Thomas Bromsgrove Lilly and Elizabeth Owen

Thomas Bromsgrove Lilly was born in 1515 in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England as the first child of William Lisle and Agnes. When he was 15, He married Elizabeth Owen,daughter of F.F. Owen, in 1530 in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England.

Thomas Bromsgrove Lilly and Elizabeth Owen had the following children:

1.Richard.

2.Thomas Lilly Lilley was born in 1533 in Stoke Prior, Worcester, England. He died in St. Botolph's, Aldergate, London, England. He married Philippa Marshall about 1560 in Stoke Prior, Worcestershire, England. He married Joyce Jane Hemmings in 1567 in Worcester, England.

3.John. He died in Warwickshire, England.

  [Lilly2.FTW] [LillyGreyBowe.ftw] AFN:ZF0P-70  As of yet I haven't been able to tie Thomas Bromsgrove Lilly to Humphrey DeLisle. Humphrey did have a son born in 1485 named William and Thomas Bromsgrove's father William was born in about 1485.   Humphreys daughter in law was an unknown Fenwick and Bromsgroves' mothers name was Agnes, last name unknown.  If I can find out if Agnes is a Fenwick, then I will have bridged the gap.  BROMSGROVE or BROOMSGROVE, anciently Bremesgrave, a market town in Worcestershire, situated near the small river Salwarp, and on the direct road from Birmingham to Bristol, 13 miles from Birmingham, 13 N.N.E. from Worcester, and 118 N.W. from London. The town consists principally of one good street, a mile in length, paved, and lighted by gas. It contains one church, and three dissenting places of worship, a market-house, a grammar-school, and a court for the recovery of small debts. The market is on Tuesday, and, together with two annual fairs, held on the 24th of June and on the 1st of October, was granted to the inhabitants by King John. The population of the parish of Bromsgrove amounted, according to the last census, to 8,612 ; that of the town is about 5,000. It was formerly governed by a corporation, but there are now neither recorder nor aldermen, and the only office of the bailiff is that of collecting the dues belonging to the lord of the manor. This place was also formerly, a borough, and in the reign of Edward I returned two members to parliament ; but when the trade of the town declined, the inhabitants were, on their own petition, freed from that ‘burden:’ it is now comprised in the E. division of the county. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is situated on a gentle eminence ; its tower and spire, together 189 feet in height, are perhaps the most beautiful in the county. There was a church at Bromsgrove at the time of the Conquest. The patronage of the rectory was vested in the crown till the reign of Henry III, by whom it was conferred on the prior of Worcester ; the bishop of the diocese confirmed the king’s gift, and instituted a vicarage : the dean and chapter are the present patrons. The grammar-school was founded by Edward VI, who endowed it with £7 per annum ; the income was augmented by Sir T. Cookes, who died in 1701, by £50 a year. Twelve boys on the foundation are educated, clothed, and apprenticed : and in Worcester College, Oxford, are six scholarships and six fellowships, the vacancies in which are filled up by boys selected from this school. At Shipley appears the Ikineld Street, which leaving Warwickshire at Beoley, re-enters that county at Edgbaston, near Birmingham. The linen manufacture was formerly carried on to a considerable extent, but has been entirely abandoned. Nail-making is now the principal trade, but there is also an extensive manufactory for patent buttons. At this place the successful cultivation of the apple for cider may be considered as terminating : farther N. the spring frosts rendering the produce uncertain. A singular circumstance occurred at Bromsgrove, a few years since, in four children being born at one birth, all of whom, together with the mother, survived. It is generally but incorrectly asserted in topographical accounts of Bromsgrove, that coal and limestone occur in the parish, and that a singular petrifying spring exists in the neighbourhood. Bromsgrove is situated in a highly-cultivated and richly-wooded valley. On the Lickey Hill, which forms one of its acclivities, are the sources of the river Rea, which flows through Birmingham ; of the Salwarp, which passes through Droitwich ; of the Arrow, and of several small streams, some of which fall into the basin of the Severn and ultimately into the Irish channel, while others descend in the opposite direction to the basin of the Trent and the German Ocean. The strata belong to the new red sandstone formation. The Lickey is composed of quartz, and must at some period have been an immense mountain ; for it is considered by geologists as the source from whence have been derived the vast beds of gravel which extend through Oxfordshire, in the valley of the Evenlode, and even along the Thames. At Hanbury, just without the confines of the parish, Saurian remains are found imbedded in the lias, and at Stoke Prior commences red and green marl, traversed by veins of gypsum. In the parish of Stoke Prior, and closely adjoining that of Bromsgrove, are situated the extensive salt and alkali works carried on by the British Alkali Company. As this establishment furnishes an instance of the rapid introduction of a manufacture into a district which had been previously confined to agriculture, a short notice of its progress may be interesting. The manufacture of salt has been carried on for centuries in the adjoining borough of Droitwich, where it is prepared from rich springs of native brine. The only situations where rock-salt had been met with in this island were in Cheshire, previously to its being discovered at Stoke Prior, where it was obtained in 1829, in the course of sinking a pit in search of brine. The beds of salt were of great thickness, and were excavated to a considerable extent ; but at present the supplies for making refined salt are derived from a natural brine spring, which has communicated with the excavations. Immediately after making this discovery, the proprietors erected extensive works for the manufacture of salt, and for the preparation of British alkali, by the decomposition of this substance, which very speedily changed the green fields and retired lanes into an active manufactory and a lively village. The beneficial effects of this introduction of an extensive manufacture commence with an immediate demand for the surplus labourers, an increased consumption of the necessaries of life, and a contribution towards meeting the parochial expenditure ; the neighbouring agriculturist finds his burdens relieved, at the same time that a market for his productions is brought into his immediate neighbourhood. A dispassionate view of instances such as the present would tend greatly to subdue the feeling of jealousy which exists between the agricultural and manufacturing interests in this kingdom. The benefits derived from the successful establishment of a manufacture is not confined to the labouring population, and to occupiers of land in its vicinity alone, but extends more widely : thus, in the present instance, these works being situated on the banks of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal occasioned, on their being fully established, an increase in the value of that property to the extent of 70 per cent. ; and the influence they are likely to produce in the rising port of Gloucester, by furnishing to it a large supply of salt for exportation, is calculated to be very considerable.   In a bill of information to Cardinal Wolsey, " for the repressing of maintainers of murder within the county of Northumberland," with marginal notes showing what has become of each offender, or what is to be done with him, are one or two entries that illustrate later events. Number seven in the list is Humphrey Lisle of Felton and Gosforth, who is indicted with Jowsey, for the cruel murder of Sir Richard Lighten, canon of Brinkburn, " because he occupied their own tithe corns of the town of Acton ; and because his brethren are religious men they may not follow the pele." The marginal note states that the malefactors are "in the shire of Northumberland, kept in secret places." In the next paragraph it is explained that Sir William occupied the tithe corns that year and the year before, against the will of the canons, without paying any rent, and when he heard that Lighten was occupying them "he sent his son and servant to turn them out ; on which they killed him with their swords." Number nine reads : - " Good it were that Thomas Strey, clerk of the assize, was called upon to present unto your grace all such indictments as was found of wilful escapes at the assizes, holden at Newcastle afore Mr. Brudenell and others, in annis x. and xi." To this the marginal note is " of the names of them a privy seal to be made, and sent for to make answer." Despite this trouble with the churchmen and authorities, it appears that Humphrey's son William still served in the capacity of Captain at Wark Castle, in the border wars with Scotland. In the same book, the following account is found of a fierce battle he took part in in the fall of 1523: Border lawlessness was followed this year by actual hostilities between the two nations for the first time in ten years. The earl of Surrey, the marquis of Dorset, and lord Dacre, wardens of the marches, were at their posts, and Dorset, who governed the east and middle marches, had two lieutenants to assist him, Sir William Bulmer and Sir William Eure. Mutual incursions followed, and on the 3rd of November the Scots, with French allies, besieged Wark, but were repulsed. Wolsey wrote, on 4th December, the following account of the