File:Coat of arms of Coventry, detail from monumental brass of John Onley (died 1512), Church of St John the Baptist, Withington, Shropshire.png

Coat of arms of Coventry, detail from monumental brass of John Onley (died 1512) (son of Sir Robert Olney/Woneley, a wool merchant at Coventry, Warwickshire, Mayor of Coventry circa 1480), Church of St John the Baptist, Withington, Shropshire.

Text from: Stephenson, Mill, Monumental brasses in Shropshire, London: Harrison, 1895, pp. 99-101 (image pp.98-9)[1] (transcribed by oliveandeliza.com[2])

John Onley, son and heir of Sir Robert Onley, of the town of Coventry, is represented bare-headed with long hair, his armour consists of a plate gorget, a breast-plate strengthened with demi-placcates, pauldrons of a curious shape, small coutes, gauntlets with shell backs and peaked cuffs, short skirt of taces with mail fringe, over which are strapped the tuiles, large knee pieces with plates behind, jambs and round-toed sabbatons with rowel spurs. The sword is suspended diagonally in front of the body from a narrow belt once inlaid with colour. There is no misericorde. The left arm of the figure is broken away. His wife Joan is represented slightly turned to the right, she wears the kennel-shaped head-dress with plain lappets, a close-fitting overgown cut square at the neck, showing the finely plaited partlet and undergown below, the cuffs are large and edged with fur, whilst the long skirt is gathered up under the left arm. Below the figures is a three-line black letter inscription:

Hic iacet Joh(ann)es onley filius et heres d(omi)ni roberti onley milit(is) civitat(is) covent(r)e qui obiit XIX^mo die mens(is) Junii A(nn)o d(omi)ni mill(ensi)mo CCCCCXII et joh(an)na(e) ux(oris) ei(us) quor(um) a(n)i(m)ab(us) p(ro)picie(tur) de(us) a(m)e(n) ("Here lies John Onley, son and heir of Robert Onley, Knight, Citizen of Coventry, who died on the 19^th day of the month of June in the year of our Lord the one thousandth five hundredth and twelfth, and of Johanna his wife, on the souls of whom may God look with favour Amen")

Below the inscription there were on the original slab a group of seven sons in civil dress under the father (these still remain); and under the mother the indent of a group of three or four daughters (the latter were lost before 1795). At the four corners of the slab were originally shields of arms (the upper dexter was lost before 1795); the upper sinister (now placed under the brass of Adam Graffton) bears — Quarterly I. and IV: Or, three piles gules on a canton argent a mullet pierced sable (ONLEY); II and III: Azure, three stirrups or. The lower (sinister) bears the arms of the TOWN OF COVENTRY: Per pale gules and vert, an elephant on his back a tower triple towered or. The lower (dexter) (now lost) bore: A bend between six birds.

In the British Museum (Add. MSS. 21, 23G, fol. 109) is a sketch of this brass taken June 6, 1794, showing it in its original slab then in the nave. Some years ago the church was rebuilt, the brass taken from its slab; this disappeared and the brass itself was for some time in the custody of a neighbouring rector. It is now nailed on the north wall of the tower in a somewhat irregular fashion. The figures are 22½ inches in height. This brass possesses considerable interest in that it is the work of a "local" or Warwickshire school of engravers, most probably settled in the town of Coventry.

Onley family

Arms of Onley (or Woneley) of Catesby, Northamptonshire and of Pulborough, Sussex: Or, three piles in point gules on a canton argent a mullet pierced sable (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.759); Or, three piles in point gules on a canton argent a mullet sable quartering Azure, three stirrups or (Metcalfe, Walter C., ed. (1887). The Visitations of Northamptonshire made in 1564 and 1618–19, with Northamptonshire Pedigrees from various Harleian MSS. London: Mitchell and Hughes, p.38 "Onley of Onley Catesby"[3]). Note similarity (even identical form) to arms of Whellesborough of Wellsborough, Leicestershire: Or, three piles (in point) gules on a canton argent a mullet sable (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.1099 "Whellesborough of Whellesborough, Leicestershire"). There appears to be a connection with the Purefoy family and the manor of Shirford in Warwickshire.

