William Huddesfield

Arms of Huddesfield: Argent, a fess between three boars passant facing sinister sable. As seen in Shillingford Church

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

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 & progeny

He married twice:

• Firstly to Jennet^[8] (or Elizabeth^[9]) Bosome, daughter and heiress of John Bosome (alias Bosom, Bozun, Bosum, etc.) of Bosom's Hele, in the parish of Dittisham, Devon,^[10] and widow of Sir Baldwin I de Fulford (d.1476)^[11] 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 (d.1447), High Admiral of England.^[12] By Jennet Bosome he had one daughter, according to Pole (d.1635):^[13]
  • Katherine Huddesfield (d.1499),^[14] wife of Sir Edmund Carew (d.1514), Baron Carew of Mohuns Ottery in the parish of Luppitt, Devon, knighted by King Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, and killed at Thorounne on 24 June 1513. She was the grandmother of Admiral Sir George Carew^[15] (c.1504-1545) who died in the sinking of the Royal Navy flagship Mary Rose at the Battle of the Solent during an attempted French invasion in the Italian War of 1542–1546, and of his brother Sir Peter Carew (c.1514-1575),^[16] an adventurer who took part in the Tudor conquest of Ireland.

Arms of Courtenay: Or, three torteaux a label of three points azure

• Secondly (as her third husband) to Katherine Courtenay (d.1514),^[17] a daughter of Sir Philip II Courtenay (d.1463)^[18] of Powderham, Devon, by his wife Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford (d.1449), and sister of Peter Courtenay (d.1492) Bishop of Exeter and of Sir Philip Courtenay (b.1445) of Molland, MP and Sheriff of Devon in 1471.^[19] 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.^[20] A monumental brass of Huddesfield and his second wife Katherine Courtenay survives in Shillingford St George Church.^[21] His sister-in-law Phillipa Courtenay married his step-son Sir Thomas Fulford (d.1489), the eldest son and heir of Sir Baldwin I de Fulford (d.1476) by his first wife Jane Bosome^[22] By his second wife Katherine Courtenay he had progeny one daughter, according to Pole:^[23]
  • Elizabeth Huddesfield, wife of Sir Anthony Poyntz (d.1534) of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire.^[24]

Death & 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

Drawing of monumental brass of Sir William Huddesfield (d.1499) and of his wife Katherine Courtenay (d.1514). Shillingford St George Church, Devon

A monumental brass of Huddesfield and his second wife Katherine Courtenay survives in Shillingford St George Church,^[25] and the arms of Bosome (Azure, three bird bolts in pale points downward or) survive in a stained glass window in the same church.^[26] The brass is affixed to the wall on the north side of the chancel, above a chest tomb, with grey marble slab on top. 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: "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".^[27] 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 redemptor 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.

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 Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895

References

1. ↑ Vivian, p.246
2. ↑ Vivian, p.135
3. ↑ Rogers, p.344
4. ↑ Vivian, p.418, pedigree of Gould
5. ↑ History of Parliament biography
6. ↑ Rogers, p.341
7. ↑ Vivian, p.418, pedigree of Gould
8. ↑ Vivian, p.378
9. ↑ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, pp.167-8; Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.291
10. ↑ Risdon, pp.167-8; Pole, p.291
11. ↑ Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, p.394
12. ↑ Vivian, p.378
13. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.254
14. ↑ Rogers
15. ↑ Vivian, p.135
16. ↑ Vivian, p.135
17. ↑ Rogers
18. ↑ Vivian, p.246, pedigree of Courtenay
19. ↑ Vivian, p.246, pedigree of Courtenay
20. ↑ Rogers
21. ↑ 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
22. ↑ Risdon, pp.167-8; Pole, p.291
23. ↑ Pole, p.254
24. ↑ 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
25. ↑ 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
26. ↑ 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
27. ↑ Rogers