position of affairs to dean (afterwards bishop) Sampson : - " The duke of Albany, after all his preparations, boasts and brags about invasion, long dwelling and lingering upon the borders, bruiting that he would come unto Berwick, Carlisle, Norham, or some other strong place, which all were sufficiently furnished for his resistance, came at last before a poor castle, not yet fully built and finished, called Wark, wherein were only 100 soldiers, with a captain named Sir William Lisle, unto which place he bent, and two whole days shot at his great ordnance right fiercely, being right well manfully and valiantly defended ; the third day, early in the morning, he set over the river unto this English side, where the base court of the castle was, 3000 Frenchmen and 1500 Scots, to give the assault on this side while the battery endured on the other ; who (being the base court over large to be with all the rest defended by 100 persons) in process entered the same, giving the assault to the inner ward so eagerly, that, partly by sufferance of the captain and soldiers, they also entered the same, being slain with fighting at handstrokes as fast as they came in, in such wise that, after the captain of the French footmen, with twenty of his company there slain, the rest were driven out of the inner ward, and by the captain and Englishmen so freshly pursued, that they, with above 1500 footmen, French and Scots, then being in the base court, were totally driven and expelled out of the same, and with loss of above nine score of them, compelled to flee again over the water, where not a few were drowned for haste." Thus rid of the assault, Lisle sent word to the earl of Surrey, then in or near Berwick, who marched for Wark ; and Albany, hearing of his movements, raised the siege and returned to Scotland ; there lodging at an abbey called Eccles. Then, hearing that Surrey intended to pursue him, he sounded a retreat, ' in despite of all the Scottish borderers, who exhorted him to
tarry, and to revenge the displeasures done unto them,' and he ' shamefully and cowardly fled and ran away.' "  But at some point between 1523 and 1527, he became an outlaw. The great local events of this year centre round the proceedings of Sir William Lisle. Magnus, writing to Wolsey in the summer, describes his own arrival at York at the March assizes, where he sat with the king's justices and lord Richmond's counsel, and where he found Sir William Lisle and Humphrey his son, who were indicted by Sir William Ellerker, sheriff of Northumberland, and Roger Heron. Ellerker's complaint was that he, as sheriff, awarded a replevy against Sir William Lisle for an unlawful distress, and sent his servants at the request of the party aggrieved, to execute the same ; and that with a hundred persons the prisoner came to the landship where he dwelt [ Widdrington], and carried away "40 hede of noote." He followed him, and demanded why he had done so; and he said "he did the same because that Sir William Ellerker's servants had made masters in his lordship ; saying also, he was as free in the same as was the king, and that neither the king, nor any other his officers, if he might be a party to them, should meddle with him or his said lordship." Roger Heron, also, had charges to make against Lisle : - " Whereas, variance, strife, and debate is between him and the said Sir William Lisle, as they were communing together, the said Sir William said to the said Roger, 'What! means thou to strive with me? Wilt thou win anything at my hands? I have ruffled with the warden, and also with the cardinal, and trust to pluck him by the nose." Magnus adds, that the " vicar of Felton, being a canon of Brinkbourne, curate to the said Sir William Lisle, a kinsman of his, and another his servant, being alleged to have been witnesses in this matter, were sent for to York, and being sworn, were examined ; but they would not confess any such words spoken against your said grace." Sir William and his son were committed by the court to Pontefract Castle ; and having so stated, Magnus went on to inform Wolsey that from York he went to the assizes at Newcastle, where " there hath not been so great an assize before, and so good appearance of gentlemen, all men using themselves most lowly to obey to the king's laws and his high commandments, insomuch that no man was in fear to complain, nor to give evidence against the thieves and malefactors ; whereof there was put to execution sixteen persons, many of them of the great surnames and headmen both of Tynedale and Riddesdale. Two of the Fenwicks, divers others of the Shaftoes, Pottes, Halls, and Hedleys, did suffer. Such a thing hath not been seen at one assize in these parts before." He submitted to the cardinal a scheme by which they might be kept more cheaply in order. The " pledges " were costly ; and the plan was that there should be chosen of the most principal surnames in Tynedale, thirty-six - three twelves - " to be laid at three sundry times of the year." He would apply the wages of six or seven soldiers of Berwick, every of them at 6/. 135. 4d., for giving competent meat and drink to the said twelve persons, after the rate of i8d. by the week ; which twelve persons, as is supposed, should, for the defence of the said town of Berwick and the country, do as much or more good by adventuring of their bodies, as would the said six or seven soldiers. He informs Wolsey that there is a "towardness" for good rule to be kept in Northumberland ; and for the better inducing of the same, he and other of lord Richmond's council have appointed to be again in Newcastle for keeping of the quarter sessions before Martinmas.  The spring assizes in Newcastle were barely over, when Sir William Lisle, who had given bond and obtained his release from Pontefract, came north, and offending again, was sent to gaol in Newcastle with his son, to answer the charges brought against him. On the 8th of July cardinal Wolsey writes to the king: - "I have been advertised from my chancellor of Durham of an heinous attempt done by Sir John [William] Lisle and his son, who, committed to ward at Newcastle by my lord of Richmond's council, as well for murder and felony as for divers other grievous offences, hath not only broken the prison wherein they were themselves, but also other prisons there, wherein was divers outlaws kept, some for felony, some for murder and treason. They be fled and escaped into Scotland ; and with them, at their issuing out of Newcastle, joined twenty other outlaws. By the reason of this attempt, the said Sir John [William] Lisle hath not only forfeited his bond, but his sureties, which were bond that he should be true prisoner, hath forfeited the sum of five hundred pounds." Wolsey suggests that Sir William Parr shall have Lisle's land, or a good part thereof. "With the 5oo/. rest your highness may do your most gracious pleasure." July &t&. - The king's secretary, Knight, writes to Wolsey that Henry had acted on his advice to send letters to James V. for the apprehension of Sir William Lisle, Humphrey his son, and others that by Sir William's means had broken the prison in Newcastle. August loth. - The earl of Angus writes to Henry, assuring him of his diligence. The king of Scots, his master, has summoned his wardens, and taxed them severely with receiving trangressors against his uncle's laws. Angus has not been able to ascertain the haunts of these rebels, but will nothing spare, cost, travail, nor danger of body, to take their persons, and deliver them to king Henry's officers. August \2th. - Lisle, his son, and William Shafto, proclaimed as rebels who have broken the king's prison at Newcastle, liberated traitors, escaped to Scotland, and, in company with other outlaws, have burned the town of Holmeshaugh in Northumberland. Rewards are offered for their apprehension - namely, one hundred marks for Sir William, 4O/. for Humphrey, anc 2O/. for Shafto. A few days later Magnus writes to the king that Lisle has been proclaimed throughout Northumberland for breaking prison at Newcastle, and releasing rebels, stealing forty horses [it was head of noot, or neat cattle before] at Widdrington, and burning a town belonging to Sir William Ellerker. Lisle, he adds, had become bound, after his committal to Pontefract, to be of good abearing, and not commit any treason, felony, robbery, riot, extortion, or forcible entry, but had forthwith gone and done what he was pledged not to do ; and hence the indictment in Northumberland, where he and his son were at large, and where, as Magnus reports, there was great dearth of corn and much poverty, and outbreaks were therefore the more probable. The duke of Richmond was now lieutenant-general of the forces north of Trent, and lord warden of the Scottish border ; and on the 7th of September his council (of which Magnus was director), addressed a letter to king Henry, under the impression that Lisle was resident in the debatable ground [which Sir William Eure contradicted on the I2th] with the broken men of both the borders, misruling and disordering the countries next adjoining thereunto. Five weeks later the council despatched to Wolsey a circumstantial account of the affair ; adding that all efforts to apprehend Lisle and his accomplices had been in vain, and that others in both countries robbed and spoiled " under the pretence and colours of the said Sir William and his other outlaws." The council had, therefore, instructed Sir William Eure to remove from Harbottle, and advised that he should lie at Felton, or thereabouts, being a lordship of Lisle's, where he and his son often were, and had their chief succour and relief ; and as horse-meat and other victuals were scarce and dear in those parts, his retainers and