Alice was born about 1305, the daughter of unknown parents. The place is not known.
Her husband was John Hotchkiss, who she married in ABT 1340. The place has not been found. Their two known children were William “Cydrych” (c1342->1408) and Roger (c1345-?).
| Event | Date | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | ABT 1305 |
Note 1
!Source: The National Archives' catalogue https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4949896
E - Records of the Exchequer, and its related bodies, with those of the Office of First Fruits and Tenths, and the Court of Augmentations
Division within E - Records of the Treasury of the Receipt
E 40 - Exchequer: Treasury of Receipt: Ancient Deeds, Series A
Catalogue description Demise by John and Alice [-] to John de [-] . and [-], for the term of their lives, of...
Reference: E 40/11137
Description:
Demise by John and Alice [-] to John de [-] . and [-], for the term of their lives, of [-] . which [-] and Alice Hogekyn held of them in bondage [-] . which Henry le Cartere used to pay them, 9 [-] ., [-] . s. rent to be received from John Houden, 7s[-] ., [-] . from Robert Houwet, 3s. 3d[-] . from Sir Alan Talebot, knight, 10s[-], [-] 9d. from John Ketel; to hold all the said lands, tenements and rents [-] by service of a rose at Midsummer [-] . brok, Friday, Michaelmas, [-] Edward [-]
Note: Seal of arms, ]a chevron] effaced
Date: 1272-1483
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record[s]
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
NOTES: Alice and John Hogekyn [Hotchkiss] are referred to several times in different roles, although much of the text related to those roles is apparently lost.
The document says:
John & Alice grant property, which Alice held in bondage [i.e., land tied to obligations and restrictions inherited from the grantor],
to themselves as a couple such that they can receive rents to be paid to them by multiple tenants for life.
The service or symbolic rent, harkening back to similar de Baskerville documents, is a rose at Midsummer. The portion of the date still legible is “Friday after Michaelmas in the reign of King Edward.” Which Edward is lost to the text. The possibilities end up being Edward II: 1307–1327 and Edward III: 1327–1377.
Typical restrictions referred to as “in bondage”:
1. must stay in family line.
2. cannot sublet.
3. cannot collect rents independently.
4. must perform services.
This is a huge upgrade in status.
So the story becomes:
1. Alice brought land into the marriage.
2. Land remained legally restricted.
3. Couple negotiates with overlord.
4. New charter converts it to a life estate.
5. They now act as landlords collecting rents.
Both husband and wife appear because the right originates in her and medieval law required: the wife must publicly consent to any change affecting her marriage land, otherwise she could later invalidate it.
Thus, she must be named — not decorative, legally mandatory. This is a clean legal translation of the deed.
A married couple holding restricted marriage land obtained a charter transforming it into a life tenancy allowing them to receive rents from subtenants.
The key chronological anchor is Sir Alan Talebot.
The only identifiable Alan Talbot active as a landholding knight within this span is Alan Talbot of Swannington, recorded:
holding a knight’s fee in 1311 [4 Edward II]
receiving royal privilege in 1312 [5 Edward II]
As a tenant-by-knight-service, he would reasonably appear in rent records from early adulthood into later life, placing the deed most plausibly in the early-to-mid 14th century [approximately 1311–1350].
Within the early 14th century timeframe the Hotchkiss surname exists only in the first generation after its emergence:
Roger Hotchkiss [b. ~1280]
John Hotchkiss [b. ~1312]
Hugh Hotchkiss [b. ~1314]
No other individuals using the surname are known in this period.
Since our John is born about 1312, that means we now narrow the timeframe for the deed to be after 1332.