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, daughter of Sir Henry Belknap, grandson of Sir Robert de Bealknap 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) by his wife Elizabeth de Michelgrove (d.1513), daughter and heiress of John de Michelgrove of Michelgrove in the parish of Clapham, Sussex.

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: 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