Lionel Branch^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]}

1566 - 1605  (38 years)

• Name	Lionel Branch  [9, 10]
  Birth	18 Aug 1566	Abingdon, Berkshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1585	Oxford, Oxfordshire, England   [11]
  Death	1 Jun 1605	Ludgate, London, England
  Person ID	I46797	Master
  Last Modified	5 Feb 2023

  
  

  Father	William Branch, Lord, Mayor Abington,   b. 1 Jun 1524, Abingdon, Berkshire, England d. 7 Feb 1601, Abingdon, Berkshire, England (Age 76 years)
  Mother	Katherine Barbara Jennings, (Magna Charta line),   b. 1524, Abingdon, Berkshire, England d. 25 Aug 1597, Abingdon, Berkshire, England (Age 73 years)
  Family ID	F10640	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Valentia Sparkes,   b. 18 Aug 1566, St Martin, Ludgate, London, England d. 4 October 1605, London, London, England (Age 39 years)
  Marriage	8 Jul 1596	St Martin, Ludgate, London, England
  Children	1. Thomas V Branch,   b. 1597, Ludgate, London, England d. 1603, St Botolph Bishopsgate, London, England (Age 6 years)   2. Richard III Branch,   b. 1598, London, London, England d. 1602, London, London, England (Age 4 years)   3. Elizabeth Branch,   b. Dec 1599, London, London, England d. 1681, , Henrico, Virginia, USA (Age 81 years) + 4. Christopher Branch, Sr,   b. 2 Sep 1602, London, London, England d. 20 Feb 1681, Kingsland Plantation, Chesterfield, Virginia, USA (Age 78 years)
  Family ID	F10642	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 Nov 2022

