Joan Wilkinson (died 1556) facts for kids

Joan or Jane Wilkinson (born North) (died 1556) was a skilled silkwoman. She made and sold silk items for important people like Anne Boleyn and Lady Lisle. Joan was also a strong supporter of the Protestant religion during a time of big changes in England.

She was good friends with important religious leaders. These included Bishops John Hooper and Hugh Latimer. When Queen Mary I came to power, Joan had to leave England. This was because of her Protestant beliefs. She became a religious exile and passed away in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1556.

Joan's Family and Early Life

Jane North's brother, Edward North, 1st Baron North

Joan North was the daughter of Roger North and Christian Warcop. Her mother's family came from Sinnington, Yorkshire. Joan had a brother named Edward North, 1st Baron North. We don't know much about their relationship. However, Joan forgave a debt her brother owed her in her will. This might suggest their relationship was not always easy.

After Joan's father died, her mother, Christian Warcop, married Sir Ralph Warren. He was a very important person. Sir Ralph Warren became the Lord Mayor of London twice. He was Lord Mayor in 1536 and again in 1544. Christian and Sir Ralph did not have any children together.

After Christian died, Sir Ralph Warren married Joan Trelake. Joan Wilkinson got along very well with her stepfather, Sir Ralph Warren. She also had a good relationship with his second wife, Joan Trelake. Sir Ralph Warren even left Joan Wilkinson some money in his will.

Joan's Work and Beliefs

Monumental brass of Lady Lisle, who bought items from Joan Wilkinson

Joan North married William Wilkinson. He was a rich London Sheriff and alderman. He also served as a leader for the Mercers' Company three times.

Between 1533 and 1535, Joan Wilkinson worked as a silkwoman for King Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn and her religious advisors, like Hugh Latimer, supported new Protestant ideas. Working for Anne Boleyn likely helped Joan learn more about these new beliefs.

Joan's strong Protestant beliefs showed early on. A London merchant named Robert Pakington left her a ring in his will. He also held strong Protestant views. Joan was also involved in bringing Protestant books into England in the 1530s.

By 1538, Joan Wilkinson was running her own silk business. On February 6, 1538, a man named John Husee wrote to Lady Lisle. He told Lady Lisle that he got "the bonnets and frontlets" from Mrs. Wilkinson. Bonnets and frontlets were types of head coverings.

William Wilkinson, Joan's husband, died in 1543. A young man named Peter Symonds had been William's apprentice. He continued to work for Joan after her husband passed away. Joan Wilkinson mentioned Symonds in her will. She called him "my servant at London" and left him some money.

After her husband's death, Joan Wilkinson lived in a house in Soper Lane in London. She rented this house from the Mercers' Company.

She also owned land in King's Stanley in Gloucestershire. This included a large house and 60 acres of land. She received this land in 1552.

Supporting Protestant Reformers

In 1551, the Protestant leader John Hooper became Bishop of Gloucester. Joan Wilkinson became good friends with him. She also befriended other important Protestant reformers. These included John Bradford, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, and Thomas Cranmer.

When Queen Mary I became queen, she was a Catholic. Many Protestant reformers were put in prison for their beliefs. Joan Wilkinson helped them. She spoke up for them and made sure they had what they needed in prison. Bishop Latimer wrote her a short letter to thank her for her help. He said:

If the gift of a pot of water shall not be in oblivion with God, how can God forget your manifold and bountiful gifts when he shall say unto you, “I was in prison, and you visited me”?

Letters from John Bradford and Archbishop Cranmer to Joan have also been found.

John Bradford thought Joan Wilkinson should stay in England and become a martyr. A martyr is someone who dies for their beliefs. However, other reformers, like Archbishop Cranmer, told her to leave England. They advised her to promote Protestantism from a safer place.

After Bishops Ridley and Latimer were executed, Joan left England. She became a religious exile in Frankfurt, Germany. She died there in December 1556. She was staying at the house of her cousin, Cuthbert Warcop, and his wife, Anne. We do not know where she was buried.

Joan Wilkinson's will started by saying she was "in voluntarie exile for the true religion of Christ." This shows how important her faith was to her. She left money to help Protestant exiles living in other countries. She also left money for the education of Bishop Hooper's son, Daniel. She gave her Protestant books to the exile groups. Bishop Hooper had used these books during his life.

Joan trusted her cousins, William Holland and Cuthbert Warcop, and his wife Anne, to arrange her only surviving daughter Jane's marriage. She said that Jane would lose some of her inheritance if she did not marry a husband who "utterly abhorring papistry." This meant someone who strongly disliked the Catholic faith.

Cuthbert Warcop died not long after Joan. In 1561, there was a discussion about Joan's belongings. Later, in 1565, a man named Michael Lok asked to keep a chest at the Mercers’ Hall. This chest contained books and writings that belonged to Joan Wilkinson and Cuthbert Warcop. Sadly, these books and writings have not survived.

Joan was praised by John Foxe, who wrote about people who died for their faith. John Bradford's letters to Joan were printed in Foxe's famous book, Actes and Monuments.

Marriage and Children

Joan North married William Wilkinson (died 1543). He was a mercer and Sheriff of London. They had three daughters:

• Christian Wilkinson, who married William Bury. They had four children.
• Frances Wilkinson, who married Leonard Hetherington. They had several children.
• Jane Wilkinson (died 1571), who was the first wife of Michael Lok. They had several children.