Text per Nichols' History of Leicestershire, Vol.IV (?), p.282file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/p15407coll6_11570 (2).pdf This Manor (Whellesburgh) gave name and seat to that antient family of Whellesburgh, who was Lord of the same; and bore " Or, three piles, gules, in a Canton, Argent, a mullet, sable." John de Whellesburgh, the last heir male of this family, in the 21st year of Richard the Second, sold this Manor, and the Manor of Drayton (Fenny Drayton), near adjoining, unto Thomas Purefey, and by another Deed granted his Arms unto him. The Deed runs thus: A toutes ceux a queus cestes lettres verront au ourront, Jehan de Whellesburgh saluz en Dieu. Saches que come 'Thomas Purefey eit le reversion des Manors de Whellesburgh & Fenny Drayton en le counte de Leicester ove les appurtenances. Mot le dit .... See also William Dugdale, Antiquities of Warwickshire, London, 1656, pp.36-7, re Manor of Shirford[4]

Philip Purefoy (fl.1337) married Margaret de Shirford, daughter and heiress of John de Shirford of Shirford, Warwickshire. His son Thomas Purefoy married Katherine Whellesborough, a daughter of John Whellesborough of Wellsborough, Leicestershire. The Onley pedigree in the Heraldic Visitations of Northamptonshire, 1618, states that the arms of Onley were Or, three piles in point gules on a canton argent a mullet pierced sable quartering Azure, three stirrups or. The alternative coat of Purefoy was Azure, three stirrups or, suggested by Papworth to be the arms of Shirford (Papworth, John Woody, Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.II, London, 1874, p.1099 "Purefoy/Shereford").

According to Dugdale, Antiquities of Warwickshire, Nicholas Purefoy (d.1547) sold Shirford to Henry Smith, "Henry Smith of Shirford, Warwickshire" (son of "John Smith, a wealthy citizen of Coventry") whose daughter Jane Smith (d.1529) married John Onley (c.1498-1537) of Catesby, MP (per Heraldic Visitations of Northamptonshire, 1618[5]) (Biog. of ONLEY, John (by 1498-1537), of London and Catesby, Northants., Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982[6]). Sir Walter Smith, son of Henry Smith, was murdered at Shirford by his own wife, according to Dugdale. See Purefoy pedigree in "FENNY DRAYTON AND THE PUREFEY MONUMENTS", BY GEORGE F(RANCIS) FARNHAM, AND ALBERT HERBERT, published in Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol.14, 1925, pp.84-112[7][8].

Genealogy of Onley/Wonely

(Source: Biog. of ONLEY, John (by 1498-1537), of London and Catesby, Northants., Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982[9])

• Sir Robert Olney/Woneley, a wool merchant at Coventry, Warwickshire, Mayor of Coventry circa 1480
  • John Onley (d.1512) of Withington, Shropshire, who married Jane Pontesbury/Ponsbury, a daughter of Thomas Pontesbury/Ponsbury of Albrighton, Shropshire; (per National Archives, notes on will of John Onley (c.1498-1537)[10]) See monumental brass in the church of St John the Baptist, Withington, which records that John Onley, son and heir of Sir Robert Onley of the city of Coventry died 19 June 1512, but makes no mention of the date of death of his wife. See Stephenson, Mill, Monumental Brasses in Shropshire, (London: Harrison and Sons, 1895), pp. 99-100[11]
    • John Onley (c.1498-1537) of Catesby, MP, who married Jane Smith (d.1529), a daughter of Henry Smith of Shirford, Warwickshire;
      • Edward Onley, MP
      • Thomas Onley, MP