The Pawley Family
Our family name is Keats. But many centuries must pass before their
story can be told; leading up to, and branching off from them is a very
interesting lineage which, though the names change, is nevertheless our
direct ancestry. we share our blood and DNA with all of them; each has
contributed their genes to make us who we are today.
The PAWLEY Family
‘A furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine, “From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord.” ‘
One theory of the origin of Pawley comes from W. G. Hoskins in-depth research of Wigston. Early references spell the town as Wykingstun and Vykingston. Hoskins found that this place was very heavily Scandinavianised, with many Viking personal names surviving as surnames.To begin this story we must go back to the 9th century. There was much turmoil then, as Danish raiders persistently ransacked our Islands; they were repelled, but returned time and again. in 884, King Alfred signed a Treaty with the Dane, Guthrum and the Danelaw came into existence. One of these Danish settlers, named Vikingr [Viking’s farm], gave Wigston it’s name. Below is a map showing it’s extent and you can see that it includes Leicester and wider Mercia.
At the beginning of the 10th century, in 910, Edward the Elder and his sister, Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians, conquered Danish territories in the Midlands and East Anglia in a series of campaigns in the 910s, and some Danish jarls who submitted were allowed to keep their land.
Hoskins argues that originally, the Pawleys descended from one Palli. The name is variously recorded as Pali, Palli, Palley, Paule, Paule.
One of these Danish jarls settled in Mercia. He may have been one among the Danish army that occupied Mercia in 877, his descendant becoming one of the sokemen listed in the Domesday Book. He was called Palle, a Scandinavian personal name, which was retained by his descendants as a surname, though the spelling has changed. Details at this time are sketchy and a proper family tree cannot be made, but Pawleys in Leicestershire can trace back to Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, where Palli was a landowner in 1066.
*A Simon Pally was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Warwickshire in 1275, the probability is that he was of the same family. The same name is mentioned in a charter of 1343 as occupying lands at Catthorpe, though this might be a son.
*Roger Paule was assessed for subsidy at Catthorpe in the reign of Edward II (1307-1327).
Wyggeston hospital records show William Pauey [Pauley] an occupier of land at Wigston Magna, 1393-95.
*William Palley of Wykingeston, the first recorded Pawley in Wigston, was a free tenant of the manor there in 1443.
*Richard Palley was a tenant on Leicester Abbey lands in Leire in 1477.
*William Pawley of Lutterworth had granted certain lands and tenements in Bitteswell in 1491/92.
*William Pawley of Lutterworth was styled a Gentleman in 1505.
*John Palle at Catthorpe had the highest assessment of 20 marks (£13-6-8) in the subsidy in 1524.
*Robert and John Palley were also listed on the Lay Subsidy of Wigston Magna in 1524-5.
*The Pawleys of Wigston were desribed among the men of ‘good credence and reputation’ in the time of Henry VIII.
*William Palley was listed in the subsidy at Wigston during the reign of Philip and Mary.
*An abstract of Francis Pawley jnr’s marriage settlement describes Pawley’s Land at Wigston: 2 messuages, 2 yardlands and other lands in Wigston Magna, 1698 and 1714.
*Pawley’s Land, an abstract of an assignment of mortgage, at the direction of Francis Pawley and others, This is land occupied by Thomas Meadows and Robert Brewin, etc. 1737
Other theorists suggest that the name came from the Roman name Paul, from paulus meaning small or little. Scandinavians whom I have corresponded with mostly say they do not recognise Pali as one of their personal names, the exception being one who says it is a Danish name. The majority feel that it is likely to come from ‘Paul’, but name origins are not often so simplistic. The earlier spellings in the examples above argue that the phonetic spellings were with a a short ‘a’, whereas Pawley has a long ‘a’. Given the local dialect, Parley (parlez?) falls between the two, maybe pointing towards a Norman French origin.
The Pawley family of Whetstone, who had property in Wigston, were known to have Quaker connections. Their connection to this cause probably was the reason for Nicholas Pawley’s imprisonment in 1661, and Samuel Pawley’s in 1666, events that may have ensued from George Fox’s visit to nearby Broughton Astley in 1647.
A Lease of 1735/6:
i) Chaplains and Poor of Hospital of William Wigston, Leicester. (ii) Peter Ragg of Wigston Magna, gent. ¾ yd.land in Wigston Magna. Term: Lives of Peter Ragg, John Ragg his son, and of Francis Pawley, son of John Pawley of Wigston Magna, framework knitter.
