Family and Education

b. 1515/16, 1st s. of Thomas Rigmayden of Wedacre by Jane, ?da. of Sir Richard Langton of Newton. ?unm. suc. fa. 10 Oct. 1521.1

Offices Held

J.p. Lancs. 1538-d.; commr. subsidy 1542, 1545, relief 1550, chantries, Lancs. and Bowland forest 1552, Lancs. and Yorks. 1553; dep. forester, Quernmore and Wyresdale 1540-1, master forester 1545.2

Biography

Several John Rigmaydens can be traced in the early 16th century but it may be safely inferred that the head of the family domiciled at Wedacre and a member of the Lancashire bench for almost 20 years was the knight of the shire returned to the first Parliament of Mary’s reign, being styled on the indenture ‘the elder, esquire’, His election in 1553 is almost certainly to be ascribed to the favour of the 3rd Earl of Derby: his fellow knight of the shire, Sir Richard Sherborn, was a ‘right beloved servant’ of the earl. Although no such direct connexion can be established for Rigmayden, the suggestion of the pedigrees that his mother took as her second husband Thurstan Tyldesley would provide a link, for Tyldesley was a servant of Derby’s. Whether or not Rigmayden was Tyldesley’s stepson, they may have lived under the same roof, for the Tyldesley home contained a room called ‘Rigmayden’s chamber’. Rigmayden was not one of the Members who opposed the restoration of Catholicism. Although not re-elected to Parliament he remained active in local affairs until his death in 1557, when he was succeeded by his cousin and namesake. If he made a will it has not been found. The family remained Catholic until it died out at the beginning of the 17th century.3

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: Alan Davidson

Notes

• 1. Aged five at father’s death, VCH Lancs. vii. 317. Chetham Soc. cv. 215; DKR, xxxix. 559; Vis. Lancs. (Chetham Soc. lxxxi), 55; Ducatus Lanc. i. 25; J. B. Watson, ‘Lancs. gentry 1529-58’ (London, Univ. M.A. thesis, 1959), 465.
• 2. Watson, 465; E179/130/148, 167(1); CPR, 1553, p. 360; VCH Lancs. ii. 97; Somerville, Duchy, i. 508-9; LP Hen. VIII, xix.
• 3. Chetham Soc. xxxiii. 112; cv. 217; Cam. Misc. ix(3), 77; Cath. Rec. Soc. iv. 170; C. Haigh, Ref. and Resistance in Tudor Lancs. 250-1, 260-1, 283; Ducatus Lanc. i. 38.