I am pretty certain that I have solved the mystery of Alice who married Thomas Sheffe.
I posted this in Wikitree recently . . .
Alice the daughter of Thomas Henley and Joan Shoyswell was married to Edward Horden and Joan's will dated 1508 referes to her as the wife of Edward Horden. But Alice had to have married Thomas Sheffe before then, as they were already having children.
HOWEVER, Thomas' older brother John (rarely mentioned) also had a daughter Alice and, for her, the dates work because she didn't have a husband before she married Thomas Sheffe. Her birth date is unkown. She seems to be the only Alice Hendley who could have been Thomas' wife.
Now we come to the inevitable muddle when assigning wives, two of whom were called Mary, to a succession of men all called John Henley.
Sometimes the oldest John Henley that I know of is said to have married Mary Mercy (Forster) and there are other variations.
I believe that the correct assignations are actually as follows . . .
John Henley (Will dated 8 November 1472, Proved 2 December 1472), the brother of Thomas Henley (who died in 1496) married Mercy (maiden name uncertain). This 1472 date keeps cropping up (it has been stated as the death date of all 3 John Henleys) but I have only seen the one document sourcing it - the will above. Family Search states, un-sourced, that this John Henley married Mercy Daniels. I have found no corroboration, nor anything to deny this assertion.
John's (above) father John Henley (approx 1400 - 1472) married Mary Braley. He could well have died in the same year as his son as the younger John was only 32 when he died.
John's (above) father John Henley (no dates for him at the moment) married Mary Forster
That's all I have - would be delighted if anyone can fill in any of my gaps !
I've not looked at this family for several years myself as I became unsure of the Sheaffe/Sheafe link on my tree but at the moment that is neither proven nor disproven.
Let me check I have read this correctly. Starting with the earliest people we have
John Henley who married Mary Foster. They were the parents of
John Henley [c1400-1472] who married Mary Braley. They in turn were the parents of
John Henley [died 1472 leaving a will] who married Mercy Daniels
Thomas Henley who died 1496
Both this Thomas [d1496] and John [d1472] had daughters named Alice. One of whom married Thomas Sheaffe/Sheffe.
Beyond this I don't have anything else to add yet but it would be good to know if this is how the tree fits together. If I do find anything else out I will let you know.
Matt
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