Monypenny of Pitmilly
Robert Sewell   This page was set up by Robert Sewell in June 2006 to show the family of Elizabeth Charlotte Monypenny who married {Reverend} Henry Doyle Sewell in 1844.  Robert Sewell graduated from McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) in 1967 with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry.  After a year of studies at the University of Toronto's College of Education, he taught high school science in Collingwood, Ontario for a year and then taught chemistry, physics and general science in Hamilton, Ontario for twenty-nine years.  Robert Sewell retired from teaching in June 1998.

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Please visit the Sewell Genealogy Site Map for other pages in this series.


The information presented here comes from the following sources:

Ancient Origins
 
The story of the Monypenny Family begins, as do the stories of many families, with a legend:
     Tradition has it that Malcolm III Cænnmor, King of Scotland, being obliged to flee after his father Duncan the Gracious was killed by Macbeth in 1040, found refuge with a wealthy French merchant named James Dauphin. When the King sought to recover his Kingdom, he asked his friend for a few pennies, whereupon James Dauphin replied, "Not a few pennies but many pennies", and his two sons fought at the side of the King.  When the Kingdom was recovered, the King gifted to the eldest son James, the lands of Pitmilly, Fife; and married him to a lady related to Macduff, Thane of Fife.
- - - or so the story goes.
     However, the first of an unbroken line begins with Ricardus de Moniepennie, and it is with him we will begin this genealogy.

Generation One
Ricardus de Moniepennie who was granted a charter by Thomas, Prior of St. Andrews, of the lands of Pitmulin ("quam Malisius tenuit") in 1211.
Ricardus married and had a son:


Generation Two
John de Moniepennie who was granted a charter of Mirton to Nichol of Milton in 1263.
He married and had a son:


Generation Three
John Monypenny who swore fealty to Edward I of England on March 14, 1295.
He married and had a son:
Generation Four
—— Monypenny who married circa 1306 the daughter and heir of Sir Alexander Ramsay of Leuchars, Fifeshire, and they had a son:
Generation Five
Thomas Monypenny of Pitmilly who received a charter of part of Leuchars from Thomas Hay circa 1329.  He married and had a son:
Generation Six
John de Monypenny who was granted a charter by John, Prior of St. Andrews, of the lands of Pitmilly "which had pertained to the said John's ancestors" circa 1347.  He was one of the plenipotentiaries sent by King David II to mediate peace with England in 1335/36.
John married and had a son:
Generation Seven
John Monypenny of Pitmilly who was recorded between 1400 and 1421; he married and had a son:
Generation Eight
Thomas Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1427
Thomas married Christian Keith, a daughter of Sir Robert Keith, an ancestor of the Earls Marischal, and they had two sons:
Arms of Monypenny of Pitmilly
The arms of Lord Monypenny of  Pitmilly are described as "Quarterly, 1st and 4th, or, a dolphin naiant azure, finned gules; 2nd and 3rd, gules three crosses crosslet fitchée issuing out of as many crescents argent."
. . . Sir John Balfour Paul:  The Scots Peerage, 1904 - 1914
This means "1st and 4th quarters, gold with a blue dolphin with red fins drawn horizontally as if swimming; 2nd and 3rd quarters, red with three silver crosses having the three upper ends terminating in three little crosses and pointed like a dagger at the bottom, each one on top of a crescent with the points turned up."

Heraldic dolphins are strangely dissimilar from the real creature and are shown with fins similar to those of a fish. 

Monypenny arms from Scots Peerage
The arms of Monypenny are described as "Argent, a dolphin naiant azure" which means "a silver shield with a blue dolphin drawn horizontally as if swimming" (left)

The arms of Monypenny of Pitmilly are described as "Quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent, a dolphin naiant azure, for Monypenny; 2nd and 3rd, azure three crosses crosslet fitchée issuing out of as many crescents argent., for Cathcart. (right)
(Sir Bernard Burke: The General Armory, London, 1884, page 699)

It is unclear how the Cathcart Family is connected with the Monypennys. 

Generation Nine
John Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1448
John married and had the following children:


Generation Ten
Thomas Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1454
Thomas married and had the following children:


Generation Eleven
Thomas Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1479
Thomas married Margaret Wemyss and they had a son:


Generation Twelve
David Monypenny of Pitmilly who was living in 1488/89, married Jonet Monypenny and had two children:
Generation Thirteen
William Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1520
William married and has a son:
Generation Fourteen
David Monypenny of Pitmilly
Born in 1512
Died in 1578/79
    David was a prominent supporter of the Reform Cause.  Following the murder of his cousin, Cardinal Beaton, he took refuge in St. Andrew's Castle with the conspirators and when the Castle was captured by the French he was taken prisoner and imprisoned in Cerbourg Castle.  He was later pardoned by Queen Mary, continued very ardent in the Reform Cause and was again captured by the French.
    David married firstly to a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Rothes and had the following children:     David married secondly to Katherine Lundin, a daughter of Walter Lundin and had by her a son:



Generation Fifteen
David Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1600
    David, like his father, was also an ardent Reformer and was sentenced to forfeiture and banishment for his uncompromising opposition to the marriage of Queen Mary and Lord Darnley.
    David married Elizabeth Monypenny and they had the folloiwng children:

