Sleuthing the Nobs!!
Getting a hold on ChokeI started my search for local lords using the Freezywaters Publications “Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses” by Tom Coveney, three marvellous volumes of heraldic standards compiled by Patrick McGill. McGill states in the preface that he has found some inaccuracies in Coveney’s work, which I can now support, but generally his work holds true.
Choke of Long Ashton, a suburb of Bristol which in the 15th century was a separate village. The entry informed me that he was a Commissioner of Array in 1466, made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Elizabeth Woodville, was Justice of the Common Pleas and fought at Mortimers Cross and Towton for the Yorkists.
Pic from Wars of the Roses Heraldry Jones and Pritchard 2018
(Eternal thanks to John Csonka for recommending this book)
On line I found an interesting article on Choke https://www.buildinghistory.org/bristol/choke.shtml
which led to a visit on the hottest day of the year to the Somerset Heritage centre, a fantastic resource in Taunton. The building is only 11 years old and is staffed by friendly proficient people who kindly found the book I desired and I sat in air-conditioned luxury and immersed myself in the 15th century world of Sir Richard Choke's detailed biography by Joel Rosenthal as published in Somerset Archaeology and Natural History 1983,volume 127.
Rosenthal reports an interesting, well documented life, but no warrior he. “The very absence of drama, either on the ascending or descending slopes, makes his tale intriguing for its obeisance to the typical and homey virtues. No reckless ventures, no great leaps of fortune, no sudden turns of the wheel to mock all earthly accomplishments.” -Rosenthal
“Choke's career was without great crises: it is the tale of a boy who began with some advantages and who then did even better. Henry VI first named him, in 1441, to a commission to deliver the Ilchester gaol of one Richard Archer”
From there on Choke went from strength to strength. His life was one of problem solving, a trouble shooting lawyer, who it seem was honest, straightforward and loyal to the crown. Promotion followed promotion and the wealth accrued. Towards the end of his life , he built the magnificent Ashton Court although nothing of Choke remains there now.
“He must have had a flair for working with people and for avoiding trouble, and he tripped neither upon the hurdles of loyalty and commitment nor upon the shifting tides of politics between 1460 1483.” Boring then…!
Poleaxed data base has him present at Mortimers Cross and Towton although Rosenthal mentions neither event in his essay. His lack of martial involvement is a disappointing discovery as he has such a nice bright, white heraldic standard, and I envisaged white livery for his retinue.
The more I read and understand of this period, the more I begin to think that a proportion of the Lords and Gentry at battles were there simply as witnesses of regime change
The following day, we visited his resting place in the church of All Saints, Long Ashton, a beautiful church, standing in glorious splendour in extensive grounds, populated with gargantuan cedar trees of great girth and height. The church is obviously well supported by a generous flock of well to do pious locals.
A hole in the roof however, was allowing the torrential rain from a cloudburst to pour noisily into a bucket from a fair height splashing the marble tiled floor for some considerable distance.
His chantry and tomb are quite magnificent.
Prayers were said “for his soul” daily here well into the nineteenth century
The note says “No milk today”
No, it doesn’t, it says” I ain’t dead!”
Actually, it states that the tomb is carved form local Dundry stone and that the face was considered to be a good likeness.
It says that he is portrayed in his judges red robes
His wife, Dame Margaret nee Morris’ effigy bears a necklace of Roses (of Rouen?) and suns of splendour denoting a strong allegiance to Edward IV
At his feet a lion -symbolising courage
At her feet a dog-symbolising loyalty
So pious, law-abiding, peaceful. A bit boring from the warrior aspect, however, he may have a role in a scenario as a peace maker, a subduer of feuds or an escorter of prisoners that require an ambush to free them.
My first impressions of local, Lord John de Barre were that he was only a small name in amongst the great deeds of the day, however further consideration of his deeds and actions, his various titles and roles has me rethinking him.
I think he was an important man in his day. He may not have been one of the big movers and shakers of the time, no Kingmaker, but he was undoubtably an important man. Commissioner of Array, Sheriff of Herefordshire and the Welsh Marshes and later, Hertfordshire, he was also steward of all the manors of the See of Hereford. He was an MP, a Justice of the Peace, he was present at three major battles and fought for both sides. He was associated by marriage with the notorious Greyndore family, a family of brigand knights in Hereford
Of his grandfather from History of Parliament-“By 1381 de la Barre (his grandfather-Thomas) had further added to his lands by his marriage to Elizabeth, widow of Sir Ralph Camoys (Kemys Lord of Siston-see later in this post) On his father’s death in June 1388, furthermore, Sir Thomas inherited the family estates in and around Hereford, including the manor of Rotherwas (Clehonger)and lands at Tarrington, Holmer, Cobhall (in Allensmore), Little Marcle and Lyde, and he subsequently also acquired the manors of Lower Bullingham and Hillhampton, in the same region.” He was, in short, a substantial landowner.
