John Jecks
and the Jecks of Aslacton
John Jekkys of Aslacton is the earliest known Jecks of the south Norfolk Family. Whether he was born in Aslacton or relocated there is not yet known. However, he was firmly a resident in Aslacton just after the year 1500 and of sufficient standing to take part in land transactions. John was one of several reputable individuals given two pieces of land in 1502 and 1503 in nearby Wacton and Tibenham, respectively. In turn, they later demised one and passed on an interest in the other held by one of the group, now deceased, to his son, in 1516.
Aslacton was one of many farming parishes and John was one of the farmers. John died in 1528 when he was barely middle-aged by today’s standards. At this time, King Henry VIII was halfway through his reign over England and was still married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Furthermore, the Church in England remained very much subservient to Rome; it was another six years before King Henry drove the Reformation to break that bond.
John Jekkys left a will in which he named his wife, Eska, and ten children.
He began –
In the name of God Amen the xv daye of Maye the yere of our lord god M CCCCC XXVIII [1528] I John Jekkys of Aslackton beying in good mynd and memory …
and continued in the manner typical of the time. He gave his soul to God, his body to be buried in the churchyard of Aslacton, and bequeathed a small sum to his local church for forgotten tythes. John also asked that a priest sing for his and other’s souls in Aslacton church for a whole year after he died.
John then made a number of cash bequests, beginning with an order for an annual pension for his wife of 8s 4d (or 100 pennies) per year for 16 years, to be paid to her by his executor. Added to that, Eska should have two quarters each of barley and wheat as well as two bee hives, all to be made available to her before next Christmas. Eska was also granted her “dwelling” in John’s house at the entrance to his tenement in Aslacton and the use and benefit of a specific two-acre field he held in the same parish. Even more, she should have the right to pasture and the feeding of two “neete” (cattle or oxen) on his lands in Aslacton, and all the fruit from his orchard there. All that, as long as she remained a widow.
Many of John and Eska’s children were under 18 years of age at the time he died – John specified in the will that none of his children should receive their bequests until they reached 18 years of age. As commonly done in wills at that time, he listed his sons in order of birth and then his daughters in the same way. The Registers of Aslacton begin only in 1556, so there is no Church record of John’s family events before then. The following lists the children with their bequest as determined by John, but intersperses the daughters with the sons, and adds an estimated year of birth. John bequeathed a total of £7, plus one cow, to his children, and separately another £2 to his wife to be paid without delay after his decease.
1505 Nicholas 5 marks (£3 6s 8d)
1507 John, the elder 6s 8d
1510 Elizabeth 10s
1512 Robert 10s
1514 Margaret 10s
1516 John, the younger 10s
1518 Ann 6s 8d
1520 Thomas 10s
1523 Henry 10s
1525 Maryon 1 cow
John appointed his son, Nicholas (2/1), as his executor, which charged him with the responsibility of carrying out all instructions in the will. To provide the financial resources to carry out his will, John ordered that Nicholas should have the profits of all his lands in Aslacton and neighboring Moulton, but only until the next Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, which was September 29. But then, in what seems an unusual action, from that date, John instructed that a certain James Sherwyn should have the same profits and lands, although no mention is made of the identity or relationship of James. There was, however, a condition – James had to produce a written surety of his ability to provide John’s executor with a total of £40 by paying 5 marks (£3 6s 8d) per year to his executor, Nicholas, for each of the next 12 years.
John may have considered none of his children old enough to hold his lands. Or, perhaps James Sherwyn was a trusted relative, for example, a brother-in-law. The Sherwins were another well-established family in the area. John’s will was proved on the 14th October, 1528, only two weeks or so after the date of the Feast, and probably within a month of his death. So whether Nicholas had the benefit of the lands for only a few days or almost a year to the next September 29 remains an open question.
Whatever the intent or legal meaning of John’s will, at least some if not all of his lands seem to have remained with the Jecks family. Nearly a century later, there is clear evidence that a son and grandson of each of testator John Jekkys and beneficiary James Sherwyn remained associated with each other – both retained a legal interest in certain lands. Further evidence that John did not “give” his lands to James Sherwyn in any absolute sense lies in a final provision written by John into his will. His words allow the possibility that James might buy John’s lands, which clearly implies that James did not otherwise end up with the absolute right to hold the lands:
“Also my wyll ys that yff the sayd Jamys bye & have my sayd londs & tenaments that then I wyll he shall have delyveryd by my executore iij horses a cart a tumbrell & too plows wherfor he shall pay unto my executore xx s incontynently after my decease”
Other than advising that James might buy his land, John also carefully specified what, in that event, should separately be sold to James at the same time. The three horses made part of the package were to haul the ordinary cart and the tumbrel, which was a dung or muck cart, designed to be tipped backwards to shed its load.
