Many of the earliest Norman families in England can be traced back to specific villages in Normandy - as for example the ‘de Varennes’ (later Warrens) who, as one of the 200 or so Barons (chief tenants of the King), were granted vast swathes of East Anglia, and elsewhere, after the Conquest. They, who rarely lived on such estates, would in turn ‘transfer’ much of this to those a rank or so below themselves who, as sub-tenants, would thus ‘hold’ it ‘of the Warrens’ or whomever. They too could transfer some of this to other tenants, mainly Norman knights, who would then hold it ‘of them’, and so on. For this, they would be required to provide some military service. Much of this land was also held initially by another Norman family - the Bigods/Bigots - (pronounced here as ‘Bee-go’) many of whom did at least live in Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as elsewhere, some at the rank of Earl. By the later 1100s, with so many landed families’ elder sons, many of them knighted, dying young (eg on the Crusades) and through countless first, second and third marriages, the tenure of land soon became very complex. Some of the earliest landholders are of course detailed in the Doomsday Book of 1086. There were two other useful Books - the Black Book and the Red Book (Liber Rubeus de Scaccario) - which gives names of many nobles and knights included in returns sent to the Exchequer later in the next century. None of these includes the name Jermy (or immediate variants) per se although in 1166 the latter book did show one Baron - a Roberti de Bello Campo (ie Robert Beauchamp in Norman French; more recently pronounced ‘Beecham’ in English) was served by 7 knights in Somerset including one ‘Robertus Germain’ (possibly pronounced without the final 'n' - as in the French manner). However, the forename Robert does not occur in the first 10 generations of the recorded family. There were of course no parish church registers to aid our analysis of the earliest members of the family - until 1538 - and very few Wills survive from earlier times. However...
Jermys of the 1200s or before.
Various early records in the PRO, such as ‘Feudal Aids’ and ‘Patent Rolls’ do contain names - pertaining to land transfers and other legal documents from the late 1100s. The earlier Exchequer records may contain others. The earliest reference I’ve noted for the Jermys thus far was that concerning a transfer of land next to the church in Kessingland, Suffolk involving one 'Thomam Jeremye' (this the latin spelling; in English, it would likely translated as Thomas Jermy). The date was 7th July 1225 and those involved were ‘Radulfum de Cassingeland’, ‘Simonen de Cassingeland - Vicarium ecclesii’ and the said Thomam Jeremye - tenentum di tribus acris in Cassingeland’. This latter man was possibly born around 1175-85, say. Four years later, the Close Rolls dated 13 Hen III (1229) describe a Feet of Fines (No. 110) concerning the same land in Kessingland (then in the Honour of Warren) involving ‘Simon de Pierpoint’. The Pierpoints (from ‘Petra ponte’ or ‘Stonebridge’) held land in both Sussex and Suffolk of the Earls Warren from the time of the Conquest - including land in the parishes of Kessingland, and neighbouring Benacre, Wrentham, Covehithe and Gisleham.
A farm adjoining Kessingland church today is called ‘Manor Farm’ (see next map below). Some of these properties were transferred after Simon’s death in 1240 first to Hugh de Plaiz and later to Robert de Mohaut - who held two knight’s fees there of the Warrens - and later ‘of the Honour of Chester’ (held by the Crown). Such nobles, who would not reside there themselves, likely continued to rent some of this out to the Jermys (eg for knightly service) who, in addition, ‘bought’ some neighbouring land themselves. Histories of Kessingland describe it as having once been ‘a very important and wealthy village’. From what this derived is not explained. Much of the nearby coast has been eroded over the centuries (for example, Dunwich to the south once boasted 10 churches and has long been lost below the sea). So, while Kessingland has no natural harbour today, possibly it did have some such advantage in the 13th century.
And speaking of harbours, the above Close Rolls include another interesting entry for the year 1229 - which describes how the King greeted ‘Jeremie’ (this the latin spelling) who was ‘Keeper of the Great Ship and Galleys in Portsmouth’. At this date, first names were often all one had (as Simon above) - frequently combined with the name of one’s home parish - but some of these were shortly to be accepted as a father’s family name - as already established, for example, for Thomas ‘Jeremy’. One might argue that the latter person might well be of some other family than the one we are tracing, but further Kessingland and area transactions tend to consolidate the Jermy identity. Thus Suckling in his book on ‘Suffolk’ refers to Vol xxxv of ‘Cole’s Mss’ (for 1299) which relates that “John Brunflet held lands between those of Roger Wellington, Sir John de Bixley and Simon Germy of Gisleham”. [And in the next century, a Subsidy tax of 15 pence was paid in 1327 for property in Gisleham and Rushmere by one Thomas Germi, while a Suffolk Feet of Fines for 1339 shows the sale of land in Kessingland and Gisleham by William Germye - to Ralph de Megre, Parson of Kessingland. Sir William Jermy - who held Tharston in Norfolk at that time - was in fact shown by Norfolk genealogist Arthur Campling to have died in Kessingland - in 1340, the family’s connections with this coastal Suffolk parish apparently being maintained over that preceding century.]
