de la Pole

William de la POLE, died in or before 1311, merchant

Spouse: Elena ___ who married (2) John Rotenheryng, a merchant of Hull

Children: Sir Richard, Knight, born circa 1280, died 1345; Sir William, Knight, died 1366, merchant, married Katherine, died 1382; John

William de la POLE, Sir, Knight died 6/22/1366, merchant

Spouse: Katherine ___ died 1/28/1382

Children: Michael, 1st Earl of Suffolk, died 9/5/1391 in France where he was forced to flee, married Katherine Wingfield; Sir Thomas died 10/24/1364; Sir Walter; Katherine married Constantine de Clifton; Blanch married Richard Lord Scorpe; Margaret married __ Neville; Sir Edmund, knight died 1419; Edward III was guardian of the daughters

Sir Edmund de la POLE died 1417-19

Spouse: Elizabeth HANDLO daughter of Sir Edmund Handlo

Children: Catherine married Robert James; Elizabeth married Sir Ingelram Bruyn; Walter died 1434

English merchants: memoirs in illustration of the progress of British commerce: THE DE LA POLES OF HULL. 1311 - 1366. Earliest among the famous English merchants of old times about whom we possess information enough for a proper understanding of their lives and works are the De la Poles of Hull. Coming over with William the Conqueror the family was one of the first to take firm root in our country to shake off its Norman prejudices and to become thoroughly English. Under the early Plantagenets it had sturdy branches in Middlesex, Oxford, and Devon. Some of its members going with Edward the First into Wales fought so well that they received a large grant of land in Montgomery by way of recompense; and a few years before that in 1264 we find reference to a William de la Pole of Middlesex "lately decorated with the belt of knighthood" who is ordered by Henry the Third to receive 10l "to purchase a house [sic should be horse] for his use as our gift." But it was not by fighting and courtiership alone that they became rich and famous or won honour for their country. In 1371, a year before Edward's accession to the throne, we find it recorded that one William de la Pole and some other merchants of Totnes received a sum of 12l 9s 5-1/2d for cloths sold by them to the Crown at the fair of Saint Giles at Winchester; and, later in the same year, it appears that the wools of a William de la Pole, a merchant of Rouen, were detained at Ipswich to prevent their being taken to Flanders; while in 1272 we hear of a Nicholas de la Pole as one of the authorized collectors and receivers of the goods of the Flemish merchants in England. Whatever his relation to this Nicholas or to the knight whom Henry honoured with the present of a horse, it can hardly be doubted that William the merchant of Rouen was also the merchant of Totnes belonging to both places because he travelled from one to the other after the fashion of all the great dealers of his day buying and selling goods. This same man, also, we may with safety assume to have been the William de la Pole who settled a few years later in the newly founded town of Ravensrod at the south eastern extremity of Yorkshire.
Ravensrod has a curious history. Originally an island formed by the gradual heaping up of sand and stones and separated from the mainland by more than a mile of sea, it was for a long time used only by the fishermen of those parts for drying their nets. By degrees, however, a narrow shingly road the breadth of a bow shot was cast up through the joint action of the sea on the east and the Humber on the western side; and, as soon as this road was completed, the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns, especially of Ravenser an ancient port and manor on the Humber, determined to make use of it.  In this way was established the town of Odd called Odd juxta Ravenser and, after a while, Ravenser odd or Ravensrod. Its convenience as a landing place; and, at first its freedom from civic interference, soon made it an important mart. In 1276 the people of Grimsby, on the other side of the river, complained to the King of the great damage it was doing to their trade, their loss in a year being more than 100l. Of this complaint no notice appears to have been taken by the Crown. But the people of Ravens-Rod used it in an unlooked for way. With unseemly zeal they made it a practice -- so, at least, said their enemies -- to go out in boats, intercept the trading ships and fishing smacks, and urge them to stop at Ravensrod asserting, for instance, that while trade was there so brisk that 40s could easily be obtained for a last of herrings, the people of Grimsby would not be able to pay them half as much. This persecution of the Grimsby men, however, did not last long if indeed it was ever really practised. In 1361 a great flood came and compelled all the inhabitants to take refuge in the neighbouring villages. Spurn Head lighthouse now marks the site of Ravensrod while of Ravenser there remains no trace at all.
At least fifty years before the time of the flood, while it was still "a great flourishing town abounding with merchants and all sorts of goods and traffic," William de la Pole had done with Ravensrod. Having lived and prospered in it for a little while he died in or before 1311 leaving a widow Elena who soon married again -- her second husband being John Rotenheryng, a famous merchant of Hull -- and three sons Richard, William, and John who carried on their father's work with notable success. Of the youngest of these three we know very little indeed; and about the private history of the other two we also have but scanty information. But their public life and work are very clearly decipherable from the scattered records of the time.
Richard was born somewhere near the year 1280; William a few years later. They learnt to be adventurous of life and money amid the stirring incidents of Edward the First's reign often doubtless crossing with their father in the largest and swiftest of his ships to the coast towns of Flanders and France, there to meet the richest merchants in the world and treat with them for the selling of English wool and leather and the taking in exchange of foreign wine and timber. Those short journeys were full of peril. At any moment there was the risk of being met unawares by French or Scottish pirates and then -- unless they were strong enough to defeat their assailants or fleet enough to be saved by flight -- they could expect no pleasanter fate than that their goods should be seized, the common sailors left hanging to the mast head and the masters only kept alive on account of the money that would be paid for their release. These things were bad enough under the vigorous rule of Edward the First. They were much worse during the disastrous period of Edward the Second's misgovernment. And it was doubtless for greater security that the brothers De la Pole soon after their father's death removed a distance of twenty miles to the fortified and rapidly growing town of Hull. They could not have settled in a better place.
