On Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 5:27:36 PM UTC-8, Brad Verity wrote:
What Sir Edward Rodney neglects to mention in his family history, and so it has been overlooked in subsequent accounts of this family, is the second marriage of his mother.
Perhaps Sir Edward Rodney did not mention the second marriage of his mother because he did not approve of it. Sir Ferdinando Audley was probably born about 1595. He was the younger of the two sons of the 1st Earl of Castlehaven, and his elder brother,
the notorious George Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven, was born in 1593. That means that Sir Edward was at least five or so years older than his stepfather Sir Ferdinando.
I will leave it up to historians to place this second marriage of Lady Jane (Seymour) Rodney to a knight young enough to be her son, in context. It's worth noting that the marriage took place in the summer of 1619, two years after the death of Sir
Ferdinando's father the 1st Earl of Castlehaven. And Sir Ferdinando's elder brother the 2nd Earl had sons of his own by 1619, so Sir Ferdinando was not the immediate heir to the title and family estates when he wed the widowed Lady Jane.
Sir Edward Rodney wrote his family history sometime after the death of his only son and heir in 1651. By the 1650s, the Tuchet/Audley family had suffered tremendously in reputation, and Sir Edward may not have wished that the male Rodney heirs -- "my
Brothers Sonnes may continue his [God's] true worship in our name to another period" -- to know of the family's association with the disgraced Earls of Castlehaven.
Through her third surviving son, George Rodney of Lyndhurst (1596-1630), Lady Jane (Seymour) (Rodney) Audley is an ancestress of the Barons Rodney.
The Rodney of Rodney Stoke article in Burke's Peerage 107th Edition (2003), p. 3379, is incorrect as to the death date of George Rodney of Lyndhurst, and to the mother of his son Anthony Rodney. Since the entry for Anthony Rodney in the Genealogics
database follows BP, I'll share what I've been able to gather so far on the three generations between Lady Jane (Seymour) (Rodney) Audley and George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney (1719-1792).
https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00248983&tree=LEO
1) GEORGE RODNEY of Lyndhurst, Hampshire, master keeper of the New Forest, 3rd surviving son of Sir John Rodney of Rodney Stoke (c.1551-1612) and Jane Seymour (c.1559-1634, descended from Edward III), bap. May 1596 St John the Baptist Church, Pilton,
Somersetshire; bur. 31 Dec. 1657 St Martin in the Fields, London[*1]; married 1st November 1621, Anne (Lake) Cecil, Lady Ros (bap. 14 Nov. 1599 St Martin in the Fields, London; dsp. 1630, bur. St Leonard Church, Rodney Stoke), widow of William Cecil,
16th Baron de Ros (1590-1618, descended from Edward III), and dau. of Sir Thomas Lake of Canons Park (1561-1630) & Mary Ryder (1575-1642); married 2ndly 22 July 1633 St Luke Church, Chelsea, London, Sarah Cage (bap. 30 April 1614 St Mary Church,
Longstowe, Cambridgeshire; d. after 1661), yst dau. of Sir John Cage of Longstowe Hall (1577-1628) & Joyce Mount (d. 1623)[*2], and had a son
2) ANTHONY RODNEY, cornet 1678, Captain in Col. Edward Leigh's Regiment of Dragoons 1686, Lieutenant-Colonel in Col. Henry Holt's Regiment of Marines 1694, Colonel 1705[*3], bap. 28 Oct. 1655 St Laurence Church, Downton, Wiltshire[*4]; killed in a duel
at Barcelona, Spain 1705, will dated 1703, proved 19 March 1712[*5]; married July 1683 St Marylebone Parish Church, London, Constantia Clarke (b. c.1655; bur. 23 Dec. 1742 St Mary Church, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey), dau. of Ralph Clarke[*6], and had a son
3) HENRY 'HARRY' RODNEY of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, Captain Royal Marines, commander royal yacht of George I, b. 25 Dec. 1690[*7]; d. 25 Dec. 1737, bur. 29 Dec. 1737 St Mary Church, Walton-on-Thames; married by 1715, Mary Newton (b. 21 Jan. 1690, bap. 2
Feb. 1690 St Benet Pauls Wharf, London; d. 21 Jan. 1727, bur. 27 Jan. 1727 St Mary Church, Walton-on-Thames), dau. of Sir Henry Newton (1650-1715) & his 2nd wife Mary Manning[*8], and had a 2nd son, George Brydges Rodney, created Baron Rodney of Rodney
Stoke.
Notes
[*1] St Martin in the Fields Parish Register. 24 May 1661 Administration of "Geo. Rodney, 'Lyndhurst' [Lindhurst], Hants., d. in St. Mart.-in the Fields, Mdx." to "Sara R., wid., rel." [Prerogative Court of Canterbury Administrations 1660-1700]
[*2] Sarah (Cage), the second wife of George Rodney of Lyndhurst, can be found in the Cage pedigree in the 'Visitation of Cambridgeshire 1575 and 1619', pp. 35-36:
https://archive.org/details/visitationcambr00britgoog/page/n50/mode/2up
Her father Sir John Cage was bap. 12 Dec. 1577 St Mary Church, Longstowe, and buried there 8 Sept. 1628. He married 9 Dec. 1602 St Bride Fleet Street, London, Joyce Mount (bur. 1623 St Mary Church, Longstowe), dau. of Richard Mount of Hampton Meads.
