William Pomeroy was brother & companion of Thomas Pomeroy Esq' knighted in 1400 and who, with his twice widowed  wife, Joanna Chudlegh , held the Pomeroy barony from 1416- to 1426. They were of a cadet line in East Devon  and were sons of Robert Pomeroy of Bokerell, Upottery & Smallbridge, descendants of  Geoffrey Pomeroy & Matilda Ralegh in the reign of  Henry III (1216- 1272)
 

In 1405 Thomas & William Pomeroy and the chaplain, the Manor house having a chapel by that time, surrendered the Membury Manor House to the prior of Goldclyve in Newport in Monmouthshire ( Patent Rolls 1405 & Close Rolls )

 Sir William Pomeroy was a Queen's Esquire 1417 to Queen Joan of Navarre, widow of John IV, Duke of Brittany & 2nd wife of Henry IV of England (1399-1413 );  Joan and Henry had no children . Her stepson who became Henry V. (1413-1422)  seemed to have a good relationship with her, but in an attempt to seize her lands and income  accused her of witchcraft, however  outlived him by 15 years.

1423: Dec. 4. At Westminster. ( A few days prior to the 8th Dec 1423  death of Joanna Chudleigh 1st wife of Sir Thomas Pomeroy )

Her 11th dec Inquisition Post Mortem is here

To the treasurer and the barons of the exchequer. Order not to trouble John Cole esquire for his homage; as upon the finding of an inquisition, taken before William Cheyne and John Martyn by virtue of a commission of the late king to them and to William Pawlet and John Sparowe addressed, that John Pomeray knight at his death held the manor of Stockleigh Pomeray and moieties of the manors of Haberton and Brixham in Devon in chief by knight service, and that Joan (Chudlegh) wife of Thomas Pomeray knight, & daughter of Joan one of his sisters, and John Cole esquire son of Margaret his other sister ) are his cousins and next heirs and of full age, for a fine paid in the hanaper the late king respited the homage and fealty of John Cole until a day now past, on 1 May 5 Henry V commanded livery to be given him of his purparty; ( That part of an estate, which having been held in common by parceners, is by partition allotted to any of them...)..... and upon the finding of another inquisition, taken before the late king's escheator, that John Pomeray was seised of the manor of Byry Pomeray, holding the same of King Richard II in chief by knight service, and by name of John de la Pomeray son and heir of Henry de la Pomeray gave the same to William de Horbury parson of Ipplepen, Richard Holrygge vicar of Brixham, John Papylwyke parson of Lookessore, Reynold vicar of Biry Pomeray, John Hille, John Wadham, Thomas de la Pomeray, William Caunton and Richard Aysshe and to their heirs, that those feoffees were thereof seised, that William Caunton after died, that the survivors with licence of the king gave the said manor to the said John Pomeray and Joan(de Merton)  then his wife and to the heirs of their bodies, with remainder to the right heirs of John Pomeray, that John Pomeray and Joan were thereof seised by the form of that gift, and continued their estate all the life of John Pomeray, that he died seised jointly with her without issue by her, that she overlived him, and continued her estate until Ascension day 8 Henry V, on which date without licence of the king she made a surrender of the said manor, and grant of her estate therein, to Thomas de la Pomeray, Joan his wife and John Cole, being the right heirs of John Pomeray (as aforesaid), and to their heirs, and that by virtue of her surrender they were thereof seised; and for a fine paid in the hanaper on 20 November 8 Henry V the late king pardoned the trespasses herein committed, and on 20 July following for a fine therein paid respited the homage of John Cole until a day now past, and commanded livery to be given him of the said manor; and the king has taken his homage. By p.s. [986.]

Memorandum of acknowledgment, 26 January.

Joan Bithewater to Thomas Bithewater chaplain, Master John Stokes clerk of the chancery, William Norton esquire and Robert Forster 'gentilman,' both of Westminster (London). Middlesex, their heirs and assigns.

Gift during her life of a yearly rent of 10l. 13s. 4d., reciting a writing, dated Meynbury (Membury) 20 March 9 Henry VI, ( 1431) whereby Lawrence late prior of Goldeclyve and the convent gave to her and William Pomerey now deceased the manor of Meynbury otherwise Membury in Devon for their lives and the life of the longest liver, a writing indented, dated Meynbury 24 March 9 Henry VI,

whereby the said Joan and William made a grant of their whole estate in the said manor to the prior and convent and to their successors,  subject to a yearly rent of £10. 13s. 4d. payable to them for their lives and the life of the longest liver, the death of the said William, and that she is sole surviving.

Witnesses: Richard Walsshe 'gentilman,' John Savage, Simon Croulonde, Robert Hough, John Faw . . . Dated Monday after Midsummer 18 Henry VI.

Aldermen of the City of London, 1422 circa Oct was John atte Water (Bithewater), Goldsmith – in Farringdon Within ward - 1422-8. Sheriff 1424-5.)

With two others, Pomeray stood as mainpernor for freeing a certain John James, held of the sheriffs of London  in 1406, 

In 1422 was mainpernors for Geoffrey Mugge in commitmet to him of Milton Demarel.

The limited concern of Pomeray with Membury manor and the prior of Goldcliff (to 1406) was covered by Powley v. pp 65 and 83).

In 1408 he gave the “mainprise” church of Docking, Norfolk to John Braham, knight, and T. Audermer, chaplain.  