In the history of Hull are well illustrated the growth and character of an English commercial town during the middle ages. Owned by the monks of Meaux, who themselves made shrewd tradesmen and who knew well how to encourage trade in others, it had been a thriving mart since 1198 and doubtless from a much earlier date under the name of Wyke upon Hull. The Exchequer Rolls of the thirteenth century show that its exports consisting chiefly of wool, rough sheepskins, and prepared leather were in some years half as great as those of London and greater than those of any other port save Boston and Southampton, Lynn and Lincoln. At the beginning of the century they comprised nearly one-fourteenth of the entire English trade in those articles; by its close they had trebled in value and become about a seventh of the whole. All through that time and long after, especially at the seasons during which proclamations against the sending of wool to Flanders made the trade very difficult in towns nearer to the seat of government, Hull was a favourite resort of the great wool merchants, about one third of them being foreigners, especially Flemings and Florentines. Perhaps it was at the suggestion of these Italian merchants great moneylenders as well, and therefore men very useful to the King, that Edward took it under his especial protection . Be that as it may, Edward bought it of the monks of Meaux in 1293 and ordered that it should be henceforth known as the King's town whence Kingston upon Hull.
Henceforth it prospered more than ever. In 1297 it was made the sole port for the exportation of Yorkshire wools and in 1298 though York was made a staple town it was with the provision that all its goods should pass through Hull.  Each year it received some fresh benefit either from the Crown or from private individuals. The nave and chancel of the noble Church of Holy Trinity had been set up in 1270 and its splendid tower was now in course of erection to be completed in 1312. The Augustine monastery was on the right at the meeting of Monk gate and Market place and not far from the junction of the Hull with the Humber; the Carmelite Friary was to the left, near the modern White Friars gate, on the road to Beverley; while the Chapel of Saint Mary near the top of Market place was already built or building. The wall, now for the most part replaced by the western docks and basins, had been begun, and the harbour was finished in 1299. In 1300 a mint was put up by royal ordinance. John Rotenheryng stepfather of the brothers De la Pole was in 1302 appointed with others to "make direct and appoint ways causeways and roads from Hull to the neighbouring towns;" and in 1316 was established a ferry for conveying passengers cattle and goods across the Humber to Barton, a more ancient town than Hull and now rapidly increasing in importance.
Under this year, 1316, we first hear of the De la Poles as living in Hull although it is probable they had come thither five or six years before. It was a year of such famine that wheat rose in price from 6s 8d to 40s a quarter and salt was sold at the same rate. Richard de la Pole, therefore serving both himself and his neighbours, obtained a safe conduct from the King empowering him to visit foreign parts and bring home corn and other things; security being given that be would not sell them to the Scots.  How he fared in the business we are not told; but from this time he seems to have steadily gained influence at Court. In 1320 he was made under butler to the port of Hull, his duty being to aid the King's chief butler in making suitable provision for the royal household.   In 1322 he obtained jointly with another the more important office of collector of customs for the town, and the appointment was renewed in 1325 and again in 1327.  In April of the latter year two months, after the accession of Edward the Third, he was promoted to the honourable and lucrative post of chief butler to the King.
From this time he can have lived little in his house in Hull Street. He travelled with the Court which for some time was moving about between York and Lincoln, but he was still a merchant by profession, the business being managed by his younger brother William.  In July of this same year 1327, we find William lending to the King 4,000l with which to fit out his first expedition against the Scots, and this was followed by a loan of 2,000l in August and another of 1,200l in December made in the names of both brothers. These debts, heavy even for a King to incur, were to be liquidated out of the duties on wools, woolfels, and leather collected in Hull; and, in the meanwhile, as security William de la Pole was to have possession of that part of the royal seal known as the cocket. Under every subsequent year we find references to similar transactions. In the summer of 1335 for instance the brothers engaged to pay 20l a day for the expenses of the royal household besides supplying as much wine as was needed and received authority to pay themselves from the proceeds of the customs of London, Ipswich, Yarmouth ,Boston, Hull, Hartlepool, and Newcastle.
It became the rule for royalty to pawn its credit with such wealthy subjects as the De la Poles. For this, however, the young King was not responsible. "Lady Isabel the Queen and Sir Roger Mortimer," says a contemporary historian, "assumed unto themselves royal power over many of the great men of England and of Wales and retained the treasures of the land in their own hands and kept the King wholly in subjection to themselves so much so that Sir Henry Earl of Lancaster, who was made chief guardian of the King at the beginning by common consent of all the realm, could not approach him or counsel him. Wherefore Sir Henry was greatly moved against the Queen and Sir Roger Mortimer with a view of redressing this evil that so the King might be able to live upon his own without making extortionate levies to the impoverishment of the people."
The De la Poles at any rate suffered no impoverishment from the levies of the Crown. Doing their business honestly and as we have every reason to believe taking no more from either King or people than was their due, they were advancing every year in wealth and influence. The favour shown to them perforce by King Edward, while he was in the hands of his wicked mother and her more wicked lover, was only augmented after he had taken the government upon himself. At the close of 1328 Richard received from him a Christmas present of 1,000 marks in consideration of the good services done by him, and in the following May he was made gauger of all the wine sold throughout the kingdom, his brother William being appointed his deputy. In 1330 Edward is recorded to have cancelled another appointment, that of valet of the King's bedchamber -- "a situation always filled by gentlemen" -- given to him against his will; but there were special reasons for this, and as next year William is referred to as the King's "beloved valet and merchant," we need not see in the transaction any disfavour to the De la Poles. There is everything to show their growing importance.