A settled, respectable family then, yet by the 17th century they only got four and a half acres between them at Enclosure, after owning land in various villages: Wigston, South Croxton and Evington in the 16th century, and before that at Bitteswell and Lutterworth. Perhaps they backed the wrong side in the Civil War? The indigenous Pawley family of Wigston, present in the village since the fifteenth century, had all but died out there by the middle of the 19th century, as successive families moved out or moved on, often into the industrial magnet of Leicester city. At some time around 1600, a branch of the Wigston Pawley family probably went to live at Whetstone ( about four miles to the west) where they put down roots and remained, in turn spreading out during the course of the next two hundred years to neighbouring villages like Narborough, Littlethorpe, Stoney Stanton and Croft. In 1799, one of this family – an impoversished n’er do well tailor called William Pawley who had been born in Littlethorpe – married a Wigston girl, Anne Humberstone, and two of his sons,William and Thomas – one born in Leicester and the other in Whetstone – settled in Wigston Magna, where it seems likely they had been bound apprentice by the Narborough overseers of the poor after their father died. The younger William would go on to father eighteen children and Thomas four more. As a result, by 1871, of the six families and twenty six people with the surname Pawley living in Wigston Magna, only one family (three people) was descended from the original Pawley family that had lived in the village since the fifteeth century. The remaining twenty three people were descendants of these comparative newcomers, with whom they only shared any sort of common ancestry some 350 years earlier. One of the later scions of the scattered Pawley family became famous locally. The story is that:
“Benjamin Pawley the younger of Whetstone (1841-1917) became a political cause celebre in 1868 following a court case and conviction for assault on general election night (24thNovember) 1868.He was charged and convicted on 5thDecember before the Leicester magistrates after an incident at the Narborough Inn in Narborough. Following the polling, local men had adjourned to the pub and among them was Samuel Cotton of Narborough, a Conservative voter. During the evening Cotton and his father were both set upon in the yard of the Narborough Inn by several men, who eventually cornered Cotton in the kitchen, knocked his hat off, tore his coat and kicked him. Afterwards, he fetched a policeman and they searched the local pubs for his attackers. Benjamin Pawley (who was not himself entitled to vote) was among the revellers that night, apparently loudly and vociferously expressing his Liberal politics. Cotton and the policeman went into the pub where he has drinking and, on the policeman’s evidence, Cotton did not identify him. Other witnesses confirmed that Benjamin Pawley was with them all night and nowhere near the Narborough Inn. However, the Leicester magistrates thought that this alibi had been concocted. Benjamin Pawley was found guilty and fined £2 for the assault and nearly £3 for the damage to Cotton’s clothes. When he complained that he only earned 15s a week and needed time to pay, the magistrates refused to give it and offered him the stark choice of paying up immediately or going to prison for 21 days for the assault with a further one month’s hard labour for the damage to Cotton’s clothes. His employer testified to his good conduct and character over the past seven years but the magistrates were unmoved. The Leicester Chronicle and Mercury, however, was not. Its Liberal proprietor James Thompson immediately saw a political motive in the judgement. “The benches,” the newspaper declared, “are filled with the Tory nominees of a Tory Lord Lieutenant, and no Liberal can say what might be his fate if cited to appear before such one-sided and partisan magistrates. The whole system is wrong and calls aloud for a remedy”. The Mercury remained steadfast in its support for Benjamin Pawley, despite an uproar at this accusation of political bias from the local magistrates. “The draconic rigour of the sentence, ” it declared, “is to be accounted for only on two hypotheses: either the defendant was innocent, or the infliction was intended as a caution to him and other ‘free and independent’ non-electors to stay at home during the progress of a Parliamentary contest. With regard to Pawley, the victim in this case, enquiries have been made which place in a clearer light the hardship inflicted on him. It would naturally be thought, from the peremptory manner with which the defendant was treated that he was an old offender, clearly and unmistakably convicted of a heinous crime, for which justice demanded an exemplary penalty. No. Pawley had never previously been brought before a bench of magistrates. Again, it might be suppose that he was one of your ‘ne’er do well’ sort; an idle, worthless vagabond, who at last had met with his deserts. Nothing of the sort; for the defendant is a steady, hard-working young man, who had been in his present situation a great many years, and won the confidence of his employer, who to evidence the feeling he held towards his servant advanced him £3 towards the £5, which it is well to be remembered had to be deducted weekly from a wage of fifteen shillings! If it had not been for that timely aid, and the assistance of the benevolent, who subscribed another £3, Pawley would at this moment have been in a felon’s cell, and his wife and children elevated into another monument ‘high as Olympus’ of Tory hate and Tory vengeance”.The Mercury estimated the total cost to Benjamin Pawley of the whole affair was £6 10s, which was in the end all raised for him under the newspaper’s campaign. Correspondents wrote in, asking where they could pay their “mite” and a fund was set up to administer the donations.The furious magistrates took legal action in the Court of Queen’s Bench against Thompson as proprietor of the paper and he was forced, in April 1869, to print a retraction: “we entirely disavow any imputation upon the honour and integrity of the Magistrates who adjudicated on the case in question”. Even then, however, the paper repeated its view “that the conviction was wrong, and that Benjamin Pawley was entirely innocent of the charge brought against him.”