The earliest Jermy shown in early Visitation and Harleian pedigrees is an earlier Sir William Jermy - ‘alive (and/or knighted?) in 1221’. On what primary evidence this is based is not stated. He would appear to be either of the same generation as the above Thomas Jermy of Kessingland, and so born around 1180, say, or possibly a little later. While a knighthood conferred certain advantages, it also entailed onerous responsibilities and these weren’t always sought after. It was, for example, possible to pay an amount of money (scutage) to avoid having to fight in wars. Any knighted brother (or son?) may not necessarily have been the elder, therefore, although where property inheritance was involved, primogeniture certainly meant the elder son was advantaged. We have no evidence as to the parish or manor of residence for the earliest knighted Jermys, nor even their county. Until any obtrudes to the contrary, however, we may reasonably associate them with North-east Suffolk and assume that they were close relatives to those mentioned above. They would likely be in the service of some noble controlling such areas and the latter’s records, if extant, may one day confirm this as their original area. It is intriguing to note that between Kessingland and Gisleham there was once a large moated dwelling where, conceivably, the first Jermys of present concern may well have resided. (Note: an early map shows this to have been ‘Gisleham Hall’.) Until shown otherwise, the site of this moated Hall bordering Kessingland and Gisleham may serve a convenient hypothesis as to the earliest suspected Jermy abode. We may reasonably assume there was a knighted Jermy so residing (born ca 1150, say) who served in the time of Henry Plantagenet (d 1189) and from whom one or more of the foregoing 'earliest' Jermys likely descend.
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service and
reproduced here with kind permission of Ordnance Survey.
The pedigrees mentioned show the first Sir William to have had a son Sir John Jermy whose year of birth has been estimated here to be about 1225. This, and the birth year for his father, are based upon the date of 1221 given for Sir William (living or knighted) and the period when this Sir John’s wife (if valid) is thought to have been born and lived. On the other hand, there is a slim possibility that this assumed wife may have lived a generation earlier, in which case Sir John’s birth would itself have been somewhat earlier. This is touched on later.
A report of a Norfolk Feet of Fines for Hilary term 56th Hen III (1272) shows that a ‘William de Geremie’ purchased 40 acres and a messuage in Felmingham from Robert de Wyvill & Agnes his wife (who retained their lordship of same by virtue of William’s symbolic annual rent of ‘one rose’). However, the original document - abstracted by Norfolk antiquarian Walter Rye - actually shows the name clearly written as ‘William Geremie' - without the ‘de’. He abstracted hundreds of such documents the vast majority of which did involve men with place names and thus the ‘de’. His error in one of the few exceptions is thus not unexpected. For some reason, the Jermys possessed a surname not based upon a place (eg called Germy or some such - although they did later have at least two manor’s they gave their name to: ie Germie’s or (sometimes) Jermyn’s manor in Capele, Suffolk (today Capel St Mary) and Jermy’s or Tharston Jermy’s manor in Tharston and Forncett, Norfolk). The name was thus more likely to derive from the forename Jeremie, although admittedly, names such as ‘fils or fitz Jeremie’ might have been expected during some intervening period - earlier in the 1100s, say. Such may well have been the case, but there is much less documentation from that period. As Sir William Jermy would likely have died by about 1250 (not many lived beyond 50 at that time), it seems reasonable to conclude that he was not the apparently unknighted William who purchased the Felmingham land in 1272. He may, however, have had a younger son William around 1230, say, who did so - when aged a more reasonable 40 or so.
That this later William Geremie was a member of the single Jermy family of present concern is again supported by the fact that a later Thomas Jermy (c1450-1503) was himself settled in Felmingham (a relatively small village and parish), some generations later. Significantly, this was the first place in north Norfolk in which the Jermys were to settle (in the late 1400s) - after their many generations in Suffolk and the south). The family had thus again retained property interests in the interim it seems. The William Geremie of 1272 may not have resided at Felmingham himself, of course - which is rather remote from the family’s early centres. Thus, no other Jermy events are recorded in that area for several generations. Interestingly, Felmingham was held in the 1200s by the Wyvills (Whitewells) - 'of Roger Bigod' - who had connections with Kessingland (and of course with many other parishes).
[What validity attaches to an entry in Harleian Society’s ‘Knights of Edward I’ regarding one ‘Sir Reginald de Jermeny, Knt’ is uncertain. It describes an instruction from Edward I for this man to journey to Holland to arrange a marriage treaty between John C…. of that country and Edward’s daughter Elizabeth Plantagenet - dated 14 Sept 1296 - Sir Reginald’s safe conduct from that embassy to be ensured on his return - 12 Nov 1296’. In this case, Sir Reginald, whoever he was, may well have been raised in/nr Germany, say (and so could speak the Dutch required, if not latin) and hence his appellation - ‘de Jermeny’. There was no place in England of this or similar name; just a Germoe in Cornwall.]
