Samuel Roper

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Samuel Roper
Born [1]
Heanor, Derbyshire
Died 1 September 1658[1]
Spouse Elizabeth Gooderell
Parents Thomas Roper

Samuel Roper (d. 1658), antiquary was the eldest son of Thomas Roper of Heanor, Derbyshire, by his second wife, Anne, daughter and co-heir of Alvered Gresbrooke of Middleton, Warwickshire. Roper claimed ancestry going back before Henry V.[2]In about 1615 Roper made the acquaintance of Sir William Dugdale before he became connected with him by marriage. Roper lived for some time in Monks Kirby in Warwickshire. He assisted Sir William Dugdale in his history of the county, making investigations which resulted in the discovery of foundations of old walls and Roman bricks.

Sir William Dugdale, (1605-1686), in his Antiquities of Warwickshire, mentions Roper as a gentleman learned and judicious, and singularly well seen in antiquities.' Roper also had chambers in Lincoln's Inn, and there Dugdale first met him in 1638, Roger Dodsworth, his future collaborator in the ' Monasticon Anglicanum' (Life of Dugdale, ed. Hamper, p. 10). Roper worked out the genealogy of his own family with great industry, and his pedigree fills several pages in the Visitation of Derbyshire of 1654. It is illustrated by numerous extracts from deeds, and drawings of seals; but the proofs are usually taken from private munuments, which are seldom corroborated by public records. It satisfied Dugdale, who repeated it in his Visitation of Derbyshire of 1662. In the 'Visitation' of 1654 Roper is called ' collonell for the parlament.' Other sources record him as Colonel.[3] He died on 1 September 1658.[1]

Roper married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir Henry Goodere of Polesworth, Warwickshire, and had issue two sons and four daughters. The eldest son, Samuel Roper (1633-1678),who inherited his father's antiquarian tastes (cf. Life of Dugdale) was a barrister at Lincolns Inn[2] He died unmarried.[1]

[edit] Further reading

  • [Dugdale's Life, ed. Hamper, pp. 8, 10, 103, 166-7, 286, 287
  • Antiquities of Warwickshire, ed. Thomas, pp. 74, 286-7 . ;
  • Chester Waters's Geneal. Mem. of the Extinct Family of Chester of Chichely, pp. 572, 583-5, 586 (giving Roper pedigree).] G. LB G. N.

[edit] References