Henry (John) Meggs of Cambridgeshire, b abt 1541

[steviepeas]

We are looking for a Henry (John) Meggs of Cambrideshire born abt 1541, he married Elizabeth Bevill of Killigarth, Cornwall abt 1568, We know nothing else of his family history other than he is definitely recorded as marrying Elizabeth. Her family are extensively referenced but not much at all about Henry Meggs seems available in online sources. If anyone has any information we would be very grateful

[QueenoftheWest]

Hello,

You posted this quite a while ago, but I have an interest in pre-1600 historical research and this seemed like an interesting one, so I had a look for you.

As you state in your post, Elizabeth Bevill's family is very well-documented, but there is little in the way of information on her husband, Henry Meggs, Esq. All that I can find in the various pedigrees is his name and that he was indeed Elizabeth's spouse.

I see where you found the "of Cambridgeshire" link, but I cannot find reference to this in any reliable documentation. This seems to come from a few family trees uploaded by hobbyists, which isn't to say it isn't true, but I take this sort of thing with a grain of salt.

I don't know where you got the 1541 birth year or the 1568 marriage year; perhaps you could add your source?

Also, I can't find any children born to this couple. Are you a descendant? If so, could you please add from what child you are descended; naming patterns can often point towards parentage.

I went with the possibility that Henry was indeed connected to Cambridgeshire and took a cursory look at the National Archives. I found a record of a court case between a Henry Meggs and Robert Fyncham concerning the manor of Barton Wisbech and Downham, Cambridgeshire. Downham is in the Isle of Ely. The court case took place in the mid-to-late 1500s.

I then followed the trail into that area of Cambridgeshire and found an interesting possibility...

There was a wealthy landed family of Meggs in the Isle of Ely in the 1500s. The patriarch of the family was a man called Thomas Meggs, Esq. Thomas was the Chief Bailiff of the Isle of Ely, indicating he was a man of stature. His inquisition post-mortem (an early modern record of the death, estate and heir of one of the king's tenants-in-chief) took place in the year 1543-1544.

It is known he had at least 2 sons:
- Nicholas Meggs, heir to his estate
- Henry Meggs

I could be totally wrong, but could this be the Henry who married Elizabeth?

Interestingly, there is a book called Court & country: studies in Tudor social history ,which mentions a "[Henry] Meggs, born in the Isle of Ely, but married in Cornwall." Unfortunately, it doesn't really say anything else about him, just that he didn't "prosper in Cornwall." It doesn't give an exact year, but seems to cover the 16th century.

Again, this is just a theory, but an interesting one nonetheless!

Queenie 

[steviepeas]

Hi Queenie. Thanks for your reply and interest in the topic.
We are not related to The Meggs or the Bevill family. We are undertaking a research into the Church of St Talland, Talland Bay, Cornwall where John Bevill is commemorated on a slate tomb chest. The children of John Bevill and Elizabeth Milliton are recorded on the tomb chest and the first daughter Elizabeth is shown to be married to Henry Meggs. (see photo) Various documents point to Henry Meggs of Cambridgeshire but as we agree info on Henry is scant however the reference you quote to his not prospering in Cornwall would be a link. We have Elizabeths death recorded as 1616 discussed in a written work, Killigarth by James Derrimann. I may have the birth date for Elizabeth wrong it could be either 1544 or 1556, however nothing firm. The families of the Bevills and the Grenvilles are both commemorated on bench ends in the North Transept of Talland church (Killigarth Chapel) Elizabeth nor Henry are mentioned on the bench ends. We don't really have much more to impart, if we find anything more we will be in contact

[QueenoftheWest]

Hi Queenie. Thanks for your reply and interest in the topic.
We are not related to The Meggs or the Bevill family. We are undertaking a research into the Church of St Talland, Talland Bay, Cornwall where John Bevill is commemorated on a slate tomb chest. The children of John Bevill and Elizabeth Milliton are recorded on the tomb chest and the first daughter Elizabeth is shown to be married to Henry Meggs. (see photo) Various documents point to Henry Meggs of Cambridgeshire but as we agree info on Henry is scant however the reference you quote to his not prospering in Cornwall would be a link. We have Elizabeths death recorded as 1616 discussed in a written work, Killigarth by James Derrimann. I may have the birth date for Elizabeth wrong it could be either 1544 or 1556, however nothing firm. The families of the Bevills and the Grenvilles are both commemorated on bench ends in the North Transept of Talland church (Killigarth Chapel) Elizabeth nor Henry are mentioned on the bench ends. We don't really have much more to impart, if we find anything more we will be in contact

I see. Do your records indicate that Henry and Elizabeth had any children? I find it odd there is not more about them as a couple, or a record of their descendants or something like that.

Here are the mentions of Henry in the book Court & country: studies in Tudor social history:
https://archive.org/details/courtcountrystud0000rows/page/250/mode/2up (page 251)
https://archive.org/details/courtcountrystud0000rows/page/256/mode/2up (page 257)
https://archive.org/details/courtcountrystud0000rows/page/258/mode/2up (page 259)

If you haven't used it before, archive.org is an online library. I find it very useful for this sort of research.

The case described seems to have taken place in 1594, so about the right time period.

Thomas, the father of Henry Meggs, was actually the nephew of Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, who died in 1533. I had a look at his will, and he mentions his nephew Thomas Meggs, Agnes, his wife, Nicholas and Robert, his sons, but I can't see a mention of Henry. This indicates that Henry was probably born after 1533.

Queenie