A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Sir Martin was Lord Mayor during 30 Elizabeth I (1588-89). Sir Martin served for ten years as alderman, first in Aldersgate Ward and later in Cheap Ward. He was chosen Lord Mayor in 1588 and died in office in early May, 1589. His will, dated May 3, 1589 was proved on May 16 of that year. (At that time, the Lord Mayor of London was elected on Michaelmas Day, September 29, and assumed office on October 28.) (Beaven, v.1, pp. 5, 102, 341; v.2, pp. xxviii, 40; Remembrancia, p.4)
A Catholic and London lawyer, Edward Bolton, wrote a treatise in 1629 called Cities Advocate that defended those such as himself who worked for a living. He was critical of those who glorified the idle gentry. He held up for emulation Martin Calthorpe, who started out as a draper's apprentice, became mayor of London, and to whose skills even Queen Elizabeth had paid homage:
"Queen Elizabeth acknowledged Martin Calthorpe, the Lord Mayor of London, who started as apprentice. I pray to resemble the worthies of this city, out of whatever obscure parentage, than being descended of great nobles, to fall by vice far beneath the reckoning of the poorest prentiser." From: Edward Bolton, The Cities Advocate, in this case, or a Question of honor and arms, whether Apprenticeship extinguisheth Gentry? Containing a clear refutation of the Pernicious common Error affirming it, swallowed by Erasmus of Roterdam, Sir Thomas Smith in his "Commonweal", Sir John Ferris in his "Blazon", Ralph Broke York Herald and others (Norwood, N.J.: W. J. Johnson, [1629], 1975), pp. 1, 3.
Sir Richard Martin, a member of the Goldsmiths' Company, served as alderman 1578-1602, and was chosen to finish Sir Martin Calthorpe's term of office as Lord Mayor when the latter died in early May, 1589. (Beaven, v.1, pp.147, 343)
As part of the curiosity and exploration of Sir Martin's day, Edmund Fenton of the Muscovy Company (who had married Thomasine, daughter of Benjamin Gonson the naval administrator of England) visited the Moluccas and the Spice Islands in 1583. Fenton made a voyage partly of discovery, partly of plunder, with the backing of the first Earl of Leicester, Sir Philip Sydney (1554-1586, who was married to Frances, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham) and Secretary of State, William Cecil (1521-1598), Lord Burghley.
The Muscovy Company as a body had provided a large direct investment. Fenton's supporters included Thomas Pullyson, William Towerson, Thomas Aldersey, Thomas Starkey (all Spanish Company directors) plus Sir George Barne (died 1593), a founding Spanish Company director and a co-founder of the Turkey Company. (Barne's father was deep in the Spanish trade from the 1560s.)
Also, Martin Calthorpe and the powerful trade overseer Sir John "Customer" Smythe (1558-1625) and Sir Richard Martin (Turkey Company founders) and Thomas Cordell, a co-founder of the Venice Company.
His second wife having died in December 1623, Samuel Puckett married for the third time on 3 April 1625 at Saint Andrew, Norwich. His new bride was Margaret Calthorpe, who cannot have been much older than 16, and came from a well-known Norfolk gentry family; her great-grandfather [Martin] had been Lord Mayor of London in 1588, but by the time of her marriage the family was in financial difficulties. Her grandfather Martin [a son of the Lord Mayor] had been forced to sell some of his land in 1603 in order to provide a jointure for his wife. Although Margaret Calthorpe's mother, Elizabeth Riches, was an heiress in her own right, her husband had to apply to the House of Lords again in 1623 for a private act enabling him to sell more land "for the preferment of his younger children and payment of his debts". In 1639 Samuel was a witness for Martin Calthorpe in his defence against Edward Haylett's claims to the manor of [Sea] Palling. These depositions were made "at the sign of the Dolphin in the City of Norwich". The manor seems to have been part of the jointure of Elizabeth Calthorpe née Smith, Margaret Calthorpe's grandmother, since, according to the witnesses, Elizabeth Calthorpe was accustomed to collect the rents of the manor herself, or send her son George to do it for her. She also presided over the manor court.
Among the Acts of Parliament for 2 November 1624 appears the following: An Act to enable Martin Calthorpe, Esquire, to make Sale of certain Lands, for Preferment of his Younger Children, and Payment of his Debts. From: 'Acts this session: 2 November 1624', Journal of the House of Lords: volume 3: 1620-1628 (1802), pp. 427-30. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=30435. Date accessed: 14 July 2006.
Abt 1584/85, Judith, daughter of Sir Martin Calthorpe, Lord Mayor of London, married Sir Martin Barnham, Knt., of Saint Clement Eastcheap.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
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