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Sir Henry Pomeroy
The English Civil War occurred between 1642 & 1651 followed by the Commonwealth
until the Restoration of Charles II in 1660
Charles II reign was dated from his father's death in 1649 ignoring the period of the Commonwealth
The English Civil War occurred between 1642 & 1651 followed by the Commonwealth
until the Restoration of Charles II in 1660
Charles II reign was dated from his father's death in 1649 ignoring the period of the Commonwealth
CIVIL WAR in ENGLAND
Devon actually played a fundamental part during the English Civil War (1642-1651), as one of the key battlegrounds during the war between
the King and Parliament. The war began as a result of a conflict over the absolute power of the monarch and the rights of Parliament. Like most rural districts most of Devon declared for the King whilst towns largely sided with the Parliamentarian cause.
Sir Henry Pomeroy of the Holland Regiment B 6 Oct 1606 was 3rd son of Richard Pomeroy of Ingsdon & his wife Anne Coplestone. Richard died in 1618 before the Civil War His widow Agnes b 1604 remarried in 1619.
His brothers were Hugh ( Captain Hugh ) and Richard ; his oldest brother was Thomas Pomeroy of Ingsdon in Ilsington married to Mary Drewe of the Grange , Broad Hembury , Devonshire
Endorsed: "Robert Prince his demandes for quartering and plunder. This bill for quarteringe of souldiers amounts unto 41 11s 2d. I allow of this bill xxxs ivd. 30 Martii, 1646. Signed: John Pomeroy. 1 p. (Bills 210/19.)
Attached: 5 similar bills submitted by certain tenants at Rushton manor who were plundered by the opposing armies or forced to quarter their troops in 1642, 1643, 1644 and 1645. Military commanders mentioned in the bills are: Captain Hastings, Captain Dewes, Colonel Strangways, Sir Thomas Fairfax, Lord Hopton, Captain Ludlye (Ludlow), Lord Gourin (Goring) Colonel Ffines (Fynes) Major-General Vanrosse and Colonel Coker.
Note at bottom of one bill: "I allow the same to all tenants uppon Rack Rents as I have allowed to Walter Rogers beinge a 3rd part of Quarteringe and contribution if it exceed not the rent, but noe plunder." Signed: John Pomeroy.—20 October, 1646.
Powley suggests a Devonshire origin for Sir Henry: Powley: P. 101:
"A HENRY POMEROY ( 1665-1683), in January 1665, received a captaincy in the Holland regiment of foot, (State Papers), assisted the earl of Bath, ** at Exeter, July 1666"a good officer and acceptable to that county (Devonshire) being a countryman of good family." (State Papers, Domestic, 1664-1666).
From the latter part of 1642 until 1644 Plymouth was held for Parliament, the townsfolk taking advantage of a brief absence by the King's Governor, Sir Jacob Astley, to seize the town and fortify it. Sir Ralph Hopton appeared before Plymouth in December 1642 demanding its surrender but Plymouth resisted. In September of the following year Colonel Digby was sent to blockade making his headquarters at Plymstock, with batteries at Oreston and Mount Batten. Shortly afterwards, Prince Maurice with his army advanced on the Town and made his headquarters at Widey House.
The inhabitants took a solemn vow to stand together and to surrender nothing 'without the authority and consent of both houses of Parliament'.
In 17th Century Devon country folk were, for the most part, poor and uneducated. They were guided by their land owning gentry landlords as to who they should support. Some of the more well-to-do families, if they had more than one child, would send one to fight for the King and the other to fight for Parliament.
The Royalist or Cavaliers of the Civil War were an ill disciplined high handed bunch who plundered and pillaged at every opportunity-
Their opponents the Parliamentarians were just as bad at the outset , until Oliver Cromwell took charge and trained them from a rabble into the New Model Army.
These troops were well trained , well armed & they had uniforms which included the helmets from which arose the nickname Roundheads.
Discipline did much to make them a better fighting force & also caused less resentment in the places they were garrisoned than the troops of the high handed Royalists.