Another Pawley found himself on the wrong side of the Law:
“Records of the Borough of Leicester – Vol 7: Judicial and Allied Records 1689-1835 (ed. G.A.Chinnery, 1974). 45.7 William Pawley, prisoner in the Old Gaol, Leicester (1703):
“Sheweth That James Richmond the Keeper of the said Gaol having for a Considerable time removed all his family there from now Inhabitting soe farr distant from the said Gaol as the Belgrave gate in the said Burrough & verry little attending att the said Gaol a releife may be brought into your aid poor Petitioner, Victual which has been often sent to him by several good Charitable Minded people in Leicester to him by reason of the Gaolers absence has been taken back or lost & eaten by poor persons in whose hands itt has been left whilst your said poor Petitioner has wanted, who is in a most Miserable & sad Condition if Considered, for he is now liked to be the only Prisoner in the said Gaol & to remaine there all Winter without Company & fire in such a Naked Nasty dismal place as it now it is terrible to thinke off Your said Petitioner therefore most humbly prays your Worshipps will Consider his sad Case & suffer him to be removed to the other Gaol or grant that some person may constantly attend att the place where he is, as the Charity of good persons may come to him or else itt cannot be supposed he can live there this next Winter but must starve, and humbly prays that he may rather be removed than remaine there Your said Petitioner alsoe prays your Worshipps will be pleased to grant him the Common allowance Bread of the said Gaol which will much help him in his deplorable Condition for he often wants sustenance from his Relations & had itt not been for other good peoples releiving him he had perished before this And your said Petitioner will be ever bound to pray for Your Worhipps long lives good healths etc. Wee whose Names are here under Written Inhabitants near the old Gaol for the Burrough aforesaid Doe hereby testify & declare that whats mentioned in the said Petition as to the Gaolers being much absent from the said Gaol soe that feliefe has been often taken back that has been brought for the Petitioner is true and had been starved before this, had not wee and others relieved him And pray he may be relieved in the premises by your Worships. John Holmes. Francis Johnson, As to what provisions may have been returned which was sent to the Petitioner I know not But this I am sensible of That the said James Richmond hath been much absent from the said Goale of late.” Thomas Davye, Edward Alsop.
Let us return to Wigston and the history of our line.
Transcription of Draft Will of Walter Pawley ( 1615) -superceded by a later Will
In the name of god Amen I Walter Pawley of Wigston also Wigginston in the countie of Leics yeoman…………..(usual preamble)……… the first daye of April in the yeare of our Lord god One thousand Five hundreth and Fifteene …….([etc etc.)]……..And as concerninge my Land and goods wherewith it hath pleased God to blesse me I doe by this my said last Will and Testament give and dispose as followeth Imprimis (insertion illegible) I give and bequeath unto Isabell my lovinge wife duringe her naturall life the use and occupation of all that my cottage or tenement wherin I now dwell situate and beinge in Wigston also Wigginston aforesaid and ([nsertion illegible] the whomsted [homestead] thereunto belonginge beinge that parte of the whomsted lyinge next unto the said cottage and on the west side of the said cottage as it is alreadye marked out and knowne And three acres of arable Land meadowes and pasture with their appertenance in Wigston also Wigginston aforesaid sometyme in the tenure or occupation of Katherine Lawe widowe or of her assignies wich said three acres of Land meadowes and pastures are lymitted and bounded as followeth: viz In Cowe (?) field One acre lyinge upon Hongerton Hill abuttingein Hongerton Sike. In Glonfeild Sike One halfe acre part therof being in Hadland abuttinge in Brockslade One other halfe lyinge upon Oyle Hill neare unto the land of Robert Hall on the East parte In Goldhill field one acre beinge thoroweland lyinge upon Goldhill betweene the land of Willm Danne on the South parte and of Francis Clarke on the North parte And halfe One dole of meadowe lyinge in Brodemeadow neareunto the meadowe of James Walker on the East parte And also Comon of pasture for one cowe and fyve sheepe within the comon fields of Wigston also wigginston aforesaid at all tymes of the yeare and (insertion illegible) comonally placed there And after the decease of the said Isabell my said wife I will that the