John D'Oyly, Esq. of Greenland House, co. Bucks, afterwards of Chislehampton, co. Oxon., eldest son and heir of Sir Cope, was bapt. at Stadhampton, 3 March, 1601, and married, v.p., 1 July, 1628, Marah, youngest of the six daughter-coheiresses of Sir John Shirley. of Isfield, co. Sussex, Knt., by Jane his first wife, the dau. of Sir Thomas Shirley, Knt. of Wiston, in the same county, grandson of Ralph Shirley of Wiston, esquire of the body to Henry VII. by Jane his wife, dau. of Thomas Bellingham of that county; which Ralph was grandson, maternally, of Sir Thomas Blount, father of the first Lord Mountjoy; and paternally closely related to the great house of Shirley, of Stanton Harold, co, Leicester, afterwards raised to the peerage as Lord Ferrers. The Shirley family, from which Mrs. D'Oyly was paternally descended, derived from the Shirleys of Longfield near Halifax, co. York. Her father was elder brother of Sir George Shirley, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland; nephew of Sir John Shirley, serjeant at law; and grandson maternally of Sir Nicholas Pelham of Laughton, co. Sussex, and paternally of Edward Shirley, who and his father both held the office of Cofferer to King Henry VIII.; and were descended from a coheiress of Staveley of Yorkshire.[337]—Mrs. D'Oyly's sisters, the other five coheirs, were, 1. Jane, wife successively of Sir Walter Covert, and Denzil Lord Holles, of Isfield, co. Sussex.[338] 2. Cecily, wife of Sir William Somerville. 3. Elizabeth, married to Sir Thomas Palmer, Bart.[339] of Wingham. 4. Charity, mother of Sir Thomas and Sir John Rivers, Barts.[340] 5. Anne, wife of Sir Giles Overbury, and mother of Sir Thomas Overbury, of Bourton on the Hill, co. Glouc, who became more intimate with the D'Oylys than were any of the other coheirs. Their father, Sir John Shirley, died April 1631; his inquis. post mort. was made the following January, when his daughters were found his coheirs.[341] The ancient arms of the Shirleys of Isfield, as granted temp. Hen. VIII, were, "Paly, of four, vert and gules, three stags' heads couped argent, on a fesse wavy or, 3 popinjays proper;" but, after their alliance with the noble house of Shirley of Wiston, the heralds allowed them to use "bendy of six, argent and azure, a canton ermine," as allusive to that connection; Shirley of Wiston bearing the same .coat paly instead of bendy, and or instead of argent.—For a short time after his marriage this John D'Oyly, Esq. resided at Hambleden, but v.p. removed to Chislehampton; and his father dying only a short time before his grandmother (who held Chislehampton in jointure), he remained there till 1642 (when his younger brothers and sister were dispersed from Greenland House), and recorded his pedigree and arms at the Heralds' Visitation of Oxfordshire, in 1634; the Heralds allowing him to use the arms of the Barons D'Oyly of Hocknorton ("Azure, two bends or"), without any distinction or difference whatsoever.[342] In 1639 he officiated as High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.[343]— At the commencement of the civil war, John D'Oyly removed to Greenland House, co, Bucks, and was hardly settled there ere it was garrisoned on behalf of the King, and sustained a severe siege from the Parliamentary party, which lasted six months, and finally reduced it to surrender in July 1644.[344] Whitelock's Memorials contain several notices of the siege. He mentions that "Greenland House was a place very prejudicial to the country thereabouts;" but stood so close upon the Thames, that the Parliamentary forces battered it from the other side of the river. He states in one place, that "the besiegers had almost beaten the house about the ears of the garrison."[345] —The fine old hall was indeed chiefly demolished; and the whole estate so much injured, that John D'Oyly, perceiving it could never be restored to its recent condition without great expense, sold the ruins of the mansion, with the manors of Greenland and Eweden, (which had latterly gone together as one lordship,) and his other lands in Hambleden, co. Bucks, to Bulstrode Whitelock, Esq. in 1651; since when the property has passed through various hands to the present time. The site of Greenland House is now occupied by a farm-house, which bears little resemblance to the magnificent old manor-house of the reign of James I., though its situation is extremely beautiful. There are still considerable traces of the fortifications of 1644 about the place.[346]— Meanwhile Mr. D'Oyly was houseless, and accordingly presented a petition to Parliament in April 1645, showing the hardship of his case and praying for office or means of livelihood; in consequence of which it was ordered, in August following, that he should be allowed 4l. per week for his present maintenance, and that he and Sir Walter Erle should have Sir John Heydon's house in the Minories, London, prepared for the reception of themselves and their families.[347] In Aug. 1645, Whitelock mentions that John D'Oyly was anxious to become M.P. for some borough in Bucks,[348] but a vacancy occurring in the representation of the city of Oxford soon afterwards, he was elected M.P. for Oxford;[349] and now in Parliament, he was, in 1647, constituted one of the committee for the visitation and reformation of the University of Oxford.[350] His conduct in this business, however, did not please the Republican party, in consequence of which they soon discovered that he was one of those persons incapacitated for being a Member of Parliament; he remained a Member however till the dissolution in April 1653, though he had considerable difficulty to retain his seat, as in July 1647 he is found classed among those suspicious persons who had opposed the vote for no cessation.[351] On the 17th Nov. 1653, he executed an indenture for the purpose of providing for his younger children;[352] and made his will at Chislehampton (where he latterly resided), 15th Sept. 1655,[353] styling himself Esquire. He leaves his furniture and household goods to his wife till her decease or second marriage; transfers the rest of his property to the trustees in the settlement of 1653, to be applied towards providing for his younger children ) and appoints his wife's nephew Thomas (afterwards Sir Thomas) Overbury, and Robert D'Oyly of Lincoln's Inn, executors. He died about 1660, and after his death, Overbury renouncing the executorship, and Robert D'Oyly being dead, letters of administration, with will annexed, were granted, May 1662, to Marah D'Oyly his widow-—This John D'Oyly, Esq. was evidently a sensible, moderate man, and conducted himself with equanimity, tranquillity, and liberality, throughout the violent times in which he lived. Record, dated March 1646,[354] mentions him as a J.P. for Bucks. By his said wife (who being bapt. at Isfield in 1609, was æt. 19 at her marriage) he had issue,