In 1331 Richard seems to have found it necessary to go and live in London, there to attend to his Court duties. He therefore abandoned his connection with commerce and left the whole business in his brother's hands. The document by which their partnership of twenty years standing was dissolved is almost worth quoting in full. It is dated July the 12th 1331. In it they first of all pardon one another for all manner of injuries done, said, or thought by one against the other from the time of their coming into the world down to the writing of the deed; then they release one another from all contracts and mutual duties ever existing between them save those arising out of their brotherhood "which lasts and will last as long as God permits:" and after that they proceed to parcel out the wealth accumulated by them. Unfortunately, we are not told the value of the whole property or the proportion in which it was divided. It is likely that, as William had for some years had the whole of the responsibility of managing the business, a large proportion fell to him. The portion allotted to Richard amounted to 3,874l 17s, certainly a smaller sum even when account is taken of the relative value of money than, we might have looked for considering the largeness of some of the transactions already referred to. Of this 645l was reckoned to be the value of house while 100l was set down for the cattle and livestock in his farms, 30l for his horses, and 80l for his silver goods making a total of 855l. Besides this he was to collect some outstanding debts to the extent of 148l 3s 8d. 2,205l was to be paid to him in cash,and for his share in the rents and possessions held jointly by the two brothers in counties of York and Lincoln, William was to pay him either 100 marks a year as rent or 2,000 marks once for all.
Richard lived fourteen years after his retirement from business. He retained his butlership until 1338 going over to Ireland in 1334, there to deposit certain wines of the King's until they were needed for use. In 1335 he was made a justice in eyre for Yorkshire, and in 1336 we read that he received a reward of 250 marks "for the expensive labours he had maintained in expediting certain affairs of the King's." He is described as a citizen of London in 1337 when he received a grant of the vill of Basingstoke, and in London he died on the last day of July or the first day of August 1345, leaving to his heirs besides other property houses in Gracechurch Street, Lombard Street and Cornhill, and assigning a large sum of money to the clergy of Saint Edmund's Gracechurch Street and Saint Michael's Cornhill for distribution to the poor. At the time of his death he is said to have been debtor to the Crown to the extent of 2,576l 12s a third of which was obtained from the merchants of Prussia being an outstanding debt of theirs to Richard de la Pole and the remainder was remitted by the King in consideration of his long and faithful services to the State.
In the meanwhile, William was rising to the highest honours proper to a merchant prince. In the autumn of 1332 as King Edward was proceeding northwards to begin his Scottish wars in earnest, "he himself," as we read in a manuscript history of Hull, "with several of his nobles and attendants following after, came to this town to take a view and prospect thereof and both he and they were most splendidly and nobly entertained by William de la Pole."  In token of his liking for the town and its citizens, he transferred the local government from the hands of a Bailiff to those of a Mayor, nominating William de la Pole as the first to fill the post. For eight years from this time the great merchant was repeatedly employed on duties half commercial and half political. In April 1333 he spent on the King's account 40l in fitting out the good ship Trinity of Hull with men and munition for going to fight against the Scots. In June he was sent on a special mission to reprove the Earl of Flanders on account of the aid given to the Scots by his mariners, and in May 1335 he was sent again on a like errand. In this year, moreover, besides being chosen Mayor, he was appointed supervisor of all the collectors of customs on the east coast of England from Hull as far down as Lynn. In July we notice that he received from King Edward an acknowledgment for 330l spent in buying sixty hogsheads of wine and six hundred quarters of salt; and, in November, for services described in the King's warrant "as agreeable and useful to us, in happily expediting certain affairs that specially concern us, yet not without undergoing great and extensive labours," he received a gift of 500 marks. In the following May another present was made to him of half that value; and in August we learn that he fitted out and sent to Gascony, Flanders ,and other parts, two of his ships the Bloom and the Saint Mary on the King's business as well as his own for which letters of safe conduct were issued. In the same month he received the King's acknowledgment for a debt of 3,027l, and in the following November a pardon was made out in his favour releasing him from penalty for not having already taken arms against the Scots according to the King's proclamation and excusing him from service for the next three years.  In this year's campaign, however, the most peaceful man might have joined with impunity. At that time says the chronicler, the King made another expedition into Scotland because the people there would keep no peace but would always be at war. And so the King passed through the land, but the Scots always took to flight so that no encounter could then take place. Wherefore the King was very angry and all his people returned into England.
But Edward was not on this account less earnest in his preparations for war. In January 1337 he commissioned William de la Pole to build a stout galley for which forty picked oak trees were to be sent to him from a priory in Nottinghamshire; and in May the merchant was sent to scour the counties of York and Lincoln in search of fit sailors to man the same.  All over England throughout this year people were busy building new ships and repairing old ones in readiness for a work only half talked about as yet. This was the attempted subjugation of France to the Crown of England, an enterprise which modern students of history are learning to see in its true light, but which no Englishman living at the time could be expected to regard with anything but favour.
William de la Pole, at any rate, was not tardy in supporting the scheme. On the 3rd of January 1338, by which time the arrangements were tolerably complete, we find a special duty assigned to him. He was empowered to arrest and cause to be arrested in Hull and elsewhere as many ships as he thought needful for the carriage of corn, cloth, and other articles which it was to be his business to purchase and provide for the King's use, and to convey them to Aquitaine for the maintenance of the King's faithful people there; in other words, he was to undertake the feeding and clothing of the army to be taken to France and augmented there by Edward. It was doubtless in aid of this work that he was soon after authorized to use certain houses in Conyng (now Coney) Street, York, and in reward for his doing of it as well as in payment for some money which he had lent, that an important grant of land was made to him in the following November. Some time before this he had quitted England in pursuance of his commission. On the 4th of August he was appointed Mayor of the staple at Antwerp, King Edward having gone thither a fortnight before; and in Antwerp and its neighbourhood he lived in state for at least a year and a half. During most of this time he was in the pay of the Crown. For the period between the 16th of August 1338 and the 16th of November 1339, with the exception of forty seven days during which he was absent on private business, he received a salary of 8s a day from the Exchequer, while for the whole time were paid 4s a day for one knight, and 2s a day each for thirty four men at arms in attendance upon him.