said cottage or tenement ……….shall remayne…….unto Mary Pawley my youngest daughter and to her heirs or assignies for ever (In left margin): and with land……….. of Anthony Brewyn of Wigston also Wiggingston aforsaid boutcher and Eliz. His wife) Item I give and bequeathe unto the said Isabell my wife duringe her naturall life the use and occupation of all my houshold stuffe and implements of houshold And after her decease I will that the same shall remayne unto the aforesaid Mary Pawley my daughter and unto Agnes Pawley my eldest daughter if they be then lyvinge equally to be divided between them And if it pleaseth God that the said Agnes or Mary doe depart this life before the said Isabel my wife then I will …………….illegible…………..Item I give and bequeath unto my said daughter Mary the summe of Thirtie pounds of good and lawful English money to be paid to her at her full age of twentye years or at the day of her marriage whichever shall first happen …………….illegible………..Item I give and bequeath unto John Pawley my son if he be lyvinge at the time of my decease the summe of tenne shillings to be payd unto him at such tyme as he shall come in person to demande the same. Item I give and bequeath unto Anthony Brewyn my sonne in law and unto Elizabeth his wife tenne shillings and unto any one of his fyve children viz Robert John Richard Elizabeth and Katherin Brewyn xx s apeice which said sommes of xx s apeice I will shall be paid unto them by my executrix whom by me nominated and appointed at their severall ages of xxi years or their severall daies of marriage whichever shall first happen And if any of them doe depart this life before that tyme then my mynde and meaninge is that the said portion of him her or them soe deceasing shall remayne unto the survivors equally devided between them All the rest and residual of my goods and chattels……………….I give and bequeath unto my daughter Agnes Pawley whom I make sole and onlye executrix of this my last will and testament In witness whereof ……etc etc.
Transcription of Walter Pawley’s later Will, 1622
In the name of God amen I Walter Pawley of Wigston Magna in the County of Leics husbandman beinge sicke in bodie and of good and perfect remembrance thanks be to God for the same doe make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament revokinge all other wills herebefore by me made and this to be my last Will and Testament. First I give and bequeathe my soule to allmightie God hopinge to be saved by the death and passion of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and my bodie to be buried in the churchyard of All Saints in Wigston aforesayd and as for my goods I give and bequeathe them in manner and forme followinge that is to saye First I give and bequeathe unto my Sonne in Lawe Anthony Brewin and Elizabeth his wife six pounds apiece in full satisfaction of my daughter Elizabeths part and portion. Item I give and bequeathe unto my Sonne in Lawe Thomas Browne & Agnes his wife or either of them six pounds apiece in full satisfaction of my daughter Agnes part and portion Item I give and bequeathe unto my daughter Mary Pawley all that my Messuage or Tenement wherein I now dwell and all the land with the meadowe pasture and comon belonginge to the Land to her and her heires for ever and also I likewise give and bequeathe unto her all my goods cattells and chattells as well moveable and unmoveable whatsoever and I doe make her my full and sole Executrix of this my last will and testament and lastly my full mynd and will is that my sayd daughter Mary whome I make my full Executrix shall at her owne proper cost and charge in all things find and provide unto Isabell my wife for and during her naturall life good holsome & sufficient meate drinke apparrell beddinge washinge fyer candles and all other necessaries meete and convenyent for her degree and callinge In witness whereof I the sayd Walter Pawley have to this my last will and testament putt my hand and seale this Twentith daye of January in the Twentith yeare of the Rayne of our sovereign Lord James by the grace of God of England France & Ireland kinge defender of the Faythe and of Scotland the Six & Fyftith 1622
Witnesses Walter Pawley his marke
Thomas Byerley
Robt Phillipps
According to a family tree I have been sent, ELIZABETH PAULEY was born at Wigston Magna in 1583. I haven’t seen any document to prove this, but she would have been born around that time as she married ANTHONIE BREWIN on October 4th. 1604. And so, we can establish from the preceding Will transcripts that Elizabeth’s father Was WALTER PAWLEY of Wigston, and her mother was named ISABEL.
