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was known to be outspoken in a very unladylike way in
her middle years. It is hard to believe she was not just
as assertive in her youth.
Knowing that Susanna’s parents, Thomas and
Susanna were dedicated to human rights, liberty and
justice and at the same time rigidly committed to the
code of conduct and rights of the family of the lord of
the manor, tensions must have run high on a regular
basis at St. Clement's Manor House, Bromley Hall and
also, it seems, at Bushwood.
While her father was severely punished for his
part in Fendall's Rebellion (see Thomas Gerard), her
husband, Robert Slye, seems to have gotten off with a
slap on the wrist.
At Robert’s death in 1670, Susannah became a
wealthy widow with four minor children to raise. It was
typical in colonial times for widows and widowers to
re-marry quickly for the hardships of colonial life
required that both male and female roles be filled in
every household. But Susanna did not suffer privations.
Why she married John Coode remains a mystery of
history.