Thomas Pettus

Thomas Pettus, identified as Barbara’s 15th great-grandfather, was associated with Norwich and later with London. Family notes state that Thomas Petyous was admitted to the freedom of the city of Norwich in 1491 and that he was buried at St. Edmund’s churchyard on Lombard Street in London about 1520.

Thomas Pettus was reportedly born about 1470, although the supplied life-date heading gives 1475. The original family notes associate him with Norwich, England, and describe him as a tailor in a malformed entry that also refers to 1492 and London; the wording does not establish the precise date or place of his occupation.

In 1491, a Thomas Petyous was admitted to the freedom of the city of Norwich. The family notes treat this entry as referring to Thomas Pettus, though the name is spelled differently in the record. The same notes say that he may have lived in a house described elsewhere in the underlying work, but no description of that house is included here.

Thomas was said to have died about 1520 and to have been buried in St. Edmund’s churchyard, Lombard Street, London. He is identified in the supplied material as the father of John Pettus, who was born about 1495 in Norwich and died there on 28 August 1558. No spouse is named in the material.

Historical context

The supplied family notes state that earlier forms of the Pettus surname included Pethawe, Pettowe, Pettowes, Pethous, and Petyous. They also report Talloch’s view that the family was not in Norfolk before the 15th century. These statements are background claims from the compiled notes rather than documented biographical events for Thomas.

Sources & research

Burke’s Extinct Baronage.
Walter Rye, Norfolk Families, vol. II, p. 656.
Edmund Farrer, Church Heraldry of Norfolk, p. 116.
Norris, Pedigrees, p. 917.
John Venn, editor, Alumni Cantabrigienses, vol. III, p. 353 (Cambridge, 1924).
Percy Milligan, Freeman of Norfolk 1548–1713 (1934).
Talloch, Sketch of the Pettus Family.
Original family-tree notes, citations “1” and “2”; no bibliographic details for these numbered citations were supplied.