historystuff

Some Historical Stuff

The perils in being a knight in Henry VIII time

Tudor Cornwall

�AL Rowse 1969 reprint of 1941 edition.

An interesting little note. AL Rowse resided in the Hext house at Trenarran in Cornwall for a while.

Sir Thomas Pomeroy was involved in the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549, although he is considered a lightweight and his part something of a schoolboy prank. Whilst involved in the Rebellion he and his brother Hugh of Tregony where buying up the lands of small chantries all over Cornwall through the Court of Augmentations [Pat. Rolls Edward VI] One wonders what happened to these???

Ultimately he surrendered to Lord Russell. This was done secretly, the condition of his pardon being that he betrayed Arundel, Underhill and other leaders and renounced his popish ways.

Many of the ringleaders were hung drawn and quartered, Arundel amongst them dying at Tyburn in 1550.

Sir Thomas Pomeroy sold Berry Pomeroy and his lands in Totnes
in 1548 to Edward Seymour the Duke of Somerset Lord Protector.
Curiously his son in law Peter or Piers Edgecombe of Cotehele and Mount Edgecombe , whose wife was Joan or Johanne Pomeroy daughter
of the afrementioned Sir Thomas, was involved a mining enterprise in which he tried to get the local landed gentry to invest. The venture failed and he lost �4000 .
I wonder if Sir Thomas was involved in his son in law�s failed mining scheme.

NOTE- �4000 was a huge amount of money . when a knights incombe might be around �150 a year

Carew, writing in 1602, stated 'Copper is found in sundrie places,
but to what gain to the searchers I have not been curious to enquire
nor they hasty to reveal'.
Tin continued to be more important for another two centuries however.

1559 Sir Richard Edgecombe sold Totnes Castle To Edward Seymour

The victors did well out of the Rebellion. Sir Gawen Carew gained all Humphrey Arundel's lands the manor of Calwodley the Castle of Cadbury and Mere in Devon, the income from which was �53.9s.10d a year, In Cornwall he gained Cassacawen, Helcett, Hell and other manors with an income of �55.8s.10d a year. 3 years later he sold his Cornish manors and estates

Sir Peter Carew got all of Winslades lands in Devon with a manor at Buckland Brewer with an income of �73.14s.10d a year. He was prevented from getting Winslades Cornish estates by a legal settlement on Winslades widow.

�Lord Russell did best of all of them. He was rewarded with the earldom of Bedford, a grant to vast lands, spread over seven counties and worth �300 a year. Included in his gains was Thorney Abbey, the manor of Woburn, including Chulmliegh and Werrington in Devon and Boconnoc the great manor in Cornwall, both having belonged to the Courtenay

Rowse records that three years later Russell made further requests for large gifts of properties, including the manor of Boynton the barton (home farm) of Bradridge which had belonged to Launceston, having already gained the favourite manors of the bishops near Exeter at Broad Clyst and Bishops Tawton.

Russell started out as a promising young man of no particular parentage, ended up founding a noble protestant house and was the equivalent of being a millionaire. His career and the lot of the simple catholic peasants over whom he triumphed brings forth this comment.

? Unto every one that hath shall be given but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath?

It holds true even today!

Ralph de Pomeroy

Carey and Panson. An early writ addressed to Bishop William Warelwust William Fitz John and Geoffrey de Furnellis enjoining the restitution of demesne lands of the abbey of Tavistock , alienated without royal licence . The manor of Carey does not appear in Domesday but it may have been included in Panestan. [St Giles on the Heath]

After the death of William I� this manor and lands seems to have come into the possession of Ralph de P by irregular means, who later persuaded one Rulad Adobed to exchange it for 3 other manors. Ruald subsequently (in 1103 )became a monk at St Nicholas Priory in Exeter and his land passed to the king or his heirs. He took Poughill into the Priory, from whence it devolved to the Abbey of Tavistock.

The recorders of the Domesday Book recorded this transaction in such a way as to indicate they regarded this as a smart move by Ralph

John Moore of Moorehayes Cullumpton Devon married Elizabeth Clivedon. Son Maurice Moore, b 1459 d 1500 married Cicely Boneville. Children were Humphrey, Christopher, Elizabeth and Ellen who married Bartholomew Fortescue

�Ellen Moore = Bartholomew Fortescue (1460 - 2 JUN 1503)

�Grandson heir of Elizabeth Pomeroy nee Densill Fortescue

Their children were

�� 1 Gertrude Fortescue = Bernard Drake Of Ash

�� 2 Jane Fortescue = Humphrey Thorne

�� 3 Mary Fortescue = Robert Yeo

�� 4 Ellen Fortescue = William Carswell

�� 5 Elizabeth Fortescue = Lewis Hatche

�� 6 Anne Fortescue = John Raleigh Of Ford

�� 7 Richard Fortescue = Joan Moreton

�� 8 Lewis Fortescue Of Filleigh = Wilmot Gifford

Humphrey Moore married Agnes Pollard.