During the early phases of the war, the Roundheads expected to retain Charles I as king, but with expanded powers for Parliament. Though the Royalists won early victories, it was the Parliamentarians ultimately triumphed
In Devon almost every city, town and village found itself embroiled in the dark struggles of the English Civil Wars. The wars claimed the lives of more than 85,000, with another 100,000 dead from war related diseases.
In a population of some five million, Devon did very badly.
Whilst Royalist Exeter was still under siege (this time by Fairfax and Cromwell), 10,000 Parliamentarians broke away from the siege and marched 40 miles north to Great Torrington where the Royalists had barricaded the town. This including storing 80 barrels of gunpowder in the church. The battle began in pouring rain and total darkness on the bitterly cold night of 16th February,.After the battle the prisoners were held in the church, unaware that it was full of barrels of gunpowder. It was either a stray spark or a suicidal act of despeation cause a huge explosion. The explosion destroyed the church, killed all the prisoners narrowly missing killing Fairfax.
The city of Exeter, was in Royalist hands following siege upon siege when on 1st May, 1644 Queen Henrietta Maria, arrived intending to escape to France via Falmouth The Queen was heavily pregnant,& was accommodated at Bedford House, close to the city centr. There she gave birth to Princess Henrietta Anne on 16th June, 1644, Although she had a difficult labour and a sick baby , the Queen continued her journey escaping into to Cornwall and then on to France.
Like many centres of population Plymouth as Parliamentarian
After much skirmishing with the taking and re-taking of the forts, news came that the Earl of Essex was bringing an army to relieve Plymouth Town and the blockade was finally abandoned on Christmas Day 1644.
The siege of Plymouth , was sustained from August 1442 until January 1446 with a brief interlude in July 1644. The town was isolated for that time because control of the sea meant the garrison could easily be resupplied.
The Royalists recognised this made its capture extremely difficult, and they generally restricted operations to a land blockade. However, there were two serious attempts to capture the town. After much skirmishing with the taking and re-taking of the forts, news came that the Earl of Essex was bringing an army to relieve Plymouth Town and the blockade was finally abandoned on Christmas Day 1644. The seige was reestablished from January to February 1645 and finally relieved in February 1646.
It was reputedly the longest and fiercest siege of its time.
1646: Battle of Great Torrington was to be not only the last battle in the West, it was also the last to be fought on English soil.
Up until the end of the English Civil Wars Britain had no standing army, it relied on local militia.
The British Standing Army was formed 1660 and resulted in a decline in the raising of musters, & muster rolls, & the use of a militia, which was suspended until the Militia Act of 1757.
The famous red coats of the British Army began with this first standing army.
<< Seen here is a pikeman of the C17th Parliamentarian Army
>> & later C18TH infantrymen in their Red Coats >>
https://sites.google.com/site/pomeroytwigs2/home
The Royalists under Colonel Ruthin, with the aforesaid Four Troops of Horse, and about One Hundred Dragooners, about Three of the Clock in the Morning, marched from Plymouth, over Ruberdowne, being a Bye-way to Modbery, where were gathered together, by the Sheriff's Command, Three or Four Thousand Men, some with Arms and some without; and we came so privately, that they did not discover us until we came within a Mile of the Town, which did so amaze them, that, after Sir Ralph Hopton drew up the Force he could presently get, he, with Sir Nicholas Slayning, ran away and escaped; and, after a small Skirmish with those that stood to it, with the Loss of One Man, and Two hurt, and Three or Four Horses...
......we took Prisoners of the Sheriff Sir Edmund Fortescue and his Brother, Sir Edward Seymour and his Son, Mr. Bassett, Captain Pomeroy, Mr. Shopcut, Captain Wood, Captain Bidlocke Barnes of Exon, Lieutenant Penrose, Mr. Short, &c.
