Feudal Pomeroys

It was some time after the Domesday survey of 1068 the Prior and convent of Launceston and the Prior and convent of Tywardreath, became possessed of considerable landed property, which, after the dissolution of religious houses, was annexed to the duchy of Cornwall. The earliest record, after the Domesday survey, which furnishes us with any account of the principal landholders of this county, is the Liber Niger Scaccarii, a record in the Exchequer, drawn up in 1165.

At this time, Ralph de Valletort, of Tremerton near Saltash on the river Tamar,  held fifty-nine knights-fees in Devonshire and Cornwall; Robert Fitzwilliam (the descendant of the Fitzrichards, and of Ricardus, whose name appears in the Domesday survey,) held fifty-one knights-fees, besides twenty others of the fee of Walter Hay.

Valletorts of Tremerton , with connections to the crown ,were the wealthiest land holders in the area   around Saltash in East  Cornwall made least two marriages to Pomeroy's - Richard de Lucie, justiciar, and some time Regent of England, who is said to have built Truro Castle,  held ten knights-fees of the old enfeoffment, and nine of the fee of Adam de Malherb;

William de Boterell or Bottreaux, twelve fees; Geffrey, son of Gralan, seven; Baldwin, ten; Erkenbald Fitz-S— (a descendant, probably, of the Erchenbald of the Domesday survey), eight; Richard Fitz-William, five; William, the Earl's brother (fn. 2) , and Roger de Mandeville (Roger de Mandeville's estate must have been that which belonged to Queen Matilda,  and was parcel of the honour of Gloucester.) four each

Henry de Pomeroy, Hoel, and Jordan, three each; Ralph de Borchard, and Ralph de Tremoderet, two each; Richard FitzAlured, William de Dun, Richard Fitzosul, and Eiulph, one each.

Peter Corbet and Henry de la Pomeroy – see pedigree- by right of their wives petitioned Parliament for the revision of a deed alleging that Reginald  the nephew of Roger de Valletort was insane when he who sold family properties before his death circa 1275.

He sold his estates for £100, including the manor of Modbury and a moiety of Sheepham and Modbury  to Alexander Oxton and his wife Joan in 1270.

He also sold the manor and estate of Tremeton with its 60 ½  knights fees to Richard the King of Almain ( illegitimate son of King John)

Vivian records this in Visitations.( paraphrasing this entry)

Henry de la Pomeroy was 14 years old  when he came into his inheritance in 1305. In about 1316 he renewed the suit begun a generation earlier -

This suit was that as great, greatgrandson (son of Henry, son of Henry son of Henry)  of Joanna the eldest of two  Valletort sister co heirs of Roger Valletort he was entitled to a moiety (share) of the castle and manor of Tremerton  held by Roger Valletort .

His father Henry Pomeroy and his mother Amica de Camville (her father Sir Geoffrey held the Manor of Stokely Pomeroy which came to Henry as her dowry)  confirmed a grant made by his grandfather Henry, son of Henry and Margery  de Vernon in the time of Henry III,  in the  manor of Vale. ( This manor is, I think, in Normandy in France)

He had a licence to entail the manors of Stokely, Bury, (Pomeroy) and Harberton upon himself and his (1st) wife Joanna Mules and the remainder to his sons, Henry, William, Nicholas, John and Thomas,  in a successive entail. His second wife was Elizabeth, widow of  Roger Carminowe & daughter of John Courtenay of Powderham , by whom he had a daughter Elizabeth who married Oliver Carminowe

LONDON   'Notes on the aldermen, 1240-1500', The Aldermen of the City of London:

1445.      Thomas Pomeroy. His election as Prior of Holy Trinity was disputed, and although it received the Royal assent on April 21, 1445, similar recognition was accorded William Westkarre on May 23 following. Pomeroy was finally confirmed and received the temporalities on February 19, 1446.

Martin Fortescue, esquire, was son and heir of John Fortescue, late chief justice of the [King's] Bench, married  Elizabeth Densill.

