In my last three blogs I have been investigating the property known as Tymperleys in Trinity Street and to try and verify various things that are said about it. You will need to read them before you carry on with this blog for it to all make sense.
So far, I have worked out a lot about the history of the buildings and found lots of information on them, but still no information on John Tymperley and possible links to the Dukes of Norfolk. So, I did a search for him. Lots of results as there seem to be lots of John Tymperleys and Timperleys past and present. There are also lots of folk quoting that John Tymperley built the house in the 1490s and he was the steward to the Duke of Norfolk, but they all seem to be just repeating the story with no sources for it.
After lots of searching, I was able to put the following story together. John Howard, the First Duke of Norfolk in the Howard family is a well attested historical figure. He was the great grandfather of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the second and fifth wives of Henry VIII. He was appointed Constable of Colchester Castle in 1461. As an aside he was the son and heir of Sir Robert Howard by Margaret, daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk (d. 1399), so maybe he is a distant relation of mine!
Either way, he would have needed a Steward to manage the Castle for him as he didn’t seem to be in Colchester very much. What is now the Red Lion Inn in the High Street is said to have originally been built as his town house in Colchester in 1481 or 82. As he died in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field, he didn’t get much use of it. It is before the 1490 date we are looking for the building of Tymperleys. I don’t know how accurate the Red Lion connection is and it beyond the scope of what I am doing here to find out.
I could find no references which verified that John Tymperley was ever the steward of Colchester Castle, but the oft repeated claim doesn’t say he was. Just he was a steward to the Duke of Norfolk. What this role involved is not stated. The next two Dukes of Norfolk were also called Thomas Howard, but they did not seem to have any involvement with Colchester. You can read about all three here https://www.thepeerage.com/p338.htm#i3380
There was a link between someone called John Timperley and the Howards. The spelling is with an “I” rather than a “y”, but spelling was notoriously inconsistent back them, so it cannot be considered an issue. However, these John Timperleys owned Hintlesham Manor in Suffolk. You can read about them and their association with the Howards here https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XIV%20Part%203%20(1912)_Hintlesham%20Hall%20J%20S%20Corder_294%20to%20304.pdf
There is no mention of any association with Colchester though and I think it is unlikely that any of these John Timperleys are the same one we are looking for. I have found references to John Tymperley being the son of Roger and Alice Tymperley who I mentioned in Part 1, but he would have been too young to have been working for the first Howard who was Duke of Norfolk. Also, none of the references state where the information came from. I can find no more about him.
So, let’s on to the house’s other famous resident, William Gilberd. His existence is well attested and you can read about him and his achievements in many places online and in books, so I won’t repeat them here. I have also read an English translation of his work “De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on the Great Magnet the Earth)” so it definitely exists. You can find it online and download it for free.
What’s his connection to Colchester? Right at the start of this series of blogs I had Patrick Denney quoted as saying that “Tymperleys is part of the former home of Dr William Gilberd”. There is also a memorial to him in the former Holy Trinity Church just across the street where he is said to be buried. The plaque is there, although it says it is at the position of his house implying that he didn’t live in the buildings we see now, although as I said above, I have my doubts about that. There is no trace of his grave in the churchyard. However, there are no dated graves as old as that anywhere in Colchester so absence of evidence does not equate with evidence of absence here.
Most of the sources online say that little is known about his early life, but he was born in Colchester and lived in Tymperleys whilst growing up. His family were well and the original buildings were extended and expanded by his family at this time. As well as his investigations into electricity and magnetism, he had lots of other accomplishments which you can read about online and in books.
One of them that is relevant here though is he was also a court physician to Elizabeth I at the end of her reign and briefly held the same post with her successor James I although Gilberd died in London in 1603 a few months into James’ reign, possibly of plague. If he did die of that disease, it is unlikely his plague-ridden body would have been transported all the way from London to Colchester for burial as the disease would not be welcome there.
Most likely it would have been quickly disposed of in London, which does put some doubt in my mind as to whether he is buried in Holy Trinity’s churchyard. Unfortunately, a lot of the records about his work, life and death were probably destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 which burnt down his London residence so we will probably never know.
Here we reach the end of our epic journey through the history of a single, albeit remarkable building. So, am I ok to quote Patrick Denney’s book about it on my tours? The answer to that is yes. How about the veracity or otherwise of the other statements often made about Tymperleys which I raised in Part 2 which were:
Gilberd could also be considered to be the father of electricity. Yes, this is well attested;
It was his childhood home, but he did not live there in later life. Most online sources and also some books confirm this;
There is a memorial to him in Holy Trinity Church just across the road – This can still be seen in the church when it is open. This is correct;
He is buried in the churchyard there. There is some doubt over this as there is no actual grave and if he died in London of plague, he wouldn’t have been brought back to Colchester so the jury is still out on this one and this is all I would be able to say on my tours;
Tymperleys is named after John Tymperley. I can find no evidence that it was actually named after him, but it did belong to his parents so most likely it was named after them. On a tour I would just say it was named after a family called Tymperley who once lived there and leave it at that;
John Tymperley built the house in the 14th century. This looks very unlikely from what I have found in my research. He may have modified it, but I have found no evidence for that either so on my tours I probably wouldn’t mention either of these things and if asked, I would just say what I know;
John Tymperley built the house in the 1490s. This also looks unlikely so I wouldn’t mention it on a tour;
He was the steward to the Duke of Norfolk. A John Timperley or Tymperley did hold that post. However, it is not our John Tymperley, but a different one who was not related to this building. I wouldn’t mention it on a tour;
The house is the north wing or range of a much larger house which once also had a parallel range to the south and was connected by a hall which ran along the street front; This looks almost certain and large portions of what we see now formed part of it, although they have been heavily modified on more than one occasion and may have been partially rebuilt.
The building on the street was a medieval hall and was there before the ranges were added. This also looks almost certain and a large part of it is probably still there behind later alterations;
The surviving wing may have been the servants’ quarters. Not quite. The single storey extension at the west end of No. 8 which was built in the 1950s may have been built to house people working for the then owner Bernard Mason, but that is as far as we can go;
The brickwork and chimneys that form part of it show wealth and status; This is correct.
It once housed a clock museum put together by a former owner called Bernard Mason; This is correct.
Having researched the statements as best I can within the limits I set myself and sorted out which ones are safe to mention on a on a tour and which ones are not, I have reached the end of what I set out to do. I might decide to do further research on it, but not today. I hope you have enjoyed these blogs and please come back soon to see the next one which will be on something completely different.
If you would like to come on one of my tours which include Tymperleys, please have a look at my Walking Tours page for details and to book.