These eighteen months form the most memorable portion of his life. In February and March 1339 we find him employed, with some other commissioners, in strange and delicate business. He had to treat with the Archbishop of Treves for the repayment of 50,000 golden florins which, with other moneys, had been lent to the King, and for which "the hereditary and most beautiful crown of our lord the King and the realm of England," had been pledged; which means, doubtless, that he had to pay the money himself. In a hundred other ways, as it seems, he was at this time serving his King, and Edward's appreciation of the service is shown in five notable documents, all issued from Antwerp on the 15th of May in this same year. In one William de la Pole and his brother Richard are released from all annual payment on account of the manor of Myton-upon-Hull granted to them some years before at a rental of 10l 3s a year; and in another, he and his other brother John, on account of their liberal dealing towards the State, are freed from all actions or demands of any sort that may be brought against them; whence it appears that his younger brother, at any rate, was with him at this time.
The third document is very curious indeed, giving us one of the very few glimpses that we can get of our merchant's private life, and serving to show him a man of rare and far seeing kindness in his domestic relations.  "In consideration" it is written in the King's name, "of the great and reasonable supply which our beloved merchant, William de la Pole, has often made to us, and especially after our late passage over the sea, and also of the praiseworthy attendance bestowed by him upon us, we, at the earnest request of the same William grant and give license, for ourself and our heirs, to Katherine, wife of the same William that she, after his death, may marry whomsoever she wishes so long as he be one of the King's subjects, without let or hindrance."  It is not every day that we find a husband filled with such unselfish love for his wife that he makes earnest request that she may have facilities for contracting a second marriage in case of his early death.
It is less strange that William de la Pole should have made provision for the suitable settlement of his daughters. That the children, however, of a merchant and, as the phrase goes, an altogether self made man should have a King, and as proud a King as Edward the Third, for their guardian is as strange as anything else. Yet, so it was. In the fourth of the documents issued on this 15th of May, Edward granted to his friend's eldest daughter Katherine "the first suitable marriage of some heir male whose lands and tenements did not exceed the value of 500l", a very large sum in those days; to Blanche, the second, the next chance of like value; and to Margaret, the youngest, the one after that with a proviso that if either of them should come to marriageable age before such marriages fell to the Crown and had been accepted for themselves, 1,000 marks should be paid in lieu to each of the unmarried ones.
The last of the five papers refers to William de la Pole himself, and shows why all the others were written. "Considering in what manner his beloved merchant, William de la Pole,  was worn out in his service and fatigued with labours and various troubles, and therefore willing to have regard to his welfare and repose," the King released him from attendance at assizes juries and the like, as well as from service in the capacity of Mayor,  Sheriff, or other agent of the Crown against his will. It was also promised "that this, our present expedition being ended, in which we have perceived the service of the said William to have been exceedingly advantageous to us he be not against his will sent anywhere on this, or the other side of the sea, for the prosecution of our business, or that of our heirs, and that he be not burthened with any office or labours to be undertaken for us; but that henceforth he may thoroughly enjoy the comforts of his home as shall be agreeable to himself, without molestation or any manner of annoyance being offered to him in any way by us or our heirs or our officers."
These favours were great, greater perhaps than any merchant earlier than William de la Pole had ever received; but they were certainly not more than he deserved. On the 30th of June 1339, the King acknowledged his debt to him to the extent of 76,180l, in addition as it seems to 46,389l 19s 10-1/2d supplied in instalments during this and the previous year.  This was an immense sum representing not much less than a million of money according to its present value, but it was not more than was needed. King Edward, we read in the manuscript history of Hull already cited, "was reduced to such a strait for want of timely supplies of money out of England that he was forced to send for William de la Pole who was then at Antwerp managing and carrying on his merchandize and affairs and to borrow many thousand pounds of gold of him who did not only most freely supply him with all he had and could borrow and procure, but also mortgaged his own real estate to supply his further needs and necessities which was a most noble worthy and glorious mark of his love, fidelity, and loyalty to his prince and of the greatness of his generous soul." Edward was not ungrateful. On the 27th of September he issued a charter almost unique in the history of commerce. Kings have often been sorely troubled for want of money but in no other instance, surely, have they so honestly and graciously proclaimed to all the world the greatness of their need and the greatness of their debt to the men who helped them through it. "Know," it is written, "that our faithful and well beloved subject, William de la Pole, presently after our coming to the parts on this side of the sea, hearing and understanding that our affairs, for which we took our journey, were for want of money very dangerously deferred, and being sensible of our wants, came in person unto us and to us and our followers hath made and procured to be made such a supply of money that by his means our honour and the honour of our followers -- thanks be to God! -- hath been preserved, which otherwise had been exposed to great danger.  And afterwards the said William, continuing our supply with exceeding bounty, hath undertaken the payment of great sums for us to divers persons, for which he hath engaged himself by bonds and obligations, and if he had not done so, and intrusted his bounty and goodwill thus, not only unto us, but also unto our confederates and subjects with us in Brabant, we could not by any means have been supplied, but must necessarily, with a great deal of reproach, have ruined our journey and designs. And by his means being assisted and supplied, we got to Hainault near the marches of France, but could go no further, our moneys there again failing us. And when it was held for certain that our journey was altogether in vain, and our affairs utterly ruined, the said William having still a care to relieve our extreme necessity, engaged himself and his whole estate, procured for us a great sum of money, and delivered us again out of exceeding great danger."