After his death in 1472 she became the wife of Sir Richard Pomeroy knight, son of Sir Henry Pomeroy and his spouse Alice Raleigh. whom she also outlived.

Richard had became the Pomeroy heir after his older brother St Clere died following the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471.

1496 Richard Pomeroy knt. died 14 Aug 1496 leaving a widow Elizabeth (Denzil) and son Edward his heir age 17.

He  died seized of castle and manor of Bury worth £133, 6 shillings and 10 pence a year - held  from the Crown in knights service.

A moiety of the manor of Harberton and a messuage of 40 acres &10 acres of meadow in Harberton worth 45 shillings and 4 ½ penny and

 held from the Crown in Chief knights service.

A moiety  of manor of Brixham worth 14 livres 6 shillings and 6 pence.

A moiety of the manor of Bridgetown Pomeroy worth 24 livres 4 shillings and 5 pence form the king in knights service.

A messuage of 24 acres of land 7 acres of meadow and 10 acres of underwood in Sandridge worth 11 livres from the Bisphop of Exeter by knights service

3 messuages of 40 acres of land an acre of meadow in Will or Wyle worth 52 shillings from Bishop of Exeter by knights service. 

(Wyle is  Well 3 farms, Well Farm   Lower & Middle Well Farms in the parish of  Stoke Gabriel near Dartmouth & Brixham)

HENGSCOT in the parish of Brendon in the hundred and deanery of Shirwell,, belonged to a family of that name from the reign of Henry III. to that of Queen Elizabeth, when the co-heiresses brought it to Prideaux and Pomeroy  it afterwards passed to the family of Ridgway, Earl of Londonderry, and is now the property of Earl Stanhope.  (Arthur Arscott, Esq. 1664; (an ancient established family of nearby Dunsland House ) William Bickford, Esq. 1659; Grace his wife, heiress of Arscott, 1686; John Bickford, Esq. 1765; Arscott Bickford, Esq.

1771. Mr. Incledon, in his Church Notes, mentions memorials of John Hengestecot, 1572;Elizabeth, his daughter and co-heir, wife of Thomas Pomeroy of Engesdon.

The wording here is unclear  Visitations has no mention of  Elizabeth being an Incledon although there is a connection to Incledon in the Pomeroys of Collaton

 in Newton Ferrers where Wilmot daughter of Andrew Pomeroy (senior) married Lewis Incledon, before 1570 and had 10 children.

I think this refers to Elizabeth Hengescot  dau of John of Hengscot who married Thomas Pomeroy of Ingsdon and Landrake

 NORTH PETHERWYN, in the hundred of Black Torrington and in the deanery of Trigg Major (being within the archdeaconry of Cornwall),  lies within the manor of Werrington, belonging to the Duke of Northumberland. The barton of North Petherwin belonged to the Yeos, who resided there for many generations.

The heiress of Leonard Yeo, Esq., who died in 1741, brought this estate to the family of Herring.

In the parish-church are memorials of the family of Yeo (Edward Yeo, Esq., 1624; three daughters of E. Yeo, 1633, 1634, and 1638; Dorothy, daughter of John Fortescue, and wife of George Yeo, 1640. (Edward Yeo married the heiress of Stapleton, of Nottinghamshire.)

A tablet to Grace Bligh, wife of Arthur Seccombe, of Widworthy, Gent., (daughter of Bligh of Carnadon,) 1619: his second wife was Mary daughter of John Pomeroy of Ingsdon, by one of the co-heiresses of Hengescott.

this is confusing as it was Mary Seccombe, his daughter by his first wife, who was wife of John Pomeroy of Ingsdon.-

married in Lynton in North Devon 26th September 1626 - They had 2 daughters Mary and  Dorothy and son Arthur who married Elizabeth, daughter Richard, 

 co- heir  and sister of Sir John Osbourne of Ballinlaylor in Waterford in Ireland, according to Vivians Visitations.

