Thomas St Clere

Thomas was the younger son of Sir Philip St Clere and his wife Margaret de Loveyne. At an enquiry held on 6 March 1423/4 to assess whether Thomas had reached the age of majority, a total of twelve witnesses testified that he had been born at East Grinstead on 28 October 1401 and baptised at the church there on the same day.[1] Thomas’ parents died during his childhood and their property was inherited by their oldest son, John St Clere. However, John in turn died on 2 November 1418, at which stage his younger brother Thomas became his heir. The extensive range of properties that Thomas inherited were situated in a total of eight counties – Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk and Surrey.[2]

Thomas St Clere married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Hoo and his wife Alice St Omer. Thomas was still a minor in the wardship of Henry V at the time of his marriage but the necessary licence had not obtained from the King. On 5 February 1422/3, a pardon was granted to Sir John Pelham who had arranged the marriage.[3] The record of this pardon states that John had been ordered to have Thomas unmarried before the King in Chancery at a certain day but, nevertheless, John caused Thomas to be married in the meantime; this suggests that the marriage probably took place fairly soon before the pardon was granted, probably in 1422. On 8 February 1423/4, Thomas paid £200 to Henry VI in order to be forgiven for his own involvement in the irregularity.[4]

Thomas and Margaret were the parents of:

• Elizabeth St Clere – married William Lovell
• Eleanor St Clere – married Sir John Gage
• Edith St Clere – married Sir Richard Harcourt

There is some evidence that Thomas followed a military career. On 2 March 1429/30 he had protection granted to him for one year in order to "proceed to the king's parts of France" in the company of Sir Roger Fenys. "Letters of protection" were issued to protect people who were going abroad for approved purposes from being maliciously sued in the King's courts. However, in due course the Sheriff of Oxfordshire reported that Thomas was still lingering in that county, as result of which the protection was revoked on 1 November 1430.[5] It seems likely that Sir Roger Fenys was the fellow Sussex landowner, also recorded as "Sir Roger Fiennes", who later built Herstmonceaux Castle.[6]

An inquisition held at Thame, Oxfordshire on 9 November 1435 about his property holdings reported that Thomas died overseas.[7] It is feasible that Thomas could have been one of the army commanded by John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, another major Sussex landowner, which was defeated with considerable loss of life at the Battle of Gerberoy on 9 May 1435.

Thomas had no son, so his three daughters were co-heirs to the extensive properties that he held at the time of his death in 1435. A number of inquisitions took place in 1435-1439 to investigate the extent of his property ownership.[8] Although these sources all agree that Thomas died in 1435, they differ as to whether the date was 6 May, 2 August or 7 September.

When he was still living, Thomas had transferred much if not all of his property to trustees for the use (i.e. benefit) of him and his heirs. The purpose of these transactions was to defraud the King of custody of the relevant manors and control over the marriage of the heirs to which he would become entitled if (as transpired) Thomas died whilst his heirs were still minors. These subterfuges were discovered and the properties taken into the King’s hands.[9] However, in due course a deal was struck to resolve the matter and in December 1445 the properties formerly held by Thomas St Clere were released into the possession of his daughters and their husbands. By then, all three heiresses were married.[10]

A deed dated 8 July 1446 set out the agreed partition of Thomas’ lands between his three daughters and their husbands.[11] The principal properties included in that document provide a roll call of the extensive possessions that Thomas held at the end of his life. Listed in the order in which they were recorded, the manors and advowsons were allocated as follows:

• Lambert, Uvedale (1929). Godstone, A Parish History.
• Sinclair, Thomas (1887). The Sinclairs of England. London.