From thence, we marched that Day with our Prisoners to Dartmouth, to the glading of the Hearts of the good People there (having had a long March, Sixteen Hours on Horseback); for, while we were upon our March towards Madbery, one Mr. Thomas Leigh was in Treaty with Sir Ralph Hopton about the delivering up of the Town, as we are informed, and, by his Confession, he had got a Warrant, to free his House from plundering;
which Mr. Leigh we have also taken, and, with the rest of the Prisoners, have sent to Plymouth, this Morning in a Frigate called The Cressett, by one Captain Plunckett.
We ran a great Hazard in this Service, as your Honours may judge, for the Enemy lay on both Sides with all their Force, Part at Plinton( Plympton) and Part at Tottneyes;( Totnes) but the Lord carried us along in our Way, and delivered the Enemies of His Truth and our Liberties into our Hands, and made many more to fly before us.'
When Prince Charles, the rightful king of England, was exiled in France and it seems Henry Pomeroy was one of his retinue
Oliver Cromwell attempted to lead England after the war in 1665 until his death. His son was Richard Cromwell and he inherited the mantle of power when his father died on 3 September 1658.
The younger Cromwell however had no wish to be a statesman, he was neither Puritan nor a soldier and did not have the power of command his father had. With Parliament putting pressure on him he rejected the unlooked for position of power and retired to private life.
The army was caught unawares by his precipitous abdication and recalled the Rump Parliament. A quarrel between Parliament and the leaders of the army now ensued with both sides arguing about how England should be ruled. The fear was that England would quickly descend into the anarchy of civil war once more.
Charles II had led a dissolute life, particularly whilst in exile during the Civil War and the following Interregnum.
Lucy Barlow ,a Welsh gentlewoman, also called Lucy Walters, was the mistress of Charles II whilst he was in exile in the Hague. He is said to have gone through a form of marriage with her which, when he was restored to his throne, could have made her queen but Charles denied the marriage.
Sir Henry Pomeroy said to have been present at the King's marriage to Mrs. Barlow but later denied this.
Lucy was mother to Charles's only son, the illegitimate James Scott, born on 9 April 1649 shortly after Charles became king following his father's execution in January 1649. He acknowledged James as his son and later created him Duke of Monmouth and Duke of Buccleuch.
After King Charles's death in 1651 his illegitimate son , the Protestant James, Duke Monmouth made an unsuccessful attempt to depose his uncle, the Catholic king, James II. His Rebellion failed and the king's son James, Duke of Monmouth, was executed for this treason in 1685.
General Monke of Great Torrington in Devonshire , a soldier to his bones - fought on both sides in the Civil War and it was he who instigated the invitation to Charles II to return to claim his throne after Cromwell died.
On 1 January 1660 General George Monck marched his army of Roundheads, a small, a well-disciplined force, entirely loyal to him, towards London. He arrived on 3 February and his intentions were unclear for a while but 1 May he reinstated the House of Lords and the Parliament of 1640, recommending that Parliament should invite Charles II to return. Monck’s declaration was received with general joy, and celebrated by bonfires, in which the Rump Parliament was burnt in effigy all over London.
Charles I - volume 130 - Warrants for Issuing Letters of Marque ....
William Topson and others, St. George, of Stonehouse. 160, William Pomeroy. ".
" 21…. .. Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1628-29 (1859)
Lieutenant William Pomeroy , one of the Brixham family, was married in May 1634, to wife Jane Wolfe.
He served in the King's Ships, of the Summer Guard in 1642 on the merchant ship ’London ‘ under Captain John Stephens.
By 1661 - 1663 William Pomeroy had his own ship and was Captain William Pomeroy; being land owners the Pomeroys they were evidently Royalist
Sir Henry Pomeroy of the Holland Regiment.
THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT.
The colonelcy of the regiment, vacant by the death of 1668 Colonel Robert Sidney, on Major-General Sir Walter Vane.
There being only two infantry regiments in England 1669 at this period^ besides the foot guards, (viz. the Admiral's and Holland regiments^*) this corps was distributed in very extensive quarters.