LANDCROSS, or LANCRAS, in the hundred of Shebbear and in the deanery of Hertland, lies about two miles and a half from Bideford.

The manor belonged, anciently, to the family of Beaumont, from whom it passed to Basset, and from Basset, by marriage, to Pomeroy.

It was afterwards in Giffard; Sir John Rolle died seised of it in 1706.

CUBY & TREGONY

 The manor of Tregony was, at a very early period, in the ancient family of the Pomeroys , who are supposed to have acquired it by the marriage of Joel, son of Ralph de Pomeroy, who came over with William the Conqueror, with a natural daughter of Henry I., and sister of Reginald, Earl of Cornwall  (Henry de Pomeroy had twelve knights-fees in Tregony, 20 Edw. III. (Carew's Survey, f. 44.)

His descendant, Henry de Pomeroy, was summoned to parliament, as a baron, in the reign of Henry III., being the only one of the family who was thus distinguished. This manor, which appears to have been very extensive, continued, for several descents, in the Pomeroys.

The elder branch of the Pomeroys of Tregony became extinct, in the male line, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when, according to Hals, this manor went as dowry with its heiress  to the Penkevils. In the reign of Charles I., the manor of Tregony-Pomeroy was purchased by Hugh Boscawen, Esq. ( It has been said that it was purchased immediately of the Pomeroy family, but we find John Luxton, Gent. in possession of Tregony-Pomeroy in 1620. (Extent. Terrar. Ducat. Cornub. 17 Jac. I., in the collection of Sir John St. Aubyn, Bart.) , ancestor of the Right Hon. Lord Falmouth, who is the present(19th C) proprietor.

Tregony-Castle, of which there are no remains, is said to have been built by Henry de Pomeroy, on behalf of John Earl of Cornwall, at the time that King Richard I. was in the Holy Land ( Hals.) When it was standing, it was the seat of the Pomeroys of Tregony, in the reign of Edw. VI. ( William de Worcester.) :It was located at the lower end of the town, a little below the hospital.

In the parish-church of Cuby, which stands just above the town, is a memorial for Hugh Pomeroy, Esq., of Tregony-Pomeroy who died in 1674.

 MEAVY, in the hundred of Roborough and in the deanery of Tamerton, lies between six and seven miles from Tavistock.

Loveton and Brisworthy are small villages in this parish.

The manor  belonged, at the time of the Domesday survey, to Robert Bastard; afterwards, to the family of Meavy. Sir William Strode was lord of the manor, and had a seat here in 1630. It was later the property of Sir Masseh Manasseh Lopes, Bart.,who purchased it in 1808 from Hugh Malet, Esq., in whose family it had been for many years.

The manor of Good-a-Meavy, anciently called God Meavy, which belonged formerly to the family of Pomeroy, was by the 19th century the property of Joseph Scobell, Esq. The manors of Callisham and Durance belong to T. T. Fuller Elliott Drake, Esq.

 HARBERTON was the barony of the Valletorts, having been acquired by the marriage of Roger Valletort with one of the daughters of Reginald Earl of Cornwall. After the extinction of this branch of the Valletorts, the manor of Harberton was in moieties, between the families of Corbet and Pomeroy, into which the co-heiresses had married. This manor has been long ago dismembered, and all manerial rights disused.

 SOUTH LEIGH, in the hundred of Colyton in East Devon and in the deanery of Honiton. The barton of Scrivell, or Scruell, which was in the family of Walrond from the reign of Edward I, and until the seventeenth century, if not later, it belonged to Mr. John Pomeroy, of Boycomb, by purchase from James Townsend, Esq., of Honiton.

 THRUSHELTON, or THRUSELTON, in the hundred of Lifton and in the deanery of Tavistock, lies about eleven miles from Tavistock. The manor belonged, in the reign of Edward I., to the Viponts; afterwards successively to Pomeroy and Trenchard.    There seems to have been another manor, called North Thruselton.

