Carent, William

Abt 1395 - 1476  (~ 81 years)

• Name	Carent, William
  Born	Abt 1395	Of Somersetshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Buried	8 Apr 1476	Toomer, Somerset, England
  Person ID	I06162	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	7 Mar 2015

  
  

  Family	Stourton, Margaret,   b. Abt 1400, England ,   d. 1463, England  (Age ~ 63 years)
  Married	Abt 1465	England
  Children	1. Carent, John,   b. 1425, Of Dorset, England ,   d. 1483, Hampshire, England  (Age 58 years)  [Natural]
  Family ID	F01811	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Carent, William (1395-1476); of Toomer, Som.; steward of Shaftesbury abbey, agent for Duke of Somerset. M.P. Dorset 1420; Somerset 1423; Dorset 1426, 1427; Somerset 1445-6, 1450-1. Son and h eir of William Carent, MP (d. c1422), by Alice, dau. and eventual heir of Sir John Toomer of Toomer-Henstridge, Som.; m. (1) Margaret, d. 1463, dau. of Sir William Stourton, the Speaker, and (2), 1468, Katherine (d. 1473), dau. and heir of Thomas Payne of Payneshay, Devon, widow of John Stourton, M.P., of Preston-Plucknet, and of Sir John Beynton, M.P. He was brother of Nicholas Carent, dean of Wells, d. 1467, and of John Carent, senr. (d. 1478). William's son John Carent junr., was M.P. Dorset 1453. Eschr. Som. and Dorset, 1421-2; sheriff 1427-8, 1434-5, 1440-1; member of the council for Bruton Priory 1430; eschr. Devon, 1441; sheriff, Som. and Dorset, 1446-7, 1450-1 pricked after election to Parliament; J.P. Dorset 2 Dec 1430 till death; elector, Somerset 1421, 1437, Dorset 1422, 1442; on Dorset and Som. comns. of every party 1420-1475. 1438 exor. to John Stourton, junr., son of John, first lord Stourton, who left Carent for "his labour and friendship" his black horese, as well as jewelry to Carent's wife Margaret. 1441 exor. of Sir John Hody, C.J., who left him a silver cup, and in 1448 William Byconnel, priest of Wells, bequeathes to "my most illustrious William Carent" a silver gilt cup. A popular man, no partisan or patronage hunter, but closely allied with his bro. and the church. He was pardoned in 1437, "of Thomer, Som., esq., late sheriff, farmer of Henxstrigge and Charleton, late eschr. of Som. and Dorset" (m. 24); and in 1446, 1452, Nov. 1455, Jan 1458 (m. 34) and Dec 1471--always of Thomer or Tomer...As a Lancastrian he was summoned to the Great Council 1455, for Dorset...died 8 Apr 1476 when John aged 40 and more, was his son and heir. She married, fourthly, William Carent, of Toomer, Esquire, which marriage is confirmed by Edmondson, Collins, and Harl. MS. 1074. William Carent is identified as having previously married Margaret Stourton, sister of Sir John Stourton, knight, created Baron of Stourtonf. William Carent was the king's escheator for Counties Somerset and Dorset, in 8-9 Henry V. and i Henry VI., then called "junior," sometime Sheriff of those counties, M.P. for Co. Somerset, and founder, 20th March, 1463, 3 Edward IV., of the obiit in Henstridge Church for himself, his wife, Margaret (Stourton) and others, he dying 8th April, 1476. Monumental Brass at St Nicholas, Hentsridge. 1476. In Henstridge church is a fine monument bearing the effigies of William Carent, eldest son of William Carent and Alice Toomer, and Margaret Stourton his wife. On the cornice of the canopy over the tomb are shields bearing - Toomer, Carent and Toomer quarterly, Carent impaling Stourton. Bishop Beckington in 1463 granted forty days indulgence to all true penitents who should make a pilgrimage to this tomb. The effigies of his brother John, with those of his two wives, were lately to be seen lying on the floor of Marnhull church in a neglected condition ; but they have now been replaced on a plain altar tomb. The third brother, Nicholas, was Dean of Wells 1448-67 ; his monument, if he ever had one, has disappeared altogether. The Carents parted with Toomer in 1676 (' Som. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Proc.,' XVI. i. 44, 45). From the register of Bishop Beckynton, it appears that on 20th November 1463 (3 Edward IV) the Bishop granted forty days' indulgence to all true penitents, who should go to the tomb of that worthy man, William Carent, Esq., erected in the prebendal church of Henstridge, (qui ad tumbam probi viri Willielmi Carent, armigeri, in ecclesia prebendali de Hengstrigge, erectam et fabricatam ac- cesserint,) and should devoutly repeat " Pater noster " and " Ave "" for the welfare of the said William Carent, and of the venerable Mr. Nicholas Carent, and John Carent, senior, his brothers, and also of John Carent, junior, his son, during their lives, and for the soul of Margaret, late wife of the said William Carent, and the souls of the other persons aforesaid, after their deaths. The monument consists of an altar tomb, of Ham-hill stone, surmounted by an arched canopy of the same ma- terial. Underneath the canopy rest the effigies of the Esquire and his lady, which, with the slab on which they lie, are of grey sandstone. The tomb and canopy are still in good preservation ; but the heads of the effigies are much mutilated . The male figure is habited in a complete suit of the armour commonly in use at that period, with the exception of the hands, which are joined and elevated in the attitude of prayer, and the head, which is also un- covered, rests on a cushion. The hair is cut short round the face. On the left side is a sword suspended from a belt which passes round the body ; and on the right side are a misericorde, or dagger, and gauntlets. The feet have broad toes, and rest on what appears to be a lioness couchant regardant. There is a little shield on each shoulder, on which are depicted the arms of Toomer, viz. gules, three bars xoavy argent. The female figure is a good specimen of art and execution. The features, how- ever, are much mutilated, the hands are raised in the attitude of prayer, and the head rests on a cushion. The mantle is fastened across the breast with a cord, and the dress descends in straight folds, entirely coverhig the feet, which rest on an animal, apparently muzzled, but it is much mutilated. On each breast are painted the arms of Stourton - not in the form of a shield but on the mantle - viz. : sable, a bend or, betioeen six fountains. An inscrip- tion, which was probably commemorative, ran round the verge of the slab, but is now utterly illegible. Another inscription occupied the moulding which runs up the side and across the head of the canopy - only a few words are now legible, but from these it appears to have consisted of the lines so frequently met with on monuments of this period : - Sis testis Xste, quod uon tumulus jacet iste Corpus ut ornetur sed spiritus ut memoretur. Collinson thought the Toomers of Toomer, and the Domers of Pen Domer, near Yeovil, in this county, were one and the same family, but in this also he was certainly mistaken. The Domers or Dummers were quite a dis- tinct family, and bore a different coat of arms. They sprang from the village of Dummer, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire, where they were seated shortly after the con- quest, and a branch of them continued there till the latter end of the ]6th century. The elder branch removed into Somersetshire, having become possessed of Penne by mar- rying an heiress of that manor. She was living a widow in the reign of King John. The Domers continued in jDOSsession of Pendomer till the reign of Henry IV. The Toomers took their name from the manor of Toomer, in the parish of Henstridge, and Richard De Toomer purchased lands in Henxtrigge, in 31 Edward I.