HOLLAND, Thomas

Thomas came from a family of some prominence in the Exeter region, although not one of the leading families in the shire. His father John was regularly empanelled on local juries and the frequency with which he headed the lists of names suggests that he was considered to be of some consequence. Of rather greater importance, however, was John’s brother, Richard, resident at Bowhill in St. Thomas, who represented Devon in the Parliament of 1431. The Hollands maintained close connexions in the city of Exeter, both with the citizens and the cathedral clergy, and the young Thomas was placed in the household of Master William Fylham, archdeacon of Cornwall and subsequently chancellor of Exeter cathedral, an association only terminated by Fylham’s death in early 1439.6 C47/7/6(1); Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, ix. 9, 16, 48. It is not clear what course Holland’s career took in the immediate aftermath of his master’s death, but it is possible that he was taken into his uncle’s household at Bowhill. Richard Holland was retained by the civic authorities of Exeter in return for an annual fee, and it may have been he who recommended his young nephew to them. On 8 Feb. 1445 Thomas was admitted him to the freedom of the city and pardoned his entry fine ‘for his good counsel’.7 Exeter Freemen ed. Rowe and Jackson, 50. In view of the timing of the admission it is likely that the measure was taken to qualify him to represent Exeter in the Parliament that was to meet at Westminster later that month: no election returns survive for Exeter, and the accounts of the city receiver reveal the name of only one of its MPs. It is highly likely that it was Holland who took the city’s second seat, for the citizens customarily admitted any outsiders they wished to return to Parliament shortly before their election.

In about 1448, Holland’s uncle Richard died and at least some of his property, including his residence near Exeter passed to his nephew Thomas. The exact extent of the family holdings is unknown, but Richard had held some 34 separate properties in the manor of Cowick at an annual rent of over £8, while the messuage and 40 acres that Thomas held there were in 1455 assessed at 20s. p.a.8 E364/90, m. A. Holland now became increasingly active in Exeter life. He was returned to Parliament for the city in both November 1449 and 1450. At Michaelmas in the latter year he took his place among the panel of leading citizens electing the mayor and other city officers, and although he never held civic office himself he was evidently recognized as a member of the ruling oligarchy and frequently participated in the elections thereafter.9 Exeter mayors’ ct. rolls 29-30, 32-34, 37-38 Hen. VI, 39 Hen. VI-2 Edw. IV, 7-8 Edw. IV.

There was, however, a further facet to Holland’s repeated parliamentary service during the crisis years 1449-51 in the close connexion that he had formed with Thomas Courtenay, earl of Devon. He seems to have become a member of the earl’s household, and by 1451 was spending at least some of his time resident at Tiverton, where he served on local juries.10 M. Cherry, ‘Crown and Political Community, Devon’ (Univ. of Wales, Swansea, Ph.D. thesis, 1981), 318; KB9/15/2/130; E199/9/11, m. 6. During the political crisis of 1450 Courtenay had made common cause with Richard, duke of York, who was emerging as the administration’s principal critic, and during 1451 the two lords began to prepare an open move against the government now directed by the duke of Somerset, Edmund Beaufort, and its supporters in the regions. In September the earl of Devon led an armed force into Somerset to confront his long standing adversaries Lord Bonville* and James Butler, earl of Wiltshire. Holland, as one of Courtenay’s more substantial retainers, acted as one of the leaders of the army. After an abortive attempt to confront Wiltshire at Lackham, the force turned back to lay siege to Bonville’s men in Taunton castle, an enterprise which the earl of Devon was only persuaded to abandon by the intervention of the duke of York. Early in the following year, the earl renewed his campaign, this time in open collusion with York who had rallied his own tenants. During the month of February 1452 York, Devon, and their ally, Sir Edward Brooke*, now Lord Cobham, converged on London with their massed forces, while local uprisings in their support were staged in a variety of locations across England. On 1 Mar. they confronted a royal army at Blackheath in Kent. Now, however, York was persuaded by the King’s assurances to disband his force and enter into negotiations: he and his allies were promptly placed under arrest. Special commissions were appointed to hear indictments of those who had supported Devon’s cause in the south-west. Along with the other leaders of the rising, Holland was accused of a number of felonies, including several counts of armed robbery, but he was never brought to justice. By June he had secured a royal pardon, which he pleaded in King’s bench the following January.11 KB9/15/1, 23; 105/1/23; 2/15, 18, 27, 134-5, 202; 267/42b; KB27/765, rex rot. 9d; 768, rot. 42. So complete, in fact, was his rehabilitation that five months later he was appointed a tax collector.12 Cherry, 274; E102/2, rot. 31; E207/16/6, no. 23. In the meantime, while the earl of Devon was kept under arrest, his sons and other retainers remained restive. From the summer of 1453 the weighty matters of the loss of Gascony and the King’s mental incapacity distracted the attention of the royal council from the further flung regions, and allowed the Courtenay affinity to maintain a steady level of lawlessness in Devon. Furthermore, the duke of York’s first protectorate in the early months of 1454 allowed Devon not only to secure his acquittal before the Lords, but also to resume his place among the King’s advisers. Back in the west, the earl’s retainers twice occupied the city of Exeter, subjecting the citizens to a sustained campaign of chicanery.13 H. Kleineke, ‘Exeter in the Wars of the Roses’, in The Fifteenth Cent. VII ed. Clark, 142-3; R.L. Storey, End of House of Lancaster, 165-6. Eventually, the council intervened once again, and succeeded in bringing both Courtenay and his rival Bonville before the chancellor. Holland’s part in these events remains obscure, and in June 1455 he was taken to task not for his participation in these fresh riots, but for his failure to pay his taxes, for which his lands in Cowick were seized into the King’s hands.14 E364/90, m. A.