It is possible that the Jermys were settled at both their Kessingland/Gisleham and Capele properties during the early to mid 13th century, before some of them settled at either Tharston in Norfolk (ca 1300-1350+) and later back in Suffolk - at Metfield (from 1325). East Suffolk - whether in the northern section at Kessingland/Gisleham and later at Metfield nearby - or much more southerly at Capele and then Brightwell and Stutton - was clearly the early territory of the Jermys in England, for whatever reasons. Interestingly, Thomas de Brotherton (Plantagenet), 5th son of Edward I and a later in-law of the Jermys, held the manor of Metfield before 1325. East Suffolk was undoubtedly his chief area of influence as well. This arose when the King gave him the former Bigod lands, with the Earldom of Norfolk (including Suffolk), in 1312. The Jermys may well have been in his employ latterly and before that with comparable Suffolk nobility - particularly the Bigods and Warrens (who were inter-married), and later with the Mowbrays.
We may thus consider further the son of the first Sir William Jermy - Sir John Jermy - who was said in some early pedigrees to have married a younger daughter of Roger Bigod (1212-1270), the 6th Earl of Norfolk (1225-1270). She is sometimes named as Christian, although Campling and others show her as Margery or Margaret. However, the Norfolk historian Walter Rye described such a marriage as “fantasy”. But, as mentioned, there is some prima facia evidence that could support such a union. It is quite accepted that this Roger did, as a youth, marry Isobelle, daughter of ‘William, King of Scotland (1145-1214) - in May 1225 in Alnwick, Northumberland, although later attempting to divorce her (ca 1245-50. This was apparently because of certain relationships in their backgrounds (Roger’s mother Maud Marshall had re-married - William Warren, Earl of Surrey - while Isobelle’s grandmother was also a Warren; otherwise I see no problem). Any elder daughter (?Maud) would likely be born about 1228, say, and Margery around 1230. This could place her own subsequent marriage to ca 1245.
It is interesting to note that in that latter year, Roger Bigod, as Earl of Norfolk, travelled to Rome with others to plead certain cases in the Court there involving the king - Henry III. And shortly after, on 3rd April 1248, he was the subject of a Papal Letter (Cal. of Papal Registers 1198-1304) in which “..the Bishop of Ely is mandated to cite Roger Bigod - Earl of Norfolk (and Marshall of England) - and Isabelle, who passes as his wife, to appear within two months in person or by proxy - before the Pope in order that the Cause between them as to affinity, which has already lasted three years, may be proceeded with and determined - Papal Letters on either side having already been obtained and there being no probability of a decision in England.” A later Letter in this Calender (vol 1. p 253) states that “…Roger had repudiated her in 1245, but was compelled by Ecclesiastic sentence to ‘take her back’ (possibly in a legalistic not domestic sense?) - in 1253”. By 1263 she, at least, lived in Gloucestershire although was later buried in the church of the Black Friars, London in 1266 (Harl MS 544 f 68). Her ?estranged husband, the Earl, was himself buried in Thetford, Norfolk (which he seems to have preferred to Norwich) just four years later.
It is conceivable that if he felt that strongly about it, Roger should have desisted from having relations with his young bride in order to avoid issue, which would certainly complicate matters. Indeed, the usual peerages seem to show no issue born to them. The one reference I have noted was in a most comprehensive, present day listing (on the Internet) of all families associated in any way with Royal genealogies - edited by Brian Tompsett. In this, there is a single Jermy reference - ie to a ‘Sir John Jeremy’ - who was apparently married (Tompsett uses the phrase ‘associated with’ for all such probable unions) to either a Margaret or Margery Bigod - but shown not as the 6th Earl’s daughter - but his aunt - viz a sister of his father Hugh Bigod, the 5th Earl, and hence the elder daughter of an earlier Roger Bigod - the 4th Earl, with his wife Ida or Isabel Plantagenet. Sadly, he gives no reference for this item. This would place this Margery’s birth around 1200 or so - implying her possible husband ‘Sir John Jeremy’ to be a brother, rather than a son, of the first Sir William and so born himself a generation earlier - around 1190, say - than generally accepted. Unfortunately, this greatly complicates an already tenuous chronology - for later generations - and may be put on hold for now. Most other facts and dates appear to support better the present interpretation. Tompsett may well have noted some pedigree’s reference to Margery, but confused these two Roger Bigods.
If there were daughters born to the later Roger Bigod, one wonders what the prolonged divorce application may have meant for the marriage prospects for those two girls. Such uncertainties regarding their status could support the idea of a marriage within knighted rather than noble classes. There was, as mentioned, just enough association between the nobility and knightly families concerned in the present case to allow such a marriage. Thus Kessingland and area was, we recall, held by the Warrens (married with the Bigods) and later (ca 1265?) by Isabelle of Scotland (nee Warren), who would later marry John de Balliol, King of Scotland (ca 1275), while the Jermys held property there of the Warrens by or under knight’s fees, both before and after 1250. I have a note that Roger Bigod’s brother Hugh (1215-1265), a Justiciar of England, took over the upbringing of Roger’s two daughters (presumably during the 1240s) and hence may have been instrumental in any subsequent marriages. The source of this note is unfortunately presently misplaced but it seems to imply that such daughters existed. Interestingly, the younger son of Hugh, John Bigod, who had become Patron of Thetford, Norfolk, was warned by the Pope in 1301 to desist from interfering in the appointment of the Prior there. The Bigods were often a law unto themselves in East Anglia and a succession of Kings and Popes had difficulty with them. Thus Roger above (the 6th Earl) was one of the Barons who, with his brother Hugh, forced Henry III to reduce certain taxes in 1258. And an earlier Hugh Bigod, also Earl of Norfolk, had led a rebellion against Henry II in 1173. The later Hugh’s elder son Roger became the 7th Earl - in 1270 - and on his death in 1306 the Earldom reverted to the Crown (and soon after to Thomas de Brotherton) and so the Bigods’ long control of East Anglia finally ceased. It was before his death in 1307, that Edward I had promised the Earldom to his still young 5th son Thomas - to whom it was indeed conferred - in 1312 - by his elder half-brother Edward II.
