17th Century Tokens : Tenbury-Upton_on_Severn in Worcestershire

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Click Images to View Coin Details Tenbury Only a few tokens were issued here, but they are of a very interesting character. Boyne gives three varieties, whilst six are here included. W111: Worcestershire, Tenbury (Farthing): (Date Unknown) O  The Grocers' Arms IOHN COVNLEY R  I C as a monogram OF TENBVRY I C Image not available 1666. John, son of Thomas Coundley, baptized October 14. 1682. John, son of Thomas Coundley, buried June 18. This token was described in the Reliquary for April, 1868, as: "Worcestershire--Tenbury. O. IOHN COVNLEY = The Grocers' Arms. R. OF TENBVRY = I This token--a farthing(?)--is of very rude workmanship, and is apparently of an earlier date than the usual type of seventeenth century tokens." The token is in a fair state of preservation, appears to have been coated with white metal, and there is no reason to doubt that it was issued in the seventeenth century. W113: Worcestershire, Tenbury (Farthing): (Date Unknown) O  Arms: on a chevron, between three piles or arrow-heads, five helmets. Crest: on a helmet an arm holding a battle-axe EDMOND LANE R  E L OF TENBVRY E L Image not available This description is not quite correct, as there are no helmets on the chevron, probably on account of the size of the token. W114: Worcestershire, Tenbury (Farthing): (Date Unknown) O  Arms: a chevron between three arrows EDMOND LANE R  E L OF TENBVRY E L Image not available This reverse is from an entirely different die to the last [113]. Grazebrook gives the arms of Lane, "Sable, a chevron between three arrows," and states that the arms were borne in 1563 (Harl. MSS.) by Nicholas Lane, of Stratford-on-Avon. An Edward (Altered afterwards to Edmund) Lane, gent., appears in a list of the landowners of the county, 1703-4. In Tenbury Church (on the north wall) was a monument to "Edmund Lane, with Patience, and three sons and one daughter; he died 9 Jan. 1717, ae. 81." --Nash and Evans' "History of Tenbury." The names of the members of the Lane family occur in several early terriers connected with the church at Tenbury. W116A: Worcestershire, Tenbury (Farthing): (Date Unknown) O  The Grocers' Arms ANTHONY SEARCH R  A M S IN KINGTON MERCER A M S Image not available At Kington, in Herefordshire, this token was issued. In the Roll of the Hearth-tax for 14th Charles II (1662), a "Margarett Search, widow, hath in her house six fire-hearths;" and again, "Margarett Search, widow, hath in her house ffower fire-hearths," showing she occupied two goodly-sized houses. This may have been the mother of the issuer, Anthony. A careful search in the parish registers of Kington results in the discovery of the following entries only relating to this family, viz.: 1670. October 25--Margarett Search widdow was buryed in ye chauncell. 1676, October 7--Alice Search, a young mayd was buried in ye church. Alice was probably the daughter of Anthony. The Tenbury registers have been searched by the Rev. T. Ayscough Smith, Vicar, but the name of Search is not to be found. Tenbury being on the borders of Herefordshire, and distant about twenty-five miles from Kington, it is probable that Search lived at Kington and carried on a business at both places, thus accounting for the entries in the Kington registers. Upton-on-Severn Only the first token here alluded to is distinctly assigned to this county, and Boyne says the others he describes (three) may belong elsewhere, as the name of Upton is found in serveral counties. Frequent mention of all the names occurs in the registers of the parish of Upton-on-Severn, and there is little doubt that all the tokens included in this list are correctly assigned to Worcestershire. I am indebted to the Rev. R. Lawson, The Vicarage, Upton-on-Severn, for his kindness in forwarding me the extracts from the registers, and other notes. W117: Worcestershire, Upton-on-Severn (Farthing): (Date Unknown) O  A man making candles IOHN BAYLY OF VPTON R  The Arms of Worcester: three pears VPPON SEAVERNE Image not available The following entries concerning this family occur in the parish registers: 1627, April 16. Buried Anne, wife of Rowland Bayly. 1672. Baptized September 23rd Elizabeth, daughter of John Bayly. 1673.Buried, February 21 Elizabeth, wife of John Bayly. 1681. Buried September 20 John, son of John Baily. A John Bayly stood as godfather on February 26, 1671. The registers of Upton-on-Severn were, as was generally the case, very imperfectly kept during the times of the Civil Wars, and in places the entries are illegible. W118: Worcestershire, Upton-on-Severn (Farthing): (Date Unknown) O  The Grocers' Arms PHILLIP BOVND R  P K B OF VPTON 166 P K B Image not available An engraving of this token is given in Nash. In a very interesting book, "The Records and Traditions of Upton-on-Severn." a chapter is devoted to some account of this family, but as it does not deal specially with the above Phillip Bound, I have thought it advisable to quote only the following: "During the greater part of the seventeenth century the family of Bound, or Bounde, was one of the most influential in Upton. Its members lived in good-sized houses, held parish offices, and were frequently sponsors to the children of well-to-do parents. Three or four of them were feoffees of Hall's charity, and associated in trust deeds with the Lechmeres and others of the neighbouring gentry. They were people of some fortune and honourable station, and they were held as a family in good repute. "Yet, for no excellence or virture, but for the evil fame of one individual of the race, their name is preserved in local tradition. While the old Royalist Rector(?) and the learned Puritan who displaced him, the good lord of the manor, and the soldiers who found for the King or Parliament in Upton Churchyard, are alike forgotten, the name of the Bounds is remembered amongst us still, from the detesta[?] which hangs around the memory of Thomas, generally called Captain Bound. There were two families of Bounds, who seem to have settled here towards the end of the sixteenth century. They were probably related to a certain Dr. [?] Bound, who stirred up the whole Sabbatarian controversy by his work, 'On [?] Sabbath.' He was an ultra-Calvinist, and one of the foremost theologians of the school. Phillip was a favourite name among the family in Upton, and they were on the anti-Royalist and anti-Church of England side in politics. The father [?] Captain Bound was possessed of several pieces of land near the town. He was churchwarden once or twice, and in demand as a godfather. There is no entry [?] the baptism of the younger Thomas Bound, but it must have been early in [?] century, as he was sponsor in 1627. He was yet young when, in 1640, he was a(?) married man. His clear, firm signature is in two or three pages of the register just below the neat writing of the Rector. He outlived three wives, but did not try matrimony a fourth time. He had many children, and lived the latter part of his life at Southend." W120: Worcestershire, Upton-on-Severn (Farthing): (1664) O  A cheese-knife WILLIAM COWELL R  W E C OF VPTTON 1664 W E C Image not available This name occurs frequently in the Upton-on-Severn registers in the seventeenth century. A William Cowell stood godfather on sundry occasions, and buried two daughters between 1629 and 1641. W121: Worcestershire, Upton-on-Severn (Farthing): (Date Unknown) O  The Mercers' Arms CHRISTOP WINBERY R  C E W OF VPTON MERCER C E W Image not available The Winberys were a very old family in Upton, and carried on business as mercers for upwards of a century. Christopher Winbery left 10s. a year, payable out of a piece of land called "Dyers hay," to be laid out in bread, and distributed on January 1 for ever. A Christopher Wynberry was a sponsor between 1631 and 1644, and C. W., "junior," in 1641 and 1642, together with "Methuselah Baylyes," another old Upton name.

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