St Mary's Church, Clapham, West Sussex, detail from mural monument to w:Sir William Shelley (c.1480–1549) of Michelgrove Hall in the parish of Clapham, Sussex, Judge of the Common Pleas. He married married Alice Belknap, a daughter of Sir Henry Belknap (1420-1488) (a grandson of Sir w:Robert Belknap (d.1401) of Knelle in the parish of Beckley, Sussex, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas). He was was the eldest son of Sir John Shelley (d.1526) (whose monumental brass survives in St Mary's Church, Clapham[1]) by his wife Elizabeth de Michelgrove (d.1513), daughter and heiress of John de Michelgrove of Michelgrove in the parish of Clapham, Sussex.

Latin inscription on brass of Sir John Shelley (d.1526) translated as Pray for the souls of John Shelley esquire and Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heiress of John Michelgrove of Michelgrove, esquire, which Elizabeth died the 30th day of July in the fifth year of the reign of Henry VIII and AD 1513 and the aforesaid John Shelley died the third day of January in the 18th year of the reign of King Henry VIII 1526

Henry Belknap (1438-1488), lord of the manor of "Oston" (w:Weston under Wetherley), Warwickshire, and Knell, in Beckley, Sussex, was heir to his brother William Belknap (co-heir to Sir Ralph Boteler). He had issue 5 daughters as follows:

• Griselda Belknap (d.1498), whose monumental brass in St Mary's Church, Clapham, West Sussex is inscribed: Here lies good and virtuous Griselda, late wife of John Caryll, one of the daughters of Henry Belknap esquire, blood relation and one of the heirs of Ralph Boteler, Knight, Lord of Sudeley, who died on July 11th, 1498, on whose soul may God have mercy, amen;
• Ann Belknap;
• Elizabeth Belknap;
• Mary Belknap;
• Alice Belknap, the last of whom, married w:Sir William Shelley (c.1480–1549) of Michelgrove Hall in the parish of Clapham, Sussex, Judge of the Common Pleas.

(Source: Robert Hutchinson F.S.A., The Brasses & Monuments in St. Mary the Virgin Church, Clapham, West Sussex, Published by The Friends of Clapham and Patching Churches, 2008 [2])

Belknap genealogy

(Source: http://www.belnapfamily.org/sirhenrybelknap.htm)

• Sir w:Robert Belknap (c.1330-1401) of Knelle in the parish of Beckley, Sussex, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Married Juliana Darset (c.1335-1414)
  • Sir Hamon Belknap (c.1380-1429), son, Treasurer of Normandy, married Joan Boteler, a daughter of w:Thomas Boteler, 4th Baron Sudeley
    • William Belknap (c.1418-1484/5) (co-heir to w:Ralph Boteler, 7th Baron Sudeley (d.1473))
    • Sir Henry Belknap (1420-1488), brother, of Knell, in Beckley, Sussex, was heir to his brother William Belknap (c.1418-1484/5). He married Margaret Knollys (1432-1488), by whom he had:
      • Sir w:Edward Belknap (c.1471-1521), Privy Councillor to Henry VII and Henry VIII. His daughter and heiress Elizabeth Belknap married Thomas Bishopp whose son became Sir Thomas Bishopp, 1st Baronet, of Parham. Before 1501 Edward Belknap acquired the manor of w:Weston under Wetherley ("Oston") in Warwickshire and bequeathed it to his wife Alice. Dying without issue it descended to his nephew John Shelley (d.1550/1) ('Parishes: Weston-under-Wetherley', in A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 6, Knightlow Hundred, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1951), pp. 251-255. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol6/pp251-255).
      • Alice Belknap (d.pre-1548), who married w:Sir William Shelley (c.1480–1549) of Michelgrove
      • Griselda Belknap (d.1498)

Heraldry

Three shields:

• Left: Arms of Belknap. Quarterly of 4:

• 1: Azure, three eagles in bend between two cotises argent (Belknap) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.67, "Belknap of Warwickshire")
• 2: Or, two bends gules (Sudeley, a Boteler heiress)
• 3: Bendy of ten or and azure (Montfort) (Montfort, lord of the manor of "Beldesert" (w:Beaudesert, Warwickshire), a Sudeley heiress. (Montfort, lord of the manor of "Beldesert" (w:Beaudesert, Warwickshire), a Sudeley heiress. Joan de Sudeley's paternal grandmother was Margaret de Montford, heiress (in her issue) of Beaudesert Castle, Warwickshire, being one of the two sisters and eventual co-heiresses of Peter de Montford, 3rd Baron Montford (d.1370)
• 4: Gules, a fess counter compony or and sable between six crosses pattée-fitchée argent Boteler (Boteler (of Wem, Shropshire, Baron Boteler (1308))) (Hamon Belknap married Joan Boteler, a daughter of Sir Thomas Boteler, 4th Baron Sudeley and Alice Beauchamp); the positioning is not conventional, should be in the 2nd quarter, as Sudely and Montfort were heiresses of Boteler, not vice-versa (as seen on various other shields, e.g. of the Bray family) William le Boteler, 2nd Baron Boteler (1298-1361), of Wem, married Margaret FitzAlan, daughter of Robert FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel. He had two sons both named William:
  • William le Boteler I, 3rd Baron Boteler (1295 - 1369) of Wemme, eldest son and heir, married a certain Elizabeth;
  • William le Boteler II (d. post 1380), second son, also named William (according to GEC Complete Peerage, Vol.12, Part 1, p.418, note (c)), who married Joan de Sudeley, elder sister and heires of her brother John de Sudeley, 3rd Baron Sudeley (1339-1367). His son was Thomas Boteler, 4th Baron Sudeley (1355-1398), whose descendants quartered the arms of Sudeley.

• Centre: Shelley (quarterly of 4) impaling Belknap (quarterly of 4)

• Dexter:

• 1&4: Shelley (Sable, a fesse engrailed between three shells or) (canting arms, the variety of shell was not in former times fixed, sometimes whelk shells, here shells of "house snails" (Papworth, John Woody, Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.II, London, 1874, p.779 "house snails"; also shown sometimes as escallops (Papwoth, II, 749, "escallops"), as shown sculpted on the pavillion now removed to Little Easton.
• 2&3: Quarterly or and azure, a falcon argent (de Michelgrove of Sussex) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.683)

• Sinister:

• 1: Belknap
• 2: Sudeley
• 3: Montfort
• 4: Boteler

• Left:

• 1&4: Shelley
• 2&3: de Michelgrove