Timeline

1483:
Edward IV died suddenly on 9th April after 22 years as king and was buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle – the first King to be buried in the Chapel. In his will Edward named his 12 year old son, Edward V, his heir to the throne and his brother, Richard the Duke of Gloucester to be his son’s Protector. Edward reigned for only eleven weeks before Richard questioned the validity of his late brother’s marriage and his children were therefore declared illegitimate on 22nd June. The young heir, Edward V and his brother Richard, were taken to the Tower of London where they remained for a time but were never seen again. It is believed Richard had them murdered to claim the throne. The bones of two children found during renovations to the White Tower in 1674 were believed to be those of Edward V and his younger brother. The bones were later officially reburied in Westminster Abbey. On 6th July – the day after the date set aside for Edward V’s coronation – Richard was asked to accept the throne and was therefore crowned Richard III, King of England on 6th July at Westminster Hall.

1484:
A Truce was signed with the Scots in September.

1485:
Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth– the last major battle of the Wars of the Roses – on the Pembrokeshire coast at Milford Haven. He was killed by the opposing army led by Henry VII on 22nd August, just two years after his coronation and was buried in the Monastery of the Grey Friars in the Church of St. Mary in the city of Leicester. Henry VII was subsequently crowned King of England on 30th October at Westminster Abbey, Middlesex. He was a Lancastrian and became the first Tudor monarch at the age of 28.

1486:
Henry VII married Elizabeth Plantagenet, the daughter of Edward IV – both were descendants of John of Gaunt.

1495:
Poynings Laws brings Irish under English rule.

1509:
Henry VII died on 21st April at Richmond after 24 years on the throne of England and was buried at Westminster Abbey, Middlesex. His eldest son, Arthur, who had been married to Catherine of Aragon, pre-deceased him, having died five months after the wedding and Catherine was later betrothed to Arthur's brother. However when Henry VII died his second son, Henry VIII, became King of England and six weeks later married Catherine of Aragon on 11th June. She bore him one child (the future Queen Mary). Henry VIII was crowned King on 23rd July at Westminster Abbey, Middlesex.

1513:
The Scots were defeated by the English at Flodden. The Scots lost King James IV and 10,000 men (the “Flowers of the Forest”). Henry VIII joins forces with his father-in-law, Ferdinand of Spain and leads the English army against France and wins the Battle of Flanders.

1514:
Building began on Hampton Court Palace along the north bank of the River Thames. The project was the idea of Thomas Wolsey, the newly appointed Archbishop of York.

1515:
Thomas Wolsey was named Cardinal and Lord Chancellor.

1516:
Princess Mary (later Queen of England) - the only surviving child of Catherine of Aragon– is born.

1527:
Henry tells Catherine of Aragon that he intends to divorce her.

1528:
King Henry VIII forces Wolsey to surrender the ownership of Hampton Court Palace to him. Wolsey continued to live there however until he fell from favour and was arrested by Henry. Immediately, the King set about enlarging and rebuilding the palace to his own taste. Part of the Great Hall and the Palace Kitchens are among the only rooms that look much as they were in the original building.

1529:
Thomas Moore became Lord Chancellor, replacing Wolsey in October.

1530:
Wolsey was arrested for treason but died on his way from York to the Tower of London.

1533:
Anne Boleyn became pregnant and Henry VIII rejected the power of the Pope in England and had the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer grant an annulment of his marriage. He subsequently divorced Catherine of Aragon and on 25th January, married the second of his six wives – Anne Boleyn. Catherine was renounced of the title Queen, separated from her daughter and forced to leave court.
Elizabeth – the future Queen of England – was born on 7th September.

1534:
King Henry VIII became Supreme Head of the Church of England in place of the Pope. Thomas More refused to acknowledge him and was imprisoned in the Tower of London on April 17th. Henry breaks with Rome and the Church of England was established.

1535:
On 1st July, Thomas Moore's trial began, which delivered an unanimous verdict of guilty and on the 6th July, he was beheaded on Tower Hill. He was buried in the Chapel Royal of St. Peter and Vincula in the Tower of London. The Suppression of the Monasteries, under Henry VIII, began. An Act of Dissolution was passed and the King confiscated the religious houses and lands attached to them. By 1540 the last of the Abbeys had been added to the ruins with which the land was strewn from one end to the other.