In October 1419, when de la Barre was once again serving on the Herefordshire bench, his son, Sir Thomas junior, (Sir John’s father) appeared before him, charged with a series of crimes (including robbery, armed abduction, house-breaking and sheep stealing) committed in the county between 1414 and 1418, and was eventually sent for trial before the royal courts at Westminster. This embarrassing affair must have involved the elder de la Barre in his last public duties, for he died on 18 Dec.
By an inquisition post mortem held on 24 Sept. 1420 it was established that his heir was his infant grandson, John de la Barre (our man) the son of Sir Thomas de la Barre junior (who had died between July and September that year) “
https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/barre-sir-thomas-de-la-1349-1419
So, his dad was a bit of a character! My feeling is that John inherited some of his father’s recklessness and wild ways, hence the crossed bones. As a young man, he was bound over to keep the peace on several occasions. Initially espousing the Lancastrian cause, he was on their side at Northampton, he came over to the Yorkist faction and fought for Ed4 at Barnet and Tewkesbury.
I found confirmation of his heraldic standard in the “Visitation of Gloucestershire 1623” a marvellous document, available on line, compiled by the Heralds led by William Camden , Clarenceaux King of Arm and drawing on the visitation of 1569, I have also found a “visitation” dealing with Somerset.
I have seen several versions of this now, at Clehonger(previous local wars post), in a blog and also Coveney’s version
This clearly states “Gules, three bars gobonated argent and…(?sable)” gobonated, an ancient term meaning the same as compony (a row of squares, rectangles or other quadrilaterals, of alternating tinctures) only usually applied to the bordure not as in this case bars
Three bars, not the two bars described by Coveney (pictured)
I have found a Heraldic standard and a battle standard, the shin saltire, for him but I am still no wiser as to his livery!
https://archive.org/details/visitationofcoun00inchit
An Even Localler Lord
While playing a game of Sharp Practice at Bristol Independent Gaming, my ally, another Alex, suggested Denys of Siston as a local lord I might be interested in. He was right too, Denys is a really interesting character, a proper knight engaged in sieges and banditry and local feuds and all well documented, however he died shortly before our period and through marriage to his wife, Margaret, his manor of Siston and Oldbury passed to Sir John Kemys of Glamorgan. Siston was once part of the Berkely estate and a fief of Berkely castle.
Siston Common is a wonderfully rural stretch of land East of Bristol unchanged since men first started domesticating livestock. Dotted with small villages and homesteads, ancient brooks, tangled briar patches and wild copses, it is a place of memories-of childhood adventures, family picnics and the torture of cross country running. Siston was once part of the Berkely estate and a fief of Berkely castle.
The manor of Siston lay in the Hundred of Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, and adjoined the Royal Forest of Kingswood to the west, and claimed right of purlieu over a portion of it. It was subsequently held by the families of Walerand, Plokenet, Corbet, Denys, Billingsley, Trotman and Rawlins-Wikipedia
Sir john Kemys Lord of Siston
Arms: vert, on a chevron argent, 3 pheons sable, Kemys
Crest - On a mount vert a unicorn azure sejant, armed crined and unguled or
Motto Duw dy ras. (God thy right)
Battles: Unknown
Livery: Unknown
The search for Kemys heraldry was a protracted one, Initial, searches, Wiki wands, led me to a family in Kent and for a short while I was convinced this was the man. However, I got back on track thru Geni, various name variations, Kemmis /Camoys to led to Glamorgan (ap Kemys) and from there I found the coat of arms and crest as described in the Visitation of Gloucestershire.
I am glad it’s not the Kent family as their coat of arms was nowhere near as good as Kemys.
(Unicorn, like this but blue!-will make an excellent battle standard!)
https://www.kemmisfamily.info/TheKemmisBook/kemmis19.html#fn151
Taken from above document “John Kemys: of Syston Manor and advowson as well as of other lands in Gloucestershire: of Kyneston-Russel Manor and advowson with other lands in Co. Dorset
M.P. for Gloucestershire: and executor of the will of William Lord Botreaux in 1462-66: died 1476.”
