All Saints' Church, Mapperton, Dorset, 16th century (c.1540) stained glass showing arms of John Morgan (d.1535) of Mapperton House, who married Elyn Aston, a daughter of Sir John Aston (d.1523) of Tixhall Hall, Staffordshire, by his wife Joan Littleton, the daughter and heiress of Sir William Littleton/Lyttelton (1450–1507) of Tixhall Hall, eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Littleton/, by his first wife, Ellen Walsh, a daughter of William Walsh of Wanlip. John Hutchins in his History of Dorset, 1774 [1] specifically states that this item was originally in "a chamber" of the house.

John Morgan (d.1535) was the eldest son and heir of Robert Morgan of Mapperton, by his wife Anne de Mountfort, a daughter of Simon de Mountfort of Leicestershire. Probably originally in a window of the great hall of adjacent Mapperton House. For pedigree of Morgan, see: Metcalfe, Walter C., ed. (1887). The Visitation of Dorsetshire, A.D. 1565, by William Harvey, Clarenceux King of Arms. Exeter: William Pollard & Co., pp.32-3, Pedigree of "Morgan of South Mapperton"[2]; also Morgan of Broadwinsor, Dorset, Rylands, J. P., ed. (1885). The Visitation of the County of Dorset, taken in the year 1623, by Henry St George, Richmond Herald, and Sampson Lennard, Bluemantle Pursuivant, marshals and deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms. Harleian Society. Vol. 20. London, p.73[3]. The manor of Broadwindsor was a possession of Robert Morgan (d.1567) of Mapperton, bequeathed in his will (see below).

Descendants

John Morgan (d.1535) left issue by his wife Elyn Aston including:

• Robert Morgan (1499-1567) of Mapperton (anciently "South Maplerton"), Esq., eldest son and heir, (date of birth per Hutchins, as marked on a portrait dated 1560, aet 51) who married Mary Wogan, daughter and heiress of John Wogan/Ougan, Esq., of Sylwynche/Sykerwinch (Selvinge / Selvinch in the parish of Whitelackington (now Selvinge Farm, Stocklinch, Ilminster) in Somerset. She survived her first husband and re-married to William Stourton (by 1529-1590), of Worminster, Somerset, MP for NEWPORT IUXTA LAUNCESTON, Cornwall, 4th son of William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton. (Source: History of Parliament biog[4]). In the 1540s (Source: Country Life[5]), during the reign of King Henry VIII, he re-built the old manor house of the Brett/Brytt family at Mapperton, in the form surviving today, as is inscribed (now hidden by plaster) behind the overmantel of the Great Hall, as reported by John Hutchins in his History of Dorset, 1774 [6]: Robert Morgan and Mary his wife built this house in their own lifetime, at their own charge and cost. What they spent, that they lent; what they gave, that they have; what they left, that they lost (a form of verse also used on the now lost tomb of a member of the Courtney family, Earls of Devon, in Tiverton Church, Devon). The house is built using stone from Ham Hill, about 15 miles away. The Morgan family had inherited Mapperton by marriage to the heiress of the Brett (or Britt) family, who had held it since the reign of Edward I. The ancient name of the manor was Brytte's Maperton as appears in a document of 1423. (Source: www.dorsetlife.co.uk, June 2014, https://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2014/06/mapperton/ ). The arms of Robert Morgan appear on shields held by lions standing atop two barley-twist columns on a gable end of the house. Robert Morgan had issue:
  • John Morgan (d.1580), eldest son and heir, who was executed (hanged on March

14, 1579/80[7]) in for the murder in Jan 1579/80 of his brother-in-law Nicholas Turberville, recently Sheriff of Dorset, and a nephew of James Turberville, Bishop of Exeter. (source: Country Life[8]; JSTOR [9]) Anthony Munday's View of sundry Examples, Reporting many straunge murthers (1580), includes "An Example of John Morgan, who slew Maister Turbervile in Somersetshire, 1580, Likewise in Somersetshire, one John Morgan, by common report a lewd and wicked liver, and given to swearing, roysting, and all wickednes abounding in him, slew his brother in law, Maister Turbervile, a gentleman of godly life, very sober, wise, and discreet, whose wife lying in childebed, yet arose and went to have law and justice pronounced on that cruel malefactor. So, at Chard, before the Lord Chief Justice, hee was condemned and suffered death for his offence. 1580".