1536:
Catherine of Aragon died on 7th January at Kimbolton Castle, Hunts and was buried at Peterborough Cathedral, England. On May 2nd, Ann Boleyn was committed to the Tower of London, indicted for treason (adultry) and was beheaded on the 19th May, having been tried and convicted of having committed adultry with five men – among them her brother, George, Lord Rochford. She was beheaded on Tower Hill with a sword, rather than the customary axe. This sword was brought from Calais by a Frenchman especially to perform the task. Afterwards she was buried in the Chapel Royal of St. Peter and Vincula in the Tower of London. Then on 30th July Henry married Jane Seymour.
Some months after her mother's execution, the Princess Elizabeth – less than 3 years old at the time – was subsequently reduced in rank, declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the line of succession. She stopped being a princess and was only the natural daughter of the King.

Edward Bayntun was born at Faulston House, Faulston, in the County of Wiltshire in 1480. There are many medieval records and accounts of Sir Edward, and in all, his name is spelt as 'Baynton'. However the spelling of the surname changed in later generations to 'Bayntun' and this can be seen on the various monuments to the family. To avoid confusion, he is referred to in these pages as Bayntun.

Before 1505, he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John Sulyard of Wetherden, Suffolk. Sir John was Lord Chief Justice of England under King Henry VII in 1485 and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas to Richard II. Elizabeth was 13 years older than Edward at the time.

There were two Elizabeth Sulyards within the same generation. In a previous marriage to Agnes Hungate, Sir John had a daughter, Elizabeth, who married John Garneys. However the Elizabeth Sulyard who married Edward Bayntun was from his second marriage to Anne Andrews of Baylham. Why he chose to name two daughters identically is a mystery – perhaps his second wife liked the name Elizabeth, which was an incredibly popular name during that period.

At the age of 36, Edward inherited the Manor of Bromham and the Manor of Faulston after the death of his father, John Bayntun, in 1516. He was a courtier and a soldier, and like his ancestors, a prominent figure in his native county. It is said that his career was that of a royal favourite with Henry VIII and was active at court, on campaign and in local administration, who emerged early and profitably as a champion of religious reform.

At Hampton Court, Sir Edward Bayntun stood high in favour with King Henry VIII, where he enjoyed considerable influence and was Vice-Chamberlain to five of his Queens (Ann Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr). He seems to have been a Queen's Household man for his entire career and although it is doubtful if Catherine of Aragon had a Vice-Chamberlain before she became Queen, as she was virtually living on charity, it is believed she and Sir Edward were friends and said to be a frequent visitor to his house.

The main entrance to Hampton Court Palace where Sir Edward Bayntun served as Vice-Chamberlain successively to five of Henry's queens. Photo by kind permission of Geraldine Curtis www.geraldine-curtis.me.uk/photoblog

By King Henry VIII, Sir Edward was deputed to use his private friendship with Cardinal Pole, to bring over the prelate to his Majesty's views, but all his endeavour proved unavailing. These were turbulent times and the King had severed relations with Rome and he was confiscating property on a large scale from the monks and friars before selling it off to courtiers, landed gentry and public servants.

Sir Edward was also a friend of the illustrious Hugh Latimer, although he certainly takes not rank among the pioneers of the reforming movement. He may rather have been regarded as one of those who were watching, with interest, the dawn of the coming day and waiting, not without some amount of self reproach, for that fortitude which the alliance of others only could inspire. The two corresponded frequently with each other on religious subjects.

Sir Edward was on the receiving end of some of the King's handouts and accumulated an enormous amount of property and land while at the Court of King Henry VIII which saw him become one of Wiltshire's greatest landowners.

With his support for Protestantism and his interest at the Royal Court, he was no doubt able, at the Suppression of the Monasteries, to make easy terms with the Crown for the purchase of some of their property – some of which included:

1528 - COWAGE ESTATE
Cowage Estate, once the property of John FitzJohn, Lord of Cherhill Manor in 1265, was passed to the Crown in 1487. As an estate of c. 110 acres, including a house and an 80 acre pasture called Cowage, it was granted to Sir Edward Bayntun in 1528. His son, Andrew, sold it in 1564 shortly before his death to Walter Segar, alias Parsons.

1535 - ALL CANNINGS CHURCH
A church at All Cannings, a few miles east of Devizes, stood from the early part of the 13th century, with its advowson belonging to the Abbess of Winchester, until the Dissolution. In 1535, it was leased for £30 a year to Sir Edward Bayntun, until his death in 1544, when it was then passed onto his son, Andrew, who subsequently sub-let it. By 1831 it had become the richest parish church in Wiltshire. A chantry chapel was founded in the church, probably by Sir Richard Beauchamp, Lord St. Amand and included the arms of St. Amand and Beauchamp. Fragments of stained glass in the transept window include the initials 'IB', perhaps for John Bayntun (father of the above-mentioned Sir Edward) who succeeded Sir Richard Beauchamp.