The pedigrees (eg Harleian 1552) show this first Sir John Jermy and wife (of whatever name) to have had a son - also Sir John Jermy - estimated here to be born around mid-century - ca 1250-60. This is fairly consistent with his subsequent purchase in 1303 of property in Tharston, Wacton and Forncett in the hundred of Depwade, Norfolk (about 10 miles south of Norwich). Forncett was the head manor of the Liberty of the Duke of Norfolk (which comprised an amazing 127 parishes granted by William the Conqueror to an earlier Duke). All of Depwade was granted by Edward III to John de Clavering in 1327, although the then Duke of Norfolk would presumably still retain his manorial rights and duties therein.
In his role as Crown Coroner (ie ‘overseer’ of the Royal lands) for Norfolk, Sir Roger de Hales seems to have acquired some good property himself, including a quarter of a knight’s fee in these three parishes (albeit ‘held’ until 1306 of Roger Bigod). He then ‘sold’ this to the present (younger) Sir John Jermy. They would likely know each other by virtue of the Jermys presence in south-east Suffolk (eg Capele) - quite near his own residence in Harwich. The Norfolk property was later referred to as ‘Tharston Jermy’s’ or ‘Jermy’s’ manor. ‘Feudal Aids’ show ‘Johannes Germy (?already) holding a ¼ knight’s fee in neighbouring Forncett of Earl Marshall Bigod) and another ¼ fee directly of the King in 1302 (unless this was part of his purchase from Roger Hales? Regnal years are easily confused). It was at about this same time (and possibly earlier) that a ‘Johanna Germye’ held property - again a quarter knight’s fee - in Capele St Andrew or St Mary (as an heir of one William de Bromfeld of Sussex or Kent) which was also later described as ‘Jermy’s’ or ‘Jermyn’s manor’ The Manor House and nearby 'Jermyn's Farm' still appear on current maps - see below - while an unnamed ‘Castle’ is at Lt Wenham close by. Johanna was likely the wife of a contemporary Jermy - as a brother ?William Jermy of the first Sir John possibly.
There seems to be some differences of opinion regarding who was the first or later wives (if any) of this Sir John Jermy and of his apparent son - the 2nd Sir William Jermy . We have suggested here that it was this latter father, the younger Sir John, who married firstly Anne Langford, the daughter of a Henry Langford of Devon and secondly an Isobelle, and that it was his son - Sir William Jermy (c1275-1340) - who may have married Ellen/Elana Lampett, possibly after an earlier marriage to an ?Isabelle Balliol (and possibly later to a Johanna). But more evidence is certainly needed to establish both the forenames and the relevant generations of some of these spouses with any confidence. In 1292, a William Germy or Germyn and wife Johanna sold land in Brundish, Suffolk (south of Metfield) to Alex de Fastolf. Was this Sir John’s brother (as suggested above) just before his widow Johanna held land at Capele? And, as mentioned, a Simon Jermy, very probably a member of this same family, held land in Gisleham about then also . The Jermys seems to have been financially viable at this time and more property was soon to come their way (eg at Easton Gosbeck) - seemingly through the 2nd Sir William’s marriage - Ellen’s mother being Beatrice de Gosbeck. One wonders if any of the later Jermys who may have settled (?briefly) in Devon were younger sons or grandsons of this Sir John and Anne Langford ? Their marriage was likely arranged in London - where many knights and gentry from quite disparate counties often met to negotiate such matters - with inevitable property and/or financial considerations (dowries and joyntures) being paramount. This seems to have been the case with Sir Thomas Jermy in c1350 as well. [Or did Margery (nee Bigod) raise other Jermy sons in Gloucestershire ca 1250s/60s - who later settled in Devon?]
In his Jermy pedigree, Campling shows the only son of Sir John Jermy and wife Margery as a John Germye who, with second wife Isabelle, purchased the 120 acres and 3 messuages “in Therston, Wackton and Forncett from Roger de Hales” - in 1303. By 1316, only Isabelle’s name (as ‘Germeyn’) is shown in Feudal Aids in respect of Tharston et al. John may have died about 1315, therefore. Valdar, quoting the later roller pedigree on vellum, shows John’s son Sir William as having married Ellen, and Campling, Elena Balliol. What primary evidence there is in this regard is uncertain. We may observe that if his second wife was indeed an Ellen (Lampett), any prior one, as the daughter of Isabelle Balliol (nee Warren) say, might be seen, not unreasonably, to have been not another Ellen but, conceivably, an Isobelle Balliol. However, Tompsett, at least, shows no such daughter Isabelle but, equally, no Ellen/Elena either - born to her and John Balliol - only two others named Margaret and Anne. And, in regard to the latter of these two girls, points out that ‘there is doubt she ever existed’. Such uncertainty about the names or even existence of the issue of this union allows us to suggest that a daughter named Isobelle may at least be considered - as much as any other. Interestingly, however, the mother Isabelle Warren had a sister named Eleanor; might she have been commemorated in a shortened form - as Ellen or Elena? Again, the role of this ‘Queen’ Isabelle - as holder of Kessingland in the late 13th century - allows of the possibility that any contact thereby, direct or indirect, might explain an otherwise unexpected union of a Bigod daughter with a Suffolk knight - especially as the next generation manifests further associations with royalty - through Thomas Brotherton, youngest son of Edward I.
