Henry Spencer, of Badby

The House of Spencer was founded in the 15th century by Henry Spencer (died c. 1478), from whom all members descend.

Henry "of Badby" Spencer

• Born about 1392 / between 1400 - 1408, of Badby, Northamptonshire, England
• Died after 1469 / about 1476 in Badby, Northamptonshire, England
• Parents unknown
• Husband of Isabelle (Lincoln) Spencer — married about 1415 in Badby, Northamptonshire, England

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Henry Spencer of Badby was a successful yeoman and was a lessee of the demesne and tithes of Badby under the Abbey of Evesham in the reign of Henry VI, and also during the reign of Edward IV.

Note: Henry G. Spencer. Will dated 1476. Married Isabel, daughter of Henry Lincoln (Badby, Northamptonshire, England).

Family

http://nielsenhayden.com/genealogy-tng/getperson.php?personID=I2160...

Parents unknown. Henry Spencer is the earliest known member of this line. The pedigree in the 1619 Visitation of Warwickshire linking this Spencer family with the Despencers has been disproved.

Wife: Isabel, d. Between 4 Mar 1478 and 3 Mar 1479 Married Bef 1444 [1]

Children

• + 1. John Spencer, b. Abt 1438, of Hodnell, Warwickshire, England d. 4 Jan 1497, Hodnell, Warwickshire, England (Age ~ 59 years). Married Anne Empson.
• + 2. William Spencer, b. Abt 1444, of Radbourne, Warwickshire, England d. Bef 1496 (Age ~ 51 years). Married Elizabeth Empson.
• + 3. Thomas Spencer, b. Abt 1452, of Badby, Northamptonshire, England d. Between 30 Jun 1493 and 15 Sep 1496, Badby, Northamptonshire, England (Age ~ 41 years). Married Margaret.

Comments

https://www.americanancestors.org/browse/publications/the-register/...

NEHGR Vol. 174, Summer 2020

Our lead article is Ancestry of Agnes Spencer, Wife of Thomas Higginson of Berkeswell, Warwickshire, Ancestor of Nine American Immigrants, Cousin to Diana, Princess of Wales, Sir Winston Churchill, President George Washington, and Others. Building on his earlier Higginson article, author Clifford L. Stott shows how all these people were descended from three Spencer brothers of Warwickshire and Badby, Northamptonshire, born in the mid-fifteenth century. The immediate descendants of the three brothers are traced in the text, and a two-page chart shows how those named in the article’s title and U.S. Presidents Washington, Coolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, and the two Bushes are descended from one of the three Spencer brothers. As the author’s major articles have shown, finding a network of distantly related American immigrants is not surprising.

The article begins with “The Despencer Forgery.” In 1595 a successful Spen-cer descendant paid a corrupt herald to grant him arms based on the arms of the extinct noble Despencer family. This Spencer family clearly was not descended from the Despencer family, as proved in print in 1901. However, the Spencers rose to gentry status, several men were knighted, and Robert Spencer (1570–1627), ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sir Winston Churchill was granted a title.

Disputed Origins

Parents unknown.

WARNING - there appear to be TWO Henry Spencers, each married to Isabel Lincoln in Badby. See http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~riss/baldwin/bw/sp_engl_im...

• Henry Spencer, was born about 1392 in the village of Badby, Northamptonshire, two miles south of the town of Daventry. He may have been the son of Thomas Spencer and Joan, who may have been the daughter of Richard Pollock of Kent. However his real parentage has been obscured by the claims made in late Tudor times seeking to tie the Spencer family with the medieval Despencers.
• Parents seen as Johanna Spencer and Thomas Le Spencer
• Parents seen as Lady Dorothy de Spencer & Thomas Le Spencer
• Wrong generation to be this Henry Spencer: Henry Spencer (b. c 1365, d. 1416), son of Thomas Spencer, of Badley, Northamptonshire, England, was born circa 1335. He married an unknown person circa 1361 at Badley, Northamptonshire, England. He died after 1435 [sic]; son of Nicholas and Joan Pollard Spencer. Nicholas was born about 1332 and Joan about 1338.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badby There are no monuments, gravestones nor descendants of the family that we can identify in Badby village today. The 17th century parish records record births, baptisms, marriages and burials of a few members of the family. The records are now housed at the Northamptonshire Records Office.[10]
• http://www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-02/moa-01.html#Anchor-Despencers-47857
• This image does not seem correct for this Henry Spencer: link

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http://www.badbyhistory.org.uk/bhistory.html

With the decline of the Monastic life in the 14th century it became the practice for Evesham Abbey to lease out land in Badby. The Spencer family rented the “Manor” from 1451–71 and may well have carried out renovations marked on the plan. In 1530 they still held a lease on part of the Manor lands. This family is now associated with Althorpe.