In further recompense for these services, Edward, in the same day, made the merchant a knight banneret -- "nominally so, not really, because he could not do that, Sir William having never done any great thing or achievement in war to have the banner for the same flourishing over his head, which was the old essential way of making one" -- and also Chief Baron of the Exchequer; and, to show that these honours were not conferred, as was too common with the needy sovereigns of the middle ages, as a means of extortion, he excused him from payment of even the ordinary patent fees. He gave him some houses in Lombard Street, London; he authorized him to receive all the issues of the realm and all subsidies granted to the Crown, and apply them in relief of his own claims until the whole were paid off; and in the following February he sent him home to England with all show of favour.
But it was certainly not according to the King's pledge, "to enjoy the comforts of his home without molestation or any manner of annoyance." In his new capacity of Chief Baron of the Exchequer he was expected, along with his fellow officers, to furnish as much more money as was needed for the conduct of the war in France. And here he proved stubborn. He had mortgaged all his own property in Edward's behalf, but he could not mortgage the strength and honour of England. To the King's repeated equests for money "these false traitors" as the courtier historian terms Sir William de la Pole and his associates "sent him letters to the effect that the collection of the tenths of England, which had been granted to him, could not be made, nor could the number of the sacks of wool throughout all the realm be raised; and that they did not dare to act more rigorously through fear of war, and lest the people might choose rather to rise against them than give them any more; also, that the collection of such moneys as they had received did not suffice for the wages or for the fees of the servants and officers of the King, nor yet to clear off the debts which he himself owed for the expenses of his household, to the payment of which they had been assigned by command of the King himself. Thereat King Edward was not a little angry. In November he came over to England and, seizing the offenders, summarily put them under arrest. Sir William de la Pole was sent to the Castle of Devizes and the others to similar places of confinement. How they were treated, or how long they were detained, is not recorded; but the circumstance at best affords a curious illustration of the lawlessness and injustice which the most chivalrous of kings could show with impunity towards the most honest and honourable of his subjects.
For many years there was a marked coldness and harshness in Edward's treatment of De la Pole. Many of the favours conferred upon him were withdrawn and repayment of the money lent by him in Edward's time of sorest need was tardily and grudgingly made. At last, however, the King came to a better mind. In 1346 we find him restoring to his "faithful merchant" certain manors of his that had been appropriated to the royal use, and making restitution for the wrongful tenure; and under the year 1354 we meet with a singular document to the effect that "Sir William de la Pole having, in the fullest possible manner, remitted and quitted claim to the King for all the debts on account of moneys lent to him," was, in return, pardoned for all actions and demands of the Crown registered against him, as well as "for all felonies, homicides, robberies, and the like, which he or his attorneys might have committed contrary to the peace of the realm." Moreover, "because the aforesaid William was said to be impotent, and of great age and not able personally to labour in prosecuting and defending pleas," he was allowed to appear, whenever it was necessary for him to present himself by attorney."
At this time he was about seventy years old, and certainly he had done enough to make him wish for rest. For some years past he seems to have been living quietly, though not idly, in Hull. "Being put into so great a capacity of doing good," says the local historian, "he did mightily encourage and improve this town, by many new charters, privileges, immunities, and freedoms, that he got and obtained for it. And having lived in these great honours about twelve or fifteen years, feared and beloved of every one, and having with comfort and joy seen his two sons arising, and almost even risen, to the greatest honours in England, he then determined, out of thanks and gratitude to God for His so many and great favours bestowed upon him, to found, build, and endow a most stately monastery; but before that he had half finished the same he died." His original purpose, as we learn from his son's statement, had been to found a hospital, and with this intent he obtained a charter from Edward the Third; then he resolved to make it a House for Minoress Nuns of the Order of Saint Clare; but this determination in turn gave place to another, which issued in the erection of the Carthusian Priory, still in part existing as the Charterhouse. The work, amply provided for in his will, was continued by his son and heir; while outside of it was also put up the building known as the Maison Dieu, for the housing and maintenance of thirteen poor old men and thirteen poor old women.
He died at Hull on the 22nd of June 1366. His widow lived on until the 28th of January 1382 without making use of her license to marry again. Both were buried in Trinity Church, Hull, where a monument, adorned with their effigies, still exists.
Through a century and a half the name of De la Pole was conspicuous in English history. More famous, but less fame worthy than the great merchant prince, were some of his descendants. His eldest son, Michael, contemporary with Chaucer, began life as a courtier and became an especial favourite with Richard the Second who made him Chancellor of England in 1383, and Earl of Suffolk in 1384. Justly impeached before the Commons, however, for his evil deeds, he was in 1385 deprived of office, rank, and property, and forced to flee for safety into France where he died in 1391. To his son Michael, a year or two before the deposition of Richard, were restored the peerage and the possessions of his father, and he held his honours with dignity until his death in September 1415. His son, also named Michael, Earl of Suffolk for a month, was slain at Agincourt in October of the same year, to be succeeded by a younger son, William, who from being fourth Earl became the first Duke of Suffolk. He conducted the siege of Orleans against Joan of Arc, and became the favourite of Margaret of Anjou, Lord Chancellor, Lord High Admiral, and virtually king of England until at last he was hunted down as a traitor and beheaded in 1450. John, his son, was reinstated by Edward the Fourth who gave him his sister in marriage and died peacefully in 1491. His son and successor, Edmund, however, was beheaded by Henry the Seventh in 1513 for treasonable coveting of the Crown of England, and Anne his only child with whom ended the direct line of succession from Sir William de la Pole merchant of Hull became a nun. Many daughters of the house, however, were married into families of note and helped during the times of the Tudors to encourage the spirit of disaffection which derived most of its strength from the action of Cardinal Reginald Pole and his nephews, descendants of the Countess of Salisbury who married the first Duke of Suffolk.

