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Lot Essay
The arms are those of May quartering Brodnax.
Thomas Brodnax (d. 1781) assumed the surname of May. In 1732 he built Godmersham Park, Kent and in 1738 he changed his name to Knight when he inherited the estates of his kinswoman, Elizabeth Knight, widow of Bulstrode Peachey Knight. He married Jane, eldest daughter and co-heir of William Monk of Buckingham in Sussex and had a son, Thomas, who died issueless and devised his lands to his cousin, Edward Austen (1767-1852), brother of Jane Austen, who changed his name to Knight and inherited Godmersham.
Thomas Brodnax (d. 1781) assumed the surname of May. In 1732 he built Godmersham Park, Kent and in 1738 he changed his name to Knight when he inherited the estates of his kinswoman, Elizabeth Knight, widow of Bulstrode Peachey Knight. He married Jane, eldest daughter and co-heir of William Monk of Buckingham in Sussex and had a son, Thomas, who died issueless and devised his lands to his cousin, Edward Austen (1767-1852), brother of Jane Austen, who changed his name to Knight and inherited Godmersham.