THE HOUSE OF DE LA POMERAI THE ANNALS OF THE FAMILY, which was, FROM THE CONQYEST TO 1548, SEATED AT BERi (13erry Pomeroy), in 'Devonshire, and, FROM c. 1620 TO 1719, RESIDENT AT SANDRIDGE in Stole (j-abriel, in that County:· THE STATUS OF THE LORDS OF BERi: THEIR CASTLE HOME. TOGETHER WITH MANY NOTICES OF SCIONS OF THE HOUSE AND OF OTHER BEARERS OF THE DE LA POMERAI (POMEROY) NAME. WITH APPENDIX: 1720 ONWARDS by EDWARD B. POWLEY B.A. (Lond.), M.A. (Liverpool), B.Litt. (Oxon.), F.R.Hist.S. Late R.N., Master in Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby UNIVERSITY PRESS OF LIVERPOOL HODDER & STOUGHTON, LTD, LONDON MCMXLIV THE HOUSE OF DE LA POMERAI ONLY 250 COPIES OF THIS WORK HAVE BEEN PRINTED THIS IS NO.•.....•.• Al/ rights restrtJed PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, BY WALTER LEWIS, M.A. RUINS OF BERRY POMEROY CASTLE FROM THE NORTH-EAST From an engraving by F. Nash, after J. Farington, R.A. SHIELD OF ARMS OF DE LA POMERAI, temp. EDWARD· III (v. P· 57) BY THE SAME AUTHOR The English ~vy in the <.R.!vo/ution of 1688 (with Foreword by Admiral of the Fleet EARL JELLICOE, G.C.B., O.M.) Cambridge University Press, 1928 Vicisti (Jalilaee? or <.R.!ligion in England in "To-day and To-morrow Series" Kegan Paul, I 929 e!I Hundred Years of English 'Poetry (the Cambridge continuation of Palgrave's Golden Treasury) Cambridge University Press, 1931 Macmillan, Canada (in "The St Martin's Classics"), 19 37 'ihe Laurel 'Bough-an el!nthology of Verse, 1380-1932, excluding Lyric and 'IJramatic Bell, 1934 CONTENTS • ILLUSTRATIONS • • • • • PAGE Vl INTRODUCTION. (i) The scope of this work 'The House of de la Pomerai '. (ii) Previous research upon the family. (iii) General remarks upon the materials here used. (iv) Detailed bibliographies. (v) Comment upon orthography. (vi) A note upon indexes. (vii) Acknowledgements . PAGE vii MAIN GENEALOGY. 1066-1566/7 • • • XXV CHAPTERS I. An anticipation of what, in detail, subsequent chapters will be found to record . 1 II. Heads of House 1066-1194 . 12 Members of Beri Family C. I 100-1205 . • III. Other de la Pomerais C. I l00-1230? . • 21 IV. Heads of House I 194...;1305 . • 23 Members of Beri Family 1192?-1281-. • V. Other de la Pomerais -1223-1300- . • 49 VI. Heads of House 1305-1428 . • 51 Members of Beri Family c. 1309?-1383-. • VII. Other de la Pomerais -1300?-1398?. • 70 VIII. Heads of House 1428-1496 . • 75 Members of Bery Pomeray Family -1461-1496?-. • IX. Other Pomerays -1401-1497- . • 82 X. Heads of House 1496-15 6~11 • • 86 Members of Bery Pomerey Family after 1478-1565 . • XI. The Status of the Heads of the House 1066-1548 . • 93 XII. Heads of House and other members of Bery Pomeroy Family . 97 (a) Main-to Sandridge 1566/7-1719 . • (b) via Tregony Pomeroy -1705/6-. XIII. Other Pomereys (-oys) -1504-c. 1720 . 102 XIV. The Castle . 109 APPENDIX. 1720 onwards • • • 117 INDEXES: Of personal names . • • • • 125 place names . • • • 134 minor matters . • • 135 V ILLUSTRATIONS Ruins of Berry Pomeroy castle from the north-east Engraving by F. Nash, after J. Farington, R.A. • Frontispiece Shield of arms of de la Pomerai, temp. Edward III (v. p. 57) Sketch of arms upon the seal of William de la Pomerai, knight banneret, 1330 (v. p. 58) • • page 92 Plan of the ruins of Berry Pomeroy castle • • ,, 108 H. M. Whitley, 1915 View of the castle ruins from the south-east } • . facing page 109 Seal of Henry de la Pomerai (VIII), 1351 (v. p. 56) Map of environs and ruins of Berry Pomeroy castle • • page 110 ·Gatehouse and flanking towers • . facing page 110 In the courtyard : the gatehouse and rampart walk } ,, 111 From the south-east comer: St Margaret's tower and Seymour block Along the north side: Seymour building} . • ,, 112 Seymour building: courtyard front The 'guardroom': above the gate } • • ,, 113 Looking down on the north-west corner ruins (For acknowledgements to the Devonshire Association and Country Life v. Introduction, p. xxii.) • V1 INTRODUCTION (i) The scope of this work 'The House of de la Pomerai '-(ii) previous research upon the family­ (iii) general remarks upon the materials here used-(iv) detailed bibliographies-(v) comment upon orthography-(vi) a note upon indexes-(vii) acknowledgements. (i) HE MAIN PURPOSE of this work 'The House of de la Pomerai' is that which its sub-title shows, the presentation of 'the annals of the family which was, Tfrom the Conquest to 1548, seated at Beri (Berry Pomeroy), in Devonshire, and, from c. 1620 to 1719, resident at Sandridge in Stoke Gabriel, in that county'; a discussion of ' the status of the lords of Beri ' ; a description of 'their castle home ' ; the provision of ' notices of scions of the house and of other bearers of the de la Pomerai (Pomeroy) name'. The principal part of the work is