The history of Well Hall Tudor Barn Part 2

Enter the Ropers

The Ropers, a wealthy Land owning family from Kent first became associated with Well Hall by marriage when the John Roper senior married Sir John's Tattersalls daughter Margery. They inherited the properties at Well Hall in 1488 when Tattersall died. Their eldest son also called John and made a name for himself in London becoming a successful Barrister, Chief Clerk at the Court of the Kings Bench and Sheriff of Kent. If that was not enough he also married Jane Fyneux, the daughter of the Lord Chief Justice of England John Fyneux.

Because of the posts he reached John Roper junior was very well connected advising King Henry vii on legal matters and also teaching the young and aspiring Thomas More at Lincoln Inn Fields. Roper and More became firm friends and when both attended The Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520 - an exhibition held near Calais to increase the bond of friendship between the Anglo-French Kings - the families betrothed their eldest children to each other in marriage.

The Ropers had several children including 3 Sons and 2 Daughters. William was the eldest child but Christopher quickly became the favourite amongst his parents. William wanted to follow in his father's legal footsteps and was boarded by the More family in Chelsea undoubtedly as a favour to his former tutor. In 1521 the Roper and More families were united in marriage and Thomas agreed to pay a £200 dowry and to support the newly wedded couple for 5 years.

Marriages in the Tudor period were fiercely commercial, and so were inheritances. When John Roper died in 1524 he had bucked the trend of leaving all his possessions and land to his eldest son and shared out the inheritance equally amongst his family. Perhaps he thought that William was settled and secure in his marriage to Thomas More's daughter and that his other children including the favourite Christopher needed the land more. But William was not having any of it; he was furious and pleaded with his father in-law for help to change the will. When More refused to help, William turned to Cardinal Wolsey for assistance taking his mother and siblings to court to secure probate. It took 5 years for William to succeed in securing all of his fathers land and he did so by becoming a member of parliament and abusing his position by entering a private members bill into the house. This proved to be a master stroke for he was able to tap into the fears of wealthy men worried about their fortunes but also because of Henry viii insecurities of not being able to sire a son.