This family is of Kentish origin in the Erith - Crayford - Bromley areas and an early reference is to be found in the parish church of St. John the Baptist, Erith. Here in the south chapel hung in a frame on the wall is an inscribed brass originally 13” x 6½”, in English and now much broken and mutilated with its shield of arms lost. The inscription reads:- Anne, eldest daughter of Thos. Harman of Crayford, Esq., wife of William Draper of Erith, gent., 1574, left two sons, Thomas and Henry, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Bridget. The brass is a palimpsest being engraved on both sides. On the reverse is a portion of an achievement from a Flemish brass of c.1500.

Although entitled to bear arms the Drapers do not appear in the Visitation of Kent in 1663 - 68 but as this Visitation was undertaken by Sir Edward Bysshe, Knt., Clarenceeux King of Arms, notorious for his errors and omissions for which he was reprimanded by Sir Edward Walker, Garter King of Arms, this is understandable as many other distinguished Kent families also entitled to bear arms are also omitted.

However in the Visitation of London 1633, 1634 and 1635 the Draper family is accorded due acknowledgement, for in addition to the Erith - Crayford -Bromley branch is a branch comprising City merchants submitted and signed by Robert Draper and returned from Dowgate Ward for which as we have previously noted Sir Denis Gauden was later the Alderman. This association may have led to the marriage between Cresheld Draper of Crayford and Sarah Gauden, Sir Denis’ only daughter.

Cresheld Draper’s marriage to Sarah Gauden can be dated to about 1665 deduced from the births of two of his three children; Gauden, born 1667; Elizabeth, born 1668 at Crayford. The third child Mary was named presumably after Cresheld’s mother or his sister Mary and was probably the elder of the two girls. Judging from Pepys description Sarah Gauden was a pretty girl and from a reference in her father’s will she had benefitted from a large sum settled on her “I give and bequeath unto my daughter Sarah Draper now wife of Cresheld Draper of Crayford in the County of Kent the sum of £100 of lawful money of England which is all I leave her not that I want affection to do more but because I have already made ample provision for her as I have also done for my eldest son Samuel Gauden”. In an Indenture of 31st December 1675 it was agreed and arranged that it should be lawful for the said Sarah to inhabit and dwell where she pleased separate from the said Cresheld Draper except in the said Parish of Crayford for and during so longtime and until they the said Cresheld Draper and Sarah the said wife should mutually and eventually be willing to cohabit together again. An Indenture made 13th October 1682 records that Cresheld Draper Esq. of Mayplatt in the County of Kent and Sarah his wife became united and it would seem they settled down together until his death in 1693. His will is dated the 18th day of December 1693 and proved P.C.C. 20th March 1693/4. It is clear he was of standing and substance with his many bequests and reference to his manors (not named). His principal bequest is to his son Gauden Draper, later and unsuspected by Cresheld destined to become lord of the Manor of Froyle. “Doe convey settle and assuming upon any wise that my sonne Gauden Draper shall happen to marry for every thousand pounds that shee shall bring and be paid unto her as a marryage portion lands of the value of one hundred pounds per annum for each thousand pounds (which said settlement my will and meaning is shall not exceed above three hundred pounds per annum although such wife bring above three thousand pounds) and noe more for and during the tenure of her naturall and further my will and meaning is that my said Trustees and the Heirs and Assigns of the Survivor of them doe within six months after my decease convey settle and assure unto and upon my said sonne Gauden Draper for and during the terme of his natural life or soe long as he shall live single and unmarried soe much of my mid Messuages Lands Tenements and Hereditaments as shall amount unto the yearly sum of one hundred and fifty pounds…….” Perhaps the character and standing of Cresheld Draper is most clearly expressed in his “Memorandums and directions to my Executors and Trustees of this my last Will and Testament.

The Drapers of Crayford and Erith Co. Kent and Froyle, Co.

The Parish Church of Crayford is dedicated to Saint Paulinus and stands in a commanding position on the hilltop and is a conspicuous a landmark. The peculiar feature of the church is the twin naves separated by an arcade of the Decorated period, while the axis of the chancel is in a line with the row of pillars therefore this necessitated the erection of a very low chancel arch to meet the half arch of the arcade. This feature occurs in only two other churches in England, one at Cay thorp in Lincolnshire and the other at Hannington in Northamptonshire.

There are two chancel chapels both of late mediaeval date. On the south the Howbury Chapel and on the north the May Place Chapel: The May Place Chapel contains a splendid monument with two recumbent life size figures in marble of Sir William and Lady Draper and also the effigy of a “Chrysom Child” and an impressive series of coats of arms on a shield on the monument. These are of considerable genealogical interest and are identified as follows.

