Bibliography - History: {1485-1558} - Tudor (prior to Elizabeth I)
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Extracts from Churchwardens' Accounts and other Matters belonging to the Parish of Bolney. Contained in a MS. Book of the Time of Henry VIII, by Rev. Joseph Dale, published 1853 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 6, article, pp.244-252) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2091] & The Keep [LIB/500225] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Progress of Edward VI in Sussex, by John Gough Nichols, F.S.A., published 1858 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 10, article, pp.195-204) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2095] & The Keep [LIB/500229] & S.A.S. library

Sussex Religious Houses and Recusants temp. Hen. VIII and Elizabeth, by Unknown Author(s), published 1860 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 12, article, pp.199-202) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2097] & The Keep [LIB/500231] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Aliens in Rye, Temp. Henry VIII, by William Durrant Cooper, F.S.A., published 1867 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 19, article, pp.149-152) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2104] & The Keep [LIB/500238] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Trial and Execution of Thomas, Lord Dacre, of Herst-Monceux Castle for Murder, 33rd Henry VIII, by Mark Antony Lower, published 1867 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 19, article, pp.170-179) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2104] & The Keep [LIB/500238] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Subsidy Roll for Sussex, 14-15 Henry VIII, AD 1522-3. the Hundred of Bosham, by A. Wilkinson, published 1890 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 37, notes & queries, pp.186-188) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2122] & The Keep [LIB/500255] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Old English Doorways: a series of examples from Tudor time to the end of the XVII century, by W. G. Davie and H. Tanner, published 1903 (London: B. T. Batsford) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Inquisitions Post Mortem. Temp Henry VII, James I and Charles I, by F. W. T. Attree, published 1909 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 52, article, pp.100-131) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2137] & The Keep [LIB/500270] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Post-Mortem Inquisitions, 1485-1649, by F. W. T. Attree, published 1912 (vol. 14, Sussex Record Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2230] & The Keep [LIB/500390]   View Online

Star Chamber Proceedings, Henry VII to Philip and Mary, by Percy C. D. Munday, published 1913 (vol. 16, Sussex Record Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2232] & The Keep [LIB/500392]   View Online

Notes on some early printed Maps of Sussex and their makers; with special reference to those in the Worthing Reference Library, by Ethel Gerard, published 1915 in The Library (vol.s3-vi(23), article, pp.252-275) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Sussex Fines, 1308-1509, by L. F. Salzman, published 1916 (vol. 23, Sussex Record Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2239] & The Keep [LIB/500397]   View Online

Some Seventeenth Sussex Tracts, by Ethel Gerard, published 1916 in The Library (vol.s3-vii(27), article, pp.227-238)

Sussex Inquisitions, by Mary S. Holgate, published 1927 (vol. 33, Sussex Record Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2249][Lib 8032] & The Keep [LIB/500405][Lib/504457]

Sussex History Reconsidered. 4 - Changes in Tudor Sussex, by G. O. Whitehead, published 1929 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. III no. 4, article, pp.215-221) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2307] & The Keep [LIB/500139]

"Portraits" of Henry VIII, by W. B. [W. Budgen], published February 1930 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. III no. 2, article, p.46) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8952][Lib 8221] & The Keep [LIB/500205] & S.A.S. library

Historic Houses of Sussex - Tudor House, Petworth, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 12, article, pp.741-745) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500180]

A Lost Tudor Iron Furnace Found , by Ernest Straker, published August 1937 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VI no. 7, note, pp.217-218) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12537][Lib 8863][Lib 8224] & The Keep [LIB/500208] & S.A.S. library

Sussex Farming in Tudor and Stuart Times, by G. E. Fussell, published 1938 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XII no. 8, article, pp.506-507) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2317] & The Keep [LIB/500183]

Battle Abbey at the dissolution: expenses, by Allan Evans, published 1942 in Huntingdon Library Quarterly (article, pp.53-101)

Port books and Customs Accounts of Arundel and Littlehampton in the Tudor Period, by E. Wyndham Hulme, published February 1943 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. IX no. 5, article, pp.106-108) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8227][Lib 2208] & The Keep [LIB/500211] & S.A.S. library

Tudor decoration (Shelley's Hotel, Lewes), by Country Life contributor(s), published 27 April 1951 in Country Life (article, p.1290)