1346 Henry de la Pomeroy held  ½ fee of  the honour of Lifton formerly held by Nicholas Veteri Ponte for Meavy of which a ½  fee was held of (from) the Priory of Plympton in free gift 6 furlongs assessed at 2s. This possession of the priory doubtless referred to the manor of Canbarn ( a farm now a listed building)assessed at £8 9s 5 ¾ from which he paid the Priory of Launceston a rent of 3s 4d for land in Rysdon

Bradeford and Middlecote assessed at ½ a fee with Trisselton ½ a fee probably for three manors that mad up 1 fee in 1303

1428 William Talbotte knt, John Brydgeport, John lake Stephen Bourcote, and Robert Wyke held 1 knights fee in Sourton and Norththrussle which they held separately between them none holding an entire ¼ Richard Talbot had formerly held this manor

1438 Thomas Wrey John at Mille, henry Wolcote and Thomas Lucas held ½ fee at Trussleton none holding an entire ¼. Henry d ela Pomeroy held the property. The manor  was held successively  to the Viponta and afterwards Pomeroy and Trenchard

BRIXHAM, in the hundred of Haytor and in the deanery of Ipplepen, belonged at an early period to the Novants, from whom it passed by conveyance to the Valletorts (fn. 3) ; the co-heiresses of the last mentioned family brought it to Pomeroy and Corbet.

The Bonvilles afterwards became possessed of it; from them it descended to Grey Duke of Suffolk, and by his attainder became vested in the crown. It is now divided into quarters, one of which belongs to the heirs of the late Duke of Bolton; another to Charles Hayne, Esq. and John Seale, Esq.; a third to Charles Hayne, Esq. and the family of Gillard; the fourth, which formerly belonged to Pomeroy Gilbert, Esq., of Sandridge, was purchased by twelve fishermen of Brixham Quay. Who call themselves Quay lords.

Nethway or Nithway, in Brixham, belonged to the Coles, whose heiress brought it to Sir John Hody, chief justice of the King's Bench: his descendant John Hody, Esq., about the year 1696, sold it to John Fownes, Esq.,

 BUCKERELL, in the hundred of Hemiock and deanery of Plymtree, lies about three miles from Honiton.

The manor belonged, at an early period, to the Pomeroys, afterwards to the Beauchamps of Rime, whose heiress brought it to Bonville, and the coheiresses of Bonville to Fulford and Gwynn.

 The abbey of Buckfastleigh was founded in 1137, for monks of the Cistercian order, by Ethelwerd, son of William de Pomeroy. The revenues were estimated, at the time of its dissolution, at 466l. 11s. 2¾d. clear yearly income. The site was granted to Sir Thomas Dennis -

 KINGSBRIDGE, a market-town,d in the deanery of Woodleigh,

In the parish-church of  are memorials for George Geffery, 1641; and George Hughes, 1667, successively ministers of Kingsbridge; Grace, wife of Alexander Blanchflower, Gent., daughter and heir of John Thomas, Esq., by a co-heiress of Pomeroy of Ingsdon, 1683; and Mr. William Duncombe, 1698.

 DEPTFORD, St. NICHOLAS  Church . on the River Thames -at Blackheath Memorials within the church;  1722; Capt. George Pomeroy, 1724; Capt. George Pomeroy, of the yacht Catherine, 1735; Sarah, his daughter, wife of Nicholas Roope, Gent. 174

ST STEPHEN BY LAUNCESTON extensive lands and other propertiesin this parish came to Andrew Pomeroy of Collaton by his wife Jane Hext, who inherited in 1595  from her grandfather Thomas and later from her father Digory Hext. She died 1610  but 1607 Andrew was selling some of her property- Both Hexts were wealthy merchants and mayors of Launceston during the 16th Century

ST. STEPHENS by Saltash, lies a mile west-south-west from that town (which is within the parish), in the deanery and in the south division of the hundred of East. The principal villages in this parish, exclusively of the church-town, are Buraton, Carkeel, and Trematon.

