 10 mrcs. On the day of my death and for my month’s day 10 mrcs. I leave to be distributed to the Prior and Convent of Combwell 20s. viz to each priest 3s. 4d., to each novice 20d and particularly to Thomas Chestir canon of Combwell for his labour 6s. 8d.
     To Elizabeth my wife 40 mrcs and Benedicta my daughter to her marriage 100 mrcs. To Walter my brother and his wife 10 marcs and to all their sons 10 mrcs. To Elizabeth my wife all my moveable chattels viz in beasts, utensils of house hold with my gold chain with cross, except the grain at Dodeherst (?Godehurst) which shall remain to my executors to fulfil my will. To be distributed to the poor for my soul on the day of my death, month’s day and anniversary 40s of which Wm. Shepistayle shall have 13s. 4d.
     To Elizabeth my wife to fulfil my Pilgrimages to Blessed Mary of Walsyngham and to Canterbury four marks. To Agnes Dreel ‘famule mee’ 26s. 8d. To Johan Bethnam 20s., Richd Downer and John Pepersham 6s. 8d., and to each groom (garcioni) in the house of Walter my brother 20d. and each handmaid dwelling in that house 20d. To Juliana dwelling in that house 12d. To a secular chaplain to celebrate for my soul and my parents in the church of Blessed Mary of Begham at the altar of Blessed Laurence aforesaid for a year 10 marcs. To Thomas Hellys 13s. 4d. Residue to be distributed in works of mercy. Executors: Walter Culpiper my brother, Elizabeth my wife and Nicholas Watton.
     Proved in the manor of Maydeston 20 January 1434 by Walter Culpiper with reserved powers for the other executors. (456b Chichele I)..2 
Probate*20 Jan 1435 Nicholas's will was probated at Lambeth, co. Surrey, England, on 20 Jan 1435. 
Biography* Nicholas, although he does not name her in his will at Lambeth, dated 16th August, 1434, and proved 20th January, 1434/5, in which he mentions his brother Walter, his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Benedicta or Bennett, and desires "sepeliend' in ecclia annunciacois beate Marie de Begham ante altare sancti laurencii iuxtrem (?iuxta matrem) meam," had another daughter Joyce, who married Walter Lewknor, of Walberton, co. Sussex, fifth son of Sir Thomas Lewknor, M.P. for Lewes. (From: "The Sussex Colepepers")
(Names referenced above: Nicholas Culpeper Nicholas Culpeper). 
(Witness) Biography The date at which iron-working was begun on Oldlands is unknown, but it was perhaps by the 14th century when the Culpepers of Bayhall in Pembury, Kent, who had iron works near by at Tudeley, owned it. Iron was certainly founded at Buxted in 1492. The frequent changes of ownership in the 16th and early 17th centuries suggest commercial activities connected with the iron industry, either from direct exploitation of the estate or, more likely, through letting it to tenants. The increase in the purchase price, from £563 in 1576 to £2200 in 1609, may indicate that such financial speculation was justified.
     In 1313 or 1314 Thomas Culpeper of Bayhall and his wife Margery acquired a messuage and 60 acres of land in Buxted from Ralph Marescot and in 1319 or 1320 another messuage and 50 acres in Buxted and Maresfield from Reynold Burgess. Culpeper was appointed forester of Rotherfield in Tonbridge chase in 1315, and in 1318, at the request of his patron, Bartholomew de Badlesmere, and others, Edward II granted to him the forestership of Ashdown and the keeping of Maresfield park. He was involved with Badlesmere in the rebellion of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and was sentenced to death and executed at Winchelsea in 1322. His possessions were forfeited to the Crown, but the lands in Buxted and Maresfield were restored in 1324 to Margery, whose date of death is unknown. Their son and heir, Walter, died childless between 14 July 1359 and 20 July 1364, and the estate descended under an entail to Walter’s younger brother Sir John Culpeper. The John Culpeper, esquire, whom John of Gaunt appointed constable of Pevensey castle in 1372 and master forester of Ashdown chase in 1375, may have been a kinsman, possibly a younger son. By 1378 Sir John had been succeeded in the estate by his son Sir Thomas, who died late in 1428 or early in 1429. Sir Thomas devised it to a younger son Nicholas, who died late in 1434 or early in 1435. From Nicholas it descended to his daughter Joyce (d. 1486) and her husband Walter Lewknor (d. 1498), whose elder brother Richard Lewknor (d. 1503) held the manor of Buxted itself in 1483–4.
     Walter’s and Joyce’s son and heir Humphrey Lewknor (d. by 1531) sold Oldlands at an unknown date to George Nevill, Lord Abergavenny (d. 1535), who sold it in 1533 to Edmund Pope of Little Horsted...
(Names referenced above: Sir Thomas Culpeper of Bayhall in Pembury, co. Kent Walter Culpeper, Sir John Culpeper of Hardreshull and Bayhall, Sir Thomas Culpeper of Bayhall, Hardreshull & Exton, Joyce Culpeper and Walter Leuknor of Walberton, co. Sussex).3 

Family

Elizabeth (?) (say 1389 - )
Marriage*say 1410 He married Elizabeth (?) say 1410. 
Children

Charts The Earliest Colepepers and Culpepers (10 generations)
Last Edited 5 Jan 2008

Citations

  1. Col. F.W.T. Attree R.E./F.S.A. & Rev. J.H.L. Booker M.A., "The Sussex Colepepers, Part I", Sussex Archaeological Collections, XLVII, 47-81, (1904) http://gen.culpepper.com/historical/sussex/default.htm.
  2. A translation into English from Latin / French transcriptions made by Leland L. Duncan
    www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Libr/Wills/Lbth/Bk22/page%20173.htm .
  3. Sussex Archeological Collections, Sussex, England: Sussex Archaeological Society.
    Janet H. Stevenson, "Alexander Nesbitt, a Sussex antiquary, and
    the Oldlands estate", 1999, Volume 137, pages 163-164.