A Tudor gate-house [Cuckfield Place], published 8 November 1956 in Country Life (article, p.1067)

Lay Subsidy Rolls, 1524-1525, by Julian Cornwall, published 1957 (vol. 56, Sussex Record Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2272] & The Keep [LIB/504466][Lib/500433]   View Online

Chapter Acts, Chichester, 1545-1642, by Walter D. Peckham, published 1959 (vol. 58, Sussex Record Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8058][Lib 2274] & The Keep [LIB/500435][Lib/504468]

The Life of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey and Second Duke of Norfolk, 1443-1524, by Stanford E. Lehmberg and Melvin J. Tucker, published October 1965 in American Historical Review (vol. 71, no. 1, article, p.158)

Patriarchy and Paternalism in Tudor England: The Earl of Arundel and The Peasants Revolt of 1549, by Lawrence Stone, published May 1974 in Albion: Journal of British Studies (vol. 13, issue 2, article, pp.19-23)   View Online

Most of the details about the life of Henry Fitzalan, fourteenth Earl of Arundel, come from a biography written in 1580, which was the year of his death, by a close associate, probably his private chaplain, who had clearly been an eyewitness to most of the events described. The latter wrote the essay for the benefit of the Earl's two daughters and heiresses, "for the perpetual memory of a personage very honorable, and that ye who shall remain of his blood may the rather rejoice in so noble a progenitor." Since this was his purpose, there can be little doubt that the author has a tendency to stress the virtues and successes of his subject, and to gloss over his defects and omit his failures. What is recorded, however, carries the ring of truth, and the selectivity of the presentation throws light on the values and actions which the author considered important and praiseworthy.
The Earl of Arundel was no ordinary nobleman. He was the representative of the most senior and one of the richest and most powerful aristocratic families in the country. He was a man who inherited vast estates and equally vast authority in his native Sussex, and who lived in a style appropriate to his position. Unlike the more modern-minded nobles, he does not seem to have been much affected by the educational reforms of the Renaissance. When on embassies abroad, he certainly confined himself to speaking English, and it seems possible that he lacked the skill to do anything else.

Nicholas Bacon: the making of a Tudor statesman, by Robert Tittler, published 1976 (Cape)

Sussex Wealth and Society in the Reign of Henry VIII, by Julian Cornwall, published 1976 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 114, article, pp.1-26) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6476] & The Keep [LIB/500315] & S.A.S. library

Rural Employment and Population in Sussex between 1550 and 1640, by C. E. Brent, published 1976 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 114, article, pp.27-48) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6476] & The Keep [LIB/500315] & S.A.S. library

Brighton 1520-1820. From Tudor Town to Regency Resort, by S. Farrant and J. H. Farrant, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, article, pp.331-350) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library

Sources for the History of the Wealden Iron Industry in the Public Record Office. Part 1: Inquisitions, by Sybil M. Jack, published 1980 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 17, article, pp.12-14) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Marriage Sixteenth-Century Style: Elizabeth Stafford and the Third Duke of Norfolk, by B. Harris, published 3 January 1982 in Journal of Social History (vol. 15, no. 3, article, pp.371-382)

The Reign of Mary I, by Robert Tittler and Judith Richards, published 1983 (Longman) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

The progress of the Reformation in East Sussex 1530-1559: the evidence from wills, by G. J. Mayhew, published 1983 in Southern History (vol. 5, article, pp.38-67)

Sussex Coroners' Inquests, 1485-1558, by Roy F. Hunnisett, published 1985 (vol. 74, 256 pp., Sussex Record Society, ISBN-10: 1873162537 & ISBN-13: 9781873162538) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9515][Lib 11643] & The Keep [LIB/500451][Lib/507877] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