Oxfordshire: The history and antiquities of the hundreds of Bullington & Ploughley: From several deeds transcribed into the cartulary of Borstal bearing date at Muswell, it is evident that Sir John Fitz Nigel dwelt in the messuage above mentioned several years most likely during the lifetime of his father though it is equally clear that he subsequently removed to the ancient family mansion. In 1299 he married Joan his only daughter by Isabel his wife to John son of Richard de Handlo of Borstal and settled the manors of Borstal Muswell &c upon his son in law and his heirs. These estates remained with Sir John de Handlo till his death AD 1346 when they descended to Edmund, his grandson, a child only seven years old, but he dying June 1 AD 1355 while yet a youth his inheritance became divided between his sisters Margaret, first the wife of Gilbert Chastelein then of John de Appulby, and Elizabeth, the wife of Sir Edmund de la Pole. The manors of Muswell Borstal &c were assigned to John and Margaret de Appulby but at their decease passed to Sir Edmund de la Pole who died in possession AD 1418. Sir Edmund had two daughters, coheiresses Elizabeth who married Sir Ingelram Bruyn and Catherine who became the wife of Robert James esq of Wallingford. By an arrangement between these parties in the lifetime of their father the manors of Borstal and Muswell at his decease became the sole property of Robert James who had some time before held those lordships together with the custody of the forest of Shotover and Stowood as tenant to his father in law. Robert James died February the 16th, 10 Hen VI, and assigned Maud, his second wife, a dowry upon his manor of Oakley but these estates descended to Christiana his sole daughter and heiress, a lady then thirty years of age, who had lost her husband Edmund Rede in the preceding October. She, however, only survived him three years and dying March 28 AD 1435 left her vast possessions to Edmund her son, a young man who had attained the age of twenty one on the feast of St Matthew. This gentleman seems to have spent the greater part of a long life at his residence at Borstal in the enjoyment of the inheritance transmitted by his ancestors little distinguished unless by his benefactions to the religious. He was knighted by Edward IV and departed this life 2 Henry VII AD 1487 leaving Borstal Muswell c to his eldest son William by Agnes his first wife. On the decease of the latter gentleman it passed to his son Leonard Rede esq who settled it together with his other estates by fine, 1 Edward VI, upon Thomas Dynham the husband of Catherine his sole daughter and heir by Anne his wife. ...
Sir John de Handlo was created a knight of the Bath with prince Edward, son of Edward I, and attended the king in his expedition into Scotland but, departing without leave, had all his lands seized and procured his pardon with difficulty by the intercession of queen Eleanor. From Edward II, he obtained a charter of free warren for divers of his demesne lands and in 1312 had license to castellate his manor house at Borstal. In 7 Edw II he was in the Scottish wars; in 19 Edw III in those of France as a banneret; and had summons to parliament in 1 and 6 Edw III as a baron.
Robert James gave five hundred marks in silver for the reversion of the moiety of the manors of Borstal Muswell &c to Sir Ingelram Bruyn and Elizabeth his wife. The inquisition states that Christiana Rede had increased the dower of Maud her mother in law with the third part of the moiety of Muswell and Hedington and of the bailiwick of Shotover and Stowood. From the statement of the age of the heir it is evident the deceased Christiana Rede must have been married early and that her son Edmund was born when she was only fourteen years old.