soldiers, to the number of three score, to have fourpence by the day during the space of two months. Certain houses within the woods of Felton to be "burnt, destroyed, and pulled down, and the corn, hay, and victuals there either to be carried thence and employed to the relief of the said Sir William Eure and his company, or else to be burnt and destroyed ; whereby the said Sir William Lisle, nor none of his, shall have any aid, relief, or succour in that quarter, where hath been their chief refuge." Divers women and other simple persons, " their espials and messengers," were to be seized and sent to the gaol of Newcastle. Newton, " another place " of Lisle's, also, " nigh unto the borders of your bishopric of Durham," to have good watch and espial, lest, debarred from Felton, he should resort thither, " like as he hath done of late." Moreover, the council signified to his grace some distrust of Eure. " As far as we can in anywise conceive, albeit the said Sir William Eure is sheriff of the county of Northumberland, vice-warden and lieutenant of the middle marches, and keeper of Tyndale and Riddisdale, yet we do not see that he can or may serve the king's highness so substantially as he ought to do in that country, considering the great hurts and heinous attempts committed more often upon the middle marches than in any other places, and that the inhabitants of that country do neither arise, assemble, nor stir with him for the defence of the same." Wolsey has subsequently a letter from Eure, dated Harbottle, 27th October: - "Of late I did certify your grace of the demeanour of the country, and how oft I have demanded justice and redress of the Scots for such offences and attempts as are committed and done by the surnames of the Armstrongs, Nixons, and Crosiers, with whom Sir William Lisle, and all other his adherents, are reset, and daily ride together, and commit burnings, murders, and hardships within the realm of England ; and as yet I can get no remedy thereof, but answers of delays, to the utter undoing of the middle marches of England, and the king's true subjects dwelling within the same." His opinion, with which he prays the cardinal not to be miscontented, is, " that either there must be well horsed men abiding and remaining upon the frontiers of England foreanenst Liddesdale, as at Haltwhistle, Hexham, Swinburn, Gonnerton, and Chipchase, or else the surnames of Armstrongs and others, with the outlaws above written, hath well-nigh utterly destroyed the head of Northumberland and the water of Tyne, and, or Christmas, in mine opinion, without hasty remedy it shall be clearly destroyed. For I do by myself at Harbottle, which is the middle part and uttermost frontier of the middle marches; and the greatest hurt that the Scots and outlaws in times past was to come in there and do harm in England. And by cause of my lying there, they come down the water of Tyne, which is sixteen miles from me ; and so, pleaseth your grace, I am not of power to keep both the places. Where though, without hasty remedy, seeing there is no punishment in Scotland for Liddesdale, the country will be utterly destroyed." Eure promises, however, to do his uttermost to withstand the marauders. Angus, chancellor of Scotland, sends greetings to king Henry in November, and touching " Sir William Lisle, son, and complices, rebels to your majesty," has made proclamation for the taking or slaying of them, " and shall never be at rest, nor quiet in mind, nothing sparing pain, travail, nor expense, unto the time your solicitude be satisfied in the premises." [J. C.] On the twenty-seventh of the same month the duke of Richmond's council report to Wolsey that they have kept a warden court and sessions of peace at Newcastle, and have been there ten days. One Collingwood has been executed, a notable offender in march treason, who was brought in by Robert Collingwood, chief of his name. Many persons were indicted for robbery, whose arraignment was adjourned till the coming of the justices of assize to Durham, in Lent, for they have not been accustomed to go to Newcastle except once a-year at Lammas. Hope by mid-Lent to have a good number of offenders brought before them for an example. The gentlemen of Northumberland behaved well in giving their verdicts and evidence. No mention is made of Sir William Lisle and his accomplices ; but their doom was rapidly approaching, and while the following year was yet young, the old keep of the castle of Newcastle presented their ghastly quarters to " the view and sight of the people."  Sir William Lisle's lawless adventures in the previous year came to a sad ending. On the I2th of January the earl of Northumberland writes to the king that, hearing of an intended raid by certain outlaws at Felton, he sent Roger Lassels thither at midnight, who apprehended Alex. Crawhawe, the chief counsellor of William and Humphrey Lisle ; John Pringle, to whose house the Lisles and their spies resorted ; Matthew Stokehall, of Tindale, one of the pledges that broke from the duke of Richmond's council at Pomfret ; John Armstrong, who brought the Armstrongs to Newcastle when they broke the gaol there, and eleven others. Held a warden court at Alnwick, on Wednesday, 8th January, and beheaded nine for march treason and hanged five for felony. On the twenty-eighth the earl is able to report to Wolsey the surrender of William Lisle and his son, with most of their adherents. Thomas Errington, his own [the earl's] servant, and Edward Horsley, the cardinal's servant, with their tenants, made a fray on the twenty-first, on William Charlton, otherwise William of Shotlington, the head rebel of all the outlaws, Harry Noble, Archibald Dodd, and Roger Armstrong, who had been on a raid into the bishopric, and brought away the priest of Muggleswick as their prisoner. " And finally the said William Charlton
f Shotlington was slain, and one James Noble slain too, and one Roger Armstrong and one Archibald Dodd too ; other their complices were taken, the residue escaped. I caused the said William Charlton, because he had committed divers and sundry horrible and cruel crimes and offences within your grace's dominions of Durham and Hexham - as burning of towns, murders, robberies, spoils, taking of persons, and other such like detestable and unlawful attempts - for the which causes I caused his body to be hanged up in chains, upon a pair of gallows, nigh unto your grace's said town of Hexham, and in likewise the body of James Noble is hanged up at Haydon Bridge, within my lordship of Langley. And at a warden court holden at my castle of Alnwick on Monday, the 2/th day of the said month of January, Roger Armstrong and Archibald Dodd were attainted of sundry march treasons ; and for terrible example of semblable offenders, I have caused their bodies to be in like case hanged up in chains - the one of them nigh the town of Newcastle, and the other at Alnwick. And upon the said conflict and overthrow of the said thieves spread abroad in the country, and also the noise and speech of the country, that if the earl of Angus would not deliver unto me the king's rebellious prisoners, aided and assisted in Scotland, that I would invade Nedesdale [Liddesdale ?], where they were kept, and destroy and burn all the houses and holds there ; the which among the outlaws, as well of Scotland as of England, by the dread of the same, as it is supposed, was the occasion that upon Sunday, the 26th day of the present month of January, came William Lisle, Humphrey Lisle, William Shaftowe, and other their adherents, in all the number of eighteen persons, without any composition, covenant, or comfort of me or of any other to my knowledge, in my way coming from the high mass at the parish church of Alnwick, in their linen clothes, and halters about their necks, kneeling upon their knees, in very humble and lowly manner submitted themselves to the king's highness's mercy and your grace, knowledging their offences, and requiring of his highness mercy and pardon ; and if not, they were ready to bide his execution of his most dread laws." Within a few days after this remarkable surrender, Brian Tuke writes to Wolsey on behalf of the youth Humphrey Lisle: - "One of the surrendered prisoners is an unoffending lad, not past twelve or thirteen, son of Sir William, simply out with his father, " peradven- ture fearing lest he should lack bread at home." " Whether it be of fatherly compassion, for I have children of mine own, and one much of that age, vel nescio quo spiritu ductus, the remembrance of this innocent hath caused me that in my bed this night I could not forbear to water my plants, having in fresh remembrance what I knew in king Henry the VIFs days, as considered and alleged touching the difference between the king's laws and an instinct or law that is in nature, when Sir James Tirel and Sir John Wyndham were put to death, and their sons upon that consideration pardoned. I thought convenient to advertise your grace what was showed me of the younger son, most humbly beseeching the same to pardon me of my boldness and simple pity." - Humphrey was spared, and probably his younger brother. The rest were hanged and quartered, and their remains publicly exhibited in Newcastle and elsewhere, as appears by a letter from the earl of Northumberland to Wolsey, dated the 2nd April : - " For the more terrible and dreadful example of all the inhabitants in these parts, William Lisle, Humphrey Lisle his son, John Ogle, William Shaftowe, and Thomas Fenwick, gentlemen of name, chief leaders and most heinous offenders of all the said rebels, were, according to their demerits, attainted of high treason, and by me had judgment given to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. The execution whereof