The following list, extracted from the military records in the State Paper Office, shows the stations it occupied on the 24th of March, 1670.
1670 The Holland Regiment.
Colonel Sir Walter Vane's Captain Sir Thos. Woodcock's Lieut.-Col. Sir Thos. Howard's Major Sir Thos. Ogle's Captain Henry Pomeroy's 1 y^ Castle. " Plymouth.
Charles II November 1674 City of Hull: Sir Henry Pomeroy 1674:
Nov. 1. Richard Gleadow to Williamson. Two ships bound for Virginia sailed hence yesterday, one a flyboat, the Thomas, of Hull, the other a small vessel, so that we have in all six ships gone thither since last spring, which makes this town and York to flourish much in that trade. Yesterday one Morgan, lieutenant to Sir Henry Pomeroy, being captain of the watch, falling out with a corporal, hit him under the ear, so that the blood issued out and he never spoke after and died to-day. [S.P. Dom., Car. II. 362, No. 47.]
1677: Parliamentarians: Jan. 1.
Whitehall. Commission to —???? of Cornwall to be captain of the company in the Holland regiment, whereof Sir Henry Pomeroy was captain.
Minute. [S.P. Dom., Entry Book 44, p. 41.
Sir Henry Pomeroy Received captaincy in Holland regiment of foot; assisted the earl of Bath at Exeter July 1666;
He seems to have been 3rd son of Richard Pomeroy & Anne Coplestone whose children were
1. Thomas Pomeroy ,Captain of St Erney & Landrake Born in 1579 in Ilsington, Devon. He married age 19 on 1 May 1598 to his 1st wife Marie GIFFRIE Jiffrie, Widow in St Erney
2. Richard Pomeroy. Born on 7 Dec 1604 in Bickington, Devon. died bef 1684;
3. Henry Pomeroy “Of Westminster”. Born in 1606 in Devon. He married Elizabeth Prideaux died in London, England, in 1681
4. Barbara. Baptised ca 1610 in Bickington Devon
5 Ann Pomeroy Baptised 1 Sep 1610 in Bickington, Devon,
6. Agnes Pomeroy. Born 1612 Buckington On 19 Jul 1629 age 21, she married John Fortescue Gent. at St Andrews Plymouth.
7. Amy Pomeroy a minor in 1616 On 17 Sep 1628 age 18 Amy married Percival Carwitham Lord Of Panston in Saint Pauls( The Cathedral) Exeter. Percival died aft 1642
8. Elizabeth Pomeroy. Born ca 1612 in Bickington Devon. living 1684 mentioned in the will of brother Henry
9. Hugh Pomeroy “Royalist Captain” (1615->1684) mentioned in the 1684 will of Henry
When he was knighted I have not yet discovered.
Sir Henry Pomeroy's Will was probated in 1683, and he was buried in St Margaret’s Westminster with his wife Jane Prideaux, who died before him, interred in the same grave.
NRA Document PROB 11/373/287
his Will reads ...'In witnesse whereof I have herevnto sett my hand and seale the Fourteenth day of February in the Foure (this should read the First ) and Thirtieth yeare of the reigne of our Sovereigne Lord Charles the second by the grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c’.
Annoq’ D’ni One thousand Six hundred eighty one
the Latin probate reads Anno Dom’i Mill’imo Sexcen’mo Octog’mo tertio which is 1683
Who was Captain Henry Pomeroy
Sir Henry was one of the 9 children of Richard Pomeroy of Ingsdon and his wife Anne Coplestone-
Head of the family at that time was his brother Thomas Pomeroy and siblings, Hugh, Richard, Amy, Elizabeth, Anne & Barbara
The answer may lie in the report above ...
Yesterday one Morgan, lieutenant to Sir Henry Pomeroy, being captain of the watch, falling out with a corporal, hit him under the ear, so that the blood issued out and he never spoke after and died to-day. [S.P. Dom., Car. II. 362, No. 47.]
