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Ralph de Blenerhaysett Jr was born c1400 in Cumberland, 5th son of Ralph de Blenerhaysett Sr (b.c1371) of Carlisle and Great Orton in Cumberland and his wife Joan (or Jane) de Skelton (she d.17-Mar-1449/50).
In 1423 Ralph de Blenerhaysett Jr married Joan de Lowdham of Loudham, Suffolk, a 14 year old heiress and already a widow, only daughter of John de Lowdham (d.28-Apr-1428) and descendant of John de Lowdham, Lord of the Manor of Frenze in 1280. By this marriage Ralph gained the manors of Loudham, Toddenham & Halvergate in Suffolk; Frenze in Norfolk; and Kelvedon in Essex, becoming Lord of the Manor for each of these places, a young man of property and some standing in East Anglia. He is ancestor of the Blennerhassett families of East Anglia (Norfolk, Suffolk) & Northern Ireland (Fermanagh).
NOTE: Lowdham and Loudham are interchangeable variants of the same name but have evolved such that in modern usage the place name is Loudham, the family name usually Lowdham.
In 1430 Ralph Blenerhaysett travelled from England to France as one of the retinue of Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, one year before the boy king Henry VI of England was crowned King of France, a Plantagenet attempt to permanently unite the two crowns following Henry V's famous victory at Agincourt in 1415, only 15 years earlier.
Ralph's Will is dated 20-Sep-1465, proved 8-Dec-1483 [NRO, NCC Caston, f.183A]. Ralph's portrait in brass, the oldest surviving image of a Blennerhassett, is set into a large ledger slab that formerly was set into the floor of the old chancel at Frenze, where Ralph had, by his Will, requested to be interred. The old chancel was demolished in 1827, causing this and other monuments to be moved to their present positions. He is in the "new chancel" at the east end of the nave. His fine effigy depicts "Ralf Blenerhaysett esquire" wearing armour typical of the early 15th century. This indicates military service, but he was not a knight. A smiling lion sits at his feet. His inscription describes him as "Venerabilis vir" = Venerable man, i.e. an honoured man, commanding respect because of great age, dignity or noble character.
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