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Notes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_family

Spencer family

• .... The family is descended in the male line from Henry Spencer (died c. 1478), claimed to be a descendant of the cadet branch of the ancient House Le Despencer. The descent of the family from the Medieval Despencers has been challenged, especially by Horace Round in his essay The Rise of the Spencers. The Spencers were granted a coat of arms in 1504 (Azure a fess Ermine between 6 sea-mews’ heads erased Argent) which bears no resemblance to that used by the family after c. 1595, which was derived from the Despencer arms. Round believed that the Despencer descent was fabricated by Richard Lee, a corrupt Clarencieux King of Arms.[1] The Spencer claim to be descendants of the Despencer family can neither be proven beyond reasonable doubt, nor disproved.
• .... A close relative of the said Henry Spencer (died c. 1478) was John Spencer, who in 1469 had become feoffee (feudal lord) of Wormleighton in Warwickshire and a tenant at Althorp in Northamptonshire in 1486. His nephew John Spencer (died 1522) first made a living by trading in livestock and other commodities and eventually saved enough money to purchase ....

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Spencer-210

Henry Spencer of Badby, Esquire, held certain lands and was lessee of the demesne and tithes of Badby under the Abbey of Evesham in the reign of Henry VI, and also during the reign of Edward IV, from 1451 to 1477.

The Spencer Family removed to Everdon. The death of William Spencer of Badby and Everdon on August 17, 1576 is noted in Baker's History. Henry died in 1476.[1][2]

Disputed Parentage

Beginning 1595, it was claimed that Henry Spencer was the son of Thomas Despencer. This, along with a number of other false pedigrees, was refuted by Horace Round in his 1901 Studies in Peerage and Family History.

Round describes the Spencer pedigree as, “a typical case of the Heralds' College providing a family, when it has acquired wealth, with arms to which it is not entitled on the strength of a pedigree concocted for the purpose”.[3]

Citing Round, The Complete Peerage dismissed the false Spencer pedigree as "an elaborate imposture," ... "incapable of deceiving the most credulous."[4]

The November 1902 edition of The Ancestor had some fun with the Spencer family's fake pedigree, describing them as, "that pushful house of shepherd kings" -- referring to the well-known origin of the family's wealth.[5]

In a more gentle tone, the March 1996 edition of Soul Search sadly noted that the forged pedigree, "obscures the real achievement of the Spencers of Althorpe. Alone, perhaps among the English nobility, the Spencers owed their riches and their rise not to the favour of a king or to the spoils of monasteries, nor even to a fortune made in trade, but to successful farming."[6]

Ancestral Note

Beginning with Henry, "de" was said to be omitted from the Spencer surname. But this may not be correct, since the connection between the DeSpencer and Spencer lines was refuted by John Horace Round in Peerage Studies and Allied Families. To demonstrate, note the following book excerpts and sources.

Source: Collin, A. (1785). Peerage of England, Vol.1 with Addenda by Sir Egerton Brydeges, K.J., 1812. NYC: AMS Pres Inc. 1970. pp. 382.

Thomas, the eldest son and heir of Nicholas, was father (g) of HENRY SPENCER, of Badby in com. Northampton, Esq. as appears by a (h) receipt (i), dated 13 Henry VI, for subsidies then paid to the King. Which HENRY took to wife Isabel, daughter and coheir of Henry Lincoln, from whom proceeded four sons, John, Thomas, William and Nicholas; and died about (k) 16 Edward IV, his last will and testament bearing date 1476, wherein he appoints his sons, John and Thomas, executors, and Isabel his wife overseer. The seal affix had the arms the family now bear, viz, quarterly in the first and third, a fret, over all, on a bend, three Escallops (l). He was succeded by his eldest son.

• (g) Original proof wanting
• (h) Visit. com. Northampton praed
• (i) Query, whether this receipt is cited to prove that Henry was son of Thomas?
• (k) Visi. comm. Northampton, praed.
• (l) If this fact be ascertained, it is a very stong case. In the above, Collins' himself doubts the connection of Henry, son of Thomas, son of Nichols, son of Sir John le Despencer, son of Geffrey le Despencer, son of Geffrey le Despencer, son of Thurstan le Despencer, son of Almaric le Despencer, son of William le Despencer, son of Robert le Despencer, who came with William the Conqueor in 1066.