1535 - THE MANOR OF WEST HATCH
In 1475 the executors of Gilbert Kymer (d. 1463), the Dean of Salisbury, were licensed to give West Hatch Manor to support the Chaplain of the newly founded Kymer Chantry in Salisbury Cathedral. The Manor belonged to the chantry in 1535. Without the King's license the chantry was dissolved soon afterwards and the last Chaplain and the Treasurer and the Dean of the Cathedral conveyed the manor to Sir Edward Bayntun. In 1538 or 1539, Sir Edward conveyed it to Richard Snell.

1536 - THE MANOR OF GODSWELL
Godswell (later known as Godswell and Chapmanslade), was part of the lands of Stanley Abbey in the 12th and 13th century and remained among the possessions of the Abbey until the house was dissolved in 1536. After the Dissolution the manor was granted, along with the Manor of Heywood, to Sir Edward Bayntun and it remained Bayntun property until 1561 when his son, Sir Edward Bayntun, sold it to Thomas Long.

1537 - THE MANOR OF HEYWOOD
Heywood was also part of the lands of Stanley Abbey and at the time of the Dissolution in 1537, these lands were annexed to the Manor of Godswell and also acquired by Sir Edward Bayntun. It was sold in 1561 by Sir Andrew Bayntun, the eldest son and heir of the above mentioned Sir Edward.

1537 - THE ABBEY OF STANLEY (The House of the Cisterican Monks)
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Sir Edward Bayntun obtained a Grant from Henry VIII in February 1537 and purchased the house of the Cistercian Monks of Stanley and the greater part of the demesne. It stood just within the eastern edge of the parish of Chippenham, situated in the valley of the Marden River, between Bremhill and Chippenham and was a Royal foundation of Henry II and his mother, the Empress Maud, dating back to 1151, with the principal part of the estate belonging thereto, and other lands in the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire and Somerset. At the time, the Abbey had 11 tenements, 2 gardens and 28 acres of meadow in Calne. The net income from its estates was £204 3s 6d in 1536.

The Abbey was demolished and some of the materials used in Sir Edward's new house at Bromham, but the archway at the entrance to the Abbey was carefully dismantled and re-erected at the entrance to his new mansion - Bromham House. It was rebuilt as a gift from Sir Edward's good friend Catherine of Aragon, who was Henry VIII's first wife. The property was sold 300 years later by John Bayntun Starky – one of his descendants. The Abbot's house was spared and stood for some time afterwards and was occupied by William Ansty, one of whom married Anne Bayntun, the granddaughter of the above mentioned Sir Edward Bayntun.

A receipt issued by the Court of Augmentation to Sir Edward Bayntun on the 14th February, shows £265 - 13s - 4d as part payment of £1,200 for the purchase of part of the lands of Stanley Abbey.

1537 - THE MANOR OF ROWDE
The advowson of the Vicarage of Rowde, including the Rectory and Manor of Rowde was granted in 1537 to Sir Edward Bayntun. After that date the rights of patronage were exercised by the heirs of Sir Edward and followed the same descent as the Manor of Bromham until 1864.

Battle Abbey (pictured left), photo courtesy Michael W. Cook (Castles, Abbeys and Medieval Buildings) www.castles-abbeys.co.uk