Note:  From here on, things tend to get confusing, so I have set up the names of our direct ancestors, leading to Elizabeth Charlotte Monypenny who married on November 25, 1844 to {Rev} Henry Doyle Sewell in maroon type. I hope this helps.
 . . . Robert Sewell 

Generation Sixteen
James Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1638
James married in 1576 to Euphame Colville, a daughter of Robert Colville of Cleish and they had the following children:
Generation Seventeen
John Monypenny
    John married Euphame, a daughter of Thomas Myrton of Cambo.  Euphame appears to have had two previous marriages to William Rigg of Aitherine and Sir John Scot of Scotstarvit.  John and Euphame had a son:     John had a second marriage to Susanna Colville and they had two daughters.

James Monypenny
    James emigrated to Ireland before 1620.  This was the time of the "Ulster Plantation" when English and Scottish settlers were encouraged to emigrate to Ireland.  During the Plantation most of the Irish remained on their lands because the planters needed their labor, but they remained as tenants rather than owners of their own land. By 1650, the rights of the Irish Catholic people had been reduced to little more than that afforded to livestock. For further details, please click on:

Ireland's History in Maps   or   The Plantation of Ulster
James married in Ireland and had a son:
Generation Eighteen
Sir James "the Brave" Monypenny of Pitmilly
Died in 1657
    Sir James married in 1637 to Helenor Maule, a daughter of William Maule and they had with two other sons and three daughters:


Arthur Monypenny
    Arthur married and had two sons, of whom the elder was:


Generation Nineteen
{Captain} James Monypenny, R.N.
Born on October 17, 1670
Died on October 23, 1721 æt. 51
   James Monypenny served as First Lieutenant aboard Sir George Rooke's flagship at the capture of Gibraltar and the Battle of Malaga in 1704.

  James Monypenny  purchased Maytham Hall in Rolvenden in 1714. The estate dates from Saxon times and at least four Norman lords had manors here. 

    Shown here is a photograph (circa 2003) of Great Maytham Hall which was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and built in 1910 for the Rt Hon H.J. Tennant.

For further details, click on
Great Maytham Hall

Great Maytham Hall


James married Mary Gybbon, a daughter of Robert Gybbon of The Hole House, Rolvenden, Kent.  Mary's family, as determined from inscriptions at St. Mary the Virgin Church at Rolvenden, Kent is outlined in the following table:
Robert Gybbon [351]
Born circa 1643
Died on October 9, 1719 æt. 76

    Robert married Elizabeth Phillips (born circa 1649, died on October 20, 1691 æt. 41) who was the only child of widow Elizabeth Phillips (born circa 1625, died on July 13, 1718 æt. 94).

    Robert Gybbon and Elizabeth Phillips had ten children:

  • Elizabeth Gybbon who was buried in St. Clement Danes Church at London.
  • Edmund Gybbon who was buried in the South Chancel of St. Mary the Virgin Church, Rolvenden. [358]
  • Phillips Gybbon who married Catherine Bear, daughter of widow Honor Bear.
  • Robert Gybbon who was buried in St. Clement Danes Church at London.
  • Ann Gybbon who was buried in the South Chancel of Rolvenden Church.
  • Elizabeth Gybbon who was buried in the South Chancel of Rolvenden Church.
  • Mary Gybbon who married {Captain} James Monypenny.
  • Richard Gybbon who was buried in St. Clement Danes Church at London.
  • Ann Gybbon who was buried in the South Chancel of Rolvenden Church.
  • Margaret Gybbon who was buried in the South Chancel of Rolvenden Church. [358]

Mary Gybbon and {Captain} James Monypenny had the following children:Gybbon


Generation Twenty
James Monypenny[349]
Born on October 7, 1721
Died on May 11, 1800 æt. 79

    James, the youngest son of James Monypenny and Mary Gybbon, married Silvestra Blackwell (born circa 1728, died on February 13, 1818 æt. 90) who was the eldest daugher and co-heiress of {Reverend} Thomas Blackwell, A.M. Rector of St. Clement-Danes, London.

    James and Silvestra had the following children:


Generation Twenty-one
Thomas Monypenny
Born in July 1763
Died on September 24, 1814 æt. 51, and interred in the North Chancel.
    Thomas married in November 1795 to Katherine Rutton, a daughter of Isaac Rutton of Ospringe, Kent and they had the following children:
James I. Monypenny Family
Family of
James Issac Monypenny
and
Mary Blackwell Monypenny

This early photograph
is thought to date from the 1840's.
St. Mary's Church in Hadlow, Kent
image courtesy of St. Mary's Church, Hadlow
St. Mary's Church, Hadlow, Kent

"The first known mention of the church is in the Textus Roffensis (or Rochester Register) of 975 AD. This first church was probably a timber church. It is likely that the timber building lasted until about 1018  when the land of Hadlow was given to Eddeva (also Edith and Eadgyth) - Edward the Confessor’s queen. It is thought that she rebuilt the church at this time in stone. The lower part of the tower dates from about this time as  evidenced by the long and short technique on the NE corner"

For more about St. Mary's, please click to visit
St. Mary's Church, Hadlow

{Rev} James Issac Monypenny was Incumbent at St Mary's from 1840 to 1871; and it was here that Elizabeth Charlotte Monypenny was married to {Rev} Henry Doyle Sewell on October 25, 1844.