A2A Devon Record Office  3799M-0/ET/13/1  1377 Contents:  Power of attorney

1. John of la Pomeray knt. 2. William Bythewatere To give seison to:

3. William la Pomeray, Nicholas la Pomeroy, (brothers & 2nd & 3rd sons of the 4th Henry Pomeroy by his 1st wife Johanna Moels)  James of Chuddelegh,  Nicholas of Kyrkham, Adam Cole, (later bro’in law’) John Blake of Loddeforde, Richard Foldhey and Hugh Harewill

Premises: all those manors, advowsons, churches, land and tenements in Hywysh (Huish), Stouford, [ ]bury, Bourlonde, Croude (Crowdy, in Harberton), Wayshborne (Washbourne) and Alhalghenelegh (Allaleigh ( Hawley) in Cornworthy) which John Pomeroy had by gift and feoffment of William Hywysch

Date: Monday after the Nativity of St John the Baptist, 1 Richard II

NOTES  - 1427 John Bithewater goldsmith. MPs Tavistock 1390 (Jan.) WALTER MILEMEAD & JOHN BITHEWATER

The manor belonged to the Courtenays, passed to the Drakes, and now belongs to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Yarty, now a farmhouse, was the seat of the Yarty family; Waterhouse, anciently called Waters, was the seat of the De la Water family. Membury Castle is a well-preserved ancient British camp of about 2 acres on a hill

A tax survey of Membury in 1324 noted a manor court house and two mills, and payment to a ‘clerik’.  The Manor reverted to the Crown in 1414 when the alien priories were suppressed, and subsequently it was granted to the Duke of Warwick who annexed it to the Abbey of Tewkesbury.

Membury is three miles north west of Axminster in East Devon and  Goldcliff owned lands at Membury and most of the surrounding area.   

The Manor of Membury appears in the Doomsday Book, 1086, valued at 10 shillings  ( C21st = 50P).

Lord of the manor in 1086 was Tenant-in-chief: William the goat ( Cheivre ) half brother of Ralph de Pomeray who also had  Smallridge which is close by as  Lord of the manor & tenant in chief .

In the middle ages the parish began to be settled sheep farming country and by 1635 was  “Famous for it’s cheese”. A document of 1550 records Membury Court as the Manor House.

It is interesting to note that the History of Parliament site tell us.. by February 1400, Sir Thomas Pomeroy had become a farmer of Oakford, Devon, by Exchequer lease, and four years later he was granted a share in the custody of lands at Membury, which, however, he surrendered in 1406.

(Oakford os  5251 acres of land between the Exe and one of its tributary streams  8 miles north of Tiverton & about 25 miles south east of Membury  )

His annuity was to be confirmed by Henry V and by Henry VI’s council. Such liberality depended upon loyal service, and his standing may also be gauged by the willingness of the Lancastrian kings to exonerate him from the debts he owed as sheriff of Devon. 

Historic England  

The below ground remains of the former medieval chapel at Membury Court, Membury, Devon, is included on the Schedule for the following principal reasons: * Period/ Representativity: this is a representative example of a medieval manorial chapel with reasonable survival for its type and locality; * Rarity: early-medieval chapel sites are relatively uncommon; * Survival/ Condition: archaeological evaluation has demonstrated that part of the footings survives reasonably well; * Potential: the site has potential for adding to our understanding of medieval construction techniques and the evolution of early medieval manorial sites.

History

There is evidence of Romano-British occupation in the vicinity of Membury Court, and a Roman villa site was excavated in the field to the north of the former medieval chapel in 2014. At Domesday (1086), Membury Court was the manor house of the Manor of Membury, and was given to Goldcliff Priory in Monmouthshire by owner Robert de Chandos in 1113. Under the priory it was farmed by various individuals, possibly including Benedictines. A tax survey of Membury in 1324 noted a manor court house and two mills, and payment to a ‘clerik’. Although there was no mention of a chapel it is thought to have been constructed in the late C13/ early C14. The Manor reverted to the Crown in 1414 when the alien priories were suppressed, and subsequently it was granted to the Duke of Warwick who annexed it to the Abbey of Tewkesbury. The Manor of Membury was presented by the Crown to the Dean and Chapter of Windsor in 1474, and continued in their possession until it was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1867. The earliest surviving fabric within the house at Membury Court, in the medieval hall house roof, probably dates to the late C14 or early C15. The chapel was altered in the C15, with the insertion of a first floor, possibly when the adjacent hall house was extended to the east.

The first reference to a chapel on the site is in a 1560 survey when Membury Court was under the ownership of the Chace or Chase family, which states “cum capella adiacent” (“with adjacent chapel”).

Appointed by the Abbey of Bec in 1439, Laurence  de Bonville- was a Controversial Prior . As the legal prior he successfully appealed for the restoration, to the monastery, of its Devon Manor of Membury. Shortly afterwards he was summoned by Abbey of Bec on a charge of embezzling money from the priory’s revenues. Lawrence refused to go and was excommunicated by the abbot, who complained to the commissioners for the alien priories.

Bonneville mentioned the annexation of the Priory by Tewkesbury Abbey. It was not a peaceful thing. The eight monks of Bec still living in the Priory were ‘violently expelled’ by Sit Thomas Herbert and a crowd of men-at-arms and ‘thereby caused to wander about England’.

The Pope (1445) thereafter ordered the archbishops of Canterbury , Worcester and Hereford to restore Lawrence to the Priory, to test his allegiance and if found to be true, to excommunicate Sir Thomas Herbert and the other offenders. How effective the papal ruling was cannot be known. What is known is that the monks of Tewkesbury were expelled from Goldcliff by the Welsh uprisings of Glyndwr in 1445, although they returned in 1447.

MONASTIC WALES