1. Thomas Pepys 1 was born about 1389 in of, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, England. Thomas was Bayliffe to the Abbott in 1434 in Crowland, Cambridgeshire, England.
According to Arthur Bryant: "for two hundred and fifty years the Abbey of Crowland was served by Pepizes, as Reeves, rent collectors, haywards, granators."
"The first Pepys of whom I have been able to find any record is Thomas Pepys said on the authority of the Court Rolls of the manor of Pelhams in Cottenham Cambridgshire to have been "bayliffe to the Abbot of Crowland,. in the 12th Henry VI (A.D. 1434). It is probably therefore that he was born in the latter part of the preceeding century, or toward the end of the reign of Richard II. Of his son Robert nothing is recorded further than that he was of Cottenham."
From: the genealogy given by P. H. Pepys esq. published in "Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys esg" by Rev Mynors Bright. Dodd, Mead and Co, NY 1889. (Written in 1876).Neither W C Pepys or E Chappel include this Thomas and both agree that even his son Robert must be considered apocryphal.
Spelling: Somewhat arbitrarily I have standardized names to "Pepys" even though this did not become the norm untill the late 1700s: for example, John Pepys and Mary Gibson in 1683 are recorded as "Peepes" on their marriage licence. The Visitation of Cambridge, 1619 uses the spelling "Pepis". The " Visitation of Norfolk, 1585" actually uses the spelling "Pepys" for this Robert and his son William and then changes to "Pepes" for subsequent generations. The Visitation of Cambridge, 1684" uses the spelling " Pepys" throughout.
He had the following children:
+ 2 M i Robert Pepys