More was the son of William More (d. 1467), a London
baker, and Joanna Joye, daughter and heir of a London
brewer, John Joye, and granddaughter and heir of a London
Chancery clerk, John Leycester.[2]
More inherited the manor of Gobions in
North Mymms,
Hertfordshire, and tenements in London, and also purchased more land in Hertfordshire.[4] He was
granted a
coat of arms during
Edward IV's reign.[5] He also helped to fund his son-in-law
John Rastell's attempt to reach and settle the New World in 1517, which got only as far as
Waterford before the sailors abandoned Rastell and sold his cargo.[6]
More made his will on 26 February 1527, naming his son,
Sir Thomas More, as one of his executors and asking for his remains to be buried in the City of London church of
St Lawrence Jewry. The will, proved on 5 November 1530, included provision for prayers for the souls of family members and for the soul of
King Edward IV.[7]
Elizabeth More, born 22 September 1482, who married the printer,
John Rastell (1475-1536).
After his first wife's death in about 1499, More married secondly, Joan (d. 1505), the widow of John Marshall, mercer; thirdly Joan (d. 1520), the widow of another London mercer, Thomas Bowes; and fourthly Alice More, the sister of
Sir Christopher More of Loseley,
Surrey, and widow of William Huntingdon of
Exeter and of John Clerke. Alice survived him and died at North Mymms in 1545.[13]