THE KNYVETT LETTERS John Knyvett of Plumstead, eldest son of Jane Knyvett, was ancestor of the Berners line. Jane had never assumed the Baronial dignity. Her grandson, Thomas, obtained from the Commissioners for the Office of Earl Marshall an acknowledgement of his right to the title but his attention was diverted to other matters and he did not pursue the matter further. His grandson, Thomas, pressed his claim, but the outbreak of the Civil War completely destoryed any chance of revival of the Barony in his lifetime. The title was not claimed until 1720, when it was confirmed upon Katherine, wife of Richard Bokenham, 7th in descent from Jane Knyvett. Katherine died without issue, in 1743, and the title became abeyant until 1832, when it was confirmed upon Robert Wilson, son of Elizabeth Knyvett. The title passed to Henry Wilson, then to his son, Henry William Wilson, who was succeeded by his niece, Emma Harriet Wilson. Emma Wilson married Sir Henry Thomas Thyrwhitt, and the title passed to her son, Raymond Thyrwhitt, who was succeeded by his son Gerald Hugh Thyrwhitt. On the death of Gerald Thyrwhitt in 1950 the title passed to his daughter, Vera Ruby Thyrwhitt, the present Baroness.1 On Jane's death in 1562 her grandson, Thomas, succeeded to the greater part of her inheritance. Born about 1539, knighted 40 years later, he lived under five sovereigns. In 157980 he acted as High Sheriff of Norfolk. He married Muriel, daughter of Sir Thomas Parry, Treasurer of the household of Queen Elizabeth, and appears to have been a person of cultivated tastes. In his large library of printed books and manuscripts every branch of learning was represented. The majority of his manuscripts were later added to the famous collection of John Moore, Bishop of Norwich, and thus found their way to the Cambridge University Library. His grandson, also Sir Thomas Knyvett, born in 1596, the son of Sir Thomas Knyvett and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nathaniel Bacon of Stiffkey, gained belated fame when his letters to his wife written between 1620 and 1644, edited by Mr Bertram Schofield, Ph.D., were published by Constable, London, in 1949. Written in a breezy style in the midst of troubles which were to rend the kingdom into two warring factions and lead to the execution of Charles the First, the letters rank among those that will henceforth be quoted in histories when a little contemporary colour is required to light up the dull chronicle of events. Before the quarrel between King and Parliament came to a head, Knyvett loved the country life at Ashwellthorpe, occasionally visiting London on various errands of litigation. In 1614 he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts at Cambridge. In 1620 he married Katherine, daughter of Thomas, 5th Baron de Burgh, and we are dependent on his absences from her "at the Pen distance", to use his own words, for these letters. His affection for his young wife was evident in the addresses and subscriptions on the letters. The bearers of his letters read such directions as these: To his deere wife mis Knyvett give these. To his most assuered wife mis Katherine Kynvett give these any wher wher she is. To his truly, fidely, cordially beloved wife mis Katherine Knyvett these.
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