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 18 Aug 1566 - Abingdon, Berkshire, England Residence - 1585 - Oxford, Oxfordshire, England Marriage - 8 Jul 1596 - St Martin, Ludgate, London, England Death - 1 Jun 1605 - Ludgate, London, England  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Lionel Branch Birth: Aug. 18, 1556 Berkshire, England Death: 1605 London Greater London, England Lionel Branch was born at Abingdon-on-Thames in Berkshire which claims to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with people having lived there for at least 6,000 years. He was the third son of William and Catherine (Jennings) Branch. On 02 Jul 1585, he matriculated Magdalen College of Oxford University as a commoner, and graduated 11 Feb 1590. Lionel Branch and his wife, Valentina Sparke, were married 08 July 1596 at St. Martin, Ludgate, in the city of London ("Leonell Branch of London gent. and Valentia Sparke of St. Martin Ludgate said city, spinster, daughter of "____ " Sparke late of said city, draper, deceased, gen. lic., 7 Jul 1596."). Their only child was Christopher Branch (b. Abt. 1602 Greater London, Middlesex, England, d. 1680 Henrico VA). Valentina Sparke was born circa 1575 in London, Middlesex, England and died circa 1610 of unspecified causes. After his marriage, he and his wife returned to Abingdon and all trace of him was lost. He died intestate. From all accounts, Lionel was the "black sheep" of the family. Called "my unthrifty and disobedient son" in his father's (William Branch) will and bequeathed merely "my black gown". Obviously, no love was lost between Lionel and his older brother, Thomas, either. Thus when Thomas made his will in 1603 he bequeathed nothing to Lionel and willed the valuable Bull Inn property of Abingdon to his brother-in-law, Robert Payne. William Branch, the younger brother of Lionel still at Oxford, felt that the natural male heirs of William Branch should inherit the Bull Inn and accordingly brought suit to upset the will, the cause being decided in favor of Robert Payne in February of 1603-4. Christopher Branch, the only son of Lionel Branch, returned briefly from his home in Henrico, Co., VA to Abingdon in 1632 with the same goal of having the ownership of the Bull Inn of Abingdon invalidated by a court suit. He was also unsuccessful. LIONEL BRANCH (WILLIAM4, RICHARD3, JOHN2, JOHN1) was born 18 August 1566 in St. Helens Church Abington, Berkshire, England1, and died 1605 in London, England. He married VALENTIA SPARK/E/S 08 July 1596 in Ludgate, London, England2, daughter of LUDGATE SPARKS. She was born Abt. 1576, and died in England. Notes for LIONEL BRANCH: Lionel Branch was born in 1566 in London and died 1605 in England. He married Valentia Sparkes July 7, 1596 in St. Martins, Ludgate, London, England. Lionel Branch was baptized at St. Helen Church on August 18, 1566. That he was something of a black sheep or, more charitable, a prodigal son, is evident from the terms of his father's will, in which he is castigated as "my unthrifty and disobedient sonne," to whom only a black gown and his father's best cloak was left. Lionel entered Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1585, as a commoner, matriculating on July 2 in that year, proceeded to his B.A. on February 11, 1590/1, and was a demy of Magdalen between 1585 and 1593, after which he must have gone to London. Lionel must have prospered, for on July 8, 1596, at St Martin, Ludgate, in the City of London, distinguished by the status of "gentleman," he married Valentia Sparkes, the daughter of ______ Sparkes, deceased, formerly a draper, of the City of London. By her, apparently, he had only one son, Christopher, who was provided for in his grandfather's will by a bequest of five marks on his attaining eighteen years of age. Lionel appears never to have returned to his native town and after his marriage, all trace of him is lost. Neither record of his burial nor of his will have been found. (Branch of Abingdon: A Revision by Peter Walne, Genealogies of Virginia Families -From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 1, p. 219) Child of LIONEL BRANCH and VALENTIA SPARK/E/S is: 2. i. CHRISTOPHER6 BRANCH, b. 02 September 1602, Kent Co. England; d. Bef. 20 February 1681/82, Henrico Co., VA. Leonell Branch (Braunch), of Berks, pleb. Magdalen Coll.., matric. 2 July 1585, aged 17; demy 1585-93; B.A. II Feb, 1590-1 Oxford University Alumni 1500-1886 Wills of William and Thomas Branch and Bull Inn. Thomas Branch bought the Bull Inn from Robert Forman at some date between 1554 and 1565 based upon the Amyce survey of 1554. However, the title deeds are not now extant. Under the terms of an agreement made on the same day as his will, Thomas' father granted all his property and posessions (except for those bequeathed by his will to others) to Thomas. By virtue of this deed and the terms of the will of his namesake uncle, Thomas, he obtained posession of the Bull Inn, which, in his will dated January 22, 1602/3 and proved April 22, 1603, he bequeathed to his brother-in-law, Robert Payne, husband of his sister, Martha. His will also discloses that Thomas held certain copyhold land in the neighboring parish of Drayton, upon which an encumbrance of 80 pounds, due to the Lord of the Manor, Sir Francis Stonor, was laid, which encumberance he doubted his wife would properly discharge. After his death, his will was the subject of litigation in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, when his brother, William, brought an action against Robert Payne, Thomas' brother-in-law and executor, to test the validity of the will. On February 13, 1603/4, the Court declared a definistive sentence, upholding its validity in favor of the executor. This decision confirmed Payne in his ownership of the Bull Inn. This account was written by Peter Walne, author of "Branch of Abingdon," appearing in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol 67, 1959. page 92 On page 95, Walne picks up the story of the Bull Inn with regards to Christopher William Branch (1602-1681), William's grandson. "In his written pleadings in the case in Chancery over the ownership of the Bull Inn in 1632, Christopher says his father (Lionel) had died 27 years previously (i.e., in 1605), at which time he himself was but 2 or 3 years old, placing his birth in 1602 or 1603. In 1632, (Christopher) returned briefly to England (from his new home in the Virginia colony) for the purpose, amongst other things no doubt, of trying to gain posession of the Bull Inn, which he claimed ought, by rights, to be his, but of which he had been cheated by his uncle Robert Payne." See Public Record Office, Chancery Proceedings, Charles I, Bundle B 21, no. 34. The validity of Christopher's claim rested solely on the interpretation of the wording of the relevant section of the will. Christopher's case was that, by the terms of his great-uncle Thomas' will of 1565, the Bull Inn after descending to his grandfather, William, and to his uncle, William's eldest son, Thomas, should have descended to Christopher's father, Lionel, as heir at law of the younger Thomas, and so to Christopher on Lionel's death. The devise of the Bull Inn by the younger Thomas to his brother-in-law, Robert Payne, was, according to Christopher, unlawful. Whilst no decree of the court has been found, Christopher's plea was successfully resisted by Richard Payne, Robert's son, to whom the property was conveyed in 1624 as part of the settlement on his marriage. Shortly after the hearing of this case, Richard Payne must have conveyed the Bull Inn to Christ's Hospital, for numerous leases by the Hospital dating from 1644 to 1856 exist amongst the Hospital muniments. Note that the Hospital sold the Bull Inn (then called the Black Bull) in 1905 hence the absence of any title deeds other than these leases, in the Hospital's own archives. Birth: Aug. 18, 1556 Berkshire, England Death: 1605 London Greater London, England Lionel Branch was born at Abingdon-on-Thames in Berkshire which claims to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with people having lived there for at least 6,000 years. He was the third son of William and Catherine (Jennings) Branch. On 02 Jul 1585, he matriculated Magdalen College of Oxford University as a commoner, and graduated 11 Feb 1590. Lionel Branch and his wife, Valentina Sparke, were married 08 July 1596 at St. Martin, Ludgate, in the city of London ("Leonell Branch of London gent. and Valentia Sparke of St. Martin Ludgate said city, spinster, daughter of "____ " Sparke late of said city, draper, deceased, gen. lic., 7 Jul 1596."). Their only child was Christopher Branch (b. Abt. 1602 Greater London, Middlesex, England, d. 1680 Henrico VA). Valentina Sparke was born circa 1575 in London, Middlesex, England and died circa 1610 of unspecified causes. After his marriage, he and his wife returned to Abingdon and all trace of him was lost. He died intestate. From all accounts, Lionel was the "black sheep" of the family. Called "my unthrifty and disobedient son" in his father's (William Branch) will and bequeathed merely "my black gown". Obviously, no love was lost between Lionel and his older brother, Thomas, either. Thus when Thomas made his will in 1603 he bequeathed nothing to Lionel and willed the valuable Bull Inn property of Abingdon to his brother-in-law, Robert Payne. William Branch, the younger brother of Lionel still at Oxford, felt that the natural male heirs of William Branch should inherit the Bull Inn and accordingly brought suit to upset the will, the cause being decided in favor of Robert Payne in February of 1603-4. Christopher Branch, the only son of Lionel Branch, returned briefly from his home in Henrico, Co., VA to Abingdon in 1632 with the same goal of having the ownership of the Bull Inn of Abingdon invalidated by a court suit. He was also unsuccessful. Lionel Branch's parents: Father: William Branch b. Aft. 1524 at Abingdon, Berkshire, d. Bef. 24 Apr 1602. Served as Mayor of Abingdon. Mother: Catherine Jennings b. c1532, bur. 25 Aug 1597 at St. Helen's Church, Abingdon. Her lineage is proven to Charlemagne through King William I (the Conqueror). Family links: Parents: William Braunch (1524 - 1601) Katherine Jennings Braunch (1524 - 1587) Children: Christopher Branch (1598 - 1682)* *Calculated relationship Burial: Unknown Created by: Gresham Farrar

  
  

• Sources

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