The History of Wallingford: AD 1396 In this year Sir John Golafre who had been employed in an embassy to France in 1389 died at Wallingford and was buried at Westminster Abbey. It is stated in Lysons Berks pp 282 455 that he was an illegitimate son of a grandson of Sir John Golafre who acquired the manor of Fyfield Berks by his marriage with Elizabeth the daughter and heiress of John Fyflede of Fyfield. The daughter of one of the family appears to have married John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln who lost his life at the battle of Stoka. Another family of some note who were resident in Wallingford was that of the Jameses who are first mentioned in this reign. Robert James of Wallingford, Esquire, was lord of the manor of Ambrosden and a conveyance by way of settlement of certain manors by him and Catherine his wife who was daughter and co heiress of Sir Edmund de la Pole to uses for their benefit is set out in Kennett.
A less innocent act is recorded by the same author in the next page of his book where it appears the esquire brought an action of trespass against the unfortunate Vicar of Ambrosden in the Court of the Marshalsea of the king's household at Oxford for leaving the common path on walking over to officiate at a neighbouring chapel. Christina, his daughter and heiress, married Edmund Rede Esquire of Borstall and on the latter's death in October 1430, 9 Henry VI, an inquisition was taken at Goring near Wallingford whereby it appears he held with his wife various lands within the Honor of Wallingford many of which are particularized in earlier inquisitions and whereby it was found that John James of Walyngford held of the king as of the Honor of Walyngford conjointly with Christina his wife and Robert his son surviving the manor of Adewell with the advowson of the church land at Kyngeston Blonnt Nettle bed Bix and a water mill at Bensyngton by military service but the jury know not by what part of a knight's fee Value 20 marks. He died October 31 leaving Robert his son aged thirty and more his heir. Crowemersh Gifford Wednesday before Martinmas 20 Richard II. By another inquisition taken at Walyngford same day it appears he also held the manor of Russhe. now Rush Court. a messuage land and rent a fishery in the Thames called Blonndeles. water in Cloppecote Berks of the king as of the Honor of Walyngford by knight service amount not known yearly value £10 Also 40 messuages, 30 tofts etc. in Walyngford of the king in socage as in free burgage of the borough of Walyngford.