was accomplished upon them accordingly, only reserving Humphrey Lisle, whom, according to the pleasure of the king's highness and your grace, I have sent by this bearer, John Norton, my servant, to be further ordered as shall stand with your gracious pleasure, notwithstanding he had judgment among the other. And the other young son of the said William Lisle I detain here with me, to such time as I shall be advertised of the further mind and pleasure of the king's highness and your grace's concerning the said young Lisle. And the heads and quarters of them that were so executed for high treason I have caused to be set up upon the ' dongeon ' of the castle of Newcastle, and in sundry other eminent and open places, most apparent to the view and sight of the people, to the high contentation of all the true inhabitants of these parts, and extreme terror of all other semblable offenders. The residue of the said rebels been also attainted for march treasons and put to execution . . and have also . . . executed and put to death six thieves of Tynedale, who of late time were reported the most notorious and heinous offenders of that country. After which execution so done, the 2nd day of this instant month of April, at this town of Newcastlc- upon-Tyne, in presence of the most part of the gentlemen and freeholders of Northumberland ; the Tynedale men in great numbers submitted themselves, according to the king's most gracious pleasure, in most humble wise, upon their bare knees, beseeching his highness of grace and pardon for their offences past," etc. [J. C.] Humphrey Lisle made a confession in June of the offences which his father and himself, with their adherents, had committed, as follows : - 1. About twelve months ago he and his father, with about forty persons, Scots and English (of whom all the English have been executed) attacked Newcastle, compelled the keepers of the castle to surrender the keys, and delivered nine prisoners. 2. Shortly afterwards came to Widdrington, intending to have taken or slain Sir William Ellerker, if he had issued out of the town, and took away twenty horses from the fields. 3. With about 140 persons, chiefly Scots, spoiled and burned Holmeshaigh. 4. Attacked Widdrington a second time, and took prisoner and ransomed Michael Vynell. 5. In returning to Scotland took prisoners four of my lord of Northumberland's company, three of whom they liberated without ransom. 6. Burned three or four houses in Thropell, and took three prisoners. 7. Burned Lynton, a farmhouse of Sir William Ellerker's, and drove away forty-three cattle. 8. He himself and four servants burned the house of Roger Heron in Eshed. 9. Drove away sixty head of cattle from Togston. 10. He and his servant, John Ogle, disguised as beggars, robbed two men of Staumford on horseback of their horses and spears. 11. He and four servants plundered a house in Wooddon of household stuff value 465. 8d. 12. He took two horses from Anthony Lilburn. 13. Took fourteen head of cattle from Whittell and eight from Henry Lex of Thurston ; took prisoners three or four men between Alnwick and Warkworth, and two between Warkworth and Chibburn ; robbed the shop of Henry Sanderson in Alnwick of 4/. worth of goods, and the house of Thomas Dryden in Alemouth of four marks' worth. 14. When about thirteen years old was present when Roger Jowsye killed a canon of Brinkburn. 15. At Gosforth, a mile from Newcastle, took prisoners twenty- seven persons passing by in the high street, of whom he had 26s. Sd., and ransomed all but seven, whom he kept for a while in servitude in Scotland. 1 6. Returning to Scotland, met his father, and took two prisoners on the Tyne on the highway between Newcastle and Chollerford, and robbed them of horses and weapons. 17. In the highway between Lesburyand Warkworth he and three servants robbed two fishermen of four marks and an ambling mare. Signed - " By me, Umfra Lysle." Young Lisle appears to have rendered service in return for his pardon. On the 27th December 1531 the earl of Northumberland wrote to the king commending " Humphrey Lisle for the apprehension of Hob Elwold, who was put to execution when the writer was at Dilston, which is a great quietness to the king's subjects on the Tyne."  Then we have in July of 1535 the following entry: uly 28. At a warden court held in Newcastle, Sir Humphrey Lisle of Felton, knight, and Alexander Shafto of Scremerston, were indicted for divers march treasons committed by them on the east and middle marches. Hearing of the indictments the accused fled, and the earl of Northumberland issued a proclamation against them.  A point of interest follows on the same page. There is an entry concerning a John Marshall and his wife Philippa.  A few generations into the Lisle genealogy from William Lisle, there is a descendant who marries a Philippa Marshall, daughter of John Marshall. It was previously erroneously recorded as Philippa Maskell.  It would be interesting to find if this John Marshall and wife Philippa in Northumberland were ancestors of the later Philippa. It would help further support my claim that Thomas of Bromsgrove Lilly was from this same family. The following is the mention in the same book: December 31. The prior and convent of Tynemouth grant and confirm to John Marshall, gentleman, and Phillippa, his wife, a certain annuity, or yearly fee of ten pounds sterling, issuing from their lands and tenements in the vill and territories of Benwell, near Newcastle, to be paid yearly by equal instalments, at the feasts of the nativity of St. John the Baptist and our Lord. To hold the said annuity to the aforesaid John Marshall and Phillippa, and either of them longest living, with power of distraint after twenty days arrear, etc.  In November of 1559, there is a mention of a Lancelot Lisle helping to post bond for another man, as follows: November 8. There is of this date a bond of John Hall of Otterburn, Launcelot Lisle of Gosforth, and four others, to the earl of Northumberland, and Francis Slingsby, keeper of Tynedale, in I4OL., for the personal appearance of Jarret [Gerard] Charlton of the " Howe Hill," at Newcastle, on the 15th of January next.  William Lisle, whom I believe to be the father of Thomas of Bromsgrove, had a son named Lancelot, by his wife whose maiden name was Fenwick. I have not found her Christian name. This Lancelot mentioned above is likely their son. In addition to this evidence for Thomas of Bromsgrove being the son of William Lisle and unknown Fenwick is this; The unknown Fenwick wife of William was the daughter of Ralph Fenwick and Margery Mitford. The Catherine Fenwick, who married Lancelot Lisle, was the daughter of Richard Fenwick,who in turn was the son of Ralph Fenwick.  (Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families - Page 320 by Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham) I found the following in the The Heraldry of Worcestershire  By Henry Sydney Grazebrook: LILLY, of Bromsgrove, Stoke Prior, and London. - This family did not appear at any of the Visitations; but it appears, from a pedigree in the Harl. MS., 1566, that Lilly, of Bromsgrove, had two sons, Lilly, and Thomas Lilly (of whom presently). The former had issue (with a daughter, Margaret, married to Richard Bradley), three sons : - Gilbert, of London, merchant tailor, who had a daughter, Judith ; Reginald, of Bromsgrove, who, by Margaret, his wife, daughter of Bradley, of Stour- bridge, had Grlbert, of Bromsgrove, Nicholas and William, of Alvechurch, all married, and a daughter, Margaret, wife of Francis Knight ; and Thomas, of Worcester, who had three sons, Richard, of Worcester, Edmund, of London, and William. Thomas Lilly, of Bromsgrove, above named, had issue (with daughters) three sons : - John, who purchased lands in Warwickshire ; Richard ; and Thomas, of Stoke Prior. The latter was twice married : first, to Philippa, daughter of Thomas Marshall, and secondly, to Jane, daughter and co-heiress of Hemming, of the Vale of Evesham. By the latter he had issue a son, Edward, of London, who had a son, George; and by the former he had : - Richard, who died s.p. ; Thomas, who had a son, Henry ; George, of Wikin, who had a daughter, Sarah ; and John, of London, who married Mary, daughter of John Gabbett, and had two sons, John and Henry. The latter, (Henry,) was of London, pursuivant of arms ; he married Elizabeth, daughter of Flynt, of Fisherton, co. \Vilts, and by her, who died September 1oth, 1635, had issue two children, Henry and Elizabeth. William Lilly, of Alvechurch, above named, (son of Reginald Lilly, of Bromsgrove), married Christian, daughter of Thompson, of Suffolk, and had issue, Reginald, Nicholas, Gilbert, and Margaret. The children (if any) of his brothers, Gilbert and Nicholas, are not given in the manuscript. - Ermine, a lion rampant azure ; also Gules, three lilies slipped argent. Crests : A swan's head erased argent, and, A heart gules, winged or, ensigned with a fleur-de-lis of the last. (Harl. MSS., 1450, 1566, 5814; and Penn MS.) Nicholas Lilly, of Bromsgrove, gent., was fined £g. 6s. 8d. for not taking knighthood at the coronation of Charles I.  Note that the above account says that it is unknown where these Lilly's came from before that time. I propose that if my father and grandfather had been eecuted for treason, I would be inclined to change the spelling of my name and move to a different part of the country and not make it well known where I had come from. A family tree with virtually the same information showing the family mysteriously appearing in Bromsgrove is given in  The Visitation of the County of Worcester Made in the Year 1569 with Other ... - Page 87 by W P W Phillimore, Worcestershire, Richard Mundy - Heraldry - 1888
 [Lilly2.FTW]