Died ‘76 is good as he was knocking about in 1470, the era I have picked to game in.
“In 1477 by inquisition he was found to have died seised of "Clifton maner et edvoc' ecc'. Pokelchurche maner' membra , Auste medietas manerii. (Hanbury maner' membra -all in Gloucestershire. "Kyngeston-Russel maner' et advoc' ecc'. Horsyngdon maner' membra; Lytton medietas manerii it advoc' ecc'. chewe maner' membra"; all in Dorsetshire:” quite a bit of land then
He was “married by Crown license dated 12th December 1422 Margaret, widow of Sir Gilbert Denys, Knt of Derham, (Dyrham) Co. Gloucester. M.P. for Borough of Westbury, Wilts: there were many Commissions of Array and of the Peace issued to him between 1462 and 1479 for Co. Gloucester ”
“Father of, Roger Kemys” who “became a lunatic and died insane 3rd January 1484” when the manor of Siston reverted to the Denys family through the marriage connection.
Siston Court, built after our period, in 1515, by another Denys to which family the land reverted after the death of Kemys’ son Roger, may have been constructed on the site of a previous large house
So, what does all this mean then from a gaming perspective?
Well, we have quite a little collection of local Lords all a bit piratey, with the exception of whiter than white Yorkist and real solid Kings man, Dick Choke, all with their own interests at heart, all with the desire for more land and more money. Kemys, descended of brigands, is fieffed to Berkely who is a real scheming chancer, mostly Lancastrian, who is directly opposed to Thomas Talbot, mostly Yorkist and a crafty, double dealing sneakster, de Barre who is Kemys neighbour and a mostly Yorkist tho sometimes Lancastrian supporter with a background of brigandage..hmmm..I sense many possibilities for some local wars, with Sir Richard Choke trying to maintain the Kings Peace.
We also have a perfect location. Siston, a larger area of rolling hills, dotted with villages such as Wick, Abson, Pucklechurch, and nearby Beach, Upton Cheyney, Cold Ashton. And Oldbury, a wild area of thick wooded hills, a gorge, a river valley leading down into the heart of Bristol. A simplified map of the area should be easy to obtain and little has changed over 500 years.
The Bigger Picture
So how will these local lords fit into the bigger picture of the Wars of the Roses? Well, quite easily it seems. I plan to run a campaign circa 1470, to include the clash of Nibley Green (I will cover this “battle” and its protagonists, Berkely and Talbot in another post) and leading to the big battles of the following year, Barnet and Tewkesbury. These were a busy two years for the Lancastrian nobs, with Margaret of Anjou making several visits to Bristol and through the area generally, leaving in her train rumours of intrigue and skulduggery.
So, the local boys could be involved in all sorts of shenanigans but also can have a place in the big battles, De Barre after all, was at both. My plan is at the local level to use the local lords with their retinues and at the higher-level games, the bigger battles, their place will be taken by the proper nobs, Exeter , Devon, Hastings and Deveroux et al and of course the full Royal trio of brothers for the Yorkist armies.
The local boys won’t miss out tho, I am basing my armies so that they can become part of the companies. Each local lord will have a man at arms and two standard bearers so they can replace 4 regular soldiers in a regular company. The displaced soldiers will go to help form another company. This will increase the size of my army. I will gain an extra company for each two companies that gains a local lord. Quids in! Result!
Of course, I am a long way from that goal. I have increased my army to eight units now and I am busy creating two skirmisher units, crossbows and hand gunners . I won’t be happy until I have two dozen units, supporting artillery, cavalry and Royalty. Oh, and few tableaus with musicians and various sundry characters.
Meanwhile, I am getting some games in and promoting Billhooks at https://www.bristolindependentgaming.co.uk/ BIG, the local gaming store where I will be running a table at their Demo Day on November 28th and a regular evening slot each Wednesday to introduce the game to Billhooks virgins. First tho, a day of battling against Mark Taylor this weekend! It’s a whole load of Billhooks!
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Gilbert_Denys
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/manor-search
You’ll be in trouble with the locals calling Long Ashton a suburb of Bristol, there’s at least 150 yards of open countryside between them! Looking forward to facing these chaps on the field.
ReplyDeleteheheh! They have some Burgundian crossbowmen to back them up now!
ReplyDelete