I cannot uncover online a burial entry for Sarah (Cage) Rodney.
[*3] "Anthony was a cornet in 1678, a Capt in 1686, Lieut-Col. in 1694 and Col. in 1705. He married Constantia Clarke in London in 1683. This sounds more like a man who was born in the late 1650s":
https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/rodney/148/
The genealogist Donna Przecha who posted the above, was trying to work out whether Anthony Rodney was the son, or the grandson, of George Rodney of Lyndhurst (1596-1657). She points out, "Records say George was 'of Lyndhurst', which is in the New Forest.
He is listed as an official in the New Forest in 1639. In 1662 a George Rodney is listed as a Forester in the New Forest and he was still there in 1679 - obviously a different George. Very likely a son."
Proof that there was a "George Rodney, Esq." who claimed lands in Lyndhurst in the New Forest in 1670, can be found in 'Abstract of Claims in New Forest' (1853), pp. 202-203:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Abstract_of_claims_preferred_at_a_justic/ZgoHAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=george+rodney+of+new+forest&pg=PA312&printsec=frontcover
Presumably this George Rodney of Lyndhurst in 1670 was the brother of Anthony Rodney mentioned by Donna Przecha, "Anthony had a brother, George, who was a captain in the royal Marines in 1690-6." Per the entry for the 1st Baron Rodney in the old DNB, "
Anthony's brother George served during the reign of William III as a captain of marines, and died in 1700."
Anthony was definitely not the son of George Rodney of Lyndhurst (1596-1657) and his first wife Anne (Lake) Cecil, Lady de Ros (1599-1600). As Donna points out, "If Anthony is the son of Anne Lake, then he would have been born by 1630. Col. Anthony
Rodney, of Col. Edward Leigh's regiment and later Col. Henry Holt's regiment, was killed in a duel in 1705 while on active duty. He would have been at least 75 at that time."
[*4] The parish of Downton in Wiltshire is on the county boundary of Hampshire and is close to the New Forest. In October 1655 when Anthony Rodney was baptized there, George Rodney of Lyndhurst was age 59 and his wife Sarah (Cage) Rodney was age 41, so
it is chronologically possible for Anthony to have been the son of that couple. George Rodney and Sarah Cage were married in 1633, so the soonest their son George Rodney of Lyndhurst in 1670, could have been born is 1634. He would have been no older than 21 at Anthony Rodney's baptism in 1655.
Jane Rodney, daughter of "George Rodney Esq.", was buried at Downton 31 July 1687. She was likely the daughter of the George Rodney of Lyndhurst in the New Forest who claimed his property there in 1670 (see Note 3 above).
I lean toward Anthony Rodney born 1655, as the son, rather than the grandson, of George Rodney of Lyndhurst and Sarah Cage.
[*5] "From off Altea where we are going to Land to Water this damned[?] fleet my dearest wife I have left Thirty pound in gold and silver in this writing Box for you and I am to sell a Lieutenancy for fourscore Guineas which I hope will come safe to your
hands and all I am worth in the World. I whole bequeath to you and my dear Harry so God Almighty bless you both. I witness my hand A. Rodney. All my plate is in the great Chest if I do otherwise than well I hope the Queen will settle something yearly on
you for your Life. I am sure she ought to do it if I am lost in her service pray solicit for it. For Mrs. Rodney pray deliver it safe.
"Appeared personally Constance Rodney Widow the Relict of Anthony Rodney Esq. late Colonel of Marines deceased and being sworn on the Holy Evangelists does depose and declare as follows vizt. that the said deceased in the year one thousand seven hundred
and three went upon some Expedition in the Queens Ship the Ysortation[?] with other Her Majesties Ships of War into the Mediterranean Seas or Straights then Commanded by Sir Cloudesley Shovell deceased and that during the stay of the said fleet in the
said seas the said Ship Ysortation came and lay before Altea in Spain to water and that during the said ship lying before Altea he the said deceased did as she believes write the Letter on paper hereto annexed which she believes to be all of his the said
deceaseds own handwriting and that to her best remembrance she did receive the said Letter or writing about the latter end of the said year One thousand Seven hundred and Three. Constance Rodney 19 March 1712" [England & Wales, Prerogative Court of
Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858]
[*6] "Constantia, mother of Harry Rodney Esq. who died August 27, 1743, aged 87" [M.I. in St Mary Church, Walton-on-Thames]. Constantia (Clarke) Rodney's M.I. (erected by her grandson James Rodney of Alton (1721-1793)) has an incorrect date of death for
her. Per the parish register, Constantia was buried 23 December 1742. If her age at death was accurate, she was born 1655/56. I can find nothing further on her father Ralph Clarke.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_and_Antiquities_of_the_Count/Yms-AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sir+henry+newton+married+manning&pg=PA776&printsec=frontcover
[*7] "Harry Rodney Esq. died on Christmas day 1737, being his birth-day, aged 47. Mary his wife, and eldest daughter of Sir Henry Newton, Knt. died January 21, 1726, being her birth-day and wedding-day, aged 44" [M.I. in St Mary Church, Walton-on-Thames].
I cannot locate online a baptism entry for Henry 'Harry' Rodney.
[*8] Sir Henry Newton has an entry in ODNB:
https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-20058?rskey=c0kGYV&result=1
I have not been able to uncover online a marriage entry for Henry/Harry Rodney and Mary Newton.
I hope this is helpful for anyone researching the Rodney family.
Cheers, -------Brad
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