William_Huddesfield

William Huddesfield

William Huddesfield

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Sir William Huddesfield (died 1499) of Shillingford St George in Devon, was Attorney General for England and Wales to Kings Edward IV (1461–1483)[1] and Henry VII (1485–1509).[2] He built the tower of St George's Church, Shillingford.[3]

Sir William Huddesfield, detail from his monumental brass in Shillingford St George Church, Devon. On his tabard are displayed his arms: Argent, a fess between three boars passant facing sinister sable a crescent for difference
Left: Arms of Huddesfield: Argent, a fess between three boars passant facing sinister[lower-alpha 1] sable; right: crest of Huddesfield: A boar passant, detail from monumental brass of Sir William Huddesfield in Shillingford St George Church

Origins

He was the son of William Huddesfield of Shillingford by his wife Alice Gold, daughter of John Gold (alias Gould) of Seaborough and Sampit[4] in Dorchester, MP for Dorchester in 1391,[5] and was the grandson of William Huddesfield of Honiton, Devon.[6][7]

Marriages and children

Huddesfield heraldic window, 19th century, south side of chancel of Shillingford St George Church.[lower-alpha 2]

He married twice:

First marriage

Firstly to Jennet[9] (or Elizabeth[10]) Bosome, daughter and heiress of John Bosome (alias Bosom, Bozun, Bosum, etc.) of Bosom's Hele, in the parish of Dittisham, Devon,[11] and widow of Sir Baldwin de Fulford (died 1476)[12] of Great Fulford in the parish of Dunsford, Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1460, a Knight of the Sepulchre and Under-Admiral to John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter (died 1447), High Admiral of England.[13] By Jennet Bosome he had one daughter, according to Pole (died 1635):[14]

Second marriage

Secondly (as her third husband) to Katherine Courtenay (died 1514),[19] a daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (died 1463)[20] of Powderham, Devon, by his wife Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford (died 1449), and sister of Peter Courtenay (died 1492) Bishop of Exeter and of Sir Philip Courtenay (b.1445) of Molland, MP and Sheriff of Devon in 1471.[21] She requested in her will to be buried in the Greyfriars Church, Exeter "before St Francis beside the High Altar", but was probably buried at Shillingford with her husband.[22] A monumental brass of Huddesfield and his second wife Katherine Courtenay survives in Shillingford St George Church.[23] His sister-in-law Phillipa Courtenay married his step-son Sir Thomas Fulford (died 1489), the eldest son and heir of Sir Baldwin de Fulford (died 1476)[24] by his first wife Jane Bosome[25] By his second wife Katherine Courtenay he had one daughter, according to Pole:[26]

Death and burial

He died on 20 March 1499, and was buried in Shillingford St George's Church, where his chest tomb survives against the north chancel wall.

Monumental brass

Monumental brass of Sir William Huddesfield (died 1499) and of his wife Katherine Courtenay (died 1514), Shillingford St George Church, Devon. Right: 19th century drawing or rubbing
Easter Sepulchre monument (remade 19th century) to Sir William Huddesfield and his wife Katherine Courtenay. North wall of chancel, Shillingford St George Church. It contains two monumental brasses: one affixed to the wall and one to the slab

A monumental brass of Huddesfield and his second wife Katherine Courtenay survives in Shillingford St George Church,[28] and the arms of Bosome (Azure, three bird bolts in pale points downward or) survive in a stained glass window in the same church.[29] The brass is affixed to the wall on the north side of the chancel, above a chest tomb, with grey marble slab on top, set into an Easter Sepulchre style alcove remade in the 19th century.[30] Around the edge of the slab is an ident for an inscription in brass, now lost, but transcribed in 1630 by the Devon historian Thomas Westcote (c. 1567 – c. 1637) as follows:[31]

"here lieth Sir William Huddiffeild, knight, Attorney-general to King Edward IV, and of the Council to King Henry VII, and Justice of Oyer and Determiner, which died the 10th day of march in the year of Our Lord 1499, on whose soul Jesus have mercy, Amen. Honor Deo et Gloria".

