General Notes

Walter Strode was thirteen when the War of the Roses between the Houses of York and Lancaster concluded in 1485 with the Battle of Bosworth in the English Midlands. Public law and government had been completely dismembered during much of the thirty years of the war. Although a dozen battles were fought over most of England, the region where the Strodes lives was not directly embroiled in any of them. Records of Walter Strode's family are incomplete. He married about 1492 in Shepton Mallet but the identity of his wife is unknown. Also, an existing record of only one son of this marriage can be found. The name of his hometown of Shepton Mallet may suggest what most of the citizens there did for a livelihood. Shepton derived from the Old English terms "sceap" and "tun", literally meaning sheep town or sheep farm. It was located three miles east of Wells, home of a great cathedral built in the early 1200's; stone carvings on its front facade are among the most magnificent in England. It was the seat of bishops for the area, including the town of Bath. There had been a Roman settlement there was well as in Bath where the impressive baths they built are still largely intact. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust)