Sir Thomas 1503-1566
the last Baron Pomeroy of Berry Pomeroy



Thomas was son & heir of Sir Edward Pomeroy by his wife Joanna Merton b. 1503  He married to Johanna Edgecombe daughter of Sir Piers Edgecombe of Cotehele Manor;
now a National Trust property & national treasure well worth a visit .
 Thomas Pomeroy Esq., attended  Henry VIII  at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520  . Henry VIII died in Jan 1547 & in the autumn of that year Thomas was knighted after the battle of Pinkie Cluegh  on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, in Scotland.


In June 1520, intending to establish a political alliance with France,  Henry VIII, with his 1st wife, the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, & accompanied by virtually the entire English court, sailed across the English Channel for a meeting with the French King, François I, near Calais; 

Calais was a valued possession of the English Crown & a significant Staple town & remained so until 1558 when his daughter  Queen MaryTudor lost it.

 In modern terms the Field of the Cloth of Gold was a humungous pissing contest on a scale that only the youthful vigorous Henry VIII could manage - AJP


These were two rival monarchs, both of whom prided himself on the splendour of his court. King Henry had a magnificent  pavilion built , a temporary palace of wood and canvas, with ‘windows upon windows upon windows’ where fine malmsey wine & claret flowed from drinking fountains. He  spent in excess of £13,000 on the splendour of the occasion and took 5,000 people including ten chaplains, to attend him. He ordered each priest to be clothed in damask & satin; each to be followed by his own attendants, not exceeding ten persons &  four horses. The meeting lasted for three weeks during which time both courts strove to outdo each other in offering splendid entertainments and making grandiose gestures.   The hugely ostentatious display of wealth and power earned the meeting the sobriquet "The Field of the Cloth of Gold". 

Two years later King Henry VIII of England declared war on France.

At home  on 1539  Baron Thomas Pomeroy Esq., organised the marriage of his younger brother Hugh of Tregony and the marriage settlement was drafted by Sir John Russell.
Hugh Pomeroy wife was to be  Johan Borman or Bowerman the niece to Sir JohnRussel Earl of Bedford.  This settlement served as an entail which saved Tregony and Stockleigh Pomeroy from the sale of 1547 coming into play many years later, bringing Tregony back into the hands of Roger Pomeroy, of Sandridge


DRO 1539 - Contents: Marriage settlement

1. Sir John Russell knt., Lord Russell & President of the King's Council in the west parts of England

2. Sir Thomas Pomeroy of Berry Pomeroy, esq.  

Covenants: Hugh Pomeroy, brother of  SirThomas is to marry Johan Borman one of the daughters of Nicholas Bormann esq., & niece of  Sir John Russell.
Sir Thomas Pomeroy Esq is to grant to Hugh &  Johan his manor of Stockleigh Pomeroy, to be held by them & the heirs male of Hugh, also the  manor of Tregoney in Cornwall to be held by Hugh & his heirs' male after the death of Thomas Pomeroy,  who is also to  grant to Hugh &  Johan an annuity of £4.

If  Thomas Pomeroy  dies without heirs male of his body then all his manors & lands are to remain to Hugh  & his heirs male of the body & for default of heirs, to William Pomeroy, another brother of Thomas.

 Sir John Russell paid Thomas Pomeroy £100 & then  paid £5 on the wedding day of Hugh and Johan, with a further £50 at the following  Michaelmas.

Sir Thomas Pomeroy certainly ran up considerable debt over a long period but all men of rank did. He may have been an extravagant man, or he may have inherited debts from his father. Debts incurred  and the mortgage with his friend Carew  he had with whilst the castle was built by his great grand father and his grandfather, or it may have been that the financial burden of running a new castle was too much, we cannot be sure.
The fact that his wife Joanna Edgecombe's step mother , his mother in law Lady Catherine St John, 2nd Lady Edgecombe was lady inthe court of Henry VIII may have contributed .  She was the widow of Sir Piers Edgcumbe,& one of the many ladies at the Tudor Court.  She was a Lady-in-Waiting  to at least two of the queens of Henry VIII in 1540 ; 
Baron Thomas Pomeroy and his wife  Joanna Edgecumbe , might have attended the extravagant Court of Henry under her patronage ; this might account for some of his debts to London merchants, merchant tailors, the fishmonger , etcetera.


https://sites.google.com/site/pomeroytwigs2/home

Date: 1528 Jun 25

Debtor: Thomas Pomeroy, of Berry Pomeroy in Devon.[Haytor Hundred], esquire, the son and heir apparent of Edward Pomeroy of Bury Pomeroy, knight, and William Sachefild, otherwise called William Sakefild, formerly of Laverton [Frome Hundred, Somerset.], gentleman.