The PAWLEY Family
‘A furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine, “From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord.” ‘
One theory of the origin of Pawley comes from W. G. Hoskins in-depth research of Wigston. Early references spell the town as Wykingstun and Vykingston. Hoskins found that this place was very heavily Scandinavianised, with many Viking personal names surviving as surnames.To begin this story we must go back to the 9th century. There was much turmoil then, as Danish raiders persistently ransacked our Islands; they were repelled, but returned time and again. in 884, King Alfred signed a Treaty with the Dane, Guthrum and the Danelaw came into existence. One of these Danish settlers, named Vikingr [Viking’s farm], gave Wigston it’s name. Below is a map showing it’s extent and you can see that it includes Leicester and wider Mercia.
At the beginning of the 10th century, in 910, Edward the Elder and his sister, Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians, conquered Danish territories in the Midlands and East Anglia in a series of campaigns in the 910s, and some Danish jarls who submitted were allowed to keep their land.
Hoskins argues that originally, the Pawleys descended from one Palli. The name is variously recorded as Pali, Palli, Palley, Paule, Paule.
One of these Danish jarls settled in Mercia. He may have been one among the Danish army that occupied Mercia in 877, his descendant becoming one of the sokemen listed in the Domesday Book. He was called Palle, a Scandinavian personal name, which was retained by his descendants as a surname, though the spelling has changed. Details at this time are sketchy and a proper family tree cannot be made, but Pawleys in Leicestershire can trace back to Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, where Palli was a landowner in 1066.
*A Simon Pally was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Warwickshire in 1275, the probability is that he was of the same family. The same name is mentioned in a charter of 1343 as occupying lands at Catthorpe, though this might be a son.
*Roger Paule was assessed for subsidy at Catthorpe in the reign of Edward II (1307-1327).
Wyggeston hospital records show William Pauey [Pauley] an occupier of land at Wigston Magna, 1393-95.
*William Palley of Wykingeston, the first recorded Pawley in Wigston, was a free tenant of the manor there in 1443.
*Richard Palley was a tenant on Leicester Abbey lands in Leire in 1477.
*William Pawley of Lutterworth had granted certain lands and tenements in Bitteswell in 1491/92.
*William Pawley of Lutterworth was styled a Gentleman in 1505.
*John Palle at Catthorpe had the highest assessment of 20 marks (£13-6-8) in the subsidy in 1524.
*Robert and John Palley were also listed on the Lay Subsidy of Wigston Magna in 1524-5.
*The Pawleys of Wigston were desribed among the men of ‘good credence and reputation’ in the time of Henry VIII.
*William Palley was listed in the subsidy at Wigston during the reign of Philip and Mary.
*An abstract of Francis Pawley jnr’s marriage settlement describes Pawley’s Land at Wigston: 2 messuages, 2 yardlands and other lands in Wigston Magna, 1698 and 1714.
*Pawley’s Land, an abstract of an assignment of mortgage, at the direction of Francis Pawley and others, This is land occupied by Thomas Meadows and Robert Brewin, etc. 1737
Other theorists suggest that the name came from the Roman name Paul, from paulus meaning small or little. Scandinavians whom I have corresponded with mostly say they do not recognise Pali as one of their personal names, the exception being one who says it is a Danish name. The majority feel that it is likely to come from ‘Paul’, but name origins are not often so simplistic. The earlier spellings in the examples above argue that the phonetic spellings were with a a short ‘a’, whereas Pawley has a long ‘a’. Given the local dialect, Parley (parlez?) falls between the two, maybe pointing towards a Norman French origin.
The Pawley family of Whetstone, who had property in Wigston, were known to have Quaker connections. Their connection to this cause probably was the reason for Nicholas Pawley’s imprisonment in 1661, and Samuel Pawley’s in 1666, events that may have ensued from George Fox’s visit to nearby Broughton Astley in 1647.
A Lease of 1735/6:
i) Chaplains and Poor of Hospital of William Wigston, Leicester. (ii) Peter Ragg of Wigston Magna, gent. ¾ yd.land in Wigston Magna. Term: Lives of Peter Ragg, John Ragg his son, and of Francis Pawley, son of John Pawley of Wigston Magna, framework knitter.