Children were John, Henry, James, Roger, George, Joan, Jane, and Ellen.

Their son Sir John Moore of Moorehayes married Katherine Pomeroy daughter of Sir Thomas Pomeroy and Joan Edgecombe

Looking for a link between John Moore of Moorehayes and Thomas Moore of Sandridge.

When Richard Pomeroy died in 1496 his estate consisted of the honor, castle and manor of Berry Pomeroy worth �133.6s 10d; a moiety of half share, of Harberton manor and a messuage; 40 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow worth �2 15s 4d ; a moiety of the manor of Brixham worth �14 6s 6d; the manor of Bridgetoen Pomeroy worth �24.4s 5d; a message, 24 acres of land , 7 acres of meadow and 10 acres of underwood in Sandridge, held of the Bishops of Exeter; 3 messauge 40 acres of land 1 acre of meadow at Wylle( possible in Sandridge) worth �1 5s 0d. also held of the Bishop of Exeter. All tenure was by knight service.

(Messuage = a dwelling with adjacent building & curtilage for the use of the household. -Curtilarge being a piece of working ground belonging to the dwelling.)

�� Thomas Pomeroy, Esquire (son of Sir Thomas who sold Berry Pomeroy) b. 1530, d. 29 Jul 1615 in Brixham, Devonshire, married Honor Rolle �, married 2 Nov 1569 in St Giles In The Wood, North Devon, daughter of John Rolle of Stevenson House and Margaret Ford.

I have not yet found a connection between them and Nicholas Rolle who married Honor Ameredith but again I'm sure there is one. I havent been able to find his parentage, but if he married into a landed family he probably came from a family with land or possibly had ( merchant) money. Merchants were frequently at that time wealthier than the landed families and a number of advantagious matches were made between the lesser aristocracy and up and coming merchants.

In 1539 Henry VIII beheaded Colyton's lord of the manor , Henry Courtenay, and his lands were confiscated.

The Feoffees.�1546 Local merchants and yeomen raised 1,000 marks and bargained with the Crown for the return of that portion of the estate, which lay within Colyton. (1,000 marks was about 400 times the annual income of a successful merchant). The community regained the properties under a Deed of Enfeoffment on condition that an assembly of Feoffees ensured that all the income was spent on good and commendable uses for the community.

It is believed that this Chamber of Feoffees formed England's first town council or local governing body. It established the first Colyton grammar school in Church House in 1599. for a list of the original feoffees

Henry COURTENAY (1st Marquis of Exeter) Born: ABT 1497/1505

�� Acceded to his title 18 Jun 1525�� Died: 9 Jan 1539, beheaded

Notes: Knight of the Garter. 11th Earl of Devon. Father: William COURTENAY (10th Earl of Devon)

�Mother: Catherine PLANTAGENET (Countess of Devon)

Married 1: Elizabeth GREY (5th� Baroness Lisle) AFT 11 Jun 1515

Married 2: Gertrude BLOUNT (Marchioness of Exeter)

Children:1. Edward COURTENAY (12th� Earl of Devon)

From an old and noble family close to the throne Henry Courtenay as the grandson of Edward IV, had a claim to the throne of England.

Henry VII committed him to the Tower, to prevent him claiming the throne but on Henry VIII's accession in 1509 he was released from prison and carried the Sword of State the coronation. He attended Henry on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, in 1521 ,he was supportive of Henry in his attempts to divorce Queen Katherine, acted as commissioner at the trial of Anne Boleyn two years later

Having served Henry VIII and his interests, in situations of great trust for much his life Courtenay found himself in a perilous position as Henry's suspicion and paranoia increased.

By the 1540's the Courtenay?s power in the west of England had become supreme and this allowed him to assume a very independent attitude to Henry's minister Cromwell, whom he cordially disliked. As the grandson of Edward IV, his claim to the throne, and his wealth and intimacy with the Yorkist Poles and the Nevilles readily enabled Cromwell to point him out to the King as a danger to the succession.