(My notes: No where else in this Volume, Vol. 5 or Vol. 7 do we seen any mention of this Henry and his wife Isabel.

Source: The Worthies of Warwickshire, who lived between 1500 and 1800, by Frederick Leigh Colville, M.A., printed by Henry T. Cooke and Sons, London: J.R. Smith, Soho Square, prefaced by Lee Wooton, December, 1869.

The history of the SPENCERS' begins on page 706 with Sir John Spencer (d.1522) of Snittenfield, later of Wormleighton and Hodell and Althorp. The lineage in this volume descends to Henry Spencer, 3rd Lord Spencer, and 1st Earl of Sunderland. He succeeded his father, Sir Robert Spencer, 1st Lord Spencer (d.1627 Wormleighton).

Sir Henry succeeded his father in 1637, and died at the Battle of Newbury in 1643 .[7]

In his disertation, Round (n.d.) attempts to disprove the connection between the Le De Spencer and Spencer lines.[8] He mentions where:

"The family of Spencer of Wormleighton and Althorpe recorded in its pedigree at the Hearlds Vistionation of the County of Northampton in 1564 (H.IV in Coll.Arms) beginning with Sir John Spencer of Hodnell (d.1521), in the County of Warwick Kt.

At that time no pretension was made to a descent from the Despencers or of any relationship to the Earls of Winchester and Gloucester, nor was there the least similitude in the arms.

In 1595, Clarencieux Lee made a pedigree for the then Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton and Althorpe. In it, the descent is close to Dugdale's record. He professes to have complied it from diverse records, registers, wills, and other good sufficient proofs which he carefully researched, and in his character of Clarencieux King of Arms he confirms and allows it officially. Whatever proofs he ... examined, I confess that I cannot give implicit credit to his work".

On pps 325 and 326 we find: "One must repeat that Lee's deeds and persons may be genuine, but that he connected and combined them at his own sweet will,[9] and that his wife's name was Isabel; for, although it has been supposed that there is now no evidence for this Henry, I have found Henry Spencer of Badby", with Isabel (Lincoln) his wife, occurring in 1468.[10]

Clarke (n.d.), starts off with John Spencer, who died at Edworth, Bedfordshire, 9 June 1558.[11]

Spencer (1956), starts the line with Henry G. Spencer of Badby, who married Isabel Lincoln.[12]

Spencer (1927), starts the line from Amaury d' Abbetot and continues on to Henry Spencer of Northamptonshire, who married Isabel Lincoln. Between Robert Le De Spencer and Henry Spencer, the author follows the line drawn up by Arthur Collins.[13]

Brainerd (1991), also begins the line with Amauri d' Abbetot.[14]

Of the 9 Proposed Lineages to the 4 Brothers, Spencer, Spencer & Spencer (1993) feel the lineage given to LDS in 1993 by Dr. John Kimball and Virgil Spencer to be the most accurate. They begin the line with Henry of Badby.[15]

Genealogical Bulletins, begins the lineage with Robert Le Despencer. He sites many many references, but I believe, as Rounds states, there is no connection between the DeSpencer and the Spencers of our line.[16]

Spencer (1914), begins the line with John Le Spencer of Southampton, 1273, Henry Le Spencer of Cambridge about the same time, Thomas and Agnes Spencer of Yorkshire in 1379, to John Spencer of Bedfordshire! There is much lacking in this lineage! [17]

With this, we wonder where Henry Spencer came from. How do we make the connection between him and John Spencer of Bedfordshire? Is this all speculation, or can it be proven? Is anyone pursuing this? I myself am trying via various Bulletin Board Systems and the Internet to make the connection, and hopefully in the near future will succeed in doing so. But I do believe we can put to "rest" the connection between the le Despencer line and our Spencer line, and concentrate on finding Henry's whereabouts and his ancestors.[18]

Vitals

Henry G. Spencer.[18][19]

The article 'de' was dropped, and omitted frome the Spencer line at this point with Henry.[18]

This statement may not be correct, as the connection between the DeSpencer line and the Spencer was disproven by John Horace Round in his book Peerage Studies and Allied Families.[18]

