Their son, John, married Elizabeth Scudamore and three of
their sons were John, Walter and Jenkin.
The previous blog followed Jenkin; this one will follow John Pye. His
wife was Agnes (Anne) Andrews, daughter of Richard Andrew ap Ithell of Brown’s
Place.
So far, only one male child has been found for John and
Agnes Pye. His name is also John and he became known as John Pye O’The
Mynde. In the passage of time, Brown’s
Place became The Mynde, located in Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire. The Mynde is
considered the ancestral home of the Pye family.
This region of Herefordshire is also called Ergyng and
Archenfield. Located within this area is a place called Wormelow Tump, near
Much Dewchurch, and it’s believed to be the ancient location of ‘Licat Amr.’ The
9th century historian, Nennius, wrote that ‘Licat Amr’ is the place
where King Arthur executed his traitorous son, Mordred and buried him
there. There are many strong legends
connecting King Arthur to Much Dewchurch. Although some are folklore, there is
strong evidence that a definite historical person, perhaps a Celtic leader or Chieftain
fought against the Saxons in the 6th century. Arthur’s mother,
Igraine (Ygema) is said to be the daughter of Amlawdd Wledig, a member of the
Royal House of Dumnonia. Ergyng was an ancient British
Kingdom known as Ariconium by the
Romans, later called Archenfield and today is known as South
Herefordshire .
Now to get back to John Pye O’ the Mynde and his very interesting
history. All accounts that have any records of him agree that he was married
three times. His three wives were Anne de la Bere (Anne Barry), Elizabeth
Whitney and Anne Brydges. Having three wives was not all that unusual for the
15th century. So many women died in childbirth, leaving young
children to be cared for and perhaps a newborn as well. So multiple marriages
were fairly common. What was unusual for this John Pye was the fact that he was
b. in 1444 and died in 1550. He lived 106 years in a time when people were doing
well if they made it to the age of 50. The
other amazing fact concerning this man was that he had 42 children by his three
wives and is said to have fathered an additional 22 children by various other
women.
He is said to be buried at Much Dewchurch and the following
inscription is said to be his epitaph:
‘1550. “Here lyeth the Body of John Pye of Minde, a
travayler in far countryes, his life ended; he left behind him Walter, his son,
heire of Minde; a hundred and six yeares he was truly, and had sons and
daughters two and forty! John Pye of the mynde, sone of Jon. pye, seconde sone
of Jon. pye of Sadlebowe, esq., married 3 wiefes; his first wief was Anne, da.
to Sr. Richard Delabyre, knight; his second wief was Anne Brigees; and his third
wief was alrothes, da. to Sr. Robert Whitney, lord of Whitney. Hee had bye
theme 42 children; And hee had by Concubines 22 Children.’ (Spelling is from
the original epitaph.)
It is said that during the reign of Queen Victoria
It’s difficult to believe that any one person could father
that many children. What is even more difficult to deal with is that very few
of them have been named. It would seem there has to be some kind of record,
somewhere, that listed the children of this man. Granted, there could have been
records which have been lost to time, mildew, water damage, fire, what have
you. But this enormous family seems to have vanished. John and Anne de la Bere
were said to have had three sons, Walter, John and Edmund. No children can be
found for Anne Brydges and only one daughter, Elizabeth, has been discovered
for Elizabeth Whitney.
In the course of several years, trying to learn more about this family, I have come across so many people researching the Pyes. They come from all over
As luck would have it, my Pye family line descends from two
sons of John and Anne (de la Bere) Pye, one who ventured off to Cornwall