A settled, respectable family then, yet by the 17th century they only got four and a half acres between them at Enclosure, after owning land in various villages: Wigston, South Croxton and Evington in the 16th century, and before that at Bitteswell and Lutterworth. Perhaps they backed the wrong side in the Civil War? The indigenous Pawley family of Wigston, present in the village since the fifteenth century, had all but died out there by the middle of the 19th century, as successive families moved out or moved on, often into the industrial magnet of Leicester city. At some time around 1600, a branch of the Wigston Pawley family probably went to live at Whetstone ( about four miles to the west) where they put down roots and remained, in turn spreading out during the course of the next two hundred years to neighbouring villages like Narborough, Littlethorpe, Stoney Stanton and Croft. In 1799, one of this family – an impoversished n’er do well tailor called William Pawley who had been born in Littlethorpe – married a Wigston girl, Anne Humberstone, and two of his sons,William and Thomas – one born in Leicester and the other in Whetstone – settled in Wigston Magna, where it seems likely they had been bound apprentice by the Narborough overseers of the poor after their father died. The younger William would go on to father eighteen children and Thomas four more. As a result, by 1871, of the six families and twenty six people with the surname Pawley living in Wigston Magna, only one family (three people) was descended from the original Pawley family that had lived in the village since the fifteeth century. The remaining twenty three people were descendants of these comparative newcomers, with whom they only shared any sort of common ancestry some 350 years earlier. One of the later scions of the scattered Pawley family became famous locally. The story is that:
“Benjamin Pawley the younger of Whetstone (1841-1917) became a political cause celebre in 1868 following a court case and conviction for assault on general election night (24thNovember) 1868.He was charged and convicted on 5thDecember before the Leicester magistrates after an incident at the Narborough Inn in Narborough. Following the polling, local men had adjourned to the pub and among them was Samuel Cotton of Narborough, a Conservative voter. During the evening Cotton and his father were both set upon in the yard of the Narborough Inn by several men, who eventually cornered Cotton in the kitchen, knocked his hat off, tore his coat and kicked him. Afterwards, he fetched a policeman and they searched the local pubs for his attackers. Benjamin Pawley (who was not himself entitled to vote) was among the revellers that night, apparently loudly and vociferously expressing his Liberal politics. Cotton and the policeman went into the pub where he has drinking and, on the policeman’s evidence, Cotton did not identify him. Other witnesses confirmed that Benjamin Pawley was with them all night and nowhere near the Narborough Inn. However, the Leicester magistrates thought that this alibi had been concocted. Benjamin Pawley was found guilty and fined £2 for the assault and nearly £3 for the damage to Cotton’s clothes. When he complained that he only earned 15s a week and needed time to pay, the magistrates refused to give it and offered him the stark choice of paying up immediately or going to prison for 21 days for the assault with a further one month’s hard labour for the damage to Cotton’s clothes. His employer testified to his good conduct and character over the past seven years but the magistrates were unmoved. The Leicester Chronicle and Mercury, however, was not. Its Liberal proprietor James Thompson immediately saw a political motive in the judgement. “The benches,” the newspaper declared, “are filled with the Tory nominees of a Tory Lord Lieutenant, and no Liberal can say what might be his fate if cited to appear before such one-sided and partisan magistrates. The whole system is wrong and calls aloud for a remedy”. The Mercury remained steadfast in its support for Benjamin Pawley, despite an uproar at this accusation of political bias from the local magistrates. “The draconic rigour of the sentence, ” it declared, “is to be accounted for only on two hypotheses: either the defendant was innocent, or the infliction was intended as a caution to him and other ‘free and independent’ non-electors to stay at home during the progress of a Parliamentary contest. With regard to Pawley, the victim in this case, enquiries have been made which place in a clearer light the hardship inflicted on him. It would naturally be thought, from the peremptory manner with which the defendant was treated that he was an old offender, clearly and unmistakably convicted of a heinous crime, for which justice demanded an exemplary penalty. No. Pawley had never previously been brought before a bench of magistrates. Again, it might be suppose that he was one of your ‘ne’er do well’ sort; an idle, worthless vagabond, who at last had met with his deserts. Nothing of the sort; for the defendant is a steady, hard-working young man, who had been in his present situation a great many years, and won the confidence of his employer, who to evidence the feeling he held towards his servant advanced him £3 towards the £5, which it is well to be remembered had to be deducted weekly from a wage of fifteen shillings! If it had not been for that timely aid, and the assistance of the benevolent, who subscribed another £3, Pawley would at this moment have been in a felon’s cell, and his wife and children elevated into another monument ‘high as Olympus’ of Tory hate and Tory vengeance”.The Mercury estimated the total cost to Benjamin Pawley of the whole affair was £6 10s, which was in the end all raised for him under the newspaper’s campaign. Correspondents wrote in, asking where they could pay their “mite” and a fund was set up to administer the donations.The furious magistrates took legal action in the Court of Queen’s Bench against Thompson as proprietor of the paper and he was forced, in April 1869, to print a retraction: “we entirely disavow any imputation upon the honour and integrity of the Magistrates who adjudicated on the case in question”. Even then, however, the paper repeated its view “that the conviction was wrong, and that Benjamin Pawley was entirely innocent of the charge brought against him.”