By then the wider quarrel among the lords had found its outlet in an open battle in the streets of St. Albans, from which York and his allies (Devon among them) emerged victorious. In the immediate aftermath, a fresh Parliament was summoned, and Holland, who apparently retained the good will of the citizens, was once more returned for Exeter. The earl of Devon, by contrast, absented himself from Parliament and planned his next move. On 3 Nov. 1455, during the autumn prorogation, his forces, with Holland once more among their leaders, occupied Exeter, and on subsequent days systematically raided the houses of Bonville’s supporters. On 15 Nov., three days after Parliament reassembled at Westminster, a large armed party including Holland was despatched to the fortified mansion at Powderham of one of Bonville’s closest friends, Earl Thomas’s own cousin (Sir) Philip Courtenay* (himself currently one of knights of the shire for Devon), continuously bombarding it with stones from serpentines for eight hours. Sir Philip, however, was prepared and had retained a large number of men for his defence, forcing the besiegers to abandon their cause.15 KB9/16/65; KB27/781, rot. 113d. The earl’s men remained in Exeter throughout November and much of December, and Holland played his part in their lawless activities such as the ransacking of the town house of another of Bonville’s associates, William Bourgchier, Lord Fitzwaryn, and the sack of Sir Philip’s house at Cadleigh.16 KB9/16/88; KB27/780, rot. 65; 782, rot. 52d.

Now, finally, the news from the west spurred into action the Lords, who agreed to the duke of York’s reappointment as Protector. York set out for the south-west, and faced with the duke’s imminent approach, the earl of Devon withdrew his troops from Exeter and before the end of the year submitted to him.17 Storey, 167-73. For the next few months Holland’s whereabouts are obscure. In view of his activities in the south-west he seems to have missed much of the parliamentary session of November and December 1455, and it is unlikely that he dared show his face at Westminster during the spring session of 1456. As one of the more substantial men in the Courtenay retinue, he had to face proceedings over his share in the disorder and by the summer found himself in the Marshalsea.18 KB27/781, rot. 33. He was soon released and in November was bound over for future good behaviour. Yet his rehabilitation did not take long, and in April 1457 the restored Lancastrian administration was prepared to call on his services to inquire into an instance of smuggling. He maintained his ties with the earl of Devon, and in November that year was prominent among the Courtenay retainers who found sureties for the future court appearance and good behaviour of the earl and his two eldest sons, Thomas and Henry.19 C237/44/134; KB27/786, rots. 118 (ii), 119, 121d. At other times in these years he was also associated with the earl’s cousin, (Sir) Hugh Courtenay* of Boconnoc.20 C1/26/66. Holland obtained a full pardon in January 1458.21 KB27/782, rex rot. 35; C67/42, m. 39.