Creditor: Oliver Leder, citizen and fishmonger [merchant] of London.

Amount: 100 marks Before whom: Thomas Seymer, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster.

When taken: 04/12/1527 First term: 01/06/1528 Last term: 01/06/1528  Writ to: Sheriff of [Devon., Somerset]

Sent by: Thomas Seymer, knight, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster.

Endorsement: Cornub' Devon' Somers' Dors' London' Midd' Coram domino Rege in Cancellaria sua in quindena sancti Michaelis.

Before whom: Thomas Seymer, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster.

When taken: 08/02/1528 First term: 24/06/1528 Last term: 24/06/1528

Writ to: Sheriff of Devon Sent by: Chancery.

Endorsement: John Chamond, Sheriff, replies that Thomas Pomeroy and Philip Carew were not found in the bailiwick.

Note: Inquisition and return: Date to be returned: 20/01/1530.


Attached is the inquisition made at Exeter on 14/01/1530 before John Chamond, Sheriff: Thomas Pomeroy and Philip Carew had no goods or chattels, lands

or tenements in Devon. Date: 1529 Nov 12

 and again Date: 1528 Jul 21

Debtor: Thomas Pomeroy, of Berry Pomeroy {Bury Pomery} [Haytor Hundred] in Devon., esquire, the son and heir apparent of Edward Pomeroy, knight, and Philip Carewe, one of the sons of William Carewe of Mohun's Ottery {Mownesawtre} in [Axminster Hundred] Devon., knight.

Creditor: James Danyell, citizen and merchant-tailor of London.

Amount: £100.  Before whom: Thomas Seymer, knight, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster.and Merchant Fishmonger

When taken: 08/02/1528 First term: 24/06/1528 Last term: 24/06/1528

Writ to: Sheriff of Devon Sent by: Thomas Seymer, knight, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster.

Endorsement: Devon' Coram domino Rege in Cancellaria sua in quindena sancti Martini.


THOMAS 1529

C 241/281/91 

Debtor: Thomas Pomerey of Berry Pomeroy {Pomerey} in [Haytor Hundred] Devon, esquire, the son and heir apparent of Edward Pomerey, knight,
and Philip Carewe, the son of William Carewe of Mohuns Ottery {Mounesawtre} in [Axminster Hundred] Devon, knight. 

Creditor: Rowland Hill, citizen and mercer [merchant] of London. Amount: £300 

Before whom: Thomas Seymer, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster, and the Constables. 

When taken: 20/02/1528 First term: 12/04/1528 Last term: 12/04/1528 Writ to: Sheriff of [Devon] 

Sent by: Thomas Seymer, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster.

Endorsement: London, Middx., Devon, Somerset. 

Before the Lord King in his Chancery, returnable on the quindene of Easter next. 

1529 Nov 25 


Date 1530 The National Archives, Kew

Debtor: Thomas Pomeroy, of Berry Pomeroy [Haytor Hundred, Devon.], esquire, the son and heir of Edward Pomeroy, knight, and Philip Carew, one of the sons of William Carew, of Mohun Ottery {Mownesawtre} in Devon. [Luppitt Parish, Axminster Hundred], knight.

Creditor: James Daniel, a citizen and merchant-tailor of London.

Amount: £100.

Ultimately it seems the burden of debt became too much and Sir Thomas was forced to sell the Castle with its surrounding estate as well as other lands which made up the barony of Berry Pomeroy. When Sir Thomas Pomeroy sold the baronial lands of Berry Pomeroy he dispossessed his heirs and severed the link to their heritage.

On  31 January 1547  Sir Thomas were sold the  estates of Berry Pomeroy the buyer was  king Edward's uncle,
Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and the Lord Protector, who in 1457 bought it all for £4000, and paid off the mortgage to Carew.

Although the castle had only been built & occupied for about 80 years by this act there ended 600 years of baronial influence and prestige for the Pomeroy family of Berry Pomeroy. The Pomeroys were no longer Barons they were now Gentry.