Cromwell , his avowed enemy, gradually amassed information in Devon and Cornwall to justify a prosecution for treason. Cardinal Reginald Pole had repeated communication with Courtenay but Pole's brother, Sir Geoffrey, turned traitor and came to London to announce that a conspiracy was hatching on the lines of the Pilgrimage of Grace.

Early in Nov 1538 Courtenay, his wife, and son Edward were committed to the Tower of London.�

On 3 Dec 1538 Sir Henry Courtenay, Knight of the Garter,11th�� Earl of Devon, was tried by his peers in Westminster Hall. His treasonable correspondence with Sir Geoffrey Pole was the only evidence brought but he was condemned and beheaded on Tower Hill 9 Dec 1538.

A week later he was proclaimed a convicted traitor, and guilty of plotting the king's downfall. His wife and son were kept in prison, and were attained (dishonoured or condemned and under threat of execution) in Jul 1539.

The Marchioness, remained in the Tower of London and for a time her companion was Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (mother of Cardinal Pole) until she was beheaded 27 May 1541.� Subsequently the King pardoned the Marchioness, she was released and went on to become Lady in Waiting to Queen Mary.

Is there a connection here and reason for the family going to Sandridge after the sale of Berry Pomeroy and the death of Thomas Pomeroy in 1457 ?

�I do not know what the connection is are nor have I tried to unravel the connections between the Moore families of Moorehayes near Cullumpton and Sandridge at Stoke Gabrial, however I would expect to find that there is a link.

I have recently found reference to Pomeroy inheriting lands and receiving income from lands at Sandridge in 1496.

His daughter Jone Moore born about 1506 died about 1556 married Griffith Ameridith of Slapton. died 1557

Notes for Griffith Ameridith

�� 2nd son, of Welsh family went into England and was a draper and Tailor at Exeter and�� M.P. for that city and to whom Henry Pomeroy sold the manor of Stockleigh Pomeroy in 1547*

�Children of Griffith Ameridith and Joane Moore included

�Their son� Edward Ameridith married Elizabeth Fortiscue daughter of� Richard Fortescue Of Fallapit and Margaret Hill married her cousin Lewis Fortescue son of John Fortescue Of Sprideston and Alice Cookworthy

Lewis Fortescue, Occupation Baron Of The Exchequer, for Henry VIII

Their children

1 John Fortescue Of Fallowpit = Honor Speccott

��2 Elizabeth Fortiscue = Edward Ameredith son of Griffith Ameridith��
� 3 Joan Fortescue�

Children were

Elizabeth Fortiscue and Edward Ameredith� died 13 JUN 1606

�1 Anne Ameredith = Thomas Fortescue�

�2 Mary Ameredith = William Loveys 3 Margaret Ameredith

�4 Elizabeth Ameredith = Walter Langdon Of Keverell

�5 Honor Ameredith = Nicholas Rolle��
6 Ellen Ameredith

�7 Thomas Ameredith Of Slapton = Elizabeth Champernowne

�8 John Ameredith
9 Mark Ameredith�
10 Lewis Ameredith�
11 Edmond Ameredith

Henry De La Pomeroy = Alice Raleigh + their children were

�� 1 Sir Seint Clere Pomeroy Kt. b. 1436 d May 1471 married Catherine Courtenay b. 1438 married 1463, in Powderham Castle, Exeter Devon, (daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay �and Elizabeth Hungerford �) d. 12 Jan 1514 in Devonshire, England.

�� 2 Elizabeth Pomeroy married Humphrey Courtenay b. 1444 in Powderham Castle, Exeter Devon, (son of Sir Philip Courtenay �and Elizabeth Hungerford �) d. 23 Apr 1497.

�� 3 Thomas Pomeroy married Agnes Kelloway died 1493

�� 4 Sir Richard Pomeroy married Elizabeth Densell, widow of Martin Fortescue His brother Saintclere?s heir. died 1496

�� 5 John Pomeroy living 1496 who may have married a daughter of Strode of Parnham

�� 6�� Agnes Pomeroy

John Moore of Moorehays

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Notes on Edgecumbe

Sir Piers Edgecumbe, went to France with Henry VIII. in 1513, and when he died on the 14th of August 1539.
His son Sir Richard Edgecumbe (1499-1562), a cultured and hospitable man.
Sir Richard's eldest son, Piers or Peter Edgecumbe (1536-1607), was a member of parliament under Elizabeth for thirty years; His daughter Joan married Sir Thomas Pomeroy sold the Berry Pomeroy estates in 1549 to Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset to pay debts.
Their issue were the Brixham Pomeroys.