1538 - THE MANOR OF BROMHAM BATTLE
In 1531 the Abbot and Monks of Malmesbury elected Sir Edward Bayntun as their Steward and as Steward of the Manor of Bromham for which he received from the Abbot and Convent of Battle Abbey 26s - 4d per annum. But events were about to happen to his much greater advantage when the Abbey came into the King's hands and was leased to Sir Edward Bayntun for 89 years from Michaelmas in 1535 for £34 yearly. He received the whole of their property in the village, including the manor, the advowson of the church at Bromham, together with the Manor of Clench and the Manor of Lislebonne. However little of this rent did either the said Abbot or Convent receive for the long lease, as in many similar instances, had been obtained merely as a stepping-stone to easy purchase. In 1537 the Act for Dissolving the Monastery was passed by Henry VIII, and in 1538 its property at Bromham had become the freehold of its new lessee, Sir Edward Bayntun, by a grant of the Crown. It seems Sir Edward was looking after the Abbey estates for them, by collecting rents, etc and managing on their behalf, for which he was paid the above sum mentioned. Once the Abbey passed to the King, it seems Sir Edward used his influence and claimed the land for himself. From that day forward the two Bromham Manors - Bromham Battle and Bromham Roches - became one and were sometimes referred to as Bromham Bayntun. All of the Abbey's subsequent possessions around Battle were sold to Sir Anthony Browne, who is buried with his wife in Battle Church, where their fine effigy still stands today. A deed dated 11th November 1538, by Sir Edward Bayntun, gave to Andrew Bayntun, his eldest son and heir apparent, all his estate, term, title, and interest in the Manor of Bromham Battle, with the advowson of the Church of Bromham, and the Manor of Clench, as leased to him by the Abbot and Convent. However in 1570, his brother, Sir Edward Bayntun assigned the property to Thomas Ivy of West Kingston.

1538 - THE MANOR OF CLENCH
In c1210, when the estate was called Wick, it may have been part of the King's large estate called Wootton and it was that later reputed Clench Manor before being eventually passed onto Battle Abbey. In 1538 it was granted by King Henry VIII to Sir Edward Bayntun from whom it passed with Bromham Battle and remained in the family for many generations until it was sold in 1803 by Sir Andrew Bayntun-Rolt to Thomas Bruce, the Earl of Ailesbury.

1539 – MALMESBURY ABBEY
The Monastery at Malmesbury was one of the last in Wiltshire to be suppressed by Henry VIII in December 1539 and the site and building were committed to the care of Sir Edward Bayntun for 21 years. It had been the Order of the Benedictine Monks since c637 and certain parts of the Monastery were deemed to be superfluous, and these Sir Edward handed over to his deputy, William Stump who was an exceeding rich clothier. Stump was just the kind of man Henry liked to meet when he had an Abbey in hand, and it was not long before the clothier had bought the whole site from the King for £1,516 - 15s - 2d. Stump decreed that the smaller parish church was superfluous and demolished it and turned the nave of the Abbey Church into a church for the parishioners and a licence to this effect was granted by Archbishop Cranmer at Lambeth on the 20th August 1541.

1540 - THE MANOR OF BREMHILL
The Manor or Bremhill was given to the Abbey of Malmesbury as a gift from King Athelstan, AD 936. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was purchased by Sir Edward Bayntun..

1540 - THE MANOR OF SCARLEIGH
Sir Edward Bayntun, and his wife Isabel, obtained a grant from the crown of the Manor or Scarleigh in 1540. Various other lands in Wiltshire, Berkshire and Somerset had been previously granted to him before this.

1541 - THE MANOR OF PADDINGTON
On the 27th January 1541, the King, by an indenture and release, granted Sir Edward Bayntun and his wife Isabelle, the lease for all the site and capital messuage of the Manor of Paddington in the county of Middlesex, including all houses, barns, stables, orchards and gardens. The manor had grown from a small farm at Paddington, held by the Monks of Westminster in 959. It had remained in the Abbey's lordship until the Reformation. Sir Edward surrendered this lease in 1543 to Richard Reade, salter of London.

1541 - THE MANOR OF TEMPLE ROCKLEY
In 1159 the Manor was held by the Templars, until the suppression of their order in 1308, and later in 1312 by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in England, the Hospitallers, who held it until the Dissolution and in 1541 it was granted to Sir Edward and his wife Isabel. After Isabel's death in 1573 it was inherited by her son Henry Bayntun, who eventually sold it in 1595 to, his tenant, Thomas Hutchins.

1541 - BERWICK BASSETT ESTATE
An estate in Berwick Bassett, which was the origin of Berwick Farm, was also held by the Templars and may already have been held by them before 1172. The estate presumably passed with the Manor of Temple Rockley to the Hospitallers, and after the Dissolution, was also granted to Sir Edward. It was eventually sold to Thomas Hutchins in 1595 by his grandson, Sir Henry Bayntun.

1541 - THE MANOR OF SEMLEY
The property at Semley belonged to the Abbess of Wilton until the time of the Dissolution when it was granted in tail by Henry VIII to Sir Edward and his wife Isabel. She also received a gift of 100 Marks in fee simple. In his will Sir Edward left the Manor to his wife who subsequently gave it to her second son Francis in 1564, but in 1572 he restored Semley to the Crown.

