THE

HE surname of PELHAM was taken from a lordship so called in Hertfordshire, where anciently was a castle, the owner of which, in 1265, was amerced 401. for a contempt in not coming to an inquest to be taken concerning a trespass of the mint. This lordship of Pelham is recorded to be part of the possessions of Walter de Pelham, in 21 Edward I. and it is probable, his ancestors possessed it before the conquest; for, in Doomsday-Book it appears, that Ralph held, of the Bishop of London, two hides and a half in Pelham,b the possession of two Thanes; one under the protection of Anschil Waras, and the other of Godwine Benefell, in the reign of Edward the Confessor. Also after him was another Ralph de Pelham, who held, of the Bishop of London, a Knight's fee, in the same county of Hertford, as is evident from the certificates of Knights fees in the reign of Henry II. and Jordan de Pelham, his son, held it in the reign of King John, It also appears, that the Pelicans, the arms of this family, were painted in the church of Pelham.

The before-mentioned WALTER de Pelham died seised of the said manor of Pelham, also the manor of Cottenham, in Kent, and the manor of Twinsted, in Essex, in 1292, and left William, his son and heir, upwards of the age of fifteen years; as also Walter de Pelham, second son.

The said WILLIAM de Pelham, and Margery his wife, in 28

a Madox's Hist. of the Exchequer, p. 395, & Memorand. in Scac. 49 Hen. III. Rot. 19, in Compot. Vic. Essex & Hert.

b Chauncey's Hist. of Hertfordshire, p. 140.

Ex Stemmate facto A. D. 1632, per Joh. Philpot Somerset Fecial.
d Esc. 21 Edward I. No. 39.

Edward I. delivered seisin to John, son of Richard de Plesingho, of forty acres of land, three acres of meadow, 14d. rent, and two parts of a messuage, lying within Wellinghale, and Rokele, and died without issue.

WALTER de Pelham, his brother, had a confirmation grant from William le Hupere, of one messuage, with gardens, pastures, &c. in the parish of Heylesham, in Sussex, and one messuage at Escetune, with lands, &c. extending from Heylesham to Horsye; as also the lands of the Eagle, and one piece of land, with wood and meadow, called Stony-Land, and one piece of wood called Hedge-grove, one parcel of land called West-Field, and others called Stoke, and Hamme; the said Walter, his heirs and assigns, to hold them in capite, paying fifteen-pence halfpenny annual rent; which William le Mass, Nicholas Aupey, Nicholas Wygge, Margery Wareman, Henry de Garlondo, Gilbert de Berewyke, and their predecessors paid: dated at Heylesham, the 3d of the nones of August, in 28 Edward I. When this Walter died, I do not find, but Thomas de Pelham,5 his son and heir, was a witness to a deed without date, of Lawrence Lecole, concerning lands in the parish of Waldern, and was living in 2 Edward II. as appears by another deed. And in that reign, was John de Pelham, of whom Humphry Stracy complains, in a petition to the parliament, in 1320, that he had divers goods, &c. for the King's use, and that no payment had been made for them; and praying relief, it was ordered, That a writ be granted to the Steward and Marẻ shal of the King's household to do him justice.

Another THOMAS de Pelham (son of the former, as Philpot, Somerset-herald, asserts), is mentioned in a deed dated at Warbleton, in Sussex, on the vigil of St. Philip and St. James, in 1346, and left issue a son, John de Pelham.

Which JOHN was a person of great fame in the reign of Edward III, and in memory of his valiant acts, his figure in armour, with the arms of the family on his breast, was painted in glass, in the chapter-house at Canterbury, being (it is probable), a benefactor to the cathedral, or was buried there. He attended that victorious monarch in his wars with the French, and was a competitor in taking John, King of France, prisoner, at the battle of Poictiers, in 1356. Froyssart gives an account, that with the

k

e Assizæ in diversis Comitat. An. 28 & 29 Edward I. Rot. 3.

f Ex Eviden. in Stemmate præd.

g Ibid.

k Chronicle, Chap 164.

h Ryley's Placita Parliament, p. 421.

i Ex Eviden. in Stem. præd.

490

King were taken, besides his son, Philip, the Earl of Tankerville, Sir Jaques of Bourbon, the Earls of Ponthieu, and Eue, wish divers other noblemen, who being chased to Poictiers, the town shut their gates against them, not suffering any to enter; so that divers were slain, and every Englishman had four, five, or six prisoners; and the press being great to take the King, such as knew him, cried, Sir, yield, or you are dead: whereupon, as the Chronicle relates, he yielded himself to Sir Dennis Morbeck, a Knight of Artois, in the English service, and being afterwards forced from him, more than ten Knights and Esquires challenged the taking of the King. Among these, Sir Roger la Warr, and the before-mentioned John de Pelham, were most concerned; and in memory of so signal an action, and the King's surrendering his sword to them, Sir Roger la Warr, Lord la Warr,' had the crampet, or chape of his sword, for a badge of that honour; and John de Pelham (afterwards knighted), had the m buckle of a belt, as a mark of the same honour, which was sometimes used by his descendants as a seal-manual, and at others the said buckles on each side a cage; being an emblem of the captivity of the said King of France, and was therefore borne for a crest; as in those times was customary. The buckles, &c. were likewise used by his descendants, in their great seals, as is evident from several of them appendant to old deeds.