The brass depicts a knight and a lady, both kneeling under a double canopy, with a son and two daughters. The bare headed knight is fully dressed in armour, over which he wears a tabard showing the arms of Huddesfield with a crescent for difference, with sword and spurs. in front of him is a prie dieu, on which is an open book, and his gauntlets are on the floor by his side, with his helmet on top of which is his crest, a boar rampant. The lady wears a pedimental head-dress and lappets, with gown, ornamented girdle with pomander hanging therefrom. Over all she wears a robe of estate showing the arms of Courtenay: Or, three torteaux a label of three points azure. Behind her kneels her only son by her second husband George Rogers, and behind him her two daughters Elizabeth and Katherine. The following inscription, partly in Latin, appears below (with abbreviations extended):

Conditor et Rede(m)ptor corporis et anime sit mihi medicus et custos utriusque. Dame Kateryn ye wife of Sr Willm Huddesfeld & dought of S'r Phil' Courtnay, kny'kt.

A framed rubbing of the brass hangs in the chapel of Powderham Castle.

Notes

  1. The usual attitude of heraldic beasts is facing dexter; the boars are shown facing sinister on Huddesfield's tabard, but facing dexter on the brass escutcheon set into the ledger stone of his monument
  2. Arms: trefoil at top: Left: Courtenay boar, one of the Courtenay supporters; right: Bohun swan, one of the Courtenay supporters; centre: Huddesfield arms. Top shield: Courtenay (Or, three torteaux a label of three points azure) impaling Hungerford (Sable, two bars argent in chief three plates), representing the marriage of the parents of Katherine Courtenay, wife of Sir William Huddesfield. 2nd shield down: Carew (Or, three lions passant guardant in pale sable) impaling Huddesfield, representing the marriage of Sir Edmund Carew and Katherine Huddesfield, daughter of Sir William Huddesfield. 3rd shield down: Huddesfield impaling Bosum (Azure, three bird-bolts argent[8]), representing Sir William Huddesfield's first marriage to Jennet or Elizabeth Bosum. Bottom shield: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Huddesfield; 2nd: Fulford (Gules, a chevron argent); 3rd: Courtenay. (incorrect heraldic usage, quartering should only show arms of heiresses)

References

  1. [1]
    Vivian, p.246
  2. [2]
    Vivian, p.135
  3. [3]
    Rogers, p.344
  4. [4]
    Vivian, p.418, pedigree of Gould
  5. [5]
    History of Parliament biography
  6. [6]
    Rogers, p.341
  7. [7]
    Vivian, p.418, pedigree of Gould
  8. [8]
    Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.470
  9. [9]
    Vivian, p.378
  10. [10]
    Risdon, Tristram (died 1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, pp. 167–8; Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.291
  11. [11]
    Risdon, pp. 167–8; Pole, p.291
  12. [12]
    Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, p.394
  13. [13]
    Vivian, p.378
  14. [14]
    Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.254
  15. [15]
    Rogers
  16. [16]
    Vivian, p.135
  17. [17]
    Vivian, p.135
  18. [18]
    Vivian, p.135
  19. [19]
    Rogers
  20. [20]
    Vivian, p.246, pedigree of Courtenay
  21. [21]
    Vivian, p.246, pedigree of Courtenay
  22. [22]
    Rogers
  23. [23]
    Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.727; a framed rubbing of the brass hangs in the chapel of Powderham Castle
  24. [24]
    or Sir Baldwin died on 9 Sep 1461 because he played major role in the Wars of the Roses before being captured by the Yorkists and hung, drawn, and quartered. All his estates were confiscated.
  25. [25]
    Risdon, pp. 167–8; Pole, p.291
  26. [26]
    Pole, p.254; Vivian, p.418
  27. [27]
    Maclean, Sir John; Heane, W.C., eds. (1885). The Visitation of the County of Gloucester, taken in the year 1623, by Henry Chitty and John Phillipot as deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms; with pedigrees from the heralds' visitation of 1569 and 1582-3, and sundry miscellaneous pedigrees. Harleian Society, 1st ser. 21. London, p.133-4
  28. [28]
    Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.727; a framed rubbing of the brass hangs in the chapel of Powderham Castle
  29. [29]
    Rogers, William Henry Hamilton, Wiltshire Notes & Queries, Vol.III, 1899–1901, Devizes, 1902, pp. 336–345, Sir William Huddesfield and Katherine Courtenay his Wife, Shillingford Church, Devon
  30. [30]
    Lysons, Daniel & Lysons, Samuel, Magna Britannia, Vol.6, Devonshire, London, 1822, pp. 323–45
  31. [31]
    Rogers
Sources
  • Rogers, William Henry Hamilton, Wiltshire Notes & Queries, Vol.III, 1899–1901, Devizes, 1902, pp. 336–345, Sir William Huddesfield and Katherine Courtenay his Wife, Shillingford Church, Devon
  • Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895
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