Parochial antiquities attempted in the history of Ambrosden: He [Sir John Handlow] died the next year after this donation in 20 Edward III 1346 and was buried as were more of his family at the Augustine friars Oxford. He had by Maud his wife a son Richard who deceased in the life time of his father and left a son Edmund and two daughters Elizabeth married to Sir Edmund Delapole and Margaret to Gilbert Chastelein. Edmund died in his minority and his estates then fell to his sister Elizabeth married to Delapole who had by her a daughter named Catharine married to ___ James esq Berks who had a daughter Christiana married to ___ Rede esq from whom came Edmund Rede esq lord of Borstall which Edmund, A D 1456 by a solemn procession, was received at Oxford by the Augustine friars as their founder. Edmund Rede son of Christiana James daughter of Robert James of Wallingford by his first wife Catharine Delapole was by virtue of the foregoing descent possessed of many of the lands and possessions of the said Sir John Handlow and especially of our manor and lordship of Borstall and also of the royal liberties by hereditary right granted to the said Sir John and of which he died possessed.

Oxfordshire: Lords Lieutenant, High Sheriffs, and Members of Parliment: Son and heir of John James Sheriff 48th of Edward III and 4th of Richard II. He married Catherine daughter of Sir Edmund de la Pole whose wife Elizabeth was daughter and co heir of Sir Edmund Handlo Lord of Borstall. Upon the death of Sir Edmund de la Pole in 1417 the large estate and lordship of Borstall together with the custody of the forests of Stow Wood and Shotover passed to Catherine the wife of Robert James Esquire, who at that time was tenant to his father in law. The daughter of Robert James and Catherine married Edmund Rede of Borstall son of John Rede and Cecily his wife. The following curious custom was registered in a court held at Chakenden, by Robert James Esquire lord of that Manor 1423. That the servile tenants for the wonted service of reaping in the time of harvest should receive from the lord one ram price at least eightpence and every reaper should have one loaf of bread price a halfpenny. And they should all together have one load of wood and one cheese price fourpence. And every virgate of land should have six toddas herbae six tods of grass and every half virgate three tods. The lordship of Borstall and custody of the forests of Stow Wood and Shotover after the death of Robert James which happened 16th of February 10 Henry VI came to Christiana his daughter from whom they descended to Edmund Rede her son. Edmund Rede 19th February 1438 gave the sum of twenty pounds to the Abbot and Convent of Dorchester who in consideration of the money sold him the benefit of their prayers and the privilege of inserting the names of himself Robert James, Catherine and Matilda his wives, John James and Christiana his wife and all their benefactors in the Martyrology keeping their anniversaries and paying threepence to the canon who should say mass for their souls.

Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public: October 20, 1382 Nomination to J bishop of Lincoln of Robert de la Pole son of John de la Pole justice of North Wales to the first vacant canonry and prebend in the church of St Chad Shrewsbury in accordance with the power to the king by Pope Urban VI. By ps

Collections for a history of Staffordshire: Derb.John de la Pole late of Hertyngton the elder armiger and Henry Vygurs late of Monyasshe yoman were attached to answer the appeal of Thomas Moycok together with John de la Pole late of Hertyngton the younger armiger, Edmund de la Pole late of Hertyngton gentilman, Robert de la Pole late of Hertyngton gentilman, Humfrey de la Pole late of Hertyngton gentilman, Philip de la Pole late of Hertyngton gentilman, John Ilavrvson late of Hertyngton yoman, Mathew Blande late of Hertyngton yoman, John Stones late of Alsfeld Alstonfield co Staffoid yoman, Roger Stones late of Alsfeld yoman, Philip Leche late of Chattesworth armiger, William Robynson late of Hertyngton yoman, Nicholas Bateman late of Hertyngton yoman, Thomas Clerke late of Alsfeld the younger yoman, John Dunne late of Castelton co Derby yoman for the death of John Moycok his brother.

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