Another Pawley found himself on the wrong side of the Law:
“Records of the Borough of Leicester – Vol 7: Judicial and Allied Records 1689-1835 (ed. G.A.Chinnery, 1974). 45.7 William Pawley, prisoner in the Old Gaol, Leicester (1703):
“Sheweth That James Richmond the Keeper of the said Gaol having for a Considerable time removed all his family there from now Inhabitting soe farr distant from the said Gaol as the Belgrave gate in the said Burrough & verry little attending att the said Gaol a releife may be brought into your aid poor Petitioner, Victual which has been often sent to him by several good Charitable Minded people in Leicester to him by reason of the Gaolers absence has been taken back or lost & eaten by poor persons in whose hands itt has been left whilst your said poor Petitioner has wanted, who is in a most Miserable & sad Condition if Considered, for he is now liked to be the only Prisoner in the said Gaol & to remaine there all Winter without Company & fire in such a Naked Nasty dismal place as it now it is terrible to thinke off Your said Petitioner therefore most humbly prays your Worshipps will Consider his sad Case & suffer him to be removed to the other Gaol or grant that some person may constantly attend att the place where he is, as the Charity of good persons may come to him or else itt cannot be supposed he can live there this next Winter but must starve, and humbly prays that he may rather be removed than remaine there Your said Petitioner alsoe prays your Worshipps will be pleased to grant him the Common allowance Bread of the said Gaol which will much help him in his deplorable Condition for he often wants sustenance from his Relations & had itt not been for other good peoples releiving him he had perished before this And your said Petitioner will be ever bound to pray for Your Worhipps long lives good healths etc. Wee whose Names are here under Written Inhabitants near the old Gaol for the Burrough aforesaid Doe hereby testify & declare that whats mentioned in the said Petition as to the Gaolers being much absent from the said Gaol soe that feliefe has been often taken back that has been brought for the Petitioner is true and had been starved before this, had not wee and others relieved him And pray he may be relieved in the premises by your Worships. John Holmes. Francis Johnson, As to what provisions may have been returned which was sent to the Petitioner I know not But this I am sensible of That the said James Richmond hath been much absent from the said Goale of late.” Thomas Davye, Edward Alsop.
Let us return to Wigston and the history of our line.
Transcription of Draft Will of Walter Pawley ( 1615) -superceded by a later Will
In the name of god Amen I Walter Pawley of Wigston also Wigginston in the countie of Leics yeoman…………..(usual preamble)……… the first daye of April in the yeare of our Lord god One thousand Five hundreth and Fifteene …….([etc etc.)]……..And as concerninge my Land and goods wherewith it hath pleased God to blesse me I doe by this my said last Will and Testament give and dispose as followeth Imprimis (insertion illegible) I give and bequeath unto Isabell my lovinge wife duringe her naturall life the use and occupation of all that my cottage or tenement wherin I now dwell situate and beinge in Wigston also Wigginston aforesaid and ([nsertion illegible] the whomsted [homestead] thereunto belonginge beinge that parte of the whomsted lyinge next unto the said cottage and on the west side of the said cottage as it is alreadye marked out and knowne And three acres of arable Land meadowes and pasture with their appertenance in Wigston also Wigginston aforesaid sometyme in the tenure or occupation of Katherine Lawe widowe or of her assignies wich said three acres of Land meadowes and pastures are lymitted and bounded as followeth: viz In Cowe (?) field One acre lyinge upon Hongerton Hill abuttingein Hongerton Sike. In Glonfeild Sike One halfe acre part therof being in Hadland abuttinge in Brockslade One other halfe lyinge upon Oyle Hill neare unto the land of Robert Hall on the East parte In Goldhill field one acre beinge thoroweland lyinge upon Goldhill betweene the land of Willm Danne on the South parte and of Francis Clarke on the North parte And halfe One dole of meadowe lyinge in Brodemeadow neareunto the meadowe of James Walker on the East parte And also Comon of pasture for one cowe and fyve sheepe within the comon fields of Wigston also wigginston aforesaid at all tymes of the yeare and (insertion illegible) comonally placed there And after the decease of the said Isabell my said wife I will that the said cottage or tenement ……….shall remayne…….unto