• • Christopher Morgan (d. 1591), second son, who in the 1580s married Anne Bampfield, a daughter of Richard Bampfield (1526-1594) of Poltimore, Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1576, (Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.39, pedigree of Bampfield) by his wife Elizabeth Sidenham of Brimpton in Somerset (whose recumbent effigies survive in Poltimore Church). She remarried to John Luttrell of Dunster Castle in Somerset (Hutchins, History of Dorset).
  • George Morgan, third son ;
  • William Morgan, fourth son ;
  • Anne Morgan, wife of Nicholas Turberville (d.1580) of Winterbourne Whitchurch, Sheriff of Dorset, and father of the poet George Turberville, murdered by her brother John Morgan;
  • Elizabeth Morgan, married a Trenchard of Wolveton House, Charminster, Dorset; Arms of Trenchard impaling Morgan "over the stair door in stucco" reported by Hutchins.
  • Margery Morgan; and
  • Phellipa Morgan.

Will of Robert Morgan (d.1567)

Transcript of will (source: transcribed by Teresa Goatham [10])

In the name of god Amen the xvth daye of Julye in the yeare of our Lord god a thousand fyve hundrethe threescore and seven and in the Nynthe yere of the raynge of our soveraynge lady Elizabeth by the grace of god Quene of England France and Irelond Defendor of thfayth &c I Roberte Morgayne of Map[er]ton in the Counti of Dors[et] esquier sicke in boddy and p[er]fecte in Mynde prayse be gyve[n] unto all mghtie god make my last will and Testament in manner and forme followinge That ys to saye Fyrst I gyve and bequethe my soule unto all myghtie god my body to be buryed in the p[ar]ishe churche withe in wch p[ar]ishe it shall please god to take me unto his mercy Also I gyve and bequethe unto every of my dawghters Anne Morgan Elizabethe Morgan Margery Morgan and Phillipe Morgan one hundrethe poundes a pece of good and laufull monny of England And yf they or any one or moe of them do refuse to be ordered and ruled in her or ther maryage by thadvise of her or ther frendes that ys to saye by Mary my wyfe their mother and Edward Morgan my brother and ther unkell or by the survivor of them or ther Assignes Or yf it hapen any one or moe of my said Dawghters to dye before she or they come to thage of xxiti yeres Then I will that the said some or somes so to her or them gyven that shall refuse to be ruler in ther Mariage or shall happen to dye before her or ther full age of xxiti yeres shalbe Equally Devided amonge the residew of my Dawghtes then Lyvinge or survivinge and whiche shalbe ruled and Ordred in ther Mariage as is aforesaid And I will and Devise that Mary my wyfe shall yerly and from time to time receve p[er]ceve and take therly rentes and revenus issues and Profyttes rysinge cominnge and growinge of all my landes and Ten[emen]tes in Wantishley and in the Mannor of Brodewynsor [Broadwindsor] in the said Countie of Dors and of all my farme and Demayne landes and customarie landes and ten[emen]tes of myne in the Manor of Map[er]ton and of all my landes and tentes in Nethersturtell [Lower Sturthill, in Shipton Gorge parish] and of all my landes and ten[emen]tes in Netherbury Athlington [Allington] and Uploder[s] in the saide Countie of Dors And of the Moitie of my Manor of Wytherstone in the said countie of dors wch I have leased unto my Brother ^ {Edward} Morgan for the terme of Fowrescore and Nytene yeres for that purpos and Other Consideracons in the said devise mencioned untell the some of Sixe hundred poundes be therof levied and Taken That is to saye fowre hundred poundes For the satisfaction of my said dawghters For ther porcions and Other two hundrethe poundes towrades the payment of my debtes and other legaces And also after the sume of Sixe hundred poundes be levyed of the landes and Ten[emen]tes aforesaid I will and Devise by this my last will and Testament to Christofer Morgan my sonne all my Mes[uag]es landes tene[men]tes rentes rev[er]sions s[er]vices and hereditamentes with thapp[ur]tenances what so ever they be sett lyinge and beinge in Wantishley [1] & brodwinsor aforesaid To have and to hould the aid Mes[uag]es landes ten[emen]tes rentes, revrsions s[er]vices and hereditamentes withe thappertenances in Waintesley and Winsor aforesaid unto the said Christofer Morgan and to his assignes For terme of his naturall lyffe And yf it happen my sonne John Morgan and heir apparant or any other p[er]son or p[er]sons who shall be my heires Do any acte or actes thing or thinges whatsoever wherby my said ferme Demayne landes and Copihould landes or ten[emen]tes in Map[er]ton Nethersturtell Netherbury Ablington [Allington] and