Jermys of the 1300s.
The younger Sir John’s son - Sir William Jermy - appears to have been born around 1275-80. His assumed marriage firstly to ?Isabelle Balliol ca 1295 and then to Ellen Lampett ca 1300, say, would thus occur around the time his father and possible aunt Johanna were about to purchase the properties described. He and Ellen then purchased more land at Tharston in 1334/5 - about the year he became an M.P. (constituency unknown). Finally, we note that Campling shows this Sir William Jermy to have died and/or been buried at Kessingland in 1340 and thus the conclusions reached above regarding the probable identity of the earlier Jermys there being of the same one family. From what date, if ever, the Jermys actually resided at Tharston is uncertain. A Thomas Germi, quite possibly a brother of Sir William (or a son of Simon?), paid taxes for lands in Gisleham and Rushmere in 1327. [Note: a Thomas Germyn and a William Germeyn did likewise in nearby Lt Yarmouth (today Gorleston) and Blundeston; but their identities are less certain; they may have been members of the unrelated Jermyn family. One of these sought landing rights for Lt. Yarmouth but lost his case (in London) due to pressure from the burghers of Gt Yarmouth.] William Jermye, Chevalier, and wife Isabelle also sold land in Kessingland and Gisleham in 1339. This may have been the present Sir William (d 1340) although, awkwardly, a couple with these same names purchased other property a decade later (see below) - long after Sir William’s death; he may have been a cousin therefore. As mentioned also, some of Kessingland was at that time still held by Queen Isabelle, and by the English King’s own family as well (after the Warrens), as part of their Honour of Chester.
Sir William is shown in most pedigrees as father to the next Sir John Jermy (c1300-c1345) who, in about 1324/5, married Jane the younger daughter of Sir Roger Hales of Harwich (who, as mentioned, had sold his tenancy of the Tharston estate to the Jermys in 1303). His elder daughter Alice had already married Sir Thomas de Brotherton (c1320) who soon transferred his manor at Metfield and Mendham to his new brother-in-law ca 1325 - two thirds to Sir John and one third to his wife, as her dowry. This would be one of many manors he acquired when his brother Edward II gave him much of the former Bigod estates in East Anglia (in 1312) - when making him Earl of Norfolk with Suffolk (when only 12) - as promised him by their father 5 years earlier. In 1315, he was created Marshall of England and in 1319, knighted by the King - at York. He was, as stated, much associated with Suffolk - having had a church built at Trimley, south-east Suffolk (near Brightwell) showing his Arms and was said to have married (1320) near Bungay, north-east Suffolk (where his Arms are also on the church tower). This is just a few miles north of Metfield.
They may have married in neighbouring Mettingham where John de Norwich was shortly to receive permission to turn his Manor house into a Castle and to establish a College. Thomas's first wife (Alice de Hales) would soon pre-decease him - in about 1327. His strong Suffolk associations were further confirmed by the subsequent building of a Chantry by the Rector of Kelsale and Carlton, near Saxmundham, in which prayers were to be said ‘for the soul of Alice de Brotherton’. They had had a son Edward who died at 16 and two daughters - Margaret, who was made Duchess of Norfolk and married John, Lord Segrave, and Alice, who married Lord ?Montacute. Margaret’s daughter Elizabeth Segrave married John, Lord Mowbray to whom the Norfolk titles descended. Thomas Brotherton’s second wife was Mary de Brews (by whom he may have had a son John) before dying himself in 1338 - being buried in the heart of (his) Suffolk - at Bury St Edmonds. (His mother happened to be in Brotherton, Yorkshire when he was born, so he later took this name, rather than Plantagenet.)
The Jermys resided at Metfield Hall, a moated manor house situated about a mile or so south of the village, from about 1325. Sir John Jermy paid a Subsidy tax there in 1327 (as John Germie), and acquired more land in the area over the next generation or so - eg at Weybread, Fressingfield, Linstead and Mendham. (In 1360 a quarter knight’s fee was held there by the then widowed ‘Lady (Isabella) Germy’ - of Sir John de Vere, Earl of Oxford.)