Charles II reign was began when his father was executed in 1649, during the Civil Wars. Charles II was deposed & executed in 1639 and the interregnum followed , the Commonwealth, until the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, .
THE WILL OF SIR HENRY 1663
Sir Henry Pomeroy, knight, of Westminster; -Transcription made by David Bethell & paid for by Alma LaFrance.
Mentioned in the Will his brother of Hugh, sister Elizabeth, brother Hugh, His neice Elizabeth Risley gets his property her sister Maria Dorothea Risley and Aunt Mary Freeman & sisters Elizabeth Hutton & Lettice Risley are all mentioned and get bequests. His brother Hugh is thought to have died around 1682 and for some reason he in left in the will, maybe because his bewuest is so small it wasnt worth changing the document .
( Lettece Risley died Probate 1690 St Margarets Westminster )
Date 14 Feb 1681 Probated & Published 9th June 1683
In the name of God Amen I Sr. Henry Pomeroy of Westminster in the county of Midd’x Knight being sick and weake of body but of sound and perfect mind and memorie thanks be given to Almighty God for the same and calling to minde the certeintie of death and uncertenietie of this life Doe make and ordaine this my present last Will and Testament in writing in manner and forme following that is to say First and principally I committ and commend my soule into the mercifull hands of Almighty God assuredly tristing through the meritts death and passion of my blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to receive full pardon and remission of all my sinns and a joyfull resurrec’ion to eternall life, my body I co’mitt to the earth from whence it was taken to bee buried in such decent manner as to my Ex’rix hereafter named seeme fitt And as for and touching such worldly estate as it hath pleased Almighty God to bestow vpon mee after my debts paid and funerall expences discharged, I give and dispose thereof as followeth that is to say
First I give vnto my brother Hugh Pomeroy the summe of Forty shillings to buy him a mourning ring
Item I give vnto my loveing sister Elizabeth Hutton Widdow the summe of One hundred pounds and also one of my tenements in White fryers London now in the occupac’on of Richard Langworth
Item I give and bequeath unto my loveing sister Lettice Risley Widdow the summe of one hundred pounds and also one of my Tenements in White fryers London now in the occupac’on of William Marshall Hasty maker
Item I give vnto my Loveing Niece Maria Dorothea Risley the summe of One hundred pounds and also one of my tenements in the said White Fryers London now in the occupac’on of William Gamball
Item I give and bequeath unto my loveing Aunt Mary Freeman the summe of Five pounds to buy her mourning
All the rest of my personall estate as ready mony plate Jewells Bills Bonds Leases householdstuffe Linnen and all other my goods and chattells both
whatsoever or wheresoever I give devise and bequeath vnto my loveing neece Elizabeth Risley whom I make my full and whole Executrix of this my last will and Testament hereby revokeing and makeing void all former Wills and bequests by mee at any time heretofore made
And I doe entreate my loveing uncle William Freeman to bee Overseer of this my last Will and Testament desireing him to see the same duely and faithfully executed And my desire is That in case I die in Westminster Dr. Lambe may preach my Funerall Sermon if hee bee then in Towne
In witnesse whereof I have herevnto sett my hand and seale the Fourteenth day of February in the Foure and Thirtieth yeare of the reigne of our Sovereigne Lord Charles the second by the grace of God of England
Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c’. Anno ’ D’ni One thousand Six hundred eighty one
Henry Pomeroy Signed Sealed
published and declared by the above said Sr. Henry Pomeroy for his last Will and Testament in the presence of Tho: Meads Mary Bidden her marke Hugh Slade R.
Powys.
Probated 1683
This manner of testament was proved at London before the Venerable sir Thomas Exton knight, doctor of laws, surrogate of the Venerable and Egregious sir Leoline Jenkins knight also doctor of laws, lawfully constituted master keeper or commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, on the 9th day of the month of June in the year of our Lord 1683, by the oath of Elizabeth Risley, executrix named in the said testament, to whom was committed administration of all and singular the goods, rights and credits of the said deceased, sworn upon the Holy Gospels to well and truly administer the same.
