Family and Education

b. aft. 1517, 2nd s. of William Hyde^† of South Denchworth by Margery, da. of John Cater of Letcombe Regis; bro. of William. m. (1) c.1541, Anne (d.1541), wid. of Robert Delwood (d.1540), of Banbury Court, Abingdon, s.p.; (2) c.1542, Thomasine (d.1569), da. of Thomas Bradfield of Margaretting, Essex, wid. of ?William Daniel of London and of John Kekewick (d.c.1541), of Catchfrench, Cornw., s.p.

Offices Held

Constable, Abingdon 1548; dep. master, Christ’s hospital, Abingdon 1553, collector 1554, 1563, treasurer 1554; principal burgess, Abingdon c.1556, mayor 1561-2.

Biography

Hyde no doubt owed his return for Abingdon to Sir John Mason, master of Christ’s hospital, whose deputy he was. He made two fortunate marriages. His first wife had held a lease of Banbury Court, a large house in Abingdon, where, after her death, Hyde continued to live, eventually converting the lease into a freehold. His second marriage occurred when he was about 25, and was to a widow with a son, and two daughters of marriageable age, one of whom married Hyde’s younger brother John. Between 1542 and his death, Hyde added to his landed property in Berkshire by purchases of farm land. He also owned the manor of Fulbrook, Oxfordshire. He never attained county office, though he played some part in Abingdon affairs through Christ’s hospital and as a member of the two town gilds, of Our Lady and of the Holy Cross. He died on 9 Feb. 1566. The only local bequest in his will was 1s. to the parish church, St. Helen’s, where he was buried two days after his death. The legal heir, his brother William, was to keep £280 owed to Oliver for their father’s debts, and a nephew, Humphrey Hide, also benefited from the will, but the movable goods and most of the leases were to go to the widow. She died early in 1569, and is commemorated with Hyde on a memorial tablet in St. Helen’s.

E150/821/16, 823/4; A. E. Preston and A. C. Baker, Historic Abingdon (1957), 59-75 passim; PCC 11 Crymes, 34 Alenger; Vis. Berks. (Harl. Soc. lvi), 35, 98; P. Morant, Essex, ii. 74; VCH Berks. iii. 217; iv. 544; CPR, 1555-7, pp. 380 seq.; Ashmole, Berks. i. 117.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: N. M. Fuidge

Notes

• 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.