supplemented by a less detailed Appendix, '1720 onwards', reaching to the present day. (ii) It is convenient to enquire what previous writers have recorded concerning the family of de la Pomerai and to state the extent of the materials now employed. References to barons of the house of de la Pomerai who lived before the end of the twelfth century are to be found in the two columns-each of half a small folio page-which, in The Baronage of England, Dugdale accords to the family, in sentences of the Collections ... of Pole, quoted by Prince, in his ... Worthies of Devon, in part of a genealogical table in Vivian's Visitations of Cornwall ... and in retrospective paragraphs of an article by Reichel, 'Extracts from the Hundred Rolls, 3 Ed. I'; but the material so supplied is scant and approximate and, save in Reichel's para­ graphs, vitiated by the telescoping of the lives of the first two Henries of the de la Pomerai line. The writings of Dugdale, Pole, Prince, Vivian and Reichel are likewise first to be consulted by anyone desirous of compiling notices of those lords of Beri who lived after A.D. 1200. Two of Dugdale's succinct sketches are invaluable, though the conclusion of his account of the family is contracted and thin; Pole's few long genealogical sentences-reproduced exactly by Prince-Prince's own references to monumental remains in Berry Pomeroy church, Vivian's tables, in spite of serious errors, and Reichel's observations have their worth; and the short notes upon three of the de la Pomerais which Dr Moor supplies in Knights of Edward I are helpful. If the sum of information to be gathered from hitherto accomplished enquiry con­ cerning the post-1200 barons and knights of Beri be exiguous, it is none the less welcor.ae encouragement to and, at times, a valuable check for the researcher. Any collection of facts concerning de la Pomerais not heads of the house from 1066 onwards is a task which has not, it seems, so far attracted attention. (iii) One would wish to believe, but certainly not claim, that, prior to the writing up for these pages of the notices of those de la Pomerais who lived before the twelfth century ended, all relevant available sources of de la Pomerai data were examined . • • Vll The record of a member of the family who lived after 1200 may be found less definitive. From 1200 onwards, the printed excerpts and calendars of Patent, Close and Fine Rolls alone are strong and confluent authorities; and, as the bibliographical table will suggest and the notes reveal, other and valuable sources have been worked for the 1200 to 1550 lives. Yet, so long as the post-1205 Pipe Rolls, the later than 1272 Curia Regis Rolls, the Close Rolls after 1447, the Fine Rolls subsequent to 1452, the Feet of Fines for Devonshire, onward from 1369, and for Cornwall, from 1441, the Ancient Petitions of the Chancery and Exchequer, the Assize Rolls for Devonshire · and Cornwall all remain uncalendared and the Inquisitions Post Mortem (which are incompletely rendered between 1370 and 1485) rest unprinted beyond 1506, one cannot, unless able to aver that the unpublished originals of at least the forenamed series have been consulted, claim approximate finality in the 1200-1550 biographies. Only certain original rolls at the Public Record Office have been handled (v. Biblio­ graphy, infra). On the whole, it is improbable that many startling entries concerning the lives of the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and early sixteenth century de la Pomerais lie hidden in the uncalendared documents of the Public Record Office or, for that matter, in other unprinted sources, such as the archives of the College of Arms-a conclusion strengthened by the fact that a very considerable mass of printed materials (including practically all the Public Record Office publications) has been sifted, with little positive result, for relevant references ; but it must be recognized that new detail will be forthcoming to increase knowledge concerning at least the heads of the house, as fresh Record Office calendars and similar volumes appear, and that additional, if minor, 1200-1550 de la Pomerais may be discovered. No claim is advanced that the voluminous public archives, national or local, for the period 1550-1720 have been systematically searched; yet it is hoped that no obvious and easily accessible unprinted or printed source has been neglected. Enumeration of the Pomeroys from 1550 to 1720 could, no doubt, be extended by examination of parish registers, or ·their transcripts, for places of known Pomeroy domicile ( chiefly in Devonshire and Cornwall), of wills in local and central registries (mainly in Exeter and London) and by scrutiny of other sources that readily suggest themselves to the genealogist.