1. JOHN REDE

b.c.1341 Bledlow, Bucks
m.c.1367 CECELIA HARLYNGRUGGE (b.c.1345 Checkendon, m.2. Sir Thomas Sackville (d. between Feb. and July 1406), d. 20 May 1428 Checkendon)
d. 20 May 1404 Checkendon, Oxfordshire

Two weeks from Easter, 1 Richard II (2 May 1378) John Terry of Cokham granted to John Rede and Cecily, his wife, the fourth part of the manors of Checkendon and Stoke Marmyon and has rendered it to them in the same court, excepting a moiety of one messuage, of one carucate of land, and of 40 acres of wood, and a fourth part of eight virgates of land, of 20 acres of meadow and of 100 shillings of rent in the fourth part of the manors, to hold to John Rede and Cecily, and their heirs, of the chief lords for ever. And besides John Terry granted for himself and his heirs that the moiety and fourth part above excepted, which William Harlyngrugge held for life by the law of England of the inheritance of John Terry on the day the agreement was made, and which after the decease of William ought to revert to John Terry and his heirs- after the decease of William shall remain to John Rede and Cecily and their aforesaid heirs, to hold together with the fourth part of the manors of the chief lords for ever. In default of such heirs, remainder to the right heirs of Cecily.(6)

On 25 Mar. 1383 John Hawman, with the assent of Walter Garstone and Thomas Broun, grants to John Rede for 4 1/2 years all the lands and tenements and services in "Chakyndene", the woods excepted, which were his late father's, John Hawman, with housebote and heibote from the neighboring hedges, but ash and oak must not be cut. On 30 Sept. 1383 John & Margaret Hawman grant to John Rede and Cecilia his wife, all the property formerly belonging to John Haweman in Chakenden and Stoke, except the wood called Hawemanisgrove, with the rights and restrictions as before. The rent is a grain of corn at Michaelmas for the first sixteen years, after that 100s. The lessors are given the usual right of entry if the rent is in arrears. Witnesses Thomas Barentyn, John Harwedone, Walter Garstone, William Harlyngrug, William atte Dene.(5)

In 1384 William Harlyngrugge granted Roudens (which he held through his wife Alice Marmion) to John Rede and his wife Cecilia, daughter of William and Alice. Cecilia left it to her son Edmund in 1407.

By his marriage to Cecilia, John obtained one quarter of Checkenden manor. He obtained the rights to Standhill manor in Pyrton from the heirs of John de Coleby in 1392 and in 1397 and 1398 he bought out other rights in the manor for 100 marks.(1)

On 26 Sept., 1 Henry IV (1400), Roger Poure de Ottyndon, John Urbane and Walter Bowyer, capellanus, appointed Thomas Harlyngrugge and Nicholas Rouden their attorneys to deliver seisin to John Rede de Chakenden and Cecily, his wife, of one messuage, one toft, and one carrucate of land once the property of John Burfelde, all in Stoke Basset and Ippesden, and the lands called Wykes and all lands in Mungewell.(2)

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John's Brass at the Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Checkendon, Oxfordshire

Procession of the Apostles- 13th Century

In 1434 John Ormesby being enfeoffed by Cicely, late wife of John Rede, in the manor of Standelf, in the parish of Pyrton, conveyed it by a deed to Edmund Rede.(4)

"Early on in his career Rede, who came from Bledlow in Buckinghamshire, acquired a tenement, shop and garden in Oxford, which he sold in 1382. As a consequence of his marriage, contracted a few years previously, he had by then established himself as a landowner in the county, with holdings in Checkendon and Stoke which his wife had inherited through her mother; and these estates, substantially increased after the death of his father-in-law (who held a large part of the inheritance �by the courtesy�), formed the basis of his descendants� prosperity in the following century. With the profits of a successful career in the law, Rede was able to add to his possessions the Oxfordshire manors of Standhill (in the 1390s) and Gatehampton (1402).(7)

Rede�s legal practice, already well-established by 1378, brought him clients from both Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, the best known among them to start with being (Sir) Richard Chambernon and Thomas Childrey. He soon came to be regularly appointed to royal commissions, particularly those of a judicial nature such as gaol deliveries, and his service as a j.p. lasted more than 20 years. Probably by Michaelmas 1387 he had been made steward of the manor of Benson, which, previously held by the Black Prince and his widow Joan of Kent, had quite recently come into the possession of Sir John Salisbury, a knight of the King�s chamber. However, Salisbury�s execution by judgement of the Merciless Parliament, and the forfeiture of his estates, led to Rede being summoned to the Exchequer in the Easter term of 1389 to produce certain court rolls still in his possession, so that the bailiff could make full account of the manorial issues. The same year he was also discharging the office of steward of the Chiltern hundreds, presumably as deputy to Sir John Golafre, another knight of the chamber and at that time constable of Wallingford castle. On one occasion (in 1391) Rede witnessed a deed at Rotherfield Peppard for James Butler, earl of Ormond. Then, in 1394, he agreed to act as attorney for Sir Walter de la Pole during the latter�s absence in Ireland with Richard II�s army. Associated with him in this last task was de la Pole�s brother-in-law, Robert James of Wallingford, with whose family he had long had close dealings. Rede was also acquainted with John Cassy, the chief baron of the Exchequer, with whom he was party to transactions in the following year. Recognition of his abilities led to his promotion to the estate and degree of serjeant-at-law in the Michaelmas term of 1396, when a great feast was held at Westminster, he and his five fellows providing the food.(8)

In May 1399 the serjeant was nominated as attorney by both Richard Metford, bishop of Salisbury, and Henry Beaufort, bishop of Lincoln, while they accompanied Richard II to Ireland. His appointment to commissions of gaol delivery by the caretaker government under the duke of York in July suggests that there was still no question of his loyalty to the King, but he nevertheless acquiesced in the usurpation of Henry of Bolingbroke, continuing to serve on the bench without a break until his death. Perhaps the transition was made easier for him by his connexion with the new King�s half-brother, Bishop Beaufort, for whom he witnessed a charter at Oxford in 1402. He was then in receipt of �20 p.a. as a justice of assize (as paid from May 1401); but naturally enough he continued to supplement his income with fees from private clients, such as (Sir) William Moleyns, the wealthy Buckinghamshire landowner, who engaged his services for �2 a year. Rede was among the professional lawyers who in April 1403 were each asked to lend �100 to the Crown.(9)

Rede died on 31 May 1404 and was buried at Checkendon, where a monumental brass (since lost) commemorated his devotion as �quondam serviens domini Regis ad legem�, and depicted him wearing his gown of office. Soon afterwards his widow, Cecily (who subsequently obtained a licence from Bishop Repingdon of Lincoln to have religious services celebrated in her private chapel at Checkendon), married Sir Thomas Sackville I of Fawley, Buckinghamshire, only to be again widowed before the end of 1406. It was Rede�s son, Edmund, who through his marriage in 1412 to Christine, daughter of Robert James, was to establish the family as landowners of some importance when, several years later, Christine became her father�s sole heir."(10)