 [LillyGreyBowe.ftw]

 AFN:ZF0P-70


 As of yet I haven't been able to tie Thomas Bromsgrove Lilly to Humphrey DeLisle.
 Humphrey did have a son born in 1485 named William and Thomas Bromsgrove's father William was born in about 1485.   Humphreys daughter in law was an unknown Fenwick and Bromsgroves' mothers name was Agnes, last name unknown.  If I can find out if Agnes is a Fenwick, then I will have bridged the gap.


 BROMSGROVE or BROOMSGROVE, anciently Bremesgrave, a market town in Worcestershire, situated near the small river Salwarp, and on the direct road from Birmingham to Bristol, 13 miles from Birmingham, 13 N.N.E. from Worcester, and 118 N.W. from London. The town consists principally of one good street, a mile in length, paved, and lighted by gas. It contains one church, and three dissenting places of worship, a market-house, a grammar-school, and a court for the recovery of small debts. The market is on Tuesday, and, together with two annual fairs, held on the 24th of June and on the 1st of October, was granted to the inhabitants by King John.

 The population of the parish of Bromsgrove amounted, according to the last census, to 8,612 ; that of the town is about 5,000. It was formerly governed by a corporation, but there are now neither recorder nor aldermen, and the only office of the bailiff is that of collecting the dues belonging to the lord of the manor. This place was also formerly, a borough, and in the reign of Edward I returned two members to parliament ; but when the trade of the town declined, the inhabitants were, on their own petition, freed from that ‘burden:’ it is now comprised in the E. division of the county.

 The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is situated on a gentle eminence ; its tower and spire, together 189 feet in height, are perhaps the most beautiful in the county. There was a church at Bromsgrove at the time of the Conquest. The patronage of the rectory was vested in the crown till the reign of Henry III, by whom it was conferred on the prior of Worcester ; the bishop of the diocese confirmed the king’s gift, and instituted a vicarage : the dean and chapter are the present patrons. The grammar-school was founded by Edward VI, who endowed it with £7 per annum ; the income was augmented by Sir T. Cookes, who died in 1701, by £50 a year. Twelve boys on the foundation are educated, clothed, and apprenticed : and in Worcester College, Oxford, are six scholarships and six fellowships, the vacancies in which are filled up by boys selected from this school.

 At Shipley appears the Ikineld Street, which leaving Warwickshire at Beoley, re-enters that county at Edgbaston, near Birmingham.

 The linen manufacture was formerly carried on to a considerable extent, but has been entirely abandoned. Nail-making is now the principal trade, but there is also an extensive manufactory for patent buttons. At this place the successful cultivation of the apple for cider may be considered as terminating : farther N. the spring frosts rendering the produce uncertain.

 A singular circumstance occurred at Bromsgrove, a few years since, in four children being born at one birth, all of whom, together with the mother, survived.

 It is generally but incorrectly asserted in topographical accounts of Bromsgrove, that coal and limestone occur in the parish, and that a singular petrifying spring exists in the neighbourhood.

 Bromsgrove is situated in a highly-cultivated and richly-wooded valley. On the Lickey Hill, which forms one of its acclivities, are the sources of the river Rea, which flows through Birmingham ; of the Salwarp, which passes through Droitwich ; of the Arrow, and of several small streams, some of which fall into the basin of the Severn and ultimately into the Irish channel, while others descend in the opposite direction to the basin of the Trent and the German Ocean. The strata belong to the new red sandstone formation. The Lickey is composed of quartz, and must at some period have been an immense mountain ; for it is considered by geologists as the source from whence have been derived the vast beds of gravel which extend through Oxfordshire, in the valley of the Evenlode, and even along the Thames.

 At Hanbury, just without the confines of the parish, Saurian remains are found imbedded in the lias, and at Stoke Prior commences red and green marl, traversed by veins of gypsum.

 In the parish of Stoke Prior, and closely adjoining that of Bromsgrove, are situated the extensive salt and alkali works carried on by the British Alkali Company. As this establishment furnishes an instance of the rapid introduction of a manufacture into a district which had been previously confined to agriculture, a short notice of its progress may be interesting. The manufacture of salt has been carried on for centuries in the adjoining borough of Droitwich, where it is prepared from rich springs of native brine. The only situations where rock-salt had been met with in this island were in Cheshire, previously to its being discovered at Stoke Prior, where it was obtained in 1829, in the course of sinking a pit in search of brine. The beds of salt were of great thickness, and were excavated to a considerable extent ; but at present the supplies for making refined salt are derived from a natural brine spring, which has communicated with the excavations. Immediately after making this discovery, the proprietors erected extensive works for the manufacture of salt, and for the preparation of British alkali, by the decomposition of this substance, which very speedily changed the green fields and retired lanes into an active manufactory and a lively village. The beneficial effects of this introduction of an extensive manufacture commence with an immediate demand for the surplus labourers, an increased consumption of the necessaries of life, and a contribution towards meeting the parochial expenditure ; the neighbouring agriculturist finds his burdens relieved, at the same time that a market for his productions is brought into his immediate neighbourhood. A dispassionate view of instances such as the present would tend greatly to subdue the feeling of jealousy which exists between the agricultural and manufacturing interests in this kingdom. The benefits derived from the successful establishment of a manufacture is not confined to the labouring population, and to occupiers of land in its vicinity alone, but extends more widely : thus, in the present instance, these works being situated on the banks of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal occasioned, on their being fully established, an increase in the value of that property to the extent of 70 per cent. ; and the influence they are likely to produce in the rising port of Gloucester, by furnishing to it a large supply of salt for exportation, is calculated to be very considerable.



 In a bill of information to Cardinal Wolsey, " for the repressing of
 maintainers of murder within the county of Northumberland," with
 marginal notes showing what has become of each offender, or what is
 to be done with him, are one or two entries that illustrate later events.
 Number seven in the list is Humphrey Lisle of Felton and Gosforth,
 who is indicted with Jowsey, for the cruel murder of Sir Richard
 Lighten, canon of Brinkburn, " because he occupied their own tithe
 corns of the town of Acton ; and because his brethren are religious
 men they may not follow the pele." The marginal note states that
 the malefactors are "in the shire of Northumberland, kept in secret
 places." In the next paragraph it is explained that Sir William
 occupied the tithe corns that year and the year before, against the will
 of the canons, without paying any rent, and when he heard that
 Lighten was occupying them "he sent his son and servant to turn
 them out ; on which they killed him with their swords." Number
 nine reads : - " Good it were that Thomas Strey, clerk of the assize,
 was called upon to present unto your grace all such indictments as
 was found of wilful escapes at the assizes, holden at Newcastle afore
 Mr. Brudenell and others, in annis x. and xi." To this the marginal
 note is " of the names of them a privy seal to be made, and sent for
 to make answer."

 Despite this trouble with the churchmen and authorities, it appears that Humphrey's son William still served in the capacity of Captain at Wark Castle, in the border wars with Scotland. In the same book, the following account is found of a fierce battle he took part in in the fall of 1523:

 Border lawlessness was followed this year by actual hostilities
 between the two nations for the first time in ten years. The earl
 of Surrey, the marquis of Dorset, and lord Dacre, wardens of the
 marches, were at their posts, and Dorset, who governed the east and
 middle marches, had two lieutenants to assist him, Sir William Bulmer
 and Sir William Eure. Mutual incursions followed, and on the 3rd of
 November the Scots, with French allies, besieged Wark, but were
 repulsed. Wolsey wrote, on 4th December, the following account of
 the position of affairs to dean (afterwards bishop) Sampson : - "
 The duke of Albany, after all his preparations, boasts and brags
 about invasion, long dwelling and lingering upon the borders, bruiting
 that he would come unto Berwick, Carlisle, Norham, or some
 other strong place, which all were sufficiently furnished for his
 resistance, came at last before a poor castle, not yet fully built and
 finished, called Wark, wherein were only 100 soldiers, with a captain
 named Sir William Lisle, unto which place he bent, and two whole
 days shot at his great ordnance right fiercely, being right well manfully
 and valiantly defended ; the third day, early in the morning, he set
 over the river unto this English side, where the base court of the castle
 was, 3000 Frenchmen and 1500 Scots, to give the assault on this
 side while the battery endured on the other ; who (being the base
 court over large to be with all the rest defended by 100 persons)
 in process entered the same, giving the assault to the inner ward
 so eagerly, that, partly by sufferance of the captain and soldiers, they
 also entered the same, being slain with fighting at handstrokes as fast
 as they came in, in such wise that, after the captain of the French
 footmen, with twenty of his company there slain, the rest were driven
 out of the inner ward, and by the captain and Englishmen so
 freshly pursued, that they, with above 1500 footmen, French and
 Scots, then being in the base court, were totally driven and expelled
 out of the same, and with loss of above nine score of them, compelled
 to flee again over the water, where not a few were drowned for haste."
 Thus rid of the assault, Lisle sent word to the earl of Surrey, then
 in or near Berwick, who marched for Wark ; and Albany, hearing of
 his movements, raised the siege and returned to Scotland ; there
 lodging at an abbey called Eccles. Then, hearing that Surrey intended
 to pursue him, he sounded a retreat, ' in despite of all the
 Scottish borderers, who exhorted him to tarry, and to revenge the
 displeasures done unto them,' and he ' shamefully and cowardly fled
 and ran away.' "

 But at some point between 1523 and 1527, he became an outlaw.