DRO -1547/8

Contents:Copy conveyance between Edward, Duke of Somerset and Sir Thomas Pomeroy; the Duke has paid Sir Thomas's debts to Sir Wymond Carew and Sir Thomas conveys to the Duke the castle and park of Berry Pomeroy and the manors of Berry Pomeroy, Bridgetown Pomeroy, Harberton, Brixham, Saunderidge, Will and Edlisford; the Duke covenants to convey to Sir Thomas manors and lands in Devon with a yearly value of £148; if the yearly value of the castle, park and manors is greater than £224, the Duke is to convey other lands in Devon to make up the value, 1547

DRO 16th cent
Contents:

Copy covenant between Edward, Duke of Somerset and Sir Thomas Pomeroy; Sir Thomas covenants to levy a fine of the castle and park of Berry Pomeroy and the manors of Berry Pomeroy, Bridgetown Pomeroy and Harberton;

the Duke covenants to levy a fine of the manors of Brixham, Saunderige, Will and Eglisford to Sir Thomas and Dame Jane his wife for their lives, with remainder to Thomas Pomeroy their eldest son and the lawful heirs of his body, and for default of issue, remainder to Arthur their second son and the lawful heirs of his body;

the Duke is also to convey the manors of Parkham and Lancrasse which were late the possessions of Henry, Earl of Bridgewater, excepting to the Duke the advowsons of the churches of Lancrasse and Parkham;

the Duke is also to obtain letters patent from the king at his expense, to convey to Sir Thomas the lands and possessions of the late chantry of Plympton, the manor and possessions in Devon and Cornwall belonging to the late chantries of Shyllingham and Trayne and the lands and possessions of the late chantry of Combe Raleigh;

the Duke is also to convey as much of his other manors and lands in Devon and Cornwall as amount, with Parkham and Lancrasse, to the yearly value of £132 15/10d., 1548

Devon Record Office: Berry Pomeroy House

In September 1547   Thomas Pomery Esq  joined with the army  that went to Scotland for Edward VI the boy king, son of Henry by Jane Seymour, sister of Edward Seymour.

 Henry VIII died 28 Jan 1547, Thomas  Pomeroy Esq sold the Barony to Edward Seymour the self appointed Earl of Somerset on 31st Jan 1547 . Thomas Pomeroy Esq was knighted by Seymour in Sept 1547 in the aftermath of the battle of Pinke Cleugh;  made a Knight Bachelor for his performance on the field of battle (an honour which ranks below Knights of the Orders of Chivalry. 

Two years later, in 1549, Thomas became involved in the Prayerbook Rebellion which was suppressed in particularly bloody fashion by Sir John Russell .
When Henry VIII died in 1547 his son, 10 years old Edward VI, succeeded him. His  inheritance was a formidable one and the Boy Kings uncle, the ambitious and rapacious Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset,  quickly appointed himself Lord Protector and  took over control of the realm. However the 10 year old  king  was far too young to appreciate delicacy he would need to establish a Protestant Reformation, to finish what Henry had begun, when he made the monarch head of the church.

 The Act of Uniformity in 1549,  enforced  a new Prayer Book on the ordinary people, most of whom could not read or write, & who learned the Mass by heart, they regarded it as the priest's role to understand the words. 
The new act decreed there were to be no more Latin mass with candles, holy water and holy water. All the familiar images of faith were to be removed.
In the West the Cornish, particularly the pure Cornish-speaking Celts, quickly become as fanatically attached to the Roman Church as they had bitterly opposed to it a few centuries before. Superstitious and conservative they feared change, but most of all they resented the huge transformation in the practice of their religion that was being ordered from far away  London.

On Whitsunday in  1549 at  Stanford Courtney in Devon the parishioners forced their priest to say the Latin mass.
The revolt spread quickly and in Bodmin, a natural centre for resistance, people gathered in rebellion led by the mayor, Henry Bray, and two staunchly Catholic landowners, Sir Humphrey Arundel of Helland and John Winslade of Tregarrick.

