NOTES ON A PORTRAIT OF THOMAS BY EDWARD ALEXANDER FRY. TH HE portrait, of which the accompanying illustration is a copy, has been for many years in the possession of my family. It is traditionally said to have been bought at a sale, or in a picture dealer's shop (by my great-grandfather, Henry Sampson Fry, or his father, Dr. Joseph Fry) about 1750, on account of the inscription; but from investigations I have made I consider it to be the portrait of a Kentish man, and not of any ancestor of mine, who most certainly were of Dorset at the date this portrait must have been painted. Considering, therefore, that it relates to a Kentish man, from evidence to be related below, I think some notes about his family may be acceptable to the readers of the "Home Counties Magazine." The family to which the subject of this portrait belongs was resident at Penshurst. In Hasted's "History of Kent," vol. i, pp. 411 and 425, under Penshurst and Leigh, will be found mention of certain transactions which are more fully given in the appendix hereto, and which may be briefly summarized as follows: No. 1. Is a deed dated 20 May, 36 Henry VIII (1544), between the King and Edward Fry, Richard Fry, and John Moyse, which recites that John Fry, late of Penshurst, deceased, was seised of a tenement and lands, &c., in Penshurst and Leigh, valued at £12 6s. 6d. per annum, after whose death the property descended to said Edward and Richard and another son, deceased, named William, by custom of gavelkind. William's share is devisible among his seven sons, John, William, Robert, Richard, Walter, Andrew and Thomas, according to the custom of gavelkind. As these seven sons are within age, Edward and Richard the elder, and John Moyse, on their behalf, and Edward and Richard on their own, agree to exchange the said lands (which the King desires to enclose within his park of Penshurst) for the parsonage and advowson of Leigh and certain lands belonging thereto, formerly part of the possessions of the late Cardinal Wolsey, and valued at £10 2s. 6d. per annum. A money payment of £49 13s. over and above the amount of £40 bargained for, is to be paid to Edward Fry in full satisfaction. No. 2. Is the patent dated 10 December, 36 Henry VIII (1544), granting to Edward Fry, Richard Fry and William Frye (or presumably the trustees for William's children) the manor of Leigh, formerly belonging to the monastery of Tunbridge, and part of the possessions of the late Cardinal Wolsey. No. 2a. Is the exchange, dated 10 December, 36 Henry VIII (1544) of certain tenements and lands, &c., in Penshurst, late the possession of Edward Frye, Richard Frye and William Frye, to Edward Frye, for the Rectory and Advowson of Leigh, co. Kent, late parcel of the possessions of Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, and formerly belonging to the monastery of Tunbridge. No. 26. Is the lease dated 10 December, 36 Henry VIII (1544), of the Rectory and Advowson of Leigh to Edward Fry, formerly held by the monastery of Tunbridge, and since by the late Cardinal Wolsey. No. 3. Is the confirmation on the Originalia_Roll, dated 36 Henry VIII (1544), of this exchange of lands in Penshurst for the Rectory and Manor of Leigh to Edward Fry. No. 4. In 1545 Edward Fry dies. By his will, dated 36 Henry VIII (1545), proved in the Consistory Court of London, 8 November, 1545 (Thurlby 66), he desires to be buried in the churchyard of Kensington, Middlesex. He gives his parsonage of Leigh to his eldest son Thomas. He mentions his wife Cicely and Edward his youngest son, and his two daughters Denys and Elizabeth. No. 5. Is the inquisition post mortem taken in 1546 after Edward Fry's death. The jurors say that he was seised of the Rectory of Leigh, and quote the will. He died 27 August, 37 Henry VIII (1545), and Thomas is his son and heir, aged nine years. In the Register of St. Mary Abbots, Kensington, (Harleian Society, vol. xvi.), is recorded the burial of Edward Fry on the 28 November, 1545, three months after the date stated in his Inquisition. He may possibly have been buried on his death at Tunbridge or Penshurst, or Leigh, and re-interred at St. Mary Abbots on 28 November. Nos. 6 and 7. Are documents relating to property granted to George Harper, Knight, and Richard Fry, in Penshurst, Chedington and Ashurst. We hear no more of this Richard Fry. No. 8. Records the coming of age of Thomas Fry, the eldest son and heir of Edward Fry, and the subject of this memoir. No. 9. In 1564 Thomas Fry alienates certain lands and tithes in Tunbridge and Leigh to Roger Cotton. No. 10. Is an interesting case in the Court of Requests, dated 1575, between Walter Waller, Knight, of Groombridge, Kent, and Thomas Frie, called here "one of the Attournies of the Common Place" (or Pleas), which identifies him not only as the owner of the Parsonage of Leigh, but also as being an attorney-at-law. In further proof that Thomas Fry was practising as an attorney in the Court of Common Pleas, reference has been made to several Common Rolls (e.g. Roll No. 331, Trinity, 15 Eliz. (1573), which contain at the end the cases held over to the following term. Some entries taken at random will show the style adopted: Memb. 14. London: John Southe, &c., po. lo. suo Thomas London: Peter Edmonds, &c., po. lo. suo Thomas This will be a good place to give a description of the portrait of Thomas Fry. It is apparently that of a man of law, as may be seen by the edging of fur coming over his shoulders and the round cap on his head. In the top left-hand corner of the picture is S' Tho' Fry, Atourney Genrl to Queen Elizabeth Hans Holbin This inscription demands a little discussion. Hans Holbein came to England in 1526 and died of the plague in 1554. Thomas Fry was born in 1536, and died, as we shall see later on, in 1585. So there is the possibility of Holbein having painted this picture, but as all his portraits are pretty well known, and Thomas