 The manor and honour of Trematon, in this parish, was held under Robert Earl of Moreton and Cornwall, in the reign of William Rufus, by Reginald de Valletort, whose descendant, Roger de Valletort, the last heir male of the family, gave it to Richard Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans.

 In the year 1315, Peter Corbet and Henry de Pomeroy commenced a suit in parliament, with a view of recovering this estate, on the grounds that the said Roger Valletort was not in his right mind when he made the deed of gift. The proceedings, which had been dormant for some considerable time, were renewed in 1327, but, as it appears, without success:  a compromise afterwards took place, for in 1339 we find Henry de Pomeroy, in consideration of an annuity of £40, releasing to Edward the Black Prince all right and title to the honour and castle of Trematon, as heir of Roger de Valletort.

The preceding year this estate had been annexed to the duchy of Cornwall.  The Prince granted the manor of Trematon for life to Sir Nigel Loring

 MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

Otterhampton is a village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, close to Bridgwater inland from the Bristol Channel -There were three holdings called Otterhampton in 1066. The estate held by Herbert of Alfred d'Epaignes came to be known as OTTERHAMPTON manor, and was held of the honor of Nether Stowey until 1577 or later. (fn. 18) William, son of Terry of Mudford, held a fee of Nether Stowey in 1166, and was succeeded by his son Terry and by Terry's son Henry. (fn. 19) In 1216 Henry's lands were given to William of Eston, but in 1225 Henry laid claim to land in Otterhampton. (fn. 20)

 Beatrice of Otterhampton, probably widow of Robert of Eston, held a fee of Nether Stowey in 1262, (fn. 21) and her daughter Sarah held Otterhampton with her husband William Trivet c. 1285. (fn. 22) The estate descended with Cock in Stogursey until 1433 and may have been sold by William Trivet to Alexander Hody (d. 1461).

Thereafter it descended with Newnham in Stogursey until 1650. (fn. 23) In 1651 the manor was held by Hugh Hody, who had purchased it from Gilbert Hody. In 1664 Hugh settled it on his son Gilbert. Hugh died c. 1670 and Gilbert by 1697 leaving as his heirs Anne, wife of Hugh Pomeroy, and Joan, both probably his daughters.

It was settled by Joan in 1713 and 1714 on her marriage to George Chudleigh.

 'Entry Book: August 1677, 1-10', Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 5: 1676-1679

Aug. 1. 1677         [Entry of Treasurer Danby's subscription of the] docquet of a demise [by in custodian lease under the Exchequer seal] to Alice Pomeroy of divers lands and tenements in Helston and elsewhere, co. Cornwall, parcel of the lands of Hugh Hobbs, outlaw : at the rent of 5s. 6d. and fine of 11s.

'Warrants for Minor Appointments: 1743',March 8 Treasury warrant. Mathew Pomeroy, (tide)waiter and searcher at Mevagissey (“Megavizey”), Fowey port, loco Charles Meager, deceased.

CORNWALL

  At Menacuddle farm is the site of an ancient free chapel, which was subject to the priory of Tywardreth; the last incumbent of this chapel had a pension of 5l. per annum allowed him in the reign of Edward VI. The lands belonging to this chapel, which are tithe-free, were granted by that monarch to Sir Thomas Pomeroy and Hugh Pomeroy ( of Tregony)  Under the hill, upon the same estate, is the chapel-well, over which is an ancient Gothic building.  

They were later the property of Charles Rashleigh, Esq. 

Polgooth mine, was at one time the richest mine that had ever been worked in England. It was partly in this parish, in which also is the famous stone-quarry of Pentuan or Port-Towan, from which many of the churches and gentlemen's seats in the county have been built.

