Thomas St Clere

Last updated
Thomas St Clere (1401-1435)
Born 28 October 1401
Died 1435
Occupation Landowner
Spouse(s) Margaret Hoo
Children Elizabeth St Clere
Eleanor St Clere
Edith St Clere

Thomas St Clere (28 October 1401 – 1435) was a son of Sir Philip St Clere of Penshurst Place. He was a major landowner whose estates included property in eight English counties.

Sir Philip St Clere was a son of Sir Philip St Clere and Joan de Audley. He served as High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex and was a major landowner whose estates included land in eight English counties.

Penshurst Place historic building near Tonbridge, Kent in England

Penshurst Place is a historic building near Tonbridge, Kent, 32 miles (51 km) south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete surviving examples of 14th-century domestic architecture in England. Part of the house and its gardens are open for public viewing. Many TV shows and movies have been filmed at Penshurst.

Contents

Background

Thomas was the younger son of Sir Philip St Clere and his wife Margaret de Loveyne. At an enquiry held on 6 March 1423/4 to assess whether Thomas had reached the age of majority, a total of twelve witnesses testified that he had been born at East Grinstead on 28 October 1401 and baptised at the church there on the same day. [1] Thomas’ parents died during his childhood and their property was inherited by their oldest son, John St Clere. However, John in turn died on 2 November 1418, at which stage his younger brother Thomas became his heir. The extensive range of properties that Thomas inherited were situated in a total of eight counties – Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk and Surrey. [2]

Margaret de Loveyne was a daughter of Sir Nicholas Loveyne and his second wife Margaret de Vere. She inherited extensive property and her second husband was High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex.

Marriage and family

Thomas St Clere married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Hoo and his wife Alice St Omer. Thomas was still a minor in the wardship of Henry V at the time of his marriage but the necessary licence had not obtained from the King. On 5 February 1422/3, a pardon was granted to Sir John Pelham who had arranged the marriage. [3] The record of this pardon states that John had been ordered to have Thomas unmarried before the King in Chancery at a certain day but, nevertheless, John caused Thomas to be married in the meantime; this suggests that the marriage probably took place fairly soon before the pardon was granted, probably in 1422. On 8 February 1423/4, Thomas paid £200 to Henry VI in order to be forgiven for his own involvement in the irregularity. [4]

Henry V of England 15th-century King of England and Duke of Aquitaine

Henry V, also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his early death in 1422. He was the second English monarch of the House of Lancaster. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against France, most notably in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe. Immortalised in the plays of Shakespeare, Henry is known and celebrated as one of the great warrior kings of medieval England.

Henry VI of England 15th-century King of England and Duke of Aquitaine

Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at the age of nine months upon his father's death, and succeeded to the French throne on the death of his maternal grandfather Charles VI shortly afterwards.

Thomas and Margaret were the parents of:

Eleanor St Clere was the heiress of a substantial number of manors and grandmother of the Tudor courtier Sir John Gage KG.

Sir John Gage was a major landowner and grandfather of the Tudor courtier Sir John Gage KG.

Career

There is some evidence that Thomas followed a military career. On 2 March 1429/30 he had protection granted to him for one year in order to "proceed to the king's parts of France" in the company of Sir Roger Fenys. "Letters of protection" were issued to protect people who were going abroad for approved purposes from being maliciously sued in the King's courts. However, in due course the Sheriff of Oxfordshire reported that Thomas was still lingering in that county, as result of which the protection was revoked on 1 November 1430. [5] It seems likely that Sir Roger Fenys was the fellow Sussex landowner, also recorded as "Sir Roger Fiennes", who later built Herstmonceaux Castle. [6]

An inquisition held at Thame, Oxfordshire on 9 November 1435 about his property holdings reported that Thomas died overseas. [7] It is feasible that Thomas could have been one of the army commanded by John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, another major Sussex landowner, which was defeated with considerable loss of life at the Battle of Gerberoy on 9 May 1435.

