​On Ancestry.com, the earliest record of a person named Edwardson is the will of a 'Sir' William Edwardson, located in Kent, in 1518. 'Sir' William?? Edwardsons have never held titles, at least to our knowledge. So who was this man - how to explain his title? And how did he end up in Kent?

There is very little evidence to start us off. William appears to have been a Chaplain of the Church of St John the Baptist at Smallhythe, a rural part of Kent south-west of Ashford. There he is listed as a witness to several wills in 1503; we know this because the documents have survived to the present day, to be cited in a work of local history ('The Clergy of St John the Baptist, Smallhythe' by A H Taylor), and in a PhD Thesis from the University of Kent in the 1990s (Heterodox and Orthodox Piety in Tenderden, c. 1420 - 1540 by Robert G. A. Lutton). Thanks to these relatively obscure citations, we have a brief but fascinating window into William's life. 

He is stated as having been at Smallhythe between 1503 - 1504, and is recorded as: "Sr Willm Edwardson," and "D'ns Willi' Edwardson" ('D'ns' is short for "Dominus" and was the Latin equivalent of 'Sir', used in formal documents to denote a cleric.) Why was afforded these titles? Well, disappointing as it might be, his clerical role means that the 'Sir' almost certainly doesn't denote a Knighthood. During the early 1500s, it was common for parish priests and chaplains without university degrees to be addressed as "Sir" as a courtesy title, acknowledging their clerical position and the respect owed to it (a cleric with a degree would be known as 'Master' or 'Doctor').

Therefore, it seems that William was a churchman without university training. Many local chaplains in the early 1500s did not go to university due to the prohibitive cost, especially if they came from a lower social background. Instead, he would have received practical, on-the-job training - effectively an apprenticeship to a more senior priest.

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This fits in with the assessed social status of the Edwardsons at the time - firmly lower class people, who would have struggled to send a family member to university. What does not fit is the location - the Edwardsons were overwhelmingly based in Lancashire during the 1500s, and William is the only Edwardson to be recorded in Kent during the whole 16th century. So how did he end up there?

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A clue may lie in the only other piece of documentary evidence which we have of him - his own will.

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It requests burial in the church at Eastwell, Kent (some 16 miles north-west of Smallhythe) which he had 'served for 14 years', presumably following his tenure at Smallhythe. He also left money 'to be bestowed in almsdeeds by the good advisement and oversight of my master Mr Ponnynges'. This almost certainly refers to Sir Edward Poynings, 1459 – 22 October 1521, a notable soldier, diplomat, and Lord Deputy of Ireland under Henry VII. William calling him "my master" suggests that he was in his service, likely as a household chaplain or a priest connected to an estate or chantry under Poynings’ patronage. Poynings had estates in Kent, including Eastwell, and the power to bestow clerical positions on those he deemed 'his men'.

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This suggests that William owed his clerical post to the patronage of Sir Edward Poynings - but just how could a lower-class man, probably from the north, have ended up serving in the household of an affluent Kentish Lord?

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Well, while we can't claim to know for sure, we do have the bones of a tantalizing theory. 

Sir Edward Poynings earned his position by having been an ardent supporter of Henry Tudor in the Wars of the Roses. He joined Henry in exile in 1483, before fighting with him at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, helping win the throne for the House of Tudor. He received great rewards for this service, including significant land and influence in his native county of Kent. 

Other big winners at the Battle of Bosworth included Lord Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, and his brother Sir William. They brought around 6,000 men to the battlefield, including many longbowmen. A large portion of these men were raised from the Stanley family's backyard in Lancashire - including Farnworth, Widnes, and Kirkham, the Edwardson heartlands. They initially hedged their bets at the battle, remaining aloof from the fighting for a time before decisively entering the fray on Henry Tudor's side. ​

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Could there have been Edwardsons among their ranks? Well, we know that Robert and Raulyn Edwardson had served as Longbowmen in France in the 1430 and 1440s. They had done so under:

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• Sir Thomas Rempston - a later Lancastrian loyalist

• John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset - a prime member of the House of Lancaster

• Sir Thomas Kyriell - who later became a Yorkist (Raulyn only)

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Despite the Yorkist allegiance of Raulyn's Lieutenant Kyriell, the Edwardsons had seen service under mainly Lancastrian commanders. It is likely that they hailed from Lancashire, which was generally pro-Lancaster throughout the Wars of the Roses. As Lancashire commoners, their primary loyalty would have been to their local lord - which in 1485 was Thomas Stabley. Robert and Raulyn may not have been fit enough to fight by that time, but their sons, or other Edwardson relatives, may well have been. It is almost certain that if Edwardsons drew their bows at Bosworth, they did so as part of the Stanley army. We can't prove a connection between Robert/Raulyn and William, but given the rarity of the surname and its concentration in Lancashire, it is conceivable, if not probable, that they were related.

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It was not unknown for the Stanleys to reward and promote men from their lands - indeed this was common practice and a key lever through which noble families ensured the loyalty of their people. There is evidence that their support aided Lancashire clerics such as Hugh Oldham, Christopher Urswick - and William Smyth, who hailed from the Edwardson epicenter of Farnworth. It is therefore possible that an Edwardson in Stanley's army could have been rewarded with a clerical appointment, for themselves or their families. A common soldier was unlikely to have come to Stanley's attention directly - but a Lieutenant or minor lord could have recommended them.

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'Sir' William Edwardson could well have been such a soldier, or the son or younger brother to one. Stanleys could have recommended him for service with Sir Edward Poynings ('horse trading' youngsters for fostering or apprenticeships was common at all levels of society). Being from a lower class family, William could not have afforded to turn down the opportunity - eve if it entailed moving to Poyning's lands in Kent, so far from his Lancashire home. He would have bid goodbye to his Lancashire home and set forth for Kent, perhaps never to return.

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As stated, this is just a theory, -  but a few pieces of the puzzle do seem to match up in a most intriguing fashion.

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In any case, 'Sir' William was to pass away, after many years of service, in 1518, three years before Sir Edward Poynings died. One hopes that his old master fulfilled William's wish to be buried in his adopted county; a Lancastrian Edwardson destined to spend eternity in Kentish soil.

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The Church of St John the Baptist, Smallhythe, Kent, as it appears today