DOWRICH, Thomas II

Dowrich was the son of a middling Devon lawyer who rose to join the ranks of the filacers of the court of King’s bench. In keeping with his father’s profession, he also trained in the law (although the details of his education are obscure), and by 1436 was acting alongside his father.9 Add. Chs. 27621-2; N. Devon RO, Chichester of Arlington mss, 50/11/14/8, 10. The elder Thomas Dowrich survived until 1464 and until then kept control of the family estates in Crediton, Hatherlegh, Wolvedon, East Langbeare, Plympton Erle, Thorneworthy and elsewhere in the county. In the interim, the son found landed holdings elsewhere through a marriage to a widow from the ranks of the regional gentry. Margaret, the daughter of William Reke of Denbury was not an heiress in her own right, but brought Dowrich her jointure from her first husband, John Boyville the elder, centering on the Devon manor of West Ogwell. The descent of this property was a complex one. At some point prior to his death in 1417, Boyville’s father, William, had arranged for the manor to be settled in tail on himself and his descendants, so in the event of the son’s childless death, his younger brother (also called John) and his heirs stood to inherit. The younger John Boyville’s two daughters, Joan and Thomasine, married members of the Devon gentry, John Cole and John Wele*, but according to a deposition Dowrich made in Chancery some decades later (in 1478) Wele proved unwilling to wait for the natural demise of his wife’s father and uncle. In order to speed up the already ageing John Boyville senior’s death, he took a string of vexatious actions at law, and threatened him to such a degree that the old man dared not visit his own parish church. He further increased Boyville’s terror by physically attacking his own father-in-law, the younger John Boyville, and battering him within an inch of his life. However, far from simply giving in to this harrassment, John Boyville the elder had secured the aid of a powerful patron by selling the reversion of West Ogwell to Sir Hugh Courtenay† of Haccombe, a younger brother of Edward, earl of Devon. Courtenay lost little time in securing a commission of oyer and terminer which caused Wele to be imprisoned. Both Sir Hugh and the elder John Boyville had died before Courtenay had been able formally to settle West Ogwell back on its rightful owners, but in a rare show of a sense of propriety his son and heir, Sir Hugh Courtenay* of Boconnoc, had granted the manor to the widowed Margaret Boyville and her new husband, Dowrich. Perhaps on the latter’s advice, the original entail of the manor was broken by a release sealed by Margaret’s youngest brother-in-law, Thomas Boyville, and this document proved crucial in fending off a series of attempts by Cole, Wele and their heirs to recover the property.10 CIPM, xx. 710; C1/50/313-15, 51/83-85; CP40/821, rot. 406; CCR, 1447-54, pp. 434-6; C140/55/27; Reg. Lacy, ii. 333; Devon RO, Reg. Neville, f. 12v.

The survival of Dowrich’s father for almost three decades after his son’s first appearance as a practicing lawyer makes it difficult to distinguish the two men’s activities during this period. In particular, it is probable that it was the father who served among the city of Exeter’s counsel in its great dispute with the chapter of Exeter cathedral, although in the light of the younger man’s later career it is equally possible that it was he who did so, and he who from the late 1440s was regularly paid fees and rewards by the city of Exeter. Certainly, it was he (styled ‘junior’) who appeared for the city alongside the recorder, Nicholas Radford*, at the sessions of the peace of January 1448.11 The city receiver’s acct. for 1447-8 is unique among the city records in distinguishing our MP from his father in this way. Letters and Pprs. Shillingford (Cam. Soc. n.s. ii), 3, 6, 7, 12, 19, 20, 22, 25, 46, 60-64, 146, 148-50, 152, 154; Exeter receivers’ accts. 26-27, 32-33 Hen. VI. Once in the city’s employ, it was not long before the citizens also commissioned him to defend their interests in Parliament. Dowrich’s election in February 1449 in company with a former city steward with previous experience of the Commons may suggest that he was chosen by the citizens without external interference. By contrast, when fresh writs were issued that same autumn, and Dowrich was re-elected by the city, his colleague was Thomas Holland* of Cowick, a retainer of Thomas Courtenay, earl of Devon, and it is possible that Dowrich (who by this date was connected with the earl’s cousin, Sir Hugh Courtenay of Bocconoc, one of the knights for Cornwall in that Parliament) was acceptable to city and earl in equal measure. Certainly, from the citizens’ perspective Dowrich was all the more suitable, since he was prepared to forgo the customary wages of 2s. per day, and content himself with a flat payment of 26s. 8d. for each of his two Parliaments.12 M. Cherry, ‘Crown and Political Community, Devon’ (Univ. of Wales, Swansea, Ph.D. thesis, 1981), 273; Exeter receivers’ accts. 27-29 Hen. VI. Dowrich (or possibly his father) continued to receive an annual fee of 20s. from the city of Exeter in the 1450s, and was intermittently called upon to advise the citizens in their disputes and other matters.13 Exeter receivers’ accts. 36 Hen. VI-3 Edw. IV. The annual payment of 20s. was discontinued in 1463-4, when the elder Thomas Dowrich died, but the evidence is inconclusive, as the son probably became city recorder in the same year. The latter included such weighty affairs as the safe-keeping of Exeter during the political crisis of 1459-60, a concern which saw the city receiver himself seek out Dowrich at his own house.14 Ibid. 38-39 Hen. VI, m. 1d.