Testamentary proceedings were triggered followed the deaths of four of the sons of John Jekkys snr of Aslacton.
Nicholas (2/1), eldest son and John’s executor, was the first, in June of 1530, less than two years after his father died. Clearly, at the time he died in Aslacton he was a very young man; he made no mention of a wife or children. He named two executors – neither one a Jecks – one of whom lived in Aslacton and the other, in Bunwell. Other than instructing typical small bequests to the churches of Aslacton and neighbouring Moulton, Nicholas required his executors to discharge all of the responsibilities he had taken on as executor of his father’s will. However, the two gents refused that responsibility. So the Probate Court instead appointed John Jekks (2/2), another son of John Jekkys snr, as executor of Nicholas’s will, and therefore the person obliged to complete the task of executor of their father’s will.
Next, Henry Jecks (2/9) died in Aslacton in 1558. He was one of the Jecks who registered the birth of children in Bunwell in the early 1550s – three, in his case.
1551 Johes Jex filius Henrici bapt fuit December 2
1553 Esca Jex filia Henrici Jex bapt fuit August 1
1556 Agneta Jex filia Henrici Jex bapt fuit August 15
Henry (2/9) died intestate, but administration of his estate was granted to Marion, his wife. One of Henry’s daughters had been given the name Esca (3/15), from Henry’s mother. Later, aged about 27, Esca married Robert Griggs in Bunwell.
1581 Robert Gryges uxorer duxit Esca Jex 26 April
Thomas Jecks (2/8), John Jekkys snr’s fifth son, was another who maintained contacts in Bunwell. He married Katherine, but of what family name remains unknown. Thomas may have moved to the parish of Moulton, to look after the lands originally held by his father, John Jekkys. However, at least two of his children were christened in Bunwell, where several of the Jecks family were living. Indeed, the very first baptism recorded in the Bunwell register of baptisms – 29th March 1551 – was of Thomas’s son, Robert.
1551 Robti Jex filius Thomas Jex bapt fuit 29 March
1553 Stephanus Jex filius Thomas Jex bapt fuit July 28
Another son of Thomas, named Bartholomew (3/13), was buried in Aslacton, his father’s home parish, directly adjacent to Bunwell. Bartholomew was born probably some time from the late 1540s to 1556.
1564 Bartholomew Jex the sonne of Thomas Jex was buried the 10 August
Thomas died in the parish of Moulton in July 1560. A short Administration of his estate was granted to Katherine, his relict. A few years later, Katherine Jecks, as she then was, married William Hinde in Bunwell. She had at least two more children before she died and was buried in Moulton early in 1575.
Robert (2/4) was the fourth and last of John’s sons to generate probate proceedings. He died in May of 1592 in Bunwell. Robert had long since moved to Bunwell, although he maintained links with his brothers, the parish of Aslacton and at least one member of the Sherwyn family. His legacy and the larger Jecks family in Bunwell is explored in Part B of this Genealogy.
Other than Maryon (2/10), nothing is known of John’s daughters – Elizabeth (2/3), Margaret (2/5) and Ann (2/7). Maryon (2/10), the youngest daughter, married Philip Weeke of Bunwell in 1560. There can be little doubt she had migrated from Aslacton to Bunwell with one or more of her siblings. The Weekes had four children in Bunwell in the 1560s, although one died shortly after birth. Marion (2/10) died probably around 1610 - 1612, while her husband had predeceased her in 1602. Philip left Maryon an annuity of 20 shillings per year, while his estate went to their children and a grandson.
Little information is available concerning the fate of the two Johns – John (2/2) the elder and John (2/6) the younger – both sons of John Jekkys snr. Except that John (2/2) the elder became executor of his father’s will in and from 1530. No testamentary proceedings in the Wymondham area have been found that definitively relate to either John.
A will written by a “John Jexe” of Hempnall (east of Bunwell and Tharston) in 1534, proved 1539/40, may be of one of the Johns. However, although he had a wife, Katherine, he had no children, and left a number of bequests to various persons and charities, none of them a Jecks or any specified relative of any name.
