Language: English

Context and purpose

MS Rawl. D. 102 is a collection of family papers in two main parts. The first in sequence is a catalogue of the Honywood family, of Elmsted in Kent, listing the names and birth-dates of Sir Thomas Honywood's children, followed by a more detailed register of the children of Sir Thomas's heir, Sir John Honywood. The second part is a biography of Thomas Godfrey of Lydd, Kent, with particular emphasis on the disposition of his estate after his death. The link between the two parts is Mary, wife of Sir John Honywood and mother of his nine children, and daughter of Sir Thomas Godfrey. Mary Honywood is the narrator of the life of Sir Thomas which occupies the greater part of the volume. The Honywood family register consists of two larger folios, pinned to the cropped stub of f. 2. Both the method of attachment, and the fact that the last event recorded in the register (the birth of Mary Honywood's youngest child, Katherine) post-dates the stated date of composition of the Godfrey biography, suggest that these folios are a later addition to a pre-existing volume. The register is transcribed in one hand, a slanting italic, probably that of an employee of the Honywood family, since in the account of her one miscarriage (on fol. 1.ii recto) Mary Honywood is described as 'My Lady'. The detail in which the birth and christening of each of John and Mary Honywood's children is listed (the exact time of birth and location of the christening are specified) also implies a source with close knowledge of the family. The date of birth of the eldest child, Elizabeth, is confirmed in a diary kept by Thomas Godfrey, Mary's elder brother (British Library Lansdowne MS 235), reproduced in J. G. Nichols, The Topographer and Geographer). Mary Honywood's life of her father is written in one hand, a small, careful italic. A few variations in ink and the thickness of the pen suggest that the text may have been transcribed over more than one sitting. The hand may be scribal, but the frequency of cancellations (mostly for reasons of mis-spelling) suggest that it is not that of a professional scribe. Occasional revisions above the line, in another hand (spikier than the main hand, and in scratchy dark ink), correct or qualify the account in the main text, and are likely to be authorial. Despite these alterations, the document is evidently a fair copy, and shows signs of careful preparation in both theme and presentation. Mary Honywood's declared motive for writing is a wish to clear her father's memory from the 'unjust aspersion' which it has suffered since his death because of property disputes between his surviving descendants. In doing so, she transfers the blame for these disputes away from her father and on to his eldest son, Peter, Peter's widow, Dorothy (never identified by name in Honywood's account), Dorothy's second husband, Sir Thomas Hamon, and Peter's sons, Thomas and Peter. The theme of filial and marital duty thus preoccupies her account, and is already evident in the preparatory matter to the biography. On the title-page, a centred heading refers to the author as 'an obliged child', whose 'Narration' of her father's life is aimed at the vindication of his honour and reputation. This is followed by three Biblical quotations on the subject of filial obedience and the contrasting rewards of the just and the wicked. The page is carefully ruled, and as with all Biblical quotations and allusions throughout the text, chapter-and-verse references are given in the margin. There are two dedicatory letters: the first addressed to Mary Honywood's own children, the second to Peter and Dorothy's sons. Dated the same day (10 March 1635), both letters stress the children's obligations to their grandfather's memory, while the first, addressed to the young Honywoods, absolves Mary's own children of their duty to her if she should fail in loyalty to their father. The following biography is divided into 12 unequal sections, followed by an appendix: 'Diuine Precepts for the Obseruation of my Children', another sequence of Biblical quotations with marginal references.