John KNIGHT ¹

  Notes:

The Knights were a well established family in Banbury - two were listed in the 1441 Rental. John was a baker, and by 1570 had extended his property to form the Reindeer Inn. He was three times Bailiff ie Mayor of Banbury.

John is known to have had one son and eight daughters. He left his property to his son William, who was educated at Merton College Oxford and the Inns of Court. William was closely connected to other prominent families in Banbury through his sisters' marriages, and was a leading figure in the Banbury Corporation where he was Chamberlain for 20 years. He was twice elected Bailiff, and was also a JP. His influence along with his nephew William Whately helped give Banbury its reputation for puritanism. He left an unusual bequest in his will: "The iron crowe given me by Sir Walter Cope's Lady being the traitorous Papists dug under the parliament house withal, to grandchild William Knight": presumably a reference to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

John's married daughters were, with husbands in brackets: Anne (Henry Wright, an Innkeeper); Marie (Henry Sewell, a saddler, Bailiff and JP in Banbury); Elizabeth (Edward Appletree); Alice (Edward Eden, Bailiff and JP in Banbury); Joyce (Thomas Whately qv); and Frideswide (Richard Butler).

PCC: John Knight PROB11/72 dated 2-5-1588

Additional sources:
Potts, W (1958) A History of Banbury. Banbury Guardian: Banbury
PCC: William Knight PROB11/160 dated 25-11-1631 (son)
Gibson and Brinkworth (1977). Banbury Corporation Records: Tudor and Stuart. Banbury Historical Society Vol 15.

John married Joan. (Joan was buried on 29 Dec 1590 in St Mary, Banbury, Oxfordshire ².)