 A running battle ensued all across the West Country with skirmish after skirmish being fought by ordinary  men against the "Kings Men' led by Sir John Russell .
John Hooker the Exeter historian wrote "The fight was very sharp and cruel...for the Cornishmen were very lusty and fresh and fully bent to fight out the matter.
On 3rd August 1549  Russell ordered  his troops to strike along a ridge towards Woodbury. They forced a passage of the river at Clyst St Mary, and there he gave the order to slaughter all the prisoners they had taken. On 5th of August the final engagement came, and the rebels were outmanoeuvred and surrounded. There was a great slaughter and a cruel fight, the valour and stoutness of these rebels such that Lord Grey reported that , never in all the wars that he had seen, had he encountered the like.  In the final encounter near Exeter the rebels were out-manoeuvred and the slaughter terrible. Defeated , they fled up the Exe valley to be overtaken by Sir Gawen Carew, who left their leaders hanging on gibbets from Dunster to Bath.
Some 4,000 Cornishmen were killed in this uprising, which, together with another 1,000 or so who were hanged afterwards,  approximately one in ten of the population of Cornwall.
  Sir Humphrey Arundell, John Wynslade, Winter and Thomas Holmes were taken to the Tower and later tried at Westminster Hall where the ringleaders were convicted to be executed;  hanged, drawn and quartered at Tybyrn. Little was recorded not even the first names of many of those taken to the Fleet prison are known.  Wise ,Harris, John Bury and Fortescue were probably released, after payment of a hefty fine and became outcast from their 'cosy' life landed Catholic gentlemen 
Sir Thomas Pomeroy, appears to have betrayed his companions and survived. He was incarcerated in the Flete /Fleet prison, a very nasty place indeed .Then   in 1552  he was released on licence on a surety of 44s /5½  (£2 /4s/ 5 ½) and his bond to mend his 'popish' ways.
Its unclear where he and his family went to live  it could have been Landcross and Parkham in North Devon

A lucky escape or a case of Who Do You Know ?   His 'lucky escape' may have been due in part to the fact that Lord Russell, who quelled the insurrection, was the same man who had arranged the marriage settlement of his brother Hugh Pomeroy of Tregony in 1539.
Or could it be that Thomas, to save his skin,  was willing to betray those with whom he had once ridden in rebellion ...?




As for the pardon of Pomeroy, ...we would grant that if he apprehends Arundell or Underhill or some of the others.... and  renounces his popish ways ...' and persuade others to do the same?


Further research revealed that this referred to the famous, (or infamous, depending on which side you were on) Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset  & Protector of England gathered the English army at Berwick

He marched his force of around 18,000 men north, along the east coast road to Edinburgh, closely supported by a fleet of 30 warships. Somerset's army was partly composed of the traditional county levies, summoned by Commissions of Array. 


These Englishmen armed with longbows and bills as they had been at the Battle of Flodden, thirty years before. 

There were also several hundred foreign mercenary arquebusiers, (men armed with an early long barrelled rifle,) a large and well-appointed artillery train, and 6,000 cavalry. The cavalry were commanded by Lord Grey of Wilton, as High Marshal of the Army, and the infantry by the Earl of Warwick, Lord Dacre of Gillesland, and Somerset himself.   There were around 16,800 fighting men and 1,400 "pioneers"

They crossed the border and marched north on the main east coast route, supported and supplied by the English fleet.  In response the Earl of Arran mustered northern Scottish forces. Once aware of the English route, Arran marched to block their approach at the crossing of the Esk near the coast at Musselburgh.

On the 9th September the English approached from the east and camped at Prestonpans.

On the 10th of September the main action began with a charge by the English cavalry which was driven off by the Scottish pikemen.Ultimately it was a resounding defeat for the Scots and the English offered precious little mercy to the retreating Scots. Estimates claim Scots lost around 6,000 men earning this epic defeat the title of 'Black Saturday'.

The battle  of Pinkie Cleugh was the last great battle between the two kingdoms before they became united under the rule of a single monarch

For those interested in battles there are several maps to download regarding the battlefield of Pinkie Cleugh 

 here on the Battlefields Trust website

There is also an excellent video  report of the battle here with glimpses of contemporary maps.

A Medieval Battlefields write up on the battle here.

He gave tenure of a property occupied by William Farrowe of Shillingham ( which is Exeter) to John Younge of London . meaning he forfeited the rents from this property

In 1552 he gave the manor of Gidcott in Milton Damerell to William Chapman the younger – property jointly owned by Thomas , his wife Joan and Griffith Ameridyth an influential Exeter merchant – to whom he had sold Brixham & Sandridge in 1546


The following year he sold the manor of  Brixham  and the Barton at Sandridge to the same John Young


Thomas appears to have sold more, if not all of all, his Sandridge & Brixham properties of 6 years later

and in 1547 he sold everything else - the Barony of Berry Pomeroy its castle and its estates .