 The great local events of this year centre round the proceedings
 of Sir William Lisle. Magnus, writing to Wolsey in the summer,
 describes his own arrival at York at the March assizes, where he sat
 with the king's justices and lord Richmond's counsel, and where he
 found Sir William Lisle and Humphrey his son, who were indicted by
 Sir William Ellerker, sheriff of Northumberland, and Roger Heron.
 Ellerker's complaint was that he, as sheriff, awarded a replevy against
 Sir William Lisle for an unlawful distress, and sent his servants at the
 request of the party aggrieved, to execute the same ; and that with
 a hundred persons the prisoner came to the landship where he dwelt [
 Widdrington], and carried away "40 hede of noote." He followed
 him, and demanded why he had done so; and he said "he did the
 same because that Sir William Ellerker's servants had made masters
 in his lordship ; saying also, he was as free in the same as was the
 king, and that neither the king, nor any other his officers, if he
 might be a party to them, should meddle with him or his said lordship."
 Roger Heron, also, had charges to make against Lisle : - " Whereas,
 variance, strife, and debate is between him and the said Sir William
 Lisle, as they were communing together, the said Sir William said to
 the said Roger, 'What! means thou to strive with me? Wilt thou
 win anything at my hands? I have ruffled with the warden, and
 also with the cardinal, and trust to pluck him by the nose." Magnus
 adds, that the " vicar of Felton, being a canon of Brinkbourne, curate
 to the said Sir William Lisle, a kinsman of his, and another his servant,
 being alleged to have been witnesses in this matter, were sent
 for to York, and being sworn, were examined ; but they would not
 confess any such words spoken against your said grace." Sir William
 and his son were committed by the court to Pontefract Castle ; and
 having so stated, Magnus went on to inform Wolsey that from York
 he went to the assizes at Newcastle, where " there hath not been so
 great an assize before, and so good appearance of gentlemen, all men
 using themselves most lowly to obey to the king's laws and his high
 commandments, insomuch that no man was in fear to complain, nor
 to give evidence against the thieves and malefactors ; whereof there
 was put to execution sixteen persons, many of them of the great
 surnames and headmen both of Tynedale and Riddesdale. Two of the
 Fenwicks, divers others of the Shaftoes, Pottes, Halls, and Hedleys,
 did suffer. Such a thing hath not been seen at one assize in these parts
 before." He submitted to the cardinal a scheme by which they might
 be kept more cheaply in order. The " pledges " were costly ; and
 the plan was that there should be chosen of the most principal
 surnames in Tynedale, thirty-six - three twelves - " to be laid at three
 sundry times of the year." He would apply the wages of six or
 seven soldiers of Berwick, every of them at 6/. 135. 4d., for giving
 competent meat and drink to the said twelve persons, after the rate of
 i8d. by the week ; which twelve persons, as is supposed, should, for
 the defence of the said town of Berwick and the country, do as much
 or more good by adventuring of their bodies, as would the said six or
 seven soldiers. He informs Wolsey that there is a "towardness"
 for good rule to be kept in Northumberland ; and for the better
 inducing of the same, he and other of lord Richmond's council have
 appointed to be again in Newcastle for keeping of the quarter sessions
 before Martinmas.

 The spring assizes in Newcastle were barely over, when Sir William
 Lisle, who had given bond and obtained his release from Pontefract,
 came north, and offending again, was sent to gaol in Newcastle with
 his son, to answer the charges brought against him. On the 8th of
 July cardinal Wolsey writes to the king: - "I have been advertised
 from my chancellor of Durham of an heinous attempt done by Sir
 John [William] Lisle and his son, who, committed to ward at
 Newcastle by my lord of Richmond's council, as well for murder and
 felony as for divers other grievous offences, hath not only broken the
 prison wherein they were themselves, but also other prisons there,
 wherein was divers outlaws kept, some for felony, some for murder
 and treason. They be fled and escaped into Scotland ; and with
 them, at their issuing out of Newcastle, joined twenty other outlaws.
 By the reason of this attempt, the said Sir John [William] Lisle hath
 not only forfeited his bond, but his sureties, which were bond that he
 should be true prisoner, hath forfeited the sum of five hundred pounds."
 Wolsey suggests that Sir William Parr shall have Lisle's land, or a
 good part thereof. "With the 5oo/. rest your highness may do your
 most gracious pleasure." July &t&. - The king's secretary, Knight,
 writes to Wolsey that Henry had acted on his advice to send
 letters to James V. for the apprehension of Sir William Lisle,
 Humphrey his son, and others that by Sir William's means had
 broken the prison in Newcastle. August loth. - The earl of Angus
 writes to Henry, assuring him of his diligence. The king of Scots,
 his master, has summoned his wardens, and taxed them severely with
 receiving trangressors against his uncle's laws. Angus has not been
 able to ascertain the haunts of these rebels, but will nothing spare,
 cost, travail, nor danger of body, to take their persons, and deliver
 them to king Henry's officers. August \2th. - Lisle, his son, and
 William Shafto, proclaimed as rebels who have broken the king's prison
 at Newcastle, liberated traitors, escaped to Scotland, and, in company
 with other outlaws, have burned the town of Holmeshaugh in
 Northumberland. Rewards are offered for their apprehension -
 namely, one hundred marks for Sir William, 4O/. for Humphrey, anc
 2O/. for Shafto. A few days later Magnus writes to the king that
 Lisle has been proclaimed throughout Northumberland for breaking
 prison at Newcastle, and releasing rebels, stealing forty horses [it was
 head of noot, or neat cattle before] at Widdrington, and burning a
 town belonging to Sir William Ellerker. Lisle, he adds, had
 become bound, after his committal to Pontefract, to be of good
 abearing, and not commit any treason, felony, robbery, riot, extortion,
 or forcible entry, but had forthwith gone and done what he was
 pledged not to do ; and hence the indictment in Northumberland,
 where he and his son were at large, and where, as Magnus reports,
 there was great dearth of corn and much poverty, and outbreaks were
 therefore the more probable. The duke of Richmond was now
 lieutenant-general of the forces north of Trent, and lord warden of the
 Scottish border ; and on the 7th of September his council (of which
 Magnus was director), addressed a letter to king Henry, under the
 impression that Lisle was resident in the debatable ground [which
 Sir William Eure contradicted on the I2th] with the broken men of
 both the borders, misruling and disordering the countries next
 adjoining thereunto. Five weeks later the council despatched to
 Wolsey a circumstantial account of the affair ; adding that all efforts
 to apprehend Lisle and his accomplices had been in vain, and that
 others in both countries robbed and spoiled " under the pretence and
 colours of the said Sir William and his other outlaws." The council
 had, therefore, instructed Sir William Eure to remove from Harbottle,
 and advised that he should lie at Felton, or thereabouts, being a
 lordship of Lisle's, where he and his son often were, and had their
 chief succour and relief ; and as horse-meat and other victuals were
 scarce and dear in those parts, his retainers and soldiers, to the
 number of three score, to have fourpence by the day during the
 space of two months. Certain houses within the woods of Felton to
 be "burnt, destroyed, and pulled down, and the corn, hay, and
 victuals there either to be carried thence and employed to the relief
 of the said Sir William Eure and his company, or else to be burnt
 and destroyed ; whereby the said Sir William Lisle, nor none of his,
 shall have any aid, relief, or succour in that quarter, where hath been
 their chief refuge." Divers women and other simple persons, " their
 espials and messengers," were to be seized and sent to the gaol of
 Newcastle. Newton, " another place " of Lisle's, also, " nigh unto the
 borders of your bishopric of Durham," to have good watch and
 espial, lest, debarred from Felton, he should resort thither, " like as
 he hath done of late." Moreover, the council signified to his grace
 some distrust of Eure. " As far as we can in anywise conceive, albeit
 the said Sir William Eure is sheriff of the county of Northumberland,
 vice-warden and lieutenant of the middle marches, and keeper of
 Tyndale and Riddisdale, yet we do not see that he can or may serve
 the king's highness so substantially as he ought to do in that country,
 considering the great hurts and heinous attempts committed more
 often upon the middle marches than in any other places, and that
 the inhabitants of that country do neither arise, assemble, nor stir with
 him for the defence of the same." Wolsey has subsequently a letter
 from Eure, dated Harbottle, 27th October: - "Of late I did certify your
 grace of the demeanour of the country, and how oft I have demanded
 justice and redress of the Scots for such offences and attempts as
 are committed and done by the surnames of the Armstrongs, Nixons,
 and Crosiers, with whom Sir William Lisle, and all other his
 adherents, are reset, and daily ride together, and commit burnings,
 murders, and hardships within the realm of England ; and as yet I
 can get no remedy thereof, but answers of delays, to the utter undoing
 of the middle marches of England, and the king's true subjects
 dwelling within the same." His opinion, with which he prays the
 cardinal not to be miscontented, is, " that either there must be well
 horsed men abiding and remaining upon the frontiers of England
 foreanenst Liddesdale, as at Haltwhistle, Hexham, Swinburn,
 Gonnerton, and Chipchase, or else the surnames of Armstrongs and
 others, with the outlaws above written, hath well-nigh utterly
 destroyed the head of Northumberland and the water of Tyne,
 and, or Christmas, in mine opinion, without hasty remedy it shall
 be clearly destroyed. For I do by myself at Harbottle, which is
 the middle part and uttermost frontier of the middle marches;
 and the greatest hurt that the Scots and outlaws in times past
 was to come in there and do harm in England. And by cause
 of my lying there, they come down the water of Tyne, which is
 sixteen miles from me ; and so, pleaseth your grace, I am not of
 power to keep both the places. Where though, without hasty
 remedy, seeing there is no punishment in Scotland for Liddesdale,
 the country will be utterly destroyed." Eure promises, however, to
 do his uttermost to withstand the marauders. Angus, chancellor of
 Scotland, sends greetings to king Henry in November, and touching "
 Sir William Lisle, son, and complices, rebels to your majesty," has
 made proclamation for the taking or slaying of them, " and shall never
 be at rest, nor quiet in mind, nothing sparing pain, travail, nor expense,
 unto the time your solicitude be satisfied in the premises." [J. C.]
 On the twenty-seventh of the same month the duke of Richmond's
 council report to Wolsey that they have kept a warden court and
 sessions of peace at Newcastle, and have been there ten days. One
 Collingwood has been executed, a notable offender in march treason,
 who was brought in by Robert Collingwood, chief of his name.
 Many persons were indicted for robbery, whose arraignment was
 adjourned till the coming of the justices of assize to Durham, in Lent,
 for they have not been accustomed to go to Newcastle except once
 a-year at Lammas. Hope by mid-Lent to have a good number of
 offenders brought before them for an example. The gentlemen of
 Northumberland behaved well in giving their verdicts and evidence.
 No mention is made of Sir William Lisle and his accomplices ; but
 their doom was rapidly approaching, and while the following year
 was yet young, the old keep of the castle of Newcastle presented
 their ghastly quarters to " the view and sight of the people."