Following Edward IV’s accession, Dowrich was added to the Devon bench, on which he would continue to serve almost without break until his death, and in subsequent years he was appointed to a number of ad hoc commissions throughout the south-west. He was now a familiar figure in the region, and it is a reflection of the respect he could command that in 1467 he was returned to the Commons as a knight for his native shire. On account of his Membership of Parliament he was commissioned in the customary form to distribute allowances from the tax granted by the Commons, and the citizens of Exeter made good use of their prior connexion with the shire knight to secure just such an allowance for themselves, paying 10d. for the drafting of a bill of allowance to Dowrich’s clerk.15 Ibid. 8-9 Edw. IV, m. 2; CFR, xx. 231, 238. Parliament was prorogued in July 1467 to reassemble at Reading on 6 Nov., but, both on that occasion and subsequently on 5 May 1468, the Commons were sent home again without having transacted any business. A final session eventually commenced at Westminster a week later, and lasted for less than a month. In the intervening period, Dowrich had been kept busy inquiring into a wreck washed up on the south-western coast, and it was probably also about this time that he was chosen recorder by the citizens of Exeter. It was an appointment much in keeping with the increasing reliance placed by the citizens on his counsel in preceding years. He had long drawn an annual fee of 20s. from the city, and on other occasions he had been rewarded for his services on an ad hoc basis.16 Exeter receivers’ accts. 35 Hen. VI-8 Edw. IV. In 1465-6 he had assisted the mayor and council in surveying their records to fend off a legal challenge by the abbot of Sherborne, and in the same year he had ridden with the mayor to Shute to speak to the King’s favourite, Humphrey Stafford IV*, Lord Stafford of Southwick, concerning 50 ‘kideneys’.17 Ibid. 5-6 Edw. IV, mm. 2, 3d. Likewise, after Stafford’s elevation to the earldom of Devon Dowrich accompanied the mayor and other city officers to Tiverton to pay their respects to the new earl.18 Ibid. 8-9 Edw. IV, m. 2. In the event, such courtesies proved in vain, for within a year of his elevation to the earldom Stafford had been killed, and all that was left to Dowrich was to ensure the indictment of the men who had spirited away the dead earl’s jewels.19 C1/46/33.

The administration formed by the earl of Warwick following Henry VI’s readeption in October 1470 dismissed Dowrich from the county bench. By this date, he had already served more than two years as recorder of Exeter, and despite the apparent doubts about his loyalties harboured by the restored Lancastrians, the citizens continued to value his advice. Thus, he was specially summoned to Exeter on the eve of Queen Margaret’s landing, and a horse was hired for his use.20 Exeter receiver’s acct. 10-11 Edw. IV, m. 3d. Nevertheless, the Lancastrians’ doubts about his allegiances were clearly justified: Dowrich returned to the county bench in June 1471, following Edward IV’s victories, and a year later he was appointed a justice of oyer and terminer in the south-west.