The elder son of the family likely lived at Metfield at this time, although the family seem to have rented it out from time to time later. Valdar notes that a Subsidy tax was also paid then by a John Jermy for property at Gately, Norfolk - he possibly not settled there, however. Sir John and wife Jane (as Johanna) also held (or purchased?) the manor and advowson of Easton Gosbek by 1333 (Suffolk Feet of Fines) where they may also have resided at times. [By 1413, this was referred to as ‘Germeyne’s manor’ when held by a later Sir John Jermy and wife Margaret (nee Mountenay); it was eventually sold in 1612 by Sir Thomas Jermy (of Teversham, Cambs) who seems also to have done likewise about then in respect of Brightwell; see later.]
Significantly, the latter Sir John still held a ¼ knight’s fee in Kessingland (described as land “which Simon Germayn once held”) as late as 1428. As mentioned, a William Jermye and wife Isabelle sold other property in Kessingland and Gisleham in 1339 (to the local Vicar), not long before William apparently died; however, a little later (ca 1352-56), a couple of these same names purchased both
Pycott’s and Moyse’s manors in or near Ardleigh, Essex - situated in several parishes described as being near ‘Germie’s manor in Capele' (as per Suffolk and Essex Feet of Fines). See map above. Was this William (then a ‘chevalier’) a cousin or even younger brother of Sir John? It would almost make more sense if it was William, as Sir John’s son, who married
Isabelle St Aubin (rather than it being the Sir Thomas Jermy typically shown in this position). Isabelle seems to have been a very popular name at the time. There had also been a
purchase of further property at Tharston, etc in 1335 by William Germye, Chevalier, and wife Elena
(according to ‘Norfolk Deeds 329’), rather than Isobelle. These anomalies and ambiguities abound. (Blomefield, for example, is not always reliable.) The following scanned pedigree (hopefully not too 'muzzy') seeks to set out an approximate conception of the first 8 (or ?9) generations of the family. (There may be need to adjust certain dates - as eg regarding Margery Bigod and her alleged marriage to John Jermy.):
Sir John Jermy (of generation 5 above) - granted ‘free warren by Edward III for all his desmesne lands in Easton Gosbeck, Coddenham, Mendham, Metfield, and Linsted Magna’ (c1340) - appears to have died, possibly at Easton Gosbeck, around 1345, leaving a young son - shown typically as Sir Thomas Jermy, born about 1325-30 (as estimated). These dates too must remain approximate until more conclusive evidence obtrudes. Sir John’s widow Jane may have re-married Sir John Lovel. By 1346, the Jermy manor in Tharston, Forncett and Wacton was held by William ‘Germeyne’ (ie Germy) of the then Earl, Thomas Mowbray (1/4 fee) and ‘of the King’ (1/4 fee). This (again) points to Sir John and Jane Hales having had a son William Jermy rather than (?just) Thomas. In any case, a marriage seems to have been arranged for
this latter man with someone from a rather distant county - Cornwall. He is apparently shown as being ‘of Metfield’ and later as holding land in Easton Gosbeck and in neighbouring Coddenham (Charter Rolls 1343) - when he’d be rather young; but also as ‘living 1359’ (Campling) - all presumably as ‘Thomas’, although I’d like to confirm this further. Other sources seem to show that it was still Sir John who held Gosbeck and Coddenham at that time. After the death of
Thomas de Brotherton in 1338, Suffolk soon acquired its own Earl - Robert d’Ufford, followed by his son William - to each of whom allegiance would have been due from all local (Suffolk) knights. Any surviving d’Ufford archives may thus throw more light on just who was the elder Jermy in the 1340s and 50s. No known Jermy Wills appear to have survived from this period.
The next elder son - of generation 7 - was another Sir William Jermy (c1350-1386) - who did leave a Will, the first Jermy known to do so. This was written on December 7, 1385 (possibly at Walton (near Trimley and Felixstow), Suffolk - the location then and earlier of an important Castle) and proved the following September. If his estimated year of birth is about right, he would be only 36 when he died. He received several ‘orders’ from the King during the 1370s and ’80s, along with other Suffolk knights, to defend the Suffolk coast against the French and/or to accompany certain Barons to help settle disputes on the Scottish borders. He married Elizabeth de Hemenhale of ?Rysingall, Suffolk (today Risangles, near Eye) probably around 1370-75. Her family derived originally from Hemenhale (later Hempnall) in Norfolk but were later settled in a number of localities in both Norfolk and Suffolk. In his Will - entitled (in latin) ‘Testamen din William Germy, Militis, defunct…’ he directs his body to be buried in the church of St John the Baptist at Metfield, Suffolk, to which he left 100 shillings - ‘ad factur campanile de Medefeild…’ (ie towards building a bell tower there), and then half his chattels to his wife Elizabeth and 20 shillings each to Margaret de Hemenhale, John Gray and to the churches at Gosbeck and Mendham. He left smaller amounts to various clerics - at Framlingham (with its even grander Castle), Felixstowe and Rysingall (and/or ‘Rysinges’) and ‘all my Bonds’ and residue of my chattels to William Boothe (who held Coddenham next to Gosbeck) - possibly ‘on trust’. There appeared to be some reference to commanders of platoons of 20 soldiers - one of which he may himself have led. Executors were his wife Elizabeth, Sir John Breuse (Brews), Katherine de Hemenhale, John Derecloe and Roger Breuse. It was proved at Norwich on 9 Sept 1386 (I believe). It seems accepted that he died in (very late) 1385 although mid-1386, say, is possible also. Church memorials seem to indicate 1385. (Note: this Will was wrongly indexed at Norwich Record Office and therefore ‘missing’ for many decades of the 20th century.) It seems odd that there is no reference therein to his apparent son John, although property inheritance was often arranged earlier and separately.