 Sir William Lisle's lawless adventures in the previous year came
 to a sad ending. On the I2th of January the earl of Northumberland
 writes to the king that, hearing of an intended raid by certain
 outlaws at Felton, he sent Roger Lassels thither at midnight, who
 apprehended Alex. Crawhawe, the chief counsellor of William and
 Humphrey Lisle ; John Pringle, to whose house the Lisles and their
 spies resorted ; Matthew Stokehall, of Tindale, one of the pledges
 that broke from the duke of Richmond's council at Pomfret ; John
 Armstrong, who brought the Armstrongs to Newcastle when they
 broke the gaol there, and eleven others. Held a warden court at
 Alnwick, on Wednesday, 8th January, and beheaded nine for march
 treason and hanged five for felony. On the twenty-eighth the earl
 is able to report to Wolsey the surrender of William Lisle and his
 son, with most of their adherents. Thomas Errington, his own [the
 earl's] servant, and Edward Horsley, the cardinal's servant, with their
 tenants, made a fray on the twenty-first, on William Charlton, otherwise
 William of Shotlington, the head rebel of all the outlaws,
 Harry Noble, Archibald Dodd, and Roger Armstrong, who had
 been on a raid into the bishopric, and brought away the priest of
 Muggleswick as their prisoner. " And finally the said William
 Charlton of Shotlington was slain, and one James Noble slain
 too, and one Roger Armstrong and one Archibald Dodd too ;
 other their complices were taken, the residue escaped. I caused the
 said William Charlton, because he had committed divers and sundry
 horrible and cruel crimes and offences within your grace's dominions
 of Durham and Hexham - as burning of towns, murders, robberies,
 spoils, taking of persons, and other such like detestable and unlawful
 attempts - for the which causes I caused his body to be hanged up in
 chains, upon a pair of gallows, nigh unto your grace's said town of
 Hexham, and in likewise the body of James Noble is hanged up
 at Haydon Bridge, within my lordship of Langley. And at a warden
 court holden at my castle of Alnwick on Monday, the 2/th day of
 the said month of January, Roger Armstrong and Archibald Dodd
 were attainted of sundry march treasons ; and for terrible example of
 semblable offenders, I have caused their bodies to be in like case
 hanged up in chains - the one of them nigh the town of Newcastle,
 and the other at Alnwick. And upon the said conflict and overthrow
 of the said thieves spread abroad in the country, and also the noise
 and speech of the country, that if the earl of Angus would not deliver
 unto me the king's rebellious prisoners, aided and assisted in Scotland,
 that I would invade Nedesdale [Liddesdale ?], where they were
 kept, and destroy and burn all the houses and holds there ; the which
 among the outlaws, as well of Scotland as of England, by the
 dread of the same, as it is supposed, was the occasion that upon
 Sunday, the 26th day of the present month of January, came William
 Lisle, Humphrey Lisle, William Shaftowe, and other their adherents,
 in all the number of eighteen persons, without any composition, covenant,
 or comfort of me or of any other to my knowledge, in my way
 coming from the high mass at the parish church of Alnwick, in their
 linen clothes, and halters about their necks, kneeling upon their knees,
 in very humble and lowly manner submitted themselves to the king's
 highness's mercy and your grace, knowledging their offences, and
 requiring of his highness mercy and pardon ; and if not, they were
 ready to bide his execution of his most dread laws."
 Within a few days after this remarkable surrender, Brian Tuke
 writes to Wolsey on behalf of the youth Humphrey Lisle: - "One of
 the surrendered prisoners is an unoffending lad, not past twelve
 or thirteen, son of Sir William, simply out with his father, " peradven-
 ture fearing lest he should lack bread at home." " Whether it be of
 fatherly compassion, for I have children of mine own, and one much
 of that age, vel nescio quo spiritu ductus, the remembrance of this
 innocent hath caused me that in my bed this night I could not
 forbear to water my plants, having in fresh remembrance what I
 knew in king Henry the VIFs days, as considered and alleged
 touching the difference between the king's laws and an instinct or
 law that is in nature, when Sir James Tirel and Sir John Wyndham
 were put to death, and their sons upon that consideration pardoned.
 I thought convenient to advertise your grace what was showed me of
 the younger son, most humbly beseeching the same to pardon me of
 my boldness and simple pity." - Humphrey was spared, and probably
 his younger brother. The rest were hanged and quartered, and their
 remains publicly exhibited in Newcastle and elsewhere, as appears
 by a letter from the earl of Northumberland to Wolsey, dated the
 2nd April : - " For the more terrible and dreadful example of all the
 inhabitants in these parts, William Lisle, Humphrey Lisle his son,
 John Ogle, William Shaftowe, and Thomas Fenwick, gentlemen of
 name, chief leaders and most heinous offenders of all the said rebels,
 were, according to their demerits, attainted of high treason, and by me
 had judgment given to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. The
 execution whereof was accomplished upon them accordingly, only
 reserving Humphrey Lisle, whom, according to the pleasure of the
 king's highness and your grace, I have sent by this bearer, John
 Norton, my servant, to be further ordered as shall stand with your
 gracious pleasure, notwithstanding he had judgment among the
 other. And the other young son of the said William Lisle I detain
 here with me, to such time as I shall be advertised of the further mind
 and pleasure of the king's highness and your grace's concerning the
 said young Lisle. And the heads and quarters of them that were
 so executed for high treason I have caused to be set up upon the '
 dongeon ' of the castle of Newcastle, and in sundry other eminent
 and open places, most apparent to the view and sight of the people, to
 the high contentation of all the true inhabitants of these parts, and
 extreme terror of all other semblable offenders. The residue of the