Rev. James Isaac Monypenny
Rev. James Isaac Monypenny

and

Mary Blackwell Monypenny

Mary Blackwell Monypenny
portraits courtesy of
Tim Sinclair
great X2 grandson of James and Mary

James and Mary had the following children:


Robert Monypenny of Merrington Place near Rolvenden, Kent. [347]
Born on January 28, 1771
Died on January 14, 1834 æt. 62 years and 11 months

    Merrington Place is located about a half mile south east of Rolvenden, Kent on the west side of Hastings Road. Click on Rolvenden for a close-up showing both Merrington Place and Maytham Hall courtesy of Multimap.com; or if this doesn't work go to http://www.multimap.com/, search for "Rolvenden" and zoom in to 1:25,000 scale.

    Robert married in 1796 Elizabeth Dunn, a daughter of James Dunn of Merrington, Durham. Elizabeth was born in 1771 and died on April 28, 1833 æt. 61 years and 10 months.

Robert Monypenny ca. 1780
Robert Monypenny
circa 1780
Robert Monypenny (1771-1834) aged 8, ready to play Battledore and Shuttlecock, an early game similar to Badminton.

This game is played by two persons with small rackets, called battledores, made of parchment or rows of gut stretched across wooden frames, and shuttlecocks, made of a base of some light material, like cork, with trimmed feathers fixed round the top.

The object of the players is to bat the shuttlecock from one to the other as many times as possible without allowing it to fall to the ground.

For further details, visit Wikipedia.

Robert Monypenny
Elizabeth Dunn
Robert Monypenny
Elizabeth Dunn
portraits courtesy of 
Evelyn Ferguson
great X3 granddaughter of Robert and Elizabeth

Robert and Elizabeth had the following children:

Note:  Two of Robert Monypenny's daughters married first cousins, sons of Robert's brother Thomas Monypenny. A third daughter (our ancestor Elizabeth Charlotte Monypenny) was engaged to marry her first cousin Robert Honywood Monypenny, but he died. Charlotte married Henry Doyle Sewell, who was at that time the curate (or assistant) to her cousin the Vicar of Hadlow who performed the marriage ceremony.
     This may be the origin of the family tradition that Robert Monypenny had difficulty in getting his daughters married off. 
 . . . Robert Sewell 

Generation Twenty-two
Elizabeth Charlotte Monypenny of Maytham Hall, Rolvenden.
Born circa 1809
Died in August 1862 æt. 53. Interred on August 7, 1862 at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Headcorn, Kent. There is a brass in the floor of the Lady Chapel of Headcorn Church.

    Charlotte was engaged to marry her first cousin Robert Honywood Monypenny, but he died before they were married. Charlotte had loaned her fiancé the sum of  £1,100 to purchase his commission. In 1852, {Reverend} Henry Doyle Sewell sued Robert's heirs to recover the loan. Click to see a newspaper report on this.

    Charlotte married on October 25, 1844 to {Reverend} Henry Doyle Sewell, Curate of Hadlow by {Reverend} James Isaac Monypenny, Vicar of Hadlow, Kent; and they had the following children:

For the continuation of this line, please click on: {Rev} Henry Doyle Sewell


Coat of Arms
Late 19th Century
commissioned by

Edward St. Leonards Gybbon-Monypenny


Late 19th Century Arms

  The seal pictured below, about 1 3/4 inch diameter and apparently used to make an impression on sealing wax, was inherited by Robert George Sewell and is said to have belonged to Elizabeth Charlotte Monypenny. However, it contains the arms of Dering, and the only connection with this family that we have found is through Elizabeth's aunt Charlotte Dering (1762 - 1826) who was the second daughter of Sir Edward Dering.  Perhaps the seal was given to Elizabeth at the time of her Aunt Charlotte's death.
 

Photo of Moneypenny seal
The written part appears to be (top) "Monypenny & Cathcart dexter" 
and (bottom) "Dering the sinister side."
     The coat of arms to the right was drawn using the seal and the descriptions from tombstones at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Rolvenden, Kent. 

     The description would be: the dexter side Quarterly 1 & 4 argent, a dolphin naiant azure (Monypenny), 2 & 3 azure, 3 crosses crosslet fitchee issuing our of an many crescents argent (Cathcart); the sinister side Quarterly 1 & 4 argent, a fess azure in chief three torteaux gules (Dering); 2 & 3 or, a saltair sable (unknown).

Please send further information to:
Robert Sewell

For the continuation of this line
please click on: {Rev} Henry Doyle Sewell

Drawing of Moneypenny seal


Click to read the actual Inscriptions from St. Mary the Virgin Church in Rolvenden, Kent.

106 is in the Churchyard Section C on the North side of the Church.
345, 347, 348, and 349 are within the church in the North Chancel.
351 and 358 are within the church in the South Chancel.

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