Uplodre aforesaid shall not or may not remayne and be to the p[er]foremances of my last Will and Testament in Mann[er] and forme aforesaid Or yf it happen my said sonne John or any other p[er]sone or p[er]sons who shalbe my heires Do troble or Disquiet my sonne George or his Assigne or assignes of their occupacon of the stite and Demayne landes of the Manor of Cumbarton [Comberton] in the Countie of Worcestor or of any p[ar]te or p[ar]cell therof For terme of Threscore and tenne yeres after the Deathe of me and Marye my wyfe yf it happen the said George so longe to lyve accordinge to the true intent and mening of a lease ^ {therof} made by me and my said wyfe to the sayde George my sonne Or yf it shall happen my said sonne John or any p[er]son or p[er]sons who shall herafter be my heires to do any acte or actes thinge or thinges wherby or by occasion wherof Nicholas Rose [2] or George Sidenham [3] gentt or the survivors of them or thexecutors administrators or assignes of the survivors of them shall not or may not p[er]ceive receve and have therly p[ro]fittes comodities and Occupacons of my Mansion ferme house and Demay[n]es of South Map[er]ton in the said Countie of Dors and of one watermyll called mythe myll [4] and of one dowehouse and Other houses edifices Buildinges landes medowes fedinges pastuers com[m]ons and heredytamemtes whiche ar now belonginge to the said Mansion and farme howse of Sowthe Map[er]ton aforesaid For suche terme and estat as I have made to them alredy Or yf it happen my said sonne John or any Other p[er]son or p[er]sons who shalbe my heires to Molest or Dissquiet my said Wyfe of her Quite possesion or occupacion of all the landes ten[emen]tes whiche I have or shall assuer appoynte lymyte or assigne to her for her Joynture or Other pr[e]ferme[n]t or any p[ar]te or p[ar]cell therof Then I Will and Devise that my said Landes ten[emen]tes and [p.2] Hereditamentes in wantishley aforesaid after the sev[er]all estates therin before by this my p[re]sent laste will and Testament appoynted shalbe and remayne to my thirde sonne George and to his heires For ever And also I will that yf my said sonne John or any other p[er]son or p[er]sonns whiche shall happen to be my heyres do not p[er]mitte and suffer all my said Landes tene[men]tes and heredyta[me]ntes to remayne and be to suche p[er]sone and p[er]sonnes for suche estate and estates as ys aforesaid That then my sonne John nor any other p[er]sone or p[er]sonnes that shalbe my heires shall not have or clayme any legacy or gyfte by reson color or vertue of this my last wyll and Testament Also I will and devise to my saide wyffe my lease and interest for yeres it to come in the p[ar]sonage of Southe Map[er]ton aforesaid and towardes the bringinge uppe of my Children I gyve and bequethe to my said wyffe all my goodes and Cattelles Moveable and unmoveable whatsoever they be Except and alwayes res[er]ved to my heires all my plate table bordes formes stoles cowbordes bedstedes and all the vessell belonginge to the bruhouse the Iron bares rackes and the hokes of the kitchin and all suche Iron stuffe as belongethe to pottes & pannes & halfe suche pottes & panes to the said to the said kytchin belonginge whiche I will shall remayne forever as heire lomes to my heires yf he they and every of them Do well and trulye permytte and suffer the true intent and meaninge of me mensioned in this my laste will and Testamente to take effecte accordinge to the same Also I gyve and bequethe unto Mary my wyffe the vicaridge of Porestocke [Powerstock] wtall emolumentes comodyties tythes duties oblacons obvencions [5] and other Com[m]odities whatsoev[er] to the same vicaredge in my wyfe belonginge duringe the terme of Syxe yeres fullye to be complete & ended And also I gyve and bequethe in this my laste wyll and testament all my land of wantishley in the Manor of Brodewynsor unto Christofer and Willm my sonnes Joyntely and severally Duringe ther naturall lyves so that nether of them sell or make it away and yf they so do then I will that yt remayne unto my heyre And the residew of all my goodes not it bequethed I gyve & bequethe to Mary my said wyfe whome I make my sole Executrix of this my last will & testament. And I make my Overseers of the same Thomas Morton Christofer Cheverell esquiers & thaforesaid Edward Morgan gent My Brother whome I desire for the love of Christ to see this my last will & Testament obs[er]ved and p[er]formed Thes beinge witnesses Mr John Crokhorne John Crokhorne Junior Hambridge / Thomas Rainsford / John Game Thomas herne / Edward Symes / John Rop[er] / Robert Morgan . ./

