William Robert King, Esquire

I am assuming that William & Robert are the same person; since they are both listed in primary sources as the father of Judith; who is described in the same way, married to well known husbands. William & Robert are from the same place, with the same surname. I will look into them further.

The Harleian Society The Publications of The Harleian Society., established A.D. 1869. Volume 50 for the year 1902.

Text from page 53: Judith, dau. of William King of Audley End, Essex; widow of Nathaniel Treherne; died 17 Dec. 1618, æt. 77; bur. at Much Hadham, Herts. Will dated 20 June 1618; proved 4 Feb. 1618-19, described as Much Hadham. 2nd wife.

Sir Henry Chauncy, KT The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire: With the Original of Counties … Published by IM Mulling, Bishops Stortford, 1826.

Text from page 319: Here lieth the Body of Judith Aylmer, the Daughter of Robert King, Esq; she was twice married; first to Nathaniel Treherne, Esq; in Queen Mary’s Reign; afterwards to to Queen Elizabeth’s Reign, to John Aylmer, Bishop of London, by whom he had eight Sons and two Daughters: She lived a Widow 24 Years, and died in the 78th Year of her Age, the 17th Day of Dec. An. Dom. 1618.

William King was born at Audley End, Essex, England Abt 1511.

He married Ann Bures Abt 1524 at Bures, St. Mary's, Suffolk, England . Ann Bures was born at of Acton, Suffolk, England Abt 1511 daughter of Robert Bures and Joan Buck .

They were the parents of 1 child: Judith King born Abt 1525.

Ann Bures died 17 Dec 1618 .

William King Born about 1511

Husband of Ann Bures — married about 1524 in Bures, St. Mary's, Suffolk, England

Father of Judith (King) Aylmer

Note by TPD 5/2/25 William King, known then as Robert Baryngton, was the last Abbot of Walden - at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. According to the VCH - Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Walden https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol2/pp110-115#anchorn76
His name was then Robert Baryngton, elected 1533. He must have changed his name to William King ( hence the conflation of Robert and William noted above) after the Dissolution, probably for his own safety in dissociating himself from the Abbey altogther - Lond. Epis. Reg. Stokesley, 93. He was elected on 5 February 'by way of inspiration' by seventeen monks, all priests save two sub-deacons. He took the usual oath of obedience to the bishop, undertaking to allow a sufficient pension to the late abbot for life (L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, 1791). He is also called Robert Kynge (Ibid. xiv [1], 1276.). Interestingly, as we see later, he was already married (secretly) - I don't know if this was Ann Bures or if she was a later wife.

The VCH entry tells us the following - A letter (fn. 35) of the abbot to Cromwell on 2 October, 1532, in answer to a complaint of a quarrelsome neighbour against the cellarer, is a sign of the troubled times that were now on the monasteries. In January next, being very aged, he determined to resign, and the king immediately announced his intention (fn. 36) of taking the matter into his own hands and preferring 'a person of learning, virtue, and wisdom' to be abbot. The king's nominee was solemnly elected in the usual way, and had to pay £50 for the temporalities. (fn. 37)

The oath of supremacy was taken (fn. 38) on 1 July, 1534, by Robert Baryngton, abbot, Simon Walden, prior, Robert Aschden, Denis Henham, Richard Wallden, John Cambryge, Thomas London, John Wymbysche, Thomas Roston, Henry Thaxsted, John Walden, Thomas Litilbere, Thomas Wallden, William Ikilton, John London, Thurstan Walden, Thomas Haulsted, Thomas Lyncolne and Edward Some.

Walden is one of the few Essex houses of which we have a complete valuation. (fn. 39) The net value is given in the Valor as £372 18s. 1d. yearly. The gross value was £406 15s. 11d., from which deductions amounting to £33 17s. 10d. were made, including a fee of £2 to Henry, earl of Essex, as chief steward. It was consequently left untouched by the Act of 1536, dissolving the smaller monasteries. But decay was rapidly setting in through the general influence of the time, and partly through the power exercised by the visitors of releasing the younger religious from their vows. John ap Rice, writing (fn. 40) to Cromwell from Cambridge on 22 October, 1535, says: 'I have sent you an abridgement of the comperts of the places we have visited since we came from London . . . When we were late at Walden the abbot, a man of good learning, as I examined him alone, showed me secretly "upon stipulation of silence, but unto you as no judge," that he had secretly contracted marriage because, though he might not do it by the laws of men, he might do it lawfully by the laws of God for avoiding of more inconvenience. He trusts you will not do anything prejudicial to him, but that, as many good men who dare not speak would be glad to have that remedy, you might be induced to help them. Rather than he should live in a monastery contra conscientiam, he would yield it to you. There are now only seven persons left, and they very old; he had so persuaded the rest in his lecture which he kept daily among them that there was no sanctity in monkery. You might soon have the house clean abandoned if you would. You may see by the comperts of that house how all live that profess chastity, for this house was of as good name as others whereof we have no comperts, and here they declared the truth because their master always exhorted them to do so. But in other houses they did not.'

Evidently the report on Walden was unfavourable. Ap Rice's statement is borne out by a letter (fn. 41) of the abbot to Cromwell, though his words are vague: 'I have made effort to speak with your mastership, but could not by reason of your business. I have made you secret to my infirmities, and you were very good to me, commanding me to use my remedy wisely, without slander of the world, which I have done. But though it may be hid for a time, it will be very hard to keep it long. Wherefore I beseech you to continue me in my abbey, with this my remedy, if it be possible; or provide me with some honest living, which may be done without reproach of my name or hindrance of my preaching.' And again, after the dissolution, writing (fn. 42) to Cromwell on 17 July, 1539, he 'desires only to be set out of danger of the king's laws, either as a layman or in (after some fashion) the state that he is in now, and so released from the fear he has long been in.'

As usual, we know nothing more about the last days of the abbey than we can gather from these glimpses. The abbot either resigned or was removed, probably on account of the scandal; and the abbey was granted to William More, suffragan of Colchester, to hold in commendam. On 22 March, 1538, he and the convent surrendered (fn. 43) to the king the monastery with various manors, rectories, and churches (named), pensions from various churches, and all other possessions belonging to it in England. The whole was granted (fn. 44) on 27 March to Sir Thomas Audeley in fee.
TPD 5/2/25

Note - The VCH's volume on Chigwell discusses the Barringtons' long-standing association with the manor in that area. Early in the 12th century, Aubrey de Vere enfeoffed Eustace de Barrington with land in Chigwell, marking the beginning of the family's connection to the region. Over the centuries, the manor of Barringtons remained under the family's ownership until 1563, when Thomas Barrington sold it to Thomas Wiseman of Great Waltham, concluding approximately 450 years of continuous family tenure.

The VCH notes that the Barrington family derived their name from Barrington in Cambridgeshire, indicating their origins before establishing themselves in Essex. Their holdings expanded to include lands in Hatfield Broad Oak, where they became hereditary woodwards of Hatfield Forest, a role that underscored their prominence in the county.
TPD 5/2/25