Richard Rede

Last updated

Richard Rede (died after 1416) was a leading Irish statesman and judge of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. He held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Deputy Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Deputy Treasurer of Ireland. [1]

Contents

He was born in County Meath. Rede (also spelt Reid) had been a common Irish name, especially in Ulster, since the thirteenth century. Little seems to be known about his parents. His wife was Elizabeth Netterville, daughter and heiress of Richard Netterville of Dowth. One branch of the Netterville family would later become one of the most prominent landowning families in Meath, and acquired the title Viscount Netterville.

Rede is best remembered for being kidnapped and held for ransom by the Fleming family, Barons of Slane. They extracted a large sum of money from him, and despite his outraged protests, escaped punishment.

The Netterville inheritance

Elizabeth Netterville, whose father died when she was very young, was made a royal ward. The question of her inheritance, which was considerable, led to bitter disputes between neighbouring landowners, each of whom hoped to gain control of her estate by marrying her to his own heir.

King Richard II appointed John Humbleton, one of his esquires of the body, as her guardian in 1394, after having withdrawn a previous grant of guardianship made to Thomas Butler, a younger son of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond. Elizabeth was kidnapped by members of the Darcy and Cusack families, who no doubt hoped to gain control of her lands. [2] She was soon released, but six years later the Crown was informed that these families still hoped to cheat her out of her inheritance. By 1400 Humbleton, no doubt finding that the wardship was more trouble than it was worth, had granted custody of Elizabeth to Rede, who married her soon afterwards, but this was not the end of the trouble over her inheritance. [2]

Career

Richard spent much of his career moving between Ireland and England, and seems to have been uncertain which country he wished to permanently settle in. In England, he served on a commission of the peace in Kent in 1394 and on a similar commission in Middlesex in 1407. He acted as executor of Robert Braybrooke, Bishop of London, in 1404. [1]

At the same time, he maintained close links with Ireland: he was Chief Baron in 1399-1401 and Lord Chief Justice in 1404-6. Thomas Cranley, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was due to his advanced age and ill health frequently forced to act through deputies: Rede served as his Deputy in 1404. [3] In 1405 he was required to go to England "to prosecute certain business especially touching the King". [4]

Abduction and ransom

On 5 April 1401 while he was travelling from Drogheda to Trim, Rede was abducted at Rathfeigh near Skryne by Thomas Fleming, 2nd Baron Slane, and imprisoned in nearby Crewyn Castle, which belonged to Thomas's son Christopher. [2] He was held hostage until he paid a ransom of £1000 (a vast sum at the time) to Christopher, [5] and he was also robbed of £200 and numerous official records. What lay behind the episode, which was exceptional even in that violent age, [6] is unclear. It has been suggested that the Flemings, like the Darcys and Cusacks, had previously had hopes of gaining the Netterville lands which Rede had acquired through his marriage to Elizabeth Netterville: while the latter families' abduction of Elizabeth in 1394 seems to have been fruitless, the Flemings' abduction of her husband brought them a substantial profit. [2]

The outraged Rede petitioned the new King Henry IV to visit "suitable punishment" on the Flemings for their crimes so that a "suitable example be made of all who would plan such things". [2] The English Privy Council endorsed the petition, and for a time it seemed that the Flemings would suffer heavily for their treatment of Rede: in June 1401 a powerful commission was appointed to arrest and imprison Lord Slane and his wife Elizabeth Preston. [2] This was, however, an era when the nobility found it easy to obtain a royal pardon for even the most heinous crimes, [7] and in October 1401 Lord Slane, on payment of £30 (a derisory sum compared to the £1200 he had extracted from Rede), was duly pardoned, [2] as was his son Christopher, who paid the same amount in damages. [5] Since Christopher was pardoned for "all other seditious committed in both the present and the previous reign", [5] one must wonder how many other crimes Christopher, who was probably still in his late teens, had already committed.

Later years

After being superseded as Lord Chief Justice in 1406 he returned to England and asked for permission to reside there permanently. Given his ill-treatment by the Flemings and his failure to obtain adequate redress for his wrongs, this was natural enough. [2] Rather surprisingly, he returned to Ireland two years later and apparently died in Ireland. He was Deputy Treasurer of Ireland in 1413. [1] In 1415 he was given leave to travel to England again: whether or not he did so is unclear. [8] He and his wife were both still alive in 1416, and were still expanding their holdings with purchases of land in County Louth. [2] The Richard Rede who with his wife Katherine was granted lands at Stackallen in 1424 may have been his son. [9] Richard in turn sold lands to Robert Rede, son of Philip, who may have been a cousin, in 1427. [10]

Related Research Articles

Thomas Fleming (1358-1435), 2nd Baron Slane, was a member of the Parliament of Ireland from 1394-1395, and again from 1401-12. He is mainly remembered for kidnapping the senior judge Richard Rede, from whom he extorted a large ransom. He managed to escape punishment for the crime.

James Fleming was an Irish nobleman, who sat as a member of the House of Lords in the Irish Parliament in 1491 and also served as High Sheriff of Meath.

Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth was a leading Irish soldier and statesman of the early Tudor period, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

Sir Bartholomew Dillon was a leading Irish judge of the sixteenth century who held the offices of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and Lord Justice of Ireland.