 said rebels been also attainted for march treasons and put to execution . .
 and have also . . . executed and put to death six thieves
 of Tynedale, who of late time were reported the most notorious and
 heinous offenders of that country. After which execution so done,
 the 2nd day of this instant month of April, at this town of Newcastlc-
 upon-Tyne, in presence of the most part of the gentlemen and
 freeholders of Northumberland ; the Tynedale men in great numbers
 submitted themselves, according to the king's most gracious pleasure,
 in most humble wise, upon their bare knees, beseeching his highness
 of grace and pardon for their offences past," etc. [J. C.]
 Humphrey Lisle made a confession in June of the offences which
 his father and himself, with their adherents, had committed, as
 follows : -
 1. About twelve months ago he and his father, with about forty
 persons, Scots and English (of whom all the English have been
 executed) attacked Newcastle, compelled the keepers of the castle to
 surrender the keys, and delivered nine prisoners.
 2. Shortly afterwards came to Widdrington, intending to have
 taken or slain Sir William Ellerker, if he had issued out of the town,
 and took away twenty horses from the fields.
 3. With about 140 persons, chiefly Scots, spoiled and burned
 Holmeshaigh.
 4. Attacked Widdrington a second time, and took prisoner and
 ransomed Michael Vynell.
 5. In returning to Scotland took prisoners four of my lord of
 Northumberland's company, three of whom they liberated without
 ransom.
 6. Burned three or four houses in Thropell, and took three
 prisoners.
 7. Burned Lynton, a farmhouse of Sir William Ellerker's, and
 drove away forty-three cattle.
 8. He himself and four servants burned the house of Roger Heron
 in Eshed.
 9. Drove away sixty head of cattle from Togston.
 10. He and his servant, John Ogle, disguised as beggars, robbed
 two men of Staumford on horseback of their horses and spears.
 11. He and four servants plundered a house in Wooddon of household
 stuff value 465. 8d.
 12. He took two horses from Anthony Lilburn.
 13. Took fourteen head of cattle from Whittell and eight from
 Henry Lex of Thurston ; took prisoners three or four men between
 Alnwick and Warkworth, and two between Warkworth and Chibburn ;
 robbed the shop of Henry Sanderson in Alnwick of 4/. worth of
 goods, and the house of Thomas Dryden in Alemouth of four marks'
 worth.
 14. When about thirteen years old was present when Roger
 Jowsye killed a canon of Brinkburn.
 15. At Gosforth, a mile from Newcastle, took prisoners twenty-
 seven persons passing by in the high street, of whom he had 26s. Sd.,
 and ransomed all but seven, whom he kept for a while in servitude
 in Scotland.
 1 6. Returning to Scotland, met his father, and took two prisoners
 on the Tyne on the highway between Newcastle and Chollerford, and
 robbed them of horses and weapons.
 17. In the highway between Lesburyand Warkworth he and three
 servants robbed two fishermen of four marks and an ambling mare.
 Signed - " By me, Umfra Lysle."
 Young Lisle appears to have rendered service in return for his
 pardon. On the 27th December 1531 the earl of Northumberland
 wrote to the king commending " Humphrey Lisle for the apprehension
 of Hob Elwold, who was put to execution when the writer was
 at Dilston, which is a great quietness to the king's subjects on the
 Tyne."

 Then we have in July of 1535 the following entry:
 uly 28.
 At a warden court held in Newcastle, Sir Humphrey Lisle of
 Felton, knight, and Alexander Shafto of Scremerston, were indicted
 for divers march treasons committed by them on the east and middle
 marches. Hearing of the indictments the accused fled, and the earl
 of Northumberland issued a proclamation against them.

 A point of interest follows on the same page. There is an entry concerning a John Marshall and his wife Philippa.  A few generations into the Lisle genealogy from William Lisle, there is a descendant who marries a Philippa Marshall, daughter of John Marshall. It was previously erroneously recorded as Philippa Maskell.  It would be interesting to find if this John Marshall and wife Philippa in Northumberland were ancestors of the later Philippa. It would help further support my claim that Thomas of Bromsgrove Lilly was from this same family. The following is the mention in the same book:

 December 31.
 The prior and convent of Tynemouth grant and confirm to John
 Marshall, gentleman, and Phillippa, his wife, a certain annuity, or
 yearly fee of ten pounds sterling, issuing from their lands and
 tenements in the vill and territories of Benwell, near Newcastle, to be
 paid yearly by equal instalments, at the feasts of the nativity of St.
 John the Baptist and our Lord. To hold the said annuity to the
 aforesaid John Marshall and Phillippa, and either of them longest
 living, with power of distraint after twenty days arrear, etc.

 In November of 1559, there is a mention of a Lancelot Lisle helping to post bond for another man, as follows:
 November 8.
 There is of this date a bond of John Hall of Otterburn, Launcelot
 Lisle of Gosforth, and four others, to the earl of Northumberland,
 and Francis Slingsby, keeper of Tynedale, in I4OL., for the personal
 appearance of Jarret [Gerard] Charlton of the " Howe Hill," at
 Newcastle, on the 15th of January next.

 William Lisle, whom I believe to be the father of Thomas of Bromsgrove, had a son named Lancelot, by his wife whose maiden name was Fenwick. I have not found her Christian name. This Lancelot mentioned above is likely their son.

 In addition to this evidence for Thomas of Bromsgrove being the son of William Lisle and unknown Fenwick is this; The unknown Fenwick wife of William was the daughter of Ralph Fenwick and Margery Mitford.

 The Catherine Fenwick, who married Lancelot Lisle, was the daughter of Richard Fenwick,who in turn was the son of Ralph Fenwick.  (Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families - Page 320 by Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham)

 I found the following in the The Heraldry of Worcestershire
 By Henry Sydney Grazebrook:
 The heraldry of Worcestershire - Page 345 -
Henry Sydney Grazebrook - 1873
LILLY, of Bromsgrove, Stoke Prior, and London---This family did not appear at any of the Visitations; but it appears, from a pedigree in the Harl. MS., 1566, that ____Lilly, of Bromsgrove, had two sons, ____Lilly, and Thomas Lilly (of whom presently). The former had issue (with a daughter, Margaret, married to Richard Bradley), three sons: Gilbert, of London, merchant tailor, who had a daughter, Judith; Reginald, of Bromsgrove, who, by Margaret, his wife, daughtr of ____Bradley, of Stourbridge, had Gilbert, of Bromsgrove, Nicholas and William, of Alvechurch, all married, and a daughtr, Margaret, wife of Francis Knight; and Thomas, of Worcester, who had three sons, Richard, of Worcester, Edmund, of London, and William. Thomas Lilly, of Bromsgrove above named, had issue (with daughters) three sons:--John, who purchased lands in Warwickshire; Richard; and Thomas, of Stoke Prior. The latter was twice married; first to Philippa, daughtr of Thomas Marshall, and secondly, to Jane, daughter and co-heiress of ___Hemming, of the Vale of Evesham. By the latter he had issue a son, Edward, of London, who had a son, George; and by the former he had: Richard, who died s.p.; Thomas, who had a son, Henry; George, of Wikin, who had a daughter, Sarah; and John, of London, who married Mary, daughter of John Gabbett, and had two sons, John and Henry. The latter, (Henry,) was of London, pursuivant of arms; he married Elizabeth daughter of ___Flynt, of Fisherton, co. Wilts, and by her, who died September 10th, 1635, had issue two children, Henry and Elizabeth. William Lilly, of Alvechurch, above named, (son of Reginald Lilly, of Bromsgrove), married Christian, daughter of ___Thompson, of Suffolk, and had issue, Reginald, Nicholas, Gilbert, and Margaret. The children (if any) of his brothers, Gilbert and Nicholas, are not given in the manuscript.--Ermine, a lion rampant azure; also Gules, three lilies slipped argent. Crests: A swan's head erased argent, and, A heart gules, winged or, ensigned with a fleur-de-lis of the last. (Harl. MSS., 1450, 1566, 5814l and Penn MS.)

 Nicholas Lilly, of Bromsgrove, gent., was fined £g. 6s. 8d. for not
 taking knighthood at the coronation of Charles I.

 Note that the above account says that it is unknown where these Lilly's came from before that time. I propose that if my father and grandfather had been executed for treason, I would be inclined to change the spelling of my name and move to a different part of the country and not make it well known where I had come from.

 A family tree with virtually the same information showing the family mysteriously appearing in Bromsgrove is given in

 The Visitation of the County of Worcester Made in the Year 1569 with Other ... - Page 87
 by W P W Phillimore, Worcestershire, Richard Mundy - Heraldry - 1888