Heraldry

Baron/Dexter: Quarterly of 4:

• 1: Argent, on a bend cotised sable a fleur-de-lys between two cinquefoils of the field on a chief azure a cross patoncée between two arrowheads points downward or (Morgan of Mapperton. These are the arms of Morgan of Broadwinsor, Dorset, with an added chief, possibly an augmentation of honour. Morgan of Mapperton was descended from Morgan of Morgan Hayes (pedigree not given in Heraldic Visitation of Devon)) in the parish of Southleigh, near Colyton, Devon, whose arms are given identically in Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, pp.142,494, but with an undefined chief, Pole's original text lost)
• 2: Or, a lion rampant vert a bordure engrailed of the last ("Petyt of Devon" ? The only and earliest heiress wife of a Morgan of Morgan Hayes mentioned in the pedigree in the Visitation of Dorset. No arms of Petyt given in Heraldic Visitation of Devon. As she was an heraldic heiress, the arms would have been quartered)
• 3: Azure, a fess between three crescents or ("Hodges of Gloucester", per Papworth, John Woody, Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.II, London, 1874, p.743; Bryt of Mapperton, per Country Life[11]), not supported by heraldic sources)
• 4: Or, a lion rampant gules
  

Impaling: Femme/Sinister: Quarterly of six:

• 1: Argent, a fess and in chief three lozenges in fess sable (Aston of Tixhall Hall, Staffordshire; "Ashton of Stafford", per Papworth, John Woody, Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.II, London, 1874, p.716; "Ashton of Staffordshire" Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.29; 'Mapperton', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, West (London, 1952), pp. 153-156. [12] )
• 2: Argent, a chevron between three escallops sable (Lyttelton of Tixall, Staffordshire. See pedigree of Lyttelton: Phillimore, W. P. W., ed. (1888). The Visitation of the County of Worcester made in the year 1569, with other pedigrees relating to that county from Richard Mundy's collection. Harleian Society, 1st ser. Vol. 27. London., pp.92-4[13])
• 3: Barry of ten argent and gules, overall a bend of the second (Welsh/Walsh/Walsshe/Le Waleys of Wanlip (Wonlip/Anlep/Onlep), Leicestershire, a Lyttleton heiress. The bend should possibly be argent, not gules. Sir John Aston married Joan Littleton, the daughter and heiress of Sir William Littleton (1450–1507) of Tixhall Hall, Staffordshire, eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Littleton, by his first wife, Ellen Walsh, a daughter of William Walsh of Wanlip. Arms of "Welsh of Wonlip" given as Gules, two bars gemelles argent a bend of the last in Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.1090; also given as 'Gules, two bars Argent, over all a bend of the last'; although the blazon of 'Gules, two bars gemels, and a bend Argent' (Dennis J. Walsh, Walshe and Welsh of Leicestershire, homepages.rootsweb.com, 2009