Sir William Welles was an English-born statesman and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was the younger brother of Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles. Lionel was a prominent supporter of the House of Lancaster, who was killed at the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461.

Robert Preston, 1st Viscount Gormanston (1435–1503) was an Irish peer and statesman of the fifteenth century who held the offices of Deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Lord Deputy of Ireland.

Sir Patrick Barnewall or Barnwall, was the eldest son of Sir Christopher Barnewall of Turvey House, Grace Dieu Abbey, and Fieldston. Christopher in turn was the son of the elder Sir Patrick Barnewall, who in 1534 was made Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) and Solicitor-General for Ireland, and in 1550 became Master of the Rolls in Ireland. Patrick's mother was Marion Sherle, daughter of Richard Sherle of Shallon, County Meath: after his father's death, she remarried the prominent judge Sir Lucas Dillon. She died in 1607.

James Cornwalsh was an Irish judge who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was a political figure of considerable importance in fifteenth-century Ireland, and a supporter of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. He was murdered as a result of a feud over the possession of Baggotrath Castle, near Dublin.

Sir John Cornwalsh, or Cornwalysch was an Irish judge who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. His tenure was notable for the fact that he succeeded his father as Chief Baron, and for his long struggle to retain the office against a rival claimant, Michael Gryffin. He is also remembered as the builder of Dardistown Castle in County Meath.

Christopher Bernevall, or Barnewall (1370–1446) was an Irish politician and judge of the fifteenth century, who held the offices of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was deeply involved in the political controversies of his time, and was a leading opponent of the powerful Anglo-Irish magnate James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. His elder son Nicholas also held office as Lord Chief Justice, and his younger son Robert was created the first Baron Trimleston.

Luke (Lucas) Netterville was a sixteenth-century Irish judge. He was father of the statesman Richard Netterville and grandfather of the 1st Viscount Netterville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Tynbegh</span>

William Tynbegh, or de Thinbegh (c.1370-1424) was an Irish lawyer who had a long and distinguished career as a judge, holding office as Chief Justice of all three of the courts of common law and as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland. His career is unusual both for the exceptionally young age at which he became a judge and because left the Bench to become Attorney General for Ireland, but later returned to judicial office.

John Keppock was an Irish judge of the late fourteenth century, who held the offices of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and Deputy Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He became a political figure of some importance.

Robert de Holywood was an Irish judge and landowner who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was the ancestor of the Holywood family of Artane Castle, and of the St. Lawrence family, Earls of Howth. He was a substantial landowner with property in Dublin, Meath and Louth. He became extremely unpopular, and was removed from office after numerous complaints of "oppression and extortion" were made against him. These were apparently inspired by his close association in the mid-1370s with Sir William de Windsor, the embattled Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Richard Sydgrave or Segrave was an Irish judge who held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and served as deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. His family became among the foremost landowners in County Meath, and also held lands at Newry and at Carlingford, County Louth.

Sir John de Shriggeley, whose family name is also spelt Shirggeley and Shryggeley was an Irish statesman and judge who held several important judicial offices, including Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. Although he committed two murders, he was a valued servant of the English Crown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Talbot (died 1487)</span>

Thomas Talbot was a wealthy landowner and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was the head of the prominent Talbot family of Malahide Castle. His descendants acquired the title Baron Talbot de Malahide, and he himself was recognised by the Crown as Lord of Malahide, although this was not a hereditary title. He was also Admiral of the Port of Malahide. By the time of his death he held lands in four counties and was one of the principal landowners in the Pale. After his death, there was a lawsuit between his widow Elizabeth and a Talbot relative, James, over possession of some of his properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reginald de Snyterby</span> Irish judge

Reginald de Snyterby was an Irish judge of the fifteenth century, from a family of English origin which produced several Irish judges.

Sir John Cruys or Cruise was a prominent Irish soldier, diplomat and judge of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. He was one of the most substantial landowners in County Dublin and County Meath and built Merrion Castle near Dublin City in the 1360s. His marriage to the heiress of the powerful Verdon family of Clonmore brought him in addition substantial lands in County Louth. He sat in the Irish Parliament and was a member of the King's Council. He was a highly regarded public servant, but also a determined and acquisitive man of business, who fought a ten-year battle to establish his wife's right to her inheritance.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 pp.171-2
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Smith, Brendan Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland- the English of Louth and their Neighbours Oxford University Press 2013 p.95
  3. Smyth, Constantine Joseph Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland Butterworths London 1839 p.8
  4. Patent Roll 6 Henry IV
  5. 1 2 3 Patent Roll 3 Henry IV 22 October 1401: pardon to Christopher Fleming, son of Thomas Fleming, Baron of Slane for the detention of Richard Rede, Chief Baron of the Exchequer
  6. Although a later Chief Baron, James Cornwalsh, was murdered in 1441.
  7. Even for murder, as in the later case of Chief Baron James Cornwalsh.
  8. Patent Roll 3 Henry V
  9. Patent Roll 2 Henry VI
  10. Patent Roll 5 Henry VI
Legal offices
Preceded by Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
1404–1406
Succeeded by