Sir Walter Pye II O’Mynde in MuchDewchurch, Herefordshire, England (1610-1659)

      

Son of Sir Walter Pye and his wife Joann Rudhall

Married: Elizabeth Sanders, d/o John Sanders

House of commons: 1628

MP for Brecon 1628-1629

Knighted June 29 1630

MP for Hereford 1640

Gentleman of the Privy Chamber by 1641

Lt.Col. of the Royal Horse 1642-1643

High Steward for Leominster

Royalist

Walter was bapt. Dec 10 1610, the first son of Sir Walter and Joane (Rudhall) Pye. He was educated at Temple, entered 1626 and Exeter College, Oxford, 1627. He married Elizabeth Sanders of Dinton, Buckinghamshire, in 1628. They had 3 surviving children. Elizabeth died in 1640. Walter remarried in 1646 to Mary Tyrrell, of Oakley, Buckinghamshire.

Walter was burdened by the expense of his father’s funeral and providing portions for his sisters’ marriages, causing him to sell large amounts of land and timber in the late 1630’s. Even so, at the outbreak of the English Civil War, he was still one of the wealthiest men in Herefordshire. He was the last of the senior branch of this family to sit in Parliament. Due to his loyalties to the crown and his support of the King, he was deprived of his duties in 1648.

His children, Walter, Catherine and Robert remained Catholic but Walter II embraced the Church of England. He died in 1659 and was buried in St. Clement Dane, London. His granddaughter, Elizabeth Pye, married Henry Gorges, a Tory, bringing the remaining estate to him. His son, Walter III, remained loyal to the Stuarts, living in exile, on the Continent, with them, where he was given the title Lord Kilpec. King James II was in exile, therefore he had no authority  to grant titles. This was in name only.

His son, Robert (1638-1680) married Meliora Drax, dau. of James and Meliora (Horton) Drax. She was born c. 1650. The Drax were cousins of Sir Fernando Gorges and Col. Christopher Coddington, Dep. Gov. of Barbados. James Drax and his brother William, built Drax Hall in St. George, the site of the first sugar cane plantation in Barbados, around 1637. William Drax left for Jamaica in 1669 where he established another Drax Hall estate. Drax Hall in Barbados is still owned by the Drax family and is still a working plantation today.

                                      Drax Hall Plantation

In attempting to find the cousin of Robert Pye, called Edward Pye, it was discovered that there were at least two by that name involved in Barbados sugar cane plantations. The first Edward is noted in 1640 and appears to be a barrister, assisting with the legal aspects of Drax Hall. The second Edward Pye, later known as Col. Edward Pye of Maryland, was not born until 1640, therefore was most certainly not the barrister. The first Edward has alluded discovery of any information, although it was noted that he was ‘of Dymock and Boyce.’ Maryland records show Col. Edward to be the son of John and Blanche (Lingen) Pye of Stoke Edith England and a first cousin of Robert of England and Barbados. Their fathers were brothers.

To finish up this line of the Pye family, Robert and Meliora (Drax) Pye had a daughter, Elizabeth. She married Henry Gorges, a cousin of Sir Fernando Gorges, Founder of Province of Maine in New England. Robert died when Elizabeth was an infant. Robert’s wife sued for support. This appears in the Archives:

         

         Meliora Pye, widow and administratrix of Robt. Pye. v. Edwd. Pye,             Peter Smyth, and Eliz. Pye (an infant), by her guardian).: Goods               and chattels and debts of Robert Pye, deceased (plaintiff's late                 husband), an annuity payable out of the estate of Robt. to Edwd.               Pye (one of the defendants), and the jointure lands of the plaintiff,             lying in Mynde, Kilpeck, Much Dewchurch, and Saint Devereux;                 and touching a meadow called "The Long Meadow," parcel of the             manor of Kilpeck, and an annuity of 100l. payable to plaintiff                       (before her marriage with Robt.) out of "some estate in the Island of           Barbadoes" settled upon her by her father, Sir James Drax, &c.,                 &c.: Hereford

          Date: 2 Jas 2 Held by: The National Archives, Kew  (1687)

In the 1680 census for St. George, Barbados, there is an Edward Pye, Esq. listed as a resident. This is most likely the Edward Pye who soon made his way to Maryland in 1682.

The History of Parliament

Journals of the House of Commons

barbados-beaches-plus.com/drax-hall-plantation

A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire

          By Rev. Charles J. Robinson, M.A.  1873

The Castles of Herefordshire and Their Lords

          By Rev. Charles J. Robinson 1869

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