Thomasin Bardfield (Bardfeld/Bradfield) was the daughter of Thomas
Bardfield of Shenfield, Essex.
After the death of the last male heir of
her uncle, John Bardfield (d.1497) in about 1514, she and her sister
Margaret inherited his estate, including Margaretting, Essex.
By then
Thomasin was married to William Daniell of London.
After his death, she
married John Kekewich of Catchfrench (or Hatchfrench), Cornwall (d.
October 31, 1541). They lived primarily in Essex but also had a town
house in the parish of St. Mary le Strand, London, by 1539.
They had
three children, George (1530-1582) and two daughter daughters who were
both of marriageable age c.1542 when Thomasin took a third husband,
Oliver Hyde of Banbury Court, Abingdon, Berkshire (c.1518-February 9,
1566), a man considerably her junior.
One of her daughters then married
Hyde’s younger brother, John Hyde.
Thomasin brought a fortune to her
third marriage, which Hyde used to buy the manor of Maiden Erlegh near
Sonning, Berkshire in 1545 and the manor of Fulbrook near Burford,
Oxfordshire in 1548.
His entry in the History of Parliament
describes Thomasin as “a woman of strong character, well able to defend
her property in and out of the law courts.”
With her third husband,
Thomasin is commemorated on a memorial tablet in St. Helen’s parish
church in Abingdon.