This volume contains all the coroners' inquests so far discovered which were held in Sussex between the accession of Henry VII in August 1485 and the death of Mary Tudor in November 1558. The jurors' verdicts ranged from murder, manslaughter and suicide, through accidental homicide and homicide committed in self defence, to misadventure and natural death.
One of the deaths became a cause celebre. It occurred in 1541 during a poaching expedition led by Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre of the South, who was convicted of murder before the Lord High Steward and hanged at Tyburn. Although the case is well known, the inquest is printed here for the first time. The others are not of comparable note, but contain a wealth of detail about sixteenth-century life as well as death. A number of homicides involved aliens-Frenchmen, Brabantines and Flemings - who were often found to have killed fellow countrymen. The vicar of West Tarring and his servant committed a murder aided and abetted by a chaplain. Incest resulted in another murder and a subsequent suicide; and a fatal accident led to the suicide of a close relative. Other inquests show that child battering is not a purely modern phenomenon nor child labour exclusively Victorian; that Tudor roads were every bit as dangerous as those of today and city walls more so; and that treatment for syphilis could be particularly crude and ineffective. In short, there is much for those interested in law, administration, criminology, medicine, and social and economic history, as well as for Sussex genealogists and local historians.
In the introduction the editor discusses the archival history and survival of the written inquests; the many coroners and their complex areas of jurisdiction; the jurors; and selected aspects of the inquests themselves.

Tudor Parham, by John H. Bishop, published May 1986 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 34, article, p.1) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/34] & The Keep [LIB/500481]

Quarter Sessions in Early Tudor Sussex, by M. J. Leppard, published 1987 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 125, historical note, p.255) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9994] & The Keep [LIB/500304] & S.A.S. library

Tudor Rye, by Graham Mayhew, published February 1988 (occasional paper no.27, 353 pp., Centre for Continuing Education, University of Sussex, ISBN-10: 0904242307 & ISBN-13: 9780904242300) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506615] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Henry VII's First Attempt to Exploit Iron in Ashdown Forest, by Brian G. Awty, published 1991 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 11, article, pp.11-14, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Rhys Jenkins showed that it was in preparation for his war with Scotland that Henry VII commissioned Henry Fyner to erect ironworks in the royal Forest of Ashdown in 1496. A recently calendared document in the Public Record Office shows that the building of ironworks in the forest and the employment of artificers from overseas had been contemplated by Henry five years earlier.

English Cast-iron Ordnance of 1564, by Brian G. Awty, published 1991 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 11, article, pp.14-17, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

These lists of cast-iron guns are both preserved in State Papers Domestic for October 1564. The first, concerning purchases of guns, was noted by Dr Teesdale in his book on Ralph Hogge. It comes from a time just over ten years after Hogge had succeeded Parson Levett as the principal founder of cannon in the Weald, though the document makes no reference to the person by whom these guns were cast.

The Prisoner of Cowdray, by Thea Valentine, published April 1993 in Midhurst Magazine (Volume 5 Number 3, article, pp.14-23, Spring 1993) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15968]

The rise and fall of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, during the reign of Henry VIII. She was imprisoned at Cowdray in 1538/39 and executed in 1541.

Cowdray and the Mary Rose, by J. S., published July 1993 in Midhurst Magazine (Volume 5 Number 4, article, pp.18-22, Summer 1993) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15968]

Relates to the painting from the School of Holbein, representing King Henry VIII riding to Southsea Castle and showing the sinking of the Mary Rose in 1545. included in the painting is Sir Anthony Browne, owner of Cowdray. The original painting was destroyed in the 1793 fire.

Industry in the Countryside: Wealden Society in the Sixteenth Century, by Michael Zell, published 24 March 1994 (xv + 257 pp., Cambridge University Press, ISBN-10: 0521445418 & ISBN-13: 9780521445412) accessible at: British Library & East Sussex Libraries

Industry in the Countryside is a wide-ranging and readable study of the nature of manufacturing before the Industrial Revolution. It examines the widely-debated theory of 'proto-industrialisation', drawing on data from the Kentish Weald - an area which was already a centre of cottage industry in the Tudor era and was also the earliest rural manufacturing region to 'de-industrialise'. The book analyses the Wealden textile industry from its workforce to its industrialists and emphasises the ubiquity of dual employment among textile workers. It explores the local context of cottage industry, investigating the pattern of landholding and inheritance, the local farming regime, and the demographic background to rural industrialisation. Zell outlines what type of local economy became the site of this so-called 'proto-industry' and shows the impact of cottage industry on the people of such regions. He concludes by asking, is there anything in the 'proto-industrialisation' model?