Jermys of the 1400s.
This latter William’s son Sir John Jermy was likely born about 1375-80 and was thus still a boy when his father died. He later married Margaret Mountenay, daughter of Sir Arnold Mountenay of Mountnessing, Essex (ie originally ‘Mountenay’s Ing’) around 1410-12 (as estimated) and became a working knight like his father - having served with the future Duke of Norfolk at Agincourt in 1415. Margaret seems to have brought with her certain properties (2 knight’s fees) in Norfolk (between the rivers Yare and Bure) but they probably resided at Metfield. They had at least one son - John - born around 1415-20. I have seen reference to sons Thomas and William in this generation as well, but have no confirming details. There was apparently a Sir William Jermy (with a wife Elizabeth) as a Justice of the Common Pleas (King’s Bench) about this time (buried 23 Dec 1463 or ‘83 in Theberton, Suffolk, according to ‘Weever’s Monuments’) who could fit the latter man, but this needs further evidence. (He may have been of the ‘Jenny’ family - sometime confused with the Jermys, if not of the Jermyns of Rushbrooke.)
In 1428, an Inquisition P M at Acle (either for Sir John himself or for his Mountenay in-law; this to be clarified) showed that he held lands (3/4 knight’s fee) in Sprowston, Catton, Beeston, Wroxham, Little Plumstead, Blofield, Freethorpe and Hassingham, all in Norfolk, through his wife (who seems to have inherited same from her brother Sir William Mountenay, who also fought at Agincourt and died without issue), as well as his own property in Suffolk. However, he and his wife had either sold or borrowed against some of their property at ‘Germeyne’s Manor’ at Easton Gosbeck in 1413. There seems to be no Will for Sir John and his date of death is estimated at about 1460. Patent Rolls for 1452 make reference to Sir John Jermy and other knights receiving 20 shillings each from the Manor of Hintlesham, Suffolk as well as instructions about appointing people to keep watch on the coast ‘for the King’s enemies’. He is also listed as one of several ‘Commissioners of the Peace’, along with Sir John Hopton, Sir Thomas Brews, Sir William Yelverton, Sir Gilbert Debenham, plus several Dukes. In 1481, the latter Sir Gilbert Debenham is shown at his death as holding various Manors including Coddenham, Gosbeck, Vaux and Germyns - as held previously by Sir John de Vere, late Earl of Oxford, who had committed High Treason. The Jermys must have held these Manors under this Earl and later of Sir Gilbert (to whom they would pay modest rents). ‘Germyns’ is described as being in Little Wenham, which is very near Capele, and may be ‘Jermyn’s Farm’ today (see map above).
Sir John’s elder son John Jermy, Esq may have grown up at Metfield in the 1420s. He married as his first wife Elizabeth Wroth, daughter of one William Wroth of Enfield, Middx, Esq around 1435. This would be yet another marriage negotiated in distant London - Elizabeth possibly an heiress bringing property or funds in return for certain assurances for herself and issue - ie if her husband died young. They had two sons - Sir John Jermy and Thomas Jermy, Esq (as later styled) - and four daughters: Elizabeth, Margaret, Ella and Jane - possibly all born in Metfield. This would appear to be the first generation when some detail becomes available regarding births, subsequent marriages and deaths of the siblings of the eldest sons - eg through Wills and other documents - although parish registers were still a century away. This meant that more data becomes available about subsequent potential branches and sub-branches of the family. Prior to this time, such younger member of the family and any branches were likely to be as numerous but they - and any progeny - were effectively invisible - especially if inheriting little or no property. If any such branches continued (and many younger siblings died young), it may have relevance to our earlier remark about the apparent paucity of the Jermy family after 1700. Thus, one of the exceptions could relate to a few Jermys extant in the Haleworth and Heveningham areas of Suffolk - at least into the 1700s - that may have derived from any such sub-branch. (Who, for example, was the William Jermin of Benacre - very near Kessingland - who left a Will in 1516 (SAC) or the Peter Jermy of Heveningham and the William Jermy of Eye listed as ‘Able Men of Suffolk’ in 1638?) Such areas are just where some such survivors, probably with little or no land but probably some apprenticeship-based skills, might be expected. Or, were these latter really derived from the unlanded Jermyn families of south Norfolk who continued to drift southward as yeomen and labourers into Suffolk? This may be further considered later.