John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel English noble

John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, 4th Baron MaltraversKG was an English nobleman and military commander during the later phases of the Hundred Years' War. His father, John FitzAlan, 3rd Baron Maltravers, fought a long battle to lay claim to the Arundel earldom, a battle that was not finally resolved until after the father's death, when John FitzAlan the son was finally confirmed in the title in 1433.

Battle of Gerberoy A battle during the Hundred Years War

The Battle of Gerberoy was fought in 1435 between French and English forces. The French were led by La Hire and Jean Poton de Xaintrailles, who were victorious. The English losses were heavy, which later included their commander, John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel.

Death and legacies

Thomas had no son, so his three daughters were co-heirs to the extensive properties that he held at the time of his death in 1435. A number of inquisitions took place in 1435-1439 to investigate the extent of his property ownership. [8] Although these sources all agree that Thomas died in 1435, they differ as to whether the date was 6 May, 2 August or 7 September.

When he was still living, Thomas had transferred much if not all of his property to trustees for the use (i.e. benefit) of him and his heirs. The purpose of these transactions was to defraud the King of custody of the relevant manors and control over the marriage of the heirs to which he would become entitled if (as transpired) Thomas died whilst his heirs were still minors. These subterfuges were discovered and the properties taken into the King’s hands. [9] However, in due course a deal was struck to resolve the matter and in December 1445 the properties formerly held by Thomas St Clere were released into the possession of his daughters and their husbands. By then, all three heiresses were married. [10]

Division of Property

A deed dated 8 July 1446 set out the agreed partition of Thomas’ lands between his three daughters and their husbands. [11] The principal properties included in that document provide a roll call of the extensive possessions that Thomas held at the end of his life. Listed in the order in which they were recorded, the manors and advowsons were allocated as follows:

Share of Elizabeth & William Lovell

Share of Eleanor & John Gage

Share of Edith & Richard Harcourt

In the case of Brighton and maybe of some others listed above, the boundaries of the relevant manor did not coincide with those of the parish of the name.

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References

  1. ↑ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 22, No.359.
  2. ↑ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 22, Nos. 68-92.
  3. ↑ Calendar of Patent Rolls, Reign of Henry V, Vol. 2, pages 417-8.
  4. ↑ Calendar of Patent Rolls, Reign of Henry VI, Vol.1 (1422-1429), page 180.
  5. ↑ Calendar of Patent Rolls, Reign of Henry VI, Vol. 2 (1429-1436), page 86.
  6. ↑ http://www.teachergenealogist007.com/2010/06/g21-1901424.html
  7. ↑ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 24, No. 416
  8. ↑ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 24, Nos. 415-418 and Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery), Vol. 8, Nos. 77 & 114-117.
  9. ↑ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 25, Nos. 532-534.
  10. ↑ Calendar of Patent Rolls, Reign of Henry VI, Vol. 4 (1441-1446), page 443.
  11. ↑ Gage, John (1822). The History and Antiquities of Hengrave, in Suffolk. London. p. 228.
  12. ↑ L.F. Salzman (editor) (1953). "Westbourne". A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 4: The Rape of Chichester. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  13. ↑ Edward Hasted (1798). "Parishes: Ightham". The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 5. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  14. ↑ A. P. M. Wright (editor), A. P. Baggs, S. M. Keeling, C. A. F. Meekings (1982). "Parishes: Croydon cum Clopton". A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 8. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  15. ↑ Edward Hasted (1797). "Parishes: Kingsdown". The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 2. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  16. ↑ William Page (editor) (1908). "The parishes of Aylesbury hundred: Aston Clinton". A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 2. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  17. ↑ L. F. Salzman (editor) (1940). "The borough of Brighton". A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 7: The rape of Lewes. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  18. ↑ H.E. Malden (editor) (1912). "Parishes: Godstone". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 January 2014.

Bibliography

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