Fry does not figure in any of the lists of his paintings, nor was there ever a Sir Thomas Fry Attorney-General, I am sceptical of this being a genuine Holbein portrait. Besides, Holbein painted portraits chiefly of people in the higher walks of life, and no doubt received good sums of money for his paintings; how comes it, then, that he should have painted the portrait of Thomas Fry, who does not seem to have been specially eminent in his profession? Neither am I aware that lawyers were styled Sirs. Clergymen were often so styled, and also, of course, Knights. Attorneys in former days, and even down to 1873, were those, I believe, who practised in the Courts of Common Law, formerly held at Westminster (Court of Common Pleas and Court of King's Bench), whilst solicitors were practitioners in the Court of Chancery. The size of the oak panel on which the portrait is painted is 18 inches long by 13 inches wide. No. 11. Is the Will of Cicely Hill. After Edward Fry's death in 1545, his widow Cicely seems to have married some one of the name of Hill. Her will is dated 6 March, 1576, and was proved 25 March, 1576, by her son Thomas Fry. She is described as of Marylebone, Middlesex, widow. Besides her son Thomas Fry, she appears to have had two sons, Anthony Hill and John Hill, by the second husband. Her two daughterts (Dennis) Buttell and (Elizabeth) Yonge, were by her first husband, Edward Fry. No. 12. Is the Inquisition taken after the death of Thomas Fry, the subject of the portrait. It recites Edward Fry's will (No. 4 above) for the purpose of showing that the advowson and parsonage of Leigh descended to Thomas Fry and to Edward Fry the younger, both of whom died without issue, and so came to Henry Buttell and Dionis (Dennis) his wife, and Thomas Young and Élizabeth his wife, which said Dionis and Elizabeth are the daughters of Edward Fry the elder, and are aged fifty and forty-four respectively. Thomas Fry died 21 April, 27 Elizabeth (1585). He does not seem to have left any will. The Register of St. Mary Abbots, Kensington, again comes to our rescue, and gives the burial of Thomas Fry there on 22 April, 1585. No. 13. Is a Fine Roll, dated 28 June, 27 Elizabeth (1585); it recapitulates the facts of the deaths of Edward Fry senior and Thomas Fry, states that Cicely is dead many years, and that Dionisia and Elizabeth are the sisters of Thomas Fry and his coheirs. Further than this I have not traced the matter, as the property passed into other hands. In conclusion, I should now like to go back to John Fry of Penshurst and his son William. In "The Ancestor," vol. ii, (July, 1902), I commented upon a remarkable pedigree (given in full) that I found in one Chancery suit (Reynardson 134), showing no less than five generations and some sixty persons of the same name and family, all descended from five brothers. I have little doubt in my own mind that these were five of the seven sons of William Fry, who was one of the sons of the John Fry of Penshurst mentioned at the commencement of this memoir, since it is extremely unlikely that at the same date and in the same neighbourhood, another family of Fry would be found having such an exact repetition of Christian names. No. I. EXCHEQUER, AUGMENTATION OFFICE. DEEDS OF EXCHANGE AND PURCHASE. Box D, No. 66. This Indenture, made 20 May, 36 Henry VIII (1544), between King Henry of the one part and Edward Frye, Richard Frye, and John Moyse, late of Pencehurst, Co. Kent, Yeomen, of the other part. Witnesseth that whereas John Fry, late of Pencehurst aforesaid, yeoman, father to said Edward and Richard, was seised of one tenement with garden, barn, &c., and 100 acres and 4 day works of arable land and 15 acres and 14 day works of meadow, and 5 acres and 4 day works of wood in Penshurst and Leigh, after whose death the same descended to said Edward and Richard, and to one William Frye, deceased, as sons and heirs of said John Fry according to custom of gavelkind, which said William Fry is now deceased, having issue seven sons, viz., John, William, Robert, Richard, Walter, Andrew, and Thomas, to whom the part of the said William the father is descended according to gavelkind, as sons and heirs. And for that the said tenement, &c., be now enclosed within our Sovereign's park of Pensehurst, for the enlarging thereof, the said Edward and Richard the elder, for themselves, as also the said Edward and Richard and John Moyse, as guardians of said seven sons and heirs of William Fry the father, have bargained and sold by these presents do bargain and sell the said tenements and lands; To have and to hold the same to the said Sovereign, the yearly value whereof is £12 6s. 6d. Forasmuch as the said seven sons are within age, the said Edward, Richard the elder and John Moyse do assure and grant on behalf of the said seven sons. In consideration thereof, and because the said Edward Fry is bound to recompense Richard the elder and the seven sons, Our Sovereign Lord by these presents doth bargain and sell to said Edward all his Grace's parsonage of Leigh in Kent and the advowson of the parsonage of the vicarage church of Leigh and certain lands called Priours and Bonyers, now or late in occupation of William Cole, to the said parsonage belonging, together with the tythes, &c., thereto belonging. All which parsonage of Leigh belonged late to the monastery of Tonbridge, Kent, and were parcel of the possessions of Thomas Wolsey, late cardinal, attainted of high treason, and are now of yearly value of £10 3s. 4d. All of which is sold for ever to Edward Fry, to be held of the King by the service of the twentieth part of a Knight's fee, and at a yearly rent of 35. 4d., and for which a patent would be granted, subject to a rent reserved of 10s. to the Bishop of Rochester every third year. The King is to pay Edward Fry £49 135. over and above the sum of £40 bargained, in full satisfaction. Signature of Edwarde Frye; |