Going back as far as I can believe, at least

Let's see if I've got all the ancestors listed, after all it's Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead...when we celebrate our ancestors.

Our last post talked about my 14th great grandmother:

Lady Anne Ferrers, Lady of Tamworth Castle, Baroness Gresley of Chartley 

1438–1499

BIRTH NOV 1445 • Tamworth Castle, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England

DEATH 09 JAN 1499 • Colton Hall, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England

Her father was: (****)

Sir Lord Thomas II Ferrers, Knight of Tamworth, 2nd Lord of Tamworth, 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby

1427–1499

BIRTH ABT 1420 • Tamworth Castle, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England

DEATH 22 AUG 1499 • Tamworth Castle, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England

and her mother was: (***)

Lady Anne Hastings, Lady of Kirby Castle, 2nd Baroness of Tamworth, Baroness Ferrers of Groby

1423–1479

BIRTH 1423/27/32 • Kirby Castle, Kirby, Leicestershire, England

DEATH 1479 • Tamworth Castle, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England

Her parents are not listed on any Ancestry trees at this time, so we've reached an ancestress that is the oldest we know of...my 15th great grandmother.

And next in the male line is his father:

Thomas De Ferrers (Baron of Groby) Sir

1395–1458

BIRTH 1395 • Groby, Leicestershire, ENGLAND

DEATH 6 JAN 1458/59 • Groby, Leichestershire, ENGLAND

Some information about him is...

1st Lord of Tamworth by marriage. He made Tamworth the seat of an important branch of the Ferrers of Groby. It had a covert role as a "safe house" of sorts for the preeminent Catholic families of England during the Tudor era-- and yet the heirs of Lord Tamworth developed a strongarm organization to enforce the laws of the Crown in Staffordshire, and clean up problems that had only naturally existed in the environs of such a formidable castle.

Better roads were to make enforcement by the central government easier by the 16th century, and of course cannon made obsolete the notion of an impregnable fortress-- caretakers under the Ferrers stewardship understood this, and since they led double lives (as Catholics) they understood and preserved the arts of playing both sides, a way of life during the Dynastic Wars, but lost to memory as new generations of royalty grew more and more comfortable in their power.

St. Edithia Church,

(***) There are some records which acknowledge the birth dates have a span of about 10 years...so that may make some of them believable.

Other Bower ancestors...

What about Joan Bridmore Bower?

Just because she was married to one of the John Bowers, there are a ton of hints about her...maybe some will be about the Bridmore family. All the hints available (including other trees) didn't have any parents listed. And the majority of them were about people in different centuries.  I am getting so tired of this.

She was a 12th great grandmother.

BIRTH 1451 • Tisbury, Wiltshire, England

DEATH ABT 1588 • Mere, Wiltshire, England

She and her husband John Bower Jr. (1478-1498) had one son, Robert Bower (1493-1517).  That was enough to keep my line going!

But John Jr.'s mother was interesting, and I don't think we chased her line back yet.

Dame Edith Elizabeth Gresley (Bower)

1462–1523

BIRTH 1462 • Drakelow, Derbyshire, England

DEATH 1523 • Mere, Wiltshire, England

Some ancestor trees say she was born in Colton, Staffordshire.  She married in 1477 to John Bower Sr. and a year later gave birth to John Jr. (my suffixes to names to try to keep them straight). John Sr., her husband died the next year.

She remarried Sir John Gifford, who's not in my line. She had probably had a daughter by him 15 years prior to the marriage.  At least that's what the tree says.    There's also another daughter she may have had at age 13, and there's no marriage date with Sir John Montgomery.

She died in 1523, after her son John Bower Jr. had died in 1498.

Her father was:

Sir Thomas de Gresley Baron of Chartley-Sheriff of Staffordshire

1435–1502

BIRTH 1435 • Derby, Derbyshire, England

DEATH 26 APR 1502 • Colton, Staffordshire, England

his wife was

Lady Anne Ferrers, Lady of Tamworth Castle, Baroness Gresley of Chartley 

1448–1499

BIRTH NOV 1445 • Tamworth Castle, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England

DEATH 9 JAN 1499 • Colton Hall, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England

I'll go further into her lineage, but one footnote said her father's line goes back to Edward I.  This isn't the first time I've found Burke's to say one of my ancestors derived from royalty.