Patent Rolls dated 1461 include references to Sir John’s son John Jermy, Esq, along with William and Thomas Brews, Esqs and Gilbert Debenham (theYounger) concerning land in Mendlesham, Suffolk; and another of 1462 when, along with other Suffolk dignitaries, he is part of a Commission to enquire into crimes committed by one John Straunge of Brampton, Suffolk. But then, in 1463, he - again as John Jermy, Esq - is appointed to a Commission with Sir William Yelverton, Richard Brasier, Mayor of Norwich, William Calthorpe, Esq, and William Yelverton, Esq (all men of Norfolk) to arrest one Robert Wolston and bring him before the King in Chancery. John Jermy was also on a Commission of Oyer and Terminer in 1472. [Note: in many of these early documents, the name is spelt Germyn, in error.] After his first wife died (ca 1460?), this John Jermy appears to have moved to a small estate at Buckenham Ferry, Norfolk - near Norwich and to have done so around 1463 - the foregoing documents indicating his increasing involvement with influential men of Norfolk from about this time and less with those of Suffolk. He already held property nearby (from his parents), but purchased the Buckenham estate separately - from Sir William de Norwich. This would allow his elder son Sir John Jermy, now married, to become established back at Metfield in his own right, and from whom the subsequent Suffolk branches of the family would descend (see pedigree for ‘the Early Jermys of Suffolk’).
John Jermy, Esq re-married - probably in Norfolk - to a Margaret (surname unknown; possibly a widow) in about 1470 and remained at Buckenham Ferry until his death there in 1487 - although by his Will, requested to be buried back at Metfield. There was at the time a ferry across the river Yare at this point (surrounded by marshes) and the ownership of the manor there may have included rights to collect fares. The village today is called simply Buckenham. This move by John Jermy from Suffolk to Norfolk at the time of the ‘War of the Roses’, places him conveniently (at generation 9) between the first 8 generations (referred to here as ‘the Earliest (or First of the) Jermys’ - mainly of Suffolk, but with some Norfolk holdings) and the subsequent 8 generations -who then descend in parallel in both Suffolk (from elder son Sir John) and Norfolk (from younger son Thomas). The pedigrees of these latter two branches proceeding from generation 10 - are thus termed here ' the Early Jermys of Suffolk' and the Early Jermys of Norfolk', respectively. With the increase in sibling data mentioned, the associated pedigrees will necessarily alter from the essentially vertical form for those first 8 generations to much more horizontal ones for these later branches in Suffolk and Norfolk. This may necessitate more reliance on both vertical and horizontal ‘continuations’ - on separate pages - although in theory a webpage may be any width (as well as 'length').
Some of John Jermy’s Will was given by Blomefield I believe; this may be augmented if and when later examined. His widow Margaret re-married - to Thomas Jenney, Esq c1495 and then Thomas Idele, Gent c1508. An Inquisition Post Mortem for this John was held on 4 Nov 1488. It list the names of the men who both he and his father had ‘enfeoffed’ as trustees to protect their property. These included Sir John Heveningham, William Brews, Esq, Nicholas Parker of Withersdale, Sir William Mounteney and Ralph Hemenhale and others. In this, his elder son and heir is given as (Sir) John Jermy, then aged 40+. Their manor of Metfield was then worth 40 marks and Gosbeck 26 marks - both then held of Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk - while Withersdale was worth 10 marks and held of one Elizabeth Harcourt. Buckenham Ferry itself however was not mentioned. The son John married Isobelle, daughter of John Hopton of Westwood Lodge, Blythburgh,, Suffolk, Esq. Some pedigrees show her to have married firstly a William Brews of Fressingfield, Suffolk before 1456, although this is contradicted in a book on John Hopton - by Colin Richmond (1981) pointed out to me by Isobelle Charlton - a fellow Jermy searcher in the 1980s . William Brews seems to have married Isobelle Hopton’s sister Elizabeth in that latter year (although Sir John’s monument apparently says Isobelle was an only daughter?). Isobelle died before her husband and he is shown as marrying secondly - Jane, daughter of Edward Daniel of Acton, Suffolk, but this too may be incorrect - according to Richmond’s analysis. See also Will of Edward Daniel’s wife (1508).] Sir John died in 1504/5.
His younger brother Thomas Jermy, Esq, not having inheriting Metfield, seems to have preferred settling on an estate in north Norfolk - at Felmingham - rather than on any other Jermy property - as at Tharston, Buckenham Ferry, Sprowston or Easton Gosbeck, say (which in any case, may also have gone to the elder brother - by virtue of primogeniture). Thomas would marry Anne, daughter of Sir William Yelverton of Roughton in north Norfolk, around 1475/6. And while she may have brought some nearby property with her, it seems more likely that Felmingham at least was already a Jermy possession - as discussed earlier. It is possible that Thomas and Anne first reside for a short time at Buckenham Ferry itself, however - for there is a letter in the famous Paston Letters, dated 8 March 1476/7, written by John Paston to his mother Margaret during a short stay at Topcroft, Norfolk, the home of his intended bride Margery Brews, in which he says “…Mother, please it you to weet (know) that the cause (reason) that Dame Elizabeth Brews desireth to meet with you at Norwich, and not at Langley…(is due to me)…for my brother Thomas Jermy…telleth me that the Causey ere ye come to Bokenham Ferry is so overflown that there is no man that may on ethe pass it, though he be right well horsed.”. Thomas was in fact John Paston’s brother-in-law’s brother-in-law! We will, however, consider firstly the early Suffolk descendants of Sir John Jermy of Metfield, followed by those of this younger brother Thomas in Norfolk. In each case, these are then followed by their respective Later lines - until their eventual demise.