Hi Bookbox,
Thank you very much for this, it is interesting to know why the inquisition was taken.
Richard's mother Elizabeth had remarried to Thomas Pymme (baron of the exchequer of the foreign receipts) after John Busby (Richard's father) died in 1530. In Thomas Pymme's 1549 will left his property in Islington to his wife for life and then to Thomas Pymme alias Frere and his property in Cornhill to Justyinian Rogers (not sure how Justyinian was related, he died 1551 and was married to Anne Hayward, sister of Rowland Lord Mayor of London) so perhaps they were establishing if Richard actually had rights to any of the property in Middlesex to protect Alice's interests?
His father John in his 1530 will left Richard money and his wife his property in Burford which was then to go to Richard. According to R H Gretton's Burford Records, John Busby d 1530 was the Richest man in Burford (he was buried in St Katherine's Chapple at Burford church but the Tanfield's planted their memorial likely on top of him so his 'marble stone' mentioned in his will, no longer exists to provide any information).
In a Burford survey of 1552 Richard Busby of Islington owned as a holding a burage in the High Street Burford and a close in Batts lane and 26 acres of arable in the fields of Burford and Signet (with one mead lying in Upton mead in the dry land). I wonder if Richard actually knew this at the time of the inquisition or whether this was lost for his heirs?
I think John was related to (perhaps a brother of) Richard Busby of Great Tew d 1539, Richard Busby of Long Compton d 1539 and Robert Busby of Chipping Norton d 1542. I believe Richard Busby of Great Tew d 1539 had a son called John who died in Steeple Barton 1548 (Richard mentions the surnames of his married daughters in his will and John refers to their husbands as brothers in his will) Interestingly Richard Busby s 1539 leaves his property in Oxford to Justyinian Rogers.
John Busby d 1548 mentions his son-in-law William Sheppard in his will and leaves William his farm at Steeple Barton. John's wife Agnes moves to Burnington to be with her daughter who married Nicholas Tolley. In Agnes' 1557 will she names another daughter as Elyn (Sheppard).
In William Sheppard's 1551 Steeple Barton will he mentions his nephew William Sheppard of Lydcott which must be the one mentioned in the inquisition.
It is interesting that it is Alice who is Richard Busby's heir and not Richard Busby's Busby relatives unless Alice Sheppard wife of William at Lydcott was a Busby herself, possibly a daughter of John Busby d 1530 (by his 1st wife Katherine with whom he is buried) but who is not mentioned in his will or even perhaps a relative of John Busby's wife Elizabeth who went on to marry Thomas Pymme (I don't know Elizabeth's maiden name).
Best wishes,
Emma
