Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Notes for Robert Mortimer
Brad Verity wrote:

From: batruth@hotmail.com ("brad verity")
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
Subject: Robert Mortimer m. Isabel Howard
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 06:30:02 +0000 (UTC)

batruth@hotmail.com (Brad Verity) wrote in message news on Oct. 14, 2003:
>
>Could Sir Robert Mortimer of Essex been a son of Sir Hugh Mortimer "of
>Mortimer's Hall" (d. 1460) - the elder son and heir?

Turns out he wasn't - see below.

>It would explain the "Mortimer's Hall" reference in both otherwise
>unrelated Mortimer branches.  Though we still don't know which county
>it was in.

"Mortimer's Hall" was apparently a mistake for "Divers lands and tenements
in Harwiche and Dovercourte [Essex] called 'Mortimers', worth 5l., held of
the said Earl [of Oxford]."  See below.

Jim Weber replied on 15-Oct-2003:

"On another tack, I had contacted The Richard III Foundation, which
maintains a Battle of Bosworth Field website, showing that Sir Robert
Mortimer of Thorpe le Soken was slain at the battle."

The Foundation was quite correct.  Robert Mortimer (he was not a knight),
according to his IPM, died "22 Aug., 1 Hen. VII".  See below.

"Jo Ann Ricca also stated that, looking on the internet, she found his
father to be named David.  I have seen this on the internet too, but I
have found no source given for where the name "David" came from, so
FWIW."

His father was indeed David Mortimer - see below.

"I have tried several variations of the name Mortimer on PRO and A2A
and have not come up with anything related to Thorpe le Soken.  Thorpe
le Soken may not have been a large holding, and Robert may well have
been "of Mortimer's Hall" (possibly in Hampshire; or in Stratfield
Mortimer, Berkshire, just across the border from Hampshire?)."

No Mortimer's Hall for Robert - someone got confused and the mistake has
been picked up in several sources.  Thorpe le Soken's association with these
Mortimers is described in 1486: "Manor of Landymer Hall in the parish of
Thorp within the soke of St. Paul's, London, worth 10l., held of the Dean of
St. Paul's, as of his said soke, by fealty and suit of court."  See below.

Not sure what a 'soke' is.

And now the mystery of 'Who was Robert Mortimer, husband of Isabel Howard?'
is solved, thanks to the beauty of IPMs.  He was the son and heir of David
Mortimer, esquire, and of Isabel (aka Elizabeth), daughter of Elizias
Doreward (aka Durward), of Martel Hall and Great Bramley, Essex.

Here are the IPMs of Robert Mortimer and his father David Mortimer, as
printed in the CIPMs for Henry VII (Volume 1):

"100.  ROBERT MORTYMER.
Com. 17 July, 1 Hen. VII; inq. 31 Oct., 2 Hen. VII.
One Isabel Durward was seised in fee of the under-mentioned manors of Martel
Hall, and Great Brumley, and of 200a. land in Dovercorte, and intermarried
with David Mortymer, esq., and had issue by him the said Robert.  David
Mortymer survives, and is seised of the said manors and lands, as tenant by
the curtesy, with reversion to the said Robert and his heirs.
The said Robert died 22 Aug., 1 Hen. VII [1485 - killed at Bosworth with his
father-in-law John Howard, Duke of Norfolk], seised of the under-mentioned
manor of Landymer Hall, and lands called 'Badons', 'Folton Hall,' and
'Panteryse' in fee.  Elyzabeth Mortymer, aged 10 and more, is his daughter
and heir.
ESSEX.  The reversion of the manor of Martel Hall in Ardele, within the
hundred of Tendryng, worth 24l., held of the King, as of the duchy of
Lancaster, by 1/8 of a knight's fee.
The reversion of a moiety of the manor of Great Brumley, worth 20l., held of
the Earl of Oxford, as of Hedingham Castle, by fealty and suit of court.
The reversion of 200a. land, wood, meadow, and pasture in Dovercorte, worth
5l., held of the Earl of Notingham [William Berkeley, co-heir to the Mowbray
inheritance along with John Howard, Duke of Norfolk], as of the manor of
Dovercorte.
A messuage, 300a. land, wood, meadow, and pasture, and 3s. rent in Tendryng
and Manytre, called 'Badons', worth 8 marks, held of the King in chief, by
service of 1/2 of a knight's fee.
Manor of Landymer Hall in the parish of Thorp within the soke of St. Paul's,
London, worth 10l., held of the Dean of St. Paul's, as of his said soke, by
fealty and suit of court.
A messuage, and 200a. land, wood, meadow, and pasture in the parish of
Ramsey, called 'Folton Hall,' worth 100s., tenure unknown.
A messuage, and 100a. land, wood, meadow, and pasture in the parish of
Dovercorte, called 'Panteryse,' worth 4 marks, held of the said Earl of
Notingham, as of his said manor, by fealty and suit of court.
C. Series II. Vol. 1 (104.)"