 CIVIL WAR in England 1642-1651

Charles I - volume 130 - Warrants for Issuing Letters of Marque ...subscription required to view

... Jefferies, ". " ", William Topson and others, St. George, of Stonehouse. 160,  William Pomeroy. ". Her pinnace, not stated, Not stated. " 21…. .. Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1628-29 (1859)  of the  King's Ships,of the Summer Guard   in  1642 on the merchant ship’London ‘ under Capt. John Stephens  -Lieutenant William Pomeroy or  later 1661 - 1663 Captain  William Pomeroy)

General Index -  

 Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James II, 1685

... Pollexfen, John, merchant. Pomeroy (Pumroy), Daniel, a rebel -, James, a rebel,(iv). -, John, named Alderman of Fowey. ... Pumroy. See Pomeroy. Pupplett, Richard.

 DITTO

General Index - P, Q, R ... Pollett. See Paulet. Pomeroy, Roger, mayor of Tiverton. Pool (Poole), Benjamin,alderman of Taunton -, Sir Courtney, to be Deputy Lieutenant of co. ...

Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James II, 1687-9 (1972)

ENGLISH CIVIL WARS 1642 - 1651

 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.

 Wednesday, the 7th of this present Month, 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 (fn. *) 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 the Sheriff Sir Edmund Forscue 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 and Part at Tottneyes; 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.

The Prisoners Colonel Ruthin hath Ordered to be sent from Plymouth, with the First fair Wind, to London; and we now lie here, expecting some Force

from Exon to join with us, which if we can have but One Thousand Dragooners, we hope to do the Enemy much Damage.

We hear this Day, that, since our coming hither, the Enemy is come with the greatest Part of their Force to Tatnesse; what are left at Plimpton, we know not.

If speedy Supply comes not of Men, Money, and Arms, we fear they will plunder most of the good Towns in this County; and what it may grow to,

if God doth not mightily work for us, we know not. Your Honours know of what great Concernment the keeping of this County is; and we doubt not

but the great Need of Assistance will be sufficient to move your Honours to take into Consideration the Premises; which that your Honours would

please to do, is the humble Petition of

 "Your most obedient Servants, Dartmouth, 9 Decem. 1642. "Will'm Ruthin. Geo. Thompson. Anthony Rouse. Alex. Pym.

"To the Right Honourable the Lords and others of the Committee for the Safety of the Kingdom. Present, These, at Westm."

 1549 Despite the Cornish historian AL Rowse saying that Sir Thomas was rather feather headed,  this mention  seems to contradict that somewhat....maybe

By a stratagem of Sir Thomas Pomeroy's, one of their chief captains, they obtained a temporary victory, and the waggons belonging to the King's army, laden with ammunition, treasure, &c., fell into their hands; but Lord Russell having rallied his troops, returned to the attack, in which Sir William Francis lost his life, but the rebels were defeated with great slaughter, and the village of Bishop's Clist was burned: the fortified bridge was taken; and the rebels, who had rallied from all quarters on Clist heath, sustained another and a total defeat.

 'A London Chronicle: Edward VI', 20 March 1549

The Fate of Sir Thomas Seymour brother of Henry VIII's 3rd wife, who wooed and lost  Princess Elizabeth,   husband of Henry VIII 6th wife Catherine Par , a very flamboyant but rash man.

The 20th. day of Marche sir Thomas Seymar, knyght, lord admyrall, was behedyd at Towre hyll.

This yere ye comons in all ye parties of England made sondry insurreccions & commocions about whitsontyde, & so forthe vntyll September: amongs whome dyvers of comons of Cornwall & Devonshire   in sondry campes besegyd Excester, whiche manfully was defendyd ( by ye inhabytauntes & dyver gentylmen which were flede into it. And agaynst thes rebells were sent ye lorde Russell, lorde privy seale, who lay longe ther at Hontyngton, (fn. 4) vntyll ye lord Graye wt certayne strayngars horsmen in redd cottes came thether, & syr Wyllyam Herbart wt dyvers Welchemen, & at a towne callyd Byshopps Clyffte   they assaltyd one campe furnyshed wt a greate number of ye sayd rebelles & them vanquished. And ye othar Rebells lying before Exceter,herynge of ye ovarthrow of theyr companyons at Bysshoppis Clyfte, beynge in feare of ye kynges Army, fled frome ye sege beyonde Excester into Cornwall,   so that the lordes aforesayd entred into Exceter wt out any further troble, yet yey left not ye sayd rebells but chasd them into Cornewall, & take one Humfrey Arundell, one of ye capitaynes, & one (Sir Thomas) Pomery, wt dyuerse other, & slewe very many: the contry was very sore wasted not only by reason of thar long lyenge ther in sondry campes, but also for that all the company of ye lordes ye strange had leave to spoyle.