Notes on a source for John Foxe's account of the Marian persecution in Kent and Sussex, by T. Freeman, published June 1994 in Institute of Historical Research (vol. 67, issue 163, article, pp.203-211) accessible at: British Library   View Online

Detached Kitchens in Eastern Sussex: A Re-assessment of the Evidence, by David Martin and Barbara Martin, published 1997 in Vernacular Architecture (vol. 28, article, pp.85-91) accessible at: British Library   View Online

It can be demonstrated that, after houses and barns, detached kitchens were once the most common building type present in the landscape of south-east England, yet today very few examples survive. Those which do mainly date from the period 1450-1550 and are surprisingly large and complex. They range in length from two to four bays and usually have more than one ground floor room and at least one, and often two or more upper chambers. Although all incorporate non-standard features, in general appearance the surviving examples closely resemble small houses. It is often only their location, close to the rear of a main house of more standard layout, which indicates their true function. Documentary evidence suggests that, in addition to the kitchen itself, the buildings housed such service rooms as bakehouses, and milkhouses. The upper chambers gave extra storage and accommodation.
It should be stressed that those kitchens which survive are likely to represent the larger, more elaborate examples. Many of those which have been lost may have been nothing more than single-roomed, single-storeyed outhouses. Yet the fact cannot be ignored that there would have been a considerable difference in status between those households with, and those without detached kitchens, despite the surviving houses being of similar size and layout. The importance of the detached kitchen in relation to vernacular studies should not be underestimated.

Tudor and Stuart Great Houses, by Maurice Howard, published 1 January 1999 in An Historical Atlas of Sussex (pp.54-55, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd, ISBN-10: 1860771122 & ISBN-13: 9781860771125) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14026][Lib 18777] & The Keep [LIB/501686][LIB/508903] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Three Lewes Martyrs of 1557, by Roger Davey, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, pp.231-234) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Edward VI - A Visitor to Cowdray (27 July 1552), by Thea Valentine, published July 2000 in Midhurst Magazine (Volume 12 Number 4, article, pp.27-29, Summer 2000) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15969]

Brief account of Edward VI visit to Cowdray (then owned by the Browne family) in 1552, and of his 6 year reign; he died in 1553.

Henry VIII's Coastal Artillery Fort at Camber Castle, Rye, East Sussex, by Martin Biddle, Jonathan Hillier, Ian Scott and Anthony Streeten, published 1 November 2001 (374 pp., Oxford Archaeological Unit, ISBN-10: 0904220230 & ISBN-13: 9780904220230) accessible at: British Library & East Sussex Libraries

Camber castle is located on the south coast of England, a short distance to the south of the town and Cinque Port of Rye. Largely constructed between 1539 and 1543, it was an elaborate artillery fortification that represented an important element of Henry VIII's 'Device', or coastal defence network, put in place from 1539 as a response to the threat of invasion following England's breach with Rome. The castle was operational for 100 years. By the 1630s, the steady advance of the coastline had left it stranded well inland from the sea. This, combined with changes in the concept of the artillery fortification, resulted in its decommissioning in 1637. Unusually, Camber Castle was not adapted for continued use through the 18th and 19th centuries, and survives as an example of a largely unmodified Henrician artillery fort. It displays several clear and discrete phases of construction, which reflect changes in thinking about the design of fortifications. The construction phase of 1539-40, under the direction of Stephen von Haschenperg, is of particular interest since it represents the first attempt to build in England an artillery fortress of ultimately Italian inspiration. Doubts about the effectiveness of von Haschenperg's design led, however, to a complete remodelling of the castle's defences along more conservative lines, undertaken in 1542-3. The castle, which is in the guardianship of English Heritage, has seen numerous campaigns of research, survey and excavation. This volume draws together all the available evidence to provide a full and synthesised account of the current state of knowledge regarding this monument. It includes a revised and expanded version of Martin Biddle's authoritative study, originally published in The History of the King's Works . Full reports are also included on the artefact and animal bone assemblages, which are of considerable importance for the early post-medieval period. These include the extensive 16th- and early 17th-century assemblage of English and imported pottery, a German ceramic tile-stove, a wide range of 16th- and 17th-century military artefacts, and a significant collection of vessel glass including facon de Venise cristallo. The animal bone collection is a useful benchmark for the zoo-archaeology of post-medieval England, and provides evidence for early livestock improvements. There is also a detailed review of the surviving building accounts for von Haschenperg's fortification.