 
  Thomas who having sold the Barony to Edward Somerset Lord Protector  then bought up chanties  released in the Dissolution period  by Henry VIII .
In 1549  he got  involved in the Prayerbook Rebellion  for which Thomas was banged up in the Fleet prison  from  about 1550 until 1553 . He was released in 1553 on licence on a surety of 44s /5½  (£2 /4s/ 5 ½) and his bond to mend his 'popish' ways.
Powley

Just after Michaelmas-6 October-1552, William [Ch?]apman the younger acquired of (from) Thomas Pomerey, knight, Griffith Ameredyth and Joan his wife the manor of Gedycote (Gidcott, in Milton Damarel) and premises in Gedycote and Milton Damarel;  and, in 1553, 9 February, John Yonge of Thomas Pomerey, knight, the manor of Brixham and premises in Sandridge and Stoke Gabriel

Sir Thomas died on 1 Nov 1567 and his son, another Thomas, became head of the family.

The  children of Sir Thomas Pomeroy  &hus wife Joan Edgecombe, Lady Pomeroy :

1. Elizabeth Pomeroy b 1530 who married Nicholas Bennett of Chudleigh

2. Thomas Pomeroy  b. 1543 who married Honor Rolle
The heir who carried the line to Sandridge & Brixham

3. Jane Pomeroy who married Thomas Floyer of Totnes, son of Floyer of   Floyerhayse in St Thomas's Exeter, Daughter Pentacost Floyer

4. Arthur Pomeroy who married Elizabeth Hutton & became Mayor of Saltash

5. Katherine Pomeroy d. 1606  married to Sir John Moore of Moorehays Manor,
 at Cullompton, Devon

6. Valentine  & 7. John both of whom seem to have died as babies


Menacuddle seen here
The well house butts tightly against the twenty foot high wall 

n the Middle Ages, the most important chapel in the area adjoined this well house, although no trace of it now remains.

Not far from St Austell there was a chantry chapel documented in Menacuddle in 1291 & dissolved in 1519. 
With its proximity to a modern road  it is a marvel that the current structure survives at all.  

Cotehele
an  unspoiled Tudor manor house

 Thomas Pomeroy Esq whose  wife  was  Honor Rolle, & their family of nine children at Beenleigh by 1600 -  He died in 1645


The next heir was Valentine and  married  1st wife Jane  Reynel  then 2nd wife Margaret Whiddon  
They were at Sandridge in Stoke Gabriel by 1645.

He had  4 children by his wife jane 2 daughters and 2 sons .  Lettice  bb 1620 died 1642;  Valentine b& died 1621 Elizabeth B 24 Nov  died  23 Nov 1622  Jane b b 1620 married Nicholas Roope of Dartmouth in 1643 ;

Valentines wife Jane died in  March 1623 & he married  his 2nd wife Margaret  Whiddon by licence in 1628;  They had 4 boys. 

Valentine who married Lucy Hody,
Roger b 1629 married Jane Wyvell /Willis dau of Joan wife of  Elias Wyvell of Saltash who left Joan and her children 40/- in her will

Gilbert who died  in 1718 . He inherited from his cousin Hugh of Tregony When he died in 1715 he left his  lands to Daniel  & George  the sons of his cousin Paul Pomeroy of Brixham 

John who drowned on the Dart with Francis Whiddon and William Martyn in 1670


By  around 1620 there may have been another house at Sandridge - there are three today (2012)


Sir Thomas Pomeroy died in November 1566 or 67 -  The family never regained their previous position as one of the leading baronial families in the westcountry.


His nephew ,Henry Pomeroy of Tregony, son of Hugh Pomeroy and Johan Bowerman,  married Elizabeth Bonython on 15 April 1600 at St Columb Major

A year later Eleanor  Bonython her sister at St Columb Major her husband was  Richard Leigh son of Mary Pomeroy and William Leigh of Leigh , grandchild of Andrew Pomeroy  and his wife Anne Matthews of the Collaton in Newton Ferrers . 


 Descendants of Sir Thomas Pomeroy seem to have settled at Sandridge near Stoke Gabriel but by 1715 the main line  died out when Joan Pomeroy married Humphrey Gilbert of Compton Castle. 



The sons of these  Pomeroys all died young ; Hugh Pomeroy of Sandridge married Anne Hody and had two daughters , Anne and Margaret  who both died in infancy, and Hugh died in 1715 without further issue.


