Robert Ryves

Robert Ryves (c.1490 - 11 Feb 1551/2), buried in the old church of Blandford Forum (lost in the 1731 fire). Purchased Ranston/Randleston (1545) and DAMORY COURT, Blandford (from Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, 1548/49). Arms: 'Argent, on a bend cotised sable three lozenges ermine' (recorded by Richard Symonds 1644) - a DISTINCT family from the Damerys. ON THE NAME 'DAMORY COURT' (corrected June 2026 - my earlier dismissal was wrong): two etymologies compete and the d'Amory one is at least co-equal, arguably the stronger. (1) Burke's Dormant & Extinct Peerages states 'Sir Roger [d'Amory], from whom Damory Court in Dorsetshire takes its name'; local history calls it the seat of Roger d'Amory (d.1322) - Edward II's favourite, Constable of Corfe Castle 1320-21 and Warden of Purbeck Forest (both DORSET offices) - the very Roger d'Amory of the paternal Damery heraldic line (the bend azure) - Constable of Corfe and Warden of Purbeck, who then joined Thomas of Lancaster's revolt against Edward II and died 1322 (buried Ware Priory); local memory still carries the association (a pub, 'The D'Amory Arms', in the former 'D'Amory Court Farmhouse'), though the same sources also gloss the manor 'Dame Mary Place'. NEGATIVE CHECK (June 2026): searched the Damer (Earls of Dorchester), Ryves and Swayne pedigrees for any marriage to a Damery/Damory/D'Amory/Dammery/Damerie/Damry/Amery/Emery/Damer - NONE found. The Damers (Came/Milton Abbey), Ryves (Damory Court/Ranston) and Swaynes were Dorset-gentry neighbours but did not intermarry on any record located; the Damery-Ryves link remains the manor's name and the d'Amory tradition, NOT a bloodline. (2) The Survey of English Place-Names instead derives it from the 'Manor of Dame Marie' (Order of St Marie, c.1200; Damemarie > Damariscourt > Damory). My earlier claim that 'no d'Amorys held Dorset land' is FALSE - Roger's Corfe/Purbeck offices, John d'Amory of Godmanston, and the Damer Earls of Dorchester (Milton Abbey) all refute it. GENEALOGICAL CAVEAT: the Ryves bought the manor 1548-49 and are not d'Amory by blood, so this is NOT a bloodline route to the Damery name. But it is a striking CONVERGENCE: the maternal Freke-Swayne-Ryves line married into Roger d'Amory's own Dorset seat, while the paternal Damery name traces by tradition to the same Roger d'Amory - the two sides of the family meeting on one medieval figure from independent directions. FULL ACHIEVEMENT (Ryves/Reeves heralds): 'Argent, on a bend cotised sable three lozenges ermine; crest, a greyhound segant sable, bezantee (scattered with gold coins), collared or'; motto 'Bene Vivas, et Disce et Evolve'; shield marshalled with the Buckler arms of his mother's side (surviving on the Blandford almshouse and the Fifehead Neville memorial). CHILDREN (from his 1549 will, PCC): John Ryves (b.~1514, who PREDECEASED Robert, leaving sons Robert/Richard/Thomas and daughters), AGNES (m. John Swayne - our line), and a daughter who m. William Hunton (Joan's 1560 will adds a daughter Margaret, m. Marham). The Damory Court line continued through his GRANDSON 'John Ryves of Damerie Courte', NOT a son; the knighted Sir John Ryves (1618 petitioner) was Robert's GREAT-grandson and George Ryves (1626) his great-great-grandson, per their Chancery petitions. DEEP-ORIGIN MYTH DEBUNKED (June 2026, per The Reeves Project, RR1ID1): Robert is 'the first of the name in England of whom there is record' - there is NO documented Robert Ryves I before him, and the 'born in France / Norman de Rives of Languedoc' story arose from a misreading of his will's 'my farme of Damery corte and FRANCE' - 'France' being France Farm, a field beside Damory Court NW of Blandford (still on OS maps), not the country. His will spells the manor 'Damery corte' (1549). Sources: The Reeves Project; Childs, Reliques of the Rives; Hutchins; Symonds's 1644 diary; PCC wills 1549 (Robert) & 1560 (Joan). Added/corrected June 2026. [DIRECT ANCESTOR OF THE COMPILER: flag added 24 Jul 2026 by walking the tree from Aynsley, so that this marker is reliable and can be searched.]