The Grigsbys Part Six - Where Did the Money Go?

So far, we know that Isaac Grigsby and two of his servants died of the plague in August of 1604.  The money passed down from Margaret Sharp's inheritance was still there, and the family was living well.
Isaac's son Thomas (1599-1650) was five at the time of his father's death, and his inheritance of 220 pounds was to be held by his mother Joane until he was 21.  But from looking at his life, the money wasn't there when he reached his adulthood.  Here's why.

Joane remarried a man named Thomas Edolpe and moved the family to Hinxhill Parish. Two daughters were bom to the Edolpe's, Jane and Elizabeth, both of whom died in 1609.

Joane herself then died in 1615, when Thomas was sixteen.

Mr. Edolpe was married secondly on 19 October 1618 to Honor Whitehead. They were the parents of two sons, Thomas Edolpe junior and Charles Edolpe. So Thomas and his brother, Alexander Grygsby, were raised in a family with two half-sisters and two stepbrothers and neither of their natural parents in Hinxhill parish.

It's likely that Thomas Edolpe and Joane sold much of the property that Isaac and Alexander were to inherit, and then spent the money, some on Thomas and Alexander's education, and the rest on living expenses.

When Thomas did turn 21, it's evident that he was well educated, having written Thomas Edolpe's will for him.  Thomas was the Church Warden in Hinxhill and Kennington parishes where he recorded the christening of three of his children. A church warden was a powerful man, with the following duties:

a) to manage parish property and income and see the churchyard kept clean and fences repaired.
b) maintain the fabric of the church; ornaments, allocation of the pews and hold custody of belfry keys.
c) see that the rector maintains the chancel.
d) furnish bread and wine for communion.
e) to attend the Archdeacon's Court; represent views of parishioners.
f) to assist in compilation of the parish register.
g) encourage parishioners to attend church regularly and insure that their children are baptised.
h) supervise the education and relief of the poor.
i) maintain the parish arms and pay local soldiers.
j) control and exterminate vermin.
k) at the end of each year, they must hand over to their successor, parish property and submit accounts. 

Thomas Grigbye, as he spelled his name at the time, married Elizabeth Bankes on the 4th of June, 1622 when he was 22 years old.  His first child, John, was born 08 August, 1624 in Maidstone.

Although there is no record of Thomas' death, it is believed that he died around 1650, and is buried in the Mersham parish churchyard beside his father Isaack, who died in 1604; his grandparents, Alexander, who died 1575, and Anna Griggsby, who died 1603. Most likely his great-grandfather. John Greggesbye/Grigby, who died 1550, also lies in the same churchyard.

After Thomas died, Elizabeth married a second time and had a daughter.

So after all this, John, the oldest son of Thomas, didn't have an inheritance to live off of.  In part seven, we'll learn about how he came to be my first ancestor to come to the US.