Family and Education

b. 1552, s. of Ralph Done of Flaxyards, Eaton by his 1st w. Eleanor, da. of William Davenport of Bramhall. m. (1) by 1578, Eleanor (d.1590), da. of James Done of Utkinton, 4s. 4da.; (2) Joanna, da. and coh. of George Massey of Puddington, wid. of John Hurleston of Picton. suc. fa. 1592.

Offices Held

J.p. Cheshire from c.1593, sheriff 1595-6.

Biography

Done was a country gentleman, heir to the estates of both branches of a family established in Cheshire since the thirteenth century. The senior branch at Utkinton came to an end in the direct male line with the death in 1562 of Sir John Done, who had previously settled his lands on Done’s father, a distant relative and head of the junior branch at Flaxyards. The settlement was contested by Sir John’s niece and heiress, who came into the rest of the property. In 1593, as knight for Cheshire, Done was eligible to attend the subsidy committee on 26 Feb. and a legal committee on 9 Mar. He died 24 Mar. 1601 at Bath, and was buried at Tarporley.

Vis. Cheshire (Harl. Soc. xviii), 85-7; Vis. Cheshire (Lancs. and Cheshire Rec. Soc. lviii), 86; D’Ewes, 474, 496; Ormerod, Cheshire, ii. 239-49; HMC Hatfield, xiv. 178.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: Patricia Hyde

Notes