Sir Thomas de Lathum

Knight of the Shire in the Parliament, 20 January 1324 (Baines, 4:199).

Events

Date of Birth: about 1301.

Place of Birth: unknown.

Thomas was recorded as 24 and above at his father’s inquisition post mortem in 1325 (CP 5:pedigree chart after p. 320; VCH of Lancashire 3:sub Lathom). The inquisition is printed in the notes to the Whalley Coucher Book (2:552).

Date of Death: 17 September 1370.

Place of Death: unknown.

The date is given by the Complete Peerage (5:pedigree chart after p. 320). Towneley’s abstract of a 1385 inquisition (Towneley p. 17) gives the date as 40 Edw. 3, but this is contradicted by the 1369 date of Thomas’s will (Powell p. 185). Hulton’s abstract of the same inquisition (2:554-5) gives the date 44 Edw. III, which makes more sense.

Relationships

Father: Robert de Lathom.

This relationship is given by Ormerod (p. 63), by the Complete Peerage (4:205), and by the VCH of Lancashire (3:sub Lathom). It is recorded in Robert’s inquisition post mortem (Hulton, p. 552) and in a 1385 inquisition for his son, Thomas (Towneley, p. 17).

Mother: Katherine, said to be the daughter of Thomas de Knowsley.

This relationship is given by Ormerod (p. 63) and by Baines (4:199). The VCH of Lancashire (3:sub Lathom) simply gives the name Katherine. The Complete Peerage (4:205) calls her “Katherine, heiress of Knowsley”. Her name, Katherine, is recorded in a 1385 inquisition (Towneley p. 17; Hulton 2:554-5). It is also recorded in several fines. I am not sure if the relationship with Thomas de Knowsley has been specifically recorded, or is just inferred from the passing of Knowsley into the possession of the Lathoms. (Langton p. 20 notes that the relationship is not proved by inquisitions). In Robert’s IPM, he and Katherine are said to have held Knowsley jointly. The Lancashire VCH notes that Knowsley had been in the possession of the Lathoms since before the year 1200, although its possessors had taken the surname Knowsley (VCH 3:sub Knowsley). Katherine survived Robert.

Spouse: Eleanor de Ferrers. Married before 21 May 1329.

This relationship is given by the Complete Peerage (4:205; 5:pedigree chart after p. 320) and by the Lancashire VCH (vol. 3, sub Lathom). It is recorded in a 1385 inquisition (Towneley p. 17; Hulton 2:554-5).

Children:

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)

Sir Thomas de Lathom married Joan Venables.

Edward Lathom.

Robert Lathom.

Evidence

The 1325 inquisition post mortem of Thomas’s father (Hulton 2:552).

A 1339 charter of free warren in Thomas’s demesne lands is described in the CPR (4:396).

A 1340 commission to keep the peace (CPR 5:98).

Thomas’s property is described in a 1346 extent of the lands and tenements of the duke of Lancaster (Farrer 3:94-5).

An English-language abstract of Thomas’s will. (by Rev. Edward Powell, THSLC new series 13, p. 185).

A 1385 inquisition regarding his son’s property (Towneley p. 17; Hulton 2:554-5).

References

Baines, Edward, William Robert Whatton, and Brooke Herford. The History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster (London: 1893).

Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office--Edward III Volume 4 (London, 1898) and Volume 5 (London, 1901). Available at the University of Iowa Patent Rolls website.

Cokayne, George Edward, and Vicary Gibbs; et al. The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant [2nd ed.]. (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910-59).

The Coucher Book or Chartulary of Whalley Abbey (W.A. Hulton, ed.) Volume 2 (Chetham Society, vol. XI, 1847).

Farrer, William. Lancashire inquests, extents, and feudal aids. (Liverpool: Record Society of Lancaster and Cheshire, 1903-1915).

A History of the Lancashire volume 3, part of The Victoria History of the Counties of England (London, 1907).

Ormerod, George. Miscellanea Palatina: consisting of genealogical essays illustrative of Cheshire and Lancashire families and of a memoir on the Cheshire Domesday roll. (London: T. Richards], 1851).

Towneley, Christopher; Roger Dodsworth; and William Langton. Abstracts of inquisitions post mortem, made by Christopher Towneley and Roger Dodsworth, extracted from manuscripts at Towneley. (Manchester: Chetham Society, 1875-1876) Volume 1.

Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire for the Year 1897 Volume XLIX. New Series Volume XIII. (Liverpool, 1898).