| Notes |
- No baptismal record has been found for Elizabeth. She seemed to be a well loved mistress of Edward, the Fifth Lord Dudley. She suposedly had between 11 and 14 children by him, all of which would have been expected to "marry into the laing gentry class."(Lewis, Billie, Thomas Underwood.) Elizabeth was listed as "Mris Elyzabeth Tumlinsone" in her burial record. (C-1364)
There are 3 theories on how we are related to Elizabeth Tomlinson. 1) One of her sisters is married to John Bagley. 2) She and Lord Dudley had a daughter who married John Bagley whose children she names in her will and 3) Her sister Joan might have been the first mistress of Lord Dudley and their possible daughter married John Bagley.
According to an article in the Jan. 1996 issue of TAG by Charles M. Hansen, the Bagley's are her nephews, children of her unnamed sister and John Bagley. Edward Bagley, one of John Bagley's sons, is named as the administrator in the dispersal of Elizabeth Tomlinson's estate on Jun 19, 1635 in Canterbury, England. He is listed in that document by the term "nepoti ex matre". This term in latin means grandson through the mother. However, according to the "Index to Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury" it should be translated as nephew through the sister. The author, Marc Fitch, is an authority on English records. The book was published in 1986 and specifically states the following. "Tomlinson, Eliz., spin., Tipton, Staffs. To Edw. Bagley, neph. ex sis. 19 Jun 1635, p. 107." (C-2324, 2483)
As for Elizabeth's will, it was given verbally to relatives and is provided here from the following site: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GEN-MEDIEVAL/2001-04/0986346524 provided by Kenneth Harper Finton. "Elizabeth Tomlinson nuncupative will, dated 3 July 1629: set out in the joint and severall answeres of Thomas Duddeley and Henry Jevon, two of the defendants to a bill filed in Chancery 23 May 1631 by Dud Dudley of Tipton, gent. It is as follows: The said Elizabeth, being visited with sickness whereof she afterwards dyed, did by word of mouth only, without writing, will and declare how and in what manner her said personal estate should be disposed of after her decease, which was to this purpose and effect following, that is to say: She did will and bequeath to her five daughters all her wearing apparel. And also she did will and bequeath to Edward Bagley son of John Bagley, and to Dudde Bagley his brother [sic, most say] to be paid so soon as her executors could pay the same. Also to Thomas Bagley and to Robert Bagley, sons of the said John Bagley, 20s apiece; and to the poor people of Dudley all the money to her belonging which was then in the hands of her son Dudd Dudley. And further she willed that Gilbert Gyllyan and Ann Rodes should be paid all that which was then by her due to them. And further she willed that her son, the now complainant, [Dud Dudley] should not see her writings, because, as she then said, he might do somebody wrong. And all the rest, etc., she gave and bequeathed to her eight children to be equally divided amongst them. And of the same her will and testament that said Elizabeth did then ordain and make these now defendants Thomas Duddeley her son-in-law, and Henry Jevon, her servant, executors, and shortly afterwards died." (sons Robert and Edward were dead as well as Susan.)
There is another side to the presented theory in the TAG article that Elizabeth's sister was the mother of our line that should at least be noted until further evidence comes to light. There is still much evidence that Elizabeth and Lord Dudley are the parents of the wife of John Bagley.
1. All of the illegitimate children of Elizabeth and Lord Dudley's union or their spouses were given extensive holdings by their father, Lord Dudley.... John Bagley was one of these persons - and he is the only one that would not have been a child or the spouse of Lord Dudley's illegimate children if he was simply a nephew of Elizabeth Tomlinson.
2. As Kenneth Finton points out, Elizabeth is certainly not fond of her son, Dud Dudley, and tries to use her verbal will to take away his funds and give them to the poor. She also makes a statement that clearly leads one to believe she has information she doesn't want son Dud Dudley to have because she is afraid he will cause them harm. "And further she willed that her son, the now complainant, [Dud Dudley] should not see her writings, because, as she then said, he might do somebody wrong."
3. The execution of her estate is contested by son, Dud Dudley, six years after her death. Dud probably would have wanted to wait till an opportune time to have her estate settled.
4. We know that Dud Dudley had power due to the fact that his father supported him in developing a new coal process which gave him fame but brought hard times to his father, Lord Dudley, and the rest of his family.
5. Dud Dudley and John Bagley were at definite odds. John Bagley evicted him from the manor house when Dud had illegally taken possession of it. According to Kenneth Finton, John appeared angry with Dud "for wasting his father's fortune on his coal mining schemes" and "bringing his father to such destitution."
6. The count on the children in her will is not accurate. She wanted her possessions divided amongst her 8 children, but she only had 7 living children according to her son, Dud Dudley's account of the family in the 1663 Visitation of Staffordshire lists which Dud Dudley provided years after her death. This additional child not mentioned by Dud Dudley would be accounted for by the wife of John Bagley who was provided for well by Lord Dudley himself.
7. Though this is not mentioned in the will, Elizabeth gave a house to John Bagley (Jr.), son to the John Bagley right before she died. This home was probably the one she lived in. She obviously cared greatly for John Bagley's children in particular. Though, she did not specify her relationship to them, this could have been in the "writings" she did not want her son Dud to know about.
8. The naming patterns also suggest that the Bagley line descends from Edward Sutton, Lord Dudley.
Much of the above evidence has been provided by Kenneth Harper Finton and Billie Lewis and some of their work was forwarded to me by my Uncle Richard Coate. Until further evidence comes to light, it is difficult to know which theory is correct.
As for proof that Elizabeth was the daughter of William Tomlinson, this can be found in Herald's visitation of the county of Stafford in the year 1663, signed by Dud Dudley himself, when he describes his mother as "Elizabeth, daughter of Willia
m Tomlinson of Dudley, concubine of Edward Lord Dudley."
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- Abt 1629
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