 In the cadet line at Ingsdon in  Ilsington Parish near Ashburton 

Hugh Pomeroy and his wife Fraunces Vaughan,  was brother to Thomas Pomeroy Esq;  the last of Ingsdon

their daughter Welthen Pomeroy  Baptism  28 Jun 1648 Anglican at  Bickington - Father  Hugh Pomeroy Gent   Mother Fraunces

 December 1654  Defendants: Charles Vaughan , John Bennett and John Cosh . Subject: property in Bickington, Devon.

Document type: bill, answer. ...

Collection: Records created, acquired, and inherited by Chancery, and also of the Wardrobe, Royal Household, Exchequer and various commissions

Date range: 01 January 1654 - 31 December 1654 

Reference:C 6/125Pt2/41 Subjects Litigation


The Tregony line also 'daughtered out' that is it ceased in the male line as did  the ( land-owning) line which originated in Colleton manor in Newton Ferrers in Devon which  branched out to St Columb in Cornwall , and also did the family that lived at Ingesdon in Ilsington in Devon .


The Pomeroy's that became Irish peers , the Viscounts Harberton, stem from a cadet branch  via 3rd son of the Ilsington branch.

Genealogical forgeries such was the one created for Lord John Russell. Earl of Bedford in the 16th Century occurred in the frantic climb to power.

 A powerful man who needed a long and ancient lineage to give him credibility so he employed genealogists to find him one.

Back in the 12the century Rohese Bardolph the widow of the 2nd Henry Pomeroy married again after Henry's death. Her 2nd husband was John Russell Of Kingston Russell , a minor but old family. The manor of Kingston in Dorset was held by John Russell in-chief from the king by grand serjeanty, the particular service due to the king was originally to be Marshal of the Buttery - entry in the Book of Fees dated 1211

In the 12th century John Russell of Kingston Russell was a household knight of King John,  however his pedigree does not apparently descend to the later 16th century  John Russell, Earl of Bedford, despite the existence of historical writings and pedigrees to the contrary. 

These are now considered an invention with linkages invented in order to justify the funding, and the desire of their patron, the later lord John Russell, for a noble line back to the Conquest.

Sir John Russell , much as he wished it otherwise, did not come from  the ancient and illustrious  Earldom of Bedford .

He  was born ABT 1485,  son of James Russell of Berwick, a family of moderate standing - he climbed up through society as only the men of that time could. He married Anne  Sapcote  dau. of Sir Guy Sapcote of Hunts.He became Lord High Admiral and Lord Privy Seal, He was President of the King's Council in the west and in 1549 sent to quell the Prayerbook Rebellion, which he did with ruthless and bloody efficiency earning himself some of the lands confiscated by attainer from the rebellions leaders

Before that,  during the Dissolution, he had applied for and achieved an usually large grant of monastic lands and properties including Tavistock Abbey, the hundred of the borough and the rents from Tavistock town;  the manors and barton farms of Hurdwick , which is about 1¼ miles to the North West of Tavistock, on the minor road that leads to Brentor;  Morwell & Morewellham  in Tavistock ; Milton Abbey with Leigh Manor;  Holyeat in Brentor; Week in Milton Abbot  & Ottery in Hammerdon .

His connection to the Pomeroy is that he arranged the marriage settlement of brother of Sir Thomas ( the one who sold Berry Pomeroy & 3 years later go embroiled in the Prayerbook Rebellion ). I firmly believe Russell  helped Sir Thomas Pomeroy avoid the fate of the other leaders of the Prayerbook Rebellion of 1549.  All the other participating gentlemen were hung drawn and quartered or impoverished by fines. Sir Thomas Pomeroy was sent deprived of his lands , those that remained after the sale of the Berry barony  in 1547, and  sent to the Fleet prison for several years before being fined and released after giving his oath to reform his Popish ways. 


Marriage settlement 1539 - marriage for a price.

Bride Price - Russell paid Pomeroy £100 and a further £50 on Hugh Pomeroy and Johan Bowerman's wedding day and a further £50 at the following Michaelmas

1. Sir John Russell knt., Lord Russell and President of the King's Council in the west parts of England

2. Thomas Pomeroy of Berry Pomeroy, esq.

Covenants: Hugh Pomeroy, brother of  Thomas. is to marry Johan Bowerman one of the daughters of Nicholas Bowerman esq.