1541 - THE MANOR OF LAVINGTON RECTOR
The Superior of the House of Bonhommes at Edington was known as the Rector and he and his house held the manor, later known as Lavington Rector, until the Dissolution. The manor which had descended from the Rochelles to Edington was granted by the Crown to Sir Edward Bayntun and Isabel his wife, for life with remainder to their son Henry. Sir Edward had already held the part called Lavington Bayntun, and from that day forward, the two manors became one and was still known as the Manor of Lavington Bayntun. After his death it was held by his widow Isabel until her death in 1573 and was sold by her son, Henry Bayntun, in 1590 to Sir John Dauntsey and was thereafter known as the Manor of Lavington Dauntsey.

LANDS AT CALNE
Letter transcribed in the King's own words: "Henry VIII, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, gives his greetings to all to whom this present letter may come. Know you that out of our special grace and certain knowledge of our own free will, we have given and granted, and by the present letter do give and grant, our servant Sir Edward Bayntun, one messuage and twelve acres of land, together with sixteen acres of meadowland and twenty-four acres of pasture land called Cowthe and six acres of shrubbed land called Jack's Arme, with appurtenances at Calne, in our county of Wiltshire".

THE MANOR OF LILBOURNE
Formerly Milton Abbots, near Pewsey, which was acquired by Sir Edward at a yearly rental, payable by half year installments at the house of the said Abbot and Convent in Southwark.

THE MANOR OF CRUDWELL
Crudwell is a village and parish situated to the north-east of Long-Newton, at a distance of four miles north from Malmesbury and from the description given at the time, it appears to have been rich and extensive as it was valued at £20. The manor was one of those given by King Ethelwulph to the Monks of Malmesbury. After the Dissolution of the Abbey it became the property of the Crown and was granted by King Henry VIII to the family of Bayntun, from which is passed to John, Lord Lucas of Shenfield in Essex, who distinguished himself in the royal cause during the Great Rebellion.

1543 - THE MANOR OR CHISBURY
Chisbury Manor (sometimes spelt Cissbury) passed to the crown at the time of the Dissolution of the Priory there in 1536. In 1543 the crown granted them to Christopher Willoughby, who probably conveyed them to Sir Edward Bayntun and his wife Isabel. In 1550 Isabel conveyed them to William Stump, her second husband.

1544 - THE MANOR OF ROWDEN
Just before he died, Sir Edward Bayntun bought The Ivy – a very large house at the centre of the old Manor of Rowden in the parish of Chippenham. The Manor of Rowden was Crown property from Saxon times until Henry VIII's time. Sir Edward had first rented the property in 1532. Part of the Manor was sold by his son, Sir Edward, in 1575 but he retained the part that ensured that the Bayntun family were still Lords of the Manor of Rowden well into the 19th century.

1544 - THE CHANTRY CHAPEL AT LAVINGTON BAYNTUN
The chantry at Lavington, originally dedicated to St. Mary The Virgin and later St. Catherine and St. Margaret, was dissolved shortly after the death of Sir Edward in 1544 and its possessions, valued at £6 2s 3d, passed to his widow Isabel.

1550 - THE MANOR OF EDINGTON ROMSEY
The site and demesnes of the Manor of Edington Romsey was part of the Monastery of Edington and after the Dissolution, was granted by the Crown for 41 years to Isabel, the widow of Sir Edward Bayntun. In 1565 the Manor and lands were leased by James Stump of Malmesbury, who was then married to Isabel. When she died in 1573 she left the manor house to her eldest son Henry who greatly spoiled it, so that the Marquess of Winchester alleged £1,000 would not repair it. Tinhead Court was included in the lease granted to Isabel and was among the property damaged by her son.

Whether all of these manors and properties were outright gifts, or in return for payment, is not known, but the Bayntun family very soon occupied Bremhill and the Abbey.

When Anne Andrews (the mother of Sir Edward's first wife Elizabeth Sulyard) died in 1520, she had a clause in her will, dated 1519, which mentioned Sir Edward. It dealt strictly with an overdue £100 debt owed by him, a charge for rent of his lands, which was granted to her by Sir Edward's father, John Bayntun, for a term of 16 years. The money was, according to her will, due to her at Michaelmas last past (29th September the previous year).

This could have been some part of a marriage settlement, and if so, it gives us an approximate date of this marriage which must have taken place sometime around 1502. However she outlined that he may keep the money as a gift as long as he promised the estates of his manor called Faulston, in the county of Wiltshire to Elizabeth for the term of her life, according to certain covenants specified in an Indenture made between John Bayntun and the said Anne Andrews. If, however, Sir Edward defaulted on this pledge then the gift of £100 would be utterly void and Anne left instructions to her executors to require and recover the money and every portion thereof.