Despite his increased involvement in local government and – after his appointment as recorder – the affairs of the city of Exeter, Dowrich also found time to devote to an extensive private practice. As well as the city, he served boroughs such as Launceston as counsel, and throughout his career he regularly acted for the gentry of the south-west as a feoffee or attorney, settled their disputes or attested their property transactions.21 CP25(1)/46/89/270, 293/73/401; CP40/788, rot. 425; 800, rot. 109; 803, rot. 112; C1/23/5A-C, 28/205, 61/67-70; C254/145/267, 273; E210/2805; CIPM Hen. VII, i. 183, 403, 757; ii. 248, 771, 776; CFR, xix. 138; Add. Ch. 13926; N. Devon RO, Seymour mss, 3799M-0/ET/17/2, 23/7; Chichester of Arlington mss, 50/11/14/8, 10; Exeter city recs., deeds, 5714M/T/14, 15; Cornw. RO, Arundell mss, AR19/19-20, 25-26; Launceston bor. recs., B/LAUS/143, m. 1d; Notts. RO, Portland mss, 157DD/P/121/1. Indeed, sometimes this took precedence over his official duties, as the citizens of Exeter discovered in 1472-3, when their messenger had to ride to Dowrich’s house twice, on the first occasion failing to find the recorder at home.22 C140/33/32; CP40/836, rot. 95; Exeter receiver’s acct. 12-13 Edw. IV, dorse. Several of his clients were connected with him by more than just the ties of monetary profit. Thus, in 1473 he became one of the feoffees of John Hacche* of Wolleigh, for whose grandson Thomas he had stood godfather three years earlier.23 C142/6/7*; CIPM Hen. VII, i. 598; DL5/1, ff. 28-28v. Similarly, longstanding ties bound Dowrich to the Copplestone family. In October 1458 the prominent lawyer John Copplestone* had made him one of his executors, and with his co-executor John Denys* of Orleigh he later assumed the administration of the estate of Copplestone’s son and heir, Philip (d.1472).24 C1/73/85, 79/75; C140/29/38A; CP40/810, rot. 296d; 866, rot. 48; E5/568; CFR, xxi. 99; C67/49, m. 8.

The childless death of Dowrich’s wife in February 1477 caused the title to her manor of West Ogwell to revert to the Courtenays of Boconnoc. The heirs of her first husband’s nieces, Richard Wele and John Cole, took this opportunity to renew their claim to the lands in the court of Chancery, but were successfully defeated by Edward Courtenay (the future earl of Devon).25 CFR, xxi. 331; C140/55/27; C1/50/313-15, 51/83-6; Add. Roll 64325. Still lacking an heir, Dowrich married again, and within a short time his new wife gave him the desired child, a daughter named Elizabeth. Perhaps out of gratitude for the lawyer’s help in securing West Ogwell, Edward Courtenay settled the manor on Dowrich and his new wife, thus allowing him to keep hold of the valuable holding to the end of his life.26 C141/4/46.

Dowrich made his second wife, Alice, and Robert Stawell his executors, and died on 10 Feb. 1483. Alice went on to marry as her third husband the local esquire Thomas Coterell† (d.1506), whom she also survived by some years.27 C141/4/46; CIPM Hen. VII, iii. 248; C1/79/74-76. Dowrich’s only daughter and heir was aged just three at the time of her father’s death and on 25 Nov. 1483 her wardship and custody of the Dowrich estates (said to be worth in excess of £18) were committed to the girl’s mother and Richard Pree.28 CFR, xxi. 667, 719, 743, 777; CPR, 1476-85, p. 370. Within a few years, she had died under age, leaving her uncle, Thomas’s younger brother, Richard, to seek to recover the family lands from the Coterells. Litigation was still ongoing after Richard’s death in 1497, when his son and heir, another Thomas, was in addition suing his stepmother, Joan Pontyngton (d.1513), for return of the Dowrich estates and muniments.29 C1/198/15-16, 41; C4/31/103; E150/152/3. The confusion in the records whether Richard was the MP’s brother or son probably had its origins with similar confusion on the part of Richard’s son, who seems to have been uncertain whether Alice Dowrich had been his grandfather’s or his great-grandfather’s wife.