WESTALL TALES

Geoffrey Chaucer (c1340 – 1400), the author of “The Canterbury Tales” is said to have based his Wife Of Bath on his grandmother Mary, who had three husbands. She was Mary de Westhale and Robert Chaucer her husband had a sister Agnes who married Walter de Westhale. Agnes and Walter had two daughters – Sibyll and Joan.

Joan de Westhale was forcibly abducted and some suggest married to Robert Chaucer’s son, John. Apparently there was no marriage and Joan married Robert de Beverley whilst John bore the child Geoffrey Chaucer from his marriage to Agnes de Copton, niece and heiress of Homo de Copton.

John and Agnes Chaucer granted to one William atte Hale “citizen and taverner, and Agnes his wife” rent for tenements in St Botolph’s Without in London “which rent descended to Agnes Chaucer after the death of Hamo de Copton”. Geoffrey Chaucer adjudicated a case involving William ate Hall and their daughter Isabella who was abducted as a minor.

There is more evidence of family entanglements of the Chaucers and a family which is likely to be Westhall. One person Thomas de Westhale (who was associated with the abductors of of Joan de Westhale with respect to John Chaucer) had his name spelt variously as de Westhale, de Westhall and Thomas Westhall.

Although it is doubtful that Geoffrey Chaucer's place of birth was Lynn in Norfolk, he certainly had relations in the area and knew Norfolk intimately. His son Thomas married Maud, the great grand-daughterof Sir William de Kerdiston. The manor of Kerdiston, near Reepham in Norfolk was named after this family. Geoffrey Chaucer’s grand-daughter Alice married William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk as her father’s heir released all rights to the manor. The property was with the de la Pole family until the last member of that family was executed in 1514.

During the Reformation it was taken over by the Crown but the Heyward family came into ownership during the 16th century and Daniell Westall and his wife and heiress Elizabeth Heyward inherited part of the property of Kerdiston.