• b. abt. 1392 Badby, Northamptonshire[18]
• d. abt. 1476[18] Henry G. Spencer. Will dated 1476.[19]

Family m. abt. 1415 Isabella Lincoln (b. abt 1394 Badby, Northamptonshire).[19][20]

Issue:

• John Spencer[21] feofee of Wormlighton.[18]
• Thomas Spencer[21][18]
• William Spencer[21] was born in Badby, Northhamptonshire, England.[18]
• Nicholas Spencer[21] was born in Badby, Northamptonshire, England.[18]
• Margaret Spencer.[18]

Will Date: 1476[19]

Genealogy Of The Spencer Family[22]

First Generation

Henry G. Spencer. Will dated 1476. Married Isabel, daughter of Henry Lincoln (Badby, Northamptonshire, England).

Second Generation

Thomas F. Spencer of Eton Socon, England, in 1433.

Third Generation

Robert Spencer, of South Mylles, Bedfordshire, Later St. Albans, England. Married Ann Peck (Peake, Peak, Peek, Pack).

Fourth Generation

John Spencer, South Mylles, Bedfordshire 1533 at St. Albans, later in Edworth, Bedfordshire, England. Married Christian Baker.

Fifth Generation

• 1-William Spencer
• 2-Robert Spencer
• 3-John Spencer, Jr., of St. George Parish, Edworth, Bedfordshire, England. At Edworth June 9, 1588 married Anne Lymer or Limer and died June 16, 1560. (They had three sons)

Copy attached.[19]

Sources

• The Baronettage of England, 1720 Sons Thomas and William Which Thomas was Father of Henry Spencer of Badby in Com Northamp who is ftil d Son and Heir of Thomas Spencer in a Book of Subfidies granted in 1 3 H 6 and this Henry having marry a Ifabel Daughter and Coheir of Lincoln had Iflue 4 Sons p&w Thomas William and Nicholas and departed this Life about 17 J 4 his laft Teftament oeing dated Anno 1476 wherein he made his Sons John and Thomas his Executors and Ifahel his Wife Overfeer fealing it with the Arms the Family now bear vi fgiiarierly in the 2d and 3d a Fret over all on a Bend three Efcallops He was fucceeded b his eldeft Son.
• John Spencer Efq ... Whole article. Page attached. Needs editing.
• Descendants of Amuary Raoul D'Albetot 22. HENRY G. SPENCER1,4,5 was born about 1392 in Badby, Northamptonshire, England. He died in 1476. At this point with Henry, the "De" was omitted from the Spencer line. This statement may not be correct, as the connection between the DeSpencer line and the Spencer was disproven by John Horace Round in his book Peerage Studies and Allied Families. In order to show that I will present here some excerpts of his book and other sources. Source: Peerage of England, Volume 1 by Arthur Collin, published about 1785, with Addenda by Sir Egerton Brydeges, K.J., 1812, printed by AMS Pres Inc., New York, NY 10003, 1970. Page 382, Thomas, the eldest son and heir of Nicholas, was father ...

(k) 16 Edward IV, his last will and testament bearing date 1476, wherein he appoints his sons, John and Thomas, executors, and Isabel his wife overseer. The seal affix had the arms the family now bear, viz, quarterly in the first and third, a fret, over all, on a bend, three Escallops (l). He was succeded by his eldest son.(g)Orignal proof wanting

(h) Visit. com. Northampton praed

(i) Query, whether this receipt is cited to prove that Henry was son of Thomas? (k) Visi. comm. Northampton, praed.

(l) ... disprove the connection of the Le De Spencer line and the Spencer line. He mentions where: " The family of Spencer of Wormleighton and Althorpe recorded in its pedigree at the Hearlds Vistionation of the County of Northampton in 1564 (H.IV in Coll.Arms) beginning with Sir John Spencer of Hodnell, in the County of Warwick Kt who died in 1521.

At that time no pretension was made to a descent from the Despencers or of any relationship to the Earls of Winchester and Gloucester, nor was there the least similitude in the arms. Clarencieux Lee in 1595 made a pedigree for the then Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton and Althorpe, in which he drew the descednt nearly in the manner in which Dugdale has given it; he professes to have complied it from divers records, registers, wills, and other good sufficient proofs which he had diligently and carefully perused, and in his character of Clarencieux King of Arms he confims and allows it officially. Whatever the proofs which he saw and examined, I confess that I cannot give implicit credit to his work". ...