Sir Edward Bayntun was appointed Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1522 and was also a Member for Parliament the same year. He also achieved the honour of being knighted at this time.

Also in 1522, Sir Edward leased the Manor of Lavington Bayntun to William Dauntsey, a merchant of the Staple for a term of years. Lavington had descended to him from the de la Mare's. In 1540-41 Dauntsey assigned the lease to Richard Blake. Richard died c1550, devising the remainder of the lease to a son Robert. However Robert's occupation was contested by Isabel Bayntun, the second wife and widow of Sir Edward Bayntun, and he was forcibly ejected.

He was also appointed Steward of Devizes and Rowde, Paler of Devizes Castle and Keeper of Devizes Park in or before 1526 and he received an annuity of £10 from land in Rowde and elsewhere.

In October 1528 he sold the Manor of Lower Heyford, in Oxfordshire to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was appointed Warden of the Royal Forests in March 1534 for which he received an annual fee of £17 13s 7d and records show he was also Deputy Warden in 1538.

Sir Edward and his eldest son Andrew, were Chief Stewards of the Abbey of Lacock (pictured left) – the House of the Augustinian Canonesses, which dates back to its foundation in 1232 by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, the widow of William Longespee.

Sir Edward was appointed on 24th August 1531 and his yearly fee was £2 - 13s - 4d. His sister Elizabeth was a nun there and in 1539 his first cousin, Joan Temmes was the last Abbess of Lacock Abbey. She had been Abbess from 1516 to 1539 and her mother – Jane Bayntun – was Sir Edward's aunt. Inside Laycock Abbey (pictured left) photo courtesy C. Milner-Walker of Ludshott Photographic Club www.ludshottpc.org.uk

During this period of history – the Suppression of the Monasteries – when the nuns and monks saw that the end was near, they often distributed monastic property to their friends and relations. The Abbess at the time gave jobs and lands to her brothers Christopher and Thomas and her brother-in-law Robert Bath got a 99 year lease in the Isle of Wight.

However a report commissioned by the King at the time, reported the Abbey being healthy with 15 nuns and three novices there and on 30th January 1537, Lacock was granted licence to continue. But the Abbey of Lacock was finally surrendered to the King on the 21st January 1539 and handed over to William Sharington, the prospective purchaser on 20th July 1540. Sharington was the Master of Henry VIII's Mint at Bristol. Sir Edward Bayntun and his son, Andrew, however were continued in the office of Chief Steward at the former fee. Joan Temmes was assigned a pension of £40 a year from the 1st January 1540 and was still in receipt of it in 1553. Elizabeth Bayntun, Sir Edward's sister received £3 6s 8d a year.

Sir Edward was also Steward of Bradenstoke and Malmesbury and of the estates of the Duchy of Lancaster in Wiltshire.

Old Bromham Hall, situated at Bromham Park, to which the Bayntun's moved to from Faulston in 1508, was rebuilt and greatly enlarged by Sir Edward, using some of the materials furnished by the ruins of Devizes Castle and decorated with stone carvings in the new and fashionable style. It was known as Bromham House and there he twice entertained Henry VIII and his Court.

There are many documents concerning Sir Edward Bayntun and his wives and their association with King Henry VIII and his Court. Sir Edward's first wife, Elizabeth, died on the 2nd April 1529 and was buried at Bradley, Suffolk. He remarried Isabel Leigh on the 18th January 1531– the daughter of Ralph Leigh of Stockwell (in Lambeth), Surrey and his wife, Joyce Culpepper, who was a descendant of King Edward I.

Before this marriage to Isabel took place, a settlement was drawn up which outlined that should her husband die before her, certain properties would revert to her, among them the Manor of Week or Wyke or Wyke Daundely.

King Henry VIII, who was devoted to every form of sport, added bowling greens to Whitehall and his privy purse expenses show that he was in the habit of backing his expertise with bets. On April 19th 1532, Lord Wiltshire and Lord Rochford beat the King and Sir Edward Bayntun in a game to claim a purse of £9 and a further £35 5s a few days later. This gives us an indication of how closely acquainted Sir Edward was to the king, to be part of such an illustrious pairing.