The Crest above the shield is that of Draper. A stag’s head gules, attired or, charged on the neck, with a fesse between three annulets or. The quarterings on the shield are set out in three rows and
reading from left to right are as follows.

Still reading from left to right row by row we have:-

The moated manor house of Howbury and manor were purchased in 1623 by Robert Draper of London. Robert Draper had two sons, Robert and William. This William of Crayford, son of Robert Draper and Frances Bostock, married Mary Cresheld, 4th daughter of Richard Cresheld (Recorder of Evesham, Sergeant-at-law, and Justice of the Common Pleas). On the death of his father he inherited many manors and estates in Crayford including May Platt or Place. Of this marriage of William and Mary three children were born, one son and two daughters, one of whom was still-born (note the effigy to the Chrysom Child on the monument). The surviving children were Cresheld and Mary. William Draper died in 1650, having been picked as Sheriff for the County, dying before taking office. Mary his wife died in 1652 as recorded on their monument. Her will after exhaustive search has not been traced though it is clear from her son Cresheld’s will that she did make one, making bequests to the poor of Erith and Crayford. It is strange that for so important a person her death is not recorded in the Parish Registers of burials of Saint Paulinus. According to the monument William and Mary Draper are both buried beneath it in the North chancel of the church of Saint paulinus, Crayford.

Their two children both married, Mary Draper married Arden Adderley (for issue see lineage of 7th Baron Norton). Cresheld married Sarah Gauden as further researched in 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London and the year when Sir Dennis Gauden became master of the Worshipful company of Clothworkers No. 12 in the order of the 12 great Livery Companys of the City of London. Cresheld’s age is given as 20 years and Sarah Gauden’s as 16. Cresheld was only four years old when his father died and aged six when he lost his mother. He was a man of wealth having inherited practically the whole of Crayford which included Howbury, May place, Marshalls Court, Newbury and Ellam Manors.

They took up their residence at May Platt or Place, an ideal setting for a country seat, not too far from the City. Crayford was then an area of country houses, orchards and hop gardens with opportunities for fishing and hunting and above all country scenery at its best. The manor house was built in the time of James 1 in whose reign it was acquired by Robert Draper. Of this property Greenwood wrote: “The grounds and surrounding prospects are very beautiful. The noble river which divides the County from Essex, contributes materially to the picturesqueness of the scene. The interior is elegantly fitted up and embellished with paintings by the most eminent masters of the old school. It was a spacious and handsome mansion, the south-west front being in the Elizabethan style of architecture”.

Hasted records that:
“Lady Mary Verney Fermanagh has taken out a long lease of May Place and has laid out £7,000 in the enlarging and modernising of it, the lawns around it are laid out with great taste, and the prospects from it are very beautiful and extensive.

In this lovely setting three children were born. Gauden in 1667, Elizabeth in 1668 and Mary. Both parents were wealthy, Cresheld by inheritance and Sarah by reason of the ample provision Sir Dennis had settled on his only daughter. In spite of this or perhaps because of it, it is clear from the Indenture of 1675 already referred to that after only nine years after the marriage that there was a deep rift and a great deal of unhappiness and although the parties linked up again before Cresheld’s death it was a patched up affair with little or no affection on either side. After Cresheld’s death in 1693 (his will was proved as noted in 1694). The Beneficiaries of Colonel Cresheld Draper sold all the Manors and other properties to Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel, the distinguished Admiral who was shipwrecked and lost his life in 1707 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. In l694 he undertook the restoration of the church which he found “so much injured and decayed”.

It would thus appear that all associations with May Place had become extremely distasteful to Sarah the widow and if further evidence is necessary it lies in the tact that she did not long mourn his loss, provided by the utterly unexpected entries in the Parish Registers of St Mary-Le-Bone, London. Married 23 April 1695 Sarah Draper widow and William Loggins and also surprisingly on the same day is recorded the marriage of Gauden Draper to Mary Loggins.

The Loggins of Butlers Marston in the County of Warwick and of Idbury in the County of Oxford appear in the Herald’s Visitation for both Counties.

Sarah Draper married into the Loggin’s of Butlers Marston Co. Warwick in the Hundred of Kineton and in the Visitation of that County taken at Kineton on 1st April 1682 by Henry St George, Clarenceux King of Arms the following is recorded signed by William Loggan.

In the same Visitation is recorded the family of Newsham of Chadsunt and Butlers Marston (neighbouring villages).

In 1695 the Loggin Pedigree above may be expressed thus:-

The Loggin Family in 1695