Kedermister, John, Sir (1576 -1631)

Sir John Kedermister, of Wraysbury in Buckinghamshire, was the eldest son of Edward [or Edmund] Kederminster, one of the six Clerks in Chancery, and Ann, daughter of John Leigh, and the grandson of John Kedermister and Elizabeth Wentham. He was knighted, 3 October 1609, by James I at Hampton Court. In 1616, he repurchased lands in Slough from Robert Style, and had a grant of the manor of Langley 8 December 1626. He built a family pew and its adjacent theological library on to St Mary's Church, Langley Marish in Buckinghamshire during his own lifetime. The parish is now in Berkshire. The library room which is a remarkable seventeenth century painted room still in excellent condition was certainly completed by 1631, and it and the books were bequeathed for the benefit of local clergy in his will proved in 1639. There is an original vellum catalogue of 1638 which hangs in the library and lists 307 books on eighteen shelves. The Trust which is responsible for the Library was set up by his daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Parsons, of Boveney, in an “Indenture tripartite” dated 13th February 1649. The eleventh-century Kedermister Gospels have been on deposit at The British Library since 1932, the remainder of the surviving books, 269 in all on sixteen shelves, are in the original room, though some of the more important books have been lost. By 1936 the books were in poor condition and were repaired by Zaehnsdorf with the help of a grant from the Pilgrim's Trust. Seventy-six titles bear the arms of Sir John Kedermister, of which a selection is included above.