Chichester and its cathedral on the eve of the Reformation, by Spencer Thomas, published 2002 in Urban history (vol. 29, article, pp.165-186)

Sir John Gage, Tudor courtier and soldier (1479-1556), by David Potter, published November 2002 in The English Historical Review (vol. xvii, no. 474, article, pp.1109-1146, ISSN: 0013-8266)   View Online

Sir John Gage's political career lasted over fifty years and experienced many of the ups and downs of politics under Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I providing a case study of the crucial politically active county gentry upon whom the Tudor state relied. Gage has generally been neglected as a political figure even though he held some of the most important court offices and, as military technocrat, was responsible for the supply of the armies of the 1540s. Insofar as he has any reputation, it is as the staunch conservative and rather sinister figure in Protestant historiography and perhaps as a timeserver. In fact, his religious allegiance was much more fluid and his role in the factional battles of court life at once more complex and more interesting than might at first appear. This study also brings out the purely private dimension and economic activity of a courtier who inherited only a modest landed estate but was able to trade on his influence at court in order to build up a local power-base that established his family in the long term among the leading gentry (and late peerage) of Sussex.

The Education of Children in Kent and Sussex: interpreting the Medieval and Tudor ways, by Gillian Draper, published 2008 (Offprint) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16246]

Article in Nottingham Medieval Sudies LII - used sources at WSRO.

Using Tudor records at TNA, by Nigel Sawyer, published March 2010 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 19 no. 1, article, pp.44-47) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15860] & The Keep [LIB/508842] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

On my ELPHICK line I had got back to the 1572 Archdeaconry of Lewes will of John ELPHICK of Chiddingly. Initially it seemed that this would be the end of the road for this particular family line but an intemet search brought up the Sussex Record Society website (www.sussexrecordsociety.org) and an online version of the book The Lay Subsidy Rolls for the County of Sussex 1524-25 by Julian Cornwall and listed under the Hundred of Sheplake (Shiplake) was a John ELPHYK. Unfortunately the parish in which he was living was not given. A search of the National Archives (TNA) catalogue also revealed an intriguing document that mentioned "Thomas HENDEMAN and Johane, his wife, executrix and previously the wife of Harry ELFEKE. v. Thomas PRATYE, feoffee to uses.: Messuage and land in Chitynglegh and Helynglegh.: Sussex." (TNA C 1/54/85). This information appeared to confirm what M A Lower said in 'The Parochial History of Chiddingly' (SAC, Volume 14, 1862): "Stonehill in the Northern part of the parish belonged in former times to the very ancient Sussex family of ELPHICK" but also added more than a hint that the family had a Hellingly connection.

Cowdray and the iconography of Henry VIII, by Bridget Howard, published 2011 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 149, article, pp.173-184) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18614] & The Keep [LIB/500367] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The early Tudor mansion of Cowdray (at Midhurst) was devastated by fire in 1793 and, conserved by a Lottery Grant, it is now open to the public. At first sight it appears to have been typical of the houses built by members of Henry VIII's Court, but recent research is showing a property that was very different from the other mansions of the day. They displayed their possessors' importance; Cowdray, by contrast very much smaller, barely acknowledged its owner and was filled with symbolic references to the king. This article attempts to interpret the iconography and explain a unique house.

My Tudor Connections: Sir John Gage of Firle and his family, by Colin Smith, published March 2014 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 21 no. 1, article, pp.25-27) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/508980]

I have been researching my family tree for over 35 years, not an easy task with a surname like SMITH! The SMITHs were Kent based, at a village called Westwell, near Ashford and were the usual agricultural labourers. However, the marriage of my 3 x great-grandparents, William SMITH (1791-1873) and Charlotte WALKER (1795-1866) on 18th October 1813 at Westwell has provided me with the 'stepping stone' to an ancestral line that includes the well-known family of GAGE, based at Firle Place, near Lewes.

Heretics and martyrs in Marian Sussex: networks and locations, by M. J. Leppard, published 2016 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 154, article, pp.209-226) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18939] & The Keep [LIB/509465] & S.A.S. library

The Tudor Bishops' Palace at Aldingbourne, by Caroline Adams, published 2016 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 84, article, p.26) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/84] & The Keep [LIB/509448]

A possible extension of Henslowe's and Alleyn's Sussex Network?, by Paul Quinn, published 2017 in Early theatre (article)   View Online

Decline or transformation ? Archaeology and the late Medieval ?urban decline? in Southern England, by Ben Jervis, published 2017 in Archaeological Journal (174(1), article, pp.211-243)