[14]). Pedigree of Walsh of Wanlip, Leicester: The Walsh family married successively the heiresses of L'Abbe of Wanlip (or married the heiress of de Wanlip herself); Waldieve of Aspath-hall, near Mereden, which became known as Welsh Hall; Byron of Clayton Hall, Droylsden, Lancashire: "Sir Richard Byron by his marriage with Joan de Colwick increased the family estates. (fn. 40) He died in June 1397, holding the manor of Clayton, and lands in Royton, Butterworth, Woodhouses in Ashton, and others outside Lancashire; John Byron, the son and heir, was then only ten years of age, and his wardship was granted to Sir John Ashton. A settlement of lands in Droylsden was in 1415 made on the occasion of the marriage of Sir John Byron's daughter Elizabeth Byron with Thomas Ashton son of Sir John Ashton". ('Townships: Droylsden', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1911), pp. 282-287 [15]). Another source (Topographical and Historical Description of the Parish of Tixall, 1817, quoted in (Dennis J. Walsh, Walshe and Welsh of Leicestershire [16]) states: "Sir Thomas Welsh, son of Richard and Eleanora, married Margery, daughter and coheir of Sir Richard Bryon (sic). Helen, the daughter of Sir Thomas, married Sir William Lyttleton, whose daughter Joan was wedded to Sir John Aston of Haywood, and brought Tixall and Wanlip in to the Aston family. Sir Thomas Welsh died in 1403".

• 4: Azure, on a chevron or between three griffin's/wolf's/talbot's heads erased of the second three cinquefoils of the field (Welsh heiress) (Logically would be one of the heiresses of L'Abbe of Wanlip; de Wanlip; Waldieve). (By arms alone possibly: Pettit of Kent (Azure, on a chevron or between three leopard's heads argent as many cinquefoils pierced gules, Papworth, I, p.522); Scafe (Azure, on a chevron argent between three wolf's heads erased ... as many trefoils slipped, p.524); Also Lovell & Beal, wolf heads and cinquefoils, but wrong tinctures, p.524; Impey, p.522, leopard faces and cinquefoils wrong tinctures; Leny of Scotland, p.518; Spencer, p.526, griffins & roses).
• 5: Bendy of seven gules and argent (Walsh heiress) Probably Byron (Byrom (sic): Bendy of six argent and gules) of Clayton Hall, Lancashire: Argent, three bendlets enhanced gules (Byron) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.157; re inter-marriage of Walsh and a Byron heiress see: 'Townships: Droylsden', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1911), pp. 282-287 [17]). More remote possibilities: Bodrugan (Bendy argent and gules); Minshaw (Bendy of eight argent and gules); Awbrey/Henrdy (Bendy of eight ermine and gules); Beteler/Talbot (Bendy of ten argent and gules) (Source: Papworth, John Woody, Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.I, London, 1874, p.292)
• 6: Argent, a lion rampant sable debruised by a fess chequy or and azure (Mylde alias Burley (Lyttleton heiress). Text per Grazebrook, Sydney, The Heraldry of Worcestershire [18]: Arms of Burley, of Bromscroft Castle, Shropshire: Argent, a lion rampant sable debruised with a fesse counter-componee or and azure. Thomas Lyttelton, (or Littleton, as his name is usually written), the learned author of the Tenures (i.e. Sir w:Thomas de Littleton (c.1407-1481), English judge and legal writer), married Joan, daughter and co-heiress of William Burley, of Bromscroft In Edmondson's Baronagium, among the hundred and twenty-two coats quartered by Lyttelton is that of Mylde alias Burley, as above ; and the same coat also occurs among the Lyttelton quarterings at Frankley. William Burley, who was High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1426, and subsequently speaker of the House of Commons, bore these arms; but his father, John Burley, High Sheriff of the same county in 1409, bore Vert, three boar's heads couped close argent, in allusion to his name, Boreley. An earlier coat, resembling that of Mortimer (viz. Barry of six sable and or, on a chief of the second two pallets of the first, an inescutcheon, ermine charged with three bars gules) was borne by Sir Simon Burley, Sir Richard Burley, and Sir John Burley, all at one time knights of the garter. For descent of Muslow on Burley and Lyttleton families, see A P Baggs, G C Baugh, D C Cox, Jessie McFall and P A Stamper, 'Munslow', in A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 10, Munslow Hundred (Part), the Liberty and Borough of Wenlock, ed. G C Baugh (London, 1998), pp. 151-167 [19]