'Leech1'
Index links to: Lead / Letter
Families covered: Leech (Leche) of Chatsworth
| (1) We were unsure whether to name this page with Leech, Leche or Leach, as all variations are still used, but settled on Leech as that appears to us to be the most common. It is sometimes suggested that the name was a nickname, derived from the fact that at least one member of the family was a chirurgeon (surgeon) who used leeches to draw blood, however it appears that the name was used for the family long before that person. Some people note that there was (but is no more?) a place called Leach in Cheshire which may have given its name to the family. (2) The Leche family of Carden is often identified as a branch of family of Chatsworth but there is uncertainty as to what generation they branched from. In his Tree on the family, Ormerod starts with the John Leche who married Elenor de Cawarden (shown at the foot of this page) and identifies him as "a younger brother of the family of Leche, of Chatsworth" but in the text Ormerod reports that "it appears that the family were settled in Carden as early as 20 Edw. III" (1346-7 and provides some ancestors for that John. (3) The main source for the Chatsworth line is the booklet by Mann which is not good at identifying its sources and so, whilst interesting, is not wholly convincing. Somewhat arbitrarily, we show the first few generations in italics to reflect our concern and 'take the opportunity' to show a speculative connection between the Chatsworth & Carden lines. It should be noted that the Chatsworth line are reported to have been "of Chatsworth many years before they had the manor". |
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| ?? Leech or Leche | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Sir William Leech of Chattisworth, Derbyshire | ||||||||||||||
| A. | Dawkins Leech | ||||||||||||||
| i. | Phillip Leech of Chattisworth | ||||||||||||||
| a. | Dawkins Leech of Chattisworth | ||||||||||||||
| Mann shows that Dawkins had 2 sons: Sir Phillip and Sir Roger. We have seen it reported in other web sites that they were brothers but HoP suggests that Sir Roger was father of Sir Phillip and that Sir Phillip had no sons. We speculate that there were 2 Phillips, one the brother of Sir Roger (shown here as the younger rather than the elder) and the other his son. | |||||||||||||||
| (1) | Sir Roger Leech or Leche 'of Beaupers' of Chatsworth, Sheriff of Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire (d 1416, Treasurer of the Royal Household, Treasurer of England, MP) | ||||||||||||||
| Roger's success appears to have lifted the family from being 'minor gentry' into a family of status. HoP reports that, as well as his son Phillip, he had 4 daughters but "made no real effort to secure wealthy husbands for his four daughters, only one of whom married a landowner of any real note" (Sir Sampson Meverel). Mann does not mention his son and reports that he had 3 daughters (and names their husbands): Isabel, Mary & Ann | |||||||||||||||
| m1. ?? | |||||||||||||||
| (A) | Sir Philip Leech or Leche of Chatsworth (dsp 07.1420, MP) | ||||||||||||||
| (B) | Isabel Leech or Leche | ||||||||||||||
| m. Sir Sampson Meverel (not Menevell) of Staffordshire | |||||||||||||||
| (C) | Mary Leech or Leche | ||||||||||||||
| m. Sir Edward Foljamb | |||||||||||||||
| (D) | Ann Leech or Leche | ||||||||||||||
| m. John Sacheverell | |||||||||||||||
| (E) | daughter | ||||||||||||||
| m2. (by 10.1414) Katherine (d 04.05.1420, widow of Sir John Browich of Nailsworth then Sir Hugh Waterton of Tibberton) | |||||||||||||||
| (2) | Sir Phillip Leech or Leche of Chatsworth (a 1417, Treasurer of England?) | ||||||||||||||
| (A) | Ralph Leech of Chatsworth | ||||||||||||||
| m. Elizabeth Eyre (dau of Robert Eyre of Padsley) | |||||||||||||||
| (i) | Phillip Leech of Chatsworth (a 1499) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Anna Vernon (dau/heir of Edmund Vernon) | |||||||||||||||
| (a) | George Leech of Chatsworth (d 1505) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Anna Babington (heir, widow of Roger Greenhalgh) | |||||||||||||||
| ((1)) | Roger Leech of Chatsworth (a 1524) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Anna Hassebrigg (dau of Robert Hassebrigg of Northamptonshire) | |||||||||||||||
| ((A)) | Francis Leech of Chatsworth (dsp 1550) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Alicia Hardwick (dau of John Hardwick, sister of "Building Bess") | |||||||||||||||
| Probably at the instigation of his sister-in-law Elizabeth, Francis sold Chatsworth to _ Agard who promptly sold it to Sir William Cavendish, then Elizabeth's husband. | |||||||||||||||
| ((2)) | Ralph Leech of Chatsworth | ||||||||||||||
| m. Elizabeth Leake (dau of Thomas Leake (not Leeche) of Hasland, widow of John Hardwick) | |||||||||||||||
| ((A)) | Elizabeth Leech (d 01.1601) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Anthony Wingfield | |||||||||||||||
| ((B)) | Jane (Joan) Leech (b c1533, a 1604) | ||||||||||||||
| m. Thomas Kniveton of Mercaston | |||||||||||||||
| ((C)) | Margaret Leech | ||||||||||||||
| m1. Richard Slater or Slaughter of Sutton | |||||||||||||||
| m2. _ Harris | |||||||||||||||
| (b) | Ralph (or Philip?) Leech | ||||||||||||||
| m. Elizabeth Okeover of Okeover | |||||||||||||||
| (c) | Anna Leech | ||||||||||||||
| (ii) | Ralph Leech | ||||||||||||||
| m. Elizabeth Durrant | |||||||||||||||
| (iii) | John Leech of Carden, Cheshire | ||||||||||||||
| Mann acknoweldges that there is "doubt as to the particular origin of Leach of Carden" and so appears to accept that this may not be the John who started that branch. | |||||||||||||||
| (iv) | Elizabeth Leech | ||||||||||||||
| m. _ Shirley | |||||||||||||||
| (v) | Alicia Leech | ||||||||||||||
| m. Hugh Annesley | |||||||||||||||
| (vi) | Joanna Leech | ||||||||||||||
| m. Peter Poole of Radburn | |||||||||||||||
| (B) | Elinor Leech | ||||||||||||||
| m. Robert Kniveton | |||||||||||||||
| 2. | ?? Leche presumed intermediary generation | ||||||||||||||
| A. | John Leche in Carden, Cheshire | ||||||||||||||
| m. Lucy (sister of Eva (widow of Hugh de Warin)) | |||||||||||||||
| i. | ?? Leche (a 1377, chirurgeon to King Edward III) | ||||||||||||||
| a. | Daniel Leche | ||||||||||||||
| (1) | John Leche of Carden (a temp Henry IV who r. 1399-1413) | ||||||||||||||
| John is the first mentioned by BLG1952 (Leche of Carden and Stretton) and, apart from brief mention of the possible earlier generations, also shown 'properly' by Ormerod (and Commoners which is reporting Ormerod). | |||||||||||||||
| m. Elenor (or Lucy) de Cawarden (dau/coheir of William de Cawarden) | |||||||||||||||
Main source(s): Genealogical Data of the Families of Burt, Dewey, Mears, Darbyshire, Leache, Maude and Fenton' by John Henry Mann (New York, 1920), found on www.archive.org, with a little input from Ormerod (Cheshire, vol II, 'Leche of Carden'), Commoners (vol 2, Leche of Carden)
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