From A Short History of Badby by A.E.Evens (?) c: 1940. Henry Spencer, son of Thomas Spencer and Joan, daughter of Richard Pollock, of Kent, lived here. Henry Spencer of Badby, Esquire, held certain lands and was lessee of the demesne and tithes of Badby under the Abbey of Evesham in the reign of Henry VI., and also in the reign of Edward IV, from 1451 to 1477. The Spencer Family removed to Everdon. The death of William Spencer of Badby and Everdon on August 17, 1576, is noted in Baker's History.

Four U.S. Presidents, Princess Diana Spencer, and Winston Churchill

HENRY G. SPENCER and Isabella LINCOLN were married about 1415. Isabella LINCOLN (daughter of Henry LINCOLN and (?) (?)) was born about 1394 in Badby, Northamptonshire, England. She was daughter and co-heir of Henry Lincoln. HENRY G. SPENCER and Isabella LINCOLN had the following children:

   +23 

   i. John SPENCER feofee of Wormlighton.

+24

   ii. THOMAS SPENCER.

25

   iii. William SPENCER was born in Badby, Northhamptonshire, England.

26

   iv. Nicholas SPENCER was born in Badby, Northamptonshire, England.

27

   v. Margaret SPENCER.

Source List Attached [23]

Ancestral File Number: HNX3-R5 Source

The Spencer lineage I give is from "SPENCER-HUXLEY: From the files of Stephen M. Lawson". "The following lineage is generally accurate. However, some differences are reported in other sources. A series begun January 1983 in le Despencer, Newsletter of the Spencer Family Association, by Flora Spencer Clark, includes the final 3 English generations as proved. This series continues with the American Spencers. Identification of Henry SPENCER and Isabella LINCOLN as parents of Sir John SPENCER is from Ancestors of American Presidents, by Gary Boyd Roberts (Santa Clarita, CA, 1995)."

Henry SPENCER (d. 1477/8) of Badby, Northants. m. Isabella LINCOLN. Son William m. Elizabeth EMPSON and became ancestor of Pres. F. D. ROOSEVELT, Sir Winston SPENCER-CHURCHILL, Lady Diana (SPENCER), Princess of Wales, and her sons Prince William and Prince Harry. Son Thomas m. Margaret SMITH became ancestor of Pres. WASHINGTON and Pres. F. D. ROOSEVELT. Son John, as noted below, became ancestor of Pres. COOLIDGE and Pres. BUSH.

Biography

Henry was born in 1392. Henry Spencer ... He passed away in 1476. [24]

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Source: The Worthies of Warwickshire, who lived between 1500 and 1800, by Frederick Leigh Colville, M.A., printed by Henry T. Cooke and Sons, London: J.R. Smith, Soho Square, prefaced by Lee Wooton, December, 1869.

The history of the SPENCERS' begins on page 706 with Sir John Spencer (d.1522) of Snittenfield, later of Wormleighton and Hodell and Althorp. The lineage in this volume descends to Henry Spencer, 3rd Lord Spencer, and 1st Earl of Sunderland. He succeeded his father, Sir Robert Spencer, 1st Lord Spencer (d.1627 Wormleighton).

Sir Henry succeeded his father in 1637, and died at the Battle of Newbury in 1643 .[7]

In his disertation, Round (n.d.) attempts to disprove the connection between the Le De Spencer and Spencer lines.[8] He mentions where:

"The family of Spencer of Wormleighton and Althorpe recorded in its pedigree at the Hearlds Vistionation of the County of Northampton in 1564 (H.IV in Coll.Arms) beginning with Sir John Spencer of Hodnell (d.1521), in the County of Warwick Kt. At that time no pretension was made to a descent from the Despencers or of any relationship to the Earls of Winchester and Gloucester, nor was there the least similitude in the arms.

In 1595, Clarencieux Lee made a pedigree for the then Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton and Althorpe. In it, the descent is close to Dugdale's record. He professes to have complied it from diverse records, registers, wills, and other good sufficient proofs which he carefully researched, and in his character of Clarencieux King of Arms he confirms and allows it officially. Whatever proofs he ... examined, I confess that I cannot give implicit credit to his work".