Mary Pawley my youngest daughter and to her heirs or assignies for ever (In left margin): and with land……….. of Anthony Brewyn of Wigston also Wiggingston aforsaid boutcher and Eliz. His wife) Item I give and bequeathe unto the said Isabell my wife duringe her naturall life the use and occupation of all my houshold stuffe and implements of houshold And after her decease I will that the same shall remayne unto the aforesaid Mary Pawley my daughter and unto Agnes Pawley my eldest daughter if they be then lyvinge equally to be divided between them And if it pleaseth God that the said Agnes or Mary doe depart this life before the said Isabel my wife then I will …………….illegible…………..Item I give and bequeath unto my said daughter Mary the summe of Thirtie pounds of good and lawful English money to be paid to her at her full age of twentye years or at the day of her marriage whichever shall first happen …………….illegible………..Item I give and bequeath unto John Pawley my son if he be lyvinge at the time of my decease the summe of tenne shillings to be payd unto him at such tyme as he shall come in person to demande the same. Item I give and bequeath unto Anthony Brewyn my sonne in law and unto Elizabeth his wife tenne shillings and unto any one of his fyve children viz Robert John Richard Elizabeth and Katherin Brewyn xx s apeice which said sommes of xx s apeice I will shall be paid unto them by my executrix whom by me nominated and appointed at their severall ages of xxi years or their severall daies of marriage whichever shall first happen And if any of them doe depart this life before that tyme then my mynde and meaninge is that the said portion of him her or them soe deceasing shall remayne unto the survivors equally devided between them All the rest and residual of my goods and chattels……………….I give and bequeath unto my daughter Agnes Pawley whom I make sole and onlye executrix of this my last will and testament In witness whereof ……etc etc.
Transcription of Walter Pawley’s later Will, 1622
In the name of God amen I Walter Pawley of Wigston Magna in the County of Leics husbandman beinge sicke in bodie and of good and perfect remembrance thanks be to God for the same doe make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament revokinge all other wills herebefore by me made and this to be my last Will and Testament. First I give and bequeathe my soule to allmightie God hopinge to be saved by the death and passion of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and my bodie to be buried in the churchyard of All Saints in Wigston aforesayd and as for my goods I give and bequeathe them in manner and forme followinge that is to saye First I give and bequeathe unto my Sonne in Lawe Anthony Brewin and Elizabeth his wife six pounds apiece in full satisfaction of my daughter Elizabeths part and portion. Item I give and bequeathe unto my Sonne in Lawe Thomas Browne & Agnes his wife or either of them six pounds apiece in full satisfaction of my daughter Agnes part and portion Item I give and bequeathe unto my daughter Mary Pawley all that my Messuage or Tenement wherein I now dwell and all the land with the meadowe pasture and comon belonginge to the Land to her and her heires for ever and also I likewise give and bequeathe unto her all my goods cattells and chattells as well moveable and unmoveable whatsoever and I doe make her my full and sole Executrix of this my last will and testament and lastly my full mynd and will is that my sayd daughter Mary whome I make my full Executrix shall at her owne proper cost and charge in all things find and provide unto Isabell my wife for and during her naturall life good holsome & sufficient meate drinke apparrell beddinge washinge fyer candles and all other necessaries meete and convenyent for her degree and callinge In witness whereof I the sayd Walter Pawley have to this my last will and testament putt my hand and seale this Twentith daye of January in the Twentith yeare of the Rayne of our sovereign Lord James by the grace of God of England France & Ireland kinge defender of the Faythe and of Scotland the Six & Fyftith 1622
Witnesses Walter Pawley his marke
Thomas Byerley
Robt Phillipps
According to a family tree I have been sent, ELIZABETH PAULEY was born at Wigston Magna in 1583. I haven’t seen any document to prove this, but she would have been born around that time as she married ANTHONIE BREWIN on October 4th. 1604. And so, we can establish from the preceding Will transcripts that Elizabeth’s father Was WALTER PAWLEY of Wigston, and her mother was named ISABEL.
I am.agenuine.pawleyfromwigstonmagña
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