History of The Holland Regiment
4th Regiment of Foot
The Regiment originated from The Trained Bands of London, which were reviewed by Queen Elizabeth, in Greenwich Park, on 1 May 1572. After the review, Captain Thomas Morgan selected 300 men to form a company which he took to the Netherlands where they and their descendants continued to fight for the next 76 years until the power of Spain was broken. After the defeat of Spain, England and Holland began to quarrel and, in 1665, the Dutch called on the English units still in Holland to renounce their allegiance to the King of England. With few, exceptions both officers and men refused to swear allegiance to Holland and they were at once discharged and faced a life of almost certain ruin and destitution in a foreign country.
The English Ambassador, Sir George Downing, at his own expense arranged for the men to be returned to England and, on the 31st May 1665, King Charles II instructed that they be formed into a regiment to be known as The Holland Regiment, and he appointed Lieutenant Colonel Robert Sydney, a man from Kent, to be its first colonel. This regiment took its place as the fourth in the order of precedence behind The Royal Scots (1st), The Tangier Regiment (2nd), and The Lord High Admiral’s Regiment (3rd). It was originally designated, together with Lord High Admiral’s Regiment, as a “Maritime” regiment and as such took part in several naval actions. In 1667 the regiment became a land regiment. The uniform at that time consisted of a red tunic with buff lining, and the breeches, waistcoat and stockings were also buff.
In 1672, exactly one hundred years after Queen Elizabeth had reviewed the trained bands, the regiment was given a Royal Warrant allowing them to raise volunteers by beat of drum in the City of London. In those days recruiting parties carried a colour, and this is the origin of the privilege, which allowed The Buffs to march through the City of London with drums beating, bayonets fixed and colours flying.
The regiment received its nickname of "The Buffs" because it had been issued buff coats - armour made of soft leather - first when it served abroad in Holland and later when it was a Maritime Regiment of Foot. It was later given buff-coloured facings and waistcoats to distinguish itself from those of other regiments and had their leather equipment in buff rather than dyed the traditional white.
1572 Thomas Morgan's Company formed for service in Holland.
1605 expanded to brigade of four regiments.
1665 The English brigade, numbering three English and four Scottish regiments were required to take the oath of allegiance to the States-General or be cashiered. The English refused and disbanded in Holland. The Scots continued in Dutch service.
1665.05.31 The Holland Regiment formed in England from repatriated veterans of the three disbanded English regiments in Dutch service
The Holland Regiment, 23rd June 1665
The official date of the raising of the Holland Regiment for His Majesty's service was the 31st May 1665 the day of the Colonel's commission but the other officers received their commissions 3 weeks later on 23rd June. These 21 officers included Major Alexander Bruce who was the only officer of the Scots regiments to refuse the oath of allegiance to the Netherlands. The establishment was fixed at 6 companies of 106 NCOs and men each. The field officers acted as captains to the first 3 companies so that, as an example of the organisation the 1st Company had Colonel Sidney as captain, a lieutenant, an ensign, 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, one drummer and 100 private soldiers.
The 2nd Company was commanded by Lt-Col Thomas Howard,
The 3rd Company by Major Alexander Bruce,
The 4th Company by Capt Sir Thomas Ogle
The 5th Company by Capt Henry Pomeroy Was this a different man ?
This was AFTER the Restoration of Charles II. IF it was the same man he evidently hadn't been knighted at the time 1665
The 6th Company by Capt Baptist Alcock
All the officers in the regiment had served in the English-Dutch regiments except the surgeon. It should be noted that when the officers and men refused to take the oath in Holland they faced a very uncertain future so their loyalty to the English crown had been proved. Another regiment, the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot (The Lord High Admiral's Regiment), had been raised the previous autumn. This, and the Holland Regiment, were primarily intended for service at sea.
On the 11th July the cost of these two regiments was ordered to be charged to the Navy. The Holland Regiment remained on the naval establishment until May 1667.
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