On pps 325 and 326 we find: "One must repeat that Lee's deeds and persons may be genuine, but that he connected and combined them at his own sweet will,[9] and that his wife's name was Isabel; for, although it has been supposed that there is now no evidence for this Henry, I have found Henry Spencer of Badby", with Isabel (Lincoln) his wife, occurring in 1468.[10]

References

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Spencer-210 cites
• ↑ From A Short History of Badby by A.E.Evens c: 1940.
• ↑ Entered by Michael Lechner, March 7, 2012.
• ↑ Quoted in "Fact and Fiction in Family History". Additional quotes from Horace Round's debunking of the Spencer pedigree can be found at Ancestor Hunting, the first chapter in Mists of Antiquity.
• ↑ "Despencer" in The Complete Peerage, Vol. 4 (1916), p. 239.
• ↑ The Ancestor (Nov. 1902), p. 189.
• ↑ Don Steel, Fact and Fiction in Family History.
• ↑ (My notes: Here again we can find no connection with Henry of Badby, Northamptonshire.
• ↑ Family Origins, Chapter VII, The Rise of the Spencers, by John Horace Round, publisher and date are not known to me at this time. pps 279-329.
• ↑ Author quoted: "(compare my article on "The Origin of the Thynnes" in Genealogist (N.S.) XI, 193. It is, for instance, quite possible that he found a HENRY SPENCER obtaining a lease of tithes at Badby in 20 Hen. VI. (1441-1442)"
• ↑ (My notes: There again is the only mention of Henry and Isabel Spencer in his volume.
• ↑ Genealogy of the Four Spencer Brothers, by Flora Clarke, under Michael, part 1
• ↑ Genealogy of the Spencer Family, by Albert H. Spencer, 1956
• ↑ The Spencers of Bedfordshire, England and East Haddam, Connecticut", by H.R. Spencer, Duluth, Minnesota, 1927
• ↑ Ancestors of Ossian Hatch Brainerd and Mary Hubbard Goodrich" by Berwyhn Brainerd Thomas, Mason County Historical Society, Shelton, Washington, 1991
• ↑ Spencer, J.T. Spencer, E.W. & Spencer, V. (1993). A Comparative Analysis of Genealogical Records for Ancestors of the Four Spencer Brothers in England. 17(3).
• ↑ Genealogical Bulletins, no. 4, "The Spencer Family", LDSFHL Film 0496485
• ↑ The Spencers and Their Name, by B.F. Spencer, 1914
• ↑ 18.00 18.01 18.02 18.03 18.04 18.05 18.06 18.07 18.08 18.09 18.10 Descendants of Amuary Raoul D'Albetot, George R. Spencer.
• ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Genealogy of the Spencer Family.
• ↑ dau. and co-heir Henry Lincoln (Badby, Northamptonshire; mother unknown.
• Note: m. ABT 141
• ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 The Baronettage of England, 1720.
• ↑ :B.L.B. (n.d.) _____ "Hartford, Conn. Times"
• ↑ Descendants of Amuary Raoul D'Albetot.
• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Henry_Spencer_%281%29 cites
• Jack Taif Spencer and Edith Woolley Spencer. The Spencers of the Great Migration, Vol. I p. 56.
• http://nielsenhayden.com/genealogy-tng/getperson.php?personID=I2160... cites
• Clifford L. Stott, "Ancestry of Agnes Spencer, Wife of Thomas Higginson of Berkeswell, Warwickshire, Ancestor of Nine American Immigrants, Cousin to Diana, Princess of Wales, Sir Winston Churchill, President George Washington, and Others." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 174:199, Summer 2020; 174:330, Fall 2020.
• http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~riss/genealogy/baldwin/bw/sp_engl_im... cites
• Ancestors of American Presidents, 1995, Gary Body Roberts
• https://myshgs.org/about-shgs/
• 'Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Evesham', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 2, ed. J W Willis-Bund and William Page (London, 1971), pp. 112-127. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol2/pp112-127 [accessed 27 January 2021].
• http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-11-147.pdf cites
• For the Spencer pedigree, see Fetherston, John, The Visitation of the County of Warwick in the Year 1619, (London: Harleian Society, 1877), Vol. XII, pp. 284-5 at: Archive.Org (disproved Ancestry)
• There is considerable confusion concerning the testator’s immediate family. However much of what Collins has to say is confirmed in the will below. See Collins, Arthur, The Peerage of England, (London: R. Gosling and T. Wotton, 1735),Volume II, Part I, pp. 226-7 at: GoogleBooks
• http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-11-147.pdf “The testator (1497) John Spencer had an elder brother, William Spencer, and a younger brother, Thomas Spencer, both of whom, according to the will below, predeceased the testator.”