Since the manor of Landymer Hall (in the Thorpe le Soken parish), plus the
lands called 'Badons', 'Folton Hall' and 'Panteryse' were held by Robert
Mortimer himself, and Robert died before his father, these lands must have
been given to him by his parents, and/or his father-in-law John Howard,
probably at his marriage to Isabel, eldest daughter of Howard.

This IPM tells us Robert's mother 'Isabel Durward' died before 1486.  Also,
that Elizabeth Mortimer was the only surviving child of Robert Mortimer and
Isabel Howard, and was born around 1476.  Since none of these Hen. VII CIPM
abstracts mention dower, we cannot be certain that Isabel Howard died before
her husband Robert - perhaps the Close, Fine or Patent Rolls of the 1480s
can shed further light.

"1006.  DAVID MORTYMER.
Writ 7 April, 9 Hen. VII; inq. 16 Oct., 10 Hen. VII.
At the time of his death he held by the curtesy of England the
under-mentioned manor of Martels, a moiety of the manor of Bramley, the
advowson of the church of Bramley, and lands in Harwiche and Dovercourte, in
right of Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of Elizias Doreward.
He was seised of the other moiety of Great Bramley manor called 'Morleys' in
fee, and being so seised enfeoffed John Squiore, clk., thereof in fee to the
use of himself, David, and his heirs; and being so seised the said John
enfeoffed William Pykenam, clk., John Reifford, or Reisford, and Henry Teye,
esqs., and William Breton and William Teye, 'gentilmen,' thereof to the same
use.
He died 30 March last [1494].  Elizabeth Gylford, aged 18 and more, wife of
George Gylford, and daughter of Robert Mortymere, esq., is his cousin and
heir.
ESSEX.  Manor of Martels in Ardelegh, worth 20 marks, held of the King, as
of the duchy of Lancaster, service unknown.
A moiety of the manor of Great Bramley, with the advowson of the church of
Bramley, worth 20 marks, held of John, Earl of Oxford, service unknown.
Divers lands and tenements in Harwiche and Dovercourte called 'Mortemers,'
worth 5l., held of the said Earl, service unknown.
A moiety of the manor of Great Bramley, called 'Morleys,' worth 20 marks,
held of the said Earl, service unknown.
C. Series II. Vol. 10 942.)   E. Series II. File 292. (4.)"

The HOP bio of Sir John Guildford, the only son of Elizabeth Mortimer and
her husband George Guildford of Hemsted, Kent, has him "born by 1508".  The
above IPM tells us that his parents Elizabeth and George were married by
Oct. 1494, and that Elizabeth was born around 1476, which matches her age in
her father's IPM eight years previous.

As to who were the parents of David Mortimer, esquire (d. 1494), we still
don't know.  But I'm guessing that his granddaughter Elizabeth's marriage to
George Guildford (which David must've had a hand in arranging), the younger
brother of Sir Edward Guildford, who was married "by 1496" [HOP - bio of Sir
Edward Guildford] to Eleanor West, granddaughter of Sir Hugh Mortimer of
Mortimer's Hall, Hampshire, still suggests a connection to that family.

David Mortimer marrying an heiress in Essex and having no lands of his own
strongly suggests he was a younger son.  Perhaps he was a younger son of a
Mortimer from Mortimer's Hall in Hampshire - is Hampshire near Essex?

At any rate, it's great to have some of the blanks filled in.

Cheers,                                        ------Brad
Last Modified 14 Jun 2004Created 14 May 2022 by Tim Powys-Lybbe
Re-created by Tim Powys-Lybbe on 14 May 20220