A Richly Woven Tapestry .....   with loose threads everywhere 

 Ralph de Pomeroy in 12th century-

After the death in 1087 of William I (The Conqueror)  this manor and lands seems to have come into the possession of  Ralph de Pomerai  by irregular means,  when he persuaded one Rulad Adobed to exchange it for 3 other manors.

 The recorders of the Domesday Book recorded this transaction in such a way as to indicate they regarded this as a smart move on Ralph de Pomerai’s part.

In 1103 Ruald de Pomerai became a monk at St Nicholas Priory in Exeter and his land passed to the king or his heirs. He took Poughill and its lands into the possession of the Priory, from whence it devolved to the Abbey of Tavistock.

When Richard  Pomeroy died in 1496 his estate consisted of the honour and castle and the manor of Berry Pomeroy-  worth £133.6s 10d. He also had a moiety or half share, of Harberton manor and a messuage of 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 Bridgetown  Pomeroy  ( Totnes) worth £24.4s 5d.     A messuage, 24  acres of land , 7 acres of meadow and  10 acres of underwood in Sandridge, (Stoke Gabriel nr Dartmouth) held of the Bishops of Exeter.   3 messauge   40 acres of land 1 acre of meadow at Wylle ( possibly part of Sandridge esate ) worth £1  5s 0d. also held of the Bishop of Exeter. All tenure was by knight  service. A total income of £175. 18s. 1d roughly equivalent to about  £55,000 today -  

~~~

Harberton near Totnes was the barony of the Valletorts( the fuedal lords of Tremerton and its castle near Saltash on the Cornish side of the Tamar Estuary)Harberton was acquired  by the marriage of Roger Valletort with one of the daughters of Reginald Earl of Cornwall. After the extinction of this branch of the Valletorts, the manor of Harberton was in moieties, between the families of Corbet and Pomeroy, into which the co-heiresses had married. This manor has been long ago dismembered, and all manerial rights disused.

Henry de Pomerai had married Johanna de Valletort in the 13th C - Governor of Exeter Castle,  in the time of King John & Sheriff of Devon in the time of Henry III.

 Many aristocratic families in the 15th and 16th centuries had land and lineages but little money so they  made marriages with merchant families with money but no lineage. Merchants  at  that time being frequently wealthier than the landed families and thus a number of advantageous matches were made between the lesser aristocracy and up and coming merchants. 

There were many  daughters of landed families and merchant who were parcelled up, with property, and given in marriages to the advantage of her family.   In Devon many of the richest families were the merchants of Exeter.

15th  Century Pomeroys

Henry De La Pomeroy (son of Sir Edward Pomeroy & Margaret Bevil ) married  first Alice Raleigh

     their children were

1 Sir St Clere Pomeroy Kt. b circa 1436 . The eldest son and heir, in 1463 he  married Catherine Courtenay b. 1438  widow of  Sir Thomas Rogers- who was  daughter of Sir Philip  Courtenay  and  Elizabeth Hungerford of Powderham-  the Courteney family were the Marquises of Exeter, Earls of Devon with  huge land holdings and a substantial income from them.  Sir St Clere died 30 May 1471 after the Battle of Tewkesbury in the Wars of the Roses and his widow, Catherine, married Sir William Hudderfield - her son George Rogers was her heir when she died in 1515.

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.

They had a daughter Elizabeth - more about her below.

3 Thomas Pomeroy married Agnes / Anne Kelloway   died 1493

4 Sir Richard Pomeroy  ( Saintclere’s  heir) married 1st to Dame Anne possibly in the decade of 1460's . He may have had at least one son who may have  become Richard of Wells.
His first wife Dame Anne had some kind on dealings with the Abbey of Tavistock and these came home to roost after the death of her husband in 1496, some 30 years after her death.