The said John de Pelham was so well esteemed by John de Vere, Earl of Oxford (who was also" at the battle of Poictiers), that he constituted him one of the executors of his last will and testament, dated at Bentley, in Essex, on Friday, the feast of AllSaints, in 33 Edward III. Likewise, for his prudence, valour, and fidelity, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, chose him one of his P Esquires; and attending him in his wars, the honour of knighthood was conferred on him a before the 43d of Edward III. for July 29th, that year, 1369, Sir John Sutton, Knight, and Thomas Teuwe, constituted Sir John Pelham, Knight, their attorney, to deliver seisin of the manor of Laughton, and hundred of Shiplake, in the county of Sussex, to Thomas de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and Chamberlain of England. William Witelsey, Arch

1 Leigh's Accedence of Armoyre, 1576, fol. 51.

m Ex Script. præf. Joh. Philpot.

n Tho. Wals. p. 162. n. 30.

• Ex Regist. vocat. Islip. p. 159, 6 in Offic. Princip. Cantuar. apud Lambeth. P Vis. de Com. Suss. per J. Philpot, Somerset, in Bibl. Harley, Not. 65. B. 10.

p. 61.

↑ Ex Eviden. hujus Fam. in Stemmate præd.

bishop of Canterbury, on March 8th, 1379-80, ordains his best beloved Knight, John de Pelham, master and surveyor of his whole demesnes, woods, and fisheries, in the bailyship of Stoneham, with full power to punish all malefactors, and others, acting contrary to custom, and the peace of the realm. Sir John had certain lands and houses in Winchelsea, in marriage with Joan, daughter to Vincent Herbert, alias Finch, ancestor to the present Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, and was succeeded by a son of his own name,

JOHN de Pelham, who was no less famous than his father, for his many great achievements and honourable exploits, being, from his youth, in the service of Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby (son of the before-mentioned Duke of Lancaster), afterwards King of England, by the name of Henry IV. Which Duke of Lancaster, in 17 Richard II. Knowing and confiding in the loyalty and discretion of his most dear, and well-beloved, John Pelham, Esquire, to his said son, grants to him the office of Constable of his castle of Pevensey, during life, with the fees, wages, &c. thereto belonging; given under his seal, in the castle of Hertford, December 7th, in the aforesaid year. He was also Esquire to the Duke of Lancaster himself, as appears by indenture made between them, bearing date at London, February 16th, wherein he had a grant from the said Duke, of all his lands in the marshes of Pevensey, with the lands, tenements, messuages, &c. thereto belonging; and, it is probable, that he attended the Duke into France and Gascoigne, on his being with "King Richard, at his meeting with Charles VI. King of France, at Guynes, in October 1396; for the said John Pelham constitutes John Collebrond, of Borham; John Sqwyer, of Pevensey; and John Master, of Westham, his attornies, to receive and pay for him, in his name, and take the rents of all his lands in Sussex, by deed dated at Pevensey, on the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle, that year, 20 Richard II. whereunto was his seal appendant, quarterly three Pelicans, and a Fess between two Chevrons.

About two years after, when the discontented Nobility, Gentry, and Commons of the nation, invited Henry, Duke of Lancaster, from his banishment, in order to the deposal of King Richard, this John Pelham stood firm to his old master; and landing with him at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, July 4th, 1399, attended on him

Ex Stemmate & MS. de Famil. de Finch.
Ex cop. Origin. per J. Philpot.

Ex Orig. Pat.17. R. II.

u Tho. Walsing. 388. No. 4.

* Ex Cop. Origin. præd.

till he obtained the crown, September 29th, that year; as is evident from the following letter (the original of which was in the possession of his Grace the late Duke of Newcastle), of his Lady to him, July 25th, from Pevensey-castle, which she bravely defended in the absence of her Lord.

"My dere Lord, I recommande me to yowr hie Lordeschipp wyth hert and body and all my pore mygth, and wyth all this I think zow, as my dere Lorde, derest and best yloved off all erthlyche Lordes; I say for me, and thanke yhow my dere Lord, with all thys that I say before, off your comfortable lettre, that ze send me from Pownefraite, that com to me on Mary Magdaleyn day; ffor by my trowth I was never so gladd as when I herd by your lettre, that ye warr stronge ynogh wyth the grace off God, for to kepe yow fro the malyce of your ennemys. And dere Lord iff it lyk to your hyee Lordeschipp that als son als ye mycht, that I myght her off your gracious spede, whyche God Allmyghty contynue and encresse. And my dere Lord iff it lyk zow for to know off my ffare, I am here by layd in manner off a sege, with the counte of Sussex, Sudray, and a great parcyll off Kentte; so that Iue may noght out, nor none vitayles gette me, bot wt myche hard. Wharfore my dere iff it lyk zow, by the awyse off zowr wyse counsell, for to sett remedye off the salvation off yhower castell, and w stand the malyce off ther schires foresayde. And also that ye be fullyche enformed off there grett malyce wyrkers in these schyres, whyche y1 haffts so dispytffuly wrogth to zow, and to zowr castell, to yhowr men, and to zour tenaunts ffore this cuntree, have yai wastede for a gret whyle. Fare wele my dere Lorde, the Holy Trinyte zow kepe fro zowr ennemys, and son send me gud tythyngs off yhow. Ywryten at Pevensay in the castell, on Saynt Jacobe day last past. By yhowr awnn pore J. Pelham.

Thus directed

To my trew Lorde.

Which service is recited in the patent of King Henry IV. dated at Westminster, February 12th, 1400; and in consideration thereof, his Majesty granted to him, and his heirs male, the office of Constable of the castle of Pevensey, with the honour of the Eagle; and all those his manors, lands, tenements, rents, services,

y Pat. 1 Henry IV. ex Script. J. Philpot.