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Edward Stephens (1523 - 1587) was Lord of Eastington manor. He marriedJoan Fowler and had sixteen children. They both died the same year andare buried in Eastington Church. EDWARD STEPHENS, Esq., lord of the manor of Eastington, acquired themanors of Eastington and Alkerton, co. Gloucester,1 1573. The estate ofEastington had been held during the Middle Ages by the De Molends and theDe Balurns, and it is recorded that Henry de Newmarch had it insuccession to Thurston Fitz Rolf. It passed into possession of thecelebrated Edward de Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and his wife thegranddaughter of Prince George Plantaganet, Duke of Clarence, niece ofEdward IV, and Richard III; and through Lord Stafford to Edward Stephensin the fifteenth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Edward Stephenserected a manor house there of the Elizabethan style.2 Of this house onlya rude drawing of a portion of the front remains, the building havingbeen destroyed by fire in 1778, at which time perished the oldestarchives of this family, which had been there deposited. Eastington manorincludes the village of that name. The parish church has been restored inmodern times.1 In the churchyard Whitefield when curate did his firstopen-air preaching, the sacred edifice being incapable of holding hishearers. The most notable feature of the interior of the church is thealtar tomb2 with recumbent effigies of Edward Stephens, and his wifeJoan, and showing sculptured the family coat of arms. Edward Stephens in1557 built Chavenage Hall in his manor of Horsley, near Tetbury,Gloucestershire not far distant from Eastington.3 The date and hisinitials and those of his wife are carved over the entrance doorway. Thehouse, whose front is in the form of the letter E in honor of QueenElizabeth, stretches back in a series of buildings partly erected sincehis time. A demi eagle, the crest of the family, forms a finial over theporch, and over one of the west gables. In the great hall, at the left ofthe entrance, is paneling of the Elizabethan period. The windows havecoats of arms in the stained glass, and the walls were in his day hungwith armor. A chimney piece shows carvings of the Stephens arms; andthese arms and the arms of Fowler are elsewhere displayed in the house.The covered ceiling of the minstrel gallery is finely paneled. Theoriginal dining room has paneling of the date 1627. In the bed rooms issome good tapestry. The bed room used by Sir Philip Sidney has anotherancient chimney piece. The chapel was built of materials from the ruinsof Horsley Priory near by. Edward Stephens married Joan, daughter ofRichard Fowler, Gent., of Stonehouse, co. Gloucester, who died August 5,1587. His will dated August 13, was proved November 27, 1587, by hisbrother-in-law, William Fowler, Gent., and his son Richard. He diedOctober 22, 1587, aged sixty-four, and was buried in Eastington church,where his tomb, already referred to, exists to this day, in fairpreservation. He had issue; I. RICHARD, of Eastington, his heir, of whom presently. II. James, of Eastington, who married Catherine, widow of (???) Sandford,and daughter of Robert Browning, Esq., of Cowley, co. Gloucester, anddied February 19, 1590, his line eventually becoming extinct.1 III. THOMAS, of Lypiatt Park, born 1558, of whom subsequently. See LineII. IV. Elizabeth, who married Thomas Higges, Esq., of Cheltenham, co.Gloucester, and was buried at Eastington, December 2, 1581. V. Margaret, who married John Parker, Esq., of Barnwood. VI. Alice, who married (???) Willcox, Esq. 1 The engraving represents the church as it was when the Stephens familywere lords of the manor. ----William Lackey Stephens;http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/t/e/William-Lackey--Stephens/index.html
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