In 1533, Sir Edward was appointed Vice-Chamberlain to the new Queen, Anne Boleyn. Thomas, Lord Burgh of Gainsborough was her Lord Chamberlain and Anne's uncle, Sir James Boleyn, was her Chancellor.

On the 9th of June that year, Sir Edward penned a letter to George Boleyn, the Queen's brother, in which he described events shortly after the Coronation. He said: "The Coronation at Westminster Abbey on Whit Sunday had been performed honourably and, as ever was, if all old and ancient men say true". He also mentioned in the same letter: "The Ladies of her Household were having a great time and had reason to celebrate, having become the Queen's servants with all the political and social advantages accompanying that high office".

Sir Edward is said to have shared some of Anne's religious stance, but was a career courtier, hence serving the remainder of Henry's wives in the same capacity. William Paulet, the First Marquess of Winchester, was Lord Chamberlain of the Household from 1535-1550.

In early June 1535, King Henry VIII, Queen Anne Boleyn and the rest of his court, left Greenwich Palace for some months and embarked on a route through Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. Local gentlemen who favoured reform, like Sir Edward Bayntun, were singled out for a Royal visit.

The party stayed at Sir Edward's residence at Bromham House for one week, from the 27th August through to the 3rd September 1535. Thomas Cromwell, the Chancellor, had just caught up with the travelling party at that time, where a letter written by him was dated, from Bromham, during that week.

While in Bromham, Queen Anne gave money to "an earnest and zealous embracer of God's word", who had fallen on hard times. The next home that the King visited on his way back to his Palace at Greenwich was Wulf Hall, Wiltshire, on the edge of the Savernake Forest where he stayed three nights. This was the home of Sir John Seymour, a favourite of Henry, and his daughter Jane, who was to become Henry's next Queen, 12 months later on 30th July 1536.

Bromham House was without doubt one of the most famous houses in the country and was built chiefly with materials procured from the ruins of Devizes Castle which was used as a quarry by the town's-people at this time. It is said that more than 1500 stones alone were taken from this site. Sir Edward also salvaged some materials from a royal manor house at Corsham. It was a very stately and magnificent structure with the building alone costing £15,000 – a considerable amount of money in those days – and the iron works costing a further £5,000. Elsewhere it was noted that Bromham House was capable of concealing 700 men and was compared to the Palace of Whitehall.

The archway, or gatehouse to Sir Edward's house was reconstructed on the instructions of Queen Catherine of Aragon (pictured left), as a gift and expression of gratitude to her friend for some time, Sir Edward. It is said that originally the arch was at the entrance to Stanley Abbey, Wiltshire. The Abbey was purchased by Sir Edward Bayntun at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 and was completely demolished, but the gatehouse was dismantled and re-erected at the entrance to Bromham House.

It bears the royal arms of the Tudors beneath the oriel window in the upper storey, and in the spandrels of the arch forming the gateway, those of Sir Edward Bayntun, the original builder and his first wife Elizabeth Sulliard, the daughter of Sir John Sulliard, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Today this beautiful landmark is known to locals as Spye Arch.

Sir Edward Bayntun was entrusted with obtaining confessions from men accused of having had treasonable relations with Queen Anne Boleyn, prior to her trial. He stated at the time: "Only the wretched Mark Smeaton would confess against the Queen, although I have no doubt the others were as fully culpable as ever was he. It would in my foolish conceit, much touch the King's honour if it should no further appear". As a result of Anne's trial, she was condemned to death and beheaded on the 19th May 1536, another man hanged and four others beheaded. Whether Anne was guilty of these crimes has never been determined.

Sir Edward Bayntun was the last patron of the Lavington Chantry, to which he presented in 1537.

A deed dated the 11th November 30 Henry VIII (1538) by Sir Edward Bayntun, gave to Andrew Bayntun, his eldest son and heir apparent, all his estate, term, title, and interest in the Manor of Bromham Battle, with the advowson of the Church of Bromham, and the Manor of Clench, as leased to him by the Abbot and Convent.

Before the marriage of Henry and Anne of Cleves, in early January 1540, Sir Edward Bayntun was restored to the office of Vice-Chamberlain as the Queen's household was ready and waiting for her arrival at Greenwich. However six months later, Henry divorced Anne, on 28th July, and Sir Edward was again appointed Vice-Chamberlain to the new Queen – Katherine Howard and her half-sister, Isabel - Sir Edward's wife - became one of the Ladies of her Privy Chamber along with the Lady Rochford, Lady Edgecombe and the Countess of Ruthland.

