♂Humphrey Elmes

Humphrey Elmes (died 1526) was a man of the parish of Harpsden, near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, who made his will in July 1526 and was dead by early October; his widow Elizabeth survived him by no more than a few months, and both their wills were proved on the same day, 20 October 1526. He was probably the twelfth great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006), through his son Anthony Elmes (died by 1574).

Humphrey made his will on 12 July 1526, describing himself as of the parish of Harpsden. By 2 October Elizabeth was a widow and made her own will, asking to be buried in the chapel of Saint Leonard in the parish church of Henley and for “a stone … to be laide upon Humfrey Elmes my late husbond and me”. Both wills were proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury^W on 20 October 1526.

Elizabeth’s will names a son, “Antony Elmes my sonne”, and five daughters, Anne (the eldest), Elizabeth, Dorothy, Katherine and Martha. The son was most likely the Anthony Elmes of Bolney, in Harpsden, through whom the line descends.

Notes

The son Anthony

The Antony of the 1526 wills is taken to be Anthony Elmes of Bolney (died by 1574) on the strength of Robert Battle and Henry B. Hoff’s study of the Elmes family in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (2022). Both families belonged to Harpsden and Henley. The identification is probable rather than proved.