Holland’s close attachment to the Courtenays proved a liability after the accession of Edward IV. On 9 Apr. 1461 he was bound in £100 not to go further than one mile from London, not to enter sanctuary and to appear in Chancery on 20 Apr. to answer charges.22 CCR, 1461-8, p. 68. The nature of these charges and the outcome of the proceedings is unknown, but in mid May Holland was once again free to act as a mainpernor in association with Thomas Wyse* (another member of the Courtenay affinity, who had sat in Parliament with him in 1450), and less than two years later he had secured a pardon.23 CFR, xx. 21; C67/45, m. 14. Nevertheless, the new rulers remained suspicious of him and thereafter his only reappearance in local government was occasional service on juries, such as those empanelled for the inquisitions post mortem after the deaths of Thomas Bonville* and Humphrey Stafford IV*, earl of Devon.24 C140/22/46; 32/30; KB9/305/47. Others had opportunistically sought to profit from the eclipse of the Courtenays: on 12 Apr. 1461 the Exeter merchant John Orenge† seized a bake-house in Exeter belonging to Holland, and had to be forced by the King’s justices to surrender it.25 KB9/308/63.

Holland himself served on the presenting jury in the matter of the bake-house, and his attention was now chiefly directed towards the defence of his private interests. In January 1449 he had obtained a licence from the bishop of Exeter to marry the widow of a prominent Somerset lawyer, Edward Cullyford of Hinton St. George. Elizabeth represented a worthwhile prize, for her first husband had left her all his property in Bridgwater for her lifetime.26 The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 709-10. Yet, the match brought legal difficulties with it, for Elizabeth was also Cullyford’s sole executor, and as late as 1461 litigation over debts owed to the deceased was still ongoing.27 CPR, 1461-7, p. 4; CP40/802, rot. 366. Furthermore, although his landed income was comfortable, it is possible that in his later years Holland faced financial difficulties. Thus, in April 1467 he borrowed the sum of £40 from one John Snape but failed to repay it on the date it was due. When Snape sued him for the debt in the court of common pleas in the summer of 1470, Holland meekly asked licence to negotiate.28 CP40/836, rot. 142. Conversely, however, he for his part was seeking payment on a bond for £40 from a former fellow member of the Courtenay household, Thomas Welywrought*, who had sat in the Parliament of 1449 (Nov.) alongside him as a Member for Plymouth.29 CP40/808, rot. 392d.

There is no evidence that Holland played any part in the turbulent events surrounding Henry VI’s readeption. He may have grown too old and frail to do so, for he died in late 1472.30 It was a yr. kinsman and namesake who was killed by an Exeter mob early in 1485: KB27/906, rex rot. 3. In his will he stipulated that the bulk of his lands in Cowick were to remain to his widow for life. The greater part of his holdings elsewhere in the county were to be used to pay his debts, but thereafter were to be divided among his four sons and their heirs. His town house in Exeter and another at the end of the Exe bridge in Cowick were to be sold respectively to provide for the marriages of his daughters Elizabeth and Maud.31 CFR, xxi. 161; Exeter mayor’s ct. roll 12-13 Edw. IV, rot. 17d. This latter bequest was to cause some difficulties, forcing Maud and her husband, William Boweley†, to bring a suit in Chancery, claiming that Holland’s feoffees in collusion with his widow were refusing to surrender the property to them.32 C1/41/159. In the end, the Boweleys secured Maud’s inheritance and in his will of 1485 William provided for masses for the souls of Thomas and Elizabeth Holland and settled the house at Cowick on his daughter Elizabeth, with remainder in default of issue to the heirs of Thomas Holland’s son and heir, Roger.33 PCC 19 Logge. Roger rose to considerable prominence in the reign of Henry VII and sat in Parliament for both Totnes and Exeter. At Bowhill remains of the house which Thomas had inherited from his uncle Richard, and which passed through Roger’s daughter to the Carew family, survive to the present day.34 N. Pevsner, Buildings of Eng.: Devon, 437; S.R. Blaylock, Bowhill, passim.