Remembered by posterity for his greed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he enriched himself by purchasing from the crown much of the confiscated estates of the religious foundations at Bath, Bruton, Glastonbury, and Keynsham. One version of an old Somerset rhyme goes:
Wyndham and Horner, Berkeley and Thynne,
When the monks went out, they came in.
Another version goes along these lines:
Portman and Horner, Wyndham and Thynne,
When the abbot went out, they came in.
He is further remembered in the following nursery rhyme, his 'plum' being an abbey estate and the righteousness of his act being the disendowment of a popish institution:
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating his Christmas pie,
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And he cried, 'What a good boy am I'.
His father John Horner, gent., of Stoke St Michael, Somerset, purchased the manor of Cloford from Roger Basing of Cirencester in 1544, and in 1545 settled it on John upon his marriage to Muriell Malte. His uncle Sir Thomas Horner purchased the manor of Mells in 1544, and after 1554 John united the extensive properties of his father and uncle. He was sheriff of Somerset in 1564 and 1573, was made a Knight of the Bath in 1574, and died testate with a will dated Oct. 23, 1571.
His aunt Alice Horner Roynon is buried at Compton Martin in Somerset.
Partial list of sources consulted:
Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, volume 4, new series, London, 1884, pages 160-166.
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 4th edition, part I, London, 1862, page 722.
Wyndham and Horner, Berkeley and Thynne,
When the monks went out, they came in.
Another version goes along these lines:
Portman and Horner, Wyndham and Thynne,
When the abbot went out, they came in.
He is further remembered in the following nursery rhyme, his 'plum' being an abbey estate and the righteousness of his act being the disendowment of a popish institution:
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating his Christmas pie,
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And he cried, 'What a good boy am I'.
His father John Horner, gent., of Stoke St Michael, Somerset, purchased the manor of Cloford from Roger Basing of Cirencester in 1544, and in 1545 settled it on John upon his marriage to Muriell Malte. His uncle Sir Thomas Horner purchased the manor of Mells in 1544, and after 1554 John united the extensive properties of his father and uncle. He was sheriff of Somerset in 1564 and 1573, was made a Knight of the Bath in 1574, and died testate with a will dated Oct. 23, 1571.
His aunt Alice Horner Roynon is buried at Compton Martin in Somerset.
Partial list of sources consulted:
Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, volume 4, new series, London, 1884, pages 160-166.
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 4th edition, part I, London, 1862, page 722.
Remembered by posterity for his greed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he enriched himself by purchasing from the crown much of the confiscated estates of the religious foundations at Bath, Bruton, Glastonbury, and Keynsham. One version of an old Somerset rhyme goes:
Wyndham and Horner, Berkeley and Thynne,
When the monks went out, they came in.
Another version goes along these lines:
Portman and Horner, Wyndham and Thynne,
When the abbot went out, they came in.
He is further remembered in the following nursery rhyme, his 'plum' being an abbey estate and the righteousness of his act being the disendowment of a popish institution:
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating his Christmas pie,
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And he cried, 'What a good boy am I'.
His father John Horner, gent., of Stoke St Michael, Somerset, purchased the manor of Cloford from Roger Basing of Cirencester in 1544, and in 1545 settled it on John upon his marriage to Muriell Malte. His uncle Sir Thomas Horner purchased the manor of Mells in 1544, and after 1554 John united the extensive properties of his father and uncle. He was sheriff of Somerset in 1564 and 1573, was made a Knight of the Bath in 1574, and died testate with a will dated Oct. 23, 1571.
His aunt Alice Horner Roynon is buried at Compton Martin in Somerset.
Partial list of sources consulted:
Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, volume 4, new series, London, 1884, pages 160-166.
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 4th edition, part I, London, 1862, page 722.
Wyndham and Horner, Berkeley and Thynne,
When the monks went out, they came in.
Another version goes along these lines:
Portman and Horner, Wyndham and Thynne,
When the abbot went out, they came in.
He is further remembered in the following nursery rhyme, his 'plum' being an abbey estate and the righteousness of his act being the disendowment of a popish institution:
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating his Christmas pie,
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And he cried, 'What a good boy am I'.
His father John Horner, gent., of Stoke St Michael, Somerset, purchased the manor of Cloford from Roger Basing of Cirencester in 1544, and in 1545 settled it on John upon his marriage to Muriell Malte. His uncle Sir Thomas Horner purchased the manor of Mells in 1544, and after 1554 John united the extensive properties of his father and uncle. He was sheriff of Somerset in 1564 and 1573, was made a Knight of the Bath in 1574, and died testate with a will dated Oct. 23, 1571.
His aunt Alice Horner Roynon is buried at Compton Martin in Somerset.
Partial list of sources consulted:
Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, volume 4, new series, London, 1884, pages 160-166.
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 4th edition, part I, London, 1862, page 722.