Ref C 1/207/80  William Harrys v. The abbot of Tavistock: Detention by John Clement, monk, of an obligation given to complainant by Sir Richard Pomeroy, knight, deceased, granting to him the office of bailiff of Tregony, from which he has been ejected by Dame Anne, late the wife of Sir Richard.: Devon.  Dated  1493-1500

By his 2nd wife was Elizabeth  Densell, the wealthy widow of Martin Fortescue died 1496.  They  had at least 2 sons. Edward the heir who married Johanna Sapcot, & Thomas who died unmarried 1508 and 2 daughters, Elizabeth who married Barnhowse & Blanche.

5 John Pomeroy living 1496 younger brother of James, the sons of Andrew who died 1495 and who inherited Collaton Manor in Newton Ferrers after his brother died in 1541. John is thought to have married a daughter of Strode of Parnham in Somerset a wealthy and powerful family, John was the progenitor of the tree Collaton Manor near Newton Ferrers  and St Columb Major

6 Agnes Pomeroy who married 1st Robert Buduckshide. 2nd Nicholas Stukely. 3rd George Maleverer.

 After Alice Raleigh's death Henry Pomeroy, in September 1478, married Anne Camell. She had previously been married to Thomas Gyll of Hacche Arundell near Loddiswell who wasa wealthy merchant Dartmouth. Her 1st husband was  William Barrett Esq of Whiteparish in Wiltshire by whom she had one child, a daughter, Joanna Barrett. Joanna married  William Kelloway and their daughter Agnes Kelloway married Thomas Pomeroy  son of her husband Henry Pomeroy.  Thus Anna's granddaughter, Agnes Kelloway,  married Thomas Pomeroy 3rd son of her 3rd husband Henry Pomeroy.

Amy /Anne nee Cammel  died in 1481 her husband who died before her on 7th July 1487 -  with no further children of record.

Record 15th Century: Totnes, Bowden, Ashprington, Langton, Devon: Devon 1475-1480, or 1483-1485
C 1/53/34 Short title: Carswell v Pomerey. Plaintiffs: William Carswell and Cristyn,. his wife, and John Wolston.
Defendants: Henry Pomerey, esquire, late the husband of Amy, previously the wife of Thomas, son of Thomas Gyll. Subject: Manor of Hacche.

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The Welshman Henry Tudor took the throne from the last English king Richard III in 1485.  By the end of the 119 years of Tudor rule in 1603,  the feudal society was decayed and after the English Civil War and  the  time of William of Orange was invited to become king in the C17th  England had changed from an absolute monarchy to that of a constitutional monarch with a powerful Parliament.
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footnotes 

 Messuage - a dwelling-house and includes outbuildings, orchard, curtilage or court-yard and garden for the use of the household.  At one time messuage supposedly had a more extensive meaning than that conveyed by the words house or site, but such distinction no longer survives. The terms 'messuage' and 'tenement' are now interchangeable terms

A capital or caput messuage is the main dwelling of an estate, the house in which the owner of the estate normally lives.

Curtilage = a piece of working ground belonging to the   dwelling.

 Socage one of the feudal duties and hence land tenure forms in the feudal system. A farmer, for example, held the land in exchange for a clearly defined, fixed payment to be made at specified intervals to his feudal lord, who in turn had his own feudal obligations, to the farmer and to the Crown. In theory this might involve supplying the lord with produce but most usually it meant a straightforward payment of cash, i.e., rent.

In this respect it contrasted with other forms of tenure including serjeanty (the farmer paid no rent but had to perform some personal/official service on behalf of his lord, including in times of war)   Higher up the feudal system, a knight-service (military service) was a condition of land tenure.