In November 1541 when Queen Katherine Howard was banished by Henry VIII from Hampton Court to Syon Abbey, she was accompanied by Sir Edward, and took only four gentlewomen (ladies-in-waiting) – one of whom was Lady Bayntun, Sir Edward's second wife.

On the king's orders, she was to be lodged there moderately, as her life has deserved, without any cloth of estate. There was a chamber provided there also for her Vice-Chamberlain, Sir Edward Bayntun, and the rest of the servants to dine in and also two chambers for the Queen's own use. Sir Edward was in charge of the whole house.

An Inventory of Katherine Howard's jewels, taken after her arrest, noted that she had given a girdle of gold, or goldsmith's work, to Lady Bayntun.

Syon Abbey was originally the site of a Monastery and Katherine was held there before her execution on 13th February 1542. Ironically it was five years later, in 1547, when the dead body of Henry VIII rested at Syon Abbey, on its way to Windsor for burial when the coffin burst open during the night and in the morning dogs were found licking the remains. The Abbey Church at Syon (pictured left) as it might have appeared in 1500 by Jonathan Foyle, by kind permission of Syon Park www.syonpark.co.uk

Sir Edward and his wife, Isabel, were present at the marriage of King Henry and Katherine Parr in the 'Holyday', or Queen's Closet at Hampton Court on July 12th 1543, in his official capacity as the Queen's Vice-Chamberlain – his fifth successive appointment in that position.

In 1543, Sir Edward was appointed High Steward of Bristol. The pay for this post was £4 - 0s - 0d and a pipe (half a barrel) of wine. In the same year he was appointed, by the Bishop, as Bailiff of the Manors of Potterne, Cannings, Ramsbury, Bishopstone and Baydon.

He attended his Royal Master in his expeditions and is supposed to have died in France during the ill-considered invasion on the 27th November 1544. He had been serving with Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, who was in charge of ordinance for the campaign in France.

In his will dated 8th July, in the same year, Sir Edward left his property to his sons Edward, Andrew and Henry. He asked to be buried in the parish church at Bromham, but his body was never returned from France.

Sir Edward's daughter, Bridget, married James Stumpe of Malmesbury, but she died in 1545 (a year after her father). James Stump remarried Sir Edward's widow, the Lady Isabel Bayntun, shortly afterwards and in 1554 she was patron of the living of Fovant.

In 37 Henry VIII (1545), a Commission was appointed by the Crown to enquire into the revenues, etc., belonging to Chantries, Colleges, Guilds, and Fraternities, and by statute 1 Edward VI (1546-7) all Chantries were suppressed - their lands and property being conferred on the King, under cover of providing for the poor, augmenting the incomes of vicarages, paying the salaries of preachers, and endowing free schools for the diffusion of learning. In March 1548, Commissioners were again appointed in every Shire to take a further survey of the whole of these foundations within compass of the Act of Parliament. In one of the returns of the earlier Commissioners is the following entry relating to the de la Mare (Delamare) Chantry at Market Lavington - the revenues which, amounting yearly to £6 - 2s - 4d, were then (in 1545) in the hands of Lady Isabel Bayntun, widow of Sir Edward Baynton.

In 1550 Isabel obtained, jointly with Sir Edward Hastings, a lease from the Crown of the site and demesnes of the dissolved Monastery at Edington for 41 years, where she was apparently living in 1554 and was described as "Lady Isabella Baynton of Edyngdon". She must have been a tenant at Edington under Sir William Pawlett – the owner of the monastic property by a second grant from the Crown after the attainer and execution of Thomas, Lord Seymour of Sudley in 1549. Tinhead Court was also included in the lease granted to Isabel.

Before Isabel's death, an interest in the Manor of Faulston was presented to her, possibly by her stepson– Sir Edward Bayntun – the second eldest son from her husband's first marriage, but she obviously declined the offer and it was passed onto her son Henry when she died on 16th February 1573.

This Henry is mentioned in a deed for Faulston, dated 1573, as Henry Bayntun, son of Isabel Bayntun of Faulston. However the following year the owner is listed as Sir Edward Bayntun, Justice of the Peace. We can thus assume from this, that Henry sold Faulston to his half-brother, who at the time was Lord of the Manor of Bromham, having inherited the title, and all estates, from his brother, Sir Andrew Bayntun, who died nine years earlier.

When Sir Edward Bayntun died on 27th November 1544 and he was succeeded by his eldest son and heir Sir Andrew Bayntun