Bedell
Mathew Bedell (or Beadle) was a pious and prosperous member of the Merchant Taylor’s Guild. His father, Mathew Bedell came from Kempston in Bedfordshire, his mother was Hellen Morgan, whose father was Coroner of Bedford and Clerk of the Peace of the County.
A Citizen of London like Morgan Aubrey, Mathew Bedell was appointed Warden of the Guild in 1620 and became an Alderman of London in 1622.
Two daughters from his first wife, Margaret Lawrence, widow of Titus Westby, married merchants: Ann married Thomas Mustard Citizen and Grocer; Prudence married Thomas Thorold Citizen and Ironmonger.
Mathew Bedell married secondly Ann Boothby, the daughter of Thomas Boothby a merchant of London.
From that union came a son Thomas and three daughters. The eldest, Elizabeth married Morgan’s grandson Herbert Aubrey. Salt & Silk describes the angst Herbert went through, fighting for his rightful bequest from old Mathew Bedell’s will.
Another daughter Mary, became the wife of Ralf Hawtrey of Sanderstead in Surrey, Merchant Taylor and M.P. whose family owned Chequers, now the country residence of British Prime Ministers. On his death, Mary married Lewis Audley Esq., a Major in Cromwell’s army, an anathema to the Royalist Aubreys. Martha, the third daughter, married Richard Tavernor.
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